Genesis Crisis IC

Caltha: Satellite Tower

"Hama" Alex shouted, as he hit the orb of darkness with the opposite light spell and quickly turned around to face the orb of light with a circle already in front of him "Mudo."

The spells quickly canceled each other out, as Alex backed off from the other orbs letting the rest of the group handle them with them as he glanced with anger at the man in front of him.  It didn't seem like anything would work on him, but they couldn't just lie down in die.

"He acts like a ghost or something... how are we supposed to hit that?" Alex muttered, as he considered his possibilities but nothing came to mind.  The man said something about an idea, apparently from the legion...

"What exactly do you want to do that's made us so helpful?" Alex shouted in a rage, pointing his katana futility at the shadow like figure in front of him.

Caltha

Darcy looked around in surprise at Snow's voice before giving a shrug.

"Why don't you ask him?" he said, hooking a thumb in Raidon's direction. The former chief scowled at him, though Darcy felt comforted for Arya's sake that it lacked its previous ice.

"Well, Arya and I were prisoners of the military police at one point," Darcy decided to explain, running a hand through his hair. "Raidon here saved the two of us, but was badly hurt. So Arya and I took him to a safe house I knew of to recover. She stayed with him, and I moved on."

He cast a look back at Raidon, who was decidedly ignoring the conversation. He was glad to think that it had worked out for Arya; the poor girl certainly deserved some happiness.

"Anyway, when I got back to my contact, she told me Arya and Raidon had headed to the capital. Naturally, I followed after. Good thing too. Would have been a shame to miss out on all the excitement."

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

Satellite Tower

Kokonoe scowled at the malevolent entity's taunts about her age, watching as it shrugged off Alina's attack as though it had no corporeal form before summoning elemental spheres that began to circle in on them. While Rise gritted her teeth and brought up her fan, conjuring intently before firing off a Maragi spell at the fire orb, the researcher kept her focus on the gruesome clown.

"You really piss me off," she growled, fishing in Keynes pocket and pulling out one of the Traesto gems she'd given him. "So get the hell out of here."

She threw the crystal directly at the spectre, summoning a magic circle when it hit to transport it out of their way. Good luck making it back before they could dismantle the cannon.

Satellite Tower

Lisa threw out a handful of orbs that exploded into tornadoes as they came into contact with the magic all around them, but it did little more than make a small dent in the shockingly massive assault that was closing in on them. This wasn't good at all...

Alina seemed to be thinking similar thoughts as she directed a spray of ice into the onslaught, trying to slow down its collapse. "We need to find a way out of it!" She called out.

"I don't know if we can get out of it." Keynes responded, throwing a handful of crystals at the magic and creating another distortion in it.

Pierrot let out another peal of laughter at Alex's question, and he held his arms up over the group. "It's rather simple really. You put on the best performance of all, and the entire world bought it. With something like you running around, keeping both the army and Legion at bay, no one would be able to keep tabs on me." He started to laugh again, but the sound was suddenly cut short by the crystal exploding at his feet, which drug him away from the room to a place unknown.

Keynes cursed and shot Kokonoe a dark look, grasping her hand to keep her from doing anything else. "How the hell are we supposed to find him now?" He demanded. "He could just hide away and prepare to do this again later."

"I hardly think it matters right now." Lisa cut in, gesturing to the magic closing in around them, but just as she drew attention to it, the power of it seemed to fizzle and fade. Once threatening balls of elemental fury shrunk and disappeared, leaving Lisa standing there blinking at what had once been around them.

"I think we can cut her some slack, considering she just saved our lives." Alina said, giving Keynes a dark look.

With a sigh, he released Kokonoe's arm and gave her an apologetic look. He hadn't meant to snap, but what might have normally been a brilliant tactic was a detrement to the objective right now. Speaking of objectives...

"We can't waste time here." Keynes said, moving towards the stairs Pierrot had been standing on. "Let's move!"

Alina led the charge up the stairs to the second floor, taking a straight shot through the upper lobby and into the control room. What greeted them on the other side of the doors was another peal of laughter though, and even as the last of them entered the room, Pierrot walked in behind them, closing the doors once more.

At the controls of the cannon, Will was hunched over, typing away some sort of commands, and Jax stood between the group and Will, slowly cracking his knuckles.

"You're okay!" Alina started to rush towards Jax, but she stopped short when she didn't see the recognition in his eyes.

"Jax?"

Pierrot laughed again, and Lisa turned to glare at him, not that it would do her much good, but it did at least make her feel better.

"Do you like what I've done with them?" Pierrot asked the group, still smiling. "Both completely mindless and willing to follow my every command..." He licked his lips and then snapped his fingers.

"Jax... Kill them."

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

Caltha

"Maybe you're right." Lizzy responded as she finished up with the man she'd been healing. She'd started to reach for the next patient when Arya called out to her again.

"No, but I'll take a look anyway." She said, sitting the bandages back down to turn around and look at the man over Arya's shoulder. Lizzy winced at what she saw and tapped Arya's arm, motioning towards the other person in the room.

"I'd better deal with this one. Can you splint his arm? I think he's got a broken wrist."

She leaned forward, placing healing hands onto the man's deep wounds, and focused on healing him until the look of death left his face.

"She loves you, you know?" Lizzy said, not quite sure whether it was a question or a statement.

Satellite Tower

"This is useless," James said. "We're not making any progress." He hurled another handful of lightning spells at the orbs to keep them at bay.

Just then Kokonoe transported Pierrot somewhere unknown with a traesto gem. The magic storm around them died down as soon as Pierrot disappeared and James was able to take a deep breath.

They moved on, following the stairs and soon arrived in the control room. However, as soon as they had entered, the doors closed behind them. James spun around with a start, only to see that it was Pierrot's doing again. He gritted his teeth. There was just no escaping this man.

Alina's voice grabbed his attention and he saw Will and Jax, at first feeling relief, but upon seeing their reaction, fear grasped at his heart. What has he done to them? They wouldn't be doing this voluntarily.

When Jax turned towards them, cracking his knuckles threateningly, James moved to the side to get a better look at Will. Clearly he was trying to activate the satellite canon. "We have to stop him," he whispered.

He didn't expect Jax to hesitate for long if he was really under Pierrot's spell and while the others were busy dealing with him, James moved back a little. Once they had engaged into the fight, he  moved around them and rushed towards Will, intent on stopping him. They crashed to the floor as he pulled him forcefully away from the screen and keyboard.

___________________________________________

Caltha, Palace Square

Arya nodded and let Lizzy take over. While working on the splint for the wrist, she kept glancing at the other man. His face had been so pale and there was so much blood. It reminded her of the situation Raidon had been in.

Finally she was done with splinting the arm. "Keep it still for a week and see if you can change the bandage every now and then," she instructed him. Before she could look around for the next patient, Lizzy spoke to her again.

"You don't think I know that?" she snapped back with an intense emotional tone in her voice that had been lacking before. "I could see in her face how much my choice hurt her. And it tears me up every second, that for me she's trying to come to terms with it. She's my little sister, you don't think I would have wanted to protect her from all …from all this pain and violence?" Arya's voice became more quiet and she stared off into the distance with her back to Lizzy. "And I turned around and hurt the person I love even more."

Suddenly a young girl approached her, tears streaming from her face. Arya swallowed and put a smile on her face.

"Shh, calm down," Arya said and put a hand on her shoulder. "Everything will be fine." After treating the girl's shallow wounds, she looked around almost in confusion. "Where are your parents?" The girl shrugged and new tears emerged.

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

Snow listened with interest and once Darcy finished, he crushed the cigarette butt under his heel.

"Yeah, you know, I heard you got your butt kicked by these kids," Snow said, sounding amused. "That must've been quite sight. I didn't think there was anyone who could best you, Raidon."

Snow leaned back on his elbows and looked up at the sky. "Sounds like a lot has happened" he commented offhandedly and looked at Darcy. "You seem to be quite capable. I guess they're lucky you showed up."

Caltha

Raidon gave Snow a cold glare at his amused taunts.

"You're sadly misinformed," he muttered, feeling the slight against his pride was quite unnecessary. "I would suggest you keep things in perspective, regardless; these 'kids' bested Legion's four Riders, the Army's best commanders, and even Pierrot and the High General himself. I'd be more surprised if someone didn't lose to them."

In any case, he was somewhat surprised to find that he was relieved that he hadn't managed to apprehend them. Who knew how differently things might have turned out otherwise. He couldn't help but steal a glance at Arya, working hard to care for others like she had for him.

"If they hadn't come along, I would have lost you," Raidon thought, no longer reluctant to admit how much he needed her.

Meanwhile, Darcy had shrugged at Snow's statement; he wasn't one for false humility, but he also didn't feel the need to take credit where it wasn't deserved.

"I don't know about that," he said lightly. "I think Raidon would have managed all right against the police. But as far as calming the crowds... well, I don't think that scary mug would have soothed their nerves much."

Raidon gave a small snort, which Darcy amusedly took to mean a mixture of annoyance and agreement.

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

Satellite Tower

Rise was relieved to see that Will and Jax appeared to be all right. Her natural reaction was to move toward Jax, but when she saw Alina rush to him, she halted; Alina was the one who had that right first and foremost, not her. But strangely enough, Alina stopped short. At first, Rise was unsure why. But when Jax lowered his the crimson hood of his cloak, she understood only too well.


That couldn’t be Jax… It just couldn't. Because Jax would never look at them with that cold, callous expression… with those vemomous, soulless yellow eyes.

"Jax..." Rise whispered tentatively, clutching her hands to her heart as though to stifle the ache of pain there. This couldn't be. What had happened to him?

With a snap of the spectre's fingers, Jax brought his fist up as his body flashed with a green light. Before Rise could even register the fact that he had just instantly cast a Sukukaja spell without even conjuring, he had leaped forward toward the group and landed in their midst. He thrust his hands out to the sides, and a circle of static electricity reminiscent of the Mazionga spell whizzed around his body, blasting them all back and shocking them.

Rise fell back, staring with horrified eyes as Jax turned his gaze toward her and punched his fist in her direction, sending a Zio bolt hurtling toward her. She had only a moment to bring her fan up and conjure for the Agi spell, sending the fireball slamming into the bolt of lighting only just before it reached her.

"What's happened to him?" she cried out in despair. "Jax, it's us!"

Kokonoe, who had stayed back toward the stairs tapped the side of her glasses, and small status screens appeared before her eyes. She focused on Jax, pursing her lips as the Occulus function in her lenses scanned him.

"It's not good," the researcher announced. "It's the synth seraphs inside him. They're going berserk."

Jax brought up his fist once more, this time a red aura flashing to accompany the green. With the Tarukaja spell boosting his strength, he leaped toward Alina, bringing his foot crashing down in a powerful axe kick.

Caltha: Satellite Tower

Alex froze the moment he saw Jax, something was off, something was really strange. The Jax he remembered could be determined but this... it sent the worst of chills down Alex's spine like he was fighting a horrible enemy.

"You can't teleport him out of here too can you? It might break the hold." Alex quickly said to Kokonoe snapping himself out of the trance, but in moments Jax was already in the midst of their group, as lightning began to swirl through their ranks with Alex helplessly holding up his arms that covered his face in an attempt to block the attack.

Alex only could let out a pained grunt, as his arms were stiff and he had difficulty moving them as it felt like his blood was on fire. Though his mind was still just as alert from the pain, as he noticed Jax already above Alina barreling down to smash her into the ground.

"Alina! Watch out!" Alex shouted, as he quickly dashed towards her direction and used the momentum to launch himself in the air with his hands forward and fly towards Jax to tackle him into the ground.

Satellite Tower

Will tumbled limply over James as the other man crashed into him, not even making an effort to break his own fall. Instead, he simply laid there for a moment before sitting up and shrugging James off to move back towards the controls.

"Now, now..." Pierrot frowned for the first time, holding up his open hand towards James. "Your friend is otherwise occupied at the moment, and I'd appreciate it if you let him do my work."

A magic circle formed beneath James, and tendrils of darkness shot from the ground, reaching out to grasp the man and pull him to the floor so that he wouldn't be able to further hinder Will's progress with the cannon controls.

"Why don't you just sit still for a minute?" Pierrot asked, licking his lips again as he turned his attention back to the others.

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

Lisa was thrown aside as Jax leapt into the center of them, releasing a blast of static, and she groaned as she came to a sudden stop against the wall. Had he always been this strong? If so, he'd definitely been holding back during their training sessions.

Alina also seemed to have been caught off guard, and she took a tumble backwards, landing with her back against the closed door. The look on her face was one of complete horror. This was not the Jax they knew, not the Jax she knew...

As he prepared for his next attack, Kokonoe said something about synth seraphs, but her words were cut off by the same tendrils that bound James wrapping around her head and covering her mouth before they jerked her backwards violently. Keynes had seen the motion out of the corner of his eye and dove past her, using his body to cushion her fall so that her head wouldn't strike the ground, but before he could push himself back up, the tendrils wrapped over his arms and legs, holding him down.

Straining against his bonds, Keynes grumbled to himself and the woman pinned down on top of him. "At least you can't tell me this is my fault with your mouth covered up like that..."

Alina could only watch as Jax barreled towards her, clearly with the intent to finish her off. She couldn't do this... She just... Couldn't... He'd been so kind to her, had saved her, in more ways than one. She couldn't bring herself to raise a hand to him now.

Thankfully, the decision was taken from her when Alex crashed into Jax from the side, throwing both of them across the room. Alina covered her mouth with her hand to keep herself from screaming, but she quickly removed it as she pushed herself to her feet. "Alex! Jax!" She took a step towards them, but Keynes cleared his throat impatiently, drawing her attention.

"A bit of help?" He asked gruffly, giving Alina a moment to realize the situation Kokonoe and himself were in before she drew her rapier and slashed at the bonds holding them down.

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

Caltha

Lizzy frowned when Arya snapped back at her, but she didn't let it linger on her face. There were too many other patients to deal with, and she needed to keep up a cheerful face for them.

"For being apart so much, the two of you are on a surprisingly similar wavelength." Lizzy commented ruefully. "I won't pretend that I understand, since I don't have any siblings, but during the short time I got to know your sister, all she seemed to think about was how much trouble she'd gotten you into."

Sighing, Lizzy finished dressing the wounds of the man she was attending to and told him to take it easy and get some fluids before sending him on his way.

"I think if the two of you actually sat down and had the same discussion you just had with me, it would solve a lot of things." She said softly, reaching out to put a comforting hand on Arya's shoulder.

Her attention was almost immediately pulled away by the little girl Arya was treating though, and Lizzy couldn't help but feel terrible for the poor soul.

"Eli." She called across the square, waving for him to come over. "I need you to ask around and see if you can find anyone missing a child."

Satellite Tower

James was surprised when Will fell over without resisting. "Snap out of it, man!" he told Will and tried to stop him from reaching the control panel again. However, suddenly a spell circle appeared under his feet and without warning dark tendrils shot out towards him.

They bound his hands and dragged him to the ground. "Why are you doing this?" he asked Pierrot. "Why do you hate this world so much that you want to destroy it?" James struggled to move and finally was able to push his hands together, conjuring a spell circle.

"Zio," he called out and shot a lightning bolt towards Will. It was difficult to aim, but he tried to make sure not to hit the control. James felt bad about attacking his friend, but if this was the only way to stop him from completely his task, hopefully Will would understand.

___________________________________________

Caltha, Palace Square

"No, I was just kidding," Snow replied with a slight grin. "I've seen them. It's amazing what they can do together." He was serious again now and looked towards the satellite tower.

Then he saw Lizzy waving towards him and stood up. He put his hands on Raidon's shoulder for a split second. "You'll get over it…"

Snow walked over to where Arya and Lizzy were waiting. "You called, love," he asked playfully and pulled Lizzy into a hug and kissed her cheek. "Here, I'll take her with me. So if we pass her parents, they will see her." He put away his cigarettes and reached out towards the little girl.

She looked at him with a slight look of concern and then took his hand. He lifted her up and onto his shoulders and walked towards the crowd.

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

Arya stopped when she felt Lizzy's hand on her shoulder. It felt odd to have someone else care about her. She turned to look around at Lizzy. "I just hope she comes back," Arya said, her voice thick with emotion.

The other woman waved Snow over to help search for the girl's parents and Arya turned around to treat another patient after she made sure the girl felt safe enough to go with Snow. Her hands were still shaking a little.

"I think I need a break," she finally said to let Lizzy know and then headed up the stairs towards Darcy and Raidon.

Immediately she walked over to him, her heart rejoicing at feeling him so close. Arya leaned against him and her hand took his, letting her feel his strength. "You think they are going to be okay?" she asked Raidon quietly, obviously referring to Aegis. She looked at him, her eyes sparkling softly with the joy of being close to him.

Caltha

Raidon watched Snow leave with pursed lips. It would certainly be easier to forget the stinging mistakes of the past if people didn't seem determined to dig them back up. Sighing, he turned as Arya approached him, looking worried. Her hand slipped gently into his hand, grasping and searching for reassurance.

"They'll be fine," he whispered, bringing an arm up to pull her closer as his thumb rubbed against her shoulder comfortingly.

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

Satellite Tower

Rise was torn between helping with Jax and Will, but when she saw Pierrot attack and bind James with no one to help him, she bit her lip and raced to his side. Using the sharp edge of her metal fans, she sliced the shadowy constraints and helped him up.

"You all right?" Rise asked him worriedly before looking at Pierrot. Her fear was slowly ebbing from her to be replaced with furious anger. What kind of monster was he to ruin people's lives, to pit friends against friends, and to try to annihilate Kaddath?

"How are we supposed to stop him?" she whispered to James, holding her fans ready for an attack. "It doesn't seem like anything affects him."

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

Alina seemed paralyzed to react to Jax's attack. But just before Jax had reached her, Alex had tackled him through the air, knocking them both to the ground. Jax landed hard on his back with Alex on top of him, but hardly seemed to notice the blow. He quickly raised his leg and planted his boot in Alex's chest, catapulting him away. Before Alex had even hit the ground, Jax had already backflipped to regain his footing. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Lisa preparing her bow and sped off toward her. Before she could let loose an arrow, he was already beside her, kicking the bow and arrow from her hand to clatter to the floor before planting his shoulder into her solar plexus, knocking her to the ground.

Meanwhile, Kokonoe was alarmed to find herself suddenly gagged and bound, but barely had time to process that before she was yanked violently backward by a force pulling the black tendrils. The next few seconds all happened so fast - someone catching her, a slightly cushioned fall that nonetheless jarred her, and a few seconds struggling - before she realized she was lying on top of Keynes, staring down at him. The researcher's brain was working fast, trying to come up with a solution to their predicament, but Keynes gave a grumble that made her stop short. Kokonoe glowered down at him, wondering how he could possibly be interrupting her concentration with such idiotic concerns. Fortunately, Alina intervened shortly after, slicing their restraints with her rapier and helping them to her feet. As soon as she'd regained her bearing, the researcher elbowed Keynes in the side with a muttered "idiot" before rescanning Jax again. Despite the exceptional bodily performance, his vitals were looking very bad, and dropping with every minute.

"The device I gave him... he's not wearing it," she whispered. "If he keeps fighting like this, he's going to die!"

Kokonoe's exclamation seemed to draw Jax's attention back to them. His poisonous golden eyes flashed, and he sent a Zio spell scorching toward the group. Kokonoe was the first to react, hurling a Mazio gem toward him, which burst into a spread of five lightning bolts. One of them canceled out Jax's, while the other four sizzled toward him. But without even a blink, Jax vaulted high into the air in a backflip, the bolts passing beneath him, before he landed with his feet against the wall behind him. Using it as a springboard, he vaulted toward the trio, crashing hard into Alina.

For a moment, it was almost reminiscent of the time they'd met - where he'd leaped into her to save her from the falling debris. But as they finished rolling across the ground, with Jax hovering above Alina, the end result couldn't be more different. For a moment, Jax paused as he stared down at the beautiful woman with her vivid red hair splayed around her like a crimson halo. Then, baring his teeth in a feral snarl, he reared his fist back and thrust it toward Alina's head, completely capable of caving it in with this one blow.

Satellite Tower

"Hate this world?" Pierrot let out a laugh as James struggled.

"I rather like this world. That's why I'm making it my new home." He said with a wicked grin, but it quickly faded as James' lightning spell hit Will, causing him to stop short and shake from the voltage. As quickly as it passed, Will continued to the controls though, seemingly unfazed by the electricity.

"I'd prefer you leave my toy alone..." Pierrot continued, his voice dipping dangerously low as the all too familiar light of the magic Adalia had used sprung to life over his hands. Stretching his arms forward, Pierrot shot the orbs at James and Rise.

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

On the other side of the room, Alina rolled beneath Jax as he pinned her to the ground, and she couldn't do anything but watch the fist come down. This was the end for her...

Or at least that's what she'd thought until the bolt from Keynes' crossbow caught Jax's cape, throwing the man off balance. The impact of his fist into the floor beside her send Jax spiraling to the side and off of her, but as she rose to her feet again, Alina could only look at him pleadingly. She couldn't do it. There was no way she could fight back, and yet, if she didn't all was lost...

Swallowing dryly, she reached for her rapier, but just as her fingers closed around it, a tendril of darkness gripped her wrist, pulling it from the sheath too quickly and sending it flying across the room to rest at Jax's feet. Alina's mouth fell open in shock as more of the tendrils wrapped around her legs, holding her down.

"Move!" Keynes called from across the room, and he'd already begun to dash towards her. He wouldn't make it though... Jax was faster, and this time, Keynes didn't have a crossbow bolt to stop him...


OOC: Let Illya deal with Jax this round guys.

Satellite Tower

Alex flew into a nearby wall, as he clenched his gut from the sudden impact from Jax.  With his strength and speed practically doubled, it felt like his entire body had shut off for a moment as he struggling to regain his footing despite the pain that numbed him when he tried to get up.

"Alina, no." Alex managed to utter, as he saw Jax yet again attack her like his brain was set to autopilot and Alina was the target.  Thankfully, Keynes was able to save her again, but before Alex could even react somehow she ended up bound at hsi feet yet again.

A magic circle quickly appeared in front of Alex, as he slowly got back on his feet as he looked at Jax with a grimace.  None of his spells would be of any use with Alina tied up like that, he was out of options and.... Wait he can still help the others.

"Let's see if he can work if he's blinded then." Alex thought to himself, as he quickly slashed the magic circle in front of him with a katana with the spell aimed at will and yelled fircely, "Hama!"

Satellite Tower

"Yeah, I'm fine now," James said and rubbed his wrists after Rise cut him lose. He stood up, glancing back at the battle between Alina, Keynes and Jax and winced. It was so unlike Jax to attack them with such a ferocity and force.

"Nothing seems to affect Pierrot," he whispered back to Rise. "And I'm more worried about what he forces Will to do. There's no telling what will happen if he manages to activate the cannon."

Momentarily distracted by looking at Will, he saw Pierrot's movement quite late.

"Watch out!" he called out when Pierrot decided to make them their next target, shooting orbs of pure magic at them.

Quickly James cast a Mazio spell to divert some of the orbs, knowing full well that his strength would not stand up to Pierrot.

Instinctively, he pulled Rise out of the way, putting himself between the danger and herself. The impact was still enough to push them over, sending them sprawling over the floor and James could feel the explosion at his back.

____________________________________________

Caltha Imperial Palace

Arya leaned against his strong chest when Raidon pulled her close. His touch gave her more comfort than any words could. "Yes, you are right. They will be fine," she replied softly and gazed towards the satellite tower. "I wish there was something else I could do but wait."

Then she closed her eyes and leaned in, simply to feel even closer to him.

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

Snow walked through the crowd with the little blonde girl on his shoulders. "What does your family look like? Do you remember where you lost them?" he asked.

"I don't know. There was so much confusion," she said, sounding like she was very close to tears again. Snow sighed but before he could think of anything comorting to say, she spoke again. "My mother is very beautiful," the little girl explained and Snow rolled his eyes. That was helpful.

"And my dad is very tall with dark hair. My brother too," she added and Snow breathed a little easier. At least that was something he could work with and his eyes scanned the crowd again.

Finally he spotted someone who could match the decription and pointed towards them. "How about over there?"

Caltha

Raidon wished he could say something to comfort Arya, even as held her close. But it wasn't his way to be hopeful or gentle. Still, if it was for Arya, he had to try.

"Trust in them," he said gruffly. "If they know people are counting on them, they won't give up."

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

Satellite Tower

If Jax was thrown off at all by his attack missing, he was incapable of showing it. Even as he spiraled off to the side, he threw out an arm to regain his balance and landed nimbly on his feet just as something clattered loudly on the floor and bumped against his foot. Hooking the toe of his boot under the handguard, he launched it up into the air and caught it swiftly before dashing toward the commander.

Keynes' booming voice as he shouted a warning, Alex's stunned whisper, Rise's terrified scream as Keynes' voice caught her attention to the situation, and Alina's pale and pleading face as she stood rooted to the spot...

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

Rise had not been watching Pierrot or Will at all, too mesmerized with horror at the sight of Jax stabbing Alina to notice Pierrot's attack. The next thing she knew James had jumped to protect her and the two fell to the floor before being blown back. James had covered her with her body, and his back took the worst of the explosion as they were thrown away painfully.

Rise knew she had to get back up, knew she had to stop Pierrot - and Will, by extension - from activating that satellite cannon. But all she could do was turn back to look for Alina and Jax, hoping against hope that nothing had gone wrong.

Satellite Tower

As Jax rushed towards her, the tendrils holding Alina in place froze where they touched her, and she twisted her arms violently, shattering them to free herself. If she moved now, she could still dodge the attack...

Kokonoe's words still rang in her ears though. Unchecked for much longer, Jax could die from the amount of energy the synth seraph was consuming. His body couldn't take much more, but how could she help him if she couldn't get ahold of him?

She was overcomplicating things...

A single tear ran down her cheek as Alina stood her ground, opening her arms wide to the man charging at her. He'd saved her, in more ways than one. Now, she would give that life back, return the time he had given her...

Alina winced as the rapier drove into her chest, but she braced her feet and didn't go down as Jax's shoulder followed the sword, crashing into her with his full force. Smiling weakly, she reached up to wrap her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her as she rested her cheek against his neck.

She couldn't breathe... And yet she forced the air into her lungs anyway. No one would ever know how much it cost her to hold onto him in that moment, how difficult it was for her to keep her muscles from giving out as she slowly turned her head and pressed her lips to his neck.

"No more running away..." She wispered weakly, leaving behind a bloodstain on his neck from where it ran between her lips. "For either of us..."

She winced again, reaching for her magic, which was quickly slipping away. Ice coated the floor around them and began to rise up their legs, encasing them together. It wasn't enough though... She was too weak, didn't have enough power left, and the ice only made it to their waists before her head drooped against his shoulder, darkness taking her.

Satellite Tower

Spoiler:

Jax held onto Alina's shoulder with an iron grip, his other hand still grasping the handle of her rapier as it lay embedded in her stomach. For a moment, the venomous yellow eyes met the brown ones, swimming with tears not of physical pain but of heartache, as he retracted the blade and tossed it aside.

He did not react to the hold of her arms around his neck, nor the wet feel of her tear-stained cheek on his neck. He remained immobile as her cold lips pressed against his skin, as the cold fingers of ice creeped numbly up his legs and her head sagged against his shoulder. It was not until her body, finally giving out, began to slump to the side that his arms moved to catch her, holding her tightly in strong arms against his body as a single word fell past his lips.

"Alina..."

The poisonous yellow of his eyes seemed to bleed out with the tears that began to cascade down his cheeks as he buried his face in the sea of her crimson hair. The rapier wound leaked against his body, staining his chest red with her blood.

"Not you," Jax whispered hoarsely, trembling violently as felt his heart gripped painfully in an iron vice that threatened to rent it in two. "I can't lose you too."

Miki... Jane... Alina... How many more lives would slip through his fingers? How many times would he have to experience this hopelessness?

Spoiler:

No more...

"No more," Jax echoed, clenching his teeth tightly to stifle the sobs that threatened to rack his body, his eyes screwed up to ebb the flow of tears.

This was it. It had to stop.

"I've had enough!" he bellowed, a sudden burst of static crackling the air violently around him, shattering the ice encapsulating his and Alina's lower halves. With shaking hands, he gently laid Alina's body to rest on the floor, her deathly pale skin a horrible stark contrast to her flaming red hair.

"Do you hear me?!" he screamed even more loudly as his fingers clawed at the red stain on his chest, wheeling around to stare hatefully at the one who'd enslaved him. "No more!"

A fresh wave of static broke through the air around Jax, scorching the ground around him as he balled his hands tightly into fists.

"I won't let you get away with this!" Jax yelled, his anger rising up like a boiling inferno. "This ends now, you sick bastard!!"

With a cry of rage, he punched his fist downward, just as a magic circle appeared in the air above to send the blindingly powerful bolt of lightning crashing down on his target. Even as Rise ran toward Alina, her feelings a terrible medley of heartache at the scene she'd just witnessed and horror at the sight of her gravely wounded friend, she couldn't help but pause and look in confusion as the Ziodyne dropped down from the sky.

Not on the demonic phantom of Pierrot... but on Will.

Satellite Tower

James watched stunned as Jax picked up Alina's rapier and went on to attack her. "What is he doing?" he whispered. "Jax doesn't use weapons."

They were too far away to interfere so James and Rise could only stand by and watch helplessly how Jax stabbed Alina. It appeared to wake Jax from the hold Pierrot had over him, inducing rage when he discovered what he had done. James and Rise rushed over to Alina and James pulled off his jacket and placed it gently under Alina's head.

"Rise," he said quietly, watching the former Commander grow more and more pale. "You're the only one who can save her." He looked up to see what grabbed her attention and froze in place.

Jax was attacking Will? Was he willing to sacrifice their friend to keep the satellite cannon from being activated? That didn't make sense at all and James felt confused, fear and anger mixing in his mind.

_______________________________________

Caltha, Palace Square

Arya opened her eyes when he spoke again. She hadn't really expected him to say anything else. She turned to look at him, allowing only small space between them.

"Thank you for being here for me," she said softly and her hand lifted to stroke his cheek lightly.

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

The girl tugged on his hair excitedly. "Yes, that's my daddy. Go go," she said. As soon as they were closer, she began to yell. "Daddy! Daddy!" she called out.

The man turned around. He had a worried look on his face, but lit up when he saw Snow with the little girl on his shoulders. "Darling, we were so worried about you," he said and approached them quickly. Snow lifted the little girl from his shoulders and set her down on the ground. Immediately she ran off and into the arms of her father.

She hugged him tightly and her voice was laced with tears. "I thought I would never see you again," she sobbed and the dark haired man stroked her hair. "It's all going to be okay," he said and turned to Snow. "I can't thank you enough," he added and extended his hand.

"No worries," Snow mumbled, a little embarrassed and shook his hand. "Ya'll take care now."

With one final wave, he turned around and headed back to Lizzy and the medical tent.

Satellite Tower

Lisa's vision swam into focus, and she realized that Jax's earlier assault had actually knocked her unconscious. Her head hurt something awful, but she sat up against the wall anyway, trying to get her senses back in check.

That was when her eyes found Jax and Alina in the center of the room, and she had to cover her mouth to keep from screaming. No... It couldn't be...

Jax seemed to have come back into himself, but it was already too late.

Keynes let out a pained sigh, unable to take his eyes off the pair of them, but he blinked in surprise when Jax broke from the ice and charged at Will.

Lightning crashed down where the man had been standing, still blinded from Alex's spell, and when the surge of static ceased, there was nothing left of him...

"I couldn't agree more."

The voice came from directly behind Jax, and a magic circle appeared on the man's chest.

"You've outlived your usefulness to me."

There was a crushing sound, and Jax toppled forward, revealing Pierrot behind him, holding a squirming, white creature in his hand. It seemed covered in blood already, but Pierrot crushed its center, causing it to flail uncontrollably, and then fall to the ground, motionless.

"You've all outlived your usefulness to me..."

Even though her hand still covered her mouth to prevent the scream, Lisa's eyes went wide. First Alina, now Jax... Pierrot made such light work of them...

The man, if he could even be called that at this point, laughed wickedly, and the sound came from everywhere. Keynes thought he'd imagined it, but in his periphery, he saw forms step from the shadows. Not just one or two, but over a dozen Pierrots stood around the group in the room.

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

Caltha

Lizzy sighed as she tied off the last bandage, and she wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, looking tired. "See if you can move it alright now." She told the woman, who slowly rotated her arm back and forth.

Convinced that everything seemed alright, Lizzy motioned for her to go and then leaned back against the wall behind her, sliding down to the floor. That had been the last of the wounded, and now that she wasn't busy anymore, the stress of the day was catching up to her.

Her muscles refused to move. So, she just continued to sit there, enjoying the first moment of peace she'd had in days.

Satellite Tower

Jax had barely a moment of relief before that odious voice he wished never to hear again spoke in his ear. Before he could do anything, the figure had used dimension magic with startling ease to pluck the synth seraph from inside his body and crush it within his hand.

It was as though a switch had been flipped off in his body. Long past the point of exhaustion, it simply gave out with the synth seraph no longer flooding his body with its toxic magic. Falling to his knees, he spat out a lump of blood, his vision swimming as he searched desperately for one last fleeting glimpse of Alina.

"Not like this," he thought, his eyes drained of tears as he stared helplessly at her. "If I had to see you one last time, I wanted it to be flushed and breathless from my kiss, not cold and lifeless from my own treacherous hands."

Despair, so terrible and tangible, welled up inside him and smothered his senses, his mind already gone by the time his body hit the floor.

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

After James had propped up Alina's head, Rise quickly knelt beside the former commander to assess the damage.

"Not good," she thought, wincing at the sight of the stab wound. Although Rise tried to focus her attention on Alina as the life drained from her body with every passing moment, she couldn't help but keep glancing up to see what was happening. To her shock and horror, Will seemed to evaporate completely under the force of Jax's spell, and Rise couldn't help but cry out in dismay.

Focus. Focus.

Her body shaking as she tried to hold her emotions in check, Rise held her hands out of Alina's body. A Diarahan spell might not be enough at this point, but she had to try. A Recarm spell would work, but... she wasn't sure if she was capable of healing magic on that level yet.

"I have to try. I can't let her die. For me, for Jax, for all of us. You can't die on us now, Alina."

Shutting her eyes, Rise muttered the name of the Recarm spell, and a golden light washed over Alina and covered her body in a shimmering aura. Rise tried to steady her breath as she felt the magic passing into Alina's body and searching for the wound. But before it could complete its work, Rise heard a frightnening sound and snapped her eyes open, staring wide in horror as Jax collapsed and that wicked spectre crushed what must be the synth seraph in his hands.

"Jax!" she screamed, her leg jerking as she made to stand up. She could feel the Recarm spell slipping away and froze, shutting off the pain. No, she couldn't lose the spell now. She didn't know if she could repeat it so easily, and Alina's life was on the line. Forcing herself back into a crouch, she expelled the magic once more, steadying the golden aura around Alina as the flesh healed itself.

"Come on, Alina. Wake up," she moaned, looking around in alarm as more and more ghastly masked figured began to appear around them.

Kokonoe, who had been missing during all the turmoil, quickly moved toward the others, backing away from the figures forcing her away from the corner of the room. But she didn't look as alarmed as the others. In fact, she seemed rather pleased with herself.

"Lambda, now!" she ordered, backing into Keynes. Just then, a sleek silver figure flew through the air above, hovering over them as the wing-like extensions from her back extended to their fullest.

"I told you, I would not allow you to proceed!" she said loudly, her eye shining a brilliant red as the sensors lit up on her wings. "Angelic Ray!"

She released a burst of powerful laser blasts, which vanished into portals that released them at unexpected angels, shooting up through the back of one figure and down through the head of another until the sky was lit up around Aegis was the stunning display of lights.

Satellite Tower

James put a hand on Rise's shoulder, encouraging her to go on. A golden glow enveloped Alina and the healing process began.

However just then Pierrot ripped the Synth Seraph from Jax's chest and James opened his mouth in a silent scream. It was a lot to take in, together with the fact that Will seemed to have disappeared completely after Jax's attack. The shock was still written on his face.

Rise had a better grip on her focus and finished healing Alina. "Go Rise. I know you want to help Jax," James said quietly. "I'll watch out for Alina."

Pierrot's laugh sounded all around them and James looked up and drew his katana in anticipation as the figures approached. Out of nowhere Kokonoe appeared and with her a Lambda doll, apparently under her control and a moment later bright lights lit up around them.

__________________________________________

Caltha, Palace Square

Snow jumped over the wall and landed lightly next to Lizzy. "I found her father," he said huskily and looked at Lizzy, who seemed rather tired. "Love, are you sure, you didn't overdo it?" he asked sounding actually more upset than concerned and slid down the wall until he sat next to her.

He pulled her close, until she could lean against his chest and his hands moved comfortingly up and down Lizzy's shoulders. His breath gently ran over he neck when he leaned in close, the heat from his body radiating towards her. With one hand, Snow pulled out his cigarettes and lit one up. Taking a drag, he let out a cloud of grey smoke, blowing it away from Lizzy. His other hand still gently ran up and down her neck.

Satellite Tower

First Alina, then Will, and now even Jax..... Everyone should have gotten out of here alive. Pierrot was taken out and the leader of the army had fallen too, but somehow this was still going on and people were dying left and right. He couldn't stand this, this had to end now!

"Stop this madness right now!" Alex yelled as a magic circle appeared in front of him as he held out his hand, the circle was a bright and light color that complemented the lasers that were flying around the room that Alex paid very little attention too.

"Absolution axis." Alex yelled, as he focused a beam of light on the Pierrot that he had saw harm Jax.

Satellite Tower

As light shot through the room, blasting through all the Pierrots, they broke into a fading chorus of laughter. The only one that made any effort to move was the one that had crushed Jax's synth seraph, and all he did was hold his hand up to Alex's spell, which disappeared into a magic circle midair, only to reappear directly behind Alex himself.

"Garu!" The blast of wind got to Alex first, blasting him aside and away from the spell, and Lisa let out a sigh of relief as the light faded, revealing that Alex had survived the blast.

Alina inhaled sharply, her eyes flying open when she realized that she actually could breathe again. Jax... She was laying down, which meant she'd been unsuccuessful in encasing them both in ice. So, where was Jax? Her eyes drifted through the room, barely registering anything until she saw him crumpled on the floor with Rise hovering over him.

No...

She groaned as she sat up, still feeling stiff, despite having been healed internally.

Pierrot seemed to have refocused his attention to Kokonoe and Lambda though, and Keynes stepped towards them, trying to put himself between the researcher and danger.

"What did you do to him?"

The amount of venom in Alina's voice actually drew Pierrot's attetion to her, and he greeted her with a wide smile, despite seeing her alive. "I healed him." Pierrot responded, kicking the worm-like creature at his feet towards her. "He had a parasite." He continued, laughing slightly. "A rather amusing one actually. You see, the proper name for that 'synth seraph' as he called it is a Legion. Ironic, isn't it?"

Alina didn't seem to be in the least bit amused as she reached for her rapier, and the smile on Pierrot's face finally faded. "Always so direct..." He said offhandedly. "All of you have always been so direct. It's truly been a bore."

Pierrot waved his hand through the air, and he disappeared to be replaced by Will, or at least what looked like Will. His eyes weren't right though. They were now completely black. "You know if you hadn't all been so useful in covering my movements, I would have killed you from the start..."

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

Caltha

Lizzy greeted Snow with a smile when he told her he'd found the girl's father, and as he slid down next to her, she rested her head on his shoulder. "On the contrary." She responded softly, enjoying the feeling of closeness. "I'm rather certain I did overdo it, but that is what the army trained me for."

She closed her eyes and made a contented sound as his fingers worked over the stiff muscles of her neck. "You're gonna have to stop that Eli..." Lizzy whispered against his neck. "Otherwise, I might fall asleep..."

Satellite Tower

Rise nodded gratefully to James and hurried to Jax's side. She was beginning to feel the exhaustion of the day's events catching up with the adrenaline fueling her, but she refused to allow that to stop her now. She knelt beside his fallen body and quickly tried to cast the Recarm spell for safe measure. She didn't know just how much internal damage ripping out that synth seraph had done, but it couldn't be good. His heartbeat felt quite weak.

"Damn it. Come on," Rise muttered, failing to produce the spell as she clasped her hands in front of her as though in prayer. Concentrating solely on the body in front of her, she felt the healing magic rush through her hands, which she extended over his body. Her worry now, however, was that the despair of what he'd witnessed beforehand would keep him from wanting to return to the realm of the living.

"Come on, Jax," she whispered desperately. "You have a whole life ahead of you with Alina. She loves you so much, and she's okay now. She's waiting for you. So wake up."

Jax suddenly moved with a start, his chest heaving as his heart began to pump furiously anew.

"You're okay," Rise cried with relief, but Jax only offered a fleeting nod of gratitude before moving in search of Alina. Upon seeing her alive and well, he exhaled in relief - which was unfortunately short-lived as their ghostly enemy seemed to take a more substantial incarnation in the form of Will.

"Don't you dare take his face!" Rise snarled, jumping to her feet. "You're not Will! Who are you?"

But Jax had put a hand on her shoulder, holding her back, his face set with a fierce scowl.

"No, Rise, I think he's finally done with the tricks now. Aren't you, you snake?" he growled. Rise couldn't understand what he was saying. But as she took in the fact that Jax, upon regaining himself, had immediately turned and attacked Will, the ugly truth loomed before her.

"No... no, that can't be," she whispered hoarsely. "You can't be him."

Kokonoe, who had felt an unfamiliar flutter of gratitude toward Keynes as he had attempted to shield her from their enemy's glare, tapped the side of her glasses again to try scanning him now. However, the results were startling, to say the least.

"What... what the hell are you?" she whispered, feeling a chill run down her spine.

Satellite Tower

James was relieved when Alina opened her eyes and sat up. "Thank goodness you're okay," he said. His eyes drifted over to where Jax woke up after Rise healed him and he looked a little more at ease. At least they managed to save those two.

Suddenly Pierrot's form seemed to blur and flow around and when it became solid again it was …familiar. Will. His thoughts couldn't make any sense of this for a few seconds until the pieces fell into place.

"Why?" he choked out. James took a deep breath. Right, they were still in danger and as long as Pierrot or Will or whatever he called himself was around, that wouldn't change.

James stood up and while Will kept his attention on Alina, he walked over the Kokonoe. "The satellite cannon. I don't know how far he managed to activate it," he whispered and kept staring at Will with a scowl.

______________________________________

Caltha, Palace Square

Snow sighed when she admitted to over doing it, but his frown softened into a light smile when she half-heartedly asked him to stop.

"Because falling asleep would be so bad for you," he replied playfully and finished his cigarette. Snow moved into a more comfortable position, leaning back against the wall. For now they couldn't really do anything but wait to hear from the others.

His hands kept massaging Lizzy's shoulders, reaching all the way up her neck and into her hair before slowly moving down again.

"You're allowed to rest sometimes, love," he whispered in Lizzy's ear. "What do you say we look for a less public space?" he asked, his husky voice taking an irresistible tone.

Satellite Tower

The light pierced down in a beam of righteous fury as to flew towards Pierrot, as Alex’s glare was as intense as the light that was flying in his foe’s direction.  Until the light vanished suddenly like it was just a gust in the wind to Pierrot.

“How the hell are you doing that!?” Alex yelled in annoyance, as he swung his katana out in front of him prepared to charge to man until he was suddenly smacked to the side as a gust of wind flung him across the room with him rolling on the ground away from the fiend, as he somehow still held his katana in his right hand.

“How did…” Alex muttered squinting from the pain that flew through his arm, as he noticed a giant scorch mark where he used to be standing.  The bastard didn’t just stop his spell; he redirected it behind him…

But Alex didn’t give it an even moment’s thought, as he quickly pushed himself back onto his feet to face Pierrot again but this time he took a much more similar appearance…

“So now you’re mocking us with the image of our friend that died?” Alex growled at the man, as he quickly glanced over at the cannon that the real Will had been on earlier, as he pointed his katana at it.

"I wonder what would happen if I broke it.." Alex thought to himself.

Satellite Tower

Will laughed loudly as all eyes were turned on him, looking pleased with their collective reaction.

"So many questions..." He mused, looking thoughtful before raising a hand towards Kokonoe. There was a snapping sound as lightning suddenly arced to her glasses, destroying the sensor in them.

"I'm... Complicated." He responded to her before turning his attention to both James and Alex.

Keynes made a strangled sound and ran to see that the researcher was okay while Will continued.

"I believe the two of you are asking questions under a large misconception. Your 'friend', Will, didn't die. In fact, he never lived. He was merely the persona required to live an unhindered life in this shell of a body, until my plans could come to full fruition." He paused for a moment, raising an eyebrow at Alex. "And I wouldn't recommend doing what you're thinking of doing. You see, although none of you know me very well, I do know all of you."

Lisa felt a shiver run up her spine when she thought of all the times Will had helped her during their short journey. Had it all been a lie?

"You see, my plan has already succeeded." His harsh words raked over the group. "It's just a matter of waiting for the end to arrive, and I'm afraid that if you break that now, you'd only succeed in killing the entire world. My plan doesn't call for such sacrifice. You see, I need for the planet itself to survive so that I can inhabit it."

There was a crunching sound, and Will's fingers distorted, extending into razor-sharp claws, but before anyone had the time to comment on it, he had already raised his hand towards Alex. A magic circle formed in the air, and large ice shards shot from it, aimed to impale Alex.

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

Caltha

"Mhh..." Was the only response Lizzy offered as Snow continued massaging her shoulders, and she slowly sank further into his chest, feeling her eyes start to drift down. Only his breath on her ear brought her somewhat back to consciousness, and she looked up at him with sleepy eyes, letting a slight grin spread across her face.

"Why do I feel as though all this talk about me getting rest is just talk?" She asked playfully, reaching up to wrap her fingers around Snow's neck and pull him down so she could kiss him on the chin.

"I've heard there's a room with some dense foliage in the front section of the palace. Bet no one would bother us there." She shifted to the side, putting her back to the wall again. "Help me up?"