Genesis Crisis: Resurgence IC

- Marcus -

As the world swirled around him, every muscle in Marcus' body protested from the strain he'd put them under. Something touched his shoulders, and he jerked away from the contact with a pained groan, only to realize a moment later that Lenka's legs had entered his field of vision. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he raised his head to get a better look at her, but he still couldn't hear anything besides his own heartbeat drumming in his skull. So, whatever words passed through her lips were lost on him.

"Be fine in a minute." Marcus choked out the words, forcing his face into something that at least resembled a smile. Even that hurt. Considering the world was still stained in shades of red, he might have also been lying to her. Who was to say though? Maybe that was natural for having pushed his overlimit this far.

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- Alina -

"Thank you." Alina said to Nadenka, testing her weight on the leg that had previously been cut. Over the other woman's shoulder, she caught a glimpse of Jax, and her heart soared for a moment. He was okay. A little beaten up, but that was nothing new. He pulled off the scruffy look fairly well.

Her gaze drifted to the Blackcape for a moment before shifting to the two uninvited guests. "Do you have a countermeasure for the injection?" The question was addressed to Maxim, but her eyes never left Kurik. Even the already frigid air around them was warmer than her tone, which was icily calm, all things considered.

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- Lisa -

"Stupid Alex..." Lisa spat the words as she gripped snow between her fingers, trying to reorient herself. "You know how much I hate traveling this way."

As her stomach protested, she took in the scene around them. No buildings. No civilians. If not for the writhing form of her friend turned into a monster, the landscape around them might have been considered serene. That aside, it did provide her with an opportunity that she didn't normally get.

Inhaling the cold air, Lisa closed her eyes, letting the wind whip around her. Light spread from her fingers through the snow as the air currents became even stronger, pulling the driving snow into a shifting vortex around her.

Rising to her feet, she began walking towards the Blackcape with slow steps. Rather than going out, the light of the circle beneath her continued to expand as she walked, never letting her leave its light. With each step, the swirling snow became more erratic.

"Luke!" She glared at the only person between her and Alex.

"Move!" As the word left her lips, she raised her right hand over her head, fingers spread wide.

The torrent around her fell eerily silent, like the calm before the storm. Even the snow had ceased to fall, hanging suspended in the dead air.

"Gust Axis." Lisa brought her hand down, and the air, which had been temporarily held at bay rushed forward, plowing up the snow in its path as it traveled towards the Blackcape. Her goal wasn't to shred it though. No, the force of this spell was meant entirely to push the massive creature over and trap it against the ground.

Caltha - Palace Gates

- Lambda -

Lambda knelt beside Annabelle, her expression gentle.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "I also knew a little girl who died because of a faulty government."

She may not be Millie, but Millie was a part of her in many ways. She understood better than most people this kind of injustice.

"You may not believe this, but Alina Grey and her councilors are trying to do their best for the country and its people. I know you may think it's too late, but... Alina will listen. I hope some day you can speak to her personally."

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Wastes of Arusia

- Maxim -

Rise shivered, hugging herself as the wind blew snow across them. Beside her, James tried his com, but couldn't receive anything.

"Your coms won't work. Not out here," Maxim said.

Kurik and Belo naturally wondered why the Blackcape would take them here, but Maxim shook his head. He couldn't be entirely sure, but he did wonder...

"It's possible that in some primal part of his mind, Alex is seeking some form of escape... and he attaches the idea of Arusia with his current status."

Alina approached them, her eyes as cold as the snow surrounding them. "Do you have a countermeasure for the injection?"

Maxim was too tired and broken to refuse cooperation, even if he weren't highly alarmed by the Blackcape's development. "For the Redcapes, yes. But Alex's Unified Strain makes things... complicated. With the way it's developing, I'm not sure if the Blackcape's form can be undone."

"No..." Rise covered her mouth. It couldn't be. There had to be a way to save Alex.

Luke was the first to recklessly charge in, but before he could do much, Lisa forced him aside and unleashed her strongest spell against the Blackcape.

"Gust Axis." Lisa brought her hand down, and the air, which had been temporarily held at bay rushed forward, plowing up the snow in its path as it traveled towards the Blackcape.

The Blackcape was blasted backward along the ground with a horrible screech. Rise raced up to Lisa, raising her fans but hesitating. What could they possible do? How would they stop this?

"We're going to need magic to stop that thing," Jax said, his face grim. "Strain users, stay in back and lob your best spells at it. You two hotheads-" He grabbed Marcus and Luke. "Help me form a defensive perimeter. If it gets too close, we knock it back."

"I think you're forgetting someone."

Jax turned as Alexei, Ehlana, and Belo moved stand beside him. He blinked at them, not sure what to expect, but saw Raidon nod encouragingly at him. Well, if Raidon could trust them, he would too.

"It's coming!" Alexei warned.

The Blackcape scrambled upward, screeching and flailing its tendrils. Then, in a tremendous burst of speed, it charged for the group. As it ran, several magic circles appeared around it. From each of them burst an Agidyne spell, which hurtled at the group.

"Fire Amp!" Rise cast. "Red Wall!"

The spells crashed against her barrier, but the power was enough drop Rise to the ground on impact.

Maxim watched all this, struggling to his feet. He wanted to warn Kurik, to give him a chance to escape. But in this tundra, it might be impossible to find it. Who knew how close they really were to the entrance. And at this point, would they even receive Kurik like they once did after what Maxim had done?

"Kurik..." he whispered. What he done? The person he cared about most was going to die... because of him.

Caltha – Palace Gates

- Annabelle & Lorrin -

Annabelle closed her eyes. The last thing she had expected was empathy.

“I –“ she began with a thick voice, but was suddenly interrupted.

“Hey, why’d you tell her that story?” Lorrin slowly stirred. He was still exhausted and hurting. “We’ve been working together for years, but you never told me…” He almost sounded like he was moping.

Slowly he sat up only to catch a punch in the shoulder from Annabelle.

He groaned and rubbed his shoulder.

“What was that for?” he mumbled.

“That’s for eavesdropping,“ Annabelle said coldly and wiped her eyes dry. “And for almost dying,” she added and stood up.

“Now go heal yourself,” she said, her voice regaining her original stern tone. “You’re still a Captain. We still have the duty to care for our soldiers, even if they are defeated. The last thing I want, is another battle when the Grand Army arrives.”

“You know that’s not how magic works…” Lorrin murmured and gave her a half-grin. “My reserves are still depleted.”

However, at her words, he got to his feet and straightened up noticeably and nodded in agreement.

“There have been enough casualties.”

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Caltha – Council Chamber

- Kurik -

Kurik was surprised to feel the effects of a Dia spell on him. However, he was grateful that it also reached Maxim.

Carefully, he helped his friend up. The Blackcape was charging in for an attack with enough force to wipe out Aegis’ first line of defense.

He began to realize that they couldn’t win this anymore and despair set in.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t succeed, Maxim,” he said, not caring what happened behind him with the Blackcape and Aegis. “I tried so hard to justify the trust you placed in me, but in the end, I failed.”

He placed his hands on Maxim’s shoulders and hung his head.

“I wanted to build a future with you for Arusia…”

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- Ehlana -

“Yeah, I hope you weren’t planning on having all the fun without us,” Ehlana said to Jax.

Her face turned serious when the Blackcape charged at them.

“Fan out!” she called out to Alexei and Belo. “Target the spell circles and nullify any that you can.”

True to her word, she charged to the left and dove under the first wave of Agidyne spells towards the Blackcape. When more spell circles appeared she was already within reach. Her batons crashed down on the spell circle and shattered it before it could release a spell.

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- Lenka -

Lenka gently took Marcus’ hand in her own. It seemed they’d just have to wait it out.

Unfortunately, there was no time for that as the Blackcape charged at them, agitated after Lisa’s spell.

At Jax’ words, she stood up and grabbed her whip and walked up next to Rise. “Voltic Axis!” she cast decisively at the Blackcape.

James was already at Rise’s side, helping her up. He looked at his shaking hands. This might be the moment he was regretting his decision to let his strain go the most. He couldn’t fight like Jax or the Arusians and he sure couldn’t use magic anymore.

His eyes fell on the Blackcape again. This was his friend. Alex. And Alex would do anything to save them. So he would too.

Belobog

"Got it!" Replied to Ehlana and even though it was dangerous situation, there was a smile on his face. To fight with his comrades, to fight for Arusia together, that was a sensation that he had missed the most.

Well, his smile did not last long as Blackcape continued to create bombardment of spells, the spell destroying his knife continue its work, but there won't be no end to this unless that monster, no, Alex had been put to stop.

Then a little guilt sink in, it was him who had helped in creating such monster.... Can he be forgiven by Aegis after all this?

Belobog shook his head, whatever the consequences, at this time he had to do so that everyone can see another day, and he won't let his union with his comrades short lived.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Luke

Luke stopped as Lisa entered the vision of Alex and himself. And later he had been asked by Jax to help others to be protected the by powerful spells that had been fired by Alex, Luke nodded.

Perhaps it was not his place to wake up Alex, but it was Alex' friends turn to give him a howling to come back to his senses.

"Alright, you can count on me!" Said Luke to Jax and he ready himself to knock spells back to where it come from and also to cast protection if needed.


_________________________________________________________________________________

Nadenka

Nadenka was not sure why, but as Nadenka eyes looked upon Blackcape, tears were dropping. Was she feeling sad? Or was it her strain?

She could not tell, but she knew what she had to do to. She had to reach him. The blackcape roar's sounded more like a cry, not just anger, but there was a sadness as well.

Was it even a 'blackcape'? She was not so sure, but she knew in her heart that she had to reach him.

"Cover me and give me an opening." Said Nadenka, loud enough for others to hear it out.

- Alina -

Muttering a curse under her breath, Alina turned towards the charging Blackcape. This was Alex they were talking about. For this, more than anything else, Maxim would pay when the dust settled. Raising her rapier, she channeled the cold around her, forming a new circlet upon her brow.

"Ariana, with me! Between the two of us, we can slow him down and confuse him." She glanced to Jax, giving him a nod before heading straight towards the Blackcape. The air around her howled, swirling as the snow picked up.

Alina refused to accept that Alex was beyond help, but she knew that reaching him was beyond her own capabilities. The best thing she could do for the others was distract the Blackcape while they worked out a plan.

Flicking her rapier, she forced herself to throw her magic at Alex. "Mabufula."

The ground beneath the Blackcape erupted in a shower of ice shards, which would both cut into its flesh and also obscure its vision while Ariana prepared a whiteout.

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- Marcus -

Biting down hard, Marcus managed to muffle the scream that tried to escape when Jax pulled him to his feet. Instead, it came out sounding like a whining exhale. He could still hear his heartbeat pounding in his ears as he planted his feet. Falling over wasn't an option when Jax let him go. No, falling over would hurt, and he already hurt everywhere. Standing alone was enough to make his legs feel as if they were on fire.

He wouldn't give in now though. If the Blackcape made it this far, the others would be in danger...

Lenka would be in danger.

Even if she never felt the same way about him, Marcus wouldn't let the Blackcape get to her. He wouldn't let it get to any of them.

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- Lisa -

"Rise!" Lisa took a step towards her friend as she hit her knees, but James was already on the scene.

Turning her eyes back towards Alex, she fought for an answer. There had to be something they could do, some way they could help their friend.

Her eyes widened at Nadenka's voice behind her, and Lisa turned to look at the solution to their problem. Of course!

"How do you feel about heights?" Lisa asked as she gripped the woman's arms, just below her shoulders. "Because if you can handle it, I can drop you right on top of him."

Wastes of Arusia

- Maxim -

Alexei could see Ehlana and Belo in action around him, but he couldn't afford to divide his attention. Every second there was a new spell circle manifesting for him to smash apart with his baton before two more took its place.

The silver-haired man, Jax... Alexei liked that one. The man was like a force of nature. With just his fists and feet, he would batter the Blackcape away, trying to keep it corralled so it never got too close to the spellcasters.

Lenka's Voltic Axis struck the Blackcape and sent it tumbling back. Rise raised her fans and followed it up with her own spell.

"Magma Axis!" she called.

The Blackcape was encircled in a sphere of explosions that momentarily blinded everyone. Rise gasped, fear shooting through her. She hadn't gone too far, had she? Hurt Alex?

Suddenly, The Blackcape burst out of the flames and charged. Ariana joined Alina at her side, tapping into her Overlimit to amplify the snowstorm around them into a blinding whiteout. Lost and confused, the Blackcape barreled blindly forward.

Onto its first victim.

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

Maxim gave Kurik a pained smile. "You didn't fail, Kurik. I did. All my plans, all my calculations... they weren't enough. Not compared to them."

He glanced over to where Aegis was battling the Blackcape, valiantly struggling like some kind of legendary heroes fighting a primordial beast.

"Arusia... Kaddath... there won't be anywhere for us now," he whispered. If they didn't die out in this wasteland, anyway.

Even so, maybe Kurik could make it back to Arusia. He could lie... say that Maxim had manipulated him and forced him into this. Maybe there was a chance he-

The snow suddenly whipped up, blinding them. Maxim peered into the snow, trying to make out what was happening.

Then the Blackcape thundered into view, heading right for them. Maxim couldn't do anything but stare in paralyzed fear. The next moment, however, he was being thrown aside as the Blackcape roared past. Maxim whirled around, trying to find Kurik, when he saw him. Ensnared in the Blackcape's tendrils.

"Kurik!" he screamed.

The tendrils retracted, dragging Kurik against its body. Like tar, he sunk into its flesh, gasping and struggling, before vanishing from sight.

All power drained from his body. Maxim slumped to his knees, eyes vacant. Kurik... was gone.

Because of the monster he created.

Wastelands of Arusia
- Kurik -

“Don’t lose hope, friend,“ Kurik replied. “I –”

Before he could finish his sentence, Maxim’s expression changed to fear.

Kurik whipped around to see, having ignored the Blackcape until now, but it was too late. In the next moment he was ensnared in the Blackcape’s tendrils.

He tried to reach his weapons, but to no avail.

He struggled, trying to free his hands, but couldn’t find any leverage.

The tendrils wrapped around him, tighter and tighter, dragging his body back. Just when he expected to be crushed against the Blackcape, he saw the blackness closing in.

Simultaneously his brain registered that somehow the Blackcape was absorbing him while his eyes saw the panic stricken expression from Maxim before the darkness swallowed him up.

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

- Lenka, James & Ehlana -

Ehlana had to back off when High General Grey suddenly decided to go on the offense against the Blackcape.

Muttering a curse under her breath, she jumped back to avoid getting caught by the ice shards that erupted from the ground followed by a snowstorm.

However that didn’t stop the Blackcape as it stormed forward and suddenly, to her astonishment, ensnared and absorbed Kurik.

Lenka watched as well, her eyes wide. What was this? What was happening? She stumbled a few paces back, shaking slightly. Her eyes shifted between the Blackcape and Maxim, who looked first panicked, then desperate and finally sad.

She didn’t want to, but she felt a tang of sympathy for him.

Luke

Luke muttered curse as he went towards Maxim’s side, but he was too late in stopping Blackcape from absorbing Kurik.

“If you want to bring your friend, snapped out of it and think about something what can be done to blackcape!” Luke shouted, “You do know something about those creatures better than we do right?” He said to Maxim, “Let’s bring your friend back.”

___________________________________________________________________

Belobog & Nadenka

Belobog was stunned to see what happened to Kurik, but he didn’t stop his body in fear. He felt much anger in him than he realized. Perhaps, he too saw Kurik as a brother in arms...

But he voiced out concern, “Are we sure about going to let Nadenka get close to that thing?”

“Trust me, i know my limit when i see one.” Nadenka said to them and she gave a nod to Lisa, “Go ahead, I never been afraid of heights”

Before she was going to be lifted off, her hand gently touched Alexei’s cheek, “Stay strong, I will be back.” Said Nadenka

“Whenever you are ready!” Said Nadenka, determined to end the terror of blackcape.

- Alina -

Tiny fragments of obsidian rained around her as the fallout from Rise's spell froze in midair. The combined cold wave of both Alina and Ariana's overlimits was enough to make Alina herself shiver, but even the bone-deep chill didn't seem to slow down Alex in his current state. It only served to confuse his movements as he stumbled about in the whiteout.

Twisting her free hand in the air, she brought down giant ice pillars from the sky in an attempt to hold the Blackcape still. "Mabufula!"

This needed to end soon. Between the battle with Kurik before and now this, her magic reserves were beginning to run out.

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- Lisa -

"Good answer."

Light spread from beneath Lisa's fingertips, covering Nadenka's shoulders. She released the woman and pat her once between the shoulder blades, where another circle spread.

Turning away from the exchange between Nadenka and Alexei, she surveyed the battlefield. With the tendrils shooting out everywhere, it was difficult to determine where the Blackcape's main body was. To get Nadenka in range, she needed an opportunity.

A moment later, Alina presented her with one. "Good luck!" Lisa yelled as she twisted her body, throwing her arm away from her torso, as if tossing something. As she watched on, Nadenka soared over her head, going much faster than any of the objects Lisa typically moved around this way. The window would be small. There wasn't any time to waste.

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- Marcus -

Monster.

Despite the pounding it had taken from various spells, the Blackcape continued to shuffle towards them. While he was happy that Alex was still unharmed, it was concerning that their best efforts seemed to do nothing in the way of slowing him down.

The red haze that had once covered his field of vision had contracted, now fringed in black, which blotted out his periphery. It was hard to miss the Blackcape's towering form though. So, his vision wasn't a primary concern right now. Marcus just wished that the pounding of his heartbeat in his ears would go away so that he could hear what was going on around him.

Wastes of Arusia

- Ariana -

Ariana gasped as Kurik was taken from them in an instant. It wasn't that she had no concept of the danger they were in, but to see it happen so suddenly, so completely...

In the moment she froze, Alina broke away from her to pin the Blackcape in place with an ice spell. Shaking off her shock, Ariana rushed to her side and conjured as well.

"Mabufudyne!" she cast, sending another show of icicles down to further wall the Blackcape in.

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- Alexei -

Alexei stared at the Blackcape, stunned for the first time in a combat situation. This monster... it was like nothing they'd dealt with. It had taken Kurik right before their eyes.

And now, Nadenka wanted to get close to it.

Belo tried to protest, but Nadenka fearlessly brushed aside all concern. She touched his cheek, and Alexei covered her hand with his. He wanted to tell her not to, that it was too risky, but her strength and selflessness was what he had admired about her in the first place. He wouldn't take that from her, no matter how much it scared him.

"Do it," he told her, squeezing her fingers.

Then she was gone, being lifted into the air by Lisa. Well, he wasn't going to just sit here and wait.

"Come on," Jax said, nudging him forward. "If that thing gets loose from the ice, we need to keep it from moving away before she can do her thing."

"Heh, don't steal my idea," Alexei replied, grinning as he brushed past Jax toward the Blackcape, Jax hot on his heels.

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- Maxim -

Maxim looked up as Luke shouted at him, trying to offer encouragement like he always seemed to. Maxim ignored him, hollow-eyed as he stared at the Blackcape.

Bring him back... how could he bring Kurik back? He was gone. The Redcapes were one thing, but this Blackcape... Maxim had long ago lost his grasp on what it was.

Luke rushed off to help, and Maxim dropped his gaze. As he stared at the snow, listening distantly to the chaos, he caught sight of the whistle he used to control the Redcapes. It might work...

And even if it killed him, he wouldn't let the thing that took Kurik from him go free.

Arusia Wastelands

- Ehlana-

"That girl is even crazier than you," Ehlana said to Alexei when their paths crossed on the way towards the Blackcape.

She moved around opposite from Jax and Alexei and began her attack on the Blackcape anew. With ease she moved around the icicles raining down on the Blackcape and attacked the various spell circles that appeared around the Blackcape to keep it from attacking theri allies.


- James -

James shook off his shock. The Blackcape was becoming more and more serpent like and it brought back disturbing memories.

He stepped up to Maxim.

"He was your friend, wasn't he?" he asked, his tone still disapproving of Maxim. "Are you just gonna scarifice him too? Or are you gonna stand up and do something about it?"


- Lenka -

While Lenka was waiting for an opportunity to attack, she watched Nadenka being launched through the air and land on the Blackcape. She lowered her hands. Well now certainly wouldn't be a good idea to launch another electric attack on the Blackcape.

Instead she let her eyes wander to see where everyone else was at.

Luke

Luke punched away incoming strain attack from the blackcape, protecting Maxim from its harm. Sure, Maxim was an enemy, but he couldn’t leave the guy be the target of spells. Heck, he won’t let him die without paying for what he did.

James joined him in encouraging the guy to snap out of it. Hopefully, the nagging helped Maxim to do something about the blackcape situation.

____________

Belo & Nadenka

While Belo quickly and steadfastly destroying the strain circles he could reach in time, he saw the woman being lifted up and flew towards the blackcape. The woman steadily covered herself in light as she dropped to the blackcape. “Does she really know what she’s doing?” Belobog couldn’t help himself, but muttered some words of uncertainty.

As for Nadenka, as she started to lift off from the ground, she concentrated her strain, waking every power within her. Herself was begin to cover with light, and as she descended towards blackcape, she was ready to send her powers flowing through it.

“Try to absorb this!” She shouted as she made it through the speedy fall and landed on Blackcape, she put her hands on the raging blackcape’s black skin. The light from Nadenka’s hand started to spread its light to blackcape, how long will it take, Nadenka wasn’t sure. However, Nadenka was willing to do everything in her power to stay close to it. “You are not alone in this, wake up from your nightmare.” Nadenka said it softly, hoping it will reach the man who Aegis are fighting to bring it back home.

- Alina -

As Ariana's ice pillars joined hers, Alina focused more magic into the spell, causing the ice to spread and fuse the cage together into a single block. Alex's appearance had become eerily similar to the monstrosity of Leviathan, and as Nadenka descended towards Alex, she silently prayed that they weren't too late.

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- Lisa -

Focusing on the ever-shifting tendrils, Lisa manipulated the air currents around Nadenka, darting her one way and then another, until she was in range of Alex.

"Please work..." She whispered as the woman reached out to put her hands on the Blackcape. "I've still got to beat some sense into you, idiot. So, you better come back."

Biting her lip, Lisa continued to focus on the situation before her. If the Blackcape reacted badly, she would need to pull Nadenka to safety.

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- Marcus -

Maybe this would end it. With the creature pinned by ice, Nadenka would have a chance to reach out and touch it. Marcus didn't know exactly what she planned to do, but Lisa seemed to think it would work. That was enough for him.

Besides, it hurt to breathe right now. His body had recovered somewhat from Kurik's spell, or at least he hoped that was the case. Rather than the constant, throbbing pain in his limbs, Marcus could barely feel them at all now. They just felt "heavy". That was the best word he could come up with for the sensation.

He couldn't let his guard down though. Until Alex was himself again, Marcus needed to be prepared to defend the others. His gaze drifted to Alexei, Luke, and Jax. All of them had rushed forward to help pin down the Blackcape. If it got past them somehow, he would be the only thing between the Blackcape and the girls.

Wastes of Arusia

- Rise -

As Nadenka landed on the Blackcape's back, everyone froze and collectively held their breath in anticipation. Nadenka's Overlimit seemed to pour light onto the Blackcape, and its body seemed to suddenly ripple with color like a kaleidoscope. It shrieked in agony, its form slowly seeming to revert further from the more serpentine form and closer to its original Blackcape state. For a moment, within the ear-piercing scream, Rise could almost swear she heard a voice. Alex's voice.

"...sorry..."

Then its flailing tendrils caught Nadenka and hoisted her into the air. Her Overlimit broke, and the Blackcape roared as it raised its head up as though to swallow her whole.

Then a shrill, piercing noise rang out. The Blackcape writhed and turned to face Maxim, who pressed against his wrist mount to let out the terrible whistle. Dropping Nadenka into the air, the Blackcape turned and charged for Maxim like a speeding train. He tried to dodge aside, but one of the tendrils caught him and send him hurtling over the edge of the embankment, disappearing out of sight.

"Nadenka!" Alexei ran forward, catching Nadenka just before she reached the ground. He lost his footing and tumbled, sending them both rolling through the snow. The Blackcape bore down on them, still unable to get their bearings, when Rise sent a hail of fireballs to pelt it and drive it back.

"It's not enough," she said, eyes blurring with tears. "Nadenka's Overlimit is key, but we need something else. If we can use that opening to break though somehow and talk to Alex..."

Then it came to her, and her grip on her fans slackened. She glanced at James, knowing he wouldn't like it.

"....I'm going to let it absorb me like it did Kurik," she said to the others, averting her eyes from him. "Maybe I can reach him from inside. When Nadenka uses her Overlimit again, maybe I can use that opening to break him out."

Unsurprisingly, most of the looks she got were shock.

"That's... that's crazy," Ariana said, eyes wide. She glanced from Rise to Alina for reassurance. "What if... how do you know it'll work?"

Alexei shook his head. "Brave girl. Nadenka, do you think you can do it again if we give you an opening?"

Jax merely locked eyes with Rise, and after a moment's hesitation, he nodded. "We'll give you as long as we can for you to reach him. When we're at our limit, we'll have Nadenka try her Overlimit again. Make sure you're ready by then."

Rise bit her lip and nodded. She looked over to Luke, feeling terrible for having to ask this.

"Luke, you don't have to feel obligated to come. I shouldn't even ask. But I think if anyone can help me reach him, to help him remember what he used to believe, it's you. Will you come with me?" she asked, holding out her hand.

Nadenka & Belobog

Belobog just like everyone else saw Nadenka flying to mid air, horrified what might happen next. However, what Maxim did disturbed it and just in time to prevent what might have happened. Alexei ran towards falling Nadenka, and Belobog did his best to cover for his comrade. His eyes searching for Maxim who had been thrown away by Blackcape.

Nadenka thought she was done for as she was thrown off to air, but she could smell and feel the warmth that she had missed most after some tumbling, it was Alexei.

She smiled back at Alexei, and she nodded. "You know i am persistent in saving lives right? There's no way I am going to give up now." Said nadenka, with confidence and regained strength.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Luke

Luke could not help Maxim as the blackcape came rushing faster than he could react. He could only hope that Maxim survived that.

But he was sure he heard Alex voice, 'Sorry'. That only made him to be sure, Alex was there.

Then Rise decided to do something crazy, she was going to allow Blackcape to absorb her and she asked him to accompany her.

Luke smiled confidently, "Even if you didn't ask me, I would have done so as well." Said Luke. "Let's bring him home." Said Luke ready to be absorbed by Blackcape, and held her hand. He added, "And let's come back home as well, you have someone that needs you here, too."

Wasteland of Arusia

- James -

James stared at Rise in shock. However, one look into her face told him that she was dead set on it.

He cast his eyes down, unable to look at her or watch it happen. His hands tightened into fists. What if she never came back?

At the same time, he knew, Rise wouldn't change her mind. So best he could do for her was to just shut up. He couldn't voice his encouragement, but calling out in disapproval and pleading with her to stay weren't going to help the situation either.


- Ehlana -

Ehlana was standing off to the side, but she was well aware of the sudden change in the situation. There people really were a crazy bunch.

She took a deep breath and stepped forward.

"No time to waste then," she said and tensed in anticipation of the Blackcapes reaction.

- Lisa -

As the tendrils wrapped around Nadenka, Lisa pulled her back. It's grip was stronger than she expected, but a sudden explosion of wind around Nadenka's torso would have been enough to dislodge her. In the end, that wasn't required, as a sudden, sharp sound caused it to release her.

Seeing that Alexei was already running for her, Lisa didn't stop Nadenka's descent, instead she only softened her fall. Apparently, Alexei hadn't accounted for that though, and the lighter than normal Nadenka caused him to miss a step. As the two of them tumbled and rolled forward, Lisa shook her head in a combination of frustration and amusement. "Way to ruin the moment, Romeo."

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

- Alina -

Keeping her eyes on the Blackcape, Alina put her free hand on Rise's shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "As your commanding officer, I'm strongly advising you not to do anything rash." Alina resisted the urge to smirk at her own words. How many times had one of her commanders said something similar to her over the years?

Glancing in Rise's direction, she gave the woman an understanding look. "But as your friend, I won't make that an order. Do what you need to do, but you better get this right. I don't want to lose any more friends than I have to today."

With another squeeze, she pulled her hand away and turned back to the Blackcape.

Wastes of Arusia

- Rise -

Luke smiled confidently at Rise's request. "Even if you didn't ask me, I would have done so as well. Let's bring him home." He took her hand and added, "And let's come back home as well, you have someone that needs you here, too."

"Thanks," she replied, smiling and squeezing his hand. At his last words, however, her smile faded, and she glanced over her shoulder at James. Her heart throbbed, and she tore her eyes away from his lingering gaze. If she waited any longer, she wouldn't be able to bring herself to do it. To risk never coming back to him.

Alina's hand settled on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "As your commanding officer, I'm strongly advising you not to do anything rash. But as your friend, I won't make that an order. Do what you need to do, but you better get this right. I don't want to lose any more friends than I have to today."

Rise nodded and steeled herself. "Let's go."

Still holding tight to Luke, Rise rushed forward toward the Blackcape. It screeched and rounded on the group, charging right for them. Its tendrils lashed out, and Rise braced herself and grasped on as they ensnared her.

"Alex... we're coming."

Dragged forward, she and Luke were drawn into the Blackcape's form. It felt like cold mud being dragged across their flesh, and Rise took a last gasp of breath before they were pulled into darkness.

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

Alexei glanced at Ehlana, reading her expression in an instant. He couldn't help but smirk, even in these circumstances. Yes, they really were a crazy bunch. But he was starting to like that about them.

Turning to Nadenka, he put a hand on her face. "Be careful, all right?"

He nodded at Lisa, entrusting her care to the wind user, and rushed off to join the others.

"All right, everyone," Jax said. "Let's beat that Blackcape into submission and give Rise and Nadenka the opening they need."

Luke Jaron

Luke followed Rise's lead, determined to bring the man home and he promised himself to bring Rise back as well.

No matter the cost.

Luke, too, gapped for the breath, as he felt the black mud started to cover him. Ready to bring Alex home and perhaps get him out of his nightmare for good.

_______________________________________________________________________________
Nadenka & Belobog

Belobog quickly swiped the area for Maxim, hoping that he was still alive. He was not so sure why, but he just could not leave him be.

Nadenka held Alexei's hand that was on her face, "You, too." Said Nadenka sending her warmth to his hand, and smiling. She looked at blackcape, her eyes determined to do her best.

Wastelands of Arusia

- James & Lenka -

James forced himself to keep his eyes on Rise as long as he could see her. Finally she and Luke were completely absorbed by the Blackcape.

She had to come back.

Determined his grip tightened around his weapons. Sure, he couldn't use his strain anymore, but he would all he could do keep the Blackcape busy while Rise and Luke tried their best to save Alex.

"Hey! Snap out of it," Lenka's voice pulled his focus away.

James looked up and took a deep breath.

"I know you're worried, but you can't space out like that. You know she's gonna come back," Lenka continued chattering on. "She's stubborn. If anyone can beat some sense into Alex, then it's her and Luke."

"Trust them, even though I know that's sometimes hard for you."

James nodded. Somehow Lenka had found words that sent his focus in the right direction.

"I understand," James said. "You just keep throwing those spells at it from here. Leave the rest to us."

Giving her a nod, he followed Jax as he headed for the Blackcape.

"Mpf..." Lenka shook her head. Why did her brother have to have such a hero complex?

Then she took a second to focus herself. Keeping this up felt exhausting and having never explored the boundaries of her power, she didn't know how much more energy she had.

"Ziodyne" she called out and swiped towards the Blackcape before anyone using physical attacks could reach it. Afterall, she didn't want to fry her allies.

- Alina -

As soon as Rise and Luke disappeared from sight, Alina raised her rapier again, charging at the Blackcape with all of the others. Her magic reserves were nearly depleted, but that didn't mean she couldn't still be effective.

Lenka's spell flew over their heads, and the Blackcape let out a haunting shriek as it glowed with electricity.

For a moment, it seemed to be... Shrinking?

Alina blinked, but the light from Lenka's attack didn't fade. No. It was the light from a spell circle beneath Alex!

Pivoting on her forward foot, she turned to see another circle over Lenka, which the Blackcape was falling out of.

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

- Marcus -

Did the darkness over his vision just get a whole lot worse?

No, this was different. The shadows only stretched over himself and Lenka, as if something were covering up the sun. Marcus turned his head and felt his eyes widen. Over Lenka's head, dark tendrils swirled through the air, reaching for her.

In his current state, Marcus knew he wouldn't be able to stop it, but no one else was close enough to do anything. He only had one option. Forcing his legs to move, Marcus twisted, launching himself through the air. Instead of going for the Blackcape, he wrapped his arms around Lenka's waist, propelling them both away from the space where the Blackcape landed with a heavy crash.

Twisting in midair, Marcus put himself between Lenka and the ground, but they both rolled several feet through the snow before coming to a rest.

Without conscious thought, Marcus' hand went to his left shoulder, where pain lanced through his entire being. He hadn't even landed on it. So, why did it hurt so much?

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

- Lisa -

As Alex seemed to wither beneath Lenka's attack, Alina suddenly turned back towards her. "Lisa!" She'd thrown something, which was spinning through the air.

Reaching up, Lisa caught the frozen tiara. What was she supposed to do with this?

"Behind you!"

She turned, looking over her shoulder.

Oh. That's what she was supposed to do with it.

"Stop being difficult, Alex!" She growled as she threw the ring of ice at the Blackcape. The circle grew as it flew, and as it hit the ground, ice splintered upwards, encasing the monstrosity on all sides. In case that wasn't enough, the air rushed out of the circle, where Lisa had touched it, creating a vacuum within its frosty confines.

Wastes of Arusia

- Ariana -

Lenka's Ziodyne spell struck the Red Cape just as Ariana's Bufudyne spell collided with it, and it shrieked in pain. Before the could follow up, however, it teleported and went after Lenka. Marcus was able to save her, but not without getting himself injured.

"Damn it," Jax cursed, racing over to them. He positioned himself in front of the two, ready to defend them, when Alina and Lisa worked together to freeze the Blackcape in place.

Jax looked over at Alina, standing so near to him for the first time in what felt like ages. In all the chaos, they'd barely had a moment to look at each other.

"This probably isn't the best time, but-" He took hold of her chin and pulled her into a brief but strong kiss.

"No, it definitely isn't," Ariana said, wrinkling her nose from Alina's other side. She hurried forward, trying to add more ice onto Alina's spell to keep the Blackcape in place as it lashed out and struggled.

A magic circle appeared from beneath the Blackcape, and a sudden surge of fire blasted away the ice. In the blast radius, Ariana started to back away, but not fast enough. Just then, someone caught her up and sprinted back, the fire just avoiding them as it licked at their backs.

"Careful, half-pint," Alexei chided, setting her down. "I think we've had enough martyrs for one day."

"Thanks..." she murmured, staring at him in surprise.

On that note, Alexei looked around for Belo and saw him searching around. Was he really searching for Maxim? Even if they felt inclined to save him, he was probably-

A hand suddenly emerged from out of sight, and Maxim dragged himself up onto the embankment. Belo grabbed hold of him and dragged him up, where he lay wincing.

Why was he struggling so hard? He wasn't quite sure. He'd failed, lost everything. Kurik was gone.

Still... he couldn't die here, knowing he hadn't rectified his mistake in some way.

He looked over to James, called over to him weakly.

"Here," he said, handing him the cuff around his wrist. "I think it was damaged in my fall. See if you can fix it. You might be able to use the frequency to disable it again."

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

The Inner Darkness

- Rise -

Dark...

Everything was dark.

Was she awake? Or asleep? Where was she? Why was she here?

"Alex..."

The fog on her brain lifted, though the darkness was still thick around her. Alex... She'd come here to save Alex.

Inside the Blackcape.

It was hard to tell if her surroundings were real or not. She felt nothing around her, and yet, she was able to stand and walk. No matter how much she moved her legs, however, she didn't feel like she was going anywhere.

"Luke? Luke!" she called out. There was no sense of acoustics. Her voice just seemed to vanish off into the distance. Hopefully, he'd hear her somehow and find her. In the meantime, she had to keep trying to move.

Eventually, she sensed someone in the distance, though she couldn't see them.

"Hello?" she called out. Out of the darkness, a figure appeared, lying suspended in the darkness as though sleeping.

Was that...? She knelt down beside him and touched his face. This was the guy with Maxim, the first one to be swallowed.

"Kurik?" she called to him.

Wastelands of Arusia

- Lenka -

Lenka looked surprised when the Blackcape suddenly disappeared until a shadow appeared above her head. The Blackcape had teleported itself and was about to drop down on her. Instinctively and in a panic, she covered her head with her hands and ducked down, all the while knowing that this wasn’t going to be enough to survive this.

Something hit her, but not from the direction she was expecting. They rolled through the snow, Lenka landing fairly soft thanks to Marcus. Pumped full of adrenaline, she sat up and wiped her hair from her face.

For a moment relief washed through her.

“You saved me.”

The relief was quickly replaced by fear and worry as one look at Marcus told her that he clearly wasn’t okay.

“Marcus!” she called out and moved to kneel beside him, taking his hand. “What’s wrong?”

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

- James -

James stopped when the Blackcape disappeared right in front of him. He turned around to see it right above Lenka. His blood turned to ice. Thankfully, Marcus managed to save her. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Lenka moving.

Before he could walk over to them, Maxim and Belo caught his eye as he climbed up the embankment. Torn for a moment, he moved over to them. Maxim didn’t look good. It was a miracle that he survived.

He took the cuff from Maxim and took a closer look. The casing was pretty dented. From one of his pockets he pulled out a small screwdriver and pried the casing open, trying to discern if it could be fixed.

“Why are you trying so hard?” he asked Maxim, though his eyes never left the device as he kept working on it.

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

The Inner Darkness

- Kurik -

There was no reaction when Rise touched him. Even her voice didn't get through to his mind. It was still deeply encased into the blackness.

Or maybe he'd just given in.

- Alina -

As the fire leapt out from the Blackcape, something strange happened. Rather than forcing the ice away, it seemed to collapse into a layer of fragmented crystals, which alongside the fire itself collapsed back in on the Blackcape. A deafening hiss echoed out from the space as a tower of steam shot up, scalding the monstrosity.

Alina watched the explosion in wonder until Jax gripped her by the shoulders and pulled her into a quick kiss, temporarily drawing her attention away from the battle. At the sound of Ariana's voice, she stiffened, putting her hands on Jax's chest and extending her arms to create some distance. "Definitely not the time." She smacked his chest. Hard. "And I'm still mad at you for scaring me."

After a brief pause, she pulled him back into another brief kiss. "We can talk about what you'll have to do to earn forgiveness later."

"Now, who still has any gas left in the tank?" Alina asked as the snow began to settle and the wind whipped the steam cloud away. "I'm not going to lie here, I've only got enough left in me for one or two more spells."

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

- Lisa -

"I'm just getting warmed up." Lisa responded, pulling fistfuls of metal balls from her bag and throwing them into the air. "An opportunity to finally beat some of the stupidity out of Alex?"

"Yes, please."

Waving her arms like a musical conductor, she directed the balls to swirl around each other, creating several pockets of rapidly rotating air. "Are you familiar with the concept of a microburst?"

Before anyone could answer, the Blackcape emerged from the steam, crashing towards them. One of the groups of balls came to a sudden stop, and the air previously trapped by their rotation exploded forward, throwing the Monstrosity backwards, completely off its feet and back into the steam.

As it crashed back into the ground, the group of balls began to rotate once more, sucking in more air. "I figure I can keep this up for about five minutes, assuming he doesn't wise up and try something sneaky."

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

- Marcus -

...saved me.

Marcus!

What's wrong?

Finally, he could hear again, although his vision had gone completely black now. Or maybe his eyes just weren't open? Marcus tried to open them, and gray shapes swam into view.

Someone gripped his hand. Lenka. That caused the pain in his shoulder to intensify, shooting through his chest and to every other corner of his body. Marcus inhaled sharply. The pain...

And then it hit him. The reason why his heart wasn't still pounding in his ears and drowning out all the sounds around him...

It wasn't beating anymore.

That seemed like the kind of thing he might want to tell someone, but as his lips parted to speak, Marcus' world faded to black.

- Lenka -

Lenka stared at Marcus. It dawned on her that something was seriously wrong. He wasn't responding to her voice or her touch.

She leaned over him, trying to look into his eyes just as they closed when he passed out.

She should be in a frantic panic. Weirdly enough, she was calm. This felt familiar. She'd gone through more than enough fainting spells for that.

"Marcus!"

Somewhat hard, she slapped his face with her open palm.

Nothing happened.

Her shaking fingers searched for a pulse on his neck.

There was none.

Now the panic was beginning to set in.

Tears filled her eyes.

"Don't you dare do this to me," she said, trying to blink the tears away. "You don't get to save me and then just die."

She looked up, wanting to call for help. But everyone else was busy fighting the Blackcape, trying to keep it at bay. Trying to buy Rise and Luke some time.

There was no one around but herself. But what could she do?

Helplessness threatened to overcome her and she could feel the tears running down her cheeks, staining Marcus' shirt dark.

"Please don't die," she whispered, "I still need you here."

Looking at his unmoving body, she realized she didn't want to lose him. She couldn't.