Cross Effects- The RP

[Cherry Lover]

Rider ran down the stairs as quickly as she could, fighting back tears of worry and despair, the sense of panic overwhelming in her mind.

Kiyo, please be OK....

Whilst he could be a little brat sometimes, Rider did genuinely care for Kiyoshi, and not only as a proxy for his mother. The kid was, after all, part of her family. She had shared in most of the happy moments of his life, and the sad ones. She'd looked after him when Sakura was busy, and even sometimes when she wasn't. She'd kissed him goodnight before he went to bed. She'd smiled with him when he laughed, and comforted him when he was upset. She loved the boy almost as much as she would her own children, and he returned that love. The idea of him suffering a horrible death at the hands of Angra Mainyu was not something she wanted to contemplate.

And, he trusted me. He trusted me to protect him, and I failed.

Rider's feelings of regret and despair came bubbling to the surface. But, she quickly repressed them, her worry over Kiyoshi's well-being taking precidence.

Please be OK. Please be OK. Please be OK, she thought, panicing.

Fighting back the feelings of despair and anger at herself, Rider focussed on her search. Having reached the first floor, she called out at the top of her voice.

"Kiyoshi!" she said, the worry in her voice evident.

Then, she continued to run down the stairs, towards the ground floor. As she turned the corner, she noticed Kiyoshi running up the stairs in the opposite direction. Instantly, the panic and despair she felt vanished, replaced by pure happiness and relief.

"Kiyoshi!" she shouted, the relief evident on her face and in her voice.

She ran towards him and, without stopping, scooped him up into a big hug, a sense of joy and relief taking command of her actions. She continued towards the bottom of the stairs, and stopped there.

"You're alive! Thank the fates! Are you hurt?" she said, before kissing him and hugging him tightly, tears of happiness coming into her eyes as she did so.

Kiyoshi was slightly winded by her fast pick-up and somewhat crushing hug, and slightly embarrassed by the strong display of affection she was showing. But, nevertheless, he was happy to see her, and given how worried she had been he didn't really mind. He returned the hug, placing his arms around her neck, knowing that, whilst he was heavy, Rider could carry even a fully-grown man in this way and not feel uncomfortable.

"I'm fine, Aunty Rider", he said, enthusiastically. "A man called 'Satoshi' fought Angra Mainyu whilst I escaped with his sister Taiga".

As he started to talk about Satoshi and Taiga, a sense of sadness crept into his voice.

Poor girl. I hope her brother is OK.

"Erm, Aunty Rider, did you see anyone else in the room?" he said, hopefully.

"No, it was empty", she said, sadness in her voice as she crushed Kiyoshi's hope. "But, I did see someone getting thrown out the window before I got in, and he got up. So he's still alive, at least, even if a bit changed.", she added, on a somewhat more optimistic note.

Ah..., Kiyoshi thought, sadly, well aware what "changed" meant in this context. Well, at least he's still alive. That's something, anyway.

He looked at the girl standing alone in the lobby.

I have to save him, for her, he thought. I'll prove to her I am a hero.

"Aunty Rider, we have to help bring him back, for his sister. She's all alone here. And, until we can, we need to look after her, and keep her safe", he said, determined to protect the defenceless young child.

Rider, however, was much less enthusiastic. Satoshi had been bad enough when he was normal, although sacrificing himself to protect Kiyoshi and his sister did at least prove that he had somewhat good intentions. If even her beloved master could be turned evil by the thing, she dreaded to think what Satoshi would be like. Protecting the child she could go with, particularly since she was presumably Shirou's daughter, but seeking out Satoshi in order to help him wasn't something she was at all keen on, particularly when Kiyoshi was around. She wasn't going to risk leaving him alone again.

Placing Kiyoshi back on the floor, she answered his question.

"I don't know, Kiyoshi. The corruption of Angra Mainyu turned even your mother evil, and it also made her very powerful. We can protect the girl, but I don't want to go after Satoshi. It's too dangerous", Rider said.

Kiyoshi frowned slightly, and then looked in the direction of the girl. She looked sad.

I have to help her.

"Aunty Rider, she's lost her big brother and she's all alone. We can't just abandon her like that, she needs our help", he said.

Rider sighed. She knew that Kiyoshi was prone to taking matters into his own hands if he didn't like their response, and that was not something she could allow. Whilst Satoshi had previously claimed he would not kill people, she didn't expect that to carry over to his darkened form. Plus, he had also quite explicitly threatened Archer with death, so evidentially his no-kill policy wasn't a particularly strict one even when not corrupted.

"Look, I said we'd protect her. but, how would you mother feel if you got yourself hurt, or even killed?" she said, desperately searching for anything that could dissuade him from taking a rash action.

Then, she continued, voicing her biggest fear of what would happen if he attacked Satoshi.

"Even if he's a nice guy normally, the corruption will change that. And, he's much stronger than you. If you attack him, he will beat you, and he will kill you. I'm sure of it."

Kiyoshi was torn. On one hand, he didn't want to upset his mother and, for all that he could be arrogant some times, he did know he was never going to take on someone who had the abilities Satoshi had shown. But, on the other hand, the girl needed her brother and, even if he couldn't win on his own, he was sure that Rider could. After all, she was breathtakingly powerful, far above anyone else he knew. As strong as Satoshi might be, he knew that nothing bad could happen to him whilst she was around.

"I know I can't beat him alone, but... we can't abandon her, Aunty. We just can't.

She needs her brother", he said, sadly, as he looked at the girl.

Rider sighed again, the worry clear on her face. She knew Satoshi was powerful, and she knew that defeat would mean death or worse. There was no way she could allow Kiyoshi to go through something like that. But, she also knew that dissuading him would not be easy. Still, she could at least ensure he wouldn't do anything right away.

"Look, we can discuss this later. We need to get Taiga and get out of this hotel before Angra Mainyu comes back.

Just promise me you won't rush off after Satoshi without talking to me first. Getting yourself killed stupidly won't help the girl, but it will break your mother's heart. Do you really want that?" Rider said, sternly and honestly, the fear of what might happen clear in her voice.

Kiyoshi looked down at the floor sadly. He wanted to help the girl, but he couldn't bear the thought of hurting his mother like that.

"No...", he said, softly. "I don't want to hurt mummy. I promise I won't run off without you", he said. "But, I want you to promise you'll try to help Satoshi."

Rider sighed once more.

Damn it, Kiyo, why do you force me into this?

"OK, I promise. But, I'm not going to do anything suicidal, and I'm certainly not letting you do anything suicidal. Now, let's go get the girl", she said.

With that, Rider walked towards the girl, with Kiyoshi quickly following her. After a short walk, they reached her, and Kiyoshi spoke up.

"Hi again", he said, cheerfully. "Taiga, this is my Aunty Rider. Aunty Rider, this is Taiga".

"Hello, Taiga", Rider said, kindly but politely. "Nice to meet you".

[Elf]

 Archer shrugged at Millie's open hostility and said, "Well considering you're studying at the Clock Tower, I imagine your nationality is making it pretty rough for you."
 
 Then he watched the display between siblings with a smirk.  Their banter was amusing none the less, and apparently Finn thought himself a bit of a hero.  Which meant he was now a target in Archer's eyes. Someone to taunt and show over and over how fruitless the task of attempting to save others truly was.
 
 Lancer laughed and said, "You think having a loaded gun's going to bother Fore?  She's got an arsonal in there.  My Landlady, what's the phrase . . . something about packing hot or something."
 
 "Packing heat, she's packing heat," Archer supplied with a sigh and a shake of his head.
 
 Lancer glared and walked over to Finn before picking up his rifle.  "Since you're the lass's family, of course you're welcome.  I'm the one to talk to until Forest gets back."
 
 Then he looked over at Mille, grinned and said, "Don't blame the lad for being worried about his wee sister.  It's a brother's duty to protect his kin."
 
 Archer mentally flinched at Lancer's words before he said, "Not that you'd know anything about that, seeing you killed your son."
 
 Crimson eyes glared at him, then surprisingly, Lancer took a deep breath.  He looked at Finn with a sharp smile and said, "Now if you want to shove your boomstick up this wanker's arse, please feel free."
 
 "I'm well defended," Archer said as he lightly patted Rin's shoulder with a grin and a wink.  He looked around and then said, "It's taking your precious Landlady quite a bit of time to get home. Shouldn't you be worried that she met some unsavory elements on the way home?"
 
 ******
 
 Forest pushed her hair out of her face as she managed to stand up.  Nausea welled up in her stomach and made her head spin, but it was fading quickly.  However she was feeling lightheaded and her senses were starting to dull.  Whatever she had taken from Satoshi her body rejected pretty much as soon as it went down.
 
 Considering it was some sort of corruption curse, then that made sense.
 
 Then the limo pulled up and a whole cadre of vampires poured out.  She vaguely recognized the lone female, a blue eyed brunette with curly hair.  She had hailed from a group that was too careless in their feeding.  Innocents had died under her fang and she took them out before the Council had even made an inquiry about it.
 
 Forest figured the chit probably held a grudge, but it wouldn't be the first time.
 
 Then, oddly enough, she noticed the vampires were heading towards Shirou.  Scowling, she moved to help the young man.  Whatever the shadowy figure in the limo wanted with Shirou couldn't be wholesome.  In fact, Forest could hear Admiral Ackbar shouting, "It's a trap!" over and over.

She reached the white haired young man's side and whispered to him, "Now don't get the wrong impression or anything, but I don't think these guys are here to party.  So I'm helping out in case something gets ugly."  Then she grinned at him before focusing her attention on the other vampires.

[lantzblades]

Taiga looked to Kiyoshi and then to Rider. "I'm well aware of the spirit Medusa, I need to tell you now that fighting my brother is impossible, he's stronger than Gilgamesh, if you know who that is and he has far more skill. Merlin, my mother and Hercules were among his teachers. I say this because almost every hero think brute force works but my brother protects people, he's a defender, fighting simply won't work, I say this because our family is responsible for helping people and if you fight him you'll lose." Taiga's voice was even but pleading for Rider to actually pay attention.

Satoshi grinned, he had found it. It was worn out,abandoned building, projecting a container he slashed open his arm allowing the darkest ooze flow from his veins. Angra was inside him he bled black because of the manifested spirit. Eventually he bled red again and he let the wound close.

" I suppose you'd prefer to be inside me" Angra said manifesting in front of him in her present state.

"Try that again and I bathe the city in holy water" Satoshi snapped.

"Ok honey, I'll leave filling holes up to you. Speak of..." the dark skinned woman trailed off and watched as Satoshi started to make solid brick out of the corruption.

[OPOI]

Shirou had arrived just in time to see Satoshi walk away, almost completely nude, revealing a prominent dragon tattoo etched into his skin. His skin was darkened and lacerated in patches, almost as if he had been burnt; like during an explosion in mid-air....

So he was the armored figure. But why?

Shirou stepped forward to reprimand him, but a familiar stench of corruption invaded his nostrils. Glancing around, he noticed bits of blackened armor lying around the crater, and a pool of black blood Forest had evidently just vomited up; all if which exuded a smell he was all too familiar with. He had been saturated in that stuff once, and had watched a dear friend killed due to it.

"Angra Mainyu...but how," he muttered, eyes slightly unfocused, unintentionally ignoring the still-retching figure of Forest. Despite his calm exterior, he was freaking out internally. He had destroyed it. He had destroyed it! It couldn't be here!

His attention was diverted when a black limousine suddenly pulled up. He frowned as a group of...prana-saturated beings came out, before heading straight for him. He slowly reached inside his coat, resting a hand on the MP7 tucked in his belt. Even if it didn't hurt them, the force of the bullet should at least delay them, enough to trace out Durandal or another Noble Phantasm.

Suddenly, Forest sidled up next to him and whispered, "Now don't get the wrong impression or anything, but I don't think these guys are here to party.  So I'm helping out in case something gets ugly."  Then she grinned at him, before resuming her wary gaze at the incoming group. So she could feel it too, the strange and shifty feeling the group possessed. Shirou adopted a combat stance, ready to defend if the group of...vampires decided to attack.

"Anything you care to mention before the suit Brigade gets here?" he asked lightly, confident that the vampire had his back, before shifting into a combat pose, ready to attack if needed.

"Can I help you...gentlemen?" He called out, "...and lady."

[Daiki]

The woman stopped few meters from Shirou and Forest, her four companions doing the same. She crossed arms in a distinguished way and waited a moment.

Whatever they had to discuss in such a hurry, she would allow it. She had to play her part nicely and being convincing. Smiling calmly as if savoring the fresh air under the night. Inevitably, she eyed Forest, a bit of emotion building up in her chest.

It had been about three hundred years since their last encounter. The oldest vampire purged her clan with zeal and efficiency. Only one survivor made it, herself. Still a newborn vampire, she couldn't hope to match her. Yet, Law Unto Herself had chosen to let her go. She gave her a chance by breaking the shackles her master would have had over her. In spite of that, she didn't felt grateful for her. Instead she started to hate her savior. As she grew up as a member of the vampire society, she became bitter and bitter. What Forest thought as an act of mercy had simply made things difficult for her. And now, after the first time since that event, they met again. She did her best to hide it by simply looking away. After all, there was an assignment to fulfill. As good as the opportunity was, it wasn't the time for that.

Dealing with Shirou alone had been the plan. Valken probably didn't want the vampire to be involved but she would have to deal with it. Asking for a solo talk with the magus would raise suspicion. Of course, she was aware of Law Unto Herself's ability in telepathy. She could read thoughts, yes. But she had herself the same trait, wouldn't be difficult to hide what she had in mind. The others didn't though, but that was the reason they didn't knew anything.

She sensed the tension in the other vampires. It was a normal reaction, after all, most of those who ended up here were remnants of ruined clans the Council deemed unnecessary. And she was one of their best agents.

After what she estimated was enough time to allow an exchange of words between Shirou and Forest, she spoke up.

"We are not here to attack you." To emphasize it, she showed the pair of Luger pistols in their chest holsters and the kukri blade hanging by her waist. The men did the same by showing where their weapons were hidding. "My name's Olga and like your comrade noticed already, we are vampires from the same... World? Dimension? Whatever. Point is, we wanted to talk with you." She waited an instant before dropping the words which she thought would convince them to at least listen to her. "It's about that adolescent magus, Isabella... Something happened to her."

Without waiting for a reaction, she tossed the mutilated arm in their direction.

[Cherry Lover]

Rider didn't particularly trust Taiga's assessment of her brother's awesomeness. After all, she was only eight, and obviously biased. Indeed, she suspected that Kiyoshi would have given a similar glowing assessment of her own capabilities.

However, despite that, what she said still gave Rider good reason to be concerned, particularly since she knew from Satoshi himself that he and, therefore, Taiga knew their world's version of her. Whilst Rider could not, of course, rule out the possibility that she was lying, the pleading manner in which she spoke implied that if that was the case, she really didn't want them to fight him, for whatever reason. Given that, Rider saw no reason to attempt it, unless Satoshi turned out to be a danger to them. After all, she couldn't honestly care less what happened to the man, especially if doing so meant putting her life or that of Kiyoshi on the line. Indeed, overall Taiga's comment was welcome, since it just might discourage Kiyoshi from acting.

Of course, though, Kiyoshi was much less pleased. He really felt for the girl. She clearly had a high opinion of her brother, for him to be corrupted in this way must really hurt. Even so, though, he knew she must be lying. Aunty Rider was far stronger than anyone else he knew, and he was no slouch himself. Even King Arthur's son would be no match for her.

"Are you sure? Aunty Rider is really awesome. I dunno who that 'Gilgamesh' guy is, but I bet he's not in the same league as Aunty Rider", he said, full of pride in his Aunt's fighting ability. "With my help, I'm sure Aunty Rider could defeat and free your brother from Angra Mainyu."

Rider sighed. Clearly Kiyoshi had not believed the girl one bit, and he was still obviously pushing to fight Satoshi and free him from Angra Mainyu's grasp as soon as possible.

She considered her next move carefully. Whilst she too was somewhat skeptical of Taiga's belief that fighting her brother was "impossible", she didn't share his optimism about her own abilities. Besides, it wasn't in her interests to point out the less reasonable parts of the girl's statement, or her obvious bias. Even the slightest indication that she felt that they might win would be taken by Kiyoshi as an indication that they should fight. And, she knew that the likely outcome of losing to a corrupted Satoshi would be rape (for her, at least), agonising torture and, eventually, a painful death. That wasn't something she particularly wanted, and it was certainly not something she could accept happening to Kiyoshi.

"Kiyoshi, she knows Satoshi better than we do, and he is the son of King Arthur. If she says we can't defeat him, then we can't. I know you want to help save her brother, but dying meaninglessly doesn't help her one bit. So you think she'd have said what she said if she thought we could help her?" Rider said, only half-truthfully.

"Kiyoshi, I'm sure we can find another way, and until we can I promise I'll look after her and try to make her feel at home", she continued.

Honestly, Rider wasn't so sure there was another way but, equally, she didn't really care. Her priority was Kiyoshi's safety, followed by her own, and then that of the poor girl in front of her. Freeing Satoshi came well down the list. She was not going to risk her life or Kiyoshi's life by gambling on the fact that the girl was so heavily hero-worshipping her brother that she missed how weak he was, particularly since her own experiences showed he was at least on a vaguely similar level to her.

Kiyoshi turned to Taiga, a sad expression on his face.

"I'm sorry I'm not strong enough to free your brother", he said. "I promise I'll try my best to find a way to help him."

Rider addressed Kiyoshi once more.

"Kiyoshi, whilst I was out I met a woman who offered to let us stay with her, and I accepted. I know we promised the hotel owner, but it'll be safer for you there, and I think that with Angra Mainyu around we're likely to draw trouble here rather than help fight it off, anyway. She's waiting outside for me to come and get you. Did you leave anything in the room?"

Then, receiving a nod from Kiyoshi that indicated that the few possessions he had brought to this world were on his person and that he didn't need to return to the room, she addressed Taiga.

"I'm sure there is room for you too. The woman I met wouldn't turn away a young girl with no-one else to care for her.

Please come with us, at least until your brother is freed. Kiyoshi will worry about you if you don't, and it's not safe in this city, especially with Angra Mainyu around."

[lantzblades]

"My brother wants me to look after Kiyoshi, so I don't have a choice one way or another" Taiga replied softly.

Despite her own uncomfortableness at the prospect of being with strangers Taiga wheeled towards the door this time using a flip out panel in the arm to reveal the joystick hidden there. The wheel chair's motor spurred to life and Taiga was on here way out of the lobby.

Satoshi continued building the foundation of the castle, he didn't know why he was building it but every time he thought about it he was interrupted by a low buzz in the back of his head so he just kept building.

[Alice]

Lancer laughed and said, "You think having a loaded gun's going to bother Fore?  She's got an arsonal in there.  My Landlady, what's the phrase . . . something about packing hot or something."
 
"Packing heat, she's packing heat," Archer supplied with a sigh and a shake of his head.
 
 Lancer glared and walked over to Finn before picking up his rifle.  "Since you're the lass's family, of course you're welcome.  I'm the one to talk to until Forest gets back."
 

Finn replied with a wide smile. "Hey, thanks! I owe ya. Especially since it gives me a chance to hang out with Milly again." Finn ruffled his sister's hair as if to emphasize that point, which caused her to glare daggers at him.

Lancer then turned to "Milly" herself. "Don't blame the lad for being worried about his wee sister.  It's a brother's duty to protect his kin."

Mille stopped glaring at her brother and turned to Lancer, her expression softening. "Yeah, I guess I can't blame him for wanting to make sure I'm OK I guess. I just wish he'd be less obnoxious about it."

Finn grinned. "Well hey, I wouldn't be a very good big brother if I didn't embarrass you every once in awhile."

Mille frowned again. "Too bad it's almost constant instead of "every once in awhile."

Archer, however, seemingly winced at Lancer's statement. "Not that you'd know anything about that, seeing you killed your son."

Tension flowed heavy and thick in the air as Lancer glared with ferocity at the blackened bowman that put Mille's own glaring easily to shame. Thankfully, Lancer simply took a deep breath. He turned and spoke to Finn, a dangerous smile dancing on his lips. "Now if you want to shove your boomstick up this wanker's arse, please feel free."

"I'm well defended," Archer said as he lightly patted Rin's shoulder with a grin and a wink.

Rin didn't hear a trace of sarcasm in his voice as he said this, so his claim filled her with a sense of smug satisfaction that snuck its way onto her lips. She thought about suppressing her smile to keep Mille from glaring at her, but she decided she was tired of trying to get around the girl's attitude, and allowed it to stay. She had, after all, earned her reputation. Why hide it just because some girl had a grudge against her?

Mille, however, didn't even notice, as she was lost in thought. Irish, a Lancer, killed his own son at one point... Could this be Cú Chulainn? Mille looked at Lancer in awe. She'd heard the stories when she was a little girl. To see him in person... well, she didn't have a confirmation yet, but needless to say, it was enough to override her usual gruff demeanor, if nothing else.

Archer then looked around and said, "It's taking your precious Landlady quite a bit of time to get home. Shouldn't you be worried that she met some unsavory elements on the way home?"

Rin's smile faded. Archer was right. Forest had yet to come back, along with the others. Including.... Archer... Hakuno's Archer.

Rin looked between Archer and Lancer. "It might be a good idea to go and find her. Should we go right now, or wait a bit longer?"

Mille spoke up. "If you're going off to go find her, I'm going with you. I intend to show you just what I'm capable of."

Before Hakuno and Archer could go after Forest, they found themselves quickly surrounded by vampires. Their boss, an older, tuxedoed man of average features bearing a fairly new yet greying beard, sat patiently in his limousine in wait. In spite of the vampires encircled around the couple, the man addressed them rather casually.

"Excuse-me, miss. Would you mind if we exchange few words?" In response to his boss's words, a bald, dark skinned vampire gestured for Hakuno to go into the limousine. The man continued. "I won't hold you for long, I promise." He punctuated the last bit with a calm grin, which along with everything else gave him an air of arrogance.

Hakuno cautiously peeked out from behind Archer. She addressed the big, bald vampire. "I can't take him with me at all?" Baldy shook his head.

Archer grimly assessed the situation. The vampires he could probably deal with, but he'd have to make sure none of them got a hold of Hakuno. Plus he had to make sure Hakuno didn't try to go with this man. The arrogance, the number of vampires this man had at his beck and call... no mistake about it, this man was the head of some form of organized crime ring. Whether he was Mafia or not Archer couldn't tell just yet, but for now, the bowman knew all he needed to know.

Archer's experience with organized crime went beyond efforts to fight it. He had a better understanding of the inner workings than most due to having Mafia connections of his own in the past. Or rather, what had been his father's connections.

Even if he didn't have those connections in his past, however, Archer would have known what to expect from this man regardless. And one possibility for the particular crimes that this particular ring was involved with was human trafficking. Hakuno could very well be sold as human merchandise to some depraved pervert. And Archer wasn't going to let that happen.

He opened up the connection between them provided by their Ley Line and spoke to her telepathically. Master, you can't go with them. If you do, it will only lead you to a fate worse than death. 

Hakuno nearly jumped at the sound of Archer's voice in her head. She struggled trying to figure out how to reply, but eventually managed it. I'm not planning on it. I don't know how we're going to get out of this, but no way I'm walking into an obvious trap just to get around it.

Archer hid his relief, not wanting the vampires to suspect what was going on. Good. I'm glad you have at least some common sense. Now then, here's what I want you to do. Remember when I said not to use magic?

Hakuno did the mental equivalent of a nod.

For now, forget that. But what I'm about to have you do isn't too costly prana-wise, so you should be fine. Listen carefully. I want you to focus your prana into your arms. Think of yourself getting stronger if you have to.

Hakuno tried following his instructions. She had a bit of difficulty at first, but once she figured out how to channel it, she managed to do as he asked. I think I did it.

Good. That's reinforcement. If you did it properly, you should be much stronger now. I'm going to crouch down. I want you to grab a hold of my waist when I do. No matter what happens, do not let go until I tell you. If you did the reinforcement properly, you should be able to hold on. Understood?

Nervously, Hakuno gave Archer another mental nod.

Archer then addressed the man in the limousine. "I'm sorry, but we have someplace else we need to be. I'm afraid she's unable to talk to you at the moment." Archer then quickly crouched down, prompting Hakuno to grab a tight hold of his waist. Archer winced at the pressure, but despite the pain was at least glad Hakuno had been able to reinforce her arms correctly.

Archer leapt straight up into the air, his bow still in hand, and projected a Hrunting. He quickly fired off a series of them, designating one vampire for one arrow, before landing on the ground and quickly jumping onto a nearby rooftop. Shirou hadn't had a chance to demonstrate it with his own Hrunting, but it had the unique ability to hunt down its target to the ends of the Earth, guaranteed not to miss. Even if the vampires each Hrunting was designated for managed to dodge, it would hit them eventually.

"Alright, you can let go now. But stay close," said Archer.

Hakuno let go in relief. Archer himself was a bit relieved to, as he no longer felt like his ribs were being crushed.   

Archer then smirked a little- it wasn't the best time to experiment, but his curiosity got the better of him. He projected a peculiar shinai, one with a familiar tiger strap attached to it. He converted the shinai into an arrow, one that resembled a wooden stake. Archer's smirk widened as he prepared himself to fire it at one of the vampires that hadn't been targeted with a Hrunting. Now to see if these particular vampires have any of the traditional weaknesses.

Ruby sped towards Hakuno's location, her built in tracker showing her the way. Now that her objective was complete, it was time to get herself a decent wielder. She would have gone after Isa, being the younger of the two, but the trace she had placed on her had seemingly vanished. It was good then that Ruby had designated a second option.

Ruby had observed the events in the alleyway, which had lead her to her choices and made her aware of Forest's offer in regards to her apartment complex. Once she had set up things with the hag Rin and the ever angry and resentful Mille, it freed her up to do other things. Like find someone who was actually decent magical girl material. And even if she was a bit on the older side, this girl did seem to qualify. Plus this girl had ❤love❤. Love was the strongest attribute a magical girl could have. Plus her Servant/love intrest looked fun to play with~

But not all was well. Ruby could detect a group of vampires right near where Hakuno was, and that wasn't good. It wouldn't do to have her candidate kidnapped or killed before she could even make the contract with her. So Ruby made all haste towards her destination, hoping to get there before it was too late.

[Elf]

Lancer grinned and said, "Being annoying is also a big brother's duty as well.  You just have to give as good as you get, Lassie."

Archer smirked at Rin taking charge as always.  He shrugged and said, "I'll leave that up to you two.  She's not my Landlady yet."

Lancer folded his arms.  Anything that could have detained Forest, the better Bowman, and Rider would have been something terrible to behold.  He didn't have a phone to call Forest on, thought the things were ridiculous.  However, he did have Forest's number on her refrigerator.

He said, "Well there's one of those phones inside if someone wants to try to call her first.  That's what she calls 'protocol'.  Just I'm not good with that thing."

******

Forest eyed the arm that was so carelessly tossed in front of him.  Then she eyed Olga and said, "That's not Isa's arm."  Then without warning she moved, impossibly quick, and was in the younger vampire's face.  "You might have fooled Shirou with that stunt, you bint, but you should know better than anyone else here that this isn't my first rodeo."

Then she punched the other vampire and said, "However, talking to the help isn't going to get me anywhere."

She started to head towards the limo, sending to Shirou, Shoot them in the head. It'll knock them out, and while they're incapacitated stake the wankers.  With something wooden through the heart.

[Alice]

"Calling first might not be a bad idea," said Rin. "Assuming things aren't bad enough that she can't answer her phone, we might be able to get answers at least." Rin of course didn't have any problems using one of the phones inside. She got headaches just from looking at cellphones, confusing messes that they were.

"And if something's wrong with one of those phones, we could always use my cell," said Finn. "Don't know if it'll work here or not, but it's worth a shot."

"And if my brother was an idiot and the charge is out on his or something, we can use mine," added Mille.

Rin clapped her hands together. "And that's that. ...Though I'd hope that the phones inside would be working just fine. So then, let's go in and get that number called!"

[Elf]

Lancer said, "Well, she has it in the kitchen, so come along everyone."

With that, he lead them into the compound.  First they went through the garage and Archer was surprised at some of the cars housed there.  Then the Celt lead the up to a sleek steel kitchen.

He walked over to the fridge and under a magnet that had "Iron Maiden" in a stylized font in front of some zombie creature brandishing the Union Jack, was a sheet of paper with a phone number on it.  There was also a cordless phone there as well.  He handed these out and said, "Alright, who wants to use these?"

[Alice]

Rin took the sheet of paper from Lancer. "Probably out of all of us, it'd be best if either you or I made the call, since Forest knows us. I can make the call if you want."

With that, Rin went over to dial the number, waiting for a final confirmation from Lancer before she did.

[Elf]

"I suggest you doing it, Rin.  That thing is evil," Lancer said as he nodded at her.

Archer said, "Yes, protect the Celtic demi-god from the evil phone."

[Alice]

Rin honestly had to suppress a snicker at Archer's comment as she began to dial. Though in this case she found that she could empathize with said Celtic demi-god. Maybe not in the case of regular phones like this one, but there were other pieces of modern technology where she could easily designate with the same description as Lancer just had with the phone.

Finn also had to suppress a snicker, but he managed to hide it well enough. Mille, on the other hand, just glared at Archer for being disrespectful to a hero of this caliber.

Rin waited through the dial tone, hoping that Forest would respond on the other side.

[Elf]

As Forest strode over to the Limo, the familiar tones of Iron Maiden's "Aces High" came from her hip.

She answered it and said, "Lancer, I'm about to smite some excuse for a Bond villain and possibly have to go save Isa.  What is it?"

******

Archer smirked at Mille glaring at him and looked at Lancer.  He said, "She's offended on your behalf."

Lancer ignored him and only smiled at Mille.  He did ask, "Did you get her Rin?"