Cross Effects- The RP

[Cherry Lover]

As she looked down at Isa, Rider frowned. The girl was in a bad way, and needed help. But, before she could pick the girl up, Rider noticed that Shirou had approached Kiyoshi, and was talking to him. Then, to her horror, Kiyoshi summoned up his swords and headed for the vampires once more.

"Kiyoshi you big dummy!" Taiga grumbled.

Rider couldn't help but agree with the girl. Kiyoshi seemed to have been taken in by Shirou's idea of heroism, and was now about to risk his life fighting alongside him.

Rider was honestly disgusted. Was this Shirou really so broken that he would stoop to using a young child as a meat shield to help kill a few vampires?

"Kiyo! Kiyo! Stop! You'll get hurt", Rider shouted.

Then, with that, she left Isa and immediately took off in pursuit of the boy. Kiyoshi's safety came well above Isa's and, besides, Sakura was there to look after Isa in any case, a viewpoint that she rapidly confirmed by telling Rider to "go on".

"Don't listen to him! He's a bad guy!" Rider shouted as she ran towards the two of them at maximum speed, the walls around her shaking from the sonic boom as she ran. But, the speed at which she was running meant he could not hear her.

Meanwhile, Kiyoshi ran towards the confrontation, following after the strangely familiar man, swords at the ready. He had heard his Aunt telling him to stop, but he paid no attention. He was a hero, heroes didn't stop fighting because their big Aunty told them to.

He noticed a vampire heading in his direction, and prepared to cut it in half. Before he could, though, the man who he had followed attempted to shoot the vampire, and then stabbed it in the eye with a knife that, then, disappeared.

Eh?

There was only one person Kiyoshi knew whose weapons did that.

It can't be, surely. He looks so different.

Kiyoshi ran towards him, determined to help protect the now seemingly-defenceless man. Before he could, though, the man summoned up two very familiar swords out of thin air, and used them to behead the vampire.

Kanshou and Bakuya. Shirou's favourite swords.

Daddy?

Kiyoshi looked at the man with astonishment. The idea of there being an alternative Shirou was, of course, not unusual in itself. He'd already met several alternate half-siblings. But, this man seemed so different from his own father. He spoke much more roughly, and his hair, skin and eye colour were all changed. Even so, Kiyoshi could still see the innate compassion of his father in this man.

I wonder what his life is like, Kiyoshi thought.

The man collapsed to his knees, gasping for air.

Daddy? Are you OK? he thought. But, before he could speak up, Shirou turned to him and spoke.

"Boy...Even if you're a hero like your daddy, you're way too young for this. Go back to Rider now before you or someone else gets hurt", he said.

Kiyoshi was used to this sort of lecture. His parents told him much the same whenever he did anything that might put his life in danger. But, however many times they did it, the sad, pleading looks that accompanied it always had the same effect. He simply didn't have the heart to do anything other than give in to such a display of worry and love on their part.

His father spoke again.

"I can't let a child do this. Not so soon, before you've really had a chance to do anything in life. So please get out of here," he said softly, "I don't want to see you hurt."

Hearing that, Kiyoshi dropped his swords and prepared to walk back towards Rider. But, instead, he heard a rapidly approaching sonic boom and, then, suddenly, Rider arrived next to him.

She turned to Shirou and addressed him.

"You keep the hell away from him", she said, angrily. "I will not let you turn him into a murderer. Or, worse, use him as some sacrificial lamb.

What sort of monster are you who would use a child in that way?"

Then, she turned to Kiyoshi, grabbing his arm and forcefully dragging him away from Shirou. But, Kiyoshi resisted Rider's pull with all his might, and Rider knew she dare not pull too hard for fear of causing damage to his arm.

"Kiyoshi, he's a bad guy, don't listen to him. He's just using you. He wants you to distract the vampires so he can kill more of them", she said, somewhat bitterly.

"B..but, Aunty Rider, he's Daddy. Daddy is a good guy. And, he didn't tell me to fight", he said.

Rider sighed, too worried and sure of Shirou's guilt to pay attention to the second part. Now that Kiyoshi knew the truth, this would be a lot harder than she would have liked.

"He's not your father, Kiyo, he just shares the same name. He only told you that so he could use you for his own ends.

He's a murderer. He murders people like your mother, just because they might be a danger", she said, sadly.

Kiyoshi looked at the man with a mixture of sadness and anger.

"Is that true? Are you really a bad guy like my Aunty says?" he said, the sadness in his voice clear.

[lantzblades]

Sakura sighed and set Isa on her side in the recovery position  "healing her should be easy enough but I can't do much, so Tiger what happened with Toshi?" she asked

"I called him after meeting Kiyoshi, then he came and then Angra came and took him away." she replied.

Satoshi continued building as the castle expanded  again.

Alter was lead to the throne room and awaiting there were two dozen automated knights and statue like Armoured suit lining the room same as all the other passage ways.

Alter hesitated and then sat on the throne

[Alice]

Mille looked warily at the raging half-demon as he rushed by her. Thankfully, he didn't seem to notice her and instead went for the masses of vampires, soon covered in gore as he tore them limb from limb.

As long as he's not going after me or anyone else of importance, he can kill as many of those creatures as he pleases. She resumed her work on the second ring, when she noticed a boy try to run out into the mass of vampires, now lessened a great deal in number thanks to the half-demon's rage. Thankfully, a young man had managed to stop him, but he had brought vampires with him, and had gotten wounded as a result.

Mille looked grimly at the scene. The silver haired man looked in pretty bad shape- while his worst wound was a cut to his scalp, he generally looked exhausted, as if he couldn't hold out much longer. She wanted to help, but she couldn't spare the prana as it was.

I have to end this, and soon.

Mille moved on to the next rune, trying to pour herself in an attempt to ignore the other situation, when Lancer popped up seemingly out of nowhere near her side. To her embarrassment, she squeaked out a yelp.

"Need a hand?  I know what you're planning, and its brilliant, but this fighting is getting boring," Lancer asked with a grin.

Any and all of her feelings of anger and humiliation, however, melted into the ether at the Servant's words. She'd been complemented by a hero- a real hero. One she had heard stories of, nonetheless. She found herself blushing with sheer joy, but desperately found herself trying to suppress her glee in light of their situation.

"I certainly do. I need either a team or just one volunteer to lure as many vampires as possible into the runes. Once they're all here, I'll go ahead and spring the trap."

***

Hakuno looked over in horror as the vampire tore at Shirou's scalp, so close to the young boy who was now too close for comfort to the melee. At this rate, he would die. Even if he'd tried to kill her, she wouldn't just let him fall here, not to these vampires. She gave Archer a worried look. He hadn't been wounded yet, but even he was starting to tire. It had to end soon.

Archer caught her glance as he beheaded another vampire, blood gushing from the collapsing body's carotid artery. She glanced over at Shirou's location to convey her plans before giving him another worried look. He nodded at her. "Go. I'll be fine. Just be careful."

She nodded. Now then, how to get in the air again?

"Like I said before, just use your imagination~ Sure we had a bit of a shaky flight to get down here, but I'm sure it'll go better this time~"

Hakuno looked at Ruby suspiciously before beginning to concentrate. Think happy thoughts think happy thoughts think happy thoughts...  And she found herself rushing into the air, just before a vampire could grab a hold of her ankle. She steadied herself, looking at her intended destination.

"See? Nothing to it~"

Hakuno gave Ruby a Look before flying over to Shirou and the boy's location. She stopped her descent too high off the ground, and landed on the ground with a thump. Her legs ached from the impact.

"We'll work on that. And get you to watch some Magical Girl shows, that should help~"

Hakuno nodded before turning to the injured Shirou. Thinking back to her Code Casts, she imagined Shirou's wounds healing before watching them disappear right in front of her eyes. The caked blood was still there, and his fatigue wouldn't be gone, but at least his various cuts and scrapes were gone.

She noticed Rider running up to retrieve the boy at the speed of sound. From their conversation, she figured it'd be best to stay out of it for now. She turned back to the fray and began frying more vampires, hoping to keep the group safe until the massive battle could finally end.

***

"So, into necrophilia then?  Or do you enjoy giving blood, because you're gawking at a vampire."

Finn looked back Archer to see that he was smirking. Finn did a bit of a double take as he looked back at Forest once more. Then he shrugged.

"Eh, so she's a vampire. She doesn't seem like a bad person or anything, and it's not like dating a vamp is impossible or anything. Like Buffy and Angel." Finn rubbed the back of his neck. "Not that relationship turned out that great or anything, but... eh, TV is TV. Never know with the real thing until you try it."

The reference flew entirely over Rin's head. Nonetheless, even if it was Forest, there were still definite cons to dating a vampire. "Well, if you are going to chase after her, just keep her vampirism in mind. Even if she's not likely to hurt you, there's other things you have to watch out for."

Finn grinned. "I'll be careful, don't worry. Besides, she has to do the whole reciprocation of feelings thing first, doesn't she? For all I know, she won't give me the time of day."

"Just don't get yourself bitten." Rin looked down below, her expression becoming grim. "It doesn't look good down there..." Rin looked over at Mille. "But it looks like Garrison-chan's made headway. And it seems Lancer's already in on the plan."

"Yeah, things are lookin' a bit hairy down there. Still, looks like that angry red haired guy is putting a dent in them, and Mille's trap should clean 'em up for us. So then, should we keep killing vamps, or should we help Mille with her little master plan?"

[OPOI]

When Shirou was certain his son had gotten the message, he turned and allowed a silent Forest to help him up, nodding in acknowledgement when he heard Lancer's plan.

"I'm sorry but I still can't come with you," he said, "Besides, I can get back to my base after this to recuperate. There's no need to risk me staying over at your place."

Hakuno landed nearby, fetching in her...magical girl outfit. He stiffened as she waved her wand towards him, before smiling in relief as his wounds began to heal. It did little for his mana, but he hadn't expected it to. He nodded in thanks.

He went silent as he heard Rider approaching, somewhat glad the Servant was finally here to bring...Kiyoshi to safety. He frowned slightly at her words, but otherwise didn't acknowledge her presence as she began dragging Kiyoshi away. Maybe she could sway the boy from his insane path.

Shirou was forced to speak up however at Kiyoshi's question. If he was anything like Shirou, he wouldn't budge until he got his answer, and that would place him in further danger.

"Kiyoshi..." he trailed off, not knowing how best to approach the situation.

"I can't really answer that question. This is a world where there is no single path through life where you can only help people and not spite anyone. Yes, I have sacrificed people, even my own loved ones, and they would condemn me as a bad person for my actions. I have been forced to murder so many people to stop them from killing innocent people, even if they hadn't done anything bad beforehand. But to the people I save, I'm a hero."

He knelt down, placing himself eye-to-eye with the teary blue eyes of his son, mindful of the battle around him.

"I don't really care what people think I am. The only thing I care about right now is ending this battle before innocent people get hurt. And that includes you. So if it satisfies you...yes I'm a bad person. Now please go, and don't look back."

[Daiki]

Blue irises appeared from open lids. Two girls were by her side, an adult apparently checking on her, and a child sitting in a wheelchair.

"..."

Isabella was in an unfamiliar street, with different clothes, her body covered with bandages. Her face was also covered in these, she noticed when she tried feeling her face with the left hand. The only one left. Under the right elbow, the whole forearm was missing. The sensation of loss hit her like a truck and she had to repress an acid reflux. Memories of what happened still fresh in her mind, she shed silent tears, her body trembling like a leaf. Her whole body was covered in wounds. But her face was the worst. She recalled losing much of her hairs, only leaving few strands, which now emerged like ugly locks between what hid her skull.

She emitted a low cry as she looked at her stump. Isabella finally remembered who saved her from the beasts. The man who tried to kill Rider. He didn't give a name and at first, she thought he was going to end her existence. But he didn't. Instead, he took care of her, although he lacked proper manners, he treated the wounds properly and promised to find Forest. After that, she probably passed out. Even now, she was exhausted. Physically and mentally.

Yet, she couldn't spend time here. She had to find Vanessa. Her older sister was probably in danger as well. And if something alike happened to her... No, thinking like this could only lead to a drop in moral. Grimacing, Isabella ignored the two unknown girls and stood up like a drunkard. Her body was aching like hell, but she remained still, checking the surroundings. It didn't take her time to spot some familiar faces. Forest was right there, and Shirou too. Rider was arguing with him all the while holding a boy by the arm. Probably this child of her Master. And another girl wearing a strange costume given the circumstances. But the individual who surprised Isabella by her presence, was the one drawing a circle of runes. It had been only two years she didn't see her but Mille Garrison didn't change much.

The girl had been an acquaintance of the twins. They weren't close though, as the younger girls rarely spend time at the Clock Tower the past years. There were other people present too, fighting what looked like dead apostles and undeads.

"What is going on here?" She asked out loud.

----

Shuya yelled like a beast when a ghoul bit on his neck. Now that most of his need had been satisfied, his body became once again one of a mortal. The sensation was painful, much like being deprived of oxygen suddenly. As much of his energy already ran out in the previous minutes, his reflexes dropped significantly, his strength melted like butter under solar exposure and his limbs became dull. Brown eyes flashed for a second as he struggled to remove the leech. With an effort he managed to break its jaw and didn't waste a second to send it flying into two vampires.

As he breathed heavily, one of his opponents spoke up.

"Finally running out of gas?" He said mockingly.

Shuya addressed him an obscene gesture with a delighted grin.

"No. Against pussies like you, it's better for me to have an handicap." He responded.

The whole group laughed.

"See? You aren't fooling anyone, Touzaki Shuya and yo-..."

But the mixed blood was already sprinting in Mille's direction. He heard angry reactions upon his attempt to flee. However, he wasn't running away. He noticed the rune circle about to came to completion and didn't want to waste time. In order to maximize its effects, it would be better to gather the maximum of enemies following.

"I'm Touzaki Shuya and your Boss can eat a bag of dicks!!"

Whether the childish insult would work or not, the half demon laughed like a kid. He relied on the fact that Valken had ordered them to find him. These were definitively part of his underlings, well, at least the vampires were.

"Get ready, shortie, here I come!" He announced to the rune magus.

[Alice]

"Could've you've given me a bit more warning?!" Mille quickly finished the circle, reinforcing her limbs as well to speed herself along. She gave her legs one last reinforcing and jumped out of the circle. She pricked her finger with her dagger and flicked a droplet at one rune for each circle. She waited for the half-demon to run past and for the vampires to clearly be in the circle before she began her incantation.

"Sciath. Gníomhachtaigh!" The barrier activated, quickly closing before any of the vampires could escape.

"Adhnaim!" The second ring sparked to life, engulfing the entire interior of the barrier in flames. Anguished screams could be heard even through the barrier's thick magical walls, and the smell of burning flesh permeated the air. When the barrier came down, all that remained of the horde of ghouls and vampires was a pile of their ashes.

Mille collapsed to her knees, utterly spent. "It's done," she gasped. "It's over."

[Cherry Lover]

Rider was staring angrily at Shirou, waiting for him to make another effort to indoctrinate Sakura's son when, suddenly, Hakuno dropped from the sky above them with a thud.

Rider was surprised, and somewhat aroused, to see her now sporting a rather fetching magical girl outfit. The stick in her hand was definitely familiar, though. She'd seen Rin use it often enough.

Ruby....

Kiyoshi, though, was much more in awe of the sight. Rin avoided using the stick whenever possible, and Sakura made very sure to keep Kiyoshi away from any situations dangerous enough that its use would be necessary.

Wow, it's a real magical girl! he thought, excitedly.

He noticed the girl healing Shirou, and felt Rider's grip on his arm grow stronger as Shirou prepared to reply to his question, in preparation to drag him away by force if necessary.

"Kiyoshi..." he, said, before trailing off.

"I can't really answer that question. This is a world where there is no single path through life where you can only help people and not spite anyone. Yes, I have sacrificed people, even my own loved ones, and they would condemn me as a bad person for my actions. I have been forced to murder so many people to stop them from killing innocent people, even if they hadn't done anything bad beforehand. But to the people I save, I'm a hero."

Then, he bent down and looked Kiyoshi in the eyes.

"I don't really care what people think I am. The only thing I care about right now is ending this battle before innocent people get hurt. And that includes you. So if it satisfies you...yes I'm a bad person. Now please go, and don't look back."

Rider was gobsmacked. Whilst it was clear that he still hadn't really accepted just how unreasonable his actions were, it was clear that he did at least not want others to follow in his footsteps. Particularly his own son.

Kiyoshi, on the other hand, was distraught.

"Daddy...", he said softly and sadly, tears in his eyes.

"No, you can't be a bad person, Daddy. You're a hero. Yo..u're my he..ro...", he said, his voice breaking up and the tears flowing freely.

Rider grabbed him into a hug.

"Kiyo, look...", she said.

But, then, she hesitated, unsure of what to say next. Normally, she would tear this Shirou's philosophy apart, but she knew that would just hurt him right now. As much as the guy was an asshole, he was still Kiyoshi's father, and Kiyoshi idolised his father. But, at the same time, she had to get Kiyoshi to realise that the path he seemed to want to follow would only lead to pain, for him and his family.

"Kiyo, that man is the person that your father fears you could become. And, he fears it because he knows how close he came to following that path. That man has done some horrible things, Kiyo. Even he knows it. And, I can never forgive him for some of what he's done. But, he is right about the path of a hero, Kiyo. You can't save everyone, and you can't do everything yourself", Rider said.

"What should I do, just stand there and watch people die?" Kiyoshi said, angrily.

"No, Kiyo, protecting people is fine, but you're only a child, you can't fight properly yet. Getting yourself killed pointlessly doesn't do anyone any good. And, how do you think your mother would feel if you got killed? Do you really want to put her through that?

Kiyo, you can only protect those in front of you. Even the best heroes can't save those they can't reach. And, those you love are most important of all. They keep you from losing your humanity, keep you from becoming a soulless killer like him", she said, pointing at Shirou. "That is what distinguishes your father from that man. Your father has a family, he has loved ones. He will protect the town, he protects innocents, but he loves and cares for his family, and always puts you first. Like you say, Kiyo, your father is your mother's hero first and foremost.

That's how he stays sane. He doesn't fight every battle, he can't, he just lives happily and defends people when they're in front of him. That's what you need to learn, too. Before you end up following the same, lonely, path as your father's alternate self. Before you end up as a bad guy too...."

"I don't want to hurt people, Rider. And I definitely don't want to hurt mummy...", Kiyoshi said, sniffling. "I want to be a hero so I can protect her, like daddy did."

Inside, he was deeply confused and conflicted. He still wanted to be a hero, like he always had, but the alternate Shirou seemed to think that being a hero meant killing innocent people, and that he couldn't save everyone.

No.

He could understand what Rider said. He couldn't fight every battle himself, he couldn't protect everyone. But, he could not accept what Shirou had said. Heroes did not kill innocent people, ever.

He walked back up to Shirou and spoke once more, the sadness still clear in his voice.

"No, you can't be a hero. Heroes don't kill innocent people", he said, matter-of-factly. "I'm going to be a real hero, like my daddy. He protects people, and he never kills innocents."

[Alice]

Finn whistled. "Whelp, that was cleaned up good and proper." He turned back to Archer and Rin. "If you folks don't mind, I'm going to drop by and say hello to our new Landlady."

With that, he made his way down to the pavement below and went off to join the main group.

Rin turned to Archer. "Well, looks like Garrison's plan worked after all. Seems like she'll be useful after all." She pointed down at Finn. "So, shall we follow the lovestruck moron and join the others?"

***

Archer breathed a sigh of relief as he allowed Kanshou and Bakuya to vanish. He hastened over to his Master's side, noting the heated conversation between Shirou, Rider, and a young boy who looked very much like he could be Shirou's own son.

Hakuno had stood there quietly, not knowing what to say. She noticed Archer stopping beside her and smiled in relief. She didn't even bother to check him over for wounds but instead simply tossed a heal spell his way, not caring whether she was wasting prana or not.

They turned back to the small group before them. Archer bent down close to his Master's ear. "What's going on?"

"A bit of a misunderstanding I think. Rider I think thought Shirou was going to do something bad to Kiyoshi here I think, and now the poor boy's having his ideals put into question, since Shirou apparently looks just like his dad, and yet Rider says he's a bad man."

"Hmph. Harsh to have something like that happen at such a young age, but it had to happen eventually." Hakuno responded to that with a Look. Archer shrugged. "Still, I can see why the kid's confused and hurt. All the stuff about alternate timelines and alternate selves probably flies over his head just a bit." He turned back to Hakuno to notice the look in her eyes. He sighed. "And you want me to try and talk to him, don't you?"

Hakuno nodded.

Archer sighed once again. "I'm not exactly sure what you expect me to do, but alright." He turned back to her with a raised eyebrow. "You do realize I'm probably the worst person to talk to him about this, don't you?"

She gestured for him to go on. Realizing that he wasn't getting out of this so easily, with yet another sigh, Archer changed his outfit from his biker jacket to his normal armor in hopes of being taken more seriously.

He walked over to Kiyoshi's side. The boy was still visibly upset.

"No, you can't be a hero. Heroes don't kill innocent people", he said, matter-of-factly. "I'm going to be a real hero, like my daddy. He protects people, and he never kills innocents."

Reeling in his very strong impulse to go into full on lecture mode about the nature of heroes and justice and destroy the boy's dream right then and there (knowing full well Hakuno would stop him), Archer instead got down on one knee to get on the boy's level and began to speak.

"Listen, kid. You're right that innocent people shouldn't have to die. But sometimes... sometimes even heroes have to make tough choices." He found himself thinking back to his own career, about the people he had shot down in that plane to save millions of other lives all those years ago before continuing. "Not everything is black and white, and sometimes you have to choose who you have to save." His eyes met Kiyoshi's, the eyes of the man who had become Justice itself. "Sometimes... that means some people have to die to save thousands of other lives. And I can tell you from experience kid, it's not an easy burden to bear. But someone has to do it."

He gestured back to Shirou. "You're right though, in that this man is no hero. He's not your father either, but what he could have become. What I said about choices earlier, about having to sacrifice lives sometimes to save others? If it's avoidable, then you shouldn't have to kill people. This man, however, will do anything to prevent extra lives from being taken. Taking the risk factors out to begin with. Even if it means killing innocent people in cold blood. Even risking that their deaths were in vain. Just to avoid a single risk." He looked down for a moment.

Archer met Kiyoshi's eyes once more. "He doesn't wait until his options are exhausted, until he has no choice. What he dishes out isn't Justice. That's why he's no hero." He looked down. "Not that I'm really one myself. You could say I became Justice itself, but like I'm sure Shirou mentioned about his own life, it's a bloody, lonely path. Your tv shows and books and movies tell a different story than from what really happens. You start into it thinking exactly what you're thinking now, but once you spend a lot of time actually doing it? It becomes an entirely different story."

He gave the boy a halfhearted smile. "Look, I know how cool the whole hero thing looks, and I know you want to make your dad proud. But you got your parents around still, right? Brothers and sisters too, I bet. More important than heroism not being entirely what it seems...." He let the smile drop. "What if something happened to you? Don't you think your family would be sad if they lost you while you were out playing hero? You have a long life ahead of you still, and I don't think your parents would be happy if it was cut short." He looked over at Rider. "I bet your Auntie Rider would be sad too." He turned back to Kiyoshi. "And you don't want to make any of them sad, do you?"

A small smirk tugged at his lips. "Heh, right now I probably sound like the world's biggest killjoy. But hopefully you'll understand a bit more when you're older. The point is kid, I'm pretty sure your dad just wants you to be happy. I'm sure he's proud enough of you as it is." Absently, he ruffled Kiyoshi's hair. "So don't let what that guy over there is bother you too much right now. You have plenty of time to worry about so much more than that."

Archer's eyes grew more distant. "Sometimes I wish I would have worried more about the normal things than becoming a hero and saving people. But what's done is done, and I don't have as many regrets as I once did." His eyes refocused on the boy in front of him. "Still, I guarantee you that your dad wouldn't want you walking down that guy's path, or mine."

Realizing he'd gone on at length despite trying not to give a lecture, he gave Kiyoshi a wry smile while shaking his head slightly. "And at this point I'm probably boring you to death. Any of this getting through to you?"   

[OPOI]

Shirou stood by as Archer and Rider began reassuring Kiyoshi, trying their best to make sure the boy didn't take Shirou's words to heart. Not that the boy had anyway, with his heartfelt declaration, and decision to continue standing carefree in the middle of a combat situation. Shirou snorted slightly as Archer began repeating exactly what Shirou had told the boy earlier, but said nothing. What was the point anyway? He could have defused a hostile situation with no casualties on either side, no one scarred in the slightest by the experience, and these Servants would still have found some way of criticising him before doing exactly the same thing.

At least he had the decency to acknowledge he was a bad person, instead of trying to paint himself in a positive light.

He caught movement in the corner of his eye, and quickly spun, certain it was a vampire who had managed to escape immolation. Instead, he found himself staring into the blue eyes of Isabella, who was clearly confused and...worried about the situation. He took a step in her direction, but this was nearly enough to floor him. His breath echoed like cannons in his ears, and his vision took on a red tinge as he struggled to stay upright, his body burning in agony. His body had been healed, wh-

Oh right. He'd over-abused his circuits tonight.

Taking a deep breath, he continued walking over, each step bringing a fresh wave of nausea and pain, his body heavy as if loaded down with bricks. Several times, he felt like simply keeling over, but he struggled on regardless, held up mostly by sheer determination. Eventually, he managed to kneel down by Isa's side, pasting on a smile as he tried to hide his pain.

"Hey Isa. How're you feeling?"

[lantzblades]

"Calm down, keep still, the others have the fight well in hand, just wait and we'll all get out of here and get you fixed up" Sakura replied to Isa's question.

[Elf]

Lancer reached out and caught Millie as she sank to her knees.  His crimson eyes were alight and he was grinning.  The Celt chuckled and said, "You need to work on your pronunciation a wee bit, but nice job lass."

He looked at the area were there were once many vampires and now nothing but smoldering ashes remained.  "Well played, lass.  Well played.

******

"Looks like someone in your family can do something other than ogle vampires," Archer said to Finn as Millie's spell finally worked.

He smirked and said, "However she's attracting Celtic demigods."

*****

Forest was silent during the exchange with Kiyoshi, Shirou, Rider, and Archer.  However at the sight if Isa, and her senses confirmed the broken girl was Isa, she focused on something she could do.  Someone who needed help, even though they couldn't have been saved.

This was one of the horrible parts of her "job".  Those that fell under the cracks and had something horrible happen to them.  Sometimes all she could do was pick them up and set them on recovery.  It was one of the reasons she had studied emergency care so hard.  Her knowledge and skill surpassed any combat medic and she could do "meatball" surgery if need be.  There was a time where she even had to act as a midwife through perhaps the most difficult birth she'd ever encountered.

Still, what had happened to the girl was unthinkable.

And she still reeked of werewolf.

Forest looked at Shirou, then looked around to where Hakuno was wearing some sort of absurd, suggestive, and ridiculous costume.  The girl had managed to heal Shirou and was carrying some mystical artifact of great power.  A quick glance at one of the rooftops put Rin and some odd version of Archer in her view.  Lancer was supporting a redheaded girl and a young man with a rifle was approaching. With all the magic users here, there has to be someone with a few healing spells in their Magic Bag, the vampire thought.

Aloud, she shouted, "I need someone who can heal now!"

She glanced at Shirou and said, "You sit down, you're about to drop."  Then she was at Isa's side.  She said, "Sweeting, I need you to sit down.  You shouldn't be up, but we'll get you taken care of and we'll find your sister.  Right now though, I need you to sit down."

There was a little redheaded girl in a wheel chair and a girl who seemed to be some Pinup Version of Rin told Isa to calm down and keep still.  With Isa's injuries, Forest was surprised that the girl hadn't gone into shock yet.  Or maybe she had, however someone someone had haphazardly bandaged her.  She winced at the stump where the girl's hand should have been and bit down a wave of anger.

She looked around, snapped her fingers, and said, "Could someone please bring me my duster?  I have some things that may help her in its pockets.  Its by that Buick with the missing door."

[Alice]

Mille blushed at the compliments paid to her. But then she realized that the Irish demigod had caught her, and her face was on fire. Her smile was both nervous and ecstatic all at once. "T-thank you. I-I'm just glad it turned out so well. And I'll work on that pronunciation, I promise."

***

Finn knew deep down that his big brother instincts should have been kicking in, that he should have been worried about this new development. But seeing her so happy, seeing a crack of light through those stormclouds that had been her constant grumpiness and discontent... that, to Finn, was more important than any fears he had. Besides, Lancer seemed like a good guy. Oh, he was still going to keep an eye on his sister, that was for sure. But... well, he certainly had no objections to this current development.

"Heh, what can I say, my little sis is awesome," Finn replied to Archer with a grin. His grin, however, swiftly became a bit sheepish. "But hopefully I'll get a chance to show my stuff soon enough. And as for Lancer, well..." A warm smile worked it's way onto Finn's face. "I'm not too worried about that just now. May just be what I sister needs, actually."

"What kind of older brother are you? Shouldn't you be more worried?" asked Rin, slightly indignant.

Finn grinned at her. "Well hey, if it means my sis is less grouchy, it works out well for all of us, doesn't it?" He gestured at the group below. "Whelp, I'm gonna make my way down there now. I'll meet up with you guys below." And with that, he made his way to the main group.

Rin watched him as he made his descent. "Well, he's a bit of an idiot, but at least he seems to mean well." She looked over the group below. Then frowned as she caught sight of Isa. Even from here, she could tell her condition wasn't good. She frowned in that direction. "Archer, get me down there, right away. Looks like they found Isa."

***

Hakuno looked back behind her as Rider, Archer, and Kiyoshi continued their discussion. She looked back and saw Isa. Horrified, she made her way quickly over to Isa's side. She looked down at Ruby. "You said something about having infinite power right? Can't we bring her arm back?"

Ruby twitched a bit more grimly than usual. "Oh, I can. Unfortunately, I don't think you're quite at that level yet. You have the potential, sure, but this is a bit big for you yet. What you need is-"

"Rin?" Hakuno had looked back as she'd looked around for help and spotted Rin, along with what looked like... Archer?! She looked back at her Archer, who was still back with the other group. She rubbed her eyes as Ruby caught her attention once more.

"Yes, her~ I normally don't like working with that hag, but she'll work for this~ Let's get her over here~ ❤"

Hakuno cupped her hands around her mouth, turning herself to face Rin. "Rin! Rin! We need you!"

[Elf]

"Well, Fore or I could help you out on that, even though she's more towards the Scot's Gaelic than the true Irish Gaelic," Lancer said, grinning at Millie's blush.  He helped her to her feet and scowled as he heard Forest shout.

He sighed and said, "Can you walk?"

******

Archer shook his head and said, "Yare yare, you're in high demand Rin.  I guess we should make our dramatic entrance and you can save the 'fair maiden'."

He held out his hand for Rin to take so he could jump down from their perch.

******

Forest blinked as the "stick" talked.  She said, "On any other day, that might seem strange."  Then she looked at Hakuno and asked, "So your magic wand really thinks Rin could heal her?"

Biting her lip, she checked the girl's remaining hand. She reasoned if the girl was cursed, then her body would have already started healing already.  It hadn't.  So that was something.

[lantzblades]

Sakura peered over at Forest and the rest and then spotted it, that dammed  stick that horrible  ungodly curse of a moronic man whose name would forever go unspoken by Sakura  but it definitely started with a Z.

suppressing her feelings Sakura centered herself and put on the brightest smile she could "oh my, it is, Hello Ruby dear, how are you?" she asked sweetly rising to her full height of six foot two inches.

[Daiki]

The mixed blood was spent. Inverting wasn't something you would come back from unscathed. However, he was satisfied with the outcome. And he voiced it. "Not bad, shortie." But he couldn't help teasing her for her previous remark."Next time I'll make sure to bring out the fanfare."

Well played, lass.  Well played.

Hearing Lancer's words for the adolescent girl, Shuya grimaced, half irritated, half amused.

"What's that? Got words for the girl who drawn something on the ground, but none for the bait who attracted all these leeches in that obvious trap, eh?" He didn't care for gratitude, but being outright ignored was annoying regardless. And his interested was picked, the guy's appearance screamed 'tough guy', and he was fast. "You're a Servant, right? Like Rider."

Shuya instinctively closed his fingers, as if to feel his katana, only to remember that Rider still had it. Now that he thought about it, where was the girl he brought with him?

----

Isabella watched Shirou. His question had been on a gentle tone but his expression was one of worry. The girl simply looked back, also worried to see the man not able to stand. In order to appease him, she forced a timid smile which only lasted an instant. She had no words to describe what she felt right now. Fear, confusion, sadness, regret, shame, disgust... It was way too painful to think and worse to even attempt to put it into words.

Still, she was happy to see him show interest in her well being. Maybe she had been right, after all. The man wasn't that insensitive, after all.

Calm down, keep still, the others have the fight well in hand, just wait and we'll all get out of here and get you fixed up.

Words uttered by the older girl who were by her side when the twin woke up. Isa stared at her with surprise. She didn't know her. But the unknown woman seemed to have a grasp on the situation contrary to the wounded teenager. So she waited. It didn't take long for Forest to notice and reach for her.

Sweeting, I need you to sit down.  You shouldn't be up, but we'll get you taken care of and we'll find your sister.  Right now though, I need you to sit down

In her haste to go fetch for her sibling, she almost forgot that the vampire was skilled in reading minds.

"..."

As if finally realizing her own state of fatigue, Isa sat on the asphalt without resistance. If Forest indeed, checked her thoughts, she may have seen what happened. The girl dropped her head, trying to hide her face in a vain try. She bit worriedly on her lower lip, unable to cover entirely her half muffled sobs. Truth was, she didn't want to expose such a thing to anyone. It was already awfully hard to digest that Vanessa probably shared most of it.

At least, Forest picked on the necessity to rescue her sister. With luck, the older twin should be fine and both sisters would be reunited again. But how to face off, Nessa after what happened? The simple thought to face her pained and terrified Isa.

I'm a failure. She thought. Not even able to take care of myself. Especially after declaring she would help Forest and the others. Not only did she prove to be incompetent, but she got the scare of her life. She was afraid to no end. More than violating and feeding on her body, the werewolves broke something deep down. They made her feel helpless and reduced her confidence to nothing.

The sheep facing the wolf.

In spite of the attention given to her, Isa felt an unfamiliar cold spreading in her body. She still felt that beast having her way with her. Her arm being devoured. Her face being lacerated. The distinctive scent of wet fur and iron. The satisfied grunts from the no-longer-humans. And blood covering her entirely.

Confronting her own torment, she felt, for the first time in her whole existence, truly alone.

Sis...