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31

Cross Effects 3.0-It was good while it lasted / Re: Re: Re: Cross Effects 3.0 - The Third Time's the Charm? In Character Game Thread

« on: March 22, 2016, 03:12:01 AM »

EMIYA SHIROU

“Something like that,” Shirou said, almost but not quite able to contain a grimace at Darcy’s lighthearted jab. “I’m well aware of how strong he is, but I can’t simply give this up. I’m not asking you two to join me, but please, tell me where I could start looking.” The archer looked at them both imploringly. Just knowing that the dragon was a crime boss wasn’t enough, the city was teeming with gangs. He needed a better lead to go on.


LANCELOT

When the dark knight’s inquiry was returned with silence, he made to dress himself in a light collared shirt and dark pants, one of the nicer outfits he owned, of which there were not many. He felt ill at ease with the idea of going out again and would have preferred to stew at home alone, but the pantry was running low and it was his duty to keep it stocked when Forest was away.

Lancelot heaved a sigh as he stepped out of the apartment and into the pale afternoon light, filtered by thick clouds. He prayed that this excursion would be much shorter and smoother than his past several trips outdoors.


BRIGIDA DOENCA

It was a stag. A stag ridden by a woman in a bright red hoodie, bounding through the woods back toward the aged professor, and all the while a multitude of fantastic plants and ghostly wildlife shifted into being all around it. Brigida blinked, and then blinked again. She had never seen anything like it, and she had seen a great deal of strange things.

I just got wrecked by a wanna-be unicorn. She couldn’t begin to fathom how the creature was so powerful, but it certainly wasn’t to be underestimated.

“You could stand to watch where you’re going more carefully,” She said to the rider, adopting a polite yet reproachful tone. “There may be others like myself around, and I’m sure they wouldn’t appreciate being trampled.”

32

Cross Effects 3.0-It was good while it lasted / Re: Re: Re: Cross Effects 3.0 - The Third Time's the Charm? In Character Game Thread

« on: March 19, 2016, 09:29:23 PM »

EMIYA SHIROU

Shirou blinked in mild surprise that the priest - Darcy - also knew japanese, albeit with a strong accent that he guessed was european. Mitsuba consented to being questioned as well, although she was rather reserved about it.

“Have either of you two seen any dragons lately? There’s one named Shendu who I’m trying to find.” He had no idea if Mia was even still alive, wherever the dragon had taken her, but he’d be damned if he didn’t do everything in his power to find her.

33

Cross Effects 3.0-It was good while it lasted / Re: Re: Re: Cross Effects 3.0 - The Third Time's the Charm? In Character Game Thread

« on: March 19, 2016, 12:19:57 AM »

EMIYA SHIROU

And so it was revealed that this woman had no connection to Saber, despite their extremely similar appearance. It was quite eerie, but stranger things happened in the Nexus. At least Mitsuba hadn’t taken offense.

“Ahh, no worries, it was just a coincidence after all,” Shirou said with a relieved smile, thankful that she understood Japanese. “But since I’m already here, would you two mind if I asked you a strange question?”


LANCELOT

The Knight of the Lake awoke slowly, an old hill of swords and red voices gradually fading away as he gained awareness. Right. He was in Arturia’s apartment, sleeping off the horrors he had endured last night. He sat upright on the sofa, only then realizing that someone had covered him in a blanket.

“Arturia?” He called out softly, not wanting to wake her if she happened to be asleep like he had been.


BRIGIDA DOENCA

“‘It’s a big one,’ he said,” the portuguese woman grunted, drawing out the word “big” in an irritated drawl. Her cropped salt-and-pepper hair was just barely long enough for her bangs to get in her eyes as she dashed through the old woods near the Nexus city at reckless speeds. For a language instructor now in her fifties, this would normally be far outside of her comfort zone.

“Sustained phenomenon dashing around at the speed of sound, yeah right. Either the equipment is severely malfunctioning or the man’s hallucinating.” And yet here she was, chasing an impossible lead instead of regaining her strength. Since when had she become this foolhardy?

My sister is trapped somewhere back home, with no one to save her. I can’t afford to ignore any possibility.

It was only after an hour of fruitless searching that she finally found her quarry - or more accurately, it found her. Something burst from the trees and was upon her in an instant. She barely had time to brace her feet on the ground as best she could before it slammed into her with the force of an eighteen wheeler. Brigida was blown clear off her feet and rolled through the foliage several meters before flipping back to her feet. The anomaly, for its part, careened through the forest at insane speeds before eventually coming to a halt somewhere out of her line of sight.

Brigida grit her teeth in pain and rage, but even those feelings took a backseat to her elation. Perhaps this really would be worthwhile. Her lips twitching up to form a grim smile, she ran after the anomaly.

“Whatever you are, you better be worth getting run over.”

34

Cross Effects 3.0-It was good while it lasted / Re: Re: Re: Cross Effects 3.0 - The Third Time's the Charm? In Character Game Thread

« on: March 17, 2016, 03:47:32 PM »

EMIYA SHIROU

Shirou’s boots crunched on the snow that covered the sidewalk, compressed into an icy layer that threatened to make him fall, requiring that he concentrate on each step to keep his legs from sliding out from under him. It might have been annoying, but right now he was grateful for the distraction.

He wished he could say that he was no longer bothered by places like this. He knew it was silly, this was far from his first time in such a place, and it wasn’t like he could hear or smell the carnal acts going on within the establishments that lined the street. Hell, it wasn’t even busy right now. That came well after the sun went down. But even so, the mere knowledge of what these businesses offered made him uncomfortable.

Still, the situation demanded that he swallow his discomfort and soldier on. The women who worked here were good at collecting secrets, and right now he needed any scrap of information he could get, even if it was unlikely that a dragon would bother visiting a (mostly) human brothel.

The freelance magus made a quick 360 scan out of habit, but his eyes only found two strangers having a strained conversation. His head turned back to the sidewalk for a moment, before swiveling back to double check what he had just seen.

A blond man wearing clothes that somewhat resembled Church uniforms stood talking to a young woman with shoulder length white-pink hair. Nothing exceptional, except that the woman’s face was extremely similar to Saber’s. But that couldn’t be possible, he had only just seen Saber yesterday morning, and he doubted that the former servant would care for such a drastic makeover.

Or would she? They had been… close, a long time ago, but he had changed a lot since then, and Saber had been making a life for herself here as well, it seemed. As good as it had been to see her alive and well, they didn’t really know each other anymore.

Before he knew it, the archer found his feet taking him across the empty street and over to the pair, his curiosity getting the better of him. Besides, any priest found in this sort of place couldn’t be up to any good.

“Excuse me,” he said in english, his eyebrows scrunching up as he concentrated on the words. “Forgive my… rudeness, but you look familiar. What is your name? I am Shirou Emiya.” Hopefully they wouldn’t take offense to his interruption, but judging by the lady’s expression, she hadn’t been pleased to speak with the priest anyway.

35

Cross Effects 3.0-It was good while it lasted / Re: Re: Re: Cross Effects 3.0 - The Third Time's the Charm? In Character Game Thread

« on: December 07, 2015, 02:36:02 PM »

AKIHOLARME

“Perhaps if you had any powers of observation you would realize that I do not fight using my fists,” she said, pointedly tapping a finger against Spellbreaker. “I don’t know what manner of fool chooses to fight barehanded in these lands, but I have little interest in sharing that handicap.” She maintained her glare, undeterred by the poor state of her face, her sky blue eyes peering into his grey ones.

36

Cross Effects 3.0-It was good while it lasted / Re: Re: Re: Cross Effects 3.0 - The Third Time's the Charm? In Character Game Thread

« on: December 02, 2015, 03:24:27 AM »

LANCELOT

The dark knight walked into Arturia’s apartment, scowling. The bright light he was investigating had faded, the soldiers he spoke to left the premises, and whoever their leader was never came down to speak with him. The whole venture was so much wasted time - and much more devastatingly, false hope.

Have you given up yet?

Lancelot dematerialized his armor and dressed himself in his nightclothes before collapsing on the couch that effectively served as his bed, exhausted. It had been too long since he had slept. He just wanted this day to be over. But when he lied down the best he could on the too-small sofa, oblivion was maddeningly slow to claim him.

Have I gotten to you yet?

Thoughts of Mordred and long black tunnels refused to leave his head, until at last he fell into blissful unconsciousness.


AKIHOLARME

Aki gritted her teeth at the stranger’s words and turned to glower at him. Flopping down next to her and questioning her injuries so casually, the Imperial soldier wasn’t sure if he was mocking her or trying to pick her up. People had tried it before, hoping to get lucky from the offer of patching up her after-action wounds. It was a big reason she started studying in the restoration school.

“I fail to see how it is your business,” she said, her tone dripping acid. “What do you want?”

37

Cross Effects 3.0-It was good while it lasted / Re: Re: Re: Cross Effects 3.0 - The Third Time's the Charm? In Character Game Thread

« on: November 29, 2015, 06:43:34 AM »

EMIYA SHIROU

They traveled through Adjutor’s strange shadow-world for some time, the kid apologizing for the dragon’s behavior all the way. Shirou idly wondered if it was some sort of reality marble, but it didn’t match what he remembered from Rin’s lesson on that subject. before stepping out into a dark room. Shirou squinted, making out what appeared to be a dining table before the teenager flipped the lights. The archer blinked several times in succession before his eyes adjusted, revealing a dining room just large enough to seat a small family.

“Where is this?” Shirou asked, deciding that question was more important than asking what the kid was muttering about.


AKIHOLARME

The last Dragonborn found herself doing something she had only ever done once before: running like a bitch. She had known intellectually, even before coming to the Nexus, that there were things out in the world she hadn’t surpassed yet, but holy crap fighting that axe-wielding man was like trying to beat down a draugr deathlord while sick with rockjoint. Risking a brief look behind her, she found that he was no longer being pursued. Well, at least she could be grateful for that.

She slowed her pace down to a shuffle, limping along until she found a bench of wood and metal near a small open patch of grass and flowers. Aki gingerly sat down on it, careful not to aggravate her wounds. She took off her helmet, revealing wet, clumped, and matted hair, and a badly discolored nose with a trail of dried blood leading down to her lips. It had taken what little magicka she had left to repair the truly threatening wounds, so until it regenerated, she was stuck feeling like one giant bruise with a limp. She breathed out through clenched teeth, indignation and shame bubbling up and warring within her at having been defeated.

38

Cross Effects 3.0-It was good while it lasted / Re: Re: Re: Cross Effects 3.0 - The Third Time's the Charm? In Character Game Thread

« on: November 28, 2015, 02:06:18 AM »

EMIYA SHIROU

There was a flare of blinding light, a sensation of warmth, and then a sharp chill. The light faded and Shirou looked down to see why he suddenly felt so cold, to find-

HOLY FUCK WHERE ARE MY CLOTHES, he thought. What came out of his mouth was: “Wh- wh- what?” His eyes grew impossibly wide and his face immediately colored deep red. Horribly embarrassed, the archer tried to cover himself up with his hands and glared at Urthemiel for all he was worth. The amused look she returned him wasn’t satisfying at all. When the woman left, Shirou was barely even surprised by her visible transformation back into a dragon. He had seen - and endured - way too much the past (five minutes) 24 hours for to be phased by such a thing right now.

“I… am going to dress.” the poor man managed to stammer out, shooting Adjutor a nervous glance. He strode to the large hole in the roof, awkwardly trying, and largely failing, to keep his rear end from showing. Carefully climbing down back into the condemned building, Shirou grumbled to himself in discontent as he sought out what was now his only set of clothes at all.

Two minutes later the freelancer emerged from his hideout, freshly changed and weapon case in hand. “You wanted to go somewhere?”, he asked the teenager, half remembering that the kid had wanted to bring him someplace after they escaped Shendu.

39

Cross Effects 3.0-It was good while it lasted / Re: Re: Re: Cross Effects 3.0 - The Third Time's the Charm? In Character Game Thread

« on: November 07, 2015, 03:50:10 PM »

EMIYA SHIROU

The woman’s laugh was entrancing, but at least this time he kept his wits (and dignity) about him. Then she hit him with a nuclear warhead. His eyes grew wide, and his mouth opened, then shut, scrambling for words but unable to come up with anything to deny her assertion of them being lovers.

I’m done here, he thought to himself. For multiple reasons, this place was no longer siutable as a hideout. “Sayonara,” he said aloud, not bothering to translate to english. With that he turned around, strode to the edge of the roof and hopped off, intent on finding somewhere else to settle for a few hours of sleep.


LANCELOT

The former Servant acknowledged the man’s words with a nod. “I will wait, then,” he said, then strode away several paces, putting a respectful distance between himself and the other soldiers.

40

Cross Effects 3.0-It was good while it lasted / Re: Re: Re: Cross Effects 3.0 - The Third Time's the Charm? In Character Game Thread

« on: November 02, 2015, 03:30:56 AM »

EMIYA SHIROU

Suddenly the woman was standing in front of him, and he raised his head to meet her gaze. The look on her face… he didn’t have any way to describe it, but god was it enticing. Heat rose in his cheeks, much to his chagrin. Every nerve was all too aware when she stroked the edge of his jaw with one finger, and suddenly he could feel magic flowing through him. The freelance magus nearly recoiled before realizing that the spell was benign - in fact, he was starting to feel a lot better.

Shirou straigtened his back and shoulders and leveled the woman with a cool gaze, trying to will away his stubborn blush. It was foolish of him to have been taken off guard by her, even if she really did mean well.

“I am Emiya Shirou,” he said evenly despite his accent, relieved that he hadn’t stumbled over the English words this time. He had embarassed himself enough already. “How can I help you?”

41

Cross Effects 3.0-It was good while it lasted / Re: Re: Re: Cross Effects 3.0 - The Third Time's the Charm? In Character Game Thread

« on: November 01, 2015, 01:42:19 AM »

EMIYA SHIROU

The boy grabbed onto his arm, and suddenly he was floating(?) through a pool of perfect darkness, and then spat back out on the now ruined roof. Shirou blinked, disoriented. He had studied a lot of magical theory with Tohsaka, even though he couldn’t put it to use, but that wasn’t something he recognized. On top of that, where there was once a dragon, there was now a woman. A rather irritated woman berating the poor kid for the terrible living conditions.

Shirou decided to not bother making sense of any of this. He knew he should jump in and save the teen from getting chewed out like that, but he couldn’t find the energy to do so. His body and heart were too heavy.


LANCELOT

One of the guards stepped away to greet the dark knight, presumably the one in charge. Lancelot stopped and heard his words, grateful that they did not draw their weapons. “Perhaps you could enlighten me as to the nature and purpose for this light, then. It…” Lancelot paused, not sure how to explain the voice in his head, or if he even should. “I believe it could help me. It is of the utmost importance.”


AKIHOLARME

Violence it is. Aki considered her foe, adorned in shining armor and armed with a brilliant battle axe, which he swung around with one hand, what the fuck? Even the undead Red Eagle hadn’t done that with his massive ancient flaming sword, and he had been strong enough to numb her arm every time he smashed her shield.

Deciding she would have to play this smart, the Imperial soldier let go of the hilt of her sword and shifted the strap of her shield farther up her arm, allowing her two free hands to cast with. She couldn’t tell if the other man was a mage or not, and so decided to play it safe. Fire was less expensive, and worked on pretty much everything. Two small magic flames appeared, one in each of her hands, which grew in intensity as her grip around them tightened. Then she cast them both, one covering her entire body and armor in magical fire that would burn anyone who got in melee range (and looked pretty cool, if she said so herself). The other struck the ground to her right, which flashed in the tell-tale signal of a rune being placed. Then the light faded, leaving only a faint orange glow to mark the explosive rune’s presence.

Preparations complete, and now almost drained of magicka, Aki pulled her shield back into place and unsheathed her ancient nordic sword, sparks dancing along the dark blade. She charged at the opposing knight, shield readied in front of her in anticipation of the greater range of the battleaxe.

42

Cross Effects 3.0-It was good while it lasted / Re: Re: Re: Cross Effects 3.0 - The Third Time's the Charm? In Character Game Thread

« on: October 27, 2015, 09:32:53 AM »

EMIYA SHIROU

Shirou gave a half-hearted shrug at the kid’s horrified questioning. He didn’t truly live here so much as occasionally use the place to sleep or stow what few belongings he had, but there wasn’t much point in telling him that.

The sniper made his way to a nearby staircase, moved a sheet of dry-rotted plywood aside, and fetched a large black case that had been hidden away. As low on prana as he was, he was going to need his sniper rifle. It was still heavy, good. It meant the disassembled weapon was still inside.

“Nowhere else,” he said bluntly, standing up and turning to face the boy, case in hand. The simple fact was that he couldn’t afford a real place to stay. His occupation of being a hero didn’t exactly pay the bills. It was hard enough to get enough to eat as it was. He didn’t know what he was going to do once he ran low on rifle ammunition, but for now he had enough to make do. “Did you have a… idea?” he asked, struggling to get the english words right.

The teen didn’t have time to respond before something hit the building from above, hard. The whole building creaked loudly as though it were about to tear in half, a few pieces of wood falling from the ceiling around them. Shirou tensed, his mind automatically racing with scenarios of what could possibly be attacking, when a gout of fire burst through the ceiling above them. On a better day, his mind and body unhindered by acute prana deprivation, Shirou would have leapt back from the flames and already have his twin swords in hand, primed and ready to face any danger. But this was not such a day, and instead he fell flat on his ass.

After several seconds of dust induced coughing, the archer looked up through the large hole in the roof. It was difficult to see with all the dust in the way, but he could make out the outline of what appeared to be the head of a western dragon.

Oh fuck, Shirou thought, the image of an enraged Shendu still fresh in his mind. Was this a servant of his, come to seek them out and finish them off?

43

Cross Effects 3.0-It was good while it lasted / Re: Cross Effects 3.0 - The Third Time's the Charm? The Velvet Room (NSFW version)

« on: October 25, 2015, 12:15:11 AM »

EMIYA SHIROU

There was something beautifully fulfilling about making love to this wonderful woman, listening to her sweet moans as she whispered his name. Shirou's heart swelled and his chest seemed tight. He couldn't get enough of this. His breath hitched and he could stop himself from moaning aloud as his hips gradually rocked back and forth faster, driven by the overwhelming desire to feel more of her.

44

Cross Effects 3.0-It was good while it lasted / Re: Re: Re: Cross Effects 3.0 - The Third Time's the Charm? In Character Game Thread

« on: October 24, 2015, 03:43:38 PM »

EMIYA SHIROU

Shirou tensed and tried to pull away when the boy took one arm and placed it over his shoulders, allowing the archer to rest his weight against him. It didn’t do any good, he was exhausted and the boy seemed very strong for someone so young. Shirou hesitated for a moment, then gave a resigned sigh. It grated on him that he was the one who needed help, especially after having failed so utterly, but the reality was making his way across the Nexus at night in his current condition was dangerous.

“Okay,” he said in his accented english. “This way.”

*****

It felt like a very long time before Shirou and Adjutor arrived at the very abandoned looking building the freelance magus was currently squatting. He was exhausted, sore, and feeling sluggish. The almost constant stress of the past 24 hours had taken a severe toll, and now it was all catching up to him. It took all his concentration to put one foot in front of another, even with this unknown kid helping support his weight. Shirou wasn’t sure how much he could trust him, but he was grateful all the same.

“This is it,” the archer managed to grate out, moving to one of the low, boarded up windows. With considerable effort, he pulled two of the boards out of place, being much less secure than they appeared, and stepped through the opening.


AKIHOLARME

Aki hadn’t seen the man’s massive axe until he moved, but she wondered why she hadn’t noticed it before. The light from the pillar seemed to dance around it, beautiful and terrifying. Her features crumpled into a scowl beneath her dark helm at his threat and her hand moved to the hilt of her ancient sword while her grip on Spellbreaker tightened.

“How about you just answer the damn question instead of threatening people,” she said, taking a step forward in a clearly aggressive stance. “Unless you prefer I just beat it out of you.” Truthfully, that option wasn’t unappealing. If it came to blows, she could probably loot that sexy looking axe off of him. Still, she wasn’t going to attack without provocation, despite her words. Even if it was tempting.


KOTOMINE KIREI

Something blurred in the edge of the priest’s vision, but he paid it no mind as he wound up to slaughter the helpless mage before him. His fist swung out to deliver the final blow - and his arm was suddenly blown from his body. In a burst of unbelievable speed, the redheaded woman had dashed up to, past, and through his right shoulder, completely severing the limb in the instant it took for his strike to build up momentum. The arm flopped to the ground, where it lay useless. Kotomine had to take a step backward to re-stabilize himself, and by then the mage had pulled off some spell that almost instantly burned through the hand and wrist holding her aloft, who promptly collapsed to the ground in a heap, struggling to breathe.

The staff-guy came down hard from above, but the blow failed to inflict any noticeable damage. He just didn’t have enough mass to perform an effective air strike on him. Kotomine whirled about, the promise of death showing on his face, only to be replaced by a surprised expression when he saw Roxas’ charged keyblades aiming at him.

The blast of light blew through most of his face, leaving it a searing wreck of burned flesh. The damage was clearly lethal. Patience and the advantage of surprise had served the keyblade wielder well. The priest’s body stood there, unmoving, as though he had yet to realize that he had died.

Probably because he hadn’t. The same black substance that had covered the building previously oozed out of the wounds, replacing the parts that had been blown away. The darkness congealed, solidifying into a new arm and a new face before assuming the same color as his skin. Within seconds, the damage that had been dealt to him was undone. Even his clothes were pristine.

This isn’t worth it.

Kotomine judged that he could still kill them despite their unforeseen tenacity, but it wouldn’t be nearly worth the effort required. It burned to have even this tiny victory denied to him. He wanted to slaughter them, to strike them down and prove his dominance, but he had learned from hard experience to listen to his gut when it told him to cut his losses and beat it. Giving the troublesome group one last hateful glare, he turned and sprinted through the large field away from the battle, taking a few seconds to accelerate to full speed.

45

Cross Effects 3.0-It was good while it lasted / Re: Re: Cross Effects 3.0 - The Third Time's the Charm? In Character Game Thread

« on: October 17, 2015, 07:53:11 AM »

LANCELOT

The dark knight had woken up alone in a room he didn’t recognize, the last thing he remembered being the all consuming terror that Saber was going to die. With the circumstances in mind, he was only slightly ashamed to admit that he had panicked. One mad dash through several cubicles and a friendly chat with the local police captain later, and he was back on the streets. The new sun in the sky caught his attention of course, and since he wasn’t going to be getting any sleep in the near future, he figured he might as well check it out, hoping to distract himself with this task.

Kill it burn it shred it annihilate it smash it disintegrate it save yourself make it atone

And so here he was, staring up at a towering skyscraper that was close to the new light in the sky. It became very unhappy at the sight, yet the voice was quiet, deprived of power. Lancelot wasn’t sure if it was due to the light or happenstance, but investigating this was definitely worth his time. The area directly under the light had been locked down by some group of soldiers, but this tower would serve as a good vantage point. Moving briskly, Lancelot crossed the street and came into view of the base of the skyscraper… and found that it too was guarded by the same soldiers.

The knight of the lake’s scowl deepened. This place and these people were definitely connected to the light somehow. Deciding that finding answers was worth the risk of antagonizing this unknown group of soldiers, he strode up to the skyscraper, hoping that his dark armor wouldn’t put them on edge.


EMIYA SHIROU

The sound of footsteps got his attention, and Shirou turned to see the same kid as before walking up to him. The archer tensed, not sure if the teen was going to get violent for having been suplexed a few moments ago, but he really just seemed concerned.

Shirou got to his feet, knowing that the kid was right, it was better to get away from here. Even that simple act required far too much effort. His physical body was fine, but mana deprivation was a real problem. His whole body felt sluggish and heavy, and a throbbing pain was building between his ears. It was imperative that he return to somewhere safe, preferably his hideout, where his sniper rifle was stored away. He acknowledged the boy with a nod, and then made to climb down the side of the building, intending to head back “home.”


KOTOMINE KIREI

Both newcomers had evaded his sweep, much to the priest’s irritation. He relaxed the muscles in his arms, which shrank back to their normal size, and carefully gauged his enemies as they charged at him. Bone-like spikes burst out of the woman, who attacked from the front, while the other man shifted around to the side, preparing to flank him. Smart… too bad what they didn’t know would get them killed.

Kotomine didn’t even try to defend against Valerie’s attack. Her knee and her elbow struck true, the bone-spike protrusions digging partway into his flesh. Michael came up from behind, about to attack with his staff, when the priest rotated.

It was an unnatural movement. In the blink of an eye, Kotomine’s entire upper body turned 180 degrees, while his legs didn’t appear move at all. The bone woman, brought along for the ride, suddenly found herself between Michael and his target. Whether he hit Valerie or aborted the strike didn’t much matter. The priest reached around and grabbed her by the back of her neck and pulled her away, her bone spikes seeming to just slide right out of him. The priest’s knee came up and his leg extended in a devastating snap kick to Michael’s midsection, strong enough to fracture his ribs.

Holding Valerie by the throat in front of him Kotomine Kirei narrowed his eyes and pulled back his fist, ready to deliver the killing blow.