Cross Effects- The RP

[Daiki]

"Woooooah, fiery, fiery!!" Exclaimed a young girl standing next to Sephiroth. It seemed she did appear out of nowhere to you but it may simply have to do with you being too busy fighting the Zack look-a-like to notice. As she looked with an amused expression the man rolling over the ground in an attempt to extinguish the remnants flames, you can throw her a side glance.

She looks young, a teenager as it seems. Wearing a thin black top, white jeans and a pair of white sneakers. She addresses Sephiroth a genuine smile and you can see her purples eyes meeting yours. She doesn't seem to care in the slightest that you wear an extremely long sword nor that you did cast a fire spell in the middle of the place.

"You know any of these guys, sir?" She asked on a curious tone while pointing her left thumb towards the general direction of the "Enforcers" as they called themselves. "Because they surely don't look like the Enforcers I know."

----

The situation quickly build up in a difficult status. On a side, Forest and Shirou facing each other. Both were reluctant to fight, yet none would back down from their respective positions. On the other one, Rider and Shuya wouldn't stop either. The Servant needed the prana and the Mixed Blood want a good battle. In the middle of this Hakuno was shielding herself both physically and mentally.

The whole situation was a huge mess and if things weren't stopped soon, civilians would be involved. In fact, some were already turning their attention towards Shirou and Forest. That's when out of nowhere a calm voice spoke.

"Maybe you should stop there, Emiya Shirou." Said the teenager showing up. In casual wear clothes, a girl, younger than anyone involved here, walked to face the magus killer, placing herself deliberately between Forest and the man. Her blue eyes were burning with a serious look, yet her tone was still lower than before. "I don't know what's going on here, but do you really plan to use Noble Phantasms in an area full of people ?"

If you do, I'll have no choice but to intervene. She didn't add it, just barely, certain the intention was clear enough.

For a second, she looked a bit scared, just like a normal girl her age would by meeting the gaze of a professional assassin.

Of course she knew him. Whoever was involved with the Association would. His reputation spoke for him, he had killed countless magi among others, for now years. The Second Magus Killer, a freelancer only bound by his own sense of justice. If she had to face him now, she would lose without a doubt. Even if Vanessa was there, Isabella doubted she could match such a dangerous magus.

She was mainly worried about the girl generating a protection around herself, but Isabella doubted it could last for a while. The adolescent girl looked at Forest with a with pleading eyes. "Look, could you put away your issue here and cooperate in order to help the girl? Because, in case you two didn't notice, she's stuck in the middle of a battle between what looks like two psychopaths clearly aroused by their murderous lust." She then turned again towards Shirou. "Please, isn't it justice to help others?"

[Cherry Lover]

Rider silently cursed as her opponent easily deflected her attacks, knocking the nails back in her direction.

Damn, he's stronger than I'd hoped.

"Your greetings lacks both power and class", the man said, mockingly, as he pointed his blade at her.

Rider retrieved her nails from the ground and tensed herself, preparing for his next attack. Meanwhile, she looked over at the sniper, and the blonde who was approaching him, clearly desiring to avoid conflict if possible. Now that she could look at him closely, he looked suspiciously like a younger, white-haired Shirou.

No, it can't be, Shirou would never willingly kill an innocent, not even to protect Sakura, Rider thought.

Then, she heard the blonde speak, in her usual abrupt manner.

 "I'm Law Unto Herself, but if things go well, you can call me Forest.  So, tell me why you're going all Punisher on a rooftop in my town?"

Clearly she was quite annoyed with the man for what he'd done, and unsurprisingly so. Still, she seemed to have come to the conclusion that he was some sort of anti-hero, who killed without much hesitation. And, based on his actions, she was inclined to agree. He certainly seemed like someone who weighed up lives coldly and dispassionately, killing anyone in the way of his goal. As someone whose very nature meant she would always be on the wrong end of such people, she despised them and their holier-than-thou attitude. Doubly so since she knew Sakura would have never been given a chance at life had Shirou not shown the compassion and kindness to protect her and save her even from herself.

Still, whilst she hated people like that in general, in this situation it could work to their advantage. If Forest could persuade him that the real threat to all involved was the nutjob now attacking her, then she would be able to get out of this situation without wasting too much of her precious prana reserves and, hopefully, without any of her potential allies being harmed.

Abruptly, Rider's thoughts were brought back to the more immediate problem of her attacker, as he gave a disturbingly joyous laugh, and then taunted her once more.

"In the mood to play I see, why don't you toss that garbage over there and come at me?" he said, clearly referring to the schoolgirl standing somewhere behind her, still struggling to re-create her shield. Rider glared at him as he said that, and replied angrily.

"I'd much rather 'play' with a nice girl like her than a psychopathic asshole like you. After I defeat you, I'm going to take back all the prana I'm wasting on you with interest. Slowly and painfully.

You're going to regret ever crossing us by the time I'm done."

She was rather impressed with strength of the girl behind her, and the dismissive attitude and aggressiveness of this jerk had really upset her. She had far more respect for kind but strong girls like her master and the girl standing behind her still wrestling with her new-found magic than jerkass blood knights like this moron, who think the world is all about fighting and killing. Rider didn't mind fighting when she had to, and indeed she enjoyed the occasional sparring match, but she only ever saw it as a means to an end, not an end in itself. Despite what this moron seemed to think, she would be quite happy to skip the annoying fight and get straight to the "agonising torture" part. That was her idea of fun....

Rider saw her opponent turn and address Forest and the sniper.

"Feel free to join but don't even try something funny."

Hearing that, Rider's opinion of the man fell even further. Not only was he a psychopath, but he was a psychopath with a misguided belief that there was a "right" way to fight. Only idiots restrict theirselves in a fight to the death, and only assholes expect others to do so. But, still, this battle would provide a good opportunity to teach him otherwise, and after she had subdued him she would demonstrate the consequences of such a belief in the most excruitiating manner possible. Plus, assholes like him tended to get angry when people didn't fight their way, and that only served to benefit her.

She considered her strategy for a moment. How best could she use her abilities to defeat this jerk? But, any conclusions she might have come to were blown out of the water when she heard the sniper utter a very familiar phrase.

"I am the bone of my sword"

Oh shit,it is Shirou, she thought as multiple swords appeared in the air behind him.

Hearing the chant changed things totally. She wasn't sure exactly how strong this version of Shirou was, but she did know that if he summoned his Reality Marble she would be trapped inside, with no means of escape barring killing him, waiting for his prana to run low or persuading him to release her. Plus, fighting on an open plain like Shirou's Reality Marble was not exactly suited to her style.

Rider considered her options. She could run away, but she couldn't risk the possibility of this man following her straight to Kiyoshi, and she very much doubted he would leave her alone. Plus, she had grown rather fond of the schoolgirl behind her, and if she fled she had no doubt that this man would kill her, probably unpleasantly. So, really, she simply had to stay and fight. But, how?

The biggest unanswered question was whose side Shirou was on, if any, and whether she should warn Forest and, more importantly, her opponent, of his intentions. If he was supporting her, as the Shirou she knew undoubtedly would, then she saw no reason to prevent him summoning the Reality Marble. There was simply no way that her opponent could handle Rider and a volley of flying swords. But, his prior actions made it abundently clear that he was not the Shirou she knew. Something bad had happened to this Shirou, and he was clearly a lot more cynical, to the point of attempting to commit cold-blooded murder on an innocent girl. And, honestly, her actions so far had been such that even the Shirou she knew would have doubts about her intentions. There was simply no way she could trust him.

Considering her situation, Rider wondered if the best strategy was to avoid the fight altogther. Not running away, but simply evading every attack before it came. After all, Rider's strong point was her agility and, further, people like this asshole tended to get upset at opponents who denied them a good fight. He might get angry and make a mistake or, better still, just give up and leave her alone.

Whilst she would dearly love to kill this man for all that he'd done, this wasn't a good situation to attempt to do so. Plus, it would demonstrate to Shirou who the good guy here was. And, right now, getting Shirou's support would make the difference between a one-on-one fight between her and this jerk and a three-on-one dogpile. The worry, though, was that if she did that he would use the schoolgirl as a hostage, which Rider would rather avoid if possible.

Further, she was unsure of whether to warn Forest or not. Doing so would be safer in the long run, but it would also indicate a lack of trust in Shirou, which might count against her. Plus, it would also give him more information about her than she'd like. But, before she had the chance to decide, the decision was, unexpectedly, made for her.

 "I know that chant! Rider, Forest, he's about to use a Noble Phantasm! You have to stop him!"

Eh? How could she know that?

Rider did not recognise this girl at all. How could she know of Shirou?

Wait, hang on, didn't she call for Archer? And, she referred to it as a Noble Phantasm....

Suddenly, the pieces all fell into place in her mind. She was a master of an Archer-class servant, and she had called Shirou's reality marble a "Noble Phantasm". The only way that could be the case is if she had somehow summoned a version of Shirou as her servant, just like Rin had in her war.

I wish Rin were here, she'd love to have a chance to see him again.

Still, whilst the new information about the girl's servant was interesting and somewhat reassuring, it wasn't immediately useful, other than perhaps to inform her of the nature of the backup that would hopefully soon arrive. She saw the girl look around at everyone, before rather impressively re-instating her magic barrier, correctly determining that the best person she could protect right now was herself. Seeing the girl raise her barrier gave Rider the confidence to enact her earlier plan. If the asshole did try to attack her right now, he would have to hack through the magic barrier, which would give Rider time to take him down.

Plus, now that the danger of Shirou's Reality Marble had been so openly expressed, Rider could perhaps turn the psychopath's attention elsewhere....

Rider saw the man turned and smile at her, before jumping at her and slashing the location where she had been standing. However, Rider was much too quick for him and, by the time he got to her, Rider had jumped up, landing on a ledge. She looked down at her opponent and smirked, before addressing him.

"Look, whoever you are, if you let him finish that chant then we're all doomed."

In reality, Rider knew this was not entirely true. Whilst the summoning of Shirou's Reality Marble would make things awkward for them, she was fairly sure she could still defeat him even inside his Reality Marble, particularly with Forest's help. After all, he was ultimately just a normal person, and she was a heroic spirit. Plus, if necessary, she could use her mystic eyes.

But, he didn't know that and, besides, she doing so would be a waste of prana she could ill-afford right now. Currently she still had a reasonable amount in reserve, since Sakura usually kept her tank pretty much full at all times, but a serious battle would put a significant dent in those reserves. That would mean that, until she could top herself up, she would be much less able to protect Kiyoshi. Further, whilst she was fairly sure Shirou could survive her mystic eyes, she didn't know if either Forest or the girl would be affected by them, and she would rather not kill either of them.

She stood on the lamp-post looking down and awaiting his reply. But, before it came, she heard the voice of a young girl, clearly addressed at Shirou.

"I don't know what's going on here, but do you really plan to use Noble Phantasms in an area full of people ?"

Well, at least this person seems reasonable.

 "Look, could you put away your issue here and cooperate in order to help the girl? Because, in case you two didn't notice, she's stuck in the middle of a battle between what looks like two psychopaths clearly aroused by their murderous lust."

...or not, she thought as she glared at the girl, her stare so intent and angry that she could almost turn the girl to stone even through her glasses. She did not appreciate being placed on the same level as the asshole she was fighting.

Then, whilst she awaited her opponent's next move, she changed into her battle outfit once more. It was more comfortable to fight in, and she didn't want to risk turning people to stone inadvertently, as she would if her glasses were to come off. At the same time, she turned to address Shirou. Now she had a moment to think, she wanted to know why he had acted as he did.

"Shirou, what have you become? What would Sakura say if she saw you attempting to murder an innocent girl like you did?"

She didn't know his exact story, but surely Sakura would be an important part of his life. Hopefully invoking her would make him consider his actions more carefully. Then, she turned to the new arrival, addressing him as well as Shirou, Forest and the rest. She didn't want them to tar her with the same brush as the psychopath attacking her.

"I don't want to fight this asshole either, so why are you threatening me?"

[Daiki]

"Look, whoever you are, if you let him finish that chant then we're all doomed."

At these words, unexpectedly, Shuya stopped. His face showing a different expression, something closest to a human one that you could expect. Was that regret? But it only lasted an instant, his arrogant smile back  as if it never disappeared. Then, he stabbed the ground with his strange blade and pulled out a cigarette and lighting it up. After a second, his eyes fell on Rider again.

"Let me ask few things. Why should I care about dying?"

The question was simple, yet it clearly stated one thing; your tentative failed to redirect his attention. Biting on the tobacco tube he grabbed the handle of the katana but didn't pull it out the ground, yet.

"Why should I fear a magus over a powerful spirit like you? Especially a coward who targets little girls?" As strange as it appeared, there was disdain in his tone. However it was quickly forgotten as he pointed his sword once more towards the Servant. "Also, why do you look away in a battle? Do you think you can afford that kind of attitude against me? Or is it that you want to get away?"

With a simple motion he was standing right before Hakuno. Towering her with an evil look.

"Or maybe that's because you couldn't eat properly? If I remember correctly, you were about to feed on her prana, right?"

He then laughed as his figure bent towards the girl behind her shield. After a moment he punched the barrier, out of the blue. It wasn't meant to break the thing of course, but merely to test it.

"See? That's why you're trash. Why didn't you use it earlier, girl? You could have avoid getting in such a crappy situation. If you have the power, you should use it. Protecting yourself is the most important."

His tone wasn't nice but there wasn't trace of arrogance this time. However when he spoke once more, his original behavior started up again.

"Seems like eyepatch and blondie are worried 'bout cha, though I ain't sure it's for the same reason. However, playboy other there might be willing to finish you off."

His attention back to Rider, he spoke again.

"I say we let crybaby go." He sighed for a second. "As of you, eyepatch. If you need prana so badly that you'd attack someone with such a low amount, must be because you're really in need of it? In that case, I'll let you off for today. Just get back when you're at full strength." His tone was amused, but no trace of mockery showed in it. It changed quickly though, when he pointed his blade in Shirou's direction. "In exchange I demand a challenge with you, lower-than-trash."

The man was clearly an enigma, completely changing his target without indication as to why. His gaze then observed the vampire without holding back at all, even going as far as tilting his head on the side.

"Eyepatch's catchy but you ain't half bad either. Maybe you'd accept the challenge since playboy seems only interested in attacking kids?"

With a curt laugh he then looked at the last arrived person, Isabella.

"If I were you, I would keep my distance, dwarfy." His mocking tone was harsher than ever but Shuya couldn't keep the disgust for himself. He finally walked casually in order to face the man at close range. His grin broadened. "So what will it be lower-than-thrash? Got yourself a pair or what?"

[Cherry Lover]

"Mummy!" Kiyoshi mumbled happily in his sleep.

Then suddenly, from outside the hotel, came the shout of a frightened girl.

"Archer! Archer, can you hear me?! Archer!"

The shout woke Kiyoshi from the happy reunion he was having in his dream. Still in a half-asleep state, he wondered why he was in a strange bed rather than his mother's warm and loving embrace.

"Mummy?"

"Mum..my..?"

As he came out of his half-asleep state, it began to dawn on him that it had just been a dream. His mother wasn't here. He might never see her again.

I might never see mummy again.

The thought of never again seeing his mother's warm smile brought tears to his eyes.

No, I must be strong. Aunt Rider promised we'd get back home, he thought.

Only for his composure to be utterly shattered by the unmistakable sound of a gun being fired. Frantically, he looked around the room for the woman he knew would protect him with her very life.

"Aunty Rider?"

But, she wasn't there.

"Au..nt.. Ri..de..r..?" he said, his voice cracking.

He was alone in a strange hotel. His protector had abandoned him.

No, she would never do that. She's probably just downstairs or something. Or helping the girl I heard.

Fighting back the tears, Kiyoshi pulled himself out of bed, as an explosion in the distance further underlined the danger of this world. He had always wanted to be a hero, now was the time to prove he was one, not to sit in his room feeling sorry for himself and pining for his mother. First he would find his Aunt Rider, and then he would go out and help the poor girl whose scream he'd heard.

Quickly, Kiyoshi started to get dressed. But, before he could leave the room, he heard a knock on the door.

Who could that be? he wondered.

He quickly finished dressing, and, putting his worries to one side for the moment, put on a smile. Then, he walked over to the door and opened it. There, sitting in a wheelchair, was an adorable little girl, probably around eight, wearing a white dress. She had the same vibrant red hair as him, although it was much longer and, strangely, her looks reminded him somewhat of his father. Judging by the look on her face and the fact that she'd knocked on his door, she was probably lost and alone, just like he was.

He weighed up his options for a moment. But, whilst he felt he should go out and help the girl who he'd heard, he couldn't just leave a helpless young girl alone in a place like this. Plus, right now, he would like the company, to distract him from his own problems. Still smiling, Kiyoshi addressed the girl.

"Hi, I'm Kiyoshi", he said, excitedly. "Would you like to come in?"

[lantzblades]

Satoshi stood in the darkness of the rooftop  listening and watching to the action and finally deciding to formally enter the event. "yo, Rider you want some help?" he shouted down to the group

[Elf]

What the bloody hell, his luck is rank E, just as bad as mine was!  And now Rin's in his arms and everything is good and sundry?

Lancer gritted his teeth and moved to catch Rin as she came tumbling down to earth in a rather fetching mass of raven hair and thigh high stockings.  However, for some reason, that bastard managed to get to her first.  Then, as if Archer hadn't tied Rin to a chair and left her to that little twat with the seaweed hair's devices, she was in his arms and they were on the move again. So, he's some alternate version of the Bowman.  Who's even more inclined to bondage.

He kept in step, now just determined to get there before Archer to show him up.

As he ran, he saw what looked like to be a small child lifting a car over his head while mostly keeping up with Lancer.  The Celt's eyes narrowed as he could sense that the kid wasn't exactly a kid.  Berserker's tiny master had felt something like the boy beside him, but not to this extent.  She would have been a candle flame compared to a spot light filled with LCDs, just beyond that level.   Then the not-lad looked at him with wide, hopeful eyes and asked,  "Hi mister wolf, did you see a black kitty?"

The screaming passengers inside the cab pounded the windows harder and stared at Lancer pleadingly.  The driver was cursing in a language that Lancer couldn't recognize and pounding at the steering wheel.  Lancer shook his head and said, "The only black cat I've seen is in that asshole's arms back there."  He blinked at the people screaming inside the cab, "Um, boyo, you might want to put down your toy.  There's no kitty in there."

******

And then the clusterfuck grew unto a clusterfuck orgy and the idiots rejoiced as it became more and more chaotic, Forest thought to herself, one hand moving to shove her hair back from her face.

Rider was back in her bondage gear, the white haired guy, who Forest now knew to be Shirou, was about to unleash some Big Nasty Attack, there was now another teenage girl asking people to be reasonable, and Rider's asshole was now giving Forest an appraising look as he offered to fight her.  The vampire shook her head, realizing that spoken words weren't going to do a damned bit of good here.  That meant she'd have to change her tactic just to get everyone's attention and get them to stop being fools.

She braced herself and drew upon her mental strength.  Then she focused on everyone's minds in the alley except the poor girl holding the shield.  She'd been through enough lately.

Forest focused and then sent out, well, it wasn't an attack, but a mental yell that packed a pretty solid punch.  Not enough to do any lasting damage but enough to get attention and stun these people before someone got killed.

Everyone can your bloody aggression right the hell now.  If you keep raging about like this, someone will get hurt or worse, and that isn't kosher.  So everyone just back off so we can reasonably settle this and get everyone's stories straight.  So weapons the fuck down and everyone back the hell up before I get shirty.

Aloud, she smoothed her duster back and asked in a loud, clear voice, "Now, do I have everyone's attention and we can behave like reasonable adults?"

[Daiki]

"The only black cat I've seen is in that asshole's arms back there."

The little familiar looked behind and saw another man carrying what looked like another human. Ruu raised his eyebrows in a surprised expression. The man running was holding a woman with black hairs. This person was no kitty. Unless the cat changed shape. Both cat and girl had black hairs. He could feel a powerful energy emanating from the girl though. Well, both mister wolf and this man were powerful too. The second had silver eyes and a determined expression. Gave the image of an eagle to Ruu but mister wolf called him "asshole". Was that his name? Was he trying to take the kitty away? Ruu couldn't help but feel annoyed by that.

"Um, boyo, you might want to put down your toy.  There's no kitty in there."

These words made him snap out his random thoughts. The familiar only realized now he still had the car in hands and stopped for a second to put the thing down. He heard screams as he saw people in there and he addressed them a salute of the simplest gesture, his hand waved and he ran after wolf, eagle and kitty. The familiar ran up to Archer's level and jumped on his back, putting all his weight on it. Then, he grabbed a handful of white hair.

"Give the kitty back...." He hesitated for a second, not sure which name would fit the most, eventually he decided to go with both what he came up with and what Wolfy said "...mister eagle asshole!!" Maybe using his name could convince him to stop but the familiar didn't wait for an answer as he reached for Archer's face in order to pinch his left cheek. "Let Kitty go!!" He ordered before sending him a powerful headbutt to the right shoulder.

[OPOI]

*Two minutes earlier*

Structural Analysis complete. All weapons are in nominal condition, basic map of the area completed.

Yes, this should catch their attention now. Hopefully, the threat of 30 floating swords pointing towards all combatants will stop the fighting, and at the very least allow him to relocate all of them to a slightly less crowded area. If not...then there'll be a whole lot more people haunting him whenever he closed his eyes, their faces clear as the day he had sacrificed them. He never forgot anyone he was forced to kill or who had died in front of him, and he never would. Even if it lowered his combat efficiency, to do less was an insult to their memory. He could take it, the pain of failure, the sleepless nights. In the end however, despite his wish to the contrary, the simple fact was that he had to sacrifice the few to save the many. Even if the few numbered in the hundreds, he would fight to save to thousands. If they numbered in the thousands, he would fight to save the millions. That was the resolution, the conclusion he had found, on that day.

Two voices caught his ear over the din of metal crashing into one another as Rider and Touzaki continued clashing, Rider weaving around Touzaki's attacks with more difficulty than she should have, evidently an after-effect of a lack of prana. Both Rider and the girl had turned to him, staring in disbelief after his proclamation. It was almost like they knew that phr-

 "I know that chant! Rider, Forest, he's about to use a Noble Phantasm! You have to stop him!" the girl screamed, eyes filled with desperation. Flinging her arms forward, she conjured her shield again. For a second, Shirou saw himself in the figure of the girl, both willing to protect others at all costs even if they had to use their body. She was an anomaly to him. She had appeared to only be an ordinary girl, even through his thermal vision scope (magi generally had higher body temperature than normal people due to their circuits), and yet in the last few minutes alone, she had cast a barrier magic to push away Rider, and now was using the same magic to protect the Servant, somehow recognising his phrase for what it was. How had she done that?

It was then that Shirou noticed the problem. The girl was immobile when casting her barrier spell. Which was preventing him from covering her back without being forced to break down her shield and cause who knows what type of damage to her psyche. And said back, whilst not completely open, was only marginally protected from Rider and Touzaki. One being a Servant who had been about to feed on her soul to gain mana, leaving behind an empty husk of a girl; and the other an infamous psychopathic demon mercenary, notorious for his love of killing and brutal ways to do it. Both of whom could break said barrier instantly, and had now stopped fighting, and turned to face her defenseless back.

However, as Shirou prepared to launch a barrage at the duo, Rider suddenly leaped up onto a nearby lamp post, her yellow square pupils staring down at him, her confusion and resolve clear. What was she doing? Was she about to leap over the barrier in an effort to get to him before he could launch the swords? Shirou quickly traced Kanshou and Bakuya in preparation, settling into the fighting stance he had taken from Archer, the familiar weight of the two swords comforting in his hands. He left his sides open, intentionally leaving holes in his defence for the opponent to exploit, and thus, ensuring that they did indeed attack in that spot.

Suddenly, a young girl's voice piped up next to him, nearly causing him to attack in surprise. Shocked that she had managed to sneak up on him, the Magus Killer quickly leaped back, placing all within the alley in his sight.

"Maybe you should stop there, Emiya Shirou."

In casual clothing, a black-haired blue-eyed girl, younger than anyone involved here, walked up to the magus killer, placing herself deliberately between him and the blond vampire. Did she think he was planning to attack the vampire, who had yet to do anything but sigh in disbelief? At this point, the entity seemed to be the most reasonable person around, a kindred spirit almost; he had no reason to attack her. Yet.

The girl's blue eyes were burning with a serious look, yet her tone was still lower than before. "I don't know what's going on here, but do you really plan to use Noble Phantasms in an area full of people ?"

A question he had been asked time and time again, by the enemy, by hostages, by his teammates. The answer would be the same.

"If I have to I will. If anyone here decides to escalate and fight, I will end them no matter the cost, no matter what I sacrifice. That is what I have always done," he said stoicly, steely eyes boring into the girl's eyes, his voice solid and unwavering as he stated his determined course of action. To emphasise his point, he traced more swords into his arsenal, each one designed to deal maximum damage if they were required, their shimmering golden forms capturing wary attention. He would have to be careful now, his prana levels had taken a large hit tracing everything; however, on the exterior he remained as cool as ever. The girl backed away momentarily, before suddenly changing her tone, addressing both him and the vampire in a pleading manner.

"Look, could you put away your issue here and cooperate in order to help the girl? Because, in case you two didn't notice, she's stuck in the middle of a battle between what looks like two psychopaths clearly aroused by their murderous lust," she turned to him again, her blue orbs now wide open, displaying her worry for all to see, "Isn't it justice to help others?"

In other words, telling him to do what he had been about to do. In answer, Shirou maneuvered the gleaming wall of steel until all of them were pointing at Rider and Touzaki, the swords moving rather drunkenly through the air in a manner which reminded him of an old English frigateer struggling to turn in furious waves in order to present its cannons at its enemy.
 
In a flash of light, Rider changed her costume once more, abandoning her casual wear and rimless glasses for the tiny black minidress he knew for a fact she preferred to use in combat, the square pupils of her eyes once again masked by the menacing purple blindfold, just as it had been when he had first met his Rider. To Shirou's shock however, Rider addressed him from the top of the post, speaking words which he knew would haunt him for days to come:

"Shirou, what have you become? What would Sakura say if she saw you attempting to murder an innocent girl like you did?"

His pupils dilated, and the cold mask of the Magus Killer cracked.
What did she say? Did she just say what he thought she said?

His breathing quickened, almost to the point of hyperventilation, but his coat served to hide the rapid motions of his chest, saving him dignity.

"I don't want to fight this asshole either, so why are you threatening me?"

His silver eyes narrowed. She was taunting him. Dangling the ghost of Sakura in front of him, to guilt-trip him into becoming her slave. Who was she to question his actions? She knew best what eating a person's soul did to them, and she dared judge him?

Shirou's body shook in unrestrained fury. How dare she? How dare she? To use their common past to wound him like that. And she had the nerve to think he would help her after this. His hands, now clenched hard around the hilts of the Chinese dao, the leather squeaking slightly in protest; rose slightly, the tips of the blades facing the purple Gorgon.

Through the veil of rage, he faintly noticed Touzaki hit the barrier, before pointing his sword towards him, issuing him some type of challenge; but he didn't care. He was focused on the gorgon now, his worry for the brunette girl slipping away, his purpose in his fight with it.

Suddenly he felt a slightly familiar presence smash into his head, once again overwhelming him despite his attempts to retaliate.

"Everyone can your bloody aggression right the hell now.  If you keep raging about like this, someone will get hurt or worse, and that isn't kosher.  So everyone just back off so we can reasonably settle this and get everyone's stories straight.  So weapons the fuck down and everyone back the hell up before I get shirty."

Had the vampire noticed? Shirou shook his head quickly, prematurely-white hair whipping around. The vampire, now confirmed to be a kindred spirit, was right: he had to get his head straight. He was the Magus Killer. He was used to people exploiting his weaknesses, it was a basic part of his job. He would not fall to this.

He detraced Kanshou and Bakuya, the twin blades disappearing in a spectacular explosion, the metal shards dissipating before they could sink into his flesh. He also released his focus on some of the more devastating area-of-effect swords hanging in the air, the metallic jangle of their demise filling the now quiet alley, its cacophany echoing slightly into the night. However, he made no move to destroy the remaining.

"Sorry vampire. I can't do that until I'm certain that the situation is completely safe," he remarked dryly, eyeing the large sword still being wielded by Touzaki, and the deadly nails of Rider.

[Daiki]

Everyone can your bloody aggression right the hell now.  If you keep raging about like this, someone will get hurt or worse, and that isn't kosher.  So everyone just back off so we can reasonably settle this and get everyone's stories straight.  So weapons the fuck down and everyone back the hell up before I get shirty.

Shuya let out an angry sound when the full blunt of Forest's thoughts struck him like a lightning.

The mixed blood dropped an annoyed glance at the her. She had means to harm him after all. Out of all present right now, she had been the one he didn't feel like attacking at random.

Playboy was clearly a magus with affinity linked to swords somehow. And rather good with long range weaponry.
Eyepatch was powerful spirit. Not knowing full extent of her abilities since she held back and didn't attempt a serious assault.
Shield girl was weak. Well, she had potential for more but compared to others, she was pretty weak.
The teenager reeked of prana but she was no threat would he be serious.
The last arrived, the one who called purplehead, Rider, was a powerful guy no doubt.

Yeah, the woman was definitively the wild card. Maybe that's why he didn't attack her earlier. Were she to use this in the middle of a battle, he would be talking with his ancestors right now. Opening his guard with psychic abilities was something quite unfair and that's why he didn't like Espers. However that was the first time he met a vampire with such ability.

Shuya kept his sword unsheathed. There was no guarantee people would obey her "polite request."

"Wanna talk, huh? 'Kay, let's see you try sorting this out." He said her with a savage grin.

"Sorry vampire. I can't do that until I'm certain that the situation is completely safe,"

Shuya grin spreads larger and he bit harder on his cigarette.

"And what is safe exactly? Is it when shield girl has a round in the head? Purplehead may have attacked her but that's the result of a need." He makes a pause before shrugging. "Well, she likes to play with her food but that's her way, not judging this." Shuya nodded to Forest. "You got in her way when she tried to feed but don't you do the same to humans? How's that different? So, unless you have double-standards, I doubt you'd say it was wrong to attack the girl." With an accusatory finger pointed towards Shirou. "Which leads to this guy. I don't know if he has a personal grudge with the girl, but those who kill their own kind for no apparent reason, got a few screws loose."

Having said what he had to, Shuya finally sheathed his weapon in his scabbard.

"I'm off. So disgusted it chased away my will to kill boredom."

He let out some smoke and looked at Shirou.

"You got lucky today, trash. Were we to met again, even such a nice ass won't you save your skin twice."

----

He hadn't left for longer than a second, when Isabella spoke for everyone.

"What a moron."

There may have been more appropriate terms but decency and proper education wouldn't allow her to use them.
At least, with the vulgar swordsman gone, things should take a better turn. Isabella eyed the Servant, because she had to be one with such a powerful presence. She didn't seem about to reach for the magus girl and so Isabella used the opportunity to approach Hakuno.

She walked to her, chasing a lock of hairs behind her ear as she offered an helping hand.

"I think you're safe now. Are you wounded?" She asked on the nicer tone she could express.

[lantzblades]

Taiga was oddly startled, people often spoke softly around her but this boy was different, to be expected given he was a child like she was but Taiga often spent little time with children her age so it was still unsettling. "can you tell me where this is?" she asked making no move to enter the room more out of concern of her question needing an answer than fear as the boy appeared as a busy if unthreatening blob of purple and orange to her radar like vision.

[Cherry Lover]

As he responded, Kiyoshi could see the girl recoil slightly, clearly startled. Then, she replied with a question, making no attempt to enter the room.

"can you tell me where this is?"

No wonder she's scared, she's probably just suddenly arrived here, like we did. And, she seems to be completely alone.

Poor girl.

It was bad enough for Kiyoshi to be without his mother and father. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to be in a strange city without Aunty Rider or anyone else who he could trust. Whilst he would like to go find Aunty Rider, right now this girl's well-being took priority. He wanted to reassure her and make her comfortable, and safe.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to startle you", Kiyoshi said, more quietly.

"As for where you are, you're in a hotel in a big city somewhere. I don't really know any more, sorry. We just sort-of appeared here earlier today.

Are you alone? I was going to go out and find my Aunt, but if you want to stay here I'll stay with you."

[Alice]

Rin held on to Archer tightly as they soared through the air, the wind flowing through her hair as they continued on with haste. She was startled to see Lancer beneath her, talking with a young boy that appeared to be holding... wait, was that a car?!

"Do you think we should stop and help them?"

Archer hesitated a bit before responding, but eventually shook his head. "Something tells me Lancer's got this under control. Besides, the fewer delays we have, the better."

Rin nodded in response, and the two continued onward. In spite of everything, Rin was actually a bit pleased with this turn of events. Not with losing Ruby, oh no (she'd deal with that miserable stick later on), but she couldn't say she wasn't enjoying this chance to be with her old Servant again. Being held in his arms like this as they traveled through the air... it was just like old-

Suddenly she heard the bowman grunt as the strange boy that'd been talking to Lancer before jumped on Archer's back. He pulled on the Servant's hair as he said with a low tone, "Give the kitty back...." The boy hesitated a bit before finishing with, "...mister eagle asshole!!"

What the- Rin gave the "boy" a startled look, looking quickly to Archer before formulating a quick response. Before either she or the bowman himself could respond, however, the kid pinched Archer's left cheek.

"Let Kitty go!!" Rin cried out as the boy headbutted Archer's shoulder, forcing the Servant to land on a nearby rooftop, desperately trying to keep his hold on Rin to keep from dropping her.

The two looked up at the boy floating above them. Rin observed their attacker carefully. The amount of prana she could feel from him, the fact that he'd been able to hold up a car filled with people before...

"He has to be a familiar. A pretty powerful one too." Rin frowned. "But Kitty, Eagle? Do you really think he meant..?"

"Us? Yes, yes I do." Archer sighed, rubbing his temple with his free hand. "Lancer must have complained about me taking off with you, and the kid misunderstood, thinking instead this was a kidnapping. So now he's trying to 'rescue' you."

"And return me to the 'nice wolfy.'" Rin gave an exasperated sigh. "I don't know if he's willing to listen to 'Mister Eagle' so much at this point, so let me try talking to him."

Archer nodded and gently placed her down on the rooftop. Brushing herself off a bit first, she shouted up to the childlike familiar.

"Listen closely to me, alright? Miss Kitty wants to go with Mister Eagle, so if you'd be a good little familiar and leave us alone, you hear me?" Rin pointed her finger at the little familiar, focusing her prana and preparing to fire a Gandr, the friendly tone she'd been using almost entirely gone. "Or you'll find out the hard way that Miss Kitty has claws, you got that?!"

Archer sighed, a mixture of amusement and weariness on his face. Never change Rin, never change. 

[Daiki]

Archer and Rin may had landed nicely but it was different for the familiar. His own landing clearly lacking any elegance or self-preservation as he fell on the head, generating cracks under his weight. Some people would have found this comical. But the familiar was quick on his feet. When he looked at the couple, the girl spoke to him.

"Listen closely to me, alright? Miss Kitty wants to go with Mister Eagle, so if you'd be a good little familiar and leave us alone, you hear me?"

He blinked twice when he heard Rin's words, accenting the innocent look on his face. Ruu was wearing casual clothes, and his oversized hoodie accented this image of abandoned child. Round silver eyes were blinking behind purple bangs reaching down his nose. He raised a finger only recognizable through the too-long-for-him sleeve by the pointy tip, towards Archer.

"Uuoruuocon thought Eagle stole Kitty." He said simply.

There was no malice in his tone, nor anger. Simply a slighty worried feeling. With his short arms, he pulled on the hood in order to hide his face. A gesture much like someone feeling guilty.

"Uuoruuocon wanted to protect Kitty." He said with a dejected look.

He bit on one of his sleeve as if regretting his action. He glanced at Archer, raising a hand in a casual gesture.

"Apologies to asshole. Uuoruuocon often does mistakes."

Insulting once again Archer without realizing it, Ruu focused once more on Rin.

"Or you'll find out the hard way that Miss Kitty has claws, you got that?!"

Ruu tilted his head, such a turn-of-phrase was beyond his comprehension. His brow frowned, his answer came quickly.

"Uuoruuocon doesn't see claws." He said with confusion.

He didn't understand what she meant, yet the somewhat irritated tone made its job.

"Will you punish Uuoruuocon for its mistake?" He asked  on a worried tone.

He did understand the concept of punishment quite well. After few seconds pondering what he should do to make up for it, the little familiar grabbed his left arm and broke it with a torsion of his right hand. The arm bent in an unnatural direction, it hanged lifelessly as blood started tainting the blue and half torn sleeve. Bones and ground flesh were showing from the open wound. The familiar didn't flinch nor emit a pained sound though. Only his voice shown a bit of strain as he spoke. 

"Is it enough? Must it break a leg too? Or must it go now?"

His eyes were searching a clear answer.

[Alice]

Tensions still ran high as Hakuno turned back to look at Rider and her katana wielding adversary. While she had decided that Rider was definitely scary, she at least somehow seemed nice when not in certain moods. She'd noticed that the young girl that had now jumped in to try to stop the fray had referred to her as a psychopath, and while some of her tendencies were definitely... well, scary, she did seem to have some good in her. Still, the girl's intentions seemed good, and she couldn't blame her for jumping to conclusions. The guy that was trying to pick a fight with the blindfolded Servant on the other hand.... Seemed more like he was just a jerk. He ignored Rider's attempts to get him to stop fighting and instead continued to try and taunt her.

"Why should I fear a magus over a powerful spirit like you? Especially a coward who targets little girls?" His tone was filled with disdain. Hakuno looked at him. Maybe there was some good in him after all.

"Also, why do you look away in a battle? Do you think you can afford that kind of attitude against me? Or is it that you want to get away?"

...Maybe.

Then he turned towards Hakuno herself, towering over her, the look he was giving her most unpleasant.  "Or maybe that's because you couldn't eat properly? If I remember correctly, you were about to feed on her prana, right?" While what he said was true, the tone with which he said it with made her feel ill at ease. Even if Rider had been threatening her not so long ago, the more Hakuno saw of this guy, the less she seemed inclined to like him.

He then laughed menacingly and punched her barrier. She felt a bit of a shock of surprise as she hadn't been expecting the blow. However, she couldn't help but feel some definite satisfaction at the fact that her shield had hardly even faltered.

"See? That's why you're trash. Why didn't you use it earlier, girl? You could have avoid getting in such a crappy situation. If you have the power, you should use it. Protecting yourself is the most important."
 
Hakuno didn't let the comment get to her. She couldn't, too many people were counting on her keeping this shield up. ...Though maybe it did get to her a little. The helplessness she'd felt earlier... even if she'd had the excuse of not knowing how to use this power yet, she'd still hated the feeling. While she refused to let him rattle her chain, she did resolve herself even further to find a way to defend herself beyond this shield in the near future.

"Seems like eyepatch and blondie are worried 'bout cha, though I ain't sure it's for the same reason. However, playboy other there might be willing to finish you off."

Hakuno looked over at the Not-Archer, who she now knew to be called Shirou. Shirou... was that Archer's real name? The more things escalated, the more she really wished that he were here. Having him make a few of his usual dry commentary would at least help her feel better. Still, this Shirou... he definitely still seemed like a threat. While she wasn't inclined to trust Jerk-With-A-Katana completely, she could definitely acknowledge that he was still a threat.

While her harasser turned back to be a jerk to the other people present, however, Hakuno felt a wave of dizziness. The shield was taking it's toll on her. Despite her sudden onset of weakness, she refocused and tried to maintain the shield. She didn't know how much longer she could hold out, but she had to try.

Bits and pieces of conversation slipped past Hakuno as she stood there maintaining her shield, semi-conscious at this point. 

She was aware of Forest calling for everyone's attention, aware of the jerk mercenary leaving... and finally, the girl who'd called for the fighting to stop earlier, looking somewhat concerned, offering Hakuno her hand.

"I think you're safe now. Are you wounded?"

Noticing that things had simmered down, and realizing that allowing herself to faint from the energy the shield was draining from her would actually make things worse, Hakuno allowed the shield to at last dissipate and gratefully took the girl's hand.

"I'm not hurt, maybe a bit battered and bruised, but I'm fine." She was unsteady on her feet as she rose though, and while she was better now that she'd dropped the shield, she was still exhausted from it, and thus wasn't in the best shape to flee if she had to.

Wanting to abate the girl's fears about Rider, she spotted the Servant atop a lamp post and gestured towards her.

"She's a bit scary, but she saved my life, and I don't think she wants to fight, so we don't have to worry about her." She looked back towards Shirou. "Him I don't know about, but if we show him everything's OK, maybe he'll finally..." Hakuno's body finally gave in a bit, forcing her to steady herself, black flashing before her eyes. This wasn't good- even without the drain on her energy, she could still potentially faint.

Still, the shield was down, so she had a chance to recover now. Plus she couldn't worry the people around her any longer- the last thing she wanted to be after all this was more of a burden. Hakuno put on a brave face, trying to hide her condition as much as she could, and turned towards Shirou, hoping desperately that he would back down at last.

***

Rin couldn't help but feel a bit bad for yelling at the poor little familiar. Regardless, time was of the essence, and there was something in the look on Archer's face that this was even more the case now than ever before. But still, she couldn't help but snicker a bit at Uuoruuocon's insistence on calling Archer "asshole." The man himself had just endured it with his trademark dry indifference.

But the familiar definitely had the mentality of a small child, and it was easy to see why he'd made the mistake he did. Since he didn't seem interested in impeding their progress further, Rin was fine with letting him go.

"Will you punish Uuoruuocon for its mistake?" He asked  on a worried tone. Rin was about to answer, but to her horror, she watched the little familiar break his own arm. A wave of nausea went through her, the sight of it making her uneasy.

"Is it enough? Must it break a leg too? Or must it go now?" Innocently, the familiar looked at her, searching for an answer.

She quickly shot Archer an anxious glance, hoping that he'd have an answer. The bowman's glance seemed sympathetic, but seemed to be urging her to respond. Rin turned back to the now injured familiar.

"N-no no, Kitty knows that it was a misunderstanding, you don't need to break any more limbs!" She gestured towards the broken arm. "Kitty wants you to get that arm fixed as soon as you can, alright?"

"Just make sure to ask what's going on before you do this sort of thing in the future. And try to get that arm fixed properly."

She nodded in agreement with the servant, the arm still making her feel a bit ill. "You can go now. Just please get that arm fixed, and listen to Mister Asshole's advice!"

She walked hastily back to Archer, silently urging the Servant to pick her up and go. Rin felt guilty leaving the familiar behind, especially given how powerful he seemed. Doubly so since she would have normally would have attempted to heal the familiar's broken arm, which she couldn't help but feel somewhat responsible for. But they'd already delayed enough, and Archer was looking just a bit anxious.

Archer scooped her up and made ready to leave, but as he did so, gave Rin a questioning look.

"Mister Asshole?"

"Had to relieve some tension for myself somehow, after that poor little familiar broke his own arm. Besides, how often does a chance like that come up?"

Archer shrugged and got ready to take off, not wanting to delay any longer. He'd felt Hakuno's prana draining through the ley line, and so his concern for her only grew with each passing minute. 

[Daiki]

"You shouldn't let it get to you. What that jerk said, I mean."

Isabella's expression was gentle but there was determination in her blue eyes. She was still holding Hakuno's hand even after she stood up. She had noticed the unknown magus status. She was running very low on prana, had scratches here and there and was probably preoccupied with what that moron called her. Yet, she was putting a front in spite of being the target of multiple people few minutes earlier.

The twin was impressed by such a girl even if she barely knew her.

"You're not trash. In fact, the shield you cast was high tier, albeit a bit unstable, but still pretty powerful. I would say you have great potential, all you need is practice and a good teacher. You can only do with the tools at hand at a particular moment. You were alone and attacked, yet you survived. That's a victory in itself and will help you improve."

She took a moment to throw Hakuno a genuine smile.

"Besides, rating people based on sheer power is dumb. There are as many possibilities as there are people. Being talented doesn't place you above others, since they surely do something better than you in another domain. That's why people are interesting and that's the reason we should help each other as much as possible. If you look at it that way, there are no more weaknesses, no more discrimination. Everyone's equal."

Isabella traced a symbol in the air as she triggered her mental switch.

"Please stay still for a moment. Ringiovanire."

A single-action spell of the simplest kind, able to replenish stamina. A dark symbol taking the shape of a circle appeared on Hakuno's palm, where the girls hands were still connected.

"Here, it should help you a bit. The mark will only last for few seconds, don't worry.  Though, if my sister were here, she could treat the bruises, afraid I don't possess that skill. See? Good example to what I said earlier."  She said with a wink.

The spell would restore some of her stamina but wouldn't do anything about the exhaustion and prana level. Isabella couldn't help but keep the Servant in her sight, feeling a bit uneasy. The girl probably saw her glance because she spoke out.

"She's a bit scary, but she saved my life, and I don't think she wants to fight, so we don't have to worry about her."

"..."

Isabella chuckled slightly.

"Couldn't imagine you were attacked by her earlier. I like that part of you."

"Him I don't know about, but if we show him everything's OK, maybe he'll finally..."

"Yeah, not sure it'll be easy though. He's the Second Magus Killer for a reason. Even with the psychopath gone, there is no guarantee he will let us go."

Isabella turned to Hakuno.

"I don't know about that Servant, but I'll trust your judgment for now. Which leaves these two. If we can talk them down, we're good. "

She quickly indicated Shirou and the man who had yet to introduce himself. She left out Forest for obvious reasons, she was the one who tried to calm things down after all.

Almost made me pee on myself from the surprising psychic interference. She thought bitterly. Yet, it was comforting to not be alone in this.

 There was still tension in the air but the teenager had to speak up.

"I'm Isabella Rizzi, friends call me Isa, so please call me that."

May not be the best time for introductions but it wouldn't hurt to exchange names.