Fandom Fate Coda Continued (Closed)

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Her stare lingered upon the now defeated foe, his blood less gushing out and more spurting violently, but she said nothing. Nobu remained silent, even as the man's form began to disappear. It came apart. changing, rising, and fading from sight beyond the ceiling above. It was only when he was fully gone, that she lowered her head in a small bow. He'd drawn blood on her in a good battle. That was worth respect. After a few moments she lifted her head and took a deep breath before gritting her teeth. This wound really fucking hurt, despite the attitude she'd expressed outwardly, or the focus to push past it. The only reason she did not let out a scream of pain now, one louder than even the still ongoing sound of her theme, was that she first heard someone...or something, calling out for her. Addressing her directly.

Nobu sheathed her blade, the rifle in her hand vanished, and with a grimace she turned around to step back outside. How...how was the machine still here? She had no idea. "Negotiate? The man is gone. You, aren't in much better state yourself. What possible reason could I have to negotiate? What would I even get out of that?" ​

"To Clarify; Cooper is no longer my designated pilot. Control was transferred to my master in final moments. It was what this competition called one of his 'Noble Phantasms'. A representation of his 'story'."

Nobunaga was right; the metallic soldier in front of him was much worse for wear after the barrage, chunks of it missing in places and its left leg was nonfunctional, and its right arm was hanging limply at its side, its left resting the chain gun against its bum leg, not pointed at the warlord as it continued.

"He desires to fight. He is convinced this is a game and is treating the situation as such. But despite your obnoxious mannerisms and poor choice in music, it is clear that you are the same as Cooper; a soldier. You know this is war. If you promise to not kill or maim this young man, I will open my cockpit and allow you to disarm the pilot of his Mobile Contract."

 

[MyrtenRose]

"To Clarify; Cooper is no longer my designated pilot. Control was transferred to my master in final moments. It was what this competition called one of his 'Noble Phantasms'. A representation of his 'story'."

Nobunaga was right; the metallic soldier in front of him was much worse for wear after the barrage, chunks of it missing in places and its left leg was nonfunctional, and its right arm was hanging limply at its side, its left resting the chain gun against its bum leg, not pointed at the warlord as it continued.

"He desires to fight. He is convinced this is a game and is treating the situation as such. But despite your obnoxious mannerisms and poor choice in music, it is clear that you are the same as Cooper; a soldier. You know this is war. If you promise to not kill or maim this young man, I will open my cockpit and allow you to disarm the pilot of his Mobile Contract."

To hear her tastes called out so bluntly...despite being pretty sure she had the upper hand in this fight, Nobu couldn't help but pout at that. Obnoxious, seriously? And poor choice in music?? The nerve! She crossed her arms in annoyance and instantly regretted it, a spike of pain shooting through her injured arm with the movement. Ow ow ow ow ow, she thought but gave none of it away through facial expression "...Hmph. Your bad judgement on the finer things in life aside, you see correctly. I know war." Nobu nodded. "Very well. You have my word. I will not kill or maim your pilot, so long as you keep to your own word."​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Under most circumstances, such a certainty would've done little to divert the path of Ryougi Shiki. Often was the time, in her lowest and most private of moments, when she wondered if such a thing had been keeping step with her all her life from the day she first learned to walk, like a twisted second shadow; the certainty of violence. No, that didn't quite cover it.

The certainty of more.

So it couldn't have been for her sake that the latch to the service tunnel was thrown open and Emily brusquely flung inside, the Ryougi clan heiress never one given to placing too much time between thought and action as she closed it firmly but silently behind them and bent the locking mechanism out of place. She backed up warily a few steps, unblinking eyes just about the only thing visible in the darkness to someone like the Demange girl's unadjusted vision as she continued monitoring the door, vents, and any potential entrances that weren't airtight, and only after enough time had passed that she could be sure they'd evaded immediate pursuit did she turn and shoulder past Emily without a second care.

The only sparse effort at communication she made with the student for the next several minutes was an impatient motion to follow if she didn't do so immediately, followed by another sharp yank of her arm if that didn't do the trick. Once the artist's legs were working it was silence, Shiki doing little to alleviate the grim mood that had set in as she led them deeper and deeper into the tunnel;​

Emily let herself be pulled along at this point; she was still scared out of her mind, confused as to why they were running from everyone else, but it wasn't as if Marcus and the others would hear her past that door if she yelled, and if Shiki wanted her dead it almost definitely would've already happened. Eventually, the dark almost became a comfort rather than a source of dread; it wasn't as if she had any control over the situation at this point. Every step forward was no different from the last, and that meant it was another step where she wasn't-

only when she could be certain they were out of earshot of whatever enemy had awaited them back there did she venture a brief, uttered sentence without turning, rough and laconic.

"Have you ever thought about how you're going to die?"

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it, too, offered precious little in the way of reassurance.

-Having to worry about That.

The artist blinked, her step stumbling slightly at the sudden question, an unnerving one even when you weren't stuck in a service tunnel in total darkness with one of the most dangerous killers in fiction.

Despite that, she answered

"No."

It was a simple enough answer; and it was true. She could've stopped there, but something about the question even being asked... it pulled at something inside of her.

It wasn't as if Emily lived her life scared, normally anyways. She lived it fast and loose and fun, very much on purpose; not something born out of depressive spiral or need to fit in. Every moment she lived was one she wanted to enjoy being alive. That wasn't exactly abnormal for someone of her age and means; live fast and die young was one of the oldest, tritest sayings in human history. But that wasn't quite right for her, and her next words were as close to firm as Shiki had heard from the til then shivering waif of a woman.

"The only thing I think about my death... is not thinking about it at all."


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In that singular way, Emily Demagne had a deep connection with the entity that moved down the tracks that Shiki and her had abandoned. Something in them both defied death, railed against it not with cowardice, but with an anger. But hers was a decision, a rebuttal made to something in her life, his defiance of death was far more literal. The brackish green cloud that coiled down the tunnel thickened from a fine mist to a smog, and a confident stride gave life to the sound of metal clashing against the concrete, an echo in the acoustics that made it sound far heavier, far more numerous than the single man that drumbeat heralded.

Such was fitting. He was a king.



One who's armies would forevermore be at his side.

The stride ended besides the corpse of the former master Leonhart had incernerated. He let out a mild sound of distate as shoved the corpse onto its back to get a better look into its eyes, his voice coming out in a snarl heavy with an accent and something... else, pulsing behind every word

"How useless of her. She does us the discourtesy of attacking first, then dies before we can even leave this wretched place! Couldn't you have died with your protector? With a bit of honor?!"

He pressed his armored boot into her blackened skin a bit harder, fighting the urge to crush it entirely like the little porcelain... thing these humans all were.

"Will it still work?"

His mood immediately turned, a smile of genuine affection crossing his sharp features as he reached over to brush aside a bit of hair from the face of the far smaller, almost mousey presence that had been trailing behind him, deep within the protections of the mist.

"But of course, my queen. Such a meager, mortal form has no chance against the power of the Shadow Isles."

the young woman nodded before she pressed a button on her MC, and a voice echoed quietly from the speakers.

"Noble Phantasm activated; Sovereign's Domination"

The mist swirled around the corpse in a sudden burst of action, spilling into its mouth, behind its eyes, and gathering into the cavity where its heart used to be, and then it screamed.

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

The sound came first, but the mist came shortly after; spilling out of the tunnel that Shiki and Emily had gone into.

 

[Daft Monk]

Fortunately for Nadia, not having time for explanations was something that Daniel was more than ready to accept. Despite his brash personality and open dissatisfaction with the circumstances surrounding their partnership, the young man trusted her. Not because of the air of positivity and goodness about her, nor the impressive wealth of talents and capabilities she'd rattled off. It wasn't even about some supernatural sense, a 'gut feeling' that he would be safe in her care. No, the reason wasn't any sort of romanticized notion such as that; it boiled down to something much, much simpler.

He trusted her because it was the only option he had.

So as his servant guided him through the motions of activating her phantasm, he offered no protest or complaint, casting his concerns out the window and betting everything on this idea of hers. He tried to ignore the look on her face- the stupid one, that said 'I see what you're feeling and I understand, but it'll be okay'- and instead put his focus into confirming the activation. One click of a button and reassuring statement from Nadia later... and his world turned upside down for the second time in the last ten minutes.

The disorienting whirl of shapes and colors as the scenery around him fell away and reformed into something entirely new was almost enough to make him sick. But to his luck, he had what his folks liked to call a cast iron stomach; and if his natural resilience in the face of nausea wasn't enough on its own, the still fresh memory of McKinney blowing chunks on her servant was a strong motivator to keep the bile down. He was not going to puke on his injured ex girlfriend, crazy alternate reality pocket dimension bullshit or no. No way. Rather, he needed to hurry the hell up and get her to one of those beds his servant had mentioned. Set in that resolve, he began to move, determined to get her to safety as quickly as--

"Holy--!"

He nearly dropped Brighid outright in his haste to whirl around to face the source of the pounding footsteps behind them, a wild and frantic look in his eyes... until he realized just who it was. The tension that had overtaken him in an instant diminished slightly, though he felt residual frustration that she would approach in such a panic-inducing manner when she literally had wings, but-- ugh, wait a second, what was he wasting time with these thoughts for? He shook his head, only just finding the words he wanted to speak by the time she placed a hand on his shoulder. "The hell're you on about? What happened??? What're you-- Jesus!"

He wasn't going to throw up. He wasn't going to throw up. He wasn't going to throw up. No. No. NOT happening.

Taking a moment to regain his bearings after abrupt teleportation round two, Daniel fleetingly leaned against one of the few walls that actually remained standing, fighting valiantly against the wooziness of that chaotic experience. When he finally started feeling like he had his body under control again, he became acutely aware of... his servant... on her knees.... yelling something at, uh, the MC thing. His eyebrows furrowed apprehensively, though he wasn't sure he even wanted to bother asking anymore. A snide remark almost passed his lips, but the sound of the ongoing battle just outside snapped him out of it, prompting him to flinch. So, instead, his emerald eyes flickered to Nadia with a hint of desperation. "...New plan?" A beat passed before he added, "and where's her person??" He had no qualms toting the girl around himself, but he wasn't cut out for this like they were. He wasn't superhuman. What was he supposed to do for her when he couldn't even hope to defend himself?​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Emily let herself be pulled along at this point; she was still scared out of her mind, confused as to why they were running from everyone else, but it wasn't as if Marcus and the others would hear her past that door if she yelled, and if Shiki wanted her dead it almost definitely would've already happened. Eventually, the dark almost became a comfort rather than a source of dread; it wasn't as if she had any control over the situation at this point. Every step forward was no different from the last, and that meant it was another step where she wasn't-


-Having to worry about That.

The artist blinked, her step stumbling slightly at the sudden question, an unnerving one even when you weren't stuck in a service tunnel in total darkness with one of the most dangerous killers in fiction.

Despite that, she answered

"No."

It was a simple enough answer; and it was true. She could've stopped there, but something about the question even being asked... it pulled at something inside of her.

It wasn't as if Emily lived her life scared, normally anyways. She lived it fast and loose and fun, very much on purpose; not something born out of depressive spiral or need to fit in. Every moment she lived was one she wanted to enjoy being alive. That wasn't exactly abnormal for someone of her age and means; live fast and die young was one of the oldest, tritest sayings in human history. But that wasn't quite right for her, and her next words were as close to firm as Shiki had heard from the til then shivering waif of a woman.

"The only thing I think about my death... is not thinking about it at all."​

Whether or not it was actually visible to the waif in question in the dim, if even extant, light of the maintenance shaft was another matter entirely, but if the question had been the first words to provoke any hint of steel from Emily that morning then there was a degree of ironic symmetry in the reply being the first to appear to throw her servant in any significant capacity. It was evident even if she couldn't see the nonplussed, studious glance Shiki whipped over her shoulder, in the way the assassin's brisk pace halted so abruptly they nearly collided in the dark, though both intent and result of that glance were made uncertain when she threw her head back and laughed. It was a coarse, biting sound, much more in keeping with the attitude she'd been giving everyone since her arrival, but there was at least some level of earnestness to it; enough at least to give it that small dose of humanity many of her sullen inputs to this point had lacked.

"Came up with that quickly for someone who gives it so little thought, didn't you? Tch. Well, normally I might call that the healthy impulse, but in your case I'm not so sure that's true."

She turned away again, but the stride she intended to resume came to another jarring stop before it even truly got going this time as she once again found herself confronted by a warm smile and pair of crooked glasses that had never really been there, and certainly weren't now.

Here's someone who wants to live.

"S-shut up," she hissed, hand shooting to her temple as if to ward off a headache. Which, in a way, she was, though for all the world to Emily the protector she'd been issued may as well have been talking to herself.

Which, in a way, she was.

She huffed, only for that to be the moment the haunting shriek of one who had no further say in the dilemma of whether to live or die echoed up the tunnel from whence they came. It prompted an alert, almost perturbed look backward from the killer who preferred to deal death on a more permanent basis, but she dismissed it a second later in favor of a groan that was downright petulant.

"I don't know where we're going. Isn't there a light you can shine from that thing that spawned me? Stop being useless."​

 

[Gus Gungus]

"There, there. Get it all out," the half-blood son of the dreaded lord Dracula patted MJ on the back as they continued unloading the contents of their stomach in the mouth of a random alley, questioning the choices that had led him to this point. "Would you like a tissue."

He hoped to fuck they said no, because he didn't have one.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

View attachment 991378

"There, there. Get it all out," the half-blood son of the dreaded lord Dracula patted MJ on the back as they continued unloading the contents of their stomach in the mouth of a random alley, questioning the choices that had led him to this point. "Would you like a tissue."

He hoped to fuck they said no, because he didn't have one.​

MJ let out a few last coughs before shaking their head no. They took a few steps back to get away from the vomit and sat down, their back slumped against the wall. “…Sorry.” MJ directed over toward Alucard, with an expression that was equal parts embarrassed and apologetic. “I…I dunno how much choice you had, getting here like this. But probably not how you envisioned a war with a 1000 warriors from god knows what, with who knows what kinda crazy powers, would start. With you having to watch over some kid struggling to keep what little breakfast they got down and all, instead of fighting or whatever. Sorry.” They repeated.

“I just wasn’t prepared for today. I didn’t know this was something I should’ve expected. Just figured on another day at school, not anything like this. War. With like, characters from comics or movies or games and everything. Sounds like a bad joke, but…it’s real. Those people, they died. Right there, just like that. I mean, I’ve seen death before, but it was different. It was…a long time coming. Could prepare for it to come. Try to make myself ready to mourn him. But those back there…it was like…a switch just got turned off. One moment they’re alive and the next, they’re gone, and that realization that this is not a joke and it’s really real and it’s happening hit like a truck pushing 90 on the 495, and I wasn’t prepared for it. And then you…”

They shook their head. “Sorry.” MJ said one more time.​

 

[Kitsune Mask]

Never in all of her eighteen years of life had the sheltered cardiac arrhythmia patient been aware of what it was like to even stand in line for an amusement park ride, let alone be present on one. Nevertheless, Maisie was certain she now had a real awareness as to what it was it might've been like to sail through the air atop a roller coaster, feeling the twists, turns, and sensation of light-headedness that accompanied one. She had Absolute Angel Batraz to thank for this. The wild ride started when she was repositioned from a bridal style carry into a single arm, continuing when Tarlotte flung a myriad of objects at the ravenette from within the confines of her locker, and proceeding when the nimble cat girl leapt out of the shattered window.

It was safe to say Maisie's stomach was already uncomfortably nestled into her throat at this point. The girl wasn't certain she agreed with her servant's decision to leap out a window without telling her, but she did agree with one, far less important, opinion of her's. That locker did have a lot of junk it it. It was almost embarrassingly packed full of things, and in any ordinary circumstance she wouldn't have wanted anyone to peer at its contents. Tarlotte had ended up handing her several things that were actually just toys for fidgeting, silly trinkets that didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. She tried to hang onto them, however, ignoring Tarlotte's suggestion to let go of the pointless stuff—all while fumbling to find her medicine.

. . .

Bingo! Medicine located!

Maisie could almost feel her heart rate already calming at the sight of a pink, flowery little makeup bag where she kept her little pill bottle. The end of this nightmarish war may not have been in sight just yet, but at the very least struggling with her chest pains could temporarily be quelled.

At least, that was what she planned. What she didn't prepare for, however, was Tarlotte's sudden jump to protect them from dangerous debris. "Are you okay— NO!" The shocking sight of her partner being clipped by the beam caused Maisie to gasp, the very important makeup bag slipping from her grasp and flying in an unknown direction. She tried to see where it had landed, but their current predicament made it a bit difficult to properly look around.​

 

[Kitsune Mask]

Even a single minute passing on the rooftop felt like a millennia to the bleeding girl. With a mind now trapped in a fog that could barely fixate on anything but her injury, she could only make out vague noises of explosions, shouts, and clangs, whenever she could focus on anything but the pain she felt. Never had she been one for attention from others, but deep down the girl wished she had someone to be by her side while she felt with this. Mainly, someone who could break her out of this reality and take her to a hospital.

At some point, the red head found her wish granted, but not in a way she had been hoping. A man and woman approached amidst the chaos, the very sight of them causing Luci's body to tense in hope. Parting the margins of rosy lips to call out to them, Lucille instead swallowed down her voice and said nothing when she heard the conversation between them. These individuals were not allies. They intended to kill her.

Thoughts of a world without herself flashed in the girl's mind. Lucille had intended to continue her long journey of overcoming her alexithymia—especially after encountering someone as lively as Nobu, who had actually inspired her. The idea of not being able to do that was a bummer, but of course she felt no sadness over it. In accordance with her other emotions, Luci didn't really do the whole 'sad' thing. Speaking of sadness, the only people who would even feel such a thing over Lucille's loss of life would be her mother and grandmother, but after a grieving period she presumed they would be fine. In fact, their lives would probably be easier. They would no longer have a weird child and grandchild to try and figure out. Would her death actually be a win? Truthfully, she would've liked more time to figure this out, but it wasn't as if that was going to happen. Her death was coming and there was nothing she could do about it.

Pulling out her MC, the girl presented it to the two as if to show them she did not intend at all to resist. "Make it quick," she ordered in a chalky voice. "I hate pain."

Pain. Wait— Would Nobu feel pain too?

A sensation of something she didn't really understand hit Lucille in the chest like a tennis ball. She wasn't just in charge of her own life now. If she died, the little Demon King would go too. A jolly, energetic, person who others surely would miss. Didn't she even say she had a girlfriend? That complicated things. Luci couldn't, in good faith, let Nobu take a fall for this too. It was unfair and illogical. ...and maybe, somehow, without realizing it the thought actually bothered her a bit.

In any case, it was time to change her stance and start begging like her own life as if she actually cared for it. Folding her hands together and tilting her head up, she gazed with the believability of a talentless actor's image printed onto wet cardboard.

"I'm retracting my statement. Don't kill me. Please, dear god, don't kill me. I'm scared. I have a family and three dogs. Don't do it."

Nailed it? Probably. That's how she saw people beg for their lives in the movies her mom made her watch.
But, apparently, her killers didn't have a sympathetic bone in their bodies. A sword was raised by the servant in preparation to strike her down, and Luci just watched with empty eyes like an awkward, creepy teenager kissing with his eyes open. Even though she was watching, Luci was surprised by the speed in which she was defended by another servant—the same one who had ran off before. Alongside the servant was Jamie—who happened to be just as keen on protecting her as Astolfo was. Maybe, just maybe Lucille wouldn't have to plan on dying. Not yet, at least.​

 

[Kitsune Mask]

Tragedy often came unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, but never had Fox expected it to hit so soon and in one of the most earth shattering ways possible.

"Fox, do not let me die, yes?"

The words spoken merely minutes ago by Lucyfer rang strongly in the ears of the masked boy as a bullet struck her through the heart. Closely as he was standing by her, he was showered in a spray of crimson that only managed to spare his face due to the protection of his mask. Not being a battle hardened warrior that some of his fellow servants were, his reaction to the display wasn't exactly a calm one.

Eyes dilated in fear, heart rate elevated, and muscles tensed so hard that his body ached. Any way you looked at him, fear and distress racked the entirety of his body language. Yes, Yusuke was chosen to be a servant, to fight in a war with the skill, cunning, agility, strength, and prowess of a magical samurai he possessed. And he looked the part too. The garb and mask he adorned was certainly the attire of a Japanese warrior. But one simple fact boiled down to the very core of his being: he was just a boy, one who had never saw someone shot before.

Shaky whimpers left his lips, as trembling hands moved to tear his mask off before dropping down beside his master—pressing his hands against her wound.

"No, no, no! I'm sorry! This is all my fault. I should've— I'm so sorry! Don't die, don't—"

Touching Lucyfer soaked the cyan covered gloves he wore, staining them entirely red.

In a scared haste he then attempted to remove blood-stained gloves, tears and sweat encumbering his vision as he fully began to panic. God, he was afraid. He hated the blood. He wanted it to go away. He needed it to go away. Reduced to nothing more than a crying child, the teen watched in horror as he was actually unable to remove said gloves.

His hand drifted through the other in a ghostly manner as his entire being became translucent. It was then that the rules of this cruel game flashed through his mind.

If his master died, he died.

That was it.

This was over.

More frantic than ever before, he scrambled to his feet and backed away from Lucyfer, whirring to face the others. Arms gesticulating wildly and expression twisted in with fright, he begged like a dog as if the others could somehow help him. "We can still save her. I'm begging, please! Aid her quickly! If she dies, I'll—"

Form flickering into oblivion, the phantom thief could no longer speak. Instead, he vanished, finding that he was no longer with the group in the classroom.

Instead, he appeared before Marcus and the group by the tram, completely baffled as to why he was still alive. Did this have to do with his parting words shared with Igor before leaving the velvet room earlier? The man had seemed to hint there was something unique about him, although Yusuke couldn't quite comprehend what he had meant. The only thing he could comprehend right now was that he was now tethered to Marcus and was very much alive.

He had been given a second chance.

So why didn't this feel like one?

Still reeling from the sight of a gunshot killing his former master, Fox was not the picturesque servant one would imagine. He was just a shaky teen, covered in blood, and looking very traumatized. So instead of answering his new master or any of the others, he turned and stumbled, vomiting in a corner. He stood hunched over, hands on his knees afterwards as he breathed heavily and wiped his mouth.

Reverting to old habits of lashing out at those around him who offered help, Yusuke starred venomous daggers into Shinoa, bubbling with rage. "Do I appear to be up to any sort of task? I just witness the life of my master snuffed out before my very eyes! And yet, the very instant I appear here I'm implored to... to..." Fight. They wanted him to fight and help protect the group. It was something he could do physically, of course, but mentally... he was very much struggling to keep in check, just like Gavin.

Abruptly lifting from his position, he marched over to Marcus like a fox cat with raised hackles and jabbed a finger at his MC. "Should you have any module of sense swimming within the confines of your cerebrum, I will suggest you use that thing one last time and garner a different servant! I cannot keep you safe!"

Anger quickly shifted into a softer expression, one of defeated sadness.

"You'll die in my hands. Just as she did."​

 

[Kitsune Mask]

A bemused smirk curled at the margins of Sho Minamimoto's lips upon witnessing the bullet pass through Lucyfer's chest. Other than the slight movement of his lips, there was no reaction from the golden-eyed man in punk attire. It wasn't like him to flinch at a sight like this, partly to do with the fact that nothing bothered him, and also to do with the fact that he had witnessed this sort of scenario many times before. As a reaper, who had been in charge of Shibuya's afterlife game, he watched kids die all the time—almost exactly like this. A kid would die, only for their partner to die in panic a moment later just like the guy in the fox mask. It was just the way the zetta chaotic world worked. It was actually rather convenient that this world worked in much the same way.

"There's a fine line between a numerator and a denominator. Now we know which one those two were," smugly observed the man, tipping his hat as if giving them a sarcastic farewell. He couldn't have cared less about them. They were now just two wads of trash in a sea of imaginary numbers. The one and only being that mattered in this war was himself—along with his tether to reality, who wasn't exactly in good shape after what they had witnessed.

To the teen leaning over his desk, Minamimoto would give a slap to his back. It wasn't a caring kind of slap, more like a 'get a hold of yourself' kind of gesture. "War's war, zero. This is gonna happen. Now make like an abacus so I can count on you... to buck up."

While addressing Clancy, he also made note of Brighid fainting and the scramble to try and get her inside of... a magical space of protection. However, that plan didn't seem to work out so well. So when the idea of a new plan was proposed, the usually quiet male made a suggestion.

"We get the factor outta here, for starters," offered the reaper, cracking his knuckles with one hand. "We'll attract attention if we don't get our median fraction axises out the door and hidden."
​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"There's a fine line between a numerator and a denominator. Now we know which one those two were," smugly observed the man, tipping his hat as if giving them a sarcastic farewell. He couldn't have cared less about them. They were now just two wads of trash in a sea of imaginary numbers. The one and only being that mattered in this war was himself—along with his tether to reality, who wasn't exactly in good shape after what they had witnessed.

To the teen leaning over his desk, Minamimoto would give a slap to his back. It wasn't a caring kind of slap, more like a 'get a hold of yourself' kind of gesture. "War's war, zero. This is gonna happen. Now make like an abacus so I can count on you... to buck up."

While addressing Clancy, he also made note of Brighid fainting and the scramble to try and get her inside of... a magical space of protection. However, that plan didn't seem to work out so well. So when the idea of a new plan was proposed, the usually quiet male made a suggestion.

"We get the factor outta here, for starters," offered the reaper, cracking his knuckles with one hand. "We'll attract attention if we don't get our median fraction axises out the door and hidden."

"...?"

"Чувак, I don't think any of those words mean what you think they do--" Not even close to be one hundred percent truthful but this really wasn't the time for an explanation on math terms, sooooo...she refrained from that. "-nevertheless, yes the plan is the same, we get you out of harm's way, the more обычный way! Keep close."​

 

[Kitsune Mask]

"Чувак, I don't think any of those words mean what you think they do--"

He knows what he said.​

 

[Daft Monk]

"Rrgh--!"

The half-grunt, half-growl was born more out of irritation than pain as the petite girl clung tightly to her master and her resolve alike, unwavering in the face of danger. If she felt so much as an ounce of pain from the blast or the resulting trip through a wall and into one of the neighboring classrooms, she didn't let it show; rather, she emanated rage and rage alone. As the legs that guarded them evaporated in a burst of twinkling lights, the girl's tail bristled with irritation, her eyes narrowing in the direction of Samus as she prepared to leap right back into battle and show that armored coward what was what... until, that was, her master's state gave her pause. She'd almost forgotten she was holding onto the girl at all, some sort of subliminal urge having prompted her to curl around her and protect her as they'd soared. Her nose wrinkled with disgust at that entirely out of place idea, she shaking her head as a small portion of her irritation now turned toward the ravenette rather than their shared opponent.

"Hmph. I'm fine." It wasn't said in the kindest tone. She seemed almost indignified by the suggestion that she possibly could have been hurt. Rather, she shifted topics, beginning a slightly slower approach back toward the battle. "What about you? That... thing in mewr chest is still goin' all crazy," she declared, almost as though it were somehow an inconvenience to her. Almost like she didn't even know what a heart was. "Mew smell all funny too, meow. Weren't those mid things supposed to fix you? I've got that stupid robot thing covered, so just worry about mewrsel-- m-meow!"

As another beam erupted through the hallway, Maisie would find herself in for yet another rollercoaster simulation. One moment, they were walking through the hall; the next, Tarlotte had leaped upward and burst right through the ceiling, her body rending through the structure like it was nothing. Whatever intentions she'd had of hearing out Maisie's condition were quickly forgotten to primal instinct, her temper flaring once again as her landing upon the rooftop immediately turned into an outright sprint. "Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr HOW DARE MEW!!!!!!!! I'LL CRUSH MEW FOR THAT!" Nobody interrupted her while she was talking and got away with it! In a matter of seconds, she'd jumped skyward, resummoning the legs of Batraz before slamming down into the roof with hopes of crushing Samus beneath the massive metallic boots. She'd kind of forgotten War was there too, but, uh.... any servant worth their salt would surely know how to get out of the path of friendly fire. Probably.​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

To hear her tastes called out so bluntly...despite being pretty sure she had the upper hand in this fight, Nobu couldn't help but pout at that. Obnoxious, seriously? And poor choice in music?? The nerve! She crossed her arms in annoyance and instantly regretted it, a spike of pain shooting through her injured arm with the movement. Ow ow ow ow ow, she thought but gave none of it away through facial expression "...Hmph. Your bad judgement on the finer things in life aside, you see correctly. I know war." Nobu nodded. "Very well. You have my word. I will not kill or maim your pilot, so long as you keep to your own word."​

"Thank you. The moment he became my pilot, he became my first priority. But more than that... it is clear he made a mistake in joining this war. Your choice for mercy will be noted in my logs. Discontinuing nuclear ejection protocol"

Whatever that meant, the titan's face hissed as its plating began its initial separation. The faceplate opened upwards like a hatch, the two sides sliding away to reveal the spherical cockpit within, and the pilot currently directing the machine of war.

Or at least, that was certainly what he thought he was doing; he was a young man, dressed in basketball shorts and a hoodie, his head hidden behind a helmet that was a mirror replica of the pilot Nobunaga had already slain, and he was full bore into violently jockeying the controls that were attached to the armrests of the cockpit, his voice echoing through the helmet with the usual electronic distortion of a speaker.

"C'mon BT, C'mon, we got her, we almost got her- damn, damn, c'mon we can't mess this up!"

He squeezed both triggers on his joysticks and twisted his feet that were attached to strange pedals at the bottom of the setup, apparently under the assumption he was in a pitched battle with Nobu at this very moment.

"Correct, Pilot Michael; I will not fail in upholding protocol 3 again. I promise you will survive" BT the titan replied, still unmoving.

The MC was plainly visible, jutting out of one of the young man's pockets.

Full transparency, all pretensions of being a good person put aside, Jamie had been absolutely intent on just sort of burying her head in the sand and getting the hell out of here before she could get too attached to anyone, or anything, or any of the bullshit that was about to kick off. She needed to... she just needed to think, to get away from everything and everyone and take a few deep breaths so she could collect her thoughts, figure out what she was even supposed to do with all this. There wasn't a single part of her that believed she was gonna do anything except die if she started getting caught up in her feelings and tried to play hero now.

And then Astolfo told her that there was a second master, and a second servant, and explicitly confirmed that their intention was to straight up murk poor, struggling Lucille who never so much as raised her voice to anyone, and jesus fucking christ she hated him. SHE HATED HIM. Saber would NEVER have done that, she would've just let her suit herself and run away; Or just handled the problem by now all by herself, 'cause she was awesome.

Huh. She was really taking this whole 'not getting Saber' thing harder than anyone could've expected. Ohhh, crap, was she the weeb?

Not enough of one to know who the hell anime boy with big sword and red longcoat #27865 was, apparently, but she was almost positive those traits alone probably made him more of a badass than goofy little Astolfo could possibly hope to handle. Which meant her options were really limited here, and UGHHHHH GOD SHE HATED HIM.

Whatever deep inner vein of salt the past twenty minutes of her life had uncovered could probably be attributed with her next course of action; which was to take one look at Lucille, very swiftly decide someone in her present state of agitation had absolutely no business trying to move a person in that condition whatsoever, rapidly switch focus to the enemy master, and try to absolutely body her with a diving spear so she could start bashing her hand—and the MC it was grasping—into the rooftop over and over, the adrenaline fuelled fit of madness overtaking her enough to wrench a nigh feral scream from her lips.

"FUCK! YOU! MYSPACE IS DEAD AND RISE AGAINST WERE NEVER GOOD AND, AND, AND YOU'RE WHY THE WORLD FUCKING SUCKS!!!!!!"
​

The enemy master didn't even register that Jamie had started to movie, her own breath getting sharp with nerves and clearly not yet comfortable with navigating the mobile contract.

The enemy servant didn't have that problem. the mirth and relief left his eyes in favor of a determined snarl as he pushed Astolfo off balance and pivoted in place, the sword going from held across his body to a fully extended sweep that wouldn't have taken Jamie's head off her shoulders so much as pulverized the entirety of it into mist with the speed and weight of the blow. Yet despite his diminutive size, Astolfo barely managed to knock it off course with a deceptively strong upward strike while still off balance, Jamie still feeling the wind pull at the top of her hair from the slipstream left behind by the blow before she closed with the other master-

-Ragna's pivot continued, and there was a grunt of pain from Astolfo as a heavy boot suddenly slammed into the side of his knee with a kick lashed out via the momentum. He lost his balance entirely as Ragna continued his pivot, the sword suddenly shifting with a twist of his wrist to a different weapon entirely, the blade leaving the haft with an outwards swing as it extended into the blade of a scythe with longer reach-

-the moment she made to grab at her hands, the MC dropped out of them entirely as Rise Against-er gasped in surprise and jumped backwards, only to realize what she'd done and reach for it-

-The scythe swung, only to slam into the building with enough force that it drove into a downward arc through the rooff just below as the hippogriff responded to a desperate whistle from Astolfo, not risking charging the wrestling masters directly and instead crashing its bulk into the blow from above as ragna gave a most desperate growl of "screw OFF!" as released the blade with one hand and lashed out with his arm for the magical beast, the appendage releasing a much larger, shadowy claw that rend straight through its flank in a spray of blood that earned a horrified gasp from Astolfo-

-The other master was too off balance to get a good grip on the device before Jamie did, and it slammed into the rooftop once-

-Astolfo's sword skewered straight through the man's arm still holding his now scythe, nerves severed and the weapon forced to release in a jerk of a reaction that sent it flying off the rooftop, but Ragna didn't even seemed phased with the pain as he twisted the arm with the motion he had remaining to catch astolfo's own arm in a grip between his side and elbow-

-a second time-

-his black clad arm gripped Astolfo around the throat, and he gagged as he suddenly felt as if a thousand teeth were tearing into him at once, his very essence being drained like blood from a cadaver through the wounds-

*CRACK*

Everyone on the rooftop froze at that noise as the front screen of the other master's MC shattered, before Ragna let out a sigh. Astolfo could feel the hand around his neck already starting to fade as the man in red glanced back to the girl who's hands were pressed against her mouth in shock.

"Hey. Its for the best kid. You're not cut out for this. Oi, cute stuff."

Astolfo blinked a few times before he registered that the man's eyes were turned back towards him "y-yea?"

"Don't kill her, yea? just a dumb kid, same with the idiot in the robot if you find him."

"...Yea. I know how these kinda things work."

The man gave a quick, relieved nod, and gave in to the pull back to the stars; his form disappearing entirely.

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

The sudden return of sound was almost defeaning; no longer was it the din of far off fantastical battles, but rather the ever present sound of traffic below, the buzz of hundreds of people going about their day within just a few blocks and thousands more past that. Astolfo heaved a huge, almost exaggerated sigh as he let his arms relax, his sword clattering to the ground next to him as the girl next to Jamie continued to stare in horror.

"How... how could you just... that was so... so unfair-hey, heyheyHEY HEY HEEYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-"

Before her complaints could really get started, she'd found herself in a panic as Astolfo grabbed her and put her over his shoulder with a small 'hup' and promptly jumped off the side of the building, her scream following them down.

Rather than a sickening splat, if Jamie looked over the side she saw the minuscule form of the young woman far below, huddling against one of the walls with a small look of shock as Astolfo moved up the side of the building with a series of quick bounds, already near the top by the time she put her head over to vault clear over her and land in a crouch at her side.

he turned to her with a very serious look.

"Master."

he grabbed both of her shoulders.

"You're so much braver than I thought you were!" he said, his eyes lighting up with sheer delight as he grinned. "But that was super dangerous! You shouldn't have to save me, I'm the servant."

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"I mean, besides my closest friends in the Marcus and in the club and... Emily, too, I guess? Yeah, that's a no to my house. There's only one place I can really think of right now, it's a stupid gaming cafe not far from here, Hex & Company. Relatively speaking. We go there sometimes, our own little stupid sibling thing we do." Patience answered, rambling over her own words as she fought to rein herself under control.

Despite being totally in the right to completely lose her shit like any normal rational person would do. ( ´ ▽ ` )b

"But like I just said, we're not leavingohp he's looking our way." Her words came to a halt, almost a choke in her throat that followed with a sheepish expression which certainly did nothing to discourage the guard's wary eye.

She was already blowing it, a sore thumb nattering at a figure that wasn't so much as out of place in the school as to be utterly anachronistic, easily mistaken for a member of a reviled organization of the 1940s.

Without really thinking about it, Patience interlinked her fingers into Leon's own, pulling her closer to herself much to her own servant's discomfort with certainty before leaning in to affect the air of a new couple performing egregious acts of PDA. What looked to be a whisper of sweet nothings really was a shaky urging to follow her along for that bathroom. In spite of the awkwardness underpinning that entire thing, to those watching, it mostly passed as genuine. At least on Patience's part.

A practiced quirk of the head and a sultry indication with the eyes before Patience pulled Leon along after her, she'd have made her way for the bathroom in question with an iota of urgency to her movements cementing that she really had every reason to be there with seemingly her girlfriend.

She's gonna fucking set me on fire for this, I just know it. Not my ideal brand of hot.

Hopefully it was before long they made it there and they could further hash out the details.

While ignoring the fact that Leon totally looked like a Nazi paraded through the station with a student as their significant other! Maybe it could be written off as a very convincing cosplay out of the blue. Do these people even remotely have any idea about Dies Irae oh my god. ( ´ ▽ ` )b

Perhaps surprisingly, Leonhart fell into the role without further prompting when Patience pressed her against the wall, the initial shock on her face giving way to a blushing smile as she pressed her forehead up against the other girl's and let her be the forefront of the guard's vision apart from a pair of Kei's hands wandering downwards as he arrived

He got paid to protect the kids break up fights and deal with deliquents smoking on the platform, not get accused of a hate crime trying to break up one of them el gee bee tees couples. "Y'all need to do that somewhere else, aigh't?" was his only, deeply uncomfortable comment before he turned on his heel and marched back towards the platform. Leonhart glanced around to see if anyone else was watching as Patience directed them to the bathroom, a demure smile still on her face as they walked through the doors.

It didn't last past that, the young soldier's expression immediately falling into a scowl as she released patience's hand before she strode across the row of stalls, checking with her senses whether they were alone. Unsurprisingly this deep into the school day, they were, and she turned on her heel to march back towards patience with a dark glower. Before the student could formulate any sort of response, she found Leonhart's arm slammed against her throat, pushing her back into the door to hold her in place as he other hand rested over the pocket where the girl's MC was.

"Let's get this straight right away. I'm not here to be your friend. I'm definitely not here to be your toy. The weird eyes one and your brother's servant had it right. I'm a monster. You can trust me to keep you alive, because it keeps me alive. You can trust me to work together with you, because I can't win unless you win. You can trust me to keep your brother safe, because even a monster can understand that. Maybe even your friends, if it helps us win. But that's where the line ends. Are we clear?" she snarled, Patience feeling her skin where Leonhart was touching raising in temperature in a way that had nothing to do hormones or nerves.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Thank you. The moment he became my pilot, he became my first priority. But more than that... it is clear he made a mistake in joining this war. Your choice for mercy will be noted in my logs. Discontinuing nuclear ejection protocol"

Whatever that meant, the titan's face hissed as its plating began its initial separation. The faceplate opened upwards like a hatch, the two sides sliding away to reveal the spherical cockpit within, and the pilot currently directing the machine of war.

Or at least, that was certainly what he thought he was doing; he was a young man, dressed in basketball shorts and a hoodie, his head hidden behind a helmet that was a mirror replica of the pilot Nobunaga had already slain, and he was full bore into violently jockeying the controls that were attached to the armrests of the cockpit, his voice echoing through the helmet with the usual electronic distortion of a speaker.

"C'mon BT, C'mon, we got her, we almost got her- damn, damn, c'mon we can't mess this up!"

He squeezed both triggers on his joysticks and twisted his feet that were attached to strange pedals at the bottom of the setup, apparently under the assumption he was in a pitched battle with Nobu at this very moment.

"Correct, Pilot Michael; I will not fail in upholding protocol 3 again. I promise you will survive" BT the titan replied, still unmoving.

The MC was plainly visible, jutting out of one of the young man's pockets.

She nodded in response. "I understand that loyalty. Some didn't even have a choice in this conflict. Never let it be said that I am without mercy." Her decision to spare the pilot was only reinforced by the sight of him, he was hardly any older than her own master. Nobu started to stride forward without another word, and once in grabbing range, snatched the MC from the guy, took a few steps back and dropped it at her feet. That alone might have damaged it, but she made sure, and drew her sword with a grimace of pain before stabbing downward to pierce it entirely. With that done, the machine began to fade just as the man she'd killed had drifted up and away. Any of her remaining guns left also vanished, and before the machine of war was fully gone, Nobu reached up, temporarily took off her hat and bowed her head in respect. All other concerns aside, the machine had fought well. It was a shame she could not recruit it into her service. Such a thing at her control, it would have been glorious.

She raised her head back up, dropping the hat onto her head again and closed her eyes for a moment. This whole place vanished too, the feeling of the burning temples on her skin, the loud echo of her theme ringing in her ears, they were all just gone, and by the time her eyes opened again, it was the warm feeling of the sun overhead that hit her, and the buzzing sounds of a city at life that drifted into her ears. Not the unnatural silence of the other place, a replica of the city made only for warfare. Her stare rested upon Michael, the former casual pilot. "You lost, but you're alive...you're welcome." She turned away from him, glancing left and right until she spotted her master.

The redhead was still holding on. She was truly a tough one, but still...the girl had been hurt on her watch. That wouldn't stand, she'd get it fixed...or rather, get the medics to patch her up. Nobu strode over and as gingerly as possible, lifted her master up with both arms, mindful of both their wounds. "Hey master. Miss me?" Archer asked, with the shadow of a smile appearing on her face despite the circumstances. But it was only directed at her for a moment, as Nobu's attention drifted to the other servant also on the rooftop.

"Rider! Changed your mind on my proposal, have you?" She questioned in her natural bombastic way. Which was followed by her leaning in closer to Lucille and in an almost conspiratorial whisper: "What'd I miss?"​

 

[Kitsune Mask]

Thump thump thump.

Just knowing her medication had flung from her grasp, landing somewhere unknown that was out of her reach seemed to make Maisie's heart issues worse. The girl clutched at her chest with both hands, making no effort to hang onto Tarlotte anymore. "I-I'm going to die," she wheezed, blue eyes widening and glossing over with moisture. There was a chance she was overreacting, but in this situation she wasn't exactly sure. It was hard to gauge just how sturdy her body was in this kind of unpredictable situation. She was in the middle of a war, wracked with anxiety, and being flopped around all over the place. "I-I dropped my meds when we jumped. If we could just go back down--"

Cut off by Tarlotte's leap through the ceiling, Maisie tucked her chin against her chest, moving her arms protectively around her head. She opened one cerulean eye and peeked around, releasing a cry of panic. They were on the roof of the building now. Her lost medication pouch could've been anywhere at this point... Maisie hated to say it, but she was just as afraid of her medical condition as she was the enemy attacking them. She was definitely going to die, killed by either one or the other. When it came to their attacker, she was as helpless as a newborn infant. So the ravenette instead focused on the one battle she could at least feebly attempt to fight. Squeezing her eyes shut, Maisie attempted to focus solely on breathing, trying to block out her surroundings.​

 

[Kitsune Mask]

Of course, recoiling in fear and attempting to slide away from any manner of nearby danger would've been the normal thing to do while Astolfo and Jamie were dealing with rooftop threat, but Lucille couldn't have been further from the norm. Wide-eyed with a partly open mouth, the red-haired girl watched in fascination, as if taking in a scene from a movie. If she knew how to enjoy herself, the girl would've actually been close to doing so. She wasn't afraid for her life and didn't really mind the danger, her only real issue with this whole thing was the pain in her foot. Blood was starting to pool around it as the wound pulsed with pain, while her head started becoming lighter. The teen stopped watching the scene before her in order to lean her head back and close her eyes, twisting uncomfortably where she sat.

Rapt on her affliction, the noise and events around Luci started to melt from her vision. All she really wanted was the pain to go away, as it was the one and only thing in this world her emotionless nature couldn't deal with. She started to tremble uncontrollably, opening one eye to look down at a small, round mood necklace she wore. It was a very vivid shade of orange. If the girl recalled correctly, that meant she was anxious or unsettled in some sort of way. That was honestly the biggest understatement of the century. Right now, she was unsettled dialed up to 110% of a normal level. About the only good thing she had going for her was that a lack of panic was keeping her from doing anything irrational. Oh, and maybe she had one more good thing to mention...

Nobu had returned.

Much like a balloon being pulled down to earth by its string, the voice of Lucille's servant grounded her a bit. Eyes fluttered fully open, while her head turned in the direction of her voice. "Nobu. You left me," she pointed out, not angry, simply pointing out a fact. "Jamie and her partner saved me," she explained before gesturing at her foot with a severely trembling hand. "But I'm going to die if I don't get this treated." That was probably an overstatement, but to Luci it didn't feel that way thanks to her low tolerance for pain.​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"Most people-- monsters even!-- don't get back up from that usually. Then again, nothing bout this is usual!" The one of his words were as commensurate with he posture he adopted, utterly lackadaisical in every respect. A pointed emphasis of how he considered showing any effort to be beneath while while simultaneously reveling in the thrilling realization of his circumstances.

Though that did nothing to distract him from his convictions of earlier, to ferret out the bastards who dragged innocent kids into this pointless WHILE becoming the biggest monster around to rearrange the world's status quo. The two were not mutually exclusive and the latter definitely would benefit the former! (ฅΦωΦ)ฅ

"Yeah, like I said. Not a Jedi, dunno what that is, but bet I'm better. Though!"

The martial artist slid into a pose as a physical response to the last of the cyborg's words, a subtle understanding between the two that the following exchange was probably meant to bring their battle to a conclusion.

View attachment 991104

Garou finished saying as Grievous launched himself, "I don't bat an eye at pulling tricks if it wins me a fight, you trash!" A dull gunmetal glinted against the snowy urban backdrop before disappearing, a clanging reverberation as the manhole cover of earlier the teenager kept on hand flung like the ultimate skipping stone intended for the jedi hunter's legs amid his mad dash. With the hero hunter hot on its trails, frenzied glee burnt into the features of his face, his hands moving in a dizzying blur to deflect the sabers intended for him in tandem.

His objective was to unsettle Grievous with the combination of the two to lead into a flurry of blows aimed for the upper torso and the joints of the limbs that split into two pairs apiece, intending to disable the bastard entirely and crumple him like a tin can. Maybe.

The Hero Hunter was definitely gonna kick the Jedi Hunter's ass for belittling him!

Grievous was a simple servant, all things considered. Outside of a noble phantasm his master was loathe to use this early into the war, there was nothing more to him than his prosthetic, barely organic form, martial skill, and the lightsabers layered across his belt and under his cloak. They were both beasts that beset upon the noblest order of their respective tales, one with a trail of broken heroes left behind him and the other a kill list of jedi knights that shrunk ever smaller as the clone wars raged.



Both their reputations had been earned in blood

The manhole cover was caught in a slam of a step that crunched it into the concrete and snow, the general not even breaking stride in the motion as his lung continued forward and their clash began, and Garou found an immediate, terrible problem with his his initial tactic. The lightsaber was, in its own story, the most iconic and dangerous weapon one could carry. almost nothing could stand against it, and certainly no flesh. The grail system, in depriving Grievous of other, more esoteric advantages, gave him a very simple but potent truth to his blades to match said tale;

There was almost nothing that they couldn't slice through, enemy servants included.

one strike gouged clean down garou's knuckles in an attempted deflect, removing half of the hero hunter's hand before one of his own counter blows caught grievious in the chest, metal crunching underneath from the force of the strike. Grievous snarled and backstepped and let his entire up torso pivot as he swirled the blades in a erratic, inhuman arc to create space-

the battered manhole cover, dented and cracked from turning into a tool for servants to bludgeon each other with, suddenly left Grievous' clawed grip midrotation to go hurling like a misshapen cannonball directly for Danny's head, the angle of the fight having shifted that the general had barely got a glance into the classroom mid exchange.

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

MJ let out a few last coughs before shaking their head no. They took a few steps back to get away from the vomit and sat down, their back slumped against the wall. “…Sorry.” MJ directed over toward Alucard, with an expression that was equal parts embarrassed and apologetic. “I…I dunno how much choice you had, getting here like this. But probably not how you envisioned a war with a 1000 warriors from god knows what, with who knows what kinda crazy powers, would start. With you having to watch over some kid struggling to keep what little breakfast they got down and all, instead of fighting or whatever. Sorry.” They repeated.

“I just wasn’t prepared for today. I didn’t know this was something I should’ve expected. Just figured on another day at school, not anything like this. War. With like, characters from comics or movies or games and everything. Sounds like a bad joke, but…it’s real. Those people, they died. Right there, just like that. I mean, I’ve seen death before, but it was different. It was…a long time coming. Could prepare for it to come. Try to make myself ready to mourn him. But those back there…it was like…a switch just got turned off. One moment they’re alive and the next, they’re gone, and that realization that this is not a joke and it’s really real and it’s happening hit like a truck pushing 90 on the 495, and I wasn’t prepared for it. And then you…”

They shook their head. “Sorry.” MJ said one more time.​

Leonardo stood awkwardly to the side, his arms crossed with a mixture of disgust and sympathy as MJ tossed their physical cookies and then their emotional ones. When they were finally finished, he moved to the opposite side of them that Alucard was on (gingerly stepping over Breakfast's Revenge) and squatted down on the other side to put a comforting hand on their shoulder.

"Hey. You're still conscious, which is better than some, and youre not screaming, so even one more point in your favor. This is... crazy doesn't even really describe it. I'm still not sure this isn't just like, a dream."

The kinda dream he had all the time honestly, which wasn't really helping him parse that as a truth or fiction, but now wasn't the time to think about that stuff; a point punctuated by a flinch as the beam that engulfed war chose then to roar out the remains of the window above them. He looked up at the sight of War, steam rising off him and much of the cloth he wore in charred tatters, but still standing as he snarled and strode back out of view.

"But you're here, I'm here, and there's clearly someone trying to get samus aran to kill us or more likely Masie at this point. Dunno about you, but I'd rather not go out day one, even if winning's a long shot. Lets do something about that, yea?" He said, a bit of forced confidence bringing up a grin as he held up the MC he'd been fiddling with while they'd been down here to show Alucard and MJ the screen; and the radar he'd figured out how to use that showed a master clearly located in the library opposite the wall of the school MJ was leaning on.

 

[MidwayLives]

It was over.

Harry was gone and the one holding his leash was down a hand.

Jean hadn't gotten up from where she'd been knocked back by Harry's initial swipe. Lying flat on her back with the Necronomicon resting atop her chest, she stared up at the sky with her messy hair splayed out behind her head, her baseball cap beside her. That had all just really happened. If it hadn't been for the Oldsmobile's seatbelt, she'd have died when the car had been flipped over. Or at the very least been gruesomely injured 'Faces of Death' style. Wasn't any kind of end she would have wished on anyone.

Well, except maybe the office schlub who'd tried to use a fictional wizard teenager to beat her to death. But, even then, probably not. Death wasn't something you just recovered from, that was the whole point! It was about as conclusive as it got. The guy would likely have to hope that he was a secret southpaw or that his remaining hand was the dominant one but he'd live. She was glad that Ash hadn't gone as far as to kill him. Wouldn't have felt right to stoop to a scumbag's level. Being willing to stand your ground and defend yourself was one thing. Baying and calling for the blood of a teenager you've never met before to be spilled was far past the pale.

Slinging his boomstick back into it's holster that was strapped to his back, Ash made his way over to Jean and glanced down at her.

"You ok, kid?"

"Me?"

"I dunno, you see any other kids laying on the cold hard ground clinging to a book of the dead?"

"Nope."

"Then, yeah, I guess I mean you."

"...I...I don't know. I-"

Then the Necronomicon decided to cut in.

"WILL YOU TWO CEASE WITH ALL THIS NEEDLESS BACK AND FORTH CHATTER??? THE GIRL IS CLEARLY UNHARMED ELSE YOU AND I WOULD HAVE BEEN CONDEMMED TO THE FATE OF NON-EXISTENCE, WILLIAMS! YOU UTTER INCOMPETANT! WHY COULD YOU NOT HAVE FINISHED OFF THAT BOY AND HIS PARTNER BEFORE HE TOOK THE LIBERTY TO ACTUALLY, STRIKE, ME!" The book shrieked with such utter contempt for the Chosen One that if it hated him anymore, it might have actually shaken the planet with it's unbridled hatred. Reaching and grabbing the book, Ash looked over his shoulder at the Oldsmobile. " 'Scuse me a second, kid." Walking over to the driver's side of the car, Ash opened it up and grumbled. He wagered that if the car was put away and then brought back out, it'd be fixed anew. Damn kid and his magic wand of bullshit had to go and smash both the driver AND passenger side windows. Ash had this car since he was a teenager, not much older than Jean or any of her compatriots. He'd had to work his ass off to pay for the repair bills for anything wrong with his beloved Classic. Replacing the windows would have set him back at least a paycheck and a half.

"Guess there's perks to being fictional. Money don't mean shit."

"W-WHAT??? WHAT ARE YOU GOING ON ABOUT, WILLIAMS??! UNHAND ME AT ONCE! SET ME ATOP THE DASHBOARD OF YOUR ATROCIOUSLY OUTDATED MODE OF TRANSPORTATION AND LET US BE ON OUR WAY BEFORE MORE ENEMIES MAKE THEIR PRESCENCE KNOWN!!!"

"Outdated??? Okay, tell me, honestly tell me. What's so outdated about the goddamn automobile, huh??? I bet you that you can't tell me!"

The book stammered and looked around before eventually settling on a response. It's usual screeching tone of voice replaced by a softer spoken, almost apologetic one. "...portals."

"Yeah, well I can't exactly drive a portal can I?"

"well, you could drive through-WILLIAMSSSSSSSSS"

Ash popped open the glove box and tossed the book in. Then he locked it shut and slammed the driver side door shut. Little fragments of glass flaked off with the impact, but Ash didn't care. He also didn't care to acknowledge the book's shouts and curses as it rattled around angrily amid expired coupons and parking tickets that Ash had no intention of ever paying. "ASHELY WILLIAMS!!!! YOU'LL SUFFER GREATLY FOR THIS!!! SUFFER!!!!!!" Ash leaned back in and flipped on the radio to muffle the book's voice even further. The song was appropriately cheesy and 80s. Just like the owner of the car.



Jean by this point had sat up and placed her cap right where it belonged on her head. The dirt would come out of her jacket after a good wash. If she even lived long enough to do laundry again anyway. "So, kid, what's the plan now?"

"I thought you wanted to go after that chick? The one with the horns?"

Ash waved off the idea. "Eh, she's long gone by now. Fate has a funny way of workin, kiddo. If me and here were destined to swap spit at some point later on down the line? Then it'll happen, just gotta be patient and stay in one piece until then."

"Ash."

"Yeah, kid?"

"Can, uh, we not talk about you swapping spit with anyone until you put your teeth back in."

Ash softly coughed and turned to excuse himself again. "Sorry." Walking over to where Harry's last spell had knocked Ash's dentures out, Ash brushed some of the grass and other extraneous material off them and popped them back in his mouth. Sure, washing them off more thoroughly would have been the healthier and less grody thing to do but with the places Ash's mouth had been? Or the things that have splattered across it in all the years that he'd been fighting the forces of Evil? He'd probably be just fine with a little dirt on his teeth. Meanwhile, Jean outright shuddered at the idea of Ash ever making out with that chick. She'd been a looker for sure and it wasn't as though Ash was a bad guy or anything. Just, he gave off less 'rugged hero' looks and more 'hey, your grandpa is still pretty cool, huh?' vibes and that....Eugh.

"Well, I guess we can just....Wait. For some of my friends. They gotta be going through their own stuff. Once we're all together again, we'll just put our heads together and think up something." Jean put forward to which Ash shrugged. "I've always been more of a 'lone wolf' type of guy, kid. But if you really think it's a good idea to just sit around and wait, then sure, we can do that." Ash motioned for Jean to follow and she did. Better than sitting on the ground. Opening the doors on either side of the Oldsmobile, the two scooted in, buckled their seatbelts, and closed the doors.

Then they proceeded to just....vibe.

They'd earned it in Jean's opinion.

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

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Though she couldn't speak for the rest, Shinoa certainly hadn't forgotten Shiki's presence. Rather than fear or animosity, the woman's return to their stairway hideaway only provoked the slightest sense of dread. Leonhart had already run off, and Shiki had long since made her utter lack of regard for her own life plainly clear both in her earlier confrontation with Frieza and her demeanor in the Velvet Room. What came next was practically guaranteed.

Even so. She wasn't fond of the idea of letting the girl waltz off with her assigned petrified child.

"Please. Reconsider," she implored as the first portion of Shiki's speech drew to a close, her voice strained as she wrestled with trace amounts of concern. Wrangling her own unruly squad was one thing, certainly, but this was more akin to attempting to talk someone down from a ledge. Something she was decisively less experienced in, and found herself struggling to manage, especially in the midst of the already mounting tension with Marcus's intent to release Frieza. "Surely you understand tha--"

Frieza's sudden appearance- and equally abrupt disappearance- were enough to give her pause. Her grip on her scythe tightened marginally, but she tried to set that aside for now and refocus on the matter at hand. Only, that situation had worsened, too. Her eyebrows furrowed as her and Marcus's words were met only with a silent threat in the form of the knife going to Emily's throat, but there was no time for her to react before she became acutely aware of another presence in their group. Her whole body stiffened as her head snapped to view the new arrival, her crimson eyes wide. "How--"

Were it not for the presence of the masters, she likely would have already been mid-strike by the time the start of that question had hit the air. As it were, she was forced to quickly dispel the mortification of an enemy somehow foregoing Shikama's inherent detection ability as a whole, and was instead left to try to juggle about five different problems at once. The priest was- for the moment at least- displaying no signs of hostility. The impossibility of the feat he'd just accomplished aside, he was lower on her list of priorities, for now. His words, though, were enough to make her lips press into a thin line. The loss of one of the children's lives was tragic, but not unexpected, if she were to be utterly honest. Not with how rash and reckless the group had appeared at a glance, some more than others. But, unfortunate as this revelation was, it didn't shake her. Her apathetic nature spared her the sense of grief she wished she could feel, instead delivering another message of it's own.

These kids weren't going to listen to reason. That revelation would become their drive to play hero.

Sighing in dismay, the youngest Hiiragi's shoulders sank slightly as she relented, deciding to spare herself some trouble by peering over Marcus's opposite shoulder(or rather, around his arm) in order to view the radar the priest had mentioned. She ran the calculations in her head, quickly forming estimates on the essentials as best as the device allowed; how far away the enemies were, roughly how long they had before Shiki and Emily encountered them, how quickly they would need to move to reach them before that could happen...

By the time the transfer of servants was done, she was as mentally prepared for what awaited them as she could be; whether that was a little, a lot, or not at all. She wasn't sure this info or the transfer could be trusted, given who had provided it to them, but right now it was all they had. They'd have to take it. Even if the new guy cut a much less imposing figure than Frieza. Disregarding that though, Gavin's frantic utterances regarding Lucyfer were met with a pointed shake of Shinoa's head, her free hand reaching to give his wrist a gentle squeeze in an effort to ground him. "We haven't the luxury of worrying about that right now." It was a calm statement that undoubtedly came off callous, but she was willing to play that part. If her master and his friends became angry with her for her apathy, that would at least be something they could feel that wasn't sorrow or despair.

View attachment 990638

Releasing her grip on him, the petite girl glanced down the tunnel, her expression unreadable. "...You don't need to waste your breath explaining to me, either. You are already set in your goals, aren't you? I can see it all over your faces." Her poker face broke with those words, a small, almost sheepish expression delivering a stark contrast to her battle-ready posturing as yet another sigh escaped her. "My, what an undesirable predicament we've found ourselves in... But I suppose we'll just have to make do." Better to follow the pack than have them charge in defenseless without her. Her gaze flickered over the group at large, her faux indignation melting back into utter neutrality. "In any case, assuming you all truly have no intentions of listening to reason... I propose we make haste. Masters, please remain close to me as originally stated, ideally with one of your radars active for my convenience." She normally would assume she wouldn't need such a thing thanks to Shikama's abilities, but the priest's display of slipping past such had her on edge. As for Yusuke... "If you are up for the task, I request that you take the lead and serve as our vanguard. Unless, of course, that sword of yours is merely for show?" Once confirmation was given, she'd have to hurry in relaying the remnants of her quickly-forming plan.

Hopefully this wouldn't go as horribly as she envisioned ಥ_ಥ​

Frieza's disappearance didn't even so much register with Gavin, though Yusuke's did so perhaps there was a queued sequence in the back of his head. Regardless. The younger Munroe was reeling from the revelation that his reaction to his own servant's words came as a surprise to no one that knew him.

"Wh-- fuck's wrong with you? A kid, my classmate, someone I knew-- dead! Croaked."

He ripped away from Shinoa, not at all receptive to her efforts with the cascade of emotions plain on his face as it all mounted together. His sister had disappeared, a classmate died, and the seriousness of the war was becoming all the more apparent. Never mind the inextricable possibility of his own demise if he wasn't careful at all. If he hadn't developed a general anxiety disorder by the end of all this bullshit, that'd be a fucking miracle in his eyes, even with the years of therapy to follow.

Having someone that made fuckin' Satan come to Earth, Kenneth Copeland, look mild by comparison in Trifa added an edge to the situation as a whole.

"Jesus fuck." If anyone had been on the verge of a shutdown, it was looking to be him, his emphasized word pointedly punctuated with a sharp silent.



"Ye. Just... find Em. Then my sister. Please, get the fuck outta here even." He muttered, his hands fumbling with the MC as he sought the radar capability at his servant's request.

Tragedy often came unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, but never had Fox expected it to hit so soon and in one of the most earth shattering ways possible.

"Fox, do not let me die, yes?"

The words spoken merely minutes ago by Lucyfer rang strongly in the ears of the masked boy as a bullet struck her through the heart. Closely as he was standing by her, he was showered in a spray of crimson that only managed to spare his face due to the protection of his mask. Not being a battle hardened warrior that some of his fellow servants were, his reaction to the display wasn't exactly a calm one.

Eyes dilated in fear, heart rate elevated, and muscles tensed so hard that his body ached. Any way you looked at him, fear and distress racked the entirety of his body language. Yes, Yusuke was chosen to be a servant, to fight in a war with the skill, cunning, agility, strength, and prowess of a magical samurai he possessed. And he looked the part too. The garb and mask he adorned was certainly the attire of a Japanese warrior. But one simple fact boiled down to the very core of his being: he was just a boy, one who had never saw someone shot before.

Shaky whimpers left his lips, as trembling hands moved to tear his mask off before dropping down beside his master—pressing his hands against her wound.

"No, no, no! I'm sorry! This is all my fault. I should've— I'm so sorry! Don't die, don't—"

Touching Lucyfer soaked the cyan covered gloves he wore, staining them entirely red.

In a scared haste he then attempted to remove blood-stained gloves, tears and sweat encumbering his vision as he fully began to panic. God, he was afraid. He hated the blood. He wanted it to go away. He needed it to go away. Reduced to nothing more than a crying child, the teen watched in horror as he was actually unable to remove said gloves.

His hand drifted through the other in a ghostly manner as his entire being became translucent. It was then that the rules of this cruel game flashed through his mind.

If his master died, he died.

That was it.

This was over.

More frantic than ever before, he scrambled to his feet and backed away from Lucyfer, whirring to face the others. Arms gesticulating wildly and expression twisted in with fright, he begged like a dog as if the others could somehow help him. "We can still save her. I'm begging, please! Aid her quickly! If she dies, I'll—"

Form flickering into oblivion, the phantom thief could no longer speak. Instead, he vanished, finding that he was no longer with the group in the classroom.

Instead, he appeared before Marcus and the group by the tram, completely baffled as to why he was still alive. Did this have to do with his parting words shared with Igor before leaving the velvet room earlier? The man had seemed to hint there was something unique about him, although Yusuke couldn't quite comprehend what he had meant. The only thing he could comprehend right now was that he was now tethered to Marcus and was very much alive.

He had been given a second chance.

So why didn't this feel like one?

Still reeling from the sight of a gunshot killing his former master, Fox was not the picturesque servant one would imagine. He was just a shaky teen, covered in blood, and looking very traumatized. So instead of answering his new master or any of the others, he turned and stumbled, vomiting in a corner. He stood hunched over, hands on his knees afterwards as he breathed heavily and wiped his mouth.

Reverting to old habits of lashing out at those around him who offered help, Yusuke starred venomous daggers into Shinoa, bubbling with rage. "Do I appear to be up to any sort of task? I just witness the life of my master snuffed out before my very eyes! And yet, the very instant I appear here I'm implored to... to..." Fight. They wanted him to fight and help protect the group. It was something he could do physically, of course, but mentally... he was very much struggling to keep in check, just like Gavin.

Abruptly lifting from his position, he marched over to Marcus like a fox cat with raised hackles and jabbed a finger at his MC. "Should you have any module of sense swimming within the confines of your cerebrum, I will suggest you use that thing one last time and garner a different servant! I cannot keep you safe!"

Anger quickly shifted into a softer expression, one of defeated sadness.

"You'll die in my hands. Just as she did."​

Marcus heard what Yusuke had to say, jolted in terror and a deep sense of dread as the scream came from the tunnel, and, with very distraught but focused eyes, glanced over to Father Trifa with a wordless question.

The priest gave a troubled smile and adjusted his glasses. "I'm truly sorry. While I I can appreciate the young samurai's choice of ritual suicide, befitting the honor of his homeland, it would not be befitting myself as a man of the cloth to endorse it. That aside, there is a ten hour reflection period after a servant is lost before another can be chosen. And that..."

He glanced up and to the side, down the tunnel that Emily had disappeared down, where the green mist that had been faintly spewing forth after the sound of the scream began to thicken, and a figure could be seen loping through the hazy red of the emergency lights a few moments Shinoa's Detection sensed its approach

"...is time I do not believe you have."



The figure cleared the mist entirely and stepped forward, calmly enough. It was a rotund, almost comically spherical human dressed in what seemed to be a black jumpsuit, with an equally bulbous head that was mindlessly chewing on one of its own fingers as it cocked its head quizzically to the side as it regarded the group standing before the pile of half eaten corpses on the tram.

"...Can I eats them?" The creature asked in an almost childlike voice

Marcus' eyes immediately widened in recognition as he glanced around Fox, and he found himself giving an reply out of panic as he spun the servant around to face the newcomer.

"Nah. nope, nope, inedible, taste like shit, dont-"

The other reply came from farther in the mist echoed more than spoke, a feminine tone backed be an almost silent chorus of hundreds.

'YeS.'



The thing's mouth widened as its eyes began to glow, and it cackled as it lunged with inhuman speed to with both arms extended for Shinoa as its mouth distended, trying to swallow her top half whole in one go

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

View attachment 991359

Whether or not it was actually visible to the waif in question in the dim, if even extant, light of the maintenance shaft was another matter entirely, but if the question had been the first words to provoke any hint of steel from Emily that morning then there was a degree of ironic symmetry in the reply being the first to appear to throw her servant in any significant capacity. It was evident even if she couldn't see the nonplussed, studious glance Shiki whipped over her shoulder, in the way the assassin's brisk pace halted so abruptly they nearly collided in the dark, though both intent and result of that glance were made uncertain when she threw her head back and laughed. It was a coarse, biting sound, much more in keeping with the attitude she'd been giving everyone since her arrival, but there was at least some level of earnestness to it; enough at least to give it that small dose of humanity many of her sullen inputs to this point had lacked.

"Came up with that quickly for someone who gives it so little thought, didn't you? Tch. Well, normally I might call that the healthy impulse, but in your case I'm not so sure that's true."

She turned away again, but the stride she intended to resume came to another jarring stop before it even truly got going this time as she once again found herself confronted by a warm smile and pair of crooked glasses that had never really been there, and certainly weren't now.

Here's someone who wants to live.

"S-shut up," she hissed, hand shooting to her temple as if to ward off a headache. Which, in a way, she was, though for all the world to Emily the protector she'd been issued may as well have been talking to herself.

Which, in a way, she was.

She huffed, only for that to be the moment the haunting shriek of one who had no further say in the dilemma of whether to live or die echoed up the tunnel from whence they came. It prompted an alert, almost perturbed look backward from the killer who preferred to deal death on a more permanent basis, but she dismissed it a second later in favor of a groan that was downright petulant.

"I don't know where we're going. Isn't there a light you can shine from that thing that spawned me? Stop being useless."​

Whatever ghost of an annoyed frown Emily started to have at Shiki's reaction to her answer shrivelled and died as the inhuman scream echoed behind them. She froze in place, her gaze stuck backwards.

She wasn't lying; she spent so much of her life focusing on everything but its end. Going back the other way, towards that scream, would be courting it directly. Not just having life or death foisted upon her like this hellshow did, but opting into it.

It was also the direction Marcus was. Where Patience's brother was.

"I don't know how to work it if it does" she answered Shiki absently, before she pocketed the Mobile Contract and pulled out her Regular Mobile phone instead and activated the light. Just pointed in the other direction.

"... I-I can't make you do anything you don't want to do. Obviously" she added, almost wry past her nerves. "...But... but thats my best friend back there. Closest thing I have to sibling. if... if he died and I didn't try to.... what is...."

She trailed off, but it wasn't out of nerves or a wayward sentence; it was from an apprehensive frown as her brow furrowed at what her light was revealing.

A thin green mist, coiling and writhing after them like it was alive, a worldess but pained murmur beginning to tickle at the edge of Shiki's ears well before Emily would ever hear it

 

[MidwayLives]

.....That'd been something of a disappointment.

"Pulled away before the real fun. Bummer." Ghostface complained as he and Jaden were left in the hallway they'd been wandering through after Ghostface had brutally attacked Yamcha and tortured his master before stabbing the MC to pieces. He'd heard sounds of destruction further on down the way but now it was all gone. Jaden was less disappointed and simply shrugged their shoulders. "There'll be other chances. This is a 'war', Danny. We just won our first battle."

"Pfft, if you call that a battle, then sure. Still think it'd have been better if you'd just let me rip the kid's jaw off. Now, she's likely gonna have to talk to all kinds of therapists who won't do anything for her, she'll close herself off from her family and friends as the trauma overtakes her, and eventually? She'll end it all. My way would have skipped all the filler and gotten straight to the end result, you feel me?"

"No, not really. I hope I never do.

"Whatever."

Ghostface folded his arms behind his back and absentmindedly kicked a empty water bottle down the hall. It'd probably attract too much negative attention on the kid he was saddled with if he just went and oh, well, just stabbed the next person he saw. Most people didn't see murder the way he did. They were just prudes in his humble opinion. 'But it's wrong!' But it felt so good. 'But they have family! People who care about them!' Then they should have fought him harder. 'What gives you the right?' He does. Because he overpowered them and was able to kill them. That was all the 'right' he needed.

"Why couldn't a school shooter or someone summon me, huh? Why'd I get stuck with you?" Ghostface 'teased' as he gazed out the window to the courtyard. Where Ash was conversing with Jean after locking away the Necronomicon. Jaden leaned against a nearby row of lockers and shook her head. "Anyone with that kind of mentality wouldn't have lasted long. They'd be singled out as a threat and rightfully so. You'd disappear, maybe, a half hour into this whole thing. If I'm being generous anyway. Like it or not, you need someone who won't abide by your sick wants and needs and will use you like you deserve. As a tool and nothing more."

"At least the Entity let me stab punks like you."

"Yeah, it did. But..." Jaden waved their MC. "I'm the one holding your leash now."

Ghostface didn't rise to the mockery and instead kept his focus on whatever was going on outside the window. "....Hey. I think I know that guy down there." Jaden peered at the window and squinted. "...The girl?" "Nonono, you fuckin blind or what? The geezer next to her. He was one of the Entity's victims." Jaden had zero clue who the guy was...

Guess he must have been DLC that they'd forgotten to buy.

Ghostface smashed the window out and began climbing through. "I think I'll go say hi."

"You're gonna jump out a third story window?!"

"Yeah."

One of the tendrils on the back of Ghostface's costume lashed out and wrapped around Jaden's waist. "You're comin with, sweetheart." With that Ghostface jumped down with Jaden shrieking and clinging to him as he took the plunge. Seeing Ghostface land in his mirror, Ash narrowed his eyes and turned down the radio. "Ash?" The servant unbuckled his seat belt and moved his fleshy hand to grasp the boomstick, ready to draw it at a moment's notice. "Stay still, kid. Don't leave the car, unbuckle, or do anything unless I tell you. This guy in the mask. I know him. I can't really piece it together from where but I can tell he's bad news."

As Ghostface dropped his master to the ground, he began to approach the Oldsmobile. Tapping on the hood once he was close enough, he leaned down so that his mask and Ash's face were at eye level.

"Hey, you.~"