Saber, however, was not focusing on the conversation. Perhaps she would have if there were not another matter to steal her attentions. Instead of going to sit down as the others had, Saber had remained at the counter, and stared down the food as it was assembled, and the tea was placed out. Her eyes were practically shining as it was put together. Really, though, it must have been a bit awkward to a third party, the way she was staring so seriously.

It was true, there might be people still trapped inside and they couldn't just leave these possible prisoners behind... not with the threat that something was about to explode behind them. It was this logic that caused the girl to transform once again, hovering over the floor but with visor open, since there was no particular need to start targeting anybody right now.

"We should ask why he's doing this before fighting," the girl said, stating the obvious--neither of them happened to be inclined to an 'attack first, ask questions later' attitude towards things. It was worth stating, though; the lab might deserve to be destroyed.

Hibiki couldn't help but feel thankful towards Miku when the other girl transformed. It just felt wrong to leave this situation so quickly and so easily. What if this place was as bad as thing seemed and needed to be destroyed? What if it didn't? What if there were people trapped here who needed help? There were so many things that could be happening, and Hibiki couldn't in good conscious leave when that was the case.

Hibiki clenched her fists and firmly nodded, a look of determination on her face. "Of course, he can tell us what's going on! Let's go, Miku!"

With that she was off, sprinting after the armored figure.

@Raineh Daze

Artorius, Sol, Sif, and Fufu walked along the road toward their first destination, as indicated by the map held by the towering knight. The electric lights of the military compound faded away behind them, revealing the fairly adequate ambiance of starlight and moonlight. It was amazing how quiet the air was in the absence of cars and human activity. The world was like a giant, quiet forest. Mithias enjoyed the chip of insects and watched a few bats slip across the sky above them.

"Artorius." The vampire started with the one he felt most kinship with. "Would you tell me about yourself and how you got here? What sort of world did you come from?" Mithias figured, they might as well make some sort of conversation while they traveled, and he wanted more information in general about his allies and these other worlds that he would never have known existed if it weren't for Lydia.

Once again putting the map away, certain of their heading, Artorias considered the question. It was a simple enough question to answer in detail, as nothing this land had thrown at them needed much in the way of focus to detect or defeat--mindless Hollows throwing themselves heedlessly to certain death.

"I am one of the Four Knights of Lord Gwyn, serving since the war against the Dragons thousands of years ago until he Linked the First Flame. Since then, we have stood guard over Lordran awaiting a successor. It was in combating the foul Abyss that I found myself here, as I was transported to Lydia when I began my trek into its depths such that I could rescue the princess of Oolacile," the knight explained, stabbing one of the undead that seemed like it still had a few twitches of life in it whilst skirting around a rusting vehicle.

"Lordran has few of the materials that I see in this land, for its stonework is more than enough to endure through the centuries. The fate of many echoes these corpses; the Darksign branding humanity reducing them to an equally mindless state. Many of the gods have left Anor Londo since Lord Gwyn's departure but I know not their destination, only that they head to more distant lands than those I protect."

---

With Hibiki sprinting off, Miku followed to provide support and a dose of common sense. Though watching Hibiki run did bring a few interesting things to mind... like how her Symphogear's method of travel might end up slowing her down sometimes. She was on the track team, after all.

The barista smiled as Shotaro came up to the counter to pick up his group's order. he exchange went by without a hitch, and the young detective was given his change and assorted drinks and pastries without too much hassle. Left with a simple 'enjoy', the barista moved off to continue his work. There were, after all, more people to attend to than just them. That blonde girl, though... What a sweet tooth she must have had to be staring at him all the while.

Satori closed her eyes as she began to muse over Philip's words. She never really had the time to ponder such thoughts... Or, rather, come up with them in the first place. The thought of multiple versions of herself, though... Something about that sent shivers down her spine. And the fact that all of them were not identical? That made it a bit more jarring.

It didn't take long for her thoughts to drift to her sister, though; maybe there was a version that hadn't closed her third eye? If that was the case, then maybe...

No. Shaking her head, Satori chided herself for those sort of thoughts. However much she wanted the old Koishi back, she would never be able to do so without adequate consequences on all sides...

"...That seems like a reasonable enough statement..." she said quietly, her eyes trailing off to the side before sighing. They had more important things to worry about, anyhow. "We might have to go look deeper than the average person here to find the two in question..."

---

The rapid pace of the two girls soon caught up with the armored samurai, who was now turning to face both of them.

"Didn't I tell you that the exit--!"

His words were abruptly cut short as he turned to face the girl that was equipped with gear not unlike that of a Murakumo unit. What in the--?!

Unsheathing his blade quietly as he stared her for what seemed like an eternity, the man turned around and continued down the hallway. This was by no means letting down his guard; one wrong move, and he would attempt to take both of them down in an instant.

The swordsman's reaction only gave her pause for a moment. Hibiki stepped up swiftly, spreading her arms out to the sides as she did. He seemed a little standoffish so... she had to explain herself! They could talk, after all, so that meant they didn't have to fight when they could work things out! And because of this, there was only one response the girl could make when she saw him draw his sword like that. She had to explain.

"This place seems like it's really bad, but there might be other people trapped here and need to get out!" she explained, "So we came back to help you!"

She paused for a moment, and then took a step closer to the armored man.

"I'm Tachibana Hibiki," Hibiki continued, introducing herself, her arms still held spread to her sides as she spoke.

---

The animate dead who had crawled towards her found itself sliced in half vertically, the molten gold drawing itself back into her hand. Goldibanne glanced over her shoulder, noticing that the vampire and Artorias were conversing amongst each other. Sharing information or something? Well, she wouldn't be left out of this.

Smiling, she approached.

"Are we talking about our pasts?" the living doll asked, brightly, "Because Goldibanne wants to share, too~!"

Without waiting for a response, Goldibanne continued.

"I was built by my lovely and beautiful mistress in order to run the mansion when she's not feeling well," she said, brightly, before taking a somewhat sour expression for a moment. "Which is far, far too often..."

Without skipping a beat, her cheer returned. "But she did a great job, didn't she~? Goldibanne is so happy about it~ So now I help protect her and watch over the other dolls~ Only, now I'm here helping Lydia, but that protects Mistress too."

Philip nearly fell to the floor when he noticed Saber had not actually accompanied him back to the table. Darn… He was hoping to use that conversation to segue into some elaboration on who King Arthur really was, but he figured that could wait for some other time.

Shotaro made it back to the table just in time to hear Satori’s suggestion. He set the tray with their order down and took a seat next to Philip, the both of them helping themselves to their drinks. ”How deep is deeper than average?” Shotaro asked, ”Just checking out the streets and landmarks won’t be enough, sure, but New York’s bound to have plenty of hidden streets and all that. Right Philip?”

His partner was absentmindedly stirring his drink, his eyes shut again to indicate he was moving through the Gaia Library. ”Oh I don’t doubt there being many undocumented side streets,” he said, ”Especially given that we're in a different dimension. I’m sure the big picture is relatively the same, but who knows what other small changes have been made to accommodate the extra residents of the world.” He stated as he glanced out the window of the coffee shop to observe the people passing by.

”Maybe we should buy a map then.” Shotaro mused as he sipped his coffee.

In taking her own meal, Saber had not actually made it back to the table before digging in. She had swiftly taken the 'bear claw', raised it to her mouth, and... it was completely, wonderfully delicious. Before she even reached the table after getting her food, she was already nearly finished. The blonde girl hadn't made a mess or anything like it. No, she'd simply eaten so rapidly that her meal was already almost entirely gone. And as she sat, the last of the bear claw vanished into her mouth.

"... That was good," Saber stated, simply, as if the way she had consumed it so rapidly did not thoroughly clarify her thoughts upon it to her allies. Her eyes slowly drifted back to the counter, at the various pastries that remained inaccessible. She already wanted more, but knew, to her disappointment, that purchasing further pastries was likely out of the question.

"A map...?"
Satori began to muse to herself as the suggestion came up. A map... Well, if another version of this city existed in her companions' world, then there would be little problem. But a matter of deviation from that...?
Actually, the suggestion was quite sound; she had no reason to say no.

"I believe that might help us... To a fault. Not every road is easily plotted and open to the public."

Memories of Old Hell began to resurface in her mind; although she had never personally visited any more than absolutely necessary, a few of her pets had. There was always so much more to a city's face, and Satori was fairly certain that would remain true here.

"But it will work as a guide for now..."

The youkai girl's voice trailed off as she turned towards Saber, who had essentially vacuumed her food down before staring hungrily at the food still on display. Satori sat there, motionless for a moment, before massaging her forehead and drinking a sip of her tea.

"...I have no comment to that."

---

"Isn't right? Well, you just saw for yourself, haven't you?" Kagura responded, discreetly motioning towards the now-unconscious Tsubaki in Jin's arms. "Something's been causing people to flip on a dime, and none of us are entirely sure why. Half our men are fighting the other half, and we've got no clue who or what's causing it. We've got some specialists trying to figure it out, but... Well, I'm not sure if they've come up with anything yet."

Shrugging his shoulders, Kagura sheathed his weapon on his back (seemingly without effort) and looked Alex dead in the eye.

"Well, that's not to say that fights don't break out a lot here. Hot-blooded bunch, they are. Anyways, what about you two? Given how you're willing to stick your heads into this mess... Well, it doesn't seem like you're all that ordinary, either, now are you? Well, it's not like I'm gonna attack you, though; you guys saved me from some trouble there. But... You kinda just... Came up outta nowhere, after all."

"Of course. We'd have to find a local that actually knows every backcorner of the city if we wanted those." Shotaro took another sip of his coffee and continued, "Ain't got the time for that of course. Probably don't wanna throw our money right out the door on one either. He then looked back outside for the nearest street vendor to get a map from.

Philip looked quite amused at the speed Saber had devoured her food. So much so that it piqued his curiosity... Could she do it again? He had a feeling she would if given the chance. "Here, do you want mine?" he asked as he pushed his towards her, "It seems like you could use it more than me. I think my drink will last me just fine so don't worry about it.

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

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

"Something's been causing people to flip on a dime, and none of us are entirely sure why. Half our men are fighting the other half, and we've got no clue who or what's causing it. We've got some specialists trying to figure it out, but... Well, I'm not sure if they've come up with anything yet."

It sounded like the 'distortion' of this world, Alex thought. True or not, the virus figured this was a lead and worth investigating. He wondered if cooperating with these locals can help solve the 'distortion' faster. It was likely since it was causing them problems and probably would like to see it gone.

"Well, that's not to say that fights don't break out a lot here. Hot-blooded bunch, they are. Anyways, what about you two? Given how you're willing to stick your heads into this mess... Well, it doesn't seem like you're all that ordinary, either, now are you? Well, it's not like I'm gonna attack you, though; you guys saved me from some trouble there. But... You kinda just... Came up outta nowhere, after all."

With the knowledge of a thousand humans within him, Alex had no problem coming up with a cover story. "We had the same problem from where we come from. We've traced the strange phenomenon to here..." He wanted to follow it up with the name of the city but no mind within knew where he was. Alex wanted to ask where they were but he felt that train of conversation would lead to somewhere undesired.

Instead, the virus offered a proposal. "Since we've got the same problem, why don't we work together for the time being?"

The journey through the forest went by with relative ease; as expected from an area with comparatively little human life to infect, the woods had few infected to speak of, if any at all. Though the night seemed to drag on, it was moreso due to the complete lack of... Well, action, if anything.

The sounds of gunfire, though, caused the silence to break, and the groans of the infected once more began to become audible.

The source, it seemed, was up ahead; the woods quickly parted to make way for a paved highway. In the center, a van was parked, and a sole injured man with an assault rifle surrounded by a small group of zombies. Numerous corpses lay about, and the zombies attacking soon joined their ranks by his hand. With a sigh, the man slumped down and grimaced, looking at his injury.

Bitten. What rotten luck.

With a sigh, the man placed his assault rifle to the side and looked around, only noticing the four travelers now.

"...Damn. Well, at least I'll have some company before I die..." he lamented before turning to the group and shaking his head. "Hey, you mind if this old man asks you strangers for a favor? There's a pen and some paper stashed away in one of the compartments; mind bringing those here?"

A will, at least, would put his mind at ease before he pulled the trigger on himself. They could have the weapons, for all he cared; hell, with that weird set of gear, they'd probably need it. He was probably dead anyways; what did it matter to him now?

As the two other men discussed the crisis, Akuma listened quietly. Some breed of madness had overtaken the populace, causing them to fight amongst themselves. Naturally, no one had managed to discern the cause of this violent outbreak as of yet. Thus, it was up to Akuma and his newfound comrades to do the job.

"In my homeland," mused the martial artist, "many warriors harness the Satsui no Hado to achieve greater strength. Weaker men are consumed by it, and become little better than feral animals. Perhaps this outbreak's source is similar?"

Now, while Akuma wholly intended to fulfill the wishes of his astral patron, that wouldn't stop him from pursuing his own interests.

"I will aid you, on one condition. Tell me the name of this city's strongest warrior, so I may seek him out and kill him."

Saber, upon being offered the other bear claw, swiftly forgot about the comment Satori had made. Instead, all her focus was on the second delicious pastry.

"Thank you," she said, simply, to Phillip. She took it as it was pushed towards her, and in a flash it was up to her mouth. She took a bite, savoring the sweet flavors and the excellent texture of the dough, before taking another bite. And another. And another. In a matter of moments the baked treat was completely gone, just as fast as the first had vanished. All the slender blonde girl could do was feel disappointment that there was not even more to devour.

At least until she remembered herself.

"Ah, I apologize," Saber began, "I have not been adequately contributing to the conversation."

Luckily enough for the young detective, a street-side stall was open to public access around this time of day, with newspapers lining its racks alongside various overpriced snacks and drinks. A stack of maps was folded up and placed off to the side, given how the shopkeeper was likely used to not having to sell to tourists. The advent of more advanced cellphones had reached even here, though, which had made them all but irrelevant.

In the end, though, the shopkeeper was a stubborn old fellow and put them on display anyways. Even if they never really sold six days out of seven...

Satori, meanwhile, was staring at Philip in confusion, then Saber as she promptly erased his food from existence. The whole thing was baffling, but the youkai decided to leave the topic for another time.

"In any case..." Satori began, coughing a moment before taking another sip of her tea and excusing herself. "We should see if Shotaro can bring back that map he was seeking for... And hopefully not get lost in the process. Wouldn't maps usually be expensive, though? I recall news of the Outside World having made the problem obsolete, but..."

The youkai girl had, by her final sentence, begun to muse to herself out loud, though she herself hadn't noticed it until that moment.

"...Please excuse me for that. Regardless, I only hope that the price will not be too trying on our funds. In the meantime, though... I believe our initial introductions were a bit bare-bones. Since we will probably continue working with one another for quite some time, I wonder if it'd be too much to ask if we could understand the capabilities of one another without having to worry about secrets. Though, coming from a mind-reader like me... That might seem a tad hypocritical..."

---

"Yeah, kinda figured it hadn't just been this place..." Kagura responded in response to Alex's statement, shaking his head as if trying to push the thought of the whole incident being isolated to a few locations out of his head. "Well, the more, the better... Though, to be honest, I'm kinda hoping that you don't try to stab us in the back or anything. Too many crazy things happening already, after all; adding another metaphorical knife in my back to it all wouldn't just be a nuisance any more."

Kagura let out another laugh before nodding towards the Alex's proposition with a smile.

"But that's just me being paranoid. If I can't at least extend a hand here, then I'm not fit to be a leader. Glad to have your aid."

Akuma's suggestion, though, made Kagura take a moment to run over the name of the technique in his head. In his time as both a student and an NOL agent, he had never heard such a name ever be uttered. Maybe it was some sort of blacklisted material? But if so, why was this man speaking of it so nonchalantly...?

The condition for aid, though, was probably easy enough to handle.

"The strongest, huh? It's pro-"

Upon fully processing the gravity of what it meant, though, Kagura took a double take and stared at Akuma as if he was half-insane. The strongest man in the city... Well, there was only one person who fit that description, and hell if he'd ever...

Kagura took another moment to go look at how serious Akuma's expression was in that statement before sighing. The last time he had met with that man was still fresh in his mind, after all...

...

It didn't seem as if Akuma would be swayed by anything. That sort of conviction... Even Kagura, as laid back as he seemed half the time, knew not to cross a man with that sort of mindset. But the outcome... Might not be pretty.

"..He goes by the name 'Azrael'. His strength is... Unparalleled. During the Ikaruga Civil War, that man... Well, it might be faster to show you a few recordings once we return to base. Needless to say, his raw strength is like something out of a horror film. The man imposed limiters on top of his limiters to take some of the best fighters... And even then, he still managed to win..."

"We're here."

Kagura turned his head towards Jin as the group neared the grand doors of the headquarters. Even with clear signs of battle all over, the building itself seemed unscathed.

"Come. We're wasting time."

With those curt words, Jin walked forwards. Kagura, who had since opened the doors and walked in, led the two new arrivals into the main hall. The large stairwell and imposing statue farther in the back showed how much money and influence the organization had in the end.

"I'll bring Tsubaki to the care unit. You handle your guests, all right?"

Jin said no more as he walked off, leaving the three behind.

"...Don't worry, he's always like that. Anyways... Akuma, was it? If you're wanting to try and fight Azrael, I'd recommend you talk to some of our more... 'Unique' guests. They're some of our most important support in handling this issue, but at the very least they might listen to a request if it involves him. Come on, they're this way."

With that, kagura walked forward, turning his glance back momentarily to see if the other two were following suit.

”Oi, oi. There’s a stall just over there, getting lost out there should be impossible,” Shotaro said confidently. ”A map shouldn’t cost too much anyway, especially if I’m getting it off a street stall. I’d take that over one of those GPS maps any day.” He grabbed his coffee and stood up, excusing himself to head to the stall.

Philip shook his head over Shotaro’s preferences and took another short sip of his drink. ”Technically speaking, a smartphone’s map app should be far more helpful than a physical map,” he noted, ”They update themselves constantly as far as I understand, but Shotaro insists on being as old-fashioned as possible. You have a point, though, we should be as honest as possible about each other.” He looked at Satori with a mildly amused grin and added, ”Even if you can literally read right through us.”

He reached behind himself and then placed three odd USB-like devices on the table. ”We mentioned that Shotaro and I transform into a single Kamen Rider, and these are some of the means we use to accomplish it. They’re called Gaia Memories.” He picked the Cyclone memory up and pressed the button on it, causing it to state ”CYCLONE” appropriately enough. ”They possess the memories of the Earth. Under normal circumstances, you press them into yourselves to cause a transformation. These are different, however, and require a special device to use. Shotaro’s holding onto it right now, so I might have to wait for him to come back to properly explain it.”

At the question directed towards her capabilities(and the abilities of the others), Saber placed the bare plate aside and stood. She was reluctant to expose her sword in greater detail or explain herself in any depth that would indicate her identity. It was reflex, from the need to obscure her identity born from the Holy Grail War. Even now, in a time of peace(at home at least) where she simply lived alongside Rin and Shirou, Saber felt uncertain about revealing anything in more depth. However, she reminded herself, there was no need to keep her identity hidden from allies, especially since she had already mentioned it.

"I am a Servant, summoned into the class of Saber," she began, gesturing to herself, "I was initially summoned to obtain the Holy Grail. However, the Grail was tainted with a dark mud and had to be destroyed. I remained as a knight in service of my Master."

She paused for a moment, thoughts of Rin and Shirou drifting to the surface, before continuing.

"My skills lay in swordplay, but I have a high rank in riding that allows me to pilot modern vehicles as well."

Memories of riding a motorcycle briefly filled the blonde girl's mind. "I am partial to motorcycles. I have cloaked my blade to obscure its length and shape. To my enemies it could even be a club."

After another brief pause, she continued.

"As I mentioned before, I am Arthur Pendragon, King of the Britons. The sword I wield is Excalibur. It is my Noble Phantasm, and by pulling prana into it I can release it to destroy my enemies."

---

Goldibanne peered at the man on the ground. She glanced back at the others, then to the wounded man. Well, if he said he was doomed(not literally but hey that's how he was talking) then he probably was. It didn't exactly seem like your standard methods of combating an infection would suffice. Oh well. She'd help him along the way after he got his will down.

"Goldibanne can handle that," she said, simply, hurrying over to the car and clambering inside. The living doll flipped open the glove compartment swiftly and pulled out a pen and piece of paper, before returning to the man on the ground. Wait until he wrote it, give him the quick death he wanted. Simple.