Nanako, who was now fueled by adrenaline countering her sleepless night, hardly needed to be told not to get shot. She had to stay as close as she could. Even the horror of the brief glimpse of the dead bodies beyond the wall wasn't enough to stun her out of the need to survive. These... the Archer and this... this thing, this horrible shadowy thing, must have been the ones to kill those poor people... She wouldn't make any demands of her Servant. That would only make things worse. But Meltryllis was already doing it, stopping the shadowy beast that must have been the killer. The Archer, too... they both had to be stopped!

When Meltryllis's kick made contact with the shadowy monster's head, there was an ugly crack and a splash of blood. Its tongue lolled from its mouth as it leaned back once more. Even though its flesh was shadowed, the fact remained that its skull had been split, exposing its brain. Even though she couldn't see it, Nanako immediately felt ill, clasping one hand over her mouth... and yet the monster was still standing, leaning forward as the flesh around its wound writhed grotesquely. The natural state of this Servant must have had some sort of ability to regenerate, but in this shadow state it was warped in a disturbing fashion...

Suddenly, there was another rain of crossbow bolts! This time, they were sent right at Nanako herself! Frantically, she did her best to cast a single-action spell, calling up a blast of wind to deflect and slow the bolts, to cause them to go off-course or fall out of the air, but...!

@PKMNB0Y

Everything had gone exactly as planned, and the bait had been taken. Each piece was in their place, and would be playing their parts out while a certain mastermind played his own role. It was enough to make a king of crime smile, even dance in excitement. But the show had begun.

Outside the pier administration office waited another servant, dressed in his usual attire for once, rather than his bar attire, a cane clutched in one hand, his other empty for the moment, his own weapon away, after all, it wouldn't be proper just yet. Yes, that was James Moririty, waiting for the person before him to leave, so he could play his part, that of a concerned citizen. After all, who knew what manner of unsavory creature, or potential patrons lay within the recent discovery. For the moment, he had his back to the approaching duo, but he knew that they would come, Holmes wasn't one for ignoring a mystery. All he had to do...was wait.
@KoL@PKMNB0Y



Having an unhealthy addiction to caffeine can cause plenty of negative effects. And for the young tech heiress, that had come in the form of being unable to sleep the night prior. Instead, after returning from antics after the Zoo, and exchanging numbers with the magus she had met there, she'd done some other stuff, and then, spent the rest of the night working. Some of it was spent writing up a report about the successful summoning and the contact made, to send to her father in hopes of receiving clear instructions as to what she was to do there, but afterwards, she'd begun tinkering with computer software in her quarters, letting Da Vinci do whatever she wanted, as dangerous as that might have been, while she worked in her own bed. Eventually though, the crash came from the copious amounts of coke and pepsi and who knew what else consumed, and she'd fallen asleep, laptop powering down automatically a short time later. And eventually was knocked onto the floor, or hopefully moved by someone else, while she tossed and turned. It was now whatever time, and she was dead to the world, snoring away, until something happened, or someone disturbed her...

@1Charak2

@DocRock

---

Da Vinci would be working tirelessly through the night, perhaps on fruitful or fruitless efforts, anything that so pleased her was up to her digression after all. But She would indeed take pause when she found her master sprawled out on the floor like some nobody! and that simply would not stand, and so Da Vinci would carry her master to a special made Da-Vinci brand couch. Which in reality was just a leather couch she found.

At least then her master would be somewhere comfy in her sleep. Which was good enough for Da Vinci. This would be the modus operandi until her master woke.

Mordred, for a moment, seemed to recognize Chiron. The blonde Saber couldn't help but be somewhat curious. Had the Red Knight been summoned prior to this point? But in what circumstance? It was undeniably a strange situation... and yet her Master seemed intent on doing something, anything else.

Additionally, the other Servant who had arrived to serve as an opponent was Bradamante, one of the legendary Paladins of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charlemagne. However, she was hardly acting as a dignified knight. Instead, she appeared quite starstruck to meet the knights... and she had met Merlin? Arturia was somewhat stunned, for a few moments. She hadn't been aware of that. Just what had been going on in that mage's head? He must have had a reason for reaching out to Bradamante like that, though. There had to be. Even if his behavior was sometimes... well...

That was enough of that.

"A Paladin of Charlemagne who met my advisor... and the instructor of the Legendary Achilles. It is an honor to know my knights shall test their might against such famed figures," she said, with a small smile.

Glancing slightly towards Bradamante, she continued.

"However, I wish to see them challenged. You should not allow yourself to be distracted by your opponent," she continued. It was of course quite obvious who she was addressing with that comment, "To do battle with honor is how you can show your respect."

Satisfied with that remark, Arturia's attention shifted slightly. She could smell it... there was food cooking, quite close by. There was only one possible explanation for that.

"Master, may we visit the concessions booth before combat begins?"

Seria, meanwhile, was struggling to hide her own excitement. She was eager to see Mordred enter combat, she couldn't deny it. Mordred was an incredibly powerful Servant, child of the best Saber-class Servant, to do battle with an incredibly famous figure... to display the power of a Servant, even in what would likely be a simple mock battle, was far too exciting. But if she sat there and jittered about, she'd look like some kind of idiot, and Mordred would definitely notice!

She couldn't let that happen!

"... So... are we going to have some sort of mock battle?" she found herself asking, trying not to sound excited.

@Raineh Daze@KoL@PKMNB0Y

The homunculus girl's words were not lost upon the young man, and the least he could do was glance towards the ground in a mix of disappointment and embarrassment. Even if he was a Master, to have used two Command Seals and yet still have failed to affect the Berserker in any meaningful way... In summary, it felt as if all of those mocking words had been right this entire time. With that in mind, though, Jason knew that this was no time to wallow in any amount of self-pity. Before he could try and do anything to stop the Servant otherwise, though, the other Master had approached and threatened to take take his life to force the Berserker to stand down.

"Wait, what are you..."

It didn't take long for him to realize that there was a garrote around his neck, indescribably thin as it was. The thin streams of blood that were falling down his neck didn't particularly help matters much, but as far as he could tell, the girl was dead serious about this threat.

"Ah? You think I care about that stupid—" the Berserker began to say mid-combat as he blocked and parried Altera's sword before suddenly stopping in his tracks. He was, up until now, on the defensive, and the brief pause came after he had clashed directly with Altera's sword.

Then, as if all at once, a surge of mana filled the air around Hijikata before concentrating wholly upon him. It was almost as if the energy from the Command Seals from earlier had found themselves turned into pure magical energy rather than a command, and the results spoke for themselves. With a cry of anger, the reason in the Berserker's eyes seemed to dissipate entirely, and he began a frenzied assault upon the Saber blocking his path ahead.

@Raineh Daze


"Disgusting. A creature like you shouldn't have the right to exist in front of me like this."

The remark that slipped out of Meltryllis' mouth was so tinted with disgust that the Servant herself couldn't help but react in turn. As things were now, whatever this was would continue to heal, and ultimately eviscerating such an enemy would take far longer that she would like... Assuming that she continued fighting as she was now.

"Tch. Regenerating from a wound like that... Just stay dead, you vile lump of flesh," she continued, taking a step forward with the intent to kill their enemy, only to turn her head in an instant once she heard the sound of arrows whizzing by. Without wasting a single movement, the Alter Ego dashed forward and, with a spinning pirouette kick, launched the shadow-like enemy she had been facing directly within the line of fire of the arrows.

"Honestly, that damn Archer... Once this ball of meat stays down, I'm going to take my sweet time draining you of everything you're worth..."

@VitaVitaAR


"Now, at that point, Miss Obberhausen, I would be more willing to request a private contractor to bring us out to sea instead. If such a scenario laid itself out for us like an invitation, it would have been no more than a fool's errand to pursue as we were," the Ruler replied in turn, tidying up his outfit as the pair exited the vehicle. "In any case, we would not gain anything more by loitering about. Let us be off."

The pier itself seemed to be fairly busy—busier than the detective had expected; not only that, but it seemed as if there were far more people talking about the structure that they had desired to look into than they had previously expected—and something more, it seemed.

"I heard that there was a monster attack when people tried diving down..."

"What, you mean... In the water?"

"No, like... Inside the thing."

"Wait, seriously?"

Similar conversations seemed to pop up all around the area, and it seemed that there were more than a few boats already bringing people out.

"Hm... Now this... This is a development I did not expect," Holmes said, nodding his head before noticing an all-too familiar old man waiting outside the administrative office. "Miss Obberhausen, please, do remain on guard. He is not a person who is all too inclined to show his face in public, after all..."

@KoL@DocRock


The sudden bombardment of questions and requests caused Bradamante to fumble for a moment, and the barely-concealed smile at being able to talk in-depth with her idols as she was now was unmistakably causing her behavior to become somewhat erratic. The mix of excitement, awe, and embarrassment was incredibly self-evident, especially as Chiron directed them off to the exhibition combat area.

"Ah, you mean Asty? He's always been a bit of a... Wait a second, Asty's here? I still need to ask him about my hippo—A-ah... Erm... A-about Merlin? Well, um, he helped me a lot on my journey to find Ruggiero, and, um... Well, on occasion, he talks to me from Avalon, I think?" she said, scratching the back of her head nervously. "It's almost like he knows exactly when I need help sometimes, and his advice is really useful..." she rambled on as the group walked past a few other sub-arenas on their way to their destination. That, itself, did not take too long, even though the arena was far more spacious than it might have seemed otherwise.

"We've arrived. May I ask if the Masters could please be seated over this way? Being caught in the crossfire of combat is not something that I wish to see. As for the pairings for combat proper... Sir Lancelot, could I ask if you could instruct her as I match Sir Mordred?" Chiron asked, causing Bradamante to tremble for a moment.

"M-me? A-against Sir Lancelot?"

"Are you against that?"

"N-no! In fact, I would be very grateful for a chance to face off against the Knight of the Lake!"

With a smile and another bow, Bradamante rushed off to the combat field, excited for the duel to begin proper. After watching her run off, Chiron smiled and turned back towards the knights present.

"Then I shall take my leave as well. If there are any final preparations to be had, please, do so now. I shall look forward to seeing how your skills match up against my own disciples," he said, nodding his head as he left to follow after Bradamante.

Silently, Hakuno listened to the short explanation Mary provided. It sounded like this Servant she had summoned with her friend had just... attacked as soon as they were summoned? That was definitely worrying. It pained her to trouble Mary with this, but she had a lot of questions that needed answering.

"Then, if you could... I'll need to know who it was you summoned, and what class? And..."

Actually, if she had a friend with her, where were they? A worried frown was on the girl's face as she continued, "And... your friend, where are they? Who are they?"

She could only hope that a lack of a second body bode well for this friend, but the whole situation was just too strange to take much solace in any detail. At the very least, once they had an idea of who to look for, Hakuno could trust Saber to quickly initiate the search for either Servant or friend.

@PKMNB0Y@VitaVitaAR

Even in an ideal situation, Nanako's ability as a magus could only go so far, especially on a simple single-action spell. Her wind barrier was failing already, the crossbow bolts were going to pierce it within seconds...!

But then the bulk of the shadow monster suddenly went hurtling into their path. Immediately, Nanako cancelled the spell, the mana ceasing to blaze through her limbs as she fell backwards onto her rear end. She could hear the bolts penetrating the beastly creature's back, sending it to the ground with a thud. It seemed as if the Archer at least recognized that killing their ally, even if it was such a horrible creature, was unwise.

For a few moments, the horrible monster simply laid there. Even in her current sleep-derived state, Nanako had enough awareness(possibly due to the adrenaline) to shuffle backwards as quickly as she could and get out of the beast's immediate reach. For even now, the awful wound on its head was still healing, and while the crossbow bolts seemed to have disabled it, it certainly wasn't yet dead!

@PKMNB0Y

"... right, don't eat it all before the first fight's even over, we don't want to miss anything," Laetitia said, shaking her head as she pocketed the change from Arturia's buying spree. Honestly, how did someone so small pack away so much food? Had she been like this in life; a bottomless pit that seemed to have no end to how much she was able to eat? The food might not have been as good but would anybody have been surprised by the king packing away an entire boar and then continuing to go through the rest of a feast?

"So, do you think either of them is likely to lose?" the taller blonde asked, picking a seat with a good sight of the fighting and glancing between the two. Someone like Chiron ought to have a good chance, right?

---

There was, in fact, something that the Knight of the Lake had to do before he followed Chiron and Bradamante to the battlefield: borrow a phone and make a simple call. It would be a poor Servant that went into battle without warning his Master of the fact, and confirm that using the full measure of his ability would impose no undue problems on their activities.

At least it seemed there would be no need to warn the authorities to be on the lookout for Merlin's brand of amusement.

With permission given to utilise his Noble Phantasm, Lancelot took a few moments to wonder if Tristan could actually be considered to be watching the fights before heading to the arena floor proper and demonstrating his seriousness: a golden, holy sword, longer than the king was tall and shining with its own light.

"Begin when you feel ready," he said. Although giving Bradamante the first move was conceding an advantage, he felt more than capable to win regardless... and to attack someone so excited before they were prepared would be an improper display of his skills. Chiron would no doubt be disappointed at such an uninformative bout.

---

"Well, then, this is certainly unexpected..." Alkyrieaze said, dropping the wire and backing off quite hastily. This torrent of magical energy... was something interfering with command seals, or was this really the most incompetent magus to have ever had the misfortune to be born into the world? They were supposed to be a completely foolproof system, with the power to back it, and although Servants were able to resist, something close to the level of Magic was pretty idiot-proof. "Altera, don't hold back; you can destroy the buildings."

Being unexpectedly pushed onto the defensive by a Berserker didn't seem to bother the machine-like Saber's expression one bit, replying to her Master's command with a simple "Understood." In any case, not having to hold back to prevent collateral damage was definitely more in line with the destroyer's abilities.

With Alkyrieaze providing additional mana, there was no reason to hold back on funnelling power through the emblems adorning her body, pushing the Saber's attributes even further as she pushed back--her blows not only stronger and faster, but the destructive blade itself releasing bursts of ice, flame, and even streams of mana resembling lasers with each blow as she countered the offensive with one of her own--and one far more controlled than a madman's berserk assault.

The buildings around were starting to suffer for it, though.

"Oh yeah, go get him! I wanna see what you guys are made of!" Mordred yelled at Bradamante from the edge of the arena. Now that she was in public eyes' view, waiting her turn, the Knight of Treachery was wearing her helmet once again so her voice came out slightly distorted but still audible enough to be heard by both of the Servants occupying the stage.

"It seems that Sir Lancelot is still the same. Always being considerate of his opponents even when a clear advantage is set before his eyes. There's no wonder why the King considers him a peerless knight," Tristan said, mostly to himself, as he "observed" the fight that was about to begin.

"A monster, huh? I wonder what kind of creature it could be? Despite Heroic Spirits becoming a part of daily life of this city, there were no reports of phantasmal species of any kind being seen around this area until now," Othis thought deeply about gossip Holmes and she overheard in their way to get a boat for themselves.

"Maybe it's a species of conventional marine life mutated by the increased number of free spiritrons in the vicinity of this city," she continued to consider their situation until Holmes' voice called her attention right as they were about to run into a shady-looking, dapper old man.

"What's the problem, Holmes? Is he someone you know? Maybe... an old acquaintance?"

Once the other Master had let go of the garrote, Jason finally allowed himself to take a breath, falling from his half-seated position onto his hands as he took the chance to recuperate. He was well aware, of course, that something was terribly wrong; Command Seals failing like that against a Berserker wasn't necessarily unheard of, but the subsequent activation of Madness Enhancement that was being displayed against the Saber opposing him was far more fearsome than he had expected out of the matter. It didn't take a genius to realize that he was about as useless as any other, and the only fear in his mind was that the girl who had so casually threatened his life before wouldn't be afraid to take it to stop the rampaging Hijikata instead... Well, assuming that the Saber didn't simply overpower him outright.

For what it was worth, though, the wanton destruction of the cityscape did not end without result. While the Berserker was able to maintain his position for a minute or so, the barrage of attacks was very quickly wearing away at his body. Not that he seemed to pay that any mind, though; despite the various injuries on his body, Hijikata continued to press forth, even going so far as to deliberately take strikes to aim for his opponent's apparent openings.

"CUT THEM DOWN! ADVANCE! THIS! IS! THE SHIN! SEN! GUMI!"

@Raineh Daze



Once the arrows had been blocked, Meltryllis calmly strode up to the still regenerating half-corpse lying on the floor, despite her own Master desperately scrambling away from it. It was almost pitiful, watching her be so afraid of something about to be neutralized... But given how weak she seemed to be, there didn't seem to be any helping that part of her. Cowardice would work best with her, anyhow; despite not being able to flaunt her own abilities as much, the inability to lose simply off of her Master's death was a blessing in disguise.

With a swift motion, the purple-haired Alter Ego raised her right foot over the shadow's head and, without a shred of hesitation, crushed it beneath her heel. Then she did so again.

And again.

And again.

The more she stomped on the remains of her enemy, helpless as it was to resist, the Alter Ego couldn't help but feel a smile creep its way onto her face. It soon turned into a devilish smirk, and once she had finished turning whatever this was into barely more than a pile of ground meat (if it could even be called that any more) and injecting it with copious amounts of her poison, Meltyllis turned around and laughed.

"Ah, that was refreshing. All of my pent-up stress, relieved like that. But I'm still not done. Archer, wherever you are, I'll make sure you suffer for every last waking moment. But be pleased with yourself; in that endless pain, you'll become a part of my power, and I'll be sure to make full use of you. Be grateful that you won't end up like your companion over there, because you've managed to make me ever so slightly irritated."

It was a declaration to the empty building, the space around her deathly quiet as she strode forward, past the young lady scared out of her mind off to the side.

What issue was there in scaring her Master further, anyhow? it was easy to protect a stationary target from a single opponent and chase them down in turn, especially with her speed.

@VitaVitaAR



The complicated expression that the detective wore as his companion questioned him about the identity of the old man waiting outside of their destination spoke volumes more than anything else that could be said. It took a brief moment for Holmes to compose himself after his Master's 'aquaintance' remark, and the Ruler wasted no time in elaborating.

"Well, to say he is an... 'Old acquaintance' would not be entirely off the mark, but... It would also be a lie to say that he is anyone other than that old fool. I needn't say the name, Miss Obberhausen; surely, having a title such as 'the Napoleon of crime' would be more than enough for you to deduce his abilities, would it not?"

The question, of course, was rhetorical, and was immediately followed by a simple warning.

"If you so wish to follow in Watson's footsteps, then I would highly recommend trying to not fall into his schemes. Though I may understand the plots he concocts without a shadow of a doubt, it is only after they have been executed am I able to make use of my own abilities; if his ideas are still in motion, then it would be impossible to protect you from any ill fortune he may have in store. But as things are now, it seems that direct conflict is all but impossible to avoid."

@KoL@DocRock



The line of questioning was one that Mary could only give a sheepish smile towards Hakuno about. Her eyes glanced off to the side for a moment, as if out of embarrassment, but it wasn't as if the questions that were being asked were impossible to answer.

"Well, um... I think I used one of those bokuto that you usually get at shrines, and the Servant was wearing a kimono and wielding a katana with the rifle I was shot with, so... I think that it wouldn't be too far a stretch to assume that it was someone from post-Sengoku Japan , right? If I recall correctly, it was Hiji... Something? I'm sorry, it's still a bit of a blur to me..." she said, her dialogue meandering to and fro as she continued. "I don't know where my friend—er, he goes by Jason—where he went, though I hope he didn't just up and abandon me like that..."

There was an almost palpable weight to her final words, as if she was implicitly accusing him of betrayal, but given the circumstances such ideas couldn't exactly be ignored outright.

"...Is there anything else? I think those painkillers that they gave me are finally kicking in again..."

@RolePlayerRoxas


At the Knight of Betrayal's provocation, Chiron simply smiled and took a firm battle stance, steadying himself on the ground in front of Mordred as the two stood on opposite ends of the arena's bounds. There was enough room for two matches, after all, and the Archer found himself already taking mental notes on how to help the knight in front of him do better in battle. The stance that she held, for example, was far more indicative of a self-taught style than he had anticipated.

That being said, it would take the two of them trading blows before he could come up with any valid criticisms for the moment.

"Let us begin, then," the Archer called out to his opponent, a calm smile on his face as he watched his opponent ready herself.

It was a given, though, that the two would immediately clash as soon as the referee present gave them the okay to do so. Chiron simply stood by, however, waiting for his opponent to come to him. It would do him no favors to attack first, after all.

The bulky, flesh mass was starting to rise when Meltryllis slammed her foot down, crushing its head into the earth. Nanako watched, wide-eyed, as the Alter Ego's spiked heels slammed down over and over again, piercing flesh and crushing bone, pulverizing the creature. Blood splattered across those shimmering artificial limbs, and onto the Servant's pale, delicate-seeming skin. It splattered across the ground as she slammed her feet down again and again, tearing the shadowy figure to pieces and pulverizing what was left. It was... it was frightening. There was no denying it was frightening. But as a magus... and even without that consideration, Nanako was also in some level of awe. Beneath all the fear, the fact that Meltryllis was overwhelming this monster's regenerative abilities with her attacks, thoroughly destroying its body to prevent its recovery...

A pang of sorrow reminded her, however, that she had ruined any chance of a good relationship with her Servant...

The shadowy haze around the hulking figure rendered it impossible to discern more beyond the basic details, but it was clear that the monster had been reduced to a quivering pile of bloody flesh. Soon enough, it dispersed into shadows, fading from existence and undeniably dead.

The construction yard fell completely silent. Shakily, Nanako managed to rise to her feet... Her frightened, bleary mind was trying to understand what was occurring. They had been attacked, but... that monster at least, it wasn't really a Servant, was it? Not... really, it was some sort of shadow creature... like a Servant, but not. Was the Archer that way too, or were they real...? ... The construction crew...

The girl's eyes drifted back in that direction. Now that there was no longer a fight, she could truly perceive what it was she was looking at.

There were no bodies, save for a single, severed hand. But blood was everywhere, spattered across the floor and walls. The absence of bodies...

Did that mean... that the shadow monster had... had...

@PKMNB0Y

---

Benienma frowned. This poor girl... she'd merely sought to help her friend, and been shot for her efforts? That was terribly, terribly wrong in the diminutive Enma's mind. And she seemed to think her friend had potentially betrayed her, as well... Though of that, she couldn't be certain. It was every bit as possible that the Berserker he had summoned had gone out of control and made the decision himself. Berserkers... It wasn't as if there were none on Fusang that were accepted as members of its society, but there was an inherent danger in summoning them due to the madness inflicted on them by their class. Benienma passed no judgements on the Servants who could be summoned as such, but rather the class itself.

Enforcing madness on someone was a cruelty, though some Berserkers were less afflicted by it then others.

But for the moments, the most important thing was to determine what they could about the Servant in question. Her Master's line of questioning was a fruitful one. They had received a lot of information about the Servant... A member of the Shinsengumi. A rifle and a sword. And his name...

"Hiji... Master, I believe the Servant we're pursuing is Hijikata Toshizo," concluded Benienma, turning to face her Master quickly, her tone serious. Then, she gave the girl in the medical bed a small, kind smile. "You should rest and recover dechi. You've been very helpful to our investigation dechi."

Her tiny hand reached out and gently squeezed Mary's, before her attention shifted to her Master once more.

"I'm going to go seek out the rampaging Servant dechi. If you need me, summon me with a command seal dechi. I'll send a sparrow to tell you when I find him, Master."

With that, she turned towards the window. Now that she felt quite certain of the Servant's identity, it would be easier to find him. And since he was on the loose, she didn't have time to waste...

The window opened, and with that, Benienma departed through it.

A split second later, the door opened, and a familiar figure walked through it.

It was the nun, Sessyoin Kiara, who had helped reunited Nursery Rhyme and her Master.

"... Saikawa-san?" she asked, softly, before glancing towards Hakuno.

"Ah, I'm glad to see you're here as well... Kishinami-san, right?"

@RolePlayerRoxas@PKMNB0Y

---

Somehow, several of the snacks had already vanished. Indeed, it was just as Laetitia believed, her Servant was capable of eating food at an enormously rapid pace. And yet, somehow, she always seemed to have room for more. Even as a Servant, it was enough to make someone question how she remained so petite.

Perhaps she should have shared her exercise regime at some point.

However, the King of Knights was not merely focused on her meal. Rather, her gaze was fixed on the Arena itself. At her Master's question...

"I have faith in my knights," she began, simply, "Mordred may be reckless, but her power in battle can't be ignored. My respect for Lancelot as a swordsman cannot possibly be understated. However, to be completely overconfident is dangerous."

She paused for a moment. Frankly, Lancelot being overconfident wasn't much of a concern. He was incredibly, incredibly skilled, and had an excellent mind for battle. He wouldn't allow confidence to get the better of him. Mordred, however... it was quite possible Mordred would judge herself to be far superior to her opponent and entirely forget about taking any sort of care in battle.

Seria, meanwhile, had taken the closet possible seat to the battle. This was Mordred showing off her combat prowess... against someone else who was famous, too! Chiron was a really famous teacher from Greek Mythology! That meant that... well, she felt confident Mordred would still win. Especially on this battlefield. Especially against an Archer. But still, that didn't mean it wouldn't be a challenge... but if it was a challenge, that meant that it would be even more impressive when Mordred won!

The words came out before she could stop herself.

"Go get him, Mordred!" she declared... before immediately coloring with embarrassment. Damn it, blatantly crying that out like that was too much...!

Bradamante was almost seeming to shake where she stood. This was someone she idolized, one of the Knights of the Round Table! But now she was going to fight him... what was it King Arthur(she'd really actually spoken to King Arthur! It was real!) had said? That to show her respect was to give him a good fight?

Right! Right! To try her best to win, that was how she could show how much she respected him, right? Trembling, she took a deep breath, and then exhaled heavily. It was Lancelot, after all... she needed to bring everything she could to make sure it was a sign of her utmost, absolute, and utter respect!

Shimmering green light materialized in her hands, and with a flash her star-shaped shield appeared. In the other hand, with a similar flash of brilliant light, her green-and-gold spear.

Taking another deep breath, she slid her feet into a ready stance.

"... Then... just as King Arthur said... this is how I'll show my respect!"

There was a sound almost like the firing of a gun, as Bradamante suddenly rocketed across the space between herself and Sir Lancelot, her spear thrust forward!

@Raineh Daze@KoL@PKMNB0Y

"...Hijikata Toshizo..." Hakuno murmured the word, trying to recall all she could about that name. He was... right, part of the Shinsengumi. He was no doubt a powerful warrior in that case, especially if he was summoned as a Berserker. She silently watched as Saber reassured the injured girl and discussed their next strategy. Hakuno nodded in approval. She was worried about her Servant's safety, but the young brunette also trusted in the small girl's skills. You didn't get to become a Saber-class Servant with sub-par abilities, right?

Once Benienma had taken flight from the window, Hakuno bowed to Mary, "please be at ease. We'll have Hijkata-san arrested and dealt with promptly. I'll let you rest now."
As she turned to leave, however, an unexpected figure entered the room. Hakuno certainly hadn't expected to run into this woman again. Sesshoin Kiara she named herself as, right? After a moment of surprise, Hakuno nodded.

"S-Sesshoin-san. Thank you again for your help," she glanced over her shoulder to Mary, "I believe she needs to rest right now, so I had finished my business here... ah, you know her, Sesshoin-san?"
It seemed unlikely they were related, and Hakuno couldn't think of a reason why a nun would be called to Mary's bedside. Not that it was her place to pry, but it seemed a strange thing to happen for the young officer.

@VitaVitaAR@PKMNB0Y

"Oh? Common sense would say a good spearman has an advantage over someone with a sword that lumbering," Laetitia noted, eyeing up Lancelot's sword. Now, she'd asked her Servant enough to know that she could just go on the offensive and power through most defences, so the lack of, well, extreme finesse that her fighting style engendered wasn't much of a problem. No way could Lancelot be going that route, though, even with a bigger sword.

Lancelot seemed determined to prove her wrong, holding the sword tenderly and stepping forward to meet Bradamante's charge, flipping Arondight as if it was a modern foil and pushing in to meet the thrust. Despite the massive length of the sword, his approach seemed to be to out-finesse the other French knight, meeting her attack and attempting to force it outwards as he moved closer.

---

As, for some reason, Alkyrieaze appeared to have developed an interest in her phone despite the destruction going on, her Servant was frowning. Annoyingly, the injured Berserker was showing less signs of slowing down, and she wasn't being allowed to unleash her Noble Phantasm in the small confines of the city. Instead, she was having to take a defensive approach, and herself wait for an opening...

Even Berserkers would stop if you cut off their head.

"Alright, let's do this!" Mordred said when her attention was called back to her own battle.

She rose Clarent in an overhead stance as she glared at Chiron. The sudden spike in the hostility coming from her would be noticeable even when she was wearing her helmet. A moment later, she burst forward leaving a crack of crimson lightning behind her as she jumped high up and used her Mana Burst to propel herself back towards Chiron like a vengeful bolt from the gods he was acquainted with.

If Lancelot was the apex of refinement between the Knights of the Round Table, Mordred was the apex of brute force. Crashing down on her enemies like a raging torrent. Knowing that both Seira and her Father were watching her at this moment made was to go even further beyond her normal self.

"STOP AT ONCE!"

The voice was high and clear, even over the chaos. It sounded like that of a child with a lisp, so perhaps not the most intimidating of declarations, but at the same time the fact that it had managed to carry over the sounds of two Servants clashing in battle.

The source was the redheaded form of Benienma. Her casual clothing had vanished, replaced instead with the splendid garb known to be that of the enma in charge of acting as a guardian. One hand was on the hilt of her katana. The scene she had arrived at was a chaotic one, but it hadn't been hard to locate. Not at all.

And it was chaos that threatened innocent lives. There was no way she could accept this or allow it to continue, it had to be ended, and it had to be ended as swiftly as she could possibly manage.

Benienma descended swiftly through the air, platform geta clacking against the concrete as she landed, bending forward slightly as her grip remained on her katana.

"Both of you are to stand down immediately," she ordered, eyes narrowing slightly. A conflict like this in the middle of a populated area... it had most likely begun with the suspect. The Berserker. Hijikata Toshizo.

"Berserker Hijikata Toshizo," she said, gaze focusing on the man as she spoke, "By the authority of the Fusang Counter-Crime Force, you are under arrest dechi. Stand down."

To be honest, the tiny enma doubted that this would work. He was likely in the throes of Mad Enhancement. But she had to try. She had to make an attempt. She could not simply attack without giving the opportunity for surrender, even if it likely wouldn't be accepted. When acting as law enforcement, to do otherwise would be wrong, immoral, and something that Benienma could not accept.

But she was prepared for the offer to be rejected.

@Raineh Daze@PKMNB0Y

Eventually, Serene woke up, confused as to why she'd woken up on the couch, rather than in her own bed like she had been. As for her laptop...it was fine, but down on the ground of her room. She shifted, and slowly sat upright, glancing around. A yawn left her, as she rubbed her head gently. "Mm...what the hell happened while I was sleep?"

@1Charak2



While the master and servant had their moments of discussion, Moriarty had slipped inside the pier administration office, going through the motions of his concern, offering his aid as an Archer, as well as requesting a free boat. And with that succeeded, he'd slipped back out, only to stop as his gaze caught the visage of his familiar arch-nemesis. Internally, he frowned, annoyed in his own way at being reminded of the former being summoned in his younger body, as compared to James' old body. But enough. He plastered a very cheerful, if not borderline "eat shit" grin on his face, and proceeded to stride over to his nemesis and their presumed master, calling out as he approached. "Well if it isn't my old "friend" Sherlock Holmes, what a pleasant surprise! Have you and I assume your master come to investigate the matter as well?" The look on his face, while the kind that would probably make someone angry, wasn't the kind that would give anything away. He chose to wait once he'd reached them, still grinning. Maybe his grin had gotten even bigger?

@PKMNB0Y@KoL

Though somewhat still shaken by having almost been executed for no real crime of his own, Jason was able to steady himself and get a somewhat clear grasp of the current tides of battle. The onslaught of attacks on part of Hijikata seemed to be doing something to Altera, even if that "something" was pushing her further back due to the restrictions placed on her by her Master and not any lasting physical damage, and with said Master currently occupied in attempting to call someone else, there were a multitude of options on the table for the young man.

All of that thought process was stopped, of course, the second that another voice rang out over the din of combat. The words 'Fusang Counter-Crime Force' were enough for the young man to understand exactly what was happening, and his body immediately tensed up as he looked towards the source of the voice. It didn't matter that it was a Servant half his height, after all; given what had transpired this morning and all of what he had found himself wrapped up in, there was no doubt in his mind that he would be arrested—or worse.

The declaration of arrest from the new Saber seemed to have a different effect on Hijikata, however; while Jason had found himself like a deer caught in the headlights of a car, the Berserker's eyes seemed to lose their unearthly red glow as his Madness Enhancement wore off. It didn't take more than a second for him to grasp the situation, and seeing that escape was now of the utmost importance, decided to make one final clash of swords with Altera. During that time, though, Hijikata fired his rifle off twice towards the roof. The effect, while not immediate, would make itself known once the sound of creaking metal became audible.

A fire escape, having become worn down and damaged over the course of the initial fight, was now falling down towards the ground, close to the main roads as it was. The rubbernecking people who were vying for a chance to watch the incident play out were now at immediate risk, and the Berserker took opportunity that it made afterwords to leap backwards, grab Jason, and bolt off into another side passageway, away from prying eyes.

Hopefully, the damage would be enough to keep any pursuers off their tail for at the scant few seconds they needed before the damage that had built up over the course of combat finally kicked in.

@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze



After a few moments of silence in waiting for whatever Archer had been pelting them with arrows up until now, Meltryllis found herself coming back down to earth and able to take a few deep breaths. Her actions in destroying their enemy had been unsightly, to say the least, and it would do no good for a flower to become so wild that it became indistinguishable from the weeds around it.

At least, that was how she saw things.

As Nanako's graze drifted around, though, so did her own, and being able to piece together what might have transpired in the moments leading up to their arrival only caused her to sigh.

"How disappointing. If they had simply taken the hearts and left the bodies, I could have at least made use of that as some minimal amount of EXP. Wasteful."

To her, the bodies of the unknown deceased meant no more to her than the lives of the nameless NPCs she had made use of in the Moon Cell—less so, even—but in her current situation, every little bit of strength would mean that much more in the long run.

Before she could continue on her own hunt, however, the enemy had once again loosed another set of bolts. This time, the course was (predictably enough) set towards the dumbstruck Master standing around, and Meltryllis wasted no time in flying over and deflecting the projectiles out of the air. In the instant after, she rocketed off in the direction they had been shot from. The job afterwards was simple enough; throw out waves of energy to cut off escape, find the source of the arrows at once, and drag them through the dirt before taking their resources for herself.

Enemies like this, after all, deserved the most severe of punishments, and the Alter Ego was most certainly in the mood to hand those out with all due haste.



The time that Holmes had taken in giving his Master sufficient warning turned out to only be enough for just that, and it seemed that James Moriarty had already begun making his way towards their location. It would seem both petty and childish to leave without responding to the greeting he had put forth, and a social faux pas or two in this crowd would only serve to make achieving their own goals more difficult in the long run.

With his expression back to neutral, the Ruler simply nodded his head in turn towards Moriarty's greeting and began to speak.

"Well, it is only natural that we would look into something odd if it piqued our curiosity. How about you, then? Is the state of your bartending business such that you have enough free time to look into this as well, or is there something you wished to seek us out in particular for?" he asked in turn.

@KoL@DocRock


Once Mordred had rocketed off with the power of her Noble Phantasm, Chiron took a deep breath and shifted his stance in turn. Evasion from a telegraphed aerial approach such as this was something that could be avoided with the most precise of movements, and given that taking the attack head on would likely result in his defeat, the Archer took the small opportunity that he had been given to take a few steps around Mordred and prepare a counterattack. The massive crater left in the field after the fact only made evident how narrow a margin it had been that he was able to avoid what he had, but the Archer was not so weak-minded such that he could be fazed by that.

"Your style is already rather evidently self-taught, Mordred," he said, clenching his fists a few times in an attempt to ignore the lightning that had found its way towards him regardless of his own movements. "While your approach has enough force behind it, I would recommend that you open fights with attacks that leave yourself less open to counterattacks."

With that said, Chiron quickly closed the distance that he had made for himself before going for a throw on the Saber. Despite his class, after all, he was still well versed enough in martial arts to put up a fight at this distance.

In the scant seconds after Benienma had shouted her orders, Hijikata appeared to have snapped out of his Mad Enhancement. But rather then surrender, he instead immediately raised his rifle and opened fire!

The redheaded girl tensed, ready to evade, but realization soon struck that he hadn't aimed for her. No, instead, his rifle had fired upon a fire escape hanging above the heads of a crowd that had built up nearby to watch the fight. She hardly blamed the civilians, a clash between Servants even in a city of Servants was impossible to ignore. But their lives had been placed in immediate danger...! Hand still placed upon her blade, the small enma took a deep breath as she bent low. The safety of the innocent people nearby was the most important thing!

With a sound much like the gunshot that had been fired, Benienma rocketed across the distance between herself and the falling fire escape! It had barely begun to descend when she reached it, drawing her blade in a flash. The katana struck once, splitting the metal structure in two, and the enma's platform geta clacked again as she pushed off the opposite building. This time...!

It was impossible for a bystander to perceive what actions took place. Benienma's blade was drawn and flashed again and again and again, cleaving the air over and over before an observer could even blink. By the time her katana was sheathed, the fire escape had been reduced to harmless, tiny chunks, with very little momentum behind them.

@PKMNB0Y@Raineh Daze

---

It took a moment for Nanako to even realize what had happened. The sleep deprivation, the horrible realization that the construction workers had been eaten, she barely understood what had occurred, mind unable to even parse Meltryllis's words for a few moments. What she did realize, however, is that she had been attacked. That crossbow bolts had rained down towards her in her stunned state, and it was the Alter Ego's efforts that had prevented her from being riddled with them and dying.

And then the Servant was off.

The sight Meltryllis arrived at was indeed, finally, the attacker. Like the Berserker, his form was cloaked in shadow. He had a hood up, and a face that almost seemed to be nothing but inky blackness, features almost entirely nonexistent. Whatever thought processes were behind that darkness clearly hadn't expected to be directly attacked so swiftly, even as the Shadow Archer brought his crossbow up to bear.

But it was clear that the advantage was now held by Meltryllis. It was over quite swiftly, the Shadowy figure bleeding crimson after having been slammed to the ground, without making so much as a single sound.

@PKMNB0Y

---

Kiara delayed for a few moments, until Mary had fallen asleep after a brief greeting. It appeared it wasn't a subject she thought best to discuss while the girl was awake. Once she was taking a nap, however...

"Saikawa-san had been visiting me for emotional counseling," she explained, "I offer my services to anyone suffering from day-to-day stress and other similar problems. I'm hesitant to reveal any further details, as I feel that would be betraying Saikawa-san's trust. But I'd spoken to her many times before now, and she is quite a lovely, sweet girl I am happy to have met."

The nun paused for a few moments.

"... What happened? I know she was shot, but..." Kiara frowned, glancing back towards the bed, and the girl's sleeping figure, "... It's hard to imagine why... was it an out of control Servant...?"

@RolePlayerRoxas@PKMNB0Y

---

"Ah!"

Bradamante was unable to react swiftly. In spite of the speed of her advance, she was still take off-guard by quite how quickly that sword moved and took her spear with it. Realizing quite swiftly that it was a bad idea to be as close as she was while left completely open in such a manner, the blonde-haired paladin of Charlemagne leaped back, taking a more defensive stance for the moment.

"... To be expected of the Knight of the Lake," she said, finally. The comment she'd intended to sound respectful instead was marred by a voice jittering with excitement and uncertainty. To actually be fighting one of the Knights of the Round Table, Lancelot no less... It was still almost too much for her.

@Raineh Daze

"Thank you," Lancelot said, giving the blonde lancer a pause--but then he was moving forward, himself pushing the attack. Although at first the knight seemed to be mirroring the attack he had just parried, only enough time was left to recognise it before the stab was cancelled, feinted into an upwards slash... and the blade lined with mana. Although he may not have had the abilities of the King, Arondight itself had such capabilities--even if he wouldn't be able to utilise them for a battle of endurance, as against Gawain.

---

"Pick up already..." the Einzbern grumbled, making a vague motion for Altera to stop--it would be a pain to have to deal with the authorities for long when there were more important matters. Such as, for instance, getting Serene to pick up her phone so Da Vinci could be used to answer some questions.

Altera seemed to just watch with a barely-concealed lack of interest as the tiny Saber sliced apart the fire escape, making no move to rescue the various bystanders. It wasn't required of her by her Master nor was it her duty, so why should she do something like that? It would be more important to chase down the fleeing Berserker, but she couldn't leave her fragile summoner alone with other Servants.

---

"So if I just make sure the geometry is correct, then you should fly perfectly steady" Da Vinci would muse to herself as she slowly and carefully using a pair of tweezers slowly moved the small metallic feathers into position. She'd lightly raise the wing of the hummingbird sized construct as she slowly finished one spectacularly coloured metal wing. It was a literal 'pet project' Since the idea of the bird was for a gift for her master as well as serving as a familiar for scouting. She certainly had the time to be eloquent in her construction, this wouldn't really be possible in a true grail war scenario, and as she slotted the last bit of the construct into place and began to run mana through its frame, the small constructs wings began to beat and it soon slowly rose into the air.

"Mm...what the hell happened while I was sleep?"

Da Vinci turned around briskly at the sound of her master being awake, mouth open to begin an explanation. She almost half-mindedly hit her newly-made construct during her turn-around. But it had better spacial awareness and so managed to barely move out of the way of the metallic gauntlet. "Well my dear pupil, you ended up falling asleep if I recall, to which I put you on that couch and spent that time personally producing..." She turned around, putting the newly made hummingbird construct on her palm. "A familiar of etiquette design for you." The expression on Da Vinci's face was one of pride as if to say. 'Yes, this is the Da Vinci brand beauty that you should expect' However her smile would turn into a raised eyebrow as the phone began to ring.

"You should probably pick that up." She tilting her head to the side annoyed at the sudden intrusion as she was almost bursting with wanting to explain the process of making the construct in the first place!