2536/The Dark Experiment

The Dark Experiment
Date of Scene:	27 June 2015
Location:	The Cavern of Death
Synopsis:	A new form of undead is created.
Cast of Characters:	Rebecca Chambers, 560, Lezard Valeth, 707, 726, 823

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Walter Bernhard (726) has posed:
    There are a handful of villages, cities, fortifications, and so on within mundane travelling distance of the Cavern of Death's entrance. Most people try not to get too close due to the stench. Entire 'cities of the dead' lie between the realms ruled solely by the living, and those dominated by the dead. A field of headstones, crosses, angel statues, monuments, mausoleum entrances, abandoned chapels, and burial mounds, stretches as far as the eye can see outside of a certain town, creating a barrier of holy symbols and representing a huge number of the deceased, with a castle of evil lying on the other side.

    And yet it is not the malignant dead, the horror of mortality, that another town high on a plateau, concerns itself with. Those on the grassy plateau, a mere ledge when compared to the massive cavern filled with the dead and undead that is visible as a gaping blackness in the distance, accept death. Celebrate the lives of the deceased when they have passed. And they make a long journey to intere their dead in a sprawling graveyard, where the remains will gradually migrate by some bizarre geographical function of proximity to the Cavern of Death, until said remains join the other dead there.

    The purification rituals, the care taken to appease the dead, in turn makes those remains free of the burdens of life and thus untenable for becoming undead. Or at least that's the theory. A recent natural disaster has claimed many lives. A mud slide, as a result of heavy rains. Many dead are ready to be intered to the graveyard city. But cloaked and hooded figures, wearing masks like dry scarecrow heads exploded outwards to make ragged, monstrous mouths, lurk in the area during the funeral. The celebration has already occurred. Now all that remains is the purification.

    Before the first drop of holy water can annoint the dead, the rains begin to pour heavily on the procession during a speech someone is giving. And in that rain, as dark, cloudy skies flash with lightning and boom with thunder, long-clawed monsters begin to writhe beneath the earth, and dark magics begin to make the dead to be buried rise from their slabs.

    And then the screaming begins.

    Someone on-site who posesses the means calls for aid. Hopefully said help can arrive in time.

Xiao Li Yu (823) has posed:
     Xiao Li Yu was not here for any virtuous cause. No, she was here solely for the sake of research. She'd heard tell on the wind of a stranger than usual happening that seemed to be gearing up to happen around these parts. Her usual scientific curiosity won out, pulling her away from her lab temporarily to do a bit of field research. Suppose it was nice to get out now and then. Stretch the legs, get some fresh air!

     ...Or rather, stagnant air, in this case.

     She'd passed through many a village and city on her way to the rumored location, and the closer she got, the more she heard. Especially about keeping away. There was only death further on. But no, she would go.

     Eventually, her travels led her to the edge of a grassy plateau, laptop open in one arm and staring out at the ver visible cavern ahead. "So, this must be it..." The girl mused aloud. Indeed, that gaping void of darkness, teeming with the stench of the dead. There could be no other place. And despite the smell, which her reaction to was a simple and brief wrinkling of the nose, she proceeded onward. Undaunted by the heavy rains of the flashes of lightning above.

     As if she had no fear of death itself, the researcher smiled in spite of the conditions and plodded ever forward. Soon, there are screams, anf then there are monsters, and then the dead rise again. Calls for help are ignored. She is not here to help. She is here to bear witness.

     Bear witness and take notes.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
After the last few days, Xiaomu would love nothing better than to immerse herself in gaming and/or anime and/or other entertainments.

Then her radio picks up a distress call from a funeral procession in the Cavern of Death.

The sage fox doesn't swear so much as she *curses*, praying down the wrath of the bodhisattvas and dharmapalas upon whoever's messing around with the rightfully dead. Then she gets up to respond to the distress call, because in the all-too-likely event that her prayers aren't going to be answered directly by the deities, divinities, and ascended ones she was calling upon, she's gonna have to do the heavy lifting on their behalf. And this time, SHE IS ABSOLUTELY GOING TO BRING GRENADES even if she has to detour all the way to Shinra HQ to collect them from the quartermaster on duty in Weapons Development and Production.

It takes her a little while to get to the site as a result, but get there she does, making her way through the torrential rain with an increasingly foul mood. "Bad enough you interrupt a precious day off, worse that you're messing with death and undeath," she snarls at whomever is behind this, "but did you REALLY have to do it in a THUNDERSTORM?!?"

Plus, undeath smells bad. Worse than rotting corpses do, literally.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Already nearby on patrol (and, of course, looking for any signs of his Japan), Emiya Shirou did not have to drive far. Just one warp gate and a few miles. His arrival is via MOTORCYCLE, albeit a beat-up, rusty one that looks to have been the subject of much tinkering and restoration. It sputters and coughs periodically but the engine's also roaring up a storm - though, not one big enough to drown out all this rain.

    Shirou goes skidding - LITERALLY - into the waves of undead. The young man leaps OFF the bike just before mud clogs up the workings and ends up swooping dramatically down into a handful of zombies before they can descend on more victims.

    "Down with you all!" Instead of Kanshou and Bakuya, a different shape forms from the prana streaming suddenly from his hands. A mighty shaft topped with a wickedly long, curved blade. A scythe... a great and ominous scythe used by one particular figure of myth...

    The Grim Reaper. Death himself.

    The touch of THANATOS, The Moments of Life Fall Like Scattered Grains, brings deep spiritual serenity and release from the world's troubles. A weapon meant to peacefully reap the dying that also brings peace to thd dead.

    The boy hardly seems to have the stature to wield the thing but he twirls it about effectively nonetheless, rising after the impact covered in mud and probably unspeakable zombie gunk.

Walter Bernhard (726) has posed:
    There's honestly not that many undead. Maybe a dozen or so. Rain-slicked bodies, wrapped in white linen. Almost mummy-looking, though they haven't endured the mummification process. They're scattered around the graveyard, where a statue of a man in a raven mask, bearing a staff in one hand and a book in the other, watches impassionately over the proceedings. Xiaomu's yelling does little to draw attention, given the funeral attendees are busy fleeing from their deceased loved ones they had come here to purify and bury. Some take shelter beneath brightly-colored tents on wooden poles, others keep running, intending to get back to their home town upon the plateau -- a not insignificant walk.

    Shirou's appearance and destruction of the walking dead sends the bodies toppling to the muddy ground in pieces. Wails of horror, disgust, and despair arise from the funeral goers at the sight of what has been done to the dead. Several are crying or have to turn away rather than look at what Shirou has wrought. They should be grateful, right? They've been saved! But perhaps they don't see it that way. Or perhaps it is not themselves they are worried about.

    Shortly after it began, it's already nearly over. This was no zombie legion. Just a freak reanimation of a dozen people, possibly due to proximity to the Cavern of Death. There's no immediate evidence for Shirou or Xiaomu that anyone in particular was 'responsible'. There's still a few linen-wrapped corpses staggering off among the headstones in a herky-jerky manner, like stop-animation monsters, as they unseeingly seek the living with their bandage-blinded senses (such as they are).

    They actually seem to be seeking specific people, making their paths predictable and straightforward. And full of fear and soul-crushing sadness for the family and loved ones who are being targetted by the ones lost to them in more ways than one. Since Shirou is busy dicing the undead up, Xiaomu may either help him or take note of a couple of injured people.

    A brawny man who has endured deep gouges and scratches in his flesh, his clothing torn in places, where his wife and son attacked him after their reanimation; and a girl no older than ten or twelve, lying half-buried in the mud where she fell and was nearly trampled by the dead in their hurry to feed upon the ones they left behind. She seems to be seriously injured, if the red all over her is anything to go by, but the exact extent of the injuries can't be determined without a closer investigation. Either or both of them might be saveable if they can get treatment in time... The man seems to be in shock, just standing around and staring, but the girl is twitching and jerking every few seconds. If she attends to them at all... Which one will she look at first?

    Meanwhile, Xiao Li Yu is in an excellent spot to observe all that is transpiring. And since she hasn't drawn attention to herself, she alone might spot the robed and hooded figures lurking around the periphery of the cemetery, with torn straw masks over their faces. They seem to be observing what's happening closer to the burial site from afar, not taking further action to raise the dead, nor attacking, nor fleeing. Watching and waiting... Just like Xiao herself. If she attempts a headcount, she may determine there are eight in plain sight, and movement indicating up to six or seven more elsewhere that aren't as directly visible from Xiao's vantage point. What are they up to, hiding out while the undead attack, but making no attempt to act?

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
So things could basically be worse, not as many zombies as Xiaomu anticipated. Good.

It still interrupted her precious gaming time, but if the zombies can be put down without blowing their heads off or cremating them where they shamble, the sage fox is going to stick with incantations and a few well-placed whacks of her staff. If Buddhist exorcism prayers will do the trick, fine; if it takes more than that, her priority is more on protecting the still-living than anything. Once the necessary violence has been applied, she'll turn her attention to helping some of the wounded.

Even without trying to give first aid herself, she CAN call in medical support.

Xiao Li Yu (823) has posed:
     And of course, as all this excitement happened, Xiao indeed does not make any attempt to be a hero. She remained on the perimeter, watching with laptop opened and the screen displaying various readings. Don't worry, the thing is waterproof. Maybe not submerge proof, but it could stand a little rain. "And here come the virtuous souls..." She muttered to herself, keeping a careful eye on the proceedings. She didn't seem diappointed however. This was quite intriguing actually.

     In her next sweep of the surroundings, she did happen to spot several robed figures keeping a good ways away from the chaos. About eight that she could spot. Movement further out indicated that perhaps there were more. Were they the orchestrators behind this little party? Their demeanor suggested it. But she felt no sudden urge to exact justice upon them. She also felt no need to approach them immediately

     No, the results of this incident are what interested her. She began to walk, circling the perimeter with golden eyes keeping careful survey of the proceedings. Her path would eventually lead her towards those others watching silently, but her eyes were elsewhere.

     "How will this turn out. I wonder..."

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Weeping and wailing behind him startles Shirou out of his battle focus just briefly. "HURRY AND BACK AWAY! GET OUT OF HERE! You think these people want you joining them?!"

    It doesn't matter if they hate them for going after these poor souls and releasing them. Even if he's hated, he will do everything he can to save people who can be saved.

    Thankfully, mop-up isn't nearly as messy as breaking the initial mass up. He tracks down the few remaining shamblers and attempts to lightly cut them. Based on what he knows of this weapon's properties, it should bring enough spiritual peace that whatever dark magic chains them to unlife might break. if not though... THEN he'll have to clench his teeth and engage the fiercer butchery.

    Once the last zombie falls, the copy of Thanatos disintegrates back into the prana it was forged from.

    "Is anyone hurt?!" He calls out, being too far away to see exactly for sure - Xiaomu's likely closer. He went hunting down the stragglers after all.

Walter Bernhard (726) has posed:
    Xiaomu chose attacking the undead over helping the injured, so she gets to whack a bandage-wrapped monster in the head with her staff, and better her bad mood, and as Shirou takes out the two remaining reanimated corpses, the injured continue to worsen. The man starts heading towards the tents where the others await after standing around looking forlonrly and confusedly at everything, unable to process what is happening. The little girl remains lying half-buried in the mud, and jerks a bit as she hacks up a gout of blood that falls right back down on her face. The extent of her injuries is still unclear since no one has looked at them, but she's probably in bad shape.

    The undead were fairly easy to stop. No special injuries required, just damaging the bodies enough. Of course, Shirou's scythe has also ensured that the ones he slew aren't just faking it or something.

    As the girl deteriorates, and the unexamined man comes closer and closer to the others, the hooded figures seem to be readying themselves for something. Unlit lanterns and handscythes are raised. They still seem unaware of Xiao circling around the cemetery and watching them... Taking notes on what is happening, and seeing what dark path this all leads down.

    And what might be learned from the results.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Xiaomu is a sage fox of many skills, but medicine isn't one of them; she knows a smidgen of applicable first-aid, but the injured are probably well beyond her ability to help with, except perhaps to ease the passing of their souls.

She doubts she can do much more than that for the girl in the mud; once the last of the zombies are disposed of, the sage fox moves to kneel by the girl, planting her staff nearby and bracing for the worst before checking the girl's injuries. She's coughing blood, she's covered in mud and dirt, it would take a LOT more than a first-aid kit to do any real good - but she checks anyway, trying to comfort the girl while she's still conscious. It may be all she can do.

That, and pray for her soul.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Once, a boy wandered through a land of the dead and the dying. A field of bodies, haunted gazes pleading towards the only child somehow walking, begging for help.

    And he ignored them, to save only himself.

    Never again.

    Be it fate or instinct he can just TELL tehre's someone alive and suffering. Maybe a cough reaches his ears despite the downpour. "... Someone is!" What do you do to treat ZOMBIE bites? Are they infectious?

    He really isn't sure, but Shirou hurries over clumsily about when Xiaomu is. He spots the man but the man's still walking, unlike the girl. "Get the injured here!"

    It's RAINING but he has an idea. Shirou does have some talent at projection beyond just swords... so long as it's simple shapes.

    He extends a hand towrds some empty, muddied ground. "Trace... on!"

    Prana flows out, forming into a very large table with a roof section held up by a central pillar. It's made of shiny, polished metal - won't be very comfortable in the cold and the rain, but it's better than muddy ground. "Xiaomu! I've got a first aid kit... you're a really accomplished fox, aren't you? Don't you have some kind of magic?!"

    Of course if she did, she'd have used it, he'd figure... if he wasn't already in a panic...

Rebecca Chambers has posed:
    There was a distress signal for medical aid. Rebecca happened to be listening and ready to go, so she quickly raced to the nearest MedEvac craft and raced to the scene. She'd heard there were zombies, so she brought her Beretta just in case. Hopefully, though, there won't be any combat happening, instead she'll just be doing field surgery and trying to save who she can. After all, that's what a field medic is for!

    Once she arrives, Rebecca spies the two people in question. She first checks on the man and decides that he seems to be fairly stable, before turning her attention to the girl who's in the mud and coughing up blood. Running over to the girl, Rebecca starts to open her first aid kit, attempting to get a feel for what's causing her to be coughing blood, all the while hoping she can do something for her.

Xiao Li Yu (823) has posed:
     Look at those brave souls, helping the weak and the injured. So touching. So heroic.

     She wasn't moved.

     But it seemed like the zombies were cleared out. Such a shame. She wanted to see just what more these people would be doing with the undead. Eventually her circling of the perimeter led her close to the group of robed men.

     She slowed to a stop. Close enough to be heard, but not so close to alarm them. Probably. "Tell me, was the aim of this incident to watch these people be saved? That certainly cannot be the case. There must be more...what is it?"

     Whether any one of them answered or not, she would ask anyway. The girl had no weapons on her. Just a laptop displaying various points of data and notes. Nor did she seem intent to fight.

     She really was just here to watch and take note.

Walter Bernhard (726) has posed:
    Based on the brief examination of the injured man, it seems he is bleeding continuously from his wounds. The scratches and bites run dark in the rain that continues to pour down upon them all, but aside from his injuries not clotting (itself a serious problem) he doesn't seem to have been hit in any vital areas. Who knows what may have gotten into the wounds though, and coming from a world where undeath is infectious, Rebecca might be more prone than most (except for Shirou, apparently) to consider the possibility that scratches and bites could have doomed the man to become what attacked him... Though that isn't necessarily the case, it isn't known if it is or not. He's going to need more than just being casually glanced at if he's going to be treated either way though.

    Either way, as Rebecca arrives, she'll see what Xiaomu has already discovered. The girl's throat has been torn out by a savage bite, it looks like. She's drowning in her own blood, unable to breathe without an air passage, and though she looks up frantically, terrified, in pain, barely conscious, as Xiaomu kneels over her, it's not long before the choking and twitching slow, and then cease. Her eyes remain wide open, though they dilate as well after a few moments as the last air gurgles out of her lungs in bubbles through the crimson trough that used to be her throat.

    The people in the tents aren't leaving despite Shirou's insistence. To be fair, running off through the cemetery during a thunderstorm and getting attacked if there's any more creatures like this is probably not the best tactical decision. There's Elites here who can demonstratibly protect them, and a doctor as well. Seems much safer to stay where they are, local beliefs about the dead aside.

    As Xiao approaches the masked and hooded men, they do not turn to face her. Though one of them speaks, in a deep, hollow, echoing voice.

    "Out efforts are for His sake. The Dark Lord, Beloved by the Night, who dwells in the forest called Eternal Night, and rules over the dead and the damned. If you would have answers, seek Him there. It is our place only to serve." the creature responds. Then thirteen lanterns flare in-sequence, filling with a pale blue flame, and forming a circle as the location of these hooded figures are revealed, around the cemetery. The fourteenth, the one who spoke, does not light his lantern. He just keeps his arms up with the others, and waits.

    Something's about to happen.

Rebecca Chambers has posed:
    Rebecca can only watch with a look of sadness and sympathy as the poor girl stops breathing and dies in a gruesome manner. Blinking a few times to try to keep from shedding tears, Rebecca reaches over and gently closes the girl's eyes before taking advantage of the nearby table to lift the girl out of the mud and place her atop it while using a medical tarp she brought with her to cover the girl. "I'm sorry," She says softly. She knows she can't save everyone, but it still hurts all the same.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Xiaomu answers, "I have *some* magic but I'm not a healer! I do sealing, exorcisms, and kicking ass!" She's not even trying to hide her bad mood, except from the wounded little girl - and as Chambers arrives, Xiaomu beckons her over. Triage is good - for all Xiaomu knows, the little girl was too far gone from the start and the man is walking wounded but needs attention that he doesn't look like it, so she's not going to argue with the professional medic.

As for that hopefully-clean table ... well, conjuring metal in the middle of a thunderstorm is risky, but it might do the survivor-for-now a decent favor. Xiaomu waves Chambers off at the girl's death rattle with a sharp murmur of, "Help the living," and a gesture at the man. She doesn't stop Becky from closing the girl's eyes, though, but she whispers a brief prayer to speed the soul on its way towards rebirth ... then rises slowly to her feet, grasping her staff and pulling it out of the ground again. She barely notices the lanterns flaring ...

Or more accurately, she barely seems to care, except to turn towards the hooded figures. They were here. They were WATCHING. They might well be responsible. And so she starts towards them, the rings on her staff's headpiece jangling every time its butt strikes the muddy ground. The cultists, or whatever they are, will certainly hear her coming.

She doesn't care if they do or not. Only how they react.

Xiao Li Yu (823) has posed:
     "Oh my."

     She said nothing more, and stood by, video software primed to record. This would surely be interesting.

     And her patience was rewarded when when thirteen lanterns flared up with a pale blue flame. The circle formation they lit up in was only further proof of the ritual that would soon take place. Xiao was giddy with excitement, and the huge smile on her face would not go anywhere.

     But this wasn't the end. Something was going to happen. Very soon. What was it?

     She stood by and waited, watching and almost holding her breath, as if the climax of a really engrossing movie was about to come.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    No. Not that.

    If nothing else, THAT FACE is the one face Shirou never wanted to see again. The crying, the desperate, the scared, the dying, the grieving.

    The girl's gone before they can do anything.

    Shirou doesn't cry, though. His heart rages coldly and fists clench tightly. Teeth grinding and eyes narrowing.

    "... And all I have is one thing!" he's in the same boat as Xiaomu.

    Swords cannot heal. They can't mend damage that was done. Only kill to prevent even more damage.

    "That guy might be infected. Check him out, Xiaomu. If you've got sealing and exorcism, maybe you can tell." His tone's cold and determined...

    As he steps out from under the cover he made, his amber eyes focus and stare defiantly at one of the lanterns in the distance.

    Oh. He's pissed.

    Has anyone ever seen him honestly pissed before? Nope, probably not. Pissed is a thing he just doesn't normally do. Even in the middle of a crisis.

Walter Bernhard (726) has posed:
    Again, both Xiaomu and Shirou go after the enemy rather than the wounded. But can anyone blame them? They aren't equipped. And there IS a medic right here, so maybe Rebecca can still do something!

    As Xiao watches, the flames in the lanterns go out, replaced with darkness where the flames should be. The flames aren't just gone, they've left behind black silhouettes that continue to writhe and burn, producing darkness instead of light.

    And then the girl who is laid out on the table begins to move again. A hand twitches. She suddenly coughs, and then her back arches, her body twisting this way and that as though in incredible agony. Then the child sits up straight, opens her eyes, and turns to look at the backs of Shirou and Xiaomu, at Rebecca if she's still nearby. And black tears spill from her blankly staring eyes, as she opens her mouth, and a horrific wailing shriek like a jet engine running off the screams of children blasts out of the hole where her throat used to be.

    The scared and mourning citizens of the town upon the plateau finally can take no more. In pain from the cry of the dead girl, they turn and flee in every which direction, in a panic. The robed figures who have used their lanterns start to withdraw, backing up slowly. They don't seem to actually be WALKING though... More like floating backwards. If charged, they could still be caught up with at their current 'less than a foot per second' pace. But that would leave the newly-created undead wouldn't it? At least thirteen (there's 14) robed figures, scattered in a circle, and one terrifying new undead. There's no doubt that some of the men can be eliminate before they escape. But is there a way to get them all AND the girl, without dividing up duties?

    The fourteenth figure, the only one to speak to Xiao so far, remains right where he is, his lantern is still unlit. He speaks again. "A new undead arises. A new servant for the Lord of Shadow. Birthed from death at the hands of a risen loved one she was there to bury... It shall be called a Mourner."

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Xiaomu comes to a halt when she hears the shrieking behind her, her pupils shrinking and narrowing.

She spends the overwhelming majority of her time in the shape of a human, but she's still a fox spirit who's learned to love humanity and its treasures. But she's a fox spirit, not a human ... and in the course of her long life, she's only ever reverted to her natural shape when she's wounded too badly to waste energy on human guise.

Besides being a fox, Xiaomu is also a spirit - what her comrades in Shinra term a 'youkai,' a supernatural apparition. While Xiaomu doesn't like thinking of herself that way, it's a truth about her that she can't deny; she usually refrains from doing more than correcting anyone who terms her a 'kitsune' or a Japanese fox spirit. But even a supernatural being still comes from nature.

Undeath is as far from 'nature' as anything can possibly get.

"Shirou," hisses Xiaomu. "Holy blades. Use whatever you can. Lay the undead to rest and keep them that way." She turns to look at the girl who *SHOULD* be dead and gone, her soul ferried to the afterlife, as the sage fox's ears flatten against her head to try and muffle the unholy howling.

Then Xiaomu draws one of her handguns, cocking back the hammer, and shoots the undead little girl in the head with an enchanted anti-spirit bullet; she loaded them earlier with the knowledge that she'd be fighting undead.

Then she's hurrying towards the tents, going after the OTHER undead that just got raised up, with a cold fury that could, fairly, be described as ... inhuman.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
The birth of a new and terrible undead rings out through the air. It positively /stinks/ of dark, forbidden magic, the air heavy with the emotional turmoil of shattered minds and hearts, the screams of agony and the soul tainting the heavens, screaming out for justice to be done as this abomination rises.

There is a clapping sound, as thunder crashes down, a sizzling magical circle forming near the new undead and the cultists.

"Well well well, what do we have here?"

A dark shape fades into view, the lightning gleaming off of spectacles, lighting in relief the smiling visage of a man. No, this place has not attracted the hands of the divine to cleanse this place. No, evil tonight has called to evil, and Lezard Valeth, the Necromancer of Midgard, has answered. "Very impressive, this work. One might even consider the effort to create such a being... artistic, in the realms of darkness." He throws a hand aside, his cape flourishing as he looks to the robed figures. "I would speak with beings who would perform such tasks. I have heard mention of a Lord of Shadow. Is it on His behalf that you act?"

His gaze swivels to the side, as he observes Shirou and Xiaomu, however. "Ah, but it seems you have engendered the hostility of of others. Allow me to offer my assistance as a token of goodwill." There is a flare of blackflame, as a large, black gnarled staff takes shape in one of Lezard's hands. "Stand down, heroes, or face your destruction." With a flourish of the staff, black blades manifest, gnashing down between Xiaomu and the Mourner like jaws of shadow. "DARK SAVIOR!" He exclaims.

Rebecca Chambers has posed:
    There's no use grieving at all. Especially when the person you tried to save just came back to life! Xiaomu took out the undead girl before Rebecca could do a thing about it. Shaking her head, Rebecca sighs. "This is too ironic," She says to herself, before going to check on the other person. He seemed stable last time she checked on him, but she goes to give him a more thorough going over just to be safe.

Xiao Li Yu (823) has posed:
     Oh.

     That scream was not expected. She winced upon having to hear it, but that was all the indication she needed to perhaps clear the area. A bit. ...But of course she wouldn't. And miss this spectacle? No way!

     She glanced aside at the only figure to remain, listening as he spoke. "...A Mourner." She repeated lightly, typing one handed into her laptop the details of this new, risen undead. Her eyes did not remain on the screen however. She needed to observe this with her own eyes. Record the happenings for later analyzing.

     The appearance of a certain necromancer was not....expected. But it was not unwelcome. She smiled wide in amusement. "Oh boy, oh dear...It seems that you have a new arrival." The scientist commented in an amused manner. "A new variable to shake things up. I wonder how this will progress..." She brought a hand to her chin, ceasing her typing.

     She hoped she wouldn't have to step in. She wasn't a fan of combat, even if she was perfectly capable.

     For now, she would watch. Unless something attacked her, Xiao was not going to budge, most likely.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Hearing an awful clatter and coughing behind him, Shirou's attention is drawn to what he feared might happen...

    "..." Eyes sad and regretful, practically hissing in horror, he once again prepares to project -b ut Xiaomu'x gun is much quicker.

    Only flinching slightly, he then ROCKETS into motion. Putting all the power he can into his legs, Shirou breaks into a speeding charge, ducking low across the ground, that seems impossible for human legs to manage. Easily hitting fourty miles an hour and kicking up dirt in his wake.

    "My body is made of swords," the boy mutters. "A shell of steel with fire for blood."
    "I have created over a thousand blades, never once retreating, never knowing victory."
    "I stand atop a hill of swords, forging weapons from my flesh. This lonely path--"

    Just as he's gotten that out and gathered all of that prana though, BOOM. It's a LEZARD.

    He skids to a halt.

    "...Artistic?!" The girl who just bit it? That's artistry?

    Judgemental eyes fixate on Lezard, though swivel towards the retreating 'cultists' just the same.

    "I'm not letting them escape or regroup just because you want to show off!" The boy yells, waving an arm at Lezard.

    More than waving an arm though. His arm shimmers with an outpouring crackle of prana that few have seen him manage yet. It spreads through the ground, forcing open cracks that glow with an almost hellish red light.

    Even if he knows - and Lezard knows that he knows - that Shirou cannot possibly contend against him in a magic contest, he's doing something BIG.

    Something very unusual.

    "My whole life is... UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS!"

    The power ERUPTS outwards. Half the cemetery - and likely a chunk of the fleeing cultists - is in range. So is where Lezard and Xiaomu stand with Rebecca. Xiao might or might not be engulfed too...

    In a strange, lurching sensation. Everyone's vision goes white briefly as a heatless flame rushes outwards. A very powerful and tricky BOUNDARY FIELD is established, anyone with the simplest senses for that can figure it out easily. The world everyone knows has been pushed aside and flipped around, and the world inside the caster's mind and soul expanded.

    What surrounds everyone now is an endless field of baked, rusty-red wasteland. Barren dirt, impaled with all manner of blades. Weapons sprout from the ground like ominous saplings. Ornate, mundane, large and small, western and eastern and stranger makes besides. The mightiest of Noble Phantasms stand proudly alongside lesser works.

    No sun stands in the heavens, but the twilight sky is brilliant, and sparks of slag rise as if cast from the anvil of some smith's forge.

    This world is the forge.

    And Shirou's standing in the center, glaring daggers at Lezard Valeth.

    "Necromancer. You're not getting involved in this. It's bad enough already!"

    He's standing stalwart about a hundred feet away from Lezard, perhaps the same from HOPEFULLY some trapped cultists. Right in the center, dressed plainly and still covered in mud.

Walter Bernhard (726) has posed:
    The girl-shaped monster takes a holy bullet to the head, and is hurled from the table. As her skull sizzles and burns from the inside, the Mourner gets back to her feet slowly, and then unleashes another sonic attack, this time on Rebecca, since she's closest. The inability for the injured man's wounds to heal seems like it would require some sort of coagulating agent to be introduced. Something to help cause clotting. Otherwise he's just going to bleed out from surface wounds no deeper than a half-inch. Though the blackening of tissue around the wounds is also worring, indicating rapid necrosis. Maybe it was infectious after all! ...Or maybe that's just mud. It's hard to tell with the ear-bleedingly-loud screams of the wailing Mourner as she staggers in the direction of Rebeccca and the injured man.

    Of course, with everyone now locked away in that other dimension, except for some of the occultists on the other side of the cemetery, Lezard blocking access to the Mourner with bladed shadows means helping Rebecca may take more than just turning and shooting again. In response to Lezard's appearance and Xiao's words, the 14th figure responds in the same tone despite the drastic change in scenery, "It appears so. He does not turn away those with power nor who seek it. Many strive to serve at His side. Ability is recognized, and initiative rewarded." Then to Lezard himself, the figure calls out, "Those who would seek knowledge and power from Him, who would serve the ends of darkness and their own ambitions, find Him within the forest called Eternal Night. The Demon Castle awaits." It's not too different a message than Xiao was given. The man-thing could ALMOST just be reciting variations upon the same phrase over and over, as though programmed, except he clearly showed individuality in naming the new form of undead, didn't he?

    The other occultists within the Reality Marble stop trying to float away, seemingly realizing they are trapped. Instead, their lanterns catch ablaze once more and they float forwards, flying at Shirou more quickly than they've been moving so far, trying to slash him one after the other with their hand-scythes. The way they move... It's like they're nearly weightless except for their garments and weapons. Levitation magic or something possibly?

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Lezard smiles. "Yes, artistic. Do you even understand what had been wrought here? Any fool can simply bind a spirit into their service. But this? The insight into the psychology. The way the tragedy, anger, and horror is wrapped around them... It takes /effort/ to manufacture circumstances in such a way to prepare an /exceptional/ spirit, and even more to prepare an optimal... vessel."

The cultist answers Lezard, and he nods. "Very well. Should you survive this event, let him know I shall be coming to call upon him. I would very much wish to meet such a man, a man who understands what it is to desire."

When the Reality Marble snaps into place, Lezard Valeth grimaces, holding the gnarled staff before him in a defensive posture. "You... This alteration of space. You have delved into the forbidden arts, then... Just as I have." He smiles, and adjusts his glasses, gleaming in the forgelight of the wasteland.

"You will find, magus, that you are not capable of /stopping/ me!" Lezard declares, an explosion of dark Power rising around him, spirling up around him and the Catalyst he wields like a terrible wind. "Are you prepared to match your sorcery against mine?!" And so it was that he stretched forth his hands, his voice reverbarting like a terrible bell within the Reality Marble.

"I am he who hath entrusted his soul to the eternal vortex of time! Ye know me! And if ye do not, ye shall be MADE TO KNOW ME! It shall be /engraved upon thy very soul/, LEZARD VALETH! If ye shall accept the brand of Hel upon thee, thy sanctions shall in turn be lowered. I shall grant thee the deliverance of thy soul, and ye shall come now before me!"

Through the vast field, swirling holes of purple open, and /hundreds/ of undead crawl from the blackness. Shambling zombies, vampires, spirits, clambering knights in black armor and burning red eyes, withered soldiers in rotten leather armor, and more arrive. To each side, hulking skeletal figures wreathed in flaming manes and topped with a draconic skull bear massive blades and heavy armor, flanking Lezard himself.

"Tell me!"

Lezard calles, his mouth splitting into a wide grin of anticipation.

"DO YOU HAVE ENOUGH SWORDS, EMIYA SHIROU?"

With a thrust of the great, dark staff, he points towards Shirou. "/TAKE HIM!/" He yells. The order ripples through the horde like a wave, and as one they begin charging Shirou upon his hill. Meanwhile, power begins to build around Lezard again, as he prepares his next act.

Xiao Li Yu (823) has posed:
     ".....?"

     Fire crossed Xiao's vision, yet she didn't feel heat. Once that fire was cleared away, what she bore witness to was not the rain soaked graveyard from earlier, but rather... "Where...where exactly...?" She looked all around herself.

     It was a barren field of swords. Swords as far as the eye could see. Swords from every era. Past, present, and future. A world of swords. A world of his own making. With the Mourner out of sight, and everyone locked into that boy's personal reality, Xiao brought a hand to her chin. "...A pocket reality? ....No, but..." She moved forward, closing her laptop and tucking it away into her sleeves. It vanished, oddly enough. Even though her sleeves clearly could not hold such a thing.

     Must be a spell.

     She approached a wayward sword, feeling it's surface. "It feels real...fascinating....and yet...this reality, borne from magic, yet 'not' reality at the same time..." The girl grinned towards Shirou, totally nonplussed as he and the necromancer were starting to have it out.

     That wasn't a good grin. That was her 'I want to strap you to a table and study your innards' grin.

     Unlimited Blades versus Unlimited Undead. Whichever won, she wasn't concerned. All she was concerned with now was getting her eager little hands on Shirou. Xiao knelt down, and then dashed forward. Her speed belied her aversion to combat. She crossed the distance in due time, and skid to a stop next to Lezard. "Excuse me, Mr. Sorcerer." She asided to the bi-spectacled man. "That boy you're about to face off with...I have a keen interest in him." Keen was being humble, judging from the manic grin on her face. "Would you mind if I captured and studied his brain? Perhaps perform vivisection and see just what his innards look like? Or maybe even study the very DNA contained in his blood?"

     Her hands were enclosed within her sleeves, and she held no weapons. But still, she was totally spiking the danger senses right now.

     Xiao looked towards Shirou meanwhile and smiled pleasantly. "You don't mind, do you? Of course you don't."

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
"You have absolutely GOT to be kidding me ..." snarls the sage fox, a downright bestial glare directed against the interceding necromancer. "Lezard Valeth, is it? We're gonna have a bone to pick with you, a BIG one -"

Cue appearance of an entire freaking undead army. The only reason Xiaomu's temper doesn't snap at the sight of it ... Well. Not to put too fine a point on it?

It already *DID*.

Xiaomu does not charge at Lezard, nor at the undead army; she strides purposefully towards her enemies, her charge towards the tents forgotten the instant a wall was conjured between her and the little Mourner girl. The pistol which the sage fox already used once is holstered - not safetied, not recocked, not reloaded - and she instead withdraws a grenade.

The pin is pulled, the spoon is released, and the grenade is flung at Lezard Valeth, hocked straight over that bladed wall if necessary (although it'll throw her aim off; still, he was ranting and chanting loudly enough to locate him by the sound of his voice).

Then another grenade. This one takes a lot more of a wind-up before the fox flings it - because this one is aimed into the thick of the conjured undead army.

Both grenades are enhanced with fire magic, courtesy of Shinra's weapons division. Big explosions, and considerably more literal fireballs than your standard frag or concussion grenade.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    The skies of Unlimited Blade Works shudder and ripple throughout the performance of Lezard's spellwork, as though unstable, but the abnormality's cleared up once his undead minions appear.

    Standing apart from the accomplished magus and horrors from the abyss, Shirou doesn't seem like much. "Forbidden arts? Heh. This world is the only real magic I have. It's a far cry from what you've gotten involved in."

    But allies are here.

    He doesn't stand alone.

    AND.

    His whole armory is already here!

    Answering the taunt, Shirou rips a longsword from the ground and goes on a charge straight for Lezard! "More than you can count!"

    His path WOULD take him for the Sorcerer, but is blockaded. Not just by minions, but by the incoming dark spirits. Shirou's forced to halt for a moment, but... for a good reason.

    This world is HIS. It answers to his will and his alone.

    Swords erupt from the ground and whip through the endless distances at unfathomable speeds. Crossing any distance takes instants, no more. Hundreds of blades rain from the heavens down upon the minions, all shapes and sizes. It's much like facing a volley of arrows from an entire legion of archers. There is nowhere to dodge, nowhere to hide.

    The Dark Spirits, too, find their blades being parried before they've quite swung. Dozens of swords fly around Shirou every time he flicks a glance their ways, but he's forced to leap away from them all and reposition himself. Kanshou and Bakuya fly to his hands instantly... but NOW he's looking spooked and strained.

    It was looking bad when it was just Lezard and RETREATING spirits. He hadn't counted on them figuring out they were trapped so fast. AND turning on him.

    But this gets him a clear view of Xiao and well, WHEN DID SHE GET HERE?!

    Shirou aims one hell of a distasteful face at her. "What's WRONG with you two?!"

    The other, well, probably referring to Lezard.

    Either way, relying on mooks and summoned creatures might not be smart here. The moment a portal appears where Shirou can see it, the portal becomes the target of a dozen converging swords. No matter how many shatter there are always more, though the exact same never appears twice.

    Lezard Valeth has to take time to cast spells in here. But Emiya Shirou's swords are all here, and they're EVERYWHERE.

    The hulking skeletons however, Shirou figures they'll be great trouble.

    And probably won't go down from a sword rain like he hopes the summoned minions will.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Xiao Li Yu wasn't even on Lezard's radar until she popped up. Once she inquires of him, he looks like he is about to reply with a cutting remark, until she gets to the point. "Interesting." He replies. "Perhaps we can study him together, if you are interested. I have been wondering many things about the nature of this magus. Feel free to assist. If we can weaken him, we can move in to capture him for study." He doesn't care how she does it. She'll serve as another distraction at worst and at best she might actually help weaken Shirou enough.

Meanwhile, chaos reigns across the battlefield. Undead meet countless blades, the tide of undead crashing immediately into the rain of steel and seething in destruction as the lesser undead begin to be immmediately annihilated. But Lezard's reach is wide, and some that answer his call are made of sterner stuff. The heavily armored Dragontooth Knights take a dozen swords each, some of the swords shattering off of the heavy armor, while others pierce but do not seem to slow the beasts down further. There is an explosion of flame, and am opening is made as one of Xiaomu's grenades lands, blasting through the undead with immolating force. Lezard is seen, wavering in the heat as he stares out at Xiaomu and Shirou, one hand burning with a lambent purple flame and the other holding out the gnarled staff. As the second grenade flies in for Lezard himself, he turns and whips the staff to one side. There is a loud crack, and the grenade flies up into the air above him, detonating with a massive explosion. "You will not defeat me with such tactics! I will attend to /you/ in a moment."

There is a surge of energy, as Lezard emits a powerful surge from his staff. The air around him twists and burns as spheres of nonlight are created around him, each one sort of fuzzy along the edges and with tiny, staring points of light within. They give the impression of being... eyes.

Shirou might find this phenomenon vry familiar.

With a lunge, Lezard hurls himself out of the protective defenses of his Dragontooth Warriors, launching himself directly towards Shirou as he sweeps his staff around to... strike at him directly? The weapon's impact is heavy... but even heavier is the swarm of Pursuers, each of whom home in to strike at Shirou, impacting with a strangely heavy force that also sears at flesh.

It feels like the Abyss.

Even worse are the strikes from the staff, however, as each blow is accompanied with a blast of black flame that erupts from the staff, or a shotgun-like burst of tiny black spheres. "The line between you and I grows thinner by the day, magus. All that you are missing..." He doesn't complete his words as he brings the staff up and brings it down in a massive, brutal twohanded strike.

Walter Bernhard (726) has posed:
    As Shirou's blades block the attacks coming from the flying cultists, and Xiao moves to support Lezard in fighting the young magus, alongside an entire army of the undead, and Xiaomu starts throwing fire grenades everywhere... The dead little girl with the flesh-tearing voice continues to wander around aimlessly on the other side of the barrier of shadow blades. The 14th of the cultists, the only one thus far to speak, drifts away from all the battle, taking no hostile action and doing nothing to draw attention to himself. Armies, crazy surgery enthusiasts, ghosts, good guys, bad guys, and explosions as far as the eye can see. Only one can survive, but who will it be!? (Spoiler: More than one can survive)

    The 14th is not waiting to find out. He instead arrives near the Mourner, which does not perceive him as an enemy and so leaves him be. Instead, little mewls and sobs continue to trickle out of her thunderously, as surely as the black tears that leak from glassy, lifeless eyes to scald the barren soil of this place. There's no little girl in there anymore. Not really. But biological traces remain. Xiaomu's attempts to send the spirit on kept this new undead from gaining ALL the traits that might have been hoped for, but this is good enough as a prototype.

    Any of the cultists slain by Shirou let out a deep, inhuman wailing noise, more like wind moving through a pipe or a tunnel than something a creature would make, before collapsing in on themselves and hurling their flaming lanterns as a last-ditch effort to cause pain in their attacker.

    And the 14th simply holds up his own lit lantern, and extinguishes the flame in the same manner the others had to create the Mourner in the first place, leaving behind a silhouette of a flame that produces dark instead of light. Stored magical energy is used up, and the Mourner is UNRAVELLED, the too-small body of a young girl becoming only so much meat and viscera as it is sucked up into some other place to be rebuilt there.

    And then the hooded figure turns his masked gaze back on the battle as his expended lantern is cast aside...

Xiao Li Yu (823) has posed:
     Xiao Li looked between Xiaomu, who she was only just noticing, and Shirou. She wanted to study Shirou's combat abilities so very much, but no, Lezard looked plenty capable of handling himself. Instead, she offered Shirou a creepy smile. "Nothing is wrong with me. Unless you count the desire to know all wrong." Her gaze then settled on Xiaomu.

     "I suppose the least I can do is keep this fox off your back." Sure, double teaming Shirou would have been faster, but that left their backs exposed. So she'd settle for keeping Shirou's companion busy. At that, she called out for the Shinra Operative. "Helloooo! Sorry, but I'm afraid you're going to have to stay right where you are. No hard feelings." She removed her hands from her sleeves, revealing a pair of black metal gauntlets. They occasionally pulsed red with arcane energy.

     And then she dashed across the barren field of swords, fists crackling with electricity. With one fist clenched and reared back, she quickly closed the distance and lashed out with a blow aimed for the midsection. On impact, hit or block, it would release a surge of lightning after. Branching out erratically and wildly with no form to it. "You are not human, are you?" She smirked. "This should be interesting. Studying you should prove to be quite fruitful as well. Be a dear and stay still for me, okay?"

     In the midst of this battle within the pocket reality, Xiao was unable to notice the retreat of the 14th. The inhuman screams of the other cultists upon their defeat was impossible to miss, but... Just as well. Her eyes were on Shirou...and now Xiaomu as well. So much data to be collected, so little time. What's a girl to do?

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Shirou does indeed recognize the gut-wrenching sensation of that magic. It brings a foul, disapproving and fierce look to his face even THROUGH the panic that's showing. He does NOT like this situation. Not one bit.

    And yet SOMETHING in him simply would not tolerate Lezard Valeth treating a little girl he'd never met that way.

    Under normal circumstances, he would have never challenged Lezard Valeth so boldly, pointlessly, and recklessly. ... Probably.

    But now he's under assault and the ONLY thing keeping him from getting blown to smithereens is the way Kanshou and Bakuya move with a strange, twirling grace. The almost dance-like dual swords style has him backpedaling and some of his steps are clumsy but the twin swords move unerringly. Most of the Dark Beads are deflected, only a few striking Shirou in the legs and shoulders when his guard was at the limit. Something about those two blades REJECTS the Abyss and all of Lezard's magic.

    It is not a very powerful rejection, but Yin and Yang countering magic together have a very UNRAVELING effect on spells.

    And, for that matter, the monstrous emanations of humanity's dark core from the staff. That, too, is being rejected and cut apart on contact. The waves frazzle and lose around a third of their cohesion before slamming into Shirou, but slam into him they do nonetheless. Twin blades press back against the staff, but Shirou's taken heavy hits. The darkness hits like hammer blows, yet crackles through his body. Magic Circuits fizzle and sputter...

    Reality flickers like a badly tuned television. Shirou's magic is not so mighty against its ilk, special and unique though it is.

    Gasping and panting, and holding onto a pair of very cracked chinese short swords, Shirou cannot maintain the Reality Marble any longer.

    BLINDING white light explodes from him-- but it's over in a flash. Everyone might feel as if they've just been dropped a few feet... but in reality, everyone's just back in the graveyard. And nobody fell at all.

    But Shirou's down to one knee, with his Magic Circuits crying in protest.

    The Reality Marble is a very impressive magic, but it would be far better if his spellcraft was perhaps two or three decades more polished!

    Even so.

    "Like hell am I letting you experiment on either of us. This battle doesn't even have a meaning anymore... BUT!" FORCING his muscles and Magic Circuits to obey, Shirou stands up tall again. Even with blood staining his torn shirt and little prana left he's glaring DAGGERS at Lezard.

    "I've just seen a little girl torn apart by her family and neighbors' corpses. What wrong did she commit, what right did anyone have to damn her to undeath? There's something twisted and wrong in you where a soul should be. I'm not a magus like that, and never will be!"

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Xiaomu does not stay right where she is at the time Xiao calls out to her; she's stalking towards what she thinks is Lezard's position, although it seems as though Shirou is going to be focusing on the particularly blatant necromancer wizard who wasn't wearing cultist robes or anything. The 'No hard feelings' bit prompts her lips to peel back in a snarl, and her eyes to change further towards the slitted pupils of a beast; her hair-tails are fluffed out by now, swaying with a mixture of feral fury and rising energy.

Then Xiao Li Yu charges at the sage fox and tries to punch her; the sage fox simply catches the initial punch on her staff, gritting her teeth and growling as the lightning crackles out and singes her, further fraying her mood and unraveling her control.

"You seriously," hisses the fox, "have *NO* fucking clue how little I care to be *STUDIED*."

She grabs her staff's headpiece with her right hand, the left hand still holding the shaft - and draws out a concealed swordblade, Suiren's edge glinting in the twilight of Unlimited Blade Works. Then she lets go of the staff itself, her left hand lashing out to try and grab that lightning gauntlet on Xiao's right arm. If she gets electrocuted further, she'll deal with it ...

Because her next move is to try to plunge Suiren straight into Xiao Li Yu's heart, and give it a firm twist, even BEFORE she unleashes the ice magic within the blade. On the plus side, if the stab goes through to impale the other woman, the ice magic might actually slow her down from dying.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Lezard draws back as the Reality Marble implodes. As the swords go, Lezard similarly dismisses his own horde of undead. What's left of it, anyway. The corpses did a good job of tying up swords, at least.

Lezard himself, however, smiles again as Shirou staggers back to his feet, standing there with the air sizzling around him. Unlike Shirou, Lezard doesn't even look winded. But he doesn't continue attacking.

"One day, magus... You will find something that is stronger than those weak words. Stronger than those naive ideas. Stronger than those blunt and brittle blades. Right and wrong... These are things we define for ourselves, things people with power define for others."

He steps backwards, and the teleportation circle begins forming under him once more. "And on that day, you will know the truth... That this is the fate of all who desire the power to shake the pillars of heaven."

For accepting Xiao's help, he doesn't seem to be doing a whole lot at the moment to get her out of that pointed retort from Xiaomu...

Walter Bernhard (726) has posed:
    The Reality Marble collapses, and everyone is immediately hit with pouring rain again, howling winds, the *BOOM* of thunder caught mid-roar, and the flash of lightning striking a metal table that Shirou projected. Lezard may be retreating, or maybe he has something else up his sleeve. But the 14th cultists remains. And it seems, perhaps, that each time that Shirou uses his Reality Marble he might be instinctively retaining a bit of its power.

    Because as the cloaked and hooded figure floats forward, two swords continue to hover in the air behind Shirou. Silver, gleaming, straight... Not especially ornate, but functional. And definitely magical. With Shirou down on one knee, though, exhausted, in pain... How is he controlling them?

    Short answer: He's not.

    Because those aren't his swords.

    The 14th cultist flexes his own power, and the blades streak down towards Shirou's back from only a few feet away.

    Can he notice them in time and react? Can someone else? Given his recuperative powers, it might not matter. But there's no good time to be impaled through the shoulders with swords that are trying to pin you to the muddy ground like an insect.

Xiao Li Yu (823) has posed:
     "Why, that's a shame." Xiao Lu Yu says with a tone of feigned disappointment. "Because you have no clue how much I want to study you!" And then her gauntlet is grabbed. As anticipated, it is still charged with plenty of electricity, far more than a taser. About as much much as a mid level lightning spell rather. The act of grabbing it introduced that current directly to Xiaomu. She should let go...like, now.

     Of course, the researcher didn't stand idle. She was quite surprised to see a /sword/ come out of what she presumed was a staff. "Oh-?"

     SHUNK

     The sword pierced through her body...but not her heart. She shook off her surprise at the unorthodox weapon and moved at the last moment. Instead, it pierced through her shoulder, above the collarbone. Blood streamed out of the freshly inflicted wound, and more so at the twist. "Kuh! Argh!" She let out a brief cry of pain, but then...slowly a grin formed on her face. "Hee hee~ Someone is angry today, aren't they? How cute~" And then the ice magic took effect, causing large ice crystals to grow out of the wound and cover it.

     That definitely did damage, but...rather than scream and cry, she looked...amused? Definitely in pain, but amused nonetheless. And in addition, the hand that had grabbed the gauntlet, she attempted to grab Xiaomu's wrist in turn, keeping the electrical current flowing into her body.

     "Come on, stay a while~"

     Creepy creepy creepy.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    After all that exertion and all the effort it took to simply stand, Shirou has nowhere NEAR enough warning before the swords slam into his back. They bury into him, slamming THROUGH him... he's completely impaled. One... went throgh a lung. The other?

    His heart?

    Later, he'll be thanking Saber for her continued support of his efforts, and his ample opportunities to keep prana flowing into Avalon.

    For now though, he makes a startled gurgly noise while Lezard's teleporting away, staggers a few steps forward, and stumbles into the mud.

    Down. Mortally wounded by all possibly standards.

    But somehow not dead.

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
Additional lightning does not help either Xiaomu's physical condition or her mental condition; if anything, it only drives her to release even *MORE* ice magic through Suiren's blade. If Xiao Li Yu doesn't get torn apart by growing ice crystals, she's going to be encased in a very large block of ice instead ... or both might happen.

At least, up until the point where Xiaomu brings her legs up - both of them, basically letting Xiao support her weight with her grip and with the sword through her shoulder - and plant her feet on the growing block of ice ... and with an ear-piercing, blood-curdling shriek, Xiaomu *PUSHES* with all the strength in her body, with an eye to the combined purposes of ripping her sword back out of Xiao's shoulder, ripping HERSELF free of that electrified grip, and sending the ice block sliding backwards as fast as it'll glide over the muddy ground.

That ice block might just possibly slide into the teleport circle. It might just happen to hit Lezard hard enough to knock him OUT of it. Or it might not go far enough to do either, leaving Xiao Li Yu frozen solid and stranded.

The look in the fox spirit's eyes should make it dreadfully clear, though, that if Xiao remains any longer, the huli jing who shares part of her name is going to keep trying to kill her. The Union may be good guys, and most days, so is Xiaomu - but the huli jing is seriously out for blood and she's taking this fight VERY personally. Mercy ain't on the menu tonight.

Xiao Li Yu (823) has posed:
     Neither was going to give up. Even as ice crystals grew along her body, and inside of her wound, Xiao Li Yu did not let go, continuing to channel electricity into Xiaomu's body furiously. But the ice kept growing and growing and growing....

     "Ah-"

     Eventually she was indeed encased in ice, only able to watch as Xiaomu used her as leverage, and then RIPPED her sword right out of Xiao's shoulder, and sending her careening back. Thud, clunk, clatter.

     ".........."

     At first, there was nothing. Xiao Li Yu seemed to be quite defeated. Not much you can do while encased in ice!

     But then curiously, a sort of sickly, purple miasma began to stream out from the cracks in the ice. The wispy streams became more numerous, and more forceful, creating cracks in the sculpture. And then all at once, the ice shattered in an explosion of dark energy, sending ice shrapnel every which way.

     Emerging from it was Xiao Li Yu, still very much alive, though her shoulder was ruined at the moment. But the look on her face... She glared at Xiaomu with a ferocity that matched the sage fox's. The darkness emanated around her form, eroding the land on which she knelt, and surrounding her in a sickly aura. "The next time I see you...I'm going to tear you limb from limb...and and I'll see just what makes you tick...hehehe...hehe...he~"

     Whoops, she's lost it.

Walter Bernhard (726) has posed:
    The so-far mostly-quiet, emotionless-seeming, almost golem-like 14th Cultist, upon witnessing Shirou fall... Starts to chuckle darkly, before breaking into full, deep laughter. He withdraws the silver blades with his mind, and they fly back to his side. "How interesting..." A seemingly-dead or seemingly-dying Shirou is interesting? "Necromancer. Your power and skill have been noted. He will be made aware of your contributions. Researcher, you as well. Your thirst for knowledge no matter what must be done to obtain it is welcome in His court of the misty moon. Either of you may feel free to enter the Demon Castle as its guests. This one, however..."

    The hooded figure floats closer to Shirou, even as the boy's blood drips from the blades. One of the silver swords floats horizontally in front of the masked figure's face. A dark, rattling sound can be heard as though attempting to inhale the blood's scent. Yet more creepy people here tonight, it seems. "As for you, dying-boy. If you are saved somehow... You too are welcome to come to His castle... Though as a challenger. Of course, if you die here, then all will have been for nothing, and no one will be saved. More incidents like this will keep happening, heroes will keep falling, until everyone lives in fear and pain forever. Because YOU did not stop it..."

    The Cultist then drifts even closer, bending over Shirou's seemingly-mortally-wounded body, and hissing out, "...Emiya Shirou, defender of the forest, of the winter village, of the town of life and death, and challenger of the legendary monster, Medusa. Yesss... You've shown yourself to be quite capable so far. But if you fall here, you were never worth testing."

Xiaomu (707) has posed:
"Don't make promises ... you can't keep, you ..."

The sage fox does not trail off, but once she catches her breath again, she utters a string of invective from something in between Cantonese, Mandarin, and Shanghai dialects of Chinese, sufficiently mish-mashed that not even the Multiverse can make too much sense of it. The most coherent part of the curse is 'may your ancestors rise up and mistake you for --' and the final words of that are untranslatable by anything. That might really be for the better, though.

The scent of refreshingly human blood leads the sage fox towards Shirou ... and towards the cultist who's lurking over him like a shinigami who enjoys its work rather too much. The sage fox is too ticked off from her brawl with Xiao Li Yu to take much truck with subtlety - and she hasn't sheathed Suiren yet.

Cue stabbing and ice, coupled with a scream that *IS* utterly bloody feral; if the cultist doesn't dodge, Xiaomu whips Suiren around with enough force to fling the resultant ice crystal back in Xiao Li Yu's direction.

*THEN* Xiaomu sheathes her blade, and hauls Shirou up over one of her shoulders before starting to hobble away, leaning on her staff to support both herself and her passenger.

She might realize later, when her brain is more capable of rational thought, if the robe seemed kind of ... empty. But at this point, she literally cannot care - and it's a small miracle that enough human habits remain in her train of thought to rescue an ally.

Xiao Li Yu (823) has posed:
     Watching all of this, Xiao Li Yu struggled to stand to her feet again, dark aura still billowing out from around her. "Heh heh...we'll see about that, you..." There was a pause, and a moment to catch her breath. "What /is/ your name anyway?" She demanded with a frown, soft pants escaping from her. While she asked this, she began to take steps backward, clearly not about to chase after them with this much damage.

     Not like she wanted to stop them. Know your limits and all that.

Walter Bernhard (726) has posed:
    Xiaomu tears apart the robed figure with her ice blade, and it collapses in on itself like the others, falling down into a pool of darkness. Hopefully Rebecca can help the injured man. Shirou was probably not in a condition to answer the robed figure, but hopefully he was at least aware of what was said to him while his body repaired itself, so that he knew where to go to find justice and stop more people from dying.

    Xiao never gets the cloaked man's name, if she was asking him. Oh, well. Maybe his master will be welcome to greet Xiao and Lezard at the castle regardless. All in all, only one fatality, and a lot of traumatized people.

    This still may have felt rather a pyrrhic victory, but how much worse would it have been if people like Xiao and Lezard had been allowed to do as they pleased here without anyone to oppose them? Now if only future incidents like this can be prevented at the source...