2517/Radio Mission: Recover Formula 13

Radio Mission: Recover Formula 13
Date of Scene:	24 June 2015
Location:	Paragon City <CoH>
Synopsis:	The Family have used mind-control to force Vasilikos Laboratories technicians to make them a super-soldier serum. Someone needs to retrieve it before it can be delivered!
Cast of Characters:	346, 560, 769, 796

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Demetrios Vasilikos (769) has posed:
    Independence Port is as it has been. A place of great importance to Paragon City, and yet rife with corruption and criminals. Burly men in business suits and hats, threatening civilians (extorting money, collecting on debts, pushing drugs, or similar) in broad daylight is a seemingly common sight in the absence of heroes brought about by the Rikti War. There are still lots of super heroes, and more coming every day from all over the country (the world even!) but there are not nearly enough to patrol all of Paragon City... Or at least not all the time.

    Today, however, heroic action must be undertaken, even if not from locals. Earlier, researchers from Vasilikos Laboratories were mind controlled somehow by these same mobster-looking goons, using their own scientific knowledge and skill in combination with a partial formula they were psychically fed, to create a serum that could conceivably turn ANYONE into a super being. These same goons out on the street, shaking down helpless store owners for 'protection money' could get super strength, speed, mental powers like some apparently already have, and who-knows-what-else, giving the already spread-thin heroic community an even harder time actually putting a dent in Family operations.

    Contacts and informers, the very now-rescued scientists themselves included, were able to provide information on where the Consigliere known as 'Red' Mike might be holed up with the completed formula, waiting for pick-up from another part of the same Family-splinter Mike is. Stopping Mike and getting the Formula 13 to safety is of utmost priority.

    And where does this mission take the good guys? A ritzy speak-easy style nightclub that serves as a front for Family operations in I.P. Low-lighting, a bar, various tables, clueless (or not so clueless) civilians drinking, dancing, playing pool... And more than a few men in suits guarding the place, including a door in back that looks important.

Sarah Rogers (796) has posed:
    Sarah is used to not drawing attention in Paragon City, No one even gives her a second glance when she flies. That being said, She kind of wishes she'd dressed down before she came here. She can feel their group being stared at as they enter. She tries to ignore the feeling of being watched and looks around for their contact.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    How in the heck did Shirou end up here? Well, he's not exactly old enough by local law to exactly hang out in such a place, probably. Not by several years. The locale doesn't exactly interest him either. But this is where the trouble's at, so he'll have to do something right?

    He's not exactly dressed for a night in town. And what glances into windows he gets aren't exactly appetizing.

    Which is why he's currently outside the building, pacing and pondering.

    Well at least he's wearing his jacket with the hood up, so it's not that easy to recognize him at a glance for anyone curious...

Saber (346) has posed:
     With suits and ties abounding, the Servant Saber fit right in...at least while she was wearing her business attire. A tailor-made black three-piece, tie , and gloves with a grey dress shirt and brown loafers, she could have possibly passed herself off as yet another mobster, aside from the fact that her bearing was just a little too regal, even if her colouring wasn't all wrong. Rather, /a lot/ too regal. Her gender ambiguity was possibly the piece de resistance, perhaps too masculine to be a proper young girl yet too feminine to be a proper boy. That confusion had been intentional during the Fourth Holy Grail War, though its continued use had its advantages. Unable to prevent standing out, at least this way she could blend in somewhat as a wealthy businessperson...or heir...ess.

     Her custom-armoured Yamaha V-Max pulled smoothly to a stop outside...in fact, far too smoothly for a vehicle known for its bulk and overwhelming torque. It was a testament to the Riding skill that such an otherwise petite and dainty figure could handle the motorbike at all, much less with apparent flawlessness. Stepping off, she caught sight of a certain red-haired magus, who was trying his best to seem inconspicuous. It was doubtful he would miss her entrance.

Demetrios Vasilikos (769) has posed:
    The group does not have a contact. This is a front for the Family, and the Family has Formula 13. Once they realize there's heroes, things are probably going to descend into violence. Given that there's other Family on their way to pick up the Formula from Red Mike, sneaking around is only likely to be viable for a short time, and mostly useful only so long as they get into that back room quickly after defeating the guards in the business itself.

    For now, Sarah may go unnoticed by the Button Man goons, busy running the bar, reading the newspaper, or keeping an eye on the customers. But, as Sarah noted, the civilians are likely to realize there's a hero around sooner rather than later, since they're moving around the place a lot more. The alcove around the entrance is providing SOME protection from line-of-sight, at least. But how long will that last?

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    With Saber arriving, Shirou's showing some surprise in the look he gives her. Oh there's relief, but plenty of surprise. "S-Saber?! ... I'm glad you're here. This situation's got me stumped. The hideout's probably in the basement but the way in's guarded and the joint's full of people."

    Well that explains his consternation. He doesn't want to put the customers in danger or cause a panic. Exactly what a magus would probably think about.

Saber (346) has posed:
     Shirou seemed to be surprised quite often when Saber showed up for things. Perhaps he expected that her duties of Dun Realtai took up all of her time, but this was hardly the first time she had such duties and yet took action elsewhere. Besides, she was a knight first and foremost, and defending the innocent was something hardwired into her, no matter who they were or where they may be.

     "Then, we shall have to find another way inside, and take care not to cause a panic," she informed the magus quietly before moving to the back, where hopefully he would follow, and slipping inside.

Sarah Rogers (796) has posed:
    Great.. The group just split up. Maybe next time they should come up with a plan first? "Screw it.." Sarah murmurs to herself. It's time to get this party started. She saunters up to the bar and leans up against it, "So, Where can I find Red Mike?" She asks as if this is a perfectly normal question. Maybe if the attention's on her her team mates can sneak in the back easier. And bail her out of it comes to that.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Shirou ends up blinking. Then a few ideas hit him, and he ends up following Saber. "The moment we head down there I bet they'll hit full alarm no matter what, but just plowing in like an angry bull doesn't sound ideal. If there's a locked door though, leave that to me. I've got an idea."

Demetrios Vasilikos (769) has posed:
    As soon as Sarah is spotted by the Family goons inside, they Button Man bartender yells out, "A hero! You're not getting anywhere near Red Mike!" and draws on her. Soon, civilians are flooding out of the business in a panic as gun shots go off from automatic pistols and shotguns. A Capo Gunner pulls out a tommy gun and unleashes a burst of fire as well. Since Sarah's alone to deal with all these guys, she may have a rough time, but with panicked customers running out of the club doors and onto the street, and the sound of gunfire, it shouldn't be hard for Saber and Shirou to realize stuff is going on.

    The service entrance just appears to lead into a storage room full of boxes with now-nervous employees counting boxes and stocking shelves, and wondering why heroes are busting in here. They work here, so they probably know who they're working for, but that doesn't make them criminals. The storage room leads back into the club, if Saber and Shirou decide to go through there anyway. That 'staff only' door seems to be the way in!

    And it doesn't appear to be locked. Apparently they thought burly men with guns was adequate deterrent for security purposes. Luckily, it also appears to be sound-proofed, so no one on the other side is hearing what's going on. It was probably intended to keep anyone from hearing mobster business dealings, but now it's going to work in the favor of the heroes!

Saber (346) has posed:
     Saber ignored the mundane staff as she made her way to the front, though the sound of gunfire and panicked screaming of civilians making a break for the exits was something she certainly didn't. Especially when she could hear it even before they made their way through the Staff Only door, and she needed none of her preternatural Servant senses for it. So much for being discreet.

     Already in motion, Saber summoned her armour and Excalibur to cover for the retreating civilians and giving them the time they needed to escape. It might have seemed the civilians might have been bulletproof, but that was what happens with an experienced tank. Fortunately, all the gunfire seemed to be in the direction of the party of heroes, so slicing through their weaponry was a simple enough task.

Sarah Rogers (796) has posed:
    Sarah leaps behind the bar and brings her shield up for cover, "Hey guys! Need a little help up front!" She calls out to her allies. Once the initial hail of bullets starts to die down she kicks the gun out of the Bartender's hand then carefully makes her way from behind the bar and tries to figure out how to appraoch the most threating looking goons without leaving her back exposed.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Well, so much for trying to take the place somewhat sneakily. Shirou actually claps a hand to his forehead. Well, shit?

    "So much for the stealth approach and not causing a panic. Trace on."

    Kanshou and Bakuya are projected swiftly and brought to bear as he runs towards the source of all that noise. If there's SHOOTING, there might be victims. And of course, there's the other Elite infiltrator, but why they didn't go in the back with him and Saber he'll never know.

    So for the moment his goal is simple: Burst out into the site of all the trouble and take a sword to whatever gun's going off.

    His legendary weapons should be easily able to cleave modern steel...

Demetrios Vasilikos (769) has posed:
    The Button Man Muscle's hand gun is kicked away, so with Sarah moving right into melee range with him by coming behind the bar, he resorts to striking at her with physical blows instead. Which is his specialty anyway. He seems to have decent boxing moves and kicks of modest strength, but he's not super strong.

    With Saber and Shirou attacking the guns of the bad guys instead of the bad guys themselves, they'll discover, much like Miss Rogers, that the Button Men and Capo can still fight without them, or that they keep ahold of the remains of their weapons after being sliced apart. The guns may not be in very good CONDITION, after being attacked with Excalibur and other Noble Phantasms, but they may still at least be good for bludgeoning with the butt of their shotguns and tommyguns, even if they can't shoot. There were thankfully only like five or six bad guys in front, weren't AIMING for the civilians, and those customers are mostly out of the building now, so fighting the bad guys is very much an option.

    They'll need to actually be defeated to move forward. And the reason Sarah didn't go in the service entrance/back with Shirou and Saber is probably because she was already inside when they decided to go all the way around instead of coming in with her, and didn't tell her. Also because the storage room leads out to the exact same place as they would have been anyway.

    Yay, team work!

Saber (346) has posed:
     The Servant had thought that depriving the various Family ruffians would have made them think twice about attacking a nearly fully-armoured knight. They proved soon enough that they had enough moxie and the skill to back it up. Someone without her experience -- such as a novice superhero -- might have been taken down by them, in fact. But for Saber, it meant she had no need to hold back.

     The wide arcs of her slashes were capable of dealing with more than one Button Man at a time, not to mention her footwork kept her well-balanced enough to be able to dodge and attack at the same time. The fact that her sword was invisible certainly did nothing to help, making the range of her strikes difficult to predict. Lastly, hitting armour /hurts/ no matter how hand-to-hand capable someone was.

     However, rather than striking directly, Saber used the ambient force of Wind King as a buffer. Normally, the Bounded Field made her blade even sharper than normal, but if the blade didn't connect, it should have been possible to knock them out via the blunt force of its wake.

Sarah Rogers (796) has posed:
    Sarah's shield is likely frustrating her Button Man. It has the annoying property of just aborbing physical blows as if nothing happened. She gives him a look that seems to say, 'Why don't you just give up?' then when she sees an opening, she goes for a kick to his stomach, intentionally holding back in hopes that she'll just knock the wind out of him.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Balance is everything in a fight, and Shirou finding that the thugs didn't just GIVE UP when deprived of their weapons leaves him slightly overextended and prime for clobbering. He's struck upside the head and bowled backwards, but Shirou recovers. He rolls backwards like a champ and up into a kneeling position. Sparks fly as Kanshou impacts against another weapon in a hurried parry, but Shirou's not relying entirely on his weapons either.

    Dropping Bakuya and pumping magic through his body in a way he's only started getting good at recently, he springs around in a startling leg sweep for his attackers only to SPRING around and land on a table. The damage to Kanshou's repaired and a new Bakuya appears in his right hand.

    "All I can do is hope Paragon City's medical care can handle this."

    Twirling both weapons, he flips them around so the BLUNT end is forward and begins the beatdown. There'll probably be some broken bones... and he's looking pretty reluctant with every swing. But eventually he ends up back to back with Saber.

    "They just don't give up!"

Demetrios Vasilikos (769) has posed:
    After Saber, Sarah, and Shirou have taken out the bad guys in the room with their various methods, mostly attempts at non-lethal damage, the path lays open to procede through the sound-proofed door that was previously guarded. If it's opened, a hallway will be encountered beyond with a couple of rooms along the left-hand side. The sound of dice being rolled, of mobsters talk among themselves, and so on can be heard. A gathering of more Family mobsters at the far end of the hall, near some sliding glass doors can also be seen. Going through them will likely be necessary to get to whatever is on the right side... It can't be seen clearly from here, but might be an elevator room. But the guys in the side rooms can likely be avoided completely if desired.

Saber (346) has posed:
     "It might seem that way," Saber commented to Shirou as they finished dealing with the group and headed for the hall. "Fortunately, those appearances can be deceiving."

     Under normal circumstances, it would probably have been best to take care of all the groups of mobsters, but in this case it was probably best to slip by them. After all, they came here specifically for one thing, and fighting these other groups might alert their objective to their presence. So the King of Knights bypassed the rooms quietly -- possibly eerily, given she was wearing plate -- and headed for the group by the elevator. This time she gave them no warning before unleashing Wind King in a blast that might at least hold the mobsters for a short time while they dealt with them.

Sarah Rogers (796) has posed:
    Sarah keeps silent by hovering off the ground as she follows Saber, pausing at the doors to the side rooms to make sure no one's paying attention before darting past. She's as a bit of a loss on how to stay quiet once the reach the elevator, But Saber doesn't seem particularly interested in that anymore, She looks for the Mobster that's putting up the most restistance to her Wind King attack, makes a bee line towards him and attempt to grapple him in a headlock

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Shirou is not exactly quietly dressed - but then, nor is Saber. He gives Sarah a look for this reason. 'Can we really sneak through here?' Nevertheless, he's silently agreeing with Saber and Sarah's strategy and attempting to get past without alerting anyone.

    All the way to the elevator ... whereupon he simply HURLS Kanshou and Bakuya at them in the wake of Saber's assault.

Demetrios Vasilikos (769) has posed:
    The Button Men seem to provide the least resistance to the wind blast, the Capos more, and one guy in particular in a grey suit and white hat, seems to be resisting the most. While Shirou's sword attacks do damage to the minions, and combined with the wind blast, finish a few of them off, the Capos start to get back up slightly faster or at least to point their guns in the direction of the heroes in a vague manner if they are pinned to the wall or something. The Underboss that Sarah tries to headlock turns out to be fairly tough, as he is charging into the wind blast with strength exceeding that of a normal man. And when she tries to grapple him, he starts moving and dodging away from her so quickly he trails after images.

    That's no normal gangster! This guy must have super powers of his own! A super strong punch is thrown as Sarah, but with her shield, she might be able to defend against it!

Saber (346) has posed:
     Following up the wave of wind, Saber continued her more direct assault on the ones getting back up, though not without some incident. A few bullets graze her, tearing at the fabric of her sleeves though having little luck against her armour, and if there were many more large mobs she would have to be more cautious about conserving her mana.

     For the moment, however, she could dispatch a more Button Men to the hospital and aid Sarah against the Underboss as necessary.

Sarah Rogers (796) has posed:
    Sarah brings her shield up to soften the blow from the underboss, but it's still hard enough that it actually causes the shield to ring like a bell and staggers her somewhat. This guy's serious business. She reaches up to her necklace, and suddenly Mjolnir is in her hand. She swings it hard at the underboss. She has a feeling he can take it.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Mindful of the bullets, Shirou's keeping behind the more resilient, fast, and quite capable Saber. Sarah's got that crazy shield, but he? He's got nothing. So he stays behind her, periodically hurling another Kanshou or Bakuya at anyone getting back up.

    He's -really- hoping the medical teams can do their thing now.

Demetrios Vasilikos (769) has posed:
    The Underboss is a tough one, but with the combined efforts of the heroes, including being whalloped by magic hammers, and blasted with wind swords, while Shirou keeps the Minions and Lieutenants down and then takes them out, he eventually gets whittled down to size. Strong and fast her might be, and he even seemed to be packing some heavy firepowers he didn't get to use, based off of the grenades that might be spotted inside of his jacket... But he isn't invulnerable, and he is eventually defeated. Somehow, the guys in the other rooms didn't appear to hear.

    The sliding glass doors open with a key dropped off the Underboss. Forcing them is possible, but might set off an alarm more audible than the fight just now. Either way, the elevator goes down, not up. The basement level elevator leads out into a large room with columns placed periodically that reach all the way up to the ceiling. There's various minor side-rooms, stairs leading up to balconies, and so on. There's also many more groups of mobsters to fight through, though some rooms can be avoided. Eventually, another multi-level room crowded with gangsters is reached, with a pit-like area at the center. Navigating the stairs going UP leads to a hallway with stairs leading down to a second basement level.

    And those stairs exit out into a long hallway lined with many more doors, and rich red-and-black-diamonds carpetting, with another large room at the end of it, filled with potted plants, furniture of various kinds, artwork, gangsters hanging around talking, and a few of them -- including a big-shot-looking bald man in a white suit and sunglasses -- standing next to a steel refrigeration unit.

    "Where's Johnny Rocko? He should have been here by now!" the Consigliere called 'Red' Mike complains.

    A Capo Gunner next to him replies, "Dunno' boss. Want I should call him to find out?"

Saber (346) has posed:
     Once the Underboss was taken care of and a particular key had fallen out of his pocket, it was a simple enough matter to make their way down and through the basement...somewhat. The building's layout was labyrinthine and seemed to make little sense, and there were more mobsters to fight through even as they evaded the ones they didn't need to fight. Saber continued to slash through them, drawing their attention away from the squishier Shirou enough for the red-haired magus not to be shot. Bullets were less-lethal to a Servant, after all.

     By the time the group reached 'Red Mike', they seemed none the wiser for their arrival.

Sarah Rogers (796) has posed:
    Sarah doesn't see a way to stealth through this last room, so she just steps up to the doorway and waves at the Mobsters inside "I don't suppose you'd believe we're here to pick up Johnny's package for him?" she asks hopefully, the tone of her voice suggesting she's prefer it if they just surrendered, as unlikely as that might be. "These things don't have to be as messy as they usually turn out to be, Just this once could you maybe make it easy on yourselves?" She asks with a bit too much confidence in her voice.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Emiya Shirou doesn't complain no matter how many of the startled mobsters they have to plow through. So long as none are injured lethally unnecessarily he won't pay them too much mind. But with Saber's far superior skill and Sarah's better defenses, he ends up taking the rear role. Arrows fly from his projected bow - and come to think of it where did the arrows come from? Many simply erode into mana after impact...

    This style also lets him preserve prana, thankfully enough!

    Eventually they reach the end and the bossman of the joint.

    SHirou's practically scowling at the guy, so harsh is his gaze. DISAPPROVING.

    "You kept ALL THIS hidden under everyone's noses? It's impressive... but also over. Just come quietly and you won't have to detour through Paragon's hospital."

    Of course he's not going to for once expect him to listen.

    Nobody in this crazy place listens to reason, which is probably why he sounds so weary and disgusted giving that speech alongside Sarah.

    And if experience adventuring in the Multiverse has taught him anything, it's that the hired help is often pushovers, whereas their bosses are inexplicably most fearsome.

    Which is why he starts chanting, just audible for his allies to hear, "My body is made of swords, a shell of steel with fire for blood. I have created over a thousand blades, never retreating, never knowing victory."

    An enormous (for his standards, if anyone knows him) amount of prana floods through his Magic Circuits... but few here could detect that, huh?

Demetrios Vasilikos (769) has posed:
    When Sarah and Shirou make themselves known to the entire room full of mobsters, there is an awkward silence for a little while after the speeches are completed. Then gunfire comes at them from all over the room, 'Red' Mike raises a hand as though summoning something, and the air distorts as something is drawn forth through a portal created through sheer mastery of gravity.

    Shirou's chant might be interrupted by a solid-steel refrigerator being shot at him at high speed.

    "Who let these heroes in here!?" one of the mobsters things to demand, as another Underboss comes running down the stairs from a balcony above, and goes full auto on the group of heroes with his Tommy Gun.

    Maybe pulling the whole room at once wasn't such a great idea.

Saber (346) has posed:
     There was only so much one could do when faced with a criminal who was likely not going to come quietly and obediently. Saber took a point in front, able to deflect the sudden bullets with precise swings, thanks to her Servant's speed.

     The chanting certainly didn't go unnoticed, though Saber was unaware of precisely /what/ it was supposed to do. If he was tracing a particular weapon, a chant usually wasn't necessary. Well, whatever he was planning on doing, Shirou would need some time to complete it. And that was one of the duties of a Servant, particularly of the Saber class.

     Especially when suddenly, refrigerator. It was something the petite knight would have normally evaded as a dodge would have been easier, but at the moment she had little choice. As if came barrelling out of a sudden warping of reality, Saber deepened her stance to add more power to her swing, and Excalibur swept up in an upward arc to slice the appliance in two, parting it out of its Shirou-bound path.

     "I advise that you cease your actions and surrender quietly. We have no wish to harm you." Against a strong controller of gravity, however, that might be easier said than done.

Sarah Rogers (796) has posed:
    Sarah raises her shield to protect herself and Shirou from the incoming hail of bullets. A few of them of them hit around her legs and feet, and seem to really piss her off, but they don't do as much damage as one would expect, there's some bruising and a little bit of blood, but no gaping bullet holes.

    "Why can't we ever do this the easy way!?" She says through gritted teeth. When there's a pause in the rain of lead, she spins Mjolnir up and hurls it into the center of the room, then ducks out of the way to let Shirou do his thing.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    INCOMING FRIDGE! Shirou pauses briefly, panic setting in between seconds. But then a familiar golden-haired servant comes to his aid. he shelters himself with both hands as if expecting fragments to strike... and this is what saves him from some of the gunfire. That, and Saber and Sarah being right in front of him.

    Bullets tear into his extremities until Shirou does the smart thing and rolls BEHIND a section of the fridge to use as cover.

    The wounds look bad, but THIS close to Saber?

    For a very special reason, they're hardly bleeding. The pain is staggering, but Shirou's summoned up a well of determination.

    He will never succumb to pain. It may slow him, but never will it stop him.

    Well, all that didn't stop his chant for long. Now he's louder about it, pumped with resolve.

    "I stand atop a hill of swords, forging weapons from my flesh. This lonely path needs no reward..."

    Just as one might wonder what 'lonely path' he's speaking of... the ground shivers and shudders. Cracks run through it, spearing with red light! Or at least it sure looks like that.

    "My whole life is... UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS!" The Magus raises triumphantly, though with an expression mixed between extreme focus and hot-blooded anger.

    Fire flies from his hands, engulfing everything. But where it passes, it does not burn. It hardly even feels warm. Reality distorts as the world is pulled away... and everyone in the room is pulled INWARDS, instead. It's a lurching sensation over in a brief instant...

    Where before there was modern building floor and walls, something quite different spreads as far as the eye can see.

    Twilight reigns over the sunless, yet uncannily bright heavens. Everyone stands atop a mostly flat, scorched, rusty-brownish wasteland of baked dirt. The air is warm and sparks of glowing slag seem to rise from the ground here and there.

    This barren, inhospitable, and lonely wasteland has no end. ONly a wall of fire at the infinitely distant horizon.

    And everywhere... swords impale the ground, sunk half a foot deep down or so. Plain swords, ordinary swords. Decorative swords, ornate swords. Legendary swords. Blades of all shapes and sizes are EVERYWHERE.

    And Shirou doesn't even need to gesture. He gazes hard at the gaggle of mobsters... and a dozen blades FLY from their resting places, twirl around to point their business ends appropriately, and ROCKET for their targets.

Demetrios Vasilikos (769) has posed:
    The explosion of force from the thrown mjolnir sends a number of Button Men flying, and Shirou's trick with drawing a bunch of enemies/allies into another reality and then sword them allows him to take out another portion of the group, but there's plenty more where they came from! Shotguns, handguns, tommy guns... The Underboss is throwing a fragmentation grenade into the midst of the heroes. All of them seem remarkably unfazed by their sudden shift in location. Rather weird, to be honest. They also seem to be very unusually coordinated in their attacks, with minimal verbal communication. What's going on here?

    The humming canister that likely contains the Formula 13 lies nearby, with Red Mike staying near to guard it. He yells back, "We ain't turning back now after all the trouble we went through! Yer out o' luck, girliess!"

    Wait, does he think they're all girls? Even Saber!? How insulting! ...Oh, and Shirou too, but that's to be expected.

    Either way he throws his hands out to the sides, and creates a misshapen gravitational field around Saber, trying to hold her in place to inhibit her ability to defend the others AND herself by making movement nearly impossible. Pulling and pushing from dozens of directions at once, the gravity field can hold all manner of heroes! But is the King of Heroes resistant enough to this kind of effect that she can shake it off?

    Sarah's shield skill is keeping her not-full-of-holes, but something has to be done about all these goons who keep moving around to flank the good guys and trying to interrupt Shirou's sword barrage by putting so many bullets into him that he stops being able to stab people.

    Also has anyone else noticed how weird it is that none of the guys seem at all bothered by being in another dimension? WEIRD.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Invoking Unlimited Blade Works was quite a prana investment. Shirou is nearly empty now. Only enough left for perhaps two projections.

    But.

    Just as guns are leveled to him his eyes narrow and forehead furrows. Somewhere in this infinite expanse a particular Noble Phantasm answers his call instantly, flying across the great distance instantly.

    "RHO AIAS!"

    The great shield whips up in front of him as a glint of light only to unfold into a spectacular barrier of purplish-pink light. The first layer sprouts four petals, then extends forwards to create three layers. Bullets spang into it, but even this insane brigade is going to take a while to penetrate the first layer. The outermost shield's slowly showing signs of cracking under the assault... but there are THREE MORE TO GO afterwards.

    Still, every crack's triggering a pang of pain on Shirou's face. Sometimes a tiny wound opens on his body, but it's hard to tell under all of his clothes - which are already bloodied.

    There goes what's left of his prana supply! Maintaining the shield will quickly drain it. But so long as it stands, he simply hunkers behind the shield. How many seconds will it buy? Ten? Fifteen? Likely no more, but he makes this time count.

    Now much FIERCER weapons erupt from the ground all around, swoop into the heavens, angle themselves and fly down at the mobsters.

    The cursed crimson spear, Gae Bolg, comes flying down like a missile for one. Thanatos, Scythe of the Grim Reaper, aims for a comrade. The brilliant blade of betrayal, Clarent, joins the fray. Hrunting cuts a bloody swath through the sky, alongside Kusanagi and Kaladbolg. Sasaki Kojirou's treasured nodachi, the 'laundry-drying pole' comes spinning down for chests and arms. The rainbow shimmer of Joyeuse rockets down. A half-dozen less fabled weapons zip around like puppets dancing on strings to cut at hands and weapons. Katanas and western longswords, the occasional spear and knife here and there.

    Then a pale shadow of the greatest Holy Sword of the Earth, Excalibur, comes flying down from the sky like the judgement of heaven, straight down for Saber's Gravity-wielding opponent. The mystical blade gleams and shimmers, covered in a radiant white-gold light - an astounding purity, but nowhere near what the real thing should be.

    "Take them down, Saber, Sarah! I can't keep this up for long!"

Saber (346) has posed:
     The gravity-propelled projectile had been the immediate concern, what would have certainly stopped the chant. While she would have preferred to have deflected all the bullets, at least there was a certain artefact of hers which had made the wounds negligible. Or rather, a version of said artefact. More importantly, it seemed to have been enough.

     Saber blinked in naked surprise as a Reality Marble suddenly manifested over what was once an office. That was definitely unexpected...though it /did/ explain the chant. She didn't know Shirou was capable of that, though it more than clarified a few things. What was truly strange, however, was the fact that the Family seemed unfazed by it. Was it because of the Consigliere's own reality-warping abilities? Or simply that this universe had already been playing hopscotch with realities even /before/ Unification?

     The more important question was the co-ordination between the mobsters. While she and Bedivere were able to do such a thing, it was highly unlikely that they all shared the necessary bond...

     Jade eyes flicked to the humming canister Red Mike guarded before flicking back to him. Her eyes widened briefly at the description; she still didn't think of herself as particularly female in all but a few cases. Far too mannish in many ways, so it came as a surprise. But the moment passed before she realised why it was that there was that level of co-ordination. "I see. You are controlling them, then."

     With that, the Servant wasted no time, blurring into action...only to be significantly slowed once she was hit with a gravitational effect. While it couldn't effectively hold her, it nevertheless slowed her to more human levels of speed. Excalibur swung down, but by Saber's standards it was sluggish and avoidable.

Sarah Rogers (796) has posed:
    So many things happening at once. Does Sarah look a little green? The sudden change of landscape is especially disorienting to her. Someone could've warned her that was going to happen. Fortunately she remains focused enough on what saber's doing to take a clue from it. She call Mjolnir back to her hand, knocking over a random cappo along the way, then starts to wade into the chaos, heading towards Red Mike.

    She's taking gunfire from all angles, and just has to rely on her natural toughness to carry her through it. The bullets hurt like hell, and raise bruises and welts all over her body, but she what this reality considers a Tank and she's good at her job. She has to shield bash a few mobsters out of the way to get in close to Mike, but she makes it, then raises her shield and slams Mjolnir into it, releasing a shockwave right next to Red Mike's head.

Demetrios Vasilikos (769) has posed:
    As Shirou pummels the other Family goons in the area, and Saber and Sarah unleash Excalibur slashes and deafening shockwaves upon the Consigliere, the latter's concentration is disrupted and his comrades suddenly become much less competent, and far more confused about what's going on. Some of the more injured ones attempt to flee. The Underboss shakes his head but turns his Tommy Gun on Shirou, the guy who is clearly responsible for all this, only to get speared by gae bolg.

    With the AoE damage being put out, combined with the disabling or defeating of the bosses in charge, the mobsters are totally routed.

    'Red Mike' tries to run for it as well towards the end, fleeing with a slash across his white suit and his ears ringing. But he's disoriented and it's more like a stagger than a run. Finishing him off and then retrieving the Formula 13 from its canister should be all that's needed now!

Sarah Rogers (796) has posed:
    Sarah looks around for a moment to ensure that there aren't any mobsters trying to get back up. then throws her shield at Red Mike's legs. Using the hammer would just be cruel at this point, and she doesn't want to kill him after all. "Shirou! Are you okay?" She calls back worriedly, he took the most damage out of anyone in this fight.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Area of Effect assault is Shirou's main strategy right now. The Amber-eyed youth has his gaze locked on the criminals. Judgemental and harsh through the pain he's suffering, he keeps the assault going. He capitalizes on the apparent loss of judgement!

    A few dozen overly large great swords, bastard swords, and things that only a GIANT might wield come flying down out of nowhere to break up ranks. They aren't aimed at anything but the ground, hoping to scatter forces and render them easy pickings.

    ZANTETSUKEN erupts from the ground nearby, animated into a swift cleave across the ranks. A golden spear crackling with lightning crosses through them next, followed by a katana that seems to pulse with bloodthirst. Several more holy blades follow in its wake...

    But the more swords he directs, the harder he seems to be focusing. The boy staggers, only to drop to a knee. Rho Aias starts flickering, the outer layers crumbling inwards as his prana supply's nearly exhausted.

    "Fine enough... almost out of prana... keep it up!" He speaks between strained gulps for air.

Demetrios Vasilikos (769) has posed:
    Red Mike is taken out and all the others are either captured or otherwise defeated. The refrigerated case with Formula 13 in it is secured, keeping super soldier serum out of the hands of dangerous mobsters.

    Dun dun DUNNNN... DUN!

    MISSION COMPLETE!