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Nero      It's been a week. A week since Hakuno, Nero, and company made their first foray into the viral quarantine area within their territory of the New Imperial Roman Republic within Moon Cell. There, they came across a shadow clad Assassin-Class Servant. One whose origins remained a mystery, but whose intent was clear as day: He was there expressly to assassinate Hakuno, and the only reason he did not succeed was because everyone *else* was there to stop him.

     Normally, one would decide to stay back and not put themselves in danger after discovering a fact like that, but Hakuno is a stubborn girl. After an entire week of poring through the Moon Cell's archives, an entire week of her eyes sweeping left and right, left and right as she scans over countless lines of streaming data... she finally has a breakthrough. "....!" She stops on one particular article and her eyes widen. "This is... ..."

     Immediately, she stands up from her throne, dismisses all but one of the holo screens she was looking over, and compresses that screen into a data cube, which she stores into a virtual inventory. With purpose in those brown eyes, she marches off. "Saber! Get ready! We're going back to the quarantine area!" She calls out, immediately resulting in a red clad figure appearing by her side in a burst of Spiritron particles, golden heels clacking along the tiles. "But of course, my Praetor." Nero says with a confident grin. "I shall be the blade that cuts open the way for you to move forward."

     The brunette nods at her Servant, and brings two fingers up to an ear, a holographic earpiece forming over it as she speaks. "I'm putting out a call for any capable hands to come to the quarantine area of the New Imperial Roman Republic. I've just made a breakthrough, and I'm going back in. Come ready for conflict. The coordinates will be transmitted for ten minutes. Make sure you record them." She lets her hand drop and steps into the transfer chamber in the imperial palace, nodding to Nero. "Let's go."

     Then, they both vanish in a burst of Spiritron Particles, shifting through space, and then reconstituting at the gate before the quarantine sector.
Ryouma Sakamoto     The answer to 'will Ryouma help people' is always yes.
    Also there are large digital frogs.
    So now Oryou's kind of psyched too, in her own way.

    The two arrive without fanfare, settling by Hakuno and Nero (well, Oryou's floating, as ever) and glancing at (and into) the quarantine. As he adjusts his hat, Ryouma asks: "Has this served a purpose, yet? Perhaps we might find their goal if we look at what this has accomplished for them so far. What effects does corrupting the land like this have?"

    He's not from THE MOOOON, so he wouldn't know.
    "Oryou bets it's terrible for the frog ecosystem," she theorizes.
    "Ah, perhaps, yes," Ryouma nods.
Ritsuka Fujimaru     When was the last time Jeanne actually got involved in a proper fight against Servants? Too long. After the last night's events, she's hankering for something a little more straightforward.

     Also, something that people won't talk her ear off about actually going overboard destroying everyone and everything in sight. The Dragon Witch is already clad in her blackened armor as she arrives at the designated coordinates, her banner billowing lazily behind her while her sword remains sheathed at her side for the time being.

     "Does it matter what purpose there is? There's going to be something to fight. Shape up!" She snaps at Ryouma, smirking after a moment as she turns her gaze to Oryou. "You /are/ ready to fight regardless of what it is, aren't you?"
Muramasa After his previous attempt to render assistance had gone awry, the blacksmith had retreated to parts unknown to lick his wounds and get to work. He'd received inspiration from Archer's pilfered armory in the brief moments it had to appear before it was overtaken by a sea of blood and thus, when he arrives this time, it is with a different weapon. It bore some resemblance to the otachi, the horse cutting sword, but ... it was frankly far too large for even that. It almost had a resemblance to the scimitar with how wide the blade was and the deep curve in it but it also held elements of the traditional Japanese katana in the hilt. Its edge was single-sided, thin and sharp.

It's only natural for him to show up again, knowing that at least one person's life was on the line. "An Avenger, huh. Well, you seem a little more agreeable than one would expect, just don't burn me alive, okay?"

With that short introduction of sorts to Jeanne, the Saber waves to Hakuno and Nero, leaning his sword onto his shoulder. "You had some kinda epiphany, missy?"
Solty Revant      She helped last time, so Solty Revant feels both obligated and happy to help again when Hakuno sends out a call. It takes the green-haired android girl some time to find the spot, though. Despite being technology herself, she is not all that good at using technology. Following the GPS app on her phone turns out to be harder than she thought when it keeps trying to send her down roads and things while she is trying to just run along the tops of buildings or the like.

     She finally stops and sighs, then takes to running along the directed route. Hopefully she doesn't tear too much of the ground up with her high speed running! When she does finally make it to the meeting spot, she has left a large cloud of dust in the shape of the trail she followed. She slows her running when she sees Hakuno and Nero up ahead and waves as she calls out to them. "Hello Hakuno! Hello Nero!" she calls out with a cheerful smile. She stops beside them and her smile fades into a determined frown as she looks over the corrupted landscape. "So...are we going to try and stop that badguy again?"
Crys Gattz Servants were legends of a world of an entire people after all and Crys was curious she sought foes to fight that might just up the chances of leaving some proof that she existed from what she'd clashed with that and she wanted to lend Nero a hand after all.

So she was quick to respond to their call for aid. She arrived with little fanfare herself and the one-eyed Newman is sizing things up.

"Heard you needed some help, Emperor. I'm interested in lending you a hand."

She looks to Janne for a moment.

"I think there will be."

SHe pauses to look at Sengo real hard for a moment though.

"So she's an Avenger, I see."
Touta Konoe      It had only been a week since the last time he had been out to the Moon Cell, and now once again he appeared back just like he said he would if the call came out. The young man, wears the same attire for the most part as last time. The black jacket with the floral design, the black pants, and red t-shirt underneath. Being told to be ready for combat he's already got his black taichi resting on his shoulder.

     He arrives with a smile on his face, though perhaps not as cheeerful as he could be. After all, he's gotta a bit serious given the circumstances.

     "Oi! Nero, Hakuno! Came as soon as I can." He heads over to the two as they prepared to really dig into the depths of this quarantine zone. Of course they aren't the only ones to get a mention as well. Oryou, Sakamoto, Sengo, and Solty all get a nod and smile. Even Jeanne gets a smile and a wave...Wait...

     "Jeanne? I didn't know you were coming to the Moon Cell." This was a bit more of a surprise all things considered, but not a bad one at least. But if he had known, they could have carpooled...Or Warpgate Pooled....Or something. Well whatever the case was at least he knew there were people that he could rely on here. Also some new people he had no idea about like Crys as well who also receives a wave and smile. After all, anyone looking out for his friends is a friend of his.
Nova Terra     Another opportunity to take a shot (literally!) at that shadowed Assassin. Nova's not going to pass it up. She doesn't like it when a target gets away. So she has once more returned to this moon, appearing in a wash of blue light as she decloaks.

    Nova walks up to join the group, "We'll get him this time." She chambers a round into her rifle for emphasis. And of course to get ready to head into the quarantine zone.

    Though Sengo does ask a good question and Nova turns to look at Hakuno, "Yeah. You got something that might be able to help us out?"
Ritsuka Fujimaru Jeanne's grin grows when Sengo calls her an Avenger. No, when he /recognizes/ her as one.

Maybe that camera thing really did have something to it.

"I make no promises if you're in the way." She scoffs lightly, then squints at Touta when she notices that he's showed up here as well. "You're involved here, too? Why am I not surprised?"

Of course he'd be here. "The same goes for you, too. I was just bored and needed something to burn that /wouldn't/ have people complaining."
Nero      Ryouma and Oryou arrive, and Hakuno smiles in their direction. Nero gives the two a nod but otherwise is too busy keeping an eagle eye on the entrance into the quarantine sector, Aestu Estus planted into the ground and her hands resting atop the pommel. She dares Assassin to come back and attempt to slay her Praetor. She will cut him down before such a reality takes shape, Reality Marble or not.

     The brunette's eyes find their way to Jeanne as she arrives and she blinks. "...?" There's a little tilt of the head and she looks a bit confused for a moment. "...Jeanne d'Arc?" The Master asks in an unsure manner. "...You look...um, a lot more intense than I recall you looking from what I remember. Did something happen?" That's because this is not *that* Jeanne, Hakuno.

     Crys' arrival is met with a nod by Nero, who looks her way. "Very good! Then I shall allow you to join me in the defense of my Praetor, and the discovery of the truth!" Hakuno meanwhile has her attention drawn by Sengo and his... uh.... very large sword. Smiling nervously for a moment, she swallows her trepidation and nods, putting a focused expression back onto her face. "Right. I'll explain as we go." She looks to Nero, "Saber, let's get moving. Time is of the essence. We don't know when that Assassin might return.

     Solty arrives right about then, and the Master nods, "Well, not specifically to stop that Servant. But I have an idea of what the root cause might be." She says as Nero proudly walks on ahead and leads the way forward. Touta arrives last, along with Nova, and Nero calls out to them. "Touta Konoe! Nova Terra! Make haste for we are moving onward!"

     And with the group moving forward into the corrupted territory, Hakuno begins to explain. "Right. I spent the last week searching through Moon Cell's...uh, vast archives, but I finally found something that might be a clue." She raises a finger. "In 2004, the Fifth Holy Grail War was fought in Fuyuki City in Japan. The result of that war was the corrupted Black Grail spreading its influence and warping the state of the war." She shakes her head. "The who and why don't matter, so I'll skip over those. But the point I'm getting at here, is that through the Moon Cell's observation data, I'm thinking that a virus based on the simulated data of the Black Grail is being proliferated through Moon Cell right now." Her hand lowers and she frowns. "Last time, someone called Assassin back, so there is clearly a Master at work here. Nevermind the Servant. I need to find that Black Grail virus and dismantle it before my Authority Rank plummets even further."
Riku The Moon Cell is an unusual land that is reputed to be full of power to be taken. Riku is interested in power and is certainly willing to take it.

The question is just how and what he's going to be dealing with, after all. Therefore, an opportunity to get involved arising gets his attention.

Riku arrives within the Moon Cell from the Warpgate, opting for it instead of trying to navigate his way here the hard way for a change. He arrives later than the others, giving him the opportunity to see the spread. He looks over the people assembled with a measuring gaze, his expression flat. He's not sure what he's dealing with here. It's not like Servants obey consistent rules at the best of times.

He quietly moves along as Hakuno explains what's up.

"That sure is inconvenient." Riku comments. "Viruses don't just get on computers on their own though." He points out. "Maybe the Master of that Servant has something to do with it. If nothing else, you can punch them until they cough up info, right? You need leads or you're going to be looking for a needle in a haystack."
Muramasa The redheaded man looks a little sheepish towards Crys, as if he'd said something he shouldn't have. "Yeah ... "

His expression quickly straightens out as he lets out a small chuckle in response to the Witch's wits. "I'll have to take care, then. Being incinerated by a grudge is bad luck."

It's not long before the group is walking and talking. His posture stiffens the moment Hakuno mentions the Fuyuki Grail War -- it was another life, for him, but he remembered most of everything. He was not Shirou Emiya, but ... indeed, those experiences still existed inside him right now and influenced the being he became.

Well, that said, it was likely that the war of 2004 here was different than the one he remembers. "This has to be dealt with as soon as possible. If that substance is really black mud, then -- "

He stops himself, looking to the side almost guiltily. "Well, it's a virus, right? It'll be really bad if it spreads. The beings who live here will suffer terribly, even if it's just a fake."
Ryouma Sakamoto     "Ah, of course I'm ready to fight, I would just rather not needlessly do so," Ryouma say towards Jeanne, because he is a doof what not likes fights. Oryou, for her part, offers the greatest shrug.
    "Oryou doesn't care one way or the other, but if anything comes close to hurting Ryouma, Oryou will eat it," she says.
    Which is about right.

    As Hakuno explains, Ryouma starts frowning. "If the taint of Fuyuki's Grail has been replicated in digital virus form... that's definitely not good. It isn't a force that cares what it damages. It just does. No, more than that, it's an affront to the World itself. I don't know if your Moon Cell cares as much about itself, but if it sends agents and they become tainted..."

    They might have to fight the system itself.

    "Well, suffice to say, it's in our best interest to resolve this before any kind of Counter Force gets involved, myself and the red Archer excluded."
Touta Konoe      Well now that Jeanne's here Touta obviously has to be buddy-buddy. He throws her a pat on the back,

     "If that's the case the Moon Cell's definitely a good choice I guess. You could definitely be of some help here that's for sure. Plus, this place is anything but boring. Once we find this Assassin and his Master I can see if we can get you a bit more of a tour of Rome, or would you prefer checking out the Millenium Capital ins-"

     And that's when Nero's tells him to make haste. He'll have to drag her around places later. He should probably see if Solty and Sengo are interested too when it's a bit calmer. Speaking of Sengo, did he just say something? Touta turns his way as he hears him talk about black mud he raises a brow.

     "Was that what we were calling the stuff in the quarantined zone?" He doesn't pay the remark too much mind though. For now at least, "Hold up Nero, I was just taking the rear was all!" That's the excuse he gives for not making pace with the others. But he does find himself trailing behind Hakuno and the others. After all, they were dealing with an Assassin right? Who was to say they weren't going to try and flank them from behind?
Crys Gattz Crys Gattz looks to Nero and gets a grin on her face and she seems to sizing up Sengo's sword and tilt her head.

"Nice blade there by the way."

She'll fall in with Nero and everyone else as they head out. She falls in step and pauses for a moment. The term grail war is clearly known to her from how she looks. "So we got a magical virus to take out, all right, so long as conceptually, we can stab it and make it bleed, thus die we should be good."

She had to admit Moon Cell was one of the more memorable places she's been to so far and she wonders just where this adventure will take them all.

"Anything else and how at risk are we at from contamination from this black grail virus?"

She look to Ryouma fdor a momen and nods.

"Bad news Ryouma? Sounds almost like the thing we killed on Ragol a long time ago...damn thing had turned the biosphere into an extention of itself, there."
Nova Terra     Nova lets the others start off, hanging back for a few moments before she begins moving herself. Sticking towards the rear of the group, she reaches up to bring her visor down over her eyes. As they enter the quarantine zone proper, she begins to turn her head in multiple directions, watching for any signs of the previous assassin. She also reaches out with her mind, attempting to pick up on any thoughts belonging to someone other than the group who she has joined. All the while listening to an explanation that mostly doesn't do a lot to help explain how to take the Assassin down. Or his master.

    "The kid does raise a good point." Nova says in response to Riku, "It's unlikely that the Master we encountered isn't involved with the virus. If we can get our hands on him, he can probably tell us what we need to know."
Ritsuka Fujimaru Hakuno recognizing Jeanne has her squinting for a moment. It's not a long moment, but it's a noticeable one before she speaks up again. "You're just getting old. This is how I've always been."

Clearly.

Leaving that question mostly unanswered, Jeanne moves right along with the rest of the group while listening to the explanation about what's going on in this particular war.

Riku's plan sounds meritous enough to her. "There's very few people that wouldn't spill their plans in exchange for not dying. All we need to do is find them." Nodding once, she smirks as Sengo seems to acknowledge her vague threat while Oryou shows her willingness to fight, then turns her head slowly when Touta pats her back.

"Don't push your luck. What is there to even see in this digital Rome if it's not even the real thing?" A pause, and then she turns back to Nero and Hakuno. "How far has this virus spread outside of the so-called Quarantine Zone?"
Solty Revant      Solty tries to greet everyone she can, though Touta in particular gets a quick hug. "Hello again, Touta! I guess we should just start meeting in the Moon Cell for normal, non-virus things." she says with a giggle as they follow after Nero. She listens to Hakuno's explanation and nods, then her ears twitch. It's a small chance, but with her powerful hearing Solty might be able to hear either Assassin or his Master and give them a direction to go. She actually closes her eyes in the process, staying close to Touta to help avoid any obstacles she might not see while trying to detect the evil servant or his master.
Nero      And suddenly there's Riku. Neither Hakuno nor Nero are familiar with him, but... more hands is good, right? Right. So the Master nods his way. "Right. I'm still lacking a lot of details, and this is just my conjecture, but the appearance, the way it corrupts the environment... it's too similar." She looks to Sengo at that. "Well, a digital form of black mud anyway..." Ryouma's comment about the system sending out enforcers to solve the problem makes her smiles sheepishly. "... Well, right now, it more or less recognizes that *we* are the first responders. if we fail, then the system will take more drastic measures, I think." Beat. "... But I won't let it get to that point."

     However, at THAT moment, before any more discussion can be had, there's a sardonic chuckle that echoes through the corrupted streets. "Well said. Little Master." Hakuno freezes momentarily and then looks up in alarm. Just in time to see a silver and blue streak tear through the darkened skies. It hurtles down right into the center of the group, and stabs a spear right into the ground, causing it to violently crack as divine force of water explodes upwards from said cracked pavement in cutting waves from all around.

     "SABER!" Hakuno shouts, and Nero is on the move, right in front of her. "As you command, my Praetor!" She replies, blade held out defensively, to weather the cutting waves that slice through the ground and air in a spiral formation. Once it clears up, the figure stands, shrouded partially in a black mist similar of Assassin last time...

     He's a young adult man of fair complexion, with blonde hair tied back into a low tail, wearing a red tunic, with ancient roman armor over it. Particularly a lorica segmentata. His legs are adorned in greaves as well from the shin downwards. Finally, in one hand, he grasps a golden headed spear with a long, blue shaft.

     "I'm afraid that you have to die now. Your blessing has become an obstacle."
Riku A lot of the vagaries of this situation are still lost on the teen, but he can read between the lines. "Of course. Another corrupting force." He sighs in irritation. "Well, looks like I'm going to have to help take care of that before anything gets done here." Is that Riku saying he's going to help? Seems to be the case, anyway...

Unfortunately, the dramatic entrance and spiral wave sends catches Riku by surprise, the impact of the water smashing him to the ground with a grunt of pain. "Ggggh!" A moment later, a flash of darkness rolls over his body and his casual clothing is replaced with a tight purplish-white suit. He rolls up to his feet as a bat-winged blade manifests in his hand. "You sure do seem to be pretty confident. Let's see if it lasts."

Riku promptly flips through the air at high speed, rebounding off of a nearby wall before vanishing into a dark portal. Now, when someone does that one normally expects them to appear from behind or above...

Until Riku erupts up from below, the other side opening right in front of him as the Soul Eater lashes out and carves vertically.
Ryouma Sakamoto     "Ah, I see. How wise of it. The World is not so generous as to recognize responders like that." But then, Gaia and Alaya are quite zealous. Ryouma puts his smile back on, though that's short-lived with the arrival of - Lancer?

    That's a spear, for sure.

    Oryou moves like a blur, standing in front of Ryouma before anyone can so much as blink. The impact seems to fair to register on her outright, dampening the blow for Ryouma too. Her divinity and absurd endurance impose themselves like immovable objects wearing a school uniform.

    "Can Oryou eat THAT one?" she looks back towards Ryouma.
    "Ah, no, please allow me to help this time," Ryouma pleads.
    "Fine," Oryou nods.

    Her hair lashes out, like tendrils of corrosive shadows. They jolt for the Lancer's wrists and ankles, as Ryouma's sheathed katana appears and he walks past his bodyguard.

    "My apologies," he says.
    She flashes, right past Lancer. When he reappears behind him, his katana is drawn, and a delayed series of slash tries to make the most of Oryou's bindings against him, if that worked.

    "I don't suppose you'd part with your name, at least, if you'll so rudely attack us?"
Ritsuka Fujimaru A new Servant appears! Jeanne spots the streak before the spear appears, but she makes no move to avoid it. Instead, she's already begun readying her own counterattack, gritting her teeth with a sadistic smile even as that blast of water slices angry red gashes into her skin.

She doesn't need to evade. She just needs to destroy the attacker the moment he appears. Already, the Dragon Witch's sword-arm flexes while numerous cursed spears form in the air behind her, poised to strike. But at what?

What it is appears, and she waits only a moment before beginning her assault. The spears go flying at the Roman that appears out of nowhere, some of the zipping upwards before hurtling towards him while others surge forward from other angles. Jeanne herself charges right in without even bothering to watch for other opponents, the bloodlust evident as she gets right in there!
Muramasa Defending himself as best he can with an unwieldy sword, Muramasa none the less comes out injured with a large bruise forming on his shoulder. Plunging the sword's tip into the ground to balance himself, he took a deep breath. "Trace On."

Green lines began to spread over him as he performed a full-body Reinforcement. It was necessary to wield this sword with any measure of grace, after all.

Charging forwards with speed greater than he'd ordinarily be capable of, he darts to the left at the last second to avoid running straight into Riku as the keyblader appears from below, using his whole body as a fulcrum to attempt and smack the spearman in his side with the blunt side of his weapon, intent on flinging the Servant spiraling into the air. "What an interesting spear that is, Lancer!"
Touta Konoe      As much as everyone can appreciate a nice hug, it's short lived as everyone continues trucking along. Hakuno meanwhile continues her explanation of the black mud and it's impact on the digital environment of the Moon Cell until she's disrupted by the streak that flies thrugh the sky and pierces into the ground relentlessly. From the cracked earth, water erupts and comes at the group in a large wave, and Touta being in the back is able to deal with less of the brunt of the assault thanks to Nero's sword breaking it apart.

     "Nice save!" And with the opening she creates, Touta charges in from the rear towards the Lancer along with the others quickly following behind Jeanne with his blade in hand. It's the first time he's actually seen her fight but it looks like she wasn't kidding anyone when she said she could handle herself. He raises his blade and starts his own onslaught of slashes trying to keep the pressure on Lancer along with the others.
Crys Gattz Things seemed to be well however it seems something is about to happen. Crys sees that Hakuno freezes for a moment and is also panicking she doesn't even blink herself. Her claw powers up two twin pink energy blades form from the claw and a second housing appears on her other forearm as well and there's a smirk on her face as she looks at the person that has shown up.

"Oh really bring it."

That's all Crys has left to say as her Nei claws will do the rest of the talking but an attack gets her somewhat off guard. The cutting waves do get past her photon barriers, which make her wonder what they would do if she didn't have them up.

the next second she's off like a shot and there is something of a cold expression on her face as she moves in on the assassin the claws will lah out one will try to catch the sp4ear letting the other slash into the would-be assassins gut. Crys clearly is looking to take them down hard and fast.
Nova Terra     Nova's head snaps up as she senses the presence moments before it announces itself. Definitely not the same Servant. The opening attack is too fast to let Nova get into cover. So she simply crouches as she readies to counter.

    The cutting wave hits, Nova wincing as some of the impact makes it through. Once it has passed though, she settles and raises her rifle to look down the scope. Unfortunately a certain Avenger is currently in the line of fire, apparently charging in recklessly. Tch. Fine. Nova will make do.

    Shifting the sights to be set just to the side of Jeanne's head, Nova pulls the trigger. The bullet blasts forwards from rifle, just barely streaking past Jeanne, before curving around just a touch to get on course for the Lancer servant. Maybe even taking him by surprise with its mid-air change in trajectory.
Solty Revant      That voice echos and Solty's eyes pop open. Well, no power hearing is needed for this! That spear lands and she brings her arms up to shield herself from the flying water blades. Several scratches and cuts appear on her arms, and while none are too deep they do reveal the shining metal beneath her synthetic skin. "A-another servant?" she says through clenched teeth. "Or is this the master?"

     Whatever the case, once the waves have passed she brings her arms down into a loaded position at her sides. Her hands start to glow with an orangey-yellow energy. "Whoever you are, you better stop this right now! We won't let you guys keep hurting all these innocent people or Hakuno!" Much like with the Assassin she leaps forward and aims a pair of punches at this unknown asailant, unleashing a pair of explosive bursts along with them.
Nero      Lancer stands there, in the middle of ground zero as the group scrambles back into shape and counterattacks. First comes Riku, who does the not so obvious thing, and comes bursting up from the dark portal below him. The Servant spins his lance into a defensive position, and something definitely strange happens. Riku's blade pierces him right in the chest through his armor, and blood spurts out. Everyone definitely saw that, but then a moment later, as if it were deja vu, Riku can feel himself suddenly going through the exact same moment again, yet this time, Riku's blade glances off of his armor, leaving an upwards scrape.

     Hakuno, who has given the combat area a wide berth, sees this and blinks. Rubs her eyes, and looks again. ...Nothing. Did she just imagine that? She shakes her head and pulls up several holo screens and a keyboard, fingers blazing across the keys as she proceeds with her analysis.

     Of course, not even the mysterious Roman Lancer could have suspected that Jeanne would unleash such a terrifying attack at the expense of her own stamina right off the bat. He swerves left and right, clicking his tongue as he can find not opening to-"Khkk!" A heavy slash cleaves right into him, sending him flying backwards as Sengo follows up and gives chase to sideswipe him, and.... yet again, something odd happens.

     At first, the sideswipe connects, and he clearly goes flying into a blackened building. But then the moment of the swing replays, and he barely vaults over it with the weapon scraping by him and leaving sparks. "You find my spear interesting? I imagine you would. I can see it in your eyes. That burning desire to create." He smirks as he lands on the ground a ways away, and doesn't comment further, because here comes Touta.

     But for some reason... that phenomemon doesn't occur this time. Lancer meets the boy's flurry of strikes with his own swings and parries, narrowly avoiding a heavy hit like before, but taking incremental damage as the exchange continues. Yet still, he smirks, "That is a fascinating sword you have there, boy..." He says over the clash of steel and the sparks of weapon meeting weapon resulting. The pleasantries don't last much longer after that, because all of a sudden, there's hair lashing around his wrists and ankles, "Eh?" He looks down. "Well, that certainly is not part of the plan." He murmurs in an almost unconcerned manner, and then looks to Ryouma who asks for his name. "I would give you my name, but I think that you will figure it out in due time anyway." And then he gets slashed by both Ryouma and Crys, followed by a heavy set of kinetic punches from Solty that strike his bound up body, and a shot from Nova that pierces his armor. The force of the blows send him careening backwards into a building, which cracks, crumbles, and then collapses right on top of the Roman.

     .... ..... "Is that it?" Hakuno asks aloud hopefully, warily, but knowing full well that it's not even- Ah there it is.

     Nero frowns and stays in front of her Master as light streams through the cracks of the rubble, followed by an explosion of divine energy that clears the wreckage away in a flash, revealing Lancer to be standing there, looking much worse for the wear, yet amused all the same. "Heh heh heh... Even after death, my luck is just the worst." He rubs his neck, and rolls his head a moment. "Alright then. My turn." He raises that blue and gold spear high into the sky, and his face forms into one of supreme focus. Large amounts of Spiritrons gather in an azure storm of red and blue. Blood and Water, as his weapon takes on the same glow, energy swirling around him in a massive storm that kicks up a fierce gale, whipping clothing and hair around alike.
Nero      Then he takes a stance, weapon held back. A step forward, and he swings with all his might!

     Longinus - Divine Spear Of An Ever Distant Tomorrow.

     Immediately, the storm rages, a maelstrom of blood and water swirl together into a massive tempest that hurtles through the streets from above and below. Sheer crushing pressure, cutting force, and explosive magical might combining into a fearsome attack that can only be called a Noble Phantasm.
Ritsuka Fujimaru Nova's bullet whizzing by doesn't go unnoticed, and it draws a satisfied chuckle from the Dragon Witch. "I wonder... Was that confidence in your aim, or did you just miss? Be glad I'm in a good mood right now!" Cackling again, Jeanne's grin widens when the Lancer goes flying from her blow. Although she's not fond of sharing the glory with all these other people, being able to just let loose in a fight is rather liberating.

She needs more liberation. "Touta, are you fighting to injure him or fighting to kill him? A cornered rat won't hold back, so neither should you!" She shouts towards him before bracing her sword this time, watching the Lancer drawing that energy into the area around him.

"Heh... Already? Then come, Lancer! Strike us down if you can!" Watching that storm of magical might, the Avenger charges forward yet again, but not nearly as recklessly as she did before. She flings herself at the gaps, at the lighter-looking pockets of deadly waves, and she channels her own flames in front of her to help clear a path for herself. Chunks of armor are still blown off and she can feel the damage piling on as she fights ..

     Well, recklessly. All that fire mixing with the water doesn't necessarily stop either from consuming her, but it doesn't put her down yet. Forcing her way through the flames, Jeanne immolates the banner on her flag as she closes the gap between herself and the Lancer, swinging both it and her sword in tandem with a flurry of blows augmented by cursed flames and sharpened steel!

     Also, flaming cloth. That banner is pretty big, too.
Solty Revant      Solty lands after her punches and lets out a child-like self-satisfied 'heehee!' and a slight grin. She actually hit the enemy servant this time! But, that grin fades back to a frown as she hears movement in the rubble, and she lowers into a ready stance again as those beams of light start to escape. She guards herself as debris comes exploding outward, then braces as the servant prepares to attack. Her long twin ponytails whip about violently in the gale and she covers her face with her arms to guard against the wind.

     When the storm starts to rage toward them, Solty...seems to disappear. Her form blurs, and in the time it takes to blink she has somehow lept above the storm. She seems to hover for a few moments before she aims herself at the eye of the storm. Her fists start to glow again as gravity seems to catch up with her, and she somersaults into a dive. "You aren't nice!!" she declares as she comes down like a comet, trailing that orange-yellow energy. "So...go away!" she adds just before impact, causing a much larger explosion this time.
Ryouma Sakamoto     "Ah, is that so?" Ryouma asks of the Lancer.
    Yes, it is very much so.

    When Lancer shouts out the name of his Noble Phantasm, it's an immediate concern. A spear like that, famous and renowned, has to be powerful, right? Though he wonders if it would be an instrument of murder against just any being, or if its fame for doing one thing would restrict it somehow.

    Best not to find out through getting killed.

    The surging water gives him an idea, and he leaps back towards Oryou before the maelstrom can reach him.

    "Oryou, quick!" The sheath of his katana flashes an ominous black and blue, like unholy flames changing its appearance, or maybe a veil being broken and its true form coming through.

    But then the pair is engulfed in the twister of blood and water! That could be very, very bad.

    But as it travels, a massive shadow now lurks up the water, moving through the twister with the current. When it shows sign of weakening, when the legendary's spear effect is through, what breaks out of the twister is a giant black serpent, limbed like an eastern dragon, but still sporting Oryou's incredibly long, black-to-red dual-toned hair along its length. Ryouma rides on her head, his katana's sheath in his off-hand, now bright pink and surrounded by a golden snake. His katana is ablaze, blue and black fire dancing on its edge.

    "I believe it's only proper to respond to a trump card with one's own, but in this case it was a matter of not getting killed," Ryouma says, simply.
    "Oryou can't be challenged in the water," she adds, her voice echo-y and weird due her size.
    "I suppose it's praise enough I had to resort to this, Saint Longinus. Oryou, let's go!" Ryouma finishes.

    Oryou proceeds to try landing on Longinus.
    Well, it's... a valid form of attack.
    If anticlimatic.
Muramasa Sengo's expression crinkles in amusement. Before he can joust words with the man, he's off once again. That oddity though -- it was almost like a recurrence phenomenon. An inversion of sorts, 'this happened and so this happened'. Some could call that divine intervention. Perhaps it was the enemy's Noble Phantasm working passively, or even a Personal Skill.

He isn't given much time to ponder, as Longinus rears himself in preparation to destroy the whole lot of his aggressors. Holding his sword up, Muramasa sank into a stance to brace himself against the attack. Even so, he is very nearly obliterated by it. Through the searing pain, however, he never lost focus.

Not when he was diving into his own mind to call forth what he'd taken from Archer's reality marble. The exact 'something' he'd pilfered had been a massive stone sword, far too big to be wielded by human hands. Yet despite how crude it appeared, it had been wielded by a hero of a supreme caliber. Someone whose techniques themselves qualified as a Noble Phantasm.

That was what he obtained last week. This sword was created to be a vector for that technique. Muramasa held it at a slanted angle, its tip pointed towards the ground so that he could shield himself behind it, partially. It was an ode to the quality of his craftsmanship that the sword stood strong against the attack and indeed, showed not an ounce of damage. His work held divine properties, after all, even though they were cursed as well.

That blade itself, previously subdued, was now emenating a prescence of its own. A potent killing intent was rolling off of it in waves, conflating with Muramasa as he spoke loud and clear, body covered in scorched marks and torn skin. His haori had been vaporized.

        "Trace on ... Trigger off."

Muramasa moved forwards. He'd intended to use this on Assassin to counter-act him when he used his Reality Marble, but ... they couldn't afford to let Lancer use his Noble Phantasm again. Even if he used this chance to escape, he could work in conjunction with Assassin at a later date.

This was their only chance to eliminate the enemy Servant before he could become a greater threat. Moreover, with how injured they all had to be from that attack, Hakuno was vulnerable. In other words, their next actions had to be decisive to either drive the enemy off or eliminate him.

        "Set! Nine Lives Blade Works!"

Muramasa swings. But -- he doesn't swing just once. Even though it looks like he does. It appears as if he only swings once, but truthfully, he attacks nine times in the same instance. He was attacking the vital points of his opponent's body, the heart, the lungs, the head, and even Lancer's limbs. Muramasa was not Heracles of Greece, he could not bring out the full potential of this attack no matter how hard he tried. But even so, he could still use it to defeat this opponent, he was certain of that.
Riku Riku totally felt himself cleave through the guy. He DID feel it. But then that weird deja-vu glitch negates most of the damage. "What the...?!" He says as he flips past Sengo, using the momentum to clear the path so others can chain onto the assault. He lands nearby, skidding as he prepares to strike again...

But the Roman strikes first. The powerful assault gathers, and he grimaces. "Oh, no way!" He says, the torrent of elemental force from the divine-slaying spear beginning to quickly shred through Riku's armor. Before his defenses collapse completely, hoever, the desperately hurls himself through another of those dark portals, getting out of the way of the brunt of the assault as it rushes past.

A moment later, Riku pops out from one side, flipping through the air. His teeth are clenched in pain as he lashes out, a hand gripping in the air. His shadow abruptly whipe out, curling around the Roman and hurling him into the air right back into that rubbled building as Riku flips through the air, descending upon the man with a murderous blade strike.
Nova Terra     Nova grins at the mirth displayed by Jeanne, "Confidence, of course." She stands again as their combined attack results in a building collapsing on the Lancer. She keeps her rifle raised though, well aware that there are many out there who could survive such. She slowly starts to approach, ready to shoot at the first sign of movement.

    That first sign is an explosion of energy. Nova is forced to turn away as light and debris explodes outward. When she looks back, her visor begins to display numerous environmental alerts. Obvious build-up of power is obvious. Nova begins to step backwards, "Oh hell..." Blue light washes over her as she cloaks, turning around and making a mad dash behind a building for cover.

    How well Nova weathers the harsh weather will have to remain in people's imaginations as she isn't seen again until standing atop the somewhat battered building she had taken cover behind. As she decloaks, her rifle is not aimed at the Lancer, but instead simply held at her side in one hand. The other is raised in Lancer's direction and an aura of psychic energy burns around it.

    Large pieces of debris, that had formerly made up the building that Lancer crashed into, rise up into the air under Nova's control. They then quickly blast forward towards Lancer in quick succession, sweeping around Oryou's large body as they attempt to slam into the servant at speeds that would make a building collapse on you seem like a love tap.
Crys Gattz There are a lot of powerful people her and their attacker? Is not down from the fury of everyone's assault whomever this Roman Lancer is? She is clueless to whom he is but she can sense a lot of power coming her way and she'll get her photon guard up to help her barrier, it works well enough that she does not drop but the attack has clearly done a number he clothing under her is cut and torn up. She's also clearly hurt as well but she ay nothing as she looks at the Lancer she quickly accesses she's not the only one still standiGood that will allow her to make a counter.

She focuses her ki, and ng lets loose a bolt of fire at the Lancer, that's just a set up she follows it with a burst of ice as well then she charges even as the servant allied with Nero let loose their own Noble Phantasms and the rest of her allies let loose as well.

She will charge at the Lancer now letting loose with a brutal combo of attacks she'll hack she'll slash she'll attempt to grip the Servant in a bear hug a one point trying to drive her claws into his back and her face is rather impassive too it's might be almost considered to be odd. She's not shouting anything really or talking but it is clear she's not going to let up with her assault. She then seeks to finish the whole affair off with finally speaking.

"Photon Burst!"

There's an explosion of light which the Lancer may end up caught in which wouldn't be very fun at all to be caught in. She'll then back off before she gets caught up in any of her allies own attacks.
Touta Konoe      "That so? Then let me show you what my side-stick can really do." That's all he says in regards to Lancer as he makes brief mention of his blade before Oryou hair nabs the guy. Talking about fashion as a weapon? From there he watches as the Lancer braces himself against the assaults of the others. Till he finally lands back against one of the buildings. It's at that time Jeanne scolds him for his fighting. It's actually a bit surprising. He didn't think she would be paying attention to that sorta thing.

     "But if we kill him we won't be able to get him talking later! But...

     Jeanne's assessment is correct. The cornered rat does start feeling the prssure...In the form of Lancer preparing his next attack, a Noble Phantasm no less. Water thick and red rises along with deep blue and begin crashing down in even greater force than before towards them. With such a huge wave there's really no reasonable way that Touta can block such an attack so if that's the case....

     "...If he plans on bringing the pain, I'll take everything he's got."

     Touta pulls out and unfolds a hula-hoop from his side, as it spins the air around him starts blowing like a little typhoon if only for a moment. In the next, he charges straight at the attack with no attempt to guard. All he does is reach out towards the wave with his left hand. What occurs next is rather strange, it's as though the water that touches the boy's hand begins to get sucked in like a vacuum. The part of the wave that would collapse down upon Touta has turned into a gap and in doing as such, leaves an opening for him right towards Lancer.

     "Alright, how about I show you my weapon now! 100,000 FOLD!"

     The boy comes in swiftly and raises his blade over his head above Lancer and unlike before uses but a single slash instead of the flurry. Though this time...The blade is heavy. Too heavy. There's no reason for a sword this small to be heavy. Once the blade made impact whether from being blocked, dodged, or being hit the ground below Lancer would begin to crumble under its force. It would almost beg the question, was this blade itself a Noble Phantasm?
Nero      Hakuno is pretty glad she's not in the middle of that ridiculous storm. She channels defensive power into Nero, who keeps ahead of her, using sheer mana to fend against the maestrom as it buffets against her fiercely, leaving burns, cuts, and tears all over. But she weathers the worst, and then ignites her blade, banishing the remnants, "You will not lay even a single finger on my Praetor, Longinus!"

     Meanwhile, Jeanne, the madwoman, has run headfirst into the storm, leaping here and there to avoid the worst as she goes diving right up to him. Longinus can't help but laugh. "Hah! Your bravery is astounding!" He says despite his rotten luck, and spins his spear in a turn as he clashes with the Avenger, weapons creating sparks as they impact, blow for blow, parry for parry. "What do you say that you and I forget about this madness and go for a- WELL NOW!"

     Death from above! Solty comes barreling down on top of him with a massive punch of energy that crushes him into Spiritron particles and leaves just a crater in its wake! .... Well, for a moment, it did. But then it plays back, that moment repeating, as Longinus dives forward into a roll, past Jeanne, and avoids the worst of it at his back. And then he comes up to a knee and looks up. ".... .... Your lady suddenly got very very large." He mumbles, and then wastes no time hopping aside and out of the impact zone just barely. "I know we are in a life and death struggle, but I would rather not be crushed so ingloriously!" He sure complains a lot for a saint, doesn't he? He's nothing like the quiet Assassin from last time.

     Then something tells him that danger is approaching. He whirls his head to look Sengo's way and he sees that massive sword. "Oho...!" He grins in the face of this mighty challenge and steps forward to take it head on. But then suddenly, that one swing he thought he was contending with distinctly feels like nine. Nine blows, delayed in reaction as he doesn't even realize himself what happened just yet. And he doesn't have time to reel from it because Riku is suddenly coming in from above, a plunging strike that cleaves into his shoulder armor. "Tsk-!" It's looking like numbers are winning over in this fight. A basic tenant of warfare, of course. Yet still, Longinus doesn't seem to be afraid. Rather, he seems to be amused, at his own luck, at the might of these people before him.

     'Photon Burst!'

     A flurry of blows comes at him, and he meets that flurry with a flurry of parries, right up until that blast of light sends him careening away, just in time for Nova to send large chunks of building crashing into the enemy Servant. But against all odds, he does not go down. He skids backwards, armor in shambles and body covered in wounds, yet his spear remains ever pristine, ever pure. "...... Heh." Longinus grins, and looks up as Touta comes speeding towards him with a single, powerful 100,000 fold strike.

     What follows is an explosion of debris as the weapon makes contact.
Nero      .... .....

     "That sword of yours really is something." Longinus' voice says, as the smoke clears, and he looks up, Touta's sword connecting with the shaft of the Divine Spear. Then he smoothly sidesteps and leaps away, landing a ways away. "Still, as much as I might want to fool around, I have a job to do." His gaze lands squarely on Hakuno. "I'd hate to have to kill such a bright little Master, but..." He spins his weapon and then grasps it upside down, an ominous red and blue glow flaring up again. "Well, it would not be the first time I stabbed humanity's hope, would it?"

     And then he stabs the spear into the ground.

     "Longinus - Divine Spear Of A Past Unforgotten."

     An earthquake immediately rocks the area, and countless geysers of blood and divine water mixed together blast upwards from all over, threatening to engulf all and tear them apart, should they be caught in the watery embrace.
Ryouma Sakamoto     Oryou endures, even as the earth quakes while blood and water gush against her, hard. The divine serpent refuses to budge, and her body acts like a shield for Ryouma, who remains on the safety of her head, covered by those thrashing masses of hair.

    If it pains her, it'd be hard to tell, her body pitch black as it is, and leaking blackened, liquid shadows that start warping the terrain of the Moon Cell into a hostile, corrosive sea around her. But it made her budge, and that's not nothing.

    "Then Oryou will give Longinus a death befitting of a saint," she rumbles at his request not to die crushed, black and blue flames dancing in her wide open maw.
    "Saint Longinus, you do not strike me as someone who willingly does this. Are you? I would advise you survive until we find and neutralize your master. You seem like you would be a powerful ally in keeping the Moon Cell safe," Ryouma contrasts his wife, not willing to straight up murder a dude who's probably not doing this of his own free will exactly.

    Of course, it does nothing to stop Oryou from unleashing a cone of death on the Saint, because that's how Oryou rolls. Ryouma gives a deep sigh, and merely hopes the Lancer isn't so easily trounced.
Muramasa The large sword he wielded had its own full power drawn out by the technique as he stabbed and slashed at Longinus. The damage is delayed, as is the nature of a technique that overlaps attacks -- a spurt of blood from an injury that you didn't notice. Overwhelming pain suddenly where there hadn't been any before.

Rearing the massive sword back in a defensive position, he advanced. Even as Longinus was deployed again and he began to stumble, the Servant catches himself and resumes his stride, showing off how nimble he really was as he managed to regain his footing every time it seemed as though he'd lose it. Bits of the samurai armor decorating his lower body were blown away as he was grazed by the geysers, shearing off patches of his skin in their wake. Even so, he advanced.

Broken bones were temporarily mended with magical energy. If something started breaking down, Muramasa applied Reinforcement magecraft to it.

Still emulating the sword techniques of Heracles, he shot forward like a missile, and attempted to skewer Longinus with a simple but quick pin-point strike!
Ritsuka Fujimaru When and how did these people suddenly become big? Jeanne has to spend a bit of time jumping this way and that to avoid getting plastered herself, sliding beneath giant beams and swords and all sorts of flying beams and shots and even more sword tomfoolery. "Bravery? Hmph! If that's all it takes to impress you, then I might as well remove your head from your shoulders right now!"

Easier said than done, of course, as she prepares herself once more to strike at the wielder of Longinus. As those geysers of blood and holy water alike spray all about, Jeanne holds her ground. She starts murmuring to herself, dark flames swirling about her even as her own blood mixes with that blasting against her, the divine water leaving her flesh and armor sizzling from the holy power striking out at all of the Elites in the area.

Still, as long as she can kill this one guy in particular, it'll be worth it. "Wielder of the Holy Lance... It must be ironic that you're fighting me of all people. You fought well against all of us, but now.. Now, you'll see the difference in our power.  The time of retribution has come!"

The darkness intensifies around Jeanne as the flames surrounding her burn even brighter, massive amounts of mana being expended at once as she raises her evil blade. "This is the howl of a soul filled with hatred!" She swings her sword in front of her, pointing it towards the Lancer.

"La Grondement Du Haine!"

The flames surrounding Jeanne expand rapidly, surging towards the Lancer in a wave of their own. As the flames reach him, yet more geysers of flame erupt from the earth beneath him followed by numerous spears aiming to impale him from below. The spears rising from below grow in number until an explosion rocks the area, all centered on the Lancer's location!
Nova Terra     Nova lowers her hand after her blasted debris has smashed into Lancer, what little remains of it falling to the ground. She frowns as the servant continues fighting, showing a annoyingly impressive ability to withstand the attacks they are throwing at him. All the while unleashing devestating attacks in response. Although Nova is clearly starting to get the hang of his pattern.

    Once again Lancer wields his weapon to launch a wide area assault on the group. And once again Nova disappears with her cloak as she moves to avoid the upward blasts of blood and water. She skirts around the edge of the battlefield, waiting and watching from the cover of her invisibility. Looking for the opportunity to take the servant by surprise. And she finds that opportunity comes as Sengo attempts to skewer Lancer with his sword.

    The first sign of Nova rejoining the fight is a blur in the air quickly charging Lancer from behind. It's hard to pinpoint exactly as Nova rushes forward, quickly closing the distance to the servant. If Longinus does not notice her, he will feel her instead. Or rather a blade that pierces through his back in synch with Sengo's own strike. It's at this point that Nova decloaks once more, showing her to be holding her psi-blade, the sword covered in a glowing blue light that manifests the sword edge sharpened to a single molecule.

    Nova jumps away once more, holding her ground as she watches closely for any counters.
Touta Konoe      It's one thing when you see the attack to respond to it, but when you get attacked from below there's very little you can do to respond to it. Touta unlike a few of the others gets fully consumed by the geyser. His Hula-hoop completely disperses from the heat turning it to nothing but residue. Touta is soon to follow the same fate. His body and blood beginning to boil before ...He's body just evaporates into the water. His blood becomes one with that of the blood within this geyser.

     Before this fight had finished Longinus had been able to claim one life today as the geyser continued piercing into the heavens.

     "500,000 FOLD!!!"

     It's only a few moments later that a voice an be shouting from the sky. Touta's body quickly returning from nothing had reached the peak of the geysers and hopped off into a free fall. With even more force than before he descends from the heavens with his black blade ready to slam down on Longinus like a meteorite. Though his intent isn't to kill him...Touta will have this Servant bare the weight of this sin, or in this case the weight of his blade in an attempt to finish this fight by pinning him down. At the very least...Longinus won't have to suffer the brunt of all those attacks on his own...
Crys Gattz Crys has lived a long time in the multiverse, for most of her life she's been in the employ of one backer or another on the multiveral stage even if she was often a quite but long time player. Her own attacks has done some serious damage but it's not enough eeryone just lays on the damage and the Servant endures it somehow and he's got all of his attenton on her. she will focus everything she has into trying to endure the counter assault from the Lancer Class Servant. Longinus at best is weapon from earth Crys is aware of and she does not know just who the hope he stabbed was.

She cannot ensure this attack the blood and water is just too much for her given how it moves it gets past her shielding and Crys drops to the ground groggily trying to get up but it's too much she's out of this fight and is in no position to defend herself at all. She tries to but she's bathed in a mix of water and blood her hair and clothing heck her body is horribly stained, her eye patch is gone and the ruin of her eye socket underneath it is visible she looks at Longinus for a moment before she collapses.

"Damn I'm getting old..."

She doesn't look to be even thirty from the looks of the pointy-eared space elf. The world gets uneasy and she swears she hears something a voice whispering to her.

<You still falter...come to Ragol...come, find the strength you desire...>

She'll likely pass it off as battle noise or not even remember it later but someone might sense something had reached out to her for a brief moment...
Solty Revant      Solty actually has to pull herself free of the small crater left after her attack. And she has barely done so when those eruptions of start springing up around them. She tries to roll out of the way but with a pained cry she is blasted upward, various cuts left in her body and clothing and a few arcs of electricity flowing from some of the deeper cuts. And as she is flying upward...she sees Touta get liquidated. Her eyes widen. "T-touta...?" she says softly as she starts to fall back down. She smashes through a building herself when she comes back down, then bursts out the side of the building a moment later and lands on the ground.

     She looks frantically for Touta, then her ears twitch as she hears his voice. She looks up and lets out a heavy sigh of relief before cheering him on. "You show him, Touta!" she exclaims.
Riku Riku does what he can against the Servant, but it certainly isn't putting him down. Forcing the man into a critical position seems to have just inspired him to double down. The earthquake is bad enough, but the rolling blasts of blood and water scorch the Heartbrand, sending him flying as he hits the ground, the darkness leaking away from him along with a large number of cuts and bruises.

"I'm not going to let you get away with this." He says as he drags himself back up to his feet.... But then he doesn't get away with it.

Riku grunts, and shakes his head, leaning back against a wall. "This place is messed up." He observes, waiting to see what happens with the Servant after getting straight murdered with overwhelming firepower.
Nero      Longinus' second stage Noble Phantasm rips through the streets, threatening to engulf all in its watery embrace. Hakuno smartly stays back... like, waaaaay back, as geysers blast up from under the ground. Nero loops an arm around her waist and leaps here and there, avoiding the worst as best she can. Meanwhile... as the attack calms down, Sengo weathers the storm, and comes at the Lancer-Class servant with blade in hand for a simple skewer.

     It does not quite work out as planned. The divine spear's pesky reality altering power appears to be at work yet again. Where Sengo feels as if he had run Longinus through, the next moment, the enemy Servant was breaking away from the strike with a sideways sway. Just in time for Ryouma and Oryou to present..... very much conflicting viewpoints. It's enough that the man has to laugh. "Ha! Ahahahaha!" He laughs, and rests his weapon on his shoulders.

     "Your lady is fierce! Unfortunately, however..." A wry smile forms. "What I want to do, and what I have to do are two very different things. You realize that, yes?" a chuckle follows as he looks up into the deathly gaze of Oryou as she unleashes a deathly assault upon him. And... That sure did hit him. And he sure is beginning to buckle. But he's still not going down. Like a stubborn cockroach, he just doesn't die.

     And even in the face of the Avenger, Jeanne d'Arc, Longinus smiles as she comes for him, cloaked in the flames of hatred. "Yes, this truly is ironic. The man famed for piercing a living legend, now to be pierced in turn. And by a saint no less!" He stabs his weapon into the ground and spreads his arms. "Then do it! Come at me with everything you have! Show me the strength of your hatred! The strength of your resolve!" He shouts gloriously as flames wash over him. As spears pierce his armor and his flesh. As Nova speeds in and pierces him from behind with a blade. Or even as Touta comes sailing in from above with a 500,000 fold strike. Every one of those blows lands, resulting in an explosion of mana, debris, and smoke.

     .... .... ...

     "Heh heh heh heh..."

     "Hahahahaha!"
Nero      The laughter grows raucous now, as Longinus' voice van be heard through the smoke, pained, but full of mirth all the same. And when it clears... there he is. Burned, stabbed, slashed, armor in shambles, and bloody all over. But yet he looks *so refreshed* "Ahhhhh... I have not had a battle like that in ages." He says as he casually crosses his arms behind his head and flops backwards onto the ground, resting one leg over the other as he stares at the corrupted sky. "Oh I'm done. So very done. Nothing left in me now." He waves a hand casually towards Hakuno. "You wanted to do something about the virus here? Go right ahead. I will not stop you. Not that I could now. Hahahaha...haaaahhhh."

     "....... O....kaaaaaay...." Hakuno just... stares.... warily and a bit unimpressed. ".... Does he have Battle Continuation?" She murmurs to herself, checking his stats for a moment. "... Nevermind. Nero, keep watch. Everyone, thank you." She smiles gratefully, and then walks into the center of the combat zone and knees down, pressing a hand to the pavement. Immediately, Spiritrons crackle and the black mud covering the streets all converge into that single point. Forming into a black and red cube that floats up into the air before Hakuno who stands up. "...This is it. .... Not all of it, mind you. But this should clear out the black mud data that's been corrupting this sector." A deep sigh follows. "... We're done."
Ritsuka Fujimaru Panting lightly as the adrenaline starts to wear off, Jeanne stares at the fallen warrior as he looks somehow /more/ relaxed than he did before they started exchanging blows. Jeanne looks satisfied enough, at least, but there's a hint of confusion still lingering on her face. "What a strange man. At least /you/ can recognize a saint when you see one."

Turning to the glob of mystery juice that's been pulled into a cube, the Dragon Witch walks right up to Hakuno to peer at the thing.

"And howm any more of those do you think you'll need to find? Do you expect to be able to find enough of them for it to matter?"
Ryouma Sakamoto     Things calm down and Lancer allows them passage. Ryouma hops off Oryou, heading for the downed Servant and putting on his best smile. It's a doofus smile, and it's genuine belief in people being good even after they try killing him.

    "Sorry it had to get so violent, Saint Longinus. I meant no disrespect," he says, before raising a hand and snapping his fingers. "Oryou, please, can you heal him?"

    Oryou rumbles, slithers on close by... and then scoops up Lancer in her mouth, letting him bathe in her saliva.

    It probably sounds gross as fuck but it's magical, healing saliva, so count your blessings. Oryou is pointedly using the occasion to feast on his blood while it's flowing.

    It's win-win, she's pleasing Ryouma and feeding.

    "Please don't stab my wife in the mouth once you're feeling a bit better, I'd really appreciate it. I think she would, too," Ryouma says.
    "Oryou will eat Longinus if he twitches," she says, the voice probably louder and more threatening for him considering he's inside her mouth and has a plenty good view of those massive fangs.
Nero      Hakuno looks aside at Jeanne and smiles sheepishly. "I don't exactly know how many more are out there, but..." She swipes a finger and brings up a holographic screen, displaying a map of the current area. Where they're standing right now is gradually beginning to turn blue from black and red, but the edges of the map still have corruption that stretch out further on. "I think finding one of these virus seeds is good enough progress for now. I can study it and come up with a more concrete countermeasure."

     Longinus meanwhile finds himselg being scooped up and- "Wait, what manner of- Oh dear lord it's getting everywhere! Am I becoming dinner? Is that what fate has in store for me? I assure you Romans do not taste very delicious!"

     Nero chooses this exact moment to shout back. "You fool! Romans are the greatest delica-" BOP! That's Hakuno chopping Nero on the head. "Don't you finish that sentence, Saber. It won't go anywhere good."
Muramasa It was over. Muramasa was thoroughly worn dowm, planting his sword into the ground so he can lower himself down onto his rear end. His body was all ripped up with a variety of injuries, and unfortunately, his Reinforcement had only made them worse in the long-run. He might even die if this body were still a normal human's.

He laughs when Longinus gets swallowed up. "I've been meaning to ask .. that snake is Orochi, isn't it? Then that'd make you Ryouma Sakamoto, right? It's really nice to meet you in person."

While he was after Muramasa's time, he knew from the experiences of Shirou Emiya of his life. At least, what the ordinary public knew about it. It was honestly a little shocking to see him as a Servant.

All in all, he chalked this up as the best possible outcome. No one had to die, and they managed to avert a disaster.
Riku Riku watches all this go down. "Is everyone here like this? Why are you even laughing so much? You just got beaten, didn't you?" He pauses, staring at the dragon slobber thing. "... That's..." He shakes his head. "Wow. I never thought I'd see that." He steps forward, though, as Hakuno gatheres up that virus. "So there's going to be more of these out there?" He asks.

There's a pause as he turns his gaze back to Longinus, thinking. But not saying anything else for the moment.
Ryouma Sakamoto     "Ah? No, she's not the Orochi of legend, though I can see the family resemblence," Ryouma comments, glancing towards his partner.
    "Oryou is the Serpent of Takachiho," she rumbles idly, making sure Longinus isn't escaping the healing bath. "But mostly, Oryou is a magical girl now," she adds.
    "Yes," Ryouma nods, sagely.

    "Ah, but thank you. I don't think I was that famous or important, I'm sure your legend must eclipse mine, if you keep it under such close wraps," he finally replies to Muramasa directly, extending a hand to shake it.
Touta Konoe      The fight concludes and the result is somewhat odd. While Hakuno's able to find the data that was causing the data to corrupt once the fight had concluded. Yet it was odd to see Longinus so calm, as if this really hadn't mattered. Touta had taken the final strie in an attempt to pin down this guy and yet...It wasn't even a matter of phasing him or not. "Hey, what's so funny, huh? You tried killing my friend and think it's okay to-" Before he can finish his remark though it seems Ryouma and Oryou already plan to help him out. He's a bit surprised to hear that but not against it so he removes his blade to make it easier for the woman to do what she needs to do...Which is shock Touta when he sees her begin to devour the poor guy.

     "HEY! What are you doing?! You can't just eat him after all that!!!"

     He runs over about ready to pull him out of her mouth till he notices that...He's healing? Shimosa starts exposing names and he looks at you dead in the eyes for a moment as he realizes her real name. Orochi...He immediately lets go. That's an odd way to be heal for certain, and it makes Touta super glad his healing factor doesn't work that way. So after seeing that he begins to step back a bit to let her do her thing...But also cause he doesn't want to get eaten himself. That wouldn't be fun.

     It's also a good time to divert from Oryou and back towards Jeanne, Riku, and -

     "Oh wait!"

     Touta runs over to where Crys had ended up collapsing and tries to help her back up as he starts walking back towards the others. He doesn't know who she is exactly but she did sure put up a hell of a fight. He couldn't just leave her lying around.

     "Hey Hakuno I know we won, but you think you can get this one a place to rest?"
Crys Gattz Crys Gattz is slowly coming too as she starts to get up she's clearly hurt quite badly though, Longinus did one hell of a number on her. She's back to her feet, but it's clear it might not last long she'll look to Hakuno and Nero for a moment. "I will not be able to travel much like this I humbly ask if I can stay here till I recover a bit. Emperor Nero."

She shakes her head a bit and summons a staff and uses it to keep herself standing.

"I may need a change of clothes as well."

She'll leave the others to purging the virus and the like and hang back now until they can get on to the movie.
Nero      Hakuno, who is busy containing the cube defers to Nero on the matter of Crys, and of course, the red clad Servant smiles broadly. "But of course! We shall have a room prepared, as well as a bath, and medical treatments posthaste! Have no fear!"

     Longinus meanwhile, feels a whole lot better now as he's pulled from Oryou's mouth, landing on his feet. "Oh wow. I feel much better now. How about that?" He mumbles, turning his arms over and checking himself out. But then, right at that moment- Longinus' body takes on a black mist and he sighs, "Ah. Well I'm being called back now." He smirks and offers a two fingered salute. "We will meet again, I'm certain." And then he vanishes in a swirl of black mist, leaving the group alone...

     Hakuno watches this, sighs, and turns away. "... We're done here. Touta, come with us. We'll put Crys in a room. Anyone else who wants to crash, feel free to come along. I have work to do." And so she heads off on the way out of the quarantine area. Black mude data cube floating above a hand.
Muramasa Muramasa looks sheepish before pushing himself up to shake Ryouma's hand. Thankfully, it wasn't covered in blood and grime. "I wouldn't say that. My reasons for hiding my name has no importance in terms of Servant strategy. The Serpent of Takachiho? I see. For some reason, I feel as if her becoming a magical girl would be just as expected, or something along those lines."

His mood shifts from jovial to serious as the others' conversation turns towards the idea of using the mud as a weapon. "Getting rid of it is the best idea. That substance .... nothing good would ever come from it. Its very nature is malicious towards human beings, you know? Even though it's just a copycat, its potency doesn't seem to be very dilluted."
Solty Revant      Solty is frozen in place as well when it looks like Oryou is going to eat Longinus. But, there's no chewing or swallowing, and everything seems alright. He even emerges in better health and disappears. The virus purging makes her smile happily. Even if it is only in a small area it is a start! She stays close tou Touta and helps Crys if she needs it. Seems the android girl doesn't like to be too far from good friends. "Are you alright, Touta? I've seen you..um...pull yourself together after some bad things, but..." She looks to Crys after that. "And what about you? It looked like you got hit really hard!"

     Her ears twitch at Riku, and she turns to him. "I can't say for sure, but a lot of the servants seem to like a good fight and are actually happy if they lost to a strong opponent. I don't really get it myself, but..." she shrugs lightly.

     She follows after Touta and Crys after that, assuming they head toward Hakuno's home.