Saikazo

On the Rebound

This wasn't working. The frog tried to stand his ground and keep the flying beast under control, but instead, he was being tossed around like a rag doll as he attempted to hang on with his tongue. Finally, he let go of the monster, flying through the air and crashing into the ground unceremoniously. With a cough and a groan, he quickly turned back into his human form, standing up slowly. "There is...," He fought to get out through the slight pain he felt. "There is a symbol... on the back of its head!" He finally managed to yell out. "It seems to have been craved there recently. Perhaps if you disrupt or mess up the symbol, the dragon will turn back into inanimate stone!" It was just a guess, but he assumed this kind of magic was a bit delicate. He transformed back into a frog, hopping forward to close the distance before leaping high into the sky, attempting to land in its back. Perhaps if he could get on and have someone toss him a knife, he could mess up the symbol itself.

"Ahh, hello?" Theo croaked out, causing Conner to look at him. "Did... did we win?" "By some miracle, yeah," Conner stated, sighing to himself. "We're outside the school now. Some guy named Omnimon Alter-S saved our butts, and is leading us to California. Apparently, all our families have been taken there, and it's a safe place," "Mr. Henderson, you said that the whole Digimon partner power thing is different from person to person. Does this mean there are multiple methods to do that?" Chris asked. Mr. Henderson sighed to himself. "Something like that," He admitted. "Frankly, there's a lot of ways to do it. Sometimes, displaying true courage in front of the face of adversity is the key. Maybe it's protecting those dear to you, or even reaching out to someone in love. Hell, the ones after me just threw magical eggs at their Digimon to make them power up, and some digimon can fuse together to make a stronger being," He shrugged. "It's wild and varied and I can't tell you how it works for you. Only you can figure it out," "... I don't have anything," Mackenzie spoke quietly, face unmoving, "So I'll just wait here. Omnimon said no other humans were around, so it'd be a waste of time..." Mr. Henderson winced, unable to come up with a comforting answer for her. "Well... if you're going to stick here, then do you mind watching over Theo while I head to my house?" He asked both Mackenize and his partner digimon, placing Ludomon on the ground next to Theo. "Not sure if he can walk yet, and I don't think we should leave him alone," "I shall wait here to," Omnimon confirmed, sitting his oversized body on the stairs, close to Theo and Mackenzie. Mr. Henderson gave a thumbs up and walked away, Conner standing up and doing the same. Mr. Henderson sighed to himself as he found his house. It seemed that something had went through it, seeing as he saw the front door busted down, and some things knocked over. However, that wasn't important. He walked upstairs to his bedroom, packing a bag full of clothes and the like. However, there were two more things he needed. He walked over to his closet, pulling out a dust covered box. He opened it up slowly, revealing two digivices, one blue and one red, and a pair of googles. He slipped on the googles, sighing. "Well, this does put me in the mood," He mused, trying not to lose himself to the memories. He took the two digivices, stuffing them into his pocket and headed out. Meanwhile, Conner sighed to himself as he tried to pack with one arm. It wasn't easy, but with some willpower and his teeth, he managed to stuff some clothes and snacks into a bag and zipped it up. It was time to head out on some grand adventure. He didn't know what they would be doing, but... he was excited. Perhaps he'd get to become a hero with these new powers. The air was still and eerie in the mass of rearranged houses, the silence feeling nearly heavy. However, that just made it easier to heard the sudden blast of a train horn whistling throughout the town. However.... oddly enough, it wasn't coming from the station, or even any further down the tracks... no, it was somewhere in town, mixed in the formation of houses. If one was to listen closely, they'd notice something else. It wasn't just a train whistle. There was a voice right after the whistle blew... a weak voice... almost barely audible after the whistle itself. "H-help... help me... someone... please...,"

"Z-Zirco...t-this is Jet. W-W-We arrived at the s-stadium, n-n-no Kyouji...b-b-but w-we found a w-w-weird girl by the name of A-Alex. ...s-she s-says KaibaCorp is e-evil...," "Aren't most big companies?" Zirco joked. "k-k-kidnapping kids o-off the streets...I-I think s-she m-m-might be referring to the P-Project w-we're in...but I'm unsure. A-Also, s-s-someone else was here...b-but they w-were l-long gone by t-t-the time I got out here..." "Yeah, that's concerning," Zirco paused. "Alright, I guess we should meet--- ACK!" Jet could hear a burst of static over the radio, and suddenly, the transmission was coming in a lot more broken. "Jet... *krrt* found... *krrt* AGH! Son of--- *kzzzt* B-bottom *kzzzt* Turbo City. Hurry!" And with one final crackle, the radio died. If the two were to find a road and head to the bottom of Turbo City, they would see that the city got darker and darker the lower they went, likely from all the roads in the sky blocking the sun. The city didn't seem as clean down here, although it was nothing too bad. As they kept driving, they soon came to a bunch of warehouses, and they could see Zirco, engaged with fisticuffs with some man in the shadows. "WHERE IS JACK ATLAS?!" The man roared, launching a punch at Zirco. "I told you asshole, I DON'T KNOW!" Zirco yelled before dodging the punch and launching his own. The attack caused the man to stumble onto a patch of light, revealing that the man assaulting Zirco was the one they were looking for. Kyouji, the Duel King, was currently fighting Zirco with the ferocity of a dragon. "Hmm...," Dread Knight turned to the two that lead them to this spot, handing them an envelope and motioning to the two on the ground. "Take them to the police. I'll talk to these people," The two ex-gang members nodded, picking up the bodies, but not before excitedly waving goodbye to the group. When they finally disappeared from sight, Dread Knight turned back to look at the Branded. "So, Kaiba believes sending you all will change my mind?" Dread Knight asked, shaking his head. "Perhaps you might have, but you all have proven to me that you aren't worth my time," He turned his back to them, walking away. "When a bank was robbed, what did you all do? Nothing. Even if you didn't care for the city and the people in it, stopping it might have stopped a source of cash for this cult. When the store was robbed, you did nothing to help, even against an unarmed man. You could have stopped a supply run for a cult that can't be out in the open. But you all refused to act. Why should I fight with such weak willed people?" He paused. "But... I will give you one more chance. I have people in the Arena who have been helping me investigate the cult. If you can convince them you are worth my time, not only will I join you, but I will share all the knowledge I have gathered on the cult," He turned to look to them. "If you have nothing else to say, then I will be on my way. The city will not sleep, and I must go defend it," OOC

"Sorry." Raynor decided to not stop smiling as he gently pulled her up onto Gojira's back. "Sorry about what?" He asked. Even though he had a decent idea what she was sorry about, it wasn't any fault of hers. Best to brush it off like the small deal it was. She didn't answer though, and was in fact quiet for the rest of the ride. Well, he supposed it didn't matter too much. Everyone was safe, he survived the battle, and he had a pretty girl riding with him. Wins all around. They traveled long into the day, the sun setting before they spotted a tent along side the road. Who could that be...? He quickly recognized the red hair though. He had to admit, it was nice to see a friendly face. "Most valued customers! Welco- oh my - Shephards above." Anne stopped as and back away as she noticed their beaten and bruised forms. Oh yeah, she only knew Snow Fairy and him. "You all look terrible. Did you get hit by a rock slide or something? Well, no mater, you're here now! And that's what does matter." Suddenly, a sly smile crossed her face. "and I see you brought even more friends this time. How wonderful!" "Well, I gotta pay the difference from last time, right?" Raynor quipped. Leon looked towards Raynor saying, "Do you know her?" "Aye," Was Raynor's simple reply. "Don't get too close." Rona suddenly said."It could be another ambush, commander." Rona said, eyeing the girl warily."We should just keep going. It's too suspicious right after.....that." "Oh don't worry so much, Rona, this pretty lady doesn't seem like a villain to me. And look she is all close with our Raynor." Alexis smirked at the Jouraan. "That explains some things. This your sweetheart? You sly dog you." Ah, where was I....So you got anything good?" She looked to the cart and winced. "Hope you didn't lose much." "I mean, Snow Fairy knows her to," Raynor commented as he pointed to Yue. "We both bought stuff off Anne here while you all found Edda. It's where I got my tomes, actually," He turned to Alexis and shrugged. "She'd be a one helluva lucky catch if she was my sweetheart, but sadly, I ain't that lucky," He sighed a bit before adding. "I'll vouch fer 'er, Commander. If this turns out to be some sort of ambush, I'll eat my damn saddle and buy a new one off of Anne," He turned to observe the cart. "So um... what happened there? Need help with that?"

The frog ignored the cries of the badger, not caring if something happened to the statue. It was just a hunk of rock, they could probably make a new one. He instead looked around it, trying to see if he could find some sort of clue. Maybe it moved, hiding a room or something. What he found was a little more interesting... a symbol was carved into its back... the dust around it seemed to indicate it was carved recently... why was it here? He got what seemed to be an answer soon after as the statute came to life. What the hell?! Was this some sort of magic? He didn't get much of a chance to try to strike what may have been a weak point, as the dragon threw him off, causing the frog to fall off, crashing into the ground. With a groan, he stood back up, panting slightly as the wind was knocked out of him. The dragon was quick to flex its muscles, taking a dive at Edrick. Other people began to attack it, and Shiro, well, he wasn't going to get close to the flying monster before it got to Edrick. What was he supposed to do anyways? It wasn't like he had a weapon to use against the flying beast. Wait... flying... flying... fly. This was nothing but a giant stone fly, right? Right. The Protean quickly transformed, having no time to waste. The second he was in his giant frog form, he opened his mouth, letting his tongue fly out and wrap around the tail of the dragon. When it connect, he stood his ground, hoping to immobilize the dragon for even a second, in order to help Edrick avoid the attack and let the others' attacks land. He only hoped he was strong enough not to get dragged along.

Raynor gritted his teeth as he stood, the assault of dual weapons and magic doing a number on his body. However, he refused to show any weakness. He refused to fall again. He gripped his lance and stared down the three. "That all you got?!" He called out, ready to go on the offensive again. However, an exchanged happened that inwardly relieved the Jouran. "Men, fall back!" The commander of the enemy cried out, causing Raynor to grin victoriously. "Yeah, you better run!" Raynor called out as the enemy backed away from them. "Falcons. Stand down and move back." That... That made sense. Frankly, he needed the time to recover anyways. "I can try to work on Raynor as we move! We don't want to give them a chance to change their minds." "Hey, don't worry about me! I barely have a scratch on me! Let's just get outta here before anything worse can happen, yeah?" Raynor gave a confident smile despite the pain he felt. It was more important that everyone got out of here. He directed Gojira over to Edda. "Need a lift?" He asked.

"I would assume that will suffice for the time being?" To be honest, Sieg didn't know. He talked big about helping out, but... he didn't actually know how to train people. Right now, he was trying to prioritize his protection targets, and Alex here managed to get himself off the "absolutely helpless" list and onto the "should be able to handle himself" one instead. "Sure, I suppose that's---," “That’s it? Hey!” Sieg sighed to himself as he heard a voice call out to them. “You’re just going to throw a punch and then talk about it for a bit? That’s not- that’s not why I invited everyone here, you know. I said something like, ‘Oh, if you want to come fight,’ and then I went all the way up there to get a good view and it’s like, I wouldn’t have done any of that if it was just going to be, like, a slap to the chest and that’s it.” The bird began to whisper into the girl's ear, perhaps to tell her what to say next. He really couldn't figure out what kind of Jaeger they were. “Frog boy and I had this whole thing, too,” she said. “Like, there was a chase and there was fancy flying and some brilliant magic involved if say so myself.” She gestured at Tricky. “I mean, you agree with me, right? I don’t know if you do any of that, but, I don’t know, this stuff?” She mimed a punch. “I know we don’t want to kill each other just yet but it seems like a waste of time, don’t you think? Your time, if not mine.” "Quite right girl. If you boys are going to have a little wrestling match I suggest you go full force and get to it, at the very least make it a spectacle to watch. I mean you don't want your teammates to think all your capable of is some gentle shoving do you? Make it flashy for us!" Sieg sighed, rubbing the back of his head with his right hand. "Sorry...," He apologized softly. "I think there's a bit of a misunderstanding. My power's hard to control, so I had to make sure I knew Alex's limits before I did anything too flashy. But... if it's flashy training you all want...," He walked behind Alex. Training Begins "Then flashy training all three of you shall receive," He then gave the beast a forceful shove, pushing him back towards Robin. The dragon slayer then took a stance, spreading out both his legs, placing one hand in front of his forehead and the other in front of his waist. He took a deep breath, beginning to trace a large circle in front of him until his hands switched positions. As he did, his hands began to glow, and a sort of large energy ball formed in the very center of the circle. The energy itself looked wild and unrefined, like it was trying to escape from Sieg's grasp and let loose in the entire room. Sieg gritted his teeth and began to bring his hands closer to each other, slowly but surely compressing the energy into a basketball sized sphere of crackling energy. The dragon slayer found himself wishing he had brought his sword this time, as it was easier for him to channel energy through it, but he would have to work with what he had. "Dragon's Cannon!" he yelled as he thrust his hands forwards, firing the ball with such force that there was a blast of wind from the attack's launch. As the energy ball flew through the air, Sieg took another breath of air, this time focusing his energy into his legs. He crouched down, and then took off like rocket, leaping into the air high enough that his head scraped against the ceiling, leaving a dent in the floor. He soon fell back towards the ground, arms raised above his head, ready to slam them into the ground the moment he landed. Time to see who needed protected.

Shiro wasn't sure what to expect when they emerged from the hole in the ground, but it seemed to be some sort of... place of worship? There were pews and a giant statue... he supposed that this was a place that the humans gathered to pray to their gods. But why would there be a hidden passage leading all the way over here in the first place? That didn't make much sense to him. Everyone went their separate ways, some examining the statue, which Shiro decided to do as well. However, he decided his method of searching would be a little more direct. He carefully grabbed onto the statue and began to climb up it, aiming to get to the top and look around it, to see if there was anything hidden out of sight on its back. He also took the time to note how dusty the statue was. If it was really dusty, that would imply people haven't been here for a while, but if it wasn't, there obviously people had been here and cleaning it recently. He only hoped he found some important clues.

I was lost in thought as I processed the info Archer gave me. So much so I almost missed the others about to leave. "Oh yeah, guys, important update," I call out. "There's a house in a graveyard that seems abandoned, but a mage is setting up shop there. Also, Archer's stuck in a binding trap at said house. In fact, lemme take care of that," I raise my hand, sighing that I had to use a Command Seal, but I didn't want Archer to get caught now. One Command Seal now to save too many headaches in the future."By my Command Seal, I order you Archer to come by my side!" When we got to the house, I considered Berserker's master's words. "Hmm... I don't think we can just sneak up... But I might be able to sneak in," I say. "You all want to take that chance?"

"Sai...every time you say that, I get worried," Rightly so, honestly, but Sai wasn't going to let that get him down. "The first time you said that, the idea you had was great. I mean hell, the idea of utilizing pyrotechnics in the manner you had for a grand opening in your one Duel last year was amazing." It really was amazing, if he said so himself. He even made it so his wrists could fire out sparkles. It was cool. Souji then began to sigh, before rubbing the bridge of his nose. "...the last time you said you were inspired, it was just bad...terrible even. I mean, technicolor dream coat for the headmaster, when you can tell they happen to be colorblind?" With a slight shake of his head, Souji sighed again. "...however, I am your friend, so I'll indulge you...since you seemed to be on a roll after you got Kyouko's design. So, what's the idea this time?" "Okay, okay, so this time, the idea is for you," Sai commented as he let go of Souji's shoulders. "Okay, so you know how you play E-Heroes and they're tokusatsu as hell? Well, any good tokusatsu protagonist gets a suit upgrade, and some of the more recent ones get transforming suits. So, that's what I'm going to make you, a transforming suit!" He smiled proudly before tapping his chin. "Wait, wait, lemme pitch what I got so far," He ran out of the bathroom, diving onto his bed, reaching over to the other side of it and grabbing some empty Duel Disk cases. "Okay, okay, imagine this," He said as he quickly strapped a case on his waist and one of his wrist. "So, Imma make a custom Duel Disk, right? Make your belt the graveyard while you have an otherwise normal duel disk, right?" He then pulled out three cards from his own deck, slapping two in the Monster Zone. He then struck a pose. "Now, I use Polymerization to fuse Whatitsname and Whocares!" Sai preformed, doing his best impression of Souji. "Now, by combining the powers of forgetfulness and apathy, I call forth a new power!" He picked up all three cards , placing them down into his belt. "Whatitsname! Whocares! Fusion Summon is a go!" Sai now made his voice sound like an announcer, one excited for the events despite how silly it all looked. "Henshin!" He called out as Souji once more, pulling an imaginary lever on the belt. "Don'tgotaname!" He then finally struck one final dramatic pose, before slipping back to normal and using his own normal voice. "And then your costume transforms into a form that resembles the fusion monster you summoned," He explained as he took off the duel case on his waist. "I think if all goes according to plan, and if I don't get distracted, I can have this done by next week. Whatcha think, Souji?"

The day of the Kickoff was a productive day for Sai, as evident by the mountain of waded papers by his desk. He had went through a mountain of ideas for Melissa's costume, but some of them weren't right. Sadly, he only got about half a notebook worth's of ideas before Souji came home from the Kickoff. It seemed Kyouko had some ideas for her costume. It was actually much more detailed than he expected, but, still, it awoke something in him. He was inspired. So he worked through the night, sketching out some more ideas, before deciding to work on a prototype headpiece for the costume itself. It took most of the night, but he finished it. He wasn't sure if it would fit on Kyouko though, as he didn't have her exact measurements. He would also have to make adjustments to make sure she could see and the like. Still, he had finished it. But the creative beast inside him was not quelled. He needed to do more, create more, to... He needed to improve Souji's costume. And he had just an idea of how it could work. He would need to get a working prototype running though, since this idea was a difficult one. It was probably the most elaborate idea he had yet. He kept working... until the next thing he knew, he woke up to the noises of Souji getting ready for the day. without hesitation, he rushed over to his friend, wide eyed and hyped up despite just waking up. "Souji Souji Souji!!" Sai called out as he dashed to his room mate, skidding to a stop behind him and grabbing him by the shoulders, spinning him around and looking him dead in the eye. The next three words were a warning to Souji, as they were always followed by Sai's best, and worst ideas. "I was inspired!" The man Akira was not happy. Worst part was that it was all his own damn fault. Yesterday, he had been running super late. He couldn't find Katsu anywhere, and frankly, he understood why. She was probably very busy. So he was late for the exhibition duel, but he did see it, and by God it was beautiful. Yushiro finished it off beautifully. Akira would have went to congratulate him, but it seemed Yushiro wanted to celebrate with Elizabeth. That was fine, the Man was patient, he could wait... well, he would, but something would prevent that. The man was hit by a wave of nausea and threw up in a trash can, away from others. He couldn't believe it. He was sick, he, the Man Akira! He wasn't one to get sick, so he was dropped like a ton of bricks by this. He went home, laying down and hoping to sleep it off. Sleeping it off did work, and he woke up in a sweat covered bed, feeling much better. He went through his morning routine of exercise, jogging down the path to school. As he did, he texted his friend. From: AkiraTHEMAN To: THEMANYUSHIRO Vigorous Right Fist Fukuryu is a kickass name. The Man Akira is proud.

Draw a loli in a raincoat.

Well, there was a bit of good news, and a bit of bad news. The good news was that the group could in fact handle the people that they currently were dealing with. The bad news was that more people were coming, and that could spell bad news for everyone else if they were flanked. They would need to funnel them, have them focus on one spot and pick them off instead of letting them overwhelm the others. "Oy! You all wanted a Jouran? Well come and get me! Unless you're too cowardly to face me like warriors?!" He taunted to the approaching group as he attacked the Iron Sword wielding cavalier from earlier with his lance. "C'mon, show me the strength of your precious Rastarn!" he took a deep breath, preparing for the fight ahead. Now wasn't the time to falter. Now he needed to be stronger than ever! OOC

The duels Zirco and Tora had while Shannon dueled were easy enough. Despite being the backbone of this city's martial law, they went down rather easily. However... it wasn't without loss. When Tora landed her final blow, the Security officer wasn't happy about it, and they rammed their D-Wheel into hers. It caused her to crash, the D-Wheel crashing on top of her. Zirco stopped, picking up her bike and looking at her leg. It didn't look so good, in fact, despite not being a doctor, Zirco could tell a leg was not supposed to bend that way. So he picked her up, placing her on his back and taking her back outside the city, back to Gil and the van. They had to get her medical attention. It didn't take long for Gil to get Tora loaded and secured, before driving off. Seemed they would be on their own for a while. Zirco turned around and headed back to the city. However, instead of heading higher up into the city, he kept low below the streets, down in the underbelly. This made sense for a place to look, right? He turned on the radio again, reaching out to Shannon and Jet. "Yo, it's Zirco. We beat those cops, but Tora broke her leg when one of those bastards were a sore loser and made her wreck her D-Wheel. Gil's taking her to get medical attention. So... yeah, tell me you got better news," As the three talked, they could hear the sound of tires squealing outside of the stadium. Someone was leaving. The odds of them catching the peeping tom were very low, but it was obvious. Now was not the time to stay still, unless more people get the stadium soon. The group had decided to take the two people up on their offer, which the girl herself was very pleased about. The two lead them outside of the Arena, heading to a nearby alley. The girl hummed to herself as she swung her sleeves around. "Hey, hey, Not-Octopus," She said. "How do you think we should summon Dread Knight? The easy way or the fun way?" "How about no way?" The boy muttered. "This is stupid and they're all stupid for wanting to do this," "Well, since you're being no fun, the fun way it is!" She said before suddenly pointing ahead. It looked as if there was two people trying to break into a house. "Oh, oh, let's us them!" She called out, revealing a gun under her sleeve. She ran ahead, confronting the two burglars. "Oh, what a catch!" She said in a loud and dramatic voice. "We got ourselves a bunch of suckas, thinkin' we don't know what they are!" The boy sighed and held up both hands, showing he wielded two guns. "Now we can... do justice, or something," The boy muttered, obviously not into it like the girl. "Yeah, yeah, all we gotta do is pump 'em full of lead and be on our way!" The girl said. ""Ey, what the hell are you all doin'?" The burglar snapped, pulling out his own gun. "Don't try to butt into our business! We'll pump ya full of lead, got it?" However, before a firefight could break out, knee deep fog began to roll into the area, the sky turning black as night. "Ah, hell naw. We need to get the hell outta here," One of the criminals muttered. The girl and boy simply fell onto their backs, disappearing into the fog. The two criminals turned towards the Signer group to try to run, but... before they could... the sounds of footsteps echoed through the area. The two criminals froze, fear etched on their face as they took a step back. Suddenly, the group would feel a presence... and see someone decked out in black armor and cloak slip past all of them, silently walking past them, not touching one of them as he made his way to the culprits. One raised his gun, firing off a few rounds, the sounds of the gunshots ringing clearly through the night, each one clearly hitting the cloaked man. However, the figure never broke his stride, just walking closer and closer to his targets. The figure reached into his cloak, pulling out a hilt of a sword with no blade attached. However, as soon as it was drawn, a blade of fog exploded from the hilt. The figure took one more step, and suddenly, instead of slowly walking in front of the signers, he stood behind the culprits, looking as if he just finished the motion of a sword swing. "... Dark Requiem," He called out, slamming his blade into the ground. The criminals fell over, lifeless, and the fog cleared, the sky brightening up once more. "He ha ha ha ha! That was awesome!" The girl from the Arena suddenly called out, still laying on her back. The boy sighed and sat up, dusting himself off. "I told you two you shouldn't do things like that, didn't I?" The armored man didn't turn to face anyone, his voice both reprimanding, but they could hear the concern in his voice. "I know, I know, Dread Knight, but, but! They wanted to meet you!" The girl said, pointing to the group. Dread Knight didn't even turn. "What business do you have with me?" He asked, sharply.

"You're right, Sienna. That was rude of me," her ears flattened. "I apologize for that, Shiro. I suppose I am just a bit on edge from this situation," she gestured toward Cora and the others. Now, was Shiro sorry? Not one bit. If being the voice of reason was wrong, well, then he never wanted to be right. However... he did need to be careful, and frankly, not even the foxes deserved the sharp tone he gave... not yet anyways. "I apologize to. I admit it is tense right now, and I lost my cool... not something I should be doing," Especially since he needed to keep an eye on... well, everything, frankly. However, now was not the time to ponder upon that. Instead, it seemed Alois had indeed came across something important, namely a way to open the burn resistant door. Indeed, that was quite the discovery. Shiro waited for everyone to climb down in the basement, ready to follow behind... except for one small hitch. The town person that refused to go in. It was obvious. She wanted him to go in first. Frankly, he didn't believe it to be a good idea. Seeing how she reacted to Edrick and being the cause of the whole argument the group just had, he wasn't sure if she wouldn't do something like try to lock them in, or set the house on fire in an attempt to have the tunnel be filled with smoke and cause them all to die. So it was a tense minute as the other silently urged the other to go first, neither one willing to go first. The longer they waited, the more suspicious Shiro felt. However, in the end, Shiro had to lose their little game of chicken, seeing as if he dwelt here any longer, he'd lose sight of the foxes, who were just as important of a watch target. So he compromised. He never took his eyes off of Cora as he walked into the tunnel, even walking backwards down the tunnel to make sure she didn't do anything funny. The only thing of note was Gunther speaking to her, although what he said, the frog didn't know. Soon, they came to a room with the only thing of note was another 'keypad' and a ladder that lead into the ceiling. The archer made her way up and tried to push against the ceiling, so Shiro walked over, standing under the ladder, ready to catch her should she fall. And seeing her track record so far... well, he needed to be there.

"So why don't ya like that fellah again?" Oh, now that was a story she wasn't sure if she wanted to go into. After all, there was a lot going on there, and frankly, she knew a lot of it was pettiness. Did she want to admit that she was just that petty? However, it seemed that there were more pressing manners at the moment, with a resounding boom filling the air. How did no one notice that? "Why don't we go pay the mall a visit? All this talk 'bout shootin's got me trigger finger itchin'." Not that she had a choice, as she watched Archer make his way towards the mall. "Great, just great," She muttered as she ran out to follow him. When the two arrived at the mall, there stood the giant of a man holding on to two obvious Heroic Spirits, and one Master watching them all. The two heroes in the giant's grasp struggled, but no matter how they did, the giant held on tight. Finally, it seemed that the Berserker had gotten tired of holding them both and tossed the green haired Heroic Spirit over his shoulder, having him land ungracefully in front of Astoria, before trying to crush Rider like a tin can. "Damn, this isn't ideal," Caster muttered as he dusted himself off. He then noticed Astoria and Archer, and he quickly sprang back up to his feet. "Ah, I didn't know we were in the presence of such a lovely lady. And she seems to have a strong servant as well. Would you mind lending your talents and helping us take down Berserker?" "Hmm... well, Archer. Now's the time to show your stuff," Astoria stated, curious to see how such a hero would fight. "A hand would be much appreciated!" Rider called out as the golden glow surrounded him once more, slowly sapping away Souta's mana again. Using his Mana Burst, he managed to pry open Berserker's hand and slip away, moving back towards Souta. "Master, I'd suggest you go to that other Master. I'm going to take Berserker's attacks head on!" He raised his hand over his head, a shield manifesting in his hand. He held it in front of him, taking a defensive stance. "Come at me!!" he called out. Berserker seemed mesmerized by the shield, and so he charged, smashing his fist right into it. Rider stood, taking the blows, and leaving the monster wide open. "What a strike." He smiled, pointing his sword out in front of him with one hand, setting his guard position. "I'm at a slight disadvantage fighting you, but that won't stop me from winning this bout. After all, my master is the one who will win this war." He taunted Lancer with his off hand, begging her to come closer. "Are you tired? Or would you like to continue our baile caliente!?" "Are you kidding me? You're the best fight I've had in over 3000 thousands years! Damn straight I'm going to keep going!" She had a wide grin on her face as he dashed towards Saber, this time keeping her body close to the ground. She took her staff and swung, aiming to sweep Saber's feet out from under him. "Don't disappoint me now, sword boy!" "Your mana won't last forever," Misaki observed. "Everyone runs out at some point and has to recharge. Winning is as simple as stalling you out until then, especially in a non-fatal battle." "Yes... that is true... but the same goes for you," Ciel shot back, putting her hands behind her head. "So I wonder, which of us will last longer?" Suddenly, the vines unwrapped from the tree, flinging themselves straight at Misaki, intent on wrapping her up.

So far, everything was going well. However, things wouldn't stay this way for long. The one he attacked had ran off, and some new person came and attacked him. That really mad the rider mad! Who just ran off from a battle?! "Coward! Get back here!" Raynor yelled at the top of his lungs, shrugging off the attack of the new enemy and generally ignoring them. Raynor clenched his weapon and went to chase after his old opponent, but as he moved, a few things caught his eye. There was an enemy behind him the whole time attacking their leader, and his enemy that had ran away had a clear shot at Layne. Where they trying to take their healer out of the equation? Well, he wouldn't let that happen. He moved closer to Layne, while at the same time attacking the enemy behind him right into their side. Then then turn and watched the enemy that fled from him "Come and get it!" He yelled once more. OOC