[h1][center]Hellsalem's Lot- Mealtime[/center][/h1]

"Two bear claws, then? I'll add them to the order. Please wait a moment as we prepare your order," the barista said, quickly jotting something down on a notepad before beginning to assemble everything. His counterpart at the desk nodded and sent off the second order to another person behind them before returning to her job with the next incoming customer.

As that was happening, Satori turned to Shotaro, who had come to wait by the table as their meals (or, rather, drinks with snacks) were being prepared. She paused for a second before shaking her head at the detective's comment.

"Ah... No, I've never heard of any person by the name of 'King Arthur.' Though... Given your reaction and the situation, I assume that Saber over there is quite famous in your home as well? Or is it possible that there are as many versions of a character as there are worlds? That would be... Quite the dilemma."

As she finished, one of the people at the counter rang a call bell before calling out the order that had been put forth by Shotaro for the rest of them.

"Oh, done already? I would think that steeping tea would usually take a while longer..."

[hr]
[h1][center]The 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi[/center][/h1]
[h2][center]Hanging Gardens[/center][/h2]
Kagura stopped his barrage of attacks as the two other fighters managed to grab Tsubaki and land a clean hit in her midsection. Wincing as he watched Tsubaki's body go stiff from the impact before falling limp, the fighter calmly walked up to Akuma and Alex before bowing.

"Ah, geez... Thanks for the help. Saved me a lot of headache there. So, as promised, I'll answer any questions you've got, since you're already tangled up in this mess with me."

As he sad that, though, Tsubaki's body twitched before the eye on her shield began to glow. Kagura glanced at it and cursed under his breath. as he began to move back to prepare himself for a fight.

"Damn, I didn't think it'd actually activate like this..."

Just as the light reached its peak, though, a [url=http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/blazblue/images/b/ba/Jin_Kisaragi_%28Centralfiction%2C_Character_Select_Artwork%29.png/revision/latest?cb=20150715165808]young man with a strange blue-and-white outfit[/url] walked up to the group. Kagura let out a sigh of relief, his body losing most of its tension as he looked at the new arrival.

"You're late, Jin. What kept you?"
"Dealing with the side effects of this mess. Did Tsubaki activate Izayoi?"
"Nah, but she's certainly on the verge of doing so."
"Then let me put a stop to that."

After that little back-and-forth, Jin quietly walked up to Tsubaki's body and gripped the hilt of his katana.

"Yukianesa."

With a cold (if not somewhat pained) face, Jin drew his katan and pointed it at Tsubaki's shield. A layer of ice immediately encased it, causing the blooming light to fade away almost immediately. Letting out a sigh of relief, Jin quickly sheathed his weapon and turned back towards Kagura.

"So. Mind explaining who these two are?"

"Right, right. Well, the one who looks like a monk is named Akuma, as far as I can recall, and... Well, I actually don't recall the other's name right now. My bad. But either way, they helped restrain Tsubaki while I was trying to stall her.

"So are you saying you couldn't handle her on your own?"

"Well, it's more like I think that she probably would've activated Izayoi sooner if I went all out..."

"Whatever. If she's unconscious now, we can give her treatment and maybe figure out what caused this in the first place. We've got medical equipment in NOL HQ that we can use to keep her under for a while. Come on; we don't have all day."

Nodding, Kagura watched as Jin carefully took the limp Tsubaki from Alex's arms and carried her instead.

"...So yeah. You're a bit deep in this mess now, so I'll keep my end of the bargain and answer any question you might have here."

[h2][center]Orient Town[/center][/h2]
"MUNYAAA!"
Taokaka's cries as she was launched straight into a wall were met with a large amount of bricks tumbling down around them. Luckily, none of the bricks had hit Tao, who was now thoroughly exhausted, but... Well, it certainly hurt a great deal to be lying among the debris.

"Nyeow... What's the big deal, crazy hair lady?! You destroy Tao's food, then blame it on Tao! That's nyeot fair!" she complained, weakly trying to roll herself away from the pile of rubble that she was now lying on. "Tao hasn't had any breakfast today, and that was all the food Tao had..."

[hr]
[h1][center]Unknown City, Somewhere in the U.S.[/center][/h1]

Claire stared back at Sol as if he was an idiot. Even if her comment had been a thinly-veiled insult at how crazy most of them were, this was--!

"...You don't think that I wouldn't have said if there was more to do? You're with the big guy over there! You know, like the rest of your buddies are? Look, see? They're all going with him to look already! Geez, and I thought regular people were bad..." Claire sighed, shaking her head as she brought a hand up to massage her forehead. "Whatever. Your job's with him. He's got the map, so have a blast."

With that, the now mentally-exhausted Claire walked back into the command center, leaving Sol to catch up with the others that had left.