[h3][img]http://i.imgur.com/52Kspeh.png?1[/img] [color=0072bc]Izumi Airi — Church Interior[/color][/h3]
[@Moonlit Sonata]
[@Beloss]
[@Holy Grail]
[@DrowsyPangolin]
[@Cu Chulainn]
[@Yukitamas]

[hr]
[color=0072bc]"Wait wait wait [i]waaaait[/i] waitwaitwait, [i]hold up[/i]. This thing's [i]killed a Servant already[/i]!?"[/color] Airi leaned forward incredulously, [color=0072bc]"That's not the sorta shit you just mention offhand! Jeez!"[/color]

That critical piece of information changed everything, in her mind. It confirmed two speculations - one, that her own Servant wasn't the only one to have an encounter with the man. And two, that his aims included the destruction of Servants, despite being a true third-party entity, as Ruler had confirmed.

With a heavy sigh, Airi leaned back in the pew, resting both of her elbows high on its back as her brain slowly processed each piece of information in turn. What that man wanted. How to stop him. Who she could trust. Who she [i]couldn't[/i] trust. Who was powerful. Who was weak.

What to do. What to do. What to do.

Clock's ticking, hand's spinning, planet's revolving, tick tick tick.

[color=0072bc]"...This place ain't safe."[/color]

Airi concluded, speaking in a low voice with her head down - not to anyone in particular, but merely stating aloud the conclusion that she had come to herself. [color=0072bc]"He's a third party, right? He's not a servant, right? So, this 'neutral ground' isn't any more 'neutral' to him than the rest of the city."[/color] The girl raised her head, scowling at the circumstance. [color=0072bc]"Clearly, he can locate Servants and Masters, somehow, so he [i]probably[/i] knows we're all here. He sure as hell knows [i]you're[/i] here, because where the fuck else would you be. And just as clearly, it has something to gain from targeting both Servants [i]and[/i] Masters."[/color]

[color=0072bc]"So, what's stopping him from crashing in through the roof like the meteor that killed the fucking dinosaurs, right now, right this minute? Either he doesn't want to, [i]or he can't[/i]."[/color] She was speaking just as acerbically as before, but her tone was more controlled. [color=0072bc]"If he doesn't want to, then he must have everything he wants already, which I really fucking doubt. And if he [i]can't[/i], it can only mean that he'd rather avoid a big, showy conflict with multiple enemies. Or, in other words, [i]he's scared of us.[/i]"[/color]

After all, he had only shown himself twice, so far. Once, in a mere half-second glimpse to kidnap Stirner and eliminate Berserker in a single move - only the latter condition of which Airi had prevented, by nothing more than happenstance. And another time, to quickly slay a single Servant who was, from the sounds of things, unaccompanied.

None of that spoke to an ultra-powerful being that could topple over the Grail War like a game of Jenga. No, to Airi, it spoke of a single-minded assassin, scoping for opportunities and picking off contestants where it could gain a decisive advantage, one by one.

[color=0072bc]"He doesn't want to take us all on at once. In fact, it seems to me almost like he's trying to [i]limit his engagements with us[/i], even though his goals involve killing."[/color] Airi pointed out, her voice twisting distastefully over the word 'kill', as though it were an especially bitter foodstuff. [color=0072bc]"So, the solution here seems really simple to me. How about [i]we stop fucking fighting each other[/i], chasing after everyone's favorite Magical Big Gulp like a pack of autistic ferrets, because you can damn well guess that's what he's hoping we do. He's given no indication that he can or will attack a group, so [i]we make a fucking group[/i] and come down on his ass like an eighteen-wheeler."[/color]

Airi stood up to her feet, finally - on top of the pew, still, which now bore scuff marks from her dirtied tennis shoes. Strength was back in her body, now. As short as she was, even standing on a chair put her at about even height with most of the church's other inhabitants, but she was fine with that. Despite her ragged demeanor, clothes torn, patched, and stained, hairstyle coming apart at the seams from days without maintenance, she held her head high, pulling her hood overtop as she did.

If there was a certain 'common sense' shared among mages, which allowed them to survive in the world they called their own, then for simple thugs who lived their life on the streets, the same held true. In this ritual, created by mages, presided over by mages, enacted by mages, that unique perspective was itself a powerful wild card.

Can never do enough on your own - for someone as hard-headed as Airi, it had taken a box-cutter to the gut when she was 15 to learn that lesson. And now, whether it was in Tokyo or in Fuyuki, she rolled with a crew.

 
[center][color=0072bc]"The Anti-Interference Coalition."

"Who's in?"[/color][/center]