World Tree MUSH

 
 THE RED DISTRICT 
 
 LATE NIGHT 
 
 It's an unfortunate very common sight to see in seedy areas such as this. A very urbanized city in a neighborhood where seedy business may be found are ripe with crime and other despicable activities. It so happens that tonight, in a particular industrialized city, a group of men are seen chasing a young woman through the streets. They shove and push past the crowd as they cream bloody murder, armed with lead pipes, knives, chains and knuckle dusters, they seem intent on catching this girl and more than likely brutalize her. 
 
 The woman in question seems pretty boyish at first glance, short spikey blue hair, a blue tanktop that leaves her midriff exposed, jeans and running sneakers indicate that she may not be such a stranger to crime itself, but still hardly a reason for getting dog piled by a dozen or so mean and surely beaten to death. 
 
 Eventually, the furious group of obvious gang members manage to corner the young woman into a dark alley. A complete dead end, back to a brick wall and her path completely blocked by a group of bloodthirsty gang bangers, the men cackle and grin in wolfish fashion getting ready to brutalize her and perhaps.. even worst things.. 
 
 "Oh you done goofed now, bitch! We're gonna show you what happens to peeps that steal from us!" The apparent leader grins and advances towards the blue haired haired as he pats his palm with a lead pipe with deadly intent in his eyes. 
 
 All the trapped girl can do is press her back harder against the wall and wait. Her blue eyebrows furrow in concentration looking oddly... focused rather than terrified as most would be when faced with imminent death and possible violation. 

    MEANWHILE

    "... Did I seriously take the wrong turn again?"

    Yes. Shirou Emiya most definitely took a wrong turn somewhere. At the extra-dimensional level, no less.

    And this would be the only reason that the red-haired, young japanese man in a white-and-black jersey jacket is roaming through this very seedy district tonight. At least he doesn't look *terribly* like someone worth robbing -- even the phone he's staring at with confusion (it's supposed to have a map of Vines provided for him!) is of a clearly older model that would probably not even sell for two bucks. Though maybe the tube-shaped container hung over his shoulder like a messenger bag might look curious enough to warrant attention? The boy's been lucky enough to not draw any of that kind of attention so far, at least.

    "I'm gonna have to ask them to explain this thing to me agian, I guess... I'd have thought it was just going to be a straight way back t-"

    Someone bumps into Shirou's side just then, sending the boy jostling along by a few steps. "Ah, I'm so-"

    Putting aside the ridicilousness that is him about to apologize to the person who bumped into him, all thought freezes when he realizes what's going on with that person who did the bumping. For they are but one among many running past him, armed to the teeeth and... chasing a woman?

    Oh. Oh, that doesn't look good.

    A smart person would probably try to call for more help, or the police, or... something. But unfortunately for Shirou, what he sees is a woman in a danger much too immediate for those to be valid options.

    So naturally, he runs *after* the gangbangers and their mark. He keeps just enough of a distance that they might not immediately realize they're being followed by someone who isn't among their number.

    Fortunately (and rather conveniently), it turns out there's a length of an abandoned metal pipe left lying near the mouth of the alley, too. Saves him from having to figure out how to hit people with the sword hidden in the tube bag he's carrying without hurting them *too* much, right? Right?

    With the pipe quickly Reinforced with his mana, Shirou's quick to delve further into the alley. He doesn't call out or anything, no. This is absolutely a fool's errand. Could he really fight his way through all of these rough and tumble men just for the sake of clearing an escape path for the woman they've cornered? He doesn't really even stop to think about that. There's just someone who needs help, as far as he can tell. And for that purpose, he grips the Reinforced pipe in his hand tightly as he approaches the rearmost thug with the intent of getting a surprise attack in...

    ...With absolutely no realization of just who the woman that has been cornered actually is.

 
 The gang bangers seemed none the wiser that they picked up a straggler on their hot pursuit. They appeared too focused on their target to even bother turn around, their cheers and cries for blood kept their attention wholly on the woman they now have trapped. Why, Shirou could quite frankly probably gotten away with knocking a gang member or two before they even realized they were getting attacked from behind. Whatever this girl did to them has them all riled up, or perhaps its the opportunity itself that seems so appetizing. After all? What kind of madwoman goes and gets all these men riled up, lure them all the way to a secluded alley and then makes sure that they reached a dead end? This woman was either a complete idiot, had a serious death wish of getting gang banged by a dozen men before being murdered or... 
 
 She was actually purposely bringing all these men to a secluded area where she could kill them in peace. 
 
 "What the--" As the ring leader swung his pipe at the woman, he was frozen in his steps, quite literally, by the woman catching his arm with her hand. No matter with how much strength he tried to pull away he could not pry away from her grip. "A-AAHH!!" The man began to scream as his arm became encased in ice, and with one sickening crack, his whole arm shattered into frozen pieces. "AAAAAAAAAAAABLLUUAGGGKKK!!" His blood curling scream turned into sickening gurgles as the woman stuck her hand inside his mouth and RIPPED his jaw clean off. Blood poured out his now ruined mouth like a fountain, his tongue wiggling uselessly as he attempted to scream but all he managed was to gurgle incomprehensibly. The girl flicked him aside as if he were a rag doll and jumped into the crowd of men with a devious grin on her face as she got to her bloody work, the gang members all stunned at what just happened and utterly helpless to stop what followed. 
 
 The girl broke a man's knee with a kick, and then trapped his head between her arms yanking his head hard and breaking his neck. She sent the corpse sideways to slam against two of his buddies before she penetrated all three of their stomachs -and the wall behind them- with a punch, tearing their entrails and breaking the brick behind them in the process. 
 
 Suddenly, the gang members realized that they had all been lured into a trap and began to turn to try and flee, but it was too late now, the girl launched herself at them and started chopping them to pieces with her bare hands. She ripped their heads by pulling on them, tore their arms from their sockets, pushed her hands clean through their bodies. 
 
 The very last one, the one Shirou was about to hit, turned and ran straight into the red haired boy and bounced back-- right into the waiting arms of the girl that was killing them all. 
 
 "NO! NO! WAIT! PLEASE! PLEASEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAIEEEEEEEEE!!" Sickening crunching noise followed as she grabbed at his back.. from Shirou's perspective it wouldn't be clear what she was doing to him until she raised her arm up in the air with something attached. 
 
 She was tearing the man's dorsal spine clear out of his body. 
 
 With the last of the gang members dead, there was no one left save for the blue haired girl and well... 
 
 Shirou. 
 
 The girl, who was now completely soaked in blood, suddenly noticed our hero and frowned. "I see you over there!" She said with surprising cheer, as if she were merely playing a game. 
 
 She dashed at him and tried to kick him in the stomach with a flying kick, clearly thinking he was one of the gang members that was following her. 

    "...Ah?"

    The change in the scenery is so drastic that it nearly whiplashes Shirou's brain, as he witnesses it. His whole body frozen right in the middle of what was meant to build into an overhead swing of the pipe in his hand.

    Did he really even fully realize what was happening, with how perfectly still he has become in his stance? Maybe some part of his brain is trying to reject the visual input it's receiving now, for the sheer horror of it all.

    ...And yet, at the same time, his reaction is probably significantly more composed than it *should* be.

    Broken out of that momentary shock by the final gangbanger crashing into him, then, the redhead stumbles back a few steps -- steadying only just in time to feel something wet and sticky splattering onto his cheek.

    "...Ah."

    He realizes all too quick what is dripping down along him now. *That* finally makes him feel like he's about to hurl today's dinner right here in this alleyway, even before his amber eyes sweep to find their place on the blue-haired girl.

    And with that comes the realization of what her next target is.

    "Wai-?!"

    There's no time to let out the yell of protest. Even before he's properly opened his mouth to let the first sound out from his mouth, he's already sweeping the pipe in his hand reflexively to be braced in front of him with both hands. Further mana pouring into both the pipe and the bones in his arms, so that he might--

    "Hgggh?!"

    Even with all that, when the leaping kick brings both her feet against the pipe, the force of the impact still jolts through his whole body. Like burning spikes driven through his arms at two-inch intervals.

    And more importantly, he's actually sent flying back.

    It's nowhere near as bad as if he'd taken the hit into his gut, but his feet certainly leave the ground, and he's sent back several paces forth with such sudden motion that when his feet do reach the ground again, his balance is already shot-- one foot slipping away from underneath him and sending him into a tumbling course to the ground.

    This feels strangely familiar. It's not entirely unlike that night when the spearman in blue chased after him. The strength and speed behind the girl's movements are not too far off.

    But with that does come a sobering realization:

    Get caught on the ground and you are dead.

    Driven by that thought in his mind, the red-haired boy forces his foot to push back into the pavement. It's not going to be enough to stop the forced motion of his body, but it does let him push into it instead -- turn into a spin and brace his other foot on the ground to both regain some manner of control... and to send his arm swinging along over, to swipe the pipe into what should be empty space right behind him. A strike made not so much with actual aim, but rather the prediction of where he expects this personification of death to be within the next split second. Less for the sake of bringing in a decisive hit, and more for the sake of buying him a few more seconds of time.

    "HHHAAA--!"

 
 "Oho!" The girl sounded very pleasantly surprised when her flying attacked was blocked. Sure, the pipe groaned in agony as it was forced to block the impact of the blow, an attack that would have surely split a normal human in half, or at the very least collapsed their chest inside their own body. However, as unimposing as Shirou may appear and against all odds, he managed to block an attack that the burlier men before him were absolutely helpless to stop. The girl leapt back and landed on her feet, blood and guts from the men she killed splashing about as it began pooling in the alley. There was just so much of it, the street had been turned into a complete grinder, with broken teeth, entrails, even bits of brain and bone littering the ground. And yet she was just completely focused on Shirou. 
 
 That was perhaps the most frightening thing about the girl. She didn't seem to be enraged, or fighting out of desperation, she was approaching this apparent fight to the death as casually as two old friends sparring. As gentle as saying hello and asking how's the weather. This was.. her element. 
 
 "You got some fight in you!" She said in very delighted surprise as she saw Shirou catch himself on his feet rather than hit the ground with his back. A very wise move, it gave him enough room for retaliation while defending himself. It was the bare minimum one could do against such force. 
 
 But one needed a lot more than the bare minimum to deal with someone like Frost. 
 
 The girl leaned her upper body back, very casually, like a boxer casually shifting their body to avoid an attack. The pipe swung by Shiriou missed her face by mere inches, almost as if she had perfectly calculated where Shirou's desperate swing would be coming from. She was so used to putting people in the back foot that she knew usually how they were going to react. A desperate attack to the face. How predictable! 
 
 "I see I got your attention, huh??" The girl pursed her blue painted lips and went for her own counter attack. Staggered as Shirou was, his upper body was actually difficult to reach- but it was not the case for his lower body. Frost raised her foot impossibly high up in the air, she appeared to have the flexibility of a ballerina as her leg stretched up 90 degrees up in the air. Then, with brutal momentum, she tried to bring her heel down hard on Shiriou's outstretched foot in an attempt to shatter his ankle with all the cold brutality she had displayed when she killed the men before him. 

    "I'd rather not--!" Is all Shirou manages to gasp out in response before the staggering of his body reaches full circle. And in spite of his best intentions, he does, finally, tumble right back over -- so forcefully at that, that he even ends up rolling across the ground only half-intentionally.

    A stumble that just *barely* manages to bring him slipping away from the guillotine that is the woman's foot, mere split seconds before her heel finds purchase down below. He probably didn't even see it coming. It was pure luck that spared him from a life-altering injury.

    ...Unfortunately, this leaves him right down on the ground. The stumbling roll *did* bring him some distance away from her, but even he realizes quickly what a dreadfully disadvantegous position he has been brought down to. It shows in the roll to his back and the desperate backward crawling through the river of blood left behind by her rampage just a few seconds earlier. He can tell the pipe is probably not even going to sustain another hit, and he doesn't have the time to fish the sword out of it's hiding place in the tube-pack.

    His hand catches on something on the ground, left behind by... someone who very much doesn't have an use for it anymore. Oh. Maybe he can...

    "Why--" He pants out down there on the ground in the meantime, with sweat from both nerves and exhaustion dribbling down over his brow. "Why are you even doing this?!"

    The pipe gets an iota more of mana poured into it before he straight up just throws it at her, in another desperate maneuver. It wont do much. He knows it wont. But maybe it'll at least give him enough time to push himself up to at least one knee-- and enough of a distraction for him slip that little thing from amidst the detritus of gore out with his other hand without it being noticed.

 
 Not bad! That's two attacks in a row that Shirou has managed to deflect, dodge, or otherwise avoid. Sure, the last one looked almost accidental, as if it had been pure luck that Shirou managed to pull his foot out of the way before it was crushed by Frost's axe kick, but nevertheless, a dodge was a dodge and Frost's attacks were always perfectly calculated, if they did not manage to connect with their target was because the defender protected themselves successfully. Interesting.. and very unfortunately for Shirou, as he continued avoiding Frost blows, he continued piquing her interest. She was not expecting to run into anyone close to her level tonight. Not because she sought easy fights-- quite the contrary, Frost always wanted to push herself to her limits, it was more because finding fighters of her own caliber was very difficult. 
 
 The blue haired girl's foot SLAMS on the ground with all the impact of a hydraulic sledgehammer, debris and dust flying everywhere as her attack just exploded the ground with disgusting power. That looked like it could have split a human clean in half, and she had demonstrated she could do that already, judging by the dozen or so disemboweled gang members littering the ground behind her. One touch from this chick meant death for the average human. 
 
 "Why? Heh.." The woman advanced towards the now downed Shirou. His skill and luck had been impressive, yes, but now that he was on the ground it was just too tempting for her to finish him off. He was at a disadvantage now, helpless and at her mercy. It had been fun, but it was time to Finish Him. 
 
 "I'm just taking out the trash, man. No one is gonna miss you scum." Interestingly, it looked like Frost was specifically targeting gang members. Criminals, murderers and the like that she knew had what they had coming to them. Technically, she had been killing the obviously guilty, and she was attacking Shirou because she was mistaking him for a criminal.. but still... so much gruesome violence. Could she really be considered a good guy? 
 
 "And because I think its fun." Oh, nope, she's just a sadist. 
 
 "Now, do me a favor and DIE!!!" The blunette stood over Shirou and summoned a spear made entirely out of ice to her hands. She grinned with great delight before bringing said spear down on Shirou's chest, trying to impale him through the heart and pin him to the ground! 

    "...Huh?"

    The first part of her answer was, apparently, not exactly the kind of answer Shirou was expecting. It doesn't even fully make sense to him, at first. But then, his brain puts two and two together and--

    "Wait, you think I'm-- No, no, wait! I was coming here to he--"

    But nope, she says it's fun. And much more urgently, she's bracing an ice spear she pulled out of thin air (Shirou does not understand cryomancy). Oh shit. Oh shit! He was planning on her attacking him unarmed still, not doing this nonsense! Cold sweat covers his whole forehead with the realization of rapidlyt approaching death while he tries to figure out *something*. Neurons in his brains fire at rapid speed while she braces the frost lance--

    ... Could he perhaps? But he never tried it on clothing. In fact, he rarely ever succeeded reinforcing something that he couldn't use as a weapon or his own body. He's not sure why that was. And even if he could get it to work, would it be enough in dealing with this? Maybe if he concentrated it--

    The spear's practically already coming, though, so he doesn't exactly have time to make fine-tuned calculations. He just has to make the gamble-- one that, even if successful, still puts his *arm* at risk.

    She drives the spear down, and the redhead sweeps his left arm from the detritus of gore - the hand still coated in a thicker layering of guts - and his right palm slams against the back of his forearm as it's placed in the spear's path.

    "Trace on!!!"

    He doesn't even think closely about the usual mathematics behind the magic. An artificial, one-time use circuit drives deep through his spine, and mana pours from his right hand into the jacket sleeve covering his left arm, mere fractions of a second before the tip of the spear makes contact.

    Miraculously, the spear doesn't penetrate the Reinforced sleeve. But the impact is still monumental--

    "Hhhrrrgh!!"

    But Shirou doesn't care. His mind has nearly shut down, and his body gone on automation in the desperate throes of simply keeping himself alive. It doesn't matter that fragments of ice might chip off the spear and fly to cut through his cheek and the unreinforced portions of his jacket. It doesn't matter that something *definitely* breaks in that guarding arm. He even forces himself to pushing up with a knee and foot, to press right back into the blow before sweeping his arm to the side. A crude, forceful push at his opponent's balance at the same time as he gets back on his feet, borne out of pure desperation.

    "Get off--!!"

    He can't defeat this opponent toe-to-toe. Shirou Emiya is not strong enough for such a task. Knowing that, he puts everything he has to simply getting away. And as part of that, his wild push is followed through with the arm he doesn't even realize is already broken coming swinging in. Not to strike a blow at her, but to send the blood gathered on the hand splashing through the air -- and hopefully splattering at her eyes!

    Even if he doesn't manage to momentarily blind her, he still follows up on the rest of his hastily-put-together plan. Is it to finally land a counterattack on her? No. Nothing of such nature.

    ...It is, instead, to complete his push away from her and run like hell.

 
 Ah, how much did Frost savor it! She had danced this dance before. The desperation in a victim's eyes, the frantic attempt to defend themselves as they tried to put something in between them and her attack /anything/ even if it was their own arm that would do nothing to stop an ice spear laced with her chi. She could almost taste it down- as the ice spear was thrust down into the boy's body, she expected to hear the delicious sound of forearm bone being crushed, the ice spear would tear through the flesh and bone of his arm, going fully past it, tear through his chest, cave in his ribcage, pierce his heart exploding it inside him and finally impale him clean through and drive him deep into the ground. A glorious death! A worthy FATALITY! Frankly, these punks ought to be honored that they were killed by her! 
 
 That was what Frost was expecting. 
 
 But instead, when her spear collided with Shirou's arm--- her weapon broke!! 
 
 "WHAT!!?" Impossible! Her technique was flawless! Her poise perfect! Her own calculations told her that she had put more than enough strength into the blow to pierce a human's pathetic flesh! How could that be!? 
 
 Still not realizing that she was, in fact, not dealing with a regular gang member, Frost's usual lightning fast reflexes were muddled by the surprise and she was caught flat footed- utterly open for a counter attack. Why, she doesn't even realize that her blow actually managed to break her opponent's arm, all she knew was that Shirou wasn't dead and that was a great blow to her ego! If there was a time to strike at her, it was now! 
 
 "AAAH!!" Shirou splashed gathered blood and gore right on her face and into her optics, and with even with all her enhancements Frost still needed to see! "You sonova--" The girl staggered backwards, desperately trying to wipe the blood out of her face so she could see her oponent again. Fighter instincts returned quickly, she prepared herself to deflect an incoming attack even whilst she was blinded. She braced her weight on her back foot, hands up to defend her face and body, a perfect Tong Bei Quan stance... but the attack never came. 
 
 "..the hell!? OH NO YOU DON'T!!" An outrage! Her opponent was running away! The thought that she would leave one of these scumbags alive drove Frost to an almost blind fury. "I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU!!" The blunette screamed after Shirou as she.. well.. she started skating towards him. 
 
 That being said, Shirou would need to look over his shoulder to notice that the girl chasing him was leaving ice streaks on the ground and her movements were more akin to ice skating than running.. but he wouldn't need to because Frost soon extended her ice skating antics to the wall, less so wall running and more wall skating if you will. She skated right past him and jumped off the wall doing a diagonal somersault that placed her facing the fleeing Shirou. "I got you now, punk!!!" The cryomancer girl was not going to take a no for an answer now. Frost was starting to get the feeling that there was something special in Shirou, more than just simple luck, it was the only explanation as to why he was capable to deflect her ice spear even at the cost of his own arm. But now.. Shirou had gone and pissed her off. He had to die. 
 
 Or at the very least she was going to maim him. 
 
 "Auger Lunge!!" 
 
 Now that she was in front of him again, Frost turned both her hands into ice drills which -somehow- were spinning in her hands as if she could rapidly turn her wrists in 360 degrees. She then tried to slide her way into Shirou once again with the intent of ramming both drills into his body, one on his chest and one in his stomach. 

    In contrast, Shirou is nowhere near prideful enough to want to outright settle this right here and now. Survival is taking priority, since there's no one else here to protect! At the very least, if he can get into the open from the alley, he'll be in the public eye. Even if he couldn't get local police on the scene right off the bat, maybe he could leap onto one of the cars on the roads and hitch a ride to safety.

    ...But of course she has to be *faster* than him too.

    "What the--"

    He doesn't stop sprinting down the alley even when he sees the girl iceskating along the walls and past him-- but he does skid to a stop when she drops in front of him! "Wait! Wouldn't you just listen- oh." Oh she has drill hands now. "--Just what kind of world is this to have something like you in it?!" Eh? Did he just say 'what kind of world'? Is he not local?

    Too bad she's probably already sliding to ram those drills at him before he even finishes that sentence; too quickly for either of them to really consider things through.

    And Shirou... Shirou has run out of tricks. He doesn't think his reinforced sleeve will be enough to deflect those things, and he doesn't have anything else nearby to rely on. Hell, he doesn't even have time to dodge to the side!

    ...So he doesn't even think about it. Mindlessly, he kicks at the ground to try and leap back while sweeping his already-broken left arm into Frost's arms before the drills can collid with him-- the length of his forearm sweeping right into those drills themslves, at that!

    And indeed, the Reinforcement proves now to not be strong enough to withstand them after already tanking the hit from her spear. The fabric tears apart, opening the way for the spinning lengths of ice to tear into his flesh and bone, and completely disintegrate that limb...

    ...Or that's what should have happened, anyway.

    Yes, the sleeve did give away, and the drills do even reach the skin of his arm to the point that blood is spent splattering in a distressing cloud of red outwards, but... *something* stops them from digging deeper, and the red-haired magus' arm actually does manage to deflect her arms away before she gets to shred at the rest of his body!

    "Ggaa---GAAAHH!" ...Even if it did result in his arm still getting the brunt of that force.

    Still, it's certainly a much better outcome than it could have been-- for when he lands on his feet again a few paces behind him, though his arm might be bleeding profusely, he... still *has* both arms. What even happened? Shirou himself doesn't think about it too much right then-- he just automatically assumes that the Reinforcement managed to *somehow* help with the push enough even if it did give away in the end.

    But on the flipside, maybe Frost noticed something else, when his arm came into contact with the ice-drills; a distinct metallic sound, and faint sparks that flickered from friction of something grinding against steel, for just a split second before the drills were pushed away. But... that doesn't make sense. This young man before her is definitely flesh and blood, right?

 
 That was even to say that this girl was even willing to consider anything else that didn't end with Shirou being horribly brutalized. This crazed blunette was the complete opposite of the red headed Magus when it came to pride. Frost had pride in spades, all the power she could possibly accumulate in her travels through time and space would never ever come close to matching her ego. The text book definition of arrogance! That was Frost. 
 
 In fact-- 
 
 Her attitude might not be that different than that of Rin Tohsaka. 
 
 If Rin was a total psychotic murder that is. 
 
 Frost was not listening to reason right now. All she could see was some guy that had somehow managed to deflect one of her blows. Shirou was different, she could see that much now, but at this point his very life was like a smear on her prefect fight record. He had blocked her last attack maybe because she had been too careless. But not this time. This time she was going to hit him seriously. And this time he would die! 
 
 Shirou's questions reached Frost's ears but it didn't reach her mind. She heard him ask about her drills and about him not being a local of this world but she was already mid attack, a frenzied smile on her face as she saw that her drills were about to connect. She saw him put his crippled arm in the way again with no way to deflect it. This was it! This time she got him! "Yes!!" A savage smile appeared in her face as the drills connected. 
 
 And then her ice broke again as it felt like she had somehow crashed into metal instead of bone! "No!!" 
 
 Frost ice skated backwards, the ice on her hands melted away to show her pale hands once more. Frustration gave way to curiosity as she took a Tong Bei Quan stance, weight resting on her back foot, left hand stretched and right close to her abdomen. "Alright bucko.. you ain't no gang banger! Who or what are you!?" Now that she was finally looking at Shirou closely, Frost could tell that there was strong chi running through this boy. Yes, she had been a fool to simply attack him like that without scanning him first. This kid.. there was more power to him that she had initially thought, and if there was metal inside him it could be that he wasn't even human. A kindred spirit perhaps? What was more, he said that he was not familiar with this world, which implied that he could use the vines to travel. Yes... she saw it now. She had run into someone very special. 
 
 "I see... you're an outworlder too, huh?" Her blue painted lips smirked and she ever so slowly relaxed her battle stance. How could she have drills for hands? A fair question, and Frost felt that he had earned at least indulging him. Besides... Frost always liked showing off. 
 
 "That's because I'm a Cyborg. See?" The girl reached for her own head and... 
 
 She just pulled it off her neck. She tossed her decapitated head back and forth on her hands as if she were playing with a ball and just... screwed her head back into her neck as if nothing had happened. "Ta-da!" She raised her hands after her little magic trick. 
 
 "Now your turn!" Her blue eyes furrowed once again angry. "I felt hitting metal inside you! Are you a cyborg too!?" 

    As frustrating as her attack getting deflected again is to Frost, it's roughly tenfold more painful for Shirou himself. It's evidenced from that left arm hanging limply and completely uselessly at his side now, while blood flows and drips down along the length of it to leave a trail of red on the pavement where he'd staggered backwards.

    And finally, she makes the (somewhat accusatory) observation of him not being a ganger, and... "You only just realized?!" He barks at her in initial response, utterly baffled and exasperated for the way she's handling this. He takes a deep breath right after though, and gives her a proper answer: "I'm... Emiya Shirou. I just followed you all here because I thought you needed help... er..." And then stuff happened to prove him wrong.

    She might be relaxing, but Shirou himself is still tensed up, body like a violin string pulled too taut, ready to leap off away at any second now.

    "Cybo...?" Shirou doesn't even get to finish repeating that term, much less get to present a followup question, before she... uh. Demonstrates.

    "GAAAAH?!"

    It's a yell not of pain but shock this time. The redhead evne jumps back from the surprise of seeing her just outright yank her own head off, stumbling back onto his butt and crawling back a few paces there on the ground while he stares back at her with widened eyes of shock horror. "Bwa--?!"

    He's really having trouble processing all this. And it shows in his slack-jawed expression... and it doesn't help that she asks *that* of him.

    "Wha-- what are you talking about?!" He shoots right back at her, actually sounding somewhat accusatory in his tone -- as if her asking that question is completely nuts. "I'm not like that! I'm human, human! I mean, look, you idiot!" And he lifts his mangled arm up (as painful as *that* might be) to show the bloodied limb off past the tearing in the sleeve left in the wake of the drill-punch. "Does this look like metal to you?!"

 
 Frost shrugged at the accusation, as if it was no big deal- and indeed, it really wasn't for her. Kill twelve guys or thirteen, what was the difference at the end of the day. "Hey, if you're not a ganger why even be walking around in these parts? That's your own fault, kiddo." Admittedly, she had a point there, Frost had very specifically come to the very unsavory district of this city because she wanted to avoid getting innocent people involved. Now that she got a good look at Shirou this guy was a teenager, probably still in high school even. Getting roped into a slaughter in a dark alley was bound to happen, particularly if he willingly started chasing those gang members. 
 
 The blunette watched as Shirou introduced himself and tried to formulate something more coherent, only to scream in horror as she yanked her own head off her neck and fell to the ground butt first. "A HA HA HA!!" Frost threw her, now attached, head back in laughter, finding Shirou's antics to be highly amusing. It was still very disturbing how casual she was about the whole thing, and how utterly unapologetic she was too. There she was, having nearly just killed Shirou and as far as Frost was concerned it was -his- fault for getting in the way. 
 
 "Hey!! Don't you dare call me an idiot! You want me to finish you off!?" The girl scowled as he accused her once again, and even as Shirou lifted his ruined arm at her all she could do was scoff and once again shrug her shoulders. "Eh! I've seen way worse." She even smirked a little. "Just put some ice on it. Heheh... get it??" Frost made an ice cube from thin air and flicked it at Shirou's feet just to drive further home her terrible joke. 
 
 Her pitiful attempt at morbid humor aside, the blunette rubbed her chin as she looked down at the fallen Shirou. So.. he wasn't a cyborg, and yet, she certainly felt metal when she hit him. More so, this kid had chi, he was overflowing with it, she didn't even need her highly technological sensors to see it in him. And yet.. as a fighter he was a complete amateur, he was courageous, had super human endurance.. but he was a newbie. What an intriguing person she had just run into... it merit further examination.. 
 
 "Emiya Shirou... interesting. You don't even realize your own potential do you? How very curious.." 
 
 The blunette paused there, upper lip pursed as she considered her next action. 
 
 "You know what? I think I'll let you go." She smirked. "It'd be a tragedy to kill you before you reach your true strength, and also you're cute and funny. Like a puppy." 
 
 She gave an all too cruel sounding chuckle. That wasn't exactly her flirting. 
 
 "I think I'm going to save you for later. Yes... get stronger for me, Shirou. I'd like to fight you when you're at a higher level." 
 
 Ah, but where were her manners? She hadn't introduced herself. 
 
 "The name's Frost." She placed her hand on her hip and bend forward slightly. She placed her index and middle finger on her lips and blew Shirou a kiss, her cold breath blew forward and she formed a small floating heart made entirely of soft snow that floated towards Shirou and disappeared when it touched his chest. It felt cold. 
 
 "Heh! See you around, kid! Give me a good fight next time we meet!" Cackled Frost as she lept high in the air and spun around a few times. She straightened her body forward and thrusters were engaged from both her feet and her palms as she flew away like a rocket. Oh yeah, apparently she could fly too- how about that? 
 
 Thus Shirou was left by his lonesome in a dark alley, a brutalized arm and the slaughtered bodies of a dozen men being the only evidence that a certain blunette had been there. 

    Just put some ice on it, she says. And in spite of all the pain assailing his body in this instant, he actually narrows his eye at her. "That... was awful."

    That all being said, he does hurriedly force himself up to his feet again-- just in time for Frost to declare that she will, in fact spare him.

    FOR NOW.

    "..." Cute, she says. Like a puppy, she says. It doesn't exactly feel good to hear her say that after all this, but he wisely elects to *not* say as much to her. Somehow even the blowing of the kiss from her seems a bit twisted to him -- and not just because of the little mass of frost that formed a heart with it to scatter at his chest.

    "I don't really--" He starts to protest at her, finally, but... well. She literally blasts herself out of the conversation and alley, and the poor red-haired mage is left staring after her, dumbfounded.

    "...Rocket feet. She has rocket feet. Okay, sure..."

    All tension finally leaves his body, and... all the damage that he suffered catches up with his brain, too, and he damned near collapses right there, before catching his balance again. Right hand clutching left arm, he takes to limping his way out of the alley now, with a trail of blood left behind him.

    "..." Something she said bothers him, though. Even beyond the notion that she would intend to fight him again some time in the future.

    ``I felt metal in there``

    "...What the hell was she talking about...?" She seemed kind of psychotic, so maybe she was just talking crazy over not being able to get a full hit on him? Who knows. He isn't about to try and check his arm-- burning and stinging like needles of lava are sequentially driving through it. He just wants to get out of this alley, and this world, and rest.

    And all the while he isn't paying attention, under the bloodied sleeve and skin, small, sharp pieces of metal form, disintegrate and reform over and over again, shifting along and slowly knitting flesh and bone back together.