Disclaimer: Still do not claim ownership of characters or setting.
Fate always deals us a hand. Some times, we are dealt the good cards in the form of talents, wealth, prestige, and power. Other times we are the dealt the bad cards, death, disease, disfigurement, and instability. Good or bad, sometimes the way we play the game called Life is dependent on what we are given.
But some times, and this is one of those times, it just takes the dealing of Fate to give us a taste of the unknown. Planning is thrown out the window when the wild cards come into play. For they are cards with which can be good or bad depending on circumstances. They cannot be planned around, only experienced as they represent the swirling chaos that defy the strings and machinations of Fate and Destiny.
For these cards, these incalculable existences, they are called one thing.
They are the Jokers of the deck.
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As the swell of power faded black smoke began to swirl around the room in the basement of the Fuyuki Church in which he held the summoning ritual for his Servant. "I have received your call." A voice, called out. He was not sure if the voice was male or female as it appeared to be modulated, masking the gender of which who was speaking. "I ask of you. Are you my Master?"
Kotomine Kirei could not tell who was speaking, but he knew this much as he gazed onto the form of his Servant. This Heroic Spirit, whoever he or she is, was not one of the fabled Hassan i Sabbah of legends. No, this spirit was something else. A gloved hand came out from underneath a garb of black as if extending an invitation had him confirming the Servant's question almost immediately.
"Then I, Servant Assassin, acquiesce to the bearing of your station, my Master." With his verbal reply the Servant elegantly placed his hand perpendicular to his body and performed a stage bow.
"Master." Assassin called out as he came back up. "If you do not have any pressing matters for me to attend to, may I take this time to familiarize myself with the apparent battlefield set for the war?"
Kirei gave his affirmation and watched as his Servant took a few steps back into the shadows. Slowly, the caped and cloaked form of Assassin began turning transparent until nothing more was left except the fading silhouette of the black and indigo mask he wore. Despite the charm his Servant exhibited there was something that stirred in him, something that he could not quite place.
Perhaps there was more to this Servant than met the eye. Something that told him that this Servant was more that just an assassin.
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Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi and his fiance, Sola-Ui Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri, looked at the summoned Servant. Both of them could feel the trepidation in their bodies as they stared into a pair of heavily tinted, wire-framed orange sunglasses. The Servant was towered over them both by at least a head, and despite his physique it was not that which set the two magi on edge.
It was not the charcoal suit, nor the Victorian fashion, which came in the color of a deep and rich red that accented the darkness of his suit. It was not the shadows that covered part of his Servant's face giving the spirit an ominous look. It was not the sense of being in the presence of an apex predator.
No, nothing brought the fear into them as much as this Servant did, and it was all because of the smile. It was a smile that split his face and threatened those that saw it with things that would consume them physically or in madness.
"So..." The Servant began in a deep and condescending tone. "Are you Master?" He addressed to Kayneth before turning to Sola-Ui. "Or are you my Master?" Kayneth could already tell that there was something wrong with this Servant, as the grin on the spirit's face grew even wider than the thought possible.
For both of them, there was one thing clear. This thing was more than a Servant, if they had to give it a label they would call it Terror Incarnate.
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Matou Kariya finally sighed as he felt the burden of his manifested Servant lighten.
"Master." A young male voice called out to him. "How are you feeling now? Has the cost of my manifestation decreased at all?" Kariya looked over to his questioning Servant and nodded, in both appreciation and relief.
When he decided to summon a Servant of the Berserker class and had succeeded Kariya had thought there was nothing any more painful than what he had gone through underneath Zouken's tender mercies.
Oh, how wrong was he to assume so.
The moment his Servant had been summoned pain at a level he thought he had reached to peak of burned into his body. The worms inside him squirmed, consuming his body more to try and sate the consumption of energy that was being drawn from him. The pain was so great that he had passed out immediately.
That had been hours ago, and apparently, his Servant had not been idle the entire time.
"Yeah, it's not as painful as before." Kariya replied. "In fact, it feels as if you aren't even there at all. I don't feel any pain at all." He added.
"Oh thank goodness." Berserker breathed out. "I was worried that something might have gone wrong."
Berserker was strange, that was all Kariya could think as Berserker began to ramble on about the complications of the runes he created to siphon the energy from the leylines and ambient surrounding as a replacement source of prana.
In fact, if he was to make a careful comparison, his Servant barely looked older than either Rin or Sakura. He was amazed that such a young boy could be a Heroic Spirit, and more so that he could have been summoned as a Berserker-class Servant.
The small boy with two-toned color of red hair looked so frail that if he had not chanted the aria himself and seen the true form his Servant would take underneath his class skill of Mad Enhancement, he would not have believed the boy in front of him capable of harming a fly.
He didn't know or understand why, but he had a feeling. A feeling, that with Berserker at his side, Kariya knew that he could save Sakura from her fate.
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Uryuu Ryuunosuke pouted as he saw the a male almost or at least slight older than himself appeared.
Man, what a drag.
He was expecting a demon, not some regular dude who looked like he wouldn't see or know what any form of fun at all. In fact he looked absolutely boring with his clean and professional student look even when wearing a plain clothes and surrounded by all of his art and all of this blood.
The man glanced around briefly and Ryuunosuke saw his eyes narrow.
"Did you do this?" The blonde man said to him.
Ryuunosuke smiled. "Sure did." He said in reply. "I did it so I can meet a demon, but frankly you don't look like one. I think I may have made a mistake when."
Ryuunosuke began looking through the journal he had taken. Of to the side he hear the sound of something scratching on paper, was that guy writing something down? Oh well, not that it matters, he would just try again he still had one more live one to use anyway.
Some time had passed and for some strange reason, Ryuunosuke began to feel happy. He felt strange, and then he realized the reason for this atypical sensation, the knife he had kept in his rear pants pocket deep was lodged his deeply in his neck.
That was strange; he could have sworn that he made sure keep his knife secured and not buried within his own flesh. He looked over to the side to see the blonde man that had appeared releasing the kid and in his hands was a black notebook with something scrawled on the cover.
That was the last Uryuu Ryuunosuke saw as oblivion took claim upon his life, and upon his soul.
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At this moment in time, all the players began to converge. The stage has been set. The agents of chaos had been released, and all that was left was wait for the dust to settle and see what happens next.
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A/N:
Just a little drabble to get the creative juices flowing, real life has been stopping me from focusing on my Contest Entry so anyway, hope you enjoyed this short and will most likely to be rewritten scene.
In any case, this goes out to TIM's Fate/Zero Sense but with a twist. For the first ten reviewers who will be able to figure out who I used, I will send the Servant stat sheets (the ones that you figured out) I created and I would like to hear your thoughts on them.
Also, not, that unlike Fate/Zero Sense, and other works based on it, you can tell that Saber is not the only one untouched. Gilgamesh and Iskander are staying for the war.
Hopefully I can use this to flush out my motivation for my contest entry and for Goddess of Hope.
So Good Luck to me.
And thank you for any thoughts and reviews you can give.
Dminion Signing Off for now.
