Well, I think I've waited long enough. I still haven't really watched all the episodes, but I can get enough of the general story to make my own. Besides, it'll be good for me to try and write my own action again. I just hope I can get my chapters long enough. My first try for this clocked in at only 3,000 words. Way too short, and not enough action. I've got some great ideas for fights.

So enjoy the sequel to Fate of the Strong.

Chapter 1: The First Step

(9:15pm Sunday, Tohsaka Mansion)

Rin Tohsaka winced as she heard a loud crash coming from another room. She rushed over to the sound, hoping that it wasn't quite as bad as it seemed. She was right. It was worse.

There was a large hole in the roof, and the furniture inside was mangled nearly beyond repair. She must've messed something up when she did the summoning process. A rookie mistake. She'll have to try harder with her next spells.

She had been surprised when she found the Command Seals on her hand. Each Holy Grail War needed 60 years to fully charge enough to summon the Servants, Heroic Spirits of the past. But here she was, 10 years after the last one and it seemed raring to go. She hoped she got a Saber class. They were the best of the classes and very reliable. When they made a promise, they kept it. Not like that liar that her Father…

"Keep it together Rin." She told herself, calming down. "Focus on winning. Focus on making Father proud." A loud cough brought her back to her senses. She looked over at a crumpled bed to see a knight walking over to her. The knight was very slim, especially at the waist. Possibly female. The armour was a dark-grey, with flared pieces around the legs and extra plating on the arms. The plating was minimal around the joints and segmented around the sides. The helmet was without any openings, leaving her wondering how she could see. It was pointed, yet curved around the face area. They stood, watching each other, wondering how to act.

"Sup homie." The knight said, her words at odds with her appearance. "Guess you're my master then. You may call me Archer the Fucking Awesome."

Rin's heart plummeted with each passing moment. Instead of a noble Saber, she had been given a vulgar Archer. Still, Archer was one of the Knight classes. They still had a chance.

"Well then. You may call me Master. Or Ms Tohsaka." She expected some decorum, even from someone so vulgar. Once again, her hopes were dashed when Archer snorted.

"Fuck that. I think I'll call you…" She stopped, looking Rin up and down before continuing. "…Sexy Legs."

"What? No!" Rin felt like everything was falling apart. "If you aren't going to be formal, then you could at least call me Rin."

"Sure thing Sexy Legs. Now, where are some mother-fuckers to murder?"

"It hasn't really started yet." Rin gritted. "We're apparently still waiting on a Saber. Now, we need to do some planning. I recommend that we start… Hey! Where are you going?" Archer was walking into the hallway.

"Your stuff sounds like shit. I'm gonna get a beer, maybe snort some cocaine and fuck a dozen guys and girls. Wanna join?"

"What? NO! We need to have a plan. Or are you just going to kill anything that isn't us?"

"That is my plan. You know, you really look like you could use that sex. Maybe it'll help take that stick outta your sweet ass. Now do you have beer or do I have to go out and get it?"

Rin felt like crying. Nothing was going right. Something had clearly gone very, very wrong. What kind of knight talks like a gangster?

"Stay focused Rin." She kept telling herself. "Stay focused, stay focused stayfocusedstayfocused…"

(1 week earlier, Unknown House in Fuyuki City)

Reginald Archipelago smiled an evil grin as he completed the summoning ritual. Perfect. He had been waiting his whole life to take part in the Holy Grail War. Indeed his family had been preparing for this moment, marrying into powerful families to gain the necessary bloodline to be chosen. He almost went mad when the Grail War happened 10 years ago and he missed out, but all signs are pointing to another War within a few days. He did everything he could to ensure he summoned a powerful Servant that would crush the opposition. He shielded his eyes as the room was filled with bright light. When he could finally lower his hand, he nearly cursed in shock.

His Servant didn't look all that powerful. In fact, with his rainbow robes and face markings he looked like some kind of clown or jester. No two items of clothing had the same colour, ranging from dull reds to vibrant yellows. His face was completely white, with red eyeliner and a giant purple mouth painted on his face that curved towards his ears. His blond hair was tied back by peacock feathers, and he held one corner of his long flowing cape-thing daintily in one hand.

"Oh now this won't do, this just won't do." The Servant said in a high-pitched voice. "There's mud all over my clean shoes. And not a servant to be found to clean them. How dare someone leave mud for me to…? Oh, wait. False alarm. It's just blood." He started giving a chilling giggle. "Oh I love the sight of blood on my shoes. It reminds me of the time when I was so against getting sand on them that I strapped two very helpful guards to my feet. That was the best desert day ever."

"Silence Servant." Reginald hissed. "You belong to me now, and you will obey my every command." He pulled out a photo of his ex-girlfriend. How dare she dump him for being crazy? He wasn't crazy at all. And he'll show her by using this dammed Servant to kill her. He looked back up at him, and recoiled as he found the jester right in his face.

"I want a pony." The Servant said. "I never go anywhere without one somewhere. They're so cute and they make the funniest noises. Get me a pony, boy."

"I will not get you a horse. I am your master and you will obey me."

"But I don't want a horse. And I don't want orders. I want a pony!" He started crying like a baby, wriggling on the floor and throwing a tantrum. This was his powerful Servant? He was a joke. A pathetic joke. Someone must've obviously sabotaged him. It was the only thing that made sense. "I know." The Servant shouted as he sprung up to his feet. "I can make a pony. And I know just where to find one."

(3 hours later, Near Ryuudouji Temple)

"I suppose in hindsight it was a bit silly to use intestines for a girdle. Or stomach lining for the saddle. But they're both just so comfy right Master?" Reginald could only whimper in horror. "And those rocks in your backyard! Oh, they make such fine hooves. Shame you didn't have any horseshoes. That would've been wonderful. Or perhaps just weird. I mean who keeps horseshoes if they don't have a horse? They do poorly as anything else. You can't even shave with them." Reginald whimpered again, hoping that someone would find them and put him out of his misery. "Ah. There's the Temple. Ooh, I can feel the mana coming from that place from here. Chop-chop master, or I'll chop-chop you for being such a bad pony. And smile already. That's why I removed your head and put it back on upside down. You know the old saying. Turn that frown upside down." As Reginald passed a nearby sheet of glass, he could see the horror that was him reflected back at him.

His hands and feet had been removed, replaced by large rocks that had been fused with the stumps. His waist had been sliced open and rearranged to make his legs shorter, while his head was shaved and on back-to-front. His chest was split open, his stomach now on his back and his intestines pushed through his skull. He hadn't summoned a jester. He summoned a monster. He summoned pure evil. The Servant, Caster, hummed a merry tune as they clip-clopped their way up the stairs to the Temple. Maybe its power will kill him. He could only wish for that.

"Ah, we made it." Caster crowed as Reginald took the last step. "Splendid, splendid. This is almost as good as the time I rode a man turned into a pony up the stairs to a Temple. Now, yip-yip." He whipped the reins, kicking Reginald's sides with his heels. And he did it again when they failed to move. "Curse you, you cockamamie badger. Move!" He hopped off, grumbling to himself as he took a closer look at his former master. If he had been an animated character, a light bulb would've lit up. "Oh right. You're sleeping. I knew there was a reason people needed blood and organs. Oh well. We're here now at any rate. And I don't have to worry about fading away while I'm standing here. Now, I'm sure there's a room for hire here somewhere. Or I could just make one. It's not like anyone goes to temples anymore. And if they do, well more guests for my tea party." He jumped and clicked his heels at the happy thought.

Reginald kept standing upright until his body collapsed into several pieces.

(5 days ago, Matou Manor)

Sakura breathed deeply as she meditated, readying herself for the summoning. After Uncle Kariya had died during the Great Fuyuki Fire, Uncle Byakuya took her in. He would've happily dumped her in the streets if it wasn't for the fact that he was worried she'd come back to him and break him with her unnatural strength. She wouldn't really do that – she could easily just head off to the local orphanage – but it kept her inside a nice house and with good food. Then he died seven years ago, the local priest Kirei Kotomine agreed to be their caregiver. He was also the caregiver of her sister, Rin Tohsaka, but fortunately they never met except for school. They had both agreed to a simple system. They both simply pretended that they didn't know each other. Sakura knew that Rin was too young at the time to stop her being offered to the Matous, but part of her still wished she had said something that night. But she mostly pitied her. She heard from a drunken Byakuya that both their parents died before the fire, most likely killed by the serial killer that had been running around at the time. Even though she hated them, she still cried whenever she thought about them.

Then last week, Kirei came to her and told her the truth about that night with the fire. Uncle Kariya had been part of a magic war called the Holy Grail War. Seven Magi summoned sever Servants to fight one another, and whoever was left standing would be granted one wish by the Grail. He had been fighting to rescue Rin and Mom from Dad, so that they could start a family together. But the Servant Saber killed Uncle Kariya, but not before killing Mom and Dad too. He then used the Grail to wish for the fire, killing all those people because he could. Now she was being offered a part in the War, a chance to wish for her deepest desire. But she didn't have any. She didn't really think that a magic item could bring back the dead. All her studies showed that at worst it made Dead Apostles. She didn't want to bring anyone back as monsters. But she was the only one with the power. Her new brother, Shinji, didn't have any magic at all. He couldn't summon hot air let alone a Servant. But Kirei mentioned a compromise. He showed her a book called 'The Book of False Attendant'. He said that it would act like a Command Seal, allowing whoever held it to command the Servant bound to it. As long as she summoned the Servant, Shinji would be able to command it. That was alright with her. Shinji may be an asshole, but she could tell it was because he was scared. He lost his whole family now, and the only thing that would've made him special was the one thing he could never have. This was as close as he could get, and he needed it. So she agreed.

And here they are.

They started coughing as dust was blown around by the summoning process. She could hear Shinji cursing up his own storm somewhere in the room. After several moments, the dust cleared enough for them to see each other. And the Servant. Sakura gasped as she saw her.

She looked like a warrior from the future, wearing pitch-black armour that covered her whole body. Her chest armour curved around her breasts and accentuated them with yellow markings. Two red lines led down to her waist, where they intersected with a belt-like thing. She had large shoulder panels that curved around with red lines, before leading down to thick gauntlets with yellow panels sticking past the elbow. Her leg armour was also curved like the chest plate, with only the upper thigh decorated with similar yellow markings. Finally, her head was mostly covered by a helmet with a red visor over the upper part of her face, with only an opening around her mouth showing that she had dark skin and black lipstick. She looked so strong, standing there in a military pose.

"Greetings." She said in a deep authoritative voice. "I am Commander Shepard of the Systems Alliance. For the duration of this War I will be going under the designation of Rider class. Which one of you is my commanding officer?"

"Um…" Sakura mumbled, humbled by being in the presence of such a strong warrior. "Well, I'm the one that summoned you. But my brother will be your master with the Book of False Attainment." Shinji smirked as he showed off the book. Rider stared at him for a moment, as if sizing him up.

"That book is empowered by a Command Seal. That must be why I feel a draw to it. If you haven't summoned me yourself, then you mustn't have many magic circuits to draw on." He bristled as she casually pointed that out to him. "I suppose we're all fortunate that I can still feel a slight draw of energy from your sister."

"Yeah well I'm the one holding the book. That means I'm your master, not her. And you will treat me with respect." That seemed like a bad move. Rider rushed across the room faster than they could react, and was now right up in his face.

"Understand this, Sir. While you may hold onto my Command Seals, unless you're willing to waste them I don't actually have to obey any order you give me. I would advise a civilian like you to stay out of my way and let me do my damn job." And with that, she stalked out of the basement they were doing the summoning in. Sakura kept herself from laughing at Shinji as he glared up the stairs before rushing off. There was a noticeable dark patch where he had been sitting.

She wanted him to feel better about himself, but she didn't want him to become a bully.

(2 days ago, Ryuudouji Temple)

Caster giggled as he finalised the summoning ritual. Sure the rules said that only a Magus could summon a Servant, but he was sort of a Magus and rules were made to be broken. Well, technically they were made to be followed and grind people down and amuse the fat cats high in their ivories thrones, but that was why they made to be broken. He could really go for a cat right now. They were so fluffy. And they tasted really good with this strange liquid he found called 'barbeque sauce'. What was he talking about again? Right, summoning.

Anyway, if a Magus was anyone that could use magic, then he fitted the bill. And he didn't recall there being anything saying he couldn't. He even had some help. Some guy called Souichirou Kuzuki. He had been the first person he spotted. Instead of acting so falsely polite or rude, he simply stated his intentions to remove any trespassers. He was such an interesting man that Caster decided to make him his master. Also, the fact that he managed to punch him pretty hard was a good sign. He would make a good playmate. He told the other guests that Caster was a travelling clown, and he made sure to get him to agree to not attack anyone. Fine by him. He could always have some fun later on, when everyone was too busy killing each other or something. For now, he was helping him with his summoning ritual. With a final cackle, the room was filled with black smoke as the Servant was summoned. Caster whipped up a small tornado to blow the smoke away. Can't make a good impression when you're black with smoke. Being black with blood was much better for first impressions. Once the smoke was clear, he took a good long look at his new friend.

It was a purple robot of some kind. He had a skeletal appearance, with his limbs being very narrow and pointed. His lower arms and legs were covered by an orange panel. His chest started off narrow at the bottom, before flaring up at the chest area. On his back was what looked like spikes that were almost like wings. And most notably, his head had a big green dome on top that had little gears spinning away like mad. Caster wondered if that was what the human brain looked like too. The Servant looked at them before growling in anger.

"Curses." He said in a screechy voice. "I'm reduced to obeying pathetic Squishies. Well no matter. I suppose I can handle it until I win the Holy Grail and get my wish. Soon, all evil will triumph over good again and again." Caster stared at him for a moment before squealing in delight.

"Oh wonderful. Wonderful! I love having evil triumph over good. Those whippersnappers always ruining our plans. I just wanted to unmake all of creation. Was that really so wrong?"

"I know. How am I going to remove all Squishies if those brats keep ruining my plans?"

"Squishies?"

"Organics. Filthy, disgusting organics. I had a device that converted their loathsome flesh into pure machines. And it had the side-effect of making them instantly loyal to me."

"…That's not a side-effect. That's a feature. It'll look great when we sell it to the Grail." He gave off a loud cackle. "Oh, we're going to be the bestest of buds. I'm your master Caster."

"A Servant summoning a Servant? Genius. I suppose you can call me Assassin. Now, who's the Squishy?"

"Him? Oh, he's my master. I don't think we're ready to kill many people yet, so he's agreed to let us stay here if we don't make a mess." The two Servants started shaking hands.

"Now, who's interested in a cup of oil?

(6:00am Monday, Emiya Residence)

It was a beautiful morning. The birds were all singing in the dew. The weather seemed promising and warm. Indeed, if it wasn't for the small cries of pain Monday was going to be perfect. Like 'look at me I'm so wonderful' perfect.

Right now though, Shirou Emiya decided that Monday could go fuck itself.

He was having another training session with his Uncle Arthas. His dad never really explained how they were related, only that he was a friend. Shirou first thought they were lovers, until Arthas spent some time with a female friend. Some girl called Beth who ran the local orphanage. Ever since the day Kiritsugu passed away, Arthas has been training him in all kinds of things. Right now they were training in sword fighting. Weeks spent learning the moves until he could do them in seconds. He thought he was unbeatable. Until Arthas had a practice match with him. It only took him a couple of seconds to make Shirou wonder if he had gone to Hell. They had trained like that for even more time, until Shirou actually landed a hit on Arthas. Then he got thrashed again. Turned out that Arthas had held back. According to him, where he trained it usually took a year to land a blow on someone of his skill. After the twentieth thrashing he wondered why anyone would learn to use a sword in this day and age. He actually said so after a rather painful thrashing.

"Shirou." Arthas said. "It is always important to have a means of defending yourself, no matter what day and age it is. A sword may have been more popular in the past, but that just means no one will expect you to use one when they jump you. And it is one of the most versatile weapons made. You can wield it with one hand or both, block with the blade, stab someone, slice them, bash them even. You can catch another's blade with the guard or hit them with the pommel. You can even channel spells through the blade depending on how it was made. Never underestimate the sword, Shirou. He who underestimates anyone rarely does it a second time." After that talk, every part of Shirou ached the next day. Today, they were having a real test. Shirou may have been hit several times, but it was definitely less than usual. They parried and struck at each other with their wooden swords, each trying their hardest to win the fight. After dodging a rather painful blow, Shirou saw an opening. He swung his blade in a feint, before knocking Arthas' away. The tip of his sword was pressed against his neck. Shirou was amazed. This was the first time during the whole training he had ever managed to disarm him. His luck was finally changing.

Sadly, it wasn't. Arthas was a blur, and the next thing he knew he was laying on the ground, his own sword against his throat. After a few seconds of this Arthas pulled him back up.

"Not bad kid." He said with a smile. Shirou tried to smile back, but his muscles refused to work right after that beating. "And before you ask, yes. I was still holding back." Shirou slumped over. At this rate he was never going to be as good as Arthas. "Get cleaned up and ready for school. Taiga will throw a fit if you're not ready when she gets here."

Shirou tried to be fast, really. But it's hard to be fast when half of your body was battered and bruised. He guessed that they should feel lucky that Fuji-nee understood his workout, otherwise people might think he's getting battered. But as Arthas kept saying, 'The world's a dangerous place. I can either coddle you and get you killed; or I can push you and help you survive'. Some days though, he wondered if Arthas was going to kill him first.

Once he finally got all his limbs working properly, he got to the dining room to find that Fuji-nee and Sakura were already waiting for him. And Fuji-nee did not look happy.

"Finally Shirou." she shouted. "What took you so long? We've been waiting for hours."

"Actually Sensei, we've only been waiting for a minute." Sakura said. She always came round to his place in the morning. He knew that her brother Shinji could be rude, but she always seemed to deflect any other attention away. He wished she would let him in, but he didn't really want to intrude on her privacy. That was what Fuji-nee was for.

"Sorry I'm late. I had to make sure everything was still attached after Arthas' training session."

"Oh, that man." Fuji-nee sighed. "Honestly. He takes this training of yours too seriously. What does he think this is, The Middle Ages?"

"If I thought it was The Middle Ages I'd be training him to stab people in the back, Taiga." Arthas said, having snuck up behind her while they were talking. Fuji-nee jumped nearly a foot when he showed up, but he didn't pay her any attention. He merely sat down and started eating. Strangely, the man never seemed to work up a sweat, no matter how hard the workouts were. "And how are you Ms Matou? Boys still giving you trouble?"

"No Mr Menethil. Your self-defence training was very useful."

"I'm glad to hear that. Now if only Taiga learned table manners as fast as you learnt defence." Fuji-nee was shovelling food into her mouth like a monkey. She mumbled something out, but everyone could tell she was letting Arthas know where he could shove that idea. In a few short minutes, everyone had filled up on breakfast and was raring to go to school.

"A moment Shirou." Arthas interrupted them. As Taiga and Sakura went on ahead, he pulled out a box from his suit jacket. When Shirou opened it, he found a small dagger in a sheath.

"Uh, thanks Arthas. But I'm pretty sure we're not allowed knives at school."

"It's not a knife." Arthas pulled the dagger out of the sheath, and Shirou watched as it grew and grew. It was soon the same size as the wooden sword Shirou had been training with. He placed the sheath on the end, and it shrunk back down to a dagger size. "By beating me today, you have proven yourself skilled enough to have your own blade. I have enchanted it for you so that it is easier to hide and impervious to all but the most powerful attacks. At those levels you will have bigger problems than a broken sword. Keep it on you at all times."

Shirou nodded, putting inside his pocket for now and rushing after Sakura. He didn't see Arthas' smile fade, as though he was in deep thought.

Arthas remembered the news about gas leaks leaving people unconscious. And he also remembered the last time that excuse was used.

"It can't be time yet. Can it?"

(7:30am, Fuyuki)

Shirou had been having a wonderful talk with Sakura when they found the crime scene. Police had cordoned off an entire house. All they could see was the front door. Or at least, what was left of it. Only a triangle attached to the hinges was left, and the edges seemed warped and burnt, like someone had taken a welding torch to the door.

"Oh my." Sakura said. "Do you think anyone got hurt?"

"I hope not." Shirou replied as they kept going. "But like my uncle says, the world is a dangerous place." Part of him thought it must've been a robbery. Cause if it hadn't been…If it had been something worse…

He balled up his hands in anger. If it was worse, then he would put all his training into capturing the bastard who did it.

(8:40am, Fuyuki School)

Rin felt like puking. When she woke up in the morning she had found a dozen prostitutes of both genders sleeping in her living room. And the place smelt like drugs and cigarettes. At least Archer agreed to clean up the mess if she would stop screeching. But still. Disobeying her orders; not having a plan of attack; getting high and sexed up? What kind of hero was she?

"Archer. Have you been able to detect of other Servants?"

Archer materialised next to her, still in that armour. Despite all the sex, she still had it on when Rin found her. Her appearance was still a mystery. "This Grail-thingy keeps telling me that Archers can't really detect Servants that far off. Seems really stupid if you ask me. Beer?" She waved the bottle in front of Rin's face.

"I'm in school. I can't be seen getting drunk." Rin was feeling more and more frustrated.

"You know you want to. God knows you were staring at the boys this morning. Still, Alejandro was pretty big wasn't he? I bet you wanted to shove that dick in you till you were…"

"Shut up. Not everyone is as interested in sex as you are, Archer." She rubbed her eyes in annoyance. "Look, how about this. If you agree to stop talking about sex and that kind of stuff and you definitely don't bring it home, then when you're not working you can do whatever you want within reason."

"Sounds good. But I should warn you that reason and I broke up ages ago."

"The sad part is that I can believe it." Rin deadpanned. She decided it would be better for her health and her sanity if she just went back to class for now. Archer looked around before fading away again. But no matter what, she always kept one eye open.

You don't run a massive gang by being stupid all the time.

(7:30pm, Fuyuki)

Shirou felt frustrated. It turned out that it was more than just a robbery. Someone had killed all the people in the house with some kind of strange weapon, like a stick of fire or something. He had kept thinking about the bastard, murdering others for no reason. Kiritsugu Emiya would've done something about it. He would be out there finding whoever did it.

It's a shame that Shirou wasn't looking around. He might've noticed some odd things going on. Over by the temple, a skeletal machine was watching over a path. A person in a futuristic spacesuit was flying around the skyscrapers in a futuristic hovering tank. And watching from a bridge was someone in a full-body robe. Carrying a 'stick of fire'.

As Shirou got closer to home, he noticed someone standing before him. It was a little girl, probably 12 or something. She had pure white hair and red eyes, dressed in a purple winter coat and hat. As they walked closer she kept giggling. And as she got closer, she spoke to him.

"You'd better hurry up and find someone mister, or you're gonna die."

Shirou spun around, but found that she had disappeared like a ghost.

What the hell was going on?

(7:00pm, Fuyuki Streets)

All was quiet as Arthas stalked the streets, thinking deeply about the signs he had seen. As much as he hated to admit it, the next Holy Grail War was beginning. It made sense, what with all the things going on. And if he concentrated, he could feel a vibration running through his whole body. The only thing he could do was see his old friend Bethany Seelie about this. The two of them had been Servants in the last Grail War. Arthas had been Saber, while Bethany was an Avenger class. They found out that the Grail was infected by Angra Mainyu, a god of Evil, and they destroyed its physical form. They were somehow granted bodies through the mud that formed from the destruction, and now they lived normal lives.

Bethany had originally been a regular an Almain of her world, a Noble Human. She had been part of a mission to keep an evil dragon named Tirnoch from ever returning to the world, a mission she died to fulfil. But a gnome called Fomorous Hugues had been working on a way to revive the dead, and she had been the only successful subject before the Well of Souls was attacked by the Tuatha Daohn. The Tuatha was a mad group of Elves that took over the Winter Court, determined to cleanse the world of all mortal races for Tirnoch. They were winning because Elves are reincarnated, while the mortal races stayed dead. And the Fateweavers foretold that they would win. You see, in the world of Amalur, Fate controls all things. Everyone is a part of it. If you are fated to die by a bear, then no matter what you do you will die by a bear. But Bethany was unique. Because she had died, she was immune to fate. She once compared it to a game of chess. Her piece had been removed from play, but she was somehow sneaked back onto the board with no one the wiser. She could sneak attack any other piece without being spotted, and change the course of victory. The Fateweavers were unnerved by her. They saw the fate of all things, and here was someone they couldn't see and who could change the fate of anyone. Enemies that had been undefeated for centuries fell before her might. Elves found their unchanging nature thwarted by her actions. And the Tuatha fell, one by one, to her weapons. She led the strike against their capital, and found an opening to Tirnoch. She was pulled in, and Tirnoch attempted to use her as a means of escaping her prison. But instead Bethany killed Tirnoch, and all of Fate with her. She lived a long full life, until she grew old and withered. She made Hugues promise not to revive her again, as she was done with life. It was time for others to make their own fate.

"Freeze pal." A hooded creep with a knife shouted as he jumped out of the alleyway. Arthas cursed as he spotted him. He had been so busy thinking that he didn't pay attention to his surroundings. "Give me your wallet, or I'll stick you with my knife."

Arthas smiled as he remembered his old master, Kiritsugu Emiya and his wife Irisviel. She had shown him a movie during the days before the last War started. One that came to mind was Crocodile Dundee, and one particular scene. "That's not a knife." He said, materialising his sword Frostmourne. "This is a knife." The mugger paled as he saw how outclassed he was. "And telling me to freeze was a poor choice of words."

The mugger screamed as Arthas hit him with ice.

(7:20, Fuyuki Orphanage for Lost Boys and Girls)

"Oh, Mr. Menethil." The Secretary Lady, Yuuki, said as she spotted him come in. "Here to see Miss Seelie again?"

"Naturally." Arthas said politely, shaking some residue frost from his gloves. Everyone thought of the two as lovers, but they agreed to just be friends. He already hurt someone he cared about when they dated. He didn't want to hurt anyone else like that. He sat down at the nearby chairs, looking at the new artwork the orphans had drawn to brighten the place up. Many of them were happy pictures of family, of children being held by their fathers. Arthas remembered his own father. A good king, and a good father. He did everything he could to raise him as a valiant knight. And he succeeded too, until he fell to anger and was taken by the Lich King. He rode back pretending to be a hero, only to slaughter him upon his own throne. Now he was king of broken ruins and bones, of death and despair, and of nightmares.

"You really have a weird sense of timing." He heard Bethany say as she walked over to him. While the first time they had met she had been made of Fate Energy, she was now clothed in dark skin and blond hair. She wore long pants and a blouse, both slightly mussed from long work. She yawned as she led him to her office. "If I known looking after children was so difficult, I'd have let someone else look after the orphanage. I've only just got the last one to go to bed." She laughed a bit, before looking at him with a serious expression. "But I doubt you're here to talk about the children."

She was right. "I believe that the Holy Grail War is starting again."

"It can't be. Each War is at least 60 years apart. How can it be happening again already?"

"You forget that while events sabotaged the attempts, the mana was still nearly released to the world. But we destroyed the Grail before that could happen. Some of it was lost destroying Fuyuki City, but most of it remained. I imagine that was the only reason Angra Mainyu had to wait 10 years before making a move. All the signs fit. According to our research, Servants can acquire mana by draining civilians. And the police are covering up anything weird as 'gas leaks'."

"Do you think Kotomine will try anything?"

"I'm slightly more worried about the new Servants. At least Kotomine is a known problem. But we don't know what these Servants are capable of, or what they want to wish for. Hell, we don't even know if they're from this world, or some other world like we are."

Bethany sighed. "You're right Arthas. I'll keep an eye out for anything strange in my area. You should keep an eye on Kotomine and Berserker."

"Noted. But in the meantime we should make plans." He noticed the time and stood back up. "But that'll have to wait for another day. Shirou's probably heading back home right now."

"How is he? You beaten him to death training him, have you?"

"Hah. Not yet. In fact, he's learnt enough for me to give him his sword."

"Take care of him, Arthas. He's lost a lot as it is."

"I will."

There we go, the first chapter. Some Servants are obvious. Others are less known. Can you guess who we have already? It's ok if you can't figure out who Archer is. In her game, you can make your character look like anyone. This is just what I had mine look like. And I hope I got Caster done well. I never really played his game, but he was perfect to be a villain. I always thought of him as being like the Joker. Let me know if I need to change anything about him.

And ever since I read about that movie scene I just had to include it.