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Author's Note:
One-Shot Series: The Kaleidoscope holds infinite possibilities within its grasp, some closer some further than our own. Within it our tales of Holy Grail Wars with entirely different servants than the norm. Let us gaze through the Kaleidoscope and see what wonders we might find.
Inspired by Across the Throne of Heroes by Corvus no Genmu and Infinite Paths by Lord Mist. It's an incredible read, check it out.
Also just saying the Servants I will use span all realms of fiction, animated or otherwise as well as video games, be they heroic, villainous or otherwise.
In addition to that I've got a basic outline of the servants who are going to be coming up later in no particular order, thanks to both the help of those of you putting forward recommendations as well as my own original ideas. Keep those recommendations coming. The next three have been laid out:
Tale 3: The Unknown
Tale 4: The Lawmaker
Tale 5: The Roadie
And also Supernova was Amazing! Had a great time ran into loads of friends both old and new, bought a ton of stuff including my own full size Elucidator and Red Queen! Freaking Shweet!
But first let's answer some reviews!
Tz342: Thanks for the review mate, and here's the next chapter
LawlessWriter: Firstly thanks for the review and I too was thinking about what class to summon him as, but decided on Saber as the Amp, became such an integral part of Cole's Legend and was more of a sword then a lance in my eyes. Secondly…Wow. That is some serious class lists you've got going on. I'll be sure to implement the first and the third, but I'll have to research the second one a bit more if I ever hope to do it justice. That being said I'm also going to try to fit in her irrational fear of birds…and the potato.
Nightmaster000: Thanks for the review and your welcome to make suggestions.
Zaralann: Thanks for the compliment, however I have yet to have watch Ragnarok: the Animation. If I can get around to it then I'll see what I can do.
Selias: Thank you for the suggestions, however I won't be able to do the Link servant due to the fact that Corvus no Genmu has already done a beautiful rendition of it.
Heaven Canceler: Thank you for the critique. I was trying to get that Archer had briefly lost himself to frustration and forged the amp without examining it to deeply. As for enhanced Body, Cole was capable of jumping from great heights and landing without a scratch, as well as being shot by rockets, or attempted to be crushed by the gigantic Beast. I felt it necessary to make Cole's rank so high due to his sheer durability within life.
ultima-owner: yes he most certainly did.
roughstar333: wish granted mate.
Kaleidoscopenigma: Thanks for the Servant profile. I just picked up the Deadman wonderland season collection at Supernova and when I get around to watching it we'll see what happens
Brad W: Thanks for the review mate and one of your servants was already within my own personal list, and the other ones were pretty awesome too.
Servants of the Kaleidoscope
By The Inner Hollow
The Holy Grail War. A conflict between man and Servants taken from the Throne of Heroes, where the figures of Legend reside. Seven different Heroes, divided between Seven different classes. Saber. Archer. Caster. Rider. Lancer. Assassin. Berserker. Those summoned under these classes are legends in their own right, men and women high above the common man. All Fighting in pursuit of the Holy Grail so that their wish may be granted.
The Hero of this tale was one forged within the cauldron that is war. One forced to take up his blade and cut down his foes as a child and continuing to fight throughout his life. A man with his murderous tendencies locked deeply within himself, wielding his sword as tool for justice. Fitting then that he was summoned by Shirou Emiya, another child that was forged within the flames of war…
Tale 2: The Ripper
I want to live! screamed Shirou Emiya in his mind, even as the blue-clad figure drew steadily closer to him. It grinned predatorily, and shifted the haft of its spear so the tip pointed straight at Shirou's heart, and spoke. "Sorry kid, but my Master wants you dead."
The Grail heard the young Master's plea and searched through the repository that was the Throne of Heroes for a Servant to match him with. Let's see, Forged by the flames of a War, obvious mental distortion, affiliation with swords and desires to be a hero of justice... At that the Grail stopped coming across just the Servant for the Master in question.
Bingo.
And then the Grail stepped in, a long-forgotten magic circle flaring to life, and Lancer, sensing the build-up of energy, thrust his spear at the boy, hoping to end his life before anything happened –
Clang.
Shirou opened his eyes. Before him stood a man straight out of the world of science-fantasy. The man in front of him, had Grey hair, a strip of fabric covering his left eye, while the other remained a dark blue. But below the neck, that is where the truly science fiction worthy elements came into play. The Man's entire body below the neck was clearly mechanical, and not just some blocky metal exoskeleton either. No this was clearly made with the intention of being as sleek and streamlined as possible, the colour of the body varying from dull black plates to silver artificial muscle fibres. On his back sat the high-tech sheath for his sword connected to an articulated arm, connected to his back.
"Kid," The man spoke suddenly, stretching his head from side to side, right hand reaching back for his sword. "What's your name?"
As the mechanical man said this, the sheath on his back rotated and moved into the optimum drawing position.
Shirou sat there and answered the man's question, still slightly shell shocked from the man with the red spear attempting to kill him. Again. "S-Shirou." Shirou said keeping an eye out for the murderous form of Lancer.
"Well Shirou," the man said, his legs bending slightly, "You can call me Saber. Now stay put, and I'll go deal with the enemy."
And with that Saber sprung forward crossing weapons with Lancer, the force from his blow and leap combined pushing the Irishman out of the shed.
Shirou after finally overcoming his shock, pushed himself up and stumbled towards the door of the shed so as to see the fight occurring outside. And what he saw reduced him to awe.
The conflict occurring outside proved to Shirou if nothing else that there was no way that these were ordinary men. The Lancer fought like a demon jumping and twisting acrobatically with ease all the while the unholy red lance of his flicking out with ridiculous speed and force, a massive grin spread across the blue clothed man's face as he consumed himself within the fight. The other combatant this… Saber was by no means a slouch in the combat department either. The man's guard was like quicksilver, faster than the blink of an eye, his counter-attacks even more so. Despite the incredible speed of the Lancer's assault Saber was more than capable of keeping up with his high-speed attack.
Then the Lancer shot forward with an attack speed that surpassed his previous attempts the lance striking For Saber's head. Saber in turn tightened his grip on his sword, and for a moment there, Shirou saw Saber's one eye suddenly flash red. At that instant in a move of seemingly impossible speed and precision Saber's high tech blade smashed Lancer's spear away from him in a single stroke before thundering back equally fast at the Lancer's head.
Lancer in a move that reflected his earlier flexibility, contorted his body in mid-air in a way Shirou could never dream of achieving to avoid the life ending blow. However despite his acrobatics Lancer did not completely avoid the assault. Lancer landed on his feet, albeit in a crouched position, after another impressive mid-air twist. A lock of dark blue hair fell to the ground behind him. Lancer stood up, cracking his neck as he did so before turning around.
Saber's blade had scored a light hit across Lancer's forehead, the blood slowly dripping down over his left eye. Lancer's grin had not faded as a result of this development. In fact the smile upon the Lancer's face had only gotten wider and a great deal more bloodthirsty as a result. "You're not half bad Saber," Lancer said red spear slowly spinning around his fingers, "I haven't had this much fun in a fight for a long time."
Saber smirked, tightening his guard as he did so. "Likewise Lancer," Saber said a line of blood slowly making its way down his sword from the wound he had scored on Lancer, "while you're by no means the fastest man I've ever fought, you're certainly up there."
At that Lancer's grin reached a level that was beyond anything it had reached before, akin to a wolf that had happened upon a wounded deer.
"Is that so?" mused Lancer his lance spinning before coming back into the wind up for a massive attack. The cruel spear, sharing the same colour of freshly spilt blood gained a whole new level of malevolence now glowing an unholy crimson, the ominous light bathing the battlefield. "Then you'll have no problem dodging this!"
And with that Lancer dashed forward in a burst of unexpected speed. Saber tightened his grip upon his blade ready to strike a counter blow when Lancer roared the name of his attack, "Gae Bolg!" Lancer thrust his spear downward watching for the moment the curse of the Barbed Spear that Pierces with Death to come to fruition, for the Lance to twist and contort impossibly thus piercing the heart of Saber and killing him instantly. However that moment never came. Gae Bolg had clearly activated but it did not contort at all.
In that same moment where Lancer's blow failed Saber's one eye suddenly shifted to an ominous red. With that Saber bought down his blade with horrific force and speed, beyond anything He'd previously shown. Lancer made to jump back but failed to avoid the blade in its entirety, the sword leaving a mighty wound on Lancer from right shoulder to left hip. But still Lancer's movement had saved the servants life. If he had remained where he was there was no doubt in Lancer's mind that the last he would have hit the floor in two separate pieces.
"So…" Lancer said, faux casually one hand clutched over his gaping wound in an attempt to keep his organs from vacating his body, "What's it like not having a heart?" he quipped.
Saber laughed maniacally before speaking, his voice much harsher and a great deal less sane then last time, crimson eye still focused on Lancer, "How bout you come over here and I'll give you the first hand perspective of what it's like." He said before another burst of laughter echoed from his mouth, blade rotating slowly, painting the grass crimson with Lancer's blood.
Lancer laughed at that and raised his lance stepping forward before stopping his smile falling off his face to be replaced by a scowl of annoyance. "It seems my cowardly master is having me retreat from this battle Saber." Lancer growled frustrated at this interruption to his fun.
"Aw that's just too bad," mocked Saber red eye flaring, "and we were just about to get to the fun part too."
With that Lancer leapt backwards over the wall before astralising and vanishing into the darkness of the night. Saber scanned his surroundings briefly ensuring that the enemy servant was gone before relaxing his stance, his blade sliding back into its sheathe and his crimson eye transforming back into its original blue.
"Shirou." Saber called out walking back towards the shed, "It's safe now, you can come on out."
Shirou breathed in for the first time in what seemed like minutes and walked towards the man in front of him. Saber seemed to be an entirely different man from the man that was in the fight earlier. The Saber in front of him was calm, polite and respectful in his manner like the dignity of a refined blade. The Saber that he had witnessed within the fight was the antithesis of that, a bloodthirsty beast that was without so much millisecond of hesitation in taking out an enemy, a being that both craved and bathed in the blood of its enemies. In the face of all that he had just witnessed before him one question shouted louder than all others to be answered.
"What are you Saber?" Shirou asked his awe still present within his voice.
Saber smirked at this before running a hand through his hair. "I am servant Saber, Shirou. And I shall be serving you in this Fifth Holy Grail War."
Assassin looked out upon the landscape in front of him, the descending stairs that were the only path one could take if one were to reach the hideout of his Master Caster without running afoul of the various traps that encircled the mountain. Suddenly he felt something, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up on end and an instinct derived from his false legend pushing forward one conclusion. Another Servant is approaching.
Assassin drew his blade readying himself for combat and once more cursed the landscape in which he was about to do battle. The steps from the mountains stairs did not present footing of sufficient class for him to successfully pull of his Noble Phantasm Tsubame Gaeshi.
His eyes scanned slowly left and right, searching for this approaching enemy servant that he instinctively knew was approaching, but still there was nothing. Suddenly Assassin looked down and nearly jumped back in shock as he saw something there that most certainly was not residing there moments ago. It was a cardboard box, a hole cut in the side as a rudimentary handle. And also big enough for a person to hide in provided they were on their hands and knees.
With that Assassin bought down his sword with a blow of terrifying swiftness worthy of his legend slicing the cardboard box in two to reveal…nothing at all. As confusion filled Assassin he saw the two halves of the box suddenly shatter into particles of Mana.
At that the realisation hit him with the force of a death blow. Akin to the one he was just receiving as he witnessed the tip of a blade erupt from his chest. As the strength faded from Assassin's body he heard the one behind him scoff and mutter one word as the blade was withdrawn from his chest. "Amateur." And with that Saber bought the blade down bisecting the fake Servant into two.
It was the final battle of the war. Saber vs. the rogue eighth servant of this war The Hero King Gilgamesh who was the Archer from the previous war and had sustained himself since then through a combination of the Grail's corruption and unspeakable deeds. And it was most certainly not going in Saber's favour.
Saber swore as his he swung his blade furiously against the seemingly endless rain of legendary weapons being fired from Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon. His situation worsened even further when his blade shattered after an attempt to block an oncoming sword, sending Saber rolling backwards before he regained his feet.
"So," Gilgamesh said loftily, his crimson eyes staring down imperiously at the fallen Saber. "You've finally fallen to your knees, as all should in the presence of the one true king of this world." He walked forward slowly he reached back with his hands into his Gate drawing forth two swords and approaching the unarmed Saber. "I am going to kill you and drown your fool of a Master in the runoff from the Grail before I use it to destroy this meaningless existence. I'll erase it all from my sight! And you Saber, you will die with the knowledge that your 'Justice' has failed as all things fail in the face of the King."
Saber exhaled laboriously before standing up from his crouched position and began walking towards the approaching Hero King. "You know Gilgamesh I knew someone just like you in life. A king of sorts, who believed that he knew everything, that his knowledge was the only one that was right. He thought that power made someone right, that one could do whatever they wanted if they had power. I never thought I could hate anyone as much as I hated that man. But guess what?"
And with that a blade flashed into Saber's hand. The blade that Saber held was clearly of Japanese design, resembling a traditional katana the like of which you would expect a samurai to wield. However the blade itself also incorporated some clearly modern elements and glowed a bloody crimson with a crackling red energy. "You proved me wrong Gilgamesh."
Then Saber shot forward his single eye regaining the demonic hue as he bought his katana down in a blow of inhuman strength and swiftness.
Gilgamesh scoffed contemptibly at this final show of force by the mongrel before it and bought up his legendary twin blades to block the oncoming blow, secure in the knowledge that Saber's weapon would fail before the brilliance of his treasures.
Gilgamesh only had time to give a brief look of shock as the descending blade crashed through his treasures as if they weren't even there before immediately continuing on and cleaving the King of Heroes into two.
Class: Saber
Identity: Raiden
Titles: Jack the Ripper, White Devil, Snake, Mr Lightning Bolt, Saucy Jack
Basic Stats:
Sex: Male
Height/ Weight:Approximately 180cm/?kg
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Strength: A+
Mana: B
Endurance: A+
Agility: B
Luck: B
Noble Phantasms: C-A+
Class Skills:
Independent Action: B
The ability to remain independent even when rejecting the prana supply from the Master.
Raiden can survive within the world without Prana for up to three days, providing he does not take too much damage. However Raiden is perfectly capable of replenishing his reserves should he defeat a servant and take their core. Raiden holds this ability due to his own use of it within life against his own enemies although it has been repurposed to accept prana rather than electricity.
Riding: B
The skill to ride animals and vehicles
Raiden is well versed in ability to ride modern vehicles. However Raiden has no ability to pilot phantasmal creatures from legend.
Presence Concealment: B/A+
The capacity to hide one's presence as a Servant. It is a common skill to the Assassin class.
Raiden is well versed in the use of stealth and assassination within combat. Raiden presence concealment goes up by one rank to A+ if he conceals himself within a cardboard box.
Mad Enhancement: B
Ranks up all basic parameters at the cost of mental abilities.
Achieved through Jack the Ripper: Let Her RIP! Raiden allows his Jack the Ripper persona to take over, increasing his basic parameters by one rank, while also eliminating Raiden's hesitation to strike fatal blows. However when within this form his Mana consumption rate skyrockets.
Personal Skills:
Jack the Ripper: Let Her RIP!: A
The ability makes it highly possible to shut out any mental interference Thaumaturgy, due possessing a distorted mentality. This skill takes the place of Mental Pollution that would normally exist within Raiden.
Raiden's alter Persona, Jack the Ripper, was forged within a world of constant violence. As such Jack holds no morals or code, just the desire to cut his enemies down. This distorted mentality allows him to utterly ignore all forms of mental interference. When this skill is in use, Raiden's normally blue eye becomes bloody crimson. Raiden is able to call upon and supress this persona at will. If Raiden was summoned under the Berserker class this skill would be constantly active.
Battle Continuation: B
The Ability to take near Fatal wounds while still continuing to battle. Also the ability to reach allied territory alive even after being defeated.
Due to a combination of Raiden's enhanced body and his polluted mind Raiden is more than capable of ignoring seemingly fatal wounds. Within his legend upon being impaled with his own blade, Raiden simply laughed pulled the blade out of his own body and proceeded to eviscerate the one who stabbed him.
Enhanced Body: B
The possession of a body enhanced beyond normal parameters by some means.
Raiden is a cyborg, one that has been enhanced to be one of the greatest of his time. Through his enhancements Raiden is a great magnitude stronger (capable of lifting several thousand tons), more durable and faster than that of a normal human being. Within one of his final battles Raiden wielded the disarmed blade of his mechanical foe, the blade in question was well over 20m in length and was approximately 2m wide. Raiden is also capable of generating electricity in his arms to augment his punches. Raiden also once fell from a helicopter in Mid-air to the ground, some several dozen stories high, only to get back up with minimal damage.
Noble Phantasms:
HF Blade: My Sword is a Tool for Justice: B+
Cardboard Box: Stealth Incarnate: C
Murasama: Sword of Anger and Vengeance: A+
Exposition:
HF Blade: My Sword is a Tool for Justice: B+
The sword used by Raiden for the Majority of his legend. This particular version can connect with Raiden's internal fuel cells, and allows him to enter 'Blade Mode', which slows Raiden's perception of time, and increases the strength and cutting power of the weapon.
Cardboard Box: Stealth Incarnate: C - Support
Within his legend Raiden and his comrade Solid Snake, were able to achieve unparalleled acts of stealth through the use of a simple cardboard box. When Raiden is within the Cardboard Box provided he does not move when the enemy is looking at him, his presence concealment is boosted to A+
Murasama: Sword of Anger and Vengeance: A+
The Murasama is Raiden's most powerful Noble phantasm. An already legendary blade wielded by Raiden's rival Jetstream Sam and his samurai ancestor's for generations. The strength of a High Frequency blade is derived from it's original form, and this blade stands tall above all other HF blade's. The Noble Phantasm can only be used if HF Blade: My Sword is a Tool for Justice has been broken and requires Raiden to feel true hatred towards his enemy. It is one of the only modern weapons capable of matching Excalibur as an equal. This blade also holds an ID Lock allowing it to be wielded by only two people, it's original owner Jetstream Sam, and later Raiden.
Next time I'll be mixing it up with a servant that isn't a Saber.
Tale 3: The Unknown