A/N: FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE!
Everyone's been after me to reveal who Caster is so I'm giving him his own little interlude chapter of sorts. Here. Its the best I can do while I'm in recovery. Short though it may well be, this guy's absolutely infamous, and a right pain to fight if you are not prepared or worse; caught unawares. He's a right menace.
He's also got an ego the size of the the moon.
But what truly makes him dangerous is...
...he doesn't NEED a Master.
Considering the scope of his-and yes, it is a he in that regard-identity I felt he deserved this much, if nothing less for the sheer chaos and danger he brings with him. The quote gives you a BIG hint, if that weren't obvious already. Really, I spent a lot of time agonizing over this, because Caster NEEDED to be a villain, its in the script I wrote and everything. I struggled with it for a long time before I realized that Ains simply couldn't be Caster...in this story.
Why, you ask?
Because he's INSANELY powerful. Now, I have no problem with that. But if we're going with logic here; he'd need a full-fledged magus to support him at the very least, not some halfwit like Ryunosuke. In Apocrypha? Or with a decent master? Ohohoho this guy would be an absolute terror for all parties involved. But really, it only made sense to exclude him from this, as much as I would've wanted to include him.
DISCLAIMER!
This story is inspired by the following:
"Infinite Paths", penned by our Lord Mist.
"Fate: Zero Sense", penned by the Infamous Man.
I humbly bow to their madness, for their insanity exceeds mine.
I'm also high off my ass on pain medications right now after surgery so please excuse any typos.
Hope ya enjoy~!
"Master? Fool! My ambition knows no such word!"
"Wait, I don't even know what that means-
"Begone from my sight!"
~?
Caster (Interlude)
Being Ryunosuke is suffering.
It can certainly be said that no matter the time, no matter the era, Ryunosuke Uryu is destined to die in one form or another. Be it by blade or bomb or bullet, he was-is!-never meant to survive the Fourth Holy Grail War. This is an ironclad rule of Fate. A fundamental truth; one he was never meant to escape. Even if he summoned a powerful Servant, that Servant would betray him. Even if he received miracle upon miracle, he would meet that which destroys all miracles. Even if he somehow survived to the bitter end, he would fall short.
It would make no difference.
While it could certainly be said that he lacks that inherent "understanding" of his self, so too does he also lack the capacity to understand what the Holy Grail truly is at its core. He took pleasure in one thing, and one thing alone-slaughtering others in the most creative ways possible. Especially women and children.
And that is why he fails.
"Right, like this, I guess?" pausing, he considered his work he'd traced with a bloodied toe, the grisly circle he'd carved before him. "Whaddya think, kid?"
The boy bound at his feet could only offer a muffled shriek.
"Do you think demons exist, kiddo?" ignoring the soon-to-be sacrifice, he continued clumsily tracing the circle with all the skill of an amateur artist. "All the papers and magazines out there call me a demon. But wouldn't that be kinda rude if demons really did exist? You've gotta be clear about these things, ya know?"
He was not a magus in the traditional sense, but rather descended for a once prestigious lineage that had called Fuyuki its home. Through blind, bloody luck and scattered notes left behind by his ancestors, he had tried to summon a "demon" by creating a summoning circle. The catalyst for said circle, you ask? Why, the blood of a murdered family, of course!
There could be no finer substitute!
"Sup!" grinning he dropped down on his haunches and snapped off a snarky salute, causing his victim to finch. "I'm Uryuu Ryuunosuke, and I'm a demon! How's that?!" Despite the terror of his quivering victim, his expression faltered. "I dunno if that's how I should be introducing myself...eh, whatever. So, like, I found this!"
Triumphantly, he brandished the battered tome before the boy, as though it were some incredible prize. "Its some old book I found in the storehouse. Looks like my ancestors were researching how to summon demons! So like, I've gotta find out if demons really do exist!"
Prancing away, he spun in place like a giddy schoolgirl
"But y'know, if a demon really did come out, it'd be pretty dumb to just chat with it and have nothing to offer him." Those dead, fish-like eyes narrowed upon the gagged youth, utterly abandoning any and all pretense of civility. "So kiddo...if something really does show up, mind if I let it kill you?"
At this statement the boy shrieked anew, struggling against the ropes that held his limbs, to no avail.
"Ha! I wonder what's its like, being devoured by a demon! Its got to be a once in a lifetime-ow!"
His own pitiable circuits, sleeping until this very moment, awoke violently.
So too did the circle he'd finished tracing.
An explosion of light and sound and presence ripped young Ryunosuke from his feet and hurled him away as though he weighed no more than the child he'd kidnapped. His back struck the wall with a solid crunch and he felt something tear deep inside him. But even that thought was stripped away by the sight unfolding before him.
"Oi, oi, oi! What the hell?!"
Pain blazed violently across his hand, forcing the young man to turn his attention away from the boy thrashing violently at his feet. To his mild confusion a strange series of seals bloomed there even as he clutched at them, red as blood. Huh? He saw them sure enough, but their meaning escaped him. What kind of tattoo was this? He'd never had one in his life! So why were they there now?!
At some unseen command, the smoke cleared, revealing something.
No.
Someone.
"Ho?" A suave, resplendent voice filled the room. "Were you the one who brought me here, boy?"
Revealed was a man clad in tight-yet-flowing golden vestments.
A rich crimson cloak clung to those broad shoulders, beneath which one could glimpse a jacket with a tight black tank-top. Ryunosuke allowed his gaze to drift lower, noting the strange chap-like pants he wore, just as bright, just as gaudy. Upon his head he bore a heart shaped circle to tame his unruly golden hair and match his knee guards. But it was his terrifying visage-rather, the eerie eyes within-that truly commanded Ryunosuke's attention. His face was stern and handsome, almost composed really. Those dark orbs eyes were naught but cold, hooded pits of ice, regarding, in a word, eccentric.
Huh.
He looked kind cool-no!
This guy was the ultimate coooooool!
Heedless of Ryunosuke's abject fascination with him the stranger turned, surveying his surroundings, muted by the dark of night. Those blank eyes swept past him, noting the carnage, the bodies-lingering on the woman longer than most- the blood staining the walls and ceiling. He did not speak. Did not move. He didn't even seem to breathe. Though the serial killer wanted nothing more than to speak, some sixth sense glue his tongue to the roof of his mouth.
Eventually, the stranger's sight settled upon the child.
"Hmmph."
After a moment's consideration, the newcomer silently palmed a knife from one garishly bright sleeve to his right hand. His gaze fixed upon the boy with frightful intensity; for a fleeting moment Ryunosuke wondered if the newcomer was actually going to devour him. He certainly looked as though he might. As he looked on that slender dirk danced across the man's fingers, flicked from one palm to another.
"You there, boy." again that resonant voice rang out, piercing the silence with its crooning dulcet tones. "Are you alive?"
A tentative murmur rang out in the dark as Ryunosuke climbed to his feet. Why hadn't he killed him yet...?
"This man murdered your family." a soft, almost mocking note entered his voice. "Do you hate him?"
Teary eyes regarded him with confusion. Then anger. Rage. They narrowed.
The cruelest smile blossomed on that pale visage.
"Yes, I like that look. Very well!"
Faster than the mortal eye could comprehend, the Servant flicked a finger. The knife flew from his fingers like an arrow loosed from a bow, slicing the bonds that bound the boy. Trembling, the youth climbed to his feet as a broken puppet severed from its strings might, his motions stiff and erratic. A flicker of unease sparked in Ryunosuke's chest as he beheld the malice lurking in the boy's gaze. There was more than spite in those young eyes, more than wrath.
Rising behind him like some fell shadow, the stranger flashed a smile that bore far too many teeth.
Still smiling, he offered the boy the very knife he'd used to free him.
"Then take your revenge, brat." the man declared with an air of sinister satisfaction. "I, Dio, give you my blessing."
Trembling palms wrapped around its polished hilt with only the faintest hint of hesitation; when the boy finally turned back to him, something had hardened in that flinty gaze. He turned that weapon on him, raised it with an ease that almost bordered on the supernatural. As though some unseen figure were guiding him, actively forcing that flinty gaze to meet his. No, not flint. Hate had hardened into diamond, forged in fury and fire.
Here at last, fear unglued Ryunosuke's tongue; aghast, he flung out his arms to either side.
"Hey, what the hell are you doing, man?!" He raied! "I kept him alive for you! Why'd ya give him a knife?!"
"Fool." Dio clicked his tongue in mild admonishment. "Who said you could speak? Still, this is a good opportunity. I'll play with you a bit. Count yourself fortunate, boy. You'll have a glimpse of true power."
Like a proud monarch, he spread both arms wide to mirror his pose.
Instinctual fear gripped Ryuunosuke's heart in a vice; as if he were a deer caught in the headlights. A mere rabbit, caught in the eye of a tiger, a beast far larger than it could ever hope to be. Terror rooted him where he stood, sending his heart spiking as Caster licked his lips. Still the moment dragged on, his chest lurching as Caster dragged his last fateful moments into eternity.
Too late Uryuu realized mistake. 'I've blundered.'
Mad eyes gleamed back at him.
"THE WORLD!"
A second.
A thought.
A sliver of time.
The merest expression of will was all it took to utterly destroy Ryuunosuke beyond any hope of repair; to shatter his stomach and sever the boy's arm well above the elbow. Broken away from its host the mangled limb-and the Command Spells with it-spiraled backward, trailing end over end, numbed fingertips twitching in a last futile repose. Caster didn't move. Rather, there was no need to move. Nor had he done so. Yet that limb still landed in Caster's hand, held aloft by some unseen force Ryuunosuke couldn't understand.
"Aaargh?! What the hell?!"
In response to his screams Caster blew off his right leg, sending his former Master shrieking to the floor in a pie of his own viscera. Tumbling backward he could only scream. He felt no joy in the sight of his own blood, no glee in the thick crimson gushing from his stomach. There was only fear. That icy vice of terror, slowly choking the life out of him. This...this was death! His vision began to go gray at the corners, his lifeblood ebbing away through his fingers even as he tried to drag himself to safety despite his lack of limbs.
A knife thudded home in his remaining thigh, pinning him in place.
The serial killer squealed like a struck pig.
"I...you...stop it!" He wailed! "You're supposed to kill the kid! Not me!"
"I think...not." Caster smiled as he loomed over him, and it was a cruel, ugly thing indeed. "Now, one last question...where is Jotaro?"
"Who the hell...is Jotaro?" Ryunosuke struggled to force the words out through gritted teeth.
"I see." Disappointment ebbed the fire in those undead eyes. "Pity. I thought he would've been summoned as well; I wanted to crush him myself. Your death will have to do. Still, you have my thanks for returning me to my rightful place in this world. However," a cruel sneer obliterated any trace of that smile. "I'm afraid I no longer have any use for you." Strong fingers flicked dismissively. You may kill him now, boy."
Said boy advanced.
"No...no, no, no! Please!"
Ryunosuke clambered backward.
"Start with his face." Caster suggested.
They were the last words Ryuunosuke ever heard.
A heartbeat later his world erupted into light and fire and AGONY.
A/N: Fool! You thought Caster would be Ains but it was I, DIO!
He has, and always will be a troll.
He's...not a good guy.
Not by any means.
Funny thing there, under normal circumstances DIO really wouldn't care about Ryunosuke's murderous tendencies. But as he sees him beneath him and wanted to test his abilities...well. Ryunosuke isn't "dead" at the moment, but he may certainly wish he was.
So long as this bastard-and he is one-feeds, he doesn't have to worry about prana. And he's got an ENTIRE city to drink from.
Toss in Independent Action, because why wouldn't Dio have that, and you've got a terror comparable to Alucard...but with zero conscience.
Should be fun seeing how "The World" stacks up against some of the more esoteric Servants...
Now, I'm sorry if I disappointed some of you. This is merely an ANIME X-over, so the choices were limited. I also wanted to AVOID using the characters chosen by the Infamous Man and thereby keep this story as its own. I deliberately limited myself from going full crossover because I wanted to test the waters a bit. As unconventional as that sounds, I think I'll hold onto that idea for another story. In theory Rider was also a tossup, but in the end I decided to go with the votes I received. I might try something related to shows/movies a bit later after my surgeries.
So here's the roster in case anyone's confused:
Caster = DIO!
Saber = Artoria.
Rider = Zero Two.
Assassin = Akame.
Lancer = Whitebeard.
Berserker = All Might~!
Avenger= (Given enough hints for her!)
Archer = (TFS and pre-Schrodinger) Alucard.
Seriously do you have any idea how OP this guy is?! Someone who can stop time! TIME! If Jotaro didn't kill him when he did, his ability would've kept growing indefinitely. As it stands, you do NOT want him to drink the blood of Artoria or anyone else, because once he does...
Well.
We all know what happened when he got Joseph's blood.
Think on that for a minute, if you will.
In short, we've got all manner of powerhouses at play here, but what truly saddens me is that only THREE people know who Avenger is going to be. Seriously. She wields a freaking HALBERD like a pro. She's the living embodiment of war. Not to mention the way she talks. Anymore and I'll literally be spelling it out for you! Her first name starts with an "R"! There! That's all you're getting out of me!
So in the Immortal Words of Atlas...
...Review...Would You Kindly?
Aaand enjoy the madness!
Including previews!
Potential ones!
(Preview)
"So, you're Saber?"
This man was...large.
Artoria found herself taking half a step backward despite herself. To her mild dismay, Lancer didn't attack. He simply cocked his head, considering her. The sheer weight of his presence pressed down against her shoulders like the weight of a great tide, threatening to suffocate her beneath the weight of his regard. No mere man was this. This was an Emperor. A ruler of the seas. He who had nearly grasped all that his world had to offer, yet instead forsaken it for those he called his kin.
"You're not what I was expecting." he rumbled.
"Nor I you, Lancer." she allowed.
"GURARARARARARA!"
A sudden bout of laughter burst forth him with sound and aplomb, nearly causing the blond to jump clear out of her skin. It shook heaven and earth alike, though he had yet to move. No, just the earth, the sea itself. As if all the world held its breath, waiting for this great titan to bring reality crashing down.
Abruptly her foe down to his haunches and-incredibly-pulled a barrel of rum from his coat.
"Care for a drink?"
Saber blinked.
...ha?"
Laughing, Archer reformed.
"So he can stop time. Neat. Haven't seen that before."
"Shouldn't you be more concerned about this?!" his ally hissed.
"Pssh! I'm the REAL fucking vampire here. What's there to be concerned about?"
"Oho?" Caster growled, a muscle jumping in his jaw. "Bold words. Lets see if you can back them up!"
"MudamudaMUDA!"
"A one hit kill, you say?"
Assassin hesitated, dithering a bit beneath Tokiomi incredulous stare.
Those wide, red eyes turned to Kirei, almost imploringly.
"Please...I'd rather not speak of it."
With a sigh, he relented.
"Very well, then."
R&R~!
