[[earlier]]
Sakura stormed down the hill, furious at herself for trusting Shirou. He always talked like he meant well, but then he would do something like this, taking her for granted. She wasn't going to be running, serving him hand and foot, as he ignored her. And Rin.. she always got what she wanted, whether it was a real father, or a home, or Shirou. She was so caught up in her internal monologue that she almost slammed into a teen walking the other way. She was about to step around him and keep on her way when he decided to speak up.
"I'm sorry, I didn't see you. But I honestly don't mind walking into a hottie like you."
"You!" Sakura's eyes focused on the speaker. It was Shinji. A teen-aged Shinji, just like she recalled him when he was making her life a living hell. All the pain she had left behind came boiling up. Everything she had walled up when she had left home.
"Me," Shinji smiled, only for the smile to fade in the face of the cold menace radiating from the attractive older woman in front of him. And there was something... off about her. "Rider. Deal with her!" He squeaked.
As the blindfolded woman in a biker jacket materialized at his side, Sakura leaped backwards. "Archer. Kill him." And an identical woman, except armed with a bow and with wildly whipping hair, appeared in a neighboring tree. Sakura took a defensive stance as she waited to see what Rider's response would be.
As the bow-woman reached for an arrow, Rider leaped at her, spiked chain lashing forwards. Archer leaped away, firing off a trio of arrows, which Rider deflected with her chain. The two servants battled across the neighborhood, as Archer tried to gain some distance to use her bow, and Rider kept darting after her. The two were very evenly matched, so they covered a lot of area without either one getting an advantage.
Shinji looked from where his Servant was fighting towards the crazy (but hot. Really, really hot) business woman, who was now standing, relaxed, a little ways away. She looked strangely familiar. He knew he should know her, but it was very difficult figuring out who she was, as his eyes kept dropping to her cleavage of their own volition.
"Do you like what you see?" Sakura purred as she sashayed towards the teen.
"Um," Shinji licked his lips and glanced quickly up at her face. He was certain that he should be running away right now. But she wasn't carrying any weapons or casting any spells. And his eyes were locked onto her (ample) chest. Top button was undone.
It was like a cobra with a sparrow. He knew she was dangerous, but he couldn't think of what to do.
Shinji didn't realize how close she had gotten until her hand reached out behind his head and her lips pressed into his. The shock, confusion and teenage hormones prevented him from calling for his Servant. And it was the most erotic kiss he had ever had. He felt himself becoming aroused, as at the same time his vision blurred and became tunnel like.
He didn't know how long the kiss went on, but he began to feel cold. He tried to push the woman away, but his arms were too weak – he couldn't even lift them. He would have panicked, but he lacked the energy for anything more than a mild sensation of wrongness. Slowly, everything faded to gray as Sakura drained his life force out through the kiss.
Sakura dropped the corpse onto the ground and bent over to retrieve the book of the False Attendant.
Rider hadn't realize that her surrogate master was in trouble until an unfamiliar voice pronounced, 'Servant Medusa. I am your Master. Come to me.'
A moment later, both Medusas – Rider and Archer – were standing at Sakura's side.
^lost^
"What do you mean, we have to go back to the Tohsaka mansion?" Luvia demanded. She had just gotten back from scouting out the shrine (and chatting with Issei, who was a very nice gentleman), only to discover that Rin was herding everybody back out towards the car.
"No, we're going to Fuyuki park. The portal is lodged in the Lei line that runs under it." The park was actually only a couple of blocks away from her house. And from the Matou mansion. 'I wonder if Sakura is staying there.' Rin shook her head to clear it of distraction. 'Shirou's right – we'll fix things with Sakura afterwards.' Even though that was the rational decision, something inside her twisted at the thought.
Shirou wasn't happy about the location – he had bad memories of the park – actually, it was where all his memories began, with the fire. He was also confused about what had just happened with Rin. Was it just wishful thinking, or had she been implying that she wanted to try having a relationship, or something? He glanced over at the Tohsaka. He should ask her, but now was not the time.
"Alberto will stay back here and keep watch over Megumi, while we will go check it out."
"Don't worry Master, I won't embarrass you - I won't put the moves on the ladies until after the fighting is done." Lancer grinned cockily, eliciting a weak smile from his Master. Alberto was not happy to be left behind, but he knew that he needed to rest.
Luvia rolled her eyes, "In that case you better go for Rin, because I will kick your Casanova ass if you don't focus on your business." Lancer had picked up Alberto's personality and refined it to the point that it was starting to grate. Luvia liked chasing guys. She didn't much appreciate it when the tables were turned.
Rin just smiled (though it came out as more of a grimace). In the last war, she had been too young to appreciate Lancer's teasing. She glanced at Shirou, to see if he was paying attention to the byplay, or if he was still dwelling on that verbal diarrhea she had been spilling out a few moments ago. "Let's go."
She palmed several antacids and slammed them down when nobody was looking.
^lost^
The park was as dead as ever. The trees were bare of leaves, as if it was the middle of winter instead of early fall. The ground was hard packed dirt, since no grass ever grew here.
"Wow. Some park," Luvia mentioned, "All you need is some rusting playground swings and it could pass for an inner city park in any of the worst slums. Seriously, would it cost that much to fertilize a little and maybe water?"
"Bad things happened here," Shirou explained.
"It's cursed," Rin added.
Luvia reached out magically and recoiled, "I.. see" Now that she was paying attention, she could just barely see what looked like heat shimmers rising out of the ground.
"Yeah, and that taint is making it impossible to scry for the portal. It's spreading it out, letting little pieces of the portal manifest all over the park." Rin pointed to the shimmers, "we'll have to get a lot closer to detect the main body of it." She handed her Rube Goldberg contraption to Luvia. "We should split up to cover more territory. I have the detection spell down cold at this point – at this range, I can manage it with just a pair of gems. So you and Shirou take this one and go along the left side of the park, while Lancer and I cover the other side. Whoever find the portal call the others. Don't try to be a hero." Rin was looking at Shirou specifically as she said this last.
As Rin set out, Lancer in tow, Luvia shrugged, "So it's going to be just us, big guy. I search, you keep me alive."
Shirou smiled, "That's my job description: keeping people alive." They set off, with Luvia glancing between the spell and their path.
Shirou walked a few steps back, watching for danger.
"Seriously, thanks for your help. I know Rin will never admit it, but she appreciated what you did in Poland. You saved the mission, and without your help, at least some of us would have died."
Shirou walked on in silence, "I wasn't joking. Helping people is what I do."
"What, like a comic book superhero?" Luvia asked 'that would explain Rin's pointed comment about being a hero.'
"Kind of. I figure if I help people with their problems, it will make the world a safer place for the people I care about."
"Aww, you mean me, don't you?" Luvia asked.
Shirou coughed awkwardly.
They walked in silence for a few minutes. "I don't know what happened between you and Rin back in high school, but don't give up on her. She's not as tough as she thinks she is."
^lost^
The two gems were pulling together with more and more force. Rin was grinning like a tiger on the prowl – she figured the portal was less than a hundred yards away. She was just picking up her pace to head for it when Lancer darted in front of her. "Company!"
The golden clad Saber appeared from nowhere and leaped to the attack, "Let us continue what was so rudely interrupted!"
Lancer smirked, "You're a man after my own heart."
"Yes, that's the plan," Saber replied.
As the two sprang at each other, battling through the treetops, an elegantly dressed gentleman in an old fashioned brown three piece suit and bearing a swagger stick stepped out from the shadows, "Yes, I see. Kirei warned me that a cadet branch of the family had a Master in this war, and that they were looking to establish themselves in Fuyuki so as to take over."
Rin did a double take – the man looked like the photos of her father, back from around the time of the Fourth Grail war. But as she opened her mouth, an array of red gem lights appeared around the other Magus, and she was only just able to throw herself to the side before they blasted fire through the spot where she had been standing.
"Cadet? I'm not some inbred cousin!" That wasn't what Rin had intended to say to the man that might be her father. But in tense situations, she somehow always defaulted to aggression.
^lost^
At the sound of the explosions, Shirou whirled into a fighting crouch, a sword materializing in his hand as he hunted for the source of the sound.
"It's coming from over there." Luvia pointed towards Rin's side of the park. But before Shirou could rush in that direction, a shimmering shard of portal grew larger, and a young woman stepped through. She was all white – her hair and her skin - and she was dressed in a purple winter coat of a style from 50 years ago.
She looked around, surprised, but then she spotted Shirou, "Ah, hello Oni-chan. I expect that this is your doing." She did look like Illyasviel von Einzbern, but all grown up. "I do not know what you expect to accomplish with this stratagem, but it shall not succeed. Berserker, kill him."
A huge man mountain materialized into view. He was dressed in a Greek kilt and carried a jagged piece of stone as a sword. A malevolent rage boiled off of him.
"Can't we discuss this?" Luvia ventured as she yanked Shirou back away from Berserker. The redhead had been caught flat footed by the unexpected aggression from a woman who looked so much like the young magus that had helped train him in the previous Grail war. If it wasn't for her, he wouldn't be who he had become. He probably wouldn't even be alive!
But Shirou recovered quickly, and as the giant stepped in to smash him with the back swing of his massive club-sword, the redhead reinforced himself to the breaking point and ducked to the side, just barely avoiding the car sized slab of stone. 'That's just not fair. He's that big and still that fast?'
Luvia cast Gandr at the enemy Master, but Illya blocked it with a swarm of little blue bird familiars.
Shirou manged to bring his Projected swords up to block the next attack, but even with partly getting out of the way, it took both swords to stop the massive attack, and they both shattered from the effort.
Shirou recreated his swords in time to stop the next blow, but he had no time for anything except defense. Berserker was hammering him like a freight train with arms.
Luvia glanced over at Shirou, but there was nothing she could do to help - she was barely holding her own against the Master. The albino woman was very casually directing a dozen bird familiars that swooped and spat little pellets of fire. Luvia was forced to dart from tree to tree, trying to keep the trunks between her and the familiars. When she finally saw an opening, she ripped the cover from a potion, splashing it towards the albino magus. A rainbow of light shot out like a spear, but it fell short, cleaving the ground several paces from Illya.
"That was very pretty, but I have outgrown rainbows," Illya directed a flotilla of her birds to burn down the tree that Luvia was hiding behind in a concerted barrage of flaming bird spit.
Luvia swore under her breath as she ran, wishing she had some of her gems. They were so much easier to use than these lame ass potions.
Meanwhile, Shirou tried to skip back to gain a little room, but Berserker kept pressing him, not giving him any room to maneuver. 'I don't think I can keep this up for much longer.' Even with the reinforcement, his body was at its limit. His muscles were burning with the strain, and he was breathing in quick rasping gasps.
"You are not my Oni-chan," the albino magus pronounced suddenly, looking slightly worried. "And the Grail system is acting very strangely. Berserker. We are leaving. I need to investigate this." The servant jumped back from Shirou, and in one smooth motion scooped up his Master and leaped away.
Shirou paused to take a deep breath, his hands on his knees.
"Thank god that she left," Luvia began, but before she could finish her sentence, Shirou pivoted and raced off in the direction of the fighting on the other side of the park.
As Luvia turned to follow, a man wielding an Executor's Black keys intercepted her, "Oh, ho. I think not!"
^lost^
Rin quickly realized that she was a more powerful magus than her opponent, but nevertheless she was having a lot of difficulty: she was hesitant to attack her opponent all out, as he might well be an other dimensional version of her father. But Tokiomi had no such reservations. A cadet family trying to usurp his place was not acceptable. He hadn't slept in days, and he was too tired to make sense of everything that had happened since he had time traveled, but he would figure out the details after he won the Holy Grail war. Right now, he simply needed to establish his dominance.
A swirl of fire leaped out from Tokiomi's walking stick, spiraling out towards his opponent before changing direction like a serpent to follow Rin as she dodged to one side.
Rin retaliated with a spray of Gandr, hoping to incapacitate her opponent without injuring him too much, but he easily dodged the spell.
Meanwhile Saber and Lancer had carried their battle to the adjoining neighborhood, leaping from building to building as both servants attacked with lighting speed.
Rin was again forced to dodge, as she second guessed her choice of attack spell. When she rolled back to her feat, a surprise blast of air caught her in the arm, spinning her around. She tried to recover, but her enemy now had a clear shot at her back as she staggered trying to maintain her footing
"Yaaargh!" Shirou yelled as he recklessly charged the magus about to incinerate Rin. Startled, Tokiomi whirled and unleashed his flame spell at the would-be hero instead of Rin. Shirou didn't have time to dodge, as he had put everything into reaching the magus before he could kill Rin.
Rin watched in horror as the flame leaped at the idiot. "Blitzen" a single bolt of lighting snapped from her out-flung hand, striking Tokiomi squarely in the torso. The bolt fizzled out against his wards as it contacted him, but it still had enough oomph to knock him off of his feet. The fire winked out before it could do more than singe Shirou, who threw himself into a roll on the ground to extinguish the flames.
"You idiot, stay back!"
At the same time, Lancer finally had a clear shot.
"Gae Blog!"
He lunged in for the killing blow, his spear striking Saber in the chest and sinking in to the haft.
But then something odd happened – the image of Gilgamesh fractured and fell to the ground, revealing another, perfectly healthy Gilgamesh underneath. All that was left of that first Gilgamesh was a crushed flower that fluttered to the ground.
Lancer was overbalanced from his attack, so he wasn't prepared when Gilgamesh grabbed the spear and yanked it past him, using it to pivot towards Lancer. Cu Chulainn released his spear, but it was too late – he couldn't quiet dodge the sword that lopped his head off.
The Saber in Gold smiled, "Too bad you did not know about the gift of Utnapishtim." And leaped back towards the park.
As Rin rushed towards Shirou, Saber landed in front of her with a cocky grin. "You have spunk, for a woman. You will make a good slave, once I break you."
Shirou didn't even pause before attacking. Saber was caught flat footed by the unexpected attack from the side - the idea of a mere cur attacking him! And was momentarily forced onto the defensive before retaking the initiative.
Rin glanced from the intense battle between Shirou and Saber to Saber's master, who had regained his feet and was about to unleash another barrage of spells at Shirou's back from an mandala of gems floating in a halo around him. "Blitzvorhang." Rin blasted him with a spell powerful enough to overcome any protections he might have.
The sheet of lightning struck Saber's master, burning through his protective spells, until several bolts struck true. As Tokiomi collapsed to the ground in a smoking ruin, Saber jerked back, finally giving Shirou a moment to recover. But before Shirou could take advantage of the opening, Saber leaped away.
^lost^
Luvia ducked under Kirei's swing and gave him another glancing blow. If the Executor wasn't armed with his Black Keys, she would have demolished him long ago, but instead it was turning into a grueling endurance match. Both combatants were panting. Fighting for your life was the most tiring form of exercise possible. And you couldn't slacken your pace, not if you wanted to stay alive. Which is why when Saber swooped down and carried the Executor off in a single bound, Luvia just stood gasping.
^lost^
Illya slipped off of the shoulder of Berserker as they approached the source of the irregular Grail emanations. She enjoyed riding on Hercules' shoulder – even though her current body was adult sized, she had spent too much of her life as short – but she now wanted to be on her own two feet in case Berserker had to chastise whomever was interfering with the ritual.
She looked around, puzzled. Across the street was a dilapidated mansion set back from the street. The bounded field around it had driven all the neighbors out, so that it was surrounded by overgrown lots on either side to the point that it too looked abandoned. It certainly didn't have any connection to the Grail. Or at least it shouldn't. But nevertheless, it was pulling at her the way the Grail under Ryuudo did, but out of sync. It had to be some magus, hiding out in the ruins and trying to co-opt the Heavens Feel ritual for their own ends.
"Ok, Berserker, lets go say hello." Illya didn't bother disabling the alarmed bounded field - it would serve as a doorbell to announce her presence as she headed up the walkway. No matter who this Magus was, he would either apologize or Hercules would crush him like Lutefisk. Illya was only half way to the front door when a decrepit old man, wrinkled like a prune, stepped out of the shadows.
"Ah, who might you be?" His voice was just as ragged as the rest of him, but as he got a good look at the woman approaching him, his eyes bugged out and he whispered, "Justeaze?"
He froze.
"Oh." A faint echo of a memory tickled Illya's mind, "you must be Zouken. You have really not aged well, old man."
"Justeaze, how? Did the dimensional portal bring you here?" Zouken was at a loss. He had spent 500 years trying to find some way to reunite with this woman. True, they did not see eye to eye on many things, but they were competitors, which is the closest, truest relationship a magus could have. And now, completely out of the blue, this rogue dimensional portal had granted him his heart's desire, not once but twice. First giving him another chance at completing the Heavens Feel ritual, and now obviating even the need for that.
"Yes, I expect it did," Illya nodded, as things began to make sense. "And what part did you play in creating this portal?" She carefully continued the odd doorstep conversation with this magus that reeked of corruption and decay. 'Berserker, restrain that man,' she commanded silently.
The giant took two quick steps forward and before Zouken could recover from his shock, wrapped his massive hand around the decrepit old man.
Who spurted out between his fingers, like wet clay.
"Berserker! You weren't supposed to kill him!" Illya looked appalled. Not that she particularly valued human life – as a disposable homunculus, she had been raised with the idea that humans were expendable – but Berserker was supposed to follow her orders with the precision of a finely tuned machine. But then she saw something odd – the squished materials were moving – squirming towards each other, forming a pile.
"Stomp them!" Illya commanded as she released a squadron of familiars to swoop down and stab the wriggling worms with their beaks, incinerating them.
At the same time, Berserker began trying to kill the worms, but they were small and wriggly, making it a difficult task. The best Berserker could accomplish was to smash through any piles of worms that agglomerated, but many of the worms quickly burrowed into the ground, where they were out of reach of both tiny beaks and massive toes.
"I should have know! That Makiri was always a slimy worm. He thought he was so suave, but everybody knew he was just out for himself. And whenever you challenged his ideas he would just squirm away," Illya ranted, channeling the sliver of Justeaze that all von Einzbern homunculi were created with.
"He is such a pain in the neck." As she said that, she felt a literal pain in her chest. She glanced down to see a the tip of a sword projecting from between her breasts. "Oh".
Assassin stepped back, letting Illya slip off of his cursed sword as his other fist held her magically eviscerated heart. Not that it mattered (he was too professional for that), but he really did enjoy stabbing attractive women in the back. It gave him an almost sexual pleasure.
Berserker turned, but he dissolved into motes of light before he could even take a step. With his massive mana requirements, he did not have any reserves.
"Heh. And that is two," Zouken wheezed as his body reformed. That had been unpleasant, but all was well that ended well. He smiled at his servant. "And the von Einzbern homunculus is an added bonus. With its heart, we have direct control over the Grail."
