The Doctor staggered up.
"Blimey..."
The madman realized the reason the Invisible Presence had summoned him as a Servant instead of an ordinary Time Lord to protect this world. Without being a demi-Heroic Spirit he would have died the moment an enemy attacked, no time for regeneration too. Luckily he survived the fall by modifying his overcoat into a makeshift parachute with the sonic-screwdriver, crash-landing into the ice-cold waters of the Fuyuki River.
"Old anti-grav is gone..." He would have to recover the motorbike later, his leg was too wounded. Although his blue Command Spells were quickly auto-healing him, he should still return to the TARDIS for rest. The Doctor traveled down the empty city streets, thinking to himself. The Archer-Class Servant was Emiya Shirou? This could not be, it was an anachronistic paradox. He will have to investigate this later. Although he gathered enough knowledge about the Swirl of the Root, his Summoner was still unknown...
A handsome blond man with red eyes came from nowhere, walking omniously past him. "My, what an interesting fellow you are..."
The Doctor blinked, only the stranger had disappeared.
Who was that man?
After a little hesitation, the Doctor continued for the TARDIS. Was there someone who had sighted him around? No time to search for the man, his leg wound was really beginning to hurt. What he would do for a little old custard at a winter night like this...
"Yo, Doctor."
The Doctor looked up. An armored warrior in blue wielding an omnious-looking lance was standing on a house`s rooftop. "I`m sorry, do I know you?"
"Eh? You don`t recognize me? Strange, you were quite the wiseguy bard when I was still alive." the warrior leaped down to move closer. "Although I wasn`t expecting you to be a Servant too in this War. What are you, not a 'Doctor-Class' I suppose?"
The Doctor frowned. A Lancer who knew his identity? True Name Discernment quickly activated a moment later. "You...Cuchulainn!?" Ireland`s ancient Child of Light?
"You do remember!" the ancient spearman gave a warm smile. "Long time no see. Ah, I suppose this is the first time you`ve seen me with all that time-travel strangeness happening around?"
The Doctor suddenly understood. Sometime in the future, he would be time-traveling across this magical multiverse, wandering about like in his home universe... That is, should he survive the present. Time could be re-written, after all. "Yes...landed in this city as demi-Heroic Spirit of the Ruler-Class, long story."
Cuchulainn`s smile faded before giving a sigh. There was nothing he could do about this, he was doing this under a Command Spell. "My Master had commanded me to scout out all the participants in this War. Since you are technically an enemy Servant, I am forced to battle you."
The Doctor blinked. "Battle...me?" This was bad, he was already weakened from escaping Archer. Lancer`s cursed spear, the Gae Bolg (Barbed Spear That Pierces With Death) was quite a lethal Noble Phantasm too. What he would have done for the immortal Captain Jack Harkness to be here instead...
"I know...unlucky me." Lancer lamented. All he wanted is to satisfy himself with battling legendary opponents in this Holy Grail War, yet his accursed Master rather commanded the spear-man to only conduct espionage. He sighed. "My tragic history has followed me as a Servant, eh...?"
The two were silent for a minute before the Doctor spoke up. "Please do be gentle with me, eh? I`m only a simple Ruler."
"Oh, certainly." Lancer assured, readying his spear. "I still haven`t forgot you visited me with those jelly babies sweets after I was training with Teacher."
The Doctor went into a reluctant combat stance. "Hmm...look forward to seeing you in the past."
Lancer smirked before striking forward with Gae Bolg, only the Doctor quickly deflected it with something from his bigger-on-the-inside pockets. Lancer blinked. "A...broomstick?"
"The art of improvised weapons never ceases to surprise!" the Doctor smirked. Although it did not look like it, the madman had previously trained with all of history`s greatest warriors throughout the universe in his past incarnations. Knowledge was certainly power, after all.
"Ha! Surprise this!" Lancer kicked at the man, who countered with an alien martial-arts technique.
"Venusian Aikido, haven`t used this for a long time." the Time Lord grunted. Lancer laughed jubilantly. All these millennia later the Doctor was still the eccentric madman he was. The battle continued on for another minute, with Lancer carefully attacking with enough non-lethal force for the Doctor to defend himself. It was all going fine until Lancer suddenly froze, a look of shock on his face. "Victory is mine!" the Doctor exclaimed jokingly, brandishing a fire-extinguisher towards him.
The spear-man brushed it aside to whisper. "Doctor, my Master is commanding me to kill you."
"What!?" the Doctor froze, slightly mortified. "Oi, I`m quite too young to die! Only more than a thousand years old, life doesn`t begin until a hundred thousand at least -"
"I`m erasing all memory of you in my mind only he is about to force me to use my Noble Phantasm. You have to get away. I - argh!" Lancer gritted his teeth. "Run!"
The Doctor paled, retreating away.
Kotomine Kirei frowned.
A moment ago when he used psychic Magecraft to check on Lancer, it had been quite a shock to watch as his Servant was presently attacking a familiar-looking demi-Heroic Spirit.
"Interesting... The stray Servant with blue Command Spells was an abnormality, an interfering idiot who was first known to him in the previous Fourth Holy Grail War. All those years later he had finally appeared again, still being the obnoxious man he was.
The overseer of the War smiled viciously from his hideout. Although he rather investigate further, this stranger could become a formidable enemy. One who will potentially stop Kirei from witnessing Angra Mainyu born onto the world... "Lancer, kill the demi-Heroic Spirit with your Noble Phantasm. Do not make me use another Command Spell."
Rejoice, the first fatality of the Holy Grail War was about to come into being...
It was too late to escape.
The Doctor`s leg wound opened, halting the man in pain. He looked behind him, eyes widening in dread. "It shouldn`t end like this..."
Mana was gathering around the tip of Cuchulainn`s blade. Gae Bolg. The dreaded Celtic spear carved from the bone of the sea monster, Coinchenn. Once activated it will reverse cause-and-effect to never miss, piercing into the target`s heart with a sure-kill attack. No demi-Heroic Spirit would be able to withstand something like this.
"I...I`m sorry, Doctor." Lancer regretfully launched his Noble Phantasm forward.
"Gae Bolg!"
A flash of light, then it was over.
The force of the barbed spear striking was enough to send the Doctor crashing backwards, alien blood flying. He raised his head, giving a gentle smile like he knew it was not Lancer`s fault before becoming still like a corpse.
Cuchulainn grimaced before walking away, grieving what he had done. "Damn you, Master...I will never forgive you for this..."
Gilgamesh, the Golden King of Heroes sighed.
He had been looking forward to encountering the little Servant in the blue scarf only after watching the battle from faraway, the man was dead.
Was everything on this world going to disappoint him? The First Hero remembered something from distant memory, when he was still alive as the King of Uruk. His oldest companion, Enkidu, the Chain of Heaven had one day described to him a strange story that happened a long time ago.
At the time beyond ancients, the being named Enkidu first traveled to the great-walled kingdom of Uruk only to come upon a strange wiseman with a box.
"Who are you?" he asked the man wearing a blue cloth around his neck.
"Me? I`m the Doctor." the man responded. The sagacious 'healer' was infinitely kind upon looking at Enkidu, teaching the Chain of Heaven about the beauty of the universe above the endless sky. Enkidu appreciated the wisdom of the man, spending a day resting with him before continuing his journey alone.
At the end, the wiseman disappeared with Enkidu having no knowledge of what happened to him afterwards.
"A sagacious healer, eh?" Gilgamesh smirked. "I wonder what he shall do to heal from death itself." The King of Heroes departed, quickly forgetting about the corpse.
After all, the story of the Doctor`s mysterious box was becoming more interesting than the man himself...