A/N: Just an FYI for anyone who read Chapter 6. Rin's appearance has been rewritten to match the one from the Heaven's Feel ending. While I was writing that chapter that look completely slipped my mind so I went along with her usual default outfit. Now that I have been enlightened it has been changed (^_^). I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Chapter 7: Blood Red Coat
The sleek, building was at least ten stories high and decorated with large glass windows lined up side to side on every floor. In the day, the building was pretty much transparent, allowing many to simply gaze into it at a moment's notice. It was half past midnight and the 6th floor was filled with a small group of thirteen office workers.
Many of them could be seen piling up various papers on their desks, while the others typed away on their computers. They all carried exhausted looks on their faces. They could not believe that they were still at work at a time like this. They had families to return to. Wives and husbands to kiss and children to tuck into bed. Little did they know, they would never see them again.
Across from them was a building under construction. It had been under construction for the past month or so and current progress was focused on the seventh story. At the very top, standing calmly on a thick horizontal, red construction beam, was a man. His hair was an unnatural white color and thick rimmed glasses adorned his pale skinned face. Beneath them his eyes were a dark brown, if one were to simply take a glance at them they would appear to be a pitch black. His name was Taro Tanaka, a vicious master of the unofficial 6th Grail War. Beside him was a samurai, Berserker. His armor, once a pristine white, was now diluted with multiple splash patterns of blood.
Tanaka looked down at the busy workers, who were now packing up their various belongings. They were leaving. Now was the time to act. He smiled and snapped his fingers. In an instant Berserker jumped from their perch and smashed through the large, glass office window. Transparent shards flew into the room as the office workers began to race for the exits in a panic, their eyes reflected the terror within them.
Berserker cut them down one by one, a gruesome sight to behold, his blade carved through them like a hot knife through butter. In mere seconds the many cubicles were stained with fresh blood and Berserker's white armor was now completely red in color. He held his silver sword aloft and the blood that blanketed the office seemed to whirl and move as if attracted to the sword. Droplets floated through the air and latched onto the sword like metal attracted to a magnet. A disgusting smile could be made out on Berserker's horribly scarred face and a hint of pleasure could be seen in his cold, black eyes.
Tanaka chuckled at the sight, but his laughter was cut short. Someone was behind him.
"Having fun are we?" asked a deep and confident voice. Tanaka hastily turned around. Across from him, standing on a beam opposite of his own, was a man he did not recognize. His hair was a bright, fiery orange and his hazel eyes emanated an intimidating amount of determination. His face was disciplined and reflected many years of irreplaceable experience. He wore a long, blood red coat that nearly touched the ground and underneath could be seen black vestments and dark boots. His body was athletically built, his muscle could be made out even under his coat, and he easily stood six feet in height.
"Of course I am," answered Tanaka, trying to hide away his unexplainable fear of this man. A bead of sweat dripped from his forehead as he tried to maintain his composure.
"Attacking the innocent simply to feed your Servant," said the mysterious man, under his breath, "How vile."
"So what if I am?" yelled Tanaka, his patience growing short, "What does a petty human want with a renowned man such as I?"
"You're more crazy than I thought," said the man with a sarcastic smirk, "You honestly think someone like you is renowned? A merciless killer?"
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Tanaka snapped his finger and in an instant Berserker appeared at his side. Although the samurai was covered in blood not a single drop trickled from his large body.
"I am Emiya Shirou, simple as that." The man's answer drove a state of complete hysteria into Tanaka, who grasped his head and began to laugh wildly.
"Emiya Shirou? Finally! I've been looking for you!"
"Really? Why would you be looking for me?"
"Because you are the one who achieved victory in the last war am I correct? Surely you would be generous enough to give me a few pointers as to how I get my wish?"
"Sorry but last time I was here, I destroyed the Grail, and I plan on doing so again this time."
"What? You must be joking!"
"Does it look like I'm joking?"
"You bastard! Do you not understand what the Grail is capable of?"
"Yes, I do, but you seem to be under the impression that I care. I am here because of one reason and one reason only."
"And what reason would that be? Hmm? Emiya boy?
"You attacked my family. And now, you will pay."
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" yelled Tanaka repeatedly, going so far as to start punching his own head. "You die now!"
Berserker rushed towards Shirou, his blood stained body shot forth like a bullet, invisible to the naked eye as he cleared the distance between himself and his target. Shirou stood his ground, his air of confidence immovable. Berserker's blade descended upon his chest but was stopped in it's tracks by something Tanaka did not expect.
Barring the way to Shirou was a small girl, her elegant blonde hair tied into a bun. The moonlight bounced off her silver armor and bestowed a brilliant shine to her emerald green eyes. In her hand appeared to be an invisible sword, and even with her small stature she matched the vicious Berserker in strength. She lashed out at her enemy in quick succession, causing the bloody samurai to retreat back to his Master's side. The girl stood at the ready, standing between her opponents and her master, a look of sheer intensity was written on her fair face.
"What?" yelled Tanaka, "Who the hell is this?"
"This is an old friend of mine, Saber," answered Shirou.
"Servant Saber?" Tanaka's surprise quickly turned into a hysterical fit of laughter, "Excellent. She will prolong the battle, I would've hated for you to die so quickly!"
"Be still murderer," snapped Saber, "Your actions will not go unpunished!"
"And I suppose you will be the one to punish me? What a joke! Destroy her Berserker!"
The two warriors lunged towards one another and their blades clashed, sending clamorous roars throughout the night sky. Saber's small body found it easy to maneuver in the construction site's web of steel while Berserker's large mass had difficulty traversing in such terrain. With this advantage Saber easily pushed back her opponent, forcing him to fight an uphill battle.
In a random, unforeseen attack, Berserker jumped a staggering fifteen feet into the air and brought his blade down upon Saber with the force of a comet. Saber blocked it head on, the collision of their swords roared like an explosion from a bomb, and the metal beam beneath them bended from the sheer strength of the impact. With a grunt, Saber pushed away the large samurai, a metallic din resounded from her invisible weapon as she sent her opponent flying into the office building opposite from where they were battling.
A streak of wind followed the samurai as he smashed into the building with a thunderous collision. The numerous glass windows of the establishment shattered and the side of the building itself caved in. Berserker rose from the pile of splintered wood and glass, a broken smile could be seen upon his maimed face as he picked up his blade.
Standing up, Berserker lifted a heavy desk off of the ground and flung it in Saber's direction. His strength was so great that the desk itself flew through the air like a bullet. With a flick of the wrist, the desk was cut in two by a slash from Saber's unseen weapon.
Berserker's arms flailed fiercely as he grabbed and threw more of his makeshift projectiles at the small, blonde girl. Be it desk, lamp, table or chair, anything was a weapon at the moment but Saber's invisible blade cut through each one like paper. After a few brief minutes, Berserker halted his onslaught, his supply of projectiles spent he charged at Saber, clearing the large gap between the office and the construction site with a single bound. Saber counter charged and leaped across the chasm, propelling herself towards the red samurai.
Their blades connected in midair and sent a shock wave into the nearby buildings, shattering glass and tilting the furniture within. The two warrior's blades were locked in a midair confrontation as they glared at each other with an unworldly intensity.
Berserker, creating a wide arc with his blood stained sword, threw Saber into the web of steel that was the construction site. Saber expertly shifted her weight and caught herself on a steel support beam. Pushing herself off using all of her strength, she launched herself like a missile back towards Berserker, the steel beam bending as she did so. Berserker blocked her strike, narrowly avoiding getting split in half, but the result of the midair collision sent the two of them tumbling into the empty office building.
Berserker was flung through a bathroom wall, wrecking the neat and shiny porcelain but Saber managed to halt her tumble, her armored feet dug into the carpeting, uplifting it like dirt as she slid. Berserker grabbed his blade off the tiled floor and charged through what was left of the wall and straight into Saber. The hammering of their blades lit up the darkness of the office and gave them the appearance of living stars.
Berserker continued his onslaught of blows, recklessly flailing his blade towards Saber in a manic dance of death. Saber blocked each consecutive strike, her brow furrowed as each attack seemed to be stronger than the last. In a split second she spotted an opening and took it without hesitation. Berserker lifted his blade over his head and with one quick, vertical slash Saber split open the red samurai's stomach. Dark blood flowed from his wound but his attacks did not cease. Saber's eyes widened with surprise as she barely managed to avoid a fatal strike to her neck.
There was a pause in battle. Saber breathed heavily, the fight was going on longer than she had expected it to. Berserker's head tilted and he took a look at the deep wound that Saber had inflicted. A wound so deep that his various organs could be seen pushing their way out of the neatly cleaved flesh. He calmly poked them back into place as a wicked smile spread on his horrendous face.
"This...feels...good," he said. A disgusted and terrified tingle spread throughout Saber's body. She had delivered a wound that would be considered fatal to even the most powerful of Servants. How was this one still standing after a strike like that?
Without warning, Berserker threw himself upon Saber again, thrashing out with his blade over and over. The wind howled in agony as his blade was swung and the building itself seemed to shake as the two brawled.
"Surprised are you Emiya?" said Tanaka proudly. He and Shirou had been left on their respective beams, watching the battle from a safe vantage point. "You should be. Berserker is quite the specimen. Would you care to know who he is?"
"That's nice of you, but I already know," answered Shirou, with a confident smile.
"You've done your homework I see," mocked Tanaka, "Then you must understand why Saber will not win then." He spread his arms out in celebration as he began to laugh maniacally, "Pain means nothing to him! There is nothing your precious Saber can do!"
"But there is something I can do," stated Shirou. Glowing red orbs appeared in his hand, quickly forming into two separate curved, short swords. One was a pristine, snow white and the other black with what appeared to be a grid like pattern etched upon it. "Your Servant isn't here to protect you now."
Tanaka's eyes widened and his lips began to quiver with complete and utter terror.
"Berserker!" he yelled into the night, his voice a high pitched wail, "Save me!" The red samurai's head perked up and he disengaged the silver knight as he jumped back to his Master's side. Tanaka pointed a shivering finger in Shirou's direction, "Kill him! Hurry! Don't let him hurt me Berserker!"
The samurai obeyed without a word and he charged at Shirou, his sword at his side. His blade arced towards the man in the red cloak but quickly halted as he heard yet another squeal from Tanaka.
"Return Berserker! Forget about him! Saber is coming back!" Not far from Tanaka was Saber, whose blade was prepared to strike down the trembling man. Berserker quickly rushed to the aid of his master, blocking the blow Saber had intended for him. However, Shirou quickly moved in and in one swift movement he slashed an X pattern into the back of Berserker. As Berserker turned to meet his foe he was struck in the back again, this time by Saber's invisible sword.
Tanaka squirmed farther away from the battle, hugging the steel beam like a lost child, and was witness to his own Servant being butchered by the pair that was Shirou and Saber. Berserker, realizing his dilemma, quickly withdrew to his Master's side. Although many cuts were littering his body, the Servant appeared unfazed and stood as vigilant as ever.
"Berserker may not feel pain," said Shirou confidently, "But just like any other Servant, if I cut him enough, he'll fall down and die."
"Berserker! Retreat!" Tanaka squeaked in fear. Berserker grabbed his master in one arm and with the other cut down the beams of the construction site as he jumped away. The large web of metal began to sway and Shirou and Saber were forced to retreat into the building opposite of them, expertly jumping the large distance. The entire floor collapsed on itself as a choir of metallic clangs echoed throughout the night.
The two watched the debacle with a relieved expression on their faces. Only the seventh floor had collapsed. If the entire building had fallen the damage could have been far more severe than they would have liked.
"Shirou, was he the one?" queried Saber.
"No," answered Shirou, looking up at the sky, "It couldn't have been him. He is far too unstable and he doesn't seem like the type who would steal from the Association, even if it did mean a wish. He's just a man who wanted to take advantage of the situation."
"He did not seem to be a very capable magus either."
"That only shows that he would have been incapable of recreating the Grail in the first place. It would take someone of incredible talent to recreate the Grail with nothing but a set of documents."
"We could have stopped him right here," Shirou walked over the the butchered bodies of the office workers and sighed,"To let someone like him continue doing this, is just despicable."
"It is alright Shirou," said Saber, comforting her master, "We will end this war."
Shirou looked away from the dead bodies and into the empty streets, "We have one last lead on who did this then. The Einzbern's."
"Where do you think they are?"
"The old manor in the forest was burned down a long time ago so they could be anywhere in this city." Shirou's fist began to shake, a detail Saber noticed quickly.
"What is wrong Shirou?"
"I am scared Saber. Not for myself, but for my family. Here I am, running around the city at night when I should be protecting them."
"Your family?"
"That's right, we've been so busy with this war, that I never really told you about them did I? If we have the time, you should meet them Saber."
"I suppose you married Rin then am I correct?" asked Saber, a knowing smile on her face.
"Yes," said Shirou with a chuckle, "Funny thing is people in the Mage's Association still have the habit of calling her Tohsaka. I guess Emiya Rin doesn't sound very good to their ears."
"How is she? It has been quite a while since I had last seen her."
"The same as she always was. Beautiful, smart, angry and lazy."
"You make it sound as if she hasn't changed at all in the past ten years," stated Saber as she walked over to her master's side.
"You know what they say. Some people never change."
"But you, on the other hand, have changed quite a bit Shirou. You look, act and even dress exactly like he did."
"Don't say that Saber," laughed Shirou, rubbing his head in embarrassment, "It's true I might look like him. But act like him? No way." Shirou's thoughts returned to what had happened many years ago. He had met a man that, at first, he hated and despised. However, in the end, that same man turned into someone he grew to respect.
"Will your family be alright with a man like Tanaka on the loose? You said so yourself that he had attacked them before."
"We've wounded Berserker enough tonight. He won't be able to attack anyone any time soon. Besides, the Archer my son summoned is a pretty good fighter. I place my faith in her abilities."
"We should get moving then. The sooner we clarify the Einzbern's role in all of this the sooner you can secure the safety of your family." Saber smiled warmly, "I am sure Rin will be delighted to see you again."
"Sounds like a plan," replied Shirou, with a smile, "I'm sure Rin will be delighted to see you again too, Saber."