With a cry, Lancer was hurled into the air by the blast of darkness that had escaped from the ground. The cloud seemed to react to the spirit, surrounding and engulfing him as it coalesced into ropes, some trussing him up like captured prey while others poked and prodded as they sought to find any holes in his defences. Lancer summoned his weapon, swiping at his restraints as they grew increasingly constricting but to no avail.

Then, in one swift motion, the darkness swept into him. It invaded his eyes, nose; any opening it could find, denying him purchase of even a scream. Gagged, he trashed helplessly, back arching, tearing at his own bodysuit, wracking it with bloody trails, until the nails barely hung on to the fingers by mere scraps of skin. He slammed into the ground, the perfect impression of a puppet macabre with all its invisible strings cut at once.

Mami stepped forward, thrusting her hand forward. A red ribbon embossed with a chain pattern flew towards Lancer, binding his arms tightly to his side in a magical straightjacket. She turned to Archer, her gaze steely.

No time for guilt.

"Shoot to kill, if it is necessary." He nodded at her.

The sound of cloth ripping made both of them turn back to look. Lancer spasmed wildly, letting out a screech no sane man could have uttered. His face grew bestial, canines growing to fangs, his lower jaw becoming square and jutting, veins throbbed wildly, streaming across the skin of his forehead. Cracks and pops echoed from inside his trap, as though unspeakable things were happening inside his body and with a ripping sound, a misshapen, clawed hand tore through the ribbons that bound him. The spell broke and he fell to the ground on all fours. His knees furiously twisted, angling backwards as his hair grew wild spikes as though it were a mass of thorns. Lancer- no, whatever that was could no longer be called that.

"Move!" Archer barely managed to choke out, scraping whatever was left of his mana into reinforcing his legs as he leapt back.

A dark figure filled his vision.

"Shit-" he brought his blades up to block, only to get slashed from the left shoulder down his arm, gritting his teeth as pain seared through his side. Blindly, he plunged the other arm forward, driving the blade as deep as it would go. The creature keened, retreating a few steps, striking at the ground as it drew ragged breaths. The pain seemed to affect it; it strained against itself, the hideous visage snapping at Archer. The tortured face of Lancer was barely recognizable.

"Hur -gasp- hurry"

His eyes were frenzied, frantic, pupils twitching uncontrollably, circular one moment and elongated the next, while whatever was left of the heroic spirit struggled valiantly to control the beast within. Razor teeth chomped down on his tongue, effectively silencing any possible speech as his eyes rolled up into his sockets; his consciousness finally fading to that of a mad beast.

Archer placed himself between it and Mami, signaling to her not to attack; not yet.

He began to chant.

"I am the bone of my sword"

The ethereal chain glinted as it flew out of his hand, lashing itself around the monsters legs and torso. Archer whipped the ends around himself, reinforcing his body and wincing as he felt it dig into him. Behind, Mami conjured an army's worth of guns, the flintlock rifles hovering in the air around her, waiting to fire.

"Steel is my body and fire is my blood."

"I have created over a thousand blades."

A multitude of swords drove themselves into the ground, anchoring the chains that held the beast down. It legs splayed across the ground, as it rasped for breath.

"Now!" Archer yelled, turning to Mami, the girl let loose a barrage of shots from the guns that she had assembled behind her. The bullets tore into the creature like a swarm of hornets; it howled as blood spurted from the lacerations in its hide, straining at Enkidu, sending unearthly tremors down the chain pinned by swords.

"Unknown to death, nor known to Life."

"Have withstood pain to create many weapons"

The seven petals of Rho Aias bloomed from his hand, their brilliance illuminating the battlefield, with Mami relentlessly keeping up the attack.

The creature was beginning to fight back. Tendons popped as it thrashed against its bindings, yet in each of its throes it only increased in strength. Grotesque, muscular bulges formed as hellish orifices opened all over its body. It seemed to draw strength from the darkness around it, shrieking as it absorbed the miasma through its gaping holes. It hurled its weight again and again against its restraints, which had begun to crack. The swords closest to the mad beast were flung clear of the ground as it pitched and rolled, the chain snapping back and forth. Archer grit his teeth until he tasted copper, as he felt the reinforcement reach its limits.

"Yet those hands will never hold anything."

With a screech, the monster tore loose of its chains, Enkidu losing its integrity as the remaining swords were ripped from their positions. Archer was bodily lifted and slammed into the ground, grimacing as he felt two ribs crack.

A spiral cocoon of golden threads descended upon the creature as it swept through them like waves; their strength hardly matching that of the chain of heaven. Mami pressed on, relentlessly keeping up the torrent of gossamer magic. Archer looked up in horror as he saw the monster rear up on its hind legs, a red spear appearing in its jaws, a fiendish glint in its eyes.

No.

He turned. He didn't need to hear the hellish shriek, didn't need to see the red bolt fly through the air, didn't need to tell the impossible angle that it carved around the Aias. He knew before he looked.

Mami, mouth in a silent scream, a crimson spear protruding from her chest.

Mami!

Her eyes widened in comprehension and fear as she began to crumple. Her transformation faded as she toppled, a cruel parody of a ballet dancer taking a fall she would never get up from, hands still raised to cast her next spell. The dull thud of body on ground echoed the pit that formed in Archer's stomach. A slow pool of red spread across the clothes her, any teenaged girl might have been wearing, who'd just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Enough. Enough.

Archer stood. A fury he didn't know he still possessed coursed through his veins.

"So."

A flick of his wrist. The fallen swords on the ground hurled themselves at the monster. The gods of bloodthirst would be drink their fill tonight.

"As I pray."

A purple bolt shot from the heavens, taking a chunk out of the horror. It recoiled like it had been stung, snarling, blindly seeking out the source of its attacker. Bolt after bolt slammed into it from above, each dealing grievous damage to the creature, until it was a sagging, bloody mass of flesh. It made a frenzied run for cover, only to be cut off as shots fired into every path of escape it tried, leaving it completely cornered. Rearing up once again, shrieking at the sky, the demon spear appeared in its jaws, as a final barrage of blasts rained down upon it.

The cursed weapon fell to the ground with a clatter, and faded away into the night.

Archer looked up, and saw the newcomer rapidly falling from the sky. The girl's black, waist-length hair whipped behind her as she dropped. The white shirt, uniform-like grey collar and black stockings gave her an air of severity, matched by the serious look on her face. The red ribbon in her hair stood out from the rest of her ensemble. Feathered wings of light emerged from her back the instant she hit the ground, breaking her fall.

Akemi Homura! Kyubey exclaimed.

The bolt gave off a low hum as she took aim at him with her jewelled bow, her quiet, yet commanding voice almost a monotone.

"Who- no, what are you?"

Kyubey hopped forward, and they exchanged a series of glances. The new magical girl nodded, lowered her weapon, and rushed over to the Mami, cradling her in her arms. Archer staggered towards them, knees buckling as the pain of the injuries he had sustained roared to life. She must have noticed him, inclining her head in his direction.

"She will be fine."

"Her heart-"

She turned away. "Not now." she spoke in his mind, a soft glow emanating from her hand as she returned her full attention to her fallen comrade.

What a mess; fight better next time, will you?

All three turned towards the speaker. Shengbey materialized, red eyes twin jewels in the darkness.

Things could really have gotten out of hand there. Cú Chulainn's death was truly regrettable, but it was a most interesting interaction, much better than what I expected!

"You were expecting." Archer's eyes narrowed.

Of course! It's natural that souls fall into despair when corrupted by darkness. But for the body to change as much as it did was truly out of my calculations, not many have survived after becoming this tainted. It was quite admirable that he held on for this long. The creature scratched itself behind the ear.

The ground came to life as the patter of feet filled the air. Small mammals phased into reality around them, clambering and crawling out of the interdimensional burrows they seemed to inhabit. The ground was soon covered with the animals, each which looked identical to Shengbey, as they absorbed the masses of grief cubes that littered the field. They fell upon the largest mound, the one which had once been known as Cú Chulainn, like a pack of ravenous rats, greedily lapping at it until not a trace remained. The one that had spoken to Archer and Homura remained where it sat through the spectacle, whisking its tail imperiously; it's gaze immobile while its brethren did the deed.

Sensing that the darkness had been dispersed, Shengbey turned to regard the onlookers, as did all of its assembled clones, the cold, robotic scrutiny of a thousand red orbs.

Please keep it up, your hard work will soon save the universe! With the words of parting, they faded from view, leaving the vision of a sea of eerie red eyes that lingered even with their passing

Hmph, freeloader. Kyubey tossed its head, tail held high. That's my energy he's taking to fill his own quota.

The girl called Akemi Homura lowered her hand, satisfied with her work for the moment. She scooped Mami into her arms, fixing Archer with a blank stare.

"Take her. I'll manage."

She nodded, almost imperceptibly, turning around and staring into the distance. "Meet me tomorrow, I'll be on the bridge." Without waiting for an answer, she took off into the distance, her wings spread as she travelled in leaps and bounds, leaving Archer alone with Kyubey. It turned, fixing its stare on him.

Those weapons that you summoned, no, created, that's what you humans call tracing, isn't it?

"It might be. For something that doesn't blink, you're awfully blind." he smirked.

Kyubey shrugged, the action disturbingly human.

No matter. I've seen a lot of interesting things tonight; I think I have a better idea of just what you are now, Archer.

It stalked off, a flash of lightning in its wake.


*Runs and hides from the Lancer fans*

Seriously though, I'll miss him while he's gone. He was pretty fun to write.

This did turn out a bit longer than I imagined, hit me up in the reviews to let me know what you think! Your hard work will soon save the universe ( ◕‿‿◕ )

Also, there is a slight omake of what happens after in "Tohsaka! There's a Goddess in my Gem!" for those of you that are interested.

Until next time

Skytracer