Well if one was wondering about Avenger, don't worry. You'll finally see her in action today. And we still have a Fuyuki Killer again.

Chapter 7: Mugging the Monster

(9:05pm Monday, Fuyuki City)

Rin shivered as she crept through the sleeping city. Part of her wanted to head back home where it was safe, but a bigger and more stubborn part kept her going.

Not long after the bombing of the Hyatt Hotel, people had started disappearing. Police were apparently confused, given that they found the corpse of the infamous 'Fuyuki Ripper'. They advised keeping all doors locked, stay in groups, and call for help if they saw anything weird. But students were still going missing. It wasn't uncommon to go to school and have an empty seat next to you. While Rin felt for them, she wasn't sure what she could ever do.

Then her best friend Kotone went missing.

Using magic and a special compass her father gave her, she managed to track Kotone to her current location. But now it was having trouble finding her, and she ended up lost and in danger of vanishing herself.

She didn't know how things could get worst.

Unbeknownst to Rin, she was being watched by Avenger, who had spotted her walking through the streets. She had detected mana flowing through the girl and decided to see what was going on. Besides, she had heard about the missing people and her conscience just wouldn't let her leave.

After the servant attack at the hotel, everyone seemed subdued these last couple of days. Few left their bases and though who did failed to cross paths. She counted herself fortunate that Fate supplied her with all the mana she needed. Still, she wanted to make a union before someone got her first.

Part of her wondered if she should introduce herself to the girl, but decided against it. For all the girl knew, Avenger was the one doing all the killings. Better to just follow her until she needed rescuing.

And so Magus-in-training and Servant walked through the alleyways, looking for anything that could help. Rin had nearly given up when the compass had started working again. She followed it to the entrance of the sewers, where she stopped to think. She could alert the authorities, but they might get here too late. And they certainly wouldn't believe her when she said she found it with a magic compass. Steeling herself, Rin walked into the tunnel with Avenger not far behind. It took forever, but eventually she reached the end. Growling and chomping noises echoed back to her. Shuffling closer and closer, Rin saw a sight that made her gasp.

A massive pile of flesh sat in the center of the massive chamber, an unholy mix of white and red flesh. One hand was massive, with joints that seemed to bend backwards. And the other hand was a red head, with eyes decorating the sides. Two more heads were swaying around, fighting over something to eat. And the heads looked up at her gasp, letting her see that in the mouth of the right head was the legs of a school girl

Kotone

The monster bellowed, and the heads charged right at her. Too frightened to move, Rin would've been devoured if three purple arrows blasted right into the creatures' eyes. It roared in pain as a woman in a black-and-gold robe walked in, a purple bow with spikes and swirls in one hand. It seemed as those she made it out of pure mana. A cape billowed out behind her as a mask covered her face. She turned to look at Rin.

"Stay here." She said in a legion of voices. She turned back to face the monster and dodged just when a mouth was about to strike her. She let off another arrow into the mouth of another head, which pinned the beast's tongue down. The heads started spitting flesh at her, but she just kept dodging, firing a bunch of arrows in an arc to skewer the creature's backside. As it turned Rin could see a giant face on its back.

But the beast kept coming no matter what. And strange things started crawling out of the shadows. Soon they had surrounded the archer, and would've attacked if they weren't stopped by a laughing thing.

It was a squishy black thing with a white mask on one side. It kept laughing before finally speaking. "So…warrior…us…try to kill… Servant." Its speech slurred and screeched. "Fail…you will…Fate…we win…will." A hand of bone pointed at the archer, and the hound-like things attacked.

But the archer was ready for them. She jumped into the air and threw little things at the monsters. As soon as they hit the ground, they exploded. Those who weren't ripped apart were thrown in the air. She glowed purple, and her attire changed. She wore a heavy suit of red armour, with spikes jutting everywhere and a red cape billowing. In one hand was a large hammer with a big blue rune on the head, and in the other was a massive sword with a split in the tip and curving steel decorating the blade. As the creatures got back up and swarmed her, she glowed red and swung the massive weapons.

The results were spectacular and bloody. Creatures were cleaved in two by the sword or crushed by the hammer. Her strikes got faster and stronger with every enemy she killed. A few got past her weapons, but their strikes bounced off her armour, leaving them dazed enough for her to squash. When things got to crowded, she stomped the earth, causing cracks in the ground, stone spikes to jut out, and rubble to fall from the ceiling. The large monster charged in again, but squealed as the sword cleaved a head off. The creatures piled on her, but she shouted and they all were blasted off by the force. She jumped in the air, glowing as she floated, then slammed into the ground. All the enemies were lifted and slammed into the ground with enough force to explode. The blob thing was shaking with rage.

"Win…not. Fate…win…us."

The warrior threw her blade at the beast, pinning its hand to the ground. She glowed again and wore the black robe again. Though this one looked more like a Magus robe than before, and had streaks of green in it. On her back were two giant curved blades, and her hands held large metal circles with a purple glow in the centre.

"Here's what I think of your fate. Unbound By Fate." She shouted, before glowing again and slamming her fists together. The creatures were knocked back as her weapons glowed brighter. She then threw her circles around her, faster than possible. The creatures were sliced, with glowing purple lines where the blades had struck. She grabbed the blades on her backs while placing the circles there. Rin saw that there was a handle in the middle, with the blades curving in an arc. She spun through the air like a drill, passing through any monster that got in her way. The beast tried to eat her, but she was moving too fast for it. Spinning in circles, more and more lines were drawn on the beast. Rin noticed that the energy was being drawn from everything in the room. The energy formed the hammer again, which the servant smashed a second head with. As the third whimpered in pain, she turned the hammer into a spear, throwing it through the final head with so much force that it was skewered against a pillar. The hand left behind under the sword flopped as blood gushed from where it had ripped off. She stopped glowing, and all the creatures she struck fell apart along the lines. Soon only her and the blob were left.

"Sorcery…What…How?" It spluttered.

"I am the Fateless One. I was made to subvert Fate itself. And I just ripped out your monsters' fate, and beat them to death with it."

"No…no…NO!" It screamed as it fired a horde of insects at the woman. A blue barrier surrounded her as she charged the blob. Bony limbs reached out to grab her, but she threw symbols at him which exploded. The explosions killed off most of the bugs, while maiming the limbs. The blob withdrew into a puddle and swirled erratically at the woman. Before she could react, the blob reached her and punched her into the air, landing blow after blow on her before slamming her into the ground. She glowed again, standing up in a blue robe and cape, a staff in her hands. She slammed it into the ground, causing an undead to materialise and engage the blob. While it soaked up the blows, she glowed with a green light before looking healed. As the undead fell apart, she threw lightning at the blob. It screamed in pain as she rushed forward, causing blocks of ice to land on him. As she got close enough, she jumped back while throwing fire and ice at the blob, before a lightning bolt flashed from her hands. As the blob ran out a tunnel, runes flowed from her hands, breaking the chains of the children still alive. She ran out the tunnel after the blob, while Rin stepped in to find Kotone. She found her near a pillar, and squealed with delight that she was still ok. As they hugged though, a hiss echoed through the air. As the other children screamed, Rin turned to see that some of the creatures were still alive, the woman having missed them. One charged at Rin, claws ready to kill, when something jumped through the air and slammed into it. While it splattered against the ground, enough light was in the chamber for her to see it was…

"Uncle Kariya?" Rin asked, wondering when he got here. Kariya turned to smile at her, grabbing another creature and throwing it at another like a rag doll. The two bounced along the ground before slamming into the far wall. Her eyes widened. Since when could Uncle Kariya reinforce himself enough to do that?

"Rin." He said. "I'm so glad you're still alright." He turned to another man with him, who had punted a creature through a wall. "Mercer, I'm going to get these kids out. Mop up the rest of these things."

"Gotcha." Mercer said in a gravelly voice. Something about him just made Rin shudder, like when she saw the beast. Rin help Kariya gather the children and lead them out the tunnel she went through, while Mercer crushed monsters like paper. As they left the room, she thought she heard Mercer chuckle. Then something made a slithering sound.

And the creatures screamed.

(9:40pm, Fuyuki River)

Arakune whimpered in pain. This wasn't right. This wasn't fair. His master assured him that Fate said they'd win. All their enemies would be crushed underfoot.

Yet that wasn't happening.

Some whore just strolled in and killed all those monsters like it was nothing. He refused to believe she had killed them with their own fate. That was impossible.

Wasn't it?

As he reached the outside, another lightning bolt struck him from above. Looking up, he didn't see the woman charge him until a charkram slashed into him. He screamed, moving back as fast as he could. Fire runes flew around him, blocking his path on all fronts. He turned to face the Fateless One as the air hummed with power.

"Who is your master?" She asked. "What are your motives? And how do all these people factor in?"

Arakune would never tell her the answers. His pride would never allow it. "Go…to…Hell." He spat.

The woman sighed, but then started drawing in magic. Arakune charged her, but her spellwork was fast. She cast it while jumping past the ring of runes she had made.

And nothing happened.

He started laughing, thinking her spell had failed, when she pointed up. Looking upwards, He started shaking. If he still had intestines, he would've soiled himself.

For a falling star was heading right at him.

He rushed through the line, hoping to escape his fate. But the woman started up the runes, causing him to get bounced from one fire to another.

There was no escaping it.

He was going to die.

Such was his fate.

And he could do nothing to avoid it.

A massive explosion echoed through the air and fire danced through the sky as a small meteor fell. The cars on the bridge swerved around as the force knocked them around and the heat burst their tires. Windows blew out and a small earthquake shook the ground.

And one false Servant gone in a fiery explosion.

(9:50pm, Fuyuki church)

Risei Kotomine looked like he was going to have a heart attack Things were getting impossible to hide. Dragons fighting in the sky. A hailstorm that nearly flattened the city. And now a small meteor of all things. And the church was expected to help pay for all this. Honestly, Kirei was surprised that his father hadn't dropped dead from the strain.

And part of him wished he could see him drop.

He went downstairs back to his room, to pray and absolve himself of such impure thoughts. As he unlocked the door, he was surprised to see a man already inside. Wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans, he was currently browsing Kirei's personal library. Quick as thought, he threw three Black Keys at the man, aiming for his back. No ordinary man could live through such an attack.

Which was why he was surprised when the man did not react when the Keys skewered his heart. He merely said, "That wasn't very nice." And went back to reading.

Kirei threw three more Keys, but this time the man's hand blurred, and he clutched the Keys in his hand. Squeezing tightly, he shattered the blessed blades while grabbing Kirei with the other hand. He flicked Executor into the far wall with enough force for him to bounce off. Before Kirei could catch his breath, he found his head grabbed by a clawed hand.

The book the stranger was reading finally hit the ground.

"Do you always skewer people who read your books?" The man asked, as the blades in his chest shattered and fell.

"The door was locked." Kirei said dumbly. "The door was locked, and I found a stranger in my room."

The man smiled. "Fair enough." He released his grip on Kirei's head, and while he stood back up his hand returned to normal.

"You're a Servant." Kirei said, hiding his runes under his sleeve.

"Berserker. And I was wondering if I could rent out some rooms for my work."

Kirei frowned. "The Church cannot aid Servants during the Holy Grail War. We are impartial mediators."

Berserker smirked. "Yet they're aiding you, Master of Assassin."

Kirei felt cold. He called his servant back.

"Not much point calling him. Some of my soldiers are keeping him occupied. I highly doubt they'll kill him, but they should keep him busy." He sat down on the couch. "Besides, as your own pathetic attempt showed, I'm far tougher than I look. So here's your options. Either you can lend me some rooms, and I'll let you live till the end of the war; or I can kill you, your Servant, and anyone else living in the church, and take the rooms I want. Either way, I win."

"What do you want with the rooms?"

Berserker looked focused, and Assassin informed him that the monsters he was fighting were pulling back and eating their dead. "To make more of my soldiers. Assassin was better than I had… expected. And I need to work on my cure."

"Your cure?"

"My physiology allows me to create a serum that can improve Humanity. Make them stronger, tougher, smarter, healthier. It can make everyone happier."

"Happiness is a sinful thing."

Berserker looked at him for a while, before smiling. "Or maybe, your happiness is sinful. Maybe you get off on things like pain and suffering."

"Enough. Why can't you do this at your own base?"

"The process was too disturbing for my master. Too much like the Crest Worms." He stood up and headed for the door. "I'll go and have my pick. I'll leave you some cash and directions when I find them." He turned into a liquid before slurping under the door. When Kirei opened the door not long afterwards, there was no sign of the Servant.

He sat down in his room, and pondered what Berserker meant by his happiness was a sin.

(9:00am Tuesday, Fuyuki River)

"Whoa." Waver whispered. He was looking down at a massive crater caused by the meteor last night. The devastation was unbelievable.

"Don't know what we'll find her Sir." An African-American soldier said as he kept an eye out for trouble. "Anything hit by that would be nothing but ash."

"Maybe, Sergeant Johnson. But I have to gather information. We still don't know who did this." Waver started heading for the sewer entrance, a police cap over his head. He just hoped that Johnson's commanding aura could get them inside.

"Well, meteors seem like something strong mages could do. Maybe it was Caster."

"Something feels… off. I know it's just a gut feeling but…"

"Take it easy, Sir. Gut feelings have saved me more times than I can count. If you don't use it every so often, it becomes useless." Johnson shrugged. "Besides, you don't get this kind of police action over 'nothing'."

Waver smiled as they got to the entrance. Two police officers moved to stop them, but something about the older guy stopped them. He looked like someone who belonged there. They snapped to attention, unconsciously giving an American salute. As Waver and Johnson stepped into the large room, Waver almost lost his lunch.

There were corpses piled in a heap in the center of the room. Most of them were bits and pieces, like something massive had taken bites out of them. Johnson took off his hat and had a moment of silence for the dead. Then he walked purposely towards a guy with a notebook. Waver hurried on after him.

"Well?" Johnson asked the guy. He barely looked older than Waver, and jumped to attention. "Don't just stand there with your pants round your feet. Tell me what the hell happened here.

"Y-y-yes sir." The kid stammered. He opened his notebook and started reading. "Uh well, around 9:50pm last night, a large number of kids were led into the Police Station by a Mr Kariya Matou and Miss Rin Tohsaka. According to them they had found these kids chained up in this room here by some guy in a black robe and a white mask. The kids claimed that Mr Matou was with someone named Mercer, who had 'kicked a monster through that wall there.'" He pointed to a hole in the wall over by another entrance. "The kids also said that the robed-man was actually a 'blob monster with a large three-headed monster that ate everyone'. Furthermore, they were rescued by 'a hooded woman who conjured weapons and armour from magic and beat up the monsters'. She called herself 'The Fateless One'." The kid closed his notebook. "We've found corpses, cracks and some holes around the place, but no sign of the blob, the monsters, or the woman. Honestly, it sounds like a crazy guy with a big dog and a gang. Must've high-tailed it when Mr Matou rescued the kids."

Johnson nodded. "That'll be all. Dismissed." The kid left, while Waver and Johnson looked for somewhere quiet. "This is Sargent Johnson, requesting evac to the Dawn." He said to a radio.

"Understood Johnson." Cortana replied as the Dawn's airlock appeared in the wall. "Welcome back."

(9:10am, Forward Unto Dawn)

"…So from the intel we recovered, it sounded like another servant showed up, and something else killed it and its monsters." Waver summed up what he had learned Rider and Cortana.

"A three-headed dog." Johnson said. "Sounds like Cerberus. Can't be too many Servants who could've accessed that."

"Normally yes." Cortana replied. "But none of the servants summoned so far have anything to do with this world. Not to mention that I managed to hack the initial police sketch of 'Cerberus'." An image of a strange thing showed up on screen. "definitely not normal."

"Cortana." Rider said. "Bring up the footage from last night."

"Certainly." A still image of Fuyuki City appeared on the table. It zoomed into the river, right where it would soon become a crater. The image was still blurry when two people ran out the sewer entrance. Cortana paused the footage. "Given what was reported, the first person must be this blob thing, while the second would have to be this 'Fateless One'." The footage continued, right up to the point where a meteor slammed into the blob.

"Well looks like we don't need to worry about the blob anymore." Johnson said.

"Yeah but where did he come from? There are already all 7 servants, so how could there be two more running around?" Waver said, holding his head like it was going to explode. "None of this makes any sense!"

Rider placed a hand on Waver's shoulder. "Calm down Sir. We'll think of something. You can't lose your head in the face of unexpected problems. You just need to adapt to them."

Waver sighed. "Thanks for that Rider."

(9:20am, Fuyuki School)

Archer sighed. After Master Tohsaka heard what Rin did, he had arranged Archer to watch over her when she went to school. So far it was dull, dull, dull. He was using the Vaporiser to watch her, while Clank kept an eye out for anything sneaking up on them. During one of the times he stopped to look elsewhere, one of Caster's Djinn floated around. They looked over the branch they were resting in to see him and his master below, waving at them.

"Oh for the love of…" Archer sighed. "Really? You want a rematch now of all times?"

"Not really." Caster called back. "We're having a dinner party and we wanted to invite you and the others."

Archer looked at Clank in surprise before answering. "The others? You're inviting all the servants? What kind of party is this?"

"Well, it's a bit of a mix. We talk about our wishes and try to negotiate, we have some time to assess each other, and Rider and his master have something to tell everyone. We've already invited Saber, Lancer, Assassin, even Berserker."

Archer knew he had to accept. As unlikely as it could be, if they could negotiate then he'd go for it. Besides, he could learn something by going.

"Alright."

Caster smiled. "Great! Meet us at the Hyatt Establishment. Master Kayneth says someone like Tohsaka would where that is."

"I'd love to go." A multi-layered voice said.

Archer and Caster turned around and saw a woman standing beneath Archer's tree. She was fully covered by track-pants and a sweatshirt. They couldn't tell anything about her.

"I am Servant Avenger." She said. "And I have news to tell as well."

(2:30pm, Unknown)

The Hooded Man growled. His Servants were beaten somehow, despite the cards prediction. He had tried it again, and it still said that he would win. No matter. Perhaps their loss was meant to be a part of his victory.

Besides, they managed to gather more than enough mana for his next phase. Once he summoned the monsters, nothing they did would stop him.

His victory was all but assured.

And there you go. Sargent Johnson is with Rider. The other should be wary.

Now, if anyone has noticed a problem with the time when Berserker talks to Kirei, he can create clones of himself at any time if he has enough biomass. And with Kariya busy at the moment, it was a good time to set up shop. And Arakune is weaker because he isn't a true servant. That's why he got beaten so easily.

Finally, here is Avenger's Servant Stats. Enjoy.

Avenger

Name: Fateless One

Series: Kingdom of Amalur: Reckoning

Master: N/A

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Strength: C

Endurance: C

Agility: C

Magical Power: C

Good Luck: C

Noble Phantasm: C

Class Skills:

Independent Action (EX)

The Servant can remain in this world indefinitely, and can utilise all Noble Phantasms without outside mana.

As the Fateless One can draw upon fate energy, she can use it to sustain herself.

Item Construction (A)

Item Construction is the skill to manufacture magical items. At this rank Avenger can make many powerful potions, weapons and armour.

The Fateless One has experience as a master blacksmith and alchemist.

Magic Resistance (A)

Magic Resistance grants protection against magical effects. Differently from the Resistance effect that merely rejects prana, this ability cancels the spells altogether. Important to note that the term "verse" seen below refers to a set of three lines. Thus, a chant of two verses is equivalent to a Six-Line incantation. Cancel spells of A-Rank or below. In practice, the Servant is untouchable to modern magi, so it would not be an exaggeration to title the Servant a "Magus Killer".

Due to the inherent power of the mage classes, she is resistant to most magic.

Presence Concealment (A+)

Presence Concealment is the capacity to hide one's presence as a Servant. It is a common skill to the Assassin class. At this rank it is possible to disappear completely and become almost impossible to be detected. However, efficiency will decrease once preparations to attack are taken.

The Fateless One has spent time as an assassin, learning how to be one with the shadows.

Personal Skills:

Counter Hero (B)

Counter Hero imposes a parameter down effect upon any 'Hero' that the Servant faces in combat. A class ability inherent to Servants of the Saver class. At this level Avenger induces an effective 2-rank parameter reduction against any opponent that can be classified as a 'Hero.' The parameter-down effect is reduced by one rank in the circumstance that the opponent is of the 'Antihero' category.

Her fateless nature allows her to draw upon the opponent's strength and use it to fight against them.

Expert of Many Specializations (A+)

Expert of Many Specializations is access to and use of many expert skills. At this level once Avenger sees something done she can achieve it, with higher success rates per try. Note that this is limited to things she is actually capable of.

Due to being fateless, she can change what she is skilled at in a moment's notice, enabling her to learn many things.

High-Speed Divine Words (A)

High-Speed Divine Words is the power to activate Thaumaturgy without the use of Magic Circuits. The language of the Age of Gods, back when words played a heavy role in spellcasting. As such, it is power long lost by modern magi. At this level High-Thaumaturgy-level Magecraft can be cast at the speed of Single-Action spells.

High-Speed Incantation (A)

High-Speed Incantation is the capacity to recite spells at high speeds.

The Fateless One is able to cast spells in a moment's notice, switching between spells and melee.

Pioneer of the Stars (EX)

Pioneer of the Stars is the unique Skill given to heroes that became turning points in the human history. All difficult voyages and challenges which are considered "impossible" turn into "events that can be realized".

The Fateless One changed Amalur irreversibly by killing Tirnoch, unsealing the fate of everyone.

Noble Phantasms:

Master of All

Fateless changes her skill and stats, with Warrior having higher Strength and Endurance, Rogue having higher Agility and Luck, and Mage having higher Magic and Noble Phantasm.

Unbound by Fate (Anti-Unit to Anti-Group)

Unleashing a wave of mana, Fateless slows time for her and does increased damage. Literally beating people with their fate.