Spark of Madcraft

By Bubbajack

Beta: Diller/Grammarly

Disclaimer: I do not own FSN, Girl Genius, or anything else that may appear in this fic.

Ch.8: Cranking it up a notch.

"Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration,"-Thomas Alva Edison


Shirou's eyes slowly opened. He felt groggy, dizzy and almost uncomfortably warm all at the same time turning his head to the left and then the right, he found he was in his room laying on his futon. His body stiffened and he suppressed a yelp of surprise when he noticed he wasn't in his futon alone. Lying next to him under the covers, his right arm nestled into her bust, was Caster.

She was awake and staring at him intently with her amber eyes. Shirou didn't know why, but he sensed mild hostility in her gaze.

"You're awake." She said coolly before asking in the same aloof tone "Would you like some water?"

It was then that Shirou noticed how dry and scratchy his throat felt so he nodded. Caster promptly got out from under the sheets. Revealing her was wearing nothing more than a pair of his boxers and her bust was wrapped in bandages; causing Shirou to hastily avert his gaze with a blush on his face.

Shirou heard the sound of water being poured into a glass and saw out of the corner of his eyes Caster making him a drink using a pitcher of water that had been placed on his dresser. Even though he tried not to, he couldn't help but take in her form. She had long slender legs, skin the color of moonlight and if he had to guess a bust slightly smaller than Aoko's. Her tail was poking from a hole in his boxers rendering them useless to him now.

Suddenly, she turned back to him and practically shoved the cup of water into his face. He blinked at it for a moment before accepting it with a nod in Casters direction, one she stiffly returned. He took small sips, parching the desert that was his mouth and throat. After he had been done, he decided to see what was bothering his Servant.

Clearing his throat, he asked, "Misukume, is something wrong?"

This earned him a full sharp glare as her voice practically oozed venomous sarcasm "Wrong, Master? Why would anything be wrong? I mean, it's not like we've been worried sick about you; due to the fact you've been out with a fever for the past two days. Or because of overexertion of your magic circuits and near prana depletion, right?"

Caster's voice rose as her rant continued, "I mean, you wouldn't have been doing anything outrageously stupid, like fighting a Servant that managed to defeat not just all four of your Servants. But your fiancé, a Magician, as well, right?"

"Well, when you put it like that-"Shirou was cut off as the fox-tailed Servant continued, all but yelling now.

"AND, IF YOU WERE TO DO SOMETHING SO STUPID I AS WELL AS EVERYONE ELSE WOULD VERY MUCH LIKE TO KNOW JUST WHAT IN THE HELLS YOU WERE THINKING!"

As she huffed to catch her breath, Shirou calmly asked "Are you finished, do you feel better now?"

In response she just silently narrowed her eyes at him which prompted him to continue "I fought Hulk because you were all in danger."

He held up a hand when he saw her about to protest and continued. "How could I call myself your Master, let alone your ally, or your friend if I sat back and did nothing while you all got slaughtered by that monster while trying to rescue me?"

"Shirou." Caster said her voice softening considerably.

Shirou shook his head and continued "I honestly wasn't really thinking about myself when I rushed in like that. If I were, I would've known that a Servant that could beat a physical facet of Amaterasu and one of Japan's three Great Monsters was out of my league."

Caster took a sharp breath "H-How do you know about that?"

"The dream cycle, it told me about your life, from the very beginning to the end." He replied

He looked at her then and smiled and bowed slightly in her direction, saying, "I have to say, I'm both honored and humbled to be chosen as a Master of both a facet of Shinto's chief deity, but also one of its most feared Monsters."

"Y-you don't need to do that!" she said frantically while waving her arms around "Both Amaterasu and I are two different people in a sense. So even if I were to gain deific status I wouldn't become her, but my own deity."

"So, you're like her offspring?" Shirou questioned.

Sighing Tamamo replied "In a sense I suppose I am. How long have you known my identity?" She asked.

"The morning I was kidnaped by Illya."

Slowly, Tamamo nodded saying "I see."

She then reached over and bobbed him on the head.

"Ow," The Magus grunted while rubbing the spot "Dare I ask what that was for?"

Narrowing her amber eyes at him, she replied "That was for fighting a Servant that even I couldn't beat even after you knew my identity! If I couldn't beat him with the help of three other legendary heroes plus a Magician, what hope did you think you had?!" She asked while crossing her arms over her chest, ears flat, as tail swishing from side to side as she waited for his response.

"I already told you, I wasn't thinking about my safety but about keeping you and the others safe. I don't like the idea of others dying for my sake. Besides I beat him so it's fine, right?" He told her placatingly.

Caster sighed in defeat. 'It's true, I can't argue with the end result.' She thought.

"I suppose." She grumbled still not liking the idea of her would-be husband in danger.

She was surprised for a moment when she felt Shirou's hand on her head rubbing her right between her ears.

"Don't worry, I'm alright I'm not going anywhere and I have no intention of abandoning you." He told her solemnly.

Her head snapped up in shock at that, he'd seen and understood more than she realized.

"I'll show you that not all humans fear what they don't understand. Just trust me ok?" he asked.

Trust, that's all he was asking of her. Something she could easily and freely give to him considering their current circumstances of Servant and Master.

Nodding she said quietly "Ok, I'll trust you if you trust me to protect you."

Shirou didn't hesitate in his response "I already do trust you to keep me safe. But, trust is a two-way street. Do you trust me to keep you safe should you need it?" he questioned.

"Thank you for trusting me, Shirou-kun, and yes, yes I do."

Smiling Shirou nodded, replying "Your welcome, and thank you."

The magus then clapped his hands together and said "How about some breakfast?"

Caster blinked and said "Breakfast? Shirou, its mid afternoon on Tuesday did you forget I said you've been out for two whole days with a fever?"

Shirou's eyes widened in shock 'No wonder I'm so hungry! I haven't eaten in days…wait…'

"How's Illya, is she alright?" he asked concernedly.

Smiling mischievously Caster replied "Hmm, why don't we go see, ne?"

Shirou quickly nodded and got up noticing he was wearing his pajamas he turned to Caster with a quirky eyebrow, his question evident, and unasked.

"Aoko-san changed you into something she thought you would be more comfortable in, your mother helped."

Shirou blushed slightly upon hearing that his fiancé and mother that he hardly knew changed his clothes while he was unconscious more so because of his mother than Aoko, as he'd already seen her naked. But it would've been awkward for his mother to see him like that.

As if sensing his thoughts Tamamo replied "Don't worry, they didn't take off your underwear. Speaking of that, why don't you go take a quick bath, wipe the grime off?"

Shirou hated to admit it, but he was smelling a tad ripe. Grimacing he nodded and replied "Good idea Mea-san."

The fox-eared Servant tutted at her Master waving a finger in his face, saying, "No, no. You summoned me, fed me, I told you my human name and nearly died saving you only to get saved by you. So you'd better call me by my first name got it?!"

Shirou nodded holding his hands up defensively as if to ward off her feminine wrath. "Yes, yes, I understand Tamamo-san. Please forgive me."

Giving him a halfhearted sideways glare she replied "That will do for now I suppose, but we'll have to work on the 'san' bit. I prefer 'chan' or 'iro' myself."

She giggled upon seeing him blush for a moment, then made shooing motions and said "Go take your bath, I'll let the others know you're awake."

"R-Right." He said grabbing a new set of boxers from his drawer along with a copy of his usual outfit before he sprinted towards the bathroom and shut and locked the door behind him.

After he was gone Tamamo burst into a fit of giggles thinking 'Master is so innocent, it's adorable. Even I wasn't that shy growing up.'

She sighed, already missing his presence and the warmth he gave off. She had given herself a shake before she snapped her fingers. Instantaneously clothing herself in the casual outfit Shirou said suited her so well days before. She then made her way into the living room where Alice, Aoko, Ciel, Akiha, and Agatha-san sat at the table, currently sipping cups of tea being prepared by the twin Tohno maids.

Taking a seat at the table and pouring herself a cup of green tea, she took a sip before she said "Shirou's awake."

The effect was as immediate as it was hilarious in Casters opinion. Aoko and Agatha choked on the sip of tea they had just taken, Ceil did a spit-take on Akiha-san, and Kohaku tripped and ended up groping her more reserved sister in an attempt to keep her balance. Alice actually raised both eyebrows and blinked like an owl for a moment.

Caster cackled semi-evilly at the chaos she created, even more so when the cross Tohno heiress accepted the dishtowel from her blushing if stoic maid. 'I should've taken pictures. That was priceless blackmail material.' She thought.

Suddenly, Agatha was leaning across the table, inches from her face, and firing off questions moments later. "Is he coherent? Has his fever broken? How's his appetite? Is he capable of moving on his own?"

Clearing her throat, Caster replied "Yes, he's coherent. His fever has broken andconsidering he hasn't eaten in a couple of days he's probably starving, and he's taking a bath right now, so he's capable of moving."

Satisfied, Agatha sat back and let out a relieved sigh "Thank goodness, he's ok."

She then looked at the pink-haired fox girl apologetically, saying, "Sorry about that, I-"

She was cut off by Tamamo, who said "You were worried about the son you haven't seen since he was seven. I understand."

Tamamo then took a gulp of tea before she added "He's also concerned about Illya's condition."

This earned a groan from Aoko, who ground out "Of course he is, he nearly cooks himself alive and he's worried about someone else."

"You act like it's a bad thing I'm worried about my sister Aoko-chan."

Everyone turned to see Shirou stepping into the living room fully clothed in his usual attire of blue jeans white and blue long-sleeved shirt, and as is customary for walking around in a Japanese home, slippers on his feet.

Agatha immediately got up and embraced her son "You had me worried there, for a minute sweetheart. Are you feeling better now?"

Shirou rubbed the back of his head, unused to being shown so much concern for his wellbeing.

'Still, I probably shouldn't worry her so much.' He had thought self-deprecatingly before he gave her a light hug, returning her embrace and saying "I'm fine mom, sorry for making you worry."

"That's fine…but what does chan mean?" she asked.

Shirou was caught off guard by the sudden question but managed to answer "Well, in the Japanese language; it's commonplace to add suffixes to the end of a person's name, based on how familiar you are with a person. For instance; someone you're not particularly close to would not only be called by their last name but would also be called 'san.' While someone you know better could be called by their first name along with the 'san' suffix."

"But you called Aoko by her first name and 'chan' was it?" Agatha gave her son a heartwarming smile as she continued "Am I to assume that 'chan' is only used for people you feel particularly close and or affectionate towards?"

Shirou was now doing his best, not to blush in embarrassment. He spared Aoko a glance, thinking he'd see her smirking at him, and much to his surprise, she was also blushing and looking at him from under her crimson bangs in a shy girlish manner. Waiting for him to answer…

'This…this means a lot to her doesn't it? To hear me actually say that I, that we are close.' Shirou thought.

He smiled at her for a moment before he turned to his mother and stated clearly "Yes, yes it does."

The smile he received from Aoko that practically lit up the room, let him know that he'd done the right thing. Suddenly a massive deep growl was heard, and for a moment, Shirou thought it was the call of a phantasmal beast. He was quickly proven wrong, however, when the sound came again, accompanied by hunger pangs.

'Well, in my defense, I haven't eaten in a couple of days.' Shirou reasoned with himself even as he rubbed his head in embarrassment.

"Sorry." He apologized.

Akiha shook her head saying "Don't be, you've been asleep for days. This is only a natural reaction." She then narrowed her icy blue eyes slightly and chastised "Of course, you wouldn't have been out of it at all had you not been so reckless. Taking on a Heroic Spirit, and Berserker no less, honestly." She huffed.

There was a shift in the tone in the room. It swiftly went from one of a relaxed concern to attaining an air of one who was about to be scolded, and Shirou had an excellent idea who it was that was to receive the scolding...

"What you did-" Alice began, locking eyes with him; showing her obvious displeasure, concern, and anger at his recklessness all in a look before she continued "-Was probably the most utterly stupid, asinine, reckless, ill thought out, thing anyone; Magus or no, has ever done."

Shirou winced at every remark that fell from his adoptive elder sisters lips. In a way, he knew she was absolutely right. What he did two days ago was insane, to fight a Servant, any Servant; one on one was madness…but it was also a miracle. A miracle, because not only did he fight against a Servant, Servant Berserker no less, but he won.

"But, I've never been more proud of you."

Upon hearing this, Shirou's head snapped up to see Alice openly smiling at him. "You fought one of the most, if not the most powerful Servant in this War for the sake of protecting people who were in danger. I have no doubt that, had he survived Hulk would've gone on to destroy not only Aoko and the others but also Fuyuki and possibly the world."

"You think so?"

Alice inclined her head in acknowledgment saying "While you were sleeping I surveyed the area you fought in. It was completely decimated by radiation. Nothing will ever grow there again. From what I gather, had he lived he would've likely killed everything nearby simply by existing."

'I actually did it, I actually managed to be a hero. Everyone's safe, for the moment, anyway.' Shirou thought.

The sudden firmness that entered Alice's voice when she continued, however, cut Shirou's mental celebration short. "I believe we have been going too easy on you during your training these past few years. Apparently, if you can defeat a Servant, we haven't been pushing you hard enough. After you have brunch with Illya your training should begin in earnest to rectify this oversight, don't you agree Shirou-kun?"

A shiver raced down Shirou's spine. He had a feeling that Alice both meant well, and intended to punish him for being rash earlier. However, he didn't complain. Knowing Alice was only doing this out of concern for his well-being. Thus, he just smiled and nodded saying "That's fine Alice-nee, and I agree. I think we can step my training up a notch now that my headaches are no longer a problem."

Alice nodded curtly once before making a shooing motion towards his kitchen "Go on and make some sandwiches for yourself and Illya-chan. She's been confined to your shed for the past few days by Sella and Leysirett-san much to her displeasure. Also, Herkules needs your permission to enter the bounded field Caster set up."

"Right, give me about an hour and a half and I'll be back here ready for tort-I mean training. I promise." The magus swore as he made his way into the kitchen.

Aoko looked at the others and said "I'm surprised Shirou didn't make a big deal about his new looks. I guess we have you to thank for that Caster?"

The vulpine girl shook her head and replied "Nope, I didn't mention it."

This caught everyone else by surprise "You didn't but then, why hasn't he freaked out yet?"

Caster shrugged "I dunno, maybe he hasn't looked into a mirror yet?"

The magician thought it over for a moment before dismissing the thought.

'Shirou is a morning person, there is no way he wouldn't be he was cut off by a scream of shock coming from the kitchen –'Then again there is a first time for everything.' She finished dryly before she got up and rushed into the kitchen.

Standing there in the middle of the kitchen staring into his chrome plated toaster, was Shirou. His hair now flecked with strands of white amongst his auburn hair, and his skin a couple shades darker than it was two days previously. As if he'd just return from a vacation from the tropics with a light tan.

"W-What, what the hell?" he asked more to himself than anyone else.

He spun on his heel when he heard someone approach. I was Aoko, she looked like she was trying to console him as she said "It happened while you were asleep. Your hair started to turn white your, skin darkened, and you grew five centimeters."

Shirou stepped closer to Aoko for a height comparison and was surprised to find he was even in height with her now before he was only up to her chin in height. To say Shirou was freaked out by these sudden abrupt changes was an understatement.

"I-Uh, does anyone have any idea how this happened?" Shirou asked.

Aoko nodded "We do actually. You've been solely using Material Transmutation magecraft for years. While most magi barely give it a second thought, you excelled in its use. The reason you haven't seen any changes until now was due to the same reason you hadn't been able to learn any more advanced forms of magecraft."

Comprehension dawned in Shirous' eyes as he muttered "The locket?"

Aoko nodded "The very same. Ciel, Alice, and myself kicked around as many theories as we could with your mother. The best we could assume is that the locket was preventing the constant use of Projection and Reinforcement from showing physical symptoms in some way. According to your mother, the Locket was supposed to not only inhibit your thought process but also prevent you from being possessed."

This was news to Shirou "Possessed, by what?"

"By your grandmother and my mother, Lucretia Mongfish Heterodyne. Also known as the Other." Agatha replied smoothly from the kitchen entrance.

This caught Shirou's attention immediately. He looked intently at his mother and asked "What's this about Grandmother being an Other?"

Agatha shook her head and corrected her son "Not, an Other, the Other. The Other was the instigator of the Other War. A conflict that took place forty-one years ago back home, starting with the assault on our ancestral home of Castle Heterodyne. In which, my mother Lucretia was 'kidnaped' by the Other, my infant brother Barry killed, and several hundred lives were lost. After that night, an all-out assault began on Sparky families. Fingers were pointed at one group only to have them targeted and destroyed days later. Eventually, this mysterious entity was only known as the Other. Finally, I learned from my mothers extradimensional servants, the Geisterdamen, an all-female race of pale-skinned, haired and eyed beings, that she was the Other, the mortal incarnation of their goddess. I also learned that I was the so-called 'Holy Child' the next vessel for the Other's consciousness which had taken the form of my mother."

"So, this Other, it assimilates the personalities of its hosts?" Shirou asked.

"I believe so, yes. Eventually, I was put in a machine and Lucretia's personality was able to usurp my own and take over my body for a time. Until she was tricked into putting on a locket which suppressed her and put me back in control." She explained.

"You're not wearing a locket right now." Shirou pointed out, tensing slightly.

Agatha looked down at her chest then glanced up "I'm not, that's true, and when I was teleported here with Zeetha all our clothing my locket included was disintegrated upon reformation in this universe. I hypothetically should've been possessed by my mother the moment the locket was removed."

Shirou looked at his mother for a time before relaxing and asking "Do you have any idea why Lucretia hasn't been able to possess you?"

Agatha took a deep breath and slowly letting it out. Bracing herself for something before she replied, "I have only two logical explanations.' One, my mental defenses have grown strong enough over time to suppress her without the need of the locket…"

"Or..?" Shirou pressed.

Sighing again she finished "Or I am no longer her host and her psyche have passed onto you as you are my child."

Shirou silently processed this little tidbit of information for a moment before he said "That's the other reason you put the locket on me isn't it? You thought me possibly breaking through to the madness place at such a young age was a sign of your mother possessing me."

Agatha looked away ashamed before she said in barely in a whisper, "Yes, I was afraid not only was my mom attempting to possess you. But I was concerned she was going to drive you mad in the process of stealing your body for herself. I hope-"

She hiccupped then before looking at her son through blurry tear-filled eyes and finishing-"I hope you can forgive me for not only lying to you, but also impeding your magical education eventually."

She then tried to leave the room, not wanting to her son berate her, only for her wrist to be grabbed by said son. She fearfully looked into his eyes, only to see acceptance as well as forgiveness in them before he pulled her into a hug.

"You worry too much mom. I'm not mad. Do I wish you'd mentioned this Other thing earlier? Yes; but, considering everything that's been going on recently. At least since you've arrived, plus, all the adjusting you've had to do since you got here, I can't fault you for, not bringing it up."

Shirou's stomach then loudly protested the fact that he had still not eaten. This caused them both to pull apart, look down at the offending organ for a moment, before looking back at each other and bursting out laughing at how the moment was suddenly ruined.

"Want some help with brunch?" Agatha offered.

Shirou thought about it for a moment before he shook his head and said "No, I'm just going to do something simple. Grilled cheese and scrambled egg sandwiches I think."

Agatha perked up at that "That sounds rather appetizing actually."

"I'll make enough for everyone," Shirou had said before he started getting to work mentally calculating just how many sandwiches he would need to satisfy everyone who was staying with him at the moment…


While Shirou was thoroughly distracted by being in his secondary element, Aoko decided to get to the bottom of something. Something that prompted her visit to Fuyuki in the place, before she found out a Grail War was going on anyway.

For some reason, she now had two red strings of fate attached to her. That should not be possible as she was contracted to marry Shirou and yet, out of the blue, she suddenly woke up to find she had another red string of fate attached to herself. This one too; led to Fuyuki City. She needed to make sense of this and figure out just who or what was trying to harm her or worse, her Shirou.

She found a semblance of an answer night they went to rescue Shirou. For some reason, the secondary connection led to Rin's Archer, the one who hated Shirou for some reason. The reason she could possibly be connected to such a cold, callous man confused her until she watched Shirou slowly begin to change over the past few days.

'Now, now I think I have my answer, I just need him to verify it as fact.' Aoko thought as she prowled the halls of the Emiya Estate looking for a pigtailed Magus.

She found her after knock on the door she'd been staying in since she moved into the Estate. Upon being told she could enter, Aoko slid the door aside and made her way into the room. The white vine bedspread was neatly tucked into the western-style bed, two mortar and pestles sat on a small white desk in front of various colored vials, and test tubes. On the wall above the desk were several charts seemingly about the stats of the Servants in this War. Off to one side was a large leather-bound tome with several sticky notes sticking out from its pages. With several others like it laying in a stack next to the desk. A dark red duffle bag and suitcase were placed neatly at the end of the bed.

Upon seeing who'd come into her room, Rin promptly stood up and said hastily "Aozaki-sama, what can I do for you?"

Chuckling, Aoko replied "How many times must I ask you to just call me Aoko, Rin?"

"Right," Rin said deflating a little before she proposed in a much more normal tone "What can I do for you? And how's Emiya-kun, is he awake yet?"

"Emiya-kun, Rin? Aoko teased causing the prideful girl to sputter incoherently and blush.

"It's not that-I mean…It's like…he, he's a really good person! Rin finally got out. "He saves me, takes me in, stops me from wiping the minds of my closest school friends, tramples all over the laws of secrecy just so they can make an informed decision, and then protects us all when we come to save him from being kidnaped. I don't mean anything rude by this, but he's too good for the world of magi."

Aoko understood exactly what the Tohsaka heiress was saying, and she agreed with her wholeheartedly. Shirou was too kind, too willing to help others if they were in need. In the world of magi, that would make him an easily manipulated pawn at best or expendable cannon fodder at worst. She had no intention of him becoming either, however. It simply wasn't time for him to learn about cloak and dagger politics. Not yet, anyway.

"Shirou's awake, the first thing he did after taking a shower was start cooking," Aoko told her.

Rin smirked happily "That sounds like Emiya-kun alright. Well, if he's well enough to cook, he must be doing ok."

Aoko nodded agreeing with the younger woman's statement "Yeah, that's about right…Rin, the reason I came by was because I needed to talk to Archer."

"You rang?" Spiderman asked jokingly materializing beside his Master.

Smiling and giving him a wave, Aoko replied "Not that it's not good to see you Webs, but I was talking about your talk, dark, and possibly emo counterpart."

"I would prefer to be called cynically jaded over emo thank you very much," Archer said upon his materialization with his arms crossed over his chest as he coolly eyed the Fifth Magician.

The two seemed to be studying one another intently. Rin was very curious to know what was going on, but didn't dare interrupt. Finally, Aoko broke their stare off when she said "I know who you are, you're a future version of Shirou, aren't you?"

The silence that descended upon the room was deafening. Rin had looked at her Servant and the Magician in shock before she said "She's joking right Archer? Your joking, right Aoko-sama?"

Not taking her eyes from the Servant she replied calmly "As you know Rin, Shirou is my fiancé. This came about due to us accidentally entering into the Japanese equivalent of a geas contract, which stated I would marry him when he was older."

"Japan has its own form of geas contract? Rin asked.

Aoko's eyes flicked to Rin's for a moment before she nodded and replied "Yes are you familiar with the concept of the red string of fate and Yue Lao? That myth was based on of Japanese geas contracts, in which one party would use their hair as a binding agent for the contract. Eventually, it fell out of use with the westernization of Japan and introduction of Irish geas scrolls."

Rin knew she shouldn't, but she just couldn't help herself. She burst out laughing after Aoko finished her tale. "You mean…to tell me…that you became…engaged to Emiya…entirely on accident?!" She got out between gaffes.

"Yes, and it also explains how I know who your Archer is. As, Shirou and I have a red line connecting the two of us. Yet, a little under a week ago now a secondary line appeared connecting me to someone else. That's the primary reason I came here until I found out the Grail War had started fifty years too early. That secondary line connects to your Archer…"

Rin suddenly stopped laughing as the implications of what the Fifth Magician had just said sunk in. She then fixed her Servant with a hard if curious glare and asked "Well, is what she saying right Archer? Are you Emiya-kun from the future?"

Sighing, the red and black clad Servant of the Bow replied "I wish I could tell you Rin, but due to someone mucking up my summoning, I'm afraid I can't quite recall my past."

"Stop trying to deny it!" Aoko snapped. "Shirou's hair is already streaked with white, his skin is darkening, and he's gained five centimeters in height over the past two days alone! Give him a few more days, and we'll be looking at a physical carbon copy of you. Which begs the question-Why do you hate yourself so damn much?"

Usually, Aoko was a calm amicable person who loved and respected all life. However, the person currently in front of her was quite possibly the future version of her husband-to-be. He was jaded, cynical, and seemed to have lost that loving helpful nature he always possessed. She wanted to know what could've caused such a drastic change in his demeanor and if there was anything she could do to prevent her Shirou from ending up like this.

Archer closed his eyes and sighed before he opened them and said "You really do love the idiot don't you?"

Aoko nodded fiercely and replied quietly "Yes, I really do."

"Then that could well be what saves him from making the same mistake I made," Archer had replied bitterly before he continued "I followed my father's ideals to the very end. To save everyone I could. At one point, I made a deal with Alaya to revive eighty-eight people who died right in front of me. In return, one of the people I brought back through that miracle had me framed for starting the war I was fighting to protect people from in the first place."

He stopped seemingly to steel himself for what was to come. After a moment or two he finally continued "I died and with no regrets…but then, the real hell began. For instead of being able to save more people like I thought I would after becoming a Counter Guardian, I was forced to slaughter them whenever humanity as a whole was in imminent danger. I was compelled to betray my ideals over and over again."

"Archer," Rin said sadly feeling empathetic for her embittered Servant.

"Dude, that's, that's some fucked up shit. And I've seen some fucked up shit." Spiderman said after a moment.

"Welcome to the real world Web-head, where it's ten thousand times worse than any comic book writer could ever think up," Archer replied drolly.

Suddenly Aoko narrowed her eyes at Archer and said "What are you planning?"

The silver-eyed servant blinked caught off guard, before he asked hesitantly "What do you mean?"

"If it's truly as bad as you say it is a Counter Guardian, then you'd be looking for a way out. The only possible way you could get out of being a Counter Guardian was if you never became one to begin with. But the only way that could happen is if a large enough paradox, like the future version of Shirou Emiya killing the past version of Shirou Emiya took place."

"How in the hell-?" Archer began only for Aoko to scoff and say "Fifth Magician remember? Dealing with time paradoxes is kind of my thing."

Rin was suddenly in her Servant's face…well, more like his chest considering he was almost a foot taller than her. Looking up into his eyes she asked, "Is this true?"

"Rin I-"She slashed her arm through the air silencing him before her command seals glowed a threatening red and she said "Do not make me use a Command Seal to cut through your bullshit! Just answer the question. Is. It. Right?!"

"Had, I been summoned into the proper Grail War? Yes, that's exactly what I would've done." The Servant of the Bow replied.

"And it would've ended incredibly poorly had you succeeded."

Everyone's head's snapped to the door to find Agatha standing there glaring at Archer heatedly.

"Agatha-san, how long have you been standing there? I thought you were helping Shirou with breakfast?" Aoko asked nervously.

Agatha stalked into the room her eyes never leaving Archer's as she replied "So I was, but I sent him on his way to Illya, and decided to tell you and Rin that brunch was ready."

How much did you overhear?" Rin asked.

"Enough," Agatha replied before she slapped Archer across the face and began berating him "You stupid fool! Do you have any idea what would happen should you actually succeed in killing yourself?"

"I would've ceased to exist due to a paradox, or so I hope," Archer replied ignoring the stinging in his cheek.

Resisting the urge to slap him again the Major Spark instead poked him in his armored chest and said "Yes, but do you know what killing your younger self would also cause besides a paradox?"

Seeing everyone's confusion Agatha groaned and said "For people who study the 'science of magic' I do not see a lot of scientific minds present at the moment. In fact, I'm half inclined to grill you all on theoretical physics'…anyway if you killed your younger self, which would not only cause a paradox but would also cause a singularity!"

Still seeing they didn't understand Agatha threw her hands up in frustration and shouted "A singularity is the heart of both black and white holes! If Archer had in fact succeeded he would've not only destroyed himself, but the entire planet and everyone on it, if not the whole solar system!"

Everyone especially Archer himself paled at the implications of his possible actions. 'So I'm damned no matter what I do? Tch, just my luck.' He thought bitterly.

Then, another thought occurred to the embittered hero and asked the Spark "Why do you even care? I'm not going to kill your Shirou if that's what you're worried about. He's clearly not the past version of me I'd need to kill, not that I would now, not that I know the consequences."

In response, Agatha reached up and ruffled Archer's hair before saying "Just because you're not my Shirou, doesn't mean I won't worry. It's a mother's job to worry about her children, after all." She said giving him a heartwarming smile before saying "Now come on, we should get to the kitchen while there is still some lunch to be had."

Archer was touched. This woman had no reason to care about him, he never knew her in his life or Aoko and the others for that matter. But besides all that, she chose to accept him as her son regardless. Silently Archer made a resolution then. Even though he was Rin's Servant, he would protect this woman, this Agatha Heterodyne, with his life.

"We'll be right there Agatha-san, go right ahead," Rin said to the blonde. She then turned to Spiderman and said "Go save us a plate or two will you?"

Sensing she wanted to be alone with her other Servant, the Wallcrawler nodded and dematerialized.

After the other's had left the room, Archer attempted to speak but was cut off by Rin who had raised her arm which had the command seals attached to them and intoned "By the power of this command Seal, I order you, Archer Emiya Shirou, not only to not harm your younger self, but help him any way you can. I also order you to protect Agatha Heterodyne with your very life if need be."

Archer had half a mind to fight the Command Seals' effect on his person, but after finding out what would've happened had he succeeded and his current vow to already protect Agatha who had just more or less adopted him just moments ago, he settled with mocking his old friend turned Master.

"You know you just wasted a Command Seal ordering me to do something I would've done anyway right?"

"Not really, I'm considering this more or less insurance on my part," Rin replied promptly.

Intrigued Emiya replied "Insurance, for what?"

"To make sure Emiya-kun survives this War. His best shot is learning how to not only utilize his prana properly but how to fight properly." She then smirked at her Servant before she finished "And who better to teach him how to fight than himself?"

"You mean you're not going to try to convince him that fighting in this war is a pointless endeavor?" Archer asked.

The Tohsaka heiress scoffed and replied "When he's already taken down what is likely the biggest threat in this war single handedly? Not a chance."

"And I'm sure this has absolutely nothing to do with you wanting to get into his pants, right?"

Much to his surprise, he found Rin actually giving him a once over. "Hmm, well, he's clearly a powerful if untrained magi, and he's already working to fix his lack of actual magical knowledge. Yet, even without that, he's successfully performed Spatial Transportation. With proper education and as long as Emiya-kun doesn't turn into a cynical jackass like you…"

Rin then gave him one of her coy signature smirks she always gave him. Smirks that he could never decipher whether or not she was serious before she shrugged and walked out of the room.

Archer could've sworn he felt a fuse in his brain blow, as he stood there in shock. For in his original timeline, he had been too focused on attaining his dream to notice things like Rin and Sakura's feelings for him until after he'd already died. But to hear her talk like that, all he could think was 'She was messing with me right? Right?!'


Meanwhile, Shirou was utterly baffled. As the moment he walked out his back door to get to his shed, he noticed the crates. They looked like they belonged in a warehouse stacked three high, and easily twice as tall as he was. For the life of him, he couldn't fathom what they were doing in his yard, or what they could contain.

'I have a feeling that this is Raiga-san's doing. And I'm sure he is trying to help in some way with whatever is in these crates, but…it's consuming my yard.' Shirou couldn't help but thing as he weaved his way among a maze of boxes until he finally made it to his workshop, a picnic basket full of sandwiches' in hand.

Upon coming to the door, he simply let himself in…he soon found this was a mistake. As soon as he entered he found himself seeing something he shouldn't have. Illya as wells as both of her maids were currently in the midst of changing their clothes. All three were in various stages of undress.

Illya was currently wearing only a pair of snow-white lacy bra and panties. Leysritt was wearing only panties and was entirely topless, her breasts fully exposed. Sella was in the midst of pulling up her panties her bra already in place.

The three homunculi looked up as the door opened. They froze, Shirou froze, nobody moved. It was like they were all deer caught in headlights. Finally, Shirou's brain caught up with what his eyes were seeing and his face turned ruby red before he turned and slammed the door shut behind him, saying safely from the other side "I am SO sorry! I should've knocked!"

Back in the shed the three homunculi were also blushing furiously. 'I can't believe that just happened.' Sella thought to herself.

The stern homunculi were mortified no man had ever seen her outside of the uniform before, much less half naked. Yet in a matter of moments both had happened and to the same man no less. 'He looked like he was in shock. Has he never seen a naked woman before? He's a Magus and engaged so evidently he's thrown away such things like shyness yes? But still he looked…so cute, getting all embarrassed like that.' She thought.

It was a plus to Sella that he got all flustered looking at the three of them. Though they looked it, they were not in fact human. Though Illya was born through natural means; that was the exception rather than the rule. Both Leysritt and she were coined, created through magecraft. As such they were treated more like furniture than as people…and people did not get flustered nor aroused by furniture.

'Yet, despite the fact that we aren't actually human, Shirou-san instinctually treats us as such…does he find Leysritt and me…appealing?' Sella wondered while secretly happy she could make him react the way he did.

"Shirou-san saw my chest," Leysritt muttered to herself.

"You should take it as a compliment Leysritt, you have a nice chest," Illya told her comfortingly.

Fidgeting, she replied "You think? But he only saw you in your underwear mistress, so you don't have much to be embarrassed about."

Illya sighed in disappointment "I know, if he'd of come in a few minutes earlier, I could've given him an eyeful."

"Stop complaining you two and finishing getting dressed." Sella groused.

Mirth entering Illya's crimson orbs, the not so little girl taunted "Uh-oh Leysritt, I think Sella is embarrassed because Onii-chan saw her vagina."

"Are you sure mistress? He might've been staring at her butt, no?" Leysritt replied.

The littlest homunculus in the room pretended to think before she said "Possibly, Sella does have an excellent rear seeing as you outdo her in the chest department. But she was facing the door directly so he probably got a pretty good view of her plumbing."

"Enough, both of you! Shirou-san is far too kind to be a lecherous pervert. He apologized, and then he promptly left. He was obviously mortified, so clearly it was an accident." Sella snapped at them.

Both Illya and Leysritt were slack-jawed, they often picked on Sella, and never meant anything by it. Yet this time they seemed to have struck a nerve by insinuating what just happened was anything more than an accident.

Illya was the first to break the tense silence, saying softly "Sella you know we were just joking right?"

The maid finished putting on her casual clothes which consisted of a two-tone dress, which was red in the middle black and yellow squares on it, while the sleeves and gown were the color of sand. Throwing on some long black socks, Sella replied sharply "That isn't the point you two. Do you have any idea where we've been allowed to stay these past three days? This isn't just a shed, this is Shirou-san's workshop. He let us, the very people who kidnaped him, into his inner sanctum. While he was passed out no less."

She continued in a softer tone "No other magus would even think of doing such a thing. They would be far too concerned of us stealing their research. But he let us in without a second thought. All because you were in danger Illya."

Stella's tone hardened again as she glared at her fellow homunculi and finished "And what do you two do the moment he walks in on us on accident? You make lewd jokes when all three of us should be thanking him for going so against the grain as a magus to save your life…Mistress." She tacked on at the end seemingly as an afterthought.

Both Illya and Leysritt looked down in shame silently realizing Sella was, as usual, correct. Illya's head suddenly snapped up, her eyes filled with fire as she said "Your right Sella, we should thank Onii-chan adequately! And I know just how to do it!"

"How Mistress?" Leysritt inquired.

Smirking Illya replied "We're going to top off his magic circuits. There's no way Onii-chan's Circuits have filled up all the way after just three days of sleep. But we'll have to take our clothes back off in order to fill Onii-chan's reserves appropriately."

"I-Is a tantric ritual really necessary?" Sella asked, a blush staining her face.

Rising a snow-white pencil-thin eyebrow, Illya replied "Necessary? No, but it'll be fun for all four of us."

She then went to the door still in her underwear and threw it open to more or less invite her Onii-chan magic ritual orgy only to stop dead when she found him kissing his Lancer.


Shirou was beet red and panting after what he'd just seen. He called his apologies through the door but heard no response. 'Great, they probably think I'm a pervert.' He thought to himself.

"Shirou, you're awake."

The Magus looked to his left and found Enkidu making her way towards him, clad in her usual tan shift. Shirou couldn't help but smile when he saw his green-haired servant. She always seemed so serene and happy except for when he was in danger, then she got serious. He found himself taking a deep calming breath and found that Lancer smelt strongly of moist earth. Like the ground just after rainfall to his magical detection senses.

She came to a stop before him and frowned slightly noticing his duress "Shirou, is something wrong? You seem flustered." She noted.

"I-I uh, accidently walking in on Illya and her maids changing. It was rather embarrassing for all four of us."

Lancer let out a light peal of laughter that sounded like birds chirping before she said "I'm sure it was. Back in my day though, nudity was not so uncommon."

"R-really?" Shirou asked, wondering just from when his Lancer came from.

Lancer smiled and replied "Oh yes, back then people would go around wearing very little or sometimes nothing depending on their profession."

Lancer's mode of dress suddenly took on a whole new meaning for Shirou. Hesitantly he asked her "Enkidu-chan, what did you do for a living before you became a Heroic Spirit?"

'Does he think I was a…he does, doesn't he? I think I'll tease him a bit.' The Servant of the Lance thought.

Frowning and narrowing her gray eyes she replied "I wasn't a whore Master if that's what you were thinking."

Shirou felt the utter distain coming from her gaze and winced for even daring to think such thoughts of his Servant. Bowing his head in shame he replied "Sorry, shouldn't have jumped to conclusions just because of what you said. Forgive me?"

'I can see why Caster teases him, it's cute seeing him react like this. But, I don't want him to think I'm infuriated at him.' The Servant of the Lance thought to herself.

So, she pulled his head into her chest and cooed "I was just teasing Shirou, I'm not really mad at you. But for the record, sanctified whores back in my day were noted for wearing nothing, at all."

"Thank goodness." Shirou sighed "For a second there I thought you were mad at me."

Lancer giggled when Shirou sighed into her chest "That tickled. But I am slightly cross with you, but for a different reason."

Raising his head from her bust she mock glared at him and said "What were you thinking, possibly dying for me and the others before even taking us out on a date first?"

"…Huh?" was Shirou's eloquent response.

Enkidu tapped him on the nose with one slender finger before responding "Don't 'ohuh' me Shirou. You can feel it can't you, the sexual tension that's building in this house?"

Still holding onto him she looked towards the heavens and said more to herself than him "Then again at first I more beast than human so I am more in tune with such things. So maybe I can sense it better than you can." Turning back to him she continued "Regardless, don't tell me you haven't sensed something?"

"Enkidu I-uh." Shirou honestly didn't know how to respond I mean sure he'd acknowledged his Servants were beautiful, and capable fighters, but did he really think of them sexually?

He recalled in no particular order Laura requesting being called by her first name, Caster and Aoko cooking him breakfast, sparring with Altria, having a heart to heart with Yukika, Rin telling him to call her by her first name, both Ceil and Ahkiha hugging him on sight, that moment in the bath with Aoko, the heart to heart with Illya, fighting Hulk to protect Aoko and the others.

"I see what you mean, but even so, I'm in a magically binding contract with Aoko so I can't do anything," Shirou said.

Raising an eyebrow "Is that right, did the contract explicitly say that when you accidently made it?"

"Well, no-wait how do you know we made it on accident?" he asked.

"Aoko told Laura, and she had the mental link open to the rest of us the whole time." She replied.

Shirou opened and closed his mouth several times before finally saying "No, no it doesn't."

"Good." Lancer purred seductively "Because that means I can do this without putting you in danger."

Without further hesitation, warning, or provocation she latched her lips to his. The kiss was short and chaste, yet sweet in Shirou's opinion. When they pulled apart, Shirou had the distinct taste of mineral enriched water on his lips.

Once they pulled apart, Shirou straightened up and just had to ask "What was that for, not that I didn't enjoy it."

"That was for a lot of things. Taking me in, treating me like a person instead of a thing, but most importantly for killing that savage dog." She finished with clear distaste in her tone.

"You mean Hulk?"

Lancer nodded before wrapping her arms around him and continued while cuddling into his chest "Yes, that one. For one so strong too so utterly disregard, nature is disgusting to me. To see so many beautiful trees be rotted away like that."

Lancer trailed off and shivered causing Shirou to pull her closer and say "It's ok, I took care of him. Seems like you and Aoko have something in common, you're both nature lovers."

"Oh, we both love more than just nature Shirou. Both of us have a soft spot for a particular heroic Magus too." She said before leaning up and giving him another kiss on the lips.

"Ahem." An irate young voice coughed.

The two abruptly broke apart and turned to find Illya still in her white lacy underwear, hands on her hips glaring at the two of them. Shirou separated from his Servant out of surprise more than embarrassment as he said "Umm Illya, I think you should finished getting dressed."

The fae-like girl waved off his complaint with a swish of her hand and replied "Was I interrupting something Onii-chan?" The way she called him big brother made it clear to even him that she was cross with him.

"I-I ah-brought you lunch?" he said holding up the picnic basket.

Illya stared at him pointedly, she knew she was being bribed. 'Still, what Sella said earlier was right. He let us into his workshop and got me help even after I kidnaped him and everything. So I suppose I can be the bigger person and let this go.' She thought imperiously before smiling at him and saying "Thank you Onii-chan. Come in won't you?"

She left the door open and Shirou and Lancer followed her in, bemused at being invited into his own shed and workshop. Thankfully, Sella and Leysritt were already dressed. However, Shirou blushed when he saw the provocative outfit one of the maids was wearing.

She had short slightly wavy white hair and was wearing an overly large shirt that was cut to reveal her midriff and a pair of daisy dukes. The sex clothing combined with a look of pure innocence on the woman's face…It was almost sinfully sweet. He also had a pretty good idea of who was whom.

"Leysritt-san, you look…different." He said diplomatically.

Smiling at him sweetly the maid replied "Thank you Shirou-san."

Hearing the sound of someone clearing their throat, Shirou found himself staring at the more taciturn Sella wearing a simple red and tan dress with a cascade of long white hair running down her back. Giving him a halfhearted glare she said, "You need to learn how to knock Shirou-san."

Hanging his head in shame, Shirou replied "I'm terribly sorry, I honestly didn't expect you to be undressed at this time of day. But regardless of that, I still should've knocked."

"It's fine, we're invading your home and workshop. So I guess you can take what you saw as…Equivalent Exchange."

Equivalent Exchange one of the primary rules of thaumaturgy. In order for something to be gained, something of equal value must be given up in exchange. For the most part, Shirou didn't mind this concept, as you could see it everywhere in both the real and magical worlds. People traded currency for goods and services. The economy of most countries itself was a prime example of Equivalent Exchange.

What Sella just said, however, irked him slightly. He helped them because they needed to be helped not because he was expecting to get anything out of it. In saying this made them even it cheapened his choice in choosing to assist them of his own volition. Furthermore, it made him think that the maid thought it was ok to sell her body to accomplish her goals, or that he would want her body as compensation for doing something he would've done naturally, further upset him.

He told her as much, saying "Sella-san, I didn't help Illya because I wanted some kind of reward later on. I helped her because she needed help. By insinuating as such, you cheapen and insult me. And even more so, please don't feel like you have to sell your body to me or anyone else to pay off some kind of perceived debt. Illya, Leysritt and you are guests here and will be treated as such."

He cleared his throat and finished "Besides, you're all too good for something like that."

Silence pervaded the shed for a time, and Sella looked at him genuinely stunned. Before, she thought he saw them as people, now she was certain of it, and she was beyond touched. She then instantly felt bad for belittling his kindness and at the same time realized something important

'Shirou-san, you'd never survive at the Clocktower, or in a real magus family even. Your kindness would be used against you. You would be used as a pawn to the cruel and callous members of everyone around you. Where you would see genuine friendship, others would see an easily duped if powerful pawn. This needs to be fixed, but first.' She thought.

"I'm sorry, I never meant to belittle you. It's just that, well, your rather weird for a magus." She told him

"Eh?" Shirou said blinking owlishly.

"She's right Master, your kind, caring, and willing to cook for your servants, where any other master would likely see us as tools and not care too much about our wellbeing beyond our capability to fight. Plus you let an enemy Master, a Magus, who kidnaped you no less, into your workshop after her life came in jeopardy. Most Master's would've taken advantage of the situation and killed the enemy Master. You did not. Most Magi would value their research over their very lives, you put other people's lives over even that. You are odd for a magus." Enkidu had pointed out before she took a bite into a sandwich.

"Thanks, Lancer," Shirou said dryly.

Shirou was suddenly tackle hugged from behind and he heard Illya giggle and say "Don't take it personally Onii-chan. I like the fact that you're different than other Magi. It makes you…likeable."

Shirou wasn't quite sure how to respond to that so he just said "Thanks, Illya, so um, if you wouldn't mind getting off me we can have brunch, ok?" he offered politely as he could while turning his head to look the girl in the eye.

In response, Illya gave him a devilish smile and kissed him on the cheek, before she finally slid off his back and took a seat next to him on his right with his Lancer on his left and Leysritt on Sella's right. In between them was a picnic basket which the Servant of the Lancer had already helped herself to.

Shirou lifted the sandwiches out of the picnic basket, then pulled out several teal color cans which he passed out saying, "I hope canned green tea is ok, it would've been a bit difficult to get a tea set in here."

"That's fine Onii-chan. It's a danger hazard with all those crates out there right now." Illya said before taking a bite of her sandwich.

Shirou nodded popping the tab on his can of tea and taking a sip before he said "Speak of, do you know why all those boxes have suddenly taken up residence in my yard?"

After taking a sip from her own offered can of tea, Sella replied "I do believe those are supplies from Fujimura-san. His granddaughter said that it was a gift and that, 'The Fujimura Group was looking forward to seeing what kind of Mystic Codes you could create now that you had decent materials and weren't just working with junk you had on hand in your shed'."

Shirou blinked before he got up and looked outside again at the myriad of boxes, crates, and containers. Gazing out at the sprawling mass Shirou couldn't help but wonder 'How on earth am I going to know what's in all of these?'

Turning back to the others he asked "I don't suppose I was left with a manifest, was I?"

In response, Lancer got up and headed to the attic where Caster had set up her workshop. Moments later, she came back down with a thick leather-bound tome and handed it to her master who nearly toppled over due to its weight.

"What-" He asked after righting himself-"Is this?"

Lancer promptly replied "That is a catalogue of all metals mystical or otherwise, alchemical ingredients', electrical components, firearms, explosives, drug paraphernalia and bits and pieces of Phantasmal Beasts they've hunted since roughly 1011 AD. All of which are now sitting outside waiting for you to use them in the crafting of various Mystic Codes."

Shirou had blinked rapidly for several seconds before he said "You mean to tell me that some of the things out there go back to the Hein Period?"

Lancer nodded happily to see her master was catching on, "Correct."

An insane smile slowly spread across Shirou's face as he gained a mad look in his golden eyes. Lancer wasn't concerned. However, Agatha-san had warned them he might enter the Madness Place once he was told of the materials he now had at his disposal.

Letting out a maddened cackle, Shirou began reading through the shipping manifest rapidly, occasionally taking a bite of a sandwich or a sip of tea.

"Umm, Onii-chan are you ok?" Illya asked concerned with his sudden change in behavior, only for Lancer to reassure her by saying "It's all right Illya-san, Shirou has just entered the Madness Place right now, it's a higher state of being and mental processing for people like him and his mother. He's just really excited to build something right now."

"Bwahahahaha!" Shirou cackled, grabbing a handful of tools before rushing out of the shed.

"He's very excited it seems." Lancer noted citing her Master's sudden enthusiasm.

Still concerned Illya said worriedly "Umm, shouldn't we follow him and make sure he doesn't get hurt?"

"I second this idea." Sella said having finished her meal.

"I'm curious to see what Shirou-san is making." Leysritt replied.

Smiling serenely Lancer replied "I think it would be a good idea to keep an eye on Shirou for our sakes as well as everyone else's. Come on."

The Homunculi trio followed the Servant of the Lance towards the sound of clanging metal. They arrived to the sight of Shirou moving to and fro gathering bits and bobbles from various containers, and letting out the occasional malicious chuckle. Illya peered curiously at the pile of items her Onii-chan seemed to be collecting and gasped when she saw some of the things that lay within.

"Dalamadur Elder Dragon Hide, a bag of imported coal, a twisted bit of bone, and ten pieces of Furukuraito Ore…" Turning to her seemingly unstable older younger brother she asked "Just what are you making Onii-chan?"

"You'll see, I'm almost ready to begin, hahahaha!" Shirou replied.

"I thought I heard maniacal laughter, what are you up to honey?" Agatha asked upon coming around the corner with everyone else who was currently staying at the Emiya estate including people he hadn't seen since he'd gotten up yet, like Yukika, her siblings, Kaede, and Kane.

"Yo, Yukika-san, Kaede-san, Kane-san, guys, I haven't seen you in a while. How ya been? Where ya been, huh, huh, huh?"

"Shirou-kun are you ok?" Yukika asked concerned with the way he was acting.

"He's fine dear, he's just in the Madness Place, and it's a Spark thing. It looks like he's about to invent something…I wonder what it is?"

Suddenly, the middle child of the Saegusa siblings, Heiwa, glanced up from the comic he was reading and glanced at the assorted pile of items for a moment before saying "Monster Hunter, Gunlance."

Dud~e no way, seriously?!" Kentaro asked giddily, being a huge fan of the Monster Hunter franchise.

"Shirou-niisan can we help?" Wakage, asked in his usual hyperactive tone of voice.

"I think this is grown up work Wak." Ken told him.

Wakage huffed and said "Just because I'm the youngest, and short, doesn't mean I'm useless."

"ENOUGH!" Shirou said getting all present to snap to attention, including his mother. He stared at Kentaro and Wakage for a moment before he pointed to several hand-trowels and said "If you want to help, start digging a magic circle in the ground over there, and then fill it up with that bucket of pigs' blood."

"Ehh, Emiya, why the hell do you have a gallon bucket full of pigs' blood?" Kaede asked getting crept out.

"One of the types of magecraft I know is called Formalcraft. It works by making magic circles and using ritual sacrifice to power the magic. Technically I should be spilling fresh blood, but this will do." He said distractedly as he began to work on the actual lance using Alteration.

Sighing Rin said to herself "I guess there's no help for it." Raising her voice she asked "I'm assuming a drawing of just what this magic circle is supposed to look like is nearby?"

"It's under the toolbox on the bench." Shirou replied waving his hand vaguely behind him.

Seeing said tool box Rin grabbed both Ken's and Wakage's hands and said "C'mon you two. Its time you learned how to make a proper Formalcraft circle."

As Rin led two of Yukika's brother's off Shirou said offhandedly "Could someone hand me a dragon horn?"

"Here." Heiwa said with his eldest brother Sekinin's help before turning the page of his comic.

Nodding his thanks, Shirou began the process of making the Gunlance. Using Alteration, he fused the twisted bone and shards of dragon bone together along with the Furukuraito ore and Dalamadur Elder Dragon Hide making up the grip. All in all, it took him an hour to finish the whole thing.

The finished product was a two meter long mesh of twisted black metal and sharp pointed dark-blue scales. The 'lance' having ten points set circularly around the business end of a blued gun barrel. It had four jagged spikes that stuck out on either side that acted as a guard and the pommel was black and spiked, its grip wrapped in dark-blue dragon skin.

Archer was impressed despite himself. This version of himself truly did have a knack for making Mystic Codes, and he said as much "I'm no expert, but if I had to hazard a guess, that would rank a six or a seven on the McGinty scale."

Smiling Shirou replied "You really think so?"

Archer shrugged "Like I said, I'm no expert on crafting Mystic Codes but, yeah. I'd say a six or a seven."

Clearing her throat Agatha asked "What's the McGinty Scale used to measure exactly?"

It was Alice who answered, saying "The McGinty scale for Mystic Codes is used to rate Mystic Codes based upon the materials used in their construction, the power of the Mystery they invoke when used, and how close they are to becoming an actual Noble Phantasm. It's rated from zero to nine with zero having no Mystery and a nine practically being an E-rank Noble Phantasm in terms of power. However, as it was only introduce a couple hundred years ago, and people are slow to change in some ways in the magi community the E-A system is still used for the most part."

Agatha nodded in understanding "And Shirou's was a six or a seven just due to the materials used in its construction?"

Archer nodded and continued "Yes, Millennial rank Dragon bone and scales, combined with alchemically enhanced metal all but ensures this will be a very high ranking Mystic Code with great Mystery behind it. Furthermore, it's supposed to shoot something I think so that could possibly raise its rank even higher."

"The ammo isn't finished yet. How are we coming on that Formalcraft circle guys and girl?" Shirou called over.

"Rome wasn't built in a day Emiya, relax will you?" Rin replied as she painstakingly carved the formalcraft circle into the earth, with Ken and Wakage's help while making sure they didn't screw it up.

'What kind of magic circle is this anyway? It seems to be converting the mana it absorbs from the air into intense heat and pressure, but the last line of sigils seem to indicate…rapid time acceleration? This is insane. Genius, and this is coming from one, but crazy none the less.' The Tohsaka Heiress thought to herself.

"Take your time Rin, I'm in no rush now that Malice is done." Shirou called his voice now more amicable.

Raising a curious eyebrow Aoko asked "Malice, you oh Hero of Justice named your weapon Malice?"

Shrugging in response he replied "It just fits." He then turned to the Track Team Trio and asked "How've you girls been?"

Glaring at him slightly, Kaede replied "You mean besides worried about your suicidal comatose self when not trying to smooth things over with our parents Emiya?"

This caught the red going white haired magus by surprise, and he asked "You were worried about me?"

In response, the Panther of Homura marched over to him and did her best to hit him on the head, though it was rather difficult as he was a good bit taller than she was. As she swatted at him she shouted "Of course we were worried about you, you idiot! You tried to fight a god-like western manga character one on one! Someone who, according Aoko-san, beat her and you're Servants who are no slouches themselves. You idiot, you idiot, you stupid, stupid crazy, heroic idiot." She said weakly hitting him in the chest.

Gently patting her on the back Shirou replied "Sorry Kaede-san, I didn't mean to worry you."

She glared up at him from her position in his arms and said "You better be, stupid. And it's a good thing you won, because I can't stand failures."

Kane was secretly happy to see Kaede acting so girly, and she hated to interrupt her moment with Shirou, but she felt he needed to be made aware of a few things. So, clearing her throat she said "Shirou-san, I not sure how to tell you this, but my and Kaede's parents would like to meet with you at your earliest convenience."

The silence that filled the air was palpable. Rin stopped working on the magic circle, Shirou suddenly stiffened and paled. Despite what Rin may think, he was in fact, not stupid. Letting his classmates turned friends know about the Twilight World was one thing, letting adults who could and likely would call the police and thus, possibly bring down a purge on Fuyuki by the Clocktower, was another thing entirely. So Shirou decided to treat the situation with kid gloves.

"How much did you tell them exactly?"

Fixing her glasses, Kane replied "We told them how you got us to safety after the school was hit by a freak tornado during club hours and then were kind enough to let us recuperate at your house, even though you were reconnecting with your recently found long lost mother, which is why you'd been out of school the past few days. Once we explained we didn't call because of shock, our parents expressed interest in wanting to meet 'the young man that swept our daughters off their feet'."

Seeing the odd look Shirou was giving her, she sighed and added "My father has an odd personality, as does my mother. Or did you think I was this serious by choice?"

"Ah, my condolences." Shirou replied

Nodding, Kane said "Thank you, you have no idea how good it is to hear someone say that."

Silence reigned for a time, until Rin stood up and dusted herself off saying "Ok, It's done, all that's left to do is add the blood and kick start it with a bit of od."

Before we add the blood, do you think you could give it a once over Alice-nee?" Shirou asked the Kuonji witch.

Rin put her hands on her hips and narrowed her aquamarine eyes and smiled saying in a far too sweet tone of voice "Are you implying my work is shoddy Emiya-kun?"

Holding his hands up defensively Shirou replied hastily "N-No, not at all, it's just Alice-nee has been practicing magecraft longer than either of us has been alive, so it might be a good idea to have her look it over yeah?"

That seemed to make Rin brighten and she said "Your right Emiya-kun, we should let the old lady look at the magic circle."

Alice's eyebrow twitched. That was the only warning Rin had before she was smacked in the forehead and told by Alice in her monotone "Respect your elders, little girl. One more thing…" she then smacked Rin again and said "I'm not old."

She then looked over the formalcraft circle noting the inner most ring collected mana and converted it to heat at around 1100C or 2012F, the one after that added around 4.5 kilobars or 32.6 tons of pressure, and the last two rings were 0f the most interest to her, causing her gaze to flick up, switching between Shirou and Aoko as she asked "Aoko, when did you start teaching Shirou about time dilation bounded fields?"

"Last time he was with us, I gave him some notes on the subject before he left. I thought he might find it interesting even if he couldn't actually use it." She replied with a shrug.

Alice let out an almost imperceptible sigh and said "That was very foolish. If Shirou had actually tried using the information in those notes, he might've destroyed the space-time continuum. You didn't actually try using them till now correct?" She finished giving her surrogate brother a stern glare.

"Of course not. Until recently, I couldn't make heads or tails of it." Shirou replied.

Alice nodded and then said "Good, in any case, Aoko will need to look over this part as it is beyond me. But this last line intrigues' me Shirou-kun." Alice said pointing to the outer most circle of the Formalcraft sigil.

She then continued "Most magi use it to contain whatever mystery they are preforming within the bounds of the circle, to prevent the magecraft from getting out of hand. You however, seem to have done the opposite. Instead of trying to confine the heat that is going to be given off by the mystery you're enacting within the magic circle, you're converting the access heat back into mana and releasing it back into the environment?"

"Umm, I think I speak for everyone who isn't a mage when I say what?" Kaede spoke into the silence.

Stepping forwards, Agatha spoke becoming excited "I think I understand. It's releasing more energy than its taking in after its turn on! In essence it-"She was cut off by Illya who finished wide-eyed and breathless "It's a perpetual motion machine in the form of a magic circle."

"Exactly!" Agatha cried ecstatically, mostly because she felt she was finally catching on to the whole concept of magecraft.

Aoko was leaning over the formalcraft circle now giving the section Alice pointed out a once over. While she wasn't the best when it came to runes, she had a distinct dislike for them in fact, she soon realized that Shirou had indeed managed to do something incredible and that Alice, Agatha, and Illya were correct. The formalcraft circle was made to function in a way so as to release more mana back into the air then it took in.

"Shirou, this is incredible. How on earth did you come up with this?" The Magician asked her beau.

Scratching the back of his head sheepishly, Shirou replied "Well, I was thinking about how upset Hulk destroying all those trees made you and Lancer so I thought I'd try my hand at making an eco-friendly magic circle."

The Servant and the Magician beamed at their would-be paramour, and even Agatha smiled happy her son was not as destructive as most of his relatives throughout history, something she openly vocalized.

Shirou used this as an opening to bring up something that had been on his mind since they first met "By the way mom, I've been meaning to ask but you're not Japanese are you? I mean ethnically you have narrow facial structure but your hair and eye color, as well as your stature signifies you come from Europe. Germany maybe seeing as you seem to speak the language?"

Agatha nodded and replied "Yes dear, our family is actually Mongolian from my father's side. In fact, the term Genghis or Universal Ruler originated from the first name our families' founder, Ghengis Ht'rok-din circa 1010 B.O. Our family was well known as despotic rulers of men that would terrorize and victimize the country for almost a millennia until my father, and his brother came along. My mother…my mother came from a Germanic European family."

Shirou nodded "I see…B.O.?"

"Before Other." She replied.

"Ok, enough with the history lesson! Let's fire this baby up!" Kaede said becoming impatient.

Looking over at Aoko, Shirou asked "Well, will it work Aoko?"

"It should work fine, yes. Go for it Shirou." She replied giving him the green light.

"Right, pour the blood boys." He said to Ken and Wakage who nodded before they tipped over the bucket of pigs' blood that filled in the trenches in the ground that formed formalcraft circle once it was filled in its entirety, Shirou then traced a kitchen knife and sliced open the bag of coal and pulling out three dozen pieces of petrified peat moss, Shirou tossed them into the circle. He then knelt down and pushed a single unit of od into the circle, kick staring the entire process. The Formalcraft circle began to thrum before it became consumed by an orange light, akin to the flames of a fire.

Once it was done, Shirou stood and admired the handiwork of him and his friends. 'Together, I bet we can do anything.' Shirou thought.

"So how long is it going to do that?" Kaede asked.

Looking at the sun for a moment, Shirou replied "About an hour."

"Good, because I have questions Shirou-kun, and now that you've eaten and all but finished your little project, I would like some answers to some very pertinent questions." Alice said in a tone that would brook no argument.

In response Shirou said "Trace on."

Moments later, several copies of the overstuffed armchair he'd sat in at Illya's three nights ago appeared and he motioned for everyone to take a seat. Once everyone was situated Shirou smiled at Alice who sat directly across from him and asked "What do you want to know?"

"According to both your mother and Einzbern-san's maids, you used Spatial Transportation without preforming any kind of Greater Ritual. In fact, according to those present, you only used a one count aria to accomplish High Thaumaturgy. How exactly did you accomplish this feat?"

In response, Shirou looked at Aoko worriedly. The Fifth Magician simply nodded in response, causing Shirou to sigh before he closed his eyes and said "I had some help Alice-nee."

He then opened his eyes, revealing his mystic eyes to the group, causing most of them to gasp. Ahkiha leaned in for a closer look before asking "Are they Mystic Eyes or Pure Eyes Shirou-kun?"

Shirou opened his mouth to respond only to close it and say "I have no idea, honestly."

Clearing her throat, Alice brought the conversation back to the topic at hand. "What do these Mystic Eyes have to do with you enacting High Thaumaturgy with only a single count aria?"

"These eyes allow me to see things in the form of blueprints, I can see the distance between two points and make vast calculations in the blink of an eye, and read muscle movements…"

Seeing her little brother pause Alice pressed "But?"

"If I look too deeply into something I get headaches and can pass out." He replied.

Alice nodded in understanding before bluntly asking "Am I correct in assuming you accidently looked into Aoko's magic crest and overloaded your brain and that she did not, in fact give you a book on time dilatation magecraft?"

"Yes." Shirou replied feeling ashamed for lying to his elder sister.

"Y-You can look into someone else's' magic crest?!" Rin said fearfully while covering up her left arm with her other hand.

Shirou moved to do damage control saying hastily "I never used it on you, besides when it happened between me and Aoko it was an accident! Plus, if I tried looking into your magic crest, I'd probably pass out before I could get any real information."

Rin calmed considerably before saying "Even if what you say is true Emiya-kun, the fact even the mere possibility exists that you can look at a person and steal generations worth of research and knowledge at a glance is enough to scare me. Not only me, but if the Lords at the Clocktower were to find out about you, they'd send either Enforcers to capture you or Freelancers to kill you." By the end she become fearful again.

"I'm aware of this, Aoko explained it to me. She didn't want me revealing my eyes around you because she was afraid you might contact the Clocktower if you found out about them." Shirou told her.

The Tohsaka heiress bristled at this and asked archly "So you don't trust me, is that it?!"

Aoko spoke up in seconds defending her man, saying "Quite the opposite Rin. Shirou has absolute faith in you. I had to convince him to keep this a secret, and we both know why I did it. You're the Second Owner of Fuyuki, it's your job to report things like this to the Clocktower on principle, if not try and steal Shirou's' work for yourself due to your disposition as a magus."

Yukika then spoke up in defense of the girl she idolized saying "Tohsaka-san wouldn't do that though. Steal Shirou-san's work I mean. She's a good person."

Rin smiled in thanks at the show of support from the girl, saying Thank you Yukika-chan." She then turned to Aoko and stated bluntly "She's right you know? To steal someone else's work is beneath me, it would sully my pride as a member of the House of Tohsaka." She sniffed imperiously before pointing a thumb at the Track Trio and adding dryly "And in case you haven't noticed, I haven't exactly been doing my job as the Second Owner lately."

"Fair points." Aoko conceded "And I apologize, but you need to understand that Shirou's' safety is my primary concern. As such, I will put his safety above all else and do my best to protect him from anything I think could be perceived as a threat. At the time, you were a possible threat."

Rin nodded in understanding, she couldn't fault the Fifth Magician for trying to protect her fiancé from being locked up and experimented on in the Clocktower for the rest of his life. "I get it, I don't want Emiya-kun being treated as a test subject either."

'Or kept away from me for any length of time. I know I shouldn't be getting attached, considering he's a fellow Master, but…I like him damn it! There I said it, at least to myself. I-like Emiya-kun. Now that I've admitted this, I should be able to move past it. After all, he's spoken for.' She thought to herself sadly.

"Rin, is everything ok? You look flushed." Shirou said concerned.

Sighing at his obliviousness Rin smiled and replied "I'm fine Shirou." Yet she noticed the Kuonji woman smiling at her in a seemingly knowing fashion before she turned back to Shirou and said "So you have a set of Mystic Eyes that can do advanced calculations. That still doesn't fully explain how you were able to perform Spatial Transportation, even if it does allow you to cut some very large corners. What else did you do?"

Clearing his throat nervously Shirou replied "I might've hastily modified my Tracing steps to enable me to enact High Level Thaumaturgy.

Alice's eyes flashed dangerously before she said "I see."

Then, quick as a striking snake, her hand lashed and smacked Shirou in the head. "Ow." Shirou said upon receiving the slap.

Glaring at him disapprovingly Alice replied "I should be doing a whole lot more than hitting you in the head after pulling that stunt. Using a newly minted untested Thaumaturgical Theory and immediately attempting to pull off something akin to Magic.

"Thaumaturgical Theory?" Agatha asked.

Rin replied think of it like belief in a deity or a more simply 'These rules determine how the world works'. The stronger one's belief in these rules, the more powerful the magecraft is. An amount of predetermined power is pulled directly from the Root, as all phenomena is possible there. So, the more people who know about how the magic works, the weaker it becomes as more people are drawing from that power at the same time, it's like slicing a pie into smaller and smaller pieces to accommodate more people. Everyone gets some power but not a lot. That's why Magi are so protective of their secrets. The more people who know about their mysteries, the weaker they become."

"So, in essence, Shirou skipped crawling and went straight to running?" Agatha asked.

"Correct. He enacted a miracle without any true belief that what he was about to attempt would actually work. He could've very well torn himself in half pulling that stunt." Alice replied coolly while glaring at Shirou, who squirmed in his seat under her gaze.

Much, to everyone's surprise, Agatha started laughing. After a moment, she explained herself "That's just so typical of Sparks. See, we aren't much of theorizing we would much rather prove our theories' correct through action than merely believing them to be right."

Alice blinked at the buxom blonde for a moment before nodding and saying "Be that as it may, what Shirou did, although successful was incredibly dangerous."

"Oh, I'm not denying that it wasn't, but most of a Sparks experiments could very well result in life or death of the person performing depending on whether they succeed or fail."

So, in other words, Onii-chan is entirely reasonable in terms of your family members." Illya drawled.

"Exactly, we've always been a high-risk, high-reward type of family," Agatha affirmed.

This caused Kentaro to laugh and say "Wow and I thought you were just touched in the head but it turns out its genetic." He was promptly slapped by Yukika who proceeded to chastise him, saying, "Ken-chan! That's not nice!"

"Hmm, I see. So recklessness runs in the family." Alice said to herself. Ignoring Agatha's pouting, she said to surrogate brother "You said you based this on your tracing steps, so I assume it has seven steps as well?"

Nodding Shirou replied "Yeah; determine purpose, create mental blueprint, run mathematical equations, confirm workable theory, define needed materials for creation, determine necessary power output, and finally, connect to from mental world to physical one of Gaia."

"It all makes sense," Alice said to herself before raising her voice and elaborating "Your use of structural grasping combined with your mystic eyes are allowing you to making calculations that would put the Director of Atlas to shame. Using that, you're capable of casting high level thaumaturgy without the need of greater rituals as you're completing the entire process in your mind, running it through your magic circuits and then projecting it upon the world with a one count aria."

Alice then looked at Aoko accusatorially and asked "Just what have you been teaching him?"

The redhead blinked in confusion and said "what do you mean, I didn't teach him any of this."

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Alice replied "So you mean to tell me that Shirou-kun all but managed to copy your style of fighting, including the use of completing rituals inside the body by mere chance?"

'Well, when she puts it like that, I suppose it does look like I taught Shirou-kun my way of using magecraft.' Aoko mentally conceded before she refuted Alice's claims, saying "But our styles are completely different. Shirou is capable of using High Thaumaturgy and I'm no better than average when it comes to all but the simplest things. If I'm the magic machine gunner, then he's the magic bunker buster!"

Alice had to admit, Aoko had a point Shirou's magecraft was much more powerful and versatile than Aoko's own which was purely destructive if one didn't count her possession of the Fifth. Conceding that with a nod, the Kuonji witch pondered aloud "Then how do you explain him being able to do this if you didn't show him how?"

Aoko gave it some serious thought, after which she could only come to one conclusion, no matter how illogical it may be.

"It could be due to our geas contract. Because it was worded that Shirou would become 'The greatest hero ever' the contract, it attempting to fulfill that obligation."

Alice nodded before turning to Shirou and saying "Do you have anything to add?"

"Umm, I might've tried imitating Aoko-chan's way of using magecraft. I mean, after all, imitation is the highest form of flattery right?" Shirou added before laughing nervously at the deadpan look Alice was giving him.

Archer stepped forwards then and spoke up, saying "The reasons behind it aren't really all that important. What really matters is that you aren't totally useless."

"Umm…thank you?" Shirou said awkwardly, unsure if he was being complimented or insulted.

As if he didn't hear him Archer continued "You may be capable of crafting Mystic Codes, and doing God knows what with magecraft, but your skill in Projection is lacking…" He then smirked and said "Thankfully for you, that's something I can help with."

Eyes shining with hope, Shirou replied "Really?"

Nodding with that devilish smirk still on his face, Archer finished "oh yes, but I'm going to teach you the only way I know how."

How's that?" Shirou asked cluelessly.

"The hard way," Archer had replied before he began incanting "I am the bone of my sword. Steel is my body and fire my blood. I have created over a thousand blades. Unknown to Life, nor known to Death. I have withstood pain to create many weapons. Yet, these hands will never hold anything. So as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works!"

A circle of flames that produced no heat spanned out from Archers being, obscuring and consuming all in their radiance. When the light cleared, they were no longer in Shirou's backyard. Instead, they stood in the middle of a vast plain, littered with swords of all shapes and sizes that stuck out of the ground as if marking the graves of the fallen after some kind of titanic clash. The sky was overcast with black clouds, and mountainous bronze gears turned incessantly in the heavens. The only landmark being a hill in the distance. Smog rose up from the scorched and cracked earth and the smell of smoke and iron lingered in the air.

"A forbidden branch of High Thaumaturgy, a Reality Marble. This is your Noble Phantasm Archer?" Alice spoke, awe entering her tone as she looked around the perpetual graveyard in wonder.

Archer, who was now standing across from Shirou who himself was separated from everyone else, including a disoriented Assassin and Saber nodded saying "In a sense." He then locked eyes with Shirou and asked "Are you ready?"

"Almost." Shirou turned to his Servants and said "I don't want you interfering ok? This is between myself and Archer."

Laura gave him a searching look for a moment before she nodded and said "Be careful Shirou."

Altria on the other hand stabbed her broadsword into the scorched ground and protested "Shirou, you just woke up from prana exhaustion, you should be resting and replenishing your reserves. Not fighting yet another Servant, even if it is an ally in a spar."

Glancing at his Servant of the Sword he replied calmly "I understand and appreciate your concern Saber, but…I feel like I should do this-"He glanced at Archer who stood calmly in front of him before he continued "I feel like I need to do this."

Saber for her part, took one look at the serious look in her master's eyes before she preceded to take a deep breath and let out a sigh of defeat, saying "I see you are set on this path Master. Very well do as you will."

Shirou nodded his thanks to his Servant, returning his attention to the waiting Archer saying "Before we begin, I have a question." Shirou said while raising a hand to forestall any act of aggression on the Servant of the bows part.

Raising an eyebrow, Archer replied "Which is?"

"How the hell did I end up so jaded?" Shirou asked bluntly, causing Archer to blink in surprise and ask "How?"

"I've been dreaming about this hill for a while now. It's different but similar enough for me recognize it for what it is. The fact that Alice-nee confirmed it was a Reality Marble just clinched the deal." Shirou replied in a calm yet serious tone.

In response, Archer's hands flexed and moments later, the black and white twin falchions appeared in a flash of light in his hands. 'Kanshou and Bakuya, the married twin swords' voice in the back of his mind told him as he took in the appearance of the blades once again.

The white-haired Servant then charged forcing Shirou to roll to the side to avoid being cut in half as he replied "I followed the Old Man's ideals to the very end. My reward was betrayal of those very ideals."

Crouching and eying the embittered Servant Shirou nodded "The Old Man's ideals were flawed, that's true."

Archer's eyes widened in surprise at his younger self's admission even as he continued "But that's because the Old Man wanted to save everyone, even as he killed others to protect others. He never realized that not everyone can be saved! Trace On!"

Shirou traced his own copy of the married twin swords while simultaneously reinforcing his body as much as he could and activating his mystic eyes while charging at the Servant. Their black and white blades met with a clang as Shirou continued "That not everyone wants to be saved, that for some, the only release from their pain is death!"

The two pairs of swords met twice more before finally shattering in Shirou's hands forcing him to jump back lest he is cut. "Not even everyone deserves to be saved, some people just deserve to die for all the horrible things they've done to others."

Archer gazed intently at his younger self as if searching for something in his eyes before saying "I see."

Several blades were suddenly covered in a blue aura as they levitated off the ground before forming a veritable wall behind the Servant like loyal dogs, waiting for command to charge before he said "Let's test the strength of your conviction shall we? All projects full bore, fire!"

Even as the wall of pointed steel came hurtling towards him, Shirou mentally cataloged each and every blade that was heading his way. Even as he blocked them with a newly Traced Kanshou and Bakuya more and more names flashed through his mind's eye.

Durandal the Peerless Sword, Merodach, the Original Sin, Tyrfang, Gram, Brionac, Gáe Bolg, Dáinsleif, Caladbolg, Hrunting the Hound of the Red Plains, the list went on.

Blades seemed to rain from the heavens themselves and Shirou could see cracks forming on his Married Twin Swords. So he began to glance around frantically searching for a way to not get turned into a pincushion.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw it, half buried in the ground. It could save him…

'Begin projection…Loading projection…All projecting processes completed-The Seven Rings that Cover the Fiery Heavens'He thought mechanically before he shouted "Rho Aias!"

A bounded field in form of a red flower with five petals, each having the strength of a fortress wall, formed above Shirou, temporarily granting his sanctuary from the rain of death. Still he knew he needed to think of something fast, not so much because of the rain of blades, but because of Rho Aias itself.

Though it was a mighty shield, it inflicted fourteen percent of the damage each of the petals takes upon breaking on the body of the user, up to a total of ninety-eight percent, should all seven are destroyed. In essence, it was a double-edged sword in the form of a shield.

'I need to find a way to end this and fast.' Shirou thought to himself. He cast his gaze around the reality marble hoping to find a blade that could get him out of this predicament, yet found nothing that wouldn't compromise his already precarious position.

"If projections won't work, maybe that will," Shirou muttered to himself.

Determine purpose

'I need something that can stop this rain of swords if not take down his Reality Marble altogether.'

Create mental blueprint

Shirou could see it in his mind's eye, first as a bright light, then as a swirling void that consumed everything it could.

Run mathematical equations

'Let's see, if I remember the closest one of those weights about 332,946 times the mass of the Earth. So, I need to probably double that, not to mention add a bounded field to keep this thing contained…

Confirm workable theory

'Ok, this should work, provided I've got the math correct, and I'm roughly ninety-eight point seven percent sure it is.'

Define needed materials for creation

'Ions, enough to induce a singularity, plus a bounded field strong enough to contain this thing…I'd better layer it just in case.'

Determine necessary power output

'Uhh…two hundred units of prana sounds fair.'

Connect to from mental world to physical one of Gaia

'Fingers crossed here it goes.' Shirou had thought before he said "Begin Construction!"

Three blue magic circles of varying sizes began to appear all along Shirou's free arm while light started to collect in the palm of his hand. The light stopped gathering and had formed itself into a pinprick of searing white light the size of a marble for a brief moment, before it began to warp and twist the air around it while shrinking in on itself becoming a black void…a black hole. As this was happening, the boundary fields around Shirou's arm situated themselves around the black hole in the form of a gyroscope, vertically, horizontally, and vertically again. Once the boundary fields were established, he chucked it towards Archer as if it were a baseball.

'What…the actual…fuck..?' The Servant of the Bow thought as he saw what was coming towards him. He saw it, but he just couldn't believe it. It wasn't every day someone chucked an honest to goodness localized black hole at you, after all. Even as he watched,p his rain of projections was being sucked into the black void. The ground was being torn asunder, and even the projections he had scattered about were being sucked into the black maw…the black maw that was slowly heading his way…

"Archer, get out of there, you idiot!" Rin yelled at him, breaking him out of his trance.

He quickly got the hell out of the way as the spherical void ate a path straight past where he was standing only seconds later. Appearing next to his Master seconds later, he said, "Is that what I think it is?"

"If what your thinking is localized black hole, then yes, yes it is," Agatha replied while adjusting her glasses.

Looking at his 'mother' sideways Archer asked, "Any idea how we go about stopping it?"

"Don't be ridiculous Archer, I'm sure Emiya-kun has an aria that can shut that thing down…what?" Rin asked upon seeing the incredulous look her Servant as well as almost everyone else was giving her.

"Rin…" Archer said as if he was speaking to a small child "You do know we're talking about Shirou Emiya right?"

As if to prove Archer's point Shirou came walking up to them and asked "Umm, does anyone have an idea on how to stop that thing? I just sort of assumed it would fizzle out after it went so far, but…"

"It seems to be getting bigger yes," Agatha commented watching as the black hole continued to grow the more and more mass it consumed.

In fact, it seemed to be straining against the three bounded fields Shirou had put around it already, whereas before they surrounded the speck of black, it now looked close to breaking free of its confines. Agatha stepped forward and bopped her son on the head before pointing at said looming catastrophe and saying "Sweetheart, I love you, and that will never change. But, you got us into this mess now you had better damn well get us out!"

"Yes mother," Shirou said thoroughly chastised before he put his mind to work. 'Well, if it takes one singularity to make a black hole then couldn't another one theoretically cause them both to collapse?'

Voicing as such caused Agatha to beam at her progeny and reply "That is correct son. If two black holes were to collide, they would cancel one another out via two of the same thing occupying the same space at the same time, thus causing mutual destruction."

"You're sure this will work Agatha-san?" Rin asked worriedly as the black hole continued to strain against its bonds.

"Of course, it's simple quantum physics. Plus if it doesn't work we'll be in no shape to complain as we'll all be dead." She replied casually.

"Thanks for that heartwarming image." Rin retorted before turning to Emiya and saying "Just in case we don't make it out of this…" She then pulled him forwards and kissed him on the lips before pulling back and finishing "I don't want to die with any regrets."

Shirou merely nodded before looking at the others. The Servants were impassive, after all if they died they would just return to the Throne of Heroes with no memory of this event. But his fellow humans had fear in their eyes, fear he put there.

"Don't worry, I'm going to take care of this." He said before turning to clean up his mess.

Taking a deep breath, he went through the same seven-step process as before, adding a small mental prayer at the for the hell of it before he said the words that would save or damn them all…

"Begin…Construction."

Just like last time the light gathered before warping into a mass of spiraling darkness, just like last time, the three bounded fields lined up to contain its power, and finally, just like the last time, Shirou launched it towards its target…

Everyone watched with baited breath as the smaller of the two black holes made its way towards its bigger brother. Once they touched, the smaller of the two was immediately absorbed into the larger which began to warp, twist and spasm uncontrollably for a few moments before it finally mercifully, collapsed in on itself.

Everyone released a breath they didn't know they'd been holding then and Archer canceled the Blade Works in a flash of light before saying "Well, that was fun huh?"

Shirou who promptly collapsed on his butt in the dirt after the ordeal replied "Yeah, you could say that."

There was a comfortable silence that could only come from surviving a life-threatening ordeal until finally Heiwa asked "Now what?"

But it was Alice who answered him by picking Shirou up by his ear and dragging him towards the house, saying "Now I am going to give Shirou-kun a proper magecraft education just like I planned to do today. Especially now that I see he clearly hasn't grasped even the most fundamental concept of starting out small and working his way up to bigger things. It appears a refresher course is in order ne, Shirou-kun?"

Everyone else sort of feeling sorry for their host as he was dragged by his ear back into his own home by his apparently furious adoptive older sister.

Before the door was shut Shirou managed to get out, "Someone get the coals out of the magic circle, please!"

Sighing, Ken said, "Every time that guy does something badass he either fucks it up or gets treated like a little kid and makes me want to revoke his man card."

"Ken-chan, language!" Yukika chastised.

"Yeah, sorry, sorry," Ken said in a tone that showed he didn't really mean what he was saying.

Soujūrou nudged Aoko in the side before saying "Shouldn't you get those coals out like Shirou requested?"

"I'll do it," Rin said only to realize she couldn't figure out how to turn the formalcraft circle off.

Aoko took pity on the Tohsaka girl and simply gave the magic circle a swift kick shattering it. Looking down, the Magician and the Magus saw the 'ammo' Shirou was working on for his mystic code. Within the ruined confines of the formalcraft circle lay a dozen rough uncut diamonds.

Seeing the stunned look on her face, Aoko quipped "Close your mouth before you catch flies Rin. Who knows, maybe if you kiss Shirou again he'll make some gems for you."

Rin blushed and stuttered "I-I ah-" Rin stopped when she heard the Fifth Magician laugh and say "Don't worry, I'm not mad, you'd already be dead if I were."

She then leaned in and whispered "We both know you like the idiot, ne?"

Rin blushed but silently nodded causing Aoko to smile and say "There now, was that so hard to admit? Now how does watching Alice tort-I mean teach Shirou-kun sound?"

Smiling at the Sorceress Rin replied "Sound like fun."


Word count: 17,745 – Date Completed: 2/22/15


AN: Holy Shit! It took me the better part of a month, but I'm back with the next chapter of Spark of Madcraft. Sorry for the delay but, writers block and a sudden insane idea for yet another FSN related fic which will end up being a crossover with Witchblade, Marvel, and DC comics if I ever decide to post it.

Anyway, this chap had lots of character development. I noticed I've kinda been neglecting Enkidu and Laura when it comes to the development department so I intend to fix that in the coming chapters. That, and the next chapter or two will be focusing on the OTHER competitors in this War and what's been going on with them.

But now, I'm going to do something different. Instead of giving you a servant stat sheet this week I'm going to give you the stats and lore on Shirou's newest Mystic Code. Here it is:

Malice Gunlance: Tremor of the Earth

Rank: A-A+++ Type: Anti-Unit/Anti-Dragon Range: 3-60 (120) Max # of Targets: 1 person

Lore: A Lance crafted out of Elder Dragon scales, hide, bone, and alchemic metal usually only found in the Aozaki lands, this Lance is capable of firing jewels as shells in the form of a short range burst of lightning. The 'shells' can either be fired one at a time, or a three-round burst, increasing the attack power of the weapon by (+, or ++) depending on the number of jewels used. If the three-round burst is used it is a special attack called Wyverns Fire occurs which has twice the range of a normal attack but overheats the weapon for a short time, making it unable to fire shells. Due to being made out of the bones of a slain dragon it has an Anti-dragon attribute and does more damage against such creatures, or beings with that attribute.

Due note that just because it is A-A+++ ranked here DOES NOT make it a Divine Construct as NP's are on an entirely different level from a Mystic Code.

That said, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, feel free to review and share your thoughts, and I will see you sometime next month. Till then, Bubbajack out! Peace!

P.S. This is, as of this chapter, my longest running fic. Even longer than Wrought-Iron Cross. I have two personal goal for this fic, one shory and the other long term. The short term goal is to reach 100 reviews by Ch.10. The long term goal is to reach 1,000 reviews by the time I finish the fic in its entirety. I look forward to seeing if I can reach these goals.