Flowering Night - Masters of Time

Rin was beginning to lose hope. The bounded field had dulled her mana sense and she couldn't tell if anyone was coming for her. The servant's grip was far too strong and the hand over her mouth prevented her from calling for help. She began to resign herself to her horrible fate...

"HELL'S!"

Shinji stopped, his eyes went wide as he looked towards the source of the noise. His tongue was less than an inch from Rin's neck, making him look like a dog that had tried to sample roadkill and got lit up by the headlights of an incoming truck...

"FANG!"

Ragna's fist connected, launching Shinji down the hallway like a ragdoll. The limp body tumbled end over end then slid to a stop. The Grim Reaper spun around and continued his assault, firing a wave of dark energy up from the floor, the green servant let go of Rin and brought up his shield. The girl got clear, her servant's attack had little horizontal spread, but she didn't want to get caught in it by accident.

The darkness obscured Link's vision, giving Ragna the chance to force the shield down with an axe kick, and follow up with a backspin kick that sent Link flying.

Shinji spat out a piece of broken tooth and struggled to his feet. "Nghh... Saber you bastard!"

"You're too pathetic to even have a chance with Rin! Try to taste her again and I'll rip your goddamn tongue out!" Ragna barked.

"Rag... na?" Rin leaned against the wall and looked at her savior with tearful eyes. She blinked away the tears and smiled - he was real and kicking ass. "Ragna!"

The red servant turned to her and grinned back. At that exact moment, the bounded field collapsed and golden sunlight streamed through the window, causing Ragna's teeth to shine heroically. "Sorry about the timing, but there's no way in hell I'm letting you deal with these creeps alone."

"We can still beat them! Link!" Shinji shouted.

"I can't wait to bomb some Dodongos!" The strange servant pulled out a cartoonish bomb - round, black and with the fuse already lit despite being in his pocket the whole time.

Link flung the explosive with all the strength his twitching arms could muster. It sailed through the air like a fastball, turning end over end. With one fluid motion, Ragna materialized his blade and deflected the bomb, sending it out the window. The blast shook the building and blew out the remaining windows, but no one was injured.

"Wow you must be a crappy magus if you summoned that thing." Ragna remarked.

Shinji smirked. "That's not mine, it's Caster's screwed up attempt to summon another servant, it looks like a clown, but it boosts our numbers."

"Watch out, I have no idea what Caster can do, let's just hope she doesn't show up now." Rin said.

Ragna readied his blade. "Well she ain't around here now so I say we kill the freak... and finish off that servant."

The green and red servants approached each other. Suddenly, Link stopped. His whole body spasmed wildly. Ragna took a cautious step back, fearing that the fake servant could become unstable and explode.

"Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy!"

Link twitched more that before, his body alternated between being twisted into impossible shapes and relatively normal.

"Ohboy!Ohboy!Ohboy!Ohboy!"

The inane phrase was repeated faster and faster until it merged into a long burst of static. Link's body appeared to be a glitching video game sprite - a random mix of his main colors painted on a form that didn't look physically possible. His body split open like a cocoon, releasing a torrent of pixellated blood.

A Link-shaped figure emerged, the blood fell off it and dissolved with the rest of the fake servant's remains.

The new Link stood before them. Whereas the previous one was cartoonish and imbecilic, this one resembled a true noble hero. His face was proportioned like a normal anime human. He had far better control over his body, lacking the unsettling twitching of his CD-i counterpart.

The True Archer bowed his head towards the patch of floor where his host had disintegrated. Then, paying no mind to the master and servant, he leapt out the window.

"Hmmm... that must be the true master of Archer summoning his servant properly." Rin explained as she straightened up her dark pigtails.

Ragna mirrored her action and ran his fingers through his white hair. "Wow, too bad pervert-boy ran away during the commotion. It would've been fun to see how long he lasts without backup."


"A maid? And just when I thought this Grail War couldn't become any more of a fetish carnival." Bayonetta remarked.

Sakuya adjusted her braids. "At least I have a theme, you just pile on titillation and hope for the best."

"Well it definitely worked, my master almost creamed his pants when he summoned me, what about yours?"

"Unfortunately my summoner seems to be asexual - his lusts lie in destruction, not pleasure."

"That's too bad. Would you like my help, darling?"

"You're my type, but I'm afraid this isn't a H-game. We'll have to decide who is better with weapons."

The maid pulled out eight knives - one in each space between the fingers. She launched them in a simple pattern.

Bayonetta fired the two guns in her hands, knocking away all of the knives with ease.

Sakuya responded with a more complex pattern, this time sixteen knives, with eight more following less than a second later.

Bayonetta cartwheeled through the spread, avoiding every one. She stood up straight and pushed up her glasses with the handle of her pistol. The witch spun like a breakdancer, firing all four of her guns. Sakuya maneuvered through the sweeps of bullets, bouncing off the walls and ceiling at blinding speeds.

The witch focused her fire, but her opponent was far too fast. Sakuya sprinted along the wall, then kicked off and flew straight at Bayonetta.

The two servants crashed to the ground, Sakuya was lying on top with a knife pointed at Bayonetta's throat.

"Your danmaku is impressive. The usage of four guns looks difficult, but you make it work somehow." The killer maid said.

Bayonetta looked up and smiled. "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme - all the firepower a girl needs."

"You have a cooking fetish? You really would go well with Ragna."

The sound of a body violently impacting something distracted Sakuya for a moment. That was all Bayonetta needed to materialize a giant fist and knock the maid off her. The witch then bolted for the nearest window and crashed through it.

Once Caster had left the bounded field, it collapsed. Assassin chased after her down the street and into a half-finished shopping mall. The two servants tore through the construction site, draining the life force of any hapless workers they encountered.


Bayonetta stalked through the central open area, expecting the stealthy servant to ambush her at any time.

"Illusion Existence: Clock Corpse."

A curtain of knives appeared right in front of Caster, she fired wildly, creating a hole big enough to roll through.

Footsteps echoed behind Bayonetta. The maid could've been silent, but she no longer needed surprise. "Those who watch their backs meet death from the front."

The witch spun around. "How did you?"

Sakuya produced a pocket watch and looked at it. "Mastery of time is a convenient skill for a maid... or an assassin." She replaced the watch in her pocket and crouched low.

Bayonetta leveled her pistols at her opponent. Suddenly, Sakuya burst forward and slashed upwards with a knife. The black-clad servant deflected it with the superstrong barrel of her pistol. Sakuya spun around and swung horizontally with a second knife. Bayonetta danced backwards, the blade barely missing her breasts.

Sakuya continued to advance...

Flash. Flash.

Sparks flew as blades collided with guns. Sakuya was insanely fast, twirling her knives to change the grip between each strike and still having ample time to launch attacks before Bayonetta could recover.

Flash. Flash. Flash.

The maid introduced a third knife, juggling it to confuse her opponent.

Without warning, a knife appeared above the black servant, coming down like the Sword of Damocles. She reflexively blocked it, leaving her ribs exposed to a jumping roundhouse kick that sent her flying into a pillar. The impact demolished it and she fell to the floor.

Knives stuck into the floor one after the other - a line heading straight for the downed servant. Bayonetta rolled sluggishly, but it was enough to get out of the way just in time. The witch shakily got to her feet.

"Strange Art: Illusional Misdirection."

Sakuya threw out a spread of smaller red daggers, followed by several waves of her normal ones. Bayonetta dodged and weaved through the curtains of projectiles, only to discover that the new red type has an interesting property - it bounces off walls. Soon she was completely surrounded by them. Sakuya smiled as the enemy servant was obscured by the sheer amount of daggers.

The sounds of two explosions came from inside the storm of daggers, blowing away the entire salvo.

Sakuya's eyes went wide. "Multiple Noble Phantasms?"

Bayonetta strode out of the smoke, carrying a pair of huge rocket launchers. "And I've got more where that came from - Shuraba!"

The rocket launchers dissolved, replaced by a katana decorated with blood-red markings. Caster charged at Assassin, brandishing the sword over her head.

Sakuya effortlessly caught the blade with one hand. "It's useless."

She pulled the sword from Bayonetta's grip and threw it away. Then she unleashed a withering barrage of punches.

"Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless!"

Bayonetta took the whole flurry, the last punch sent her stumbling backwards.

"The world! Time has stopped."

Colors became inverted. Sakuya threw three waves of knives, all of which stopped in midair due to frozen time.

"And time has begun again..."

The knives regained their speed, sticking into Bayonetta like a pincushion.

"Road roller!"

A large yellow road roller appeared high in the sky. Sakuya stood casually on the front as it fell onto Bayonetta's bleeding and broken form. The heavy machine tore through the floor, forming a small crater and sending cracks snaking out from the impact site. With her victory assured, Sakuya leaned back and let out an eerie cry.

"WRYYYYYYYYYYY-"

The shriek was interrupted by fist impacting Sakuya's face, sending her falling backwards off the vehicle. Bayonetta towered over her, covered in blood and dirt.

The maid looked up, her eyes wide with disbelief. "I-impossible..."

"You really think you're the only one with time powers?"

Sakuya gritted her teeth. "I'll kill you!" She leapt up and thrust a knife at Bayonetta, but the witch backflipped off the steamroller. Time slowed down again, and the road roller was flung into the air by a giant fist. The maid was thrown too, but landed on her feet, crouching low and using one hand to balance as she slid backwards.

"Luna Dial!" Sakuya shouted, pulling out her pocket watch and freezing time. The road roller was stopped in mid-air, however, her opponent was unaffected.

"My Witch Time ability allows me to slow down time to avoid attacks. It also seems to be able to cancel out the effects of your time stop." Bayonetta explained.

"Hmph... If our mastery of time is equal, then this battle will be decided by our fighting skills, servant Caster!" Sakuya lunged forward, holding two knives in reverse grip.

Bayonetta whirled and extended her leg, creating a giant replica that kicked Sakuya, sending her flying backwards.

"BIAH MICALP!"

An iron maiden appeared behind Assassin, she smashed straight into it. The wicked spikes were the last thing she saw as the door slammed shut.

Bayonetta giggled and took out a green lollipop. Her injuries faded away as she ran her tongue seductively over the candy.

"That's a pretty neat trick. But you have to admit mine was far more impressive." Sakuya said as she came out from behind a pillar. A flock of doves took flight dramatically as she sauntered past them.

Bayonetta's mouth opened with shock, the lollipop almost falling out. "How did you...?"

"Call it magic, although really it's just a simple trick. You are powerful, Bayonetta, and fighting you when you've just healed yourself is suicidal."

"Really now, Sakuya? I thought you'd have a few more tricks up your sleeve."

The maid smirked. "I do, but it's too early to be playing those cards now. Should we meet again, I will be sure to kill you." Sakuya vanished into thin air.

Bayonetta held the lollipop between two fingers and sighed. "That was refreshing. I better go find Shinji, no doubt that other servant messed him up pretty good."


Author's Note:

Some guys like Captain Falcon have a signature move that involves punching. Shinji, on the other hand, has a move that involves being punched by a badass.

Rin seems to be a bit too much of a Distressed Damsel in this chapter. It was mostly for a reference to UBW, she will be back to her normal badassery shortly.

I'm going to start working on a novel so updates for this may or may not change. But I intend to see this fanfic through to completion, hopefully by the end of the year.