One of a Kind / This is a Drill
The school looked like it had been used for a war. The windows were broken, the classrooms were completely trashed, the unconscious students were strewn all over the place. There was a crater on the pavement in front of the school from where the fake Link's bomb had detonated.
The shattered double doors at the entrance swung open. Rin and Ragna walked out. The girl wore her school uniform - long black skirt, white dress shirt and brown vest. Servant Saber wore his signature red jacket with two "tails", a black shirt and black hakama pants.
"Ragna... I... Thanks for saving me back there." She said, still walking without looking at him.
"Any time, I am your partner in this after all." Ragna replied, his tone and actions equally casual.
"It was just... helpful, that is all. I could've figured out a way to escape on my own, but your assistance sped up the process."
"It was mostly out of convenience - I was just nearby and I really enjoy punching jerks."
"Well if either of us gets such a chance again, it's tactically sound to take it. But I really don't mind either way." Rin blushed, her gratitude was actually far from insignificant, but she hid it as much as she could. "Anyway, Shinji should be regrouping in his mansion right now. Do you think you can take Caster in one-on-one combat?"
"Shouldn't be too much of a problem. We denied her the energy from the students, so she'll be low on mana. I am worried about fighting her on her own turf though, any idea what Caster-class servants can do?"
"Anything a magus can, maybe more. If she's had time to prepare then she may have traps or lesser summoned creatures. But the most dangerous form of magecraft is the Reality Marble - a bounded field that manifests the user's mental world into our reality."
"Sounds pretty dangerous, do you know anything about countering it?"
"It's extremely rare, so the Association hasn't been able to study it in detail. It should be limited to a specific effect though, so if you can survive the first attack you'll know what it is."
"Tch. I won't let Caster live long enough to even use it. Besides, it's unlikely that she even has enough mana at this point to bring it out."
"True. If all else fails, just keep her distracted long enough for me to kill Shinji. That should definitely stop her."
The master and servant walked away from the school in the direction of the Matou mansion.
The ornate door burst open as Rin charged into the foyer. The Matou mansion had a darker feel than hers, even during the daytime the curtains were closed, leaving only dim artificial light. It was ornately furnished, but everything was far older and styled in a gothic fashion as opposed to the Tohsaka family's preference for clean lines and more varied tones.
But the magus didn't notice the interior decorating as she rushed through the house. Any entry into a Caster's domain would instantly be noticed, so her assault was based entirely on speed and efficiency. She sprinted down the hallway to the living room, already her magic circuits were gathering mana to attack.
As she kicked open the double doors of the living room she saw Shinji Matou, along with his adoptive sister Sakura. They had similar eye and hair colors, although Sakura's was a lighter purple while Shinji's was a darker blue-indigo. But Rin knew for a fact that they had no blood relation.
She didn't so much as blink when she noticed the knife held at the girl's throat.
"Don't move! Do as I say and-AAAAAHH!" Shinji screamed out as a perfectly aimed Gandr shot hit his hand. The knife fell from his grip, but it never hit the floor. In a flash Rin had closed the distance to him and snatched it out of the air, at the same time sending the surprised boy tumbling backwards with a punch to the face. He landed on the couch, staining it red with the blood from his broken nose.
Sakura ran to the other side of the room the moment she realized that she was free and watched as Rin collided with Shinji, overturning the couch.
The magus stood up over him, her hand extended and ready to fire a kill shot. Shinji had no way of fighting back, in their collision Rin had lodged the knife in his gut, the pain made it almost impossible to move. Despite his serious disadvantage, he sneered slightly as he looked at his superior opponent.
"MICMA!"
Without warning, a whip wrapped around Rin's leg. She fired several wild Gandr shots as she was yanked hard, leaving scorch marks on the walls and floor near Shinji.
"As much as I'd like to see my master dead, I'm afraid I can't let you do that." Bayonetta taunted as she dragged Rin towards her. A wooden pony covered in menacing spikes materialized behind the witch. "You've been a very naughty girl, and I'll have to punish you."
Rin winced as she was pulled closer. "Nghh... You think all masters are as helpless as that coward Shinji?"
"Try your little shooting magic on me. I assure you, mine is far greater."
The girl snickered, buying time to prepare her ace in the hole. "You think those shots are anywhere near my true power?"
A flash of red streaked towards Bayonetta, the witch shielded herself instantly. The flame jewel impacted the shield and detonated, setting the entire room on fire and destroying the witch's torture device, along with the rest of the furniture in the room.
The shield wasn't fully effective, some of the fire penetrated it, singeing her hair slightly and sending her into a coughing fit from the smoke. While the servant was distracted, Rin got up and put some distance between them.
A wave of darkness suppressed the flames completely.
"Well if it isn't the witch with a capital B." Ragna remarked as he strode in casually.
"Ragna! Where were you earlier? Caster was trying to do some weird S&M thing on me!" Rin scolded.
The Grim Reaper gave the two women a cavalier smirk. "Sorry, I wanted to see if you ladies could sort things out by yourselves. Too bad you're both bossy types."
Shinji emerged from behind the capsized couch. "Bayonetta! I command you to keep them away from me!" He yelled as he staggered out of the room.
Caster reacted instantly and opened fire with her handguns. The red master and servant ducked into the nearest doorway as she peppered the room with magic bullets.
"Rin! I'll use my barrier to block her shots, then you advance and take her out!" Ragna barked.
"I guess it's our only option!" Rin shouted back.
Ragna rounded the corner and projected his barrier, but no bullets impacted it...
"Pillow Talk!"
The glowing green blade clashed against Ragna's shield. Scrapping his former plan, he pushed forward, sending himself and Bayonetta crashing through the already partially broken window.
The witch focused all her strength on repulsing him. More mana poured into her energy blade, the barrier began to weaken.
The weapon's mana content was double its normal capacity. The conceptual structure holding it together faltered, causing a destructive phenomenon known as a Broken Phantasm.
As the green explosion was about to overwhelm his defenses, The Grim Reaper did an overload of his own...
"Barrier Burst!"
Ragna detonated his barrier, sending a blue-green shockwave to counteract the destructive energy of the supercharged Phantasm.
"Mmm. Looks like we blew at the same time." Bayonetta said, panting heavily.
Ragna ran his fingers through his hair and straightened his clothes. "I guess most guys can't even hope to last this long against you."
"But the real question is can you go again right now?" Bayonetta giggled and adjusted her glasses.
Ragna summoned his sword - the Blood Scythe, and held it horizontal at eye level.
"You'll have to catch me first though. I was ordered to keep you away, so that's what I'll do." Bayonetta winked and leapt into the air.
The two servants bounded over the rooftops of the residential district, moving towards the coastline.
Rin rushed through the house again, flinging open every door, checking every hiding place.
"Sakura! Sakura!" She called repeatedly, but the purple-haired girl was nowhere to be found.
She descended into the basement. It had been refurbished by Bayonetta after the death of Zouken. The crypts were gone, the dank stone replaced by a luxurious purple decor. Arcane symbols were drawn all over the floor, and one of the corners was filled by a canopy bed.
The torture chamber of the Matou had been turned into something resembling a room from a pricey love hotel. This was the witch's territory - a place that represented her personality.
"Hmph. Looks like Shinji's servant is just as perverted as him. This Bayonetta woman is like one of those fanservice characters from an anime." Rin commented. She finished looking around the room and took the stairs back up two at a time.
Sakura ran down the street, she simply wanted to get away from it all. Away from Shinji, away from the Grail War, away from the pain. The girl stumbled and fell, letting out a yelp as she hurt herself. A pair of black dress shoes filled her vision.
"So, you're the heir of Matou. The ultimate piece of Zouken's grand plan. But with his death, you have been left incomplete." A voice came from above her. She looked up to see a man wearing a long dark coat, with something gold hanging around his neck. His face was concealed in shadow, but she could see the sadistic glint in his eyes.
Tears streamed from her eyes. "W-what are you talking about?" She asked fearfully.
"Without the influence of the Matou power, you can no longer achieve your full potential, you are nothing more than another monster for me to kill." The man replied.
He materialized a longsword and brought it down, impaling the girl on it. She didn't have the strength to scream, so she just whimpered as the searing pain shot into her back.
"I stabbed you so that you would suffer for a while, think about whatever you like during this time." The man coldly explained, then he stepped over Sakura's dying form and walked away.
The full moon illuminated the field, the water below the cliff edge was calm. The red and purple streaks sped towards the edge, repeatedly colliding and exchanging blows.
Bayonetta jumped off first, with Ragna pursuing. The two servants fell straight down, quickly approaching the sea.
The Grim Reaper came down on her, driving his Blood Scythe against her other blade - Shuraba. She was in the inferior position, but there was still one trick up her sleeve...
"Give it up, once we hit the bottom I'll crush you!" Ragna said.
"Don't be so sure, I still have my Reality Marble." Bayonetta replied.
Ragna's eyes widened. "What? You have the energy to bring it out?"
Bayonetta cackled "Of course, now behold the Clock Tower!"
Suddenly, gravity seemed to reverse. Ragna fell upwards onto a giant clock face. The witch landed elegantly on the other end of it.
Ragna stood up and took in his surroundings. He was standing on the detached top part of a clock tower. It was plummeting next to the cliff, but never seemed to get closer to the water. It was almost as if the rock face had been extended to a height of several kilometers. A vast sea loomed below, with the lights of cities visible in the distance.
"This is my ultimate power. A display of absolute control over time and space." Caster explained.
Ragna was almost overwhelmed by the sheer beauty and awesomeness of the created world. "I-impossible... How did you do this?"
Bayonetta adjusted her glasses and explained. "This is my Reality Marble, the world within the Bounded Field is subject to the rules I impose on it. Specifically, I have created an enormous space and time-dilated it to allow the clock tower to fall down the cliff for an almost infinite duration."
The red servant contemplated his situation and smirked. "Tch. So you've trapped me in here, too bad it'll all dissipate after you die."
Bayonetta charged at Ragna, swinging her sword in a wide arc. He slipped past it, scraping his blade against hers and launching a kick to her midsection. The witch avoided his boot, flipping over him and twisting around while thrusting her weapon.
Ragna maintained his forward momentum, barely avoiding her attack. He spun around just in time to see the tip of her blade coming straight at him. He swept upwards with his sword, deflecting the thrust and leaving Bayonetta open.
The red servant went on the offensive, uppercutting Bayonetta with his right hand, the impact launched her into the air and he followed, jumping above her and slashing downwards.
The black-clad woman fell on the clock face in a heap, blood splattered on the stone. Ragna touched down nonchalantly in behind her.
"Despite your mastery of this world, your fighting skills aren't getting much better." He commented.
The witch looked up at him, blood flowed from the corner of her mouth. "Ngh... I haven't... even begun... to use my powers!" She stood up achingly, then straightened up, flipped her hair and made a seductive "Come here" gesture.
"Inferno Divider!"
Servant Saber slashed upwards. Caster responded with a back handspring, cleanly dodging the attack. Time seemed to slow down. Ragna had left himself exposed and Bayonetta would punish him greatly. Some of her clothing melted away while a giant fist made of darkness materialized and collided with Ragna, flinging him towards the other end of the clock face. He slid to a stop almost at the edge of the stone.
Ragna jumped to his feet, but the witch was already face-to-face with him.
"PIR ZIXLAY"
Bayonetta grabbed the swordsman by the shoulders faster than he could react and shoved him into a guillotine. The device was locked and the blade began to fall...
Clang!
"W-what?" Bayonetta stared, her eyes wide with disbelief. "It... ex-"
A blind kick from Ragna threw her backwards. The guillotine had been stopped by the Blood Scythe's blade, the extended mode had allowed it to easily reach the guillotine and catch the falling blade. The Grim Reaper grabbed the wooden frame and activated a powerful Ars that demolished the device.
Ragna dusted himself off and assumed a casual stance. "What's the matter? Is that it?"
The black servant just charged at him, launching another dark fist. The red servant nonchalantly slid to the side to dodge it, but was crushed by a giant dark high-heel shoe. His body hurt all over, the pain made it almost impossible to move.
"That was only the beginning... of your death! AVAVAGO!"
All of Bayonetta's clothing dissolved into masses of flowing hair. A hellish portal opened, allowing a giant black and purple dragon to emerge. Its roar sounded like Armageddon itself, its dark flesh looked like it was made from its summoner's hair. Ragna could do nothing as the void-like maw closed around him. The creature had swallowed him in one exaggerated gulp.
Bayonetta began to laugh. Her opponent had been defeated. She stood victorious and naked, her chest rising and falling with each chuckle in a way that was utterly mesmerizing.
"C..n.g. .rs!"
Servant Caster tilted her head. "What was that noise? Gomorrah?"
The dragon twitched slightly. Suddenly, Ragna burst out of its side.
The monster's remains dissolved into dark energy that flowed into Ragna, healing his wounds. "All this hair is really dangerous. Now I'm not much of a barber, but I do know a thing or two about scissors." . He looked the witch up and down with an impressed smile. "Tch. Those clothes suited you, but I gotta say; you look a lot better without them."
For the first time in an age, Bayonetta blushed slightly. "Well then, lets do this here and now."
She materialized a single Scarborough Fair pistol and opened fire. Ragna effortlessly deflected the shots with his blade as he dashed towards her. It was almost as if she was making this too easy.
He reached her and spin-kicked the gun out of her hand. She didn't resist as he grabbed her by the neck and lifted her off her feet. He held the tip of the Blood Scythe in front of her nose. He was almost overwhelmed by her beauty, but he had to break a part of it to give her the freedom she so desired. He began to lower the point of his sword.
"This'll sting."
"Oh, that's fine. Goodbye, Ragna the Bloodedge."
The weapon extended, impaling her just under the left breast. For a second, Ragna could've sworn he saw her giving him a sad, but hopeful smile. Bayonetta began to dissolve into violet butterflies. He looked into her eyes for the last time through those glasses - the only thing she was still wearing. As she disappeared they fell to the floor, the lenses shattering. The glass shards streaked onto the clock face like tiny meteors, glowing purple as they burned up and vanished.
The projected world evaporated around Ragna. Finding himself still plummeting next to the cliff, the servant wedged his sword into it to slow himself down, stopping just short of the water.
Shinji limped down the empty street, cursing everyone he could think of. He didn't care about anything except for escaping with his life, and that seemed rather difficult considering his injured state.
A red cloth came out of nowhere and entangled him, the boy tried to struggle, but the clearly supernatural fabric had trapped him completely.
"So, this is one of the fabled masters of the Grail War. Rather useless without your servant, aren't you?" the mysterious woman said as she approached the helpless boy.
Even in his current state, Shinji took in a good view of her - she was dressed in a skimpy version of a church outfit, her wavy snow-white hair fell to her lower back, her eyes were the color of honey. To say that the church outfit covered most of her skin would be a technical truth - her dress was short to the point that it could be considered a long shirt, and split down the front to expose her black pantyhose and the visible white panties she wore under it. Her legs were further accentuated by thigh-length boots. Finally, she wore a beret, black like the rest of her ensemble.
"Aaah! What have you done to me?" Shinji shouted, clearly even more afraid of the unknown woman than he was of his other enemies.
"You will help me summon the Holy Grail, I promise that I'll make it worth your while." She said seductively. A servant walked up behind her, one that Shinji instantly recognized.
"Link? What the hell?"
The True Link didn't make any sort of movements to acknowledge the boy.
The woman smiled, she looked serene, to the point of being unsettling. "So you know him. You must have been the one who summoned the fake servant in his place. Thank you for providing a vessel for mine, I didn't have the ability to perform a complete summoning, but since the connection was already made I simply had to pull the correct servant through it."
A young girl's voice interrupted her. "You have some nerve, churchwoman! Joining a war meant for magi." It was Illyasviel von Einzbern, the girl was almost an opposite of the woman. Her hair was straight and flowing, with more of a silver shine, her eyes were bright red. She was dressed in modest winter clothing, favoring a purple and white color scheme.
Behind the little girl stood a giant humanoid in an old-fashioned diving suit. Its helmet was covered in glowing yellow lights. The right hand of the armor was replaced by a large drill.
"Please, call me Caren." the woman replied, if she had been offended by the girl's words, her face didn't show it. "I came only for the weak master, he is of no threat to you."
"I'm afraid I can't allow you to have him, churchwoman. Berserker!"
The hulking servant lumbered over to the bound Shinji and started up its massive drill. The boy screamed and tried his best to get away. Ironically, the bonds dissolved the second the drill penetrated his chest, shredding the flesh as soon as it made contact. Bones could be heard crunching as the drill went all the way through Shinji's body and started going into the pavement below. Blood sprayed onto the armored servant, but it couldn't care less. Finally, it extracted the gore-covered drill and gave it a spin to throw off the chunks of flesh stuck on it.
For the first time, Caren's composure had been broken. Her eyes were wide open, but her pupils had contracted to pinpoints. "H-how could you do such a thing?"
"Berserker has a truly powerful weapon, it could even pierce your precious heavens, churchwoman." Ilya explained.
While the Big Daddy didn't believe in himself, he did believe in her who believed in him. He continued to advance towards the church master and her servant.
"Link! I command you to block his next attack and escape!" Caren ordered, her command seals lighting up.
The green servant readied his shield as Berserker charged straight at him. The drill impacted the shield and Link stood his ground. For a moment it appeared that the defense was successful...
"Berserker, I command you to destroy them!" Glowing red patterns appeared all over Ilya's body as she used her own absolute command. In response her servant's "eyes" changed to red and it let out a whale-like groan as it pushed harder with its drill.
Link did the only thing he could - he overcharged the shield with mana, creating a Broken Phantasm. The detonation was actually enough to push back the Big Daddy slightly and buy him enough time to escape the behemoth. Caren had already fled and would undoubtedly regroup with her servant soon enough. The giant had no tracking powers, so it simply returned to its docile state.
Rin dashed through the streets, searching for Sakura. Her attention was drawn to a corpse in the distance. She approached for a closer view.
It was Shinji, he had a gaping hole in his chest that continued into the ground below him, his eyes were still wide open - probably from the excruciating pain he experienced in his last moments.
"Looks like Shinji finally got what's coming to him." Rin commented, then she suddenly had a realization and gasped "What if Sakura ran into the one that did this?"
She continued running, not at all worried about her own safety. She was the only one who knew why Sakura was important to her, she was the only one with this responsibility to help her.
She eventually found the purple-haired girl lying face down on a sidewalk. She saw the blood and scrambled over to her. Rin kneeled at her side and turned her over.
"Sakura! Please wake up!" She screamed. Tears began to fall onto the wounded girl.
The purple-haired girl looked up with half-open eyes. "Rin... It hurts..." She clutched the bloody area on her stomach.
"Stay still, I'll help you." Rin began to channel her mana, but then a look of dread came over her. "It... doesn't heal?"
"Rin... Nee-san... I'm scared..." Sakura said. She weakly tried to lift her arm to touch her sister.
Seeing the motion, Rin took the hand in hers, using the other to hold up Sakura. "I don't want you to die. I... I love you so much."
Rin saw the girl close her eyes and felt her go completely limp. She sobbed tenderly and hugged her sister, holding Sakura's head to her chest.
She felt a hand on her shoulder. Was it an enemy? She couldn't care less right now...
The familiar voice of Ragna reassured her. "So, that's why you were so worried about her." He knelt down next to his master and looked into her tearful eyes.
Rin met his gaze, tears still flowing down her cheeks. "I was responsible for her. I was the only one who ever cared about her as a person. My family gave her to the Matou, and they only used her for their purposes, but I always tried to look out for her. Now I've lost her forever and it's all my fault!" She started weeping uncontrollably again.
Ragna reached out and touched her cheek, wiping away the tears with his gloved hand. "It'll be alright, just let it all out." He put his arms around her in a comforting hug.
The girl welcomed his embrace and buried her face in his shoulder. Ragna held her until she began to calm down.
"It may sound strange, but I know exactly what you're going through." He said.
"R-really?" Rin asked between sobs.
"I lost my little sister when I was young. It hurts a lot at first, but eventually you forgive yourself. Right now, it's ok to just cry." Ragna explained.
"But if it wasn't for my actions today, she wouldn't have been killed like this!" Rin wailed, almost losing control again.
Ragna grabbed her by the shoulders and looked intently into his master's eyes. "You can't blame yourself for this! I'm sure she doesn't. Out there is a bastard who we're gonna kill for this, I'm sure of it. Just stop thinking that it's your fault, or worrying that Sakura would hate you for this!" He shouted, summoning up his fierce determination, and hoping to snap Rin out of her self-hate.
The girl stared at him, slightly shocked by the sudden outburst, then she seemed to regain much of her normal composure. "I... Thanks, Ragna. Your sympathy really means a lot to me." She gave a slight, warm smile and kissed Ragna on the cheek before standing up.
They had to leave the body there, Rin regretted erasing all traces of her presence, but it was necessary to maintain the current cover story of serial murders or freak accidents.
That night, Ragna could hear Rin crying herself to sleep. It would be a long time before she fully recovered, but he knew that her strength was definitely enough to get through this.
Author's Note:
Sorry about the long delay, I have started work on my book ( -_- not as much progress as I'd like, but I'm getting there). Hopefully I'll eventually find a balance that will allow me to write both novel and fanfic at a decent rate.
This chapter has a lot of Mood Whiplash. I was considering splitting it up so that it wouldn't have funny mixed with sad this much, but I rather liked this order of scenes, and the chapter name was fitting for a variety of reasons. (The first part, that is. The second was just one of the many references in my works).
I realize that I did promise Rin-badassery in the last chapter, but the tragic part here was largely improvised because of a sudden idea I had. Besides, even badasses are allowed to cry when a close friend or sibling dies, especially if there is romantic comforting involved. ^_^