Sorry for the wait, everyone. Well, here we're, my friends. The last chapter of The Emerald Blade's First Season. Woah, I still can't believe how this craziness born from a moment of boredom as a joke has come this far… well, I won't say anything else for now, more from me in the A.N. at the end of the chapter, but for now, enjoy the extra-especial Season's Finale, I'm sure it will surprise more than one =D!

Enjoy the reading and thanks once again to everyone who has accompanied me this far!

Now, to enjoy the extra-long especial chapter!

Chapter 13: Shine, Lights of Emotion. Illuminate, Darkened World! or "This is one of those titles that lets you 'feel' the finality.'

A roar of fury echoed through the sky, coming from a furious being of Fear, chained down by the powers of Nature and Compassion…

But his deafening roars were nothing when compared to the marvelous, beautiful and unheard song that the planet was singing.

It was so gorgeous that even its other consciousness, that of humanity, found itself slowly but surely recovering from the 'pain' that the now almost nonexistent wave of 'Fear' had caused it, and, for once, it didn't restarted immediately its eternal fight with her sister, no.

For once, Alaya stopped to silently hear Gaia sing.

"Damn you, Proselyte! Damn you and your Avatar for this humiliation!" Parallax furious cry was accompanied by the sound of one of the lesser trees being cut down/smashed by Karasuba, letting the Emotional Entity enough movement of one of its legs to brutally cut down the biggest vines, letting his yellow light practically disintegrate the others that were still restricting him, his face turning into a sinister snarl. "You will need more than a couple of pathetic plants if you want to stop me, Avatar of the Proselyte."

"Don't mock the daughters of Nature, Entity of Fear. You can be in for a nasty surprise if you do." calmly answered Kusano, closing her legs as in a meditation pose and starting to float, her Power Aura coming to life.

As in response to her words, the giant indigo tree suddenly seemed to roar, its branches shooting forwards furiously while multiplying, starting a brutal assault against Parallax' form.

She wasted no time in aid them, brandishing her staff and letting the multi-colored energy upon it to be unleashed as brilliant bolts of light, arching as if they were lighting.

While the Emotional Entity unleashed a fierce counterattack, two flashes of green and violet light quickly flew towards the tree, stopping to hover just a couple of meters in front of the meditating little girl, who looked at them with a calm and happy smile.

Finally, Shirou managed to get his brain to do a total reboot and his coherent thought back online.

"Kuu-chan?! How...?! What…?!"

…more or less.

"I understand your confusion, Onii-chan, but we don't have the time or the energy for me to correctly explain things now. For now, you should at least know the obvious: Just like you and Musubi-nee have been chosen to fly under the banner of the Corps of Will and Love, I too have been chosen as a member of those who spread Compassion: The Indigo Tribe."

"…woah, how cool Kuu-chan, now you have a ring too!" happily declared Musubi while Shirou keep looking at Kusano with absolute disbelief, once again briefly thanking that his helmet hided his expression. "And it has also given you the power to talk all funny!"

"Heh, your enthusiasm is appreciated, Musubi-nee, but it's not the ring what has given me this unnatural awareness that I'm sure you too have noticed, Onii-chan." even if she was smiling, Shirou was able to notice the seriousness tinged with just a hint of sadness that shined in the little Indigo Lantern's eyes. "It's thanks to the sacrifice of the Proselyte, the Entity of Compassion, who has sacrificed his own mind to give me the knowledge to use the ring and my own powers with efficiency."

"Sacrifice?" asked the Green Lantern, glad that his hard-earned ability to keep the composure even in potentially dangerous or outrageous situations had finally came back. "What do you mean? Did the Entity…?"

"He's still alive, Onii-chan. Even if they don't have the power of the real ones, our Emotional Entities will still live as long as the Light shines in the Multiverse." Kusano had to raise her staff to stop the incoming wave of questions that Shirou was about to ask, surprising him. "Again, we have no time; my barrage won't stop Parallax for long, even with the help that Nature is giving me. I promise that I will explain everything after this, but for now all I can say is that the Proselyte sacrificed his mind so that I can help change the Fate of today's events…" the Indigo Lantern grimaced a little. "At the costs of most of his mental capacities."

Wiii! Look, Kuu, look! I managed to make a biiiig knot with just two of my tentacles…! Uh, wait… I can't disentangle them, uwaaah!

"Kuu-chan? You're making a funny face!" chirped the present Star Sapphire.

"It's… nothing, Musubi-nee. I just hope that he was right and this 'exchange' is truly only temporal…." the sound of Compassion-reinforced wood being snapped and burned down drew the attention of the three Lanterns, making them turn to see how Parallax and Karasuba finished with the last of the extended branches. "And finally it's clear that we have no more time." she looked at Shirou. "Please Onii-chan, trust me for now, we need to do this together."

The Green Lantern looked in the eyes of the Indigo one for a moment.

No matter what or how deep the knowledge that had been inserted in them was… there was still something in those eyes that he would never mistake.

There wasn't any deception, any possession like it had happened with Karasuba when under Parallax influence before or when being consumed by her own light. Those were still the eyes of his little Kuu-chan.

"…let's do this." Kusano beamed him a true Kuu-like smile when he said that. "But stay behind me." he finally remarked while dismissing Gae Bolg and tightly grabbing Caliburn with both hands, letting Saber's skills fill him.

"Yay! Let's do this, Shirou-sama, Kuu-chan!" summed Musubi while adopting a combat stance and looking fiercely against the Fear pair.

"Sorry Onii-chan, but that's not how this battle is mean to be if we want to see tomorrow." announced the self-proclaimed Gaia's Child before swinging her staff, once again gathering light of the other 3 colors, letting it fly fiercely through the tree's branch, which redirected it as a combined beam against the incoming yellow barrage of Parallax.

"Incredible. Having the information about it is one thing, but seeing it myself is truly amazing." commented the ring while the other two lanterns once again looked towards Kusano with surprise.

"How are you…?"

"Emotional Spectrum Emulation, an ability unique of those who belong to the Indigo Tribe." answered the little girl before Shirou could even finish his question. "I can use my Power Staff to gather and redirect Light of the other colors of the Spectrum as long as a Lantern of said color is near me, no matter if they are ally or enemy." she looked towards the incoming Karasuba, claw-blade raised to bisect them. "And once again, there is no time." a movement of her staff was enough to made the tree come to life again, its massive branches twisting and sprouting spikes and more, smaller branches as they rushed to stop the Avatar of Fear, surrounding her. "But there is something I REALLY need to do before that."

The Magus was about to ask what she was talking about before the next of Kusano's actions made his brain froze again, albeit for a very different reason, and he stared blankly at his youngest Sekirei.

She had just raised her hand… and created a giant, simple sword of indigo light in it.

"You have got to be…"

Ignoring her Ashikabi's words, the Indigo Lantern promptly proceeded to smash the still distracted Karasuba with the blade's flat side, launching her through the air like a ragdoll. The absolutely happy and satisfied smile in the little girl's face after she did that was, without a doubt, the most disturbing thing Shirou had ever seen in his life.

"Ah…you don't know how much time I have wanted to do that." beamed the little Sekirei with a happy tone, all the great and ancient knowledge seemingly lost in the face of that childish act. It was hard to tell if she was talking about finally touching a sword or about swinging it violently at someone.

Shirou's eyebrow twitched, dearly hoping it wasn't the later.

'…Okay, I'm officially disturbed now. We REALLY didn't need to see that.'

'…Kuu-chan is scary.'

"Well… that went well…" muttered the Power Ring, ignorantly agreeing with the two voices in his user's head.

"…oh, I get it! Kuu-chan was always saying that she wanted to use Shirou-sama's swords!" exclaimed Musubi while punching her open palm, her expression seeming as if she had just deduced a very complicated mystery.

A new roar from Parallax interrupted any further shenanigans, a lot of tendrils of light soaring though the air while crushing any indigo tree in their path.

"Okay, now really, no time. Onii-chan, you take care of Karasuba, me and Musubi-nee will stop Parallax while you deal with her." the Power Staff was in front of Shirou's helmet before he could even begin to form the words of protest. "Please, trust me in this. We all have our duties as Avatars and we have to do it this way if the Light is to see another day in this world." she looked directly at him, once again with those deep eyes that seemed so out of place in her little face. "I know you will do the right thing, Onii-chan."

Shirou hesitated once again, his eyes flickering between the roaring Parallax, the still-recovering-from-the-smash Karasuba, her two Sekirei and, finally, the Will-Barrier of swords that was nullifying almost all of Parallax aura to absorb the Fear of the planet.

He took a decision.

"Musubi, protect her… and stay safe, you two." he declared before shooting forwards like a comet while spinning and becoming a drill-like vortex of emerald light, violently impacting with the corrupted Karasuba and taking them both away from the battle, crashing somewhere in the city.

"Karasuba! You bast…!" Parallax wasn't able to finish that sentence, because a giant, indigo branch closed violently around his jaws, seconds before a beam of pure Love impacted against it.

"Don't curse like that, you bad yellow bug!" shouted Musubi while looking furiously at the Entity of Fear, the first being to achieve the impossible feat of being truly 'disliked' by the naïve Sekirei. "In the name of Love and Shirou-sama, I'm going to punish you!"

"…you only missed striking a pose while saying that to look like a Magical Girl, Musubi-nee." smiled once again Gaia's Child, swinging her staff to bring forth the aid of Nature once again.

Gaia answered with the raise of her song, the notes encompassing the sprout of more trees, as the Earth brought forth the might of the only Indigo Lantern of this Universe, the only Star Sapphire at her side, flaring with the Power of Love.

Time to see if it was enough to stop the Fear.

"…can you repeat that? Please?"

"Ehm, Kuu-chan seems to have become the bearer of another one of those rings and is now commanding giant trees against the giant, yellow, alien bug?"

"…Yes, that's what I thought I heard." after saying that, Homura swiftly proceeded to try to smash her head against a wall.

Only 'Try to', because Uzume quickly wrapped her long strands of white cloth around her arms and head, stopping her. The Fire Sekirei seemed too out of it to remember that she could just burn the cloth away, if her struggle was anything to go by.

"There she goes again…" weakly muttered Kazehana, once she got out of her shock.

"Uzume! Let me go, damn it!

"Yeah, no, I think it would be better if you don't break your head against that wall, Homura." sighed the Veiled Sekirei while her Ashikabi looked towards the Fire User, preoccupation filling her eyes.

"Seriously, if we survive all this shit I'm seriously going to bug Shirou-tan to find her a psychologist…" offhandedly commented Matsu through the Helicopter-Phone hybrid that had given them the shocking news.

Akitsu stood not far from the scene, looking worriedly at the unconscious Miya, who she had brought after the explosion of pure Indigo Light from Kusano's 'transformation' had knocked her out.

She seemed to be sleeping peacefully, though, as if all the Fear and suffering she had experimented during the day were slowly being erased, as if her body and mind were being healed…

At least that's what Akitsu thought was happening. But of course, being who she was, the Ice Sekirei didn't bother to voice her opinion out loud. She was too busy staring intensely at the brutal battle of Spectrum users.

"It's okay, you're safe now!" Tsukiumi sudden shout made everyone turn back towards the burning building just behind them, the fire currently being extinguished by a firefighter's truck swarmed by metallic spiders, while the Water Sekirei came out of the building, surrounded by a smoking water shield, a little girl in her arms. "You should be grateful, little one, that I, the strongest Sekirei, have bothered to…!"

"Tsukiumi, please, now is not the time." growled Matsu while one of her car-hybrids turned the corner and opened its door, letting the scowling Tsundere carefully deposit the confused/marveled child inside. The vehicle then closed its door and stormed off somewhere, probably to a hospital or at least as far away of the main battle as possible.

Fortunately, before Tsukiumi could even begin to said anything to Matsu's 'toy', the sound of air being displaced at almost sonic speeds passed upon them, just in time for the shocked Sekireis, and one Ashikabi, to see how a drill of emerald light, half-impaling a yellow blur, swiftly passed upon them, before crashing thunderously not-so far away, in the middle of a familiar park.

Akitsu specially recognized the place. She had killed a certain Archibald in it when he was about to kill Shirou, after all.

There were a couple of seconds of silence…before the most unexpected person took a step forward, decision filling her eyes.

"Let's go… to see if Shirou-san is okay." firmly declared Chiho, looking around at everyone.

"Chiho…" muttered Uzume for a second before smiling and wrapping her cloth around her Ashikabi, earning a little squeak from her while she jumped in the direction of the crash. "Heh, c'mon girls, bro is going to need someone making sure he doesn't get himself killed!"

The other Sekirei just had half a second of hesitation before following the other two girls, Akitsu grabbing the still unconscious Miya.

Homura especially put haste in her jumps; Uzume's words making him remember a certain event during one of Minaka's sick battles of the Plan.

No matter what he said about being needed or not, if Shirou tried to impale himself again to defeat an enemy she was going the punch him in the face, superpowers and magic be damned!

"Mikogami-sama, please, stop trying to go and look what's going on out there. I already told you that you're safer here." pleaded Mutsu, Sekirei Number 005 and one of the almost non-existent male Sekirei, stopping his exhausted-looking Ashikabi from moving away from the reinforced-room in the basement of his mansion.

"And I already answered you, Mutsu, that I want to know why the hell the world seems to have gone all crazy for no reason!" answered Mikogami Hayato with an unusually angry look in his tired face.

The boy, who also was the Ashikabi with more Sekirei in the Plan, had all the right to be angry, at least from his point of view. First, all the craziness with the 'Superhero' appearing in the city days ago and apparently disrupting the Plan, for Mutsu had quickly told him that there was no Sekirei with any abilities even remotely similar to this 'Emerald Blade'. Nonetheless, he had still planned on using his Sekirei to track down the supposed 'Superhero', to know who he was and how he obtained his powers.

Then, Karasuba, the feared Black Sekirei, had somehow gotten superpowers too.

That was when Mutsu had started organizing all of his Sekirei and giving orders everywhere to make sure that no one left the mansion except if it was absolutely necessary. This has generated discussion between the Ashikabi and the one who usually was his most loyal Sekirei, but the Earth Swordsman hadn't backed down, trying to reason with the young boy every time.

Mikogami didn't know what kind of destruction-machine Karasuba truly was. Mutsu had fight alongside her at the beginning, so he did. And if she now had some sort of power that allowed even a normal human to do things a Sekirei couldn't even dream of…

Well, he wasn't going to take any chances when it came to the safety of his Ashikabi.

The fact that a meteor had been about to crush the entire city had only added to his preoccupations, even more so that this so-called Superhero was able to stop something of that magnitude.

But then, this morning, things seemed to have gone crazy once again when another of Karasuba's attacks had been reported and people had started to evacuate a certain area of the city.

He was still arguing with his Ashikabi about how dangerous and stupid would be to try to go out when the Fear had hit.

The wave of emotion had been so strong, so… unnatural that even he had almost succumbed to the horrible power.

His Ashikabi and most of the other Sekirei weren't as lucky. Almost all of them fell to the ground while grabbing their heads and screaming, horrible visions assaulting their minds.

He had been trying to do something, even if it was just saying soothing words to Mikogami that seemed to have almost no effect, but just when the despair from his uselessness was practically consuming him, the overwhelming presence of the Terror had seemed to just… vanish.

No, not quite vanish. It was still there, but there was something, some sort of power, of energy, protecting them from it. Some sort of… Will. Taking advantage that almost all of the other Sekirei were unconscious and that his Ashikabi barely seemed conscious himself, Mutsu had risked went out of the mansion to see what the hell was happening…

And had come to contemplate how there was a giant yellow insectoid abomination towering over the center of Shin Tokyo, a giant indigo three confronting it.

Oh, and some sort emerald dome made of swords encompassing the city.

He had closed the door immediately, made sure that all of his sisters were safe even if unconscious, ordered the conscious ones to not get out under any circumstances, and quickly brought his Ashikabi to the basement, where he hoped would be safe until all this madness ended.

But alas, Mikogami had woken up, and once again his demanding Ashikabi had started to argue with him about going out to see what was happening, his curiosity only motivated by the sounds of explosions and crashes.

Obviously, Mutsu wasn't going to let him go. He had seen that… thing, out there, and didn't want his Ashikabi anywhere near it.

"Please, Mikogami-sama, you have to hear me. You don't know what's going on out there, but believe me, if you did…" whatever the Earth Sekirei was going to add was suddenly cut off by some screams and the sound of something violently crashing thought a roof.

Seconds later, the figure of a certain Star Sapphire crashed into the basement, almost collapsing half of it in the process.

"Ugh… damn, that bug surely knows how to hit…" muttered Musubi while shaking her head and standing up. "But that doesn't matter! It will take more than that to stop the Power of Love!"

That's the spirit, my child. By the way, seems like we crashed into someone's home.

"Uh?" the Love Sekirei blinked and looked at her side, where Mutsu was looking at her with her sword at the ready, a look of complete disbelief in his face while he looked at the ring in her hand. His Ashikabi was at his side, he too looking wide eyed at her.

But maybe that had something to do with her 'uniform', that made all of the Sekirei's clothes look decent.

"What… the hell?" finally was able to said Mikogami, looking up at the hole that traversed his mansion from roof to basement…

Just in time to scream upon seeing the giant head of Parallax looming over it.

"Prepare to die, Avatar of the Predator…" growled the Emotional Entity, yellow light gathering between his jaws.

"Mikogami-sama, run!" cried Mutsu while looking up at the beast. He would have to use his powers at its maximum capacity if he wanted to…!

"I don't think so, Parallax." declared someone before giant indigo branches came out of nowhere and wrapped themselves around the Entity's head, making it lose his beam and flare around violently.

Mikogami and Mutsu had barely 3 seconds to be mind-boggled by the sight of the giant FLYING tree before Musubi shot up like a bullet with a cry of 'Love Smasher Attaaaaack!' and hit the head of the monster with a crystal-gauntlet the size of a little house, making all of them go flying out of the sight of the Ashikabi's mansion.

Silence befell between the two of them while they just kept staring at the hole in the ceiling.

"…you know, Mutsu? I think… that I will take your advice and just stay here." weakly muttered the boy before falling in his rear, probably exhausted from the shock.

"Good decision, Mikogami-sama." answered the Sekirei in the same dead tone. "Now, I think…we should probably go see if the others are okay…"

While those two were still trying to recover contact with reality, Musubi was still trying to use the might of Love to break Parallax' head in thousands of tiny fragments, via punches-rain.

A little part of the Entity of Fear's mind that wasn't pissed off beyond belief was glad that he didn't really had bones, or most of them would have been broken by now.

"Do you really think that you have the power to stop me?!" roared Parallax before violently expanding his aura in all directions, breaking the braches and throwing Musubi off his face. "Stupid inferior beings, you're nothing compared to ME!"

As if to punctuate his words, the Entity shot forward and brutally rammed his jaws in the trunk of the giant tree, crushing it.

Kusano jumped off of it and muttered a silent 'I'm sorry' before swinging her staff, a sad look in her face.

The remains of the tree blew up with the force of a ton of C4, taking half of Parallax head with them.

"Woah! Good job, Kuu-chan!" chirped Musubi while approaching to the Indigo Lantern, apparently having survived her umpteenth crash of the day with only minor injuries. "Poor tree, though."

"Nok, Musubi-nee." muttered Gaia's Child to the Star Sapphire, passing her staff upon her to heal the little cuts and bruises, signs of the damage that had managed to pass her unstable Power Aura. "It's always sad when a child of Nature has to die…"

"…hey, Kuu-chan. Why do you keep saying that 'nok' thing? It's one of those words like that Shirou-sama said I should know, like modesty?"

"Ehm… no, Musubi-nee, that's not it. Nok is a word frequently used for the members of the Indigo Tribe, it literally means 'May Compassion be with you', but it's also used as a form of greeting or affirmation and…" both of them quickly separated in a burst of light, evading the giant claw of the still regenerating and very pissed Parallax by barely a meter. "…and maybe it would be better if we talk about this later. Musubi-nee!"

"Yes, Kuu-chan?" asked Musubi, launching punches of light repeatedly against the Entity's half-head, who was trying to crush her like a fly.

"Your Emotional Levels are much greater than mines, even with the help I get from Nature, you just need to properly focus them!" the little girl made a pause to swing her staff and launch a barrage of yellow, violet and indigo, light in Parallax direction, hitting at the base of the claw that had been about to crush Musubi, redirecting it enough for the Star Sapphire to dodge it. "Just concentrate all your Love in a form that you can properly visualize and then unleash it against Parallax!"

"A form in which I can see all my Love…?" muttered Musubi while putting a hand in her chin, flying backwards to evade more of the Entity's attacks. "…that's it! Predator-chan, can you help me concentrate?! Let's show this bad bug to not mess with love!"

Well said, my child. Let's teach Parallax a lesson.

"Finally!" growled the frustrated Entity of Fear once his head totally regenerated. With that damn Will-Barrier enveloping the city he could barely tap into the Fear that he had spread through the planet, slowing his regeneration to laughable levels! He needed to destroy these stupid Avatars so that he and Karasuba could break that barrier and…

A flash of violet flared before him, and Parallax had to blink repeatedly to confirm that he wasn't hallucinating…

…when a giant Emiya Shirou made of violet crystal, Kanshou and Byakuya at the ready, surged and slammed against him, blowing like a giant bullet and catapulting his body across the town, making it crush more buildings.

It was just luck that practically all the people in the center had already been evacuated.

"…well, I wasn't expecting that, but good job Musubi-nee." smiled Kusano while she and her 'sister' looked at where Parallax had crashed.

"Heh, of course!" happily answered the Star Sapphire while puffing out her chest. "After all, there is nothing that expresses Love more than Shirou-sama!"

A roar that sounded ten times more furious than the last one echoed through the city while Parallax started to rise once again, his broken body regenerating quicker than before.

"…he's recovering more power. That means that Onii-chan's Will-Barrier is starting to lost its power." the Indigo Lantern sighed, swinging down with her staff to make another tree sprout forth from the earth. "I should have known it wasn't going to be that easy. Let's just hope that Onii-chan manage to stop Karasuba in time."

"Of course he will! If someone can show Karasuba-sama what Love truly means, that is Shirou-sama!" determinedly answered Musubi.

Kusano looked at her with surprise for a moment, before smiling once again and turning to look at the roaring Parallax. Maybe that wasn't what she was asking in specific, but Musubi-nee was right.

If someone could do the right thing and save the Fear-corrupted Sekirei, then it was their Ashikabi.

After all, there wasn't anything her Onii-chan couldn't do!

"We're all going to die."

"Dammit Minaka, if you don't have something positive to say then shut up!"

"Okay. We're all going to die quickly."

"Mamoru, do me a favor and hit him in the head with something, ok?"

"Ehm, I don't think I should do that, Miss Takami." gulped the poor secretary, dearly wishing to be anywhere in the world but there.

Well, that's what someone usually think when their city is attacked by a giant alien-monster with the power to psychically attack the minds of everyone with some sort of Fear-hallucinations, right?

"Instead of standing there being useless and talking about how we're all going to die you could be helping me find my children!" shouted a frustrated Takami, still trying to make sense of the crazy puzzle in which the cameras of the city had turned.

The fact that most of them had been removed and that the ones still functioning showed how they seemed to be strange machine-hybrids running around the city didn't help matters.

"Takami, Karasuba has managed to summon that thing with which she tortured us, some sort of demonic alien-god of Fear, apparently, and is currently fighting against those other lunatics with super rings in the center of the city, not to mention that a giant barrier of swords is apparently the only thing stopping everyone from going into a madness attack of absolute terror, which was apparently expanding worldwide before that barrier was raised, by the way." the CEO took off his glasses and shot a deadpanned look at the Scientific's eyes. "So, can you tell me HOW in Hell's name I'm supposed to be positive?!"

"…you… just shut up." repeated the woman, once again turning to look at the monitors, probably to not face the surprisingly cold logic that Minaka just threw to her face. "We… can still trust that those other ring-users would stop her!"

"You mean the unknown civilian and the Sekirei with less IQ than a little child?" asked Minaka with a raised eyebrow. "Oh yeah, you don't know how much that reassures me."

"Ehm, and the Number 108." weakly voiced Mamoru, making the man and woman to blink and look at him.

"What?"

"Uhm, yes, the Number 108, Kusano, remember? From what one of our agents that had the disgrace to be blown up by the aftershock of a missing blast of yellow light, the Sekirei 108 seems to have come in possession of another of those rings, indigo colored, and has used its powers to release some sort of 'Healing Wave', upon the city, and also summoning… giant trees to help fight the monster." he looked up from his phone a conflicted look on his face. "With all my respects, sirs, I humbly want to ask for an augment in my salary."

"…you…ok, you have it." vaguely muttered Minaka, bringing a bottle of wine out of nowhere and starting to drink directly from it.

"Kusano? As in, little Kuu-chan?" Takami's mind seemed to have suffered another severe blow… but then a strange frown replaced it, making her look confused. "Wait a minute… First Musubi, then Kusano…" she blinked repeatedly.

Minaka, having heard what she just said, froze. His mind added another thing to that list. The Emerald Blade had surrounded the city with SWORDS. Not created from his light-powers, but real swords.

"Mom?! Can you hear me?!" the sudden intrusion of Yukari's voice make the three members of MBI blink an turn, confused, towards the monitors, one of which showed the concerned face of the Ashikabi girl, who smiled upon seeing them. "Woah, it worked! You're awesome, Steel Gear!"

"Yu…kari?" the woman shook her head and ran towards the monitor, almost not believing it. "Yukari, thanks god you're okay! Where are you?! And how are you talking to me through this frequency?"

"That would have been me, people of MBI." everyone blinked when in one of the other monitors appeared the strange symbol of the Sekirei crest upon the Green Lantern Corps emblem, shining in a metallic color. "I'm Steel Gear, controller of machines, an associate of the Emerald Blade! You don't need to thank me for helping your daughter; I was only doing what any…"

"Matsu? Is that you?" Takami's sudden question seemed to make the so-called Steel Gear to choke in her own words and made Yukari blink.

"Matsu?" she turned to look at Shiina, who, like her, was riding in the back of a firefighter's truck, keeping an eye in the dozens of metallic spiders sharing ride with them. "Hey, now that she says it, it surely sounds like Matsu's voice…"

"Mistress… I think that was, ehm, a little obvious." sighed Shiina while Yukari's eyes widened.

"Heh, heh, heh! Matsu? Who is that? I don't know what you're talking about!" the nervous laugh coming from the monitors didn't make anyone believe in the Sekirei's words any more.

"Matsu. I will only ask it once, and I want you to answer with the truth. Understood?" there was such… Power in Takami's voice that Minaka couldn't help but wonder if she was unknowingly using some sort of unknown Magecraft. In truth, that was just the voice of a REALLY enraged mother. "Is the Emerald Blade my son?"

A deep, shocked silence filled all those who were listening to the conversation for a few seconds. Then, the symbol of Steel Gear disappeared from the monitors, Yukari's image following shortly after.

For Takami, it couldn't have been a better confirmation than if Shirou himself had said 'Yes'.

"…crap. This is not good." muttered Matsu, sweat covering her forehead as she once again extended her Will through the machines in the city.

She just hoped this wouldn't end up being something as bad as she thought…

In the now silent firefighter's truck, a still shocked Yukari was staring with wide eyes at the screen of the computer that had been hardwired to the vehicle, Shiina in a similar state at her side.

Finally, the Demon Ashikabi seemed to regain the ability for coherent thoughts.

"The Emerald Blade is…. Onii-chan?" she muttered with incredulity, turning to look at Shiina as if asking for confirmation.

"Okay… I really didn't that coming." admitted Shiina with wide eyes.

Just then, an enormous explosion of yellow light coming from not so far away made both of them turn their heads that way with surprise.

And then, a blade as big as a building fell from the sky.

In the broken center of the park that had seem more blood than any other part of Shin Tokyo, two figures rose, staring directly at each other in absolute silence.

Finally, the yellow one decided to break the silence.

"What? Did you want to fight in a place out of view so that no one has to see you die?" questioned Karasuba while fully opening her insect-like wings, the hole that she had in the side from Shirou's impact slowly disappearing under yellow light. "That's fine with me… I'm going to kill you anyway."

"Karasuba… no, talking to you at this point would be useless. You're not her, even I can see that." the Emerald Blade stood with his arms extended to his sides; his trusted twins Pian Dao appearing in his hands. "You're just a hollow shell that keeps going with void words and fake bravery."

"What would you know?! You're just a stupid human!" the Avatar of Fear roared furiously, her yellow eyes piercing Shirou with hate. "I don't need you or anyone! I don't need Love! I'm FEAR! And when I kill you, I will finally prove that I was right from the beginning!"

The Magus simply stood there, receiving the words without so much a flinch. He looked past the furious death-threats; looked past the monstrous armor, past the yellow eyes that only knew Fear.

There. So little it was almost nonexistent. In the middle of it all… there was just a scared being that feared losing the only thing that had ever given meaning to her life.

There was a soul who needed to be saved.

That was all that Shirou needed to see. And here, where no Entity was aiding to keep drowning her in her sorrow… he would be able to do it.

To save everyone.

To save Her.

"Then come, Avatar of Fear." the Green Lantern flared his Power Aura, the symbol of Will burning in his eyes so bright that it could be seen even through the visor of his helmet. "Let's see who is right and who isn't."

Karasuba's answer was a wordless scream of animal fury while she shot towards him, claw-sword at the ready.

Shirou wasted no time. He launched the Married Blades like missiles and immediately created another two while flying towards the incoming Sekirei, who simply deflected the swords with her arm before clashing against him.

The only thing that stopped the brutal onslaught of attacks from reducing him to minced meat was the suicidal style that his future-self had developed and he had been refining through the years.

Up, down, to the right, to the left. A direct hit to the side, a slash that should have cut a brutal part of his side… all of them were deflected, as if he already knew from where they would come.

And he did, of course, for he was the one giving all those openings, purposely letting vital parts of his body exposed during the fight, making his enemies seek them without knowing that he would be ready to block and deflect their attacks.

This was a style that was mortally dangerous, and that wouldn't work for anyone else. It was a style meant to give an inferior, weaker human the ability to fight against superior existences, against creatures and threats too dangerous for normal persons to ever imagine to face.

But that was before. Before Emiya Shirou became the Emerald Blade. Now, even if it still looked suicidal…

"Overedge." suddenly voiced the Magus, the increasing in the swords size altering the next of Karasuba's strikes and getting her out of balance for one second. Just enough for the first pair of Kanshou and Byakuya to come back and stab her in the back.

… it was a style meant to give an advantage to someone with the power to fight back with equal power.

"GAH! Damn you, bastard!" roared the corrupted Sekirei, insect claws sprouting from her back and crushing the Married Blades, both of them summing to the brutal attack that Shirou was receiving.

The Green Lantern ducked and avoided as he could the consecutive attacks, the last of them managing to get past his Power Aura but being unable to do more than a flesh wound to his Will-Reinforced body. If he didn't do something, and quickly, he would slowly but surely lose.

"Shirou. I found what you needed."

"Good. Bring it to the front, now." just as he finished his words, the information of the weapon that his ring had searched appeared inside his helmet, and he immediately found them inside of him

Emiya Shirou's Magecraft was something unique, but not as perfect as some would think. Even if he could perfectly remember every weapon he saw because it immediately recorded itself inside Unlimited Blade Works, he couldn't know everything ALL THE TIME about every single weapon. That would drive him mad, distorted mind or not.

If he concentrated, he could search through his Reality Marble and look at the weapons inside of it and their stories one by one, but thanks to Gilgamesh and Archer he just had TOO MANY blades inside his soul to remember all of them and their specifics powers all the time. He needed to know beforehand what he wanted to Trace before bringing it out from the Blade Works, and, as a human, there was just so much he could remember at the same time.

It was just a little stroke of good luck that he now had a tool that could perfectly do all that and more in seconds without breaking a sweat.

"Weapon selected. Properties acknowledged. Eight Steps Completed! Trace…!"

"…on!" finished Shirou for his ring, a colossal blade that not even Berserker could have properly wielded appearing while floating just upon his head, the tip directly pointed at the shocked Karasuba.

The monstrous sword was something that looked almost otherworldly, a weapon at which someone only needed one look to know it was never meant to be used by human hands. It was almost two times as long as the son of Zeus had been tall, and it looked more like a deformed demon-wing with a handle than a sword, its blade as thick as one the Berserker's arms had been. Rock of unknown origin and steel forged by superior beings were the material which composed it, and even if now shined in a pristine emerald, Shirou knew that its original colors were grey and crimson.

A part of Shirou's mind wondered about where Archer, for he had seen it in the Counter Guardian's Marble, had ever seen such a blade. Perhaps the Gilgamesh of his timeline had used it against him? That would made sense, especially with the history that this unnatural weapon had.

This was Sul-Sagasa, the 'Red Blade'. A sword which shared its name with a Sumerian deity, probably its original wielder. It was a weapon not of man, but that of the long-lost Gods.

It was also a weapon that not even Archer would have been able to simply Trace, due to the insane amount of Prana that it required to be brought into existence.

His ring offhandedly commented that he was not impressed, that there were far more intimidating and dangerous things in his universe. The Green Lantern smiled.

"What the hell…?!" exclaimed Karasuba, having been thrown out of balance again thanks to the shock from the aura that the colossal and divine Noble Phantasm emitted.

"Sul-Sagasa." simply declared Shirou while pointing to the Avatar of Fear. The Divine Weapon answered, coming to life as a colossal beam of pure energy shot out from the tip of the sword, burning the air itself as it impacted against the corrupted Sekirei, brutally dragging her through the park before finally exploding with astonishing force, enough to launch Shirou backwards and force him to disperse the Noble Phantasm.

"…okay. I will accept it. That was pretty cool." voiced the Power Ring once Shirou had stabilized himself, floating some meters over the park and looking at the brutal annihilation he had brought with wide eyes. "Maybe we went a little overboard with that thing, though."

"Damn… I didn't think it was THAT powerful, I shouldn't have underestimated how the Will would have augmented its power." the Magus looked apprehensively at the burned and collapsed earth that had been almost half the park less than a minute ago. "Do you think that maybe she…?"

"Warning! Colossal spike in Fear Levels detected! What is she doing?!" the ring's words were accompanied by some of the smoke that covered the area dispersing quickly; yellow energy flaring around Karasuba's raised claw-blade. Her armor was cracked in a lot of parts, but the most prominent one was her half-collapsed helmet, which let her slightly burned face and a glaring yellow eye exposed to see.

The Green Lantern's eyes widened when he saw how her Sekirei wings had appeared once again, shining madly with golden light in her back.

"Wait a minute… Don't tell me that's…!"

"Absolute Fear of my contract… Burn to ashes all that stands in MY path!" roared the Avatar of Fear, the energy upon her arm burning with a promise of total destruction.

"Her energy seems to be burning itself out for a unique destructive release! What is that?!"

"Her Norito!" answered Shirou while raising his hands, discarding the thoughts of what the hell had Karasuba done to her own core with her ring to be able to use it without the need of an Ashikabi, and how it had changed it, because he was sure as hell that the Fear part wasn't in her original chant. "Ring, the other one, now! I need it to survive that!"

"Incoming! It's in your helmet now!"

"Infernal Terror!" Karasuba's scream pierced through the air at the same time as a giant slash-like wave of Prana and Fear shot forwards, reducing all in its path to ashes, burning earth, air, plants, metal and concrete all the same.

"TRACE, ON!" roared ring and Lantern at unison, Will-Prana being expended madly while the wave of burning destruction screamed towards then…

…and was brutally stopped when a Titanic sword crashed into the earth just before Shirou, the impact being enough to make great part of Shin Tokyo shake upon itself. The Infernal Terror roared madly, unable to incinerate the obstacle and finally disappearing after expending all of its energy.

"… No… freaking… way…" muttered a stunned Karasuba, looking up at the new inhuman weapon.

A straight sword of rock. That would have been all that was needed to describe it. However, his colossal size only was enough to left someone speechless, looking at the thing in absolute disbelief. The blade was MASSIVE, big enough that it would have been able to crush Berserker with one swing. It was a weapon whose mass only was enough to make it crash and impale itself in the earth a quarter of its length.

And that was the most terrifying of it all. That it was a weapon. This was no decoration, no part of a statue or monument of old. This was a blade that had once been wielded by something, in an era that the modern man had long forgotten.

It was a sword meant to crush mountains.

This was Ig-Alima, a sword wielded by another Sumerian deity of the same name, which legend was very close to that of Sul-Sagasa. Ironically, his original colors were those of the dark divine rock that made it, but its name literally mean 'Green Blade'.

Shirou would have laughed at the irony it his body wasn't burning like hell.

This was, without a doubt, the most costly sword that existed in the all of his Reality Marble. The amount of Prana needed to Trace it wasn't just big, it was a joke. Not even two Barthomeloi Lorelei would have the amount necessary to bring it to existence. It was a testament at how much power the combination of his Magecraft and Willpower could achieve that he had managed to do it at all.

It had also blown up most of his armor parts, more than half of his artificial circuits having exploded from the strain.

"Power Levels at 19%. Okay… that was really awesome. I almost thought that we wouldn't make it!"

…it had also depleted most of his Willpower, apparently. He could already feel his barrier starting to fail and slowly collapse, the Will of Ion now a distant echo.

But it had been enough. Even though one of the sides was badly blackened and burned, and there were some cracks filling the titanic Noble Phantasm, it had saved them from certain death. Now, he just needed a moment to catch his breath and…

"NO MORE TRICKS, SHIROU!" Karasuba's roar was accompanied by the most horrible of all sounds: That of legendary rock breaking. "NOW YOU DIE!"

The Emerald Blade looked up just in time to see the blade of Ig-Alima shatter, Karasuba's claw-blade following the same destiny after she apparently created a spinning giant version of it to drill through the weakened Noble Phantasm, which wasn't in the best of states after receiving the corrupted Norito. Shirou couldn't even think of how much damage she had done to herself doing that, if her bloodied hand was anything to go by, because in that moment her Fear-powered katana reappeared in it as if it had been always there, the blade flying directly at his neck.

The Green Lantern quickly flew backwards, but not quickly enough to avoid his helmet being destroyed and a little gash appearing in his right cheek.

"Dammit!" growled the Magus while trying to regain his footing, but knowing that it was useless.

He wasn't going to be able to Trace anything before Karasuba's incoming katana bisected him or…

"UAAAHHH!" cried Matsu's voice through the air at the same time that a firefighter's truck being rode by some sort of mechanic spiders brutally rammed itself against Karasuba, taking the surprised Avatar of Fear with it before slamming against one of the still intact trees.

Shirou blinked. He saw the spiders evacuate the truck seconds before a roaring tornado of wind-empowered fire crashed against it, making an awesome explosion.

Then, a torrent of water brutally smashed the still burning remnants, a rain of pointy icicles brutally slamming against the zone shortly after.

"Uff, talk about arriving just in time." smiled Kazehana while Akitsu lowered her arms at her side.

"Hmmpf, it wasn't really that difficult." huffed Tsukiumi while looking away, Homura at her side looking from the shocked red-head to the beyond-destroyed park and then at the smoking mess where Karasuba was.

"You know what, I'm not even going to bother saying anything." simply sighed the fire user before approaching Shirou and offering him a hand. "You're really an idiot sometimes, you know?"

The Emiya blinked several times before taking her hand and looking around, a sudden epiphany hitting him. This was the difference; this was what truly differenced the Counter Guardian EMIYA from Emiya Shirou, the Emerald Blade.

Where Archer had pushed away everyone just for the sake of following his ideal, every time turning harder and harder in his soul, he wasn't alone. He had them. All of them.

He had people at his side that would come to help HIM when HE needed help. He remembered then a conversation that he had with his ring not long ago.

Nowadays, the Corps always made sure that every Space Sector had at least two Lanterns in active. When he had asked why, the conduit of Willpower had simply shrugged and said: 'Hey, even Superheroes can't do everything on their own, you know? Everyone needs someone watching their backs.'

That was the difference. The knowing how to appreciate the people around him instead of pushing them away while chasing his dream.

The ring had taught him that. And it was for that same reason that he hadn't died thirty seconds ago. Because someone had come to the Hero's aid.

He wasn't alone.

"All of you… are going to die… painfully and slowly!" growled Karasuba while flying out of the destroyed zone, yellow light surrounding her. Even so, she was clearly worse for wear, blood covering part of her body and one of her legs dangling limp, probably broken.

It looked like the destructed combination that had hit her by surprise had been enough to trespass her already weakened Power Aura.

Everyone tensed, Shirou's eyes widening while his mind searched frantically for something that he could still Trace with his nearly depleted reserves, distantly feeling how the Will-Barrier was already collapsing. If he had just a couple of seconds more, maybe he could…!

A spike of energy and a familiar smell intensifying made him turn his head just in time to see a blushing but determined Chiho separating her lips from Uzume's, the Veiled Sekirei smiling before quickly turning and slamming her hands in the earth.

"By the veil of my contract, my Ashikabi's nightmares will be dispelled!" roared Uzume before hundreds threads of cloth burst from the earth just under the incoming Karasuba, surrounding and entangling her in all direction with a speed too great for a normal human's eye to see.

Even with his reinforced eyes, Shirou lost sight of most of the threats multiple times while they keep converting the weakened Karasuba into a giant cocoon.

"What…?!" started the Avatar of Fear before her head was covered too, the might of Uzume's Norito having still not finished as it keep weaving around itself, with no end in sight.

"Eternal Silk." finished Uzume with a smile, the prison of thousands of threads finishing itself. No normal Sekirei would be able to simply escape from this before the threats had squeezed them tight enough to Terminate them. Even for the top tier of their species, it would be difficult to simply escape from it with brute force, seeing as the cocoon left no space to use weapons or powers without self-harming.

Even a normal Lantern would still need more or less ten seconds to break from it if it managed to capture them by surprise. And even weakened as she was, for Karasuba it would only take five.

It was enough.

"Thanks, Uzume, Chiho." said Shirou while shooting himself at the breaking cocoon, a long katana appearing in his hand.

It was just that. No Noble Phantasm, no especial, mystical or legendary weapon, no Mystic Code. It was just a plain, normal katana. One finely crafted, like the modern era didn't produce anymore, but that was it.

It too was enough. Karasuba roared as yellow light tore her way out of the prison of Uzume's Norito, swinging brutally with her katana at Shirou.

The Magus deflected it without trouble. And the next swing. And the next one. And the next.

The corrupted Sekirei started to realize that something was wrong when no matter how brutal or quick her attacks were, Shirou just seemed to… 'flow' around them like water, no movement wasted, with a grace and mastery of his weapon that seemed out of this world.

Yes, it was just a simple katana. A katana that had belonged to a man that had been anything but simple. Summoned by the Witch of Betrayal in the 5th Holy Grail War, that man, not even a proper Heroic Spirit, had adopted the identity of a fictional samurai, Sasaki Koujirou, just like the sword which was now in Shirou's hands had adopted the identity of his blade, Monohoshizau.

He was no renowned hero. No great demigod. No king, no emperor. Just a simple samurai that had passed all of his life polishing his skills… until they were so great that none other could compare to him, even though no one knew of his existence, let alone his true name.

Summoned as a Fake Assassin, years later, Saber had confessed to Shirou and Rin that, if she and the samurai had fought during their lives as humans, she would have undoubtedly lost.

A simple man whose skill was so great that, even as an Assassin, was able to fight almost equally to the King of Knights, summoned under the greatest of the seven classes.

A man that had created a skill so incredible, so otherworldly, that, without the need of any especial power, was borderline Sorcery.

Just with his bare hands and his skills.

And it was that man's simple katana which Shirou now held in his hands, the nameless sword that had adopted the name of Monohoshizau.

Karasuba hesitated, the godly level of skill that the Green Lantern was showing making her stop her next swing to search for an opening.

The Magus smirked. He took THE position, half-showing his side to his enemy, confusing everyone that was entranced looking the battle. The Avatar of Fear roared, thinking that he was underestimating her, and shot forwards with ferocity, generating two insect-claws from her back, sure in that she could avoid whatever attack Shirou was preparing.

Unfortunately for the corrupted wagtail, this was a technique that could kill a flying swallow.

"Hiken…" the katana rose, finality written in its edge and in the Emerald Blade's eyes. "…Tsubame Gaeshi!"

Reality broke. Space-time was transcended. The impossible became possible, just through a skill, something worthy of being called the ultimate sword skill.

One slash became three.

The sound of a single blade cutting flesh resounded through the air, and suddenly, Shirou and Karasuba were standing almost ten meters from each other, both of them showing their backs to the other.

Everyone present blinked; their eyes wide with amazement and disbelief, unsure if what they had just seen was truly real, or of what exactly they had seen.

Then, Shirou's katana broke in thousands of pieces, making all of them tense and prepare to…

"…How?" muttered a wide-eyed Karasuba, her claws and what remained of her armor suddenly exploding, leaving her in the destroyed remains of her Golden Shōkyaku uniform, a long and bloody slash in her torso, just under her breasts. It was a deep wound, but not a lethal one. The Fear armor and her now vanished Power Aura had absorbed most of what should have been a mortal blow.

She tried to take a step towards the Green Lantern, but slipped on her feet and fell backwards to the ground with a loud 'thud'.

"That technique was developed by a normal human, you know? Unlike me or you, a normal man with only normal skills managed to do something that's practically True Magic. Humanity is far much greater and amazing than what you think, Karasuba. I hope this had made you see that." the Magus turned towards her, slowly walking until he was standing just at her side, looming over the Sekirei.

"Power Levels at 10%. That… what the hell?! You broke reality with just a freaking sword skill!" Shirou allowed himself a little smile at his rings absolute incredulity. "What should have been a single slash broke the barrier of dimensions and became three…! Woah, this world and you are certainly more interesting than what I thought, Shirou…"

"Stop…with the useless banter…" the red-head eyes turned once again at the downed Avatar of Fear, who was looking at him with hollow yellow eyes and a bitter smile. "You did it. You won. You prove me wrong and that you were right. Now do it. End this once and for all."

Everyone else's eyes widened, looking from Karasuba to Shirou, almost as if unsure of what would happen.

The only confused one was Chiho, who had never seen the Emiya fight before he became the Emerald Blade.

"…do you really want me to do that?" asked the Magus, eyes of steel as he looked at the fallen Sekirei. "After all that, you're just going to give up?"

"I lost. I did everything and more, went beyond my limits, threw away my whole self at this power, this Fear… and it still wasn't enough to beat you." she laughed bitterly, looking a Shirou as if she was seeing him for the first time. "And you know what? Now that I can think a little more clearly, I'm sure… that was the best battle of my life. I have no regrets…"

"…this is the only path." muttered Shirou, finishing Karasuba's phrase with a part of his old Aria, grimacing at reminding its meaning. But that too had changed, and being proved false. Then, he half-kneeled at her side, looking directly into her eyes. "There is always another path, Karasuba."

"You have more or less 10 seconds to kill me before Parallax breaks through your barrier and drowns this world in eternal Fear to recover his power." the grey-haired woman smiled fiercely at the sudden panic in everyone's faces, their eyes shooting upwards to see the emerald swords crumbling away like dust. "So, how it's going to be, Shirou?! C'mon, you know what you have to do! Finish…!"

The Green Lantern brought his hand down, stabbing the alien woman in the chest. Everyone gasped and a little cry of horror seemed to come from Chiho.

Karasuba smiled, looking at the eyes of the man who had defeated her, ready to, before dying, tell him that in the end, at least he had been unable to…

And then, she realized that what she had thought was a finishing blow had been just a little pinprick, as if from a needle. Her eyes fell upon the strange, twisted dagger with which Shirou had just scratched her.

"I told you. There is always another way. It took me a lot to realize it… but I did."

"Wha…?"

"Rule Breaker." intoned the Green Lantern while closing his eyes, all his remaining Artificial Circuits shattering from the pressure, the swords covering the city vanishing in a shower of emerald sparks…

But it was done.

Karasuba's eyes widened and her body jerked, her Sekirei wings once again flashing for a moment… before vanishing without a trace. The Avatar of Fear's eyes rolled backwards before closing, and she fell silent.

Everyone looked on with wide eyes. And then, they felt it.

It was disappearing…

"This ends NOW!" roared Parallax, a smile in his monstrous face as he fell the last of Ion's Will vanishing and the barrier collapsing. In a matter of seconds he would once again have access to the Fear of all living things upon this planet.

"Yes… you're right. It ends now." muttered a sweating and gasping Kusano, Musubi at her side looking a little worse… but why was the child smiling? "You lose, Parallax."

"What? Have you lost your mind, Avatar of the Proselyte?! You're practically out of energy and I'm about to recover all of mine! You're the ones who have lo…!" the Entity of Fear froze, his eyes widening when he felt something. The only thing that could have reached him in his maddened state.

His connection with Karasuba broke.

"I knew that he could do it." smiled the Gaia's Child while closing her eyes, Musubi looking wide-eyed how Parallax entire form seemed to be… collapsing upon itself, breaking into Yellow Light that dispersed in the air as if it had never been there… except for the central part, that was being 'pulled' in the direction where Shirou and Karasuba had gone off flying.

"No…nonononoNO!" Parallax screams of fury were ignored as his physical form kept breaking apart, the center of what made the consciousness of the Emotional Entity being 'sucked back' towards his fallen Avatar. "NOOO! AVATAR OF IOOOON!"

The aforementioned Magus and everyone else in the park looked up, surprised, seeing how what remained of Parallax head was flying directly towards them, twisting itself to become some abomination of jaws and claws.

It was aiming directly at Shirou, who was still at Karasuba's side.

The Green Lantern idly realized that he had barely enough force to stand up if he tried, and that the others were being too slow in trying to use their powers. The incoming remains of the Entity of Fear were faster.

"Shirou, move!" futility screamed the Magus' Power Ring, knowing it was too late.

"I WILL TAKE YOUR LIFE BEFORE BEING SEALED AWAY, YOU STUPID HU…!"

A sword cut through the air with tremendous power and whatever else that Parallax wanted to say was brutally silenced when his remains were cut in two, dissolving into strands of yellow light that flowed upon all the presents before entering back into Karasuba's body.

"Power Levels at 1%." announced the yellow ring with finality before the Sekirei's uniform disappeared in a yellow flash, leaving her in her old Disciplinary Squad clothes.

Shirou blinked, wondering how many times had done that today, and his eyes followed the trail of the attack until landing in a smiling Miya, who was lowering her katana as she casually dusted her clothes.

"Thanks for bringing my sword, Matsu." smiled the landlady at the RC helicopter-phone at her side, a certain battalion of mechanic spiders not far behind.

"Well, I knew it would come in handy under an emergency, heh, heh…" muttered the Wisdom Sekirei, getting some raised eyebrows from her strange laugh. "Ah, and I told you that I'm now 'Steel Gear' while we're in the field!"

"…okay, its official, if I ever get connection with the Central Battery again, I WILL write this in a special section of the Book of Oa. This has to be, like, at least one of the Top 10 most awesome battles in where a Corps member had ever found himself!"

The landlady laughed softly at the bespectacled woman's and the ring's antics, abstaining from making a Mother-Son joke, before turning at Shirou, a happy smile in her face.

"It looks like you made a really big mess, Emiya-kun." the First Sekirei chuckled again when the red-head scratched the back of his head. "But you did it."

"…ring, status report." muttered Shirou softly.

"…You really did it, Shirou. There is a LOT of property and structural damage, and some minor injured from the last part of the battle, but thanks to everyone efforts and to Kuu-chan's Indigo Light… there are no causalities. The number of victims is zero." there was a moment of silence while everyone present digested that, eyes widening and surprised looks being exchanged. "You saved everyone."

"… I did it." Shirou was almost unable to believe his own words while he let himself fall backwards in the scorched earth. He knew that it wouldn't always be like this, that sometimes, someone would die, that sometimes someone would not be able to be saved in time…

But even if he knew it, that wouldn't stop him. He would still try, with all his might, like today. And, as a little, almost nonexistent, part of himself softly muttered, that would be enough as long as he and those at his side did all they could.

He wouldn't let his own ideal consume him while trying to achieve it, not anymore.

He was the Emerald Blade, Green Lantern of the Sector 2814, after all.

"Oh, and by the way, Power Levels at 1%." the ring's words were followed by the disappearance of the Magus' uniform, making him sigh with exhaustion. "You may want to recharge me when we get back to the Inn."

"I-is she…?" Chiho's soft and uncertain voice made everyone look at the young woman, Uzume embracing her as the young girl looked at Karasuba's prone form.

"She's only Terminated, Level 1." announced Shirou while raising the dagger in his hand, the bitter memories that it brought back passing briefly for his mind before letting it disperse and turning off his burning circuits, his body feeling relieved and REALLY tired. "I will explain that later, but for now we should…"

"Heeey, Shirou-samaaaa, everyoneeee!" all the heads in the destroyed park turned to look at the incoming Star Sapphire and Indigo Lantern, both of them bearing happy smiles in her faces, even if for once Musubi was who looked the more childish of the two with the expression.

"I knew you could do it, Onii-chan." voiced Kusano with a calm smile… before her eyes widened as she looked at something at Shirou's side.

"Ah, Shirou-sama, watch out!" Musubi's warning was full of surprise but, strangely, not of preoccupation.

The Ashikabi couldn't even begin to try to guess why before Karasuba jumped upon him, pinning his body at the ground.

"Ah!"

"Shirou!"

"Husband! Get away from him!"

"Release him, now!"

"Homura, wait, you will hurt him too!"

"You…" Shirou looked at the gasping and blushing Sekirei with panicking eyes, his mind finally realizing that he was out of Will and Prana and could do nothing to stop her if she decided to just break his neck. "…bastard…"

…wait a minute. Gasping and blu…?

No one knew how to react when Karasuba fiercely slammed her lips against Shirou's, her Sekirei wings and crest flaring mightily behind her, once again in their normal colors, as she deepened the kiss with almost hunger.

Perhaps because of all the shit that had happened that day or maybe because of how absurd the situation was, Shirou kissed back, everyone else still frozen with disbelief/horror/incredulity and, slowly, even some fury.

"What the fuck…?!" was finally able to shout Matsu, the first one in regain coherent thought, probably because she was just looking the scene from a camera.

"Forever… and ever…" weakly muttered Karasuba, some threats of saliva still joining her and Shirou's mouth before she fell at his side, no energy left in her body. After a couple of seconds of silence, she finally asked something. "Why…didn't you kill me?"

"That… would have been the easy choice." muttered the Magus almost automatically, his brain still unable to correctly process what had just happened. "You needed to be saved, so I saved you. There's nothing wrong with wanting to help people who need it."

"…you're really an idiot, you know?" Karasuba LAUGHED, a true and genuine laugh, making every Sekirei present, sans Kusano and Musubi, to cringe in horror as if it was the most horrible and unnatural thing they had ever heard. "And still, you're the one who won in the end…" she closed her eyes, her consciousness slipping away as she leaned on Shirou's side. "Maybe this won't be… so bad…"

"Yeah… if you say so…" finally, the mind and body of the Emiya seemed to arrive at the accord that, even for him, this was too much shit for a single day, and both of them shut down, letting him slip in then happy place called unconsciousness.

A deeeeep silence filled the destroyed park; most of the people present still frozen or gaping, unable to think or to accept what had happened.

"YAY! I knew Shirou-sama could show Karasuba-sama the true wonders of Love!"

"Truly, even with all the knowledge of the Tribe inside me, I can't find anything more amazing than my Onii-chan."

…well, almost everyone.

"…okay, seriously, this guy here? He's going to become a LEGEND in the Corps!" summed the Power Ring with an exited voice that made it truly sound like a twelve year's old and not like the ultimate True Intelligence of the most advanced technological tool in the Universe. "I mean, how many Lanterns can boast of ending a battle making out with their enemies?!"

While the ring's absurd declaration managed to slowly reboot the brains of everyone present, no one noticed how, not so far away, behind some of the trees that had miraculously survived the battle, a certain Sekirei and Ashikabi pair was still looking at the scene wide-eyed and open-mouthed.

Then, Shiina finally seemed to recover and decided to drag his still frozen Ashikabi out of there, probably to a hospital. Maybe he was no doctor, but he was sure that no one should be as frozen as Yukari had been for so long.

Or had so many stars in her eyes, for that matter.

Meanwhile, in a Hill of Swords, that was strangely empty and no longer under an eternal dawn/twilight, two 'persons' where looking at each other, the kid with a happy smile on his face and the adult scowling at him.

'He did it. I told you he would.'

'It was just a fluke, just a lucky couple of coincidences. He won't be able to keep like this forever.'

'Aww, don't be a sore loser and accept that you were wrong, Ashura. Besides…' the Hero looked up, the Ashura's eyes widening as he did the same and an emerald glow started to shine and illuminate them and the entirety of the inner-world. 'Things are changing. And I think that they are going to keep doing it a lot in the future…'

The agreement roar of a giant shark-whale echoed upon the illuminated night.

In the vastness of space, the Blue Planet floated silently. This was the Earth.

Yet, this was not the same Earth from where Emiya Shirou and his companions were from, no.

This was a very different world. One without a consciousness (At least one like Gaia). One where a man could fly without magic or technology. One filled with wonderful and terrifying things, one where there were people who used their amazing gift in the open without fear, be it for the good of everyone… or for their evil ambitions.

But even with all the bad things, it was still a much better place than the Earth where Emiya Shirou lived.

This was a world where all the people was aware of its dangers and marvels, unlike the other one, where those with supernatural powers manipulated everything from the shadows and keep the normal people in the dark at any cost, mass murdering or manipulation their primary weapons if they deemed it necessary.

Here in this world, Good and Evil fought each other in the open. Oh, they surely were still secrets and lies, like in any normal world, but at least here you were more or less sure of what to expect of your life.

This was the Planet Earth that was the center of the Space Sector 2814 under the vigilance of the Guardians of Oa.

And upon this world, silently floating, a colossal satellite watched.

No. Calling it a satellite would have been an insult. This was a fortress, glorious and powerful, always silently watching upon the world.

This was the Watchtower, the heart of the Justice League.

And inside of it, in a especial room, a man with black hair, blue tights and a long red cape was standing, arms closed as he looked at the 'old man' in the operation bed before him.

In the chest of the man of the cape, there was symbol. Some sort of red 'S' inside a diamond.

This was the Man of Steel. Clark Kent. Kal-El of Krypton.

Superman.

But for some people, the unconscious man resting in the bed with his eyes closed would have been much more interesting.

For it was none other than Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, the Kaleidoscope himself.

"Let me get this straight. John told you he felt some sort of disturbance from the Antimatter Universe. You and Firestorm went there to investigate and your ring got some weird readings. And you found this man ALONE facing off against the Anti-Monitor?" there would have been more disbelief in the Kryptonian's words if he hadn't seen so many strange and impossible things in his life. "How?"

"I… don't know how to start explaining that, Clark. I made my ring record the last part, but I still can't understand what the hell all those things and multicolor portals he was using were…" muttered a man of brown hair, wearing the standard uniform of the Green Lantern Corps, useless mask and everything. "Firestorm distracted the Anti-Monitor long enough for me to get the guy after one of his annihilation beams knocked him out. Then, we got the hell out of there."

This was Hal Jordan, one of the four Green Lanterns of the Sector 2814. The original human Green Lantern.

"What I want to know is how he arrived there without anyone detecting him. Portals to the Antimatter Universe don't just open without anyone of the hundreds persons watching for these things noticing." voiced the final occupant of the room, a man in a dark hood-cape that reminded someone of some sort of demon, almost seeming to blend with the shadows. There was the vaguely recognizable form of a bat in his chest.

This was Bruce Wayne. The Batman. And believe me; you would prefer to take your chances running away from a Servant than from this guy. Especially at night.

"I don't know Bruce, the only thing we know is that he's not human, but we're not sure of WHAT is he. The analysis that John made before… 'Going out cold' managed only to determine that he's some sort of vampiric life-form. We probably will have to wait until he or the old man wake up for more answers." commented the Green Lantern, Superman grimacing at the reminder of what had happened to his friend when he had tried to read the mind of the unconscious old man.

He had never seen the Martian Manhunter looking so out of it before. He just hoped that John would wake up soon… and without any sequels.

"I don't know if we should let an unknown vampire with enough power to keep the Anti-Monitor at bay, even for a short time, simply wake up in the Watchtower." muttered Batman while looking at the sleeping Zelretch, all his danger-instincts telling him to put all the distance he could from the man in front of him.

"Then what do you suggest, Bruce? That we keep him sedated or something?"

"If it's necessary." Batman answered back, staring unflinchingly at the man who could fly at the heart of the Sun and come back unscratched.

Clark still feel uneasy knowing that he would end up losing the staring contest, like always.

"Ehm, guys? I have some news." both of them turned to look towards the startle Green Lantern, who almost jumped away when their intense stares were directed at him for a moment. "Uh, remember how I told you about that problem the Guardians had, a week back or so, in Oa?"

"You mean how someone managed to steal a Power Ring and Battery under their own noses?" commented Batman while looking at him.

"Ahm, yes, that. Well, look at this. Is the image they transferred to every Corps member of the guy who stole it." Hal raised his ring, projecting a tridimensional image upon it.

The smiling image of the unconscious old man in the bed behind them.

The three of them turned once again to look at Zelretch.

"…Hal, please contact with the Guardians and tell them that we have their thief. Bruce, can you go see if you can get any info of how this guy crossed half the universe without anyone noticing?" Superman didn't even need to turn around to know that Batman had left the room. "I will take that as a yes. I will go see if John has woken up and to bring someone to keep this guy sleeping. We have to know all that we can about him, and quick."

While the Superheroes exited the room, one of Zelretch eyebrows twitched, but, thankfully for the Justice League, the Ancestor didn't wake up.

Things would have turned REALLY bad if he did.

"Hmm, this tea is delicious. Thanks again, Mu-chan."

"Heh, no problem, Karasuba-sama! Besides, Shirou-sama is the one who made the tea, you should thank him instead!"

"Oh, yes, how rude of me." the Sekirei turned a smiling face at the red-head, who was sitting at the other side of the table. "Thanks for the tea, Shirou."

"You're… welcome." answered the Magus with a nervous smile, a bead of sweat falling from his forehead while he unsuccessfully tried to ignore the heaviness in the room.

Miya was unusually sitting at his side, sweetly smiling while a dark and heavy aura flowed from her, her stare totally fixed upon Karasuba, who simply looked back at her with a carefree smile.

The other occupants of the room were alternating between casting worried glances at Miya and suspicious/hostile ones at Karasuba. Except for the happy Musubi and the still indigo-clad and floating Kusano, who was smiling as she sipped her tea.

Shirou was sure he would never get used to that, but she had insisted in staying that way to give her explanation.

Well, he was just glad that the little girl had managed to convince Miya to not just abandon Karasuba in the park when they brought them back to the Inn while unconscious. He was still not sure of what exactly the Indigo Lantern had said to the landlady, but apparently hearing cold but smiley logic coming from a little girl had been enough for the first Sekirei to bring the Sinestro Corps member along. Very reluctantly, as the current situation showed.

What he still couldn't really believe was that Rule Breaker had turned Karasuba back to her pre-Winged state instead of Terminating her. Or that she would forcefully winged herself to him with what remained of her strength.

I mean, c'mon, what were the odds of something like that happening?

The other members of his… harem (Root, how he cringed when saying that) certainly hadn't taken the situation with too much enthusiasm. Except Musubi, of course.

"Miya-chan, don't you know it's rude to stare like that at your guests? And here I thought you were an exemplar landlady." taunted Karasuba while pouring herself more tea, making Shirou feel the urgent need to facepalm.

"Oh my, I can assure you I'm an excellent landlady, Karasuba. Everyone who DESERVES and needs help is always warmly welcomed in Izumo Inn."

"Oh, but I'm someone who fits that criteria, don't I?"

"You almost destroyed the entire world."

"Weren't you one who kept insisting that I wasn't myself?"

"Why, you…!"

"Please, can the two of you stop bickering? I'm supposed to be the child, and after all what I told you I thought you would be able to see that we can't get dragged into petty problems." everyone sweatdropped and looked a little disturbed at Kusano, like every time they had done during the last day when the little girl had said something like that.

Still, all that she had explained thanks to the Proselyte knowledge had been truly serious and bugged silently in Shirou's mind.

Someone manipulating everything from the shadows. Fake Emotional Entities. The rings being purposefully sent to this dimension. The Darkness.

It didn't help that neither Kusano nor his ring were able to tell him what exactly was this 'Darkness'. It looked that even the memory of the fake Proselyte had been suppressed just a little, and his ring couldn't find any information regarding something like that in his database, saying that he could probably find more if he could connect with the Central Battery in Oa.

Something that he obviously couldn't do. How fitting.

The Emiya really didn't want to get once again wrapped in the middle of some sort of game of powers, but he would do everything in his power to protect the world and those he cared about.

It was more than his duty or his ideal, after all. It was something he would do no matter what.

"Well, I think we can at least wrap this part of our adventure as a happy ending, right?" asked the Power Ring, making everyone look at him with disbelief/amusement/confusion. "C'mon! No one died, we stopped the lunatic and evil Entity of Fear from killing everyone in the planet and an old enemy is now an ally! Isn't that supposed to be a happy ending?"

"You forgot to mention the insane quantity of property damage, but oh well, who really cares?" offhandedly commented Homura while sipping her tea, Tsukiumi shooting a worried glance at her ex-rival.

He had been TOO calm since the events in the park.

"Oh sweet Root, no… ring… have you been reading manga using the Internet?" asked Shirou at his ring with a horrified expression, making everyone sweatdrop.

"And watching anime, yeah. Why?" the Magus groaned and slammed his face with the table, confusing the ring even more.

"This hasn't ended. We still have to find the Avatars of Adara, the Butcher and Ophidian, and convince them to work together with us if we want to stop the Darkness. But your ring is right, Onii-chan, I think that, for now, we can call this a happy ending." Kusano smiled while slowly floating back to the ground, sitting in seiza at the table's side. "Now, there is only one more thing left to do."

"And what's that, Kuu-chan?" curiously asked Uzume, she and Chiho sitting just beside where the Indigo Lantern was.

"Why, to see if this 'change' is truly reversible, Uzume-nee." answered the little Sekirei before closing her eyes, a flash of indigo covered her, her staff and indigo tunic vanishing, leaving her in her normal dress. Finally, the strange tattoos in her body slowly disappeared, leaving a normal-looking Kusano sitting there.

The little Sekirei opened her eyes and blinked, looking around at everyone expectant gazes.

"Kuu-chan? You okay?" questioned Kazehana worriedly. What if Kusano stayed that way fore…?

"YAY! We did it, we saved everyone!" happily cried the blonde child before shooting to her feet and running to hug Shirou, surprising the Magus. "That was so cool, Onii-chan! It was scary, but at the same time it was not! Kuu knew a lot of weird things, and could hear a really funny song, and dance, and fly, and use a sword!" Kusano looked at her Ashikabi with stars in her eyes, and even Karasuba had to fight back the need to comment how cute she looked. "Was I a good superhero, Onii-chan?"

"…yes, Kuu, you were the best." answered the Green Lantern, feeling that all was right in the world as he hugged the little girl back. Maybe this truly could be called a happy ending.

"Ah. I want too." silently muttered Akitsu, sitting at Shirou's other side, looking at how her Ashikabi was hugging her 'little sister'.

"Ehm, Shirou-tan?" the uncertain and nervous tone of Matsu's voice made Shirou raise an eyebrow while he released Kusano, looking at the fidgeting Wisdom Sekirei. "I… don't want to be the one to bring bad news to this happy moment, but I think that there is something I really have to tell you…"

"Yatta! Did you heard, that, Prose-kun? I was a good superhero!" cheerfully interrupted the little Sekirei whatever that Matsu was going to say, looking towards her ring with a beaming smile.

"Yes, Kusano, you were. I'm happy for you." everyone in the room froze, their eyes shooting towards the unknown voice in time to see a tiny indigo-construct of a squid floating upon Kusano's ring, barely the size of a kitten. "And with marvelous people like these at your side, I'm sure that we will be able to… ehm." the Proselyte looked around, finally realizing that everyone was looking at him. "Wait a minute… are you hearing me?"

"And… seeing you." vaguely muttered Miya, pointing around the little squid, who blinked and looked around, as if just realizing his manifestation.

"Kusano… how did you projected my consciousness through your ring?" asked the incredulous chibi-Entity of Compassion.

"I just… wanted everyone to hear you?" muttered the little girl with uncertainty, tilting her head cutely to the side.

"Woah, that's cool, I want to prove it too!" cried Musubi with a smile before raising her ring, violet light coming out of it before anyone could stop her. "Say hi, Predator-chan!"

"Well, this is certainly surprising." commented the scary-looking mini-insect, a creature that seemed more fitting to be a nightmare's monster than the Entity of Love that it was. "Greetings to everyone, loved ones of my child. I hope that the Love in all of your hearts blossom into something beautiful."

Everyone stared wide-eyed from one Entity to the other, before Karasuba smiled sinisterly and too raised her ring, the image of a certain mini-yellow parasite being forced to appear upon it.

"Hey, don't you want to say something too?" sweetly asked Karasuba with a smile that didn't fool anyone.

"…you can all go to hell." growled Parallax while hatefully looking at everyone present.

They weren't even fazed. Yeah, the thing had tried to kill them and everything, but it was really hard to keep being wary of something that was barely bigger than your hand.

"Oww, how cute." laughed Karasuba while petting the chibi-Entity and, if it wasn't because it was impossible for a being made of pure yellow to do it, Shirou would have sword that Parallax blushed. "Now get back there before I smash you for trying to screw with my mind."

And with that said, she smashed the little Entity with her hands before he could say anything, letting it disperse into Yellow Light.

That little part of Shirou that was able to forgive almost anything wondered if that had hurt Parallax. Another part of him hoped that, if it had, it had hurt a lot.

"Good, now that the pseudo alien-gods in miniature had finished talking, can we please eat dinner?" asked Homura with a smile, making everyone look at him in silence.

"Ah. Homura is being strange again. Are you okay?" resumed Akitsu what everyone was thinking.

"No, it's just that I have decided that I won't let anything of the craziness that happens around us thanks to Shirou to affect me ever again. See?! If I don't care, it doesn't really affect my life!"

"…ehm, what were you going to say, Matsu?" asked Shirou, really wanting to ignore the perturbing sight of Homura's cheerful smile, silently swearing that he would try to seriously find psychological help for the Fire User.

She seemed to urgently need it.

"Oh, yeah! Well…"

"Warning, Spike in the Emotional Spectrum detected!" suddenly announced the four rings present, making everyone look around with confusion/panic and the eyes of those who understood what that meant to widen.

Matsu just sighed in relief, telling herself that communicating to Shirou that his family probably knew about his secret identity could wait.

"Are you serious?! Now?!" shouted Shirou while standing up, a quick list of weapons to Trace passing his mind, briefly noticing how Karasuba's hand shot to her side, only to remember that her katana wasn't there. Miya had put it away somewhere.

His ring was recharged, but he was still exhausted and his Od hadn't replenished itself. Even if he tried again his trick of Artificial Circuits, he would still need a little of his own Prana to do it, and his Circuits were still recovering from all the strain of the day and…!

"Source: Rage… and Hope?! The hell?! What are two users doing together, especially users of those two different Corps?!" his ring's advice didn't reassure Shirou in the slightest. Two ring-users together? Maybe there was part of some group that had come to try and get the rest of the rings for…? "And they are… right here?"

Before Shirou or anyone could ask what he meant by that, the sound of something crashing in the street resounded. And then, the sound of something slowly landing.

"Are you okay?"

"Ugh… yes, just a little dizzy. Stupid ring! Are you sure this is the place?"

"Affirmative. The signal of Will from the Green Lantern comes straight from this building."

Every thought process in Shirou's mind froze, his body suffering the same destiny.

He knew those voices. He knew them better than anyone. But no, it couldn't be, it was impossible. Not even the Root could be that twisted to allow…

"It seems that a fierce battle occurred here. Most of the city's center is devastated, but strangely, there were practically no ambulances. And there are a lot of strange machines and vehicles littering the streets like fallen soldiers."

"Dammit, we should have gotten here sooner!"

"You were the one who insisted into having a 'little race' in space."

"He-hey! You can't blame me!" even if she still was outside, Shirou's mind could perfectly recreate the image of the huffing girl looking at her side with a blush in her face and an 'angry' expression. "How was I supposed to know that we could fly almost to the other side of the Solar System so quick?!"

"You should have realized it when we passed Jupiter."

"…well, you have to admit that the views from Mars were great."

"Yes. Some of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. Now, shall we go inside and see if Shirou is truly here?"

"Yes, yes, let's just go… Izumo Inn? Well, looking from here I can guess why he would like to be here, he always preferred to live in a Traditional Japanese place."

The sound of the Inn's door being knocked managed to bring Shirou out of his trance, sweat started to fill his forehead. He idly noticed how everyone was looking from the hallway that leaded at the principal door to him.

It seemed like those two had been talking loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Ah! I will go!" happily declared Musubi, and she was already in the hallway before anyone could stop her. The sound of the door being opened sounded like a guillotine falling in Shirou's ears. "Hi! Can I help you?"

"…Saber, are you seeing the same thing I'm seeing?"

"…yes, Rin, I noticed. She has one of those rings too. And she's not human."

"Uh? What…? Oh, ehm, I mean, yes! What else could I have been talking about?!"

"…I will abstain from answering that question."

"Rin? Saber? Hey, Musubi has heard those names before!" happily echoed the Love Sekirei's voice, making the eyes of those who still hadn't understood the situation to widen. "You're Shirou-sama's girlfriends!"

"…did you just say 'Shirou-sama'?" Rin's voice sounded as sharp as a blade and colder than the deepest part of the Antarctic.

A new little part of Shirou started to wish to be fighting against Parallax again.

"Yes! He will be so happy to see you…! And look, you two have rings too! Say hi, Predator-chan!"

"Hello Adara… hello Butcher, coughjerkcough. Oh, and hello to you too, Avatars. Your Love looks a little opaque, but beautiful."

"Wha…? How did you…?"

"…Rin, let me try it out. Adara?"

"…well, I'm ashamed I didn't think of this before. Thanks, Arthuria." the voice of the Emotional Entity turned a little more solemn then. "Hello, Predator, is good to see you. Your avatar looks like a… lovely person."

"Woah! A bird with three faces, how cool!"

"…ARGH! Okay, I will let you out too! If only so you would screw with someone else instead of only me!" was Rin's angry shout before the sound of another projection was heard.

"Hah! The mighty Butcher is here! Everybody, kneel before the Rage!"

"I see that you're as stupid as ever, Butcher."

"YOU! Predator! Prepare to die! Go, my Avatar, crush that stupid bug's Avatar! I'm sure you're stronger than her, even if her breasts are much bigger than yo…!"

SMASH!

"Please, can we come in now?" sounded Rin's extremely sweet voice.

"Oh, okay. But, did you have to smash the little bull so harshly? It looked like it hurt him." Musubi's voice started to sound closer and closer as the sound of footsteps echoed in the hallway.

"Oh, it hurt him, believe me, I can hear him. And if he knows what's good, then he's not going to…" the black haired girl's voice died down, her body freezing as she got a view of the people in the living room.

More precisely, of how there were a total of 9 girls (8 women and a little girl), 10 when you counted Musubi, sitting around a table and looking at her and her blonde companion, who was too staring at the girls there with surprise.

Then, their eyes fell upon the only person they knew in the room, who was also, apparently, the only male in the Inn.

"…Hi Rin. Hi Saber." weakly muttered Shirou while raising a hand, not quite knowing what else to say that wouldn't made the situation even worse. "…this is not what it looks like."

Oh, wait. That just now had made it worse. Good job, Shirou's brain.

"…what are the odds that the Avatars of the Butcher and Adara are also people that knows you AND girls?" helpfully commented the Power Ring, making Rin's eyes fell upon it for a moment before quickly scan the room and take notice of the ones in Karasuba's and Kusano's hands. "Seriously, do you have some sort of secret superpower that you haven't told me about, Shirou?"

While the Magus was convincing himself that launching his ring to the ground and start smashing it would not help him in any way in this situation, Chiho's unexpected voice cut through the tension-filled air.

"Ehm…who are they, Shirou-san?" commented the awkward-looking Ashikabi, Uzume apparently unable to decide if to find the situation worrying or amusing as she embraced her.

Okay, it was official now. He really would have preferred to still be fighting with Parallax.

There are many twisted and horrible places in this darkened world.

One of them was, without a doubt, the basement of the Matou manor, in Fuyuki City.

No one could ever imagine the inhuman and immoral atrocities that had occurred between these dark and sinister walls.

In that moment, a horrible but perfectly normal (For the monster causing it) view could be appreciated here.

The naked body of a beautiful purple haired girl with hollow eyes, being horribly violated by hundreds of worms.

This girl was Matou Sakura. Someone who had lost any will to live many years ago.

The lone figure of a hunched and sinister old man watched the horrifying scene from the stone stairs, with indifference and even a little frustration.

This man… no, this monster, was Matou Zouken. The patriarch of the Matou family. An horrible and rotten soul that had keep himself alive for more than 500 years, preying upon other humans and using his horrible and twisted Worm-Familiars to maintain his decaying body with only one purpose.

To win the Holy Grail and obtain immortality.

So consumed was he by this wish that he not only had done horrible things to countless people for it, but he no longer even remembered WHY he wanted it.

The last, and arguably the worst, of his dark and twisted deeds was what he had done to the girl before him.

Since she was a little girl and had been adopted in the family, he had subjected her to the most horrible 'training' of the Matou Magecraft, hoping to turn her not into an heir, but into a tool that he would use to win the Grail War.

But all of that had been pointless. All of it.

The Grail was gone, the system dismantled and the Wish-Granting device lost forever. All because of those thrice dammed Emiya and Tohsaka.

If it wasn't for the fact that doing so would have brought the Association or that Servant that they somehow had managed to keep in this world upon him, he would have killed them while they sleep.

Certainly, now there shouldn't be any reason to keep doing this to Sakura. Except for one thing.

The dark, evil and dying thing that now resided inside of her.

Since the moment he had implanted the broken remains of the incomplete and corrupted Grail from the 4th war, a connection between Sakura and the evil spirit that had existed inside the Greater Grail had been formed. Tiny and almost unnoticeable. If the circumstances would have been right, he would have taken advantage of it to use Sakura as a weapon during the 5th war.

Alas, the opportunity hadn't presented itself, and in the end, when the Grail had been dismantled and he had been about to just damn everything and kill every association Magus in the city before they could leave, something 'Miraculous' had happened.

The spirit, seeing his vessel being destroyed, had escaped. It had run away, through the only thing he could use for it.

Sakura.

Oh, certainly it couldn't totally escape. Almost all of the power, all the Evil that it once was, had been lost with the Grail. Just barely a fraction, enough for keeping part of its mind and existence, had managed to take refuge inside of Sakura, surprising even him.

It shouldn't have been possible for something like that to happen. Yet, Zouken had underestimated one thing about the being that once was the Greater Grail.

It had a wish. More exactly, it was a wish incarnated; having turned into what it once was after the Third War.

To be born into this world… bringing its damnation with it.

And it had been his wish to be born, his wish to keep living, which had allowed him to use the Grail fragments into the girl's body to maintain its now pathetic existence, even after the demise of the Greater Grail.

And so, Zouken had done all in his power to keep the evil spirit alive, feeding it Prana through his worms and Sakura's body, in a mad quest to see if he could still use the girl to turn her into a new vessel to use the spirit's remaining power, to see if he could use it to grant his wish.

It had been an obviously futile and mad errant since the beginning, but the desperate Zouken hadn't cared, for it was all which he still had.

If had been for nothing, of course. Even if the Prana keep it alive, the spirit was dying since the moment it entered Sakura's body. The Prana and his wish to live had been the only thing that had keep him alive during so many years, but it had only delayed the inevitable.

It wouldn't last past this night. The spirit of the Avenger was finally going to vanish.

And the girl for which the monster didn't cared?

Well, Sakura certainly didn't care. For her, her life had ended long ago.

After her third year of High School, more precisely, when SHE had took away the only good thing in her life.

When her sister had taken away her beloved Sempai. Shirou…

At the beginning, she had been content with just being by his side. Every day seeing his smiling face, every moment cooking with him, every conversation while eating together…

Those had been the only happy moments in her life, the only light in the otherwise dark nightmare that was her existence. She knew that he would never return her feelings, of course, for how could he ever love something as tainted as her? But she had been happy just by being by her side. Nothing more.

Then, the 5th Holy Grail War came. And everything started to crumble away.

The only positive thing that had come from the nightmare that was the last Heaven's Feel was that Shinji had changed for good and he no longer treated her like trash. Whatever it was that had happened to him that night in the Ryudo Temple had been traumatic enough to make him understand how a horrible human being he was and start treating her like a true sister.

Even if her adoptive brother couldn't (And wouldn't dare) to do anything against their grandfather, she had welcomed the change, thinking it was a sign that things were going to change for the better.

How wrong she was.

She had seen it during the War, of course, but she had never commented about it. She had seen how close she and her sempai were becoming, how they seemed to share something that not even she, after so much time by his side, had with him. But she had just kept smiling, content with being by Shirou's side. She wanted nothing more.

It had still felt as if someone had ripped her heart out with a dagger when she had seen them kissing the day of their graduation, even if they thought that no one was watching.

Her life had ended that day when she took him away. She, her Servant (Which was originally his) and Shirou had gone away to never return.

She had maintained the smile on her face all the way until she got back 'home' that day, because she knew that she would never smile again.

She didn't care what her 'grandfather' kept doing to her. She was just a hollow shell now.

The only thing that she ever wanted was gone. She would never have him. Her life had no meaning.

The only thing that had really keep her alive these last years had been, ironically, the twisted spirit that shared her body, because it knew that its life would end the same moment as hers.

And the opposite was also true. She didn't had anything left. She would die tonight, at the same time when the spirit vanished. She had already decided it. Her hollow existence had no reason to keep going.

In a twisted sense, she almost felt pity and understanding for the thing inside of her. He too had lost all that give him meaning, all that made his existence, and the only thing he really wanted had been negated to him too. And it was also so much simpler than her wish.

To live.

In these lasts moments, she couldn't help but wonder, what would have happened if she had tried? How would things have turned out if she had ever tried to take what she really wanted instead of holding back her desires all her life?

She wanted to see Shirou once again…

'It' wanted to be born…

She wanted him to embrace her and tell her that he loved her as much as she did…

'It' wanted to live…!

She wanted to take him in her arms and never let go, never to allow anyone to take him from her side!

'It' wanted to fulfill its purpose…!

She/it WANTED…!

A sickly orange light cut through the darkness of the basement, making Zouken cry out and cover his eyes, all the worms suddenly frozen in place, like little pathetic beings in front of their natural predator.

The broken girl and the dying spirit looked up through the same pair of eyes, the shining visage of an orange ring greeting them.

"Tohsaka Sakura of the Earth…" the mention of THAT name, a name that no one except the monster in the room and she should know was what made the girl's arm move, raising from the sea of paralyzed worms to let the ring put itself in her finger. "You want it All."

A roaring orange shine surged from the girl, making the worms squirm and try to get away from her as quickly as they could. Zouken, confused, tried to regain the control of his familiars, wondering what in hell's name was happening…

And then a strange, orange lantern fell from a hole in the air, crushing some worms as it landed at the girl's side.

Words came from her mouth. Words that had just entered her mind and gave her something… Words that she wasn't pronouncing alone.

This Power is Mine, this is my Light.

Be it in Bright of Day, or Black of Night.

I lay claim to All that falls within my Sight.

To take what I Want…That is My Right!

Orange light exploded furiously in all directions, almost as if a living thing, covering the entire basement.

It was hungry. And it wanted to feed.

"Power Levels at 100000%." a mechanical voice announced, a number that would have terrorized anyone who knew the word's meaning.

Zouken froze when he felt IT. The light wasn't just covering his worms. It was eating them.

Consuming every one of them in seconds, there was no place, no dark corner, not enough speed, nothing that could save them from the hungry Light.

A dawning sensation of doom filled his being when he felt that it was also eating the worms inside of Sakura's body.

Including the one at her heart's side. The one who contained his soul.

Thanks to his monstrous and twisted nature, in his last, horribly painful and agonizing moments; Matou Zouken had one of the most sinister and strange privileges of the entire Multiverse.

Hear the announcement of his own demise.

"Makiri Zolgen of the Earth… You belong to Agent Orange."

One last scream later, and the basement fell totally silent, looking as if it had never been anything alive there to begin with.

The only being still in the room was the floating woman in the center of it, her eyes closed as her long WHITE hair flowed being her, an orange Power Aura enveloping her body.

A strange attire covered her form, some sort of long full-body dress that hugged her body so tightly it was almost obscene, black and orange interlacing in vertical lines. Her feet were covered from sight by the… 'lower part' of her 'dress', which looked almost as if alive, almost as if black and orange liquid was flowing down from her body and forming undulating waves. The symbol of Avarice, of the Corps of only one living member, proudly shined in her chest.

Her eyes opened. They were RED.

A smile so twisted, so wrong that it would make anyone to cringe in horror, appeared in her face.

She felt powerful. She felt great. And she felt hungry. A never-ending hunger, a need of making everything hers, of taking all for her and no one else.

She pushed it aside, at the bottom of her being, with almost no effort. All of that could wait. Now, there was only ONE thing that she really Wanted.

"Sempai…" madly giggled the creature in which Matou Sakura had become before shooting upwards.

Matou Shinji was just returning home from an errant before the entirety of his house brutally exploded in front of him. The last thing he would remember before falling unconscious, and later waking up in a hospital, was an orange blur flying quickly towards the sky.

Unknown to the girl that flew through the air inside an orange shine, inside of her, in her soul, a giant orange snake lay silent.

The Emotional Entity known as Ophidian, Incarnation of Avarice and the Orange Light of the Emotional Spectrum, couldn't move, couldn't talk, couldn't communicate with her Avatar, and could barely think.

And it was all because of that horrible black… mud that was flowing around her body, twisting maliciously as it feed from her energy, chaining her weakened form and using her as a battery.

And just upon his head, the figure of a man could be seen. His hair as black as the mud that chained the snake down, strange black symbols etched upon his body.

This was no man, of course. Not anymore, at least. This thing was EVIL., the body being just an echo of a long-lost life.

He opened his eyes, smiling evilly, the symbol of Avarice shining in them as he looked sinisterly at the orange ring in HIS hand.

Life felt so good…

And he would have ALL OF IT.

Season 1: Lights of Emotion upon a Darkened World.-END

Next:

Season 2: Forgotten Lights, Evil Shine.

Aaand… that's it. It's finally over. Buf, sorry for the delay with this chapter, but I needed A LOT of research, inspiration, and surpassing a couple of writer blocks to finish it, I hope that the size it has is enough to make up for it.

Well, what do you think about that last part? I'm sure some of you were expecting it, but not ALL of what I had planned XP

Now, things are going to get really crazy and difficult for Shirou in the next season. Now the world knows about the rings, and the higher ups aren't going to just sit around and let him be a hero. Especially after he killed with all the honors any secrecy that the supernatural still had after this last chapter O,O And, as if that wasn't enough, the last Light is coming for him. Literally.

It's done. The Seven Lights are shining, illuminating this shadowed World. But as the title of next season says, one of them brings an Evil shine, and is the worst possible one. Expect that some things turn darker in what is to come…

Oh, BTW, Sakura's oath is not original from DC, but it's not mine either. You see, there is no real oath for the Orange Lantern Corps, the most similar thing being Larfleeze shouting a lot of 'Mine!' repeatedly, but I found that one in the internet and decided to used because it sounded cool OxO

Also, Zelretch is alive! That's…good? Who knows, but he's not in the best of situations, unconscious and at the mercy of the Justice League. That's…bad? (Don't worry those who don't know much about it, I will try to not make more direct reference to the DC universe unless is absolutely necessary.) What will happen with our beloved Kaleidoscope?

And lastly, the last scene in the Inn. Well, things are going to escalate, don't you think? In In Flight, when this scene occurred, Uzume and Chiho weren't there anymore, nor were there 6 people in possession of the arguably most dangerous items in the entire world. So yeah, let's hope that Shirou survives and that things don't turn out like they did in GB-sama original story.

Finally, I'm sorry to say that I won't be able to continue with my weekly update. First, I will take a break from writing for the season's end and then I'm going back to classes in September, so my update rate will slow down considerably, but don't worry, I won't abandon this story, especially not now that it's just starting to reach the most interesting parts of the plot. You would never guess some of the things I have planned, heh, heh, heh…

Also, especial thanks to the series Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya for the inspiration it gave me for this chapter. Ig-Alima and Sul-Sagasa are not inventions of mine; they truly are part of Gilgamesh Gate of Babylon in the Nasuverse =D! The real difficult par was find some consistent background of them XP If you want to see them more clearly, google one of them and click upon the section of the Type-Moon Wiki for the Gilgamesh of the Prisma Illya-verse, or just read the manga and watch the anime, it's really funny and has a couple of awesome fights!

Ok, that's all for now, my beloved readers. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and the 1st season in general, we will see each other again in the next season of this craziness of mine, leave me reviews so that I can know your opinions! Until next time, this is Saint, signing off!

…or, that would I say if it wasn't because I still have a little last gift! A little teaser of a couple of scenes from the next season, yeah!

Warning, the following scenes are spoilers for the future and not all of them are completely planned, so some of them can change a little from here until the actual writing:

Soon, in the Emerald Blade…

"The church said that they will be neutral with this. After seeing what happened last time, they're not going to risk angering one of these 'Ring-Bearers'."

"To hell with those cowards, I don't want excuses! Those rings are a menace for us and everyone in this planet. I want them sealed away in the deepest part of Atlas and their users dead, no matter what it takes. I'm clear?"

"…yes, my Queen."

"What do you mean all of them 'disappeared'? All those Sekirei don't just vanish without a trace!"

"It's the truth, sir. By the time we arrived… there were signs of a fight, but there was also a sense of…hollowness." Natsuo looked at Minaka with a haunted expression in his eyes, Benitsubasa and Haihane looking worriedly at him. "As if something had… devoured the life out of the air…"

"You're surrounded and outnumbered! Drop the ring and surrender, girl!" ordered the Enforcer, looking at the strangely clothed white haired woman a couple of meters in front of him, he and his entire squad covering all the angles.

"Outnumbered? Heh, heh…" a mad glint shined in the girl's eyes as she looked at the man, as if amused of a private joke. "No sir, you're wrong… you're the ones who are outnumbered."

Before the man was able to ask what she meant by that, the sound of screams from his companions made him look around and realize how they were surrounded by a lot of orange-clad figures, all of them having the same ring as the girl…

And all of them looking almost transparent, their faces emotionless as if they were just ghosts.

The Enforcer turned his gaze back to the smiling girl just in time to see a decrepit old man in orange robes floating in front of him, smiling evilly as he pointed at him with his ring and his body became a mass of orange worms that fell hungrily upon him.

And all the while, the girl kept giggling.

An unnatural silence filled the air, almost as if all the living things upon Gaia were containing their breaths, as if expecting the next words of the cursed tool.

For they would mark the end of everything.

"…Rise."

The makeshift tomb exploded from the inside out…

And an abomination whose sole existence was a crime against all the laws that ruled the universe rose from it.

The abomination stared blankly ahead before, slowly, turning its eyes to look at its half-rotten hands… and the black ring shining in one of them.

Then, it screamed.

Woah… I feel so troll for doing that just now =D Bye!