Hello everybody! Welcome to the next installment of Fate: Zero Sanity! Over 22,000 views? Heck yeah, we broke the 20,000 mark!
It's been awhile since I've updated, hasn't it? Well, let's not keep you in suspense any longer!
Soul: Alright, now we the first real fight scenes since Chapter 9!
Avenger: ...And they don't involve me!
Oswald: You've been in practically every fight scene since the beginning and played a major role in all of them, so deal with it.
Disclaimer: Please refer to any one of the previous chapters 1-11 for the full disclaimer. If the moment comes when I have to add someone to it, I will post the new disclaimer upon the corresponding chapter. Also, for sake of clarity, all members of Ordinis Sancti Gladius are property of their respective series and therefore owners. X the Reaper owns nothing save the story's direction and the name of the group itself.
Oswald: We hope you all enjoy.
Daytime, Fuyuki Church
Kirei Kotomine grunted as he felt a brief pang of shock flow through his artificial arm. Ignoring it, he swung again, slower this time as he struck a wooden practice dummy and felt the audible crack as his new fist impacted against the unforgiving substance.
'Good,' he thought to himself as he took a moment to examine his fist, noting that while the knuckle area was slightly deformed, it was already starting to mold back into its proper shape. 'It looks like my endurance training is paying off.'
Kirei was training his new replacement parts, already attempting to make them stronger and getting used to them. Assassin had admitted that while with time his new parts would eventually be as strong, potentially stronger than his old ones, that would only come to pass if he trained daily and the material took time to harden.
So Kirei, fresh from his recovery and motivated by the need to face Kiritsugu Emiya again, began to train, knowing he would stand little chance if his new body gave out during battle. He performed push ups, sit ups, handstands, as well as martial arts involving both the hands and feet. He also performed several Magus exercises, drawing into his body's Prana reserves and channeling throughout his body to improve his performance.
To his surprise, his new parts were reacting rather well to all of the training, every hour seemingly improving how much force they could withstand. His Prana channeling was already even better than it ever had been with his old body. When he asked Assassin about it, he admitted that the substance used for Kirei's body was different, more advanced and refined than the one originally used for his own body. He willingly admitted at the rate he was going, Kirei would be ready to get back in the field to hunt Masters by tomorrow easily.
"Good to see you up and about," A familiar voice rang out. "It would have been truly sad to see you reduced to nothing but a cripple for the remainder of the War."
Kirei turned and noticed Archer, in casual wear, leaning against the far wall as if he had been there from the very beginning. "You seem to be in high spirits today Archer. And yes, Assassin did his duty well: Turning what should have been a total loss on its head and salvaging a victory."
"Indeed. Were it not for the stitching and the bandages about your head, I would have sworn you were never shot in the first place."
"Why are you here, Archer?" Kirei asked, not exactly eager to continue this line of conversation. He could still sometimes feel the pain of the bullet striking him whenever he thought about it too long.
Archer shrugged. "I simply wanted to see how you were doing. Speaking of which, did you find out anything about yourself when you attacked Saber and her Master? Did you feel anything when you stabbed the Lady Einzbern in the stomach?"
"How do you know about that?"
"Assassin told me about it, as well as what he learned about the other Masters." he replied flippantly, noting the brief look that flashed across his face. "Don't be surprised. Assassin has kept me well-informed. How he managed to spy on all the other Masters while still tending to your injuries is beyond me, however. But back to the matter at hand, how did it feel? Did you feel a sense of happiness and joy, some feeling of... completion?"
Kirei was silent for a long moment as he reflected on that event. "I will not deny I felt... something resembling joy when I fought that battle. But why is that so important along with the information on the other Masters?"
"It wasn't so much the information itself I desired, rather who it based from. When Assassin provided me the information on the other Masters, claiming he had gathered everything you had ordered him to, what caught my eye is that he provided particularly impressive amount on the subject of Berserker's Master, Kariya Matou, going into rather detailed depths of his background and wish."
"His circumstances were the most complicated, and thus required more searching and detail."
"Perhaps, but compared to his, the other four were rather plain, seeking glory or some desire for world peace. This Kariya... his investigation was the most thorough of all of them. You abandoned your normal methods of simply dismissing him out of hand, and had Assassin spend time further learning about him. You ignored both the futility of such an action, as well as the waste of effort, and thus, found some enjoyment in the exercise of learning about him."
"Enjoyment? His life has been nothing but an endless string of suffering and pain. How could anyone find joy in observing such a thing!?"
"Yet, you also found enjoyment out torturing the Lady Einzbern," Archer countered. "It is obvious to me you find find joy in the suffering of others, whether by your own hand or simply as an observer of it. This was all the proof I needed."
"Those are the words of a Godless sinner!" Kirei yelled in anger. "You may find some pleasure in another's pain, but that is an evil that must be purged!" He took a breath before continuing, calming himself but speaking with no less conviction. "I am a man of the cloth. I have sworn to follow the path of pure faith."
Archer's expression never once changed beyond mild amusement, aside from a brief chuckle. "So, you have identified joy itself as a sin? I'm amazed how far you have twisted it. As I might have said before, joy itself is never a sin, no more than it is a blessing. Either way, you cannot deny that other's suffering brings you joy, but that's not what I wanted to speak about in detail."
"And that is?" Kirei seized the line like a drowning man. He wanted to get off this topic as fast as possible.
"Your wish." Noting his expression at the sudden change, Archer shrugged. "You may live under the assumption that you have no true desire for the Grail and that you were chosen simply to aid Tokiomi and Risei obtain it, but the Grail doesn't choose its Masters lightly and that is a rather flimsy reason to do so."
"What would you have me do? Use the Grail to reveal my heart's desire? If I did so, chose to pursue it for my own selfish purposes, I would be betraying my father and mentor."
"Then you would do well to master both your new abilities as well as learn exactly what Assassin is capable of, if you hope to confront me. In fact,..." Here Archer paused, then thought better of whatever he was about to say. "No, I won't say it."
Archer once again began to dissolve into golden dust, but far slower this time, as if he intended to make an impression. "Everything you decide from here on out is up to you. Do it all exactly as you desire. That is the meaning of pleasure, which leads to the experience of joy, which in turn will lead you to happiness." Only head remained by this point. "Your path is clear, Kirei Kotomine, so clear that there is no more need to hesitate."
And with that, he was gone.
Einzbern Manor
Soul sat down on the couch in the living room of the Manor, sighing to himself as he turned on the TV. Today, so far, was turning out to be a rather slow day. Aside from some reconnaissance duty scheduled for the afternoon and the idea of going out at night to hunt for the rest of the Servants, there wasn't much to do. The closest thing they had gotten to excitement was when Kiritsugu and Maiya had returned with Saber's new vehicle.
All the members of Team Emiya stood in front of the Manor, facing Kiritsugu and Maiya. The two had just returned from their trip, having picked up Saber's 'special vehicle.' Everyone was rather curious as to what exactly it was.
'I think it's some sort of motorcycle,' Soul thought to himself, noting the general shape under the tarp which covered it. 'But what kind of motorcycle would be capable of handling a Servant for combat?'
Without a word, Kiritsugu lifted the tarp which had been covering the vehicle, revealing it to them all. It was, as Soul predicted, a motorcycle, but a motorcycle unlike anything normal humans would ride.
"This is a modified Yamaha V-Max, the most powerful motorcycle in the modern world," Kiritsugu began to explain. "The original V4 1200cc 140 Horsepower engine that could already work near its limits was strengthened again into a V4 1400cc engine. The acceleration system is completely reinforced to give it an output equal to 250 Horsepower. The structure of the V-style propelling mechanism and its four-cylinder design allows it to immediately start to work as a two-cylinder design when the limit of engine rotation is reached and allows it to increase the amount of air sucked in to achieve an ultimate acceleration."
"That's impressive," Soul admitted, having owned his own motorcycle, he could appreciate the figures. "But how is that even possible for normal people to ride?"
"It's not," Maiya responded. "It can no longer function properly as a two-wheeled design because of the various extreme reinforcements. The wheels have too much torque, and they can't generate enough friction with the road and only keep on turning. The front wheel jumps up whenever the brakes are applied, creating enough force to throw off the driver immediately."
Kiritsugu then had the group move behind the vehicle to show the steering wheel, pointing to a button on it. "Its deepest hidden secret and most powerful trump card lies in this. It causes a valve inside the interior of the engine to switch to automatic mode and fill with oxide fuel. The nitrous oxide expands under the high temperature of three hundred degrees Celsius and reaches the boundaries of its limits to increase the V-Max's acceleration rapidly by twofold. A normal human would die attempting to use this vehicle at even at half power."
"Which makes it perfect for someone like Saber," Iri summarized, to which Kiritsugu nodded.
"Saber, as a Servant, exists far beyond ordinary humans, so she is more than capable of using this to its full potential. Her Riding Skill is A Rank, which allows her to ride anything that isn't a Phantasmal Beast and Divine Beast-rank creature with above average skill, including vehicles. In order to maximize Saber's Riding skill and the reinforced abilities of a Servant, something two-wheeled is necessary, as four-wheeled vehicles, while controllable, are too constraining with the driver placed into a seat while constricted by safety belts."
Soul had to admit he was jealous. Why did Saber get the cool stuff? He was happy for her, sure, but why couldn't he and Berserker get stuff like that from Kariya?
"Because I'm flat-broke," Soul remembered Kariya saying. "Zouken's not just going to let me take a couple thousand in cash and buy you guys a new vehicle. Maybe when it's your birthday."
'Oh well,' Soul thought to himself, dismissing those earlier thoughts and turning on the TV. 'Berserker's with Kariya for some reason or another, so I guess I've got some free time until the afternoon...'
"Excuse me, Soul?" A voice spoke out, distracting him from his thoughts. Turning around, he saw Saber, who was walking towards him. "Forgive me if I interrupted you with something."
"Oh hey, Saber. I wasn't doing anything, but I didn't expect to see you around here right now. I thought you'd be trying out your new ride," Soul replied, moving over slightly to make room for her. Saber, noticing the gesture, nodded her head and sat down next to him.
Soul had to admit he was surprised. Ever since last night, Saber had been surprisingly open towards Berserker and himself. Nothing too major: a nod of the head here, a stray smile there, an accepting of an invitation to sit down somewhere in there, but it was an improvement towards her original attitude of simply being silent and somewhat distant when she talked, only occasionally offering a simple smirk. He supposed she just wasn't used to people going out and calling her a friend, being a king and all.
"I was," Saber admitted. "But I've run into a bit of a problem..."
"Problem?"
"...While it's true I do have A Rank Riding skill, which allows me to completely understand the controls of all ridden equipment both known and unknown to me, and while riding a motorcycle is very similar to a mount, it still doesn't change the fact that I have zero experience with such a machine."
"So, you want someone with said experience to watch you?" Soul asked.
Saber nodded. "It would be nice if someone who actually knows how to properly use one gave me pointers. You may be able to spot flaws in my technique I can improve upon. Of course, if it's not too much of a bother."
Soul was silent, then turned the TV off, having lost interest in it awhile ago. "Okay, but on one condition."
Saber looked at him, slightly confused. "And that is...?"
Soul flashed his trademark grin. "I get to take it for a spin."
Saber looked at him as if he was crazy for a moment, then sighed. "If you insist," she stopped, noticing the grin getting wider. "After you help me."
Still, Soul just barely caught the almost microscopic smile on her face.
...
Soul saw that smile again, only now blown up to normal proportions.
"Hey Saber, could you slow down a little!?"
Unfortunately, he himself wasn't feeling like smiling.
They were both on the Yamcha, Saber driving and Soul hanging on the back to watch her progress. According to the speedometer, they were going at about 65mph. On an open road, such speeds might not have been of much concern. They, however, were practicing in an abandoned parking lot near the Manor, filled with rubble, overgrown grass, and wrecked vehicles.
Sometimes, Soul really hated the lengths that they had to go through to keep the War a secret.
"Why?" Saber asked, not bothering to turn around and look at him. "If I'm to use this in combat, I'll have to learn to... how do you say? 'Turn on a dime?'"
"That doesn't mean you need to go so fast in a place you can't even get go several meters without needing to change directions!"
"Exactly. What better place to practice weaving through traffic?"
"This isn't worth one spin on this baby.." he grumbled to himself.
This time, she did turn to look at him, still wearing that smile. "How about three?"
Matou Estate
Tokiomi stood in front of the door to the estate and calmly knocked on the door. Silence greeted him.
He knocked a second time. Silence came to greet him again.
He knocked a third time. Silence came up to him and gave him a big, fat greeting.
On the fourth try, he blew the door apart while casting a silencing spell, having reached the end of his already-thinning patience. The sight that greeted him was that of annoyed Zouken Matou, who stance indicated he was in the middle of attempting to open said door.
"You could have used the doorbell which was just installed," Zouken quipped dryly. "You would have caught my attention instantly."
"I did not notice it, but I wouldn't have thought that the head of the Matou would go so far as to greet a guest himself." Tokiomi replied, keeping his anger in check and voice civil. There would time for that later. "I would have thought you would have had one of your servants or even your family answer it."
Zouken chuckled. "You know I don't keep servants here, Tokiomi Tohsaka. As to my family, my good-for-nothing nephew Byakuya is currently passed out in his room from too much drink, and his son, Shinji, was sent by him to study abroad. As such, it falls to me to be responsible for answering the door in the morning, at least until Byakuya wakes." He then looked into Tokiomi's eyes, and seemed to tense, as if he could divine some of what was going on behind them. "But I feel you didn't come here to speak about them."
"Indeed." Did Zouken see beyond his mask? Good, he didn't feel like beating around the bush for this anyways. "I came here to speak about my daughter, Sakura."
"You wish to know how her studies have gone?" Zouken asked, turning to the side and gesturing to come in. "You know very well that the basics for the Matou training are the same for any Magus family."
"True enough," Tokiomi replied as he began to walk in, allowing Zouken out of his sight. "but what I want to speak about is a little deeper than that."
He couldn't see his face, but Tokiomi seemed to know that Zouken's eyes narrowed at that. "And what would that be?"
Tokiomi was silent for a moment, then decided to play the old man along. "Did you know, Zouken, that my daughter Rin was recently involved the killings which happened recently?"
"I heard of such a thing, but I don't see what that has to do with..."
"You see, while I was at the hospital she was taken, I meet up with your younger son Kariya, someone who I wasn't expecting at all there. Well, that wouldn't be completely true, as I suppose he would be there. What I didn't expect was the condition he was in. He looked like he should be the one in the hospital, not Rin. And imagine my surprise when I saw he had a Servant of all things behind him."
"...True," Zouken began, knowing there was little point in hiding that particular detail, "Kariya did indeed enter the War of his own volition, and came to me for aid in learning proper Magecraft. Unfortunately, the method we used in order to get him ready in the one year remaining took a massive toll on his body."
"Yes, I would hazard the guess that even if he survived the War, he would only have a month or two to live, given what I saw of his condition, but it left me puzzled," Tokiomi admitted, "mostly due to what could possibly be so important as to not only bring a man who had forsaken his birthright back to the path, but also learn it in such a way that would be suicide. However, it was what he told me in answer to that question during his visit that provoked this one."
Zouken knew what was coming, and braced himself for a potential battle.
"He told me, contrary to what you told me, that he was never aware that Sakura had been adopted by you until my wife told him but a year ago," Tokiomi continued, not allowing his voice to reveal the emotions boiling over inside, "He then went on in a rather long and graphic description on what 'training' for the Matou clan entails, especially for the women."
Zouken sent a mental message to his familiars to prepare themselves.
"So tell me, Zouken Matou," Tokiomi stated as he began to finally allow the ice-cold depths of his fury to seep into his words. "exactly how long did you think you could keep me from finding out about what you've done to my daughter?"
He punctuated that question by lifting his cane, his Mystic Code, and concentrated on the Prana stored within the jewel on the end. "Zwillingsflammen."
At his command, twin bursts of flame were released towards Zouken. His aged opponent responded by having his standby familiars form a wall in front of him. The familiars screeched as they were burned by the flame, but the defense held.
"Do you truly believe the words of a man who hated you his whole life?" Zouken retorted as he sent his Bladed Wing Worms at Tokiomi. "And even if you do, why are you so suddenly so set on your youngest child? As a true Magus, you are a Magus first, father second. I thought you followed that belief with all your heart."
The worms raced towards the red-clad man, already eager to feast on his flesh, only to be intercepted by a wall of simmering heat upon which, on contact, they fell to the ground, screeching in agony as they burned.
"I believe Kariya, due to the fact that, whatever our differences, he always had and has the best interests of my wife and children at heart," Tokiomi responded, not even flinching as the insects fell and died. "And I do follow the path of the Magus, but I gave Sakura to you for training under the assumption that Kariya was looking after her. You dared to lie to me about that, and you had the gallto not reveal to me exactly what your training entailed."
"You always knew, Tohsaka. You knew that the Crest Worms were an integral part of the Matou training. That you didn't know exactly what they would do, especially to the female Matou, makes you no more excusable. I feel that you are more sore about the fact I lied that Kariya would be watching over her than the actual training itself."
Tokiomi held out his cane once more, preparing his next spell. "No matter. For your deception and treachery, I will teach you what it means to betray the trust of the Tohsaka, and I will be taking my daughter back. Intensive Einäscherung!"
Meanwhile, Archer, invisible to both Magi, watched the events fold out, smirking slightly as his Master sent a torrent of flame to burn a walking worm and his living shield alive.
'Maybe I was too hasty in saying Tokiomi was a dull Master after all,' He admitted to himself. 'At the very least, he is a surprising provider of entertainment.'
Fuyuki Church (Dreamscape)
Kirei watched as Assassin stood in front of the village he had once swore his loyalty to, preparing for an event that would forever put him down his chosen path.
There had been much to see up to this point. He had watched as Assassin awoke in a cavern, his body not much different from how Kirei's had been after his surgery. The events that followed were a blur: Meeting the greatest Uchiha of all time, watching Rin die in front of him by Kakashi's hand, awakening his Mangekyō Sharingan, renouncing his original path and choosing to aid that Uchiha in his mad dream, studying under him and taking his name, and setting about the events that would lead to his salvation.
The Eye of the Moon plan, where he would finally be reunited with his lost love.
Everything he did was for the sake of the plan, from planting the seeds of an organization in the mind of an idealistic young man, turning one of the most powerful ninjas in the world into his puppet and making his subordinate one of his most trusted warriors, and countless other sins. Now, he stood ready to truly commit himself forever towards his goal.
Even if it meant betraying those who might have still accepted him again.
Kirei watched as Assassin went to where former master and now Fourth Hokage was, alongside his pregnant wife, Kushina. This was no tearful reunion, however.
In order for the Eye of the Moon plan to succeed, he needed the nine Bijuu, the nine Tailed Beasts which formed the original source of chakra, the Juubi, Ten-Tails. Kushina was the human host for the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, the most powerful piece of the Juubi.
What surprised Kirei was the silent and calm way he went about the process. He didn't flinch or show any emotion as he threatened to stab, then blow up the Hokage's newborn son. He didn't once hesitate when he extracted the Kyuubi from Kushina's body, then took control of it and sent it to attack the village. He didn't even show remorse when his former mentor confronted him in battle.
In the end, he failed. He had underestimated just how resourceful Minato was, and his control of the fox was lost, the fox now resealed within the body of their son.
Years past. Assassin wasted no time: Gathering new members for his organization, the Akatsuki, instigating more mayhem, including aiding in the murder of all but two others of his own clan, one of whom had aided him in exchange for leaving the village alone, observing the betrayal of one of their own, even abandoning his title of Madara in order to join his own group in secret as a complete fool.
His plans progressed accordingly. The Five and Seven-Tails were captured without much difficulty. The One-Tail, while successfully captured, ultimately resulted in the death of Sasori the puppet master. The Three and Two Tails came next, but they lost two more members, Hidan the Jashinist and Kakuzu the Accountant not long afterwards.
Kirei was also treated to the sight of Assassin cracking jokes at inopportune moments, being strangled by an armless member's legs, and later blown up with that same member's bombs. He wondered exactly what sort of self-control a man would have to possess in order to do keep up such a charade.
After sealing the Four-Tails, Kirei watched as another member, Deidara the bomber, was killed by one of two other Uchiha, Sasuke, who was on a misguided quest for vengeance against the other Uchiha, Itachi. Assassin prevented a team sent to find the young Uchiha from reaching his brother, and recovered him afterwards. There, he revealed the truth that the Uchiha had intended to launch a coup d'etat against Konoha, and Itachi had destroyed them on orders.
Kirei had to admire the way he manipulated the young man with the truth, turning him into an ally for the Akatsuki. Later, the Six-Tails was captured, but events conspired against him at last.
An effort to send Sasuke and a small team to capture Killer Bee, the Eight-Tails' host, ended in failure, only sealing a tentacle's worth of power. The team sent to capture the Nine-Tails, undertaken by the most powerful team available: Nagato Uzumaki, the puppet leader of the Akatsuki and holder of the original Rinnegan held by Madara, and Konan, the paper-using ninja of Amegakure who had been by his side from the beginning, ended in failure: While they had destroyed the village, they failed to capture the young man called Naruto Uzumaki, the Fourth Hokage's son, and Nagato even used his most powerful jutsu to revive everyone who had died at the cost of his own life, having long-term effects on his plans. Konan even turned traitor, taking Nagato's body away to hide.
Kirei watched as Assassin began to see something in the young boy, noting that, in a way, it was somewhat similar to his own obsession with Kiritsugu Emiya. Assassin attempted to confront Naruto directly to find out what had made Nagato change, but was intercepted by his old friend, Kakashi. He told them all everything he told Sasuke, then left to retrieve said Uchiha, who he had convinced to attack the five Kages at their summit. Saving his life, he made the demand for them to hand the remaining Bijuu over to him for the Eye of the Moon plan. When they refused, he proclaimed the start of the Fourth Shinobi World War to the Kage before taking Sasuke away.
Even Kirei, who had seen Assassin capabilities in his memories, couldn't fathom the logic behind his choice. Trained by the great Madara Uchiha and holder of one of the greatest powers in existence he may have been, but how could he hope to stand against the might of the entire world?
Events passed, including implanting Itachi's eyes into Sasuke due to his failing eyesight, killing Konan and taking the Rinnegan back, allying with the former subordinate of a traitor to the Akatsuki and raising a zombie army, and creating an army of 100,000 plant clones called Zetsu using the cells of Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, and the chakra of the seven Bijuu in his possession, the very same substance that made up his body.
Later, he confronted Killer Bee and Naruto, the later fresh from training to control the Nine-Tails' power. In order to face them on far more even ground, he went so far as to use the zombified versions of all six of the previous Jinchuuriki and implant their Biju inside of them, save the One-Tail, since its host had been brought back to life. Eventually, with the aid of Kakashi and Might Guy, they defeated the six Biju.
However, when the jutsu used to keep the zombified ninja alive failed when their master failed, Assassin brought forth two sealing containers that contained two warriors who had the chakra of the Nine-Tails and threw them inside the sealing statue. Combined with the energy from the Eight-Tails, the revival of the Ten-Tails had begun, with Assassin immediately putting a fire barrier to protect it and engaging in battle himself to buy time.
While at first Assassin's intangibility gave him an advantage against the two jounin and jinchuuriki, Kakashi was able to discover its greatest weakness: Since they shared the same pair of Sharingan eyes, anything that one sends to the alternative dimension could be affected by the other. Using this, Kakashi sent a Naruto clone into the alternate dimension successfully destroying his mask. After the initial shock had passed, with Assassin telling his old friend why he was fighting, they began to fight again.
"You've seen reality, you should be able to understand… No wish can become true in this world. That's why I'm pursuing the dream of infinite Tsukuyomi. I want to build a world where heroes don't have to make pitiful excuses in front of graves."
Later, the real Madara arrived, having been revived by the zombie master's jutsu but escaped his control before it could cancelled. However, despite both their efforts, it appeared to Kirei that the four enemies had succeeded in their mission, as they managed to hatch a plan that allowed them to fire a combined blast of chakra directly at the Statue, which vanished in an explosion.
'Is it over?' Kirei couldn't help but wonder, and, almost as if he heard him, Assassin spoke with a very small smile.
"Yeah... of this world."
The smoke cleared, revealing the form of the Ten-Tails, however incomplete, to the world. Both Madara and Assassin immediately set about controlling it with Hashirama's cells implanted in both of them. They then proceeded to fight not only their four enemies, but later the entire remains of the Allied Shinobi Forces which had arrived to fight. As the fighting continued, Assassin and Madara were separated from the Juubi, but it continued to mature and grow stronger. He even went so far as to kill one of Naruto's friends in an effort to break him.
"This is what happens when you talk about hope and ideals… This is reality. Naruto… what do you have in this reality? You have no father and mother… your master Jiraiya is dead, and as long as you keep opposing, your friends will die one after the other. No one that acknowledges you will survive. And you already know what lies ahead of all this… Loneliness. There's no need to be in this reality, come here Naruto!"
Despite this, Naruto refused to give in. In fact, with the encouragement of one of his other comrades, he simply found new resolve and shared the Nine-Tails' power with the fighters on the battlefield. More and more, Assassin, alongside Kirei, began to see his younger self in the Jinchuuriki, which fueled his desires to completely break him.
However, he was prevented by Kakashi, and the two warped away to the alternate dimension for their final battle. Even then, his former friend still sought to reach some part of the old Assassin, who simply responded that he was long since dead. Assassin then revealed he knew that Rin had been made the jinchuuriki of the Three-Tails, and that it was not that, but the "fake" world they live in and system of the shinobi nations that made him lose hope.
"Look! There is nothing in my heart! I don't even feel pain! You don't have to feel guilty, Kakashi. This windhole was opened by this hell of a world."
Despite Kakashi's continued pleads, they fought, with his former friend claiming he would make Assassin accept his ideals, the very same ones he himself carried on since that fateful day, again by force if needed. Ultimately, Kirei watched as Assassin was mortally wounded by Kakashi's Lightning Cutter. Escaping back to the real world while leaving Kakashi behind, he was betrayed by Madara, who decided that he had no further use of him. Hijacking his body with the chakra receivers implanted inside, Madara forced him to use the very same technique Nagato had used in Konoha, Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique, to revive him.
However, Assassin had been planning his own doublecross for some time. He managed to resist his former Master's control and sealed the Juubi inside of himself, becoming its first jinchuuriki since the legendary Sage of Six Paths. Using his new, practically god-like powers, he began to utterly decimate the enemy, only hindered by the fact he was fighting for domination in his mind with the beast. Kirei watched in fascination as Assassin, despite the Juubi tearing his mind and very self apart, focused on a mental image of his old team and brought it under his control, his physical body changing completely grey, gaining a grey haori from his very body, two horns from his forehead one larger than the other, his scarred side gaining a scale pattern, and his hair stark-white.
Once again, he began to battle, this time facing the full might of the Alliance alongside the five Kage, four previous Hokage, revived by zombication technique, and Sasuke, who had once again changed sides. His power was greater than all of theirs, however, and he continued with the Eye of the Moon plan, intending to cast Infinite Tsukuyomi on the moon.
However, in the end, he was defeated by Naruto and Sasuke, who, alongside Killer Bee and Gaara of the Sand, the former jinchuuriki of the One-Tail, extracted the Tailed-Beasts from him, depowering him. During that moment, he reflected over what might have happened if he had actually returned to the village instead of seeking revenge, and was confronted by Naruto himself.
During that moment, Kirei watched as Naruto managed to show Assassin that he actually did regret his actions, despite Assassin himself constantly denying it, and after the extraction process, Assassin himself wondered if Naruto and Kakashi were right about him all along. In fact, after speaking to both Kakashi and Minato about it, Assassin, finding new resolve, decided to use Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique as penance for his actions, seeing what Nagato had seen and noting that there was no other way to atone for them.
And in that moment, he doomed his world.
Black Zetsu, a Zetsu clone that contained Madara's will, ambushed him and hijacked his body, forcing him to cast the technique to instead revive Madara, allowing him to continue the plan by recapturing the Bijuu and seal them into himself. Black Zetsu then merged with Assassin's body, forcing him to fight his former friend and mentor unwillingly while noting that only their merger kept him alive. During this time, it tried to take the Rinnegan in his left eye socket to give to Madara, who had recovered his right eye.
"I'm Madara's will. I'll eliminate whoever stands in his way. You and Obito took Madara way too lightly, and you underestimated me as well. I'll use Obito's body to fight you until he dies."
However, Assassin managed to prevent Black Zetsu from taking the eye, regaining enough control to remove the eye himself and give it to Kakashi. And in that moment, he made his choice.
"Then... I will defy your will... to the end, Madara!" Assassin roared as he took and stabbed himself with Kakashi's kunai, while Kakashi and Minato both struck him with Lightning Cutter and Rasengan respectively, aiming specifically towards the part where Black Zetsu was showing himself.
Black Zetsu attempted to escape, but the shock of being stabbed and Assassin's resolve cost him the precious moments he needed to separate. The twin attacks tore through his body, killing Zetsu once and for all and sealing Assassin's own fate.
Kirei watched as Assassin fell to the ground, his blood, both real and plant matter, leaving his body. Allowing himself a glance over where Madara was, he was greeted to the sight of Madara, revived to full strength, sealing the Tailed Beasts once again, even the Eight and Nine-Tails. He felt himself fading, and, in his final moments as he stared upon the moon, the object that had given him reason to exist for so long, and his former team, he made a final silent prayer.
He wished to return to the moment that he chose to join Madara Uchiha, and instead return to Konoha. He wished to make sure that none of this had to happen, to save the world from his own evil.
Kirei awoke with a start, then calmed down as he looked about, realizing where he was. He was still in his room, having stopped training for a brief nap.
'Some nap,' he thought ruefully to himself as he stood up and stretched briefly. 'I managed to see the rest of Assassin's life in that brief time.'
His mind was still in the process of acknowledging everything it had seen before he saw Assassin enter the room.
"Hello Master," Assassin said as he entered the room, noting the fact that the bandages around Kirei's right eye were still untouched. "I'm glad to see you've taken my advice to not mess with your new eye yet."
Kirei nodded, not saying anything. The dream sequence and Archer's conversation were both still on his mind, but he didn't wish to speak of either yet.
Besides, it was probably for the best he hadn't attempted to use his new eye. He had heard tales of Mystic Eyes, mutations in the magical circuits located around the eye areas, even seen the usage of them by several members of the Church and Magi. However, he knew that his wasn't anything like those. As far as he knew, it was impossible to transplant Mystic Eyes to another person for this very reason.
That last thought bringing up a question he had never thought to ask."Speaking of which, how did you manage to transplant your Mystic Eye, and why must I wear this bandage constantly?"
"Mystic Eyes, in my world, are genetic ninja abilities which manifest in the eyes. As such, said eyes can be removed and transplanted into other people. As to your second question, since this eye isn't your original, transplanted eyes are always active and can't be turned off, draining the energy of the user constantly whenever uncovered. Even with your replacement parts, which will allow you to conserve your energy easier and lessen the energy drain, without proper training, that eye, while it could be your greatest weapon, could also be the thing that dooms you to an early grave." Assassin then walked over to the practice dummy, noting with satisfaction the dents in its body. "Speaking of which, I believe its time we start training with your Sharingan eye anyways. You appear to have the physical aspects of your surgery down, and it's better than letting you try to use it against Kiritsugu and drop dead from Prana consumption."
Kirei nodded his head, then carefully unwrapped the bandage about his head, keeping his eye closed even then. Only after he completely removed it and Assassin gave a nod, he opened his right eye, allowing his Sharingan to gaze about for the first time. The red, three-tomoe eye looked about eagerly, almost as if it desired to see, analyze, and memorize everything in the room. Suddenly, he stumbled, instantly gaining a headache and almost feeling the energy drain away to the eye.
"Careful," Assassin added unhelpfully. "That's a fully mature Sharingan, so the drain gonna be even worse since you've never had even the immature Sharingan for your body to get used to the drain."
"That's the first lesson?" Kirei asked as he shut his eye tightly, annoyed with his Servant's habit of playing the fool deliberately. "What it feels like to have your life drain away?"
"You needed to know firsthand what you're using is not a weapon to be used at whim, but a tool requiring surgical precision," Assassin replied as he threw Kirei an eye patch, seriousness returning to his voice. "This power is not a toy. Many users of this eye died because they forgot what the price for its power was, because they became overconfident and too wrapped up in their own superiority. The last thing either of us need is for that to happen to you."
"'Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power,'" Kirei replied, quoting Abraham Lincoln as he placed said eyepatch on, feeling better as the headache lessened.
Assassin nodded. "And just as that quote says, I also want to see what you would do with this newfound power. For example, would you use it to kill Tokiomi, if you thought he would interfere with your efforts to fight Kiritsugu?"
Kirei looked at him in surprise, which was quickly replaced with anger and disgust. "Do you truly believe I would betray my own teacher?" he all but spat out.
The subject of his anger simply shrugged. "Would you feel sorrow if your father died?"
"Of course."
"Would that sorrow be for his passing, or for not killing him yourself? Just like your wife?"
"I...!" Kirei stopped, then realized that, for a moment, he actually didn't know which it would be, and even entertained the later notion.
Assassin, taking note of Kirei's moment of weakness, pressed a point he knew he had to do soon. "You stand at an interesting crossroads, Master. You have three choices."
"And they are...?" Kirei asked, not at all prepared to discuss something like this. He did have an inkling something like was coming for a while, but he didn't expect Assassin to be so upfront about it. Once again, his mind thought back to what he had seen in the memories, particularly when Assassin had convinced Sasuke to join him. He didn't want to end up being manipulated as the young Uchiha had.
Assassin held up one finger. "One, you can continue with life as it currently is, being the obedient, dutiful son of Risei Kotomine and student of Tokiomi Tohsaka, aid them in obtaining the Root, the Origin of the World, and face Kiritsugu to understand what you desire most. The most boring path, but the one that would most likely end well for everyone involved. But... I feel that path isn't the one your heart isn't set on completing."
Assassin then held up two fingers. "Two, you can listen to exactly what your heart wants, and the path that Archer wants you to take. That's the one you will likely follow with the most eagerness, and it's the one that practically guarantees you will face Kiritsugu at his most dangerous, which you want. On the other hand, it's the path that's going to end in the most bloodshed, whether intentional or not, and it will cost your father and Tokiomi their lives, the later I practically guaran-damn-tee will happen."
"And the third?" Kirei asked with just a hint of sarcasm. "I'm just dying to hear it."
Assassin held up a third finger. "You can consider this one the middle path. You can stay the obedient, dutiful son of Risei Kotomine and student of Tokiomi Tohsaka, but also do what your heart wants to an extent, including fighting Kiritsugu. This ensures that we do not have to fill too many body bags, innocents or people known to you. This is the one I would really rather have you do, much less stress all around, even if it will require more work to do."
Kirei thought back to what Assassin had told him when he had woken up from his surgery, then to what Archer had told him. "Why is listening to my heart so bad a choice? I thought you wanted me to be true to myself."
"I've seen people like you, Kirei Kotomine, and I've seen them destroy everything they ever claimed to love by being completely true to themselves. You only find joy in the suffering of others, even your own family... with one exception."
"And that is?"
"Your daughter, Caren." Ignoring his startled look, Assassin pressed on. "In all the dreams I've seen of your life, I have never seen you take any joy out of watching your child suffer. When she broke her arm once? You felt no slight pleasure in watching her cry. When you left her with relatives, crying for you to take her back? You felt no joy in it, only sadness."
"And your point?"
"My point is, that if it weren't for that spark of compassion, I wouldn't be talking to you about this now, and I never would have given you that eye or even went to such lengths to save your life. I want you to be true to yourself, but I want you to be able to channel that truth into something you can be proud to tell your child about someday."
Kirei was silent as he digested this information. He remembered when he stabbed Irisviel von Einzbern, the sheer sense of joy and happiness he had felt, and he felt disgust despite himself. He had been taught better than that. How could he hope to take something like that and make it into something that he could proudly talk about?
But... he also felt that Assassin wasn't lying when he said that. He had seen Assassin lie in the memories, and it didn't exactly match his usual lying pattern.
Assassin noticed the look. "Very well, we will speak of this again, but now we need to begin your training," he stated nonchalantly as he removed his mask, revealing his Sharingan to the world. "Are you ready?"
Kirei nodded his head, putting his thoughts about what he would do now in the War aside for now. For some reason, Kirei had a feeling this wasn't going to be a pleasant experience.
Matou Estate
Zouken Matou, for the first time in many years, felt fear worm its way into his heart. He could feel every worm burn to ash by the dozens as Tokiomi's attacks tore through his shields and even struck his body. Every counter by usage of his worms met the heat shield and burned as well.
But, as any sensible fighter knows, fear itself is not inherently bad. It can just as often serve as a source of inspiration to a desperate mind, allowing the metaphorical gears to spin even faster and devise new strategies.
In that grip of fear, Zouken saw his avenue of victory in such an inspiration. Tokiomi's shield worked by using air as a medium to carry the heat, which in and of itself was concentrated on specific points and then spread through convection to form the barrier. While formidable, it had three inherent flaws.
One, the air needed to renew itself frequently in order continue its work as a medium, and as such wasn't unlimited.
Two, the heat, in order to preserve prana, was not a constant stream, which is why it required the use of convection in the first place.
Three, Tokiomi needed to concentrate in order to use the shield to its fullest. In order to attack, he had to stop using the shield for the brief moments it took to cast, which is why he had brought his Mystic Code to provide a constant stream of prana and eliminate those potentially fatal seconds required to gather it and just cast.
But, more importantly to Zouken, it also meant he couldn't defend from the front and back at the same time.
The Blade Wing Worms he ordered to attack from behind came silently, and Zouken gave no outer indication there was anything coming towards Tokiomi's back. However, by some intuition or just plain chance his opponent still turned about and saw the worms attack. Seeing no alternative, Tokiomi turned his cane about and released the bare minimum power necessary to eliminate them.
The worms fell to the ground screeching as they burned, and Tokiomi turned about the instance he had done so to reinforce his shield. Zouken had not been idle however. The moment Tokiomi turned to deal with the worms, he released his own magic attack directly at the barrier and sent his worms in en masse as well.
The magic strike was like a spike being wedged into a wall, and the worms were the hammer. The weakened shield shattered and the swarm made its way to feast on Tokiomi's flesh. Their meal wouldn't go without a fight though.
"Intensive Einäscherung!" A torrent of flame consumed the insects, striking the Manor walls as well, but it didn't stop the swarm.
Zouken allowed himself an evil grin has Tokiomi continued to fight the inevitable. He had originally hoped that Tokiomi would die during the War, thus destroying any chance of him finding out what was happening to Sakura. The fact that Kariya had revealed the truth personally was both a surprise and annoyance, but nothing more, and it ultimately worked out in the end.
"I suppose I'll have to thank Kariya when I see him next time, Tokiomi Tohsaka," he called out as the swarm drew closer to the fighting magus, who was too busy to respond. "He did allow me to make sure you don't interfere with my plans, after all."
Perhaps he'd take Tokiomi's Command Seals for himself while he was at it. True, he still needed the Servant's approval itself before the contract would be complete, but it had been the Matou who established the Servant system of the Grail Wars and created the Command Seals. The ability to call upon a Servant for himself could be exploited, especially if he was in another life-threatening situation such as this...
Oh shit.
"By the power of my second Command Seal, I order you, King of Heroes, to come to my aid!"
In a flash of light, Archer manifested himself in all his golden glory. For a moment, an expression of both annoyance and amusement fought for dominance on his face before settling on the later. He didn't even bother to look at Tokiomi as he spoke.
"Normally, I would mark this action as a grave offense against me Tokiomi. But, since you've provided me with some rather refreshing entertainment, I will forgive your transgressions this once."
With a snap of his fingers, weaponry in the form of knives, hammers, and daggers manifested all throughout the hallway, from the air to the walls themselves. With another snap, they flew forward into the swarm. Everytime one of the weapons made contact with the swarm, or even just a single bug, it detonated in a small, but intense explosion. The catch was there were dozens of these weapons firing at once.
Soon, the entire hallway was filled with said explosions, practically destroyed the walls and furniture. Tokiomi was protected by some sort of shielding Noble Phantasm that killed any worms that touched it, but he couldn't get past it.
As for Zouken, he attempted to escape, but was stopped by Archer literally grabbing him by the neck and lifting him up. The Servant's eyes were filled with complete disgust.
"You are by far one of the foulest creatures I've ever seen. I'll take great pleasure in this." Without another word, he hurled the old man into that cloud of weaponry and watched as the first blades struck his flesh. When the smoke cleared, nothing was left of Zouken Matou save a few scraps of clothing and some unidentifiable sludge on the ground. Returning his treasures to the Gate, he turned to face Tokiomi, who had bowed his head in gratitude. Archer also noted that his left arm was bleeding, likely from being attacked.
"My thanks to you, King of Heroes. I am forever in your debt for this."
"You would do well to remember that, Tokiomi." Archer responded, his trademark tone returning. "If you truly wish to begin to repay said debt, you will start by finishing what you were doing here."
"Of course, my king." Tokiomi immediately bowed again and left, no doubt to find his daughter. Archer took another look around, then wrinkled his nose in disgust at the smell of fried worms.
"I'll be sure to add 'burning this place to the ground' to that list while I'm at it."
...
'Where is she?' Tokiomi wondered to himself as opened several doors throughout the house, finding no sign of Sakura. 'She could have not heard the explosions. Is she hiding?'
Taking a deep breath to keep the turbulent emotions inside under control, Tokiomi brought out a small compass, very similar to the one his daughter Rin had used to try and find her friend Kotone. This compass, however, he had enchanted to point towards Sakura's unique magical signature.
For a moment, the needle spun around in a circle as it calibrated itself, then pointed in a westerly direction. He followed it until it came to a final door near the end of a hallway, where it pointed directly inside. Tokiomi opened the door, expecting to see Sakura there.
What he saw was the corpse of a young girl being devoured by the Crest Worms.
A feeling of pure, unadulterated rage overtook him. Raising his cane, he wordlessly yelled as he sent a blast of flame and burned the worms and corpse to ashes.
"Damn you, Zouken!" He finally managed to get out as he blasted the room with his fire, rage overtaking his reason as he burned the very room he was in apart. "Damn you, damn you, damn you!"
Somewhere Else in Fuyuki
"Aaaaaaaah..." Zouken gasped. "Well, that could have gone better."
Zouken Matou stood up from his originally prone position on the floor, as whole and hale as had been before. Normally, he would have waited at least a night, often days, months, or even occasionally years lying dormant with his mind divided among his swarms of worms and recuperating before claiming a new body as materials for said reconstruction.
However, these were no normal circumstances. As much as he hated to admit it, he still needed Kariya on the off-chance he did get the Grail, and he needed to be whole in order to use it.
'At least you had some use in the end, Byakuya.' Zouken admitted to himself, remembering his 'nephew's' shock and horror as he came for him. With the destruction of his former body by Archer, he had been desperate. In order to get away, he had what worms that survived use Byakuya's body as the raw materials for his new body. He could still see Byakuya's eyes widen in horror, hands out in front and mouth pleading with him to spare him. If that fool had half the spine Kariya did...
His Circuits, few as they had been, had made the transfer easier. This body would survive for some time.
He was jarred out of his thoughts by a soft moan nearby. Turning, he saw Sakura exactly where he had left her, naked and asleep.
He had been lucky. Even as the majority of his worms were being massacred by Tokiomi and Archer, he had managed to get Sakura outside. Using her clothes, which still contain traces of her magical signature, he put them on the body of a dead young girl he had found dumped somewhere and had his Crest Worms begin to devour it so Tokiomi wouldn't recognize it. Judging by the signals those worms had given before meeting their end, the red-suited magus had fallen for it.
After all, it wouldn't do any good if Kariya's only true motivation died before all was said and done.
"It appears I'll have to get ready. Kariya will need my aid before this is over, and I can't disappoint."
Omake
The Different Universes
Starrk and Giro stood in front of the Warp Hole, preparing to enter with the Sergeant, Richard, and Dexter.
The Sergeant was a tall man with dark brown eyes, roughly in his early 50s. The majority of his formerly blondish-brown hair had turned grey, and he had some stubble on his face indicating he hadn't shaved in awhile, but he was still in top physical shape. He was easily one of the most serious and businesslike soldiers in the organization, but his actually rather impressive leadership skills and mechanical know-how were offset by his bloodthirst, sociopathy, and eccentricity. He often hit it off with Earl for this very reason, going to bars and getting into bar fights together. It helped he was also a Southerner like him. His body was clad in red, futuristic armor, the product of the good Doctor's technological mind.
Richard was younger, in his late 20s to early 30s. Like Sarge, he had blondish-brown hair, though his was slightly more on the brown side, and was physically fit. His green eyes shone with intelligence, and he was indeed one of their finest computer and software workers, often working with the good Doctor. However, he had several problems, including a somewhat large ego, a bit of an inferiority-complex, and was, for lack of a better word, a bit of a kiss-ass. His official ethnicity was registered in the system as 'Dutch-Irish cyborg', due to an incident which required him to replace several of his body parts. His armor was identical to the Sergeant's, save it was maroon.
Dexter was about Richard's age, with brown hair and blue eyes. Unlike the Sergeant, who had an impressive history in building robots and cyborgs, and Richard, whose software and hacking skills were practically unchallenged, Dexter's specialities lied in vehicles, in which he was the finest driver, sailor, and pilot in the whole organization. Also, unlike his teammates, Grif was actually overweight and a smoker. Personality-wise, he was the professional slacker and wise-cracking loudmouth. Even so, his words often had wisdom, and he served as the voice of reason for the other two when Richard's kiss-ass got in the way. Of course, since the Sergeant was constantly making plans that involved him dying, this was justifiable. His armor was identical to the other two in all but color, in which his was orange.
Not exactly the most elite group, but they got the job done.
"So Starrk, Giro," The Sergeant asked, curious to know where they were going. "Where's this portal going to take us?"
"Is it just an alternate version of this reality, or is it a completely different one?" Richard added, also curious.
"Well Simmons," Giro answered. "This one is an alternate version, so I think we should be okay. The same rules of this world will apply."
"Apparently, this is a universe if the Holy Grail was moved to another location after the Third War. We'll be arriving around the time of the Fourth Holy Grail War. We're just supposed to observe, but we can take one person back to this reality if we use a Phozon crystal."
Dexter sighed in relief. "Thank God for that. I hate going to the really alternate worlds. You never know what's going to happen."
"They're not all bad," Simmons countered. "We wouldn't even be here if it weren't for this. And neither would the Doctor, Starrk, Giro, Earl, Anderson, Lilynette or Logan."
"I know that, but it's still weird in some of them."
"I agree with Grif on this one, Simmons." The Sergeant added. "Some of those worlds are just kinda creepy. Like the one with the talking robots that could transform into vehicles."
"Or the one with people who could literally use their blood as weapons," Giro added.
"Or even the one with the Slender Man!" Grif finished. "I still have nightmares about that guy!"
"I thought Oswald cut him apart and Logan literally erased him from existence." Starrk asked, confused.
"Yeah, but they say you can sometimes see him, especially on video cameras found in the middle of nowhere." Grif replied, looking about anxiously. "I know because Sarge gave me one!"
"Okay, but there are some good ones!" Simmons pointed out, then snapped his fingers when a name came to him. "Like that world filled with talking ponies!"
"You mean that world where you, Grif, Caboose, Tucker, Church when he still had a body, Starrk, Lilynette, Logan and me ended up and turned into ponies?" Sarge asked.
"The one where one of the rulers turned into an evil Overlord called 'Something-Nova,' brought the sun near the Earth, beat down a god of chaos, tanked everything Starrk threw at her and survived Logan's dragon form, and was defeated by her younger sister turning into something called 'Nightmare Moon' and those six other little ponies?" Grif asked.
"The one where Starrk got drunk and woke up in bed with said younger sister and they got married?" Giro finished.
"Yes, yes, and I don't know if they got married afterwards, but yeah."
Almost on reflex, everyone turned towards Starrk, who had a slight blush on his face, as if expecting him to clarify.
"I'm not discussing my love life in public, especially not with you four," he managed to get out. "Anyways, are you guys ready?"
"Yeah."
"Of course."
"Yes sir!"
"As long as we get going."
And with that, the five entered the portal.
And that's the end of this one! How many people thought I killed Sakura off? C'mon, I'm not that heartless!
Soul: I wanted to see Zouken bite the dust. That would have boosted Archer's popularity by 30%.
Anyways, that concludes Assassin's flashback past. I hope people liked it, I stayed as close to canon events as possible. All that's left is Caster's, then I can write to the fullest! I hope people liked the scenes with Tokiomi and Kirei. I mean, if you found out your daughter was tortured like that, and then apparently have her permanently snatched out of reach, you'd overreact to, even if you were normally very stoic. As for Kirei, I have something slightly different in store for him than the norm, so watch out.
Also, the big fight at the Tohsaka Manor is coming next chapter. Epic three-way battle between five Servants!
As for the omake... let's consider it quasi-canon for now, because while they actually are heading to an alternate version of the Fate Universe (props to whoever figures out which one it is!) I'm not saying they actually went to any of the other dimensions I mentioned. I may make a side-story showing the mentioned members in that pony universe (props to whoever figures it out!), but if someone else wants to run with it... send a PM if you're interested, and I'll put the guidelines for the challenge.
But I'm not a fan of said show! And they did kill Slender Man! Take that, doubters-of-OSG's-badassery!
Avenger: I didn't even get a cameo...
Oswald: Don't worry, I know how to cheer you up. ANDERSON!
Anderson: Did you miss me, vampire?
Avenger: HELL YEAH!
(Both warriors go at it)
Anyways, keep favoriting, following, and reviewing everybody! Hope to see you all soon!