I focused my sights over the bridge. It led over the water to the wasteland that was once Izaya. Few buildings were left standing, but the burned-out ground was strewn with rubble and the remains of life. Luckily there were no human remains, the evacuation had gone well enough for that. However, there was a reason that I watched this spot, and the glowing dark clone of the space detective and the holy berserker soon ran by. With my mind's eye, I followed them.

The dark Ken Marker ran on. If only his speed was seen, a normal person would not believe he was running, because his speed reached that of a car on an open road. Despite that objection, he still had humanoid form, was still running on two legs, and still had two arms. The lights on his body glowed as they always did as he ran.

Behind him was a young French girl, running at an equally unbelievable speed. He checked to see if she was still there and found her gaining on him.

He continued to run across the open road, headed for where he was.

The four-door sedan continued to drive along the broken road. It was crowded, having to fit four people, namely Lancer, Tensai, Bob, and Archer. They weren't tense, expecting a comfortable ride to be ahead of them.

I kept everything inside, but even though I tried.

"I want to get into a fight." Bob said.

"So do I." Archer said this as well.

It all fell apart.

"But staying in this car with this song is good too." Bob said. "I quite like this station."

"I would prefer some traditional music myself." Archer said.

"You've got your wish." Lancer said. "Incoming." He looked forward at a man running at the speed of a car, who had appeared suddenly on the flat ground that was once Izaya. Tensai was already incanting magic, preparing to jump.

What it meant to me will eventually be

But the man was too quick, slamming himself into the windshield of the car. A large, red, pixelated yet very real-looking -200 appeared where his chest had hit the car.

"USE THE WIPERS, LANCER!" Tensai gave this command. Lancer pulled the windshield wipers' dial up to the maximum. They moved like they had a purpose, smashing into the side of DarKen's chest and face. Yet still he held on. "This isn't working, Master!" Lancer returned the statement.

A memory of a time when I tried so hard, and lost it all!

"Persistent little bug!" Tensai yelled, incanting a different wind magic. The roof of the car was sliced off easily by the blade of the wind, throwing DarKen off. And then they saw why he had run at them.

Behind him was the monster, the Holy Berserker, Joan of Arc. Bob and Archer immediately prepared their weapons, having been stunned by DarKen's sudden entry.

"TURN AROUND!" They yelled in unison. Military Tactics was obviously not a useless skill at this point. Lancer obliged, pulling the wheel around. The wheels screeched under the pressure and friction as the saint ran closer. The distance was fifteen meters.

Barely anything to a Servant of this level. But just before Joan could grab onto the car Lancer floored the gas. Joan threw her sword.

Normally it would not do much, but with her Strength ranking of A+, the sword was like a missile that blew out the car's engine, rendering it unfit to be a mount. Seeing this, Lancer threw a spear straight down, using the explosion to fuel a quick flight away from the saint.

For now they were free.

In the end, it doesn't even matter!

After being blown off the car, DarKen settled down to watch the battle. He was mildly surprised to see an untouched bag of popcorn on the ground. It was humorously nailed to a stake, as if someone had tried to burn it. He sat down next to it, facing the site of battle. He took a bite of the popcorn. Butter. Horribly bland.

"Yuck." He spat out the popcorn. "Cold, and I hate butter."

Across dimensions, a space detective in the midst of an epic battle for the fate of his home world sneezed.

"WHO'S DISSING BUTTERED POPCORN!?" He yelled, dispatching another one of his many opponents with a punch. "I'M MAD NOW!" The space detective unleashed his final attack, defeating both the leader of the alien invasion and the leader of the human militarist faction, bringing peace to the world.

But that's another story.

DarKen looked back to the battle site, which was now covered in a dust cloud. He strained his eyes.

I can't see anything… wait, is that the car flying right for me!?

He instinctively threw himself to the side, hoping not to be attacked or run over. However if they already knew his location that would leave him completely exposed.

The car soared clear over his head. It made an ungodly noise, raining crushed and useless parts from the front. Behind the car, the saint had already retrieved her sword. The voices in her head urged her onwards, forcing her to charge towards the enemy. However, DarKen was not around to perceive any of this. The wake of the car had also contained a spear, aimed perfectly at DarKen's center mass by the Servant Archer. On its way, it had also burst the bag of popcorn. As the buttery snack food spilled out over DarKen's body, the baritone voice called out again.

DarKen is dead! POPCORN HAS BEEN SLAIN! DOUBLE KILL!

The car landed, skidding madly and throwing up sparks. It was now just a useless piece of metal. Archer put away his bow as Tensai and Lancer prepared for battle. Bob began to incant his own magecraft. They were as ready as they could possibly be.

"Good shot, Archer." Bob said upon hearing the death-confirming baritone voice. "But why the popcorn?"

"It was a necessary sacrifice." Archer said, despite the fact that he knew nothing about any popcorn being there. "Now we face a far stronger opponent." He said, drawing his sword. The horse that was his companion also materialized, and he was ready for battle. Looking over at Tensai and Lancer, they had prepared as well, Lancer holding his spear over his head, poised to make a throw.

The saint burst forward like a shot. The spear was easily deflected, but already Lancer had another one in his hands.

"I'll show you what it's like to go against a god." Lancer's second spear was already ready.

"A god?" The La Pucelle asked. "There is only one God." She charged for him, but suddenly sensed another warrior attacking her. Turning, she saw the mounted enemy. An Oriental general, well-versed in the arts of war, this opponent was not one to be trifled with. Her instincts and the voices told her that much. She pulled back from Lancer, instead deciding to pull the knight off of his horse. Her sword was ready, and so was his. Their eyes met, and the mounted one immediately yelled out his war cry.

"MIKUNIGORO, CHARGE!"

"Silence, heathen!" She yelled, charging into the fray herself.

The evacuation had gone smoothly. Not all of the city was leveled, however, with buildings that had not been targeted by the flaming spear's wrath still standing.

In one of those buildings, Ririko and Rider began to build their strength. The evacuation was sudden, resulting in families leaving behind their goods. This was an ideal situation for Ririko, who had been starved for a few days. Currently, Ririko was in the bedroom of a comfortable, fifth-floor apartment.

"Master, the preparations are complete." Rider bowed before her Master. Anyone would see it as a polite exchange, however, for Rider, it was a subtle sign of rebellion. Her deference was an act, and any competent diplomat would be offended at such over-politeness.

Ririko on the other hand could not care less about those things. She took up her brother's spear and her own.

"Leave me alone, Rider." She said coldly, striding out of the bedroom into the living room. Rider nodded and she left in silence.

"My luck is the worst." Rider muttered to herself.

Ririko held both spears in her hands. Her family's final weapons, passed down, were actually meant to be united as one. One, the Merciless Blitz, a masterfully created weapon that harnessed the power of lightning. Her brother's hallmark, it multiplies the force of the "traveled distance", which when combined with her brother's teleportation magecraft, could defeat any opponent and crush any obstacle. The second spear, the Blazing Heart, was her own weapon, and with its ability to duplicate itself into shadows, would be able to strike at the heart of any opponent.

But in truth, these weapons were never meant to be used separately. Together, they were made to form the Tohno family's final treasure, the Dragon's Wind. However, this required a very specific ritual, which only the two heads of the family would know.

Luckily, she was one of them. As her magic power began to flow into the circle she asked Rider to draw, her eyes glowed with a fearsome blue light. The room was engulfed in the shining, which reflected off of the spears to form a blinding mass that could be seen from the next apartment. And then she spoke in a full voice, different from the cold and distant voice she took with Rider, she spoke in the full and earnest voice of a maiden in love with her brother. Combined with the blue light, it formed an otherworldly combination.

Love's warm embrace is human's true ending.

The spears rose up into the air, and began their slow dance around the borders of the magic circle. They cut the air around Ririko, dangerously close to slicing her arms open, but she continued undeterred.

Pain and sorrow, endless searching through eternity.

By chance, the lovers met, and loved with the passion of a fire.

At those words, the spears' rotation stopped, falling to the floor. Ririko paused, just as she was taught, took a breath, and continued. Her voice became more emotional from here, being rather more like a spurned lover than a historian.

But fate did not allow even this tiny grace.

Their short yet loving embrace warmed the very world.

Yet the curse remained; the two doomed to never have their love fulfilled.

But here she stopped. The air was still. But her eyes still glowed, and with hands that moved as if they were not truly under her control, she picked up the two spears and placed them over her chest, the Merciless Blitz over the Blazing Heart. As she was, she continued the chant. But now she was screaming at the top of her voice.

In this age they are born again; but now their love they will defend!

Maybe it was desperation. Maybe it was the last bit of hope for the girl who had lost everything.

So I ask thee for strength, spear holding my lover's soul!

Maybe it was her way of accepting that her brother was truly gone.

Open my path with your eternal partner!

Or maybe it was her way of keeping her with him forever. Just like how the Blazing Heart and the Merciless Blitz convalesced into the Dragon's Wind. She took the spear close to her chest and stood there for a few minutes, doing nothing but standing in silence and holding the spear to her chest.

Even as the heat of noon crept into the room, she did nothing else.

Appendix A: Taiga Dojo 8 (DarKen)

"So the Master finally decides to join the Servant in the graveyard! Goodbye!" Pointing at her precious Taiga-sensei, she flicked her finger, pushing the card with the orange-haired boy's image over into the Graveyard. Pointing at the gallant knight's card, Ilya declared "You're next!" In the corner, the nun in black merely filed her nails, bored out of her wits by the antics of her colleagues.

"No!" Taiga yelled. "My beautiful dance of Master and Servant can never be fulfilled!" She sank down onto the ground and sobbed, appearing to have all the energy taken out of her. "My glorious plan has failed, my hand is empty! What have I left but to surrender!?"

"Ehehe, now you have to listen to me!" Ilya yelled. "For my first decree, you will give me unlimited time with Shirou! Every single day!"

"Kh!" Taiga yelled, clutching at her chest as if she had been pierced by Gae Bolg. "I cannot! But on my honor I must." She said, resigned. In the corner, the black-clad nun saw that the camera was running. Immediately, her well-trained Burial Agency mind, honed on the fields of war, went into full operation.

Oh no! If I get a rep for being unprofessional because of those two, I might never be able to work again! She walked over to the two, one with her chest out in victory, the other lying on the floor, sobbing at her own defeat. To any observer she would look casual and composed, but she exuded a dark aura more befitting a vampire than a nun. She reached the two lying on the floor and took a breath.

"QUIT PLAYING A CHILDREN'S CARD GAME! THE CAMERA IS RUNNING!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. The white-haired homunculus merely stared at her. However, the instructor, who had been lying on the ground moments before, was now up and livid, entire body shaking due to anger. The bokken was already in her hands.

"Don't. You." With each of these words she took a step towards Ciel, and raising the bokken, she said "DARE MESS WITH A CHILDREN'S CARD GAME!" She began to wildly flail her bokken, each swing with enough power to knock a True Ancestor back to the moon.

"Kh." Ciel continued to dodge the furious assault, which created wind slashes so powerful that the tatami doors were sliced in half, falling to the ground. In response, Ciel continued to dodge, throwing some of her hundreds of Black Keys, which were effortlessly deflected by the wild swinging of the kendo master.

Ilya, not affected at all by the duel, popped up in front of the camera.

"There's not much advice to give except that you shouldn't let your guard down! And vote for me in the popularity polls!" she yelled.

The poor innocent girl had no way of knowing that Taiga's bokken was on a collision course with her head.

"GYAAAAAAAA!" She yelled, forming the perfect background noise for the duel of the women of the hint corner. The homunculus flew off into the sky, and in the words of many before me: "was blasted off."

The doors of the dojo closed, but they were not the normal tatami doors.

They were the steel blast doors used in case of a Dead Apostle attack. Muffled yelling could still be heard.

"THIS IS MY TRUMP CARD!" ( watch?v=fxqMlokC05A at 2:27)

"Not bad, but now it's my turn! Ultimate Defense: Sheet-Metal Poster!"

Both sides had unleashed their final moves.