Fate Th(re)e Heroes

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

Attention! This is the second chapter I've published this day. So, if you haven't read Chapter 36 yet and somehow landed on this page, make sure you don't skip that one by accident.

Chapter 37: This Is War

The rest of the red Team went down the stairs into the basement. Since they hadn't had any opposition while they had been outside, one had to ask, where would their enemies plan to fight them? Even though the Einzbern castle was a big building, it was not big enough for all of them to fight without hindering each other. And as Caster's Territory Creation was not on the same level as Lancer of Red's, it had more limits, especially in regards to creating new space. So, while Lancer could squeeze a full castle into a one-family house, Caster had no such abilities. But she could probably easily hollow out some space underground to create some new rooms that Kiritsugu would have no knowledge of.

Which was why they were currently walking down the stairs to the wine cellar. First Berserker of Red and Kariya, then Assassin of Red and Kotomine, followed by Brawler of Red, Lancer of Red and lastly Kayneth. A lineup, that was just inviting someone to strike at the unprotected back of Lancer's Master. An invitation, which Assassin of Black would be gladly following.

"So, now where is the entrance?", Lancer of Red asked to no one in particular and Assassin of Red took it upon him to answer:

"If our information is correct it should be…"

That was the time when the black Assassin decided to make an appearance. Bursting out of a wine barrel he emerged behind Kayneth, his two katar crossed, ready to take off the head of his unsuspecting prey. But before he could put his plan into practice, silver tendrils jumped out from under Keyneth's clothing and towards the silent killer. Assassin of Black aborted his attack and jumped back to bring distance between him and the silver liquid, which gathered itself next to Kayneth to form a metallic blob.

"How did you manage to block my attack?", Assassin of Black wondered out loud. "You didn't thought about defending yourself… so it's an automatic defense system called Volumen Hydrargyrum that you activated and hit under your clothes on the advice of Saber's Master. Happy, happy. So that was why you weren't protecting your back."

"Your ability to read minds is as astonishing as ever", Kayneth commented and Assassin laughed.

"That is all thanks to my Noble Phantasm Spectator (The Eye of Five Visions), but you already know that, don't you?"

"Please proceed without me", Assassin of Red told his comrades. "Why? Because…"

"…you are running low on time and you have been trained to fight against people with similar abilities", his black counterpart finished the sentence for him smiling. "Is that what you are thinking? Happy, happy. I am really looking forward to taking your head!"

"Brawler", Lancer of Red addressed the other Servant, "if you would be so kind…" The Servant of the Fist nodded once and with the help of a burst of air propelled herself forward towards the wall. She draw back her clenched fist and smashed through the stone, revealing a secret room.

"Seems like Saver was right once again", Berserker of Red mused as he climbed through the hole, followed by his Master.

"Be careful", Brawler told Assassin of Red before venturing ahead herself. One after another followed suit until the two Assassin were the only ones in the room. The whole time Assassin of Red had not let his black counterpart out of his sight.

"Why are you so stiff", Assassin of Black complained laughing, "you think you can fool my Spectator (The Eye of Five Visions) by covering your face and acting all emotionless? Futile!" He raised his index- and middle finger of the right hand towards the eye on his forehead before gleefully continuing to talk:

"Insight is just one of the abilities my Teigu grants me! The second one is the Clearsight to see through… what the hell is with your body?!" For a moment the serial killer was stunned into silence and even though Assassin of Red could not read minds, it wasn't difficult to guess what went on in his opponent's head.

"It seems you have discovered my Noble Phantasm", the ninja stated the facts. This brought Assassin of Black out of his musings and he started to laugh wholeheartedly.

"Happy, happy! Offering the bodies of your children to bugs as their new hive? Your clan really has an interesting technique. Not unlike a certain someone I know but can't talk about. Not that you would need any more hints, right?"

"Indeed, I do not acquire your assistance. Why? Because seeing the Master of Berserker of Red gave me enough clues. Furthermore…"

"…there is a difference between parasitism and symbiosis. Is that what you are thinking?"

"Indeed it is."

"And now that you positioned all your bugs you are finally going to attack, is that what you are thinking?" While talking he already jumped away as a cloud of bugs descended onto the place he had been before. But that alone was not enough to escape from his clutches as Assassin of Red had already anticipated that and now the aforementioned insects encircled him from all direction. However, he did not thought this would be enough to defeat his opponent. Why? Because…

"…your foe is able to read minds and so should have foreseen this tactic. Is that what you are thinking?" Assassin of Black ran towards a wall of bugs and swung his katars wildly around. Usually this would have done nothing against a swarm of so tiny animals, however, he was a Servant with A-ranked Agility. So he actually managed to hit every single bug that threatened to come close to him as he ran and jumped through the wine cellar while his red counterpart sent his insects after him.

While Rider of Red and Berserker of Black were fighting it out, War slowly made his way towards Waver, swinging his blooden battle-axe while grinning madly.

"I have waited too long for this!", he said gleefully. "Now I can finally eat up!"

Waver gulped. To say he wasn't afraid would be an outright lie. His opponent was a dead apostle, after all, a human-devouring vampire. And Rider was occupied with Berserker so he would had to face him on his own. Usually, he as a third generation magus would stand no chance against a dead apostle and if anyone would have suggested this to the him from before the Holy Grail War, he would have loudly declined and declared the other one insane. But he was different now.

He stretched out his hand and summoned the black gauntlet. Now he had the power of a Noble Phantasm to back him up. But what was a lot more important was his desire to protect Rider. Even though she was a Heroic Spirit and so was stronger than him by a great margin, she was still very vulnerable. The only reason why she was even functioning after the revelation that everything she thought about the Holy Grail War was false, was because she accepted him as a surrogate human counterpart.

But he didn't want that. He didn't want her to hurt so that he wouldn't hurt. He wanted her to share her pain with him. If he told the others, they would most likely call him crazy for trying to apply his human emotions towards a demon with an alien common sense but then again, stealing Kayneth's catalyst and participating in the Holy Grail War was not something that people would call thought-through. Speaking of, wasn't it time that he achieved his original objective and showed Kayneth that he indeed was someone of worth?

The black column extended from his gauntlet towards the dead apostle who decided to block it with the flat of his giant axe. This turned out to be quite the bad choice as Waver's attack wasn't even slowed down. Without halting it pushed the vampire back into a wall, resulting in a sickening crunch combined with the spluttering of blood.

"█▄▀██▄█▀▄▀█▀▄█▀█▄!", Berserker of Black screamed and sent a wave of blue flames at the enemy Master. Before they could reach him, however, his Rider appeared on screeching wheels, grabbed him and carried him out of the way. Quickly Waver retracted the column to not hinder his Servant and gasped in surprise as he saw that the fake Sakoshimo had vanished and in his stead was a big stain of blood. Frantically he looked around trying to find him while being carried by Rider. Where was he hiding?!

"Huh? Is that guy already finished?"

Waver turned around and his gaze fell upon Archer of Black and his Master Kirainakuuki Fuyita, or to be precise, Pest, as this was the name that appeared in Saver of Red's The Daily Universal Register (The Londoner Times). Waver paled. Trembling he held up his hands at his ears, trying to block out the cruel reality, not noticing that Berserker of Black was still after them.

Rider had already problems if it was only one enemy Servant but now they had to face two of them at the same time, not to mention their Masters who were dead apostle siblings?! He didn't noticed the distressed glances that his Servant sent towards him. What he did notice was getting thrown off by Rider and falling at the ground. Perplexed he looked up to watch as the mounted Knight charged directly at Berserker of Black. Behind the mad warrior was Archer of Black directing his gun at her. Was she really planning on fighting two Servants at once?

"W-wait! Stop! Rideeeeeeeeeeeeer!"

Suddenly a great gust of wind streamed past Rider sending Berserker flying back and Archer jump out of the way.

"Archer!", the black one greeted his red counterpart, "I am glad that you came to meet me! Let us once and for all see, who is the better gunman!"

"Tch, great. You are one of those types."

Most of all Archer of Red sounded annoyed, completely opposite to the eager Archer of Black. This didn't went unnoticed by the Knight of the Bow.

"Don't underestimate me, you little bastard!", he shouted enraged and shot a beam of energy at his enemy, who tapped at the ground and effortlessly escaped the attack by shooting into the air.

Meanwhile Waver had finally regained his bearings. Archer was one of the strongest members of the red faction. Now they had more than a small chance! However…

"…what happened to Tokiomi?", he asked the Knight of the Bow.

"He is up against Avenger", he answered, still dodging all the attacks, before activating the black whirlwinds on his back and soaring towards the cowboy.

"Wir sind vier."

At the same time Archer of Red evaded another one of Archer of Black's beams, Kirainakuuki had cut into his arm and let his blood fall onto the ground, where it quickly turned into the other dead apostle: the fake Sakoshimo.

"You-" As soon as he was back, the dead apostle turned towards Waver, with hatred in his eyes. But before he could do anything else, he kneeled over, coughing heavily.

"Retreat", his brother told him, which once more made him fall into a rage.

"Don't tell me what I have to do!", he shouted, but he soon became quiet as not just his anger stroke once again but also a feeling of nausea that again resulting in him coughing on the ground.

"You are in no shape to fight…", Kirainakuuki explained, "…one of us… has to survive."

Gruntingly War conceded to the logic of his sibling. He turned to face Waver one last time.

"This isn't over!", he promised before exiting the hall through the same door that Pest had been entering.

Waver on the other hand had trouble comprehending what he just saw. It wasn't the fact that the fake Sakoshimo had been called back to life. All dead apostle had a means to heal themselves. Usually it was the Curse of Restoration which made the body regress to the state from before they received wounds akin to time reversal. Though there were some exceptions like the dead apostle quadrupled, but that they already knew.

No, what he couldn't comprehend was the fact that they needed to revive the fake Sakoshimo. Did he actually managed to defeat a dead apostle in one single strike?! He looked at the gauntlet on his right arm. Was this Noble Phantasm really that powerful? A wave of confidence filled him. He could do this! He would defeat the other vampire, too!

Brawler of Black just took one dismissive glance at his enemy. Avenger of Red. Again. He had to fight against that weakling again. He wanted to test his power against strong opponents!

"I will end this quickly", he promised as he took a fighting stance. Volquart started to sweat. He had hoped Brawler would go easy on them like he did the last time but apparently he was done playing around. It seemed, they had to use their trump card a little earlier than expected.

"Avenger!", he shouted. "Use it!"

"Avenger!", Matou Byakuya addressed his Servant. "Kill Tohsaka Tokiomi!"

Avenger of Black just sighed. Why did she always had to fight against Masters?! She had excepted the call to fight against Servants and maybe claim the Holy Grail to free herself from her sins. And not for another chance for her to sin even more. So when she had met Pest for the second time, the first thing she had felt was relief. Right after she overcame her disbelief of course. Nevertheless, she was still more than glad to see that the person she had killed wasn't dead. However, in exchange it made her even more reluctant to kill other people.

There was only one problem: Her Master didn't share the same sentiment. And he owned her three Command Seals. It was one of her greatest fears right now that her Master would use one of those against her to make her kill someone. She didn't wanted that to happen. She couldn't let that happen. So, she at last had to pretend to play along.

Tokiomi pointed his staff at her with the red jewel on top of it glowing. Flames sprouted out of it, creating a magical circle made up out of multiple rings of fire and inside of them two blue glowing squares that together created an eight-pointed star before seemingly fading again.

Then he whirled his staff around and shouted:

"Intensive Einäscherung!"

What followed was a blast of flames that rushed towards Avenger of Black and her Master. Avenger grabbed her Master and jumped with him out of the way before dropping him ungentle and picking up a mirror shard. But once she held it in her hand, she noticed that something was wrong. She had actually planned to throw it at the magus as a broken Phantasm to see what would happen, since she doubted that flashy spell before had no effect. However, as she touched the shard she had to discover that her skill Deadly Everyday Life didn't work on it at all. Was that Archer's doing?

She had no time to find out what was wrong and instead opted to throw the shard regardless. This turned out to be the right decision since even without turning into a Noble Phantasm, it fulfilled its original purpose. As it hit the space in front of him it quickly evaporated accompanied by a purple flash of heat. So that is what his spell does. If she had tried to break through with her fist, she would have suffered severe burns.

Once again, she grabbed her Master and changed location to avoid another fire blast. The room was too small for her to counter-attack without risking her Master – just like she wanted.

"Hehe. So we finally meet on the battlefield, Kariya."

"Zouken!", growled the Master of Berserker of Red. "I'll kill you."

"You should not be so eager to throw your life away", the old magus reprimanded his "son". "You already failed in your objective."

"What do you mean?", inquired Kirei. "Caster of Black is not dead, yet, or the spirit board would have told us of this."

"Indeed, Caster and her Servant are behind this door." If anyone hadn't noticed the big wooden door behind him before, he would have now after he pointed it out.

"However, how do you plan to kill her without killing Sakura, now that Saber is not with you anymore?"

"There is no need to kill her right now", Kirei responded, "capturing Caster will suffice."

"I see, so that is your plan. Well, in this case…" Suddenly the walls to the sides opened and revealed dozens of fair-skinned, white-haired and red-eyed women who positioned themselves in front of Zouken. They all wore the same white maid uniform with a hood that covered their hair completely but without any of the stereotypical frills. Underneath they wore a dark blue skirt and blouse, the latter being visible through a fashionable opening in the dress at the breast section. Additionally, all of them were carrying some rather heavy weaponry. From giant claymores to and huge pikes to massive battle-axes.

"They smell like Irisviel", commented Brawler of Red and indeed, the eyes had the exact same shape and color as Kiritsugu's wife's.

"Einzbern homunculi", concluded Kirei, "Master Einzbern has to have brought them with him."

"So, Irisviel is a homunculus, too…", mused Brawler but was interrupted by Lancer of Red.

"Let's think about it later on", he told her, "I am going to break through. Who comes with me?"

"I will", she answered, shortly followed by Berserker. Yet Lancer shook his head.

"I don't think it would be good for us to leave our Masters alone without any Servant. Lancer of Black can show up wherever he wants."

"Damn, you are right", Berserker remembered. It wasn't just Saver who fought dirty. And since his abilities weren't exactly suited to capture someone alive…

"Alright", he conceded. "I'll stay here. Just make sure you bring Sakura back!"

"I'll try my best."

With that he conjured a wave of flames and sent them towards the horde of homunculi while charging ahead, Brawler hot on his trail. But even though some of the artificial human beings went out of the way, a good deal met their charge head-on, not letting themselves be slowed down by the flames burning their skin and licking at their uniforms. Brawler overtook Saber and punched an incoming homunculus in the abdomen, sending her flying back into a second one, which in turn flew back against a third. This moment was used by Lancer to pierce through the hearts of the first two, electrocuting all three of them.

From the left came another homunculus, trying to slash at him with her halberd. But with one strike of his giant sword Berserker smashed it away and cut her open at the same time. Attacks against their right flank were also foiled. But not by the hand of a Heroic Spirit or even a human. No, like a shield Kayneth's blob of liquid metal jumped between the Servants and the homunculi on the right, effectively blocking their assaults, before flowing around the surprised Lancer and Brawler. It completely engulfed them and assumed the form of a ball with the two Servants inside. Without pausing it shot towards the door, pushing aside any homunculi in its way. It only stopped once it reached the door. There it opened up to catapult the indwellers into the next room.

Kayneth smiled smugly at Zouken but the smile became soon strained as another homunculus reached him and raised his giant sword to cleave him in half – all the while Kayneth's automatic defense system was on the other end of the room, where he himself had positioned it to help in Brawler's and Lancer's advance. Even though it returned to him at once, he knew it wouldn't make it in time.

Luckily for him, he wasn't fighting alone. Just in time Kirei appeared and with a high-kick, smashed in the head of the artificial human.

"You have my gratitude, Master Kotomine", the magus thanked the priest as his Volumen Hydragyrum, the ball of mercury, returned to his side.

"Think nothing of it", Kirei responded as he raised himself and positioned himself half to his back, half to his right. So their blood really is red. "In my career as an Executor I've had to deal with some homunculi. Though I have to admit, the rumors that none of them reach the quality of the Einzbern are true."

"Luckily we are no pushover ourselves, right?", Berserker asked, joining them. "Just remember, Master, don't use any of those worms, or Zouken might use them against us."

"I know!", growled Kariya angrily and took out the gun he had gotten from Lancer of Red. Interestingly that was one of the things that Kariya really would not forget, no matter how much the Crest Worms were taking of his sanity.

'Even a berserker does not lose his instincts', mused Kayneth, before he returned his attention towards the charging homunculi. Seriously, when he had summoned his Servant, he would never have thought, he would fight side by side with an Executor. Yes. This really was a war.

A/N:

Hi guys and gals.

Next to setting up two more stages of combat, this chapter also goes a lot more into the personalities of some characters. And I think that's no more blatant than with Avenger of Black, purposely going against her own Master's wishes. And she isn't doing this because she is a nice person but because she has her own goals that contradict his.

Gashadokuro Amanojaku

CLASS/TITLE: Assassin of Red

Master: Kotomine Kirei
True Name:
Sex: Male
Strength: D
Endurance: D
Agility: C
Mana: B
Luck: C
Noble Phantasm: B

Class Abilities

Presence Concealment: A+
It is possible to disappear completely and become almost impossible to be detected.
However, efficiency will decrease once preparations to attack are taken.

Skills

Military Tactics: B
Is tactical knowledge used not for one-on-one combat situations, but for battles where many are mobilized.
The Servant gains a small bonus in all parameters during use of one's own Anti-Army Noble Phantasm or when dealing against an enemy Anti-Army Noble Phantasm.
Ninjutsu: C
Enables him to use standard techniques of shinobi. This include sticking to any surface, switching places with objects, create clones as well as knowledge about close quarter combat and different weapons. Can be combined with his Noble Phantasm.

Noble Phantasm

Noble Phantasm #1
Rank: B; Anti-Self; Range: 0; Targets: 1 person
Allows to control different kind of bugs by offering one's own body as a hive for those bugs.

CLASS/TITLE: Avenger of Black

Master: Matou Byakuya
True Name: Reki
Sex: female
Strength: E
Endurance: E
Agility: E
Mana: E
Luck: E-
Noble Phantasm: C

Class Abilities

none

Skills

Deadly Everyday Life: C
Can make any object that wasn't created to kill people but is able to into a Noble Phantasm of Rank D as long as one person alone is able to carry it.

Noble Phantasm

Reki: To Be Run Over and Torn Asunder
Rank: C; Anti-Unit; Range: 10; Targets: 1
Summon the reflection of her sins, that rushs at the opponent and upon engulfing him destroys the connection of the soul to the body.