This chapter has a quick fight between Saber and Assassin, but that's not how it will end. We still have a few chapters to go, after all. Disclaimer: I don't own Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, the Fate series, Lupin III, Ni No Kuni, or My Hero Academia.

Chapter 35: The Battle Begins

Explosions could be heard throughout the Einzbern manor as Lupin did his best to dodge Jonathan's sword strikes. 'I could barely keep up with this guy when he was an old man,' Lupin thought to himself, 'Now that he's got his prime back it'll be even harder. But I'm nothing if not adaptable.' The Saber class was considered the strongest of all the Servants, and Jonathan was showing that now. Even if the Sword of Luck and Pluck wasn't the strongest of blades, the arm behind the steel more than made up for it, giving Jonathan the strength to smash through solid brick.

Lupin quickly leapt into a nearby tree and kept firing with his Walther. Jonathan put up a Hamon barrier to reflect the bullets before slicing through the tree with little effort. "Timber!" "Took the words right outta my mouth…," Lupin whimpered as the tree toppled over. Jonathan dashed forward and sliced at Lupin, managing to create a gash across his face. "Gah! My eye!" Jonathan paused a moment. 'I'm pretty sure Lupin jumped back just enough to keep his eye from getting gouged out… Wait a moment…' Lupin grinned before tossing the eye-shaped smoke bomb at Jonathan, giving him breathing room to disappear.

"Ra!," Jonathan called out. Lupin screamed in shock as he was forced to dodge numerous light rays. "I hope you haven't forgotten that my sword is only one part of my abilities," Jonathan quipped. 'Yeah, that was dumb of me,' Lupin said, mentally smacking himself, 'Of course he'd bust out the Stand when he realized I was planning to play the long range game.' "Come now Lupin," Jonathan said, "We fought once before when we both had true life, and in the time we've known each other I've gotten wise to your games. So don't expect me to play your little games so easily." Lupin grinned. "Beat still my heart…"


"How do you think the fight is going?," Kiritsugu asked. He was sitting with Kirei in the living room. "No denying Jonathan has the advantage in direct combat," Kirei admitted, "But Lupin can easily adapt. It's all about how well Jonathan can keep up." Just then, a sudden explosion happened elsewhere in the manor. "That was not from the fight!," Kiritsugu realized. Two Kuken dropped in. The two former allies wasted no time. Kirei struck the first one with his Black Keyes, overtaking her with ease. Kiritsugu aimed his gun at the second. "Time Alter… Double Accel!" The assassin was downed quickly.

"Maiya," Kiritsugu said into his comm, "What's the status on the manor?" 'We have a problem,' Maiya said, 'Some of those Owl bastards broke in and hit us with a sudden surge of that drug. Iris got taken.' Kiritsugu cursed to himself. "We need to get in contact with the Servants. This battle will have to wait." "Agreed," Kirei said, "I'm sure they took her thinking she has the Grail. But the Lesser Grail can still manifest without a host. Either way, they'll kill her just to see if they can obtain what they want." The two of them hurried out.


Jonathan sighed in frustration as his next sword swing only cut a straw dummy. "Hope I didn't ruin your best jacket." "Nah," Lupin said as he came out with a rocket launcher, "Just my favorite one." Before Jonathan could put up his barrier, he heard a sudden hissing. "Well fuck me." "I believe that's your wife's job," Lupin quipped as the bomb inside the dummy exploded. Jonathan was sent sailing as the rocket hit him as well. Luckily Jonathan was able to apply his Hamon healing. Even more lucky, he had wound up in Kiritsugu's armory. And there was something that caught his eye. "Well well. Bard spoke highly of this little toy."

Lupin quickly got his sniper rifle, equipped with the special bullets made from Gae Buidhe. 'This is my only defense against Jonathan's Hamon healing. As soon as he comes out...' He got a sudden shock when a hail of bullets cut through the rifle, spilling the bullets. They nearly cut him down too, but luckily his Noble Phantasm kicked in. "Which means I need to be extra carful now. But where did that even come from?" He then gasped when he saw Jonathan coming out of the hole in the building toting a gatling gun. "Well that's not fair at all."

Jonathan cocked a grin. "I'm sorry… I don't give a fuck." 'God my grandson is rubbing off on me,' he thought as he fired the gatling gun, sending Lupin running. "CRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAPCRAP!" However, before the duo could move even further, a sudden flurry of white petals surrounded the area. "Shit…," Lupin muttered, "They were waiting for this chance. Damn… Owls…" Jonathan tried to stay awake with his Hamon, but the massive amount of Fraulein Eule overwhelmed him. Several Owls and Kuken arrived.

"Do we kill them here?," one asked. "We have nothing to kill them with," the leader reminded them, "Besides, we have what we need." He turned his head as several gunshots aimed at the group were fired off. "But it appears we will only get away with the Grail's container. The plan to kill the Masters failed. No matter, the Count already has the Command Seals. Leave at once." The group nodded, and they were gone in a flurry of feathers. Kiritsugu scoffed. "Damn… Now what?" "We'll find them soon enough," Kirei assured him, "Lupin already anticipated this."


Nearby, Jotaro was watching the fight. "So those bastards are getting more bold in their interference. You'd think they'd learn after having their original plans wrecked." "With DIO it was almost admirable," Polnareff admitted, "But here it just comes off as desperate and petty." "I'll contact the Speedwagon Foundation," Kakyoin said, "They'll need to know about this. Fortunately for us, the Court of Owls was not wise enough to have their claws everywhere." Jotaro nodded. 'You guys have no idea what you've awoken. This will come back to bite you hard.'

Yep, the Court of Owls is really interfering with the War now. Why? Well, you'll find out before long. Read and review.