The nameless swords that made up Archer's arrows flowed like a river of steel down towards the sea of Sins that were running towards his spot at the top of Fuyuki's tallest skyscraper. Wherever he aimed, a gap in the sea formed as dozens of Sins were slaughtered per second. But it was never enough. Just the nature of the fight ensured that. Archer could only fire from one side of the building at a time, and the Sins were coming from every direction. What's more, Sins were spawning inside the skyscraper. Archer had set up barriers and traps when he chose this location to fight in, but he knew they wouldn't last forever.
In fact, everything was going to plan. Archer smirked as he took a few precious seconds to create his next arrow, not another nameless blade, but his favored arrow, Caladbolg. He darted to the opposite of the building, and aimed downwards. As expected, the side of the building was completely covered in Sins climbing. Archer's smirk broke into a smile as he launched the formidable Broken Phantasm down, slaughtering the Sins before exploding at the base of the building, causing the entire building to quake. Without pause Archer formed his signature blades and twisted away to deflect Avenger's attempted surprise attack.
"You think you're pretty clever, don't you?" Avenger snarled, trapping Archer's blades between the claws on his own. With a twist of his wrist, Archer's blades shattered, and Avenger stabbed at Archer's heart, only to have them deflected by Archer's freshly formed pair of blades.
"Smarter than you at least," Archer shot back, back to his smirk. He threw Bakuya, the pure white sword cutting down the first couple of Sins that were emerging from the skyscraper's stairwell. The blade immediately shot back towards Archer and forced Avenger to relent in his assault.
"Gah, what am I doing?" Avenger said out loud, relaxing briefly. Archer's eyes narrowed as he struck. To his surprise, Avenger didn't even bother to block the blows, preferring to attack at the same time. Archer was able to pull back a little, dodging one blade, but the other landed a deep cut on his left arm. Avenger's drooling corpse collapsed into shadows, and a second later Avenger leaped up from the wall of the skyscraper, holding a Sin in his hand. He threw it at Archer, who threw his own blades to kill it in mid air.
"After all, I don't need to defend myself at all," Avenger continued, lunging at Archer as he landed. True to his words he didn't bother with defense at all, prefers to go all out in a frenzy of attacks. Archer could see a dozen ways to kill Avenger, but for each opening he saw, he had to deflect another blow. He could take the minor injury to finish Avenger off, but that would only be playing into Avenger's hands. Archer allowed himself to be driven backwards by Avenger's assault before recalling the blades he had thrown into the Sin earlier. At the same time he spun around and brought his other pair of blades downwards in a brutal slash to slay the Sin that was just now poking its head above the lip of the building. As he predicted, Avenger couldn't resist the sight of Archer's unprotected back and ignored the incoming blades to try and stab Archer. Thus the incoming pair of swords tore deep into Avenger's lung and spine, killing him nearly instantly.
"Risky, risky play. How many times can you get away with that until I get lucky?" Avenger asked, chidingly, reforming from a new Sin.
"Lucky, ha!" Archer laughed. "I've never had even the slightest bit of luck. This? This is all according to plan."
"Oh really? And what's your answer for being buried in Sins and torn apart?" Avenger asked, his voice guttural with rage.
"This," Archer said, creating a giant broadsword and slamming it into the ground. It was a cheap copy of a Noble Phantasm, shattering in that first blow, but it still held a fraction of the true blade's strength and was more than sufficient to shatter the roof and sending the Sins tumbling with the force of the shockwave. Archer landed on his feet, quickly forming another Noble Phantasm, a sword that blazed with white fire. It twisted into a flaming arrow and Archer launched it down the hallway they landed it, burning everything in its path before it hit a pillar, melting it into slag.
"What are you up to now Archer?" Avenger asked, shooting out a pile of rubble. His claw-blades fell into a familiar attack pattern that Archer deflected with ease. Archer slipped to the side, letting Avenger pass by him when he predictably lunged. Archer flicked his sword into the rubble beneath Avenger's feet, shattering it more. Avenger stumbled and Archer gave him a roundhouse kick to the back, sending him flying.
"You want to know what I'm planning? Then just wait a few more seconds," Archer called, running in the opposite direction from Avenger. He rematerialized his bow, shooting it as he ran, and slaughtering the Sins in his way. He reached a different stairwell leading down into the building and took careful aim as he reformed Caladbolg.
"Gaaaaahhhh!" Avenger roared, dropping down from the floor above.
"Shit!" Archer swore, bracing himself. Avenger's blades stabbed him in the upper shoulder, both in the front and back. Gritting his teeth to the immense pain as the claws on each hand wiggled, Archer took the shot, aiming downwards at another support pillar. Caladbolg blasted through multiple walls, a floor, the support pillar, before taking out a small coffee shop across the street with a massive explosion. The building began to rumble and tilt.
"Oh, so that's what you were after. But I guess you weren't expecting me to kill myself just to catch up a little faster," Avenger said, cackling.
"You haven't killed me yet," Avenger said, reforming Bakuya and stabbing Avenger in the heart with it. As he did, Avenger screamed and yanked with his arms, tearing Archer's shoulder to ribbons. Archer groaned, and inspected his arm even as he ran up the stairs to the new top of the building. His shoulder was brutalized, resembling poorly made ground beef, with the white of his bones being visible through the shredded meat. His arm was dangling, held on more by a bit of bitter luck than the effort of the few strands of tendon connecting it to his body.
"Fffffff," Archer hissed. He closed his eyes for a second, thinking.
No, there's no point in cutting my arm off. The wound is too widespread to be cauterized without burning the entire left side of my body. I won't bleed to death anyways, not so long as I'm receiving mana from Rin. And while the arm may be useless, it will at least get in the way of Avenger's blades.
"You made a big mistake Archer! I'll see you buried alive, before I send you to Hell," Avenger yelled, appearing behind a wave of Sins. Archer took a deep breath, threw Bakuya through the skull of the nearest Sin and formed a fully powered Noble Phantasm. A brilliant rapier appeared in his hand as the building lurched and fell to the side.
/*/
Rin watched the smoke from the exploding tree grimly. Her hands shook as she clutched her gems between her fingers. Her body felt heavy from the weight of the Geas, inhibiting any action that wasn't benefiting Avenger. Her teeth ached from gritting them so often, and she could swear there was a coat of slime on her skin from the actions she was forced to take in supporting that monster, Zouken. But it was nothing compared to her heart. Her heart burned. It burned with the sting of her failures. It burned with the fear of Archer's betrayal. It burned with the indignities that Avenger had heaped on her. But most of all it burned with the regret of all she had lost. Her sister, her friends, her home, her family's legacy, her town, and her future were all gone. All she had left was her dignity and her pride.
"How does it feel to be utterly outclassed by literally every other Master in this war?" Avenger's poisoned words echoed in her head.
Don't even think about it Rin! Focus on the opponent in front of you. She activated one of your throw away gems that you made into traps, but that won't have the punch to get through her shields. You've got ten high quality gems. Should I use one to blow away the smoke? No, that would be a waste. I should- Rin's train of thought was interrupted by a barrage of three pink bullets. They twisted in mid-air as they approached, but Rin kept herself steady, narrowing her eyes. She unleashed her own barrage of Gandr, intercepting the bullets and destroying them. As they were destroyed, she saw a fourth bullet come flying at her temple, and just barely managed to duck out of the way. The bullet abruptly reversed direction and hit Rin in the ribs, knocking her to the ground.
"Crap," Rin gasped, trying to regain her breath. There was a flash of pink from the woods and Rin quickly grasped a light blue crystal. It shone brilliantly for a second, before shattering into dust, even as a faint dome of energy surrounded Rin. "Did you think that would be enough to beat me?" Rin yelled, defiantly.
"I hoped it would," Nanoha said, Raising Heart in Excelion mode and pointed at Rin. Three more orbs shot out and slammed against Rin's barrier. "I hoped you were just doing the bare minimum to satisfy the Geas."
"I've never done the bare minimum in anything," Rin scoffed, climbing to her feet and ignoring how the next barrage cracked her shield. She threw an emerald to the ground, activating it. A massive slab of stone rose up before rocketing towards Nanoha with all the force of a runaway train. At the same time, Rin dashed to the side, holding a ruby in one hand. A red beam of light shot from the ruby, melting a hole through the shield Nanoha used to block Rin's previous attack. She charged through the hole, grabbing Nanoha's staff with one hand and performing a twisting maneuver with the other to flip Nanoha through the air and make her lose her grip on her weapon.
-Unathouraized User Detected, Activating counter measures- The device intoned, before released a flash of pink light.
"Ah!" Rin yelped, her hand going numb, and forcibly releasing both the staff and the trio of gems she had been holding. Looking down she saw Nanoha pointing a finger at her and frantically dove out of the way. A narrow pink beam shot from where Nanoha was lying on the ground and exploded the top half of a tree.
"I don't understand. Why are you fighting?" Nanoha asked, breathing heavily as she climbed to her feet, as Rin did the same.
"For my pride," Rin said, evenly.
"Unbelievable. You would kill over that? Nothing more than basest pride? I'm disappointed Rin. I truly hoped that you were a better person than this." Shirou's angry and disappointed words drowned out the sorrowful look Nanoha gave her.
No, no, no! Focus! Rin thought, shaking her head. I've got the advantage. I've used three gems, and dropped another three. But without her staff, I doubt she can block any major spell. I've just got to pin her down and obliterate her in one move. However if she gets a hold of her staff I doubt I can disarm her a second time. Still, right now I hold the advantage. As soon as she makes a move for the staff, I'll freeze it and her in place with one gem, then follow up with the remaining three. That should do it.
Nanoha moved, but to Rin's surprise it wasn't back towards cover or towards her staff, but instead it was an all out charge towards her. In reflex, Rin raised her arm and launched a wave of Gandr at Nanoha, shredding her dress as she ran. Nanoha dipped into a sliding tackle, her magic pushing her a good four meters along the ground. Eyes wide, Rin tried to activate a gemstone, but Nanoha's clothes were already glowing when she arrived at Rin's feet.
"Jacket Purge!" Nanoha yelled, her dress exploding. Rin was sent flying through the air, crashing through some branches before finally falling to the ground. She looked up to see Nanoha picking up her staff, a new unblemished dress forming around her. Rin snarled in rage, and with a word, activated three of her gems, sending a powerful lightning bolt at Nanoha. Rin felt her bones pop from the point blank boom of the thunder, even as she tried to stand. To her disappointment, Nanoha was still standing, but now there was a trio of flying drones around her, helping form the shield that blocked Rin's spell. Blood was pouring out of her nose, and it looked like one of her eyes was bloodshot, but otherwise she was unharmed.
"Chain bind," Nanoha said, pink chains shooting up from the ground to wrap around Rin. "There. Now let's talk this out. And this time, don't give me that lie that you're fighting for your pride."
/*/
Lancer smirked as the point of his spear cut a jagged line down Berserker's arm.
"Good news! Berserker is a whole lot less durable in this form," Lancer said, cheerfully, dodging a backhanded swing from the raging giant.
"And he's blind too. He's gotten a lot weaker from when I fought him," Saber said, deflecting a tree trunk thrown by Rider.
"But I've gotten stronger," Rider hissed, spitting a glob of poison at Saber.
"Maybe, but you fight like a thug," Saber said, casually sidestepping the poison. She dashed forward with a shout and landed a deep blow down Rider's chest, only to be thrown backwards by a lash of Rider's serpentine body. As they watched the minor injuries they had inflicted faded away.
"Damn they heal fast," Lancer whistled.
"No matter. Monsters such as these would only be destroyed with a decisive attack anyways," Saber said, raising her sword up high. Rider sneered silently, as Berserker roared and charged. Lancer met his charge head on, planting Gae Bolg into the dirt, and allowing Berserker to impale himself on the spear.
"Now Saber, take his head while he's stuck!" Lancer yelled. Berserker just growled and grabbed Lancer by the head. "Eh?" he managed before Berserker lifted him up with a small toss, catching him by the ankle. With a mighty roar, Berserker flung Lancer at Saber, who lowered her sword as to not impale her ally by accident. The pair of Servants were sent flying into the woods with a crash as Rider laughed her head off. Berserker ran into the woods after them, Rider following close behind.
"Okay, so that didn't go too well," Lancer said, lying on top of Saber and holding his head.
"Get off me," Saber grunted, shoving Lancer off. She stood up and prepared her weapon. "It didn't go well is an understament. Now you're defenseless and you aren't able to threaten them."
"Freakin monsters," Lancer said, scowling. He scratched a rune into the ground. "There, that buy you at least a second against that thing. Make it count." Saber glanced at him and nodded. Berserker rushed forward heedlessly, triggering the rune and causing the earth beneath his feet to vanish. Berserker slammed into the dirt face first. Saber thrust her sword at Berserker's face, only to be sent flying by Rider launching her tree trunk like a javelin.
"It's not going to be that easy," Rider laughed, charging Lancer. Lancer dodged the clumsy blows from Rider's arms and laughed back.
"Really? Cause you fight like a drunken fishwife," Lancer taunted before tripping. In a flash, Rider was coiled around him. Lancer glanced down and saw that one of his feet had turned to stone. Rider punched him in the face when he glanced away, breaking his nose. He managed to block the next blows with his arms, but as he did, snakes from Rider's hair bit him.
"You've got pretty good magic resistance Lancer. I wonder what will finish you off first? The petrification from my eyes or the poison from my snakes?" Rider asked, smiling evilly. "Or perhaps I'll just crush you to death," she added, squeezing harder with her coils.
"Don't think it'll be that easy," Lancer grunted, wheezing a bit from a lack of air. He began to punch back, and quickly got the better of the exchange. Rider's immense strength was an advantage, one that had his arms aching with every blocked blow, and had already shattered teeth and bone alike from the few he missed. But for every blow Rider got through, Lancer landed twenty. Rider's face was a bloody mess, and from the lack of numbness in his legs, he knew he had effectively sealed her eyes from the sheer amount of blood he had gummed them up with.
Of course, every time he punched Rider, her snakes bit him. His arms were already numb, and his hands had gone pitch black from the venom dissolving his insides. His ribs creaked and cracked as his vision began to go blurry from the lack of air.
Meanwhile, Saber was caught in a futile duel against Berserker. Losing his eyesight and his immense durability had made him predictable, and made each blow of Saber's carve a path through his flesh. But his immense strength and speed made it almost impossible to land a telling blow, and by the time Saber could land the next attack, Berserker would already be fully healed from her last blow. And while Saber found it relatively simple to keep dodging, she was continually pushed further and further back.
This is futile, Saber thought, chopping Excalibur into Berserker's knee and dodging to the side to avoid Berserker's fist pounding into the dirt where she had just been standing. She thrust her sword up at his face, only for him to jerk it back at the last second. Saber jumped back, preempting Berserker's wide swing with his stone ax-blade. I can keep this up all day, but is it enough to just stalemate Berserker? Shirou and the others might need my help. Also, can Lancer beat Rider without his weapon? Saber thought, her eye catching on the impaled Gae Bolg. If not, then I shall soon be overwhelmed by both Berserker and Rider working together. Not that you really work with a beast like Berserker, you...hmm, now that could work.
"Strike Air!" Saber yelled, unleashing her sheath against Berserker. It did little more than rock him back a step, but that was all Saber needed. She darted past Berserker, slipping through his hurricane of slashes as if she was a mirage. She sprinted away from Berserker who chased after her, heedlessly. She reached Rider and Lancer's struggle, and didn't slow down. Without hesitation she ran towards them, and jumped on top of Rider, planting her foot on Rider's scaly body, before leaping over her entirely. Berserker didn't slow down, slashing deeply into Rider's body before colliding with her and sending them all into a tumble.
"You blasted idiot!" Rider screamed in rage, her coils lashing as her snakes bit indiscriminately. Lancer took a deep breath and dove to the ground. He scratched at the ground with his hand, ignoring how his flesh tore and his blood splattered as he scribbled a rune into the ground.
"Get ready to use your Noble Phantasm Saber!" he hollered, drawing as much mana as he could from Fate and super-charging the rune. There was a brief crack of light as a flash of lightning shot into the sky. A beat of time passed, and then a massive pillar of lightning crashed down upon the trio of Servants. Lancer got off the best, not only was his magic resistance was the best of the three Servants, but he was also shielded by the bulk of the monsters above him. As such, he was the first on his feet, and yanked Gae Bolg out of Berserker's chest. Berserker swung his blade instinctively, obliterating Lancer's ribs and lung.
"Ready!" Saber called, her sword raised high.
"Do it!" Lancer croaked, doing his best to jump past Berserker, and losing his non petrified leg for his efforts. He slammed into the ground as Berserker roared and turned to face him.
"EX-"
Like Hell am I letting Saber get all the glory! Lancer thought, propping himself up with one poisoned arm. He hefted his spear in one hand, holding it like a javelin.
"Gae!"
"-CALI-"
"Bolg!" Lancer threw his Noble Phantasm, filling Berserker's and Rider's bodies with thousands of spikes.
"-BUR!" Saber roared, bringing Excalibur down, the beam of golden light obliterating the two Servants. She paused, resting while she waited for the smoke to clear. When it did, she saw the scattered remains of the enemy Servants, and one badly scorched and injured Lancer lying a little to the side of the path of devastation her Noble Phantasm had carved down the mountainside.
"Lancer, are you alright?" Saber asked, running over.
"Yeah, I'll be fine," Lancer said, heedless of the fact he was missing a lung. "A couple of healing runes, some purification runes, and I'll be good as new. It'll take a few minutes before I'm on my feet though." There was a roar as Berserker reformed. "Seriously? How many lives does this thing have?" Lancer complained, grabbing a piece of rubble and painting a rune on it.
"No matter, I'll strike him down as many times as it takes. You focus on healing," Saber ordered, charging at Berserker, and falling into the same dance as before. He had lost his weapon from her Noble Phantasm, but she was tired out from using it, so in the end they were back to a stalemate. A dozen exchanges of slashes and dodges were performed when there was a crackle of fire, and a beam of heat shot past Saber's shoulder to punch a hole in Berserker's arm. Saber took the distraction to step forward and sink her blade deep into Berserker's chest, piercing his heart. She glanced back at Lancer to see him sitting in a circle of runestones, casting a bluish-green light over his body while a runic array spun around his hand.
"He's not done yet," Lancer warned, another gout of flames striking past Saber at Berserker. Saber nodded, and returned to the fight. A few more times the pattern repeated. Lancer would distract Berserker to allow Saber to kill him once again. Finally with one last slash taking Berserker's head, the beast of a man went down and stayed down.
"Are you really going to be alright?" Saber asked, breathing heavily.
"Yeah, no worries," Lancer said, smiling cockily even as his wounds visibly patched over. "I can cast healing magic, and with Fate as my master I feel like I have an almost limitless amount of mana to call upon. I'll be ready to fight soon, but you shouldn't wait around for me."
"Very well," Saber glanced up at the towering Titan above them. "I'll head up to the top of the mountain, and see what I can do to harm that thing from there."
"Cool. Once I'm better, I'm going to head back for Nanoha. The fact that she hasn't already caught up worries me. I'm under orders to not let her push herself after all," Lancer said, grinning.
"Until we meet on the battlefield next then," Saber said, nodding, and running off.
"Yeah. Good luck!" Lancer called, closing his eyes, and leaning back.
/*/
"-the acceptance of each other in entirety, as lover, companion, and friend-"
What am I going to do here? How can I stop that giant thing? If I attack, I'll probably just get all of us killed. Shirou thought, bringing his eyes down to meet Sakura's who smiled lovingly at him. Well maybe not Sakura. She might live, unless she breaks out of whatever delusion this mud has her wrapped in. At which point she'll die. Great, so her she can either go completely mad and live as a monster destroying everything, or she'll be destroyed alongside the rest of us.
KILLMURDERRAPEPAINHURTSKILLKILLMURDER, The spot where the cursed mud had splashed him throbbed with pain.
"-nor absorbed by the other-"
Are those the only two possibilities? Or can I free her? Can I save her? First I'd have to free her from her delusion. Archer said that knife he showed me can break through any magic. So if she's spellbound, that would work. If it's purely mental- Shirou looked into Sakura's loving eyes, and gulped -Then hopefully being stabbed by the person she loves would snap her out of it. Shirou's stomach knotted itself up at the idea. Stabbing Sakura, even to save her, just seemed wrong. It'll be okay. That knife didn't look very strong. It'll only be a small cut. And once she's back to normal I'm sure she'll understand. It's not a betrayal. It's more like, like giving someone a shot. Yeah.
"-one in which both give their love freely and without jealousy.-"
Okay, so assuming that it works, then Sakura will be free. But then we'll have to deal with all of those, Shirou thought, glancing at the tentacles pretending to be guests. There is no way they'll just allow us to retreat. We'll have to fight our way back to shore. Is that even possible? Illya's platform will keep us out of the mud, but still, fighting surrounded on all sides, while hiking all the way back to shore? It might not be possible to handle. Though if Kotomine were to help...
PAINBETRAYHURTKILLPAINDEATHKILL, Shirou's back throbbed as he looked at Kotomine, whose serene marriage speech was mocked by the sadistic smirk on his face.
No, I can't depend on him. He is just as likely to kill us as soon as this ceremony is done. I'll count myself lucky if he is just content to watch us fight for our lives. It'll just be Sakura, Illya and I against the tentacles. However, I've got my command seals. I could summon Saber to help me fight. But what happened to Berserker and Rider. Would that happen to Saber as well? I don't want that. I'll have to just win without her help.
"-Do you pledge to share your lives openly with each other? Do you-"
Those tentacles just need to touch us to kill us. We are surrounded on all sides, and have no real way of striking back. It won't matter how many tentacles we strike down, so long as we are on top of this lake, they can just keep attacking. There is no point in conserving mana. I could use Calibur to carve a hole through the lake.
"-through sorrows and joys, hardships and triumphs, for all the rest of your days?"
"I do," Shirou and Sakura said simultaneously.
"Do you-"
No, that'll be suicide. Even if I carve a path through to the shore, we'll be overwhelmed by the tentacles attacking us from every other side. I need to stay on the defensive. Shields? The tentacles can melt through them, but that's true of anything I create. Still shields are expensive for how easily they'll be destroyed. The cheapest thing I can make is swords. But I can't hold them in the air. I could shoot them at the tentacles, but I don't think I can make enough to keep cutting them down until we reach the shore. However, Illya can make a cage around us, and I can layer the swords on top of that. That might be enough to save us.
"-and be encourage to grow in their own lives?"
"I do," Shirou and Sakura repeated.
"May these rings be blessed as a symbol of your union. As-" Kotomine pulled a pair of rings out of a pocket, one a delicate band of gold with bands of ivy wrapped around a trio of diamonds. The other a plain looking ring made of steel like metal, with an amethyst set in the top.
Where did he get those? When did he get those? Shirou thought, startled. Was he expecting this? No, that's not important. Focus Shirou!
"Now the pair will say their vows, pledging their love to one another in their own words, before God, their family, friends, and community," Kotomine said, sending an icy spear of panic through Shirou.
Vows? I didn't prepare any vows, what am I going to-
"Shirou Emyia, my beloved Senpai," Sakura began, getting Shirou's attention. There were faint tears in her eyes as she clasped her hands in front of her chest. "My hero, my savior, my love. You saved me so long ago and so many times. Not just physically, when you saved me from my grandfather's plots. But mentally, when you gave me sanctuary in your home, and spiritually when loved me even after learning what had happened to me. I promise to love and support you, in this life or any other, from now until the end of time. You made my life worth living, and so I'll promise that life to you." She placed the steel ring on Shirou's bare hand.
That was amazing. Do I really mean that much to her? Isn't this just her delusions, thinking that I did those things? Shirou thought looking into Sakura's eyes. No, I did, or I will do those things. I will save Sakura, and I don't care what happened to her, she's still my Sakura, who wakes me in the morning when I sleep in, who helps me cook, and she might just be the only person to never ask me for anything. If telling her how I feel will save her, then I'll pour my heart out. I won't fail her. Not now, and not ever. I will save her.
"Sakura," Shirou paused, clearing his throat. "Sakura, I love you dearly. I promise I'll protect you from whatever you fear, I'll provide you with a loving home, and I'll always keep you by my side. No matter what you feel about yourself, my life is a brighter place for having you in it. No matter what happens I'll always save you and if you promise me your life, then I promise to make it one worth living." Shirou placed the gold ring on Sakura's bare hand.
"Go now in peace and live in love, sharing the most precious gifts you have, the gift of your lives united. I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."
Shirou stepped forward and took Sakura in his arms. Immediately the mud began burning his flesh with curse after curse, but he ignored it. Sakura gasped a little and put her arms around his neck, tilting her head upwards. Shirou gently kissed Sakura, closing his eyes and pressing her against his body. He pushed past the burning of the curses, he didn't allow Sakura's soft lips to distract him. He focused purely on his projection, and formed the jagged ritual blade in him hand and gently slid the tip of the knife into Sakura's back.
/*/
Bazett walked over to a group of TSAB mages standing on the ground talking. She drank a bottle of water as she walked, crushing it and dropping it into the dirt when she finished. She walked up behind one of the mages, and tapped them on their shoulder.
"Hey, what's the situation in the city?" she asked, politely.
"Ma'am, the battle is ongoing, but this barrier remains stable. You should remain safe in here while we sortie," the mage said, respectfully.
"A sortie? I'm coming with you," Bazett said, bluntly.
"Ma'am, I'm not-"
"Look, you saw what I was fighting when you guys rescued me. And I handled all of those Sins by myself. And I saw how you fought at the same time. Trust me when I say that I outclass you," Bazett said, reasonably. "So now that I've had a bit of a break, I'm good to go."
"Take her along," a holographic screen appeared in mid air.
"Captain Lindy?" the solider said.
"My son left me in charge while he fights that Titan. And to be frank, we need every little bit of help that we can get to prevent this incident from turning into a full on apocalypse," the screen flickered and reformed to show Bazett the teal haired women who had been talking. "Miss-"
"Call me Bazett," Bazett interrupted, quickly.
"Bazett. The mission I'm sending this squad on has three parts. First is the destruction of the miniature Titan that is on its way to shatter this barrier. Second is to study how to seal or destroy those pools that create the Sins. The third is to provide support for the Servant Archer in his fight against Avenger. Do you understand?" Lindy said.
"Kill the big monster, figure out how to stop the small monsters, defeat their boss. Got it," Bazett summarized, nodding.
"Great! Now from what we saw, you prefer melee combat, correct?" Lindy asked. Bazett nodded. "Good to hear. Now, most our troops prefer ranged combat. So I'm going to ask you to ensure that those Sins stay out of melee with my men. Can you handle that?"
"Of course," Bazett said, pulling her glove tight with her teeth.
"Then prepare for dimensional transfer. In 3...2...1...mark!" Reality blurred as the magic circle formed underneath them. The next second, Bazett found herself standing on a city street, with dozens of Sins, and house sized version of the Titan.
"Fire at will," the squad leader said. The rest raised their staves, and beams of light began shooting from them, each shot easily dispatching a Sin as they ran towards them. More Sins arrived, and the mini-Titan was getting closer with each step it took.
"There are more Sins than expected. We're holding, but that mini-Titan is bad news," the squad leader said.
"Leave it to me. I'll tear it apart, just make sure those Sins don't stab me in the back," Bazett said. The squad leader nodded and she shot forward. The mages shouted something behind her, and their shots began to curve around her, striking down all the Sins in her path. Unimpended, Bazett charged the mini-Titan which tried a lazy swipe at her. Bazett slid under its massive limb, and activated a rune in her glove. Her hand ignited with white fire, and Bazett slammed her fist through the monster's leg. The monster collapsed into a blob of black mud, before transforming into a spiky ball. Bazett leaped back, the fire on her hand going out.
Hurry. Please, the squad leader shot to Bazett telepathically, his squad's shots turning to take out the Sins approaching them. The squad leader himself kept shooting the Sins closest to Bazett, but their numbers were quickly rising to the point where that wouldn't be enough.
"Got it," Bazett nodded. She chopped down a telephone pole with one hand, and carved a rune on it with her finger. Picking it up, she wall jumped off one house to end up on the roof on another. She threw the pole like a javelin, piercing the blob's flesh, before the pole exploded, tearing the thing apart. "There, mission complete."
Good job. Rejoin us, and we'll teleport to the next objective. Bazett jumped from house to house as the streets filled up with Sins. Despite the barrage of magical attacks from the TSAB squad members, the sheer number of the Sins was on the verge of overwhelming them when Bazett arrived. Within moments, the magic circle formed underneath them, whisking them away to a new location.
"Where are we?" Bazett asked, looking around. They were inside a house, standing beside a pool of darkness, in the house's kitchen. As they watched a Sin crawled out of the pool, only to be obliterated by Bazett's punch.
"A short distance from the Fuyuki bridge. All the nearby Sins seem to be attracted to Avenger's confrontation with Archer," the squad leader reported. "Now watch my back, I'm going to analyze these portals." The squad leader began glowing as a magic circle formed around the pool. Several minutes passed with the only action being Bazett killing the Sins emerging from the pool or the Sins coming from other pools in the house.
"So what did you learn?" Bazett asked, when the mage had finished.
"Several things. It seems the 'pool' is composed of that same mud that forms the Titan. It is tied to a human corpse, which is holds in a sub-dimensional space. It takes anywhere from thirty seconds to a full three minutes for a new Sin to be created, and as each Sin is created the human corpse dissolves a little bit more. There are two primary ways to destroy these pools. A simple sealing spell on the corpse will cut off the connection and prevent any new Sins from being created," the mage demonstrated, ribbons of light reaching down into the pool. There was a brief glow and the pool evaporated, revealing a corpse with a complex magical seal across its body. "Or sheer force. A B-ranked blasting spell or above would destroy the corpse, and thus the pool."
"That's good to hear," Lindy's cheerful voice piped in, her screen appearing. "I'll inform the other squads and they'll begin sealing them. In the meantime, your squad needs to get over to Archer. He seems to be in a bit of trouble. Just look for the collapsed building. He's somewhere in the rubble."
"Acknowledged. Let's go troops," the squad leader said. The mages and Bazett left the house, and looking downtown, Bazett could see the rising dust cloud from the collapsed skyscraper. They ran across the bridge, using magic to speed up their movements. Above, Bazett could see a large blue magic circle, with a figure standing still in the middle of it while a half dozen other mages attacked the Titan. Turning she punched a Sin in the face, destroying it.
"There's less Sins than I thought there would be," Bazett commented.
"It seems the collapsed skyscraper took out most of them in the area. We've got a brief reprieve before they build their numbers back up. Let's make the most of it," a squad member said. Bazett nodded and missed the brief flash of icy blue light that shone in the sky. When she looked up, she saw that the entire Titan looming over the city had been encased in ice.
/*/
Sakura screamed and everything got very busy, very fast. The shadowy mud clinging to Sakura fell off of her and her eyes cleared. She began to collapse as tiny motes of white light fell from the sky. Shirou caught her as the mud froze around them, and a bright blue light crossed the sky and froze the Titan solid. There was a blur of motion, and Shirou found himself getting kicked in the face. He fell backwards, and Kotomine plucked the ritual knife out of Sakura's back. Before Shirou could even think, Kotomine slammed the Noble Phantasm into the ice before being torn apart by Illya's wire frame swords.
"Darn it, I wasn't fast enough!" Illya yelled as the ice began to crack outwards from where Rule Breaker had been stabbed.
"Just move," Shirou grunted, Sakura in his arms as they ran. The cracks quickly outraced them, and tentacles of black mud began popping up and attacking them. The first couple Shirou slashed apart with launched swords, before the ice beneath their feet finally shattered. A tentacle shot up directly beneath Illya, catching her by surprise as it wrapped around her. It squeezed, Illya's ribs audibly popping as they cracked under the force before Shirou cut it apart.
"Onn-" Illya mumbled, barely conscious.
"Just hang on Illya," Shirou said, getting Illya onto his back as he balanced precariously on a rapidly disappearing piece of ice. He felt her small arms encircle his neck and give a reassuring squeeze. Shirou looked to the shore. Thanks to their reinforcement, they had already covered most of the distance in their mad sprint. Now there was less than fifty meters to go. He tightened his grip on Sakura, and leap as far as he could, the ice dissolving beneath his feet.
There, that should be another dozen meters down, Shirou thought, as the tentacles rose to meet him. A dozen blades appeared around him, and shot forward, cutting the tentacles apart. Now time this correctly. Come on...
"Trace on," Shirou grunted, creating the biggest blade he could think of, Berserker's ax-blade. He landed on it just as it shot forward, skipping across the mud. As he surfed across the mud, he created more and more blades, ignoring sensation of burning iron inside his body. Berserker's blade finally faded, and Shirou stepped forward into the mud without hesitation. He could hear his ankles sizzle as the flesh burnt away, but thankfully he couldn't feel anything.
"Ugh," Shirou caught sight of a tentacle going for Illya and twisted, so its blow landed across his chest instead. A group of tentacles surged forward to grab Sakura out of his arms. Shirou's vision filled with static as he summoned the blades needed to destroy them. He stepped forward. The tentacles lashed his arms, but he only tightened his grip. He stepped forward. The mud itself twisted, trying to throw him off balance. He refused to fall, shooting blades into the mud to pacify it. He stepped forward. His vision went black. He blinked. It stayed black. He glanced down and saw the purple of Sakura's hair.
"Oh," he muttered, looking up at the wave of mud seeking to consume them. He took a deep breath. A hand reached past him, thousands of wires shooting forward and catching the wave.
"Keep going, Onii-Chan," Illya coughed, her voice filled with false cheer. The wave rippled, before being torn in half by her wires. Shirou stepped forward, walking between the two halves of the wave. Illya trembled from the strain, but Shirou didn't pay attention to that. He stepped forward and finally tripped. His face slammed into the dirt of the shore, and lost his grip on Sakura.
"S-senpai?" he heard before he blacked out completely.
/*/
Archer breathed heavily, Avenger's latest corpse lying in the rubble. He darted to the side, heading towards the river. The dust cloud covered his movements, but that didn't matter. He had successfully pissed Avenger off, and cleared the area of Sins, at least for a little while. Now all he had to do was capture Avenger before he rebuilt his swarm and simply swamped Archer in Sins. There would still be a few Sins by the river from whatever poor souls were taking late night walks. But not nearly as much as there would be downtown.
"The trick is, how do I actually capture him? The Fleur De Lys is enough to keep Avenger and the Sins from overwhelming me with numbers, but it really is only buying me time. I need something else. But really, I don't have a lot of options. I don't think I could hit him with Rule Breaker, if that would even do anything. And any of the cursed weapons that prevent healing are basically useless, he'll just respawn in another Sin," Archer mused out loud. He reached the shore of the river, and waited. Sure enough, Avenger and a group of Sins emerged from the bushes nearby.
"So, that's a pretty neat sword. I don't now why or how, but its making these Sins pretty useless. Like they are walking through molasses or something," Avenger said, idly spinning one of his claw knives in his hand.
"Don't kid yourself Avenger, it makes you pretty useless too," Archer said, smirking.
"Pretty cocky coming from a guy with one arm," Avenger said with a snarl. He raised his blades and charged in. His movements slowed by the Noble Phantasm Archer was wielding, Archer was able to evade or block all his strikes. Striking back was pointless unless it was a perfectly clean hit. "Come on Archer! Are you running out of magical energy already? Did your new allies kill your beloved Master or something?"
"I wish," Archer muttered. He saw an opening and took it, his rapier darting forward and taking Avenger's eye before he twirled to the side, avoiding Avenger's counter attack. To his surprise, Avenger just smirked at him.
"That's more like it. Let's see if you can do some actual damage this time before I finish you off,"
"Seriously? Avenger I've killed you a half-dozen times already. If it wasn't for your trick with the Sins, you'd easily be the weakest Servant I've ever seen," Archer said, cocking an eyebrow.
"Ah, but this isn't really me is it?" Avenger said, pausing and gesturing at his body. "This is more like a single cell of a mighty beast. Killing me has as much impact on Angra Mainyu as plucking a hair does on you. Don't get me wrong," Avenger continued, parrying a thrust from Archer. He caught the blade between the claws of his knives and twisted, shattering the sword. "The Avenger summoned in the Third Grail War was weak! Even weaker than me! But that's not who I am!" Avenger lunged forward, only to be knocked backwards by a blast of magical energy.
"Archer! Hold on, we're coming to help!" the TSAB soldiers escorting Bazett yelled, from near the road. Further shots took out the Sins that had accompanied Avenger into his fight with Archer.
"Ha! Looks like you've got some small fries of your own. Shame I broke your fancy sword, cause I'm about to get a whole lot more!" Avenger laughed, howls rising from the bushes behind him. Red glowing eyes could be seen as the horde of Sins began to rush forward.
"Trace on," Archer said, concentrating.
"Oh no you don't! No more fancy Noble Phantasms for you," Avenger howled, leaping forward, only to be intercepted by Bazett. She blocked the first couple blows before getting a nasty cut on her leg and having to step back. The whole exchange had only taken a second, but that was enough time for Archer to finish creating a red-gold chakram in his hand. He flung it at Avenger, who instinctively dove out of the way. It sliced through the first Sin it touched before igniting into a blazing ring of fire. It burned through the bushed before exploding into a massive wall of flames, turning the Sins to ash and cutting Avenger off.
"Good job," Bazett said, breathing hard. "What's the plan?"
"Killing him is pointless, he'll just respawn. We need to capture him. But he'll just kill himself if he thinks he's trapped," Archer said, quickly. He formed his beloved Kanshou blade.
"These TSAB mages have some pretty good seals. If we can disable him, they can hold him. We gotta be quick though, they can't hold off the Sins for long," Bazett said.
"Look at the two of you," Avenger interrupted, laughing. "Two one armed warriors, fighting a losing battle against the tides of evil. If it weren't for the support squad over there, I'd think I was watching an anime."
"No more stalling for time Avenger. Let's end this," Archer said, sprinting forward, Bazett at his side.
"Oh is that what you were doing? Do you really think those STAB mooks will save you?" Avenger said, smirking as he blocked and shattered Kanshou with his daggers, allowing Bazett to slam her fist into his arm, breaking it in half. Archer stepped forward, knowing Avenger would stab him, and delivered a brutal roundhouse kick to Avenger's skull, sending him reeling backwards, even as his blade sank into Archer's gut. Bazett followed up without hesitation, her hand glowing with magical energy as she drove it into Avenger's upper thigh, pulverizing it. Avenger fell to the ground laughing.
"Hurry and bind him, quickly!" Bazett yelled to the TSAB mages.
"Verg Avesta!" Avenger yelled, causing Archer to cry out as he slumped to the ground. "Like I said, I'm just a cell of a much greater monster. And I'm not the one you should have been focusing on," he gloated, pointing to the sky. Up above them, the newly reformed Titan flicked a finger, a goblet of its body rocketing towards them like a meteorite.
/*/
"Are you sure you can waste time talking to me? Don't you need to go save the world?" Rin asked bitterly.
"I'm going to wait for you to be teleported out at least. I don't want a Sin or Servant to kill you while you're helpless," Nanoha replied, cheerfully. She brushed some dirt off her dress and sat down on a fallen tree. "So why are you fighting so hard?"
"Didn't you hear me the first time? Like I said, I'm fighting for my pride," Rin said, turning her nose up and looking away.
"You don't look very proud. To be perfectly frank you look like someone fighting in the depths of despair," Nanoha pointed out.
"That's the problem!" Rin screamed, pulling tight against the chains binding her. "I've got nothing left to fight for!"
"What?" Nanoha leaned, back startled.
"All of this! This stupid war has cost me everything! I started this war off as the heir to the Tohsaka bloodline, Second Owner of Fuyuki, and one of the strongest mages of my generation! I had friends, I had peers, I had opportunities. I was going to win this War, but even if I didn't, I still had a bright future ahead of me. But now all of that is gone! Avenger has killed my friends, he destroyed the city I was supposed to be protecting, he corrupted my sister. I can't even claim to have any honor because I've been trying to betray him almost since I met him! All I've got left is pride!" Rin ranted, tears falling from her eyes as she screamed herself hoarse.
"B-"
"And you! You were the start of it all! You just show up, casually outclassing me without even trying. Fighting Servants as an equal, carving your way through my family's defenses, and not to mention the FUCKING FLYING!" Rin screamed. "Do you know how ridiculous that is? You can fly! Mages haven't been able to do that since the Age of the Gods! And you just causally do it like you're riding a bicycle! And don't get me started on the orbital pink lasers of death!"
"They aren't-"
"You blew up a mountain! An entire mountain! That's ridiculous even by Servant standards! Is it any wonder I was desperate enough to ally with Zouken after that display?" Rin asked, snot and tears running down her face.
"Then why didn't you ally with me? We would have accepted you gladly!" Nanoha protested, standing up, tears of sympathy glistening in her eyes.
"Because of my God! Damned! Pride!" Rin yelled back. "I couldn't stand to admit that you were better than me. A better mage. A better fighter. And even a better person! Even now, you could just knock me out with one your pretty pink bullets, but you're letting me rant and rave in the hopes of making me feel better! This is a battlefield! Why are you still being so nice?!"
"Because you deserve it! You wouldn't be hurting so badly if you weren't a good person inside. Please! Let me help you! You don't need to be suffer anymore, you can still work beside us and help us save this world," Nanoha pleaded, holding out a hand to Rin.
"You know what the worst part is?" Rin asked, shaking her head as she sobbed. "Shirou was right. My whole family line is a bad joke. We've spent our lives and money fighting a War in a ritual that doesn't even work right. Our family magic isn't unique, the Edelfelt's can do the same thing. We were given the Jewel Sword by Zelretch and have made basically no progress in replicating it. And my father sold my sister to a monster who had her raped and tortured!"
"Tohsaka," Nanoha gasped, holding a hand to her mouth.
"So I fought for my pride because that's the only thing I had left. That maybe I could at least beat someone at something," Rin sobbed, closing her eyes in defeat. "And now there's only one thing left I can do," she clenched her hand, a wave of determination filling her eyes.
"Tohsaka don't!" Nanoha yelled, lifting up her staff. She winced in pain, as she cried blood from her bloodshot eye. A pink orb formed at the end of her staff.
"Archer by my Command Seal I order you to my side! And by my last Command I order you! Strike me down with all your might!"
Author's Notes: And with this we are almost done. These fights have all been wrapped up. I decided that Chrono casting Eternal Coffin wasn't really worth looking at in detail, as it would be just him observing the battlefield as he chants. I've got no doubt the spell in question could seal away the Grail, as it is a ludicrously overpowerd sealing spell. But similarly, Rule Breaker would easily break it. Though really, I imagine Kotomine could break the seal even without Rule Breaker, as good as it is at sealing stuff, it's very fragile to outside forces attacking it.
On that note, Kotomine is dead. I figure that Caster's curse would slow him down enough that he wouldn't be able to break the seal on the Grail and protect himself from Illya at the same time. As for Shirou, Illya and Sakura's retreat to the shore, that is inspired by the image of Shirou jumping on a sword, and launching it and himself. I just had to share that.
Rin on the other hand...well poor Rin. This story really hasn't been nice to her, and she's not going to stand for it anymore. For the record, she isn't fully suicidal, she's actually trying to be helpful by ensuring that Archer is free to save the world, but in true Rin fashion, she does so in a manner that is spectacular to say the least.
Oh, and Berserker is a character who actually gets significantly weaker in his Alter form. His physical stats are already almost maxed out, so some small improvements there is basically pointless compared to losing his sight and his Noble Phantasm getting weaker. Rider more goes from being a Rider to a Berserker her own self. She loses her Pegasus and her weapon, but gains poison, a boost to all her stats, and her Mystic Eyes actually get stronger. But raw might isn't actually that big of a deal for most Servants. I mean, even Berserker is only really a big deal because he's also almost immune to damage, so I'm pretty sure amped up Lancer, and Saber could handle the pair pretty easily.