Disclaimer: I do not own the fate series or Re:Zero

Hey guys, just a disclaimer, I've never written any fight scenes cause it's not my forte so the fight scene may be low quality so I'd appreciate it if someone could give me pointers or whatnot, also I don't know how much of my own story I'm going to incorporate but I am going to keep the main events of Re:Zero along with my own events, maybe a heroic spirit here and there, Zelretch might pop in to say hi (Literally) maybe I might get Subaru to summon another heroic spirit or borrow the powers of said spirit (Which I also know which spirit I would have summoned) but regardless of my little (Big) disclaimer, I hope you enjoy as always.

Chapter 5: What it takes to be a hero

As both parties charged each other, with Subaru wielding his twin married blades, kanshou and bakuya, while Betelgeuse ran at Subaru with his unseen hands, both ready to kill one another and without hesitation

Subaru underestimated Betelgeuse as he sent torrents of unseen hands at Subaru who barely managed to dodge and close the distance, getting hit by a stray black mass known as Betelgeuse's authority every now and then, however desperate the situation was he knew he couldn't give up so he pressed, on closing the distance and trying to nail Betelgeuse with at least one shot so at the very least the others could take him down if he fell

'Tch! This is getting annoying, he has too many of those hands swarming him and I can't get close enough, I can't risk using that magi- magecraft again to create something else like a bow, also considering that I don't know the bow's composition, however you look at this, I'm at a disadvantage, but how do I change the tide?'

While dodging, Subaru desperately tried to think of a plan to turn the tables but he drew a blank, so he asked Archer

'hey buddy, you got any ideas?'

"No matter how you look at it, your best choice is range but I'm guessing that not only you can't fire a bow, but also you can't project one, so unless by some 'miracle' you throw your blades and actually hit him, I can not see an easy method to winning this but hope for a lucky break in his guard" Archer, also drawing blanks, gave him 'advice' that Subaru was sure that was meant to subtly insult him but was knocked out of his thoughts when a stray hand smashed into his stomach with the force of a tank and Subaru flew back about 20 feet landing face down into the mud, the wind knocked out of him and barely conscious, he looked up at Betelgeuse who walked over to one of the kids and stared them right in the eyes before one of his unseen hands wrapped itself around her arm and before Subaru could process what had happened, a sickening crunch could be heard throughout the silence of the battlefield, followed by the bloodcurdling screaming and crying of a child who just had their arm completely crushed before falling unconscious, he just looked on in shock before his features took a look of complete hatred and murderous intent

"BETELGUESE! I'LL KILL YOU!" Screamed Subaru at the top of his lungs, who was now lunging at Betelgeuse with all the strength he could muster, no longer thinking about what could happen to him

"WATCH OUT!" Screamed archer, Subaru was too blind in such rage that he literally went unheard and was swiftly caught by several unseen hands and lifted several feet in the air when Betelgeuse decided to speak again

"How truly slothful. This happened because of your sloth, had you been diligent, you would have been able to save the girl but instead you were blinded by rage and submitted to your sloth! How truly slothful" Betelgeuse said smugly as he gestured over to the almost dead girl, who was now conscious and very aware of her crushed arm and was now having a panic attack. This pained Subaru greatly but he would never get the chance to get back at him as the sin archbishop twisted his arms, legs and neck 180 degrees, slowly and painfully he feels each and every bone and muscle in his arms and legs snap, tear and rupture before his neck inevitably breaks as he finds himself in the void again

I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you

It was the same chant over and over again, invading his mind with the over obsessive mantra, it instilled a sense of dread and despair, he saw hands uncannily similar to the ones Betelgeuse used except these were like claws or talons and were far more terrifying, Subaru watched as the hands grew closer with each second and eventually passed through his chest and went straight to his heart, if he wasn't scared before, now he was paralysed with fear as it caressed his heart and gave a slight squeeze before it left and 'the shadow realm' dissipated, when he found himself upon the hill of swords, he knew exactly what he was to do now

"Hey Archer, you have any idea what that was!?" Subaru was visibly shivering and was in shock from what had just transpired so he instinctively went to archer for answers

"Unfortunately not, however I can tell you this, that 'thing' can rival the gods themselves, I could feel it, the aura that thing gave off was pure power and envy, that thing is a being of pure evil so I don't know if we hit a lucky break or if we're doomed because the thing has the hots for you but knowing my E rank luck, it is most likely the latter" Archer spoke solemnly, he had no idea what to do, he felt fear looking at that monster, it was like an unstoppable force of nature and it scared him thinking about what it had done to earn such power and what it could do to humanity if left to run rampant

"So, what now? We just hope we can fight off Elsa again and get past Betelgeuse and not die again?" Subaru had a defeated look and sighed, he had to start from zero again based off his previous experience of dying, he really did not want to fight Elsa again, once was already enough but what choice did he have?

"I suppose so, we just have to try harder, surpass our limits- actually speaking of that, come here a minute, I am going to open your dormant magic circuits, I don't need you to cause severe damage because I didn't open your circuits to be used properly" Subaru complied as he walked towards Archer and faced away from him as instructed "I'm warning you now, this is going to hurt, unlike anything you've ever experienced in your life, however you may be accustomed to such pain because of your previous 'experiences' but still, heed my warning" Subaru looked nervous at Archer warning him so sternly but it looked like this was necessary for his goal so he accepted and prepared, however, no amount of preparedness could help him adjust the hell he was experiencing, every fibre of his being felt as if it were being torn and reshaped infinitely, he felt as if he were skinned and dipped into a vat of vinegar and lemon juice. It was as if someone had torn into his flesh and was widening gaps between muscle, bone and skin while setting the wounds left behind alight and pouring hot oil over him without break, but after a while it was over and Subaru let go of a breath he didn't know he was holding and faced Archer who looked at him with a smug face

"Told you so"

"I really do hate your sarcastic and smug side, you know that. You know what, I just hate you in general!" Subaru retorted half playful, half serious

"That's nice but enough of that, it's time to go back, I don't really know if I am able to teach you how to use them, so you might have to wing it but I know you'll be able to figure it out" Archer looked at Subaru with a reassuring smile which actually kind of helped Subaru so he returned with a prideful and determined face of his own

"Of course I will, what kind of hero would I be if I couldn't use my powers to protect the innocent"

As the world around them disappeared, Archer looked at him once more and spoke

"I have a contingency plan if all else fails, however I would rather not use it as it would be too taxing on your body, I'll explain more when we're back at the town square"

And with those final words the world around them finally dissipated and to both of their surprises, they did not find themselves in the town square, but in the carriage after their talk with Puck and after the explosion went off

"What was that!" Puck looked out window of the carriage while a tired Emilia woke up, albeit she was still a bit tired from earlier, and joined in with Puck's confusion

Subaru spoke up first, he hesitated saying this as it would make him seem suspicious but nevertheless it was important that they knew so they were prepared "Everybody, listen up! The people attacking the village are the witch's cult!" audible gasps escaped the few people that were there "Also there is a sin archbishop down there, I don't know which one but he seems powerful, so be careful!"

Rem eyed him suspiciously before asking "And how do you know this?"

Subaru was sweating slightly but he had to wing it "Because only the witch's cult would do this, and only a sin archbishop could have this much destructive power" He had guessed but hoped no one would question him. Rem's still saw him as suspicious but not as much now "We need to hurry! The villagers are in danger right now so we don't have the time to explain!"

Subaru and his makeshift party ran to Irlam village (For the second time) when Archer told Subaru about his contingency plan

"I can posses your body, it is called heroic possession but it's not technically what I do considering I am not a heroic spirit, regardless, I can posses your body which would be almost impossible considering the state of your magic circuits, sustaining my physical body and casting magecraft would be suicide, it would also be easier than me protecting you as your body would act as a vessel for my spirit form and I would be able to take physical form" Came the calm and stoic explanation from Archer but Subaru knew this was too good to be true

'That's great and all… but what's the catch?' came a nervous reply, with Archer, it was probably something to do with almost dying

"You would probably die" Archer replied, still calm and stoic

'Damn it! I need to stop raising these flags, it's gonna get me killed for real!' Subaru seemed to be having some sort of existential crisis so Archer decided to elaborate

"Your magic circuits are not good enough, they have been lying dormant for over a decade, it is to be expected. Even so, heroic possession is almost impossible anyway, you'd be lucky to get a few seconds but then again, you did have that one kid who had Siegfried take it for a couple of minutes, although that ended up seriously damaging it's body"

'it's?' came Subaru's question, satisfied with all the possession stuff

"The kid was a homunculus, somehow gained a free will and wished to be a hero, just like you" Archer replied in earnest, seemingly respecting the homunculus "Though that happened somewhere in Romania or something, I think?"

Their conversation was cut short by another explosion, this time much closer to them, this signified that the archbishop was near, Subaru was already getting angry thinking about what he had done but he knew, this time, he would save the kids and the rest of the villagers, he had no choice but to push his limits

"Hey Emilia, Puck, Rem! Can I trust the small fry to you?!" Subaru was saying in between laboured breaths, he was still sprinting towards the clearing, he knew what he had to do

"Subaru! Leave it to us, don't die out there, please!" Subaru looked at Emilia, she had a pained look in her eyes, she had to watch one of her only friends go and battle an unrelenting enemy with unknown abilities, of course she was worried, she was scared that she was (Going to lose her job) going to lose her only friend, but she knew Subaru wouldn't just sit around and wait for help, she knew he would rush in without a second thought to save whoever needed saving and put his life on the line, as he once did for her

"Of course I won't Emilia-tan, I'm a hero of justice after all!" Subaru reassured her with a true, radiant, pure and determined smile that showed confidence and pride, Emilia truly felt safe around him so she let him go without much of a hassle

But in Subaru's mind he was anything but confident and prideful, he was angry and scared, he genuinely had no idea how to beat him but to pass his limits and overpower him so he came to the conclusion

'I'm not just going to pass my limits… I'm gonna fly right past them!'

Subaru once again reached the opening much quicker and he realised he hadn't seen Petra yet, this meant she hadn't snuck out yet which meant more work for Subaru but the part he dreaded the most was having to converse with that monster again, Betelgeuse romanee-conti, in Subaru's eyes this 'witch of envy' he had heard so much about had a rival in terms of evil and terror but Subaru had to think of a plan to get the kids out of there first, then he would be allowed free reign to dodge around instead of the small area he had last time protecting the kids

'Think! Think brain, think!'

"How about drawing all of his attention towards you? It worked the last time when you insulted his love towards this mysterious person and when you could see the hands, act as a decoy so the kids can sneak off one by one"

'Thanks bra- Wait a minute! That isn't my brain, and Archer finally giving out good advice without insulting me!? What happened to you Archer' Retorted Subaru, who was genuinely impressed that Archer wasn't being snarky or sarcastic

"A plan anyone could think of, might I add" And there was the snarky remark, Subaru knew it was coming, he could literally feel it

'And you just had to ruin a good moment, huh? I hope you're proud' Subaru's some-what good mood was genuinely ruined by the sarcasm dripping from Archer's voice

"Enough fooling around, we have a job to do"

Looking out at the opening to see Betelgeuse pacing around, as if waiting for something, enraged Subaru but he was able to keep it under control and moved out to confront him, and much to his dismay, Betelgeuse didn't simply give up his life by presenting his head to him on a silver platter so he had to actually listen to his voice form words

"Oh, and what might we have here? A lone follower of love chasing after an ideal impossible to achieve?" The disgustingly pale man's voice rung out through the depression, reaching everybody's ears, Subaru was also shocked to hear his evaluation of himself but decided not to show it

"Hey! What are you doing here and what are those kids doing here!?" Subaru pointed over to the kids and mouthed the words 'Don't worry, I'm going to save you!' then returned his attention to Betelgeuse who was looking at the floor and started screaming

"SLOTH! SLOTH! SLOTH! I AM TRULY SLOTHFUL!" The crazed sin archbishop started biting down on his fingers so hard, they started bleeding and were broken "FORGIVE ME, MY WITCH! I AM TRULY SLOTHFUL!"

'What the hell is wrong with him!? Does that not hurt or something?' Subaru asked himself internally before his thoughts were interrupted by a sudden cracking noise and a sound of something wet hitting the muddy grass floor

"forgive my sloth, I forgot to introduce myself. I am sin archbishop of the witches cult representing sloth, Betelgeuse Roma-"

"Yeah yeah, I get it! I don't care about who you are because I'm going to have to kill you if you don't surrender now so" he paused for a moment "This is the only warning you get. Surrender now or face death at the hands of me, the judge, jury and executioner!"

Subaru had wanted to use this to buy time and it did well, Betelgeuse had a shocked look on his face so he scooted over to the kids and explained the plan to them and most looked scared but ready to comply so Subaru scooted back in front of Betelgeuse, blocking his view of the kids as they escaped towards Emilia and the others slowly, he turned to face his sworn enemy and spoke

"Just want to make sure but those 'unseen' hands of yours are supposed to be invisible, if so, why can I see them?" Subaru spoke in a mocking tone, he just needed a bit more time for the kids so they could escape so he mustered all of his 'pride' and confidence and continued his onslaught of insults "Also, you speak of this love but I'm not feeling any of this love on you, just me, maybe it's one sided?" Subaru was grasping at straws; all of this was based on what Betelgeuse had said in the previous loop so he prayed to whatever god there was out there that lady luck was on his side today

Betelgeuse just stood there, a neutral expression took hold of his face before it twisted into the most rage fuelled, hatred filled glare one could possibly show on their face , Subaru knew he had gotten his full attention now and took one last look at the kids, only for a look of shock and complete horror to take his face when he saw one of the kids trip on a rock and fall over, making a large thump noise alerting Betelgeuse to the fact that there was only one child left however instead of being angry, he laughed and he laughed, it became more sadistic as time went on before he laid his eyes upon the girl, he looked at her as if she were prey and he, the apex predator. What made this situation worse was that it was Petra Lyte, the gilr who Subaru remembered from the last loop, her words from last time reverberated through his mind

'Please mister, save them!'

Subaru looked at Betelgeuse once more, only to see his sadistic grin and an unseen hand streaming straight for her head. Subaru had no time to react, he couldn't trace the weapons in time and he couldn't make it over to her to push her out of the way yet, he still found himself running towards her screaming for her to get out of the way but those words fell upon deaf ears, just as Subaru was giving up and getting ready for a reset, he heard Archer

"You owe me"

He had another vision, so he called them, it was similar to when he imagined those swords, however instead of weapons, he imagined a pink flower of sorts, comprised of pure light, Subaru imagined it to be the shield when attacked by the spear, the immovable object when coming against the unstoppable force, and he saw Archer mouth two words to him. This was all he needed to give him that final push, he felt something deep within him flow to life, this time not as painful as before, and he screamed from deep within his own heart

"RHO…AIAAAAS!" The flower of pure light shot out of his palm and stopped right in front of the girl acting as the immovable object to the unstoppable force and clashed with the unseen hands, to Betelgeuse's surprise, the unseen hand was repelled and he saw Subaru move towards him at inhuman speeds and saw him create two swords from nothing, the sin archbishop started back peddling and broke into a full sprint before hearing a shout behind him "YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY!" Subaru plunged one of the swords straight through his chest and then spun around, and with that momentum, swinging the other blade to completely sever Betelgeuse's head from his body. As he went to turn around to see if the kid was alright, he felt something enter his body, only to hear Archer shout at him

"Kid! That thing is a spirit! It's trying to force it's way into your body to possess it!"

"Can you do anything!?" Subaru asked, panicked and disgusted that Betelgeuse would try to get into his body to possess him and it bothered him greatly

"I'm not sure, but I'll try!"

…

Betelgeuse found himself in a barren wasteland of a desert, swords and blades of all makes littering the floor for miles, impossibly large cogs surrounding him in the sky and a light breeze which blew sand into his face before he hears a voice behind him and then a sharp pain in his left thigh

"Trace on"

Another pain in his other thigh followed by another in his stomach, chest, arms and finally his neck.

Betelgeuse was still alive so he looked at his attacker with the last if his strength only to hear him speak again, with a black bow notched with a sword as far back as possible

"Caladbolg"

Betelgeuse saw the arrow move at subsonic speed aimed for his head, with the last milliseconds of his life he saw the face of Archer, he saw his own reflection in his eyes and saw how pathetic he looked so with his final breath drawing near, he looked toward the sky and spoke

"WHY! WHY HAS THE WITCH FORSA-"

…

Betelgeuse fell dead where he stood, Archer released a breath he didn't know he had held in and returned to talk with Subaru once again

"Subaru, Betelgeuse is dead, regroup with the rest and pick off any remaining cultists"

Archer rematerialized to find an unconscious Subaru being tended to by a crying Emilia

"B-but what i-if -sniff- he i-is dead!?" Emilia said in between sniffles and choked back tears, desperately trying to heal Subaru with water magic

"I assure you that Subaru is very much fine for if he were dead, I would be gone too" Emilia jumped at the sudden visitor and quickly stood up to protect Subaru, then Archer realised he hadn't shown himself to the elf girl yet so this reaction was obviously to be expected but was caught of guard when he peered at Subaru and felt something…different… but also similar about him so he looked at puck who was in the middle of explaining who Archer was to Emilia.

"U-umm, I-I'm very s-sorry mister Archer, I didn't know you were Subaru's contracted spirit" Emilia held her head down in shame and Archer told her to lift her head, he didn't like when people did that, it didn't help anything or change it so he spoke to her once again

"Well now you know, but if you want to make it up to me…" he looked straight over to Puck and their eyes met briefly before he turned back to Emilia "…I would like to speak with him… privately"

Archer asked Emilia and, of course, she had no choice so she pleaded Puck to go with him and they went to go around the corner to talk confidentially, this alone meant something must have happened "I noticed as I was talking to that elf girl, I sensed something dark in Subaru. It was the same thing I got from that sin archbishop or whatever he was…" He paused, looking straight ahead at Puck "…Is there anyway that a part of that vile man was absorbed by Subaru, I know for a fact that it wasn't there before as I would've noticed a lot sooner if that were the case"

"I'm not too sure about all that witch cult stuff, haha" Puck awkwardly laughed before continuing "However, Betty probably knows more stuff about it considering she is the great spirit guarding the forbidden library!" Archer looked confused at the mention of a 'forbidden library', what made it forbidden and why would this 'betty' person know so much about witches and their abilities, if she was a threat, she would be taken care of quickly and efficiently but if not, perhaps her library could be of use to him and Subaru if they needed any information

"Ok I understand, and would you know how long it would take for me to get into contact with this 'betty' person?" Archer asked with a somewhat demanding tone but mostly casual feeling, still this took top priority, if she knew what happened to Subaru, he would get the answer. No matter what

"Well I mean, technically, you could go talk to her as soon as you get back but I recommend waiting for Subaru to wake up first, you could take him with you and you could get introductions out of the way quicker with the both of you there" Puck answered without failure and with speed, he wasn't sure why but this guy just oozed experience and confidence, it almost annoyed him but they were on the same side so he didn't care all too much and answered his questions, he didn't have malicious intent so he assumed it was fine

"Fine I suppose, I shall move to the mansion with the elf girl and Subaru and await his awakening before moving to the forbidden library to speak with this 'betty' person"

Archer dematerialized to help reduce the mana cost for Subaru, surely in the state he is in, any more excess mana being wasted could be fatal, so like normal, he visited Subaru in his dreams to both scold and praise him.

"Honestly that kid, making me worry like that, he'll need a good scolding plus I can explain a few things to him"

Yet again, Subaru found himself upon the hill of swords in front of Archer whom wore a stoic face and a calculating glare

"I get the feeling you're not happy with me, hehe"

"My what gave you that idea, hmm?" You could feel the sarcasm dripping off of Archers voice, it was literally tangible and that made Subaru even more scared of what was to come

"Firstly… Well done, you saved those children, those villagers and that half elf and maid, you put your life on the line to save random people you've never met before without a second thought, you ran out into the fray convinced that instead of running away, the only option was to save them, to pour everything you have into making sure no harm befell them, that is the truest quality of a hero, the spirit of self-sacrifice, even if it has its limits, so as a hero I say this to you Natsuki Subaru… Well done, you are truly a hero and you can keep striving to be a hero!"

Subaru was on the verge of crying "I… I actually did it, didn't I, I saved them" but all good things must come to an end so then Archer continued

"However, almost everything you did there was a fluke and only possible because I was able to give you some of my mana and I helped you open your magic circuits earlier, to put it simply, you are useless in a battle, you have almost no mana, no experience and no idea how to handle weaponry" he looked over to Subaru who looked shocked and slightly depressed, he knew this his whole life, he has only ever been useless so it wasn't anything new, but why did it hurt so much more this time? "But, as said before, you have the heart and spirit of a hero so you're already half way there, henceforth, from now on I am going to train you. I am going to mould you into the perfect hero, be warned, it will not be easy and I will wok you to the bone whether you are vomiting blood or are begging to stop"

Archer could see it. A new fire of determination, raging wildly within his eyes as he looked up to Archer with a look filled with tenacity, showing Subaru's new unbreaking conviction

"If this is what it takes to be a hero, nothing short of death will stop me! Although it's not like I can really die though so let me rephrase that. Nothing will stop me from being a hero of justice!"

With a fleeting phantom of a smile, Archer replied to his determination and resolve in earnest and with pride in his voice "Just what I was hoping you would say. Although unfortunately I have some final bad news, I think a part of that vile man was somehow absorbed within you"

All the colour drained from Subaru's face as Archer's words settled in and his face took a look of total shock and disgust, he hated the fact that Betelgeuse had tried to posses him and now here he is, being told that a part of him was now permanently inside him, rightfully, he was angry. Afterall, he wanted to be rid of him but now a part of him resides within Subaru

"Contrary to what you are thinking, I do not believe it is a part of 'him' per say and more along the lines of something that belonged to him, albeit I am not sure on what it is" this somewhat eased Subaru as at least it wasn't actually Betelgeuse, but rather something that belonged to him, he was still angry, but nowhere near the level he was before

"Anyway, once we get back, we are going to another spirit who may be able to explain, but for now, do not do anything with anything you feel is unnatural and tell me immediately" Archer was stern but showed concern in his voice, he didn't want Subaru to be corrupted, to fall to a fate he had seen many fall to before, Subaru nodded before feeling like it was time to wake up and informed Archer

"Hey, I think it's time for me to go back to the waking world, also… thanks, if it weren't for you helping me, I don't know if I'd been able to save those children" Subaru looked towards Archer with a sad smile

"Maybe so, yet you still ran to save that final child before being able to use rho aias, you still served as bait for the rest of the children, so don't sell yourself short and plus, me helping you, it's what a heroic spirit does"

With that final message, Subaru felt himself wake up to see a sight he would burn into his brain forever, his precious Emilia-tan inches from his face, her breath on his face sent shivers down his spine which was quickly replaced with the feeling of it being crushed by a hydraulic press set to max power as he opened his eyes to see Emilia embracing him as she was crying for the second time that night, instead of complaining, he wrapped his arms around Emilia, returning the embrace

"Hey Emilia-tan, how's your day been? Mines been great" Subaru said weakly

Choking back tears and sobs, she looked down at Subaru with a smile with tears littering her face and dress "Y-your t-terrible S-Subaru -sniff- m-ma-making -sniff- m-me w-worry s-so much, b-but -sniff- i-I am s-soo~ h-happy y-you a-are a-al-alive, r-really"

"So am I, after all, this is where my journey starts" He stopped to catch his breath from overexerting too much "My journey to become a true hero of justice!" Subaru spoke with conviction and resolve that would rival the gods and such determination that it would spur those around into action

'His journey may be a long, hard path through hell itself, however, it would seem that he is ready to walk that path, I wonder Natsuki Subaru, what kind of hero will you become'

And that is a wrap, by the way, there are a lot of heroic scenes and such talking about a true hero because honestly? I really love those scenes, scenes where the protagonist realises that he desires to be a hero and is willing to sacrifice himself to save anyone, so that's why there's more than a few scenes like that but anyway as I said before, I do plan on making my own events in the story but it will follow a rough order and still have the same events as Re:Zero but there will be my own ideas.

PS. the thing about Emilia being scared about losing her job, in the brackets, is a joke between me and a few friends where he recorded a video and went on a random rant about being scared, worried! Worried that he was going to lose his job! ,even though he doesn't have a job, but yeah it's an inside joke

As always, I hope you enjoyed