Mordred watched the island of Okinawa disappear as the plane took off to Shibuya. She laid back in her seat and crossed her tanned arms as the plane breached the clouds. Fran napped next to her while the rest of the Chaldea team chatted in their own seats, talking about their plans when they got back to training. Chiyome had a fight offer and Musashi planned on working on her grappling. Ritsuka kept her phone off during the flight and pulled a sleep mask over her eyes, preparing herself for a busy stretch of work once everyone was back in the gym.
When the plane touched down at the airport, Sisigou arrived to pick up Fran and Mordred. They waved goodbye to the rest of the Chaldea team before climbing into his black car. The car jumped as Fran tossed their luggage into the trunk, brushing away the sand from the bags before throwing them in. She dropped into the back seat with a sigh and rubbed her eyes.
"How was the trip?" Sisigou asked as he started the engine.
"Fun," Frankenstein replied. "Bit tired, though."
"Yeah, those long flights and drives can take a lot out of you after you've been out and about. What about you, Mordred?"
"It was great," she replied. "I do wanna get back to training pretty soon, though."
"Mm, Fran has a fight coming up. She texted me about it a few days ago."
Mordred nodded. Fran slumped forward as she fell back asleep, seemingly unconcerned with the upcoming fight. She had two months to prepare and knew of the dangers Penthesilea presented. Ritsuka, Mordred, and Fran watched several of Penthesilea's fights during their downtime together. While Ritsuka and Fran took notes and discussed Penthesilea's skills as though appraising a piece of art, Mordred bit on her knuckles each time Penthesilea's fists or elbows clashed against an opponent. The same concern lingered as Sisigou and Fran dropped her off at her apartment.
Mordred threw her laundry in her hamper, put her toiletries back in place, and took a cold shower as she prepared to settle in for the rest of the day. The cold water shocked her mind out of her vacation and into the upcoming training camp. She considered how she could help while she dried herself off. An idea came to her as she slipped on a pair of shorts and a tank top. While she couldn't offer the same advice or knowledge that the coaches could, there was one person she knew outside Chaldea who could give insight on fighting Penthesilea. Her heartbeat climbed several steps as she pulled out her phone and dialed.
"Hello, Emiya?" Mordred asked as the line connected.
"Oh, hi Mordred!" Shirou Emiya greeted on the other line. He was one of the few people connected to Artoria she kept in contact with, though it was little more than the occasional text or holiday greeting. She wanted to keep her bridges burned, but Emiya's friendly attitude and his help in connecting her to Chaldea kept her from pushing him away.
"Hey, are you busy right now?"
"Not at the moment. How is everything at Chaldea?"
"It's going great," Mordred replied. She and Emiya caught up for several more minutes. Shirou transitioned into a coaching role while still training to keep with Artoria and the other fighters on his team. He teamed up with his girlfriend, Rin Tohsaka, to come up with Artoria's strategies. Their teamwork kept Artoria undefeated ever since she became the Grail Wars champion.
"I might be standing across the cage from your star pupil pretty soon," Mordred said.
"Well, I just hope you two can leave it all in the ring once it happens," Shirou remarked.
"You better keep that belt on Artoria, Emiya; I'm gonna be pissed if I have to fight anyone else for that belt."
"Believe me, she's noticed your rise. I can't say if she's as enthusiastic about fighting you."
Mordred stalled at what Shirou said, but she pushed it to the back of her mind. "I'm not sure I'm next to fight her, unfortunately. My manager said that Kotomine wants me to win one more."
"Any ideas of who you might fight?"
"None yet. One of my training partners is going up against a top contender, actually."
"Is it Frankenstein?"
"Exactly; she's going up against Penthesilea in a couple of months."
Mordred could hear the sharp exhale from the other end of the line. "That's a tough fight. I hope you guys are getting ready for it."
"We are," Mordred said. She found the entry she needed and continued, "Have you guys watched much footage of her?"
Shirou chuckled. "Rin's seen almost all of her fights. She's the one that concerns us the most."
"Oh yeah?" Mordred murmured.
"Well, she certainly concerns Rin the most. She's even drawn up several plans on how Artoria could beat her."
"Care to share any of them with me?"
"I dunno," Shirou said. "I'm not sure if Artoria would be happy about it."
"Come on, she'll never know about it. You think I'd let it slip that I had to come to you guys for help?"
Shirou sighed. "Okay, I can share a bit, but not a full plan."
"That's all I need," Mordred said as she grabbed a pen and some paper. "I've seen some of her fights and I could barely get a read on her."
"One thing about Penthesilea is that she almost never falls for feints," Shirou said. "It makes it difficult to keep her at a distance unless you commit, which even then isn't easy since she constantly throws strikes."
"Would countering her work best, then?"
"Maybe, but she's somehow able to stay powerful through even five-round fights. The two plans Rin has come with involve either targeting one part of Penth's body or trying to outmatch her in grappling. Neither is particularly easy, of course. Penthesilea is a smart fighter and won't let one part of her body get hit without coming up with a counter for it. She's a great grappler, too, although she doesn't like to go for submissions."
"Anything else I should know about her?" Mordred asked as she scribbled down everything Emiya said.
"Not much, unfortunately. Sorry that I can't tell you more. We only have skeletons of plans right now since Artoria doesn't like to look past her current opponents."
"Well, this should be a start. Thanks, Emiya."
Mordred disconnected from the call and stared at the notes. She tapped the tip of the pen against the paper, leaving red dots everywhere on the page as she tried to discern anything of worth from Emiya's advice. As she pored over the notes, she sighed and flicked the pen away. While Emiya gave her kernels of advice that she could use, she couldn't come up with a scenario in the fight when either would be particularly useful.
"I'll leave it to the coaches," she mumbled to herself. "Maybe they can use this to come up with something." Mordred committed what Emiya told her to memory. Nothing could bring her to tell Fran or her Chaldea team members that she sought help from one of Artoria's teammates, even if it was Ritsuka's relative.
Life at the Chaldea gym returned to normal when Mordred walked in the next morning. She met Frankenstein in the locker room and shared a quick kiss. They changed into their fighting gear and met with the three coaches at Chaldea, ready to begin Fran's training camp. The camp progressed as usual with Mordred acting as Fran's main sparring partner. Her body came close to Penthesilea's in size. Mordred emulated Penthesilea's style, throwing all her strength into numerous volleys, but she could only manage it for several minutes before her body coated with sweat.
"I don't know how she keeps it up," Mordred once remarked between heavy breaths. "I feel like I'm going to pass out just from throwing punches."
"Maybe we should take a break," Frankenstein suggested.
Mordred waved it off. "Maybe for a minute, but we gotta get you ready for this fight."
As the team drew up plans, Mordred sprinkled in the suggestions Emiya sent her. The coaches attempted both targeting a specific body part and out-grappling. Frankenstein's size made it easy for her to overpower Mordred, but Mordred wondered if Penthesilea's strength would let her escape. She withstood kicks to her leg and blows to her body, gritting her teeth as the coaches helped formulate when and where Fran should strike. Mordred wondered all the while if the tactics devised for Artoria would translate well to Frankenstein. Though she almost never spoke with her sister, she watched every match whenever Artoria fought.
Artoria fought a defensive, methodical style where she let her opponents strike first, leading them into a counter she set up before her opponent threw. She utilized heavy but accurate punches, whipping but fast kicks, and pressuring but slick grappling. Frankenstein fought an almost opposite style. While Artoria set up combinations and threw up the defense of a wall, Frankenstein sought large strikes that could end fights in an instant. Her size let her keep away from her opponents and reach them before they could come within a forearm's reach.
Mordred kept her concerns bottled until two weeks before the fight. Their flight would be in a few days, and the team began to finalize their strategy against Penthesilea. She and Fran watched one of Fran's horror movies, one of the few bits of film in the past week they'd watched that didn't involve fighting. Fran sat upright with a small bowl of unbuttered popcorn, bland but sure to not push her past the weight limit, and Mordred lay down with her head resting on Fran's legs. The opening credits began with a fade into the daytime reflections of trees on a murky river. As the first strings of the soundtrack began, Mordred turned her head up to Fran.
"How's the weight cutting coming along?" she asked.
"Okay," Fran replied. "Sisigou has been strict, what to eat. Can't be too drained when fight comes. Probably toughest fight I've had."
Mordred pouted. "Tougher than me?"
Fran smiled and kissed Mordred's forehead. "You won, so maybe not."
"You sure you're ready?" Mordred asked as she turned her head back to the screen.
Fran nodded. "Hope you're not too sore."
"Don't worry," Mordred said. She patted a dark splotch on her abs, a shot thrown heavily from Fran that Mordred failed to dodge. "I've had worse."
The movie began in earnest. Mordred didn't bring up the fight again, preferring to take in the film than keep her mind on the impending bout. When it ended, however, and she lay next to Fran in bed, the matchup haunted her thoughts. She thought of what might happen the next day when she and Fran went to training. Her mind raced with potential new tactics as Fran, Boudica, Lancer, and Scathach went over their final strategy. During the plane ride to the site of the fight, she wondered to herself if there was a chance the fight would get canceled.
Several days later, when Fran stepped on the scale and weight in at the limit, Mordred knew the fight would happen. Penthesilea weighed in after, taking to the scale in athletic underwear as she stretched out her arms, letting the media room bask in her sculpted muscles. She and Fran faced off with their fists raised. Once the camera flashes slowed, they bowed, shook hands, and returned to their entourages.
"How'd she seem up close?" Lancer asked as Frankenstein put on a robe.
"Focused," Fran replied as they made their way to the changing rooms. "Like all she knows is fighting."
"At least you got a good target with her massive forehead," Mordred remarked. She handed Fran a water bottle as they reached the changing room. "Still, you should be fine if you stick to the plan."
"Fine may be relative," Scathach said. "You got this, Frankenstein, but be ready to take some really hard shots."
Fran nodded. "I know. I'll be ready; I'll win."
Mordred smiled and clapped Fran's shoulder as she slipped into the room. She sighed and leaned against the wall, arms crossed as her finger tapped against her elbow.
"Is something wrong?" Boudica asked.
"Nah, it's nothing," Mordred replied. "Just wondering what to get for dinner."