'Twas Hallows' Eve night, and in Csejte Castle,
Was a young Servant, who was ready to dazzle.
Her chance had been stolen too many a year.
Onis and gods stole her Puppy so dear.
But this year was hers, this much had she swore.
She'd throw a great concert, that would not be a bore.
But suddenly there arose such a clatter,
A noise that would cause all her hope to shatter.
She'd walk out the door and look to the sky,
A new castle on top of them all she did spy.
Determined this year to not be outdone
She'd march up the pile, to fight one on one.
And that dear readers, is where our story began
The tale of Liz, and the end of her plan.
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Fujimaru Ritsuka laid in his bed, sighing contently to himself as he rested in his bed. It was all peaceful for once, the Wandering Sea not detecting anything unusual in the world. He didn't have to worry about anything this Halloween.
But if that was true, then what was this uneasy feeling in his chest? He sat up, placing a hand over his heart, feeling it beating rapidly. Something was wrong, he just knew it.
Suddenly, there was a knock at his door. The boy's head whipped over to look, fear filling his entire being.
"I knew this day would come," He muttered as he turned off the light. The door opened but seconds later, his kouhai, the purple haired girl Mash, walked into the room.
"Senpai?" She called out softly before she flipped on the light, seeing a large lump hiding under the covers, black hair sticking out from the top. "Senpai… A new Singularity has been detected," She flinched as she saw the covers move. There was no way he already knew… right? "Senpai," She walked to the bed. "It's important to make sure Singularities are taken care of," She tried to reason with him. "Just because it's Halloween… and the Singularity is at Csejte Castle… doesn't mean you can skip out on it."
She felt awful as the covers didn't move again. Forcing her Senpai to do something he clearly hated so much… but they had no choice. It was either they fixed the Singularity, or it could destroy the world. Taking a deep breath to steel her resolve, she grabbed the covers, tearing them off of the bed, only to come to a horrible realization. The lump wasn't her senpai at all!
It was a chunky golem wearing a wig!
"A golem decoy?!" She cried out before quickly spinning on her heel and running out the door. "Code Red! Code Red! Senpai is running again!" The door silently slid close behind her, the automatic door letting out a hiss. The second the hiss was heard, Ritsuka slipped out from under the bed, sighing to himself.
"Sorry Mash, I'll make it up to you later," He promised as he quickly walked to the door, picking up a bag of candy he left on his nightstand on the way. The door slid open, and Ritsuka peeked out, seeing the coast was clear. However, the second he took a single step out, a sword twisted into an arrow flew through the air, catching his sleeve and pinning it to the wall. Ritsuka let out a hiss as he looked at his attacker, the Counter Guardian EMIYA staring back at him, his large black bow drawn, ready to fire another arrow.
"You can't escape your responsibilities, Master," EMIYA chastised, sounding like a disappointed mother as he took a step closer.
"I don't wanna hear it from the man who abandoned me last time!" Ritsuka fired back as he yanked his arm out of the wall, the sleeve ripping as he did. The Last Master reached into his pocket, pulling out a manjū from the Fūma caln's confectionery he had saved for just this moment. "Forgive me EMIYA, but you leave me no choice!" With the form of a pro baseball player, Guda pitched the foul nutrient supplement, the weaponized 'food' sailing directly into EMIYA's mouth.
The effect was nearly immediate. The Japanese man fell to his knees, hacking as he tried to rid himself of the taste, his mind shattering from the sheer disgust he felt. Ritsuka only spared one look before he ran away, raising his bag of candy into the air. "HEY!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. "I HAVE SWEETS!"
It didn't take long for a yellow blur to rush down the hallway, a yellow oni that resembled a banana easily catching up with him.
"Muh ha ha ha ha ha!" Ibaraki laughed as she slowed down to match his pace. "It's good you know your place Master, but you aren't supposed to run away while giving offerings."
"Ibaraki!" Ritsuka held out the bag of delectable sweets to her. "I'll give you this whole bag of sweets if you can keep the others from catching me!" The gears in Ibaraki's mind began to slowly spin as she considered what was offered.
"I can just take them now!" She pointed out as she reached for the bag. Ritsuka didn't move to move the sugary treasure away from her.
"If you help me, I have a second secret bag of candy for you!" He quickly fired back. Ibaraki's hand froze as she heard the offer, before finally grabbing Ritsuka and breaking out into a full run. Many people tried to engage her, to stop her so they could grab the Master, but thanks to her Disengage skill, the yellow oni was able to slip past anyone that stood in their way. For a brief moment, it looked as if Ritsuka's future was bright.
The sound of a motorcycle revving up destroyed all illusions of that bright future. Ibaraki was barely able to keep ahead of the golden hero Kintoki's motorcycle, the short hallways and sharp turns being the only reason that the two could stay out of reach of the demon hunter and his divine vehicle. However, the game of cat and mouse was soon coming to a close as the half oni warrior Tomoe stood at the end of a hallway, arrows poised to pin Ibaraki down. Seeing the end of the road, Ritsuka decided now was the time to change his game plan.
"You did a good job!" Ritsuka complimented the oni as he handed her the bag of candy. "The second bag is under my bed!" He then let his grip on the oni slip loose, tumbling to the ground as the motorcycle zipped past him. Wasting no time, he rolled to his feet and dove for a vent in the wall, climbing into the ventilation system.
"Master vented!" Tomoe called out as she and Kintoki scrambled to figure out where Ritsuka was headed.
Meanwhile in the Command Room, the tiny genius Da Vinci Lily bit her thumb. She had heard the rumors and stories, but she didn't expect Ritsuka to be this against going to solve the Singularity. Was Liz's singing really that horrible?
"This is a bit much just to avoid getting out of work," the director of Chaldea, Gordolf grumbled. "I'm going to have to think of some sort of punishment for wasting all this time… maybe having him cook dinner for a week?" Da Vinci smiled a little before focusing on the task at hand.
"Alright, we'll have to release them if we are going to have any hope of catching him," She finally decided. Sighing to herself, she pressed the intercom button. "Minamoto no Raikou, Hassan of Serenity, and Kiyohime, we need you to look for Master!"
It didn't take long for the three women to head out into the hallways, the Stalker Trio combining their efforts to track down their Master.
"Hmm… now where could that boy be hiding?" Ritsuka's self proclaimed mother Raikou muttered to herself as she walked down the halls. "Where would he go if he absolutely wanted to hide from everyone?"
"It would have to be somewhere no one would look," the self proclaimed wife Kiyohime muttered. "Or somewhere were the people wouldn't be able to reach him…,"
"Ah…," a lightbulb went off over Serenity's head. "I know of such a place," She dashed off, leaving the other two behind as she headed to the one place that fit every criteria, the perfect hiding spot. She soon came to her room, not even bothering to open the door, instead slipping into Spirit form to phase through the wall. A poisoned room, a place where only she, Mash, and Ritsuka could safely walk into. Surely he was hiding in here, right?
She looked all over her room, under the covers, under the bed, in the secret tunnels that led to Ritsuka's room… He wasn't anywhere in the room. So he didn't end up hiding here at all. Then where could he be?
Meanwhile, Mash had decided to take a different approach. As the Stalker Trio stalked the halls, she headed to Xiang Yu's room, the robotic centaur from another world towering over her as she entered. It didn't take long to explain to the famous alternate world Chinese general the situation at hand.
"Please, you have to help us figure out where Senpai is going," She pleaded. The centaur nodded, using both his tactical mind and future sight to try to track the slippery Master's every move.
"If my calculations are correct, the first thing he did after leaving the vents was to hide in Kiyohime's room," He supplied. Mash didn't even consider that move. It seemed so obvious now, of course he would hide in the room of the one that scared him the most while he knew she wouldn't be there. Just how far ahead did he plan this escape? "And when he believes he will not be discovered, he intends to…," Xiang Yu paused, before galloping to the door urgently.
"Huh? What's wrong?!" Mash asked as she moved to keep up with him.
"Master will be agitating Spart-." Xiang Yu began, before a mighty, defiant roar echoed throughout Chaldea.
"OPPRESSORS!" The Heroic Spirit of Rebellion Spartacus was on a warpath, knocking down anyone who dared try to chase Fujimaru Ritsuka. "TO SEND A CHILD INTO A BATTLE HE WISHES NOT TO FIGHT?! OPPRESSORS!" Xiang Yu charged into battle, swinging one of his mighty robotic arms at Spartacus, who puffed his muscular chest out defiantly, taking the blow and skidding back from the force, although he showed no sign of damage. "COME THEN, WAR HORSE OF OPPRESSION. LET US BATTLE!"
The resulting carnage was absolute chaos, which was all according to plan. Fujimaru snickered to himself as he made his way to the Shadow Border. He knew it was the last place anyone would look, and because the vehicle was bigger on the inside than the outside, he would be able to hide long enough to slip away when they did come looking for him.
The sound of the Shadow Border's door opening was his salvation.
"Well, well, Mr. Fujimaru, you're late," Sherlock Holmes commented as he sat in a seat, legs crossed as he sipped a small cup of tea, the sound of his voice being Ritsuka's doom. The boy sighed to himself.
Busted.