TITLE: FATE/ POP CULTURE
Synopsis: It's time for the Fifth Holy Grail War. But don't expect King Arthur, Hercules, Medusa, etc. No, the servants summoned each herald from other worlds. Who are they? Read to find out and experience a Grail War like no other.
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters within. The Fate franchise and any others referenced herein belong to their respective owners.
Chapter 2: Meeting the Mummy Slayer
While Rin and Xena talked, other masters were readying for the Holy Grail War. Most of the servants had been summoned; the only one remaining was the Saber-class.
In a castle outside of the city, a little girl looked up at her demonic servant and giggled, "you're not who I was expecting but you might be even better."
Elsewhere, a woman had offered sanctuary to a dashingly handsome man and within a manor; an ancient elder examined the servant he had forced his adoptive granddaughter to summon.
The next morning, Rin got up and stretched.
"Good morning, Rin," her Archer servant greeted.
Rin nodded, "good morning, Archer." She noticed the clock on her bedside table.
"WHA…?!" she yelped, "I slept in?! I'm over two hours late!"
"What's done is done," Xena commented, "why not make the most of it?"
"Make the most of it?" Rin asked, giving it some thought, "… I know! I'll show you around Fuyuki… get you acquainted with the territory. Every advantage counts!"
Xena nodded, "a good idea… but you might want to change out of your sleepwear."
Rin rolled her eyes, "I know that."
Even though she was playing hooky, it was still a school day. So she donned her uniform.
Slipping on her red jacket and shoes, they were out the door.
As the sun started to set after a long day, they approached a park; a park that felt off… dark… as if an evil force had seeped into the atmosphere. Unbeknownst to either of them, that's exactly what had happened during the climax of the last Holy Grail War.
Giving her dealings with gods in her time, Xena could sense lingering essence of something ancient… something foul.
"What happened here?"
"This portion of the city was consumed by a massive fire ten years ago," Rin explained, "they never bothered to rebuild so they left it as a park. Naturally, since it's more or less still fresh in people's minds, they don't like lingering around a spot where so many died."
Xena just knew Aries and Hades would have been intrigued by it, especially if they knew what really happened.
They headed back and the next day, Xena accompanied Rin to school, in astral form so none could see her; an ability that would have come in handy whenever Aries or Joxer bugged her.
Throughout the day, Rin had been distracted; she had been sensing a magical essence around the school. Once school let out; Rin and Xena stealthily searched around the campus for the source. The sun was beginning to set as they arrived out on the track field.
Placing her hand over an area where she felt a pulse of magical energy, Rin was able to uncover a symbol… what appeared to be a stylized owl in a circle.
"Curious," she mentioned, "there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason for the placement of these marks around the school."
"Yeah. Weird, huh?"
Rin spun around, seeing the source of the voice. It was a somewhat rugged-looking but attractive man sporting a blue bandana around his neck, old-fashioned white shirt, tan pants, and brown boots. She noticed some sort of harness around his torso that holstered two guns under his arms.
"Don't mind me," he mentioned, "just checking it out, same as you. And lady? Could you put your sword away?"
Xena had made herself visible, understanding by his aura that this man was most likely a servant.
The man rolled his eyes, "yeah, yeah… fine. Look, I don't want to go after a kid, but my master is nagging me about testing your servant or whatever. But tell you what… as an apology; I'll tell you what class I am. You're lookin' at the Lancer of this Grail War."
Rin blinked. She didn't see anything on his person that resembled a spear, finally noticing something gold tucked into the back of his belt.
"Sorry about this," he said as he pulled out his pistols and fired both, Xena quick to parry with her sword.
"Very well, Lancer," she spoke, "if we have no choice, then we shall battle. Allow me to return your curtesy. You face this Holy Grail War's Archer class servant."
"Nice to meet cha," he nodded, firing at her again, only to have the bullets reflected again.
Stop playing around, his master spoke through their link, use your noble phantasm.
Seriously?! he mentally complained, I'm just supposed to be gauging her strength.
Don't make me use a command seal, his master thought.
He rolled his eyes, "fine… don't want you to waste one of your precious command seals."
He then proceed to grab the gold thing from his belt, "my master apparently wants me to go all out." Channeling his prana; the Egyptian-looking relic extended at both ends, telescoping into a weapon befitting his class.
Fanciest spear I've ever seen, Xena thought, eyeing it.
Doing a fancy twirl, Lancer gripped the golden weapon with both hands, the sharp end facing Archer.
"This little puppy's called the Spear of Osiris… and it's gonna hurt like a bitch."
Rin's eyes widened. She vaguely remembered reading something about a man who, about seventy/eighty years or so ago, had found a lost Egyptian city and vanquished a great evil with a legendary weapon… the Spear of Osiris. However, she couldn't remember his name.
"You… you found that legendary weapon in a lost city," she spoke, "and defeated a great evil with it."
"Evils, plural kid," he corrected, "and all three of them were bastards."
Rin blinked. There were three evils he bested. No wonder he became an epic spirit.
Lancer sighed. Sure, his defeat of the Keeper of the Dead made him famous but he made sure besting the Scorpion King and the Dragon Emperor were kept under wraps.
He clenched his spear, ready to skewer the hot woman in the leather dress.
Lancer, his master mentally addressed him, there seems to be an eye witness. Take care of him.
It's just a kid, he mentally complained. Suddenly, he seized up squeezing his weapon.
"Damn you," he hissed through gritted teeth, "going so far to have me off a kid in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Rin's eyes widened. Even if it was Mage Law to eliminate eyewitnesses; resorting to using a command seal to force someone to kill a child was low.
Rin noticed the student, judging by the uniform, was frozen in fear as Lancer was forced to raise his spear arm, ready to launch his weapon to harpoon them…
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If case you couldn't figure it out, Lancer in this story will be played by Rick O'Connell from the Mummy movies. I wanted all the servants to be live-action characters and Rick was the only recognizable spear holder that came to mind, plus he has some things in common with Stay Night's Lancer; snarky, blunt, and interestingly charismatic. Also; I slipped in some clues as to Berserker and Caster's identities.