Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

This Cannot End Well

Chapter 9

"Where'd you learn to play the piano?"

Rin and Sakura were walking home – well, to Sakura's London apartment, at any rate – when the former asked the latter. Sakura immediately looked uncomfortable, even reaching up to scratch her head. "…well…you see…" she hesitantly began.

"It's alright if you don't want to talk about it." Rin immediately said, not wanting to make her sister uncomfortable.

"No, it's nothing like that." Sakura said before giving a sigh. "It's just…hard, to admit that even Aoi could get a few things right."

"Wait…Aoi…? You mean she had you take piano classes?" Rin asked.

Sakura nodded. "Yup." She said before scowling. "She said a 'proper lady' would need to know how to play music to move in polite circles, among other things I needed to know. As if I actually cared for things like that…that said, I actually do enjoy playing the piano, and my piano tutor, while strict, genuinely cared that I actually learned how to play and to play well. Not because it's a 'proper' thing or something like that, but because…well, music is art. Sure, it's not traditional Japanese, but it's still art, and art is something that adds…color, beauty, even meaning to life."

Sakura paused and shrugged. "Kawasumi-sensei said I didn't need to be a composer or even a professional musician to paint my life with those colors." She said with a fond smile. "And like I said, I enjoyed playing the piano, and Kawasumi-sensei saw it. So, she made sure I could truly appreciate the piano's music."

"Is that why you kept learning even after Aoi left?" Rin asked with a small smile.

"Yes." Sakura said. "Strangely enough, Kirei never tried to stop me. Considering how that sick bastard thought about things, I'd have expected him to stop my lessons simply to spite me. But he didn't…I guess he also saw I'd have fought him over it, and it wasn't a fight worth having."

"That," Rin began. "Or since Aoi was the one who had you start learning the piano in the first place, he expected the memory of her influence to stain and ruin the experience in the long run."

Sakura snorted. "If so, then he was dead wrong." She said. "Aoi might have been the one to get things started, but the piano's music, and Kawasumi-sensei's lessons go deeper than any spiteful memory that woman left me."

"…I wish I'd learned the piano," Rin said after a moment with a sigh. "Or had someone like Kawasumi-sensei while growing up."

"…I can't help with the latter," Sakura said after another moment. "But it's never too late to learn."

"Do you really think so?"

"Yes."

"Hmm…that said, I don't want to come off as trying to steal your thunder." Rin said. "Maybe I should learn another instrument…"

"No…absolutely not." Sakura interrupted firmly. "You never, ever, learn to play another musical instrument before learning to play the piano. Not in the classical Western tradition: you always learn to play the piano first of all. It's like…like learning to walk before running. Unless you'd like to break with tradition and just go with more…modern, instruments, like the guitar…well, I won't stop you. Like I said, music is art. And art isn't something that can be…forced. It has to be…from the heart, like love, even, otherwise it isn't art or music or anything at all."

Rin chuckled and smiled at her sister. "You're really passionate about this, aren't you?" she asked.

Sakura blushed and rubbed the back of her head. "…as for showing me up," she said softly after a moment. "Not really; plenty of pieces exist that can be played with more than one instrument, in fact, some pieces are meant to be played by two pianos. So, we can always play together. And if you learn another instrument, whether after you learn playing the piano for classical instruments, or a modern one…well, we can still play together."

"Really?"

"The piano is just that versatile an instrument." Sakura said with a nod. "In fact, it could replace a whole orchestra for accompaniment purposes."

"So, that's why you always learn the piano first." Rin said in realization. "It can be played on its own, with an orchestra, or even just replace the orchestra entirely."

"Precisely…!" Sakura said before tapping her lips and snapping her fingers. "The piano: musical perfection incarnate!"

"In the West, at least." Rin pointed out, and Sakura shrugged and smiled.

"…fair."

Rin smiled again. "…I'll consider it," she said after a moment. "For when this whole mess is done. I could use a hobby, and music does seem to be a…fulfilling, example."

"That it is."

The following day dawned in clouds and gloom, though the local weather services claimed that actual chances of rain were low. Not that it mattered much, as things needed to be done regardless of the weather, meaning Rin, Sakura, and Tom were driving to Luvia's estate before it wasn't even ten in the morning.

"So…what's the plan?" Tom asked from the driver's seat.

"Seeing as you're in charge now," Rin replied. "Shouldn't we be asking you that instead?"

Tom shrugged. "Once we're back in my home timeline, sure." He said. "But on this trip to Lord Edelfelt's?"

"…we need to decide what to do with Nagato." Rin said with a sigh after a moment.

Tom gave her a sideways look. "Aren't we going to just return him to his parents?" he asked before his eyes narrowed. "You don't think we should?"

"That remains to be seen." Rin grimly said. "Precedent does exist for taking children away from either abusive or neglectful parents and placing them in actually caring foster homes."

"…I…" Tom began, only to trail off as with a roar, several jets soared past overhead. And not just any jets either. They were the same jets – gunships – they fought in Fuyuki. With a loud screech, Tom had their car halting, as they looked to the distance and watched the gunships converge above the Edelfelt property. "…you've got to be shitting me."

"…is this for real?" Sakura deadpanned. "Matou…Matou's starting trouble here…in Britain…in London…a core member of the Atlantic Alliance…"

"…somehow I don't think they really care this could start WWIII…" Tom said, looking and sounding faint. Rin didn't bother with words, instead she just started banging her head on the dashboard. "…um, I feel for you, but do you mind? There's a security deposit on this car."

Rin threw her hands up in exasperation. "Fuck it!" she snapped. "Let's get in there and kill these sons of bitches."

"…language, please…" Sakura murmured, but Tom was grinning from ear to ear.

"Now that's what I like to hear!" he said, and getting the car into gear drove ahead. "Let's do this!"

Sakura sighed before turning to her little big sister. "Once we get in there," she began. "We'll split up. Me, Rin, and Tom will stick together, but I want you to go and find Nagato. Keep him safe no matter what, even if you have to burn Luvia's house down."

Little Rin raised an eyebrow. "Really?" she asked.

Sakura grit her teeth, a vein throbbing on her forehead. "I'd sooner burn the world down than let Matou win." She said. "So, yes, really."

Little Rin grinned. "Okay!" she said. "Just keep him safe, right? I can do that…but stay safe, Sakura."

"Of course," Sakura said with a sniff. "I don't plan on dying just yet."

"Neither do I." Rin added.

"Likewise." Tom said in his turn.

The beam saber fizzled in Sakura's hand, causing her to hiss in dismay. Rin didn't waste any time, adjusting her footing and making a quick series of sharp and solid arm gestures. The ground buckled at her motions, sinking in parts as matter moved by her will and rose into a solid wall of stone between them and the enemy. An abrupt step forward had blue light flickering briefly over the wall, reinforcing it further.

Gunfire could be heard on the other side, but neither 9 mm Makarov nor 7.62x39 mm could get through. "This should keep us safe, even if the enemy brings up rocket launchers." Rin said, pressing her back against the wall, and carefully peeking out around the edge. She sprang back just as quickly to avoid gunfire, before poking her hand around the edge and launching a quick barrage of Finn shots. "Looks like Matou's upgraded their hired guns, these guys have full armor."

"Armor…?" Tom echoed. "Bullshit, I've seen body armor before, and these guys don't just have full armor. These guys have powered armor, and I have absolutely no idea where they got them from, or how they even got them to work! Fuck! The US Army spent over twenty billion dollars trying to build even a single suit, and it didn't work! How the hell did a washed-up family get their hands on working powered armor?"

"Good questions for later, more importantly, they've got Jewelcraft Inhibitors." Sakura snapped, returning her beam saber into Imaginary Numbers Space.

"That's going to make things difficult." Rin remarked.

"Maybe," Sakura admitted. "But while not being able to use jewels is a big handicap, it's not like you can't use elemental magecraft without jewels, can you?"

"True." Rin said, poking her hand out again, only to snap her fingers instead. Flames hot enough to melt metal but slowly engulfed several of the Matou gunmen, causing them to collapse screaming as they began to cook alive.

Meanwhile Tom had taken off his hat, and putting it down, reached inside. Sakura's eyes widened. "Wait," she said. "That hat's a storage space?"

"It's an old magic trick." Tom said, pulling out a heavy harness of some kind.

Sakura palmed her face, then narrowed her eyes as gunmen flanked them on Tom's side. A gesture slammed the men against the wall, unable to move, and screaming in pain punctuated by the sound of straining and breaking metal, as well as the sparks of failing electricals, as Sakura telekinetically crushed them to death. More explosions erupted from behind them, Rin just snapping her fingers freely to set off artillery-grade blasts at will.

Meanwhile, Tom had put on the harness, and putting his coat inside his hat, pulled out a heavy case. Opening it, he began pulling out parts and pieces, putting them together into a single, multi-barreled rotary weapon of some kind.

"Is that a gatling gun?" Sakura asked incredulously.

"Wait, what?" Rin asked, turning only to similarly gape in disbelief. "Seriously…?"

"I'm American!" Tom shouted in protest, jumping out of cover and opening fire, the sound of plasma tearing through the air like thunderclaps with nearly no intervals between them. In a matter of seconds, Tom had spewed out over a thousand rounds of plasma, simply mowing down the power-armored Matou thugs and blasting through cover like it wasn't even there. "You can never have too much firepower!"

Rin pinched her nose and counted to ten. "I…I'm going to get in touch with my little big sister." Sakura eventually settled down to saying. "She might know what's going on."

"Yeah…that sounds good…" Rin conceded.

Sakura nodded and reached out telepathically to Little Rin. "What's happening?" she asked.

"Luvia's taking Nagato safely through an escape tunnel." Little Rin replied. "We just need to keep the bad guys off of them. Or just kill them…right now I'm chasing these jets down."

"Alright then…have fun, but stay safe."

"Okay!"

Sakura nodded again and turned back to Rin. "Luvia's taking Nagato to safety through an escape tunnel." She said. "We just need to keep the enemy thinking they're still here, until they either get to safety, or we finish killing all these maggots."

"Then let's do just that!" Rin said.

"Agreed!" Tom said with a nod. "Let's split up! I'll take the high ground, while the both of you clear out the insides."

"Good idea," Rin agreed. "That gatling gun of yours might be too powerful for indoor fighting, I don't fancy our chances if you took out a load-bearing wall."

"Good point." Tom agreed.

"Let's go then!" Sakura said, holding out a hand and catching several more men who rushed into the foyer by the neck. She made an abrupt gesture with her thumb, and their necks jerked a full one-eighty degrees.

"Nice." Rin said.

"Thanks." Sakura said before they rushed off with nods at Tom. Tom nodded back, and then pulling out his plasma pistol, blew the crystal canopy overhead apart. Taking shelter in the shadows until all the shards had fallen, Tom then fired a grappling hook to rappel himself up onto the roof through the ruined canopy.

"Bring it on!" the American magus shouted in glee as he braced himself, opening fire on the Matou thugs milling about in the atrium and the courtyards. Thunder roared as plasma blazed out, leaving only molten metal and mulched flesh in its wake. The Russians shot back, but Tom just dove back into cover, before popping back out and throwing out even more plasma. "You want some? Come get some!"

Rin's knee slammed into a man's belly, titanium alloy and ceramic composite shattering from the blow, while pulverizing flesh beneath. The man doubled up in agony, even as Rin shattered his visor with simultaneous blows to the sides of his helmet. Pressurized gas escaped with a sharp hiss, Rin ignoring the bloodshot eyes and bleeding ears and nose of her victim as she got him into a reverse lock, and then jerking down, broke his neck.

Then she turned, to where her sister was chanting gibberish, but for the pair of mandalas glowing and slowly spinning on the ground before her. Those, and the dozen men hanging in the air, blood and torn flesh oozing down onto the ground, and from there were drawn into the mandalas.

And as Sakura finished her chanting, the mangled bodies were allowed to fall, even as a pair of demons floated up into the air. They howled, loud and inhuman, their voices filled with such despair that Rin couldn't help but feel the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

"Kill." Sakura laconically commanded, and the two demons flew off through the air. Machine gun fire met them as they turned a corner, but it was pointless, for the demons' bodies weren't truly alive…

…and Rin wasn't even sure they had bodies. All she saw were a pair of shrunken figures, cloaked and hooded in tattered black robes, almost like funeral clothes even, from the sleeves of which poked skeletal hands with pallid skin drawn tight.

Then there were screams, Human screams, panicked shooting, and then silence. Rin and Sakura turned the corner and strode through the gallery. As they passed a window, a gunship flew past, Little Rin flying in pursuit throwing random fireballs after her prey, before another pair of gunships followed her in turn, vainly trying to shoot her down.

Then Rin and Sakura were staring at the demons' victims, and Rin winced at the sight. The corpses, they were…

…sucked dry, that was the only description she could use. But even before that, she could see the accelerated aging on the men, from their impossibly-long and white hair, the wrinkles and creases on their skin, and the yellow of the enamel on their teeth. Death had come quickly, but not painlessly, whether from their accelerated aging or the simple fact that every drop of moisture had been sucked from them.

Rin nudged the suit of powered armor a corpse was in, and confirmed her thoughts as the body inside crumbled into powder. "Nasty." She said.

"They're Matou thugs and hired guns." Sakura said.

"Point…" Rin said, tilting her head in the direction of more screaming, as the demons continued devouring souls and torturously killing men. "…that said, I wonder if Luvia won't have a few words to say to you about summoning demons in her house. Doesn't that…I don't know, leave a mark on the metaphysical…texture, of the place?"

"Then she can borrow a few books from Spiritual Invocation, or hire an expert." Sakura said with a roll of her eyes. "She's a grown woman, a magus, and a war veteran. She knows war and battle require extreme measures…sometimes. That, and I'm not obliged to hold her hand. I am not her servant."

"Eh…" Rin hummed while scratching her head, but decided against saying anything more. "…let's keep moving."

"…this way."

Rin and Sakura opened a side-door that led to service passageways, allowing them to bypass the bulk of the Matou henchmen, who Sakura's demons would deal with. Then they emerged into a small atrium, with armored footsteps and angry shouts in Russian coming from the distance, but steadily getting closer.

"To high ground!" Rin shouted, moments before she and Sakura jumped up to the second floor. Moments later, and twelve men in power armor marched onto the atrium, and into their sights.

"Hadron Formation: Aion!" Sakura shouted, folding space around the men and trapping them within. "Cook them."

"Gladly." Rin said, snapping her fingers and igniting a firestorm within. The men didn't even have time to scream, the firestorm fading in seconds to reveal nothing but a pool of molten rock and metal below. "So much for that…"

A door burst open on the far side of the atrium, causing both sisters to look at it in surprise. Then they gaped, as a…hideously obese man lumbered out of the door, almost completely naked but for a pair of tight-fitting leather shorts that grotesquely pressed against the man's genitals and held in place by a pair of suspenders.

"What the hell?" Rin demanded, before her eyes widened as the man cracked a whip.

"On your knees, wenches!" the man burbled in a piggish voice. "Takeshi is here! Takeshi will teach you your places! Takeshi will teach you pain! Takeshi will teach you pleasure! And you will be grateful to Takeshi and Master Zouken for it!"

"Fuck off!" Sakura shouted, drawing back a hand and thrusting it out. Then her eyes widened in turn, as her telekinesis couldn't get a grip.

'Takeshi' laughed like a pig, before vomiting out a flood of cloudy fluid that surged towards the sisters. They sprang back, and again as the fluid flowed together and congealed into a mass of penis-shaped worms with fanged mouths.

"WHAT ARE THOSE THINGS?" Sakura screamed, already charging up a quantum singularity.

Rin knew the answer. She wanted to say it. But she couldn't. All she could see and feel was that deep, dark place, filled with the stink of death.

Blood. Piss. Shit.

Dead bodies left in water to bloat and be fed on by wet and slimy things in the dark.

Mold and rot growing on cold, wet stone.

Iron chains hanging from the walls, and an iron cage hanging from the ceiling.

Rin screamed. Her circuits glowed blue and hot as did her crest, prana surging in uncontrolled waves from her anguished soul.

Everything made from glass in the building shattered. The plaster on the walls crumbled. Marble sculptures cracked. The very building itself trembled, while the demons howled in a rising counterpoint to Rin's screams, her guilt and anguish a pleasant seasoning to the pain, terror, and despair of their own victims.

"RIN!" Sakura screamed as she felt her sister's pain, but it did not prepare her for what came next.

Thunder boomed as electricity erupted from Rin's fingers, dancing across the entire room, and filling the air with the stink of ozone. Matou crest worms squealed in fear and pain as they were reduced to blackened smears…

…but the man…the man of Matou…

…he just laughed like a pig, lumbering closer to Rin, the lightning not seemingly bothering him at all.

"Takeshi likes it when the wenches fight back!" he burbled. "Takeshi enjoys seeing them realize how helpless they are! It makes teaching them their places so much easier!"

"RIN!" Sakura shouted as 'Takeshi' came closer, but Rin was getting to her feet, blinding light building between her hands. Even the man of Matou seemed to realize this, worry and then fear dawning over his pig-like face, while Rin's face was a mask of determination and sheer, utter hatred.

Then she thrust the light in her hands against the man of Matou…

…the resulting explosion blew out a third of the mansion, and completely obliterated their opponent.

"RIN!" Sakura shouted, ignoring her body's painful protests, and pushing herself out of a pile of rubble to where Rin was on her knees breathing heavily. As she approached, Rin glanced at her, and then grabbing at Sakura, pulled her close and hugged her tight.

"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…so sorry…" she babbled out, Sakura hugging her back as she realized what had happened.

A/N

Things start off nice and warm…

…then they quickly turn action-packed, with Tom upgrading from a simple plasma pistol, to walking around with a plasma-boosted Vulcan Cannon, able to fire 6000 rounds per minute on full-auto. Because America!

Only for the genre to go from action to horror as Sakura summons demons, then the sisters run into your typical fat pervert who tries to use crest worms against them. Except it turns out using crest worms against HF!Rin is a very bad idea, seeing as it caused her to simply go berserk.

Turns out even robbing her of the ability to use gemstones doesn't make her any less dangerous, who'd have thought it?