Chapter 5: The SuperNatural
Homurahara Academy was closed. While that would normally be the case at night, circumstances had increased the duration of its down-time. Thanks to the damage caused by Eggman's attack, its doors would not be opening for a week, at least- possibly longer, depending on how much time would be needed for the investigation. Even after clearing out the robot parts, officials still wanted to examine the area, in hopes of finding the mysterious prize Eggman coveted.
They weren't the only ones.
With only the moon and stars for light, Knuckles prowled about. He had seen the news report on Eggman and Sonic's battle, and decided to investigate the school. While he was pleased to see that one of his friends was doing well, the Echidna was curious if there really was a Chaos Emerald around. Ducking under the police taped that blocked all possible entrances, he entered the high school. He was pleased to see that not only was Sonic doing all right, but had also made a friend, of sorts. He could only hope that Tails and Amy had similar luck. He really didn't want them to fall into the clutches of some villain. Whoever the Bug Queen was, she was clearly a step up from Rin and Archer. More importantly, Knuckles was curious about Eggman's intentions.
From what I saw, Eggman came here because there might be a Chaos Emerald, Knuckles thought, If there is, then we'll be one step closer to getting home…!
As he walked through the empty school halls, Knuckles tried to extend his senses. Years of guarding the Master Emerald on Angel Island had given Knuckles an innate knack for sensing the power of the giant jewel, and its servants, the seven Chaos Emerald. However, this knack was limited to detecting the Emeralds if they were near. Once once close enough, he was forced to pinpoint their location by means of the 'warmer-colder' method, with no real indication which way to go.
…!
Knuckles suddenly felt a chill go up his spine. It didn't feel like a Chaos Emerald. The pulse of the Emeralds was more like a tingle of static electricity. This, on the other hand…Knuckles could only compare it to a spider, a hairy tarantula, crawling up the back of his neck. There was no way it could be an Emerald. But there was also no way he could ignore it. Good or bad, he was going to check it out…!
Rider wasn't sure what she was going to find at the school. She really didn't.
After Shinji fled the school during Eggman's invasion, he eventually calmed down and ordered Rider to go back and take a look around. His logic was that Saber's Master, Emiya Shirou, had been awfully quick to explain why the mad doctor and his robots attacked Homurahara Academy. The explanation (As devised by Shinji) was that Shirou clearly wanted Shinji and Rider to get away from the school so he could look for this "Chaos Emerald" himself. After all, since Shirou rejected Shinji's offer to join forces, they weren't allies, but enemies that the Master of Saber wanted an advantage over. Rider, personally, thought that this train of thought didn't run on straight tracks, but did not resist the order to search the school. She knew that if she gave Shinji any lip now, he would definitely take it out on Sakura. And that poor girl was only starting to recover...
Rider sensed someone approaching and hid herself. The figure that appeared in the hall brought up bad memories. Despite being blinded, Rider's other senses were so well-honed that even without her sight, she could still discern the shapes of those around her. This meant that she could count Knuckles quills as they hung down his head, and figure out the size of his sneakers as they clopped on the floor.
Another one! She thought bitterly. She still felt the embarrassment from having lost to Sonic the other day. No doubt that this new spirit animal and Sonic were connected…another familiar controlled by Emiya Shirou, possibly.
Safe on the ceiling, Rider was out of Knuckles' sight and could 'observe' him at her leisure. She watched as he forced a window open. With his fist. Even though there was a door right next to it.
Did he have to break it? Rider thought, wincing at the sound of glass shattering. She considered her next option. Judging from the direction Knuckles was walking in, the Echidna was heading towards one of the sigils she had placed in preparation for Blood Fort Andromeda. She recalled how close Shirou had been to one- the exact one Knuckles was heading for. She realized that despite Shinji's low opinion on Emiya's intelligence, the Master of Saber must have been smarter than that. Sending a familiar to investigate the place showed good strategic foresight- if Knuckles indeed belonged to Shirou. After a moment's consideration, she disregarded that notion; She didn't sense any Mana in the Echidna that linked him to Shirou. In retrospect, he was probably like one of those Nekos that ran the cafe Shinji took his 'girl club' to a few nights ago.
Which meant that the unsteady truce Shinji proposed did not apply. After all, she needed to replenish her Mana somehow…
Knuckles didn't know what to make of the weird circle in the ground. He didn't know what it was, where it came from, or why it seemed to be glowing. All he could say for certain that it was the creepiest thing he had even seen. For some reason it reminded him of the faux-Master Emerald Shrine he had seen in the Space Colony ARK's central core, juuust before the hideous Ultimate Lifeform Prototype materialized and tried to kill him.
In any case, the creepy vibe he was getting from the circle had distracted him from his Emerald hunt. While a part of him really, really, really wanted to know more about it, Knuckles knew he had to get back on the search. Besides, with his luck, the darn thing would probably summon ghosts, or whatever-
Sshhh
A metal spike attached to a chain shot out from nowhere. Knuckles jumped aside, just narrowly dodging it. The instant he landed, the chain retracted as a second spike/chain combo was launched, forcing Knuckles to dodge again. This went on from several seconds, and it took only have that time for Knuckles to get angry. Not only was he being attacked, but his attacker didn't even have the chops to come out from the shadows!
When I get ahold of that jerk… Knuckles thought, and in doing so came up with an idea. When the next chain shot his way, the Echidna didn't move. Instead, hereached out and grabbed the links! He felt his hidden assailant try to pull the chain back, and held his ground.
Rider was a bit surprised that her target stronger than he looked, but in his actions, Knuckles was leaving himself open- and she had another chain, ready to throw. And as she prepared to unleash it, something unexpected happened.
Knuckles pulled. Hard.
Rider found herself being yanked off of her feet and flying forward the Echidna. She quickly let go of the links, but it was too late. Her momentum carried her. But Knuckles wasn't going to just wait for her to come. The minute he saw someone coming, he ran. A spiked fist slammed into Rider's chest, sending her flying.
"A woman, huh?" Knuckles thought aloud. Her curvaceous figure reminded him of Rouge the Bat. "It's always a woman…"
Rider landed on her feet, but almost fell to her knees. It was all she could do not to cough up blood. Forcing herself up, she did her best to glare at Knuckles through her blindfold.
But Knuckles was done waiting. He built his speed up with a Spin Dash before charging at Rider. The purple-haired Servant jumped aside, and heard the crashes as Knuckles' rushing form collided with a tree, followed by the tree falling over. Getting up, Knuckles barely had time to adjust before Rider lunged at him, chains and spikes ready. Knuckles delivered a powerful uppercut, which Rider blocked. However, she could feel the force through her links, and found herself, for the umpteenth time;
Why do I have to have someone like Shinji for a Master?
"Wait, wait, wait! Rider's Master is Shinji?"
That intelligent question was asked by Rin. The topic of the 'team meeting' had shifted from pondering strategies against Eggman's forces when Shirou revealed the identity of another Master- or so he thought. Rin was skeptical, of course, for a number of reasons. Off to the side, Tails, fiddling with the Miles Electric, and Sonic, lying lazily on the couch, looked up with interest.
"Shinji told me so himself, and Rider followed his orders." Shirou explained, and further elaborated his encounter with his blue-haired classmate. Though he kept it to himself, Archer was pleased. At least that piece of the history he remembered was unaltered. Saber, on the other hand, wasn't. A third Servant had been at the school, and she hadn't even noticed. If Rider hand't been controlled by Shinji, there was no telling what she would have done to Shirou.
"I can't believe it…" Rin murmured, more to herself.
"Why? You and Shirou are Mages, aren't you?" Tails asked, "What's wrong with one more 10th grade wizard?"
"But Shinji isn't supposed to be a Mage," Rin said, "The Matou were once a clan of prominent Mages, yeah, but now…"
"They aren't 'prominent' now?" Sonic asked, raising an eyebrow.
"That's right," Rin said, "Somewhere along the line, their lineage's magical potential began to diminish. Each generation yielded weaker Mages. From what I understand, Shinji wasn't supposed to have any Magecraft ability at all."
"If it's that important, why doesn't Shirou ask Shinji about it?" Tails considered, "After all, if you guys are friends…"
"I'll try, if I can, but I'm not sure if I'll get a straight answer," Shirou replied, "As for us being friends…we used to be that way, but there's so much distance now, I have no idea what he's thinking."
"What I want to know if Rider will really keep her hands to herself," Sonic put in, "You told me when we first met that Servants attacked other people to recharge themselves if their Masters couldn't do it for them."
"And if Shinji's power is that poor, than Rider may continue her illicit activities," Saber said, "Unless he has used a Command Seal to bind her movements."
"And that's even if we can trust Shinji to do that at all," Rin put in, "We're lucky he was stupid enough to come out in the open, but I don't think we should take what he says at face value. For now, let's still assume he and Rider are enemies and keep an eye on them."
Shirou fidgeted uncomfortably. He didn't like where this talk was going. True, Shinji had a somewhat difficult personality, and the two of them had had something of a falling out, but Shirou still wanted to give his friend the benefit of the doubt. Then again, after finding out that Rin was a Mage, he was starting to wonder just how much he knew about anything.
"So, whaddya think about this shrine-samurai Shinji mentioned?" Sonic asked, "Sound legit?"
Rin hummed. "That, actually, sounds plausible. The Ryuudou Shrine is built on several intersecting leylines. A good place for a Mage to restore their Prana."
"According to Issei- another friend of mine," Shirou told Sonic and Tails, "Most of the monks have left, save for Kazuki-sensei and his fiancee."
"Sensei's getting married?" Rin asked, surprised. "Right now?"
"Don't worry, Rin, you'll find someone someday, you're still young," Sonic said jokingly, "After all, it's not a race."
"That's not it, you blue baka!" Rin snarled, her cheeks turning red, "I mean, it's a weird coincidence it's happening around the Holy Grail War."
"This bride may in fact be another Master." Saber suggested thoughtfully.
"That's just what I was thinking," Rin agreed, "With some hypnosis, it'd be easy for a Mage to convince a normal person that they're engaged. And since Kazuki-sensei is such a mysterious person, anyone could pop up and claim to be an old friend or part of an arranged marriage. The real question is whether or not the samurai is a Servant."
"We should investigate the area," Archer said, "See if there's a Boundary Field surrounding the temple, and scout out the samurai."
"I think I can help with that," Tails said, screwing the cover of the Miles Electric closed. "I just expanded the range of the ME's energy tracker by combining it with its GPS. If I did my calculations right, then we should be able to check locate abnormal power sources all over the city."
Tails placed the Miles Electric on the coffee table, and everyone gathered around. While most of the group watched the screen light up with interest, only Rin's expression remained dubious. She still didn't want to believe that a machine could detect Prana, and had been hoping that Archer's theory had been wrong. A grid appeared, and a large circle appeared in the center.
"All right, that's where we are," Tails explained for the audience. "Now, if I widen the scope…"
The map zoomed out, showing a map of the city. In different areas, other dots appeared.
"What are those? Chaos Emeralds? Servants?" Shirou asked.
"If you used your head, you'd realize that they're too wide to be either of them. Those are probably the Boundary Fields created by Mages to protect their homes," Archer said, and pointed at one glowing dot. "Judging from the position, I'd say that's the Matou Manor, where Shinji lives."
Tails pushed a few buttons and a list of numbers appeared. They did not appear comprehensible to any of the Masters or Servants.
"Hmm, not bad. It's higher than any of the other signals," Tails commented, and glanced at Rin. "But, I thought you said the Matous couldn't do magic."
"Shinji shouldn't be, but there's one other Matou who could make a Boundary Field," Rin said, as a pain appeared in her heart. "…Shinji's grandfather, the current clan head, Matou Zouken."
She grimaced as she thought about the shriveled old man. Looking at him, it was easy to mistake the old miser for a mummy…one that had come to life and sought vengeance. She had only seen him once, as a little girl. The day when…
Rin shook off that thought. She couldn't afford to be distracted by bad memories now. "If that's the Matou place, than this part…" She tapped the screen, causing a smudge. "…must be the church."
"Churches are magic?" Sonic asked.
"They are when their head priest can do Magecraft," Saber said, "Masters taking part, as well as those that have lost their Servants, may go to the church for aid or council. A proper Boundary Field is necessary to ensure their protection."
"Okay…" Tails entered a few more commands, and the map's focus shifted towards another source-point. "Any idea what this is?"
"That's the Ryuudou Temple," Archer said, "Judging from the readings, I'd say that a Master is using it as their base."
"Tails, widen the view, would ya?" Sonic asked. After Tails complied, he nodded. "Okay, anybody got a cell phone?"
Rin frowned, and then walked off. A minute later, she returned, holding a small, stylish cell phone. "Here," Off of Shirou's look, she explained, "It was a gift from Kotomine. I don't use it very much. It's not like I need it."
As one, everyone else thought, "Translation: I can't get it to do what I want." Rather than voicing that very accurate opinion, Sonic flipped the phone open and turned it on. After a minute, he smiled.
"Nice, it's got a camera, and plenty of space in the card," Sonic said, and stuffed the phone into his glove. "Be back in ten."
"What?" Was all Rin managed to say before Sonic vanished in a rush of movement. They heard the slam of a door shutting. Rin looked back and forth between the empty space and the direction of the shut door with a thunderstruck look on her face.
"Nice of him to close the door on his way out." Archer. said, smirking. His words were supposed to have the dual effect of both lightening the mood and further annoying Rin.
He succeeded in the latter. "Arrgh!" Rin shouted, almost tugging out her pigtails. "What does he think he's doing!?"
"Off hand, I'd say he's going to check out the Temple," Tails said, and shut off the Miles Electric. It'll be a few minutes until he gets back," He looked at Shirou. "Wanna help me with the Tornado? Archer brought back more scrap!"
"Sure, I'd love to." Shirou said, starting to feel excited. Ever since Sonic told him about it, Shirou had wanted to get a look at the bi-plane from another world. He wondered what would happened if he did a Structural Analysis…
"It's a bit more advanced than kitchen sinks or room heaters," Archer said, moving. "With your clumsy hands, the damage might get worse."
"Get bent." Shirou retorted, as the two of them followed Tails out of the room.
"H-hey! Hold on! I never said…" Rin looked to Saber, trying really hard not to look as helpless as she felt. "What are you doing? Go after Sonic! Stop him before he shows himself again!"
"Rin, I know his attitude is a bit aggravating, but I don't believe he's completely foolhardy," The blond Servant said, pausing to eat a chip. "So far, Sonic has only revealed himself to those whose lives were in jeopardy. And with his speed, chasing after him would be a waste of effort. At this point, we can only have faith that he will not endanger himself."
Rin stared, a mixture of rage and confusion rolling inside of her. When she and Emiya agreed to join forces, she did not believe for an instant that it would be an equal partnership. While she claimed that Shirou had as much say in their battle strategy, the truth was that Rin hoped everything they did would be as she saw fit. Emiya, in her eyes, was an unskilled, talentless Master who's only purpose was to keep Saber on the field to aid Archer. While she kinda-sorta-maybe-like-liked him as a person, she knew that deep down personal ties and social obligations were secondary to her duty as the Tohsaka Master to claim the Holy Grail.
But ever since Sonic and Tails showed up, everything had fallen apart. Sonic was not only as idiotic as Shirou, but seemed to be purposely enabling that moronic hero complex her red-haired classmate carried. And with his gadgets, Tails had provided a very definite means of tracking other Masters and Servants, even those who could hide their presence with their Magecraft. Since all illusions focused on disrupting and misleading a living creature's senses, a machine could easily bypass those shadows and see what was truly there. But as a Mage, Rin knew that Magecraft wasn't a tool- it was a way of life that she had to adhere to. But right now it appeared that, thanks to these tools brought in by the outsiders, one could achieve victory without Magecraft. And that, she realized as she thought on the matter, was the source of her anger.
The idea that all of her training, everything she had been raised to believe in and depend on, had been meaningless.
At Homurahara Academy, Knuckles and Rider had reached an impasse. Rider, with her agility, should have had the advantage. Even if bound to an utter weakling like Shinji, her abilities were far beyond that of a normal human. Even the most athletic mortal would be nothing to her abilities.
But the same could be said for Knuckles. His punches were strong enough to smash Eggman's robots to pieces, and could only be stopped by the thickest of walls. And Rider's agility was of little help. Knuckles was only somewhat slower than Sonic the Hedgehog, the fastest thing in the universe. And after numerous brawls with the Blue Blur, his reflexes, honed by a solitary practice of the martial arts, were good enough to keep up with Rider's attacks. Ultimately, this meant that while Rider couldn't land a direct hit on Knuckles, the reverse was true as well.
Up until Knuckles lost his temper. "Would you hold still!?" He roared, and rushed at Rider. The Servant easily dodged him, and prepared another of her chains. She watched as Knuckles raced into the bushes, slamming into a tree. Before she could throw another spike at the Echidna, a cracking was heard. The tree then fell over, in a manner that would make Paul Bunyan proud. But before it could hit the ground, it stopped.
"Taaake this!" Knuckles yelled, and let the lumber fly.
Of course he can throw the trees. Rider thought irritably as she jumped to avoid concussion by tree-trunk. As the wood sailed under her, Rider heard a loud crash, and remembered that her back had been to the school. No doubt whoever was in charge of repairs would be flabbergasted to find an uprooted tree where the back door used to be.
Landing on the ground, Rider noticed two things. One was that Knuckles was no longer in the bushes, or anywhere else on the property that she could sense. The second was that that there was something moving around underneath the ground. Rider put one and two together and got…
POW!
A blow to the jaw as Knuckles erupted from beneath the soil, delivering an uppercut. Once again, Rider found herself flying backwards as a direct result of meeting this force head-on. As she recovered and righted herself, she decided a change of tactics was in order. While she didn't want to flee from yet another battle, a retreat was clearly in order. She had searched the entire school before Knuckles had arrived, and found nothing that matched the description of the object Eggman sought. Furthermore, if this fight went on, it might attract the attention of another Servant. Rider couldn't afford to fight another Servant right now, not during a fight like this. She felt her tummy ache and once again wondered if Knuckles (And Sonic, for that matter) were truly familiars or animal spirits. She had never encountered any of either type that were so strong in her lifetime…
Rider felt the presence of another Servant and realized that such theories were for less violent settings. She leapt away, making fast progress from the school. She needed a less turbulent way to recharge, and knew of a nightclub where the patrons left…off-guard.
"Yeah, you better run!" Knuckles shouted, shaking his trademark 'Fist of Rage' at Rider's retreating back. As she disappeared into the dark distance, he turned back to the school. "Now, where was I…?"
Knuckles went back into the building, climbing back through the window he broke. Pausing, the red Echidna looked out and around, as if he didn't trust the back yard with his own back. Then, he turned and resumed his search of the school.
Caster, dressed in her fine robes, stepped out from the shadows, gracefully ominous as ever. She was a bit sorry that Knuckles couldn't have finished Rider off. she even came all this way to provide some subtle aid. It would have been a relief to have one less enemy in the War, especially after the scare she received that afternoon. Scrying the Academy, the witch had gotten the worst scare of her life when Dr. Eggman's giant robot began taking potshots at the building. Seeing the first robot attack the night before was an entirely different matter; Back then, it was Saber and Archer's problem. This time, however, her own Master had been in danger, and finding the appropriate time to teleport him off of the property without arousing suspicion was nerve-wracking. Of course, that meant that she and Souchirou-sama had a few extra hours of 'alone time', which almost made up for it…
Caster fought off the blush forming as she looked at the circle Knuckles and Shirou had found. Judging from its Prana, it had been placed there by Rider. An alert spell? No, there was something more ominous about it than that. No doubt it was just the first step in an stronger spell…a piece of Rider's Noble Phantasm, perhaps?
Whatever it was, there was no point in letting it be. Caster destroyed the sigil with barely a word. She decided to look around the school, to see if Rider had planted more magic circles. If she had, they too would have to be destroyed. She had invested far too much time and effort in this War to be outdone, especially by a Servant with such an idiotic Master.
As she floated around, she wondered what other surprises the War had to offer.
It was another boring, uneventful night for Asassin. The day had been amusing, at least. While his post at the temple gate didn't have a TV, he could still hear the explosions of Eggman's attack with his honed senses. And he had to admit, the sound of Caster's terrified shrieks, while damaging to his eardrums, had caused him to laugh out loud.
Speaking of eardrums, they were now picking up another, far less painful sound. Like hundreds of footsteps. Sensing trouble, Asassin reached for his sword, but did not draw it. He could see a figure at the bottom of the stairway, but only had a measly second to comprehend that before the figure was at the temple gate.
That's fast. Asassin thought, and recognized the creature standing in front of him as one of the two who had fought against Eggman's robot. Issei had filled him in on the entire fiasco when he returned from school. He could only presume that this was one Knuckles' missing friends.
"Hi, I'm with the board of tourism," Sonic said, casually twirling the cell phone in his hands. "Just need to ask a few questions, won't take long."
"And what do you need to know?" Asassin asked, curious. This wasn't what he had been expecting.
"First of all, are you a magic ghost?"
"What an odd term," Asassin replied, cocking his head thoughtfully. "If you want to be technical, than yes, I suppose I am." Being a spirit summoned by Magecraft with superhuman abilities was probably what he meant, right?
Sonic nodded. "Cool, cool. Next question- wait, hold on. I'm gonna need your name and occupation for the report."
Asassin bowed his head respectively. "I am Sasaki Kojirou, also known as the Servant Asassin."
Sonic's left eyebrow shot up. That was too easy. He reached into his glove and pulled out a scrap of paper and a pen. He began to write on it. "Sasaki….Ko…ji…"
"If you're writing that in English, then the personal name is spelled with an 'ou'." Asassin put in helpfully.
Sonic gave the Servant a dry look. "I think I've signed enough autographs to know how 'Kojirou' is supposed to be spelled," One he finished, he looked intently at Asassin. "So, moving on, do you, or any member of your household, go out and attack innocent people?"
Asassin shook his head. "Not I. Due to the nature of my summons, I'm an incomplete Servant who cannot leave the strong leylines of the Ryuudou Temple. As such, my Master has me act as a guard dog, bound to keep people from entering or leaving the Temple at her will."
"Jeez, that must stink," Sonic rolled his eyes sympathetically, "Glad I'm not in your shoes."
"Your sympathy is touching."
"So, speaking of your boss, what's she like?" Sonic asked walking up to casually nudge Asassin in the legs. "Just between us guys."
"Oh, she's a very powerful sorceress," Asassin replied, "I can't say I'm fond of her personality, though. She's far too bossy, if you ask me."
"Yeah, I know the type." Sonic said, rolling his eyes.
Rin sneezed. Rubbing her nose, she wondered if someone was talking about her. If they were, they weren't saying kind things, judging from the slight headache that was forming.
Of course, any mage would get a headache if they were in Rin's position. Bearing witness to her home, an ancestral source of Magecraft, becoming a glorified pit station went against everything Rin had been raised to believe in. But, in spite of her very vocal and consistently ignored complaints, both her Servant, her ally in the War, and the kitsune that should have been the source of a thaumaturgical breakthrough continued to tinker with the machine in her backyard. Work was slow, because it was the middle of the night. Tails, Shirou, and Archer worked by improvised spotlights fashioned from lamps powered by extension cords. But in spite of the difficulty, Shirou seemed to be having the time of his life. Rin had never seen such a energetic expression on his face before.
He really is a failure of a Mage, The Tohsaka Master thought bitterly, Getting so happy to play with a machine. Anyone can do that.
Are you jealous, Rin? Archer asked telepathically. There was a certain smugness to his thoughts.
No!
Weren't you eager to impress Shirou with your superior Magecraft? Archer continued tauntingly, Isn't that why you wanted to ally with him?
Shut up!
Completely and blissfully ignorant of the telepathic exchange, Shirou held up a piece of the bi-plane's left wing as Tails used a portable welder to patch back onto the Tornado proper. To keep it steady, Shirou had to reinforce his arms. The heat from both his Mage Circuits and Tails' soldering caused a slight sweat to form.
"Annnnnd…done!" Tails said, turning off the welder. "All we need to do is let it cool. Hold on a for a second, Shirou."
Tails went around to the Tornado and opened a compartment on the side. He pulled out what looked like a futuristic snowboard. Shirou could see that it had vents on the sides, as well as some sort of port on one end. It was hard to make out the exact details in the dark, but it seemed to have a blue color scheme. Tails propped the board under the wing.
"Okay, you can let go," The fox said,"This will have to do for now, until the wing cools off."
Shirou released the wing, and his Reinforcement. As relief flooded into his arms, he glanced down at the thing Tails retrieved.
Tails' smile dropped when he noticed the redness in Shirou's cheeks. "Are you okay, Shirou? Did holding the wing hurt you?"
"No, I'm fine," Shirou half-lied, "I used my Magecraft to steady it. More importantly, what's that thing you pulled out?" He pointed at the board. "It looks a bit expensive for a prop."
"Oh, that?" Tails shrugged, "I'll get something else to hold it all up. Give me a minute."
"But, what is it?" Shirou asked.
"Oh, it's an Extreme Gear," Tails replied. At Shirou's blank look, he said. "Hmm, maybe your dimension calls them something else. Basically, it's a personal propulsion device that utilizes momentum to ride air currents."
Shirou stared as he mentally translated Tails' words. "It's a board that can fly?" It sounded crazy, impossible…but so was everything else that had happened in the past few days.
Tails nodded. "You got it!"
"Hold it," That was Rin, walking up to them. She had been listening in by Reinforcing her ears, and had heard quite enough. "There is no way you're telling the truth now. You're suggesting that metal thing-" She pointed at the Extreme Gear. "-can fly?"
Tails didn't pick up on the passive-aggressive tone in Rin's voice. Instead, he nodded cheerily. "Sure! Here, let me show you."
Tails ran back to the Tornado and pulled out a second Extreme Gear from the compartment, this one orange. The little fox then flew up towards the roof of the Tohsaka Mansion.
"I'll need a good point to build up my speed!" Tails explained from above, "Okay, here I go!"
Tails leapt off of the roof, and went down. He put his feet on the board's top side and flipped on a switch. Going down, the Masters and Servants could hear a faint noise like a jet turning on. When Tails' descent reached the ground, there was a roar and suddenly the fox went from falling to gliding, racing around the grounds, several feet above the grass.
"He's…he's really flying…" Shirou said.
"At this point, nothing these guys do will surprise me." Archer commented, "I wonder how hard using that could be…"
Saber, who had remained silent during this period, suddenly spoke a single word. "Dibs."
The men looked at the stoic Servant with a little shock. Meanwhile, Rin, unable to take her eyes off of the fox, fumed slightly. Once again, Magecraft was being outdone. While she was glad that Tails didn't hurt himself, that wasn't enough to bury the resentment building inside of her.
"Hmph. It's not like he's doing that under his own power," The pigtailed Mage grumbled, walking back into the mansion. "All the work is being done by that metal plank."
Jealously doesn't become you, Archer chided. When he didn't get a response, he began to get worried.
Then suddenly Rin burst out from the door. Running into the yard, she dashed over to where Tails was and yanked him off of his Extreme Gear. Without a rider, the board began to lose control, flying off into the air. It soon lost momentum, and but almost hit the Tornado. Saber, acting quickly, caught the Extreme Gear before that could happen. Meanwhile, Rin dragged Tails back inside.
"What the Hell is that thing?!" Her voice exploded from within the walls.
Concerned, Shirou went in to see what was the matter. Archer and Saber followed, also curious. They soon found out what had Rin in such a fury; Against the wall in another room, a large machine had been built. It looked a great deal like a laundry washing machine, the kind with a window. Only this one had numerous additional tubes, panels, wires and other doodads sticking out of it. Standing in front of it, holding Tails by the cuff, Rin pointed a finger that appeared itching to unleash some offensive Magecraft.
"It's a Power Ring Synthesizer," Tails answered. His voice sounded a bit forced, no doubt due to Rin's grip. "I built it using the parts Archer brought back. Can you put me down?"
Rather than letting go of the fox, Rin lowered her index finger. Somewhat. "Synthesizer? What's that mean?"
"Sonic and I only have less than ten Rings between the two of us," Tails explained, "And we'll need more if we're going to fight Eggman and the other Servants."
"And you're latest toy is going to fix that?" Archer asked, and gently pulled the fox out of Rin's grip.
Tails nodded, both as confirmation and thanks.
"But that's impossible," Rin argued, "There's no way a machine can create Magecraft. Magecraft can only be done by living creatures- and unless you've somehow imprisoned the soul of a demon are whatever in that hunk of junk, I can't see it happening."
Tails chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, I guess it does sound pretty wild when you hear about it for the first time. Let me explain. Sonic's Uncle Chuck discovered that the Power Rings were naturally formed by a phenomenon called…"
As Tails went into his lecture, Rin's normally honor-student level ability to receive and retain information suddenly stalled, resulting in her mind hearing this;
"…blah blah blah sciency-stuff, yadda-yadda, jargon, latin word, obscure vowel, I think you're super lame because you can't understand this blathering. Therefore, he theorized that it could be possible to duplicate this effect by utilizing et cetera, et cetera, big words, mathematics, also, your butt is way too big for a girl your age and you'll never get married, and more technobabble. Understand?" Tails asked once he finished.
Rin's left eye was twitching. Her cheeks had a red tinge that was somewhere between anger and embarrassment. Putting on a shaky smile, the schoolgirl said, "O-of course I did! It couldn't be simpler!" She laughed, sounding more like a runaway from the padded room than a proud Mage.
"Good, explain it to me." Archer deadpanned. He got a red-hot glare in response.
Tails didn't see the red flag. "That's good. It's not often I get to finish an explanation. Usually, whenever I try to describe this stuff to Sonic or one of the guys back home, they just say things like, 'Never mind, I'll take your word for it'," Tails glanced at Shirou. "How about you, Shirou? Do you have any questions?"
Looking even more awkward than his fellow mage, Shirou rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Umm…I'm sorry, Tails, but I think your science is too advanced for normal humans."
"That's because you're an idiot!" Rin suddenly shouted, and stepped in front of Shirou so her back was to Tails. She began to speak in a fast and frantic manner. "Something that's been bothering me is the fact that you suck at Magecraft! If you're going to be any use in our alliance…"
And on she went. As Rin ragged and lectured Shirou, Tails looked up at Archer, concerned.
"Boy, she sure shifted gears fast," The fox remarked. "Is something the matter?"
"Oh, nothing you need to be worried about." Archer replied, thinking. In his own timeline, he was the one who went to Rin for help with magecraft. But now, because of the influence of Sonic and Tails, Rin's sense of self-worth was being challenged. They're own abilities were proving to be far more useful in the War than her own skills. In order to regain her standing in Shirou's eyes as a useful ally, she forced herself into the role of a teacher.
Meanwhile, Saber stepped up to the Ring Synthesizer and examined it. She would never fully understand magic, or technology, that she knew. But she knew enough about either subject that there was no such thing as a free ride; Merlin had made it clear that no matter what method you used, there had to be a tradeoff.
"Tails," She began, looking at the fox. "Are the Rings created by this technology identical to the ones you and Sonic brought from your world?"
Tails hummed, and stroked his left tail. "Well, there are a few key differences. Unlike naturally-occuring Rings, the ones made by the Synthesizer are less stable."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, if you take a hit and drop your Rings, the Synthesized ones won't take a few seconds to vanish. They'll disappear immediately." Tails explained.
Saber rubbed her chin in thought. To herself more than anyone, she said, "So, the recreations are inferior to the real thing…"
"True," Archer put in, "But even a weak copy can be useful, depending on how it's used."
Saber regarded Archer. She wondered if there was some hidden meaning to his words. And there was something else. According to Shirou, Archer's stats were, well, terrible. Yet his skill was so great that he could even briefly fight equally with not just Lancer, but her as well. Yet his insistence on pragmatic but unquestionable unchivilrous methods reminded her too much of Kiritsugu.
Who are you, Archer? the lady knight thought. Before she could say anything, a beeping was heard.
Tails turned on his communicator. "Sonic?"
"Hey, just want you guys to know I've gotten a good look at that samurai," Sonic's said through the speaker. "He says he's a Servant, an Asassin named Sasaki Kojirou."
Archer raised an eyebrow. So, that part of history remains untouched. He wasn't surprised that Asassin had given his name (Although Saber clearly was). The Asassin he remembered had been a very upfront and courteous person…a true samurai.
"He just gave you his identity?" Saber asked.
"Yeah, even let me take a few pics," Sonic replied, running along the night street.
"Did you get actually get a look at the Master?" A new voice- Archer's- asked.
"Nah, according to Samurai Sam, his boss went out for the night," Sonic said. He paused to grab a lamp post and swing around a corner. "I couldn't get in myself, he wouldn't let me. Dude's crazy fast with the sword. Plus, I think there's some kinda forcefield around the mountain. Since he says he could't leave the temple, I got bored and left."
It was Tails' turn to talk. "What are you gonna do now?"
"I'm gonna give the city another run around, see if I can find Knuckles or Amy," Sonic replied, "Then I think I'll just head back to Shirou's and-" A scream reached his ears. "-Hold on, something just came up."
Sonic jumped, bounced off of a building wall, and rushed off towards the source of the scream.
Lancer looked around, an annoyed frown on his face. "Again"
Before him was a young woman, possibly the age of a college student. Shaking, she took a deep breath and screamed. Her voice was trembling, as would anyone who had a red spear pointed at their chest.
Lancer glanced at his surroundings, a sense of impatience starting to worm its way into his head. Then something even worse appeared in his head- His Master's words.
What are you doing? Kotomine asked. Even as a mental projection, his voice sounded aggravated.
You wanted me to catch speedy spirit, right? Lancer retorted, Well, this should bring him out. Guy likes to play hero.
The lady suddenly stopped screaming, and began to cough. Rolling his eyes, Lancer passed her a bottle of water for her to drink. A bit confused, the girl took a long sip. She began to inch away, but Lancer just put his spear forward another inch. Resigned, she began to scream again.
You're just going to attract unwanted attention, Kotomine argued, Enter your astral form and search the city, before another Servant finds you.
Hey, if you've got a problem with how I do things, why don't you use a Command Seal and make me change tactics? Lancer shot back, Otherwise…
"You again?"
Lancer turned away from the woman and his expression turned eager. Standing right before him was Sonic the Hedgehog.
See? Told you so. Lancer gloated. He felt a sense of exasperation from his Master, and his satisfaction increased.
"Oh, wow!" The woman cried happily, "It's the Blue Tanuki!"
Sonic gave her a look as Lancer laughed. "Tanuki? I'm a Hedgehog. Check the quills."
She nodded, and began to look between Sonic and Lancer in trepidation.
Lancer shrugged. "All right, you can go. Try to stay out of trouble, gorgeous."
A bit put off, the lady began to back away, before breaking off into a run.
"So, the damsel in distress was just bait to lure me out," Sonic noted, rolling his eyes. "Gosh, like I haven't seen that a hundred times before."
Lancer took a fighting stance. "Yeah, well, it was better than looking for you. We've got a duel to finish."
"Finish?" Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Dude, I won that fight. Or did you lose your memory along with your hearing?"
Lancer growled, "In this War, the fight's never over until someone dies!"
Lancer lunged at Sonic. Sonic zipped out of the way, but had no time to relax. As before, Lancer's assault was relentless, perhaps even more so this time. Using his spear as a pole, Lancer vaulted from where his blow missed and launched himself at the Hedgehog in a flying kick. As he soared, he repositioned his spear so that it was pointing at Sonic. Sonic jumped up in the air to dodge it. At first Lancer thought the fight was won- Sonic had essentially made himself an easy target in the air. Then Sonic did a Homing Shot, hitting Lancer in the shoulder.
This attack was far different from the other times Sonic hit Lancer. Before, those were just simple punches and kicks, albeit done at super-speed. This time, Sonic's entire body was spinning. It was spinning at such a speed that whatever it hit would grind away. What hit Lancer was the same force that shattered so many of Eggman's robots. Being a Servant, even one bound to an inferior Master, he wasn't going to fall to pieces just from that. Still, it hurt.
"Arrgh!" Lancer shouted in pain.
Sonic landed a few feet away and crouched, ready to move at a given notice. His first thought was that Lancer would be upset to have gotten a serious wound, but then he saw that instead of the angry frown that should have been there, the spearman's face had an eager smile growing. Sonic felt a shiver up his spine.
Sonic thought, I hit him with enough force to shred a robot to pieces, and he's smiling! Does he like getting hurt, or was the Sonic Spin not enough? I'm starting to wish I had some backup, like Saber, Knuckles…heck, I'll even take Amy!
"Wah-choo!" Amy sneezed.
"Bless you." Bazett said.
"Thanks."
In the solitude of the Fuyuki night, the two of them walked the streets. Where, neither of them knew. Emotions were mixed that day. They had seen the newscast on Eggman's attack on the city, and Amy had wanted to go out there and save the day. Bazett, however, had adamantly refused to let her out of their hotel room. As an Enforcer of the Mage's Association, she wasn't about to let an animal spirit go about in public, especially to an area that was being televised. The problem solved itself…by creating an entirely new set of problems for Bazett. Sonic's showboating was something she had been forewarned about from Amy, but the masked warrior who accompanied him had taken Bazett by surprise. She could only assume that it was a Servant. No Mage worth their circuits would go out in public like that. From what Lord El-Melloi II had told her, his own Servant during the Fourth had acted very reckless with his own identity, even going as far as to do home shopping in his true name. The Servant that fought against Eggman with Sonic must have been of a similar nature- Chivalrous to the point of stupidity.
"Someone must be talking or thinking about me," Amy remarked, and her eyes began to sparkle. "Ooh! Maybe it's Sonic, missing my company!"
Bazett chuckled wearily. Amy was certainly dedicated to Sonic. She wondered what it was like to be so in love…or obsessed. She glanced at a street sign to confirm that they were going in the right direction.
Although their initial strategy was to go and scope out the Fuyuki Church, that changed with Eggman's attack. While Bazett wasn't sure if there really was a Chaos Emerald at the school, but she couldn't let a powerful artifact lying out for anyone to stumble onto. Amy agreed with this, as she felt one of her missing friends would be there as well.
"It'll probably be Knuckles," The pink hedgehog said, "If there's any treasure-hunting to be done, he's the one to do it."
"Let's hope he hasn't found anything yet," Bazett put in, "It'll be easy to keep a lid on things if we can keep at least one of your friends supervised…" She heard a sound like glass breaking. "What was that?"
Amy pointed. "Over there!"
No more than a block away, large figures could be seen breaking into a street side shop. And thanks to the working street lights, it was easy to see that they were some Egg Pawns, three of them to be precise. Two seemed to be holding something, but it was hard to tell exactly what from the distance.
"Those Badniks are robbing that store!" Amy declared, and whipped out her hammer. "Let's get 'em!"
Before Bazett could stop her, Amy charged at the robots. Briefly impressed at how quick Amy was in spite of her smaller legs, Bazett knew that she couldn't let this go on. Luckily, no one was watching, but there was no point taking chances. Taking a moment to cast a Boundary Field, Bazett strengthened her legs and shot after Amy. She was past the pink Hedgehog in a second and at the store in even less time. Swinging her legs, she kicked on Egg Pawn, sending it flying into a another building, whereupon it exploded spectacularly. Another Egg Pawn dropped its load and advanced on Bazett, only to receive a punch that sent it flying into the street. It also exploded. The third looked about in confusion, as if weighing its options, when Amy suddenly jumped down onto it and crushed it with her hammer. The robot exploded, and a bright green birdie flew out from the wreckage.
"Nice going!" Amy gave Bazett a thumbs up. "You took down two of them! Pretty good, for a rookie!"
Bazett smirked. If only Amy knew that as an enforcer of the Mage's Association, she had fought far more dangerous things than these machines. She doubted her fellow Enforcers would have faired as well; Most relied on their spells to directly attack or misdirect their targets. Bazett, on the other hand, preferred to enhance herself with runes. It was an tactic that caught most conventional mages off-guard.
Speaking of getting caught, Bazett took stock of the place the Badniks had attacked. For some reason, they had targeted a pet store. Several cages had been knocked over. The floor was littered with confused cats and dogs that were barking and hissing frantically, trying to make sense of what had happened.
"Why here, of all places?" Bazett said, "I don't sense anything like those jewels you described."
Amy frowned. "That creep Eggman likes to catch critters and stuff them inside his robots. He was probably planning to do the same to these little guys."
Bazett's mind was instantly bombarded by an image of a cute little bunny. That bunny was picked up by a claw very like the kind found in claw prize grabbers, and held over another Egg Pawn, with its head flipped up like the lid of a garbage can. The bunny was dropped into the robot, whose eyes began to glow. It was so nonsensical to imagine that the Irish woman suddenly developed a migraine just thinking about it. If Amy was talking about a Mage, maybe she could wrap her head around the idea. Using living creatures as a source of power or something to modify was something the more…the less moral mages did.
Amy seemed to sense Bazett's confusion, for she added, "Hey, you don't need to tell me that's weird and horrible. But, you know, 'mad scientist', right?"
"Yes, that would explain a lot…without actually explaining anything," Bazett said, "I think that after getting Lancer back, we should focus our efforts on dealing with Eggman."
"Duh!" Amy nodded, "Maybe you can figure out where he's hiding by looking into a crystal ball."
Bazett resisted the urge to sigh. The sheer sincerity of Amy's statement only made it more annoying. Her new friend seemed to have a very romanticized idea of just how Magecraft worked. Perhaps it would be that easy for the mages of Amy's world. From what she had described, people with special powers were commonplace…or, more likely, Amy just lived in an area where such people were commonplace.
Before the Enforcer could explain that her own divination skills were not strong enough to find Eggman as easy as snapping her fingers, she stopped. It was Bazett's turn to see something unusual.
Amy noticed Bazett's silence. "What's wrong? Do you see more Badniks?"
Bazett pointed up. On top of a building, she could something large, and golden. Whatever it was, it was spinning and sparkling in the starlight and moonlight.
Amy looked where Bazett was pointing. While she couldn't make her eyes stronger with magic like the Irish woman, her own night vision wasn't bad. She could see it too- and she knew what it was.
"Oh my gosh, it's a Special Zone entrance!" Amy was positively squealing with delight. She grabbed Bazett's arm. "Quick, we have to get up there! Before it disappears!"
Still a bit confused, Bazett decided not to question it by now. Activating her runes, she took hold of Amy and leapt up to the roof. Once there, she got a better look at this so-called "Special Zone".
It was gigantic ring, the diameter of its hole easily the size of her total height. As it spun in the air, Bazett realized that she couldn't actually see through the hole- within what should have been empty space were shifting colors.
"Amy, what did you say that was?" Bazett asked, putting up her guard.
"It's a Special Zone!" Amy explained eagerly, "It's kinda like a private universe where Chaos Emeralds hide in. Oh! And we can get some Rings, too! Let's go!"
Amy ran in, and Bazett was forced to chase after her. As the two jumped into the Ring's hole, neither noticed the creeping shadow close behind…
There were colors everywhere.
A barrage of rainbows, twisted into shapes and shades the likes of which she had never assault Bazett's eyes. She was tumbling down a void, but not necessarily down. Gravity and direction had no meaning in this place. Eventually, she hit a wall. Thankfully, the wall's color scheme, while also shifting, was a bit duller than the rest of the…Special Zone's, making it a little easier to see. Before she could get her bearings, Bazett felt the wall tilt. It soon became a floor for her to stand on, before becoming an opposing wall. She fell against a similarly moving platform. The entire place was spinning!
"Don't touch any bright red spots!" Amy called out, from far away. She was jumping from place to place, trying to keep her footing. "And be sure to grab some Rings if you can!"
There were Rings. Smaller, much smaller than the one the two entered to reach this place. They were floating in the air, almost taunting Bazett with their defiance of gravity.
Refusing to let herself be tossed around, Bazett caught herself as she fell against the next platform in a perfect handstand. With her Rune-enforcements and combat training, she was able to easily keep up with Amy as the two navigated this strange, multicolored labyrinth.
This world…where could it have come from? Bazett thought, These places seem commonplace in Amy's world, but this is the first I've seen of them here, A thought occurred. Did the appearance of Amy and her friends in our world create these…Special Zones? Not for the first time, Bazett wished she could consult the great Wizard Marshal, Zelretch. As a master of the fabled Second Magic, he would surely be able to answer her questions…sadly, Zelretch would also just as well refuse to help for his own amusement. In fact, it wouldn't surprise her if Zelretch had a hand in these strange events…
Eventually, Amy and Bazett found their way to the center of the Special Zone. And in that center was a giant mass of transparent rocks, like glass, only harder. Within that floating pile was a jewel, glowing an alluring purple light. Even from that distance, Bazett could sense an unbelievable power.
"Amy!" Bazett yelled, hopping from one wall to another. She pointed at the jewel. "Is that the Chaos Emerald?"
"Yes!" Amy called back. The platform she was on tilted, but rather than jump, Amy dropped down and landed on the giant rock pile. Bazett didn't realize that the pink hedgehog had gotten over it. "We need to break through this stuff and get the Emerald!"
Easier said than done. As did everything else in the Special Zone, the Chaos Emerald's hiding place spun erratically. It was almost impossible to continually chip away at a given point for long- The Zone would rotate everything so that one of the ladies would fall away, and be forced to jump back on. Compounding on the problem was that those red spots Amy had mentioned earlier seemed to be in large amounts around the Chaos Emerald. Bazett nearly fell one onto more than once. The fourth time, she had to split her legs to catch herself against parallel walls, and wait until the Special Zone rotated the red spots away from her. Falling once more towards the crystalline container, Bazett happened onto an idea. She smashed her fist into the rock, but didn't make a very large hole. Then, after switching arms, she hung onto that hole while using her good fist to continue pounding away at the rest of the crystals. As the Special Zone spun around, Bazett clung onto the rocks so as not to lose her place.
Amy saw what Bazett was doing, and nodded, impressed. "Good idea, Bazett! You're almost there!"
That gave Bazett an idea. "Amy! Try get on the other side of this rock, across from where I am!"
Though a bit confused, Amy nodded and began to jump around. As she did, Bazett began to strengthen her preferred arm. While a part of her was concerned that doing this would shatter the Emerald, the part that was really fed up with the Special Zone had a much stronger voice.
With a mighty cry, Bazett slammed her fist against the crystals. The sheer force of her punch traveled through the stones, shattering them. It soon reached the Chaos Emerald, and began to push it, until it crashed right through the other side. The Emerald flew out into the air. Amy yelled, "I got it!" and dove at the falling jewel. Time itself seemed to slow down as the paths of Chaos Emerald and Amy Rose appeared to intersect. And when the purple jewel reached her hands, Amy blinked…
And it was gone.
"What?!" Amy cried, falling. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something black, but before she could get a better look, her tumbling body hit a red spot…
Amy and Bazett were back on the street. Amy was on her knees, staring at her hands. Bazett stood over her, trying to comprehend what had happened.
"I…I don't get it," Amy said, confused. "It was right in front of me. Where…"
There came a thud. The girls looked. They looked up. Standing at the top of street light was a young man…or something that appeared to be. It looked like a young man with dark, grey skin covered in tribal tattoos. But something in Bazett's bones told her that looks were deceiving. And in this case, they weren't doing a very good job. The sheer force of its dark, unnatural presence hit Bazett's senses like a bullet train.
"So, this is a Chaos Emerald," Avenger said, holding up the gem. His eyes seemed to absorb its light. "Bit smaller than I expected…"
"Hey!" Amy yelled, running up to the street light. She pointed at Avenger. "That's our Emerald, we saw it first!"
Avenger looked down at Amy, a unsettling expression on his face. It was the kind a man would give a bug that just started talking like a human. 'Who knew such an insignificant thing could be so eloquent?' Bazett quickly activated her runes, preparing for trouble.
"…My friends and I need that Emerald to get back home," Amy continued to talk, "So, I would really appreciate it if you'd give it back," She whipped out her hammer. "Or else!"
Avenger smirked, which was the most terrifying thing in the night. He held up the Emerald, and then…
He ate it!
Avenger's mouth stretch open, as if it was made of rubber, and he forced the Emerald in. While a cartoon character doing that would appear adorable, the sight of it in real life was nothing short of disturbing. Both Amy and the normally desensitized Bazett found themselves frozen with both shock and disgust at what Avenger was doing. They saw a very large lump appear in Avenger's neck as he swallowed, only to vanish as the jewel went down his throat.
And then something far worse happened.
Avenger's skin began to boil. It was as if his entire body was made of water, and it had been sitting on the stove long enough to reach optimal temperature. He buckled down, clearly in pain. And hundreds of kilometers away, so did a high school girl with purple hair.
"RAAAUUGGGHHH!" Avenger howled, and like a fish leaping out of a pond, something- three somethings- exploded from his back.
Three blobs landed on the pavement. They began take on a more detailed form, something resembling mutant, purple starfish, with a hideous large eye in the center of their backs.
"Hah…hah…hah…not bad," Avenger heaved, a look of sadistic ecstasy on his face. "No wonder the old man wanted one… With power like that, we wouldn't even need the Holy Grail!"
Amy gagged as the starfish-things stood up. "Ugh! What are those things?! And what the heck are you!?"
But Avenger didn't answer. He was staring at his creations. "One…two…three…hmm. That's all I can bring out, even with this, huh? Ah, well…" Looking back at the ladies, he smiled evilly. "How would you girls like to play a game? It'll be loads of fun!"
"What kind of game?" Bazett asked, getting in front of Amy. She took a fighting stance, trying to prepare herself for whatever new surprise that was about to be revealed.
"It's kinda like hide-and-seek," Avenger went on, and waved at the starfish. "And you two are it! And since I'm such a nice guy, you don't have to count."
The starfish began to leap away, each going in a different direction. They made odd slurping noises as they moved. It sounded like that each motion they made was also them attempting to drink the air.
"There's no time limit," Avenger went on, "The game goes on until you find all three. Of course, my little babies might get hungry…and they love the taste of human flesh!"
Laughing, Avenger morphed into a shadow and slithered down the street light, before vanishing into the night.
"Hey, get back here!" Yelled Amy, giving chase.
"Forget him!" Bazett ordered, and charged at one of the starfish. "We need to destroy these things before they hurt someone!"
Moving faster than Amy had ever seen a human move, Bazett became a not-so-blue blur as she slammed her fist into the starfish. The force of the punch created a trench in the street, and when the dust cleared, the starfish was a messy pile of dark goo.
Yikes, Amy thought as she ran after another starfish, I better make sure I don't get into an argument with her!
Hammer raised, Amy lunged at the second starfish with intent to make an ugly pancake. She slammed her hammer down, but partially missed. Her blow only struck one of the creature's legs, flattening it instantly. The thing writhed in pain for only a moment, before the broken limb fell off, and a new appendage grew in its place. Only this second leg looked like something that belonged to a kraken.
"Gah!" Amy shrieked, and slammed her hammer down again. She wasn't fast enough, and the abomination was able to zip away from her weapon. Amy chased after it, but the horror was faster now, and quickly zipped up the side of a building. Panicking, Amy ran up to a fire hydrant and swung her hammer. The hydrant went flying, and managed to slam into the creature, knocking off of the building. Amy charged, and once close enough brought her hammer down on the beast several times. She didn't stop until the horror was a gooey black paste.
"Yuck," Amy gagged, and scrapped her hammer against the sidewalk to wipe the gunk off. "Okay, that's two down, where's the third…?" She looked around and saw that she was the only one on the street. "Bazett?" She heard a crash in the distant. "There she is!"
The fight between Sonic and Lancer had reached a stalemate, not that either one was willing to admit it. Although Sonic was far faster and more willing to use unorthodox tactics (Like causing a fire hydrant to explode in Lancer's face), Lancer was almost as fast, had magic abilities, and a long spear. And then there was that really awkward incident when Lancer sent him flying into that apartment window…
Sonic crashed through the glass, and the second thing he heard besides the tinkling was a woman screaming. Looking up, he saw that he was now in someone's bedroom. A mature and attractive woman was desperately shaking the prone form of a young man, who simply snored off her actions.
"KOUTA!" She shrieked, "There's a tanuki in our bedroom, wake up!"
Sonic plucked a piece of glass out of his fur and scooped his Rings back up. "No, there's not. You're having a bad dream," Sonic turned towards the window before turning back. "Also, I'm a hedgehog, not a tanuki," He turned back towards the window, then glanced over his shoulder. "If you wake up and the window's still broken, just go see the priest at the local church. I think he's good for it."
Sonic was pretty sure that Shirou said something the guy at the church (What was his name, kotofin or something?) would take care of any damage caused in the War. That probably meant he could pay for broken stuff thanks to a budget he got from whatever secret organization that was in charge of that sort of thing.
Sonic bounced off of the walls, swung around street signs and lights, keeping one step ahead of Lancer and taking a shot of his own whenever a chance arose. Such openings didn't appear easily. Lancer had evidently learned from their first fight. He wasn't letting up and giving Sonic a chance to move in for another hit. This didn't mean the spearman didn't slip up and make mistakes of his own, it just meant Sonic had to be really observant and quick to take advantage of them. The first wasn't something he was known for, but the second came as a natural as breathing. A favorite tactic Sonic had discovered was standing against a wall, allow Lancer to charge at him, before dodging at the last minute and hitting the Servant with a Homing Shot. The precious half-second Lancer had his spear stuck in a building was plenty for Sonic to chip at the Heroic Spirit's hit points.
Weird how Masters can see a Servant's stats, Sonic thought, thinking back to what Shirou and Saber told him their first night together. He shot back to avoid Lancer's retaliation. Makes you wonder if whoever started these stupid Wars was a D&D nerd…
As Sonic prepared to run off and put a bit more distance between himself and Lancer, he stopped. This caused Lancer to stop as well, wondering if this hesitation was part of some new plan.
"What's that?" Sonic asked, pointing past Lancer.
Lancer's brain stalled, and when it reignited, he just shook his head sadly. In spite of Sonic's taunts and tricks, he had grown to respect the Hedgehog somewhat. All of that respect was now gone.
"Are you really going to try that gag?" Lancer asked, his tone dripping with disappointment. "I mean, that was old even during my human years. I-"
That was as far as Lancer got before a horrible, starfish-thing-with tentacles tackled him and latched onto his face. The Heroic Spirit fell to the ground, rolling and writhing as he tried to pull it off.
"-AUUUUGGGHHGETITOFFGETITOFFGETITOFFIT'SINMYMOOUUUTH-!"
Sonic blinked. As warped and disturbing the scene before him technically was, he had actually seen far creepier things during his adventures, including but not limited to the Dark-Gaia monsters that appeared when Eggman split open his planet. In fact, the Aliens shout-out taking place didn't even make the top-ten. The idea that whatever was attacking Lancer came from another Servant came to mind, so Sonic decided to invoke a tactical retreat.
"Y'know what, you're probably busy right now," Sonic said cheerfully, and began to walk off. "Let's finish this some other time."
Sonic zipped off. Three seconds later, he came back, and took a picture of Lancer's pain with the cell phone. And then he ran off. A minute later, Lancer managed to rip the abomination away from his face and throw it onto the pavement. Before it could crawl away, he stabbed the Gae Bolg into it several times, before stomping on it's remains for good measure. Once he was done, Lancer spat onto the ground.
"Gah, I'll be tasting that for a week!" Lancer moaned, wiping the beast's residue from his face. His eyes shot open with realization. "Dammit, he's gone!"
Lancer ran off in the direction he thought Sonic went in. It wasn't, and Sonic managed to return to the Emiya Estate in the hopes that a late-night game of Aero the Acro-Bat would undo the sight of a little sea monster trying to make out with Lancer. Moments passed, and the street was quiet again…except for the creature's remains, which made odd squelching sounds as it tried to reassert it's life and mobility.
Bazett soon appeared, having followed after the creature. It hadn't been easy, but the sound of someone screaming helped her find it. She was surprised to see that the last of the abominations had been wounded, and a quick usage of Magecraft ensured its death.
Amy came along shortly afterward. "Bazett, did you find it?"
"Yes," Bazett replied, gesturing towards the smoldering ashes. "What was left of it, at least."
"What do you- Whoa! What happened here?" Amy cried, having finally taken stock of her surroundings. A fire hydrant and a newsstand had been knocked over. The area looked like a small war had broken out.
"I think there were Servants battling here," Bazett answered, "I can sense traces of Magecraft."
"A Servant?" Amy looked thoughtful, "You mean, like Lancer?"
"It could have been Lancer…or it could have been any other Servant," Bazett muttered, "In any case, I think the creature that person conjured up is similar to a Servant."
"Huh?"
"A Servant can only exist in the world due to the Mana they receive from their Master," Bazett explained, "The same principal exists for other types of summons. I believe that creature came here to find a source of Mana to sustain itself."
"You mean it was going to eat someone? Gross!" Amy shuddered at the thought, then looked thoughtful. "Hold on, was that creepy Emerald thief…was he a Servant?"
"Possibly…" What Bazett didn't say was that the man who took the purple gem and conjured had a fouler Mana than the one she felt when she summoned Lancer. Servants summoned by the Grail came from the Throne of Heroes; how could a being with such a terrible presence end up there? And from what part of history did his legend spring forth?
Strange animal spirits from another world. A madman with an army of destructive robots. Servants appearing in public. And now this. By that point, all Bazett could ask was, "What next?"
High up on a tall building, Avenger looked down on the city of Fuyuki. He saw it all. The Servant Rider, stalking victims, but taking care not to be seen. The Servant Lancer, fruitlessly searching for his Hedgehog nemesis. The Servant Saber, accompanying her own Master back to their abode, where the blue Hedgehog waited. And among them, thousands of normal people, only vaguely aware of the danger they were all in.
In another timeline, they would have all been targets, potential victims to be consumed. But not here. Not now.
He felt the Chaos Emerald inside his body, it's power seeping into every atom of his being. It wouldn't be long. A few days, a week, perhaps? And then, he would have what he needed.
And his wish would be granted.
TO BE CONTINUED
Tiger Dojo
Taiga: You asked for it! You wanted it! You deserve it! It's the Tiger Dojo! I am your instructor, Fujimura Taiga!
Illya: And the Number One Student, Illya, is here as well!
Taiga: The first of the seven Chaos Emeralds has been found! Unfortunately, it's now in the hands of that lunatic, Avenger.
Illya: You'd think an Enforcer for the Mage's Association would have better luck securing a powerful artifact, wouldn't you? What a disappointment?
Taiga: But there is plenty of time for her to redeem herself. After all, they don't let weak-willed people into that Association.
Illya: They let Rin's ancestors, didn't they?
Taiga: Don't be mean! Anyway, we've got a Q/A to start! Read the first question!
Illya: Tang-Chan asks, "Where are the Chaos Emeralds?" Hey, I thought we said no more spoiler-y questions!
Taiga: We're not going to change that policy, no matter how cute your name is! However, I will keep track of the Emerald locations we have confirmed so far;
The yellow Chaos Emerald is underneath Shirou's shed. Nobody's claimed it yet.
The purple Chaos Emerald is now inside of Avenger. Yuck!
Illya: Speaking of Avenger, we have a question about him from Chuckie, "How did Avenger summon those starfish things? That's not a power he had in the original visual novel". Oh, Chuck, you dumb, dumb, guy.
Taiga: The Avenger we're seeing now is actually the Shadow from the Heaven's Feel route, with Hollow Ataraxia's personality. In the Heaven's Feel, that Shadow could recreate evil versions of the Servants it absorbed throughout that route. The creatures Avenger created in this story are actually by-products of something that was already absorbed by its previous form…but that's a story for another day. One last question!
Illya: "Due to Shirou absorbing some of the yellow chaos emerald's power, have his magic circuits been upgraded, healed, powered up, ect? Signed, Anomynous." Finally, a non-stupid question. When Onii-chan used Projection near the Emerald, he did take in some of its power. But I wouldn't say that he's been powered up, or anything. Because of his lousy skills, Onii-chan's have actually gotten worse! Of course, that might change once Rin gives him a proper lesson in Magecraft. Though, if he wanted to learn from an expert, he'd ditch her and come to me.
Taiga: Also, a special announcement! The author has created an opening sequence for this story! It's posted on Youtube, under the title Fate/Genesis OP (Fanmade)! Be sure to check it out!
Illya: The sound isn't very good, but if you can do better, give it a try!
Taiga: Until then, we will see you at the next practice!