Chapter 7: The Wicked Wild

"…Judging from the pattern and placement of the attacks, we can only conclude that whatever method Dr. Eggman is using to find his 'Chaos Emerald', is allowing him to track Servants, if not unintentionally."

When night had fallen, Kirie Kotomine had sent out the signal. As the Church-appointed overseer of the Holy Grail War, he had the means to call every Master fighting in the War to the Church. And in the darkness he had done just that, intent on delivering his message. After seeing the robots appear where Archer and Lancer were, Kotomine was forced to admit that maybe, just once, Rin might have had a point.

Not a single Master had appeared.

That was understandable. No Master would willingly risk exposing themselves by coming to the church. And although the rules stated that the Fuyuki church was a neutral zone, Kotomine well understood that for some people, the so-called rules of the Holy War were nothing more than guidelines.

That didn't mean that Kotomine's summons went unanswered. Instead of coming in person, the Masters had sent Familiars. Some the priest had recognized, such as Rin and Illya's; Having trained Rin in Magecraft, he knew very well that his unofficial 'daughter' used owls. And the magical wires shaped like a dove was identical to the creations of the last Einzbern homunculus to visit Fuyuki, Irisviel; meaning that it had been sent by Illya. He could only assume that the hunched over skeleton belonged to Caster, who's own Master was technically a normal man. And there was no way the hideous insect buzzing about wasn't a conjure of Zouken; Since Shinji had no Magecraft abilities, the old Matou clearly decided to gather intel for his grandson. The only Master who didn't send a familiar was Emiya Shirou, who lacked the skill to do anything so rudimentary.

Kirie continued, "And so, as the Church's supervisor, I hereby call a temporary ceasefire in the War, and order all Masters to focus their energy on finding and neutralizing Eggman. And whoever can provide useful information to this end will receive an additional Command Seal.

"Furthermore, I will also reward a Master who can…" Kotomine paused, "…Take care of this blue Tanuki who has been less than discreet. Those who do this and bring me proof will receive a Command Seal as well."

"He did it," Rin reported, "He's announced a halt to the War until Eggman is beaten."

Kotomine had sent out the signal just as Illya had finished cleaning up the street. While she had repaired the pavement, Shirou, with the help of Sonic and Tails, had taken the remains of the robot and hid them in his storage shed. The red-haired Mage didn't think it was right to have Illya do most of the work on her own, as she had defended his neighborhood. Once they had finished, the group returned to the Emiya living room, whereupon both Illya and Rin sent out Familiars to answer Kirie's summons. Archer and Shirou, for lack of anything better to do, begrudgingly cooperated to make dinner.

"So, is there good news and bad news?" Sonic asked.

"Yes, and maybe yes," Rin said, "The Fake Priest is offering another Command Seal to whoever does the most to bring down Eggman. The problem is, he's also offered the same thing for whoever captures you."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "You know, this is a pretty messed-up world when even the local cleric is against you."

Rin was about to lecture Sonic on how his public activities would expose Magecraft and bring the Mage's Associations Enforcers down to press the big, bloody-red mute button on the city. Before she could, however, Tails spoke up.

"Wait, how can this guy just give Command Seals?" The two-tailed fox asked, "Don't those just appear when you summon your Servant?"

"Not every Master who joins the Holy War wish to fight, at least not until the very end," Illya said. She was hugging the photo album. "Some Masters who lose their Servants can go to the Church for protection. In doing so, they must relinquish their Command Seals to the Church-appointed supervisor."

"So, that's how it works…" Tails murmured, "But why would they need new Seals? I mean, aren't the Servants and Masters already bound to each other?"

"Not every pair has a bound such as the one between Shirou and myself," Saber said, "Some Masters have tactics and ideologies that would sow discord between them and their Servant," Like what happened between Kiritsugu and I. "A means to enforce obedience is required in those cases."

"And to get your wish," Rin said, "The Holy Grail isn't a physical object. Only Servants can touch it. In order to use its power, a Master has to make his wish through the Servant. Losing your Command Seals is the same as losing the Holy Grail to your Servant's personal desires."

"So you need to force them to do what you want?" Tails looked stunned, "That's horrible! It's like…slavery!"

"No it's not," Illya said, "Servants are basically a form of familiar. They're summoned to enhance and aid the goals of their summoner. Their thoughts and feelings come secondary. That's why they're 'Servants'."

"Ah, kid, they're standing right there." Sonic griped, waving at Saber and Archer.

"It is all right, Sonic," Saber said, "For a knight such as myself, my role as a Servant in this War is no different than it was during my life as a human."

Sonic grumbled, and even from the kitchen Shirou could tell that he was not happy. Sonic was clearly a great believer in personal freedom, and the restricting rules of the world- That Mages had to be hidden, and Servants were bound to obey their Masters at the cost of their own needs and wants- obviously grated on him.

But when your most persistent enemy insists on trapping small animals in machines, it's only natural to develop such feelings, Shirou thought, it's too bad that the people of our world aren't as noble as the ones in his world.

With a sigh, Sonic stood up. "Yo, apron bros, how long until dinner's ready?"

"Only ten minutes," Archer called out, and gave Shirou a look. "It would be faster, but someone insists on stumbling around my kitchen."

"My kitchen," Shirou shot back, losing his train of thought. "I'm only letting you help out because it's better than having you annoy Saber or Tohsaka-san."

"Yeah, you two have fun figuring that out," Sonic stretched his arms. "As for me, I'm going out for a quick run. I'll be back in time, but don't wait up," He pointed at Tails. "2nd-Lieutenant Tails, you're in charge until I get back. Keep the troops in line, all right?"

Tails gave Sonic a mock-salute. "Aye-Aye, Major-General Sonic!"

Sonic returned the salute and zipped out of the room.

"That… Argh!" Rin groaned, "I hate that Hedgehog! Why can't he get it through his spiky head that he needs to stay hidden!? For our sake, if not his!"

"To be fair, the only times when Sonic has revealed himself is when someone is in danger." Saber said. Though a part of her privately agreed with Rin on the matter of secrecy, she felt should defend Sonic. In a way, his straight-forward approach to life was a breath of fresh air after putting up with two Wars worth of Mage duplicity. And his willingness to defend those in need…if it wasn't for his complete and total disregard for authority, he would make a decent knight.

"Unfortunately, with the Grail War going on and Eggman attacking, everyone in the city is in danger," Rin sighed, "I wish he would take the long view. The exposure of Magecraft would have huge ramifications, and not just on the city."

"I think Sonic is taking the long view. Or, a different one." Tails piped up.

Rin looked at him. "What do you mean?"

Tails shrugged. "I've been with Sonic for a long time. He's probably thinking, 'I don't want letting people die to become a thing.'"

Rin found herself unable to respond. Not wanting to let people die…yeah, she could understand that. But it was a childish viewpoint. What good was saving one person if your actions could cause death of hundreds, maybe millions, further down the road?

And then Archer's thoughts appeared in her mind. If you really believed in that, why did you save Shirou's life? After all, that amulet had power that could have helped you win the War. What's one hopeless fool's life in comparison to a power that could destroy the world if left unchecked?

Rin sent a mental rebuttal back. But looking around, she realized that she was alone on this point. With a sigh, she rested her head on the table.

"Oh, who cares anymore?" She asked the world in general, "He's already appeared on TV, what's the worst he can do now?"

In a secluded location at an address that was classified, Agent Stuart reviewed the findings he and and Dr. Twice Pierceman had discovered in their investigations following Dr. Eggman's attack on Homurahara Academy. The two of them had been very busy since then, although their work consisted mostly of organizing evidence gathered from the investigations surrounding the mysterious events occurring before the great fire. The reason this needed so much effort was that due to said fire, most of the findings from those cases had been burned into nearly-unrecognizable ashes. And for some reason the detectives running investigations at the time inexplicably suffered from memory loss at key moments, and so their reports had been woefully inadequate. Other parts involved keeping track of the people Stuart put under watch.

But, slowly but surely, progress was being made. A girl from the Einzbern Family that Kiritsugu married into recently entered Japan around the same time his old assistant moved into Shirou's homestead. However, while Illyasviel had used official, well-documented channels, there had been no record of Saber arriving Japan, legally or otherwise. Interesting.

From what he could find, Kiritsugu's wife Irisviel had been one of the casualties of the Great Fire. After her death, Kiritsugu had separated from the Einzberns and became a full resident of Fuyuki, adopting one of the few survivors of the Fire, Shirou, as his son. (The rest, who remained at the church of Fuyuki, died of 'natural causes'. That wasn't suspicious at all.) Up until his death five years ago, Kiritsugu would leave the country for 'business'. Among the nations he visited was Germany, where the Einzberns held their secluded residence. And recently Shirou, Saber, and Illya had made contact.

Something is happening here, Stuart thought, I just wish I knew what. That was when Twice showed up. "Anything new to report?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," Twice said, and gestured. "Take a look."

Twice was Stuart's partner for their investigation. Originally, the two of them had been assigned to look into the mysterious deaths and fainting spells that had been reported by the media as the result of 'gas leaks'. Due to the surveillance footage of Tohsaka Rin and Matou Shinji at the sites of these so-called 'leaks', Stuart had been given the job of assistant teacher at their high school as his cover. Twice, meanwhile, was put in charge of a clinic to treat those who had survived the 'leaks' in hopes of finding a sign of poison or toxin in the victims. Unfortunately, his examinations had found neither; it was if the life had been forced out of the unfortunate. Essentially, the two of them were going in circles.

Amazing how much one blatant terrorist attack could change.

It had taken some creative interpretations of evidence to get the increase in resources and manpower. Luckily, the appearance of the mysterious hero who had appeared at the school (Dubbed 'The Bug Queen' by the media) allowed Stuart to convince his superiors that Eggman and the alleged 'gas leaks' were in fact connected; traces of surveillance footage from ten years ago, as well as random eye witness reports showed that strange, costumed people had been lurking around Fuyuki in the days leading up to the Fire. Notably, someone who wore the same kind of dress that the Bug Queen wore had been sighted at the docks and warehouse district.

After the robot remains had been gathered, Twice along a small army of technicians had been working tirelessly to analyze the technology. And they had learned much.

"…It's far more advanced than anything any country should have," Twice said as he led Stuart to his computer. "I mean, this is stuff that we would only be able to make several hundred years later."

…But not the ones that mattered, apparently.

"I don't care how good it is," Stuart said, rubbing his temples. "We're supposed to find out where it came from, and what they're looking for."

Twice turned on his monitor and began to type. "As far as we can tell, these robots are equipped with short-range energy trackers, of some sort. It's only a guess, but my theory that this 'Chaos Emerald' Eggman is looking for is some sort irradiated mineral, like uranium.

"Now, look at the findings we got when we combined Eggman's tech with our own."

A map of Fuyuki appeared on the screen. Several blinking circles appeared at various points on the map.

"Whatever power Eggman is looking for, it's being detected in several locations all over the city," Dr. Pierceman explained, "I've already sent teams out to examine the areas. We just need to wait for their findings."

"If they come back at all." Stuart pointed out. He had already recognized some of the locations, and none of it boded well to him.

First off was the Ryuudou Temple. According to his reports, the only residents there was the temple master's son, Issei, another acolyte by the name of Kazuki Souchirou, and his wife-to-be. Kazuki was currently on-file as the main suspect in several assassination cases, but there hadn't been enough evidence to convict.

In the center of another area was the Tohsaka Mansion, home of Tohsaka Rin. While the Tohsakas had a clean-enough record, the sudden murder of Rin's father Tokiomi ten years ago, followed by the death of his Aoi years later had left Rin an orphan. Not a good sign. The whole affair made her the ward of Father Kotomine Kirie, the priest of the local church. Normally, that wouldn't be suspicious at all, as the Tohsakas and Kotomines had been friends since the days when the former family were secret Christians, but the church also had an energy field present.

The Matous, whose manor also showed up on the radar, was the source of many a dark rumor. So many members had died of 'perfectly natural causes.' So far, the only members still alive were the clan patriarch, Zouken, his grandson Shinji, and his granddaughter Sakura.

And last but not least, the Emiya property. Not only had Kiritsugu been suspected of involvement in several terrorism cases, but during his short life in Fuyuki, had developed a rapport with the Fujimura Group, a local yakuza.

Speaking of local problems… "We still haven't found Bazett McRemitz," Stuart mentioned to Twice. "Did she mention anything during her stay in your clinic?"

Twice frowned. "…No. I've reviewed the footage a hundred times. She didn't say anything about her plans after being discharged," He looked up, thoughtful and perturbed. "It's odd. I don't actually remember anything about her stay. If I hadn't reviewed the tapes from the bugs, I would never have realized that there were holes in my memory. From what I can tell, Bazett clearly did something to me…like hypnosis, or whatever. But that would be…"

"Crazy?" Stuart guessed, "Twice, considering what we've seen in the last two days, I think we may need to redefine the term."

"I wonder if I should still be part of this investigation," Twice murmured, "The more I think about it, the more I feel like a security risk."

"Oh, cut that out," Stuart scolded, "I'm not letting you duck out of this that easily. If I had to deal with strangely-dressed vigilantes, robot armies and living mascot characters on my own, I would just give up and declare martial law over the city."

Stuart looked away from the computer towards the wall. Like many other investigators, he had a pegboard covered in numerous clues, such as newspaper clippings and photographs. Not the most elegant-looking means of organization, but it was useful when he got tired of staring at a computer screen all day. He found his eyes drifting towards the photograph of Sonic, mugging the camera.

I bet you know what's going on. Stuart thought.

"Rolling around, at the speed of sound…" Sonic sang to himself as he raced down the empty streets. As he ran, he programed his communicator's timer. I bet I could go around the city in five minutes, tops.

Sonic had no real destination. He was a wanderer by nature. To be expected to sit in one place was not his style. He did it whenever he needed to rest his feet, but once the novelty of had worn off, the journey would begin. Besides, there was still so much of the city he hadn't seen. And with most of the people indoors to avoid any possible attacks, he could do a little sight-seeing without possibly attracting trouble.

"Aaaahhh!" A voice in the distance wailed.

Aw, my guidance counselor was right, I can't go less than five minutes without getting mixed up in something! Sonic thought as he raced towards the scene.

Up ahead he found a young lady backed into a corner, he body shaking in fright. What had cornered so badly gave Sonic pause; it reminded him of the creature that 'attacked' Lancer the other night, only much bigger and with more fangs and tentacles. It reared up, and lunged at the lady. There was a flash of blue in the darkness, and the thing hit a wall.

Several feet away, Sonic set the woman down. "You okay? It didn't get, uh, invasive, did it?"

The lady squeaked, her mind trying to come to grips with what was happening. Before she could muster a more coherent sentence, a shrill shriek filled the air…and it didn't come from her mouth. The attacking creature had sprouted another set of sharp teeth, only these were connected to a vocal chord.

"No way," Sonic gasped, "Years of adventuring and I finally meet a monster that actually gets uglier by the minute!"

Apparently, the thing must have understood Sonic, for it lunged, leaping high in an arc to pounce on the Hedgehog. It would take at least three seconds to reach its intended destination. For Sonic, that was more than enough time. Within that three-second-time frame, he zipped over to an alleyway, grabbed the lid off of a garbage can, and returned in time to smack the incoming monster. As the creature was knocked back, Sonic struck it again with a Homing Shot, grinding the monster into oblivion. Once he was done, Sonic took a moment to rub his head.

"Man, I hope I didn't get any of that in my fur." Sonic muttered, and bent down to look at the creature's remains. Something about the whole experience felt very familiar…

Looking back at the woman he saved, Sonic asked, "Hey, lady! I'm new around here, so I gotta a quick question…"

"Yes?" The woman asked.

Sonic scratched the back of his left ear. "I don't suppose anyone's blasted the planet to pieces recently, did they?"

She looked at Sonic as if he had just sprouted a second head. "No."

Sonic shrugged. "All right, cool," He looked around. "Look, where do you live? I'll take you home."

"I…" the woman pointed down the street. "It's on the other side of the river. I got off at the wrong station and…"

"Cool, hang on."

Before the woman even had time agree or protest, Sonic scooped her up and ran off into the night. In doing so, he was reminded of someone whose first meeting involved this action.

Hope you're okay, Amy…

"We're almost to the church," Bazett said, "Are you ready?"

"Wouldn't be here if I wasn't." Amy replied.

For Bazett, the day had unnervingly peaceful. She and Any had spent the previous night searching for that Shadow man, time that would have been better spent looking for Sonic (in Amy's opinion) or preparing to face Kotomine (in Bazett's opinion). The only trace they could get of the former was a hysterical woman shrieking about a Tanuki invading her bedroom. Hypnotizing her into forgetting that and repairing the window was actually the least stressful part of that day. Giant robots, Tanukis, superheroes, and monster-making men...

The only remotely pleasant aspect of that evening had been the Rings. Once all of the madness had died down and she was sure that all of the abominations had been wiped clean, Bazett realized that somewhere in the course of their adventure in the Special Zone, she had managed to pick up a few gold Rings. While they weren't a Chaos Emerald, they weren't completely useless, either. As Amy described, the Power Rings would protect the body of the one carrying them from being damaged(though, as Bazett found after an unfortunate meeting with some broken glass, pain was entirely different matter). And after a little experimentation, Bazett had discovered that the Rings could be used to replenish a small percentage of her own Prana. Both qualities would be needed for the fight against the Priest of the Holy War.

Going after Kotomine in the face of every other problem had been Amy's idea. Her logic was that instead of worrying about the others, they should focus their energy on the one they could solve easily.

"We don't know where Sonic is, we don't know where Eggman is, and we don't know where that shadow guy went to," Amy had said, "But we do know where Kotomine is. Let's kick his butt and get Lancer for you!"

And Bazett had to agree. With the situation in Fuyuki escalating the way it was, she and Amy would need help solving it. Lancer would be able to search the city better than either of the ladies, and depending on what he had seen, might already have intel on where Amy's friends were. Defeating Kotomine was now a necessary step towards fixing things.

And tonight was the best night to make an attempt at it. Kotomine had sent out a message for a meeting between Masters. From what Lord E-Melloi II had mentioned during his rare expositions on the 4th Holy War, when overseer Risei had called for a gathering, the other Masters had only sent familiars in their place. That meant Amy could scout out the church, and if Kotomine noticed her presence entering the Boundary Field surrounding the church, he would (hopefully) assume it was a familiar coming by to hear his message. The darker part of Bazett told her Amy was nothing more than bait to flush out the treacherous priest. Bazett forced that notion down, insisting to herself that Amy's job was just to case the premises, and the only reason she wasn't doing it herself was because her high Prana levels would put Kotomine on-guard. Still, she Reinforced her eyes as much as possible to keep her friend in sight.

Amy soon returned with no sign that she met any trouble.

"I couldn't get a good look through the stain glass windows, but I think Kotomine's by himself, mostly." Amy reported.

"Mostly?"

Amy fidgeted. "Well, I think I saw some birds or something. The lights were pretty low."

Familiars. "Was Kotomine talking?" Bazett asked.

"I think he was just wrapping up."

Bazett considered her options. She made her decision. "We're going in. I'll go in directly, while you move around in the shadows. He'll sense my entering his Boundary Field and go out to confront me."

"What do you want me to do?" Amy asked.

"You stay on the sidelines and provide support. And keep an eye out if anyone comes by," Bazett said, "I don't think any Masters will be stopping by if they've sent their Familiars, but it never hurts to be cautious."

Amy nodded. "Got it," She whipped out her Piko Piko Hammer. "Let's do this thing!"

"And what exactly are you planning to do?"

The girls whirled about. Standing directly behind them was a young man, who appeared to be Bazett's age, if not a few years younger. He was dressed in black, with a white coat covering it. Blond, with red eyes, his features were undeniably handsome. However, there was something about his demeanor that both Bazett and Amy found discomforting.

But what bothered Bazett the most was the huge reserve of mana she sensed within him. No human being could achieve that level of power…not a normal one, anyway.

"My, my," The man chuckled, "I wonder why a pair of lovely young ladies are doing, skulking about in the bushes like thieves." His eyes narrowed, while his smirk widened. A moment later, said eyes focused on Amy, causing his expression to go from 'unpleasantly upbeat' to 'innocently surprised'. "Oh! One of those tanukis that have been appearing throughout the city!"

Amy rather weakly held up a finger. "Actually, I'm a hedgehog…"

But the newcomer wasn't listening. "I have to admit, I've been looking forward to finding one of you myself. Your blue friend has become quite the local celebrity, if not a bit obnoxious. However, keeping track of him is a bit of a chore. Kotomine will be very happy to hear I've found one."

Bazett felt a cold flash within her. "You know Kotomine?"

The blond looked at her suddenly. In an instant Bazett made her features neutral, but it was too late. He had seen the fear on her face. And it didn't take a genius to figure out what two girls hiding in the bushes were planning.

"Hmmm…I can't but feel that I've seen you before, woman," He said, giving Bazett a discerning look. "Something about you feels…familiar…"

And Bazett knew what that was. Given the large volume of Mana this man had, he was undoubtably connected to Magecraft. And if he was on friendly terms with the corrupt Church official, there was a very good chance that he knew something about the Holy Grail War…including the fact that Bazett was supposed to be Lancer's Master.

But the man shrugged. "Oh, well. It doesn't matter who you are, really," (Bazett did not feel relieved.) "What I would like to know…" A swirling vortex of golden light suddenly appeared at his side. "…Is what you're capable of."

Something shot out the vortex. With reflexes developed from many battles and other absurd adventures, Bazett and Amy were already throwing themselves clear of the projectile before it even fired. On a street corner far away from the church, a street light exploded.

"What the heck was that for!?" Amy shrieked, half-angry and half-terrified. She went to all-scared when she saw that another vortex had appeared, now pointed at her. With an "Eep!" She jumped out of the way as yet another bolt of glowing death rocketed at her. She just barely avoided it, and behind where she used to stand a good portion of a building's wall became a wall surrounded by crumbling rock.

With rune-powered muscles, Bazett threw herself at the blond Mage (He was a Mage, right?). She had to capitalize on his momentary focus on Amy and end the fight quickly. Even though they were a fair distance from the Church, only a deaf man wouldn't hear the sounds of collateral damage- and Kotomine would. There was no way she and Amy could fight their current foe and a former Executor at the same time. She had to finish this, now!

But mere seconds before her fist could reach his face, red eyes turned to meet violet. And in that moment following, something hit Bazett and sent her flying. Rings exploded from her body, and the Enforcer's nerves felt like they had been set on fire for precious seconds that felt like hours.

But she was alive. And where there should have been a large gap in her abdomen was only a mild bruise. Remembering what Amy told her about the Rings' properties, Bazett desperately tried to grab them before they vanished. She managed to snatch up three.

A fourth was taken by the red eyed man.

"The same thing happened with Lancer…" He murmured, holding the gold ring to close to his eyes. He glanced down at Bazett, and then looked over at Amy. "I had thought it was a power unique to Sonic, but it seems these Rings are the key," They do not exist in my Gate of Babylon… He thought, and said, "In any case, when a king wishes for you to die, it is not in your best interests…to disobey."

Red Eye jumped back, putting both ladies in front of him. Behind him, multiple golden vortexes appeared, their ethereal light turning his form into a silhouette. They seemed to blot out the sky behind him.

Bazett sucked in her breath and gritted her teeth. This was going badly. Whoever their attacker was, he was clearly at a level beyond normal humans- even a Dead Apostile couldn't achieve this kind of power. There was only one way to save her and Amy's lives- a trump card passed down through the McRemitz family. However, using it cost a lot of Mana- power she was planning to use against Kotomine. But Bazett had no choice.

Even if we escape, this guy will tell Kotomine about us, Bazett thought, And Kotomine will use Lancer to kill us with a Command Seal. I'll have to kill him and wait for another chance to go after Kotomine…!

Meanwhile, Amy had brought her hammer ready to swing. Although there was a slight tremor of fear in her arms, her eyes were steady and narrow with determination. She was clearly scared, but unwilling to let their haughty foe see it.

But before anyone could do anything, a presence appeared. A tall figure, easily twice the size of the blond man, stepped up. In the blinding light of the vortexes, it was near-impossible to see their features. A pair of lights for eyes stared at the blond. He noticed, and turned his attention away from the ladies.

"And what, pray tell, are you supposed to be?" He asked as the gold swirls vanished.

With the return to normal levels of nighttime illumination came a better look at the newcomer. It was a robot, a tall and lanky one, colored in different shades of purple. It's eyes were like ping-pong balls, and there was a small spike jutting out from between and beneath them, like a nose. On the back of their head a long tube-like thing could be seen, bringing to mind a coonskin cap for some reason. On its back was some sort of elaborate, hi-tech rifle.

E-2764 "Davy Sprocket"

Davy looked the blond man over. It glanced at Amy, Bazett, and went back to the blond. Its thought processes went thusly;

Amy Rose detected_

attack?…maybe_

subject: masculine woman_

probability of possessing a Chaos Emerald: 54%_

subject: blond man with red eyes_

probability of possessing a Chaos Emerald: 99.9999999999%_

Having come to that conclusion, Davy walked over and gave the the blond man a punch.

"Gah! How dare you!?" Blondie shouted, reeling back in shock more than pain. "I mean, what was that for!? Jeez!"

Amy took that moment to jump at the blond, hammer in motion. She wasn't even halfway to her target when another golden vortex appeared and shot at her. Rings rained down as Amy was sent flying.

"Aauugh!" She screamed as she landed in Bazett's arms.

"That was pretty reckless," The Irishwoman scolded, "Are you all right?"

"Kinda…" Amy groaned as Bazett set her down, "That felt like running into a spike times a million…!"

"Maybe we should retreat…" Bazett murmured, but before she could put those words into action, another shot from the blond man's vortexes grazed her side. "Ahh!"

"Bazett!" Amy cried, grabbing her friend to keep her steady. Her eyes widened when she saw the blood coming out of the wound.

"I'm not done with you yet." The blond man said coldly. Because he was glaring at Bazett and Amy, he didn't see Davy coming at him. The robot reached out towards Red Eyes…

twing!

…And plucked out one of his nose hairs.

"EEEYOW!" The man screeched, his voice causing several windows to shatter.

Davy held up the hair to its eyes for further scrutiny. A bright light drew the robot's attention. Looking up from the hair, it saw that there were now one gigantic golden vortex high in the air. It was easily larger than the previous wall of swirls by leaps and bounds.

"What the Hell was that for?!"

Further down the road, Orbot and Cubot floated towards their intended destination. Following the destruction of Humpty in the residential district, the two robots decided to follow another energy signature detected in the current area. Eggman had already sent another Sub-boss to investigate the area. Hopefully, Davy Sprocket would have already leveled the place. All Orbot and Cubot would have to do is pull the Emerald from the wreckage.

"We're almost there," Orbot said as he examined his radar, "According to the local directory, there's a church built on the site."

"Does that mean we might be desecrating a holy object?" Cubot asked, "Should we watch out for bolts of lightning?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Orbot replied, "If that sort of thing happened, Dr. Eggman would have been electrocuted years ago. Remember that time one of his missiles tore up that monastery?"

"Well, just because it didn't happen on our world, doesn't mean it can't happen here," Cubot pointed out, "What if divine retribution is a thing here?"

Orbot stopped. "Well…"

Before he could finish, two people rushed by him. It was Amy, who was helping Bazett limp away as fast as her injured body could allow.

"Run away!" Amy shouted as she half-carried Bazett.

"…Wasn't that Amy?" Orbot asked, watching them go.

"Never mind them!" Cubot yelled, looking around the corner of a building. "Check out that!"

Orbot followed Cubot and looked. Up ahead, an endless barrage of lights were pouring out from a glowing hole in the sky. The lights were blasting Davy Sprocket, knocking the tall robot around like an inflatable punching dummy. A fair distance in front of Davy, a blond man was shouting like the audience of a Jerry Springer show.

"Die! Die! Die!" He raved, "Suffer a thousand deaths for your idiocy!"

"Good grief!" Orbot gasped.

That got Gilgamesh's attention. He stopped yelling, and coincidentally, the hail of destruction stopped. He glanced over in Orbot and Cubot's direction.

"Is someone there…?" He murmured aloud.

Panicking, Orbot and Cubot ducked out of sight. Quaking in fear, they put their hands over each others' speakers in a desperate attempt to stay quiet. Gilgamesh turned around and began to walk towards that building. But as he moved, Davy Spocket, battered, dented, and cracked in numerous spots, staggered to its feet. Shaking, it took its rifle and prepared to aim at Gilgamesh. A massive energy built up in its barrel. But just as it pulled the trigger, Davy's left leg gave out. The barrel of the rifle pointed down and went off.

BOOM!

Davy Spocket was blasted back and crashed into the church building. As it struggled to it's feet, it ended up bringing down the wall.

Gilgamesh looked back at the robot with disdain. "…How pathetic."

The golden swirl appeared again, and bright light shot out of it and struck Davy Sprocket straight in the chest. The glow surrounding the projectile vanished, revealing that it was an ornate sword with a jeweled hilt. That too vanished after a few moments. Davy Sprocket, having taken so many similar hits, couldn't take it anymore. It's metal body began to explode. Naturally, this did nothing to help the structural damage the church had suffered when the robot flew into it. The steeple cracked, and began to fall apart.

It was at that moment that Kotomine came out. He had heard the ruckus earlier and watched as his partner blasted something into oblivion from the safety of the windows. When he saw the robot rocketing towards the church, the priest was forced to retreat to the lower levels for safety. He returned in time to see his beloved church now a broken shell of its former self.

After his talk with Rin, he had no doubts that the robot was here because of the Boundary Field surrounding the church. But repairing the damages…Kotomine clutched his head as he realized the repercussions of the incident. It was one thing to hypnotize officials into ignoring and excusing the events of the Holy War, as repairing the places and things destroyed by the fighting was never really his responsibility. This time, he would have to pay for the church's reconstruction himself!

As Kotomine tried to figure out which portion of the church's budget he'd have to murder to raise the funds, Gilgamesh strutted back up towards the ruined church. He gave a piece of metal a bitter kick. His left nostril still stung from having a hair forcibly removed. When he got closer to the church, he saw Kotomine staring at him.

Gilgamesh asked. "My room wasn't affected, was it?"

Kotomine groaned, and resumed massaging his temples. "I don't suppose your vaunted Gate of Babylon can pay for the reconstruction, can it?"

Gilgamesh pointedly looked away. "I suppose…after all, normal insurance policies don't cover robot attacks, do they?"

"Excuse me."

Kirie Kotomine was a busy man. Besides preparing for his duty as the Church-appointed overseer of the Holy War that was due to occur next year, there were also more mundane business he had to attend to. In this case, it was renewing the insurance policy on the church building itself. Due to an unfortunate accident, the business that normally provided insurance had gone out of business, so Kotomine was forced to switch providers.

Currently, he was going over the terms as listed in the contract. Before him, a representative of the insurance company waited for him to finish and sign.

Kotomine pointed at one paragraph. "What exactly is this?"

It was a claus labeled, 'Giant-robo explosion claus'.

"Oh, that," The insurance rep shrugged, "That's in case a giant robot explodes near the building. It's a bit expensive, but it never hurts to be prepared, right?"

Kotomine rolled his eyes and pushed the contract back. "I doubt I'll be needing that."

Kotomine groaned and clutched his forehead. He couldn't even muster a reply to Gilgamesh's question.

Gilgamesh, amused by Kotomine's discomfort, had already forgotten about everything else that had happened.

"What the heck was that!?"Cubot cried as he and Orbot hovered as quickly as their propulsion units would allow.

"I wish I could tell you," Orbot said, "All I know for certain is that before his destruction, Davy Sprocket transmitted the data it had obtained during its search to my Eggman Electric." He pulled out the computer he had earlier and began to check the input. "According to this, that blond fellow was in possession of an exorbitant amount of Chaos energy. More so than the Bug-"

Bonk!

Orbot was so busy reading the transmission that he wasn't watching where he was going. In doing so, he had run head-first into a mailbox. Groaning, he backed away.

"Watch your step." Cubot suggested helpfully.

"Thank you." Orbot replied. He would have included sarcasm, but experience taught him that his counterpart's audio receivers weren't advanced enough to pick up on such subtleties.

"Two sub-bosses in one night," Cubot remarked, "You wanna tell the doc?"

"I'm sure he already knows," Orbot sighed, "Let's go check on one of the Egg Pods and see if it's ready for retrieval. At least we can get something out tonight…"

"So, how many did you get?"

Back at the Emiya Estate, Shirou was telling the rest of the group about his close encounter with the Special Zone. He would have liked to wait for Sonic to return, and for Illya to leave before expositing about his experience, but the little whisp of a Master hadn't forgotten about the strange event- nor was she willing to leave what happened a mystery. She forced Shirou's hand with one simple question;

"Onii-chan, did that ring earlier have something to do with these guys?"

And so, doing his best to exclude information about the Chaos Emeralds Shirou displayed the Power Rings he had gathered while in the zone. A quick count revealed that he managed to take twenty-six.

"Hmm, so these are the things that Sonic used to fight Lancer with…" Illya mused, holding one up. "They don't feel that powerful. I wonder how they can withstand a Noble Phantasm?"

"You know what happened between Sonic and Lancer, Illyasviel?" Saber asked.

Illya gave a short laugh. "Of course! I had a familiar follow you guys back after we first fought. I didn't want Onii-Chan to die before I killed him," She flashed Shirou a sweet-as-snake-venom smile. "Only I have the right kill you, Onii-chan."

Shirou gulped. He had mixed feelings on that statement.

And judging from the way Tails had shivered, the fox felt the same way. "Uh, but you're not planning to kill anyone now, are you?"

Illya shrugged. "During dinner? After the movie he treated me to? What kind of barbarian do you take me for?"

Shirou felt a slight sense of relief. So far, it seemed like Illya wouldn't restarting the hostilities…for now.

He and Archer had finished making dinner. The two, with tentative amounts of cooperation, were now setting the table. As everyone sat down, their eyes were drawn to one empty spot at one end.

"…Sonic's not here," Shirou said, "Should we wait a little bit more…?"

"Sonic said we should not hold back on his behalf," Saber said, a bit too insistently. "If he is late, than that is his misfortune. Let us put it aside for now. When he returns, he can heat it up-"

Whoosh! And Sonic was in his seat.

"I'm back!" The Hedgehog declared, "So, am I late-late, or just fashionably late?"

"You're just in time, Saber was about to eat your portion." Archer commented, earning a deadly glare from both the lady knight and her Master.

"She's not the first girl to make a grab for my plate." Sonic replied, thus turning Saber's stern gaze from Archer to himself. Rin joined in, if only out of principal.

Wanting to avoid the outbreak of another argument, Shirou quickly filled Sonic in on the Special Zone. To his surprise, Sonic didn't seem too bothered about it. Shirou thought that the Hegehog would have been upset to learn that he had lost a chance to retrieve a Chaos Emerald (Although he didn't say so in front of Illya), but Sonic was surprisingly casual about the news.

"It's no big deal," The Hedgehog said, twirling his chopsticks. "Special Zones reappear after a few days. And Eggman's robots can't navigate them either. Let's check out the spot again later."

…I'm glad Sonic's taking this so well, but I wonder if we can afford to be so laid-back? Shirou thought, I just hope another Servant doesn't stumble upon a Special Zone…

"Is there a key to finding…Special Zones?" Rin asked, "I mean, does their placement follow a pattern?"

"Usually depends," Sonic replied, "My opinion, they just pop up in places nobody usually goes to, like caves or unused rooms."

"Great," Rin groaned, "With our luck, another Servant might find one before we do…"

"On the other hand, we're probably the only ones who know what the Zones are," Archer pointed out, "Even if a Servant were to stumble into one, they might not figure out what's going on."

Everyone was silent as they took that in. Illya in particular was suspicious. While she was genuinely flattered that Shirou had asked her out on what wanted to call a date (With Saber tagging along regardless), she didn't believe that her Onii-Chan was being completely straight. It was clearly obvious that the others were hiding things from her. But she wouldn't press the subject for now. She could find out later…

"By the way, shifting gears, but I ran into a weird creature while I was out." Sonic commented.

"What?" Shirou asked, breaking away from his worries.

Sonic waved his hand. "It looked like this…starfish-octopus, or something. With lots eyes. I destroyed it, but it looked like…"

"Like what?" Saber asked, her eyes narrowing.

Sonic stopped, and drummed his fingers on the table in thought. After a few seconds of doing so, he asked, "It didn't feel like a real animal- and after I was finished, it just vanished into smoke. Any ideas?"

"It sounds like a familiar," Illya commented, "But none of the ones that went to answer Kotomine's summons looked anything like what you described."

Though they didn't know it, Saber and Rin were thinking the exact same thing. Sonic's description of his encounter brought to mind of similar encounters during the Fourth War; Monstrous creatures, that would kill and abduct anyone who couldn't get away in time. The foul summons of Bluebeard, the Fourth Caster.

It's impossible, Saber thought, But…could some foolish Mage have summoned that horrific Caster again?

Archer, meanwhile, had other worries. That doesn't sound like anything that appeared during my run through the Fifth War. Dr. Eggman, that shadow-guy, and now strange familiars…What next?

What else is going to appear?

This is so boring, Lancer thought as he leapt across the rooftops of Fuyuki, I wish something would happen that Kotomine can't drag me away from.

By the time Lancer had returned to Fuyuki, the Servant's mood had gone into the negatives. Having his battle against Sonic cut short again was bad enough, but a chance to rumble with Archer almost made up for that. However, that fight too had been halted, due to his Master's cowardice.

Now it was back to old grindstone…reconnaissance. Or, more accurately, (To Lancer) 'hiding in the shadows and watching while everyone else fights to their fullest.' After getting a taste of action from Sonic, Lancer's bitter feelings towards this tactic had not lessened. If anything, the brief skirmishes only whetted Lancer's for straightforward battles. Unfortunately, Kotomine had forbid him using a hostage to lure Sonic out again, claiming that it might expose Magecraft. Lancer figured that by now, something had been exposed- people just weren't sure what word to call it.

A noise like a car blowing up below brought Lancer out of his thoughts. Stopping on the roof of an abandoned building, he stayed in the shadows to observe while remaining unobserved. On the streets, a small red figure was standing over a pile of flaming metal. As Lancer focused, his eyes widened, then narrowed, on the sight beneath him.

Another one!

Knuckles blew on his fist. There was something about punching a robot into scrap metal that was oddly therapeutic. And this Echidna definitely had some steam to blow off. So far, his search for the Chaos Emeralds were proving to be extremely fruitless. Not that he hadn't been able to find anything. Instead, what kept happening was that he kept getting signals that were like seemed to lead him to strange areas…and then vanish. It was incredibly confusing and frustrating. The only way the signature of a Chaos Emerald could disappear would be if it was taken off-planet (A possibility, depending on the local space program), or if it had vanished into a Special Zone. Knuckles himself had done just that, back when he had first met Sonic; Believing the Hedgehog to be a villain, Knuckles had taken the Chaos Emeralds and hid them in Special zones that had appeared on Angel Island. And it wasn't as if doing so wasn't difficult, all one would need to do was throw a gem, or several, into a Special Zone gateway. But for that to work, one would need to find said gates first, and from what he had learned from the occasional conversation with Caster or Asassin ("Those are weird names," Knuckles had commented) was that Special Zones were not a normal thing in this world. Knuckles had been able to find the ones on Angel Island easily enough due to knowing the landscape. What kind of person could find Special Zones in a matter of days?

…Well, Sonic could, as well as anyone who could keep up. But that was neither here nor there.

Gah, my head is starting to hurt, Knuckles mentally groaned, I either need a lucky break, or something else to break.

It was at that moment Knuckles saw it. Lying on the ground, practically undisturbed by the recent demolition act committed by the Echidna, was a coin. Knuckles blinked. Then, he shrugged and walked over to it. The tiny piece of currency wasn't the stroke of fortune he wanted, but he knew that every little bit helped. He bent over…

Whoosh!

…Just narrowly missing the spear tip as Lancer thrust it where Knuckles' head was.

"Dammit!" Lancer swore, "I cannot catch a break!"

Knuckles quickly noticed Lancer's presence and reacted jumping onto his hands and kicking the spear away. Lancer kept hold of it, but in doing so became left a huge opening- one that Knuckles went for. A gloved, spiked fist slammed into Lancer's chest, sending the taller man back a few steps.

"Augh!" Lancer gasped, his voice strained from the wind going out. "You hit a lot harder than Sonic ever did!"

"Sonic?" Knuckles asked, "The Hedgehog? Where is he?"

Breathing out the pain, Lancer stood up. "Hell if I know. The way that guy moves, he could be in Hokkaido by now."

"You don't have to tell me that," Knuckles said, grinning. His smile lasted for only a second. "So what's your deal? You just want revenge on me for what happened between you and Sonic?"

"Kinda," Lancer went into a fighting stance, "Let's just say that you sneaker-wearing tanukis are kinda messing up this War I'm in. Sad to say, you guys have got to go."

"I'm not going anywhere without the Chaos Emeralds." Knuckles retorted.

That was all the talk that was needed. Both men were impatient from their lack of success in their chosen fields, and could not hold themselves back any longer. The two charged at each other and the clash began. Thanks to his spear, Lancer had the longer reach and the advantage and with his speed quickly put Knuckles on the defensive. Thankfully, the Echidna's reflexes were good enough to keep himself from an unpleasant skewering. Instead of trying to catch the weapon, he used his fast punches to disrupt the path of the blade away from his furry chest. However, Lancer kept pressing his strikes, pushing Knuckles back. Behind them, a building was coming up. It wouldn't be long until they bumped into it.

Once we hit that wall, he's mine, Lancer thought, I just need to avoid hitting the wall...

Knuckles saw what was coming, by looking directly into Lancer's eyes. Reflected off of the iris' was the front. Seeing that, Knuckles quickly formulated a plan.

I've gotta do this just right, Knuckles thought, Otherwise I'm gonna look pretty stupid with a hole in my chest…

As they got closer and closer to the building, Knuckles put his plan into motion. As Lancer jabbed his weapon forward, Knuckles caught it with both hands. Then, he used the momentum to flip the spear up and throw Lancer behind him. This would have been painful enough, but the front of the building was a shop, and Knuckles' maneuver had sent Lancer right through the display window. A few bits of broken glass fell on the Echidna as Lancer's body took the full brunt of the destruction.

With Lancer briefly disposed of, Knuckles broke the spear over his leg. Or tried to. But a Noble Phantasm is a tool for a being beyond human understanding- it would not even bend.

"Ow! What's this thing made of?" Knuckles muttered, and with the grace of a Olympics athlete during the javelin toss, hurled the thing down the street.

The minute he did, Lancer leapt out of the store, his body a mess of cuts from the glass. The Servant glared at Knuckles, his eyes now a blazing red, as opposed to the normal even stare.

"I'm starting to hate you sneaker-wearing spirits." He growled.

Knuckles threw a punch, but Lancer dodged it and made a charge for the garbage can the spear had impaled. As he ran, he vaguely heard something that sounded like a piece of wood being run through a power saw. His mind didn't process that noise, as most of it was focused on getting the spear back. After his first battle with Sonic, Lancer had become rather protective of his namesake weapon. But just as it was millimeters from his fingertips, something rammed into Lancer that reminded him of his fights against Sonic.

Lancer and Knuckles went tumbling off of the street, a tangled mass of flailing limbs. The ball of violence rolled into an alley, up until Lancer kicked Knuckles away, sending him through a ground-level window. The Servant felt a small measure of satisfaction when he heard Knuckles' grunt of pain mixed with the sound of glass breaking. Knowing he didn't have long, Lancer rushed back, grabbed his spear, and then dove through the window after Knuckles. The opening led to a basement of sorts. It clearly had been unused for some time. There were some cardboard boxes, a some pieces of debris, and a fine layer of dust.

It did not have an Echidna.

"The hell?" Lancer looked around in confusion. "Where'd he go?"

As far as the Hound of Chulann could tell, there was no sign of Knuckles leaving. There were no holes in the wall, and the only door was untouched. He couldn't even sense any lingering traces of Magecraft, so it wash't as if Knuckles had teleported away. Perturbed, Lancer poked around the boxes, almost expecting to find his red opponent tucked away somewhere. When his half-hearted search yielded nothing, Lancer decided to try something new.

"Oh, he vanished," The Servant said loudly and deliberately, "I guess I should just leave…"

Walking as slowly and deliberately as possible, Lancer turned and made his way back towards the window. After five steps, he heard a rustle of movement. Whirling about, Lancer's eager grin dropped when he saw that it was just a box he moved falling over. Annoyed, he left the basement back through the window, resuming his patrol of the city.

Seconds passed. And then, a minute. Once three minutes and twenty seconds drifted by, a light appeared in the room. In its brief flicker of existence, it formed a ring in the air, and through its hole deposited Knuckles onto the floor before vanishing without a trace.

"Crud!" Knuckles slammed his fist onto the floor. "So close, too! Where do those spike-balls even come from?!"

Sighing, Knuckles stood up and glared at the space where the Special Zone gate used to be.

Oh well, finding one Special Zone is a step forward at least. And I managed to get some Rings out of this, He thought, I'll just have to come back in a little bit.

Knuckles pulled himself out of the window and looked around. He didn't see Lancer anywhere. The street was as empty as it was before the Servant attacked him. The stillness both worried and relieved Knuckles.

Laughing boy probably didn't see me enter the Zone…I hope, Knuckles thought, it would be a real pain in the tail if some nut like him found a Chaos Emerald…

Knuckles wandered off into the darkness, continuing his search for the Chaos Emeralds. He was not fully aware of the dangers within the city. He knew of a few, but not enough to matter in the long run. He knew about the Badniks wandering about, grabbing small animals for Eggman to transform. He knew about dangerous people like Rider, Archer, and now Lancer lurking about. He did not know that Caster was watching him.

%Break%

Caster did not always monitor Knuckles. Fuyuki was a large city, and she needed to keep tabs on the other Masters and Servants. She especially had to watch over teams Saber and Archer- their close contact with Knuckles' friends would no doubt be trouble if not handled properly. The Emiya boy's attempt to befriend the tiny Einzbern girl was equally troubling.

But she was glad to have watched over Knuckles this night.

So, that is a Special Zone…she thought, her eyes gleaming under her hood.

TO BE CONTINUED

Tiger Dojo

Taiga: 1, 2, 3, 4, go! Blast off! It's Tiger Dojo! At the command is your instructor, Fujimura Taiga!

Illya: Co-piloting is Illya, the Number 1 Student!

Taiga: We're nearing the end of..

Illya: Waaait! The story's almost over?! How can that be?!

Taiga: Don't interrupt!

(Whack!)

Illya: Oww!

Taiga: I was saying, we are nearing the end of the first arc! The 'Sonic in Fuyuki' Arc! We are reaching the turning point in our story. Only one or two more chapters to go until everything changes!

Illya: Just a little bit more, huh? And how do you know about that? Aren't you just making stuff up to sound smarter?

Taiga: How dare you doubt your sensei!

(Whack!)

Illya: Arrgh! L-let's just answer the questions, all right?

Taiga: Our first comes from…huh, there's no name. Anyway, the letter says, "Do you consider Sonic and the Black Knight canon or not? The answer to that is yes! We are considering all of the games canon, in one way or another!

Illya: Except for the ones spun off of the Sonic Boom cartoon, for obvious reasons.

Taiga: The next question is from Thunder Dragon; "What is up with Rin's treatment of Tails and the gang?" Hmm, an interesting query, worthy of this hall…

Illya: It's because Rin is a barbarian, of course.

Taiga: Nooo, nooo, that's not it. Despite the image of perfection she presents to her classmates, Rin has a great deal of emotional baggage buried within her. Being raised by a mocking jerk like Kirie probably didn't help. The only thing she could really depend on was her Magecraft. However, the appearance of Sonic and his friends have thrown any expectations of a Holy War she prepared for out the window. Like most traditional Mages, Rin has been raised to rely only on Magecraft. Sonic and his friends, however, are making strides with their advanced technology that Rin was taught to have no faith in. Being a classic Tsundere, Rin cannot properly express thanks for their aid, and is actually a bit jealous of how quickly the rest of her team, Shirou, Saber, and Archer, are adjusting to them. As such, all of these pent up feelings will come out in bursts, for now. Don't worry, I'm sure that as the story goes on, the walls around Rin-chan's heart fade away, allowing our dear Tsundere to love freely!

Illya: But if she did, she'd no longer be a Tsundere, would she?

Taiga: …The Dojo is now closed! See you next time, my students!