Chapter 14: The Forest of Einzbern

The red bi-plane The Tornado soared over the highways and forests.

"We're almost to the Einzbern Castle Boundary Field!" Tails reported, "Brace yourself for the shock!"

Rin nodded. "Understood. Are you all right, Emiya?"

Shirou nodded, shaking a little. "Y-yeah…"

Shirou had never been on an airplane before. Not even a commercial airline. So the takeoff should have been an incredible thrill. But he couldn't concentrate on that. Due to its size, there was only one extra seat behind the cockpit. This meant that Rin was forced to sit on Shirou's lap. As such, Shirou spent the entire flight with reddened cheeks. Rin had seemed a bit mortified herself at the beginning, but had quickly adjusted, and without a joke even. Shirou secretly envied her professionalism.

I just hope Tails doesn't mention this to Sonic, Shirou thought, This is embarrassing enough as it is!

Shirou forced himself not to focus on the embarrassment he felt from their position as he sensed the Einzbern Castle Boundary Field coming up. He braced himself for the shock Sonic had forewarned them about, and sure enough, felt a slight tingle all over his body…

"EEEYAAAAARGH!"

…Which was clearly nothing compared to the stimulation Rin felt upon crossing the field. Clearly, Illya had designed the Boundary Field to apply different levels of electrocution depending on whoever made contact with it.

"Whoa, Rin, are you okay?" Tails asked, alarmed. His fur was standing out on all ends. "Should we land?"

But Rin wasn't paying attention to the Fox. "You little brat… I know you're laughing…!"

"I think she's fine, Tails," Shirou said, "Let's continue on to the castle."

"Roger," Tails nodded, "We should be there in a few minutes now… Hey, what's that?"

Shirou and Rin (The latter of whom was still wincing) looked down. Apparently, someone had planted a bunch of bright flowers in a formation that, when looked from above, resembled a giant arrow.

"I guess she's been expecting us," Shirou guessed, "But how did Illya know we'd be coming in by plane?"

"We flew over the castle a few days ago," Tails replied, "Maybe she saw us then?"

"Urg…just get us there," Rin ordered, still cringing in pain. Her pigtails were as stiff as spikes. "Emiya, you and I need to keep an eye out, in case that tiny sadist changed her mind and tries something."

"You think the Einzberns put Surface to Air Missile launchers around their castle?" Shirou asked. After finding Kiritsugu's guns, he was developing a margin of paranoia.

"I think Berserker can knock an airliner out of the sky if he throws his ax hard enough." Rin replied with total seriousness.

The Tornado flew on for a little bit more until the castle came into sight. Tails steered the bi-plane around the castle, looking for a place to land. He spotted a maid of sorts waving airport signals, clearly trying to gain their attention. She began to wave towards the courtyard, and Tails saw that a makeshift landing strip had been established, and a very good one, too. Not only had a pavement been set down, but there were lights in the event of a nighttime arrival. And it was much longer than Tohsaka Mansion's backyard. After they landed, the maid approached, apparently hiding the signals in her dress.

"Welcome to Einzbern Castle," She greeted as Tails helped Rin off of Shirou's lap. She spoke in an even, almost emotionless voice. "I am Sella, one of Lady Illya's maids. Lady Illya sent me out here to greet you."

"Ah… Thank you" Shirou replied awkwardly. There was something about Sella's demeanor that was very off-putting. Or maybe he was still anxious from having the school idol on his lap. "We're glad to be here."

Sella nodded slightly. Her expression did not change, although her eyes did focus onto Tails after she finished talking to Shirou. She kept her gaze on Tails, even after the fox set Rin on the ground.

"Where is Illya-" Sella's gaze flickered towards Rin meaningfully, and the Mage reconsidered her words, albeit grudgingly. "-Lady Illya? Is she too busy to welcome her guests?"

Sella turned around and began to walk back towards the castle. Shirou, Tails, and Rin followed after her.

"Lady Illya is busy entertaining that blue tanuki who arrived here earlier, the one you call Sonic," Sella explained as they walked, "He's…" She trailed off, looking awkward. (Though it was hard to tell just from looking at the back of her head.)

"Sonic's what?" Tails asked, hovering up to Sella. "Did something happen?"

Sella sighed. "The first thing he did was slide down the banisters from the top of the main stairs to the bottom. In doing so, he knocked several vases- priceless, irreplaceable -off of their pedestals. Before any of the vases could land on the floor, he caught every single one in the blink."

"Oh, good…" Shirou began, but Sella wasn't finished, apparently.

"And after leaving them on the floor for Leysritt and I to take care, he began to race around the castle. I can't be certain, but I think he went into every room, including the ones that were still being redecorated," The maid continued, sounding slightly more annoyed by the word. It was like listening to a tea kettle as the water heated up. "When we tracked him down, he had found Lady Illya's room and was going through her video game collection. He also somehow beat her high score on Halo. Now he has taken over the kitchen and is insisting on serving everyone some garish meal involving sausages and hot sauce."

"He…he was only a few minutes ahead of us..." Shirou breathed while Rin palmed her forehead. Tails just laughed.

"Lady's exaggerating," Sonic confided at Shirou's other side. He munched on a chili dog. "I only nicked those vases, they didn't fall," Everyone except Tails jumped. He held out a second chili dog to Shirou. "Any takers? Berserker ate the rest."

Shirou awkwardly took the chili dog from Sonic. After a moment of trepidation, bit into it. After the traditional Japanese breakfast he had earlier, the spicy Western fast food was an...interesting contrast. But, he didn't want to offend his friend by refusing. As he chewed slowly, Sonic began to talk.

"I checked this place over and haven't found any possible traps," Sonic whispered to Shirou, "So, I think she's serious about working with us, but, uh, might wanna watch out anyway."

"What do you mean?" Shirou asked as they entered the castle. The minute every single one of them were inside, the doors slammed shut, followed by the ominous sound of a lock clicking.

"Hello, Onii-chan." Standing at the top of the stairs was the Master of the Einzbern Clan, Illyasviel von Einzbern. Standing at her left side was Berserker. At her right was a maid who was virtually identical to Sella, Leysritt. Berserker was chewing on a chili dog.

"Welcome to my home," Illya stated, smiling like a cat who ate the canary. "I'm so glad you could join us..."

Saber screamed in pain, despite her best efforts not. Multicolored lightning danced around the captured knight, stinging her body, scorching her hair. The echoes of her pained shrieks bounced off of the walls of the dark chamber. Beneath Saber's form a magic circle spun about. Caster stood in front of the lady knight, shaking her head in disappointment.

"Really, Saber, You're only delaying the inevitable," The witch said chidingly, as if scolding a child who didn't want to eat their vegetables. "Thanks to the Chaos Emerald, I now have exponential reserves of Prana to tap into. If you hope to wear me out with this pitiful resistance, then you shall be sorely disappointed. Just give in."

The lightning ceased and Saber's body went limp, still hanging in the air thanks to her bindings. Panting, Saber struggled to look up so she could glare defiantly at her captor. Unfortunately, her hair had become undone, so a messy net of golden strands had fallen over her eyes. Nonetheless, Saber did her best despite having hands tied behind back, forced into a humiliating hunch, and dressed in a revealing white dress.

"Never," Saber gasped vindictively, "As long I can, I will defy you," She paused to take a breath. "As a knight, and a king, I will never bow to your will…"

But Caster smiled. "Ahh, that's right. Your true identity is King Arthur. I saw you destroy that mad doctor's airship, you know. I wonder how defiant you'll be when I start using anti-dragon magic?"

As the lightning and screams began anew, Archer stood just outside the chamber. His expression was troubled. He had long felt his ability to express anything other than sarcasm had been bled out by time, effort, and gracious amounts of bloodshed. However, hearing the tortures his former Servant was going through bothered him. Whatever piece of his soul that hadn't been blistered by the duties of a Counter Guardian told Archer that it was wrong to just idly stand by while a woman he once loved was being electrocuted. However, it wasn't that he had much of a choice. While the Archer-class' Independent Action ability gave him a measure of freedom, Caster would either send a familiar or teleport to his location the minute he tried to invoke it. With the Chaos Emerald, she had power to spare and the skill to keep that power from overwhelming her. It probably helped that she had plenty of Magecraft to energize now. The minute she lost control of Taiga, Caster had used her Territory Creation to transform her lair underneath the Ryuudou Temple into…well, something that would give M.C. Escher a headache. It was the kind of labyrinth that would require at least a dozen balls of magic thread to navigate. It reminded Archer a little of Shirou's description of a Special Zone. The only reason she wasn't adding more twists to the distorted workshop was that now her focus was entirely on forcing Saber to submit. And given how proud and stubborn both ladies were, it was not a stalemate that could be resolved readily.

Archer was brought of his thoughts be a strange squishing noise. Projecting a simple sword, he unleashed arcane might onto yet another starfish-monster that had creeped into Caster's Temple. More and more of the strange entities described by Sonic were turning up. Rin had claimed that the Caster from the Fourth War might have been re-summoned (A theory that was now proven wrong), or that it was a Caster with a similar spell selection. But after some prodding, it became apparent that the witch currently electrocuting Saber wasn't behind the starfish.

Every time I see one, I'm reminded of that weird shadow person who turned into Shirou, Archer thought, Is he responsible for these things?

"Oh? Your own Servant abandoned you? My, my, Miss Tohsaka, not even your father would summon a Servant who could betray him." Illya purred, pretending to hide a laugh.

Rin's eyebrow twitched as a vein. "As opposed to the Einzbern, whose Servants fail to take any initiative at all…"

Sonic let the dialogue wash over him. The "Alliance" was currently having a meeting in a dinning hall, seated at one of those long tables where you needed a long-range radio just to ask someone to pass the ketchup. As Illya and Rin went through the traditional trade of barbs, put-downs, and excuses, he continued to think about what he had seen in Illya's room.

Ever since he had first saw Illya, the little Master had always made Sonic a bit uneasy. Years of playing it cool had allowed Sonic to keep that unease from showing, but there was something about her that was troubling. No matter how playful and innocent she presented herself, Illya had a darkness…a foreboding maturity that reminded him of his "faker" Shadow the Hedgehog. Plus, there was her strange obsession with Shirou. According to Saber, Illya first appeared trying to murder Shirou, only to give up at the last minute. And there was no way Saber and Archer combined could have beaten Berserker that night. Illya had her own reasons for sparing the red-haired Master.

Sonic then felt his fur tingle, and realized that Tails was showing Illya the Chaos Emerald.

"That is powerful," Illya conceded, "If Caster has one, that would explain the huge amount of Prana being generated from the Temple."

Illya reached out to touch the gem, but stopped at the last minute. Her entire body trembled, as a Mage's natural impulse to attain power battled against survival instincts. She instinctively sensed the improbable potency of the Chaos Emerald, and it called to her like a giant red button labeled "DO NOT PUSH: END-OF-THE-WORLD BUTTON".

Tails got the hint and quickly closed the lead-lined lunch box, snapping the clasps shut.

"Better not touch it," Tails said, "The energy might be more than you can handle."

"What we really need to do is figure out how to stop the energy Caster's harnessing," Rin said, "Even if we pull Prana from our Chaos Emerald, we'll still be matching our Magecraft against a witch from the Age of the Gods."

After demonstrating his Projected Rule Breaker to Rin, it became apparent who Caster was; Medea, a woman from Greek Mythology, famed as a witch of who killed her own brother. Her Noble Phantasm was the same dagger she used to do the deed as a human being. And all of the Mages knew that during that time period, Magecraft was far more powerful- the True Magics being more commonplace than during modern times. With a Chaos Emerald, Caster would be able to perform those Magics like card tricks.

"It's too bad you didn't bring one of those reverse-Emeralds with you," Shirou said to Sonic, recalling a story Sonic once told. Upon seeing Rin and Illya's baffled looks, he explained. "Sonic told me that he and Tails destroyed one of Eggman's weapons with a different kind of gem," He looked back at Sonic. "Isn't that what happened?"

Sonic grinned, snapping his fingers. "That's right…hey! Who says we can't do that now? Tails! Think you can make another one?"

"Maybe…" Tails pulled out his Miles Electric.

"Hold it! What are you guys talking about?" Rin said, standing up. She marched over to Tails' seat, as did the rest of the team, save Sonic.

"As part of experiment, I siphoned some energy from a Chaos Emerald and then, ran it through a blah blah blah tech stuff, blah blah blah-"

"STOP!" Rin shouted, unable to take it. When she realized that everyone was staring at her, she cleared her throat. "So, basically, you placed a portion of the Emerald's power in a separate container, and then…inverted the energy so its frequency is the exact opposite of the source? So the two cancel each other out?"

Tails beamed. "Right!" His ears then drooped. "But, the equipment I used is still back home…"

Rin smirked. "Tails, please. You don't need any gadgets when you have the Head of the Tohsaka Clan, Master of Jewel-Magecraft, at your side."

"And I can craft an appropriately sized container," Illya stated, not wanting to be left out. "It will be superior to any pebble a plebeian like Tohsaka can afford."

"Plebeian?! Why you little…"

As the two Mages bickered (With Tails trying to mediate, unsuccessfully) Shirou glanced at Sonic. The Hedgehog was grinning, and flashed Shirou a thumbs-up, which the Mage returned. But Sonic's smile dropped and he jerked his thumb over his shoulder. Shirou frowned, and looked back at the girls and Tails. They were too busy talking. Getting up, he and Sonic left the meeting as quiet as possible.

"…So, that's where the castle is," Shinji said dully. His eyes were unfocused and his entire body was slightly red. He spoke into the Eggman Electric. "I d'n't think there's anyone besides Illya and Berserker there, but di'n't have time check…"

"No matter. Excellent work, Shinji," Eggman congratulated, twirling his mustache. Had he studied finance, he would have closed a dozen mortgages with that one motion. "Focus your efforts on determining the identities and locations of the other Servants."

Shinji nodded dumbly, and then slumped off-screen. Orbot's visage appeared as the perspective tilted slightly. Shinji must have dropped the communicator.

"He's been like that ever since this morning at breakfast," Orbot said, nodding in Shinji's direction. "And we don't know why."

Cubot shoved his head into view. "Spent three hours in the bathroom, running the shower at top temperature," He said, "Kept crying 'All those times!' like some kind of glitchy sound file."

Eggman sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Great, just we need in this organization, more teen angst. I thought we were through with that when Shadow left. Well, try and keep Shinji on-track. I'm going to get our 'Holy Grail'. Eggman out!"

Eggman hung up and turned towards the hanger bay. It was starting to look a little lonely, what with the destruction of his Sub-bosses. He rubbed his chin in thought. For this operation to work, he would need more than the usual horde of Badniks to accompany him. In order to get Illya away from her titanic pet. But from what Orbot, Cubot, and Shinji had said, the Servant Berserker was strength incarnate. Simply trying to destroy it would yield nothing.

"Looks like I'm going to have to do a few modifications before I leave…" Eggman murmured, grinning evilly.

And the estate is empty? Kirie asked telepathically, his teeth gritting.

Exactly, Lancer responded, I've been over the entire neighborhood three times. Apparently, The Master of Saber told his girlfriend that he'll be out of town for a while. That blabbermouth teacher from the high school was talking about it to her grandfather.

So Shirou decided that his own home was no longer safe. That was understandable. During the Fourth War, Tohsaka Tokiomi had his family sent away so he could focus on the War effort. For all the good it did him in the end. Still, that Shirou made his own escape was more than Kirie had expected of the boy. He was irritatingly resolute when it came to trying to defend the bland, ordinary people of the city. However, with the sudden explosion in Prana coming from the Ryuudou Temple, perhaps Saber convinced Shirou that it would better to retreat and draw away Caster's focus from the suburbs. That was more likely.

Has there been any sign of Rider? Kirie asked. He hadn't heard any reports of people being molested.

None. Wherever she is, she's- Augh!

What is it? Kirie didn't like the way Lancer ended his statement.

Another one of these creepy starfish things! I hate them, where do they keep coming from?

Kirie didn't answer. He had long suspected that the source of the abominations were connected with Matou Zouken's twisted experiments. However, with his work trying to cover up (Or at least limit the exposure of) Sonic's activities, he hadn't been able to look into that situation much. However, he hoped to change that with this visit. It was high time to pull rank and have Rin's help take care of that outrageous blue meddler...or at the very least, get that phone and its incriminating pictures.

Kotomine Kirie arrived at the entrance of the Tohsaka Mansion, and unlocked the door. As Rin's official caretaker, he had a spare key available. And as Rin's guardian and her ally in mantaining the secrecy of Magecraft in Fuyuki...

Hmm? Something was wrong. The door wasn't opening. Annoyed, Kirie tried his key again. For a moment, he thought that it had simply jammed, but no, the key turned smoothly, and he heard the bolt click. But for some reason, the door was jammed. While there was a chance that Rin had formed a new Magecraft to keep him out, Kirie didn't sense any Prana on the door-

Wait. There was something on the door. It was a high-tech gadget of some kind, a metal block the size of a brick. It only had a single light on it, and the light was red.

Where'd this come from? Kirie thought, Is this thing the reason I can't get in?

Rin hated technology. Partially because it went against Magecraft tradition, but mostly because she was really bad at it. So how did this device end up on her mansion? A quick check around the perimeter showed that the other entrances had similar gadgets attached. While Kirie could just knock them off with his own strength, he decided to hold off on that for now. Instead, he examined the backyard. There were imprints in the grass that suggested something large and heavy had been resting there once.

So this was where they hid the plane, Kirie thought, Judging from the stains on the grass, they were covering it with a tarp. Ordinarily, something would have been noticed, but the Boundary Field keeps most people from coming here…

Clk

Kirie sighed. Except for robots. Normal Boundary Fields are about as effective against machines as bug spray against fish.

The priest turned around, ready to destroy another Badnik that had clearly wandered onto the property. Besides that giant one Gilgamesh destroyed, smaller robots had also approached the church. Whenever one got inside, Kirie had to spend valuable plotting time destroying it. Eventually, the other robots began to see the pattern and from then on only wandered around the perimeter.

The priest let a few Black Keys fly, and the sound of machinery exploding filled the air as they struck. Annoyed that he wasn't going to find Sonic or something use against him, Kirie turned and left abruptly. Had he bothered to take a closer look at the smoldering heap of metal, he would have seen a few incongruities;

1) No animal came crawling or flying from the wreckage, as per the norm.

2) Secondly, unlike Dr. Eggman's usual designs, this one was rather mundane and basic.

"Did you see that?" Stuart asked Dr. Twice as they reviewed the footage taken from the Tohsaka Mansion.

Twice replayed the video several times at slower and slower frame rates. Even then, Kirie's motions were still a blur.

"I can't believe an ordinary man could move like that," Twice confessed, "And what was that weapon? A knife?"

Stuart didn't say anything. While he would have liked to increase surveillance on the priest, the task force's resources were starting to become stretched thin, due to research on the abnormal energy fields, the strange creatures being sighted (Twice had a few stuffed in jars made of ultra-thick glass), as well as keeping an eye out for Dr. Eggman's latest attack.

So he had no other choice than to simply ponder…was the man who benefited the most from Tohsaka Tokiomi's passing a friend, or enemy of young Rin? And this was on top of sighting of Tohsaka returning home, along with Tails and Emiya. They had apparently stopped by to retrieve some equipment from the Mansion before leaving in the plane. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough evidence that anyone was doing anything illegal. Yet.

"Have we tracked the plane?" Stuart asked another agent passing by.

"Yes, sir. As far as we can tell, it was heading towards the area owned by the Einzbern family."

The Einzberns…Kiritsugu's old clients…

Sonic led Shirou back out to the courtyard. As soon as Shirou was in the center, Sonic zipped back and shut the doors. Once he finished, he returned to the center with Shirou.

Rubbing his nose, Sonic said, "Okay, Shirou, with Saber indisposed, it's up to me to get you in shape."

"You're going to spar with me?" Shirou asked, getting excited. While he wanted Saber back more than anything, he wouldn't deny that being trained by a modern hero would be a dream come true.

Sonic laughed, "No way! I'd thought we go out for a jog instead."

"A-" Shirou barely had time to process this statement when Sonic became a blur. Within a fraction of a second Shirou felt something tap his shoulder, before seeing a gust of wind vanish into the forest beyond. Moments later, the words "Catch me if you can!" drifted into Shirou's ears. "-Jog?" Shirou finished.

Of course Sonic's idea of a training meant taking off into the woods at high velocity. Nonetheless, a dilligent student did not question his teacher, and so Shirou ran off after Sonic. Thankfully, the Hedgehog was easy to track. All Shirou needed to do was follow the small trench Sonic's rapid footsteps made into a forest. However, Shirou felt that simply trailing Sonic wasn't enough. There had been a challenge too. Channeling Prana into his legs, Shirou took Reinforced strides, rocketing across the path Sonic was carving through the forest.

"Saber's been a little worried about you, y'know!" Sonic yelled- from behind!

Shirou's heels dug into the ground as he tried to turn as quickly as possible. He almost fell over from the sudden shift in direction, but managed to stay upright. As he ran, he saw that Sonic was now sitting in the branch of a tree. He was barely halfway towards the Hedgehog before Sonic stood up and zipped over Shirou's head.

"Actually, there's something I wanted to talk to you about," Sonic called as he raced away, "Didn't want one of the girls to listen in!"

Shirou stopped- and instantly felt the Prana go out of his legs. His concentration broke and the Reinforcement spell wore off. As he ran to chase Sonic, Shirou recast the spell.

_ _m t_e b_n_ _ my sword

Shirou began to feel the strength return to his legs, and the distance between him and Sonic began to close. However, he could see that while Shirou was putting every ounce of his Prana into running, to Sonic this was nothing more than a casual jog. Heck, he began moonwalk at the speed of a fired bullet!

"See, Saber told me that whenever she slept, she gets a peek at your past," Sonic explained, "And from what she's seen, you- Whoa!"

Sonic had tripped over a rock. But he was moving so quickly that falling over didn't slow him down. Instead, he curled into a ball that rolled along until it hit a root and bounced into the air. Sonic landed back on his with all the ease of a world-class gymnast.

"Anyway, where was I?" Sonic dusted himself off, "Oh, right!"

Sonic took off like a rocket again, this time zipping off the path and through the maze of trees. Shirou charged after him, struggling to keep his pace in spite of the uneven terrain and the burning sensation that was beginning to grow in his legs.

"She's just bothered by the fact that you're a suicidal doormat who won't take care of himself!" Sonic called as he swung around a tree.

This again... Shirou thought as he struggled to keep up. He yelled "There's nothing wrong with helping others!" back at Sonic, only to realize that the Hedgehog had already veered off to the left. Never mind keeping up, just keeping track of Sonic was a challenge in itself!

"No argument there," Sonic replied, "But you've got a real problem with working other people, don't ya?"

Uh oh. It was worse than Shirou could imagine. Sonic the Hedgehog was psychoanalyzing him. Now the young Mage had new motivation to catch the off-worlder. So he could make Sonic stop talking.

Sonic did an amazing flip off of a tree branch and landed on an old stump several yards away. Shirou charged, and was amazed that Sonic wasn't moving. But just as the Hedgehog was within arm's reach-

Whooosh!

Shirou felt the wind nearly knock him off his feet as Sonic speeded past him. As he regained his footing, he tried to think. It was possible that Sonic was only saying his words to distract Shirou. But there was an edge to his tone that the young Mage could not ignore. Like the tip of a dull blade digging into the back of his neck.

Sonic, for his part, was not fond of introspect. He didn't dwell on much, he didn't mope. If something bothered him, he would try to fix it as soon as possible. Easy to do when you move faster than sound! But the more he got to know Shirou, through Saber, the more worried he became. It was like watching Shadow the Hedgehog, minus the unrelenting rage towards the world. And the reason Shadow had been that way was because…

Oh, I get it. Sonic thought sadly. Shirou had survived the Great Fire that killed all of his friends and neighbors. Even though Shirou had claimed to have no memory of his old home and life, it was possible that he still held some grief…a sense of guilt for surviving while everyone else died.

"I mean, you didn't want Saber to fight," Sonic went on as Shirou chased him, "But when Bizarrokles came out to rumble, you jumped in and tried to get yourself killed!"

"I was trying to protect Saber!" Shirou shouted back, trying to ignore the burning in his lungs.

"By getting sliced in half? And what were you gonna do afterwards?" Sonic dove into a hollow stump and came out a hole several yards south. "I mean, Berserker was still there!"

Shirou began to feel a certain fire- and it was in his head. While he admired Sonic, the Hedgehog criticizing his actions made him angry. How dare Sonic talk, after all of the time he risked his own life. Projecting a sword, Shirou sent it flying at Sonic. He missed, but Shirou hadn't been aiming at Sonic directly- The blade landed several feet in front of Sonic, causing the Hedgehog to jump back slightly. Shirou allowed a grin- Okay, this was more like it!

But Sonic just turned around and gave Shirou a humorless look. "Look, not to make a big deal of it, but you can only 'die heroically'-" (He made the quotation marks with his fingers) "-just once. Might wanna keep that in mind next time you decide to jump in to save the day."

Shirou was inches away from catching Sonic when the Hedgehog shot up into the air. And just as he reached the apex of his ascent, Sonic did a Homing Shot and launched himself further away in the forest. Whirling around, Shirou didn't even think about his next move- the Projected sword was already out of his hand and flying in Sonic's direction. It missed, but Shirou didn't let that get to him. He already knew that Sonic could move faster than anything he could Project would fly. But a good Archer knew how to compensate for a moving target.

And so, Shirou found himself chasing after Sonic and throwing Projected swords. While none hit their target, Shirou found he could control Sonic's path- slightly, -by forcing him to dodge. Not that it stopped Sonic from talking.

"...And you even got tweaked when Archer wanted to help out in the kitchen." Sonic continued as he flipped over a sword. The weapon was already fading out of existence before it even hit the Earth.

"What's your point?" Shirou shouted.

"My point is that you gotta learn to let people help out," Sonic explained, "Otherwise, you might not have any friends when you really do need help! Some guys get miffed if they're not allowed to be involved."

Sonic circled around Shirou at roughly fifty MPH. The whirlwind spun Shirou off of his feet, sending him falling into a tree. The throbbing in his head was only slightly mitigated by the dizziness…but not really. And the minute he stopped moving, the adrenalin rush was over. Shirou felt empty, worn…hot.

Like at the fire.

"I…I could have done something…" Shirou muttered as Sonic walked over to him.

Standing in front of Shirou, Sonic stared. He fought the urge to raise an eyebrow. It wouldn't have been appropriate.

"What? What could you have done?" Sonic asked.

"At…the Fire…" Shirou tried to stand up, but didn't have the strength.

All around him, everything was burning. Buildings, streets…people.

And those people were calling out to him. Begging for him.

But Shirou just walked on. Without pause. Without stopping.

Without helping.

"They needed help…and I didn't do anything…" Shirou muttered, once more failing to stand up.

Sonic cocked his head. "What are you talking about?"

And that's when Shirou told Sonic. About how his earliest memory was walking through that inferno. Forcing himself to ignore the screams and pleas of those who couldn't free themselves. Even though he could have...

"Whoa, easy there, cowboy," Sonic said, putting his hand on Shirou's shoulder. "So, basically, you feel guilty for not stopping by."

Shirou nodded.

Sonic sighed, and sat down. He didn't say anything for a moment. But once that moment passed, he said, "Shirou, I'm gonna let you in on a secret. One that I don't like admitting to anyone, not even Tails."

Shirou looked at Sonic.

"There have been people even I couldn't save."

Shirou blinked. "What?"

Sonic sighed. He really didn't like dealing with this introspective stuff, but sometimes you had to go the extra mile if you wanted to help a guy out of hole. Even if that hole was technically a psycholgical disorder. "Look, I may be the Fastest Thing on Two Feet, but I can't be everywhere at once. And just because I manage to shut down Eggman's doomsday device of the week, there's no telling what kind of damaged was caused before then. Heck, for all I know, my world could be in huge trouble, and I can't do anything about it because I'm here.

"But you can't let that kind of heavy thinking get you down," Sonic continued, "And you can't use a bad time in your life as an excuse to hurt yourself. It's not fair to all those people that died, and it won't bring them back."

Shirou looked up into the sky. He tried to let Sonic's words sink in, but for years he had believed he didn't have the right to pursue his own happiness. Even now...it just didn't feel correct. But before he could put more thought into it, Sonic's communicator beeped.

Sonic rolled his eyes and rolled his glove to better speak into it. "What's up, Tails?"

"Sonic! Where are you and Shirou!?"

"We just went for a run, what's wrong?" Sonic asked, concerned.

"It's Eggman! He just dropped an army of robots and they're swarming over the castle!" Tails sounded frantic as things exploded in the background.

"Got it. Be there in a few," Sonic hung up and looked Shirou, "Need a lift?"

Shirou nodded. He needed to get back to the Castle, and Sonic would get him there faster.

And there was no time for introspect.

Sonic and Shirou got back fast enough. The Einzbern Castle was a warzone. The Badnik army had all but completely conquered the land. Every corner and niche had either an Egg-Robo or an Orbinaut positioned, ready to attack. And in the courtyard were two giant mounds of white-ish, purple gunk, each with a maid head sticking out from the top. Both women were struggling to free themselves, but their gooey binds would not break.

Shirou ran up to Sella, but stopped short of actually touching her gunk. Meanwhile, Sonic zipped up to Leysritt and poked her goo with a stick.

"It's like an extra-thick serving of Mega-Mack," Sonic noted, "Lemme guess- Eggman's dirty work?"

Why did he have to say dirty? Shirou thought squeamishly. The strange substance coating the maids were unsettling enough to look at as they were. Reaching out, he tapped it with his finger as lightly as he could. Trace On...

"Yes," Leysritt stated. On the whole, she seemed only mildly unhappy about her situation, all things considered. "He arrived while riding this ridiculous, spider-like vehicle and demanded to see Lady Illya. When we tried to force his departure..." That's when she frowned. "...This happened."

"Personally, I would bring a fruit basket as a housewarming gift," Sonic commented, trying to pull the stick free. After breaking house off, he threw it away and asked, "So, did you see which way Round, Bald, and Mustachy went?"

Leysritt gestured as best as she could, given her condition. "That way."

Sonic and Shirou turned and saw that, right next to the entrance was a giant hole in the wall.

Shirou felt a chill run up his body. Illya...Rin! The idea of either girl at Eggman's mercy made the red-haired Mage uneasy. And Rin had been captured once, and that was with Archer's assistence! While he knew Berserker was powerful, his Trace revealed the that "Extra-Thick Mega-Mack" had been specifically designed and capable of restraining locomotives at full speed.

Sonic nodded and turned to Shirou. "Right, I'll go and see if I can find Eggman and pull off his spider-legs. Shirou, you free the maids and then meet me inside. Also..." Sonic became a blur and the various robots that had been surrounding them exploded, releasing the critters trapped within. Once he was finished, Sonic shot ran towards the hole.

Shirou shook his head. And this is after he gave me that talk about working with others. He turned back to the maids and tried to figure out what to do. If this stuff was hard, breaking it apart would be easy...I think. What can I do to dry it out quickly?

"Behind you." Sella said.

Shirou looked around. Although Sonic had annihilated several Badniks easily, more were appearing to take their place. He took stock of what he had to deal with, and recalled entries on Tails' "Badnik Database".

Two Crabmeats, four Buzzbombers, two Egg Pawns... Shirou thought, and prepared himself. I can do this. And maybe I can use their parts...

Shirou's train of thought was derailed by a loud thump from behind. Cautiously, he turned around. Standing behind Sella and Leysritt was a robot roughly the size of the one that appeared in the neighborhood. It's armor was a beige color. It had a mostly rotund body, with a squat head sticking out from the top. And that head had a single, curved spike sticking out from the top. A pair of clawed hands hung limply at its side, and the entire structure stood up on a pair of piston-like legs.

E-4124: "Spike"

When he saw Spike's arm move, Shirou leapt away. The clawed hand crashed into the ground, conveniently destroying several of the Badniks that weren't nearly as quick on the uptake. (Shirou absent-mindedly noted a mix of squirells, birds, and seals scampering away from the wreckage.)

Shirou swallowed. Okay. This might be harder than he thought.

The worst part about Dr. Eggman's latest assault was the timing. Tails, Rin, and Illya had been on the verge of figuring out a Magecraft variation on Tails' Anti-Emerald formula when the Castle's Boundary Field alerted them to Dr. Eggman's approach. Unfortunately, like every other Field in the city, the one surrounding the Castle completely failed to detect the rest of Eggman's invasion force. So, they were a little unprepared for the Badniks when Illya went out to confront Eggman herself.

Tails smashed an Orbinaut, and used the recoil to crash into a Buzzbomber, freeing a squirrel and a bunny rabbit. As he landed on the floor, Rin unleashed an impressive roundhouse kick against an Egg-Robo, sending it flying against another Egg-Robo. As a pair of crows flew free, Tails saw something that made his heart stop- A Crabmeat had the Emerald's container in its pincer!

"Oh, snap!" Tails yelled, and went into a Spin Dash before rocketing into the Badnik.

The container went flying from the wreckage and flew into the air, coliding with a Butteroid. The Butteroid wasn't damaged, but it's flight was altered just enough so that it crashed into a Technomouse crawling along the wall. Tails caught the container before it landed on the floor and looked around. The ballroom he and the girls had been using as their "proving ground" was almost clear of robots, but cracks were forming in not just the walls, but also the ceiling. Only the floor, which had been decorated with eleborate runes and interweaving spell sigils, seemed to be unaffected by the battle. However, every now and then a force from above shook the ceiling, causing the chandelier to rattle ominously.

"Rin!" Tails yelled, dodging the spike balls of another Orbinaut. "Let's get out of here before the entire castle comes down on us!"

"How!?" Rin snapped, heaving. Her cheeks were flushed from both anger and exhaustion. "That stupid geezer's machine gummed up the doors!"

Oh, right. Not long after Illya went out to confront Dr. Eggman's Mobile-of-the-Day had gotten into the castle and immediately began sealing up every other entrance with his Eggmobile's Mega Mack. Tails and Run had been securing the ritual room when he trapped them inside with several dozen Badniks.

There was another tremor from above, shaking the castle. A crack appeared on a wall, intersecting with another crack that formed previously. This gave Tails an idea.

"Rin, hold on to this." Tails called, tossing the box to Rin. Landing on the floor, he went into a Spin Dash. Once a sufficient charge had been built up, Tails shot at the cracked wall.

CRASH!

Tails rubbed his head and wobbled as he stood up. It was at times like that he really wished he had quils like Sonic or Knuckles. Most of the time his twin-tails took the brunt of the force, but every now and then he ended up making contact with his noggin.

Clutching the container like her firstborn, Rin stepped out of the wall and looked around. "No robots here. Are you okay, Tails?"

Tails nodded, shaking away the headache. "I'm fine. Let's get outta here!"

Sonic didn't bother checking any of the Mack'd-up doors as he sped around Einzbern Castle. He knew that Eggman wouldn't bother with any entrance built for normal humans. Instead, he stopped for holes in the wall clearly made by Berserker- or the mech of the day.

Checking one such hole almost got his head chopped off when a Crabmeat stuck its pincer out at neck level.

"Whoa!" Sonic cried, jumping back. He rebounded off of a wall and hit the Crabmeat with a Homing Shot. As a chipmunk scampered for freedom, Sonic heard another loud tremor shaking the castle's foundation. Some plaster fell from the ceiling and bounced off of a quill. He looked up and smirked.

"Gee, I wonder who that could be." Sonic muttered, rubbing the space under his nose.

Sonic took off. He stopped, realized that he was going back the way he entered and turned around. Zipping throughout the corridors, Sonic saw a window and smirked.

Nowhere the go but up... He thought, and launched himself through the glass.

Amid the explosions and shaking, the shattering sound was barely a whisper. Landing expertly on the ledge, Sonic ran along the castle's wall. Spying a swarm of Buzzbombers flying from the east, he smirked. Running along the ledge, he leapt and performed a Homing Shot on each of them, propelling himself higher into the air with each strike. On the last and final Badnik, Sonic shot towards one of the Castle's towers. Landing on the slanted roof he began to rush around, spiraling up until he reached the very top. That gave him a perfect view of the battle between titans.

What a showdown, Sonic thought, A dimensionally-displaced doctor in his spider-car versus a tiny witch and her pet monster. Wait a minute- Sonic squinted and shielded his eyes for a better look. Where's Illya? Uh oh.

Illya was born the most powerful Mage of her generation. Though the term "born" was slightly inaccurate. While she had parents, she was essentially a homunculus created from the enchanted sperm of her father, and placed in the modified womb of her mother. And even though she started life as a baby, she had been a baby that was altered to carry the highest concentration of Mage Circuits of any Master in both the present War and past ones.

Her father once told Illya that the common flaw among Mages was too much faith in their own abilities. Or rather, the assumption that their mastery of Magecraft made them immune to more mundane forms of combat, such as high-caliber rifle or time bombs. (His on the whole successful career as an assassin of Mages while possessing low-level Magecraft seemed to support this.) The Einzbern Clan patriarch, however, insisted that all anyone needed to win was immense Thaumaturgical power, which was why they summoned the mighty Herakles as a Berserker. If you possessed sufficient force, then any strategy would be meaningless. He then spent the ten years leading to the Fifth War hammering this belief into Illya, making her hate both him and her father for betraying the Clan and instigating this treatment.

Trapped in a metal clamp that wrapped around her entire body and forced to ride shotgun to Dr. Eggman, Illya found herself wishing that Grandpa hadn't been so quick to reject dad's advice.

Illya stepped out and stared down the approaching horde. She wasn't surprised that Eggman had brought another army, along with the giant robot Spike. After all, he did the same thing when attacking the Homurahara Academy, so why wouldn't he do any less when invading her domain?

As her maids flanked Illya, Dr. Eggman threw up his arms in mock amazement. "My, what prompt timing! And I didn't even ring the doorbell."

"As representative of the Einzbern Clan, I welcome you," Illya greeted in her saccherine-mocking tone reserved for enemies, curtsying. Looking up, she smirked evilly. "And I will do my best to keep you...entertained."

Eggman sneered, unimpressed. "Skip the entertainment. You've got something I want."

Illya was equally unimpressed. "The Chaos Emerald, right? Sadly, we need it for our own plans, so you will just have to go home."

Eggman's eyebrows shot up. "Oh-ho-ho! So, you've got a Chaos Emerald, do you? Excellent!" The legs of the Egg Spider straightened, and a cannon built on the underneath extended. "I can kill two birds with one stone!"

But Illya merely yawned. "You really have no idea where you are, do you, grandpa? Leysritt, Stella, end them"

Illya turned away as her maids swung into action. All though the two were considered failures as far as homunculous were concerned, they still posessed physical abilities comparable to Servants. The sounds of metal carnage filling the air were replaced by two loud squelching sounds. Confused, Illya turned back to see both Stella and Leysritt being covered in piles of gross, icky, goo. Before she could process this, a metal hand popped out of the Egg Spider and took hold.

"Berser-MMPH!" Illya tried to scream before the metal squeezed. Still, she didn't need vocal commands. Just being in danger was enough to bring Berserker out. Seeing his charge captured, the corrupted spirit of Herakles released a bellow of rage and charged. Ax raised high, Berserker moved to not just free Illya, but to also beat Eggman into a scrambled pulp.

Then Spike got in his way and everything went off-script.

Catching Berserker in its claws, Spike's torso immediately spun around and used the momentum to throw the Servant over the castle's walls. The brute instantly burst through the stone and bore down on his enemies, but Eggman's automatic systems were already in action. The Egg Spider's cannon fired, and the thick Mega Mack struck Berserker's foot and the ground. The gunk stretched out, taut, and then...broke. Berserker, however, had been knocked off-balance by the elasticity, and the recoil sent him stumbling into a statue. In that time, the Egg Spider was already smashing its way into the castle.

"Badniks! Find that Emerald!" Eggman ordered.

Berserker had given chase, of course, and eventually forced the Egg Spider onto the castle's roof. Therein lay the problem. In his haste to save his Master, Berserker had knocked several of the castle's interior walls down- and was now doing the same to the roof.

While Berserker was incapable of acting rationally or tactically, he wasn't completely stupid. It took at least a dozen tries, but Berserker eventually realized that Dr. Eggman would keep gluing his feet to the floor. And while his maddened mind couldn't quite figure out the long term danger (namely, that he was ripping the castle to pieces), it did point out that he wasn't accomplishing his short term of crushing Eggman.

Roaring, Berserker swung his arm down and let go of his sword. It would have pulverized Eggman's head on contact, except for one problem. His hand had been covered in Mega Mack. the adhesive stretched out, going taut just before impact. ("Gah!" Eggman shrieked, ducking down.) The recoil sent the sword flying direct back at Berserker, nailing him right in the head!

Eggman cautiously looked up and saw Berserker stumbling back- with the sword sticking out of his forehead. Having already been forewarned about the Servant's apparent invulnerability by Shinji, he was a bit perplexed by Berserker's injury. His confusion cleared when Berserker ripped the sword out and the giant gaping wound closed instantly.

"O-ho! A high-speed regeneration ability! So that's you're secret!" Eggman exclaimed, intrigued more than anything.

If Eggman had been a Master, he would have been given an explanation from the Holy Grail itself that in recogition of the Twelve Tasks Herakles performed in life, the Servant Berserker had been granted twelve lives to live. And each rebirth made Berserker immune to the cause of the previous "death". Of course, Eggman wasn't a Master. He also wasn't paying attention to what was coming at him from behind.

"Surprise, Egg-head!"

Sonic rammed into the Egg Spider, Spinball style. The impact jostled the cockpit, throwing Eggman off-balance. Sonic performed a Homing Shot on the clamp holding Illya, looseing its grip on her. The little Masterfell into Sonic's arms. Before Eggman could get his bearings, Sonic zipped over to Berserker and placed Illya at his feet. The giant looked down on the two, stoic, but with an eyebrow raised.

"I'll take over from here, Gigantor," Sonic stated, giving the slightly-dizzy Illya a pat on the back. "Why don't you get Thumbelina here some fresh air?"

Nodding, Berserker scooped up his Master and leapt off the castle roof. With them gone, Sonic turned back to Eggman and brushed his quils.

"Kidnapping magic princesses?" Sonic asked tauntingly, "Geez, whatever happened originality?"

Eggman shook an angry fist at Sonic. "I don't have time witty banter today, Sonic! Get out of my way!"

Sonic took his stance, preparing to move. "Oh? Got somewhere to be?"

"I'll be squashing your head if I have to!" Eggman snarled, and directed the Egg Spider at his blue-spined nemesis.

Eight giant robot legs stomped towards Sonic, each one intended to make good on Eggman's threat. Not that they could, as Sonic easily swerved around the metal arachnid, and once he was behind the Egg Spider, Sonic landed a Homing Shot on Eggman's cockpit.

Growling with irritation, Eggman spun the Egg Spider around and brought the Gunk Cannon (Patent Pending) to bare. Three shots of Extra-Thick Mega Mack shot out and were on a direct course to where Sonic used to be. The Hedgehog zipped around the roof as soon as he saw the Cannon, and landed another Homing Shot on the Egg Spider. The Egg Spider tried to retaliate with a headlong charge, but Sonic easily jumped over the approaching mecha and hit Eggman's cockpit again!

"Argh!" Eggman shouted, furiously jerking his yoke. "Stop doing that!"

"Are you kidding?" Sonic laughed as he circled around the Egg Spider, "I could do this all day!"

It was probably karmic, or maybe just ironic, that Sonic hit a weak spot on the roof and his foot became stuck. Consequently, this caused him to face plant onto the tile. Seeing his nemesis unable to move, Eggman eagerly aimed his Cannon and fired a round of Mega Mack at Sonic. Sonic yelped and ducked, and thankfully the goo soared over his head. Frustrated, Eggman spurred the Egg Spider at Sonic, who freed himself from the roof and jumped over the vehicle.

"Note to self; Watch for potholes." Sonic muttered before hitting the Egg Spider with another Homing Shot.

As the cockpit shook from the force of Sonic's attack, Eggman furiously hit a button that had a spiral printed on it. A pillar on the Egg Spider's center lowered, lifting the vehicle up as the legs reached out. The Egg Spider began to spin around, whipping the legs out like the blades on a gigantic and ugly blender. Sonic felt the wind pull him in, and ran in the opposite direction to avoid being crushed by the legs. After a few minutes, the spinning slowed to a stop, and Sonic nearly ran off of the roof. Curving around to stay on, Sonic launched himself at the Egg Spider and hit it with a Homing Shot.

Shaken out of his dizziness, Eggman gripped the yoke and pushed the red button on top. The Egg Spider jumped high into the air, and with a quick downward thrust from its jets, slammed down on where Sonic used to be.

"Hold still!" Eggman snarled, and had the Egg Spider jump up and down in a desperate attempt to squash Sonic.

Sonic didn't bother retorting this time. He just zigged and zagged, keeping away from eight metal stomping feet. He was also taking note of the cracks forming in the roof surface...

Better finish this up quick, or there won't be a castle left to defend! Sonic thought, and ran towards the roof's east side. When the Egg Spider landed again, one of its legs suddenly broke through the roof, crashing through the same small spot Sonic stepped in.

"Blast!" Eggman yelled.

"My thoughts exactly!" Sonic exclaimed eagerly, and raced towards the Egg Spider.

The Egg Spider's cannon spun about and fired several globs of Mega Mack, but Sonic dodged each one. Curling into a Spinball, Sonic rammed the Egg Spider's side.

That was the last straw. So many impacts caused smoke to seep out of the machinery. A horrible whining noise could be heard. Alerts beeped on Eggman's console. The extra legs on the Egg Spider crackled with electricity, then began to explode. The Egg Mobile detached the appendages, flying away as Dr. Eggman cursed.

"I hate that Hedgehog!" filled the air as the Egg Mobile became a speck on the horizon.

Sonic shook his head, then looked around. Now, I wonder how Shirou's doing...

Shirou, as it turned out, had fallen into something of a rut. Thanks to his rapt attention to Sonic's stories, he had quickly figured out a method for dealing with Spike. The key to destroying Eggman's larger, more powerful robots, wasn't to rush.

The key was to wait. Wait for an opportune moment. Even the most deadliest foe had a weakpoint, and would in time expose it of their own violation.

Spike's main tactic was to spin his upper-body around, attempting to bludgeon his target with his whirling claws. Whenever it did this, the robot was impossible to approach or even attack. However, after several moments, the joints would lock up, and Spike would be paralyzed momentarily. And when that happened, Shirou would rush over to cast one spell, over and over again.

"Structural Analysis."

And through the method, Shirou figured out Spike's main weakness. Projecting a bow and arrow, he would target the joints at the sub-boss' middle, where the legs and the rotating torso met.

Of course, he also had to dodge the remaining Badniks, so it wasn't as if Shirou could passively inact this strategy easily. Thankfully, Leyritt and Sella, while still cocooned, could help warn Shirou whever one came out him from-

"Behind you." Leysritt announced in her monotone.

Shirou jumped forward just in time to avoid being bisected by a Crabmeat claw. He spun around and threw a Projected sword. It wasn't a well-developed one, barely sword-shaped energy, but it still shattered one of the robot crab's eye stalks. Gasping, Shirou ducked to the side as an Orbitnaut nearly got him with a spike-ball.

I can't keep this up forever, Shirou thought, I can barely cast spells as it is!

Shirou looked around, trying to find something that could turn the tide. He spotted a red orbitnaut, but instead of spike-balls, it had balls of fire orbiting around it.

Fire...that's it!

When Shirou did Structural Analysis on the Mega-Mack pile, he learned (besides an intense chemestry lesson) was that while the Mega-Mack would remain sticky while moist, exposure to open flames would cause the substance to harden. While it would be a long shot, at the very least Shirou could free the maids and they could escape.

Digging his feet into the ground, Shirou ran towards the Gohla. He knew he had to time it just right, otherwise this stunt would blow up in his face. Literally.

I Am The Bone _ _ _

The Tora-shinai appeared in his hands. Shirou had to focus all of his remaing Prana to complete it. As its history flowed into his mind and body, Shirou leapt at the Gohla. Four balls of fire flew towards him, and the Tora-shinai lashed out.

FWACK! FWACK! FWACK! FWACK!

With the batting average of a clean-up hitter, Shirou struck each of the fireballs and knocked them back towards the maids. The fire-spewing orbs were out of control, but they struck both mounds. Two for each of them. The effect was instantaneous. Fire seemed to wash over the Mega-Mack, but it went out as soon as it spread. Once the flames were gone, Leysritt and Sella were covered in soot.

Shirou winced. He hadn't intended to burn the maids. "Sorry about that!"

Shirou didn't have time to regret his methods to harshly. Gripping the Tora-Shinai, he charged back at the maids...

CRASH!

...Which was when Spike suddenly dropped down, becoming a massive, metal wall between Mage and maid. Spike swiped one of his massive claws at Shirou, forcing the young Mage backwards.

Ahh! Damn it! Shirou thought, stumbling back to avoid the blow. He held up the False Tora-Shinai as if that would do anything. By the sheerest of miracles, Spike's clawed imbedded into the earth, becoming stuck. Getting an idea, Shirou put his hand on the robot limb and did a Structural Analysis.

Information flew into Shirou's mind, and his body flew through the air as Spike freed itself. Shirou felt his bones rattle as he hit the ground. Despite his shaking, he forced himself up. He no longer had the Projected weapon in his hand. In fact, he had no Prana to speak of. Desperately, he grabbed a piece of shrapnel off of the ground and ran towards one of the maid's prisons. Once he was close enough, he began to hammer the metal into the Mega-Mack- thankfully, now dry, the substance began to crack easily.

"Stand back." Leysritt said calmly.

There was an explosion and the maid was out of the Mega-Mack. She had just jumped out, shattering the mold. Shirou fell on his rear from the force of the maid's escape. He watched in amazement as Leysritt rushed at Spike. When the robot swung at the maid, Leysritt deftly jumped over it, and seemingly began to hover in the air, missing Spike's second swipe. She then landed a kick that apparently caused the robot's head to rattle.

"I will support." A voice said, and Shirou turned to see that Sella had gotten out of her own mold as well. The force of Leysritt's escape had sent a piece of her own mold flying into Sella's so hard that it cracked it enough to allow Sella to break free.

"Thank you for freeing us, Shirou," Sella said calmly, "We will handle the battle from here."

Shirou tried to bury his amazement at Leysritt's skills, and realized that Sella was using Magecraft to augument her fellow maid's reflexes. However, there was something in Sella's tone that he didn not like.

"I'm sorry, but I can't just sit back," Shirou replied, turning to face the robot. It looked it was trying to swat a very persistant gnat. "There's one more thing I have to do..."

"What is it?" Sella asked. Like before, it was an empty, flat voice she said it in.

"I was able to trace Spike- the robot," Shirou added at Sella's raised eyebrow, "A piece of armor on the waist is exposed. If we can deliver a powerful enough impact, the circuits will break completely and Spike will self-destruct."

Gathering his Prana, Shirou tried to Project a bow. "Tried" being the important word. Due to his lack of Mana, what appeared could only be called a bow in the academic sense; It was basically a stick that had a string tied from one end to the other. Shirou didn't have to look to see Sella's deadpan expression.

"As I have said, leave this to us." Sella said, turning away.

Shirou fell to his knees. Exhaustion had caught up to him. No…no, I can't just sit here with the battle still going on! There has to be more I can do…

For a brief moment, Shirou found himself back at the Fire. Helpless as people around him screamed and begged for help. But then, a cool, blue, breeze drifted through the heat.

"…you've got a real problem with working other people, don't ya?" Sonic's words whispered through his mind.

No, it's not that… Shirou told himself, I just…don't deserve help…

But while Shirou's soul urged him forward, his mind told him to stay. He had weakened Spike enough so that the maid's formidable abilities could finish the job. He had exhausted almost all of his Prana. Right now, just jumping in would only get himself killed, and distract the maids. He knew that. But still, he felt…

Klnk

A clanking noise brought him out of his internal struggle. A Badnik, a Grounder, was approaching Sella from behind. The maid was focusing on casting support Magecraft to aid Leysritt, and hadn't noticed the robot sneaking up on her.

Shirou's body became a motion incarnate. Without thought, without plan, acting on pure instinct, he rushed the Grounder. As he slammed into the digging robot, Shirou realized just how painful hitting metal without Reinforcement was. Nonetheless, he had just enough momentum to tip the robot over, trapping it on its side. Having heard the crash, Sella turned her head to see Shirou pinning the Grounder down. She nodded at Shirou, and then turned her focus back to the battle between Leysritt and Spike. Having overheard Shrou's words, the maid was deftly dodging the robot's strikes, looking for an opportunity to strike hard enough to trigger the self-destruct. As she leapt over one of Spike's arms, she heard a rushing noise in the wind. Holding out her hand, Leysritt caught the halberd flying through the air. For a normal human, the Riesenarn would be impossible to weld- it's density was three times that of iron. But Leysritt was a homunculous, and made with endurance and strength on par with a Servant, and could swing it around easily. As she did, she saw small, luminescent birds fly around Spike's legs, entangling the limbs with wire constructs. In doing so, they restricted Spike's movements.

There. As Spike bent over to deal with the wires, Leysritt saw it. A small chink in the robot's armor, as Shirou said. It wasn't at a size that a normal human could see with their eyes. Shirou had made good use of his Structural Analysis. Perhaps the young mistress' fascination wasn't completely unwarrented.

Like a bullet, Leysritt shot towards Spike, Riesenarn prepared for the blow.

But Spike had been designed to fight Sonic the Hedgehog, the Fastest Thing Alive. It saw Leysritt coming, disregarded the wires, and lashed out with his claw. Leysritt ended up running right into Spike's grip. The Riesenard fell from her grasp...

...And into Shirou's. He saw what was going to happen to Leysritt and had already rushed to help, despite the burning sensation in his nerves.

Trace...On! Scrounging the very last of his Prana, Shirou became one with the halberd in his grasp. He knew everything about it, how it was forged, what it was made of...and how Leysritt wielded it. However, he didn't have the strength to use it. He couldn't Reinforce his arm and Trace the Riesenard. Shirou saw Spike reach out with his other claw...

And then, Shirou felt a rush of energy. Looking back, he saw Sella's hand reached out towards him, Mage Circuits on her body glowing, wires extending from her fingers and onto his own joints. With new confidence, Shirou Reinforced his arm and threw the Riesenard as hard as he could at Spike.

Shirou's aim had never failed him before, and now was no different. Riesenard struck Spike's uncovered part dead-on, and the effects were immediate. Sparks began to fly, and the entire machine began to groan and shudder. Leysritt pulled herself out of Spike's grip, dropped down, and pulled Shirou away from the robot. They reached the minimum safe distance when Spike exploded. The sound of the explosion was like a signal; Whatever Badniks were remaining in the Castle quickly evacuated. Shirou could dots shaped like crabs, bees, and iguanas fleeing in scattered droves.

With the battle over, the adrenalin rush keeping Shirou going stopped. The young mage fell down, finally allowing his body to heal.

"Heey! Shiroooou!"

Shirou looked up and saw Tails and Rin, flying and running from the Castle, respectively. In Tails' arms was the box, signifying that the Chaos Emerald was safe. He breathed a sigh of relief, and then gave a start. The sound of monstrous footsteps called Shirou's attention. Off to the side, he saw Berserker lumbering their way. He had something under his arms.

But where was Illya? Shirou began to worry, but then he saw a the tiny figure step out from behind Berserker's giant thigh.

"Are you all right, Onii-chan?" Illya called out. Under her arms was a book, but from the distance, Shirou couldn't make out the title. Before he could try to Reinforce his eyes (The cover looked familiar) he heard a whoosh and saw Sonic standing next to him.

"Nice job." Sonic said, patting Shirou on the back.

The group gathered together, and the maids went to check on Illya. As Illya berated Sella and Leysritt for being captured so easily, Berserker set his load down. It turned out to be another Egg Pod.

"Where did that come from?" Rin asked as she checked Shirou's body over.

"Berserker and I found this in the basement," Illya explained, hiding the book behind her back. "I wonder what it's for?"

"Eggman probably figured he could snag some critters while he was here," Sonic said, "Just hit the button on top!"

Illya pressed her fingertip to her mouth quizzically. "Really?"

With a wave of her hand, Illya beckoned Leysritt to her. As the maid picked her up from underneath the child's arms, the book Illya had fell to the ground. Sonic snatched it up at the speed of sound. While Illya was thrown bodily onto the Egg Pod's switch, the Hedgehog zipped over to Shirou and presented the book to him.

It was titled "Kiritsugu".

The photo album! Shirou thought, confused. Why does Illya have it...?

Cautiously, he opened it up to a random page. The picture he saw was that of Kiritsugu and Shirou, taken several years ago, at a festival taking place near the Ryuudou Temple.

But now a cut-out picture of Illya had been pasted in. It was inexpertly done, and it was pretty obvious that Illya wasn't supposed to be there. A quick flip through the book revealed that most of the other pictures had similar alterations.

A sharp gasp was heard.

Shirou looked up, and saw that the entire group was standing around him in a circle, watching him. And as one, they all turned to Illyaseviel von Einzbern.

Illya stepped forward, her eyes no longer those of a Master. She looked more like a sad little girl than anything.

"Onii-chan..."

To be continued

Tiger Dojo

Taiga: Like the phoenix, I, Fujimura Taiga, have risen from the ashes to present the Tiger Dojo!

Illya: The Number Student Illya is here as well! I can't believe that jerk Eggman, he destroyed my castle!

Taiga: Indeed, and now it seems that he is gunning for the Holy Grail itself! But for now, we must answer the questions! X the Reaper asks, "Since Metal Sonic will show up, does that mean he'll use his copy ability on Shirou or Rin to copy their Magecraft and use it against them?"

Illya: It's impossible for a machine to use Magecraft! Maybe it could look it could with those Chaos Emeralds, but even the work of weak Mages like Onii-chan or Rin would be beyond a normal robot's tools.

Taiga: Besides, that's assuming Metal would even be allowed to witness Magecraft. After the last time it grew too powerful, Eggman wouldn't let Metal out until it was absolutely necessary.

Illya: "What's the different in Light Gaia and Dark Gaia to Fate Gaia?" from, YCG. I imagine that unlike the Gaia of Sonic's world, the Gaia of Fate is a single entity. However, while Light Gaia and Dark Gaia are in a symbiotic cycle of creation and destruction, the Fate Gaia is simply dedicated to preserving itself, while viewing the evolution of human civilization as a threat to its existence. In short, the Gaia of the Type-Moon universe has no Dark counterpart, as that role is being fulfilled by humanity.

Taiga: Our final question comes from Lunatic-Over9000Lord; "How did they give her a new arm?" I guess you are talking about Bazett!

Illya: When the Chaos Emeralds brought Sonic and co. to Fuyuki, Bazett was bleeding to death as a result of being attacked and dismembered by Kotomine. In desperation, she tried to close the wound with a rune, but had lost too much blood and fainted. When the Chaos Control dropped the Sonic gang into Fuyuki, the Emeralds' energy reacted to Bazett's subconscious desire to live and the rune pulled her arm back on. Such a thing would be impossible to accomplish when awake, as the mind creates blocks to keep the body from destroying itself, but Bazett was on the verge of death and had nothing to lose, really.

Taiga: That is all we can cover for today's lesson! I will see you at the next practice!