Fate Genesis Chapter 16: Night of Fate, a Sonic the Hedgehog + Fate/stay night Crossover fanfic

Chapter 16: Night of Fate

It was late at night when a small fleet of cars drove into Fuyuki. Although, in truth, it wasn't so much a "Fleet of cars" As it was a trio of different vehicles. A rented van at the rear. Before that, a flatbed truck (also rented) with its cargo hidden by a large tarp. And leading in front was a brilliant red sports car. But had any outside observer gas known the truth about those automobiles, their drivers and passengers, and luggage, they would have agreed that, given the context, "Fleet" would be rather appropriate. The drivers were for war.

Holy War, to be precise.

After exploring the abandoned church to his satisfaction, Sonic radioed the group at the Castle and brought them up to speed. They agreed with his assumption that Caster and Kirie had fought recently. It would make sense, given the witch's recent actions. With multiple Servants under her control, Caster would need more Command Seals to better control them. And who had a surplus of Seals than the Overseer? The lack of a body told them that the priest must have escaped somehow, which meant Caster failed to gain more Seals. (Sonic did mention finding a locked door underneath the church, but that was put aside for later)

They decided to bring the gear they developed into the city that night for two reasons; the first being that Illya's Castle was still in disrepair, and they would sleep easier in quarters less prone to falling apart. The second reason was that Caster had, most likely, most definitely, had tapped into the Chaos Emerald's power For Her fight with Kirie, and probably other feats of Magecraft. And one thing the Mages had noticed was that for all of the energy the Chaos Emerald granted, the pressure of channeling that power was incredibly painful. Even someone of Medea's caliber would have exhausted herself using the Emerald for extended periods of time. The alliance was going to strike while she was weak.

What none of them knew, or even suspected, was that their actions had an outside observer. While the entire group knew that the remaining Masters would undoubtably be spying on the upcoming battle in hopes of finding an advantage, not even Illya, the most powerful Master of all, or Caster, now armed with exceptional power, would understand that a powerful entity was now taking a firm interest on the goings-on at the Ryuudou Temple.

A tall, handsome man with striking red eyes, clad in golden armor, stared down at the convoy and watched as the three cars separated. His focus stayed on the sports car as it drove towards the residential district.

In the backseat of the Mercedes-Benz driven by Sella, Shirou next to Illya. He was a bit surprised to learn that a child from a clan of "Proper" Mages would have such a well-kept car, but according to Illya, the car had been a gift to her mother from her father. The very idea made Shirou realize just how very little he knew about his father's past. Getting an idea, he put his hand on the back of the front seat and cast Structural Analysis.

Trace On. Shirou thought as he invoked the spell. Information flowed into his mind. The make of the car, what parts it was made of, Irisviel driving Saber to the Castle at breakneck speed while the Servant hung on for dear life…

Shirou gave a start. Saber?!

"Is something wrong, Onii-chan?" Illya asked, noticing Shirou's reaction.

"Saber…Saber was in this car!" Shirou gasped, his mind reeling. "With your mom, she…they were together, ten years ago!"

Illya shrugged. "Sure. Grandpa thought having King Arthur would help the Einzbern Clan win the Grail, so he got a catalyst to help Papa summon the Servant."

"But…Saber never said-!" Shirou exclaimed.

It had been jarring enough to learn that Kiritsugu had been part of the Holy War that resulted in the Great Fire of Fuyuki. That he had been a Master. But for Saber to have been his Servant to boot…!

Illya giggled. "Oh, Onii-chan, your ignorance is so adorable. That wasn't the same Saber."

"…What?"

"Through the power of Holy Grail, a chosen Master can summon a Heroic Spirit to act as a Servant," Illya explained, "Of course, what's really happening is that the Servant is actually a 'copy' taken from the Heroic Spirit's information left on the Throne of Heroes. This copy has all of the memories and feelings of the hero they are based on, along with powers from their life and legend. Therefore, even if the Grail uses the same hero twice, each summon will not have the experiences of a previous War."

Shirou tried to make sense of it. "So…the Saber Kiritsugu summoned…and the one we're going to rescue…are technically two different people? It's like buying a car with the same manufacturer and model number as another vehicle. The same, but different…

But there was something about that statement that Shirou couldn't accept. The way Illya described the process, it was so…dehumanizing. But Shirou was certain that Saber wasn't just a copy. Her voice, her feelings…her very presence had a definite realness that no Magecraft could simulate.

There must be something they were both missing.

While Tails and Rin stopped by the Tohsaka Mansion for "last minute supplies", Shirou decided to stop by his own house. He was a bit hesitant, as he wasn't sure who would be there. However, there was a secret weapon he felt would be needed if they were going to fight a mage from the Age of the Gods.

Thankfully, the place was empty. Taiga must have still been in the hospital. And Sakura probably was at her own home. Normally, Shirou would have given the place a good once-over to make sure it was still tidy (He cleaned up before he left, but you can never know what happened during an absence), but Shirou was in a hurry. He walked directly through the halls toward the backyard. Illya followed him quietly. As Shirou approached the supply shed, he stopped and turned to his sister.

"I just need to grab something from the back, then we'll head to the Temple," He assured her, "Just hold on, please. Wait right there."

Illya didn't reply. Instead, she sat right down on the steps. In fact, (Shirou would later realize) she sat right on the spot Kiritsugu had been sitting on when he died over five years ago.

Entering the shed, Shirou undid the lock on the trapdoor he and Sonic installed and reached down. Starting with the gun barrel, Shirou pulled out each and every one of Kiritsugu's armaments. Once he finished, he put them back, except for one item, and its ammunition; The Thompson Contender and its Origin Bullets. For a moment, Shirou wondered how he would explain the gun's functions to Illya without lying to her.

But Illya, watching emotionless from the stairs, said, "So, you do have Papa's guns after all."

Shirou did a check to see if the Contender was loaded (It wasn't) before responding. "You know what these are?"

"According to Grandfather, Papa liked to use guns when he fought instead of a Magecraft," Illya explained, "I thought you would use them when we had our first battle, but you didn't."

Shirou had only taken two of the Origin Bullets, stuffing them in his pocket. He then walked over to Illya. He held up the Contender in the moonlight.

"I only found this yesterday, while cleaning up after Taiga," He said, "Kiritsugu never trained me to use these…in fact, he never wanted me to learn Magecraft at all. Even after I wore him down, he only taught me some very basic stuff. The very bare-bones fundamentals."

Shirou sat down next to Illya, taking care to keep hold of the gun on the side away from her. They both looked up at the night sky.

"He was such a careless guy, really. Always spacing out," Shirou went on, "He once told me that he would do what he enjoyed, and play around. You wouldn't tell just by looking at him that he was a Mage. But I think that's what I admired about him. He was completely free from the responsibilities and burdens most Mages put on themselves. Don't tell Rin I said this, but I think a heretic like him was closer to being a wizard than the traditional Mage families…at least in terms of wisdom."

Shirou realized that talking about his father had brought a smile to his face. But when he looked down at Illya, that smile vanished. The little Master had a crestfallen look on her face. No doubt thinking about Kiritsugu was having a different effect. She still had mixed feelings on the father that, for all she knew, had abandoned her.

"But…I could tell that he definitely had regrets about his life. I just never thought about them until you told me about him," He patted her on the back, saying, "After we beat Caster, I'll take you to Kiritsugu's grave. I'm sure he'll be happy to know you came to his homeland."

Illya smiled a bit. But she still looked a little sad. Wiping her eyes, she stood up. The sadness was gone from her face. The expression was that of resolute determination.

"We have to go, or we're going to be late." She declared.

Shirou noticed that she sounded older with those words than she had before. A lot older…

They decided to bring the gear they developed into the city that night for two reasons; the first being that Illya's Castle was still in disrepair, and they would sleep easier in quarters less prone to falling apart. The second reason was that Caster had, most likely, most definitely, had tapped into the Chaos Emerald's power for her fight with Kirie, and probably other feats of Magecraft. And one thing the Mages had noticed was that for all of the energy the Chaos Emerald granted, the pressure of channeling that power was incredibly painful. Even someone of Medea's caliber would have exhausted herself using the Emerald for extended periods of time. They had to attack her before she became accustomed to the Chaos Emerald's power.

Sonic was speeding back towards the Emiya Estate, intent on meeting up with Shirou there. Back at the church, the Hedgehog had found a chamber that had been locked, but before he could knock the door down, a squad of special ops soldiers swarmed into building and down in to the passage ways. Apparently, the giant skeleton trap Caster left behind had been tied to the surrounding Boundary Field that kept the property off of the radar. When Sonic destroyed the attacking familiar, it broke the spell over the church.

Funny how all of those soldiers showed so quickly, Sonic thought as he cut through a park, You'd think the Boundary Field would have kept the noise level down…

Before Sonic could put more thought into the subject, something caught his eye and he stopped. At a much, much, much slower pace, he jogged up to a sad figure sitting alone on a bench. While he hadn't been able to get a good luck at her face, he recognized the lonely girls purple hair and hair ribbon.

It was Shirou's underclassman, Sakura.

She was sitting very still, her head drooping down like a dying flower. If it wasn't for the occasional shiver, Sonic would have mistaken her for a mannequin. Her hair was unkempt and windblown, although Sonic had a feeling that was his fault more than anything.

His own quills drooping in concern, Sonic reached out and asked, "Are you all right?"

Sakura didn't answer at first. But after a few seconds, she turned towards the Hedgehog. Even in the gloom of night, he could see the bags under her eyes in the moonlight.

"How is senpai?" She asked quietly. Sonic's must have straightened, because she added, "I've noticed you watching us at breakfast. You and him and Saber are…so close."

Was that longing in her voice? Sonic wasn't sure. But it was clear that Sakura was more observant than anyone suspected.

"He's going to keep fighting, isn't he?" Sakura asked, her tone sad. "Even though he lost his Servant…"

So Sakura knew about Servants. Shinji claimed she had been ignorant of the War, but he had clearly been mistaken. Or perhaps just another liar…

But, this wasn't the time for that. This girl was definitely worried for her friend. Sonic hopped onto the bench and gave Sakura a friendly pat on the back. She instantly flinched away, but took no other action.

Jeez, What's this girl been through? Sonic thought, concerned. But instead of commenting on it, he said, "Shirou's fine. And we're going to get Saber back, too. Caster doesn't stand a chance!"

Sonic flashed Sakura his trademark grin and punched his empty palm. But Sakura just looked at him. It wasn't a happy look, nor was it a sad one. It was the expression of someone who had long ago given up on trying to make anything of themselves.

Totally empty. Spent.

Finally, Sakura said, "Of course you believe that. Knuckles told me about your world. But you don't know what this world is like," She began to shake. " Heroes don't get happy endings…people aren't saved…anyone who tries to change how things are die…we all die…" Sakura clutched her head as she began to hyperventilate. "We're all going to die…!"

Sonic reached and took Sakura ' s shoulders. "Hey, hey, it's going to be all right. Trust me."

It took a few minutes for Sakura to calm down. Once she did, Sonic continued, "I dunno what Knux told you, but my world isn't all honey and roses. We've had our fair share of trouble, really messed up stuff you might find familiar. I'll spare you the details. But let me show you why I think everything's going to turn out okay."

Sonic hopped down off of the bench and held out his arms to Sakura. Confused, Sakura slowly stood up and reached, but instead of taking her hand, Sonic scooped the high schoolgirl up and took off. Sakura gave a slight gasp but only watched wide-eyed as the world around her became a blur. When Sonic stopped, she found herself on a hill. Although she didn't know it, this was the very same hill Sonic tripped Berserker up on only a few days ago. The deep skid marks Berserker made when he tumbled were still there, but not visible in the darkness. But Sonic' s gaze was going in the opposite direction, which Sakura followed up at the countless stars that filled the sky.

"Just look at that sky," Sonic said, "Even on my world, we've got our pollution problems. Big factories creating more smog than we can handle. Usually Eggman's. But no matter how thick or wide all that smoke is, you can always find a place where there's nothing between you and the stars. Sometimes you just gotta go a little further to find it."

At first, Sakura didn't respond. But as she stared up at the night, she asked, "But…what if someone will stop you from finding that place? What if you're trapped?"

Sonic grinned, stretching a little. "Well, if there is someone trying to keep you down…you just gotta break free of them."

Sakura looked down at Sonic, his eyes wavering. "But…"

Sonic looked directly into her eyes. "And if you're worried you can't do it yourself, don't be afraid to ask for help. There's always someone out there."

Sakura looked away, apparently unconvinced. It was plain that whatever chip on her shoulder wasn't going to go away easily. But Sonic decided not to dig. It wasn't his place, and really, he wasn't a therapist. All he could really do without fail was reassure the girl and set his example.

"We're gonna beat Caster, I promise." Sonic said, and patted Sakura on the back.

This time, she didn't flinch.

Rin didn't expect to stay for long at her family's mansion. In fact, she was worried that the detour would make her late for the assault on Ryuudou Temple. As their rented truck pulled up, Rin was already unbecoming her seat belt and leaping out of cab.

"Just leave the truck parked here," She called out as she ran towards the front door, "We can reach Ryuudou on foot and unload your plane later."

Tails, in the driver's seat, nodded. Getting out, he began to unhook the elaborate system of gears and levers that allowed his someone with his short stature to drive. It had been installed by one of Illya's maids (he couldn't tell which- they look and dress virtually alike) so Tails could drive the truck through the city, with the maids driving the other two cars. While Rin fiddled with the electronic lock he had devised and installed before they left (Cursing just a little bit) Tails took the tarp off of the Tornado and gave the biplane a quick check-up. As he worked, a glint of light to the side caught his eye.

Rin didn't not run through her mansion's halls. She marched quickly, with purpose. And that purpose was to check up on an experiment she had set into motion not long after Tails cradh-landed jn her backyard. With the death of both her father and mother, there were plenty of empty rooms inside the Mansion, and one of those rooms was on the upper floors.

Ever since Tails built his…Ring-machine, Rin had been hard-pressed to match the technology with Magecraft. Working late at night, she had Archer bring up the data on Ring Synthesis contained inside of the Miles Electric. In the nights since then, she had wracked her brains trying apply the synthesizing formula to Magecraft. Archer had done the manual labor in setting up the apparatus, but that was a relatively minor burden he lifted. The mental stress of adjusting the otherworldly science to thaumegectal pushed Rin to the brink, which, combined with lack of sleep, made her snappy and irritable.

And now it was time to see how the experiment entire played out. Rin entered the side room cautiously, not wanting to set off an explosion with abrupt movement. The room she entered was small, but had comparatively large windows on each wall. A series of arranged mirrors ensured that the sunlight would be focused on the center of the room. In the center was an old wash tub, unused since the first Tohsakah learned what a laundromat was. Runes had been painted all over the floor, but patterned in a spiral formation, so that the harnessed flow of energy would be directed into the bottom of the tub. On the bottom were a ring of carefully aligned precious stones. The tub itself had been filled almost to the top with clean water taken directly from a Koi pond.

And floating on the water's surface, like a tiny inner tube, was a jasper stone.

Rin put on a single protective glove on her good hand. She then used that hand to take a pair of tongs and fish the gem out. It was the first practical experiment in drawing energy from the sun itself to empower the Tohsakah Clan's Magecraft. As it was, the jewel was rather useless. While she could sense power from it, the energy was to erratic to pull into her own Mage Circuits or used to bolster other spells. The current gem was just power waiting to be unleashed. More experiments would be needed to be done if Rin wanted to use the jewel effectively.

But there would be time for that later. Rin put the jasper into a glass jar and locked it in a dusty drawer. It had been risky letting go the experiment go on unsupervised for so long, and Rin was glad that the house hadn't blown up while she was at the Einzbern's Castle.

Running to her workshop in the basement, Rin opened a small case and found it. It was a small, ornate dagger. It had been willed to her by her father during the Fourth Holy Grail War, and with his unfortunate passing, been given to her by Kotomine.

The Azoth Sword.

Technically, it wasn't the only Azoth Sword. In fact, it was one of the most common types of Mystic Codes in the entire Mages Association. Students and heirs were often given Azoth Swords by their teachers and parents as a Coming-Of-Age present. The one Rin had was made with a slightly shorter blade and had AZOTH carved into the hilt at Tokiomi's preference, of course, so in that regard it was different from the usual of ones. Such artifacts were used mostly for aid in spellcasting, and while the sharp edges would wound or kill a human as well as a non-medical sword, the Azoth would crumble to dust if used against a Servant.

Rin slid the sword into a sheath and hid it inside her shirt. With a nod, she turned and ran back up the stairs. When she got back outside, Tails was nowhere to be seen.

"Tails?" She looked around. "Tails?!"

"Right here!"

Speak of the kitsune, Rin's furry sidekick (A term she used primarily in her mind, as Tails would insist that he was Sonic's sidekick) came around the corner of the mansion, pushing…a lot of junk that was impersonating a scooter.

"We can ride to the shrine on this!" Tails explained eagerly, "I put all of the Rings from the forger into the fuel tank, so we should have enough power to get us in time," He looked at his watch awkwardly. "We may have to jump a few fences…"

This is my life now, Rin thought, sighing. I feel like a character in an anime.

The roar of the scooters motor echoed through the night air…

Sonic, Tails, Rin, Shirou, and Illya- in three separate parties, mind- met up at the bottom if the stairs that led to Ryuudou Temple. Illya's maid Leysritt was already there, and she did not look like a maid. Instead of her dress had been replaced by a colorful set of metal armor. She looked like a character from a sentai show. When Sella arrived from where she parked Illya's car, she had her own set of armor.

"Does everyone remember the plan?" Rin asked.

Everyone else nodded. They had discussed it at length at the Castle. With so many spells Caster could prepare, there were too many variables to prepare for, but they managed to work out an outline.

The goal of the operation was to restrict the movements of Caster's strongest assets-Namely, the Servants she had stolen, and the Chaos Emerald. Berserker would take care of take of the former. Even when restrained, his brute strength should allow him to withstand the assault of three attacking Servants. Tails had fitted the demigod with a specialized pair of heat-vision goggles so Berserker could find Assassin, so him trying to take any by surprise with his Presence Concealment was out. Shirou had worried that Berserker might kill Saber by accident, but Illya assured him that the giant Servant would only keep the knight busy and would not strike a killing blow. Archer, only the other hand, was not going to receive such mercy (Shirou wasn't so concerned about that Judas).

Meanwhile, a team consisting of Sonic, Tails, and Shirou would try to locate and retrieve the Chaos Emerald hidden within Caster's lair. While there was the possibility that the witch would keep the Emerald on her person, it was just as likely that it would be stored someplace to empower the spells cast over her lair. This way, Caster could focus on her own offensive Magecraft without risking an energy burn-out from the Emerald's potency. With Shirou's Projected Rulebreaker and the Anti-Emerald, they try to shut down Caster's workshop from the source.

Which meant the task of fighting Caster and Kazuki fell to Rin, Illya, and the maids. Naturally, the rest of the group felt concerned, especially since Berserker would be preoccupied fighting the stolen Servants. From what they'd been told, normal humans fighting a Servant, especially one that did not have to worry about Prana deficiency, was several miles beyond suicidal. And Kazuki was no slouch himself when it came to fighting. But Illya assured that her maids would be more than a match for the teacher. As for Caster…

("While it is true human beings can't stand equally with Servants, that's only in general," Rin had said during the war meeting back at the Castle, "If certain conditions are met, a Mage with decent skills can kill a Servant instantly."

"What kind of conditions?" Sonic had asked, intrigued.

And at that, Rin had smirked.)

Back in the present, Sonic was the first up the stairs to the Temple gate. The minute he reached the top, he called back down, "No one's here!"

When the rest of the group caught up, (Berserker, for some reason, walked very slowly) they saw that Sonic was correct. The entire Temple grounds and dwellings were abandoned.

Shirou fidgeted in his jacket. It was as if he had something inside of it, besides his body. "Where did they go?"

"They were here earlier," Tails said, pulling out his Miles Electric. As it booted up, he asked, "Yeah, there's a still a huge energy reading in this spot. But it's...different, then how it used to be."

Sonic was already running around the grounds at high speed, searching every building and turning over almost every stone. When he heard Tails' words, he stopped what he was doing and ran up to them.

"Different? How?" He asked.

Tails adjusted his gadget's settings a bit more before answering. "I think it's more like they're...below us?"

Sonic and Shirou exchanged looks. They same question echoed through theirminds. Below? How would Caster move her operations underground?

Shirou was about to tell Rin, but he saw that she was already running back down the stairs. Shirou signaled to the rest to follow, and ran after her. Sonic rushed past and saw Rin jump off the steps and into the mountain to the right. Catching up, he waited until they reached a large boulder lying in the ground against the incline of the mountain before speaking.

"What's this?" Sonic asked.

"Something I sensed during the walk up," Rin explained, "I didn't understand what it meant until we found the Temple empty..."

She placed her hand on the rock, and began to mutter in a language Sonic didn't understand or recognize. Once she reached the end of the chant, the rock began to glow, and it vanished entirely. In its place there was a tunnel that seemed to go directly into the mountain path. A crunching heard as the rest of the group caught up. Rin and Sonic turned to them.

"Down here." Rin called out softly, and led the way.

Archer, invisible to all on top of the Ryuudou Temple gate, watched them. His eyes narrowed as each of them entered the tunnel leading to Caster's lair.

So, they're here, He thought, Time to make my choice.

As Archer waited for the entire group to go into the mountain, he felt something. It was a powerful presence entering the Ryuudou Temple Boundary Field. Archer looked around intently, trying to zero in on the intruder with Reinforced vision. However, nothing dangerous could be seen. But Archer knew that something was there. Something vile, something dangerous...

Something familiar.

The rest of the group had to run to catch up with Sonic. When they did, they found themselves standing in an immensely large cavern, the size of a small village, and then some. It had to be, to fit the numerous Greco-Roman temples and buildings that dotted the area. They all surrounded a giant empty dip in the ground, from which a bright red light could be seen.

Tails gaped, but recovered quickly. "Gotta admit, this sure beats a gingerbread house!"

"But where did all of this come from?" Shirou asked, stunned at the grandeur.

"This is probably- no, it's definitely Caster's doing," Rin said confidently, "Her rank in Territory Creation is A. I wouldn't have expected anything less," She then frowned, "Actually, considering the power she has access to, this complex seems rather low-key."

"You're telling me," Sonic remarked, shaking his head. "An elaborate, underground temple complex and not single loop-de-loop? Talk about uncreative."

Having become fully associated with Sonic's attitude and given an in-depth idea of what his world was like, Shirou and Rin resisted the urge to take the bait. Sella and Leysritt, lacking the proper emotional capacity for anything besides tending to Illya's whims, had no urges to resist, save an urge to cuddle Tails and never let go on Sella's part. Berserker had no resistance to any of his urges, which consisted mostly of beating anything within arms reach to death, but the firm grip his Master had on his mental leash kept the bloodlust from being expressed as anything other than an irritated growl. And Tails already knew the answer, so it fell to the aforementioned Master to ask the question with an obvious answer.

"Why would there be loops in a temple?" Illya asked, genuinely curious.

Sonic began to stretch a little. "To make the temple run more exciting, duh."

Illya's face scrunched up in thought. "More exciting than the lair of a Heroic Spirit with knowledge of Magecraft from the Age of the Gods, empowered by an artifact from a parallel universe? This entire cavern has so much Magecraft that I'm surprised we got this far. What could be more exciting than that?"

"All of that and loop-de-loops." Sonic said matter-of-factly, and rubbed his hands together "That would be awesome."

"Don't worry, there'll be plenty of excitement once we get started," Rin said, annoyed at Sonic's inability to take the situation seriously. "First, Let's figure out where we need to go."

"I can't see Caster, Kazuki, or either of our Servants," Shirou reported, scanning the area with Reinforced eyes. "But that place in the center…that's the Chaos Emerald, isn't it?"

"Must be," Tails agreed, checking the Miles Electric's readings. "Yup! That's where the highest concentration of energy is."

"Then Let's do it to it!" Sonic declared, preparing to run.

Sonic took off, zipping down the stairs leading into the complex. Not one to be left out, Berserker let loose a roar and charged after him. Tails began to spin his tails and flew through the air, but in a direct horizontal line. He would drop down next to Sonic when he stopped. The maids were next to go, followed by Shirou, Rin, and Illya.

"I'll catch up with Sonic and Tails," Shirou told the girls, "Are you sure the two of you will be all right on your own?"

"For the last time, yes, Emiya -kun," Rin said, "Just focus on keeping those two maniacs out of trouble until you reach the Emerald. They may have speed and weird gadgets, but they don't have magical senses- But you do. They'll need your nack for sniffing out-"

And before Rin (or anyone for that matter) could say "Curses", the entire layout of the temple complex changed. This wasn't a simple flash followed by, "Whoa, everything's different!" It was an architectural metamorphosis that blew the unaware off of their feet. Literally.

First, the floor began to move. Like a massive wheel in a clockwork device, different sections of the diameter began to spin in opposing directions around d the center. And at the same time, the buildings began to shift back and forth, pieces flying to and fro in a madcap, sideways version of Tetris. The end result looked like if you took pieces of buildings in a model city, mixed them up, and glued some on askew.

Knuckles woke up with a start and a bad headache. Not to mention a stiff back. It was if he had fallen asleep in a cocoon made metal…

Knuckles looked at himself. Oh. Right.

Knuckles tried to recall what he was doing before he fell asleep, and found that to be an uphill battle. The buzz in the back of his mind made recollections difficult. Luckily, Knuckles was as stubborn as he was strong. And considering that he could punch stone walls down and lift trees, this said something about his determination.

Because Knuckles was forcing his brain to do the most important job of all, he didn't notice the ornate, crooked dagger lying on the floor a few inches away. The dagger then dissolved away in a stream of fading light, leaving no trace that it had even existed.

Meanwhile, Knuckles was developing a slow burn, mentally speaking. Once he remembered that who Caster was, he also began to see their previous interactions in a different light. Words of kindness that had been spoken now sounded patronizing. Knuckles didn't like being patronized, especially from people who played him for a sap.

Taking a deep breath, Knuckles began to push against his chains. In a more dramatic universe, the Echidna would have exploded from his binds with such aplomb that an audience would have appeared for the sole purpose of giving him a standing ovation. No such luck, here.

Struggling and straining, Knuckles eventually wriggled one arm out of the nest of links. Clenching his fist, he punched the chains, causing his entire body to sway. Getting an idea, Knuckles began to swing himself back and forth, going higher and higher. Soon enough, his trajectory curved so he could grab the chains suspending him from the ceiling. Grinning, Knuckles began to pull and tug. Sweat began to appear on his forehead as he yanked harder and harder. It wasn't long before a cracking sound could be heard, and one of the chains broke away from the ceiling. After that, it was easy to unravel the rest, freeing Knuckles. The Echidna exhaled a bit as he pumped arm he used. Walking out of the room, he found d himself standing in some of…collection of mismatched, interwoven buildings. Like a three-dimensional labyrinth. Knuckles looked around in every direction he could think. Far off in the center of it all was a glowing dot that was undoubtedly the Chaos Emerald. Knuckles first instinct was to glide over and claim the jewel, but he heard a laughter that caught his attention. Looking up, he saw high on the top of the labyrinth was none other than the ones responsible for his current predicament.

Caster, and her husband-to-be, Souchirou Kazuki.

Sonic had been just at the edge of the center when the entire city began to spin. And while he was fast, having the road move underfoot through off his balance just enough for a wayward wall that used to be a floor to catch and scoop him up. By the time everything stopped moving, he found himself at the far edge of a temple-themed maze.

"Whoa, talk about a spin cycle..." Sonic muttered, getting to his feet. He flipped on his communicator's party line and began to talk. "Is everyone okay? This is Sonic. You guys there?"

Shirou was the first to respond. "I'm...fine, just a bit dizzy. What happened?"

"The entire layout of the temple changed!" Tails piped up, "I can't see anyone else nearby...can any of you see me?"

"I can't," Rin said, "Damn...I guess it was too easy at first...Caster must have set this entire place up to twist around if someone found- Kya!" There was a crashing sound. "Look out! Caster's minions are starting to come out of the wood work!"

Sonic could see it. The Dragon Tooth Warriors were appearing, popping out from behind corners in the distance, prowling the corridors, and waiting at walls.

"So? Don't tell me you're afraid of those low-budget constructs, Miss Tohsaka." Illya teased playfully.

"Hmph! As if! But even bugs can be annoying if you let them get underfoot!"

"What should be our next move?" Shirou asked, "Should we try to meet up somewhere?"

Sonic thought for a moment, then said, "Sure- the center. That's where we were heading before. And if we bump into each other along the way, even better. Sound good?"

There was a pause.

"We don't have much of a choice," Rin said, "Watch you backs."

Shirou said, "We need to keep moving. If we stay in one place, Caster will ensnare us again. Whatever happens, don't slow down."

"That's never a problem for us," Tails laughed, "Turn on your GPS' so you'll know if you get near someone!"

"Okay, guys, like I said before..." Sonic punched the palm of his hand, "Let's do this!"

Sonic took off, heading down the winding corridor in front of him. A pair of skeletons- the Dragon Tooth Warriors -blocked his path. Rather than do anything fancy such as jump over them, Sonic easily zipped by them through the gap between their skeletal bodies. As he passed them, he pulled out their sacrums. The "boneheads" instantly fell to pieces. Looking back, Sonic saw that the Warriors desperately trying to move, in spite of their disconnected state. Returning his gaze to the front, Sonic saw some more Dragon Tooth Warriors, armed with primitive swords and spears. Winding up, Sonic threw the bones he stole and lobbed them at the Warriors in the front. The sonic-speed momentum of the bones knocked the first group of warriors down, and Sonic followed up by hitting the rest with a series of a Homing Attacks. With the way cleared, Sonic sped on, zipping around corners and over stairs.

All over the labyrinth, the assembled alliance was doing whatever they could to navigate the treacherous, winding passageways, and the undead guards that patroled it.

Thanks to her lifetime of physical conditioning and thaumaturgical training, Rin became a blur by Reinforcing her body. While she wasn't as a fast as Sonic, her speed was enough to take the Dragon Tooth Warriors by the surprise, and the martial arts she learned from Kotomine allowed her to destroy them almost instantly. But as invigorating her triumphs were, Rin wasn't sure she had time to pat her back.

Caster set this trap to split us apart, I'm sure of it, She thought as she jumped over a wall, She could pick us off one-by-one…she'd better start with me!

Tails, meanwhile, had a different approach. Rather than just roam around endlessly, he took to the air, flying as high as his copter-ing could allow. Once he reached the top of a wall, he took out a pair of binoculars and began to scope out the maze. From what he could see, the center of the lair where the Chaos Emerald had become completely enclosed in a dome made from both rock and magic. There seemed to be only one entrance. Tails tried to see who was closest to the entrance, but with the winding passages, areas obscured by mismatched roofs and the usual floating platforms that moved around, it was hard to make any exact estimations. From what he could tell, Illya's maids had managed to stick together, and were fighting off Dragon Tooth Warriors far to the east. However, he couldn't see anyone else at the time.

A loud series of crashes from the southwest caught his attention. Tails looked, and saw what looked like a living avalanche tearing pushing its way through the walls of the labyrinth.

There's Berserker, Tails thought, Looks like he's going to reach the Emerald first...

The more Tails thought about it, the stranger it seemed that Caster would willingly leave the only path to the source of her power available. Granted, Eggman did things like that, but he was called a Mad Scientist for a reason. But why would Caster allow the opening to be unguarded. Concerned, he flipped a switch and turned his scope to Prana-vision. Focusing on the area before the doorway, the binoculars picked up a mass of energy stationed in the center. One that had a very familiar shape...

Tails realized with a start who it was. Turning on his communicator, he said, "Illya, this is Tails, do you copy? We need you to take control of Berserker, stat!"

Berserker was never in a good mood, but a new primal terror had been mixed with the usual belligerence. Being separated from his Master, with no clear enemy to annihilate, was like a hot arrow shooting through the fog of ignorance surrounding his conscious mind, causing an image of a bloodied child to flash by in his thoughts. He had only the vaguest idea who that child was, but the idea of Illya ending up the same way only served to increase his negativity. He needed to find his Master, and nothing, not even this weird construction, would stand in his way. If the mighty Herakles had been allowed to call upon his full mental facilities, he would have navigated the maze carefully, marking his path to avoid going in circles. But for the Servant Berserker, there was only one true path to follow- Namely, the one that was directly in front of him. The fact that there seemed to be a never-ending supply of walls and skeletons was a such a minor trifle that Berserker passed over them with the ease of an actor in a Toku production. However, the constant crashing and clattering worked on his nerves.

Since Berserker wasn't really able to keep track of time in his state, he had no idea of how long it took him to reach the open area. In fact, he would have just passed through it instantly as his Master could not be seen, when her words appeared in his mind.

Berserker! Stop!

And Berserker did stop, but not because he was ordered to. It was just confusing that the information came to his turbulent brain without going through the ears. But as he looked around for his Master, he saw that a new challenger appeared. It was none other than the Servant Saber. Only she looked different. The Saber he fought at the graveyard didn't have so many golden runes on her armor. And her sword no longer had the Invisible Air surrounding it. There was no point, not after Saber unleashed Excalibur in the airspace in Japan's ocean. Along the side of the blade were more runes, seven in total, aligned vertically. Of the new runes, only the one at the bottom was glowing.

Of course, Berserker didn't register this. All that mattered to him was that an enemy was in front of him and the only thing you could do to an enemy was...destroy them! He threw himself at Saber, pulling his sword back and prepared to bring it down on his foe.

No, Berserker! His Master's mouthless voice told him, Don't attack with all of your might!

At the last minute, Berserker halted his strike before it could strike Saber. But even though he didn't make contact, the force from his motion created a sharp gale that shook the walls. But Saber was already in motion herself, spinning around Berserker's assault and striking at his exposed chest.

Berserker barely felt the attack, but he roared in fury anyway.

Rin had lost both track of time and the skeletons, but she was fairly certain that she was on the right path. "Fairly" In the sense that she so far had not run into any of the markings she had made to avoid going in circles. She had also ceased running with Reinforced legs to avoid expending her reserves of Prana, and was simply jogging at a brisk pace. Reaching a corner, Rin paused, and looked up. Not for the first time, she contemplated scaling the wall and running along the top, and as always, it was too high with no effective footholds. While the walls looked like they had been made from bricks, their surface was so smooth that they might as well have grown out from the ground. Given what kind of spells Caster had access to, that was not an unreasonable assumption.

The only way to get up these things is either to fly, or have natural spikes in your limbs… Rin thought, annoyed.

As she continued through the maze, Rin became aware of a rumbling, crashing sound in the distance. Slowing down, Rin hoped she wasn't approaching an insidious trap Caster had set up. Or worse, and more likely, Berserker was just around the corner and not paying attention to what or who was in front of him.

As she turned the corner, Rin found a large archway leading into a wide area. It was from there that the cacophony was loudest. And for good reason. Berserker and a clearly tricked-out Saber were engaged in heated combat. Apparently, Saber had been put in charge of guarding the Chaos Emerald, and was doing a fantastic job of keeping the brute at bay. And although she didn't want to admit it, she was impressed. Not only had Saber's natural abilities jumped up from the Prana she received from Caster and the Emerald, but the witch had seen fit to enhance Saber with various runes. You didn't have to be a Mage to see the significant gap between Saber with Shirou as Master and the Saber controlled by Caster. With her new enhancements, Saber wasn't just fighting Berserker on equal grounds, but was slowly overwhelming him with pure skill. Only the demigods sheer strength and speed kept him from being destroyed.

Something bothered Rin, and she Reinforced her eyes to get a better look. She soon saw that Saber was actually striking Berserker- but it seemed that her sword couldn't pierce the skin's Defense. Rin remembered hearing Illya gloat at how Berserker had the ability to "Evolve" his defense- Any attack that managed to wound him would not only be undone, but he would become immune to that type of blow.

I can't believe Caster would equip Saber with all sorts of enhancements, and forget to add on to her sword... Rin thought, Is there something here I'm missing?

No sooner had the thought appeared Rin's mind did the situation change. Breaking away from Berserker, Saber sidestepped his inevitable charge and tapped one of the extra runes on her sword. A bright green wind appeared from the hilt, coating the blade in an turquoise energy. Pivoting on her heels, Saber launched at Berserker. As Berserker whirled about to cleave his assailant, and soon found his own weapon's momentum being redirected upwards. With his chest exposed, Saber stabbed her weapon forward, spearing Berserker through the abdomen and pushing his heart out the other end. She reclaimed her blade and leapt away as Berserker stumbled forward as a natural consequence of the dire wound he received. But before he could land, the gaping hole in his chest filled up, and the beating organ on Saber's sword had dissolved away. Standing up, Berserker shot Saber a glare that had more venom than the insect population of Austrailia.

Saber's sword was now purple.

All of these actions were observed by Caster and Souichirou, watching from a safe alcove high above the labyrinth. It had been originally on the floor near the Chaos Emerald, but after Sonic tripped the rearrangement rune Magecraft, the shelter had been repositioned to a more distant altitude. It was suspended on a stack of twisted columns, with stairs or ladders for anyone else to use. Caster had designed the shelter to only be accessible for those who could either fly or teleport. The only alternative would be to have the power to climb a completely smooth vertical wall. And because this third option was impossible for a non -servant, Caster felt perfectly at ease focusing on the events happening below.

"Excellent! The runes are working perfectly!" Caster chortled, watching as Saber's sword cleaved through Berserker ' s abdomen. "My new and improved Saber is making mincemeat out of that doll's musclehead!"

Kazuki was, as always, stonefaced and apparently unmoved. He said, "Caster, I won't claim to understand these Grail Wars, and I won't stop any action you take, but from what you've told me, these Berserker exhaust themselves immensely. Now that we've separated them, shouldn't we take this chance to kill his Master?"

Caster nodded. "You're right, that'd be the ideal solution. However, circumstances mean we need to be a different sort of pragmatic."

Caster waved her hand, and a purple flame appeared over the palm. The size of the fireball grew like a ballonon, and an image Illya appeared inside of the flames.

"According to my divinations, the Master of Berserker is the chosen vessel of the Holy Grail, Souichiro-sama," Caster explained, "When each Servant dies, their energy enters the vessel. Once every Servant enters the vessel, that vessel will become a doorway to the Holy Grail. While my own ritual will forego the need to kill the other Servants, having the intended vessel in custody will smooth out the process."

And given the…spicy…nature of Chaos Emerald's energy, having some local flavor (in a manner of speaking) would be pragmatic. In fact, she may have to go back to her original plan, just to be safe. When the witch had learned that all one truly needed was immense quantities of Prana to create Holy Grail, she had conceived of a ritual that would acquire that energy by draining the entire city's population, which was why she had set up camp at the Ryuudou Temple, to gain control of Fuyuki ' s leylines. When Knuckles had told her about the Chaos Emeralds, Caster had been delighted at the idea of avoiding wholesale genocide. But given how stressful managing Emerald's energies were, she might want to drain just a little bit from Fuyuki to balance out the alien gem's power.

But as touch-and-go the whole event will be, it will be worth it. Once she had the power of the Holy Grail at her disposal, becoming a fully-human presence in the physical world would be a cinch. And then there would be nothing standing in the way of her and Souichiro…

Caster's musings were interrupted when her Master inhaled sharply. It wasn't much of expression, but coming from someone as stoic as Kazuki, it came as loud as a thunderclap.

And speaking of thunder, a similar sound echoed throughout the entire labyrinth when a gloved, spiked fist slammed into the side of her head. Caster's world became a throbbing blur, and the only sensation she could accurately comprehend at this point was that her body seemed to be moving of its own accord at an alarming velocity.

Knuckles watched as Caster went flying from the alcove, smiling as she crashed very abruptly into the maze. While he wasn't someone who enjoyed hitting women specifically, he got a certain pleasure giving unscrupulous manipulators a gap where their front teeth used to be. But he wasn't so pleased that he didn't hear the sound of movement coming from behind. Knuckles turned and hopped to the side just in time to avoid having his neck broken by Kazuki's death strike. Knuckles' fists were up as he instantly took a boxing stance. His opponent had already resumed his own fighting stance.

"How did you get out of your chains?" Kazuki asked firmly. He didn't sound angry. He spoke with the same tone as he would when asking, "Why are your test answers identical to Takeru's, whom you sit next to every day?" It was a solid voice, like a giant boulder on a path. Unmoving, unyeilding.

But his eyes were different. There was a fire within them Knuckles had never seen before. Or perhaps the fire was always there, and usually the glasses Kazuki wore kept people from noticing. The Master certainly wasn't wearing any then.

So Knuckles, knowing that his answer didn't matter (Not that he had one) just smirked. "I've got a better question- which one of you put me in them first?"

For the briefest, longest moment, neither men said anything. It lasted two seconds, but the silence was so thick that it stretched the time it took from one glare to reach the other.

And then, they moved.

On the outside, on the unbeaten path, stood Archer.

Actually, it wasn't Archer. It was the man who used to be Archer. And he was staring intently at the entrance of the tunnel leading into the Ryuudou Mountain.

How interesting, He thought, not only is my dear Saber within this hole, but the doll that shall hold the next Grail as well. And a few of those gems, to boot.

The ex-Archer did not wonder on the remarkable coincidence that everything he wanted- no, needed- no, deserved to have- were now contained in one easy to invade location. From the very beginning of human history, he had been preordained to own everything going of value in the world. Even if some of those things came from a different world. All things, all people, were his to have.

And it was with that mentality that Gilgamesh strode into the tunnel, into the mountain. And had he been remotely interested in the floor of the tunnel, he would seen the numerous claw marks, tank treads and irregular footprints trailing in. And while he subconsciously noted the smell of jet exhaust in the air, his brain simply ignored his nose.

After all, he had more important matters to consider. He always did.

To be continued

Tiger Dojo:

Taiga: Once more, at the end of the chapter, it's the Tiger Dojo! I am your presiding teacher, Fujimura Taiga, here to dispense wisdom!

Illya: And the Number One Student, Illya, here to dispense actual wisdom, is here as well!

Taiga: Ohhh! After so very long, we are reunited! We should celebrate byyyyyy answering the questions!

Illya: Our first letter is from Doctor Lecture Sith. He writes, "How much you knows about Kamen Rider?" What kind of grammar is that?

Taiga: That's right, you're grammar is atrocious, even for the internet! However, we here at Fate/Genesis, inc. are not intimately familiar with the Kamen Rider franchise, or it's affiliates.

Illya: In one special chapter of the All-Around Type-Moon manga, what was undoubtably a younger version of Onii-Chan talking to the Fourth Rider about his dreams for the future. Apparently, when he was a child, Onii-Chan wanted to be the Kamen Rider when he grew up!

Taiga: Now he wants to be just a Hero of Justice! Looks like Shirou hasn't changed very much at all, did he?

Illya: Poor Onii-Chan, the trauma of the Fire really caused your maturity to stall, hasn't it?

Taiga: Our next question comes from tl34lt12. They write, "Would Waver join the plot?" Ahh! Are you talking about that nice cutie from England I met ten years ago!?

Illya: Waver Velvet, now known as Lord E-Melloi II of Clock Tower, would probably love to get involved in what's happening in Fuyuki. However, I've heard that he's too busy trying to keep the other Lords of the Mage's Association from condemning the city to a fiery death. He may not be very powerful in Magecraft, but Waver has amassed quite a lot of influence in the decade since the Fourth Holy War. But before he can properly investigate the Fifth War, he needs to make sure his going won't provoke the high-class Mages into taking excessive action.

Taiga: Ohhh, that's too bad. I'm sure he's become quite handsome since we last met… Now, for our last question! "Will the Patheon of Sonic Universes gods and their allies interfere?" by Loki's Tongue.

Illya: That's unlikely, as those guys are all the way in another dimension. But who knows how gods act? Maybe they've already decided to interfere by sending Sonic and company to our universe.

Taiga: And so, I hereby declare and end to this Q/A! We shall see you at the next practice!

Illya: Good bye, everyone! Next time, it'll be my time to shine!

Gilgamesh: No, it'll be mine.

Taiga & Illya: Ehhhhh!?