The night was quiet, barely a soul around. The strange things happening at night had caused people to stay inside for fear of their own safety. Of course, not everyone was able to do this, as the people had to either go home from work or drive out to it, however.

There was no excuse for the jogger with no common sense jogging down the moonlit road. It was why no pity was felt for them as a red blur streaked by them, the wind generated by the object's sheer speed sending the jogger flying into a nearby treetop. The jogger barely had time to get their bearings as two purple blurs rushed by the tree, chasing down the red blur.

One of them was slowing down though. Bazett found it harder and harder to keep pace with the other two, and it wasn't because of her runes. They should have kept her going, why was it so hard to keep up? Her body eventually stopped responding, her legs stopping as the others rushed off into the distance.

Oh, right. She was so worried about her Noble Phantasm, she didn't even consider she was nearly killed and in a coma for an unknown amount of time. Of course her body hadn't fully recovered. Her body fell over, watching as the other two vanished in the distance.

Dammit.

She suddenly felt a rock hit her stomach. Looking down at it, she could see a rune on it, the light slowly dying off. Someone else knew how to use runes? Gritting her teeth, she pushed that thought to the side. This wasn't the time for that, she had to move! However, her vision began to darken, and she once again began to pass out.

Meanwhile, Medusa didn't stop to check on Bazett, confident her Master would find her and pick her up. Instead, she chased down the red blur, who was noticeably heading into the city. She gritted her teeth as she saw her target merge onto the road. Having to dodge cars would slow her down, but not enough to matter.

Medusa threw her chain at the mystery Servant, the weapon flying faster than a bullet, but the mystery Servant took a leap into the air, landing on a car to avoid it. Medusa pulled her chain back in, jumping at the Servant on the car. He quickly retreated, hopping to a different car that was a little further down the road. The two stood on their cars for a few seconds, staring each other down as the two cars drove into a curved tunnel, the sudden shift in lighting not disturbing either one.

Medusa struck first again, throwing her chain out once again. This time, the Servant took off his mask, tossing it at the nail on the chain, the two items colliding in midair. The nail flew to the left, embedding itself into the wall while the mask went to the right, bouncing off the wall and flying back into the Servant's hand, who placed it back on his face in one smooth motion.

The Greek monster woman couldn't see her opponent's face because of her blindfold, which was a little frustrating. But that wasn't what was important right now. Yanking on her chain once more, the force of which caused the nail to bring a large chunk of the wall with it. Twirling her new morning star-like weapon over her head, she jumped forward, swinging the weapon downwards. The masked mystery hopped off the car as the weapon smashed its way through the roof, causing the car to start to spin out and wreck into the wall. The cars behind it came screeching to a halt, but it was too late. A giant pile up in the tunnel had clogged the way they came in.

Without missing a beat, Medusa went after the Servant once more, finally closing the distance between them. She gripped the nail on the other side of her chain, taking a swing at her opponent, who leaned back to avoid it before he started to run backwards at extremely high speeds to get away from her. Not content with letting him get away, she pressed onward, catching up in seconds and smoothly swinging her nail at him. Just as smoothly, the Servant avoided her swings, before he began to run at the wall, running up the side of it.

Soon, both Servants were on the tunnel's ceiling, the new orientation doing nothing to slow them down. Darting around the ceiling, the masked Servant still smoothly dodged Medusa's attack, still not counter attacking, although if that was because of a lack of openings or a lack of desire to, Medusa couldn't tell. It didn't take long for the two Servants to get to the end of the tunnel however, both leaping to the ground to continue the chase.

Their chase had led them into the city, where the buildings stretched up to the sky, and the traffic was much thicker. The two weaved through traffic, the mysterious Servant leaping over a car to avoid his ankles being shattered by the nail and mortar, and then powersliding under another car to avoid the nail flying at his head.

After he cleared the car, the man took a giant leap, landing on the side of a building and rushing straight up it, headed to the rooftop of the massive structure. Medusa was quick to follow, the two's sheer speed keeping them from being affected by gravity. It grew darker and darker as they headed further away from the lights on the ground, until they got to the rooftops, which were lit only by the moon above them. Medusa closed the gap between them, reaching out to grab him, but before she could, he leapt to another rooftop.

The two began to jump from rooftop to rooftop, the small moments of time on the ground making it hard for Medusa to get any closer to her target. Silently, she tossed her chain once more, the weapon snaking through the air, and for the first time that night, it managed to wrap around the man's ankle, Medusa using her monstrous strength to pull back on the chain and forced the man to come back to her, using that same monstrous strength to kick the man over the rooftop's edge.

The mystery Servant spun through the air out of control, the force of the kick looking as if it would send him into the next rooftop over, but halfway to the roof, the Servant threw out his hands, and suddenly, all his monumentum was halted. Medusa's grip on her weapon tightened as she watched the hero in front of her float in the air, defying gravity as if it was no more than a mere suggestion. How many Servants could just fly without a mount of some sort?

This had to be a high tier hero.

The airborne Servant only wagged his finger at her before turning around to fly off. Silently, Medusa threw her chain once again, the weapon wrapping around the retreating Servant's foot before he could fly off. However, his flight would not be stopped, and Medusa soon found herself hanging off the end of her chain, suspended high above the city streets as her opponent flew.

Realizing he hadn't lost her yet, the Servant took a sharp left around a building. Medusa was swung in a wide arc, headed into a collision course with the building parallel to the one they were swinging around. She quickly positioned herself, her feet colliding into the glass on the side of the building, the glass cracking from the impact. She held on to her chain, skiing across the surface of the glass like a person skiing across a body of water. At the end of the building, she took a huge leap off the side, shattering the glass completely, the shards falling like rain to the streets below.

The combating Servants cared not however, as the flying Servant began to spin in a spiral formation in an attempt to shake her off. Medusa responded by taking her chain and wrapping it around her forearm, killing two birds with one stone. Not only was she securing herself on the wild Servant ride, she was closing the distance between the two. Suddenly, the flying Servant stopped, watching as Medusa's momentum sent her flying into the side of a building once again, the glass shattering as she made impact.

Before she could even react, Medusa felt a hand wrap around her throat, the Servant grabbing her and flying through the building, the walls crumbling like milk soaked cookies as the two charged through them.

In under five seconds, they crashed through the other side of the building, the glass sparkling as it fell to the ground. These two however, only went up. Like Icarus spreading his wings, the two flew straight up, leaving the city down below far behind. Medusa struggled to pry open the man's hand, but this time, despite her strength, he refused to let go. They broke through the cloud, ascending higher and higher, before they finally reached the peak of their ascent. The city would have been barely visible if the two weren't covering their eyes.

The two hung in the air for a few seconds, the entire area illuminated beautifully by the moon and the stars above. Then, the Servant raised his hand over his head, lifting up Medusa, before he violently threw her at the ground.

Gritting her teeth, Medusa went to reorient herself and find a way to break her fall, but her opponent came down at her like a missile, striking her in the stomach. A loud boom was heard as the sound barrier was broken, the two rapidly approaching the unforgiving Earth.

Medusa looked at the ground for a split second before making a decision. Rearing her fist back, she threw a punch with all her might, striking the man in the ribs, a sickening crunch being heard. The force of her attack forced the man to flail to the side, releasing her from his attack. Looking at her surroundings, she could see they had managed to drift away from their original takeoff point, and there was a river nearby now. She forced herself to move towards the water, rolling around as she did. She positioned herself so she would fall feet first into the water, taking a breath as she did. Not even a few seconds later, she pierced through the water like a lance, a huge geyser of water exploding in her wake.

A few seconds later, she surfaced a little further down the water, pulling herself to shore. Her focus wasn't broken however, as she looked around for her target, despite her aching body. She didn't see the Servant, but she did notice a giant dent in the side of the bridge suspended over the river. No other sign of him however…

"Rider!" A familiar voice called out to her. Looking further up the street, she saw Ritsuka waving at her with his good arm, before running up to him. "Are you okay? I heard an explosion and then saw you crash into the water!" Medusa looked at Ritsuka for one second before grabbing her nail, throwing it as hard as she could at Ritsuka's head.

With a yell of shock, Ritsuka managed to smoothly dodge the surprise attack by leaning to the side before leaping back much higher and farther than a human could. A mantle surrounded his form, and the mystery Servant's original form was revealed.

"You're crazier than I thought," The Servant spoke, his voice gentle and soft. "What if I really was the Master of Chaldea? You could have killed the hope of your world,"

"There's no way I would have mistaken him," Medusa shot back, getting into her stance. It may have sounded like something people would consider cheesy, like a bond they forged, or complete trust, but the real reason she knew was really something much simpler.

The imposter didn't know about Ritsuka's numerous scars, and so they didn't put them on his body.

The Servant laughed. "Ah, it seems you two have forged a strong bond together. I'm glad. Someone like you deserves that," He took a step back. "You're in no condition to chase me, but I was unable to eliminate you. Let's call it a draw then. Farewell, Rider of the Fuyuki Grail," Before Medusa could react, the Servant took off once more, the sonic boom left in his wake shattering all the windows of the buildings around them.

Medusa gritted her teeth, falling to a knee as she watched the Servant disappear into the night sky. She couldn't believe how badly that went. They couldn't even get the weapon back, or a single hint of the Servant's identity. How mad would her new Master be?

A small rock with a glowing rune of some kind hitting her foot temporarily distracted her from that line of thought.

"Medusa!" A familiar voice called out to her. Looking behind her shoulder, she could see Ritsuka jogging up to her, Bazett slung over his good shoulder. "Are you okay? I heard a sonic boom and then saw you crash into the water!" He came down to her, getting on a knee and looking her over. "You look mostly okay, but you probably need some mana," He stood up, walking over to a bench and gently setting Bazett down on it before running back to her, rolling down the neck of his Mystic Code, offering his neck. "Come on, drink up,"

"Master, the Servant got away with the-,"

"I figured when I saw you. Now's not the time to worry about it," Ritsuka interrupted. "You did a good job managing to keep up for as long as you did," He said as he patted her on the head, confusing the Greek monster. Without another word, Medusa slowly slid her mouth over Ritsuka's neck, taking a gentle bite into it. As much as she hated to admit it, she did use a lot of mana chasing that mystery Servant, and she could feel Ritsuka losing his strength, having to lean on her more and more.

Before she took too much, she released the boy, causing him to flop over on the ground.

"So… do you mind taking Bazett back to Emiya's house?" Ritsuka asked.

"And what about you?" Medusa asked as she slowly stood up.

"Oh, just leave me here. I'm gonna recover my strength and then go on a different investigation," There was a quiet pause, letting Ritsuka know just how stupid Medusa thought this idea was. Next thing the Master of Chaldea knew, a pair of thin but powerful arms were wrapping around him, lifting him up over her shoulder. "H-hey, come on, I was being serious!"

"Why are you so desperate to stay out here?" Medusa asked. "Does it have anything to do with the Shielder you mentioned?" Ritsuka paused, quiet before he nodded silently. "I can't say I know why you're so anxious about them, but you need to rest. I took enough blood and mana that you will need to at least rest for a day or so," She walked over to Bazett, picking her up as well.

"I can't afford to rest," Ritsuka mentioned. "There's too much I don't know, and too much I won't be able to know unless I-,"

"Don't bite your tongue," Medusa said simply before taking a giant leap into the air. Ritsuka couldn't do anything except be carried away by the tall beauty that was leaping into the sky. A few seconds later, she landed on the ground, walking to Emiya's house.

At this point, Ritsuka gave up on trying to escape, sighing to himself as he let himself go limp in Medusa's arms. He looked over to Bazett, seeing her eyes slowly open. "You know, we're both kind of idiots," He said to her. "I dunno how the heck it slipped both our minds that you need time to recover your strength,"

"Did… did we get Fragarach back?" Bazett muttered as she slowly woke up.

"Sorry, that was a bust," Ritsuka muttered. "Whoever that Servant was, they managed to get away," He winced as he heard some of the words Bazett muttered under her breath. It might have been in a different language, but it was one he had heard many times, especially when Cu received a beating from Scathach. He decided to let her vent, looking at the starry night sky instead.

"... You know how to use Primordial Runes?" Bazett finally asked after at least a minute of nothing but cursing. Ritsuka let out a laugh at that question.

"My knowledge of runes is about on par with my knowledge of theoretical physics. Basically nonexistent," He shrugged. "My teacher forced me to remember two distinct runes spells. A search spell and a light spell. Basically, if I ever get separated from the others, I have ways of finding them and of showing my location," He paused as he stared at the stars. "I really would like to learn more, but… I just don't have the time. My schedule is so packed, everyone decided it was more important I was physically capable than being magically capable. Even that's kind of a bust because the moment I got into a serious fight...," He wiggled the shoulder his broken arm was attached to. He looked over to her. "So I learned my runes from a crazy Irish lady and a crazy Irish man. Where'd you learn yours?"

Bazett looked down at her glove before responding. "I always knew how," Ritsuka looked over at her, blinking once.

"We're lucky that crazy Irish lady I mentioned isn't here… she'd kick both of our asses hearing that," Ritsuka commented. He looked up at the sky, thinking to himself. "So, my turn for a question. Were you trying to summon Cu Chulainn for the Holy Grail War?" Bazett turned her head at him, a confused look on her face.

"How did you know that?"

"I recognized the earrings in the summoning circle," Ritsuka admitted. "As I said, Chaldea has summoned a lot of Servants, and one of the first people to help me was Cu Chulainn. If it wasn't for him, I literally wouldn't be here today," He smiled at the memory. He glanced over at Bazett, who for the first time since he had seen her, had a look other than stoicness. He could tell she wanted to ask what Cu was like, all sorts of questions. Well… "I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but I'm not answering any of them," He said playfully, sticking out his tongue.

The sheer offense on her face was actually pretty hilarious. It was also pretty obvious she was teetering between believing him outright, and not trusting him due to the sheer absurdity to his story.

"... Did my summoning ritual work?" She asked finally.

"Yeah. He's still saving my butt," Ritsuka said. He then rubbed his chin. "How about a deal?"

"A deal?" Bazett looked at him, narrowing her eyes.

"Yeah, a deal. You get home, eat and rest, and if you do, I'll take you to see Cu tomorrow," Ritsuka offered. Bazett froze up at that offer. She didn't know if she should trust this random stranger. This just didn't feel right.

"You're one to talk about resting," Medusa commented. "Forcing others to do what you won't do yourself,"

"Fine, fine, I hear ya loud and clear," Ritsuka muttered. "I'll get some rest too," They fell into silence after that, but the whole way home, Bazett's mind was running wild.

What exactly should she do? Should she trust this strange boy? Trust was what got her in this mess in the first place. It wasn't something she was willing to just give away again freely. But… what if she could actually meet Cu?

Was that worth risking making another deal with the devil…?


Fortune was smiling on the head of the Matou family. Finally, after all his years of planning, after all his years of failures, his plan was about to succeed. And it was all thanks to an old friend of his, someone he never thought he would see again. Thinking back on it, it made far too much sense that he would show up, but it never crossed Zouken's mind before. The old creature now posing as human had to hold back his urge to cackle at the moon as he walked into his home.

Waiting for him at the entrance, obscured by the shadows was his friend. "Ah, is there something I can do for you?" The old man asked as he walked down the hall. The man followed him quickly, before speaking up.

"I want your grandson," He said simply. Zouken raised an imaginary eyebrow as he turned to look at his friend. "I have an experiment I wish to try, and I need… someone disposable for it," Zouken chuckled as he walked down the hallway.

"That will be no issue. He'll be home tomorrow. Sakura will make sure of it…,"