Shinji let out a grunt as he opened his eyes. The ceiling looked so familiar to the boy, it actually confused him for a second. It was his bedroom, not the basement. How exactly did he come here?
He remembered saying the words, he remembered feeling power flow through him… did he do it? Did he really summon a Servant? The blue haired boy looked to his hand, his eyes widening as he stared at it.
There was nothing there.
Was all that pain for nothing? Shinji couldn't even bear that thought. He lowered his hand, choking back sobs, his eyes filling with tears. It didn't take long for the boy to break down, crying softly as he mentally beat himself down.
Useless. Unwanted. Why was the entire world out to get him?!
"Oy, don't move too much, Shinji." A voice called out to the blue haired boy. Shinji felt a damp towel get lifted off his forehead before a hand was pressed against it. "Well, your fever broke, so you can't be crying like a bitch over that." Shinji opened his eyes, seeing a strange red haired man in a mask sitting down on a chair next to his bed. "So, what's got you crying, hmm?"
Shinji was stunned for a moment. "Who… who the hell are you?"
"Oh, you didn't hear me when we made the contract? Damn, and I thought I made a good speech," The chair squeaked as the man stood up and backed away from the bed. "Servant, Rider, here to give you a decisive victory, Shinji." He introduced, bowing theatrically.
"A decisive victory, huh?" Shinji muttered.
"Yeah, it won't be easy, but I think you have the element of surprise." Rider explained before sitting back down.
"I… I don't understand," Shinji admitted as he looked at his hands. "I don't have Command Seals… how am I your Master?" Rider let out a sigh at the question.
"Really? Right when I just sat back down?" Rider muttered as he stood back up. "Here, just let me—," He carefully scooped up Shinji into a princess carry, holding the boy close to his chest.
"R-Ride—,"
"Don't make it weird, man." Rider quipped before walking over to the full body mirror, gently placing Shinji down, the boy's back towards the mirror. "Now, take off your shirt."
"... Didn't you just say not to make it weird?" Shinji asked.
"If that's weird, then I think I was right on the money pegging you as bi." Rider commented. "Shirt off." The Servant backed up, a shield appearing on his arm as he did. Shinji gave in, sighing to himself as he slowly took off his shirt.
"What's this for, Rider?" Shinji asked as he resisted the urge to try to cover himself.
"Patience, Shinji," Rider held up the shield towards Shinji, the boy blinking in surprise. The shield's surface seemed less like metal and more like a mirror, one that perfectly reflected his form. Looking into the mirror within the mirror shield, Shinji could see what looked like Seraph wings on his back, although the one on the bottom left was missing, leaving him with only five wings.
"That's… a Command Seal?" Shinji asked in confusion. Rider nodded.
"Yeah, and since it's in an unusual spot, you still have the element of surprise on your side," The Servant dismissed the shield, walking to Shinji and gently leading him back to bed. "Now, get a little more rest, Shinji. You've got a long war ahead of you."
Shinji laid back in bed, grunting a little. "You know, if I'm your Master, then shouldn't you call me Master?" He snapped. It wasn't like he wasn't grateful for this chance, but he wasn't sure if he liked this informal attitude his Servant decided to have.
"Really? Master? But that's so impersonal, Shinji." His Servant commented. "And after I helped you steal those newspapers from the library? I thought we had something." Shinji froze, his head slowly turning to his Servant as he for the first time took a close look at the man.
"Wait, Ha—?" Before Shinji could finish, the Servant put a finger to the lips of the mask.
"Let's not say it out loud, yeah? You never know when someone…," He walked over to the door, throwing it open, revealing Sakura standing there with a towel in hand. "might go and tell her precious senpai." The Servant commented as he walked away from the door. "Didn't anyone teach you it's rude to eavesdrop, Sakura?"
"I…," Sakura was like a deer caught in headlights, looking like she wished the shadows of the house just swallowed her whole.
"Just make sure my Master rests, okay?" Rider commanded before turning to Shinji. "And if you do something to her while she's following my orders, I will find out Shinji, and trust me, I won't be happy, got it?"
"Hey now, wait a minute, you're my Servant, you don't give me—!" Shinji began, but Rider cut him off.
"This isn't a game, Shinji!" The Rider shouted. "At this moment, your life's on the line, and I will make sure you're at absolutely nothing less than your best when we rejoin the War. If you harm her because she's making you rest, I will terminate our Master Servant contract and join Fujimaru, got it?" Shinji went quiet after the threat, fuming to himself. Rider sighed, folding his arms. "Look, this is for your own good, okay? I already almost lost you because you dove headfirst into that alchemist's mad scientist experiment, I'm not risking that again."
"... Fine, I got it." Shinji muttered bitterly.
"... Good. Now, I have a job I need to do, I'll be back." With that, Rider left the room, leaving the two siblings alone in the quiet house.
Fujimaru groaned as he opened his eyes. To his horror, his vision was still black. To his confusion, however, he felt himself pressed into something warm and soft. He slowly moved his head away from the soft object, quickly realizing that he was pressed against Medusa's chest. The Servant was holding on to him protectively as the sounds of metal striking metal filled the air.
"How long was I out?" Ritsuka muttered.
"About ten seconds," Medusa provided, causing Ritsuka to blink. He turned his head to see that they were still in the field. Jack and EMIYA were swinging their weapons, the red coated man doing his best to defend against Jack's quick and sporadic swings. Rin was behind Archer, turning her head to stare at Ritsuka. Medusa must have saved him after Rin nailed him in the face.
Wait a minute.
"Why are you even here, Rider?!" Ritsuka called out as he did his best to squirrel out of the Servant's grip. "What about Shirou and Bazett?!"
"No one has ever gone to attack them," Medusa reasoned as she let Ritsuka go. "And if you're serious about helping my Master, then I need you alive."
Ah. So her Master was in trouble. Well, that was just another issue to pile on Ritsuka's plate. However, now was not the time to worry about it.
"Help out Jack, but make sure she doesn't kill EMIYA or Rin, okay?" Ritsuka just gave in. "After we're done, we'll figure out how to help your Master, and we'll probably need their help to do it." Medusa nodded, rushing at both Jack and Archer, tackling the two and driving them away from Rin. Ritsuka rolled his good shoulder before looking over to Rin.
"So, what exactly is this about?" Ritsuka asked politely.
"Don't play dumb, Fujimaru Ritsuka!" Rin accused as she pointed at the boy. "You think you could hide your plans from us?"
"I mean, it's hard to hide what I don't have. I've been kinda winging it this whole time, honestly." Ritsuka admitted. Rin shook her head, the sound of metal clashing against metal filling the air as she positioned her, ready to throw out her accusation.
"I know who you are!" She stated as she pointed at him. "You're an agent of Lord Marisbury Animusphere, and you're here to take away the Holy Grail so that your Master can wish upon it to make Chaldea a reality! You're sneaking behind the scenes, trying to distract me with Shirou Emiya so you can find the grail, making up these wild claims to throw us off your trail!"
Her accusations were straightforward and simple. There was no reason to beat around the bush, after all. Ritsuka rubbed the back of his head as he took in her accusations.
"You know, it's amazing. You are one hundred percent wrong. I mean nothing you've said has been right." He said with a shrug. "I dunno where you got that info, but if you got it from an informant or something, you might wanna get your money back. You really were ripped off." Ritsuka quipped. Rin wasn't amused, reaching into her pocket as she pulled out a gem, causing Ritsuka to stiffen up.
With a mighty pitch that put some baseball players to shame, Rin hurled the gem towards Ritsuka. The boy reflexively threw himself to the ground, spinning so he landed on his back instead of his broken arm. He squeezed his eyes shut, doing his best to focus on Rin's approaching footsteps instead of the magical explosion going off above him. When he heard her getting close, he spun around, sweeping his foot out in an attempt to trip her up.
Rin took to the air, flipping over both his foot and the fading explosion. She landed gracefully, watching as Ritsuka quickly flipped up to his feet.
"Really, you're going to attack me while I got this?" He asked, holding up his broken arm. He watched as she seemed to hesitate at that. With a deep breath, that hesitation was buried under a face of determination.
Rin rushed forward, spinning swiftly and sending a kick at Ritsuka's head. The boy leaned back to avoid it, but with one smooth motion, she spun around again, lowering her foot and taking Ritsuka's feet out from under him.
The boy fell to the ground, barely able to keep himself from landing on his broken arm. He attempted to get back up, but Rin slipped her foot under his side, throwing her foot forward and painlessly launching Ritsuka at a tree.
Rin froze as she heard a blood curdling scream coming from the tiny child fighting her Archer. Jack did her best to charge past Archer, knives posed to gut Rin. However, the child's plans came to a stop when swords fell from the sky, slamming into the ground in front of her, forming a barrier.
"Master, you need to hurry. I won't be able to hold both back for long!" Archer informed Rin. Jack jumped on the swords, kicking off of them to launch herself at Archer. The red coated man's only option was to hold his twin swords up defensively as he tried to ward off both Jack and Medusa's attack.
It wasn't looking good for him. He barely was able to keep up with Jack. She attacked aggressively. Erratic and fast swings. The sounds of metal filled the air as he blocked. A chain from Medusa flew like a bullet at his body. A dodge, broken eye contact. Jack vanished, attacking from another angle.
It's too ridiculous to keep up with.
The kid's speed matched her desperation, getting harder and harder to deal with. He was used to a pattern, a dance. One two three, one two three. No such pattern existed with the serial killer. Even the chain from Medusa came sporadically. His timing was in ruins, it was only a matter of time. Close combat wouldn't cut it.
The Archer leapt away, putting space between them. The child closed the gap instantly. Her knives flew at his stomach. He blocked, swinging his leg and landing a lucky kick on her. A chain flew after. He moved, then was blindsided by a kick from Medusa. Her speed was an even worse problem than Jack's own.
The kick sent him flying. He crashed into the dirt. Despite this, he found his footing. Heels dug into the earth, stabilizing the man. His swords disintegrated into mana, soon replaced by a black bow. A sword appeared in his other hand. It twisted, molded by his magecraft into an arrow.
A chain flew. An arrow opposed. The two collided mid flight like missiles. With a disappointed click of his tongue, Archer leapt again. Jack missed with her stabs, the girl rushing after Archer like a demon. Another twisted sword, another arrow. He aimed, steady and true.
Chains lashed out, wrapping around his legs in midair.
"Shit," The Archer cursed.
Meanwhile, Ritsuka picked himself off the ground, his back sore from hitting the tree. "Why are we even doing this?" Ritsuka called out to Rin. "Shirou really needs our help. Ill—,"
"Don't worry about that, worry about yourself!" Rin called out as she ran forward, throwing another kick.
"Illya's coming tomorrow and you want me to worry about this?!" Ritsuka snapped as he ducked under his kick. Rin's foot tore through the tree like paper, causing it to fall over backwards. Ritsuka jumped up, landing on the fallen tree's trunk, right out of Rin's reach. "All this can't wait until after Shirou summons a Servant?!"
"Shirou this, Shirou that!" Rin snapped back as she leapt into the air, raising her foot like a mighty axe. Ritsuka hopped off the trunk as Rin smashed it in half with a kick. "Why are you so fixated on him, huh? It's almost like you're trying to distract me by aiming at what you think are weak spots!"
Ritsuka couldn't refute that. It looked weird from an outside perspective, and he had no good answer either. The boy ran his hand through his hand, trying to think of anything he could say here.
Rin walked towards him, smirking a little as his befuddled expression. If this kept up, she might be able to get some answers out of him without seriously hurting him. Something then caught her eye. It was quick, but she could see the boy stealing glances at her Archer as he deliberated with himself. What was that about? Finally, Ritsuka threw up his hands in frustration.
"Dammit, what am I supposed to say?!" Ritsuka shouted. "What, you want me to dig myself even deeper than I already am? 'Oh, I'm so obsessed with helping Shirou Emiya because I summoned his future self and he became one of my personal heroes, so of course I don't wanna see his younger self die in front of me!' Doesn't the truth sound insane? You want me to keep going? See if I can hit Britain with this hole I'm digging? Hell, while I'm there, I could go to the Clock Tower and get proof of my innocence!"
"What I want is the truth!" Rin shouted back. "I know about Marisbury—."
"Rin, I don't know who told you this stuff, but unless I'm getting secret orders from a ghost even I don't know about, that's impossible!" Ritsuka fired back. Rin hesitated for a second as she looked at him.
"A ghost? You mean—."
"Yeah, I never met the man. He died before I was even hired." Ritsuka explained. "Well, 'hired'." He muttered, using air quotes. "That's a whole different can of worms I refuse to open right now." Rin gritted her teeth. She had no way to check to see if he was lying. "Look, Rin." Ritsuka muttered. "I get it. I sound like a madman. But I'm telling you the truth."
"So you keep telling me." Rin muttered. Ritsuka sighed to himself.
"Look, Rin, what do I need to do to convin—," The boy trailed off his words as he stared at something coming up from behind Rin. "Rin, look behind you!" Ritsuka shouted.
"Really? That's what you're going with? What do you think I am, stupid?" Rin shouted back, her temper reignited from the perceived insult. Ritsuka shook his head, unable to come up with a good argument. He instead held out his left hand, charging up a Gandr. Without his other hand to stabilize the attack, Ritsuka's arm shook from the effort of channeling the mana to his fingertip. Still, that didn't really matter. He fired, the projectile whizzing over Rin's shoulder, nailing the mud woman creeping up behind Rin, leaving a hole on the… thing's shoulder.
"What the—?!" Rin turned around, seeing the muddy woman cry out in pain. She backed away from the mud woman who stared at the hole, which rapidly began to heal. With a groan, the pile of black mud advanced forward once again. Rin moved closer to Ritsuka, only to notice one critical detail.
They were suddenly surrounded by the mud women.
"How are they so quiet?" Ritsuka muttered to himself as he looked at them. Wait, if his theory was correct, then maybe he should see if he could help them instead of—
"Archer!" Rin called out, obviously set on edge by the creatures.
"Wait, don't—!" Ritsuka called out, but it was too late. Archer took a straight leap into the air, pulling back the string of his bow. He fired a single arrow, which twisted through the air, spiraling around the two Masters and taking out every mud woman. Each one lost their form, being sucked up by the earth and vanishing. "-kill them…" Ritsuka finished.
That wasn't the only problem though.
With Archer distracted by the mud women, Jack had a clear shot at Rin. The serial killer thought for a split second if they should, before deciding they absolutely should. With all the speed they could muster, Jack launched herself at Rin, knives posed to stab her. She was faster than any human, there was no way Rin could react in time.
However, their mommy knew exactly how they thought.
Ritsuka moved in front of Rin, spreading his arm out wide. Unable to stop their momentum, Jack could only let their weapons disintegrate as they collided head first into Ritsuka's stomach, knocking the boy right into Rin, the two humans falling to the ground. The three laid there awkwardly for a few seconds before they heard Jack crying.
"Why Mommy?" Jack asked as she slowly crawled up Ritsuka's body, cuddling into his chest. "Why protect the bad lady? She hurt you!" She grabbed onto his uniform for comfort. "Why won't you let us hurt her back?!" Ritsuka sat up slowly, ignoring the slight pain in his broken arm as he instead rubbed Jack's back.
"It's okay Jackie. I'm not hurt. See?" Ritsuka gave her a reassuring smile, rubbing her head. Jackie shook her head.
"No, no, no! No good! She might try to hurt you again! Let us hurt her Mommy!" Jack pleaded. Ritsuka didn't respond, instead slowly standing up and holding her close, rocking her gently. He looked down at Rin, who just stared at the two.
"Don't mind her, she just needs a minute." Ritsuka assured Rin. He could see the discomfort on Rin's face as Archer helped her onto her feet. Medusa slipped behind Ritsuka, the famous monster staring down the hero from the future. Besides the sounds of Jack slowly calming down from crying, it was awkwardly silent. Ritsuka decided to just let Rin make the first move.
"... So those were the mud women you were talking about?" Rin finally asked. Ritsuka nodded in response.
"Yeah… I've never seen them outside of this park though… we just have to hope it stays that way for now." He replied. Rin bit her thumb as she took in all this information. She was at an important crossroads, she could feel it. The question was, what was the right path? What if she chose wrong?
Still, those mud women were decidedly not part of the Grail War. She was sure that her father would have told her about something like that. They were far too much of a liability, after all. If that was true… then it was possible everything else Ritsuka said was as well. Still, it was so outlandish, even for a girl that practiced magical bajiquan fighting alongside heroes from the past.
Well. Perhaps it wasn't so outlandish as she was making it. If they could summon heroes from across time, then it wouldn't be impossible to send someone else to a new world. Complicated, sure, but not impossible.
In the end, she had to take a chance, and she decided that she would follow her own instinct for now.
With a sigh, she reached into her pocket, pulling out a piece of paper and handing it to Ritsuka. Ritsuka took the paper with a confused look on his face. The two once again stood around awkwardly as Ritsuka waited for Rin to explain herself.
"It's directions to my house!" She explained, raising her voice. "I need to make up for lost time teaching Shirou, so I can't walk you there, you know?" Ritsuka smiled as he looked down at the paper. Finally, things were looking up!
"Thanks Rin!" He earnestly replied. "You're the best!" Rin could feel her ear tips turning red as she spun on her heel.
"Yes… well… I'll see you later!" Rin purposefully marched off, thankful the strange boy couldn't see her blush, and even more thankful that Ritsuka wasn't pushing about what just happened. Archer silently dissolved into his spirit form, following his Master.
"Are you sure about this?" Medusa asked as Rin left. Ritsuka looked up to the tall woman with confusion in his eyes.
"Sure about what?" He asked as he gently put down Jack.
"Letting her leave. Letting her live." Medusa explained. "Between Assassin and I, we could take her out. I'm sure you could find a way to teach Shirou summoning using the girl's notes."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, let's not jump to the nuclear option just yet." Ritsuka said as he looked down at the piece of paper. "Look, she roughed me up a little, but I've worked with worse. She just didn't know what to believe." He narrowed his eyes as a thought hit him. "Still, who told her those lies…? I'll have to ask her after we summon some more help."
With a shrug, he pocketed the paper. "Well, there's no point waiting around. Let's get going." Before he could walk off, Jack reached up, tightly gripping his hand. The boy could only chuckle as he walked off. Medusa fell in line on the other side, the odd trio leaving the park.
It was quiet as they walked, although this was a much more comfortable silence. Inwardly, Ritsuka began going down every Servant in Chaldea. Who would be the best to summon here? Someone who could help against Medea, and could help against Heracles. Did he know anyone like that?
"Hey!" Ritsuka heard a boy calling out to them, snapping Ritsuka out of his thoughts. Looking up, the Last Master of Chaldea saw Shinji's friend running up to the group. What was he doing here? "Man, am I glad I ran into you all. Bro, you gotta help me out. I think Shinji's in deep shit!" The boy had crossed the distance in record time, getting into Ritsuka's personal space.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, back up and slow down," Ritsuka stated as he grabbed the boy's shoulders and pushed him back to arm's length away. "What's going on?"
"Right, right…," Hane muttered as he took a breath. "It's Shinji. I was walking to school with him when his sister suddenly came and took him home… wh-which I know doesn't sound like trouble, but the way he was acting, the way he walked… it was like a guy who thought he was gonna die. I-I dunno how good of friends you and Shinji are, but please, you gotta—!" Before the boy could finish his plea, Medusa dashed forward, slamming her arm against Hane's throat and slamming him into a nearby building's wall.
"That's enough out of you." Medusa growled before baring her teeth at the boy. The boy responded by helplessly struggling, doing his best to fight against the overwhelming beauty. The sad truth was though, no human could break a Heroic Spirit's strength, especially one as monstrous as Medusa.
"H-help…" The boy pleaded. Ritsuka was dumbfounded, his mind trying to process exactly what was going on. Finally, it clicked.
"Rider, what are you—?!" He called out, but before he could finish, Medusa interrupted him.
"Did you think I'd ever forget your face?" Medusa hissed at Hane as she pushed him harder against the wall. Hane sighed as let himself go limp at first. He shook his head before his hands lashed out, grabbing Medusa's own. With a grunt, the boy began to attempt to pry away Medusa's arms, and Ritsuka's surprise, the skinny boy managed to do it. The red headed boy took a superhuman leap away from the three, landing gracefully.
"I was hoping you would, but I see that reverting from Gorgon didn't dull your memories." Hane sighed as he threw out his arms dramatically, a mantle surrounding his form. A second after being engulfed in the cloth, Hane's new form was revealed, his red hair slicked back behind the grey mask as he wrapped himself up in the black cloak. "Rider, Perseus, here to stop you, Master of Chaldea." Ritsuka gritted his teeth as Jack got into position in front of him.
A realization hit the boy like lightning.
"Hane Kagame… Wow, when I think about it, that was a stupidly obvious name." Ritsuka muttered.
"Hiding in plain sight and all," Perceus mentioned with a shrug. "Shall we have our rematch, Medusa?" The Servant asked, holding out his hand as a very familiar purple and black scythe appeared in his grip. The Servant spun Harpe around before getting into a battle pose. "I'll claim your head once more."
