"You fools ! What do you think will happen once Elizabeth variants start proliferating?! " Camilla was using her (Phantom Maiden) as a floating bludgeon and shield in one during her battle against the opposing Cat.
"... an original drama where a tragic war breaks out, Elizabeth is killed and you also die?" Tamamo Cat asked in return. "Well, that doesn't seem to be your vibe."
"Trust a cat to watch a catastrophe lying down," Camilla grumbled, raising her staff in an unusually neutral stance that momentarily left her open. Cat immediately moved to attack, but was greeted by a blast of magical energy, much like Marie had used earlier on the skeletons.
"Nyah? Er, woof !" Stumbling back, the Berserker was able to block the attack by swiping at it with her strangely durable paws, but in that moment was the exact chance her Assassin opponent had been waiting for.
"(Phantom Maiden) !"
The torture device was swiftly moved from defense into an offensive role and attacked the flat-footed Tamamo Cat directly, all while Camilla remained safely behind it to avoid those unexpectedly fast spear throws.
"Is throwing people to a tiger also a torture game?!" Cat started growing in a alarmingly rapid manner, while also shifting to a terrible and unusual form. "(Napping in the Dazzling Sunshine and-"
The iron maiden was barely able to slam shut around the now much larger Berserker, but immediately began shaking thereafter. And soon burst open, dropping out a normal-sized and normal-looking, if with somewhat ripped up clothes and many puncture marks, Tamamo Cat. However, after this feat, she only dropped to the ground, senseless.
"Cat !" Camilla smiled wickedly as her second, less bestial, opponent ran towards the fallen Servant. And also towards her gristly end.
"How foolish," the Assassin mused as her torture implement turned deadly-to-females Noble Phantasm righted itself. She had wasted a little time to discover that it couldn't finish off the Cat because the ground stopped it from closing around her, but the delay was inconsequential. "I can't wait to hear you scr-"
*splash*
At that moment, though, it was her own blood that fountained out across the battlefield, soaking into the ground. Camilla's body shook ever so slightly as the massive bladed polearm which had gone through her with hardly any resistance was cleanly pulled back out the same way. "You..."
Having gone the long way around in order to approach her from behind while she was savoring her imminent victory, Vlad could only look disappointed as Camilla swiped ineffectually at him. "Did you know, those ghosts you had trouble dispersing, came for this? (Kazikli Bey)"
In moments, the Impaler's target was impaled on an impressive array of spikes and other piercing weapons, ending the battle immediately.
"Let the Halloween Grail be cursed..." Camilla ranted as her Spirit Origin began breaking down. "Elizabeths... will drag you into the pits of hell..." Unaffected by the closing threats, Vlad kept an eye on her until certain that her signature was no longer present before turning to other matters.
"She's just sleeping," he explained to Tamamo Cat's other ally in the fight. "And regenerating, so don't worry; it's part of that Noble Phantasm."
Around the time that Chaldea's Ruler had confirmed this, and Vlad was able to pick up the napping Cat, several people appeared from inside the castle gate, headed out with a air of festive cheer that heralded more good news. The villagers, who were quickly making their was back home with a great eagerness for the upcoming Trick-or-Treating, seemed to less have a great opinion of their liege's concert as much as great relief over having survived. Mentally, that is.
"If the Event is wrapping up, I should return to my Masters before the World kicks us back to Chaldea," Sasaku said with some urgency, though Vlad only shook his head. "Relax, we can converse somewhat before the end. Assuming you were mid-conversation with Cat, you might still see that business conclude."
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"Really," Elizabeth pouted. "To think that my surprise debut concert also ended up as a surprise party for me. Nero back home will be so jealous when she hears I've gone.. not international, but uh, anyway..." Looking for the hidden pocket in her dress, she eventually fished out what looked like a cartoonishly large lollipop, looking between the two Masters from Chaldea. "I didn't do anything to it, the Grail piece looked like this when I got it," she explained to their quizzical looks.
"It's a decent disguise, for sure," Gudako said in an encouraging tone.
Elizabeth shuffled her feet a bit awkwardly. "I wasn't expecting two of you to show up, but -"
"This way, Miss Idol ~" Her embarrassing moment was interrupted by the sound of Tamamo Cat calling out from the group of Servants approaching them. Annoyed at the disruption, Elizabeth spun around just as the Cat snapped a number of pictures of her, using something which their nameless ally had provided for such an occasion. Like a magic show, the camera threw out a number of photographs, and Cat caught one as it fluttered downwards, presenting it to the day's idol along with a pen.
"Huh? Oh... of course." She caught on quickly to the opportunity the enigmatic Cat had given her. "Hmm, who should I make this out to?"
"Why not just 'my fans at Chaldea'?" Gudao suggested neutrally. He wasn't sure how likely it was for the item to actually make it back with them, given how those sorts of transfers tended to go.
"O-of course!" Elizabeth quickly finished the autograph and handed it over to him. Gudako soon after received the lollipop-looking Grail fragment, as Mata Hari and Nero appeared.
"It certainly seems like the future has quite a developed culture," the would-be Emperor was commenting to her companion. "To think that eventually large numbers of people would just show up together to dance."
"There seems to be many different types of performances, too," Marie agreed from nearby. "It is good that humanity did not stagnate or, worse, descend into chaos..."
"Well, the human spirit tends both towards creativity and ingenuity," da Vinci chipped in, while appreciating some of the castle's sweets. "I'm sure that in some branches, humanity achieved so much they broke the counter and got the World upset at them."
"I wonder if it will ever be possible to tame the seas, though?" Anne asked the inventor. "It seems set in stone, haha, that it will always be wilder than anywhere on land."
"We've created planet's worth of habitats without seas," Sasaku commented while watching Jeanne take custody of the Grail piece from their Master. "But back to serious things, we're about to be wrapped up, so to speak."
"That's so, woof." Tamamo Cat, perhaps due to having used up magical energy for her Noble Phantasm and to heal afterwards, was already starting to fade away. However, before that, she abruptly took off the belled collar around her neck, her rather oversize paws seemingly no hindrance to this task. Once done, she threw the item to a surprised Sasaku. "Wear this for good luck, wan! "
"What?" Mary perked up at the sound of that promise. "Can that really boost Luck stats?"
"No. Rate-ups are a lie." Was Cat's parting line.
"But then how-" Chloe stopped, seeing that the question would go unanswered. "I don't get how you can just gift things from your Spirit Origin," she said instead.
"Haven't you realized by now that sanity is a one-trick pony?" Nameless chuckled, though he seemed set to follow the Cat. "Even the World doesn't know how to handle ones like Cat; I've seen things. You might as well do as she said and put it on."
Seeing that time was short, Sasaku simply started as directed, but had trouble due to her shoulder-length hair getting in the way. "Even though Cat had no issues, with paws at that," she grumbled before Marie stepped up to help her.
Not sure when everyone else might follow suit, Gudao quickly slid Elizabeth's autograph into a pocket. By this time, Mata Hari and da Vinci had already been pushed out of the Event by the World.
"I'll send a message once there's a theater prepared," Nero quickly told everyone still present. "Though I don't know how to arrange these things..."
"I wouldn't worry about that," Robin Hood muttered, having seen less plausible things in his time. "I'm sure you'll trip over a Grail fragment sometime."
"I would hope these things are not just scattered across the void," Jeanne frowned, realizing that the origin of Events was a lot less structured than for Singularities. "Suppose that means it's a perfect strategy for the mastermind."
"Hmm, we should consider having an official shop," Vlad mused while on his way out. "Or maybe a prize roulette game?"
"I think that would match your red transformed outfit better," Chloe giggled as Ruby, of course, took a few pictures of its now belled master.
"The coat has a collar that would get in the way," Sasaku replied in a deadpan manner as she was whisked back to Chaldea.
"That reminds me, I wonder how da Vinci is getting on with those 'special requests' we had," Gudao muttered as the last of them returned to their respective homes.
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(Somewhere on the moon)
"I heard you had a concert without me! " The loud Nero Claudius could hardly contain her frustration when her rival finally reappeared before their exhausted after being 'entertained' Master.
"As you thought, Camilla did show up, but we avoided a disaster," Robin Hood told Hakunon after intervening to draw her off safely to the side. She only nodded with a grim expression, knowing what was about to happen if another intervention was not taken soon. Which was, of course...
"What date is it now, we're still on for Halloween right?! " Even after a whole Event worth of hosting a party and concert in one, Elizabeth was as usual still rearing to go.
"It's too late now, you'll have to wait until a rerun next year," the Mooncell's ruler informed the Servant. "Perhaps we'll invite the Masters from Chaldea? And, of course, BB will have front-row seats since she did all the work to prepare your concert this time."
In a corner by himself, just in case, Nameless let out an unconsciously held breath. He and Robin Hood had not only averted an Event that potentially would have further wrecked human history, but also managed to return 'too late' for Nero's resulting solo concert.
"Rejoice, for you are still in time for my dance performance," Meltryllis commented from nearby.
"Well that will be a pleasure," he replied politely. "Unfortunately, Chaldea didn't have any further information about the mastermind."
The Alter-Ego sighed with some annoyance. "After all that effort to make contact, too. I'll rub this into Mother's 'perfect AI' face later."
"How unusually merciful of you," he smiled slightly. "By the way, they seemed to have two Masters there... I think they might have been half-human Einzbern homunculi. Not something you see too frequently."
"Interesting. Well, I do have to get on stage now, so get to your place quickly."
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Notes:
Cat took a picture that matches Elizabeth (Caster)'s final ascension art.
There won't be in-story reruns, of course...