Chapter 9

In the middle of the river, the huge horrifying cephalopod whacked its tentacles across the plaza and the docks. Saber, who was standing in the middle of the plaza, quickly hurtled to her left and rolled towards a pillar of a building. Jim, on the other hand, raised his sword and parried another large tentacle that was aimed at him. He growled as he bore the weight and he shouted an order. "Saber, now!"

On cue, Saber thrust out of the pillar and ran through the tentacle. The metallic boots propelled the King of Knights as she accelerated further. The tentacle reacted and summoned a smaller version of itself and it began to wiggle and slash at the Saber Servant.

"As if!" Saber shouted and curved her sword, rending the smaller tentacles out. She looked up and cast her eyes on top of the creature. The Caster Servant was looking down on her, a creepy grin was on his face. "This is your end, Caster- Ah!" Saber was about to leap, but another tentacle suddenly sprung out and pulled her up by her right leg. The King of Knights struggled as Caster hung her upside down.

"Ooh...OOH! You look like her!" Caster said in pure euphoria as he moved the tentacle closer. Saber's face was almost an inch to his. "My-My savior, Jean d'Arc! God has truly made us meet! It is in our fate to-"

"Go fuck yourself!" Saber twirled her sword, but the Servant gasped and fell to his back. A loud roar echoed from above and it made the magician look up. Heracles charged from above and flung his large axe-sword at him.

As if! Caster however threw his right hand to the air. A tentacle suddenly ejected from the body of the octopus and whipped the Berserker in midair. Saber finally cut the tentacles that bound her right foot only to be slapped hard by another tentacle sending her down to the plaza again.

Then the Caster Servant pointed his left index finger to his left and cast a magic circle which then shot out purple lightning. "The same goes for you!" Caster said as he faced Invincible, who had tried to flank him from his blind spot. The Hero screamed in agony as he was electrocuted before a tendril wrapped around his waist. The tentacle flung him back towards his Master, who was stuck on the wall of a building. A resounding crash had collapsed the wall and the building crumbled down.

"Saber!" The Trollhunter called as the King of Knights fell to the ground.

"I'm ok, Jim." Saber coughed up blood as she looked up again to the Caster Servant with enmity. "He said I looked like Jean d'Arc."

Jean d'Arc? The patron saint of France? Jim thought for a moment then it hit him. "That's it! He's Gilles de Rais, the right-hand man of the Saint Jean d'Arc!" The Trollhunter remembered him from one of Strickler's history assignments regarding France. "He's a...a dark magic worshipper and he denounces God after Saint Jean was burnt on the stake by the Catholic church."

The ruined building beside them burst out and the Berserker Servant came into view while the Invincible Hero was sitting on his left arm. The Hero's costume was all tattered and torn. Blood was pouring out his head and he was covered in purple slime and dust. "He's also a kidnapper, a torturer and a rapist who took children – boys to be exact. He's also known as 'Bluebeard' from the French folk tales.'' Mark puffed hard as he climbed down his Servant and looked at the Trollhunter again. The troll's face stuck on a shocked look from his sudden appearance.

"What? You're not the only one who has an assignment about French folklore and their patron Saint."

Fair enough. Jim thought placidly as Invincible turned to him and asked him in a cordial manner. "Any idea how to defeat that piece of shit?"

"I don't know. I was about to ask you the same thing." The two looked at the Caster Servant with lost expression. Fuck.

"Who cares about me! I get what is really happening now!" Caster thundered from the top of his creature. "This meeting isn't fated by God but by the Devil himself. The proof of that is that Saber Servant!" He pointed his bony and pale right index finger at Saber, who cringed in disgust. "She bore the face of my beloved Jean, yet she was an impure maiden! I hate all impurities! Therefore, all of you must die!" Caster howled as he raised his hand. A brown colored book that bore a terrifying cover appeared out of thin air on his palm. The man opened it and his grin transformed into a predatory smile.

"Prelati's Spellbook!" he shouted. His Noble Phantasm and the Tentacles reacted. The tentacles on the front began to slither and raise out of the water's surface, black smoke beginning to pour of its holes, making a small dark violet fog that enveloped the plaza. The Masters and Servants readied themselves and then the attack happened. The tentacles, a hundred of them, lashed out. Jim and Saber jumped high and landed on the roof of a building on their left while Invincible flew up and his Servant leaped high towards the building on his right.

"What the hell is that-?" Mark paused as his black eyes looked in front, only to see a large chunk of a building falling towards him. He quickly made a left hook, destroying it in the process, only to yelp as another chunked appeared and this one smacked him head on. The hero crash dived on the roof of a building behind Heracles. The Berserker roared in anger only to be cut off as he pulled his axe-sword up, slashing a broken tower in half before he leapt into the air and hacked another one. He was stopping debris that would hit his Master and injure him more.

On the other building, Jim and Saber were both struggling as well. The Trollhunter was running and jumping several obstacles as he tried to avoid every debris that was being thrown at him. He glanced at the Octopus. The front Tentacles were still attacking, gashing the ground, while its back tentacles were barraging them with all sorts of buildings. "We can't get near him!" he shouted as Saber slashed a car that was aimed at her.

"What shall we do, Jim?" Saber asked as Jim looked to his left. There was still a row of buildings intact. A plan formed in his mind.

"We'll flank him from the left!" Jim said and quickly leaped for the next building. However, the boy's eyes widened in shock as a tentacle suddenly emerged from the alleyway below him. Jim gasped in ache as the tentacle sent him back to the roof.

Saber saw what happened. She quickly sprinted and caught her Master by her arms. "Jim!"

"Fuzzbuckets, that hurts." The Trollhunter said, blood pouring out of his fangs as he felt soreness on his abdomen. He pointed his Excalibur to the ground and hoisted himself up in a slow and pained way. The joints of his troll body strained achingly under his weight.

"Your lives will end here!" Caster declared as he raised his book and shouted again. "Prelati's Spellbook!" The tentacles reacted and all of them, thousands of them slithering like snakes as they rose from the watery grave below. Saber and her Master looked in pure horror as tentacles hovered above, ready to crush them. Heracles, on the other side, jumped back to his Master, Mark groaned as he slowly stood up, but froze as he saw the canal being slowly enveloped by slimy emerging tentacles that looked deadlier than before. Fucking hell. He cursed as he wiped the blood off his nose and poised himself into a ready fighting stance.

The fog of sickly violet smoke was now thicker as Caster's Noble Phantasm took effect once more. Bluebeard looked down and mocked their pathetic state. His grin turned sinister and devilish. "To hell with all of you, corrupted ones!" he said as he let out a crazed maniacal laughter that echoed through the night.

"That is rich coming from a man who corrupted himself to hell." A new voice - a woman's - said sharply and the Trollhunter quickly darted to the source, but before he could see clearly, a bright gold explosion rocked the nightly air.

"What?" Jim looked up again and saw the tentacles above. It was cut and violet colored blood began to rain around him. Another explosion shook the building, followed by another and another. The tentacles exploded into a golden hue and the Trollhunter quickly followed its source.

"Oi, are you two okay?" Jim finally saw where the golden explosion came from. It was a girl clothed in very revealing clothes. She was floating in midair. Right beside her was a large and odd-looking object that looked like a bow.

"Whoa...holy shish kebab." he exclaimed as the woman with pigtails rose sharply up and threw tiny carats of diamonds. The diamonds flashed brightly in gold before zooming in and began to pierce the tentacles like flying arrows.

"KYAAHHH!" Caster yelled in agony as he saw his precious monster's tentacles disappear to the golden orbs. "Who the hell are you!?" he screamed in fury at the woman who made a ridiculing smirk.

"Men today...they've no respect to Sumerian history." the girl shrugged her shoulders before she introduced herself with a prideful grin. "I am Ishtar, Archer-Class Servant and the Sumerian Mesopotamian Goddess of Beauty and Heaven! Kneel before me, you turd."

Ishtar! "The Mesopotamian Goddess!" Jim exclaimed as he recognized the name. Mark stared at the Archer Servant with an observant look. He was glad that someone had gotten rid of the tentacles, but now his problem has just doubled up. Another Servant appeared, and this time, it looked stronger than his Servant. Damn...Can Heracles defeat a Goddess? He made a side-glance at Heracles. The Servant had also locked his eyes on the new Servant as if he was judging her.

"Now, now, there's no need to stare at my beauty." Ishtar said as she looked down on Heracles before she shifted to Jim. "By the way...I'm here to support both of you. Shall we get rid of this creep?" The Goddess said invitingly before she threw her arms to the air, the diamonds sparkled and turned into golden orbs before they launched towards the Caster-Servant.

Impossible...Caster Gilles looked down in horror as he watched the Goddess completely obliterate the tentacles of his creature. The deep-sea demon was now groaning in pain and he could feel its terror sweeping in its insides.

"UNCOOOOOOOOOLLLLL!" he cried the words like a madman as he raised his book to the air. "PRELATI'S SPELLBOOK!" The octopus roared and whipped all of its tentacles in a frenzied manner. Hundreds and hundreds of tentacles slithered from underneath and began to attack the buildings. However, the Archer-Class simply pointed her right index finger and golden orbs, hundreds of them, lined and stacked up behind her.

"Just shut it, will you?" The Goddess said and flung her index finger. The orbs launched and travelled at a staggering speed. Jim and Saber watched in amazement. The attacks were just like fireworks of gold and each was hitting the tentacles, making them explode, as if they were nothing.

"You two Masters, would you like to lend me a hand?" Ishtar suddenly called to Jim and Mark, who were both dazed at her attack.

I've to take this opportunity. "Saber, let's eliminate Caster!" Jim called as Saber nodded in agreement.

"Yes, Jim!"

"Mark, lend us a hand! We will kill Caster right here!" Jim called the Hero again.

Thought you'd never say that. Mark hovered and looked down at his Servant and commanded. "Well, you heard him. Support me as we attack. It's time to end this fuckery." Invincible said as he readied himself and faced the large nightmarish deep-sea octopus and then with a sharp exhale and he cried. "Attack!" The Hero shot forward with Jim. The Trollhunter leapt from the building and landed on one of the massive tentacles of the creature. He then ran over the surface, charging and howling his war cry.

Caster saw them all and he could see that he wouldn't get away without a scratch. "Disappear, all of you!" he shouted as he waved his spell book around. The tentacles reacted and thrust forward towards Jim and Mark.

"Don't underestimate me!" Jim shouted and swung his Excalibur, cutting off the attacking tentacle and then Saber jumped from behind him and swung her sword around, hacking another tendril.

Mark, meanwhile, flew speedily, avoiding as many tentacles as he could. "Here goes something!" he shouted as he made a right hook on a tentacle, followed by a left punch and then he spun and made a roundhouse kick, the tentacle was squashed completely and the Hero was showered with violet blood. He looked down and saw his Berserker in the same state.

Heracles spun wildly as he ascended to the surface of the large tentacle. His large axe-sword disappeared because of his fast movement. The Servant was also drenched in thick purple goo, just like Mark, as he made a huge jump and slammed his weapon down, hacking a tentacle that was blocking his way. That was cool.

"Heracles, make a path for me!" Invincible commanded, Heracles thundered his war cry and took off, sprinting.

The Greek Hero Servant moved his hand up and down, left and right, rapidly and almost at the speed of light as he carved a way for Invincible, who was now flying directly behind him.

The Caster-Class Servant looked down on them before he shifted his googly eyes at the Saber Servant, who was now approaching fast. He was cornered and he could feel his defeat. "No...NO...NO, UNCOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLL!" Caster wailed in despair as he raised his book and called out his Noble Phantasm one more time. "PRELATI'S SPELLBOOK-!" The creature reacted and the flesh beneath his foot exploded into smaller tentacles, which began to wrap around him, shielding him from them. However, he was too late.

"Oh no, you don't!" Jim was the first to reach him. His Excalibur cut through the tendrils. Caster yelped in dread and summoned several slimy tendrils again only for Heracles, who appeared behind the boy, to rip them apart, exposing him once more.

"Here's to shutting you up!" Invincible dashed from behind Heracles and spun in midair. He delivered a flying kick that smacked Gilles right in his face. The Caster was thrown out of his unfinished shell of tentacles and into the night air. As his large eyes looked up to the sky, he saw the Saber Servant. The King of Knights was in the air, her figure blocking the moon and her sword glowing in bright red and violet.

"Go to hell! EXCALIBUR MORGAN!" Saber swung her sword with all of her might and unleashed her full power. The beam of red light hit Caster and the enemy Servant screeched in fright.

"NO!" This can't be! This can't be! This can't be! Gilles de Rais couldn't believe that he had lost. He tried to fight back, but to no avail. His Noble Phantasm, the Prelati's spell book, burnt in his hands and after that, he watched as his skin, muscles, nerves and bones began to turn into dust. A single tear trailed his left cheek as an anguished frown formed on his face before he finally disintegrated.

The Octopus silently turned into golden dust and was blown away by the wind. Saber, Archer and Jim landed on the plaza across from Invincible and Heracles. The whole place was in ruins and the Trollhunter couldn't believe what just happened.

"We...defeated it, my God. We really defeated it." Jim turned to Saber, who made a satisfied smirk. Having defeated another Servant, the two couldn't help but feel happy about it.

"Yes, congratulations to all of you." Ishtar said while making a slow clap and hovering above the Trollhunter, she then directed her red eyes at the Invincible Hero. "What do you think, Mr. Invincible?"

The Hero glanced and stared at them for a moment with an unreadable expression. A kind smile slowly formed on his lips. "Yeah, we certainly all look so cool. I'm so amazed." Mark said as he let out a chuckle that suddenly turned into a full burst of maniacal but saddened laughter. The happy mood was cut off and Jim felt a sinister aura emitting from the Hero.

"Mark."

"Oh, don't be so surprised, Jim. Did you actually think that I would change my mind after I agreed to form a temporary truce with you?" Don't be naive, kiddo. Welcome to reality. Mark watched as a pained look formed on the boy's face.

Saber felt a danger was about to come, and readied her sword. "So, the truce is off, isn't it, Mark?"

"Indeed." Now no more hogwash. The Invincible raised his hand and pointed at them before he simply uttered his command. "Heracles, kill them both."

A loud war cry came out of the Berserker's mouth and, before the other group could react, Heracles charged towards them. Saber raised her sword and parried Berserker's attack, she groaned as she was pushed by the beast towards the wall of the building behind her.

"Saber-!" Jim was about to run towards his Servant when he quickly swung his sword up and blocked Invincible's right roundhouse kick. The powerful force pushed the Trollhunter further away from Saber. He made a yelp in pain.

"Jim!" Saber shouted only to jump away, avoiding an upper cut from the Greek Hero.

He's trying to split us, The Trollhunter realized what Mark had done. The man was splitting them apart so that he wouldn't be able to help the King of Knights. "Saber...concentrate on Berserker! Ms. Ishtar, please help my Servant!" Jim said as his sword shook a little. "I will fight Invincible."

Jim. Saber felt the boy's determination and she knew that he was serious. He was ready to fight for his wish. "Jim, don't lose." she said and raised her sword at Heracles as the Goddess floated beside her.

"Well, as per my Master's command." Ishtar said with a whimsical smile.

The King of Knights glanced at her before she muttered with a cold voice. "Don't be a drag to me."

"Who do you think I am? I'm a Goddess for Pete's sake, not some lowly Servant."

The two women glared at each other before they let out a howl and charged at the Berserker Servant. The Greek Hero Servant quickly turned around and leapt across the wide canal and landed on the other side. He sprinted while the other Servants were both chasing him.

Mark watched them disappear before he turned and bore his broken mask at Jim. "Do you really underestimate me that much, Jim? Do you really think you can win against me?" The Invincible's eyes become bloodshot as rage began to fill his chest.

The Trollhunter, on the other hand, was calm. Deep inside, however, he was afraid. Invincible was the Hero of Mankind who brought down the Viltrumites and many other enemies. Mark was the most powerful Hero ever and compared to him, Jim was nothing but a Trollhunter. But he must fight him and win. If not, his wish wouldn't be fulfilled and his friend would be gone forever.

"No. But I must defeat you...for my friend." For Toby.

Again, your friend? Mark couldn't help but feel saddened for the boy. The Trollhunter truly loved his best friend and it made him feel guilty for trying to stop him from making it happen. But Mark had a wish to fulfill, a new world that would be born out of his wish, one where Viltrumites, Humans and other life-forms lived together in eternal peace and unity.

"Then that settles it." Invincible said with a resignation and positioned himself into a fighting stance. The two stared at each other. Both were determined to kill one another. The wind howled noisily in their ears and it sounded like the wailing of a child, who wanted both of the men to stop their needless violence. And then everything went silent.

"JIM!"

"MARK!"

The two shouted in carnal rage and unison as they both charged, meeting at the center. A blinding light of blue and yellow lit up the plaza.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Fate/Stay Night, Trollhunters: TOA, and Invincible. All names, places and events in this story is purely fictional, if one exists in real life then its purely coincidence.

Special thanks to Pure Red Crane for beta-reading.

Woo-hoo! Welcome to my new chapter! It looks like Caster had given both masters a run for the money but since he's gone, the real battle has begun! Who do you want to win guys!? Invincible or Jim? Whose wish do you all think is good and better than the other one? Will you sacrifice your friend for the sake of the betterment of the world or will you sacrifice the world for the sake of reviving your friend? Either way, the choice is yours to make! Thinker out!

Servants:

True Name: Gilles de Rais (Bluebeard)

Class: Caster

Parameters:

Strength: D

Endurance: E

Agility: D

Mana: C

Luck: E

Noble Phantasm: Prelati's Spellbook A+ (Anti-Army)

Status: Defeated

True name: King Arthur (Alter)

Class: Saber

Parameters:

Strength: A

Endurance: A

Agility: D

Mana: A++

Luck: C

NP: A++ (Excalibur Morgan - Anti-Fortress)

Status: Winner of Second Round