The day the snow angel met her onyx protector, it had been maybe a week since Lancer returned back to his Fenrir Branch in Ireland. In the month Lancer had been, he and Shirou had gotten into more arguments and contests, albeit over more mundane things than Aragami kill-counts.

After all, neither wanted to face Hibari's wrath again. So they instead focused on arm wrestles, racing, and contests of luck. Although Shirou lost most of these contests, they both still considered the other equal. It was only in contests of luck where they stood even, but that's only because they both had poor luck.

But Lancer would sometimes tell Shirou he had great luck, normally after he had a conversation with or bowled over one of his female friends. Weird.

Anyways, it was after he was gone, in the month of July, that Berserker first appeared. Shirou had gone to Hibari to ask for a mission, and wasn't disappointed. She had one extra mission that no one had taken yet. It involved exterminating a Gboro-Gboro and an Ukonvasara in the Wailing Plains.

The enemies in the mission weren't overly difficult. Shirou had defeated a few Gboro-Gboros, and knows that he needs to watch for its water attacks and enraged charging. Ukonvasaras were a bit new, but he had fought some while Lancer was at the Branch. He needed to watch for their charge attacks as well, but the electric attacks are less of a concern.

If anything, it was the field Shirou had a problem with. The Wailing Plains. Something about it made Shirou think of the fire. Even though it was an empty plain with a typhoon in the centre, instead of an entire city full of people on fire, they still felt the same. The one time Shirou had a mission, he had the feeling a great tragedy took place there. On a more devastating scale than the City of Mercy.

He had grabbed his God Arcs, adjusted his outfit, and went to the roof to board the helicopter that would take him to the Plains. On the ride, he was contemplating how he would battle the Aragami. How to counteract their speed with his own, and knowing where to attack. Using it as a distraction from his concerns about the Wailing Plains.

When the helicopter eventually reached the Plains, Shirou opened the door and jumped out, landing on the cliff above the crater. It was almost as empty as the actual Plains, if not for the broken buildings all around.

Crackle.

"Alright Shirou. Your targets for today are a Gboro-Gboro and an Ukonvasara. It's expected that they should have a 5 minute-interval between their appearances, with the Gboro-Gboro appearing first at Point G. Got that?"

"Yes, Hibari."

"Good. The operation will be starting any moment now. Get out there. And stay safe."

"Got it!"

Turning to the combat area, he jumped off the cliff, calling out,

"Trace On!"

Shirou took a right as he landed, pushing himself off of the stone in a sprint. When he eventually rounded the corner and saw the Gboro-Gboro, he halted his momentum, falling into a crouch.

On one knee, he watched the Gboro-Gboro as it wandered around slightly. Turning left and right searching for any decent meal, before continuing its feasting at the gathering point.

Bringing his God Arcs together into Bow form, he took aim. From the angle he had, he could only attack the Gboro-Gboro's back. Luckily, that allowed him a direct line of sight to the Gboro-Gboro's Dorsal Fin, which is what allows it to use its range attacks. Somewhat.

Pulling on the Oracle string of his bow, he closed his eyes, emptied his mind, visualized his goal, then made it a reality. When he opened his eyes, he saw three Oracle arrows lodged in the Gboro-Gboro's Dorsal Fin, which then exploded and broke the bond in the Dorsal Fin. This caused the Aragami to be stunned, lying limp on its stomach.

Standing from his crouch, he unattached his God Arcs as he sprinted at the Gboro-Gboro. When he reached it, he started by impaling Kanshou hilt deep into the Gboro-Gboro's tail, pinning it to the floor. Then, he made to the Aragami's face and began slashing back and forth with Bakuya.

Downward, then up and to the right, then to the left, bringing it all the way around in a spin, before impaling it right into the Gboro-Gboro's tongue, straight through and into its jaw. With that, the Aragami's Jaw bond had also broke, and the Gboro-Gboro screamed out in pain at the torture it was suffering. Pulling together its last vestiges of energy, it pooled its Oracle into what remains of its Dorsal Fin, forcing it all out in a radius of high-pressure water.

Shirou, seeing the Gboro-Gboro raise its head, which was the common tell that it would use an area-wide attack, jumped away from the Gboro-Gboro and pulled both of his God Arcs back to him.

The Gboro-Gboro's vision was filled with water, as it felt relieved at the small false-Aragami no longer being inside of it, and at the predator hunting it had disappeared. The last thing it saw was the torrent of water being parted by three neon-green flashes of light, and the predator hunting it on one knee, looking it straight in the eye. Then its vision, and perception of itself, was wiped out by a neon-green explosion.

Sighing, Shirou stood and unattached his God Arcs, returning them to Blade form, before trying to connect to Hibari.

Crackle.

"Hey, Hibari. I got the Gboro-Gboro. How long until the Ukonvasara appears?"

As he spoke, he devoured the Gboro-Gboro's core, feeling the satisfaction flood in from his God Arcs.

"Well, that took you around 3 minutes, so you should only have to wait another tw-- Wait, what!?"

"What? Hibari, what is it!?"

"This can't be right! The Ukonvasara is coming in your direction, fast! Too fast! It's just about to--"

Shirou's head snapped upwards as he heard a loud cry from above, which was followed by the shapes of an Ukonvasara and something else flying down towards him. Shirou would have dodged, but he was transfixed by what he could soon make out.

It was... a giant... man? And he was holding the Ukonvasara by the throat and was slamming it with a giant... God Arc? Then the man-thing let go of the Ukonvasara's throat and punched it away, causing it to fly to Point E, near the cliff that lead to the rapids below. Now it was just the giant coming towards him, and was he crazy or was the giant looking straight at him as if he was the giant's target?

Nope, he was definitely the target. Turning, Shirou began to sprint away from the giant before it landed on him. He was already a few tens of metres away when the giant landed. Then, the giant released a deep, terrifying roar that stopped Shirou in his place.

Shaking slightly, Shirou turned to look at the man-thing, burning his appearance into his eyes. A giant of a man, almost as tall as the Oracle Shinji, with lead grey skin and long, black, ragged hair. He was wearing a leather skirt, similar to the ones Shirou had read about in books about Spartan heroes, and had a leather bangle on his left wrist, and an Armlet on his right wrist.

The Armlet was the same as Saber's and Lancer's, and had a chain wrapped around it. The God Arc he held was a Buster Blade. It was jagged, chipped, and looked all-around worn. Like Shirou's own Bow, it was Nameless, not based on any legend or power. Just a tool, representative of the wielder. From the Armlet, blood red lines spread to the God Arc, and all over the man's body. It centered on his heart, and caused his eyes to glow the same shade of red.

In a breath, Shirou realized. He's suffering from Oracle Cell Erosion. Just like me. But he's gone... berserk. Shirou's realization was interrupted by the man roaring again and lunging straight for him, somehow traversing the massive distance between him in a moment. The man brought his God Arc down on him, and Shirou just dodged, the blade missing him by a few inches and colliding with the ground, causing it to shatter.

Immediately, the sword was brought back up, and forced back down. This time, Shirou brought up his blades to block, only to be almost crushed underneath the force of his blow. Reacting instinctively, Shirou pushed the blade to the side, forcing its weight off of him.

Shirou immediately attempted to gain distance, bringing his hand up to his earpiece to contact Hibari.

Crackle.

"Shirou! What's the situ--"

"Hibari, I need backup! An insane God Eater is attacking me, and I don't think I can last long!"

"Wait, Shi--"

Taking his hand off the earpiece, Shirou's attention was once again stolen by the man that rushed at him. He swung down his blade, and Shirou narrowly dodged, before bringing his God Arcs down on his arms, only for his God Arcs to bounce off.

This caused Shirou to become stunned, which the man took advantage of, punching Shirou in the gut and sending him flying. Shirou hit the wall near where he originally entered the area, before flopping to the floor and coughing out some blood.

Pulling himself up to his knees, Shirou looked on to see the hulking giant before him, practically exuding an aura of madness. Slowly, he then made his way onto both of his feet, looking unsteady and weak.

I can't beat him. I can't beat him. It's impossible. This is the truth Shirou Emiya could see. I can't beat him.

But that's fine. I don't have to beat him. I just need to hold out until backup arrives. I can't beat him.

But I can win.

Thinking that, Shirou took on a smirk and assumed his battle stance. Or a resting stance, if you will. Legs shoulder width apart, back slightly leaning back, arms held downwards with the blades held pointing the floor.

Instead of the man rushing towards him, Shirou made the first move, throwing both of his blades at the man's armpits, reinforcing them with his Oracle as he did. They quickly struck, and slid away from the man, returning to Shirou, who had begun running towards him. The man went to raise his sword arm, but had difficulty doing so, only then noticing the cut left by the blades that passed him.

Shirou continued to smirk, until he reached the man and began to attack. He didn't want to kill the man, so he went for disabling blows instead. Going for the elbows, shoulders, knees, and hamstrings. This was made difficult by the fact that the man was immediately on the offensive, trying to crush him, either with hand or blade, every second, causing Shirou to constantly dodge.

This forced Shirou into a bad position, one where, to achieve his goal, he could only deal minor damage, trying to cause a proverbial 'death by a thousand cuts'. So with sliding, spinning, and the like, Shirou became a blur. This seemed to irritate the man, who roared again and began attacking faster, going from missing by a few inches to missing by a hair.

Shirou wanted to believe it was working, but the fact that the man increased in speed gave him doubts. Aside from the man's endurance and speed, Shirou was faced with one other problem. The strain on his God Arcs.

While Unlimited Blade Works were remade, now being more compatible with Shirou's Oracle abilities, they still weren't meant to be flooded with Oracle like this. While they still screamed in pain, it was less intense than last time.

And so, the battle continued. The giant, moving his arms like the wind, and the black and red blur speeding around him. The monotony was occasionally broken up by Shirou or the man landing a lucky strike, allowing them to whale on the other. Or in the man's case, chase after Shirou after sending him flying.

But, all things must come to an end. Shirou was panting, hard. The old pathways where the Oracle flowed through and burnt his skin were beginning to heat up again, and his arms and legs were sore from striking and dodging. The man, on the other hand, was breathing perfectly fine, but was bleeding excessively from all of the small wounds he accrued from Shirou.

The two were standing a few feet from each other, having pushed the other back. Shirou noticed that, while the giant hadn't begun breathing heavier, it had slowed down and become weaker. On an unknown signal, the two charged at each other again, when...

"Ah!"

The giant roared again, but this time it sounded less... bestial. He pulled his hand to his head, and Shirou saw that his eyes had stopped glowing red. He was able to see that his left eye was red, and his right eye was golden, a similar shade to his, but duller. The blood red lines across his body had begun to dim as well.

"Ah! Ah! It... hurts!"

He had talked. His voice was raspy, as if he hadn't spoken in a while, but deep. His hand was still near his head, but he had noticed Shirou's presence. Suddenly, he pulled his hand from his face and pointed towards Shirou, grimacing.

"You! B-Boy! I need... your help!"

Shirou was both cautious and worried.

"W-What do you need help with?"

"I-I need you... to stab me... in the heart!"

At that, Shirou's mind took a seat. Was this man asking him to kill him? Again? Can he not just save one person from something like this? Must he always give them mercy such as this? Before he could dig deeper into his own psyche on the topic, the man had continued.

"It-It will be... fine. I will live! Just do it!"

Looking him in the eyes, Shirou saw that he was serious. Gritting his teeth, Shirou ran forward a few steps and forced Bakuya into the man's heart.

"Th-Thank... you..."

Saying that, the man smiled lightly. Shirou was downtrodden, thinking he had just mercifully killed another, until he heard a strange noise. Like something being stitched. Looking back to the man, he saw that the wounds he had dealt disappeared completely, along with the blood red lines from his Armlet.

Paying attention, Shirou could even hear the man breathing, and hear his heart beating. A small smile began to break across Shirou's face, before...

"W-Whoa!"

The weight of the man came to fully rest upon him, causing Shirou to fall over. Now trapped between the rock ground and a hard person, Shirou attempted to escape, only to feebly fail as he finally felt the exhaustion from the fight properly catch up to him.

He was now fighting the temptation to just fall unconscious. He still had to meet up with his backup. He still had to explain the situation. He still has to make sure Hibari doesn't yell at him. He still has to...

The ground isn't that bad to sleep on anyways...

Thank you for reading. This is Cee and, I feel the fight scenes may have been mediocre, but it's been a while since I wrote the last one (maybe a week or two). Also, yes. Hercules gets a personality. I would use what the Type-Moon wiki has to offer, but the closest I have is, 'regrets killing loved ones, is a gentleman'. The first one is obvious, while the second one is from the Tiger Colloseum game apparently. So, for anything I don't have, I'll just defer to Kratos from God of War (4).

Second, the contests between Shirou and Lancer and who won was a reference to the stats of Archer and Lancer in F/SN. Archer has D Strength, C Agility, and E Luck. Lancer has B Strength, A Agility, and E Luck.

Third, Gboro-Gboros. Going from GE 1 and 2 to 3, I'm certain that the breakable bonds changed. Or, at least their names did. So I don't actually know anymore.

Thank you to madchef.dn for favouriting.

Goodbye.

Word Count: 2541