Pain was the most abundant thing Shirou felt. After that would be discomfort, and after that is satisfaction. So he thought as he lay face down on the floor, rocks and dirt digging into his face and the wounds on his torso. The more he moved -shifted, more like- the deeper the rocks dug in, and the more he moved his wounds against the segments still impaling him. Funnily enough, his lower half was completely fine. They were just scuffed from the explosion. Speaking of...

Turning his head, and fighting the slight grimace that wanted to appear from aggravating the wound in his shoulder, Shirou looked to his hands, still clutching his Unlimited Blade Works. Luckily, they seemed to be in one piece, although the edge of the blades looked a bit rough. Unluckily, there were segments pinning his arms to the ground. Shirou sent out a questioning ping, asking after Archer's condition. He got a positive in return, with the undertone of exhaustion. But prompting from Archer -specifically the words 'Pay attention to your surroundings'- got Shirou to look in front of him, in the process lifting his chest up and sliding along the segments.

Oh. That's absolutely in his rib cage. And probably his lung. Ignoring that, and the grimace that's fighting with a vengeance, he looked ahead to try and spy Gilgamesh. What he saw was Gilgamesh, with several broken segments surrounding him, his black arm raised as if to ward off the explosion. He was still standing, which surprised Shirou, but the burns and wounds on his chest attested to the effectiveness of his attack. Actually, Gilgamesh was probably bleeding from as many places as Shirou, with small wounds on his sides and shoulders, and what Shirou did.

Wait... was Gilgamesh even conscious? He wasn't really moving at all, and he wasn't saying anything either. Then, with a body wracking cough, Gilgamesh snapped back to reality, way too much blood to be healthy shooting out of his mouth. With another cough, he began to fall, his legs giving way, before he caught himself on his fake Ea. With a groan, he brought his head up to look at Shirou, still pinned to the floor. His expression couldn't decide between amusement or anger, so he just bared his teeth and tried to speak.

"Damn... Faker..."

His voice was rather weak, but Shirou could feel the anger in his tone. With a smirk and a light cough (oh, now he's coughing up too much blood) he responded.

"Not my fault... you decided to attack... my home..."

His voice was also weak. Probably the pierced lung. But aside from that, the two were at a standstill. Gilgamesh couldn't or wouldn't summon more segments, otherwise he would have already, but all of his previous segments were still there. That included the Absolute Territory. On the other hand, Shirou was literally pinned to the floor and could barely do anything, but his friends could. Given enough time, they could cut through the Absolute Territory and reach the two of them. So really, it was a race to see what happened first: Gilgamesh recovering enough to kill him, or everyone getting to them.

Crackle.

"Shirou! Are you okay!?"

Wincing slightly from the sudden loud noise, Shirou chuckled to himself at the sound of his friend's voice.

"Yeah... I'm fine... Kota..."

"You don't sound fine!"

Shirou chuckled aloud at that.

"Heh... Just get over here..."

"You better still be alive when we get there, idiot!"

Oh, that's right. The radio was open. Chuckling once more as the radio crackled off, Shirou looked to Gilgamesh, who was glaring at him. Liking his odds, and not really having anything to do, Shirou decided to talk to Gilgamesh.

"So... How's your... day been?"

"Tch. Silence, Faker... I have no intention... of wasting my... energy on you..."

"Aw... And I thought... we were becoming friends..."

At Gilgamesh's bewildered glare, Shirou had the blatant realization that he was going loopy from blood loss. It made sense, since it meant that he was getting less blood to the brain. How many times has he been conscious when in such a condition? There was that one time where he was impaled by the Vajra... but he fell unconscious a few seconds later. There was Zouken... but he fell unconscious. His first meeting with Illya? Succumbed to unconsciousness. Last time with Gilgamesh? Bloody sleeping.

Huh. A lot of Shirou's significant fights ended with him out for the count. That should probably change. His attention was brought back to the real world at the sound of the rocks near him shifting. And the dustcloud that hit him in the face. Coughing and blinking away the tears, Shirou looked up to see Saber, standing tall. She threw him a worried glance, before shifting her body to stand before Shirou, shielding him from the potential danger of Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh just glared at her like... like a child!

The thought of him acting like a child forced Shirou to laugh. But since it was more movement than a chuckle, he slid his body up and down the segments, causing his laugh to die out in a groan. Saber gave him a worried look, while Gilgamesh shot him another glare. Taking a deep breath and again ignoring the segment probably in his lung stinging like hell, Shirou talked to Saber. Luckily, his very short conversation with Gilgamesh worked the tired (and blood) out of his throat and let him speak without having to take a breath.

"Hey, Saber. Don't mind Gilgamesh, he's too tired to do anything. But would you mind getting these out of me?"

With a sheepish smile, he gestured with his head (ow my shoulder) towards the segments. Saber still looked worried, and shot another look to Gilgamesh who just glared back, before moving to Shirou and taking hold of one of the segments. Now then, from that point several things were discovered and shall be listed in descending order of discovery.

1. The segments were sharp along the sides, like a regular sword.

2. The segments were actually quite heavy, even without being manipulated by Gilgamesh.

3. The gloves that Saber normally wore were not enough to keep her hand from being cut.

4. Having a sharp object pulled out of your body, then summarily dropped back in and potentially stabbing you from a different angle, hurt like a bitch.

5. Gilgamesh laughed at human suffering. Oh wait, Shirou already guessed that.

A loud muffled groan could be heard across the Absolute Territory, and all of the God Eaters working their way through it looked up in concern, before making their ways across at a faster pace. Or it felt like they were faster at least.

So, as Shirou bit his lip to prevent from making a noise louder than he just did, drawing blood- and now he can feel the blood leaking out of his wounds and that's uncomfortable -he looked up to Saber and saw her gripping her now bleeding hand. Letting go of his lip, and accidentally tasting his blood (not particularly nice), he grunted out what was probably meant to be 'Are you okay'. Saber sent him a slightly confused look, before nodding when she realized what he meant. Flexing her hand, she moved back to the segment and put down her God Arc. This time she grabbed it with both hands, holding the blade between her palms. And slowly, she lifted it up.

While this still hurt, Shirou could endure it. Hopefully nothing would happen that would make Saber drop the segment back into him. And nothing happened. The segment slid out and Saber just dropped it next to him, then reached for another one. The one she took out felt like it was in the small of his back, so it was probably a good thing she got that first. But while she was pulling out the next one...

"Oh? It seems that things didn't occur as I thought they would. Weren't you going to crush them, my King?"

A familiar, ominous voice echoed throughout the little clearing the three were in. Turning his head, because whenever someone appears they always have to be standing on the other side of Shirou where he isn't looking, Shirou saw a familiar dark purple coat and black trousers. Looking up, he saw the smiling visage of Kirei Kotomine, looking down on him. His empty brown eyes seemed to suck in his soul, and Shirou quickly looked away from his eyes to something else. His eyes landed on his hair, and never before had Shirou realized how evil a mullet could be before he saw it on Kirei. He had heard that it wasn't a good haircut, but now...

His soul-searching stopped when Saber suddenly dropped the segment back into him, which ow, and then reached for her Excalibur, which was buried in the floor, blade first. Drawing it, she held it in a defensive stance, glaring at Kirei.

"You..." She seemed to recognize Kirei, but before she said anything about it she just shook her head. "How did you get here? You were not here originally, meaning you had to get past the others. How?"

Shirou blinked. That... was a good question. The blood loss was seriously getting to him. He shook his head. Now wasn't the time to laugh at his own jokes. He had to keep his head on straight. Looking with a sharp gaze, Shirou watched as Kirei smiled a bit more.

"Oh, don't worry about them. They are still alive."

Shirou didn't feel at peace with his response, but knew he couldn't really do anything about it. But, he prepared to do something just in case, tensing his muscles to force himself upwards. Kirei, impossibly, seemed to notice and smiled down on him before putting down something he had on his back, near Gilgamesh. It was...

A body. A perfectly smooth body, the same colour as Gilgamesh's arm. In fact, it was missing a right arm. But besides that, the body was impaled in several places, as if tortured. It wasn't the worst thing Shirou had seen, but it stirred something in his gut. Something familiar and... a sense of nostalgia? That was new.

"What is that?"

Saber asked the obvious question, her grip on her God Arc tightening almost imperceptibly. Kirei remained silent while Gilgamesh scoffed.

"Hmph. So you've now decided to summon the Beast, Kirei?"

"But of course, my King. Clearly you can't defeat these humble God Eaters on your lonesome. So I believed that you might require some assistance in your endeavour."

Gilgamesh growled.

"Kirei... you mongrel!"

He forced himself upright, off of his false Ea, and staggered to Kirei. Thrusting his left arm out to the side, he produced a segment from the false Ea and moved it, slowly and with the occasional jerk, to his outstretched hand before taking hold of it. Shirou realized that what Gilgamesh was doing must have been incredibly painful, what with the potentially cracked ribs and the fact that he was holding the segment without flinching. Reluctantly, Shirou felt a small amount of respect for his endurance, even if he was against what Gilgamesh was clearly trying to do and Gilgamesh in general.

When Gilgamesh was right in front of Kirei, he brought up his segment, blood running down his arm, and growled out, "You dare compare me to mongrels, Kirei!? I shall slay you where you stand!"

Then, with all of the strength he could muster, which wasn't much for a God Eater but was more than the average person, he brought the segment crashing down.

While Shirou wanted to get up but couldn't, Saber quickly moved forward, intent on stopping Gilgamesh. But what they weren't expecting was Kirei's hand to suddenly flash upwards, grabbing the segment and halting all of Gilgamesh's momentum. With a tsk, Kirei admonished him.

"Now, now, my King. I was merely stating my belief. And do understand, this is not me doubting your skills." Then he leaned in, so then his mouth was next to Gilgamesh's ear and kept looking ahead. "But this is not a battle that you can fight alone."

He brought his head back up and, in one swift motion, let go of the segment and punched Gilgamesh in the stomach, sending him flying backwards past Saber. Shirou and Saber could only watch in shock, as the non-God Eater Kirei completely man-handled Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh himself was coughing and wheezing, blood dribbling down his chin, but if he could he would be glaring and yelling.

Then, Kirei began to make his way over. As he did, he knelt down by the smooth body and began to remove some of the tools impaling it. A knife in each leg, one in the thigh, the other in the knee, a rusted pipe in the gut, a scalpel through the left arm's bicep, and then a wicked looking curved knife through the heart. As he stood, all of the sharp objects precariously held in his arms, he looked ridiculous but no one found it in them to laugh. He walked forward, purpose in his steps, and it took a whole second before Saber reacted. She brought her God Arc forward and called with a clear determination in her voice.

"Halt."

Kirei acknowledged her existence with a slight turn of his head, but continued unabated, ignoring Saber's words. This irritated Saber, and she prepared to disable Kirei, not kill him. With only a blink, Saber brought her God Arc upon him with a sweeping blow, aiming for his legs. As she did, Kirei jumped, bringing his legs upward, before he landed back on the ground. Before Saber could follow up her initial slash, Kirei threw the weapons in his arms upwards and drew his arms into a stance. As Saber drew her blade closer to her, the two engaged in a short battle.

Saber brought the blade down in an arc, before Kirei stepped to the side and thrust forward the fist he held to his side. Saber stepped back, avoiding the brunt of the damage but still feeling incredible pain in her side. Before Kirei could follow up on his attack, Saber began to slash multiple times. A horizontal arc to the right, followed by another to the left, then a step and a thrust, which Kirei narrowly avoided. He couldn't capitalize on her opening because she let go of her God Arc, bringing her other fist around in a back hand. It struck him because it wasn't something he had been expecting at all.

Then she brought Excalibur back to a two-handed grip, and the dance continued. Saber would attack and Kirei would dodge, and occasionally Kirei would counter. While Saber had enough intuition to dodge the brunt of each attack, even being clipped by his punches was damaging. Eventually, it became a battle of attrition with Saber losing what little ground she had. It was one misstep that led to her downfall, stepping on a rock she didn't notice and tripping, letting Kirei land a straight hit on her, sending her flying. She tried to channel her Oracle into a slash but couldn't concentrate enough, only producing a golden flicker. She hit the ground hard, creating a deep furrow, before rolling and then eventually stopping.

As this was happening, Shirou was trying to push himself upwards, but the segments weren't budging and he couldn't push himself up far enough to get off of them. Because of the segments in his arms, he couldn't even throw his God Arcs. Gilgamesh wasn't much better, still struggling to get up, but his injuries were preventing him from succeeding. His recent bout of anger-fuelled adrenaline wasn't doing him any favours now that he's drained.

"Saber!"

Shirou could only call out helplessly as his friend was sent flying. As she was, the blades that Kirei had thrown upwards all finally landed. A few landed in front of him, like the knives and the scalpel, while the rusted pipe landed next to Shirou and the curved knife landed near Gilgamesh. Inexorably, his attention was drawn to the rusty pipe next to his head. It wasn't anything special, covered in dents and bent a bit out of shape. But what was special was how the sharper end of the pipe seemed to be dyed black. Looking to the other tools, he saw that their business ends were all covered in the same black substance.

As Kirei slowly began to gather up the fallen weapons, he paused in front of Shirou, kneeling down and smiling at him. "Let me ask you," he says, something in his voice making Shirou's skin crawl. "Do you believe in the same thing as Kiritsugu? Do you share the same dream?"

At that, Shirou's breath hitched. He should be able to answer in the positive. It's his reason for living, so of course he would... right? But if so then... why isn't he saying anything? Kirei hummed.

"I see. It seems you aren't clear on where your heart lies. While I had hoped you would prove to be more amusing than Kiritsugu... No, this should be just as fine. Either way, I shall treasure your expression in the comfort of the flames."

Looking away, he pulled the pipe out of the ground and continued on his way to Gilgamesh. At this point, Saber had begun to stir, but didn't appear to be able to get up either. Eventually, he stood in front of Gilgamesh, who now looked up and began to curse Kirei. Expletives spewed forth, and Kirei just shook his head as if he were dealing with a temperamental child. Leaving the curved knife in the floor, he stepped up to Gilgamesh and began to work. He took one of the plain knives and thrust it through Gilgamesh's right thigh, in the part his golden armour doesn't reach.

"Aah! Kirei, you damn mongre--"

Then another through his left knee, piercing through the armour and audibly breaking the cartilage.

"Aaahh!! Stop it, damn yo--"

He thrust a scalpel through Gilgamesh's left bicep, likely severing the tendons with how deep it was going.

"P-Please stop!!!"

And then he thrust the rusty pipe right through his stomach, eliciting a loud cry of pain.

"... W-Why... Kirei?"

His voice no longer held the confidence it once did, or the anger that had seemed a constant companion throughout the whole battle. Now his voice only showed fear and the barest hints of betrayal. Kirei only chuckled at how pathetic he sounded.

"Now, now, Gilgamesh. This was my plan from the very beginning. Did you really think that I was doing this for your benefit? That I gave you power for an altruistic purpose?"

He took a step back, gathered up the curved knife, then moved to Gilgamesh once more.

"No. You were to be my tool. My way to see more suffering in the world. To see that beautiful, horrifying scene once more."

Gilgamesh's eyes widened, and Shirou's did too. He couldn't possibly mean... But then he leaned forward and spoke.

"But do not worry. For soon, you shall have all of the power you could want at your fingertips."

In one smooth motion, he brought the wicked knife down into Gilgamesh's heart, without even needing to move away. Gilgamesh gasped and Kirei had one last thing to say.

"You could never defeat the Angra. But soon, you shall become the Angra."

When he said that he stepped away, and the blood seemed to run out of Gilgamesh's face. Then, he let out a guttural scream, primal and rife with fear.

"NOOOOOOOOO!!!"

All of the segments in Shirou seemed to vibrate with the cry, and while that hurt a lot, it also concerned him. Just as suddenly, the segments all ripped out of him and flew towards Gilgamesh. And by ripped, they dragged themselves out of Shirou and towards Gilgamesh before they left his skin, leaving large bleeding trails. The segments, instead of returning to the false Ea or even Gilgamesh's right arm, just flew straight into him, piercing his flesh before dissolving and leaving black splotches that grew where they once were.

Soon after, before Shirou could even try to get up, the sky darkened with a wave of the orbs that formed the Absolute Territory. Instead of their regular orb form, they were in their activated form as a mess of blades. Each one struck Gilgamesh and was just as quickly absorbed until eventually none were left, and Gilgamesh looked exactly like the smooth black figure Kirei had been carrying. Then he started pulsating. Violently, his limbs were twitching and his body was moving, and Shirou felt that sense of nostalgia come back with a vengeance.

He wasn't aware that he had asked what was happening until Kirei laughed and answered him.

"You know about the original experiments we had to develop the Spentas, correct? And you are also aware of the circumstances that led to the inception of the Angras? It was an instability in their emotions, an overwhelming level of negativity that caused it. That's all I did here. I integrated the Angra's Oracle with Gilgamesh's body, then pushed him to his physical and emotional limit with pain. And now," he splayed out his hands, like a priest speaking to his flock, "the Angra has returned."

The next second followed with a burst of force that sent Shirou flying, the feeling of an uncomfortable warmth on his skin, and a roar that felt familiar. Then he saw black, and startling red eyes.

Thank you for reading. This is Cee and, this chapter felt kinda crazy. There were bits I was like 'Yeah', and bits I was like 'Eh', but overall I think this was okay. Slight warning, next chapter is going to be a flashback chapter, so be ready for explanations that I couldn't just interject casually.

It's weird how I feel really comfortable with writing my idea of comedy, which is deadpan responses to stimuli. Maybe I should write a humour... anyway...

1st Note, Saber's second attempt at pulling out the segments in Shirou is basically what you do for sword-catching. A la, JJBA Part 3 and Anubis.

2nd Note, because I'm unoriginal, the curved dagger currently in Gil's heart is based off of Rule Breaker. Yaaaaaaayyy~

3rd Note, my explanation at the end felt like grasping at straws. I knew that this would happen to Gil for a while, I just didn't understand the science behind it. So I made some up. If you know how this works in a way that makes more sense than my explanation, please tell me.

Thank you to Trafford, Vinmoon, and victorkjds78 for favouriting or following.

Goodbye.

Word count: 3603