Can You Feel Life, Movin' Through Your Mind?
Chapter 7
Here I Come, Rougher than the Rest
(Uploaded on February 11, 2021)
Summary: All of Team Heroes finally meet up with one another.
They learn a few new things from the fated reunion—
—some of which is enlightening in all the worst ways.
(It's such a bad sign…)
June 21, 2001 – 9:03 AM (T-8:57)
Central City
Downtown Streets – Alleyway
The night had passed, and the sun had risen.
However, that didn't make Team Sonic and Team Emiya's jobs any easier.
Following their escape from the police on Mission Street, the 'find Eggman' crew—Tails, Rin, Archer, and Amy—had found another isolated alleyway to hide out in, somewhat close to the city's Route 101. There, Tails (with the Cyclone in a car mode, for some reason) had gotten to work on his miniature computer, browsing for the location of the remaining Chaos Emeralds.
As he did that, everyone else took the time to take a well-deserved break.
It wasn't exactly the most comfortable place to rest for the night… but it wasn't like they had anywhere else to go.
The only thing walking into a hotel would do was get security called in on them.
(That would simply be embarrassing.)
Rin sighed, leaning back on the bench she was sitting on.
"9:03 AM," she said, looking at the fancy communicator Tails had given her. "We've got just short of nine hours left."
"Nine hours?" Amy moaned. "You've gotta be kidding me! We've barely done anything!" She kicked a leftover can and threw her hands up. "Stupid military… if they hadn't arrested Sonic, none of this would be happening!"
The teenage Magus crossed her arms.
"That's simplifying things a little bit, don't you think?" she lampshaded. "It's not like we could've predicted that there'd be a weird clone of Sonic running around."
…or that Einzbern and Berserker would cross paths with him.
"SHE'S YOUR WHAAAAAAAAAAT!?"
Back on the mainland, far away from the devastated Prison Island, several people were reacting in shock to Shirou's sudden revelation.
The redhead scratched the back of his head.
"Yeah, this… came as a surprise to me, as well," he said. "I never knew Kiritsugu still had family before he adopted me. He never even hinted about it to me."
"Th-That's a heck of a thing to leave out!" Rin said, trying to reel back in her emotions. "The Einzberns are a prestigious line of Mages. Most other Magi would kill for the chance to get their support—literally! For your father to throw all that away, knowing that'd include his daughter…"
Everyone went silent, processing this insane influx of information.
Sonic crossed his arms and tapped his foot. "So, she's after you 'cause she feels your father abandoned her…? That's pretty twisted, like—something out of a soap opera."
"And she's got that big scary monster, too," Amy remembered, shuddering. "It's really hard to miss 'im!"
Saber looked uncomfortable.
So it's true, she thought.
She really is Kiritsugu and Irisviel's daughter.
…
…she's suffered so much.
For my mistakes, and his.
She shouldn't have to be here, but… she is anyway.
How can I make it right for her, then, knowing just what she's lost…?
…
She shook her head. "Be that as it may, she's still acting as our enemy. And teamed up with that Berserker of hers and Shadow, it's not likely that she's gonna listen to reason."
"I know, but…" A fire erupted behind Shirou's gaze. "Now that I know she's my sister, I can't simply leave her alone. Kiritsugu may not have been able to see her again, but she still has me. She deserves to know she's loved."
Rin's breath hitched, though no one had actually noticed.
"You said it," Tails chimed in. "I can't imagine life without Sonic or Muttski—or Sonic's mom and dad, either."
"Some risks are worth taking, especially for those you care about," Sonic affirmed. "I'd do anything for my siblings, adopted or not—so do what you need to. We'll be backing you!"
Something uncomfortable stirred up inside of Rin.
"Thanks, you two," Shirou said. He turned to his Servant—no, his friend. "Saber, and you…?"
The knight spent a moment contemplating her choices—and then nodded. "It's a noble wish, Shirou. I can't fault you for wanting to reconcile with her. If this is your resolve… I'll be happy to help you fulfill it."
For all of his flaws, Kiritsugu wouldn't have wanted this from her, Saber mused. Irisviel, too.
This may be a long shot… but it's a shot nevertheless.
The red-clad Magus sent a message to her Servant.
Archer! Can't you talk some sense into them!? We may not be in Fuyuki anymore, but—in spite of everything, Einzbern's a Master!
Oddly enough, the sarcastic bowman had been silent through the whole conversation. It was as if he was lost in thought, passing up several opportunities to rag on Shirou (and Sonic, by proxy).
…Archer?
…I apologize for my silence, he finally spoke, but I don't have anything to say. I couldn't stop him if I tried, now—elder siblings just… have that kind of instinct.
…
Rin's throat couldn't emit any words.
"Hey, Rin! Are you okay?"
Rin snapped back to her senses.
Amy was looking at her in concern, her voice having interrupted the Magus's reminiscing.
"Y-Yeah," she replied. "I'm fine. I was simply… thinking, a little bit."
"Thinking, huh? Was it about your magic stuff? The world you left? Or maybe…" She started grinning, something that worried Rin immensely. "…were you thinking a boy?"
"What!?" Rin shrieked. "A—A—A boy!? No way; you're just seeing things!"
(Tails briefly paused his researching to stare at Rin, before turning back to his computer. Nope, I am not getting involved in that.)
"Oh? That's not what I'm getting from you~" she teased. "Lemme guess—you've got Shirou on your mind? Or could it be that you've got a crush on Archer—?"
"I do not have a crush—on either that worthless excuse for a Magus, or my irritating lout of a Servant!"
Such harsh words, Archer internally deadpanned, from up on a nearby rooftop. Truly, I've been blessed with a wonderful Master.
Not now, Archer!
Amy didn't stop beaming. "Sure, girl. Sure."
Before the girls could continue their… enlightening conversation, they heard a crackling noise come from Tails' own communicator. Curious, the two of them moved closer to the fox and his mech, peering in.
"Sheesh!" Sonic was grousing from the speaker, his team halfway across the city. "There always seems to be a lot of police around when you don't need them! You'd think that I was a serial killer or something!"
"Well, you are currently Mobius's greatest hero," Tails remarked, barely batting an eye. "They can't afford to send anything less than their best if they're hoping to capture you."
"If nothing else, you do have to admire their tenacity," Saber admitted. "I'd prefer it if they put their resources toward tracking Dr. Eggman instead, but it is what it is."
"It's still annoying, though," the hedgehog said. "Seriously, they're covering both the sky and the surface. It's overkill!"
"Speaking of Eggman…" Shirou's voice piped up—"did you find anything out about him, Tails?"
"I haven't found any signals for the other six Chaos Emeralds yet," the kitsune replied. "I've scanned everywhere I can, but no dice. There's only one place left: they've gotta be in outer space."
Amy brought a palm to her mouth. "Eh!? Are you serious!?"
"Space!? How the heck are we supposed to get to space!?" Rin asked, completely in disbelief. "No matter how advanced this world is, it's not that easy to just—fly up there!"
Brilliant. Simply brilliant!
Nothing on Mobius could ever make sense, could it!?
Instead of being sequestered in some stereotypical secret hideout, akin to how a Magus would set up a Workshop, Eggman and his minions were up and above the atmosphere. Tails may have been a genius, but even Rin doubted he could build a rocket capable of getting everyone up there.
…probably. Maybe.
(She didn't actually know.)
And even if Tails was able to do such a thing, that'd still take time—time that the seven heroes absolutely did not have.
"Uggggggggggggh…" she groaned, rubbing her hair in frustration. "This is ridiculous… what are we supposed to do in this situation?"
"Maybe we can steal a space shuttle from one of Eggman's bases," Tails hypothesized. "He's made a few launch sites before, so it shouldn't be too farfetched to accomplish."
"Heh heh, now that was a fun time!" Sonic snickered. "Remind me to tell y'all how we stopped the Death Egg from flying out of Launch Base."
(Rin had several questions about that, but she recognized now wasn't the time to ask.)
"Sounds like an interesting story," Shirou remarked. "I'd love to hear it sometime."
"As would I," Saber said—"but I believe we should let Tails do what he has to. Good luck, Tails."
"Mm-hm!" With that in mind, the technician began to tap away at his computer again. "Let's see here…"
BANG! BANG!
Amy and Rin jolted in surprise.
"Wh-What was that!?" the pink hedgehog shouted.
"An ambush!?" the resident Magus freaked.
As it turned out, the sound was coming from the sewer grate on the ground. Warily, the duo approached the pothole, Piko-Piko Hammer and Azoth Sword in hand—
—and then the grate popped open, a certain red echidna sticking his head out of it.
"AHH! A-Another tanuki!?"
"K-Knuckles!?"
Knuckles rubbed his eyes, having spent quite a while in the dark. "Hey! Tails, Amy—long time no see! Phew… I'm way out of it!"
Amy sniffed the air, recoiling at his scent. "You're telling me…!" she said, disgusted.
"Ew, ew, ew!" Rin let out, moving as far away from him as she could. "Dear god, are all of your friends like this…!? How many do you two and Sonic even have!?"
Tails turned aside, quizzically staring at his other friend. "Knuckles…? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be on Angel Island?"
"That's the thing," he said—"the Master Emerald got shattered again, so I've had to go hunting for its pieces. My partners and I went into this coal mine to look for some, but we got lost when we were about to leave."
…hang on.
"Partners?" the Tohsaka heir repeated. "Wait, what do you mean by 'partners'?"
The guardian lurched in place—evidently, he was holding up some sort of line.
"Hurry up, Knuckles!" a woman was demanding. "I'm tired of being down here! Let me see sunlight already!"
"Okay, okay!" he replied. "Just gimme a moment!"
He finished climbing out of the pothole—and right as he did, a pink-and-black blur rocketed from its depths, started kissing the ground with a look of bliss.
"Oh my god, yes!" she exclaimed, tears running from her closed eyes. "Freedom! No more sewers! No more ghosts! I can finally go take a nice and long shower! AAAAAAAAAAA—"
All parties present sweatdropped as the magenta-haired lady sobbed in sheer relief.
"What's with her…?" Amy asked, exasperated.
"Uh, guys?" Shirou called. "Is everything alright? I'm hearing someone crying over there…"
Sonic snorted. "Wow, Knux—I didn't know you were in the business of driving ladies to tears," he snarked. "Real classy, there!"
"Shut up, Sonic! It's not my fault we got lost!"
Tails raised an eyebrow, even as he continued his work. Sure, I believe that.
The other girls wanted to comment further, but then another head burst from the open drain: a familiar blue-haired, red-eyed pretty boy (as some might call him).
"Jeez, Bazett," Lancer said, "it wasn't that bad. Sure, it was cramped, and didn't at all smell good, but still! I've been through worse!"
"Yeah, well—excuse us if some of us haven't!" She hobbled over to the bench and slouched in it. "Ohhhhhh… Dead Apostles are better than this… where even are we, anyway…?"
Rin's jaw dropped upon seeing the Child of Light suddenly show up.
"L-L-L-L-Lancer!?" she gawked.
Knuckles blinked. "You know him?"
The bluenette turned toward Rin and waved a hand in greeting. "Yo, Master of Archer! Good to see you're in good straits!" He glanced at Tails and Amy for a second. "I see you've got some new friends, too."
"Is that—Lancer over there!?" Saber's voice echoed incredulously. "Sonic, Shirou, we must hurry back! This could be—!"
Lancer's grin grew upon hearing the knight (albeit from Tails' radio). "Don't get your panties in a twist, Saber—I'm not here to fight. I mean, I'd like to, but even I can tell now's probably not a good time."
"So you do know some etiquette." Archer materialized in front of the newly-arrived trio, one eyebrow raised on his stoic face. "Funny. I thought you were just a rabid dog, barking up all the wrong trees."
"Ha, ha, ha—go screw yourself, Archer."
"…by the way," the bowman continued, "who's that woman with you? I didn't think you were in the business of taking in strays."
"Oh, that's my Master, Bazett. My real one, not that shitty priest."
A beat passed.
"What?" Amy blinked, confused by the proceedings.
"What?" Archer said, genuinely dumbfounded for once.
"What!?" Rin screeched, the gears in her brain spinning rapidly.
"…I feel as if we're missing a lot of context here…" Shirou muttered, barely audibly into the speaker.
(He wasn't the only one.)
"No time for explanations now," Tails interrupted them. "I hacked into the government records—it looks like Eggman's set up a meeting in the President's limousine. If we can get in there and trace the call, we'll be able to find Eggman!"
"Sounds great!" Sonic said. "We'll catch you there!"
The kitsune nodded and gestured toward Rin. "Come on, Rin—let's go!"
The school idol's brain stuttered.
President?
As in, president of this country?
…
She hopped into the Tornado III's back seat and strapped in. "Oh, fine! Anything to take my mind off of this!"
"Take everyone else to my house, Archer!" Tails said. "We'll meet back up with you all after we get to the President!"
"Hold up," Bazett said, jolting upward—"what did you say you people were doing—!?"
She wasn't able to get a reply though. Tails proceeded to kickstart his engines and dash onto the road, forcing Lancer to duck inside the sewer opening—"Whoa whoa whoa!"—before he became roadkill.
"Ah! Tails, wait!" Amy cried.
But it was too late—he and Rin were gone.
At this point, Archer wasn't even gonna question it.
"Well, I guess it's up to me to fill you in on some of the details," the blacksmith sighed. "Let's go, then. Emerald Town's not too far from here."
"What the heck have you all been doing while I was gone?" Knuckles asked, scratching the back of his head. ""And who exactly are you? I can sense you're one of those Servant guys, but…"
"It's a long story. Trust me on that."
"Is it at least a story with a bathroom included…?" Bazett groaned. "I'm tired of smelling like piss…"
June 21, 2001 – 10:22 PM (T-7:38)
Emerald Town
Tails' Lab – Workshop
Rin sat with her head down on a nearby desk.
The last dozen minutes or so had been… contentious, to say the least.
With all ten heroes—Mobians, Masters, Servants and all—finally gathered together in one place, it had been a good opportunity to relax and share any news they might've come across. Sure, the Eclipse Cannon was still waiting overhead, but victory was never achieved with a tired mind.
But even in her wildest dreams, could she have imagined…
…what eye-opening revelations Knuckles' team had in store.
"Kotomine did what!?"
Rin looked like she had been physically slapped.
"I promise you, I'm not lying," Bazett affirmed, she and everyone else sitting in Tails' living room. "Kotomine chopped off my arm, stole my Command Seals—and Lancer—and then he just left me to die. Years of working together, tossed away in an instant."
"That priest… he did all that?" Shirou muttered, equally as shocked as his partner. "Then that means… he's the one that was forcing Lancer to kill so many people!"
"Yeesh, that's heavy," Sonic grimaced. "Say what you will about Eggman, but at least he has some semblance of a heart."
Archer crossed his arms, dubious. "Lost your arm, huh…? Funny. I'm seeing two limbs still on you."
"Yeah, that's my fault," Knuckles raised his hand. "I found her and took her to the Master Emerald, and it kind of just… regrew her entire arm."
The other guardian blinked. "Her… entire arm?"
"Her entire arm," he confirmed. "Seriously, it was crazy. Never seen anything like it."
"I'll say…" Amy frowned. She looked to the poor lady. "Bazett… Are—Are you okay, after all of that…?"
Bazett was silent for a bit.
"…I can't say I'm perfectly healed, but I'm alive. That's… better than nothing."
"I can't believe that fake priest," the teenage Magus whispered. "I never trusted him, much less liked him, but—"
…it was hard to deny that the sense of unease he gave her, especially after long periods of time in his presence.
And just to add insult to injury, he was also working with—
"—this red-eyed prick. Golden hair, golden armor, makes portals to shoot Noble Phantasms at… can't forget the way he looks down on everyone, either." Lancer scowled. "Calling us all 'mongrels'… tch! If it wasn't for Kotomine holding my leash, I totally would've taken him!"
(Archer lowly hummed, but otherwise didn't comment.)
"You sure about that?" Knuckles raised an eyebrow. "You did say he's got an infinite supply of swords 'n stuff…"
"Eh, that doesn't matter. Either way, it'd be worth it just to yank that stick out of his—"
Saber slammed her fists on the table, stopping all conversation.
"Curses…!" she hissed. "First that vile priest, then that arrogant Archer… who else should I expect from the last War, that deranged and delusional Caster!?"
The whole room flinched at the sound of her voice.
She'd never sounded that angry before.
Even against Shadow and Berserker, she was only ever frustrated.
…
…the meeting had given Rin a lot of things to think about.
Between Kotomine, her father's old Servant, and Saber…
Any one of these claims would make for a conversation in and of themselves.
But the one that hurt the most—the one thing that she couldn't accept, no matter how much she tried—
—was Knuckles explaining where the last known duo from Fuyuki had ended up.
And who Rider's real Master was.
"That bat girl's been trying to take the Master Emerald for months now," Knuckles was explaining grumpily. "I keep throwing her off the island, but she's as persistent as Eggman! And just a few days ago, she came back with some new friends."
"Another Master-Servant pair, huh…?" Sonic said. "Feels like there's one of them everywhere nowadays."
Tails counted off on his fingers. "We've got Saber, Archer, and Lancer on our side, and we know Eggman has Caster, Assassin, and Berserker. That means this last Servant must be Rider!"
(It didn't escape Rin's notice that their alliance had all three Knight Classes.
It was a small mercy, in her opinion.)
"Rider? Last I checked, she was under the control of Shinji Matou," Rin said. She scrunched her features up. "Please don't tell me he's here. For the love of God, tell me he didn't follow us here."
I do not want to deal with his egotistical face right now!
"Well, you don't have to worry about that," Lancer drawled. "He didn't make the cut. I'm pretty sure of that."
The teenage Magus sighed in relief.
"…Rider just has this purple-haired kid as her Master instead."
She promptly froze.
Shirou wasn't any better.
The both of them knew only one person with purple hair.
No. It can't be.
"…what did they look like?" the redhead asked, cautiously.
"Fairly long hair, red ribbon, meek, quiet, stacked like no one else…" Bazett twitched a bit at that last one. "Hell of a figure, too, 'specially next to Rider and Rouge. They complement each other really well."
It can't be true.
Amy's eyes widened as she whispered to herself. "Purple hair… meek and quiet… Say, Lancer? Is Rider tall and also wearing a blindfold?"
"…yeah, actually," the Child of Light replied. Everyone was looking at her in surprise, placing their full attention on her. "How'd you know?"
"Because I saw the three of them with Eggman on Prison Island!" she revealed. "They weren't being held hostage or anything, so they have to have been working together!"
But… there's no one else… it could be.
"That's—That's impossible!" Shirou said. "Sakura, working with Eggman and commanding a Servant…!? She could never do such a thing!"
"I had assumed she was a perfectly ordinary person, myself," Saber said, somewhat perturbed. "To see that I was wrong is…"
It was then that all parties noticed Rin's current state of mind.
She was staring at her hands in shock, her gaze unfocused and dazed.
"Tohsaka, what's wrong?" Shirou asked.
"Rin?" Archer called.
She stood up, face framed in shadow.
"I—I have to—go get some gems made," she said. "A-Archer, keep me updated."
Before anyone else could get a word in, she ran out of the room and past the front door. She didn't care how lame her excuse was—she desperately needed some space, and it wouldn't be in this crowded house.
"This War has been a disaster," she murmured. "Nothing has gone the way it should. Not my summoning, not any of my plans…"
…and I don't know what to do about it.
She'd been steadily been feeling overwhelmed since the day she and Archer arrived on Mobius—but this finally clinched it for her.
The clock was ticking to the end of the world.
The villains were outgunning them in every way.
There were still so many variables to worry about.
And sooner or later… she might have to face her—
"Rin?"
Rin snapped herself upward, turning her head.
From her viewpoint, she could see Tails standing in the doorway.
She scrambled to look even halfway professional.
"Tails! Wh-What are you doing here?"
"Well, this is my lab," he said simply. "There's no reason I can't come in to check up on you."
"O-Oh. Right." She blushed. "I knew that."
The kitsune pulled out a chair from his desk and sat next to her.
"So, what's going on with you?" he asked. "You hightailed it out of my house in practically no time!"
…I did, didn't I?
"It was nothing," she tried to wave off—"I just had other things to do, like I said! A Tohsaka is too perfect to be fretting, even over bombshells like those—"
"This is about Sakura, isn't it?"
She abruptly shut up.
"I've seen you angry at Shirou. I've seen you worried about Eggman. I've never seen you so frozen before, hearing about Sakura's location like we did." He levied a look of worry at her. "You act like it doesn't affect you, but I can tell—she's important to you, isn't she?"
Dang it, why is he so perceptive…!
"N-No! We're just strangers! What makes you think that?"
Tails raised an eyebrow. "Your frantic denials, for one."
Ack…! He's got me there…
"It's… hard to explain," Rin finally said, moving her arms back onto the desk. "I haven't interacted with her much—"
—because I don't have a reason to; she's not family anymore—
"—but… I never thought she'd be involved in this. Involved in Eggman's schemes."
"So you've got a soft spot for her, huh…?" Tails closed his eyes. "I guess that makes some sense—but it still doesn't explain all of your reaction. It really seemed like you knew her, and on an intimate level, too."
The school idol bit her lip.
…I've been careless.
I thought I'd be able to at least keep some of my persona intact, but… this excursion has really been overwhelming.
Mobius is—different from home, in so many ways. No Magecraft, no Moonlit World…
So then… what would everyone here think, if they knew about…?
…
(For a moment, Rin remembered a red ribbon, and a final goodbye.)
"…it doesn't matter," she decided. "She's our enemy now, and—regardless of what Shirou and Saber think—we can't afford to show any mercy. To her, or Einzbern." She hardened her gaze, even as her mind carried a touch of anxiety. "There's too much on the line for us to hesitate. If it comes to it, then…"
She didn't say anything more.
Tails was a fair bit unnerved by her words.
"We don't need to go that far," he said. "I'm pretty sure we can talk them down!"
"But what if we can't?" she countered. "If we fall to them, there'll be no one left to stop Dr. Eggman! We can't take that risk!"
"I think that's a risk still worth taking," Tails argued. "You'll only have the one chance to reach out to them. Isn't it better to try than to regret it later on?"
…
A lull in dialogue hit the air.
Both of them had some… good points, admittedly.
Given the stakes, it's no wonder that their ideals would end up cladding heavily.
(Still, that outlook's way too cynical.)
(How can he even think that way, at a time like this…?)
The mechanic shook his head.
"Let's agree to disagree for now," he relented. "I've got a few things to work on, and we're gonna need them soon."
He opened up a nearby drawer and pulled out a small metal briefcase, much like the one he had been carrying around for the last few days. He put them both on the desk and opened up—
—and Rin proceeded to gasp at the sight of two yellow Chaos Emeralds, one in each container.
"Wh-Wha—!?"
"Surprised?" Tails said, without missing a beat. "I've been working on it for a while now: a fake Chaos Emerald, identical to the original. It's got the same wavelength and properties as the real one, though it's nowhere near as powerful."
"No way…" Rin was outright gaping now. "You can recreate a miracle gem like that!?"
They're akin to Noble Phantasms in and of themselves!
How much of a genius is this fox…!?
"Yep, that's right. All I need to do now is get it to reverse the energy fields of the real ones and then explode. That way, we'll be able to sabotage the Eclipse Cannon!"
Rin smiled smugly. "Well, lucky that you have me on board! I specialize in Jewelcraft, so this is no problem for me!"
"I was hoping you'd be up for it," Tails approved. "I was hoping to get to some other stuff too—Speed Shoes for Shirou, Magic Gloves for Sonic, a Bazooka for my Cyclone—so having you around'll make things much easier."
"Speed Shoes? Why does Shirou need those?"
"Well, if Shirou's gonna hang around with Sonic, he's gonna need a way to keep up with him. Saber can rely on her Servant magic, but Shirou can't exactly do the same."
"Ah."
That made sense.
Shirou wasn't exactly a top-tier Mage in any form, not helped by his converting his nerves into Circuits (a fact that made Rin very irritated, due to its inherent danger). It was a minor miracle he was able to even work with the speedster, given the sheer disparity between their abilities.
"Enough of that, though!" the kitsune said. He got out his toolset and array of fancy gadgets and placed them on the counter. "Let's get to work! Ready, Rin?"
"Hmph! Of course!" She brought her hands together and cracked her fingers. "I'm gonna show that stupid doctor and Caster exactly who they've messed with!"
Tails' House – Living Room
Meanwhile, as Tails and Rin were conducting important science, the eight heroes back in Tails' house were…
"Aw, dang it! I lost!"
…being about as unproductive as you can imagine.
The conglomeration of heroes and mages were gathered in front of a high-res TV, hooked up to a clearly well-cared-for SEGA Dreamcast. ChuChu Rocket! was currently being displayed on the screen, a match just having concluded.
On the couch sat Sonic, Amy, Bazett, and Lancer, each holding a controller in hand. The pink hedgehog in question was shuffling in her seat, pouting cutely.
"Phew! That was tight!" Sonic grinned, leaning back against the leather. "Told ya I'd be able to trash y'all easily! Stuff like this is my specialty!"
("Showoff," Knuckles scoffed.)
"Hey, that's only 'cause I barely know how to work this thing!" Bazett protested. If there existed a record for 'amount of times fiddled with controller', she'd be on top. "It was chaos, too—what the heck even is this!?"
"Aw, come on, Bazett!" Lancer laughed. "This may not be my usual type of battle royale, but it's a fun time nevertheless!" He turned to the three standing next to the wall—Knuckles, Saber, and Archer. "How 'bout you three? You wanna have a go?"
Knuckles shook his head.
"I will pass for now," Saber said. "Meals from Shirou come first."
Archer snorted. "I'll stay out of this, thanks. Somebody needs to be on guard in case something happens."
The spearman shrugged. "Suit yourself!"
A ding sounded from the kitchen. "Saber!" Shirou's voice sang. "Dinner's ready!"
The King of Knights wasted no time in rushing over to the dinner table.
The resident red guardians sweatdropped.
"Jeez…" Knuckles said. "Her obsession with food is really something else…!"
"Now you know how we feel," the bowman muttered. "That stomach of hers knows no bounds."
Back on the couch, Amy tightened her grip on her controller. "Ugh…! I won't let you win, Sonic! I promise, this rematch will be different!"
"Same here," Bazett said, a serious expression on her face. "I've got a hand on this now. Don't expect me to be as easy a target!"
"Ha ha ha! That's the spirit!" Lancer said. "Let's see how you two fare this time!"
"I'm always up for a second round!" Sonic cheered. "Alright—bring it on!"
This chapter's title is derived from the lyrics to Knuckles' theme, Unknown from M.E.
I know I said I'd do the second Tails vs. Eggman encounter next, but then I realized I hadn't written a single scene with all of Team Heroes together yet.
And not only that, neither Shirou nor Rin know about where Sakura is right now.
Time to fix that!
I always thought it was hilarious how Knuckles joins up with Sonic, Tails, and Amy in SA2, abruptly popping out of a sewer grate with extreme nonchalance. I wanted to take care to highlight that, while also throwing Bazett and Lancer into the mix. It makes the scene exponentially longer, but what can you do with this many characters.
I also threw in the heroes' reaction to the Emiya-Einzbern sibling reveal. Gotta have that somewhere in this fic, and I'm not making it its own separate chapter.
The meeting was going to be its own separate section, but I couldn't get it to flow the way I wanted to. Instead, I interspersed three flashbacks to it as necessary and filled in the rest of the scene with a heartfelt talk between Rin and Tails. I also threw in Tails' fake Chaos Emerald, so that it'd have a little more substance in SA2's plot. (Seriously, that plot thread kind of came out of nowhere. I don't dislike it, especially compared to Forces' nonsense, but still…)
Well, that's all for now – tune in next time for the last bit of fluff, before we descend into the end!
