"Gheez, Tohsaka. You could've.. stood to lose a few pounds.." Charles huffed, carrying her limp body up the last few steps leading to the surface. Almost immediately, he was met by a blast of green lightning, and a frenzied-looking Frankenstein. Charles only vaguely noted that it had turned to night

"Master!" she exclaimed, her eyes darting from left to right, searching for potential aggressors. "I was so worried! You just disappeared without a trace and when I followed, well- I couldn't follow!"

Frankenstein pulled Charlesr close.

"Fran.. You're crushing.." Charles gasped.

"Oh, sorry!" she apologized immediately, jumping back. "Isn't that.. Miss Tohsaka?"

Charles' face fell. "Yeah. She.. didn't make it."

Frankenstein covered her mouth. "And her Servant? That man?"

"It's- a long story. He's covering us right now down there. Assassin is a total monster."

"Assassin? It's really another Servant?! I'll rip her in half with my bare hands!"

"Wait, Saber!" Charles grabbed her arm. "Something about her domain, it's… off. She's basically invincible down there. Archer is just.. Following his Master's dying wish."

"My Master's dying what now?" someone said from behind him.

Charles turned to see the speaker- "Archer?!" he exclaimed.

The Archer class Servant bowed, first to Charles, and then to Frankenstein. "My dear lady Frankenstein. I feel glad that I can greet you with no modicum of deceit. Playing Shakespeare was fun, but it became tiring after a while. That role is very.. Emotionally taxing."

"You're Miss Akira's Servant? But- You can disguise yourself, we know that!"

Charles pinched the bridge of his nose. "I really don't care if his True Name is Edward Teach. What happened to Assassin?" he asked.

"Oh. Her. Turns out we perfectly counter each other. How about that?" Holmes laughed merrily. "She and I decided going our separate ways was for the best. That woman does not like physical confrontation."

Charles breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. But- You're going to disappear now, right? I can't support two Servants and have them both fight at maximum output."

Holmes cocked his head. "Why ever would you need to do that for?"

'Well.. Akira is.."

"Pissed."

Charles jumped and dropped the corpse that had just spoken on the ground. In one swift movement, the body of Akira Tohsaka got up and started yelling at him.

"Why? Why would you do that?!" Akira yelled, beating Charles' chest with her fists. Hard. She was a smaller girl so it didn't hurt much, but part of him still wished the rigor mortis had set in for a bit longer.

"Hey! I- I thought I owed you that much. More importantly- You're dead!"

Akira sighed, stopping her assault for the moment. "No, no, I'm not."

"Then- how?! The neck snapping- I heard it snap!"

Akira sighed. "Are you serious? Playing dead is quite literally the first trick in the book. I admit, though, it wouldn't have worked against a stronger Servant. That Assassin's specialty is in magic, not force. I suspect she's never had to kill someone with her own bare hands before today. Reinforcing my spinal cord isn't that advanced a trick for someone who knows what they're doing."

The group turned towards the subway entrance, where they could now hear a loud rumbling.

"Oh. She's coming out after all," Holmes said, bemused. "What's the plan, Masters?"

"I'm itching to get a bite out of her," Frankenstein scowled, tapping her sword on the ground. On seeing the look that Charles gave her, she shrank back slightly. "Metaphoromically, of course.." she murmured.

"More importantly, about that Assassin.. Archer?" Akira asked.

"Basically untouchable," Holmes confirmed. "My lenses had no effect on her, and neither did my fists. If I had to guess, she possesses at least a B Rank in Divinity. Although.."

"Although?" Frankenstein prompted.

"She is, above all else, a Servant. She'll need an anchor to this world, and as we saw, she possesses her own Command Spells. That means there has to be something else anchoring her to the mortal plane. Something permanent."

The four stood in silence for a few minutes. Holmes sighed. "She's almost here. One." Holmes made a gesture with his hands and all of the mirrors focused on the subway entrance and fired, collapsing the pathway. "We have maybe two minutes. Your orders, Master?"

"The snake," Charles said suddenly. "That huge crystal snake that she was sitting in. It hits all the marks. Personal, important-looking, and I'll bet you it was even her catalyst. We just have to blow it up and Assassin goes ta-ta."

Akira sagged. "I hate that we're even considering destroying an artifact that priceless.. Something that valuable. But.. All's fair in love and Grail War. How do we do it?"

"Master, before that- Aren't we ignoring the elephant in the room?" Fran asked.

"Huh?" Charles cocked his head.

"Miss Akira! You lied to us!" Frankenstein accused, hands on her hips. She looked genuinely annoyed, much to Akira's surprise.

"We're supposed to be a team, and you- You can't even trust us!"

Akira sighed. "I suppose I did."

"And Master! Why aren't you with me on this?!"

Charles hesitated. "Well.. We're only temporary allies. If I could afford to, I'd probably do the same," he admitted. "Information is everything here, Saber. Especially when it comes to our Servants."

"..." Frankenstein crossed her arms. "Hm."

"I am still annoyed though, Tohsaka. And I will get you back for it. But we need to deal with the problem at hand. Assassin. Or.. Isis, I should say." Charles sighed.

"It's really not that complex a solution," Akira shrugged. "If Assassin is anchored by her throne, that means she can't go far from it without disappearing, right?"

Charles nodded. "Right."

"Well.. Even if she and Archer can't fight each other, we haven't pitted her against Saber yet. And with Saber's Magic Resistance, she might be able to get an edge. Even if fighting her on advantageous ground is the issue, I can lure her out with Archer. She'll still be.. Rather displeased with him."

Charles raised his fist for her to bump. "Sounds like a plan."

Akira only raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"Oh. Uh.. High-five?"

"Oh! I know that one, Master!" Frankenstein beamed, clapping his hand with her own.

Akira couldn't help but facepalm.

"Tohsaka? You in position?" Charles asked, phone pressed firmly against his ear. He had to hold it away from Frankenstein, who was curiously trying to touch the modern device. The last thing he needed was her inadvertently shocking it. The two were perched on a rooftop overlooking the entrance to the subway that lead to Isis' lair. Akira and her Servant had ventured down there only seconds ago.

"Yep, yep, yep," came her reply. "Her Presence Concealment isn't powerful enough to hide her from Archer. She's-"

The line crackled and went silent. Charles slapped his cheeks to wake himself up properly. "Alright, Saber, prepared to move in-"

He was interrupted by a pillar of fire that he could still feel despite it being a good ways away. "That's our cue!"

"Got it, Master!" Frankenstein affirmed, jumping off the rooftop. In the moment before she touched the ground, her bridal dress billowed out from beneath her, and in her hand was the Bridal Blade.

From his vantage point, Charles saw Holmes high above the entrance to the underground, carrying Akira bridal-style in his arms.

"They're clear! Get her!" he commanded.

"On it!" Frankenstein ran forward, meeting a very confused-looking Assassin with her blade.

"She'll fight valiantly," said the voice of an older man from behind Charles. "I wonder, how will you fare?"

Charles reacted a fraction of a second early. His would-be assailant started to chant, but before his spell could be completed, Charles followed Frankenstein's example by jumping head-first off the rooftop.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!" Frankenstein's sword clashed with Isis' knees and elbows. "So this is your.. Imperial Privilege, huh?" she grimaced, jumping back to size Isis up properly.

"Lame."

"And who exactly are you? An opportunistic vulture? A friend of the Detective?" Isis asked, watching the Archer leave with his Master. "Just how many of you want a shot at me before you realize that I'm invulnerable? Honestly, what part of 'Goddess' do you simpletons not understand?"

"I only know one god, Assassin," Frankenstein said, pointing her sword at her enemy. Her horn and finns started to spin, generating excess electricity for a Mana Burst. "He's long gone."

The two circled each other. Isis had summoned an Egyptian curved sword, a khopesh, into her hands. More perks of one of the strongest Skills.

"Cute. Well, as a Goddess, I can only be benevolent and give you a sporting chance at survival. You too, may surrender and contract under me if you wish to continue your half-existence on this Earth."

"I refuse." Frankenstein said flatly.

"Then you will die like the rest of them." Isis dashed forward, her khopesh coming down on Frankenstein's head.

Frankenstein batted the khopesh away with her horn and stabbed inwards, though her blade bounced off of Isis' exposed stomach. Her skin glinted, like tempered bronze. Isis proceeded to knee Frankenstein in the chest, driving the Saber back a few steps. Getting her bearings back, Frankenstein surged with green lightning and ran forward again, bringing her sword down with all her might.

"Didn't the Detective tell you?" Isis smirked, blocking the arm with her forearm. "I'm not just a Goddess in name only, girl. My body is nigh-perfect. Only a blade tempered by the fires of the deepest layers of the Duat could hope to harm me, and.. Well, you don't have access to those, do you, Saber?"

Frankenstein gritted her teeth and planted her feet in the earth. "I don't need to break your skin to.. Break you." Her sword separated into two shining pillars of green electricity, and started to rotate.

"Ho? Your Noble Phantasm already?" Isis laughed, splaying her arms wide. "Well, then, Saber of eyes so bright. Show me! But more importantly, prove to yourself that I, a perfect being, cannot be touched by the tools of man!"

Frankenstein took a deep breath. "I am.. A blasted tree. My soul.. My life.. It's all for you!

"Blasted… Branch!"

Green electricity surged from Frankenstein's sword, and a beam of green light erupted from the end. It shot from the tip of her sword into Isis' chest, but seemed to stop short.

Isis laughed. "Is this all you can muster? I can barely feel it. Aren't you even going to try and tickle me, Saber?"

The Perpetual Motion Machine in Frankenstein's chest turned on itself overtime, physically vibrating the ground beneath her. "Over.. LOOOOOAD!"

The beam of light tripled in size and intensity, carrying Isis off her feet. The beam forced her back a meter, then ten, then forty, and it was carrying her high and away over the streets of London. All the while, Frankenstein was screaming her lungs out. It had gone from invoking the name of her Skill to a wordless, animalistic howl. All the while, the finns on the side of her head sucked in any excess mana that fell off from the beam.

'Sorry, Master… Charles. I hope you don't need any of that mana right now.' she thought.

Soon, Isis' bronze glint was a far-off star. She had been blasted to the other side of the city.

A slight tap on her shoulder jolted her back to reality. "You can turn it off, now, Saber."

Frankenstein looked to her left to see Holmes with a slightly bemused look on his face. "I think you got her," he said.

In response, she concentrated for a moment, and the beam slowly died off, and her sword returned to normal. She didn't notice until now just how just how loud her partly released Noble Phantasm was.

"Step one of the plan was a complete success, and, I must say, was it quite the spectacle," the Detective chuckled. "Now, all have to do is find where she landed and- oh, my!"

Frankenstein's legs buckled, and Holmes quickly moved to catch her by the arm. "Are you alright, Saber?"

"'S.. alright.." Frankenstein murmured. "Just.. pushed myself a little.. I'll be fine by the time we have to.. Step two.." her breathing hitched, and she crumpled in Holmes' arms.

SERVANT: DIVINE GODDESS ISIS?

CLASS: ASSASSIN

STR - B

END - C

AGI - A

MAN - D

LUK - D

NP - A

CLASS SKILLS

PRESENCE CONCEALMENT - B

DIVINITY - A-

PERSONAL SKILLS

IMPERIAL PRIVILEGE - A

GOLDEN RULE (WEALTH AND BODY) - A

PROTECTION OF THE GODDESS - A