Deep within Isis' labrynth for the second time that night, Charles was running for his life.
"Terra.. Collapse!" he grunted, slapping his hand on the wall beside him. The familiars that the enemy Master had sicced on him were fast approaching. All he hoped is that they were vulnerable to falling rocks. Charles' Magic Circuits flared up and the walls around him started to rumble.

"Let's hope this place can take the hit without burying me, too," he murmured, turning tail and running. "Tohsaka. How's the fight going up there?" he asked.

"Good," came her voice over the phone. Charles was relieved the signal-boosting sigil was working underground. "Saber's engaged Assassin and blew her away. But… she's in a bad state. Something she did with her Noble Phantasm hit her in a hard way. I'll have Archer try and keep Assassin busy for as long as possible, but I'll keep you on standby if we need a Command Seal-"

Charles heard a dial tone and the phone went dead. "Great. Just me from now on," he sighed. Collapsing the tunnel had bought him some time, but the chimeras would either dig through it, or worse, find a way around. He took off down the hallway again, soon coming to the realization that he had no idea where he was going.

"Come on, Charles, old boy," he said to himself. "Stop thinking like yourself and think like a magus for once."

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. 'Something that powerful would have an easily identifiable mana signature. It's murky down here, but I should be able to.."

Charles slammed his fist against the wall, and using the dust particles that dislodged from the wall, he once again fired his Magic Circuits.
"Circa trova maggiore," he muttered. After a moment, the dust particles clumped together, forming an arrow. "There you are."

The arrow took off down the hall, and so did Charles in hot pursuit. Rounding several corners, Charles eventually found himself face-to-face with a solid brick wall. The arrow had disappeared.

"What the..? Surely not."

He put a hand on the wall, and has he partly suspected, it went straight through as if the wall wasn't there. Charles couldn't help but smirk. "Nice security system, idiot."

He stepped through the illusory wall, only to immediately regret it. He had stepped into Isis' throne room, but her Master, as well as a pack of snarling, drooling chimeras, were already there and waiting for him.

"Oh. Dear."

"Dear indeed," the enemy Master smiled. "Any last compliments?"

"Only one," Charles replied, reaching into his jacket. The enemy Master frowned. "What have you got there? You know you're hopelessly outmatched, don't you, boy?"

Charles said a quick mental prayer to any deity who didn't want him dead, and then pulled a vial of saltwater out of his jacket.

'If I die, Fran is finished. I need her to at least take out Assassin. Just.. Keep him talking, Charles.'

"What do you think it is?" Charles asked, smiling. "I'll give you three guesses and a hint. What about: 'It'll blow us all to kingdom come if I drop it'?"

The Master took a step back, but stayed his ground. "That's your plan? You do know the Goddess isn't tied to me, don't you? You'd just be killing yourself and your Servant."

"Maybe. But I'd take that thing out as well, and I have a friend who really wanted to summon Saber this time around. She's more than capable of taking on an extra contract."

"Tch! Enough of this! Frosta!" The enemy Master splayed his hands forward and the hand that held the vial was encased in a block of ice.

"Oh. Oh dear."

Charles prepared to use one of his Command Seals, but before he could, several multicolored balls rolled into the room from behind him, all the way across the room and eventually resting under the chimeras' feet.

"Implodieren!"

The balls detonated, and plumes of smoke filled. Over the ringing in his ears, Charles heard the enemy Master shout for the chimeras to get him.

He felt someone grab his hand and turn him around.

"Come on!" Akira yelled, just about yanking his arm out of the socket. "This place is crawling with those things!"

"But- The statue! We need to-"

"We'll circle around in a second! Archer and Saber can handle themselves. Right now, we need to worry about us!"

"How's Saber? I can't reach her from all the way down here."

"Bad shape. She pushed herself hard with her Noble Phantasm."

"She used her Noble Phantasm?!" Charles asked, stopping dead.

"Wh- Yeah. Why?"

"No, no, no! Saber's Noble Phantasm- It uses- it breaks down her own body as fuel! Even partly releasing it… Tch."

Charles slapped the wall, raining dust on the both of them. "She's facing Assassin down now, isn't she?"

Akira nodded hesitantly. "Yeah. She'll be safe from magic-based attacks, but Assassin is a real physical scrapper. Can Saber take it?"

Charles took a deep breath. "We go back for the statue. Hopefully it's what's powering the Bounded Field on this place and it's what's keeping Assassin manifested. If she's vulnerable, Archer and Saber will both be able to take her. I think."

Tohsaka sighed. "I really, really don't want to go back there."

Charles dusted off his hands and then gently clapped her on the shoulder. "We lose our Servants if we go or if we stay. May as well try and do something about it."

Lights flashed and exploded on each other as Holmes and Isis fought. Isis only fired a single beam at any one time, but even alone, it took all of Holmes' mirrors to deflect or counter her beams.

When that didn't work, they moved in on each other. Isis had completely assimilated Holmes' innate ability to fight with baritsu, though it was still the technique that he knew the best. For now, the two were evenly matched.

Holmes' finely tailored suit was frayed in the places where Isis' fists and feet had landed on him. Meanwhile, Isis' simple linen dress was unblemished, white as bone, despite the many blows that Holmes had landed on her.

"Surely we can call another stalemate," Holmes panted. "Or better yet, can't we all just get along?"

Isis threw her head back and laughed. "Oh, my, Detective! Really, it's a shame I have to kill you. You would make an excellent court jester."

Holmes bowed slightly. "Wit is the essence of a gentleman. Besides, it's the least I can do, while our dear Saber recovers."

Behind Holmes, surrounded by a dome of light, laid Saber who was still recovering from using her Noble Phantasm.

"And her? In life, I would've appreciated a handservant devoted to me as you are her."

"In life? How did the Goddess Isis eventually meet her end?"

Isis smiled and flicked her finger. On cue, another ball of light opened into a laser targeting Holmes. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Einz, Drei, Funf!" Gems upon gems scattered from Akira's fingers like rain. Some exploded on contact, some exploded into clouds of acid, and others generated spikes of ice that impaled the chimeras through the middle.

"Gandr Massima." the enemy Master waved his hand and Charles' vision was filled with black light. There was no time to react. Charles covered his face and… Nothing. He waited a few moments, then opened his eyes.

Akira was in front of him. Through the back of her jacket, the impact of the manifested curse-bullet had ruptured it, exposing the skin of her back. It was blackened. Charles grimaced. Gandr was a nasty curse even in small amounts, he couldn't imagine what it was like for someone to.. Take the shot.. For him..

"Tohsaka!"

"How quaint. You spared your ally's life at the cost of your own. I must say, Miss Tohsaka, I didn't think you had it in you. Aren't you supposed to try to kill all the other Masters?"

Silently, Akira staggered back, clutching the cavity where her chest used to be. Blood trickled through her fingers, but something curious started to happen. The red blood started to turn blue, and a shining golden light suddenly erupted from the wound. The enemy Master threw up a barrier in front of himself, but there was no need. The golden light wrapped around Akira, and when it faded, her clothes were still shredded, but her stomach had fully healed.

"How- I- That was my most powerful curse!" the enemy Master screeched. "You- You should be dead! At the least, writhing in pain!"

Tohsaka only grunted in response, raising her hand. It shook, so Charles held her arm to support her.

"Thanks," she murmured. "Oi, omae," she called over to the enemy Master. "Any last words you want your Servant to hear?"

The enemy Master stepped back, then turned on his heel and started sprinting into a passageway that just opened up.

"Too bad," Akira sighed. Making a gun with her right hand, she used the other to crush a diamond.

"Räche mich, mein Licht."

Avenge me, O' Light.

The result was instant. An almost impossibly large beam of golden light shot out of Akira's outstretched finger, consuming the entire room. The enemy Master threw up another barrier to protect himself, but it only lasted seconds before shattering. He didn't even have time to scream.

"Your fight is over," Akira said solemnly. The light petered out, and Charles could hardly believe his eyes. The entire room and then some had been vaporized utterly. Petering off into the darkness, the spell that Akira had used had cut a hole through the earth. The only thing that remained was a small green shard that was quickly started to reform.

Charles ran over to it and crushed it underfoot. "That's the end of that, isn't it? Tohsaka, you alright?"

Akira nodded. "I'm fine, and it's over. With the Master and artifact gone, this Territory and Assassin should disappear soon, but just in case.."

"Yeah. Let's get out of here before it collapses. Come on. You've still got a lot of explaining to do."

Opening her eyes slowly, Frankenstein took a moment to process the scene in front of her. "H..Huh..?"

In front of her, Holmes and Isis clashed, over and over. Frankenstein struggled to her feet. The finns on the side of her head started to rotate, her Galvanism drawing in the mana from the battle in front of her and invigorating her.

"Oh, you're awake, Saber? Mind tagging in?" Holmes asked, landing near her. A beam of purple light streaked towards them, but Holmes batted it away with one of his mirrors. "I must say, I'm not that amazing of a combatant."

"You look like you're doing well. Look at her," Frankenstein said, jerking her chin towards Isis. Holmes turned his gaze to her.

"What on Earth..?" he murmured.

Across the park that had become their battlefield, Isis was clutching her heart. "You.. You… What have you done..?"

"Our Masters must have been successful, but.. This doesn't look right. She should be disappearing, not dying."

In front of their eyes, the Goddess Isis started to change. She became slightly taller, her hair turned a darker shade of green, and her skin tone changed from the impregnable bronze to a more normal, lighter skin tone. Her eyes flashed red once, twice, and then turned a dark green.

"What have you done?" she asked. "No, I.. I'm perfect! I'm a Goddess! I can't be.. No! I won't accept this?"

"It's all starting to come together," Holmes mused. "I knew she was a little.."

Frankenstein was utterly lost. "I don't get it. What are you saying, Archer?"

"Our Goddess Isis hasn't been truthful with us after all. I knew Assassin was an odd class for the patron Goddess of Magic. Isn't that right, Queen Cleopatra?"

The Assassin across from them tousled her hair, then started to clap. "Bra-vo, Detective. You truly would have been a valuable asset if you sided with me. Your Masters, too. They've killed my servants, and destroyed the monument that was my anchor to this world and to my Divinity. I should have enough time to get there and.. Well, I'll kill one of your Masters, but the other will be willing to contract with me after they lose enough limbs. Maybe your Master, Archer? She seems like she'd be the brains behind this lovely little rag-tag team of miscreants."

"It's a bit of a moot point though, no? Your connection to this world has been severed. You won't make it past us before you're erased by the Will of the World."

Cleopatra chuckled again. "Seriously. Can you not learn?" She pulsed purple again. "All that was contained in that crystal monument was the Authority of 'Myself.' I stripped away my mortality, so that nothing but the blood of the Goddess remained. It's what I must do to win this War, to.. To recognize my dream."

"How very mortal of you," Holmes said. "What now, though? You're mortal. If you surrender peacefully, I'll pierce your Spiritual Core in one hit. On my honor as a gentleman."

"I believe you, Detective," Cleopatra replied. "But I cannot surrender just yet. Not without letting my soul bright as it can."

"Understandable. My Lady Saber, can you fight?"

Frankenstein got to her feet, nodded. "Let's finish this."

Cleopatra raised her hands to the heavens. "Apologies, then, but I think I'll play my trump card straight away."

Frankenstein's eyes widened, and in an instant, she moved to slice Cleopatra's head off. Her sword hit a barrier, though, a dark purple wall with an Egyptian ankh emblazoned across it.

Cleopatra took a deep breath. Her eyes started to glow and some invisible updraft sent her hair scattering in every direction.

"O' Serpent who swallows the sun and time immemorium, you are the omen of Egypt's downfall.

I beseech you, as the final pharaoh."

"Uraeus Astrape!"

Frankenstein and Holmes both took several steps back. The sheer intensity of the mana that Cleopatra was generating was beyond what Frankenstein thought was possible. A portal opened above Cleopatra's head in the shape of an ankh, and through the portal, an ugly-looking reptile reared its head and roared an ear-splitting roar. A snake, she realized. A snake as huge as a double-decker bus. It almost seemed to blot out the moon with its outstretched mouth alone.

"Oh, hell," Holmes breathed.

"Can.. we beat it?" Frankenstein asked.

"It's a ghost of a bygone era, nothing more, Miss Saber. Although.. It seems like a rather angry ghost.."

"A bygone era, that's true!" Cleopatra called, her voice booming loud. The tips of her fingers were glowing gold and seemed a little transparent. The telltale markers of a Servant about to disappear, Frankenstein realized.

"But until the Shadow of Apophis finishes His rampage, my reign will never end!"

Cleopatra closed her fist.

"Now, Saber. Let's see whose resolve is stronger."