The Return

(Shirou)

Wait a moment he thought, If we're under attack... "Kuro," he said quickly, looking over his shoulder at where she was, following him. "Get hold of Rin, you know where she is, right?"

"Outside with the swordsman," she said, catching on. "I'll fetch both of them."

"Thanks, I'll rely on you." Not for the first time he felt the lack of an ability to directly communicate with Kojirou - he could with Sasaku, and she could with him, but she didn't respond to his questions about what was going on." Actually she probably called for him first, since it takes Servants to fight other Servants.

In fact, Sasaku had only instinctively reached out for Shirou. By the time she could have realized Kojirou was an option, probably the better one at that, she wasn't able to do so thanks to Sakura's surprisingly dangerous magecraft. The magus was trying to inflict some sort of unusual effect on her, and judging by the former's condition, it was probably some sort of cognitive state manipulator. If she didn't take care to purge it before it took hold, she probably wouldn't be of a mind to do so after.

As a result, Shirou was the first one to step into his now shadowy hellscape of a room and realize that things had gone horribly wrong somewhere. What is going on here? Seeing the scene playing out in front of him, he did the first, probably stupidest, but ironically the best thing that came to mind.

"Sakura, what are you doing?"

(Sasaku)

When she heard Shirou's confused question from the door, Sasaku immediately realized her error in calling out to him. Oh crap, she thought as Sakura's attention whipped over to where he was standing. He's not going to realize before she-.

Sakura froze as she suddenly tried to wrest back control of her body. Suddenly abandoned, about half of the dark magecraft shadows began to dissipate. No one noticed Kojirou shoving Shirou out of the doorway as he darted into the room, sword at the ready.

Momentarily forgotten, Sasaku hoped that Sakura hadn't abruptly gained some form of Magic Resistance as she swiped a hand across the back of the girl's head, knocking her out with a relatively minor spell. Thank goodness.

It was only after Sakura had slumped into her arms that the Caster realized her Saber rapidly approaching them with murder in his eyes. "Wait, Kojirou."

He didn't slow at all. Damnit, after all that he's gonna kill her. "Saber, no!"

Kojirou just wasn't listening, it would probably take a Command Spell to halt his attack, and it would probably not go off in time. Actually, he knows better than to risk me, but he also knows I won't die from being skewered so...

"What are you doing?!" Shirou shouted in the middle of getting back on his feet several feet away. "Stop!" He reached out a hand as though his Command Spells could somehow work on Kojirou.

Sasaku met her Servant's eyes and realized that it wasn't as though he hadn't heard either of them. It wasn't a look of overriding focus, but rather determination. The tip of his long weapon shot forward as his arms propelled it at an even greater speed than his dash. Sasaku took a small breath, anticipating being run through.

A shadow burst out in front of Sakura, absorbing the thrust as the sword went halfway into it without coming out the back - as though it was just a gate to somewhere else. As it solidified, a rapidly forming arm reached out and slapped at the blade Kojirou was trying to pull back out.

With a groan, the long sword visibly bent about a third from the end before the hilt wrenched itself free from its owner's grip. The whole weapon went flying off into, and through, the now un-Reinforced room of Shirou's room.

Everyone held their breath as the shadow quickly grew in height and width like a wall between the swordsman and two magi before shrinking only a little and condensing into a very tall figure with golden wings and long purple hair.

Did all that magical energy give Rider a massive boost? Sasaku wondered numbly.

(Shirou)

Shirou recovered first, perhaps because his reaction was one of relief. "Thank you," he said, sparing the retreating Kojirou only a brief glance to be sure he wasn't about to do anything aggressive. "For protecting Sakura."

Rider only nodded before turning to fix Sasaku with a stare. The latter, probably remembering their last encounter, quickly raised her hands, which caused Sakura to slide down to her feet. "Thanks," she said, following Shirou's example.

"I'll have to thank Gilgamesh for these," Rider responded, adjusting the glasses which looked quite odd despite fitting her perfectly. The tension in the room began to dissipate as Sasaku lifted Sakura and laid her down more comfortably on Shirou's bed.

"That wasn't Sakura, I have some idea about what happened but you probably know more than I do," she said as Kuro and Rin appeared, poking their heads into the room carefully. "It wasn't Zouken, was it?" Her suspicions had been proven wrong when trying to isolate them from the outside had caused Sakura to go berserk.

"Some sort of failed Heroic Spirit summon," Rider said. "I myself was worried that she was unstable, but just now... I could tell, it had its down aim and goals. Based on my scouting around Fuyuki, it is most likely linked to the curse near the park area, or at least it feels similar."

"... curses? Rin, did that priest of yours happen to pass down any exorcism rituals?"

"What, do you think any of those would work on a Heroic Spirit even if he did?" Sasaku shrugged in response. "You never know."

"Actually, I have an idea," Medusa volunteered. "I'll need your help though, since there isn't any way to get back inside Sakura's space."

"It's a good thing we moved here before it went down," the Caster muttered to herself. "So, what you got in mind?"

Looking down at her unconscious Master, Medusa began to explain her plan. "Servants can sometimes share their Master's dreams, right? Since the battle is, hmm, inside her soul or something like that, it should suffice."

"Hold for a bit," Shirou spoke up, looking around at everyone crammed into his room. "This sounds delicate not to mention risky, so the rest of us should move outside. Sasaku, put up the wards you removed as well."

"Right, thanks." she sent over, though all she did otherwise was nod.

"I don't want Rin to get a hold of anything that might trouble us. Fill me in once you're done, I'm guessing this is like doing surgery."

"Probably. I'll have to get as much information as Rider can give me. But with that the chances of success go up a lot, if you remember my Sorcery Attribute. Though I won't overstate the odds."

"My sword is broken," Kojirou added suddenly, with a touch of bitterness. "Can you do anything about that?"

"Let me take a look at it," Kuro suggested. "I might be able to offer a 'quick fix' solution."

Shirou simply began herding everyone outside before any objections were raised. "I'm trusting you to bring her back safely."

l

Notes:
Next time, honorable fistfights to assert dominance or something.

Yes, it's the Gorgon (third ascension) from FGO. Everyone will still refer to her a Rider/Medusa though. Because she shifted into this form rather than being summoned in it, she isn't like the FGO one either, she's more like a slightly blackened version of Medusa (yes, she is white and gold though), rather than the Avenger Gorgon.