Author's Note: Time for an out of place and brief comedic self-cameo? I think so. I'm not actually an office worker, but give me this. I wanted a fun way to slip in some music to lighten the mood. Onwards! To weirdly placed references to the movie 'White Girls' and deathmatches between heroes of legend.

Chapter Fourteen: Three Remain

It had grown so late that it was growing ever closer to instead being early morning. The streets were practically empty as a lone salary man, a foreign transfer from his company's branch office, sat in his car and slid a pair of headphones on his shaven head, adjusted his glasses and scratched his short beard as if it would shake out the stress of a really late night at the office. He took a deep breath and pressed a button on his phone. It was time for his nightly cleansing ritual.

As they made their way downtown, walking fast because Archer was home bound, Berserker was briefly distracted by his keen hearing picking up Vanessa Carlton's 'A Thousand Miles' and tracing it back to some foreigner lip syncing in his car with far too much enthusiasm.

"Your era is strange sometimes, Kariya."

"Focus Marrok. Look. He's-"

"Just down the street the other direction,I know. I can hear his weight shifting in his armor as he waits for us." Marrok turned, and Gilgamesh was standing right in the middle of the empty street a few blocks down somehow not spotted by the radio guy, "It seems he expected this. Be careful. Assassin's master may be nearby. It makes no sense that he just threw Assassin in the garbage like that unless he thought he could quickly trade up."

"All the more reason to take him down now. I don't think he's had time to make a new contract."

"It doesn't seem so, but this might not be easy. Unlike most servants, Archers can go days without a master." Marrok walked forward, "You may want to keep a fair distance. Nearly all weapons of legend are said to have been handed down from the weapons in his arsenal. This could be messy."

"Right. This is as good a time as any." Kariya thrust his command seal hand at Marrok, "By the power of my command seal, I order you to kill Archer."

A red glow surrounded Marrok as the command seal powered him up, "Thank you. Conserve the last one for a last resort. You wasted the last one so if you lose it-"

"I know. No comfy scapegoat if I survive a fight and you don't. I'll have lost my right as a master."

"You have nothing to fear from me in that regard master. I have no intention of losing and I wouldn't betray you... though the moon will be full soon. I'm not sure how the werewolf legend will affect me at it's apex. Better safe than sorry."

"Enough words. It's time to settle this."

Marrok nodded and walked forward drawing his longsword. When he got close, he invoked its name, "Archer, you face Cavall, Fang of the King's Hound."

"Hmph, a blade that always takes something when it cuts. I have four variations of that. All boring. What's so special about a sword that cuts?"

Marrok charged, dodging two swords and hooking a third with the tip of his blade so that its flight changed and flew into another and deflected it. He managed to get within striking distance of Archer this time, though his attack was deflected by another launched sword and he took another straight to the chest that sent him flying into the air, where he quickly recovered his bearings and parried three more attacks before a fourth hit him and exploded mana like a grenade, launching him two entire blocks and into the car right behind the still jamming radio guy, who somehow didn't notice a knight slamming into the roof of the car behind him as the chorus of the song hit. Or that knight transform into a partially bipedal wolf-man hybrid that punched each fist into the roof of the car to help him stand before rushing back up the street and retrieving his dropped sword in time to block a storm of six blades with his now much higher speed.

A blue light surrounded Marrok as he invoked his disdainful second Noble Phantasm, "Curse of Lycanthropy!"

His statistics increased as he allowed the misplaced legend he was saddled with fill him with the power of the third most famous legendary monster. Unlike the ability would have been at the shipyard, the moon was nearly full. All present acknowledged that short of it being the full moon this was the best chance Marrok had of beating Archer. By then though Archer would have acquired a new mater and balanced out the difference in theory.

The wolf knight howled, a small amount of drool flying from his mouth as he snarled and parried, trying to maintain the balance between the knight and the madness his unleashed beast form and the moon was forcing on him. The resistance of his two sides fighting each other would prove limiting. The very ability that was even giving such a little known hero a chance in hell was proving also the thing holding him back.

Three blades unparried went straight into Marrok's chest.

Archer chuckled, "Where's that grace with a blade, 'knight'?"

Marrok simply pulled the swords out as if they were nothing and they proved to be. None of them were holy or silver. At this lunar phase such things were nearly pointless. The wounds healing so fast they practically vanished, and Kariya didn't feel any extra drain than what the phantasm was causing. Which wasn't small, but it was manageable for now. Marrok threw aside Cavall and readied himself for a more bestial approach.

Another two swords hit their target very precisely before Marrok could even step forward. One straight in the heart, and other straight in the forehead. Marrok simply growled, stepping forward and ignoring them. To prove a point he simply healed the blades out of his body and let them fall behind him. He kept walking. A flurry of blades came straight from Archer to him, not smelling of silver or divinity. So Marrok simply walked straight into them, twisting his body to deflect a few with blades that were impaling him as they healed out of his body. He even simply tanked several more explosions that would have previously sent him flying. Such was the power of the werewolf legend with a nearly full moon. Kariya was in awe. Without some means to overwhelm the conditions of a werewolf's magical defenses, some servants might find this little known knight, a simple retainer to a king, completely unstoppable. Kariya doubted even Saber, as close range as she seemed, could stand a chance without the benefit of her holy sword's magic.

Down the street, the oblivious radio guy started his car and drove away, still enjoying his music.

Back at the ruined estate, Sakura had brought Irisviel another cup of tea, "Are you feeling okay, Auntie Iri?"

Iri smiled, "Yes, Sakura, I'm fine. I'm not feeling very well, but it's nothing you need to worry about. I'm okay."

Maiya glanced at Secace at her hip, "You fell ill the moment I slew Assassin."

Saber nodded, "Exactly, what is the meaning of this, Mrs. Iri. I don't like being kept out of the loop on this."

Iri frowned, looking back at Sakura, "Sakura, could you play in the other room?"

Sakura stood resolute, "No. I don't like being kept out of the loop either. You can tell me. I have been through more than you think, Auntie Iri. I can handle bad news."

Iri patted the brave girl on the head and the addressed the group, "You might have noticed I'm not exactly human. I'm a homunculus made by the Einzbern family to serve as the perfect vessel for the Holy Grail."

Saber was stunned, "What? What does that entail?"

"Each time a servant dies the Grail becomes more whole. Before the Grail war ends I will need to go to the shrine set up for the grail in the civic center, where I will become a part of the grail to allow it to take physical form."

"What? What kind of omnipotent cup requires such a thing?"

Iri got a stern expression, "The kind that requires heroes of the past to become familiars and sacrifice themselves in mortal combat to fill it with mana. Only servants can touch the grail normally. It is my role to alleviate that problem."

"What happens to you?"

"I won't exist apart from the Grail once this is all over."

Sakura hugged the woman, tears in her eyes, "No, Auntie Iri! Just run! You don't have to do this!"

Iri smiled, "I have too Sakura, or nobody can get their wish granted. I'm at peace with this."

Maiya frowned, "You said Kiritsugu knows of this?"

"He's known since the beginning. Before we even married. I'm so blessed to have met him. He saw fit to love me even though I was made to be nothing but a tool, gave me a family, made me a person. The least I can do it help him fulfill his wish of saving the world."

Maiya was taken aback at how close to home that struck with her own history, "I understand. Kiritsugu saved me from life as a child soldier and tool for terrible people. He turned me into a force for good, gave me a place. Now... now I have a family as well."

"And you'd give yourself to fulfill their wishes?"

"Without hesitation."

Saber shook her head, "I can't abide by this!"

Iri smiled even more warmly, "Thank you for that, Saber; but aren't we all the same really? You made yourself a tool and sacrificed yourself for those you cared about."

"That's..." that one hit her like a ton of bricks. She was on the other end of that for the first time and now understood how it felt, "I won't stop you, to do so would be hypocritical, but know that I don't want this."

"Would you stop if Marrok said that to you?"

Saber froze, her face falling, "No."

Sakura was sobbing, "Marrok would say to stop! Marrok didn't want me to be other people's tool either! He said I can't live for others if I don't live! He said I should take my kind heart and live how I wanted, and that my light would brighten the world just fine if I did that!"

Iri stroked the little girl's head, "Sakura, this is how I want to live. I'd tell Marrok that right to his face."

As if on cue, both Sakura and Maiya tensed, their gazes moving towards the city at the same time. Like a pack of wolves going on alert.

"What is it?" Saber went on guard at this sight.

Maiya got a grave look on her face, "Something's wrong."

Back at the battle, Marrok was inches from Gilgamesh, his rear leg and the arm he had tried to reach the King of Heroes with both impaled to the asphalt with swords. The path behind him was littered with hundreds of swords, all either dodged, deflected, or healed out of his body. Three more swords came down and drove into his back.

Gilgamesh smirked, "Holy and silver weapons correct? I do not store the second place metal within my treasury but I supposed I could spare a few holy weapons on you, Mongrel"

He placed his hands on one of the swords in Marrok.

"This one is Gram, the sword pulled from the proving tree. Sound familiar, Mongrel?"

He shoved the sword all the way through the wolf-man who cried out in pain and rage. Archer stepped back with a grin and fired another sword straight into Marrok's face, which blasted the knight flying back once again. His two impaled limbs nearly tearing off in the process. He landed horribly on the pommel of Gram, driving the hand guard and even the handle beyond into his back.

"You can't even touch me with me masterless and you enhanced by a command seal. You're nothing! Not even befitting the position of a king's hound!"

When the dust cleared though, the knight was standing somehow. His nature forbid him falling like this while he could even hope to be on his feet. The wounds on his chest from two of the swords healed, but the ones on his limbs were only healing at regular servant speed. Kariya started casting, trying to do what he could to shore up that gap in the ability. It wasn't fast enough though. Marrok couldn't afford to stay still.

The man started hunching more, growling and slobbering as he grabbed Gram by the blade, "Gram was... not... holy!"

Marrok yanked the sword the rest of the way through him by the blade, the handle dragging a massive hole is his chest, but the wolf man howled, uncaring as it simply closed in a matter of seconds.

"Oh. That's right. Pity I cared more for the poetry of it than the practicality. Even the perfect have their vices."

Marrok charged, deflecting four swords with Gram before lifting Cavall as he passed it and wielding both, cutting six more down. He leaped... a sword dragging him back down by the leg and two more swords through his shoulders pinned him once again to the ground as he bellowed in rage. Archer called all the swords on the ground back to him.

"You can have these old things. I don't need them anymore."

In one horrible moment, it rained swords. There was no dodging them all. In the wreckage left of the scene, Marrok forced himself to stand once more, crying out in agony and rage as his body tried to push out at least a dozen minor noble phantasms. None with their names invoked, but they didn't need to be. There was just too many. Marrok fell again with six still in him trying to come out, the fall driving four more into him. Kariya took a knee from the sheer magnitude of the mana drain on him.

It was over. Berserker was defeated. Unconscious, unmoving, and certainly dying in what was nearly a mausoleum of swords. He hadn't even touched Archer once.

Archer strode over to Kariya casually, "I think I have made my case. That decides it then."

Kariya looked at Marrok... he wasn't healing anymore. His noble phantasm had stopped working.

Archer pressed, "Don't mourn him you fool. It's as I said. He can't win you the grail. He left you to die in that building to save your enemy for what? So a little girl wouldn't feel sad? You escaped that building by my graces when you would have died at the hands of his weapon."

"I... gave him a chance."

"That is correct. Annoyingly you even wasted two command seals on him and he could not even touch me."

"The first one... I wanted to make sure he got his wish at least. He did get Sakura out of that hell."

"A gracious master, as befitting the potential I saw in you. He does not deserve it though. He slew your entire family, knaves as they were, poisoned that daughter that should have been yours, and made it very clear he would surrender the grail to his king instead of you and leave you to clean up the mess he has made."

Kariya gritted his teeth, "Yeah... I don't have anything anymore do I? If the mages' association decides to come after me, if Sakura had turned..."

"He would have destroyed her life as well as yours and left you with nothing. He had to die. The full moon is fast approaching."

Kariya started trembling, a distant look in his eyes, "Yeah. If he couldn't win he had to die... I had to protect Sakura. I gave him a chance."

"And as promised I proved myself the better. As per the terms of our agreement I will also prove myself a generous king. Break your contract with that waste of space and form one with me, and I will provide you the future you deserve."

"Sakura will be safe now. I can start a new life."

"Indeed. If you want I'm sure I could even help you acquire that woman you so desire."

Kariya gave Marrok a final look, still unmoving, and turned to Archer.

Minutes later, Marrok was still there, trapped as a half man half wolf, the swords having been called back but the wounds not closing. Not at all. He didn't have enough mana to call upon to stop his bleeding. Only enough to subconsciously hold on far longer than Archer had anticipated when he and his new master left him there to bleed out or fade away.

He started to glow. Not with the light of a servant's death, but with the headlights of a car. A car from which spilled Artoria, Maiya, and (albeit slowly) Irisviel.

"Oh god, Marrok!" his king ran to his side, pointlessly pressing her hands to his wounds, "He's not healing! Irisviel help him he's not healing!"

Maiya turned into a wolf and started sniffing around to discern what had happened as Irisviel knelt beside the dying servant and started using her healing magic. It wasn't working fast enough. It was like Marrok was unraveling as she tried to put him back together.

"Saber, I can't heal him fast enough. He needs to start healing himself too, but he's not getting any mana."

"What happened to Kariya?"

Maiya returned to human form, "If Marrok is not getting mana..."

Saber looked at her wide-eyed, "He's dead?"

Maiya shook her head, "Archer did this and not a single drop of Kariya's blood was spilled here."

Iris looked over, "What are you saying?"

Maiya growled, "He left with Archer. He's betrayed us."

Saber looked down at her knight, "Not like this! Not like this! We were supposed to win the war together! We were supposed to settle this with an friendly duel and then go back and save everyone!"

Iris started tearing up, "Saber, without mana, in this condition..."

"There has to be a way! I'll... I'll." Saber pulled out Excalibur and slit her own wrist, pouring her blood into Marrok's mouth, "Take my mana, dammit! HEAL!"

Irisviel fought back her tears and did what she could. Certainly taking in some of Saber's mana like that would help. She could at least close his wounds. Maybe even, "Maybe I can force him back into human form if we get him enough mana. It won't keep him from fading away, but maybe you can at least say goodbye."

"Irisviel please... there has to be something we can do."

"We'd have to keep him constantly supplied with mana. Enough to replace a master. The best we can do is give him some time to make peace."

Saber paused as her blood continued to flow, something dawning on her, "'Replace a master'?"

Artoria looked down at Irisviel's single command seal. It was contracted to Saber, but maybe... just maybe.

Irisviel with some help from the blood finally gathered enough mana to force the change, and sat back, taking a deep, tired breath, "There. He has a hour or two at best. I'm sorry, Saber. I'm so sorry."

"Irisviel."

"Yes?"

"I have an idea."

Next Chapter: The Long Night

Author's Note: Plot twist! Rather than twisting Kirei into betraying Tokiomi in the background of the war, Archer twisted Kariya against Marrok. Kariya is now Archers master and Marrok is on his death bed. Artoria's got a plan though. I have a pair of days off coming up soon, so look forward to more faster than normal updates like this one as we near the end of the war and that promised to be epic full moon scene. Can Kariya be redeemed? What is Saber's plan and what will the consequences be? Will 'radio guy' also get a day off like me? All these questions will be answered soon. In the meantime, if you review this chapter please be careful and avoid spoiling this turn of events.