Welcome to chapter 2! I'm surprised so many people liked this story, and I guess it's a stroke of good luck I had this chapter ready. Without further ado, let's begin!

She recognized that form. She recognized that appearance. It was something she had seen only once in her life, and was something she never wanted to see again.

Now that she was facing it once more, she could not help but be brutally reminded of that battle. Of that raw, overwhelming sense of fear.

The very air shook in the wake of Berserker's charge, and the ground beneath it shattered with every step. Emanating sheer power and bloodlust, the Servant of madness howled with rage as it lifted its weapon. If that gigantic mass of violence and death could even be called that.

Staring blankly at the towering mass of horror, Illya just froze. She had forgotten just how terrifying the Class Cards could be, and for a brief moment was rendered helpless. But fortunately for her, it had just been a brief moment.

Rolling out of the way, Illya felt a sharp pain explode across her back. It was miraculous enough that she was able to even evade the blow, but as expected, she was not unscathed. Pieces of fabric flew into the air as the back of her uniform was ripped off, and she could feel the blood trickling steadily onto her skirt.

It's just a light wound, she told herself in her head. Calm down, Illyasviel. You've beaten him before, so you have nothing to-

Her thoughts interrupted by another violent swing, Illya ducked under the incoming axe sword as it cleaved past the space where her head had been. Feeling strands of her hair being ripped off by the force, Illya broke into a run, intent on putting some distance between them.

Watching her faithful Servant try to pound her impostor into a pile of meat and blood, Illyasviel smiled. The faker, whoever she was, was fast on her feet at least; to be able to evade Berserker's attacks like that was impressive for someone who was not a Servant.

"She's kinda interesting for a rat," she chuckled. "Berserker, play around with her a little; I want to see her suffer more."

It might have sounded illogical, since the girl in question looked exactly like she did, but Illyasviel certainly did not think that way; the girl, some minor physical similarities aside, had expressions Illyasviel herself would never wear on her face - shock, fear, and most of all, weakness.

Illyasviel was, despite her appearance, a woman with a mission, and a magus entrusted with the lifelong dream of the Einzberns. Fear was not in her vocabulary, and weakness was not a part of her existence. A cheap copy of her with those stupid expressions on her face was not her, and she would find it ridiculous how anyone could even think they looked alike.

"Well now," she said, walking towards her Servant in small, dainty steps. "Let's hear what the little mouse has to say."

Illya, trapped in Berserker's massive hand, struggled to free herself but to no avail. The towering giant's grip was firm, and more than capable of crushing her at any time.

"W-why..." she gasped, barely capable of speech through the force squeezing the life out of her. "A-are you... doing this...?"

"Why? Because I'm a Master," Illyasviel replied innocently, as though she genuinely did not understand the question. "It's only logical to kill the other Masters and Servants in order to win, right?"

"I... Ugh! I don't know... what you're talking about," Illya whimpered, her eyes tearing up from the pain. "P-please... Let me go..."

"Hmm..." Illyasviel hummed sweetly, a mischievous smile tugging at her lips. "Sure. Berserker, let her go."

Obeying her orders without question, Berserker released Illya, letting her fall to the ground like a discarded doll. Shakily getting to her feet, Illya took one last look at her doppelganger, and ran off.

There were several questions she wanted to ask, but even she knew better than to ask them now. With that hulking murder machine next to her, there was no way to have any sort of decent conversation.

"Three... Two... One," Illyasviel counted, watching the helpless mouse run away. "Times up~ Get her, Berserker."

Unleashing a herculean roar, the Mad Servant kicked off the ground, leaping towards its prey like a cannonball. Turning around just in time to see its axe sword gleaming in the moonlight, Illya knew that she could not dodge it in time-

I'm going to die.

For the first time since the battle with Bazett, Illya felt the pressure of battle overwhelm her. For the first time since the battle with Assassin, she could feel the raw fear permeate her being, seeping into the deepest reaches of her soul. For the first time in what felt like forever, she knew she was going to die.

I can't escape. I can't fight back.

The axe sword cut through the air between them, aimed at the dead center of her face.

I don't want it to end this way.

The jagged edges of the monstrous mass closed in, thirsting for her flesh, blood and bones. There was no escape.

I don't want to die.

"Install."

A momentary burst of light blinded Berserker, but it did not stop the Servant's attack. Crashing down with enough force to level a house, the weapon buried itself into the asphalt, sending up a large cloud of dust and debris.

Illyasviel raised an eyebrow dubiously. She was confident in Berserker's ability, but she was not naive enough to overlook that flash of light. Even though Berserker calmed down after the blow - a sign that it no longer had a target to destroy - she was not entirely sure it was over yet.

"Berser-"

Before she could even finish calling her Servant, several beams of light bombarded her Servant from above. Turning sharply in the direction they had been fired from, Illyasviel's eyes widened in surprise.

Donning a bluish-purple robe and sporting a large black cape, Illya floated in the air above them using her outstretched cape as wings. Brandishing a long staff in her hands, she simply gave it a wave and several magic circles appeared out of thin air around her. Along with the two on her 'wings', the circles unleashed a Rain of Light without warning upon Berserker.

Exploding with the force of a missile, every individual beam struck the ground and incinerated it in an instant. Weaving and dodging the beams with much difficulty due to his bulk, Berserker was eventually caught by a stray blast and slammed into the ground.

Opening her mouth to start a series of incantations, Illya stopped abruptly and put a hand to her forehead. A terrible migraine assaulted her head, breaking her concentration as Berserker got to his feet.

Her consciousness faded in and out, occasionally registering the scene in front of her before everything blacked out for a few seconds. She could not keep track of what was happening, but there was a rather familiar sensation flowing through her body.

She vaguely wondered if she was flying. But she could not have been flying, since Ruby was not with her. Was she using magic? But that should not be possible without Ruby. Somehow, despite all these questions and this strange, alien feeling, she somehow believed that she had done this before.

"Defeat it..." she muttered, and her consciousness faded into darkness.

But even when she was not aware of it, her body acted in accordance to her wish.

"Μαρδοξ," she commanded, and a glass-like barrier appeared, shielding her from Berserker's weapon as it flew towards her like a rocket. While it managed to repel the blow, the barrier itself shattered, throwing off her balance.

With the help of his monstrous strength, Berserker leapt off the ground, jumping several meters with ease and grabbing Illya by the leg. Falling back down to Earth, the Servant readied his arm to swing her tiny body into the ground, splattering her innards everywhere-

But before he even landed, Illya was gone.

Teleporting a fair distance away from Berserker, Illya raised her staff. The blank, unfeeling look in her eyes was accompanied by her following command, said in a voice equally as callous:

"Ατλας."

A silver mist surrounded Berserker, and in the blink of an eye his body was frozen in place. While it looked like simple frost on his skin, Berserker was still held in place by it, unable to escape.

Taking advantage of his immobility, Illya prepared her next attack. Chanting in an unknown language and holding her staff in front of her, she created five large magic circles around her, each pulsating with a level of mana far beyond that of her previous attacks. Just as Berserker started to break through the ice with sheer brute strength, she unleashed her attack.

"Gomon Kaihou."

Five huge pillars of light erupted from the 'gates', merging into one gargantuan beam of destruction that swallowed Berserker. Reducing the entire area it touched into a smoldering crater, the spell from the Age of the Gods left nothing behind, not even ashes-

"Enough playing around, Berserker," Illyasviel ordered sternly, hastily getting to her feet; that attack earlier was dangerous, and the shockwave had been enough to knock her on her rear despite being a fair distance away. "Kill her quickly."

Berserker, a smoking charred corpse, naturally could not reply. The devastating attack could not be survived, and surely this black giant was no different.

But unfortunately for Illya, he was.

Reanimating right before Illyasviel's eyes, Berserker growled in acknowledgement of her command. Rising to his feet, he turned to look at his foe, who was no longer flying but rather, falling to the ground.

Completely out cold and with her transformation rescinded, Illya fell, plummeting towards the concrete ground below.

Emiya Shirou hastened his footsteps, practically sprinting towards the direction of the noise. Fuji-nee would have called him a busybody, and Sakura definitely would not have approved, but he could not just walk away.

The streets of Fuyuki were not safe lately, what with the mysterious murders going on here and there. While Shirou was not stupid enough to go around looking for the killer at night (because Fuji-nee would kill him for not doing his homework), he could not just ignore an explosion when he knew where it was coming from. Who knows how many people might have been injured in that blast? He could not just leave them alone, not when he was actually able to do something about it.

I'm sure Fuji-nee will understand, he thought. Helping others is a good thing after all.

The moment he thought that, he saw it. Or rather, he saw her.

Falling from the sky like a single, delicate snowflake, was a girl with silver hair.

"Look out!"

Illya tried to open her eyes upon hearing that strangely familiar voice, but her body refused to comply. Wind was billowing around her, howling in her ears until something soft and warm caught her. Whatever it was, it held on to her tightly, and she found herself wishing he would not let go.

... He?

"Hey, are you alright?" a panicked voice asked. "Are you- you're bleeding! We need to get you to the hospital-"

"O-Onii... chan..."

The last thing she remembered before passing out, was the disembodied shouts of a familiar-sounding voice.

"H-hey, are you alright?" Shirou asked, gently shaking the girl in his arms. He put a trembling finger to her nose, and heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness... She's breathing."

Unfortunately for Shirou, that relief was short-lived; almost immediately after he relaxed, a giant mass of muscle and bloodlust tore into the street. It was a monstrosity both in size and presence, and simply looking at it was enough to induce so much fear in Shirou he could not move.

The black giant, without even caring about Shirou's existence, lifted the terrifying weapon in its hand to smash both him and the girl into paste-

"Stop, Berserker."

Just like that, the rage-filled monster before Shirou stopped, withdrawing its weapon and standing still like a statue. Its imposing presence was nonetheless still powerful, but its bloodlust seemed to have vanished instantly.

Walking into the spotlight cast by a nearby streetlamp, Illyasviel smiled at the boy who had been scared stiff by her Servant. Paying no heed to the fake in his arms, she curtsied.

"Good evening, onii-chan," she greeted. "This wasn't how I expected our first encounter to go, but I guess it can't be helped, right? Could you please hand that over to me?"

"Wha..." Shirou stammered, struggling to find his voice. "W-who are you? And what do you want with this girl?"

"Of course I want to kill her, silly," Illyasviel replied sweetly. "But I don't want you to die just yet, so if you could just give me-"

"There's no way I'd do that!" Shirou exclaimed. "How could I possibly let you kill someone like that?! This girl... you... Aren't you twins?! Why would you try to-"

"Twins?"

That one word cut sharply into Shirou's thoughts, freezing the air around her as Illyasviel's expression and tone changed.

"Me, twins with that defect?" she asked coldly. "Don't make me laugh. If you really have no intention of handing her over, then you can die here right now with her. Ber-"

She paused. Distant voices could be heard, and footsteps were starting to close in. Berserker's fight with Illya had caused much more noise than expected, and now it was drawing in a crowd. The resulting commotion would be troublesome, and Illyasviel was not one for doing troublesome things.

"We're leaving, Berserker," she ordered, and her Servant lifted her onto his shoulder obediently. "I'll let you off the hook tonight, onii-chan, but if you want to survive, you better rely on something other than her. Like a Servant, perhaps."

"S-Servant?" Shirou asked.

"Yes, a Servant," Illyasviel grinned, looking as if she was talking to a stupid child. "If you don't summon one soon, you really will die, onii-chan."

With that, Berserker leapt into the air, disappearing under the cover of night. Shirou, staring at the spot where the black giant had been moments before, holding an injured little girl in his arms, was speechless.

What have I gotten myself into? he thought.

Uh... Where to begin... First off, 'Gomon Kaihou' probably isn't the proper name of the attack, but that was the term in the Prisma Illya Manga, so I used that. And second, I don't know how highly the Caster Install's attack would be ranked under Servant parameters, but Illya's a badass so I made it a little more powerful. The real Caster might not even be capable of taking a single one of Berserker's lives, honestly, but hey, Illya's powers are from a separate universe.

Let me know what you think of the story thus far (sorry reviewers of chapter 1; I haven't replied you guys yet but I will do so tomorrow!), and hope you stay with me for the ride! See you next chapter, where everyone's favorite Goldy returns!