Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/stay night or anything else in this story with all belonging to its rightful owner and I am in no way shape or form attempting to or making a profit from this work of fiction.
Alright, a quick note here, I felt this chapter got a bit out of hand and unfocused so other chapters probably won't be this long but it really just kept flowing and flowing so if there's any problems with it leave a review on it or on any questions you may have on it.
One Rin Tohsaka was very pleased with herself, sure she may have been the last to summon a Servant for the Holy Grail War but it seems luck was with her, that or the prana filled jewels now laying shattered in the circle helped a lot, but regardless of whatever it was she had managed to summon a Servant and a Saber as well, her preferred choice with it being one of the stronger classes.
She also had an ironclad plan to insure their victory in the war but first she needed to get somewhere which is why she and Saber were walking down the deserted streets of Fuyuki, it was a little bit after midnight so most residents in the neighborhood she was in were fast asleep and staying that way.
'Hopefully I can get him to agree to this all willingly or I'll have to get rid of a dead body.' Rin thought as she saw her destination down the block.
"Master, where are we going?" Saber asked as they walked down the street, Rin not revealing their destination to her Servant, at least not yet.
"My house is a likely target and it's somewhat closed off, bringing the possibility of attacks at any time with no one nearby so for the duration of the war we'll be staying with a…'friend'."
If Saber heard how Rin's last word was almost, no it was very forced she didn't comment on it and the two Grail War particiapants found themselves in front of the home of one Shirou Emiya.
Knocking on the door proved useless, the very confused Magus, or was he a Servant, maybe or at least partly, was trying to work out what actually happened to him during his perfectly executed Summoning, well at least the symbol was since the results was his current problem.
'You may want to go answer the door.' The voice in his head spoke after a moment, drawing him from one of the old man's journals, this one going in detail on the Grail War and the part Shirou wanted to look at the most, the different ways to execute a Summoning and so far his case hadn't come up, he couldn't even find a matching symbol.
"No I don't." Shirou answered, moving his eyes back down to the book." And besides, I don't exactly look like myself."
'You're an idiot, there's an easy way to fix that.' The voice told him and Shirou slowly stood up.
'Yeah, how?' Shirou asked, stopping at this bit of information.
'A basic ability you should possess called lying.' The voice answered and Shirou let loose a string of curses before stopping as he could almost feel the voice somehow shrug.' Or you can just call yourself a Servant, you kind of are one now.'
'So now I'm one of these Servants?' Shirou asked even when he knew he wouldn't get an answer.
'Partly.' The voice answered to Shirou's minor surprise, his questions were normally ignored, actually the reason he was pouring over those journals was because he was looking for answers the voice wasn't willing to give him.
'I hate you.'
'Good to know, same to you. And by the way, call yourself Archer from now on, it's the class I would have been summoned in as if you didn't botch up the Summoning.'
'I didn't botch it up, the thing went wild.'
'Yes, and it went wild on your part and that's what people call botching it.'
'I hate you.'
'Already said that.'
Shirou learned that he hated the voice in his head but was willing to listen to his advice, backed up by his old man's notes on the Grail War and after a quick mental check he decided to work it into a plan he was hurriedly forming just as he reached the door.
'It won't work.' The voice spoke up as they looked over the plan in his mind.' You won't even get past the first step.'
'Why am I stuck with the sarcastic voice inside my head?'
'Because you suck.'
'I…' Shirou didn't finish his thoughts as he very quickly realized something as his hand wrapped around the knob.' Who's even there? Taiga is on a trip somewhere and she really doesn't tell me anything if it isn't about cooking for her, and I gave Sakura a break for the rest of the month, she should be at home still even if this is her.'
"Kick it down."
The door shattered and Shirou, or Archer he guessed, worked on instinct. Two spheres of red light appeared in his hands before they grew into a set of twin silver longswords even as he leapt back and with Reinforcement he strengthened both his weapons and his body while he waited for an attack.
'Good, it looks like you've got my instincts.' The voice in his head spoke, almost a proud tone in his voice.' Bur your Reinforcement could be faster, we're going to have to work on that.'
Shirou resisted the urge to send an insult back at the voice and instead focused his attention on his destroyed door and currently smoke filled doorway.
"Who's there?" Shirou demanded, nothing happening for a few moments before Rin walked in, looking around at his house before her eyes locked on him and his new appearance.
"Hello Shirou. Dye your hair and get a tan or something?"
"You could say that." Shirou answered as he lowered his weapons, glad that Rin had asked a question on his appearance, letting him get out of having to explain it, and that they hadn't seen each other in a few weeks, school having let out and she had been preparing for the Grail War ever since, unbeknownst to him even if he knew it was coming from the marks on his hands.
The Magus/Servant through immediately put his swords up when Saber walked in behind Rin.
"Who's with you Rin?" Shirou asked as his eyes locked onto Saber and the sword at her waist.
Rin's eyes very quickly widened in shock at his question before she just as quickly schooled her features into a confused mask.
'He shouldn't be able to see her, he's not even that good of a Magus, just able to make swords, and I've never even heard of someone seeing Servants when they're in astral form.'
"What do you mean Shirou, I'm the only one here." Rin answered after a moment and Shirou frowned before his face was taken over by an enraged expression.
'This should be fun.' The voice in his head commented as Shirou seemed to have lost it at this point.
"Do you take me for an idiot!" Shirou snapped." I know all about this Grail War and I know you have a Servant with you so if you want to fight just say so and I'll kick your ass!"
Shirou would later guess his outburst was from everything that had happened up to that point or he was really going insane and was having mood swings now.
Or the voice in his head was somehow making him angry, which was the most likely to him even if it was unlikely.
But really none of that mattered as Rin's face turned to stone with her eyes narrowed as Saber appeared at her side.
"Saber, kill him." Rin ordered as she pointed to Shirou and stepped back while her Servant slowly walked forward, reluctant to kill someone not a Servant or Master in the Grail War.
"My Master has ordered me to kill you, please lay down your arms and leave. I do not wish to hurt those not Servants and who have not harmed my Master." Saber told him and Shirou pointed the tip of one the longswords in his hands forward.
"You just broke into my house, I'm really taking that as an offense over all the other stuff that's happened to me today so I'm going to cut you with these swords no matter what." Shirou answered before he blurred forward.
Saber, or as she was called in life Arthuria Pendragon or the King of Knights, sighed as she seemingly drew not even a weapon from her side.
"So be it." Saber commented as Shirou's two swords clashed with her seemingly invisible one.
"Don't hold anything back Saber." Rin spoke up as she left the room, figuring the fight would be over within a few seconds." He could potentially be one of the Masters, kill him to lower the competition we'll face later on."
Shirou didn't know how he blocked Saber's next three rapid strikes, moving so fast that it seemed like they were all coming at once but he managed somehow.
'There!' the voice in his head screamed at him and Shirou's eyes were drawn to Saber's left leg where she was slightly unbalanced from a lunge just moments ago.
He moved faster than he thought possible, strengthening the Reinforcement already enhancing his speed and he swept her feet out from under her before his two longswords came down, aiming to pierce both her lungs.
Saber's armor shattered the blades on contact and Shirou did the only thing he could and leapt back as a bow formed in his hands on instinct before a spiraling sword appeared in his hand before in a flash of light it was now an arrow. Shirou glanced at the loaded bow in his hands and very quickly found himself glad for his continued practice of archery even if he didn't stay in the club and simply waited for Saber to make a move before a brief image flashed into his mind of the arrow's destructive potential and since he was in no mood to destroy the entire neighborhood he decided on a new plan.
"You know even if you try to move or use some magic to attack me that I'll hit you with this so how about you just leave?" Shirou asked, hoping the Servant wouldn't see his bluff.
Saber who was about to use her Prana Burst coupled with the release of Invisible Air to rocket forward and attack him before he could lose the arrow instead returned her sword to its scabbard.
"This fight is over." Saber spoke as she stepped back and Shirou, or Archer, he didn't really know, used Reinforcement while turning to see a black orb from the almost forgotten Rin speed towards him, the Master having watched from the hall and had decided to intervene when Shirou had his attention focused solely on Saber.
He somehow rolled out of the way and swiftly called a pair of spears to his hands and flung them both, one towards Saber and the other towards Rin.
Neither hit their mark and moments later Shirou rose his hands in the air in surrender, mentally cursing the voice inside his head and his insane plan not to mention him messing up certain kill blows by taking over his body.
'This better work.'
'It will.' The voice answered.
"I surrender. I'll even help you win the Grail War, my old man has a lot of information on it. Of course it's in code so you can either spend days looking it over trying to decipher it or I can do it for you." Shirou told the two, ending his little speech with a small grin at the tempting offer he laid down to Rin and Saber at the suggestion of the voice in his head.
After several tense moments where Shirou was about to form a pair of short swords and hope to kill Rin with one to take down both her and Saber before he stopped himself from enacting his plan when the Tohsaka Master nodded to him.
Rin knew when someone was pleading for their life and Shirou wasn't showing any of the signs so he had some type of plan for when it came to the Grail War and her and Saber, what it was she didn't know but the potential information was enough for her to decide to accept.
And besides, if things went south she could always have Saber kill him, he didn't even have a Servant or if he did it was either a cowardly one, highly unlikely unless the Grail was growing weak and had to draw Servants that weren't exactly heroes, or they were a traitor with that one much more likely with Shirou's personality and behavior easily angering to most potential Servants he could summon, if he even knew how.
He was a really terrible Magus and from what Rin had discovered about him he had very little skills, only Reinforcement and Projection, two basic concepts he would never move on from and a Magus was worth nothing with so little abilities.
"Saber, stand down, for now at least." Rin spoke after a moment of thought as she turned from her Servant to Shirou." We plan to use your house for a headquarters during the Grail War, any objections?"
"Anything I'll say would just be ignored so no, can't say I have anything to say, that is if you would actually listen." Shirou answered as he lowered his arms and walked away." Follow me if you want the notes."
Saber walked ahead of Rin with Shirou heading down to the basement, his adopted father first and then himself reinforcing it just like the shed he normally used for his many experiments so it was well protected from anything sort of the apocalypse. The basement was more research oriented through with a less practical use for experiments from the shelves of books lining three of the four walls with the other entirely gone, the basement having been expanded and leading into a long archive like room.
"Where is it?" Rin asked as she stopped at the bottom of the steps.
"Somewhere, give me a minute." Shirou answered as he mentally went over where those specific journals were.
He found them and tossed the box containing them over his shoulder, surprising himself with his sudden surge in strength while Saber caught the box with both hands before setting it on the floor.
Rin seemed satisfied at the contents of the box after a quick look over and with a nod to Saber the Servant picked up the box and went upstairs with it.
"So, anything you want to tell me with Saber gone?" Rin asked and Shirou shook his head.
"Nothing I can think of besides the normal I can make a lot of weapons. But you already know that, I found the spy bug in my shed months ago." Shirou answered, luckily having crushed them when he began preparing the Summoning or else Rin would know whatever the hell happened to him.
"So you aren't an idiot after all?" Rin asked before walking up the steps, missing Shirou's eyes darkening before he shook it off and decided on trying to figure out what happened to him.
'You really are an idiot.' The voice spoke in his head and Shirou considered hitting his head on the wall.' Won't work.'
'Damn, did that Summoning weld you to my mind or something?'
'Yep, you're stuck with me.'
Shirou climbed up the steps, still cursing and ran straight into Rin who was on her way down.
He somehow caught her and himself before they could fall and sat her back down on the steps while sidestepping her and during the entire thing he never stopped walking, simply moving with her or slowing down but never stopping.
"I need to go see something, don't do anything to my house." Shirou told her before walking to the shack in the backyard and locking the door behind him.
Around four days later, night…
Shirou was looking in the basement for another set of journals his old man kept but was having no luck in finding anything.
'Where are they?' Shirou asked himself.
'In a box.' The voice in his head answered for him.
'Well thank you Captain Obvious!' Shirou mentally shouted only to hear chuckling in response.
He was currently standing on a few boxes trying to reach a higher shelf in the archive part of the basement to no avail and from upstairs Rin heard a loud crash and sighed.
'He has to make all that noise when I'm reading something this important?' Rin asker herself as she marked her page and set the book down, intending to read more about Saber's abilities later as she walked towards the basement door.
"Do you need help or something?" Rin called down from the steps.
"Oh I'm fine, just buried under a hundred or so books!" Shirou shouted the last part and Rin sighed as Saber appeared next to her.
"Perhaps we should assist him." Saber spoke and Rin walked down the steps after a moment of thought.
'He's a decent fighter and he could be useful.' Rin reasoned with herself as she walked into the archives.
Saber was already there and was throwing away the books burying Shirou.
'Wow, you're weak.' The voice in his head commented and Shirou growled.
'I'm going to kill you.'
'You already tried that with the knife, only hurt yourself.'
'Damn you!'
Outside his house a hulking dark skinned figure stood with a crimson eyed and silver haired girl standing next to him.
"We've found him." The girl told the figure who merely grunted." And a Master and her Servant there as well? Good luck for us, we get to kill two birds with one stone."
She only received another grunt from the figure next to her before pointing to Shirou's house.
"He's inside." The girl spoke and with a roar the hulking creature moved forward." Kill him, Berserker."
Shirou heard the roar from in the basement and stopped searching.
"So, do we draw straws on who goes up and fights whatever that thing is?" Shirou asked even as he jumped down from the ladder he had created with some effort, more like a bunch of spears hammered together, and walked towards the steps." Or does the guy who really doesn't mean anything next to one of the stronger Servants in this war and head of a noble family go up and die just on principle?"
"I wouldn't say you mean nothing, more like lesser than me, by a lot." Rin told him and Shirou frowned.
"Is this supposed to be helping?" Shirou asked and Rin laughed.
"No but I hope you know you'll be killed if you go up, Saber can handle him." Rin answered and the voice in Shirou's head chuckled.
'I remember this, it's not going to go well if Saber goes and fights Berserker alone, his ability is a shocker to anyone who fights him for the first time, especially with no information of him.' The voice spoke and Shirou could hear the grin on his face.' It'll be funny to see how long it takes her to realize it.'
'You're a sadistic bastard, you know that?' Shirou asked only to receive more chuckling.
Despite all odds and how fast things were going since his botched Summoning, Shirou was finding that he was actually growing use to the voice in his head, even if he was still debating his level of sanity or if he's already totally lost it at this point. There was a voice in his head, one he held conversations with and argued with over sometimes pointless and sometimes important things, the arguments really one of the constants of their relationship, and he was getting used to it. Yeah, he was totally bonkers at this point.
"Good luck with that then but keep the fight away from my house." Shirou called out to Saber as he found the journals he was looking for and tossed the first of eight to Rin." Read it, I think they're about the Grail and the Servant classes, really specific to those in the Fourth Holy Grail War through."
"Do you really think I would come into this war not knowing anything?" Rin asked, insulted he would think the Tohsaka family wouldn't give her enough information to win the Grail War.
"No but my old man has a different outlook on them." Shirou answered before looking up towards the ceiling.
Shirou heard the sounds of a fight upstairs and merely sighed as his bow appeared in his hands followed by a broadsword that quickly shifted into an arrow.
"I tell them to keep it outside and they do something like this in my living room." Shirou muttered as he climbed up the steps.
Berserker had slammed through the wall instead of even attempting to use the door and Shirou nearly cried at all the damages ranging from several destroyed walls to cracked floors that he was going to have to fix when this was all over, if his house even stayed standing that is.
Saber was parrying Berserker's blows and Shirou glanced at the axe sword that was Berserker's weapon.
'Interesting.' Shirou thought as he used Reinforcement on both himself, the arrow, and the bow before several of the broadsword arrows slammed into Berserker and Shirou paled when nothing happened that is except for drawing the incredibly powerful behemoth's attention to him.
'Yeah, I probably should have warned you against that.' The voice in his head spoke up, barely containing laughter.' Straightforward attacks don't work unless they're incredibly powerful and even then it won't work again.'
'So I just kill him with a single attack, like blowing his head off.' Shirou thought as he was about to do so when he felt his body seemingly move on its own and roll out the of Berserker's fist before a dagger appeared in each hand and they stabbed through Berserker's wrist before being pulled back with all his strength, the attack supposed to separate his hands into three useless pieces but the blades actually snapped at the hilt when they were pulled and Shirou, now back in control, stumbled back in the same shock and felt the same shock coming off of the Servant in his head.
"Umm, sorry about that?"
Berserker roared before flinging Shirou away and into a wall that he very quickly used Reinforcement on, preventing it from breaking and adding to the damage he was going to have to repair.
'Yeah, that didn't work.' The voice commented.' We need to get him to another more open space if we want to hit him with anything big and avoid more damage than either of us would like to the house.'
Shirou once again used Reinforcement on his body and his next move was certainly suicidal.
He attacked Berserker's Master, lunging forward with a silver short sword appearing in each hand.
The girl easily dodged it but he drew Berserker's attention and, sadly, he accomplished his intended goal.
'Yeah, you should run and you want to do that very, very fast.' The voice in his head spoke, soon collapsing into laughter once again as Shirou was forced to run for his life from an even angrier Berserker who proved to be far faster than he looked and was gaining ground on Shirou, it didn't help that he failed to notice the cars he was tearing in half just by hitting them with his tree trunk size legs.
'Why the hell did you make me do that you bastard!' Shirou mentally screamed as he strengthened the Reinforcement to increase his speed and he found himself slowly gaining distance on the unstoppable force known as the Berserker-class Servant.
'Because this is hilarious.' The voice answered, managing to stop their laughter long enough to answer before falling into it again.
'BASTARD!'
"Saber, go after him!" Rin shouted up at her Servant from downstairs, still looking over the journals and her eyes widening as she read the last of one." We need him alive, according to these he can be a powerful ally!"
"As you wish Master." Saber announced before racing out of the house.
A red spear struck the ground in front of her with a blue haired figure in a blue bodysuit standing in front of her moments later and wrenching the spear out the ground.
"Lancer." Saber stated as Rin cursed before heading up the steps, knowing her Servant just entered a fight but Saber was nowhere near close to Berserker or Shirou yet.
"That was announcing my presence by the way." Lancer announced as he pulled the spear out the ground." It's not my style to act like a coward and attack someone from behind or when they're unaware."
"You are an honorable warrior then but I do not have the time to properly battle you, please move yourself out of the way and we may fight again in the future." Saber told him and Lancer frowned.
"I really can't let you go, once I've entered a fight I can't really go and run away from it like a coward, that would ruin my legend if it got out." Lancer spoke after a moment before stepping in front of Saber's path towards Shirou and Archer." And besides, one of us has to die now."
"Then we will have to fight." Saber announced as she drew her sword." I am sorry that I must kill you."
"Dying in battle is a great death." Lancer announced before lunging forward with his spear with Saber drawing her sword and blocking it but was nearly thrown back into Shirou's house from the force of it.
Rin ran out of the house and yet again cursed as she could hear Berserker's roars even when they had to be some distance away.
"Saber, end this fight quickly and come to me when it's over!" Rin ordered as with a quick use of Reinforcement she ran towards Shirou and Berserker.
Saber deflected another lung from Lancer and nodded towards Rin before striking down, aiming to cleave the spear in half only for Lancer to grin before drawing the long weapon back quicker than she thought possible and aiming to put his spear through her stomach. He suddenly leapt into the air through and a longsword shaped into an arrow flew past his throat, the Servant narrowly avoiding the arrow slitting it.
"Nice." Lancer commented as he shielded his eyes with one hand and stared somewhere in the distance from his height in the air." That was a pretty good shot."
Three other longswords shaped into arrows aimed to pin him to the building nearby only for him to swipe his spear and knock them off course and send them crashing into the street.
'I want to meet that guy after this, those shots made my arm numb just from deflecting them.'
He landed and turned back to Saber who sprinted forward once again with Lancer following her.
The resulting clash of spear and sword threw both back from the rebound before both lunged forward again, Lancer grinning at the great fight in the future.
Rin meanwhile reached Shirou to see him moving from vantage points, shooting Berserker with swords shaped into arrows with the Servant shrugging off all of them and simply leaping towards where the shots came from to crush the Magus.
Shirou suddenly landed in front of her and grabbed her around the waist before leaping to another vantage point, this time a nearby roof.
"What are you doing here?" Shirou demanded and Rin noticed he had changed, having grown taller and he seemed to be gaining muscle rapidly, the more he fought building up more and more." I thought you were at the house?"
"Berserker, find them." Berserker's Master ordered and the Servant roared before leaping into the air and Shirou swiftly formed the same spiraling sword he had changed into an arrow to threaten Saber with but this time turned it into a spear he threw forward that slammed into Berserker and moments later he had tackled Rin off the rooftops with a explosion lighting up the sky like a midnight sun.
He formed his bow once again and this time turned it on Berserker's Master and moments later a thin dagger shaped into an arrow with a blunt tip slammed into her stomach and she collapsed to the ground with Shirou grabbing her and dragging her to her feet before turning to the landing Berserker as a short sword formed in one hand and he held it to her throat.
"Alright big guy, you decide to take another step or even think about attacking me and I kill her." Shirou spoke after he saw Berserker freeze.
The Servant roared at him and Shirou thought about getting eyes in the back of his head, his head was on the chopping block from now on as long as the musclebound beast lived, actually the correct term was anchored to this world.
"Shirou, get back!" Rin ordered and Shirou kept the short sword pressed to Berserker's Master's throat even as he stepped back.
'You may want to finish the plan now.' The voice in his head spoke as the short sword changed into an already loaded bow in the blink of an eye.
'Asshole.' Shirou shot back, still angry that, from what he could guess the Archer Servant that somehow got trapped in his head, took control of his body and made him take the girl hostage.
One of his legs lashed out and forced her down to the ground as he hit the back of her knees with the inside of his foot and he fired the arrow, it slamming into Berserker an instant later and another explosion engulfing him.
'Wait, we were supposed to use a different weapon.' The voice spoke, laughing as Shirou's eye twitched as an enraged Berserker charged through the explosion, unfazed by it.' Yeah, he's pissed now.'
'ASSHOLE!' Shirou roared in his mind as he formed a handful of short knives in his free hand and they lengthened into arrows in a flash of light and he fired them, overloading them with energy to turn them into explosives.
Berserker roared before one struck him in the chest and the other two hit his shoulders but he simply charged through the explosions.
"Oh come on!" Shirou shouted into the air as he turned to Berserker with his bow transforming into a claymore which he simply flung at Berserker, the sword shattering on the Servant's raised arm through." What does it take to bring you down?"
His only response was a roar and Berserker's axe sword crashing down where he was if he didn't leap into the air and land on Berserker's shoulder, a modified crossbow forming in each hand and half a dozen bolts filled each.
"Alright, this should end you big guy." Shirou told Berserker as he pulled the triggers and pushed off of Berserker, the energy filled bolts exploding on impact with the shockwave from the explosions propelling him higher.
"Yes, I killed him!" Shirou shouted in triumph even as he began falling back down to the ground.
'That's not exactly right since he's got about ten more lives.' The voice spoke and Shirou hit the ground, hard.
On his head.
'What are you talking about?' Shirou demanded as he climbed back to his feet and all he heard was a roar before Berserker's fist slammed into him, the giant Servant's fist actually as big or bigger than his entire torso, and he was sent flying back, forming a trench across the ground and he only thing that sopped him was the mound of dirt his slide across the ground had formed behind him.
It didn't do much except cushion the impact of his head snapping back when his body finally stopped and for a while Shirou was motionless before slowly sitting up, wincing as he did so but found his body healing the same it did with the knife wound, very small blades knitting him back together before turning into harder than average flesh.
"Ow."
"That's all you can say?" Berserker's Master asked as Shirou turned to see her next to him, a smile that would look innocent in any other situation except for one like this so for Shirou it looked sadistic and borderline psychotic.
"Yeah." Shirou answered with a shrug, wincing at the pain and surprised he didn't cry out as the pain momentarily turned his vision a stark white.
He dragged his arms up and quickly made to call a new sword to his hand but this time the Archer Servant somehow stuck in his head decided to manifest the weapons, ignoring Shirou's desire for a single durable sword to fight Berserker's axe sword better.
A white curved short sword with a black isosceles triangle emerging from the hilt going about a third of the way up the blade that was also surrounding the Yin Yang symbol appeared in his left hand with a black curved short sword with a white isosceles triangle emerging from the hilt that reached up around the third of the blade while also surrounding a Yin Yang symbol appeared in his right with both swords having a dark brown hilt wrapped in black.
'These are the twin swords Kanshou and Bakuya, blades I have come to treasure.' The voice spoke with fondness before his voice turned threatening.' You break them and I promise that I will find a way to kill you, slowly.'
Shirou slowly nodded as he held the blades at his side.
'Now follow my words exactly.' The voice ordered and Shirou found himself once again nodding at the voice's words.
"I am the bone of my sword."
"What is that, a chant to save you?" Berserker's Master asked while Shirou ignored them, following what the voice said.
"Steel is my body and fire is my blood."
He threw the two swords forward which were easily knocked into the air by a single swing from Berserker's own massive axe sword before a second pair appeared in his hands and he rushed forward before flipping over Berserker as he swung to swipe him in half with his axe sword and stabbed Kanshou into Berserker's back before slicing his arm with Bakuya and a use of Reinforcement to his body gave him enough speed to dodge the other Bakuya as it was attracted to the Kanshou stabbed into Berserker and the thrown blade slammed into Berserker's back, joining the Kanshou there before the Kanshou attractedto the Bakuya in his hands flew into his open one.
Berserker simply roared as he raced forward again, ignoring the pain in his back as blood dripped to the ground from it.
"I have created over a thousand blades."
Kanshou and Bakuya, both pairs, changed into spears and the two impaled in his back had the tips slam through Berserker, the now blood covered tips sticking out of his chest as Shirou threw the other two forward, slamming into Berserker's hands and pinning them to the ground as yet another pair appeared in his hand, the two lengthening to double their size and gained feather-like splinters that covered the curved inside of the blades.
"Time to die." Shirou spoke as the blades changed once again, the hilts becoming more like handles and the feather-like splinters growing to cover more the blade as they widened, very soon taking on an appearance similar to Berserker's axe sword but they seemed more refined and majestic than Berserker's own weapon.
Berserker roared as he shattered the transformed blades holding his arms back and charged forward only for Shirou to concentrate and moments later the pair of blades still lodged into his chest changed into a pair of barbed Chakram that tore out of Berserker and shot towards Shirou, changing into spheres of light that shot into him as he used Reinforcement on his body, moving as a streak towards Berserker.
"Nine Lives."
What happened next was impossible to properly explain but the results were that it took out nine of Beserker's ten remaining lives, two taken from Shirou's two previous strong attacks which were the explosive arrows and then blowing off Berserker's head with Shirou covered in Berserker's black blood and collapsing even as he flung the two transformed blades straight at Berserker.
The unconscious Shirou should have hit the ground and died in the resulting explosion that consumed the behemoth of a Servant once the two blades spun in the air and slashed down at his shoulders if he wasn't picked up just as they did so.
'Damn, he's still alive even after a suicidal attack like that! What will kill him?'
Rin saw the explosion engulf Berserker from her shelter behind a nearby building and sighed in relief when she saw Saber save him, her armor strong enough to protect her from any backlash.
But she wondered if she should use a Command Spell and leave him there.
She could always break the codes the journals were written in herself, had actually partly done so for two of the, an inference on her end, ten codes used in them already, and looking at what he could do, what he just did to a Servant like Berserker, made her change her opinion on him.
He was once just someone to help her win the Grail War, someone powerful but not a threat to her even if Saber wasn't able to fight but now, now he had just beaten Berserker…
A roar from within the smoke threw it away and Berserker roared again as he slammed his axe sword into the ground, rocking the entire area around him with a massive tremor as his body released steam as all his wounds healed.
…Okay, he nearly beat Berserker but he had done it without a Servant and survived one of his blows and attacking him with something powerful not even a minute afterwards. It didn't help that one day over the past few days she had drugged his food to put him in a deep sleep, once he went to sleep of course, she wasn't an amateur, and had looked over almost his entire body for a Command Spell but couldn't find one.
It was embarrassing to fail and then have to redress him but she figured he would find something off if he woke up nearly naked.
"Master, I have him." Saber spoke as she walked up to Rin with Shirou thrown over her shoulder." I believe it is wise to depart before Berserker seeks to finish him off."
"That won't matter, he's wounded, something he'll heal from in time but he's a big target right now so his Master will probably retreat." Rin spoke and moments later Berserker crouched down and his Master set on his shoulder and Rin's eyes narrowed.
"Of course it's Illyasviel von Einzbern, the Einzbern would of course summon a Berserker for the Grail War." Rin commented as she walked back to Shirou's house, Saber walking slightly behind her with the unconscious Sword Magus over her shoulder.
"Saber, I want you to spar with Shirou over the next few days and report to me where you think his power is at." Rin ordered her Servant after a moment and received a nod." And one more thing, if you deem him a threat during those days, I'm giving you the freedom to fight to kill him in any of the spars you have."
Rin walked ahead as Saber nearly stopped in shock before nodding her head.
"Yes Master." Saber spoke after a moment and quickly caught up with Rin.
On the rooftops nearby a crouched Lancer observed them and once again cursed his Master.
'I'm stuck doing this stupid reconnaissance for that bastard when he's doesn't even want to win this thing, why can't he even try to win it through and why can't I fight anybody here?' Lancer thought in some annoyance before standing up and stretching a bit before grabbing the camera his Master forced him to bring along.
'Only one more Command Seal left, one more and then I'm free to kill him.'
This was the only thing keeping Lancer from snapping, the very nice thought of being able to kill the Magus forcing him to abandon his fights, forced to run from them every time and his abilities nearly always handicapped. He could only ever fight to kill on his second encounter with the same opponent and the second Command Spell made it he couldn't engage the same opponent a second time without his Master's approval or it was a life or death situation.
"I'll kill that bastard if it's the last thing I do." Lancer swore to himself as he left, needing to deliver the video of Shirou's fight with Berserker to his Master.
After the massive usage of Od during his fight against Berserker and then the repairs he had forced himself to help complete, Shirou was out for a while and when he work up with his energy restored he sealed himself in his work shed.
"Saber, do you think you could kick down the door?" Rin asked her currently training Servant, Shirou having been sealed inside for three days.
"There's no need for that."
Shirou closed the door behind him and Rin merely motioned to Saber.
"Shirou, do you think you could spar with Saber over the next few days?" Rin asked and saw Shirou frown but continued speaking before he could speak up." Just encase you encounter Berserker again it would be a good idea to have teamwork this time around and the best way to building that up is by learning the fighting style the other uses by sparring against them."
Shirou was suspicious at Rin's idea but slowly nodded, feeling she wouldn't stop until he agreed.
'You're right, she would have kept asking you before just deciding on sending Saber to attack you.' Archer spoke, Archer being the name the voice in his head told him he would prefer to be known by a few days ago.
Shirou shifted his stance slightly and moved one arm around in front of him, a golden hilted silver rapier appearing in his hands as Saber drew her sword from her side.
'I'm surprised you're using one sword.' Archer commented as Shirou charged forward, using Reinforcement to enhance his body and thrusting forward even as he moved his free hand up and a halberd appeared in it and he let his arm swing down from the sudden weight.
Saber would have been a poor warrior if she couldn't dodge the very simple blow, the rapier and the axe were coming down on each other even so she took a step back just as Shirou changed the rapier into a bow and notched the transformed halberd to his bow, turning it into an arrow as he did so. But even with the surprise move Saber knocked the arrow into the air when it was fired and Shirou very quickly formed a handful of small knives in his hands before flinging them forward and instead of blocking them like she normally would have her instincts screaming at her to dodge them made her do so, avoiding the explosions aimed to remove her sword from her hand.
"You're good." Shirou spoke up before a spear appeared in each had and he raced forward.
Saber narrowed her eyes as she sidestepped one spear aimed to pierce her shoulder before grabbing the other in her free hand and cleaving both in two with a single downward slash of her sword.
'What are you planning?' Saber thought to herself as she dodged the hail of knives turned into swords from Shirou.' You fought better against Berserker, much better.'
Saber decided to leave the field of destroyed or deflected weapons she found herself moments before Shirou snapped his fingers, remotely overcharging the already close to unstable weapons and detonating them.
"Damn." Shirou cursed as he formed his bow and flipped backwards to avoid Saber's downward slash, trying to remove one of his arms or to split him in two.
"You're better than I expected." Saber commented before rushing forward and dodging the handful of knives turned into arrows Shirou fired at her." But you're wasting movement, trying to show off like that, your little flip was unnecessary and wasted movement and energy. In short, you are an amateur at best and a show off at worst."
"Am I?" Shirou asked.
"Yes." Saber stated before she put on a burst of speed, her blade arcing up.
Shirou stepped back as he moved one hand to the blood leaking from the cut on his forehead just above his eye.
'She tried to take out my eye, I was lucky I stepped back to fire or I would be half blind.' Shirou thought and Archer was silent, usually either insulting him at this point or insulting him while giving advice.
'Looks like this fight is done, his battle with Berserker was a fluke after all. Illyasviel probably just underestimated him and didn't give Berserker enough orders that fight.' Rin thought as she was about to order Saber to stop when Shirou crossed his arms over his chest, his empty hands open and palms facing up into the air.
"I am the bone of my sword."
The pair of swords known as Kanshou and Bakuya appeared above his palms and his hands very quickly wrapped around their hilts.
'Those are the same swords he used to bring down Berserker, I have to keep my guard up or I'll be dead very quickly.' Saber thought even as Shirou shot forward, the two blade moving in an downward X that Saber thought not to block or parry so she instead stepped back to avoid them and then lunge forward when Shirou hit the ground only for the Magus to roll to the side to avoid it.
"You're smart." Shirou commented before he took several quick steps back, increasing the distance between him and Saber.
Saber quickly readied herself for another attack and was right to do so as Shirou threw both pairs towards her, something she sent spinning high into the air, before another set appeared in his hands and both quickly changed into twin broadswords that he charged forward with, sending wild slashed at Saber that forced her to actually let her guard drop, at least slightly the rigidness of it nearly allowed Shirou to cut her several times. This lax guard seemed to be what Shirou was looking for as he slashed with both swords with an upwards X, knocking Saber's sword to the side before tossing the two swords into the air and catching the first pair, the pair Saber had deflected into the air.
"Steel is my body and fire is my blood."
'Damn, even I forgot about those two.' Rin thought as she saw Saber's eyes widen in shock.
Shirou changed the two swords into black and white spears that shot towards Saber who parried them both before the two longswords Shirou had tossed into the air landed behind her, stopping her from backing away from the two blows that came too quick as Shirou caught the spears and changed into their normal and moved too fast for her to move her sword in time to block them. The swords shifted into a second pair of longswords that Shirou tossed into the air and a pair of spears appeared in his hands to replace them, this pair of Kanshou and Bakuya already transformed.
'He's so fast.' Saber thought even as she released Invisible Air, timing it just right to toss Shirou across the backyard and then activate it once again only for the Magus to stop himself with the two spears and they quickly shifted again, turning into a pair of katana that Shirou charged forward with, the lethally sharp blades moving towards Saber who readied herself to parry the blades, not the maces the two blades shifted into.
Her sword rocked and nearly slipped out her hands but it didn't matter as the two longswords Shirou had tossed into the air descended behind her Shirou held the two maces in front of him as they shifted into their original curved short sword form.
"I have created over a thousand blades."
He threw the black sword named Kanshou forward while the white one named Bakuya was consumed in a flash of light before lengthening itself into a jian while keeping its hilt and design. With a glance and pointed fingers from Shirou, Kanshou changed into a Chakram with the outside covered in barbs.
Saber blocked the changed weapon and was about to stop Shirou in his tracks when the deflected Kanshou changed to mirror Bakuya in the air as it landed in Shirou's grip.
"Unknown to Death, Nor known to Life."
Shirou blocked her sword as she aimed to cut open his chest before grinning as he pushed with both swords and sent Saber leaping back slightly with Shirou following her.
'He's unrelenting as well.' Saber thought as she parried one of his blows, Kanshou, with Bakuya immediately lunging forward and aiming to put a hole through her shoulder if Saber didn't sidestep it and then step forward with a lunge that swiftly turned into an upward two-handed slash as Shirou flipped over her, letting the two jian go and flipping them into the air as a bow formed in his hands.
He formed a rapier into a long thin arrow that launched forward and Saber dodged it as Shirou's bow turned into a longbow as he flipped into the air and fired another arrow upside down, another transformed rapier that Saber knocked into the air, able to spot them after the first one. Shirou landed on the ground a distance from her that the Servant easily closed only to see him shift his longbow into two crossbows and fired a dozen knives loaded into each, forcing Saber to rapidly block two dozen massive arrows moments later.
'She's incredible, I used the same stuff on Berserker and he shrugged them off but couldn't block them, she did.' Shirou thought even as his crossbows shifted into a pair of twin rapiers that Shiro lunged forward with, the thin blades made for thrusting instantly shattered by a downward stroke by Saber who then immediately leapt back.
Her high Luck was the only thing that saved her from death as each piece then exploded as Shirou threw the worthless hilts towards her, something she knocked aside and was lucky as Shirou expected her to dodge so quickly through several handfuls of explosive knives all around her but even if all of them missed he still covered Saber in a dust cloud and he quickly used Reinforcement on his body and vanished for now.
'She's not really fighting, not at all really.' Shirou thought and a heavy use of Reinforcement later he clapped his hands together and with a grin on his face and a flash of light several dozen swords floated around him and he quickly overcharged them with energy.
'You do know that will kill her if it hits, correct?' Archer asked and Shirou merely grinned as he spotted Saber rush out of the smoke.
'She won't be hit.' Shirou answered even as he formed two silver longswords in his hands and rushed after the swords, seeing that Saber dodged them at the last moment so he attacked then, his two blades meeting Saber's own invisible one.
The two swords in his hands shattered in a flash of light and blinded Saber as Shirou held his hands up and the Kanshou and Bakuya pair transformed into longswords and stabbed into the ground flew in an arc over Saber and into Shirou's hands.
They instantly changed into a sword twice the length of their normal form with feather-like splinters covering the inside.
"So, feel like going for round two?" Shirou asked with a grin even if he was panting.
"If you believe you can survive." Saber answered as she prepared to release Excalibur for a single moment and single attack and Rin decided to step inside at that point and quickly used Reinforcement on the entire wall in front of her.
'Those two are going to kill me just from sparring!' Rin thought in a panic even as the walls threatened to collapse on her if she didn't use another Reinforcement to help it weather the surge of energy slamming against it.
The resulting clash from outside still destroyed the wall and Rin was thrown back as Saber frowned before pulling back as Shirou's swords crumbled to dust the moment they both struck Excalibur.
She vanished from Shirou's sight as the Magus stepped back and stared at his hands in shock.
"How did that happen?" Shirou asked as the last of the sword broke into light." I was sure I had it nearly perfect."
'I did it you moron.' Archer spoke up.
'Why?' Shirou demanded and to the watching Saber it looked like he was arguing with himself, at least from the way his head was moving from side to side.
'That was Excalibur, it would have killed you no matter what you did with the amount of energy Saber put in it, you're lucky I timed the break down before your swords fully met.' Archer informed the unbelieving Shirou.
'Then tell me why I heard the swords strike, even when the light of her releasing her sword blinded me I could still hear perfectly.' Shirou nearly growled back and Archer was silent for a long moment before speaking again, losing his usually lightheartedness.
'If you want the truth then you'll get it when this all draws to its end, not before that you little brat.' Archer spoke in a rare anger before going entirely silent and Shirou crouched slightly before he seemingly vanished, a small cloud of dust floating where his feet were.
Saber spotted him sitting down on the roof but didn't follow him, instead going to her Master.
"Master." Saber called out as she stepped inside." Master."
Shirou laid down on the roof, looking up to the moon in deep thought with the normally talkative Archer remaining silent.
"The moon's full."
Besides those words Shirou sat there in silence, remembering things he liked to do with his adopted father, stargazing one of the last things they did together.
'The old man passed away up here, just like he wanted to.' Shirou thought with a small grin, the last few peaceful moments he shared with his old man before he died always bringing a smile to his face.
It always hurt a little through, once he learned that his old man died from a curse he had a very special goal for whenever the next Holy Grail War came up, even if the Grail didn't choose him as a Master he would come to Fuyuki from wherever he was and finish it.
'Maybe there's hope for you kid.' Archer's sudden words had Shirou shoot up in surprise before letting his grin return.
'So, finally deciding to talk again?' Shirou asked.
'Someone's got to keep you from doing something stupid, since I'm stuck in your head I figured I'll do it, you can praise me later.' Archer answered and Shirou chuckled.
'You bastard.'
'Says the guy who does flips in a fight?'
'I got it from the merge with you so who's to blame here?'
'I'm going to sleep.'
Shirou chuckled again at Archer's silent and his victory in the argument.
'Point for me.' Shirou thought before turning to look up at the sky again, looking for constellations and remembering the stories the old man told him about them.
Inside the house Saber found Rin after a minute or two of searching.
"Master, are you inside?" Saber asked as she looked into the living room, having worked her way to the front of the house from the back
"Yes Saber?"
The Servant glanced over to the couch to see her Master sitting there and watching something Shirou had recorded, it seemed to be something on a variety of swords.
"I have finished my spar with Shirou Emiya as you have ordered and have gathered the information you have asked for." Saber spoke up and Rin immediately paused whatever she was watching and turned towards her.
"Well, what do you know?" Rin asked and Saber thought over the battle a moment before answering.
"If I were to face Emiya in combat than I would not know which outcome the fight would have." Saber spoke after reviewing both her battle and what she had been able to glimpse of his battle against Berserker and Rin suddenly found herself glad at Shirou's lack of a Servant and participation in the Holy Grail War.
"Why through? You've explained to me all of your abilities and your battle experience, it would seem that you would have an easy victory against someone like him even I could beat him myself under the right conditions. I mean he's not even at the level his adopted father had at the same time during the Fourth Holy Grail War." Rin told her Servant after a moment and Saber rose an eyebrow at that.
"But his father was able to kill those high above his own level of power, could the same not be said for someone he had taught?" Saber asked and Rin shook her head.
"After his father's participation in a Holy Grail War the Tohsaka family had this place bugged once we realized he was staying here permanently and adopted a potential Magus so we've had people watching the footage a little bit past his death some years ago, Kiritsuga Emiya never taught Shirou anything of his personal tactics and from what we gathered he taught him to an intermediate level in the basics before allowing him to continue his own training alone with his assistance when it was needed." Rin answered with a relieved sigh." If he had been taught anything like what Kiritsuga knew he would have been killed long before this war. The danger he would have posed would have united the three families in killing him but from how he is now I can create several plans to kill him if the need arises."
"Then do you require anything else?" Saber asked and Rin pointed to a stack of journals nearby.
"Shirou recorded everything he did in those journals and since they work on the same code as the others I've cracked them some time ago and I'm reading those now. I'm learning everything about him and the idiot doesn't even realize it." Rin said the last part with a laugh and Saber frowned.
"Master, are you alright?" Saber asked and Rin nodded as she calmed down.
"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?" Rin asked.
"You're laughing at a severe threat, you saw what he did to Berserker yet you play him off as an idle threat?" Saber asked and Rin frowned." You do realize he can kill you, correct?"
"How?" Rin asked, very confused at Saber's question when she had just told her she could kill or bring about Shirou death in a dozen different ways.
"From what I gathered during our battle and his battle against Berserker he can create weapons out of thin air and without effort, even make them explosive and shift a knife into a spear or change a sword into an arrow. His combat style is highly adaptable because of that and from what I could see during both battles with him being able to engage stronger opponents once weakening them and from personal experience he can strike with surprising power while utilizing his abilities to increase his already impressive combat skills." Saber spoke before she remembered the lines Shirou had spoken while he attacked her with the several transforming pairs of Kanshou and Bakuya.
'I am the bone of my sword.'
'Steel is my body and fire is my blood.'
'I have created over a thousand blades.'
'Unknown to Death, Nor known to Life.'
"He also seems to use a particular set of multiple pairs of swords to finish off his fights, chanting something while doing so and his power grew with each line, as well as lowering the amount of energy he needed to better use his weapons, his attacks in turn grew much stronger and rapid once he had spoken the fourth line of whatever it was." Saber continued and Rin frowned as she went through several plans in her head before scraping them all and settling on single conclusion.
"Then Shirou won't be surviving the Grail War, if what you say is true than in enough time he will grow much too powerful and with ties to Kiritsuga Emiya the Mage's Association would kill him if they heard what he could do, possibly during the Grail War. We'll have to keep this all between the three of us, just as much of a threat he is he's also an extremely powerful ally and we still have Berserker and from what I could sense four other Servants."
"Only four more, the Holy Grail War typically holds the minimum of seven, correct?" Saber asked and Rin nodded." Then why are there only six of us in total for this one?"
"I have no idea but the Grail works in mysterious ways. But even if there isn't an answer I'm planning on looking into it once this entire thing is over." Rin answered her Servant before standing from the couch." Now let's eat, I can fix us both something."
Even from where Shirou was on the rooftop he somehow knew when someone was going to fix a meal and moments later he slid in through the window.
'Stargazing will have to come later, I've got a meal to cook.' Shirou thought as he stopped Rin from coming into the kitchen and smiled.
"No worries Rin, Saber, I'll cook something for all of us while you two go relax." Shirou told both and with some hesitation Rin stepped back and a few minutes later Shirou came out with a platter of snacks held in each hand and placed them down on the table before moving back to the kitchen and in the next hour he moved an entire feast to the table.
"Why did you make so much food?" Rin asked as she could barely see to the end of the table with the high piles of food in front of her." We won't ea…"
Saber seemed to have a massive appetite as she began, for lack of a better word, inhaling the food on the table with Shirou only grinning as he placed another tray down next to Rin.
"My old man knew about Saber's appetite so I think this works better, enough food so she can eat her fill and we can too." Shirou told her before walking back into the kitchen.
Rin seriously questioned if Kiritsuga taught Shirou anything about the Grail War. He had the perfect opportunity to kill both her and Saber by either poisoning the food or attacking them both when they were so unprepared.
'No wonder he isn't involved in the Grail War even with all that power, he's too soft to be who his father was during the last one.' Rin thought to herself even as she dug into Shirou's delicious meal.' But he can cook.'
Inside the kitchen Shirou was polishing off the dishes but suddenly stopped, a memory that was definitely not his assaulting his mind, bringing him very sudden and large amounts of mental pain.
It looked to be the same scene he had just been drawn from but he wasn't the person who's perspective he was viewing it from.
Whoever it was heard the doorbell ring and with a small smile on their face set down the rag they were washing with and walked to the door, his smile widening at the doorbell ringing again and again the longer he took.
"Hey Rin." A voice he wouldn't forget for a while spoke, it was just that annoying to him.
'Archer.'
Archer sidestepped Rin's kick to his more private area and her immediate slap but not the bop to his head.
"Ow, why would you do that?" Archer asked with some annoyance only for the Head of the Tohsaka to walk inside.
"You're the one who invited me over, the least you could do is not be so late opening the door." Rin answered and Shirou noticed she had grown and from it he estimated maybe a decade had passed from his time.
"What do you mean late? I walked here from the kitchen." Archer told her and Rin merely bopped him on the head again and he fell back into a nearby chair, holding his head.
"Why are you so mean?" Archer asked as Rin walked past him.
"You should treat the Tohsaka Head with more respect, you should have ran to the door." Rin told him and Archer began chuckling before nearly falling out his chair as he went to full blown laughter.
"You're a real piece of work Rin, why am I planning on marrying you again?" Archer asked as he slipped a box from his sleeve into his hands and before Shirou could see the look on the memory-Rin's face the scene ended and he snapped back to the present, just in time to.
"Shirou, we need more food!" Rin called back to the kitchen." Saber's eating it all!"
Shirou glanced around the kitchen to find it unchanged and estimated that at most a few seconds had passed since he had experienced the memory.
"Alright, give me a minute!" Shirou shouted back as he picked up two more trays he had completed before he began cleaning the dishes and fell into the memory.
"Thank you." Saber paused long enough to thank him before beginning to eat again and Shirou fought to keep the smile on his face.
'How is she doing that, it's like she's not even chewing any of the food?' Shirou found himself asking even as he walked back to the kitchen, getting a nod from Rin he returned with his smile widening.
The moment he was inside the kitchen he used the counter to support himself as images flashed through his mind.
They seemed to be moving in a cycle and the one that seemed to repeat its self a hundred times a second and it was speeding up, bombarding Shirou with them.
One was of a single shadowed figure standing on the blackened and charred ground of a hill with what looked like an army against them.
Another was of birds, doves from the white feathers raining down around him, flying above the same figure.
Another of a golden light filling his vision, it blinding him the entire time it showed.
A fourth was simply the moon.
The last, the last was indescribable in whatever hell it came from.
As soon as it began it suddenly ended and Shirou found himself in a cold sweat, trying and failing to keep himself up on trembling arms and shaking legs so he quickly found himself collapsed to the floor in moments, wide eyed at the last image that seemed to stay in his mind.
'What was that?' Shirou asked himself, slowly managing to climb back to his feet after a few minutes of near failures.' What the hell was that.'
Well, that was...probably not good so leave a review on any questions or suggestions for the pairing.
Peace.