Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Different Fates

Chapter 18

Sakura Tohsaka and Anika Freiin von Derfflinger emerged from the restaurant into the golden afternoon light and paused, narrowing their eyes in suspicion. After a moment Sakura turned to Anika who looked at her and nodded. "I feel it too." She said, and Sakura sighed.

"Really, really…" she said. "…it seems that someone's impatient. Not all seven Servants have been summoned, and they're already picking a fight."

"So what do you want to do?" Anika asked softly, stepping forward and turning to lean on her back against the street's safety railing. "Shall we go back to the safety of the Tohsaka property?"

Sakura gave her an un-amused glance. "This is serious." She snapped, and Anika chuckled.

"Then if you don't want to retreat…" she said. "…then our only choice is to fight isn't it? Well now, it seems it's not just the enemy who's impatient."

"Undeniably true…" Sakura said before turning to the side. Archer appeared from a corner, clearly uncomfortable in a pressed business ensemble. "…do you have them?"

Archer snorted as he held up a heavy case with one hand, carrying inside Sakura and Anika's long-swords. "Not very comfortable…?" Sakura asked as she took the case from her Servant.

"No offense Sakura…" Archer replied. "…but I prefer my own style."

"I'm sure you do." Sakura agreed. "Well I'm sure you'll be changing to your style as you put it once the battle begins, so just put up with it, alright?"

"I understand."

"And in any case…" Sakura added telepathically. "…that style of yours isn't particularly discreet. This way at least you won't draw too much attention. People will probably see you as a hired thug of some low-time businessman or yakuza."

"That makes sense."

"No offense…"

"None taken…bleached hair isn't a particularly respectable look isn't, Knight Tohsaka?"

Sakura chuckled as she led them away. "No, I suppose not." She said verbally before continuing via telepathy. "When the time comes, don't go too far. It's still early in the contest, so let's not show all our cards for now, shall we?"

"I understand Sakura. I'm thankful for having such an understanding Master."

"Flatterer…"

"Do you mind?" Anika asked a bit reprovingly. "I'm not connected to either of you the way you are to each other."

"Oops…sorry…" Sakura said, pausing and fumbling about in her pockets. "…damn I forgot it."

"Forgot what…?"

Sakura didn't say anything, instead looking around them at the growing afternoon crowd. They were after all, in one of the city's more affluent districts. Sakura blushed slightly, and she looked cowed. That didn't look too good at all to the baroness. "Sakura…?" she ventured.

"Um…" Sakura fumbled. "…to establish a link…that is shared perception…requires prana transfer…"

This time it was Anika's turn to blush. "Oh…I see…" she fumbled in her turn. "…so what's the problem? I mean…we could just…you could just use a projection to cut yourself…no there's too many people around…and going someplace secluded could be seen as a challenge by whoever's tailing us…"

"Not to mention weapons aren't legal in this country…" Sakura muttered, completely out of left field.

"Well I…I don't…really mind…I suppose…"

Sakura glanced at Anika, and swallowing dryly stepped closer and took hold of the baroness' arms. Two pairs of a blue eyes stared uncertainly at each other, and to Archer's bemusement the two girls leaned closer and locked lips with each other. The Knight of the Bow raised an eyebrow as the tension quickly leaked out of the girls' frames, eyes closing and the two of them leaning into each other's arms, Archer looking away in embarrassment as people began to stare and mutter. At length he gave a cough, and the two girls broke off and quickly jumped back a step from each other. "Did you enjoy the experience?" he asked with a small smile.

"Quiet you." Two voices lanced into his head with quiet menace, and to their consternation his smile grew wider. Coughing and with her face flaming in a blush, Sakura stalked off down the street past whispering and gossiping bystanders with as much dignity she could muster followed by an equally-flustered baroness and her grinning Servant.

Who'd have thought Sakura was a closet lesbian? But then again if I remember right Rin was bisexual, so it shouldn't be too surprising that Sakura has her own…preferences.

"This never happened." Sakura suddenly said, though there was note of apology and regret in her voice.

"We'll never speak of it to anyone." Anika quickly responded. "This will be our little secret."

"Agreed…um…was…was that…was that…your…first…?"

The silence was profound, and if anything Sakura's blush grew even darker. "Um…well…that was also my first so…we're even…?" she asked with a small voice, and Anika nodded very fast.

"Yeah, we're even." She said just as softly. Archer couldn't help it: he burst out laughing at the exchange, prompting very ugly glares in his direction.

"Archer…?" Sakura asked.

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

Shinji Matou walked down the street, his entire body tense with his hands in his pockets and a heavy backpack slung over his shoulders. He couldn't really see anything unusual, but in the background he could hear a terrifyingly familiar buzzing that seemed to grow the closer he got to Kotomine Church.

The Sun crept closer and closer to the horizon, and despite his instincts telling him to run he persisted on a brisk walk towards his destination. If he ran, chances were if he was being tailed by his grandfather's pets, then they'd probably risk exposure and attack him then and there even in the daylight. But if he could get to Kotomine Church before the Sun set fully over the horizon, then he could take refuge with the resident priest.

Not that it would last long, of that he was sure.

Shinji knew better than to expect anything less than death at the hands of Sakura Tohsaka. There was no way she'd spare any of his family once she received what he planned to tell her. And Shinji didn't care. He might not be a magus, and he envied and hated Rin for being one, but paradoxically nothing would make him happier than to see his entire family dead.

Monsters deserved to die, and if any could be called a monster then his grandfather certainly fit the bill. And Zouken's blood flowed in his veins, and Zouken's essence was grafted onto Rin's very soul.

And Rin wouldn't survive them either. Sakura Tohsaka would probably seek to cleanse her sister of the Matou taint, but it was too late. Shinji knew enough of theory to know that once the Matou engraved their mysteries onto the body, there was no removing or forgetting, unlike normal magic crests or mysteries. Rin would die the last of the Matou, as a result of her sister's vain efforts to save her.

As far as Shinji was concerned, it was only fair. Sakura Tohsaka would kill them all, but as with all things a price must be paid, and in her case the price would be to lose her sister despite all efforts to save her.

Shinji knew that his reasoning was twisted. Tohsaka would grant his wish of killing off every last one of his abominable family (ridding him of Rin in the process), and the only thing Tohsaka would be getting from it would be a mockingly-hollow vengeance. And it only proved the validity of his wish to see his entire vile bloodline wiped from the face of the Earth.

The young man paused to glance at the Sun as it began to dip below the horizon, and he hurried on his way. The Sun slowly but surely sank beneath the horizon, the sky changing from gold and pearl to aquamarine and then a deep, dark blue speckled with stars, the streetlights turning on as Shinji came to a halt in front of a small park a short distance from Kotomine Church.

There was no way he'd make it now. Already the buzzing was very evident, and Shinji knew that behind and around him just out of sight, there was great swarm of Matou familiars, carapaces and segmented legs chattering against each other and against the ground, multifaceted eyes reflecting the light in a sinister fashion as they viewed him as prey to be feasted upon.

And considering his gender, he knew they wouldn't stop until they had picked his bones clean.

But he wasn't going to go out without a fight. He wasn't just going lie back and let his grandfather have his…those things eat him away like they did to his uncle, or the way his mother and sister allowed those things to break them and leaving them as little more than puppets to be used and then disposed of by Zouken.

If he was going to die, then he'd give Zouken a fight. It didn't matter that he wasn't a magus, or that he would lose regardless, but he would fight.

"Shinji, Shinji, Shinji…" an old voice emerged from the swarm, dripping with veiled malice and disappointment. "…you are such a disappointment."

Shinji didn't say anything, simply taking off his backpack slowly and swinging it around. "Have I not been generous to you all this time?" Zouken asked. "By all rights you should have been killed at birth, born into a magus family without anything to show for it…"

Shinji fought down the urge to lash out at the taunt, salt being rubbed into the old wound. Instead he slowly opened the bag, and reached into it. "…I let you live…" Zouken continued his taunting, the chattering increasing in volume as the swarm drew closer. "…I fed you…clothed you…sent you to school…tolerated and supported your desires…and this is how you repay me? With betrayal…?"

Shinji said nothing, his body tense, years of practicing the bow giving him a sense when to make a move. It probably would do no good in the long-run, but…

"What's more, did you really think I wouldn't see through your simple ploy?" Zouken continued with quiet menace. "Did you really think I wouldn't foresee someone trying to turn Tohsaka or the Church against me? Well Shinji? Have you anything to say for yourself?"

Now…!

The backpack fell to the ground as Shinji whirled, jumping back as he threw three cylinders behind him. Ammonia and bleach mixed together, poisonous gasses hissing out and throwing the swarm into confusion. Coughing heavily and tasting iron in his mouth, half-blind from the chlorine in the air, Shinji blindly staggered to his feet and drunkenly ran up the street towards Kotomine Church.

All around him Matou familiars fell dead or dying, their little bodies unable to tolerate the sheer amount of chlorine in the air, Zouken's screams of fury echoing in the night. Dimly through the haze of pain and blood Shinji spotted the stairs leading up to the church, staggered up them and beheld the church beyond…

…and then something slammed into him from the rear, blood filling his mouth as he was thrown forward and onto the hard ground. Dimly he felt people or something moving around him…

…and then the darkness enveloped him, and he knew no more.

Sakura rose to her feet as the bounded field fell into place around the chosen battleground, a large open area near the docks surrounded by factories and warehouses closed for the night. And even if someone would just wander in, the bounded field would filter out sounds and sight from getting out, while planting a compulsion in the minds of anyone nearby to go away.

And the only ones who could resist said compulsion were magi, who would either be involved in the contest anyway or even if they weren't they still had the right to know.

Sakura and Anika stood silent and ready with Archer in front of them, waiting for their tail to show themselves. Sakura however kept looking around furtively for some reason. "What's wrong?" Anika asked.

"Nothing…" she replied. "…at least I think it's nothing."

"Huh?"

"I guess…the best way to put it is a strange sense of déjà vu."

Anika raised her eyebrows and was about to say something when their opponents appeared on the other side of the open area. They were a young, redheaded woman in a brown ensemble and a blue-haired Servant in a blue bodysuit. At the sight of the enemy Master, Anika groaned and muttered a series of vile German curses. "This isn't good at all." She lamented.

"I'm guessing you know her."

"Bazett Fraga McRemitz…" Anika replied. "…she's an Enforcer."

This time it was Sakura's turn to swear. They were outclassed, and as such were in for a hard fight. "Well I'm pleased to say that I'm recognized." Bazett remarked. "With that said, I'm not particularly bloodthirsty, ladies. Surrender your command spells and I give you my word to let you go. I'll even escort you to the safety of the Overseer of this contest if you'd like."

Sakura glared at her, magic circuits opening. "Do you really expect me to accept that?" she asked.

Bazett shrugged and got into a combat stance. "I guess not." She said. "Lancer, take care of the enemy Servant."

"Got it…!" Lancer said with a grin, drawing a bright red lance and getting into a stance of his own.

"Archer…don't you dare lose!"

Archer response was to materialize a pair of black and white falchions in both hands before silently charging forward, Lancer moving to meet him. "Archer eh…?" he retorted. "And trying to fight like a Saber? Don't make me laugh!"

The crimson spear and the two falchions clashed with enough force to send powerful waves of wind blasting outwards. Having crossed both swords together before impact Archer uncrossed them outwards, redirecting Lancer's opening attack upwards and out of the way. Lancer however demonstrated his status as the fastest and most agile Servant, quickly regaining the initiative by opening the distance and then stabbing at Archer several times with blinding speed.

Archer however parried each strike with measured swings of his falchions, giving way step by step before finally knocking the spear out of the way with one sword and driving the other towards Lancer's face. Lancer fell back, swinging his lance in a broad arc that knocked one of Archer's swords out of his hand.

Archer fell back as well, hurling his remaining sword boomerang-like at Lancer. Lancer knocked it out of the air, and charged. Archer opened both hands…and materialized both swords in them again. "You're pretty good!" Lancer growled as he clashed with Archer. "Who are you?"

"Well now…" Archer replied, locking Lancer's weapon in place with his falchions crossed together, sparks spraying between them. "…who am I really?"

With a strength that caught Lancer by surprise, Archer threw him back several steps, the red-cloaked Servant charging in to take the opportunity. Lancer parried and riposted, knocking both swords out of Archer's hand. "Die…!" he shouted, his lance driving towards Archer's face. Again Archer jumped back, black and white swords whipping boomerang-like through the air towards Lancer.

Lancer knocked them aside with a growl, and then his eyes went wide as Archer dove in for the kill, the same swords in his hands.

What the hell?

Lancer fell back, the black sword sending sparks flying as it carved through the concrete floor, while its mate shattered as it struck Lancer's weapon at an odd angle but still halting Lancer's charge cold. Both Servants fell back, Lancer's eyes narrowing as Archer replaced the destroyed white sword. "Tricky bastard aren't you?" he snapped, and Archer smirked impudently at him.

Lancer smirked back. "That's fine by me!" he said as he charged in. "This is surprisingly fun, so let's keep this up Archer!"

"Macht überwältigend...!" Anika cast, one hand on her ruby brooch which flashed red. A magic circle appeared on the ground around her, and gesturing with an arm, sent a blast of fire in Bazett's direction. The Enforcer dodged, though was prevented from following through as the blast exploded upon impact.

"Don't think they're just fireballs!" Anika shouted. "Artillery doesn't have to hit to hurt you!"

She gestured again, explosive blasts raining down on Bazett who danced to and fro, unable to close as she focused on avoiding getting caught in the baroness' attack. "Sakura…" Anika said. "…do something."

"I've a plan…" Sakura's thoughts slipped into Anika's head. She didn't like it.

"Are you crazy?" she thought back. "McRemitz specializes in close combat. If we or she closes the range, then we're in deep shit! The smart way to fight this is to keep her at arm's length and wear her down!"

"She has more experience than either of us." Sakura calmly responded, slowly drawing her sword behind Anika. Lines flashed blue over her right arm as she fed prana into her crest. "Normally I'd agree with you that keeping her at a distance is the best strategy, but I've no doubt she'll eventually find a way to get around us. We'd only be prolonging the inevitable. Therefore we should blitzkrieg her into submission!"

"This is too risky." Anika muttered. "But then again you've got a point there. Alright, let's do this! Geierkralle...!"

Anika placed both hands against her chest, thumbs held together but with the fingers spread to represent a vulture's wings, and unfurled both of them outwards. Her crest flashed in response, a twisting pillar of flames erupting around her before breaking into a three-pronged, claw-like form bearing down on Bazett's position.

The Vulture's Claw slammed into the ground with enough force to rupture the ground deep enough to damage the sewer beneath, sending debris flying and collapsing warehouses behind Bazett. Anika's eyes went wide as Bazett dove clear of the smoke and debris, singed and patches of her clothes smoking but otherwise unhurt. "No way…" she began only to be interrupted.

"Now…!" Sakura shouted. "Time is hollow…!"

Sakura vanished.

And then a sword swung down on Bazett from the rear, pure instinct saving the Enforcer as she pivoted on one foot and jumped around and back. Sakura backhandedly swung, the tip cutting a shallow gash on Bazett's cheek. Smirking, Sakura reversed her sword and stabbed forward several times in rapid succession.

The smirk vanished as Bazett wove around her attacks, until the frustrated Sakura growled and stepped closer to deliver a swing aimed at her neck. Runes flashing, Bazett caught Sakura's sword with a gauntleted hand and drove it to the ground, and then threw a left hook at Sakura's surprised and exposed face.

Sparks flew as steel ground against rune-enchanted leather, Sakura falling back and narrowly avoiding critical head injury or worse by a hair. Inexperience left her open and Bazett dove in, her right hand drawn back into a fist. Landing solidly, Sakura raised her sword in a horizontal guard, prana reinforcing her body as Bazett's fist landed on her sword.

Steel held but the force carried through, sending Sakura tumbling back through the air with a cry. As she landed with stunning force on the ground, Bazett bore down on her, somersaulting through the air. The Enforcer's coldly beautiful eyes narrowed mid-flight, arms rising as she crossed them together to block Anika's laser attack with her rune-enchanted gauntlets.

An explosion tore through the air, and Sakura shook her head while getting to her feet. As a humanoid form somersaulted back to the ground, she pulled a gem from a pocket and threw it. And then she fired Gandr at the gem.

The bolt shattered the gem and hurled a blast of dark-coloured energy past. Unable to dodge, Bazett weathered the attack with no effect. "That's impossible!" Sakura gasped.

Anika's magical artillery covered the other girl as she fell back, the two Masters glaring at each other across the battlefield. "Looks like the Blitzkrieg failed." Anika said. "What now, Sakura…?"

"We've got no choice." Sakura said shortly, swallowing a gem to replenish her prana reserves. "I was saving this for when I settled the score with the Magus Killer, but then again this is an Enforcer we're up against."

"Girl, I know you're quite skilled…" Bazett began. "…but don't you think it's a bit arrogant for you to say you can settle a score with someone like Kiri…"

"People are transient…" Sakura cast, ignoring Bazett. "…time is hollow."

Sakura vanished again, and reappeared right next to Bazett, stabbing at her head. Bazett knocked it aside, and then threw a fist at Sakura. Sakura, completely unconcerned, ignored the narrow margin between surviving and having her head bashed in reversed her sword and then swung twice.

Bazett dodged both attacks, and then counterattacked, launching a series of blows aimed at Sakura's chest. Again, Sakura ignored the narrow misses…

…almost as if she never needed to worry about them at all…

"What's wrong Enforcer?" Sakura taunted as a kick aimed at her chin missed narrowly…again. And this time her counterattack left a bleeding line just over Bazett's carotid. A taunting, faint smile graced her face. "Don't you know how to aim?"

Bazett growled angrily at the insult, sidestepping a swing that would have cut her in half before moving to tackle Sakura to the ground. And again, she missed…

…and turning, Sakura cut her across the back. It wasn't deep enough to cause serious damage, but it was enough to cause the Enforcer to stagger and cry out with the pain. Sakura tried to backslash and further the damage, but Bazett avoided the follow-up and tried to counterattack.

Again she missed, and a bleeding cut appeared over her forehead…

…no blood was spilled, but a gash tore open her clothes over her right shoulder…

…left shoulder…

…a wound that if an inch or so deeper would have eviscerated her stained the clothes over her torso red…

…and through it all each and every one of Bazett's attacks continued to miss, while Sakura continued to wear that same taunting, soft smile on her face. Had she looked in a mirror then and there, with a portrait of her father close by, how would she have reacted?

"What is this?" Anika thought to herself, wide-eyed as she watched Sakura toy with Bazett. "Sakura's not dodging, in fact if she fought like that all the time she'd never win a single bout much less survive many of our past battles. But now…she's leaving herself completely open, as though she doesn't expect any need to worry about getting hit. And yet…the Enforcer…she keeps on missing?"

Anika watched with narrowed eyes. Bazett by this point was a bleeding mass of cuts and gashes, Sakura dashing back and forth to land shallow, non-serious but painful hits as the Enforcer drunkenly staggered back and forth in vain efforts to defend and counterattack.

Mental interference…? No, magi possess magic resistance, and only the weakest of us would be affected by it without great effort on the caster's part. And Enforcers are never weak.

Sakura…well done…

And then it happened…with a flicker of afterimages, Sakura moved behind Bazett and swung. Blood fountained and Bazett screamed as Sakura cut her hamstrings, the Enforcer collapsing forward onto the ground, writhing in agony. Sakura laughed softly. "So Enforcer…" she began. "…do you still think I'm getting above myself, aiming for the Magus Killer's head? Or his son's head rather, but it's all the same in the end anyway."

"Don't…" Bazett spat, supporting herself on her arms. "…don't dare look down on me…!"

"I wasn't looking down on you." Sakura said with her sword just inches from Bazett's head. "If anyone was looking down on someone, it was you. Turnabout is fair play, as they say."

Bazett snarled, struggling to get onto her feet and failing. As she collapsed back onto the ground, a hand reached into a coat pocket and took hold of a silver ball. It was a long shot, and Sakura could and probably would kill her before the charge cycle was completed, but she wasn't going out like this, toyed about with by one of the countless closet psychopaths that magus society routinely produced.

And it was for this kind of situation that she carried one of those in her pocket as opposed to its usual, cylindrical container.

I should have used this sooner, but I underestimated her. It won't happen again.

Sakura's eyes didn't miss Bazett's hand movement, and she sighed. "I really try not to kill unless I have to…" she said while raising her sword. "…but in this war, its kill or be killed."

The sword fell, and Bazett gambled everything. "Fraga…!" she began, only for lightning to strike with a blinding flash into the middle of the battlefield and sending the combatants – Anika, Sakura, Lancer and Archer – flying everywhere.

"LAY DOWN YOUR ARMS! THE KING HAS ARRIVED!"

A/N

Never mix bleach and ammonia like Shinji did here. Trust me: it's not going to end well.

Sakura is a bit cruel, no? But remember a couple of chapters back, with Anika pointing out to Sakura – who refuses to admit it explicitly – that while she openly disdains her father deep down she's still a 'Well Done Daughter Girl'. And much like canon Rin, this means that AU Sakura is unconsciously emulating Tokiomi at times. Don't get me wrong, she doesn't worship Tokiomi (as she pointed out to Johann in a previous chapter she doesn't want the same kind of family life Tokiomi cultivated), but she's still very much his daughter.

Finally before accusations of Mary Sue pop up, Bazett is not underpowered. She underestimated Sakura, who trained to fight Kiritsugu (though he would still stomp her) and in fact developed her combat doctrines to answer his strengths. More details later, otherwise some of you might guess how Sakura's spells work.