Chapter 2: Recruitment
A pair of men approached the motorcycle shop in Miyama. The sounds of tuning drowned out their conversation, but they amassed the attention of those working in the front. Two sets of eyes turned to four, then to eight, as the pair were stopped before they could enter the shop. One of the men from the pair, clearly familiar with the others, began to begin a harsh argument with the others, which sounded as though it would quickly escalate into something physical. The second of the two ignored the group, simply looking up at the sign above their heads.
"Now why the hell are we here again?" A blunt young voice silenced the group.
The group of men paused for a solid 30 seconds, then erupted into a laughter that could be heard across the entire block. An unintelligible mass conversation began, with the men all patting each other on the backs, and all walking into the auto body motorcycle shop. The group of 8 seemingly bodyguarding the shop dispersed, leaving only the 2 entrants to walk towards the back room, with one of the two very visibly annoyed.
Awaiting them in the back room were two men. One, a giant hulking man standing easily over 2 meters tall, looking to be in his mid 40's. He was wearing a pair of sunglasses, with a casual Hawaiian-inspired shirt and a pair of shorts to match. Obviously returning from some sort of vacation, the human giant was a stark difference from the small elderly man next to him. This man, easily breaking 65 to 70 years old, was short and thin, and his appearance could only be described as evil. His eyes were pure white, with insignificantly small pupils, and his hair was a gray flat top. His smirk was devilish, and while the man was visibly intimidating, he carried an aura of elegance and didn't have any maliciousness within him. He wore a kimono with a yellow tiger print haori above it, and sat sipping tea until the men approached.
"Matsuo… What are you doing here with this foreigner?"
The elderly man gestured to a blonde, one of the pair. The young man was clearly not Japanese, but what was more strange was his attire. He wore a Western jacket and tight leather pants, with brown boots reaching halfway up his shins. Under the jacket a nice vest could be spotted above a simple button down shirt, with a tie. He looked straight out of a movie that was set in 1800's Texas.
"Mr. Fujimura, I got us our newest recruit."
A man donning a leather blazer atop a simple plain white shirt responded. He wore all black, with dress shoes to compliment his fancy - yet - casual appearance. His face was harsh, yet cool, and his hair was slicked back, with 1 or 2 strands being left out from a morning rush. Gesturing over to the foreigner, who looked no older than 22, a light in the man's eyes matched the blonde's hair.
"A foreigner? In my family? What do you take me for?" Course laughter filled the room. The elderly man swiped his hand and motioned for the men to leave the room. "...Plus, he doesn't even know not to carry guns in Japan. That doesn't look like a hunting pistol, boy, and I'm not getting raided by cops over some dimwit blondie."
The blonde, who had only talked once up until this point, smiled towards the old man.
"I like you. I want yer spot. As the lead, that is."
To this, 3 out of the 4 men in the room laughed harder than humanly possible. The giant in the room stepped forward, and patted the man half his size on the head.
"Nao, where'd you find this guy? He's adorable. Maybe we can pay him to sit around and make us laugh more like this."
The next second felt like an eternity for the tall man. In an instant, he was down on the ground, with his arm twisted high into the air, and the blonde's pistol to the back of his head. The blonde's smile never faltered, however, as he looked back up to the elderly man.
"This fella right here was yer second n' command, right? 'Swhy he was standing all high n' mighty there next to ya? Or maybe he was just yer bodyguard. Either way, he's as good as dead if you don't give me that leadin' spot."
As though his pain were delayed, only now the man pinned to the ground cried out in pain. Screaming for help, he caused a group of 15 men to enter the room, all carrying various degrees of martial weapons on hand. Some had knives, others pipes, and some even had actual katana on hand - all ready to assault the Western man with.
The old man's face, however, never changed. He merely coughed for a bit, catching his breath, and continued to chuckle. He waved his hand for the men to leave the room, and even though he left them all dumbfounded, the gang members all left. If the boss claimed it was alright, then it must be.
"Go ahead then. Kill my son-in-law. Then you can kill me, take the position as head of the family for all of 15 minutes, and then you'll be shoved in the can with the others who don't understand basic etiquette. But, you have piqued my interest. If you spare him, I'll let you in under Matsuo's guidance. I like your attitude, you live by your own rules."
The blonde didn't let up from the giant's arm, but did holster his weapon. He turned over to Matsuo, the man in the black leather, and sighed. After a moment, he let up his grip, and stepped off the large man's back. Standing aside against the nearest wall, he folded his arms and looked down, still smiling at the floor with his eyes closed.
"Naoki! Wh-where the hell did you find this guy? He's the size of a boy, but he's stronger than I am!" The giant struggled to move, but once he regained his strength he quickly rushed over to the side of the elderly man.
"That doesn't matter. What matters is he's on our side, right Mr. Fujimura?"
The elderly man didn't pay any mind to the question Matsuo asked him. Instead, he turned his attention to the man against the wall.
"You there, foreigner. What's your name?"
The blonde didn't move, responding only with one word.
"Archer."
[x]
Add two extra lines to the summoning ritual… This will ensure I get a Servant strong enough to win the Grail. I can use the Grail to kill that disgusting monster. I will be sure that I will kill him. I will kill -
"...Let silver and steel be the essence. Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation. Let my great Master Schweinorg be the ancestor. Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall. Let the four cardinal gates close. Let the three-forked road from the crown reaching unto the Kingdom rotate. I hereby declare. Your body shall serve under me. My fate shall be your sword. Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail. If you will submit to this will and this reason, answer. An oath shall be sworn here. I shall attain all virtues of all of Heaven. I shall have dominion over all evils of all of Hell. Yet, though serves with thine eyes clouded in chaos. Thou, bound in the cage of madness. I am he who commands this chaos. From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three greet words of power, come forth from the ring of restraints, protector of the Holy Balance."
The words were spewed, but no soul followed them. The boy, 18, standing before the entity that now rested in the magic circle was lifeless. A husk of a human, with eyes that were as dead as the words that came from his mouth. The lifeless shell turned, however. Rickety sounds like bones snapping could be heard as the boy's head turned to look at a figure that now materialized in the corner of the basement.
"Good, my grandson. With this, you will win me the Grail, will you not?"
"Yes, Grandfather. I will bring you the Grail."
"Take this tool that I have provided you. It will serve you well."
The decrepit vampire in the corner of the room was suddenly shredded apart. His head was ripped from his neck, and his chest split in two. And yet, no blood spilled to the floor, only shadows filled the room and husky laughter echoed as the vampire Matou Zouken's body faded away.
As if on cue, the boy returned to life. Keeling over, the boy vomited onto the floor. Bile combined with blood formed a small puddle beneath the boy, who balled a fist and punched the ground. Another punch, then another, until his knuckles were bloodier than his bottom lip. Eventually, his hand was grasped, and he was lifted onto his feet. He looked at the woman, who was around his equal in height, and was immediately entranced by her beauty. She was scantily clad, wearing almost nothing, but yet no lecherous thoughts reached the boy's mind. He could only look at her face, and think that she must be the personification of the concept of beauty.
"I am your Servant. Berserker. What shall I call you, Master?"
"I'm ▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅" The boy smiled, and reached out to Berserker's hand. However, before he could shake hands with her, he quickly recoiled and gave a look of questioning.
"Wait, you're Berserker? How? That's impossible, you shouldn't be able to think, right?"
The woman shook her head. She clearly was a Berserker. Her weapon was not a sword, a spear, or a bow, and her appearance was too violent to be that of an Assassin. The strong muscles that she had and the statistics that the boy read definitely made her out to be the Mad Warrior.
"My Madness Enhancement is sealed. I will never unlock it, or I might just kill you here on the spot."
The woman's words were cold and serious. What she spoke was purely the truth. She would kill her Master on the spot if he unlocked her Madness Enhancement, so the boy noted that he should never unlock it. Berserker turned, and began walking towards the stairs to the basement, amassing the attention of the young boy once again.
"Wait, Berserker? Where are you going?"
"To kill the nearby Servant. Someone is approaching, and for that they will die."
The Servant disappeared into a mass of golden mana. The Master left in the room could only think to himself.
I didn't even get to learn her True Name, and she's already trying to kill someone. Are all Berserker's like this? If so, I -
The woman's touch was divine, but yet it could not stop the burning in the boy's right hand. He lay on the ground in front of his adoptive Grandfather's mansion, mending from a wound that should have been fatal. His Servant was nowhere to be found, but his connection with her was still present. So that meant she was alive. That's good. But then, who is this person here before him?
"Shh, don't worry, Matou. The burns are almost fully healed. You're lucky my Servant is good for this kind of thing!"
A warm smile. A genuine smile. This woman was not going to harm him. That much could be assured. The boy's body sank into the grass, and his eyes gazed up to the moon. The night was full, it should be almost 3am at this point.
"Master of Berserker, I'm not going to heal your Servant. As an enemy, I can not afford to jeopardize my Master's well being. However, I can not stand by and let an enemy of God harm an innocent boy, regardless of whether we are on opposing sides."
Berserker's Master sighed and looked down. He hadn't been a Master for more than an hour, and he'd already lost a fight. His Servant hadn't been killed, but if it weren't for the help from these two women, an enemy Master and her Servant, both he and Berserker would be dead by now. That was the situation he was in, but as he looked down at the grass, something dawned on him.
An ear shattering scream so loud it could only be compared to a banshee.
"Where's my clothes!? What happened to them!? I'm standing here, naked, in front of two beautiful women! Nonono, NONONONO!"
The two women's faces reddened and they turned around. They seemed to have put off the thought of the boy's nudity in favor of healing him. It was urgent, of course. The Matou boy quickly ran inside his grandfather's manor, returning within 5 minutes donning a pair of blue denim jeans and a long sleeved red tee shirt, contrasting his blue hair heavily.
"Thanks for healing me! Sorry about that, I'm ▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅, by the way."
The woman in front of him was already about to leave by the time he returned, and the Servant was no longer in sight. She looked confused, and simply gave a soft giggle before waving the remark off as some kind of damage from the attack earlier.
"I already knew your name. You're Matou Yosai, right?"
What? I would never take that filthy vampire's name. I just -
"Master, I'm asking you a question. If you do not answer, I will be forced to take it as a sign of disrespect."
Yosai nodded his head in affirmative to the question that the Servant asked him. They would act slower, and only fight those that came to them as attackers until Berserker was healed. Since an enemy Servant already knew where he resided, however, they would need to relocate and find a new place to stay.