Don't expect updates to be so frequent, but I've been feeling like writing like a maniac and stocking up on chapters so I can, at least, update once a week. I hope to stock up on some more chapters this weekend to continue updating at least one story once a week. Here's to hoping!
-::fate/INVERSION::-
-:Chapter V – The First Contact:-
"Hope you two don't mind I intrude on this lover's quarrel?"
Rin jerked her head up, eyes widening as she noticed a man in blue crouched on the fencing surrounding the roof top, a crimson lance resting on his shoulders with both arms interlocked to keep it braced against the back of his neck.
A wicked smile was on his face, red eyes mischievous and dangerous. Rin was at a loss of what to do for a moment, processing just what was happening when her mind zeroed in on his particular phrasing. "L-lovers?! You're clearly mistaken! We're not—"
"Rin," Archer interrupted her sharply, "now isn't the time." He had stepped in-between her and the strange man, one arm held out to shield her. The man in blue whistled and laughed. "Oh, you wanna fight?" He stood up and swung his spear casually in a circle with one hand. "I was only told to observe and not engage… Oh well. Mistakes happen."
His voice, absolutely calm and cool, was full of murderous intent. His eyes gleamed like that of a beast's, and Rin found her eyes focusing back between the man and his weapon. His strange appearance, his behavior… It all seemed to point to him being a servant. And if he were a servant…
"He's a Lancer class servant," she heard Archer whisper to her. "Very powerful. Unless you wish for me to engage him right now, I would suggest fleeing before he makes the first strike."
"Right," she replied, her body tensing. "On my mark, I run to the edge and jump. You take care of the landing."
Archer smirked, his fiery eyes flashing. "As you wish, my master."
Well, at least someone's having fun. Rin half-expected Archer to jump at the chance of fighting another servant, but he apparently wasn't nearly as bull-headed as she thought. The man in blue—Lancer—cocked his head to the side. "What the hell are you two mumbling about? Huh, I must have really ruined the mood for you two lovebirds—"
"We are not like that!" True to form, Rin's temper flared up. Thankfully, however, she used this bout of energy to sprint away, but not without firing a single fire spell in Lancer's direction. Even if the spell had no effect on him, it provided enough cover to allow Rin to reach the other side of the roof without incident. Muttering a spell, her magical circuits flared with magic and she leapt up, soaring over the fence and into the cold open sky. As she fell, there was a flash of gold to her left, and she felt armor clad arms pick her up from the air.
Archer's feet hit the ground first, and skidded to a halt, still cradling Rin bridal style in his arms. However, much to her dismay, he didn't put her down immediately. Instead, he grinned at her, arching a silverish blond eyebrow at her. "My my, and here I never thought you would trust me enough to carry you away. This truly feels like a romantic scene."
"No it is not!" Rin spat, practically throwing herself out of Archer's arms. She took back everything nice she had to say about him. He was nothing more than a sex fiend.
She was just beginning to scramble to her feet to save face from her rather unladylike flop when there was a spark of red. She heard Archer call her name, and he jerked her onto her back, throwing her behind him as Lancer threw out his spear, the blade barely missing his face.
Not good, Rin thought. Archer class servants are best suited for distant combat. We're in real trouble if Lancer continues this assault—
There was a golden light, followed by a clang of metal on metal, as an oddly shaped sword materialized out of nowhere, catching Lancer's second attempt to strike.
"What?!" Lancer cried out, shock written all over his face as he glared at the brilliant golden sword before him. "Are you Saber?"
Archer smirked coldly. "Not quite." Leaning forward, he parried the spear, causing Lancer to take a step back. Getting into a fighting stance with his spear held in both hands, Lancer narrowed his eyes furiously at the other servant.
Archer, on the other hand, was a mirror opposite of Lancer's stance, his body completely relaxed with his sword held loosely in one hand. "What's the matter, Lancer? Afraid I might be get a one up on you?"
"Don't be so cocky, you miscreant!" Lancer retorted. "Just because you managed to stop my attack this time doesn't mean you'll be so lucky your second time around."
"I'll keep that in mind, but" Archer stated lightly, tossing his sword casually up in the air before catching it, "You shouldn't underestimate me either." The moment his hands grasped the handle, a second sword materialized in his other hand, looking exactly like the first sword. Lancer's and Rin's eyes widened in shock, followed by Lancer clicking his tongue.
"Geez, what the hell are you?"
What are you, indeed. Rin wanted to know herself who exactly Archer was. He had told her shortly after summoning him that he had no recollection of who he was. No name, no origin, nothing. That had certainly thrown Rin for a loop, but she had chosen to take the positive side; if he didn't know who he was, then no one else would either. At least hopefully.
However, one key detail on finding the true identity of a servant was their Noble Phantasm. Rin had no doubt that Lancer's Noble Phantasm had something to do with his spear (there were the rare occasions where a servant would possess a weapon that was not their Noble Phantasm and could be a red herring. Kirei told her as much one time). Typically, however, the primary weapon a servant used was a hint towards whatever class they were, so she was a bit surprised to see Archer having summoned two swords instead of, well, a bow.
But perhaps that was for the best. That meant that Archer could engage in close combat, and that also removed the one weakness Rin was so terrified of having taken advantage of. With that no longer being her fear, she strangely felt at ease. Perhaps Archer's confidence rubbed off on her, because she shouted to her servant, "You better not lose, you hear me? Show me just how great of a servant you are!"
Barking out a laugh, Archer's grin grew wider. "I thought you'd never ask!" He then charged forward, bringing both blades down on Lancer. The other barely had the time to block both with his spear, grinding his teeth with a pissed off expression on his face. "Hey, I said—"
"Don't get cocky!" The moment he said the word "cocky," the crimson spear suddenly exploded with energy, pushing Archer back with a mighty shove. He recovered quickly mid-flight, landing back on his face with an intrigued expression on his face. Lancer was now in a complete rage, veins visible on his forehead and teeth bared to reveal sharp canines. He looked similar to some kind of wild beast, in Rin's opinion.
Archer hummed loudly. "Hmm, good, good. I like that expression on your face! It seems you've finally realized what type of an opponent you're facing. Like I said, do not underestimate me!"
As Mitsuzuri remarked earlier, Shinji did not show up for club in the morning nor after school practice. Not that Shirou minded. It was honestly earlier to deal with the club without his shenanigans. Of course, once practice had concluded for the day, Shirou dismissed everyone and got to work cleaning up the place. On most days, Mitsuzuri and Sakura would end up helping him with the clean-up, but seeing as Mitsuzuri was not around and he had, more or less, forced Sakura to leave for the night (as he wanted to make sure someone like her, who was so shy and meek, to arrive safe before night fell). Needless to say, the task took longer than he expected, and by the time he was done, it was pitch black outside.
Granted, it was winter, so night always fell quicker. That meant he had to be more careful went going outside. "Better get going," he said, packing his things and swinging the strap of his bag over his shoulder. He took only two steps before he heard a loud explosion coming from one of the school's buildings.
"What the—" Shirou's feet began to move towards the explosion without his conscious decision. The feeling in his gut from earlier worsened, making him pick up the speed. He was certain there wasn't anyone around at this hour, but on the off chance there was…
The sound of clanking metal and a roar halted his mad dash. Skidding to a halt, he tried desperately to catch his breath while straining his ears to listen closely. As he had thought, there were definite sounds of metal grinding against metal.
Every part of his body was telling him to flee from there, and fast, yet his legs did not seem to listen. They remained stationed in one place, trapping him behind a fence and a wall. Swallowing the large thump that had settled in his throat, he shuffled his feet slowly and carefully to the edge of the wall. Curiosity was killing him, and while his brain was practically screaming at him to run, he had this unshakeable desire to just… see. He had to know, no matter what. Maybe it was whatever was causing the chaos in Fuyuki, who knows?
Shirou only took five shuffling steps forward when he saw the source of the noises. Three people standing in the middle of the soft ball field, one clad in blue and the second in gold, the third wearing something red. While he could make out a good deal of the features of the two in blue and gold, he couldn't see anything of the third, as they were too far away.
Not that the third person was all that interesting, all things considered. After all, the first two were in the middle of a heated battle, like something out of a story book. The man in blue, wielding a sinister red lance, thrust and jabbed at the man in gold, who seemed to block every attack with one of the swords in either hand.
Suddenly, a beam shot through the air, towards the man in blue. He ducked, the beam barely missing him before striking the ground and exploding in a reddish inferno. The blast was so powerful, however, that Shirou's now jelly legs gave in, and he cried out in surprise, falling on his backside with a thump.
The smoke from the explosion blocked his vision, and he shook the stars from his eyes, only to see the man in blue standing before him. His unearthly red eyes, burning with a mix of frustration and murderous intent. The man sighed before lifting his spear up.
"Sorry, kid, but rules are rules. No witnesses."
Shirou did not know what compelled him to do this, but regardless, he pointed behind the man in blue and, while looking beyond the man, let out a cry of surprise. The man in blue was, funny enough, surprised and turned his head to look at what Shirou had been pointing at, only to realize too late that the redhead had jumped to his feet and sprinted inside the school, leaving a cloud of dust (and a very pissed off attempted murderer) in his wake.
Shirou didn't how long he had been running, but he did know he was running out of energy to run quickly. His chest had begun to burn for awhile, and he could taste copper in his mouth. Gulping for air desperately, he continued to run as hard and fast as he could. He was going to make it; he had to make it.
He saw a flash of red in the corner of his eye before being blown to the side, smashing shoulder first into a door, collapsing it and falling in. Despite his vision blurring and the great amount of pain in his shoulder—he was certain he had dislocated it—Shirou refused to remain down, scrambling up to his feet, only to find the red lance coming at him at inhumane speed.
It pierced his chest in the dead center. Coughing up blood, he slammed into a desk, slumping against as he tried in vain to hold on. The spear was removed from his chest, and his attacker clicked his tongue in disapproval. "That was for that rotten trick you pulled earlier. Don't think you'll be getting off easy this time."
As the man in blue raised the spear up, Shirou realized the futility of his circumstances. He was going to die tonight, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. Despite surviving a fire that stole so many people's lives, he, Shirou Emiya, was going to meet his end at this crazy man's overly glorified pointy stick. And just thinking about it like that made him angry.
I'm better than this, he thought. I shouldn't be meeting my end here, not to him. He's… he's nothing more than a—
"…mongrel…" Yeah, that was the word, Shirou thought as he was suddenly submerged into unconscious. That guy was nothing more than a stupid mongrel.