Berserker
Kariya Matou stared at the servant he had just summoned. The said heroic spirit definitely was not something that he was expected to be called forth with a piece of rusty armor that Zouken – Kariya refused to call that abomination of a man 'father' in his mind – gave him as the catalyst. After all, this servant wore no armor at all.
Instead, his garb consisted of loose light-blue T-shirt, light-gray shorts and some strange sandals. While the heroic spirit's clothes indeed didn't look like something worn by a great warrior, the man himself did look like one: he was rather young, but very tall and muscular teen with tanned skin, orange hair and reddish-orange eyes that held some restrained blood-lust in them... To be honest, even if he knew that he can order this heroic spirit around with his command seals, Kariya was still more than a little bit intimidated by this seven feet tall hunk.
"I'm servant Berserker of this war." The giant said in a surprisingly soft voice. "Are you my master?"
"Yes." Kariya wheezed out before dissolving into a coughing fit: the Crest worms he had to take into his body in order to get to the supposed level of other masters of this war were affecting his health quite negatively. "I am…" The orange-haired teen narrowed his eyes at him but said nothing.
"Well Kariya." Zouken finally spoke, amusement in his tone. "Looks like you summoned quite an… interesting Servant. Just remember our agreement, if you give me the Grail you can have Sakura-chan. But I won't put too much faith on a failure like you." With those words he turned around and stalked out of the basement.
"...I don't like that man." Berserker said after what seemed like minutes of silence. Kariya sighed somewhat in relief: it looked like and his servant had at least something in common.
"So do I, Berserker, so do I..."
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While keeping Berserker in this world was not as prana-expensive as Kariya had thought, it still required took a lot of power, so the now-white-haired man was not sure just for how long he will be able to keep going with his deteriorating health. It was clear to him that his best chance to win the war was to defeat all other servants as soon as possible.
Thus, when the first battle of the Fourth Grail War began in the abandoned docks, Kariya wasted no time and ordered his servant to go there and do as much damage to other servants as possible. Most preferably, starting with Tokiomi's Archer... Berserker, being surprisingly gentle and considerate of others for someone of his class, seeing that his master was suffering from just keeping him around, eagerly complied, hoping that his quick victory will help him keep his master alive and (relatively) healthy.
Even though the docks weren't that far away, the orange-haired servant had arrived there only when the fight between Lancer and Saber had escalated to near free-for-all with Rider and Archer involved as well. And seeing that these servants were all very powerful, Berserker knew that without his main noble phantasm he didn't stand a chance against any of them. So, with a heavy sigh as he didn't like letting his beast side loose, he activated it.
A powerful surge of dark and tainted prana immediately drew the attention of the other servants present to the orange-haired teen they had previously almost mistaken for a civilian who decided to investigate the light-show happening in docks... While he was already as big as Rider, upon his transformation Berserker seemed to grow even bigger; his skin turned purplish-gray while his eyes were now yellow with dark-gray sclera; finally, a multitude of horn-like protrusions grew around his face and on his shoulders.
Letting out quite a bestial roar, Berserker swung his clawed demonic hand at Archer. For a brief moment everyone wondered, what the mad servant tried to achieve with such an 'attack' from such a range. Their unspoken question was quickly answered, when Berserker's hand began stretching – well, more like growing longer as new segments appeared in it. Of course, such an attack was not something that would land a hit on Archer, but it still came way too close to that for the golden servant's liking.
"You dare to raise your hand against the King, mongrel!" Archer exploded with fury as the space behind him became filled with ripples, through which various weapons were brought into this world. "Die, you dirty dog!" And making an exaggerated jest with his hand, the red-eyed blonde send those weapons raining down upon the beast-like Berserker.
The mad servant, though, proved to be more agile than one would think, given how bulky he appeared to be, and so the raining weapons from Archer's noble phantasm were unable to hit him, even if there were several close calls. Angry at the lowly mongrel who dared not to die when he, the King, had all but ordered him to, the golden-clad servant, though, could easily recognize that with his current tactic, it will turn into the battle of attrition. And while the other three servants present on the battlefield so far did nothing to attack either of them, nothing could guarantee that they won't team up with Berserker in order to removed him from the war. That couldn't be allowed to happen!
Looking through the nigh-infinite amount of various weapons stored in his treasury, Archer pulled out a hammer that had its head cracking with powerful lightnings. Brandishing this hammer towards Berserker like a wand, the red-eyed blonde sent a powerful lightning towards the beast-like man. The said servant tried to evade the attack, but the lightning changed its direction and ended up hitting his left side with enough force to throw him into the crates a good three dozen feet away.
That wasn't enough to defeat Berserker though, and several seconds later he emerged from the debris with the only sign that he had been hit by that lightning being a burnt hole in his clothes. Letting out a primal roar, the mad servant grew several large spikes on his left hand, before tearing them off. Then he threw these spikes at Archer, as if they were darts. Unfortunately, this attack bounced harmlessly from Archer's armor and only made him more angry – which resulted in several more lightnings being thrown at Berserker.
This time, the beast-like man was ready and blocked the lightnings with a tower shield he had transformed his right arm into. Seeing that this way of attacking the mad servant would no longer work, Archer threw the hammer at his opponent (who dodged it, albeit far from easily) and began to once again rain various weaponry onto the advancing Berserker. But the monstrous servant once again had shown that he was very agile, despite his hulking form, and managed to close on in the red-eyed blonde with only a few minor wounds appearing on his body.
Then Berserker jumped at Archer, enveloping him into a monstrous hug, much to the golden servant's displeasure. Several pod grew upon the beast-like man's body. Then these pod moved, all of them turning to aim at the 'captured' heroic spirit, while a large build-up of prana in the form of balls of blue light formed on each pod.
Sensing that whatever attack Berserker was about to unleash could hurt even him, Archer did a rather wise thing and shifted into the astral plain, causing the beams of concentrated energy pass through the space he had been occupying moments ago without hitting anything... Re-materializing onto a lamppost not far from where Berserker was, the golden servant summoned his most trusted weapon: a sword-like thing that consisted of golden handle and hand-guard and three purplish cylinders instead of the blade.
"You dare to touch the King, mongrel." The blonde man hissed dangerously. "Your punishment for this shall be death!" The cylinders of his 'sword' started rotating. "Enuma..." Suddenly, he stopped charging up whatever attack he had in mind and scowled. Schooling his features back into regal calmness, the golden servant let his weapon disappear. "I shall kill you next time, dog." And with those words he faded away, apparently recalled by his master.
Berserker let out an angry roar, before turning his attention to the remaining three servants that appeared to have done nothing but watching his fight with Archer ever since it had started. Letting out another roar, the beast-like servant was about to attack them, when Kariya told him through their link to disengage: apparently the sick man was running out of his current prana reserves and continuing the fight might cause him serious health complications. Accepting this command, Berserker turned around and left the dock in a series of long jumps...
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As much as he hated the manor – well, any place that Zouken inhabited – Kariya still decided to drop by so that he could check on Sakura. For some reason, though, he could not find her anywhere in the mansion. Did that ancient abomination let the girl out to play with other children? Somehow, Berserker's master doubted this. Still, as Sakura seemed to be not there, he felt no need to stick around the place that was disgusting him... The white-haired man was about to leave the building, when his servant materialized in front of him, preventing him from stepping out of the door.
"What is it?" Kariya asked more than a little bit angrily.
"There is something happening in the basement." Berserker replied, completely unaffected by his master's sudden anger. Actually, somewhere deep down he could understand the man a he disliked this place and its master just as much... Nodding, the white-haired master headed towards the basement, already afraid of what he'll find down there. The old bastard didn't 'disappoint' him: as soon as Kariya stepped in, he saw his adopted niece surrounded and continuously violated by a writhing mass of foul slimy greyish-green flesh of crest worms.
"That bastard!" The Matou family's master for the Grail War growled. Zouken, that monster in the human form had promised him that he will not 'train' Sakura for as long as he was participating in the war. Yet, here, right in front of Kariya's eyes was the proof that the old bastard was not to be trusted... And the worst part, there seemed to be nothing that he could do in order to save Sakura – they both had the cursed crest worms inside their bodies, so Zouken will be able to find them no matter how far they ran or how well they hid. Hell, most likely, Kariya thought, he won't even manage to leave the mansion with Sakura – the old bastard has the ability to kill him at any time he wished with those cursed abominations he put into his body... Still, the white-haired magus desperately wanted to do something to save his (adopted) niece.
"What are those things?" Berserker asked, his orange eyes firmly locked onto the mass of crest worms that feasted depravedly on the little purple-haired girl.
"Those are the crest worms. They are foul parasitic abomination and with them that monster Zouken can find us anywhere and can kill us whenever he feels like it." Kariya replied through the mental link: if did that verbally, the old bastard would know that he was planning something and wouldn't hesitate to kill him right away.
"Parasitic?" Berserker replied, also via the mental link, apparently understanding his master's reason for such secrecy. "I know I don't like my power, but, maybe, this time it can be used to do something good? After all, when injected into someone else, it'll forcefully kill anything else that doesn't naturally belong to the body." The white-haired man became completely still while his mind went into overdrive, working with the revelation that Berserker had just made. There was a chance for him to save Sakura!
But... Even if he did purge the crest worms from her body, Zouken'd immediately know about this and will off him while also sealing all exits from the mansion. Berserker couldn't last very long in this world without a constant supply of prana. A day if he were to just sit absolutely still. If Berserker were to fight – and he undoubtedly would have to – his time in this world would be cut down to mere hours. And after the servant ceased to exist, there will be nothing to stop Zouken from capturing Sakura and putting her through the 'training' once again...
Somehow, it looked like the orange-haired heroic spirit once again had correctly guessed what was going through his master's mind.
"The girl already possessed enough prana to sustain me. Transfer your contract onto her once you free her from the outside worm." Berserker said. "I'll try to purge those worms from your body, master, after I'm done with her. But even if it doesn't work, I'll remain in this world to protect her for as either of us draw breath." Kariya sighed:this plan might actually work, even though he doubted he'll survive the purging of crest worms from his body. Well, it was not like he expected to survive the war anyway...
"Alright, let's do it."
Matou Zouken's eyes opened as he felt the crest worms implanted inside Sakura die in a way that definitely wasn't natural. So... That stupid wayward son of his decided that he could break their deal? It was time to teach the brat a lesson he'll never forget in his afterlife. Trying to sense the crest worms inside that traitor Kariya, Zouken, much to his confusion, found them to be dead as well...
Of course, he reasoned, someone as inadequate as magic as his son couldn't have had successfully removed the crest worms form another without a major sacrifice. Something like his own life, for example. Very well, this was a very nasty setback, but nothing that he couldn't fix. And he was sure that Sakura would enjoy the extra-extensive training he was going to give her to make up for Kariya's betrayal.
So, raising himself out of his armchair, Zouken headed downstairs to collect Sakura and return her to her training. But as soon as he reached the stairs, the bug-controlling bastard found himself face to face with a very angry Berserker – already transformed into his beast form – with unconscious Sakura held tightly in his monstrous arm.
"Master ordered me to kill you." The not-so-mad servant roared , while raising his free and morphed-into-axe arm above Zouken's head...
Berserker
True identity: 'Bipolar' Juugo
Series: "Naruto"
Age: 18
Sex: Male
Alignment: True Neutral.
Strength: B / A - onwards from here, Juugo's stats are presented as: human form / beast form
Endurance: C++ / A+
Agility: B / C+
Mana: D / A
Luck: D+ / E
Independent action: C++ / D++
Magic resistance: E++ / C
Eye of the Mind (false): C / n/a
Instincts: C / B++
Presence Concealment: D+ / n/a
Battle Continuation: C+ / B++
Mental Pollution: D / B++
Animal Dialogue: A / n/a - Juugo can communicate with various animals and have them do his binding.
Monstrous Strength: n/a / B - Juugo can boost his strength at the cost of more of his sanity.
Mad Enhancement: D - Juugo is locked in his 'beast' state with additional '+' to his Strength.
Noble Phantasms:
Shinobi training: C, support.
Juugo possesses chakra but has no proper training in ninja arts. His skill set consists of a few basic techniques and support skills like surface and water walking.
False Sage Mode: Mad Beast: A, support, defensive, anti-person, anti-army.
Due to an unknown reason, Juugo was born with an ability to fall into a bestial form in which he gains a lot of power at the cost of his sanity. At first Juugo was unable to control when he slips into his beast form, nor he was able to reason while in it, but gradually he managed to gain some control both over the times of transformation and over himself while he's transformed. In his beast form, Juugo can alter his body to suit his immediate needs, e.g. altering his hands into forms of various melee weapons. Juugo can also grow 'pods' all over his body and discharge powerful beams of concentrated prana from them. While he is in this 'beast' form, Juugo has the 'beast' attribute and will receive additional damage from certain weapons that are known for slaying various monsters.