The first thing he felt was the cold wind brushing against his skin. Cracking his neck, he looked around with a raised eyebrow. It seemed to be some sort of underground complex. Not the most inspired of locations to be summoned in, but who was Angra to judge? Certainly had its own flair in a way. Those were the thoughts that ran through his head before he noticed he wasn't alone within the circle. He whistled before clapping his hands together.
"Look at that! It's a whole class reunion!"
The hound with its headless rider growling at him. The massive gorgon huffing in dismissal, giant snakes hissing. A scoff from a pale woman, the flagpole rammed into the ground. The cloaked man saying nothing, his yellow eyes glowing from underneath his head. The armored entity, looking around in confusion, his hatred simmering beneath the crimson metal. Angra chuckled, leaning over a bit with his hands on his hips. Man, their 'master' had to be one twisted son of a bitch to summon them all, on purpose or not! What a comedy it was! The group turned around, looking at the gathering behind them. Several cloaked figures stood there, being all ominous and all, like cultists usually were. Many of them were in shock, staring at the more monstrous looking ones of their ragtag band. Others seemed flat out emotionally dead, which was something to worry about. The Avengers all twitched when they spotted the figure in the front, somewhat small, female, yet radiating something…familiar. She chuckled at the sight, almost giddy as she spread her arms open. Angra glanced at his compatriots, realizing they weren't gonna say anything, and decided to roll his shoulders. Fine, he'll be the diplomat then. How hard could it be? He took a step forward. It caused an immediate reaction. A katana was drawn in the blink of an eye, while a small knight figure summoned a spear out of nowhere. Another servant then? Angra laughed before leaning forward, his hands in his pockets.
"You are our summoner then? What do you want with a bunch of Avengers?"
"Avengers? My, we are kindred spirits then! It'll make things simple then!"
Said Avengers narrowed their eyes at that word. She sounded so proud of it too. Which meant that woman, no, that girl, didn't remotely understand what being an Avenger meant. Still, they could all feel her malice, her resentment, as she spoke once more, this time about her goals.
"I'm going to destroy this accursed world and remake it into something better. Tear it all down, this wretched system. For that, I shall make use of you." She extended her hand forward. "It'd be easier if you all cooperated."
Destroying the world. Angra let out a hum. What a classic. Under normal circumstances, if they were summoned normally, as normal as summoning an Avenger could be, they might even consider it. Most of them wanted the world, or the people within, burn and suffer.
However…This wasn't exactly normal, was it now? Since they could remember a time where they actively fought for the salvation of humanity. Not only that, this 'master' of theirs just rubbed them all the wrong way. Thus, as one, they gave their response that shook the very cave they were in.
"We refuse!"
Well, Lobo growled, but the message came across as weapons were summoned and drawn on both sides, muscles and fur tensing up. Throughout all that, their master didn't seem shocked, or even afraid. Instead, she tilted her head, like a confused child, blinking underneath her hood.
"Why?"
One by one, they gave their response.
"I've seen the world burning down so terribly often, I sorta got bored of it, you see?" Angra said in a mocking tone, putting a hand on his chest as if he was some offended noble. Jeanne Alter scoffed, summoning up flames as she rammed the butt of her flagpole on the ground.
"Yeah, do your own dirty work, dumbass."
"As if I'd let a petty little insect order me around," Gorgon growled, towering over everyone while Lobo growled, ready to pounce, with Hessian clutching his weapons tight in his palms.
"I have only one target of my hatred. Your grievances are of no concern to me," Salieri declared, sword pointing at their summoner. Dantes nodded stoically, his back turned to her as he glanced back with a stoic expression.
"What you do with your hatred and vengeance is your own business. I shall merely observe."
They all openly declared their defiance. Whatever system they used to summon the Avengers, it didn't appear to have come with command seals, given the lack of tattoos on the back of their summoner's hand. A swift glanced across the crowd told them none of them had them either. Despite all that, the summoner was almost blase as she shrugged, causing the Avengers to tense up in response.
"Pity. Oh well, can't win them all." She raised her hand with almost a bored look. "Hard way it is."
Their instincts as Heroic Spirits, no, as fighters that fought in Singularities, screamed at them. As one, they all rushed forward, speed beyond what mortal men were capable of. But they weren't fast enough as a finger snap sounded in the air…and send almost all of them spiraling to the ground, collapsing as their heads began to ring like crazy, as their minds were being split apart with agony, their vision filled with static. Angra couldn't help but smirk, despite the urge to scream like his fellow Avengers. A mental attack! An extremely powerful one, that managed to pierce through even the single minded hatred of theirs! It'd be impressive if he wasn't being debialited by it. If nothing else, it confirmed a simple fact.
That girl wasn't a magus, like he initially thought. She was…something beyond that. However, mental attack or not, it was not the wisest move to use, considering who was on Angra's side.
"Kuhahahaha, a battle it is then!"
The Determination of Steel would not be hindered by a mere attack against one's soul. Thus, Edmond Dantes' rush forward was not interrupted at all, the flames of vengeance summoned up in his palms. Meanwhile, even if the pain was growing and their vision was becoming more and more twisted, the other Avengers didn't stay idle.
"You fucker!"
"You dare?!"
Jeanne Alter threw up an inferno, while Gorgon's snakes took aim. Angra was faintly aware that Lobo disappeared, his animal instincts most likely urging him to escape. Smart choice, all things considered, Angra wished he could do that, as it took all his strength to remain conscious.
"Oh no you don't!"
A voice sound like a dozen voices at once cut through the inferno with their katana, before slamming against the French Avenger. Meanwhile the Knight engaged Gorgon with several mooks, tying them down. Buying time, because that was all they needed to do. He could see it, the ferocity diminishing in Jeanne Alter's eyes, in Gorgon's eyes, if at a slowed rate. He faintly noticed that blood was spilled, Dantes' form forced back by someone, as well as Salirie being forced back by the other servants of that summoner. He could see a total loss when he saw one. With that in mind, he chuckled. He looked at their summoner, her form a shadow now that he could barely make out, holding something long and pointy in her hand that she flicked once for some reason. Oh well. He stuck around long enough. He was many things, but he refused to become a slave, which was a possibility that was highly likely now. With that in mind, before his pupils became as blank as Jeanne Alter's, he raised his middle finger with a cocky grin, just as Dantes rushed back in, injuries be damned.
"Fuck you~!"
With that said, he rammed his dagger into his own throat. The rest…was history.
/
"Shirou!"
"Hubaah?!"
Shirou, formerly known as Angra Mainyu, fell down from his nice comfy hammock onto the cold hard floor. Wincing as he rubbed the back of his head, he looked up with an annoyed look, staring at the gargoyle looking down at him.
"Get up, dumbass."
"Feel the love, Gros." Cracking his neck, he rose to his feet and followed his grumpy kin. "What's wrong?"
For a moment, Gros didn't say anything. But then he glanced back as they hurried down the dungeon, a furious growl escaping him.
"Someone ratted us out. They could be here at any moment. That's what Fels said at least."
The unsaid 'I told you all so' was audible to Shirou's ears, so he let out a sigh. Go figure that Gros' distrust of humans and what not would be confirmed. Questions rolled around in Shirou's mind, wondering who ratted them out. Couldn't be anyone Kojiro knew, they all seemed like nice, trustable people. So it meant that it had to be someone relatively decent. In the end, he shrugged it off. Not his problem to deal with the information breach, they had to focus on not getting hunted down like rats.
"Any idea on the ETA of the big guy?" Shirou asked. Gros twitched for a moment, fully aware who he meant, before shaking his head.
"He's on his way up. But that could take a while."
"Days, got it."
That meant their strongest gun was out for the foreseeable future, because why should things be easy? Soon enough, they reached the meeting place. Lido was taking charge as always, making sure everyone packed only the necessities. Ray made sure to keep an eye on the younger ones, calming their nerves with her motherly nature. Everyone was here then. Lido noticed Gros and Shirou entering, smiling at them in his own lizardy way, before walking up to them.
"Do we get any help from up there?" Shirou asked, crossing his arms. Lido scratched the back of his head with a deep sigh.
"Ganesha is trying to organize things to keep a lookout, but honestly? I'm hoping for too much. You yourself know the best about all sorts of secret passages. They can easily slip through."
Shirou laughed a bit at that. That was an understatement. The city was large as hell and there was only so many people Ganesha had. They wouldn't even be able to cover half of the city, much less the whole of it. That's ignoring all the black market areas so to say. Which meant the Xenos were on their own. Lido hummed thoughtfully before turning to Gros.
"What about Belluchi?"
They raised an eyebrow at that. Shirou knew that Lido became fond of the protege of Kojiro, but he wondered what they talked about back at the party that he was that fond of him. Gros scoffed before shaking his head.
"Fels is keeping him out of this." He gave Lido a pointed look. "Good. Things are messy enough as they are."
The lizard flinched before letting out a deep sigh.
"Hmmm…true enough. We cannot rely too much on them."
"Finally making some sense, Lido."
"Gros…"
Two sides of the same coin. Hope and cynicism. Shirou sighed before stepping between the, arms raised in a placating manner.
"Alright, alright, we can talk about politics later." He turned to Lido. "You got the routes?"
"All planned out."
Shirou smirked at that and cracked his neck.
"Then let's get moving."
As they all wished each other good luck, Shirou took a look at his team. Wiene, the cute little girl, tilted her head as she was carried by Four, the gentle Formoire. Ranye scoffed, the arachnid turning her head away in response to Shirou's award winning grin. He nodded at Aude, the War Shadow before motioning for Cliff, the gryph, to scout ahead. Carefully, they navigated through one of many routes, outside the maps of the guild, and thus outside the knowledge of many. Nevertheless they made sure to keep up the pace, to the point they were even sweating in some exhaustion. Wiene whimpered, hugging the fur of Four a bit more tight.
"Are we going to be alright…?" She muttered before she twitched. Shirou glanced at her with narrowed eyes.
"What's wrong?"
"Do you hear that…?"
The rest of the group shared a confused look. Shirou sharpened his ears…and heard nothing. So they all shook their heads, even as Wiene grimaced more and more.
"Someone is crying…! Over the-"
"Whoa, hold it."
Shirou caught the small girl jumping off Four's hold, holding her beneath her armpits. He put her back into the formoire's grasp before ruffling her hair.
"It's dangerous, so don't just run off."
"But she sounds like she's in pain!"
Ah, bleeding hearts and youth. Nice to have, but not during a situation where they all might die horribly. With a sigh, Shirou rolled his shoulder before glancing at the way Wiene was about to run off to. Then, he nodded and raised his thumb.
"I got this. You stay on track." He turned to the arachnid of the group. "Ranye, you're in charge while I'm gone."
"Are you sure, Shirou?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. She knew it was a trap. So did he. But he also knew she was a bleeding heart. A bleeding heart that could become a literal one if she went. For all her hard exterior, she was way too soft inside. Thus, Shirou nodded once more.
"I'm very good at running away if I have to."
Thus, the former Avenger vanished into the darkness, as the group advanced without him. Wiene still frowned, her ears twitching at the pain she was hearing. Then however, her eyes went wide and she looked around in confusion.
"What's wrong?"
"The cries…stopped…" A wide smile appeared on her face. "Shirou must have saved her!"
/
"Night night. Sorry about this."
He pulled his dagger out of the chest from the poor girl, crucified and bound to the tree. She gargled up blood, silenced by Shirou's hand as he covered her mouth. And yet, despite the pain she had to be in, even as her body started to disappear into dust from having her crystal shattered, she stared her killer straight in the eye with an emotion she should not have felt.
Gratitude.
Shirou grimaced at that one. He wasn't used to seeing that emotion in one's eyes after stabbing them. Oh well. With a sigh, he wiped his weapon. A proper hero would have probably saved her. Made sure that she got out of this alive. But he, who was the weakest, didn't have that luxury. Not to mention, he wasn't an Ally of Justice. All the world's evil was contained within him, even after changing form. He was who he was. Thus, he didn't feel particularly bad about picking the easy way out. The only thing that was going to be bothersome was lying to Wiene. Oh well, just one more mark on his black soul. For now, he had to focus on business. He turned around, daggers still outside as he rolled his shoulders with a grin.
"Hey, the fuck are you doing?!"
Thugs, the lot of them. It was textbook cliche, how they dressed. Ignoring the nameless mooks, he looked their leader in the eyes, hidden by goggles. Chuckling a bit, he spread his arms open.
"It's free prey. You can't just hang something like that up and not expect me to take it. That's what adventurers do!"
Anger. Yet understanding mutterings. Scum recognized scum after all. They would have done the same, if they weren't in the business of smuggling. However, any hope of bamboozling those suckers went down the drain, as their captain, that Dix fellow, aimed his spear at Shirou with a smile.
"No worries, boys. We got ourselves a replacement product."
The mooks blinked in confusion. Shirou gasped dramatically, putting a hand on his chest.
"Whatever could you mean, good sir?"
"Don't bother, Mr. Bandages. I know you're one of them."
Smacking his lips, Shirou nodded once.
"Welp, I tried."
With that said, he immediately threw his daggers at them. Dix dodged them with ease, rushing forward. Shirou bent his knees a bit, as energy flared up within him, blue lights shining through the bandages, from his pitch black skin.
"Death Desire!"
/
"What's taking him so long…"
"What's taking who so long?"
"AH!"
Weapons, artificial and natural, raised themselves, aiming at the individual that came out of nowhere. They visibly relaxed however when they spotted Shirou. The harpy, Fear, puffed up her cheeks and put her wings against her hip.
"Don't do that! We're all on edge!"
"Sorry, sorry, hahaha!"
"Keep it down, we're in enemy territory!" Gros , they were within a forest, but the only bastion of adventurers, Rivira, was close by. Shirou didn't know why they wanted to meet up here, but there was something to say about hiding in plain sight. He blinked when an awkward silence fell and worried looks were directed at him. He looked down at himself before realizing. Oh right, he looked terrible. His bandages were in tatters now, revealing the cuts and wounds across his body, as well as his shaking legs. He chuckled before waving their concerns off.
"I'm more damaged from running than anything, don't worry."
"You used Death Desire?" Lido asked with concern. Overclocking his body was one of the things the Xenos leader always frowned upon. While their race was more sturdy than others, Shirou would overexert his own crystal, forcing magical energy to push that body to its limits. Still, the former Servant shrugged before accepting some monster crystals for swallowing. It sure was handy, being able to heal up naturally like this.
"Needs must be met."
"Did you save her?"
He turned to Wiene, who seemed worried. He chuckled and went down on one knee, ruffling her hair.
"Sure did. We went different routes, for safety, but she's fine."
He felt the stares of the old timers on him. Their knowing looks. Gros seemed to be this close to tearing his skull out, but he held himself back, knowing that now was not the time. Shirou was at peace at that. After all, he was the bad guy. Still, Gros needed something to divert his anger to, so he turned to Lido with a snarl.
"We can't just keep running. What if they have more of our brethren? What if they use more of them as hostages?"
"Hm. So you want take the fight to them?"
"Damn straight!"
Lido hissed before shaking his head, his own agitation rising.
"Gros, no, we can't just attack them like that! We want to co exist!"
"No offense, Lido, but if you brush all of them under the same moniker, you're an idiot."
"Shirochhi?"
Shirou raised his palms in demonstration.
"Good. Evil. They aren't separated by race. And those guys? Evil to the core. Believe me, I know. And don't pretend we Xenos are pure good as well. Remember the wolf?"
Well, not that Lobo was a traditional Xenos in that sense, but it got the point across. They all flinched, remembering the wild beast that radiated malice. The utter disgust in the eyes when they looked upon Xenos. Lido lowered his head, pained to face the truth, that they could only fight now.
"So what do you want us to do?"
"I agree with Lido. We can't cause a giant commotion." Shirou paused, before rubbing his chin. "Well, I don't have anything against burning Rivira down to the ground. We are bound to hit all of them eventually."
"Shi-"
He raised his hand to stop any interjections..
"But, since you all are like that, I guess we gotta do this the hard way." He hit his palm with a smirk. "They try to bait us? Well, I say we bait them back."
He glanced at the voivre, who blinked in confusion at his wide smile.
"Wiene. Do you want to help us?"
/
AN: It's out at least, that's all I can say. One step at a time, slowly, agonizingly.