Chapter Eighteen
Waver Velvet, also known as Lord El-Melloi II, is currently using a car for cover. It's only been a few days since the aliens first appeared over Fuyuki City before more space crafts descended from space throughout the world within hours afterwards. London is apparently one such city that the aliens have deemed to be a target of interest. More than that, it's the Clock Tower itself that they seem more interested in destroying than any other British military base. This further narrows his suspicions that the aliens know about the moonlight society. A blur of gray rushes pass him and swipes out a squad of troopers that had him pinned down. He breathes a quick sigh of relief as he stands. "Thanks Gray."
His savior, a girl with the hair color to match her name, rests her scythe over her shoulder and turns to him. "Of course, Shisho." While she tends to keep a hood over her head, it has since blown off ever since the Battle of London began. With that, Waver can see again how closely she resembles Saber, King Arthur, from the Fourth Holy Grail War he participated in. From what he got from her, she didn't always look like a carbon copy until that war began and Saber was summoned. The only difference between the two is the gray hair Gray has. However even that feature is barely holding water as ever since the Fifth Holy Grail War started, streaks of blonde have started to appear in Gray's hair. He also notices that Gray seemed to also have inherited the King's magical core since she can now use Mana Burst like Saber could. Waver can only chalk it up as King Arthur having been summoned once again. Gray was born and modeled to be a vessel for King Arthur which is why she is this way.
A shotgun blast brings his attention back to the present and they both look towards the noise to see a lone trooper falling over from a bullet wound in the chest. The shooter steps out of a car reloading his shotgun. He wears a black leather jacket, sport shades, has scars across his face, and blonde hair. "You missed one."
"I figured I should leave one for you, Kairi." Waver tells the man, who will be the last generation of the Sisigou family due to him having a curse that prevents him from having children. The man has tried adopting a distant relative with the hopes of transferring his family crest to her. However she died in the attempt which left him devastated and ending up becoming a freelancer/bounty hunter. "Do you have any good news for us?"
The look on the freelancer tells the Lord otherwise. "Although the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force managed to keep that big ass spacecraft from entering the mainland so far, but as we can see, their troops are still able to land anyways though they are easier to deal with."
"What about the public finding out about us?"
"We've been lucky in that regard since if any civilian happens to see any mage craft, the aliens can take the flak for that." Before they could continue their conversation, the ground shakes as they hear a heavy thump. They rid their surprise by the second thump and take cover inside an abandoned store. The ground shakes with every thump which also grows louder. It doesn't take a genius to conclude that the thumps are large footsteps. Then a Challenger Two tank drives down the street with an escort of three armored cars heading towards the sound. The trio watches as the convoy comes to an immediate stop at the intersection and has every gun turn to the right. A loud bang from the tank shot starts the line of fire from the convoy down that street. Clanks of metal are easily heard before being drowned out by a heavy cannon shot that sends a big blaster shot at the convoy destroying it in one shot. What survivors are left are quickly taken care of seconds later by a following blast, leaving a crater in the middle of the intersection. A few thumps more and a giant four-legged armored walker comes into view. The trio however are only left to observe it for not even a minute before the head of the walker slowly faces their location. "Oh shit!" Kairi grabs the others and runs as another large blaster shot is sent towards the building.
Shiki Ryougi rips her knife through the body of a trooper that attempted and failed to kill her. The blood that has been sprayed from the rest of the squad she already killed has stained her blue kimono and red jacket. The death lines provided to her from her Mystic Eyes of Death Perception fades from the trooper's body as his life ends. Having killed the last one, she wipes the blood off the knife on the dead trooper before grabbing a bag she set aside and continues heading to her home. Shiki sports an unkept short black hair that barely reaches her shoulders and eyes that are so black they seem to appear as a clear void. She doesn't encounter any more problems for the rest of the trip and opens the door leading into her house.
"Mama!" However, she doesn't get far as a four year old miniature version of her barrels into her.
"Mana," A male figure calls to the girl as he comes after her. Wearing plain black clothes that match the color of his hair and wearing glasses he sighs as he sees the state of the woman in the doorway. "I thought you were going out to get food, not finding someone to kill again."
Shiki shrugs at her husband as she tries to walk with her daughter grappled to her leg. "I did," She raises the bag with her right hand, "however I didn't go out with murder on my mind. Those alien soldiers from Fuyuki City appear to have started to branch out and kill anyone they see. I had no choice in the matter."
Mana looks up to her mom with her head inches away from a blood stain. "That's no good Mama. If you get hurt, it will make it harder for me to steal Father away from you!"
Shiki raises a brow as she recalls her 'dead' second personality SHIKI. She doesn't comment on it as she hands the bag to her husband. "Mikiya, take this so I can pray Mana off me and change out of these clothes."
Mikiya takes the bag and notices that his wife isn't using her left arm at all trying to pull their daughter off of her. "Did you damage your arm again?"
After getting Mana off her, Shiki holds out her left arm and rolls up her sleeve to reveal a scorching hole that destroyed the joint of the wrist on her puppet arm. "They used some kind of weaponry I've never seen before and used the arm to block the 'shoot on sight' thing they had."
"You should probably give Touko a call for a repair later. I'll get dinner started in the meantime." He takes his daughter into his free hand before she can relatch herself back to Shiki. "Come on Mana, you can help."
"Okay Papa!" The little girl complies easily. Shiki watches her family head to the kitchen before heading to her room and grabbing a spare set of clothes to throw on. A quick wash in the shower and the blood on her skin is now down the drain. Not seeing a reason to continue wearing a broken arm, she has taken it off and is now calling Touko.
"Hello, Aozaki residence." The woman answers after the third ring.
"It's Shiki."
A sigh is heard on the other end. "Given that I haven't heard from you a lot in a while, I'm guessing you need a repair on your arm?"
"Oh that makes this simple," Shiki remarks.
"What did you do this time?"
"It got shot by those aliens while I was heading home."
"They have been getting worse as of late," Touko bounces on the topic. "I've gotten a few calls already of people needing a puppet limb of some kind, but if you send it to me I can have yours done after I finish my current order from the Second Owner of Fuyuki City. It's also a left arm, which normally is a simple and quick matter that I could have already finished a couple days ago, but Tohsoka had an odd request for it. She sent me a sword broken in two made of a metal I've never heard nor seen before and wanted the arm to have it encased in it. Trying to find a melting point of an unknown metal wasn't easy, but not impossible. I just have to make sure the arm is working properly before I send it off to ground zero of the alien invasion. Just drop it by later and I'll get it back to you within a couple of days."
"I can manage a day or two without it, as long as I don't get attacked constantly that is. I'll bring it by tonight then." With the conversation at its end, they exchange goodbyes and Shiki hangs up the phone and goes to have a meal with the rest of her family after slipping into the new clothes.
Archer ducks under a flying dining chair as it smashes into the wall. He then pulls Rin away just in time to avoid a plate that is also flying through the air. Everyone is currently in her house trying to stay alive, but it isn't because of the cult. Rin makes her annoyance known, "Shirou, do something about your nightmare induced brother before he ends up killing us before the cult does!"
The redhead shouts into the hallway from Mason's room. "I'm trying, but I can't get through to him anymore! It's like he is trapped within himself."
"Shirou, move out of the way!" Dark Sakura butts him aside as she strolls into the room. Sweat rolls down Mason as he is unable to help himself from his dreams. She wastes no time rushing to his bed and climbing in next to him and wraps around him with her arms and tendrils. No harm or curse will come to him from the tendrils as hurting him is the last thing Sakura wants to do. Instead she pulls him into her chest and tries to soothe him from his dreams. It isn't an easy task as something within Mason perceives everyone as a threat and objects try to crash into her, but Rider stands by her Master's side and defends her from any attack. Moments later, the house begins to calm down a little at a time before Caster enters the room to seal the deal by making Mason have a dreamless sleep. They all breathe a sigh of relief as this attack finally finishes, however they all know this won't be the end of them as they have done this many times over the past few days since rescuing Mason.
"Alright Sakura, he should be good for a while now." Caster informs the girl.
She however doesn't budge from her position. "No, my place is by his side. Shirou is no longer able to be the one who can get through to him when he is like this, only I am. I will be here for the next attack."
The redhead in question frowns at this, but is unable to refute that fact. Ever since his brother was tortured, darkness has surrounded Mason and only the darkness within Sakura is able to get through it. Instead he turns and leaves the room where Saber is waiting for him. "Are you alright?" She asks her newfound lover. He just nods and happily takes the hand she offers to him as they make their way into the trashed living room. Saber is unconvinced with his answer, but is not willing to push a topic he won't want. They find the rest of the group there picking up after the mess.
The homeowner sends a light glare at him, "Honestly, if I knew Mason was going to turn my house into the Poltergeist, I would have left you on the streets." Archer gives a surprised look at his Master. "What?"
He shakes his head. "Oh, it's just I never thought you would have seen that movie since you're terrible with technology."
"I am not terrible with technology!" She protests, red faced.
Shirou chimes in on this, "You remember when I asked you to record a show for me the other day?"
"That wasn't my fault!" Rin denies. "It was the blu-ray player's fault for recording the wrong show and having so many different buttons! It was too confusing!"
"All you had to do was turn it on and hit record." Shirou gets a couch cushion in the face for that response.
"S-shut up, baka!" The tsundere stutters out in embarrassment.
"Observation: It's a wonder how you meatbags have survived this long if this is how you really are." HK butts into the banter.
"Oh hush up, great value terminator." Archer snidely comments.
"Not that I won't enjoy a good show now and then," Caster cuts in before a name-calling battle could begin as she joins the group. "We have more pressing issues to deal with. Mason and the cult in particular."
"Master Mason's current situation is nothing we can change from here. Being functional for as long as I have, I've seen this before. He is currently in a Force related coma brought about by someone's own power. I can easily conclude that Skorr is the source of it. Sith meatbags have been known to influence other meatbags' dreams or visions. This appears to be the case for Master Mason." HK informs them.
Caster glares at the droid. "And you didn't think to tell us this beforehand? I could have been using my time kicking Skorr out of Mason's head instead of countering his nightmares."
"Response: I did not see a reason to inform you of this earlier, meatbag, because I assumed you knew since none of you were surprised when his nightmares started. There's also the fact that even if I did tell you, there is nothing any of us can do. Like it or not, Skorr has established a Force bond with Master Mason that cannot be countered by your magic. Only meatbags with the Force would be able to get inside Master Mason's mind and break it. All we can do is either wait or kill the user himself. However, given this group's track record of fighting against the cult, I don't see the latter being successful anytime soon."
"Okay, I don't like it but since the robot is loyal to my little brother, I'll trust his judgment on that." Illya begrudgingly accepts, as her two bandaged up maids stand at both sides of her. Sella has wrappings on her head and covering her left eye while Leysritt is in crutches for her missing right leg. "So that leaves us with what to do with the cult regardless since we have to save Mason and have to prevent them from gaining the Grail as well. To make it worse, our timetable for preventing them from the Grail is closing in fast as they have turned to killing everyone for an alternative source of mana."
"So why don't they just kill off the Servants they have to fill it quicker?" Shirou questions his elder sibling.
"Response: The cult is many things, but stupid is sadly not one of them. They would know better than to rid themselves of the only thing that can take on the amount of Servants we currently have after being so close to reviving Nihilus."
"Speaking of which," The soft voice of Serenity finally speaks up. "We should also plan for the possibility of Nihilus being revived."
With this, everyone looks to HK for answers. "Explanation: If there are Sith meatbags that could possibly threaten Master Revan, Darth Nihilus would be up there along with his Triumvirate member Darth Traya and the Enteral Sith Emperor Valkorion. Nihilus is able to suck the life force out of anything, including a planet, which he has done. He has no actual physical body and is mostly contained to his mask. However he can still interact with the world and fight like a normal meatbag would."
"So he is a possessed spirit?" Assassin asks.
"No, it is much more complicated than that since he is basically just a wound in the Force. Things like charms or holy magical stuff will have no effect on him because he isn't really a demon spirit or anything."
"So how do we beat him?" Rin asks next.
"Response: I do not believe we have the means to do so." HK states grimly. "The only reason he was beaten before is because his apprentice broke her Force Bond with him, which undermined his connection to the Force and made him weaker. With the help of the Exile and Mandalore, they were able to beat him and destroy what was left of his ability to form a body or influence the Force. Technically Nihilus has never died as his spirit still survives through his mask and has existed mostly in the corporeal plane ever since. It was buried afterwards on Korriban, but I can tell you that the cult has long since reclaimed the mask. So the revival will mostly be giving Nihilus the ability to return to the physical world, but still remain as he was since a physical body is something he will never obtain ever since he became a wound in the Force. So unless any of you has a way to kill a being that can survive in a different plane of existence, a resurrected Nihilus would only be the nail in the coffin for the death of this planet."
Serenity and Assassin share a quick look to each other, which doesn't go unnoticed by Archer. However he doesn't call attention to it. This Master is not fully convinced about HK's statement on what can affect Nihilus and asks Lancer a question. "Has there been any word on Kirei yet?"
The Servant in blue thinks mentally for a moment before shaking his head. "Just the same as it has been. My Master is content with me helping you guys as he is off doing something else that he won't tell me. I can't even locate him through our bond. So I think we should move forward without him in mind."
She sighs, "Well that leaves us with trying to stay under the cult's radar since they have completely taken over the city and to have some sort of plan to eventually fight them off. Starting first with getting rid of the flying saucer over our heads." Everyone once again turns to HK for the answers. It's going to be a very long night of this for the droid. If not for his programmed loyalty towards Revan's bloodline, he would have already killed everyone in this room if it wouldn't have negatively affected Mason. Although the girl that is currently sharing the room with the silver haired boy may be spared from it since she radiates a murderous aura that HK can't help but be intrigued by.
"No, absolutely not!" Archer protests the next day as he walks out the back door..
Shirou follows him out, "Archer I don't much care for the idea either, but if we have any chance of winning this, we both have to make sacrifices to our pride."
"This isn't about pride!" The Servant protests again. "There is no way in hell that you can fight against Dad and win, no matter how much I train you! Not only is he an expert mercenary that is rightly called 'The Magus Killer', he has a reality marble that is imposed on himself that allows him to accelerate his speed greatly. It would take years to get you to where I am now to be able to stand against him. If any of us can fight him evenly, it'd be me."
"Except for the fact that you have an alter of yourself that you have to fight." The redhead reminds him. "I will be the only one available to take on Dad to get him away from everyone else's fight."
Archer scowls at his younger self, "You won't be of any help if he can take you out of a fight before there even is one. Even if he died early, he knows enough about how our magic works to find a weakness. If not, he has his Thompson that can destroy your magical circuits!"
"Even so, I will not budge on this. I will become a hero of justice, even if that means I'll end up de-." Shirou gets cut off when his older self projects Kanshou and swings it at him with anger. The redhead produces a Kanshou of his own to block it. When the blades cross, Shirou feels a surge of energy flow through his magical circuits. They project Bakuya on their other hand as they counter each other. Once again, a wave of energy goes through him along with skills that seem to appear out of nowhere. A couple more of the same thing, they end up back off from one another.
"Now I see why you're so persistent." Archer comments after the interaction. "I've heard of mage craft that allows mastery of old skills by evoking them from a previous life and letting them possess you. Your skill keeps improving every time we cross blades."
"That sucks for you then." Shirou projects the twin blades again. "Because it will be only a matter of time before I catch up with you and kick your ass!"
"Catch up to me?" Archer scoffs at the idea. "You're an optimistic fool. You have no idea how wrong you are."
"Explain it to me," The redhead challenges.
The Servant rushes the teen as the sound of metal rings out from their blades. "No matter how strong you get or what skills you draw on, you have no chance of winning. I've changed my mind, the world can go screw itself. You will not live to gain the regrets I have for your ideals!" A memory of Archer's life flashes in Shirou's mind of a body being hung on a noose before changing into a younger version of Archer having multiple swords embedded in his back on top of a hill. What is this? Is this how he died? I don't pity him, I don't pity him… Shirou thinks to himself. If this is how my path ends up, my heart is going to shatter. Everything he believed in, is nothing but a dream covered in lies… His blades crack and break under the pressure of his older self. Everyone, other than Sakura who is more concerned with Mason, comes out to see what the commotion is hoping it is not the cult.
"Shirou!" Saber rushes out to stop the fight, only to be stopped by a hand on her shoulder. "Caster, what is the meaning of this?!"
Said Servant pulls her back with Berserker's help. "This is not a fight you want to break up. Half because Shirou gaining all of Archer's skills with every swing is the most efficient way to bring his train up to pair. I don't know how I didn't realize that my student had this ability otherwise I would have had them do this earlier."
"What about the other half?" Illya asks as she reluctantly goes along with this.
"This will be the biggest test for Shirou's resolve for his ideals." The Greek informs the group. "However we will intervene if it looks as if Shirou's life is threatened." She ignores a few looks towards her saying 'Is his life not already being threatened?'
Shirou lands on his ass gasping for air. The red Servant gives him a look of contempt. "You look like you want to vomit. You saw it didn't you? That simplifies things. Everything you saw is true, Shirou Emiya. That's what catching up to me means. Once before you've already seen and been in the world I ended up in. In case you forgot, let me refresh your memory." A burst of mana surrounds Archer as he speaks these words, "I am the bone of my sword."
Mason finds himself once again running in a dark-lit corridor similar to the Venator Class Star Destroyer he was aboard ten years ago. Blast marks litter the walls and the ceiling has fallen electrical cords. The sounds of clone troopers behind him keeps his feet moving. He sees a doorway and quickly runs inside of it and locks the door behind him. The room is pitch black, but the banging on the other side of the door makes Mason take his chances with the dark. Running a hand along the wall, he searches for a lightswitch for what feels like hours until a light finally flips on.
However the light is merely a single dim bulb that is only lit enough to reveal the standing figure of Taiga looking as she did when she died. She lifts her right mangled arm, of which the hand of it falls off, and points it at him. Her eyeless sockets seem to peer straight into his soul. A raspy voice then escapes her mouth despite not having a tongue or teeth to pronounce words. "Why? Why did you let this happen to me?"
Another light turns on to an upper half of a green Nautolan who is looking equally just as dead, who then speaks next, "Why can't you save anyone?"
Another light reveals a bloodied body of Kiritsugu, "It's because you are incapable of saving others."
By this point Mason has fallen on his rear in fear, "No…"
"Love is not something you are capable of!" Taiga scratchley screeches out.
Mason closes his eyes trying to escape this hell he is in unsuccessfully.
"You cannot hide from your mistakes!" Rissa cries out.
Mason feels the right side of his face slice open and he covers the wound with his hands.
"Pain is all you deserve!" The voice of his adopted father shouts.
The teenager then screams out in pain as his left arm is ripped off him. Tears fall from his face as he wishes for it to stop.
"Your suffering will never end." Mason opens his eyes and finds himself back in his cell with Darth Skorr hunching over him with a sadistic smile. "It will stay that way until you finally give yourself in to the Dark Side."
"I don't want it." The boy whimpers out, which he receives a swift kick to his side. Massn coughs blood as he feels all of his wounds start to reopen back up.
"Your desires are meaningless here. My will is all you have now."
"No…"
Skorr digs his finger into Mason's right eye socket in response. "It is pointless to resist!" He takes his finger out and wipes the blood off on Mason. "Your fall to the Dark Side is unavoidable. You are a ticking time bomb and it is only a matter of time before you explode and kill everyone else you love."
Mason bows his head, unable to find the strength to resist any longer. Is this all he has left? To be a pawn for a Sith Lord just to avoid losing anyone else? Maybe he should just give up. But being left alone with Skorr gives him nothing but pain in his heart. "Someone… Please help me…"
"Why my dear," The room he is in then starts to crumble and Mason falls through the floor before getting engulfed in light. The silver haired teen then finds himself in a dojo once again with his Jedi Master standing before him. "All you had to do was ask."
His eye widens in shock, "Master?"
Rissa, free from any injuries, smiles at him. "The one and only."
A door slides open to Skorr's figure waltzing in. "I see I didn't rid you from my apprentice's mind as well as I thought, Jedi."
Her face hardens as she moves to block the Sith's path from Mason with her lightsaber out. "Even in death, I will protect my padawan."
The Sith grins and ignites his crimson lightsaber, "We've been through this before. This isn't a fight you can win."
"Well it's a good thing she isn't fighting alone." A woman with a braided gray-brown hair and blue eyes wearing brown robes wielding a blue double bladed lightsaber ignites it behind Skorr.
The Sith is surprised to see who it is. "Satele Shan, I must confess that I didn't think to see you here."
Another woman who shares a similar resemblance to Satele comes into the dojo wielding a yellow double bladed lightsaber. "You better get used to that."
"Bastila Shan," Skorr scowls. "The three of you aren't enough to ward me away from my prize." A heavy aura then casts itself around the large dojo and another door slides right open. A robed man holding a battered red Mandalorian helmet steps through the door. The Sith then seems to momentarily double over in fear before masking it with a confidant expression. "Darth Revan."
"You underestimate the power my family holds." Revan states as more doors open leading to more and more people walking through it, some wielding lightsabers in various colors and some preferring blasters, and they encircle the Sith Lord.
Skorr however makes no move to leave. "You cannot stop me. I am etched into Mason's mind and cannot not be pulled out of it. The Dark Side has taken its hold on him and he will carry it forever!"
"You hold no power here. Even the strongest of beskar can break with enough force." The legendary figure tells him before looking towards Mason. "The last of my line, you hold the key to free yourself from his hold over you. The Dark Side isn't something you need cower from. There is another way of using it so that it doesn't consume you. That is balance. Accept it for what it is, but do not give yourself to it. You have my blood running in your veins, I know you are capable of it. Say the word, and we will not only cast this lesser Sith from your mind, but help you give you the tools to overcome this feat."
The whole time Mason is just stunned by what is happening. He was so close to giving up, but now he has a room filled with Jedi, Sith, smugglers, soldiers, and more that have come out to help him when he needed it the most. Rissa gives him another smile for reassurance which only helps give him the confidence he needs. Mason takes a breath before glaring at Skorr. "While I may never become a Jedi again, I will also never become a Sith, let alone one slaved to your will. You have nothing to offer to me."
Revan gives the teenager a proud smile as he puts on his helmet and ignites both his red and purple lightsabers. "Let us rid our latest generation from the filth this lesser Sith brings." Skorr doesn't wait to be put in the defensive by the overwhelming number of Shans that surround him and attack Setele. She easily blocks his strike as a blaster shot from her son, Theron, hits the Sith from behind. Bastila then moves to slice Skorr at his calf as he is busy trying to take down a Sith Inquisitor who moved to defend Theron from him. Skorr staggers and is left to barely protect himself by the increasing number of people attacking him. Red, blue, green, yellow, and purple is all Mason can see from what he assumes Skorr is. The Sith has fallen to the ground as he is unable to withhold the onslaught and his lightsaber rolls right under Rissa's feet who steps on it. Revan then makes his way to Skorr and crosses his two lightsabers at his neck. "Begone from Mason's mind and know that any who dares try to break him again will be met by us!" The lightsabers scissors in on Skorr's neck and he disappears from the attack having been banished from the hold he once had on Mason. With the Sith gone, everyone in the room gives Mason a bow which he returns before they start to leave.
Satele goes over to Mason and takes his only hand. "Being a Shan is full of challenges that you have already been experiencing. I will be here if you are ever in need of council with a former Grandmaster of the Jedi Order. May the Force be with you." She then goes over to Theron and the Sith Inquisitor waiting for her before they too leave.
Mason bows to her, "Thank you and may the Force be with you too."
Bastila is the next to speak to her descendant. "You have taken your first step which is always the hardest one and I couldn't be more proud. If you are ever in need of me again, all you need to do is ask." She then removes Revan's helmet and gives him a kiss before leaving.
Then all that is left is Mason, Rissa, and Revan. Rissa is the one who starts the conversation. "Mason, if I-"
He holds up his hand to silence her. "Master, please allow me to say what I need to before this conversation ends up like our last one." She winces at that, but hints of a smile forms on her face at him calling her Master and allows him to say his piece. "I know we don't have the best relationship we once held with each other and I'm not sure we will ever get to that point again. However, despite me showing you nothing but hostilities towards you last time, you still went out of your way to protect me and did so once again today. It will be awkward and I know I will be very difficult at it, but I am willing to attempt to reconcile with you for you being patient with me."
Rissa cannot contain her happiness as she brings him into a hug. "Thank you my padawan! That means more to me than anything else in the Force."
Mason allows the hug to last a few seconds before breaking it up. "Don't underdo my own patience. As I said to Skorr, I will never be a Jedi again so I apologize for disappointing you for that."
The Nautolan waves the worry off. "When I took you into becoming my apprentice, I always knew that your path would be much different than that of an ordinary Jedi. It was something that most other Jedi Masters felt about you when you came into the temple, which was why they were afraid of taking you as a padawan learner. I however was not an ordinary Jedi, as I'm sure you could tell from even the short time I had to train you before the clones turned on us. I too was a child of a Jedi and had attachment issues, but I learned to not let my attachments get in the way of a mission. The Jedi Council knew that, which is why I was approved by them to start your training earlier than usual for most younglings. However I never got to actually start addressing your feelings before I died which ended up in the situation you found yourself in."
"So you don't not approve of my feelings towards Sakura?" He asks rather shocked.
She shakes her head, "Not entirely. Yes, the extreme possessiveness she has for you is something the two of you should work through, but your family is filled with Jedi who found love and had children. As Master Setele said, she was a former Grandmaster, but even she had a son. It was something I always knew would happen to you and that I hoped to prepare you for. However once again, it is something I didn't get to address before my death. To make up for it, I did imprint a small proton of my soul into you to help guide you. It's just unfortunate that in my haste to save your life, I made you effectively cut yourself off from any of my teaches. Despite being in your head for ten years, I had no idea what happened to you. It wasn't until Revan found me in your mind that I could finally reach out to you, but by then…" The Jedi Master trails off as nothing needs said about what that interaction ended up being like.
Revan then places a hand on her shoulder and finally speaks. "It was not something you had control over nor was it your fault. It was all just an unfortunate way to part ways." He then looks at the teen. "Mason, what I said about helping you with the Dark Side is something I am fully willing to provide. Even though we have several members of this family who are Sith, me being one of them, we have found a way to not let the Dark Side consume us from being who we are. Some have actually found a way to use it for good." He then points in the direction Setele's group went off towards. "That Sith Inquisitor with Setele's boy, despite not being my blood, has done the galaxy a service during her time. You may know her as the Outlander that created the Eternal Alliance, a group comprised of both Jedi and Sith, after defeating Valkorion and his Eternal Empire. So you need not be too afraid of the Dark Side as 'there is no light without the dark'. To be completely light or completely dark is something that is arguably more of a perversion than to use the Force as a whole. When you finally achieve the balance within yourself, you will find that the mountain that is Skorr is nothing more than a grain of sand."
"But doesn't it take years to do such a thing?" Mason asks a little worriedly. "My friends and family, let alone the planet, do not have that sort of time for me to take, especially if Nihilus is the endgame."
"Do not worry young one," The mixed Sith/Jedi reassures him. "You do not need to find complete balance just yet, just the stepping stones to help you on your way. As we are in your mind, time is as you make it. Well, within certain limits of course. Even with the Force, we can't make a year last a second."
"Well I'm willing to try," He tells his ancestor.
"Remember what Master Yoda likes to say," His Master reminds him. "'Do or do not, there is no try'."
Revan gives her a confused look. "That makes no sense. One cannot do anything without trying. You modern Jedi are way too different than when I was one."
Rissa shrugs her shoulders, "Different eras, different methods. What worked for you may not work for us. Society changes and if the Jedi don't change with it we will fall into either obscurity or extinction."
"Although given that our clone army turned on us, the latter may be the case of us not changing soon enough." Mason informs her.
She thinks about that, "True enough. Perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to have someone that is over nine-hundred years old as the Grandmaster. It's very likely the Jedi haven't changed much at all under his leadership."
"As great as it is that the two of you are able to hold a discussion on Jedi philosophically without Mason angry at you," Revan cuts in, "We do have a time table before the cult destroys the planet."
The Jedi Master goes to say something, but cuts herself off with a sigh. "Of course Master Revan."
As the fight against past and future presses on after Shirou steels his resolve and rejects Archer and his beliefs, Saber contemplates her own ideals. What Shirou is trying to cut down is the self that stands in his way. To remain true to what he believes in. What Archer is trying to kill is the self that gave rise to him. To wipe out the mistakes he is doomed to repeat in the future. She thinks back to when she pulls the sword from the stone. Once they had dreams. Both are right. It's just that the outcome was not what they wished for. Even if nothing remains but regrets, if they were able to achieve many of their ideals in the process, then…
Even with Archer exposing the holes in Shirou's ideals and fake dreams he carries on from his father, the boy refuses to stay down after going past his limits. Swords are projected around Archer, "The result will be the same. You'll lose all hope, just as I have!" They shoot off towards Shirou who bats them away with all the strength he has in the twin blades. A couple flies past his defense and lays Shirou flat on his ass as only a broken Bakuya remains during the assault. "How ironic. Your mana gave out before your spirit did! That blade is the only weapon left to you. In any event, Shirou Emiya's battle ends here!" More swords are projected around the Servant.
"Yeah, you're right." Shirou grunts himself up. "My dreams are fake, but I found them beautiful. I know that I am hypocritical for putting other's lives before myself. But even so, the thought of being able to live like that inspired me. Even if living for others is a sham, the wish for others to be happy is still beautiful. I won't lose anything. Even if I'm being foolish, I won't turn back. I know my dream isn't mine… Even if I am a fake to the very end, I know my dream isn't a mistake!" Part of the reality marble behind Shirou shifts from being void of color to a blue clear sky. He steps forwards as it changes the ground beneath him to shift from a wasteland to a patch of grass.
Archer winces as he feels his hold on the reality marble change into the hands of his past self. "Begone!" The projected swords shoot once again at Shirou who brings his broken weapon up. Fiercely unable to accept his younger self just yet, another set of swords is projected behind Shirou. The redhead, who is still currently trying to deal with the first set, looks in horror as he is unable to defend himself from the underhanded attack by his future self.
"If you still push forward despite knowing the hell you are walking into, then I will be the one who will guard your back!" A figure appears behind Shirou and raises his only fist towards the projections which freezes them mid air before they are sent flying away.
"I knew you would come back to me, Mason!" With his brother as his rear guard, Shirou focuses on the remaining projections in front of him and bats each one way. The glare he has on Archer is enough for daggers to out through, "My dream isn't a mistake!" Both Shirous bring up Bakuya for one last strike as blood is spilt. The reality marble dissolves as the ending result reveals Archer being stabbed while the redhead is not. "I've won, Archer."
"Yes," Archer agrees, "and I've lost." Both projections disappear as Shirou staggers away from with and Mason catches him before he falls. The battle of ideals now over, everyone else closes in around them.
Saber pulls her lover into a tight embrace, "Shirou! Are you alright?"
"Yeah I'm fine."
Rin goes to Archer and examines the wound on his stomach. "Geez Archer, are you okay? I still need you so you can't be dying on me!"
"Sentimental as ever I see," Her Servant sighs. "If this girl had just been a little more callous, I would have reverted to my old self. In any case, the matter has been settled."
It only takes a few moments of silence for everyone to realize that there is an elephant in the room. "Mason!"
Said teen in question blinks as Sakura had seemingly appeared by his side. "Yes?"
She holds him, "I stay by your side this whole time and the first thing you do is run into a fight!"
He smiles at her as he kisses her forehead. "Sorry about that. I appreciate you waiting for me, Sakura."
The kiss seemingly stops her momentum as the dark side recedes and brings out her original self back. "Always."
"Mason, how are you feeling?" Caster asks worriedly.
"A little light headed," He admits as he loses his adrenaline and with it the strength to keep himself up. Luckily for him, Assassin is quickly by his side to assist his Master.
Caster sighs, "The stubbornness of Emiyas. Pushing themselves despite their limits being long since passed. Come on, let's get everyone inside and I'll treat all of your wounds."
As they make their way back inside, Archer has one last thing to say to his younger self. "I've decided to accept you. Even if it is a foolish endeavor, I won't stop you from taking on Dad. Our fight has given you everything I have to give you other than my mind. However, I don't believe it will be enough to beat him."
Mason, having been unconscious after fighting with Skorr, is confused by this. "Dad? Why are you talking about fighting Dad?"
His elder sister is the one to answer that, "When you were knocked out, familiars of our parents ambushed us at the Emiya house which ended up destroying it in the process."
Sakura and Assassin set him down on the couch and positioned themselves on both sides to support him. "Well that would explain why I'm in an unfamiliar house."
"You're welcome," Rin's comment is heard as Archer tries to convince her he isn't in danger of dying.
Mason thinks about the situation regarding that. Both him and Shirou adopted different aspects of their father, Shirou his ideals and Mason his weaponry. Speaking of which, "Was there anything you were able to salvage?"
"Not much survived the explosion." Shirou informs him as Caster finishes healing the wounds Avalon hadn't gotten to yet. "I was able to retrieve a few of Dad's guns and that sword you brought home. Oh by the way, Rin got ahold of someone who can make puppet limbs and sent in an order to get an arm for you. We also asked for them to incorporate the metal on the sword into the arm for a little added protection from lightsabers to hopefully prevent you from losing another arm."
"Custom orders aren't cheap," The owner of the house chimes in. "So for repayment, I'll be expecting you to come with me to the Clock Tower to explain this mess once it is all over and done with. That is if there is a Clock Tower still standing."
A brow rises on Mason's face. "What do you mean by that?" She points to the window which he looks out of and is speechless. The city is practically an assortment of rubble with bits of buildings here and there barely still standing. He sees a Mitsubishi F-2 fighter jet soar over the city with a Sith Starfighter gunning it down right behind it. Most noticeably, he sees the massive star ship hovering over the temple.
"That is the sight that many cities around the world are experiencing first hand," She draws his attention back to her. "Which includes London where the Clock Tower is located. The Cult has revealed itself to the world with this invasion and this city is merely ground zero. Every civilian killed is filling the Grail regardless of every Servant still being alive. We've been discussing battle plans for one last battle against them. Unlike the last few times, there will be no retreating as this is all or nothing. We either win, or we die."
He takes a moment to digest the information before finding his resolve. "Understood. In that case, I'll face Darth Skorr."
Illya looks up at him in alarm. "After the beatdown he gave you last time?!"
"Sakura," He smiles at her, "I wasn't in the right headspace last time. I let my anger cloud my vision and became reckless. It will not happen again. I am going to face him with my mind clear and my emotions focused. I had a vision while I was out and learned that while emotions can be useful to channel in battle, being consumed by them only blinds you."
"Well your sudden enlightenment is all well and good, that still leaves you without the most important thing. You have no weapon against a lightsaber." Archer points out. "Surely you don't mean to confront Skorr and hope you get lucky enough to steal his again?"
The silver haired teen gives a cocky smile. "That won't be necessary. For while you wave off the vision I had, I have just the thing I need to provide my own." His fist that had been closed the entire time finally opens and a purple crystal with a dark center is revealed in his hand.
Rin is the first one to scramble towards it to get a better look. "Where and how did you get this?!"
He raises it for them all to see clearer, "This was a gift from my ancestors I encountered in my vision."
HK pipes up at this. "Exclamation: You spoke to Master Revan? Why am I asking, of course you did. That kyber crystal in your hand is proof of that. I must say this is a surprise to be sure, but a welcomed one! It means that my programming is working just as intended and cements that you truly are his blood! I will continue to serve you and kill any and all meatbags that displeases or threatens you."
Mason nods to his droid, "That is appreciated. I will have no doubt that your skills will prove very useful for our final attack against the cult."
"Um," Rin cuts in, mouth almost watering at the kyber crystal. "Is there a chance you'd either give this to me or ask your ancestors for another one?"
To her dismay, Mason closes his hand and brings the crystal back towards him. "Um, no. It doesn't work that way sadly. Kyber crystals are bonded to the Force which means that they bond to the owner. If I give it to someone else, it may function but you won't be able to get the most potential out of it. In worse cases, if the original owner corrupted the crystal then it would attempt to corrupt anyone not strong enough to resist it."
"Did you have that trouble with the orange one you stole from Skorr?" Caster asks worriedly.
"A little," He admits. "But that lightsaber was different from the others he had. It was mainly used as a backup so it wasn't as bad as the one I used when you rescued me. Now that red lightsaber actually fed my hatred and made it worse which made me sloppy." Mason waves the two inch bandaged numb he has on his left arm. "As you can clearly see." The looks he gets tells him that they didn't care for his attempted dark sense of humor. Mason shifts the conversation back onto a previous topic. "So our parents coming back, did you really say Shirou was going to fight Dad?"
"Yes," the redhead answers, a little annoyed that no one thinks he can do it. "Logically speaking, it's the obvious solution."
"And how is that?" Mason asks having been out of the loop for a few days. "What is everyone doing?"
Saber answers this one, "We've discussed that the Servants with an alternative version of themselves, or alter, will fight their alter."
"Doesn't that mean that we will have some Servants left over?" He asks another. "I may have been out of it towards the end, but I remember that only Saber, Archer, Lancer, and Rider had alters."
"That's where the issue Shirou and Archer had come to a boil came from. The alter's power levels are much more powerful than the ones in this room. Shirou suggested that the remaining Masters take on our parents so that the leftover Servants can provide an extra hand against the alters. Then the fight happened which leads us to now." Illya sighs and rests her cup on the table.
"I have most of Archer's skills now after our fight," Shirou defends his idea. "It should be enough to keep Dad busy at least."
"Keep him busy?You need to be going into this more than that. I already lost Taiga, losing you as well in such a short timeframe may be too much for me." Mason knows he is playing the guilt trip card, but it is also a fact everyone knows would undoubtedly happen.
"Okay then what do you suggest?"
"Well since Dad can manipulate time on himself, then what you need to keep up with him is to do the same yourself," Mason states.
Illya spits out her tea in shock. "Are you implying we implant Dad's magical crest into Shirou?!" A nod is the answer to that and she takes a moment to calm herself. "You do know that there are several factors that would make this a worse idea than fighting Dad right? For one, Dad's body has been dead for five years and the crest must have deteriorated much since then. But let's say for the sake of argument that it hasn't, transplanting crests are normally done a little at a time throughout a child's life to allow their body to adjust to the new circuits in their body. Not only that, but it's like an organ and can only be transplanted into compatible hosts, otherwise it will reject and kill the person attempting to have it transplanted. It is normally passed down to blood relations, preferably sons or daughters since even distant blood relatives can still be rejected. There is a lot to risk and I don't see the reward being worth it."
"Well I would like to attempt it anyways," Shirou agrees with his brother's idea.
"Didn't you just hear a word I said?!" She shouts at her stubborn redheaded brother. "You'll most likely end up dead in the attempt!"
"What if I had something that would be able to heal myself from any danger it might have on me?"
"Is this about your strange healing factor?" Saber finally speaks.
"It's not strange, in fact it is something you are no doubt familiar with. Dad placed Avalon inside me when he first found me." Shirou explains to her.
"You have Avalon?!" She almost squeals before composing herself. "I mean, the powers of Avalon are very grand and may in fact help heal and adapt your body for the transplant. Especially if you had it within you all your life since your body would most likely be able to mimic its power on a lower level when it leaves your body."
"Well between Avalon and my own magical abilities," Caster then says. "A transplant may be possible if the crest does try to reject Shirou, that is assuming it hasn't deteriorated to an unusable level in five years which is a small chance."
"If I can give my two cents here," Sakura then decides to voice her own opinion. "I for one completely agree with Shirou's idea. It would help him in his fight. Also I would like to be able to kill my own Father, familiar or not."
Rin massages her temples at her younger sister's words. "While that sounds all well and good, having you kill our Father would be a waste."
Sakura glares at her older blood sister. "What. Did. You. Say?"
She meets her eyes, "You heard me."
"Killing that bastard is something I've thought about for a long time now, but wasn't able to because he had been dead. And now that he is back, you're going to let him live? How far did that bastard get his hooks into you to make you disregard me so easily?"
Rin furrows her bow, "I haven't disregarded you. In fact, I've longed to talk to you and become a part of your life almost every day since you were taken away."
"If so, why are you letting him live?" Sakura snaps.
A fist slams onto the coffee table, almost knocking off Illya's tea. "I'm not letting him live! You aren't the only one who wants him dead, Sakura! I'm going to kill him myself for robbing me a sister for ten years!" Rin takes a breath to settle herself. "I know you have a more valid reason for wanting him dead for all you have suffered at the hands of the Matou family, but you will be wasted fighting him. Instead, you would be better off being sent with Mason to fight the Sith couple. Our chances of winning will greatly be determined once they are taken care of."
Sakura doesn't like it, not one bit. She wants to kill Takiomi ever since he admitted to knowing the fate that would come to her when selling her to the Matous. However, the desire to protect Mason wins over her desire for revenge, so she grits her teeth. "Fine, but you better not hold back on him."
"I won't," Rin concedes. "Death is all that he deserves."
"Well it looks like we are going with Shirou's idea then," Illya states, hiding behind an emotionless face. "In that case, it leaves me to deal with Mom."
Both her brothers give her a look of concern which Shirou voices. "Will you be okay with that?"
"It's not like I have much choice in the matter. However the life of a magus doesn't allow us with choices we are okay with at times." She informs the younger sibling. "Though I have confidence that I will emerge victorious against her. Even if I was born normally, it doesn't change the fact that I am a homunculi and was modified to be the perfect Master in this war as well as a Holy Grail vessel. Mom wasn't created for combat unlike I am, so I shouldn't run into much trouble against her."
"So what about the rest of us?" Assassin then asks.
"We divide the remaining Servants to aid against the alters," Rin answers. "But who to send to who is the question now."
"If I may," Caster adds a suggestion. "I vote for Herc and I to aid Rider against the Gorgon. As fellow Greeks, we can more easily understand and combat the biggest threat to us."
"I would like to face my alter alone," Archer tells the group. "Knowing myself, he would target the ones closest or with me to get me to overextend myself and capitalize on the opening I created. I work best on my own and improvise on the spot, no doubt he will do the same."
"You really do have a thing for killing yourself don't you?" His Master shakes her head, "Alright, that leaves us with the last two Servants then."
"Three actually," Saber corrects before looking towards Sakura. "Your Shadow took Lancelot who you then used during Mason's rescue, correct? If so, I would like to request him to fight alongside me against me."
Sakura rolls her eyes, "Sure I don't care."
"Guess that leaves me with the Hassans then," Lancer says in his corner. "I for one will happily accept the help. The power level my alter has is way too much for me to handle. I may have stood a chance if my actual power wasn't split in two as a Servant."
"And why is your power split in two?" Assassin asks his future fighting partner.
"I am one of those heroes that qualifies for multiple classes in normal cases." He then grumbles as he crosses his arms, "With everyone getting alters and the women getting summer and holiday variations isn't fair and doesn't count."
"Hey, no fourth wall breaks!" Rin shouts at him. "I thought we went over this when you tried to involve the audience in the last chapter!"
"Observation: While it's fine to see you meatbags assigning who will fight who, the piece of meat trapped inside your skull seemed to forget one simple thing: The cult has an army! They won't just sit back and watch other meatbags fight. Even if they did, they would no doubt send an orbital strike down onto the city to ensure your victory is short lived."
"That… Is actually a valid concern." Mason agrees after considering it. Before they had time to address it, the doorbell rings. "Rin, are you expecting someone?"
She shakes her head, "Other than your arm, which she said she would call when it's on this way, no." He takes the moment to stretch out with the Force to see if he can discover who it was and gets a familiar presence which makes his face fall instantly. "I don't like that face, what did you feel?"
"It's Taiga's grandfather…" His eye lowers to the floor as everyone can feel the room shift coldly at. Sakura wraps herself around him for comfort. "Does he know?"
"Yes," Shirou answers. "Caster grabbed her body when we rescued you and we handed it to him when you were out. He was…" No further words were needed to explain how the man must have reacted.
Sakura feels a tear fall on her arm and shifts her focus to Mason's darkened expression. "It's all my fault she-"
"Don't you dare pin this on yourself!" A gruntled voice interrupts. Everyone looks to the doorway to see that Raiga has welcomed himself inside, but still had the decency to take his shoes off by the door. "My sweet granddaughter's death isn't your doing, it was those damned aliens fault! The fact that you are still alive and not completely broken is a miracle. So don't go tarnishing her death by blaming yourself. She considered you boys as her little brothers and was your legal guardian, and that practically makes you my grandsons. So I won't sit by and let you fall into the hole filled with guilt and regret. Do we understand each other?" Mason is shocked by this, but gives a weak nod which makes Raiga lessen his angry expression. "Good to hear it, because I came to give you something." He walks back to the door and grabs a box from one of his henchmen and returns to hand it to Mason.
Sakura shifts off of Mason to allow him to take the box with his right hand and place it in his lap. "What is it?" He asks as he starts to open it with relative difficulty given he isn't used to not having two hands.
Raiga stands proud of himself. "Even if I may not fully understand the world you boys and your father is a part of, I am able to find my way into it if need be. There are perks to being a yakuza boss and having connections to the black market."
Mason finishes opening the box and everyone is taken aback as he lifts up a jar filled with liquid and an eye floating inside. "You got me an eye?" He asks, trying to sound grateful and not creeped out.
"Not just any eye, it's one of those mystical eye things." Raiga states proudly as all eyes widen, other than the one floating in the jar. "I found this while going through the black market to require some major fire power for my boys to combat the aliens. The invasion has killed a lot of people, so there are so many things up for sale it's crazy."
"Usually the only place to obtain Mystic Eyes is the Rail Zeppelin in England." Rin takes a closer look at the eye, "I'm surprised that none of the magi groups caught this before you did. They are very keen about not allowing the public to have or learn about us or our world."
The old man shrugs, "Like I said, I have connections and I made sure to cover my tracks so that if anyone would snoop about who bought it they would end up tracing the 'buyer' in Colombia instead."
"That's pretty crafty, old man." Archer comments with a smirk. "However, do you know what type of Mystic Eye they are?"
Raiga scratches the back of his head as he tries to remember, "Er, Mystic Eye of something or rather. I can't seem to recall as I was in a hurry to grab it for Mason before one of the guy's other buyers offered a better deal. I figured that even if it is something common among your world, Mason having some actual depth perception would be useful when we drive off the aliens."
Mason looks up from the jar, "'We'?"
"Of course we," He huffs. "I looked the other way from your fights around the city as it didn't involve my family nor was I a part of your world, however both Taiga's death and this invasion changed that. While you all have been cooped up here, me and my boys have been out there combating the aliens and saving as many people as we can. I may lead Fuyuki's greatest crime syndicate, but we have standards. This is our city, and we don't appreciate aliens coming here to destroy it. The fighting had gotten so bad that we ended up creating a truce with the police and what little JSDF was left from the initial confrontation. Hell, we have civilians coming to us wanting to help in the fighting. So don't go assuming that this fight is yours alone. The entire city wants a piece of the action for revenge for what the aliens took from us!"
"Observation: Even if the technology on this world is primitive, the meatbags here would be very useful as a stand-in army to help combat the cult. In case you forgot Master, the armor from our galaxy was made to protect against plasma based blasters, not slug throwers. Conclusion: I suggest we allow the meatbag population to fight with us."
Raiga gives a look of confusion and shock at the sight of a droid, "Um, what is that thing?"
"Retort: I am a superior being compared to your weak meatsack body."
Mason cuts in before another argument can start against his droid, "HK, try not to fight people who are willing to help."
"Statement: Fight? Why, I would never do such a thing to a potential ally. I am merely stating facts."
He sighs and looks back to Raiga, "Sorry about him. We'll remember your offer when we make our final push against the cult."
"Thanks, I appreciate it. When this is all over with, I'll let you all know when the funeral is for my granddaughter." The old man retrieves his shoes and takes his leave. All eyes fall on the eye in the jar on Mason's lap. The color of the irises is amber and it floats around as if it is taking sight of its new environment.
"Which one do you think it is?" The holder says as he brings it up to his eye level.
Caster reaches out for it, which her Master allows her to take before she examines it. "If you were hoping for an eye that has the power to destroy bridges, well prepare to be disappointed. However that doesn't mean this is worthless either. What we have here is a Mystic Eye of Illusion. As the name implies, it can cast illusions and alter the target's perception of reality. If anything, it should make Skorr start second guessing himself during your fight against him."
"Um that's all well and good, but I think we are forgetting Mason doesn't have any magical circuits," Shirou points out. "How would he be able to use it?"
"Did Dad not tell you anything about them?" Illya asks her brothers who both shake their heads. "Well Mystic Eyes have their own magical circuits and mana to allow them to be used without the user having to use their own. It's one of the reasons why they can also be transferred without having to kill and rip out the entire circuits all in a person's body. To be able to use spells on the level of sorcery without actually using a spell is one of the reasons they are sought after and hard to obtain if one wasn't born with one. Just by simply having one makes a person basically a first class magus. Which brings me to another thing," She looks Mason square in his eye. "If we go through this, know that it brings people who will be fully willing to kill you after learning you have one. So if you decide to go through the transplant, don't be showing it off all that much and only use it when absolutely necessary. Take it from your very cute Onee-san and a fellow Mystic Eyes holder."
"Wait, you have them too?" He asks, surprised by this fact.
She beams with pride, "Of course. The set I have is Mystic Eyes of Binding. Mine are common, well relatively at least since Mystic Eyes are rare, and aren't ones that can be produced artificially. It's with these eyes that I will help teach you how to use yours in what little time we have."
"Lightsaber creation, learning to adapt without a real arm, transplanting an eye and training with it. Seems like you have a busy schedule," Shirou mentions to Mason, laughing as his brother groans.
Author's Note: Sorry about the almost two month wait for the next chapter. Life stuff and such kept me from writing much. Any who, here we are with the next installment. The two beginning segments are just snippets of how wide spread the cult actually is and how the world is dealing with it. The characters within them won't have any other role in the story other than that. The rest is Shirou and Mason getting some power boosts. I may have made the cult a bit too overpowered for them to be able to fight them as is. I know I glossed over Shirou vs Archer, but it is the same as UBW and we all know what happened, plus I didn't want to take a chance to ruin it by rehashing it. Mason only having eye wasn't just something I did to just be cosmetic, I actually had a plan for it. I actually had a hard time deciding on the Mystic Eye Mason would get despite having planned on him receiving one eventually since I started this story. There are a lot that would either be not helpful fighting Skorr, or something that the Force couldn't already do. There was also the fact I didn't want to give him something completely overpowered like Death Perception or Distortion, the latter of which I originally considered him obtaining. Lastly as I had Rin mention, the final battle is on the horizon along with the ending of this fanfic. It's sad too think about, but I don't intend to drag this story out longer than I should. However I will mention that this won't be ending in the next few chapters, so don't freak out too much. Also I do have ideas for a sequel, but whether I actually make one depends on how well this one does.
Keybladelight: You have a big review to get through, but I will attempt to answer what I can that won't spoil anything. Issei and Taiga's death wasn't something easy to write as I was even saddened to have to do, but our protags had to learn that death can come to everyone and how to properly handle it. Obviously Mason didn't handle it too well and gave into the Dark Side hard. The threat of the cult is something the world is now keenly aware of and they all have to fend for themselves before anyone can help others. And as I said in the last chapter, I'm leaving Chaldea out of this as I feel like it would only hamper the story since the Singularities/Lostbelts both get destroyed once they are 'fixed', which would make everything that happened up till now pointless. I'm glad I surprised you with the parents showing up. I intended on using their Servant variants, but they are too different to have a standing impact on the Masters. For Mason getting a Star Wars arm, well HK doesn't really have the facilities for that to be possible on Earth. Although you had a decent idea for Mason going into exile and getting advice from Yoda, that isn't possible as for one: the Earth will be destroyed before he returned, and two: he came to Earth in an escape pod, not a ship. However, I came up with a different way for him to get some advice from both Jedi and Sith. I am also not adding anymore Servants or Pseudo-Servants, so no Hercules Alter or Jaguar Man.
epamtoja521: I'm glad you find my story epic! Thanks for checking it out!
Alright, let's end this with a question this time. What is your Top Three favorite Emiya Themes? Mine is 1. Why I fight, from Heaven's Feel movie. 2. Sight of the End, from Fate/Kaleid. 3. Unlimited Codes, from Fate/Unlimited Codes. Anyways thanks for reading and I can't wait to hear y'alls answers!