I do not own Fate/Apocrypha nor any other Servants depicted here.

Divide and Conquer

Rider of Red looked on impassively as Micheal flew towards the fleet of planes. She then spotted something fast approaching them.

"It seems someone is coming to greet us," she stated as she watched the speedy shadow swoop over them.

"Hmm, looks like a dragon yet not a dragon at all," muttered the white dragon as his sharp eyes followed the shadow, "A wyvern, perhaps? How interesting. In all my eight thousand years, I-"

"Will you shut up and get ready?" she groused as she drew her sword, "I heard all that before, you know?"

He chuckled and replied, "Fine, fine. It's not like a wyvern can compare to a true dragon."

"There you go again," she grumbled as she scanned the skies. A second later, she slashed the air in front of her, deflecting an axe blow to her head.

She scoffed and her sword transformed into a spear. As the other Rider came around for another fly-by, she ducked under the axe and slammed the spear shaft into the Servant's stomach, sending her crashing onto the dragon's back.

"Now, to end you," she declared as she dashed after her.

"Ugh, sorry, I can't do that just yet," said the other Rider as she got to her feet in a hurry, blocking several stabs aimed at her.

She then parried an overhead strike and swung her axe hard, clashing with a greatsword. Subsequent swings clashed as well. Then, her axe was parried and the greatsword transformed into a set of bracers. Rider of Red went in on the offensive and sent a flurry of kicks her way. Her opponent got knocked back a few feet and she jumped in with a heel kick to the top of the head. Or at least, she attempted to, as she suddenly changed targets to kick a wyvern that was trying to attack her. Her foot collided with its barding and she pushed herself off it, landing out of reach of its screeching maw.

"Why is this thing still alive, Micheal?" she called out.

"Perhaps it was a little slower, I could."

She growled and muttered, "Really? What a useless dragon." Right before she dashed backward as Rider of Black jumped on the wyvern's saddle and pushed herself forward.

She went back a little further as the axe head slammed onto the dragon's back, barely cutting through its scaled hide.

"If you would please stop them from acting like ticks and gnats," called out the dragon.

"Sorry, but I'm afraid I am fighting your rider," apologized the enemy Servant as she lifted her weapon and charged in swinging.

"Tch... time to kick them off. Micheal, round left," she commanded as she parried the attacks.

At the order, the white dragon suddenly banked and rolled over, throwing the enemy Servant and her mount off. As he moved, Rider of Red grabbed his wing, hanging on with a firm grip, and deftly landed on his back as he righted up himself.

"They will be back, you know," he cautioned her as he went ahead at full speed.

"I know," she replied as she watched the beam of magical energy fire from the flying fortress, "You can ignore her. Leave her to me while you take out their flying machines."

"Very well."

Ruler could only watch helplessly as Archer's body was hit by the beam. She gripped her flag tightly as she watched his regrettable end. Suddenly, his body glowed a bright emerald light and time seemed to suspend itself. The green light quickly spread and shot back towards the Hanging Gardens. The moment it touched the tablets, they shattered to pieces, and the magic that propelled the Noble Phantasm seemed to be disrupted. In her eyes, it was like a glass dome over the Gardens broken apart and fell out of the sky.

"...Rest in peace, Archer," muttered Jack as he and Saber stood in silence, with only the howling wind echoing in their ears.

"Yikes... and no time to rest. Trouble coming in at nine," stated the Servant of the Sword as he looked to the side, drawn by the sound of gunfire.

Assassin was busy taking potshots at a roaring white dragon, which had just blown up one of the planes. "Well, looks like Rider is having a little trouble stalling that thing," he quipped as he looked at the flaming wreckage that was slowly descending.

"Every pilot! Full speed ahead! Servants! We will have to jump once we are over the Hanging Gardens," notified Servant Ruler.

"Fine with me. What about-"

Saber didn't get to finish as another plane exploded as Assassin continued to fire at the dragon. It roared as it flew past, presumably in annoyance.

"Damn it," he muttered as he watched the other Servant swap over to a rocket launcher, "The fleet isn't gonna last long."

This was followed by a loud boom as a rocket exploded, rocking the dragon as it flew by.

"And they're coming around for another pass," he muttered to himself.

As the fleet drew closer and closer, they lost another two planes.

"Alright, get ready, kid. This is it," he warned the homunculus as the remaining planes got ready to fly over the floating fortress.

"Ready? For what?"

Outwardly, she was calm and regal. Inwardly, she was extremely offended by the perceived slight.

"Damned Archers," Assassin muttered under her breath. With their Archer failing to stop their enemy's, several parts of her Gardens were disabled and the Noble Phantasm was left to float helplessly in the sky at the mercy of the elements. How was she to know that damned Archer of Black had a Noble Phantasm like that?

Turning back her view to the quickly advancing fleet, her anger failed to abate when Rider started taking out the planes. She could only hope that their Servant could take out most of them and perhaps even a few opposing Servants while she was out there. Another notification drew attention elsewhere. Another plane of different make and build had made a crash landing on her Gardens.

"Who... that Saber," she muttered with a frown, "So... they have become allies? Most annoying."

She will take care of them soon enough if they didn't encounter Archer or Caster first. Speaking of which...

"Caster. Archer. It seems Rider wouldn't be fast enough in turning away our guests. However, be sure to leave Saber of Red to me. I have some choice words for the arrogant knight."

"Hmm, do not worry. We shall be good hosts and welcome them appropriately."

"Yeah. No need to get your panties in a twist. We got 'em."

Her brow twitched at Archer's crudeness. No matter. There are guests to receive.

"Hate to break it to ya' kid, if we don't jump now, we'll miss it!" Saber of Black shouted as he tapped the homunculus on the shoulder.

"But the plane is off course," Jack shouted back in surprise, looking at him in disbelief.

"If we don't get off now, we can kiss landing on the flying base goodbye," the Servant retorted. Before the homunculus could reply, he was shoved off the side and Saber jumped after him.

"Geronimo!" he cheered.

"Damn it, Saber! We aren't even over it!" his companion yelled angrily.

"Easily fixed," he said before pushing himself off a formed platform of energy and flying over to him. Slinging an arm under his shoulders, the Servant spun round once before launching the homunculus down the other side, shouting, "Use that reinforcement of yours!"

Brushing the young man's surprised cry, he created another platform and sent himself towards the other side with a loud, excited yell. His fall would still have made him go past the floating platform, but...

"Punch Line!"

The cyber hand shot out of its socket. It swerved a little before circling around and under him, letting him land on it. With loud whoops, he flew straight for the other side like he was riding a hoverboard. He reached the nearest stone building, the hand already droning and sparking a little. As it exploded, he jumped off and landed on the roof with style. Turning around, he could see one of the buildings across the divide had a crumpled wall and Jack was pulling himself out of it.

"There you go," he muttered to himself with another smirk. Looking up, he noticed another figure jumping off, heading towards the homunculus. It felt like Ruler.

"Look's like the kid's got his own company," he stated as he turned around to look the other way.

Just a few buildings in front was a column of smoke. Curious, he leaped from building to building until eventually, he found the wreckage of a crashed plane. From what he could garner, it seemed to be a really older make, maybe seated one or two people.

"Huh, and I wondered where Saber of Red was," he thought as he looked towards what he assumed was some sort of palace, "That's a lot of walking."

A loud boom drew his attention. The other wing of the fortress seemed to have been affected by an explosion, as seen by the column of smoke near the tip.

"And Assassin's plane was circling around that side," he muttered as he jumped off the side, wondering if the Servant of Murder needed his help.

"Haven't seen Archer or any of the Casters," he continued as he landed on his feet, "Then he definitely could use my help."

Making his decision, he broke into a run, thinking, "Damn it, kinda wish I could call on Nico's help. Her van would've made this way easier."

Assassin of Black ran, keeping his speed at the maximum. At the end of the plane, he leaped off, drawing his sword in the process. He buried the blade in the stone, hanging on to the weapon for dear life by one arm. He took a moment to glance behind him, the plane slowly descending with its tail busted open and on fire. The dragon flew past above him. He waited a bit longer before pulling himself up. Extending several spikes on the palm of his free hand, he slapped the stone structure and pulled his sword out. Sheathing his blade, he extended the spikes on his other hand and he slowly climbed upwards. It didn't take long before he reached the edge and he pulled himself up. He found himself at the end of a small alleyway that was flanked by two stone buildings. Retracting the spikes, he got to his feet and froze when he saw a Servant standing in the middle of the road. The dragon-like mask looked menacing as the Servant stared straight at him.

"Well, well, it seems we have guests," Caster of Red stated as he gripped a sword in one hand and a staff in the other, "Time to exterminate this rat."

Drawing out his sword, he got ready to attack. The armored Caster chuckled before starting with a chant.

"FUS-"

He sent his image charging straight at the Servant while he ran up and scaled the nearest wall.

"-RO DAH!"

He could feet the force of whatever magic the Servant was using as he clambered over the roof side. Fast on his feet, he ran along the roof towards the main road. A grenade materialized in his hand and he tossed it at the Servant. The Sticky Longbow variant teleported to the road at the Servant's feet.

"Hmm?"

Assassin smirked inwardly as he jumped off and landed on the main road as he counted down the grenade's timer in his head.

"WULD NAH KEST!"

Instinctively, he drew his blade and clashed with his enemy. Surprised, he took a glance behind Caster and saw the grenade exploding and busting down the walls of the two buildings.

"Do you honestly think I would be fooled?" questioned the Servant as both of them struggled to win the clash.

mlm

Mustering his strength, he shoved the Servant off and kicked him away. Very quickly, he made as if to follow up with a slash. The image did so. He, however, ducked away and beat a hasty retreat. Being forced to fight out in the open didn't sit well with him. He intended to back off and find some high ground for some snipe work. He already had eyes on a rather high building and made his way there as fast as he could move.

"Another fake," muttered Caster as he sliced apart the illusion. Once it fell apart, he looked around for the Assassin class Servant.

Nothing. No matter.

"Laas- Yah Nir..."

This shout was not as loud as the others, but its effects were just as powerful. His eyes focused on the faint, red form on the Servant as it retreated. If the fortress were a bustling town, it would have been many times harder to pinpoint. Too bad for his enemy.

Caster walked after him, dismissing his staff. Raising his free hand, his palm lit up with wild flames. With a flick of his wrist, he lobbed a fireball at the retreating blob just as it disappeared. As fire bathed the point of impact, he used the shout again.

"Laas- Yah Nir..."

The faint red form lit up in the shadowy background, prompting him to call out, "You will not escape my sight, Assassin."

He continued to walk after him, ball of fire in hand.

"At least you are alright," said Ruler as she tried to reassure the homunculus.

"I know," Jack replied in a reserved tone, "I just thought it was too reckless."

"Reckless as he was, he was correct in his assessment," she added as they turned a corner, "Although, I would have expected him to help you instead of tossing you aside."

He sighed and looked around. The darkened, shadowy area they had gone through had given way to a brightly lit pathway with paths branching off at multiple places. He asked as they continued to run, "Where do we look for the Grail?"

"...I can only sense two enemy Servants nearest to us and I believe Saber of Red is engaging one of them," she stated. Then, she blinked and added, "However, based on what I could see from above and what I sensed, the battle is taking place past one enemy Servant. That makes little sense."

After some silence, he replied, "Then, I guess we have to confront that Servant. The Grail?"

"Past the battle. And I can only assume Amakusa is currently communing with it since I cannot sense him specifically," she continued to inform him before motioning, "This way."

They continued to make their way towards the room that housed the enemy Servant. As they approached, they could hear voices and music. The passageway opened up to a large hallway. On their end, there was a long sofa facing a large television screen. On the screen, there was some strange animation with soldiers with floodlights. There were three figures seated on the couch. The middle one lifted the remote and paused the show. The small girl dressed in a purple dress with a red bow and a purple top hat. Her arms were mechanical with feather-like extensions. Flanking her were a living anvil and a living ten-ton weight.

She took a few puffs of her cigar before saying, "Ey, queenie's busy. You got an appointment?"

Stepping forward, Ruler asked, "Where is Amakusa?"

"Eh? Who's that?" asked Archer before the anvil whispered to her. She grinned and continued, "Oh, the priest guy? Busy doing something. I've been told to tell ya to take a hike."

The two just stood there in silence, unable to comprehend her slang.

"Say, you're that Ruler chick, right?" she continued to ask rhetorically, grinning widely, "Since soldier boy ain't here, I guess I'll settle for you."

Immediately, this put Ruler and Jack on their guard.

Archer spit out the cigar, which disappeared into thin air, and materialized a handgun. She then declared, "Yeah... I'll get a fight outta you. Awaken, Avery and gang!"

The Servant unmuted the setup; music started blaring as the top of her tophat flipped open. A small peacock popped out and started posing with the anvil and the weight. At the same time, the television screen displayed three muscular men posing as well.

Ruler and Jack stared blankly at them, unable to tell if they were serious or not.

Pausing the television again, the younger-looking Servant questioned, "Really? Andy, remind me to edumecate them in in cartoons after we kick their butts. All right, boys! Let's paint the town red!"

Commentary:-

That took a while. Had a lot of other stuff that was filling my time. Admittedly, after finishing Wanderlust and Wanderlust 2, it took a lot to get back into writing the next chapter for this fic. Procrastination, I can deal with. Abandoning this?

I refuse.

I'm not in the habit of leaving things off like this. I have finished many fics and not about to stop here. So, I pushed through and the chapter is here. Thank you for waiting, everyone. Hopefully, the next one wouldn't take that long.

So, battle lines have been set up and drawn. Mordred vs Semiramis goes on as normal, so we won't be going into that. I think the anime pretty much covered it. Instead, we'll be looking at Rider Cherche vs Rider Zero, Assassin Zer0 vs Caster Miraak with some potential help from Saber Nero. And then, Archer Peacock vs Ruler Jeanne and Jack. And then there is also Caster Ancestor at Castle Yggdmillenia

But... where is Berserker?

Thank you for reading. Please leave a review if it fancies you and have a nice day, dear readers.