*/*/*

Kotomine's malicious smile greeted them in front of the elevator once again. "You certainly have a determined look in your eyes. Welcome again then to the Coliseum where you will confront the opposing Master and their Servant. Are you ready?" Hakuno gave a sharp nod. "Very well then. The only way out once you go, is to win. Now, present your triggers to the door, or forfeit by default." He stepped out of the way, lurking nearby. Likely waiting to see if Hakuno had indeed failed to get her cipher keys. Thankfully, she did not have to find out just what the priest would do in that case. Her collected triggers clicked into place and the door unlocked. Into the elevator they went, leaving the still smiling Kotomine behind.

Lancer manifested beside her as the elevator began to move. Once again, their opponents stood on the other side of a cyber barrier going down the middle. Maybe the Moon Cell had a thing for final taunts and showdowns before the real fight? Was there an Overlord AI watching this with a bowl of popcorn? Regardless, this was not the time for Hakuno's musings.

"Oh, someone looks serious." Robin gave a smirk "Is the doggie upset I managed to hurt his wittle Master? Though I admit I'm impressed you survived my poison lady. That won't happen this time around."

"Normally, I would retort." Lancer's glare threatened to incinerate Archer where the green man stood. "But given that you felt the need to attack my Master from behind with poison and deliver such a weak insult now? I know I don't need to bother. You know you can't beat me and my Master. You know your Master can't either. You two can barely even work together with all the command seals your master has already spent keeping your useless ass in line. You're just doing the pathetic blustering of a fool who's already lost."

"What do you think, boss? Think we've already lost?" The Archer looked over at Blackmore.

"It is the privilege of the elderly to teach the youth when they are being foolish. It is a shame you will not be able to reflect on the lesson afterwards." The old soldier was calm and confident. Unruffled by the antics of his Servant or Lancer's hostility. There was a sort of corrupted dignity to him.

Hakuno wondered if he was even the same man that had once told her to go get tea. He had seemed more like a knight then. Or a stern grandfather. That memory felt right just as the old man in front of her now seemed wrong. Something had changed Blackmore's nature, just as it had changed it to be his name listed as her opponent. Hakuno would have to deal with this version of Blackmore whatever the case was.

The elevator lurched to a halt and the doors opened. A ruined castle yard awaited them, the battlefield needing only the clash of weapons and split blood.

SWORD Lancer's spear manifested in hand as he crouched.

OR Robin strung his bow and drew his cloak around him

DEATH And so it began.

The second the fight began, Lancer shot forward, charging straight into Robin's arrows as they were deflected by a gust of wind.

"What in the-?!" Robin gaped for a split second before Lancer lashed out, kicking the green servant hard in the ribs as they flew hard into a stone wall, gasping as their back slammed against the bricks. Blackmore's eyes were wide in shock at the unexpected power and ferocity, paired with the blatant nullification of the core premise of what Robin could do.

"Oh no, you aren't getting of that easy." Lancer's grin reminded her of a wolf stalking toward its prey, kicking Robin's dropped bow back over to the servant "You've spent this whole fucking time trying to piss me off. So, congratulations! I'm going to show you just how bad of an idea that was."

"Go to hell!" Robin rapidly fired an arrow trailing toxic mist at Lancer, her blue haired servant striking the arrow from the air with a swing of his spear. But while the arrow was destroyed, the poison's weren't, the momentum carrying the cloud into her servant who took a half step back with a grimace, Robin's face twisting into a cruel smirk.

"Cure!" Hakuno didn't waste a second, removing the debuff as Lancer straightened in an instant, sending her a grin and a thumb's up.

"If that's the best you can do, you should just go ahead and surrender." Lancer smirked as he moved back toward Robin, closing the distance as their orange haired opponent slapped a palm on the ground.

"Wall of Thorns!" Lancer had to leap up into the air, dodging the barbed plant growth as Robin ran to put in more distance.

"Archer, stop toying around and take this seriously!" Blackmore ordered his servant, apparently not grasping just how bad of a matchup this was for his servant.

"Seriously." Even though it was a whisper, the word seemed to echo in the arena as Hakuno felt a chill run down her back, seeing Archer's eye meet her own. In an instant, Robin drew back the string of his bow and fired rapidly. The first shots went toward Lancer who deflected them, but the ones that came after flew straight for Hakuno. The world slowed around her as she saw the gleaming shaft rushing toward her eye, drawing closer…and closer…and closer, until Lancer appeared in front of her, the wind from his skill blowing back her hair. While she couldn't see his expression, from the tension in his shoulders she knew her servant was furious.

"Claws," Lancer's voice was a feral growl as he tensed, rocketing forward faster than she'd seen him move yet "of sky!" her servant leapt through the air toward Robin, slamming his crimson spear against their enemy who locked up, jerking and spasming from the stun the technique had inflicted. The leader of the Merry Men didn't have long to suffer under that ailment though, as Lancer's spear was thrust again, piercing through Robin's chest and bursting out his back.

"Good riddance." Lancer pulled his spear out of Archer's heart, flicking the blood off with a movement, and walked back towards Hakuno. The moment he crossed that distance, the Firewall slammed between the pairs.

"We… failed?!" Robin managed to gasp out.

Blackmore looked dazed. As if he'd just woken from a strange dream. "...What have I been doing?" The question was soft. "My actions recently were certainly not those of a knight. I apologize, young lady. I cannot begin to reason why I allowed Archer to run amok as he did."

Robin could only give a betrayed coughing noise.

"Had I been thinking straight, I would have sealed his Noble Phantasm with a Command Seal for wounding you in the arena like he did. Yet I did not. I am hardly fit to call myself a knight anymore." Both Master and Servant were disappearing into black nothingness under the red glow of the Firewall. "I congratulate you, miss. You had determination. Even if you do not know it yet, I believe you have a purpose in your soul. Please honor the request of a dying man. Keep living through your trials and allow them to grow your determination. I can only hope, as sorry as I have been acting lately, that I can at least be the ground from which a bright future might grow." With those words both Master and Servant vanished.

*/*/*

Hakuno and Lancer silently returned to 2-B. Only once back in the safety of the room did Lancer speak. "Another Master commenting about how they were acting strange and unable to explain it. This is becoming a pattern, lass." He sat on his hammock scowling. "These zaps of yours seem to have concerning results." Hakuno couldn't argue that and so they sat in silence for a moment before Lancer sighed. "It feels like someone's messing with us. I don't know. Maybe the Moon Cell grew a sick sense of humor or something."

"And even if we had time to search for answers, we could just come up with nothing." A sad state of affairs. Hakuno was not liking this. Trapped in a war with just more death and more questions as their reward.

"I'll keep you safe Master. No more fuck ups like with that Archer. You'll see, I'm one of the best damn guards in the business. If nothing else, I'll make sure you get the chance to ask the Moon Cell directly before you make your wish." Lancer offered up his pinkie. "I believe this was your preferred method of promises?"

This startled a huff out of Hakuno. "I… don't have a wish, Lancer." Still, she came over to him and took his pinkie with hers. "But I can certainly ask the questions if we make it there."

This got a barking laugh out of the man. "Honestly Master. We're too alike. I don't have a wish I'd make either, I just manifest to fight strong opponents." Lancer seemed strangely pleased with this revelation. "That hunch of yours was right, we were meant to work together. Though I think I prefer the now over some mysterious other time."

"I prefer now too." Hakuno let the conversation end with a soft smile.

A/N: Unfortunately, couldn't justify a longer fight with PFA in play. But other fights certainly won't be this easy