AN
"Blah"- Normal speech
'Blah' - Thoughts
BLAH- Driver/Wonderide Books
Fate/Stay Night x Kamen Rider
Journey through the Kaleidoscope
Fate/Stay Night x Kamen Rider Saber
Fate/Seiken
Chapter ?: In the Beginning, There Was a Flame Swordsman
"Once upon a time…This world we live in was created from an extraordinary book. That book is the source of myths, stories, living creatures, scientific techniques and more. As well as containing all of human history. It is known as the Almighty Book."
"Swordsmen, chosen by the Seiken, have been protecting the peace by protecting the Almighty Book. But one day, some bad people, who wanted to snatch it away appeared and the Omniscience Book split and scattered!"
"The battle between two sides has continued for countless years…and they fight even to this day…"
The three of them found themselves in a place that was very different to the one that they had been in only moments before. Instead of a darkened winter sky the air around them felt warm, almost as if it were late summer.
Whilst the buildings weren't anything out of the ordinary the sky above them was filled with large creatures that resembled whales Along with the dragons, floating rocks, plants and a giant stone sword statue could be seen far off in the distance.
"Wha…what the heck…" Rin exclaimed as she took in the sight before her, "What is this place?"
Shirou didn't reply, he too was too taken aback by his new surroundings. Seeing this he was reminded of a line from an old movie that he'd seen with his self-imposed big sister figure when he was younger which summed up the situation that he and Tohsaka currently found themselves in, they definitely weren't in Kansas (or in this case Fuyuki) anymore.
Turning his head, he looked over at the spot where Saber had been standing, curious to what she made of all this, only to discover that she wasn't there. "S…Saber…" He called out as he looked around him, searching for any sign of the blond-haired woman, "Saber, where are you?"
Nothing, he could find no trace of her nor did he get any kind of response. Where was she? He was so certain that she'd been standing there when the barrier had suddenly appeared.
His mind still reeling, Shirou turned his attention to where the white haired girl was standing and discovered that Berserker was absent as well. Suddenly the white haired girl that had revealed herself to him and Tohsaka, Illyasviel if he remembered correctly, wasn't looking nearly as threatening nor as confident as she had prior to the barrier going up.
"Archer…Archer are you there?" Rin called out, "Damn, I can't get in contact with him. Whatever this area is its cut us off from our Servants,"
"So now what?" Shirou asked the dark haired heiress.
Rin let out a sigh. "We're in unfamiliar territory and cut off from both Saber and Archer, if I had to guess this whole area must have some kind of property that doesn't allow Servants to exist inside of it," She replied, trying to sound calmer than she actually felt. "There's gotta be someway outta here, all we need to do is find it."
"What about her?" Shirou asked, indicating to Illyasviel. "What should we do about her?"
"What about her," Rin shot back. "She's the enemy, remember."
"I…I know, still we can't just leave her here by herself." Shirou replied. "She's just a little kid after all."
"You can't be serious." Rin replied, staring at him with a look of disbelief on her face. "How can someone like you hope to survive in a war between Mages if you're this much of a push over."
"Case you haven't noticed Tohsaka, we're all in the same position right now, cut off from our Servants and stuck in here." Shirou retorted, his tone firm. "Besides, even if she's a Master she's still a human being, and she doesn't deserve to be trapped in here all alone."
With that Shirou turned away from the ebony haired girl and began approaching Illya, Rin shaking her head in disbelief as she watched him walk away.
"Hey there," Shirou called out, the sound of his voice catching the diminutive girl's attention, "Illyasviel was it?"
"What do you want?" Illya retorted, a look of mistrust in her crimson eyes as she stared back at him.
"Errm, Tohasaka and I are gonna look for a way out of here." The rust haired teen told the silver haired girl before extending a hand out to her. "You should come with us."
"Wha…what?" Illya replied, taken aback a little by Shirou's proposal. "And what makes you think that I'm going anywhere with you, we're enemies remember. How do I know this isn't just some trick you've devised to try and bump me off,"
Shirou shook his head and sighed. 'Are all Magi really this paranoid?' "Look, the way I see it we're all in the same boat right now. If we work together then we stand a better chance of getting out," He said to her, "Or would you prefer to stay here by yourself and get potentially trapped here."
The white haired girl frowned. "Very well, I suppose agreeing to a temporary truce would be beneficial until we can find a way out of this situation." She replied in a rather haughty tone before shooting the red haired teen with a stern look. "However, if either of you try anything funny, I won't hesitate to cut you down where you stand."
Shirou managed to resist the urge to let out a long drawn out groan. 'Best I'm probably going to get…'
Before any of them could do or say anything else a loud explosion coming from somewhere nearby was heard, taking a brief moment to glance at his two companions Shirou quickly took off in the direction that it had come from, both Rin and Illya following close behind.
As he approached Shirou took note of the damaged buildings around him, seeing the charred edges resembling burning paper, rapid images of his recurring dream flashed before Shirou's eyes. 'This…this is...'
Rounding a corner, the trio of Mages found themselves in a small square, in the middle of which stood a creature unlike anything any of the three Magus had ever seen before. The monster had stone hands clutching on a pot that formed a grey face of the monster, for the rest of the body, the monster had gold armor pads and some gold armor on some parts of his body.
"Wha…what the heck is that thing?" Rin blurted out.
"Huh," The creature spoke up upon hearing the dark haired heiress's outburst before turning its head in the trio's direction. "Humans, I didn't expect to catch any of your kind when I activated this thing."
"Activated, you mean you're responsible for this thing?" Rin retorted.
"That is correct," The Golem replied. "All thanks to this."
It then held up something that it was holding, Shirou noticing that the item in question was a small book-like item, one not dissimilar from the one that he carried with him, its cover was white but seemed to be gradually turning black.
"A…a book?" He exclaimed, from the looks of it, the book that the Golem had was in similar design to the book in his possession.
"For my kind books are power," The Golem said, "Using this book's power your world will become part of mine."
"A book, you're using a book to hurt people!" Shirou exclaimed, for some reason this piece of information both shocked and angered him. "Books are important, they are written by people who wish to convey information meant to be passed down from one generation to the next. They are not meant to cause suffering."
"Illyasviel, much as I hate to admit it, we need to work together on this." Rin said to the diminutive girl who a short time ago had been her enemy, "Without our Servants we stand a much better chance of getting through this if we stick together."
"Very well, just don't go thinking that this makes us friends all of a sudden." Illya replied, sounding rather haughty, "The moment this is resolved we go back to being enemies."
Rin let out a hearty 'heh'. "Wouldn't have it any other way." She told the white haired Magus as she pointed her hand towards the Golem, dark energy gathering at the tip of her finger and unleashed a barrage of glowing energy bullets at it.
As the Tohsaka heiress was doing this Illyasviel conjured up multiple constructs that looked to be made of silvery wire, a pair of birds as well as several swords, that she unleashed at the stony creature.
As the two heiresses unleashed their Magecraft upon the Golem, Shirou stayed back, knowing that his own Craft paled in comparison to both female Masters and with no weapon available to him there was little he could do to help in this situation.
However, from what he could tell both Tohsaka and the Einzbern's respective attacks spells looked to be having very little effect on it.
"Is that all you have, humans really are pathetic creatures." The golem scoffed, clearly unimpressed by the two Heiresses' efforts. "Now begone…"
All of a sudden, the pair of hand-like attachments that were attached to the creature's head detached themselves and launched themselves towards the trio of Magi. Seeing them incoming Shirou acted quickly, grabbing hold of Illya and pulling her into his chest as they both fell to the ground, narrowly avoiding the Golem's hand as they passed overhead.
"Hey, hey!" the silver haired snow maiden cried out as she struggled to escape Shirou's grip, "What do you think you're doing?"
Rin meanwhile had a deep set frown etched into her face as she picked herself up off of the ground, her attention fixed upon the stony creature that stood a short distance away as she did so.
"Damnit, whatever this thing is, it seems to have a high resistance to Magecraft…" She muttered to herself, "Just where did this thing come from?"
"Humans, your kind are a blight upon this world, using this book I will create a new one where humans are unnecessary." The Golem proclaimed, "Now disappear…"
As it said these words a large towering object that looked to be some kind of pitcher plant printed on a piece of folded card rose up in the distance, something not dissimilar to what could be found in a children's pop up book, no sooner had it appeared the floral image created a powerful vacuum like effect that began sucking various items and debris and drawing it into its large open 'mouth'.
One of those things being Rin, the Tohsaka heiress letting out a scream as she was pulled off of the ground and was sucked towards the large plant, Shirou watching wide eyed in horror as this happened.
All of a sudden visions of his recurring dream flashed before his eyes again, in particular the part where the young girl was sucked into the rectangular shaped opening despite his best efforts, leaving him with feelings of guilt and helplessness.
'No,' Came a voice from within him, the sound of it familiar and yet also foreign as the words echoed in his head, 'no, not again.'
Before he knew it Shirou was meeting, his hand extended out in front of him as he managed to grab a hold of Rin's hand. "E…Emiya…" Rin exclaimed; her eyes widened slightly as she stared at the rust haired boy who was holding on to her.
"Tohsaka," Shirou replied, gritting his teeth as he did his to fight against being pulled into the opening himself. "I've got you…"
Meanwhile, whilst these events were playing out, Saber stood before the shining wall that separated her from Shirou and Rin, trying to comprehend what had just happened.
The moment that strange golden glow suddenly appeared she and Berserker had been forcefully ejected from the area, funding herself on the other side of some kind of barrier that, no matter how hard she tried, she could not pass through it nor could her sword penetrate it.
As Saber stared at the glowing wall, contemplating what to do, a growl caught her attention and looking over she saw Berserker who was in the same position as herself. The growling that was emanating from the towering mass of muscle and rage grew louder and louder transitioning into a roar as he raised his large weapon and went to swing at the shimmering barrier only the blade of the colossal sword/axe bouncing off of it, the structure unblemished despite of Berserker's efforts.
Undeterred, the undead Demigod tried again and again only to be met by the same results no matter how many times that the Mad Servant's tried to break through, even his God-like strength could not make a dent in it.
"Damn, look at this mess." Hearing a voice Saber looked over, her eyes fell upon Archer, the Servant of the Bow standing upon the roof of the church.
"Archer, your eyes are the best amongst the Servant classes," she called up to him, "Can you see what is happening on the other side, are Shirou and Rin in good health."
Archer looked over at her, a frown etched into his tanned face. "No," He replied, "And I can't contact Rin either. Whatever this barrier is, it's completely cut us off from our perspective Masters."
Biting back a curse, Saber looked away from Archer and back towards the shimmering golden wall, powerless to do anything but wait and pray that Shirou and Rin would be able to survive whatever trial or foes they might encounter inside.
Back inside the glowing barrier Shirou was still struggling to keep his grip on both Rin and Illyasviel, his feet sliding across the cobblestones as the pitcher plant tried to suck him in as well.
"How pointless," The golem scoffed, unimpressed by Shirou's efforts. "Just give up and accept your fate. Soon this book will be completed and a new world will be created."
Unbeknownst to both the group of Magi and the golem a short distance away from them a large object that appeared to look like a leather bound book appeared, falling opened its pages flipping quickly, the image of a young man with short dark hair clad in a blue tunic emerged from it.
"Megiddo…" He muttered as he noticed the Golem pulling out a sword, its guard blue, contained inside a particular looking sheath he was about to move when he noticed Shirou's party, seeing the red haired teen struggling against the pitcher plants attempts to suck him as well Rin and Illyasviel in.
"Damnit, hostages," He muttered, "I need to save them first."
Feeling the powerful section trying to pull him in, Shirou gritted his teeth as he fought to keep a hold on Rin's hand, his feet slipping across the road again.
"Emiya…Emiya, I'm losing my grip." Rin cried out, desperation in her voice, "Don't let me go."
"Don't give up Tohsaka," Shirou called back. "Where there is determination, there is hope!"
No sooner had he said this a red glow could be seen emanating from inside of Shirou's jacket which became brighter and brighter.
"H…huh…" Shirou exclaimed, shocked by this development as the bright red light engulfed him and his two companions.
"E…Emiya," Rin said, "What is this?"
All of a sudden, the red glow took of the form of a long bodied Dragon, the creature letting out a cry before it took to the air and launched itself towards the pitcher plant and slammed into it, engulfing it in flames and reducing it into a pile of ashes, the vacuum like effect instantly vanishing which resulted in Shirou, Rin and Illya collapsing to the ground, all of whom despite a few scrapes looked to be no worse for wear.
Feeling a warmth emanating from near his chest Shirou reached into his jacket and produced his small book, the item giving off of the same glow that had blown the rock off of him and his two female companions.
Shirou pushed himself off of the ground, letting out a grunt as he did so. "Urgh…Tohsaka, Illyasviel," He said, "Are you two alright?"
"I am perfectly fine." The Master of Berserker replied. "Now would you kindly let me go."
"Oh…right. Sorry." Shirou replied upon realizing that he still had his arm wrapped around her, quickly releasing his hold on her.
The white haired Mages quickly got to her feet and shot him a stern look before she brushed herself off.
Quickly Shirou turned his attention to Rin, quickly letting go of her hand before he could make things more awkward. "What about you Tohsaka," He asked, "Are you alright?"
"I…I'm fine." Rin replied, quickly composing herself, doing her best to reestablish the appearance of a first rate Magi. "Emiya, what was that?"
Shirou shook his head in response as he got back to his feet. "I…I have no idea…" He told her, as he did so he reached into his jacket and produced his book, fixing his gaze upon the small item that he held tightly in his palm.
"Did…did this…protect me…?" He muttered to himself.
"Emiya, what the heck is that?" Rin asked, pointing at the object that he was holding, clearly confused as to what was going on.
Shirou didn't answer her, his attention was fixed solely on the item in his hand. tentatively he reached down and flipped open the front cover and a voice echoed out from it.
BRAVE DRAGON…
KATSUTE SUBETE WO HOROBOSU HODO NO IDAINA CHIKARA WO TENISHINJUU GA ITA …
"That's a Wonder Rider Book," The blue clad swordsman said to himself, "How could a mere boy have gotten ahold of one?"
All of a sudden the small book began to shine again and a gout of flames erupted from it, shooting up into the sky where it became a swirling vortex that took the form of a burning Dragon, the fiery beast then let out a roar before it dived down towards and impacted the ground in front of Shirou as well as knock the golem creature back by the sheer force of it impacting with the ground.
"When the world comes undone, the Dragon will awaken the blade of flame." The man in blue said, speaking as if he were quoting a passage, "Could…could it be…?"
"Is…is that a sword?" Shirou muttered; his gaze fixed upon the weapon that rested amongst the mass of fire.
"Where there is determination, there is hope!"
All of a sudden the words said to him by the swordsman in his dreams, words that had stuck with him all these years just as much as the words said to him by Kiritsugu on the night that he'd passed on.
All the same he needed to do something; he knew that his own meagre Magecraft wasn't enough to beat the golem monster. He'd made a promise to Kiritsugu, that he'd fulfil his dream of becoming a hero that could save everyone and to do that he needed to be stronger, stronger than he was right now. That sword…he needed that sword.
Steeling his resolve, Shirou stepped forward, his hand outstretched towards the red flaming sword, doing his best to ignore the heat of the flames that licked at him and searing his skin. "Damn, its hot…"
"Emiya, what are you doing?" Rin called out; the ebony haired Magus bewildered by Shirou's actions. "You'll get burned!"
Despite this Shirou pressed on, reaching out he seized a hold of the weapon, the hot metal searing his flesh as he tightened his grip around it.
"What is he doing?" The man in blue exclaimed. "It is impossible for a mere Homosapien to wield the sacred sword."
"What is that idiot doing?" The golem spoke up as it watched as Shirou gripped the weapon, "There's no way that a mere human like you can pull that sword, even if you can do you really think it will change anything?"
Shirou fixed his gaze upon the stone-like creature, a look of determination on his face. "I understand that I'm in over my head and that I may not fully comprehend what's going on here. But I made a promise, a promise that I'd become a Hero of Justice." He retorted, his tone firm as he tightened his grip upon the burning sword, despite the hot metal searing his flesh. "I…I won't die here. I will decide how my story ends…"
With that said, Shirou then let out a cry, with a mighty heave he pulled it free from the ground and held it aloft.
The instant that the blade was free of the concrete the sword became engulfed in fire, reducing in size until it was the size of Shirou's forearm. In his hands was a black scabbard buckle that had three slots and gold stripes with the unknown language on each of them. The sword now has a black and silver grip with the remaining flames gathered as it became a flame shaped hilt that had a gold X crest in a flame design.
SEIKEN SWORD DRIVER…
"S…Seiken…" Rin exclaimed.
"A holy sword?" Illya muttered, her red eyes fixed upon the boy who had stolen her father from her, "What…what is all this, why wasn't any of this in the information I had gathered on him?"
Meanwhile, outside the barrier, Saber's eyes widened and her breath caught itself in her throat as a sudden shudder rang through her body bringing with it a dark sense of foreboding.
Although she had no idea what was going on the other side, somehow, she knew, she could somehow tell that her Master had obtained something very dangerous, something that if used would change everything.
"Shirou…" She gasped, reaching out she began to slam her fist into the barrier in front of her. "Shirou no, don't use it…"
Shirou stared at the item that he held in his hand, his mind racing with a thousand questions a second as he tried to comprehend what was going on. He had no idea what this thing was, and yet somehow, he also knew what it was that he should do.
"This is the power I've been granted…The power I can use to protect everyone," He muttered to himself. "My sword…"
As if by some instinct he then pressed the newly transformed blade against his waist, a strap emerging from it and securing itself. That done he then took out the small book and flipped open the front cover.
BRAVE DRAGON…
Closing it again he then slotted into rightmost slots located on the sheath, his gaze never shifting from the creature before him as he did so, now in place the small item glowed and created the image of an open book that rapidly flipped through its pages.
All of a sudden Shirou found himself in yet another different location, a pocket dimension filled with many bookshelves everywhere, standing on a podium with flames around him as fiery music played out from his belt and a large projection of the Brave Dragon book appeared behind him as he grips into the sword and draws it out, doing that opens the book and reveals an armored warrior with its arm raising up.
Grabbing the handle of the sword Shirou let out a cry as he pulled the sword free of its sheath, the small red book instantly flipping itself open.
REKKA BATTOU…
"Henshin…" Shirou announced, he then swung his blade, launching an X shaped burning pattern outwards. The same time the large tome behind him opened up and a large red Dragon emerged from its pages, the creature encircled Shiroy before transforming into a mass of flames that then engulfed the rust haired teenager, merging with him before it dissipated to reveal a figure clad in armor and a sword in their right hand.
BRAVE DRAGON…
Where an average looking teenage boy had been moments before was now a knight like figure, their armor was black armor suit with white in the middle all the way to his feet with red linings. His right arm was red with armor in a flame design, the dragon's head on its shoulder showing its yellow eyes. He wore a black and red waist cape covering his right leg. His helmet is blank as the flaming X flies to his face, turning it into a mask with a yellow visor silver lining in the form of an X. The visor's edges are red with the right side having a sharp red spike while the left side has a flame design. The mouthpiece was smooth and split with red on the right, black on the left and white on the forehead. He had a blade-like horn sticking out of his mask that resembles his sword.
REKKA ISSATSU! YUK NO RYUU TO KAENKEN REKKA GA MAJIWARU TOKI, SHINKU NO TSURUGI GA AKU WO TSURANUKU!
Saber raises his flaming sword up and swings it before placing it on his left forearm and slowly rubs it. Then he swung it across both sides before holding it up to his left as a red book flipping its pages behind him. His sword was burning bright red as the flat edge shines red as well.
KAENKEN REKKA…
"Kaenken…Rekka…?" The red, white and black swordsman muttered as he examined the blade, "Not sure I get it but y'know what, that doesn't matter." He then turned his attention to the monster before him, flourishing the sword before pointing it at it "Because I'm going to use this power to beat you and protect everyone."
Meanwhile both Rin and Illyasviel were staring at the newly transformed teenager, both of whom couldn't believe what they were seeing.
From her encounter with him earlier Rin had concluded that Emiya Shirou was a fourth rate Mage, unable to use anything beyond the absolute basic skills (how he had managed to escape her notice was an embarrassment on her part) whose inclusion in the Holy Grail War was due to some kind of fluke.
Illyasviel meanwhile was in a similar state to Rin. Before coming to Fuyuki, she'd made a point to gather as much intel on her 'brother' as she could, wanting to learn as much as she could about her prey before confronting him, based upon the information she had gathered she'd surmised that he was an average person with below average talent for Magecraft since it was apparent that her father had barely taught him anything let alone passed his family crest down to him.
So, based upon what both of the pair knew about him, it was all the more surprising for them when it was revealed that he was in possession of some kind of mysterious artifact or Mystic Code that allowed himself to transform into a rather formidable looking warrior.
Unbeknownst to the group, in a different location a group of individuals were observing them, in the room with them a pair of apparatuses sat upon a table, both of which looked to be a wooden hand clutching a feather quill suspended from wires from a frame, both of which were scribbling text upon that pages of old looking tomes.
Three of them human looking men were observing them, three of them looking gleeful at the armored figures' sudden appearance. The first was clad in a long blue coat and matching pants as well as purple boots, a long strand of hair extending from his head and hanging down to just below his waist.
The second was clad in dark leathers, his short jacket worn over a red shirt and red fingerless gloves adorned his hands.
The third had scruffy looking hair and was wearing a sleeveless hoodie worn over a blue shirt, beige pants and a leather strap adorning his left wrist.
The fourth however was clad in purple and silver armor, their head hidden behind a helmet that sported a silver visor and a jagged looking golden horn that sprouted from its forehead. "That is…Saber…"
As a guttural rumbled in its throat the Golem slammed one of its large hands into the ground beneath it, producing a large chunk of concrete and debris which it then hurled in the Rider's direction.
Seeing the sizable projectile incoming, Saber quickly dropped into a forward roll to avoid it, the chunk of debris sailing overhead, as he rose up the blade of his sword became engulfed in flame before he then charged at the Golem, ducking under the stoney creature's fist as it attempted to aim a punch at him, before delivering a slash across its chest before spinning on his heel and slashed at it again.
Golem yelled out as it swiped at him with its larger hand to counterattack, only for Saber to duck underneath it. This resulted in the monster gasping out as sparks flew from its stomach, Saber having taken advantage of its wide swing.
"Damn, Emiya's really taking it to that thing." Rin muttered as she watched the red, white and black swordsman engage the stoney creature. "Just what have you been hiding?"
Illyasviel didn't reply, she was too engrossed in what she was seeing. Before coming out to this backwater country she'd made a point to learn as much about her adoptive brother as possible, wanting to know every detail no matter how trivial about the stray puppy that had stolen her father away from her. How had her brother managed to keep this hidden from her? What other secrets could he possibly be hiding?
Unbeknownst to Rin and Illyasviel, Shirou was just as shocked as they were at how he was fighting. Sure he'd learned basic kendo from Kiritsugu not long after the man had taken him in, however that didn't explain how he was able to move or fight to this degree.
And yet, somehow, this all felt natural to him. From the moment he laid eyes upon the Sieken Swordriver, it was as if something from deep within him was telling him what to do and guiding his action.
The hands attached to either side of the Golem's head gave off an ominous purple energy before they detached themselves from the stony Kaijin and were launched into the air above the Swordsman.
Looking up, Saber was met by the sight of something falling towards him from above, diving to the side he narrowly avoided as one of the stony hands slammed into the ground beside him, the impact leaving a small creator in the ground.
Pulling himself together, Saber rose into a seated position, upon doing so he was quick to discover that the pair of stony hands were now clutching the blade of his sword, the pair of appendages trying to pull it free from his grip.
His teeth gritted and eyes narrowing behind his helmet, Saber clutched his weapon in both hands as he fought back against the pair of hands, both parties trying to wrest the Sword of Flames away from the other. Eventually Saber won out, regaining ownership of the sword, with a mighty swing he dislodged the appendages from his weapon and them flying back towards the Golem, knocking the rocky Kaijin off of its feet and sending it stumbling to the floor.
"Damn you..." the Golem growled, glaring at Saber as it picked itself up, "That book, hand it over, its power is meant to be used by us."
Saber glared at the Golem. "This book is my power," He shot back, brushing a hand across the book set into his belt buckle, "no way that I'm handing it over to the likes of you."
"You cur…" The Golem growled as it glared at the red, white and black swordsman. One again produced the small book that it had used to create the barrier that had cordoned off a section of the city and flipped it open.
Moments later a rumbling sound was heard catching the attention of Saber, Rin and Ililyasviel as a shadow suddenly fell over them. Turning their attention skyward the trio of Mages were met by the sight of the tops of several buildings coming towards them, the ground beneath the cluster of structures having lifted off of the ground and were now descending towards them, not unlike the turning of a page of a book.
"Wha…what the fuck!" Rin cried out, her voice filled with panic as she watched as the tops of the buildings drew closer and closer towards them.
Illya however didn't say anything, the white haired girl seemingly too scared to make a sound as she clutched onto Rin, a look of terror spread across her face.
The 'page' turning effect passed over them and all of a sudden Saber, Rin and Illya felt a sudden pull of gravity as the ground beneath their feet vanished and found themselves plummeting from a great height towards the ground that was far far below them, whilst a giant monument that looked like a sword rose up to meet them.
As he fell Saber felt something latch onto his left arm, glancing over he discovered a silver thread had wrapped itself around it, following it he found that it connected to Illyasviel who was still holding onto Tohsaka, her hat flying off of her heard and fly out of reach as they dropped.
Saber managed to angle his fall towards the giant sword, managing to land on its cross guard, the moment that his feet were touched he grabbed hold of the silver threat and gave it a pull, pulling Tohsaka and Illyasviel towards him, doing his best to cushion their fall as they slammed into him.
"Are you two alright?" The red, white and blacked swordsman inquired as both girls untangled themselves from each other.
"I…I'm good, I think." Rin replied, her voice sounding a little horse from all the screaming. "I…I think I might have lost at least a good ten years of my life back there."
"I…I am fine." Illyasvirl added, dismissing the thread that she'd wrapped around Saber's arm. "What I want to know is what's going on and how we got to this place."
"Search me," Saber replied, "Although, now that I think about it, that book that Golem had might have had something to do with it."
"Uhhh Emiya, Illyasviel." Rin spoke up, sounding a little panicked. "I think we've got other things to worry about."
Hearing this both Saber and Illya glanced upwards and discovered dozens of large rocks hovering above them, the stony objects suddenly launching themselves at the trio.
Acting quickly Saber placed himself in front of both Rin and Illyasviel, the blade of the Kaenken Rekka suddenly igniting before he slashed at the incoming rocks, cutting them in two.
Knocking them out of the air with a barrage of Gandr shots, Illyasviel meanwhile conjured several blade familiars made from silver thread that she utilized to protect herself from the incoming rocks.
Saber dived off of the cross guard and dived towards the ground, cutting down several more rocks as approached the ground, finding himself in what looked to be a barren wasteland rather than the section of the city that they'd been trapped in, in which he found the Golem creature waiting for him.
Before he landed Saber unleashed a horizontal slash which in turn created a burning mass of flames which caught the Golem in the chest and knocked it to the ground, as it fell the page turning effect returned and both the multi-coloured Swordsman and his opponent found themselves once again back in the encased section of the city.
Letting out a low growl, the Golem rolled onto its side and fixed its gaze on Saber. "Damn you…" It snarled.
Saber meanwhile glared back at his opponent, standing atop a partially ruined structure that overlooked the scene below. "I already told you," He retorted, reaching a hand towards the Brave Dragon book that was set into his Driver. "This power, I will use it to save everyone."
BRAVE DRAGON…
Tapping his hand on top of the book, Saber quickly switched his sword into his left hand, holding it in a reverse grip, as his right hand was suddenly engulfed in a fiery aura as flames appeared around him. Once more, as if guided by some unseen force, the red, white and black swordsman launched himself from his vantage point and thrust his fiery fist forward, projecting a burning mass of flames that took the form of a Dragon's head at the Golem.
Seeing the burning mass flying towards him, the Golem yelled as he conjured up a large boulder and launched it, the rock colliding with the Dragon's head only for it to be smashed into debris before it continued on and found its mark, once more knocking the stony to the ground.
"Give up already," Saber called to his opponent, readying his blade as he did so. "You can't win."
The Golem glared at the sword wielding Rider, as it did so the debris that littered the area began to vibrate before all of a sudden it began to move towards him, as if pulled in by some invisible force, and merged with its body, increasing its in size until it towered over the battlefield.
"Wha…what the…" Saber exclaimed as he stared dumbstruck up at the now colossal Kaijin. "You've got to be kidding me!"
Letting out a low growl the Golem lashes out at Saber, aiming a punch at him that he was barely able to dodge out of the way of. "You're too late." The four story tall rock creature said as it next attempted to stomp on his opponent. "It's already started, no one can stop it now."
Once more Saber managed to avoid being crushed, however the force of the Golems foot connecting with the ground was enough to knock him off of his feet and send him tumbling across the ground.
"I have you now." Hearing the Golems' voice Saber looked up and found the massive rock monster looming over him, rearing back his fist in another attempt to crush his tiny target.
Before it could swing its fist at him several bolts of dark energy suddenly flew towards it and began pelting the side of the towing rock creature's head, this was quickly followed by the arrival of a dozen bird-like constructs that launched themselves at the Golem and began encircling its head and blocking its view.
"Wh…what…what the…?" The Golem exclaimed, taken aback by the bird's sudden arrival, before it began swinging its massive hands in an attempt to swat them aside. "Damn, these annoying things…"
Just as surprised by this, Saber glanced over to one side and was greeted by the sight of both Rin and Illyasviel, both of whom were launching spells at the Golem. "What are you waiting for Emiya," Rin called out, her tone serious. "Take this thing out already."
"R...right…" Saber replied, quickly getting to his feet before sheathing his sword back into its place in the buckle around his waist.
"Enough of this!" Golem roared as he finally managed to swat Illya's bird constructs out of its field of vision before turning its gaze upon the small group below him. "Annoying humans, nothing you do will affect how this ends!"
Saber glared back up at the rock monster, his grip on the handle of his sword tightening, "I already told you…" He retorted, "…the one who decides how this story ends…is me!"
No sooner had Saber uttered these words left the sword wielding Rider pulled the Kaenken Rekka free from the Swordriver in one fluid motion, leaving behind a trail of embers that singed the air.
HISSATSU DOKUHA…REKKA BATTOU…
As before Saber's mind was flooded with images, his body taking up a stance that we could see as images flashed rapidly through his mind's eye in a motion similar to rapidly flipping through the pages of a book, showing to him the precise movements that he needed to do. With a flourish with his sword, flames erupting from and coating the length of the Kaeken Rekka's blade as he readied himself.
DRAGON…ISSATSU GIRI FIRE…
"Flame Cross Slash!" Saber cried out before launching himself towards the legs of the colossal monster, narrowly avoiding another of its attempts to crush him with its massive fist; in a flash of fire, he delivered a powerful slash that left behind a glowing wound on its rocky flesh.
Far from done, Saber continued his attack, moving with great speed he encircled his opponent, slashing at it again and again as he worked its way up its body until, upon reaching its head, he launched himself into the air above it where he seemed to hang for a few moments.
Letting out a cry, Saber once again rushed towards the massive Golem, the flames that had engulfed his sword all of a sudden began to burn more intensely, delivering one final slash that carved through it with seemingly no difficulty before landing on the ground below, one leg spread out before him whilst the other was bent underneath him.
Staggering slightly the large Golem let out a long guttural sounding cry as the light emanating from the slash marks that marred its body began to glow more intensely before it was engulfed in a large explosion that consumed its form and reduced it to rubble.
Breathing heavily, Saber rose up to his full height before turning his attention to the sword in his hand, his mind full of questions of just how was able to pull that off. Recalling the images that had flashed through his mind a thought occurred to him, one that left him quite stunned: was the sword itself telling him what to do and how to fight?
"Emiya…" Suddenly the sound of his name being called was heard and snapped him out of his dazed state, looking away from his sword he saw both Rin and Illyasviel jogging over towards him.
"Emiya, that was…that was insane." Rin said as she and her silver haired fellow Magus made their way over to him."How the heck were you able to pull that off anyway?"
"I would like to know that as well." Illyasviel added, her tone haughtier sounding than Rin's was. "None of the research I had done on you suggested you were anything other than below average in the use of Magecraft."
Saber momentarily looked away from the pair, his gaze once again shifting to his sword. "I…I'm not entirely sure of that myself." He said in an unsure tone, looking at the bladed weapon for a few more seconds before turning his attention back to the pair of girls. "Anyway, thanks for the save back there. I don't think I could have beat that thing if you hadn't distracted it."
"Well…you did save me from Saber earlier tonight and I did save you from being smashed like a bug just now despite already paying you back." Rin told him, tapping a finger against her chin before flashing him a sly grin. "Let's just say that you can owe me one now."
Saber couldn't help but chuckle a little at this. "Yeah, I guess that's fair." He replied.
"Counting the number of petty favours owed, I really should expect as much from low born Magi." Illyasviel said in a haughty tone, just then she shot a wicked looking grin at the Tohsaka heiress. "Then again, since we are counting favours, then it's only fair to include the one that you owe to me."
Rin's face shifted itself into a frown. "Excuse me," She said in a firm tone. "I don't recall owing you anything."
"Need I remind you that I did save your life when we dropped out of the sky when I could have easily let you fall to your death." The Einzbern Master replied, crossing her arms as she did so. "Or perhaps you were too busy screaming like a cliched damsel in distress to notice."
"Th…that doesn't count; besides I would have been fine." Rin retorted hastily. "And who are you calling a screaming damsel in distress, I seem to recall you doing a lot of screaming of your own as you were holding onto me like a little baby."
"I am not a little baby." Illyasviel snapped, stomping a foot on the ground as she did so.
Saber let out a sigh as the two female Master's began arguing. Desperate to focus on anything other than Rin and Illyasviel hurling insults at one another, the red, white and black Rider shifted his gaze skywards and took in the sight that spread out before him. "Wow…" He said, more to himself than to his two companions.
Hearing him say this both Rin and Illyasviel stopped arguing and looked at him "What is it?" Rin inquired.
"Oh, I was just looking at the sky right now," Saber replied, indicating to the area around him, the buildings giving off a golden glow as the damage caused by both the Golem as well as the fighting done to the area was mending itself. "It's just now that we're not facing imminent death, this place is kind of amazing."
Turning their gaze skyward, Rin and Illya took the sight above, seeing the array of flying creatures soaring high above in a sky bluer than either of them had ever seen. "W…wow," Rin said, her voice filled with an almost childlike awe. "I…I've never seen anything like this before."
"Me either," Illya added. "This feels like something out of a story book. It's…it's kind of pretty."
Nearby the blue clad Swordsman continued to observe the trio. "Not bad for mere Homosapiens…" He said to himself. "They handled the Megiddo pretty well."
As he said this another book-like effect appeared behind him, turning in his heel he stepped into it, the book closing before vanishing from sight.
Elsewhere in the decorative looking room, one of the hands ceased writing, the weight that hung off of the opposite end of the wire pulling down and lifted it away from the page.
"We can continue writing this book another time." The short haired man in the leather coat commented, indicating to the apparatus.
"No matter, the worlds have been connected." His companion, the spiky haired man with the bear arms replied.
"Besides, from the looks of things the second book will be completed soon." The third man clad in the long blue coat added.
"The lost flame blade has at last appeared." The figure in the dark armor told his companions. "This will no doubt attract the attention of the other swordsmen."
From outside the barrier Saber tensed up when suddenly the golden wall that separated her from her Master all of a sudden gave off a flash of golden light before it suddenly began to fade away, disintegrating into tiny particles.
Not wasting a second the Servant of the Sword took off in search of Shirou and Rin, judging by the loud footsteps it seemed that Berserker was intent on doing* the same for his own Master.
Moving at speeds that were beyond that any living human could hope to achieve, it wasn't long before the blond haired Servant of the Sword found herself in a small square in which she found both Rin and Illyasviel standing in.
However, she quickly realized that the two Master's weren't alone as standing alongside the two Masters was a third figure, this one clad in rather odd looking armor, their right shoulder covered by an odd looking pauldron shaped like a Dragon's head and clutching a sword in their right hand as well as an odd looking belt that was wrapped around their waist.
Hearing her approach, the trio turned to look in Saber's direction. "Saber," The red, white and black stranger said. "You're here."
Saber was taken aback slightly; whoever this was seemed to know who she was. Quickly brushing aside her surprise the former King of England came to a halt and took up a defensive stance. "Hold it right there," the blond haired swordswoman demanded as she pointed her wind coated weapon in the stranger's direction, a stern look on her face. "Identify yourself."
As she said this a shadow descended over the blond haired Saber Servant, seconds later something made contact with the ground behind her, kicking up a large cloud of dust which quickly settled to reveal Berserker standing there, his large form looming intimidating over Saber, his single red eye fixed upon the Knight of Flames.
"Wait wait…" The sword wielding Kamen Rider said hurriedly, raiding their hands in a non-threatening manner before reaching for the book that was slotted into his belt, closed it and pulled it free from his belt. The moment he did so his body momentarily glowed red that looked to consist of dozens of books before the armor disintegrated off of his body to reveal the form of Emiya Shirou.
"Shirou…" Saber said, her rigid posture relaxing quickly upon seeing him. "Shirou, what has happened here? How did you come to be in possession of that item you have there?"
"Indeed, I'm sure we'd all like an explanation for that." Came a disembodied voice before a portion of the air near to where Saber was standing shimmered and Archer appeared at her side, a serious look on his tanned face as he fixed Shirou with an equally serious look.
Shirou glanced at the book in his palm. "I'm…I'm not really sure myself." He replied. "Truth is I've had it for as long as I can remember."
"What happened to the three of you anyway?" Rin asked quizzically, "The moment that that barrier went up all of you were nowhere to be found"
"The moment that the barrier was completed Saber, Berserker and myself were forcefully ejected from the area." Archer informed her. "Furthermore we were unable to get inside, it's as if the affected area itself was keeping us out."
A thoughtful look spread across Rin's face. "An area that repels Servants, I didn't know such a phenomenon was possible…" She muttered, rubbing her chin as she did so. "This might be worth looking into."
"It's too bad you weren't there," Shirou spoke up. "Having you, Saber and Berserker around would have made dealing with that weird Golem a lot easier."
"The three of you encountered something whilst inside the affected area?" Saber asked, fixing her rust haired Master with a stern look, wanting to know everything that he and both girls had gone through during their separation.
"That…that's right," Shirou replied, recoiling slightly from the look his Servant was giving him. "From what I gathered it was responsible for putting it up in the first place."
"So where is it now?" Archer inquired of Rin. "Has it retreated or were you able to fend it off?"
"No need to concern yourself Archer, while I admit that it was touch and go at times, between Emiya, Illyasviel and myself we were able to overcome our opponent." Rin informed the tanned skinned man. "Actually it was Emiya here who dealt the final blow."
Archer fixed Shirou with an incredulous look."You're telling me that he was able to bring such a creature down." The Servant of the Bow said in a dismissive tone. "I find that difficult to believe."
"Hey." Shirou retorted.
"Believe it Archer, regardless of how Emiya obtained his sword and armor they proved to be highly effective against that creature." Rin told Archer, leaving Shirou surprised at how quickly the dark haired Heiress had been to defend him.
"You…you make it sound like I took it down single handedly." The rust haired Emiya said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.
"Geez Emiya, you really know how to kill the mood. You fought and defeated a giant monster, take some pride in something why don't ya." Rin groaned. "Still, I'd like to know where that Golem thing came from and who made it. Whatever it was, it was highly resistant to Magecraft."
"As fascinating as this whole thing is, I believe now is a good time to take my leave." Illyasviel spoke up. "Tonight has become quite tiresome."
"You're leaving?" Rin asked the silver haired Master as she began to walk away. "What happened to the whole 'being enemies again thing'?"
Illya stopped in her tracks, glancing over her shoulder she shot Rin a stern look "Don't go thinking that I'm going soft on any of you. What went down here changes nothing between us." She said, her child-like voice carrying a sinister edge to it. "Next time we meet we will settle things."
"Hey wait a second," hearing her name being called, Illyasviel stopped and looking back found Shirou standing there, Illya noticed that he was clutching her hat in one of his hands.
"Here, you dropped this." The rust haired teenager said as he offered the purple garment to her. "Y'know I'll admit I thought you were a little creepy at first but now, after what we went through, I think that you're nearly as bad as you're trying to be."
Illya stared at the rust haired teen standing before her, looking somewhat dumbfounded. Were her ears deceiving her, was trying to be nice to her, furthermore was he seriously proposing some kind of partnership with himself and more than likely the Tohsaka Heiress
"I think the three of us worked really well back there, I probably wouldn't have beaten that guy without yours and Tohsaka's help." Shirou continued, "I'll admit that I don't really get this whole 'Holy Grail War' stuff but I think that tonight proved that we don't have to be enemies."
Illyasviel stared at him for a few moments before snatching her hat out of Shirou's grip. "Don't go thinking that that whole thing makes us allies. I only helped you and the vulgar doe back there because it was in my best interest to do so and now that it has passed, I see no reason to hang around here any longer."
Sliding her hat back atop of her head Illyasviel once more turned on her heel and walked towards her Servant, the towering mass of muscle and rage stooping down before placing a hand on the ground.
"Be thankful that I'm letting you walk away with your life, next time we meet will be as enemy Masters." She said, her tone haughty as she stepped onto Berserker's outstretched hand before lifting her up onto one of his shoulders with unexpected gentleness. "Come on Berserker, take me home."
After taking a moment to ensure that his tiny Master was secure, the colossal black skinned man turned away from Shirou and his group before leaping high into the air, both Servant and Master disappearing into the frigid night air.
AN And like that another chapter is fini. We're almost at the end of the year, is if me or dose it feels like 2023 just flashed by.
For this instalment we've got our first real chapter for Kamen Rider Saber after the short prologue we got last time. Sure its retells Saber's fight with the Golem Megiddo from the first episode of Saber but hopefully the iteration between the characters changes things up enough.
Also sorry if anyones disappointed at the lack of meeting between Shirou and Rintaro. It will happen, plus I can just imagine wha the interaction between him and Artoria would be like, I can just imagine her chasing him around the room because she wants his lion.
Oh just in case anyone asks, neither Rin or Illya are replacements for Mei in this and no she doesn't hook up with Rintaro at the end, just want to throw that out there.
A while back I mention that I was going to start watching Kiramager, well I've currently watched up to episode 20 so far and I gotta say its been a fun ride so far. Watching it along side King-Ohger honestly just goes to show just how versatile of a genre Toku can be. King-Ohger is, for the most part, is a more serious show centred on a team of monarchs who are currently fighting to reclaim their kingdoms from a group of invaders (one of whom just happens to be Kamen Rider Garren). Kiramager on the other hand is a flamboyant and flashy fun romp that hasn't, at least thus far, taken itself all that seriously and sometimes thats really all you need.
Meanwhile on Kamen Rider Gotchard the show has entered its second story arc and based on how episode plays out things be picking up soon, sure the early part of the episode pretty much has the same super light tone most of the previous episodes have had, which feels very deliberate, however as the episode plays out things start to shift.
First was the VO Hotaro gives at the beginning of the episode 11 reminded me of the one delivered by Kouta gave at the end episode 11 of Gaim about how at the time they had no idea how much things were about to change.
Next we got to meet more members of the Alchemist Organisation that Minato and Spanner work for and turns out at least one of them was working with the Abyssalis Sisters, supplying them with Chemy Cards as well as the means to seal them. Maybe its just me but I'm kinda getting Swords of Logos vibes from these guys.
Thirdly we got Rinne's encounter with Atropos hinted at that she and Rinne have some kind of shared history. As I'm typing this a horrible thought just occurred to me, what if Rinne is somehow related to Abyssalis Sisters. Either Fuga's real daughter died and in his desperation he made a deal with Glion in exchange for helping to free him from behind the Dark Door, using whatever obtained to bring her back to life or used Alchemy to create clones of his daughter, Atropos Clotho and Lachesis being failed clones of Rinne.
Finally the preview for the next episode showed that will see the introduction of Kamen Rider Dread, whose Driver has been created by the Abyssalis Sister as part of their plot to free their Master Glion, and because he's a villain Rider whoever's in the suit will most likely get redeemed at some point and work along side Hotaro and the others cos we can't just let out villain Riders remain villains outside of the movies. Sigh.
Also the show also looks to be building towards Gotchard's first major upgraded form Gotchard X which utilises the power of level 10 Chemy's which I imagine will put him on equal footing with Dread.
Oh, Also this weekend we're also getting the second part of Kamen Rider Legend, so there's that.
Anywho, I think here's a good place to stop. As always feel free to drop a comment, tell me what you thought of this instalment as well what direction you think where Gotchard might be headed in. See you all next time when it'll almost be time to get into the festive mood again.
Till next time, peace out y'all.