AN
"Blah" - Normal speech
'Blah' - Thoughts
BLAH - Driver

Fate/Stay Night x Kamen Rider
Journey through the Kaleidoscope

Fate/Stay Night x Kamen Rider Wizard
Fate/Show Time
Chapter 2: The Ringed Magician pt. 2

"The rings of magic, the Wizard Rings. They shine on the hands of the modern mage, as he changes despair into hope."

Shirou parked his bike in front of an entrance to a side street, dismounting his bike he offered a hand to Caster, the magically inclined Servant gazing back at him before taking hold of it and allowed her new Master to pull her up. Entering the backstreet, the duo made their way towards a small café, a sign outside the building bearing the establishment's name.

"Nascita…" Caster said, reading the name written in fancy looking calligraphy, glancing over at Shirou who walked beside her as they approached the establishment. "Why are we here?"

"Lunch, Wadjima ordered food and we're here to collect." Shirou replied in a matter-of-fact tone, "The guy who owns this place, Isurugi Sōichi, he's an interesting one. He used to be an astronaut and now he runs this place with his daughter."

"Astronaut to coffee shop owner," Caster said thoughtfully, "That is quite the peculiar career path."

"I know right." Shirou said, cracking a small smile. "Quick word of warning, Sōichi-san's coffee. Don't, just don't. It's, well…"

Caster cocked an eyebrow as she stared back at him. "If it's that bad then why come here at all?" She inquired.

"Wadjima likes the Chicken Alfredo from here and to be fair, it's only the coffee you need to avoid." Shirou told her, "He might not be able to make coffee but Sōichi-san isn't bad in the kitchen if I do say so myself, he particularly makes a good hot pot."

Just as Shirou was about to push the cafe's door open a chirping noise caught both his and Caster's attention and looking up both of them were met by the sight of a small red and white, somewhat mechanical looking device shaped like a bird flying towards them, a piece of folded paper in its beak.

"Gauruda…" Shirou muttered as he took the piece of paper from the familiar's beak, unfolded it to reveal several words that looked to be hastily scrawled on it.

Fuyuki Park, 14:25. Gate is in danger…

"Damn…" Shirou frowned, pulling back his sleeve to check his watch, seeing that he had fifteen minutes to get there. "So much for lunch…"

"Something wrong?" Caster asked, noticing her new Master's sudden change in demeanour.

"I'll explain on the way." Shirou replied, leading the blue haired Grecian Servant back towards his motorcycle, both of them quickly mounting it, the rust haired young man kicking it into life before speeding off.

It took all of Tohsaka Rin's will power to maintain a calm demeanour, one expected of a first class Magus, even if on the inside it was all she could do to keep the anger she felt from showing as she ran through the streets of the Shinto District followed a trail that had been left behind by the bastard who'd so brazenly broken into and trashed her home.

Whoever they were, they were doing a lousy job covering their tracks, it was like they wanted her to come find them.

Before long the ebony haired Heiress found herself at the entrance of Fuyuki Central Park, the site where the previous Holy Grail War had concluded along with being the origin point of the fire that had devastated the city a decade ago. Thanks to the traces of the Grail's curse that continued to linger about the area most tended to avoid this place, repulsed by the near overbearing sense of dread that clung to the area unless absolutely necessary.

A sizable area, all but deserted due to local superstition, if someone wanted to hide Rin could think of no better place in the whole city.

Regardless, such things were not going to deter her, stepping through the gate into the supposedly cursed area, the dark haired Heiress resumed her efforts to track down her target.

Following the pathway that cut through the area it wasn't long before the path that Rin was on passed by a small pond, a bench set up next to it for someone to take in the view, upon which a figure could be seen.
'Wha…someone's actually here, they don't appear to be bothered by the lingering negativity.' Rin frowned, her eyes widening slightly as a thought occurred to her, 'Wait, could this be…?'

"Hey, hey you," Rin called out to the person seated on the bench, "You're the bastard who broke into my home aren't you."

A smirk spread itself across the stranger's face and let out a chuckle, the sound of it sounding like a child. Slipping off the bench, Rin's target turned to face the Tohsaka Heiress, revealing themselves to her. The sight of them halting Rin in her tracks, a wide eyed look of shock appearing in her face as her breath caught itself in her throat.

Standing before her was a young girl with shoulder length chocolate brown hair and matching eyes, wearing an elementary school uniform, looking not a day older than she'd been the last time that she'd seen her.
"Hey there Rin," The girl spoke up, a smile on her face, "It's certainly been a while."

"Im…impossible…there's no way. Ko…Kotone." Rin exclaimed, a shocked expression in her face as she tried to comprehend what she was seeing. "But your…your…"

"...Dead." Kotone said, finishing Rin's sentence, "I guess I can't fault you for thinking that, especially since it's all your fault. You let me die."

"Ko…Kotone, no." Rin protested, trying desperately to find the right words to say, "That…that's not…"

"You're denying it." Kotone said harshly, her cheerful tone instantly vanishing. "You, my best friend, you stood back and did nothing, you let some insane maniac snatch me away and kill me."

"That…that's not true," Rin said weakly, "When you went missing, I tried looking for you. I tried, I swear I did, I tried finding you but…"

"You tried, clearly you didn't try hard enough." Kotone snapped venomously. "The whole time I was with that guy I waited for you, I believed in you. I knew that at any moment Tohsaka Rin would find me, beat the insane guy who snatched me and help me get away. I waited and waited, right up until my final moments, but you never came."

"I'm…I'm sorry…" Rin replied, her eyes beginning to water. "I'm so sorry, I should have found you. If…if I had been better you…you'd…"

"You're sorry," Kotone scoffed. "Sorry's not gonna cut it, sorry's not gonna change what happened."

Taking several deep breaths to compose herself. "But, in a twisted way, I suppose I should also thank you." Kotone continued, "That night, because you failed to save me, my hopes died. And, because of that, I was reborn."

Before Rin could question what her supposedly deceased friend meant by this, all of a sudden Kotone's form shifted, growing in height and mass, transforming into the Minotaur like creature that had attacked her earlier.

"No…no way…" Rin exclaimed, shocked and horrified by what she'd just witnessed, "Kotone…Kotome is…"

"Kotone, Kotone is long dead," The Minotaur Phantom replied, no longer sounding like a child, "She fell into despair and was reborn as a Phantom."

"Phantom?" Rin muttered, unfamiliar by what the Kaijin in front of her was talking about.

Holding out one of its hands, the Minotaur Phantom conjured a large axe, gripping the weapons long shaft, before charging towards Rin, so shaken by everything that she'd experienced, the dark haired barely managed to gather her wits in time to roll out of the way of the bull like Kaijin's axe as it swung it at her.

Pulling herself together, Rin grimaced as the Minotaur Phantom's readied its axe for another swing at her. Focusing her Prana into her legs she dodged out of the way as before putting a short distance between herself and the green skinned Kaijin.

Muttering a string of incantations, she channelled more of her magical energies into her hand, preparing to fire a powerful Gandr curse at her. While she hated to drip into the reserves that she'd been building up as part of her preparations ahead of the Holy Grail War she had little choice if she wanted to survive to compete in it.

However, instead of the mythological creature she found herself looking once more into the face of Kotone. Her oldest friend, someone that she'd cherished, to this day she's considered the brown haired girl's death one of the biggest regrets of her life, second only to…

"What's wrong Rin, I thought we were friends?" Kotone said in a scared sounding tone, her large eyes beginning to water, "You…you wouldn't hurt me, would you?"

The frown on Rin's face deepened as she stared back at the girl who had been her childhood friend, turmoil boiling within her. Deep down she knew that Kotone was dead and the…thing before her was nothing more than a monster.

And yet, despite knowing this Rin still hesitated at the sight of her. Despite everything she couldn't bring herself to hurt her old friend.

That moment of hesitation was all that Kotone needed. Shifting back into her Phantom form, the bull like Kaijin aimed a fist at the Tohsaka heiress, slamming it to her chest which in turn knocked her into the air where she flew for a few seconds before slamming painfully back down into the ground once again.

"I can't believe you fell for that," The Minotaur Phantom said in a mocking tone, "I guess that just goes to show how dumb humans are even if they can cast spells."

Grasping for breath, Rin pushed herself up off of the ground, fixing the Minotaur Phantom with a look of anger, anger aimed at both the monster for using her dead friend's image to mess with her but also at herself for falling for such a trick.

"As I was saying, that night, the one you failed to save me, my hopes were crushed…" The mythological themed Kaijin said as it reached behind it before pulling out an item and presenting to Rin, her blue eyes widening as a look of shock appeared on her face.

There in the Kaijin's meaty grip was as she her most treasured item, the picture her late father had taken of her child self along with Sakura and their mother Aoi, the only remaining trace of the family they used to be.

"…I think that is only fair, that I get to crush yours in return…" The Minotaur Phantom sneered, holding it up for the Tohsaka Magus to see, the Phantom tightened their grip on the frame, a cracking noise filling the air as the glass before being crushed, the wooden frame and the glass breaking before dropping the remains onto the ground and crushing it under foot.

"No! NO!" Rin cried out as she saw her treasure was destroyed, unable to do anything but watch.

For a split second Rin saw a vision of her family flash before her eyes, a vision of her father, mother and sister, all of whom had happy looks on their faces, a painful reminder of days long since passed, cracks spreading across it like fractured glass before suddenly shattering into countless pieces.

At that moment Rin felt as if her heart had been crushed as she found herself overcome by an overwhelming sense of despair and hopelessness. Cracks started spreading across her body.

"Yes, seeing you like this is glorious. The anguish and hopelessness, let them drag you further and further into that abyss of misery." The minotaur laughed, amused greatly at the look of hopelessness on Rin's face, a single tear running down her cheek and dripping onto the ground. "Drown in your despair and give rise to a new Phantom!"

No sooner had these words left the Minotaur Phantom's mouth, the sound of a gunshot rang out and a silver bullet sliced its way through the air, striking the Kaijin in the side of the head and knocking her off balance.
"Wha…what the…" The green skinned Phantom exclaimed as the sound of hurried footsteps coming from the direction of where the shot was fired from was heard approaching.

Looking over in that direction, both Rin and the Minotaur Phantom were greeted by the sight of Shirou running towards them, his WizarSwordGun in one hand and a look of self loathing on his face at seeing that he was too late.

Unbeknownst to both of them, nearby Caster was observing them, choosing to stay out of sight as she watched things play out.

"Yubiwa no Mahōtsukai…" The Phantom growled.

"So, Tohsaka was your target all along." Shirou said sternly, fixing the bull themed Kaijin with a stern look. "I'm sorry for what happened to you but, even still, I won't allow you to do as you please."

"Damn you Mahōtsukai," The Phantom growled, "Still, you're too late. Rin, she's falling into despair as we speak, any moment now the Phantom within her will be born and consume her."

"Not if I can help it." Shirou retorted, placing the ring that he wore on his right hand over the odd looking buckle attached to his belt. "I won't let you drag her into despair."

Driver On, Please!

The gem stone mounted into Shirou's ring glowed, projecting the image of a red magical circle appeared, the buckle glowing with bright light before it transformed into his Wizadriver, the air filled with its jovial sounding standby jingle.

Shabadoobie Touch to Henshin! Shabadoobie Touch to Henshin!

"E…Emiya…" Hearing Rin's voice, Shirou looked over in her direction, seeing her looking back at him, the look on her face one confusion as to what was going on mixed with a hint of surprise to see him.

"Tohsaka, I'm sorry I couldn't get here sooner." Shirou said, doing his best to sound reassuring as he flipped the hand shaped plate on his Driver to the left before flipping the small visor attached to the ring on his left hand down, "I promise, I'll be your hope…"

Turning his attention back towards the Minotaur, fixing it with a stern look. "Henshin…" He announced before placing his left hand in front of the hand shaped plate attached to his Driver, allowing it to scan his ring.

Flame, Please!

In the air next to him the arcane circle formed of glow red energy appeared, moving across his body, donning him in his black body armor with the gleaming red rubies attached to his chestplate as well as the front of his helmet.

HI-HI, HI-HI-HI!

In spite of the despair that threatened to overwhelm her, Rin could not help but stare in shock and awe of the sight before her eyes. The armor that Emiya was now donned in, his method of transformation. The strange belt around his waist, it looked mechanical in nature yet seemed capable of channeling mystical energies.

Did…did this mean that Emiya…Emiya had been a Magus this whole time without her knowledge?

"Saa, showtime…" Wizard declared, flourishing his WizarSwordGun before lunging forward towards the charging Phantom, who attempted to deliver a horizontal swing of its weapon at him, Wizard responding diving into a forward roll to avoid the swing of its axe, something that only served to enraged the bull like Kaijin.

Letting out a snarl as it swung its weapon down towards Wizard, acting quickly the ringed magic user quickly raised his feet, using them to catch the shaft if the Minotaur Phantom's axe as he rose into a crouched position, he aimed his gun at the Minotaur's chest and firing several shots, each one striking it in the chest, forcing the bull like Kaijin back a few steps.

Now that he had some room, Wizard quickly rose back up to his full height, shifted his weapon into its sword mode, giving it a flourish before he before moving in to re engage his opponent, jumping and over it axe as it took another swing at him, rolling in midair before he landed.

Letting out a low sounding growl the Minotaur Phantom again swung his weapon at Wizard who avoided this attempt by backflipping out of the way, the blade of the Phantom's axe cleaving nothing but the empty air where he'd been only seconds beforehand.

The moment his feet touched the ground, Wizard charged towards his opponent aiming his sword at the bull themed Kaijin, managing to slice it across the chest, following it up with two additional slashes before delivering a kick to its chest, knocking the Kaijin back a few steps.

Recovering, the Minotaur Phantom thrust the spiked attachment of the axe head towards Wizard who rescinded by giving his sword a quick flourish thrusting his sword forward, both the axe and the sword colliding which resulted in the axe shattering into pieces as if it were made of glass.

His momentum carrying him forward, Wizard proceeded with his attack, the blade of his sword striking the Phantom in the chest, knocking the primarily turquoise Kaijin off of its feet and sending it flying backwards before sprawling across the ground.

"Onore…" The bull with the broken horn snarled, glaring hatefully at Wizard as it picked itself back up to its feet, stomping its foot in the ground before it then charging headlong towards Wizard, the ring using Mage attempting to block its sole remaining horn with his WizarSwordGun, only to be pushed forward, his feet skidding across the ground beneath him.

After a running short distance, the Minotaur Phantom reared their head backwards, lifting Wizard off of his feet and tossed him over head and into the air, sending the black and red Rider flying a short distance before descending and managing to land on his feet, skidding a little before managing to catch himself.

"Heh, so much for the Yubiwa no Mahōtsukai," The Minotaur scoffed as he watched as Wizard reached towards the chain that dangled off of his belt and detached one of the many rings that were attached to it. "I'm starting to think that you're not as much of a threat as the others think you are."

"Tsk, you're a troublesome little rampager." Wizard retorted as he removed the red ring from his left hand and switched it out with another one, this one sporting a square cut yellow gemstone and scanned it against his belt. "Let's see how you handle this…"

Land, Please!

Pointing his left hand towards the ground beneath him, another red magic circle appeared at Wizards feet, pieces of rock floating up from it as it moved up Wizard's body, the red gemstones attached to his chest changing from red rubies to yellow topaz along with similar gem attached to the front of his helmet, with one being square in design.

DO-DO-DO DO-DO DON, DON DO-DON!

"What this," The Minotaur exclaimed, surprised by their opponent's change in appearance, "Damnit, so you have access to more than just the fire element? Whatever, it changes nothing. I'll still crush you regardless…"
Lowering themselves into a crouched position the bull Kaijin charged headlong once again towards the magic using Rider, attempting to gore him with their remaining horn.

"That's not going to work a second time…" Wizard scoffed, slipped a new ring onto his right hand as his opponent charged at him, flipping the lever on his belt from left to right and scanned his new ring.

Defend, Please!

From the ground in front of him, a large block of stone rose up out of the ground in front of Wizard, the Minotaur Phantom colliding with it, quickly finding itself stuck with its head and shoulders protruding from the other side of it.

"You…you bastard…" The bull like Kaijin snarled, glaring at Wizard who merely let out a 'heh' before delivering a spinning roundhouse kick, shattering the stone block and knocking the Phantom into the air.
As his opponent ascended higher and higher, Wizard grabbed another of his rings, slipping it onto his hand, shifting his belt's hand shaped plate left to right back to left again, and scanned his new ring.

Hurricane, Please! FU-FU FU-FU!

Another glowing magic circle appeared, this time appearing above Wizard, lowering itself over him and shifting his form once more, the square shaped topaz changing to triangle-cut emeralds.

No sooner had this occurred, glowing green energy swirled around Wizard's leg, propelling him upwards into the air, his WizarSwordGun in hand as he shot upwards towards the Minotaur Phantom.

Carried by the magic of his Hurricane Style, Wizard unleashed a series of sword slashes to helpless Kaijin before twisting in midair, delivering a kick that struck it in the chest which in turn sent it rocketing back down earthwards at great velocity before it slammed painfully into the ground, a small crater left behind by the impact.

As the mythical beast themed Kaijin struggled to get back to its feet, Wizard lowered himself back down, coming to rest a short distance away from the Minotaur Phantom, not sooner had his feet touched the ground the black and green Rider grabbed his red ring and used it to shift back to Flame Style.

Lupathci Magic, Touch Go! Lupathci Magic, Touch Go!

"Finale…" Wizard declared, once more producing another ring, slipping it onto his right hand this time before shifting his belt's hand shaped plate to the right before placing his right hand in front of it.

Chōīme, Kick Stike! SAIKŌ!

A glowing red magical circle appearing beneath him feet, Wizard gave a twirl before shifting into a crouched position with his right foot out in front of him, the magic circle shirking in size and contracted around his foot which began to radiate with fiery energy.

Lunging forward, Wizard dived forward into a cartwheel twisted around as he did so and performed a backflip before launching, twisting in midair where he shifted his position into a flying dropkick, his fiery right foot extended out towards the Minotaur Phantom, another magic circle appearing before him which he passed through and struck the bull Kaijin, resulting in a blind flash of golden light.

His momentum carrying him as landed on the ground, Wizard spun around before coming to a stop, rising up to his full height, not even looking back as behind him the Minotaur Phantom stumbled about for a moment before it was engulfed in a large explosion.

The battle now over, Wizard let out a small "Fui." as he turned his attention towards Rin where he was met by the sight of purple cracks spreading across her body and a despondent look on her face, it seemed that the defeating the Minotaur Phantom hadn't been enough to resolve things.

"Damnit…" Wizard muttered, before he could make a move towards the dark haired teen Caster suddenly stepped out in front of him. "Caster?"

"That girl, based on what you told me she's about to turn into a new Phantom, am I right," The Grecian Mage said, glancing over in Rin's direction, "From the looks of things she's not got much time left."

"No, that won't happen." Wizard replied, sounding determined. "I won't let that happen, not again."

These words came as a surprise to Caster, cocking an eyebrow as she watched him stride over purposefully towards Rin, leaving her to wonder at what he meant by 'happen again'.

Making it over to Rin, Wizard quickly knelt down, his helmet covered head eye level with hers. "Tohsaka, Tohsaka," He called out to her, "Tohsaka, I need you to focus."

Hearing his voice, Rin raised her head, finding herself staring at the ruby red covered face mask attached to the front of his helmet, the glowing purple cracks continuing to spread themselves across her body. "E…Emiya…" She said, sounding somewhat dazed. "I'm…I'm not going to make it…"

"Don't talk like that, just, focus on my voice ok." Wizard told her, extending a hand out towards the ebony haired high schooler. "You're not going to die, ok. I can help you, but first I need you to trust me."

Slowly Rin too extended a hand, allowing Wizard to take it into his. "I…I trust you…" She replied, a slight quiver in her voice.

Hearing this, Wizard grabbed one of the Wizard Rings attached to the chain that dangled off of his belt, and slipped onto the middle finger of Rin's hand. The ring now on her finger, Wizard flipped the hand shaped plate attached to his Driver for right to let back to right before he placing her hand over the hand shaped plate attached to his Driver.

Engage, Please!

The gem stone embedded into the ring on Rin's finger glowed and the sound of what sounded like a choir cry was heard, moments later Rin slipped into unconsciousness and collapsed onto the ground. From the glowing gem a magic circle appeared, hovering over her body.

Getting back to his feet, Wizard stood over Rin's unconscious form before he suddenly levitated up into the air and hovered over Rin, the magic circle glowing before he lowered himself down into it and vanished from sight.

All the while, Caster watched on, both surprised by and intrigued by the form Magecraft that the red and black Rider was using.

Passing through the magic circle, Wizard found himself descending though a space that consisted of black and violet energy while falling through multiple magic circles before landing in some sort of black and white world which looked to be a field of flowers that were blooming all around him.

"This is it, Tohsaka's Underworld…" Wizard said to himself as he looked about; in doing so he spotted a pair of small girls seated amongst the flowers, both of them hard at work making flower chains.
One of the two girls the ringed Rider immediately identified as a younger version of Rin, even in her younger days her hair had been tied into those twin tails, but the other one, he was certain that he didn't recognize her.

"That other girl, who is she?" Wizard muttered to himself as he observed the pair, the younger girl something about her, he couldn't help but shake the feeling that there was something…familiar about her.

"Onee-chan, Onee-chan." The young girl spoke up, looking pleased with herself as she held up on her flower chain to the younger Rin to inspect, "Onee-chan, look."

"Onee…" Wizard exclaimed, his eyes widening beneath his helmet, "Tohsaka…Tohsaka has a sister?"

Before he could ponder this further, the same violet cracks that suddenly spread across the air in front the of the pair before shattering, from which a large red and black Wyvern like Kaijin emerged, the draconic looking creature letting out a loud screech before it charged towards Wizard who dropped to the ground to avoid it.

"There it is, Tohsaka's Inner Phantom." Wizard said to himself as he watched as the Wyvern crashed into the scenery, more glowing cracks spreading across the scenery. "It's pretty big already, guess I shouldn't be surprised, she is from a Magus family after all…"

On the outside, Caster watched on as the glowing cracks continued to spread themselves across Rin's body, a frown on the elven looking Servant's face as she pondered as to what it was her Master was up to.
Based on what both Shirou and Wadjima had told her Phantoms were created when an individual that they referred to as a Gate was overcome with despair that they gave up on all hope, resulting in these creatures erupting forth from within them.

She couldn't deny that there was a part of her that wasn't curious as to what would happen if a Phantom were to emerge. However, she was confident that she had a strong enough grasp on her new Master that he would never allow her to indulge in such curiosity.

Shaking her head Caster's gaze fell upon a ruined item that lay a upon the ground a short distance away from her. Curious as to what it as, Caster walked over and knelt down to inspect it, upon doing so she found herself looking upon the remains of Rin's destroyed photo.

Caster almost wanted to laugh, such a simple thing, its destruction had been enough to send that dark haired girl into a pit of despair? If so then it would seem that Magus had grown incredibly soft since her time.

Back in Rin's Underworld Wizard watched on as the Wyvern continued its rampage, causing more and more damage to the area as it did so. "Damnit, this isn't good. If I don't stop that thing quickly Tohsaka will…" Wizard muttered to himself, flipping the hand plate on his Driver again, "To do that I'll need his help…"

Lupathci Magic, Touch Go! Lupathci Magic, Touch Go!

Slipping a new ring onto his right hand, Wizard scanned it on his belts before extending his hand out his hand out at the air above him.

Drago Rise, Please!

The in air above him, a glowing large magic circle appeared above Wizard, a mass of glowing golden energy emerging from it that congealed together and took the form of a silver, black, and gold European, if somewhat mechanical looking, Dragon with red gems on its forehead, chest, and for its eyes.

The biomechanical creature let out a roar before it launched at the Wyvern, slamming into it and knocking it out of the air before the Dragon then turned its attention towards Wizard, charging towards him and knocking him aside as it raced passed, causing more glowing purple cracks to appeared as it did so.

"Hey, Dragon," Wizard called out to the creature, producing a spell ring and slipped it onto his right hand and scanned it on his buckle. "Your supposed to be helping me not making things worse."

Connect, Please!

Another magic circle appeared, this time appearing in the air beside Wizard, reaching into it he pulled out the Machine Winger and mounted it, revving the engine as he took off after the pair of large Phantoms.
In barely any time at all, Wizard was speeding along the deserted city roads, making it to Fuyuki Bridge when he finally caught up to the Dragon. With a roar, the Dragon swooped down towards him, again attempting to knock him off the bridge.

Not going to be caught by the same move twice, Wizard raised his bike up into a wheelie before launching the machine upwards, leaping up and over the Dragon and it passed underneath, where the bike suddenly split, both the front and back ends of the bike forming wing like shapes that were connected to its seat and handle bars which attaching itself to the Dragon's back.

Clearly unhappy about its passenger, the Dragon let out a snarl before it unsuccessfully attempted to shake off Wizard who then urged in the direction of the Wyvern that had been continuing to damage the area in its rampage.

Realising that the Dragon was coming for it again, the Wyvern Phantom began firing blast of dark purple flame towards its opponent, all of which the Dragon managed to avoid due in part to Wizard's steering.

For the next few minutes a fierce aerial battle was fought in the skies above Fuyuki, both the Dragon and Wyvern exchanging breath attacks against one another, the Dragon managed to catch a hold of the Wyvern before diving downwards and slammed it into the ground where the two of the scrapped with each other before taking to the skies once again, the Wyvern slamming into the Dragon's underside and knocked it aside. The Dragon snarling after the Wyvern again.

As his mount chased down the large Phantom, Wizard produced his WizarSwordGun, pulling on the 'thumb' shaped leave of the enclosed hand shaped attachment attached to the weapon's crossguard, causing it to flip open.

C'mon, Slash Strike Shake Hands! C'mon, Slash Strike Shake Hands!

Reaching towards the open hand, the gem encrusted Mage used it to can scan his Flame Style ring, fiery energy winding itself the blade of his sword in preparation of the finishing blow.

Flame, Slash Strike! HI-HI-HI! HI-HI-HI!

As both the Dragon and the Wyvern rushed towards one another, Wizard grasped the hilt of the WizarSwordGun, slashing it at the Wyvern as it passed by, a magic circle appearing around it before it contracting around it, the red and black draconic creature letting out a final cry before its body erupted in a large explosion.

Back out on the outside world, the cracks that covered Rin's body suddenly glowed orange glow before they suddenly vanished, not even the slightest trace of them left behind.

All of a sudden, the gem on her ring glowed, a magic circle suddenly appeared in the air beside Rin, from which Wizard emerged riding on the back of his Machine Winger, bringing the vehicle to a stop, a magic circle appearing and passing over him, his Rider armor vanishing in a swirl of glowing red particles that quickly vanished.

Dismounting the machine, Shirou turned around and began walking towards the still unconscious Rin, finding the dark haired heiress now sporting a more peaceful look on her face now that she was no longer in danger.

For a moment the rust haired young man debated whether or not to rouse the ebony haired girl from her slumber but quickly deciding against it, after what she'd been through it was to better let her rest.

Scooping Rin up into his arms, Shirou was about to move her over to the nearby bench when he caught sight of Caster a short distance away, the blue haired Servant kneeling over something. "Caster?"

Caster picked up the ruined photo, smoothing it out as best as she could, in doing so she could just about make out the image of a small party of females, two small girls and a young woman that she assumed was their mother, all of them looking back at her, all of three of the looking so happy.

Again, such a simple thing, and yet it held an enormous amount of power over that dark haired girl that the Phantom had targeted her, so much so that its supposed destruction had been enough to make her give up all hope.

Despite herself, Caster couldn't help but let out a sigh.

Placing the photo back amongst the broken pieces of wood and glass, the ancient Magus placed her hand above the ruined item, muttering a string of incantations to herself; her palm glowed as she channeled her magic into it. almost immediately the damage done to the receded, as if time were being wound backwards, restoring both the photo and its frame into pristine condition.

The item restored, Caster picked it up off of the ground, as if inspecting her handiwork. "Is it done?" She responded to her Master's call.

"Yeah, Tohsaka's inner Phantom's has been destroyed so she's no longer a Gate." Shirou replied. "We won't have to worry about any more Phantoms coming after her."

"I see." Caster replied as she rose up and turned to face him, finding Shirou standing there with a still unconscious Rin on his arms, both Master and Servant then walked over to the bench that overlooked the pond, Shirou placing Rin down upon it as gently as he could.

No sooner had the rut haired Mage done this, Caster stepped forward, the ebony haired girls treasured item in hand.

"What have you got there?" Shirou asked as he watched his Servant place the framed picture down on the bench beside the sleeping form of Rin, gently taking one of her hands and placing it on top of the restored item.

"There," She said as she straightened up, "I may be a witch but never let it be said that I'm incapable of being generous."

With that done, the azure haired Servant of the Spell turned on her heel and began walking towards Shiou's parked motorcycle.

"Now let us be off," Caster said the rust haired young man who remained standing next to the bench, doing so in a tone that left no room for argument. "We still have a that lunch order to collect for your employer, and I am very much looking forward to a late lunch."

Shirou shook his head, letting out a small chuckle. "Yes Ma'am." He replied.

Sometime later, Rin slowly from her magically induced slumber, finding herself laid out on a park bench. "Wha…what," She muttered to herself as she shifted into a sitting position, going through her jumbled memories, "Kotone …Kotone was…Was it all just a bad dream?"

Still feeling a little groggy, it took her a moment for Rin to notice her hand pressed against something. Turning it over Rin's eyes widened and her breath caught itself in her throat as she found herself looking upon the framed photograph of herself, her mother and sister, her precious treasure looking completely pristine.

"Wha…wha…?" She managed to say, grasping the frame in both hands as she stared at the image contained behind the layer of glass.

So engrossed in this thought it took her a moment for something on her other hand to catch her attention, turning to look at it, there it was, the Engage Ring that Shirou had slipped onto on her hand.

"E…Emiya…" She stammered as she inspected the item that now adorned her hand, memories of watching him adorn himself in some kind of armor and fight off the monster that Kotone had turned into. "That…that would mean that it…it was all real?"

Holding her ring adorned hand out in front of her Rin examined the piece of jewellery, admiring the way the gemstone glinted in the late afternoon sun. It was then something occurred to her, Emiya Shirou, t̶h̶e̶ b̶o̶y̶ t̶h̶a̶t̶ s̶h̶e̶ t̶o̶t̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ d̶i̶d̶n̶'t̶ h̶a̶v̶e̶ a̶ c̶r̶u̶s̶h̶ o̶n̶, had put a ring on her finger.

"EEHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

AN And with that another chapter, the last one of my 2024 backlog, is fini. So yeah for this instalment its a new chapter based on Wizard, based around Rin and Caster's first time encountering a Phantom.

In the show the targeted Rinko was targeted by the Minotaur Phantom who had been a colleague of her's as well as a friend of her late father. Since Rin is the first Gate of this story I needed someone who'd fill the the of the identity of the Minotaur Phantom and after wracking my brain I had the idea of using Kotone, her childhood friend who got Ryūnosuke and Caster during the events of Fate/Zero.

For anyone whose only familiar with Fate/Zero through the anime and your wondering what's up with Rin's reaction to Kotone being here. Well in the light novels for F/Z, while not out right stated, its heavily implied that Kotone is killed by Ryūnosuke hence why why she'd never seen or mentioned in F/SN.

So yeah, she'd a friend of Rin's who was thought dead for ten years and being unable to find her it would make sense that Rin would feel a lot of guilt over, making her a prime candidate to be the first Phantom for Rin to run into as well as be someone who, other than Sakura, would have the best chance of driving Rin into despair.

So yeah, in this telling Kotone is the Minotaur Phantom but rather than being a victim of the Sabbat, she instead became a Phantom 10 years prior after being attacked and left for dead by Ryūnosuke and even if you go by UBW's anime adaptation you can just as easily write her in as someone who was present at the Sabbat.

But yeah, from this encounter Rin learns of the existence of the Phantoms as well as about Shirou being Wizard which leads to her confronting him whose more familiar with them then she is and in an effort to find out more about them tags along with him and Caster, someone whom she's currently unaware of the existence of.

Also the scene at the beginning with Shirou and Caster heading to Nascita to pick up food along with mentioning both Sōichi and Misora, not mention Sōichi's infamously bad coffee, was just a fun little nod so no they wouldn't be recurring characters ort anything.

On a side note, glad everyone seemed to enjoy my scenario for Gotchard in the last chapter, I'd been sitting on it for such a long time and wasn't sure how you'd all react to it get a positive reaction was great to see. Also a couple of you suggested that this stories version of Daybreak Gotchard is EMIYA with an eyepatch which I gotta admit is an idea that amused me greatly.

Variable Zero asked a couple of questions. Honestly the connection between Rinne and Rin its really not all that exciting, their families were part of similar social circles so they've known each other since they were young. And yes, given its location and that it seems to be the only educational facility in the whole city, which in of it self is kinda baffling, Homurahara Academy is a neutral ground for both Mages and Alchemists.

Boonboomger's fast approaching the finish line, man time has flown past so quickly, with 2 more episodes left to go. Next episode looks to be setting up the final confrontation with Spindo whose been arranged to marry Mira as part of a deal to ensure peace between the Boonboomger's and the Hashiriyan's, while its pretty obvious the marriage won't happen it dose mirror the start of the series where Taiya rescued Mira from her own wedding.

Meanwhile on Gavv shit just seems to be hitting the fan. We got the introduction of this show's third Rider Vram who wiped the floor with both Shouma and Hanto in his first time transforming but just when it looked like he might be a bad guy it turned out was working to infiltrate Stomach INC to find out who killed his younger his dead who got addicted to the Dark Treats because bad guy Rider's can't just stay as bad guys. Sigh, well we at least with Gotchard we got break from that trope for 1 season before going right back to it.

In the most recent episode Shouma and Lakia infiltrated Stomach INC's base to rescue several pressed humans, Shouma managing to open the door most likely cos of being a member of the Stomach family, and while there he recalled a memory of meeting Hanto's mother as the two of them had a run in with Glotta Stomach who is no joke in a fight, being able to shrug off Gavv's Rider Kick while in Caking Form, casually dropping Shouma's secret that he's a Granute and a member of the Stomach family for both Hanto and Lakia to hear before leaving.

And if that wasn't enough, next episode not only is Hanto pissed at Shouma and swearing to kill him for being a Granute we're also getting the debut of this show's fourth Rider, Bitter Gavv, an as of yet unnamed guy who just so happens to resemble Shouma. Like I said, Gavv has a whole lot happening right now.

Oh, and yes I'm aware of the anime adaptation of Sentai Red Isekai de Bōkensha ni Naru aka the Red Ranger Isekai, I've seen the first 3 episodes so far. Isekai anime isn't something I watch but I thought the show was decent so far so I'll watch at least a few more episode of it.

There's probably more I could mention but it getting late where I am so I'm gonna wrap things here for now. My thanks to all of you for taking the time to read my stuff and if you feel so inclined please feel free to leave a review and let me know what you thought of this chapter. And just a small reminder to everyone to be civil to each other.

As always I'm working on new stuff, I recently finished up a couple of new chapters, the first being for Saber and the other for Kuuga and am currently writing one based on Ex-Aid.

Till next time, peace out y'all.