Hopebringer

Plenty of people get dragged into situations they really don't want to be in by ROBs, but very few get chosen by ROB's for more than basic amusement. I was unlucky enough to be one of them. Now I'm in Worm with a mission to save the world. Unfortunately, raw power isn't what works around here.

And we're back. Nothing much to say other than enjoy!

Chapter 2

The next three days seemed to go by rather quickly. Thanks to Ruler's Tinkertech magic, we soon found a suitable place to live, payed for courtesy of Ruler getting into Coil, Kaiser and Lungs bank accounts and filching a fairly impressive amount of money in such a way that they probably wouldn't even notice it was gone. Quite how she managed that I don't know, but Tinkertech was bullshit.

Right now however, we were out shopping for the necessities and I was taking a break in the shade since even the weak winter sunlight was enough to irritate me. Hey, I might be a Daywalker, but I was still part Vampire and that part of me did NOT like the sun.

"Here," said Ruler as she sat down next to me and held out a napkin wrapped hot dog.

"Are you sure you should be out and about like this?" I asked as I accepted the snack from Ruler.

"Sure, why not?" asked the Servant as she took a bite out of her own food.

"Its just...you might get recognized…"

Ruler snorted and ruffled my hair.

"Adrian, the number of people who know the real me can be counted on one hand," she said, "Do you honestly believe that we'll run into any of them? And if we do, do you really believe that they'll think I'm Hero back from the dead? Even in this world, thats a bit hard to believe. Hell, they're more likely to conclude that your a Vampire."

"I would like to point out that two of those that know you are in the city and did you forget about the Cauldron?" I growled.

Ruler snorted.

"Please, I figured out how to hide from Clairvoyant and Contessa years ago," she said, "Its a lot easier to sneak up on people who can't see you coming."

She smiled and ruffled my hair again.

"You can trust your Onee-chan kid, I know what I'm doing," she said, "Besides, I've got Presence Concealment."

I paused.

"How do you have Presence Concealment?" I asked, "You don't exactly seem like the type to qualify for the Assassin class."

"I was a masked Hero who hid her gender and identity and a member of a shadowy cabal with a habit of murder and inhumane experiments," deadpanned Ruler, "The Skill only keeps people from recognizing me if I don't want them to. Even Missy wouldn't be able to see through it."

"Missy? Oh, you mean Miss Militia," I said, "Its that strong?"

"Eh, more like it works completely differently to Shard bullshit, so they can't see through it," said Ruler, "Some Thinkers might be able to make the connection, but I doubt it."

I pulled a face as I thought of what could happen if a certain know-it-all were to point her power in Rulers direction. Or mine for that matter. I wonder how Tattletales power would react to a Servant and a Dhampir with the Holy Grail in his soul? Probably badly, assuming it could even perceive said differences.

"Speaking of skills, have you considered trying to Summon another Servant?" asked Ruler.

I pulled a face.

"I'm...not really sure that I should," I said, "I mean, without a Catalyst, I have no idea what I'd get. Imagine if I ended up pulling Heracles as Berserker? The only thing he'd be good for is pointing at S class threats and the odd Endbringer. Plus, there are plenty of other Heroes I'd rather not Summon."

"Like who?"

"Gilgamesh for starters," I said immediately, "Heracles is another, as is Karna and most of the other upper ranked Heroic Spirits to be honest."

"Why?" asked Ruler, "I would have thought they would be helpful."

"I guess they would," I said, "But I really don't think that releasing monsters like that on this world would be such a good idea."

"I see your point," said Ruler, clearly not at all pleased with the thought of someone like the King of Heroes wandering around Bet calling people mongrels, although I do suspect that seeing him one shot some of the more annoying baddies would be fun, "Still, without a Catalyst, you should get Servants who are suited for you, right?"

"Hmm, good point," I said, "But that doesn't negate the issue of not wanting to unleash obscenely powerful monsters into the world, no matter how much fun watching Gilgamesh go to town on the Nine would be."

"I highly doubt you'd get anyone to hard to control," said Ruler, "That said, I do think you need to try. Servants will be our best bet to stop this World from going down the shitter, assuming that you don't randomly develop into a True Ancestor or something."

I glared at her, before sighing.

"Fine, I guess I can't argue with that," I muttered, "I really hope I don't regret this…"

"Oh come on, whats the worst that could happen?" said Ruler, clapping me on the back.

I slowly turned and fixed the Servant with a glare.

"Now that you've said that, something extremely bad," I hissed, "Oh whatever, lets just go find somewhere to do the Summoning. You probably need a Workshop as well."

"Eh, I got a Noble Phantasm for that," said Ruler.

I stared at her.

"You have a...no wait, that makes perfect sense," I said, "Your THE Tinker, so of course you'd have a Noble Phantasm based around that part of your legend."

"Yep, its pretty cool to," said Ruler smugly.

I sighed.

"Still, it'd probably be a good idea to have an actual base, just in case. Any suggestions?"

"The Docks would probably be best," said Ruler, "Plenty of abandoned warehouses we can acquire and fix up."

"On the down side, there all pretty much rotten," I said.

"We'll manage," said Ruler, "So, shall we go now or….?"

"Lets wait until night," I said, "Meanwhile, I need to get my hands on something to make a costume out of."

"Oh, I've got just the thing!" said Ruler excitedly.

Before I could react, she reached into one of her shopping bags and pulled out a red hoodie with a black cartoon bat on the back.

"Huh...that's actually not too bad," I said.

"I'll make you something better later, but it'll do for now," said Ruler, "Come on, lets get this stuff home."

I got to my feet and dumped the now empty napkin in a nearby bin as I picked up my shopping bags and followed Ruler in the direction of the door.

A few hours later after sunset, I changed into my costume (which was basically a hoodie, jeans, combat boots, fingerless gloves and a domino mask Ruler had produced from somewhere) and opened the window.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come?" asked Ruler.

"We can cover more ground if we split up," I said, "I've got plenty of power of my own if I get into trouble, but I highly doubt that'll happen. I'm certainly not going to go looking for it."

"No, but its sure to find you anyway," muttered Ruler.

I flipped her off and hopped out the window, bursting into a flock of bats as I did while Ruler left through the door. I reformed a short distance from the building and, after reorienting myself, flew in the direction of the Docks, aiming for the part of the run down area that was between the ABB and Empire territory since that was the best options were. The warehouses there were in relatively good shape, but still abandoned since nobody wanted to risk storing anything anywhere close to where a fight between a Dragon and a racist blender could go down.

I was just flying over the border between the two gangs territory when the sound of razed voices caught my attention. I looked down and sighed as I spotted a group of hulking men of various Asian denominations chasing a young girl with blonde hair. I sighed. Well, Brockton will be Brockton I guess.

I glanced down again, just in time to see the girl make a wrong turn into a dead end. She skidded to a stop and whipped around as the thugs rounded the corner and slowly started stalking towards her.

"Urg, this is gonna be a pain, I just know it," I muttered and folded my wings to dive down.

I landed on a dumpster with a loud crash, making all involved in the little scuffle jump and spin around. I'm sure I must have made for quite a sight, a dark shadow swathed in leathery wings tipped with sharp claws and my eyes catching the light from a nearby streetlamp, causing them to glow crimson in the dark.'

"Eyup scumbags," I said with a grin, causing my fangs to gleam in the dark, "Mind moving along and leaving the poor girl alone?"

There was a moments silence as the Humans stared at me in shock and, if the smell was anything to go by, terror, before one of the thugs proved to be a complete idiot by pulling out a gun and pointing it at me. Before he could even think about pulling the trigger, I snatched the gun out of his hand and backhanded him into a wall with a loud crunch.

"Fun way it is then!"

One of the thugs pulled a knife, but I snapped the cheap blade with ease and kneed him in the gut. He went down gasping as I spun, my claws flashing as they cut the pipe the third idiot had grabbed into four pieces, leaving him gaping at his destroyed weapon before I battered him aside with my wing and turned to the last one...who had apparently decided that he couldn't escape or take me down, so had taken the girl hostage to try and gain the upper hand. Exactly how he'd managed that I don't know, but it was a pain.

"D-don't come any closer!" he stuttered, holding a knife at the girls throat.

I eyed the blade, which was shaking so badly I'm surprised he hadn't cut her throat by accident. To be honest, I wasn't that worried. I had plenty of options to take him down that would keep the girl safe, all I needed was the right opening…

However, before I could find said opening, the girl suddenly lashed out, elbowing the man in the gut as he shifted his grip on the knife, making him release her and stumble back. It did leave her with a small gash on her neck, but it was better than it could have been. I watched, nonplused as the girl followed up her attack by throwing the much larger man over her hip and stomping on his chest hard enough that I heard a crack.

"Take me hostage would you!?" she snarled as she grabbed a nearby length of pipe, "I'll kill you for that!"

I quickly moved and disarmed her before she could crush his skull with the length of metal.

"Lets not do that," I said as she spun around and glared at me.

"Who the fuck are you?" she growled, her fingers flexing.

I grinned, flashing my fangs as I casually bent the pipe into a knot.

"Alucard, at your service," I said, tossing aside the bent metal, "Are you OK?"

The girl scowled and rubbed her bleeding neck.

"I'll be fine," she said.

"Hmm, maybe next time don't go out on your own at night," I said, "Next time there might not be anyone nearby to help."

"Yeah yeah, I've heard it all before," muttered the girl, "This part of the city is supposed to be safe from scum like this."

She kicked the downed goon in the side. I raised an eyebrow. To be fair, as a blonde haired, blue eyed young girl, she probably was safe in the E88 territory. Plus, from the sound of things, she was likely a member of the gang. Somehow I get the feeling this was going to bite me in the ass...

"Anyway, I'd better call the cops and have them take out the trash," I said, "You head home and try not to get mugged again."

The girl glared at me, but left, kicking the goon in the side again as she went. I sighed and plucked a phone out of one of the mens pockets to dial 911. Two minutes later, I dropped the phone on one of the mens chest and started pulling them together, blinding their wrists with zip ties.

"You gents be good now," I said, "The cops'll be here soon to pick you up."

"Lung'll kill you fucker!" snarled one of them.

I rolled my eyes.

"I doubt Lung even knows you exist," I drawled, "But if he wants to try, I'll be happy to meet him. Later."

I turned to go, but paused when I saw a discarded knife on the floor, still wet with the girls blood. There wasn't much, only a couple of drops, but still more than enough to make my Vampire side sit up and take notice. I hadnt fed since I had arrived and, while I didn't technically need to to survive, I did need blood to keep my strength from fading. I picked up the knife and eyed the gleaming liquid, before glancing at the thugs. After a moment's thought, I shrugged and jumped up onto the roof, taking the knife with me. Now well and truly out of view of any bystanders, I looked at the knife again, hesitated, before giving into the instinct and licking the blood from the blade.

Blood is...well, I'm not really sure how to describe it. To me, it wasn't like described in some stories, an explosion of flavour that was as addictive as any drug, although that could be because I'm only half Vampire. It doesn't help that everyone tastes different, albeit all like the finest chocolate. Well, unless they were perpetually pickled like the Merchants, but I'd have to be pretty desperate to feed on one of those lowlifes.

Anyway, back on track. Once I'd cleaned the knife and shoved down the urge to find the girl and invite her for a bite, I discarded the knife and took off again, just as a cop car pulled up to take the thugs in.

It took another half an hour to find a suitable location. It was inside the E88 territory, so I hunkered down outside for a bit and took control of some of the bugs and bats nesting inside to do a bit of scouting, just to make sure I wasn't about to barge into one of Hookwolfs dog fighting rings or something equally annoying.

It didn't take long to confirm that there wasn't anything bigger than a rat inside the building and I burst into a flock of bats, reforming inside the building to see what I could find. It was mostly what you'd expect, run down, dusty and mostly empty, with just a few rusted machines that were to big and heavy to be stolen. However, as I walked through a door at the back of the main room, I stopped and stared at what I found.

The building in question was part of a small complex of interconnected factories and storehouses that had once served as the local headquarters of some manufacturing company which had gone out of business years ago. From the slightly different styles of the various parts of the buildings, it wasn't hard to determine that it had grown over time, likely starting small and growing as was needed into the interconnected complex it was now. As a result, whether through design or accident, there was a small courtyard in the middle which I could tell just by looking would become a riot of colour in the summer. I tilted my head on one side and hummed thoughtfully.

The complex was reasonably large, in decent shape and centrally located while not being in use by anything except squatters and wildlife. With Rulers help, it wouldn't be hard to acquire it legally and get water and power connected. Plus, there was plenty of room for when I decided to do some more Summoning.

Speaking of which, I suppose that now was as good a time as any. I sighed, still not entirely sure if I should actually go through with summoning more Servants, but acknowledging Rulers point that I'd probably need them. Besides, I was unlikely to get anyone to belligerent. I hope.

I sighed as I summoned my Sacred Gear and upended it, watching as the glowing liquid flowed out to form the circle on the dusty floor.

"Welp, time to see what I get now," I muttered and started the Aria.

This time, I could feel something within me reaching out as I chanted, latching onto something and drawing it towards me. It felt hot, passionate and full of life, a feeling that brought to mind a rose made of crimson flames.

"Aw crap," I muttered as I realized just what that meant, right before the Summoning ritual finished and the circle erupted into a massive blast of crimson light that nearly blinded me.

I stumbled back, rubbing at my eyes and extremely glad that I'd done the Summoning inside. Once I could finally see again, I looked up to see a figure slowly floating down from a few feet of the floor within a pillar of red light, her golden boots gleaming brightly, her crimson dress glowed like fire and her hair shone like spun gold. Yep, no mistaking it, my Saber was Nero. This is gonna be...interesting? Sure, lets go with interesting.

Sabers feet touched the ground and the pillar of light vanished in a swirl of crimson petals. She opened her eyes and smiled.

"Hello Master," she said, "Its nice to finally meet you."

I smirked as I pushed back my hood and removed my mask.

"Likewise, although I'm honestly rather surprised to see that I summoned you Nero," I said, "Adrian Tepis, or Alucard in costume."

"I do hope that you don't expect me to wear a mask," said Saber.

I snorted.

"Nah, I know a futile argument when I see one," I said, "Besides, you don't hide a rose away from the world."

Saber blinked, then smirked.

"Ohh, you do know how to talk to me Master," she said.

I smirked back as I put my mask back on and pulled up my hood.

"Speaking of talking, we're about to have company," I said.

Sure enough, at that moment the door opened and the King of Tinkers entered, pausing at the sight of Saber. She eyed the other woman for a moment, before nodding.

"Good choice," she said.

"I don't exactly choose who I summon ya know," I deadpanned.

"Regardless, a Saber will go a long way to help. Better than a Berserker or Assassin at least."

I pulled a face.

"Actually I kinda want an Assassin to send after Coil, but I guess it can wait," I said, "Anyway, Saber, this is Ruler, also known as Valerie Tepis, my sort-of sister for the paperwork."

"Ah, a pleasure to meet you," said Saber with a blinding smile.

"Anyway, Ruler, can you see if we can get this place legally?" I said, "It'll be a good base of operations. There's plenty of space, a nice area we can turn into a garden and I'm fairly sure that its not in use by anyone."

"Shouldn't be to hard," said Ruler, "Most of the places around here are readily available for anyone who can pay the back taxes."

"Charge it to Coil," I said, "In the meantime, I probably ought to get home and get some sleep."

"Whys that Master?" asked Saber.

I scowled.

"Because I've got to get up for school tomorrow," I grumbled.

"I did say we should wait," said Ruler.

"Thats not what I'm annoyed about," I grumbled, "Couldn't you have got me into Arcadia?"

"Sorry Master, but theres a limit to what I can do," she said, "Besides, don't you want to try and help that Taylor girl?"

I pulled a face.

"I guess, but Winslow!"

Saber just stood back and watched as Ruler and I kept bickering all the way home.

The next day, I was still grumbling under my breath as I stomped out of Blackwells office with my books, a map of the school and a timetable. I think it goes without saying, but she was a raging, condescending, hypocritical bitch who thought I could take a warning about keeping my nose clean from a woman who literally had a drug deal going on right outside her office window. Fortunately, no one seemed to be willing to get in my way, although whether that was due to my thunderous expression or the fact I was an unknown was anyone's guess.

The sound of a hand striking against flesh extremely hard made me pause and look around. A short distance away, a boy with a red and green bandana around his bicep stumbled back into one of his friends, holding a red cheek as a girl with her dark hair in pigtails advanced on him, radiating danger.

"I warned you Shinji, try that again and I wouldn't go easy!" snarled the girl.

"Y-you can't talk to me like that!" snarled the boy as he got to his feet.

SMACK!

I winced as the girl punched him across the other cheek, sending him crashing back to the ground while his friends quickly backed up.

"Don't think for a moment that that little armband impresses me in the slightest Matou," she hissed, "Now stay away from me or I'll do more than break your nose."

She turned on her heel and stormed away from the ABB thugs, revealing a red turtleneck, a black skirt, black stockings and leather shoes. She quickly spotted me staring and scowled.

"Need something?" she asked, her voice a little tight.

I blinked and blushed at being caught staring.

"Ah, sorry," I said, "I just couldn't help but overhear."

The girl snorted and relaxed slightly.

"Yeah, unfortunately thats par for the course around here," she said, "Shinji thinks hes a big shot because hes part of the ABB, but hes just an idiot."

She let out a huff and looked me up and down, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't recognize you," she said, "New student?"

"Starting today," I grumbled, "I wanted Arcadia, but I couldn't get in this late in the year."

The girl nodded, looking sympathetic.

"Yeah, I know the feeling," she said, "I'm in the same boat. Best of luck to you."

She nodded and walked away.

"Hey, wait," I said, making her pause and glance back at me, "Whats your name? I'm Adrian."

The girl was silent for a moment, eyeing me werally, before she snorted.

"Fine, I guess I'll humour you," she said, "I'm Rin. Rin Tohsaka."

It took all I had to keep from reacting to that as she walked away. Instead, I glanced down the hall in the direction that the boy she'd punched had headed with his friends.

"And that was Shinji Matou I'm guessing," I muttered, "Alright, lets see if I can…"

I trailed off as I summoned my Sacred Gear in my pocket and activated it. Immediately, I KNEW the people around me, reading their Souls to such a degree that Tattletale would be envious. I ignored most of them however and focused on Shinji. He was a perfectly normal Human and...honestly not as bad as I would have thought. Oh, he wasn't a nice person, but he wasn't evil and had only really joined the gang because he thought it would make him cool.

I turned my attention away from him and onto Rin and...ah, there we go. I stared at the girl's Soul with interest. She wasn't a Magus, but she was a Parahuman. I could see the connection with the Shard, a vast but simple Soul that was barely more than those possessed by Animals. In fact, it was actually less than that. It was intelligent, but definitely not sapient and, despite the fact I could see it affecting Rin, it wasn't evil. It was just doing its job.

I was about to dismiss my Sacred Gear when my gaze fell on a small group emerging from the girls bathroom. My physical eyes registered them as the girls who could only be the Bitches Three, while my Soul Sight confirmed it and holy COW was Sophia twisted! Her Soul was a twisted mass of hatred, anger and an inferiority complex that made Armsmaster and Eidolon look positively well balanced. Her Shard certainly wasn't helping, taking all that negative emotion and stirring it up, forcing her into a vicious cycle that she'd likely never be able to escape from, even if she somehow lost her power.

Next to that mess, Emma and Madison were hardly even worth noticing. Emma was broken, damaged and patched up badly. She wasn't completely lost, not yet, but it would take work to fix her and it was doubtful that she'd ever fully recover and Madison was...well, she was no different than any of the other Souls belonging to the teenaged girls in the school.

As I watched, the three sped up slightly as another girl emerged from the stairwell, moving quickly so that Sophia could shoulder check her, knocking the girl to the ground before stomping on her bag while the other two said something I couldn't hear. Or was really paying attention to as I examined Taylor Heberts Soul.

She was...not looking well. Her Soul was tattered, marked by the suffering she'd been put through, but still whole and going strong. I was mildly impressed by that. It was one thing to read about someone going through hell and still moving forwards and it was quite another to see it in person. It almost made me regret not starting a War. Taylor would make a fine Master and I'm certain that she would have managed to claim the Grail.

I quickly pushed that thought aside however. I wasn't willing to put the world at risk just to entertain myself if someone unworthy managed to claim the Grail. Besides, I had a protagonist to meet.

And that'll do. I'm...not really sure if this counts as a cliffhanger, but whatever. I admit, I'm not pleased with this chapter, but its the third iteration of a number of versions that mostly ended with Adrian and his Servants getting into a fight with everyone and their dog and were thus scrapped and I just want to get this over and done with. Now, onto the quips.

If your interested, I came up with some parameters that I think suit Ruler fairly well and will include them below. Let me know what you think of them and her Noble Phantasms.

Incidentally, that little confrontation in the alley will have some unforeseen repercussions. You might be able to guess what if you know what DXD Vampires can do with blood they drink.

I already have all seven Servants chosen, plus Avenger, and figured out the order they will be Summoned in by rolling a dice. I'll be interested to see the reaction of some of them, but I won't list them just yet. Suffice to say, they are quite the bunch.

To be clear, Magus do not exist in this world. Rin is just a Parahuman and will actually be part of the main cast later down the line. I wonder if you can guess what shes up to when not playing the role of student?

That said, those two and one more will be the only Fate characters in the story, other than the Servants for obvious reasons.

I almost forgot that Taylor hadn't Triggered yet while writing this. Fortunately, I caught it in time.

And with that, I'm done. Don't forget to leave a review on the way out!

Rulers Parameters:

Strength: E

Endurance: D

Agility: A

Mana: E

Luck: A

NP: A++

Skills: True Name Discernment: B. Due to Ruler class

Territory Creation: A. Due to being a Tinker in her past life, Ruler can create an area in which Tinkertech can be understood, created and maintained by normal people.

Item Construction: EX. As the first and greatest Tinker in the world, of course she can make items.

Presence concealment: E. Limited to preventing people from connecting her to Hero and/or figuring out her gender.

Noble Phantasm: Workshop of the Tinker: A++. A manifestation of her fame as the First Tinker, this Reality Marble is a cross between a storehouse and workshop where Ruler can access all of her creations and contains an infinite amount of resources that permit her to build almost anything

Raiment of a Hero: A. It is the embodiment of every suit of armour created by the Tinker Hero, it manifests as an unbreakable suit of armour with the ability to fly and a number of handy creations.

Mark of a Hero: C. The embodiment of Rulers belief and determination to be a Hero despite the dark truth of powers makes her a shining beacon to those who fight to defend. When activated, it glows with a brilliant light that acts as a beacon which strengthens Heroes and makes their attacks hit with more force and become charged with the power to damage even that which is supposed to be indestructible. It only affects Parahumans, contributing to its surprisingly low rank.

Golden Heroes Sting: EX. Rulers gun and most powerful Noble Phantasm. It can be summed up as the culmination of her Legend, carrying within it the potential of every single weapon he ever created and possesses a huge number of different settings. Its true power however is to fully tap into Hero's Shards power to manipulate Wavelengths and fire Stilling blasts like the Entities use.