Fate Kaleid ZX: Of Mega Men and Magical Girls!

by ptl

The Class Cards weren't the only ones to enter that world. Other artifacts with the power of legendary heroes known as Biometals are now present in Fuyuki, each choosing hosts of their own! Will Illya and Miyu convince the Mega Men to fight for love and justice or will the Chosen Ones cause even more havoc than the corrupted Heroic Spirits with their own presence?

3. Chapter 3

AN: Unlike Wyran, I must be a procrastinator extraordinaire.

Timeline of Robotics - Cinq Ville, 25XX, Day of Slither Inc. Disaster

Aile's day followed a rather simple schedule.

Wake up; get out of bed to do her daily stretches; check the news to see if there was anything that would affect her job; throw her pillow at her brother so she had a head start getting to the shower (the fact that he was still asleep most of the time was irrelevant, it was still funny); and if that failed, feed Rush instead, then head down to the break room where either Giro would be waiting with breakfast and a list of deliveries for the day or a box of donuts and a note telling them what jobs she and her brother were doing today instead.

A nice and simple schedule for a nice and simple work day. Sure there might have been some slight differences on occasions, but besides those rare weeks, where there was nothing to deliver, and the weekends, that was how her days would usually go. Cinq Ville, for all the tragedy that had and likely would occur within it, was a simple place at the end of the day, and people's way of life reflected that, being calm and generally peaceful… Provided they stayed out of the Outlands and had the fortune to avoid a Maverick raid of course, because help was unlikely to arrive in time to save you.

Perhaps that personally learned truth should have made her realize how suspicious it was that Slither Inc. was responding so quickly to an attack on Area G. Part of it did find it strange, but that suspicion was buried under a mixture of bitterness at realizing the main area of the attack belonged to the company (of course they would move faster to save their own stuff) and relief at them actually responding to an attack so quickly for once. Besides, Maverick raids were just a fact of life in the world. The idea that it could be planned was rather…Well it tended to be obvious when it was staged based on her history lessons.

So while the ongoing Maverick attack at Area G was upsetting and the odd Mechaniloid activity being reported in several different areas was a bit odd, it didn't really register as anything beyond a complication to her delivery routes. She was used to complications after all. Getting to the break room only to see Giro pacing around muttering under his breath on the other hand? That was actually concerning and based on the rare few moments he had been like this in the past, demanded that she ask what was bothering him before he inevitably bolted out on some task for the rest of the day. Not that she was likely to get anything, Giro was rather skilled at dodging questions he didn't want to answer, as her brother was more than happy to demonstrate on multiple occasions.

As she was expecting, he brushed off her and her brother's concern, claiming that his worry was from a friend of his unexpectedly leaving without a word. A bit odd that he had never mentioned them before, but ultimately understandable. It made sense that he would have some kind of social life outside of work and Giro would never fake his worry for someone else, much less to to sell a lie. So while curious as to who this friend of his was, she was perfectly fine leaving the discussion at that as the three of them prepared to handle their daily deliveries.

…Then Vent started tossing around the package she and Giro were supposed to deliver like a complete idiot, and that's when Aile believed things started to go downhill.

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"...Light?"

Vent nodded his head at Giro's confused tone, still tossing the very important package around like it was a toy despite her best efforts to swipe it from the idiot. "Yeah it feels a bit light for something placed on the priority delivery list, I thought it was going to be heavier."

She made another attempt at the package, only to fail once again. "Well of course it feels light to you mister "I'll move all the boxes without help for the fifth week in a row." Now stop messing around with it! were supposed to be delivering that right now, not treating it like a toy!"

"I know that! I just…It didn't feel the same as it did before? So I wanted to check?"

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

"I don't know what it means, it's just the feeling I get! Besides, whoever wants it must have paid a lot considering it was placed at the top of the priority list, might as well make sure I'm just being paranoid rather than risk the package actually being damaged…Or whatever it is that's bothering me about it."

Under any other circumstances, Aile would have been willing to concede that point to Vent. While there was the occasional incident, her and her brother's gut feelings tended to be on point when it came to certain situations (as had been proven on several occasions including one she'd rather not dwell on) and it would be best to make sure the package was undamaged rather than assuming it was not, so there was not reason not to hear him out… However, he put his sweaty palm on her face while keeping their payday out of arm's reach; delayed her breakfast with his antics, and embarrassed her infront of their caretaker/father figure. Thus, by the universal law of siblings, she must disregard the rather valid point and inflict terrible vengeance upon him for this slight.

Ergo, the swift kick she just delivered to his shin was entirely justified and not at all petty.

She didn't know what she had planned to do after using that momentary distraction to swipe the package back (though she was probably going to bolt to her bike and try to rush off on the delivery if she was being honest), but whatever plans that were in her mind quickly vanished when she noticed its weight in her hands… or rather the lack of it.

"Huh, it actually does feel lighter than it should. Is it something-"

Aile (definitely did not) let out a startled yelp as the package was abruptly ripped from her hands. Her rebuttal dying in her throat with cold dread at the sight of Giro thoroughly examining the small ball of packaging paper within his hands, a cold, unreadable expression on his usually easygoing face. Before she could even recover from that sight, Giro suddenly tore the package open, eliciting a string of very uncharacteristic curses from the Reploid at the sight of the noticeably empty wrapping, followed shortly by him bolting out of the room.

They sat there frozen for a few moments processing that abrupt event before rushing after their caretaker as he sprinted through the building and straight to the garage. The two siblings arriving just in time to see his bike tear its way out of the driveway and down the road. Aile, not being deterred by this setback immediately turned to her bike, glad to see that Vent was already starting the engine, now all they had to do was chase after their caretaker and figure out what was going on- And that train of thought immediately crashed and burned when Vent jumped on her bike and speed off, leaving her futilely chasing after it as he raced down the road.

"Wha- Vent! What are you doing!? At least wait for me to hop on!"

Vent said something in response, though whatever it was got unfortunately lost somewhere between the screech of burning rubber and the rapidly growing distance as he drove out of sight. Part of her was a bit mad that she had just been ditched by her brother (who was currently using her bike) but after seeing Giro act like that, the rest of her was not in the mood for any sibling feuds if it got in the way of making sure he was ok, as long as one of them was around things would be fine.

…It was around that point that Aile realized that since Vent was now gone, she was going to have to take care of all of his deliveries for the day.

…Perhaps she was in the mood for a little feud, just a little one.

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There were a lot of Slither Inc. security patrols out today.

She supposed that was to be expected with the ongoing attack on Area G, the best way to deal with a Maverick attack was to keep them isolated to one location so as to avoid them spreading out into the many cracks and crevices that cities tend to have after all, but she couldn't help but feel like something was a bit off with the number of patrols that were around Innerpeace right now.

But whatever it was, it had nothing to do with her, so she simply took note to watch out for whatever they were looking for while going about her job.

Compared to the rather hectic start to her day, the ensuing work and deliveries were rather unnoteworthy. Bring some spare parts to the arcade; put some packages in mailboxes; entertain some random kids by telling them about Vent flubbing a job spectacularly (definitely not as petty vengeance for ditching her, nope, not at all); drop off some bulk-ordered ingredients to the local baker; get roped into helping deliver a bunch of bread, because why not; and keep an ear out for potential jobs that Giro might want to hear about, just the usual bland stuff that was made extra tedious by the absence of her bike (technically company property, but she's the one who maintained it so it might as well be) and only brightened by the occasional bit of eavesdropping.

… At least it should have been, but the bits and pieces of conversation that she had been picking up were…

"-patrols sent to the forest, something about Mavericks being in the area-"

"-too many Mechaniloids around for it to be natural, did some forgotten factory get turned on or-"

"-was insistent that the fleets maintenance happen immediately despite the logistical issues-"

"-been awfully stressed since this morning, I know he's the president and all but-"

"-have to wonder why Serpent thought it was necessary to beef up security so much."

…Well it definitely wasn't making her day brighter, that was for sure.

Aile shook her head and continued on with her job. Worrying over something she couldn't change was pointless. Best to focus on what she could do and push forward. Besides, it's not like she could just ask the Slither Inc security officers anything. What little she was overhearing made it clear that whatever was going on was rather big so, unless the company decided to make an announcement about the situation, she was probably not going to get anything besides empty words and wasted time if she asked. So with little reason to focus on those mutterings, she continued with her job, certain that it wouldn't be much of a concern.

… She should have known better. She should have seen the signs. Should have noticed how the Mechaniloids were being too quiet in their movements or how they twitched despite lacking the instincts for it. Should have noticed how they seemed to track people's movements a bit longer than was strictly necessary or how they were idling near area's that gave them a nice unobstructed view of the area. Should have realized that history was repeating itself all over again, that she was seeing the exact same warnings that a young girl had overlooked before the innocence of youth had been callously ripped away…

But she didn't see the signs that should have been recognized. She had not realized what should have been obvious. And so she simply continued on with her day. Delivering packages and wondering what had caused Giro to bolt off like he had, ignorant of the disaster that was about to occur. Thus within the midst of Innerpeace, in a city full of innocents going about their lives under a clear blue sky and the midday sun, the people were left bewildered as the dozens of Mechaniloid patrols suddenly shut down, plunging the city into a uneasy silence as hundreds of mechanical feet, treads and flight systems abruptly stopped without warning.

For one long moment no one really moved, at least not in a sudden manner. Some simply stared in confusion at the strange sight, their occasional whispers and mutterings over the event sounding loud in the suffocating silence. Others who possessed a haunted look in their eye's quickly began to vacate the area, dragging along protesting friends or ushering their worried children into whatever building or hiding spot that they could find. The security teams that were accompanying the patrols were more noticeable: speaking rapidly into their communicators or watching their companies machines like hawks, their hands never straying from their weaponry.

Then the Mechaniloids finally turned back on, their once welcoming green lights now blazing red. And then…

…

…Aile couldn't breathe.

In a moment that seemed to last both an eternity and an instant, Aile found herself reliving a nightmare she thought was long gone: the Mavericks declaring their return with the roar of their weaponry, dispelling the silence that was once present. Screams of agony and terror swiftly began to permeate the air, drowning out anything that could interrupt the symphony of destruction that was now consuming everything around her. Buildings that once had the fortune to remain untested by battle suddenly faced the brunt of a Maverick raid, showing the world which ones were worth the effort payed to create them and which were tombs that would house the remains of their occupants, provided they were fortunate enough to avoid being reduced to rubble under the storm of weaponry being unleashed upon them. All around her people desperately tried to save themselves in whatever manner they could think of: some ran hoping that they could escape the ensuing slaughter; others scattered into the surroundings, foolishly believing that they could still hide despite being seen by the hoard; what few remained tried to fight back either because it was their duty or because they believed it would buy time for their family and friends to escape. Fires quickly began to flare up as stray blasts of plasma and ordinance from the ensuing fight ignited anything that could be set ablaze, choking the air with smoke as the flames eagerly consumed everything within reach along with anyone unfortunate enough to be caught by a stray shot.

All around her, people died by the dozens, desperately trying to do something, anything in response to the disaster that had been unleashed upon them. And Aile…

Aile ran… She ran despite her heart protesting the action in its entirety, wishing to stay and do something to help. She ran despite her best effort to stop her unresponsive mind from forcing her to keep moving, completely trapped in the desire to take flight from the disaster. She ran despite how desperately she tried to convince herself that she was just seeing things, that she wasn't back at that once happy place looking up at the looming form of roller coasters. That she wasn't experiencing that day once more. She couldn't be. She couldn't.

A young girl ran for her life from the living nightmare that surrounded her, desperately trying to escape the park that haunted her even now.

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Timeline of Robotics - Cinq Ville, 25XX, 2 Days after Legion's Announcement

Within the office of her caretaker, Aile bolted upright with a frightened gasp, taking a few minutes to control her breathing and reorient herself before letting out a frustrated breath as she slumped back down into the old desk chair she had unintentionally fallen asleep in.

She hated this, being stuck thinking through and dwelling on the Everything that had happened and was continuing to happen throughout the city these past three days. She wished there was something else to focus on, anything else to focus on other than the complex knot that was in her mind right now, but Giro was stuck at the Guardians base alongside Vent. Not that he bothered telling her why they were stuck there but she had heard Legion's announcement so whatever the reason was, it probably wasn't a topic that should be discussed over the com.

Feeling her back beginning to protest her posture (not to mention feeling a bit hungry), Aile decided to go get something to eat, ignoring the multitude of pops from her back as she set out to the break room. A quick meal followed by feeding Rush with the leftovers ended up with her at the sink, staring out the window at the rubble that once obstructed the view.

Regardless of the half-answers she was working with, Giro had given her a rather straightforward job during his last call: stay safe until he could get back to the office with her brother and she was going to make sure that she did just that! Sure, that job meant she had essentially been stuck at the office for the past three days, but it's not like she could really go outside due to the current circumstances without immediately failing the one job he had trusted her with. And even if she could it's not like there were any deliveries for her to do with the city in its current state, especially when you considered-

Aile was drawn out of her thoughts by the sound of an explosion ripping through the city, the girl quickly snapping her head in the noise's direction, only to grimace when she saw the source.

Barely visible from her position at the window, the wreckage of Slither Inc was now sporting a new top floor landing dock, which was happily spewing a fresh plum of black smoke into the sky, blocking out the sun with yet another cloud of ash and dust as the badly damaged facility groaned under the strain, which judging by yet another section of said building peeling away and crumbling to pieces midair, it was not handling all that well. Even from this distance she could see the twinkling lights of small airships and a rainbow of colors she could only assume were Cyber Elves scattered around the flower shaped tower that once illuminated the city with its pink glow, reduced to a crumbling withered shell that was so rusted and twisted that it was almost impossible to believe that it was only a recent building a few decades old instead of some ancient ruin from times long ago.

She looked away, forcing herself to walk away from the sink and back to the office. She couldn't dwell on that. Not here, not now, no matter how futile it was trying to escape the ruin that dominated the city's sky and crowned the sea of damaged buildings that stretched into the horizon. Dwelling on that particular revelation just made her want to break something, and Vent was already handling that for the both of them if she was correct about what the background noise of Giro's call had been.

So here she was once again, sitting down in the crummy old office chair digging through Giro's desk because she had already sorted through all the packages that had been left in the garage, and what else was there to do since she couldn't go outside? Sure, Giro didn't exactly tell her to stay inside, but its not exactly like she could go out into the city without losing his trust and her life by immediately failing the one job she was-

Aile froze for a moment, staring at the bottom of the drawer she had pulled out of the desk, or rather the particular item strapped to the bottom of it. Then she paused, eyes flicking from the object to the door, deep in thought.

…Well… The main point of staying was because she couldn't leave safely, and there were plenty of packages that had been left sitting in the garage… It couldn't hurt right?

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In the lot of Giro Express, the twilight of the setting sun illuminated the figure of a girl littered with soot, scratches and bruises returning with a smile on her face and a pep in her step, the empty delivery bag speaking of a productive day… Along with the laser pistol holstered on her side and the Galleon littered with quarter-sized burn holes she was holding by the legs, carefully dragging the scrapheap back to the garage.

Aile was honestly quite happy with how things turned out despite the bruises she was now sporting. She managed to get out of the house for a bit; cheer up several people's days with a surprise delivery (minus the one or two that didn't take it well but they both missed the shot and apologized so it was fine); she managed to vent some of her frustration in a constructive and beneficial manner; and as an added bonus to said venting, she got some free parts she could use to improve her bike! Sure it was still dangerous in the city, where there were still hundreds of Mavericks all over the place despite the Hunters, PDC, and Guardians wiping out the bulk of the hoard, but as long as she stuck to Area C then she should remain safe, which meant that she could make this a regular thing!

The Galleon twitched in her grasp, causing her to let out a shriek as she swiftly dropped it, the laser pistol already emptying the last of its battery into the Mavericks torso before she even realized she had drawn it.

Aile stared awkwardly at the utterly destroyed heap in front of her, before holstering the gun and continuing back to the garage as if nothing happened.

Ok, so the bike tuning was now a bust, and traveling out into the city was not completely safe, but it was better than sitting around doing nothing, and she could defend herself just fine as her outing had happily shown! Honestly, it was rather impressive just how quickly she got used to firing a gun, sure she was not the best at it, she paled in comparison to those action shows she had seen but she was certainly better than she expected! If she was in any other situation she would probably question if she was actually good at it or if she just got lucky, but she was a bit too busy feeling proud of herself for being clever about Giro's request, so she was just going to file that question away for later alongside why Giro even had a laser pistol hidden in his office to begin with.

… Actually considering that the Giro Express's policy was to deliver anything regardless of if it was legal or not, it probably shouldn't be all that surprising that he had a gun hidden in his office, should it? Packages get lost all the time and Giro would never deliver something if he knew it would be used to hurt people so it made sense that such things would get "misplaced" from time to time, and lasers had become somewhat outdated compared to modern plasma buster weaponry so it could have been gotten legitimately-

Aile's train of thought exploded on its tracks as she flicked on the lights of the garage… allowing her to see her brother shifting awkwardly in place behind Giro, who was standing with his arms crossed and a narrow-eyed look that screamed disappointment despite the clear anger and worry present.

…Ok so this idea was going to hurt her, just not in the way she was expecting.

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Timeline of ?s - Homurahara Academy High School Division courtyard, 2007

"So, Rin, do you mind explaining to the class what you were about to do?"

"Trying to collect the Class Card of course! We just talked about this!"

Illya stood awkwardly in the school's courtyard, cradling a sulking (and slightly dented) Ruby in her arms as the mage and the Biometal fumed at each other. Rin had threatenedasked her and Onii-chan to come here via letter (which may have created a whole mess of rumors according to the chatter she overheard from her classmates), before giving Ruby some kind of cue to start up a spell to transport them to some… Well, she caught something about mirrors? Apparently.

Unfortunately, she did not get anything more on the topic as Model F had been trying to get Rin's attention about something and did not take well to being ignored, so when neither Ruby or Rin showed signs of stopping to heed his words… Well, he decided to take a page out of Zero's book and get their attention in a much more direct manner.

"Oh I'm very much aware that you were trying to do here, but that's not what I asked you now is it?"

"What's that supposed to mean!? You just asked what it was that I was doing!"

Model F let out a long-suffering sigh. "(Ok so I'm dealing with another wannabe military idiot then) I was referring to the fact that you were clearly forgetting to do something BEFORE we went to whatever place the card was located."

"What is there to do? We go in there, fight the manifestation of the Card-"

"Wait, we are going to fight the Card itself!?...I mean, I figured that might be the case considering the similarities to Cardcaptor Sakura, but why didn't you bring that up sooner!?"

"Yeah Rin, Shirou makes a good point, why DIDN'T you bring this up sooner to the two civilians that have never been in a combat scenario before? And you, Zero, why the Hell didn't you say anything!?"

"Oh, I was thinking about doing that. But considering you're already doing it, I feel that my intervention isn't completely necessary."

"... Asshole."

Illya watched as Rin's face scrunched up as if she had bitten into something sour (or had stubbed her toe). "It was going to be rather straightforward-"

"Ok no, I heard enough, look, I do not CARE how ''straightforward'' this is going to be, you NEVER go into a combat scenario without a briefing. Sure, sometimes you are caught off guard and only have enough time to say some inspiring words like you're in some stupid war movie before shit hits the fan, but if you have any information on your opponent then you share that info before you face the enemy."

"And even that may not help you, depending on your luck and how outdated your intel is." Zero added. "But considering my luck? I may as well have been blind nearly all my life. It was only my skills polished by training and experience that allowed me to survive, if not accomplish my mission."

"Ah, yes, the classic 'No plan survives contact with the enemy'. Thank you for reminding me of it back then!" Fefnir sarcastically replied.

"From my perspective, you were enjoying it back then."

"Heh, touché. You still owe me a rematch."

"Why am I not surprised this conversation is going that way with this musclehead…" Rin rubbed her forehead in exasperation. "Whatever! Zero is right. It's not like sharing was going to help in this scenario! We won't know what Card we are facing until we arrive at the Mirror World, and there are so many Myths and Legends in the world that it would be impossible to tell who exactly we are facing! Even if their appearance and power were not degraded!"

Illya shifted Ruby in her arms, allowing her to raise her hand. "Question! What do you mean when you say 'which Card' exactly? Are they all different in some way?"

"Of course they are different! There is-"

"No, the time to explain that is long gone, Rin. In fact, that just helps my point and hurts yours! You knew that each Class Card was different from each other, and you didn't think that may have been important to know in advance, even the tiniest bit!?"

"I...W-well-"

"Did you not think that mentioning what these alternative Cards even are would be important to forming a strategy? That maybe the Cards being degraded could have an effect on how the card will fight? Perhaps any trump Cards that they might be able to pull out if their back is against the wall? Hell! You clearly fought two of them already from what you have said! How in the fuck did you not think that explaining how you delt with the last two would be important!?"

"If those Heroic Spirits are at the very minimum as varied, powerful and skilled as us or any other custom military-grade Reploids and Mechaniloids in our world, then degraded state or not, even Fefnir and I could probably be at a disadvantage." Zero commented. "It's not merely a matter of skill and physical capabilities but of compatibility, especially against unconventional fighting styles and abilities, which mythological beings and heroes might have in spades. So some sort of basic strategy might be necessary when dealing with them."

Illya and Shirou watch with growing worry as Rin looks to the side, refusing to meet anyone's eyes for a moment as she mutters something… Said worry quickly becomes concern as Zero sighed and Fefnir froze in midair, his small body releasing an electronic grinding sound as sparks briefly flicker over his body.

"Tohsaka Rin, I fucking swear if I really heard what I think I just heard from you, I am going to lose it, and you are not going to like what I do next. Speak. Up. And speak. Clearly. What did you just say."

Rin turned to Fefnir, anger visible on her face, only to flinch at the cold, militaristic glare being sent her way, though she quickly recovered and answered the question regardless, swallowing her ever diminishing pride. "I said that I did not fight the first two Class Cards, nor did Luvia. Someone else was tasked with retrieving the cards and managed to collect two of them before the Wizard Marshall stepped in and relieved them of the mission, a mission that he then gave to the two of us."

"So the people in charge originally sent someone completely unfamiliar with the area to get the Cards instead of the family responsible for watching the leyline thing for generations? Sure the person they sent was clearly competent but why pass over the person most familiar with-"

"Politics."

The two siblings let out an 'ah' of understanding as Fefnir began grumbling. "Great, so a mission with life or death combat got turned into a game of wizard politicians trying to screw each other over… And Master X wondered why I kept throwing those types out of my office no matter how many times they ''offered advice'' or the reprimands I got for throwing them out on their asses. Argh, and here I was getting fired up for the wrong reason...Give me a moment real quick, I need to think."

The group watched as Fefnir floated back in fourth for a few moments, muttering about several things from time constraints to practicality before finally turning back to the group.

"Alright! You obviously read the previous agent's report since you know some info about the Cards, which already puts you above most of the dumbasses I've had to deal with, so here is what we are going to do. We are going to take a quick jog around the school and back to Illya's house so I can see how well you are doing in terms of stamina, then you Rin, are going to sit us all down and explain these Class Cards properly even if you have to dumb it down to the level of an infant to make it stick. After all that is done, we can go and deal with this particular Card tomorrow night."

"Tomorrow!? No! If we put it off, then that Finnish Bitch will-"

"-Will also leave it for tomorrow if she is even remotely intelligent, and if not, then she will make herself look like an idiot while potentially removing a threat that has set itself up right outside of a school. Believe me, I would prefer to have it removed today, but I am not throwing three civilians that have never been in combat before against a threat we know nothing about nor have any experience against."

The group remained quiet for a moment, thinking over the points Fefnir had brought up, and seeing no way to intelligently argue against it decided to heed the Biometals' advice, leaving the courtyard empty once more… besides a lingering Biometal that was looking about with narrowed optics.

"Zero, are you coming?"

Zero turned from the spot he was just observing. "... Sure." He followed the rest of the group out of the courtyard, wondering if his mind was playing tricks on him…

… Only for a duo of girls and their transformation trinkets to pop out of the bush that the Model Z Biometal had had his attention a few seconds ago.

"There, see? I told you that it was reckless to rush in to fight it when neither you nor little Yuyu have been in combat before. Aren't you glad you had me here to stop yourself from looking silly?" A blue Biometal gave her Chosen One a harsh, yet playful glare to compliment her sarcastic tone.

The drill-haired girl simply looked to the side concealing the slight blush of embarrassment on her face even as she muttered an excuse, causing the Biometal to quietly laugh in humor. "I admit I didn't expect Zero and Fefnir to be also here, much less working together, especially with the latter's flame-for-brains, heh. Oh, don't look at me like that. There is no shame in being eager to deal with a threat such as this, but it's best to hold onto some caution even if you throw a majority of it to the wind. Hm, tell you what, I actually have a small training lesson I made to test my reflexes back at Neo Arcadia, if you wish to prove your capabilities we can give it a try! That is, if our little Yuyu and Sapphire are willing to give it a try?"

"I would not be opposed to testing my combat capabilities if my Master is willing to do so." A blue wand with butterfly wings on her head said, answering to the name Sapphire.

"...I will take your test… And my name is Miyu, not little Yuyu." The little dark-haired child that was hiding with Luvia complained about the nickname

The Biometal simply laughed. "I'll come up with a nickname you will accept eventually! Now let's head to the ocean! the surface is far too dusty for my liking, and it is necessary for our little test!" What she didn't voice out was her own anticipation of having a rematch against Zero…

"Fine…" Luvia ultimately conceded in defeat. "As much as it hurts me to discover that gorilla is in possession of a Biometal (seriously, how the Hell did it happen, I was lucky to find Leviathan, much less being compatible with her), I admit that going in unprepared would end up… unfavorable." It wasn't that she didn't have a plan: just leave all the work to Tohsaka until the Card weakened up enough and give it the coup de grace by Miyu or herself, just to see what face that tomato red commoner would make! Hohohoho~

… However, recent developments meant that plan had to be either changed and/or postponed.

"Besides, that only means I now have to prove myself the better Megaman compared to Tohsaka…" She put upon a bloodthirsty smirk… which quickly turned into a lovestruck expression. "... so that handsome gentleman would kick her out and dedicate his eyes onto me solely~!"

The other three could only show absolute shock at that rather abrupt change on the magus' character (who, by the way, just started openly fantasizing about her future marriage with Shirou, to the growing concern and some disgust from the others).

"Has… has she always been like this?" Biometal Model L, or Fairy Leviathan in her previous life, asked to the wand.

"I've only known her for a few days… but I never imagined she'd be like… this." Sapphire admitted. "Not even her files said anything about her romantic preferences."

"It's been decided!" Luvia grabbed poor Leviathan, pointing her at the sky. "Beach training tonight! Starting with running towards the coast!" And she took off like a bullet, the madwoman! "I'm coming, my red-headed prince~! UWOOOOHHHH!"

"At least she's got motivatioooooooon–!"

Miyu and Sapphire could only sweatdrop at the receding screaming duo.

"It seems we must follow them, Miyu-sama?"

"Hn." The black-haired 10-year old nodded after recovering her composure, though she turned to where the previous group took off. "Onii-chan…"

A clenched hand was her only outward sign of some ruther conflicted feelings…

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Next day, at Homurahara Academy Elementary School Division…

"Wow, you look terrible, Illya."

As Nanaki's blunt comment showed, Illya's face was the perfect example of a person stricken with an impromptu case of insomnia, with the typical bags under the eyes, disheveled hair and the chronic tiredness that would make someone screw dignity and just want to rest their head on even the most rigid of surfaces and with the most uncomfortable of postures in the hopes of gaining some shuteye before the rest of unfair reality completely crashes down onto them.

"Sorry, guuuys." The albino morning zombie couldn't help but let out an adorable yawn. "But I couldn't sleep at all last night." She re-did the impression of a yawning puppy pomeranian.

Not only did the aborted attempt to challenge the Card plus the jogging from the school to back home end up delaying her usual bedtime, she had difficulty sleeping due to the nerves of having an upcoming death battle with a literal legend. And when she was finally able to sleep, Rin and Fefnir came a while after at her house for more jogging! And after school, there will be even more training!

Why wouldn't they postpone the whole thing for one more day? She was sure she was going to end up asleep mid-battle…

"Jeez, Illya, did you do a night gaming marathon or something? You know those should be reserved for weekends!" The bespectacled Suzuka sighed in disappointment, with Illya mentally agreeing with her but for different reasons.

"I don't think Illya-chan is the type of girl to do that on school days, Suzuka-chan!" The closet fujo- I mean, the absolutely innocent Mimi defended her friend (not that she did similar activities on weekday nights and of a higher perverse nature than just mere gaming, not at all, siree!)

"Don't worry Licchirini, the great Tatsuko has the solution to all your troubles!" The… huh, blonde bunch of ADHD and loose screws able to surpass the Tiger of Fuyuki in raw madness, that is known as Gamukazawa Tatsuko, seemed ready to give either some good advice or a collective aneurysm to the whole class.

… I 100% bet on the latter.

While Illya's friends were exasperatedly trying to avoid Tatsuka breaking her own surprisingly resilient cranium as demonstration of a homemade (read:quack) sleep remedy, a certain starry pink 'hair accessory' made her opportunity to telepathically talk to her owner.

"Oh, my~ What interesting friends you have here, Illya-chan~"

The poor sleep-deprived girl could only let out a mere grunt of affirmation.

"Maybe we should have shortened the whole training sessions" Ruby sweatdropped, confirming once again Illya's woes. "You don't look ready for tonight's battle, much less today's classes!"

"I'll rest when I come back home and after the training." Illya answered back with her own thoughts. "I never thought being a Magical Girl could be that tiring."

"Well, superheroing is a very energy and time consuming task. You must know heroes and heroines that struggle trying to synergize their daily lives with their nightly heroics! There's one reason those that fit that archetype are really popular with an increasingly overworked population that empathize with that kind of suffering."

"Like Spider-Man or Danny Phantom…" Illya mused. "Hey, Ruby, is it really necessary to take care of the Cards quickly? Are they even dangerous to people, especially if they're in another dimension?"

"Oh, well." Ruby did a thinking pose with one of her wings. "Short term? Doubt it. From what we've observed, the Class Cards have no motivation to cause trouble, they just react when their territories are getting invaded, not that some poor schmuck would be able to enter the Mirror World. And the Cards cannot exit towards the real world, so everyone's safe in both senses."

"But if we're talking long term? Weeell… given they're interfering with the local leylines, the 'blood vessels' of the planet so to speak, to feed on them and stuff, it may probably end up affecting the land negatively, like more proclivities to natural disasters or the quality of the soil degrading. Though that would take years to make some effect. The hurry is mostly some stupid competition between Rin and another idiot that hate each other's guts." Ruby sighed in disappointment.

"Then the main problem might be that Biometal… Model W."

"*sigh* I seriously didn't want to get involved into Kamen Ridey stuff by principle alone, but given what we were told, that Weil was a nutjob among nutjobs even by mage standards. Him becoming something akin to a powerful wraith or even a sentient curse possessing some futuristic superweapon is something that would make the Association AND the Church bring some serious big guns… which may also end up doing things worse in some other ways for Fuyuki than if left unattended." Ruby said seriously.

"Wait, what do you mean by making things WORSE!? Weren't they supposed to be the experts in magic shenanigans or whatever?"

"Oh, Illya, Illya, my sweet adorable Illya~ There are some things that someone as cute and innocent as you shouldn't know about this bizarre magical world that we live in. And it should be preferable that it stays that way. Forever."

"Ruby, you're starting to scare me, what do you-"

"Good morning, everyooone~" Fujimura Taiga, the wild teacher appeared! "Today, we give a niiice welcome to a new classmate!"

"A new classmate?" Illya blinked. Not only was she the only one to be surprised, her friends and the rest of the class had already started whispering at the news (unless you count Tatsuko's nonsensical shouts as everyday school gossip.)

"SHUT UP, EVERYONE!" The Tiger roared. "Ehem, now, Miyu-chan, why don't you introduce yourself to everyone?"

The one who entered was a black-haired girl with golden-brown eyes (which reminded Illya to those from her brother) from about their age wearing their school uniform. With a neutral expression, she turned towards the rest of the class: "I am Miyu Edelfelt."

"Another Edelfelt?!" Ruby telepathically exclaimed inside Illya's head, making the latter flinch. "How could they… oh. Ooohhhh~" The stick seemed to realize something, considering the amused tone she soon adopted.

"Ano… Ruby, do you know her or something?"

"Weeell, not her personally but why ruin such a pleasant surprise like this~"

"... Considering I've known you for a couple of days, I don't know if I should worry about what you consider 'pleasant'."

"That one behind Illya-chan, will do!"

"Huh?"

Illya reacted when her name was mentioned, having lost attention during Miyu's presentation while talking to Ruby, only to see the black-haired stoic girl stopping at her table's side. Still somewhat confused from the new transfer becoming her seat neighbor while the albino was still sleep-deprived, she tried to present herself as a default reaction.

"Huh… hello? My name is-" "Illyasviel von Einzbern." "Huh?" Only for the cool transfer girl to reveal Illya's name like nothing!

"Uhn, does she know Illya or something?" "Impossible! We would have known ages ago!" "Darn it, Illya, it should have been me to conquer Miyucchi, not her!" "Oh, shut up, Tatsuko… And Miyuki, really?"

"We'll talk later." Ignoring the rabble from Illya's friends, the mysterious transferee went towards her assigned seat, ignoring Illya's newest mental turnmoil.

"What the heck?! Ruby, why does she seem to know me?! I haven't seen her in my whole life!"

"Nope! Still not saying anything yet~! Even so, I still have to confirm my suspicions." Ruby was enjoying what seems to be an inside joke too much for anyone's tastes.

Illya turned back to check on Miyu, only to be looked back by the latter's blank yet oddly hyperfixated eyes.

Illya could only let out a nervous smile.

Just what was going on with the new transfer student?

FKZX:OMMAMG

Maybe she should have asked herself: WHAT THE HECK WAS GOING ON WITH THE NEW TRANSFER STUDENT?!

For someone who was 11-years old, she seemed bizarrely overqualified for elementary school!

Math class? She pulled on university-level equations for a simple geometry question!

Art? She drew something most people would only see in a modern art gallery!

Home EC? Five star feast made with only a frying pan! … Which oddly reminded Illya of her brother's cooking.

Physical Education? She trashed Illya's own personal record by beating her in 6,9 seconds!

She's beyond genius, a human-level superhuman that reached humanity's peak!

"Come on, Illya-chan, there's no need to sulk for someone your age."

"I am not sulking, I just discovered that effort can only do so much against talent."

At that moment, the Magical Girl and mascot/stick were resting a park while on their way home. They would have gone quicker for their boot camp training if not for Illya's self-confidence reaching negative values.

"There you are." And the cause arrived!

"Oh, Miyu-san."

"Oh, he-"

If this were a realistic setting, Illya would probably have been hospitalized from the whiplash her neck did from the double-take.

"Ruby!" She grabbed the floating pink stick. "What are you doing?! Wasn't magic supposed to be a secret or something?!"

"You don't have to worry about that, Illya-san." A new voice appeared.

Illya turned to see another floating, winged, ring with a star at its core like Ruby's compact mode but instead of pink feathery wings and a five-pointed star, she had butterfly-like blue wings and a six-pointed star. As well as an apparently more calm and composed voice in comparison with the energetic and flighty Ruby.

"Another… stick?" Illya asked, confused. "What's going on?"

"Allow me to introduce her to you, Illya-chan~ This one is my fellow Kaleidostick and little sister, Maaagical Sapphire!" Confetti shot out of Ruby's top alongside party-sound effects while Sapphire politely bowed in the air. "Well, as much sisters that two sentient Mystic Codes created by the same wizard and at around the same time could ever be, anyway."

"Then… that means." Illya blinked while turning towards Miyu.

"That's right. Miyu-sama is my Master." Sapphire clarified.

"Oho~ And considering her surname, it seems that you weren't able to escape Luvia right?"

"About that…"

"Sapphire, there's no need to tell them." Miyu bluntly cut in. "... Why are you after the Class Cards?"

"The Class Cards? You're after them too?" Illya parroted.

"Remember that Rin and I weren't the only ones sent on the mission?"

"Oh, right."

"As for the Cards… You could say I was forced to by a certain someone." Illya pointedly looked at Ruby, who was innocently whistling a Magical Girl anime OP or whatever.

"... I see." Miyu said. "Then why do you fight?"

"Huh? Why?" Illya parroted.

"If you were simply dragged into this, then you have no obligation to fight."

"B-but Ruby…"

"If you really didn't want to, Ruby would have given up."

"Huh…" Illya opened her mouth, stopped, thought about it and-

"Doubt it."/"Doubt it." Illya and Sapphire deadpanned at the same time.

"Eh?" Miyu blinked in a surprisingly rare and genuine display of confusion.

"When I met Ruby, Rin was after her, so she glued up to my hand and wouldn't break away from me even when threatened with two giant flamethrowers with the power of bazookas. Especially when I am a bigger target than a stick."

"What."

"And I am her sister. Of course I would know of her… tastes. And believe me, she's a terminal case."

"Oi! Ye of little faith! You make me sound like some kind of deviant!" Ruby loudly protested.

"Because you are."/"Because you are."

"Urgh! Being called out by my cute Master and little sister! Oh, the humanity!"

"So, yeah. Ruby's perverseness aside, I doubt she'd work again with Rin that easily, so I bet it's either me or some other poor girl to suffer Ruby and Rin's antics."

"Illya-san. I think I've gained a newfound respect with your sacrifice."

"YOU MEANIES!"

At this point, Miyu just facepalmed at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation. Then again, people tend to not be themselves when sleep deprived, so maybe she might have gotten another answer out of Illya in another timeline when she was more reasonably rested.

"Ah!" Illya shouted. "We're gonna arrive late to the training, Ruby! Miyu, Sapphire, we're sorry but we need to go now!"

"Training?" Miyu questioned. "Wait, you mean with Rin and the other Biometal user?!"

Both Illya and Ruby stopped in their tracks, perplexed.

"You… you know about Biometals?"

"I think a better question would be, how much you spied on us yesterday."

Sapphire sighed. "Apologies about that, but yes, we were about to discreetly follow you to the Mirror World until Fefnir stopped you. And we discovered about Biometals when we made contact with another one the night prior."

"Another-" "-Biometal?" Illya and Ruby looked at each other, realizing the implications.

"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Thrice is too much! Oh, man, at this rate we'll have the whole set in this very same city!"

"Yeah, and that may include… Model W." Illya gulped. "Sorry, Miyu, but we need to go now." She turned to once again run back home with that new information.

"Wait-!" "What's that Model W you're talking about?"

"Just ask that Biometal you encountered about a nutcase called Dr. Weil, they might know about him!"

"I promise we'll explain about it later!"

And off they went…

"What… happened?" Miyu blinked, confused.

"I… don't know, Miyu-sama. Only that they have some information that we're lacking, especially in regards to the Biometals." Sapphire sighed.

Miyu frowned. The Class Cards were her responsibility to bear... However, these 'Biometals' were an unknown variable: incredibly advanced technology from a far away future that, disturbingly, resemble the Cards in function.

"Model W…" She muttered, then shook her head. "Let's go back Sapphire."

"Are you not going after them, Miyu-sama?"

"We're both after the same objective, we'll meet again tonight."

Nevertheless, Biometal or not, she'll do everything in her power to avoid other people getting into the nightmare of the Holy Grail War.

Especially her "brother"...

FKZX:OMMAMG

? - ?

Retrieve the Grail. Retrieve the Grail. Retrieve the Grail.

Over and Over and Over. Again and Again and Again.

It kept echoing in its mind; kept drowning Its thoughts; and kept grinding Its memories into dust.

That was fine. It already knew what It was here for, why it answered the summoning. What point was there in crippling Its mind when It was already going to pursue that goal to begin with? Why care about anything else beyond that single, miraculous chance? Perhaps if It had the capability, It would question Its current circumstances, but It did not, so It would not spare what little thought It could still muster to do so.

And why would It even bother to begin with? It already knew where she was.

The building may have been empty in Its newest den, but It could still hear her, smell her, even with the other's scent impeding Its efforts, her's was as clear and as unmissable to It as the clear blue sky. It just needed to find the right moment to strike, the perfect chance to burst forth and drag her into Its embrace. Its den may be vast in size, a wall barring Its path, but it was a wall all the same, and it would crumble just as all others had to Its strength. It's already begun Its efforts: tunneling into the den's marrow, digging and clawing and pushing the bricks apart piece by piece by piece. It was slow, far, far to slow for Its liking, but It was patient. It could wait, she was not going anywhere, It knew that much.

Yes…It just had to keep hollowing out the den's walls; then It could wait for the opportunity, then It could strike and shatter the wall between her and It; then It could snatch her up and whisk her away before the other's could… could...

…The other was lingering at the maw of Its den…

Aggravating. Annoying. Frustrating. Was the other trying to get in Its way? No, It wouldn't let them, Sakura The Grail was Its prize to claim. It understood her. It knew her better than the other ever could. They had no right to take her from It.

Within the seams of an isolated realm, a snake began to coil itself into a spring.

Let the other try to stop Its efforts if they dared to, they were not Sakura The Grail It was seeking. But who ever said It had to stop at one? Who ever said that It couldn't use a Grail to retrieve another?

Yes… Let them come to their death, so that It could use them to make Sakura The Grail Its own.

FKZX:OMMAMG

At night.

Usually, spring nights in Fuyuki tend to be very quiet and, sometimes, even a bit chilly.

"EEEDELFEEEEELT!"

… Also, usually, there aren't short-tempered bionic teenage mages firing giant flamethrowers in the air, as if the World owed her money or something.

You see, while in the middle of their training, Illya remembered to tell Rin about Miyu, Sapphire and their knowledge of Biometals.

What she didn't anticipate was how Rin turned ballistic at the mere mention of Miyu's surname.

"Of fucking course that goddamned cow also had to use someone else to do her dirty work!"

"Language, Tohsaka!"

"Oh, shut up, Emiya! We're not children!"

"My sister is!"

And while it gave Rin more motivation with the training, her sheer bloodlust mixed in with Fefnir's, erasing all traces of the somewhat competent hardass military commander from before, leaving Zero, who wished to be able to facepalm without a host, to take care of the planning.

Result? A red-armored teenager and his little magical girl sister standing awkwardly, watching a two-in-one pyromaniac having a tantrum/laughing depending on which part of the being you're talking about.

"I bet Illya's whole Magical Girl collection that Luvia is the one with the Biometal."

"Oi, don't go around betting someone else's possessions, especially mine, even as a joke." Illya complained to Ruby.

"What makes you so sure about that?"

"I mean, if we go by narrative conventions, given Rin gained a new power after losing an old one, as well as that snob counting as a rival, that's not a high possibility, it's straight up fate!"

"Considering how our lives turned out to be, sure…" Shirou deadpanned. "Hey, Zero, what Biometal do you think we'll encounter now?"

"Going by Rin and Ruby's… 'colourful' comments, Luviagelita Edelfelt is the living stereotype of a rich and arrogant person, which makes it somewhat difficult to determine whose Biomatch she would probably. X? Doubt he'll be comfortable working with her, what with his humbleness, despite supposedly having been a politician for decades. As for the Guardians? All of them were arrogant in some manner, at least at the time I fought against them, though they're still distinct from each other. Phantom is basically Batman as a ninja and willing to kill. Harpuia is rigid of mind though with an honorable streak. Leviathan is somewhat flighty. And Fefnir is straight up out as an option." The red Biometal deadpanned when hearing the orange one demanding a fight against his siblings, followed by something about fighting against him next.

"The only time I was able to sleep was after that very tiring training. Let's just get on with it." Illya deadpanned, tired and clearly not giving a shit about Rin and that Luvia's apparent (and completely useless) blood feud.

"Alright."

"Better than continue waiting for our 'guests'."

"Finally! Adding imaginary numerical axis to the-"

"Hey! What the hell are you doing going without us?!"

"Yeah! Leaving us out of the fight is not cool!"

The magus and Biometal complained when they noticed the magical circle getting ready to transport them to the Mirror World, barely succeeding by dashing when Ruby chose to just accelerate the process to further mess up with Rin. All while their supposedly fashionable late 'guests', who were simply hidden, chose to follow them towards the reflected dimension with their own stick.

FKZX:OMMAMG

Mirror World

"So this is the Mirror World." Illya couldn't help but comment: the courtyard they were in was literally a mirror of the one in the real world, inverted signs and all, though some kind of translucent barrier was visible in the background.

"Reminds me of Ryuki's Mirror World." Shirou added. "Just hope there aren't any more monsters aside from the Cards." He gripped the Z-Saber, wary of his surroundings.

"No idea what you're talking about, but I can assure that the only existences that could exist here, aside from us, visitors, are the Class Cards. And they're very limited when it comes to movement." She noted the barrier. "They're basically trapped here, anchored to the leylines, which makes our work easier for us."

"If it's trapped here, where in here is it?" Fefnir grunted. "Could it have sensed us entering the Mirror World?"

Rin was about to say something, then stopped. "Huh, that's a good question." She said in thought.

Illya stiffened. "W-w-wait, if it knows we were coming, wouldn't that mean-" A metal spike attached to a chain shot shot towards the Magical Girl, only to be deflected by a plasma blade and raw biomechanical reflexes.

"Ambush!" Shirou shouted, while his sister screamed in terror at nearly being shishkebab'd.

"Keep calm!" Rin drew out her Knuckle Busters. "Just follow the plan and we-"

[ULTRAKILL - HATEFUL - HEALTH]

Whatever else Rin was about to say was interrupted by an incredibly powerful punch on her stomach. The magically and cybernetically enhanced senses of the siblings could only perceive Rin's surprise, pain and spit with a bit of blood getting out of her mouth, courtesy of a long-purple haired woman wearing form fitting black clothes as well as a blindfold with a single eye decoration. All in glorious slow-mo.

In real time, the roaring woman finished launching the Flame Megaman at high speeds towards one of the school buildings, making a loud collision that raised a huge cloud of dust and debris.

"TOHSAKA!" "RIN!" Was what the siblings were able to vocalize before the woman turned and executed a roundhouse kick that would have made contact with Illya if it weren't due to a barely raised star-shaped barrier. Alas, it wasn't enough, and the Monstrous Strength of the kick launched the small Magical Girl towards the Red Megaman's direction, who caught her by reflex, though there was enough kinetic energy left to bleed, plus combined with inexperience and surprise, that Shirou tumbled and both siblings rolled back for a few meters until Zero and Ruby forced their respective charges' bodies to stop, which still provoked decently lengthy furrows in the ground.

"Ruby! How's Illya?!"

"Still peachy! Her lack of weight helped in easing up the resistance that would have caused great harm to her delicate and cute body."

"Is-is that the Class Card?" Shirou couldn't help but gulp. They trained. They were advised that there would be real risk of harm or even death, that it wasn't a game. Yet, reality didn't settle in until now. No matter all of the training in the world, whether years or a few hours, you'd never be properly mentally prepared for your first battle to the death.

"Scanning Saint Graph. Class designation: Rider." Ruby analysed. "That kind of Heroic Spirits specialize in powerful mounts like their name indicates. Though she seems to not need it to kick our butts."

Just when Rider was about to prepare a new attack against the siblings, some kind of metallic gray and orange sphere crashed onto her face. It didn't do too much damage despite its spiky appearance, yet it stuck onto her face through some sort of powerful adhesive (just in case the landing zone was hard enough that the spikes couldn't dig in or if it there were countermeasures against its latching magnets), while beeping intermittently, much to her confusion. The spell-loaded gem inside the sticky grenade clearly communicated its purpose when it exploded in the form of a miniature firestorm.

Of course, thanks to B-Rank Magic Resistance, she came out unharmed, aside from some shrapnel wounds from the bomb's metallic structure that she point blank-survived due to sheer superhuman resilience, which is what dazed her enough for a jet-propelled, person-sized, mass of wrath and biomechanics, to punch her in the goddamn face with a Big Fucking Gun.

Result? A literal explosive punch that made the corrupted Card fly without assistance to the building on the opposite side of the campus, in a similar manner to what she did to Rin earlier.

"That… hurt, bitch!" Rin breathed heavily before coughing some blood and falling down on one knee, one arm onto her stomach after that wrath fueled punch. If they knew more about Rider's full abilities, they would ask themselves how the Hell was she to be able to survive a direct hit from a Heroic Spirit with not only high Strength stats but also an equally powerful Strength-buffing Skill.

Rage must be a Hell of an anesthetic.

The other two came to her side, with Ruby already having a healing Code Cast ready for the injured Megaman's treatment.

"Damn. That bitch has a mean sucker punch." Fefnir commented. "If I wasn't built for heavy combat, we would have folded like tin cans."

"No wonder it was so difficult trying to gut you like one back then." Zero sarcastically said.

"Less sarcasm and more trying to survive this!" Shirou called them out while supporting Rin with a shoulder. "I mean… if this is even remotely like what happens in fiction, she might still be-!"

Rider's roar cleared out the smoke covering her, revealing the right side of her face and mask were badly burnt out, revealing not only raw muscles, burnt hair and a half skeletal grin but also a bloodied eye with a bizarrely square pupil that doesn't look like it will be working anytime soon.

Oh, and the intact part of her mouth was snarling. Probably at them.

"Alive."

She roared. Illya's instincts chose to fight and scream like a scared little girl (which she is), shooting a mass of magical energy towards the corrupted Spirit. Rider dodged nonchalantly with a sidestep. Shirou and Rin also shot with their own Busters, which not only missed but served to further enrage the Murder-Death-Killing magic ghost that was coming like a supersonic bullet towards them.

They only had one last possible option…

Nigerundayo!

If some outsider was there to observe the fight (which there were), they would have been witness to a trio of panicking superpowered cosplayers getting chased away by a pissed off dominatrix Two Face trying to whip or stab them with chained stakes coming from her hair with the same ease as a snake moving constantly to chase its prey, while essentially running laps on a schoolyard, coincidentally following the tracks, and running at Formula One speeds.

"How the hell is she so damn fast?!" Rin tried to do some cover fire on the move, only to Dash dodge yet another chain. "She isn't even using her mount!"

"Riders tend to have some of the highest Agility among Heroic Spirits, just below Lancers!" Ruby explained while Illya jumped to avoid a spike that was about to get her legs. "Just wait to see how worse she'd get if she got the idea to use her Noble Phantasm!"

"Then we need to stop her before she gets to use it!" Zero grunted while guiding Shirou's body to swing a charged energy wave that cut off a half dozen chains about to sneak on them.

"What we just need is to restrict her damn speed!" Fefnir roared. "Preferably by having more curtain fire to make her busy dodging and hopefully landing some shots on her! Just our goddamn luck that our Busters are not enough to cover an area that large even with rapid fire."

"Oh, oh!" Ruby beamed. "I just have the stuff. Time to prove the Sentai the worth of Magical Girls~"

"I'lldoitI'lldoit,justmakeherstoooooooop!" Illya implored while doing a surprisingly good impression of a laser dodging scene out of a movie but with an increasing number of creatively positioned moving chains in place of lasers.

"Just imagine a huge barrage of small shots coming out of a cone like an out of control machine gun!"

With a battlecry, Shirou swung a couple more cutting waves towards the chains coming towards her sister and Rin punched the ground with help of a charged shot to raise a smokescreen.

"NOW!"/"NOW!"/"NOW!"/"NOW!"/NOW!"

"TAAAKE THIS!" Illya roared in response to the team's signal, a Touhou worthy storm of magical projectiles shot out of Ruby, covering the expansive area on Rider's direction, forcing her to attempt to dodge all the projectiles, only to gradually commit more errors and get increasingly hit by more and more projectiles that, despite being weak as Hell, were doing a pretty good job in stopping her on her feet out of raw concussive force. The two Megamen used the opportunity to shoot her once more with charged shots. And finally succeeding at that, if Rider's ragdolling body from the explosion of plasma and flame wasn't clear enough.

Not to mention it was pretty effective: she was struggling to stand up, not helping that her arms were now just carbonized stumps.

Yet they shouldn't call it a victory yet.

The mask on Rider's face dissolved in magical energy, displaying her remaining functioning eye towards the group, letting it shine in an unsettling glow, which had… unexpected effects.

"Urk!" Illya tensed. "Why do I feel so heavy all of a sudden?" Rin and Shirou's scream made her turn back towards them, only to see something out of a nightmare.

Both of the Megamen's bodies were turning into stone!

Half-digitized biomechanical matter couldn't help but transmute itself into inert minerals, the data protections, put in place for countering Cyber-elf reality hacking, only being able to barely slow down the overwhelming hostile Mystery from the Age of the Gods instead of making the transformation painlessly instantaneous, which may have made things worse, given both the Reploid and human halves now had time to panic before their inevitable deaths. The alarms and error alerts blaring in their sight and hearing are not helping matters.

And the charging magic circle in front of Rider was bound to make things worse. One way or another.

However! Just when they were about to completely turn into stone, when Rider was about to unleash her ultimate attack, an ice dragon came flying out of nowhere towards Rider's direction! Not even the Heroic Spirit was able to react before getting frozen solid from the dragon's impact onto her. And following the dragon was no one other than Miyu in a blue and black leotard with a white cape and boots as well as a very mean-looking blood red barbed spear!

"GAE… BOLG!"

Causality redefined itself in a single instant, making it that the cursed spear's tip landed in the frozen Spirit's heart, as if it was always meant to be, killing her and reverting her body into the form of a Class Card.

However, the black-haired girl didn't stop to take her prize, instead, as quick as she was in skewering a mad ghost, she ran towards Shirou with a face full of panic and tears.

"ONII-CHAN!"

Emiya Shirou has already passed out from shock.

AN: Cliffhangers! We're eeeevil.

And now, training regime omake flashback for the inconvenience:

A Last Minute Drill

The sun began to set within Fuyuki, bathing the city in its golden rays while slowly dying the sky a beautiful orange hue. The wind, carrying the distant scent of the sea, gently flowed through the treetops, the noise of swaying branches and rustling leaves joining with the buzzing of insects and the dwindling songs of birds blending together into a soothing ambience that permeated the air. In the city itself, a lull within the constant stream of activity began to form as young and old alike got off from school & work, setting off to their homes to rest for tomorrow or to some other obligation or entertainment they have decided or promised to do that day, allowing the natural melody to be heard far and wide.

Yes, it truly was a wonderful evening, one that could be enjoyed by all regardless of age or standing, a perfect opportunity to simply sit back and bask in the radiance of nature and its balance between itself and the realm of mankind.

"Alright, that's enough for today. Take a breather while I have Rin set up the last thing for the day."

A wonderful evening that was unfortunately lost on the young girl that had just collapsed after spending several hours doing as many different stretches, sit ups, and push ups that Fefnir could think of until her everything felt numb, leaving her an exhausted, gasping, heap on the ground.

Ruby floated above Illya, looking down at her dying fish-imitating victim/wielder with concern. "Um…Say, Fefnir? Are you sure you didn't push Illya-Chan too much? She looks a little bit broken and the first official fight of her Magical Girl career is tonight."

The Biometal turned away from Rin, giving said "Magical Girl" a sidelong glance, idly noting how she was splayed out on the ground like those long abandoned doll's he occasionally found out in the field."Eh…Probably? I'm more used to rescuing humans and running emergency first aid out in the field, not training them-"

"Then what are you even doing here!? We only have a few hours before we face the monster of the week, how is she going to capture the hearts and minds of our young audience if she looks like a wrung out sweat rag!"

"-Relax you damn Harpy! One, this isn't a show, so whatever that was about is irrelevant! Second, she'll be fine, I know not to push people to the point they break, I just needed to figure out what her limits were so I could factor them into tonight's strategy and future training. Just make sure to heal up any strained muscles or sore limbs she may have and then have her go straight to bed after this and she'll be ready for tonight… Besides, I doubt anything you touched would ever go below an M rating anyway."

"Why You!"

Illya was unfortunately too busy upgrading her breathing from dying fish to regular fish to notice the comically violent argument/showdown between transformation trinkets, forever dooming this battle to be a background event as the Magical Girl slowly pulled herself up from the ground and onto a nearby stone bench that had been set up earlier that morning as she desperately tried to get her breathing under control.

She knew that the training was going to be bad, it was hard not to consider what happened this morning, but she wasn't expecting the Blazing Biometal to be a complete Drill Sergeant!... Which considering he was apparently some robot general from the future based on everything he had previously said, was probably a failure to see the obvious on her part, but thankfully she was too tired to keep track of time, much less kick herself over missing the obvious.

"Hey kid, chin up a bit will you? Just one more training lesson and you can pass out in bed, think you can manage that much?"

Illya debated the merits of not working anymore & staying on the bench versus working more & going to her bed, the two options locked in a legendary battle within the girl's mind that would surely go down in history had it taken place in reality! But alas, her exhaustion was not enough for her to willingly sleep on a rock, thus the Magical Girl peeled herself off of the rock and sat up to hear what the Biometal had to say.

"Alright, so good news, you are in far better shape than I was expecting a civilian of your age to be in, so besides some exercises to improve your endurance, we can just focus on this last test for now."

"A-and…the bad news?"

"There is no way in hell I can teach you something that would stick within the span of an afternoon, so we are just going to make sure you don't shoot me or Rin in the back when everything goes to shit."

Illya stared at the floating trinket for a second, before turning to the logs and rocks that Rin had set up nearby. "... So… you're teaching me how to aim then?"

"What's with the tone brat? Not good enough for you?"

"No! I mean, uh, yeah no, it's fine! I was just expecting something more amazing after all the buildup from last night."

Illya fidgeted a bit under Fefnir's blank, unimpressed stare, before a sudden thought came to mind. "Wait, how come Rin and Onii-Chan are not training with me? They are new to this too."

"Already went through mine last night, thanks to a certain hothead. Besides, I already have some self-defense training." Grumbled an aggravated and rather hypocritical Magus (even if seeing a certain redhead in the morning made it worth it).

"And the Shirou kid has Zero, so even discarding whatever training that jackass decided he needed to give the kid on his own-"

FKZX:OMMAMG

"Are you really sure I should just be swinging the blade like this?"

"Well I don't have a few thousand Pantheons or a dozen Mutos Reploids to throw at you like what was done to me, so I'll admit that it's probably going to be slower with just these planks of wood. But just swinging my blade until I figured things out worked for me when I lost my memory, so I don't see why it wouldn't work for a first lesson."

"...Well if trying an activity to see how well you'll do at it worked for my archery and for your swordsmanship, then I suppose there's not much reason to think that this wouldn't work for me either. Besides, Fuji-nee had taught me kendo when I was a kid."

"... Kendo isn't supposed to teach you how to wield a beam saber, though at least you already know how to properly wield a blade of sorts."

FKZX:OMMAMG

"-it goes without saying that he is in serious and professional hands. Besides, at least we can step in case either of our Biomatches get in over their heads, you don't really have that luxury, so unless this Card-spirit has the brain capacity of a cheap Mechaniloid, it means that you'r going to get a one-way-ticket to the retirement facility when it inevitably goes after the weakest person in our group."

Illya felt herself grimace at that, a bit hurt by the blunt assessment. "So I'm just supposed to hang back and let you two do all the work?"

"Oh for- no, I just want to make sure you can actually defend yourself when something tries going for your throat, so do whatever it is that let you fire that large beam at me and Rin a few days ago, but faster and in a manner that doesn't require you to stand still, then see if that stick has any close quarter options in case the Card gets too close. I'll try to think of some team exercises I can have everyone go through after seeing how well you do after tonight, but I can't really plan anything specific without seeing how you actually do in live combat."

Illya thought over the Biometals words before turning to the makeshift targets that Rin had set up. It was not the most glamorous start to a Magical Girl story, she could say that much at least, but that didn't mean things would be bad or that she should be too worried right? She had two Sentai protagonists helping her out after all, not to mention Miyu and that mysterious Edelfelt that had apparently been Sapphire's former wielder that would probably drop in a suitably dramatic time, so it would probably go better than if she had just been thrown in without an explanation like Rin almost did, right?

…Yeah, everything would be fine.

AN: They're doomed XD