Awright, so I've been having this insane idea of porting the Heaven's Feel over to the real world; like say humans instead of Heroic Spirits and magi as Servants and Masters respectively, technology and insane mastery of techniques replacing NPs, the command seal replaced by a chip that serves the same purpose, and other such stuff that are too numerous to even type here.
I posted this idea a few days back at the fanfic ideas thread but nobody seem to want to touch it so i took it upon myself to bring this idea to life.
So, without further ado, i present you, Fate/Realista (Note: I'm an amateur so please forgive my bad writing.)
“It’s time, my fellow Followers, to commence the fourth Heaven’s Feel; go forth and seek out the fourteen that will realize this…”
BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBE EPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP—
With an annoyed expression on his face, James clicked off the alarm clock as it waked him up yet again from a really nice dream. He got up, yawned, stretched his limbs, and got out of the sleeping bag, opening the entrance to his tent to look at the scenery before him.
“Ahh, to marvel at nature like this; nothing is a better job than being a freelance photographer…” he sipped his coffee and put the lid back on, setting down the container and reaching for his camera and snapping a few pictures of the canyon immersed in the early morning glow.
After a few minutes of just mindlessly gazing out into this scenery, he stowed his camera back onto its bag and went inside his tent to get ready to go home, expecting a modest pay for the pictures he had been taking these last five days.
After looking around to make sure that he had got everything packed, he noticed that he was missing the camera bag and after a bit of looking around, he found it lying near a clump of bushes nearby “Huh, that’s weird; I don’t remember putting it there.” Shrugging his shoulders, he went there to retrieve the bag. Slinging it over his shoulders, he retrieved the bag containing all that he had carried and went down the mountainside in a three hour trek to his car.
While en route, a helicopter flew overhead and he caught a glimpsed of the one of the passengers, a burly male who looked like he belonged to a security firm, take pictures of him with a large camera. This made him stop momentarily before he spotted the logo on the side of the chopper and saw that it belonged to a search engine. Shrugging, he continued walking towards his car.
Going inside, putting his bag on the passenger seat beside him, starting the car and driving towards the city for two hours, James failed to notice the black van tailing him, maybe he was too tired, and maybe he did not see it since he did not really pay attention to such details. Despite all that, one thing was clear; he was being tailed and observed ever since he left the canyon view.
He arrived at the place where he was working, at least currently; being a freelancer, he did not really have a permanent company to work for. He took the elevator to the top floor and walked towards his boss’ office, noticing that all of the people around him are eyeing him with an expression akin to fear and when he tried to say hello to one of them, the pretty model Clarisse Deland, she just squeaked out a hasty greeting and turned away from him. He finally reached the door of his boss’ office and knocked, feeling the pointed stares from behind him.
“Come in Mister Miller.”
The crisp dry reply left no doubt in James’ heart that his boss was in a really bad mood, no make that terrible; something has clearly happened to her for her to be in this state, perhaps something related to him based on how the people around him are acting. With growing nervousness, he clasped the doorknob and pushed open the door.
The moment he stepped inside the office, he was pushed roughly on the floor and a bag was put over his head. Voices rang out the moment these events happened and he clearly heard the voice of his boss shout out, not in anger as he had wrongly interpreted earlier, but in apparent fear.
“Hey, hey, I thought that you would bring him in peacefully?!”
A dry shot of gunfire, a single shot, answered that and James heard the sound of a body collapsing onto the ground. This could only mean one thing to James and he did not like it; his boss was dead and he could be going the same way as her.
With a last bit of desperation, James tried to struggle but a hard object hit him in the head and he lost consciousness, the feeling that he was being hauled off somewhere the last thing he recognized before finally blacking out.
James woke up after what felt like a few hours and found himself inside a dark room, tied to a bed and obviously unable to move. He tried to shout out loud but found out that his body was paralyzed somehow and that he can’t do much except look and listen.
A door opened somewhere to his left and the lights suddenly turned on, rendering him dazed for some period of time before his eyes adjusted to the brilliance.
“Ah, Mister Miller glad to see that you have awoken; pardon me for the arrangements but we just had to do this, I mean, out of all the participating Masters you are the only one that did not cooperate properly with protocol so that we are forced to bind you to that bed. But don’t worry; after the procedure s complete then we will be letting you go and explaining the rules to you.”
With that, James heard a lot of people moving inside the room and he felt someone injecting him with something; immediately, his numbed body went back to him and he could feel again. He tried to struggle but the restraints prevented him from doing so and he soon lost strength, feeling himself slipping again to unconsciousness.
He was jolted back to reality by a searing pain in his left hand; kind of like the feeling of having a red-hot poker being stabbed under his skin and having it infused with his nerves, bringing about one fantastic sensation of pain that words can never describe.
The procedure was over in thirty seconds and the restraints was loosened and he was free to move once again; the first movement he did was to look at the back of his left hand and saw a mark there, like a brand but different, an impression of a symbol consisted of three different markings. He was about to ask what this was when another man stuck a needle into his neck and he immediately fell asleep.
00:00:00
James woke up once again and found himself seated in the very front of a bus; above him, the television showed only static. He felt his face and found out that a mask covers it, he tried pulling it out but he can’t; the two halves of the mask, the front and the back, seemed to be locked with a coupling that he can’t remove. He looked behind him and saw six more people in the same state he was, all of them looking at the screen above him. He turned to the window beside him and saw the scenery outside the window; lush fields of pineapple, coconut, and sugarcane. If he had to guess, then he would say that he was in a tropical country or something.
The TV turned from static to a clear display and he turned his attention to it immediately. The outline of a man spoke up and he had the same voice as the one that James heard when he was strapped to the bed.
“Good morning favored guests, welcome to the fourth Heavens’ Feel, now I apologize for those masks that have been surely bothering you but don’t worry, the moment you arrive at your destinations or when the hour is up, the locks will disengage and those masks will come off of your faces; of course, you should be well away from each other by then, as I would assure you, you would not want the people around you to see your faces.”
A slight pause as he let them digest these words before continuing.
“Now, some of you might be wondering just what this Heaven’s Feel was; don’t worry, for those who do know, forgive me for explaining it to those who don’t.
“So, the Heaven’s Feel, where should I begin… Ah, of course, well, 180 years ago, there existed a secret organization of special men called The Followers of the Holy War. Now this group of people, found excitement and joy from the most primal of lusts that came from men; combat. So what did they do? They formulated the existence of the Heaven’s Feel. The premise is simple; every sixty years, seven Masters and seven Servants are chosen from a roster of 500 to participate in a battle royal to the death, battles must be conducted in secret and that means that they must be done at night. If the participants are unwilling to do battle, well, that’s why you are chosen, we know that each of you harbors a wish, something unobtainable by normal means, that only we, those who had unlocked the secrets of the world and own it, can grant.
“The rules are thus simple: seven Masters get a Servant each. The selection process is randomized so as to avoid any dispute over who gets who. After knowing who your Servant will be, you will be given the location of that particular person and you are to meet them immediately. After meeting with your own Servant, which will be in an hour or so from now, then the battles will commence immediately.
“After all Masters have met up with their respective Servants, a signal will be relayed to you and the battle will officially begin and you may commence killing each other, however, there is one important point that you must remember: all battles must be held in utmost secrecy; we do not hold any responsibility whatsoever if you are caught or killed by the local police force, which will be entirely our fault. Another thing, if you would look closely at the places where we implanted the Command Chips, they are raised in three places; those represent your three commands that you can issue to your Servant. These commands are absolute and will be enacted upon immediately as long as it is within the scope of the abilities of your Servant, but remember; only three commands are allowed, the moment you run out of them, then it’s practically the same as losing your rights as a Master and you will be escorted out of this place immediately and your memory wiped accordingly.
“Now for the seven Servant Classes that you will choose from; these are: Caster, Lancer, Saber, Berserker, Rider, Assassin, and Archer. Each has class has its own advantages and disadvantages when it comes to battle.
“All of them are restricted to melee battle except for the Archer and the Caster classes; of course the reason is quite obvious yes? However, just because the others use melee weapons only doesn’t mean that they are wussies when pitted against the projectile wielding Servants; these are high class, highly professional, and highly skilled warriors so they have more than a fighting chance against the other classes.
“Now for the rules of battle, there are a few more things that you should know. Aside from needing to perform these battles in absolute secrecy, night being the natural choice, harming of innocent civilians is neither prohibited nor encouraged in this war; we take a neutral stance on the matter and we don’t really care if you kill civilians just make sure to keep it discreet so that it does not affect the secrecy of this war.
“Next, if you look at the seats beside you, you will find something that can help you gather data about the people you meet around this area, Masters and Servants included as long as you interact with them; of course if it’s with Masters and Servants then interaction could very well translate to battle. That also contains information about your respective Servant. Pay attention to these details as they can serve you well in battle.”
James noticed then the small black gadget, hardly larger than a mobile phone, on the seat next to him. He flipped it open and immediately saw his name on the screen and a blank line in the space next to it.
“Well, since all that I need to say has been said; if you have any questions, feel free to direct them to your Servant after you have met him. And with that, I bid you, paalam.”
The TV got turned off and the blank space next to James’ name began spelling out a word, one that would show him which Servant has been chosen for him. He did not need for it to finish, he somehow knew already who his Servant was even before the machine chose it for him and finished spelling out the name; Servant Saber.
After a few more minutes of travel, James saw that the road is being shadowed by darkness and he immediately saw why; the road they were traversing leads straight down into a valley cloaked in shadow so dark that it looked like it was still nighttime in the town situated at the very bottom. On the right side of the road, a large sign can be seen, proclaiming the name of the town in huge letters.
“Welcome to Takipsilim; population: 10,344, happiest town in the Philippines.” James read the sign quietly as he stared at the town below them. He felt a slight shiver as he imagined the inhabitants of that town to be hostile and unsocial; of course that was just a stupid train of thought since his mind made that up to reconsider another fear that was surfacing in his mind. That he might not live through three days of this war.
They finally arrived at the prescribed destination; a desolate shed in the outskirts of the town. Right now, nobody seems to be awake even though it was almost 7 in the morning; apparently, the days here starts late since no sunlight reaches this town until it was almost midday.
Most of the other participants immediately parted ways, not wanting to be seen by the enemies, they each went their own separate ways except for three people who are looking at each other; James and two other people that he was sure he knew the identity of, and he was also sure that they do too. After all, how could you not know the particular style of clothing of your brother and your supposed grandfather after seeing it for more than half your life?
The man to his left spoke first and he recognized the voice of his older brother, William Miller.
“So, even my younger brother joined the Heaven’s Feel; have you finally grown tired of gloating about your supposed ‘freedom’ and decided to ruin my chances in winning this war?!” William’s failure to disguise his anger just shows James that he still detests him.
“Shut up; I did not join this fight voluntarily, they abducted me against my own will and—“
“Oh sure, really that‘s the most original reason I have ever heard from you.” The disgusted tone from his brother enforced the idea in his head even more and he can’t help but have the urge to charge forwards with his hands closed into a fist and—
“That’s enough, you two, if you want to fight each other to the death then fine but please; respect the sanctity of this war, you will each have an equal chance of fighting each other once the war commences.” The voice came from the third man still present with them; the moment he spoke up, the masks they were wearing disengaged their locks and fell off their faces, revealing the expressions that they have been wearing for a while.
James and William both wore faces of undisguised rage and if it weren’t for the third man present, they would have killed each other the moment they saw each other’s face. As it was, the face of the third man holds age but his posture seem to say so otherwise. His face retain a calm look even though the killing intent brought out by the two persons in front of him are enough to burn a cabin to cinders.
“Both of you, leave now and just continue this tomorrow; that’s a final order William, heed me if you still want to experience that lifestyle of yours.”
“Tch, fine, but hear this; the next time we meet, we face each other not as family, but as enemies, remember that.”
With that, William turned around and left James and his grandfather behind. They watched as his retreating form disappeared into the darkness and the old man turned to James.
“You too James; I expect you to be in full fighting condition by the next time we meet each other with Servants in tow.” With that, he too left, taking the opposite road that William took and walking forwards alone. James watched his figure until it too was swallowed by the darkness.
“Old Man Miller, an enigma that no one can fathom…” he thoughtfully whispered to himself as he considered the man that was the head of the Miller family for as long as he could trace the family’s lineage; it seems that he had kept himself alive through various means in order to prolong his position as the head of the family for many generations. He was so old that he had apparently outlived his own name, the title of ‘Old Man Miller’ being the only distinction he had.
He scratched his head at this; right now, locating his Servant and meeting up with Saber is the most important thing in the list, he just wishes that he can get along fine with this guy. Looking at the gadget given to him, James walked north and followed the beacon that will lead him to Saber.
01:36:00
“So, I thought… you were a guy.” James could not help but voice out his surprise the moment he saw Saber sitting down in a small clearing just a few kilometers away from the outskirts as though waiting for him to arrive.
“Hmph, how rude of you; are you really so presumptuous that you think only guys like you are able to fight like real warriors?” her voice sounded like a thousand knives that pierced James’ mind and he can’t help but reel from the expression she gave him. He cleared his throat and spoke up in a voice that must have been his attempt at bravado.
“Er, well, anyway, forgetting that incident just now, I guess you are my Servant, Saber was it; shall I call you that?”
She stood once and looked at him with a painful glare “Of course you should; only my real master and my sister are allowed to call me by my name so you are only permitted to call me Saber, and in turn I shall also call you Master—“
“Uh, no, you don’t have to do that, it makes me uncomfortable so you can call me James.” In a slightly embarrassed voice, James managed to head off Saber and stop her from doing something that will ensure that he feels awkward every time she addresses him.
“But, if I don’t call you Master then—“
“Look, it doesn’t matter, just call me James okay, I feel awkward when a stranger starts calling me Master, and even more so when that stranger turns out to be a cute Japanese girl.” James was a bit embarrassed about saying it but he had to clear cumbersome things out of the way so that he can establish an effective relationship with his Servant.
“Wh-what, my gender has nothing to do with this war!” now it was Saber’s turn to be embarrassed as she did not completely expected James’ reason for her to not call him Master.
James felt the tense atmosphere and waved his hands erratically “Look, it’s my decision and you have to stick with it; I hate formalities and if I can I would also like to call you by your real name but as it is, you’re too reluctant so I shall respect that.” Saber looked like she was about to argue so he continued “However, I will not accept your request that you call me Master; it just feels improper to me so please, call me James instead, okay?”
Saber seemed to consider this for a while as she thoughtfully looked at James, five minutes of this passed by as James felt more and more uncomfortable under that gaze and slowly faltering from it. After a few more seconds, Saber looked away and heaved a sigh.
“Alright, I concede; I will stop calling you Master if you agree to one condition.” She said with an unreadable voice that sounded foreboding to James’ ears. He took a moment to consider his reply before opening his mouth.
“Okay… I guess I should at least abide by that; what is your condition?” slowly, James spoke up, carefully choosing his words so as not to be pulled into something he doesn’t want. A mischievous expression appeared on Saber’s face and at that moment, James knew that he had been trapped into something he could never get out of.
Saber approached him and leaned into his ear, whispering the words that constitute the deal.
Saber leaned back and there was another smile on her face as she saw the effects of her words on James. Needless to say, James’ face was paper white by the time he digested her words.
“Well… I can’t say that I don’t approve of that… but still…” James tried to dig his way out with words but he knew very well that Saber already had him trapped in her own conditions. He sighed and relented “Okay, fine I agree to pose as your Servant and fool the other Masters so that they can be drawn into a trap. And yes I also agree that you will not call me a Master in the condition that I act as your Servant and that I call you Master instead.”
Saber smiled at this “Very good James, but why the long face; I mean, at least I don’t call you Master anymore right?” the smile turned into slight laughter as James sulked and said “Yeah, yeah, whatever at least I got what I wanted right?” at this, Saber could barely control herself as she shook with silent laughter.
“Sure, sure, Master.” she placed a special emphasis on the last word to grate on James’ nerves even more, teasing him slightly.
“But still, this is just a ploy; I am still the proper Master and you are still my Servant Saber understand?” James’ voice infused with authority surprised even James himself; it seems that Saber had gone a bit too far and she understood it herself as she suddenly sowed restraint and stopped laughing almost immediately.
“Okay, okay, geez don’t be such a killjoy.” Saber pouted and seemed to look at James in an apparent attempt at asking for sympathy.
James reacted in a way that even he found it surprising that he did it that way; the apparent pissed off expression on his face and just simply melted into a slight smile as he looked away from her face towards the obsidian sky and said “Yeah, I guess I was just too much of a killjoy huh…”
They held that position for some time while the sun slowly peeked from the east; Saber looking at James’ profile as though she was looking at something a thousand miles away; James with his hands at his side, looking up at the sky in a position evoking deep thought.
Suddenly, at the exact moment that the sun rose from the sky, Saber tensed and looked to her immediate left, the move not going unnoticed to James who also imitated her. The cause for their sudden movements is clear, so clear in fact that they should have noticed it sooner; there was someone watching them from about a hundred yards away. James, even with his near perfect vision that had been useful for spotting good shooting opportunities can’t even really discern the details of the figure watching them; Saber, however, does not seem to be having the same difficulties.
“Black clothing, no discernible features, a mask covering his entire face, and an impeccable skill at hiding so efficiently that he could only be seen if he wanted to be seen; without a doubt, this could be the Assassin class Servant.” At Saber words, the figure gave a slight nod and disappeared without a trace as though he wasn’t even there to begin with.
James saw all this and still couldn’t believe his eyes “Damn, if a Servant is like that, who’s to say that they are still normal humans?” it was just a throwaway comment that had no real meaning to it so that James would sound impressive as a Master but when he glanced at Saber, he immediately rectified his mistake by waving his hands and trying to soften the dangerous expression forming in her face.
“Er, no, no, I uh, mean that as a compliment, yeah, yeah, I mean that as a compliment!” the agitation clearly showing on his face as he tried to avoid getting Saber pissed off.
“Hoooh, really? I wouldn’t really think that you mean anything by that but your flustered expression and your stammered words gave you away; prove to me that I’m wrong and I’ll commit seppuku right away.” Her voice radiated confidence as she stared in James’ eyes and he made the mistake of staring back at hers; betraying his real emotions as clearly as though he was admitting them outright.
It took him five full minutes before he finally submitted to Saber’s attacks and he hung his head “Yes, it was a feeble attempt to make myself look cool as a Master.” he looked up at the sky again at the rising sun, thinking hard; does he really want this kind of Servant-Master relationship? He supposed it was not bad after all; it’s actually like having real girlfriend. He shook his head at these thoughts; what was he thinking? This is a war after all, even though it was conducted in secret; a war is a war and he can’t afford to go through these stuff right now.
He looked back at Saber and this time, it was her who was taken aback by the determined expression on his face.
“What, do I look weird or something?” he asked her with a voice that was so out of sync with his expression, she actually had to try hard just to stop herself from laughing. She turned away instead “Nothing, you just had a weird look on your face.”
“Eh, really; I guess you’re right; my colleagues also tell me that I have this determined sort of face whenever I get serious or something.” he shrugged to show his nonchalance. Saber looked thoughtful at this then said “Hm, well, I can’t say that it’s a bad thing…”
“Anyway,” James tried to steer the conversation to a more agreeable direction “I think we should go; it would not be good if we are caught here unprepared, you’re tired and I’m tired, I think we should at least find a place that we can rest somewhere.” He started walking and Saber followed suit, he stopped immediately though as an important thought occurred to him.
“James, is something wrong?” Saber asked him from behind as James patted his pockets, finally pulling out a black wallet that was full of money.
“Whoah, that is a lot more money than I had to begin with, and what’s this? Aha, a black credit card; damn those Followers are loaded.” James continued on in this vein until he remembered that Saber was standing behind him and he turned around then said “Saber, do you like fancy cooking?”
Saber regarded him with a confused look “Huh, what do you mean James?”
02:35:00
“Well, I can’t say that was bad and all James; but don’t you think we should hold ourselves back when it comes to these things?” it was a little over an hour after they have left that clump of trees. Currently, James and Saber are traversing the streets of Takipsilim; they have just finished eating lunch at one of the high class restaurants situated on the business district of Takipsilim and are now walking towards the residential district in an effort to find a place to stay; preferably a cheap one.
“Oh come on Saber-er I mean Master.” a correction after receiving that quailing look from Saber “Anyway, I mean, shouldn’t we indulge ourselves since we have a lot of money after all; where can we spend it then?”
“Intelligence, if I heard correctly while walking the streets last night, then there is someone here who is willing to impart any information he knows, and they say he knows a lot.” Saber continued walking and James followed behind her.
This was the setup that they had agreed on; Saber acting up the Master and giving out the orders and walking out in front while James acted as the Servant, receiving orders and walking behind her a few paces so as to act like someone watching over her. James really had no inclination to disagree; it’s an effective system and all as long as neither his grandfather nor his older brother William will be the one to see them, he was even used to this kind of treatment since, being a freelancer, he was often put under the command of some hotshot photographer or something. For added effect, James was also carrying Saber’s sword.
“Yes but can we really trust whatever comes out of that person’s mouth?” James asked her as they continued walking, stopping in front of a cheap looking hotel and going inside.
“Don’t worry about that for now James, we can deal with that later.”
“Good morning, or rather, good afternoon!” the person manning the desk greeted them with a cheerful smile and Saber turned to James “James, if you would kindly wait by that corner?” she indicated a corner close to the stairs; it seems that she had decided to take this hotel and even the person behind the desk also understood this. She was also holding onto the money by the way to enforce the illusion they had agreed on.
James obliged and said “Understood Master, is there anything else that you need?”
“Er no, nothing else, just wait for me.” Saber said without fail as they both fulfilled their taken roles to the hilt. James moved towards the corner and waited for Saber to finish the discussion with the person in charge.
“So madam, it seems that you also have a manservant with you? You are not the first you see; there is also a woman who had a manservant with her, pretty face, looked like a reporter if you ask me.” Saber leaned in on apparent interest and said “Oh? Is that so, can you describe the servant that was with the woman?” the man behind the desk thought for a while “Well, if I remember correctly, they just checked in about an hour ago, the man looked like a local; brown skin, normal face, reddish hair, a bit tall too.”
Saber looked thoughtful for a moment then asked “How about what the manservant was carrying?”
“Ah, that was easy since it’s the first thing that I noticed; he was carrying a long thin pole wrapped in cloth, kinda like the one your manservant had but longer, loads longer than that, if I had to guess, I think it would be over two meters long.” He handed her the keys and she handed him some cash as payment “Oh by the way, would you like our special meals; breakfast, lunch and dinner? The one who came before you rejected it and I was hoping that you would say yes.”
Saber thought for a while “Yes, give us the breakfast only though; we would be outside much of the day and we would only be back here at midnight at the very least.”
“Ah that would be fine.”
“Okay, thanks mister-?”
“Oh, it’s Zernike, Cedric Zernike.”
“Okay, thank you mister Zernike.”
With that, Saber gave Cedric a small bow and left to join James near the stairs.
“So, that person that Cedric mentioned, do you think that he is a Servant?” James asked in an undertone as they climbed the stairs.
Saber nodded at this “Yeah, it could have been Lancer; based on his description about his weapon being long and thin, I can only deduce that it was a spear. This means that there is also a Master and a Servant staying here with us.”
“Do you think we can engage them in combat?” James asked Saber as he considered their situation.
“Negative James, the battles need to be conducted in secret remember? This is as public as any place can get, I think we should at least wait for night to fall before doing anything about this war, for now, we must put our guards up; after all, Lancer is not the only Servant here right?”
James nodded at what Saber had said; yes, there are still other Servants and Masters out there; two of them are his family and his brother had already set his mind on fighting with the both of them. Faced with this, James pondered whether he can do the same to them.
“Were here, and it seems like they have been expecting us.”
Saber’s voice pulled James back into the real world and he looked in front. There, on the other end of the hall as though they had been waiting for the two of them to arrive, are two persons. One of them, a woman in her late twenties, seemed to be the Master since she was the one standing behind the other person, a man who looked like he was a Filipino. He exactly matched the description given to them by Cedric right down to the reddish hair, in his hands he held a long spear and it was charged with an extremely potent dose of killing intent; surely, this must be Servant Lancer.
“Heh, trying to fool us into thinking the Servant is the Master? Unfortunately that ruse won’t work; you see, we Servants know a fellow Servant when we see one, isn’t that right, Saber?” Lancer addressed Saber and she managed a small smile as she regarded the Servant in front of her.
“Good one Lancer, it really seems that there is no fooling someone with extreme battle experience then.” She turned to James and asked for her sword “Would you kindly give me permission to engage them?” James grinned and said “Really now, you don’t need to ask for that; you can engage them at will if you like.” With a nod at James to show her understanding, she drew the long katana from its sheathe, brandishing the long sword in front of her in an offensive stance.
“Perfect Saber, I expected this much skill from a Servant of your class.” With those words acting as the signal, the two combatants charged for each other with the aim to slice the enemy in front of them to pieces. James and the other Master stood by with tense expressions, watching the first strikes of the opening battle of the fourth Heaven’s Feel.
“Master, it seems that James had finally met one of the Servants; based on his fighting style and weapon, I’m definitely sure that it is Servant Lancer.” The man with the black outfit and the mask is now wearing a much more normal change of clothing though still black in color, he even discarded his mask and now wore a cap to disguise his face; although currently, he was wearing his three-lensed goggles to monitor the battle happening behind the walls of the cheap hotel through thermal imaging and his real clothing was hidden under the black clothes that he wore. Even in this disguise, he is still referred by his Servant name when he was talked to by his Master.
“I see; are there other participants besides Lancer and his Master around?”
“No Master, it seems that they are indeed alone at this time, and there doesn’t seem to be civilians around as well.”
“What about that receptionist behind the desk?”
“He’s listening to music and does not seem to be aware of whatever is happening a floor above him; it seems that those four people are the only ones who are staying there at this moment; what do you propose we should do Master?”
“Then we wait and watch for the outcome of this and see who emerges as the victor; if it is my son, then we just observe.”
“And if it is the woman and Lancer?”
“Then we move right in and eliminate her before my grandson and his Servant are finished off understand? I want my two grandsons to fight each other before fighting with me, only then will I decide who gets my inheritance.”
Assassin thought long and hard about the meaning of the words of his Master, Old Man Miller; an enigmatic character that was assigned to be his Master. In retrospect, it is a perfect fit for this man to be his Master; both of them are mysterious characters persons that do not reveal much yet know everything that is happening around them. A spy trained to be invisible; an old man who managed to almost live forever. Master and Servant. One fights for something he lost, the other fights to finally attain his lifelong dream.
“Understood Master.” with that short but firm reply, Assassin resumed watching the ongoing battle between Saber and Lancer.
2:45:35
“Tch, you have skill Saber, I give you that.” Lancer’s voice full of elation, despite his unsatisfactory remark, gave Saber a bit of tingling excitement that she only gets whenever her master would train her in the most life-threatening way possible; surely, this is the feeling of real combat and the rushing adrenaline coursing through her veins that came along with it.
“Thanks for the compliment Lancer; I could as well say the same thing to you.” Saber readied herself again, taking a defensive stance this time, allowing Lancer to take the initiative.
“Oh, making me attack first; is this a ruse to lure me into a trap? No matter, I Lancer, Master of the Spear, accept your challenge!” he rushed forwards in a general display of power and speed as he executed multiple thrusts that was almost invisible to the naked eye due to them being so swift, that Saber had to rely on her instincts, sharpened by hours of rigorous training, to defend herself and block the pointblank strikes.
James was still calm and composed despite the ongoing progress of the stalemate he was surprised however, by the reaction of Lancer’s Master as he can see from the other end of the hall; her face also carried a quality of calm that can probably surpass the one on James’ face. Clearly, she was not that much of a stranger to battle and death; apparently her experiences as a reporter had helped her create a hardened shield that protected her from all the bloodshed that she had witnessed throughout her career.
“Lancer, enough with the games, I’m now giving you my expression to use your Noble Phantasm.”
“Understood Master, as you wish.”
The sharp point of his spear, which was locked with the edge of Saber’s sword, lost its strength for a bit and he leapt back five meters, taking a different stance than what he used before; leaning low while sliding his left hand back towards the farther end of the spear while his right hand slid towards the opposite end and placing the tip of the spear on the ground, the sharp point slightly touching the concrete floor.
James got a bit apprehensive as he suddenly saw the expression that was painted on the woman’s face; it had changed from absolute calm to confidence. Needless to say, he did not like that expression at all and he expressed this dislike by warning his Servant.
“Be careful Saber; I feel something coming up, don’t let your guard down.”
Saber nodded to show that she understood James, at the same time, assuming a combative pose that was also different than the one she had used before, crouching low and slightly raising the katana in her hands, bringing it level with her eye and bringing the edge parallel with the ground.
“James, if I got in a tight spot, would you give me permission to use my Noble Phantasm?” she asked him as both she and Lancer stared at each other, eyeing their respective opponent and waiting for one of the other to attack first while gauging the strength of the attack the other will execute.
James smirked and said “Heh, I wouldn’t be able to say no after you took that stance can I? Permission granted Saber; beat the Servant for me.”
“Understood James, if you wish me to.” Saber’s answer was resolute and James had a reassuring feeling telling him that Saber will win no matter what.
“Oi you two; stop talking will ya’; if you would not attack Saber, then I guess I should take the initiative?” even though he said as such, Lancer still hovered there as though waiting for Saber’s reply. Saber answered with a slight smile “Of course Lancer, it is first come first served; you were the first one to assume the stance after all.”
Lancer smirked at this “You will regret saying that Saber.” With that, he exploded towards Saber, using the strength of his legs to shorten the distance between the two of them in two quick strides.
“Multiple Instant Stab Strikes!” saying the name of his ultimate attack, Lancer stabbed multiple times, thirty in total, in the space of five seconds; such was the unbelievable skill of this Master of the spear that not even James can believe what he was seeing.
“Tch!” not even Saber herself was spared from the relentless barrage since she was in the receiving end of it; all she could only do was hope that her swordsmanship was skillful enough to block the strikes; still holding that pose and only altering the angle that her sword was aligned with allowed her to block off most of the strikes. However, it wasn’t enough, a stray stab landed on her shoulder, lightly grazing her skin and another nearly stabbed her left arm through but the impact was enough to send jolts of pain in her nerves.
Nevertheless, she held herself together and ignored her injury; she focused her eyes and tried to make out an opening in his attacks and—
“THERE!” with a defiant shout, she swung her sword up and the spear went flying from Lancer’s hands; blank shock showed on his face as he looked up at the spinning spear in the air. He extended his hand and tried to catch it again but this proved to be a mistake that even he realized. He looked down at the sight of Saber resuming her pose and getting ready to execute her attack; at that moment, he resigned everything to his skill and he pulled out two sticks made of yantok, crossing them in front of him and assumed a defensive stance just as Saber finished assuming the stance for her Noble Phantasm.
“Critical…” her voice started out low as she swung her sword upwards, slicing the two sticks in Lancer’s hand in one strike “FOUR WAY STRIKES OF THE HEAVENS!” the first strike was followed by a more vicious slash downwards, hitting Lancer’s right arm and slicing it off as easily as though it was made of butter, two more strikes to complete the set of four followed the second; the third slash traveled diagonally upwards, slashing Lancer from his stomach up to well past his left shoulder, and the final strike traveled from his left shoulder down to his right thigh. Considering the time it took her to execute the move and leap back to James’ side, only one and a half seconds had passed.
Lancer stood still, a slight smile appearing on his bloodied face “That was… fairly exhilarating, to think… that you can do that… and the fact that… it happened… to me… is surely something… to boast of in the afterlife… I’m sorry, Linda…” a sigh left his lips and he sank to his knees before a violent torrent of blood was expelled from his wounds as he finally fell forwards and instantly died in a pool of his own blood.
James looked as Saber and saw something in her eyes; the one expression that, being a traveling photographer working under multiple news stations, magazines, and personalities, he often saw in the eyes of soldiers who came home from their first war, that thousand mile stare that was felt by someone who was not used to killing experience his first kill; utter dejection. He felt pity for Saber and felt angry for the people responsible for this atrocity; after all, he had commanded her to use her Noble Phantasm and the ones who made this sick game are the one who was at the root of this problem.
He stared past the dead body of Lancer and looked at the person who was still standing there, thinking of what he might say at this moment.
Mikhail took a slight step backward the moment the sight of the young man who was Saber’s Master shifted to him; in her mind, losing her Servant, losing Lancer, was equivalent to losing her life. Already, she could feel that the Command Chip implanted in her left hand beginning to turn itself off; the steady beat of it as it imbibes itself as a part of her body already beginning to fade into silence. She heard the Master of Saber say something, a shout or maybe a command to his Servant to kill her, and that’s all it took for her to pull out the gun hidden behind her and point it at the man in front of her.
She never got to pull the trigger; the moment she raised the gun and pointed it at James was the moment she signed her death warrant.
THUNK!
The sound was dry and crisp, preceded by the sound of glass breaking, and seemed to be in sync with a sharp blow to her head. The impact made her spin around and she caught sight of her shadow cast into the wall; she paused for thought as there seemed to be an antenna sticking out of her head. She tried to raise her hand to touch it and make sure but found out that they had no strength left in them, no matter how hard she tried, she just can’t move her arms, nor can she feel her legs and her body. Her sight turned down and she saw blood pouring forth from her head, soaking her face, turning her sight red and making her dizzy. She fell forwards, the edges of her sight blurring into darkness, the last thing she saw before succumbing to death was the blank look of shock in the face of Saber’s Master; she died not even knowing what it is that killed her.
“Nicely done Archer.”
From a water tower that stood higher than the building that Assassin and his Master are as well as the cheap four story hotel that Lancer and Saber fought in, two people stood, watching the progress of the battle like what Assassin and his Master did. However, unlike the previous Master and Servant, they did not merely watch the battle, they even acted upon it.
This supposition was supported by the fact that one of the two figures was currently holding an empty long bow; previously, two seconds ago to be exact, that long bow held an arrow, the same arrow that had traveled about 300 meters and was now embedded in the head of Mikhail Grantt.
“Now, do the other one as well; with our distance, not even Saber can detect where the projectile will come from. This is surely a moment that can be considered ‘killing two birds with one stone’.” The man barely held the euphoria that he was feeling inside and the confidence overflowed from him as he noticed nothing else but the assurance that his Servant, now loading the second arrow into the bow and taking careful aim, will be able to kill the other Master, and no one would be able to discover him.
How very wrong he was.
“What?!” he was taken aback from the sudden attack that came from the building directly in front of them; a projectile so fast that he only heard it whistle past his ear. He looked back at the place it had been embedded, fear flooding him as he thought of the power needed to throw that knife stealthily and quickly at such distances.
“Wait Archer don’t take the shot; we’ve been compromised, someone had already discovered our location, let’s get out for now.” The man said and he left, his Servant lowering the bow it was holding and putting the arrow back in the bag slung behind him, following his Master without speaking.
The Master took one look back at the building that the dagger had come from; there was nobody there and there seemed to be no one there to begin with. Without a doubt, this was the cause of that Servant Assassin and his Master. A smirk crossed his face, all traces of fear now replaced with elation at the prospect that he had indeed chosen his Servants with the utmost care; even Lancer, who was killed in his first battle, performed supremely and up to par with his expectations. Without a doubt, this rendition of the Heaven’s Feel will finally bring out a winner. Whether it was him or someone else still remains as the problem that all the remaining participants, himself included, should solve on their own.
04:01:20
Although it was almost noon, the street outside the window is generally quiet; very few cars pass by and even the building across the street, a gaudy sign saying ‘Puppetry’ hung above the door, a restaurant, does not seem to have much customers at this time; the only movements that are discernible are the aforementioned car rarely passing by and the random walking pedestrian out for an afternoon walk. In here, not even the noise from the city could penetrate this lonely place.
This was no surprise to James, who supposed that this part of Takipsilim was not really on the main road anyway. The way he sees it, the world outside this window was as far removed from any life and might as well be the very representation of a life barely living. It was forlorn yet calming in its own strange way.
He took his eyes away from this slow scene and his sight can’t help but land on the almost lifeless form of his Servant; sitting on the edge of the bed, still holding onto the bloodied katana on her left hand as though it was a reminder of horrible dreams, or maybe a relic of some long forgotten past full of bloodshed and killings, of screams and dead bodies, of horrible, horrible things.
“Saber…” he called out to her but she doesn’t seem to have heard him; she just keeps on staring straight ahead with misted eyes, her hands gripping the katana so tightly that blood started to seep out of her hands and dripped steadily onto the floor.
“You…” he walked to her in five quick strides and pried the katana loose from her trembling hands. She let go of the handle without much resistance, exactly what he had not expected but he guessed that this made things easier. He took the katana and laid it on the floor next to the bed, looking at Saber’s glazed expression and holding her cheeks in his hands.
“Hey…” he tried asking her in a soft manner and looking straight into her eyes. This seemed to have worked for the light behind her eyes suddenly came back and she seemed to be aware of her surroundings by now.
“Huh, what—“
She felt James’ hands on her face and she immediately took on an appearance akin to a ripe tomato. “Whawhawhawhawha-!”
Her surprise very apparent on her reddening face, James felt as though electricity had run through his hands as he realized just what it is he was holding and he immediately let go of Saber’s face.
“S-sorry, I didn’t mean to do that.” He stammered as he stood up and turned away, immediately looking at his hands which were red with the blood from Saber’s hands when he held the sword hilt. He went to the bathroom to wash it, taking glance back at Saber’s stunned face and noting that her face was also covered with blood from his hands. Making a mental sigh of resignation, he went back to her and held out his hand. She stared at it and he said right away “Here take my hand; we need to wash the blood of your face and I need to bandage that hand of yours as well.”
She looked down at her bloody hands and seemingly nodded while she said “Yes, of course you need to take care of me, I am your Servant after all.” With that, Saber took James’ hand with surprising pressure, James feeling the strength coming back into her once lifeless frame, reassuring him that his Servant had indeed returned a stronger individual after spending some time in whatever place she went to in her reverie.
“Wait, you’re not going to take a bath, are you?” James asked the obvious as Saber stood up.
She blushed scarlet at this and said “Y-yeah, I guess so…”
James realized just what the meaning of his question is and he also reddened from the awkward moment. They stood like that for a full minute before Saber spoke up and said “James, could you please…?“
James looked questioningly at Saber before he realized that he was still holding, tightly, onto Saber’s hand and she was also holding his back with the same pressure. They let go of each other’s hand after the realization set in at the same time and Saber brushed past James as she went inside the bathroom.
James sighed the moment he heard the door close and he sat down on the bed, looking outside at the world still living on normally even though a fight to the death is practically going on while it does. He heard the shower start splashing water from the other side of the door and for a brief moment, his mind went into overdrive as he imagined Saber’s naked body being drenched with water and how it would feel if she would press her—
He shook his head at these invasive thoughts and heaved a big sigh “Damn it, why the hell am I thinking of such things…” he sank back down onto the bed and his sight fell to the sheathe that used to contain Saber’s katana, now lying on the floor while it dripped blood. He reached for it and felt the whole sheathe with his hands, feeling a slight depression on the surface near the end where the point of the sword would be contained.
Curious, he held it closer to his eye and read the words written in katakana aloud to himself “Tomoe Igasaki…” was that her name? He wondered and thought about for some time, completely forgetting that Saber was just a few meters away from him, behind a closed door that was just a few centimeters thick; she would have surely heard him say her name out loud.
The door opened and James suddenly dropped the heavy sheathe on his head, making him wince in pain as he looked at the man on the door.
“Good afternoon sir, I’m sorry to disturb you but I hoped that nothing is bothering you at this moment? A couple of guys in black suits just came and bothered me for a while, I actually thought that they had come to cause trouble; but it seems that everything is in order in here.”
James pondered on the words spoken by Cedric; it seems that the organization that serves as the Supervisor to this Heaven’s Feel is indeed efficient, to the point that moments after a battle they send representatives right away to clean the place. Cedric’s words attested to that; there was no indication whatsoever that he saw two bloody bodies on his way here.
James shook his head “Uh no, we just heard a lot of activity on the hall outside, that’s all.”
Cedric nodded and left him alone in the room again.
James heaved another sigh and this time, the door to the bathroom opened and Saber came out, a towel wrapped around her body and looking thoroughly refreshed. She stared at James who was still lying down on the bed, tried to say something but thought the better of it and took the bloody sword from the floor. She inspected it for a moment and flicked it to the side, expelling the blood from the blade as easily as though it hadn’t even been there then sheathing it back.
“Are you going to lie there all day? If you wouldn’t mind, I’m going outside for a bit, I’ll go and see if I can get a few information and hearsays; would you like to come?” she asked James as she regarded his prone form on the bed.
He raised his head and spoke to Saber “Yeah, I’m coming, hang on I’ll get myself ready.” He stood up and went to the bathroom, taking a shower to ease away all the worries and shittiness that had accumulated on him for the past four hours.
He heard the door open and Saber came in, still wrapped in her towel.
“Er what…?” James was dumbfounded as Saber approached him, now as good as naked in account of her clothing. And even the towel went away as she went closer to him, a good two feet of space between the two of them.
James can feel his face getting hot as he regarded Saber in front of him. “Er, Saber I don’t think you should do that…hrrmmph!” She silenced him by pressing her own lips against his, her tongue exploring around inside his mouth. James tried to fight it and back away but he only met the hard wall of the small bathroom. And now Saber’s hands are constricting him, pulling him even closer, letting her naked body press against his.
Saber disengaged after a few seconds to surface for air, her green eyes locking with James’ blue ones. He was still having doubts about the situation but the last vestiges of his resolve crumbled away at that stare “Ah, fuck this…” with that, he went in again and kissed Saber, a hot passionate kiss as he let his driving lust control his actions.
06:00:30
It was past noon, the sun, which a few hours ago dominated the sky, was now starting to sink below the mountain peaks to the west, casting long shadows over Takipsilim as it readied itself for the early night; already, lights are flickering on in the semi dark streets and more teenagers are venturing outside to enjoy the night.
James did not notice either of these things as he and Saber walked the streets of Takipsilim’s industrial district. He was increasingly sensitive now to Saber’s presence, after all, what happened between them in that cramped bathroom will surely not be dispelled from the minds of them both, and will likely be carried on for the rest of their lives.
At least James thinks so; as for Saber, she does not seem to have been affected at all; stealing a glance at Saber’s profile, James can see that she has more or less remained the same even after what happened.
This presented a dilemma for James of course. It was his first time after all, and based on Saber’s actions and reactions, it was hers too. James wondered whether Saber was just a person with a really strong personal attitude to be able to remain the same even after that. Of course, if that was the case then it would not have bothered James after all; no, the problem for him was Saber’s lack of contact with him after that event.
“Er Saber…” he tried, yet again, to establish a proper conversation with Saber. But Saber ignored him and continued on walking, still showing that expressionless face as they traversed the streets; James might as well have been mute. He sighed and just continued walking with Saber, noticing as he did so that they are venturing deeper and deeper into the alleyways and side streets of Takipsilim.
Finally, after a while of walking these dark streets, Saber stopped and so did James. He looked at Saber and asked “Saber what—“
“We’re being followed.” Saber answered his uncompleted question as she turned around and James followed suit “Isn’t that right, Berserker?”
James looked at the place where Saber was staring at and could feel his body tensing up at the prospect of another fight happening; there, silhouetted against the light of the main street, are two figures. One of them is a tall person and the other looks like the owner is slightly hunchbacked; James had no inkling whatsoever as to whom these two is Berserker, or even if Berserker was even there. Saber doesn’t seem to have the same problem however; she was staring at the hunchbacked figure and addressed it again.
“Come on Berserker, don’t be such a killjoy; come into the light and show us yourself.” Using a voice laden with authority, James can’t help but feel awed at Saber’s flawless confidence. He can’t doubt it anyway; the way he saw Saber finish off Lancer as though he was not even fighting her was something that was beyond compare to what he had seen martial arts masters do at tournaments.
“Kehkehkeh…” a strange laugh answered her, one that sounded like thousands of nails scraped on a metal board; the kind of laugh that made James’ hair stand on end. He took a slight step backwards in apparent fear and even Saber tensed slightly at the laugh, both of them thinking of the same thing; this enemy is probably loads stronger, and much more frightening, than the one they had fought before.
The two figures walked forwards, the tall one with a confident swaggering gait, walking slowly as though it had all the time in the world; the hunchbacked one with a slow shuffling gait as though it was tightly bound at the hands, a strange clanking noise accompanying every step.
Five seconds passed and, five meters away, the light from a solitary streetlamp finally revealed their identities.
The taller of the two was male; brown skin, black hair, thick lips, dark eyes, and an almost insane grin match the look of the Servant beside him.
“Howdy, names Dave Radical, fellow Master; and this fine lady here is my Servant, Berserker.”
Berserker’s appearance matched her class designation; her mad expression as her solitary eye, the other one hidden behind a curtain of long unkempt hair, stared at them in crazed ecstasy as a crazed grin was plastered onto her mouth. Her clothing too matched her class designation; a white straightjacket, stained with blood and caked dirt, her hands are bound to her sides in normal straightjacket constricting fashion, yet the way she acts is as thought her hands being bound was the most natural thing in the world, as though she was used to wearing a straightjacket all her life. The source of the clanking noise was not yet visible to Saber and James so they considered it a hidden danger for now; Saber acknowledged this by drawing out her katana.
Dave’s eyes narrowed at the sight of Saber’s sharp sword and a slight smile appeared on his face as he raised his hands and said in an almost apologetic fashion.
“Hey, sorry for appearing hostile or something but I’m sorry to disappoint you; I just wanted to talk to you about something, that’s all really.” Something about his smile worried James somewhat, making him feel uneasy as he stared at Dave’s face, a feeling shared by Saber as she chose to answer Dave in a way that he can’t have considered.
“I refuse to listen to your banter; this is the Heaven’s Feel, cooperation among Masters and Servants are unthinkable unless it is with someone with a mind that I feel comfortable with. And frankly, your Servant and your smile says that I can’t be very comfortable with you.” A slight pause as she let the words sink in before continuing.
“And do you know what I do to things that make me uncomfortable?” She smirked with absolute confidence and answered her own question “I eliminate them, with the utmost priority.”
Dave’s smile became wider as he lowered his hands and spoke up “Very well then, I would have asked you in a very nice way to ditch your Master and serve me as my slave, but if you would stay as an uptight bitch, then I guess I’ll have no choice but to force you to be my Servant and kill your Master!” he laughed out loud while Saber and James continued to stare at him, the fear in their hearts now absent as they realized just what this man was.
He was something that needed to be eliminated, him and his Servant; nothing more, nothing less, complications such as fear are an unnecessary plus, something to be thrown away and forgotten.
Dave finished laughing and rage became apparent on his face as he saw the overly calm expressions on James’ and Saber’s face. The smile turned into a frown as he addressed his Servant.
“Berserker, I give you permission to use your Noble Phantasm, Straightjacket Frenzy; there’s no need to hold anything back when you’re fighting this Saber.” Berserker nodded and James and Saber finally discovered the source of that clanking noise; four long belts attached to her clothing unraveled themselves to the ground, each belt ending in a different weapon that comes in pairs: a pair of hooks on the lower two belts connected to her waist; a pair of blades on the upper two belts connected to her shoulders. She assumed the stance for her attack as she bent herself low on the ground, her left leg supporting her own weight as it was stretched in front of her, while her right leg bent down to serve as her launching leg; the belts moved accordingly and the sinister clanking sound emanated yet again as the weapons attached to the end of them scraped the ground.
Saber responded by taking the offensive stance required for her Noble Phantasm, Critical Four Way Strikes of the Heavens. She turned to James and said “James, would you be angry with me if I told you to stay back and hide behind something; I cannot assure you that I can keep you safe while Berserker is executing her Noble Phantasm.”
James stared at those green eyes and saw something akin to reassurance in them, he nodded and said in reply “Understood Saber, as long as you promise me that you will emerge victorious.” She gave him a confident smile and said “Don’t worry about me; haven’t you seen yet just how good I am at fighting?” James answered with a smile then said “Yeah, I already have, good luck Saber.” With that, he took off, hiding behind a pile of steel boxes and shifting them slightly so that he can still see what is happening with the battle.
From atop a building overlooking the town of Takipsilim, two persons stood; one of them, a small man with an overly huge machine strapped on his back was observing the surroundings with a magnifying lens mounted on his goggles. He paused in his observation as he zoomed in on a particular alleyway bathed in the light of a solitary streetlamp.
“Master I have spotted your younger brother.”
“Excellent work Caster, is he with his Servant?”
“Yes Master, though currently Saber is fighting with Berserker and James seemed to be unguarded at the moment.”
Caster’s words made William pause for thought; if Saber was James’s Servant, does that mean he had made the luckiest draw and got the best Servant out of the seven available classes? Rage flooded his veins but this was soon overpowered by a torrent of calm; it does not matter, his Servant, Caster, is more than enough tool for him to win this war, after all, Caster is one of the two classes allowed to use projectiles and the way he utilizes this trait is beyond compare to what he had expected in the fight with Assassin. Though the outcome of that battle was a tad too unsatisfying, with Assassin managing to fool them into thinking that they had beaten him but merely killed a double, Caster’s performance in that battle immensely satisfied William. So how could he lose now, if he had drawn the real powerful card from the lot?
“Should we act now Master, when James is unguarded by Saber?”
William shook his head, a plan forming inside his thoughts as he gave a slight smile and said “No, we wait, if Saber was overwhelmed by Berserker, then we step in and help them, but if Saber manages to win, then we step in and finish things off for them.”
Caster looked confused by this “What does that signify Master?”
William’s smile widened into a sinister grin as he answered “Well, in both possibilities, we can pose as allies to Saber and James, then when there are only three of us left, we attack James and Saber on the back after they have defeated the other Master.” he managed a slight laugh as his Servant continued observing the tide of the battle below.
06:19:34
Barely twenty minutes had passed and yet, the narrow alleyway was already pockmarked with holes and scratches; the solitary streetlamp swung on one broken chain, the other one broken off, casting dancing shadows on the walls and the ground; the windows and doors are no more, they either hung off their frames or are completely broken off; the destruction was so severe, that if one would walk into this scene, he would think that some sort of monster ravaged it.
Of course, that unlucky person to walk in on this scene would be dead in no time at all; with the possibility that he would be sliced to pieces being be in the high 90s.
“Hah, hah, hah…” Saber panted as she stood and took a defensive stance to ready herself for another restless barrage from Berserker’s crouched form, ignoring the stinging pain she received form her attacks.
“Damn it, how could someone bound in a straightjacket be able to do this much damage? Still, to be able to do battle with someone this strong; this really makes me feel satisfied that I can do battle with a warrior as strong as you.” Saber’s happy reaction reached Dave’s ears and he managed a smile as Berserker waited for his command to execute another attack.
“Heh, that teaches you; never underestimate your opponents, no matter how weak they seem.” He raised his hand and Berserker seem to have taken that as a signal to start attacking.
Berserker launched herself with surprising speed and once again started another barrage of merciless attacks. Using the momentum of her launch, she spun around and let the centripetal force of her spin to lash out the belts and let them do their roles of causing maximum damage.
Saber tensed again as she heard the telltale winds that precede the deadly combination of whips and hooks. As it was, the wind is one of the few warnings Saber could rely on; visual cues are rendered useless by the fact that the belts were moving way faster than the human eye could ever process; the only way that Saber could tell that the deadly whip-like weapons are coming for her is the fact that the path they take are rendered obvious by the damage dealt to the surrounding walls, scratches and gouges seem to creep quickly, as well as fanciful afterimages as the belts travel through the air, as Berserker approached steadily towards Saber.
“Here it comes…” Saber said to herself as though in encouragement to herself and a sort of mantra to get herself ready for the fifth attack; and, in Saber’s perspective and eventual plan, what could be the final attack that Berserker will execute before her eventual demise. She assumed a stance that was markedly similar but very different than the one she used when she executed her Noble Phantasm; instead of bringing the sword parallel with the floor, in line with her ear, and with the edge facing upwards, she modified her stance by bringing the blade higher above her head, tilting the blade down so that it pointed to the ground with the cutting edge facing the floor.
“This is it…” James saw the immediate difference in the stance that Saber took and he knew only one thing could happen next; the killing blow will be decided between the two combatants. He got out of his hiding place and walked forwards, standing ten feet behind Saber, now sure that not even at this distance can Berserker’s attack reach; in fact, James was pretty certain that Berserker can’t even get past Sabers’ attack.
“Critical…” Saber started the attack by pushing off with her right foot, launching her forwards into the deadly maelstrom of Berserker’s attack, lunging forwards and letting the sharp edge of the katana dot the job of slicing off the weapons fastened to the ends of the belts. It was the weakness that Saber had seen the first time she had seen Berserker execute that Noble Phantasm; the belts follow a fixed pattern, it was obvious once she saw the marks that the attacks made on the walls, it was always the same part that got damaged; the pattern can be easily exploited if Saber would angle her sword right then she could slice off all of the belts without much effort.
Once the belts had been cut off, attacking Berserker is now a simple matter of avoiding the next stage of her attack; those powerful leg kicks; these kicks are by no means ordinary kicks and the fact that there are metal greaves attached to the back of her legs did not make things any easier for Saber.
But she had a plan to deal with that.
“FOUR WAY STRIKES OF THE HEAVENS!”
The thrusting blade that cut off all of the deadly whips that were Berserker’s weapons was spun in Saber’s hands with incredible speeds; holding the katana in her hand like a dagger, Saber slashed upwards, slicing off the metal greaves connected to both legs. The next slash was too fast even for James’ eye to really catch but for Saber, it was all routine; the sword was once again spun in her hands, as she executed a furious slash downwards that hit both legs at once, this attack caused Berserker to falter in mid-air as she passed Saber. Saber turned around and executed the third slash while Berserker’s back was turned to her; a vicious slash that cut off the restraints on Berserker’s straightjacket and probably sliced deep enough to hit her spine. The final slash was the definitive finishing blow; a slash sideward from Berserker’s left side to her right, cutting deep enough to slice off her clothing and drawing off large amounts of blood.
It was over in almost half a second; Saber’s four strikes, executed with flawless ferocity, did the job of finishing off Berserker in a speed that could not be imagined for a normal human. Berserker dropped onto her knees, then fell forwards, dying in the exact same way that Lancer did before her. Saber was still frozen in her final position; crouched low on the ground, her sword pointing to her right side, the blade still dripping blood. She stood up and slashed the sword in thin air, expelling the blood on it and making the blade look pristine again, then sheathed it in one fluid movement.
She looked up and gave James a smile that he returned with full confidence. She was about to walk towards him when a dry crisp sound interrupted her.
“Don’t fuck with me! That was not possible, not at all, you fucking cheated you bitch!” Dave stood there, a 9mm pistol in his hands, the barrel still smoking. He prepared to press the trigger a second time but, like the Master of Lancer, he also seem to have followed the same pattern for her death.
A whistle, a flash, followed by the shockwave of a huge explosion, then finished off with the smell of gunpowder mixed with the smell of burning flesh.
The ensuing chaos concussed James for a moment before he realized that he had no time to attend to such matters; right now, checking up on Saber takes top priority above all else, even his own safety.
“Saber!” he called out into the thickening smoke, his eyes stinging as he tried desperately to look for Saber’s form.
“James? Where are you?” Saber’s voice answered James’ own, relief washing over him as he realized that nothing bad had ever happened to her. Saber walked towards the place where she last heard James’ voice and soon found herself collapsing forwards and being caught by the arms of her Master.
“What the, I never realized you’re this light…” James’ offhanded remark about her weight made Saber smile a little as she let herself sink into his embrace.
“Really, why did you only notice now? As I remember, you were almost carrying me back there in the bathroom, remember?” Saber teased him as James supported her so that she can stand up.
“What? W-why do you have to bring that up right now?” James was flustered by Saber’s remark about what happened between them a mere two hours ago.
She could tell by the way he speaks that James was embarrassed by her words. This knowledge made her happy somehow.
“Let’s go home Saber; I still need to treat that wound of yours.”
Saber looked at her shoulder and the wound inflicted by Dave; it was just a shallow flesh wound and it would likely heal right away even if it was just bandaged and left alone, much like the other injuries she had suffered from Berserker’s attacks. However, having the prospect of James treating her wounds and taking care of her, the thought of having a man take care of her, somehow brought a flutter of joy into her heart.
“Yeah, let’s go home James.”
Resting on James’ shoulder, Saber left the alleyway together with James, as they retraced their steps to return to their hotel, none of them minding the flashes and bangs that had erupted on the rooftop just a hundred meters away from them.
“Nicely done Caster; if I may comment on that, I’d say that that was one hell of a shot.”
“Thank you, Master.” Caster gave an absurd bow to William, as the latter regarded him with respect.
It was just a few minutes after Berserker was defeated, one of the rocket pods attached to Caster’s machine was still smoking after shooting off the missile that had killed off Berserker’s Master.
“Now let’s go Caster, we can’t afford to lose a single second—“
A vicious torrent of arrows all screamed towards the two persons on the roof top and Caster was forced to conjure a wall of electricity from his gauntlet to block them all.
“Wahey! Good evening everyone! Or was that afternoon? Hm, well, it doesn’t matter anyway.” A silhouette emerged from the shadows, probably source of the arrow barrage that almost killed off Caster and his Master. Another silhouette emerged and this one spoke in a much more reserved manner than the first.
“My apologies for my Servant; he’s a bit brash but I know that you’ll eventually find him to be likeable once you get to know him.” his voice offered a smile but William disregarded this as though it had not even reached his ears.
“Tch, to think that someone else would take advantage of the situation to try and attack us and make us miss our chance; Caster, finish these mongrels off and show them your power!”
“Understood Master, as you command.”
The huge machine that was attached to Caster’s back began to hum with power as the machinery inside it emitted a strange whir. Within seconds, the appendages that were attached to the sides of the machine like arms with claws began emitting fiery sparks as the ends of the metallic claws collected the emitted electricity. In no time at all, the claws themselves seem to be holding balls made of pure electricity.
“Let’s see what you can do about this!”
The arms holding the claws expanded forwards with the speed of a normal human, bringing the claws down while it released the balls of electricity, first the left, then the right. Two balls of pure lightning hurtled towards the crossbow wielding Servant.
Archer dove sideways, the balls of electricity narrowly missing him by centimeters as he took aim and fired off a salvo of five arrows at the inventor.
Not to be outdone, Caster raised his left hand, the large gauntlet that he was wearing emitted more electricity that intensified and formed again into a thick wall, blocking off and burning the arrows that came for him.
“Heh, is that all you can do?” his voice radiated confidence as he looked at the Servant in front of him.
“My, my, aren’t you a bit too overconfident?” the man that was Archer’s Master spoke with confidence in his voice as he continued “You can use your Noble Phantasm to finish them off Archer; I don’t think we can have them on our side, well try Saber and her Master next time we meet them.” he turned around and disappeared off into the shadows, leaving his Servant behind him.
William looked at the Servant left all alone then spoke up.
“Isn’t your Master the stupid one; leaving his Servant all alone? Does he not know that the rules call for the Masters and Servants to be within at least five hundred meters of each other; unless of course you wanted to die from the Contract Chip frying your nerves?”
Archer smirked and answered with confidence “No, I don’t think so; ever heard of the special privilege for the Archer class Servant, Independent Action?”
William shook his head but Caster nodded knowingly and said “The ability of Archer to operate completely dependent of his Master, no matter how far he is from the Master, the Contract Chip will never override into his nerves and fry him from the inside. In a way, it’s giving the Archer servant the most bang for his buck as they say.”
Archer smiled at this “Very good Caster, you are an inventor after all; I wouldn’t be surprised if you knew, however,” he removed his cap and looked at them with eyes that are full of killing intent, his hair ruffled by the fierce winds “you should consider yourself lucky; I don’t normally praise people that I’m about to kill.”
He loaded a special arrow on his crossbow, this one a sulfurous red in color, slightly smoking; from extreme cold or from extreme heat, Caster could not tell. Though he could tell that this attack, whatever it was, is going to be very dangerous, and both he and his Master had to leave-fast.
“Master, I feel that this attack whatever it is, cannot be stopped by me.” He tried to warn William so that they can leave now, but he would have none of it.
“Shut it Caster, I know that you can stop that if you use your second Noble Phantasm.” William seemed to be decisive but Caster looked fearfully at him.
“I-I can’t be sure Master; that attack might not work…” Caster’s doubtful voice enraged William and this made him turn to more direct measures.
“Impertinent Servant, you should follow your Master’s commands, Caster; fine then, if you don’t want to do it, then I’m afraid I’ll have to use an absolute command.” Raising his left hand and showing Caster the imprinted symbols, he spoke out loud to the fearful Servant.
“Caster, I hereby use an absolute command and tell you thus; use Dominating Laser Barrage and completely destroy Archer.” There was a small electronic whine as one of the imprinted symbols disappeared; William felt a twinge of burning pain the Command Chip executed an order to the Contract Chip on his Servant.
“N-no, I can’t…”
Three seconds passed with Caster just shaking his head resolutely, then four, by the fifth second, the Contract Chip implanted in his lower spine sensed that Caster wasn’t executing the command given by the Command Chip so it sent its own signals to his nerves. Caster writhed in extreme pain as though his very nerves were on fire.
This lasted for five seconds as Caster squirmed on the ground and William looked on uninterestedly at him, while Archer looked at the two of them as an expression of boredom started building up on his face.
“Would you mind; if possible I would like this battle to be finished within today—“
“Dominating…” the voice came from the form of Caster, which had already risen and faced Archer, his face a blank mask of indifference. Behind him, the machine started changing form, transforming itself; much like a transformer robot would change its form, so does Caster’s machine as it whirred and expanded, the metal enveloping his upper torso like a mechanical suit of armor.
In no time at all, the futuristic suit of armor had completely enveloped Caster, making him look like some demented experiment that he had come up with while high on meth and an assortment of drugs. The mechanical claws, attached to the mechanical arms that had replaced his own, began spinning very quickly, charging electricity as it did so. Within the space of one second, the electricity accumulated could be described as an intense concentration of light, ready to fire off any time that Caster wanted to; at the same time, all the weapons attached to Caster’s machine started readying themselves to fire off their ordnance.
Archer acknowledged this threat by loading a second arrow in his crossbow, this one a bright blue in color, then adding in a third, a poisonous white in color. Without pause, he took aim at Caster’s frame, squinted his eyes against the bright light of Caster’s weapon. Then he pulled the trigger.
“Redneck Ruse Ruck!”
“…LASER BARRAGE!”
Both Servants fired off at the same time; Archer releasing the three arrows loaded onto his crossbow, the projectiles tracing fanciful streaks of white, blue, and red on the air as they hurtle towards Caster; Caster firing off the twin condensed light in his claws in the form of twin beams of light, at the same time firing off a salvo of missiles from the other weapons in his arsenal.
William looked on at this development, at the same time feeling that maybe, just maybe, he had made the wrong decision of using up an absolute command to make Caster use his Noble Phantasm, and that they should have left this place and return to fight another day. He shook his head and cleared his thoughts of any doubt; no, Caster will win, there’s no doubt about that, his Noble Phantasm of a battery of weapons and the twin beams of light from his arms are more than enough to beat the three arrows released by Archer. He decided to let fate run its course and watch the outcome of the battle; if Caster lost, then he will miss a chance to defeat his brother and his grandfather and he will die as well; if he Caster won, then it’s another step closer to his goal of realizing his dream and having a chance to defeat his grandfather, taking the family inheritance with him, and kill his own brother, finally proving that his ideals are more supreme than his.
Neither expectation is met; the outcome was something that William was entertaining in the back of his mind but something he had not considered to be possible at all.
“YEEEHHHAAAWW!”
With a bellow like a cowboy from the old western movies, another Servant entered the fray; riding on a dirtbike, the Servant made for a flashy entrance as he rode in on the path of the oncoming projectiles, then jumping off his vehicle and letting it meet the deadly projectiles.
There was a colossal explosion as the projectiles hit the motorcycle and the explosion of its gas tank, full of high octane fuel, added to the pyrotechnic display. Both William and Caster were swept away from the force of the explosion while Archer hid behind a stack of crates to avoid the blast. The unknown Servant on the other hand, was just standing by as though the backblast was nothing but a weak breeze.
“Tch, bunch of pussies…”
The Servant smirked and looked at the destruction he had wrought; the rooftop was no more, a huge crater marked the place where the two attacks and the motorcycle collided. A scuffling noise told him that the persons that he came for had now disappeared and left him alone.
His Master appeared as he climbed up the ladder and regarded the scene around him.
“Tch, Rider you were too extravagant; you even let them get away.”
Rider bowed at his Master with an apologetic expression on his face “I’m sorry Master, don’t worry; next time, I will finally get them.”
Rider’s Master did not crack a smile nor did he recognize the apologetic tone in Rider’s voice. He just looked away as though Rider had not even spoken.
“It does not matter Rider, you will have plenty of opportunities next time; it’s fairly easy to pull the strings and make things happen if you’re the mayor of this town after all.”
With that, he turned around and left through the doorway leading to the stairs, his Servant following him without a word.
EDIT: Wall-o-text is now much more endurable than previously seen, I apologize for the fuck-up
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Originally Posted by GaterJ4wz
