Damn this is setting to close rather nicely.
Damn this is setting to close rather nicely.
By the way VC, was URUBOCHI using EMIYA's skills (and as a result clothes)? Did I get that right?
Yeah. He was using Emiya's skills up until Tarnhelm breaking.
Does that mean he could potentially dress like a little girl for a version of Eva's power? Because we need more Evangeline Athanasia Katherine MacDowell, even if only for and Omake. Magia Ereba would be super effective on AM, after all
Like Negima Eva, you mean? If Shirou had the skills he has now as a kid, he could've looked like and mimicked a lot of people and their abilities, actually. The only thing he can do now in terms of body/total skill snatching are parallels of himself.
Still, the possibilites are SCARY and AWESOME at the same time, given the range of the Kaleidoscope.
My Fanfics. Read 'em. Or not.McJon01: We all know that the real reason Archer would lose to Rider is because the events of his own Holy Grail War left him with a particular weakness toward "older sister" types.
Like say...Evangeline Shirouko Athanasia Katherine MacDowell von Urobochi?
Good lord man. :/
Also:
Ryougi Shirou.
My Fanfics. Read 'em. Or not.McJon01: We all know that the real reason Archer would lose to Rider is because the events of his own Holy Grail War left him with a particular weakness toward "older sister" types.
Shirou would probably get the trait Dracula/Vlad got in Extra. Innocent Monster. Bonuses comparable with some of the Dead Apostles since they were human at one point. I don't think they would totally rewrite his body/soul to a True Ancestor, though. He still has to stay within the bounds of the species, even if it's modified.
And that's what I see the DA's, modified humans.
Do you see Eva as being like a real True Ancestor or a modified human? If a TA, Shirou as a kid could pull off a similiar. If you see her as a DA, then he could mimick her.
Edit: ItsaRandomUsername, as a Ryougi by birth or marriage?
By birth. So he can have a pet SHIROU living inside his head. Either way, he'd be badass regadless.
And he also has Mystic Eyes of HAX Perception. And god knows what else.
WHAT HAVE I DONE
My Fanfics. Read 'em. Or not.McJon01: We all know that the real reason Archer would lose to Rider is because the events of his own Holy Grail War left him with a particular weakness toward "older sister" types.
^ created a monster you can't control.
Well, I wasn't being serious, but giving it more thought...and remembering the latest Negima canon: Shirou would/should get something like deathlessness (不死: fu shi) with a side of blood hunger. Everything else, Eva achieved through hard work, IMO. Being an immortal blood-drinking magi should be what made people call her a TA.
Nah. It isn't that bad. He's not a Tohsaka or Zelretch. He can't use the Mystic Code entirely to its potential too. Base Shirou can't hold Parallel Shirou for long periods of time the further away from base he goes. Emiya is basically a very close cousin so he can maintain him.Originally Posted by ItsaRandomUsername
By birth. So he can have a pet SHIROU living inside his head. Either way, he'd be badass regadless.
And he also has Mystic Eyes of HAX Perception. And god knows what else.
WHAT HAVE I DONE
Stuff like DA/TA Shirous or other family Shirous can only be held for like less than a minute at this point in Urobuchi's life. The soul is too off kilter/non-'Shirou'.
Yah. I wanted to play along, anyway.
That isn't to say crossover people can't show up under other methods. I've built in at least four ways in this world.
So, what Shirou's are dreamed about in Shirou's philosophy? Shirou Kishua Zelretch Schweinorg? Shirou: the last Swordbender? Tsukino Shirou? Shirou MacRemitz?
Urobuchi, Inui, Emiya (Fate-UBW-HF), Emiya/Avenger (HA). The only differences between their worlds were the Fire. He could have wound up with his sister easily too.
UROBUCHI and INUI are the next tier. The first one is easier to hold since that was the future in this world until future Shirou came back. INUI is basically a collection of possibilities if he had wound up with Miyu in Masaki.
EMIYA is the hardest to hold onto. Beyond that I haven't really considered Shirou being able to hold any other forms as an adult.
The fire...use the old plot point and change who finds/raises Shirou after the fire, and we get slightly different Shirous.
*****
Seven year old Ilyasviel felt silent tears streaming down her eyes, blurring her vision of the heavily distorted living room of her home. Both she and her father silently stood as her mother began to walk away towards a bright yellow taxi.
Ilyasviel's mother glanced back, but only her shadowed sherry eyes appeared as a heavy distortion blurred the rest of her features. She raised her arm towards the two of them, and then simply let it fall to her side.
No sobs escaped Ilyasviel's throat as she saw her mother get into the taxi cab and leave. She clutched at the large and warm hand of her father.
“Papa...why is Mama going away?” Ilyasviel's voice hitched despite her best attempts at composing herself. She couldn't afford to make daddy worry.
“It's...complicated.” Her father knelt down by her side. He wrapped his arms around her as he pulled her into his chest. “But don't worry. We'll see her again someday.”
Ṫ̞͙̩͇̹̗ͯ͑ͭͮͣh̝̝̜̼̦̫̗͚̏̈ͧͩ̇ͯ͞ã̢̯̖̻̱̮͂ͤͭ̄͋̎ͣt̋̒ͫ͟͝ ̩̫͇̣ ̼̟̻̜̹ͥ́ͦ͞d̶̐͂̓ͮ͑ͤͮͦ͏͚̖̻ay never cam̳̫̮̰̮̥̓͛͗ͬ͢ͅe̱̲͉̹͓ͯ̂ͮ.̬͍̏͌͑ͤ̑̄́͛͠
...!
The pitch black picture frame around the heavily distorted image of Ilyasviel's mother didn't suit her at all. The eight year old calmly stood behind her towering father as he presented a wreath of flowers to the side as they both stepped back.
Two sets of coffins were lingering side by side over a hole in the earth.
“I apologize for your loss.” The priest gaze Ilyasviel and her father a sincerely false-comforting half smile.
“Not as bad of a loss as for the Inui family, Father Kirei.” Ilyasviel's father replied. Ilyasviel was staring at the priest's face as he turned that comfo-false smile onto her.
They began to pull away. Ilyasviel was relieved to see the dancing sparks around the priest begin to fade away as they put further space between themselves and Father Kirei. “But thank you very much.” Her father threw the comment over his shoulder.
“Your mother always did connect more to her western heritage.” Papa softly spoke to Ilyasviel as they both moved under the shade of a massive tree to escape the heat. Several people dressed in black crowded closely around the hole in the ground.
Ilyasviel spotted two heads of bright red hair amongst the crowd closest to her mother's final resting place. An adult left the crowd as a baby's wails began to grow too loud for the comfort of the mourners. That wasn't nice of them. That spiky haired priest didn't seem to be too bothered.
He even seemed to like the baby.
Ilyasviel's eyebrows knit together as she looked up at the sky. Large swathes of the sky-blue vista were missing all together. Inky voids dripped thick clumps of darkness down into the world from above. “Papa...why did mama go away?” She asked once again.
“It's w̟̥͙̗̖̻͎ͤ̉̽as complicat͓̝̬͉̗͈̦͙͎ͣ͆̿̂̂ͯ̂̀̈́ͫ́̀̚͞͝ͅͅe̿ͧ̽͗̎ͩ̏̌͏̷҉̹̻̜͔̣͍͖͇d̍́ ̆ͯͬ̂̓̿͛̂̊ͪͨ̀́͠҉͇̪̭̜̩̘̮̀ͅ.” Ilyasviel winced and slapped her hands over her ears. Her father's words screeched and scratched at the inside of her ears for a few moments before the painful sensations faded away.
Yet the memory of the pain stayed. Ilyasviel angrily tugged on her father's hand. He looked down at her.
“Greed.” Ilyasviel softly accused with large eyes. Her father looked at her for a moment in confusion. “You said greed. It hurt, Papa.”
Her accusation caused her father to go pale as he looked away.
...!
A wide grassy field stretched out before her eyes. The sun began to sink back into the skies in the distance. Its golden radiance stretched out as far as the eye could see, causing the massive vault bars at the end of the outlined path in front of her to cast a long shadow.
“You can do it, Shirou-kun!” A silver haired girl with twinkling red eyes shouted out towards him. Ilyasviel felt the various pains and sores throughout her body twinged at the memories of having failed the jump and crashed into the bar.
A few children and two adults murmured amongst themselves. One of them stepped forwards to try and stop her, but her father was there. He shook his head and quietly told the other adult something. With a reluctant look to their face, they pulled back with the crowd.
“Go ahead, Shirou!” Ilyasviel's father called out.
Ilyasviel didn't care what everyone said. They could call her a freak all they wanted. She knew she wasn't a freak. The spots and weird stuff around her had gone mostly away with time. It didn't matter what age she was. She was going to vault over that jumping bar. No one said what she could or couldn't do!
She took a running start. As she passed by her silver haired childhood friend. The scent of snow and salt briefly assaulted her nostrils. It was still strong despite her best efforts. Still, if it hadn't been strong she wouldn't of ever found her.
Father came next. Ink and an even stronger scent of salt hung onto him as time went on. The salt made him sleepy. It made him want to stay indoors. She was surprised he had come to see her try to jump. Tingly needles stabbed her throat as she felt the bar loom even higher above her.
Ilyasviel narrowed her eyes as she put on an extra burst of speed. She wasn't going to be stopped when the bigger kids could make this jump. She just had to think she could make it! She couldn't afford to drop out of it now.
'Think big! Think strong! Think...' Ilyasviel reached the very end of the line. Her legs bunched beneath her as her muscles tensed.
“JUMP!” Ilyasviel roared as she tore herself away from the ground with a leap with all her heart behind it. Pain greater than anything she had ever known ripped through her lower back and especially in her legs. Enough heat for Ilyasviel to cry out in pain roared through her legs as she soared over the bar and came crashing down on her side on the unforgiving ground.
“Shirou!” With that...the salt was swept away from her father and the silver haired girl as they rushed up to her. Several more adults and other kids began to swarm her too. Her eyes dazedly glanced around the open field.
Meeting a pair of blank amethyst eyes and a set of inquisitive turquoise eyes...
'They're so sad...'
...!
Ilyasviel's vast knowledge of magecraft and the history of the Einzbern begin flooding her mind as she returns to herself. The knowledge of the outside world and of Shirou Urobuchi begin to fade, though. Only a few tattered scraps of knowledge continue to remain with the homunculus.
It was a bad deal, in her opinion.
A vast ocean of stars and an endless path of white light stretch outwards before her gaze. A crushing pressure almost shatters her soul right there, but a gleaming white sword slashes outwards in front of her gaze.
It reflects a weary looking white haired man with sherry eyes in the depths of the beautiful crystal.
Ilyasviel von Einzbern of World 2, Variant - The crystals loudly sing and screech as the white sword shimmers. The starry void around her peripheral vision are blocked as all the colors in the rainbow sparkle from within the sword. You wound up diving too far. I'll send you back.
“Wait! Who are you?!” The man's sherry eyes brighten at her question. The lights around her began to grow brighter.
I have a sister in this world. Her name is Miyu. Please treat her well. He quirked his head in thought. Maybe the two of you can find happiness together. The crystal sword moved closer and lightly tapped her in the head.
*****
Ilyasviel gasped and sat up. She blearily looked around to see they were back on the rooftops now. Over at the side, she could see Shirou coughing as he was seated upwards by Saber. The blonde had a light grip on his arm as she let the redhead lean up against her for a few moments.
'Happiness...?' She rolled the idea around in the back of her head. Herakles comfortingly rubbed at her back, causing her tense muscles to relax as the prana strings connecting them together was dissolved. Ilyasviel turned to look over at Shirou and ask him what she had seen at the end, but was interrupted by the sound of thunder blasting closely.
“Incoming!” Kiritsugu's voice caused both Servants to wrap their arms around their Masters. Both set of their eyes glanced over towards the direction Kiritsugu was facing. Ilyasviel looked over in that direction as well. A monstrously huge chariot being guided by a set of jet black bulls tore down the streets of Fuyuki City towards them.
Lightning and thunder coursed from the hooves of the two beasts to the chariot itself. The only part of the entire vehicle that actually touched the earth were the chariot's two humongous wheels, which were in the process of tearing up the ground, and the gleaming weaponry on the sides, which slashed through whatever were on the sides of the chariot like they were made out of paper.
Iskander crossed his arms before him. With the harness in his hand, he allowed the drumming beats of his two Divine Bulls' rapid pace to hammer across the skies. He eyes shone with purpose as he looked towards the direction the last signal was fired off.
“...Iskander?” Saber's quiet cry of shock caused Shirou to look up at his Servant. Her hands tightened a bit on his shoulders.
“What's wrong?” Shirou instinctively placed his hand over Saber's own. Both paused and looked away from the newcomer to share an awkward glance before the redhead released his hold on Saber's hand.
“That's...” Saber began, trying to ignore the tingling sensation on her cheeks.
“How did he come back? I didn't think Waver would ever give up the artifact to summon him to anyone else.” Kiritsugu was bemused as he walked up to the edge of the roof. He pulled out a set of binocular and glanced down. He was faintly amused, but mainly shocked, as a young black haired girl no older looking than Ilyasviel was riding in front of the chariot. Iskander's towering frame nearly eclipsed her completely.
Miyu set down her own binoculars and glanced up over her shoulder at Iskander. “Iskander-sama! There's another set of people up on the rooftop. They look really eager when they saw us!” She dutifully spoke up. A scout reported everything she saw.
Iskander gave Miyu a proud grin. He reached down and ruffled her hair with his large hand before looking up and over at the crowd gathered on the rooftops. “Perhaps they know of our exploits this night. Let's go up and render aid if they need it, Master!” The king reigned in the two Divine Bulls, slowing down their pace as they began to draw even with the building.
Miyu bent down to gather the large book from her brother's house. Once she had it in hand, Iskander gathered her in his arms and leapt for the building's rooftop in one massive bound. Gordius Wheel vanished below them without a trace as Iskander banished it.
The riders came smashing down on top of the rooftop. Iskander gave the tense looking man and blonde woman a reassuring grin before his eyes locked onto the bronze giant's face with a hint of curiosity in his eyes. Miyu happily confirmed that the six people in the group were unharmed before she cleared her throat and did her part.
“Salutations! My name is Miyu Inui and I would like to introduce you all to the King of Conquerors and Hero of the Japan, Iskander!” The black haired girl's eyes shone happily. She had finally figured that Imperium must merely mean Empire. Silly book was out of date, though. They weren't an Empire anymore. “Do you require any aid?”
Saber and Ilyasviel took a deep breath instinctively out of surprise with the situation. Kiritsugu warily glanced at Iskander and then at Herakles to try and match them up in his head. Herakles merely locked his gaze with Iskander with as much curiosity as the other man had on his face.
Shirou and Caren exchanged glances. He shrugged, feeling out of his depth. The nun nodded and walked up to the two newcomers, “My name is Caren Ortensia. The Holy Grail War was canceled. We're all going to stop the person who caused this disaster.”
Both Miyu and Iskander glanced at each other and then over at Caren. Both looked visibly confused. “What's a Holy Grail War?” Miyu wondered naively.
“Is that why I was called to Master's side?” Iskander wondered as he broke the intense looks he and Herakles were directing at each other. He looked over at the white haired nun.
“What?” Caren blinked and shook her head. “Didn't the Grail inform you what was going on when you were summoned?”
“No. I was barely summoned a few hours ago. I saw my Master was in danger and reacted.” Iskander replied. Miyu meanwhile was looking at the group. She gave a friendly smile to try and calm the blonde girl. The dark skinned girl staring at her was a bit odd, but she gave her a wave and nod.
“Can you please come with us, then?” Caren pressed both of her hands together pleadingly. “You must have seen the effects the Dead have had so far. It's best we unite to stamp out our common enemy before more harm is done.”
The adult sort of creeped her out. She shied away a bit into Iskander's arms when she saw his cool, calculating eyes. The bronze man seemed more friendly, but boy was he huge. She didn't think it was possible for someone to be taller than Iskander!
Iskander firmly nodded, “Of course! It's best to unite as one concentrated front so we can crush our enemy.”
Two pairs of sherry eyes locked on each other as Caren grinned. “Great! Then let me introduce my assistant, Shirou Urobuchi...”
'Shirou!' Miyu's eyes widened in happiness as she scrambled out of Iskander's arms. Everyone jerked in surprise as Miyu scrambled to her feet after landing on the ground and made an all out dash towards Shirou.
Saber went tense, but her instincts told her the girl didn't mean any harm.
“Since when have I -hnngh?!” Shirou let out a wheeze as the black haired girl smashed into his torso and wrapped her arms around him tightly.
“Oniichan!” Miyu wailed happily as she buried her face in his stomach.
*****
“You're not Archer.” Lancer's accusation slid off Archer's back as one of the clawed females charging him was perforated and collapsed. “Who are you?”
Archer fired off both of his knives to the sides of his enemy. The rushing behemoth of flesh ignored the two knives stabbing into the dirt on his left and right sides until the white haired man snapped his fingers. A pillar of light briefly surged upwards and shattered the beast into its composite parts.
“Okay, so I'm not Archer. Who would I be, then? Servant Liar?” The hero wondered as he yanked his arms back. Prana strings attached to the knives' hilts flashed into existence before they spun back and he caught them in mid-air.
“I'm not sure, but you sure have the mouth like Archer.” Lancer swung Gae Bolg to bowl over two shambling zombies and leapt backwards from the clouds of insects spewing out of their mouths. He landed next to Archer. “Dam-”
Both held their right arms towards the cloud rushing towards them and carved glowing runes in mid-air. “Ansuz!” They both shouted as the air within the midst of the group erupted in flames. Gaunt and hungry looking faces gazed out at the two heroes from a semi-circle as they slowly backed towards each others back.
“So, do you think I can be Servant Archer at least until we clear these guys out?” The white haired man insisted as they were rushed. Their prana levels began to rapidly dip as both heroes dipped and swayed out of the way of attacks. With their backs pressed up against each other, the two would occasionally push the other towards the attackers, but gleaming knives or a crimson spear would take care of whatever they got introduced to.
“I don't want to use my Silver Tongue, Rank B, on these guys.” Archer mocked the statistics both of them occasionally saw when they closed their eyes. “My ability to bullshit will not make them stop. No matter what the little brown windows say!”
Both heroes spun as a particularly fresh looking corpse of a woman charged at them. “Well, maybe on her if she had been less...well, dead.” Archer's words caused Lancer to laugh as both heroes lashed out with their legs and sent her flying backwards.
“Alright, maybe you're not as bad as I thought.” Lancer rapidly spun his spear to disperse a thick stream of gel shot at them. The tiny splotches of it ate through parts of his bodysuit and burned where it touched his skin.
“Great to see I have your permission to be Archer, then.” Archer dryly replied as he brought both knives together hilt first. In a flash of light they fused into a solid piece of metal. A nimbus of colors surrounded the weapon as it began to lengthen and shift.
The silver of the weapon dyed itself to a deep brown as it took a crescent shape with flared out tips. The transformation of the two swords to an ancient wooden bow completed itself as the tips of the bow connected with a pure white string. Archer grasped the weapon at the center, letting the weapon settle into the grooves of his hand gracefully.
“Switch! Take down some crows at three o'clock!” Silver energy began to gather at Archer's right hand as the history of the weapon began to guide his motions.
“Right!” Both Servants twisted in place. Lancer's incredible speed allowed him to switch to his slingshot and drew a bead on the stones while Archer swiftly knocked a gleaming silver arrow made of swirling and twisting light.
Two aerial familiars went down as Lancer shot them down with two stones. Archer knocked back the string, drawing the bow back into a tense V-shape before unleashed the arrow with a shout as he activated the Noble Phantasm.
“Hou I!” In the brief moment that the bow went from resembling a diving hawk to a gliding hawk, several dark images of fallen creatures appeared along the wood's surface. The bow let out a resounding shriek as he unleashed the arrow intended to slaughter enemies of mankind.
The stream of sludge that was burning through his outfit and his flesh dissolved instantly as a silver stream of light flashed across the clearing. The foul corruption that the corpse was launching at him was nothing before the arrow as it slammed home. The undead shrieked as the tip of the silver light smashed into its head and promptly engulfed it in a burst of flame.
One of the images of the creatures on the body of the weapon exploded, staining the brown wood around it red.
The entire front half of Archer's suit was in ruins. He gasped in slight pain at the raw nerves exposed on his chest as he and Lancer swapped places instinctively again. Archer could hear Lancer mocking the crowd around them as he tried to focus on the prana from the remains of his jacket.
“You alright?” Lancer called back. He slung and fired five more stones to messily end more undead. “Don't you die on me just because of such a weak attack!”
“I'm fine!” Archer insisted. His chest was a deep red from the exposure from the sludge, and he ignored the blood trickling down his bare chest as he shifted the prana from his jacket around. The coat on his shoulders vanished as his vest and white shirt reformed.
He raised the hawk like bow at the ready, ignoring the blood sliding down his front as he knocked another silver arrow back.
“Great! Try and keep up, boyo!”
*****
“Hahah. Die, worms! Die!” Caster cackled as she directed waves of fire, ice, and wind to annihilate anything in her path with one arm. The other one was busy wrapped around Sakura's hips and not so subtly feeling her up.
Sakura wasn't very sure what to think about the current situation.
Rin and Saver weren't pleased in the least, though.
“What the hell are you doing?” Rin shouted as she looked away from where she lobbed an emerald to shred through a cloud of insects that had been attempting to dive bomb them.
Kuzuki briefly glanced back at the proceedings before blinking and ducking a punch from a giant. He responded by hammering a strike into his neck with enough strength to rip the head clean off as he twisted to rejoin the fray.
Saver removed her hands from where laid them on a yakuza's firearm. “May you strike humanity's enemies dead in a single shot.” She intoned with a gentle smile as she finished reinforcing the human's courage with her power.
“Thank you!” The woman stuttered before turning and joining the others. Saver spared a few moments to ensure that the woman's bullets were slamming into the weak points of the undead before turning with a scowl over at Caster as well.
“This girl is perfect! No wonder you have her with you! My control over my Divine Words seem sharper than ever.” Caster happily responded as she gestured. Two charging behemoths were wrapped in warped space for a second before half of each of their bodies simply vanished.
Only to appear on top of a distant undead that was trying to shoot down Ilya. The silver haired girl gave Caster a thumbs up before moving out from behind cover and aiming a rifle to take down another three undead.
“Uhm...thank you?” Sakura blushed as the roving hand seemingly gained courage with that comment as Caster's slim and delicate face loomed a bit closer.
“Exnay on the lesyay!” Rin boomed as she slapped her hands together before swinging them outwards from her body. Several fireballs tore outwards from her to smash into several birds high above. “Especially with my sister...nay!”
“Is this really the time?” Bazette exasperatedly wondered.
“We're doing fine!” Caster happily replied as she glanced around the park. With her improved control, she could feel several undead that were still human enough in biology that she could remotely activate. She had a lovely woman in one hand and divine mysteries in the other.
'To think...Medea, saving the day.' The blue haired princess thought happily.
“Stop wasting so much energy! There's only one of me!” Saver shouted in annoyance as she moved closer towards the others alongside Taiga and Ilya. The magi and Servants felt the heavy pressure lift off their shoulders with her presence as the group continued charging down the path.
“Haa...they just won't stop, will they?” Taiga breathed out tiredly. The sword in her hand was slicked with blood and she awkwardly held onto a smoking pistol with the other. She tried to flick the blood off her sword, but it didn't quite take.
The sounds of rifles going off were a constant din as Rin threw her hands up in surrender and went back to the front lines with Bazette. Sakura managed to reluctantly squirm out of Caster's grasp and move behind Saver.
Caster pouted.
“Caster, can you enhance mom?” Ilya wiped away sweat from her forehead. Dirt plastered to her skin thanks to that motion, though. Caster's gaze moved away from Saver and glanced over at the dirt smeared Ilya. “I think your style might help more than Rider's spell.”
'Well, I can take my petty win, then.' Caster happily nodded. She spared a triumphant smirk over at the purple haired teenager.
“Of course. Come with me, Emiya-san.” Caster graciously gestured for the brown haired woman to moved away with her. Taiga gave Ilya a small thumbs up when Caster's back was turned before she followed after.
“See? Better to distract with honey.” Ilya grinned at Sakura and Saver. Both of the other females merely grinned in return.
*****
Zouken gazed angrily outwards on the field of battle through hundreds of little and large creatures. The pathetic wretches were bringing greater and greater force to bear against his familiars thanks to the maddened struggle between his worthless grandson and half of his crest worm hive.
He gestured and unleashed another swarm of his own personal familiars in clouds of insects. These would serve as a small enough distraction along with the monsters that had been shaped out of the humans that fell to the original swarm of familiars.
Meanwhile, he turned towards the massive worm he had finished assembling. Gravedigger had finally gathered the souls throughout the city that had fallen along with plenty of ambient prana from Angra Mainyu's awakening. With so much power in one spot, the air was heady and moist.
“It's perfect!” The fifty year old man stooped a bit over his cane as he activated his magic circuits. The earth beneath them began to pulse as wraiths were sucked up into the massive incubator he had created. The massive beast let out a roar as the rotten wall of flesh in front of Zouken's eyes began to twist and warp.
Zouken grinned with yellowing teeth as his skin began to gray with his usage of his magic.
A horde of ravenous and chittering insects crafted of shadow swarmed, flew, and stalked out of the base of the two story tall monster as he saw the heroes of old press further into his army. That was fine... those were the older models anyway.
Zouken straightened his back with a wet series of pops as he turned to face the battlefield. With a mere thought, he began to cast his final spell to summon the Grail. Pieces of the Gravedigger behind him began to dissolve as the power of Angra Mainyu began to manifest. Dark spots rose from the dead earth beneath him as the temperature began to increase.
“Ahahaha!” The old man shrill laughed as he held his left arm out to the side. A section of his forearm, still maintaining thick flesh, bloodily began to separate with wet tearing jerks. The old man continued to laugh as the flesh transmuted into several ancient worms he had kept on his person for years as they began to crawl up towards his hand as blood flowed down to the ground.
Within moments, a large chunk of meat reformed in his hand, created when he had fed Byakuya and Kariya to his worms ages ago. The bloody chunk of meat ignited as he tossed it backwards with a negligent throw.
Gravedigger ignited with a shriek of joy as its body ignited. Zouken threw his arms wide to encompass the battlefield as he began to chant the final part of the spell. With a sacrifice of the fat of your own flesh and blood and these words he now spoke, the Witch of Endor had tapped into the concept of Necromancy. To the point of being remembered for it for years to come in the Church's scripture.
Zouken guided the concept into the flesh of his undead creation as the power of Angra Mainyu began to be absorbed into the Goliath. The world around the two abominations began to waver and twist as a massive tear began to form high above Gravedigger's head.
'Come before me, Witch of the Absolute! Come and grant me the immortal body of God!' Zouken drew in the prana to ignite the ceremony.
*****
Both Archer and Lancer were breathing heavily as they sat down in the midst of a bloody ring of gore. The enemies that had challenged them had been reduced to nothing more than raw meat. Yet both Heroic Spirits were sharing similar wounds as large pieces of their armor were worn away, exposing bloody flesh.
Archer trembled a bit as he leaned his head up against the hawk like bow wielded by the ancient Counter Guardian. The surface of the weapon was stained with the blood of humanity's enemies. The blood had corroded the tips of the wings, turning them gold and making the bow a heavy weight for the weakened Servant to bear.
Archer was still amazed each and every time he drew a Noble Phantasm. It was truly a humbling experience to know what heroes had to hold on their backs. “You holding up, Lancer?” The white haired man called to the man that was holding him up with his back.
“Of course.” Lancer happily replied. The handicap had driven the Heroic Spirit to exhaustion, but it had been more than enough to let him show the world he could work past his boundaries as a spirit. To show them the mete of a warrior.
“Ahaha!” A screeching laugh echoed in the bloody field as a shrieking blast of wind tore in from the side. Fortunately for Archer's temple, Lancer had caught a peek of it from the side of his vision. His protection from arrows automatically brought Gae Bolg to bear in a burst of speed.
The air cracked as the crimson spear blocked and repelled a figure sheathed in darkness. It let out a shriek of feminine outrage as it was repelled into the gloom of the dark park, and caused both Servants to leap to their feet as another flickering shadow erupted out from behind them with another mad laugh.
Both Archer and Lancer hit the dirt in a roll as a third clipped a few blue hairs from Lancer's head off in their passage. Even as they tried to compose themselves, monstrously warped centipedes and beetles tore out from beneath the earth as grasshoppers with scythe like forearms and rail thin carapaces descended from above.
Archer brought up Hou I's crimson bow to parry the strike from the insect. The beast brought its oval head down to try and shatter his skull with the spiked top of its face. The white haired man shifted to the side as one of its multifaceted eyes glared at him with alien intelligence. It let out a hiss, but Archer refused to allow it to rip his neck out.
With a shout, he shoved the insect backwards. The creature's joints merely ...flexed beneath the Servant's strength as the grass hopper like legs swiveled with the shove as it leapt backwards and casually swung at him. Its serrated blades clashed with the Hou I's bow as the white haired man raised it to block. Sparks of light were released from the clash as Archer awkwardly attempted to line up a shot and fired straight at the beast's torso. The insect let out an angry hiss as it pivoted its other bladed limb on its wrist. The limb, now reduced to burning cinders, was slashed off by the other limb as the beast hopped back and eyed Archer warily.
The white haired man felt a rumble from below moments before he leapt away to clear out the spot he had been standing on. A large beetle with golden brown armor and three times his size let out a screech as it snapped sharp mandibles at him before charging at him.
“Maybe heroes never get a chance to consider how heavy their duties are...” Archer muttered as he readied Hou I.
*****
Lancer saw a flash of silver light explode behind him along with a roar of fury. Well, good to see that the idiot was alive, then. He was furiously batting aside charging strikes from above, below, and his left and right sides with super fast flicks of his spear as he was forced away from Archer.
Each was individually half the size of Lancer's arm, wreathed in shadow with coiling spikes tightly wrapped around a core of madness. Or at least that's what it seemed like as playful laughter bubbled up each time he repelled a strike to a vital.
“Damn persistent, aren't you?!” One of the imps madly laughed as she dove towards him. Each of the passes by these black stakes ripped more and more prana from him as they harried him back. At this rate, he'd have to start tapping into his reserves...
A wild grin crossed his sharp teeth at that.
Lancer's body flickered as the ground below his feet compressed as he pressed an opening. One of the four imps let out a shriek of pain as his demonic spear stabbed out and impaled the creature on the weapon. The shadows dispersed to show a deformed creature with a nude, malnourished frame. Its skin was yellowish with spots of greenish discoloration from his earlier blows. Its limbs were bone like in thickness and it possessed a large, bulbous head.
Parts of the creature's skull inflated and deflated visibly before Lancer's eyes as the creature he had impaled shakily lifted stick like arms and embraced the weapon with trembling fingers. A reedy laugh wheezed out of the figure as it slumped dead.
Lancer flicked his spear and sent the creature flying off the tip of his weapon.
The remaining three let out a wail of fury as they buzzed close to the spearsman as he flowed from one desperate motion to the next. Gae Bolg was a red blur around his figure as he spun and rolled out of the way of the creature's attacks.
'This is starting to get fun!' The Irish hero grinned. The hero was finally able to press back the flying creatures as he caught their measure after several minutes, but he suddenly felt an ill premonition through his connection with Bazette.
“Cover me!” Lancer shouted. Both he and Archer were being pressed back towards the rest of the group, if the sounds of the firearms and feel of prana being expended were correct. He could feel Bazette's life begin to fade on him.
“Alright!” Archer replied as he spun to guard Lancer's back. Three arrows were released by the hero with the same motion as the skills of Hou I were swiftly being modified for the white haired man's style.
'What did you do to get yourself into so much trouble, Master?' The blue haired man wondered, but swiftly tapped into his final ability.
“Disengage!” One of three miracles owed Lancer to him by Morrígan boomed across the heavens.
*****
The motions of the undead around them began growing sloppy and weak. Their group seemed perfectly happy with that, though. Ilya could see the confidence begin to return to the eyes of the yakuza she was assisting. The group powered ahead as one as Ilya swiftly and efficiently put new ventilation into the few undead that still dared challenge them.
They could almost see the flashes of light and explosions of Archer and Lancer's fights now.
“Ilya!” One of the yakuza shouted. The silver haired girl spun to face the hired help. She was hurriedly trying to reload as two clawed women charged at her with shrieks. The albino breathed out and readied her rifle.
It let out a roar as one of her father's Origin Bullets flew out towards them. She simultaneously activated her magic circuits as she invoked her wishcraft abilities. A string of possibilities surged to life in front of her eyes as numbers and diagrams flooded her vision.
Ilya threw her considerable odic prana behind the most ridiculous of the patterns, of course. The bullet flared as it was filled with that potential as it soared towards its target.
The first target's skull gained a large, rapidly decaying, hole in the front of the skull. Ilya's magecraft triggered as probabilities altered in return for a healthy chunk of her energy. In return for the sacrifice, the worms' keeping her target together decided just then to try and reinforce the body in a desperate attempt to stay alive.
All this did, now that the bullet was inside the skull, was make the rest of the skull strong enough to allow the bullet to bounce around and tear up the rest of the brain. With the destruction of the brain, the worm's control faded just as the bullet bounced off the right side of the witch's skull. The bullet lanced outwards from the left side of the skull...right into the side of the second witch's skull.
In a matter of seconds, both females were down on the ground. Their brains, reduced to the consistency of pudding, pouring out of their ruined skulls.
“Thank you, ma'am!” The yakuza nodded to her, now reloaded as she rejoined the fray.
Ilya groaned as her vision briefly dimmed. She fled back from the vanguard lines as she began to have her magic circuits hungrily devour the purified mana that Rider was generating in her wake. Taiga and Rider both looked at her worriedly as Ilya merely shook her head.
“I'm fine. I just need a pick me up.”
“Here, stay next to Rider. I'll move upwards next.” Taiga gently pulled the silver haired teenager back to guard the purple haired Servant. “You can rest for a bit.”
“I'm not a child...”
“And that just makes me want to keep you here more. Stay. Here.” Taiga ran her hand along Ilya's hair gently as she walked past her. Ilya frowned back at her mother's back.
“She doesn't want you to overdo it.” Rider spoke up. Her eyes looked earnestly over at Ilya's own red eyes. The bit of annoyance she was holding towards Taiga faded.
“Well, I suppose you're right.” Ilya gave an overblown sigh for effect. Rider gave her a tiny grin. “So, what do you think is going to happen after we drive these things out?” Ilya glanced over at the Servant and reluctantly nodded as she moved next to her as their caravan kept pressing ahead.
'They're going down too easily.' The silver haired girl thought.
“It's not going to be that easy.” Rider's words made the albino look up in surprise. The purple haired teenager had a grim smile on her face. “The evil inside these bodies is fading away. But it never just vanishes. It always goes somewhere else...”
“What do you mean?” Ilya began, but her question was answered as a monstrous beetle exploded outwards in front of her and Rider. The albino instinctively wrapped her arms around the other teenager and pulled them out of reach.
“I'll have you, Divine Spirit!” An old man's voice boomed from within the beetle as it charged at them.
Mad laughter rang out from around them as their group was swarmed from the shadows by super fast devils. Several more monstrously large insects, each warped in its own unique way, swarmed them as the undead limply collapsed onto the ground.
“I don't think so!” Bazette's voice shouted as the woman was suddenly in between them and the ten foot tall beetle. Its pincers and the woman's arms met in a titanic struggle as the gloves and sleeves of her outfit flared with runic marks.
“Go!” She called back towards Ilya and Rider. Both teenagers began to dash away as Bazette was flung upwards by the beetle's pincers. The gleaming horn on its head rose to impale the maroon haired woman on the way down...
“Trofa!” Only to vanish as it and the upper half of the body of the creature were suddenly moved back a foot. Bazette grimaced as she was splashed with inchor, but didn't protest as she landed with a splash in between the two segments of the body.
Strangely enough, there seemed to be no organs at all, just a thick black gel that was freely pouring out of the two halves of the creature onto the ground.
Caster briefly gave the three woman a glance before spinning off to join the fighting besides Rin and Sakura, who were both flinging lances of pure white light at the larger beasts as Kuzuki and Taiga aided the yakuza with the smaller fliers.
“Whew, are you two alright?” Bazette asked Rider and Ilya. Both of them gave the woman shaky nods at how suddenly their fortune had turned around. The woman tried to offer both of them a reassuring smile as she opened her mouth.
“...not yet.” To get interrupted by the elderly voice again. Both halves of the beetle glowed before thick streams of darkness shot outwards to try and reconnect the two pieces of the monster.
“Aah!” Bazette yelled as they slapped together over her head. Before anyone could react, the two halves slammed back together, trapping the maroon haired woman within. The beast let out a triumphant roar as it tore after the two.
“Bazette!” Rider screamed, but Ilya was already grabbing the other teenager's hand and making an all out dash. She tried ignoring the fallen yakuza that had strange and formed looking organic looking spikes stabbed into their vitals as they flew away from the beast through the opening in their defensive ring. The trees flew past them as new menaces rose in the shadows around them.
“Why is that motherfucking bug calling you a Divine Spirit?!” Ilya demanded as they vaulted over a former behemoth corpse. The beetle on their tail merely tore through it, sending rotten flesh and worms flying around.
“The god powering this night's horrors is my direct opposite.” Rider quickly began to explain. She glanced back at the giant knocking over trees. They could faintly hear shocked cries from their friends. “I'm a Saver. He must be trying to capture me using that familiar so he doesn't have to worry about my power anymore.”
“Then Bazette is still alive in there?” Ilya fairly begged.
“Yes, but not for long. That corruption is All of Humanity's Evils. We can't let her stay in there too long.” The now revealed Saver explained. The beast behind them let out a roar that shook the earth. In response, shadowy spears began to erupt out of the ground and begin to chase them.
Both teenagers felt the pit of their stomachs drop as they glanced back. Unlike the familiar, these manifestations moved at incredible speeds, easily outpacing them as they swiftly caught up. Ilya felt Saver wrench her hand out of the albino's own. “Saver?!”
The purple haired woman dove into the path of the spears. Light and darkness clashed as the woman's toga, which had remained pristine and whole all night, flared with a divine light as the clearing was set alight. A rippling wall of force formed in front of Saver as she pulled on her abilities to protect humanity. The shadowy spears, her direct contrast, slowly began to wobble as their approach was put to a jarring stop.
Yet the spears didn't vanish, and they slowly began to tear through the wall of force. Saver gagged as deep rips in her own body formed in response to the attack on her barrier. But she held firm as she remained standing in front of Ilya.
“What are you doing?!” The albino demanded.
“M-my barrier...can't hold entirely...” Saver explained as her body jerked as another spear pierced through the veil she was holding upwards. “You...you're not entirely human, are you?”
Ilya felt a chill run down her spine.
“Hahah! So you're the representative of Einzbern?” The elderly man screeched joyfully. “Thank you very much for your assistance then! I'll make sure to grant you a peaceful rest once I capture this pest.”
Saver glanced back at Ilya. “Run!” She was forced back a step as the beetle pressed forwards.
“But...” Ilya moved a step towards Saver, but the familiar let out a roar of triumph as several black spears tore through the barrier at once.
The purple haired woman shrieked in agony as she collapsed to her knees, causing one of the nearest spears to slice across her face.
“Saver!”
“...your origin doesn't matter to me.” Saver glanced back. A large gouge ran down along her forehead and across her nose. Blood stained her cherry lips as she offered Ilya a shaky smile. “What matters to me is that you're a good person.” She shakily breathed out as she looked on the verge of collapse. “Just...protect Sakura.”
The beetle roared as it reared back on six needle like legs for the final push.
'Goodbye, everyone.' Saver's vision began to go black as she felt her barrier began to collapse.
“Disengage!” Lancer's voice boomed across the heavens.
Moments later, an inchor covered woman materialized high in the skies above the beetle. Parts of her outfit had seemingly torn completely off her body, including the three runes on her exposed arm. One of which brightly flared before vanishing completely away.
“Less talking, and more shutting the hell up!” Bazette roared as she descended like a meteor. Both of her arms slammed up against the top of the beetle's skull. She felt a few bones shatter, but in return she completely shattered the exoskeleton on the front of its head.
'It's...up to you now, kid.' Bazette thought as her vision grayed out as she slammed into the ground away from the familiar.
Ilya instinctively swung her rifle up and to bear as the familiar shrieked in pain. Its claws swung helplessly at its head, where it ruined eyes were bleeding dark fluid. Her circuits flared as she unleashed her wishcraft for an assured kill.
"The movie is over, Hannibal.” Ilya fired. The bullet flared as it pierced through Saver's barrier, gaining even more luminosity as it swung upwards and pierced into the interior of the beast through the opening Bazette had opened.
The beetle let out one more cry as its exoskeleton was pierced from within by countless rays of light. It woodenly came crashing down onto the ground into several chalk gray pieces.
Ilya and Saver both shakily looked on, but both of them helplessly collapsed to the ground. Saver was rendered completely paralyzed as she struggled to refill her prana reserves from Sakura. This weakening led to her protection falling, and Ilya paid for it by been rendered unconscious as the corpse of the beast ripped the last bit of prana out of her system.
*****
'Good, she has enough magic circuits to make this work.' Zouken marveled at the ability of the Einzbern girl's control over her sorcery trait. A massive spider, large enough to carry two adults, softly landed on the ground near the three women that had destroyed his beetle.
The beast he commanded chittered as it began to wrap up both the Divine Spirit and the Einzbern girl in its cocoon. The woman was dismissed as a nonthreatening for now. She had her prana ripped away from her just as the silver haired teenager had, and wouldn't be up for a while.
“Stop right there!” Zouken immediately switched his vision to one of the remaining infected crows in the area. A brown haired woman and a black haired man in glasses were both approaching his spider familiar.
The woman clenched onto a bloody katana while the man merely raised his fists. Both were heavily wounded, but their eyes showed their clear intent to slaughter his familiar.
“Hahah...shouldn't you be with the others?” Zouken wondered. His senses showed them as mere humans. Not a single magic circuit existed within the two. “The protection granted to you by the Divine Spirit is gone. The reinforcement by the Witch is weakened with distance.”
He called another familiar.
From within the shade of his fallen beetle, a segmented centipede with a jet black carapace and pincers as large as the man's torso manifested. Its body was ten foot long, and once it reared back, it showed it was as tall as a man.
The two adults tensed as they recognized this type of demon. Its speed had been enough to shatter their defensive line in the first place.
“Why are you doing this?” The woman demanded.
“Emiya...some people are just monsters.” The man replied as he shifted his glasses with a single finger.
“Hoo...and who might you be to judge me?” Zouken amusedly wondered.
“Not a judgment. A simple comparison.” The man replied with a light shrug. “From one monster to the next.”
“Souichirou, let's finish this off. We need to get them back to safety.” Emiya drew her blade in front of her.
“Haa...then let's see what you modern humans can do!” Zouken roared as he directed his familiar to charge at the two.
His centipede charged straight at them on multitude of legs. The clearing filled with the sound of its clicking limbs as both Emiya and Souichirou split apart. Emiya's sword flashed in the darkness, drawing pained hisses from the beast and splashes of corrupted blood.
The beast reared back, but Souichirou was there, and hammering vicious blows along its soft underbelly with loud cracks. The force sent the beast curling backwards back on itself as its legs desperately wiggled.
In those moments until it righted itself, both Emiya and Souichirou were blurs as they slashed and shattered several of the legs of the monster.
'Useless beast! Assuming Direct Control!' Zouken angrily swapped his vision from the crow above in the tree branches down into the centipede itself. For a brief moment, his vision went dark as he swapped into the beast down below.
He willed his familiar's tail to swing out at Emiya, but Souichirou was there. His hands slammed the tail out of course long enough for Emiya to rush in and cleave the barbs and that segment of the beast clear off with one swing.
“How?!” The centipede body staggered away as it flashed its body around in a high speed turn to throw the two humans away.
“We're not strong!” Emiya admitted as she staggered to her feet with Souichirou's help. “But humans have been working together to take down horrors like this for years.”
“...you're not taking my student.” Souichirou simply replied.
“I'll kill you bo...” Zouken began, only for his familiar's body to shred apart under his control as an explosive went off directly in front of the front of the centipede.
“We also cheat. A lot!” Emiya sing-songed as she swing the pin for a grenade around in her empty hand.
Zouken's rage was nearly absolute as his consciousness was shoved out of his centipede familiar. Yet his hand was stayed as the battle had bought enough time to tie up both of his targets as his mind flashed over towards the spider as it loaded both teenagers onto its back.
“No you don't!” Emiya shouted as she tore off across the clearing towards Zouken.
“In death, my familiars will still strike you down!” Zouken laughed as he triggered the power of Angra Mainyu within the centipede. The half shredded body swelled up before exploding outwards. The force was enough to sent a segment of the beast's body flying straight to blindside Emiya.
Its surface gleamed as spikes erupted out of it.
“Emiya, get down!” Souichirou shot ahead with all the strength in his legs.
A loud, wet crack echoed in the night.
*****
Last edited by VelspertheCat; June 2nd, 2011 at 12:03 PM.
You...reinforced Taiga?
MY MONEY! MY SOUL! MY LIFE! TAKE IT! IT'S YOURS!
On another note: I was wondering when Zouken would end up chanelling Harbinger.
The deadliest catch. Did you think she was just shooting at them? Pfft. She goes in swinging.
Awesome screenname, first of all. Sadly, he doesn't get to debase Taiga and Kuzuki in this bit. Taiga has him raging too much.
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