“We may not have another chance to catch them like this. We should stop them before they escape.”
Assassin and Maiya both agreed with Sakura. If they allowed Rider and his Master to escape it would be the start of another long search, something neither of them wished to go through again.
“Assassin go and disable their vehicle and then distract the enemy Servant at all costs. Maiya will go for the target while I distract the enemy Master.”
It was a wise plan, Sakura was a skilled magus and an excellent shot with her pistol so she doubted there was anything the enemy Master could do that would be of any surprise to her.
“If that is your command Master I will see it through.”
Assassin was still trailing the enemy car in the distance, he only needed to wait for the perfect moment to strike. Though Rider was still inside the vehicle moving at rapid speeds it would be easy enough for Assassin to take the vehicle out after which the Servant would be next.
With their plan set out they immediately set forth to put it into action.
************************************************** ********
Rider was ready to get home back to the old man. He was curious to figure out who the homunculus they had found was. Why did she so closely resemble his own Master?
It would only little longer till they returned to the Matou Mansion, as Rider continued to ponder these thoughts an explosion rocketed his car.
“Woah! What the hell just happened!?”
Alarm bells began to ring in the Servant’s head, the presence of another Servant had just appeared seemingly out of nowhere forcing Rider to slam on the breaks as the car spun out of control.
The first step of the plan, disable the car. With four carefully timed dirks to each wheel the tires were popped forcing the car to a halt. The action went off without a hitch and with that it was time for the next phase to begin.
A fifth dirk launched straight at the driverside window and aimed at Rider’s head easily shattered the glass but before it could make its mark Rider caught it with his outstretched hand. With a mighty kick he sent the driver side door flying materializing a brown and red lance that smoked with a red hot heat on the tip.
“Coward of a Servant! Show yourself Assassin! So that we may fight like knights!”
A moment passed in silence as neither of them made a move. It was a moment that seemed like it would last forever.
Assassin was the first to break it, three well aimed dirks for Rider’s vitals as Assassin’s form retreated into the nearby alley of a residence.
Rider was not going to take this, Assassins were a tricky bunch appearing and disappearing into the shadows before you could even get a glimpse of them. With his lance Rider easily deflected all three dirks with a single motion.
“You intend to take me by surprise foul Assassin?”
charging his lance Rider threw it straight into the alleyway that Assassin had hidden into, there was a huge blast of fire as the lance rematerialized into Rider’s hand but it appeared that this would not be enough to take out the dreaded Assassin as more dirks came flying in his direction as a few more into the direction of where his Master was currently sitting inside the car.
Flinging them all away Rider changed up his tactics charging towards the last location he saw of Assassin.
Staying here put both his Master and the one they found in danger and Rider would not allow this. If Assassin wanted him to chase then he would oblige, after all he truly believed that his Master would be able to handle herself should it be a diversion.
‘I will return Master, please guard your sister with all due care while I deal with this pest.’
‘Ok, sister protected.’
************************************************** ***************
Sakura’s mission was next. With Assassin distracting the Servant Sakura would take on the Master.
Though the enemies potential was completely unknown as of now she was sure it would be within her control after all if she could take on a forest of Einzbern homunculi and her own homunculi sister then there was nothing she couldn’t do.
Making sure to check her ammo she counted everything up. There were four magazines for her pistol each one holding eight rounds, including the one in the gun itself this led to a total of thirty three shorts, more than enough for anything this Master could dish out.
Additionally she held eight smaller swarms of insectoid familiars. She would use those to keep this Master distracted for as long as she could. The goal for now wasn’t to kill the enemy Master rather keep them busy so that Maiya could take out the hostage. If Sakura forced the enemy Master into a corner they might be forced to use a Command Seal or some other desperate maneuver putting the entire plan into jeopardy but that was the worst case scenario.
With those thoughts in her head Sakura began the second phase, distracting the Master.
************************************************** ******************************
Three more dirks thrown from the corner of a seemingly empty alley that were all once more deflected by Rider’s spear.
“You don’t see to give up coward of a Servant. Surely you’ve realized how futile these pathetic attempts with these daggers are pointless?”
Assassin merely responded with another round of dirks all once more reflected by Rider.
“Hmph, I tire of this fight, if you aren’t going to take it seriously then I will be forced to end it!”
A swarm of magical energy was beginning to gather as Rider pointed his red hot lance high in the sky. But before he could finish the call he was interrupted by the real appearance of Assassin, or at least his floating skull like mask.
“Orders from my Master. If you wish to duel then I am to oblige.”
Taking from his cloak to short scythes he readied himself into a stance and waited for Rider’s attack.
“Oh? So you want to fight after all? This might be more interesting then I was expecting after all!”
With his flaming lance Rider charged the Assassin who immediately jumped to the side.
It was a fight of speed and tactics. Rider with his superior stats would normally force Assassin to the defensive, but this time Assassin was prepared for a fight.
With lightning speed the flaming spear launched towards the escaping Assassin who proceeded to dodge with superhuman instinct. Rather it wasn’t instinct but foresight that allowed Assassin to close the distance in skill!
Dodging the wide swing aimed at his face Assassin swung his scythe for Rider’s shoulder only to recoil back as Rider’s glove fist aimed for his face. The two of them separated again, regaining the distance Rider took the break in combat to speak up.
“I have to admit Servant of the mask, your fighting techniques are a lot better then I would imagine that one of your caliber would have. Your skills are enough to put you on par with one of the knight classes!”
Another barrage of dirks was launched from the Assassin’s hidden hand all easily deflected by Rider yet again.
“I am not an ordinary Assassin.”
Following his barrage Assassin charged again and the two continued to clash Assassin with his dual scythes and Rider wish his flaming brown and red spear.
************************************************** ******************************
Angelita was content to sit in the car and wait for Rider’s return. She would have waited for all eternity if not for an external stimulus. A swarm of hornets rushed into the ripped out driver side door.
The homunculus was unfamiliar with the feeling of pain. Newly born into this world it took her a few second to realize that the funny sensation biting at her skin was that of a swarm of hornets stinging her in a great rage.
Though she herself did not realize the true danger of the situation her body’s defensive mechanisms switched into action and with a swarm of magical energy a torrent of magical water seethed from the woman’s body drowning out the hornets and ceasing their annoying stings.
“Pain?”
It was an odd feeling, and after thinking about it she believed that this feeling was indeed a bad one. Her instincts were warning her of something, if she continued to sit here something bad was going to happen.
Opening the passenger side door Angelita exited the car just a barrage of bullets were shot in her direction. Before she had even moved her instincts flared to life summoning all the magical energy it could muster from her body.
A swarm of magical insects flew in front of her and began to condense into a wall. It happened at such great speeds that the bullets flew straight into the newly built wall of bugs.
Against a normal wall the bullets might be slowed or at the very worst deflected but against the wall that the homunculus had just summoned the bullets were completely devoured.
The homunculus was created out of the art of consumption and absorption her magic specialized in the corrosion and two way destruction of all things because of this the wall was able to melt the bullets before they could get through at the cost of a few of the insects who fell dead to the ground.
But the homunculus was aware of none of this.
“Attack?”
Her instincts were telling her that she was under attack but her mind was having trouble imagining what an attack might be her body was busy reacting on its own.
More gunshots rang through the air but they were all absorbed and dissolved before they could ever the woman.
“Loud, noise loud.”
She wanted the noise to stop and so her body answered her prayer with an attack of its own. Like bullets of her design the insectoid wall fired off bugs at near sonic speeds towards the direction that the bullets were coming from.
There were sounds of someone running away and so curiously the homunculus decided to follow them and see what all the fuss was about.
************************************************** *******************
With the Master distracted Maiya snuck towards the car that was now wide open. It didn’t take long for her to find the girl she was looking for. Though it was supposedly a girl the one inside the car resembled a woman far more.
As Maiya snuck she found the girl sleeping gently in the back seat. Was she tired from the days events or was she being hypnotized? Maiya was unsure but she couldn’t afford to waste time. In haste she reached for the woman and took her out of the car.
She was about to return to their own car when suddenly a bloodcurdling scream could be heard in the direction that the enemy Master and Sakura had ran. It was the voice of Sakura and it sounded like she in pain. Maiya had no idea what was going on but she wasn’t about to just sit around and wait to see.
************************************************** *********************
Sakura was cursing her mistake, she had greatly underestimated the Master before her. What she thought was an innocent looking woman turned out to be one of the most dangerous magi she had even seen.
Her insectoid familiars were proving useless deflected by the enemies own bugs or water spells and her bullets were all seemingly absorbed into that strange black mass like forcefield that gently floated around in front the enemy Master.
And then she started to attack in a furious frenzy the likes Sakura had never seen before. It had taken all the reinforcing her body could do as well as a combination of her other attacks just to escape the hail of black bullet like objects that dissolved the ground around them.
If even a single one of those bullets hit Sakura was sure the damage would be severe.
Was was supposed to be merely a distraction was quickly turning into one of extreme survival. Sakura was doing all she could to duck and roll around the flying bullets but she was being quickly led into a corner.
At this rate there would be no way out for her. Firing off another round of shots she began to reload the last magazine of ammunition she had.
Another blast of magical bullets and Sakura quickly jumped to the side. Only to quickly curse her own decision, she was now trapped between some houses and with nowhere to run the wall that guarded the enemy Master quickly moved forward to trap Sakura.
Sakura had to escape, she couldn’t afford to die here. Summoning all the insects she had with her she formed them in front of her body and fired off another round of ammunition into the black wall using her own insects as a wall meant to dilute the enemy’s wall as much as possible.
If she could create such an opening she could escape and get out of there before anything else happened. This was what Sakura truly believed even as she charged straight into the black wall.
Diluted from the mass of bullets and the swarm of insects a tiny opening had formed and making sure to take this opening with all the speed she could muster Sakura charged straight into it!
It worked, at the cost of sacrificing her remaining familiars and ammunition she was able to escape the mass while only taking the slightest amount of damage. The black stuff had formed a complete wall however, a tiny amount managed to make its way onto her clothes and was quickly beginning to burn through straight towards her skin.
It was only the tiniest amount, enough for any skilled magi to heal, but the instant it touched Sakura’s skin she felt something horrid.
It was a feeling that brought about endless despair, one that devoured countries and destroyed people turning them into mindless puppets. But above all else, it was a feeling that Sakura remembered, the feeling of having her body corrupted by an endless stream of crawling insects and worms.
It was the feeling of Matou magecraft.
‘Get it out…’
Sakura fell to her knees and screamed. It was a scream that begged for it to stop even when she knew it never would. It was a scream that she thought she’d never have to experience again.
‘Get it out. Get it out. Get it out.’
Her hands ripped at the skin that had been tainted by the magic, it was already beginning to turn black as the necrosis set in but she didn’t care about that. She wanted this magic out of her body, she WOULD get this magic out of her body, no matter the cost.
‘Get it outGet it outGet it outGet it outGet it outGet it outGet it outGet it out’
A thick black goo like blood poured from her shoulder that had been hit, but she continued to pry at it. It wouldn’t go away, this feeling that she thought she’d never have to experience again, the one she had believed to be strong enough to overcome, a feeling that was buried under years and years of happiness was beginning to reemerge.
‘GETITOUTGETITOUTGETITOUTGETITOUTGETITOUTGETITOUTG ETITOUTGETITOUT’
It wouldn’t leave, why wouldn’t it leave? It continued to pry at her, to gnaw at her consciousness. She couldn’t take the strain any more. The feeling wouldn’t go away, it wouldn’t leave her. And with a final weary scream as if all the strings had been cut from her body she collapsed as her mind shut down.
************************************************** ****************
“Hey there Sakura, Uncle Kariya is going to be a little late tonight. He has some important business with Grandfather that he can’t afford to miss.”
“Does it involve the thing that will save us?”
“Ah, yes it does. But don’t worry, afterwards we can still enjoy dinner together! How does that sound, eating with your grand old Uncle Kariya?”
“Can your mouth still move?”
“Ah… Don’t worry I’ll be fine, I can still move well enough to eat dinner with my darling niece.”
“Does it hurt?”
“...”
“It does, doesn’t it?”
“I wouldn’t worry about that Sakura, a little pain isn’t enough to take our your dear old Uncle! And besides, I’ve been through way worse before. So please, don’t worry about me, you go on and rest. Leave everything to your dear Uncle Kariya…”
“...Ok…”
************************************************** ***************
“...ra”
“...kura!!!”
“Sakura!!!”
In a sudden jolt Sakura awoke with a start, throwing her body up she looked around the completely unfamiliar room.
“Sakura! Are you ok? Can you hear me?”
Illya’s voice rang loud and clear inside Sakura’s head even if that head was still fuzzy and unsure of what had just transpired.
“What… Happened?”
“Sakura, thank goodness, you’re ok! Maiya brought you back and you weren’t moving, we had no idea what happened!”
The sounds of rushing footsteps could be heard as more people entered the room, Maiya quickly followed by Kiritusugu. Assassin and Saber were nowhere to be seen.
“It’s ok Illya, I told you that Sakura would be fine, aside from some minor bruises and first degree burns her body was merely fatigued.”
Kiritsugu then turned to face Sakura. “Sakura, when Maiya found you, you were already passed out, what was the last thing you remember happening?”
It was hidden deep within Sakura’s memories shrouded in darkness. But it was not about to go away. No matter how hard she thought the memories would not surface. Rather, every time she tried to recall what had happened her head hurt more and more.
“I don’t remember… The last thing I was doing was keeping the Master of Rider busy and then I think I blacked out. Next thing I know I was here with Illya sitting by my side.”
It was a puzzling development, one that Kiritsugu was unsure of how to explain. But steeling himself as best as he could he began to tell the tale of everything that had happened after Sakura had fainted.
Maiya who had just proceeded to rescue the hostage known as Leysritt was on her way back to the escape car when she heard Sakura’s bloodcurdling scream. Sensing the danger she immediately changed course and ran to Sakura’s aid.
When she got there, she found the enemy Master standing over Sakura’s passed out body. Unsure of just what had happened Maiya reasonably assumed that the enemy Master had won their battle of magecraft.
Assassin also arrived at this time, he had temporarily fended off Rider and when he heard his Master’s screams came running to her aid.
After this multiple events happened in rapid succession. Rider had unleashed his mount, a giant boar with a grotesque body who charged at the distracted Assassin, but it was more than that. It was as if Assassin could not move at all, his body had been frozen in place by some unseen magic and unable to move he took the great tusk of the boar head on.
The boar would have likely finished him off if not for the fact that someone had called off Rider and his Master. In a flash the two of them mounted the giant boar and disappeared into the empty streets.
It was then that Maiya brought Sakura, Assassin, and Leysritt to the car and drove them to the Emiya estate.
Assassin had taken great damage but thanks to his quick survival skills had managed to survive. However, because of this he would be out of commission for at least until Friday. Maiya on the other hand was perfectly fine, and the Homunculus Leysritt was merely sleeping as if to conserve energy.
So the real anomaly was the fact that Sakura had passed out. As Kiritsugu had mentioned before her body was perfectly fine with the exception of the few scrapes and burns. No one was quite sure of just what had happened to her but regardless Sakura wanted to get up and move.
She disliked sitting around and talking with her Servant now in critical condition. But it wasn’t just that. It was this awkward feeling of sitting around next to Kiritsugu and Illya, it reminded her of old times. Back when they were a real family before all of this mess of a Grail War had started.
It wasn’t as if she hated Illya and Kiritsugu but she couldn’t bring herself to interact with them just yet. Not until this business was done. If possible she wanted to leave this house and return to her own base where she felt more comfortable.
However there was still the risk of Rider and his Master not to mention the fact that Sakura was essentially Servantless for the moment. Because of this maybe it was best to suck it up for now and ask Illya for a true alliance?
- Go back to Sakura’s home base.
- Suck it up and ask Illya for a real alliance.
- Go to a local dining establishment to calm your head first.
- Write in...
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