Magical Vanguard Shirou
Emiya (I)
This is a dream of the future.
Kneeling in a hill, swords impaling his body, there is a man. All around him are the corpses of other men, their warm blood having already grown cold and dry. Even though the kneeling man is being impaled by all these swords, he's still alive.
--But, what does he even have a life left for?
He fought for what he thought was right. A beautiful ideal which could create a Utopia, in which he could save everyone. The man tried to save everything in his sight.
--But, that ideal was unreachable.
To save a hundred, he had to kill one. To save a thousand, ten were fell. Those he saved rewarded him with smiles and happiness. Those he made suffer looked at him with hatred and disgust.
--In the end, those ideals which he fought for betrayed him.
One of the people he had saved betrayed him, and because of him it was that the man was kneeling in this hill of swords.
--Yet, he still wanted to save everyone.
In order to save a hundred or so people, he made a pact with the world itself, submitting his soul to it, so that he would fight for all of eternity.
--And the man wonders, then. Was it a mistake...?
Shirou's eyes slowly open, as he becomes aware of his surroundings. Feeling the familiar sheets of his futon, he sighs. Slowly, he stands up-
And freezes. For some reason, his right arm feels hot. Looking to his right, he blinks. His arm is wrapped in a mysterious red cloth. He moves to unwrap it-
"I wouldn't do that, Emiya Shirou." A voice tells him. His head snaps up.
There, lying back on the door that connects his room to the rest of the Emiya household, is Rin's Servant, Archer.
Shirou's mind flashes back to that dream he had. Why does this man look so much like...?
"What do you mean, Archer?" Asks Shirou, glaring at the knight in red.
Said knight only sighs. "--Don't you remember?" Starts the Servant. "Your arm has been possessed by something."
"--'Something'?" Shirou's mind recollects the moment in which he used that strange, cursed blade. And his eyes widen, as he begins to understand what it is, his mind automatically tracing the blade's origins.
A weapon forged by a terrible curse, created by a Divine will through the evil deeds and desires of humanity...
Archer smirks. "-So, you know what it is now, then?" His face then turns serious. "Before you meet anyone else," He exits the room. "Come with me." He gestures at Shirou to come over.
Shirou narrows his eyes, but follows the knight anyway.
Standing in the Emiya courtyard, beads of sweat run through Shirou's forehead. The air seems to be still, as while he followed Archer, no one appeared in the way of the two. It makes him wonder where everyone is.
He stops walking.
With his back facing the boy, Archer sighs. "You had to do it, didn't you?"
Shirou blinks. "...What?"
Archer slowly turns around. His arm points at Shirou's right arm, wrapped around in red cloak. Shirou steps back, grabbing at the red cloak.
"-Fool." Archer's eyes narrow. "By trying to save everyone, you almost ended up becoming a monster."
Shirou's eyes widen. "...That's not true!" He tries to deny Archer's words. "Even with this, I wouldn't have become a monster!" He shouts fervently.
"Can you really say that for certain you wouldn't have become that which you hate the most?" Archer continues.
Shirou once again shakes his head.
Archer growls. "...Be that as it may..." He points once again at the arm. "That thing wrapped around your arm is the Shroud of Martin. It will protect you from that curse-" At this, his voice sharpens. "-until you take it off."
Shirou's eyes quickly look at the arm wrapped in red cloth, then back at Archer. "...What are you trying to say, Archer?"
Archer smirks. "It's simple. If you take that thing off..." His smirk turns cynical. "-You should be ready to kill."
Shirou's eyes widen.
"You see, taking that off will mean that that ideal of yours of saving everyone, is unreachable for you." Archer's grey eyes glare into the younger boy. "-So, are you going that cloth off?"
"Of course not!" If taking off that cloth meant that he'd lose his ideal, then there's no way he'd take it off. Still-! "Why are you saying that?" Shirou's voice sharpens.
"The curse will consume you." Archer answers. "-Even if your mind and body withstands it and controls it, your naive ideal will eventually be twisted along with your soul." Archer steps forward.
"--That's...!" Shirou starts, but he does not know how to answer. He felt the curse only for moments back then, and it definitely took a toll on him. "...Where are you trying to get at, Archer?"
Archer raises an eyebrow, seeing that his counterpart is trying to get straight to the point. "--Emiya Shirou. I'm asking you-" Kanshou and Bakuya appear on his hands. "-can you save everyone without taking off that cloth?"
Shirou's eyes widen. His form shifts out of instinct, and his Vanguard form activates. His left arm is wrapped in blue cloth and white armor, along with the rest of his torso and limbs.
--He doesn't feel the inside of his right arm shift.
But that is because it had never returned to normal.
Turning his mind back to the situation at hand, Shirou replies. "--I don't know." He answers truthfully. But, just as Archer lets down his guard... "But... I'll definitely try!!!"
Shirou's voice comes back with a vengeance.
Archer grits his teeth. This boy... even with such a handicap--! 'At this rate, you'll end up becoming me. I... won't allow that!'
--Still, this time, things are different.
"-Prove it to me."
--He will not hold back.
"-Prove to me how much you believe..."
--He will come at himself with the full intent of killing him...!
"...in your foolish ideals!"
CLICK.
The lights of the Emiya household turn off simultaneously.
And he leaps. With Kanshou and Bakuya at his sides, he flies at Shirou.
Shirou braces himself, as he begins to trace the swords Archer has in his hand-
--What.
--Why is his right hand not tracing...!?
Archer's swords are blocked by a single black sword. Shirou remains in place, eyes wide.
"I am the bone of my sword."
Archer ignores Shirou's reaction, and jumps over him, turning around to strike at his right side---!
CRASH!
Archer's blades slash through Shirou's side, knocking him away as splinters of metal explode from his torso.
Shirou recovers, standing back up. '--If I can't project Kanshou and Bakuya, then...!' Dropping Kanshou, Berserker's Axe Sword appears in his left hand in a burst of prana.
"Archer...!" Shirou dashes at the Red Knight, Axe Sword at the ready.
"Steel is my body and Fire is my blood."
CLASH!
Shirou's Axe Sword meets another Axe Sword, both knights holding their weapons with two hands.
Shirou grits his teeth, as he continues to attack, imitating Berserker's strength. However, his blows are matched by strength equal to his.
"I have created over a thousand blades."
Smashing his knee against Shirou's gut, forcing the blue knight to back away, Archer swipes at him with Berserker's Axe Sword.
Shirou rolls backwards, and jumps, performing a backflip and landing heavily on the ground.
"Unknown to Death,"
Archer starts pouring prana into the Axe Sword. He jumps at Shirou, and starts getting increasingly faster as he closes the distance between them---!
"Nor known to life."
Shirou also focuses prana into the blade made of rock, and moves at equally fast speeds towards Archer---!
"Have withstood pain to create many weapons."
SLA-SLA-SLA-SLA-SLA-SLA-SLA-SLA-SLASH!
Nine times in the span of a split second, their Axe Swords clash. The ground buckles over the massive strength being applied to it, as the earth erupts from the ground in the form of boulders of dirt.
But then...
"Yet those hands will never hold anything."
Archer projects a second Axe Sword with his right hand, and swings it down...!
SLA-SLA-SLA-SLA-SLA-SLA-SLA-SLA-SLASH!
Shirou's body is knocked away, various places of his torso, legs, and left arm being torn apart by monstrous swings at unbelievable speed.
"So as I pray--"
Shirou shakily stands up, his body starting to recover immediately, minuscule swords once again covering his wounds. Yet, as he prepares to come at Archer again...!
"Unlimited Blade Works."
Fire spreads.
It covers the distant horizon, forming a circle of fire in the distance, which can be clearly seen from where Shirou is.
In the sky, numerous gears spin, the clockwork sky endlessly moving behind a dusty colour.
The barren earth is full of swords, of many sizes and shapes, all of them covering the world that is Unlimited Blade Works.
Each and everyone of the blades flash through Shirou's mind, and he's somehow able to understand them instantly.
Shirou stands up, and looks at Archer, who has his eyes closed.
"--This is the culmination of our works, Emiya Shirou." Archer glares at the boy. "Do you see? In this world, we do not need to find strength in order to defeat our enemies- we make it. This is the future that awaits Emiya Shirou." His voice sharpens. "That awaits us."
--And then, Shirou understands. Who this man is, and just what he means.
"You're... me." Shirou gasps out.
"-Enough of that." Archer extends his now empty right arm at Shirou. "-Emiya Shirou..."
And from the air, dozens of swords appear in a burst of prana, and are fired at the blue knight.
"...Drown in those ideals of yours!!!"
Shirou runs to the side as swords are impaled on the ground besides him. He continues trying to outrun the swords being fired at him like a machine gun, but they slowly start to graze him. One of them is buried on his left shoulder. Wincing, Shirou throws it out using his inner blades. More of them start slashing into his limbs, and Shirou starts batting them away with Berserker's Axe Sword.
Jumping to the side of another barrage, and leaping to the left, Shirou turns to run towards Archer, but--!
BOOOOOOOOOM!
There is a flash of light, as his entire left arm is destroyed by an arrow of light, melting part of his left side.
"AUGH!!!" Shirou kneels, just as many blades impale his back, chest, and legs. He falls to the ground, wincing.
"Do you see, Emiya Shirou?" Archer smirks. "Those ideals of yours will never be accomplished, no matter how powerful you are. -You cannot save a hundred without killing one. To rescue a thousand, ten must suffer." He starts walking towards Shirou. "Do you understand-"
"...ot a mistake..."
The words make Archer stop. "...What did you say?"
"It's..." Shirou slowly, shakily, gets up from his kneeling form. "...not..." Slowly, the swords are pulled out from his body, as his missing left arm is reconstructed into a bladed, clawed arm. "...a mistake!" And he stands up, and runs at Archer.
"...Emiya Shirou...!" Archer fires another wave of swords at the blue knight. 'This time, I'll really kill you...!'
CLASH!!!
From Shirou's body, hundreds of silver blades erupt, knocking the swords away. Spiking out of his armor, they begins to retract as he continues running.
Archer takes out his bow again, Caladbolg II instantly appearing in the bow. He aims at Shirou, floods the drill-like sword with prana, and fires it at the boy---!
Smashing his left arm against the ground with a burst of prana, Shirou is released into the air just before the arrow of light tears through everything on its path.
"--What!?" Archer's eyes widen. Impossible. To dodge Caladbolg, it should be...!
"--IT'S NOT A MISTAKE!!!" From the air, Shirou descends, the Sword of Assured Victory, Caliburn, appearing on his left hand. He swings the ornate sword against Archer as it shines with a golden light.
BOOOOOOOOM!!!
In a flash of golden light, two Caliburns meet. The magic energy released from the two weapons destroys the surrounding area, as the two knights refuse to buckle, Shirou's legs falling mightily on the ground as the clash of blades continues.
CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!
The two magical swords clash against each other, The bursts of energy starting to make Archer fall back.
--Yet, Shirou presses on.
He does not hesitate, he does not feel fatigue, he does not feel fear.
--He only needs to prove the man in front of him that his ideal...
Deciding to focus fully on the clash of swords, Archer stops maintaining the Reality Marble, as the world returns to display the Emiya Household.
"IT'S NOT A MISTAKE---!" With a final swing, both Caliburns are swung away from their users, and they jump back a few meters, ready for the final clash...!
Archer grits his teeth. Kanshou and Bakuya once again appear on his hands, while Shirou traces both on one hand, tossing Bakuya to his right hand.
'I'll end this now---!' Thinks Archer, aiming to use his most trusted blades to deal the finishing strike...!
"Spirit and technique, flawless and firm-" Archer throws the pair of swords at Shirou, the blades spinning much like boomerangs...!
FWOOSH!
There is a flash of brown, as a gigantic Axe Sword smashes Kanshou and Bakuya to the ground, the blades shattering under the immense power of the being wielding the Axe Sword.
*There is no soundtrack epic enough I know to describe the following scene*
"Master, I have stopped them." A deep voice rings out. Wearing a pair of thick, huge leather boots and gigantic brown pants, Berserker hefts the Axe Sword behind his bare shoulders, his long hair being held in a ponytail flowing with the wind.
'B-Berserker!?' EMIYA and Emiya's eyes widen.
"Fuh-! Onii-chan, did you get into trouble while we were missing?" Said a voice. Shirou turned to stare at the white-haired girl dressed in purple smirking at him.
"Ilya!?" Shirou blinks. "What happened to Berserker?" He looks at the giant.
"My name is Hercules, Emiya Shirou." The giant answers, his golden and red eyes shining, and somehow, Shirou doesn't feel unnerved by the huge giant's stare.
"It's a long story, Onii-chan." Answers Ilya, waving her hand at the boy. "Now..." Ilya frowns looking at someone behind her. "Why don't you try to better control your Servant, Rin?"
Archer stands up, and then shudders as he feels a dark prescence glare at him. He slowly turns around. "Uh, R-Rin...?"
And, just as he expected, his Master was glaring at him, her left eye twitching. "Pray tell, Archer..." Rin growls. "Did I not tell you to take care of Emiya-kun while I and Ilya went outside?"
Archer gulps, just as Rin advances towards him, smiling, and pulls at his ear. Hard.
*What follows next cannot be written as it would be too inhumane, even for a 18+ game*
Shirou winces at the carnage his counterpart proceeds to suffer under the hands of his acquaintance.
"Whoa," Ilya blinks. "I didn't even know you could punish people like that...!" Ilya stares at the scene, awed.
Shirou cannot help but hold back a shudder.
Leave it to Rin to ruin Archer's GAR.
Originally Posted by mangafreak7793
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