[FF] Grail Works, Ltd.: Fate/Anarchy (Type-Moon/Scion crossover)

[RanmaBushiko]

Chapter 31: Driving Through A Roadkill Wonderland




6:00 PM
Outskirts of Bucharest, Romania




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_HoMkkRHv8 (The Distance ~ Cake)



A loud truck, blaring music, races down the road, as its massive engines roar. Inside, the massive truck is almost roaring lyrics inside, as a new song turns on. Mordred's happily listening to the lyrics of the newest song, enjoying herself for the first time that she's ever faced the battlefield.


Behind her, Olga smiles, happily writing in Sapphire's book, about the road trip they're on. “Dear Sapphire! We're hunting for an Evil Assassin! It's just like the stories daddy read to me when I was younger! We're gonna be famous for beating an evil assassin!”


“Of course we will be, Mistress! You're with me, and Mash, and Fou, as well as Miss Saber and Lady Amaterasu!”


Fou barks, as he pulls himself out from his hiding place in the truck, far out of range to be returned to the Wolfen, then plops himself into Olga's lap. The look on his face is insisting he should being pet right now.


“Fou!”


“Fou?! What are you doing on board?!” Mash snaps fully awake, from the half relaxed state she was in, to stare at Fou. Fou just barks back, with a smug look on his face. “Foukuku!”


“You know I don't understand you normally, Fou!” Mash pouts, and folds her arms while staring at Fou. “At least be nice, please?”


Fou nods, with a smug look on his face as Olga gives him a petting rather than write in Sapphire.


Up front, Mordred's grinning in the driver's seat, her hands clenched around the wheel as she adjusts the truck. “We're heading deeper into the city, be ready for Servants back there, will you? And Fou? I wouldn't have minded if you came on without sneaking on. Just bark so I know you're on if we ever do this again, will you?!” Mordred shouts back into the truck, as she adjusts things, much to the amusement of Fou.


“Fou!”


“I suspect that's Fou saying 'Yes!', Mordred!” Mash shouts, resulting in Mordred laughing.


Amaterasu, on the other hand, is vigilant, watching carefully for dangers on the road, or other Servants. They're now in the outskirts of Bucharest, where Assassin of Black is located, and according to Erik's briefing, there's no exact clues where Assassin of Black is at, specifically.


“I can feel enemy Servants SOMEWHERE around here, Mordred. I'm just not sure exactly where.” Amaterasu speaks up, while watching carefully. “Any luck on your end?”


“Not yet! But with how insanely fast and durable this thing is...!” Mordred grins, swerving around another car that's going too slow for her taste, illusions on the truck they're in courtesy of Amaterasu ensuring the other vehicle can't recognize them so they can't be pulled over for tickets, or other mundane issues.


As the song goes into its chorus, Mordred laughs, then continues. “With how insanely fast and durable this thing is, I'm not too worried. Didn't Erik say something about it being plated with tank grade armor?”


“Mistress, please alert Saber that I can read multiple signatures to the Northeast! It appears there's several Servants in that area!”


Mordred laughs. “I heard you clearly, Sapphire. Call me Mordred, will you?” With those words, Mordred turns, as the chorus of the song restarts.


In moments, they stare at a pink haired Servant, stretching while standing off the road, his master astride a Hippogryph. In the distance, they can faintly hear, over the truck's massive and loud engine, the Servant's Master screaming at them. “No good, useless Servant! GO GET ME WATER! It's entirely TOO DAMNED HOT TO RIDE ON YOUR HIPPOGRYPH FOR THIS!”


“Oh, hell yes!” Mordred grins, and guns it at the Hippogryph, and the Master on top of it.




“Oh, hey! It's Astolfo!” Mash's eyes widen, in recognition of the friendly rider who was summoned in Chaldea.






HOOOOOOOONK


Mordred smirks, then honks the massive horn on the truck. Astolfo's eyes widen, as he jumps away from the road, but his Hippogryph has no such protections as the massive truck runs into, then through the hippogryph, and his master, in one single moment.


"Sorry, Astolfo-san! Better luck next Grail War!" Mordred laughs, as she drives off.


"What do you mean by tha... HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME?!" Astolfo screams at the truck, as it continues moving off, sheer confusion in the cross dressing boy's eyes.


"You don't remember Chaldea? Whoops! Sorry!" Mash's voice is the last thing he hears from them, before he just sits, looking at what remains of his Master, and Hippogryph, then looks down again.


“Well. She was a bit demented, anyways. Oh well, better luck next time, like they said. Still... how did they know me? Chaldea, huh...?”


With those words, Astolfo fades away.


“Miss Mordred?!” Mordred glances back, at Olga. “Yeah, Olga? And call me Mister Mordred.”


“Okay! But... why did we run over that one? That didn't seem nice...”


For a moment, Mordred slows down the truck, as she glances back using the rear view mirror. “That was one of the enemy masters, Olga. She... I vaguely remembered an alternate version of her, and she was one creepy lady who would have made you hurt Mash, and enjoyed it as you suffered through hurting your Servant.”


Olga goes still, blinking, and tilting her head. “So... she was a bad lady?”


Mordred nods. “Felt about as bad as my mother was, and considering what sort of an evil bitch Morgana could be... well. Not all people you'll meet are nice, and not all of them are willing to keep you safe, or help you. Remember that, okay Olga? A lot of the Masters of Black are either unpleasant, or on a bad team, even if they don't want to accept it. I don't remember much more than that, but...” Mordred trails off, then adjusts the truck, heading further into the city. “But there are some good people in it, too. We have to take their case one at a time. Anyone could be bad or good, you need to work to find which ones are good ones, to be friends with them. Always be strong enough to protect yourself, and those that work for you, though. That's what it means to be a leader.”


Olga blinks, then smiles. “Wow! You sure know a lot! Thank you, Mister Mordred!”


Mordred nods, then smiles back at her. “Better! I was raised male, and to be a knight, plus I have a bad relationship with women as a whole, normally. Better to just be male and not fret about it. So if you don't want to call me Mister, just call me Mordred, okay you little scamp?”


Olga nods, and smiles, her previous worries forgotten. “Okay!”


With those words, the massive truck drives on.






The Wolfen,
Nuclear Reactor 3


Erik sighs, as he studies things. “So. What exactly is the fault, Scylla?”


“Well, boss, we're not exactly sure. We're just reading failures for several nuclear rods to stay in place.”


“The same nuclear rods that we just made last year. That we swapped, once we got to this planet. The ones with no issues, whatsoever? Those rods?”


“Yeah, boss. Mysterious Heroine XX is still gearing up with the anti-radiation suit for this stuff, too. She'll be in any minute.”


“Thanks, Scylla. Now to remove one of the rods, and see what's going on with this.”


“Sorry, Sensei! I was held up by my Master asking me to go scout! I'm doing this first, with you before I head off to scout, okay?”


Erik turns, glancing as a harried MHXX comes in. So he can see her eyes blink in surprise.


“Oh? A Mark 1 reactor?” She pauses, studying over things while smiling widely. “Wow, I remember you telling us about these! They're better for taking lumps than most other equipment you've designed... but the Mark 2 versions handled issues with gravity, while producing power, a lot better than the Mark 1 reactors ever did.”


Erik studies her, thinking, then sighs. “What did I do wrong, then? I haven't had time to settle down and work on fixing up things for the designs yet, and since I had to cobble them from scratch, I KNOW they could be better.”


“Honestly? You always made the nuclear rod containers sideways, with triple the springs for handling shocks to a ship, in later versions. I've got the Auto-CAD drawings mostly done, but I haven't quite had enough time to finish them before I leave for scouting.” MHXX thinks, then moves close. “Oh? Going to pull out the nuclear rods?”


“Yeah. There's too much jiggle in them, even though there's no tremors or anything reported for this, and I'm thinking it might be misalignment is causing the rods to not be working right...”


With those words, Erik pulls up the rods, then pauses, trying to not twitch.


As the rods move upwards, it's obvious that they aren't in good shape. Rather than being pristine, as they were when they went in, massive cracks cover most of them, leaving them less “a rod” and more “powdered uranium rocks being held together to shape a rod while in the tube”.



“Well. I think I see why my future self redesigned the reactors, then. Damn it. How the hell is this happening, though?! What, did Gaia decide to fuck me over?” Erik snarls, as he moves to inspect the rods.


At his last words, another rod cracks. Erik pauses, at that, then looks at MHXX, who's staring in shock. Then he turns back to the rods.


“Gaia damn it?”


CRACK


Another crack forms in a rod, as Erik stares.


“So... if I insult Gaia, Gaia retaliates and tries to break my shit. The fuck?!”


MHXX shrugs, studying things. “Looks like something's gone pretty wrong with most of this, Sensei. I'm not sure this looks like Uranium anymore, it looks like the spots where it's cracked has become depleted.


“These... were BRAND FUCKING NEW! BRAND NEW! What the everloving fuck?!” Erik shakes his fist in rage. “Damn you, Gaia!” To Erik's lack of surprise, another rod grows a huge crack in it.


“Well, Sensei, it looks like you need to replace them. Maybe cut them up, remove the depleted uranium, and fix the uranium rods with replacements?” MHXX puts one hand on Erik's shoulder, while looking at the reactor.


“We don't have the spare Uranium to do that. I put the last of it in Amaterasu's Valkyrie, to power its small engine.” Erik growls under his breath.



“Crud. I'll get you what I designed for the stuff so far, okay? Might help you with ideas, but then I need to get out. Still... with how much you'll need for the reactors I'm used to you building... I don't think you have enough Uranium for the 8 rod version, instead of this 6 rod version you're using now.” MHXX looks at Erik, then folds her arms, thinking.


Erik drums his fingers, then sighs. “No. I do have a source of Uranium left. I just don't want to use it.”


“Sensei? What's... that source?” MHXX looks up, studying Erik.


“I have two nuclear weapons on board the ship.” Erik turns, studying MHXX, and watches the color slowly drain out of her face.


“Oh. That's... why do you have them?!”


Erik shrugs, softly. “Mostly in case the Titans or the Gods chased me to Mars. I didn't trust my Pantheon to make me the scapegoat, and when the others did, I washed my hands on most of my version of the Earth outright, that day, then moved to leave when I could. Most of my arsenal had to be sacrificed to ensure the Aerial Battleship fleet was sufficiently powered, but they all were lost to the Titans when they became that Abomination...” Erik pauses, at that, then sighs.


“Leaving you with less weapons and equipment than you planned for, Sensei?” Erik nods, at MHXX's words.


“Yeah, pretty much. So out of 78 nuclear weapons in my original stockpile, before that clusterfuck happened, I have two left. And with this, I have only one left in case things go to hell and the Heart of Winter tries to absorb the Greater Grail, like Zelretch warned me it would if Caster of Black had activated his Noble Phantasm with the damned thing in it.”


MHXX winces, then nods silently. “I get it. Well, are there any other projects you could use with some of that?”


Erik pauses, thinking, then rubs his helmet's chin. “Well, actually... would you happen to know if my Radiant Wave Surger technology would work well for shielding, for fighters, or something similar?”


MHXX smiles. “Yes, it really does, as a matter of fact. Your future development on the technology leads to shields out of most Sci Fi series, once you can get particle projection working, rather than using nuclear pulses to fake it.”


Erik chuckles at that. “Well, that's good to hear. See, Mordred's become a major fan of Star Wars, and I still have a prototype attempt at building the Millennium Falcon...”


MHXX's eyes go wide in surprise, before she smiles with glee. “And you've just gotten the perfect power source for it?”


Erik nods. “Exactly. If you can look over the designs, and spot any issues with the equipment, I'd be grateful.”


“Enough to give me some of your blood for a vial or two?” MHXX muses, as she studies her Sensei.


At that question, Erik pauses. “For in case you choose blood adoption later?”


To that, MHXX nods. “Exactly. There's reasons, but they're classified, and I swore a Geas oath to not talk about them except with your future self.”


Erik nods, then sighs. “Any clue how Gaia's doing this?”


MHXX nods. “You likely used Earth Shaping to make the rods in the relatively proper order, right?”


“Yeah. Too much material otherwise, with how much I had to deal with.” Erik turns, studying her.


Another nod from MHXX. “That would count it as being modified by a spell enough for Gaia to influence it.”


“Well. Shit.” Erik sighs, rubbing his forehead. “Explains a bit, that. So every time I insult it, it cracks my stuff to ensure I'm stuck in one spot?”


MHXX wiggles her hand, back and forth. “More it wants you gone, and to the Other Side of the World, to be sealed with the rest of humanity's Gods, there, for what little is left.”


“Got it.” Erik sighs, before continuing. “Go ahead and get that scouting done, okay? I've likely held you up too long, as it is.”


MHXX nods, departing, with a quiet “Good luck, Sensei!”.


After that, Erik glances at a speaker on the wall. “Scylla? Look over the Auto-CAD files on her tablet, and have the Legion of Coal disassemble one of the nukes, to replace the nuclear rods that we've lost. Have them check all nuclear rods, as well.”


“No problem, boss!”






Bucharest, Romania
6:21 PM


“Are you sure about your spells holding, Master? You said those Homunculi you brought would ensure no one could notice us being out here, but if I let loose with my Noble Phantasm, it may lead to issues.” Siegfried calmly states, walking near his Master.


“Come now. We have to deal with this, for the glory of Yggdmillenia. A possibly traitorous Servant should be dealt with as soon as possible, not leave it for nightfall. Anyways, we...” Gordes pauses, his eyes narrowing as he realizes the area is starting to become foggy, irregardless of the fact that the sun is lighting up everything well enough that it should be impossible for fog to exist within the city.


“Well, Saber, it looks like we're on the right track. This fog definitely isn't natural.” Gordes looks around, carefully.


“Be careful, Master. Something feels odd about this fog.” Gordes nods at his Servant's words, and continues forwards, deeper into the ever-thickening fog that surrounds them.


“I know that well enough, Saber. It feels like several Servants are close by, though I can't describe WHERE exactly they are...” Gordes wipes the sweat off his face, looking carefully around. “Blasted Fog, how are we supposed to see where we're going in this?”


“Oh? But Mommy told me to ensure no one could see in the fog until they died!” A young girl's voice replies to them, leaving Gordes frozen up, one foot in the air, before he slowly sets the foot down.


“Saber? Where is she?” He carefully whispers, while looking left and right, even up and down. “This fog is so thick...”


“I cannot tell, Master. I can only assume she's somewhere near, but she's throwing her voice too well for me to make her location out properly.” His Servant replies, leaving him sweating harder.


“Oh? You're curious as to where I'm at, hmm? Well, sorry, but Mommy told me to leave no survivors, and to ensure anyone that sees me, dies.” The young voice speaks up, once more.


Gordes shivers, then pulls himself up. “You're Assassin of Black, are you not? You should be loyal to Yggdmillenia! Who is this 'Mommy' you speak of, and why aren't you reporting to our agent?”


A long, drawn out pause follows, as Gordes desperately looks around himself, trusting in Siegfried to protect him from whatever the Assasin of Black may do to him.


“You didn't realize, then?” The young girl's voice reaches him once more. “He tried to sacrifice Mommy, to summon me. I gave her his Command Spells after killing him for the crime.”


Gordes goes pale, at her words. “Then... you're not allied with us? You're truly...”


“Not working for you? That's right! Now to deal with you like Mommy wants...” Her voice fades into the fog, as it thickens to the point where the sun can no longer be seen at all.


“Oh? Interesting!” Gordes freezes, hearing a man's voice.


“Master, that's the Master of Assassin of Red!” Siegfried's voice reaches his ears, Siegfried now sounding desperate. “I'll try to not let him get to you, but if he gets close, he likely has poisons on his weapons! If you touch them, you're done for! Please, let me try to escort you to safety! If what happened on that road was any indication, his Servant's poisons are lethal!”


“Aww, no, that's not going to happen, Mommy said that everyone that sees me has to die!” The young girl sounds gleeful, now.


“Oh? So eager to escort your Master away from this, Saber of Black? Won't you surrender, instead? Just because your Master looks a bit like a fat man, doesn't mean he isn't able to be saved. Or perhaps a pig? His name IS Gordes, isn't it?” The voice of Shirou Kotomine reaches their ears, followed by Assassin of Black giggling, “You're right! He's like an overweight pig, isn't he? It's a pity he isn't female, too...”


“Come now, Assassin of Black. Do you care to work together for us to deal with Saber of Black and his Master, before we may have to fight?” Shirou Kotomine's voice reaches them once more, much to Gordes' increasing horror.


“Oh God in Heaven, please have mercy upon my soul and grant me deliverance from this mess...” Gordes whispers, as he slowly backs up, before he shakes his head. “Saber! Use your Noble Phantasm to burn away some of the Fog, then we'll make a run for it!”


Siegfried blinks, then nods, adjusting his sword, but before he can swing...


HOOOOOOOONK


A huge honking noise reaches their ears, as something massive lands nearby.


“Hi there! Saber of Red, here, along with Shielder of Red, and... what was your class again?” Mordred shouts, before lowering her voice to ask Amaterasu in a reasonable tone of voice what her class is.


“Alter Ego, Saber. Alter Ego. Is that so hard to remember?” Amaterasu replies in a dry tone.


“Ahh, right, that was it! Thanks! And with me here is also the Alter Ego of Red! We're here with a giant killer truck of doom to kill all you poor bastards and bitches!”


Gordes pauses, staring at where the sound came from, as he flinches. “Saber? I think we may be in trouble. Here's hoping Celenike can arrive with Rider and save us...”


“Oh, you're Saber's Master?! Sorry, we already ran her over. It killed her as well as that annoying Hippogryph that her Servant dismounted. It's a pity we didn't get him, too, but he got off just in order to stretch, then couldn't stop us in time!” Mordred's voice reaches through the fog to him, causing him to twitch.


“Oh? Mommy's going to have MORE victims from me! Yay!” Time to see how well you can take this, then! Maria the-”


HOOOOOOOONK


Her words are interrupted, as Mordred slams her foot on the gas pedal, and rushes the truck forwards. “Turn on that last song, Alter Ego!”


Amaterasu twitches, before smacking the button to turn it on.



“That wasn't nice of you to smack me with your Truck thing! Still... wait. Mommy? You want them to see me? Okay, if that's what Mommy wants!”


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRVMUOYTc3Y (Jesus Built My Hotrod ~ Ministry)



As the fog fades, they can hear words coming from the slowly visible form of a massive truck.


“Soon I discovered that this rock thing was true
Jerry Lee Lewis was the devil
Jesus was an architect previous to his career as a prophet
All of a sudden, I found myself in love with the world
So there was only one thing that I could do
Was ding a ding dang my dang a long ling long”


As the lyrics erupt from the truck, visibility increases, letting them see the forms of several Servants within the massive behemoth of a vehicle, right before it launches forwards. “Shielder, shield on the left!” Mordred shouts, as she turns the massive vehicle, aiming towards Siegfried, who desperately rushes towards his Master, to pull him out of the line of fire, RIGHT as the song's beat starts up.


Desperately, Siegfried pulls his Master out of the line of fire, as a massive shield slams down from the left rear window of the truck's cab, causing it to drift closer towards them, then spin in a massive circle around the battlefield.


Desperately, he throws himself and Gordes forwards, trying to rush as far away from the curving truck, as it starts to chase him.


Gordes stares at the massive shield passing by, throwing sparks off the pavement and leaving a huge rut in the road, barely missing him by a hair, before the massive truck roars off towards one of the others. “We need to get UP HIGHER, NOW Saber!”



Shirou stares at the incoming truck, then laughs. “Interesting! Let's see if you can defeat me so easily! I may not have my Servant with me, but I'm not defenseless!” With those words, he unsheathes his Katana, preparing it in an attempt to cut the truck.


Mordred's eyes narrow, as the grin on her face widens to both the music and the fighting, as she adjusts herself, sliding so they start turning, to go after Assassin of Black, instead.


As Amaterasu looks out her passenger window, while they pass Shirou, she adjusts the Laser Rifle in her hands, takes aim, and fires at Shirou.


Shirou narrows his eyes at Amaterasu, as he adjusts his Katana to counter the laser. It glides off the sword, shattering along the entire surface as his sword holds against the man-portable laser, but leaving him blinded, as a result.



“Now, Shielder, harder!” Mordred shouts, and Mash does not fail, as she pushes the shield down hard enough that the entire truck pivots along the shield, turning the truck into a super fast turn.



Shirou can only blink as the laser light disappears, right before the back half of the truck slams into him, the momentum from the sudden turn, leaving all the weight as one massive hammer, sending him flying through a cement wall.



“That's the stuff! Shield up, now!” With those words, Mordred drives off after Assassin of Black, Jack the Ripper.


“Oh? You're going after me now? Well, Mommy doesn't mind one bit!” Jack the Ripper grins, pulling her daggers out fully. “And now, you can't run, can you!”


Mordred grins, flooring the truck's gas pedal to the floor, as Jack the Ripper starts running towards the truck. “Time to die, little brat!”


“No, it's time for you to die, so Mommy will be proud of me!” With those words, she flings several knives towards the truck window. Knives that bounce off to no effect, whatsoever.


“That won't work?! Well, then. Let's see if this will!” Jack's grin grows deeper, as she stares at the oncoming truck.


“MARIA!”


Mordred grins, and flicks the switch on the wheel, turning the rocket boosters on.


“THE!”


For a moment, Jack the Ripper's eyes glow, as she starts dashing forwards. To her eyes, the truck seems almost motionless. To her, it's easy prey. She doesn't notice, can't notice, the things changing behind her prey. Not until the two boosters that slid out of the side of the truck's back trailer fire up, sending it rocketing forwards at her.


“RIPPER!”


Jack has no choice to back off now. But, rather than back up, she pushes forwards faster. It's the only thing that saves her.


“BALMUNG!”


A blast of energy, almost like light, slams right behind Jack, barely missing her as she pushes herself forwards, trying to plow through the Truck's windshield.


CRUNCH


“Ow... hey, you hurt me! That wasn't nice to hit me with this! Eh? There's more than one girl in there? That means it'll work, once I get in!”


Mordred adjusts the truck, grinning menacingly at Assassin of Black, stuck with one hand and knife through the windshield, and plastered on the front hood of the truck.


“Oi! Alter Ego! Use the levers for the giant saw blades, will you!” As Mordred shouts, she adjusts the truck, aiming for much harder, heavier things to plow into.


“Oh, that's genius, Saber! I wholeheartedly agree that she deserves it for trying to kill me!” Amaterasu smirks, as she flicks the levers for the overhead ones, and promptly starts trying to cut Jack the Ripper up from above, saw blades carving at her, swinging at her constantly.


“SABER! EVADE!” To Mordred's credit, Mash's shout doesn't startle her, but instead shifts her, forcing her to frantically dodge in the truck as swords are flung at the truck from a rather angry Shirou Kotomine.


“I do believe you're leaving with someone who isn't yours, Saber of Red! You'll have to excuse me for stopping your attempt at taking her away and killing her!” Shirou shouts, as he throws dozens of Black Keys, attempting to use them to pin the truck's shadow down in order to stop the truck.


“Left side, Shielder!” Mash desperately shoves her shield down on the left side, turning the truck, but forcing it up so it's only on two wheels for the one moment needed to keep swords from popping the left side's tires, or stopping the truck from moving. Even still, the swords take out chunks of the back of the truck, leaving a surprised Legion of Coal unit staring out the back, before it adjusts itself to not be visible, or a target.


Jack the Ripper grins, as she dodges the giant saw blades, working on either getting her hand out, or fully into the truck through the windshield so she can attack.


“Oh no you don't, Assassin!”





Crackle, Hiss


“Oh, is that a sword of lightning?! I think Mommy's going to love it when I give it to... ARGH!”


Mordred grins, having rammed the sword blade down Jack the Ripper's arm, straight through the palm. “You want it so much, enjoy the consequences of wanting it!”


“You're mean! I'm going to enjoy letting Mommy help me kill you! Still, time for you to... eh? Why can't I pull my arm out?!” Jack the Ripper stares, looking at her arm with wide eyed confusion, as Mordred alters the course of the Truck. “Did you cut the muscles and tendons in my arm?! Mommy's going to have to work overtime to heal that!”


Amaterasu simply smirks, reaches forwards, then grabs Jack the Ripper's now useless right arm, before grabbing the knife it had dropped, and running it through the side of the arm, pinning her arm inside the Truck Cab.


“Hey! That's not nice at all!” Jack the Ripper glares, then screams as a saw blade tries to carve its way into her spine. “No fair holding me still with one of my knives! Tch! Let's see if you can't handle me deepening the fog then!”


With those words, the lightening fog deepens, leaving the streets nearly impossible to see anything on. Mordred, however, does not care one bit.


“Saber! Something's coming from the right!”


“BALMUNG!”


“I'm getting REALLY SICK AND TIRED OF HIM PULLING THAT SHIT!” With those words, Mordred glances to the right, then to the left, then cuts the rocket boosters, and pulls a turn, aiming for a new direction. As she does, the Legion of Coal units in the back of the truck refuels the rockets, preparing them for the next use.


“Is this really our evil assassin we have to face down, Saber?!” Olga shouts, from the back seat, her eyes wide as she stares at the Assassin stuck with one arm useless on the hood of the truck.


“Yup! And now, for us to deal with her in style!” Mordred smirks, pulling the trigger on the rocket booster once more, sending them flying back into their seats as they aim for any building in front of them this time.


Ka-CRUNCH


KA-CRUNCHITY-CRUNCH


WHAM


CRUNCH


WHAM


“Ready to surrender yet, Assassin of Black!” Mordred shouts, as she pushes the truck to its limits, plowing through buildings like a hot knife through butter.


Jack the Ripper glares, her back bleeding and covered in concrete chunks embedded in her back. “My true name is Jack the Ripper, and I will kill you for this. No Woman escapes my grasp!”


“It's a pity that you haven't accounted for me, hmm?” With those words, Shirou Kotomine grabs Jack the Ripper, and rip her off the car, pulling the knife through Jack the Ripper's right arm, backwards, leaving it useless and pulped.


“Oh, you're just ASKING FOR A BEATING, AREN'T YOU?!” With those words, Mordred cuts the power to the boosts, then grins. “Shielder, hard press, so we turn around!”


“Roger! Adjusting our course now!” With those words, Mash slams her shield down, and leverages it as well as she can, desperately twisting the truck as well as she can to turn them around.


It doesn't quite work, leaving the truck turned at a 270 degree turn, instead of a 360 degree turn. However, they soon get on a road that goes on a hill in the city, letting them get over the fog.


“There they are! Alter Ego? Can you snipe it with that laser rifle?” To those words, Amaterasu smirks.


“Oh, can I? Of course I can!” Amaterasu's already in motion, taking aim and shooting. It injures, but doesn't fatally wound Shirou Kotomine, who's still holding a struggling Jack the Ripper close to himself.


“Seriously?! You You don't know when to quit, do you?” With those words, Shirou uses one arm to fling more Black Keys towards the truck.


“Oi! How many Legion of Coal units do we have back there?” Mordred shouts, as she forces the truck to dodge. “Any able to shoot either of them?!”


“Not a problem, we've got some artillery back here.” With those words, Amaterasu smirks. She can see a wall in the trailer opening up, followed by a bazooka poking out, aiming towards Shirou and Jack the Ripper both.


Amaterasu's vulpine grin widens, as a barrage of bazooka rounds shoots out towards them, detonating in their faces.


Shirou glares, as the explosion fades, showing singed papers falling, as well as his clothes covered in soot, Jack the Ripper nowhere to be seen.


Then, Jack appears behind him, grinning with one knife in the good arm. “You'll do in a pinch, for Mommy!”


“It is a pity you've already failed, isn't it?”


For a moment, Jack's eyes flicker in confusion, as she tries to stab, only to find nothing works. She can't move, she can't attack.


“Why?! WHY CAN'T I MOVE?! ASSASSINS ARE GOOD AGAINST MASTERS, AREN'T THEY?!”


Shirou smiles, widely, as he looks down at the confused Assassin of Black, before moving to kneel in front of her. “I'd like to help you and your Mommy win, which is why I'm trying to not hurt you, little one.”


“What...? You really mean you want to help Mommy win? I'll let Mommy know, but you'll have to save me from these other people first!”


“Now, Saber! Use your Noble Phantasm!” Gordes screams, as he glares at Shirou Kotomine and Jack the Ripper together. He might not know who they are, but considering one is the Assassin of Red's Master, and Siegfried failed to stop him before, he knows that them together like that is bad news.


“BALMUNG!” This time, it's not like a long beam of light coming out of the sword. It's more like a wave of force, strong enough to shatter the building Jack the Ripper and Shirou are on, from a single stroke.



Like a beam of light, that vaporizes reality wherever it aims, it carves at them, sending them flying.


Shirou glares, desperately trying to push himself into a position where he can fall safely, before blinking at Jack giggling underneath him, and kicking him up higher, in such a way that he'll land on a rooftop instead of becoming a human pancake on the streets below. But, it sends her straight towards the streets below.


HOOOOOOOONK


“Oh, not again... Mommy, SAVE ME!” Jack the Ripper shouts, right before the truck introduces her face to the bumper.


“Oh, HELL YES! TIME TO DEAL WITH YOU!” Mordred shouts, as she pushes the truck to the limit, and hits the boosts again.


“NO! I WON'T DIE LIKE THIS! I WON'T!” Jack the Ripper screams, as she desperately uses her good arm to hold herself up over the cement, even as the speed of the truck grinds her clothes.


“Saber! Hit the main highway, going the wrong way!” Amaterasu shouts with a note of glee in her voice.


“The wrong way?! Won't that...” Mordred pauses, narrowing her eyes, before nodding. “Gotcha. You're explaining this to Erik and Kairi, though.”



“Shielder, shield to the right in... 13 seconds, please! Hard pull, so we drift!”


“No problem! Master, tell me when it's time!” Mash smiles, narrowing her eyes as she pulls herself to the right side and prepares to deploy it.


“Now, Mash!” Olga shouts, and smiles.


“Deploying!” With Mash's words, she slams the shield down, putting her body into it, sending the truck skidding into a massive turn, then going up a wrong way bridge, straight into highway traffic.


Jack, desperately pulling herself up the bumper, glances back behind her, then stares in horror at all the cars heading straight towards her. Then, she glances down at the speeding concrete below, and up at the sawblades, waiting for her to move her head up to cut her into ribbons. A test of her foot against the ground, Servant or not, leaves her shoe with a large chunk missing from it, leaving her paling at her predicament.


“Mommy? I think I may have messed up...”


With those words, she pales, at hearing two sawblades deploying, on either side of her head. They aren't moving in, but they're holding her in place, so she can't climb further up.


“I really, REALLY think I messed up, Mommy!”


Mordred smirks, hearing Jack the Ripper's words, as she punches the rocket boosters again.


Amaterasu also smiles, as her illusion to ensure Jack the Ripper can't remember how to Astralize comes into effect, ensuring that Jack the Ripper is stuck on the front bumper, in wrong direction traffic.

"BALMUNG!"

Mordred's eyes go wide, as she desperately tries to swerve, but this time, she fails. Balmung's blast of power from the sword slams into the rear of the truck, impacting both rocket boosters, as well as the supply of ammunition in the back of the truck. It sends the truck flying sky high into the air, the entire back end flaming.

"BRACE FOR IMPACT!" Mordred shouts, as she stares at the incoming ground, even as Jack the Ripper slips out from the front of the truck.


WHAM.

The truck lands on it's roof, skidding several hundred feet, to a slow stop.

"Mash? Are we alive?" Olga whispers, staring in shock. "How did we not die from that?!"










Author's Notes:
So, yeah. Mordred got MUSIC to go along with her insane stunts in the truck. You can thank me later for working to make sure the songs went well for things.


And when I realized the bulk of the 4 way fight scene wouldn't work with my obscenely fast reading speed, and the song? I lengthened it. A lot. Just for all of you, to enjoy.


As for the Gun Truck copy Mordred's using? It's bumper is low enough that Jack might have her legs underneath it, but her legs are barely able to fit without being scraped against the cement. Any attempt to put her body underneath the truck, and grab onto something, isn't going to work as long as she has only one arm. So her legs are under the truck, and her upper body isn't, leaving her entire upper body flat against it, and one arm clinging to the front grill to keep her from having her entire body reduced to pulp from being dragged down a highway at several hundred MPH.

As for the windshield... well, it's a three foot thick windshield made by a God meant for surviving crazy hard to survive scenarios. Noble Phantasm or not, it's not going to break EASILY, as Jack discovered. Much to her dismay.

[Xamusel]

Hmm... seems like you'll need to get a bit more action written for everyone, I think, to be sure. Then again, you'll have later updates to put in more action scenes, RB.

[RanmaBushiko]

Hmm... seems like you'll need to get a bit more action written for everyone, I think, to be sure. Then again, you'll have later updates to put in more action scenes, RB.

Yeah, definitely. This one got away on me.

At the same time, the truck was ALWAYS going to be trashed SOMEHOW, even if it might still barely run. Things are going to go... nowhere near as pleasant, next round, as before.

People's status for this mess that they're in, and thoughts:
Mordred: "First. I'm going to kill that Assassin of Black. Then? I'm going to introduce my sword and that lightsaber of Erik's to Saber of Black. Painfully. And slowly. HE BLEW UP MY NEW FAVORITE TOY! It's like the BEST HORSE IN THE WORLD, AND HE BLEW IT UP!"
Mash: "Ow. First, I've got sore arms from turning the truck. Now I'm banged up from rattling from the ceiling to the floor, and against the seats, like that. Still, I'm alive, and the Director is safe..."
Olga: "Wow, thanks for ensuring I didn't get hurt, Sapphire!"
Amaterasu: "Ow. My head just HAD to hit the windshield, didn't it?! Still, my illusion is up, so we've got things covered on that front..."
Fou: "Foukuku!" (Yes. You can assume that this is Fou laughing. AKA: The Crash did NOTHING to Fou.)

Gordes: "He hit it?! HE HIT IT! Now to find a place to recover at until I get my breath back, and get enough mana from those homunculi, for what's little left, to not suffer from Prana Exhaustion..."
Siegfried: "Well, I've managed to actually hurt that one. Now where did that Assassin go?

Shirou: "Well. That's ONE hazard out of the way. Now to get her, and get out of here before things get WORSE..."

Jack the Ripper: "Mommy? Can you heal my arm enough so I can use it again? What do you mean, Astr... what were you talking about just now? As...? I can't make it out, Mommy! Sorry! Can you heal my arm?"

5 Legion of Coal units: "Why the hell were we cannon fodder?! We're not THAT... well, maybe we ARE that weak. Crap."

Edit: Arbitrarity managed to guess for the gem, first. So he'll be getting an omake out of me next. And yes, it's possible for others to guess and get one, too. If you get it right.

[Xamusel]

What's the omake going to be about?

Also, I approve of the reactions you gave for the chapter, I really do.

...one other thing. When's Kieran going to update with his chapter?

[Arbitrarity]

Omake is (I think: I gave 2 suggestions, but this one seems to have been selected) a look at what Scathach is doing (other than drinking and using runic magic to keep Kairi's daughter alive).

I wonder if Fou being here means he is... looking for things that relate to how he becomes more powerful. That does seem likely. Worrying.

“Oh, hey! It's Astolfo!” Mash's eyes widen, in recognition from the friendly rider who was summoned in Chaldea.

Probably should be "in recognition of the friendly Rider"

Also oof, that was fast. Poor Astolfo. Not so poor Celenike, no one likes her anyways.

“Okay! But... why did we run over that one?” That didn't seem nice...”

Shouldn't have the quote after the question mark. It's one person speaking.

Hmmm. I did not realize Gaia had that much ability to take direct effect inside the Wolfen. You might want to more accurately say that they don't look like enriched uranium, rather than Uranium (though I really don't think MHXX should be able to determine that by looking at them),. Spontaneously transforming enriched uranium to depleted is... weird (it would involve adding 3 neutrons simultaneously, which doesn't really happen). Even then, he could use a breeder reactor (I'm surprised he wasn't using these already, given how little uranium he has), but if he doesn't have one already, developing one is a pain. Also, his design for fuel rods seems weird if they get cracked by reverting the shaping, you usually make the uranium into pellets, then encase them in a different metal rod (which... actually might still crack, depending on how much force "reverting a spell that shapes something" applies) Feels weird that you can revert what looks like an instantaneous effect, though. I wouldn't expect Gaia to be able to revert something that was burned with fire magic, for example, and it also doesn't explain the changing of enriched uranium to depleted.

A possibly traitorous Servant should be dealt with as soon as possible, not leave it for night

Likely "not left until nightfall" or somesuch.

deeper into the ever-deepening fog that surrounds them.

Maybe "ever-thickening"? Two uses of "deep" referring to different things feels jarring to read.

followed by Assassin of Black giggling. “You're right! He's like an overweight pig, isn't he?

I think you might use a comma instead of a period after giggling here, otherwise the speaker of the next sentence is grammatically ambiguous (Assassin could just be giggling without particular words)

Sorry, we already ran her over and killed her as well as that annoying Hippogryph that her Servant dismounted, in order to stretch!

Run-on sentence, especially with the "in order to stretch". If you drop "that her Servant dismounted, in order to stretch" for "while her Servant was having a stretch" it reads a bit better.

I thought Shirou's sword was mundane without Shakespeare buffing it. I guess a sufficiently shiny mundane sword might hold up to a laser? That feels weird, then plate mail would also be effective.

Not until the two rockets that slid out of the side of the truck's back trailer fire up, sending it rocketing forwards at her.

Again, use of the same word twice in different contexts in the same sentence feels weird to read. Might say "until the two boosters that slid out" to avoid that? Not sure.

Jack vulnerable to... command spells? I didn't think Shirou kept those (even as a Ruler) after the last war.

Oh wow, that is a REALLY GOOD illusion from Amaterasu. Daaaaang.


Good chapter. I'm being nitpicky about details, but most go plausibly in either direction.

[RanmaBushiko]

Omake is (I think: I gave 2 suggestions, but this one seems to have been selected) a look at what Scathach is doing (other than drinking and using runic magic to keep Kairi's daughter alive).

I wonder if Fou being here means he is... looking for things that relate to how he becomes more powerful. That does seem likely. Worrying.


Probably should be "in recognition of the friendly Rider"

Also oof, that was fast. Poor Astolfo. Not so poor Celenike, no one likes her anyways.


Shouldn't have the quote after the question mark. It's one person speaking.

Hmmm. I did not realize Gaia had that much ability to take direct effect inside the Wolfen. You might want to more accurately say that they don't look like enriched uranium, rather than Uranium (though I really don't think MHXX should be able to determine that by looking at them),. Spontaneously transforming enriched uranium to depleted is... weird (it would involve adding 3 neutrons simultaneously, which doesn't really happen). Even then, he could use a breeder reactor (I'm surprised he wasn't using these already, given how little uranium he has), but if he doesn't have one already, developing one is a pain. Also, his design for fuel rods seems weird if they get cracked by reverting the shaping, you usually make the uranium into pellets, then encase them in a different metal rod (which... actually might still crack, depending on how much force "reverting a spell that shapes something" applies) Feels weird that you can revert what looks like an instantaneous effect, though. I wouldn't expect Gaia to be able to revert something that was burned with fire magic, for example, and it also doesn't explain the changing of enriched uranium to depleted.


Likely "not left until nightfall" or somesuch.


Maybe "ever-thickening"? Two uses of "deep" referring to different things feels jarring to read.


I think you might use a comma instead of a period after giggling here, otherwise the speaker of the next sentence is grammatically ambiguous (Assassin could just be giggling without particular words)


Run-on sentence, especially with the "in order to stretch". If you drop "that her Servant dismounted, in order to stretch" for "while her Servant was having a stretch" it reads a bit better.

I thought Shirou's sword was mundane without Shakespeare buffing it. I guess a sufficiently shiny mundane sword might hold up to a laser? That feels weird, then plate mail would also be effective.



Again, use of the same word twice in different contexts in the same sentence feels weird to read. Might say "until the two boosters that slid out" to avoid that? Not sure.

Jack vulnerable to... command spells? I didn't think Shirou kept those (even as a Ruler) after the last war.

Oh wow, that is a REALLY GOOD illusion from Amaterasu. Daaaaang.


Good chapter. I'm being nitpicky about details, but most go plausibly in either direction.

In order, yeah, I'll change the stuff you pointed out.

Yes, Celenike, no one likes her. Poor Astolfo, admittedly, but... as Kieran said, some will make it, others won't.

As for nuclear rods? Erik didn't know that, so he got it to work with pure rods. As for what's really going on... it's... *thinks on how to word it* Effectively, Gaia's pulling all the chunks of uranium apart, the way Erik smoothly shaped them together, to form the rods. He figured out how to make them shaped into a rod shape, that would work much like traditional nuclear rods, since he "Knew" that they used rods, but couldn't find out HOW. So he faked it with earth shaping. Plus, 1993-1999 internet didn't help him on the subject. As for the breeder reactor? Nope, he didn't hear of it back then. So he'd have to develop it from scratch.

However, as for why it's depleted? About half of the uranium he used, he MADE outright with Earth Creation. He just hates making the stuff, because towards the end, it started blowing up in his face from being a giant chunk of enriched uranium ready to blow. And then it did. On Mars. Leaving Tamamo barely saving him with a time stop. It's why he kept moving towards the "mined" bit. Even though he should have just made regular uranium, instead. Keep in mind, he's a God, but he'd rather make things with machines, rather than rely on his divinity to just... make it from scratch.

Let's see now, I'll change the added stuff in a bit...

Jack wasn't hit by command spells, she got a black key in her shadow from him being sneaky, which will be brought up more next chapter. As for Shirou's sword, in the anime, he thanked Semiramis for making it into a noble phantasm. Was it different in the light novel?

As for the illusion? Yup. Amaterasu might be stuck with Tamamo Vitch/Koyanskaya's ability set, but that doesn't mean she isn't a massive threat.

Edit: And fixed. Also, Xamusel, Kieran says there's a couple days left before he's finished. He's close to being done, but not quite.

[Kieran]

*Nods* I've basically got one scene done, at 5 pages, and one in planning stages, which could or could not make up the other five . . . Depending on my level of distraction and presuming no major issues with my nerves (I've been lucky not to strain things so far, at least), I'm hoping a day or two.

[Arbitrarity]

https://fateapocryphathetranslation....al/glossary-a/

-Enchant [Skill]
A skill belonging to Caster of Red, Shakespeare. It could also be called “Literary Masterpiece Endowment”. It consists of making a passionate poem that begins with the following preface: “I will now explain this person’s amazingness in minute detail, so please listen without thinking it tedious, everyone.” It can raise the sharpness of a blade by saying “it can cut all things” and increase the sturdiness of the blade by saying “it can receive all attacks”, but either way, it requires literary expression great enough to move the readers in order for it to take effect.
For writers who have left their names in history, there is a good chance that they will possess such a skill or Noble Phantasm.
For Shakespeare with his extraordinary fame, he can produce even Noble Phantasms of C~E rank. For making an E rank Noble Phantasm, it would be at the level of turning a pebble lying anywhere on the road into a Noble Phantasm. For D rank, it would be a mass-producible manufactured item like a modern weapon. To reach C rank, it needs to be weapon with sufficient spiritual status for a literary master like him to express.
In this war, he used Enchant on “Miike Tenta Mitsuyo”, a famous sword said to have been the favorite blade of a certain one-eyed great swordsman. Naturally, it is C rank.

https://fateapocryphathetranslation..../chapter-2-10/

“Caster. Are you finished with my sword I gave you earlier?”
“Yes, it’s right here.”
Caster materialized the object from an astral state and respectfully presented it.
“…Hey, Shirou?”
“What are you going to use that sword for? I don’t want to think so, but—”
Rider and Archer both wore suspicious expressions. Smiling, Shirou took the sword and pulled the blade from its scabbard. Though the basic shape was the same as a Japanese sword, it bore various aspects due to the soul of the swordsmith. If there were beautiful and lovely blades that possessed a shine worthy of being called works of art, there were also broadminded and deadly blades like the one Shirou held that specialized in cutting something.
Even from the perspective of Servants who were knowledgeable about every kind of weapon from every time and place, that blade was a great sword worthy of being called first-rate.
“I will fight in Caster’s place. Don’t worry, I’m quite knowledgeable when it comes to battle.”

Rechecking the anime... S1E8, Shirou is talking with Semiramis, and says

"With this Miike Tenta Mitsuyo you forged, Caster, I won't fear any Noble Phantasm"

Semiramis is Assassin, not Caster (though she is kinda half-Caster due to Double Summon). It is kinda weird that Shirou says "that you forged, Caster" when Shakespeare is nowhere nearby, though. Probably a translation quirk.

I blame growing up in a town that's basically built around a nuclear research lab for being so picky about nuclear stuff. I have a domain-specific advantage there.

Ah, Black Keys in the shadow. That always feels really strong, though I guess if you can hit the shadow, you could have hit them (albeit it's a lot harder for people to intuitively dodge an attack on their shadow)

[Kieran]

DISCLAIMER: Lunar Legend Tsukihime, Fate/Stay Night, and all related characters and concepts are the creation and property of Kinoko Nasu and TYPE-MOON, along with whomever they’ve happened to license them to, such as Geneon, Funimation, A-1 Pictures and Netflix.
This is a not-for-profit, just-for-fun project.







Security Station Three
Battleship Wolfen
Outside Sighișoara, Romania








As Archer scanned video footage silently, Rin closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose to ward off the incoming migraine, even as a part of her wished she had worn her glasses—for dramatic effect—as she did so.

“So you’re telling me,” she began in an exasperated tone, “that in addition to the imminent ice age, and the potential ‘End of Evangelion’ rip-off”—Rin had never seen it herself, but ten years ago, it had been impossible to avoid hearing about—“we have a third potential world-ending scenario.”

“Yes,” Frid said simply.

The Japanese magus opened her eyes to glare at him, as she asked, deadpan, “. . . And I suppose that the nearly-impossible-to-accomplish-but-equally-viscerally-satisfying murder of the idiots who brought the source of two of them here won’t fix them?”

His own voice mixing amusement and world-weariness, Frid affirmed, “No, Rin, it won’t—and I’d suggest making sure that his undoubtedly-eavesdropping AI system understands that you’re not serious about that.” He tilted his head upwards briefly.

“Though,” Frid added thoughtfully, “this does prove that it’s important that the Works operate subtly—to avoid the problems that just this kind of cross-universe contamination can and will cause.”

Rin gave him a half-lidded stare for a moment, before adding cuttingly, “. . . So says the man who caused the formation of an entirely new religion—to say nothing of the mass immigration of an equally new and alien civilisation—on his last mission.”

Honestly, she felt her voice was dry enough that all the moisture ought to have been sucked out of the room—and was proud of herself for achieving the effect.

“All right, I acknowledge that it’s something of a pot-and-kettle situation,” Frid admitted, “but I managed that without actually exposing anything extra-dimensional in the process—much less multiple planet-destroying threats.”

“I’ll give you that one,” she admitted grudgingly, “though I still maintain that this is your fault, somehow.”

Frid blinked. “. . . OK, how do you get that?”

Rin smiled pleasantly, “Well, I can’t reasonably blame Archer, and Shirou’s not here—and since you’re the only other one with inexplicably bizarre luck around here, this therefore must be your fault.”

“This from the girl who spent ten years training, planning and prepping for the most significant magical undertaking of her life . . .” he rebutted, “and forgot Daylight Savings Time.”

Rin stiffened like she’d been electrically shocked. “Sh—SHUT UP!”

. . . Oh, God, her face was going red—she could feel it. She hated it when her face went red, and the anger was only making the redness worse . . . !

She’d forgotten what it was like, dealing with him at times. Not only was Kurai, or Frid—or whatever he called himself this week—someone with no real sense of decorum or personal space (by the Japanese definition), he was also the world’s most insufferable know-it-all. Mostly because he usually did know, and he presented things as fait accompli and a fact that only an idiot would choose to ignore, not to mention occasionally prodding weak spots if someone annoyed him, or just for laughs . . .

Just how anybody put up with him without at least smacking him, she’d never under—

Archer sneezed, abruptly.

Rin whirled on him. “WHAT was THAT?!”

“I have no idea, Master,” the Servant answered obliquely. “But I think my magical senses picked up a scent of—” He paused, considering, before settling on, “Iron.”

“. . . Iron that’s rich in Vitamin E particularly, was it?” Frid drawled.

Rin knew that she was being made fun of, somehow—but judging by the wince that crossed Archer’s face, knowledge of the specifics was apparently almost punishment enough in itself . . .

That previously-threatened migraine suddenly erupted in full force, and she ran a hand up over her face and through her hair in an attempt to wash aware a sudden sense of exasperated exhaustion. It didn’t work, so she buried her face in her hand and made a sound of utter frustration.

“Why,” she groaned, “am I surrounded by idiots like you two? Was the idea of trying to retrieve the Grand Holy Grail from two teams of Servants not enough to amuse that annoying old vampire?”

“. . . Were those his exact orders?” Frid asked after a moment.

“YES!” Rin exclaimed, exasperated. “I told you this already—what are you, deaf or just mentally deficient?!”

“. . . Well,” he answered casually, after a beat, “that makes things a hell of a lot easier, in some respects.”

Rin blinked at his non-reaction to her yelling. “What the hell are you talking about?!”

Frid fixed her with the sort of look she generally reserved for Shirou when he’d said something stupid.

“Rin,” he said slowly, “the Greater Grail is a fully-materialised, physical object—and Zelretch said ‘retrieve,’ not ‘win.’”

“. . .” Trembling, Rin abruptly turned—

And she promptly began beating her head against the nearest wall.

“Stupid, stupid, STUPID—!”

Over her rhythmic chant (and accompanying beats of her skull), Rin heard Archer drawl, “. . . Awfully quick to betray your fiancée, aren’t you?”

“Considering what could get their hands on it around here, I’m of the opinion that the Grail is one hell of a lot safer off-plane,” Frid retorted. “And Fiore’s wish is minor enough that it’s one of the few I’d feel safe granting: she wants to be able to keep her Magic Circuits and the ability to use her legs.” A rustle of cloth indicated a shrug. “Honestly, if he wasn’t dead, and if I trusted him even as far as I could spit, I’d ask Kirei to take a look at her—given the kind of spiritual surgery he managed to pull off, he just might be able to accomplish it without the need for the Grail . . . Or Touko might, I suppose—but Kairi’s got first dibs on her time.”

“About those,” Archer said dryly. “Do you think the rest of the Red Faction is just going to casually accept our stealing the Greater Grail?”

“I don’t plan on telling them, if that’s what you’re thinking . . . But with Touko helping him, and Erik’s technology, Kairi’s not liable to give a damn, beyond the need to keep to his contract,” Frid countered. “And if we can swing so that the Kaleidoscope would be necessary to find the damned thing, he’ll likely give it up as a lost cause. Mordred might be trickier, but she’s very much her father’s child: she tends to reach an epiphany on her situation without ever winning the Grail. I can’t speak for Scathach, admittedly, but Touko only wants it as a means to gain access to the Third Magic, so she can show up her sister—which it will have the stored power to do, after a handful of deaths—but the Grail itself is of no interest to her . . .

“Erik literally won’t give a damn, because it isn’t easily powered by his normal sources, and isn’t technologically-based—there’s nothing in it for him. Tamamo or Amaterasu might, but either of them is perfectly capable of creating a Holy Grail; and given how the Grail is made, it’s largely an abomination to Shinto—they’re more likely to destroy it. To Olga, this is an adventure, more than anything else; just surviving the Grail War will give her family credit to be bartered in the Clock Tower, which is at least part of why her father was going to enter in the first place. And Mash will follow her future Director’s lead, so long as the Human Order isn’t endangered by the Grail’s existence, or something seriously bad happened to her sempai before she died. But the odds are against that—she’s the tragic-fated one of the pair, after all.

“Which leaves us,” he concluded. “Rin’s getting it, obviously, I don’t give a damn, and XX . . . Well the Works can sort out what she probably wants just as well as the Grail, if not necessarily as easily—and Shirou will probably enjoy accomplishing it for her.”

He paused, and tilted his head thoughtfully. “Unless she’s still on that ‘kill all Saberfaces’ kick, anyway—that might be a problem, I admit.”

“One of those types that always has an answer, I see,” Archer half-sneered, and Rin snorted.

“With that mouth of his, do you think we’d keep him around unless his brain was worth it?” she countered.

Honestly, for all the headaches he was causing now, Frid generally caused Rin fewer than Shirou did. His druid persona had been a now-sorely-missed improvement, but she couldn’t say that she disliked this version, either. From what she’d seen, he was lazier than Shirou, and nearly as uneducated when it came to magecraft (the exception being his odd collection of esoteric trivia) but he was no more truly stupid than Shirou was. And the foreign man was more cunning, to boot; at the very least, he tended to actually have a plan rather than simply charging into situations recklessly—and more often than not, at least one contingency plan, as well.

And there were times, such as now, when his esoteric knowledge allowed him to plan significantly well in advance, and in detail, about how to deal with potential opponents . . .

He wasn’t her type, and his personality wasn’t the greatest; but having him on-hand as a resource, especially in a situation like this, was an advantage that Rin was happy to have—even if she occasionally wanted to strangle him. That was true of most people, after all . . .

“Well, then,” Archer replied, unleashing a full smirk, “tell me: what’s your answer to this?”

He stepped to one side, and pointed at the screen which had been concealed behind him: a screen which was displaying a highlighted line of the presumed trajectory of that sword Frid was interested in.

Frid stared, tracing its length and termination point with his eyes.

“OK, what the hell was th—”

Alarms began blaring, tabling the question as everyone tensed in response. And the voice of Mysterious Heroine XX, calling out seconds later, made it worse.

“XX to Wolfen, emergency broadcast: Brace yourselves, everyone! I was too late to stop it—the Hanging Gardens are on the move . . .!”









Binserica din Deal (The Church on the Hill)
Sighișoara, Romania
July 3, 2004








The “Double Summon” Skill, Semiramis reflected, possessed many, many benefits—and in her particular case, more than enough of them to outweigh the ridiculously awkward name of the Skill itself.

Among them was the way that the talents of the Assassin and Caster Classes complemented one another; her innate Presence Concealment was heightened within her Territory, for example, and could even be imbued, to a lesser extent, upon her familiars. She quite probably still did not match the level of proficiency a true Caster could operate under within their territory, but it was a pleasant bonus, nonetheless.

As such, Semiramis took some time to ascertain—and with no little confidence—that their former stronghold was not watched (by anything she couldn’t neutralise, at least), nor booby-trapped (because her own had not been triggered), and that the important parts remained undiscovered. Once those things had been established to her satisfaction, she set to work with a will at her appointed task, and all the while keeping a proverbial eye on her Master through their connection.

As such, she was fully aware of when he began to run into difficulties, and when it escalated to a point that he genuinely needed help—fortunately, she was by that time ideally positioned to intervene . . .








Owing to her extra-dimensional nature, which accounted for more than simply her being classed as a Foreigner, XX was quite different from most Servants—even more so than most Saberfaces, come to that.

Like all of those named “Artoria Pendragon” (and all variations thereof), she had a physical body. Unlike those, she hadn’t died prior to achieving her current existence; she actually was a twenty-year-old whose present life basically allowed her to live the sort of legendary adventures and exploits that allowed most others to become Heroic Spirits in the first place. She came from the Servant Universe, after all—to her, the Throne of Heroes was the oddity. It was a useful translation tool to use, when going from facet to facet of the Kaleidoscope, true—but weird.

However, this meant that while she was flat-out superhuman, Artoria could be hurt, she did get hungry (frequently and to an alarming degree, in fact)—and after staying awake for the last few days, working on the prototype Cosmo-Reactor for the last several hours, plus being sealed in a radiation suit, she was tired.

As such, not twenty minutes into her stakeout to keep an eye out for Assassin of Red’s return to her former base of operations, the Mysterious Heroine code-named XX was out like a light . . . Fortunately, her power armour had been designed with knowledge of both potential environmental hazards and her personal habits in mind; the onboard AI and inbuilt systems kept the armour aloft and operating.

(Although certain people might argue that she was thick-skulled enough to survive a near-orbital fall . . .)

However, for XX herself, this quirk of her nature meant that she got to undergo something that few to no Servants ever did—what Masters and other magi referred to as “the dream cycle.” And to Artoria, there was only one possible word to describe the experience.

Revelation.








“. . . It seems, coincidentally, that you were on the same wavelength as someone else’s mind. They would appear to be a mage. But we are headed to a battlefield. Information leaks and unknown elements cannot be permitted. I’m going to remove the source of the problem.

“Maybe you’re still listening to my words through this Black Knight as a vessel. If you are . . . I would like to say goodbye. Having someone listen to me when I needed it . . . I think that was nice. When I succeed, and make a name for myself as a Servant, maybe we can talk like this again. When that time comes . . .

“No, that’s just wishful thinking. She and my deceased Master would both laugh at the thought.

“See you. Whoever you are, from a Servant Universe far, far away . . . May the Alternium be with you, always . . .”








Still blinking glimpses of an airplane flight out of her eyes, XX bolted awake. “ECCHAN . . !”

She retracted her helmet’s faceplate and panted heavily, suddenly finding hard to breathe. That had been . . . That was—!

Mysterious Heroine X Alter, otherwise known as “Ecchan.” Her opposite number, rival, classmate, and best friend—back from when they were still at Cosmo-Chaldea High. And apparently, in a way, their rivalry was so great it transcended dimensions, because Ecchan had been connected to her Master long before Artoria had ever heard of him. No, wait, Godafrid had mentioned that the first time, hadn’t h—?

XX frowned thoughtfully. But . . . That didn’t make any sense. She had followed the Alternium radiation trail in hopes of finding Ecchan two years ago—presumably at least two years in Godafrid’s future. While she’d mistaken it this time because his personal energy signature wasn’t as strong as it would be, the Alternium intensity was the same then as it was now.

And while Alternium always left traces, they should have faded in two years to a point where she wouldn’t—where she couldn’t—make the same mistake twice. But she had, or would, in her Master’s frame of reference, and that didn’t make any sense . . .

But she had long since learned that when dealing with things like the Kaleidoscope, much less her once-and-current Master, possibilities certainly existed, but there really was no such thing as chance.

He has to have run into her again, somehow, Artoria concluded. The only other possibility is that he somehow snuck into my universe and got exposed to Alternium, and I’d have—

. . . Well, no—if he had shown up to fix something somewhere far away, I’d never have heard about it, but the kind of things he does are what I do, so we should have crossed paths, and I’d like to think I’d have recognised him—or at least, that he’d have done something to tease me that I’d have realised after the fact . . .

Which meant that Ecchan was alive, somewhere, and her Master would run into her . . . And for whatever reason, he’d not mentioned it when she encountered him the first time, and she couldn’t even beat the answers out of him, because he wouldn’t know them ye—

The buzzing alarm of her armour’s sensors brought XX’s attention back to the here and now, and she could feel the blood drain from her face as she studied the readouts.

Activating her communications systems, XX announced, “XX to Wolfen, emergency broadcast: Brace yourselves, everyone! I was too late to stop it—the Hanging Gardens are on the move . . .!”








With a terrible, grinding roar—born of the wrenching of stone, and the ripping of earth—the completed Noble Phantasm began to rise.

Awe-inspiring in its sheer massiveness, it bore upwards through the structure of the church, tearing through the latter’s centuries-old structure like wet cardboard even as it picked up speed, ascending faster and further into the heavens. And as it climbed, even more of it still continued to materialise around its core, like a blooming flower of light which left “petals” of marble and other, far more solid materials.

For the barest of instants, it hung in the sky, looming over the gaping pit which had been the Church like an ominous thundercloud—and then, it began to soar . . .

[Arbitrarity]

Ouch, the Daylight Savings Time gauntlet has been thrown. I can feel the URUSAI from here.

Archer detects... oh, that's a much more simple pun that I was expecting, I was trying to figure out how blood was related. Was Rin telepathically projecting to Archer there, or is everyone just able to tell what she's thinking by looking at her?

Hm, I feel like Touko, of the listed Red masters, might be an issue. I guess we could just give her the wish in exchange for aiding Fiore, which should make everything there work out (unless the Greater Grail does multiple wishes, given that you can put up to 14 Servants in it, and 7 is enough to punch to the Root. Exactly what you can do with 14 Heroic Spirits rather than 7 is not very thoroughly explained, other than "what Shirou is trying to do")

Curse your cliffhanger on the Sword. Curse it.

Was MHXX just literally sleeping on the job and said "I was too late to stop it!". Glad to see she's so reliable.

[Kieran]

Ouch, the Daylight Savings Time gauntlet has been thrown. I can feel the URUSAI from here.

I have a tendency to hit viciously in arguments, personally; and watching Rin's reactions to a taste of her own medicine is hilarious.

Archer detects... oh, that's a much more simple pun that I was expecting, I was trying to figure out how blood was related.

If I made it too complicated, no one would get it - much less the characters, after all.

And as studious as she is, I felt it reasonable that Archer would have a better grasp of English, given his mantra . . . Well, maybe, at least, since that is less than letter-perfect, too.

Was Rin telepathically projecting to Archer there, or is everyone just able to tell what she's thinking by looking at her?

EMIYA certainly can, at least.

Hm, I feel like Touko, of the listed Red masters, might be an issue. I guess we could just give her the wish in exchange for aiding Fiore, which should make everything there work out (unless the Greater Grail does multiple wishes, given that you can put up to 14 Servants in it, and 7 is enough to punch to the Root. Exactly what you can do with 14 Heroic Spirits rather than 7 is not very thoroughly explained, other than "what Shirou is trying to do")

In theory, it seems, you could grant the wish of the victor Servant and punch through to the Root . . . But given that Shirou attempted to access the Third Magic with maybe five Servants (although also possibly all the Servants of the last War) powering the Grail . . .

Yeah, I have issues with this, too.

Curse your cliffhanger on the Sword. Curse it.

That curious, are you . . .

Hm - I may have to deal with it, after all, then. Do tell me if there is a specific aspect, outcome or situation that you are hoping to see, that I should be aiming for.

Was MHXX just literally sleeping on the job and said "I was too late to stop it!". Glad to see she's so reliable.

I am trying to write the joke character seriously, but she is a joke character, and far too similar to Taiga for her own good . . . And to be fair to her, she has basically been running for over forty-eight hours straight.

[Xamusel]

I wonder what would happen if the Sword ends up in Frid's possession... and now I'm suddenly getting nightmares while awake. -_-

[Kieran]

I wonder what would happen if the Sword ends up in Frid's possession... and now I'm suddenly getting nightmares while awake. -_-

That . . . Is probably wise.

. . . Or a sign that you know me well - which has historically also been known to be a cause for having nightmares while awake.

[Xamusel]

Okay, in all seriousness, please write what happens to the sword for our benefit. I don't particularly care what fate befalls it, just that something happens to the sword, and have it taken care of before the end of the story. Is that good for you?

[Arbitrarity]

Okay, in all seriousness, please write what happens to the sword for our benefit. I don't particularly care what fate befalls it, just that something happens to the sword, and have it taken care of before the end of the story. Is that good for you?

^^ Essentially. I'd also accept it setting up for a future Grail Works story, since we seem to be foreshadowing a lot with MHXX's being from the future, but that seems unlikely (since there's no reason for it to be off-plane, unless it fell into the Greater Grail or something)

[Xamusel]

...if it fell into the Greater Grail, I fear for humanity, and that's a phrase I'd rather not say due to how overused it is.

[RanmaBushiko]

Well, sorry for not getting back to this until now, for replies. Arbitrarity? I'm going to be treating Shirou's sword as a Mystic Code, if a strong one, after your point. But one disguised as a Noble Phantasm. Semiramis was notorious for disguises in life, and even if her double summon doesn't give her EVERYTHING, there's more than one reason why she was chosen as Assassin of Red.

Keep in mind, as well, that a Katana is SHINY and well polished. Thus, they reflect a lot of light, etc. etc. Thus the whole "It's not cut through like a hot knife through butter" issue here.

As for the sword as part of the plot hook... the last time Kieran and I discussed it, we'd talked about possibly making it part of a sequel in the series. Or possibly having it be part of the final battle, as part of the clusterfuck to come. We WERE leaning towards it being part of the sequel, but... *shrugs* reader choices can change that. If you'd like it to be involved in the story NOW, we'll shuffle things around.

Because let's face it. Erik's the Norse God of Paranoia for good reason. Everything that can be going wrong for him, DOES seem to be going wrong. And that showing up towards the end would make it even more of a clusterfuck, on top of what we already have planned.

As it is, with the bulk of the coming events planned out, we're well into the bulk of the story, but a lot of stuff has changed drastically compared to Canon. Shirou has, as of yet, no backup whatsoever, just a flying mobile fortress that's effectively on par with the Wolfen in terms of sheer physical and metaphysical weight. To be fair, though, that's not impractical, in and of itself... especially with the firepower the Hanging Gardens are shown to have in Canon.

Let's face it. Astolfo's dead (and boy, Shirou's going to be pissed when he realizes he missed out on Astolfo's services. Especially considering that whole "Can dodge the Wolfen's shots" bit going on with him.), Chiron is effectively a non-entity in terms of fighting right now, Siegfried is still alive, Vlad hates Erik with a passion and wants to murder him, Frankenstine's monster is, at this moment, being an adorable girl for her Master, more than a Servant, Avicebron is dead, and Jack the Ripper is considering working with Shirou Kotomine/Amakusa Shirou Tokisada.

In comparison, Mordred's fine, and going into battles headfirst, Mash is enjoying using her shield for once, Scathach is behind the scenes helping (and yes, you'll get that interlude soon enough! Still working on particular details without screwing over other chunks of the story, here.), while MHXX is sleep deprived, EMIYA is twitchy from dealing with a trolling Rin who might well strangle him if he pisses her off, Amaterasu's learning to enjoy her daughter from another universe, and son in law, while Semiramis is gloating about having the Hanging Gardens out and ready.


Plus, Shirou's going to have to work overtime to fix people's memories of what happened in the Capitol city of Romania.

[Arbitrarity]

Totally agreed on the katana being at least Mystic Code level, it's still a Servant's primary weapon, so it's going to be stronger than Black Keys, which aren't pushovers. And yes, it is shiny :P

If you have sequel plans for the Sword, that seems fine. I had some difficulty visualizing how, though it depends on how this story wraps up and where the Sword is.

Our Red alliance does seem much better positioned than in canon right now, but I suspect they should not get too confident. Bringing down the Gardens head on, even better equipped than "we grabbed some planes from the airport" is rough without something providing strong evasion/magic resistance. Also once you board, it's indoors, which makes Erik's mechs difficult to use.

[Kieran]

Sorry for the response delay - I suffered a strain (or sprain, or something) that left me more-or-less bedridden yesterday. Slowly recovering . . .

(Personally, I blame my father's need to buy two 40-lb. bags of rocks and nine 6-lb. bags of mulch, and have me help him haul them around - given that my bench-press limit was 80 . . . )

Okay, in all seriousness, please write what happens to the sword for our benefit. I don't particularly care what fate befalls it, just that something happens to the sword, and have it taken care of before the end of the story. Is that good for you?

^^ Essentially. I'd also accept it setting up for a future Grail Works story, since we seem to be foreshadowing a lot with MHXX's being from the future, but that seems unlikely (since there's no reason for it to be off-plane, unless it fell into the Greater Grail or something)

As for the sword as part of the plot hook... the last time Kieran and I discussed it, we'd talked about possibly making it part of a sequel in the series. Or possibly having it be part of the final battle, as part of the clusterfuck to come. We WERE leaning towards it being part of the sequel, but... *shrugs* reader choices can change that. If you'd like it to be involved in the story NOW, we'll shuffle things around.

. . . Basically, what he said - but certainly, we can try to arrange something . . .

If you have sequel plans for the Sword, that seems fine. I had some difficulty visualizing how, though it depends on how this story wraps up and where the Sword is.

As we've discussed so far? One of two places; both unlikely, and one virtually inexplicable - but no more so than it actually is in TYPE-MOON canon.

Our Red alliance does seem much better positioned than in canon right now, but I suspect they should not get too confident. Bringing down the Gardens head on, even better equipped than "we grabbed some planes from the airport" is rough without something providing strong evasion/magic resistance. Also once you board, it's indoors, which makes Erik's mechs difficult to use.

"As you can see, we're only one step away from completing a journey that began nearly two thousand years ago."

"In my experience, that's usually when the ground falls out from underneath your feet."

- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

[Xamusel]

Honestly, come to think of it, I would be happier to have the sword in question be a plot hook for a later story. I hope that's alright for you guys.