Chapter 8: Out Matched
You know without a doubt I would be screwed if this wasn't a story with plot armor, I mean the story can't go on if the main character dies right? If I'm lucky I can just stall with Jokes and talk just like so many other battle anime!
"Look, my trope detector is telling me you're a final antagonist so why don't you just-" I begin only to have the mysterious girl dash towards me drawing a large nata reminiscent of the cutest hatchet girl to ever exist and slashes down towards my shoulder. Responding I dodge to the right while raising my hand to repel the blade using electromagnetism unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you look at it the electricity flares up angrily consuming the nata and forcing the girl to quickly drop it.
"Ow." The girl says in a completely flat tone making it difficult to tell if she was making a joke or was actually injured.
Stepping past the fallen hatchet she pulls out another one from her cloak but chooses not to charge at me just yet.
She's definitely an assassin class servant which means she's probably on speed or some other drug that makes people fast. Just like with Jack I can't really strike first without some modicum of risk, and even if I don't attack I'm not confident enough in my base speed to think I could keep up with a servant in close quarters.
"You're a psychic?" She asks with the barest hint of curiosity in her voice, making me smirk slightly. This is finally my opportunity to stall for time!
"Well of course! You aren't dealing with the average human anymore-" The small sound of something cutting through the air makes me flinch causing the blade which had been thrown to merely produce a slight graze on my cheek.
The moment my eyes unconsciously move towards the direction the discarded blade had gone in I'm forced to quickly focus them back onto the opponent due to the movement at the corner of my vision. Raising my right arm I block the servant's strike though the impact sends me skidding to my right.
Slowly as I let my arm drop my normally well groomed hair falls into my face. Blinking a few times at the oddity of this I reach for my hair only to find my precious purple locks have been let loose from the confines of my ribbons and are flowing unconditionally like a waterfall, going all the way down past my tailbone.
"Did you steal my ribbons?" I ask slightly confused by when and how she managed to do that during that last clash.
"I stole your mystic eye killers, yes." She responds plainly,
"Those were a gift! You can't just take them like that!"
She stares at me for a few moments before opening her cloak slightly to reveal a pink and purple Gothic Lolita dress that really doesn't fit her personality at all and ties the ribbons onto the hem of her dress. She does it slowly as if to make sure I see her do it and recognize the fact that I can't actually take it back even if I wanted to.
'Is she messing with me!?' Anger wells up within me as she finally finishes her little show and re closes her cloak,
"If you want these back you'll have to-" Interrupted by a blast of electricity coming her way she moves to dodge only to have the lightning slither after her getting ever closer as she moves further away. Once she gains a certain distance she stops in her tracks letting the lightning finally catch up to her, only for the electricity to stop and sputter out.
I stand there confused for a few seconds. Mystic eyes now activated the itching sensation returns, disallowing me from thinking about what just happened properly as I scratch at my wrist absentmindedly.
"All psychic powers have pros and cons." She states simply while crouching down ready to attack. Reaching both hands into her cloak she rapidly pulls them out releasing two familiar slightly curved swords one black, one white.
Focusing on the blades with my mystic eyes I move my hands forward catching each of them by their handles. The pain from the force of the throw though still forces me to take a step back in order to keep my footing.
Before I can fully recover the kuudere is already on top of me with another set of the ever iconic curved swords, Kanshou and Bakuya, bringing both down to each side of me, moving my own two swords to block a sudden pain erupts from my chest and I'm sent flying backward right into the dirt.
Achily I move to stand back up and prepare for another attack but find a blade pointed at my throat,
"It would seem lady luck isn't on your side, Calico." The way she says that though is...odd as if she were quoting something. Though I could be wrong given that her voice still lacks any real emotion.
"What makes you say that?" Now that my adrenaline has lowered I notice the sweat beginning to cover my body and a strange pain on my left wrist.
Slowly she moves the tip of the blade towards my wrist, but I keep my eyes on her as to not be blindsided a third time,
"If I wanted to kill you I would already be at a donut shop by now." I cringe a bit at how right she is, this has been a horribly one sided battle.
"Oh…" I whisper after looking down at the bloody mess that is my wrist,
'Didn't I only activate my mystic eyes like a minute ago?'
"A person who fears their own power is a person destined to be consumed by it."
"Why are you trying so hard to sound wise?" I joke weakly, she seems unamused but still, she puts away her weapons with a slight blush on her face.
"You really don't know how to be serious. Stay that way please."
"Excuse me?"
Uncaring of my confusion she drops what looks to be a bag of coins on my lap,
"You won 55 gold."
"Fuck off."
"Looks like you understood that one." She says with a faint smile as she quickly turns around causing her cloak to flutter revealing the ribbons she stole one last time before she begins walking away.
"Hey! Wait! Don't take me for a fool Kuu, I know who you are!" I yell though it comes out more weak and whisper like than I intended.
"I don't think you do, Calico." She says before disappearing into thin air leaving me with a single foggy blood loss induced thought.
'If she's me, why is she so flat?'
--
(Shinji POV)
"Minori!" I call out as she and the strange cloaked servant disappear from their initial places only to reappear a moment later far down the street.
Instinctively I take a step forward towards Minoris' new location only for the lancer servant to step in the way of my view, gripping her spiked spear tightly.
'She isn't just gonna let me pass huh.'
Gritting my teeth I stare down the lancer servant warily, it's a bit annoying that I can't simply rush towards Minori in order to help her, but with her genuine fear of this lancer it's easy to assume that she's possibly far stronger than I already thought she was when I first saw her.
'Aniki…' Assassin worriedly whispers into my mind,
'Assassin, use your noble phantasm.'
While it is a bit impulsive, what better time to use "Maria the Ripper" than against a powerful female servant in the night with no people around to accidentally get caught in "The Mist."
'Okay~' She responds immediately,
"This is hell." Assassins uncharacteristically cold voice resounds through the area as mist slowly begins to creep from the earth,
"We are fire. We are rain. We are power." A slight eerie glow of red appears to the right deep within the thick mist,
"Maria The Ripper!" With that yell the red deep within the mist flashes towards the lancer, though the air feels off, as an odd purple glow appears in the path of Assassin and the sound of electricity roars in the air while the wind stirs.
"Assassin wait!" I call out though it's far too late as the wind instantly picks up around Lancer not only pushing Assassin and me back with an artificial barrier but also dispersing all the mist.
"Ughh," I grunt in pain as Assassin slams into me sending the both of us through the church doors.
"Shinji!?" Two voices exclaim in surprise at our sudden entrance,
"Aniki, are you okay?" Assassin asks frantically,
"Yeah, I'm fine." I mumble while beginning to stand, it's not as if that was an actual attack with any intention to harm, but if that was just Lancer 'revving up' so to speak then… an alliance with Rin and Shirou may be a must no matter how much I want to avoid it.
"I told you before, didn't I?" Akina now stands in front of me as if he had been waiting for this to happen,
"What do you mean by that?" I question,
"I told you that teaming up would be for the best. Some of the players in this game really aren't messing around you know." The way he says those words makes Assassin step forward slightly, putting pressure into her limbs in preparation to strike.
'What exactly is he trying to accomplish by so clearly defining himself as our enemy?' I wonder,
Slowly Akina looks around, taking her time to scan everything in the church with her eyes, an oddly cautious expression resting on his face. After looking and seemingly not finding anything out of place he speaks once again,
"Truth is you can't win against that lancer." He states,
"Yeah, I could never have guessed that on my own." I let sarcasm drip from my voice while I glare,
"Then you still plan on fighting her?"
"I have to get to Minori."
She stays quiet for a few more moments letting a smile creep onto his face,
"Well alright, then I'll try and keep myself from shooting you in the back while you're fighting!" He says, her cheerful tone not at all matching with her grim words.
'He probably has no plans of attacking us just as she said earlier but to remind us of the possibility… I just can't tell what she's thinking.'
"Shirou, can you really fight?" I ask the red haired boy now standing nearby, he nods solemnly receiving a nod from me in return,
"You're really going to try and help him fight a servant who just threw him through a door, Shirou?" Rin asks in obvious annoyance,
"To be fair that servant could probably level the entire building without any trouble." Akina comments unnecessarily,
"That doesn't make it any-"
"Though if all three of you worked together it would definitely be possible to at the very least push her back a bit~"
"Why are you so obsessed with us working together?" Shirou asks,
"Assassin, Saber, and Caster."
All three of us widened our eyes in surprise, while it would be easy to know what my servant is it would be impossible to guess Shirou's and Rin's, after all to my knowledge they haven't been in any fights.
"How do you-" Rin starts
"I just so happened to be nearby during Rin and Caster's battle with true lancer."
"And what about me?" Shirou asks,
"Mmmm, well I already know who the masters of lancer, rider, archer, and caster are so it was either saber or assassin." His prideful grin beams at us like the rays of the sun as if expecting some high praise for his deduction.
"You're wasting our time." I say flatly turning around and moving to where the doors used to be with Shirou in tow. Rin takes a moment to think before following along as well.
Suddenly before we can even take any more steps towards the exit assassin disappears from my side moving straight behind us towards Akina and instantly slashes at his neck.
"Assassin!" I call but to the astonishment of everyone in the room rather than a head flying Assassin passes through Akina who disappears with a pleasant slime on his face.
"Awww that's a bit annoying. Your assassin is way too perceptive~" Akina voice echoes throughout the room,
"What're you trying to accomplish here? If you're going to attack us then just do it." I say barely holding in my rage at this boy's antics.
"I said I wouldn't shoot you in the back while you were fighting, it's not my fault you didn't read the fine print."
Seemingly fed up as well Rin pulls out a golden caster class card in preparation for combat.
"Alright~ Alright~ this time I promise you guys don't have to worry about me." Her teasing tone makes it somewhat difficult to believe her though in truth we can't even attack her if we wanted to with her being invisible and all. Well not without wasting even more time.
Looking back out of the door with the corner of my eye I notice that the lancer which had just been there moments before is now gone as if she had simply vanished into thin air.
'What is even happening anymore?'
"You're working with whoever the master of those servants is."
"Guilty as charged!"
Gritting my teeth I spin around and dash through the door a few more words from the annoying nun following me and Shirou in the wind,
"You should know Shinji, that the best kind of spy is-" Those are the only words I hear before I'm out of earshot. Though Rin does stay behind to hear exactly what the girl has to say.
"Nori!" I yell as I see her body crumpled on the floor,
"Assassin! Can you help her?" Assassin stares a bit with a blank expression before frowning slightly in what seemed to be annoyance.
"She's fine Aniki, someone healed her." Her small pout makes it clear she isn't particularly happy about this fact.
'Assassin.' I say in my head,
'Yes Aniki?'
'This all feels off.'
'...Yeah, that bimbo on the pony was really prepared for my super special attack.'
' The only people who could know about your noble phantasm are me and Minori.'
'But Aniki, one other person has seen me before too.'
Taking in her words slightly I realize what she said was entirely true, there were three people who could have known about Jack. Me, Minori, and… Chikako. Minori is an idiot who wears her heart on her sleeve so she couldn't possibly betray us without getting caught plus she's been with me since Jack was summoned. The answer is obvious in that case, the question now though is how did she bypass information erasure?
"Shirou, would you mind if we stayed at your place for the grail war?"
--
(Akina)
"I told you pressuring them too much would be suspicious," I say to the purple haired "women" now walking into the church.
"I simply took a page out of your book, that boy Shinji already suspects me so is there truly a point in hiding it anymore?" She says,
"Well, I would think it would be easier to keep tabs on Minori if she's close by though right?"
"Indeed." Though she confirms my statement I already know it isn't true, no matter how far away Minori is there is no chance she'll ever escape this person's eyes, ironic given that she's the one with the all powerful rainbow mystic eyes.
"Maybe it is good that you chose that strategy though I mean it worked well enough for me~" Minori is a simple kind of person, I knew from the very beginning if I simply gave her a bunch of answers she wouldn't care enough to use her mystic eyes on me. While it was a gamble it was one I absolutely had to take to keep my own plans from being derailed.
It also helps that I look like a girl. Who would've thought cross dressing would work on her just as well as it did all those kids that just so happened to disappear after the Fuyuki fire happened?
"Yes, yes, in any case, keep going as planned."
"Right!"
With that Chikako leaves through the busted down door. It isn't until "she" moves far out of sight that another figure shows up this one in a black cloak.
"Assassin." I say simply,
"Hello." She greets curtly,
"This is going to be a lot harder than you made it seem before."
"Unfortunately that is so."
"What do you think Frank? Can we really get our wishes?" I ask the woman in a white bridal dress sitting close by while holding a few flowers gently in her hands.
"Nhgg…" She grunts sadly, she does have the right to be a bit downtrodden by our chances since we only have a three-winged command spell meaning we're only just ahead of Ayaka Sajyou who has two, and poor Shinji who only has a measly one-winged command spell.
I almost feel bad for him if I'm to be entirely honest. If the grail really can predict the future when it gives out these seals and it saw that he was going to be with both Minori and Shirou, but still said he was the lowest then… well he isn't someone anyone needs to worry about.
"You know if you would just tell me what happens in the future we could probably win without all of this hassle you know~"
"Even if I did know the future there are two other people who can look into the future as well."
At that I simply pout, this servant is far too difficult to understand, she has one of Minoris's mystic eyes yet she's too young to actually be Minori during this grail war not to mention the fact that she uses magic. As a matter of fact, compared to Minoris's seemingly limitless amount of Psychic energy this servant only has enough to use her eye, It's almost like they're the exact opposite of one another.
--
Frankenstein:
Strength: C
Endurance: A
Agility: D
Mana: D
Luck: B
NP: C
--
Class Skills:
Mad Enhancement (D) - A skill that raises Strength and Endurance in exchange for the user's mental stability. Though for Frankenstein it being such a low rank means at most she loses her ability to speak properly.
--
Personal Skills:
Galvanism (B) - A skill that constantly builds up and stores magical energy along with bioelectricity for future use. It can be used to heal herself and increase her strength further as well.
Wail of the Falsely Living (D) - A shout which causes both enemies and allies to lose the ability to think while making those who can't resist unable to breathe.
Overload (C) - A skill used to allow Frankenstein to turn more accumulated mana than she can handle into electricity to enhance herself. This skill however comes with the drawback of damaging her on use.
Battle Continuation (B) - A testament to Frankenstein's chasing of her creator all the way to the south pole in order to have him make her a mate. This is a skill that allows Frankenstein to keep going as long as she doesn't suffer any particularly fatal injuries.
--
Noble Phantasms:
Bridal Chest (C) - Frankenstein's mace in which she stores all of her accumulated energy. It also powers her and thus must be kept with her at all times.
Blasted Tree (C ~ B) - An attack in which Frankenstein slams the ground with her mace releasing a burst of electricity in the process which shoots up into the air and rains down lightning strikes for an area of effect attack. This noble phantasm can also be used as a suicide technique in which she releases all of her energy at once creating a massive blast which kills her and (hopefully) her opponent.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
AvaDumont
AvaDumont I, funnily enough, had half of this chapter done the day after the last one, but at Shinji's portion, I got a real huge bout of writer's block. I didn't want them actually fighting Artoria because you know she'd steamroll them, but I also wanted them to fully realize she was a huge problem and this was the result.
I also gave Frank "BC" because I think it makes sense and she's severely underpowered compared to some servants in this grail war *Cough Cough* Artoria.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
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