Fate/eternal cross

Deadpool looked to his master, and then to Rin.

"Are you two going to have a rematch? Cause I for one would love to see that! And would also like to photograph that. And maybe videotape it. Anybody have a videocamera?"

"Mm," Ilya responded with a nod, agreeing with Berserker's plan. She had to admit she didn't like it much, but if she were being honest, he just didn't seem like a very reliable guy in combat. She suspected Shirou would prefer it this way as well, but she knew nobody else would be too into this plan. It had too many holes, it was too easy for the servant to just attach itself to a different master, or to try to get revenge with the last of their mana.

Ilya went along with this plan, however, because of one major reason: Touma could ignore any command she gave. Right now he seemed willing to at least do something, which was good enough for now.

When Shirou finally made it back to the kitchen, he deadpanned at the sheer lack of nothing left that was in his kitchen. While they were out he'd have to find something for breakfast or Saber and Lancer will be disapointed...

---------

After Timeskip!

Shirou looked at Ingrid, at first mildly annoyed about the nickname. Until it dawned on him the content of everything else she was saying, "Uwah! No, no," he denied it directly, glancing at Rin nervously.

Ilya piped in after Ingrid but before Rin could respond, "Hey! I'm going with Shirou! I have to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid," she pointed at him as if this helped her point.

Bazett grabbed Ilya's shoulder, and shook her head. She then looked at Ingrid, "Oi, does your ear need another lesson? We're going to need to work together so stop antagonizing each other," part way through her statement she looked at Rin as well. Bazett wasn't a leader but she did have brute force and a glare that could scare children. Well, ordinary children.

Living Room

"N-no!" Rin answered immediately. "It's because of that." Rin was well aware of how socially inept Ingrid was. It wasn't a secret by any means.

"A...haaaa." she took in a deep breath to control herself. Now wasn't the time, Rin. Now wasn't the time to tear into her. "Huff...ahhhh." another deep breath just for good measure. "It's something called team synergy, who would work best with who. I simply work best with Emiya-kun. Bazett and Ilya won't give each other much trouble and any group with you on it would ..." Rin looked straight at Ingrid with the eyes of a detached magus.

"Well, having you anywhere near us is a death wish and I don't feel like dying tonight. I have a Grail to win."

==============================
Fuyuki City

"Huh?" Mai looked back to Nanoha and Shuya. "You guys are already loud! Shhhh." she shushed her partners with a finger over her lips. She looked around a second after with a frown on her face. "Mmm." she sighed.

"Never mind, let's go."

"Keh, whatever," Ingrid scowled, digging her hands into her hoodie as she slouched against the wall. She lost the will to pick a fight, not because anything Rin said, but because Bazette had intervened. The blonde had some sense of respect for the older woman. Well, as much as she could manage having respect for anyone.

She'll just wait to deal with the princess when Bazette isn't around.

Things had seemed to settle down in the house at last.

That only lasted for a split second, as the door was thrown open and another blonde waltz'd in, towing her servant behind her, "Oh~ Shero~ Your most beautiful and graceful ally is here~ That dreadfully uncouth girl didn't cause you any trouble, did she?"

Anyone who knew the blonde would know exactly who she meant. The animosity between Rin and Luvia was not a well kept secret. It would seem blonde was just not Rin's color.

-----

"Hi guys!" Arika greeted Shuya and Nanoha with that big, bright smile of hers that still held the innocence of her childhood. When her master shushed them, Arika quickly went silent, "Ehehe, oops." She laughed softly, following behind the other girl.

Emiya Household

Now that the situation calmed down Rin could speak more about her plan. Well, that would be WHAT WAS about to happen before that spoiled brat Luvia came on in along with enormous ego.

"Oh look who it is, the air-head." Rin slapped the table with an open hand then stood up. Rin looked to Luvia with a rigged brow.

"Uhh..." Tohka sat there next to Shirou completely clueless. Wait, she knew what to do! Tohka placed both fingers in her mouth and whistled.

"Fffffffffffffffffffff..." though only the sound of air escaping her open mouth was the only thing that happened. Right, she didn't know how to whistle. "Ffffffffffffff..." she still tried anyway.

"Alright, alright." Touma felt the need to step in now. "Uhh..." though he didn't know exactly what to say in a situation like this. Was he really ever good at solving others problems that did not involve punching said problem in between the eyes and doing a moral speech? No? Well crap. That won't stop him from trying though! "Alright, you two.. uh... Rin and ... other girl." way to go Touma, already going smoothly.

"We're all on the same team, right, so can't we just get along? I mean won't the enemy team have a really big advantage if we already have it out for each other? ..." he waited for them to respond.

This tension was enough to strangle him.

==============================

Fuyuki City

Mai continued with the walk forward. She came to a fourway intersection that. Up the hill were Western Houses where a Rin Tohsaka lived but Mai didn't know that at all. On the other way there were eastern style houses. That was the direction that Berserker went the other night so it was the direction she'd take. "This way, guys."

She stepped forward and immediately turned to go down another alley way COMPLETELY opposite of the way that the Emiya Residence was.

Uh oh. Uh oh uh oh uh oh. Shirou thought things were going to calm down. He was so close to his living room not becoming a mess. But Luvia and Rin didn't seem to be wanting to play nice with each other. Saber was doing something weird, and Berserker seemed to be trying to help, but...

He decided to try and say something, even though he felt like he'd regret it, "Tohsaka-san, Edelfelt-san, why don't you two try to get along tonight, ok? Berserker has a point, we're all on the same team!"

Bazett was at this point very visibly annoyed, "Tch," her mind was going 90kph, trying to think of a way out of this situation. Which was to say, to get Lancer, Ilya, and Berserker to just go with her and out the door. She wanted nothing to do with the violent game these kids were playing.

Ilya then grabbed Bazett by the sleeve, and tilted her head towards the hallway. Ahhh, so they were thinking the same thing. Bazett gave Lancer a violent poke to get his attention, and motioned for him to follow her. The two of them, hopefully with Lancer as well, then went into the hallway, quietly, making their escape. If they were assassin, then the others would surely be dead. Unless it was the Assassin of Red because he was loud as fuck.

Goku followed Bazett out into the Hallway. "So where do we start looking?" He whispered as he took his Powerpole off his back.

Kuroi rolled her eyes and noticed Illya leaving. She snuck off and grabbed Touma before he could leave the room. "Make sure she stays safe...." She said in a tone a older sister would use when they were worried about their Younger sibling.

Shuya rolled his eyes as Mai went the wrong way. "Lancer... Go get your master and tell her she's going the wrong way." They then headed off in the real direction of the Emiya household. "Still... I can't believe Shirou's a Master...." He said. "A close friend?" Nanoha asked. "You have no Idea... He was one of the few people that were there for me and Alicia when our Parents died. The three of us grew up together. Hopefully I won't have to fight him and his servant." .

Ryoma walked into the room shortly after his master. He briefly wondered why he'd gotten the team full of idiots; but decided it didn't matter. He would have to rely on these idiots if he wanted the grail.

Deadpool, meanwhile, noticed several people leaving the party. He poked his master, and pointed.

"My plot senses are tingling," he said.

Living Room

Things made a steady climb for the worse. Things were happening so fast Tohka couldn't keep track of it. "Uh... S-shirou, can we go out now?" Saber still looked confused and helpless. Now she just wanted to get things going. Tohka hoped that she could pull Shirou away from this situation without him getting even more hurt.

Touma watched Ilya, Lancer and Bazett exit the room. He sighed then started to follow. "Everyone, we're leaving. Come on." those words probably wouldn't do jack shit but at least Berserker tried. He sighed, scratched his head then followed the crowd out. As he left, Kuro whispered something about protecting Ilya. He nodded THEN he went on his way out.

=======================

Shinto - On the Way to the Emiya Residence

Shuya looked to the direction of the household. "Alright, he's up there... dammit." he bit his lip. Was it really worth it? To fight his childhood friend?

For a single wish on the Holy Grail?

Personally, no, but he had to go on. If he didn't, he was dead.

"I'm not stupid." Mai came back without Lancer's intervention. "EVER HEARD OF SPYING?"

"W-wait, that was your intention? I just wanted to talk to Shirou about all this business." he scratched the back of his head.

"Yes. See them, wait til they're split up then attack!"

"AHAHAHAHA!" Luvia raised her hand to her mouth as she laughed annoyingly, "I see you're still jealous of me. I don't blame you. Shero would never go for an amazonian like you. He prefers a refined lady, isn't that right Shero?"

"Oh god, my sides," Ingrid suddenly blurted, literally grabbing her sides as laughter threatened to erupt. Luvia sent a sharp look at the older woman as if to ask 'who are you?', "No, no. Don't mind me. Go back to taunting Toesucker."

She then turned to her servant, "In a minute assassin, my favorite show is on."

"... Toesucker?" Luvia glanced questioningly at Rin, "What a befitting nickname."

----

"Ah, ah," Arika looked back and forth between Mai and Shuuya, "Please don't fight you two."

Bazett shrugged at Goku. She didn't know where they would go, just for now they had to get out of the house. Ilya nodded at Touma, relieved he wasn't the type to stick around and try to keep convincing them.

Ilya gave a sly smile to Rin. While Luvia was around, nothing would happen. She was sure of it. For tonight, you could have him all you want! Because you won't be having him to yourself any time soon.

Shirou turned to Saber, and actually gave some thought to just escaping. And indeed, he had been entirely ignored. Well then, maybe he should. He gave Saber a small nod and got up to go, making no attempt to hide it like maybe some people did. He figured Tohsaka would follow behind whenever it was time. When he thought about it, Luvia probably would too... geez.

Emiya Household

"Huh? Emiya-kun?" Rin was distracted as Shirou started to leave with Saber. "Gggh." she felt that she couldn't leave the situation at hand go on for too long so she stood up, looked to Ingrid then to Luvia then back to Shirou's direct. "I'm not going to get into a fight here again! We have to move! Now!" Rin twitched as she walked by Luvia with a frown. The thought of teaming up with her made her want to explode.

Insults, anger, and a strange kind of respect. It was really infuriating to deal with these emotions but as a person, as a magus, she had too.

===============================

With Ilya & Co., Outside

"So the plan is to just scout around?" asked Touma. He closed his eyes for a second to fell the rushing cold air of the night on his skin. "Sigh..." he ran a hand through his hair.

"Such misfortune."

===============================

Shinto

"Oh right, sorry, Lancer." Shuya said with a grin.

"Right, right." Mai placed a finger to her forehead. "I have an idea. Shuya, you go that way with Caster. I'll circle on around. If we run into the enemy, call." she nodded to Shuya.

"Got it." Shuya pulled a thumb up.

The thoughts settled in.

Shirou. His best friend. A fight to the death.

Was it really worth it?

To murder meant to rob one of their future while the past remained. That was what the pain was, what grieving was.

"No, stop thinking that, Shuya." he slapped himself on the face and ordered Caster to follow.

"I can't wait to fight these other servants! They must be really strong," said Goku, with a grin.

--

"Wasn't aware you were into harem comedies," said Deadpool, in response to his master. "In fact, I was certain you were into hentai..."

"Oh no you don't," Luvia said quickly following behind Rin and motioning for her servant to do the same, "You just want to be alone with Shero. I won't allow that."

Kuro was already walking beside Rin. She grinned for a moment, not missing this chance to get under her Master's skin when she was already this highstrung, "Trouble in paradise, Master~?"

Ingrid watched the four leave the room and stood, "Looks like the Rin Comedy hour is over. Hey, Assassin, you don't want to go on some borefest of a patrol, right? Why don't we try and find some of those chimichangas you were telling me about?"

-----

Arika followed her Master, going the opposite direction from Shuya. For a moment, she bit her lip, as if contemplating asking something. After a second, she decided to ask it anyway, she was never one to keep things to herself for long anyway.

"Master..." She started, hoping to get Mai's attention, "Is it really okay to fight these people? I.... don't want to hurt anybody."

Shinto - With Lancer

Mai sighed at Arika's question. "If I could claim the Holy Grail without fighting, that would be great." she looked a bit down as she talked. "If I could do anything in the world without hurting anyone, that would be great too but Lancer," she turned to look at her Servant. "The world isn't like that. Is it like that where you come from? Is everything just given to you without working for it, without ruining someone else's dreams?" Mai turned away from Arika.

Her head shook from one side to the other, "The world is a cruel place and we have to fight. I don't want to kill anyone either but you know what? I have to suck it up and accept reality. You have to do the same. If you don't, I'll have to use a Command Seal on you and I don't want to."

=====================

With Ilya and Co. , Outside

"NO, Archer." Rin answered with a combination yell and growl. It was like she was doing her best to hold back her rage but it wasn't going very well. Everyone just wanted to get in her way, to get in the way of her trying to protect them. Just piling more stuff on. More idiots stepping in to shut her up. She saw Shirou as her responsibility.

Not Ingrid's, not Luvia's, no Bazzet's or Ilya's. Shirou was HER responsibility. She felt as though she was dragging him in the dirt behind her because it was her fault she was involved. "Aaaaaaaaah." she let out a deep breath. Ilya and Bazett are going with one another, that's fine.

"I'm still going with Emiya-kun." she said, "Luvia, you can have him tomorrow night. We'll trade off, is that okay?" she was not in the mood to continue the fight so she opted to try a more diplomatic solution.

"Well I knew this was going to happen again." Touma already prepared the 'fukou da' just a second before. He was getting better at this!

"Mmmmmmm." Tohka went red faced. Everyone was fighting over Shirou when she was HIS Servant! This was just going to tear them apart. At that moment...

"Shido is mine!" the name of the one she loved before. Tohka immediately clad herself in her Astral Dress and grabbed Shirou's arm.

With one flash of purple light, they were both gone.

=====================

Shinto - A km or two away from the Emiya Residence, near Mai and Lancer

A purple flash illuminated a dark alley. There Tohka appeared with Shirou's arm locked in her own. She let go a second later then found herself looking down at the ground.

Oi oi, what was with this trading off thing? Didn't Shirou get a say in the matter? Before he could say anything though, Tohka grabbed his arm and called him something odd, "Huh? Shi-" before he could ask about it though suddenly they were gone. After blinking a couple times to get the purple light out of his eyes, he noticed they were now in some alley. He looked at Tohka with an expression of complete shock, "A-ah, what- where are we?" he asked her.

.

Ilya rolled her eyes at the whole situation, finding herself very much entertained. When Shirou vanished she looked momentarily surprised, but then grinned at Rin and Luvia, "Hee, seems you two won't get to play with Shirou tonight after all, he was taken by Saber~" with that, she turned and skipped, feeling quite happy with herself. She decided that regardless of what Bazett wanted, they would look for Shirou now, discreetly. It would be ok if they met each other along the way after all, right?

When Bazett got outside, with Lancer behind her, she looked back and saw Ilya looking happy, with Berserker behind her. Bazett raised an eyebrow but said nothing about that, instead opting to ask about their plans, "So technically, you're not from around here either right?" Ilya shook her head, "Right, so none of the four of us know the area that well... was this really a good idea?"

Ilya shrugged, and then pointed in a particular direction, "Lets see what's that way~" Bazett shrugged, not really having a better way to decide. The two of them led their servants in that particular direction, which Ilya had hoped would lead to Shirou.

--------

"Ahhhh, why do I get caught up in this kind of thing?" Ryner was complaining as he walked around aimlessly through some neighborhood. Kotomine probably wasn't any better or worse a master than who he got caught up with initially, but why was it that his original master had to die? He wasn't happy about all that at all.

He was especially not happy that Kotomine seemed to be under the impression that Ryner didn't need to be accompanied, and had stayed at the church. Due to his own lazy ways, he just assumed that the priest of a man was very lazy, and didn't want to go walking around aimlessly. Like he had Ryner doing, "Gah, I could just go sleep if this were the case..."

″Lets go get some chimichangas!″he said.

However, he paused for a moment, as something occured to him. Something of grave importance to their current mission.

″Where do they sell mexican food in this town?″he asked. ″Is there a place nearby where we can get them? Cause I am not returning to base without them. Though I might settle for cherrychangas if those even exist...″

If they couldn't find any place that served chimichangas; Deadpool would have to force Shirley to make some.

--

Goku followed Illya and Bazett. They seemed to have a better idea where they were going.

″So, when we get done beating up the other servants; can we go get something to eat?″

--
Ryoma, meanwhile, had begun to grow impatient with his master.

″Can we get a move on already?″said Ryoma. ″I'd like to get the grail before you all die of old age,″

Kuro gave a chesire grin, saying nothing further to her master. Not that she needed to. Her expression said enough. Though, it quickly dropped when Tohka disappeared with Shirou, "She stole Oni- err... Shirou!"

"How dare she!" Luvia added, completely ignoring her servant, "Come Rider, we have to find Shero!"

With that, Luvia left Rin with a flourish, whipping her hair out behind her.

-----

"Mexican? Hmmm.... I don't know where to find Mexican in Japan," Ingrid replied scratching the back of her head, "Oh well! We'll just walk around until we find something, if not Emily can make it!" She said as if reading Deadpool's mind.

It was scary how in tune these two were.

----

"How can you say that, Master?" Arika looked almost disappointed in Mai. Like she had never expected her to say such things, "I know the world has many cruel things, but it has many happy things too! There has to be another way! We just haven't tried hard enough to find it."

"There just has to be," This time she said it in a much lower voice, as if reassuring herself more than Mai.

Emiya Residence

"Emiya-ku-" Rin was completely baffled by what the hell just happened. The Servant Saber teleported away with Shirou in hand just because they were all fighting. Well, that could be a lesson but Rin completely ignored it. "Come on, Archer, we're going after him!" she commanded as she walked the other way opposite of Luvia.

=========================================

Near the Emiya Residence (With Ilya, Bazett and Lancer)

Touma sighed deeply at the fact that he had a horrible sense of direction. "Well I'm in the same boat as you guys." with his right hand he scratched the top of his black, spiky hair. "Best to stay in a group." he said the obvious as he continued to walk behind his Master Ilya.

=========================================

2km away from the Emiya Residence, Western Style House Area

Tohka dumped both herself and Shirou in an alley far off from the Emiya Residence. It was a panicked reaction caused by the arguing Red Team. "I'm sorry, Shirou." she realized her mistake by separating from the main group. "It was just that everyone was fighting over you and I thought that.. um..." she looked off to the side. Now she was really embarassed since she used 'his' name. She shook her head vigorously to get those thoughts out. "It's nothing, nothing!"

Immediately after that Tohka detected something. It was a strange feeling like... "A-another Servant is nearby." she looked left and right trying to get a good approximation of where they were. Then.. she looked down the road.

"If you know the world is such a cruel place then why are you so optimistic?" Mai looked at her Servant with a hint of irritation. "Well the-" Mai stopped. She locked eyes with the Servant Saber. "There... there they are! LANCER! GO!"

Bazett shrugged at Goku, "Are you saying you're still hungry?" She was surprised, what with how he had eaten back at the house. Lancer sure could eat a lot, huh?

Ilya nodded with Touma, agreeing they should stay together.

---------------

Shirou was fully intending on finding a way to question her further, but they were interrupted, "A-ah! Saber-" he didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to do. Run? Hide? Fight? He was sure Saber would try to fight, but on the other side, when he looked, weren't those two girls? Was he really ok with letting Saber go and kill two girls?

"Is this a good idea?" he asked, a question that showed just how hesitant he was, even though he had already agreed to this.

-----

Alibaba sighed, pacing back and forth behind the temple. The situation he was in was rather uncomfortable, and fairly extraordinary. He definitely had a wish, he definitely had a wish he wanted fulfilled. But there was something else going on here. Something going on with his master, and her family.

Ah, he could tell someone was coming, so he put on his regular expression so that he wouldn't worry anyone, whoever was there.

"I'm always hungry," said Goku, as if that were the most normal thing in the world.

--
"In that case, we should search for a restaurant in...THAT DIRECTION!" said Deadpool; before walking down the road in a random direction.

"Aye, aye!" Ingrid said giving a mock salute to her servant before walking in the direction he indicated. It was highly unlikely they'd find any Mexican food in Fuyuki, but it was worth a try!

----

"I...!" Arika tried to respond to her master, explain to her what she meant. However, it was at that moment that Shirou and his servant appeared. Deep down, Arika wanted to argue it some more. She just knew there had to be another way. But it was an order from her master. Maybe she wouldn't need to kill them. Maybe she could get them to give up willingly.

"Alright, Master," Arika replied with a nod, taking off into the sky and summoning her element before charging for Tohka, "Here I go!"

-----

"Oh, you're out as well Saber?" Came a young feminine voice as a white haired girl approached the king candidate. She ran a hand through her hair, pushing it back into the night breeze. She wondered why he was out and not with his master. Well, not that she had any room to talk.

Shiho, herself, had came out to get away from her own Master. Such a pesky man. It had been her first time too. He didn't have to act so annoyed by it. Though, she had to admit she did get some amusement from pissing him off. She always did enjoy playing with her toys.

2km away from the Emiya Residence, Western Style House Area

Tohka immediately looked down the road. The Servant Lancer thrust forward to initiate the fight. Tohka wasted no time reaching her hand out. "Sandalphon!" she called the name of her sheath. Instead, the outstretched hand was at Shirou. In a burst of purple light a broadsword appeared in Saber's hand. "Get down, Shirou!" with one light push the Servant got her Master to the ground.

I'll protect him, no matter what!

Images flashed in her mind of the boy that she had previously loved. Of the person that gave her purpose, the person that gave her meaning in life. "Haaaaaaah!" she charged forward in a blur. The ground that she stood on quivered under her might. Immediately after getting close Tohka swung the sword down in an arc at the Servant Lancer. "You won't go any further!"

Mai watched the display with a smile. Alright, Lancer was going to take care of the Servant Saber... but then she realized it. If Lancer was hit while she battled the other Master, he could get a hit in due to the shared pain between herself and her Servant Arika.

"Huff." she sighed. Best to just stand here for now.

Shirou's eyes widened at the sight of the opponent's servant charging at him. Then Tohka pulled her Noble Phantasm from his body, startling him before knocking him back on his butt. Why was he now on the ground? He felt like he had been pushed aside because he'd be in the way. As Tohka dashed away though, he realized that he would, indeed, just be in the way.

But that wasn't acceptable. He couldn't consider himself a man if he just stayed on the ground, waiting around for Saber to take out the enemy. He knew he could help somehow, so he stood up, and readied himself. Though no matter how ready he tries to be, once they start moving he becomes completely entranced by their movements, and their speed.

------

Alibaba let out his breath. He hadn't been sure who it was, but at least it wasn't one of those other creepy masters, "Yeah, it's a nice night out," He responded, giving her a smile before looking up at the sky. And indeed, it was a shining crescent moon. He wondered what it was she wanted, but it could just be that she was out enjoying the night, unlike him. Or maybe she was just trying to stay away from that noisy master of hers, after all they did seem to have some sort of... something going on, and weren't getting along.

------

Issei was inside the temple, meditating. Or at least trying. Damn things had gotten noisy lately. And that servant of his! Of all the things to happen, his chastity! Truly, what was he to do.

Instead of meditating, anyone looking at him would immediately realize he was just fuming to himself in a meditative stance.

Arika quickly raised her element to block the sword, a blue circular light surrounding her in order to shield her. The sheer force pushed Arika back slightly, but she was a strong girl. It would take more than that to break her defenses.

"Please..." Arika began to plead with that earnest naivety of hers, "I don't want to hurt anyone, so please give up!"

----

A silence hung over the two for a moment. Not an uncomfortable silence, at least Shiho felt that way. She didn't know what Alibaba was thinking, she didn't try to know. She knew when to set boundaries. She wouldn't cross the line and delve into her teammates private thoughts. Though, she couldn't help the occasional glimpses she got. Especially from particularly strong traumas.

She had often got the feeling that something was very off about Alibaba's master. She never got close enough to get a good look into her, but the feeling was still there. Well, she wouldn't be surprised if that sleezy brother of hers had something to do with it. The looks that greasy haired idiot had given Shiho a few times made her twitch. She had to resist the urge to just shoot him and be done with it. She felt sorry for the girl that ended up having a pathetic guy like that for a master. As much as Issei annoyed her, she was thankful that he was her master instead of Shinji.

Shiho shivered slightly at the mere thought of having any kind of connection with him.

Tohka kept up the pressure against the spherical barrier with her large broadsword. Electricity arced from her sword as she drew it back. In order to protect shirou she had to do everything she could, here and now. "I have to protect Shirou, no matter what! I have to..." she recalled her past one last time. Not her past in her own life, the past of the Holy Grail War. That man that gave everything in order to help free his niece. That man that cared for Sakura the same way that Shido cared for her. "Hah!" she pulled the sword back in for another swing hoping to break through Arika's defense.

"Get them, Lancer!" Mai pulled out her sword. In an instant she flooded it with prana, causing it to come a light. "Here I come, Master of Saber!" Mai crouched low then sprinted forward straight at Shirou.

Shirou was stunned by the display the servants were putting on. It was a lot more than he had even expected, even after being shown the power of Berserker and Saber previously. In fact, this fight seemed much more serious than that time had been. Yet, there wasn't any reason for them to fight other than they were supposed to. It was bothering him that the enemy just felt like it was ok to fight and kill.

He then noticed that the opposing master was coming towards him. Was that... a burning sword? He looked at his bare hands, and realized that he was in real trouble. How was he supposed to compete with all this crazy stuff happening around him?

He looked around for a weapon, and through sheer luck he managed to find a lead pipe. Then he turned towards his opponent, and ... closed his eyes.

That's right, he had to focus. The switch at the top of his spine, he had to flip it. Shirou's luck apparently wasn't running out yet, because with a sudden surge of energy his circuits opened up, and he was able to use strengthening magic to make the pipe much harder than it should have been. He bared his makeshift weapon in preparation for the enemy.

---------

The silence hadn't been bothering Alibaba either. He had considered breaking it by asking some friendly question about her master when he noticed a sort of dark look suddenly overtake Shiho and she shivered, "Are you getting cold? We can go back in if you like," He hadn't thought it was too cold, but it was a bit windy and it was winter.

The force of the sword pushed Arika down, the pavement cracking under feet. Yet, her defenses remained unbroken. Gritting her teeth, the brunette stood her ground against Saber.

"I have..." More cracking, the ground was breaking under her feet as she pushed back against Tohka's sword, "... someone to protect too!!"

Putting all her strength into it, she tried to force Tohka back completely.

----

Shiho lifted her head up to face Alibaba having been taken from her slighlty unsettling thoughts. She shook her head. "No, I'm not cold," she answered honestly. She noted that he said we should go in, rather than just she. Really, Saber was too thoughtful for his own good, "I just had something... unpleasant on my mind."

The difference in strength between Saber and Lancer wasn't large so if Lancer pushed with everything she had she was bound to make a difference. Exerting enough pressure to push her back, TOhka grimaced as she relent. She leaped back twice to get even spacing between herself and the enemy servant. She had to move fast, fight and protect Shirou no matter what. "Then we there's no point in talking!" Tohka flooded her sword with a large quantity of purple energy. "HAH!" afterward she leaped forward against to meet Arika in combat.

The goal was to have Arika shield herself against while Tohka used her infused sword to smash right through the barrier.

A lead pipe? That was his weapon of choice? No doubt he was using reinforcement. Through just looking at the younger boy she could just SEE that he wasn't a proper magus. Mai starts to think, what kind of magus would dress like that?

"Hah." she laughed to herself as she finally closed in. "Say your PRAYERS!" she swings the sword down straight at Shirou's head.

Shirou was worried about Saber, but right now he couldn't think about that. He swung the pipe upwards and blocked the sword, but the sword left a notch in it. It suddenly occurred to him that the heat from the sword was getting to him, but he had to ignore it. Shirou pushed the sword aside, and took a couple steps back, trying to distance himself, "Crap,"

------

"Ah, I understand," Alibaba nodded, "This whole 'war' is fairly unsettling on its own, but then there sure are some interesting masters on our side, huh?" He was referring more to Shinji, and the mysterious grandfather, more than anyone, but when he thought about it they really did have a bunch of odd masters on their side.