Well crap… Two month hiatus is not what I envisioned for this fic. My bad, my bad! Let's get this show on the road.

Disclaimer: First chapter

Night 5 part 2

"What information do you have on the new Assassin?" Rin asked without missing a beat.

"Hassan-i-Sabbah." Assassin replied without hesitation. "Of course, it would mean that the True Assassin, one that was meant to be summoned in the first place, is now a participant in this War." Both Assassin and Archer took a moment of silence. The rest took this as an ominous event.

Archer lightened up the mood, or at least attempted it. "Hey, Assassin, think of it this way: we actually have a challenge." He smiled eagerly at the notion. Assassin crossed his arms and nodded. Lily and Rin took offense to that. The duo were among the strongest pairs in the War! Before either could say anything, Archer spoke. "We mean it. In terms of tactics and mind games, Hassan is equal to us both. Saber and Lily are frontline fighters with little to no creativity in tactics. Lancer only has his speed and cursed spear to help. Rider has Pegasus and whatever is behind that blindfold. Berserker has a sane mind, and his lives to survive, but with my arsenal, he will soon die. Caster is definitely easy to beat unless she pulls all the stops to beat either of us. Despite the presented situation, only Hassan thought like a proper soldier in war. He gauged our strengths and weaknesses to plan ahead next time. He threw Dirks at us in selected intervals. The first wave measured our mobility, while the second factored in our tendencies when under attack." He happily explained. "Not that it mattered since we held back, and returned the favor using his own Dirks."

Shirou looked puzzled. "You…held back?"

"Why not?" Archer shrugged. "I was low on mana, I couldn't exactly summon more high-class Noble Phantasms because of your condition, and this needed a delicate approach." Assassin snorted at the implication of 'delicate'. Archer frowned at his friend, yet continued speaking. "Assassins have a hard time against Servants. But that isn't to say Hassan is not a threat. He thinks like us. Deception is his game, and we know it very well."

"It's been a long time since we had an opponent like this. It's been years since we had a kindred warrior with the same mindset as us two." Assassin added. "That Servant has his merits in tactical battle. An Assassin is only as good as his information gathering, and it's with that information that he can plan out how to destroy us. Thankfully, we didn't show much for him to make the proper analysis."

Archer butted in. "That's all because we held back, and fought in a straightforward manner like what the others do. He probably thinks were not as hyped as others may have expressed."

Rin cringed and shivered. "You two are devious…mindsets of Casters, sneakiness of Assassins-"

"We get it, girlie. We're anomalies in this War. Don't rub it in." Archer interrupted snappily. Rin scowled. Just who was Archer to tell her to keep quiet? "Do you want us to tell you what happened or not?"

The Masters nodded. Rin verbalized it to seal the offer. "Please do."

Archer was ready to speak when he realized someone was barreling through the front gates. Wordlessly, he transformed into his alter ego, Erik Gunther. Assassin hid soon after. Lily disappeared too. The Masters were stupefied by the sight of a Taiga sliding across the hall to reach her destination, the dining table, where everyone was at.

"Fuji-nee!"

"Fujimura-sensei?!"

"Morning!" The hyperactive woman greeted. She opened her eyes. "Eh? Tohsaka-san?! What are you doing here this early in the morning?"

"Emiya-kun was busy helping me with some issues at home. Since he's called the Janitor as times, I thought he could see what was wrong with the wiring in my house." The girl feigned embarrassment. "Sadly, Emiya-kun's examination proved that it was something far beyond his capabilities, and I would need an electrician to fix the problem. So…being the gentleman that Emiya-kun is, he let me stay in one of the guest rooms until the issue is fixed at home. I'm sure it won't be a problem?"

Rin's hastily-made story was near genius in Archer's eyes. As an alliance, it was better to be near to make the plans rather than be far away from each other, and make the effort to meet. Though Taiga was skeptical, she submitted to the story, and allowed Rin's stay. Only stipulation was…

No indecent activities in the late hours.

That got a laugh from the Servants both visible and invisible. The Masters blushed beet red at the implication of rabid, teenage hormones kicking into overdrive in a mostly vacant home. The stammering victims of teasing, could not formulate a sentence within ten seconds. Archer chose to save them from their predicament by changing the topic.

"Fujimura-san, you're just in time for breakfast." Archer spoke mirthfully. He was happy for two reasons: not giving away the story just yet, and Rin's fumed face. He walked to the kitchen counter to grab the platefuls of food, and placed them on the table. "Where's Matou-san?"

"Didn't you hear the news?" Taiga asked incredulously. "Sakura chose to stay home today to grieve for her brother." The Masters were silenced. The first casualty was not a Servant, but a Master. Well at least this way, Rider was someone they needed to worry about. To Archer and Saber, they knew better.

"I see…Shirou, why don't you go see her later to see if she's okay?" Archer suggested. His suggestion held two purposes, get his Master to have a closer relationship with Sakura, and see if Sakura is the actual Master of Rider or if she was a puppet of a larger plot. That and to see if Hassan was in league with the Matous. If so, the Matous were a threat with two at their back and call.

"Yeah, Shirou!" Taiga agreed. "Why don't you go see her? I'm sure it'll make the rest of her day just a little more brighter." Shirou played the idiot. He felt sure Archer and Fuji-nee were in cahoots in trying to hook him up with Sakura. Not that he did not like her. He just had more important things to focus on.

"I'll try to go there, but right now, we should eat some breakfast."

Lightning flashed in a forest. Archer raised his speed. The orange knight blurred from sight with each leap from rooftop to rooftop. Precise jumps allowed for maximum distance his Shinobi training would allow. With Shirou's dangerous status, he couldn't risk sapping the last of his Master's strength for speed. This must be serious if Assassin used Chidori in a fight. Archer decided to look into it more as he closed in. A foreign feeling occupied Assassin's position as well.

A new signature, faint, but new. Archer scowled. Mana. Assassin was fighting someone who could fight a Servant, and was forcing Assassin to take it seriously. It could only be one thing. A Master can't beat a Servant. There's only one exception, and the boy's not ready to attempt that at all. No…this was the most obvious answer.

Another Servant had been summoned.

"Damn it. Just what is the Grail doing?!" Archer shouted at no one. His appearance changed. On his back a pair of jetpacks flared their cones of concentrated flame. On his hips, the hip jetpacks released the same output. His blurred form disappeared. The sound of a sonic boom was all that was left of the Servant's presence.

Lightning darted the trees as if a snake slithering towards its prey. It struck and caused dust to rise into the treetops. Archer dug into his left thigh's kunai pouch, and grabbed four in his left hand. In his right, prone morphed a shaft of a polearm. However, it was definitely not a polearm. At the end, a double-ended axe, a mechanically and meticulously made Labrys sprouted out of the mist of energy. The axe was large, larger than his torso with his arms spread out. And unlike the traditional Labrys, this one had a set of three thrusters inside each blade. Connected to those thrusters are blue tubes that connect to the shaft presumably as the fuel line for the thrusters. Archer decided that he would crash the party.

He swung his left hand outwards, and threw the kunais. His target, the mysterious cloaked figure. As an Archer, the Servant's throws were particularly accurate compared to if he were summoned into a different class. It was as if his accuracy improved more compared to his prime. Oh wait…he is an Archer so… 'Man…the times I feel smart are being shot down by forgetting the simplest of facts.' The trajectory, vector, outside forces, and target behavior were all put into account within seconds; he would not miss this one. He was sure of it. The little projectiles got closer to the target.

Eighty meters.

Twenty.

Ten.

Five.

Three.

One!

The kunai were an arm's length away when the enemy simply adjusted his body to narrowly evade the attacks. Well at least they were explosives. The kunai exploded in midair, obscuring both Servants field of vision. As such, Archer reinforced his eyes to get a better look in between the billions of dust particles kicked up in the area. His left hand grasped the end of the Labrys while the right supported the hold from the near the blade end. He placed the shaft on his right shoulder as a fulcrum to add more force to the strike. One of the thruster sets lit aflame. The extra momentum would increase the devastation of the attack.

"Heads up!" Archer shouted as his axe slammed down on the Servant.

The dust cloud grew larger. Assassin stepped back; he was close enough to flinch at the impact's shockwave. The black-haired Assassin watched as the dust cleared. Archer's axe missed. The enemy stood unharmed and beside the fallen axe.

"Eh~ so who might you be?" Archer asked. "You barely moved from the brunt of my surprise attack, and dodged a blitz from this axe. Quite slippery, you are."

"Archer! What are you doing here?!" Assassin yelled. "From the amount of mana you used, you should refrain from any more combat. Are you trying to kill your Master?!"

"Oh no. I'll be using low-maintenance weapons to keep things on the safe side." Archer spoke. "Besides…you want me to miss out on a good fight? Checking out the new blood in this event is the best past time at the moment." Archer cheekily answered without checking his back. His eyes were plastered onto the masked Servant that refused to talk. "Might you be...Hassan, the True Assassin?" He asked the enemy right at his face. The midnight-cloaked Servant swung out. The roaring sound of a jet engine negated the piercing noise of metal on metal. The massive arc halted offensive pressure.

The True Assassin jumped back. Analyzing Archer as a bigger threat than perceived. "You don't look like an Archer."

"We'll I'm not Saber." Archer said factually. His axe stopped just at his shoulder. "What kind of Caster uses weapons? Berserker? Hah! You already met Assassin. Rider…hn debatable. I'm pretty slow compared to the real Lancer." The situation laid bare, True Assassin, revealed his weapons: knives; Dirks. "Nice daggers. What do you have in your other hand?" Archer questioned.

Hassan threw the knives. Both him and Archer stared at each other. Archer lowered his Labrys, and chucked it horizontally at the general direction of the enemy and the knives. The Labrys became a silver blur that created a small vortex. The tiny blades easily bounced off the bulldozing axe. Hassan bent backwards, evading the large weapon aimed at bisecting him. The Servant gasped when Archer's elbow came down on his face once his vision cleared of the axe.

A plume of dust and debris erupted once more. Assassin scowled at the scene. "Oi! This is my fight!" He yelled at the brawling Archer.

Knives poked through the dust and debris. Kunai chased after the Dirks, the knives, and threw off the trajectory. "Oh can it, Assassin. I'm helping you out, and that's final!"

Assassin procured a set of shuriken in between his fingers. He threw them in rapid succession, and repeated it within one second intervals. Hassan sprinted out of the way. The projectiles clunked on trunks or soil. The runaway returned fire. Each projectile negated the other's own. Assassin charged with surprising speed, and assaulted the enemy with a series of quick thrusts from his chōkuto. Assassin then twirled his blade vertically to force the Servant to dodge while grounded. Hassan aimed to get away, yet could not. Every move he did to get away was shot down the moment his muscles so much as twitched in the general direction. It was as if his moves were telegraphed against his opponent. Hassan evaded a thrust at the midsection when the blade coated itself in blue lightning just as his opponent pulled back.

Alarms rang inside Hassan's head. He mustered the speed necessary to get away, and hopped back the moment Assassin swung his sword down like a hammer. The point of impact exploded in a spear of lightning that impaled the ground, and spread out like a web. "Archer!"

"Gotcha!" The whir of a motor entered Hassan's ears. The sound originated from behind. When had Archer get behind him?! "Tear through, Kiba!" The whirring of the motor increased in speed and volume as if it roared. Hassan could hear something cleave- no, carve the ground. Air compressed. Energy phased from one form to the next. Inertial, potential, then simultaneously sound, thermal, and kinetic. Whatever the attack was, it disturbed the flow of air. It was too late to dodge, his body was already in the air. His best hope was to flip, and hope nothing hit him.

A bad choice in the end. His vision was filled with a wall of compressed mana and air. The Servant was carried by the attack so far that Archer effectively made a path into the forest via a trail of destruction, fallen leaves, branches, and tree stumps.

Assassin stood next to him. "Oi. Were you trying to kill me with those things?" He asked with a slightly annoyed tone in his voice. His hands pointed to Archer's feet, where greaves and sabatons were supposed to be. Instead, the black pants underneath the greaves presented the footwear just below.

Motorized rollerblades! But to add imagery, it's a motorized rollerblade with particularly sharp wheels to maim. The wheels are better expressed as saw blades strapped to his feet. The frame for this death machine on "wheels" looked more like a shark with the dark blue coloring and fin-like protrusions that shaped the sides of the rollerblade.

Archer claimed no responsibility for his actions."Maybe." He answered innocently. "A little crow gave me the signal; I took the chance." Assassin scowled. Archer shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "Why are you complaining? You're skilled enough to evade my attacks. This one is no exception. Or are you saying I caught you off guard?" The Uchiha huffed. Archer smirked. To doubt the Uchiha's skills was to insult his pride and him as a warrior. "Hit the nail on the head, right?" He didn't wait for an answer. He already followed his path of destruction to chase after Hassan.

"One of these days…"

"School has been cancelled for the rest of the year…" Taiga spoke solemnly; completely unlike her to act. "It sucks!" She whined. "Gunther-san~ you were about to be my assistant. And then that explosion had to happen. Life isn't fair!" False tears shed from her eyes. Archer consoled the childish woman with pats on the back.

"It will be okay, Fujimura-san." Archer reassured. "You'll live. Though we'll both need new jobs until the school is fully repaired." He mused. "As a foreigner, I might not be able to have that luxury." He smiled at the situation. His luck bounced around way too much for his liking.

"I'm sure you can be a wonderful bartender or barista." Taiga suggested. "The western bars love to have foreign bartenders because of their accent and suave personas." The woman eyed Archer's current appearance, which was more casual than what he wore yesterday. A stark white, long-sleeved polo underneath an eye-catching, orange apron that covered his black slacks. He looked like a house dad to her. A little more formal wear like she saw yesterday, and the bar or café he would work at would gain a ridiculously large female following. That lady killer smile would just overpopulate the establishment.

"Would you like some tea, miss?" Archer asked in a genuine British accent. The sound of his silky voice paralyzed all the women except Saber. They unconsciously swooned. Shirou, Assassin, Archer, and Saber could see it in their blushing faces. The observers -bar Archer- had blank looks to occupy their faces. Archer himself felt the various pointed glares at his reflexive courting. Oh yes…Archer had the magical serenading voice.

'He's perfect!' The gals shrieked in their minds. Rin thought of a devious plan to get some profit off of this. If he's that effective, he will make an economic boom for the establishment he will work at. Rin needed that kind of money.

Poor gal. It just doesn't work like that. Especially not with the pay grade that comes from working in such a variable environment such as a café or bar. Besides…it's not like he knew how to serve customers in his lifetime of violence and leadership, right?

Right?

'Typical…' Assassin, Saber, and Shirou thought in the same wavelength. They knew enough of his antics to know this was an act. The Servants who were unamused knew it was Archer's childish love for pranks coming through once more.

"You have to work at a café or bar now! No question, just do it!" Taiga demanded.

"I second that!" Rin supported the idea. "I know just the place that could need a guy like you around."

"Fine. I'll humor you." Taiga, Rin, and Lily silently cheered. "Later." And then they deflated. The blond man laughed at the quick reaction. "Now eat your breakfast, and get out of here. I'd like to have some time to myself if you please."

A couple of hours later, Assassin left without a word, infuriating Rin due to the lack of information on what happened last night. Archer guessed it would have to be something related to the Edelfelt Master who sent him into Shirou's home for a debriefing of the situation. Probably thought that this gone on far too long, and she needed her Servant by her side once more.

At least it was one thing off of Archer's mind. Another easily preoccupied it: a note given by a female homunculus in white. "Master." Archer called out to a conversing Shirou and Rin. The boy turned to his Servant, whose towering form was made clear by Saber's presence beside him. Saber's face clearly showed some form of embarrassment due to the stark difference in height.

"Archer? Saber? What can I do for you two?" He questioned the two.

"I'd like you to come with me today." Archer answered.

"Where to?" Shirou asked.

"The school." Was the simple answer.

"Why?" The red headed boy questioned.

"I struck a deal with someone." Archer vaguely explained.

"Who?"

"Not spoiling the surprise." The Servant said.

"You're hiding something…" Shirou observed. "I don't like it." Archer was being too avoidant; it was completely out of his element to not be straightforward. What was there to hide with him? It's not like it would cause something to blow up into oblivion. Wait…Rin was next to him.

Yeah…something's going to blow up. Any moment now.

"Can you blame me?" Archer rhetorically asked. "I've noticed that whenever I'm left to my devices, I tend to reshape the land in more ways than one. I destroyed the main building of your own school with my made-up plan for crying out loud!" The Masters winced at the painfully true statement. "So as of now, I'm restraining myself from independent action." Rin and Saber were particularly shocked at the declaration. "I'm your Servant, your tool in this war. Therefore, I shall act like one: I will function as you would order of me. However, there is one thing I must do that requires your presence. That's why you need to come with me to the school grounds." Archer glanced at Rin. "Preferably not with Miss Faux Prim and Proper."

Rin grew a tick mark on her forehead. "Eh~? What's that supposed to mean, Archer?" Her voice became deadly harmonious.

"Exactly as I said it, girl." Archer snapped. Rin recoiled at the instantaneous change of tone. The knight in orange narrowed his eyes as if expecting a rebellious outcome from his words. "Your presence and impulsive attitude will cause the other building to fall into its foundations if you come. I don't want you screwing up what's being planned over there. So whatever you do, stay away. If you follow and think it's wise to disobey, don't expect any mercy for what's to come…"

"Is that a threat, Archer?" Rin tapped her foot repeatedly as she crossed her arms. Archer's words clearly got to her. Such tone with her was not to be used. To command her to do anything not of her own will was blasphemy of the highest degree.

"It's a cautionary warning."

"Does it seem like I care?"

"You should." Saber finally added her thoughts. "Archer has a point. From what he told me, your presence will disrupt his plans."

"I'm not following his orders." Rin answered with finality. "I'm going because anything with him at the helm leads to disaster."

"…" Archer sighed at the use of his own words. "And you expect to defuse the situation how? You're going to die a painful death today. Of that, I'm sure." He straightened himself out. He dismissed Rin's aghast look and his Master's rising anger. To Rin, that nonchalant comment of her death shook her knees in fear and anger. To Shirou, the lack of care at the topic of Tohsaka's death irked him the wrong way. Archer grabbed Shirou's collar. The boy attempted to struggle and flail out of Archer's grasp. "But that's no skin off my back. In the end, me and Lily will have to fight at some point if you don't perish."

"Archer! Apologize to Tohsaka!"

"No." The Servant easily replied. "I warned her. If she goes there, she will die. Anyways…we're late. We'll go the express way." They were gone in a flash.

"Sorry we're late~" Archer hollered as he let go of Shirou's collar. The boy scrambled to stand up and get away as far as possible from Archer.

"And here I thought you backed out on our agreement, Archer." A childish, girly voice reached the newly arrived's ears. It was Illyasviel von Einzbern. The little girl that wanted Shirou dead. Shirou panicked as he wondered why she was here of all places. Then it clicked that this was the event at this location.

Archer and Illya were cooperating?!

"Tohsaka was in the way." Archer explained.

"You killed her?"

"Oh no!" Archer raised his hands defensively. "She was asking too much questions for her own good." The girl was confused. Her scrunched face said so clearly. Shirou thought the same thing. Word choice and proper execution was definitely needed for this conversation to have a semblance of context.

"So you did kill her?" She insisted.

"Gah! I'm wording this wrong." Archer groaned. "What I mean to say is that Tohsaka was interrogating me on why my Master and I have to go here at this moment. I blew her off with a warning that she will die if she interferes."

"Ah. That makes for a better explanation." Illya commented.

Archer crossed his arms. He was visibly offended by the statement. "To be fair, I'm trying to be more of a beat-around-the-bush kind of guy now. Can't be blunt and offensive because it hurts my credibility as some noble foreigner to these people."

"Frankly, I think you're failing that."

"Seconded." Shirou entered the conversation. He regained his composure now that Archer made a slight fool of himself.

"Onii-chan…" Illya curtsied. "It's nice to meet you again."

"Where's your Servant?"

"I'm not here to battle." Illya bounced off the question. "I'm here to talk to you."

"About what?"

"About Kiritsugu Emiya, our father. In my case…my biological father who abandoned me. Yours as his adoptive son."

That's it for now. Sorry it's short. College is getting in the way now. I don't have much afterthought for this chapter. Hoped you enjoyed it.

Review, follow, favorite, I don't care.

This is Azure signing off.