I guess this is the first 100% original chapter on this reboot of Solenoid Flux. Enjoy.

Chapter Seven: The Last Stooge.

"Yes, I see, keep an eye on them and may God be with you" Kotomine Risei sighed once he finished this call, apparently the police of Fuyuki went high-alert not only because of the demolition of a cheap apartment building in Shinto (which he knew it was necessary to not compromise Tohsaka's advantages), but that at 05:47 PM he was informed some patrols were pursuing an almost-demolished sports car driven by a reckless person, who managed to lose them in the Shinto Slums.

"Has Assassin identified the driver of that car, my son?" Risei dearly hoped that it had nothing to do with the Grail War, but after some investigations implied that someone attacked Lord El-Melloi a few hours before he unleashed his Casses Circumdant, the Overseer feared that a few Masters were forgetting that the War was supposed to be fought at night.

"Yes." Kotomine Kirei said. "They are the missing Einzbern Master and Saber, plus an odd-looking short man. Assassin also informs the back of the car is filled with holes caused by modern day firearms."

Risei pinched his nose, it seemed that someone was lucky enough to kidnap a Master, but also stupid enough to kidnap a client of the Magus Killer.

"Anything else?"

"Apparently, the man is an enforcer who was the one who rescued the Einzbern team, who are now interrogating him… he claims that the state of his body was caused after his family tried to make a bid for godhood, but the ritual got highjacked and everyone involved but him died."

Risei sighed. Typical Magi.

"He also seems clueless on the identity of whoever kidnapped von Einzbern, but he gives them a keycard, probably as a clue."

"They must have a lot of resources…" Muttered Risei.

"Also, by uniting certain pieces of the conversation, at least two other Servants apart from Saber were involved in the escape, one of them on the side of the kidnappers. There was mention of a throwing Noble Phantasm which melts its target."

Well, that was complicated. He could see Rider or Berserker as the only Servants crazy enough to get involved, and there was a possibility that with or without them, this was the engagement where Caster decided to show themselves, most likely under orders of the kidnappers.

"And then the Einzbern puts a spell on the mind of the enforcer, 'suggesting' him to leave Fuyuki at once and to not get involved further," it was clear the man was lucky to survive while remaining clueless of the Holy Grail War. "also, his code name is 'Balcony'. No mention of Emiya Kiritsugu at all." He finished, sounding a bit disappointed.

"That would be enough, order Assassin to leave the Einzbern and follow this 'Balcony' instead."

"Understood, Father." If Risei was more patient, he would had discovered a wrong assumption that would've doomed the ruse Matou Kariya and Berserker were playing on everyone else – but alas, it would take a few more days before the gig was up and by God Almighty, they would regret not catching it sooner.

"So, what you make about him Saber?" Irisviel asked once Balcony left their sight among the buildings.

"I can't believe we owe our lives to Assassin of all Servants." Saber responded. 'Balcony' was too good in sabotaging these AEC knaves without previous planning to be someone else. And the Lance of Longinus? Either he somehow grabbed it in his mortal life or got it from contacts of his Master. "It's a good thing your driving was enough to stay his hand."

"Saber~" Irisviel whined. "It wasn't that bad."

"He was shaking in fear until we stopped," Saber said. "a few more dozen cubits and he would have started to pray at Allah for deliverance." The Servant of the Sword did not want to admit she was also spooked with Irisviel's driving.

"Still, don't you find curious that a Servant is capable of decently handle firearms?"

"He must have a skill that allows him a proficient control of weapons of all kinds or had enough time to learn the old-fashioned way between his summoning and now." Saber sighed, she felt that if anything, Kiritsugu would have preferred to have that Assassin instead of her to fight the War. Speaking of him, where was he when they getting stomped by Berserker?

Nevertheless, she decided to send a mental message to Kiritsugu about their situation, since Irisviel lost her cellphone – probably 'confiscated' by that loathsome woman.

'Master, we were kidnapped by another team after the duel with Berserker. We don't know the exact identity of the Master or her Servant, except that they hide under a UN taskforce named 'Artificial Evolution Concern' and that the Servant may share legend with Berserker.'

A silence followed, but Saber knew he was listening.

'We were freed by Assassin, who assaulted the complex we were retained and aided us in driving back the other Servant plus Caster. It was messy and we were pursued by the police at the end, but the Madam managed to lose them.' Saber sighed. 'The identity of the Servant of Spell is Gilles de Rais, and he's convinced I am an old companion of his named Jeanne, the Maiden of Orleans. We are now at the Slums of Shinto, near where I dueled Berserker.'

Saber knew that Kiritsugu barely communicated with her directly, so she feared that her message would be lost.

'Six blocks at the Northwest, inside an abandoned garage there's a white Mercedes Benz 300 SL, with its keys hidden below. Wait until 07:15 PM and then go to the Einzbern Castle as soon as you can without alerting the police. You drive this time, Saber.'

"Well," muttered Saber. "those're more words than what he said to me in a whole year."

"Saber, did you contact with Kerry?" Irisviel asked.

"Yes, he has a new car ready for us to get home."

"Yes!"

"But I'm driving, Madam."

"Awwwwwww…"

'…next time, shout me if needed, but do not go again on your own in these kinds of missions without my knowledge.' Kariya finished reprimanding Berserker for the mess he got involved and unleashing his secondary Noble Phantasm because Caster triggered memories of that day – from whose details Berserker obviously did not want to share with Kariya.

And speaking of bad memories, Berserker was convinced it was Irisiviel the one who would teach Misato how to drive in the future. That recklessness was one of a kind.

'Sorry.' For the sake of 'Operation: Backstab the Old Worm', Berserker claimed that Saber was indeed Jeanne d'Arc until Kariya 'corrected' him into her being 'Queen' Arthur instead. Since Berserker claimed he couldn't remember anything from his duel with Saber, Kariya decided to make a recount on every battle where the former used Mad Enhancement from now on.

What worried Kariya the most was the silver-clad Servant – the real Rider's True Name was Iskandar the Great and with Caster also identified, that would make the second Servant of the future an eight participant… assuming of course they did not use another method to summon him. After all, the Grail itself made most of the work in the summoning ritual – otherwise only the greatest magi could barely summon a Heroic Spirit on their own as a familiar.

The duo did not know which option was worse.

'Ideally, I should warn the Overseer about this,' Kariya said. 'but I don't want to expose them the fact that you are the sanest Berserker in the History of the Holy Grail War, should other Masters be listening.'

'But you told me the Church is a neutral party.'

'The mess with Saber proved me once again what kind of scumbags the magi truly are,' Kariya was getting worked up in anger. 'I mean, hiding behind the goddamn UN for their experiments?!'

'Kariya, relax. I'm supposed to be the mad one in this pair.' Berserker interrupted. 'Besides, the UN in my time were assholes too, so this did not surprise me as much.'

'Still, a clone baby alien as an anchor for a bounded field is all kinds of messed up.' Kariya did calm down. 'Honestly, you should get rid of those clothes and spend the night in our apartment. Hopefully, Saber's Master will pull two and two together and warn the Church for us.' It was a good thing that Berserker's Divinity made him unaffected by the 'suggestion' spell, it would have made the most embarrassing waste of a Command Seal in this War so far.

'Actually Kariya,' Berserker fidgeted a bit. 'I want to look in the library information about the Einzberns. The Grail told me jack all beyond them being one of the Founding Families.'

'Can't do at this hour, Berserker. A few nights ago, some crazy guy crashed inside and stole a World Map and a copy of The Odyssey, so the guards there are extra careful now… that said I know somebody who might help you.'

Berserker was listening.

'You know Verde, the main shopping center in Shinto?' Berserker nodded. 'Among the shops someone put a "high-class" themed night-bar named Lilium,' Berserker shuddered at the name. 'an old classmate of mine named Chikahuru works there as a bartender and knows a bit about the hidden side of Fuyuki… I would not be surprised if it included magi families.'

'I will go there.'

'However, if a Master, Servant, and/or those UN crazies arrive; you leave, no buts nor ifs.'

'I will, Kariya.'

'Tomorrow, if things do not go too crazy, I will investigate on the UN-AEC and I will need that you inform me if any name that appears there sounds familiar to you.' Kariya said. 'I don't know exactly when your legend will happen, but if what you said about this "LCL" is true, then getting rid of them will become a new priority. Good luck.'

Berserker sighed as Kariya cut the link. If the Grail worked as it was promised, Humankind would not need to be worried of his legend at all…

Assassin looked at the new enigma in this chaotic conflict. The odd enforcer identified as 'Balcony' did nothing but stand in an alleyway for around twenty minutes, and since he lacked a mundane method of instant communication like an earpiece, Assassin suspected Balcony was using a mental link to speak with his handlers. Once the false boy sighed, he finally moved on, in direction of a run-down restaurant.

It was obvious the spell from Saber's Master did not work on him, so Assassin followed his prey inside. His astralization mixed with Presence Regulation ensured nobody inside noticed him, something his target failed to do.

"Oi, shorty!" the bartended said. "The bathroom is for clients only."

Balcony said nothing, instead he pointed at the menu, specifically at the offer of seven Gyoza plus a soda.

"Do you even have money for-" the bartender was interrupted by a handful of coins and bills – which were counted and were more than enough to pay for it.

"Fine, you can go inside… friggin' tryhard." The bartender went to the chef to announce the order as Balcony went the men's bathroom, followed by Assassin. "I swear, it seems that people are getting restless these days…"

"What you want with me?" the false boy suddenly spoke as he was watching the mirror's sink, scarf still in his face.

"Sating my curiosity." Assassin materialized himself. "It's odd that a human enforcer manages to survive an encounter against three Heroic Spirits not only unharmed, but also fooling a Master into sparing his life. If I did not know better, I would say you are the Magus Killer who captivated my Master's attention."

"Since I am not him, who do you think I am, ghost?" Balcony turned around, facing the Servant of the Mask.

"My first guess would be that you are a fellow Heroic Spirit, however the Seven had already been summoned and only I have the capability of exude the same amount of od as a normal human, so you must be at least a talented mortal."

"And why would I join this war?"

"Money? Fame? Tourism? My Master isn't familiar with the snobs of the current magi society."

"The El-Melloi family are going to cut my salary once they find out what Tohsaka did with their Crest."

Assassin chuckled. "Glad to know the Clock Tower isn't full of idiots like we thought."

'Kill him, he knows too much.' Ordered his Master.

Assassin lunged at Balcony and grabbed his throat with his left hand and proceeded to stab him in the head, but the knife was stopped by an invisible force before it could it the flesh.

"What th-aaAARGH!" Assassin felt a sharp pain in his gut, followed by a dozen more. He was forced to release Balcony's neck, who then kicked him away. The enforcer failed to push his advantage and received a punch in the face, landing in the wall and dropping his knife.

Assassin knew he should have pressed on, but he was perplexed looking at the cause of his wounds. The knife… it did not feel a Noble Phantasm nor a Mystic Code, just a well-made, but mundane weapon. How it managed to hurt him?

"…niya…"

Assassin sensed something was wrong.

"-Acidum Matariel." Balcony grabbed Assassin's face with his right hand, from which a red eye appeared. Before Assassin could ask what that was, the eye started to secrete an orange fluid that rapidly melted Assassin from head to toes. Before he could scream, Balcony cut Assassin's vocal cords with his knife, ensuring nobody could help the fallen Servant.

Kotomine Kirei keep staring even as Assassin's link was cut short. The engagement's conclusion proved to be unexpected and while the death of another body was unexpected, it wasn't meaninglessness, as it proved further the danger Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi posed even after death.

Two bodies gone out of eighty, plus a third one missing. Not bad for the third day of the War.

"Father, please contact Toshaka's allies in the Clock Tower as soon as you can."

"What happened?"

"I cannot be sure, but I fear Lord El-Melloi hired a Dead Apostle to fight at his side…"

Berserker did not leave the bathroom until Assassin's corpse dissipated into prana, as he took away the scarf, washed his face and cursed like a sailor until he felt calm enough to move on.

"Did Tohsaka really do something with the Crest of Lancer's Master? And how Assassin knew about it? Didn't Lancer kill him off yesterday?" He only discovered El-Melloi's name a few hours before rescuing Saber between all the rumors about the serial killer.

He checked his hand to ensure it was back to normal, then he put his scarf back and went back to eat his probably now cold Gyozas.

The bartender was looking at him with fear in his eyes, it was clear he has heard something.

"You can keep the change, as long you say nothing happened at all in the bathroom." Berserker offered.

The bartender was happy to comply.

Ikari Yui was waiting for the personnel unaware of her true mission to communicate the new actions they would be making in the next days. She took a look at the map of Fuyuki, the idea of a secret free-for-all tournament in the city making more sense by the minute.

As in a way of taunting her, a few minutes ago arrived another report of the Type: Cyan mucking around the slums, but Yui choose to ignore it for more pressing matters, like new revelations about the intruders.

While cleaning up the lower floors, they found an almost naked guard inside a closet, who blamed a school child for his current state. Given this day, some poor kid being brainwashed by a secret agency to copycat Emiya would be a welcome breath of normalcy – but the poor man suffered a breakdown when he saw Yui, babbling nothing but: "those eyes… those eyes…"

It was worse when she asked Beta-Five about it, who did find a resemblance between her eyes and those of the Unknown Type, even suggesting that he may be a rogue agent from a new Designation that was created using Yui's DNA, or at least the DNA from one of her relatives. While a part of her admitted it would feed her ego, it also disgusted her a bit that someone already decided to create new life using her as a base without her consent.

Chairman Lorenz implanted her the difference between proper humans and people like Beta-Five, but if the latter was right, it felt wrong they may be using clones who might be more or less her own children – after her father's death, she swore that she wouldn't put her own family trough that kind of pain without a really good reason.

Also, while this 'Caster' stole a few vessels with LCL and the remains of the fetuses that weren't totally dissolved by the sabotage of the Noise Blanket, the two scientists assigned to its maintenance were executed by the Unknown Type – compared with the naked Terada, the man inside the camera room and the wounded squad who barely managed to escape the Horrors, Yui felt that it was then when Balcony's hostility to them changed to something more personal.

A knock from the door killed her mental musing. "It everyone here?" she said.

"Yes, Miss Ikari." A voice coming from one of the guards responded. "Can we get inside?"

"Yes." In an orderly fashion, scientists, guards, assistant and even the janitors without the proper clearance in the AEC's deepest secrets arrived to receive the news.

"So… why are here?" Kyoko asked. "Did something bad happen?"

"Yes," said Yui. "we'd been attacked by mercenaries this evening."

She let the gasps of horror and/or surprise died down before continuing.

"The samples I collected yesterday were robbed by men of unknown affiliation, but with enough firepower to overwhelm our security. As such, my superiors had decreed that for your own security you must leave Fuyuki this night."

More gasps and complains arrived.

"However," she continued. "if anyone desires to stay here and keep working in this department as volunteers, you are free to do so. You will be allowed a bigger pay and bigger security clearance in our investigations, but it also means the risk to run in a grave danger not many of you had experienced before."

"Do we have time to decide?" Kyoko asked.

"You have until 10:00 PM to call this number to communicate your decision, and it's obligatory for everyone in this room." Yui wrote the number in question. "For those who decide to leave, you will be reassigned to a new workplace under a pair of weeks. You are allowed to leave now."

If anyone had told Sola-Ui she would end penniless, homeless and only living thanks to the mercy of somebody who was way far beneath her in the magus society, no doubt Kayneth would had found a way to enhance his ego from the slapping she would had given to the fool who couldn't keep their mouth shut.

But Kayneth was dead, and she along with Lancer were now living in the residence of an old Canadian couple who Waver Velvet hypnotized into believing he was their grandson coming to visit them and that Rider was a friend he made in England.

"So, the lady here was the fiancée of your teacher?" asked Glen Mackenzie, the man of the house. "And he was found in bankrupt when you tried to get a room in the Hyatt?"

"Sadly, yes." Sola 'confirmed' the tale everyone agreed before arriving to Waver and Rider's refuge. "I knew he had some debts with some of his colleagues, but I wasn't prepared on how… troublesome they could be." The last part wasn't exactly a lie – in fact, a lot of the mystic codes Kayneth brought to Japan were borrowed from allies and 'friends' in the Clock Tower, most likely to show-off against the other Masters while Lancer was doing the hard work.

And now they were guarded by the police as 'evidence' for the investigation on the Serial Killer.

"Maybe is for the best, with the news of that maniac getting worse…" Martha Mackenzie, the old lady said on her part. "That said, where's he?"

"What most rich folks do when they get broke, claim that they are going to get help and then leg it from the city." Sola said. 'Sorry Diarmuid.' She added in her mind, aware that Lancer did not like that even more false slanders to Kayneth were necessary to cover their true identities. "He did contact Waver to find me a place to stay for a few days… I hope to not be a bother to you."

"Oh dear… of course you and Alexei are allowed to stay as long you need." Right… It was clear Waver had little to none control on Rider, who couldn't be bothered to stay in astral form. "I'm glad that our grandson has some good friends back in England." Martha finished.

'Alexei' laughed like the best of them. "Oh, don't you worry, Mr. and Mrs. Mackenzie. I'll make sure neither Waver nor Sola be harmed by the loonies that are roaming this city." He then smacked Waver's back with his meaty hand, almost plummeting the poor lad to the floor.

"Well, if you don't mind, I'll go to my room." Sola-Ui decided to leave the living room and the noises caused by Rider's energetic laughing. Once inside, she dropped in her back to her bed, not caring at all it was of way lower quality than the Hyatt's. It was a bloody bed under a roof without sociopaths armed with a small country's budget trying to kill her… for now at least, and she pretty much lost her right to complain the moment Rider poked her forehead with his finger.

"It still hurts?" Lancer manifested inside the room. As much Sola wanted to have him around in corporeal form as long as possible, Waver himself pointed out that Diarmuid's Love Spot would create some unnecessary complications in the house. Sola almost belched at the mental image of a group of lovestruck grannies pursuing Lancer.

"Not as much before..." she said as she rubbed her forehead. "…but I think we need to… clear some issues before continuing…"

"Like when we will betray Rider's Master?" Lancer said with a bit of venom.

"Look, Diarmuid," Sola-Ui dreaded this moment. "we agreed that once the other Servants were gone, if Rider couldn't find a way to convince the Grail to accept both of you, then it would be decided in a duel with him forfeiting the use his Reality Marble." But she knew it wasn't what was bothering her Servant.

"Why? Why did you betray Lord Kayneth then?"

Sola-Ui made a hard breath and gave her answer…

Uryuu Ryuunosuke, unemployed freeter of profession, proud bearer of the 'Demon of Fuyuki' moniker due to his amoral hobbies and Master of Caster, was placing his new furniture – read: the still living bodies of his most recent victims with Caster's magic – when he felt his new best friend arriving… in a really foul mood.

"Hello, Mr. Bluebeard." Ryuunosuke chirped. "How went your reunion with the Lady of Orl- Damn… who did that to your face?"

Caster – along with some of his Horrors who were carrying machinery and vessels full of some orange liquid – had a nasty bullet wound in his right check, which was in middle of being healed. He ignored his Master's curious look and gazed upon a group of the flesh chairs around, then he proceeded to stomp them into paste in anger, giving the poor souls the peace of death at least.

"Some cursed dog from a group of third-grade alchemists kidnapped the fair Jeanne the last night," Caster started to rant. "so, I assaulted their stronghold to free her from both them and God. Not only she's cursed with amnesia, but when I was finally revealing her the truth, Longinus of all people arrives and turns my familiars into goo!"

"Like the orange thing your other friends are carrying?" Ryuunosuke asked, which received a nod from Caster. "Geez… wasn't that guy the one who shanked Jesus?"

"YES! And now he's after the blood of poor Jeanne!" Caster lamented. "It is obvious that God intends to keep torturing her. Why else would He send the same man who killed his own so-called son in this Grail War?"

"So… what are we supposed to do with this machinery? I work in unloading stuff like that once on a while, but never bothered in learning how they work."

"Oh, that?" Caster suddenly shifted into a jolly mood. "As I said before, these belonged to some alchemists, their incompetence aside, they granted me a marvelous idea for another art piece to afront God."

"Cool." Said Ryuunosuke as he sat in another moaning flesh-chair. "Do you need something for it?"

"You know the usual… oh and I'm sorry for destroying your chairs, you must have worked very hard in their making."

"No hard feelings, I can always make more..."

"Mama is late again…" muttered Shirase Soryu-Zepellin as he waited in the front door of the Homurahara Academy School Division. It's been a few months since they went to live in Fuyuki and his attempts to make sure no one would pick on him for being son of a gaijin seemed to work so far… if only because nobody could be bothered to get close since the day he beaten the crap of the local bully for picking on the girls of the lower grades too much for his liking.

Mama's reaction was… confusing.

For one part, she was angry when the professor related the incident and promised him she would ensure this wouldn't happen again – but once they left the school, she gave him one her trademarked bear hugs and told him how proud she was of him standing up for others. That said, she did warn him to not make it obvious next time.

"Hey! What are you doing here, you dirty girl?"

Those memories came as he saw a group of bullies picking on a purple-haired girl of dark skin, wearing only a white dress. It obvious she was homeless.

"Are you deaf?! What are you doing here?!" one of the boys pushed the girl, and she clashed with the wall.

Nevertheless, Shirase himself wasn't exactly the type of child who wanted to get stuck in middle of a fight, but also, he wasn't the type of kid who enjoyed violence. But that girl would be in serious problems if he didn't act soon.

Now there two solutions to this dilemma, he could talk them out of bothering people anymore… but since he wasn't capable to convince Mama to get him his favorite manga, he knew diplomacy wasn't his forte. So, he opened his backpack and pulled out a slingshot.

"At the count of three, you wi-aaaaah!" the first rock hit square in the right cheek of the biggest boy

"Who's there!?" another boy got his answer with a hit in the nose.

"You little sissy! Can't you do anything else?" that 'anything' was a strike in the groin.

'Oops.' Although Mama said he may have the potential of becoming a nice pitcher, Shirase wasn't that trusting of his own aim – he was aiming at the gut.

Still, it served its purpose and the two remaining bullies grabbed their friends and wisely decided to run away from the girl.

Now it came the hard part, socializing.

"Ermm… you can come here." He timidly said.

The girl blinked, apparently just discovering the bullies were gone. She saw her savior hiding behind some bushes.

"Who are you? Are you from here?" she asked.

"Emmm, my name is Shirase and I've been living here since a few months… Are you waiting for your parents too?"

"My parents died…"

Well, that was a bit awkward.

"I don't even remember how I got here…" she continued. "my village is way smaller than this… and way warmer."

Shirase raised an eyebrow, wondering from where that girl could come from, but a car noise signaled the arrival he was waiting for.

"Son? Who's that girl you're talking?" Kyoko Soryu-Zepellin got out of her car – a simple orange Subaru Vivio Bistro – finding her son taking with a girl with purple hair.

"Are you his mother?" the girl asked, and Kyoko nodded. "I… I am… Falak… I'm sorry for bothering you."

"Bothering me? I'm just glad Shirase is finally making friends here, especially with a cute girl like you." Both children blushed of embarrassment.

"Mama!" complained Shirase. "We've just met!"

"H-h-h-h…" the poor girl was stuttering. "he's cute too…"

Before either of the Soryu could respond, a white blur brushed against Kyoko's Vivio, which activated its loud alarms.

"Soorrryyyyyy…" they heard a female Welsh voice getting away of them and this time, it was Kyoko's face the one turning red.

"Cover your ears." Shirase warned at Falak.

"Huh?"

"Just do it." And both children did so, sparing themselves of the barrage of profanities that was part of the long tradition of the women of the Soryu family.

"How… rude!" Irisviel was scandalized.

"I didn't expect the Grail could translate that long variety of German swear words." Saber muttered as she drove towards the Einzbern Castle.

"…And that would be kid number fifteen." Ryuunosuke put another brainwashed kid inside a van he got after killing its owners a few weeks ago. "And it's not even midnight, all thanks to you." He then kissed the bracelet Bluebeard made for him to make his hobby easier. He was getting ready to go back to the sewers when he felt somebody nearby.

"Excuse me," a teen voice spoke. "is that kid yours?"

The freeter turned around, only to see a brown-haired effeminate boy – slightly older the usual fare of his prey. Ryuunosuke already had experience when caught in the act, so he turned around with a smile.

"Yep, just making sure he gets to his bed." He said. "Kids shouldn't stay late."

"And the other fourteen ones?" the boy asked, his voice changing from curiosity to accusatory. "Nice tattoo you have in your hand, by the way." He added as he looked at the Command Seals.

"Well… aren't you the snooping one." Ryuunosuke smirked then lunged at the boy and grabbed his arm with his right hand, activating the spell from the bracelet, from which a small eldritch purple would bend its target to Ryuunosuke's will.

Except that the boy's eyes weren't turning empty like the children in the van. If anything, he seemed a bit amused about the bracelet, then he looked at the killer and sighed.

"Guess that I'm still a magnet for insane redheads." The boy said. "You're coming with me."

"Oooooh fu-" Ryuunosuke couldn't finish before the boy slapped his face hard enough to put him to sleep.

Lancer sighed as he went across the police station, they had to make sure the Mystic Codes wouldn't fall under the wrong hands, proving him once again that the Holy Grail War was not the honorable battle of legends where he hoped he could get his redemption for betraying the trust of Fionn mac Cumhail in the past.

Then again, when two of the other classes were named Assassin and Berserker, he should have expected some participants would do horrible actions for the sake of victory.

After making sure there was no bounded field inside nor outside, he sneaked inside in spirit form to search the stolen artifacts without been detected.

"I swear it! Some crazy lady almost run me over!" An angry German woman along with two kids was complaining to the receptionist.

"We know, Ms. Soryu." The tired middle-aged man responded. "There're already six reports of a battered car, we are looking into it."

"Oh no, this one was a shiny new Mercedes Benz, and it looked like the driver was a blondie…" the woman kept ranting at the visible embarrassment from both the redhead boy and the purple-haired girl. Lancer decided to leave them be.

Just in case, he went room by room, looking for anything that may be a potential risk and report it back to Lady Sophia-Ri, who then would inform Rider, who then would figure out a plan to get rid of those risks, hopefully without giving their position to Assassin – who no doubt must be around as an onlooker at least.

He then felt an unusual presence similar to Lord El-Melloi's and it was inside of the room with a text saying 'Evidences'.

"What are the chances…" Lancer muttered as he went inside.

"Are you sure none of those super-ghosts are going to raid this station?" Chief Police Arai Kanaye asked Tohsaka Tokiomi. "You said every single one of these magical things costs a fortune by each one."

"The only one capable of pass unseen is under my command and even the Master of Berserker isn't mad enough to break the rule of Mystery in these days." The Second Owner of the leylines of Fuyuki assured the policeman.

"You said four of your five human enemies were identified already, but what about the fifth one?"

"The men of the Church are into it." Said Tohsaka. "Unlike the Demon of Fuyuki, if you find them there will be no chances of your men surviving the encounter."

"Speaking of that psycho," said Arai. "it was goddamned convenient that the media blamed him for your little duel above the Grand Hyatt – but it will not take much time before my boys discover the lack of relations between that and his usual M.O."

"Some of the Church's agents are into it too, so you don't ne-aargh!" Tohsaka felt a sharp pain in his right hand. His command seals were burning with a shiny red light.

"Is one of yours?" fearfully asked Arai.

Tohsaka felt the presence leave the place as soon as they looked around.

"No…" he muttered.

"Tell me where you want those, because I will get rid of those before midnight."

Tohsaka made a small smirk. It was clear the El-Melloi alliance was getting desperate.

"I will contact Father Kotomine to talk with you. In the meantime, I will send some of my 'ghosts' to guard this place." Arai looked at Tohsaka with incredulity. "Oh, don't worry, with this new chance my enemies gave me, tonight you will have two less mages to worry about…"

"…Indeed… there are children inside this van… it was a red-headed guy with purple clothes heading to the restaurants nearby… sorry, I need to go. Good night." Berserker hung the phone where he made his anonymous tip about the Demon of Fuyuki, who just happens to be Caster's Master.

The nutjob in question was now under his grip after a dose of Kaworu's remote manipulation, with his clothes changed to something more fitting to a high-class bar – also found inside the van – alongside a par of books with further… proofs of his owner's pastime.

Since – after some fruitless experiments – Berserker found out he still couldn't make brainwashed people talk, he took one of the books to allow Caster's Master some communication by writing on it, while the other one was left inside the van, but – after a suggestion from Kariya – with some added writings with the intention of framing Tohsaka Tokiomi as an accomplice of the serial killer. Since his duel above the Hyatt was blamed on the redheaded psycho, why not give the police a reason to link them both?

Berserker looked at his current puppet's clock, it was almost 9 PM and with the dark sky above, soon the enemy Servants would be 'legally' free to seek each other in open battle. Just in case, he took away the magic bracelet from Ryuunosuke and destroyed it with his lance.

"Well then…" Berserker muttered again his plan. "…get inside, ask Chikaharu what I need, get out and leave this bastard at stabbing range of the closest Servant… yeah, I can pull this out."

"Alright boys, we finally have an ID on that psycho!" the mood of Chief Arai suddenly improved, the memory of the hostile Servant left in the back for now. "So you lot better make sure that son of a bitch is back here, alive or in a body bag!"

A dozen of police cars plus a van with SAT forces, left the station in haste. With the rest of the force attending other emergencies in the city, only a skeleton crew was left inside to protect it from potential hostiles.

A ring from the phone brought back Arai to reality and he answered it in person. "Police of Fuyuki."

"Chief Arai," the familiar voice of Kotomine Risei sounded from the other side. "the escort you requested will arrive in five minutes to retire the cargo."

"Understood." Arai hung up the phone and gave a breath of relief and allowed to grab a warm cup of coffee. His greatest worries would soon be dealt with.

"AAAAALALALALALALEIIIII!" a thunderous crash trembled the station and the alarms flared everywhere.

"You GOT to be kidding me!" he shouted as he spat the coffee all over the floor.

The bar Lilium was opening another session and as any self-respecting high-quality place of entertainment, it had a well-build bouncer to ensure every costumer was rich, well-dressed, and sober enough to earn the right to enter the bar. And just because it was Wednesday, it did not mean they would spare measures on ensuring who was worthy to enter.

'I hope he doesn't mind a well-dressed fleeter joining his clients today.' Berserker was waiting in a bus stop while seeing through Uryuu's eyes, as the latter was along the row. 'Who's also a mass murderer… then again, who am I to talk?'

In Berserker's defense, a lot of his human victims did come back from the dead. The Nephilim didn't count, of course.

When Ryuunosuke's turn arrived, the bouncer wasn't exactly impressed, but the former did meet the requirement to let him enter without much fuzz.

The place was nice, the music was alright and there were some attractive people around to talk, but Berserker went straight to the bartender – a balding man with a ponytail, who didn't take too much time to notice him.

"Hey buddy, need something?" Chikaharu asked.

The brainwashed killer simply wrote in the book: 'Are you Chikaharu?'

"Yes."

'I need information about the Einzbern family.'

"Cat got your tongue?"

'The Tohsakas almost did.'

"Oh…" Chikaharu gulped. "And you still want to pursue them?

'It's for a friend, I owe him for giving me a second chance in life.'

"You should know that these guys… have friends in high places."

'Nothing I did not face before.'

Chikaharu sighed.

"Fine, but it will cost you the double than usual." He said. "Special Fee for messing with people who can kill you in the blink on an eye."

"Oi Chikaharu! Put on the news!" a costumer shouted from outside, which the bartender did.

"…two confirmed deaths in the raid against in the Fuyuki Police Station, where a team of at least three masked individuals robbed critical evidence and weapons, who now are using a stolen SAT truck as getaway vehicle. Chief Arai refused to make any more commentaries…" The TV droned on. Chikaharu then made a look at Ryuunosuke.

"Does that have anything to do with your mission?"

The freeter simply wrote: 'Nope.'

"Double and half the cost, just in case."

Gilgamesh hummed as he walked through the streets. After that cursed Rider escaped, he was too angry to bother explaining Lancer's 'innocence' as an accomplice of the unknown puppeteer. After calming down, he realized it would be more amusing to let Tokiomi figure it out on his own.

As he was deciding to head back to the church where the Kotomines were residing, he felt an odd presence that he immediately identified as another so called 'Master'. A red-haired man was walking in his direction, holding a revolver in his right hand.

Gilgamesh began to chuckle.

"Am I such obvious target for petty thieving, or you are here for something else?" the stranger responded by opening fire.

Archer dodged the bullets. His body would not be sullied by such pitiful weapons.

"Tch. It seems you have a deathwish." The Master then grabbed the revolver and charged at Archer, who swiftly jumped at the nearest lamppost. "And imbecile enough to believe that we could fight as equals." He then opened the Gates and aimed them at the fool below as the floor began to rumble. "The price of idiocy before me is death."

Then, as he fired his treasures, they were blocked by debris ascending from below.

"RYUUNOOOSSUUKEEEEEEEEEEE!" a howling cry was followed by dozens of abominations of flesh putting themselves between the Master and the blades, blocking the latter from harming the former. Caster himself appeared from a sewer hole.

"You dare to interfere the Law of the King?!" Archer fumed in frustration.

"You dare to execute this innocent man?!" Caster shouted back in defiance.

"Mister Bluebeard? Aaauuuuuh… What's going on?" Ryuunosuke was freed from the spell, at the cost of a headache.

"Innocent? It's obvious that foolish human is guilty of the crime of summoning a wretched being like yourself. Your mere existence is an afront to what little beauty Mankind has left."

"Mankind? Having beauty?" Caster brought his book to summon his Horrors. "Perhaps all that gold has blinded you on the worthlessness of this species – but don't worry Archer, I'm more than happy to show you a taste of the truth!"

The monsters charged at the lamppost Archer was standing, but the King of Heroes responded with firing more blades at them, stabbing the abominations.

"Don't you have anything better to show off, mongrel?" Archer growled as he finished off the last of the Horrors.

Caster grinned.

"I will in a few days, until then enjoy THIS!" the Servant of the Spell brought forth a new pair of Horrors with longer tentacles than usual, which were used to strike at Archer – yet the King of Heroes didn't leave. He simply put out a blade out of the Gates and with an arc he cuts the appendages, making sure no drop of its foul blood would touch him.

"Ehhh… Mister Bluebeard?" asked Ryuunosuke.

"Yes, Ryuunosuke?" Caster's grin dropped.

"I think we should run." And run they did, the murderous pair running for dear life as Archer fired at them.

"You seem assured this will work." Sola-Ui asked for the seventh time.

"I didn't conquer all the known world for not being sure of my capabilities." Rider was drinking a bottle of wine he grabbed from a store. They were above a building that were dozens of squares away of an abandoned warehouse where they dropped the Mystic Codes that would not help them – which were half of them, to the dismay of both magi.

"Rider… I understand the need to getting back those Mystic Codes," Waver was cursing again his past decisions. "but why in the Root you told us to steal the… other thing too?!"

"You know it can't hurt them, right?" added Lancer.

"That's true!" Waver continued. "The only thing it would serve would be destroying the artifacts and… ohhhh." The young magus' face was lifted with sudden enlightenment.

"Now you're understanding it, boy." Rider grinned.

"What?" Sola-Ui instead was confused. "Lancer, do you have any idea what they are babbling about?"

The Servant of the Lance was pensive.

"…their immunity will be their perdition." He muttered, then he smiled at Rider. "This is indeed a brilliant idea, King of Conquerors. I can see Fionn himself pull this stunt with the resources of this era."

Rider laughed as Sola looked in disbelief. Before she could ask, Lancer gave her the answer trough the mental link. Her eyes widened in realization.

"That's so dumb… yet so effective… are you sure Assassin will fall in this trap?"

"The Church needs to keep their lie of neutrality and Lancer himself confirmed only the higher command of the police is aware of the War, so is either them or Archer – and I don't think Goldie is the kind of person who would go as a glorified package boy." Rider said. "Now let us prepare! We must make sure this treachery does not go unpunished!"

"Hold still, you mutts!" Archer was still firing at the pair as he jumped from lamppost to lamppost. He was getting really tired of this nonsense.

"I would if it was your mom inste-aha!" the next blade almost landed between Ryuunosuke's buttocks, which were spared thanks to the sacrifice of another of Caster's Horrors.

"Stop insulting the homicidal Heroic Spirit!" chided Caster, only to get hit by the remains of a cane in the cheek. "Agh! Same cheek again!"

"Don't you have a teleporting spell in that book?"

"Well… yeah, but I kind of forgot which page was. Look! An exit!"

They saw an open sewer hole where they could scurry away, but suddenly it was covered by dozens of blades.

"Oh, come on!" Ryuunosuke complained at his rotten luck.

"End of the line, mongrels." Gilgamesh declared, opening twenty Gates, and aiming them at the murderous duo.

Caster was still searching for the teleportation spell in his book, the stress of being under constant barrage made him fumble in his search. But then, the Demon of Fuyuki remembered something he heard before getting involved in this mess and looked at his right hand.

'Nice tattoo you have in your hand, by the way.'

"Sorry Mr. Bluebeard, but by the power of this weird magic tattoo, I order you to find that page and get us out before he kills us!" The Command Seals shined brightly, and the Prayer Book of the Sunken Spiral City moved its pages rapidly until it stopped in the correct spell.

"Oh no, you don't!" Archer growled and fired the weapons just as the teleportation spell started to be casted. The Noble Phantasms hit the floor at such force that the street thundered, and the windows of the buildings nearby were shattered. Yet once the dust dispersed, instead of a pair of impaled bodies there was only a crater in the road.

The King of Heroes' scream pierced the Heavens.

'Caster and his Master are still alive,' Berserker communicated at Kariya about the failure of his mission. 'I knew I should have made him try to stab Archer instead.'

'Don't put yourself down, Berserker.' Kariya responded. 'It was Archer's fault that he underestimated how cunning those psychos could be.'

'But now those nutjobs will be wary of every single teenager in the city, Hell, they might use it as an excuse to hunt them down.'

'We will worry about that tomorrow; besides, you did get the papers."

Berserker gripped the file Chikaharu gave him about the Einzberns.

'Also, while Caster is still alive, he will want to stay low for the night after the scare you and Archer gave him, but it's not the best part yet." Kariya continued.

'What that would be?' Berserker raised his eyebrow.

'I think this engagement gave us the firsts steps in figuring out how to defeat Archer…'

"Here they are." Waver warned as his pigeon familiar noticed a small group of Assassins arriving at the abandoned warehouse.

"Well then; everyone, get inside!" Rider summoned the Gordian Wheel, which then was filled by the group. "Well boy," Rider grinned and gave Waver an artifact with a button in the center. "will you grant us the honors?"

Waver Velvet gulped but pressed the button.

"Holy shit… I can't believe it worked…" Ryuunosuke allowed himself to drop into the floor of the sewers where the spell moved them. One part of tattoo he got since meeting Caster started to dissipate, signaling the use of the first of his three Command Seals.

"One more second and we would had ended as Scottish meat…" Caster was also lying down as he is recovering his breath. "Did I tell you the one-time Jeanne managed to scare those boisterous savages with her words alone?"

"As fun that might sound," Ryuunosuke said. "I think we should stay low for a few days… can't believe it was a teen who kicked my ass back there… probably stole the magic bracelet too."

Before Caster could ask for more, an explosion was heard above them. Ryuunosuke began to cry.

"And just when this was getting good…" the serial killer whined.

"We will have our revenge, you nameless brat!" Caster swore instead.

Assassin – well, the five bodies sent to retrieve the stolen relics from the late Lord El-Melloi – where frozen in the debris left by the explosion that occurred literally in their faces. Obviously, they were physically unharmed, yet the shock was clear despite their expressionless masks.

Did Tohsaka's contact got it wrong and Lord El-Melloi hired Emiya Kiritsugu instead of the Einzberns? Or this was the hand of that mysterious Balcony instead?

Then a thunder cracked above them, and they saw the true mastermind of this ploy.

"Hear me, participants of the Holy Grail War!" Rider's voice thundered across the destroyed warehouse. "I am Iskandar of Macedonia, the King of Conquerors and Rider of this War. As you can see, Assassin wanted to make us believe he was already out of this battle, leaving him free to do as they please."

One of Assassin's bodies gulped.

"Now, I do not feel shame for that ploy – in fact it's ingenious of their part and they would be welcome to my new army, but it's tainted by the fact their potential is being wasted," He gazed upon the group of Servants. "I know you're merely glorified errand boys for Tohsaka Tokiomi!"

"Well, he has a point…" one Assassin muttered.

"Now I will give you a choice; either your Master leaves the Church before midnight or we are going to tear it apart and take his Command Seals by ourselves!"

Assassin wisely decided to vanish away.

"Frigging Alexander the Great too?" Yui muttered as Beta-Five informed her. "At this rate I might need a drink sooner than later…"

"Well, that was unexpected." Maiya played again the video feed involving Rider's revelations.

"We should have seen it coming." Emiya Kiritsugu looked on. "The Tohsaka and the Kotomine families always kept a close relationship since the days of the Third Holy Grail War."

"And what we are going to do with Tohsaka's heir?"

"We keep her here." Kiritsugu declared. "We will give Tohsaka a pair of days to figure it out on his own and act."

"Why?"

"For one part, we still need Irisviel and Saber to plan our defenses and I still haven't recovered enough to be efficient in combat. For the other part, Tohsaka suffered a great blow to his strategies today thanks to Rider's meddling, which will make him easier to manipulate once he decides to attack."

"You know he will send Assassin to retrieve his daughter."

"If he does, he will find a dead body instead…"

And done... I thought the whole issue with COVID-19 would grant me more to write, but almost everyday had to do something to ensure my house isn't hit too hard by both the quarentine and the incoming Winter... joy.

Please, read and review.