Ritsuka POV:
I didn't sign up for something like this, the fire, the silence, the skeleton monsters, and what Mash called shadow servants. I was just supposed to be a backup, the lowest of the low, kicked out of the meeting for sleeping which was pretty lucky, not lucky enough to avoid this, but enough to live. Live and try to fix this singularity, which was a point in time that went against Proper Human History.
Revealed to me in a massive lore dump by Doctor Romani, who was one of the surviving members from the explosion in the rayshift room, which was a whole other topic that I don't want to get into. I was knocked out of my thoughts by Caster, who is the legendary Cu Chulainn, yeah, I still find that hard to believe.
Apparently I was going to use Mash's shield to summon a servant because it was a piece of the Round Table, which made it the place where heroes come, whatever that means. Anyways, I was told by Caster to use this super specific chant, but he's the magician here so I'll follow what he says. I breathe in and speak the words,
Heed my words!
My will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny.
If you heed the Grail's call, then follow humanity's path and answer me!
Seventh Heaven clad in the great words of stargazers...
Come forth, pass on your judgement, and punish my enemies...
Guardian of the Scales!
I only noticed later that the words were a lot more different than what Caster had told me to say, at the moment, I just shielded my eyes from the bright golden glow. I heard Mash gasp and felt Caster put his hand on my shoulder, wondering why, I opened my eyes to see twins. Honest to God twins, the only difference being the change in armor, and even then there wasn't much of a difference.
Both of them had white hair, steel-grey eyes, red costumes, black pants, and armored shoes, what else could they be but twins.
Third-person POV:
Shirou and EMIYA opened their eyes from the summoning circle and saw each other, one smiled and the other grimaced, it doesn't take a genius to guess who. Shirou gestures to their master and EMIYA agrees to table the discussion for later, finally noticing the chaos around them. Both turned towards their master and spoke, "Saber/Archer-class Servant. I have been summoned and come at your request."
Both gave each other a look, Shirou with a smirk and EMIYA with a raised eyebrow, they would have continued to do so when Caster intervened, "alright, enough with the staredown, as you've noticed we have more serious problems to attend to than your brooding." EMIYA scoffed "that's rich coming from a dog like you" and Shirou apologized, "I'm sorry, we do have more pressing matters to attend to."
Caster got whiplash seeing such varying responses from two people with the same face, one just being lighter than the other. "I'll ignore the dog comment and let you both know that you've been summoned into a fucked up grail war where Saber won and enslaved everyone else." Caster saw Archer tense and Saber pale as he faintly heard Saber say "Heaven's Feel" and pushed his master forward.
Ritsuka tensed and said, "Archer, Saber, thank you for answering my call" "hmm" "you're welcome master". "Like Caster said, this is a fucked up grail war, but what he didn't tell you is that this is a singularity, which means it's a point in time that goes against PHH and messes with the future. So, when you answered my summons, you did it for the long haul, which means if you want to back out, then do it now, or forever hold your piece."
Shirou smiled at his master's fire and agreed, while EMIYA nodded and both got ready to walk forward when they heard a crash and roar as Berserker, having sensed the magical energy, sprinted towards Ritsuka. Shirou jumped in front of his master and projected Kanshou and Bakuya, stopping Berserker's blade before he could slice his master in twain. "Caster, take master to safety, Archer and I have this handled" Caster blinked in shock, "you sure?" "yes, now GO".
(The REAL story starts now)
"Alright, come with me girlie, let's leave those two to Berserker" "right", Caster and Mash retreated with Ritsuka and Shirou deflected Berserker's swing and jumped back. EMIYA jumps up, projects Caladbolg II, and fires it at Berserker's face, Shirou in the vicinity has to dodge out of the way. Shirou shoots EMIYA a nasty glare and performs Triple-Linked Crane Wings, taking one of Berserker's lives.
Not wanting to be one-upped, EMIYA projects Caliburn and reinforces it, "Sword of Selection, grant me your power! Cleave the wicked! Caliburn!!" and fires a massive beam that takes two more lives. Shirou smirks and projects his version of Nine-Lives Blade Works, dashing forward with "godspeed" and killing Berserker in six swings, ending him and one upping EMIYA.
With Berserker out of the way, Shirou was about to go to Ritsuka when he felt a hand on his shoulder, turning his head to see EMIYA with a questioning look on his face. Shirou sighed and fully turned towards EMIYA, ready to answer any questions he had, predictably, it was about Alaya.
"So, you're a Saber-class servant huh? How did that happen?" "Don't worry, I didn't make any deals with extra-dimensional entities to gain this type of power." "I find that hard to believe, with your white hair and steel-grey eyes." "The only reason I look like that is so I was disguised when performing hero work, that way my loved ones weren't put in danger, which is more than I can say for you."
EMIYA's expression hardens and his anger rises at that last remark, only he could make himself feel such anger. His anger only rises as Shirou continues to speak, "unlike you who was so damaged and ruined by the fire, I didn't cling onto someone else's dream for salvation, I forged my own future. I didn't push everyone away to save people I didn't even know, I didn't make some stupid ass deal with a cosmic entity for power." With one last blow, spoken in only a whisper to EMIYA's ear, "least of all, I didn't run away like a coward from my duty and try to kill myself so I could escape the truth, the dream wasn't a mistake."
That was the final straw, to be called out like that, with truth after truth, filled EMIYA's entire being with self-loathing and hatred, his only outlet being Shirou in front of him. Projecting Kanshou and Bakuya, EMIYA charged at Shirou, reinforcing his body to its max and striking with surprising strength. Shirou did the same and matched EMIYA's strength, with his own Kanshou and Bakuya, his B-rank strength more than enough.
'EMIYA' MEDLEY[Fate/stay night Soundtrack Compilation]plays
Their clash caused a shockwave to emanate around them and the ground they stood on cracked and fell apart around them. The damage only continued to worsen around them as they matched each other blow for blow, Shirou's higher strength doing nothing for him as EMIYA's EX-rank Mind's Eye (true) countered his moves. EMIYA after having experienced battle for over a thousand years as a Counter Guardian knew exactly what Shirou was going to do before he did it.
Ritsuka, sensing from afar the pull on his energy, tries to order them to mentally stop, a command seal being used. Shirou and EMIYA sense the order and quickly project Rule Breaker and sever their connection to their master. With that done, they continue the fight and enter a deadly yet beautiful dance of blades as their form and technique is a marvel to look at.
A thrust is parried here, a stab is blocked there, and occasionally the swords clash, creating shockwaves from their combined strength. Their usually upturned hair is swept down and scratches and knicks layer their bodies as they hurt each other but cannot land a decisive blow.
Shirou, seeing he was gaining no ground, switched tactics and projected Sasaki's sword, performing the incomplete version of the Tsubame Gaeshi so as not to kill EMIYA. That was a mistake as EMIYA's Mind's Eye helped him avoid the strike entirely and retaliates by firing a Caladbolg at Shirou's face. Shirou ducks under the arrow and his back is hit with the shockwave of the blast, ruining his footing, giving EMIYA the chance he needs,
EMIYA projects Durandal in spear form, giving it the length to pierce Shirou's chest when his stab is interrupted by a hail of arrows. Jumping back, both Shirou and EMIYA look up, only to see a blackened version with red lines jump down. "Saw the fight and thought, fuck it, if anyone's going to fight me it'll be me" Shirou grins and charges at Blackened Emiya, Blackened himself smiling in return.
EMIYA projects and fires Hrunting, hoping to kill Shirou, but such a simple projection is destroyed by Blackened's own version of Kanshou and Bakuya degraded from the mud but still strong. Blackened continues to fight against Shirou, who due to his past, falls back to familiarity and projects his gun, a modified S&W 500 that can shoot .577 Tyrannosaur Hollow Point.
Frustrated by his weakness, EMIYA projects Kanshou and Bakuya in overedge form and join the melee, creating a 3-way battle between Emiya's. Shirou parries a thrust from EMIYA, who in turns swerves a gunshot from Blackened, who also blocks a slash from Shirou. The addition of a new fighter further ruins the area they're in, with 2 fully reinforced Archers and one Saber colliding the area is a complete wasteland.
Shirou and EMIYA fight with an elegance and precision to their technique yet Blackened struggles to do so as the grail mud has eroded his fighting skills and made him act like a typical archer. This means his swordsmanship is sloppy and unrefined, allowing Shirou and EMIYA to better capitalize on his weakness. Although, continued engagements see him regain parts of himself as he starts copying their moves at an accelerated rate, allowing him to fight with more precision.
Blackened uses his arrows more, keeping EMIYA and Shirou on their toes as Blackened attacks recklessly, allowing himself to take shallow wounds so he can fire arrows point blank. He doesn't even modify the swords into arrows, sometimes he just shoots them as is, always creating a distraction. To combat this, Shirou fires back with his gun and EMIYA projects swords to fire at them
Shirou fires his S&W with precision, each shot taking all EMIYA and Blackened have to dodge, lest they be hit and die, after seeing one bullet obliterate the ground. Blackened tries to retaliate but Shirou, having dealt with firearms his entire life, masterfully blocks and returns fire, forcing Blackened to perform impressive gymnastics to avoid them. EMIYA tries to take advantage and strikes from above, successfully landing 2 clean stabs into Blackened back but he retaliates with 5 shots in EMIYA's torso.
Shirou however, isn't unscathed, arrows EMIYA shot into the air without the author's knowledge landed back from high up in the sky and pierced Shirou in his torso, right leg, and left arm. The rest were dodged, and sank into the ground around him forming a macabre image. At this point, the 3 Emiya's were getting tired of this stalemate so they all collectively decided to go all out. The air stirred around them and trembled, the land itself recognizing what was about to take place.
Shirou:
I am the bone of my sword
Steel is my body, and fire is my heart
I have forged countless blades
Unaware of loss
Unshackled by regret
Withstood pain to craft my legend
But yet, those hands shall shape my destiny
I have no regrets, my path is clear,
EMIYA:
I am the bone of my sword
Steel is my body and fire is my blood
I have created over a thousand blades
Unknown to Death,
Nor known to Life.
Have withstood pain to create many weapons
But yet, those hands will never hold anything
So as I pray,
EMIYA (Blackened):
I am the bone of my sword
Steel is my ------- and fire is my ----------
I have ------------- over a thousand --------
Unknown to ----------,
Nor known to ---------.
Have withstood ---------- to create many -----------
Yet, those --------- will never hold -----------
So as I pray,
EMIYA/Shirou/EMIYA (Blackened):
Unlimited Blade Works
With that an enormous landscape is forced onto the world, 3 reality marbles, all of similar make up, mashed together into this jagged puzzle. One side is filled with sand, rusty weapons, and countless gears in the sky, the other is grassland with clean weapons ready to be used, and a blue sky, the final one is similar to the first yet parts of it are covered by this tar-like substance and red cracks fill the sky.
With the emergence of their trump cards, Shirou speaks after fighting for over 20 minutes, "I know I'm not the only one feeling the low energy right now and I don't know about our grail mud version over there but I'd rather end it all in one blow here and now." EMIYA says, "I agree, let's see who's the better Emiya here and now and whose ideals were wrong." Blackened answers the challenge, "if this is to be my end then it shall be a glorious one."
Together, all three hold out their hands and chant the names of their ultimate weapons.
(As this was going on, Ritsuka and Mash confronted Artoria Alter along with Cu (Caster) just as canon with the result ending up the same as canon, the only divergence being Cu not fighting Blackened Emiya.)
All three could feel their circuits burn and their cores shake as the projection they sought to use was one that could only be used due to their connection to Artoria and being in UBW. A gold shimmer started to form in EMIYA and Shirou's hands, while a dark shimmer started to form in Blackened hands. Slowly and agonizingly, their fingers shaking and body trembling, like liquid fire coursing through their veins, slowly Shirou and EMIYA project Excalibur while Blackened projects Excalibur Morgan.
Slowly and filled with pain, they each bring their hands up and pour magical energy into the blade, lighting it up with energy. They put one foot in front of the other and set their stance, remembering how Artoria once did the same so long ago.
Shirou/EMIYA:
This light is the sword of the king who can never be reached.
Excalibur Image!
EMIYA (Blackened):
Vortigern, Hammer of the Vile King, reverses the rising sun.
Swallow the light,
Excalibur Morgan!!
All three beams clashed in the center, where all 3 reality marbles were connected, creating a tear into the reality marbles that continued to destabilize as the singularity started righting itself. The clash was one of the most epic of proportions, sadly it was one that could only last a few moments as Blackened faded away with the correction of the singularity.
This left EMIYA and Shirou to settle the score, neither willing to give up, unfortunately for EMIYA, he did not have another trump card. With the last of his will power, Shirou performed a Mana Burst for a single second, that single second being enough to overpower EMIYA's beam and kill him, EMIYA died with a smile on his face.
Shirou stops the beam and just collapses on the ground, he feels his body fading away and watches as time corrects itself around him. In his final moments he crawls to an altar, where Avalon sits and just leans against it closing his eyes as both his reality marble and he fade away back to the throne.
Shirou opens his eyes and meets the eyes of the Lion King.