towerofanimus | ITP: Avenger

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ITP: Avenger

Characters: [AU5] Saber and Shirou/Avenger
Setting: Floor 62; The beach
Summary: Arturia thinks Shirou is ready to go monster hunting with her and takes him to a floor to see how well he does. Little does she know she's gotten more than she's bargained for.
Warnings: Violence, character breakdown, Avenger's mouth, the mun's squeeing over the big reveal.

[After things quieted down, after Arturia had some time to process what had happened, and contemplate things, she returned to the Shirou in the Tower to resume their training. He was used to her having days where she couldn't face him, though they were getting less and less frequent, especially now that he knows the reasoning behind her odd behavior. She will not tell him of the shadow child who saw her off, and the school ID she had been given is tucked safely in her trunk for now. No, they need to get back to training.

After a short hour of fighting, she'd realized something: Shirou had improved. His senses were sharper and there were a few moments where Arturia had to put in actual effort to block his hits. It made her lips quirk into a pleased smile and she told him he was ready. They made arrangements to meet up just before sunset on the beach. Not too far from an elevator (though Arturia loathed them by now), and not too easy to fall off of. Shirou's abilities would be in tact here and soon he could test his mettle against the monsters themselves.]

Remember to keep close to the stairs.

[She says as the sun sets in the distance. Some part of her is filled with pride that Shirou's come this far, that she's letting Shirou get this far. For so long she'd been afraid to let him fight. If nothing else what happened with the phantoms reminded her of how hypocritical that was. Shirou had done the same thing to her, though he had been very vocal about it. Arturia, on the other hand, just kept telling him he wasn't ready with nary an explanation. Not that Shirou asked for one.

But now? Well. Maybe he can start helping her with her maps and finding the secrets here. Maybe next time she goes downstairs, she can see about him coming with her.]

This particular floor tends to have mostly Chuchus and Miniblins. Dangerous, but there's never too many of them. We can move on to another floor once we've cleared out this one.

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[More pour out of the ocean. Not a lot, but the number is slowly but surely increasing as they come towards them.

It's then the Miniblins appear and Arturia shouts a warning to be careful. The little creatures approach her instead of Shirou, since she's closer to the brush they appear from under. Arturia swings Caliburn, dispatching them easily enough before they can swarm her and start stabbing her legs through.

All the same, she keeps one eye on Shirou to make sure he doesn't get too overwhelmed.]

[ White and black slices the slug creatures as Shirou fights, not too concerned by the increasing number of creature oozing out of the waters to besiege him. The entrails of whatever the chuchus had ingested before he'd dispatched them were left behind.

His head snaps toward Arturia when he hears her yelled warning, and for a moment he wavers—feeling the undying need to forget the chuchus he's currently fighting and defend her from those stayr-things that approach form the brush, but reminds himself she can take care of herself perfectly, with her sword and slim body since she was a hero and these were only stupid pests. He has confidence in that.

He leaves her be. ]

[And take care of herself, she can. The miniblins are annoying, but she has confidence enough in Shirou to take care of himself against the ChuChus, but soon the Miniblins decide to swarm not just her, but Shirou as well. They aim to stab him in the calves and ankles in a bid to make him fall to the ground. Given how weak they are? They might be nothing more than a nuisance.

Little do either of them realize there's a gang of Moblins on the way from further down the beach as well.]

[ And you know what happens to nuisances? They get eliminated. Well, actually when he gets swarmed by miniblins as well, it's a simple matter to dispatch them and easily fend off the small pitchforks they were trying to stab him with, blocking metal with a clatter of metal. It's good that the chuchus' bloated mass are slow and ungainly or Shirou would have had more trouble.

With a swipe, he manages to take off a miniblin's head, sending it spinning off to thump down onto the sand.

By the time the gang of moblins are upon them, at this point they're starting to get pressed between the ocean on one side and the swarm of monsters between them and the inland stairs. ]

[With a loud battle cry, a moblin comes charging at them. Arturia, while startled, does not miss a beat, moves quick, and manages to move to catch the thing. Her height means she can easily duck under its spear before it stabs her, stupid as the things tend to be.

With a grunt, she forces the dying creature on its back, puts her foot on its hip, and pulls Caliburn out of its belly. Except there's more coming and she's beginning to think they need to move because things have never quite swarmed like this before.]

[ He looks up, in the midst of slashing a chuchu to cut it in halves, to check their position after some time spent fighting on the beach. It was easy to jump and dodge, and in the process of that hurried movement lose track of your original position. There are creatures between them and the stairs. Weak creatures, but there are...

Shirou blinks. There are a lot more monsters than he expected. It doesn't occur to him to be too worried just yet, but still. The teenager skids to the side when a miniblin lunges at him, blocking its pitchfork in a clang with Kanshou and running it through. ]

Ah, unh—!

[ Shirou doesn't shout. The shrieks and cries that moblins' and the miniblins' and the chuchus' uttered over the sound of fighting weren't loud enough to warrant yelling, but he clearly raises his voice. ]

We need to get closer to the stairs!

[Because, she thinks, this will be getting to be too much for Shirou to handle soon. At least, she thinks so even if she recognizes her own protective streak toward him. Weak these creatures are, yes, but even a weak creature can become dangerous in large groups and, for some reason, they just won't stop coming.

Two more moblins charge with a battle roar. Arturia, despite her status as a Heroic Spirit and Counter Guardian, is only one person. She manages to cut one through the belly again, but the second darts past her toward Shirou as she pulls her sword out of her foe's body.]

Shirou! Behind you!

Edited 2013-09-01 01:49 (UTC)

[ The sun has set, allowing the darkness of late evening to seep in. Most tower residents without the desire for combat or monster-slaying will have began retiring to their rooms.

More and more creatures keep replacing the ones they cut down and while they aren't endless, the numbers aren't ones that bode well either. At Saber's warning, Shirou starts to twist around and brace himself for whatever thing was coming up from behind, but—the large pig-like monster had the upper hand in terms of surprise. His eyes widen; ]

What?— [ OW. ]

[ Hey, Arturia, ever wondered how well Shirou can fly? Well enough. The second moblin smashes him away, sending him backwards into the sand with the force of its charge. Something definitively bruised nicely or broke there. It takes a couple seconds for him to blink the sand and dizziness out of his eyes, and start to immediately push himself back up, raising up the twin blades in his hands to a guard position. ]

Shirou!

[She starts to run only to get stabbed by three of the miniblins in the ankle at once, tripping her up. She rolls over and takes them out swiftly, followed by the numbers that replace them.

Meanwhile, a trio of moblins encircle Shirou, prepared to beat the everloving snot out of him. Arturia is desperate at this point. This was meant to be a simple test of skill, not a blood bath. How could she have miscalculated this badly in this place?]

[ Shirou hears her yell distantly. ]

Yeah, I'm fine!

[ Still a little too disoriented from sudden pain and impact against the ground to focus. Then the trio of large pig-things surrounding him like they plan on taking a page out of Berserker's book registers; Shirou stumbles to his feet, re-projects the two swords and promptly launches himself at one, aiming to cut it down.

Unfortunately this is probably is going to result in him getting the everloving snot beaten out of him anyway. ]

[And so time passes, the pair slowly but surely making their way back to the stairs. It's a tough undertaking, wearing them out greatly. Shirou and Arturia manage to take down many of the creatures, but it gets to the point that even Arturia is gasping for breath at times and her arms begin to ache.

In fact, they're about to go up the stairs when there is another roar.

From out of the sea comes a Big Daddy, charging right at them. Arturia practically throws Shirou onto the stairs before raising her sword and barely managing to deflect its drill. If Caliburn were a normal sword, she has a feeling it would have shattered long ago in this fight.]

Shirou! Run! [Even if she knows he won't.]

[ He did indeed feel like he'd gotten the snot beaten out of every inch of his now-sore and aching body by the time they got there. Shirou was worn out and tired from fending off all the stupid creatures, Arturia was tired as well from dispatching them as they had steadily, slowly pushed back towards the stairs.

The numbers of creatures assaulting them have finally slackened, only a few clusters of chuchus and miniblins left to shriek at them from the beach, and their feet are on the steps when—what the hell was that? came charging out of the waves at them. Shirou doesn't get the time to scowl in frustration before Arturia more or less picks him up and tosses him up onto the stairs where he lands hard with a pathetic "oof!". There's another sharp stab of pain, ow ow ow something was bruised. Nothing big, hopefully. ]

[ He looks to see her deflecting that thing's drill with her sword. No. ] Hey, Saber!

[ The swords he scrambles to project are weak, their unreality so badly-done Shirou has to be careful to not acknowledge how fake they are lest they shatter to pieces.

He doesn't stop to realize that he's scraping the very bottom of his prana reserves—after this, he wouldn't have the energy to make anymore. The teenager then attempts to stab the Big Daddy in one of its broken portholes. ]

[To his credit, he manages to get the hit in, the Big Daddy howls and swings, knocking Shirou back. If Shirou's intention had been to draw his attention from Arturia, it worked. As the teen skids onto the beach, the Big Daddy approaches him, raising his drill up to stab the redhead through.

In an instant, Arturia is there instead, slamming her body into the Big Daddy's arm to force him away. She takes her place in front of Shirou, braced to take another blow. After all, if she dies, Jason will bring her back by morning, even if she risks losing a piece of herself. If it's for Shirou? That's fine. Shirou had always been more important than herself, someone kind, someone she desperately needed to protect after she failed her own Shirou in the worst way imaginable.

For Shirou? She'd be willing to give up her very soul if it would keep him safe.]

[ Actually he didn't have a plan in mind outside of that basic intention to draw its attention away from her. He doesn't really plan these things out so let's say it half-way worked in that it protected Arturia for a few moments.

When the Big Daddy bellows in fury and swings, the swing takes him in the side, and sends him skidding onto the beach, Shirou's ribs screaming at the mistreatment and smashing back into the ground, leaving some reddish splotches on the sand. He probably gets sand in his face, and hair. The teenager groans softly in pain, his eye half-closed. ow everything hurts.

Kaushou and Bakuya, without the prana to sustain them and his concentration broken, disappear from his hands.

Of course, without prana, that's not the only that can no longer sustain itself. His silhouette distorts, sputtering as the illusion of 'Emiya Shirou' struggles to maintain itself while Arturia is occupied with fending off the Big Daddy, vehemently denying it. Then it begins to fade away, burnt orange hair turning black in patches and tattoos creeping over his skin and revealing themselves. ]

[ —literally everything hurts, his head hurts, his ribs hurt, and he's disoriented, also he's still wearing Shirou's clothes. fuck this goddamnit. ]

[It's the aura that throws her off first. Arturia had been so focused on the Big Daddy she had thought it another target she would have to fight once she finished this one off. Then the aura grew stronger and she recognized it.

How could she not when she had made her own Kingdom drown in the mud tainted by that aura?

How could she not when she had managed to not feel sick due to that aura due to the time spent around her other self?]

Shirou?!

[She turns to face him, catches a glimpse of Avenger in Shirou's clothes when the Big Daddy swings for her. Instinct has her duck, turn, and manage to stab through the broken porthole on the side of its helmet. With a struggle and a roar, the beast is downed and Arturia slowly but surely turns toward Shirou.

Only not Shirou. This person has Shirou's face, Shirou's clothes, but his hair is too dark, and he is too young yet to have Archer's dark skin. And those tattoos on him, covering every inch of him. Even the most dedicated artist would balk at the number and placement of them.

...and the aura: the aura of corruption coming off him in waves so strong she would have fallen to her knees if she didn't have the adrenaline of battle still in her veins.]

Shirou.... are you all right? [Is it even Shirou in there?]

[ In physical pain: ] Ahh. . .

[ Avenger sits upright, grains of sand falling out of his unkempt hair and blood from his wounds still drying in places, using first his elbows and then his hands to brace against the sand as the sensation of mild disorientation rapidly fades, and his dull yellow eyes can focus properly again; on the sight of Saber fighting the Big Daddy and catches a glimpse of the bewildered, confused look in her eyes when she glances at him, who's sitting on his rear behind her, before falling the lumbering creature with a sword through one of the broken portholes.

It roars, struggling before toppling down with a heavy crash.

Saber slowly, steadily turns to face him. Her undisguised shock is evident by itself though she retains her composure.

He cocks his head to the side, then he laughs, the noise coming out weakly since he was tired, annoyed, and completely out of prana. Tension coils in his body, haplessly aware that right now she held the advantage. There was a sword in her hand.

There's a bruise reddening on his forehead, though Avenger was bruised in many more places than that. ]

Hmm? Sorry, wrong guy.

[ The corrupted aura that roils off him and within him is revolting, pungent in the most unpleasant and horrible of ways, sickened with taint. It hangs over him like a shadow. It's not at odds with the rude smile on his face. ]

Edited 2013-09-02 02:19 (UTC)

[She points her sword at him, though half-heartedly. Even through the tattoos and aura that is still Shirou's face he wears. After everything that happened, she isn't sure she would be capable of even stabbing this person so long as he wore Shirou's face.

The Big Daddy's corpse is forgotten as she tried to feign confidence. This person is injured--covered in Shirou's injuries--and his laugh is weak even if he's being incredibly rude. Is this another trick by the Administrators like those shadows had been?

If she wasn't trying to stand her ground, she'd probably be screaming in frustration.]

Who are you? What did you do to Shirou? [And how had she not noticed if something was wrong before?]

[ There's little-to-no reaction at her leveling her sword at him, aside from a faint tightening of the skin around his eyes, tense.

He debates trying to stand, despite the constant ache in his ribs, and decides he might as well do it since it's difficult to get a decent running start from a sitting position. Ignoring a broken bone or two and the painful array of injuries left on his body from the fighting, Avenger awkwardly scrambles to his feet. And. . . Wait, she hadn't figured it out? Huh. How to explain the 'Shirou' she saw a few moments ago and him were kinda one and the same, since he's basing his personality and body off him as a vessel. ]

Oh?

News flash, Emiya Shirou ain't here to do anything to. [ Wow, don''t be an asshole to her over Saber not jumping to the immediate, rather implausible conclusion of Shirou being a complete faker, you jerk. He shrugs, blood leaking from his side a little from his standing up. ] So-o I didn't do anything, Saber. Just ran out of energy at a bad time, I guess?

Edited (sorry about all the editing i keep doing :'o) 2013-09-02 03:01 (UTC)

[It's more like her mind is refusing to accept what her eyes are telling her. Even with the signs: the resemblance, never quite remembering where Shirou's room was not only because she avoided it but because she could never remember seeing his name anywhere, slight differences in behavior. Those were Shirou's wounds. If this was some kind of malicious trick, why would this person still have Shirou's wounds?

Caliburn wavers for just a second before she forces strength back into her hand and stands straighter.]

Ran out of--

[What?]

Who are you? What do you mean he isn't here? [Again, her mind is refusing to accept the truth it's beginning to put together.]

[ The embodiment of all the world's evil grins, the dull ache of his wounds paid no mind. It's not a very stable smile. ]

I'm Avenger. [ Insincerely; ] Nice to meet ya'!

[ He's frank about giving his class title. Given his tendency to be honest if rather meanly cheeky and unhelpful when asked the correct questions by people, the Servant didn't see any reason to bother with lying, much less about this. It's not like identity fraud was that big of a deal. ]

I mean, he's not present in the Tower and has not been for several months. Ever, for as far as I know. [ Hand resting on his hips, on the dirtied pants he's wearing, he looks at Saber and down the length of the sword she's pointing at her, noticing the tip shaking for a moment. They're standing on a beach strewn with the corpses of dead monsters, the light only coming from the stars in the sky and the staircase; it's not a pleasant scene. ]

[Avenger. Diarmuid mentioned him once and how dangerous he is. No one had ever mentioned shapeshifting, but who would dare admit to it? The scene around them is grisly and she had been planning on telling Shirou he'd done well once they managed to escape. The battle had been hard and long even if the opponents had been weak, but he'd done well and she'd been proud....]

You mean....

[....and all of it had been a lie. A lie like their bodies, their powers. This time it was not even a lie the Administrators had perpetuated. This had been Avenger's own doing and what reason did he have to lie.]

You mean Shirou was you the whole time?

[That the only Shirou present had been that broken shadow in her bed? The shadow that had sat on her chest when she'd last been revived?]

[ The beach will be clean and pristine, come the next morning. But tonight, the sound of the waves and Saber's slow breathing are the only sounds that disrupt the scene of carnage.

He crosses his arms over his chest, feeling the fabric of the shirt crinkle. If he'd looked at it from her viewpoint, he would probably realized she would consider it all a lie in the same vein as the lie the administrators imprisoned them within and call it betrayal. He doesn't look at it from her viewpoint; that idea of empathy doesn't occur to him at all. Avenger confirms it with a kind of inappropriate casualness; ]

Yeah, we're the same.

[ His head tilts and he chuckles again, his lips stretching a little wider like he's not bleeding and there isn't Caliburn pointed in his direction, but that still comes out weak, tired. But still far from docile, merely verging on the edge of tolerable. ]

Oh.

[That's all she can say really because what can you even say to finding out the person that has been keeping you sane the last few months is not who you thought he was? That he was nothing more than a lie?

Arturia can practically pinpoint the moment she feels something inside her crack and break. It's not her heart. She long ago broke her own heart when she beheaded Shirou by her own hand. But now.... now...

She lowers Caliburn, dismissing it entirely. Avenger might have that awful aura, but he's weak, tired. And wearing Shirou's face.

As long as he wore Shirou's face, she would never be able to strike him.]

I see. [Her voice doesn't sound like her own. It's strange, knowing she's in control, but being unable to really do much but react. She should be screaming, she should be demanding answers, she should be doing a hundred other things.

But what's the point?]

I apologize. I should leave you to your business then.

[And so she turns, walking for the stairs. Anything to get away from him.]

[ For a moment, all that greets her words and the lowering of her sword is silence, dissonant and deeply uncomfortable. Then; ]

Alright.

[ Her calmness, her lack of vehement outward or vocal reaction to what she's learned is telling, though he doesn't care (isn't capable of caring) enough to be concerned about it. The expression on her face is blank, and Avenger is a tad surprised to realize he recognizes it; the look of something crumbling, surely and steadily.

The silence from before lengthens. Saber turns her back to him and walks away. He doesn't stop her, makes no move to follow her retreat or prevent it. ]

. . .

Hey, don't go apologizing needlessly.

[ He tosses the remark after her just as she's walking up the stairs, as if to slam it into the back of her shoulders. And then, too tired and injured to maintain his material form without exerting a lot more effort than he wants to right now, Avenger slips into spirit mode and vanishes from the bloody, dark beach. ]

Edited 2013-09-02 19:12 (UTC)

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ITP: Avenger

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