Ichigo had a scowl set firmly on his face as he stared out the window, waiting for Ishida to call.

He hated plans, he hated wars, and he hated waiting. Most of all, he hated knowing that his friends and his family were in danger.

This whole situation had Ichigo on edge, and the tension increased every day, ratcheted tighter by each night since the ambush at the mall. He and his sisters were sitting on an island of peace in the middle of a murky forest filled with shadowy monsters, and the walls of that little island were only plaster and cement. No matter what he did though, he couldn't get them safely out of town thanks to those monsters, which far surpassed any regular hollows on the danger scale.

Thankfully, the two years that the three siblings had lived in the apartment had given Urahara plenty of time to drop in randomly, and Ichigo knew the man had placed spiritual defenses within the walls to protect them; Karin had confirmed the suspicions.

Any dematerialized Servant trying to sneak in would have considerable trouble facing up to the stuff the mad-scientist came up with on a regular basis. It was likely that if any did manage to penetrate the rooms that Urahara would come running into town, and as unreliable as the eccentric shop owner liked to act, if he showed up then Ichigo would feel safe sending his sisters off with him.

Ichigo knew Hat n'Clogs felt responsible for him and his sisters, and probably a little guilty over what had happened in the war. But to be honest, Ichigo was grateful to Urahara for everything the man did in helping a headstrong 15 year old who was in over his head. Nothing would probably change Ichigo's stance that Urahara was not to blame for any of the problems they faced.

If it hadn't been for Urahara, Aizen would have been unstoppable.

Until an opportunity to get Karin and Yuzu out of the city and to a safe haven arrived, Ichigo would have to trust Orihime and whatever Urahara had cooked up to protect them.

He glanced over at Saber, who was staring intently at the phone that Ishida would call. Ichigo had actually found it pretty funny when Saber had realized just what cellphones meant. He guessed that even for a legendary figure like King Arthur-His mind flashed back to a bloody battlefield-or maybe because this was King Arthur, the novelty of freely available instantaneous communication was a big surprise. Ichigo had the feeling that knowing about something was different than encountering it first hand.

As it was, though, Ichigo really couldn't get a handle on Saber. She seemed fiercely overprotective of him, which just beat down on his already battered pride. He could respect her, certainly, as she was a match for skill and strength to many of the Captains. And at least she had accepted that he wished to fight and acknowledged that he had character.

But that didn't change the fact that she was always trying to keep him in sight. To Ichigo, it just felt like she was trying to control him.

The image of that King above the battlefield again intruded on his thoughts, bringing Aizen back to mind. Damn that monster.

Ichigo wasn't sure just what reminded him of Aizen whenever he got a good look at Saber, but something certainly fit.

The phone rang, and he picked it up while Saber hesitated. He flipped it open and held it to his ears, looking back out of the window, "Ichigo here."

It could be Ishida, but he knew it would be a bad idea to say something weird like "Are you in position?" if it was someone else on the other end of the line.

The steady voice was easily recognizable as the Quincy archer, "I've got a great view of the sunset from across the river." Ichigo could hear a light breeze playing against the speaker, "I really don't think I've ever seen anything quite like this view." Slightly confused, but able to puzzle out Ishida's statements, Ichigo did his best to interpret everything. "I can't see Ichigo's apartment but I can see the main road."

So he can't cover us right outside the door. Shouldn't be to much of a problem.

Ichigo stood, his heart regaining that determined steel that had lain dormant for so long. It felt good to be moving again, even if he wasn't the heavy hitter anymore, "We're heading out now. Good luck."

"You too." Ichigo hung up at the reply and felt silence drift across the line, the ambient noises around Ishida no longer transmitted.

Saber joined him, ready to fight, "Let us go, Ichigo."

She opened the door and checked for any blatant traps or ambushes; even if they didn't expect them, that didn't mean they wouldn't happen.

Ichigo heard a small sound and turned back to see his sisters. His smile was slightly sad at seeing the fear in Yuzu's eyes, but he straightened his back once more. The smile turned into a smirk, "Let's watch a movie when me and Saber get back."

He turned around and headed out the door.

Ishida held the phone to his ear, pretending to describe the view. It would take some time for the ambush to happen, and it was a simple task to keep track of Saber with just his spiritual awareness. He'd noticed a number of other Servants around town when he came in, but none were the Assassins that were directly threatening Karin and Yuzu.

There was no guarantee, but the chance was high that there was at least one tail on him. Just by entering the house and staying the night, he counted as a threat. The plan hinged on Ichigo and Saber drawing both attention and action, freeing Ishida up to face at most one or two foes at close range while he covered his allies from above.

Since his ability to sense reiryoku and reiatsu wouldn't help discover the stealth-centric Servant, Ishida did his best to try and detect a change in the air or light refraction around him. His eyes were sharp enough to spot the differences, it was only a matter of time. More, when he actually began to cover the two every Assassin nearby, and probably a good number of those attacking Ichigo and Saber, would begin hunting him down. Even for him, trying to keep track of that many targets at once would be near impossible.

Hopefully Saber was good enough to finish the Assassins quickly.

Far below, traffic across the river began to settle, the majority of people already home. A few honks and running engines emanated up to Ishida, a few hundred feet above the roadways of Shinto. Ishida was slightly worried about the presence of innocent bystanders, but he knew that his own arrows were invisible as far as the majority of humans were concerned. The possibility of being spotted might keep the Assassins from any truly devastating, and thus visible, attacks.

Even assassins were known to cause destruction, no matter how much subtlety was valued in the business.

Ichigo glanced out over the black and blue water. A cold wind blew down the river into the ocean, catching at his long sleeved shirt. The dark sky and frigid air reminded him of Hueco Mundo, and the tension was the same.

The attack could come from anywhere, at any speed, and at both him and Saber. It was a disconcerting feeling, knowing that every shadow could turn into an Assassin.

But he'd walked into enemy territory and faced despair in the face of overwhelming strength before, and he wouldn't falter now.

Just thinking about the past, about the pressures that he had already endured, helped ease his mind slightly. He spoke up to Saber, "Have you ever walked into enemy territory before?"

Saber kept her eyes peeled while diverting a bit of her attention to his question, "Yes and no. While I was alive I was always fighting to defend my homeland against invaders, but I also laid siege to a few castles."

Ichigo watched cars pass by on the bridge, "I've charged headlong into fortresses and deserts filled with enemies for no other reason than that one of my friends had been threatened. It's funny, how I never really had any greater goals than protecting my friends." He snorted in wry amusement, "I would fight people with these great purposes like duty and ascension, yet I only ever focused on the handful of people that I considered important."

Something in Saber's eyes twisted, catching Ichigo's diverted attention. He couldn't name the feeling, but something had clearly gotten to the girl. He decided to push on in the hopes of overriding whatever seemed to be eating at his Servant.

Ichigo grinned, both sad and oddly proud, "I used to have powers, probably greater than yours for a short while. A friend of mine got kidnapped and taken to a palace in the desert, and I wasn't having any of that bullshit."

He held out a hand as he walked, gesturing wide circles at the sky, "Miles and miles of sand and night sky, hours of trekking through emptiness yet fully aware that the sands hid hollows. The silence was aggravating, and the lack of a clear destination made everything worse. When we finally did get to where we needed to go, I realized that I had been stressing over nothing."

His brown eyes faced Saber again, filled with a slightly knowing light, "So stop with the darting eyes. Let your natural responses flow, don't try and force it. As annoying as it is to be stalked by someone you can't see, getting frustrated does nothing."

The two walked in silence for another few minutes, getting off of the bridge and making it to the streets of the city.

Saber sighed, "To be lectured by my young Master...this night certainly brings surprises with it. Especially that claim that you could have overpowered me." Her smile seemed slightly condescending but Ichigo let it slide for now: he had gotten used to it for two years. After all, as far as she knew he couldn't even keep up with her when she held back. She relaxed just a tiny bit, reverting to her usual cool demeanor, "I should be used to hunting for uncivilized barbarians afraid to face me in battle, but it seems that the last few days of cowering inside a small apartment has affected me more than I would like to admit."

Orange hair shifted again in the wind, brushing across Ichigo's vision. He nodded in agreement, resetting his features. For some reason, Saber had managed to worm her way into those he trusted in less than a week. The omni-present scowl only lifted in the presence of the dozen or so individuals that he trusted implicitly. And despite his misgivings about those dreams, Saber had made it onto that list. The similarities to Aizen sent no warning bells through his mind, for he could not identify them, but the very fact that there were similarities should have made this difficult.

He hated Aizen with all of his being, he knew he did. That was stated fact confirmed many times over in the past two and a half years.

Ichigo just stopped thinking. It was easier that way. The sound of screeching tires and metal from behind them certainly helped distract him. If it didn't make him feel bad, he'd even be thankful that the driver had crashed.

Both he and Saber jerked around towards the source of the noise. His blond-haired partner/protector went right back to determinedly surveying the surroundings while Ichigo puzzled out just what had happened. A handful of cars had piled up behind a big tractor-trailer that had jack-knifed across the avenue that pierced the heart of Shinto.

He heard Saber when she inched closer to him and drew her invisible weapon, "That was no coincidence."

Ichigo turned around and noticed that there were two cop cars already diverting traffic away from the area. That, and a tall man had suddenly appeared on the sidewalk in front of them.

The stranger was dressed in primarily white, his face shadowed by a hood that reminded Ichigo of a beak. His clothing was archaic, almost Shakespearean in design. A brownish cloak covered his left side, affixed to his chest by a leather shoulder guard. The rest of his outfit had embroidered designs that reflected the lights of the city with a faint silvery glow, especially the strange metal symbol belted to his front.

The man's dress indicated his status as a Servant. He addressed them with faintly accented Japanese, "I take offense to being named a barbarian."

Saber interposed herself between Ichigo and the strangely attired newcomer, who shook his head slightly, tutting, "Ah, I apologize. I can understand why you might consider me uncivilized if I forget something so simple as my manners."

He bowed, cape flourishing with the elegant movement, "My name is Ezio Auditore da Firenze, Servant Assassin."

Saber openly gaped, before her mouth snapped shut and she narrowed her eyes, "You lie."

Even in the shadows, the roguish grin revealed shining white teeth, "I see you do not recognize the name. Well, anonymity is the mark of a proper Assassin, that his works not be widely known."

This time Ichigo answered, "There are more of you."

Ezio's grin turned into a smile, brown eyes gaining a sudden glow, "Indeed there are. I was merely sent to make sure that you did not run away."

Saber growled in response, "As if a Saber would flee from a cowardly Assassin, no matter your numbers."

"You would do well to not understimate us. Our Order has shaped the course of history in ways that your brief existence cannot even fathom, Hero." The smile disappeared, replaced by a dangerous frown. The brown eyes shone brighter under the cowl.

Before Ichigo could react, Saber rushed forwards, her armor forming in mid-flight. To Ichigo's eyes, she seemed to dissapear and reappear in front of the Assassin, clothes miraculously changed. Surprisingly, or maybe not, Ezio reacted, a blade seeming to shoot out of thin air and into his waiting hand. Like a hail of ice hitting the roof of a car, the two engaged each other in the dance of war.

Ichigo stood his ground, half a mind on the forms that vanished and reappeared in twists and flourishes, separated by a storm of steel. The rest of his attention was reserved for his surroundings and the area just behind Saber. These were assassins, and distractions were a favored pastime of theirs.

The street had been emptied by this point, the police studiously ignoring the superhuman battle to the death occuring only twenty meters away. Even the buildings nearby seemed to be overlooking the frenzied combat, all of the lights within extinguished and leaving only a few street lamps and the flashing lights of police cars to illuminate the area.

The situation unnerved Ichigo, but he trusted Ishida to keep watch and catch any attack before it happened.

The voice of Ezio puncuated the ringing steel of the clash, "You know, this blade was used by a friend and colleague of mine. He was a good man, and a better Assassin."

Saber continued her relentless assault, and Ichigo was surprised that he could at least keep track of their moving forms now, even if he could not define the shape or precise movements. The two Servants seemingly ignored everything around them, their attacks aimed unerringly for one another around parked cars and small trees. Even the glass buildings became a battleground, the two defying physics to stand sideways and continue their bout.

"I highly doubt that an Assassin could be an honorable man, but I admit that your skill surprises me. You would make for a good Saber if you were stronger." The tone of begrudging admiration in Saber's voice surprised Ichigo. As far as he knew, anything with the name "Assassin" in it raised considerable ire in the swordswoman. In the past few days she had even broken her composure once or twice to curse the Assassins in her native language.

The clashing of steel redoubled and the two Servants moved out of Ichigo's ability to keep track of them, "You know, for a supposed Knight class, you are an astonishingly rude woman. To insult a man you have never met, especially one who never once backed down from his enemies and only fell to a knife in the back. I know not what historical hero you are, but whatever your name I have lost a lot of respect for you."

Bazzet ignored her Servant.

I can't believe that my childhood hero is this ridiculous.

"You know you want to! It will make the fight that much better!"

And he is really bad at convincing others to follow his lead.

"I think it's Saber that's fighting. If you do it I'll give you a chance to go after her Master!"

Damn him.

"If the car gets wrecked you will be finding a way to pay for it."

Lancer barked a laugh, "Admit it, you think it'll be exciting too."

Saber dodged a downwards slash, flicking her blade to the side to impede the Assassin's efforts to redirect his blow. She followed up with a straight rush, overpowering him with a flash use of Prana Burst. She had to be careful and conserve her mana with her Master unable to provide for her, but this man was insulting.

Every movement, every facial expression, and his very existence: all of it was an insult to her pride.

No Assassin should take pride in his work, for his very job is to strike others down without engaging in battle, striking from the shadows with no honor or true skill. The capability to stab someone in the back was not a skill, it was a disgusting twist of the concept of politics and warfare.

Yet this man, whom her instincts told her had participated in the cowardly ambush several days ago, dared to pretend that he was a respectable warrior.

His skill with the blade did nothing but increase her ire.

What right did this man have to make a mockery of straightforward combat; going so far as to openly admit that he was doing nothing but distract them. He wasn't even actively participating in the fight until she insulted his fellow Assassin!

She would crush his worthless little ego, and all of his allies too. The very idea of a network of Assassins, whatever age they existed in, made her wrinkle her nose.

Honor among thieves, how quaint.

These men had confined her to a small room for days by threatening the lives of little girls. There would be no mercy from her.

But no matter how hard she tried, every lightning fast stab and powerful, two-handed slash was either redirected or avoided. He couldn't match her strength or speed, but no matter what she tried not a single cut marred his strange attire. It was as if he moved before she even began to consider an attack.

A streetlight would appear in front of her blade, slowing the swing for just a millisecond. He would leap over a car, kicking off in such a way that her own leap carried her past him. A small curb would unsettle her stance just enough for him to avoid being decapitated, or the flashing of blue and red lights would obscure his form long enough for him to slip out of reach. Every swing seemed to miss by a miracle, regardless of the level of skill or speed involved.

That didn't even include his effortless ability to block her invisible sword, as if he already knew where and how long it was

This man, Ezio, was no slouch. His skill with the blade was nearly a match for many of her own Knights of the Round. He could not keep up with her own straightforward but precise movements, but something seemed to give him that extra boost to match her.

Her eyes were drawn increasingly to the blade he used.

The man had no special equipment, no armor, and no daggers indicative of an assassin. He was not in any way prepared to face a Heroic Spirit head-on.

But that sword, a little voice told her, is all he needs.

Her well-honed intuition had never failed her before, and she doubted that it would now of all times.

It was a curved blade, clearly of good make. It would have to be, to match her Excalibur. The hilt was intricately shaped from the same metal as the blade itself, joining directly with the short straight section of the weapon. Excalibur exceeded the length of the other sword, but that didn't really bother her opponent. A tight coil ended the handle, securing the grip of the wielder.

Yes, that sword was the problem. A Noble Phantasm, no doubt.

Which greatly confused her, as the eighteen leaders of the Hashshashin were known for body modifications, not legendary weapons.

The class could be different, but the attitude and earlier fights meant that this was Assassin, or one of them.

Unless they were allied with another class, or otherwise not engaged here? No, her instincts were not wrong.

Despite conserving her use of Prana Burst to true openings, she could not afford to waste time here. The other Assassins were doubtless waiting in the wings.

Over the cacophony of blade strikes, a new sound roared into existence. It was the sound of a high-end engine, used in a sports car of some kind. Saber retreated, blasting her opponent back and jumping down to the ground from the lamppost they had both been standing on. Taking the chance she had made, she glanced over to see a surreal sight.

There was a blue Ferrari sailing through the air at them, and Lancer stood atop it, cursed red lance held behind him and a hungry light in his eyes.

Ichigo stared at the ridiculous action movie sequence.

There's no way in hell that car got so much air naturally. And how is it going to survive hitting the ground?

Right, magic. Still shouldn't work.

His inner rant broke off when the car slammed down to create a bow wave of sparks, Lancer already sailing through the air with his spear aimed right for Saber. A confusing flurry of motion in the corner of his eyes informed him of the opening engagement between the two Servants, Assassin standing off to the side.

With his attention diverted, he didn't see a thing until a there was a loud *crack* behind him. Whirling, he was met with the cowled face of another Assassin. He couldn't see it, but he knew for a fact that Ishida had come through for him.

The Assassin was busy whirling around, just slow enough for Ichigo to keep up with his eyes. Pits and cracks appeared in the pavement, probably the result of the rain of arrows that Ishida loved to use.

Ichigo lost the chance to really admire the grace of the Servant when a visible streak of light shot straight for him. He instinctively moved his head to the side, but it proved unnecessary when the projectile got deflected in a shower of sparks.

The sounds of combat suddenly became the sounds of all out warfare. Numerous figures began to appear all around the area, sticking to buildings, opening windows, standing on roofs, and melting out of the ground. Nearly all wore white, though a number wore darker colors or distinctive armors.

Knives and bullets swarmed the air, easily numbering in the dozens. The sheer chaos of sparking clashes and rapid impacts made it impossible for Ichigo to make sense of or track a single trajectory.

His instincts again screamed at him, still active even in the middle of a warzone, and a fist passed by his head. Ichigo had barely escaped a knockout blow.

The attacker moved with speed on the level with many of the Assassins darting about, avoiding any fatal blows from outside while still focusing on Ichigo. If it weren't for his impressive reaction time and Ishida's cover, Ichigo knew he wouldn't last a second.

As it was, he ended up forced backwards, Seele Schneider activated the instant the lightshow started.

Step in, swing, block (Holy hell she's strong!), roll with the landing, deflect, jump onto the car, duck.

Ichigo suspected that Ishida had saved his ass a dozen times over in the past thirty seconds. Somehow, the Assassins were being driven away, and even the woman in front of him looked to be slowing. Ichigo wasn't sure why Ishida couldn't force her off, but figured that the number of enemies, combined with the fact that Ichigo seemed to be taking care of himself, let the archer prioritize.

He also got the hint that the properties of his sword were the only thing that saved him, since he knew he wasn't strong enough to stand up to someone who crumpled steel and shattered concrete when she missed.

The two paused for a breather, surrounded by a street that was slowly getting chipped away to nothing and storefronts that resembled Swiss cheese. An entire city block looked like it was being put to death by a thousand cuts.

Ichigo took the second to recognize his attacker, "Hey! You're that lady I ran into when the Hollow was chasing me!"

The woman growled at him, fists raising back up, "And you're the knacker that hijacked my summoning ritual. And how what the hell is going on here. We should be dead!"

Both flinched when a large, spinning knife passed right behind her head, getting holed by an unseen arrow that had been aiming for the woman's side.

Ichigo shook his head, "This is completely out of hand," he breathed. "Hey lady! You want to go back to back so we don't get stabbed?"

"Don't you 'lady' me, punk!" Her eyes promised him a painful death, but Ichigo was distracted by the combat going on around him.

The two dozen Assassins who initiated the ambush had scattered all over the area. Some held up bows, others drew throwing knives, one even held a short javelin that he spun fast enough to make it look like a solid shield. The vast majority had disappeared from the area, racing up and atop the buildings in the direction that Ishida had set up shop. Only 9 remained nearby, two engaged in a furious battle with Saber and Lancer. The other 7 were making a concerted effort to get at Ichigo, but seemed to be protecting his purple-haired opponent.

Ichigo would have suspected an alliance, except the woman seemed way to confused by the situation. Not to mention that neither Lancer nor his Master struck him as the types to sit around and wait to go after enemies.

With only 7 Assassins currently fighting in the area, Ichigo could keep track of roughly a quarter of the projectiles. He saw little more than small distortions and streaks in the air, but he was glad that at least one Servant battle was within his abilities to keep up with.

The situation pretty much implied that Ishida was better than he had been. A lot better.

He returned his attention to the professional looking fighter across from him, scoffing, "Look, we don't have time for this. If we're not careful we'll get a knife slipped into our ribs."

She glowered at him but slipped forwards, stance shifting to guard against outside attacks.

As the two closed, her dark tone made Ichigo break out in a cold sweat, "Don't think I've forgiven you for stealing my work. And don't die, I want to finish you myself. The long way."

Ichigo grunted in response. He took note of the fact that the Assassins were now targeting the both of them. His intuition had been correct. Thank god for hazy, half thought-out decisions.

The woman behind him stood firm in the face of the combat beyond her, but he could hear a slight undertone of wonder and fear in her voice-and a slight undertone of contempt for him-"Is Archer around here or something? I can't even see his arrows, but he's fighting all of the Assassins at once."

Now standing facing opposite directions, the two surveyed the avenue, still lit by flashing police lights.

Somehow, the crowds that should have gathered, and the police that should have tried to intervene, were still absent. The wreck down the street was being cleaned up as they waited, tow trucks and ambulances parked nearby. Not even ten minutes had passed since the crash.

All of the workers completely ignored the chaos overhead and around them.

The two primary Servants and two Assassins fighting them were little more than a whirlwind of sparks and sudden afterimages. Ichigo could easily see the fight being fast enough to match the Captains in Soul Society.

He could only hope that Saber got out just fine.

Saber took note of the fact that Ichigo seemed to have come to a truce with Lancer's Master. If only she could do the same with Lancer himself.

The blue spearman seemed determined to cut her down before the two Assassins got the chance.

When Lancer had bore down on her with all the fury of an angry wolf, she'd been forced to give ground. The momentum that a near supersonic body carried outmatched even her Prana Burst enhanced strength.

Then a flood of Assassins had materialized all over the area, and faint blue lights had begun to come down like sheet rain in the tropics. Saber couldn't really distinguish the arrows, much like she hadn't been able to spot that Hollow that Ichigo had been fleeing from when he summoned her, yet she got the feeling that her 'spiritual sight' had been improved by close proximity to the boy's friends.

That all became a secondary concern when a second Assassin joined in against her and Lancer, and this one was certainly stronger and faster than Ezio. He also wore incredibly tough armor, judging by his ignoring several fatal strikes and simply letting them spark off his chest or stomach.

His skill with the sword equaled the other Assassin, but the speed of his blows made him a far greater challenge. Then again, Ezio had never once taken a blow, his ridiculous luck seeing to that. Or the sword itself. Saber's suspicions still ran strong.

The four way melee with occasional interfering potshots took all of her concentration to keep up with. She outclassed all of her opponents, two by a wide margin, but each had a unique style that made it very hard to concentrate on one or the other. Not to mention that it was technically three way, the two Assassins switching targets seamlessly.

A red barb scrapped her armored wrist, diverting a slash meant to take Lancer's head. She twisted to avoid a pair of knives that shot for her heart and right eye, pushing off of the sword aimed to cripple her leg. Invisible Air sparked as it met the blood red haft of Lancer's weapon, her green eyes locking with the wild red of the fierce warrior.

As one, both spun past each other, intercepting blows by the two Assassins. A small knife tagged her knee and embedding itself in the joint, slowing her progress. With a snarl, she shoved Ezio off hard enough for him to slam into a car and send it careening across the sidewalk and into the office building behind him.

A contemptuous swish of her sword dislodged the offending steel, letting her leg move freely, if a bit slower.

She leaped forwards, avoiding a swing from Lancer that cracked a line of pavement where she had been. Saber appreciated the wild man. A fierce and unpredictable warrior he was, but at least he didn't strike at her from behind.

That was for the Assassins to do.

Ezio's sword fended off her own weapon, the man trapped in the wreckage and scattered cubicles of the building. Saber's lips twitched up at finally trapping the elusive fighter, but she returned to her usual stoic demeanor when she made no headway.

In defiance of all logic and reason, the Assassin stood firm against her assault. Saber knew she outclassed him in every category, as she'd gathered his abilities over the course of the fight. She was significantly stronger and hardier than he, and his speed couldn't keep up with hers.

Yet every blow got blocked.

It was impossible, it was unreasonable, and it was happening.

He was not more skilled than her! It was obvious in the way the two clashed. Every counter attack or deflection he used got superseded by her own. Not a single one of his sallies had managed to make it within a foot of her body, yet she Could. Not. Win.

Only luck and general evasion had let him survive against her, but now that he was trapped, she could no longer push him back the way she so effortlessly did beforehand.

She could not go for a direct strength contest. Her speed was restricted by his web of steel and the surrounding area. Even when she overrode his counters and made a counter of her own, Invisible Air slipped just past his body, harming not a hair.

How! There has to be a reason!

The sword caught the reflected light of the street behind her, as if mocking her with its answer.

A swish of air and blaring alarm in her head alerted her to danger. A quick leap to the side and she avoided the blade poised to cut her in half.

Lancer came to a stop nearby, "Sorry, Saber. Couldn't finish the guy off and he managed to get me off balance and get over here. As fun as this fight is, I want to finish my duel with you."

The two Assassins stood ready, one still inside the holed building and the other standing guard outside. Saber couldn't help but feel that was a bad thing.

A loud, merry laugh echoed from the building, "Altair, my friend, I'm afraid that I will have to borrow your sword. Your armor, though, I will leave alone."

The second Assassin smiled a grim smile, "You know, I'm surprised that none of you ever managed to use my Sabre. It was much better than the sword gifted to me when I was still young and naive."

Ezio walked out of the building, no longer clad in his white outfit and brown cape.

A dark red hood completely shadowed his face, no expression or glimmer of eyes visible. A light gray fur wrapped around his shoulders, a silver aquila fixing the furs to the armor plating on his right shoulder. The red cape was thrown back, revealing an arm wrapped in dulled steel. The solid silver metal of the breastplate shone in the yellow lights of the streetlamps, the periodic flashes of blue and red wrapping his legs in shadow.

A long silver blade was held in his right hand, a crossguard shaped like the wings of an eagle glowing faintly with moonlight. His left held a leaf bladed dagger in a reverse grip. Palpable bloodlust emanated from the short weapon.

Saber narrowed her eyes. She had been right, the sword he used had some sort of effect that let him survive her onslaught.

She could only guess what these new weapons and the armor could do, but she trusted her Instinct skill to warn her of anything deadly.

A quick glance confirmed that Ichigo was okay. There were still a half-dozen Assassins flitting about, but they posed little threat to her. She could only guess at Ishida's condition, but judging by the fact that arrows still came down periodically, he was fighting out there somewhere, keeping track of both battles.

Both Assassin's charged.

Saber again found herself facing Ezio, but he was different, much different.

He was now fast enough to go on the offensive, and the use of two weapons clearly agreed with him. His flurry of swipes and stabs managed to hold her considerable strength at bay, and every time she attempted to dig in and force him back he would move around her, forcing her position to shift and throwing her off balance.

His skill did not allow him to pressure her, but he was no longer completely on the defensive.

Unfortunately for him, his stamina was not up to defeating King Arthur, the legendary King of Knights.

It took only a minute of high paced combat, but Saber began to get decisive cuts in. One blow that would have taken the assassin's head off carved a furrow in his forearm, breaking the armor he wore and reducing his speed with the dagger.

Finally, a straight on battle without strange effects, though he still deftly evaded everything she threw.

The strain began to tell as his dodges slowed and he got worn progressively down until he could no longer move freely, pressed on all sides by the invisible blade. He no longer judged the length and position as perfectly as before, his deflection and counters twisted just wrong or missing just so.

Saber smiled, she would get to pound the Assassin into the dirt. Lancer could be dealt with afterwards.

And then there was a spike of deadly intent.

The dagger in Ezio's hand glowed with a faint red sheen, the bloody light dripping from the blade with every slash and stab.

Saber's instincts screamed and clamored, and her every effort went to knocking the red thing away.

Ezio spoke in a low voice, "Dagger of Brutus: Idibus Martiis Liberatores."

In an instant, the short blade twisted. Twenty-three hazy phantoms appeared, surrounding Saber in a ring of bloody steel.

She recognized every face. To the right of the Assassin stood Lancelot, her most trusted Knight. On her left stood Sir Kay, her foster brother. Across from him stood Guinevere, the woman that agreed to marry her for the sake of the Kingdom.

And there was Sir Gawain, and Sir Percival, and Sir Galahad, and Bors, and Bedivere, Yvain, Tristram, Pellinor, Erec, Mordred.

Twenty-three people she had known in life, twenty-three people who pledged themselves to her or followed her or aided her in some way.

And each face was twisted with such fury as to make her heart freeze and burn and tear all at the same time.

The hate tore her soul out, broke her spirit, and crushed her will to fight; for it was all her fault.

These men had fought and sacrificed for her. Her wife had chosen to never freely love a man to support her reign.

And each ended up dead or broken at Arturia's feet, unable to go on alongside the King who could not understand her people.

Even as the daggers descended, a voice, the voice of her Master, rang out, "Saber!"

That's right. She had a job to do, people to save from the very fates that these wraiths bemoaned and cursed. Her life had been a failure, a cosmic joke that someone like her could be the Once and Future King. She would win the Grail so that her fate, and more importantly the fate of her country, could change.

She leapt into the air, her legs needing no time to tense and her body moving before a single dagger could make contact. She was a pillar of blue and silver, beyond mortal ken. Her speed should have been impossible, her feet should have sunk straight into the concrete and locked her in place, but instead she rocketed upwards like a bullet from a gun.

The maw of iron, the trap of deadly treachery summoned from Rome to Japan and applied to Arturia instead of Julius, snapped shut below her feet.

Instead of surprise or annoyance, Ezio's face was calm. He pointed his sword at Saber, "Eagle's Hunt."

A front of wind, sharp and deadly, sheered out of the silver weapon faster than any fury conjured by nature. The wind did not howl in its form, so much as it screeched, the screech of scraping blades and hunting birds. Even tens of meters away the breeze could be felt but that was nothing to the sheer contained force within the attack itself.

Saber spun in the air, invisible sword straightening in her grip as if to pierce down the throat of the Eagle that stretched its wings and talons to catch her.

Another roar, one of unbridled ferocity and strength, came upon the battered avenue. A hurricane carrying with it the force of a war god's hammer met a jet stream with all the deadly intent of an eagle. Two unrelenting forces slammed together and along with the torrent of noise and force came a light, a small sun revealed on the earth. Even the clash of elemental power seemed to pause for a moment, the two unstoppable winds stalling against each other.

Not a single eye, not even the eyes of the bewildered police and bystanders, missed the unveiling of the Sword of Assured Victory.

The moment ended with ten times the fury with which it started, the two winds meeting and propelling Saber into the air faster than a missile in flight. Her collision with the wall bent steel and shattered glass, but she traveled no further into the building.

Down below, Ezio paused, staring open mouthed at his opponent. The confused police and few pedestrians who stood near the invisible boundaries of the battlefield shook their heads, peering at where the sword had appeared for a brief moment in dazed confusion. Even the half dozen Assassins who had been circling the battle halted in their motions, to surprised to continue looking for an opening.

Saber glance around, cursing inwardly that her identity had been revealed to so many foes.

From the street, a long, loud laugh echoed through the valley formed by the buildings on either side, "I get to fight the King of Knights the moment I'm summoned! And then I get to fight her again while fending off a bunch of Assassins! This has to be the greatest fight I've ever had!"

The voice of Lancer began to bring everyone back to earth, but it was to little to late for the spear-bearer's target.

Ichigo stood directly behind Bazett, even her professional demeanor broken for an instant.

That sword really was magnificent, to do what it did with nothing more than an instant of its partially revealed glory. When Saber had unsealed her blade to counter the wind attack, Ichigo had briefly felt that thrill of battle once more. The heady sense of power that came with besting an opponent had returned to him, battering against his mental walls once more.

For an instant, he'd been standing on a dusty and battered plateau, above a city of white and brown buildings that perfectly symbolized the might of the resident military. He could feel the rush that came of knowing that he had won, that he had faced that mighty force and crushed it by its own rules.

All at the same time, he floated in the desert, holding up his battered foe and knowing that he had protected his friend. The hot winds that drifted through the massive palace blew through his hair once again, the tempest increased by the energies that he and his enemy had released in their epic battle.

The greatest of his victories were laid out before him, and he missed the straightforward nature of those duels. Being able to focus on a single enemy and knowing that all he had to do was win and everything would work out: he missed that.

As soon as the wind had once more retreated to cover the blade, the reality had come smashing back down.

He remembered kneeling in his own blood, unable to even move to strike at the arrogant man who threatened the girl he had given so much to save.

He remembered watching his foe, a hollow and a man that he had respected in his own way, get cut down by a comrade.

Then came the image of the half-dead yet still bored looking bat who had represented his greatest obstacle, and the friend who stood at his side lying against the rubble of an indistinct, barely remembered battle that ended with Ichigo's own sword embedded in his friend's stomach.

And then learning that all of his fighting had been in vain, and that not even sacrificing his own power had been enough to stop the loss.

He chanced a glance at the purple-haired woman, her back still to him. It would be so easy to be proactive, to end the battle right here and now. There would be no chance of an unexpected loss, and he wouldn't have to watch his back for yet another dangerous enemy. Hell, he'd already killed before, even if it had been unintentional or forced.

She was nigh-unstoppable monster or no drugged-up and delirious cage fighter, but she was trying to kill him just as hard as the poor schmuck the bosses had thrown into the ring with Ichigo. When a person's head hit the ground hard enough to knock them out, more often than not they didn't get up again.

No. Then I'd be no better than that smug sunnovabitch. I won't go there.

He looked back to Saber, who still stood sideways against the building where she'd landed from the rebound of whatever it was that the two Servants had thrown at each other.

The battle kind of worried him. Saber had been winning, clearly having the upper-hand. Ichigo had been mildly surprised when he began to get a sense for how her fight was going, especially since they were still indistinct blurs. Some sort of instinct or outside source had begun to help Ichigo understand the battle without actually being witness to it. Whatever the source, it had let Ichigo keep up, tracking the fight even as he deflected the few weapons that had started to get through Ishida's interceptions.

The lessening of the Quincy's intercepting arrows had not gone unnoticed, and both Ichigo and Bazett had been forced to mostly ignore the rest of the world to focus on the daggers and arrows that shot towards them.

Ichigo was just thankful that his eyes had begun to adjust to high-speed fighting again, even if the weaker Servants were the only ones he could keep track of.

He had never been more thankful for that insight than when he had felt the world freeze. Out of the corner of his eyes he had spotted Saber and her opponent, both standing just within arm's reach of each other. Around Saber, extending in a circle from the Assassin, Ezio, floated nearly two-dozen silvery-gray people, smoky and indistinct.

But what had frozen the world, and lit everything up with indescribable heat at the same instant, had been that same intuition that kept him informed of the battle's progress.

He could feel Saber's state, and it had shaken him to his core. No real thought had passed through his mind, no life-changing realization or instantaneous clarity; instead, Ichigo had merely let loose the only thing that came naturally to him.

After losing his mother to a hollow when he was young, he couldn't do anything to change the reality. He had been to young and powerless to do anything. When he finally got his shinigami powers, he had protected his friends with that newfound strength, facing up to opponents who could rip the world around them asunder under the sheer weight of their own existence. Now, he was once again powerless to do anything of real value, barely able to protect himself.

But his Servant had frozen not because of some outside force, but because something had shut her down and halted her thoughts in their tracks.

He could help that in a fairly simple way, if he was lucky. He yelled her name, jolting her thoughts back on track. Even with barely an instant to spare, that had been enough to get her out of harms way.

That feeling from the momentary lapse was something he knew well, a rush of emotions so numerous and powerful that nothing was clear and everything was closing in, to much to bear. She was back to being calm and collected, ready to do battle once more, but there was something in that moment that had nearly broken her.

Ichigo could only wonder just what it was.

He started at the loud exclamation of Lancer, who had gotten more excited and more ruthless as the fight went on.

Even more unexpected than the shouted statement, though, was his next action.

For Ichigo, nothing really seemed to happen. It was like watching a shunpo before he had learned how to keep track of the unpredictable movements himself. The fact that the Servant could move that fast without the distinct advantages that the technique offered spoke volumes for his potential maximum speed.

To the other Servants, who were only paying half-attention, there was probably a blue and red blur, aiming straight for the surprised Ezio. Even the extra speed that had let him match Saber did little to protect him from the random assault.

Ichigo saw mostly a red half moon where Ezio's arm used to be, a momentary illusion that was replaced by the rapidly retreating Assassin.

The red half moon was joined by a red thunderbolt, spearing straight through the Assassin's heart.

Lancer laughed aloud, dumping the impaled body of the Assassin on the ground, "He should've paid more attention in the middle of a death match. I can't believe the Assassins were the ones to forget about surprise attacks."

Saber dropped to the ground nearby, her sword at the ready. From what Ichigo could see, her narrowed eyes indicated disapproval of the circumstances. Across from her stood the other Assassin, whose name Ichigo had forgotten by now. He too had rather annoyed eyes, more angry really.

All of that became a moot point when Lancer crouched, his spear held diagonally behind him. He growled, a low, inhuman sound that permeated the suddenly cold and motionless atmosphere.

Nearby, the cleanup crews that had nearly finished removing the wrecks from the road froze, unable to contain the instincts that suddenly screamed that to move invited certain death. Even the street lights, the few that remained standing, flickered off for a brief second under the unnatural aura.

Ichigo recognized the feeling of imminent death, the promise of horrific injury that emanated from the blue-haired fighter as strong as that emitted by Kenpachi Zaraki when he had hunted Ichigo in Seireitei.

From where the orange-haired teen stood, he could only see the moment of brief worry that flitted across Saber's face before the back of Lancer disappeared in a blur.

The pressure did not let up, nor did the imminent feel of danger. The only possible outcome was death, and now everyone present was merely waiting for death to choose.

"Gae-"

A/N: I hope the first real action chapter was to everyone's liking. I fell into the trap of explaining split-second decisions with paragraphs of descriptions, but it's really fun to do that. Oh well.