Fate/Genesis

Chapter 1: Sonic Boom

Egg Saucer Zone

High in the sky it flew. It maintained its altitude and momentum by spinning, it's disc-like shape bringing to mind a pizza made of steel and silicon. An observer looking at it from afar would claim that it was an alien invasion, an observation that was inaccurate.

At least, about it being alien.

It was the Egg Saucer, and it was the center of Dr. Ivo 'Eggman' Robotnik's latest and most daring plot for World Domination©. It contained a weapon of unimaginable power- the Genesis Ray. Once fired, the whole planet would fall into his grasp.

Not if Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends had anything to say about it!

Sonic raced through the Egg Saucer's facilities, dodging unfriendly fire and smashing any robot that got too close. He leapt over conveyor belts and past pits with spikes at the bottom. He knew he had to be fast- Sonic was always fast, but this time he had an extra reason to hurry. Eggman had gotten his hands on all seven Chaos Emeralds, and planned on using their energy to fuel his weapons. Sonic had to reach him before they got near something the not-so-good doctor could fire at!

Outside, Miles 'Tails' Prower flew around the Egg Saucer's airspace in his bi-plane, the Tornado. After dropping his friends off, he began to buzz the Egg Saucer and draw its cannon fire, as well as give back a few salvos of his own. One shot from the Egg Saucer grazed the biplane, shaking it up, but Tails kept his cool.

In another part of the Egg Saucer, Knuckles the Echinda was an red engine of destruction, smashing Badniks apart with his spiked fists. While the one-echinda army act battled the robot hordes, Amy Rose ran about, jumping from one egg pod to the next. With adept precision she landed on each of the Pods' yellow buttons, opening them up and releasing the critters trapped inside.

"Go! You're free!" Amy called out to the fleeing animals. "Knuckles, that's the last of them! Let's go!"

Knuckles crushed one last Crabmeat before answering. "We can't leave yet. We have to take care of Eggman!"

"Sonic's on it! He'll scramble the doc's plans!" Amy insisted, her eyes shining as she thought of her precious Sonic.

But Knuckles wasn't so sure of Sonic's success. "But Eggman's got the Emeralds…!"

Dr. Eggman grinned evilly as he watched the fuel gauge for the Genesis Ray rise. He was impressed with how quickly the machine was absorbing the Emeralds' power. At this rate, the Ray would be fully powered before they even reached a city.

Before Eggman could decide whether or not he wanted to attain total control without an audience, the doors to his chamber blew open. The dust cleared, and there stood Sonic, bold as brass and blue as paint. The hedgehog grinned.

"Sonic," Eggman growled, "You're not stopping me this time!"

"I've done it before," Sonic responded cheekily, "Why spoil a tradition?"

Eggman's reply to that was to activate his Eggmobile's weapons. The hovercraft floated into the air, armed with a giant claw on its left side and a cannon on the right.

Sonic began to run all around the chamber, dodging laser blasts and missiles, jumping now and then to avoid the claw whenever Eggman sent it out. When the claw ended up lodged in the wall (The inevitable result of overzealous aim) Sonic took the opportunity to attack the Eggmobile's main body. Curling into a ball and spinning at super-speed, Sonic rammed into the Eggmobile's front- just another showdown between Sonic the Hedgehog and Dr. Eggman.

But then something went wrong.

The force of Sonic's attack jarred Eggman in his cockpit, causing him to hit certain controls. These controls undid the safeguards that prevented Eggman's weapons from attacking crucial equipment, and now there was nothing to stop the missiles from hitting the Genesis Ray's main drive. Poor Eggman didn't realize until after he had tried to blast Sonic, who was just too fast to be targeted.

"Oh no!" Eggman gasped as the machinery began to crackle and pop, emitting sparks of electricity. "No, no, no!"

Sonic gave a mocking salute and took off. As the Genesis drive began to explode, Dr. Eggman released one last, and very common, scream.

"I HATE THAT HEDGEHOG!"

Sonic ran, planning to find his friends and get them off the Egg Saucer before Eggman's latest weapon blew up in his face. But Sonic underestimated the Genesis Ray; It wasn't a mere laser cannon. It was something far greater, and as such, it's reaction from damage was more than an explosion.

There was a great noise, then a light.

There was a great silence, then the light faded.

And the Egg Saucer was gone.

The 1st Night

Fuyuki, a small city in the country of Japan. It's only claim to fame was that it had been the site of a great tragedy- he Fire of Fuyuki, as publicists called it. A portion of the city had been consumed by flames, an act of arson equal to the Burning of Rome. While the source of the fire had never been discovered- official sources said the fire had been the result of a gas leak- those who connected dots noticed that there had been several murders- some also linked to gas leaks, others not- in the days before the disaster. In the present day, those same, ignored people noticed that several mysterious deaths- once more attributed to gas leaks- were happening again, and wondered if there was a pattern. They were right.

Sonic wasn't aware of any of this, but he was aware- VERY aware- of the pavement as his face fell onto it. Getting up, he shook his head to make the birdies go away.

"Ugh… Wipe out," Sonic groaned, "What happened…?"

Sonic looked around. The city that surrounded him was still unnervingly still. Either the metropolis was taking a power-nap, or the hedgehog had landed in a ghost town.

"Where am I?" Sonic asked aloud. He looked up at the night sky and didn't recognize the stars. Did the destruction of Eggman's machine send him to another world…?

"Hope Tails, Knux and Amy are okay," Sonic murmured.

Then he heard a scream in the distance. Snapping out of his revere, Sonic sped off to the source, doing some Le Parkour off the buildings in the process.

In a dark alley (Where else), a spear-wielding man in a blue bodysuit with blue stood over his net victim, the corpse of his most recent victim by three seconds lying not too far away.

"P-please…" The poor man whimpered, shivering. "Don't do this…"

"Sorry, but I've got no choice," Lancer replied, scratching the back of his head with his free hand. He used his other hand to point his spear at the man's chest. "Gotta refuel somehow."

Did he ever. Lancer had been summoned as a Servant- a Heroic Spirit whose presence in the physical world was maintained by a mage they were bound to, their Master. Seven Servants were summoned by seven Masters, to fight for the ultimate prize.

Unfortunately, Lancer's current Master did not have the Prana to supply, forcing Lancer to restore himself by draining the energy of living creatures; namely, other humans- Literally, his Master actually ordered him to do it. And if that wasn't bad enough, the coward refused to let the Servant fight! The modus operandi so far had been to trade blows for a bit with other Servants, exchange barbs, then leave. Even though the Fake Priest had said it was part of their "Plan for Victory" Lancer wasn't happy with it. Such a boring way to fight a war…

Lancer raised his spear, and stopped. Cocking his head, he wondered if he heard a noise…?

Sonic rammed into Lancer's side with an audible WHAM, sending the spearman flying into a wall.

"Denied!" Sonic remarked, and looked at Lancer's would-be victim and asked, "You okay, mister?"

Struggling to his feet, the trembling man looked to Sonic, then Lancer, before running off, screaming, "I can't handle this!"

"You're welcome!" Sonic called after him.

Sonic then ducked, Lancer's spear just narrowly missing his head. Going into a roll, the hedgehog moved a meter before flipping back onto his feet. "Hey! Wassat for?"

Lancer retracted his weapon and got into a ready stance. "Sorry about that. I just get a little upset when someone interrupts my feeding."

"Feeding?" Sonic was confused- until he saw the body. Sonic's eyes widened as he felt the full impact of what he had prevented- and what he hadn't.

"That your work?" Sonic asked Lancer, trying to keep his voice steady. A storm of emotions was raging inside his mind.

Lancer shrugged, making Sonic angrier. "Yeah. Not pretty, I know, but a guy's gotta get his Mana somehow."

Sonic and Lancer circled each other, never letting the other out of his sight. Lancer had an eager grin on his face- he had no idea what Sonic was (Though he was reminded of those cat-things in the cafe, what was it called again?), he could tell that the creature had more Mana and fighting power than the civilians he had been forced to hunt.

Sonic, on the other hand, was not smiling. Had Lancer known Sonic, the spearman would have found this very significant. Sonic had initially thought he had prevented a mugging, only to learn that it was a murder he had run into- a second murder, the first of which he had been too late to prevent. He wasn't going to let Lancer get away!

Sonic shot towards Sonic, faster than the Servant had been expecting. Lancer jabbed as Sonic, but the Hedgehog slid under the spear's blade, his momentum carrying him towards Lancer's legs. Lancer jumped to avoid being tripped up. Sonic jumped and rebounded off a wall, leaping back towards the spearman. But Lancer had already turned around, spear ready. Sonic just barely avoided the blade, stepping off of the handle and delivering a few punches to Lancer's face.

Lancer stumbled back and rubbed his jaw. Far from being angry, he impressed by Sonic's performance. "You're a nimble little guy," The Heroic Spirit commented, "But I think I'm getting the hang of your style. Only of time before I get to you."

Sonic causally twirled the red spear. "Might take a bit longer than you think, dude."

Lancer blanched. He hadn't realize he had dropped his spear! "Why, you-! Gimme that!"

Lancer rushed towards Sonic, but the Hedgehog was too swift and already running out of the alley. Sonic paused to look back and give the Hound a taunting look.

"Catch me if you can!" He shouted before taking off.

Lancer growled and took after Sonic. You did not mess with a man's spear!*

In another part of Fuyuki, a trio of youths- technically, there were four of them, but the fourth was in astral form- walked down the streets, two of them carrying the third. A few hours ago, high school student-slash-amature Mage Emiya Shirou had summoned, accidentally, inadvertently, the Servant Saber, a beautiful lady knight, who saved him from Lancer. Immediately afterwards, Saber attacked Servant Archer, and through that, Shirou learned that the school's idol, Tohsaka Rin, was Archer's Master, and a much more accomplished Mage. Rather than continue the fight, Rin took Shirou to the Fuyuki Church and register for the War for the Holy Grail. From the Church's head Kotomine Kirie, Shirou learned the truth of the Great Fire from ten years ago; that it had been the end result of the previous Grail War. Realizing that the current deaths were not gas leaks, but a Servant feeding off of the victims' Mana, Shirou chose to fight in the War alongside Saber. He had no interest in the Grail itself, but could not allow another tragedy to occur.

Then along came Illya.

After leaving the church, Shirou and co. were confronted by Illyasviel von Einzbern, a sweet little girl of a Mage with a capacity for cruelty as large as her Servant, a mass of muscles called Berserker. Saber and Archer fought back, but their attacks did little against the Heroic Spirit of Herakles. When it seemed that Saber would fall to Berserker's blade, Shirou did something that was acknowledged as a Very Stupid Thing To Do; he took the bullet, gallantly putting himself between his Servant and Illya's. As it was his life that kept Saber bound to the physical world, this made his heroic sacrifice very pointless. But instead of dying logically, Shirou survived, his body an inch away from being two, but still alive. Confused by Shirou's actions and impressed by Archer's abilities, Illya called it a night, promising to come again.

Now, Rin and Saber were carrying Shirou home, in spite of Archer's vocal advice that his master leave the idiot were he lay. Had Shirou been conscious, he would have had an un-gallant response.

Rin glanced for the umpteenth time at Shirou. Even now his body was regenerating at an incredible rate. It didn't make any sense. People normally die when they were killed. She knew that, but Shirou, a mage with such pour magic circuits that they might have been nonexistent, was defying this iron-clad rule. It made no sense!

Little did Rin realize, the rest of the War would be an ongoing assault on her perception on how the world worked.

The three of them were almost to the bridge when a Blue Blur suddenly bounced past them, followed by a second blur, also blue. The two that were blue bounced and ran around Rin, Saber and Shiro, engaged in an off-kilter game of Cat-and-Mouse** that had been squeezed into a pinball game.

Rin and Saber watched it all, getting headaches from trying to keep up with the action. Though they were moving too fast to be seen, one blur could be recognized from his voice as he held this intelligent conversation with the other blur.

"Get over here!"

"Nope."

"Give it back!"

"Not happening."

"GRAAH!"

"Too slow!"

"Lancer?" saber asked, blinking. She wondered if she had hit her head during the fight with Berserker. This comical scene couldn't possibly be real.

Lancer pounced an empty space once again, growling from the pavement as Sonic zipped out of his reach again. He then noticed that he had an audience. Straightening up, he put on a cool face; He believed he had a reputation, and wanted to preserve it.

"Yo, Saber," Lancer greeted smoothly, and nodded at Rin. "And Master of Archer," He glanced at Shirou. "What's with him?"

Shirou groaned. Had he been among the awoken, he would have had a sarcastic response ready.

"That is not your concern," Saber replied stiffly, tensing. This was bad. If Lancer started a fight now, she would be at a severe disadvantage. Wait, could Lancer fight? "Where is your spear?

Lancer cringed. The one topic he hoped would never arise. "Wwwell…"

POW!

Sonic dropped down onto Lancer from above, plowing the spearman into the street under his sneakers.

"I got it!" The Hedgehog declared. He then noticed the trio before him. Shirou's eyes- bleary, unfocused- met Sonic's. "Whoa, what happened to him? Is he alright?"

Saber and Rin didn't say anything. They weren't sure how to respond- or what they would be responding to.

"Get offa me!" Lancer shouted, standing up abruptly.

Sonic fell off Lancer's back, rolling several feet behind to avoid being hurt, and dropped the red spear. Lancer quickly scooped it up and took a fighting stance, the tip pointed directly at Sonic's chest. While he liked a decent fight, and his coward of a Master wasn't letting him find him until now, this high-speed game of Ring Around The Rosy wasn't what he had in mind. Sonic didn't act like a decent warrior. He was more like a clown or acrobat, treating their battle like a show for an unseen audience, never facing his opponent head-on, like Saber did. Sonic just danced about, egging Lancer on but never fighting back, aside from the odd strike when Lancer was distracted- like he did just then! It was time to end this.

"Gae Bolg!"

As a warrior chosen to fight in the Heaven's Feel, the Holy Grail had granted Lancer powers and weapons based on his myth- A Noble Phantasm. Lancer's was his spear; when invoked, it would seek out his victim's heart, even piercing through causality to reach it. By the time its name was pronounced, his opponent, unless they had protection of equal or greater rank, would be dead. That was the ancient rule.

But something new had been added.

Lancer's spear struck Sonic, but instead of becoming a spiny blue shish-ka-bob, the Hedgehog's body was knocked back by the tip of the spearhead. Gold rings, not blood, exploded from his body, vanishing as they dropped to the ground.

"AAAARRGGHH!" Sonic cried. Even though the Power Rings protected his body from being damaged, he could still feel the pain from the strike. In this case, it felt a million times worse than all of the other times he had run into spikes.

Around Sonic, all parties were thunderstruck, none more than Lancer. "What they Hell? How did you survive that!?" It was embarrassing enough that Shirou survived, but Sonic wasn't even wounded!

"Uh…you weren't moving like that before. How…" As he shook off the pain, Sonic's eyes narrowed. "Wait…it's not your speed, you're using that spear to warp!"

"Dammit!" Lancer gripped his spear and prepared to attack. Though he wasn't visibly wounded, Sonic definitely seemed hurt by the previous strike. Maybe if he used repeated attacks… "Gae-"

Pow! Lancer stumbled back as Sonic's feet slammed into his face. The Hedgehog wasn't going to let Lancer use his power again, that was for sure. With his soles pressed against the Hound's cheeks, Sonic made another grab for the red spear, but was shaken off before he could get it.

"Cut that out!" Lancer shouted, taking another swipe at the Hedgehog. Sonic evaded the spear, doing a backflip that put him between Lancer and the others. Glancing back at the girls (and Shirou), Sonic knew that he couldn't fight seriously while there was a chance that group could be caught in the crossfire- a reservation that Lancer didn't seem to have. Sonic needed to move the fight away from any innocents if he wanted to take the spearman down.

Dodging another attempted stab, Sonic ran up to Lancer and gave his a punch. "Tag! You're it!"

And with that, Sonic sped off, with Lancer yelling as he followed close behind.

After that, silence ruled. The only sound in the lull came from Shirou, who was now healthy enough to be conscious. He asked, "What…just happened?"

Sonic led Lancer out towards a highway. At this time of night, there were no are on the road. The perfect place for a rumble, in Sonic's opinion.

The two chased each other down the highway, making hit and run tactics as best why could. Lancer tried to stab Sonic multiple times, which the Hedgehog dodged. In between jabs Sonic would make his own strikes at Lancer, using his Homing Attack whenever he saw an opening. While Sonic technically had better luck than Lancer in the scoring hits department, Lancer didn't seem too affected by the Hedgehog's blows- if anything, he got more and more riled up as the fight went on. Sonic knew he needed to pull out the big guns.

Sonic stopped, and Lancer shot ahead several hundred meters before realizing what had happened. The spearman squinted as he tried to look at the blue speck in the distance.

'What's he up to now?' Lancer thought.

Sonic shot forward, not going at the speeds he had been at before- this was much faster. Sonic rarely did this, it was too dangerous, and could cause significant property damage. It was also hard to find a place where he could build up the velocity safely, for him and other people. But the most important thing would be the timing; Sonic had hit it just as he was passing Lancer, or it would all be a waste.

Seeing Sonic's charge, the Servant in question braced himself. His instincts told him that Sonic was planning to attack with all his might. If his timing was right, though, he would use the Hedgehog's own speed to skewer him into his spear.

But when Sonic reached Lancer, something happened that the spearman hadn't been expecting.

BOOM

The air around Lancer exploded with a force he had never experienced, tossing him like a rag doll off the highway. As his eardrums rattled, the Heroic Spirit of Cu Chulainn had one last thought before darkness claimed him;

"I hate that hedgehog."

Sonic grinned as he watched Lancer's body fly through the air. However, because of that, Sonic didn't see the sign he passed, the one that said, "Road Incomplete". He did see that further ahead the road ended, becoming an impromptu ramp. Unfortunately, Sonic was going far too fast to stop in time, and so the sound-barrier breaking momentum carried him off the pavement and into the air…

…Almost ethereal, Sonic's form became a silhouette agains the moon…

…and the Hedgehog was falling back down to Fuyuki…

Emiya Shirou sighed. So far, tonight had been very stressful. Even cooking wasn't doing much to take the edge off. The weight of everything that had happened continued to press on him; Almost getting killed by Lancer, summoning Saber, learning about the war from Kotomine, and finally, almost dying again, this time at the hands of the monstrous Berserker. It was a blessing he had even survived.

And then there was that blue creature. At first, Shirou had though it been a pain-induced hallucination, but after (Somehow) recovering, Rin and Saber had confirmed that, yes, a midget-animal in sneakers had thrown Lancer around.

One good thing had happened, though. In the face of all that they had seen, Rin proposed an alliance to deal with Berserker, and that blue creature (The word "Hedgehog" appeared and vanished in Shirou's mind). Shirou was glad to have her help- while he had no desire for the grail's wish, he would need aid protecting the civilians- if Rin was as good at Magecraft as she was at schoolwork, then she would be a tremendous asset.

Shirou finished in the kitchen and served his and Saber's late dinner. Though it was a simple meal of sushi and rice, Saber gladly dove into it, asking for seconds before Shirou could even finish his first portion.

After her Master complied, Saber said, "Shirou, if I had a cook like you during my time, meals would have been a dream."

"Really?" Shirou asked, pleased to hear that his cooking had her approval. "What were the chefs like in your era?"

The air became very cold, and so did Saber's expression. "Not as good."

The steel in Saber's voice was sharper than the sword she wielded earlier. In that instant, Shirou swore to never bring up the topic again, and to always be on time with meals.

With that distressing subject passed, eating resumed. Before Saber could properly berate Shirou for stupidly jumping in front Berserker's sword, and implore him to never do it again, they heard a "Whump!" from outside.

"What was that?" Shirou asked, getting up.

Saber was already on her feet. "Shirou, stay here!" She ordered, heading towards the yard. As she moved, she felt her Master's presence following her, to her dismay.

Outside, they saw what had made the noise. Lying face first in the grass was Lancer's opponent.

Shirou and Saber took Sonic into the Emiya Estate dojo and waited for him to wake up. They did not have to wait long. Sonic's eyes fluttered a bit, then he pushed himself up. Saber and Sonic tensed, unsure what to expect.

"Ugh…where am I…?" Sonic asked, looking around blearily. When he saw the Master and Servant, it took him a few moments to remember that he had seen them before and where. "Hey, aren't you two…"

"You're in the training hall of my family's home," Shirou explained, "We found you passed out in my backyard and brought you in here."

"Cool. Thanks for that," Sonic jumped into a backflip onto his feet. "I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog, by the way."

"Emiya Shirou," The red-haired teen returned, and gestured to Saber. "This is Saber."

"It is nice to meet you," Saber greeted, nodding formally. "Sonic…could you please tell us how appeared on this property?"

"Well, you saw that guy I was fighting, right?" Sonic began, "When I saw how normal hits weren't working, so I gave him a Sonic Boom. Problem was, I was moving too fast and ended up flying off the highway."

"Why were you on the highway?" Shirou asked.

"Less property damage," Sonic explained, and grinned cheekily. "See, when I call it a Sonic Boom, I'm not being egotistical…not too much, anyway."

Shirou stared, thunderstruck by what Sonic was implying. "…You can move fast enough to break the sound barrier?" 'What are you?'

"Yeah, but I try not to in cities. All that broken glass, y'know?"

There was a brief silence as Master and Servant processed this.

"What are you, Sonic?" Saber asked, speaking Shirou's mind. "I have never seen a creature like you before in this world, and you are capable of fighting a Servant on equal ground.

"'This world'?" Sonic repeated. He crossed his arms and tapped his foot in thought. After a moment, he slapped his forehead. "Awww, man! I must gotten blasted into another dimension! I hate it when that happens!"

At Shirou and Saber's confusion, Sonic regaled them with his adventure aboard the Egg Saucer. Once he was done…their confusion wasn't abated in the least. If anything, they had even more questions.

"But, how could a machine send you from your world to ours?" Shirou asked, trying to wrap his head around it. As far as he knew, travel between universes was one of few True Magics, Magecraft that could not be replicated by technology.

"The Chaos Emeralds," Sonic answered, "These gemstones with all sorts of power in 'em. There are seven, and if you get them all, the ultimate power is unleashed. Eggman had them powering his Genesis Ray."

"Incredible…" Was all Shirou could say. Earlier, he would have said it was impossible, but after what he had seen tonight, and who he was talking to, he couldn't. His skepticism was burned out.

"Now, you need to answer a few of my questions," Sonic said, "What's this Servant you were talking about? I don't think you meant a a maid or butler."

There was a brief pause as Shirou and Saber considered their next move. Finally, it was Shirou who broke the silence. "A Servant is a Heroic Spirit, a legendary warrior summoned by magic into the physical world to fight for the Holy Grail."

Saber gave her Master a startled look. "Shirou-!"

"Saber, it's better that he knows," Shirou argued, "He's already taken on Lancer and won- it won't hurt anything for him to have the full story."

"But…"

"I know what the rules are, that's why we have to tell Sonic," Shirou explained, "If not, he might expose the War by accident."

Saber frowned, but did not argue. She did not want to admit it, but Sonic had faired far better against Lancer than she had during their brief clash. However, he seemed to have a devil-may-care attitude born of arrogance- and that always brought about disaster. They were fortunate that Sonic and Lancer had fought at night. Had the two dueled during the day, there would no way to cover it up; Sonic's very existence could expose the existence of Magecraft. He needed to know to be more discreet. And so, Shirou told Sonic about Magecraft, what little he knew, and about what he learned about the Holy Grail War from Kotomine.

"So that guy, Lancer, is what, some kinda magic ghost?" Sonic asked, tapping his feet.

"If that helps you understand it…" Shirou replied, "Servant's can still be killed though, and, excepting the special abilities they receive from their legends, have the same weaknesses humans have."

"Okay, but why all this…codename stuff?"

"The Holy Grail gives a Heroic Spirit summoned as a Servant powers and abilities based on their legend," Saber answered, "That includes any weaknesses they might have. If one knows their legend, then one can also determine their powers and flaws."

"Like, if you knew you were fighting Achilles, you'd know to go after his heel?" Sonic asked.

"Correct," Saber nodded, glad to see Sonic catching on. "That is why I am known only as Saber for this War. It is in my best interests that my true name be hidden."

Sonic rubbed his nose in thought. "So, is there a way to figure out a Servant's myth? Or do we just ask real nicely?"

"We just need to be observant," Saber told him, "If knowing their name could help us figure out their abilities, then the inverse is true. Though we might get lucky and some overconfident Servant might just give us their name as a gesture of faith." She couldn't help but think about the Fourth War's Rider, who brazenly declared himself as Alexander the Great. It was unlikely that someone that boisterous would appear this time around, but as she had seen, the world sometimes threw a curveball when least expected to.

Sonic grunted and closed his eyes. "But are the Servants in this thing really heroes? I caught Lancer trying to kill someone," He opened his eyes slightly and looked at the floor. "After he had already gutted someone else…"

Shirou saw the pain in Sonic's eyes. It was the same pain he himself felt every time he heard about the 'mysterious deaths' on the news. In that instance, Shirou felt a kinship to this abnormal creature from another world.

"Sonic, you must understand that even though Heroic Spirits are famed in song and legend as paragons, they are, or were, human beings once," Saber said, "And they lived in turbulent times, constantly surrounded by death. I understand your disapproval, but to some of these Spirits the deaths of ordinary people in pursuit of the Grail is a minor consequence."

"But why?" Sonic asked, "I mean, Servants are supposed to fight other Servants, so what's the point of going after bystanders?"

"I talked about this with another Master I know earlier," Shirou put in. He decided that he wouldn't mention Rin by name just yet. She was going to have a fit when she learned that he told an 'outsider' about the War. "We think it's because Lancer's Master can't supply him with Prana. Each Servant is supposed to receive Prana from their Master, but some Master's aren't strong enough give them the amount they need to use their Noble Phantasm." I know I'm not.

"Right, the magic weapon thing," Sonic rubbed his chest. "I think I got a bruise from where Lancer tried to skewer me."

Now was the perfect time Saber to ask what was to her the most important question. "Sonic, how did you survive Lancer's Noble Phantasm?"

Sonic reached into the glove on his left hand and pulled out something gold. "Power Rings. These babies will protect you from any damage, especially the kind from pointy objects."

He tossed Saber one Ring, and she examined it closely. It was small, but she could sense a measure of energy emitting from it. If she hadn't seen it happen, she wouldn't believe that the Ring could stop Lancer's Gae Bolg. She held it towards Shirou for her Master to see. He wished he had some when Lancer and Berserker attacked, at which point the still wounded area where Berserker's sword had hit tingled, making Shirou twitched slightly.

"How much protection can you get from one Ring?" Shirou asked, amazed.

"Just one's enough for anything," Sonic answered, "But they fall out from wherever you're holding them when you get hit and vanish after a few seconds. The more you have the easier it'll be to scoop some back up."

Just one… "Would you mind if I kept this?" Shirou asked, taking the Ring from Saber.

Sonic shrugged. "Nah, I've got twelve more. In fact…" He tossed a second Ring to Saber. "You can have one, too. Never hurts to have a little insurance, right?"

Saber's hand closed over the Ring slowly. "…No, I suppose it does not." While she did not like having to borrow another's power, after her failure in the Fourth War, and the loss of her scabbard, Saber did not want to take any chances. And if Shirou was going to continue being needlessly reckless, then he would require some additional protection. Though if her hunch was correct…

"Hey, this has been bugging me," Sonic piped up, "But if every Master in this War some kind of wizard-"

"Mage." Shirou corrected automatically.

"Huh?"

"The Masters are mages, not wizards." Shirou explained, "Mages perform Magecraft, which is magic that can be reproduced by technology. A wizard can use one of the True Magics-"

Sonic held up a hand "'Kay…not really caring. Point is, can you do magic?"

Shirou nodded, though a little annoyed his exposition was cut off. "Yes, I'm a mage…though not a very good one. I summoned Saber by accident. And half the time, the spells I know don't work."

Sonic tapped his foot thoughtfully. "So…what kind of magic can you do?"

"Just three kinds," Shirou replied, and held up three fingers. "Reinforcement, Structural Analysis, and Projection."

"What, what, and what?"

"Reinforcement is, strictly speaking, the strengthening of a physical object. More specifically, it's the pushing a basis to the utmost," Shirou explained. It felt odd talking about this with someone who didn't already know Magecraft. Before he found out Rin was a mage, the only other one he knew was his deceased foster father, Kiritsugi. "For example, I could make a rolled-up newspaper as hard a steel rod, or a knife sharper, or even improve my eyesight."

Sonic hummed, and was gone in a flash. Less than a second passed before Sonic returned. He had something in his hand.

It was a rolled-up newspaper.

"Show me." The Hedgehog said.

Shirou took the paper, and concentrated. "Trace On."

As always when he practiced Magecraft, he felt a sensation like a hit metal rod being put in his spine as he formed Mage Circuits. This time, however, there was a faint buzz that he barely acknowledged…

I .. … …. .. .. sw..d…

Shirou held the paper out to Sonic. "Try bending it."

Sonic did so. The newspaper folded easily in his grip. Sonic raised an eyebrow, his face otherwise expressionless. Off to the side, Saber had her head lowered.

"I said I wasn't good at magic." Shirou defended weakly.

"So…what were the other two?" Sonic asked.

Still embarrassed at his failure, Shirou said, "Structural Analysis and Projection. The first is what it sounds like sounds like- I use my Magecraft to analyze a physical object- what it's made of, its history, and so forth."

"That sounds…kinda boring." Sonic noted.

"It's actually my useful magic," Shriou defended, "I've been able to fix all sorts of things by…" Shirou trailed off under Sonic's unimpressed gaze. He decided to move on. "Projection is the materialization of a physical object into the world. It's basically creating something from nothing."

Sonic brightened. "Now, that sounds awesome. You just snap your fingers if you need something, and poof, it's there?"

"It's…not as easy as it sounds," Shirou said weakly, "I've never been good at it. And my mentor always said it was a worthless skill to have, anyway."

"Why's that?"

Shirou sighed. "Everything created by the spell is weaker than the original, and it's existence can be broken easily. There's no point."

"Geez, with that attitude, no wonder you suck," Sonic groaned, "Look, man, I don't know anything about magic, but I do know that you're not gonna get good at anything if you don't have a little confidence. I know it sounds corny, but you can do a lot if you just believe in yourself."

Shirou was about to protest, to tell Sonic that he was being too idealistic, but found that he couldn't. He looked to Saber, and found that she was now looking at him with a cool intensity. Her expression was neutral, but she seemed to be…searching for something? Shirou looked back at Sonic helplessly.

"I just said you suck, bro," Sonic reminded, "You wanna let that slide?"

And that's when Shirou realized why he couldn't refuse Sonic. He dreamed of being a hero someday, but his aspirations were not taken seriously by his peers. "There's no such thing anymore" The more vindictive of them had said, and even close friends merely regarded his goals as childish. But now, standing in front of him was a hero; He may have looked like something that belonged in an American anime, and he had a cocky attitude that was a bit too much like the kind held by his estranged friend Shinji Matou, but somewhere in Sonic's eyes Shirou could see a strength, a conviction…a will similar to his own.

And now this hero from another world was trying to determine his strength. Shirou couldn't let himself look uncool now!

"…No, I'm not." The Master of Saber said. But what to Project? Seeing as they were in a training hall, he decided on a kendo training sword.

Holding out his hand and forming his circuits, Shirou said his invocation.

"Trace On."

Out in the backyard of the Emiya Estate was a shed. From the outside, it was not terribly interesting to look at. Currently, Shirou used it as both a storage room for the various repair jobs, and as a place where he practiced his Magecraft. In the center of the shed's floor, surrounded by the piles of fixed objects, a magic circle had been left there. It was formed by the previous tenant of the estate.

And it was now glowing.

Underneath the floorboards it sat, just waiting to be found. The yellow gem had not been there until a few short hours ago, but now it seemed to have always been existed in that place.

It's light began to flicker.

Shirou suddenly felt something akin to an explosion within him. This was followed by a sensation like his nerves being set on fire- no, not on fire. It was more like his nerves becoming fire. But what happened next was much, much, worse.

"AAAARRRGGHH!" Shirou screamed in pain as swords, yellow energy shaped like swords, began to rip their way out from his body. Saber and Sonic rushed to the young mage's aid, only stunned by half a second by this development.

And just as sudden as it happened, it ended. The yellow energy-swords vanished and Shirou collapsed. Both Saber and Sonic caught Shirou's body before it hit the floor, and after gently putting him down, they saw just how bad the damage was. Unlike the great cleave delivered by Berserker, the wounds that Shirou now had were less clean and more numerous. Despite the rage that gripped his mind, Berserker had been quite efficient in trying to rend Shirou in two. Gruesome, but professional. Now though, Shirou's body looked as if someone had done a hack job (Pun unintended), with multiple messy, bloody holes…that were now healing?

Sonic looked blurry, a visual effect of fidgeting at sonic-speed. "Ohmanomanoman! Where's the hospital?! I'll zip him over there!"

"Sonic!" Saber ordered, "There's a first-aid kit in the kitchen, under the sink!"

Sonic was gone the minute Saber said "kitchen" and back before should say "sink". He also had a phone in his other hand, along with some a roll of paper towels under his arm. The two quickly set to clueing Shirou's wounds, and all the while Sonic kept talking.

"…istheemergencynumbernineoneoneherethisguyneedshelpmaybewecanrigawheelchair-"

"That will not be necessary." Saber cut in as she applied disinfectant. She saw Shirou wince in pain, relieved that he still had the strength to do so.

"What are you saying!? Shirou's…getting better?"

Sonic stopped, stunned at what he was seeing. But he could not deny that Shirou's torn flesh was regrowing!

"But…how?" Sonic closed his eyes and tapped the side of his head. "Right, magic."

Yes, it was magic, and more importantly, it was a kind Saber understood all too well. She now held no doubts. The only way this amateur mage could have both summoned her and recover from such serious injury was because of Avalon- her lost sheath. The fact that Shirou shared the same family name as her previous master, Kiritsugi (AKA, 'The double-crossing assassin that stole victory when it was within her grasp'), only strengthened the notion.

But why was Avalon's power now acting twice as much? Was the Power Ring Sonic lent Shirou bolstering the sheath somehow?

Regardless, there wasn't much for Sonic and Saber to do except wait for Shirou to heal himself, helping wherever they could. A half hour had passed before Shirou opened his eyes.

"Saber…?" The young mage murmured.

"Shirou." Saber's stoic face relaxed slightly. She was on her knees next to Shirou as he lay on the training hall floor. On Shirou's other side was Sonic, sitting on his rear. He had a guilty expression on- no doubt he felt responsible for the incident, having encouraged Shirou to cast the spell.

"You okay, man?" The Hedgehog asked tentatively, reaching out to Shirou.

"Yeah," Shirou replied. Seeing Sonic's face, he added, "I don't know what happened. The spell's never done that before."

Sonic grinned mirthlessly. "Well, uh, it's a good thing you can heal, right?"

"…Yeah, good thing."

Shirou found himself starting to grin as well. His body still hurt in places, but the pain was rapidly fading. And he knew now that he and Saber had a new ally to fight in the Holy War.

Saber, meanwhile, found her eyes drifting towards the Command Seals on Shirou's hand. They symbolized the bond between the two of them, and allowed Shirou three "Absolute Orders", commands given through the ritual that she could not refuse. It may have been her imagination, but now it seemed that the seals were glowing…

This is going to be a very different war. The Heroic Spirit thought.

She had no idea how right she was.

Having established both that Shirou was not going to die and an alliance with Team Saber, Rin decided that she and Archer should call it a night. Too much had happened tonight, and they both needed to collect their thoughts on what they had seen. Meeting Illya and her monster of Servant had been scary enough, but seeing that weird blue creature fighting Lancer blew whatever expectations about the Holy Way out of the water- for different reasons.

Rin could only suppose that Lancer's opponent- whatever it was- was some sort of animal spirit, or perhaps a familiar summoned by the Caster of this war. She would have to consult her family library on the subject, and hope to find an answer. She recalled the horrible monsters brought forth by the Fourth War's Caster, and shuddered slightly, knowing how close she came to being killed by both them and that Caster's twisted Master. She could only hope that the Caster this time- and their Master- was of a slightly more stable character.

Archer, meanwhile, had another concern. He was a unique Heroic Spirit, being from the future. Summoned across time by Rin's attempt to summon "The Strongest Servant" (A ritual he privately, albeit arrogantly, believed to have succeeded), Archer hoped to change his own miserable future by murdering his past self, believing that the paradox would erase himself from existence. Anything would be better than the living Hell his own foolish idealism put himself into.

But the appearance of that spiny blue guy in sneakers threw a monkey wrench into those hopes. Archer's memories of the Fifth War may have been vague, but he was pretty sure nothing like that creature had appeared. Either his summons had altered the timeline more than he thought, or he was in a completely alternate universe altogether.

Before Archer could put more thought into the subject, he saw a column of smoke far ahead- right where the Tohsaka mansion was!

"Rin, stay here!" Archer ordered, and rushed ahead before his Master could respond. Reinforcing his legs, he made good time and saw that, thankfully, the large Western-style house wasn't on fire. The grounds behind the house, on the other hand, were now a total mess. And in the center of that mess was a damaged vehicle with smoke coming out where the engine probably was.

Archer, what is it? Rin asked through their telepathic bond, What's going on?

Someone's crashed a plane into your backyard.

What?!

It was a red, high-tech bi-plane of sorts. On its side was the word "SONIC" and on its tail fin was a picture of a star within a winged red ring. The wings of the plane itself had broken off in the crash, and other pieces of metal were scattered around the yard. And in the cockpit, slumped over and unconscious, was a small, furry creature of a pilot…a little person very much like a fox.

With two tails.

Archer thought, a kitsune?

Despite of how easy it looks on television, entering another dimension was no simple trick. Depending on how you went about it, doing so would cause vibrations anyone could feel. Because it happened during their fight with Berserker, neither Team Saber or Team Archer had felt the shock of the worlds tearing open to let Sonic and company in. The other mages in Fuyuki, however, were all too aware that something big had happened. The fact that for one brief moment, all magecraft within the city had been bolstered gave them more reason to send out all manner of familiars and divinations to investigate this phenomena.

At the gate of the Ryuudou Temple, the Servant Assassin sighed. He had felt the strange vibrations in the region, followed shortly after by the sound of an explosion of sorts coming from the highway. He would have loved to go out and investigate- Any reason to get away from his current 'master' and her endless fawning over her master- but was bound to remain at his post as a sentry…a glorified guard dog.

I'm so bored, Assassin thought, Maybe I should ask that boy Issei if he'd bring me a book or something.

Then Assassin saw a small figure walk up the steps toward the gate. It was a small animal-person of sorts, with red fur, spiked gloves, and sneakers. Around his head hung several dreadlock-like quills.

"Oh? It's not often we receive visitors at this hour," Assassin noted aloud, "Is there something I can help you with, little one?"

Knuckles grimaced at the 'Little one' remark, and said, "Yeah, I'm a little lost. Where am I?"

"You are at the entrance of the Ryuudou Temple, in the city of Fuyuki, my red friend."

Knuckles raised an eyebrow. "Fuyuki? Where's that in relation to Station Square?"

Assassin's smile dropped somewhat. "I'm afraid I'venever heard of such a place. Is that where you're from?"

Knuckles groaned and rubbed his face. So the explosion sent him to an entirely different world. That figured.

Assassin said, "I see from the look on your face that you seem to be a long way from your home."

"Brother, you have no idea."

Assassin put on a sympathetic smile. "Well, I would like to offer you a place to rest, but sadly, the old bag I have to call Master has a strict policy against visitors. She's a bit of a cheapskate, you see."

"Now, Assassin, don't tell lies."

Assassin turned his head and Knuckles looked past the samurai's shoulders. Walking towards them was a beautiful adult woman, who's features above her nose were hidden by purple hood that extended into an elaborate cape.

"I may enjoy my privacy, but I could never turn out a lost soul into the night," Caster said, and to Knuckles asked, "Why don't you come in, and tell me what's troubling you? Perhaps I can help."

Knuckles looked at Assassin, who shrugged in response. The Psuedo-Servant had no real interest in what happened, but Knuckles took his act to mean, "She's trustworthy, go right in."

"All right, I need to get my head straight anyway. Thanks." Knuckles replied, walking past Assassin.

Caster's smile grew even more.

Amy Rose walked through a dark ally. Though she didn't know it, she was in a bad part of Fuyuki, but she did know that her friends were no where in sight. Thankfully, there were no evil robots, but this was a small comfort. Alone and in an unfamiliar place, only past experience kept Amy cool in the face of the unknown.

The pink hedgehog shivered. Maybe it was too cool. There was a chill in the air that she didn't like.

I wonder how Sonic and the guys do it, going around in just gloves and shoes. Amy thought, then spotted something odd in the distance.

It was a human with short cut light red hair, dressed in a dark red suit. Getting closer, Amy saw that it was woman, though the distinction was hard to make in the dark- the slight curves around her body helped. One of the sleeves for her suit was gone, torn off, apparently. She seemed to be sitting against a wall, staring at her bare arm.

"Um, are you all right?" Amy called out as she approached the woman. She could now see that this was a silly question, as this stranger, judging from how ruffled her clothes were, had certainly been in a fight. Judging from the bruises and cuts all over her body, it was must have been a very bad one…

Amy felt something sticky under her heel, and looked down. It was difficult to see in the night, but it looked like a red liquid…

Amy heard a soft thud, and saw that the woman had fallen over. Putting the sticky red stuff and the woman's condition together equaled…

Amy gasped and rushed to the stranger's aid. Pulling her up as best as she could with her smaller frame, Amy looked around, trying to figure out what to do or where to go.

"Hey! Is anyone else here?!" Amy cried out into the night, "Anyone!?" When Amy received no answer, she decided that the next logical thing to do was to take the woman herself. Dragging this injured person out of the ally as comfortably as she could, Amy said to her charge, "Don't worry, I'll find you some help, just hold on!"

Because she was so focused on the task at hand, she didn't hear Bazett Fraga McRemitz moan, "My…arm…"

Chaos was not destruction. Chaos was not anarchy. And it certainly wasn't spelled with a K. Chaos was change. Whether it was a small gust of wind that blew into a tidal wave, or the large meteor that possibly killed the dinosaurs, or even the decision chaos was the unknown factor that made sure the best laid plans of mice and men (And women, some of whom are sticklers for unnecessary details) did not have such a smooth course. Bumps in the road of life.

One of those bumps was forming in the ominous Matou mansion, triggered by the energy given off by Shirou's warped*** attempt at Projection. In her gloomy living space, Sakura Matou woke from her sleep. Shivering, she tried to determine what had happened. She felt a strange flicker, like a static shock, only inside of her mind. She hoped her grandfather had not decided to give some supplementary "training". God knew he did enough to her already…

"Can't sleep, huh?"

Sakura's eyes widened and she turned on the lamp. Looking around she saw something…peculiar.

A shadowy figure was now in her room. No, it wasn't shadowy…it was a shadow. It looked like vaguely humanoid silhouette sitting in the center of the floor. At first, it was pure black, with no features, but then a red-crescent appeared on its 'head' to form a bizarre smile of sorts.

"What are you…?" Sakura whispered.

the shadow-thing began to shake, making a "hn-hn-hn" noise. Sakura's first thought was that the creature was crying, but then she realized that it was just the opposite; the shadow was laughing.

"What are you?" Sakura repeated, louder this time.

The shadow's tilted its blob-like head, and then turned towards Sakura, although without eyes the young lady wasn't sure what it's intentions were.

Then a voice came from the shadow. It was small, but it had a resonance that stirred something within Sakura.

"I have heard the call and have answered the summons," The shadow said, "I am Servant Avenger."

TO BE CONTINUED

*Not an innuendo

** Or, Hound-and-Hedgehog

*** "Failed" would not be appropriate term to use. Technically, Shirou did Project something…

Tiger Dojo

Taiga: Hohhhh! Welcome, young ones! Are you doing well? Appearing now from the ends of space, it's the Tiger Dojo! I am your instructor, Fujimura Taiga, Gaaow!

Illya: And the number one student, Illya! Please treat me with respect!

Taiga: I suppose you are wondering what we are doing now. Number one student, answer!

Illya: Right! In the original visual novel, Fate/Stay Night, the Tiger Dojo was a special corner that provides tips and advice for stupid players whose poor decisions led to Shirou getting a bad end. Now, though, we are here to answer any questions you might have for this crossover. In short, we are the structure that keeps the house of "Fate" standing proud and erect!

Taiga: Excellent! Yes, this Dojo is the foundation that holds "Fate" up! Now, our first question comes from Ms. Miyu. She writes, "Dear Tiger Dojo, how is it that Sonic can fight Lancer so effortlessly? Aren't Servants supposed to be beyond the capabilities of mortal beings?" The answer to that is simple: Sonic is awesome!

Illya: That answer's too simple…

Taiga: Sonic fights killer robots, destructive demons, mutants, evil genies, and even Gods! He is far beyond what any human can do! Lancer was outmatched from the very beginning!

Illya: I don't know, up until the Boom, Sonic didn't seem to be hurting Lancer very much…more like annoying him.

Taiga: Wrong! (Hits Illya)

Illya: Ow…the dreaded Tora-Shina…! To think it would be unleashed so suddenly…!

Taiga: Sonic was only extending the fight because he believed Lancer was an ordinary human being. Once he decided that holding back wasn't going to cut it, he unleashed his killer technique and won hands down. Also, it's possible that the Chaos Emeralds entering Fuyuki may have disrupted the natural flow of power.

Illya: Like how Shirou almost killed himself doing magic?

Taiga: Perhaps. And remember, while Sonic is perfectly used to fighting weird guys like Lancer, Lancer's never fought anyone like Sonic before. It was a matter of superior experience. Their next battle may be more even now that Lancer knows what he's dealing with. Now, read the next question, Student No. 1!

Illya: This comes from someone named Ruby. Ruby writes, "I want Saber to fight a robot!" Hey, that's not a question!

Taiga: Saber will definitely fight a robot! And so will everyone else! Student No. 1, do the disclaimer!

Illya: Sonic is owned by Sega, and Fate is owned by Type-Moon.

Taiga: That concludes the Q&A! I will see you at the next practice!

Illya: See you soon, everyone!