Fate/Stay Night ALTERED REMNANT

Hello y'all! After finishing Heaven's Feel: Presage Flower i had the sudden urge to incorporate some of the Fate/Zero characters into the Stay Night timeline and in order to do that I had to figure out exactly how they managed to arrive without having to necessarily summon them into the actual story-which I've noticed is more or less a go to in the FanFiction community. Which I'm not judging by the way, but I had another idea which might fit into the story differently and hopefully give a unique take on our beloved franchise. Welcome to the beginning of Fate/Stay Night ALTERED REMNANT

:-: Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/Zero, Fate/Stay Night nor do I won its characters or any other intellectual property belonging to Type Moon and the various studios that have created the series' over the years.

Prologue:

-Ten years prior, at the conclusion of the Fourth Holy Grail War

Instead of a fight between Saber and Berserker and a fight between Archer and Rider-the plot has changed so that Archer and Berserker have engaged in battle and Saber and Rider also have commenced combat.

The rogue knight snatched another golden sword from the sky-the blade darkened and crimson lines shot up its length.

"Mongrel! To touch my treasure is an affront that I cannot forgive-your skull will be ripped off worthless corpse and cast into darkness where you will see neither me, nor my precious stores again." Archer's eyes flashed menacingly.

Retching some meaningless word, Berserker leapt upwards and crashed through a building-tearing a lightpost from the street as he went. The black knight landed atop a metal beam and shot the streetlamp directly at the King of Heroes.

"You bastard!" the golden warrior snarled, "You dare distract me with so droll-"

With impossible speed, Berserker shot straight into Archer and knocked him forcefully into the hard cement.

"Uu-uh..." Archer gasped.

"Gi-ga-esh..." Berserker muttered, "Gil-gam-esh...GILGAMESH!"

For the first time Archer could remember, fear began to suck the blood from his face and freeze his movement. Weakly, he summoned a long golden javelin and threw it towards the crazed Servant-but to no avail. Grasping it with one hand, Berserker reversed momentum and drove it through Archer's shoulder and far into the abandoned road.

Berserker ignored the piercing scream and circled the downed Servant as though he were a savage predator, corrupted sword in hand. Ever so slowly, Berserker paced closer and closer to Archer until he stepped just over the Servant's still frame.

The Servant bent down, his helmet inches from Archer's face, his breath heavy and hot upon Archer's neck.

Gilgemesh's face hardened, "Get it over with...mongrel!"

With one last snarl, Berserker shot up standing and pierced his adversary with through the heart and watch his blood pool in a sickening puddle as the Servant choked on his own twisted cackles.

"Hahahahahaha, soon enough I'll make sure you pay...don't worry too much on that account mongrel."

"And finally, we meet on the field of honorable battle for conquest to claim the Holy Grail!" Rider proclaimed, his mighty sword drawn and upright against the skyline. His great cloak flapped majestically and stilled as the the after effects of his speed suddenly vanished. Waver Velvet crouched down in the back of the chariot and attempted to control his chattering jaw. "Damnit Waver." he thought to himself, "Pull yourself together! You are one of the final masters-it is about time you thought of yourself as one!"

Saber held her sword before her, calmly standing before the path to Holy Grail and blocking Rider's entrance. "This is where our battles end, Rider. I cannot allow anyone else to take hold of the Holy Grail."

Rider laughed heartily, "And I'm sure you will do your very best, King of Knights-but even you cannot counter the glory of my Noble Phantasm!"

The landscape quickly changed to that of a hot, dry desert and an army of thousands upon thousands of Heroic Spirits stood noble and sure behind Alexander the Great and his steed, Bucephalus. The warriors cried out as one and the ground shook against the terrible roar. The sky darkened with thunderous clouds, lighting flaring in response to Rider's power.

"I see you cannot fight but with an army behind your back, King of Conquerers."

"And there you have me wrong, girl-I fight with or without my men, but I prove to you that I need not fight without them." Rider said, clapping himself on the shoulder. "You take pride in the being the bearer of your kingdom's worries, I allow my army to bear it together and therefore keep our collective load light. Someday, I hope-you will learn the wisdom to that."

Saber shifted her weight onto her back foot and tilted her blade to a slight angle, "If you've nothing more to add: let this final contest begin!"

"Comrades, brothers! Today we claim the Holy Grail, we have but this final obstacle that stands in our way-Charge! Heroes of Macedonia!"

Watching, green eyes proud, stern and her face set, the vast army Rider had summoned charged in slow motion. Saber could see little hope for victory. "While I still hold breath, I will not fail, I refuse to meet my end here and allow Britain to have suffered."

A single shaft of golden light, thin as it was broke through dark sky and shone for a brief moment atop Artoria's head and causing a brief sparkle. Saber allowed her eyelids to shut and she saw an old haunting scene replay itself another time in her mind. Camelot, scattered and in mounds of bloody armor. Her last battle that had been the end of Britain's Noblest Era.

Artoria's eyes flicked open, "Ex-ca-libur!"

Blinding white-gold light seared from Saber's blade, as though a righteous tsunami had been called upon to protect her and bring her enemies to their downfall. The power cut through the army and through the reality marble that Alexander the Great had created. Physical cracks, although hard to notice in the heat of the moment, began to form on the outskirts of the ever-darkening horizon.

A handful of soldiers remained, less sure of their victory over their opponent who had unleashed unheard of raw power. Hesitating, the soldiers cried out as Saber threw herself into their midst. One warrior fell almost immediately with a slash across his torso and another was stabbed right through the neck. Six more soldiers faced off with spears, axes, and swords-Alexander's sky suddenly cleared a brilliant blue with a radiant sun shining brightly behind King Arthur Pendragon, the King of Knights-blinding the other six warriors and forcing them to drop their weapons and concede defeat.

Magnificent cracks shot through the earth and into the sky and shattered the reality altogether, leaving only a suitably impressed Rider.

"Are you ready to finally begin our battle, Iskandar? King of Conquerers." Saber asked, hostility evident in her voice.

Rider answered immediately, "No, you have convinced me of your resolve-if not your ideals. I concede this War to you, King of Knights. Go, find your master and take the Grail."

"Rider!" Waver cried shocked, "I can't let...wait-what's happening-"

Smiling gently, Rider leaned hard against a small pillar jutting a few feet from the church building that held the Holy Grail. Blood streamed from his side in an unstoppable flow.

No, Waver cried silently, Saber must have somehow hit him with her first attack...the battle was over then. "Rider..."

"I am happy to have fought you, Rider. It was...an honour to have fought the famous King of Conquerers." Saber grasped his shoulder firmly and turned for the church, running for the entrance.

Silent tears ran down Waver's face, "Don't go Rider, we can't be done yet."

"Come now, boy. Our part in the War is finished and my time here is drawing to a close. Soon, I will return from whence I came. But boy," Rider handed his bronze sword to Waver, "Put this on my chariot-I need to make sure it's on my chariot..."

"Okay," Waver grasped the sword, partly confused and rushed onto the chariot, setting it down ever so carefully. Out of nowhere the chariot soared away fast as lightning-panicked, Waver glanced back and saw the entire skyline exploade in fire and rocks. "Rider!" Waver screamed.

He wasn't sure, but as the chariot slowly disappeared upon setting him down, Waver could have sworn a rough voice whispered in his ear, "Farewell."

All that was left was the sword that Rider had parted with.

Saber stared at the sword in her hands, the bodies surrounding her. "No..." Here she was again...back where she had started. "No!" Saber's anguished cry mirrored the despair on her face. Hopeless tears streamed uncontrolled down her cheeks as she fell to her knees.

Kiritsugu had betrayed her. As soon as Berserker had appeared, her master ordered her to destroy the Grail and although she resisted-Kiritsugu had invoked the command seal twice again. Using her Noble Phantasm for one last devestating blow, the Grail was destroyed and her fate decided. Kiritsugu Emiya had sentenced her to this hell.

His many dishonorable acts should have warned her and although the signs had spoken for themselves she had not been aware enough to guess that he was completely insane. The Grail War had been all for naught and a vain series of battles. Nothing at all had come of it because of one man.

The scene replied in her mind. Kiritsugu had been above her, Berserker had been racing for the Holy Grail-Saber leapt to cut the Servant off from his direct route to the Grail.

"Ar-tur! AR-TUR!" Berserker screamed.

Out of nowhere, Kiritsugu called out loudly for Saber to destroy the Holy Grail. From the corner of her sight she saw the crimson flash of a command seal and yet another as he inexplicably repeated himself.

Saber turned and faced the Holy Grail, her sword already raised with her Noble Phantasm prepared. "Stop! What are you doing-"

Kiritsugu turned away, refusing to face his Servant or even acknowledge her as he slowly exited the grounds.

Berserker watched her motionless, his head cocked to the side and observed Saber's punishment. He made no move to stop her as she forced her lips to form the name of her Noble Phantasm.

"EXCALIBUR!" she cried, hair rushing in the force of her sword's power. The rebound of power crashed the entire building and crushed her beneath the ruins.

Before she disappeared, Saber stared upward at bloodred circle suspended in the sky. Her eyes fluttered shut as black mud fell onto Berserker, likely killing him instantly.

Alexander ran his hand through the boiling muck that flooded around him, what strange occurance was this? He wondered. He felt strength return to his limbs and his breathing suddenly even.

Hmm, the board has been reset. That seemed unfathomable and Rider could not begin to explain it however his resolve hardened like steel and he prepared himself for his next goal.

The ground rumbled and his chariot appeared as from the sky, climbing in, Alexander stood up and looked to the fading Grail, "Very well, then-I welcome this second chance with open arms."

Rider whipped the chariot onward, shouting loudly to the wind.

-o=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=o-

-Five years before the events of Fate/Stay Night

The dark figure flitted between the icy tree trunks and darted over snow-frosted rocks that dotted the snowy landscape. The form grasped a long grey rifle firmly in his arms, a mansion slowly came into view. Berserker dropped into a prone position and glared through his scope-peering into a great window and aiming directly for an older looking man with a white beard. "Einzbern." he muttered angrily.

The Einzbern turned, as though he heard his name called over that howling wind that tapped insistently on his doors and window frames.

Berserker squeezed the trigger once and then a second time, solidly shouldering the recoil as if it barely existed. In the space of a quarter second red blood splattered in a sickening halo all about the room and staining the windows.

The patriarch had been taken care of, Berserker carefully buried his rifle beside a conspicuous tree that he was sure to rememeber and began the last leg of his trek down towards the mansion. The door was an easy affair to break through-he used a short blade and cut straight through it. A little girl stood emotionless in the foyer area.

Stained bandages covered her frail legs and forearms. Intelligent ruby eyes observed him quietly, she pushed her silver hair from out of her face.

"Who are you," she asked softly. The small girl backed away as the dark giant slowly approached. Berserker pulled of his menacing helmet and knelt down. The girl's eyes studied his long raven hair and his sad but gentle face.

Launcelot held out a hand, "Come with me, Illyasviel."

Illyasviel hesitated, looking back at the sliver of red that marred the otherwise clean hallway-a wall masked the rest of the gruesome scene from view. She took his hand, Launcelot's face softened a fraction.

The pair began to walk slowly from the massive house, an unnoticed explosive device hidden just behind the open door. Hours later when they had been long gone, the device tripped and the house erupted in flames.

-Fate/Stay Night ALTERED REMNANT-

Alrighty that's the first entry into my story. Afterwards in later chapters I'm going to begin to dig into the beginning of the Fifth Holy Grail War and show why and how these scenes actually contribute to the overall storyline. Anyhow, let me know what I need to work on in my story in your reviews and if you have any story/character suggestions be sure to let me know!