[X] Time-stop and go to the dying pair
-[X] Let Kyoko have the honor of first dispatching of the familiar, and then Assassin. Ask her not to mutilate the body too much as you wish to try something.
--[X] Before resuming time have Lancer use Runes to contain and restrain the pair, in case any last ditch efforts occur
---[X] Resume time outside the Labyrinth while looking through Archer's senses, and assuming nothing crazy that would disrupt your plan happens and it seems like Assassin has been truly taken out freeze and unfreeze time your way to Assassin's remains to summon True Assassin
[X] Have Archer and Caster remain on guard for any movement aside from the group's
"Master, I think you'll want want to take a look at this."
The sight which Archer shows you is almost a sad one; were Assassin and her familiar a true mother-daughter pair, and not abominations birthed from and kept fat on the suffering and death of countless others, the image of the familiar, wounded beyond measure but still more concerned with the well-being of its 'daughter' than itself, might have brought a tear to your eye. As it is now, you have only one thing to say to your servant.
"Good work, Archer."
"I thought you might agree."
"Mhm." Triumphantly, you look out over the labyrinth, watching as the thick cover of smog rolls away, before turning back to your allies who are waiting patiently. "I have good news," you say, gauging the reactions of your allies as they too watch the smog dissipating. "Archer reports that Assassin is in critical condition. We're going in to finish the job." Your hand reaches for the shield at your wrist, and the world goes to grey with a turn as time is frozen.
You turn to glance at Kyouko, who has abandoned the mask frozen in anger and is now grinning from ear to ear. "Finish the familiar off first," you say to the redhead, elated at the prospect of spilling the pair's remaining blood. "It appears to be in worse shape than Assassin, and even if Assassin manages to survive the loss of her 'mother' will be a hindrance to her ability to gather food and recover. Once you're done with the familiar, Assassin is all yours, but I ask that you
try not to mutilate the body too severely."
"Wanna tell me why the fuck I should care?"
"I wish to try something that Archer has recommended to me, and I need there to be enough of Assassin left when you're finished with her."
You lead your team to the location from which you felt Archer's magical signature. He stands there, frozen in time as he looks over the mutilated body of Assassin's familiar, shielding her servant master from the hail of swords impaled in its backside. Tomoe-san gasps in shock as she catches sight of the pair and tries to look away, only to turn her head in the direction of the familiar's disembodied lower half, eliciting a second gasp as she covers her eyes with her hands instead. Mikuni Oriko and Kure Kirika are silent, as is Lancer; but Kyouko grips her spear, plunging its point into the familiar's neck as she says "Outta my way, bitch. Yer not the one I'm here for."
Yet despite her words, Kyouko still takes her sweet time hacking and slashing at the familiar with her spear, and shows no sign of stopping when Tomoe-san screams out "Sakura-san, please stop!"
Kyouko brings her spear down one last time as Tomoe-san's words ring out, before wresting her spear from the back of the familiar's bloodied head. She turns to Tomoe-san, and asks with a sneer "Why the fuck should I? Don't tell me yer feeling soft fer a witch and her familiar, are ya?"
"Not for a witch and a familiar," Tomoe-san says, once more averting her gaze now that she has succeeded in getting Kyouko to stop. "But for a mother and her child. We can't begin to comprehend how Assassin thought, but look- Despite her injuries, the familiar still put herself in harm's way to keep Assassin safe from Archer's attack." Tomoe-san swallows, adding "Even to the end, that familiar was every bit the mother that Assassin claimed she was."
"Just... Finish them off quickly, please."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Kyouko spits, sneering as she kicks the familiar aside. The legless and bloodied torso is sent flying by Kyouko's kick, hitting the ground and rolling for a meter or two before coming to a halt, just as grey as the world around it.
It's disgusting. "How much d'ya want me ta leave ya?" she asks, turning her head towards you as she readies her spear.
"However much you think is needed for Assassin to drop a Grief Seed."
"A'ight," Kyouko turns her full attention to Assassin, plunging her spear deep into the chest of the servant-witch. Planting the heel of her boot firmly on Assassin's face, she wrests the spear free; no blood comes out. "But if she drops a Seed, I'm claiming it; got that?"
No one says a word as Kyouko enacts her vengeance on the monster that took her adopted younger sister from her. No one says anything when Kyouko finishes, leaving behind a nigh-unrecognizable pile of shredded flesh and leather where Assassin had once sat. No one says anything when Kyouko drops her spear, falls to her knees, and lets out a primal scream as tears flow freely from her eyes.
No one would know what to say.
Tomoe-san approaches Kyouko, wrapping her arms around the tear-soaked redhead. "Have Lancer restrain the bodies as best as she can," you say to Mikuni Oriko. "These two have defied logic before; even in death, we don't know what will happen once time is moving again."
"Right." Mikuni Oriko motions to Lancer, and her servant responds, binding the pair with chains conjured from rune fire. Hopefully, that will succeed in sealing them from enacting one last act of defiance in death. "It's done, Akemi-san. You should be able to let time return to normal."
Your hand reaches for your shield, and for a second you debate performing the summoning ritual here, inside the frozen time. That would completely ensure that there is no way for Assassin to weasel her way out of death; but you don't know if that would also prevent the ritual from working properly. With a sigh, you accept that some degree of risk will always exist when dealing with Assassin, even in death, and allow time to return to normal.
You hear the hoarse rattle of the familiar calling out for Assassin; it seems that Kyouko wasn't completely successful in disposing of the familiar, after all. Nor, for that matter, is Assassin dead yet either; despite the copious injuries to her person, you can still faintly hear a pained wheeze exiting from Assassin's mouth.
No matter, you think, as you hold your hand out in front of the ruined servant-witch.
It'll all be over for her soon enough.
"Fill; fill; fill; fill; fill," you say, as Assassin's fallen form is wreathed in faint wisps of mana.
"Repeat five times, but when each is filled, destroy it."
"Heed my words; my will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny. If you heed the Grail's call, and obey my will and reason, then answer my summoning!"
"I hereby swear that I shall be all the good in the world. That I shall defeat all evil in the world."
Mikuni Oriko and Kure Kirika look on you with knowing eyes as the wisps of mana are whipped into a violent frenzy, a tornado of purest white that completely envelops the form of Assassin; but Tomoe-san stares at you in confusion. There's no way she would know what you were doing.
"Seventh heaven clad in the great words of power, come forth from the circle of binding, Hassan-i-Sabbah!"
A blinding flash of light fills your every sense; in that moment, there is nothing; nothing to show for your attempt at summoning Archer's 'true' Assassin. But when your sight returns to you, you are greeted to the sight of a figure that is most certainly not 'nothing'. The figure standing before you is that of a young woman, with ashen grey skin and short violet hair that barely falls to her chin. Her face is covered in a mask, bone-white and shaped like a human skull, and her manner of dress is as revealing as Assassin's had been, a skintight, sleeveless, toeless leotard which leaves much of her torso exposed. Fingerless gloves and a cord, wrapped around her waist and pinned to itself by a pair of violet five-petaled flowers, complete her outfit.
Your team stares in silence, and the new servant stares back at you, her eyes hidden behind the pools of obsidian shrouded by her mask. "I am servant Assassin," she says with a voice like a winter day lacking in warmth, causing the members of your team to bristle, readying themselves for another round of confrontation. But this new Assassin remains unflappable in the face of opposition, asking only "Are you my master?"
You glance down at your right hand, seeing no additional Command Seals that might mark you as the master of a second servant. But on a whim, you pull down your sleeve, and there on your wrist sit your second set of Seals; three diamonds, stretched out and wrapping themselves around your arm just above the wrist. "Yes," you say, showing to Assassin the ring of Seals around your wrist. "It would appear that way."
Assassin nods her head, hopefully in affirmation, before turning her attention to "Lancer, this is a pleasant surprise. I did not expect to find a familiar face so soon."
Lancer turns confrontational at Assassin's words, bringing her spear to level with Assassin's head. "You..."
"I do not hold it against you for taking my arm in our last battle. I ask only that in return you do not hold it against me for acting under the orders of my last master."
"That girl was a monster! You of all people should know that!"
It would seem that Lancer and the new Assassin have some history with each other.
You'll have to sort out the details later."Assassin, don't antagonize Lancer. Mikuni Oriko-" Assassin silences herself, and you turn to your silver-haired ally, who is doing her best to get Lancer to do the same "-Make sure that Lancer doesn't do anything rash." You approach Assassin, stopping yourself only once you read a certain piece of information about your new servant with your master's vision.
Zabaniya, the Delusional Poison Body... Her Noble Phantasm is going to make her difficult to work with. Aside from her deadly Noble Phantasm, Assassin's stats are low-average all across the board, save for her agility and her luck. "So, this is the True Assassin of this city's little War," Archer says, breaking his silent vigil over you and your team. Caster is not with him, but you can see in the distance an approaching mess of gold that is unmistakably Tomoe-san's servant. "It's a pleasure to meet the servant with whom I'll likely be working so closely. I am Archer, and you and I share the same master."
"Well, Archer? What do you think?"
"She's not the True Assassin from my War, but if she is indeed one of the Hassan-i-Sabbah, then I'm sure she'll be as useful an asset to us as any. You did good, master."
"Wait, wait, wait," Kyouko, dried of the tears she shed for her lost adopted sister, finally finds the words to speak up. She struggles to her feet, staring at "Assassin, right? So, like, what about the Assassin we just finished killing? Ya mean ta say that was all fer nuthing, that there'd just be another Assassin after her? How the fuck is that fair ta us in the slightest?"
[ ] What do you say to placate Kyouko?
[ ] Wat do?
