[x] Ask Saber to leave, you've got this.
-[x] Hey kid, want to see a magic trick?
--[x] Trace Caliburn.
---[x] Project a big rock around the blade.
----[x] Back away slowly.
"Hold on, Saber." Shirou replied. "She only got angry when she saw you. If you go a bit away, maybe she'll calm down."
Saber looked at her Master. "Shirou, what are you thinking?"
"I'm trying to think of how to keep her from going berserk and blowing up the park. Just... Head to the trees. I'll distract here, and if she attacks me anyway, I'll survive until you hit her back."
Saber closed her eyes. "I must be out of my mind..." She whispered, before darting into the forest.
Mordred took a step to chase her- And was it just a trick of the light, or was she getting taller?- When Shirou stepped in. "Hey! Want to see a magic trick?"
The girl turned to him, angry, and he took a moment to scan her sword again.
Clarent. The blade of a king. Compared to Caliburn and Excalibur, it was not much. However, it was still a tough blade, and it represented the right to rule.
When Mordred had betrayed the Knights of the Round Table, she had taken the blade in an attempt to prove that her lineage was legitimate. Her hatred of her 'Father,' King Arthur, had twisted the once-pure blade into a vaguely demonic destroyer.
That was the sword that wounded Sir Kay before the Battle of Camlann, forcing him to seek aid elsewhere, and robbing him of the chance to die alongside the King that he had once treated like a brother.
That was the sword that slew Gawain, the once invincible Knight exhausted from his duel with Lancelot. Instead of the worthy death he deserved, he was cut down in an instant, just one of many Knights that Mordred slew.
That was the sword that killed Saber.
And yet, past all the bloodshed, past all the hate, the blade told a lot about it's wielder.
Mordred may have been the Knight of Betrayal, but behind that, there was so much more to her.
Clarent had not been her blade her whole life, so Shirou could only see glimpses of her past. But what he saw was enough, considering what he knew, from both legend, and Saber's tales.
Mordred was a homunculus, like Illya. An artificial human, created by Morgan le Fay, with DNA extracted from Saber, through methods that the King did not like to talk about.
She had been created to destroy Camelot, to kill King Arthur. Morgan le Fay, whatever her reasons, sought it's downfall.
But Mordred had not done so. The Knight knew no affection from her 'Mother,' and even if the Knight of the Round treated her more as an aloof companion, it was still more then what she had.
So the girl had defied her mother, and revealed her identity to King Arthur. All she sought was to be recognized as Arturia's heir.
Instead, she was denied. Refused the acceptance she desired, from the one she had desired it from.
Saber's reasoning had been explained, before the two of them killed each other upon that hill of bodies. Mordred was not fit to be King.
And from that, Mordred's wish was born. To be recognized as King, to prove her worth.
To pull the Sword from the Stone.
And from that came Shirou's plan.
Perhaps it was insanity. But, as Rin was so fond of saying while defending Magus culture, the difference between insanity and genius is success.
And thus, he Traced Caliburn.
Mordred's eyes widened in shock at the sight of the blade. She had never seen it herself- It had been shattered, long before her time- But she knew enough of it to recognize it.
Gripping the sword so that the blade faced downward, Shirou thrust it toward the ground. Just before it struck, he Traced a large rock around it, the same size and shape as the one Caliburn had been in originally.
There was silence for a moment, as Shirou stepped back, and Mordred took in what the scene was.
And then, she screamed.
It was not a scream of fear, or despair, but one of hate, and rage. Shirou did not even have time to process it, before Mordred threw Clarent in his face, it's travel time reduced by Prana Burst.
Saber screamed his name, and came charging in, but the distance between Mordred and he was shorter. As Shirou parried Clarent with his bare hand, receiving a wound that would have taken him out of the fight if he didn't have Avalon as he did so, Mordred charged.
As she approached, she passed Caliburn, in its stony sheath. She picked it up as she passed, lifting the rock with the blade, and swung it at Shirou.
The Magus Traced Kanshou and Bakuya as she approached, and blocked her strike. Both of the swords, as well as the rock that contained Caliburn, shattered in an instant. Shirou was forced back a metre by the blow.
As he recovered, Mordred retrieved Clarent, wielding the blade in her right hand, and holding Caliburn in the left. Usually, the use of two blades would be foolish, the sign of an amateur, but Mordred's entire fighting style was flexible. If she could not fight well with both weapons, she'd use one as a projectile or distraction.
More worryingly, however, was that both blades were powerful Noble Phantasms. While Caliburn was technically Saber's, the sword may be fooled by Mordred's similarity to her 'Father,' and that gave the berserking Heroic Spirit access to two weapons powerful enough to slay Heracles.
As Mordred turned back towards Shirou, she began to grow.
Her armour crushed her for a moment, before expanding to match her size. Wounds began appearing, ones that Shirou recognized as wound she had when she fought Saber at Camlann.
Her skin paled, an her eyes darkened. Both signs that Angra Mainyu had gifted the girl with tainted Prana.
As Saber arrived, and the two almost-identical swordswomen began clashing, Shirou planned his next move.
[X] Simply stand aside, providing Prana for Saber.
-[X] Tell her to go all out.
-[X] Prepare Rho Aias, just in case.
-[X] Fire arrows at Mordred
[X] Use Kanshou and Bakuya.
-[X] Trace a single pair at a time, and fight Mordred in melee.
-[X] Trace two pairs at a time, and use the returning function to surprise Mordred.
-[X] Use Crane Wing Three Realm, and tell Saber to escape.
[X] Use a Noble Phantasm.
-[X] Write-in.
[X] Attempt to use Unlimited Blade Works.
[X] Write-in.
