[X] Decided that everyone would go inside to find Caster. He, Kuzuki, Assassin, and all the kids.
"Alright." Declared Shirou. "We can't just stand around and wait until someone comes up with a clever plan. Saber will eat me alive if we take too long. We're just going to have to go in and face Casters gauntlet. Kuzuki, could you please go and get Assassin?"
The teacher went off to do so, and Shirou turned to address the children.
"Alright." He began. "I get the feeling that me, Kuzuki and Assassin are all going to be needed, and since there's on-one else here to watch you, that means that we're all going in."
Aoife frowned. "That doesn't seem like a good ide-"
Robin pulled her back, and whispered something into her ear, which Shirou could just barely pick up on.
"Quite, you. Don't you want to raid Caster's cookie-jar while she's distracted?"
Aoife's eyes widened, and she immediately began to babble. "On second thought this plan is genius now let's go let's go let's go-"
She stepped through Caster's magic looping doorway, and disappeared.
"Eager, isn't she?" Asked a voice from behind Shirou. Looking back, Shirou saw Kuzuki and Assassin approaching, only a metre or so away.
"We should probably go after her." Shirou replied. Kuzuki nodded, and went to the doorway. Robin grabbed onto his arm as he walked through, and the two vanished.
After that, the remaining kids stormed through, with the exception of Boudica and Tamamo. The fox-girl grabbed Kojiro's hand, and the two walked through the barrier. Shirou took a moment to look at the young warrior-Queen.
"...You aren't going to try anything, are you?" He asked. Boudica may be well behaved most of the time, but Nero was among those captured by Caster, and Boudica's hatred of Rome ran deep.
"Who, me? Never." She lied.
It occurred to Shirou that he may be making a huge mistake. But then, what choice did he have?
"Let's go." He said, after a moment. Boudica walked behind Shirou as he went through the doorway, and the Magus didn't need to turn back to see the evil smirk on the girl's face.
~~~~~
By the time Shirou and Boudica entered Caster's workshop, Kuzuki had already dismantled the first obstacle in Caster's lair, as visible from the pile of pulverised bone before him.
"I hope it didn't give you too much trouble." Shirou called out to them. Assassin turned to him, while Kuzuki followed the swarm of kids that was rushing forward.
"None." Replied Assassin. "Caster seems to be holding back so far."
As soon as he finished, a roar ran through the temple. The wall beside Assassin vanished, and Kuzuki came hurtling out of it, colliding into Assassin with a thud.
Shirou ran over, and a giant claw emerged from the wall. After a moment, the claw shook, and the young Servants fell from it.
The claw retracted, and the paw re-appeared after a moment.
"...That was a dragon." Kojiro noted.
"I noticed." Replied Kuzuki.
"I didn't know that Caster figured out how to make that work." Assassin continued.
"She found a book on out honeymoon. Once she translated it from French, she spent a few hours figuring out how to do that."
"Huh."
Looking at the wall, Assassin drew his sword. "In that case, allow me to be a diversion, whilst you go and find your dear wife."
Without waiting for a reply, the swordsman ran towards the wall, cutting a hole in it as he approached. While the cut was too small for him to get through, it was enough to disrupt Caster's wards, and allow Assassin to phase through it in astral form.
There was a roar from the room, and Shirou turned to Kuzuki.
"Will he be alright?" The magus asked.
The teacher nodded. "Caster won't actually hurt anyone. Just distract them long enough to get pictures."
Content, Shirou moved on. "Speaking of which, we should go. The longer we take, the more Saber is going to make me buy her food as compensation, and I don't get paid until the weekend."
~~~~~
The remaining obstacles weren't so difficult. Kuzuki and Shirou dealt with the Dragon Tooth Skeletons as they appeared, Robin managed to disarm a few traps when he snuck off ahead, Darius was able to burn down a wooden door that resisted all attempts to open it, and with a swarm of children brute-forcing the puzzles as they appeared.
Before long, Caster's room was in sight.
On the other side of a bottomless pit, with only a creaking wooden bridge to lead the way across.
"...I have a bad feeling about this." Gawain muttered. Kuzuki took the first step onto the bridge, and everyone followed. The wooden bridge, despite the weight, held strong.
Unfortunately, once Shirou had gotten three steps onto it- At which point, Kuzuki was halfway across- The rope on the other side snapped, and the bridge fell.
For a moment, there was a lot of screaming, and a lot of falling. Then, the rope on the bridge sprung to life, coiling around Kuzuki, and catching all the children, before tying itself to Shirou.
It was a troublesome situation. With all the weight of the kids, Shirou would have a hard time climbing the rope back up.
...Wait, wasn't there someone behind him? Someone who might be able to help him up?
Looking towards the top of the bottomless pit, Shirou saw Boudica's head peaking over the side, looking incredibly smug.
"...Uh-oh."
In a swift motion, Boudica pulled a dagger she had stolen from a Dragon Tooth Skeleton, and cut the rope.
As the falling resumed and the screams returned, deafening Shirou, the Magus realized that he only had himself to blame.
Now, how would he get out of this mess?
[X] There's probably a Noble Phantasm for this.
-[X] Such as...
[X] Maybe Caster's workshop had good enough reception to call for help?
-[X] Who from?
[X] You recognize this trick. The pit isn't actually bottomless. It just warps space, and once you hit he bottom, you begin falling from the top again. When that happens, try to get back onto the ledge.
[X] Wait for Caster to get bored and show mercy (Everything that fails falls back to this).
[X] Write-in.