tvk | Fourth lecture -- video/action during the Dark Hour

New shadows had appeared-- ones that, judging by the video posts that he'd seen on the network, were some kind of personification of neuroses and insecurities. That much was clear, especially taking into account what they had been told in that odd message a few days ago; they were being forced to confront their inner demons in a very literal sense.

Waver wouldn't have denied that he had demons of his own, and he was certain that there was a Shadow that looked like him running around somewhere during the Dark Hour. That didn't mean that he wanted anyone else to come across it. He had spent too long erasing his flaws to have them aired out again like dirty laundry for anyone who cared to look-- he'd put too much effort into creating the calm and flawless facade that was Lord El-Melloi to have it torn apart by a doppelganger.

Instead of waiting for his Shadow to find him, he was going to go searching for it. And he was going to kill it before it had the change to open its mouth.

He walked through the streets and back alleys, determination in every sharp, angry snap of his limbs. Whatever normal Shadows he came across, he struck down with hardly a thought-- he wasn't here to study them tonight. Not them. All he wanted was one particular Shadow, one that didn't seem to be very willing to come out to meet him--

He caught something out of the corner of his eye in one of the deeper shadows. For a moment, he thought he saw a brief flash of something human-shaped and the glint of yellow eyes, but it was gone before he could confirm it.

So it was shadowing him.

He kept walking, same as he had before; he didn't want to give up the fact that he knew he was being tailed. Judging by how these Shadows seemed to like to talk, especially to the people they stemmed from, he had a damn good guess that it was going to make itself known to talk at him for a bit. And if it was anything like him, it definitely was going to say something. It didn't matter when it felt like coming out; he knew it was there, and that was what mattered. It couldn't get the advantage of him.

The shadows in front of him were fuller and darker than the others, mostly because of the figure standing in them. And when that figure stepped out into the light, Lord El-Melloi found himself speechless.

The Shadow before him did not have his face now, but wore the face he had ten years ago. He was staring down at his nineteen year old self, identical down to every detail except the eyes-- instead of his own dark green, they were unnaturally golden.

"It's rude to stare. And unfitting of a magus of your standing, besides. Not that it matters-- Waver Velvet is Waver Velvet, even if you call him Lord El-Melloi. That's a fundamental that never changes."

He drew the sword that hung at his hip. He was glad, not for the first time, that he had taken the time to learn some skills in fighting.

"I haven't the time nor the desire to listen to you."

"You don't think that I'm a threat at all, do you? Just because I look like you did, all those years ago?" the Shadow watched him with a gimlet stare. "Stupid. But you really aren't very good at thinking things through, are you? If you were, then maybe you wouldn't have been such a worthless Master."

"And you're trying to distract me. That's an awfully transparent ruse." He raised the sword; its edge glinted in the low light. He would not listen, he would not listen--

"You were a worthless Master, and a worthless magus, and that's why he died. You damned him by summoning him."

The words hit him like a spear; he could almost feel the haft sticking out of his chest.

"It's your fault that he was killed, and no one else's. You were never worthy of having him as your Servant. You were never worthy of having him as your King."

The tip of his sword dropped just half an inch. The only sign of shock on his features was the slight widening of his eyes and the blanched, bloodless pallor of his face.

"You should have died with him, but even that would've been too great an honor for you."

That younger version of his face smiled, showing no mirth but plenty of teeth.

"Fortunately, I can correct this mistake."

He raised his arm, holding it outstretched towards Lord El-Melloi with two fingers pointing at him.

(Video)

The feed clicked on half a moment before Lord El-Melloi hit the ground, having turned on after it fell from his pocket. For several moments, he is the only in thing in the frame, lying still and unmoving. It is difficult to see much of him, as part of his face is blocked by how his arm is lying, and more of it is obscured by his dark hair, but what can be seen of it is covered in something shiny and slick and possibly red. It's hard to tell in this light.

Then there is the sound of footsteps, and the phone is picked up by an unseen person; they kept the camera facing away from them, never revealing any more than a few brief glimpses of a hand and sleeve. Very deliberately, the camera was turned toward the prone form of Lord El-Melloi, lying on the pavement with a small pool of liquid forming on the ground around his face. This picture stayed on the screen for several long moments-- he did not move.

Then it dropped, and the feed cut out.

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[Not good. Not good, not good, not good. Whether he felt like he'd essentially been hit by a truck or not, Lancer had to do something. Ignoring someone that needed help wasn't something he could do regardless of physical condition.]

[Even if his left arm was useless. Even if Diarmuid's Shadow left him with some kind of head trauma and what felt like cracked ribs, the former Servant picked up a lance and went out looking for him.]

[If things were going to get worse, there was no point in putting it off.]

[Waver, unfortunately, wasn't going to be much help; he was still out cold. Out cold, defenseless, during the Dark Hour, when there were crazed Shadows running about, without having told anyone where he was going.]

[Clearly, this was not one of his better plans.]

[Geez, you think?]

[Waver, you're lucky we can't throw a goddamn rock in this city without hitting a knight. Even if this one was kind of a wreck at the moment.]

[Stop being so hard to find, dick.]

[You could've called Rider or something instead of hauling your injured ass out of bed. Gdit Lancer.]

[Stop being so bad at finding things, jerk.]

[That would require logic, and that part of his brain is good and broken right about now. Along with most of the other parts.]

[Oh hey, he damn near tripped over you. Moron.]

[Whatever. He'll just make sure your dumb ass isn't dead and start looking around for your freaky repressed bullshit.]

~~[We are the most serious. It is us.]~~

[Thanks, he needed that bruise in his side in the shape of your foot. Ass.]

[His creepy man-child Shadow isn't around right now, or if he is, he's just staring at you creepily from some unknown location. He's probably gone to try to find Rider and stalk him.]

[~~This is srs bsnz right here.~~]

~~[Totes srs.]~~

We're all just falling apart here, aren't we...tch. Can you hear me? I hope you're more difficult to kill than that.

[Yeah, he's pissy as hell tonight. Tolerance for things on the Stupid-Shit-O-Meter is nonexistent.]

[That kick in the ribs helped bring him back to consciousness probably more than Lancer's voice did. Unfortunately, he found that he really didn't want to wake up on account of the fact that his face felt like it had been hit with a two-by-four.]

[Looked like it, too.]

[He took a breath to answer and immediately started coughing; his nose was broken and blood was draining down the back of his throat in a rather unpleasant manner.]

Well, at least you're alive.

[That was a start. Lancer was a little more preoccupied with making sure they didn't get any nasty surprises from either of their Shadows.]

Try not to strain yourself too much, but if you can stand that would make things remarkably easier.

[Let's take some baby steps here, Lancer. Let's see if he can sit up first.]

[The answer was yes, though it was a little difficult on account of the fact that he was dizzy, disoriented and not entirely sure where he was.]

[He raised his hand to his broken nose, feeling how badly it was out of alignment. It smarted painfully in response.]

...Fuck.

[That was really all he could say about it.]

An adequate summary of our situation, I'd say.

Ngh. Yes.

[The shit is in the process of hitting the metaphorical spinning bladed air circulation device.]

Help me up, I think I should be able to walk.

[Now here was a problem. Lancer only had one usable hand, which was currently holding a lance. Leaving them both defenseless would be a mistake, but what choice did he have? He stabbed the blade into the ground and held out his still-working right hand.]

[You had to let go of your spear for like two minutes, Lancer. And Waver's shadow is the kind of coward that doesn't want to attack unless it's sure it has the advantage.]

Thank you.

[His voice sounds a little thick, mostly because a, he was bleeding everywhere and b, his nose was busted. His shirt was probably ruined.]

[Well excuuuuuuuse me for being paranoid, princess.]

Don't worry about it. Let's just get the hell out of here.

[Hey, at least I didn't make any cracks about holding your spear, man. That is a wealth of material right there.]

Of course.

[He wasn't exactly steady on his feet, on account of the concussion that he almost certainly had, but he was mobile and probably wouldn't have to be carried.]

[All sorry asses, move out.]

[You're just saving it for later.]

...I'm starting to think all our respective duplicates may want us dead.

[His voice was as deadpan as it could get with a broken nose.]

That's likely, considering that they've tried to kill us.

...I was not merely stating the obvious. I mean that to my knowledge, mine only attacked me. He didn't lay a hand on Saber even when she tried to fight him.

Hm. Interesting, but until we see more of these Shadows behave in this manner, we can't be certain that they'll only target us.

True enough. At the moment it's little more than a theory--I still don't understand just how any of this could happen. If they really are Shadows, how did they gain such abilities and more importantly, weaponry?

I don't know. We don't have much information on normal Shadows, nevertheless these new kinds, so I don't exactly have anything to work with here.

MASTER!

[Alexander was none too pleased...he was running as fast as he could over there RIGHT NOW]

[Well, Waver wasn't going anywhere.]

Fourth lecture -- video/action during the Dark Hour

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