Fate's Servants are certainly an interesting example of supernatural helpers for mere mortals with the poster girl Sabers, somewhat of jerks Archers, the absolutely terrible luck of Lancers, the explosive personalities of Riders, the deadly Assassins waiting in the shadows, and the maniacal powerhouses known as Berserkers all being main classes. The Caster Class is unique in that they rarely actually fight physically like the others, instead using magic and summons to make up for lack of personal combat skill and usually set up shop in an area where they can prepare for battle, which works out well for the scheming witch Medea, master craftsman Avicebron, and even best president Thomas Edison. These two examples of Casters are possibly the most unique however with the potential distinction of Pseudo-Servant and interesting abilities to say the least while serving a Master who they regard as a close friend and try their best to protect them while indulging their interests but when otherworldly monsters and a psychotic killer confront dance magic and a ghost girl, there's only one question to answer...
Gilles de Rais and Ryuunosuke Uryuu, the Caster and Master duo who committed countless atrocities in the Fourth Fuyuki Holy Grail War!
Nursery Rhyme and Alice, the Caster and Master duo who went through the Moon Cell Holy Grail War playing deadly games one day at a time!
Who is Deadliest!
[]
Gilles de Rais and Nursery Rhyme both benefit from a variety of abilities due to their status as Servants which enables them to become intangible Spiritual forms that can enable a quick getaway in combat, a Spiritual Core that serves the purpose of a vital organ that is mainly weak to blows to the head and heart, and having enough knowledge of the current time period to get by. They don't need anything a normal human needs besides possibly air and even that isn't a major issue, instead relying on the magical energy of their Master, human souls if they're more evil than good, and food or sleep for minor recovery of that fuelling substance. Unfortunately for the most part, they can't last long without their Master unless they have enough magical energy left over and they only remember what they originally did in life but for a full list of what makes a Servant a Servant, click here-
https://typemoon.fandom.com/wiki/Servant
In addition, Ryuunosuke Uryuu and Alice both have three Command Seals that enable them to order their Servants around but considering both are a more laid-back style of Master, get along well with their respective Servants, and never used even one in their Holy Grail Wars, it's doubtful they'll use them especially considering Ryuunosuke barely has any idea what the Grail War is and Alice losing her Command Seals would lead to her demise like any other Moon Cell Master.
Gilles de Rais and Ryuunosuke Uryuu (Fate/Zero)[]
"Very well then, let us go and paint the gardens of the puppet master God with even more brilliant despair and terror and depravity. We shall show the author of this wicked world who hides up in heaven that God is not the only one here who knows what entertainment is!"
"We're gonna do something awesome again, aren't we? Big guy, cool! Cool!"-Giles to Ryuunosuke
Gilles de Rais was known for helping save France from the English as he fought in the Hundred Years War with Jeanne d'Arc and he became greatly attached to her, especially after the king honored both their deeds, although things would take a far darker turn when she was betrayed and burned alive, leaving him in a sorry state that made him waste his wealth rapidly. However Gilles would soon decide to prove whether God was real or not with the aid of François Prelati as the two moved from alchemy to horrible slaughters of children and helping call in demons from other worlds yet he was never given the divine punishment that he believed would fall upon him for his actions and became even more bitter.
Eventually Rais would be executed himself not truly because of his evil deeds but because of his wasteful spending by his fellow nobles which convinced him that God did not exist and it was in this state that Ryuunosuke Uryuu summoned him as a Caster Servant into the Fourth Fuyuki Holy Grail War where the two got to work kidnapping and murdering children. Gilles didn't even engage in the conflict until he saw Artoria Pendragon and believed that she was a resurrected Jeanne, leading to an obsession with her that resulted in an attempt to capture or kill her outside the Einzbern castle before Diarmuid Ua Duibihne foiled that plan and then his workshop was soon destroyed by Iskandar and Waver Velvet.
Rais would soon have his entire views on God changed by Ryuunosuke's words and directly try to challenge him rather than just offend him, summoning the Giant Horror at the Mion River and forcing every other Servant to focus on putting it and him down before more damage was done, leading to Excalibur being used against it that made him remorsefully reflect on the past before perishing and he would serve the role of a villain in yet another Grail War.
Ryuunosuke Uryuu was a Japanese man who simply worked enough jobs to get by in life while indulging his true passion of murder, killing entire families and enjoying slaughtering women and children the most, before he stumbled upon a relic of his family's magus past in the home of his parents, leading to several attempts to summon a demon. Ryuunosuke didn't realize that what he was actually trying to summon was a Servant but he was quite pleased when he called Gilles de Rais forth, simply ignoring the Fourth Fuyuki Holy Grail War to see what his new friend could do to victims and for the chance to keep carrying out his own crimes in relative peace as a Master of the Caster in the conflict.
Even with the Holy Church trying to get them both killed, Uryuu would keep kidnapping children for Gilles' blasphemy and would encounter Rin Tohsaka who wound up breaking his magical bracelet, a gift from the Servant, and freeing his latest victims from their fate, a fact that he didn't seem too concerned about except for the big guy potentially being mad. Ryuunosuke would only truly be affected by a loss when their workshop was destroyed and weep over the loss of their 'art' before touching on the Caster's rage at God and explaining his own view on the matter, that God made humans to be killed and that he enjoys twisted villains like them simply so that he has something to work against.
"Terror has its degrees of freshness. The more intense the fear, the more all of the other emotions die. The terror, in its truest sense, is not a static state but rather a dynamic one. It is the sublime moment which shining hope turns to utter despair. Did you enjoy that? The tantalizing flavor of fresh terror and bloody death."
Stats-
Strength:D
Endurance:E
Agility:D
Mana:C
Luck:E
Noble Phantasm:A+
Abilities-
Superhuman Physicality:Gilles de Rais is capable of easily throwing a wooden chair with one hand hard enough to break it, make fragments of a road fly up as he punches it repeatedly, and lift and crush a child's skull in a single hand.
He has shown no actual hand-to-hand combat skill however and leaves fighting to his Horrors.
Crystal Ball:An interesting piece of equipment that enables Gilles de Rais to see events going on far away like Servant fighting on a shipping platform from his sewer lair and is presumably what he used to find Artoria and Irisviel when they were driving down a road afterwards and even the forest surrounding the Einzbern castle. In addition, he knows when one is being used to see him.
Class and Personal Skills:Gilles de Rais has a B Rank in Territory Creation that enables him to make his lair a "Workshop" so that he can get mana and Item Construction is a (-) which implies that he can't use it but his Master stated he gave him his hypnotizing bracelet although it could be a Spellbook enchantment.
In addition, he has an E- Appreciation of the Arts that enables him some chance of realizing a Noble Phantasm's true name if it is artistic in some way and an A Rank Mental Pollution that makes him insane but enables him to be resistant to mental spells and still communicate easily with his Master.
Prelati's Spellbook:A particularly gruesome book made out of human skin and with pages covered in otherworldly text that serves as Gilles de Rais' only Noble Phantasm albeit one with a wide variety of different spells. His most common use is Horror summoning and hypnosis spells that work well with his underhanded and deceitful style of combat.
The Horrors are creatures with multiple tentacles that can extend surprisingly far that are covered in spikes although Artoria wasn't scratched and mouths full of sharp teeth that can devour a child's body in moments.
They can be summoned in a variety of ways like in a hallway outside the room he is in currently in and even inside living children which kills the host and they follow his commands such as attacking or guarding his lairs.
While they are extremely easy to kill by Servant standards, a crippled Artoria, Diarmuid, and Iskandar all having no problems slaying them individually and Kariya Matou's Crest Worms even overwhelmed one, they have the Spellbook fuelling them.
With it, he doesn't even have to chant a spell as those killed will just be replaced with new Horrors so long as it remains undamaged, however if it is they all dissolve immediately, and in sufficient numbers, they even had a crippled Artoria on the losing side and they tend to go for the neck and limbs with tentacles to restrain targets.
His most powerful spell is the Giant Horror which summons a squid-like behemoth that towers over buildings, has a sharp mouth and inner one, several regular Horrors in it, small tentacles that can catch a fighter jet and Iskandar's chariot, and larger tentacles.
It places him inside it and serves as a form of armor against attacks which took Excalibur to finally punch through and kill it, being able to keep going thanks to the Spellbook even if his Master dies for a while, long enough that there was a serious concern as to whether it could reach the shore to start devouring humans for mana as the Ionian Hetairoi couldn't even wear it down.
It is capable of healing in moments from Artoria hacking a large tentacle in two pieces and Gilgamesh firing four swords at it powerful enough to punch some large holes in it which makes it considerably dangerous and it can even overpower Artoria and Iskandar in his chariot, requiring them to get aid to be free.
It appears to be able to react to threats and the whole lake around it was covered in a purple mist but it has several flaws, it requires him to chant for quite a while, most of a day and a bit of the night, reveals his position to other Servants when it's nearly done, and left notable clues in the beginning like mana pouring out of his Spellbook and large ripples in the water.
His other spells are hypnosis that enabled him to lead a small group of children with him into the forest surrounding the Einzbern castle and was ended with a snap of his fingers and a fairly sizable mist of blood even if it was previously damaged to retreat from two nearby Servants.
It gives him all the mana he needs to freely use his summons to simply overwhelm foes with numbers although it also comes at the cost of his fighting capabilities being crippled if it takes damage as he wasn't able to summon any other Horrors after his previous ones dissolved and the gash was repaired for some period of time.
Intelligence:Gilles de Rais is a man who greatly enjoys making others fearful of him and he easily has the means to do it such as letting children believe they are safe to leave with a Horror summoned nearby and using them in great numbers to overwhelm his foes along with using kidnapped children to draw his targets out and leaving his summons to guard his lairs although he is very clearly a psychotic obsessed with Jeanne and God.
"Let's go kill! I want you to take me out and show me even cooler ways to torture and kill!"
Equipment and Abilities-
Bracelet:A gift from Caster on Ryuunosuke Uryuu's wrist that enables him to hypnotize a child when he touches them to follow him or lay still and the effects last even when he's not around, it's even so potent it almost overwhelmed a young Rin Tohsaka before she concentrated her magical energy on it, but it can be destroyed and will nullify the hypnosis.
Scalpel:A small blade that Ryuunosuke Uryuu has used to cut into Caster's kidnapped children to put in screws for crucifixion and that could potentially be used as a slashing and stabbing weapon if needed, he has a lot as well.
Book:Ryuunosuke Uryuu's parents had this text and it gave him the knowledge of how to summon Caster although it's unknown if it gave him any other knowledge.
Peak-Human Physicality:Ryuunosuke Uryuu appears to have a resilience to pain as a box filled with glasses falling on his foot didn't stop him for long, he was fine after a couple moments of being blinded by a magical explosion that took out his bracelet, and even just being amused at his own blood after being shot in the gut with a sniper rifle.
However he was mortally wounded by that and it could be said that him being a successful serial killer who can take out families could be an impressive physical feat depending on how he did it.
Nursery Rhyme and Alice (Fate/EXTRA)[]
"Alice will run and run...but can we catch the mister?"
"We can! We can! And when we do, off with his head!"
"Aren't you gonna be scared to cut off his head?"
"Sometimes even little girls hafta be scary."
"Then we gotta make the mister really scared of us."
"Uh hu. Let's make the mister so scared of us that he cries a pond."-Alice to Nursery
Nursery Rhyme is a Caster Servant representing an entire genre of literature that was specifically made through Alice's love of the stories being fused with a Reality Marble and therefore the most influence on her abilities is from the works of Lewis Carrol while her appearance is based on her Master's own features, making them appear to be twins at first. Nursery is the more serious of the two, doing her best to keep Alice alive in the Moon Cell Holy Grail War while keeping up with her wish to play with the other Masters, her powers work extremely well for both tasks, although she seems to have a very clear emphasis on cutting off all their heads if her most repeated line is to be believed.
Rhyme presumably took out two Masters for Alice with her Nameless Forest before the third Elimination Round where they would face Hakuno Kishinami and Nero Claudius who proved to be much more difficult targets as her ploy to keep them from getting the first cipher key by using the Jabberwock as a guard failed due to Rani's aid. The Nameless Forest was used once more again after the first two days and was defeated by Rin's simple suggestion, forcing Nursery into the Arena where two other Servants had been defeated by the Saber and despite doing her best to cheer up Alice while turning her against Hakuno, she couldn't escape the same fate as her predecessors.
Rhyme would be deleted along with her Master who tried to get her to accept the end of their happy days in the Moon Cell but she couldn't accept it and cried as she held Alice before she was deleted first and finally stated that the worst part was that she would never be Alice again, but she would get a chance to continue playing in the form of the girl who was grateful for her company in a different Grail War.
Alice was an English girl who wound up getting caught in an air strike in the final years of the Second World War and was reduced to a state where she was constantly in pain at best or not even conscious in a hospital that only maintained her existence to research her magical circuits that were discovered there before she finally died. However that wouldn't be the end for her as she got a second chance at life as a Cyber Ghost in the net where she eventually settled on permanently moving to the Moon Cell where she got to summon Nursery Rhyme as her friend to play with, largely ignoring the Holy Grail War.
She still knew about it and joined it to get the opportunity to meet other Masters in the hope of finding more playmates, preferably someone who could understand her, and likely to prevent herself from being deleted with her existence before the conflict consisting of watching the various candidates which made her into a notable urban legend. After defeating two other Masters in the first Elimination Rounds, she would meet Hakuno Kishinami and Nero Claudius, a duo that played with her and Caster like the previous foes but that ultimately dealt with every trick they had and made her upset as she perceived that Hakuno was angry at her, choosing to stay with Nursery as a friend instead.
"You forgot already? It goes like this:Now good Tom Thumb
Your work is done, The Tale is at its end.
May dreams of dark embrace your heart
Night's curtain doth descend.
With great mirth I'll cut off your head; Life from your body rend."
Stats-
Strength:D~E
Endurance:D~E
Agility:D~E
Mana:D~E
Luck:D~E
Noble Phantasm:EX
Abilities-
Superhuman Physicality:Nursery Rhyme doesn't have any real physicality feats outside of gameplay combat but considering she is capable of fighting a weakened Nero with her fists primarily and block attacks from her, she's very likely above-human.
Additionally she is able to come out of Alice's body in a way that makes it appear she split into twins.
Magic Projectiles:Nursery Rhyme has the ability to shoot magic projectiles at enemies from a decent range that can be easily blocked by Nero but hurt a bit if they connect with flesh.
Class and Personal Skills:Nursery Rhyme has an A Rank in Territory Creation but that is just her Nameless Forest ability which will be detailed below and her A Rank Self-Modification and A+ Shapeshifting are currently being used to make her appear like Alice and it's doubtful at best she'll use them to become someone else.
Frenzied March Hare:Nursery Rhyme dances to call down a gust of wind that can break a Servant's guard and stun them for a moment, long enough to get one attack.
The Plains of Winter:Nursery Rhyme can call up ice to engulf the opponent through dancing that is used for damaging enemies.
White Queen's Enigma:The final dance magic ability of Nursery Rhyme that makes it so her punches can make enemies weaker to magic, making it particularly effective with her other abilities although it does no damage on its own.
The Queen's Glass Game:Also known as Perpetual Engine-Maiden Empire, this is Nursery Rhyme's preferred Noble Phantasm for a direct fight that has her holding hands with Alice and saying the quote text after this section, resulting in a heart with two arrows through it and a crown on it appear out of a magical vortex, deal quite some damage with what appears to be magical energy lines, and heal her completely.
However it takes several turns to activate in her boss battle which implies it takes time to charge before use.
"Beyond beyond the rainbow plains, black and white squares, the King of Games. Run, run, the maze of mirrors, farewell, oh pitiable rabbit~"
Nursery Rhyme:A Noble Phantasm that enables Nursery Rhyme to bring in two very powerful helpers with no delay, the first is the Jabberwock, a bipedal giant, who is powerful enough that a weakened Nero believed retreating was better than fighting him and was only weakened through a vorpal blade which is a magical weapon designed to counter monsters.
He uses brute force to crush his foes and can take quite some punishment without being weakened along with having the skill Alice Eater to make it even more damaging in combat and it can rely on its own magical energy supply given to it before disappearing which can last for over a day at least.
The Nameless Forest, a Reality Marble, is much more simple and passive but just as lethal for enemy Masters, they are unable to remember their names which eventually leads to them forgetting they exist and disappearing if they stay too long in the area which is quite large, covering an entire Arena floor, with the only weakness being that if the opponent does manage to remember their name, its near immediately nullified.
It's unknown if she uses them one at a time solely to fulfill Alice's love of playing but it's likely that only one can be active at a time.
"But if I play too hard, I break my playthings. I don't want their heads and arms to come off!"
Equipment and Abilities-
Notes:Alice carries a note that says "What's your name?", presumably just a defense for herself against the Nameless Forest but that can get dropped in a hurry to leave and a note with the Jabberwock poem in mirror text that can be dropped as well, potentially both of these were on purpose for Hakuno to receive.
Cyber Ghost Attributes:Alice gained two interesting abilities from her tragic state, the ability to seemingly willingly conceal herself from human view if she wishes it and teleportation that can cover a considerable distance or her own version of a Spiritual form.
In addition, it is speculated that this enables her to use magic more than any living person to fuel Nursery Rhyme's Noble Phantasms.
Dragon Skillet:Alice calls down a pillar of flame that seems to be particularly effective against heavier attacks designed to break guards, stunning Servants in that case, but inflicting damage all the time.
March of the Black Hare:Alice's slight healing spell for Nursery Rhyme that doesn't recover too much health but it's still something.
X-Factors[]
Teamwork:Gilles de Rais and Ryuunosuke Uryuu are close friends, both sharing a love of killing and torture, with the Servant even serving as a mentor in the matter and comforting him when their lair was destroyed, the Caster even had his view of God changed by his Master's words and his Giant Horror briefly paused from his grief at his death.
Nursery Rhyme and Alice get along as nothing less than best friends, it's implied that they have been playing together for a while and the Servant tries to prevent her Master from making mistakes while entertaining her desire to play and comforting her when she feels Hakuno hates her, deliberately telling her that all she needs is Caster for friends.
Experience:Gilles de Rais has kidnapped several children along with Ryuunosuke Uryuu who killed many people although it was he who actually engaged in the combat, briefly besting a crippled Artoria Pendragon with one good hand, holding out against her and Diarmuid Ua Duibihne for a while, and taking Iskandar and Artoria on in his Giant Horror while easily taking out a Japanese fighter jet.
Nursery Rhyme and Alice have defeated two Masters and Servants previously although it's implied that was the Nameless Forest's work and not direct combat, potentially a variety of enemy programs in various shapes like bees and horned creatures, and their battle with Hakuno Kishinami and a weakened Nero Claudius who lacked her Noble Phantasm but was regaining her strength that they lost.
Tactics:Gilles de Rais is an extremely underhanded fighter, utilizing dirty tricks like hostages and hordes of Horrors without hesitation while showing an ability to recognize when to retreat to prepare or escape a losing battle although he only used his Giant Horror to make a point to God although it showed the same incapacitating fighting style as the smaller ones, and Ryuunosuke Uryuu is largely content to stay at their lair or kidnap on his own along with torture and evasion skills.
Nursery Rhyme mixes her fighting style into Alice's playing, starting off with using the Jabberwock to guard the cipher key that Hakuno needed, then using the Nameless Forest and taking cheap attacks with her magic projectiles while they chased them down with Nero before dissapearing when they got too close, and finally only resorting to direct fighting when she needed to in the Elimination Battle, never showing any of her other moves before, with Alice serving as support from the back with her magic.
Scenario Familiarity:Gilles de Rais is well-suited to intelligence gathering with his crystal ball that can easily keep up with any noteworthy events or help him keep track of a target that he sets his sights on, he tracked and caught every last one of a group of children he set loose in a forest, and he can easily make a defensive garrison of Horrors while he and Ryuunosuke Uryuu can avoid police detection even when they're nearby and set up lairs in sewage pipes and abandoned buildings.
Nursery Rhyme has no actual intelligence gathering skills and seems to not bother with it much, only noticing Hakuno looking at her from the side in the library and knowing when Alice was revealing crucial information, and the two keeping up with him in the school through knowing what areas he goes to and where he'd return after a clue while their body concealment and invisibility work well for evasion and the Jabberwock can guard an area.
Notes[]
Voting ends on May 9th. Votes need edges or two paragraphs and decent grammar to count.
The fight takes place in a copy of New York City where both Caster and Master pairs have been resurrected after their defeats in their respective Holy Grail Wars and left to get acquainted with the city for a month before those who brought them back give each duo a mission to accomplish.
Gilles de Rais and Ryuunosuke Uryuu have successfully captured a specific girl useful to their patron's cause and are currently holding her in their sewer lair while waiting for retrieval while continuing their regular murders and kidnappings.
Unfortunately Nursery Rhyme and Alice were supposed to be guarding that girl for their mister and became friends with her which makes them desperately want to find her and keep her safe again as they are informed they have a week deadline while residing in a school.
Both duos know there is an opposing Servant on the other team.
Gilles and Ryuunosuke know that the opposing Master is the ghost girl which interests them to see what blasphemous art they can create with such a unique specimen.
Nursery and Alice know that the opposing Master is the kidnapping murderer which makes them agree to put an end to the psychopath before more kids get hurt.
Gilles and Ryuunosuke are informed that Nursery and Alice will be leaving the next day so they decide to put their planning to good use and strike while Nursery and Alice have been preparing as well for the eventual attack.
Gilles will lead the assault on Nursery and Alice who are staying together while Ryuunosuke waits in the shadows for a good opportunity but there is one other complication for the latter duo.
The way back home was unintentionally put in Gilles and Ryuunosuke's lair which means that Nursery and Alice must enter it to go back.
Both will be made aware of the location of that portal in the last three hours.
Victory comes through either duo killing the other two but there are alternatives.
Gilles and Ryuunosuke succeeding in their capture attempt is their other win condition.
Nursery and Alice successfully escaping the City is their other win condition.
Brief retreats but not outside of the City are allowed to prepare more or break away from combat.
(Nursery and Alice's portal escape are the exception to that rule.)
Preparations can take as long as either side wants.
They can fight as soon as they find each other or interrupt each others' planning with combat.
I am using the anime versions of Gilles and Ryuunosuke and the game versions of Nursery and Alice.
The Battle[]
Sewers, 'New York City'
"You think our patron will enjoy our art, big guy? I think we've tried a lot of different ways to get the innards of our latest pieces out that'll really prove unique."
"I believe she will, my dear Ryuunosuke, although perhaps she is simply the kind to prefer misery in general."
"Sounds boring, having no standards like that but I won't complain about it. I'm just so excited to be able to have this much fun again and in a foreign city! Cool!"
Ryuunosuke Uryuu jumped and shouted with excitement as his eyes took in the sheer wonder of all the art pieces he and Caster had made, Gilles de Rais simply smiling in pleasure at his Master's amusement, France and Japan were but two stops of the same tour to him, now the United States would know exactly what true masterpieces were. To say the sight would be horrifying to anyone but the serial killer and Bluebeard would be putting it lightly, the blood and gore of past victims had stained the sewer floors and the bodies were even more disgusting to witness, no one should have to die in such agonizing ways especially not a child. But that was exactly how Uryuu and de Rais went about their lives, kidnapping the young of the poor city they had now taken residence in and subjecting them to the worst fates imaginable, solely for their own amusement and to prove a point to God, no one even knew what had happened to their 'artwork'.
"Hey, isn't it getting to be about time to grab some kid for her? I know our patron mentioned that being the reason for bringing us back to life...too bad I miss seeing my insides."
"Now, now, Ryuunosuke, we have a second chance to prove God wrong. We shouldn't waste it but I do believe she wanted that blue-haired girl, maybe that goes well with green on a canvas."
"Eh, I don't really care what our patron does with her but a deal's a deal, big guy. Let's scope out the neighborhood."
Ryuunosuke and Gilles began going through the winding path out of their sewer lair once again to find another victim, although this one wouldn't have to fear their actions, no, she'd be better off fearing their patron, and yet despite having access to all of the City from their base of operations, no had found them. The citizens might very well have thought they were cursed and many prayed for someone to bring their lost children back to them or at least find the culprit, while it seemed the gods were focusing on other matters, their maker had finally noticed what was going on and was most displeased. Uryuu and de Rais had gotten used to having free reign in a User's creation like a certain blonde girl with an eyepatch but he had no symbiotic killer to let 'escape' this time, Lime would soon get her wish of seeing her supposed replacements for the first time as the Caster and Master got rivals.
"Ah, that was fun! I want to go again!"
"I'm happy you're having excitement on our first mission for the mister but we're here to deal with an enemy Master and Servant like in the Moon Cell. We need to be serious here."
"You're right, Alice. I can't believe someone who preys on children got a Servant, we gotta make them pay for everything they've done."
Nursery Rhyme nodded and smiled in approval as Alice straightened her hat, the teleportation process had been fun for the two girls but now they were apparently sent to a school, not a bad idea in the Caster's opinion, if you wanted to save a kid, you would need to find them before the bad people did. It was a bit odd that their mister didn't know who exactly was at risk but the Caster and Master had gotten him to admit he couldn't actually see everything and he was busy with a war at home, that brought back bad memories for the two of what led to their meeting. Still it had been a happier time than Alice's first life, even Hakuno defeating her and Rhyme in the Moon Cell was just how their story had to end but then mister called her back and while he looked silly with that mask on, he was a nice person and she was happy to have so many new friends.
"Don't worry mister, Alice will make you proud, I won't let a single other child be taken by that monster...it's the least I can do for you taking me out of my eternal sleep."
"Well of course he would Alice, we're family to mister and I exist to protect the kids of wherever I end up so you'll always have me by your side, he wasn't a bad Master though..."
"Ah, mister's really good at his job, he just works too much. I think we're the only ones he'll listen to when he needs to take a break...anyway, this school looks really similar to the one in our old home."
Alice looked at the staircase and imagined having to go up it everyday, she preferred running to that, and the seemingly endless doors that led to classrooms with various things written on the noteboards, Nursery gently hummed as they walked past the history class with World War 2 prominently displayed. Luckily the Master hadn't seen it and she seemed content to explore a new place, the Caster knew they were in unfamiliar territory but neither knew an enemy of their mister was currently watching them through her crystal ball with a sense of satisfaction at having baited her ex into deploying his most precious followers. She couldn't wait for them to meet her own helpers, she almost wanted to show up in person to give them a hellish end but she had other plans to keep bringing to fruition, Hippoman would soon be feeling complete despair from the horrors Alice and Rhyme would be subjected to, she would see him crumble as everything fell apart.
"Did you track down Lime's likeliest target, Slender?" The mental echo in Hippoman's head answered him as he saw through Slender Man's vision to see a neighborhood on the richer side of the city, while most considered the being as just an attack dog for the User, he was actually good for surveillance as well and controllable after their agreement.
"I would ask why you bother with interrupting that maniac's plot to grab a child whose only notable capability is seeing beyond the veil of her reality. We already block the Hater and her contemporaries' far superior skills at breaking Hippoman Land's defenses against those powers." Admiral Trench habitually clicked after stating his question, while it was true that classic spying was the only way to see what went on in the masked User's realm, he knew he had a traitor among his followers but not who it was and it just didn't sit right with him to leave his creations at the mercy of a rogue Servant.
"This sends a message to her that I will not tolerate her blatant attempts to undermine our war effort. I also find a child-murdering lunatic in one of my creations a greivous insult that I cannot stand, well, one that I have not verified is no longer a threat beforehand. Quiet now, the sewer grate is opening, a fitting place for trash." Hippoman watched with anticipation as the faceless stalker obediently focused on the only noticeable difference in the night as the occupants of the copied New York City rested and saw a man with orange hair, a purple vest and pants, and white shirt exit which confirmed his previous suspicions before the more flamboyant Caster followed.
"Gilles de Rais and Ryuunosuke Uryuu, my, how desperate you have become Lime. Sending degenerates against my people and to abduct a child, absolutely no sense of morality in the slightest." Hippoman knew the point was already agreed upon by his loyalists as he stated what he saw to the Harch commander and the Droid overseer, the latter scrambling the staff of his User Palace to hunt down everything that could be found through the research machines on the two new enemies of the state.
The Man patiently watched Ryuunosuke Uryuu and Gilles de Rais stalking through the neighborhood and stop by each house on the right block to check the number, Hippoman had a feeling he had sent Alice and Nursery Rhyme too late to prevent this and yet it was better that they fight the duo instead of revealing his Virtual Psycho's upgraded status on a neutral world. The masked User did not want to anger DFederal and 'typical Warriors' were too unreliable as Carnage left almost as much of a mess as Nui Hari to clean up, the girls had his complete faith in their capabilities to beat the other Caster and his Master once they tracked them down. Simultaneously Hippoman certainly didn't want to look weak and ask for help from the main fortress city, especially with what such a deal would likely entail and his suspicions of their support of the Bolsheviks, but he wasn't surprised to see the criminals had chosen a house Slender had closely watched.
Ryuunosuke started picking the lock as Gilles left a Horror outside the door and the two entered the home, Hippoman knew exactly who Lime wanted in that world although even he didn't know how she got to his first copy world and why she was much younger than usual, better than being stuck with Moge-ko however. Not even a minute later, the serial killer and Bluebeard walked back out the front door before shutting it gently behind them, a blue-haired girl in a white dress holding the Master's hand as his Bracelet hypnotized her into following the duo despite the horrific beast joining them.
"Hinata has been taken. It appears the game has now begun, Lime." The masked User felt a bit of doubt and distaste at leaving the girl to her fate but the Yanderella had certainly not made a good impression on him the few times they interacted and his greater concern was warning the two Alices that the situation had changed from protection to a rescue mission.
"Nyahaha! What is this, the Power Pack?! They should have stuck with the original outfits, who wants a red and green version of that hideous dress?!" Lime was completely overtaken by a fit of laughter, she wouldn't admit a good chunk of her reaction was coping to being replaced by this bumbling duo with the most puffy dresses she'd ever seen, matching braids, and actual bibs but they still were hilarious to look at.
"Do you really think laughing your ass off when this is supposed to be a stealthy observation of a User's territory is a good idea? Even when 'Manchurian Gold' was coursing through my veins, I had more self-control." Olson was always so serious, honestly she liked him more when he was going mad, at least that was fun, now he just felt the need to criticize her at every turn without even knowing that her planning was complete with her diversion schemes still being useful but obscuring her real ace.
"Come on, Captain, smile for once. I'm just about to deliver a smashing blow to Hippoboy's mental health and you're worrying about a couple guffaws? Just watch and see what Limey does next~..." The Hater demon knew she got under his skin when his perpetual scowl got deeper at her extremely sarcastic naming of his title and her self-assured attitude, unlike a human pirate, she knew exactly how to completely cripple a nation and even more so what truly hurt people, mostly through self-testing.
"I really am getting used to Servants, much more controllable than David Bowie and his cat Stand, that one really sucked to heal from. Plus I really enjoy how many different ways Fish Eyes and Slacker know how to kill people although I wish they'd spice up the palate but anyways, here's my cue..." Lime saw white Alice stop playing hopscotch to pay attention as black Alice opened a device to see Hippoman, the User's mask was even dumber-looking after all these months with that tacky seal and hippo hybrid design, but she was primarily focused on moving her fingers around the crystal ball to work her magic as soon as the User tried to inform his followers.
"Alice and Alice, the enemy Servant and Master are Gilles de Rais and Ryuunosuke Uryuu, previously involved in the Fourth Fuyuki Holy Grail War. Ryuunosuke is mostly just a psychotic human with a hypnotic bracelet while Gilles has a variety of Horror summons, spells for fleeing-"
Blah, blah, blah, boring, here's what I made him say instead...
"Alice and Alice, the enemy Servant and Master have taken the girl you were supposed to protect. You must retrieve her before the end of the week or Hippoman Land will fall. I am counting only on you two to preserve my city, do well enough and I will reward you..."
"Congratulations, you despicable little gremlin of a person. You make me even more disgusted every day but not surprised."
"Come on Captain, you have to butter them up a bit so they don't wonder why the communication ends so abruptly and then they won't even realize their little communicator doesn't work anymore until their high wears off! Yeah, I need to find some more User secretaries, they get so attached too easily that I could just make their hearts do the conga and those faces are priceless..."
"You were exactly the same back then. Don't tell me this isn't about him never cuddling with you or maybe you were just a pawn all along." Olson's smug grin was even wider in the face of Lime's brief flicker of flames across her hands and her appearance beginning to show the hidden burns from her human demise, he knew she didn't have the guts to off him, nor when he helped get all of their non-demonic troops ready for combat but he still knew to quit while he was ahead.
"Yeah, you think that. I'm honestly glad he never wanted me for that, all I want is power, same as you and to see new forms of pain and misery. Make your patron happy, Fish Eyes and Slacker~."
After watching Alice and Nursery Rhyme practically turning into tomatoes and almost tumbling over themselves, the Hater demon could hardly hold in her anticipation at how they would react when her artists started working on them, just how much could a ghost and doll endure before completely breaking? What would happen to that pathetic excuse for a User, would he just crumble completely into a wreck of a man or simply lose all rationality and just start a conflict with DFederal over the Bolsheviks or maybe he'd hole up with his new 'girls' in the capital and just never come out? Whatever happened, she'd never stop until Trotsky Mask, Mikotsuhime, and even Olson were in shambles as well, completely destroyed at the hands of Lime's maliciously plotted-out schemes designed to break the hardiest of souls, she'd be just fine with burning everyone down if it meant she got the power to bring Charlie back from the Hell she escaped.
But the pirate captain was no fool either and he knew he needed to dump her as soon as possible, just waiting for the perfect opportunity to let her make the ultimate sacrifice against those hypocritical communists or dictator bootlickers, he had use for the Princess and he had already maneuvered her a lot more than Lime would ever know.
"Why were they blushing like that? I was talking about their targets and then I ended with I trusted them and hoped to see them back soon. I surely hope the others weren't watching." Hippoman was very confused as he certainly tried to act more as a father than the other Users to their secretaries, some of whom he doubted had savory intentions for their charges, and he'd kept their interactions strictly platonic but they still had a strong attachment.
"It would appear Lime intercepted the signal. Who knows what she made your image say with her dark magic but we shall modify our defenses once again after this serious breach."
"So she keeps getting bolder, eh? Eventually you'll wind up burning again, a victim of your own arrogance by my hand or the other Users..."
"I would hope that's soon, I can't stand her antics." Admiral Trench's clicks distracted Hippoman from self-contemplating for a moment on why he ever brought Lime to Hippoman Land in the first place, she certainly had sunk farther than he would have expected to employ those two of all Servant and Master pairings and to risk so much just to get a girl with some ability to see beyond her universe.
"Slender, what do you-ah, this could be a problem." Hippoman saw through his Psycho's vision once more and saw a pair of men who confirmed his previous suspicions about this world, the green-haired man in an odd lab coat and man covered in a greenish-yellow body suit were members of an acquantice's group who were walking towards a club with the title of 'Slingers Anonymous'.
"Arrange a meeting with the general, Slender, I don't want any interference from the Cult in this battle."
"Jeez, to think he'd be so direct after all this time...'"
"I know, Alice! Yes, it's wonderful!"
"Well, anyway, we need to find that girl and save her from that rotten excuse for a Servant and Master!" Alice nodded as Nursery Rhyme spoke, both still a bit light-headed from what their mister said to them but they used their Spiritual forms to move around outside the school undetected and decided to look around the streets for any signs of their quarry, unfortunately, it seemed the opposing Servant didn't target this area.
Still it wasn't all bad, the view of the city even though it was merely a copy of something Hippoman once knew was absolutely beautiful from here, Alice and Nursery both finding themselves staring at the bright lights and tall buildings, to be honest, the Cyber Ghost's memories of England were foggy so this was nice to see. The Caster and Master found themselves admiring the detail put into every streetlamp, bench, and the sidewalk they walked along to reach the city, New York mister called it if they remembered correctly and while this certainly hadn't been all his work, he did a good job of making a nice place to live with the people here maintaining it. In comparison to his capital building, Alice and Rhyme knew he didn't take any real pride in how much better it was in comparison to the drab style of his Land, he had wanted everything to look as good as his home but he never had the time with the constant conflicts rumbling across his borders.
"You want to see if they have any food in the City, Alice?"
"Um, shouldn't we be investigating some more Alice?"
"We can't look on an empty stomach and even if that dinner mister gave us still has you filled up a bit, we can have snacks and see if there's anything for later." Nursery smiled at Alice as the lights dazzled in her eyes, her Master nodding in response as they began to enter the main metropolitan area filled with high-rises, office buildings, and lots of places to eat at, food carts and restaurants all peaking the duo's interest until they decided on one place in particular.
"Look, Alice, a cafe with tea and macaroons!"
"Oh, that does seem nice, Alice!"
"Let's go get dessert!" The Caster and Master went through the door and discovered no one inside the cafe, well, that was fine as they certainly knew how to make tea and could help themselves to the macaroons, the Servant keeping tab of what they owed and putting it out on the table while they prepared an improvised teaparty.
It didn't take long for Rhyme and Alice to finish boiling the tea and leaving it out to cool, the Cyber Ghost thought this was probably the best way for them to eat while in the city, not having to reveal their presence unless it was absolutely necessary as their mister instructed and he certainly gave them enough spending money. The Caster and Master sampled a couple varieties of macaroons while waiting, vanilla, chocolate, hot cocoa, and weird ones like grape and peppermint that they didn't really like but the Cyber Ghost still convinced the Servant to pay for before the teapot whistled and it was ready to sit down. It was nice getting to just relax and spend time together like they used to in the Moon Cell although Alice and Nursery missed their other friends already, at least the tea was nice and warm with sugar and the macaroons they saved went well with their drinks, enabling them to pass a couple minutes just talking.
"I wonder where that horrible Servant and Master are lurking. They're probably under a bridge somewhere!"
"It seems like that would be too busy here though, Alice. There's a lot of cars and they probably want to stay hidden."
"You're right, Alice, if only Jack wasn't patrolling the capital and that green Archer wasn't part of the police force, either of them would do much better here..." The Master patted her Caster on the back with a smile as she closed her eyes and cheered her Servant up, she knew it wasn't going to be easy but they had to try for Hippoman and the sake of all the children who had been taken by those monsters already, neither could abide that.
"I'm sure mister had a good reason to send us here! But there's got to be a lot of dark abandoned places for them to hide..."
"It doesn't matter, Alice and Alice will triumph in the end over any evil! And then off goes their heads..."
"It's kinda like hide-and-seek..." Rhyme and Alice laughed together before finishing off the tea in their teacups and cleaning up after themselves, setting off to look for the illusive duo of opposing Master and Caster waiting somewhere in the city, they would greatly regret their crimes against children once they were found.
While Nursery and Alice were long gone by the time the shop owner got back, he was horrified to see his stock depleted by what he assumed to be rats or cockroaches before noticing the stack of dollar bills and tea set in the sink, frantically calling the police that his cafe had been broken into, it wasn't like he entirely didn't deserve the stress and shock however, he had been happy the little shits across the street were gone after all...
"Jeez, big guy, were they always this much of a handful?"
"No, my dear Ryuunosuke, something about this girl has the Fiends greatly intrigued."
"Well, maybe if she'd stop wailing so much, I wouldn't have to keep watching her so she doesn't become lunch!" Ryuunosuke Uryuu was greatly bored now, they had run out of subjects for their 'art' and now the Fiends wouldn't stop rattling the cage that held the blue-haired girl they kidnapped, she really was a whiner which made him wish Gilles de Rais and the serial killer didn't have specific orders from their patron not to harm her.
"Oh, our patron! I cannot wait to hear more praise about our work!"
"Fish eyes and slacker, you got the brat?"
"Of course, it was far easier than we thought it would be. I guess the rich still fancy themselves as invincible even now..." The cystal ball showed the Caster his beloved patron, her green-haired beauty showed a truly twisted soul that only those like her could appreciate, and he smiled happily while his Master listened with great interest, he couldn't wait to hear the praise they would get for their latest pieces.
"Hey, I know I told you two you only had two jobs here but I kinda lied..."
"Hmm, what else do you wish done, my lady?"
"On top of wreaking havoc here and getting Little Miss Yanderella for me, I'm going to need you two to take out an enemy Caster and Master for me." The Hater didn't expect to get a good response but de Rais and Uryuu laughing maniacally certainly didn't make her feel like they were laughing with her, yeah, she needed to throw the creeps some bait so that they would further her schemes until they inevitably got themselves killed again.
"You can't be serious! We don't do fighting, ma'am, sorry to say that we suck at that and don't really care about it but you should have brought back a Berserker as well if you wanted muscle!"
"Yes, we are grateful to you but meaningless conflict holds no interest to us."
"Oh really? You wouldn't want to help torment one of my enemies if it meant you got a ghost girl and so-called protector of children to toy with?" Lime knew that would do the trick, Gilles and Ryuunosuke's sly grins immediately making room for a much more menacing and wide smile, she could see the gears turning in their demented little heads as they thought about what they were just offered for the small cost of doing a bit more work for her.
"Did you just say ghost girl? Like she's already dead but somehow still kicking?"
"Yeah, it's kinda weird, something to do with souls being digitalized and being hit by some random Luftwaffe bomb before a hospital stay where she was just tortured until the last bits of life left her..."
"COOL!" Ryuunosuke cried out like he had just had the best time of his creepy little life or won the lottery, Gilles' increasingly widening pupils letting their patron knew she had a deal already decided but it wouldn't hurt to egg them on a little bit more.
"A soul who has been through so much agony and yet still remains! A doll who fancies herself a guardian and looks just like her! Wonderful!"
"So I take it you're going to do the job now?"
"Of course, this is an opportunity I, Gilles de Rais, have never gotten before and I would not deprive my Master of such a unique specimen! I can't wait to see how much blasphemy she can take before falling once more! Ahahahahahaha!"