Swole City

[Cherry Lover]

Sakura and Shirou

Sakura grinned momentarily at the girl's comment, amused by her obvious dislike of their mutual sister. Then, as the girl approached her and asked for an introduction, Sakura bowed slightly.

"I'm Sakura Emiya, and this is my husband, Shirou", she said, gesturing in Shirou's direction, causing him to bow also. "Nice to meet you, Miss Edelfelt."

"As for your construct, yes, it seems like it got confused. I was never adopted by the Edelfelt family, so when she referred to my sister, I assumed she meant the person she was based off. From the way she reacted, I'm guessing you have a very.. loving relationship with your sister. Luvia, is it?"

From the way the construct had spoken and her total lack of interest in Shirou, Sakura had the strong impression that the sort of love that the two sisters held for each other was not purely platonic. After all, why else would her marriage be seen as a betrayal?

[SINIB]

Sakura Edelfeldt

"One could describe it like that, yes." She flipped her curl again before smirking, showing a toothy grin. Her teeth were perfectly straight and white, but what was most noticable where the four elongated canines which betrayed her as a vampire.

"I will be the woman who bears Luvia's children." She sounded so matter of fact, as if it weren't something scandalous at all. She gave Shirou another look, as if she were checking something out about him.

Then, she gestured at Sakura. "So, I take it that you married him for love?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

[Cherry Lover]

Sakura and Shirou

Sakura and Shirou's eyes widened at the alternate Sakura's comment and the obviously-enlongated canines which she possessed. Sakura had figured that her alternate had a crush on her sister, but for her to express it so openly was still somewhat of a surprise. And the fact that she was seemingly some kind of vampire took them both by surprise.

"Y..yes, our marriage was not arranged", Sakura replied, still a little shocked at the girl's brazen comment. "I love him just as much as you appear to love your sister."

Then, Shirou spoke up.

"Erm, Miss Edelfelt, are you some kind of vampire?" he said, warily.

[SINIB]

Sakura Edelfeldt

She chuckled at their reaction, shaking her head. "Is it really so strange to have feelings for someone so close to you? No matter. I don't consider our relationship to be something to be ashamed of."

And then, Sakura moved with blinding speed, her hand lunging toward's Shirou's face at inhuman speeds, palm outstretched...

Only to flick his forehead lightly and chuckle. "Yes, I suppose I am, as of last night. Are you going to hunt me?" She stuck out her tongue at the two of them. "Congratulations on finding love. I can't imagine myself being attracted to a man, but if my alternate self is anything to go by, it must indeed be possible."

Finally, she turned her attention to Sakura again. "So, what's your real name. What family did our loving parents pawn you off to?"

As she asked, fury blazed in her eyes, palpable and terrifying. Her rage was raw and unrestrained, looking like she'd happily disembowel Tokiomi if he happened to appear in front of them. "I'm assuming Emiya is his name-" She said, pointing at Shirou. "-since I've never heard of it."

[Cherry Lover]

Sakura and Shirou

"It is generally considered strange to be sexually attracted to your sibling, yes", Sakura responded, slightly surprised that the girl was so open about her incestuous desires.

As she was speaking, though, the girl moved rapidly towards Shirou, lunging at him with an outstretched palm. He immediately summoned up his swords and began to swing his swords to cut off the girl's arm, but he was far too late. Sakura watched on with horror and anger as the girl's hand lunged towards his face. She prepared her own magic in a futile effort to fight back. Only for her to suddenly stop just short, flicking his head lightly. Immediately, Sakura dispelled her magic, and Shirou dispelled his swords mid-flight, ensuring that the girl would remain unharmed.

"Do you hurt innocent people?" Shirou replied. "If not, then it doesn't matter to me what you are."

Sakura, meanwhile, smiled at the comment about finding love, before being slightly taken aback by the sudden look of fury in the girl's eyes. Clearly it was aimed at the father who had abandoned them, but she would have thought that this version of her would hold less hatred towards him. She had, after all, seemingly found a loving family, and one which had trained her properly.

"Yes, Emiya is my husband's name. I was gifted to the Matou family by our wonderful father", Sakura replied, the disgust and anger she felt clear in her voice. "But they were.. not kind, and once I was free of their grasp I had no desire to retain their name."

[SINIB]

Sakura Edelfeldt

"Feh. What mage family is?" She shrugged her shoulders lazily. "The Matou family is very well known. So he fucked off to that backwater?" She shook her head, taking a moment before responding. Her emotions were too high, and she could feel her blood boiling. "Well, if you don't care about your bloodline, then more power to you."

She didn't seem to really care about that in this moment. She wanted to know why he had the same magic as the Archer card.

"Do that again." She almost sounded to be commanding him. She rubbed her legs against each other, excited by the prospect of new magics she might be able to steal.

[Cherry Lover]

Sakura and Shirou

Sakura looked at her alternate self with confusion, unsure what she was talking about with regards to the Matou family. However, she could tell that the girl was a little upset, and she seemed to want to drop the conversation, so Sakura saw no reason to respond. Instead, the alternate Sakura turned to address Shirou, asking him to replicate his earlier feat with a very commanding tone. In response, Shirou immediately did as she asked, summoning up his twin swords once more and swinging them towards her arm, only to dispel them again once they got close.

Sakura, meanwhile, watched with amusement, noting with interest that the girl seemed very excited by the sight, almost to the point of sexual arousal. On seeing Shirou's overly-literal reaction, she giggled.

"Senpai, I don't think she meant it that literally", she said, with obvious amusement.

"Oh, right...", Shirou said, feeling a bit silly. "Sorry, I'm just used to instinctively reacting to that tone of voice from my wife. In a battle, you have to trust your partner's decisions."

With that, he took a step back and summoned up his swords once more, this time holding them up so she could see.

"These are the weapons I most commonly fight with, Kanshou and Bakuya", he said, with a gentle smile on his face.

[SINIB]

Sakura

Sakura rolled her eyes, unamused by their foolish antics. One needed to think, not to be commanded. His role could easily be fillrd by a dog if that was the extent of his abilities.

"No, show me the strongest attack you can do. Surely your magecraft is stronger than just one singular spell."

She snapped her fingers, and tendrils appeared behind her. "Let's make it simple. Do your best as a team to defeat me. I'll give you the first attack."

She felt herself brimming with magic, and quickly reinforced herself. She may have been looking down on their abilities, but that didn't mean she was going to act like an uncouth fool.

[Cherry Lover]

Sakura and Shirou

Shirou frowned at the girl's reaction, unsure how to respond. After all, he had no idea how strong she actually was, and he didn't want to risk accidentally killing her. Sakura, however, wanted to prove herself against this version of her who seemed better in every way, so she nodded.

"That sounds like it would be interesting", Sakura said. "However, I think it might be better if we were to fight somewhere without any bystanders who might get hurt."

"Yes, definitely", Shirou added. "I wouldn't be comfortable using most of my abilities in such a heavily-populated area."

[SINIB]

Sakura

She chuckled. "Knowing these muscleheads, they'd like the show. But fine. Lead the way."

[Cherry Lover]

Sakura and Shirou

Sakura nodded.

"OK, follow us, then", she said, before walking off at a reasonably brisk pace towards a nearby area of wasteland, sending one of her shadow familiars towards the top of a derelict building nearby as she did so.

After a few minutes' walking, they arrived at their destination, and Sakura nodded to her alternate self.

"OK, this will do", she said, grabbing hold of Shirou as she spoke. "We will need to start somewhat further apart, though. Se..Shirou's strongest attacks are ranged."

With that, Sakura began to chant.

"Aufsaugen! Aufsaugen! Aufsaugen!" she said, tendrils spreading over Shirou's body as she did so. "Verschwinden! Teleportieren!"

With that, the two of them vanished into Sakura's shadow, before exiting shortly after from the familiar on top of the building. On arrival, the two of them chatted for a few moments, discussing what would be the optimal strategy to win the fight without risking accidentially killing their opponent. Then, they took up their positions and began.

"Trace on!" Shirou said, tracing a bow and a copy of a moderately powerful Noble Phantasm, preparing to fire.

"Erschaffe Hornissenschwarm!" Sakura shouted, a swarm of hornets beginning to form behind her. "Mehr! Mehr!"

"Erzeugen Schattenigel! Wiederholen! Wiederholen!" she continued, forming several blobs of shadow a little way behind their opponent. "Angriff!"

Simultaneously to her finishing the chant and sending the hornets towards the other Sakura, Shirou shouted the name of his noble phantasm, sending it hurtling towards their opponent. However, instead of targetting her directly, which he felt would be too dangerous, he instead set it to explode a little in front of her, close enough that he expected it to send her flying backwards and cause her significant burns, but not to kill her outright. Then, to finish off the attack, as the girl attempted to evade, Sakura made one last chant.

"Schießen!" she shouted, sending spikes firing out of the shadow blob, intending to pierce their opponent.

[SINIB]

Sakura Edelfeldt

Sakura rolled her eyes.

"You're underestimating me." She said simply, not moving an inch from where she stood. A black wall quickly rose up in the spell's path, sucking the mana out of the explosion as it impacted and disintigrating into fine black dust. "If this was a real fight-" Another wall rose up behind her, rematerializing into her "sister", who proceeded to spread outwards and block her doppler's attacks.

"-you'd already be dead. Come at me seriously." Suddenly, she charged forward, sprinting towards them as fast as some servants moved. Within seconds, she'd have closed the distance.

[Cherry Lover]

Sakura and Shirou

Shirou watched with a look of shock on his face as the alternate Sakura simply absorbed the force of the blast into her shadow, with absolutely no apparent effect. Sakura was a little less surprised, aware that it was in principle possible, but nevertheless she was impressed by the girl's power.

"Apparently I did, yes. But I'd far sooner do that than overestimate you", Shirou said, in response to the girl's statement.

They were even more shocked at the girl's speed of movement. Fortunately, though, Sakura was used to fighting against such powerful enemies, and she repeated her trick from earlier.

"Abfangen! Entmündigen sie!" Sakura shouted, sending her hornets after the girl, instructing them to attempt to incapacitate her with their tranquilizing stings.

The hornets did as instructed, splitting into smaller groups in order to be more difficult to destroy. Wasting no time, Sakura began to chant again.

"Aufsaugen! Aufsaugen! Aufsaugen! Verschwinden! Teleportieren!" she chanted, sucking Shirou into her shadow dimension once more, before disappearing and reappearing on top of another derelict building.

Realising the girl's power, Sakura additionally sent small familiars to every other potential vantage point, ensuring that she would have the ability to continue to escape her much-faster opponent in this manner. Then, having recognised the girl's power and escaped to a safe distance, they made a second attempt at attacking her, this time taking her full power into account.

"Erstelle Schattenball!" Sakura shouted, pointing in the girl's direction. "Anderer! Und anderer! Alles aufspießen!"

In response to Sakura's chanting, several more blobs appeared, just behind and to the side of the girl, as well as one above her. Then, on her command, they sprouted large spikes, intending to pierce her. Meanwhile, Shirou, taking advantage of the distraction Sakura was hopefully creating, began to chant once more.

"I am the bone of my sword!" he said. "Caladborg!"

With that, he fired the powerful Noble Phantasm directly at their opponent, not holding back in the slightest. Sakura, meanwhile, continued to summon up little blobs of shadow, each one designed to impale her if she was not careful. And, unless they were destroyed by either the explosion or the alternate Sakura's attacks, the hornets would continue to attempt to sting her.

[SINIB]

Sakura and Shirou

Shirou watched with a look of shock on his face as the alternate Sakura simply absorbed the force of the blast into her shadow, with absolutely no apparent effect. Sakura was a little less surprised, aware that it was in principle possible, but nevertheless she was impressed by the girl's power.

"Apparently I did, yes. But I'd far sooner do that than overestimate you", Shirou said, in response to the girl's statement.

They were even more shocked at the girl's speed of movement. Fortunately, though, Sakura was used to fighting against such powerful enemies, and she repeated her trick from earlier.

"Abfangen! Entmündigen sie!" Sakura shouted, sending her hornets after the girl, instructing them to attempt to incapacitate her with their tranquilizing stings.

The hornets did as instructed, splitting into smaller groups in order to be more difficult to destroy. Wasting no time, Sakura began to chant again.

"Aufsaugen! Aufsaugen! Aufsaugen! Verschwinden! Teleportieren!" she chanted, sucking Shirou into her shadow dimension once more, before disappearing and reappearing on top of another derelict building.

Realising the girl's power, Sakura additionally sent small familiars to every other potential vantage point, ensuring that she would have the ability to continue to escape her much-faster opponent in this manner. Then, having recognised the girl's power and escaped to a safe distance, they made a second attempt at attacking her, this time taking her full power into account.

"Erstelle Schattenball!" Sakura shouted, pointing in the girl's direction. "Anderer! Und anderer! Alles aufspießen!"

In response to Sakura's chanting, several more blobs appeared, just behind and to the side of the girl, as well as one above her. Then, on her command, they sprouted large spikes, intending to pierce her. Meanwhile, Shirou, taking advantage of the distraction Sakura was hopefully creating, began to chant once more.

"I am the bone of my sword!" he said. "Caladborg!"

With that, he fired the powerful Noble Phantasm directly at their opponent, not holding back in the slightest. Sakura, meanwhile, continued to summon up little blobs of shadow, each one designed to impale her if she was not careful. And, unless they were destroyed by either the explosion or the alternate Sakura's attacks, the hornets would continue to attempt to sting her.

Sakura

Sakura ignored the hornets, speeding forwards far faster than they could even perceive, quickly leaving them in the dust. Bug magic matched up with her profile. She'd done a bit of independent research into the grail war at one point. She turned towards Sakura and Shirou before they even came up, seeming to have an instinctual knowledge of Sakura's magic.

To her surprise, it seemed to work differently from hers.

She saw the sword coming in towards her, and didn't waste any time. A black mist emenated from her shadow continuously, devouring all things magic within even the shortest of moments. The noble phantasm hurtling towards her's form wavered and then shattered inside.

She suddenly hurtled forwards, using the speed of her shadow to burst forward faster than they could percieve, until she was on the same rooftop as them.

"Stop. Thanks." She smiled at the two wryly. "That's better." She flicked Shirou's forehead, sending him stumbling back. "Your magic-it seems off?" Sakura turned to her doppler, frowning in concern. She could feel a strange connection to her that she couldn't place, and it gave her the heebie jeebies. "Something happen to you as a kid?"

She wasn't sure why she felt that way.

[Cherry Lover]

Sakura and Shirou

The couple were utterly astonished by the manner in which she destroyed one of Shirou's most powerful attacks, leaving Sakura wondering if she was capable of doing something similar. However, they had no time to really consider the situation, as the girl charged towards them, too fast for Sakura to teleport them away. Immediately, Shirou summoned up his trusty swords, only for the girl to shout out for them to stop, followed by immediately flicking his forehead hard enough to send him stumbling back. Then, as he desummoned his swords, she turned to address Sakura, a concerned frown on her face, and asked her about her magic.

"Y..yes", Sakura said, a sad look in her eyes. "I wasn't suitable for the Matou magecraft, so they.. changed me."