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Its the beginning of Fate/Zero and the Magi are summoning there Servants however Tokiomi does not summon Gilgamesh and instead summons a different Archer. This fic was mainly a Fix Fic as a take on what would have happened if Kariya Matou received aid from a Servant in his goal to free Sakura

This is a fic which is a crossover of Fate/Zero/Dirge of Cerberus/Infinite Stratos! crossover written by Aburg76.

Archer is Ichika Orimura from one of the author's other works Tsviet-of-Steel


This story contains examples of:

  • Absurdly Sharp Blade: Archer' Sword; Last Tsurugi in life was this, well this is sword from Final Fantasy VII we are talking about.
  • Adaptation Expansion: Notably Rider and Lancer have these with more character development focusing in some segments on the two and their Masters. Rather than just Saber and Archer. Sakura and Kariya also get some time in the limelight
  • Adapted Out: Gilgamesh in this fic is not summoned as Archer Tokiomi summons Suchīru as Archer, he is really Ichika Orimura from Tsviet of Steel
  • Adaptation Personality Change: Though it's a given Ichika unlike his canon counterpart Classical Anti-Hero, Nice Guy, Idiot Hero to a Child Soldier, Super-Soldier, Jerk with a Heart of Gold, Noble Demon. He even has a different name.
  • Anti-Hero: Played straight with Archer due to his actions burning down the Matou Residence and killing all inside except Sakura, then there's how he save's Rin from Ryuunosuke cutting of his arm while breaking an entrance. Archer himself can come across as a Noble Demon or a Byronic Hero. He does have shades of Serial-Killer Killer when dealing with Caster and Ryuunosuke.
    • Caster himself classifies as this with the Servant being summoned as not a true Heroic Spirit. Rissei Kotomine notes that both Caster and Archer are Anti Heroes.
  • Anti-Villain: Rider, he is still planning World War Three while being possibly the most decent human being of all the Servants. Archer may classify as one when he was in Deepground though what we have seen of it is just his interactions with the other Tsviets.
  • The Ace: All the Servants but Archer seems a cut above the rest
  • Badass Boast: Archer to Caster in the third Chapter. he actually doesn't do this very often
    Caster: You Fiend. What kind of right do you have to interfere and deny me my audience with my Beautiful Holy Virgin?
  • Back for the Dead: Kayneth after his near death experience with Archer comes back to claim a Command Seal from Rissei for Lancer's involvement in Caster's Defeat. Before he can kill Rissei Archer appears and drags Kayneth outside of the Church Grounds before incinerating him
  • BFS: Archer wields a Sword that is stated to be slightly larger and heavier than the Buster, it doesn't even slow him down. Archer mainly uses it in one hand unless he has decided to use it to end things quickly.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Archer in the first chapter to Saber when she faces off against both Lancer and Berserker. He also pulls this off for Rin killing the abominations Caster sent to devour her and the other children
  • Big Brother Instinct: Archer to Sakura as what she suffered through reminded him of Deepground. In a flashback it is shown that Nero has this with Archer himself
  • Big "NO!": Caster when he see's Archer with his two white wings mistakes him for an actual Angel and goes off on a Rant
  • Blade Spam: Archer is the only Servant Shown to be capable of this yet he rarely employs it. Archer in the first few chapters indirectly said that he would make Tokiomi work for his victory.
  • Blue-and-Orange Morality: Arhcer seems to possess this. Word of God his alignment from his parameters in the first Chapter that he is both Lawful Evil and Lawful Good. His actions throughout the course of the fic seem to point in this direction.
  • Break the Haughty: Tokiomi suffers from this on multiple occasions throughout this fic. Waver does to a lesser extent though he is not really haughty
  • But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Diarmuid o'Dyna, First Spear of the Knights of Fianna a Legendary Hero in Gaelic myth, Lancelot du Lac, greatest champion of King Arthur. Separately these Heroic Spirits would hard press any foe, together it would be near impossible to best both of them or even survive. Arhcer simply subdues them with all the effort it takes for one to subconsciously blink.
  • Came Back Strong: Basically how Ichika Orimura became Suchīru which was a case of We Can Rebuild Him
  • Character Development: Notably Irisviel, Kariya and Sakura though Tokiomi does get some as well. Waver as per cannon receives some. Archer warns Tokiomi what might happen if Waver Grew a Spine in the first two Chapters. Lancer also notably gets some leading him to do something he didn't do in cannon.
  • Cheshire Cat Grin: Archer gives one to Caster after the latter accuses him of being a monster, cue Badass Boast above.
  • Child Soldier: While Saber Lancer and Iskander do fit into this category, beginning fighting at the young age in their respective legends, Archer is most obvious as he began at the age of seven.
  • Clean Cut: Saber and Archer do this in the battle against Caster. Archers turns into a Blade Spam when he decides to finally stop going easy on everyone.
  • Combat Pragmatist: Archer seems to show this when he suggested that Waver go after Sola-Ui instead of facing the much more powerful Kayneth. He also could have killed saber easily but chose to kill her Master Kiritsugu due to the Magus Killer being an actual threat. It can be averted with his fight with Rider but given the fact that he was trained to take down armies at the Seven Archer is not really at any form of disadvantage.
  • Death by Adaptation: Happens to a lot of Character's most notably with first Kirei and then Kiritsugu, also it is Lancer who kills Sola-Ui in this fic.
  • Demoted to Extra: Emiya Kiritsugu and Kotomine Kirei are killed off in Kirei's case he is killed off earlier than in cannon and this time he is not brought back
  • Department of Redundancy Department: Like most Tsviets Archer's name is the colour he is referred to by.
  • Do Not Taunt Cthulhu: Caster when he is fused with the Outsider is offended by Archer's presence and his appearance. Archer returns the sentiment as shown in the two's previous interactions and then decides to lay the hurt on Caster battering the Servant of Spells around as if he and the outsider are a joke. It turns out that Archer was Cthulu in this case.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: Though never stated directly Shirou is seen in several scenes, most notably when Rin escapes with the other children from Ryuunosuke and when he is playing with Saukra in the park
  • Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Averted, Archer's skin colour is pale due to him being raise underground however his hair is stated not to be black. The author specifically stating that his hair colour is steel
  • Entertainingly Wrong: Usually anyone who attempts to guess Archer's history or identity, he goes and tells them who he is in several Chapters but no one has figured out that he is a Heroic Spirit from another universe or universes. To their Credit that wouldn't even cross any of the casts minds.
  • Eldritch Abomination: Caster when he binds himself to the Outsider. Angeal also has this in a flashback when he fights Zack
  • Even Evil Has Standards: While arguably not Evil Archer was still a Deepground SOLDIER and an antagonist in his version of Dirge of Cerberus. Yet he is enraged and Disgusted by Caster's actions. Archer despised what Zouken did so much that when he went to save Sakura, he killed everyone in the mansion individually. Archer also loathes what Caster is doing.
  • Everyone Has Standards: Tokiomi is horrified from what he sees in Archer's memories.
  • Exact Words: This happens when Rin asks Archer if he knows what the word 'friend' means. Rin is less than impressed
    Rin: wait don't you know what the word friend means?
    Archer: To your second question the Term Friendship can be likened to words sympathy, honesty, altruism, mutual understanding and compassion. It can also mean the enjoyment each other's company, taunt and the ability to be one's self. Expressing one's feelings and to be able to make mistakes without fear of judgement of the other person.
    Rin: Wait, what you just told me, that was something you could find in a dictionary.
    Archer: Your question was 'don't you know what the word friend means?' I answered that Question, though the answer you were looking for was for the question 'do you understand what the word friend means?'
  • Fragile Speedster: Lancer counts as one due to his relatively average endurance and high agility parameters.
  • Freudian Excuse: Archer was trained and raised in Deepground for as long as he can remember, as such he has had very little positive interactions with regular or close to regular humans.
  • Friend to All Children: Archer, he goes out of his way to hinder Caster's actions, even Killing Zouken to Save Sakura. Shinji seems to be an exception.
  • Glowing Eyes: Due to his mako enhancements Archer has this, overlaps with Icy Blue Eyes and Glowing Eyes of Doom frequently.
  • Guile Hero: Archer counts as one as he pet's the dog a little too often to be the Manipulative Bastard. And he actually has no grand evil scheme in mind either.
  • Gratuitous Japanese: Archer's name can either mean steal, or steel. The author intended it to be the latter.
  • Humans Are Bastards: Archer since he was from Deepground grew up in this type of environment.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: Kayneth has this happen to him in the first Chapter. Tops off to Archer for doing it with Gáe Buidhe
  • Honor Before Reason: Saber and Lancer most definitely, Rider is next. Archer may or may not have it, though his views on such matters are not fully explained. Though it is possible since he does decide to face Rider's Army without using his strongest Noble Phantasm, whether or Not this is because he is being Pragmatic as Final Phantasm has a nasty side effect or because in a flash back Archer was able to take on an army and win as a child has yet to bee seen. In his fight against Rider he views it as an excuse others make to justify their actions and what he is doing her is merely respect to fellow warriors
  • I Gave My Word: Saber most definitely, Archer does as well though his reasoning is a bit more complicated to say the least.
  • Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Kayneth get's this in the first chapter because he mouthed off in front of Archer too much, bonus points to Archer for using Gáe Buidhe to use it with. Sola-Ui is impaled by Lancer when Archer manipulated her into using her last command Seal to summon him.
  • Implausible Fencing Powers: Saber and Archer, though Archer is said to be better than the Arturia. They are Heroic Spirits so it is not really implausible. Though when he was alive Archer seemed to tell the laws of physics to shove it
  • Improbable Aiming Skills: Archer, he is able to right off the bat strike Kayneth in the first chapter from hearing Kayneth's voice alone. More impressive when you realise that like in cannon Kayneth was using a Spell to throw his voice. Then Again he is a Heroic Spirit summoned as the Archer Class and has a skill to help him do it
  • Jerkass: Archer can come off as this every now and again see Jerk with a Heart of Gold below.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Archer most definitely as this trope defines some of his actions rather well. Emphasis on the Jerk part when he extracts Kariya's Crest Worms and then ripped the man's useless eye out without warning. Still he did just save Sakura and expel the Crest Worms from her ensuring that she would feel no pain and after taking out said eye he replaces it with a more useful one. also goes out of his way to save the children Caster and his Master kidnapped.
  • Kick the Dog: Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald does this to Lancer, in the scenes Lancer has with his internal dialogue, the Servant of the Lance was heading towards The Dog Bites Back. Kayneth however gets killed before anything can occur. Archer does this to Tokiomi when informing him of Sakura's circumstances.
  • Kick The Son Of A Bitch: Archer really dislikes Kayneth and goes out of his way to hinder the Magus, originally encouraging waver to face him but eventually killing Kayneth himself.
  • Knight in Sour Armour: Lancer after his character development.
  • Lawful Evil: Archer's Parameters label his alignment as such
    • Lawful Good: his Parameters also label him with this alignment too.
  • Let's Get Dangerous!: Up until the final fight with Caster Archer's parameters had all been a rank lower than they should have been, still leaving him as a high tier Servant. Irisviel nearly flips out when she see's what his actual parameters are
  • Lightning Bruiser: Saber and Archer qualify for this trope, both of them being rather durable and rather fast.
  • Master Swordsman: Saber and Archer, Lancer is hinted to be one since he can also be summoned as Saber. according to his legends Diarmuid is actually at his best when Dual Wielding both sword and spear.
  • Meaningful Rename: Arhcer's name Suchīru, it's was given to him after his hair colour, though his personality also fits this.
  • Mix-and-Match Weapon: In true Deepground fashion Archer's sword is also a Gunblade. Though it is less of a gun and more of a cannon.
  • Murder Is the Best Solution: Many Characters have this Kiritsugu's life was lived by kill one to save ten so on and so forth. Sola-Ui's way of convincing Kayneth is to suggest punishing those who were responsible for his predicament. Archer seems to utilise this to maximum effect though in two of his four cases he manipulated other's to do it intentionally the incident with Sakura and Kirei was not his doing and he had intended to kill Kotomine, the final one was where he killed Kiritsugu though it may have been to ensure Irisviels Survival.
  • Noble Demon: Archer can come across as this sometimes remember he is Lawful Evil and Lawful Good. He does not care about the way some people view him about the way he does things even states that their opinions are irrelevant.
  • No-Nonsense Nemesis: Kiritsugu is obviously one though in this fic he does not get much time in the limelight. Archer himself has shades of it almost beating Kayneth to death without pausing after Rider's and Lancer's Duel. Though it is averted as Archer is more than willing to let the other person banter for reasons that have not yet been disclosed. Archer may be genuinely interested in what they have to say, or saw no reason not to stop them.
  • No Sympathy: Archer mainly to most people. Subverted he does feel it, he just doesn't understand or ever show it, much less know how to. A lot of the things Archer says and does make more sense if you know he is a man with sympathy who does not realize what it is let alone that he possesses it
  • One-Handed Zweihänder: Archer's sword, Last Tsurugi, It is stated that Only Archer is strong enough to wield it without any drawbacks.
  • One-Winged Angel: In theory Archer like Angeal can absorb the traits of those he makes into his copies, Just that Archer doesn't see the reason for it, As a Deepground SOLDIER Archer does not believe in taking shortcuts like that to growing stronger.
  • One-Man Army: All the Servants notably Archer again as in his flashbacks he took down three hundred Deepground SOLDIERS with his bare hands in under a minute. Also his reaction to Rider's Ionian Hetairoi is to smile.
  • Pet the Dog: Archer made a deal with Kariya that if the Matou had Berserker kill Kirei he would save Sakura does so anyway even when Kariya fails to kill Kirei, he also regularly checks up on the two of them in the later chapters he creates copies of himself like how Angeal did to watch over them after the Grail War ends. Does this when he heals Irisviel as well allowing her to drive.
  • Proud SOLDIER Race Guy: Archer, while he is not boastful of it, he has no shame in his skill or strength, not to mention intellect. He does exhibit Blood Knight tendencies though he is very much able to keep them under control. That said he is pragmatic and ruthless if required to reach his goals.
  • "Reason You Suck" Speech: Averted as Archer's intent is only to inform Saber of the flaws in her wish in the odd chance that she won. He does so by pointing out that her wish may leave her suck forever in a loop where she goes to correct the mistakes she made last time.
  • Red Baron: Every Servant here has one.
  • Shout-Out: Archer informed Lancer of Angeal's view on honor.
    Archer: I knew of a certain individual who once said that honor can be quite the burden at times.
    • Archer's most powerful Noble Phantasm is called Final Phantasm sound familiar?
  • Slasher Smile: Caster and Ryuunosuke give many of these, Archer himself may have given one when he saw Rider's Ionian Hetairoi, Averted as Archer didn't bare his teeth. Turns out it was just a Psychotic Smirk
  • Sword Beam: Archer like Cloud and Sephiroth is very much capable of doing this though he only did so in the prologue to separate Berserker and Lancer from Saber
  • The Power of Friendship: Rider's Noble Phantasm. It actually impressed Archer
  • The Reveal: Archer distrusted Tokiomi and decided to research the Grail War before he even entered the battlefield where he discovered that all Seven Servants need to have been defeated for the Greater Grail to be summoned. As such he refers to it as the Heavens Feel. At rider's Banquet he informs both Rider and Saber of this when they were discussing their wishes
  • The Starscream: Perhaps a the more rare heroic example even though Tokiomi is not Big Bad, but Archer is intending to take him down if Tokiomi orders him to kill himself, or if Archer likes another Master's wish more.
  • The Stoic: Saber and Archer fit this trope, well the former tries to at any rate
    • Not So Stoic: Saber has her moments like she does in cannon, Archer on his part does not though other people do imagine him smirking or scowling at them though they put this down as just a trick of the light.
  • Token Evil Teammate: Archer can be considered this when he teams up with Rider, Lancer and Saber to take down Caster who had bound himself to the Outsider
  • Token Good Teammate: Archer was this to the Tsviets when he was in Deepground
  • Took a Level in Kindness: Archer here is far more sympathetic and tolerant here than he was in Tsviet-of-Steel. This may be due to some off screen Character Development yet to happen in that fic. flashbacks show that Archer may have been like this in Deepground as well, so it can be assumed that Archer's behavior in Tsviet of Steel may have something to do with the fact that Nero died in his arms in the first chapter. Also it could be due to Survivor's Guilt or I Let Gwen Stacy Die, most likely a combination of these three. The fact that the IS pilots were responsible for it doesn't help.
  • Undying Loyalty: to his surrogate brothers Weiss and Nero, may extend to the other Tsviets given what little of his interactions with them has been shown.
  • Villain Protagonist: Again Archer can be considered one since in life he was definitely not one of the good guys.
  • Villainous Valor: In this fic that this one was a Spin-Off of Archer performs one to reinforce and prevent Rosso from being defeated by Cloud Strife, that battle is picked up in this fic with the two fighting it out for over an hour. Considering Cloud is helping save the world you should be rooting for him.
  • Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: a literal example here when Archer asks Kiritsugu why he didn't kill Tokiomi first and then resident Omnicidal Maniac Ryuunosuke.
  • Worthy Opponent: Archer considers Rider as this when he hears about Rider's wish. Iskander returns the sentiment. In Chapter 15 Archer says that he recognizes Rider as his equal. This is a Big thing considering that while Archer is not arrogant he is not humble either.
  • Would Hurt a Child: Caster and his Master Ryuunosuke like cannon along with Zouken. Kirei has a shade of this when Sakura stands in front of him and Kariya, to Kirei's credit he does ask her to step aside. And then there's Archer when he killed Shinji averted it seems that Shinji was a special case as Archer goes out of his way to save the Children kidnapped by Caster and Ryuunosuke, even crying at their fate when he, Waver and Rider destroy said lair.

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