Temple of Ranma's Sailor Senshi Seifuku

Yumizuka Satsuki used to think her life couldn't get any worse. Transformed into a Dead Apostle against her will, stripped of nearly everything she knew and loved, doomed to never see the sun's light again, and forced to murder and drink the blood of humans just to survive, she's had it about as rough as any of Kinoko Nasu's characters have had it. But through it all, she's always entertained the faint hope that one day her precious Tohno-kun would notice her, and somehow he'd make it all better.

Then, one day several months after the events of Melty Blood, Shiki proposed to Arcueid, and Satsuki's last, most fragile dream was smashed into pieces. Needless to say, Sacchin didn't take this well and nearly killed Shiki in a homicidal rage before coming to her senses and realizing what she'd nearly done. Horrified, she skips town with the very few belongings she still has, vowing never to cross his path again for fear of what she might do to her one true love (never mind what the rest of Shiki's "harem" would do to her, particularly Ciel/Arc/Akiha).

Several weeks later, Satsuki has settled down in a small town in southern Japan. Why she has settled here of all places isn't really clear to her; maybe it has something to do with the odd markings that appeared on the back of her hand a few days after leaving Misaki City, or the fact that the land itself feels... comfortable, for lack of a better word (meaning that Satsuki's innate magical potential is well-suited to the local area). Regardless, Satsuki has chosen to settle in a town called Fuyuki, quite some distance from Misaki City, and she's more miserable than ever. Only a paralyzing fear of death prevents her from taking her own life at this point, even though she really doesn't have anything left to live for.

One evening after her weekly hunting trips around town, however, Satsuki stumbles headlong into a battle of apocalyptic proportions, specifically the Berserker/Saber match near the start of the Fate route. Despite being a Dead Apostle Ancestor, Satsuki has neither the skill nor the experience necessary to go head-to-head with a Servant, (especially not Berserker or Saber) and she knows she's out of her league almost immediately. There's no fighting her way out of this situation; her only option is to run like death himself is at her heels, and because Ilya doesn't want any witnesses and sets Berserker on her, that's a very apt way of putting the situation. Saber intervenes when Berserker tries to kill Satsuki, and Shirou yells for Satsuki to run for the church, expecting Kotomine to grant Sacchin asylum, and not realizing what she is. Sacchin, for her part, does as she's told, being very willing to risk a close encounter with the Church over being killed by Berserker.

As soon as Sacchin sets foot in the church, however, Kotomine surprises her and impales her on several black keys, only sparing her for the moment because he's curious why a vampire would willingly set foot on holy ground. His attention is caught more forcefully when he realizes Satsuki has a set of Command Spells primed and ready for Servant summoning, and once he gets a feel for Satsuki's character (after about two minutes of interrogating her), he finds that he enjoys the aura of despair that hangs around this particular vampire like a curtain of misery. It's something like a fine wine to him, so instead of killing her, Kirei lets Sacchin down and gives her the whole story about the Servants and the Grail Wars.

It probably goes without saying that Satsuki jumps at the chance to claim the Grail for herself and wish for a cure for her vampirism, so Kirei assists her with the summoning ritual. Because Sacchin doesn't have any catalysts to summon a particular Servant, she uses her own blood instead. But as anyone who's played through Akiha's route may remember, there's one boy in particular for whom Satsuki's blood has special significance. Satsuki summons Counter Guardian TOHNO as a false Assassin-class, beating out Caster's summoning of Sasaki Kojiro by only a few hours.

Much like Archer and Shirou, it isn’t immediately obvious that TOHNO is Shiki, so Satsuki doesn't immediately recognize him, though there is a forceful and unmistakable familiarity to him that she can't quite place. The idea that he might be her Tohno-kun doesn’t make any sense to her (Shiki is nowhere near to being a long-dead legendary hero and Satsuki doesn’t have any idea what a Counter Guardian is), so she dismisses the similarities as being just her imagination. TOHNO, on the other hand, recognizes Satsuki immediately, but is wracked by guilt for being unable to save her in his own timeline and decides he's not ready to confront her yet.

The board is set, and the pieces are in place. Satsuki and Shiki have a trial-by-fire ahead of them, but the opportunity for a “Satsuki Best End” has now been realized. Now it’s up to the players to win their way through the Holy Grail War or die trying.

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What do you think guys, have I got a workable plot here?

"So, as I pray, wither in the Depletion Garden."

This abilty ability will be deadly to Servants, I think even more than Rider's Blood Fort is to humans.

I like the idea, but I think you'll need to be careful not to downplay her abilities too much. As unexperienced as she might be, she's still a Dead Apostle Ancestor and has superhuman strength, speed and endurance because of, as I remember, near instant regeneration of damaged parts.

If Shiki wears his blindfold, Satsuki will have even harder time recognising him.
And the last question, will Shiki's MEoDP work on Servants? If they don't, then Satsuki will have do most of the fighting, because Shiki might have superhuman agility, but he's still fragile.

Kilich wrote:"So, as I pray, wither in the Depletion Garden."

This abilty ability will be deadly to Servants, I think even more than Rider's Blood Fort is to humans.

I don't think Depletion Garden works like that. It eliminates prana in the immediate environment but I'm not sure it has any effect on entities like Servants that draw prana from their Masters instead of the environment. On the other hand, it'd be the perfect weapon to use against Caster.

I like the idea, but I think you'll need to be careful not to downplay her abilities too much. As unexperienced as she might be, she's still a Dead Apostle Ancestor and has superhuman strength, speed and endurance because of, as I remember, near instant regeneration of damaged parts.

The problem there is that the Servants also have superhuman strength/speed/endurance, and a few of them have attacks that Satsuki would have almost no chance of surviving. Gae Bolg, even without using its' auto-hit ability, nullifies regeneration until the spear itself is destroyed, and I shudder to think of what a holy weapon like Excalibur would do to a vampire, DAA or otherwise. Heracles is right out, nobody is as strong as he is and Satsuki doesn't have any attacks that can pierce God Hand. Sacchin might be able to handle Rider and Caster on her own, but she's definitely going to need Shiki's help to deal with the others.

If Shiki wears his blindfold, Satsuki will have even harder time recognising him.

Shiki will probably come with his blindfold by default, but like Rider he'll be able to acquire a pair of Mystic Eye Killers in some manner; maybe his glasses will be a minor support-type Noble Phantasm in their own right and he'll have them from the start.

And the last question, will Shiki's MEoDP work on Servants? If they don't, then Satsuki will have do most of the fighting, because Shiki might have superhuman agility, but he's still fragile.

Shiki's eyes will definitely work on the Servants, but he's not going to be able to just one-shot every Servant he sees. Direct combat even with Heracles or Saber isn't out of the question, but it's absurdly dangerous since Shiki's fragile enough that one solid hit (at least from the heavy-hitters, Rider and Lancer won't be quite as bad) will take him out of the game. On the other hand, he's about as fast as Lancer is if not moreso, so he won't be limited to just using assassination tactics on his targets.

Interesting idea but is there any particular need to make her summon Shiki as a Counter Guardian rather than a regular servant? Going toe-to-toe with several Dead Apostles (and winning) would probably be enough to qualify him as a standard Heroic Spirit to my thinking.

Well, my reasoning was that Servants are prana, they're not shielded by a living body.

Yes, NPs > Satsuki, but, as I remember, Saber, Rider and Lancer used their NPs only as a last resort, because of their Masters.

I doubt that Shiki will be as fast as Lancer. Lancer is a demigod and said to one of the best dashers, I think Shiki might have C agility, B at the very best.

How will his eyes work on Servants? Something along the lines of 'inflicted wounds can't be healed' ?

Oh, I wonder if Satsuki will be able to handle the taint as Gilgamesh did? Her rare 'luck' might strike again.

Knight of L-sama wrote:Interesting idea but is there any particular need to make her summon Shiki as a Counter Guardian rather than a regular servant? Going toe-to-toe with several Dead Apostles (and winning) would probably be enough to qualify him as a standard Heroic Spirit to my thinking.

He isn't worshiped as a famous figure, which is what disqualifies him from being a heroic spirit. He also isn't dead yet, and only Counter Guardians can be summoned from the future if memory serves.

Kilich wrote:Well, my reasoning was that Servants are prana, they're not shielded by a living body.

It's open to interpretation. I read a story once that posited the idea that DG could be used to leech any kind of energy from the area at will... like sapping kinetic energy from an enemy's attack, which helped her save Shiki from being killed by TATARI Nanaya in the story in question.

I doubt that Shiki will be as fast as Lancer. Lancer is a demigod and said to one of the best dashers, I think Shiki might have C agility, B at the very best.

You're forgetting Nanaya. He has this trick in Kagetsu Tohya where he throws his knife at his opponent, then runs forward, leaps through the air and snaps the other guy's neck as he's being hit with the knife. And this is before becoming a Counter Guardian.

How will his eyes work on Servants? Something along the lines of 'inflicted wounds can't be healed' ?

The eyes will work against Servants the same way they work against everything else. Not technically being alive doesn't make a Servant immune to Shiki's eyes; they can still be killed with a sword or just by running out of prana, so they'll have lines and points. Mind you, heroic spirits are inhuman enough that human Shiki couldn't see said points/lines while he was alive without giving himself an aneurysm, but Counter Guardian TOHNO has no such restrictions.

Oh, I wonder if Satsuki will be able to handle the taint as Gilgamesh did? Her rare 'luck' might strike again.

You forget that Shiki can kill anything that carries the possibility of destruction. She won't need to deal with the taint, Shiki will just cut it out of the grail and purify the thing for her.

So if he can kill concepts without any restrictions ( like his head exploding because he tried to see the lines on a NP ), then if Saber tries to block, Shiki will kill Excalibur? And will he be able to kill Berserker with a dot stab, ignoring, or killing God Hand, like in 'Type moon Complex' ? Or will his eyes fail against things with 'indestructable' attribute and the like, because their mystery will overpower the mystery that his eyes have?


Sorry if this reply seemed aggressive, I drank a lot of coffee to keep myself awake through the night and I'm slightly on edge.

Kilich wrote:So if he can kill concepts without any restrictions ( like his head exploding because he tried to see the lines on a NP ), then if Saber tries to block, Shiki will kill Excalibur? And will he be able to kill Berserker with a dot stab, ignoring, or killing God Hand, like in 'Type moon Complex' ? Or will his eyes fail against things with 'indestructable' attribute and the like, because their mystery will overpower the mystery that his eyes have?

Sorry if this reply seemed aggressive, I drank a lot of coffee to keep myself awake through the night and I'm slightly on edge.

Not at all, these are important questions and I'm glad you're asking them.

Firstly, keep in mind that it's going to be very difficult for Shiki to cut a Servant's lines/points in the middle of combat. Just hitting Lancer or penetrating Archer or Saber's guard is hard enough on its' own, add in the necessity of hitting specific points and Shiki has his work cut out for him. Saber also usually fights with Invisible Air active, which hides Excalibur from Shiki's sight.

Also note that just because Shiki can see the lines doesn't mean he can cut them. In Tsukihime, Shiki could cut anything regardless of how durable it was with something as sharp as his fingernail or a pencil. Noble Phantasms, on the other hand, are such potent mysteries that they retain their "hardness" when Shiki tries to cut their lines. This means that Shiki can't cut the lines of a Noble Phantasm with a rank greater than his current weapon (Nanatsu Yoru is C-rank, by the way). So cutting the lines on Excalibur or penetrating God Hand is out of the question unless Shiki somehow gets his hands on a stronger Noble Phantasm.

What about Avalon? My personal inclination would be for Shiki's head to pop (metaphorically speaking) if he even tried to see the lines on that, but that's just me.

As I understand Avalon doesn't have any lines on it, because it's 'ultimate defence' that is immune to everything.

Invisible Air won't really hide Saber's sword from Shiki, because he might see the lines on Invisible Air as well and guess the sword's shape.

Also, I'm glad that whoever turned Satsuki into a vampire is deader than dead, because otherwise her blood would've summoned her 'creator'. I wonder if it still might summon Roa's\Nero's\SHIKI's wraith like Koujiro.

Comartemis wrote:He isn't worshiped as a famous figure, which is what disqualifies him from being a heroic spirit. He also isn't dead yet, and only Counter Guardians can be summoned from the future if memory serves.

It's not really specific, but I wouldn't think there'd be such a restriction. The Counter Guardians are part of the overall Throne of Heroes system, which is, itself, not restricted by time. I'd think the only reason Emiya was the only one from the future would be that A: Eirei are getting rarer and rarer as time goes on, and B: most people actively try to summon a particular hero that they've heard of - and obviously haven't heard of the ones that aren't heroes yet.

Just because he's not worshipped as a famous figure now doesn't mean he won't be in the future.

That and Counter Guardian is not the kind of job Shiki would sign up for - he's never been interested in being a hero like Shirou was.

You're forgetting Nanaya. He has this trick in Kagetsu Tohya where he throws his knife at his opponent, then runs forward, leaps through the air and snaps the other guy's neck as he's being hit with the knife. And this is before becoming a Counter Guardian.

Yeah, except that that Nanaya doesn't exist - that's not his actual assassin personality, just his fear of it. Though Shiki's actual Nanaya self can run up walls...

In Tsukihime, Shiki could cut anything regardless of how durable it was with something as sharp as his fingernail or a pencil. Noble Phantasms, on the other hand, are such potent mysteries that they retain their "hardness" when Shiki tries to cut their lines.

I'm presuming that's part of your own setting up? Since it's not official

Officially-wise, anything that has a concept of 'ending' can be ended, and there's no matter of hardness involved - he can poke through it with his hand if the line's large enough to allow it. While he can't destroy the true Noble Phantasm since it's already perfectly recorded in the Throne, he can destroy the copy - though there remains, of course, the issue of actually hitting.

On the other hand, if it does not have the concept of ending (Arcueid at full power)... it just doesn't have lines.

Kilich wrote:So if he can kill concepts without any restrictions ( like his head exploding because he tried to see the lines on a NP ), then if Saber tries to block, Shiki will kill Excalibur?

No, because he actually has to hit the dot or line, and if she's interposing it, he's not targeting Excalibur, so he won't kill it.

And will he be able to kill Berserker with a dot stab, ignoring, or killing God Hand, like in 'Type moon Complex' ?

Flatly? Yes. He pulled that trick twice in Tsukihime alone. Forget 12 times, he killed Nero six hundred and sixty-six times in one poke. And Roa died infinitely. God Hand and similar regenerative defences are the precise thing Shiki works best on.

As I understand Avalon doesn't have any lines on it, because it's 'ultimate defence' that is immune to everything.

That's both right and wrong. Avalon works by phase-shifting the user into another dimension. So if you can chase after them (for instance, with your own copy of Avalon), they're just as vulnerable as ever. If you can't, you're fucked. Not because they're invulnerable, but because you missed.

Shiki... hm. Shiki might be able to hit someone under Avalon, or might not. Trying to blow Avalon itself will probably pop a brain vessel, but he might be able to hit the target themselves, since he's attacking concepts rather than their actual body... would depend on the writer.



It's an interesting idea (I had one where Satsuki summoned Kiri instead ), but I don't think you're giving Satsuki quite enough credit. For sure, at the start she's going to be at that uncomfortable 'superhuman strength/speed and regen, but not quite enough skill' point.

One thing first, though. Vampires are not inherently vulnerable to 'holy' things. The only advantage holy artifacts have (other than conceptual weapons like Seventh Holy Scripture, that is) is that they're reminders of the faith the vampire believed in while alive. It's the reminder of humanity that weakens them, not any inherent 'holiness' (hell, Excalibur was made by fairies). So unless it specifically targets someone's regenerative abilities (which is kinda indeterminate), it won't work... well, not any better than an average beam of ultimate destruction works on a schoolgirl, anyway.

Second, you're forgetting that Satsuki is the most freakishly powerful mage in the Type-Moon universe, even if she doesn't have a clue what to do with it. People rising as dead apostles are about one in a million, and it takes them decades. Satsuki popped up within a day. Ciel's something like four to ten times as powerful as Rin and Sakura are (that is, normal Sakura, not 'channeling the power of a god' Sakura - though since Ciel can still pop out more power in one go, she's got pretty good odds of winning a fight if she can keep it short). Satsuki's something like four to ten times as powerful as Ciel, as far as outright magical potential goes. (That and she's essentially the third-generation descendant of Crimson Moon, so her vampiric potential is extremely high as well) If she ever starts getting a clue what she's doing, she'll be scary.

Avalon.
The normal ability is healing injuries and preventing aging. Activation as a Noble Phantasm causes it to come apart in hundreds of pieces and completely protect its user from all forms of interference, a mobile fortress. Shuts (not blocks or reflects, but shuts) out all physical interference, transliners from parallel worlds, and multidimensional (multiplanar; as far as the 6th) contact; including all of the five magics. A Noble Phantasm on the level of magic. The greatest protection in the world.

Yeeees. It shuts out all influence... by phase-shifting its user through the seventh spatial dimension.

And Shiki's stabbing is not physical interference, but involves directly attacking the concept of the object existing at all. Which is why it's 'maybe, up to the author' instead of outright 'no' like nigh-on everyone else in the universe.

Thank you very much for that copypasted block of text from an information site without actually making a single comment of your own to respond to or elaborate on your meaning.

My thoughts.

Avalon protects the user by creating a wall (boundary field) around him that nothing can go through,including everything Second Magic can come up with, because, as I understand, that wall completely disconnects the space it surrounds and the rest of universe,

And since Shiki can neither touch the lines through Avalon, nor kill Avalon itself, his ability is useless as long as Avalon is active.

But I agree that such details are up to the author.

See? Much easier to respond to this way.

And if the lines Shiki sees were in any way physical, I'd agree with you 100% - no 'up to the author' about it, he just plain couldn't do it.

The tricky thing is, though, Shiki's eyes are beyond true magic. He doesn't see physical weak points in something's structure, he sees and attacks the very concept of it existing. The crazy shit people with those eyes can pull off... the only other person with them, Shiki Ryougi, can 'kill' the distance between two places. Shiki himself killed the environment in one arc (around his school, not universally).

That's why it's the only attack I could ever see going through Avalon, and even then it's iffy. Because the cutting of the lines is more like a ritual to a death spell than a physical attack. (In fact, if you're not trying to kill the victim but instead an illness or poison in their body, they don't even have a stab wound after you shove a knife through them) Does the knife actually need to get through? That's up to the author.