Fate/Heroes - Chapter 70

“Ugh…. Remind me never to piss of Caster ever again….”.

The majority of the Team huddled into the elevator and Mareena, the closest to the door pressed the buŧŧon to arrive at Gray’s penthouse apartment. The group of former protégés all felt their insides churn a little bit as the high-speed elevator pushed them to the top floor in a few seconds, all of them cradling bruises and cuts as the feeling of a bone-numbing cold washed over them.

Caster, whose powers mainly lie in Primordial Runes and the manipulation of ice wasn’t an unfamiliar type of combatant for the Team to face. With their various mentors, they had fought Killer Frost, Captain Cold, Mr Freeze and a myriad of other ice users.

But Caster…. she took it to a whole new level.

Her skill in the manipulation of ice and its properties was fully brought out by the Goddess, as the first thing she did was turn the entire basement into a world of ice and snow. Mareena and Kaldur possessed the most resistance to this completely new environment, as did Conner, Cassie and Kara.

But the rest of the Team did not possess the same level of resistance to the change in temperature as the rest of them.

They had to keep moving in order not to get frostbite, but with every passing second, the gale force winds that carried the white frost grew stronger and stronger. After that it was just a waiting game for the Caster Class Servant.

Caster froze over their already brittle defenses before smashing an extremely large iceberg at them. She toned down the power substantially, but Caster had already proven her strength to the Team, and to a Zatanna and Kara who both disliked the strange way Gray waited on the beautiful woman.

“I think my bruises have bruises….”.

Wally leaned on the wall of the elevator, cradling his left arm and his stomach at the thought of getting hit by a veritable wall of ice. The speedster couldn’t use his powers to the fullest because of the constantly dropping temperature, and was busy trying to keep Robin, Artemis and Zatanna from being clobbered by icicles.

Said archer nodded with his statement.

“Remind me, why did we pick a fight with her again?”.

All gazes were directed towards Zatanna, who went red slightly before looking at Robin and Kaldur.

“The group fight wasn’t my idea! And besides, who said that we needed training if we were ever going to fight against Servants?”.

Gazes once again moved towards the protégé of Batman and Aquaman. Neither denied the looks the other nine members of the Team gave before Robin shrugged his shoulders and spoke,

“Would you rather we fight Caster, or that Archer Servant belonging to Batman?”.

Caster, in her casual attire glanced upwards towards the roof and the Team nodded as they passed the Servant. Kara and Zatanna narrowed their eyes as they passed the Goddess of Ice and Snow before hearing Gray’s voice from the pool area.

“No, no, no! You’re doing it all wrong! Hold it like this and then….”.

The two girls perked up at the sound of the Pseudo-Servants voice, before an unfamiliar feminine tone came directly after the twenty year olds one.

“Like this?”.

They all stopped in their tracks and Kara could hear an elevated heartbeat coming from the both of them. Whatever they were doing, it caused both of their bodies to start pumping blood at a much faster rate….

“That’s better. Just a little bit gentler. Don’t be so tight…. relax….”.

Wally’s eyes widened and the speedster turned to the shorter boy next to him, his sunglasses crooked as Dick looked up to his best friend standing beside him. The former’s mouth dropped slightly and the Team headed up the stairs with a slight trepidation.

A slight groan came from the feminine voice. Cassie nearly lost her footing when she heard it, her face reddening slightly and her eyes looking towards Barbara who was standing right beside her. The redhead who was wearing her glasses raised her eyebrows at her friend, as they continued up towards the rooftop.

“This position…. are you sure about this?”.

There was a slight pause in the pairs conversation before Gray’s words caused Kara to run forward with a speed that rivaled Wally’s, her arms waving around as she moved closer and closer towards Gray and this unknown person.

“Yeah…. It makes it easier to stick it in…..”.

Kara, who arrived moments before the rest of the Team had her face completely red as she looked at the two figures standing side-by-side, one behind the other as the smaller figure held a strange looking black sword. Her blush had moved down past her neck as she froze in front of Gray and this mysterious woman.

Noting that she wasn’t any less beautiful than Diana or Caster if she was being completely honest.

Gray turned his head away from the practice shikigami just a few feet away from him and Bekka, his expression turning into one of confusion as Kara, and the rest of the Team arrived on the rooftop.

The Pseudo-Servant was standing right behind Bekka, his hands wrapped around her own as she grasped her black sword tightly. Several shikigami laid cut into ribbons on the side, and only one stood in the center of the rooftop.

Bekka shot a glance towards Kara and the rest of the Team before looking at Gray with a raised eyebrow.

“I didn’t know you run a day care. I didn’t pick you for the educational sought”.

Gray smiled and spoke,

“I’m teaching you aren’t I?”, he said with a quip.

Bekka shrugged her shoulders and leaned into the taller man’s ċhėst. Noting the angered expressions she received from the Kryptonian and the human practitioner of magic behind her. It brought a smile to her face as the Team’s eyes narrowed as they looked at her distrustfully.

From their standpoint, it didn’t look like she hated being in Gray’s arms. Even if the Pseudo-Servant was only doing this from an “educational standpoint”.

Kara narrowed her eyes and looked at Bekka’s sword and armor, before Conner spoke from behind her.

“Your equipment…. You’re from New Genesis!”.

The New God’s eyes widened at Superboy’s words, her body shaking slightly in Gray’s arms. Gray, who could feel the vibrations she was giving off, could see the apparent distress when the alien planet was mentioned.

He placed his hand on her own causing the alien to stop shaking and look up at Gray’s face who smiled towards the members of the Team. Taking into account the look he was given by Kara and Zatanna, he placed a hand on Bekka’s shoulder and spoke.

“Team, this is Bekka. Bekka, this is the Team. For the foreseeable future she will be staying here until the Holy Grail War is completed. She may be from another planet but so are some of you. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t jump to conclusions. We only just met today”.

Gray watched as all the male members of the Team nodded, as well as M’gann and Artemis. Barbara looked at the older woman, noting the slight resemblance between them before nodding.

Cassie and Mareena eyed Gray with a suspicious look on their faces, to which the twenty year old shook his head in denial. The frowning expressions left, but a glint never left their eyes as the gazed at the beautiful redhead standing beside him.

Zatanna stood beside Kara, and the latter extended her hand towards Bekka, with a smile that was not a smile on her face.

“Nice to meet you Bekka. I hope that your situation improves soon!”.

The alien from New Genesis raised an eyebrow at the tone Kara was using before taking her hand and applying a strong amount of pressure that would’ve broken any other humans hand.

They both smiled at each other. One out of dislike, and one trying to mess with the other.

Gray saw this and rolled his eyes at the actions of Kara and Bekka. Both had similar circumstances, although Bekka, if his memories didn’t fail him…. was more like Diana than anything.