Extra Scene – Gudaguda Honnō-ji: Avengers.
Leaving Deadpool behind, who hadn't managed to hide behind Mash's shield and was still taking arrows to the body, Ritsuka's group concluded: they were facing an Archer summoned by Loki. They were looking for a way to break through his barrage and close the distance.
"Ow! Hey, you! Making plans is all well and good, but… Aaaah! Aren't you going to help me?! O-ho-ho! Got shot in the butt again!"
Looking at how the arrows were exclusively tormenting Deadpool, Ritsuka seemed to have come up with something. To test his guess, he stepped out from beyond the shield's protection.
"You can't, Senpai! It's dangerous!"
Mash tried to stop him in horror, but Ritsuka slowly raised his hand, signaling that everything was fine, and cautiously stepped forward. Now, only two were outside Mash's shield's reach: Deadpool and Ritsuka.
"Ay-ay!"
As Ritsuka expected, the arrows continued to fly only at Deadpool. A confident smile played on his face. The others, as if reading his thoughts, began to act in unison and with precision.
"Hey! What are you doing!"
"Don't fidget. It's for your own good."
Mao Archer and Sakura Saber grabbed the struggling Deadpool and pressed him against Mash's shield.
Spider-Man immediately shot out webbing, firmly binding the stretched-out "star" Deadpool. The sight resembled the creation of a living shield.
"Are you kidding me?! We could have just walked behind the shield! Why the hell do I have to be tied to it!"
Deadpool, unwilling to accept his fate, continued to protest, occasionally crying out from new hits.
"Okay, hands up those who think Deadpool should continue taking the hits," Ritsuka said.
Everyone raised their hands. When even Spider-Man, on whom their last hope rested, voted for this option, Deadpool was overwhelmed by a wave of disappointment, anger, and resentment. He howled like a wounded wolf:
"Go to hell! All of you! Villains! I was a complete idiot to trust you! How can you sell someone out so easily?!"
"If this Servant continues to shoot, his mana will run out faster," Mao Archer reasoned logically. "He's probably already quite exhausted."
Pleased with her logic, she proudly straightened her shoulders. However, Deadpool was not convinced by such arguments at all.
"Very logical, indeed! Do you even see these arrows? Do you think they're made of mana?! These are… Ack!"
He didn't get to finish speaking: another arrow hit him right in the mouth, depriving him of the ability to speak clearly.
"The direction of the barrage… is approximately ten o'clock. Let's hurry," Sakura Saber determined precisely.
Mash picked up her shield with Deadpool tied to it and tilted it at the required angle. Muffled curses and indistinct muttering could be heard from that side, but no one paid attention.
"This plan… I don't even know if it will work…" Spider-Man grew nervous, but there was no other way.
"What do you mean 'no way out'?! You just sacrificed me! This is wrong! Hey, director! This is a bad take! Reshoot!" Deadpool yelled into the void, but of course, no one listened.
"Then forward!"
Mash, using the strength of a Demi-Servant, dashed forward. Sakura Saber, Mao Archer, and Spider-Man, who had Ritsuka on his back, moved quickly behind her.
"U-a-a-a-a! Stop! Wait! The wind is too stro-o-o-ong!"
Deadpool, taking all the air resistance, yelled from the extreme speed.
"Oh. Looks like I've been spotted."
"Dep-pu-pu!"
Meanwhile, the Archer, carrying out Loki's order to shoot down the intruders (and specifically focusing on the Servant in red), felt their approach and decided to change position.
"Dep-pu! Dep-dep."
Several Littlepools bustled around him, helping with aiming. For some reason, the Archer understood their babbling, which allowed him to fire without missing.
"It seems a direct confrontation is unavoidable."
He was about to hide, but seeing the enemy's swift charge, he abandoned his attempts to flee. Since he had been discovered, he couldn't let them reach King Loki.
"Dep-bu-bu-bu!"
The Littlepools warily bristled, drawing their twin blades and tiny pistols.
"Aaaaaah! Stop! Stop, I be-e-e-eg!"
Soon, Mash's huge shield stopped right in front of them. Deadpool, tied to the outside, was so densely stuck with arrows in all exposed areas that he could barely move.
"Mister Deadpool! Are you alright?"
"A-yee-yee…"
Spider-Man, out of compassion, quickly untied the webbing, and Deadpool, with dozens, if not hundreds, of arrows sticking out of him, fell to the ground with a groan.
"Haha! See? Thanks to my brilliant diversion tactic, we've cornered the sniper!" Mao Archer emerged from behind the shield and pointed at the enemy Archer, who was no longer trying to flee.
"Actually, it was Master Ritsuka's idea," Sakura Saber corrected her. "I doubt anything like this would have occurred to your head."
"How dare you! What's wrong with my head?! I am, after all, the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven!"
"Then act like the Demon King!"
Even in the face of the enemy, these two managed to start an argument.
"Hmm. The atmosphere is tense over there too. However, everything is topsy-turvy in this world right now, and my situation is no better," the Archer watched Sakura Saber and Mao Archer's quarrel with annoyance.
At that moment, Deadpool, who had miraculously pulled out all the arrows and regenerated, jumped up as if nothing had happened and pointed at the enemy:
"Finally, we meet, Hawkeye! Or should I call you Clint Barton? Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., hero of the Avengers. Master of bow and stealth, exemplary family man. My condolences about Natasha. Seriously. I'm serious. So, am I right, Jeremy Renner?"
However, contrary to Deadpool's expectations, this "Hawkeye" was not at all who he thought.
"What are you babbling about? What Hawkeye? I am a Servant of the Archer class with a falcon's gaze – Hawk Arash!"
The situation repeated itself exactly, like with Emiya-mamoto and that mysterious purple vendor.
"The Heroic Spirit Arash… So he's taken on the role of Hawkeye…" Mash, already accustomed to the local oddities, quickly realized what had happened.
"Technically, he's a superhero. Well, in the sense that he shoots a bow incredibly well… But the Avengers would fall apart without him. He's like the heart of the team, you know?"
"In any case!"
Mao Archer's sharp cry cut off extraneous conversations.
"Get out of the way, Archer-class Servant Hawk Arash. I will take the Grail stolen by your false king and reclaim my castle."
She flashed her crimson eyes, justifying her nickname as the Demon King, and glared at her opponent. But Hawk Arash didn't flinch. Not because Mao Archer was weak, but because his sustenance from the Grail – or rather, Loki's support – was much more powerful.
"Senpai, the amount of mana he's receiving is enormous. What should we do?"
"We have a numerical advantage. If we attack all together at once, there's a chance."
"M-mm… I'm afraid that will be difficult," Deadpool said with a sour expression, patting Ritsuka on the shoulder and pointing behind Hawk Arash.
"Dep-pu! Dep-dep!"
"Dep-pu-pu! Dep-bu!"
"De-de-de-dep! Pu-bu-bu!"
The Littlepools, who had been assisting Hawk Arash in the sniper duel, had managed to multiply: behind him, dozens, if not hundreds, of tiny copies now swarmed.
"Now they're overwhelming us with numbers too," Deadpool grumbled.
"Don't worry, Mister Deadpool. We'll handle them," Sakura Saber replied.
"That's right. Master Ritsuka, we can handle the Littlepools. But then you and Mash will have to fight Hawk Arash alone. Can you manage?"
Drawing her blade, Saber looked questioningly at Ritsuka. Even if she, Mao Archer, and Spider-Man left the front lines, the numerical advantage would still remain with the heroes – two against one.
"Seize the moment!" Hawk Arash shouted.
While the discussion was ongoing, he seized the moment and released the string. The arrow, flying directly at Ritsuka, bounced off Mash's shield with a clang, as she had managed to come to his aid in time.
"Attacking during negotiations is despicable!" Mash exclaimed indignantly.
"Listen, pink lady. There's no room for nobility in combat. The essence of assassination is to finish the target quickly, without shying away from any means. That's the job of an assassin."
"And you can't leave witnesses," a voice from the side added.
"Exactly, exactly."
Deadpool, who had somehow ended up shoulder-to-shoulder with Hawk Arash, crossed his arms over his chest and nodded in agreement. Sensing something was wrong, Hawk Arash slowly turned his head towards the uninvited neighbor.
"Get back to your own kind," he said curtly.
"Well, you're not even surprised," Deadpool said with disappointment.
"I am surprised. I just don't show it. Leave."
The atmosphere instantly diffused. Deadpool, scratching the back of his head, ambled back to his position.
"He seems even crazier than in the comics," Spider-Man muttered. Since he only knew Deadpool from pictures, his unpredictable behavior hit his brain no worse than Mjolnir.
"Alright, let's get back to filming!" Deadpool clapped his hands, drawing attention.
The situation normalized. According to the plan, Sakura Saber, Mao Archer, and Spider-Man left the main battlefield to contain the Littlepools' onslaught. Only Mash and Deadpool remained against Hawk Arash.
"Hawk Arash is a classic Archer-class Servant. So, in close combat, we have an advantage. Senpai!"
Mash was full of determination, but Deadpool held her back before she could charge. Apparently, he had another brilliant plan.
"Why strain ourselves unnecessarily? Our target is Loki, not this steroid-fueled Robin Hood."
"Huh? What are you planning?"
In response to the question, Deadpool gave Mash a creepy wink and stepped towards the enemy.
"You again? What do you want now?" Hawk Arash frowned.
"I'm going to shout one phrase now. Repeat it after me, if you would. Consider it… a sign of respect before our battle."
Deadpool's offer sounded wild. Why would he suddenly talk about etiquette and demand something to be repeated? Hawk Arash wondered what trick lay behind these words.
"Hey, kid! Stay close to Mash. And you, Mash, prepare to deploy your Noble Phantasm," Deadpool said over his shoulder.
Mash didn't understand his intention, but deciding that the mercenary had some cunning calculation, she prepared to activate her defense.
"And why should I repeat it?" Archer asked suspiciously.
"I told you. Man-to-man courtesy before a fight. Bonds of camaraderie. You know."
Ritsuka also didn't understand why Deadpool had suddenly become so polite. On the other hand, it was already good that he hadn't defected to the enemy, sensing something was wrong. "If we were in the Oceanus, he would have definitely betrayed us," the youth thought.
"Well, alright. For the sake of interest – let it be so."
"Deal!"
Hawk Arash shook Deadpool's outstretched hand.
"(Whispering) Mash, as soon as I shout, deploy the Phantasm immediately. Understood?"
"Ah… yes, understood."
Giving the instruction, audible only to his ally, Deadpool instantly shed the mask of a noble warrior. His face contorted with an anticipatory, cunning grin. He took a deep breath and yelled at the top of his lungs:
"Alright, let's go! To boost our fighting spirit! Repeat: STELLA-A-A!"
"STELLA-A-A!!" Hawk Arash unconsciously picked up, shouting the name of his Phantasm after him.
"...Oh!"
As soon as the sky-shattering cry subsided, Hawk Arash froze. His eyes widened with sudden realization. He stared at Deadpool in horror.
"Now!" the mercenary commanded.
"Pseudo-deployment of Noble Phantasm! LORD CALDEAS!"
Mash forcefully plunged her shield into the ground. A colossal wall appeared, augmented by a barrier of pure magical energy.
"Well, see ya!" Deadpool waved his hand.
Hawk Arash's body was enveloped in blinding light. The air was torn by a monstrous explosion. BOOM! The sky trembled, the ground disappeared from under their feet: the Archer turned into a living bomb of colossal power and vanished in flashes of flame.
"Whoa! What was that? Did my super-bomb finally get finished?" Spider-Man's voice was heard.
"What an explosion… Was there a dynamite warehouse buried here?" Mao Archer echoed.
Both of them were covered head to toe in Littlepool remnants, which had taken the brunt of the impact and dissipated, thus saving their "masters." The stunned heroes stared wide-eyed at the epicenter of the explosion.
"Mister Pool!"
"Wade!"
Mash, whose shield had reliably protected them from the close-range explosion, rushed with Ritsuka to Deadpool, who had taken the hit.
"You see, Arash's Phantasm is a suicide attack. Yeah, that legendary 'God of Pharming' that you nerds level up on. Stella, I guess? What an idiot, why shout the name if you don't want to explode? Rest in peace, great kamikaze, and explode there for us one more time."
Deadpool stood before them, burnt to a crisp, but completely unfazed. Ritsuka and Mash felt awkward: the enemy had been defeated in such a ridiculous way.
"What are you looking at? If his Phantasm is so suicidal, what's it to me? At least we finished quickly, isn't that cool?" Deadpool grumbled, displeased with their reaction.
"So, are we going to Honnō-ji now, or whatever it's called? With songs and dances!"
The path was clear. Honnō-ji was still a considerable distance away, but they could reach it within the day.
"Oh, defeating Hawk Arash… Knowing his weakness and so elegantly provoking self-destruction – that was impressive. Not bad at all, Wade Wilson."
A voice echoed from behind the group – chilling, venomous, and at the same time somewhat clownish. Spider-Man and Deadpool didn't need to turn around to recognize the owner.
"Loki!" Spider-Man exhaled in fury, turning around.
"Oh, hey, Hiddleston! How's your brother doing, you scumbag?" Deadpool waved his hand with the most cheerful expression, holding up his middle finger.