[center][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/271031448755109888/452429537993818112/AchBanner.png[/img]
[h2]’Lancer Prime’[/h2]
[h3][i]Crash Site, Einzbern Forest[/i][/h3][/center]

Something was not right.

Something was very much not right. Lancer Prime might have been confident in his skill, but even he could not help but find it odd that his opponent neither frowned or showed surprise once his hold sent him tumbling to the ground. He could understand the thrill of a good fight, of course, but the glint in his eye gave away that there was something else about this.

Regardless, it was no use to think about that now. He had always been a man that dealt with things as they came — perhaps that disposition would cost him, perhaps not, but he would not change course. Not that he’d be able to at this point, with Saber ready to collide. He continued through the motions as planned — the throw executed perfectly and his arm cocking back to launch the punch in a smooth transition — until Saber dodged by a hair’s breadth, his strike rupturing the ground instead.

He let his features change into a frown, starting to pull back, but it was too late — Saber was not quicker than him, but between his natural capacity and top-notch intuition, he was able to keep up and catch him off-guard like this. He was ready to, perhaps, be pulled into a wrestling contest — even eager, regardless of it being under his opponent’s terms, excited about the challenge and confident in his technique.

He was, however, not ready for the sudden explosion that managed to leave him dazed. It had not been powerful enough to breach the defenses of his armor, but it had interrupted his plans for a follow-up rather handily, which meant it was Saber’s move.

His mind reviewed possibilities — but, once again, Saber’s choice would surprise him. He had, after all, not expected the man to turn Lancer Prime’s own weapon against him, especially considering what he had done moments prior, but he was not about to look a gift horse in the mouth, so he dove down to meet his quarry.

It was a strange situation if looked through an outside lens. Not only did Saber have the advantage of reach, thereby making it impossible for Lancer Prime to engage in a grapple without being skewered, but it should have also been an expected strategy in any battlefield — it was, after all, the one weapon Saber had on hand and the Servant clearly knew how to thrust with a spear.

Yet. . .

“Come on now, Saber, did you seriously expect such a rookie mistake?”

This was not a normal battlefield, and neither was that a normal spear — and unless Saber possessed an ability that allowed him to ‘take possession of the treasures of other heroes’, the fact remained that regardless of whose hands it was on or the distance between them, [i]that particular spear[/i] was [i]a Noble Phantasm that belonged to Lancer Prime.[/i]

So he did the only natural thing when he was faced with his own weapon: much like Saber had done with that shield of his, he dematerialized it before it touched his skin as a matter of course, continuing his assault toward an opponent that was on the ground and had overextended an arm and had kindly put himself into a proper position.

Knees meeting the ground, he quickly made to grab that arm and get him into a shoulder lock, trying to get the other arm tucked beneath his leg.

The basics were rather simple — use Saber's own arm as a lever while his head and other arm remained bound by Lancer Prime’s legs, twisting to put his target into a torque and cause pressure greater than the joints could handle.

He had done it to some people, and the results were not pretty. He’d have to see whether Saber knew how to use that strength of his for more than just punches.

[@Cu Chulainn] [@Phonic]