... because it's April 1st.
... because I'm back to DSL and spent the last hour waiting for DLs and trying to, ineffectually, write down more Incarna:ENR.
... because Mountain Dew.
... and coffee.
... and ord asking 'how far off target?'. Kami bless him with many Rider doujins.
... and because, while I may not be the best at bringing things to a close, I'm pretty confident in my ideas. And this requires only those.

So, the things I don't think I'll be putting into Split Daybreak unless I decide to make it more of a mess than the concept already is. In episodic format:

I love this song, even if I can't understand what's being said half of the time. Stream of consciousness, so Doug could possibly do anything with it when he heard it. But...there's a repeated line in the song that kept hitting me when I listened to it, and combined with the chorus, I thought it might give Doug a potentially very-useful power song.

It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
R.E.M.
That's great, it starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes, an aeroplane -
Lenny Bruce is not afraid. Eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn -
world serves its own needs, regardless of your own needs. Feed it up a knock,
speed, grunt no, strength no. Ladder structure clatter with fear of height,
down height. Wire in a fire, represent the seven games in a government for
hire and a combat site. Left her, wasn't coming in a hurry with the furies
breathing down your neck. Team by team reporters baffled, trump, tethered
crop. Look at that low plane! Fine then. Uh oh, overflow, population,
common group, but it'll do. Save yourself, serve yourself. World serves its
own needs, listen to your heart bleed. Tell me with the rapture and the
reverent in the right - right. You vitriolic, patriotic, slam, fight, bright
light, feeling pretty psyched.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.
Six o'clock - TV hour. Don't get caught in foreign tower. Slash and burn,
return, listen to yourself churn. Lock him in uniform and book burning,
blood letting. Every motive escalate. Automotive incinerate. Light a candle,
light a motive. Step down, step down. Watch a heel crush, crush. Uh oh,
this means no fear - cavalier. Renegade and steer clear! A tournament,
a tournament, a tournament of lies. Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives
and I decline.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.
The other night I tripped a nice continental drift divide. Mount St. Edelite.
Leonard Bernstein. Leonid Breshnev, Lenny Bruce and Lester Bangs.
Birthday party, cheesecake, jelly bean, boom! You symbiotic, patriotic,
slam, but neck, right? Right.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine...fine...
(It's time I had some time alone)

The last line in the parentheses is the part that's repeated over and over in the song. So....
Effect: Doug is shifted partly out-of-phase with regards to the normal world, going invisible in the real world. He cannot move outside the area defined by his power's area of effect at the moment the power kicked in; it's as though there was a forcefield that he can't move past. Even as he's invisible to others in the normal world and can't interact with them, other creatures are invisible/intangible to him fo r the duration.
However, he CAN move around within the area of effect, which would let him escape immediate problems/set up ambushes, and so on. The song also exerts a healing power on Doug while he's under its effect. When the song ends, Doug is returned to the normal world, fully healed. If there is someone in the position he'd be returning to, he's shunted far enough to one side in a random direction to an open space.
Thoughts?
--Feinan

Well...maybe, maybe not. But it DOES make one hell of a distraction....
Comedy Tonight
(from A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum)
Stephen Sondheim

Something familiar, something peculiar
Something for everyone: a comedy tonight
Something appealing, something appalling
Something for everyone: a comedy tonight
Nothing with kings, nothing with crowns
Bring on the lovers, liars and clowns
Old situations, new complications
Nothing portentous or polite
Tragedy tomorrow, comedy tonight

Something convulsive, something repulsive
Something for everyone: a comedy tonight
Something aesthetic, something frenetic
Something for everyone: a comedy tonight
Nothing with gods, nothing with fate
Weighty affairs will just have to wait
Nothing that's formal, nothing that's normal
No recitations to recite
Open up the curtain, comedy Tonight
Something familiar, something peculiar
Something for everybody: comedy tonight
Something that's gaudy, something that's bawdy
Something for everybawdy: comedy tonight
Nothing that's grim, nothing that's Greek
She plays Medea later this week
Stunning surprises, cunning disguises
Hundreds of actors out of sight
Pantaloons and tunics, courtesans and eunuchs
Funerals and chases, baritones and basses
Panderers, philanderers, cupidity, timidity
Mistakes, fakes, rhymes, crimes
Tumblers, grumblers, bumblers, fumblers

No royal curse, no Trojan horse
And a happy ending, of course
Goodness and badness, manifest madness
This time it all turns out all right
Tragedy tomorrow, comedy tonight
Effect: Everybody except Doug that's within Doug's field of effect is hit with uncontrollable laughter of the 'rolling on the ground laughing' intensity. Even after the song ends, most of those affected won't be able to do much for a few minutes, since they'll need time to recover/catch their breath.
Remember - tickling your opponent into submission is evil, but OH, so much fun...
--Feinan

I was listening to this song, and wondered if Doug might ever need to nullify his power for reason - perhaps to go undercover where a mage might be detected. Perhaps this would work?
American Pie
Don McLean
A long, long time ago...
I can still remember
How that music used to make me smile.
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And, maybe, theyd be happy for a while.
But February made me shiver
With every paper Id deliver.
Bad news on the doorstep;
I couldnt take one more step.
I cant remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride,
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died.
So bye-bye, Miss American pie.
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And them good old boys were drinkin whiskey and rye
Singin, "thisll be the day that I die.
"thisll be the day that I die."
Did you write the book of love,
And do you have faith in God above,
If the Bible tells you so?
Do you believe in rock n roll,
Can music save your mortal soul,
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?
Well, I know that youre in love with him
'cause I saw you dancin in the gym.
You both kicked off your shoes.
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues.
I was a lonely teenage broncin buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck,
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died.
I started singin,
"bye-bye, Miss American pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin whiskey and rye
And singin, "thisll be the day that I die.
"thisll be the day that I die."
Now for ten years weve been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rollin stone,
But thats not how it used to be.
When the jester sang for the king and queen,
In a coat he borrowed from james dean
And a voice that came from you and me,
Oh, and while the king was looking down,
The jester stole his thorny crown.
The courtroom was adjourned;
No verdict was returned.
And while Lennon read a book of Marx,
The quartet practiced in the park,
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died.
We were singing,
"bye-bye, Miss American pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin whiskey and rye
And singin, "thisll be the day that I die.
"thisll be the day that I die."
Helter skelter in a summer swelter.
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter,
Eight miles high and falling fast.
It landed foul on the grass.
The players tried for a forward pass,
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast.
Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
While the sergeants played a marching tune.
We all got up to dance,
Oh, but we never got the chance!
'cause the players tried to take the field;
The marching band refused to yield.
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died?
We started singing,
"bye-bye, Miss American pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin whiskey and rye
And singin, "thisll be the day that I die.
"thisll be the day that I die."
Oh, and there we were all in one place,
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again.
So come on: Jack be nimble, Jack be quick!
Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
Cause fire is the devils only friend.
Oh, and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage.
No angel born in hell
Could break that Satans spell.
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite,
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The day the music died
He was singing,
"bye-bye, Miss American pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin whiskey and rye
And singin, "thisll be the day that I die.
"thisll be the day that I die."
I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news,
But she just smiled and turned away.
I went down to the sacred store
Where Id heard the music years before,
But the man there said the music wouldnt play.
And in the streets: the children screamed,
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed.
But not a word was spoken;
The church bells all were broken.
And the three men I admire most:
The father, son, and the holy ghost,
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died.
And they were singing,
"bye-bye, Miss American pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And them good old boys were drinkin whiskey and rye
Singin, "thisll be the day that I die.
"thisll be the day that I die."
They were singing,
"bye-bye, Miss American pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin whiskey and rye
Singin, "thisll be the day that I die."

Effect: Doug's magical powers - aura-sight, improbability field, node-use, and song-magic - are nullified for twenty-four hours.
Thoughts?
--Feinan

Not many people have heard of Jonathan Coultan, but thus far, everyone I know who's heard his stuff thinks it's great. Here are two songs that I think may grant interesting powers:
"Mendelbrot Set":
Pathological monsters! cried the terrified mathematician
Every one of them is a splinter in my eye
I hate the Peano Space and the Koch Curve
I fear the Cantor Ternary Set
And the Sierpinski Gasket makes me want to cry
And a million miles away a butterfly flapped its wings
On a cold November day a man named Benoit Mandelbrot was born
His disdain for pure mathematics and his unique geometrical insights
Left him well equipped to face those demons down
He saw that infinite complexity could be described by simple rules
He used his giant brain to turn the game around
And he looked below the storm and saw a vision in his head
A bulbous pointy form
He picked his pencil up and he wrote his secret down
Take a point called Z in the complex plane
Let Z1 be Z squared plus C
And Z2 is Z1 squared plus C
And Z3 is Z2 squared plus C and so on
If the series of Zs should always stay
Close to Z and never trend away
That point is in the Mandelbrot Set
Mandelbrot Set youre a Rorschach Test on fire
Youre a day-glo pterodactyl
Youre a heart-shaped box of springs and wire
Youre one badass fucking fractal
And youre just in time to save the day
Sweeping all our fears away
You can change the world in a tiny way
Mandelbrots in heaven, at least he will be when hes dead
Right now hes still alive and teaching math at Yale
He gave us order out of chaos, he gave us hope where there was none
And his geometry succeeds where others fail
If you ever lose your way, a butterfly will flap its wings
From a million miles away, a little miracle will come to take you home
Just take a point called Z in the complex plane
Let Z1 be Z squared plus C
And Z2 is Z1 squared plus C
And Z3 is Z2 squared plus C and so on
If the series of Zs should always stay
Close to Z and never trend away
That point is in the Mandelbrot Set
Mandelbrot Set youre a Rorschach Test on fire
Youre a day-glo pterodactyl
Youre a heart-shaped box of springs and wire
Youre one badass fucking fractal
And youre just in time to save the day
Sweeping all our fears away
You can change the world in a tiny way
And youre just in time to save the day
Sweeping all our fears away
You can change the world in a tiny way
Go on change the world in a tiny way
Come on change the world in a tiny way
Would probably give exceptional skill at mathematics with a specialization in chaos theory.
Also "I Crush Everything":
I lie below, you float above
In the pretty white ships that Ive been dreaming of
And Id like to swim beside you
Getting dizzy in your wake
Getting close enough to touch you
Getting brave enough to take you into my arms
And bring you down to be with me
But I cant do that thing anymore
I cant be the thing I was before
Maybe I am better off alone
Because I crush everything
And I crush everything
And I crush everything
My bodys strong, but my will is weak
I got pretty nice arms, but I hate my beak
And the dolphins are all phonies
They seem nice enough at first
They pretend to be your friends
Until they see you at your worst and then they leave you
Without a word they swim away
So I cant do that thing anymore
I cant be the thing I was before
Maybe I am better off alone
Because I crush everything
And I crush everything
And I crush everything
And everything I want I take
And everything I love I break
And every night I lie awake
Did the stars come out? Did the world spin round?
Does it matter that much when youre ten miles down?
And in the light that filters down
Into my giant yellow eye
I can see the sails unfolding
Stretching white against the sky and I forgive them
I forgive and I let go
Cause I cant do that thing anymore
I cant be the thing I was before
Maybe I am better off alone
Because I crush everything
And I crush everything
And I crush everything
And I crush everything
And I crush everything
And I crush everything
I lie below, you float above
In the pretty white ships that I am dreaming of

This would either summon a Kraken, or polymorph Doug into one. Though Doug doesn't have any other shapeshifting songs.
Jonathan Coultan's website has several of his songs for free download, and most of them can be sampled.
www.jonathancoulton.com/
My personal recommendation is "Skullcrusher Mountain".
"Not this again!" Minerva said. "Albus, it was You-Know-Who, not you, who marked Harry as his equal. There is no possible way that the prophecy could be talking about you!" - Harry Potter and the Method of Rationality, Chapter 84

The EVA-01 bike!
No, really.
-Rob Kelk
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

Pulled from standby because *koff**koff* Umm ... blocked on MS. Again. Sorry. *ahem*
Editsu-ed, mostly to account for the 'lack of Avalon' I hadn't really parsed from the game's synopsis of 'Fate'.
- simple explanation as to why Shiro's still got his 'youthful good looks'? I've applied the principle of Contagion to Type-Moon's world's workings. Shiro's spent a fairly long time 'hosting' and using a magical artifact of a power rating that was, quite frankly, through the roof. Even after its removal, the Magic Circuits in his body remained irrevokably altered to reflect that.
---
Everything is.
Everything was.
Everything can and will be.
So why not ...?
---
Fate/Split Daybreak
01: No Armor Against
a Fate/Stay Night AU/continuation
idea and cooperation by ordnance11
written by Griever
Copyright 2006(c)
---
'The much valued beauty, the subtle cut, of a truly perfect gemstone. Light, reflected by its facets, splitting off into paths ad infinitum, each similar yet not the same as the others. The universe, this wondrous and horrific place we live in, can surely be likened to a gemstone. A myriad of reflections, an infinite number of possibilities, and each such reflection a world. Each subtle tremor of the light, each particle of it, a human being.
That, of course, is simplifying things, but there are some truths an unprepared mind is simply not capable of perceiving. For all its adaptability, the human mind is seldom prepared.
Hence, the need to a medium. A physical, somewhat simpler interpretation that lets a theory actually be usable, and not just look pretty.
It could have been anything, really. Still ... there's a certain something to a gemstone, don't you think?'
-attributed to Zelretch, the first Jewel Mage

In the grand tradition of cliches, it was raining. A soggy, cloudy afternoon in London. One you'd be hard pressed to chase a dog out into.
It fit the mood.
Fit it all too well.
Symbols.
So many things about their lives were ultimately about symbols. The most important among them.
It rushed through her like a particularly loud heartbeat, making nerves tingle as it spread outwards, momentarily seeming to shift things without actually doing so.
"Is that any way to greet an old friend?" the voice asked, its owner's head cocked to one side. It was both entirely too familiar, and entirely too foreign a motion for said person to make.
It made her shiver and pull the collar of her coat - its designer label leather slick with rainwater - up in an ultimately futile gesture.
"Old?" she asked, even as the energies of the Kekkai settled around them, shifting the surrounding area subtly out of phase with the Reality that Was.
"Heh. If you want to get technical about it," he shrugged, oblivious to the rain.
Not a day.
It wasn't unheard of for Mages to slow their own aging. She herself didn't look a day over twenty, and would likely still look that way for decades to come.
He hadn't aged a day since she'd last seen him. Though she wouldn't admit it, it made things ... somewhat difficult. And not merely because the 'how' of that brought forth all sorts of interesting implications.
But then again, she was an accomplished Magi. 'Difficult' wasn't bad enough for her to lose any sleep over.
"I'm sorry about this," she shook her head. "You know the Association has been looking for you for the past several years. Ever since you ..."
"... disappeared? I figured as much. I had, no, I have my reasons, Tohsaka."
"You could have just stayed where you were, Shiro," Tohsaka Rin of the Mages' Association said. "Kept your head down, and they wouldn't have bothered to send anyone. Whatever you're doing, it's pointless. Just making yourself more of a target!"
"They've designated me to be Sealed?" he shrugged, then chuckled, looking unconcerned. The feeling of unreality that Rin had been experiencing since she'd first seen him, standing in front of the British Museum, the front of the main headquarters of the Association, the so called 'Clock Tower', increased. It wasn't like seeing only Emiya Shiro. It was ... like seeing both him and someone else overlaid on top of that.
"I don't want to fight you."
"My sentiment exactly, but sometimes we don't have that choice ... now do we? Sometimes fighting is inevitable," he retorted. "Isn't that what you tried to prove to me during the War?"
The Grail War. It seemed like something so small, so far away ... despite the gravity of the events that had transpired during the whole thing. Had they really gone through all that only to end up like this?
"I'm sorry," Rin said, steeling herself even as she began gathering energy, the Circuits in her body activating and starting to channel it.
Dolche der Vergeltung released the energy, guiding it along well worn paths and calling jeweled daggers into the Reality around her. Each of them razor sharp, their points towards Emiya Shiro's body.
"I know," he gave her the ghost of a smirk, hauntingly familiar. "I've learned a few things as well."
For a moment, she was assailed by feelings of Deja Vu. She knew, instinctively, that she'd felt that energy before. The way it moved, the way it shaped itself, the ripples of Reality that it sent outwards.
Something had always nagged her about Shiro, about what he could do, but she'd never been able to put a finger on it.
Now though?
The two short swords, wide bladed and heavy looking, yet wielded with such seemingly casual ease. The stance. The smirk. Younger looking, yes. But otherwise ...
"I'm sorry too, Rin. I won't take it easy on you. I am ..." he tensed. On instinct, she let the Dolche fly.
Shiro moved.
Jewel shards littered the air moments later, even as raindrops were flung ever-which way by the storm of motion the man in a boy's body had exploded into. Every move, every strike, every mannerism in that fight ...
... it was so obvious.
"A ... Archer?"
The younger mirror image of her summoned Servant during the Grail War. Down to the weapons and skills.
Then he gave her a sad sort of look, and spoke, even as she felt the Circuits in his body flare into life with an intensity she'd last felt at the apex of the War such a long time ago. Even if this time the way the energy flowed was different.
"I am the bone of my sword."
***
"It's ironic, you know," the voice greeted her as she woke, her body hurting but still very much alive.
Her eyes snapped open, only to see ...
... one of the Association's Vaults, warded titanium door hanging from its supports, torn open.
Dust hung thick in the air, the smell of fire and rubble bringing back old memories.
She could see Shiro standing in the middle of the otherwise demolished Vault, in front of a dais. His clothes - jeans, leather jacket, sweatshirt ... he hadn't changed his taste in those, at least - torn and ragged. Bloodied in places. Flesh cleanly visible beneath the tears, unblemished.
"What is?" she asked, forcing herself to sit up and making a quick assessment of her body. She'd felt every single cut that the endless blades had inflicted upon her, but somehow, all that was left were bruises.
"I went to Atlas, broke into the Lost Library of Alexandria, looked up old wives' tales and rumors ..." he turned to face her. "... and what I'd been looking for? It was right in front of my nose. Had been there since before the War. The notes of your ancestors, in fact, in your old home back in Fuyuki. The infinite reflections in the face of a gemstone."
In his hands was ... now she recognized it, and the vault ... the gem which the first of her ancestors who'd learned Jewel Magic had crafted.
"You can't be serious," she protested. "The way to use that is a lost Art! There's nobody left alive who knows how to do it."
"Outside of you, maybe," he said. "I've kept up with you, Rin. I've seen you go through those notes, I've seen you try and recreate the sword of the person who taught your ancestor Jewel Magic. It was hard to miss. After all, it's what got you your position in the Association."
"You want the sword? Is that why you're doing this? For the power? The Emiya Shiro I knew wouldn't ..."
"I could care less about the sword or the gem," he glared at her. "Zelretch postulated his infinite number of worlds. Reflections of Reality as Is. Everything being now, and Now being all-encompassing. I just want one thing, Rin. For old times' sake. I need your _help_ to keep a promise I made."
***
Tohsaka Rin, one of the elite of the Mages' Association, stood in the rain.
The news would label it a terrorist attack. The Association ... well, she had enough influence that she'd be believed if she sprouted something about an unknown attacker and having to resort to her ancestors' gem to vanquish them.
She'd gone from the ruined British Museum moments before the Kekkai failed, weaving a minor spell of avoidance around herself with the remaining Odo she still had.
Emiya Shiro.
She shook her head, half incredulous, half wistful.
He really didn't fit into the webs of intrigue of the Association or their competitors. Too principled. Too straight-forward. Too ... loyal.
A promise, indeed.
For all the changes, for all the revelations ... there was something about him that made sure she couldn't not help him when asked.
Something ...
... something ...
... well, it was gone now. Along with the man in a boy's body himself.
Gone into a facet. Into a reflection. Into a Reality that Was, riding the tether of Fate.
Everything she'd learned, everything she'd believed, told her Fate simply was. Without a way to alter it.
There was no armor against Fate. She'd told him that much ...
... told. Told. She'd just about begged him not to try and change it. It was, she almost smiled, still about as useful as arguing with a brick wall. Damnable, mule-headed, feeble-minded crusader-wannabe ...
No armor against Fate.
But armor ... it's not the way, Tohsaka. Armor only lets you endure. I want to split it. Break it. Shatter it into pieces. And for that, armor is useless.
He was right, she realized.
For that, armor _was_ useless.
For that, one needed a weapon.
And where weapons were concerned ...
I am the bone of my sword.
Steel is my body, and fire is my blood.
I have created over a thousand blades.
Unaware of loss.
Nor aware of gain.
Withstood pain to create many weapons.
Waiting for one's arrival.
I have no regrets.
This is the only path.
My whole life was ... Unlimited Blade Works.
The rain fell, drenching her as she watched the police secure the area. It was inconsequential.
It was just rain, after all.
No matter how much the water felt like tears as it ran down her cheeks.
Good luck, Shiro-kun.
---
-Griever
When tact is required, use brute force. When force is required, use greater force.
When the greatest force is required, use your head. Surprise is everything. - The Book of Cataclysm

Running Man, 1980
Al Stewart & Peter White, performed by Al Stewart
Before the phone hits the receiver,
Youre halfway to the door.
The voice said Get out while you can,
Theres just ten minutes, nothing more.
Time only for the essentials
Better gather them and run:
The false name inside the passport,
The gold bars and the gun.
And once again theyve come out of the past,
And though your mind is cool, your heart is beating fast.
Youve been through it all before;
Each time you wish a little more that you could ask,
(chorus) "What do you want from me?
What do you need from me?
Theres no rest for the running man.
Why cant you let him be?"
Its a long and twisting journey
From the sweeping northern plains
To the outcrops of the jungle,
Bowed beneath the tropic rains.
In the customs hall the officer
Takes you to one side,
And his eyes reveal no feeling
As you hand over the bribe.
And once again youve bought a little time,
And once again youre fading out of sight,
Still the fox is growing older
As he calls over his shoulder to the night:
(chorus)
Here, come over here;
Beneath a sympathetic moon
Well sit and talk over old times without a fear.
Another beer? From the cafes of the night
The tumbling rhythms of guitars ring loud and clear.
(instrumental)
One by one theyve nailed the others,
But you always got away;
What it is that keeps you just that step ahead,
No one can say.
In one last raid the agents
Of the dawn break down the door
Of a house where you were standing
Maybe just an hour before.
And still the thread continues to unwind.
You take the hidden roads that only you can find;
And should they come upon your tracks,
Theres just a question hanging back you left behind:
(chorus)
"What do you want from me?"
"What do you need from me?"
This one is very specialized: it'll only work if he's trying to get away from people who're hunting him, whether as an individual or as a member of a category ("muties," labor agitators, Resistance, whatever). For the duration of the song (four minutes six seconds on the copy I've got), he's unnoticeable, able to slip through the tightest, toughest cordons. Checkpoint guards will forget to demand that he show his papers. No one will recognize his face, even if they've got a 1st-class photo of him in their hands or know him personally. Scent-trackers can't pick him up; neither can telepaths or clairvoyants or mages.
Downside: he won't want to use this if he's got friends/allies within the area of effect; the line "one by one they've nailed the others" guarantees that they'll be caught.
This only works to get away. He can't use it to get into a place unless it's part of escaping, as in sneaking into an airport to catch the next plane out of Dodge.
Oh, and no matter how well he knows it works, he'll always feel as if it's going to fail, and he expects a heavy hand to clamp down on his shoulder any second now. "And just where d'you think you're going?"
Enjoy!
-----
Big Brother is watching you.  And damn, you are so bloody BORING.

This idea has been floating in my head since episode 12 of Fate/Stay Night.
If Saber is the source of the King Arthur myth and she does go back to her time at the end of the series to live out her life in the past, suppose Shiro decided later to go back in time to find her and live with her?
After all, if there is King Arthur, how far would Merlin be?
Based on what Ived read, the era in which Saber would had lived would had been a tumultuous one, with the break up of the old Roman system, civil war and barbarian invasions occurring in Britain during that time. So you know youre going to have intrigues and plots all over the place.
So..if Shiro made that decision to go back in timehell have to have some serious training both as a mage and quite possibly as a warrior to survive in that era before going back. Or does he go in cold and wing it?
And theres no guarantee that Saber would remember him as Shiro if he does make it.
Not to mention the stories of how Merlin ended does not bode well for Shiro.
Theres a couple of angles that would be interestinga modern day Japanese magician in King Arthurs court and the romance angle also would be interesting.
Also theres the time paradox.any changes that Shiro makes in the past could conceivably end up making changes in the future that could erase him too.
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

Okay, in response to another thread elsewhere, I finally sat down and worked out all the official Steps in the full Walk, as I currently see it. With luck, I should be able to finish this before I die of extreme old age, but no promises, okay?