(Los Angeles Outskirts, California, United States, 5:59 AM)
The ex-participants of the Grail War-gone-to-shit are currently trapped in the middle of a smog-ridden cityscape, with guns pointed to their heads, surrounded by scrap metal and other industrial filth.
Rin, Sakura, Illya, Bazett, Luvia, Jordan, and Shinji, out of all people (albeit, only his head was remaining), were shifting their eyes around the unfamiliar scenery, trying to find a way out before their captor returns, while the remaining Servants, Saber, Alter, Nero, Cu Chulainn, Scathach, Archer, Rider, Aabidah (barely alive; Saint Graph roughly functioning), Merlin Alter, Odysseus (still out like a light), and Berserker, were doing their best to keep calm in a bad situation.
The result was a mixed bag, at best. And that itself is not counting Shirou (dead), and a random albino woman resembling an older version of the Einzbern's young master, who her body was housing an ink-like creature insider of her ear, presumably trying to assume control, but no dice so far.
"... Is something the matter?" Saber asked Nero, the latter racking her brain for something.
"Hmm..." The Flower of Olympia grumbled. "... Can't tell, but I felt like I... knew him before."
"We're Servants, Nero." Alter pointed out. "The so-called memories are irrelevant due to our current existence being nothing more than mere projections of our legacies."
"Well I still have patent over it, so it's my responsibility." Nero protested.
Meanwhile, Scathach and Merlin discuss their own topic amongst themselves.
"So, what are your impressions of this place, Queen of Shadows?" Merlin Alter asked the Celtic Caster-warrior-Queen-badass.
"The bounded field itself was shoddily put together, for sure." Scathach pointed out. "But no matter how I try to decipher it's function, even I can't seem to properly comprehend how it even works. It's almost like I'm trying to create an entirely new school of magecraft, which in it of itself, the whole process defies all sense of a magus's logic..."
"I'm afraid it's also same on my end as well." Demiurge replied. "Honestly, call me idiotic for saying this, but is it possible for magecraft itself to be fully... I don't know, alive?"
"... Are inferring to the Root?" Scathach asked. "Then again, if that lunatic's claims of being the Abel himself, along with the claims of him being the world's very first magic-user, then we're in for an uphill battle..."
"Oh dear..." Merlin Alter spoke out in concern. "The renowned Queen of the Shadow Isles, doubting herself? Now if only pigs flew..."
"Oh please..."
The Celtic Caster grins slightly.
"... I haven't been this amused for about the past 2,500 years."
The two Casters then continue to analyze their predicament.
Meanwhile, Shinji (currently just a head), was trying to worm away from Monica's shut-down robot body with his lip flaps.
"... Pft. Goddammit all." Shinji cursed. "I live long to eat literal dirt, and I immediately regret doing so."
He then glances at Sakura, who was currently with Rider and a Servant that he'd never seen before.
Now normally, Shinji would call out to Sakura, but due to her having an additional Servant, and the fact that he's just a head, for the first time in his life, he had to swallow his (supposed) pride in the name of self-preservation.
Being just a head may suck, but the thought of him being crushed underfoot like a soda can was way worse.
"... Ugh, if there's one silver lining to this bullcrap, is that she can't do shit to me right now." Shinji pointed out to himself. "... That, and Emiya being dead, but I'm conflicted that whether I should be happy or envious of him. Oh and Rin being stressed out as all hell, but hair looks a little... grayer? Ugh, it just keeps getting weirder and weirder..."
Shinji then goes back to himself, trying to comprehend the mess that he ended up in after being unwillingly excavated from six feet under.
Rin meanwhile, was almost on the verge of completely losing her shit.
"... Okay Rin, just try and calm down-ARGH! I CAN'T EVEN CALM DOWN LIKE THIS-No! No, Rin. You're a Tousaka magi. Get your fucking dignity back together and assess the situation, calmly!" Rin chastised herself mentally.
"Master, I can hear you." Archer pointed out telepathically. "Any louder, then everyone else will start hearing you. Especially him."
He points towards Shinji.
"Yeah, any louder, you might end up waking the dead, especially your boyfriend over there." Shinji telepathically snarked. "Actually, you know what, keep screaming. Emiya-san might come back from the dead-"
Gunshots landed right next to Shinji's head.
Standing with a smoking .50 Magnum Revolver was Abel, now dressed in battered blue jeans with a silver wallet chain, a black leather jacket with a white t-shirt depicting a black and white hornet splattered in blood, a pair of aviators covering his blood-red pupils, and a lit Cuban-brand cigar pinched between his lips.
"Sorry for the holdup, folks." Abel greeted as he reloaded his gun. "And no, skunkweed, bringing the dead back to life is my schtick, so lay off before I lay you off."
He then walks towards Monica's robotic body.
He pulls out a lavander-colored rectangular prism gem, right before he inserts the gem block into the port in Monica's stomach.
The port receives the battery, as indicated by Monica's eyes opening up, along with the internal LED units in her pupils.
"Morning, pumpkin." Abel greeted Monica. "How ya feeling?"
"... Ugh, like back at Chernobyl." Monica grunted out. "At least feeling pain and dry rot in this body is optional."
Abel then picks up Monica's body along with Shinji, right before he drags the metal frame to a figure in blue overalls, white long-sleeved top, and a red and white baseball cap, who then took Monica elsewhere as Abel clips Shinji around his belt.
"Now then, a briefing." Abel spoke to his hostages.
He then snaps his fingers, with two more figures in the same outfit of the person who took Monica elsewhere, rolls out a trolley with a massive TV on it.
"Last time we left off, Fuyuki was amidst of an event called the 'Fifth Holy Grail War', correct?" Abel asked the ex-masters.
"... I get a feeling that shite got even worse after we got shanghaied to the U.S.?" Jordan guessed.
Abel heaves out a plume of tobacco-flavored smoke.
"... Yep."
He turns the TV on, revealing a bird's-eye-view of the now-ruined Fuyuki, with the news depicting the ruined cityscape overrun by an entire army of angelic-looking constructs.
"... What the hell's going on?" Rin asked. "Why are there a bunch angels floating around Fuyuki?"
At the screen, one of the Angels carrying a cloaked figure flies up towards the helicopter carrying the camera crew.
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! What the [CENSORED] do we do!?"
"Calm down, I don't it's planning to hurt us."
"Um, I'd like to point out that the thing's carrying a [CENSORED] lightsaber!"
"CUT THE FEED! CUT THE FEED! CUT THE [CENSORED] FEED!"
"Negative. This might make a good scoop."
"IF WE [CENSORED] DIE, IT'S ON YOU, SHANNON-"
The cloaked man then enters the chopper, snatches the mic from the reporter, and takes off his hood, revealing an emasculated and fossilized visage.
"... Who the hell is that man?" Luvia asked.
"That's..." Abel sighed out. "... That's my big bro, Cain."
The TV then shows Cain moving the mic closer to his face.
"Greeting, children of the Almighty." Cain's gravely voice ground out of the TV's speakers."I am the one and only Cain. First Murderer and Sinner, and currently seeking redemption for my actions that have led up to the countless calamities that have plagued the Almighty's work since my recklessness."
The mages and servants look at Abel for confirmation.
"... What?" Abel spoke out. "Do I have any reason to lie to you fucks?"
"YES!" They all spoke out in unison.
The TV continued with Cain's speech.
"For since the dawn of man, I have brought upon and seen the fall of Almighty's greatest work. I've seen false idols erected, fathers and sons driven to murder each other, becoming more beast then man with each passing day... all because I've lost control over my inner ugliness. The experience was so disgusting to bear, I wanted to die, countless times, I've taken my own life, only to be denied of my release. I thought that the Great Deluge that flooded the earth would've ended me, or at least, bring about a new age of man, but even then, nothing changed. More false idols were erected, more fathers and sons were driven to murder, and by that point, I was begging for my own end. So that's what I did. For the next countless millennia, I've wandered the earth, trying to find any hopes that would change my mind for death, but in the end, it was all in vain. Man continues to prove itself unworthy of the Almighty's will, so when I heard that this 'Holy Grail War' would grant any wish to the victor, I've made my pilgrimage to this humble pocket of modern civilization, but by then, the war itself has already been discontinued by several malefactors that caused the whole contest to be called off. But by then, I've already came too far, so I decided to break the rules myself and take the Holy Grail itself before anyone else could. It granted my wish, but only the method was shown, not the action."
"... I'm afraid to ask, but how will you get your wish?"
"... Have you've ever heard of the 'Multiverse Theory'? A theory where one's choices branch out separately to create alternate timelines where one made the other choice?"
"Just what does that have to do with your wish?"
"... Simply put, I am going to erase every single multiverse created, including this one we live in, as for the Grail has shown me, the only way I will be freed, IS IF ALL OF CREATION GOES DOWN BEFORE ME! AS LONG AS THERE'S ONE LIVING THING IN ALL OF THE [CENSORED] KALEIDOSCOPE, THEN I WILL CONTINUE TO SUFFER THIS PAINFUL EXISTENCE! THE ALMIGHTY HAS PUNISHED ME BY FORCING ME TO WATCH THE CONSEQUENCES OF MY ACTIONS! I WILL MAKE THE WRONG RIGHT BY MAKING SURE THAT THERE'S NO ONE LEFT TO COMMIT MY MISTAKES!"
Everyone goes ghastly quiet upon hearing those words.
The words of a madman, completely devoid of logic and reason, should be laughed off as ludicrous, but with the presence of lightsaber-wielding angels, Cain, and Abel standing before them, his mana signature so overwhelming that they're all on the verge of vomiting, suddenly, their common sense has been flipped to their heads.
In other words, they believed in Cain's claims of ending all of the [Kaleidoscope] in order to basically kill himself, all at the cost of every single life in the infinite timelines.
"... You're kidding, right?"
The angel's sword of light runs though the cameraman, causing the POV to fracture like a dropped glass.
"... I'll let you interpret it as you will. Either way, I'll get what I deserve."
The scene then shows Cain lifting the reporter up by her neck and throws her out of the chopper doors, leaving behind a terrified scream as she plunges to her certain death.
In response, the pilot tries to shake Cain out of the helicopter, causing the camera itself to drop, only showing the image of the splattered reporter right before the feed was cut to static.
"... So yeah, as if the situation couldn't get even worse." Abel muttered out right before he ventilated the TV with a projected SPAS-12 with semi-automatic buckshots.
The people in overalls roll away the now-annihilated TV on a trolley.
"Now normally, I would kill you all here and stop my brother and his asinine ploys on my own, but where would be the fun in that?" Abel shrugged while he injected shells into his shotgun. "Not only that, but redhead and the Hound of Ulster are in blame here, and even though those two aren't entirely at fault, I'm only pinning the blame on a dead 17-year old and Mr. Luck Rank-E because I'm half-tired, half-bored. That, I kinda despise you all and have a long enough rap sheet for each of you to put you away in a slammer for life."
"What the bloody hell you mean by that?" Jordan asked.
"Well since the man asked, the man goes first." Abel remarked as he pulled out a folder labeled "Confidential". "Catch."
The folder lands right in front of Jordan's knees, spilling out several photographs of him purchasing bomb parts in a dimly-lit underground warehouse.
Jordan's face freezes in utter horror.
"Oh and P.S., don't even bother trying to destroy the evidence. The folder there is a dummy copy. I have the genuine articles back at my place, max security, so don't bother." Abel pointed out. "Oh and your pseudonym of 'Finland Cannoli' that I found in your passport in South Africa is just as asinine as that 'Scandinavia Peperoncino' kid that I met back at the Pakistan borders. Seriously, do you all mage-types have fake names after countries and Italian food?"
Jordan's mouth was stuck open, words unable to leave his mouth, despite being open ajar, leaving Abel to on his own hysterics uninterrupted.
"Wait a minute, you know that the Mage's Association can protect him from all charges, right?" Rin pointed out. "And even if they managed to breach the Association-"
Rin shuts her own mouth before saying too much.
"Oh no no no no no..." Abel grinned. "By all means, give me some ideas."
Rin grits her teeth at the albino.
"Possible interferences aside, may I remind you that I pretty much own this ball of dirt and water?" Abel pointed out. "I got moles in every Interpol, police station, government branches, every damn mafia, yakuza, triad, cartel organizations that haven't fucked up my cocaine mixture, and the U.S. Football Briefcase that carries the authorization to fire every single ICBM in the U.S.'s arsenal? I was part of its initial construction, including a little bug I've planted in there, allowing me to completely override all security measures, and simply put, I can start World War III whenever I fucking felt like it. After all, Reality Marbles are useless when the base it's stationed in is completely wiped off the map."
"YOU PLAN TO WIPE OUT THE ENTIRETY OF LONDON JUST TO SPITE US!?" Luvia roared out in rage.
"Oh come on, it's not like you mage-types care for the muggles living in London." Abel retorted. "While I do care about the civilian populace residing there, need I remind you, I find them just as expendable as they are valuable. That, and George W. Bush is currently in his little 'War on Terror' right now, so might as well clean house in the Middle East should that be the case. Let's hope that never happens, m'kay?"
"... I'm reasoning with a madman." Luvia muttered out in horror.
"Oh honey bunny..." Abel smiles as he pulled out a leaf of paper. "... You going to call me worse when I hand you this."
He folds the paper into an airplane, right before tossing the paper airplane to the blond magi, landing at her feet.
She unfolds the paper, dropping it as soon as she finishes reading the first line.
"... Wha-Wha-Wha..."
"What's that dearie?" Abel cupped his ear. "Can't make out what you're saying over the stuttering-"
"WHAT THE FUCK DO MEAN BY THIS!?" Luvia cried out as she crumpled the paper and threw it back at Abel.
The paper ball hits Abel's face, bouncing off of him harmlessly.
"Wait, what's going on?" Rin asked.
"Oh nothing too dire." Abel falsely reassured. "Just an eviction notice to her from her new landlord, i.e., moi."
... If Rin recalls correctly, Luvia Edelfelt was from one of the most prestigious houses in the Magi community, with her grandfather being from the Edelfelt clan being the sole reason why she took up magecraft in the first place.
But an old money like Edelfelt being evicted from her own lands? That's seriously violating several private property laws... only recall that Abel pretty much rigged every single government facility to suit his whims, meaning that he's disinheriting her under false charges.
"And before you do anything reckless..." Abel then snaps his fingers.
The turret gun pointing at Luvia cocks its pistons, ready to fire at Abel's command.
"... Think twice before you end up in a wheelchair." Abel remarked in a faux-cautionary tone. "Your parents are out on the streets with nothing but their clothes on their backs, so burdening even more will be extremely unwarranted."
"YOU MONSTER-"
*WHRRR*
*BANG*
Luvia lets out a scream as her leg gets shot through her structurally-reinforced body, leaving behind a pool of blood beneath.
"Oh and P.S... You might wanna grit your teeth." Abel pointed out.
Then Luvia felt her leg being set on fire.
Her internal mana circuits were being overloaded with foreign mana signatures, creating an imbalance that evolved into a disturbance, emitting nothing but pure pain until her pain receptors in her nerves were completely burnt out, right before the rest of her nerves also burnt out from the stain caused by the bullet.
Luvia, her face riddled with popped-out veins and streaks of blue all over her body, hits the dirt completely limp like an old rag doll.
"Alright, pop quiz!" Abel spoke out in a jolly tone, completely ignoring the near-dead girl before his feet. "What are Origin Rounds made out of?"
Rin herself knew the answer, but something tells her that if she took the bait, she would end up way worse then she currently is right now.
"Well if I recall correctly at the Mage's Assoication's briefing..." Jordan spoke out. "... Apparently, they're made from the Magus Killer's own... bones..."
He then looks towards the emasculated corpse stuck between the cars, noticing how thin it looked, despite looking... oddly fresh, jutted out nerves aside.
"Ding ding ding!" Abel dinged out in confirmation. "That is correct! At least, according to the files that the Mage's Association. Now put the folder's fact and the fact that I somehow mass-produced the Origin Rounds together... actually, you know what, do the math yourself. It's more fun to watch you all squirm."
It didn't take a genius to figure out what's what.
"YOU MASS-PRODUCED ORIGIN ROUNDS FROM THE HARVESTED BONES OF OTHER MAGI!?" Rin cried out in horror.
"Somebody give pigtails over there a cookie." Abel grinned. "That guy, I killed him roughly about a month ago, right before I took his tickets to fly to Japan. As for his partner, well... I kinda ate her whole. Feel free to fill in the blanks in your free time, if you so choose to do so."
Rin vomits at the mere thought of a magi being literally devoured by another magi, which, the feat itself, while not unheard of, was still despicable even by magi's standards.
"Oh grow a fucking pair." Abel chided. "Did you know that back at 1967 in Stuttgart, Germany, I once ripped out a magi's entire skeleton out through his mouth during surgery? And to think, the medical community thought that I deliberately botched his operation, not realizing that he was a literal human spandex, so they just let me off with just stripping me of my medical license and PhD. Peh, a bunch of suckers, I tell ya."
Melin Alter, upon Luvia's mana connection being disturbed, begins to feel slightly faint.
"... Will she be able to use magic again?" Merlin Alter asked.
"Don't worry, I just shot her leg." Abel scoffed dismissively. "It only hurts like hell, but only the leg I shot won't be able to retrieve mana from her. Although I suggest thinking twice about shooting any gandrs at me unless you want me to upgrade your crutches to a wheelchair."
Luvia slowly lifts her head to glare at Abel in defiance.
"Eh, like your spirit, kiddo. But that gonna do shit..."
Abel snaps his fingers, signaling the two figures to pull out their MP5 Submachine Guns and point them at the mages.
"... When you're all pumped full of 9x19mm Parabellum rounds." Abel stated as he pointed his SPAS-12 towards them.
Even when faced at gunpoint, all Merlin Alter can do was let out a small laugh.
"... You're bluffing, aren't you?" Merlin Alter called out.
"Oh?" Abel replied with a raised eyebrow. "Can you prove as such?"
"Well for one, you can't exactly afford to kill us." Merlin stated. "I mean, why bother showing us the news footage before you ventilated it yourself if you have no use for us? I mean, if that's the case, you kept us alive because you need us."
"That, and something tells me your actions seem to be more then just stopping your brother from allegedly throwing all of creation into complete and utter oblivion." Scathach also pointed out. "Just say it, what do you want with us?"
"Yeah, better question: does any of you fucks have a Clairvoyance Skill?" Abel mockingly replied. "You'll know what I mean when you take a look into the future. Either way, here's the reason why."
Abel dematerializes his SPAS-12 right before he dismissed the MP5-wielding people elsewhere.
"The truth is, I've been waiting for this kind of moment ever since 1994." Abel stated. "You know, the whole Great Fire that happened in Fuyuki, resulting in the deaths of 500 people, with several more people, particularly people around the ages of 5-10 going MIA?"
Rin's eyes widen upon hearing his words. The bastard has been stalking them for ten years straight, or she would assume.
"Well, part of the reason is that some of my close associates, both casual and in business, were among those 500 people that got burnt to death, so solving this little mystery seemed like a given, considering how good were they to me." Abel stated. "Now that I have the people who is connected to the people behind the cover-up... imagine what I can do if I reveal the truth to the whole world."
The masters freeze in fear from Abel's implications.
"Point is, anyone fucking with me usually ends up at the bottom of some random riverbed, either through my connections, or with my own two hands." Abel smiled maliciously. "I'm gonna get what I want, and what I want, is accountability. Specifically to the entire Mage's Association, The Church, and if I'm feeling extra-peachy, might as well throw Atlas into the same slammer."
Again, Abel once more, uttered the words of a complete madman.
"... So you're planning to destroy all magecraft just because a few of your friends died!?" Rin pointed out in laced horror. "And for the record, the Mage's Association didn't even start the fire in the first place!"
"Yeah, I know."
Rin's stomach felt like it swallowed a boulder of raw lead.
"Hell, I already took care of him four years ago."
Abel snaps his fingers, with one of the same overall-wearing figures walking towards him, carrying a Chinese takeout metal box-case, before setting it down on the ground, opening the metal cover, revealing another severed head like that of Shinji's, but covered in elastic wrap.
"Ladies and gentlemen..." Abel mused as Shinji's (and everyone else's) mouth gaped open. "... I'd like you to meet Kiritsugu Emiya, as just a head."
Laid before them was the severed head of the infamous Magus Killer, but like Shinji, his severed neck was laid with a mechanical contraption that kept the head fresh and alive.
Rin herself was extremely flabbergasted at this revelation.
A once-dreaded bane of all of the Mage's Association, with a sigh of relief after his supposed passing, now returned, but as a head.
Knowing Abel so far, and the fact that he willingly took them hostage (while utterly ruining Luvia's life in a matter of seconds in the process), along with his supposed plans to take out the Mage's Association and the Church, who's to say that he doesn't have any nebulous plans for the head?
... Or he can just be doing it for the lols, kinda like what he did with Shinji. Rin was fervently hoping that it was the latter.
The head's lifeless eyes shift around the junkyard before them, until he looked towards Shirou, Illya, Saber, and the albino woman.
"... What have you done to them?" Kiritsugu's head spoke to Abel. "You already did this to me! What more do you want!?"
"... Two things, Kiri-chan." Abel sighed out. "One, I technically didn't lay a finger on them, and the furthest I went with physical contact was that I dragged the broad by mistake when I was aiming for the Holy Grail. And two, you knew me for these past four years, and still you assume I have enough. Newsflash, pal: I don't."
Illya then looks at the head in abject horror.
"... Father?" Illya spoke out. "... Is that really you?"
"Hey Kiri-chan, you want me to explain what happened to ya for her, or does the man himself want to take the podium?" Abel asked with a smarmy grin.
"YOU BASTARD!" Kiritsugu roared out towards Abel in rage.
The albino man sucks on his cigar before blowing out a plume.
"Haven't heard that shit said to me for about a few good months this year alone, Kiri-chan."
Abel then punts the head like a soccer ball, breaking off several of his teeth from his mouth, landing right onto Illya's lap, causing her to scream in utter terror.
"Oh come on, you really should've seen that one coming." Abel smiled out as he materialized a crowbar in his right hand. "Now for you to come back to your supposed daughter in the most pathetic state imaginable... Ain't that a fucking kick to the teeth, amirite, Kiri-chan?"
Abel then turns his attention towards Illya, looking back him in pant-shitting terror.
"BTW, did the little miss pee herself?" Abel asked Illya in an eerily-serene tone, completely dissonant from the crowbar he was wielding.
Illya, against all of her inhibitions, nods her head up and down.
"Naughty naughty."
The crowbar slams against her cheek, sending her flying across the dirt.
"THIS THE PART WHERE YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO LAUGH!" Abel roared out as he leapt onto the downed Illya.
Abel continues to rain blows upon blows with his crowbar onto the bleeding Illya.
"LAUGH IT UP, YOU DUMB BITCH!" Abel howled out as he kept beating Illya. "I SAID LAUGH, YOU FUCKING WHORE!"
Berserker then charges towards Abel, axe-sword in hand, with an intent to kill.
Abel, right before the Berserker can strike, drops his crowbar, physically reinforces his whole body with pure-white mana circuits, torques his feet towards Hercules's direction, and with all his might, drives his right elbow right into Hercules's crotch.
The Berserker was sent flying to a nearby mountain of junk upon contact, causing it to collapse upon impact.
"... Bug off, Jerkules." Abel sighed out while placing his foot onto Illya's head. "I'll deal with you later."
He stomps on Illya's head, causing her to cough out a wad of blackish-purple blood.
"... F-Father..." Illya sobbed out.
"Illya..." Kiritsugu groaned out.
"Alright, I'll leave you two be." Abel sighed out as he left the two alone. "I had my fill with the bitch anyway..."
"Have you no shame!?" Saber cried out. "Just how could you-"
"Shaddup, peanut gallery!"
The turret then fires at Saber, incapacitating her, causing her whole body to contort in sheer agony as her skin was painted with tar-black streaks like messy calligraph tattoos.
"Much better." Abel replied with a satisfied smile. "Now then, since my words aren't clearly getting through your adamantium-like skulls, I think more... substantial proof is needed."
His right thumbnail extends to a knife-like blade, rolls up his sleeve from his jacket, right before cutting open his uncovered left arm, exposing his bone underneath the layers of bright-red flesh.
He then digs through his opened left arm, tosses out several jewel-encrusted rings along with pieces of raw bone and marrow in the said rings.
"There." Abel stated as he flexed his left arm as the cut closed all by itself. "Now I've released my limiters..."
"Limiters?" Rin thought as sweat dripped down her face. "Just what the hell does that mean-"
Suddenly, every mage in the vicinity of the junkyard felt being drowned out by a massive surge of mana...
... Emitted from none other than Abel.
"Feel free to check me out." Abel grinned. "And no, I don't mean as a magi, for that of itself is pretty obvious. But I mean as a servant."
Upon hearing those words, Abel's stats were projected in Rin's (and by extension, every magi's elses') in their visions.
True Name: [Abel]
Class: [Grand Ruler]
Alignment: [All 9 Alignments Simultaneously]
Origin: [Genesis]
Stats:
Strength: ?
Endurance: ?
Agility: ?
Mana: ?
Luck: ?
Noble Phantasm: ?
Class Skills:
[Beast (Fake-Humanity) ?]: "If you thought humans were the real monsters, then you clearly haven't met me at my best."
[Counter Hero (Fake) EX]: "All of you are useless before me. Submit and accept your fate."
[Independent Manifestation (True) ?]: "My life is for my own."
[Mad Enhancement ?]: "What plan? If the best-laid plans are the most likely to fail, then might as well not plan at all, right?"
[Magic Resistance ?]: "I think I felt a light breeze against my skin... Was that supposed to hurt me?"
[Territory Creation (Fake) EX]: "Screw having a permit from IRS."
Personal Skills:
[All-Origin (Root) EX]: "Creator of all magic and all of today's modern-day magecraft. You're welcome."
[Projection EX]: "Perfect for renaissance fairs and anime conventions. Also for tools of mass-murder."
[Revelation (Fake) EX]: "So that's what's gonna happen next? ... Nah, screw that. Let's try something else. Could totally suck, but I kinda like it that way."
[Transmutation EX]: "The law of equivalent exchange-just kidding. They're all putty between my fingers."
[True Name Discernment EX]: "And your next line is, (Insert line here)!"
... The reveal of Abel's stats didn't help at all with the current madness.
In fact, for Rin, something was dripping out of her right eye, and it wasn't tears.
... Might explain why she's slowly going colorblind in said eye, as evidenced by the color of red, gray, and white were beginning to fade away.
"Sorry if I'm beating a dead horse at this point..." Rin mumbled out. "... BUT WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!?"
Abel lets out a chuckle as he brushed his snow-white hair upwards.
"... Okay." Abel giggled out. "Obligatory villainous introductory speech, go."
Abel kills his cigar on the sole of his shoe before he tossed it aside.
"... I am the collective amalgamation of all of creation's virtues and sins. I am the admin of this planetary system, the author of the fucking [Akashic Records], and the Primordial Mortal. I am the adjunct of [Creation], [Median], and [Destruction]. I am the 130-million-year old witness of countless rise and fall of human progress. The First Casualty. The First Neanderthal. The Architect and Demolisher of Babel. The Master and Slave of Babylon. The Creator of the word 'God', and the countless Pantheonic Branches that spawned from it. The Slayer of [Type-Mercury]! The motherfucking [Gun God]! The Propagator of all Magic, the very First Magi, and the Root itself, manifested into a tangible form! The Forever Mortal destined to die infinite deaths in the name of the Almighty's whims!"
Abel then lets out a wicked cackle as the air around them began to crackle like lightning, stirring up the winds and picking up a local storm.
"AND ABOVE ALL ELSE, I AM THE MONSTER KNOWN AS [HUMANITY]! I AM ABEL, AND YOU'RE ALL MY BOTTOM BITCHES!" Abel roared out loud as possible. "... And if any of you have any complaints, please feel free to take it up to the nearest HR Department available."
He then pulls out a massive golden key with a round ruby gem embedded on it.
"Thank you, and have a nice rest of the day."
The ruby emits a massive flash of garnet light upon the hostages.
Once the light fades, all of the magi (including the dead!Shirou and half-possessed-half-catonic albino woman) were gone, leaving behind the servants on their own.
"Hmm, where they go, I wonder?" Merlin Alter asked as he tapped his staff against his cheek.
"And as you servants..." Abel sighed out as he put the key away. "... About how long were you folks ripped in and out from the Throne of Heroes?"
"It's none of your business on what we've been doing." Alter spat out. "Release Shirou and his girlfriends, and I might be a bit more inclined to cooperate."
"Okay, three things." Abel replied. "First, it super-my business, since you know, didn't the whole 'First Casualty' ring any bells?"
Few of the servants take a moment to connect the dots.
"... Oh my god." Merlin Alter groaned out. "Why didn't I realize this sooner?"
"What is it?" Alter asked without a hint of doubt in her voice.
"I'll just say it; I'm the Throne of Heroes's very first servant." Abel cut in. "And by extension, the head admin and owner of Throne of Heroes under the rules of dibs."
All of the servants look at Abel with varying expressions of confusion, doubt, and to a lesser extent, whatever face Hercules was expressing at the moment.
"... That's stupid." Nero bluntly put it. "I have no other words. That's just stupid."
"Believe in what you wish." Abel replied. "Second, girlfriends? As in, plural? Is polygamy now legal in Japan?"
"How the hell should I know?" Alter spat back. "I just saw them eyeing them, and just made an assumption from there."
"To be fair, I also saw you eyeing for dear praetor as well." Nero pointed out.
"Quiet you." Alter bit back.
"... Okay, thank god, so it's just a Tenchi Muyo-situation here, and not because one of my guys that I planted in the Japanese Diet jumped the gun and initiated the 'Get Japanese People to Start Fucking like Animals' plan without my permission." Abel sighed out in relief. "Thank you for telling me that, otherwise I've might've put up a hit with the local yakuza to kill him and his entire family by mistake."
"Anyone getting this!?" Cu pointed out. "Because I sure hell ain't!"
"Just think of this as training." Scathach rebuffed.
"I prefer you tossing my ass into a sea serpent-infested waters then this aneurysm-inducing revelation." Lancer retorted.
"And finally!" Abel spoke out with his finger raised. "... Cooperation wasn't even an option to begin with."
Out of nowhere, several people in the same white shirt and overalls surround the servants.
"What are you going to do, kill us?" Alter scoffed. "Not exactly terrifying when we're technically already dead."
"That, I'm painfully aware."
All of them pull out weird-looking guns, laser sight pointing towards them.
"Detain them."
All of the servants were then torrented by entangling webs of electricity, shocking all of them to submission, regardless of their stats or standing.
"BTW, those guns that my guys are holding are specifically designed to pacify anything with a working Saint Graph, well, except for me beacuse screw the rules, I made them." Abel stated. "IOW, I'm taking all of you with me."
He then materializes a metal suitcase with a symbol that resembled a "C".
The case opens, sucking in all of the servants into it like a black hole, only closing after every last one of them were captured, the locks clicking shut, air-tight.
"... Whew. For a prototype, this thing's runs like a wild horse." Abel sighed out. "Alright you guys, take five until the afternoon. Need to maintain cover and whatnot."
"Hey dad."
Behind Abel, Monica now comes out with her synthetic flesh fully restored and with a fresh set clothing resembling a Catholic Schoolgirl's uniform.
"... Really Monica? We just got back from Japan, aka, uniform paradise." Abel sighed out.
"Hey, don't hate the playa." Monica shrugged. "Admit it, you were eyeing them when we passed by the school."
"Oi, don't you hate the playa." Abel shot back. "Come on, let's blow this juice stand."
He projects a recently-banned electric car with a vanity license plate labeled [W1LN-A3D-A31E].
Whatever the hell that means, not even Abel himself knows.
"Um, dad?" Monica spoke out. "Aren't we forgetting someone?"
"... Oh right."
He then picks up Shinij's head from the ground.
"Oi." Abel lightly slaps Shinji's cheek.
"Uhhh... What is it?" Shinji moaned out.
"GET IN THE FUCKING CAR, SHINJI!"
Abel smashes the head through the window into the passenger's seat next to the driver's seat.
"Sorry, couldn't resist making an Evangelion reference." Abel admitted. "Only, whereas one tries not to run away, skunkweed here seems like he'd run the first chance given if he had legs."
"Yeah, but now we're down a windshield." Monica pointed out as she took the metal case and the key with her. "You know that Pierre's poikilothermic, right?"
One of the people in the same clothing of the other staff comes to her with a fish bowl with a turtle sleeping in it, only it's shell had a weirdly-key-shaped hole in it.
"Don't worry, we'll fix it later." Abel stated. "Not only that, but you know Pierre only needs to eat once a week, right?"
"Still, my tits are gonna freeze when we get to New York..." Monica grumbled as she went into the rear passengers seat with the metal suitcase.
"Oh shaddup, you don't even have tits anymore." Abel grumbled out as his body transformed into a female version of itself.
"Now you're changing your look?" Monica pointed out as she inserted the key into the turtle's shell.
"Hey, just in case if they saw be on TV, let alone, the friggin Association or the Church." The now female-Abel stated. "C'mon, we're wasting enough time as is."
"Kay, mom." Monica waved as she took out her MP3 player.
The two females get into the car and ride out of the now-normalish looking junkyard.
"... So mom, who made this?" Monica asked.
Abel lets out a small chuckle as they exited the city premises.
"... Let's just say that not all of the magi in the Association deserve to die slow painful deaths by my hand."
(Fuyuki [Destroyed], Japan [In High Alert], 8:20 AM)
For Cain, it was truly a pity it had to be like this.
All he wished for in his eternal life was the end. But upon the revelation that the Grail had shown him revealed that the price for his end was the end of all creation, essentially resetting everything back to the primordial void where even the Almighty itself didn't exist.
... Regardless, it had to be done.
His acts of violence against those humans back at Singapore? Necessary.
His manipulation and betrayal to the only human being that he genuinely cared for? Regrettable, but also necessary.
Him inevitably having to kill his brother once more?
"... Regrettable, but also ironic." Cain mumbled as he looked towards the sky littered with angels. "My first and final sin is killing my brother, the sin that plunged humanity beyond redemption, leaving me to just watch helplessly. But alas, it's also necessary."
As he walked around the ruined cityscape, he futilely scans for any signs of life, hoping that even with everything, he really didn't kill everyone.
Hypocritical, but can he hope?
Can he still hope that a literal fossil like him can still find solace in the cesspool of his own failures?
... He knows it's impossible, but he refused to believe otherwise.
"I'm a monster..." Cain sighed out. "... But if I can do one good thing before I repent, is to save the humanity that I've condemned through my selfishness."
Yes.
Only pure oblivion will set all creation free from his failure.
It was the only way. For creation to continue on like this would mean his prolonged suffering.
Such is the whims of the Almighty-
... Life.
There was a sign of life nearby, over by that ruined skyscraper.
He hastily hobbles towards the devastated tower, and finds a man with a mullet, laid face-down on the cracked cement, caked in his own blood, dirt, and booze.
His legs were noodle-like, as if they were crushed by mountains.
Yet despite all of these injuries, the man was still alive.
"Hello?" Cain called out to the man. "... By any chance, are you still alive? If so, please... show me."
The downed man squirms weakly.
"Tell me, who are you?" Cain asked the man.
The man with the mullet slowly crawls towards him.
"... Even with my malignant presence, that rots all life upon contact, you choose to approach me." Cain stated. "Or is it that my presence not rotting your soul?"
The mulleted man slowly lifts bleeding head, showing his scarred and bruised face.
"... You have no idea." The man smiled.
"What's your name, wounded one?" Cain asked.
"... Call me Kirei." Kirei answered. "And this isn't my first time facing all of the world's evil and sins."
Cain then takes a closer look at the man, only to realize that Kirei's no ordinary human.
In fact, by all logic, the man shouldn't be even alive at this point, clearly when his heart wasn't beating in the first place.
"... I will not question who you are, let alone, how you even function unlike that of a regular human." Cain states. "Just what do you wish now, Kirei?"
Kirei simply smiles.
"... I tire of living." Kirei stated. "At first, I tried to be a virtuous man, following the teachings of God in hopes of living a life free of excess sin. But then, I caved under my inner darkness, first by letting my wife die a slow and painful death from her own illness, then listening to the words of an arrogant king, then killing an innocent girl's father in cold blood, then let the Zoroastrian's literal embodiment of all of the world's evil resurrect me from the brink of death, after that, I started to kidnapped orphaned children only for me to seal them underground, condemning them another instance of slow and painful deaths, and even after purging all pretenses of goodness and civility, all in order to be 'honest' with myself, and this is what awaits me; dying alone, with only the Heaven's guides and a walking fossil as company."
"So you wish to die, with regret in your heart, just like me..." Cain stated. "... Tell me, do you wish to be forgotten after you die?"
Kirei smiles once more.
"... I don't deserve to be even remembered."
Cain then unfurls his left arm's bandages.
"... Then suffer no more."
The [Mark of Cain] glows over his left hand, waving it over Kirei, obstructing him from his sight.
Cain moves his hand away from Kirei, with him now no longer there, completely erased from the face of creation.
"... It will all be over soon."
One of the angels picks up Cain as he himself was rewrapping his arm with the loosened bandages, as he flew back to the mountain with a massive gaping hole in its side.
The angel drops Cain midair, causing his body to crumple upon landing.
"... Hmph." Cain grumbled as he got off the floor, his fossilized bones cracking to readjust back into a normal shape. "Already tried that and failed."
"We knew that, but I for one, need to see you in pain."
Cain looks towards where the Greater Grail was at, revealing seven distinct figures standing before him.
One was a hooded, brown-haired young man in a gold, white, and red papal-like robes with with bits of silver armor covering his body, with two key-like swords planted right next to where he stood.
Another was a man in rusted legionnaire armor, dressed in tattered purple robes, holding onto a dual-pronged lance with vines of blackthorn wrapping around the shaft that he was holding.
Another was a musclebound man wearing a bear pelt around his waist, a silver chain wrapped around his chest, clutching onto a massive stone club and a comically-small bow that looked it should be held by someone much smaller.
The other was a bearded man in simple brown robes, holding onto a shepherd's staff, with two lions, one male, and one female, flanking him.
Another was an imposing figure in a pitch-black cloak, with only a horned skull mask with eyes glowing navy-blue in the darkness of the darkness.
And finally, the last two were Moses and Samson, miraculously alive, but each of them sporting different looks from their previous incarnations.
Moses was relatively the same, only now his gray hair and beard were now snow-white, there were more wrinkles and creases on his face, and aside from his bronze snake-staff [Nehushtan], there were now two stone tablets with writing carved onto it orbiting around him, and his bony fingers were now bearing ten golden rings.
Samson however, was completely different from his previous incarnation, now no longer wearing any bits of bronze armor, his bronze-dipped donkey's jawbone battleaxe now replaced with two massive granite pillars bound around his wrists with silver chains, and his hair was now platinum-colored, flying free and no longer bound.
"Of that, I am painfully aware, Moses." Cain stated as he snapped his twisted neck back into place. "Or should I say Grand Caster Moses?"
"You're despicable to put remnants of Solomon's powers into my Saint Graph." Moses bit out. "You of all people should know best that not even the combined might of seven Grand Servants couldn't even put a dent on you."
True Name: [Moses (Solomon-Compound)]
Class: [Grand Caster]
Alignment: [Neutral Good]
Origin: [Exodus]
Stats:
Strength: D
Endurance: A
Agility: E
Mana: EX+
Luck: B-
Noble Phantasm: EX+
"In hindsight, it was wishful thinking." Cain admitted. "Of that, I apologize for wasting your time."
"You still haven't apologized for what did to us in the first place." Samson growled out through his permanently-active [Mad Enhancement EX+]. "Were we to be recycled in your cockamamy scheme of yours in the first place?"
True Name: [Samson]
Class: [Grand Berserker]
Alignment: [Chaotic Good]
Origin: [Book of Judges]
Stats:
Strength: EX+
Endurance: EX+
Agility: EX
Mana: E
Luck: E+
Noble Phantasm: EX-
"To be fair, I wasn't even planning on that to begin with." Cain replied. "But fret not, as soon as the end comes, all of you, not just the Grand Servants, but also every single servant in the Throne will be... permanently relieved of their duties."
He then looks towards the other five Grand Servants.
"St. Peter, St. Longinus, Orion, Noah, and King Hassan, I take it that you all have something else to say to me?" Cain pointed out.
"I'm perfectly in line for man repenting for its sins... but just, not at the expense of others." The hooded young man stated solemnly.
True Name: [St. Peter]
Class: [Grand Saber]
Alignment: [Lawful Good]
Origin: [1st Century, Roman Empire]
Stats:
Strength: C+++
Endurance: C+
Agility: C-
Mana: EX
Luck: A+
Noble Phantasm: EX
"And to think that my crime was despicable... So it is true that you're the First of Sin." The rusted legionnaire bit out.
True Name: [St. Longinus]
Class: [Grand Lancer]
Alignment: [Lawful Neutral]
Origin: [1st Century, Roman Empire]
Stats:
Strength: A+
Endurance: B+++
Agility: C
Mana: C-
Luck: EX
Noble Phantasm: EX
"Just how the hell did I end up bed with the very first villain in the first place? Ugh, if Artemis finds out, there's gonna hell to pay..." The pelted man sighed out.
True Name: [Orion (Superhuman)]
Class: [Grand Archer]
Alignment: [Chaotic Neutral]
Origin: [Greek Mythology]
Stats:
Strength: A
Endurance: A
Agility: B+
Mana: C
Luck: A
Noble Phantasm: EX
"I care not for humanity, Cain. But harm any other of God's creations all to atone for your sins? Disgusting. Even if you genuinely are regretful, you of all people should know best that you're beyond redemption." The bearded man with the two lions spat out in disgust.
True Name: [Noah]
Class: [Grand Rider]
Alignment: [Lawful Evil]
Origin: [Genesis]
Stats:
Strength: B
Endurance: EX
Agility: D
Mana: A-
Luck: EX+
Noble Phantasm: EX+
"..." The skull-masked cloaked figure stood in silence.
True Name: [King Hassan (?)]
Class: [Grand Assassin]
Alignment: [Lawful Evil (?)]
Origin: [10th Century, Persia (?)]
Stats:
Strength: ?
Endurance: ?
Agility: ?
Mana: ?
Luck: ?
Noble Phantasm: ?
Cain sighs out as he walked past the seven Grand Servants.
From the moment he'd summoned them with the Holy Grail itself as the catalyst, combined with his [Mark of Cain] destroying all boundaries surrounding the conceptual archive, it allowed him to hand-dip into the Throne of Heroes to retrieve the strongest servants available.
For his reasons why?
... To guard the Greater Grail slowly corrupting the entire Kaleidoscope with his influence, once fully spread, he activates his [Mark of Cain] using his [Destruction] Origin to destroy all of creation in one fell swoop.
Or at least, that's what the Grail had shown him.
"A faint hope is better than no hope at all." Cain stated to himself as he looked into the swirling black waters in the Greater Grail.
Three months.
In three months, he will be freed.
Time Until [Kaleidoscope] is Destroyed:
3 Months
1 Day
14 Hours
24 Minutes
3 Seconds
But hidden behind one of the rock faces, Amakusa, now ditched of his red robes, was peering towards the scenery, trying to make heads and tails of the whole situation.
"... I'm getting a feeling of deja vu from this." Amakusa thought.
The skull-masked man turns his head towards Amakusa, causing the Ruler of [Faith] to duck behind the rock.
"... Need to run, now. The others need to know of this."
Amakusa bolts out of the cave system, running back to where the other Rulers were at-
Something crashes into Amakusa, causing him to be sent flying back and off of his feet.
Amakusa, knowing that combat was inevitable, draws his katana-
... A thin silver blade bursts out of his throat.
Amakusa's jugular was choked with blood, rendering him mute as he was lifted up into the air by the blade piercing through the back of his neck.
"Shh..." The assailant shushed.
The last thing Amakusa sees before he disappears were a pair of eyes glowing navy-blue behind a horned skull, as he felt his head being separated from his shoulders.
"... You're no Hassan, aren't you?" The Japanese Ruler thought as he saw connected the dots, with said revelation being taken to his grave before his last ten seconds of consciousness burnt out.
To Be Continued...
Author's Notes: Wanted to do this for a good while, but just had to get surgery to get a tumor removed over Winter Break and was incapacitated for a while.
Recovered for the most part, but now, I have second semester to worry about.
So about shit hitting the fan, how this chapter for apples?
Seven Grand Servants, two promoted from their previous incarnations, and the whole "destroy all creation" so Cain can commit suicide plot...
... Wish me luck, for I shall not hope that this fic will please everyone, because it really doesn't now, does it?
Now Character voices for funsies!
Female!Abel: Nana Mizuki (JPN), Tara Platt (ENG)
St. Peter: Soichiro Hoshi (JPN), Griffith Burns (ENG)
St. Longinus: Toshihiko Seki (JPN), Dave B. Mitchell (ENG)
Noah: Toru Okawa (JPN), Paul St. Peter (ENG)
So what do you guys think of this chapter?
Please leave a comment or a review, for I'd like to know what my audience are thinking!