"Sounds like someone just went through an entire arc of character development in five minutes," Hans said as the young author approached the group after emotions had calmed down a bit.
"Hey, cut me some slack man, that was at least a good twenty minutes." Andy jokingly complained.
"At the very least, you have progressed as a person. So this is the newest Master?" He asked as his eyes landed on Ritsuka.
"Sup, the name is Ritsuka Fujimaru, and who might you be small child with a disturbingly deep adult voice?" Ritsuka asked in response.
"This is Hans Christian Andersen," Mash introduced the author to Ritsuka with a happy face.
"The author?" He asked.
"Yes, and the best one here."
"You wouldn't know a good plot if it hit you in the face!" Came the shout from Shakespear, who was among the sea of Servants that filled the Dining Hall.
"Have you guys considered doing a collab? I hear they can turn out pretty good sometimes." Andy half-yelled at the authors.
"When he admits that I am the superior one," The said at the same time.
Hans cleared his throat before he spoke again. "So, now that Mr. Fujimaru is here, what is the plan for him? For it did take Andy quite a bit of time to amass this many Servants." He turned his attention towards Da Vinci. "For I assume his Master potential is on par with Andy's own?"
"It is," The Caster responded. "And yes Andy has summoned many, many Servants, a little bit too many and he can't tend to all of you. So, I wanted to propose some move their contracts to Ritsuka, especially those who only have 'working relationship with' Mr. Bloodaxe and Raikou, as you two are in the negative when it comes to it."
"Sad but true," Andy added. "I've been working on a list of these ever since Leo brought it up, actually, since while it would limit who I personally could deploy, I usually stick with certain ones anyway. On that note, I'm not giving you any of the Caster's we have right now, Ritsuka. They're waay too useful."
"That's fine dude I don't want to demand any from you like they are trading cards, I would just be acting like a jackass if I did that," His fellow teen responded.
"I knew I made the right choice picking you first. You just had a good vibe to you the first time we met. Glad to know you are an actual good guy." Andy said, relieved. "I am willing to entertain requests, by the way. I'm betting you have a few Servants you've been thinking about summoning, right?"
"I do, so should we ask them to see if they are willing?" He asked. "But you mentioned Raikou, who is that?"
"Minamoto-no-Raikou. Boss of Kintoki, as in yes, that Sakata Kintoki." Andy said.
And Andy saw Ritsuka's eyes turn into sparkling stars at that. "Really? That is awesome I grew up on their stories alongside Ushiwakamura's, is he here too?" He asked.
"Ushi is here, but is not available for transfer. She's just too damn reliable." Andy said, making an X with his arms in the 'universal' sign for 'no.'
"Ahhh, wait… you said she? History has lied to me once again," he cried fake tears in fake despair.
"There, there," Da Vinci said as she patted his back. "I've got four Summon Tickets, so you can go for two each later if you want."
"Summon? So we get to play the Gacha?" He asked as his mood returned to normal.
Andy snorted. "It's a bit different from a Gacha, since these are real people who only answer when they want to. Or you use a really good catalyst, either/or." He said with a shrug. "I've got a fragment from the Tower of Babylon if you want to use that, but I personally can't because if I do, Gilgamesh might burst through time and space to kick my ass."
"Won't need to as I can turn back into my adult-self if needed," Gil responded.
"Same difference, I'd still get my ass kicked into oblivion," Andy said nonchalantly.
"That is correct, though I will say the form your Persona has taken is appropriate, I almost expected Atlas, but Ahriman does fit you."
"Says the little shit who can see the future," Andy said, tousling Gil's hair.
"That is true but is not a hundred percent reliable thing. Though I am a bit concerned over the fact that the Crawling Chaos of man's Shadow made it, so you were here, but I assume Philemon goated him into it, to have a Wildcard be present to ensure humanity did not end, as only the Shadow can take actions outside of the collective unconsciousness," The king exposited a bit.
"That does sound concerning, but too much stuff just happened for me worry about something like that right now," Andy said, tapping his head. "Too much emotion in one day mean me no think good no more."
"Should probably get a brain scan for that if that is the case," Roman joked. "But I think you should go ahead and do some summons and afterward sort out the whole, who gets who business. In the meantime, I am going to check over Mash's medical data. I trust Irisviel's work, but I just want to make sure." The doctor bade everyone a good day as he left the Dining Hall.
"Boss is probably right; the sooner we summon the new folks, the more time you'll have to bond with them. Which, to reiterate, is important because they are still people." Andy said, lecturing his junior.
"Why does it feel like I am back in kindergarten?" Ritsuka asked with a trollish smile on his face.
"Tut tut." Andy tsked, putting an arm around Ritsuka's shoulder. "This isn't kindergarten, it's the Chaldea Crash Course Community College. Your schedule includes such helpful subjects as 'Summoning 1: An introduction' and 'How to Save the World 101'." He said with a matching smile.
"College already? Damn here, I thought I would have to complete my third year of High School first. Guess I got to skip a year thanks Senpai," He gave the most mocking grin in response with a thumbs up attached.
"The end of the world leads to some pretty early graduations, I've found." Andy joked, before his expression turned serious. "But you will actually be getting a crash course on all this stuff from someone whose been doing it for almost a year. Starting with your first summon."
Xxx
"Circle has been prepared, Senpai," Mash said with a happy tone.
"Alright, so now all you need to do is channel your prana through the ticket and into the circle. You know how to do that, right, Ritsuka?" Andy asked, having told Ritsuka as much about summoning as possible on the way down and while Mash set it up.
"I do, I did manage to get in a little bit of training before getting Team America'd," He said as he held the golden ticket in his hand.
Ritual did its usual thing as the Servant was summoned and a few seconds later announced itself. "Servant Lancer, Gareth of the Knights of the Round at your service Master," Gareth continued. "Is big bro Gawain present?"
"Sir Gawain is not present, Sir Gareth," Mash stated.
"Huh? Galahad, is that you? Ah, were you actually a girl this entire time?" She asked in great shock.
"No, no my name is Mash, Sir Galahad is just lending me his powers,"
"That sounds exactly like him."
"Well, it's nice to meet you Gareth, the name is Ritsuka, and I hope we can get along," Ritsuka greeted his newly summoned Servant.
"I hope so too, Master," She said as she went over to his side. "So, what now?"
"Well, now is when he summons another Servant. Who knows, he might even get Sir Gawain." Andy added, not-so-subtly reminding Ritsuka to summon more. "Afterwards, you and your new Master will tour the facilities, get to know each other, and you'll be able to pick a room."
"Cool, I hope it's more of my fellow knights."
"Well, we already have our Majesty wandering the halls of Chaldea, along with Sir Mordred, and Sir Lance-." Mash cut herself off before she managed to finish the sentence.
"It's okay Sir Mash, I've already forgiven Sir Lancelot for being responsible for my death, I do not blame him," She said with a much more Knightley tone than the happy one she had been talking in before.
"Okay, going to unpack that later, now let me summon another one," Ritsuka said, quickly disrupting the dense atmosphere that had filled the Summoning Chamber.
"Hello there I am the Assassin you've summoned the name is Yan Qing, my fists are ready to tear into your enemies," Yan Qing announced himself.
"And I think I've just caught a little of the gay, anyway the name is Ritsuka Fujimaru, and I am your Master," Ritsuka introduced himself to the newly summoned Assassin.
"Well, you look like someone who can handle himself in a fight, I can accept you as my new Lord," Yan Qing responded.
"Alrighty then!" Andy said, clapping his hands together. "You three go explore the facilities, get to know each other, have some fun. Ritsuka, that bag I gave you earlier has the wristbands for your new Servants. We'll go over the contract-transfer thingy tomorrow after I talk it over with mine." He said, shooing them out of the summoning room. Ritsuka telling him they would talk later, and he also heard Yan Qing being ecstatic over getting his room, calling this a luxury vacation in terms of summonings already.
"So, Senpai, are you ready now?" Mash asked.
"You betcha Kouhai," Andy said with a smile before throwing caution to the wind and doing a double summon, hoping that if two were summoned this time simultaneously he wouldn't have to deal with more Buddha's messing with him for character development.
"Summoned as a Saber, Jason captain of the Argonauts is here to bring you an assured victory."
"Servant Rider, Queen- Oh, it's you, you exploding asshole," Medb cursed as her eyes landed on Andy.
"Would your opinion of me change if I told you that I have literally no grudge against you and had actually rooted for you before I'd met Cu whenever I read your story, Medb?" Andy asked, hopefully. Medb hadn't really done anything morally repulsive (that he was aware of) and had 'just' tried to conquer it, and considering who's summons he'd accepted before that wasn't much of a big deal these days.
That seemed to catch the Queen of Connacht off guard, as she started to blush heavily. "Well, I am still mad, cause you embarrassed me with that tactic," She sputtered.
"I can help work off some of that anger later, if you like," Andy said nonchalantly.
"Oh, my to think you would offer yourself like that to me? Do you think you have the stamina of seven Ulster and Connacht men?"
"...Y'know, I was talking about a massage, but yes, actually, I think I do, because my boyfriend is Astolfo of the Twelve Paladins," Andy said proudly, taking offense to that.
"I'll take the massage actually," She responded, ignoring the rest of his words.
"Hey, are you ignoring me if so I might as well leave," Jason commented, getting rather fed up with being ignored.
"Oh, sorry, Jason, wasn't so much ignoring you as knowing that a hero who led the Argonauts would probably have a lot of patience when it comes to dealing with rowdy folks," Andy said. "Speaking of, you don't know who I am, correct?"
"I have patience when it comes to my fellow heroes, but you were the one who summoned so at least acknowledge my presence, and no, I just know that you are my Master," He responded with an annoyed tone. "Did you have a run-in with another version of me? If so I am impressed you survived if Heracles was by my side."
"Archer Heracles, in fact. Took the actual Ark of the Covenant to stop him," Andy added. "And good, the other you was a raging asshole, which I hope is because of the Demon Pillar that was manipulating him." He not-so-subtly said.
"As much as don't want to admit, I do have a habit of being fooled by beings of that kind of power, must have promised to fulfill my dream and so that me would have gotten very desperate to do anything to accomplish that goal," He said. "But that is not relevant at all, we are now crewmates to onboard this ship, so I hope we can work together to reverse what has happened for if there is no human history I could never have my kingdom."
"I suppose that is true," Andy said as he checked Jason's stats with his Stat-o-Vision, and then also checked Medb's too once he realized he never got the chance to do so.
[Spoiler=Jason's Stat Sheet]
True Name: Jason
Class: Saber
Master: Andy Murphy
Parameters:
Strength: C
Endurance: B
Agility: B+
Mana: D
Luck: A+
Noble Phantasm: B++
Skills:
Magic Resistance: B
Riding: B
The Sought After Golden Fleece: -
Insight in the Jaws of Death: A
The Far Off Sea Route Conquered with My Companions: B++
Noble Phantasm:
Astrapste Argo: The Dazzling Ship that Splits the Heavens(Anti-Army): B++
[/spoiler]
[Spoiler=Medb's Stat Sheet]
True Name: Medb
Class: Rider
Master: Andy Murphy
Parameters:
Strength: E
Endurance: E
Agility: B
Mana: C
Luck: EX
Noble Phantasm: A+
Skills:
Riding: A
Magic Resistance: B
Golden Rule(Body): A
Queen's Discipline: A
Alluring Nightingale: C
Noble Phantasm:
Chariot My Love: My Dear Iron Chariot(Anti-Army): B+
My Red Mead: My Dear Honey Alcohol(Anti-Army): C
Conchobar My Love: My Dear Future Vision(Anti-Unit): C
Fergus My Love: My Dear Rainbow Sword(Anti-Army): A+
[/spoiler]
"So, Jason, I can figure out what the Fleece does, but what do your other two skills and your Noble Phantasm do?" Andy asked, a little confused why a Saber would have a ship as his only Noble Phantasm.
"So, you wish for me to explain my glorious abilities? Very well, I shall. My second skill obviously my ability to gain insight to escape a predicament that would result in my death. I dislike this skill as the knowledge only comes when my life is in danger. My third is a sub-species of Charisma, one meant to command rowdy heroes into following orders. As for my Noble Phantasm it allows me to summon Shadow Servants of those that served aboard my ship, and the more righteous our position in battle is the stronger they will be. But I usually let Heracles handle all the heavy lifting."
"What kind of Greek Hero are you? Do you do nothing of your own?" Medb asked.
"Of course, I do? Their victories are mine, my skills lie in handling such heroes, but do not underestimate me Chiron still taught me Pankration," He stated with pride. "And my sword skills are not too dull either, though I have greater ability with a spear… Seriously why am I even a Saber?"
"Wait, all the Argonauts?" Andy asked, excitedly. There had been quite a few powerhouses on that ship throughout its journey. Even Shadow Servants of them would be fantastic.
"Of course from Heracles to even that damn Asclepius," He said the last name with a shutter. "Of course magical energy expenditure goes up the more are summoned."
"Still, that's a wonderful ability to have," Andy said with a grin as he went through his mind of all the Argonauts, before remembering something very important. "Oh, Jason, almost forgot, the fully grown version of Medea is here. You are not to be within viewing distance of her without my or her express, explicit permission." He said sternly. "I'll put an app on your armband to alert you whenever she's approaching that range, because she's likely to kill you, and I'm likely to let her."
At that, Jason's face went deathly pale. "Thank you, Master, I would very much like to avoid my ex-wife."
"What a pansy," Medb commented. "Though considering it is Medea, that is a rather apt reaction."
"Pft. As if you wouldn't kill Conchobar yourself if you could." Andy said. "Speaking of, unless the version of the Ulster Cycle I got was waay off the mark, what's with the phrasing of the Noble Phantasm with his name on it?"
"As much as I despise the man, I was still married to him and was my 'love,' it was just about my own emotional status, I would have Gae Bolg too. And that is true I would string him up after I dried him up," She said with a sinister smile. Andy could only imagine what kind of perverse torture was going on inside her head, and the image was nasty. And yet he couldn't blame her for it.
"Ah, that makes sense. I suppose that means the 'Fergus' one means you have Caladbolg, but what do your other two Noble Phantasms do?" Andy asked.
"My Chariot is mobile Reality Marble pulled by my bulls that entraps men and where I proceed to ride them until death. My mead with brainwash anyone to become my loyal puppets, so watch what you drink Master," She said with a teasing wink as she clasped her riding crop.
Andy's brow furrowed. "Only men?" He asked, not really minding too much about the 'mead' thing since he wasn't allowed within 10 feet of an open alcoholic beverage yet.
"It sadly doesn't have any toys, so I just kill the women after I get them, and animals takes too much training," She simply responded.
"Master, I have to ask you, is this woman one of my Gods?" Jason said with a disturbed face as he looked at Medb after what she had just said.
"Close enough to one," Andy said back quietly, before addressing Medb again. "So, is it one of your skills then that produces those soldiers you used against us in America?"
"It is an unlisted one," She answered.
"And does that work with hybrids?" Andy asked, eyes narrowing.
"Anything really, they just gain the physical abilities of their 'father,'" She said.
"And how long can you, quote-unquote, 'hold them in'? Or do you have to make them right away?" Andy asked, eyes glimmering with the possibility of an instant army.
"Indefinitely, it just costs a lot of magical energy as I am producing 'homunculi with Servant Parameters.' I was only able to produce that army in America due to having the Grail."
"Mhm, I see, I see," Andy said, thinking it over. "So really, all we'd need to do is find a nice enough leyline… or I could even use the M.E.S.S. if need be…" He pondered, before shaking his head. "Well, anyway, I'd like to test that ability out a bit. Is there anything else you actually need to do it?"
"Nothing else," She happily responded.
"Well, then we should test it right away. Jason, here's your armband, head straight for an unmarked room, and don't go down a single floor beneath that if you don't want to run into Medea. Medb, follow me, we have work to do!" Andy said as he tossed the armband to Jason, the stupor of [s]magic[/s] SCIENCE! Overwhelming him for a moment.
Xxx
June 13th
"Okay, so how do we do the whole transfer, Servant?" Ritsuka asked as he sipped from his water bottle. The two of them had just finished a training session together with Da Vinci, working them to figure out what his Stand did, and what his Persona could do.
"Ah, right, Da Vinci gave me instructions yesterday on how to do it. I've gathered up 20 of the Servants I thought would be the best fit for you for now, and so that you don't get overwhelmed with suddenly having 50-some." Andy said as he called those 20 forth. "You basically just need to manually forge a Servant Contract with each of them, and I need to Void the one I have. I've already talked it over with most of them, and they seemed pretty receptive."
"We are, and he definitely seems like less of a buzzkill than you Andy, you didn't have any fun with my event," Nobu said as she went over to Ritsuka. "Oda Nobunaga, Demon King of the Sixth Heaven," She proclaimed.
"Well, definitely doesn't match the art, but I've seen enough anime where you're a girl, so doesn't really shock me that you actually are one," Ritsuka said as he scratched the back of his neck. "Well, let's be friends Nobu."
"Definitely a more fun guy, now let's be Stand buddies," She said as they completed their contract.
"Wait, you got a Stand?"
"Eh, more like I make my Reality Marble into one," She said.
"Ah, okay. Now then, who wants to go next?" He asked.
Xxx
"I have to ask, is Romulus a Pillar Man?" Ritsuka asked after he finished contracting with the twenty Servants. The two of them, alongside Mash, in the lounge playing the Game of Life. "Matches the pictures they have of them and Santana."
"No, he glimmers in the sunlight, but we beat him, so he's neither type of Pillar Man," Andy said.
"Ah, okay, so your turn," Ritsuka said. "Though the biggest shock of them all was Nero, I did not expect Shortstack Roman Emperor."
"Yeah, for some reason, everyone is really, really, really short, and if they aren't, they are massive. There's like, close to zero normal-sized Servants." Andy exaggerated only slightly.
"Yeah, that seems like an accurate statement," He responded. "Well, at least Mash here is normal-sized."
"Yeah, but Mash is a living person. Hell, for all we know, she might even grow now." Andy said with a smirk towards his Kouhai. There had been much (gentle) teasing about their height difference in the past.
"Though probably not in the way she expects," Ristuka grinned, getting a punch on the arm and a 'No cool' from Andy.
Which caused Mash to blush heavily at what he was implying.
"Hey, don't get mad, you set up the line?" He said pointedly with a finger for emphasis. "I just seized the opportunity."
"Never make lewd comments about Mash, do you understand?" Andy said, actual anger evident in his face. "I will remind you that, in addition to myself, Sir Lancelot as a Berserker is here, and he is rather protective of her as well."
"And it feels like I never left," He said utterly unfazed by Andy's words.
"Senpai, don't be like that; he didn't mean anything malicious by it," Mash interjected. "And it's not like you're any better when it comes to others."
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Kouhai. Unlike some people, I either keep it classy or accidentally blunder my way through innuendo, thank you very much." Andy said, faux-affronted.
Which resulted in Fou smacking his chin. The little critter not believing a word of what was said.
"Oh, so now you're betraying me too, Fou?" Andy decried dramatically. "It looks like all I have left is myself and my wife and children!" He said, motioning towards his car on the board.
"Fou," He said as he went over to sit on Mash's shoulder.
"So, do you have any advice for missions, cause Da Vinci wants to send me on one test out my capabilities as a Master before we go to the next big Singularity?" Ritsuka asked after a few more turns, and it looked like team Mash and Fou were going to win.
"Oh, well, first of all, figure out what your team can do before you go in." Andy started, sorting through his own experience to figure out what to prevent. "Communication is important too, so make sure you get used to Telepathy. Oh, and despite what it's like in a Stand Battle, with all the trickery and thinking and stuff, overwhelming brute force can and will save the day sometimes, but don't forget your roots. I did tell you about how we used the Ark of the Covenant as a bludgeoning weapon to kill an Archer Heracles, right?"
"You did, and I think that was r/madlads moment if there ever was one. But I hear you, a lot less [Around the Stars] and more [Star Platinum] when it comes to fighting," He said with a nod.
"...I'm guessing the former is one that you're group had to fight personally then?" Andy said upon realizing he didn't recognize the stand.
"It was, the name didn't really fit, but it was an ability that turned a segment of reality basically into an Mc Escher Painting, you try having to deal with Lovecraft style non-euclidean geometry."
"I'd rather not, thank you," Andy said, knowing damn well to not think too hard about those kinds of things anymore. "But that reminds me, you were dating Shizuka before all this, right? I'm really interested to hear about what happened with her, since last I saw on the show she was still just a baby."
"She had a relatively normal Childhood though a bit isolated due to the effect of her Stand activating on inopportune times while she was growing up, and the fact she was a Joestar," He responded. "I met her during the summer of 2016, while my family was on vacation in the US, and we hit it off cause I didn't know who she actually was until later. But things ended up happening, and we and a few others ended up going on a road trip across the US for most of the year fighting Stand Users that used their stand to accomplish crimes. Yes we were basically Mystery Incorporated," He admitted.
"But did you have a dog, though."
"No, we had a Penguin."
Andy opened his mouth, then closed it, and simply nodded and moved on. Stupid stand ass bullshit could wait for another day when he wasn't aching all over from extensive training and, for lack of a better word, experimenting.
A few minutes later, the conversation caught up again when Mash reached the retirement area and, after some quick maths for Ritsuka and Andy, who were close behind, won the game. "OF course, my Kouhai would win at Life. Makes total sense." Andy said with a massive grin.
"Well, from what I've heard already, you do have a habit of getting bodied," Ritsuka said.
Andy shrugged. "Games are games, man. The only thing I really care about 'winning' nowadays is the war for humanity, and you being here means that now we just need one of us to succeed." He said with a grin.
"Thank you for the praise Man-Emperor of Mankind… or is that Gilgamesh?" He asked.
"It's Gilgamesh," Andy said with no hesitation. "Oh, but speaking of 40k, you interested in body-mods? Not sure what would work best for you in particular, but the Meeting of the Minds could probably whip up something that synergizes with how you work. Or at least give you something like the M.E.S.S., so you have a back-up for mana."
"I'm… kinda intrigued," He responded.