Fate Type-Infinite Loops

by Vaati Star

Welcome back everyone, this time, I present to you the official Nasuverse Infinite Loops compilation. The stories beyond time that cross many worlds. Welcome to Yggdrasil, and the Infinite Loops Project, presenting our heroes from all across the Nasuverse! Be it Stay Night, Grand Order, Tsukihime or more. You'll find their tales here. Let the Infinite Loops continue onward

16. Chapter 8

AN: Enjoy everyone! The eighth set of snips for you all!

---

8.1

[Fate Grand Order]

Fate Grand Sworder (Conceptualist)

The initial chaos of the Fuyuki singularity was finally over. Things more or less happened as usual, with a few slight differences. Differences that Ritsuka had Pocketed herself and Mash to safely discuss.

"So," the changeling began. Ritsuka probably wouldn't keep this form long term; she had enough problems with the Fae from Fairy Britain. "Do you want to start or should I?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that," Mash answered. "Could you repeat it?"

"I said-"

Brow furrowed in concentration, Mash held up a hand to interrupt Ritsuka. "Just… give me a moment Senpai. I can only pay attention to one of you two at a time."

Several minutes passed in patient silence, as Mash went through a rapidly changing series of expressions. Worry, anger, acceptance, humor, and eventually frustration danced across her face as Mash blankly stared off into the corner of Ritsuka's Pocket lounge.

Mash took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled to calm herself. Her eyes refocused and, speaking out loud for the first time in half an hour, she turned to Ritsuka and said "Okay, Senpai. Now it's your turn."

Ritsuka nodded. "Let's start with the first big change. Your Class."

Mash grimaced, turning to look at the Noble Phantasm that was laying on the table between the two of them. The gigantic thing looked very familiar, being that it was still made out of the Round Table like in most Loops. But "Lord Chaldeas," as it was still known at this point, usually wasn't a cross-shaped sword bigger and heavier than Mash.

Ritsuka continued after a momentary pause. "This 'Sworder' class has replaced the normal Shielder extra class. You start with more knowledge about the class system then me. Do your Loop memories show this as some kind of universal change or just a weird one off?"

Mash shook her head. "Universal. The Knight trio is Archer, Lancer, and Buckler in this Loop. Sworder is an extra class. And as far as I can remember, all the Servants who should be Sabers are now Bucklers instead." Mash shrugged helplessly. "The actual class vulnerabilities are the same, and it seems most sword based NPs are now shield based, and vice-versa."

"Right," sighed Ritsuka. Weird, but manageable. "And how are you dealing with having Buckler Galahad as the Grail mud corrupted Servant at the end of Fuyuki?" Yet another question Ritsuka would never have thought she'd ask. There were alot of those happening recently.

"That's actually what we were mostly talking about," Mash said, tapping the side of her temple. "Altria and I, I mean."

Ritsuka groaned. "She's Awake, I assume."

Mash nodded. Then her eyes widened, her face blushed, and she desperately whispered "Shut up," repeatedly to the voice in her head.

"Hey!" Ritsuka barked. "You're a guest in her head Altria, keep the sailor talk to a minimum."

"That wasn't- never mind," the embarrassed Mash said. "Altria has confirmed my earlier guess that Galahad and herself basically switched roles for this Loop's True Human History. King Galahad instead of King Arthur, basically. The details are different, but not that different. Everything else seems to have come from that one change."

Ritsuka nodded thoughtfully. "Anything else?"

"Well," Mash shrugged. "Expect any Altria-look-alikes to be Galahad-look-alikes instead?"

"Then this Variant Loop is more manageable than I feared," Ritsuka declared, standing up from the comfortable lounge chair, simultaneously shifting herself into a less objectionable species than one of the Fae. It had been a while since she used her Xian Identity, and she felt like stretching out her Pseudo-True Ancestor muscles this Loop. "Now let's get out of here. I don't want to linger outside his omniscience and make the King of Mages suspicious of us."

---

'You know, you're going to have to woman up and do something about this crush at some point.'

'Shut

upabout it already. I know that, I just…'

'Look. I'm not saying you tie her down and have your way with her or anything. But I can see exactly how much Ritsuka means to you from here.'

'But…'

'I won't say anything. Just keep in mind, you have literally forever to do something about it. Do it eventually, when you're ready. Just wait until I'm not stuck along for the ride, alright?'

---

8.2

[Fate Grand Order]

Shielder Wars

"Senpai! What is this madness!?" Mash screamed as Ritsuka tried to turn to talk to her, only to get splattered into paste a second later by a massive laser. Thankfully, as a Xian, she could just reform herself from the blood, and did so, joining Mash behind the cover of MHX's spaceship, alongside Galahad Lily, Mysterious Heroine X and Medea, who was also Awake.

"You're asking me?" Ritsuka replied as MHX poked her head out slowly, only to quickly duck back before it could get taken off by a laser.

"This is far worse than the Saber plague of my universe!" MHX declared very loudly. "What is wrong with this universe?"

"All their shields are shooting beams..." Medea muttered, shaking as she curled up into a ball. "All their shields are reflecting lasers..."

"Medea snap out of it, we need you!" Mash shouted, then grit her teeth. "Altria not now!"

"Is she okay?" Galahad Lily asked, Ritsuka rubbing his hair.

"She's fine, we're just gonna need to figure out how to survive this mess," she supplied, mentally noting at least the Servant Universe was oddly the same this Loop, since MHX was... well, still MHX.

Of course, that was the least of anyone's worries. as the Buckler class Servants waged a never ending war of shooting beams, and reflecting those beams back at each other bigger, stronger, and faster each time.

"Right, I have a plan, its a stupid plan, but it is a plan," Ritsuka supplied.

"WE'LL TAKE ANYTHING!" Everyone shouted. Anything to escape the Shielder Beam Wars.

---

8.3

[Fate Grand Order]

Catalysts?

"Senpai… what are those?" an unAwake Mash asked in confusion as she, Ritsuka and Altria were standing in the summoning chamber.

"Catalysts," Ritsuka admitted with a smile, carrying a small box of things into the actual summoning part of the chamber as Altria took a sip of her coffee.

"This is not going to work," the Saber said bluntly, rocking her 'Buster' T-shirt.

"I'm going to try it anyway," Ritsuka shot back, the currently female Master taking a book out of the box.

"...Senpai is that manga?" Mash questioned out of surprise.

"Yep!" Ritsuka threw it onto the summoning circle. "Hey Altria, throw the switch!"

"What manga was that?" Altria asked, trying to lean over the window to look at the cover.

"Demon Slayer," Ritsuka said as Altria threw the switch, the summoning chamber lighting up, the pillar of pure mana exploding into being. Only Mash averted her eyes… and when the light died down, an extremely confused looking Shuten Douji was holding the manga in her hands.

"What is this?" the Oni Assassin muttered as Altria spit out her coffee, Mash yelping as the window between the chamber and the control room was splattered with the brown liquid.

"That actually worked!?" Altria shouted as Mash started panicking, trying to find a towel before the coffee got all over the console.

"Hi Shuten!" Ritsuka waved. "I'll talk to you in a bit, we're testing something."

"Oh? You show no fear before an oni?" Shuten asked, still looking at the manga in her hands and stepping off the summing platform. "What is this strange thing?"

"It's manga," Ritsuka said, tossing a dagger up and down. Something Waver had given her last time around. She tossed it onto the summoning sigil as Shuten was engrossed in reading the story in her hands.

"Now I'm interested," Altria mused, Mash still wiping away the coffee with a towel as she threw the switch again. The summoning chamber lighting up with mana again.

When it died down, little Jack the Ripper was standing there, confused and holding the plastic knife in her hands. "Mommy what's this?" Jack asked, looking at Ritsuka, who smiled and picked the Assassin up, and put her on the ground.

"Toy knife. Give mommy a second, we're summoning more Servants," Ritsuka said, petting Jack on the head as the unAwake Mash's brain apparently decided to shut down at the sight of the tiny girl who was now calling her Senpai mommy.

"Ok!" Jack said with a smile, running into the control room with the toy knife.

"Try the Soul Eater Manga," Altria ordered, Ritsuka pulling said manga out of the box, and grimacing.

"Oh god I hope not…" Ritsuka mumbled, recalling their encounter with… him.

"Senpai, what is that face?" Mash asked, finally rebooting as Altria pulled the switch.

"Don't worry about it."

As she said that, the summoning Chamber exploded into Prana for the third time, heralding the summoning of yet another Servant. And when it died down… there stood Medusa, in her 'Lily' Form. The Lancer blinked, the manga draped over her head as she sent out a quick ping.

Ritsuka chuckled as Medusa pulled the manga off her hood. "Did you really summon me with this?" she asked, incredulously.

"I am still surprised it worked?" Ritsuka said with a shrug, Medusa about to speak before the lights sparked, and the entire room went dim. Moments later, the chamber was refilled with dim light.

"Ah we blew out the generators," Altria noted calmly, taking a sip of her coffee again as Mash panicked.

"What do we do!"

"We go get Da Vinci, and apologize for blowing the power, now come on!" Ritsuka ordered, running out, and grabbing Shuten by the shoulder as she passed the Oni by.

"Hey! I'm reading here!" she complained.

"You can keep reading, just come on!"

The Black King of Knights chuckled, shaking her head and leading Mash out into Chaldea's vast hallways. Jack the Ripper leaping down the hallways to follow her mommy, and Medusa joining them.

Altira was still quite interested in what other Catalysts they could use, but right now they had bigger problems. Like getting the power back on.

---

8.4

[Fate/Grand Order]

Release the Kittens!

"You and what army, Master of Chaldea!" the ghost of gamblers boasted. Ritsuka was alone at the moment, humming as he'd been locked into this run down casino in Vegas… run by a gigantic ghost.

He snapped his fingers. "I have one!"

"What do you mean! I have locked this place off from Serva-" the gigantic ghost started before Ritsuka reached behind their back, pulling out twenty cards from seemingly nowhere.

"RELEASE THE KITTENS!"

The ghost screeched in horror as sixty sphinx kittens manifested from the cards, all rearing up and growling before being swarmed by adorable divine beasts the size of large house cats. Ritsuka laughing maniacally all the way.

"Senpai! What's going on in there?" Mash called from outside in confusion.

"Just dealing with a rude person, don't worry about it," Ritsuka reassured through the door before going back to watching the mauling, the ghost trying to pathetically claw its way to a slot machine as it was being weighed down by housecat sphinxes.

"Yes my kitties… gooood…" Ritsuka cackled. It was rare to get Craft Essences that summoned sphinx kittens, but it was still fun to use them.

How often could one claim they had a small army of divine beasts at their beck and call! And actually use them on something that couldn't handle the adorableness… or deadliness.

---

8.5

[Fate Grand Order]

Team Phoenix

"Damn he's good," Ritsuka commented, taking a sip from her smoothie as she and Mash were in the commentator's box for this iteration of the Ishtar Cup.

They'd managed to arrange things so that a certain someone visited Chaldea early. Goredolf Musik, the future director, and even better, they'd managed to rope him into participating in the Ishtar Cup with a 'partner' sharing his car. Caenis unsurprisingly.

"I'm more surprised he's winning," Mash admitted as everyone kept their eyes on the screen.

In all honesty, Goredolf and Caenis' vehicle didn't hold a candle to the more… esoteric rides of any other team. It was a Nissan GT-R with only minor adjustments made, Goredolf's personal touches, which weren't even magical in nature. Compared to the rocket ship, the magic chariots, the steam train, single wheel motorcycle, whatever the hell Nitocris and Scheherazade were riding, the simple car was a bit out of place.

But that didn't stop its driver from putting the pedal to the metal, and drag racing with the best Chaldea's racers had to offer. Dodging missiles, Noble Phantasms, Nobunaga's bullet bombardment, and more.

Unlike almost every other racer, there was barely a scratch on the paintjob of his ruby red car, Caenis roaring for more speed and occasionally hanging out the side of the window to jab at another racer whenever Goredolf brought them in close.

Particularly impressive was him avoiding a spin out and driving up a volcano backwards, and even managing to jump the crater still going backwards. He was gaining quite the lead overall, with only Nero and MHX getting anywhere close to catching up to him. And they were the ones driving a magic formula one car and the rocket ship.

"Not really, I mean what's this compared to India?" Ritsuka asked, still watching the big screen as Goredolf actually slowed down just enough to allow Caenis a clear shot at taking out Nero's car, something Altria, Nero's partner put a stop to by deflecting the spear with a bullet, and trying to put some in Goredolf's tires.

Of course, 'The Phoenix Musik' was more than ready for the attempt, pulling back just enough to avoid getting shot, and then pulling a pit maneuver at high speed, spinning both his own car and the Tyrant Shooter out.

The difference was, his car had amazing ability to turn. While the Tyrant Shooter was spinning out and flipping, Altria and Nero hanging on for dear life, Goredolf recovered from the spin and shifted gears, rocketing back into the lead as the Demon Driver, Nobunaga and MHX's rocket car, was gaining on them.

"Holy shit he might actually do it…" Ishtar muttered in shock.

"...I can't believe you were right," Medea muttered as Shirou smirked, holding out his hand.

"Pony up," the visiting Anchor ordered as Medea huffed.

"The race isn't over yet, there's still a chance," the Caster said as Mash looked up.

"They're approaching the final stretch…" she noted. This was gonna be where the real race began.

But when the 'Guard Dog' Lobo came out, with the siren headed Hessian, Goredolf did something most racers didn't in the Ishtar cup.

He kept driving, Caenis hanging on for dear life as he drove over the bridge into the final stretch, the explosives underneath set by Medb going off behind him as he shifted gears one final time… and then he finally hit the turbo.

"He's had a turbo the whole time!?" Ishtar screamed in surprise as the crowd cheered, the other racers falling behind, literally, as Goredolf and Caenis drove for the finish line, Lobo leaping out of the smoke to give chase, and Goredolf spinning the car to drive backwards, allowing Caenis to climb out and onto the top of the car to fight Lobo and Hessian.

"I love the Ishtar Cup," Ritsuka noted with a smile as Ishtar began panicking over how things weren't going according to plan with Medb's intervention, even as Caenis was duelling Hessian in a high speed chase, Goredolf's expert driving being put to the test once more to avoid Lobo's assault as well.

Sure, it all came to a near crashing halt when Medb literally parked an entire army in front of him, headed by Quetzacoatl, but he'd gotten farther than literally anyone else had against Medb and her forces during the Ishtar cup before being caught. Even with godly driving in a pretty standard car, one couldn't simply drift through a thousand bodies, a goddess sitting right there, a hyperactive Avenger, Medb's authority, and a literal minefield of spike strips.

That it had taken that much to get him to finally stop, even after he and Caenis plowed through maybe a fourth of that, was still incredible.

"Now we get to see if his digging is as good as his driving," Shirou commented.

"Please, if those were equal, he'd be capable of digging all the way to China," Medea commented.

---

8.6

[Fate/Stay Night] [Fate/Grand Order]

Another: Stay Night

Illya chuckled, rubbing her hands together in glee. With the advent of the Grand Order… and the opportunity for hundreds of new Catalysts and Servants, she'd been waiting for a chance like this for a while.

To completely, and utterly, screw the entire 5th Holy Grail War six ways to sunday. By way of summoning a completely different set of Servants. Thankfully Shirou wasn't Awake yet, and no one except Waver was… and with his help, they'd planted all the pieces necessary to make this one of the more insane versions of the 5th War yet.

She personally couldn't wait to see the look on Gilgamesh's face.

"Oh Berserker~" Illya sang.

"What do you require?" Her Berserker for the war… Hijikata Toshizou asked, the man crossing his arms as Illya pulled out a pair of shades, grinning.

"We're gonna make sure everything goes according to keikaku."

---

He'd been summoned as a Caster… ah well.

"Yo, Servant Caster," Cu started, before sending off a ping, getting two in return before quickly dashing behind Bazett Fraga McRemitz, sweeping her off her feet and stabbing Kirei Kotomine through the heart with his staff in turn. He winked at her, his Master blushing. "Cu Chulainn."

"You're a Caster!? But- I was trying to… Kotomine!?" Bazzet started questioning.

"He was gonna kill you, but don't worry about that, I'm here," Cu slowly let her down, spinning his staff and showing off his earring. "So, Holy Grail War right?"

"Y-yes!" his Master, sadly she wasn't a Looper… a shame, he hoped she would be one day, even if that hope was slim. "I'm going to claim the Grail in the name of the Association."

"Ah come on, surely you've got a different wish?" he teased, and Bazett blinked, rubbing behind the back of her head. "Either way, I've only got one goal. Good fights, you up for that?"

"Entirely."

He grinned, this was gonna be fun, hopefully.

---

Shirou Awoke… to find a very different Saber looking down at him.

"Servant, Saber. You are my Master, yes?" the masked Saber, Sigurd asked him. Shirou wondered how the hell he'd been summoned when he looked outside.

"Yeah, I guess," Shirou admitted with a shrug. "Uh, are you in the middle of something?"

"I was. Excuse me for a moment Master," Sigurd spun around, holding his red sword, Gram, up and leaping out of the shed to return to his clash with Lancer.

Said Lancer being Caenis of all people. The normally extraordinarily angry Servant laughed as she and Sigurd dueled, spear and shield against the Demonic Sword as Shirou got up and out of the shed.

He blinked in utter confusion at the man at the other end of the school yard. What the hell was Wodime doing here?

"Archer!" he heard Rin's voice shout. "Take them out!"

Shirou dove back into the shed as Orion dropped in. The absolute mountain of a man smirking as he raised his bow and club. Both Caenis and Sigurd looked towards the new arrival in slight surprise.

'What the actual fuck?' Shirou questioned. This War was already looking to be an interesting one at minimum.

Archer, Lancer and Saber engaged in dialogue amid their fighting… and then a fourth Servant joined in.

"Targets acquired! Eliminating!" the Servant, who looked very much like a Kamen Rider, declared, diving in and trying to blast Sigurd and Caenis with energy, before attempting to engage Orion in a fist fight. Odysseus the Rider joined the battle as Sakura poked her very confused head through the hole in the wall her Servant had busted.

"This has gotten way out of-" Shirou started before yet another Servant decided to interrupt… by riding a pink Metal Gear through the damn high school.

"Hello everyone!" Koyanskya, the Assassin declared, her mech opening up on full auto, forcing all the other Servants on the defensive. "Presents from NFF!"

"This has already gone awry," Wodime noted, the magus ducking behind some rubble and reinforcing his position with a shield powered by the stars. Sakura similarly took cover.

"HEY DID YOU ALL START WITHOUT ME!?" Cu shouted, dropping in and dodging around various bullets and missiles, the Caster grinning as he started. "Alright! I'm gonna take on-"

"SHINSENGUMI!" And then the final wall exploded, Hijikata charging through it right towards Koyanskya's mech, ignoring the bullets and ripping a leg off with his sword. The foxy Assassin leaping off her current vehicle and landing atop what remained of the roof of the school.

"Oh this can only end poorly." Shirou finally got out. All seven Servants assembled, and only one of them the right one… of course he was in the wrong class anyway.

The seven assembled Servants all looked between each other. Weapons drawn, aimed and ready.

"Well this Grail War is about to explode," he commented before looking at Sigurd, "Don't die, please?"

"I won't Master. Now go, I shall hold them off," Sigurd responded, Shirou just apparatting out to watch the fireworks at this point.

How the actual hell the Grail War had turned into this mess was currently beyond him, but it was gonna be amusing nonetheless.

---

8.7

[Fate/Grand Order] [Legend of Zelda]

Fate/Courage: Part 1

Ritsuka Awoke in hiding, adjusting the helmet she was wearing suddenly and taking stock of the situation from behind a tree.

She was like… barely taller than two feet, and some sort of imp creature. A Twili, her Loop memories told her. Apparently she was some sort of cursed princess, and normally not this short.

Lack of clothes was also dealt with by lack of anything revealing anyway, she'd been worse.

The sounds of screaming drew her attention away from her thoughts. She poked her head out from her hiding place to see some teenager turn into a wolf, then get dragged off by a shadow beast. A corrupted Twili as her memories affirmed.

She frowned, floating out from her hiding spot… and realizing that her little imp form could float at all. "Ok, that's useful," she mumbled in her body's native tongue. A quick shrug at that. The wolf boy probably was going to need some help.

Ritsuka wasn't one to ignore people in need after all.

---

Link Awoke with a groan, shaking his head and quickly realizing he was currently a wolf.

'Huh, I Awoke here?' Link looked around, yep, dungeons under Hyrule Castle. Meant he was in the Twilight Princess era this time. He sent out a quick Ping, getting only one in return.

"Oh you're awake now," Link looked to his right, and saw… well it looked like Midna, but it wasn't her exactly. Her hair was a more solid, and brighter orange, and her iris was more orange than normal as well. In appearance, she actually looked a little different, but it was only minor details. Of course given she was wearing the fused Shadow piece, she didn't look amazingly different, except her ponytail was off to the side rather than directly behind her. "You doing alright mister?"

'Well she's certainly more polite than Midna tends to be,' Link thought. He was tempted to speak back to her, but the fact this… not-Midna was standing there, crossing her arms, kept him a bit silent.

He hadn't done pure Baseline in a while, and dealing with a nicer than normal Midna would be a change of pace perhaps. With that, he nodded to her slowly. "Well, good to see that whatever made you a wolf didn't rob you of your senses," the imp put her hands behind her head with a grin, fangs visible.

"So… hmm, how are we gonna get you outta this cell," the not-Midna mused, before looking at his leg. "Ok, I can get rid of that," she said, putting her hands together.

Rather than cast like how Midna would have, forming a small ball of dark energy and cutting it, she formed a similar orb, this one with black and green energy before firing it at the chain around his leg, snapping off most of it, save for the cuff. "There we go," the girl said with a smile before dancing backwards, and phasing through the cell door. "There's a bit of broken floor here, just enough you might be able to slip out, if you squeeze."

Link nodded, simply going over to the pile of dirt and digging his way through. Popping out of the dirt and shaking himself off. Unlike how Midna would normally just drop herself on his back, this other imp nodded, before hopping up, floating in the air before landing on his back gently. He growled. "Hey hey, it's faster if you do the walking. I might be able to float, but I ain't quick."

He just let her, the girl straddling him as her mount. "Right then, off we trot mister wolf!" she hummed. "Of course we can't use the way I followed you in… guess we'll be doing things the fun way," Twili giggled.

Ok, whoever this was, they certainly seemed a lot more helpful outright than an unAwake Midna was. "Come on, prison break time. Ain't my first, won't be our last knowing my luck."

---

Link carried this mysterious Twili throughout Hyrule castle. She seemed to be getting used to her abilities, a sign to him that she was probably the visiting Looper, having replaced Midna. Of course these same abilities seemed to excite her with just how they could be used to aid them both.

Of course her regular comments were quite amusing, and further reinforcing the idea that she was the visitor.

"Souls here are so much more chatty than they are normally. Course they aren't dead yet! Let's keep it that way," she'd commented upon them encountering that first formless guard. He was sort of making a game of it at this point, to see if he could figure out who this girl was before they outright said it. But the personality didn't exactly match anyone he interacted with normally.

"Hmm, there's something about a twilight sky that's so comforting right now. Could do without the rain though," the imp had said once they'd gotten outside. "Right, welcome to Hyrule Castle buddy. Come on, we've gotta make it to that tower before any guards catch us," he barked softly in affirmation.

She certainly was a bit more active than Midna tended to be. Actually making very liberal use of her hair to help in combat, as well as constantly pointing out enemies to him. Which he noted there seemed to be far more than usual from what he could remember, so the extra pair of helpful eyes and useful orders were a boon, not that he exactly needed it, but making her feel useful would probably do wonders in the long run.

"And up we go!" the imp had said cheerfully, using her hair hand to grab onto the window and with a leap from him, boosting them into the tower.

Reaching Zelda's prison from there was easy, and he didn't want to scare her, so he took things a bit slow. He still needed to guess who this girl was afterall. When they'd reached the top, rather than let him push the door open the girl leapt up, balancing on his back. "Hey, let me turn it."

He rolled his eyes, but obliged, letting the imp grasp the handle and push the door open slowly before settling back into her riding position. Walking into the room, he saw Zelda awaiting at the window. Well he assumed it was going to be Zelda.

"I'm back Princess," the imp said with a wave. "And I brought a new friend."

"Ritsu?" Zelda turned around, the cloaked princess looking towards them both in surprise as Link walked forward. The wolf was interested in the name… Ritsu.

"Indeed. Had a bit of a change of heart. But enough about that," the newly identified Ritsu said with a nod.

"So if he is not the one you were searching for?" Zelda questioned kneeling down to look at Link.

"Wouldn't know. But given he used to be a person, and he turned into a wolf not a spirit, better place to start than anywhere else, no?" Titsu surmised, putting her hands behind her head and adjusting the Fused Shadow helmet as she did so. "Course couldn't just leave him behind."

"He was imprisoned," Zelda noted, looking at the remains of the chain around his leg. "I'm sorry."

"He's been taking it rather well actually. You'd think he was normally a dog," the imp Ritsu noted with a giggle. Link actually growled at that one. "Hey, easy, keep it down buddy," she ordered, patting his head. "You've got more of the story about 'why' than I do, so think you can tell him your half miss princess?"

He heard Zelda sigh, and shake her head. "Listen carefully."

---

After hearing her tale, and beginning their escape, the newly named 'Ritsu' was quick on keeping him up to date. "Guards outside the window we came in… need a new exit," and she'd grabbed his ears when they'd neared the bottom of the stairs.

She'd dragged them both up, straining herself to get them to the window before floating out into the rain, hopping across the rooftop and crossing her arms. "Ok, that makes things much more understandable," she mumbled to herself. "Much easier than working off memory."

Link followed after her. He'd keep the silent treatment for now, let her get used to it all. "Right then, we've got a lot of work ahead of us, mister wolf, but I can only help you so much like this," she raised her hand, and looked it over before clutching it. "A provisional contract kinda," she giggled.

Ok now he was slightly worried. "Oh come now, don't get that look on your face," she tapped him on the nose. "It's a simple arrangement. Master and Servant."

He could literally hear the uppercase S. The Twili looked around. "Ok, nevermind. We'll have to make that later, if we don't go now we ain't going at all," she snapped her fingers, dragging him along for a teleport. "To the realm of light we go."

When he reformed in the spring of Ordon, she spoke up again. "Sorry about the lack of humanity, mister wolf, but I can't give you that one back. Not because I don't want to, I can't," she said hiding within his shadow.

He trotted out of the sacred spring, and once they were out of the water she emerged, turning his shadow into her form. "Just as well mister, you may be good, and I may be useful in the realm covered by twilight, but just the two of us can't fight a whole army. Maybe if we had a proper Contract, but I can't make those with humans. And if we get separated, well I can't say we'll be in a good spot. I can't enter the light without you, and you can't enter the shadow without me, capiche?"

He'd long since figured out how to actually do that on his own, but he'd humor her. Link nodded. "Of course if we find a way to turn you back into a human, you'd be pretty defenseless without those teeth and claws." The shadow imp put her hand to her chin. "Let's see… the simple way or the fun way… well, fun it is," she shrugged, before smiling, "Let's get some tools. That little village you're from should have some weapons. So village boy, I assume you've tended to fields, how do you fancy a spear? They got any of those?"

This of course was a bit different than normal, but hey, he'd done weirder. She was having fun, so he nodded. He could probably find a spear somewhere, or failing that just grab the sword and shield. "Well let's get on it, and by we, I have to mean you. Ain't physical here," she chuckled before returning her form to his shadow.

He was beginning to like this 'Ritsu'.

---

Of course, Ritsu was exceptionally chatty… but useful. "Let's see, a shield in the store, and weapons around town. Pick and choose, pick and choose… but only one, we don't want to leave these people defenseless. After all, there are more monsters than just us mister wolf."

She was certainly more emphatic to their plight than Midna was at first. "If those kids have been taking to the twilight, they're both in danger and somewhat safe. I mean, it's pretty hard to hurt a soul, but not impossible. But they can't defend themselves if something bothers to try."

And when they'd gone to Ordon Spring again, after obtaining a spear and the shield. The first Shadow Beast appeared… alongside two others, which was already more than he'd been expecting. Not unmanageable by any means.

Course the commentary was helpful. "Left!" he dodged, skidding through the water. "The two on the right are preparing a charge." He leapt up and over, using his tail like a blade to slash at them both. Of course the annoying part about Shadow Beasts were you had to beat all of them at once. "Ok, that's annoying… hmm. Ah, I've got it!"

She really was quite the tactician. "Alright, they're enjoying their charges, two at once while you're fighting one. Get them to ram each other and put that tail of yours to good use!"

Barely two minutes after the battle started, it was over. The portal of twilight formed for them, and Ordon spoke. Ritsu kept her lips shut for once. After Ordona spoke to them it was off to Faron woods. "Hang on buddy, I'll pull you in once I'm through."

---

Ritsuka, or 'Ritsu' as she'd decided to just keep going by (She liked new names. Even if it was mostly a variation on her normal one), hummed as she floated on the other side of the twilight barrier. "Will this even work?" she mused, forming her ponytail into the large hand she'd been growing accustomed to. Wolf boy was on the other side, and she was like 99% percent sure he was the one who'd pinged off at this point. His combat capability was amazing. She'd ask him later.

Right now, she needed to get him through. Reaching her hair out, she passed it through the twilight barrier. It stung a bit, but she felt something grasp pulled, dragging him out of the realm of Light, and into the realm of Twilight.

Once he was inside she returned to riding him, looking at the spear and shield on his back with her. "Well that's an issue. Gonna be hard to move with these… Although…" She patted his back. "You don't mind if I put these away for a bit, yeah? They'll be more useful whenever we get you back to human mister wolf."

The wolf rolled his eyes but nodded. She could have just Pocketed them, but trying out her new magic was more fun. A quick snap of her fingers and both wooden shield and iron spear were snapped into a little dimensional space created by her Twili magic. "You're pretty quiet, you know that?"

Another roll of his eyes. She spun around laying across his back and looking at herself over again. "Let's get to work, this work's light ain't going to return itself," she ordered. She could probably get used to the imp form, but her memories told her she had a much more… mature and powerful form. That would be interesting whenever they broke this little curse on her.

She snapped her fingers. "Right, our contract. Did you give it any thought? Master and Servant?" she asked, looking over her shoulder and adjusting her helmet again. The 'Fused Shadow', one of the pieces at least. The wolf barked. "That a yes or a no?"

The wolf shook his head no. "Ok provisional it is then. Let's get to it. Find that light spirit and get your human body back," he nodded, before taking off at a run. She nearly fell off, but she managed to quickly grab his back fur and hang on. "Sorry!"

Of course, barely a minute into the woods, another set of twilight stones dropped from the sky, a portal opening wide. "Oh great, more friends." As six Shadow Beasts decided to drop in from above, she looked down at her companion. "Think you can take em all at once?"

The smirk he gave told her he knew he could, or at least thought so. She was still wondering how the heck he knew her language, but they'd probably figure that out later. Worse came to worst it was just him being a Looper. "I'm still helping. Follow my orders and we'll get through this."

The wolf charged, and she grinned, raising her hair and using it to grab at the first Shadow Beast to jump at them. Wrapping the large fist around the monster's leg as the wolf jumped at another, ripping at its chest with his teeth as she rammed the one she had in her grip into another that tried to claw them.

Her companion leapt off the one he was mauling just as another tried to leap at them. "Behind!~"

He spun around, dodging just in the nick of time to avoid getting crushed by the fifth, the sixth lunging at them. She turned her head, using her hair to punch it into the barrier around them. It quickly got back up as the rest circled them.

She frowned. "Hey, how fast are you?" The wolf barked. "Let's find out buddy!" she held up her hands, grinning as she snapped her fingers with both hands, creating a field of energy around them and concentrating. Three of the shadow beasts gaining green marks on them. She turned, using her hair to point at the fourth, and snapping her fingers one final time to mark the last two, right where a nice set of teeth would probably rip their throat out.. "Weaknesses exposed! Gettem!"

The wolf growled. "One… final trick…" She grit her teeth, expending this much magic while she wasn't used to it at all was so taxing… "Bit of… a boost," she spent just a little bit more to give her companion one final boost, it wasn't an actual spell, just giving him some extra magic to follow through with the mass attack.

She yelped, barely hanging on as he leapt from beast to beast, ripping out the green marks with expert precision, bouncing from one monster to the next, and all six screeching within three seconds. All of them falling to the dirt, twilight energy flying off them as they fell to pieces, forging a new portal in the sky.

"Hah… ugh… well… that was fun, short too…" she offered weakly. Ok, she underestimated just how much power this body actually had… granted a majority of it was sealed. Maybe she wasn't used to it yet either.

The wolf growled at her as she laid on his back. "I'm… fine buddy," she closed her eyes. "Hehe… what I wouldn't give… for a Servant…"

The wolf huffed as she draped over him, falling into a fitful sleep.

---

'She really needs to stop pushing herself like that," Link thought as he slowly walked towards the small waterfall to meet the spirit of Faron. It was rare for someone to replace Midna… and even rarer for the circumstances they were doing it under.

He was honestly surprised how aggressive the enemies were being, and just how much more numerous they were. Three shadow beasts at once, then six? If he hadn't been holding back to wolf form, he was pretty such he could deal with them with ease… and bombs. But this was getting a bit insane.

Still, he liked a challenge, but he was getting a bit worried about Ritsu. She was pushing herself harder than Midna would have… not that he completely minded, normally she would just let him handle nearly everything.

He let her rest for a little bit, he could handle everything up to the miasma swamp without her, at least from what he remembered. But given the general difficulty spike, both in enemy interaction and number, he'd probably have to step up his game.

After obtaining the Vessel of Light, he kept his pace a bit slower than normal, to let Ritsu recover. She was up in a few minutes, yawning. "Ahhh… can't remember the last time… I got a nap without some sort of crazy dream," Ritsu muttered, adjusting her helmet. "How long was I out?"

He tapped his foot ten times. "Ten minutes huh?" she muttered. "Well, back to work. I miss anything?" He barked in response. "Yes huh? Well you can tell me all about it later. Whatever it is, I'll figure it out as we go."

She was quick to figure out what they were doing. "Ok, so we're gathering the light, easy enough. This vessel you got has what, sixty slots?" He barked. "Well, it just means we have to keep hunting, easy enough."

The hunt took quite a while, long enough that he was actually having to stop and take breathers. Ritsu thankfully didn't seem to mind, given she'd also been assisting in reaching the bugs who were a bit out of reach, usually with her hair or a bit of creative magic.

Of course he couldn't help but react to her already commentary. "Oh come on man, they're bugs, sure they're big but I've dealt with bigger with my fists!" She'd even punctuated that with punching her tiny hand into the other.

And when they'd encounter the miasma swamp, she'd put her snappy wit to work. "Oh joy, poison. Meh. Come on, follow me, put those legs to work buddy!" She'd used her hair to gesture playfully to him, so at least she wasn't a hundred percent serious.

If anything, she was taking the whole adventure in stride, and just enjoying being along with him for the ride. And when they'd returned the light she'd decided to stick around more obviously than Midna had. "Well that's one bit of light returned. Back to shadow land for me… On the other hand, I expect we'll finally be talking soon, mister wolf," she'd laughed, before returning to being his shadow as Faron appeared.

Of course she'd also commented on him too. "Chosen one huh? And here I thought we were just having a wonderful time without destiny at hand. Ah well." And then upon his name. "Oh, so your name is Link? Hang on… actually I'll hold that thought."

---

After Faron had finished talking, Ritsu and Link finally got to speak to each other… for the most part.

"Link, one of the three Anchors of Hyrule. That's who you are," Ritsu offered as she floated before him, still only a being of shadow. "And let me guess, you're Awake too?"

"Eh, close enough," Link said to kept it short and simple. "I don't know who you are though, but I have a guess."

"And that would be?" Ritsu asked, amused. She crossed her hands behind her head, not that she had a physical form to really do so with, but it was the gesture that mattered.

"If I had to guess… You'd be Ritsuka right? Altria told me about you," he returned.

She snapped two fingers at him, not that it made a sound. "Got it in one. Ritsuka Fujimaru, Chaldean Anchor," she waved at him and giggled "Pleasure to finally hear you speak."

"Well you've been chatty enough for the both of us," Link offered with a smirk. "I heard from her you've got a species problem?"

"Yeah a bit, but I manage. Won't lie, I've been finding this interesting, and pretty fun. I'm normally pretty close to the action, but not a super direct combatant. Still ain't the main one, so that's normal," she reclined in the air.

"...Are you not bothered by the-" Link began and she waved at him.

"Nah, I've literally spent entire Loops running around in a bikini, or technically less than this," she knocked on her helmet. "A bit worrying I've grown used to that," she mused, putting a hand on her chin.

"I mean we all go crazy in our own ways," Link said with a shrug. "So… what do you want to do?"

She started tapping her fingers together. "Could… we keep going? I was enjoying the adventure so far and… well I want to see it through."

Link smiled. "Only if you don't mind the mostly silent treatment from here?"

She laughed. "It'll be fine, I'll just have to talk for two. Oh any by the way, do call me Ritsu anyway."

"There a reason for that?"

She put a finger to her lips. "Secret." And then she vanished into his shadow.

At least this was a very challenging variant of baseline. This hopefully would be a fun adventure.

Thus the adventure continued, for the Hero of Courage and the new Twilight Princess.

---

8.8

[Fate/Grand Order] [Cardfight! Vanguard]

Salem of Nightmareland - Part 2 (HelenTheMoon (Lermis))

Executioner of Nightmareland, Sanson. Grade 2. Power 6000 – absurdly low for a unit of his grade. Dark Irregulars clan. Race: Human.

And he could directly interact with the girl who just played him.

"Kamui-kun. I'm sorry, but I'm drawing you in."

Normally, Aichi did not do this sort of thing. He could draw other people in his own imagination, in Cray itself. Hold an entire conversation in front of a crowd that would be none the wiser. Ren was far more casual with it, throwing people in his world for its own sake.

However, those were shaping to be exceptional circumstances. And he could not have conversations about the loops out in the open.

Kamui's answer came in. "Alright."

Normally, this was the point where people would close their eyes. Aichi never needed to do so.

The girl – Abigail – was already there.

Kamui was looking around in the village stunned, the desolate, fairy tale-like shapes creating a bizarre sight. This entire place felt wrong, like candy and death and… something.

"Oh, hello!"

"Who are they!?"

The man who was supposed to be a card and Abigail were talking – or more accurately, the man was fussing over her. He looked far less intimidating now than he did when he was summoned.

Then again, he was carrying a huge sword, and Aichi knew from experience that even in his imagination those tended to hurt.

"Sendou Aichi… Hi?"

"Katsuragi Kamui. Now, what's going on!?"

Abigail was relentless. "We're crushing you! Let's go, Mr. Sanson!"

"I still don't know what's going on…"

Aichi, knowing that outsiders could not really hear them, decided to finally test his hypothesis. "Have you heard of the loops?"

"Loops? I'm uncertain…" That was an interesting reaction…

Abigail ignored them both. "I call Lavinia!"

She placed a copy of the card from before in the back row left to Sanson. However, this time it went a bit differently. "Abby! Mr. Sanson!"

"Lavinia!? You're here too!? What's happening?"

"You guys are loopers, is what's happening!"

The three of them stared at each other in wonder. Two little girls and a man, all paler than normal dressed in black. They looked like they had been through a lot.

"Like the branches from the tree of Cosmos… Like I saw while father and grandfather were fighting…"

The girls held hands. In the man's eyes, there was confusion and faint recognition – as if he was trying to recall a distant memory.

And then she smiled. "Lavinia's skill! When she's called, I counterblast 2" she flipped over two of her three cards "and search my deck for a copy of Silver Key of Nightmareland, Abigail!"

"WHAT!?"

(Abigail: Hand 8)

The art on the card – he barely caught a glimpse of it, but… "The same name?"

Kamui was worried about other things. "Hold up, won't you let us explain!?"

"Abigail, maybe we should listen to them?" the only adult – actual experience not withstanding – tried to reason.

"No wait, let her. This looks fun." Apparently Lavinia was the girl's enabler.

"Lavinia, why."

"Then, I call! Dum of Nightmareland, Dee of Nightmareland, and Gentleman Traveler of Nightmareland!"

Three new units appeared on the board. Of those, only two were familiar. Dum and Dee were in a row; a duo of near identical doll-like humans dressed like circus performers. Rumour had it they were siblings. The third was an… utterly unremarkable man with a black three piece suit. Somehow, that made him more worried.

(Dum of Nightmareland: Grade 2 – Power 9000)
(Dee of Nightmareland: Grade 0 – Power 4000)
(Gentleman Traveler of Nightmareland: Grade 2 – Power 7000)

(Abigail: Hand 5)

"With Lavinia's boost, Gentle Traveler attacks Bedivere!"

(Gentleman Traveler: 7000+5000 = 12000)

"Gallatin Intercepts!"

With a flash, the Grade 2 Gallatin was standing before the man in black, who had summoned a clutter of black cats out of nowhere. They were cut down in a flash by his shining sword. Neither the strange man nor Gallatin looked particularly happy about this. A moment later, Gallatin dissolved in sparkles of light.

Aichi moved the fallen unit to the drop zone. If Abigail had successfully taken out Bedivere, the row would have taken a serious hit in terms of attack power. In fact, that's probably why she did it.

"Next, Mr. Sanson! Attack his Vanguard!"

"Uh miss" said Kamui "not that you shouldn't attack, but that ain't going through unless you draw a trigger."

"I don't need a trigger! Mr. Sanson's Noble Phantasm deals extra damage against Human enemies!"

"His what!?"

That was when Aichi took a good look at the card.

[AUTO](VC)(RC): When this unit attacks a Human or Elf unit, this unit gains [Power]+2000 for every "Nightmareland" unit in your soul until the end of that battle.

"I have five cards in my soul! GO!"

(Sanson: 6000+10000 = 16000)

Yikes… most my units are humans or elves! Against a deck like Nova Grappler or Nubatama, this kind of effect would be useless, but here…

He could defend it. But.

"No guard."

Sanson seemed to take that as confirmation. He raised his sword. A guillotine manifested above Blaster Blade.

"Drive check! It's a green one!"

Kamui was floored. "A Heal Trigger!?"

"So I heal? Great! And the power goes to Dum!"

(Abigail: Hand 6)

"La Mort Espoir!"

The guillotine fell, crushing Blaster Blade beneath it. If this was real… If this was real…

"Blaster Blade!"

"I'm fine, my vanguard… Please don't worry about me…"

Aichi gulped. A guillotine… Where had those loopers come from? "Damage check. No trigger."

He placed the card in his damage zone.

Fortunately, while Kamui was also distressed, he still kept his head in the game. "By the way, missy. About that Heal trigger you just drew, those can only heal you if you have the same or more damage than the opponent. So don't forget that."

"Oh, alright! I understand."

A moment later, Blaster Blade managed to pull himself back to his feet. "What a heavy attack… Even if the attack power behind it was not that much, it was a special will in it, my Vanguard."

The man looked as grave as his job. "I execute evil to preserve good. That's what I always did."

Aichi could only nod. After all… weren't Ren's Shadow Paladins the same?

"And now, with Dee's boost Dum attacks Blaster Blade!"

(Dum: 9000+5000+4000 = 18000)

"I guard with Flogal!"

(Blaster Blade: 9000+10000 = 19000)

Even with the trigger, Dum was not enough. The performer withdrew his magical ice with disappointment.

"Alright, he blocked it!"

Abigail was pouting. "I end my turn."

(Turn 4 End: Aichi – Hand 5, Damage 4 / Abigail: Hand 6, Damage 2)

Aichi shook his head. Normally, he should be explaining to them how loops work, but they were in the middle of a fight, and Abigail was determined to finish it. And besides, nothing stops a fight.

"Stand and Draw!"

He picked the card from earlier. Now it was time to use it. "Rise once again! This is the proof of our growth! Blaster Blade Exceed!"

His avatar transformed. Not very much. His armour had the same shine as always, his sword buzzed with the same energy. Only the long blue cape showed the real change in his status. However, there was no mistaking his power and authority.

(Blaster Blade Exceed: Grade 3 – Power 11000)

"Exceed's skill! Counterblast!" He turned over one card.

"Again!?"

"I retire Gentleman Traveler!" Reluctantly, Abigail moved him to the dropzone.

Now with that unknown gone… No, it was not time to call another unit yet. Better play it safe for now. Besides, his paladins could not unleash their true power just yet.

"Here I come! With a boost from Barcgail, Blaster Blade Exceed, attack Sanson!"

(Exceed: 11000+5000 = 16000)

"No guard!" she replied with confidence. The heal trigger gave her ample room.

"Twin drive!"

"Twin Drive!?"

"Yes. Grade 3 units can drive check two times."

"That's unfair…"

"That's the tradeback for not having any shields. First check…" Nothing. "Second check." He flipped over the card and a green glow overtook it. "Heal Trigger!"

"Seriously!?"

"I recover one point of damage, and the power goes to Bedivere!"

(Aichi: Hand 7)

"Damage check…" She frowned. "No trigger."

"With Kay's boost, Bedivere attacks your vanguard! Their skills activate!"

(Bedivere: 25000)

That was way too much to defend with a 6000 power vanguard, and she knew it. "No guard. Damage check." Again, no trigger.

"I end my turn."

(Turn 5 End: Aichi – Hand 7, Damage 3 / Abigail: Hand 6, Damage 4)

Kamui cheered. "And the tables have turned! You better have something good, missy!"

"I do! You'll see it…"

Sanson and Lavinia were looking at her worried. Don't tell me… the card from earlier…

Kamui was unfazed. "This turn you'll be able to do some pretty cool stuff, so pay attention, OK?"

"Right. Stand and Draw!"

She threw a glance at her card before picking another. "Sorry Mr. Sanson, you'll have to go for now!"

"Excuse me?"

She closed her eyes. Took a deep breath. The vanguard circle was glowing. "In my hand I hold the Silver Key that will open all the gates to all the worlds… Let's stand at the edge of the boundary! Ride! Silver Key of Nightmareland, Abigail!"

"Wait, Abi- AAAUGHGHGGH!"

From the circle emerged a …tentacle. Then a second. Then a third and then countless devouring the man where he stood as he vanished in a flash of light. The smell of seawater and …something else filled the air, cutting sharply through the thick sweetness of the plants. The vanguard circle shifted to one made of keys, a chalk white, skinny hand emerged through the hoop and grabbed the one made of silver, before the person crawled out of the hole.

It was Abigail. And she was wrong.

Hair and skin white as paper, eyes glowing a vicious red, in the place of her bandage was a keyhole with a third eye within. Her skinny frame was clad in nothing, her modesty only preserved with rows and rows of bowties having from her neck like some mix of a scarf and an avant-garde curtain, her hands and feet covered by some kind of gloves and stockings with so many carefully placed cuts they should be falling apart. An absolutely massive witch hat was in her head, decorated in even more bows, holding a massive black key with intricate thorny designs. The circle of keys and the tentacles twisted behind her like some kind of deranged throne, though why would one need to sit when they could float.

(Silver Key of Nightmareland, Abigail: Grade 3 – Power 11000)

All fell silent.

"I activate my skill. When I appear in the vanguard circle, all the rear guards are sent to the Soul."

The tentacles glitched, and all three of her rear guards vanished in particles of purple light.

(Abigail: Soul 9)

"Then, I can superior call one servant from my Soul. Return, Mr. Sanson."

The circle of key shone with light, and Sanson materialized besides her. "Are you alright?"

The man was panting. "I will be… It's not the worst I had… I think…"

(Abigail: Soul 8)

She frowned. It was not cute. "If I had absolved more servants, I'd be able to use my second skill… Never mind though. I guess it's this kind of game. Next…"

"Stride Generation…"

She looked at them straight in the eyes. It was not just two that were looking. "I already read the description of the cards. I know what to do."

She placed a single card to the drop zone. "I pay Queen of Nightmareland, Hartrud as the cost."

(Abigail: Hand 5)

She picked a card from her Generation Zone.

"My grandfather, my god. In my hand lies the silver key. Come from nothingness and open the lock. Moving beyond the sleep of roses, the realm of dreams, we arrive at the final gate! Stride Generation! False Administrator of Nightmareland, Yog-Sothoth!"

There was no glow this time. Just the tentacles shifting. Glitching. Turning transparent and losing their solidity, taking the shape of galaxies and the cosmos. Several iridescent globes emerged from the circle of keys before it vanished as well, rotating like planets, vanishing and reappearing in seemingly random positions like subatomic particles in quantum physics.

It was beautiful.

(False Administrator of Nightmareland, Yog-Sothoth: Grade 4 – Power 15000)

Kamui was breathless… "No way… Is that a Mythos Hacker…?"

False Administrator, Yog-Sothoth… There was definitely a story there. Since when did Mythos Hackers activate loopers? However… Right now, it's just a card.

"Do you know what to do next?" Despite her being able to figure out Striding by herself, it was still her first cardfight.

"The Heart is me, right?"

"Y-yeah…" Did she loop in as a Difrider? We'll have to check up on Chrono later…

"Alright. As a G unit, Yog-Sothoth gains my name and attack power. In addition, Yog-Sothoth's skill. When I stride, I soulcharge by three."

(Yog-Sothoth: Power 24000)

(Abigail: Soul 11)

"Yog-Sothoth gains 2000 power for every Nightmareland unit in my soul."

"What!?"

"AAAAAGHGH THAT'S WHY I HATE DARK IRREGULARS!"

(Yog-Sothoth: 24000+2000x11 = 46000)

"I call Gentleman Traveler!" The strangely ordinary man from before was back.

(Abigail: Hand 4)

"Oh man, and just as Aichi-nisan gotten rid of him!"

"I activate his skill! When he's called, if the Vanguard is "Silver Key of Nightmareland, Abigail" is the vanguard, I draw a card."

"For no cost!?"

(Abigail: Hand 5)

"I call Village Mob!"

(Abigail: Hand 4)

"Here I come! With Village Mob's boost, Gentleman Traveler attacks your vanguard!"

Just like before, a clutter of black cats manifested around the man, and with their hairs raised they rushed towards Blaster Blade.

(Gentleman Traveler: 7000+6000 = 13000)

Aichi took a long and hard look at his cards. This one, he could guard easily. But the next ones… Village Mob's skill means it'll be sent to the soul. So next, Yog-Sothoth will have 48000 power, and Sanson will have 30000. And that's without triggers… I can block one of those without losing too many cards, but if I try to guard all of them my hand will be devastated… And if I take the attack now, and she draws a critical next, it's over… So the only choice is…!

"I guard with Margal!"

(Blaster Blade Exceed: 11000+5000 = 16000)

(Aichi: Hand 6)

Abigail was unfazed. "Village Mob moves to the Soul."

(Abigail: Soul 12)

(Yog-Sothoth: Power 48000)

"Yog-Sothoth attacks."

He dropped a card. "Perfect Guard! Bringer of Divine Grace, Epona! Your attack is nullified!"

"Wh-what…?"

(Aichi: Hand 4)

"Nulified…? What does that…"

"You can do a Drive Check, but this attack won't go through."

"Al-alright… Twin Drive."

"It's triple."

"Huh?"

Kamui looked pained as he explained. "G Units have triple drive."

"Oh. Nice." She sounded so disheartened…

"Triple Drive. First check… Critical trigger. Both effects to Mr. Sanson."

Unbelievable. Her deck was incredibly responsive to her. If she draws another one here, I'll lose…

"Second check. No trigger."

He could not relax yet.

"Third check."

She took a look at the card before showing it. "No trigger."

"YEAH! Ni-san's safe!"

(Abigail: Hand 7)

No. He wasn't. Not yet.

The being continued its assault. The galaxies within the being's limbs expanded. The orbs flashed and reappeared around Exceed, charging up before exploding like supernovas, the space around them distorting. Epona arrived just in time, kicking him out of the way and taking the attack herself.

"I can't give up yet… Mr. Sanson, attack his vanguard! La Mort Espoir!"

(Sanson: 6000+2000x12+5000 = 35000)

Kamui's jaw dropped. "That skill's way too broken!"

"No guard!"

Once again, the guillotine fell, delivering a devastating blow. Aichi could practically feel the force behind it.

"Damage check. First check…" No trigger. "Second check."

He checked the card. Kamui swore under his breath. "Critical trigger." Normally, he would give the effects to the vanguard. However, this turn was already over.

"I end my turn."

Aichi inhaled. Held it for a moment. Exhaled. "When the turn is over, the G unit returns to the G Zone face up, and the Heart becomes the vanguard again."

"I see…"

She removed the card – now that he looked at it, its artwork was some kind of psychedelic galaxy with lots of numbers – and placed it back to the G Zone. The twisted Abigail was back.

"Abigail's Generation Break 1."

Huh?

"There's more!?"

"All units on my side get power plus 2000 for every revealed card in my G Zone."

"The hell!?"

(Abigail: 13000)
(Gentleman Traveler: 9000)
(Sanson: 8000)

"Your turn."

(Turn 6 End: Aichi – Hand 4, Damage 5 / Abigail: Hand 7, Damage 4)

Yog-Sothoth has excellent offense, and Abigail has good defensive skills… The longer the fight drags on, the more their power increases.

Distantly, a part of his mind reminded him he was fighting a total beginner. However, she made no beginner mistakes. And the power she brought on the table… winner or loser was irrelevant, but in this fight, he had to give all the power this deck had!

"Stand and Draw!"

(Aichi: Hand 5)

It was time.

"I pay Palamedes as the cost!"

(Aichi: Hand 4)

"Manifest before us now, my future! Stride Generation!"

A pillar of golden light overtook Blaster Blade and split the heavens. The light became a pair of angelic wings, and the roar of a dragon echoed across the skies. Its armour-like body reflected the light like the purest of ice, its lines glowing like the blue sky on a bright day. The God of the Royal Paladins has descended.

"Holy Dragon, Myriad Soul Saver!"

(Holy Dragon, Myriad Soul Saver: Grade 4 – Power 15000+11000 = 26000)

"I call! Star Hope Trumpeter!"

(Aichi: Hand 3)

With a delighted laugh, an angel girl with red pigtails and a trumpet leaped to the scene.

(Star Hope Trumpeter: Grade 2 – Power 9000)

"Star Hope's Generation Break! When my vanguard is "Alfred" or "Blaster", I pay the cost" he counterblasted one card "and superior call! Wingal Youth!"

Aichi quickly shuffled hid deck and a moment later the little blue animal from before reappeared. "With Star Hope's skill, he gets power plus 3000!"

(Wingal Youth: 7000+3000 = 10000)

"This is the power of my Royal Paladins. Our bonds give us power! Here I come, Miss Abigail! With Barcgal's boost, Myriad Soul Saver attacks! Soul Blast!"

He snatched the bottom three cards from his soul and sent them to the dropzone.

(Aichi: Soul 1)

"All my rear guards get power plus 5000!"

"All of them!?"

(Bedivere: 9000+5000 = 14000)
(Kay: 7000+5000 = 12000)
(Barcgal: 5000+5000 = 10000)
(Star Hope: 9000+5000 = 14000)
(Wingal Youth: 10000+5000 = 15000)

(Myriad Soul Saver: 26000+10000 = 36000)

Abigail looked at his cards and her hand in mild panic, trying to figure out if she could block all this. She could take one more point of damage, but no more. And Aichi had Triple Drive.

"I'll guard! All of it! Generation Guard! False Dark Wings, Angrat Bat Mahlat!"

She dropped the Heal Trigger from a few turns earlier, and the first non-Nightmareland unit made its appearance; a pink-haired succubus with draconic wings and a greatsword.

(Abigail: Hand 6 – Power 13000+15000 = 28000)

"That's not enough!"

"Angra Bat Mahlat's skill! Soulcharge! And because I have six or more cards in my soul, the Shield gets power plus 5000! And my skill gives me another 2000 from the Generation Break!"

(Abigail: Soul 14 – Power 28000+5000+2000 = 35000)

"That's still not enough!"

"And I guard! Dark Knight of Nightmareland! And Gentleman Traveler Intercepts! Now it IS enough!"

(Abigail: Hand 5 – Power 50000)

She has enough to handle two Triggers…

If he REALLY wanted, he could simply get the three triggers needed to break through just because he wanted to. He could just ask and his deck would give it to him. Heck, even if he did not ask, there was a good chance his deck would give it to him anyway. As lucky as she was with her draws, no cardfighter could compete with somebody using PSYQuolia.

But this was not that kind of fight.

An orb of holy light and lightning formed in the dragon's hands. "Triple Drive! First check! Critical Trigger!"

He was quiet for a moment. Before… "Power and Critical goes to Bedivere!" He would play like normal.

"Second check. …Critical Trigger! Power and Critical to Star Hope! Third check…"

If there was a third… He had just wasted his last few moves. He picked the card and revealed it.

"No trigger."

(Aichi: Hand 6)

His heart was crushed by a wave of relief. Thank you. For letting me fight the way I want.

The holy light collided with the succubus' greatsword, the knight's cape and the traveler's books. All three of them vanished in particles of green light, but their mission had been accomplished. Their vanguard was intact.

"Barcgal's Generation Break! Counterblast, and Barcgal moves to the soul! I search my deck for a card with "Alfred" or "Blaster" in its name and add it to my hand!"

Aichi revealed another copy of Blaster Blade Exceed.

(Aichi: Hand 7 – Soul 2)

Even as he was saying this, another thought was in his mind. In a way, the massive damage Abigail dealt to him last turn was a blessing, but… I'm out of counterblasts.

"With Wingal's boost, Star Hope attacks your vanguard!"

(Star Hope: 14000+15000+5000 = 34000)

The difference was now 19000. She had five cards in her hand and Sanson was still in the field, so she should be easily able to guard this…

The young angel prepared her trumpet.

Abigail was looking at her cards, whispering under her breath.

"…no guard."

Aichi and Kamui startled in surprise. Star Hope blew her trumpet, blowing the monstrous Abigail back.

"Damage check… The first…"

A copy of March Rabbit.

"The second…"

She picked the card and revealed it.

Draw trigger.

Damage six.

"I used too many cards…"

Her hand revealed a Perfect guard, another Gentleman Traveler, Dum, and two Grade 3s. She could block one of the following attacks with the Perfect guard, but that would only leave her with 15000 Shield including Sanson.

"I should have used the Perfect guard when you attacked with Soul Saver…" She started sniffling.

Aichi let his imaginary space gently vanish, returning the three of them to the real world. Out of the three young loopers, only Abigail was left. He reached across her table and held her hand.

"You're right. But it was your first fight. I never expected you'd be able to push me this far! You did a great job."

A moment later, she nodded.

"And besides…"

He picked a card from her G-Zone. False Administrator, Yog-Sothoth. "You have someone powerful looking after you, right?"

"Y-Yes…" A hesitant, then a dazzling smile. "We do."

"WOW, THAT WAS SO COOL!"

"That card was awesome!"

"That was so scary…"

"You have a unit with the same name as you? Man, I wish I did…"

"What was that monster? Can I see it? Please!"

"You're so strong!"

"I never heard of these cards before! Where did you get them?"

A wave of children rushed towards Abigail, bombarding her with questions.

Aichi laughed. "Even if they couldn't hear the real conversation, they could still watch the fight…"

Kamui face-palmed. "Man, I'll never get used to this." He turned to the gaggle of children. "Hey, missy! Do you have anywhere to go after this?"

She nodded. "Yes! My friends and I have the whole cosmos to travel!"

The two vanguard loopers blinked in surprise. Before they could say anything, Kamui's phone rang.

"Oh, hey Shin-san! … At Capital 1… Wait, NOW? … Oh man, Misaki is there? … Yeah, he's with me … 'Kay, we're coming. See ya."

He hung the phone with a heavy sigh. "Misaki is yelling again… Something about loading crates." He turned to stare at Abigail, who was now explaining all the skills she did not get to use to her awed audience. "Should we really leave them alone? We didn't get to explain anything… And that thing was a Mythos Hacker, right? Since when do they activate loopers?"

"That's why I think they'll be fine."

"Well, if you think so… Let's get going, Ni-san."

"Hm!"

---

8.9

[Fate/Grand Order]

Shooting First

The summoning chamber was stained red with blood. Sirens were blaring, and the glass had been broken. Ritsuka slowly raised his head, still shaking a bit from how violent the latest summoning had been.

Kiritsugu, EMIYA, Rin, Artoria… and Medea, who had been in the summoning control center with him and Mash today, had all whipped out various weapons and opened fire the moment the light had died down. The window was utterly busted, the bounded fields broken… and as he looked over, he saw the rapidly dissipating corpse… of someone.

About the only identifiable thing was the blasted apart cross, and the boots.

"Uh… okay…?" Ritsuka asked, still shaking as Mash was still huddled in a corner, petting Fou due to just how sudden and violent the explosions and bullets had been. "Anyone want to explain? I didn't even see who it was."

"The Fake Priest," Rin scoffed, lowering the mini-Hakkero she'd used to blast the hole in the other side of the summoning chamber.

"To be more specific, it was Kirei," Kiritsugu supplied. "We sensed him, we killed him, simple as that." he lowered the M2 Browning machine gun… which chambered Origin rounds.

"Who shot him first?" EMIYA asked, lowering the pistol he'd stolen off of his Alter version, Ritsuka idly noting that there was a point in the wall sprouting swords.

"Clearly not you," Artoria commented, also noting the swords poking out of the walls as she lowered her melta-gun.

"I'm uncertain who actually killed him. Or who blew up most of him," Medea mused, lowering her staff.

Ritsuka took stock of the damage. "...You all do realize you might have just taken the Summoning Chamber offline for like a week right?"

"Da Vinci will fix it," Rin commented, Ritsuka frowning before looking towards the unAwake Mash. "Oh… right." Da Vinci wasn't Awake this Loop.

"Front lines, all of you. We actually could have used him." Ritsuka declared, as was his right as Master.

"Wait…" Rin started, before realizing just what time of year it was. "Uh! No, anything but that!"

"You all are coming with me to visit Liz."

About two seconds later, Rin burst out of the summoning chamber, Kiritsugu vanished, Medea teleported, and Artoria just threw herself through another wall. EMIYA on the other hand just groaned, shaking his head and accepting his fate as Ritsuka grabbed his sleeve. "If you all hadn't shot him, I would have dragged him along."

"Hindsight, even after only a few moments, is a cruel thing," EMIYA complained, it actually would have been really amusing to see Kirei put through halloween shenanigans. Then killing him.

---

8.10

[Fate Grand Order], [Persona 2]

Eldritch Metropolis of Rumours: Sumaru - Part 1 (Helen the Moon(Lermis))

"A new Singularity?"

The sentence by itself was not odd. Ritsuka was pretty used to getting dragged through a bunch of random minor Singularities before solving all the main ones. However, Dr. Roman looking so… so was not usual. It was a mix of troubled and bewildered that Ritsuka did not like at all.

The acting director of Chaldea frowned as he proceeded to explain. "Yes. Sumaru City, Japan, towards the end of 1999 A.D. I did not even know that anything important ever happened there in the first place… I never even heard of this place before now."

Ritsuka blinked. She had never heard of any place called "Sumaru City" either. This was probably a fused loop then. Or a variant. However, she did not summon any visiting loopers… Interesting.

"What happened in this place?"

"We're not really sure. Our staff is on it… But from what we gathered, there was a serial killer on the loose, and at the same time there was a political scandal and a major earthquake that cut off the city's access to the mainland. Those are the major events we were able to find."

That was weird. A single serial killer and a corrupt politician in the modern day were not enough to alter the course of history – the fact that this happened in 1999, yet outside was technically 2018 with no changes in the baseline to speak of was proof of that.

She had to get more information.

"So it Sumaru City is an island?"

"Not at first. It was originally a port city. The earthquake was so strong that the seawater surrounded it, turning it into an island."

Mash was astonished. "Are there earthquakes really this powerful?"

Roman rubbed his head again, thinking it over. It was not his field of specialty, after all. "Well, the 2011 earthquake in Japan is said to have moved the entire country by five meters, as well as causing numerous other disasters. However, aside from Sumaru City no tectonic activity in recent years has been recorded to cause such drastic changes to the landscape. The closest I can think of is the Minoan eruption."

It was Ritsuka's term to be confused. The term was vaguely familiar, but… "Minoan?"

As usual, Mash clearly knew what Dr. Roman was referring to. "The term "Minoan eruption" refers to the eruption of the sea volcano Thera – most commonly known as the island of Santorini – that destroyed the Minoan civilization. While there are no written records of the time, it is believed that the eruption caused major changes to the morphology of the island."

"But there was no volcanic eruption in Sumaru."

"No, there wasn't. Just a very odd series of events."

Ritsuka now was troubled. "The only other singularity in the modern day was Fuyuki city, in which a Holy Grail War was completely derailed… Were there any major magic events or rituals here? That weird earthquake could have been caused by one."

"It's a possibility" agreed Dr. Roman. "Leonardo is investigating the city's history as we speak. However, there are some oddities we have picked up."

Ritsuka and Mash perked up. Dr. Roman took this as his cue to continue.

"First of all, detecting this Singularity was very difficult. Much like the Jerusalem Singularity, our instruments somehow do not function properly."

"Much like Jerusalem… Does this mean that this Singularity is trying to escape the course of Proper Human History?"

"It could. However, the situation is not exactly identical – or so the staff is telling me… Another possibility is that something is actively blocking detection, which has many troubling implications by itself. So far, the King of Mages has made no effort to stop us from detecting Singularities – our difficulties in Camelot were entirely due to the interference of the Lion King and Pharaoh Ozymandias."

"So the other possibility is that there's another extremely powerful entity in this city." Ritsuka did not like the sound of that at all.

"Fortunately, getting readings from this Singularity is much easier than it was in Camelot. Not bizarre time pockets, at the very least."

"That's good news…"

"The second point is that there is strangely high mana density in the area. Or at the very least, our readings detect something very close to it. It's not enough to destabilize our detectors any further or cause discomfort once you Rayshift, but the readings are well above average. Yet despite that, there's no recorded magus-related activity in the area. Then again, the entire orient is considered backwater by the Mages' Association, so that may explain it…"

She and Mash took careful note of this.

"So, blocked readings, high mana density. What else, Doctor?"

"The third point is related to the second, and possibly the first. There's an absurdly high number of magic signatures in the city."

"So Servants have already been summoned in this Singularity" deducted Mash.

"No… we think. Some of them could belong to Servants… But the striking majority of those signatures appear to be similar to those of demonic beasts."

He let that sink in.

Mash was astonished. "Demonic beasts… in the modern day!?"

"Granted, they're all pretty weak. At least those we detect. However, as their presence is most likely caused by the Singularity, their presence is to be expected. There are still hordes of Dragon Tooth Soldiers in the Fuyuki Singularity after all."

Ritsuka did not voice this, but in this loop she Awakened in her Kouhime identity. She did not think anything weird of this at first, but now that there were demonic beasts in the modern day… It could be connected.

"There's more, isn't there." It was more of a statement than a question.

"You're right about that Ritsuka. I have no good way to put this, but… we can't tell what's supposed to be wrong in this singularity."

Now Mash was confused. "What do you mean?"

"In all other Singularities, there's always something that's clearly wrong. Dragons attacking civilians in a place where there shouldn't be any. Magical poisonous mists killing people. An empire being taken over. And so on and forth. However, so far we have detected no major changes from how history should be. From what little we can see, everyone is living their normal everyday lives, no deviations to speak of."

Mash was now clearly distressed. "If everything's normal, why is Sumaru City a Singularity!?"

"We have no idea."

Roman looked at them dead in the eye. "We don't know what caused this Singularity, what is supposed to make this city so important, why it is so hard to detect, nothing. The only way we found out is if we Rayshift there."

Well, this loop was proving to be interesting already.

"Now, since this Singularity is unique, there are a few special preparations we need to take into account."

"Special preparations?"

"You are going to Rayshift to Japan in the year 1999. You cannot be seen using modern technology like smartphones or wearing armour. You'll have to get there in ordinary clothes and find some way to conceal Mash's shield. You'll look too suspicious otherwise – not to mention possessing arms is illegal. Since nothing is obviously wrong with the city yet, you can't really explain a shield."

"What if we say it's cosplay?"

Mash and Dr. Roman both stared at Ritsuka. "Cosplay?"

"Yeah. Anime and manga are all the rage. And Sumaru's pretty big, right? Port city and all. They'll know what a cosplayer is."

"That sounds perfect!"

"Senpai! Dr. Roman! I'm going to pretend to be in costume the whole time!?"

"If we want you to carry your Noble Phantasm everywhere, yes. But you should bring some casual clothes with you anyway. The other issue is finding a leyline. I mean, there's definitely one, but you can't count on running in someone like Dr. Jekyll again."

"That's true… So setting up a base will be pretty hard…"

"Third, there's the matter of the serial killer and the politician. With those elements in the city, you can expect heavy police presence. These are not desperate soldiers you'll be dealing with. Try avoiding a confrontation with the law as much as possible."

The two girls nodded as one. "Understood."

"Guess Fou will have to stay hidden too, right?" said Ritsuka, petting the strange but overly fluffy creature between the ears. Fou whined in response, followed by a displeased pout. "At least when we're in public." He cheered up a little.

"That's all for now. You can take your time with your preparations, but no more than two days. Think carefully about which servants you'll take with you."

"Will do. Mash, let's go."

"Yes, Senpai!"

Truth be told, for once Ritsuka had no idea who to bring along. Obviously Mash and Dantes – Mash was always coming along and Dantes was living in her mind and shadow. But besides them, at this point in the loop there were not many servants – if any at all – who was good at blending in the modern day. She had not summoned Emiya or any of the others from the Stay Night branch, which was an issue. Her being the only awake one right now was not helping matters. She had pinged when the loop started but received no response back.

She was so deep in thought that she almost did not notice when she ran into someone.

"Oh, sorry!"

"No, the fault is mine Master. Please excuse me."

She blinked. "Bedivere."

The "modest, silver knight", as the Lion King once called him. They just returned from the Camelot Singularity and Bedivere was still trying to acclimate to well… not being alive – or "alive" – anymore. Not that Ritsuka could ever blame him. He spent over fifteen hundred years hanging on to life by raw willpower just to see Artoria again. It was nowhere near as long as a looper's life, but at least Ritsuka and most other loopers had company and energy instead of being lonely half-way corpses. Seriously, fifteen hundred years… How much did he even recall from them?

Wait…

"Hey Bedivere, may I ask you something?"

He blinked in surprise before smiling warmly. "Of course. Feel free to ask me anything you want; I'll do my best to answer you."

"When you reached Avalon, what year was it for you?"

"E-Excuse me?"

Mash was over the moon. "Sir Bedivere! I am so glad you will be accompanying us!"

"The pleasure is all mine, Sir Kyrielight. Admittedly, I was surprised when Master asked for my aid, but I'm glad to be useful to you. I hope that once again we'll all work well together." Ah, Bedivere smiling. Always made your day.

"Bedi here is the only servant we have with experience in the modern day. So I figured he'd be the best man for the job!"

"Truly!? Well, I guess you did travel for fifteen hundred years… Considering when Camelot fell, you've spent some time in the 20th century, right."

"Indeed I have" confirmed the knight. "I was mostly in Europe at the time due to circumstances, but I do have some modern day experience. I know how to handle firearms and some basic technology at the very least. And I'm experienced in both laying low and dealing with demonic beasts. Do not worry about my arm either – truthfully, I did not have to cover it up before since I did not have it, but I was successful in hiding Excalibur. Airgetlám will be much easier to conceal."

Bedivere's expression, posture and voice were full of confidence. Despite all his self-worth issues, he was a damn good traveler and he knew it.

"The perfect man for the job!"

"Thank you for your kind words, Master. I'm looking forward to this."

Dr. Roman was rather stunned. "Wow, you guys sure seem confident… But will Bedivere be enough?"

"I also have Mash and Dantes, Doctor. And you and Da Vinci-chan will be looking out for me!"

"If you say so…"

Mash looked around. "By the way, where is Da Vinci? It's odd she's not here."

"Here I am! Da Vinci the wonderful genius, arriving fashionably late!"

Speak of the "devil". "What are you carrying there, Da Vinci?"

"New Mystic Codes, of course! For you, Mash, and Sir Bedivere!"

"F-For me?"

"Lady Da Vinci, you really didn't have to-"

"Oh, but I did. Like we already said, the two of you can't run around in armour all the time, can you? But you do need protection. So I prepared those Mystic Codes for you~!"

Hesitantly, the two knights opened the packages. The two codes looked like late Autumn outfits. Mash's was a grey windproof jacket over a pink turtleneck sweater and black jeans with matching boots, while Bedivere had a white leather jacket with a green dress shirt, a black vest and black jeans, again with matching boots – though those could be worn under the jeans.

"They're not too pretty I'm afraid – but they're fitting for the weather, easy to clean and fight in, and I put all sorts of enhancements on them! Shielding, healing, protection from status effects, and you can even conceal your Noble Phantasms! Airgetlám will look normal, and Mash's shield will be invisible. You better appreciate them!"

"Thank you, Lady Da Vinci" replied Bedivere with a bow.

"Thank you, Da Vinci! We'll be sure to treasure them!"

The genius looked as smug a cat eating cream. "You better do! Now, put them on! We can't have you accidently running into someone while clad in armour first thing! Oh, and Ritsuka. Here are some yen circa 1999. Around 100.000. Forging money is easy!"

After a few minutes, an awkward looking Mash and Bedivere emerged from separate rooms in their brand new mystic codes.

"You look good, Mash!"

She blushed. She was adorable. "Th-thank you Senpai."

Bedivere was shifting around a bit. "I guess I should be thankful that men's basic apparel has remained unchanged… These are quite comfortable. Shall we proceed with the Rayshift, Master?"

"Yep! Let's go!"

Singularity S

Eldritch Metropolis of Rumours: Sumaru A.D. 1999

The Sinner from Beyond

---

8.11

[Fate/Grand Order]

The Battleship Skybreaker (Zodiac4927)

"Oh"
"My"
"God"
These were the words of Mash, Altria, and Ritsuka as they the three stared at what should be a relatively large hanger with the Shadow Border.

Instead they see a massive hanger with many robots and in the center was this massive battleship loaded with all kinds of guns. It was black with gold lines, had five engines in the rear, five huge guns on the deck, two in the back three in front, multiple smaller guns on the side, and the Chaldea emblem on both sides. It was twice the size of the Storm Breaker.

"Da Vinci, how the hell did you make this?" Asked Mash.

"It was easy! I went to Star Wars and Starblazers and got the tech from them! I enlisted the help of Tesla and Edison along with Nobunaga! And behold, I introduce to you Battleship Skybreaker! This baby take hits from anti-fortress noble phantasm with ease and can blast out massive lasers that can damage the Olympians! This is possibly one of my greatest works yet!" Said Da Vinci.

"Oh this is gonna be so much fun!" said Ritsuka

And thus, Chaldea began flying through Lostbelts with their new warship, blasting Ivan the Terrible and Sutr away, laying waste to SIN armies, and going toe to toe with the mecha gods.

---

8.12

[F/GO] [The Nightmare before Christmas]

The Santa Wars: Christmas Strikes Back

Part 1 (Conceptualist)

---

It had started out normal. Chaldea blew up, Ritsuka ended up in the burning Fuyuki singularity, and things stuck to the rails from there. Fight through the shadow servants, help Olga Marrie summon some back up, and lead whoever shows up to destroy the Fuyuki singularity and claim it's Holy Grail. Lev was a dick about it, as almost always.

Orleans was about as normal as it could have been. It wasn't until what should have been the Nero Singularity that things went… different. As usual these days.

Arriving after the Rayshift, Mash was unable to pinpoint where in the timeline they had arrived. It was cold and snowing inexplicably, as there wasn't a cloud in the moon-lit sky. Exploring the forest they found themselves in didn't lead to much.

Until they were ambushed by Snowmen.

"Yes, we're connected! The picture is a little snowy, but… Uh... am I seeing this right?"

"Seeing what right Doctor?" Mash asked, smashing the head off of another Snowman.

"I..." Dr. Roman pauses, scratching chin on the hologram. "I guess let's call it a sleigh of Snowmen? Walking snowmen golems!"

Ritsuka, ducking his head under a thrown snow-boulder, piped up. "How about a flurry of Snowmen?"

"A hail of Snowmen!"

"A blizzard of Snowmen!"

"Unleash the Noble Phantasm! 『Lord Chaldeas』!" Mash screamed, throwing back the collective noun of Snowmen into the snow banks they were assembling themselves out of. "Stop pontificating and help me!"

"Sorry," the two chastised people muttered. Dr. Roman disconnected as to not distract anybody.

Ristuka took the brief moment of respite to plan. Nodding confidently, he rejoined Mash and then the flight was back on. It wasn't long before the Snowmen had been plowed and done for.

After the fight, Dr. Roman called back. "Don't rest yet! I'm picking up two massive energy signatures. Whatever is going on, it's close by and it's getting dangerous."

"Senpai..." Mash turned worriedly to Ritsuka . She always did start out a little overprotective at the beginning of a Loop when Unawake. "Should we leave and find out when we are first?"

Ritsuka shook his head. "This might be our only lead."

---

"RIDER!"

Altria's sword clashed with a strange green substance the opposing servant was using as a whip. Waking Up in the middle of a fight was always a little disorienting, and she had barely begun to parse her Loop Memories before getting thrown back by an explosion.

"We can't do this, Rider! It's not right. Please, snap out of this madness," the servant who had just exploded her begged. He was dressed all in red, thin as a reed and white as a bone. Actually that was bone. Across from Altria was a skeleton in a Santa Suit, with Santa Hat held forlornly in one hand and the goopy whip thing wrapped around the other.

Then the Loop Memories finished kicking in, and Altria (Santa) Pendragon realized what the hell was going on. Santa Ruler over there had just finished kicking her out of… Thanksgiving Town? And why was she her Santa-alt? 'Okay, maybe I still don't know what's going on.'

Going with the flow for a moment, Altira dramatically pointed Excalibur Morgan at the Ruler and let her Loop Memories guide her. "You think you can stop Christmas, Ruler? When you yourself are one of its patrons?"

She knew Ritsuka's crazy 'Let's invade a Lostbelt with Christmas' plans were going to bite them in the ass someday. Hopefully this Loop was just going to be a one-off and not a trend.

Ruler gripped his Santa Hat tightly. "You don't know the havoc this will cause. Turning other holidays into Christmas…" He threw the hat down on the snow between them. "Not only will you remove every other holiday from the timeline for the sake of this Eternal X-Mass Plan, depriving everyone of the joys each separate holiday brings children around the world, it goes against the True Meaning of Christmas!"

'Wait, is that what we were doing?' Altria realized. 'My Unawake self just wanted some turkey and didn't pay attention to the evil plan at all.'

Well, no time like the present to flip the script. "You speak the truth, Ruler." He actually seemed surprised at that one. "There is more than merely Christmas, and there is more than just holidays. If you shall stand and fight against Christmas Tyranny, then I, the Christmas Tyrant, will aid you."

"Wait, that worked?" Ruler asked, dumbfounded. He hesitated, and broke out in a happy smile that stretched much too far across his skull. "Then I'm glad to have you on board with the War on Christmas."

Ritsuka and Mash had obviously tried not to interrupt, but Altria spotted them lurking behind a tree, just outside the blast radius of Ruler's present-bombs. "Be you friend or foe?" she yelled out to them. 'Rits is obviously Awake, as he looks like he's more surprised to see me as a Rider than to see me at all. And Mash probably isn't, judging from her unpolished guard stance, so I'd better keep up the act.'

"Friend, hopefully," Ritsuka replied. "I hope at least one of you knows what's going on around here, I'm a little out of the loop."

Altira froze. Ritsuka froze.

Absolutely nothing happened because of Ritsuka's unintentional choice of words, which definitely weren't intended to be part of some sort of poorly designed code words with deep cosmological implications. Mash and Ruler didn't even notice Altria's and Risukka's bout of internal fear and panic.

With a grandiose bow, Ruler introduced himself. "Jack Skellington, Ruler Class servant, at your service. Pleased to meet you."

"Mash Kyrielight, Shielder," she stated, lowering her namesake shield from it's guard position. "This is my Senpai, Ritsuka."

Altria mentally shook off her surprise at still being alive. "Altria Pendragon, Rider."

"So," Ritsuka began. "What was that about an Eternal X-Mass Plan?"

---

The Eternal X-Mass Plan was as simple as it was diabolical. In this world between worlds, there were six doors to each of the Seven Foundational Holidays. Created out of human faith and belief, they personified the very spirit of their respective Holidays. And as a representation, what happened here could affect all of human existence if improperly handled.

Somehow, a Santa Servant from Christmas Town got their hands on a Holy Grail and began summoning other Santa Servants to invade the other six Holidays. Today was supposed to be Christmas Eve, but if Christmas Day came and the other holidays were still under the control of Santas, Christmas would never end ever again.

Unfortunately, there wasn't a convention leyline laying around and there wasn't time to find an inconvenient one. And so, the four were forced to split up. At first Mash refused to let her Senpai go off on his own, but when she heard what servant Jack wanted him to confront…

Jeanne Alter Santa Lily just doesn't sound intimidating when Jack describes her. She's just a little kid, after all. Even if she still is a servant. Ritsuka was just glad she was going into Valentine's Town alone. With how his love life tended to get, going there Stag was for the best.

And there Jeanne was, running around, terrorizing all of those… 'Are those supposed to be cherubs?' Considering it was Valentine's Day turned into a town, little mostly nude winged baby people flying around were probably a given. The architecture was nice, at least. A huge hedge maze surrounding the place, fountains and marble pillars everywhere, and a cute little town that looked like it consisted of almost nothing but hole-in-the-wall cafes, bars, and various fancy restaurants.

The place looked like a warzone. Strings of lights were thrown over buildings haphazardly. Tinsles was everywhere. The left side of the hedge wall surrounding the town was decorated like it was a Christmas Tree, and the right like a Christmas Wreath.

Jeanne wasn't having much luck convincing the cherubs to come down and stop flying away every time she got close. Ritsuka could tell Jeanne had been crying recently, from the tear stains upon her face. But that all stopped when Ritsuka approached and stepped on an errant Christmas Cracker, which exploded with a loud attention grabbing POP!

"REINDEER!" Jeanne shouted, tackle-glomping Ritsuka off his feet. "They- They said- I-" she sobbed. "THEY DON'T WANT CHRISTMAS!"

And thus was Ritsuka occupied for a long while, calming and reassuring an upset and emotional Jeanne Alter Santa Lily. The glares from the cherubs in the distance didn't exactly help with that job.

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AN: Another day, more snips, and more writers. We're starting to ramp things up now! I hope you all enjoyed, but if you want more, be sure to follow along. If you've got an idea, leave a review, if you have something to say, do the same. Thank you for being here!

8.1: Swords and Shields Swapping Sides.

8.2: SHIELD BEEEAAAMMMM!

8.3: Catalysts can be very weird things.

8.4: Cats.

8.5: NANI! GOREDOLF DRITFORU

8.6: Explosions imminent.

8.7: Gotta have some courage to fight.

8.8: Card Games get werid

8.9: Let's face it, we'd all have shot him.

8.10: A land where rumor becomes reality... well shit.

8.11: Pew-Pew Ship side!

8.12: 'Spoopy month getting a Christmas episode.' - Conceptualist

That's all for today everyone. We'll all be seeing you soon.