18.1
[Fate/Grand Order]
Stars Crossed: The Other Side
After Ritsuka had left this 'Pocket' space, Rama and Sita smiled at each other.
"What a wonderful young woman…" Sita started, Rama chuckling as he gently ran his hand through Sita's hair.
"Indeed… willing to go so far for a pair of strangers… or perhaps not as much as we think. To us, she is the stranger," he noted. "That doesn't change the fact she's done this for us. Sita…"
"I'm just happy to be with you again, even if it will only be for a time," she declared, the two breaking their embrace and settling for merely holding hands.
"Indeed. Let us make the most of it,"
"How you two doing in here!" Ritsuka called as she popped into the Pocket, looking around the lounge. "Hello? Rama? Sita?"
"In the kitchen!" Sita called. Ritsuka began walking towards said room. She'd had it installed mostly because just having the lounge for her and other Loopers tended to be a little Boring, and when meetings went on long enough, mere snacks weren't enough.
When she poked her head in, she smiled at the sight of Rama, sitting peacefully at the table while Sita was cooking, humming to herself and clearly reading from one of the various cookbooks she'd obtained over the course of the Loops. "How's it going?"
"Just fine Master, thank you," Rama commented with a smile as Sita was putting the finishing touches on the dish she was making.
"I mean I'm not your-" She started, but Sita giggled.
"It may not be official, but you've certainly earned the title in our books," the Archer noted, with a smile as she brought the food from the stove to the table, setting it out for herself and Rama. "Sorry I didn't make much."
"I'm good, I already ate," Ritsuka admitted as Rama smiled.
"A pity, Sita's cooking is divine," he joked, Sita blushed as he proclaimed as so.
"I'm just following the recipe Rama," she admitted.
"Does that matter? Anything you make is amazing," Rama declared, Sita giggling as Ritsuka laughed.
"Well it's good to see you two enjoying yourselves. I just wanted to check on you, so I'll see you later."
"Bye Master," they waved as she pulled herself out of the Pocket, leaving the two lovers to their peaceful breakfast. A small thing in the grand scheme that they were just happy to share with each other.
"You two have visitors!" Ritsuka declared as she popped into the lounge, looking around again to search for Rama and Sita.
"We're in the garden Master!" Rama called, Ritsuka nodding before popping back out of her Pocket, and popping back in with several more people. Karna, Arjuna, and Parvati, alongside another trip to grab Karna's friends, Helena and Edison.
"I'll leave you all alone, be back in a while!" Ritsuka amended, before popping back out of her Pocket, leaving the five Servants to go search for Rama and Sita.
"Why did you bring me along?" Arjuna questioned as he followed Karna, a frown on his face, even as Parvati spoke up.
"Because it's nice to meet other Servants from our country, especially those two," the goddess inhabiting the body of Sakura noted.
"It is true. I will admit, I am surprised that Master was capable of bypassing their curse," Karna noted in total deadpan. "But that is one of the many things that makes our Master special," he concluded with a smile.
"I do agree that Ritsuka's an interesting Master to have," Helena commented, throwing her hands behind her head. "That just makes them all the more exciting."
"Hmm… Thank you for inviting us Karna," Edison added, the lion-headed Caster adjusting the tie on his specially fitted suit.
"I simply wished to meet with friends alongside my friends," the Lancer amended, Arjuna shaking his head but not saying anything.
The group all approached the garden, or more accurately, the green house, where Rama was watering plants and Sita was picking fruit. "Lord Rama, Lady Sita."
"Karna! Good to see you," Rama waved, raising the watering can he was holding as Sita came over to join them.
"Lord Karna, I see Master allowed you to come see us," she said with a smile.
"...May I ask what this place is?" Arjuna questioned, Rama shrugging.
"The best I can understand is that it is some sort of 'Pocket' as Ritsuka describes it. She claims that it was taught to her by someone else, but didn't specify who," Rama admitted.
"Interesting," Helena commented, looking around. "It's like an entire complex in here."
"Oh it's quite spacious, Ritsuka's allowed us to go pretty much anywhere in here," Sita said with a smile as Edison looked at the light bulbs.
"...So what's in here?" Edison questioned, only for Parvati to speak up.
"So how have you two been doing here?" the goddess asked.
"Oh it's been wonderful. There certainly isn't a lack of things to do. Ritsuka has lots of interesting objects in here, as well as games, books and of course food," Rama mentioned, wrapping his arm around Sita, the husband and wife just leaning into each other as Edison perked up again at the mention of 'interesting' objects.
"...What objects?"
"Ok… what the name of the Hades did you do you!?" Ritsuka questioned as Edison coughed up a bit of smoke, Karna and Arjuna still working on getting rid of the mess as Helena sighed, shaking her head.
"We merely showed Sir Edison the hanger, and he got all excited," Sita admitted, President Lion Man grinning sheepishly as Ritsuka facepalmed.
"This is why I can't have nice things," she muttered, shaking her head.
"He only blew up two mecha Master," Karna replied.
Parvati chuckled nervously. "He… also may have tried to restructure the power generators to run on DC only."
"He actually managed that one," Helena pointed out as Ritsuka thought about that for a second.
"...How did you do that!?"
"What do you mean Master?" Edison asked calmly, grabbing his blown up tie as Ritsuka looked at the ceiling.
"This place doesn't run on electricity, it runs on holy grails and magical energy! How did you even wire it up?" Ritsuka questioned in surprise.
"He was very determined," Karna said, as it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"It was quite impressive actually," Rama stated with a smile. "Truly a marvel of science."
"I'm more interested in this place in general, Master," Helena said with a smirk. "Mind doing a bit of explaining?"
"Later, I… need to figure out what the heck Edison did," Ritsuka muttered, scratching her head.
Who needed visiting Loopers, her own damn Servants could get up to enough trouble on their own unsupervised for an hour.
"Merry Christmas mister Rama, Miss Sita!" Jeanne Alter Santa Lily cheered. Alongside her, Amakusa, Jack the Ripper, and Nursery Rhyme had been brought into Ritsuka's pocket to celebrate Christmas with the pair… and Ritsuka had just popped out in order to go grab more Servants to celebrate the holiday with.
"Well I suppose it's only nice to say merry Christmas then," Rama offered, bending down and rubbing the little Lancer on the head with a smile. It wasn't one of his holidays, but who could be rude to a little girl like this?
"A merry Christmas as well little Jeanne," Sita said with a smile as Ritsuka popped back in, bringing Jeanne, Gilles de Rais (The Caster), Ushiwakamaruu and Kotaro Fuuma, all of them waving before Ritsuka popped back out again.
"So you live in here?" Jack the Ripper asked, the little serial killer just looking around the lounge in amazement as Nursery Rhyme did the same.
"We do," Rama admitted, holding hands with Sita again as Amakusa nodded.
"I see you two are happy here. I will admit, I only heard of the lengths Master went to in order to bring you too together. Actually seeing it before my eyes, it warms my heart," the Apocryphal Saint admitted, taking a polite bow to the two as Jeanne Lily tugged on Rama's sleeve.
"I have a present for you two!" She declared, everyone looking at the little girl as she hefted a massive sack over her shoulder, Amakusa taking the moment to slink off in search of something, pulling a strange mask over his eyes before he did so.
"And what would that be, little one?" Rama questioned as Jeanne Lily opened the sack, and halfway dove into it, kicking her legs through the air as she searched for whatever it was she wanted to give the happy couple.
"Hello you two," Jeanne D'Arc, the regular one, waved. "I see you've been doing just fine here."
"Indeed, we have Miss Jeanne, me and my husband have been enjoying our time here together." Sita leaned her head against Rama's shoulder, the male red head preparing to say something.
"Found it!" Jeanne Lily declared, everyone looked toward her just as Ritsuka popped back in with Asterios, Euryale, Stheno and Cursed Arm Hassan.
"Found what?" Asterios asked, actually able to stand comfortably in the lounge room due to its large height and size, with Euryale sitting on one shoulder, and Stheno on the other.
"Likely the present she planned on giving them, Asterios," Cursed Arm said with a mirthful smile. The Minotaur smiled warmly as Jeanne Lily popped out of the bag, holding up a large monkey plushie wearing a christmas hat.
"I brought you mister Jingles!" she declared, the plush monkey bigger than her being set on the ground, Rama and Sita walking up to it with smiles on their faces.
"Like Hanuman…" Rama said wistfully as Ritsuka popped back in again with another set of Servants, and Mash.
"Hello Rama! Hello Sita!" Mash waved.
"Hello again Mash," Sita waved back as she and Rama were holding the giant plush monkey.
"Big monkey!" Asterios cheered for them.
"Mister Jingles is massive!" Jack said with a smile as Ritsuka looked around, counting Servants as everyone began talking. A frown crossed the Anchor's face as she realized something.
"Hey, does anyone know where Amakusa is?" Ritsuka asked… and silence was her only response. "Not again!" she shouted, running off.
"You'll never catch Santa Island Kamen alive Master! Not when I have all these grails!"
"DAMMIT AMAKUSA! GIVE THOSE BACK!"
"Should we help her?" Leonidas questioned, having been part of the last batch of people brought into Ritsuka's Pocket.
"Please, allow me," Cursed Arm said, bowing before vanishing, Kotaro doing the same as Ushiwakamaru sped off to try and find the Master and the rogue Ruler as well.
"Never a dull moment is there?" Sita asked.
"No there isn't," Medusa admitted, the Awake Rider pushing up her glasses with a smile, just happy to share this holiday with everyone, even as the hectic chase continued, and the party came into full swing.
"Hello!" Ritsuka called out, popping back into her Pocket to check on the happy couple. "Hello?" she called again, mildly confused.
After a few moments, she started walking around, before hearing something. About three seconds later, what she was hearing registered, and she left her Pocket.
Best to leave them to their own devices at the present moment.
"You all get up to such interesting things," Sita admitted as she and Rama sat on the couch, watching TV. Surrounding them was Karna, Arjuna, Edison, Tesla, Helena and Ritsuka. And playing on screen was this Loop's recording of the Ishtar Cup.
"Indeed, the race held by Ishtar was a most amusing diversion," Tesla admitted, Edison putting a hand to his chin and smirking as Helena sighed.
"I'm just happy that we were able to assist in your victory, Miss Helena," Karna said with a smile, as he and Arjuna had helped Edison and Tesla with building the 'support vehicle' for Helena's Sanat Kurama Wheel.
"Aw, thank you Karna," the Caster offered back.
"Perhaps we should have tried to participate?" Rama mused.
"You do know you two are in here for a reason right? I bring you out, your curse is gonna start acting up again," Ritsuka reminded them.
"I was merely an idea," Rama pointed out, Sita giggling.
"Master, this devil here-" Edison scoffed when Tesla pointed at him, "said you possess some very interesting technology in here. May I please see some of it?"
"I've still yet to figure out how he wired this place to run on DC…" Ritsuka mumbled.
"HE DID WHAT!?" Tesla shouted, causing everyone to cover their ears. "Arjuna! We must correct this!"
"Oh no you don't!" Edison started as Tesla ran off, draggin his fellow Archer with him, who notably wasn't struggling. "Karna! With me!" The Lion headed man declared, Karna following after him as they raced after the other scientist and Indian hero.
"Oh dear…" Helena sighed, standing up. "Let's make sure they don't blow this place up," Helena said, Ritsuka joining her as Sita and Rama settled in to watch the rest of the Ishtar Cup, arms around each other and just enjoying the show.
Even as utter chaos erupted around them, so long as they were together, it was fine.
Sita hummed as she observed Rama, keeping a very close watch on his back as he was currently exercising to the beat, using one of Ritsuka's various game systems to do so. Some sort of white block like system, and the game he was playing was some sort of exercise sports game.
He also happened to not be good at said game, but that just meant she got to watch him more.
"Alright 'Matt' this time I shall defeat you in tennis!" Rama declared, gripping his remote with both hands, ready to face off with his artificial opponent once more, Sita getting an extremely good look at her husband's butt as he leaned forward.
Needless to say, she was very pleased with this game.
"Go Sita!" Rama cheered, watching the screen as Sita was holding a pair of controllers, and wearing a Virtual Reality headset.
"Ah! Rama!" Sita cried out, her husband's cheering having thrown off her rhythm. And she'd been doing so well too!
"Sorry," Rama replied sheepishly as Sita tried desperately to get the rhythm back, to slash the squares coming at her face, nearly whacking Rama in the face with a controller since she couldn't see him. Not that he would have minded.
It was a very interesting game… of course when Ritsuka came back into the Pocket and found they'd put one of the controllers through a wall, she groaned and gone to fetch Edison, Helena and Tesla to fix this again.
Ritsuka couldn't stop herself from laughing.
Watching Rama, Sita, Karna and Arjuna all dancing together in front of the television, Edison, Helena and Tesla cheering them on, and Irisviel was just recording the amazingly in-sync dancing.
She wouldn't believe it either, if she wasn't watching it.
"How the heck did you convince them to do this?" Medusa asked in a whisper, her eyes glued to watching the four Indian Servants preparing for another round as the song restarted, ready for a repeat performance… at Parvati's request.
"That's the thing, I didn't. We came in here and found Sita and Rama doing it, and then they convinced those two to join… and now we've got this," Ritsuka admitted quietly as the song on the television began again.
"Mario is going to be slightly insufferable if he ever sees this," Kiritsugu muttered.
Irisviel just kept recording, entirely intent on showing this off.
Without this video, who else would ever believe that some of India's greatest legends were dancing in complete sync to 'Jump Up Super Star'!
Even better that it had been Sita's idea to do it!
"Oh my goodness!" Sita cried out as Ritsuka, alongside about half of Chaldea's Servant population, were all crowded into the hanger. The other half was wandering around Ritsuka's Pocket, meaning nearly two hundred Servants were running around in there at the moment. Very crowded. But in the hangar, something amazing had been made.
An entire festival had been set up just for her and Rama, to celebrate a holiday just for them. The Rama Navami festival.
"We felt you two weren't getting enough love," Helena admitted with a smile, adjusting her hat. "I mean, we don't typically celebrate more worldly holidays, but we felt like making an exception."
"It was only fitting, you celebrated Christmas with us, it would be a bit hypocritical not to celebrate one of your holidays with you," Jeanne added with a smile, her arms wrapped around her two sisters, Jeanne Alter and Jeanne Lily. The Lancer was smiling, even if the Berserker was huffing in annoyance.
"Oh thank you!" Sita cheered, Rama still trying to process the festival of sorts before him, eventually just settling on walking through it with Sita.
It felt good to be loved and appreciated. And to take part in the community they had thought themselves sheltered from.
Of course the festival wasn't without its share of chaos from troublemakers rummaging around in Ritsuka's Pocket, but the Anchor had made sure to enforce that no one was going inside the 'personal vault', to the point she'd asked King Hassan and the other Hassans to effectively act as bouncers for said super sealed vault. Everywhere else was fair game though.
Needless to say, it was an utterly amazing mess, and at the very end, a glorious picture was taken. Of all of Chaldea standing together in the Hanger. It was by no means an orderly picture, being filled with Chaos, rivals trying to sabotage each other in said picture, and some Servants climbing on top of each other… but being a totally orderly picture would have ruined it, in a way.
Chaldea was a chaotic family of sorts. Ritsuka was just happy that this Loop, everyone was in on the secret, by her own choice. It just made it that much more fun. For the happy couple, they were glad to be a part of such a grand odyssey, even for this brief moment.
18.2
[Fate/Grand Order] [Persona 2]
Eldritch Metropolis of Rumours: Sumaru - part 2 (Lermis (HelentheMoon))
Chapter 1 part 1: Arrival
Area: ?
"NOT AGAIN!"
That was Ritsuka's reaction the moment the Rayshift happened. Because for yet another time they rayshifted in mid-air and were currently in free fall. And from what Ritsuka could see, on the bottom there was a forested mountain and no she was not in the mood to land on any trees.
"Mash, shield!"
"Right!"
Just in time, Mash deployed Lord Camelot. Ritsuka and Bedivere braced themselves. Arms around the head to protect it, and feet pointed at the ground to absorb the impact of their fall. Fortunately, the altitude was relatively low.
The moment of impact felt like something kicked her breath out of her. However, she was old hat at this. Without losing focus, she bent her knees and rolled. A few moments later she was up on her feet, brushing off all the leaves, twigs and dirt that managed to stick on her in those few moments. It was quite a bit. She ignored the random scrapes that she also acquired. Those would sting like hell later, but were not an immediate concern. First, roll call.
"Is everyone alright?"
"Mash Kyrielight, reporting! I am unharmed and still have all of my possessions!"
Fou chose that moment to pop up from Mash's shield. "Fou fou!"
"Bedivere reporting. I am well. Though not my first freefall I admit it's still a rather novel experience."
Inside her head, she addressed the last member of their group. "Edmond, are you alright?"
"Of course I am. Be careful Ritsuka. Something feels off. There's a miasma everywhere."
Miasma? "Can you tell what it is?"
"Not yet."
That was not good. Caution it is. "Everyone, on your guard. Edmond senses something in the area. I'm going to contact Dr. Roman."
"No need, I'm already connected." The doctor's holographic visage appeared from Mash's shield. "Sorry for the rough landing. Looks like the same thing that's causing problems with our instruments also affected the Rayshift. I'm afraid that this call is straining the connection, so we cannot get any visual. However, we have pulled a map of the city, one before and one after the earthquake, so we should be able to help with navigation at the very least."
"That's great" said Ritsuka. "We ended up on a forested mountain, and Edmond is sensing a dark miasma around here."
"Hmm, with the levels of mana in the air we can't get any real readings… But forested mountain you said?"
"Yes."
"There are two possibilities. One is that you're on one of the mountains surrounding the city. I have no doubt there are several paths that lead there. The other possibility is that you're in Rengedai. It's a small island in the river that crosses it Sumaru city, with the island being located right at the center. Try heading downhill – regardless of where you are you'll get in the city eventually."
"Any landmarks we should keep in mind?"
"If you're at Rengedai, you don't need to worry about that, but if you're in the surrounding areas…" There were sounds of clicking in the background."The only major landmarks are on Mt. Katastumuri, if you managed to land there. There is the Goketsuji shrine, the Sumaru Observatory, and the Morimoto Hospital."
"A hospital so out of the way?"
"That's the official name… In reality, it appears to be a psych yard. That would explain the location. There's also a path and a rail system to commune between the mountain and the main city. Apparently it's a fairly popular hiking place. If you're in any of the other mountains, you're out of luck though. I can't find anything on them."
"So head downhill and hope for the best. Got it." Something fluttered in the bushes. "Thanks doctor. We'll contact you later."
"I'll try to pull up more information." He cut off the connection. Ritsuka turned to see that Bedivere had already drawn his sword, and he and Mash were already in defensive positions.
"Get ready, Ritsuka."
"Already am." "Why don't you show up?"
"Wow, you're so cool miss!"
And that's when all three of them dropped their guard in surprise.
The presences that were fluttering in the bushes were… a tiny imp in a jar, a flame ghost with a top hat and a girl whose hair was somehow wings.
"I've never seen a demon like you! Are you new?"
What.
"Demon? Who?" Demonic beast was one thing, but demon? Could they sense that she was not human? She was good at disguising that sort of thing! Really good!
"Of course you, silly! But you feel kinda weird… Is she like those weirdo humans who merge with us at the Cathedral…?" She only muttered the second part under her breath, but the Master and two (three) Servants heard her clearly.
Seriously, what? What was wrong with this place!?
Alright, information first. "Mash, Bedivere, no attacking until we figure out what's going on. They don't seem hostile so far."
She got affirmations from both of them, and proceeded to try and talk with the little… demons? Phantasmal Beasts? Demonic Beasts? Whatever they were.
"I'm Ritsuka. This pretty girl is Mash, and the knight is Bedivere. What are your names?"
"I'm Moh Shuvuu!" said the girl with the wing-hair.
"I'm Agathion!" said the blue imp in the jar.
"Phantom" replied the ghost with the top hat.
"Master?"
"Yeah, Bedivere?"
"Those are demons. I'm quite certain of it. We can negotiate with them. These do not seem too dangerous, but it'd be to our benefit if they remain friendly."
He knew what those things were? No matter – information first.
"Hello! You're right, it's our first time here, and we're completely lost! We are looking for Sumaru City. Can you help us?"
"Sure! You're super strong, so we have no choice!" Um, okay? They were demons, so that was normal… probably. Good for them, at any rate. "Go that way and you'll find a clearing with a strange offering box. There's a path near there! If you cross the river, you'll get to the city! But if you go up, you'll find the creepy place. There are lots of us there, but there's also some weirdo."
Creepy place? "What is the creepy place?"
The demon girl sniffled. "A big building that's all white… And all the windows have bars on them. AAAAAA IT'S TOO SCARY! Take this! We're leaving!"
The three demons shoved something in Ritsuka's hands and vanished. Ritsuka looked at it and… "She gave me cash!?"
"HEY, YOU!"
"What now?!"
Oh.
While they were busy talking, another demon had sneaked up on them. It was an angel girl in a black dress. "I'm Nightmare! And I saw what you did! You took my friend's money!"
"We didn't take it!" protested Mash.
"Don't lie to me, you meanie grownups! Blobs, with me!"
"Oof… That wasn't fun. I think we need to find that river."
"I agree Senpai. These demons weren't strong at all, but…"
Ritsuka, Mash and Bedivere were now head to toe covered in purple slime.
"Any tips for cleaning those, Bedi? Actually, what do you know about demons?"
The knight, who by this point had given up in trying to wipe his sword, looked thoughtful before answering. "I don't know very much I'm afraid. I only ran into these beings on rare occasions. Unlike Demonic Beasts, who live like normal animals and are edible" why did he have to add this "demons are incorporeal entities much like Servants. To my understanding, they live in a realm very much like the Throne of Heroes, and can only be brought forth by a summoner. Their presence here is very much abnormal."
"A summoner… What's their mana upkeep?"
"I'm not certain… It has been a long time, but I don't recall any summoners having more than four or five at the time. Yet this forest is absolutely filled with them."
It was true. Now that they were all paying more attention, there were several creatures hiding all over the place. Fortunately, they were not attacking so far. Their little fight with Nightmare and the Blobs had scared most of them off.
"Alright. River first. We clean up, and try to get dry before we get a chill."
"Master, Servants don't get chill."
"Well, I do. We'll figure out what to do from there."
"Understood!"
18.3
[Fate/Grand Order]
A Chaldean's Guide to the Grand Order Pt. 5 (High Priest of Ereshkigal)
Chapter 3.6: Festivities and Holidays
Now comes the time to discuss something that one would consider out of place, given the stakes of this Loop. On the contrary, we consider these moments a good part of what allows us to shoulder on. And it's during this moment that the true Chaldean experience is made manifest.
A common theme during a Loop are what we came to call ''Seasonal Singularities''. These are centered around certain festivities that are celebrated during a year, or during the Summer, as much as there can be one in Antartica or in the Wandering Sea. Besides the Summer, the festivities that tend to be represented the most are Valentine's Day, Halloween and Christmas. These are the main ones that appear, and all of them are part of our Baseline, some in pretty significant ways even.
Valentine's just an excuse for Servants currently summoned in Chaldea to give out extravagant offerings of chocolate, candy, sweet things in general or heartfelt/valuable gifts to Ritsuka (no matter the current gender), or whoever turns out to be replacing them. If you are reading this and find yourself in that position, just accept them, there's a great amount of effort in most of those showings, and intention in all of them. And most of them are really tasty. Just avoid the Cocktail of Summer Tamamo, Fergus' invitation and any other type of risque propositions unless you intend to accept such advances.
And on that note, Summer. Contrary to what one might expect, this is not a leisurly stroll by the beach side, at least a normal one in the case of the deserted island and Luluhawa. The most notable thing about these sections is the proliferation of Class Changes among Servants via Spirit Origin Manipulation. Often caused by Miss Scathach with her Primordial Rune-infused swimwear, or some other type of influence over a Servant. Curiously enough, this only seems to affect Females during Baseline, although it's possible to cause any Servant to change Classes with this method, on Males it doesn't seem to be consistent from Loop to Loop.
Having said that, I believe I should go into more detail about Luluhawa, a Summer Singularity constructed on Hawaii by BB, a Magical AI from the Moon Cell (More on her on the sections regarding Beast III/R and the local Outer Gods), with the assistance of the powers granted to her by the Outer God Nyarlathotep and Authorities usurped from the Goddess Pele. It's a 7-day Time Loop created with the purpose of preserving Humanity, and most importantly Ritsuka, from the Alien God's attack. It can be undone easily enough by convincing BB to let us go, normally by force, so sometimes we let it go on for a few months to 2 years at most. If other Loopers are visiting the duration of this Singularity will be agreed with them.
Halloween tends to be the spotlight of one specific Servant, Elizabeth Bathory, as an excuse for her to sing to her audience, always including Ritsuka in such audience. And it often ends up derailed in a comedic and zany fashion. This festivity tends to repeat less than what's usual for this type of Singularity, however, so you only need to last 3 Concerts without any loss of hearing (We recommend magically enhanced earplugs, if you lack some they'll be provided free of charge).
And so we reach the final festivity, Christmas. As it is a custom for this one, and you may have guessed, every time this happens, a Servant in Chaldea is selected as a Santa or the Singularity produces it's own Santa. Sometimes it's even a Battle Royale for the title of Santa, granted by the Santa Holy Grail.
And yes, you read correctly, there is a Santa Holy Grail that makes you a Santa. And there's a consistent theme regarding these types of Singularities. It's to teach the new Santa how to properly convey the Christmas Spirit, while also recovering the Grail powering the Singularity, usually defeating the Servant/Divinity that managed to snatch it. Contrary to Summer, the role of Santa can be granted to anyone, even those one would claim to be the farthest away from such a mindset like Kiara Sessyoin and Douman.
As a whole, these Singularities are relaxing and not very demanding so we hope you enjoy them when it's your time to experience them. And we'd like to remind you to wear your earplugs on Halloween, we're not responsible for the damages that'll last until the end of the Loop.
18.4
[Fate/Grand Order][Persona 2]
Eldritch Metrolopis of Rumours: Sumaru - part 3 (Lermis (Helenthemoon))
Chapter 1 section 2: Arrival
Area: Mount Katatsumuri
"Let me get this straight…" started Dr. Roman, who somehow was still not used to these situations "a group of tiny beings called demons approached you, gave you information, got scared and gave you money, and another group of demons attacked you for keeping that money."
"Pretty much."
After a fair bit of walking to the direction that Moh Shuvuu pointed at, Ritsuka, Mash and Bedivere found the clearing with the odd donation box. It was from a shrine dedicated to someone named "Junosuke Kuroda", who Ritsuka had never heard of before. Finding the path after that was easy, and following the sound of running water led them to the river, which conveniently had a well-maintained wooden bridge crossing it.
Bedivere had started a small fire – probably illegally – and the three of them were now stripped to their basics soaking wet from the dive in the river, while they left their clothes near the heat to dry them faster. Bedivere was very politely not looking at them.
"And that's how you ended up covered in slime. Well we cannot hope to understand the mindset of demons… But you said that they gave you information."
"Yes. Moh Shuvuu mentioned a large white building with barred windows in the area."
"Going by the description, this must be Morimoto Hospital, which means that you are on Mt. Katatsumuri. She mentioned something weird about the place?"
"Affirmative" said Mash. "She mentioned that there are lots of demons in the area, as well as somebody weird."
"Hmm… Seeing that we don't have any other leads right now, I say you visit the psych yard first. If there are indeed many demons there, there may be some clues about the Singularity. The mysterious person may hold more information. They may be hostile, but we have nothing to lose from contacting them."
"So first we dry up, then head to the psych yard. Got it."
"…When you phrase it like that Ritsuka, it sounds like a horrible idea…"
In her head, Edmond snorted. "It sounds like a horrible idea even when you DON'T phrase it like that."
"While we're on our way there, can you find anything about the hospital?"
"…We already have."
She did not like that tone. "What happened?"
"A gas leak, according to a few newspaper articles… It burned the hospital down to the ground."
"Typical cover up excuse" said Edmond in her head. "Remember the corrupt politician he mentioned?"
She really hoped he was wrong about this.
"We'll have to check out for ourselves. Mash, Bedivere."
The two of them were already watching in rapt attention – Bedivere full of suspicion, and Mash full of alarm.
"You heard him. We dry up and get going. For all we know, the hospital may be already burned to the ground. We don't have time to waste."
The rest of the trip was quiet. Most demons still did not dare to attack them after the display from before, which left the battles to a minimum. A good thing, considering they needed to conserve their energy. Occasionally, Fou would growl to the more rowdy ones – even if his specialty was killing primates, the Fourth Beast of Humanity was not to be taken lightly regardless of context.
If only they ever saw him making himself comfy on Mash' bosom, maybe their opinion would change drastically.
Ahem.
Anyway, now that they were climbing up the mountain another problem occurred to her; how would they even find that person. There was no guarantee that that person was there right now. And if the psych yard was somehow properly running, they would not let in visitors without a good reason. Fou could wrap them anywhere they wanted in the hospital, but they still had no idea who this person was or how they looked like. Being "creepy" by demon child standards was not much of a description.
Then again, that may be all they need.
"Doctor Roman?"
A few moments later, the holographic screen came to light. "Yes Ritsuka?"
"Once we get to the hospital, can you scan it for strong magical signatures? If a demon finds someone creepy, they're sure to be using magic of some sort."
"I see" said Bedivere. "Since we don't know their description, we'll have to use alternative means."
"I'm on it" said Roman. "Though the results may be a little delayed. With that interference, we cannot scan and talk to you at the same time."
"Understood. I'll call again once I'm in the hospital. Bye."
Click.
Click.
"SENPAI, WATCH OUT!"
CLANG
She ducked and something cracked and suddenly there was a flash of a blade that she barely avoided.
"Ambuse!"
"你们到底是什么人？"
"Master, we're surrounded! Our enemies look human! I'm not detecting any signatures!"
Bedivere growled. "So they're mere lowlifes!"
They were surrounded. Harsh men with oriental features, most of them with scars, some with casual clothes, some with suits, and a few with traditional Chinese clothing, holding anything from guns to bats to falcions and knives. And they had just shouted in Chinese.
In an incredulous part of her mind that was not in full alert, she realized that they had just been surrounded by the Triads. In Japan.
What the actual FUCK is wrong with this place.
She adopted a martial arts stance, ready to draw a weapon from her pocket at any second. "Mash, Be-Lucius! Back of the blade! Fou, keep the critters out!"
"Understood!"
As if that was a signal for everyone, the criminals rushed in screaming. Ritsuka avoided a bullet by sheer dumb luck before she had to duck under an incoming sword swing. Someone else kicked her in her gut and tossed her back a bit, but she held her ground. The corner of her eye caught a flash, and she elbowed the man from behind her, before she grabbed him and tossed him to the others. Predictably, Mash and Bedivere had already defeated their own opponents.
"Now!"
At her order, the two knights tackled the criminals to the ground, eliciting a pained groan and the sound of something give. Ritsuka did not feel sorry for them at all.
"Three out of ten" said Edmond.
"Who are you grading?"
She did not wait for an answer. Instead she stepped on the last man still conscious.
"Alright, fess up. What are you doing here."
To emphasize her point, Bedivere edged his blade close to his throat. The mook just glared at them.
"Do you speak Japanese?"
He spat on her.
Ritsuka reached her Pocket for an antiseptic wipe and cleaned her face.
Right. Forget the language barrier. They would not get anything out of this guy.
"What should we do, Master?" asked Mash.
"They'll report back" said Edmond. "I don't know to whom, but it'll be bad for us. There must be here for a mission."
"Wanna bet it's about that "weirdo in the hospital"?"
"That's not a bet."
She dropped the wipe on the man's face. Predictably, he started cursing at her.
"Lucius" she said again, switching to his old moniker. Safer that way. The two servants seemed to catch on her drift because they did not question her choice. "Can you wipe memories?"
"Of course."
He leaned down over the man who seemed to realize that something very wrong was about to happen.
"I know why we're not killing them, but are you sure about hiding them in the bushes? There are still demons hidden here."
"No other choice. If we leave them on the path somebody WILL notice – probably other Triad guys."
"Heh. So you're putting the blame for the beatings on the demons." She knew that. She did not have to like it.
"Lucius, are you done?"
"Almost."
"Please hurry. We don't have much time."
18.5
[Megaman] [Fate/Grand Order]
Doctor Da Vinci
Da Vinci hummed as she Awoke, a Ping going off. Out of courtesy she returned it, and then returned to what she'd been doing.
Apparently her unAwake self had been some sort of mad scientist, nothing new she was one anyway, but she'd also had some sort of poorly thought out 'take over the world' plans in the works. The current one involving hacking the Robot Masters her colleague, Doctor Light, had built.
'Well that's dumb, if I was going to take over the world, I'll build my own Robot Masters!' she decided. She hadn't tried taking over the world yet, of course that wasn't entirely on her priorities list, being very, very far down there.
Whatever, she was building the Robot Masters anyway, evil plan or not, this was a challenge of her genius!
The mild megalomania her unAwake counterpart had probably had something to do with this decision.
Rock Light, also known as Megaman, was mildly concerned.
"Uh… Shouldn't there have been a news report already?" He questioned, looking to Roll. There'd only been four pings back, besides Roll, but they hadn't gone out to find any of the other Loopers yet. He was more concerned about Dr Wily.
Namely that he hadn't hacked the Robot Masters yet.
"Rock, you forgot to check your memories," Roll pointed out, tapping the side of her head. "There isn't a Doctor Wily, at least not this loop."
Okay so he might have forgotten to do that.
"Doctor… Leonardo Da Vinci?" Rock questioned, the name was obviously that of the 'Renaissance Man' himself, but… uh. "They're… a woman?"
"Yeah I don't know either," Roll shrugged. "Still had a falling out with Doctor Light though, but they're probably one of the four Pings," Roll reasoned.
"I'm going to Wily's Castle… or Da Vinci's castle I guess," Rock decided. He wanted to get to the bottom of this already.
"Okay then," Roll waved, not exactly concerned. Everything would probably be fine.
Rock managed to convince the unAwake (and not Dreaming it seemed this Loop), Dr. Light to warp him to the coordinates he knew Doctor Wily's castle was usually located. Lo and behold the castle was actually there… even if it looked a bit different.
"That's an… interesting symbol," Rock noted, rubbing his chin. Rather than the usual skull, the symbol was that of a crescent moon surrounded by a wreath. It took him a second to process where he'd seen it before. "Chaldea's Symbol? From that Grand Order game?" he mused.
Well that explained why Doctor Leonardo Da Vinci was a woman at least. Guess there was a new bunch of Loopers on the block as it were. Where they actually were was the better question.
He snuck his way into the castle, dodging security systems that hadn't yet been modified from Wily Standards Version 1 (A good sign), and bust his way into the laboratory by unlocking the door.
What he nearly got was his head taken off. "Alright, who's there!" a woman shouted, Rock throwing up his hands as he saw the spear that had impaled the wall where his head had been previously. "Private property! Touch a magi's workshop without permission and you're gonna get it!"
"Sorry!" Rock shouted as the woman slammed the door open, a tall brown haired woman who was currently covered in oil among other things, and he could barely make out the large amount of robots behind her. "Um… Leonardo Da Vinci right?"
"Yes?" Da Vinci asked, the robot that had nearly taken his head off pulling the spear out of the wall. It was very clearly a combat robot, mostly green but very slick. Kinda looked a bit like something from X's era, even if it was clearly unfinished. "And you are?"
"I'm Rock, resident Anchor… kinda, one of two," he admitted, and the woman lowered the wrench she was holding.
"Well, my apologies then, but you're lucky I didn't put up any of my heavier defenses," the woman mentioned.
"Standard alarm and a guard?" Rock questioned, because that seems to have been the only things she'd set up.
"Well that's all I'd gotten around to, was more busy building," she admitted, before tossing the wrench behind her. "You're good H, take a quick breather," she ordered, the green robot nodding before returning back into the room, leaving the woman with Rock.
"H?" Rock asked, Da Vinci waving her hand.
"I modeled him after someone from back home, Hektor," she admitted. "UnAwake self wanted to hack Robot Masters, I decided that it would be better to make my own," she said with a smirk.
'And she's crazy, that's great…' Rock thought, chuckling lightly. "So uh… are you planning on trying to take over the world? Cause mass destruction… or any number of things that threaten the world?"
"You ask a lot of questions, but I like that," the woman adjusted the goggles on her head. "I mean that's somewhere on the bucket list, but come on, who doesn't believe they couldn't run the world better than the idiots actually in charge?"
"Most people," Rock muttered and rolled his eyes (still possible with LED screens). "I mean this Loop," he further clarified.
"Don't think so," Da Vinci admitted. "Probably just build some Robot Servants, rather than Masters."
Well that was an idea… She was replacing Doctor Wily after all.
"Okay, so since you haven't been here before, allow me to tell you how this normally goes," Rock started, a grin across his face.
A week later, Rock and Roll were kitted up, the week had been just to give Da Vinci prep time to make her first set of Robot Servants, and prepare her fortress.
She'd been surprisingly up to the challenge of playing the role of Wily, without any actual malice behind it.
"So, which ones do you want to have a go at?" Rock asked as he and Roll looked over the document Da Vinci had sent them, which had the eight Robot Servants for them to tackle.
"Hmm… I'll take these four. Caesar, Babbage, Benkei and Mata Hari," Roll decided.
"Guess that leaves the other four to me then," Rock muttered, rolling up the paper.
This was gonna be fun. He had Billy the Kid, Bartholomew Roberts, Spartacus and Salieri to himself.
The lack of Model Hektor didn't surprise him. He fully expected things to ramp up later, because if that game was anything to go by…
Well, he fully expected things to get amazingly difficult by set four.
Mash sighed, shaking her head and adjusting her glasses. The recent tremor shaking the apartment again.
This had been going on for three months. The ever raging battle between Doctor Light's Robot Masters, Rock and Roll, and the 'nefarious' Doctor Da Vinci's 'Robo-Servants'
Mash had… technically, been living alone for said three months, with only her pet cat for company. Said pet cat being Ritsuka, unsurprisingly, who was currently lounging on the couch, unconcerned with the constant shaking of the ground. "Do you think she's brought out the big guns yet?"
The cat stood up, stretching before flipping off the couch, Mash looking out the window as Ritsuka morphed from the form of the cat, into a young man, putting his Shapeshifting abilities to good use. "Doubt it," he offered, tail swaying behind him slowly, and ears twitching.
He walked over and joined her at the window, Mash catching sight of the plain t-shirt he was wearing, something simple, large, and covering, given he had only morphed to be around five feet tall at a quick estimate. "She's probably only hit the knights of the round, maybe," he mused.
Mash chuckled, putting her hand on Ritsuka's head and rubbing his ears. Ritsuka purred at the touch. "You're probably right. We really should check up on her," Mash muttered, Ritsuka nodding before taking a step back, returning to the form of the little black cat and returning to the couch as another explosion shook the section of the city purchased by 'Da Vinci Enterprises' for 'Testing purposes'.
"Here's hoping things don't escalate too far," Mash muttered, shaking her head… knowing Da Vinci, they probably would eventually.
Altria brushed a strand of hair out of the way, shaking her head as she looked around.
She was just a member of a large construction company this Loop, Camelot Co… preferred construction company of one Dr. Leonadro Da Vinci for her various testing zones.
"Hey Altria," the pale blonde looked to the voice, seeing the resident 'Mad Scientist', and their most profitable contractor walking towards her, hands in the pockets of her lab coat, and hard hat on her held. "I must say, the overalls and hard-hat suit you."
"Please, I can make anything look good," Altria boasted, leaning against her shovel. "So what's next?"
"Just wanted to talk to you, you know, as friends," Da Vinci offered with a smile. Altira nodded.
"I must say, you've been doing interesting work this Loop," Altria started. "Robotic Servants, based on the Mecha Liz units?"
"Lot more than that, I've taken the chance to experiment not only with stuff from back home, but also with what this Loop's got. And It's got a lot," she tapped her forehead, grinning. "Uomo Universale."
"And yet you can't best the two machines of doctor light?" Altria asked, Da Vinci's grin becoming wider at that one.
"I'll get them yet. I think they, and you, are going to enjoy this next batch," Da Vinci declared, tapping her chest.
"Me and the men going to get to use a room in the fortress again?" Altria questioned, getting to watch the fun was infinitely more amusing than merely hearing the explosions.
"Oh you know it," Da Vinci declared. It was gonna be fun.
"You're insane, you know that?" Rock pointed out as he, Da Vinci, Mash, Roll and Altria were all together. Ritsuka was nowhere to be found at the moment.
"You did ask for a challenge," the scientist pointed out, Altria huffing in bemusement as Rock sighed, rubbing his head.
"Never thought you'd deliver like this…"
"Oh come on, it's only eight courses," Da Vinci pointed out.
"Your last set was absurd," Roll added, rolling her eyes.
"I at least make sure they're beatable," Da Vinci said, crossing her arms.
"No, that's what we do," Altria amended out, as she took a drink from her water bottle.
"Your definition of 'beatable' would make Baseline Wily cringe." Roll shook her head.
"I'm up for it," Rock declared. "I wanna make a bet."
"A bet?" Mash asked as Rock looked towards Da Vinci.
"I beat your courses and this set of Super Robots, and I get my choice of Klironomia from your Pocket,"
"And what do I get if you lose?" Da Vinci asked.
"All of the baseline data from my Variable Weapons system," Rock said with a smirk.
"And how do I know you're going to play fair?"
"We are well past the point of 'fair' Da Vinci," Mash pointed out, everyone looking at the display screens for the current set of Robo-Servants. Models based on Romulus-Quirinus, Orion, Karna, Nightingale, Nobunaga, Meltryllis, Ivan the Terrible and Skadi… complete with what Altria had termed 'Bullshit'.
Mostly because the mad scientist in the room had managed to make weakened versions of their abilities in most of the machines, which was impressive in the first place, given most of said abilities were explicitly magical or divine in nature.
"Oh please, I wasn't even able to make fully functional copies. I'm half expecting them to run out of power before busting his shell," Da Vinci pointed out.
"I'll be the judge of that. We got a deal?" Rock offered, holding out his hand.
"Eh, why not," Da Vinci shook on it.
The challenge began.
"Ouch…" Rock groaned, laying on his back and groaning a bit. "I'm made of metal… How the heck am I feeling pain? Or exhaustion…"
"Because you fell for it," Rock looked up at Ritsuka, who was sitting above him on a nearby shipping container, currently in the form of a rather young looking cat boy. He'd taken the form multiple times…
Something Roll enjoyed, even if he'd spent a good part of the challenge following Rock through it. "Fell for what?"
"You tell me, you know what Nobunaga's capable of," Ritsuka pointed out, as Rock had boasted with his knowledge of 'Fate Grand Order'. Ritsuka smirked as Rock thought about it for a moment, before facepalming.
"The Klironomia!" Rock shouted, standing up. Stupid anti-divine properties… how the heck had she managed to instill said properties into the robot where beyond him… wait. "Oh for… she's nuts."
"You're just figuring this out?" Ritsuka asked, Rock cracking his neck and leaping back into the battle.
He hadn't lost yet! Even if this stupid Nobunaga bot was even more troublesome than the other six he'd faced so far.
"There! I Won!" Rock declared with a huff, his body scuffed in various places, and pieces of his armor damage. Also he was missing a hand. The Nightingale Robot had ripped it off.
The two seemingly least threatening Robo-Servants of the bunch had proven to be the two most troublesome of the lot. The Nurse and the Warlord had seemingly paled in comparison to the various Demi-Deus Machina… and Ivan, who was just strong and shot lightning.
Instead they'd been the two most troublesome by a landslide. With Nobunaga's firepower and somehow having the Anti-Divinity protocol installed inside her. The weapon gained from her had just been a boring, but practical buster upgrade for his standard fire, just giving it the Anti-Divinity protocols while active, even for charge shots.
Nightingale had been worse, just because oh how the robot was capable of healing itself, on top of being highly aggressive and unpredictable. At least the weapon had been nice, since it was less a weapon and more just a rechargeable health tank with multiple uses if he had the weapon energy. Still the others Robo-Servants had patterns he'd been able to follow, like any other Robot master.
Nobunaga and Nightingale did not. One was total chaos, and the other focused entirely on the goal of hurting him. Made things much harder than simple raw power.
"Ah well, I tried," Da Vinci snapped her fingers. "Well, deal's a deal."
"Good going Rock," Roll congratulated him, and he gave a thumbs up with his remaining hand.
"That was very impressive," Mash added with a smile as Ritsuka the cat entered through a window.
At least he got a lot of cool stuff out of this pain… and some of those Divine Nanomachines, Dr. Light would have fun messing with those.
Ritsuka had ended up trading him some more stuff to get the weapon data for Da Vinci anyway, during the downtime between the next set of Robo-Servants. All in all, good Loop with no real conflict, save the challenges he got built for himself. So it was all in good fun.
18.1: This is what happens when you let Non-Loopers in your Pocket.
18.2: Like any good Singularity, thou falls from the sky.
18.3: Mash makes quite detailed sections for that 'pamphlet' (It's a book really)
18.4: Triads in Japan? It's more likely than you think.
18.5: Mad Science is the best science.
I hope you all enjoyed! We've got way more where this came from. I hope you follow along, favorite if you desire, and leave a review if you'd got ideas. The comp might not have been updated in a while, but spacebattles certainly hasn't slowed.