Dear Readers,
Welcome to Magecraft in a BETA World. This is a crossover between the Fateverse and Muv-Luv. I hope you enjoy it.
ShirouKuroEmiya
Chapter One "BETA World once more"
"Argh, hell! I hope I didn't screw up the experiment too badly this time," I screamed as I quickly sat up.
I inspected my body to see if there were any abnormalities since there was no telling what could have happened with an experiment involving Second True Magic, or Kaleidoscope as it was more commonly known, going wrong. Well, that had been the plan… until I saw a familiar sight that I had thought I would never see again.
The first thing I did was to take a breath to calm myself then I slowly inspected the room, half-believing that I was seeing an illusion. I think I spent nearly an hour touching everything. My inspection came to a stop when it everything seemed to be the right place.
So, I could hypothesis several possible scenarios to explain the phenomenon before me. First was that I was trapped in an incredibly detailed illusion that I could not differentiate it from reality. Second was I was dreaming, thinking about my past life as Takeru Shirogane. The third and most likely explanation since I had just screwed up an experiment involving Kaleidoscope was that I had somehow ended up in a parallel world connected to Takeru Shirogane.
I quickly changed the flow of my Od. This abrupt change should affect the foreign magical energy influencing my mind, assuming that I was trapped inside an illusion in the first place. The usual signs of illusions changing to my sudden actions like an unexplained blurring of objects didn't happen. Just in case the illusion caster was very skilled and adapted very quickly to my sudden resistance, I tried interrupting my Od in unpredictable timing and strength several more times. Each try didn't show the slightest signs that I was trapped in an illusion.
"It is very unlikely that I am under the influence of an illusion." I concluded with certainty. "So, let's see if this is a dream."
I started to replicate all manner of tests that my master, Zelretch, and fellow mages like Rin had taught me that were reliable methods to deduce if I was in a dream of some sort. Just like my tests to see if I was under the influence of an illusion, the results were conclusive.
It was not a dream.
Hence, I made my way of the bedroom.
My heart pumped in anticipation and my eyes widened, taking in every single detail, as my hand slowly turned the doorknob. To my shock, I was greeted by a familiar sight that I had been hoping not to see.
A mournful wind passed through the empty streets and between the ruined houses. A ruined city greeted me, as it had so many times before during my previous life as Takeru Shirogane. Where there should have been Sumika's house in the peaceful world without BETAs, lay crushed beneath the corpse of a giant, robotic war machine.
I scrutinized the war machine. Information that I had thought never recall again came flooding to my mind. It was a Type-77/F4J Gekishin. An old first-generation Tactical Surface Fighter (TSF). It was tough, but clunky and slow compared to the later generations of TSFs that came after it.
My mind quickly wiped out the flood of information about TSFs and my expression hardened. This world I now find myself in was possibly the worst parallel world or timeline I knew about. Not even the timeline involving Chaldea was grim as this BETA world. The entirety of human history might have been erased, but at the very least the Grand Order timeline had Heroic Spirits from the entire breath of human history to protect it.
This world didn't have the blessing of the greatest human warriors and minds to ever grace humanity to call upon for aid. It had only blood and sweat of countless people sacrificing their lives just for a chance that humanity might exist just a little bit longer so that someone might create a miracle to turn the tide of the war for survival.
No, I could change things! My eyes started to glow, and my expression lightened up. I had knowledge and abilities that I could have only dreamed of as Takeru Shirogane, and the endless loops I had faced during that existence. An arsenal of Noble Phantasms waited inside my Reality Marble ready at my call.
"Ayamine. Tama. Mikoto. Chizuru. Meiya. Sumika. Yuuko." I muttered in despair as I remembered the people I had fallen in love with during my endless loops as Takeru Shirogane.
I ground my teeth together. My nails digging sharply into my palms at the overpowering memories that assaulted me. Memories of my comrades… my friends… the girls I had fallen in love with as Takeru Shirogane… filled my mind.
Most of all, I remembered the countless loops that I had failed to protect them. They had died in one way in just about every loop. It was unacceptable. Absolutely unacceptable.
This time, I had to make sure that they lived no matter the cost.
"My dream is still for everyone to be alive and happy. That dream won't change!"
Save my friends. Defeat the BETA and save humanity.
Anyone from this world or maybe even my Takeru Shirogane counterparts might have thought it was impossible. They probably thought it was impossible. Somehow, someway, no matter how unrealistic it seemed, if the BETA were to be defeated and driven from Earth then there would still be countless BETA out there, among the stars. That humanity was just delaying the inevitable.
Well! I would tell them they didn't know my current reincarnation, Shirou Emiya.
My instinct was to dash and run towards Yokohama Base but I quickly suppressed that urge. I had a strong feeling that my reincarnation as Shirou Emiya might have more than just affect my personality and memories since my previous life as Takeru Shirogane.
The quick sprint back into my ruined home and into the bathroom quickly proved that my suspicion had been right. There in the bathroom mirror I saw a reflection with eyes of different colour. The right was eye gold and left were brown. Patches of brown and auburn hair alternating in such a natural manner that it didn't seem to be the result of hair dyes. And there many other minor physical changes that seemed to blend the physical features of Takeru Shirogane and Shirou Emiya together.
If I had been the same Shirou Emiya that hadn't constantly gone through repeating loops of the Fifth Holy Grail like I had as Takeru Shirogane in the BETA timeline then I would have been clueless to what had happened to me. Now, with some training with Rin and being taken under the wing of my master, Zelretch, I knew very well my personality, memories and Magic Circuits as Shirou Emiya had overlapped and altered my pastcurrent Takeru Shirogane self.
I had some conflicted emotions about my appearance but I quickly buried them. In fact, this development could actually help me since I didn't need to worry about being mistaken as a spy or saboteur trying to use the appearance of the BETA timeline's deceased Takeru Shirogane.
My reflection smiled and I continued to make some faces, getting used to my new appearance before I remembered that I had much more important things to do then admire my reflection.
The wood of the stairs started to groan under my weight as I made my way down. I didn't look back as I left the house. I instead concentrated on the images of my lovers I had as Takeru Shirogane. They were all the mattered to me now, as well as saving humanity from the BETA.
I made my way towards Yokohama Base, ignoring the familiar sight of destroyed and ruined buildings.
It was not long after my fast jogging that I arrived at my destination. I approached the familiar guarded gates. My teeth grit together when I remembered the first time I had come to these gates after coming to this BETA timelime from a world without BETAs. Not only had I been arrested, but I had been arrested in a very rough manner and thrown into jail for three days before I had been released!
I reminded myself about the mistakes to avoid, having learned in my endless loops as Takeru Shirogane, but I was not greeted by the African-America or Japanese guards that I was all too used seeing. Instead, I saw two familiar faces that I had never seen as Takeru Shirogane but had as Shirou Emiya.
"Is that you, Issei Ryuudou, Shinji Matou!" I couldn't help but blurt out.
It seemed surreal to see two familiar faces clad in body armor and wielding assault rifles. Thankfully, I quickly recovered from the shock rather quickly.
"Can we see your identification badge," asked 'Issei" in a respectful voice.
"Hey, Issei, I don't recognize him or his uniform," remarked 'Shinji' while raising his rifle higher from the ground than most soldiers would when interacting with a person with unknown intentions.
I frowned in displeasure at the direction of the conversation. Disregarding the fact, I was interacted with this world's Issei and Shinji, I had a strong feeling that I was going to get arrested if I didn't resist or they might be a violent confrontation if things were left as they were.
The notion of trying to resolve this issue with words quickly left my mind when I had a much more effective tool that was guaranteed to work.
"You will treat me like a comrade," I said out aloud and calmly while channeling Od into my eyes.
"Comrade, you look like a suspicious…"
"Hey, Issei what is wrong with yo-!"
I sighed in relief as the barrels of the rising rifles waited back down onto the ground and my counterparts I had known as Shirou Emiya relaxed into a dazed state. The fact that my hypnosis had worked was excellent news.
My brows twitched in annoyance. I had used several times more magical energy and effort than what other mages would have used to cast a simple hypnosis spell. Well, it was the price I had to pay for how specialized my magical skillset was to the point that I had a crippling inability to use only the bare basics of most forms of magecraft. Most mages would kill to have the ability to create Noble Phantasms or possess a Reality Marble.
I shook my head and reassumed my task.
Making a mental note to investigate how this world's counterparts of Shinji and Issei had ended up at Yokohama Base when I had never met them in any of my loops as Takeru Shirogane, I quickly got to instructing the dazed Issei and Shinji to contact Yuuko Kouzuki.
I was soon put through all manner of security checks that I always subjected to in all my loops as Takeru Shirogane to meet someone who was my physics teacher in the world without BETAs and in this world with BETAs, the vice-commander of Yokohama Base and leader of Alternative IV.
"Identify yourself!" demanded Yuuko as I entered the room.
"Yuuko-sensei, I am sorry about this, but this is the fastest way you can believe me." I apologized and before Yuuko could respond, a dagger materialized in my hand and I threw it.
"What-!" Yuuko shouted in confusion as she witnessed a sight that probably had seemed unbelievable to her. I mean after all; it is not every day that you got to witness someone move faster than an Olympic athlete or find a dagger materialize from thin air.
Yuuko's eyes started to lose focus as I saw the thrown dagger sink into her body and disappear. I watched in great fascination as Yuuko's expression changed constantly as if she was experiencing several events in rapid succession. It was not long before I saw her dazed eyes disappeared and regained their usual focus.
"You shouldn't have thrown a dagger at me!" growled Yuuko as she glared at me, looking as if she wanted to tear me to pieces before calming down and sitting down.
I wasn't too surprised as Yuuko's eyes stared at a computer screen at her desk. She might not be typing anything but she might as well be as I had a good feeling the screen was displaying the words of a certain esper that Yuuko heavily relied on and she was communicating with said esper through her mind.
It took a good deal few minutes that Yuuko stopped staring at the screen and she turned to me.
"Are you an esper claiming to be from parallel world, one without BETA?" asked Yuuko.
I chuckled. In some ways, Yuuko was both right and wrong. Psychic Powers, or Extrasensory Perception (ESP), were inherent abilities that couldn't be taught like Reality Marbles. So, in a way if I was talking I was esper thanks to Unlimited Blade Works, but my other magical abilities not related to my Reality Marble was the result of my effort and time in studying magecraft.
"In a way," I smiled but that didn't seem to satisfy Yuuko.
"Are you anyway related to Takeru Shirogane? You bare some resemblance to him. Are you related to him by any chance?"
"That is something that will take time to explain-"
"We have all the time in the world," Yuuko interrupted. "You need to answer my question or I will raise the alarm and you will have to face all the base's soldiers."
"I will make it short then," I replied while sitting down on a nearby sofa and made myself comfortable. "In my previous life, I once lived as Takeru Shirogane. The same Takeru Shirogane that appeared in your memories of your counterpart from a world without BETAs. My former self ended up in this world, or at least parallel worlds incredibly similar to this one, and lived and died in several loops until the destruction of Kashgar Hive in Operation Ouka." Yuuko's mouth open but I shook my head. "I refuse to give away more information. It can be considered information related to the future of this timeline. If I tell them to you they may create ripples and cause the butterfly effect. You can ask Kasumi if you want."
Before Yuuko could protest, a hidden door disguised as a bookshelf opened up and I was greeted with the familiar figure of the bunny-eared Kasumi Yashiro.
"He is telling the truth," Kasumi nodded.
"Can you see his memories?" asked Yuuko.
Kasumi shook her head. If I had been Takeru Shirogane or Shirou Emiya before and/or during the Fifth Fuyuki Holy Grail then she might have been able see my memories. After winning the Holy Grail War, I had learned from Rin and went further training under Zelretch's to protect my mind from people like Kasumi. Although, I had protected my memories from Kasumi I hadn't done the same to my thoughts.
Hence, allowing Kasumi to deduce if I had been lying or not.
Yuuko carefully stared into my eyes. "So, what do you want?"
"If this had been any other world then I would have wanted to return to my home world straight away. But BETAs change everything." I replied while sitting up and leaning forward. "I cannot with a good consciousness do nothing when the entire human race faces extinction. So, I plan to fight until I am sure BETA no longer pose a threat to humanity."
Kasumi nodded her head to confirm my intentions, which made Yuuko relax somewhat.
"Then how do you intent to help? Can you allow me to experience the memories of another me?"
"Transplanting memories and knowledge from someone's parallel self isn't something I could do very easily." I shook my head. "It takes a lot of preparation, time and effort to make a Kaleidoscope dagger, and even then there is a high chance of failure making one."
Yuuko frowned in displeasure and turned to Kasumi, who nodded. This only made Yuuko despair as if a miracle solution appeared, only for it to disappear. I could understand why Yuuko felt that way, and I suddenly remembered the sight of a drunk and depressed Yuuko Kouzuki in the numerous loops where Alternative IV had failed.
"Yuuko-sensei," I subconsciously addressed her, "I might not be able to produce a Kaleidoscope dagger right now, but there is plenty of knowledge from your BETA-less world counterpart to use. Try recalling the Space Wars-"
"Kasumi," Yuuko interrupted me, "grab a piece of paper… No, grab a stack and help me write down the information I am thinking about right now!"
I chuckled at the chaotic scene of Yuuko frantically writing down whatever useful knowledge that her BETA-less counterpart knew. Poor Kasumi frowned in such an adorable manner as she desperately tried to keep up what I no doubt believed was rapidly changing Yuuko's thoughts. It was amusing to watch until the serious expressions of Yuuko and Kasumi or how hard working they looked struck me.
My demeanor hardened as I recalled that this was the BETA world, where soldiers all around Earth valiantly fought to save humanity or innocents civilians were helpless massacred. I couldn't just stand there doing nothing when Yuuko and Kasumi were doing their best to record information from a BETA-less world that could be useful against the BETA war effort. So, I quickly grabbed a stack of paper of mine and started to write what I remembered from my previous life as Takeru Shirogane.
- O -
"Where did you get this, Kouzuki-san!?" exclaimed an all too familiar voice.
I just stared when I saw another yet another familiar face that I had known as Shirou Emiya. In fact, her appearance shocked me more than Issei or Shinji because this was Rin Tohsaka! My current lover and fellow apprentice under Zelretch, or at least this world's counterpart of Rin to be more accurate.
Rin hugged Yuuko, who refused to respond to Rin despite how much she tried to push. "What it doesn't matter!" She smiled while letting go of Yuuko. "Like usual, you think up of new ideas and I turn them into reality!" Rin chirped as she bounced around while looking at the stack of papers that Yuuko and Kasumi had worked so hard to write down from BETA-less world's Yuuko Kouzuki's knowledge. "It will be tough, but I think it is doable." She pointed to herself. "They don't call me the Miracle Maker for no reason!"
I continued to watch Rin and Yuuko interact with each other. It was very strange to see such a bubbly and friendly Rin. They were characteristics that I didn't normally associate with Rin. While it wasn't to say that Rin of the world of magecraft that I had left couldn't be bubbly and friendly but she didn't act that manner in public.
Shaking my head, I snapped out from thinking too much of this world's Rin Tohsaka and instead focused on things that mattered. My plans for the future seemed like they would have to undergo a significant change. Originally, I had planned to use the next Kaleidoscope dagger to give Yuuko more memories and knowledge of her other parallel counterparts. That was going to be scrapped in favor of using the next Kaleidoscope dagger on Rin. I would prefer selecting Rin Tohsaka from my world, and if that wasn't possible then one of her counterparts from a world where magecraft existed as the next source of information and knowledge to be used against the BETA.
"Did you think that you can make these?" asked Yuuko anxiously while gesturing at the blueprints in her hands.
"These look much more detailed and capable then any proposed 'micro-TSF' I have ever seen. Has a prototype of the blueprints been tested yet?"
I wanted to shout out and confirm that the war machines on the blueprints had served on the battlefield for multiple decades but no one would really believe that. They didn't exist in this world. Although, the same couldn't be said for the BETA-less world that they had been invented at.
"In a manner of speaking, yes," replied Yuuko ambiguously. "As for the details, that is sadly classified. All I can say is that work. What I want to know is can you make it?"
"Yea, I can make it." Rin nodded. "If I drop whatever my crews are doing right now and focus on creating these micro-TSF on the blueprints then I should be able to get the first micro-TSF out in few days."
"Well, I look forward to seeing the results," said Yuuko with a smile and she turned to the commanding officer of the Valkyries. "Captain Isumi, do you think these micro-TSF will make any difference in the war?"
"It is hard to say." Isumi shook her head. "I understand the theory for micro-TSF. A single TSF is on average a hundred million dollars. The replacement parts for maintenance and repairs, or support personnel wages to service a single TSF runs in the millions. Just the price alone is why smaller, less expensive micro-TSF are favored by the bean counters, if they can be made a viable military asset." She smiled wryly. "We all know that cutting corners to save costs rarely help the military."
"That may be true most the time," conceded Yuuko as she nodded her head. "But micro-TSF certainly have some merits. The number of TSF, our premier weapon against the BETA, and pilots we can produce at any given time is limited by…"
I was going to listen in to the conversation with great interest until I heard familiar voice.
"Is that you, Takeru!?"
I turned to see who had spoken. To my surprise, this owner of the voice didn't look exactly like I remembered. She didn't have the same eye and hair colours or skin complexion. Yet, if the voice was anything to go by then I had to be looking at Sakura. What was even more surprising that she looked like what I would imagine if Sakura had never been adopted by the Matous and forced to undergo their despicable Matou training methods.
"Takeru?" repeated Rin as she glanced at 'Sakura.' "Are you sure you got the right person, Sakura?"
"Nee-san, look at him. He has…." Sakura stopped speaking as she scrutinized me as if realizing that I didn't look completely like Takeru Shirogane. "Did you get plastic surgery and dyed your hair, Takeru?"
"I might share the same first name, but I am not the Takeru you are looking for." I replied while smiling. "My name is Takeru Shirou." I provided the name I had decided to use in this world as I seem to possess a mixed physical appearance of both my previous life and my current life, Shirou Emiya. "Did you have any relationship with this, 'Takeru Shirogane' if I might ask?"
"He was a good friend that was declared MIA after a Hive assault operation, and I thought you might be him," replied Sakura in a saddened tone.
"I'm sorry to hear that. I hope he is still alive." I smiled while wondering how did this world's me knew this world's Sakura of all people.
"So, Shirou-san… You must be new," said Rin while glancing at me.
"How do you know that?" I couldn't help but ask.
"I know most of the people of the base. What is your specialty?"
"I'm a TSF pilot and special forces operative." I replied.
"That's a very rare combination," whistled Rin. "TSF pilots and special forces operatives have different skill sets and have disdain for the other."
"That is correct." I nodded. "So, are you the chief engineering officer on this base?"
"Yes that is correct. I am CaptainTohsaka at your service." Rin saluted, something that I would never imagine Rin from my world would do.
My hard-grained habits as Takeru Shirogane made me salute in response.
"I would love sit and talk to you but that will have to wait." Rin smiled as she turned to Sakura. "Sakura, I need your help. Yuuko asked me to create these micro-TSF on these blueprints. I can create the hardware but software is your expertise. Can you help me out?"
I watched with interest as the Tohsaka sisters started to talk to each other. It didn't surprise me that Sakura had some skills as a programmer. I remembered how one her parallel counterparts involving the Moon Cell was an NPC and a gifted programmer that she overcame her programming and took partial control over Moon Cell.
"Shirou-san," called out Rin and I snapped out my thoughts.
"Yes, Tohsaka-san."
"Would you mind helping us out? Sakura can get the software running and I can get the machine together but we need someone to test out the stimulator and the real thing when we construct it."
"I am happy to help," I replied while smiling. Even if Rin and Sakura before me was the very same people I knew with that didn't change the fact that at their core they were the same as the girls I had fallen in love with.
Did you guys like the Takeru and Shirou physical appearance fusion? Did it seem like a horrible idea?
What do you guys think about what you read? Is it good, bad or meh? Any recommendations to improve? Please let me know.
Thank you for reading!