Disclaimer: You know the drill; I don't own anything.
14… No, it's still just 13…
13 years ago, my world was destroyed.
That day, the entire world changed. No matter what anyone does now, that day will always remain. No matter what happens, that day was here to stay.
That day, the hopes, dreams, and future of humanity were destroyed. The world ended...and was replaced by a world where humans can no longer smile…
And yet… despite all that... I still want to believe that my dream could come true...
Section 1: Arrival in the New Lostbelt
"5. 4. 3. 2. 1. 0!"
By all accounts, their exit from Void Space was uneventful. Just a slight jolt as the Shadow Border went from 'swimming' through the sea to landing on solid ground.
Once the shaking stopped, the inhabitants of the Shadow Border's cockpit quickly unfastened their seatbelts and gathered around the Paper Moon.
"Okay, let's do what we always do and do some recon," Da Vinci's hologram ordered as it appeared in front of the Paper Moon, "Fujimaru, Mash, head out there and survey our surroundings. Holmes and I will try and figure out our positions."
"Got i-"
"Hold on a minute!" Before either Ritsuka or Mash, who had switched to her Ortinax suit, could respond, Goredolf grumpily interrupted them, "Aren't we forgetting one important detail?"
"Really?" A confused look appeared on Da Vinci's face, "I don't think we missed anything."
"You're forgetting that I am the Director here!" Goredolf suddenly shouted, "I should be the one giving orders around here!"
"You're absolutely correct, Director Goredolf," Holmes quickly cut in before anyone else could say anything, "What do you propose we should do?"
"Uh…" Having not expected that reaction, Goredolf was taken aback by it and struggled to respond, "We should… That's it! Fujimaru, Kyrielight! The two you shall exit the Shadow Border and explore our surroundings. In the meantime, the rest of us shall remain here and find out exactly where we are."
"That's exactly what Da Vinci suggested!"
"Hush, Meuniere. I'm the Director here."
"Understood," Receiving their orders, both Mash and Ritsuka nodded before heading out of the cockpit.
"Now, then," Goredolf said after the door closed, voice filled with confidence, "How do we find out where we are?"
"How are any of us still alive?!"
*hiss*
The near-silent opening of the Shadow Border's door was followed up by the sounds of both Ritsuka and Mash dropping onto the ground.
"This place is…" At this point, they shouldn't really be surprised at the state of the world, or the very least their landing point. And yet, the sight of a destroyed town against the sun was still upsetting.
Even if they didn't know whether or not it was dusk or dawn, it was bright enough for them to take in their surroundings.
Through the heavy fog, they could easily see the large craters that riddled the streets and the decimated buildings surrounding the Shadow Border. Worse of all, several skeletons were half-buried underneath the many mounds of dirt scattered up and down the street. Wherever they were, it was clear that this town was once a battlefield.
"This is… horrible…" It wasn't as bad as how a couple of other Lostbelts had been, far from it, but that doesn't mean it was easy to look at.
"...We should look around," Ritsuka suggested. It was certainly better than standing around and staring at the ruins. "Maybe we can find out what happened here."
"Should we call the others too?" "Yeah, that would be sensible."
Elsewhere within the Lostbelt…
"Remember, while the others make their escape, you'll-"
"Yes, yes," Decade cut off his 'boss' with a wave of his hand, "You already drilled the plan into my head yesterday. You don't need to worry that much."
"I know…" His 'boss' sighed, "It's just...if this goes south then…"
"Have faith in your friends. They'll do their side of the plan while I'll do mine. They are your friends, right?"
"Hey, pinky! You down here?!" Another man, wearing combat fatigues, shouted as he stomped into the spacious room, "There you are!"
"Oh, speak of the devil," He was not referring to himself, of course, "Gorilla! Wait a minute, I'll be there soon."
"Just hurry it up, we don't have all day!" Gorilla grumbled as he turned around and headed back the way he came, "AND STOP CALLING ME THAT!"
"Yes…" A small smile appeared on their 'boss's' face, "They are my friends."
"We'll split into two teams," A couple of minutes later, the group of 4 (or 6) Servants plus their Master gathered outside the Shadow Border. Well… it should've been 4 (or 6) Servants, but one of them was unaccounted for. What happened to the 4th/6th? Well, he couldn't keep his mouth shut and was now resting up in the medical bay, nursing several wounds from the Valkyries.
"The Valkyries and I will be heading in that direction," Ritsuka said, pointing down the street, "Mash, you, Altria, and Arash should head the other way."
"Are you sure we should split up?" Mash voiced her concerns, "What if you encounter something?"
"I'll be fine," Ritsuka tried his best to ease his kouhai's worries, "Besides, the Valkyries will be with me. They can handle anything that might attack us."
"Exactly, Mash." Hildr immediately seized the chance to jump in on the conversation, "You can trust me and my sister! Now let's go, Master!"
"Woa-! Wait a min-!" "Hildr, don't run off without us." Moving quickly, the middle sister of the Valkyries grabbed her Master by his collar and dragged him away, her sisters flying after her.
"Wait!" "Mash. Let's be on our way," The Shielder tried to follow the four, only to be stopped by Arash putting his hand on her shoulder, "Master gave us a command. It is our job as Servants to follow them."
"...Alright." With that, the three went around the Shadow Border and headed off.
Elsewhere within the Lostbelt...
"Safe journey out there!" "Good luck!" "Be careful!" Several people gathered by the open gate as the jeep and truck exited the compound.
"They're really relying on you guys, huh?" Decade asked them as he laid on the backseat of the jeep.
"Of course they are," The driver of the jeep said, "If we don't return with this supply, we would-"
"I already got the gist of the situation," Decade interrupted her, "We don't get this, everybody starves. You already told me this several times."
"..." The driver frowned as she heard Decade's words, "Don't forget, I still don't trust you yet and, as long as we're on this mission, I'm the leader."
"Yeah, yeah, I got the gist of that too" As usual, Decade was being dismissive, waving his hands lazily, "I just showed up here and now am going along with you and Gorilla back there on this super-important mission. I'm surprised that you're even letting me join."
"The only reason I'm letting you come along is because Hiden trusts you, and I trust him."
"Whatever, it doesn't matter if you trust me or not. What's important is that you and Gorilla survive this."
"...and Robin and Michael."
"Yeah, those two too, I guess."
*BANG* "Hildr, be careful." Thrud advised her sister as a shelf broke as soon as the pinkette touched it.
"I am," She protested, "I was just trying to see what's under that."
After about half an hour since parting from the others, the four eventually found themselves searching through an empty house. While the two older Lancer looked around downstairs, Ortlinde and Ritsuka were upstairs looking through the rooms for clues of their own.
"Ortlinde, you found anything?" Ritsuka asked as he checked inside some drawers.
"No, sorry Master," The youngest Valkyrie apologized as she opened the closet, only to find some tattered clothes that had withered away from age, "There's nothing here."
"I see," Ritsuka sighed as he shut the drawers, "How about your sisters. Have they discovered something downstairs?"
"...No, they haven't," Ortlinde quietly said after a moment of silence, "There was nothing of use downstairs either."
"So this place is just a dead end, then," The Master sighed again, "Guess we should look around elsewhere."
"Understood, I shall inform Hildr and Thrud," Ortlinde nodded.
"Come on," Ritsuka said as he exited the room and began to make his way towards the stairs, "We shouldn't hang around here for too long." Judging from the way the floor was creaking very noisily, it was just barely handling his weight. Had it not been for Ortlinde gliding around slightly above the floor, it would have certainly collapsed earlier.
Sometime later, back in the Shadow Border...
"Alright!" Da Vinci announced triumphantly, "We've got it!"
"Good, we should contact Fujimaru and get him to return," Holmes stated, "From there, we should make our way to the capital if it is still standing of course."
"Hang on just a moment! Are we not forgetting something again?!" Once again, Goredolf was upset at the others, "I am the Director here!"
"Oh, right, how silly of me to forget that," Holmes pretended to frown, "What should we do now, Director Goredolf."
"Uh…"
"Once again, how are we still alive?!"
About 15 minutes later, the two teams regrouped back at the Shadow Border after getting a message from Da Vinci, demanding that they return.
"So you were just as successful as we were," That is, not very much, like at all.
"Sorry, Senpai," Mash apologized, "There was nothing around that was of any use."
"Don't worry about it," Ritsuka smiled at her, "It's not your fault."
Before anyone could say anything more, the doors of the Shadow Border opened, revealing a mildly displeased-looking Da Vinci, "What are you guys talking about out here? Come on, we're leaving!"
"We are? Where are we going?"
"We're in Japan. Where else would we be going?" Da Vinci stated as she turned around and headed further into her creation, "We're heading for Tokyo!"
"Alright, first off, I have to say," Hologram Da Vinci said as she looked around the Command Room of the Shadow Border, "This place looks pretty cramped."
"A little bit, yeah," Ritsuka chuckled as he took a look around himself, "But not that much."
In addition to the 5 that were usually in the cockpit (not counting Da Vinci), the 3/5 other Servants that accompanied Ritsuka had decided to hang inside there too.
"Senpai, you're enjoying yourself too much." Mash deadpanned as Ritsuka was squeezed in between the three Valkyries.
"No, I'm not," he refuted the comment with a completely straight face, "Now what did you call us for, Da Vinci? You said we were going to Tokyo, right?"
"I shall take over from here," Before the artist could say anything, Holmes jumped in and answered the question for her, "We have found out where we are."
"Really?"
"Yes," Holmes nodded, "But it isn't a place any of us recognize. Whatever the name of this town is, it doesn't exist in Proper Human History."
"There's no record of this town within Chaldea," Da Vinci said, "It's hard to tell due to the fog, but we're actually approximately kilometers away from where Tokyo would be, assuming it exists here too."
"If it does, then our best clue as to the nature of this Lostbelt might be there," Holmes told them.
"That was my plan, by the way," Goredolf suddenly joined the conversation, "All of this was my idea."
"Sure, sure."
"Don't sound so dismissive!"
"Regardless, even if Tokyo in this history is destroyed and abandoned like this town is," Da Vinci started to explain, "There should still be parts of it that would still be standing."
"And what do we do once we find what we're looking for?" Assuming that they do find out what happened in this Lostbelt.
"...I'll get back to you on that one." And just like that, Da Vinci shut off her hologram to avoid questions again.
"Meuniere, how long would it take before we reach Tokyo?" Realizing the futility of trying to get Da Vinci back, Ritsuka instead asked their driver.
"According to her calculations, about two hours. This fog is really slowing us down."
"In the meantime, Fujimaru," Holmes turned to face the Master of Chaldea, "Why don't you return to your room and rest up. All of us would certainly be busy once we reach our destination."
"Okay!" Instead of Ritsuka answering, it was Hildr who energetically responded, "Come on, Master, let's go hang in your room!"
"Wait, Hild-!" "Senpai!" "Sister!"
Sometime later, elsewhere within the Lostbelt…
"This is it?" After a couple of hours of traveling (the fog was both a blessing and a curse), the rag-tag band of survivors plus Decade arrived at their destination… which wasn't very impressive to look at.
"Just get to it already and stop complaining. Robin and Michael are already inside." Gorilla shoved Decade forward in order to goad him into doing his job, "We only have about twenty minutes before they realize that we're here."
"Carry as much as you can and take it to the truck," The leader of the group ordered him as she grabbed something from within her jacket, a large blue mechanical gun, "I'll be on lookout while you four do so."
"Fine, I've got no other choice," Decade relented and was about to head inside the warehouse, but-
"AHHH!" "ROBIN! ACK-!"
A couple of screams from within it stopped the three in their tracks.
"...Looks like they're already here." From the shadows of the warehouse, heavy footsteps echoed before someone stepped into the light.
"Two humans eliminated," The purple-and-black figure coldly stated as he stared at the three before him. In his hand was a purple-and-black, mechanical bow, dripping blood from its blades, "Three more within sight."
"You bastard! How are you here already?!" Gorilla demanded as he, too, took an identical blue gun from within his jacket.
"That information is not important," From above, a second figure dropped down and landed next to the first one. This second one was red-and-black and had an orange visor, "Now, just lie down and die."
"As if we'll listen to that," The leader of the group of humans scoffed at their words before taking out and strapping a silver belt with a black buckle around her waist and sliding her gun into it.
SHOTRISER!
"Decade, Vulcan."
"Stop ordering me around," Gori- Vulcan grumbled before strapping an identical belt around his own waist.
SHOTRISER!
Decade, meanwhile, frowned before taking out his pink belt buckle and whispered under his breath, "They said after, not before…"
"What did you say?" "Nothing."
DECADRIVER
"Silence," Irritated by the chattering of the three humans in front of him, the archer let loose an energy arrow at them. Of course, the three easily jumped out of the way of the shot.
*KABOOM*
Their jeep, however, wasn't so lucky.
"Hey!" The leader of the group angrily shouted at the archer, "That's-!"
"Valkyrie, focus!" Vulcan shouted at his leader as he took out a blue, mechanical, key card-like item from his pocket that bore the image of a wolf on it.
BULLET!
The key card announced as Vulcan pressed a button on it.
"...Fine then," Seeing as there were more important matters than her jeep now being a burning hunk of metal, Valkyrie took out an orange version of Vulcan's key card, hers having the image of a cheetah.
DASH!
Simultaneously, the two inserted their cards into their guns, although through different methods. While Valkyrie had inserted hers straight into the gun first, Vulcan had forced the key open with one hand before inserting it into his. Regardless, the gun still had the same announcement for both of them.
AUTHORISE! Kamen Rider. Kamen Rider.
"HENSHIN!"
Meanwhile, with the Shadow Border…
It took them some time, but the Chaldeans had finally reached their destination.
"...Holmes?" Ritsuka called out as he stared out the windshield along with everyone else.
"Yes, Fujimaru."
"Didn't you and Da Vinci say that humanity was nearly extinct here?"
"I did, didn't I?" Holmes had an unreadable expression on his face, "Looks like we were wrong."
The darkly colored Shadow Border stood completely at odds with its surroundings. All around them were the high-rises and busy streets of Tokyo, completely filled with people of all ages and genders. In sharp contrast to the dead town they had landed in, Tokyo was bursting with life.
Strangely, the Shadow Border seemed to be ignored as it drove down the streets.
"This feels… odd," Ritsuka noted, "Something's not right here."
"You too, Senpai?" Mash couldn't help but frown as she watched the scenery pass by (or they pass by the scene, one or the other), "There's just… This place feels wrong. We got into the city without anyone stopping us."
"It's not just you two," Oddly, it was Goredolf who said that.
"Then we are all in agreement then," Hologram Da Vinci said as she appeared within the cockpit again, "Meuniere, keep driving. Don't stop for anything."
"Got it, boss."
"What did you say?"
"I mean vice-boss."
"That's better."
After a short time driving around (again, nobody tried to stop them nor acknowledged their presence), the Chaldeans found themselves stuck at a red light as dozens of people walked across the intersection.
"...Da Vinci, are you absolutely positive that humanity is supposed to be dead here?"
"100%. Sion and I ran the calculations twice." The renaissance artist, despite saying that, was just as confused as the others.
"Then there must have been a mistake of some kind," Goredolf said. While he did agree that something was wrong, the evidence speaks for itself, "Those people outside are definitely human."
"Maybe it's like the Scandinavia Lostbelt," Meuniere suggested, "Those people may just be what remains of this Lostbelt's population."
"That is doubtful," Holmes voiced his own thoughts on the matter, "If they are the last of humanity, they are not acting like humans."
"Exactly how are you supposed to act like you're the last of humanity?"
"Let me rephrase that," Holmes tried to backtrack, "They seem to look human, but they aren't human."
"They look human to me."
"And that's where you're wrong," Holmes bluntly stated, "Fujimaru, Kyrielight, can you guess what seems different about these so-called 'last of humanity's?"
"Hmm…" The two stared intensely at the crowd that was walking across the street ahead of them. After a few seconds, they finally realized what was wrong.
"What are they wearing on their ears?" Mash wondered. As she just said, the 'humans' they were looking at had something attached on the sides of their heads, covering their ears.
Before any of them could theorize further, a loud announcement from outside interrupted them.
"Breaking news!" A news anchor(?) announced. From within the Shadow Border, none of them could see where the broadcast was coming from.
"Wha-!" "Shh!"
"To all those hearing me, I am Hiden Intelligence President Will," A different voice replaced the news anchor, "10 minutes ago, MetsuBouJinRai members Horobi and Ikazuchi engaged two humans within the district of-"
"Humans?!" "Meuniere!"
"Any and all nearby HumaGears are to assist them and help bring humanity closer to extinction."
"...What did he say?" That was a lot to take in, all within 15 seconds. HumaGears. Hiden Intelligence. MetsuBouJinRai. Humans. Extinction.
"Hey, where are they all going?!" The people… no, HumaGears, that were going about their day had immediately turned around and were all running in the same direction.
"Enough talking, Meuniere!" Hologram Da Vinci shouted, "Follow them!"
"Got it, boss!"
"What did you-"
"Not now, Goredolf!"
"Give it up already," The purple one said as he slashed Vulcan with the blades of his bow, "Victory for HumaGears is assured."
"Do you really think that I would listen to anything you say, Horobi?!" The now armored Vulcan shouted through gritted teeth, "So long as any of you live, I'll never give up!"
Nearby, while Vulcan was dealing with Horobi, similarly armored Valkyrie was fighting off Ikazuchi.
"Is that all you got, Valkyrie?" Ikazuchi taunted as he slashed all the bullets his opponent was shooting at him out of the air, "How have we not killed you or the other humans already?"
"How did you know we were coming here?" Instead of falling for the taunt, Valkyrie asked a question of her own, "None of you should've known about this."
"That's a secret," The red armored HumaGear kept his mouth shut and instead pushed and pulled the yellow lever in his belt buckle, "Now… die."
ZETSUMETSU DYSTOPIA!
Red lighting crackled around his twin swords shortly before Ikazuchi made a cross-slash, sending an energy slash at Valkyrie-
"AHH!" *KABOOM*
-and sending her flying back.
ZETSUMETSU DYSTOPIA!
The force of the blow and the resulting explosion was more than enough to cause Valkyrie's armor to disappear in a flash of light.
"Valkyrie!"
ProgriseKey confirmed. Ready to utilize SCORPION'S ability.
That brief distraction was all Horobi needed to ready his own finisher. Quickly inserting his own purple ProgriseKey into his bow, the HumaGear aimed for the distracted Vulcan and fired a purple energy arrow.
STING KABAN SHOT!
As soon as the arrow made contact with Vulcan, it split off into multiple copies and hit the human again.
STING KABAN SHOT!
"AHH!" *KABOOM*
Like Valkyrie, the finisher was enough to send Vulcan flying back and hitting the ground right next to her, armor disappearing as well.
"Is this… really how it'll end?" Valkyrie tried her best to get back up and continue fighting, only to fail.
"Damn it…" Vulcan grunted as he tried to cover the fresh new wound on his waist, "Could this get any worse?"
As it turned out, yes. It could turn a whole lot worse. And it did. It turned a whole lot worse.
Not even five seconds after he uttered those cursed words, hordes of HumaGear came out of nowhere and gathered behind Horobi and Ikazuchi.
"...why did I have to say that?"
"Then this is really the end for us." Valkyrie didn't want to believe it, but there was nothing they could do. They were too beaten up and surrounded by HumaGears. She had to face facts. Unless a giant armored vehicle could break through the horde and rescue them, they were done for.
"Now," Horobi said as he pulled back his bow again, aiming for the two humans, "Die."
"Not on our watch!" And a giant armored vehicle came from behind the hordes of HumaGear and ran over the two members of MetsuBouJinRai…
"...What?"
"Don't complain when you're being rescued!" A young girl's voice shouted at them over the speakers as the vehicle drifted to a stop right in front of them, "Now, get in!"
On the side of the vehicle, a door opened up and revealed two figures inside, one of whom was very familiar.
"Get in!" The girl of the duo shouted at them before her tough expression was replaced with one of surprise.
"C'mon, before...they get…" The boy of the duo trailed off as he stared at the two in front of him, "How…?"
"You had this thing the entire time and you didn't tell us?!" Vulcan shouted as he pushed himself back up, helping Valkyrie as he did.
Even if their faces were frozen with shock, the two in the vehicle quickly helped the others get inside.
"Shut the door!" The girl's voice shouted again, "We've gotta go!"
Quickly following the order, the boy pressed a button next to the door and closed it. As soon as it did, the vehicle immediately jolted to life and retreated, going full speed ahead.
"Now that we're relatively safe," Valkyrie started to say, "How long have you kept this from us?"
"How…?" The boy repeated again, staring at the two of them with wide eyes.
"What's wrong?" Vulcan grumbled as he put pressure on his wound, "You're looking at us like we're supposed to be dead."
"Kadoc, Ophelia?" The girl asked in a quiet voice, not believing what she was seeing.
"Yeah? And who are you? Ow!" Kadoc winced as he removed his belt.
"Do we know you?" Ophelia asked, removing her own belt, "I've never seen you around the camp before?"
"...What?" This was going to be a long day…
AD 2007: Daybreak - "Birth of the First"
A/N:... Yeah, that's right. I did that! Why did I do that? In the immortal words of Shrek - "Good question."
Now, a sensible person would go with Saber to replace characters from Fate with because, y'know, Saber. Especially with FGO characters because, y'know, Saber and Solomon. But I have a simple answer to that. Why did I go with Zero-One instead of Saber? Because I have been planning this with Zero-One since before Solomon's debut. Plus, Saber is still ongoing at the moment. Until it ends, I have no idea what sort of story would work out.
Why did I choose Kadoc and Ophelia for Vulcan and Valkyrie? ... I'm pretty sure it's obvious enough. And as for who'll be Zero-One? I was being very unsubtle about also doesn't need to make sense because remember! The stuff that Holmes does.
You can also probably, maybe, just a tiny bit realize that I used Reiwa: The First Generation as an inspiration for this Lostbelt. I'm just saying now that it won't be a direct copy and paste from the movies and the difference will be seen soon (aside from the obvious one).
Now, what else is there to talk about? Oh, right, GUDAGUDA Final Honnoji 2021 is coming soon… 7 Grails are already waiting for Kagetora. RIP my Valkyries, I'm getting a slightly more powerful Lancer. I'm not going to roll for the Nobus 'cause I'm saving up for next year's anniversary. You can never start saving up too early for SSRs.
And remember! Keep calm and blame Merlin/Decade for everything. Especially with this chapter.
What else…? Right, gimme my unearned dopamine.