Disclaimer: Three guesses as to what I'm going to say here and the first two don't count.
Hiden…
For the remaining humans left in this world, that name is either spoken out of fear or, more likely, hatred. They even removed the sign that once hung on the exterior of the warehouse. They had a good reason to. It's because that name created the HumaGears. Because Hiden Intelligence ended the world.
The people around never call me that. They don't want to remind themselves about who I really am. They don't want to remind themselves that I'm related to the man who ended the world because of his dream.
Section 3: The Name of the Game
As soon as he came out of the Shadow Border, Ritsuka saw him, the person he wanted to meet the most. He saw himself.
"Another…me?" The both of them muttered at the same time.
Ritsuka had already figured out that there was another him living within this Lostbelt, he just didn't know what to expect from the other him. Even if the Kadoc and Ophelia from this world were, for the most part, the same as the ones he knew, Ritsuka had feared that the other him would be different somehow, like a certain Master that should not be named.
Now that he was looking at him, Ritsuka could easily say that the Lostbelt version of him was nearly completely identical to himself. The only difference he could tell from a glance was just what the two of them were wearing. While he wore the black Chaldea Uniform made for the Lostbelts, the other Ritsuka was dressed in normal clothes; a simple, zipped-up brown jacket with jeans.
"Huh…" Next to him, Da Vinci was studying the Lostbelt Ritsuka's look, "Not what I expected from a post-robot apocalypse version of you."
"Hey Kadoc, Ophelia." Lostbelt Ritsuka didn't take his eyes off of them as he called out to the not-Crypters, "What happened on your mission?"
"This would best be explained in a more secluded area." Behind them, Holmes came out of the Border, "Is there somewhere we could go? Out here isn't the best place to talk."
However, as soon as Holmes tried to take another step, the sounds of guns cocking rang out all around them, "Hold it right there!"
Looking around, it was apparent that they might be in trouble, as most of the guards around were now pointing their guns at the four Chaldeans.
"Uhm… We mean you no harm?" Exactly what was the right way to explain why he looked identical to the Ritsuka that they all knew? Saying that they were from an alternate timeline and here to destroy their world would definitely not end well.
"Boss?" One of the guards called out. It only took them a second to figure out who they were asking, "What do we do?"
"Hmm…" The Lostbelt Ritsuka hummed as he kept his gaze at the Chaldeans, "Kadoc, Ophelia, can we trust them?"
"Well…" Kadoc hesitated to answer. For one brief moment, Ritsuka thought he felt his heart stop beating. The next, he could sigh in relief at Kadoc's answer, "We can shoot the white one. Ow!"
"Stop fooling around, Vulcan," Ophelia scolded him after elbowing his sides, "This is not the time for that."
"Hey, I'm dead serious here! You haven't talked to that guy yet!" Kadoc protested as he rubbed where Ophelia had hit him, "But, yeah, we can trust them."
"That I can agree with." Ophelia nodded, "They saved us from Horobi and Ikazuchi and they're Decade's friend."
"Friends is a massive overstatement," Da Vinci cut in.
"Really?" Lostbelt Ritsuka's eyes widened at the news, "Then they're… Oh… So that's why he was laughing."
"Sorry for interrupting you guys but…" Da Vinci apologized, "Can you by chance get these guys to stop aiming at us?"
"Well, if both Ophelia and Kadoc say that you guys are alright, then it should be fine." The Lostbelt Ritsuka smiled as he said that before giving a command to the guards to lower their guns, "Come on in, we got plenty of space here. This warehouse goes down pretty deep."
"Thank you, Sen- Uh…" Mash stopped herself from completing her thanks. She didn't know whether it was right to call the Lostbelt version of her Senpai that, "Ritsuka? I am-"
"Sorry, but we can get the introductions done later," Lostbelt Ritsuka apologized as he interrupted her, turning to face Kadoc and Ophelia, "Did you two manage to get some of the supplies?"
"..." "...Sorry."
"So that's a no then," A brief flicker of sadness appeared on Lostbelt Ritsuka's face, "That's…"
...He really can't stand by the sidelines, can he?
"What kind of supplies do you need?" Ritsuka blurted out, "If you need food, we have plenty to spare."
"Really?!" A smile instantly replaced the sad frown that the Lostbelt him had, "Thank you! Thank you very much!"
"It's no problem," Mash evidently agreed with his decision, "We can't abandon people who need help."
"You hear that, Meuniere?" Da Vinci asked, tapping the Shadow Border with her staff, "Help out and unload the boxes!"
"It was rather fortunate that we brought extra, wasn't it?" Holmes looked amused and happy at the same time, "Now, can we all go somewhere private?"
"Of course," The Lostbelt Ritsuka nodded, "We can talk in the satellite room." Sate-what now?
"You can go ahead without me," Ophelia told them, "I'll help unload the supplies."
"If you say so," Lostbelt Ritsuka said before turning to the Chaldeans, "Follow me."
Hiden facility, satellite room...
The way down was short, but it was depressing. On their way to the satellite room, as the Lostbelt Ritsuka had called it, the Chaldeans had to go through a floor filled with survivors. All of them wore ragged clothes and looked at them with suspicion, especially the normal Ritsuka. Regardless, they kept their distance and let them continue, mostly because it was the Lostbelt Ritsuka and Kadoc who were leading the Chaldeans.
"This is it." Lostbelt Ritsuka said as the group walked down the last flight of stairs.
When he meant satellite room, he wasn't kidding. Positioned at one end of the massive room was a large satellite hooked onto a… rocket… Huh. That was not something you see every day. Aside from that, the only thing that stood out among the grey concrete walls and floor was a covered-up sign that was left in one corner of the room. Right underneath the sign, a couple of old cushions laid alongside a worn-out blanket.
Taking a long look around, Ritsuka realized that it was the room where Decade was in in his dream. Then the person he was talking to was…
"Sorry, there's nowhere to sit," Lostbelt Ritsuka sheepishly scratched the back of his head, "I don't usually get visitors down here."
"Or visitors in general. Anyone who comes to this place doesn't ever leave," Kadoc chimed in, "Not like we have another place to go."
"Kadoc…"
"Don't worry about it, it's fine." Ritsuka forgave his other self, "Why don't we introduce ourselves first."
"Right, we should probably do that first," His other self nodded, "Well you've already met Kadoc here, and you probably know who I am."
"Actually he's-" "I am Mash Kyrielight," Kadoc was interrupted by the Shielder, who proceeded to introduce everyone else as well, "This is Da Vinci, Holmes and… you?"
"Mash, Da Vinci, Holmes and me," Lostbelt Ritsuka recited, lightly nodding along as he did, "Got it, and you're all from a parallel World, right?"
"Wait a-" "You're taking this whole situation rather well," Holmes remarked, cutting off Kadoc.
"I'm trying to-" "Decade already explained the whole thing to me," Lostbelt Ritsuka explained to the Chaldeans, "Something about 'history deviation', 'alternate timeline', and 'A.R.'"
"And you just accepted it?"
"Not immediately. It took some convincing, especially for Kadoc."
"Can we not talk about that?!" Kadoc screamed in frustration, "And I'm trying to say something here!"
"Really? I didn't notice," Both the normal and Lostbelt Ritsuka tried to look innocent, "What is it?"
"What I'm trying to say is-" "Oh yeah, where is Decade? He was with you, right?"
"..." Kadoc glared at Da Vinci, annoyance clearly written on his face, "You done?"
"Yup!"
"What I'm trying to say here is that the two of you-" Kadoc gestured to the two Ritsukas, "-are not the same."
"Really?" "We look the same to me." The two Ritsukas were now finishing each other's sentences.
"I'm not talking about your looks, idiots," Kadoc facepalmed, "I'm talking about your names."
"Our-" "-names?"
"Stop that."
"Really?" Holmes raised an eyebrow at that, looking at the Lostbelt Ritsuka, "What is your name?"
"My name…" For a couple of seconds, the other Ritsuka hesitated to answer the question. "I am…"
Realizing that his other self didn't want to answer, Ritsuka decided to go first, "But our given names are the same, right? My name's Fujimaru Ritsuka."
"Fujimaru?" The Lostbelt him tilted his head at that, before smiling, "I guess I got no choice but to tell you my name now. I am Hiden Ritsuka."
"Hiden?" Ritsuka could have sworn he's heard that name somewhere before. With how chaotic their day had been, with their arrival and meeting the other Kadoc and Ophelia, he couldn't remember where he had heard it.
Holmes, meanwhile, was staring at the alternate version of Ritsuka with suspicion. "Hiden…?" The detective mumbled under his breath.
"That makes things easier then. We can keep calling our Ritsuka 'Fujimaru' and call you 'Hiden'," Da Vinci said, "Certainly beats calling you guys 'Ritsuka A' and 'Ritsuka B'."
"Fine by me." Hiden Ritsuka nodded, smiling at them, "Just… don't call me that around the people upstairs."
"Why not?" Asked Ritsuka curiously.
"They… wouldn't like it…" His other self quietly answered, earning surprised looks from the Chaldeans.
Kadoc, meanwhile, looked irritated at what Lostbelt Ritsuka said, "Hey, are you forgetting what I and Ophelia said? They do not-"
"I know, I know," His other self sighed, "Say, Kadoc? Why don't you head up and help Ophelia out?"
"Don't go kicki-!" "Yeah, yeah, get going already. That's a direct order from me." "Hey wait!" Before Kadoc could finish talking, Hiden was already trying to push him towards the stairs.
"Er…" All the Chaldeans could do was just watch as Hiden kicked Kadoc out of his room.
"Fine!" Kadoc relented before going up the stairs, shouting at the Chaldeans as he did, "Don't do anything to him! Ophelia will have your heads if you do!"
"...What was that about?" Normal Ritsuka questioned his other self after a moment of silence.
"Don't worry about it, they're always getting on my case about that," Lostbelt Ritsuka, however, neglected to explain exactly what that was, "Anyway, why are all of you here? Were you looking for Decade or something?"
"No, we're not here for him." Mash shook her head, "We didn't even know Decade was here in the first place."
"Then you're here to destroy this world." In sharp contrast to the dark sentence he just said, the other Ritsuka had a small smile on his face, "Just like Decade."
"Yup, that's righ- wait." It took them a moment to realize what Hiden had just said, "Hang on! Just how much did Pinky tell you?!"
"He was all like ahem-" Hiden cleared his throat before continuing to speak in a deeper tone in an attempt to imitate Decade, "'Hiden Ritsuka, I will destroy this world before you can achieve your dream. So tell me, do you think you can stop me?' and then he stuck around and helped us. He was sending some really mixed messages."
"…what?!"
Meanwhile, elsewhere…
In a certain city, in the basement of a certain building, a certain four were discussing amongst themselves about what had happened that day.
"What's taking so long?! Why aren't we going there already?!" Well… it was actually just two of them and they were actually mostly arguing.
"Calm down, Ikazuchi. You're not supposed to move while you're being repaired." The one in the long coat reminded the first man, "We'll leave as soon as we can."
"That's easy for you to say, Naki. You were not the one who was run over!"
"That's not an excuse. Horobi isn't complaining, is he?" Naki pointed to the third member of their group, who was quietly standing in a corner and watching his allies argue, having had his body repaired already.
"Horobi doesn't complain about anything so long as it's the Ark's will," Ikazuchi argued, "But I doubt that the Ark would want us to be roadkill."
"That reminds me," Horobi said, breaking his silence, "Naki, where were you? The Ark ordered us to gather and ambush Valkyrie and Vulcan."
"I was busy," Naki answered bluntly with a completely straight face, "I had to do my monthly maintenance of the building's security network. Don't forget, I still have a job to do."
"Now that's no excuse," Ikazuchi retorted, turning Naki's earlier words against them, "My job requires me to be in space half the time and yet I'm here, aren't I?"
"You're currently on paid leave."
"Well… yes, but-!"
"Why are you getting on my case specifically? Jin doesn't work but he didn't come to help." Naki turned to glance at the final member of MetsuBouJinRai, who had been paying attention to something else entirely.
"Hahahahaha!" Oblivious to the fact that his teammates' were all currently staring at him, Jin continued to laugh hysterically at the joke from the TV, "Ah… That'll always be funny…"
"Jin," Horobi called out to him, getting the HumaGears attention.
"Hmm? What is it, Horobi?"
"Where were you earlier?"
"Me?" Jin pointed to himself in confusion, "I was… Oh, right! I was watching Fukkinhoukai Taro at the amusement park on the other side of town!"
"..." "..." "..."
"What?"
Back at the camp, outside the Shadow Border…
"Here, this is the last one," Meuniere said as he passed the last box of food to Ophelia, who in turn passed it over to one of the nearby guards who was helping them, "Sorry, but that was as much as we could spare."
"Don't worry about it, this should be enough to last us a few days." Although Ophelia did have to wonder, why did they just so happen to have enough food to feed a small army?
"If that's all, I need to head back to the front." With his task now done, Meuniere shut the door of the Shadow Border, leaving Ophelia to ponder on that mystery by herself.
"Well… no use thinking about it now, I have to help get the defenses ready," She mumbled to herself before turning around and was about to head back into the building, only to see Kadoc come out of it, "What are you doing out here?"
"Ritsuka- Our Ritsuka kicked me out," The gray-haired man grumbled, "He wanted me to help you out, but I can see you're already done."
"What did you say this time, Vulcan?"
"I didn't say anything!" He protested, "And we're off-duty, you don't need to call me that right now."
"We're never off-duty, but I get your point," said Ophelia, "What are they talking about down there, Kadoc?"
"They were just introducing themselves when Ritsuka got all moppy about his name again." Kadoc frowned, "Tried to get him out of it and he told me to go upstairs."
"Again?" Ophelia asked incredulously before sighing in frustration, "Just… leave him be for now, I'll talk to him later. Now, we better get ready, they'll be on their way soon."
"Before that, there's something that's been bothering me," Kadoc said, "Do you have any idea how Horobi and Ikazuchi were there before us?"
"That's been bothering me too…" She replied before shaking her head, "But no, I don't have any idea either. The only ones who knew where the supplies were were you, me, and Ritsuka."
"And you're sure that pink guy didn't know?"
"...Kadoc?" Ophelia narrowed her eyes at him, speaking quietly enough so that no one would overhear them, "Exactly what are you implying here?"
"I'm just saying, he's a wild card. We can't exactly trust him, especially not after what he did when he first came here," Kadoc explained himself, just as quietly as Ophelia.
"But why would a human help HumaGears?"
"It's not completely out there. The only other option is that they were the one who sold us out."
"First, you're being paranoid. Second, why would they do that now?"
"Why wouldn't they throw us under the bus?" Kadoc grumbled, obviously not thinking highly of whoever 'they' are.
"Stop talking about them like that, they've been helping us out for years now," She scolded him, "If they didn't come to us when they did, then we, especially you, wouldn't be standing here right now."
"Then I'm just being paranoid," Kadoc admitted, "But if he comes back, we need to keep an eye on him."
"Right, if he comes back." Ophelia emphasized a specific part of Kadoc's sentence, "We're not sure if he's still alive or not."
"Captain! Someone's approaching the gate!" The on-duty lookout interrupted Kadoc and Ophelia's argument.
"That better be who I think that is…"
Basement…
"He outright told you that he wants to destroy this world?"
"Yup." Lostbelt Ritsuka nodded.
"And you still let him stick around?!"
"Yup." He nodded again.
"...Well, at least you're as trusting as Fujimaru." Da Vinci sighed.
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Said Master felt offended at the Rider's remark.
"Decade chased you around Chaldea trying to kill you and you still let him stay! How's that any different than with him?" She pointed out.
"How is that any different than some of the others?!" Ritsuka argued.
"Da Vinci does have a point, Senpai…"
"Mash, I thought you'd take my side!"
"Sorry, Senpai."
"Let's not get distracted here." Holmes snapped his fingers to get their attention, "Hiden, I have several questions for you."
"Go ahead," Lostbelt Ritsuka replied, "I'll try answering as best as I can."
"First, may I ask what our mutual acquaintance had been up to here? Other than threatening to destroy this world, that is."
"Well, he took over some duties around the camp, helps Kadoc and Ophelia fight off the HumaGears when they attack," Hiden listed off, "And today, he accompanied them on their mission."
"See? He's not that bad." Ritsuka said.
"Though he likes to pick fights with Kadoc and Ophelia, especially Kadoc." Hiden sighed, "Not a day goes by without one of them trying to throttle him."
"Now why does that sound familiar, Fujimaru?"
"You're not helping either of our cases here, me!" Ritsuka exclaimed.
"Sorry, me." Hiden bowed his head slightly as he apologized, causing Da Vinci to sigh.
"You two are taking this whole 'alternate versions of one another' way too easily."
"Really?" The two asked in unison, unintentionally proving the artist's point.
"We're getting off-topic again," Holmes interjected.
"Sorry."
"Stop that."
"My second question; what exactly is a HumaGear?" Holmes asked Hiden, "From the name, I assume they're machines."
"That's right." Lostbelt Ritsuka nodded, "HumaGears are A.I. androids that were created to help humanity over a decade ago. You can see how well that turned out…"
"Third question; who are these Horobi and Ikazuchi that we keep hearing about? They're HumaGears, correct?"
"Yes, they are members of MetsuBouJinRai," Hiden answered, "They're the strongest HumaGears there are and it's mostly thanks to them that HumaGears were able to take over the Earth."
"So basically," Da Vinci started to say, "What you're trying to say is between MetsuBouJinRai and all the HumaGears in the world, MetsuBouJinRai is stronger?"
"The entire world? No, of course not. But one member of MetsuBouJinRai is powerful enough to single-handedly destroy this camp."
"I don't want to sound rude or anything but if they are as strong as you say they are, how is camp still standing?" Da Vinci (hesitatingly) asked.
"Because Kadoc and Ophelia are here and the Ark has only ever sent, at most, two members at the same time. It believes that we would starve to death first and doesn't want to waste too many resources on us." Hiden answered, unfeathered by Da Vinci's question, "If all four of them ever attack together, then we're all dead."
"Hmm…" To Holmes, there were two important clues he could take from Hiden's answer; that Kadoc and Ophelia were vital to the survival of the camp, and something or someone called the Ark was leading MetsuBouJinRai.
"Is there anything else you want to-?" "Hey, wait!" "Get back here!" Before Hiden could finish his question, loud shouts coming from upstairs disrupted the discussion and caught everyone's attention.
"Hey, Hiden," A familiar, pink-camera-carrying Servant in a soldier's uniform called out as he came down the flight of stairs, followed closely by an infuriated-looking Kadoc and Ophelia, "I'm done with your little errand."
"Decade?!" Ritsuka exclaimed at the sudden appearance of his newest Servant. Of course, he knew that the Rider was around but he wasn't expecting to see him so soon.
On the other hand, Lostbelt Ritsuka wasn't at all surprised at the Servant's entrance. "You're done? Good, hold onto it first," he instructed Decade while glancing at the two that were following him.
"If you say so," Decade said, looking aloof as always and seemingly not noticing that there were four others with his current employer, "Anyway if you need me, I need to take care of some other business."
"Wait, Decade!" Ritsuka shouted, catching his Servant's attention and stopping the latter from leaving.
"Hmm? Oh, Master, it's good to see you." Although, Decade didn't sound like he
"Oh, it's good to see you too, Decade," The Master of Chaldea replied with a smile, "Hey, wait, that's not what I meant to say!"
"Then what did you mean to say?"
"You didn't notice that we were here?!"
"No, I did notice, I just didn't care."
"...Do you ever wonder why people don't like you?"
"Nope."
With MetsuBouJinRai…
"At any rate, we should be preparing ourselves for a counterattack on the human camp," Horobi ordered his allies once their 'discussion' was over.
"So who's the Ark choosing to go this time?" Ikazuchi asked, now fully repaired and raring to go.
"Wait. It's still calculating…" A deafening silence fell in the room as the four members of MetsuBouJinRai patiently waited for their orders, the light on their headgear glowing red briefly.
"..." "..." "..." "..."
Finally, after a couple of minutes, the four HumaGears' headgear glowed red again.
"...We understand. By the will of the Ark," The four said in unison.
"So then…" Ikazuchi had his question answered, "All four of us are going."
A/N: And done with C11. Whatcha think? Good? Bad? Somewhere in the middle?
Anyway, REJOICE! The 4th anniversary of FGO NA is coming soon and we'll be getting a whole lot of content for it. New Servants including Rider Da Vinci, a whole lot of SQ for the Castoria/Morgan funds, and I'm pretty sure that the Summon system is getting an important improvement. The last part's what I heard from the FGO subreddit, anyway. If it is, then good!
In Rider news, we just got a huge lore dump for Saber and Desast transform in Falchion. That's cool. What's not cool is that it looks like he'll be going the way of Ankh… Also, another trailer for Super Hero Senki, and boy does it look… Okayish, I guess. Got nothing much else to say about that for now.
And finally, as usual, please leave a review.
EDIT ON 14/7/21: First off, sorry for the slow update but I have a good reason for that but I've got some good news! Finally bought a new charger and I now can use my laptop to continue writing the last part of C12. Most of the chapter is already done, I just need to add the main event (you know what it is). As for why it's been taking me more than two weeks, blame F/GO half-AP for Chaldea Gate Quests and now there's the ServantFes Event that'll also be taking more time in my already busy schedule. Forgive me for that. However, you can expect C12 this week (around 18th July) and if it doesn't get uploaded, you have my full permission to blow up my inbox.