Chapter 8: The Calm Before the Storm
Disclaimer: I don't own either of the franchises. All characters belong to either Type-Moon or Marvel.
TureVirtose: Correct me if I'm wrong okay. From what I understand the root is basically what created the nasuverse and it's where everything in the nasuverse will eventually return to. Since the root is the source of creation, then Oblivion is its opposite because he is the embodiment of nonexistence.
TigerWarrior1998: Please don't worry about it. As I said before I'm new when it comes to writing stories and any feedback would help. So hopefully I did a better job in this chapter in showing the characters' reactions. Also thanks for giving me some suggestions of where I can put the punisher in.
Axel36402: They will eventually.
Spiderwich2211: Sorry I already have plans to put the hulk in a different singularity, but I do promise that he will be fighting a berserker. Now about your thoughts on the spider-sense I agree that it would be a big help against servants especially against the assassins. But remember just because the spider-sense could detect someone doesn't mean that Spider-Man can always be fast enough to dodge them. Lastly if Marvel characters die then they will stay dead. After all they aren't a part of the nasuverse so there is no reason for them to be recorded into the throne of heroes.
Sakre95: It's one I made up.
Jose4Andres7: Well, that's the strange part. While we did see old man Captain America and Superior Iron Man seemingly die fighting each other before battle world. We would still see Iron Man in battle world. There was a tie in comic called Ultimate End where the main 616 and Ultimate universes were put in the same place in battle world. In Ultimate End we would see Iron Man alive and well, but it looks like he was reverted back to how he was before Superior Iron Man. This doesn't mean that Iron man won't show up in my story, but I don't know if I'll use Superior Iron Man. Also, congrats you guested where I was going to put Ghost Rider in my story. But he won't be king of hell. Normal Ghost Rider is already very power and using the king of hell version is just unfair. I don't want the marvel character to be too powerful and overshadow the fate characters.
Now with all the questions out of the way let's get to the story.
For the next couple days after their meeting with Uatu, our heroes would spend most of their time working with Chaldea's other surviving members to either help repair Chaldea or prepare for the upcoming singularities. Occasionally they would all get together to check on one another but of course Da Vinci would use every chance she had to ask Dr. Strange questions about his world.
Then one day, Ritsuka was ordered to go into a room where he would find Dr. Strange and Mash but surprisingly enough, he also saw Dr. Romani and Da Vinci as well. Seeing the latter two surprised Ritsuka because they were supposed to be in charge of taking care of preparations and repairs for Chaldea. But instead, he saw both of them chatting with Dr. Strange. Then as Ritsuka entered the room, Dr. Romani would notice him.
"Ritsuka you're finally here." Dr. Romani said with his usual smile.
"Sorry it took me so long, but why do you need me and why are you and Da Vinci here? Aren't you two busy?" Ritsuka questions.
"Well not too long ago, Dr. Strange came to me and said that we should prepare you for Oblivion. So, he asked me if he could teach you everything he knew about the cosmic entities and of course I approved it." Dr. Romani explained before taking a quick look at Da Vinci. "But of course, when Da Vinci heard about this, she insisted that she come too, and I thought that I should come as well."
At the mention of Oblivion, Ritsuka felt a bit uneasy. Ever since he first talked with Oblivion and later finding out what he was, Ritsuka felt as if he was constantly being watched. But Ritsuka had always put his worries behind him and focused on the work he had to do in Chaldea.
"Fujimaru, are you okay?" Dr. Romani asked.
When asked this Ritsuka snapped out of his train of thoughts and quickly replied. "Y-yeah, I'm fine."
But this wasn't something that Dr. Romani believed. He knew that being the last master of Chaldea and being a target for a dangerous entity was having its effects on the young man. Dr. Romani wanted to talk to Ritsuka but before he could, Dr. Strange interrupted.
"Are the two of you ready?" Dr. Strange asks.
"we're ready?" Ritsuka quickly replied.
"Then let's begin." Dr. Strange said as he made his way into the room and gathered everyone's attention. Then with the use of his magic, he created an image of a universe. "My universe was formed from the destruction of a dying universe known as the 6th cosmos. As the 6th cosmos came to an end, all that was left was a single point of energy and mass. Over time that point would grow until it could no longer contain itself and exploded outward into the big bang that would give birth to the 7th cosmos."
The members of Chaldea watched in amassment, as a new universe was born. Then they watch Dr. Strange project an image of two humanoid figures. When Ritsuka, Dr. Romani, Mash and Da Vinci took a look at one of the figures, they couldn't help but be in awe. Across this entities' body were stars, planets, and even entire galaxies. Then as they looked at the other figure, who wore a black cloak that wrapped around their entire body, but besides that nothing about it seemed out of the ordinary. This was until they all saw its face. While half of this entity's face was that of a beautiful woman, the other half appeared as nothing more but a lifeless skeleton. The group were very curious about these two entities but patiently waited for Dr. Strange to continue. "Shortly after the birth of the 7th cosmos, the cosmic entities would emerge as the first form of life and as Uatu had said before they embodied different aspects of the universe. Such as Eternity, a being who embodies the universe and everything that exist within it. As well as Mistress Death, a being who embodies the end of all life and is the opposing force to Eternity. Those two alongside many different cosmic entities would go on to form the cosmic order that maintains the universe and this system would be copied throughout every universe within the multiverse.
Soon after this explanation Dr. Strange projected even more images of many different figures. As Ritsuka and the others saw what appeared to be more cosmic entities, each of them found themselves taking interest in certain entities. For instance Dr. Romani was having a look at a man wearing a unique purple armor and found him interesting. Mash on the other hand couldn't help but stare at what was a phoenix and she seemed mesmerized by it.
Da Vinci however didn't look at a particular entity but was looking at a group of them. This group of cosmic entities were all different in color and seemed as if they were machines which differed from the other cosmic entities that resemble a type of organic life form. Da Vinci was very intrigued with these cosmic entities and wondered what their role was in the universe.
Finally, there was Ritsuka, who was looking at a dark figure in a purple cloak. Despite not knowing how Oblivion looked, somehow Ritsuka could tell that this was him.
Then suddenly in a flash of light Dr. Strange created an image of a golden titan. "But to ensure that the cosmic order was maintained a being known as the Living Tribunal came into existence to safeguard the multiverse. The Living Tribunal held the power and authority to pass judgment upon anyone, including the other cosmic entities. Its judgment could affect anything from a single individual to an entire universe."
As Dr. Strange came to a stop, Da Vinci carefully took in everything she learned. "You know, the more I learn about the cosmic entities, the more I start to see similarities between them and the counter force."
When hearing this Dr. Romani decided to add to what Da Vinci had said. "Now that you mention it, the cosmic entities, and the roles that they play, do sound similar to Gaia and Alaya. Despite the cosmic entities being on a much larger scale, all of them are personifications of the world that we live in and work to maintain it."
"Gaia and Alaya?" Questioned Dr. Strange.
"Sorry Dr. Strange, you must be a bit confused. While I'm sure that your universe possesses its own version of Gaia, it must not have an Alaya. In our universe, Gaia is the will of the Earth, and it prioritizes the survival of the Earth above all else. On the other hand, Alaya is the collective unconscious of mankind, and it works to ensure the survival of the human race." Da Vinci explains.
"I see. From what the both of you have told me, they do sound similar to the cosmic entities." Dr. Strange replied while being intrigued with what he had learned.
But before things could get too off topic Da Vinci decided to shift the topic to a certain entity. "Okay now, let's talk about Oblivion. Dr. Strange how powerful are individuals that are empowered by Oblivion."
When asked this Dr. Strange took a moment to think about the question before speaking. "As far as I know there have only been three none instances of aspects or avatars of Oblivion that emerged and tried to destroy my universe."
"The first time was near the beginning of the universe, where the cosmic entities known as the Celestials started their exploration across the universe." Dr. Strange said as he showed the image of the different color entities that Da Vinci was looking at. "However, on their journey across the universe, the Celestials encounter something from the darkness. Fortunately, they were able to defeat it, but not before it was able to sever the head of one of the Celestials. A feat that should have been nearly impossible to do."
Next Dr. Strange projected an image of two men fighting against one another. One was shining gold and the other was covered in darkness. "Another instance was when a conflict started between Oblivion and his sister Infinite. While they didn't personally take part in a battle, the two of them empowered avatars to do battle for them. As the two avatars fought their power sent ripples across the universe and their battle would decide the fate of the universe."
"Finally, the last and most devastating of all was the emergence of Amatsu Mikaboshi the Chaos King." Dr. Strange said while showing Rituska and the others a terrifying black monster that had spikes protruding from its body. "The Chaos King went on a rampage across the universe and took many lives of both mortals and gods."
When hearing this Dr. Romani couldn't hide his surprise. "Wait what!? Dr. Strange when you said that the Chaos King took the lives of gods. D-do you mean the various gods from Geek, Norse, and Egyptian mythology?"
"That is exactly what I'm saying, Dr. Romani. But it wasn't just the gods of Earth but every god from every pantheon across the universe was endanger" Dr. Strange answered. "The Chaos King effortlessly killed gods similar to Zeus and Ares. Not even the dead were safe from him as the Chaos King didn't just kill his enemies, but also absorb their power and resurrect them to make the dead part of his ever-growing army. In the end the Chaos King became so powerful that no one was able to overpower him and all we could do was seal him away."
With everything that Ritsuka, Dr. Romani, Mash and Da Vinci were learning about the Chaos King. He sounded invisible and this cause Chaldea's members to wonder how did Dr. Strange and his allies manage to survive against this monster and could they have done any better. But than the demi-servant had a thought.
"Dr. Strange, why didn't the cosmic entities step in? Couldn't the Living Tribunal or Eternity stop him?" ask Mash
When Mash asked this, the others would start to wonder the same thing to which Dr. Strange would do his best to answer. "The Chaos King was an aspect of the darkness that existed before existence and that made him the void that help define Eternity. So, if Eternity tried to fight the Chaos King, he would be fighting himself. Thus, Eternity was powerless against the Chaos King. The Living Tribunal on the other hand could have stopped him but for some reason, it didn't stepped in. I suspect that this is because the Chaos King didn't disrupt the cosmic order and simply fulfilled his role in the universe as an aspect of Oblivion. Even if that role meant the death of the other cosmic entities. After all natural selection is one of the oldest rules of the universe."
"But just because they didn't step in, doesn't mean that the others didn't as well." Dr. Strange said while showing the image of the man in purple armor that Dr. Romani had looked at earlier. "For Galactus, wielder of the power of cosmic and one of the universe's most powerful beings was summoned to help fight the Chaos King. He played a key role in sealing the Chaos King. But even with the help of Galactus, we nearly lost."
As Dr. Strange came to the end of his explanation, Ritsuka, Dr. Romani, Mash and Da Vinci weren't left with much confidence. After all, if gods and even cosmic entities could barely hold their own against aspects and avatars of Oblivion then what chance do they have.
Dr. Romani words best describe how everyone felt about this situation "If Ritsuka were to ever fall to Oblivion and became his avatar then there would be nothing that could stop him. The mage association, the counter force, and even the root could all be destroyed."
When hearing this Da Vinci would add her own thoughts. "I don't think that's our only problem. What if Oblivion decided not to just watch anymore? If everything we had just learned was about different individuals having just a small fraction of his power. Then I can't even begin to imagine how powerful Oblivion himself is."
The thought of Oblivion attacking their world scared Ritssuka and the others. Because just as Da Vinci had said, Oblivion could at any time attack their world and there would be nothing they could do about it. But before they could think too much on that idea, Dr. Strange surprised them all.
"This doesn't mean it's the end!" Dr. Strange suddenly blurted out. "Don't make the same mistake I made in giving into despair. Not when you've been given a chance to save your world."
"You know what, I think that's enough for today. How about we stop and continue on another day." Da Vinci suddenly said.
"Yes, let's continue this on another day." Dr. Strange agreed before processing to leave the room.
But as Dr. Strange was leaving the room, Mash and Ritsuka could help but worry about him. Especially with the expression they saw him making. Then as Dr. Strange was finally out of the room Mash decided to voice her concerns. "Is Dr. Strange going to be alright?"
"I don't know. I'm sure that his sudden outburst had something to do with his universe, but I wouldn't even be able to imagine what he's going through right now. All we can do is give him time." Dr. Romani answered with uncertainty.
Soon everyone else would leave the room and head off to different parts of Chaldea to do their duties.
Later that night when everyone was asleep in their rooms, Olga Marie would come out of her personal quarters and wander the quiet halls of Chaldea. As she walked through the halls, she remained silent as she entered the room that contained the other masters within their cryopods. For a moment she did nothing but stared at them with eyes full of regret and frustration. Then she left the room and continued to roam Chaldea.
As Olga walked through the hall she would pass by the cafeteria and saw that someone was inside. Curious of who it was, Olga decides to take a closer look and sees that it was none other than Dr. Strange, who was drinking some tea while reading a book. Olga was going to leave him alone but as she was preparing to leave, Fou suddenly ran into the cafeteria and startled her.
This was enough to gain the attention of the sorcerer supreme as he turned to find the source of the noise. Olga could only glare at the little creature as it ran up to Dr. Strange, while she also tried to hide her embarrassment. As she regains her composure Olga would soon see Dr. Strange offering her a cup of tea and since she was spotted, Olga didn't have any reason to decline it. So she went towards the table that he was sitting at and took a seat across from him. She then accepted a cup of tea from the doctor and for a while the two of them simply enjoyed their tea in silence.
It wasn't until Dr. Strange decided to speak, that the silence was finally broken. "Do you mind telling me what you're doing up so late?"
"I can ask you the same thing." Olga countered.
"Well, I needed to clear my mind, so I thought that a cup of tea would help and along the way, Fou was kind enough to join me." Dr. Strange replied before handing Fou a snack.
Olga only seemed to question Dr. Strange even further. "Why would Fou want to join you, for some tea?"
"Fou is much more complicated than you may think he is." Dr. Strange replied.
As Dr. Strange answered her, he, and Olga both fell back into silence as the director contemplated on whether she should answer or not.
Then after a while she decided to speak up. "I just couldn't sleep and thought that I needed to get out of my room."
But Dr. Strange didn't believe this when he heard her. He could tell that there was more to her problem than she was letting on and decided to address his concerns. "I can tell that not being able to sleep isn't your only problem. If you want to talk about it, then I'm willing to listen."
As Olga heard this, she wanted to tell him that it wasn't his business. But for some reason she couldn't help but trust him. Maybe this was because of their new connection to one another and despite not wanting to make the same mistake she made with Lev, she decided to talk to him. "This is all my fault. If I had only saw through Lev than I could have stopped the bombs and saved the other masters."
"This was not your fault. Don't blame yourself for what happened to Chaldea. He took advantage of you when you were most vulnerable and manipulated not just you, but everyone else as well. Not even Dr. Romani saw through his deceit." Dr. Strange assured her.
"IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME." Olga shouted as tears started forming around her eyes. "I haven't been able to accomplish anything worth noting. So, I should have been the one that was hurt, not the master candidates."
"I was able to read through your files and I saw that you were able to accomplish much in your life. So why do you keep saying that it's not worth noting?" Dr. Strange asks with a bit of confusion.
"You're wrong. I was only able to accomplish those things because I had the help of Lev and my father. Without them and the Animusphere name, I'm nothing." Olga argued.
After Olga had spoken, she couldn't look at Dr. Strange and kept staring at her cup of tea. Then as it looked like she was about to leave, Dr. Strange suddenly slammed his cup onto the table with enough force that it startled both Fou and Olga. Shock at this Olga finally found the courage to look up at Dr. Strange but when she saw him, he was giving her a serious look.
"What you accomplished in your life wasn't because of a family name nor was it solely because someone helped you to achieve it. It was because you chose to do it and you put all your efforts into earning it. So don't let anyone tell you otherwise." Dr. Strange sternly told her.
When hearing this Olga wanted to argue but she just couldn't hold back her tears anymore and started crying. As Dr. Strange saw this he used his magic to create a small bubble around them, so that no one could hear them and allowed Olga to cry for as long as she needed too. For a few minutes Olga just cried and when she finished and was given time to collect herself Dr. Strange placed his hand on her head and spoke to her in a soft tone. "You should be proud of all the things that you have managed to accomplish in your life. So please don't think of yourself less than anyone else and remember there are still others that will need you to help get them through all this. Now how about we finish are tea before we call it a night."
When hearing his words Olga couldn't help but feel as if she were talking to her father and silently agreed to his proposal. For the next thirty minutes Dr. Strange, Fou, and Olga would try to enjoy their tea in peace before heading off to their individual rooms.
A few days after that night Chaldea had detected another singularity and was ready to perform another rayshift. But before rayshifting, Da Vinci alongside Chaldea's other members were able to get the summoning system operational again. So, they planned to perform their first summons. To do this, Ritsuka, Fou, Dr. Strange, and Mash were taken within a room where they stood in front of a summoning circle.
"Okay, listen up, Ritsuka, we're going to do our first summons. But right now, we only have enough energy to do four and because of the explosions we're still trying to dig out all our catalysts, so they will be random. Now, are you ready?" Da Vinci asks, while standing in a separate room with Dr. Romani and some other people.
"Yeah, I'm ready." Ritsuka replied. "But is Dr. Strange going to summon a servant too?"
"Well, we theorize that he could summon a servant, but we thought that it was best for him not to summon one. After all Dr. Strange will be fighting in battles too and a servant could drain too much of his mana for him to perform some of his spells. But we ask him to come here with you just in case a servant decides to cause a problem." Dr. Romani explained.
With that explanation out of the way they proceeded with the summoning as the summoning circle came to life and several orbs of light appeared. The orbs than started to spin around until they came together in a flash of light.
As the light dyed down there stood the familiar figure of Cu Chulainn. But he was different compared to how he was in singularity f. Now instead of looking like a mage, he wore a blue skin tight suit that had bits of armor on it and instead of a wooden staff, he had a crimson spear. Then as he opened his eyes, he seemed confused until he saw Ritsuka and went over to greet him. "So, you're my master. I'm servant Lancer Cu Chulainn, nice to meet you master."
When Ritsuka was about to introduce himself another flash of light suddenly happened and in the summoning circle stood someone new. She had black hair and held a katana near her waist, but she wore almost no clothes beside bits of armor that covered her more private parts. When seeing this Ritsuka blushed at the sight of the servant and found himself staring at her longer than he intended too. This would in turn cause Mash to instantly cover his eyes. But when the servant locked eyes with Cu Chulainn, they both suddenly took a stance and seemed ready to attack each other. Fortunately, before they could do anything, both servants were suddenly trapped in a crimson band.
Later they would both be informed of the situation before being freed and the new servant would introduce herself. "I'm servant Rider, but my true name is Ushiwakamaru. My lord, I'm so sorry about how I acted earlier."
"No, its fine. Just try not to do it again." Ritsuka said as he tried not to directly stare at Ushiwakamaru.
With that out of the way they went back to summoning and the next one to appear was a man with bright orange hair in a green outfit. Ritsuka would go up to him and explain everything.
"So that's what's going on. Well, it's nice to meet you master. I'm known as Robin Hood, but you can call me Archer." The now named Robin Hood said.
Finally, they made it to their last summon and as the summoning process finished, there stood a girl. Like Ushiwakamaru she held a katana near her waist. But fortunately, this servant had a full set of clothing. She wore black leggings along with a white outfit underneath a blue haori. She had blond hair and pale-yellow eyes. Then moments after being summoned she would take a look at her surroundings and tense up when she saw the other servants, but Ritsuka quickly resolved this.
"So that's why other servants are here." The servant said as she then went to introduce herself. "Well regardless of the situation, let me introduce myself master. I'm the first unit captain of the Shinsengumi, Okita Souji! But you can call me Saber if you want too."
Now with all the servants summoned the team was directed to the room where they would prepare to rayshift. But along the way there, the new servants kept staring at Dr. Strange. They knew he was human, but he felt different from everyone else. But because of the situation, they chose to keep their thoughts to themselves as they entered a room and met Dr. Romani.
"Alright everyone, listen up. You're all about to enter a singularity. While in a singularity your first objection is to investigate and correct the singularity. Remember the singularities take place within a critical turning point of humanity in that era. If it weren't for those pivotal events in human history, we could never have come as far as we have. So, all of you must travel to that era, find the problem, and then correct it. Otherwise, 2019 will never come and humanity will be extinct in 2018.' Dr. Romani announced.
"Your second objection is to investigate the Holy Grail. It's safe to say that after everything we saw in singularity f, that the singularities must have some connection to the Holy Grail. The Holy Grail is a vessel that contains a tremendous amount of magical energy and if used correctly it could even allow for time travel. This is further supported with how we saw Lev used it in singularity f. So, you all need to either secure or destroy the Holy Grail". Added Dr. Romani.
Before continuing Dr. Romani took a moment to check the team and make sure they understood their mission. "Is everything about the objectives clear so far?"
"Yes sir." Both Mash and Ritsuka said while the servants just nodded.
"Good, now before you all get going, there are two other things I need to tell all of you. First of all, when all of you get into the singularity, I want you guys to find a leyline and make a summoning circle. This will ensure that we'll be able to transport supplies to your team if you ever need it and if possible, summon another servant." Dr. Romani said to the team. "Lastly, I want you all to be careful. When our scanners found the singularity, we also picked up some strange energy readings from it? Dr. Strange with all the things that we now know than this most likely means that someone from your universe has landed in the singularity."
As the briefing was about to finish, Ritsuka decided to ask a question. "Dr. Romani is Dr. Strange compatible with rayshifting?"
"We already checked, and it turns out he's not compatible. But luckily for us, Dr. Strange can open a portal to the singularity himself and before you ask that doesn't mean that we're going to stop rayshifting. Because if anything goes wrong, and you didn't rayshift then we won't be able to pull you out." Dr. Romani answered.
"Alright that's the end of the briefing, now go get ready for rayshifting." Dr. Romani said as everyone else started readying themselves.
Then moments later Ritsuka and his servants would be transported into the singularity while Dr. Strange followed behind them.
A/N: Thanks for reading my story and if anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask.
