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The following is a fan-based

FICTION

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Chapter 14: Plan, Kidnap and Worm

Zelretch is an utter bastard.

Ruby, just like her sister, was an immensely powerful Mystic Code. There was no hesitation in my thoughts to confirm that, if she had been given a proper owner, she would have done some impressive work around the world.

Rin was naive, mostly materialistic, and terribly narrow-minded over the complicated thing known as Kaleidoscope. If Hollow Ataraxia wasn't the 'dream' sequel of one of the original Routes, then I can happily say that the girl did mess up big time by willingly ignoring the Kaleidostick during the Fifth Holy Grail War.

An easy win denied by the idiocy of the Tohsaka heiress.

And while I could see why she would be deterred from making use of Ruby's potential, as the Mystic Code was proving to be as annoying as her Prillya's version was during the walk back home AND the hours that preceded the usual nightly rest, I couldn't exactly fault the stick until a certain degree.

Boredom is terrible for mortals, but it is even worse to those that don't have an expiration date. Couple that with whatever trash Rin had left in her 'pseudo-interdimensional' chest and I could see the giddy Kaleidostick driving herself deep in the world of magical girls and… super sentai.

Actually, I was quite confused by the whole fact that the twin-tailed tsundere somehow ended up having magazines about the topic, possibly something pushed subconsciously by Kirei's tutoring years before the Grail War.

Then I decided to not delve further in the madness, the growing headache that persisted even when I went to sleep being more than enough to keep me from going too deep about the lore behind Ruby and Sapphire.

Yet, by ignoring the 'theories' around the overly-childish kaleidostick, I was also forced to deal with the brutal reality that limited me in the usage of such a powerful instrument of cuteness and doom.

While Ruby is capable of perfectly grasp the nature of the Kaleidoscope, to actually make use of its power while being fueled by dimensional energy itself, in my hands she was incredibly restrained by a very crucial requirement the show never lingered much.

The use of the Mystic Code… required the user to have decent Magic Circuits.

I could make use of Magecraft to a minor degree, but going too far could easily compromise my whole being. The Crest Worms that offered me the chance of dabbling in small-scale experiments were similar to Kariya's, the ones that my 'uncle' used to become the Master of Berserker.

While those offered some functional circuits, the ill-usage/over-usage of those forced the worms to feast upon their host's lifeforce and… would cause a quick decay of the body.

Something I had been incredibly paranoid about, being quite careful to not jump in action with the Card Installations as I worried about a continued drain from the transformation that could have seen me death. Paranoia was legitimate in that case, not rightfully as I found out that the Card didn't drain too fast from the fake circuits, but in this predicament the fear was confirmed by the Zwei Form.

Illya, Miyu, Chibi-Luvia, her older version, and Rin were capable of sustaining their 'Magical Girls' forms because they had an absurd amount of good-to-high quality Circuits in their bodies. I knew that if I even went in some 'form' with Ruby, my body would have been strained beyond recovery.

A minor issue that hopefully was going to be dealt by the time Touko reached Fuyuki to deal with her contract.

But the reason behind my annoyance at being restrained from making use of Ruby's true power was actually something a little more… pressing.

While large-scale spells were a big no-no, I found quickly enough that the most useful of lesser spells I could truly use to the maximum capacity was… storage spells.

A pocket dimension that could easily hold an immeasurable number of inanimate objects and be taken around as far as I wanted until I continued to have the Stick around.

This discovery helped in the formulation of a little plan of mine regarding the current plot situation. It was clear that the Ainsworth family was still preparing on the other side of the 'dimensional portal' and that if I wanted to truly defeat them with minimal-to-none casualties, I had to take several precautionary steps in front of their pacing.

Early in the morning as we were all enjoying some breakfast, I mentioned calmly about having to go for some important business that required my lone presence.

The majority of the group sitting at the table was surprised but hardly concerned by the announcement as I did have situations like this one where danger wasn't implied in any shape or form.

No, the real problem was the frown plastered on Gil's face. I swore inwardly at the fact I did forget that the blond youth still could make use of his Sha Naqba Imuru, the Noble Phantasm granting him non-negligible glimpses of the nearby future and possibly offering him a clear sight over my plans.

He didn't call me out, but the stare he was giving me was enough to bring a certain level of uneasiness regarding my own idea for the day.

I mean, there was nothing truly dangerous about sneakily setting up a forward HQ in Miyu's home dimension, placing several objects that could help in creating a temporary workshop where to build and prepare for the next phase of the 'counterattack'.

I really didn't want to give Darius the chance of getting Miyu, because having him unleash corrupted Servants wasn't going to help us with what we were meant to deal early on.

Angelica's Archer Card might be weakened and lacking half of the full-fledged Gate of Babylon, but her propensity with Flash Air was enough to stabilize if not increase her current threat. And there was also the fact she wasn't as cocky and moronic as Adult Gilgamesh was, making her capable of deploying Ea without having to dilly-dally around too much.

But I would be lying in saying that the 'eldest' sibling was going to be the scariest to face as Beatrice Flowerchild was easily going to be the worst to fight in the upcoming assault.

Having two Berserker-Cards and Mjolnir, the unstable girl was going to be hell to dispatch quickly. With Magni being the only other Card known, I was quite unwilling of going to fight her without a proper study of what the other card was.

...Then there is also Julian.

The possessed Head of the Family was seriously powerful on his own, his grasp of magecraft beyond anything a modern Magus could even dare to achieve on their own. Yet the young Ainsworth, with just some little help from his Zouken-alike ancestor, could manipulate Prana to an insane degree.

And that wasn't something to be scoffing at. Never.

I blinked as I found myself staring at the strange transparent tear within the space-time continuum. The only way to enter Miyu's dimension and once I stepped through it… I would have to deal with an unforgiving time limit.

I sighed, my eyes closing for a moment before turning my attention to Ruby, the Mystic Code floating around the rift. "Remember the plan-" I repeated with a nervous tone, getting a groan from the Kaleidostick.

"No stunts with Magic, no attracting attention- but it's kind of boring-" She twirled, her tone dry at the lack of action and… explosions.

I don't know why, but this Ruby loved explosions and… I could get around that interesting trait.

"If they notice us and get their full manpower to us, we wouldn't survive the encounter." I reminded quickly, drawing a simple nod from the stick.

"I understand. It's just…" She tensed up suddenly and giggled. "What if we prank them somehow? Like we get a massive amount of pizzas at their house-"

"They would kill the poor man or woman enlisted to take the pizzas to their home." I blinked, frowning quietly at the deflating stick. "But I guess we could prank them if a situation present itself." I promised and flinched moments later as Ruby squealed with a high-pitched note.

I nodded and turned back to the tear and… jumped into it.

I felt wind twisting around me for brief instants and then… I found myself crouching in pain on… a few meters away from where I once was?

I turned around, just in time to see the Kaleidostick leave the rift and flying near me.

"That was weird."

"Not so different from the dimensional hopping that took me in this 'universe'." I commented back, getting her to nod quickly.

"It's similar, but also rather unstable and… I'm actually surprised you didn't suffer more during the 'voyage', Shinji-kun."

"I've some luck… rarely." I paused, before sighing sheepishly. "Maybe even never. I guess this is just something to prepare me for some… bad situations that will happen soon."

Ruby floated right in front of my face. "Oh? You are already expecting some fun things to happen? Even if this 'serious work' shouldn't have anything turned at us?"

"It depends if we avoid encountering some characters that are going to be wandering around the city right now." I mused quietly, picking the stick mid-air much to her whining and placed her in the small backpack I had brought with me.

While a child could appear harmless, a possible elementary student was going to appear even more innocuous to the 'guardians' of this Fuyuki Town. And since I was still 'fairly young', I had no need of getting the uniform required by the school.

Rushing inside the town proper from one of the least frequented entrances, I was quick to take the shortest path that would have me taken to the abandoned building I had decided to set up the secret base.

I had taken into account the fact that a third of the Miyuverse's Fuyuki had been vaporized during the penultimate Holy Grail War and that the place had to be abandoned on this side of the universe too.

I was granted relief by the fact the small warehouse was indeed unused and devoid of human presence. Making a quick patrol around to make sure I didn't end up getting anyone following me at a certain point of my walk, I was swift in preparing workshop, a war room and a medical section that could house more than enough people in the group. With Ruby around, the job was less difficult that early planned and it did take me just four hours to prepare this HQ.

With a tired but satisfied smile, I ventured outside the building, knowing that I was now ready to return back home and ignore any of my silly worries. It was surreal that something terrible could happen now of all time-

Thud

Uh- What the-!

I almost fell on my butt as I crashed onto someone, a feminine and youthful 'eep' surprising me as my eyes were quickly on the fallen child and… I froze in fear at the sight bestowed.

Her blonde hairs were tied in a ponytail with a bow that reminded much of bat ears. Her eyes were twitching in pain and closed, but soon I was granted a little glare from the little girl I just stumbled upon.

Erika Ainsworth, or Pandora, looked incredibly incensed by the sudden obstacle in her path.

"Y-You meanie!" She exclaimed, her little index pointing at me accusingly. "W-Why did you appear so suddenly a-and my Papa will-" The blonde paused, turning around as if expecting someone else but… there was no one behind her.

I paled the moment I heard footsteps behind me making the presence of someone unseen right nearby and… two adult hands were now squeezing at my shoulders. My eyes widened in dread as I heard him.

Darius smirked. "Who would have thought that you would have come out from your little hideout, Shinji-kun." The faux Leader of the Ainsworth family mused quietly, his tone demanding answers to silent question.

I gulped nervously, but a tentative smile developed as the now-confused Erika stared both at me and at her 'father'.

"I-I think I need Chris Hansen for this." I admit I could have picked better words but… yeah, nervousness is a troublesome influence.

He lowered his head near mine and whispered right into my ear. "At least I don't make use of worms to keep my family loyal." His smug tone was slightly infuriating, yet the jab at Zouken was well-received.

That is, I needed to get out of that incredibly bad situation. I jinxed myself in the past, but never to the horrible crap I was currently dealing with.

I blamed the Nasuverse's logic.

"Y-Yeah, you just need to be inside one of your children to keep control of everything." I shot back calmly, my little safety now broken as his hands tightened on my back and starting to draw blood with his fingernails from my neck.

"Cheeky brat- GAH!" Before an escalation could have ensued, Ruby jumped out of my backpack and crashed painfully… between the man's legs. Something cracked, he howled in pain and fury, and in that moment of chaos I pulled a smoke grenade from my backpack and prepared for the greatest run of my life.

With the bastard disabled for a while, I had less than a minute to rush away from the range of Authoritarian Personalism, the Noble Phantasm being what could possibly get me captured for real.

Just as I started to move through the smoke, my eyes catching quickly on a small opening towards a long alley that could get me away from public sight, I felt something crash onto me as a pair of short legs and arms wrapped around my body.

"I got you!" Erika squeaked in victory, her body being quite a hefty weight to consider as I was just… her age? Maybe her body was a little older than mine but… her interruption did little to stop me from rushing away from the spot I once was.

She squeaked as I started to move, surprise painted on her face as I easily managed to run with her non-negligible intervention. "W-Wha-Wait!" She begged loudly, but I was too focused on not being murdered by a surely-pissed wraith.

I saw the dark presence of Authoritarian Personalism finally snapping into action from Darius' trembling body, but just as expected, the range being a step or two shy from getting me.

A minor relief in what was going to be a terrible chase through the city. Ruby was incredibly helpful as, despite being limited with her magical prowess, she could still remove the pins from the other smoke grenades before hauling them behind me, providing me some cover as I rushed towards the rift hovering by the forest outside the city.

It took some minutes to finally get through several corners just to confuse my pursuer and-

My worry tripled as I heard a sizzling sound and… I saw blades slamming strongly onto the ground nearby me. Angelica just found me, yay!

I wasn't smiling, I was close to cry out at the scariest chase of my life. Zouken was something to be afraid of because of how volatile he was… but to deal with someone that casually used swords, lances, axes as long-range throwing 'daggers' while I continued to rush because my life depended on it, was more than a legitimate reason to be frightened to death.

The smoke was more than enough to hinder her aim and the presence of the still-screaming girl latched onto my body was more than enough to get her to try to not just pincushion my whole body.

I entered the forest and I started to feel the strain, plus Ruby mentioned something about running out of bombs, which was quite troublesome on itself-

I blinked as the portal was now wavering a little and then I remembered something good but also bad.

The rift itself was unstable and… could partially collapse if too much 'matter' moved through it. So, if too many people went through it, the tear was going to be… impassable.

It wouldn't close up, the connection being too strong right now, but it would make it impossible for people to make use of it for possibly a week or two.

More than enough to prepare myself from a more-pissed, less-classy Darius/Julian going for a 'stroll' to try and get Miyu.

Without thinking twice, my legs increased the pacing as my hopefulness drowned my fatigue as I managed to jump through it and… crashed on the floor. I groaned, my eyes half-closed in pain as I felt my left arm hurting and-

"Owie!" Erika whined even though I was the one that took most of the brunt damage and-

…

…

Did I just forget about- No, I don't want to believe. This, this is not happening- this is-

She blinked a few times and recovered from her brief 'pain', re-adjusting on my chest and smiling smugly.

"I caught you!" She declared proudly, something that made me frown in simple and utter… annoyance. The girl wasn't that much heavy, but my body was kind of getting back from that mad run across town.

"I think the opposite is correct." I stated flatly, the girl's pose stilling as her eyes narrowed on my face and then… she stared back. The rift was now minuscule and nobody could pass through it. The blonde's eyes went wide in realization and then she slowly returned to glance at me.

She blinked, I sighed and then she sniffled again, tears swelling up. "I-I won, right?"

I looked at her intensively and then… sighed. "Nope."

Her crying and straddling was far worse than I thought it to be but…

Now things were truly going to go insane with the 'essential' element to Darius' plan now deprived from him.

As I returned my attention back to the crying girl, I started to notice something I had failed to catch on at first.

While Little Pandora continued with her 'tears' of sadness, my sight caught some little twitches on her face. The little scowl turning upwards once or twice in a while as a sign of… relief.

The original lamb had just discovered that she had been freed from her ties to a dying world.

AN

Before writing this chapter, I had gone to see if there had been any new chapters from the Prillya's Manga and… there has been an update on November 1. The final battle is intensifying and I'm partly confused by Illya's moments of being a Pseudo-Shirou.

Not the idiotic kind, more like the Hero-twist to her personality. Rather odd and… I hope KALMIA-sensei can pull through the hard-work. I can't help but be excited for Season 4~!

P a treon . com (slash) socialistbukharin

LukeSky001: Shinji's World is stuck in before the Fourth HGW. Kariya is still alive and has yet to fully summon Berserker.

Victorsan12345: I think you were referring to Shinji saying that. Well, the thing is that Shirou ends up with a similar life to Archer in the UBW. No Alaya, no binding contract that would see him suffer eternally, but he would still die a Kiritsugu's death (the Assassin EMIYA's one minus Alaya).

StoryReiter: Some people will come with him back to his world, some others will have to stay back. Some will die, some will live and… some will somehow live through death. Lots of stuff will happen and, thank you for your kind words!

Maybe: There was a period of darkness that riddled the FGO fan-mangas months ago and I ended up seeing some unpleasant stuff. Iri's naivety is a product of a decade of relative peace. She isn't as well-prepared for some Grail-War level BS and situations, but she can still get a grip over things when someone explain it to her. Also, she is still trying to understand Kuro as if she is Illya, an approach that renders her unable to face someone with a mature mind as Chloe. Excaliblast was created by the Gods to fight back Zephar, that's why it is defined a 'Divine Construct'. Lastly, KONO SHINJI DA! WRYYYYYYYYY!

RandyKaguyaofthewasteland: There are plans for a FGO-esque situation, maybe with Chaldea involved… in an indirect way. No Shinji Servants for the Guda Twins! XD