Disclaimer: These are works of purely speculative fiction. It is not intended to infringe on any rights by any of the companies and/or individuals involved in the production of any series mentioned here. Fate Grand Order and all the franchises and series associated with it, are owned by Kinoko Nasu, Notes Co., Ltd. and their affiliates. Similarly, Fire Emblem Heroes is owned by Nintendo Co., Ltd. and their affiliates.
I DO NOT OWN THESE FRANCHISES.
An Order of Payback with EXtra Overkill (Non-Canon AU)
Unfair.
If Veronica could sum up what had happened during her invasion of Askr, it would be this. It was supposed to be an easy victory! She would overwhelm the Order of Heroes with her army of superior numbers and kill the Askarians once and for all. It was all according to plan… until she showed up.
The legendary summoner of Askr, the one who wielded the Breidablik to summon heroes from other worlds. At first, the girl looked like nothing special, strangely garbed and using strange mannerisms, yes, but nothing special. Veronica underestimated her, badly, and it cost her dearly.
She and her poor brother Bruno, who was badly beaten to a pulp by that white monster, were taken hostage by the cursed Askarians and left to rot in their 'comfy' dungeon cells. Her country somehow managed to bargain for her and her brother's release in exchange for a 'peace treaty' but she had no plans to uphold it. She didn't want peace, she wanted revenge!
She wanted to kill that annoying redheaded summoner so that she never had to worry about her interference ever again! But with those overpowered guard dogs it was impossible.
Her heroic summons truly are unfair. She had overheard details of their true nature while in the long months in captivity. They are spirits of deceased heroes who inhabit a magical container that can interact with the natural world. Their legends become a part of themselves and their feats, no matter how wrong or true, become their source of power.
She only has access to weak humans, while that unworthy summoner has an arsenal of super-strong heroes that can annihilate countries by themselves.
She needs... No, she wants that power for herself. She couldn't care less about whatever calamity is happening in the world of the summoner, she is going to find a way to get back at her and get even.
That sole drive has been what has kept Veronica awake for the past day and a half while she scoured the Embla Royal Archives. She was searching for any scrap of information on where the summoner's world could be located, based on what she gathered in prison. She had gotten a few clues, like the names of what she believed were entities like Gaia and Alaya, as well as some locations like America, Camelot, and Okeanos.
Veronica had nearly flipped open every book in the archives until finally, she found what she wanted.
The World of Steel. It is a world where magic runs thin and the last generations of mages fight like hungry rats to keep the last scraps of magical energy to themselves. Meanwhile, the rest of humanity lives in a separate world, completely oblivious to the truth of the other side.
Veronica could hardly believe such powerful summons came from such a world, but she wasn't going to look down on this world, not anymore.
"Xander," Veronica called her most loyal hero without her eyes leaving the page she was currently analyzing.
"Yes, milady?"
"Prepare to meet me at the royal summoning altar, and bring me all the summoning orbs we have in our treasury." She looked up from her book, meeting her summon dead in the eyes.
"We're going to even the odds."
"Understood." Xander dutifully leaves the room in preparation for the appropriate materials for her ritual.
She turned back toward her book and continued to inspect the intricate circle drawn on the page.
0-0-0
The Royal summoning Altar was the location where Embla's Order of Heroes summoned Embla's heroes. Normally, the coordinates for the altar would be aimed to pull in heroes from the other worlds near Midgard, but today was special. Today she was going to shift the summoning altar's coordinates toward a faraway world, a parallel Midgard.
"The summoning circle has been upgraded, milady." A mage said.
Veronica stared at the modified summoning circle with a grin. The 5-pointed star pentagram was now a 9-pointed star pentagram inside another pentagram. Various runes were carved in between the outer and inner circles. Yes, this will do nicely.
"Milady, I have brought what you requested," Xander said as he brought in the first batch of summoning orbs in a large wheelbarrow.
"Excellent. We shall begin immediately."
Veronica stretched out her hand over the circle and poured her magical energy into it. If the magi from the World of Steel could see her now, they would be drooling at how much magical energy she was pouring into the pentagram.
Her mouth started to move, and words came out but to the outward observer, the lip flaps did not match her words. Veronica was chanting at 9 times the speed of a normal vocal conversation. The altar and the surrounding area began to shake as she chanted but she didn't stop, the light from the pentagram got brighter and brighter but she refused to cease her actions, no matter how much her subordinates were begging her to stop. She continued to chant because she wanted power. She wanted revenge. But most importantly… she wanted…
Light engulfed the room, blinding her and everyone around her. After a few seconds of nothing but white, the light began to die down.
Veronica was the closest to the epicenter, but her eyes had easily readjusted to the sudden darkness. She heard the soft steps of bare feet on stone. She rubbed her eyes to remove the last bits of blurriness away from her eyes and focused on the figure once more.
Standing over the modified summoning circle was a beautiful angel with matching colored eyes, hair, and wings. Both her hair and wings were of equal length, the former much too long for her stature as both of their tips were touching the back of her knees. She wore only a simple white dress while holding a strange-looking guitar in her arms.
'A heron Laguz? A failure then.' Heron Laguz were natives of the World of Radiance, in other words, not from the alternate Midgard.
"Excuse me, are you the one who called for me?" The Laguz asked.
"Yes, I am your summoner, and your future queen, Veronica the Queen of Embla."
The Laguz's face brightened at the confirmation, "I see. I heard your plea for help, and so here I am! My True name is Type Venus, but you can call me Vivi. It's nice to meet you, Veronica." The woman who Veronica was now just realizing was not a Laguz, said with a toothy grin.
"You're not a Laguz?" Veronica asked, hoping to see if her suspicions were correct.
"I have no idea what a Laguz is… is that a new species of Beast Man?" She said with her head tilted in confusion.
"Then tell me, are you from the World of Steel?"
"No. I am not from Earth. I am the ultimate life form from the Planet Venus, which is Earth's neighbor in the solar system." She looks around the room as if she is taking in and evaluating the magical energy around her. "Though if you are asking if I originate from a world different from here, then yes I am from the World of Steel.
Veronica could barely comprehend the woman's words, but she got her confirmation, her summoning was a success. "So how powerful are you?"
Veronica suddenly asked the girl, who just looked at the ceiling while putting a finger on her cheek.
"Hmmm… It's not important."
Not important? Not important?! She needed to know how strong she was, she needed to-
Veronica jumped back in fear when the woman suddenly blipped out of existence and appeared face-to-face with her. She hadn't even blinked, and the woman had somehow crossed the sizable distance between them without so much as moving a muscle and somehow found time to shift her guitar so that it was now placed behind her back.
Veronica stood frozen as the woman leaned into her. Her golden eyes, from up close, were so mesmerizing. They shone with a beauty that rivaled even the brightest of gems. Veronica was not in love, she was merely stating a fact, as she finally understood that she was not looking at a human or laguz but an actual goddess who descended from the heavens. Not even the manaketes or divine dragons had such a concentrated ethereal presence.
And those eyes were currently staring deep into her soul, quite literally, as she felt Vivi's magical connection to her fluctuate and prod inside her.
"It must have been so lonely, hasn't it? To have everyone leave you by yourself."
"What…"
"It's okay, you don't have to be lonely anymore. I am here and I promise I will take care of you."
Veronica shakes herself from her summon's surprisingly comforting words, "D-D-Don't get the wrong idea! I am still your master! You will obey me! Do not pity me for I am-"
She was cut off by a warm embrace, and suddenly Veronica's protests died as she felt a blanket of affection envelop her soul.
"Good girl." The woman said as she gently patted her head as a doting mother would.
Her arms went limp, the will to resist stripped from them as she allowed Vivi to spoil her. They had just met and yet, she was already putty in her hands. For the first time in years, Veronica felt like she was not alone.
Though as much as she loved this sensation, she still had to complete her goal. She has no idea how truly strong Vivi is compared to Askr's summoner, so she plans on summoning some more summons, just in case.
0-0-0
"Seriously Veronica? Another invasion? When are you going to learn?"
Gudako said while looking up at the Queen of Embla, who was staring down the Order of Heroes and Chaldea, arms crossed and with a smug grin on her face.
"You might have caught me off guard last time, summoner... but this time I came prepared."
"Hah! That's a cute claim, princess, and what good is an army of humans going to do against my heroic spirits? Did you forget what happened last time, Veronica? Do you want a repeat performance?"
Gudako snapped her fingers and, like a loyal dog, Karna appeared with his golden spear pointed at the princess once more.
"Oh. It won't be like last time. Because you see... I just happen to have overpowered summons of my very own!"
The faint sound of a gun trigger being pulled echoed on the battlefield. It was inaudible to most mortals, even some of the nonhumans struggled to hear it. Of the few that could, only a few could sense the intention behind that sound. But only one could react quickly enough to get out of the way.
"Master! Watch out!"
Emiya manages to pull Gudako away from an incoming ray of light, a light that pierces straight through Karna's impenetrable armor.
Blood spilled from Karna's mouth, his spear falling to the ground with a loud clang that the entire battlefield, which had fallen silent, could hear.
The man looked down, only to find a massive gaping hole where his chest should be. It was so large, that it was easy to see the various expressions of disbelief, shock, and grief that his comrades, friends, and family were giving him from behind.
"Im… possible…" Those were the last words that the Hero of Charity said before he exploded into a black, nebulous cloud of magical energy.
"Pity. To think I would have to use a perfectly good bullet on such a small fry. What a waste."
Everyone turned to the voice of the one who had just sniped a demigod. Archer Emiya and the various versions of his family and friends gasp in shock when they see the identity of the figure.
A tall, middle-aged Japanese man with spiky black hair and a ponytail, dressed in a dark suit was standing over a nearby hill. His arm was pointing a gun to where the former Hero of Charity once stood.
Many voices cried out toward the figure, one or two calling him "Papa," others calling him "the Magus Killer," but the most common was "Kiritsugu."
The man looks at the Chaldeans, in particular towards the many copies of Arturia Pendragon and the Emiya Family specifically with an annoyed look on his face, "got no idea who you people are referring to. But the name's Gun god." He levels his still-smoking pistol at them, his intention to kill them clear to all in his sights.
Archer Emiya takes a moment to use structural analysis on the pistol in Gun God's hand.
His eyes widened in horror, "The Black Barrel…."
Gun God smiles, "Oh? You know my partner? As I would expect of the humans that came before me."
"Where did you get that?! Atlas wouldn't dare to part with one of their 7 super weapons, even if it was a replica!" Emiya said with genuine fear in his voice.
"If you must know, I dug it up from some ruins. So I doubt the creators would mind if I used it to do some work." Before he shot another bullet, a blinding arrow made its way toward Gun God, which he proceeded to dodge.
"You bastard! How dare you do that to Karna! You'll pay for that!" The enraged and sorrow-filled Arjuna said as he loaded another arrow into his bow.
"Hurts doesn't it?" Veronica taunted the Archer.
Arjuna spun toward the girl with a mad look in his eye.
"That is precisely how I felt when that pale bastard beat my brother Bruno to a pulp, beat my Xander, decimated my army, and humiliated me! To think such a powerful monster got put down so easily, how anticlimactic."
"You make valid points, Queen of Embla… but that does not mean I will continue to let you draw breath!" In the span of milliseconds, Arjuna pulled back on his bow string and released his shot toward Veronica.
Only for it to get blocked by a giant golden angel wing.
"What?" Another blinding light is shot forth, this time aimed toward Arjuna's head. Luckily for the archer, he managed to dodge in time.
He clicked his tongue and chose to focus back on avenging his brother by killing his actual killer, rather than killing the runt who was clearly trying to get a rise out of him.
Meanwhile, the angel wings unfurled, revealing an unharmed Veronica being held by a beautiful angel.
"M-Mama?!" This time it was Prisma Illya who managed to voice her thoughts when the next summon made her appearance. A summon who happened to look a lot like her mama Irisviel, who was standing right next to her.
The angel noticed the sudden shout directed at her and followed the sound toward the little girl, who surprisingly resembled a younger version of her.
"Sorry, little one, but I'm not your momma." The yellow-winged angel said with a regretful tone in her voice.
Suddenly, she started to pinch Veronica's cheek with one hand while she held her guitar in the other. "I'm this little cutie's momma."
"Vivi… pwease stawp." While Veronica sounded like she was resisting, from everyone's point of view, she seemed like she was enjoying the interaction.
A few of the people in the allied army actually found the scene kind of heartwarming. That feeling quickly turned to dread when they noticed the woman's fun-loving, motherly expression morph into a serious one.
"And that is why I will not let you harm a hair on this child's head." She handed the guitar to Veronica, who held it gingerly in her tiny arms.
Vivi, as the woman called herself, extended her arms and spread her wings wide, her magical energy building exponentially as she did so.
Then, spores started to rain down from the sky.
None of them touched the ground, rather, they floated menacingly over the battlefield as if they were yellow storm clouds. Then, the spores started to hatch and cute chibi angels emerged from them. They all just so happened to look exactly like small Illyas, Miyus, and Chloes.
"Huh. So this is what being Stheno and Wrys feels like." Chloe, a white-haired little girl in a red Archer Emiya's outfit, said as she stared at the horde of mini-hers accumulating in the air above them.
Many thought the scene was adorable, some were left with unease, while others thought it looked kind of lame.
No one knew how to judge this woman based on her appearance or what seemed to be her noble phantasm. All except a single divine spirit. A divine spirit that just so happened to be spiritually linked to the angel's patron celestial body.
"Holy shit! The crazy bitch summoned Venus's Ultimate One!" Ishtar said in the back, horror etched into her voice.
Once the word 'Ultimate One' was said, every servant, even the ones who were viewing the war with Embla from Chaldea, started to panic. The safe haven away from the Incineration of Mankind on Earth had just turned into a deathtrap.
The only ones who weren't panicking were the natives, who were confused and blissfully ignorant of the true scope of the threat they were now facing.
"Uh… care to fill in for those of us who didn't read the pamphlet? What's an Ultimate one?" Anna asked.
"Ultimate Ones are the manifestation of their planet's will. They are the 'Ultimate' existences in their worlds, hence the name. They do not have the same sense of self as humans, nor do they have the concepts of damage or death. Their existence transcends the common sense of the planet and far surpasses any Heroic Spirit or Divine Spirit in terms of being hard to kill on Earth. They are undoubtedly one of the most powerful existences in our known universe."
"Uh… Emiya Sir? Can you speak plainly, please? Them mage jargon is awfully confusin'!" Someone in the back said.
He turned toward the voice, "it means none of us could stand up to defeat it, even Gilgamesh might not stand a chance to defeat it."
"Oh…oooohhh, shit."
"Speak for yourself, Faker, my Enuma Elish can easily destroy that flying rat without issue."
"This is no time for arrogance Goldie, we need to-"
"He's right." Emiya turned towards Shiki Ryougi, who was using her Mystic Eyes of Death Perception to analyze what everyone knew was Type Venus.
"I don't know how, but I can sense this Ultimate One has been imbued with the concept of death, quite strongly if I may add."
Archer turned toward the woman, who was still growing her massive army of chibi imouto lookalikes in front of them.
"Then that means we still have a chance to take her down," Emiya said, a small bit of relief coming to his voice.
"So, can we kill it, yes or no?" Someone in the back said.
"Yes." Archer Emiya, Shiki, and Gilgamesh both said towards Severa, who had been too confused to follow along.
"Geez, cut the rest of us some slack, will you?! Your magic system is too needlessly complex!" Serena said while looking away, blushing in embarrassment
"Hey, look at the bright side! At least things can't get any worse!" The optimistic pink-haired mage Mae tried to help, but alas, her words only brought forth calamity.
The whole battlefield stilled as it sensed another powerful presence descending before them. A presence that everyone from earth was more familiar with. The form of a gorgeous woman wielding a giant magical sword floated gracefully toward them.
"I retract my statement. I have just found an interesting, and worthy opponent to test the limits of my full strength against!" Gilgamesh said a slightly nervous, but still arrogant grin on his face.
Emiya turned toward Mae, "you just had to ask, didn't you?"
Mae just rubbed the back of her head.
"You lucky cunt!" Gudako couldn't help but scream while spitting blood when she realized Veronica had gotten the five-star servant she had wanted for ages.
"Master! This isn't a good time to start feeling envy of our enemy's luck!" Mashu said with desperation and trepidation in her voice.
"Now then..."
Veronica stepped forward, her hand outstretched an arm covered in an intricate array of command seals.
"Archetype Earth... please be a dear and give Chaldea a tour of your castle."
The beautiful woman crossed her arms, her cheeks puffed up in annoyance. It was like she was a grumpy child who was just told they couldn't have their favorite dessert before dinner.
Veronica felt a blush creep up on her cheeks, clearly knowing what the woman was upset about but hesitant to follow through with what she wanted.
"B-Big sister Arc. Can you please show these mean people your castle?"
The aforementioned Big Sister Arc nodded, "of course! Anything for my cute little sister!"
The world grew brighter, engulfing most of the Chaldea side of the army, as well as Gun God and Arjuna, who were still having their deadly shootout.
Flower petals engulfed them, one moment they were there, and the next. They were gone.
And thus, the Askarians and Order of Heroes were left alone.
"Now then…" Veronica turned toward the remaining army, who was dumbfounded but somehow still not deterred by what had happened, with a vicious grin.
"Time to die."
Vivi let down her arms, and the hundreds of millions of accumulated chibi angels descended on Askr. The heroes fought valiantly against the never-ending horde, but it didn't last long, and they were quickly overwhelmed.
The angels didn't stop when they defeated the Order and instead continued to rampage across the continent, destroying everything alongside anyone and everyone who inhabited the realm.
By the end of the day, Askr had been razed to the ground.
0-0-0
A tanned skin man with sparkly, white hair floats over a molten world. The grin on his face nearly threatened to split his head in half.
He had done it. He had finally done it.
Goetia had arrived at the beginning of the world. He had arrived at a time before gods, before beasts, and most importantly, before humans!
His two-thousand-year-old plan had finally come to fruition.
Ironic. In the end, it was a human's ambitions that allowed him to achieve his goal without too much fuss. That human had taken control of some powerful individuals from one of Earth's numerous dead ends and used them to severely cripple Chaldea.
It was appreciated assistance but ultimately pointless, as it was inevitable that he would have been able to achieve his goal.
Goetia cared little for the interference and machinations of other worlds on alternate timelines of Earth.
All that mattered to him was what was in front of him at this very moment.
He spread his arms wide and started to chant, and the young, impressionable world spun and folded like clay in Goetia's hands.
Then, as its maniacal clay sculptor, he began to shape it into his twisted, ideal world.
A world where humanity is free from suffering.
0-0-0
It was a beautiful day, the sun's warm rays shone over Letizia's estate. It had been a month since Veronica had annihilated Askr off the face of the map, but the entire country was still in highly festive spirits. So much so, that all the constant parades, parties, and events massively drained her energy for a week after the festivities ended.
She hated Askr much more deeply than her people, but even she had her limits.
Veronica is having teatime with Vivi and Arcueid in Sissy's garden. The two women were gleefully chatting as they gossiped about boys, stuff she really hasn't paid much attention to. But as Embla's ruler, it will be something she will have to start looking into soon.
Veronica looked down at her teacup, her reflection visible on the surface.
She should be happy. She brazed Askr to the ground, destroyed their Order of Heroes, and repelled the invaders who dared interrupt her progress. And yet, it felt so hollow. Especially after her sissy's failed assassination attempt.
Veronica didn't show it to her people… but she was devastated by the betrayal. She adored her Sissy Letizia, she wanted to see more of her, and she looked up to her. Yet, Sissy hated her.
Once she accomplished the one thing none of their Emblian Ancestors did, she grew mad. Sissy attacked her when she least expected it and attempted to take her out, but she underestimated her other sister's desire to protect her.
The image of Sissy Arcueid holding Sissy Letizia's decapitated head in her hands will forever be ingrained into her psyche.
Veronica should be angry with her, she killed her Sissy! But she can't blame her for doing so. She was her Sissy too, and she was only protecting her. She is sad that Sissy Letizia tried to usurp her, but that is why her new family was trying their best to cheer her up through this tea party. Sissy Arcueid even apologized for killing her, but while she may not be angry or upset at her actions, she still needs more time to grieve.
She misses her big brother too. He had gotten more distant from her as of late. Part of her wonders why, since he never shows too much emotion anymore. Veronica wonders what has gotten into him.
Suddenly, a foreign presence appears before her.
Both Sissy Arc and Mama Vivi stand protectively in front of her.
"Woah, relax. I'm not here to cause any trouble. I'm just here for business."
"Speak your business then."
He gave a light formal bow, "Greetings, my name is Elm and I came on behalf of our goddess, Lady Embla. She sends her regards and congratulations on your destruction of Askr! "
Veronica stared at the man. She should be more surprised that the divine dragon has decided to contact her, but she was too emotionally exhausted to care.
"Is that so? Then I will kindly accept her words and praises. Now, If that is all you have to say then leave. I am busy."
The man seemed like he wanted to reprimand her but somehow held his tongue.
"Impatient one aren't we? But no, that's not 'it.' My presence before you is due to our Lady Embla being extremely pleased with your performance, in particular, that one man who you call 'Gun God,'" the man rolled his eyes as he said that name with a sarcastic tone in his voice.
"So, what's your point?" She was too physically exhausted to continue humoring this zealot's long-winded request. The sun was quite strong today and it made her feel a bit sleepy. The tea was barely managing to keep her awake.
He was now gritting his teeth, almost snarling at her.
"My point is, Our Lady Embla wishes to employ his services for a special… job."
"Is that all?" He moved to speak, but she cut him off with the wave of a hand, no longer wishing to continue hearing his voice.
"You can borrow him, now leave us."
Elm frowns at her, "watch your tone, mortal. You may have completed one of our Lady Embla's greatest dreams, but I will not let you talk down to me as if you are my better, I am a-"
His eyes widened when Gun God pointed the Black Barrel at his arrogant head.
"Choose your next words carefully, brat, or I'll blow your head off. Now, can you politely finish that sentence? I am a…?"
Veronica was surprised, she had never seen someone nearly choke on their pride before.
"I-I-I'm a… client. Our Lady Embla wishes to put a hit on a certain deity. Now, kindly remove that thing away from my head."
Gun God stopped pointing Black Barrel at Elm's head, taking a puff of his cigarette in the process. Then, he blew the smoke on Elm's face after taking a huge sigh of relief.
"Come to my office, we've disrupted the princess's teatime enough as it is." Gun God put his hands in his pockets and walked toward his office, uncaring for Elm who was wheezing and coughing after inhaling some of Gun God's smoke.
Veronica hated the man but she did pity him since she didn't like the smell of cigarettes either.
And so, the two men leave to do their business, but not before Vivi ran toward Gun God and pecked him on the cheek.
"Have a good trip," she said, a bright smile adorning the angel's face.
"I'm off." Gun God said, a rare smile gracing his rough face that contrasted his kisser's.
"Finally, the noisy boys are gone. Let's continue where we left off, shall we?"
Mama Vivi, Sissy Arcueid, and her continued chatting. Part of her wondered if this was the correct path she should have taken, and while it told her that something from this serene scene was missing, the other half just stopped caring.
She decided to listen to the other half.
Because on this path, at this moment, she was happy.
Images available on deviantart, copy/paste or copy this after the dot com.
V/V: /ihev9sun/art/V-V-holding-a-guitar-940282228
GunGod: /ihev9sun/art/GunGod-Pointing-gun-940282508
ArchType Earth: /ihev9sun/art/Archtype-Earth-descends-940282878
Author's Note: Veronica went looking for weapons of mass destruction, she found that plus a family all-in-one. Here's a little short story for you guys, I just couldn't help myself. The idea just kept coming and coming, and I had to keep writing it until its conclusion.
Veronica needed a break, and so I gave it to her, plus I rigged her summons.
For those of you who don't know about Angel Notes, I suggest you take a read of it for yourself. It's one of my favorite short stories by Nasu(and also one of the oldest he's written), and it is sadly a bit less known, and much less written for fandom. A lot of the concepts from fate are introduced, and the characters like Gun God and V/V(Vivi) were basically prototype amalgamations of future characters appearances, personalities and their backgrounds.
I might end up writing a Angel Notes fanfic after I finish this story, but for now this is a taste.
BTW I moved the Side stories to a story of it's own, Serious Side Reels - A Grand Order of Heroes SideStories. I will be updating future SSR chapters there. Omakes will still be posted here though.
Thanks for reading.