Fate Grand Order is the creation and intellectual property of Nasu Kinoko and Type-Moon.
Still Better than Black Keys: The Series.
Chapter One: Fuyuki, the Burning City Made of Fail.
"Base sequence: human genome confirmed," the voice said.
"Okay, good to know that I'm indeed human," Fujimaru Ritsuka said, standing before the huge doors.
"Alignment: Lawful Neutral," the machine added, its voice monotone and droning.
"Not Lawful Good? Why? I'm slightly disappointed," the orange haired young woman groaned, rapping her knuckles on the machine. "C'mon, I'm freezing my ass out here..."
"Welcome to the data center for the future of humankind," the scanner said. "This is the Security Organization for the Preservation of Humanity, Chaldea. Fingerprint, voiceprint, and DNA authentication cleared. Magical Circuit assessment complete."
"Oh, that sure doesn't sound ominous or anything," Ritsuka said, shuddering as the icy wind blew again. "Wait, magical?"
"Username matched," the machine stated. "You are recognized as a member of the primates."
"You're calling me a monkey now!?"
"Nice to meet you," the programmed message replied. "You're our final visitor today."
The gates of the massive building finally slid open, and a burst of air somehow even colder than that behind Ritsuka touched her face from the inside.
"We hope you enjoy your time here."
"Where am I?" Ritsuka wondered, walking around the extremely long, pristinely clean white hallways of the complex. "Where is everyone? Seriously, this is starting to get creepy!"
A soft female voice rasped subtly from behind her. Ritsuka's heart almost jumped in her chest. "I believe I can answer that. This is the passageway from the front gate to the Central Command Room, which is in front of the Main Chaldea Gate."
Ritsuka spun around, screaming. "Aaaaahhhh! Don't do that!"
The short but busty girl with short pinkish hair and glasses now facing her blinked only once, from behind the thick bangs covering most of her face. "What do you mean, Senpai? You asked for information on your current location, why shouldn't I answer?"
Ritsuka blinked, then sputtered. "No, no, what I mean is, don't startle me like that... Why, why are you calling me Senpai!? From your accent and looks, I can tell you're American!"
"British," the other girl corrected her formally. She was wearing a white uniform, with an open long jacket over it, and ugly black shoes more fitting for a woman at least three decades her senior. "And from your accent while you talked to yourself I deduced you were Japanese. Why wouldn't I address you with a Japanese term?"
Ritsuka sighed. "Did you just arrive right after me? Because otherwise you've spent longer here than me, you are my Senpai... Hey, what's that thing?" she asked, pointing down at the small, furry white animal with a long tail and ears sitting on the floor, next to the stranger's feet.
"Fou!" the thing said. "Kyuuu! Kyao!"
"This is Fou," the other girl said with airs of quiet solemnity, as if introducing a very important person. "He's a Privileged Life Form allowed to freely walk around Chaldea. He led me here, and that's how I ran into you, Senpai."
"Fou. Mmkyu, Fou!" Fou said.
Ritsuka squinted at it. "It's from Australia, isn't it?"
"I'm not allowed to share that, it's classified information..."
"Ah, there you are, Mash!" a tall, also foreign looking man said, approaching them from around a corner. He wore a thick green suit and matching, very tall top hat, and had even thicker, dark brown sideburns that made him look almost comical. "That won't do, you know, wandering about without permission..."
He paused. "Oh, someone's already with you? You're... I see...Another rookie who just got assigned here?"
After a moment of hesitation, Ritsuka nodded.
"I'm Lev Lainur, one of the technicians employed here. And your name is?"
"Fujimaru Ritsuka. Nice to meet you," the girl said reluctantly.
"Hmm, Fujimaru!" the man checked something in his cellphone. "So you're the last of the forty eight candidates!"
"Candidates for what?" Ritsuka asked tiredly.
"Welcome to Chaldea!" Lev laughed, almost as if he hadn't heard her at all, which was impossible. "I'm glad you're here! I just read you were selected out of many public applicants, so how long was your training? A year? Six months? Three months?"
"Training for what?" Ritsuka asked.
Lev frowned. "I see that you already know how competitive it is here. You're going to hide your info from your rivals? But you shouldn't hide it from me. I'm your superior, you know."
"No, honestly," Ritsuka said. "I just arrived. What kind of training is one supposed to have here?"
Lev and the bespectacled girl shared a perplexed look.
"This is regular procedure? I don't believe it's the regular procedure," she said.
"It's not the regular procedure," he confirmed.
"Regular procedure for what?" Ritsuka whined.
Lev laughed again, now stiffly. "Well, I need to go and file a report about this irregularity! But please don't be discouraged just because you're a public applicant, Fujimaru-kun! We need all of you for this mission!"
"What is this mission about?!" Ritsuka demanded.
"You came here without even knowing what they were bringing you for?" the nerdy girl asked quietly.
"I was told it was only a summer internship!" Ritsuka lamented.
Lev began walking away quickly, folding his arms behind his back. "If there's anything you don't understand, feel free to ask Mash or myself anytime, okay?"
"I can't ask you anything! You're leaving!" Ritsuka pointed out.
"It can't be helped, I have things to do. And so do you, now that I think about it," Lev said, stopping only enough to pulls one of his long sleeves up and look at his wristwatch. Did anyone still use those? Why did he need one, he had a phone! "The Director's orientation is about to start. You should hurry over."
Oh, she was pretty. Petite and slim but with curves in all the right places, very well dressed, a cute face, and white hair for some reason.
"Welcome to Special Organization, Chaldea," the girl at the stand addressed the auditorium. She barely was any older than Ritsuka. "I'm the Director, your superior, Olga Marie Animusphere. You have been selected, or discovered from each nation for your rare talents at magecraft, summoning, thraumaturgy, Spiritron Hacking, or blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Ancient Founding Families blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Atlas Academy blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah yakkity smackity blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Clock Tower blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Rayshifting into blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Excuse me? Am I boring you?"
Ritsuka blinked and lifted her head, opening her eyes enough to see a furious Director Animusphere standing right before her desk.
"Uh, I have a sleep disorder akin to somnambulism, sorry," Fujimaru lied. "Can you repeat all of that from the start, please?"
"OUT!"
"This," Ritsuka pointed out, "is the room of a girl."
The ponytailed man with light brown hair hummed, and then took another bite from his sandwich. "Which girl?" he asked.
"ME!" Ritsuka said.
The young man sighed. "So, basically, what you're telling me is that this is your room."
"Well, DUH!"
He took another bite. "Who told you that?"
"Mash! The girl who brought me here!" Ritsuka clenched her teeth.
"Ah, if it was Mash then it must be true." He finished the sandwich and dusted his hands off. "I see, so the last one finally showed up, huh?"
"Well, who are you?"Ritsuka pressed on.
"Who am I?" the man who was sitting on her bed asked back. "Isn't it obvious that I'm a healthy, diligent and hard-working doctor? Look at my robes of work!" he protested, and tugged on the lapels of the long, open coat he was wearing over his clothes.
Fujimaru glared. "..."
"Well, nice to meet you! What's your name?"
"Fujimaru Ritsuka..." she said tersely.
"Nice to meet you, Fujimaru Ritsuka! I'm the head of the medical department, Romani Archaman. For some reason, people just call me Doctor Roman. I don't know why, but it's easier to pronounce, so go ahead and call me Roman! Fact is, Roman has a nice ring to it, no? It sounds cool and vaguely sweet."
"If you say so," Ritsuka said, more evenly now. Learning this weirdo was a doctor eased her on him, mainly because she didn't want him injecting any harmful stuff into her through a checkup. "Nice to meet you, Doctor."
"Yes, nice to meet you!" he agreed. "I look forward to getting to know you."
There was a pause.
"Now, please, now that you know this is an assigned, occupied room now, and since its inhabitant, who happens to be a girl, is here..." Ritsuka began.
"Why are you here?" Roman asked, arching an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you be with the others in the Rayshift experiment?"
"The what?"
"The Rayshift experiment that's about to start as soon as the Director finishes her speech," the doctor said. "That Rayshift experiment."
"Ah, so that's what she was talking about. I fell asleep through that speech so she had me kicked out," Ritsuka confessed.
The man blinked, then laughed. "Ah, that's just like the Director! Just look at me, I should be there too since I'm the doctor after all. I mean, if anything goes wrong, they would want a doctor there, right? But she says that the machines are more accurate at reading the vitals of the mages who are in the Coffins."
"Which machines?" Ritsuka asked. "If they are in coffins, aren't they beyond medical help by now?"
"You're funny," he said. "Anyway, the Director said, 'When you're here, Romani, everyone slacks off!' Then she threw me out. So I've been sulking here."
"Hmmmmm."
"But that's when you showed up. This is what they called a blessing in disguise right? Since we both have nowhere to go, why don't we spend some time and deepen our friendship!"
"You're a man and I'm a girl and we're alone in the same room, I don't like the sound of 'deepening a relationship' in that context," Ritsuka bluntly admitted.
Roman blinked wildly several times, then actually blushed like an embarrassed maiden. "Whaaaaa!? N-No, that's not it! What kind of man do I look like! I'd never do anything like that, not even if-"
Then the deafening rumble of a huge explosion shook the whole room.
And then, the lights went out.
"Emergency. Emergency," a loud voice said through the speakers. "A fire has broken out in the Central Power Station and the Central Command Room."
"If the power's off, why are the speakers still working?" Fujimaru wondered in the darkness.
"Central Area's containment wall will activate in ninety seconds," the voice added. "All staff must evacuate from Gate Two at once."
The doctor clenched his teeth and turned the lights of his phone on. "Crap..."
"Containment wall will close in forty seconds," the voice continued. "Those remain in Central Area, evacuate immediately..."
The doctor got up. "Fujimaru, evacuate right now!" he said. "I'm going to the Command Room!"
"Evacuating?!" she cried. "Where to!?"
"Where to? Where else, the- Ooohhh, you don't know, do you?! Dammit, I told them they were hastening the recruitment too much! Come on, follow me!" he urged, leading her out of the room with his light.
"Where's Mash-san? You know, the cute girl with bangs?" Ritsuka asked as she followed him through the darkened hallway, supporting herself on the wall so she wouldn't stumble. "She showed me the room but then said she had to leave!"
"I don't know!" the doctor confessed. "Just keep quiet and stay close!"
Sooner than Fujimaru expected, they had reachead a large open chamber, and Roman came to a stop, hissing under his breath. Ritsuka squinted, and made out several broken, bleeding shapes on the floor. She felt nauseous, suddenly.
"No survivors," the doctor said grimly. "Only Chaldeas is safe."
"Wh-What was this?!" Fujimaru cried. "A terrorist attack?!"
Ignoring her, the doctor threw his light at a shattered panel of controls, gray smoke still drifting from a large hole on it. "This was where the explosion originated. This was no accident, it was sabotage."
"Generator operation stopped," the speakers said. "Power level critical. Switch to the backup generator, error. Please make switch manually. Containment wall will close in forty seconds Those remain in Central Area, evacuate immediately."
Roman turned swiftly on his heels and began stomping the way he'd come. "I'm heading down to the underground power station. We can't let Chaldea's light go out. Hey, you! Hurry up and go to the main gates! You can still make it!"
"B-But I don't even know the way there...!"
"It's straight all the way from there!" Roman barked, leaving the room. "There's no getting lost! Don't stop anywhere on the way! Go outside, and wait for help!"
"Going outside?! It's the freaking South Pole out there! I'll freeze to death!" Ritsuka whined.
But he already was gone.
Ritsuka sighed. "..."
Ritsuka grumbled as she felt her way through the darkness, on uncertain feet. "I'm never gonna make it at this rate..."
"System switching to the final phase of Rayshift," the speakers were saying. "Coordinates, AD 2004, January, 30th, Fuyuki, Japan."
Ritsuka frowned. "Fuyuki? I've got relatives there..."
"Laplace's shifting protection established," the seemingly omnipresent voice said. Ritsuka's nose was starting to get full of a pungent smell of smoke, and she sneezed. "Singularity's additional factor slot secured."
"Will you please start the lights already!?" she shouted, knowing well she wouldn't be heard.
"Unsummon Program set. Please start making final adjustments."
"This fucking place," Ritsuka grumbled.
Then she stopped, gasping loudly.
That pretty girl, Mash, was on the floor right before her at the latest turn of corner. She was bloodied and battered all over, mostly buried under heavy debris, only her upper half sticking out from right under her breasts. Her face was full of dust, and she was breathing laboriously.
"H-Hey!" Ritsuka rushed to crouch down before her. "Can you hear me!?"
Mash opened her eyes. "W-Who...?" she said weakly.
"It's me, Fujimaru Ritsuka!" the other girl said, starting to pull debris off her. "Hang in there, I'll get you out now!"
Mash coughed. "It's all... right. You can't... save... me. Don't mind me, please... Run!"
"Nooooo, don't say that!" insisted the redhead.
"Thank you, but no..." Mash clenched her teeth and tried to buck upwards, as if to push the wreckage off herself. "Please, Miss Fujimaru, you need to... get out of here."
Then the lights went back on, suddenly. "Oh!" a startled Ritsuka said.
"Warning all observation staff," the speakers announced. "Chaldeas' state has changed. Now rewriting Sheba's near-future prediction data. Unable to detect the existence of mankind one hundred years in the near-future on Earth."
"There, there, the Doc must've fixed things back," Ritsuka nervously told the groaning injured girl. "They'll send help soon..."
"Unable to confirm human survivors," the speakers announced. "Unable to guarantee mankind's future."
"We're survivors!" Ritsuka shouted. "Please send help!"
"Central Area, sealed," the oblivious voice said. "180 seconds until internal containment procedure."
"They, shut off the area," Mash said grimly. "Now, we can't, get out."
"Eh?" Ritsuka squeaked.
"Coffin Vitals: Masters Baseline not reached," the speakers crackled and faltered for a moment. "Rayshift requirements not met. Searching for qualifying Master... Found. Candidate Number 48, Fujimaru Ritsuka, reset as Master."
"WHAT!?" Ritsuka yelled.
"Unsummon Program, start," the speakers added. "Spiritron Conversion, start."
"Um... Sen...pai?" Mash shivered.
Ritsuka looked down at her. "Y-Yes?"
"Would you mind... Holding my hand?"the short haired young woman begged.
Ritsuka blinked, and then did so.
"Rayshift starting in Three," the speakers stated. "Two. One. All procedures clear. First Order, commencing operation."
And then their whole surroundings were enveloped in a huge flash of white lightning.
The whole city around them was burning.
"Hell?" Ritsuka blinked, still holding Mash's hand. "Did I go to hell, after everything I did in life?!"
"Sen... pai... please..." Mash said.
Ritsuka fumed and showed her teeth off. "I even died being a good samaritan to a complete stranger, and yet I'm sent to hell!? Is it because I was having lewd thoughts about her!?"
"What?" Mash said.
Ritsuka let go of her hand and shouted at the crimson sky. "Why am I to blame! I mean, look at her! Look at that body! Well, it used to be a nice, great even, body before it was crushed, but still..."
Mash closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her own nose. "Please... think of what you're saying..."
"What do we even care anymore, we're in hell! Dead! That's why you still can talk despite your lower body being turned into paste!" Ritsuka cried. "Nothing we say changes anything now! I didn't even tap your ass, and yet I was sent to hell, that's unfair!"
"You aren't in hell!" Mash slammed her fists on the hot dirt. "You... You, you only were Rayshifted!"
"What?" Ritsuka said.
Then several loud bursts of laughter were heard in the distance.
"Who... Who could be laughing... in a place like this..." Mash coughed.
"Well, demons, since we're in hell."
"W-W-W-We aren't in hell!"
Ritsuka took a better look around them. Other than herself, Mash and the wreckage that pinned Mash down, everything as far as she could see was different from the hallway they'd been in minutes ago. It was a city, or rather the ruins of a city, and flames and thick smoke rose from every house or building. The air was unbearably hot and dry, and even the ground hurt her through her shoes.
"If this isn't hell, what is it?" she asked Mash wearily. "Sorry I can't save you, but even if I could lift all of that from you, we're still dead..."
"N-Not yet!" Mash said stubbornly.
Despite everything, Ritsuka half smiled at her. She crouched back down and caressed Mash's cheek with a hand, rubbing a stain of soot off with her thumb. "I'm sorry I just said those things about your body," she told her, quietly. "Sometimes I don't think before talking."
"I, I shouldn't die so.. easily," Mash said. "Lih-Listen, if you make a contract wit-with me-"
Then several humanoid figures walked close, through the smoke. They were chalk white cadaveric ghouls clad in rags, with their mouths twisted upwards in hideous mimickries of grins. They were mostly men; yet there were several women in their numbers. It was around two dozen or so of them, surrounding the girls from all angles.
Ritsuka bolted back to her feet, protecting Mash with her body as best as she could. "Z-Zombies!?"
Mash sniffed the air. "Th-They don't smell like the undead..."
"Eh?" Ritsuka said, while the mostly silent, lurching creatures that once might have been human slumped over towards them on clumsy legs. The only sounds they made were occasional chortles and a dead, droning laugh.
"Senpai, do as I tell you!" Mash shouted with renewed vigor. "If, if Chaldeas picked you, then you must be a viable Master! Don't q-question, just close your right fist, concentrate and call my name out! M-Mash Kyrielight!"
Ritsuka hiccuped but, seeing the horde approach them, obeyed, inwardly nearly puking at this nonsensical rollercoaster of a day. She tightened her eyes, tried to think of that girl as best as she could, and then felt herself shaken by a strange sensation.
One way or another, in the eye of her mind, she felt as if something was linking her to Mash. Ritsuka felt herself bathed in a warm white light. She felt herself weak in the knees, and for a split second, she thought everything was going to be all right. She felt strong and protected. She felt loved.
There was a deafening explosion behind her, and she opened her eyes. Debris flew upwards all around her, but no part of it hit her. The monsters were backing away, as if perplexed.
Ritsuka turned around. Mash was standing there, fully healed and smiling. Her glasses were gone, and there was a new shine in her eyes. It was like seeing Clark Kent changed into Superman, to a degree such that Ritsuka didn't recognize her at first.
Mash had changed into a small black suit of form-hugging armor, over a black swimsuit-like leotard, exposing her legs, clad in tall black boots. Her hands, wrapped in long black gloves, were holding a truly gigantic black shield, one that was taller than her, and even so, she hefted it effortlessly.
Ritsuka's heart thumped madly.
"I'm glad it worked, Master," Mash told her. "I'll explain later, but for now, please issue your orders. I will battle these miscreants on your behalf."
Ritsuka blinked, scratching the back of her right hand absently. She noticed a strange rash on the skin of that hand, leaving elaborate red marks on it.
"My... My orders?" Ritsuka repeated. The monsters began moving towards them again. The girl gulped hard, and she told the other girl," Defeat them!"
"Roger!" Mash said, almost gladly, and rushed past her and barreled into the intruders, smashing them shield first.
They never stopped laughing, that haunting laugh, as Mash swung the shield and made them burst into bloody pieces. The girl moved amazingly fast, from a 'zombie' to the next, without ever giving them a chance to touch her. She ran and hit without missing a single beat, and she was done with them in a matter of moments. Ritsuka stood in quiet awe, seeing her pause at last, over the fragments of the beings she had just destroyed.
Mash breathed in and out, and turned around to face Ritsuka. "I am Shielder, Servant of absolute defense. At least, as absolute as my paltry skills allow me to. Please accept my services, Master."
"What... Who are you, in reality?" Fujimaru shuddered despite herself.
Mash straightened upwards. "My true name is Galahad of Corbenic, knight of the Round Table of King Arthur. Since you established a contract with me, I am now the Heroic Spirit under your care. Please state our course of action, Master, so I can carry us safely back to Chaldea."
"I have no idea what to do!" Ritsuka shrieked.
"I thought as much, but I felt I had to ask..."
A hologram showing the face of Doctor Roman rose from the debris. The image flickered for a moment before stabilizing. Ritsuka jumped back, trembling.
"Right, I finally got through!" Roman's voice said with relief. "Hello? This is the Chaldea Command Room! Do you read me?"
"This is Sir Galahad, a member of A Team, in complete control of Mash Kyrielight's body," Mash said seriously. "At this time, I've completed the shift to Singularity F. My sole companion is Fujimaru. Mind and body both intact."
The image of Roman blinked, actually turning his eyes onto Mash. Could he see her? "I see..."
"Rayshift compatibility, Master compatibility both satisfactory," Mash reported in a martial tone. "Please register Fujimaru as an official researcher."
"So Fujimaru also got dragged into the Rayshift, huh?" Roman said, tapping on a keyboard and taking notes. "I'm impressed you didn't 'lose your existence', Fujimaru-kun. Good on you! Also, Mash... Of course I'm glad you're safe, too... But what's up with that outfit!? It's shameless! I didn't raise you to dress like that!"
"I'm Sir Galahad now," she reminded him. "I couldn't protect the Master wearing Chaldea's uniform, could I?"
Roman sighed. "Lev will be happy, I suppose..."
"Is the Professor still alive as well?" Mash asked.
"I hope so. We haven't located him yet, but he's a survivor, you know him," Roman said. "Fujimaru-kun, it looks like you're the only ones who Rayshifted there safely. Also, well, I am sorry. We pretty much forced you into this without any explanation. I'm sure you're full of questions-"
The redhead nodded frantically.
"-but try not to worry," the doctor went on. "You've already got a powerful weapon. Humanity's most powerful weapon, Mash."
"Please call me Galahad now," Mash asked soberly.
"Right, it's going to take a while to get used to that," the doctor said. "Now listen, Fujimaru-kun, I'll explain it to you in detail. Your current mission has two new goals-" The image distorted, then flickered again.
"Doctor, you're breaking up," Shielder said. "Ten seconds until the connection is lost."
"Huh, so Sheba's output is unstable because we switched to the backup generators?" the doctor wondered. "Oh well, I'll brief you later, then! I'm getting a strong leyline reading about two kilometers to the north from where you are. Try to get there somehow. That way, it will stabilize our connection."
"Roger!" Shielder saluted him.
"Listen, don't do anything reckless, will you?" the man asked. "I'll try to bring the power back up as soon as—"
The image disappeared.
"The connection got cut off," Ritsuka said blandly.
"I can see that. Well, that's the Doctor for you," Shielder shrugged. "You can't rely on him in situations like this. Come on, let's head to the coordinates he mentioned. Once we get there, we should be able to set up a base camp," Shielder instructed her, starting to walk off.
"But, but what about those grinners!?"
"I'll protect you from them, should more of them attack us! Move quickly, please!" Shielder commanded, and Ritsuka began following her across the inferno, like a new Dante and Virgil.
They trudged through the flaming wasteland in silence, so they wouldn't attract more attackers. The dry laughs kept on sounding from far away, but nobody else had assaulted them yet. Somehow, Shielder knew how to navigate through the fire without ever running into dead ends.
A large mountain was seen in the distance now, apparently their destination.
"Master," Mash said abruptly. "We will soon reach the point Doctor specified. As you can see, it doesn't look like there are any human survivors in the area. It's nothing like the Fuyuki City in our data."
"I was here once, visiting my family," Fujimaru said, rattled. "Does that mean... that they are dead?"
"This might not be the same Fuyuki you said," the other girl answered. "There's no record of such a disaster occurring in 2004..."
"We have travelled back in time!?"
"You could say so, or rather, we may have been transported to an alternate past," cautioned Mash. "The Mana density in the atmosphere is also abnormal. Can't you feel it?"
"Uh, I can't feel anything but this darn heat..."
"In fact, it's a lot like ancient Earth... What's that!?" she tensed up and stared ahead.
"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" came a shrill female yell.
"What was that scream!?" Fujimaru gasped. "You said there were no survivors!"
"I know that voice!" Mash said, clenching her teeth. He dashed ahead. "Don't get left behind, Master!"
Ritsuka ran after her as best as she could. Soon, they saw Director Animusphere herself, running away towards them, and fleeing another group of white-faced grinning men. She didn't look much worse for the wear, and the Fou small critter was running after her too, close to her heels.
"Director!" Mash said, coming to a stop.
"M-Mash!?" Olga Marie Animusphere gulped, also stopping right before her. "Why am I here!? I wasn't intended to Rayshift! Wh-Who are these guys, anyway? Why do these things keep happening to me!?"
"Director, please calm yourself," Mash said, with a hand on her shoulder. "I'll handle them," she promised, frowning at the incoming beasts.
"I can't take it anymore! Come save me, Lev!" Olga panicked. "You were always there for me, right!?"
Mash sighed, left the girl in the arms of the confused orange haired female, and ran into the pursuers, bashing them with her shield. This battle was as swift and brutal as the first one, and it only took the Shielder a few moments to dismember the ghouls. Olga and Ritsuka watched with a mixture of horror and relief, and Fou waited near them, rather more sedate than either.
"Fou!" he said after Mash was done.
Shielder slicked her short hair back, shaking gore off. "Sorry to had to witness that," she told the other females. "Director? About my situation. I know it's hard to believe, but the truth is—"
"I, I can realize what happened!" Animusphere blushed, pulling away from Fujimaru. Now the immediate danger was over, her pride reestablished itself. "You are Sir Galahad now, aren't you? You woke up..."
Mash nodded. "Yes."
Animusphere frowned at Ritsuka. "And you! The civilian who fell asleep during my speech! How did you become a Master? Only first-class Mages can enter contracts with Servants! There's no way you could ever become a Master! What did you do to her to have her do your bidding?"
"Director, if there was no first-class potential in her, she wouldn't have been inducted in the program to begin with," Mash coolly said.
"Haven't you seen anyone else around?" Ritsuka asked the Director.
"Do you mean, if I've seen anyone else from our staff? No. But...I hate to admit it, but I think I know why we were shifted to Fuyuki, now that I think about it."
"Please explain yourself," Shielder requested.
"All of us here share a common denominator. Neither me, nor you, nor that one were actually inside the Coffins when the incident happened," the white haired young lady said. Though Rayshifting flesh and blood isn't likely to succeed, it's not impossible. Meanwhile, the coffins have breakers. When the success rate's below ninety five percent, the power's cut off. So they never actually Rayshifted. Only us."
"They?" Ritsuka echoed her.
"The other candidates for Masters who were meant to undergo the first actual Rayshift procedure," Kyrielight told her. "Your seniors, Senpai."
"Hmmph, whatever!" Olga Marie huffed. "Now that I understand the situation, the rest should be easy enough! Fujimaru, since it's an emergency I'll approve your contract with Shielder. From here on out, you'll follow my commands. First, let's set up a base camp."
"Here, in the middle of nowhere, with no resources, right in the way of clown zombies!?" Ritsuka argued.
"It can't be helped! I'd also want for a better place, but there isn't one! Listen, maybe you don't know, but a magus can feel this is a Leyline Terminal. A place where magical energy converges. From here, we'll be able to contact Chaldea."
"Yes," Mash nodded. "Please issue your instructions, Director!"
"Mash, that is, Sir Galahad, please place your shield on the ground," the Director said. "I'm going to set up a summoning circle, with your Noble Phantasm as the catalyst."
"So she says," Shielder said. "Are you all right with that, Master?"
"Why are you asking her that?" Olga Marie growled. "She doesn't have the authority to outrank me."
"Uhhhhh, what she said?" Ritsuka said sheepishly.
"Understood. Now let us begin!" Mash screamed, slamming her shield into the volcanic ground, hard enough it half-sank into it. The scorched pavement quaked briefly under their feet.
And then Olga Marie pulled out a small sharp piece of metal from her breast pocket. Ritsuka saw her drawing what appeared to be a circle flanked by runes from a chuuni isekai anime, and as soon as she was finished, a ghostly three dimensional image of a clean, white futuristic command chamber appeared all around them, transparent enough to allow visibility of the city.
"This is... The same as the summoning experiment chamber at Chaldea," Mash said.
"That's excellent! You didn't even need to actually trigger your Noble Phantasm, Sir!" Olga nodded. "Truly, you are a magnificent Heroic Spirit!"
The hologram of Roman reappeared in the chamber. "CQ, CQ. Hello, hello? Okay, the connection's back! Good job, you secured the connection! Now we can communicate again, and even send rations..."
"Huh?! Why are you running the show, Romani?" demanded Olga. "What about Lev? Where's Lev? Put Lev on!"
"Waaaahhhhhhhhh!" the man recoiled. "D-Director, you're alive? And you're unharmed!? What the...!"
"What's that supposed to mean? Where's Lev?" the girl asked him. "What's the head medic doing in charge?"
Roman sighed. "Don't ask me why. I'm fully aware that I'm not cut out for this job. But there's nobody else, Director," he grew very grimly stoical. "Currently, the surviving full time staff of Chaldea is less than twenty people, including me. The reason I'm in charge of operations is because there's no one ranked higher than me who survived."
Olga paled horribly.
"What!?" Mash gasped. "But, you said-!"
"Since our first commuication, I learned Professor Lev was supervising from the Command Room," Roman answered. "There's no way he could survive that blast."
"No way... Lev..." Olga's voice cracked. "No, forget that, wait... Please wait! Less than TWENTY survivors!? What about the Master candidates... the coffins!?"
"Fort seven,all in critical condition and we're short on medical supplies," the Doctor replied. "We might be able to save a few, but all of them might be—"
"Don't be ridiculous! Cryopreserve them immediately!" Olga told him. "Think about reviving them later. Your top priority is to make sure they don't die!"
Roman slammed a hand on his face. "Stupid me! I forgot the coffins had those functions! I'll get on it right away!"
"You surprise me, Director," Mash said while Roman briefly walked off-frame. "Cryopreservation without prior consent is a crime. Yet, you made the decision right away. You put human lives ahead of your own reputation as the director."
"Don't be stupid!" Olga scoffed. "As long as they're not dead, I can explain myself later. But, forty seven lives... There's no way I could carry that burden!"
"The boys are working on it!" Roman said, turning back in that image. "This concludes my report. Chaldea has lost eighty percent of its functionality. There's only so much that the remaining staff can do. I'm shifting available manpower to Rayshift repairs, and maintaining Chaldeas' and Sheba's current states. As soon as external communications are back up, we'll request supplies and start rebuilding Chaldea."
"Good," Olga nodded. "I'd do the same if I were there. Romani Archaman. I don't like it, but until I return you're in charge of Chaldea. Make the Rayshift repairs your top priority. We'll be investigating this town, Singularity F."
"Director, you're not afraid to be at ground zero?" Roman asked. "Since when did you become so brave?"
"You never know when to shut your mouth, do you?" Olga seethed. "I'd like nothing better than to go back now, but it's going to take time till you finish the Rayshift repairs! Besides, this town only contains low-level monsters, and with Sir Galahad at hand, we'll be safe. Accident or not, we Animuspheres pride ourselves on doing our best in the situations we're given! I'll be looking into Singularity F with Fujimaru and Shielder as investigators. Hopefully, we will discover the cause of this anomaly. Once Chaldea's restored, we will send in a second team for quarantine and eradication."
"Roger that." Roman nodded. "God bless you, Director. We should be able to communicate in short bursts now. Feel free to contact me in any emergency."
"Huh! Then, even if we sent an SOS, nobody would come to our rescue," Animusphere said.
Roman frowned. "Director?"
"Nothing, I'm cutting off the connection. Go do your job!" She did as of pressing a pointer finger down in the air, and the image vanished.
"Director, are you sure about this?" Shielder asked. "There's also the option of waiting here for rescue."
"I can't afford to do that," Olga Marie grumbled. "After we return to Chaldea, who knows how long it will take to select the next team? A month won't be enough to gather personnel or funds. Do you know how much the Association will harass me in the meantime? Worst case, they'll blame me for mismanagement, and I'll lose Chaldea to them."
"If you ask me, managing this organization sounds like it's more of a hassle than it's worth," Ritsuka opined.
"Shut up! Nobody asked you!" Olga said. "If that came to pass, I'd be toast. I can't go back empty-handed! I'd have lost the legacy of my father! I need something that will shut them up!"
"Magi never shut up, Director," Shielder reminded her.
"Well, you get the idea!" Olga snapped. "Come on, let's explore this town. The cause of this twisted history must be here somewhere."
"I don't wanna!" Ritsuka said. "Here it's more or less safe, if we walk away we might be walking into the mouth of the wolf!"
"Fine, stay here by yourself, Shielder and I will go alone," Olga said.
Ritsuka followed them grouchily. "I don't know what this Association is, but as soon as we're back, I'm siding up with them."
They began passing over a long, ruined stone bridge. The waters below were sparse and black, rancid and fetid, and eel-like shadowy things seemed to swim in them. Everything around the bridge seemed to have burned to ashes already, and the laughter had stopped.
"Fujimaru, do you remember what I said in my speech?" Olga asked.
"Welcome to Special Organization, Chaldea," Ritsuka quoted verbatim. "I'm the Director, your superior, Olga Marie Animusphere. You have been selected, or discovered from each nation for your rare talents at magecraft, summoning, thraumaturgy, Spiritron Hacking, or blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Ancient Founding Families blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Atlas Academy blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah yakkity smackity blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Clock Tower blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Rayshifting into blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Excuse me? Am I boring you?"
Olga sighed. "You have been selected after we learned about your aptitude for Spiritrons, through your blood tests. It turns out, you have functional magical circuits and you are, in theory, capable of becoming a Master."
"I am proof that it's not only in theory, Director," Shielder said.
"Mmmmm!" Olga said. "Our intent was to reshape you and your classmates into cutting-edge magi, in an unprecedented fusion of magecraft and science. Even so, even the magi sent from the Association still seemed to be acting like high school students," she admitted. "I won't pledge absolute obedience to you! You're way overstepping! My lineage is better than yours! Pheh!"
"Most magic users are like that, present company excluded," the Shielder politely intervened.
"You bet!" Olga said. "Anyway, our observations indicate that the light of humanity is only visible up to the year 2018. In other words, we've observed, no, proved that humanity will become extinct in that year."
Ritsuka whistled. "Suck on that, 2030 conspiranoids!"
"Obviously, that future is not possible," Olga went on. "It cannot happen, and physically speaking, is impossible. There's neither an economic collapse nor a bat virus spawning from China, nor some sudden seismic event. We couldn't explain how humanity would suddenly just disappear! But, over the past six months, we've found the cause of this strange phenomenon, the disappearance of the future."
"Which is...?" Ritsuka asked.
Olga fanned herself with a hand. "It sure is hot here! If the reason is not in the present, then it is in the past. Using Laplace and the Trismegistus, we've reviewed all data for the past two thousand years. We tried to find something that didn't exist in history, or was on Earth until this point in time."
"What are the Laplace and the-" Fujimaru started.
"Powerful thingamabobs to find out things like these!" Olga waved her hands up. "Where do I need to start explaining things, from the alphabet!? From them, we finally isolated this. Spatial Singularity F, a city in the Japanese countryside in 2004."
"But nothing like that happened here in 2004," Ritsuka said.
"Precisely! That's the point!" Olga told her. "We discovered an 'unobservable zone' that did not exist in history up to the year 2017. Chaldea hypothesizes that this is the cause for humanity's extinction. We proposed the Rayshift experiment to the United Nations and received their approval. The Rayshift process transforms a human into spiritrons, sending them into the past and allowing them to alter it. Simply put, it's time travel. But not everyone can do it. Only people with exceptional magical circuits, and the ability to become a Master, can be transformed."
"So that's how we arrived here..." Ritsuka hummed. "Your wacky world saving experiment went awry and dumped us here. What if we triggered that event by coming here? What do they call that in sci fi, a time loop cause and effect?"
"D-Don't say such stupid things!" Olga gasped. "Singularity F already was observed before our transport here!"
"But if it's a time loop, you could see it before we triggered it, since-" Ritsuka began.
"I said we aren't at fault!" Olga insisted. "This is fourteen years into the past, long before we could send anyone here! As soon as we destroy the Singularity, history should shift back to normal!"
"But again, if it's time travel, the effects would be put in place before-" Ritsuka tried to explain.
"What have I just said?!" Olga roared.
"All the same, please don't kill any butterflies just in case, Master," asked Shielder.
Ritsuka looked all around. "I'd say it's already a bit too late for that!"
"Now, on the subject of Servants like Sir Galahad here," Olga said. "Think of a Servant as the highest-ranked familiar in the magical world. Various historical heroes. Noble acts. Concepts. They're all summoned as spiritual bodies. Whether or not a hero truly existed, he or she is still 'information that was produced on Earth', right? To summon a Heroic Spirit is to convert the information stored on this planet into something for the good of mankind. People today have the right to use legacies of the past, and with that right, the duty to leave behind a future."
"And... And it doesn't mater if they existed or not!?" Ritsuka's eyes shone. "Do you mean... that I could summon Batman?!"
Shielder huffed. "I'm better than Batman!"
Olga blinked and looked back at Ritsuka. "Who is Batman?"
"Seriously, Director, there should be a limit to how cut-off from the mundane world you magi can get," Mash sweatdropped.
"Well, whoever this Batman is, what you made your contract with is greater than a human, and yet is a tool to serve humans," Olga said. "That's why they're called Servants. Even if they're gods, they exist only to serve their Masters."
Shielder sighed.
"There are seven classes of Servants, which vary depending on a Servant's legends and abilities," Olga explained. "No, there used to be seven, but Sir Galahad is the first Shielder-class Heroic Spirit we have records of. Other than, her, we have Saber, Lancer, Archer, Rider, Caster, Berserker and Assassin. Every Heroic Spirit will manifest as one of these classes. It's also a way to hide their True Names."
"Why would they hide them?" Ritsuka asked.
"Think about it!" Olga tapped on her own skull with a finger. "Take Achilles from Greek Mythology, for instance. Achilles is an invincible Heroic Spirit, but his weakness is extremely famous, right?"
"Uhhhhhh..." Ritsuka said.
"When a Heroic Spirit returns, their weakness returns with them. That's why Servants hide their names behind their class names," Olga lectured. "If you don't know their identity, it's harder to figure out their past or weaknesses, right?"
"What if you summon Batman? Batman has no weakness," Ritsuka asked.
Mash growled. "Am I not good enough for you? I'm better than Batman!"
They had left the bridge behind, and were entering an old abandoned church at the end of a large shattered boulevard. "Why are we even getting here?" Ritsuka shivered.
"Churches are often built on sacred sites and Leylines," Olga said, raising a pointer finger, and flashing a bright light from its tip. She illuminated the path ahead of them with it. "We might find valuable clues here."
And then, all of the windows of the church were shut down, and the front gates behind them slammed close. The three young women shuddered, while a bitter, loud cackle filled the building.
"AHHHHH, HA HA HA HA HA HA!"
Shielder hefted her weapon, spinning in place and squinting through the darkness. "An enemy Servant!?"
"What?!" Olga said. "You felt one here, and you let us walk in!? You're supposed to sense them from a distance!"
"I am," Mash said tersely, "unless it is-"
"Some-one was talking about Bat-man!" that strong, taunting male voice sing-sang. "If there's some-thing I can't stand, that's a Bat-man fan!"
Ritsuka's eyes widened. "That voice... That unmistakable Mark Hammillesque delivery...!"
The ceiling of the church creaked, and something dropped from it, landing on its feet before them. Or rather, it was someone.
Piercing yellow eyes filled with little bulging arteries stared like daggers through the dark. In the shadows, Ritsuka could make out a thick lock of green falling over a long, angular face. A face that was as white as chalk, curved upwards by a ghastly writing, showing off a myriad of crooked, yellowed teeth like so many broken piano keys.
"Ahhhhhhh," Ritsuka breathed out almost reverently. "Of course... Now I get it..."
"H-He looks weak, wh-whoever he is," Olga said, taking a step back from him.
"Assassins usually are. That's not the problem," Shielder said, standing her ground and waiting for him to attack.
The tall, lanky man stretched his arms up, a few playing cards carelessly fluttering from his sleeves. "Mmmmmmm... An all female audience? Not my favorite type of crowd, but far from me to refuse such lovely ladies. You paid for your tickets, didn't you?" he asked, his voice clearly accented. "Support your local Comedy Theatre Troupe..."
"Fou. Fouuuuuuuu!" Fou hissed, his fur standing in point.
Shielder gave a powerful stomping step towards the clown. "You made a grievous mistake, Assassin! Facing us directly is against the nature of your class!"
"Can't blame a poor boy for wanting some attention," the wicked figure poked the tip of his tongue out like a mischievous child. "It's been so lonely over here for days and days! You've finally provided me with some entertainment, so it's only natural for me to return the favor."
Mash growled, charged ahead, and as soon as she slammed a foot close enough to him, something under her exploded and sent her upwards, spinning, through the ceiling of the church.
"YIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"
"Mash!" Ritsuka cried.
"Shielder!" Olga Marie gasped.
The Assassin whistled, lifting his head and staring up, up, and away. "Looks like Team Rocket is blasting off again...!"
He chuckled and rubbed his gloved hands together, glaring demonically at the girls. "Hey, you two," he said. "Like a way lesser man once said, riddle me this, riddle me that. What has a mouth and can't talk, yet its actions speak louder than words?"
Olga stepped protectively in front of Ritsuka, scowling. She gestured with her hands and chanted under her breath, and a circular barrier emblazoned with runes was deployed before them.
"Ohhh, a light show!" the Assassin cooed, pulling a handgun with a ridiculously long barrel out of his checkered pants. "I'm sure that'd be a fine defense against any weapon not belonging to a Servant."
Olga said nothing, bracing herself.
The Assassin aimed the gun at them. "Tell me, Dolly. Have you ever danced with the devil under the pale moonlight?"
"What?" Olga Marie asked.
Ritsuka bit on her fingernails. "He said it! He said it! He said the thing!"
"It's something I always ask my victims before killing them." The clown shrugged. "I like to hear what they have to say."
Before they could react, he shot the gun at them. "HA HA HA!"
Olga winced, and then... a small 'BANG' flag was shot from Assassin's gun, along a heavy rain of yellow confetti.
"Ehhhhh!?" Olga blinked.
"He's playing with us!" Ritsuka warned. "Don't lower your guard down!"
"You're Genre Savvy! I like that in a victim!" the clown now took aim at her head. "You get to say bye first..."
"YIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" Mash said, plummeting back through the ceiling, and falling with a church-shaking impact, shield and all, between the Assassin and his would be targets.
"Ah, right, her. I'd forgotten her," Assassin deadpanned.
Shielder rose back to her feet, coughing and with several cuts and bruises on her face. "I should have expected that," she admitted. "An Assassin will never fight with honor..."
"It comes with the territory, Sister! Literally!" the clown said feistily, now aiming at her head. "I don't doubt you can block all of my bullets with that gigantic conversation piece, but my Ha-Hacienda has explosives and poisons hidden everywhere! Even if you kill me, your girlfriends will never get out alive..."
"But...?" Mash hissed.
"But if you let me kill you, I might be grateful enough to let them walk away," the clown grinned. "Might."
"What guarantee do I have you would?" Shielder asked calmly.
He blinked exageratedly. "Guarantees? You have my word of honor! Do I look like a lying man...?"
And then he frowned, glaring aside. So did Shielder. They'd both felt someone else outside.
Not soon enough for Assassin, who was blown out through the opposite wall and out of the church as a large projectile was fired into the building.
"KYAAAAAAA!" Olga and Ritsuka yelled, covering their ears against the deafening boom.
A small girl, even shorter than Mash, and looking at least three years younger, climbed in through the hole the missile had left on a wall. She had a cute face marked with three dark circles, one on each cheek and one on her forehead. She also had long, silky black hair and wore a pink, short skirted dress and matching mini boots. In a hand, she kept a missile launcher that was apparently too big for her, with a smiley face painted on its side.
She extended a hand at the three stunned travelers. "Come with me if you want to live!" she said peppily. She grinned. "I always wanted to say that!"
The clown in purple, visibly wounded, climbed back in through the hole in the opposite wall. "Caster!" he spat venomously. "So you're still alive!"
"Not thanks to you!" the girl shot back.
"What are you doing, helping random skanks like this!?" Assassin demanded. "Don't you have anything better to do!?"
The 'Caster' young girl scoffed, pulling out a small pink remote control, and pressing a button on it. "Look, I'd hate to stay and chat with you, so I'll be going my way with these three, okay? Bye, don't write, please!"
There was a buzzing, and a large, sleek flying vehicle with a round face painted at its front came by, stopping around Caster. She motioned at Ritsuka, Olga and Mash to hop onto it just as she did that. "C'mon! What are you waiting for!?"
Mash blinked, then slung the shield onto her back. Assassin's bullets ricocheted off it as Mash quickly grabbed Olga Marie and Ritsuka, holding one under each arm. She made the leap to land on her butt right behind Caster. "This better not be a trap!" she warned the other Servant.
"If I wanted you dead I'd have left you here!" Caster said, turning the vehicle off and speeding away, dodging Assassin's heavy gunfire. He bellowed and howled madly after them, all pretenses of humor gone. And so were they, after a few minutes, since Caster's invention was fast enough to take them far from the church, and away from Assassin's reach, in a matter of seconds.
Olga Marie shuddered as they saw and heard the church explode in a holocaust of flames then. "What!? Is he-!?"
"We wish! He's not that easy to kill," Caster said, piloting the ship towards the docks, which had long stopped burning as well. "He's just torching his place after I figured its location out, thanks to you. We've been enemies through this whole Holy Grail War."
"Holy Grail War?" Ritsuka repeated.
"A Holy Grail War, also known as a Heaven's Feel," Caster explained as they sat in a circle next to a sea as black as petroleum, "is a conflict where seven magi fight each other for the right to activate an artifact, the so called Holy Grail of Fuyuki, created decades ago by the three great founding families- the Tohsakas, the Makiris, and the Einzberns."
"I know that much," Olga said, arms folded. "My father once fought in one. He won it, too!"
"Good for him," Caster said. "Each of these Masters, the magi I told you about, command a Servant, a Heroic Spirit from one of the seven classes..."
"Sword, Bowman, Lancer, Caster, Assassin, Rider and... Brute, right?" Ritsuka made memory.
"..." Caster said. "More or less. The Holy Grail grants any wish asked from it, plus, it opens a gateway to what you call the Root and we call the Source, the springboard of all mystic power in the universe."
"Heavy mojo..." Ritsuka said.
"My summoner was an evil magus, a man named Atrum Galliastra. I... escaped him and tried to win the War on my own," Caster recalled. "However, the Grail had been corrupted sixty years ago, during the Third War, by Angra Mainyu, the Persian god of evil, or a close facsimile, foolishly summoned by the Einzberns. The Grail consumed all of the humans in the world and corrupted all of the Servants... except for the Joker. He always was corrupt."
"And it didn't corrupt you, because...?" Mash asked.
Caster smiled with pride. "That's because I can't be corrupted! I'm a Divine Spirit!"
"That's impossible," Olga Marie said. "A Divine Spirit cannot be summoned as a Servant!"
"I could," Caster said.
Mash sighed. "Well, at least now we know what changed the course of history."
"How can we fix it, though?" Ritsuka asked. "Sounds like we should have arrived much sooner!"
"Maybe, if we can seize the Holy Grail and I can purify it, we might stand a chance. We could wish on it so nothing of this ever happened," Caster said. "But I'd need to get close to it, and I can't do it on my own."
She pointed at the top of the tall mountain Ritsuka had seen earlier. "Saber took over the area where the Grail has manifested itself, and with the powers granted to her by its black mud, she commands the rest of the Servants from there. Archer can be dealt with easy enough, and Lancer is difficult but I feel like we can beat her if we work together. Berserker is the most powerful one. I can't fight him and his boyish good lucks," she admitted, blushing.
The other girls stared at her.
"He's too good looking! If you saw him you'd understand!" Caster lamented, putting her blushing cheeks on her hands.
Mash sighed. "What a pain. Looks like we have no choice but helping you then, Caster."
"You will? You will!? Oh, thank you very much!"
"But no double crosses, okay?" Olga warned.
"That's my line!" Caster said.
Olga looked at Ritsuka, then. "By the way..."
"Hmmm?"
"You appeared to be familiar with that jester Servant. Mind telling us why?"
"You mean you didn't recognize him? It was the Joker! Batman's nemesis!"
"Again with that Batman person. What mythology is he supposed to be from?"
"Do you really want me to believe you've never watched a Batman movie? Adam West, Jack Nicholson, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Michael Keaton?"
"Who, who, who, who and who?"
Galahad sighed. "Good thing my King can't see what I have stooped to."
"Kya fouuuu!" Fou said.
"Oh, so you were there. I thought you'd died back at the church!" Ritsuka said.
"This thing has more lives than a cat," Olga Marie informed them.
Caster frowned at Fou. "I can't say I like him that much. There's something that feels odd about him." She smiled at Ritsuka. "Then, do we have a contract? So I can be your Servant from now on?"
Ritsuka blinked. "Uh, thank you. But I already have a contract with Shielder here, I think?"
"You can contract more than one Servant at the same time, as long as you have enough mana," Caster said. "That'll be fine, we Casters are very efficient at managing our mana."
"What's mana?" Ritsuka asked.
"Oboy, maybe this will be an uphill battle after all," Caster realized. "It's... It's sort of like the chi in Dragon Ball, okay? Or Naruto! Or the Cosmos in Saint Seiya!"
"Ahhhhh!" Ritsuka said.
"What kind of mythologies are you talking about? I want to know!" Olga Marie protested.
"At least she's not Batman..." Mash pondered bitterly.
On the top of the hill, supporting herself on her blackened sword, the pale Saber waited.
To be Continued.
Author's Notes:
Being the intro and the first chapter, there aren't too many divergences yet. We are keeping fairly close to the script of the game so far.
Galahad here is a woman, inhabiting the body of a woman. Male!Galahad being forced to inhabit Mash's body and coping with wearing Mash's armor might be fun, but this is based on the Fate Harem Antics version of Galahad, which in turn was based on the 'Tachie' Galahad from the second Fate Stay Night prototype. She isn't a jerk unlike Canon!Galahad so she answered the call to protect mankind.
Be good!