The screen lit up as it showed Kuoh Town at sunset. The screen changed to various shots of the town and people in it as they went about their daily lives.

(Issei) This seems just like Kuoh.

(Da Vinci) Oh, so this is where you're all from?

Everyone nodded as the screen continued to change. It was starting to get late as the sounds of a scuffle could be heard. As the camera moved to the scene lights and smoke could be seen. Eventually the scene came into focus as a large cloud of smoke appeared. Rolling out of it was Issei, who was attempting to dodge attacks from a certain Fallen.

(Rias) Raynare…

Rias growled the woman's name as the other girls were also glaring at her. Issei looked down, not wanting to be reminded of his ex.

(Da Vinci) I'm guessing you all know her?

(Akeno) Unfortunately.

Da Vinci decided not to press further as it was clearly a touchy subject. Raynare launched another spear at Issei which he, to the surprise of everyone, blocked with a magic barrier. His glove didn't survive the impact unfortunately.

(Issei) Since when can I do that?!

(Ritsuka) That's the kind of barrier I can make to protect myself. I guess this means you took my place since I wasn't there.

(Issei) I see.

Issei felt a bit bad about taking someone else's place but it wasn't really him so there was nothing he could really do about it. Back at the fight, Issei seemed to resolve himself and took a stance while extending his right hand out.

"Signal!"

To think I would find myself in this kind of situation, without having to look for it this time. He thought to himself while a woman with black wings threw spears of light at him.

(Mythos) Oh yeah, by the way, I made it so we can hear their thoughts too, otherwise there would be a lot of moments of silence with weird facial expressions, which would be funny but not very informative.

The others nodded in understanding as they continued watching.

"My will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny."

(Da Vinci) So he's trying to summon a Servant. But he doesn't have Mash's shield, nor does he appear to be near a leyline.

"Stay still you worthless human! No matter what you do, you will die here!" The winged woman was becoming more irritated that this lowly human hadn't died when she initially attacked him.

"If you heed the Grail's call, then follow humanity's path and answer me! Thou shalt wear the spiritual language of the stars of seven heavens."

The others were watching carefully as magic began to gather around Issei. He was skillfully dodging Raynare's attacks all the while. The girls were still glaring at her, and it only intensified as she insulted him.

I won't be stopped here! I have people waiting for me! The boy dodged another spear sent to impale him.

"Run! Purge! Pass your judgment!"

"Shut the hell up and die!" The woman screamed, obviously fed up. The winged woman put more power into her spear, intending to end things here.

Rias noticed something off to the side that surprised her.

(Rias) Is that me? I'm there much earlier than I should be.

"Stop right there!" Another voice rang out, but it was too late, the winged woman had already launched the spear. The boy unmoving raised his arm towards the incoming attack.

"Defender of Balance!"

A brilliant light enveloped the area and dust kicked up from the force created. KLANG! A loud metallic sound rang out and the light spear shattered upon impacting something unexpected.

The light faded and when the dust cleared a gigantic shield emerged from it. The winged woman was confused on what she was looking at until the shield moved revealing the one wielding it. "Mash Kyrielight. Ready to engage the enemy! Let's go, Master."

(Ritsuka) H-how? How did he summon Mashu?

(Mash) I didn't think I could be summoned that way.

(Da Vinci) It's definitely strange but we should keep observing.

As she said that the screen faded to black.

(Da Vinci) Hey! What happened?

Months earlier, after completing the Temple of Time…

(Da Vinci) Oh c'mon, a time jump. What a tease.

"Fou… fou? Fou… kyu kyu!"

Uhh…. God, everything hurts… What happened?

The boy stirred, opening his eyes, only to be met with another pair staring back at him with a mix of worry and relief.

"Senpai! Thank goodness you're awake!"

The girl almost yelled in relief, tears forming in her eyes. She moved in and hugged the boy with all her might.

The girls who were watching started becoming jealous while Mash and Ritsuka blushed in embarrassment since the same thing happened with them.

This girl is… Mash. She's alive?

A moment passed before he realized. SHE'S ALIVE!

"Hugging you back!" The boy nearly jumped back at her, embracing someone he thought he had lost.

"Yes, good morning Master! I made it!" Mash said with a bright smile.

Despite their jealousy, even the girls couldn't help but smile at Mash's expression and the clear relief on Issei's face.

The boy let go of his kouhai and asked the question that was bothering him.

"Mashu… I… This is so wonderful! But, what happened to you?" The boy was greatly relieved that his kouhai was alive but was also intensely curious on how she survived Goetia's Noble Phantasm.

"Well… I really don't know myself. When I came to, I was standing at the Rayshift coordinates."

She cocked her head in thought. "I think I remember someone with a warm, kind voice sending me there, but I'm not sure."

She looked directly at the boy again. "I woke up to Fou's voice, and then I saw you running towards the Rayshift coordinates right in front of me. And something told me to reach my hand out and take yours… Fou, do you know anything?"

"Fou, fou?" The small white animal responded.

(Mash) Right, we never did figure out how I survived, did we?

(Ritsuka) No, we didn't.

(Asia) Did something happen?

The FGO crew explained the final singularity and how Mash had supposedly died but seemed to appear fine later.

(Issei) That's one hell of a story, but it's a good thing everything worked out.

(Da Vinci) Yeah, but it still bothers me not knowing how it happened.

(Mythos) I know how.

Mythos said so so casually that the group were at a loss for words. Ritsuka was the first to snap out of it.

(Ritsuka) How did Mashu survive?

(Mythos) Fou saved her.

Again, the FGO crew stared blankly at him while the DxD crew didn't know how the small animal they just saw on screen could have done such a thing.

(Mythos) I don't know if you knew this, but Fou was formerly Beast IV, or at least a Beast candidate. His power was tamed when Merlin turned him into a familiar. Even after he was released, he still had the Beast's power in him but was debating whether or not to turn on humanity still. That was when he found Chaldea and you guys. Him going on a journey with you all through the singularities showed him hope for humans, so when Mash died, he used all his power as a Beast to not only revive her but give her a normal human lifespan.

The group was amazed and the FGO crew decided to shower Fou with extra love and attention when they got back as a thank you.

"Ahem. Hey now you two, that's enough PDA for now. I know you're relieved to see Mash alive Fujimaru, but you're making the rest of the staff uncomfortable." A female voice came from the side of them.

Both Mash and the boy released each other, and the boy noticed that the entire staff was in the operations room with them.

(Ritsuka & Issei) Wait, why is his/my name Fujimaru?

(Mythos) So, funny thing. The only meddling I did was getting Issei summoned to that world. Everything else that happened was random chance. Even in a world without Fujimaru Ritsuka it seems like it noticed you were missing. So when Issei arrived, the world quickly tried to use him to fill in your role. As for how, you'll have to keep watching.

"Sorry Da Vinci, I was just…" His words started to falter as he began to feel embarrassed at the display he just did in front of everyone.

Da Vinci gave him an amused smile. "It's fine. After all, we thought she was gone too. It's a great relief we were wrong."

She gave the boy a once over before continuing to speak. "It took you almost an hour to wake up but your vitals look fine. Your magic circuits were stressed, you seem to be fatigued, and you have a bunch of small wounds all over your body but aside from that you seem to be fine. We're all glad you made it back in one piece."

Da Vinci spoke happily towards him, but soon started to speak in a more official manner.

"Master Ritsuka, congratulations on completing your mission! With your return and awakening, I am pleased to announce our Grand Order is now complete!"

With that said the staff released some party poppers and began cheering for the mission's success. Mash looked around in amazement, while Da Vinci looked at the pair in amusement.

"The staff and I prepared this beforehand for this exact moment, although there is only a few of us, it was never going to be a thunderous applause. Buuut we wanted to make it seem like a celebration. What do you think Fujimaru-kun?"

Ritsuka had tears forming at the corners of his eyes.

"It's great. I couldn't think of anything better than this."

He was happy that the people he had spent the last year fighting alongside could all be here to celebrate their victory… well almost everybody.

Mash stepped forward happily. "Everyone… thank you… so very much. It was only thanks to your hard work keeping Chaldea safe and in a place where Senpai and I were able to return. This victory belongs to the entire staff of Chaldea. Everyone here made this possible."

As everyone watched, the FGO group felt a sense of nostalgia, while the DxD group saw that everyone there was truly happy about ending whatever hardship they had been through.

(Micheal) Seems like you went through a stressful endeavor.

(Da Vinci) Stressful is underselling it, but it's a bit long to explain and I'm sure the videos will explain it eventually.

After that Da Vinci went over what happened after the defeat of Goetia and what the damages were, along with a need for Chaldea to report what happened to the higher ups.

"Now that the world is back to normal, we're going to have a lot of questions to answer as well as-" She was interrupted by a sudden red glow that appeared in the room.

Everyone turned to the light's source only to find that Ritsuka was glowing and seeming to fade away slowly. Ritsuka looked at his own hand, a tired smile appearing on his face.

"Seriously, is this some plot to an anime or something?" He said somewhat self-deprecating.

The girls were freaked out by this, never having seen something like this happen to Issei. Issei was also confused as to what was going on. The FGO group were more familiar with summoning but even they were a bit confused.

(Koneko) What's happening to Issei-senpai?!

"Senpai! What's happening to you!?" Mash almost yelled worriedly. She didn't seem to understand what she was seeing, mostly because it didn't make sense to her from what she knew.

Da Vinci on the other hand seemed to have an idea of what was happening. "You're going back, aren't you?" she said with a sad look in her eyes.

Mash looked between Da Vinci and her Senpai and seemed to come to a realization. "Senpai is returning to his own world!" she said with great sadness in her voice.

(Azazel) Now I'm beginning to see the set up. Issei was summoned to fulfill the role Ritsuka-kun was supposed to, and once he did, the universe spat him back out where he was supposed to be.

Ritsuka gave her a tired smile and spoke so that everyone in the room could hear.

"It seems so. I kinda had a feeling ever since Camelot, me and Ddraig talked about it for a bit and we felt like we were summoned here for a reason, although I didn't think it would be like from some isekai anime where once the job was done, I would be sent back to my home."

(Sirzechs) Ah, so Ddraig has awakened during all of this. That probably would have been a great help on your mission.

(Ritsuka) Who's Ddraig?

(Issei) He's a dragon whose soul is attached to mine. Because of that I have access to his powers.

(Da Vinci) That sounds quite useful.

He looked around the room before continuing. "Everyone, it's been fun working with all of you and I'm glad to have met you all."

He took a deep breath, and with power behind his eyes made this promise. "I promise to find a way back to everyone! After all, I'm sure there will be more work for us to do." He said with a wry smile on his face.

Both the DxD and FGO groups felt awe at the determined look on Issei's face. The DxD group felt like Issei had matured a great deal because of his experiences. The FGO group felt like this is how Ritsuka would have turned out if he had more power as a mage.

Everyone had one on as well and seemed to be content with his words. He then turned to Mash and took her hands into his.

"Mashu, we still have a bunch of trips to go on, just like we promised. So please wait for me." He tightened his grip.

Mash looked at her Senpai, smiling with tears rolling down her face. "Yes, Senpai! I will wait for you, so you better keep your promise."

The girls' looks turned from admiration to jealousy again, although they understood Mash's feeling just by the look on her face. Mash felt a bit embarrassed and when she looked over at Ritsuka she saw that he was slightly blushing too, probably thinking about all the things he and Mash talked about during their time together.

On the side Da Vinci tried asking while she could. "Do you think you will be able to do it?" She was concerned that he was making a promise he couldn't keep.

Ritsuka looked at Da Vinci barely hanging on to the current plane of existence.

"You got me here once, so I don't see why not. On top of that I came from 2007 in my world so if I'm going back then I at least have some time to work with. Of course, feel free to try and bring me back on your end." He chuckled weakly, exchanging smiles.

"Well, it looks like I can't stick around any longer. Until the next time we meet everyone, see ya." And with that he faded from the world.

Mash stood, staring at the spot where her Senpai once stood. "I will wait for you, even if I have to wait the rest of my life." She promised under her breath.

(Sirzechs) There was quite a bit to unpack there.

(Azazel) Right. It seems that the worlds aren't running parallel to each other. What year did this Grand Order happen?

(Da Vinci) 2015, and it took about a year to complete.

(Azazel) So almost a 10-year difference.

(Micheal) Not only that but Issei seemed to have been anticipating this event happening.

Everyone mulled over this information for a bit before Xenovia broke the silence.

(Xenovia) I can't say that I'm not a bit jealous with how Issei was looking at her. Sorry, your name was Mash, right?

(Mash) Y-yes.

(Ravel) Is that how you two are?

(Ritsuka) N-no, we're just close friends…

Ritsuka petered off at the end, a bit embarrassed. Da Vinci looked at the pair with a bit of exasperation, clearly wondering when they were gonna take the next step.

(Akeno) Close friends, huh? I've heard that one before.

Akeno and the other girls looked at Issei with small smiles. Issei looked away a bit embarrassed to be reminded of his denseness.

(Mythos) Alright, that's enough chit chat, let's move on to the next part… Actually, I have a question for you all.

The group looked at Mythos curious at what he wanted to ask.

(Mythos) Do you want to see what happened right when Issei got back or do we continue watching as is, because we're about to jump ahead again to a little before the beginning of this viewing. Basically, I'm asking if you wanna watch this chronologically or narratively?

The group sat in thought at Mythos' question. The first to answer was Da Vinci.

(Da Vinci) As curious as I am to see what happened when he got back, I have a feeling we're gonna see it anyway so we can come back to that later. Let's keep watching as is for now.

The others seemed to agree with her, so the viewing continued as the scene shifted.

Reaction, start! Since the first chapter was so short I decided to mash it and the second chapter together for this one. I want to hear your honest opinions about whether you all can follow this or if it's too confusing to tell apart what's the reaction and what's the story. I'm trying to find a balance and I'm unsure if it works. I'm open to advice if someone has a better suggestion on how to differentiate it. Also I cant just make one bold and the other not because I made some characters, (Ddraig), speak in bold so it would get confusing if I did it that way. Anyways, I look forward to the comments as always. : )