Chapter 415: The Villain is About to Explode
The vast universe makes Earth seem like nothing more than a speck of dust—insignificant. Yet, to humanity, it is a holy land capable of creating endless miracles.
Tick-tock, tick-tock. The clock turns; like a clear spring flowing from a mountain, once it bursts forth, it can only join the stream, never to turn back. Time hesitates, stuck in an endless dream. Like the woodcutter watching a game of chess, by the time he regained his senses, the handle of his axe had rotted away and the world had changed entirely. Like Urashima Taro, who was invited to the Dragon Palace, opening the box upon his return only to become a white-haired old man.
Shirou woke up and found himself in a small room with white walls. A circular lamp on the ceiling shone with a bright but non-glaring white light. Beside the white bed, there were curtains, layout reminiscent of a school infirmary.
Hiss. An automatic door opened from the outside.
"Good morning, Shirou. It is now the 22nd century; you have been asleep for a hundred years," a voice with a mechanical texture drifted toward the boy.
Shirou seemed to catch a glimpse of a long silver dragon tail. He struggled to move his paralyzed, limp limbs, sat up from the bed, and looked at the person who spoke, stunned.
"Um... you are Miss Elizabeth Bathory, right?" Shirou asked the silver-clad, reflective dragon girl, whose skin looked hard and rigid.
"To be precise, I am Alter Ego: Mechanical Eli-chan. Please address me as such. There are 10,086 units following in the sequence, so when in the presence of the other children, you may append 'Number Two' to my name," Mechanical Eli-chan Number Two said emotionlessly.
The creature was genuinely a robot. Her appearance was very similar to the girl Shirou had met who loved to sing, but her entire body was constructed of silver steel, and one could even see locked rivets on her face and body—undoubtedly a robot.
"By the way, is it really the 22nd century now?" Shirou looked around at the tech-heavy decor and then out the window at a boundless starry sky. The stars were enormous, their variegated outlines visible to the naked eye. Shirou had to believe it; he didn't seem to be on Earth.
"That was a lie. I merely wanted to experience what it feels like to act as a robot from the 22nd century," Mechanical Eli-chan Number Two said in an unwavering voice. Yet, Shirou still detected a (>v<) expression on her face.
"SHIROU————!!!!"
A long, loud shout echoed in the air outside the window. A white, blue, and gold humanoid robot, back-thrusters spewing blue-white flames, dived down toward the boy like a fighter jet. It smashed through the window and crashed inside.
"Good grief! Please stop increasing my workload; this is highly irrational," Mechanical Eli-chan Number Two remarked.
"Apologies, but that's why you are here, Eli-chan. I leave the cleaning and repairs to you," the humanoid robot said, its voice carrying an electromagnetic texture.
"Understood. However, according to the big data analysis collected by the smart computer, it would be more efficient to eliminate you—this trash—before cleaning. Shall I execute?" Eli-chan raised a fist, as if ready to launch it at any moment.
"No! Motion rejected! Eli-chan only needs to clean," the humanoid robot replied.
Shirou was confused by the sudden appearance of the second robot. What on earth was going on? Though it looked like a dangerous weapon—a humanoid Gundam—at this moment, Shirou felt a strangely familiar aura radiating from the armor covering it.
The robot disengaged its rabbit-like helmet, and the armor on its body retracted, revealing a familiar face and that distinct, stiff golden ahoge (hair antenna). It turned out that this was a new Spirit Origin construct Artoria had created to fit the style of a Galactic Police officer. The raw material was Avalon, and for greater convenience, she could use a unique skill to reverse time to one second prior to complete the equipping process. In a sense, it could be called an absolute defense.
"Artoria?" Shirou called out, puzzled as he saw her true face.
"This is a branch of the Galactic Space Guard. To defeat Saber, I have become a magnificent Space Police Officer! Any alien who poses a threat to humanity will be expelled by me. All Sabers will be arrested by me," Artoria said, patting her chest proudly.
"Saber is the main threat?" Shirou couldn't help but retort.
"In short, after three years of trials, I have finally managed to salvage you from the vastness of the universe!" Artoria claimed credit.
"Um... in any case, thank you."
"To protect you, Shirou, I have gathered reliable companions and established the Justice Machine Alliance here!"
"Machine?" Shirou looked at the others suspiciously. Although the words "Justice Machine" sounded cool, the people present didn't seem to fit the bill.
A swimsuit-clad girl with a unicorn horn on her forehead and her hair tied in buns looked at him with innocent, lovely eyes. Beside her was a girl with an identical appearance, though her long hair hung down to cover her eyes.
"That person has slept for a week and finally woken up. It seems the electroshock therapy worked," the bun-haired, unicorn girl said innocently.
"Gah!" The girl with the horn covering her eyes, who carried a large lightning-charged hammer, seemed to agree and nodded repeatedly.
Poof!! An elderly robot with steam venting from multiple holes in his punk-style head blinked green lights on his frame to express his agreement.
"Wait... when I was asleep, was I actually electrocuted?" Shirou stared at the blonde girl, looking incredulous.
"Precisely! Alternating current represents the hope and future of humanity!" A scientist who was part-machine and part-human shouted, arms crossed.
Meanwhile, in a group on the other side of Earth:
"Direct current is justice!!!" A sturdy, lion-headed humanoid opened his maw and let out a beastly roar.
"Why are you suddenly screaming?" people nearby asked, covering their ears in dissatisfaction.
"No! I just felt a certain malice. If I didn't say it, it felt like I was going to lose," said the怪人 (freak) with a lion's head, wearing tight superhero-style spandex.
This was a spacious auditorium with rows of chairs and a podium on the stage. The acoustics were decent, but the lion-headed man's roar had been too loud, making it all the more jarring.
On the high platform of the conference room, a purple-haired girl wearing office attire and glasses coughed to bring everyone's attention back to her. "Ahem. I believe there is no need for BB-chan to remind you; everyone already understands how critical the situation is, right?"
"Senpai... our Shirou-senpai has fallen into the hands of the enemy." BB-chan raised both hands in grief, slamming them heavily onto the podium, causing the microphone to buzz with feedback. "Every minute we delay, Senpai's chastity is at greater risk! What should we do now!?" BB-chan held up the microphone to the audience.
"Take him back!" "Take him back!!" "Charge in and take Shirou back!!"
The seated Servants were filled with righteous indignation, raising signs that read "Give back our Mama!", "Blood debt must be paid with blood!", "I want the Head Chef!", or waving their hands frantically, roaring with zeal.
"Good! Tonight, the Avengers Alliance will launch a desperate counterattack against the universe! We will bring Shirou-senpai back!" BB-chan shouted, raising a fist.
"OOOOHHHHHH!!!" The Servants let out a Celtic-style war cry.
Among the fanatical Servants were two special girls—one with orange side-tails, and one pink-haired bespectacled girl. Mash was intentionally hiding herself, trying not to be conspicuous. They had a mission here.
Not long ago, after experiencing the Incineration of Human Order and the white god incident, everything had returned to a normal world. Chaldea awaited contact from the Clock Tower while continuing its work of maintaining human order.
"A strange Singularity has appeared! Gudako, Mash, if you are ready, please assemble in the control room."
Da Vinci was looking at the screen, and beside her, a Servant was already waiting—the silver robot, Alter Eli-chan. "Eli-chan is currently the most reliable; she will act as your assistant," Da Vinci introduced.
"I must bring back Unit Two. Moreover, those over there—despite being robots—have all violated justice, so I must sanction and re-educate them. Gudako, my pilot."
"Mash, are you ready?" Gudako asked her kohai.
"Yes, Senpai," the pink-haired, bespectacled girl replied.
"Eli-chan, are you okay with this?" Gudako looked at the robotic girl.
"Yes! Pilot! All mechanical parts are perfectly maintained!" Eli-chan answered.
"Mm, then let's go," Gudako said.
"This situation is very special. The Singularity isn't in the past, but in the future. What lies within is still an unknown, so I leave it all to you," Da Vinci said.
"Mm! Leave it to us!" Gudako agreed readily.
But...
But at that moment, Gudako joined in with the others, raising her fist and shouting loudly: "I want Mama! I want Mama!"
"Senpai? Guda-senpai? Do you remember why we came here? Isn't it to solve the Singularity? Why are you holding a sign too?" Mash asked in a whisper, lowering her head.
"Because this is fun!" Gudako turned back, looking as if it were a matter of course.
"..." Mash didn't know what to say.
While Shirou-senpai had not yet been found and was sleeping in some corner of the universe, everything was peaceful. At Chaldea, the red Emiya-senpai and the black Emiya-senpai had both returned. Chaldea should have been flourishing and starting to develop. However, neither humans nor Servants were ever satisfied; the significance of "their own" Shirou, the chef for all of Chaldea, was entirely different. Gudako had clearly promised Da Vinci she would work hard, but now she had become one of the agitators. Mash muttered to herself that while she understood, she couldn't help but sigh.
While the Servants on Earth were sharpening their blades, preparing to rush into space to rescue Shirou, the people in space were completely unaware, indulging in luxury and pleasure.
When BB-chan opened the path to the alien world and led the army in an assault, the unprepared mechanical-tribe Servants hadn't even noticed the enemy before they were knocked to the ground. It should have been a tense clash of kings, yet no one expected it to be so one-sided.
As BB led the Servants in a charge, nearing the Galactic Branch, they found a giant humanoid weapon standing there. They had assumed it was a statue, but it unfolded its wings, lifted its legs, and kicked the invading Servants away. The ones who had assumed they held the advantage suddenly realized they were the ones in the most danger.
"WAAAAHHH!!!" The giant Mechanical Eli-chan Number Two emitted sonic waves from its steel mouth and fired lasers from its eyes, blasting the incoming Servants away one by one.
Mechanical Eli-chan Number One stood up. "This is too reckless! Number Two's management of the giant Eli-chan is a complete disaster. As expected, it should have been handed over to me to take control!"
"By the way, Eli-chan, why didn't you choose this side? After all, this side is more suitable for robots like you, isn't it?" Gudako asked curiously.
"Pilot, BB also belongs to the Artificial Intelligence side of machines. But this is no longer a simple issue; it is a battle of convictions."
Indeed, this was no longer a simple contest; it was a duel between machines and humans, a choice between justice and vengeance.
"Alternating current is justice!" "Direct current is supreme!"
The lion-head and the cyborg struck each other's chests, neither willing to yield an inch.
"Uh... let us ignore them! Pilot! Sit on my back, and we will defeat that giant Eli-chan!" the Mechanical Dragon-girl said.
"Ohh!"
BANG!!
The giant robot fired lasers from its eyes, sweeping toward the flying Eli-chan and Gudako.
"Woah!" Eli-chan made a sharp turn, adjusting its wings to dodge the attack, and pressed toward the robot's face.
"What do we do now?" Gudako asked, puzzled.
"Give me five minutes!" Eli-chan said.
"Eh eh?"
The giant robot tried to shake Gudako and Eli-chan off.
"Done! I've hacked in!" Eli-chan said.
The giant robot stopped functioning instantly.
"Wait! Guda-senpai, isn't that mechanical giant's chest flashing a red light?" Mash noticed something and warned her.
"Could it be the kind that gets beaten up all the first half, only to be at its most dangerous when the red light starts flashing?" Gudako looked at the giant robot's chest, confused.
"No, as a robot, that looks more like a warning alarm before an explosion," Eli-chan said.
"Eh? EH! RUN!" Gudako screamed, pulling Eli-chan and Mash back into the passage they had used to enter.
"What's wrong?" The still-fighting Servants looked at the fleeing Gudako in bewilderment.
BOOM!
A massive explosion swallowed everything on the battlefield, blowing all the Servants into the sky.
"As expected, for a giant weapon, there must always be an explosion at the end," Mechanical Eli-chan Number Two, who was tending to Shirou in the infirmary, said with apparent satisfaction.
"Eh?"
Shirou, lying in bed, watched the fireworks outside the window, wearing a blank expression. As for his fate thereafter, he had nothing to say.
Read ahead (60 chapters) by supporting me on buymeacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting
Announcement
I'm happy to announce that there are 2 new Fanfiction!
Hachiman wants to escape the Romantic Minefield in COTE
Why are Yukino and Yui in this school too?!
To ensure a comfortable future, Hikigaya Hachiman chose to attend a highly advanced high school with a 99% college entrance and employment rate.
However, upon entering, Hachiman immediately noticed something was amiss.
Karuizawa : "If... you hadn't been there back then, I probably wouldn't have made it..."
Kushida Kikyo: "Hachiman-kun, if you dare tell anyone about what happened in middle school, I'll make sure you can't stay here!"
Yui: "Hachiman... if the lights are off, can't you just pretend I'm Ichinose-kun?"
Yukino: "Hachiman-kun, it seems you need to explain how many people you've messed with since transferring schools!"
Shirou's multiverse selves
"I've actually been reborn ten years in the past, during the Fourth Holy Grail War."
Realizing this, countless ideas flooded Shirou's mind. Just as he was about to put them into action, Shirou suddenly found himself in a space filled with white mist, where he encountered two other versions of himself.
But these versions have different powers and their world are familliar, and with only a touch we can share memories and powers.
Massive Multi-Crossovers and multi protagonist(the protagonist are the various Shirou in their world)
One Piece, FGO, Food Wars, Slime Tensei, Fairy Tail and more