Chapter III – Okeanos, Sea of Mortal Entombment.
Darkness.
A dream? Ritsuka was dreaming.
"Hey! Your name is Francis, you utter idiot. You thought I wouldn't recognize you?"
A familiar voice sounded from somewhere, but its owner was not visible. However, Ritsuka saw a man who, reacting to these words, looked straight ahead with indescribable fury.
"Oh, yes, this is the face I wanted to see. Your name was on the tag in the laundry. Ajax? Since when did fabric softener names become cool pseudonyms, huh, Francis?"
In Francis's eyes, provoked by the familiar voice, fierce malice flared. However, he immediately gave a crooked smile and dragged Ritsuka somewhere behind him.
"I have to admit, you held up well during the experiments. But this time it will be different. Since you know my name, you'll have to pay the price."
Francis shoved the tightly bound prisoner into a capsule.
"This is a torture device. It will slowly drain the oxygen, leaving only the bare minimum. As soon as you pass out, the supply will resume, and so on until you lose consciousness again. Forever."
"Oh, I see, you were so upset by that girly name. You shouldn't have lied with your silly pseudonym. You should have thought of your parents who named you that..."
"Shut up, you bastard!"
The mountain of muscle in female form standing nearby suddenly delivered a crushing blow with her fist.
"Well, say it again. What's my name?"
Francis closed the capsule hatch with a malicious grin.
"You're lucky, tomorrow is the weekend. Exactly. No one will come here until next week. Have a pleasant weekend."
As soon as Francis disappeared, it began to feel as if the remaining oxygen in the capsule was slowly depleting. His breath caught. It became impossible to take even a tiny breath. His heart pounded wildly, and his lungs moved convulsively in an attempt to catch even a drop of air.
"Kha! Kh-h... Gha-a! A-a-a!!"
Ritsuka heard the scream of a man wailing from sudden pain. And then he remembered the name.
Wade Wilson.
"Hey, kid, the grub's here. Eat up."
Ritsuka opened his eyes – a familiar ceiling. Doctor Romani's infirmary. Right, he had been injured. He muttered this to himself, looking at his right hand: the cast had already been removed, but the recovery process was still ongoing.
"What are you staring at? Someone's working their butt off, and this 'Master' is just lying around because of a broken arm. Lucky you. Want to switch? I'll give you my cancer cells and healing factor."
Deadpool, who had brought a tray of food and was grumbling at Emiya, who had once again puzzled him with something, looked with displeasure at the lounging Ritsuka.
"Wade, have you ever had dreams?"
To Ritsuka's question, Deadpool made a face as if the guy had said something incredibly stupid.
"What? What dreams? About me becoming Superman? Or marrying Spidey? About me being a handsome actor from Canada? Or about me acting in a movie in a green suit? Ugh, damn... that last dream was really creepy."
"Ah, no, never mind."
Ritsuka decided not to talk about what he had just seen.
Servants are spiritual entities; they don't need sleep and don't have dreams. But if it happens, they share them with the Master to whom they are bound.
Because of this, the Master can sometimes see the Servant's memories of his past life in his dreams.
"Eat up. I'm leaving."
Emiya's special dietary menu for the sick: a balanced amount of carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, and fiber. Everything you need for health.
"Enjoy your meal."
As soon as he swallowed a spoonful of porridge, to which sauce had been added so it wouldn't seem too bland...
"Waa-a-a!! HOT-T-T!!"
It was Deadpool's signature "Inferno-Jalapeño" sauce.
"I hope you delivered lunch to Master without incident."
"Of course."
"I thought I heard a scream from the infirmary."
"Probably the snake princess came to visit."
Emiya, who had asked Deadpool to look after Ritsuka's lunch, interrogated him suspiciously. The latter behaved extremely suspiciously: he innocently averted his gaze and whistled something.
"I don't care how you usually tease him, but Master is sick right now. At least observe basic decency."
"Yeah, yeah, mommy~"
Deadpool demonstratively picked his ear, letting Emiya's words go in one ear and out the other. Emiya hated this, but since he was holding him tightly by his sore spot, he had no choice but to comply.
"Oh, Mr. Pool! And Mama... I mean, Mr. Emiya."
Mash, passing by, called out to both of them.
"Mash, please, stop calling me 'mommy.' I have a perfectly respectable true name – Emiya."
"But Mr. Pool said..."
When Mash pointed at Deadpool, the latter, catching Emiya's scorching gaze, immediately babbled, addressing the girl:
"When did I ever ask you to call him mommy! (Continue.) Someone might think I'm bullying someone. (That's exactly what I'm doing, so don't stop.) Bullying people is the lot of bad guys! (I'm a damn bad guy, so keep calling him mommy.) Promise me you won't joke like this anymore! (Never admit that I taught you this.)"
"I can hear everything, you know!"
Emiya couldn't stand it and roared. However, when Deadpool discreetly showed him a photo with a fragment of his shameful past, he had to swallow his anger.
"However, Mash, did something happen? You just ate."
Mash came to her senses, remembering the matter:
"Da Vinci-chan is looking for you. I was just going for Senpai."
Assembly at Da Vinci's.
All the Servants registered in Chaldea, including Ritsuka, gathered in one hall.
"Hello! How are you doing? Romani is completely exhausted analyzing data on the Magus Pillars, so I sent him to rest. And what about Ritsuka?"
The friendly Da Vinci-chan, noticing Ritsuka's swollen lips, cast a look at Deadpool, full of certainty about who was to blame. Deadpool diligently avoided her eyes and whistled at the ceiling.
"Is it so fun to bully the injured?"
"I-I had nothing to do with it."
When even Emiya looked at him with bloodshot eyes, Deadpool faltered slightly.
"Th-the porridge was like that on its own! I didn't... oops!"
While he was desperately trying to justify himself, a small bottle labeled "Special Inferno-Jalapeño Sauce" fell out of his pants leg.
"Mash, it hurts..."
"Yes, Senpai. I'll pat it now, it'll feel better."
Mash comforted the sobbing Ritsuka. And Deadpool...
"Now, taste your own medicine!!"
"Kha! Kho-ho! Kha-a!!"
"I'm already level forty! You'll pay for everything you've done, you'll burn in the flames of my love!"
"A-a! O-o! U-u!"
"This is torture by Justin Bieber songs. The ten-hour version, enjoy it to your heart's content...!"
"No! Not Bieber! He's Canadian, why-y-y!!"
Da Vinci-chan, Kiyohime, and Emiya, the three of them, administered justice to Deadpool. His tongue burned from the sauce, his stomach churned, Kiyohime scorched his crotch, and blood streamed from his ears from ten hours of Bieber.
"If you get caught again, our deal is off, just so you know!"
The commotion ended with a stern warning from Da Vinci.
"Heh-heh. What a funny picture, just like a real family."
Boudica, watching this with a motherly smile, briefly shared her impressions.
"Well, in a way, they are indeed friends. Although it's a bit noisy," replied the tall Servant standing next to her, wearing a cloak and a bone mask, Hassan of the Cursed Arm.
"Ahem, ahem! In short, I've gathered you all here to explain something."
Having restored order, Da Vinci-chan handed Ritsuka and Deadpool wrist communicators.
"Ritsuka, this is an updated version of the device you had before. Now communication is possible within the same time and space. With its help, you can track each other's location, even if you get separated."
To avoid incidents like those that happened in Septem, she upgraded the devices: now they allowed communication and coordinate determination at any distance within a single Singularity.
"For Ritsuka, I added another button."
Ritsuka noticed an additional button on the side panel of the device.
"Even with you and Deadpool, the danger of the next Singularities will only grow. Mash is still learning, and we can't always rely solely on Deadpool. Therefore, I created a special emergency summoning device – 'Made in Fate'."
"Made in Fate" is a simplified version of the "Fate" Heroic Spirit summoning system installed in Chaldea. At the cost of one Command Seal, Ritsuka can instantly summon a Servant from Chaldea.
Although the summoning method through Mash's shield already existed, this was a tool specifically for critical situations.
"Remember: the price is one Command Seal, so use it wisely. Especially since we don't know if the Servants in the new Singularity will be friendly towards us!"
Ritsuka nodded, accepting Da Vinci's advice.
"And finally. A conceptual garment to protect Ritsuka-chan."
It was a poncho made of black fabric. However, unlike ordinary clothing, a faint magical energy flowed over it. As soon as the poncho was put on, the nagging pain in his right hand began to subside.
"It slowly heals the wearer's wounds, absorbs blows, and provides protection. We cannot allow a repeat of what happened."
"Thank you, Da Vinci-chan."
Difficult battles awaited ahead. Now he had only suffered minor injuries, but death could lurk at every step. Da Vinci smiled, but deep down, she was very worried about him.
"And for me, there's nothing?"
Deadpool, who suddenly appeared, pouted, finding no gifts for himself. Da Vinci just sighed – even such a beating hadn't brought him to his senses.
"No."
"Why not?"
"You have guns, swords, you're a Servant, and practically immortal. What else do you need?"
"Well, at least give me a transformation belt!"
"Ra-a-aid... Da Vinci-kick!"
A sudden kick from Da Vinci-chan caught Deadpool by surprise.
"Phew... Any questions from the Servants?"
Looking at Da Vinci dealing with the negligent Servant, the others merely shook their heads, indicating they had no questions.
"Well then, Ritsuka-chan, Mash-chan, Dead-poop, to your places!"
"Why am I poop? Oh-oh!"
For another complaint, an electric shock coursed through his backside.
"The era is 1573, a great ocean called the edge of the world. Enjoy the sights of the sea during the Age of Discovery!"
"What?! This is exactly like 'Pirates of the Carib...'"
Ignoring Deadpool's next remark, Da Vinci launched Leishift, and the trio disappeared in a flash of transfer.
***
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