Fate/Marvel: Chaldea Descend

( Ken POV )

The restaurant smelled like garlic butter, overcooked steak, and pine needles. Christmas lights twinkled overhead, wrapped around plastic wreaths and tinsel that probably hadn't been dusted since the 90s. A mangled rendition of Jingle Bell Rock crackled through the speakers, competing with the clatter of dishes and someone thunderous chewing.

Munch. Munch. MUNCH.

I stabbed a fry with more force than necessary, watching as the lion cub inhaled her tenth plate of ribs. Bones vanished into her bottomless stomach like it was a real black hole.

Across the table, Ushiwakamaru sipped her tea with the grace of a samurai and the judgment of a disappointed friend.

"Munch... munch... MORE!" Mordred declared with a muffled voice, her cheeks puffed out as she devoured her tenth plate of steak.

"Barbarian..."

"Eat slowly, Mordred-san."

"Pfft, you sound like an old lady, Mash!"

"Fufu~ Laura-chan, you need protein to heal!" Da Vinci chirped, sliding another steak onto her plate. "Eat up! My treat~! Waiter! Twenty more serving please!"

Laura—X-23—sat stiffly between Da Vinci and Mordred. Ever since she'd woken up from her injuries, she'd been tense and irritable, but at least tonight she was eating without growling at anyone. That's a progress.

Lorna and Domino sat at the next booth, half-hidden by a plastic poinsettia. Lorna kept glancing at us, her emerald eyes wide with a mix of awe and horror. Domino just smirked, twirling a fry between her fingers.

The tower of plates on our table was beginning to defy gravity. Waiters and other diners gawked at us, their eyes wide with disbelief.

"I-is this okay?" Lorna, seated at a nearby table with Domino, asked nervously. "Wouldn't people recognize us?" She shot a wary glance at a couple of patrons filming with their phones.

Domino smirked. "I've seen some weird stuff, but you guys take the cake." Her eyes narrowed at Mordred's plate-cleaning speed. "Quite literally."

I sighed inwardly, thankful for the spells Da Vinci had cast earlier. Our appearances were subtly altered to avoid any recognition. Still, I couldn't help but imagine tomorrow's headlines if we are somehow discovered: Starving Wild Princess Empties LA Restaurant Without Paying Money.

'People would think Chaldea's a poor and incompetent organization if they saw this mess,' I thought.

'Sigh, thankfully there is no one recognizing us so far. All hail magic.'

It had been a few days since the raid on the Facility. Lorna and Domino had decided to join our road trip, and even the irritable little wolf—Laura—had woken up just in time for Christmas.

Today was December 23rd, 2005—just a day before Christmas and Da Vinci had taken us to Los Angeles to relax before we moved on to our next destination.

"Ma~ Ma~ Don't worry, Lorna. No one's breaking our disguise, not even a meta," Da Vinci assured her with a lazy wave of her hand. "Just enjoy the trip."

"Here's your refill, Senpai." Mash set a fresh glass of Coke in front of me. She didn't have to, but she always liked to take care of things before I even asked.

'What a perfect waifu material,' I thought, not for the first time. 'Be patient, Junior-kun.'

"Thanks, Mash," I said, taking a sip. She returned a warm smile before turning her attention back to Laura.

Laura was still quiet, but at least she wasn't growling. Despite all our explanations, she remained guarded. Even with the help from other metas like Lorna and Domino.

Communication was limited to rare nods or the occasional animalistic snarl if we said something she didn't like. Still, there was progress. She wasn't hostile tonight, which was a win in my book.

"By the way, where's Kadoc and Anastasia?" I asked, setting my glass down. "Weren't they supposed to meet us here?"

Da Vinci's mischievous grin immediately raised my internal alarms. "Fufufu, why are you asking such an obvious question, Master?"

"I.."

'Masaka…' I thought as a dozen possibilities flooded my mind. A beautiful, awkward, cold girl paired with a pessimistic, sarcastic yet warm-hearted guy, a tsundere. It was like the setup for a cheap TV rom-com.

"Hee… Didn't expect a guy like him to score a date with that icy woman," Domino snickered.

"Hmm? I thought that was quite obvious. Since the first time I saw them when they rescue us, I thought they're a couple." Lorna nodded.

'Good guy… He moves fast,'

I thought, speechless at their lightning-speed development. It had taken me years to make progress with Hinako and nine perilous singularities just to have a shot at courting Mash.

Mash tilted her head, innocent as a lamb. "Da Vinci-chan, are you saying they're dating now?" The clueless Mash asked, astonished.

"Maybe," she shrugged, "I could only say, Kadoc youth is about to bloom. Even if confront them about their relationship, with their characters none of them would even acknowledge it." 

"Is that so..." Mash murmured thoughtfully. "Indeed, Kadoc would never tell us if we pestered him for answers. I can only wish them the best." She replied, smiling with the most sincere smile she ever had.

After a few moments of silence, I chugged the rest of my Coke and stood up.

"Hm? Senpai, wha—" Mash began, but I held up a hand to stop her.

"I'm going out for a while. Just stay here with the others."

Da Vinci and Ushiwakamaru both looked like they were about to protest, but I cut them off. "Don't worry. I'm just buying something for guys at the mansion. I'll meet you at the Border later."

Before they could press further, I turned and headed for the exit.

"Weird," Domino muttered.

"What's he up to?" Lorna asked, arching a brow.

"Munch… Bah, let him be. He's an adult." Mordred said through a mouthful of food. "One less person here means more food for me. WAITERS, WHERE'S MY PIZZA?!"

...

The snow fell softly around me as I trudged through the bustling streets of Los Angeles. The lights from nearby stores bathed the sidewalks in hues of red, green, and gold. Laughter and the occasional burst of music spilled out of open doors as people enjoyed the holiday season. While other are going out searching for a discount sale in place like Wallmart.

Turning down a narrow alleyway a couple of blocks from the restaurant, I stopped in a quiet, shadowed space tucked away from prying eyes. It wasn't much—a narrow strip between two buildings with a couple of dumpsters and some old posters peeling off the walls.

I placed my hand against the rough wall, before I put a simple Bounded Field around me, preventing things from outside for interrupting me and things from inside from leaking out and being discovered from others.

After checking that everything is secured, I rubbed my hands together, breathing out a puff of visible air. My heart raced with anticipation.

"Yosh, time for a gacha."

Yes, gacha. This was one of the reasons I left the group at the restaurant and decided to venture here alone. After analyzing the composition of my team from the previous battle, it became clear that I lacked a servant capable of delivering proper AoE damage. This was especially problematic when facing Warren's clones in the last battle.

I mean, Mordred could perform an AoE attack if she unleashed her NP, but the surrounding would get destroyed, and we would get buried alongside it if that happened. So, she isn't a proper AoE damage dealer for most occasions.

I brought up my System interface, and a familiar screen flickered to life in front of me:

[ Summon

- Proper Human History Summon Banner (3SQ= 1 Pull; 30SQ= 11 Pull)

- Losbelts Summon Banner (3SQ= 1 Pull; 30SQ= 11 Pull)

- BEAST Summon Banner (Temporaly Unavaible.)

- Katsushika Hokusai & Abilgail Williams Summon Banner (Limited Time: 3 days)

- Yang Guifei Summon Banner (Limited Time: 6 days)

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Currency:

- Saint Quartz: 39

- Saint Quartz Fragment: 6

- Quantum Piece: 311.000 ]

After pulling up my System, I immediately rushed to the summoning menu and eagerly scanned the available banners.

My SQ reserves were looking quite promising, having managed to grind out the missions for weeks. The last Facility mission alone had granted me 9 SQ. I had also discovered that as long as my servant completed the mission for me, it still counted towards completion.

As I examined the two limited-time banners, I could only grit my teeth in annoyance.

I really wanted to pull from this banner, but the potential consequences made me hesitate. If I managed to summon one of them, I feared that the outer gods associated with them would closely follow. The last thing I needed was an unexpected visit from a certain bald watchdog. Reluctantly, I decided to skip it, knowing that the risk was simply too great.

"Let's just pull an archer for Proper Human History."

As I spent 3 SQ for one pull, the summoning circle suddenly appeared right in front of me with dazzling light. The crackling light and intense winds raged around me, but thanks to the Bounded Field, it didn't affect the outside world.

"Hahaha, that's it! Just like when I summoned Mordred!" I exclaimed, my voice brimming with excitement as the radiant light momentarily blinded my vision. I closed my eyes, feeling the anticipation build within me.

After a few moments, the brilliance of the light began to subside, and the summoning circle gradually faded away. Eager to see my new servant, I opened my eyes, my heart pounding with excitement. However, the sight that greeted me was...

"WHAT THE FAKKK!!!"

My roar of anger echoed through the Bounded Field as I took in the scene before me. What lay in front of me was a very simple-looking sword, but not really a sword as its body was too thick and not long enough. I usually saw this thing wielded by church people when they're hunting ghosts.

"Why?! Why does this damn thing haunt me in both the real world and the game?! The BLACK fucking KEY—the bane of every hopeful Master. Damn it, this should be illegal."

"WHY!?"

I kept complaining and cursing like a lunatic for what felt like an eternity before finally throwing the damn thing back into my inventory.

"I don't believe I can't pull even one servant from the banner! AGAIN!" I muttered in frustration.

Determined, I spent another 3 SQ for another pull. The process was the same—intense light and winds, bla bla bla. After a few seconds, another weird thing materialized in front of me.

"Are you fucking kidding me!?" I exclaimed in disbelief.

A box full of purplish-black sands stood where the Black Key had previously been. From the quantity and quality of the materials inside the box, any magus from Chaldea would have appreciated it.

But not me!

"Why is it the Void Dust this time? Are the gacha mechanics just like the real game? Do I need to spend hundreds of SQ to pull a real servant?"

Despite my urge to yell and curse to vent my rage, I forced myself to calm down and analyze the situation. I glanced at the remaining 33 SQ, recalling my abysmal E-EX luck stats.

"You know what, let's pull it one more time," I decided, hoping for a change in fortune.

Another SQ was spent, and another round of gambling commenced. Same light, same effect...

Same luck...

"It's real... Pfftt, Wahahahahahah—"

Cough... Cough...

Once again, the newly summoned item was not a servant but a box full of colorful steel that looked quite beautiful. It was none other than Aurora Steel, an ascension material used in the game. In the real world, this material was also valuable for most magus.

"Sigh, so the last time I summoned Mordred during Magneto's attack was purely coincidence? Or was it a beginner benefit from the system?" I wondered aloud.

I could only smile wryly at the thought. It seemed like my luck was even worse than my boy Cu's. If that was the case, then I would just have to work harder to grind more Saint Quartz.

But before that...

With renewed determination to "protect" the Earth, and not just for the waifu, I spent the remaining 30 SQ, emptying my wallet once again.

But this time, the summoning circle ignited with a more dazzling radiance, accompanied by a golden light. I could sense that something amazing was about to emerge.

I believed it wouldn't be another three-star servant like Robin Hood and his gang, which I already had in my inventory but hadn't summoned due to various circumstances.

"This is it, this is it! I can feel it! This round of summoning will be my jackpot, hahaha!" I exclaimed with excitement.

"C'mon baby, come to daddy!"

As I recited the whole incantation, the summoning circle reached its peak, blinding me and everything around with a golden light. The alleyways lit up like a goddamn Christmas tree because of it.

After the light subsided, I started to open my eyes, wishing for an early Christmas gift from the obese Santa. Sure enough, what I found left me stunned in my place.

.....

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A/N: Please donate your power stones and leave more reviews for my story, I appreciate it and thank you for your support!