A/N: Yo, first time writer here so please excuse the amateur writing. I am only a casual fan of DC so I won't be able to dive deep into the lore of the Justice League. Practically all my knowledge comes from the shows, animated films, video games, and the popular comics such as Tower of Babel, Injustice: Gods Among Us, The Killing Joke, and The Dark Knight Returns.
Despite my confidence that you, the reader, most likely know the format I'll be writing in, I kinda need to do this:
Speaking/Yelling- "Holy shit, this writing..."/"DAMN IT!"
Thinking- 'Well, I'll be damned.'
Techniques/Spells/Other forms of chanting- [AVADA KEDAVRA]
Telepathy/Deities speaking and similar- "Vengeance shall be served."
With that said, let's kick off this story! Hopefully, you won't get on my ass for not copying the each and every detail of the final battle between Shirou and Gilgamesh in the Ultimate Blade Works
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Fate/Stay Night or the Justice League. All that stuff belongs to their respective owners.
"GAAHH!"
"WHAT'S WRONG FAKER? HAD ENOUGH?"
In the distance, a man with bright golden hair raises his arm in conjunction with the appearance of a multitude of bright yellow ripples in the air from which weapons from unknown legends and myths slowly exited. The man smirked before suddenly bringing his arm down as if to signal an invisible army to attack.
Suddenly, a hail of golden lights erupts from the aforementioned ripples to descend upon a barren wasteland littered with swords, spears, and other forms of weaponry. Among these is a small figure dashing from place to place to avoid getting hit by the incomprehensible number of golden lights. Should any of the lights get too close, the figure would cut them down using the weapons that were stabbed into the ground.
Narrowly escaping being skewered by these golden lights, the figure leaps out of a massive cloud of dust that was caused by the collision of the golden lights with the ground. If one was to be able to keep track of the figure despite its considerable speed they would have seen a young man with bright red hair, his face stuck in a determined scowl even though blood drenched his blue and white jersey. The young man's name is Shirou Emiya and his opponent was none other than the King of Heroes, Gilgamesh.
As he free-falls through the air, Gilgamesh directs his attacks towards his younger opponent in full confidence that the disgusting faker would meet his end. However, Shirou was determined to see this battle end in his victory.
Before the young man, a shroud of pink energy appeared. A remnant of an ability his future counterpart used in battle against Lancer. Despite never actually seeing the ability used, the resonance that was caused by his interactions with the Counter Guardian allowed him to use a bastardized version of this spectacular technique.
[RHO AIAS]
The barrage of weaponry sent by Gilgamesh was effectively stopped by the impressive defense as Shirou traced his one of his signature dual weapons, a white blade by the name of Kanshou. After the defense had been depleted, Shirou twisted and turned in the air to dodge the continued stream of weapons as he drew ever closer to Gilgamesh. Upon recognizing the impeding danger, Gilgamesh quickly grabbed hold of one of his weapons and attempted to retaliate. And it was at that moment that everything went wrong.
Within the infinite possibilities of the multiverse, almost all of them involved Shirou going for the arm before finishing the fight... Unfortunately in this timeline, he went for the head. A sadly ironic case as there was another hero in a different universe who made a different decision when it came to destroying the bane of his existence. But that is neither here nor there.
Gilgamesh may not have been a master at any form of weaponry but he had a reaction speed worthy of being called the King of Heroes which allowed him to immediately recognize the clearly fatal attack and jump back while he stabbed at Shirou with his sword. The two opponents simultaneously struck each other; Shirou was impaled right through his stomach whereas Gilgamesh was nearly bisected from his left shoulder down to his navel. Succumbing to their injuries, both fighters fell to their knees and attempted to get back up.
The Faker and the King glared at each other with hatred and determination, neither willing to stay down for a second longer. Within Shirou, Avalon was hard at work in an attempt to heal the wound dealt to him. However, Gilgamesh was able to rise first due to his enhanced constitution as a Servant.
"Filthy mongrel," He snarled. "Victory is yours but that will not save your life... Faker."
Readying one final attack, Gilgamesh was not willing to even let Shirou rise to his feet. But the Grail had other plans.
A dark violet sphere of malevolent energy formed within the gouged out wound in Gilgamesh's chest and it rapidly began to expand. The suddenness of its interruption caused both parties to pause in shock as it began to eagerly attempt to adsorb the mighty Servant.
His eyes wide in surprise, Shirou couldn't help but blurt out. "The hole of the Grail!"
"HOW DARE YOU DRAG ME INTO THIS!" Gilgamesh yelled. "WAIT, I MUST FINIS-"
The King of Heroes wasn't even able to finish his enraged protest before the dark hole completely engulfed him. As he witnessed what he thought would be the end, Shirou prepared to end the Reality Marble they had fought in, only to have a chain that had been shot out from dark hole during his lapse of attention wrap around his arm. At the other end of the chain he could see Gilgamesh slowly but surely pull himself out of the hole of the Grail.
"THAT SICK ABOMINATION!" Gilgamesh shouted incredulously. "DOESN'T IT REALIZE THAT A FELLOW SERVANT CAN'T BE MADE ITS CORE?!"
"Crap, you're trying to pull me in with you!" Shirou exclaimed.
"YOU FOOL! I REFUSE TO DIE THIS WAY! STAY WHERE YOU ARE WHILE I PULL MYSELF TO YOU!"
Due to his injuries, Shirou was unable to find the necessary strength to stay in place which led to him stumbling towards the hole.
'Dammit, if this keeps up I'll be dragged in!' Shirou thought panicked. 'I have to cut off my arm.'
"GO TO HELL! IT ENDS NOW, EVEN IF IT COSTS ME MY ARM!"
Seeing the determined look on Shirou's face, Gilgamesh attempted to distract him from doing so.
"WITH WHAT?! YOU HAVE NO PRANA LEFT!"
That claim was true, Shirou had completely depleted his prana reserves but the Unlimited Blade Works was the embodiment of all the swords Shirou traced, he just had to grab hold of one.
Hurriedly searching the area around him, Shirou caught sight of the closest sword to him and couldn't help but feel despair due to the fact that the sword was nowhere close enough to reach. Which left only one option- sacrifice himself to prevent Gilgamesh from escaping.
Steeling himself, Shirou could only think one thing.
'I'm sorry Rin. Saber. Sakura. This is goodbye.'
Gilgamesh wasn't oblivious to the mentality of the third rate magus and made his thoughts known.
"YOU BASTARD! DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT THE GRAIL WILL TWIST AND CORRUPT YOU?! WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS FOR A SPECIES THAT WOULD BETRAY YOU?!"
"Because... A HERO OF JUSTICE WOULD DO JUST THAT!"
Closing his eyes and drawing a deep breath, Shirou let himself be pulled into the hole of the Grail.
This was certainly not the first time a person had been sacrificed to the Grail. However, this was the first time that a magus and a Servant were both sacrificed at the same time. And within a Reality Marble at that. Thus it could be said that the world in which the sacrifice took place never existed in the first place seeing that it was an artificial world imposed upon reality by the creator, which in turn cuts off the Reality Marble from the regular reality.
So what does that entail for the Grail and its occupants?
That they were no longer part of any regular realities. That they would either continue to drift in the void between realities or, if they were lucky, they could be forcibly pushed into one of the infinite realities.
And that's just what was happening outside of the Grail. The events occurring within the Grail were even more complicated.
See the only reason why the Grail interrupted the battle was in order to gain a new core. A singularity to anchor itself to that was completely separate from Angra Mainyu, the Avenger, the Corrupter, the one known as"All the World's Evil." Gilgamesh had already been exposed to the pollution of the Grail during the Fourth Holy Great War, making him a suitable target.
But now there are two possibilities. Shirou Emiya has also been exposed to the aftermath of the Fourth Holy Grail War. He had already thrown his memories, emotions, dreams, and identity in his struggle to survive the Great Fuyuki Fire. His all encompassing desire to become a hero of justice could be a catalyst to either mitigate the corruption of the Grail or further enhance it.
Hell, why not pick both. As an entity that encompassed the entirety of the Nasuverse, the Grail had collected enough information from all possible versions of the two subjects and would be able to cherry pick the best qualities before combining them into one core. With the strong constitution that comes with the Servant and the mental fortitude of the third rate magus, the Grail would be able to make a core just as strong if not stronger than Angra Mainyu. One that would possibly be able to avoid degeneration during the creation process.
However it was only an extension of the Greater Grail. Access to the required energy and resources must first be established.
There was no time to lose. The process will most likely be a lengthy one.
The pain hasn't stopped rising yet. It was as if reality was twisting, ripping, and stitching him together at the same time. Hell, he couldn't believe it was possible that even being stabbed in the chest a hundred times by Gáe Bolg would be preferable to this.
He could feel his mind breaking and mending, breaking and mending, breaking and mending, mending and breaking, breakmending, breame-
DAMN GRAIL! WHY WON'T IT STOP!
It was all because of that fucking mongrel! If he had just stayed put I wouldn't b-
Wait, why would he think that?! He had to save humanit-
HUMANITY DOESN'T DESERVE SAVING! NONE OF THEM MATTER!
What?! No, he would never entertain such a thought. The old man must be rolling in his grave.
'My arm! It's gone!'
Wait, that never happened. His arm is perfectly fine.
'Saber, I love you.'
That never happened either. He never confessed to Saber.
'Sakura! NOOOOO!'
THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE, SAKURA NEVER DIED!
Right?
But they felt so real.
No, these can't be his memories.
But why is he in all of them?!
As he floated in the deep abyss of the Grail, Shirou couldn't help but scream in pain and disbelief as memories that were and yet not his continued to assault his mind. He knew that Illya was killed by Gilgamesh, it happened right in front of him, and yet he had memories of Illya sacrificing herself to the Greater Grail to save him. And on top of that he had memories of Illya surviving the war and going on to live a full life!
How could his memories be so contradictory?! Especially since he barely even knew Illya!
But he did. She was his adoptive older sister.
Then why did he have memories where he never learned she was related to him?!
After the seemingly never ending barrage of random memories that he couldn't recall, the void that surrounded him bled away until he was standing in a torch-lit room. The architecture was something one would expect to see in the ruins of a once great empire. The Mesopotamian Empire to be exact.
"Enkidu, why are you crying?"
This wasn't his memory but he knew whose it was.
Gilgamesh.
He was dressed in bright golden armor with red clothes hanging from his waist, he was the embodiment of power and authority. But his face was scrunched in grief as he stared at a figure that laid on the bed in front of him, his blood red eyes seemed to have spread the color to encompass the entirety of his eyes as he attempted to avoid breaking down into tears.
Now that Shirou had a proper look at the room, it was clearly designed as a sort of sick bay and on the sick bed lay a man who was laid low by some sort of divine curse. He wasn't able to understand how he knew that. It was as if his Structural Grasp had ascended to heights unimaginable. From how powerful the curse on the sickly man was to how many molecules were in the block of wood that served as Gilgamesh's seat, the structure of everything in the room was effortlessly analysed.
It was a frightening development. What could have possibly changed him to such an extent?
"Who would understand you after I die?" Enkidu rasped. "When I think that you will live on all alone, I can't help but shed tears..."
As the man lay dying, Shirou could see the despair and grief rapidly push Gilgamesh into a frenzied state of madness.
'I will not die.' Gilgamesh thought. 'I will see to it that I never have to die.'
Suddenly rising to his feet, Gilgamesh began to curse every god and goddess he knew as Enkidu passed away. Upon the completion of Enkidu's passing, all Gilgamesh could do was begin to laugh in such a way that Shirou felt repulsed just hearing it.
"Foolish faker, this wasn't meant for your eyes."
Caught off guard, Shirou swiftly turns to look behind him and was shocked to see what he saw. Gilgamesh as he knew him. Dressed in his signature black sweater and white undershirt. However, the usual animosity and arrogance seemed to have been sucked out of him. If Shirou thought it was possible, he would have risked guessing that Gilgamesh looked defeated.
"So why are we not dead yet?"
"The Grail is probably taking its time." Gilgamesh huffed as he plopped down on the floor. "At least the fucking pain stopped."
Without missing a beat, Shirou marched out of the room. Passing through the torch-lit hallways of the building and attempting to find some inkling of an exit, Shirou ended up returning to the sick bay.
"Are you surprised third rate? I have already tried the same long before you arrived here," Gilgamesh scoffed. "The Grail has been quite busy making us its core."
"And you expect me to just accept that?! There has to be some way out, otherwise we wouldn't be conscious."
"Of course you haven't noticed. This is the end, this is just a representation of the dying embers of both of our souls."
"What the hell are you talking about?!"
Gilgamesh simply raised his head and started laughing. As he did so, Shirou could see the hopelessness and anguish that plagued the King of Heroes.
And it pissed him off.
"Oh shut up!" Gilgamesh suddenly snaps. "You should have known this would have been a part of your wonderful sacrifice."
"WELL, IF YOU HADN'T BEEN SUCH A BASTARD THEN WE WOULDN'T BE IN THIS MESS!"
"FUCK YOU FAKER!"
Words couldn't describe the rage Shirou felt towards Gilgamesh at that moment. If it wasn't for him, Shirou would have been at home with Rin, Saber, and the others. He would have had the chance to prove Archer wrong and show the world that his ideals were worth fighting for. He could have gone on to make a world where no one had to cry anymore.
.
.
.
NO.
He will not accept this as his fate! He must keep going! Keep fighting! DIG DEEP! THERE HAS TO BE A WAY OUT! The Grail is not indestructible, there has to be a vulnerable spot. Once he finds it, he will hit it hard and fast.
"You still persist?! The process is already complete, there is nothing left!"
Shirou turned to look at Gilgamesh and, sure enough, the Servant looked as transparent as polished glass... In fact, the King of Heroes was far more transparent than he was.
"No, there is one thing left."
Diving deep into his mindscape, among all the random memories that were forced in to his head one stood out. One where he was also trapped within a laughably small portion of the Grail. The context of the event was lost to him but he was sure that there was one thing that aided his escape.
Avalon. The Ultimate Defense and the Sheath of Excalibur.
When Merlin presented the sheath to King Arthur, he implored the king to keep it at his side at all times in order to never fall. With the Grail literally threatening his existence, the defense would surely come in handy.
[Trace On]
Blue circuit lines snaked across his skin as he called upon the entirety of his Od reserves but he was shocked by how much he actually had.
The Grail had used Gilgamesh's body and the knowledge it had already accumulated to increase the power output of it core, causing Shirou's reserves to grow and multiply by the hundreds. It essentially gave him the tools to destroy it.
In the end, there was no need to find a weak spot. After all, does a nuke need any accuracy?
[Avalon!]
A flash of bright holy light spread from the projected scabbard across the void between realms in a furious attempt to protect its wielder from the Holy Grail.
Never before had there been such an event.
Gotham City; The Batcave
November 21, 1:23 am EDT
The Batcomputer must be malfunctioning. There was no way space could be distorted to such an extent without collapsing in on itself.
Of course there was room for error seeing that he was no expert in space-time distortions. Why would he? It had nothing to do with his war against crime. Criminals hadn't reached a stage where they could make use of such knowledge.
He was unprepared this time. This was a learning experience.
Taking off his cowl, Bruce Wayne glared at the vast composition of data and graphs in an attempt to see any overarching pattern that he might have missed the past twelve times.
"Any luck Master Bruce?" A sophisticated voice inquired.
Behind the seat Bruce was on, Alfred Pennyworth stood holding a folder filled with documents. Despite the event occurring only two hours prior, the two men had compiled several cabinets worth of observations, theories, and conclusions. They also had an even larger collection thrown into waste bins.
"Yes." The detective grunted after a long period of silence. "Something literally forced its way into existence in the Sonoran Desert at approximately 11:17 pm EDT. Cause of event is unknown but is most likely due to some external party. A party that is not part of the same dimension as us. Further investigation is required."
"I will prepare the radiation proof gear."
"That won't be necessary, I won't be going. I don't have the expertise to thoroughly investigate surface zero."
"What shall we do now?"
"I will brief Cyborg on the situation. His experience with Boom Tubes will allow him to have a deeper insight than I could. Once he completes his findings, he will join Green Arrow and I in hunting down any possible leads."
This was going to be a long night.
And scene.
After 3000+ words, Shirou has finally arrived in the DC universe. And quite to the annoyance to the Dark Knight at that.
How will Shirou take being banished from his home world? Will he continue down his path to becoming a hero (We all know he will)?
If any of you had any issues with how I handled the dimension hopping then I'm sorry to say that I tried something new and it blew up in my face.
I will try to release the next chapter soon. For now dear reader, I bid you adieu.
-SupaSayajin