Fate: Ideals of Justice

Hero's First Outing

Hi!!  Sorry for my late update but I've been majorly busy with school and my private life.  Still, I managed to find the time to write this.  Hope you enjoy!!

Shirou sipped his tea, staring out into the mind-boggling reality of the Tower of Fate. The scale of mystery that would take to construct this place was incredible; it would take a god to make this place and if what Kent had told him was true, that might not be far off from the truth. But before he could look into that, the magus had more important matters to discuss.

"So you met Zelretch before?" Shirou asked. They were both speaking in Japanese, because while Shirou had some knowledge of English, Kent's Japanese was much superior to Shirou's English.

"It's a long story." Kent groaned, putting his tea on the table, and grabbing his head. "Ugh. Me and my team, the Justice Society of America, we encountered him a little after World War II. His magic even put Nabu and the Spectre to shame." The old man began to drift off, becoming lost in thoughts and memories of the past. An amused smirk appeared on his face. "While it was annoying, I have to say I never saw a Lord of Order or celestial being become so annoyed. Hahaha."

The old man chuckled at the memory.

"What exactly happened?" Shirou asked curiously.

"Long story short but the Spectre ended up trapped in a stuffed teddy bear, the Flash was trapped in time slowing molasses, Wildcat was turned into an actual wild cat, and I was de-aged into a toddler form that could barely pronounce spells without accidentally biting my tongue. And don't even get me started on Green Lantern and Sandman"

Shirou winced at the descriptions of how Zelretch screwed with them. "And Spectre, Flash, Wildcat, these are all... superheroes?"

Kent smiled. "Yeah, kid. Superheroes exist here. Took a lot of us by surprise too. No one expected back in those days that real-life superheroes would suddenly appear."

"I can imagine," Shirou said. To be honest, even now he still doesn't believe it. A world of superheroes. Part of Shirou thinks it's a dream, but his experiences kept him chained to reality. And reality was ever hardly that simple or sweet.

In a world of heroes, that world would also be a world of villains. Criminals and killers of Shirou's own world, even those that were unrelated to magecraft, were brutal and merciless. If there were enough of these supervillains in this world to make it necessary for superheroes, then this world was more chaotic than it appeared.

"So what am I supposed to do here?" Shirou asked. "Zelretch dropped me off, but he never really gave a hint on what I should do?"

Kent scratched his head. "Well that's really up to you. But as your legal guardian, I'd want you to continue your education. You weren't able to finish high school back in your world, correct?"

"Yes, that's correct." Shirou inwardly winced. He had always expected to finish high school with Issei, Sakura, Ayako, and, by the end of the Grail War, Rin. But things have changed. He could never go back.

"As for what else you can do, Zelretch left this box for you." Kent tapped his cane on the ground, a brilliant golden light shining. As the light dimmed, a large box sat in its place.

Carefully, Shirou picked up the box and placed it on the table. In his right hand he traced a simple letter opener and sliced the box open. He grinned as his eyes immediately spotted a familiar red jewel.

"Rin's pendant!"

Shirou quickly grabbed the pendant, smiling. It was more than just some expensive token; it was the tool that saved his life and the symbol of how much he owes Rin. Shirou admired the jewel but blinked, sensing something else. A buildup of prana that felt like nothing he felt before. It was as if all of the prana Caster had collected in her temple had multiplied tenfold and been stored inside this tiny pendant. It was a feat of Jewel Magecraft that would leave Rin pulling her hair out in envy. And the type of magical energy was familiar too.