What followed was predictable. President-King Edison, obsessed with saving America and indifferent to the fate of other worlds, remained stubborn. Nightingale declared that he was ill and needed surgery and amputation. Edison, enraged by the question of whether his beliefs were mistaken, ordered them thrown into the dungeon.
Ritsuka, his companions, and Nightingale tried to fight back against the surrounding mechanized legions, but under the pressure of numerical superiority, they had to surrender.
"Things have gone awry. It's all tangled up in some Gordian knot," Deadpool grumbled. "My stomach is tickling. Oh right, I'm not in that rodent's body anymore."
The dungeons of the White Castle. Ritsuka and the others were already glad to be alive. However, this only meant that Edison would try to lure them into his army at any opportunity. He couldn't let them go, fearing the enemy's strengthening, but he also didn't dare execute them due to the difficult situation on the front lines.
"Listen, Miss Nurse," Deadpool addressed Nightingale, "was it really so hard to hold back your temper? No matter what that lion-faced guy said, we could have just nodded, agreed, and gained his trust. And as soon as we saw the Grail – snatch it and it's done! Ever heard of disinformation tactics?"
Deadpool tried to scold Nightingale for complicating a simple task with her stubbornness, but in response, he received a stinging slap.
"Be quiet. Shut up until I sew your mouth shut," she cut him off. "I categorically disagree with Edison's ideology. In the face of illness, there are no enemies or allies, no 'me' or 'you'. Everyone is equal. That's why I constantly perform surgeries and amputations. I will not forgive the cowardice of those who are willing to abandon the world to save their own country."
Though her methods were specific, Nightingale remained the Angel of Mercy. Even when summoned as a Berserker, she retained the essence of a great medic, ready to heal even the enemy, rejecting politics and ideology.
"That's Nightingale for you," Ritsuka said, leaning against the cell wall.
"Well, since the situation has developed this way, all we can do is think about an escape plan," Mash intervened, trying to reconcile her comrades and steer the conversation in a constructive direction.
"Usually, prison bars yield to a Servant's strength…" Mash grabbed the bars and tensed. "Kkh!"
The bars didn't budge. On the contrary, Mash felt a strange weakness.
"Let me try! Ha-ah!" Deadpool put all his strength into trying to tear out the bars, but in vain. His strength seemed to be draining away.
"It seems some kind of spell has been cast on the bars," Mash suggested. "Something that suppresses magical energy."
"Foresighted," Deadpool grunted. "Is this like Kairoseki from 'One Piece' or something?"
While they were wondering how to get rid of the magical shackles, a shot suddenly rang out. The bullet hit the bars, ricocheted off the wall, and, flying through the cell, lodged precisely in Deadpool's backside.
"Aaaai! My butt! Something hit me! Damn you! You should warn people before you shoot!"
Nightingale had fired. Seeing that the Servants couldn't break the bars by force, she decided to test their strength with a bullet.
"You have a gunshot wound in your buttock? Excellent. Lie down. I'll amputate part of your thigh to remove the bullet."
"Not a chance!"
Despite Mash's attempts to calm them down, Deadpool and Nightingale got into an argument that almost turned into a fight. It was hard to imagine more incompatible Servants. Ritsuka, watching this chaos from the sidelines, got a headache.
"Fou! Fo-ou!"
At that moment, a familiar cry came from the corridor. Soon, a small white creature appeared, running towards the cell.
"Fou!"
Mash and Ritsuka beamed, picking him up. They had no idea that Fou had followed them into the Leishift.
"Good boy, Fluffy. Well, did you bring what I asked for?"
Fou jumped onto Deadpool's shoulder, rubbed his cheek affectionately, and pulled a key from his thick fur.
"Excellent! Simply magnificent, Fluffy. A good boy deserves praise, right? Who's a smart little one… "
Thanks to Fou's cleverness, Ritsuka, Mash, and Nightingale were able to gain their freedom. However, one question remained.
"Mr. Fou, how did you get here?" Mash asked Deadpool. After all, during the transfer, there was no sound or sign of the creature. And they hadn't met him on the way here.
"What are you talking about? He was with us the whole time. Did you… not notice? Want me to show you? Just a second!"
Deadpool, with the air of an expert, pulled a remote from his pants and pressed the rewind button.
The image before their eyes blurred, returning them to Chaldea moments before the transfer. Pause.
"Here! Look here!"
Where Deadpool was pointing, Fou was clinging to his pants and wagging his tail. Then, a fast-forward followed.
"And here!"
When they discovered the battlefield in the forest after the transfer, Fou was hanging from Deadpool's belt. The creature was so small that if you didn't look closely, you could easily miss him.
"And he's here too!"
Even when entering the White Castle of Denver, Fou was sitting on Deadpool. But why hadn't Ritsuka and Mash seen him?
"Pay more attention to Fou," Deadpool chided them. "How little did you care about him that he attached himself to me?"
"Kyu-u, kyu-u!"
Although Fou was clinging to Deadpool, he didn't shy away from Ritsuka and Mash. Although they had indeed been too busy lately to play with him.
"We'll be more attentive from now on," Mash promised.
"Alright. I accept your apologies."
"Fou!"
"Wait, why are *you* accepting the apologies?" Ritsuka doubted. "And besides, we didn't do anything wrong…"
Ritsuka never understood why Deadpool was speaking for Fou and what exactly they should apologize for, but they had the key, so there was no point in lingering.
"Hey. Psst. You there."
As they were about to leave, an unfamiliar voice came from the next cell. Approaching, Ritsuka and his companions saw a man behind the bars.
"Excuse me for bothering you, but could you let me out too? If you help me, I won't be in your debt – I can be of good service to you."
The man with reddish skin, decorated with white patterns, resembled a Native American from old Westerns. He awaited their decision.
"My name is Geronimo. It's not my real name, but I am one of the Apaches. And I lead the resistance against the Celts and the American army. Now I am a prisoner, as circumstances have dictated."
After Geronimo so politely introduced himself and revealed his affiliation, Ritsuka and the others huddled together briefly to confer.
"Should we release him?"
"He doesn't look like a villain," Mash replied. "Maybe he'll be useful to us."
"True. Besides, he's a Native American. He should know the local geography like the back of his hand. He'll definitely be useful to us."
Surprisingly, even Deadpool was in favor. In the end, by unanimous decision, Ritsuka took out the key and unlocked Geronimo's cage.
"Thank you. First, we need to get to the resistance camp, so we'll move as quickly and quietly as possible. Follow me."
As promised, Geronimo found a secret passage leading out of the prison and stealthily led the group. This continued until they encountered the Servant responsible for the President's security and the White Castle's safety.
"The escape was quite predictable. I sensed a weak presence."
Right in front of them, blocking their path, stood Karna, a general of the American Empire. A powerful Servant, an Indian deity, and, as they said, the son of the Sun God. It was impossible to dismiss him easily.
"You… won't let us pass, will you?"
"I received no such orders from the King. My duty is to protect this castle and guard the President. I am merely fulfilling my duty."
Karna's golden spear was aimed at the group. His cold gaze remained unwavering.
"Senpai! I'll hold him off. While you…"
"No, Shield Servant. That's reckless," Geronimo interrupted her. "Besides, the opponent is a divine spirit, superior to ordinary Heroic Spirits. Even if you fight to the death, there's no guarantee we'll get away unharmed."
No matter how large and sturdy Chaldea's shield was for Mash, her opponent was in a completely different league. It wasn't even about experience – it was a fight in different weight classes.
"Then I'll step up…"
"Sick man, I'll carry you myself! Don't talk nonsense and shut your trap," Nightingale silenced Deadpool's attempt to intervene with a precise blow to the temple, then wrapped him in bandages and threw him over her back.
"Is there no one for me to fight?" Karna squinted slightly. "A pity. Deep down, I hoped to find a Servant equal to me in strength here. Well, there's no choice."
Karna wasn't going to wait any longer. Of course, there was the option of meekly returning to the cell, but who would agree to that?
"In this situation, we would have a chance if we used the Noble Phantasm of a Servant who has an advantage over Karna," Geronimo muttered with a worried look.
There was no one among those present who could effectively counter Karna, who belonged to the Lancer class. Deadpool, being an "irregular" Servant, could not display his true strength due to a curse in his heart.
"Ah!"
At that moment, Ritsuka glanced at the communicator on his wrist. He had completely forgotten about this device, but in a critical situation, one Command Seal could be used for an emergency summon. Da Vinci's artifact – "Made in Fate."
"You realized it quickly. Wasn't it destined to be called earlier?" Deadpool, hanging on Nightingale's back, gave Ritsuka a dismissive look. However, the moment for its use was perfect.
"Senpai, Karna's class is Lancer. So, we need a Saber-class Servant."
The problem was whether Ritsuka had any Sabers among the Servants summoned to Chaldea.
"Huh? Wait. You don't have any Sabers! I've thought about it – you have almost all the classes, but not a single Saber! "
Recalling Chaldea's daily life, Deadpool concluded that Ritsuka had no Sabers at his disposal, which he shouted at the top of his lungs.
"No, I do. There's one, just one," Ritsuka said, unfazed, raising his right hand with the Command Seal tattoo.
"What? No way! I wandered all over Chaldea for nothing, hung out with all the Servants, and I didn't see any Saber there! If my memory serves me right – and it does! – we don't have any Sabers!"
Deadpool desperately tried to convince Ritsuka. Da Vinci had strictly warned: if "Made in Fate" was activated without a suitable Servant, the Command Seal would simply burn out in vain.
"I invoke the Command Seal. I, Fujimaru Ritsuka, command! Made in Fate! Emergency Summon! Saber-class Servant!"
Ritsuka calmly uttered the formula, and at that moment, one of the Seals disappeared, and the device on his wrist flashed brightly. The silhouette of a Servant began to materialize in a golden radiance.
"What? No, that's absurd. I remember clearly. The kid doesn't have a Saber!"
Deadpool continued to deny the obvious, but when the light dissipated and the summoned Saber appeared, his face stretched as if he had been hit on the back of the head with Mjolnir.
"Servant Saber. I have answered my Master's call. Now, who is my opponent?"
A voice rang out – calm, but sharp as a razor, imbued with a dense darkness. A pale face and piercing golden eyes fixed on Karna. The bluish-black armor and the equally dark sword eloquently spoke of her true nature.
"Uh…"
Deadpool dazedly shifted his gaze from the Saber to Ritsuka and back. Mash, however, seemed to have expected something like this and visibly relaxed upon seeing an ally.
"Alter? Saber Alter?! A four-star Saber?! When did you summon her? I didn't hear anything about it!"
Deadpool demanded an explanation, still unwilling to believe his eyes. Ritsuka merely grinned widely and gave a thumbs-up.
"I used the free ticket for a four-star Servant!"
Upon hearing this confident answer, Deadpool screamed even louder, completely losing his composure:
"Don't lie! The ticket promotion hasn't even been introduced yet!!"