Tempering 2.2
When Taylor had said she would be back tomorrow morning with some stuff to make 'Hero-ing' easier, I had been dubious. When she had shown up early next morning, clutching her backpack like a lifeline and grinning like a loon?
Well, then I was worried.
"Good morning, Shirou!" Taylor says energetically, stepping passed me and into the apartments living room. I hadn't been expecting her to arrive so early, else I would have made breakfast already. A glance at the clock on the microwave tells me it was 6:30 A.M. Not that early for me in this life or my last, but definitely something I expected to be a problem for Taylor. It had been for Lisa at least the night she stayed here. She was… a messy sleeper, one who only bothered getting up when I started making us breakfast. It was cute, in a Tohsaka sort of way that made my heart ache. The specter grinning at me as if she were the real Tohsaka only making the ache worse.
Speaking of specters, Sakura floated closely behind Taylor as she unzipped her bag and carefully started grabbing at something. Admittedly, Sakura's specter was one I had gotten the most used to. By virtue of seeing it the longest. And while it hurt to stare for too long, a part of me would rather have the image of her over nothing at all. Perhaps this was needless pain that could be avoided by letting go, but it wasn't that easy. It's because of my familiarity with it that I almost immediately notice something was wrong.
Her form, it was covered in small hairline fractures, like the ghost was made of porcelain.
Those hadn't been there yesterday, but what could have changed in so little time? Weren't these just figments of my mind's inability to let go? That meant something, but was it good or bad? Cracks denoted breaking and… it may be wrong, but a good portion of me wanted the specter to stay. To not leave me in an uncertain future without her, it.
"Shirou? Are you listening to me?" I hear Taylor ask; I immediately return my gaze to her while the specter of Sakura lifts a hand to her mouth demurely. Taylor was looking at me worriedly from her spot next to the couch and coffee table. Only slightly shaken, I manage a nod, which gets her to narrow her eyes at me for a second in consideration. It doesn't last long though as she turns back to the table and splays out her hands towards a pile of Tupperware containers, she had stacked on the coffee table. I mentally remind myself to return the cleaned ones to her before she went home. "…So, like I was saying, you need a costume."
I feel my gaze go flat. She returns my unimpressed stare with one of her own.
Right, I had agreed to help her become a hero yesterday. Of all the mistakes I could have made, that Taylor could have gotten me to commit, why did it have to be this one? It was further proof that this world could be considered a type of hell in my eyes. It was constantly attacking me with images of the way of life I discarded. I had barely gotten any sleep last night because of it. I needed to help Taylor, that was not even negotiable. But the issue was still there and needed to be dealt with in some way before that help would be of any use.
The issue was simple really, I discarded my old ideals, the ideals entrusted to me by Kiritsugu, the ones I promised to achieve no matter what. In exchange I forged new ones from the broken pieces I left, to save Sakura above all, to be HER hero for the rest of her life. And I achieved them, but only for a moment. My mind was crushed by EMIYA's inner world, by body a walking mess of flesh and steel. I had made the choice then and there that if I was going to die, I would go out saving Sakura. After Excalibur destroyed the grail, I breathed my last.
Then I woke up here, was picked up by some cops, and dropped into the system.
It was the uncertainty that haunted me, I gave up all I had ever wanted for one chance, I got a taste of that victory, then it was torn away. I couldn't be the Hero that I wanted to be originally because those ideals didn't exist anymore, I couldn't be a hero to Sakura because she wasn't here, wherever here is. So where did that leave me? What did I have to fight for? Taylor was a stand in, not Sakura herself, my ideals were again incompatible with my desires.
I couldn't shatter my ideals again… could I? What would I even-
Taylor just flicked me on my nose.
"Ow?" I mutter on reflex more than pain. Taylor was looking at me in worry, arms wrapped around her waist.
"Are… you having second thoughts?" She asks me, starting to look a bit down. It wasn't what I wanted; this was the reason I had agreed so easily. I could see how excited she was when she spoke of capes, it was clear from the get go that being a hero was the only path that Taylor Hebert would accept. I was reminded of a better me, as well as an Archer in red. But there was maybe a little less emptiness. It made the static start up again, Sakura didn't want to be a hero, why did Taylor want to be one?
Subconsciously, I knew the answer. They weren't the same person and didn't have quite the same struggles. It was something I was actively avoiding having to confront. If I did that, what would become of our relationship built on this lie? Would she hate me? Would I hate her? A pressure was growing at the back of my skull signaling that I have to answer her, had to come to a conclusion on how I was going to proceed. It feels like years pass in a second, until the pressure suddenly fades and I have at least a small part of my answer.
"I'm not having any second thoughts," I state clearly, standing just a bit taller. Taylor seems to hear something in my voice because she looks up at me with wide doe eyes under her large glasses. My ideals have fractured again, pieces falling off into the ether to be refurbished into something similar. I ached for Sakura, but unlike what the specter would like to make me feel, she isn't here. Taylor was here, she was here and I could protect her. From actual super villains no less.
It was an admittedly weak, ugly facsimile of an Ideal at best. It could fall apart at any moment and leave me aimless. But it made me feel surer than I have in a long time about my path forward. I would cling to this feeling for as long as it would let me, Taylor would be a hero.
But not a Hero of Justice, that road was blocked to me.
And I'll make damn sure it never opens for her.
I notice a larger crack spread over Specter Sakura's cheek.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
"Ok! No more stalling!" Taylor yells from the living room after I finish washing the plates, we had used to eat breakfast. I really hadn't been stalling, I just suggested that talking about important topics while hungry was hardly smart. "You aren't getting out of this! Costumes are important!
Ok, perhaps I had been stalling a little bit.
"Can't I just… wear a cloth like I did with Armsmaster?" I ask, taking a seat beside her as she gives me an aggrieved stare, my words wounding her pride somehow.
"What? No! come on Shirou, haven't you ever just wanted to dress up and become somebody completely new?"
"Not particularly?"
"…Well haven't you ever wanted to look cool?"
"…I suppose?" I admit, it wasn't so much that I wanted to look cool, but that I can inwardly admit that Archer was cooler than me. That wasn't exactly the same thing though. But Taylor latches onto my admission like a drowning man at sea does to a life preserver. Which wasn't surprising, I wasn't giving her the much to work on.
"Then a costume is the basis of that! If the people we save can't recognize us on sight, how will they trust us?" She says, motioning with both hands to the containers I had been ignoring till now. I had to give her credit, that alone did bring up a valid reason for wearing brightly colored costumes beyond the ability to market oneself. Maybe I was embarrassed I'd look silly? "Look, I spent some time last night sketching some designs!"
She hands me a notebook she had been skimming through while we ate, showing me her work. I notice two things almost instantly as I take the notebook and look at what she drew. The first was nothing bad, she was just far better at drawing then I had thought she would be; a hobby perhaps?
The second…
"Why are there so many belts?" I ask, my eyebrow was twitching, I can feel it. "…And why is there so much red?"
Every sketch followed the same theme, belts, tassels, or both. Red and black with golden accents. Some had hoods, some had headbands. Some were armored with what was labeled as Kevlar and some were far too skin tight to be comfortable to wear in public. One in particular even somehow looked eerily similar to a certain Counter Guardian's outfit, what were the chances? But really, I preferred blue and white to red and black. One look at Taylor reminded me that I should carefully think this through before answering further though.
"Well, you're from Japan, right?" Taylor asks, flustered regardless of the lack of scathing comments. "I know you probably moved here because of its decline, but I thought it'd be nice to incorporate some of its culture and media into some of the designs. Plus… I think you look good in red."
I wanted to say that belts aren't a culture, but she had clearly did it with nothing but good intentions. So, I hold off, looking back down at the offered drawings until one stands out a bit more then rest. The only thing I could say I disliked about it was the large scarf that was clearly exaggeratedly drawn. That just seemed like something you were asking an enemy to grab ahold of and strangle you with. Or pull you into a lariat, or stab you, or-
"This one looks alright?" I offer to her, holding up the page towards her and pointing to it. "...I'm not a fan of the scarf though, that's not really helpful in a fight."
"But that's that mask!" Taylor complains almost immediately regardless of the valid concern in my opinion. "You need to cover your face in a way that doesn't clash with the rest of the costume! Please?" I'm ashamed to admit I almost gave in right there when Taylor clasps her hands together and stares up at me demurely. But something like this wasn't a game and directly affected my ability to protect her. So, I soldier on in the face of her weaponized cuteness.
"...A-And," I didn't just stutter, did I? "...I'd like if the color was changed to blue and white instead."
I had expected more whining after talking about the scarf, my second request however didn't get more whining. It instead makes Taylor's demure expression becomes openly combative in a way I had yet to see from her in any situation not involving Emma. She leans into my personal space on the couch and I'm forced to lean back to avoid her headbutting my chin.
"You don't get to just take the scarf away from me and ALSO change the colors! You get one alteration! Only one! Pick!" Taylor demands, showing just how serious a discussion this was to her. I wasn't afraid to admit just how gob smacked I was feeling at the moment.
"T-Taylor??" I squeak, actually squeak, as I look down at her eyes which blaze in intensity. "It's really not that serious!"
"I want to match, Shirou! If we're going to be doing this together, we can't clash!"
____________________________________________________________________________________
I had chosen to replace the scarf with a cowl in the end, Taylor's unwavering need for us to look fashionable was a bit draining, but the genuine excitement more than made up for it. Now the two of us were finally looking at the containers she brought with her. I had glanced at them a few times but refrained from asking until now, because she had seen fit to ignore it too. Not anymore it seemed.
"So, what are these for then?" I start, stopping when Taylor pops one open and a wave of spiders pile out. I am shocked silent while Taylor exercises her power on the spiders. They begin lining up in formation while Taylor starts opening the other containers and letting more bugs out. It was mostly spiders, but I could see flies and bees, as well as a dragonfly or two. Lisa would not be happy if she came back soon.
"I can use my spiders to create clothes out of spider silk." She explains, for once looking unabashedly proud of herself and her power. It hadn't been too hard to notice the lack of enthusiasm when either were brought up and it was something I was working on fixing. She had reason to be proud though, this was frankly an absurd number of bugs she was somehow keeping in perfect formation on the coffee table. I didn't have to bother hiding any awe I might have felt because it was genuinely admirable. I had already known she could do this as I read it from her costume. But reading it and seeing it we're two different things.
Already, spiders were starting to crawl all over each other, spinnerets on full blast as webs were quickly beginning to be layered all the way to the ceiling with the aid of the flying bugs. I was going to have to clean this up after.
"I've read online some ways we could dye the fabric; it'll have to be done during the actual forming process." Taylor explains, taking my intense stare at her working colony as a question I hadn't asked. But I appreciate the answer regardless. "This will probably take a day or two, so we can prepare other things while we wait."
That gains my attention and I turn back to her with a hesitant look. It hopefully showed I wouldn't be very happy if said things happened to be nearly as complicated as the debate my costume started.
"What other things would that be?" I ask.
"Well, we should talk about your powers!" She says, unable to hold in her excitement at the topic, like she had been waiting for this specific point in the day since she arrived. "You already know what I can do, control bugs and all that, but I know you can do more than summon swords, right?"
I nod, it was good that we got to this topic but I wasn't sure what exactly I was supposed to say. Tohsaka and even Kiritsugu had always assured that if I understood anything, it was that magecraft was to remain a secret to the uninitiated. For their safety more than anything; I had no idea if this world had Magus at all actually, but just because I didn't know didn't mean they weren't here. Parahuman's weren't Magus, I could be sure of that, so I should probably be vague about how I actually go about my abilities.
"If I have to lay out everything I can do..." I start, watching how Taylor scoots closer and gives me all the attention she can while also directing the bugs. "...I can create swords, that's the long and short of it"
"Swords? So multiple?" Taylor presses on, not satisfied clearly.
"I can create swords with special effects in my mind and then make them real. Kanshou and Bakuya are just two of many I can make."
"K-Kanchou?" She repeats, before frowning in realization at her butchering of the fabled swords names. As expected, she doesn't recognize the names. Though that wasn't proof that the legend didn't exist here, because Kanshou and Bakuya's legend wasn't particularly well known even back home. Which always made me a bit sad, they were beautiful swords with a wonderful tragedy of a legend.
"You don't have to struggle to speak my language" I assure her with a soft snort that doesn't make her feel better at all. "...I call it projection, and it's the basis of how I fight, I have other swords I've... made, but Kanshou and Bakuya are the ones I've decided to default too when I'm unsure of what to use."
"I noticed" Taylor says dryly, yes, I suppose she had seen me fight already. But I wouldn't really consider it a fight, I hadn't been in any real danger. "But you can do more than that I've seen. You were glowing green, and suddenly you were moving way faster. I assume it makes you tougher too because you just rammed yourself through your apartment wall. I'm still mad at you for that you know..."
"I call it Reinforcement" I say, ignoring her comment, raising a hand and letting the glowing green lines appear. It shines light onto Taylor's suddenly mystified face. "It... well, as I understand it, it lets me enhance the foundation of a items existence."
"...What?" Taylor asks, expression falling into one of confusion. I imagine it looked something like how I looked when it was first explained to me. What a scene this must be, a third-rate Magus attempting to explain magecraft in a world I wasn't even sure had magecraft.
"Ok, imagine it like this. A knife's purpose is to cut, everyone can agree on that. Which means that is the foundation of its existence. When I reinforce it, it... cuts better." Understanding slowly comes over Taylor's face and she looks more than a little interested, more so than in my swords. "Armor defends better, my body 'exists' better, which does different things depending on the body part. My arms and legs get stronger because their purpose is to hold me up and let me hold things. My eyes can see farther and my nose can catch scents better."
"Ok, that makes some sort of sense...?" Taylor says, before her eyes narrow in a look I could recognize from Lisa and Rin. It was the look of someone who desperately wanted to know more to see how it could be used for someone's benefit. "But doesn't that seem a bit... abstract? How is something's purpose decided? Is it by you?"
"I don't really know? It's definitely not by me though" I explain, telling the truth. "It always lasts at least a day before I need to refresh it, it gradually wears off you see."
"So... you could do this reinforcement thing to me and my costume?" She asks, leaning in meaningfully before I nod. It wasn't easy, and I'd have to use structural grasp the entire time, but I could do it. She looks extremely excited to get reinforced honestly. "Could you do it to my spiders?"
I again nod, but grow concerned when her glasses seem to reflect the light of the room, blocking her eyes from my own. She quickly turns to the spiders, who were halfway done with a single sleeve of what would become my costume. That was going to take some getting used to. Like clockwork, they start crawling off the wall of web that stretched up to the ceiling. I watch in interest before it swiftly changes to slight fear when they start crawling up my legs and balling up into bunches on my lap.
This was horrifying, but I manage to keep the irrational fear in check, Taylor wouldn't let them bite me.
Though I top off my reinforcement just to be safe.
I look to Taylor in alarm, but she just rapidly motions to the spiders. Not very helpful but I suppose I knew what she wanted. Reinforcing such small things wouldn't take much energy or time, but I still make the effort to be careful. My hands only hesitate for a second before they enter the ball of spiders, the creatures cling to any skin they can, even each other, as I start pouring minute amounts of magical energy into their small bodies. I can't say I do it right every time, more than a handful of the creatures die from my many poisoning them due to overindulgence, but those deaths make the rest of the work easier. Instead of a mound of writhing blacks and browns, the spider pile glows bright green as I look back at Taylor.
Her eyes we're rolled up into her head behind her glasses.
"T-Taylor??" I immediately exclaim, making her jump slightly and come back to earth. She blinks, unfocused for a moment before turning back to me. "...Are you ok?"
"Y-Yeah...," she says with a shudder, raising her hands to rub her eyes under her glasses. "I just, that felt... weird."
"You felt that??" I ask in alarm, making the bugs on me disperse back to their work, which was now proceeding about 10 times as fast from the looks of it. "You can share senses with your bugs? Taylor that's something you should have mentioned!" I'm surprised at my own raised voice; I had never raised my voice at Taylor before.
It felt terrible.
Taylor for her part seems suitably chastised if the way her cheeks color and head bows is any indicator. Which is good, there was no telling how a parahuman power could interact to something as spiritual as magecraft. At least, a mental power like Taylor's. She turns to regard her bugs with a returning look of child-like wonder, her eyes only halfway here.
"It's strange... It's like... if I could sort of hear and see from them before, now it's like I have hundreds of tiny micro cameras with high-definition sound..." She explains with a grimace as she rubs her forehead. "...This is going to take some getting used to. Can you do anything else? You said that you could tell if people are capes, right? We should probably talk about that?"
She was obviously deflecting in my opinion, but I doubt I'd get farther by continuously bring it up. So, I shrug to her suggestion, not having any complaints as we move on for now.
"It's an ability that gives me a 3D scan of objects and people, letting me know what they're supposed to look like, and if something is wrong. Parahuman's all have this..." I stop and wonder if I should tell her about the thing in her brain. I had no way of fixing it, and as far as I knew it wasn't hurting her or anyone else. After a moment I decide to stay vague, there is no reason to worry her. "...thing in their heads that glow. It makes it incredibly obvious something is different about them."
Taylor however is now looking at me with all her attention, the bugs starting to slowly scatter as she focuses on me. I see her eyes drink in my suddenly confused expression, she only acted this way when I said something suspect in her mind. What did I say now?
"...Full 3D?" She repeats, looking perturbed as her hands slowly wrap over her chest as if to block-
"..." I stare at her, suddenly realizing what she was asking about. I lift a hand to my mouth and give an awkward cough, neither of us knowing what to say at this very moment.
"Can we move on?" She asks, not looking at me. But that was ok, because I wasn't looking at her either.
"Yeah, we can move on."
I think this is my longest chapter to date, which means expect problems with the writing simply because it all starts blending together after the first re-read for me. sorry in advanced, i fixed what i saw, and appreciate others pointing out more. Also if anyone can explain to me why when i copy and paste a word doc into this, the paragraphs just cut themselves off halfway across the screen, that would be incredibly helpful.
mobile user's in the meantime might want to hold off reading this for now, because while i fixed it on desktop, it doesn't always do the same fix with mobile formatting.
Tempering 2.3
"Doesn't this just kind of defeat the purpose of patrolling if the people committing crimes can see us?" I ask Taylor as we walk down a surprisingly busy street in the south docks. I was less embarrassed about what I was wearing then I thought I'd be. Spider silk was surprisingly comfortable even before being reinforced to its limit. Which was surprisingly higher than I thought it would be? The boots and superfluous additions like the belts around my legs were just projected because Taylor unsurprisingly couldn't work leather with her spiders. Speaking of said spiders, she had taken all the one's that had been reinforced by my hands with us. I could see the green spiders crawling over her form, some in the pouches of her new suit, and some crawling after us on the sidewalk with ludicrous speed for such a small creature.
Ah, right, her 'new' suit. There was hardly anything new about it besides her decision to remove the grey plates that had been her armor and replace them with red ones, so we could match as she said before. As well as the reinforcement that I had laid onto its form before we left downtown.
Anyway, back to the spiders, I was beginning to grow a little concerned. Not about Taylor's fascination with them, that could be explained mostly because of her unique power. No, what was concerning me were the bugs themselves. On a creature so small, reinforcement's ability to cling to them should have started to noticeably decay. Their forms weren't able to hold much magical energy on their own and even with my admittedly ok skill at it, it shouldn't have lasted more than an hour.
It was 2 P.M, 7 hours had passed since I used the spell. And they were still glowing as brightly as they were before. That rule about the common sense of man should have long since stripped the bugs of their granted magical energy. Yet it clearly wasn't, they weren't losing any of my magical energy that suffused their bodies. They weren't creating any either, which was a relief, but didn't answer any of my questions.
Just like how Taylor wasn't answering the one I just asked.
"Taylor," I repeat myself lowly, tearing her attention away from two of her spiders that were doing… something I couldn't identify on the back of her hand. Her eyes focus on me from under her now red lenses, warmth in her gaze.
"Yes?" She asks simply, she hadn't been paying attention at all. I suppose this was payback for when she first arrived this morning.
"Can I ask what walking around aimlessly is achieving?" I ask flatly, my eyes and upper half of my face the only thing she's able to see. But I'm sure she could hear just how exasperated I was. "I feel like we'd accomplish more if we traveled by roof top."
"But then no one would see us? We need to be recognizable Shirou," Taylor explains, her own exasperation at my continuing to bring up this point. I just didn't see the point in being recognizable when my job was to first and foremost defeat the bad guy. "I read all about it on PHO, there's allot of independent capes who give new one's advice on how to make it as a career. This was the biggest thing that everyone in the posts agreed on, being recognizable opens doors… or something?"
"How much time do you spend on this website?" I have to ask, exasperation growing.
"A few hours a day?" Taylor says as if that wasn't actually a bit ridiculous. Did everyone here just have that much free time to go on an internet forum?
…Well, I suppose a normal teenager would, I wasn't normal in any sense.
"Right," I listlessly agree, craning my head around to look at the people we were passing. This was a more disreputable part of town and that was saying something. The worst part of the docks which were the worst part of the city to live in by far, economically at least. People with nothing came here to be forgotten or to sell themselves. But that was at night, this was the day, a far more pleasant time to be out and about. I didn't know what Taylor planned on us stopping beyond maybe a few dealers too strung out to realize doing business in broad daylight was a bad move. It would be a start and getting drugs off the streets is a good thing, but taking down dealers would hardly solve the problem of dealers; because everyone could become one if they got desperate enough. Systematic changes had to be enacted to stop people from getting that desperate to begin with.
…Was that my thought or EMIYA's? it was disconcerting that I couldn't immediately tell.
The point being, we should probably be doing investigations outside of costume beforehand, learn a little more about the climate of the city beyond what the forums say, and possibly gain the rapport of the local PRT for the information they have at the very least.
I was a bit surprised at my own forethought, but the person I was protecting was at my side, which let me think much more clearly about the future and the reality of heroes in this world. Of how they went about doing things.
I knew that opinions concerning the local PRT branch were mixed on the best of days. More than a few times I'd he'd come across someone at school or in his old neighborhood complaining about how little they would get done in their eyes. I didn't necessarily agree with those opinions. No governmental institution was perfect, not even the government of Camelot or Uruk, two civilizations ruled by people with divine right and firm ever reaching hands, couldn't be called perfect. Because both eventually failed their people and collapsed. When I saw the PRT, I didn't necessarily trust them, but I imagine that if they could be doing better, they would be.
Maybe they'd prove me wrong? I sure hope not, for everyone's sake. I'd only met Armsmaster, and he seemed to have his head on straight.
"Moving on," I speak up to discard my pondering and continue my conversation with Taylor. "…I don't think we finished our talks back in the apartment." She hums, cocking her head to the side and throwing her hair slightly to the side, I stop reinforcing my eyes after a second when I realize it's making me take note of things I just didn't have to.
"We didn't, that's right," Taylor agrees, waving at some kids who were waving at them. She seemed flustered about the attention. Another reason we should have been undercover. Heroes would draw attention. "…There was only really one thing we didn't talk about."
"And what's that?" I ask, expecting something equally as frustrating as costumes. Though I was getting rapidly used to it. This was pretty effective armor all things considered.
"Well, it's kind of like… the rules of being a cape?" Taylor starts, which makes me immediately suspicious she got this off of PHO again. Specifically, because she didn't sound too sure. "Like rules of engagement I think?"
"There aren't any rules in a fight," I state plainly. For once me and Archer's memories were in complete agreement with one another. That was just… stupid, not even Saber, the actual King of chivalry, would have told anyone otherwise. Rules were for duels, and contrary to what people believe, most of the time people didn't die in duels.
"Well, there are rules for these fights" Taylor says back, surprising me at her sudden sass. Did she turn into Lisa when I wasn't looking? I raise an eyebrow, and I can tell she's grinning under her mask. "They exist for good reason Sh-… Sword."
…Oh right, we were using fake names. And she conveniently didn't realize my own mistake of using her real name. Luckily while people were looking at us, I was confident they couldn't hear us. We hadn't passed a single parahuman yet. I'd remember next time.
I'd at least give her a chance to explain then, maybe it went deeper then I realized.
"So, the rules are pretty straight forward." Taylor, or I guess she was Chrysalis right now, says. "Respect the secret identities of fellow capes, even villains. As well as no attacking the civilian family members of parahumans."
While that sounded like a reasonable thing to try and avoid, did villains really just listen to that? It just seemed like giving the bad guy the benefit of the doubt and hoping that worked out?
"No violence or using powers during a meeting between multiple parties." She continues, hand holding her elbow while the held arm starts gesturing as she speaks. I don't think she was paying attention to the world around us anymore. That rule was much like the first, but maybe less temperament dependent. "Try not to use lethal force is next, I was told it was one of the more important ones."
Ok, I couldn't keep quiet about that.
"I fight with swords," I remind blithely, something she clearly doesn't appreciate if her huff is any indication. "...That's also not something I can promise. Nobody knows what a fight will consist of, and if I need to use lethal force to keep you safe, I'm going to"
"I wasn't done..." Taylor groans, I wasn't being an easy student so that was expected. "You've got to let me finish..., I also appreciate the intention, but I'm a hero too Sword, which means it's also up to me to keep myself out of situations like that."
I feel like I've had this conversation before with other people, but I don't have the time to consider that. Taylor was... unfortunately right. She wasn't exactly like Sakura, I knew that. And she even had real powers and a will to defend herself. People didn't become hero's having someone else treating them like glass. I... unfortunately had to scale back a little.
"Right, sorry Chrysalis" I say softer than I meant to, making Taylor seemingly preen for some reason.
"Ok, the next is no widespread attacks against civilians." She continues, while I can only inwardly sigh at the rules wording. So smaller spread attacks were ok to people or something? "Enslaving others with mind control is not permitted and no rape or sexual assault of any kind. That's all of them really, there was some stuff about guns but we don't use guns so..."
My brow twitches unpleasantly at that last rule, bringing up memories that offered me no comfort. Taylor is unaware of this however and I would prefer to keep it that way. Seeing as she was finally done, I open my mouth again.
"...These are all nice rules on paper, but I have several problems" I explain, turning my eyes to her own lenses. "The biggest being, it doesn't sound like there is any reason for anyone to actually follow these rules."
Taylor just stares at me, after a moment when it doesn't stop, I start getting a bit uncomfortable. Did I say something strange again?
"Shirou..." Taylor starts slowly, genuine bafflement in her voice. "...Do you not know about the Endbringers?"
I blank for a second, I had heard the term before in school a couple months ago. This world apparently also had Kaiju-like monsters that wanted to destroy humanity. I curse my split priorities, as clearly, they should have been higher on my list of things to research.
"I know OF them...," I deflect.
"Then you shouldn't even have to ask what enforces these rules" Taylor says, I could see her eyebrows disappear out of her lenses sight holes. "There are bigger threats in the world then just Villains. These rules are to help keep cape deaths to as low as they can be. Because only capes can fight an Endbringer. Its why major crack downs don't usually happen on villains I assume?"
There this world goes again, surprising me. I suppose that having monsters that very clearly were destroying the human race slowly would make anyone more willing to work with an enemy. I know it's something I've done before in the face of bigger threats. Kirei was the first to come to mind, someone who was ostensibly my enemy yet aided me more that most others. Someone that I genuinely liked, even as he was beating me to death in front of the grail.
"I suppose this makes sense then" I admit, not very happy about it and not bothering to hide it. Before we can fall into silence however, my phone starts to ring. I had almost forgotten I had this phone considering only Lisa had its number. With that in mind it was obvious who was calling. I pull the phone free from one of my pockets and lift it to my ear. In the corner of my eye, I see Taylor leaning in with interest.
"Lisa?" I ask questioningly.
"Hah~ Miss me so much you can recognize my breathing?" I hear Lisa say from the other end. I can hear her grin. There was some talking in the background as well. But it was too muffled to hear from the phone speaker.
"Maybe" I say back, voice airy. Taylor stiffens, did her bugs find something?
I couldn't lie, I had missed her presence yesterday. It just... felt good to have someone in the home with me. That wasn't even mentioning her Rin-like personality that gave me more security than I'd admit. Though with how her power seemed to read minds, she probably knew that.
"...Could you do me a favor and be a little less truthful?" Lisa complains after a second, sounding a bit flustered. There is more talking on the other end, which Lisa quickly growls at to end before continuing to speak. "Listen, where are you right now?"
I look to Taylor who was obviously listening, she shrugs, showing she had no idea why Lisa wanted to know either.
"The Docks?" I say after a second, confusion audible to my own ears.
"Really? Don't you go to Winslow, I was sure you'd be at school?" Lisa asks, sounding surprised. That's right, she was unaware of my suspension.
"I got suspended" I say casually, it was honestly wasn't that bad. But the way Lisa suddenly starts laughing at me is a bit annoying. "...It's not funny"
"No, that's pretty hilarious!" Lisa says from the phone, snickering. "...But moving on, can you do me an actual favor?"
"Depends on what it is?" I say aloud, before Taylor tugs on my sleeve to get my attention. She points down the street, towards what looked like an abandoned apartment complex, boarded up and condemned.
"Can you stay out of downtown for a few more hours? Like, 3 tops?" Lisa asks, making me and Taylor again just look at each other again. She was being a bit cagey, that much was clear. It probably wasn't a problem to stay out a bit longer but the request was inherently suspicious. Still, I want to trust Lisa.
"That shouldn't be a problem..." I agree, Taylor seemed to have found something worth looking into. I'm only realizing now that she wasn't ignoring me, but she was patrolling the entire area around us with her bugs. I felt bad to have doubted her for a moment, I'd bake her a cake as an apology.
"Thanks' Shirou, I'll be back at the apartment later tonight, I'm bringing a friend" The call ends immediately, leaving me holding the phone. I put it away and resolve to think about it later as Taylor has taken it upon herself to start walking towards the building that had caught her interest. I quickly step after her to make sure she didn't do something like charge into the first window she could see open. Because that was something I'd probably do, and I DIDN'T want her to be like me.
"Chrysalis" I say seriously, she turns to me before I grab ahold of her arm and start pulling her into an adjacent alleyway.
"S-Sword?? Hey you don't have to pull me..." Taylor complains before she notices how serious I must have looked.
"You found something?" I interrupt before she can continue. It was time to actually do something from the looks of it. Taylor seems to stare at me, before she slowly nods, focusing back on the wall and placing a hand on the brick.
"The bugs in here found something. Gun's it seems like, maybe drugs too? I can't really be sure; I don't know what drugs look like" Taylor explains, becoming sheepish at the last part. Why are you embarrassed? I'd rather you never know what drugs look like. "The top two floors have collapsed, and in the basement, there is about 12 people around what looks like a chemistry set and one… goblin?"
Excuse me? Phantasmal beasts being in a basement, cooking drugs, seemed like something out of a bad fantasy novel. Or a good comedy novel. I'm about to ask what kind of goblin before Taylor seems to lift a hand to her mouth in mortification.
"Oh, that's… that's not a goblin, he just kind of looks like one …" She mutters.
"Focus" I remind her, not wanting her to lose her train of thought. It was probably my fault; she was too used to feeling safe around me and is expecting this to go fine. I'd have to fix that somehow. "Tell me the layout, what are the people wearing, do they have weapons on their person? You mentioned guns, I can only assume they are using some?"
"Pistols of some kind? I don't really know guns either…" She answers, sounding a bit more disappointed in herself that she couldn't answer my questions. But to me, just like before, that was only a good trait that I would be sad to see go.
"That's good enough" I assure, before motioning her to continue.
"The basement is smaller than the building would suggest." Taylor says, looking at me again like a student who wanted to impress her teacher. "There all in… normal clothes, if a little dirty. The gob- small guy seems like he's high, all their doing is laughing and talking about scores…"
"Well, it's obviously a drug lab, we shouldn't just ignore that" I say, seeing her eyes suddenly light up in excitement at what I was suggesting. It makes me feel a little warm honestly. "How many bugs would you say are around us right now?"
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
When the people Taylor had said were in the basement burst out into the streets, I smile that for once a plan had come together. Taylor was on the roof of another abandoned tenement across the street, hiding away and watching through her bugs. Her range was far greater then I had anticipated, it wasn't just the bugs of one building, but the bugs of the building next to it on both sides. Even I had to suppress a grimace when all twelve drug dealers stumble down the tenement stairs, screaming as they were stung and bit countless times. I could see now why Armsmaster had to ask if she was a hero or not.
Burying people in a pile of never-ending insects was a nightmare to most people after all.
I stood in the middle of the street; arms crossed. The struggling people falling to the floor in shivering piles while back inside the building, could feel something abnormal start taking affect. I was right, the goblin hadn't just not been a goblin.
He was a parahuman.
The plan had been really simple, barebones honestly, Taylor would grab every bug she could (Except the reinforced spiders which she was very unwilling to risk) and flood the entire basement and first floor. Her job was to bring the shock and awe, or rather, shock and terror. She funneled them up and out of the building, the stings and bites from only her none dangerous bugs. They would be shaken and possibly traumatized, but not hurt in any long-lasting way. Structural grasp was helpful in that regard.
Meanwhile, I would be the vanguard. I would stand in the open and take out any priority targets that showed up. And if none did, I'd focus on anyone who didn't become a jabbering pile of terrified flesh. Luckily, I didn't overestimate just how scary what Taylor could do was.
However, a priority target does show up, with a splash. Literally.
"It's Mush!" Taylor calls out from the roof, making me grimace. Not because of this Mush character, but because she just gave her position away to anyone listening. Even if it was helpful, I'd rather her stick to the plan until it was shown not to work. Was this how Saber felt about me?
'Mush' was actually a fairly apt name. Because I see what can only be described as a walking mush pile seep out of the door and down the stairs like a liquid. It then becomes solid, tendrils of flesh spearing out of the muck and grabbing more debris from the ground and around the street. I idly notice a fire hydrant get pulled off the sidewalk and repurposed as a fist in the suddenly 12-foot-high trash golem that has finished forming at the foot of the building's steps.
While the tendrils that grabbed trash were concerning, this guy had the same problem as Lung.
He was to slow, slower than Lung even.
"W-Why'd you Empire dicks have to do this?!" Mush screams from the middle of his golem. I blank for a second, huh? "Stop bullying me! I'm part of the Merchants now, fuck heads! I'm not alone!"
"THE EMPIRE DOESN'T OWN RED AND BLACK!!" Taylor shrieks down at the two of us. Apparently so assured of our victory that she was taunting him from her perch. Or maybe she was just that insulted, I couldn't spare the brain power to guess. Instead, I focused on something else he said. I knew who the Empire was… but…
"Who are the Merchants?" I ask.
That had been the wrong thing to ask.
Mush bellows in rage before rearing back and swinging his arm down at where I stand. The trash arm thins, becoming whip like and creating more force on the downswing of the fire hydrant. It was heading right at me at reasonable speeds. I was even slightly impressed at how the asphalt shatters once he misses me. However, I was already sliding between his legs, Kanshou and Bakuya traced into my hands and slicing through the construct at its thighs, missing what I knew to be his real body by inches on purpose. It wasn't hard, I just had to take note of the parts of Mush's body I couldn't look at with structural grasp.
Mush squeals like a pig as gravity forces his golem body to the ground with a heavy thump. I immediately notice his form return to that of a pseudo liquid state as he just sucks up his cut off limbs back into his trash body. Did every villain have some sort of regeneration? Admittedly this didn't really count, but it felt as annoying.
Mush could be heard screaming from his bubbling mound of trash that continued to grow.
"F-Fuck you! Fuck you, fuck YOU!"
I was a little disappointed in his mid-fight banter.
Tendrils of trash sprout from the mound like the heads of the mythical hydra, if the hydra was made out of debris and had a mouth as foul as a sailor. There are dozens, and all of them turn to me. I slide one step back and ready the married blades. The limbs descend on me like a rain of arrows, slamming into the ground around me as I step back, twirling and letting myself be pushed back simply for the fact that it would make me harder to hit. I could see some clouds of bugs trying to burrow into Mush's form with little success. Kanshou and Bakuya sing against the wind as any tendril that gets close or I can't dodge gets sliced apart. This was still something I could deal with.
Then the tendrils double, then triple.
Like a switch had been hit, I start being pushed back by the utter barrage of limbs trying to grab me or punch a hole through my body. My body now in full fight mode, attacking the trash limbs with as much ferocity as Mush was using to attack me. I stalemate the capes attack, the two of us attacking each other with what I can only describe as the intent to kill in that very moment. Those rules Taylor pushed seeming meaningless in the moment. I wasn't able to get closer however, there was to many twisting limbs for me to make a safe approach without taking a hit. So, I decide to switch up my strategy and give more ground suddenly. The arms lurch, then as if smelling blood, double again, an absolutely ridiculous number of limbs coming to batter me.
I leap upwards, only one eye on the chasing tendrils that shoot for me. They miss by inches, the tentacles slamming into the wall of the drug den that I was currently running up, my body glowing with magical energy. The way the concrete shatters beneath the thin blows shows me just how much Mush wasn't playing around. But that's ok…
… Because I wasn't either.
As I reach the top of the building, I step onto the edge of the roof before throwing myself backwards, soaring across the street through the air just as the last of Mush's tendrils shatter the edge of the rooftop. This was my chance, my eyes reinforce, granting me Archer's clairvoyance. Time seems to slow as Kanshou and Bakuya are replaced by EMIYA's bow. I turn in midair and project a simple, if not slightly large, arrow crafted from a nameless sword. My target was below me, all his tendrils outstretched to what I could see was their limit. His pile was stretched thin, what was once a pile of dense trash larger than me by a few cars' worth of mass, was now barely covering the goblinoid man in the middle. Mush's real arms and legs were malformed into some sort of root like structure, which must be the fleshy tentacles that let him grab parts for his body.
He meet's my eyes, and I assume what he saw scared him stiff, I see how his pupils dilate. The trash starts to rush back to him, his desperation at being out smarted clear.
I packed the arrow with enough magical energy to make it visibly crack and release blue steam, shining out in my bow. He wouldn't get enough mass back in time to stop me. With a crack of thunder, my nameless arrow slams down into the ground beside him, and he can only scream when the street blows up beneath him, blasting his body up and out of his shell of trash. I get to see his disgusting form in all it's glory as he flips through the air towards my now falling body. The bow disappears and my reinforced hand clamps down on his head as I pass his rising body, dragging him back down to earth. I land in a crouch, my hand holding Mush's true body above the ground while my other hand deliver's a ruthless blow to his stomach, making him gag and quickly go limp.
…And like that, it was over.
The street and the front of the building they were held up in was ruined, but I assume that was par for the course when superhumans were involved. I inspect everyone with structural grasp again, just to make sure no one was going to die while we waited, I didn't see anything wrong with them beyond the fear and pain they were in, so I set Mush down alongside them as Taylor makes her way down the last fire escape and runs up to me. I could see was vibrating in some unknown emotion.
"Sword!" She shouts, stopping within my personal space and looking up at me. "…That was amazing! I thought for sure when you started to run that we had bite off more than we can chew…but-!"
"Take it as a lessen" I say, lifting a hand and placing it on her head for the first time in a couple days. It was something she clearly appreciated if how she stepped closer was anything to go on. "When you hit a wall, sometimes its best to go around it then through it."
Taylor bobs her head and I can tell she's taking my words seriously for once. Maybe she just needed to experience some more combat to really take my words into consideration.
"Did you call the PRT for pick up?" I then ask, she again nods, seemingly lost in my hand now so I wasn't sure if she just stopped paying attention, but the sirens in the distance tell me she was being truthful. "…Next time, try to actually stay hidden?"
"BUT HE CALLED US RASCISTS!"
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The walk home had been nice, me and Taylor had stopped for ice-cream to celebrate. Well, for her to celebrate, I was just dragged along. But it was still nice.
The Trooper's that had come weren't accompanied by any heroes. Apparently, the big heroes were all out of city for the day and the Ward's had been downtown fighting against the Undersider's. I didn't really recognize that villain group name, but it probably wasn't too important right? Anyway, the trooper, named Steve, had passed along that Armsmaster would like to talk to me and Taylor in person at some point. And that it would be helpful to them if we came in for power testing at some point.
I gave Steve a maybe on both fronts. But he was nice about it, and had the rest of his troopers start foaming up Mush with big foam guns while the normal police dealt with the drug dealers.
After that, me and Taylor got out of costume and I let her drag me wherever she wanted to go
But now I was home, it was a good time too. Because Lisa had just arrived at the complex door a moment before we did. She wasn't alone either, she had a friend like she mentioned.
He had black curly hair cropped short, with green-blue eyes and looked 15, Taylor's age. He was more pretty then handsome, but definitely what I would call an attractive face in a boy band kind of sense. The only imperfection I see is a healing scar on the side of his skull. His clothes looked expensive though, was he also rich like Lisa apparently was? I reject the urge to structural grasp him right away, out of some respect for Lisa. Speaking of Lisa…
"Oh? Great timing!" Lisa compliments, almost immediately I notice how she is favoring her right side and her shoulder. Something had happened.
"What happened to you?" I ask her, cutting her off before she could continue her greeting. I step closer, gently grabbing her arm and deciding that magecraft was too useful not to use on her body at this very moment.
"H-Hey…!" Lisa whines, looking around with wide eyes when her outburst gets the attention of some people in the lobby. Whatever her power tells her, she looks annoyed and flustered about. She looks to Taylor and her friend for some help, but neither steps up. Taylor was looking at her with a flat expression, not even hiding the distaste, while her friend…
Was looking at me very intensely.
"I just got into a little fight is all…!" Lisa admits, pulling free from my hands with a huff while I just raised an eyebrow at what my spell was telling me. Dislocated shoulder, bruised ribs, and minor concussion. What the hell kind of fight did she get into? A fight with a brick wall?
"You're explaining what the hell happened to you today when we get up back to our room, after I cook you something" I say, leaving zero room for arguments.
Lisa wearily rolls her eyes before glumly returning Taylor's slightly frigid look with one of annoyance. "…Does 'TayTay' have to be here for it?"
"Yes," 'TayTay' says flatly, stepping closer to me.
"Well, you heard her…," I say helplessly, before finally regarding Lisa's friend who had been respectably silent during this exchange. "I'm sorry you have to see this, my name is Shirou Emiya."
"Alec," he says with what looks like a suave smirk. Lisa turns to him and gives him a plainly suspicious look, one that doesn't make sense to me. He was being really polite honestly. "Lisa has told me enough about you that I wanted to meet you myself. Hope you don't mind."
"Of course not, friends of Lisa's are my friends." I say as we all crowed into the lobby elevator and head up to Lisa's floor.
"I have to admit…" Alec says casually, making me turn my head around to look behind me at him. He was… kind of close. "Lisa didn't do you any justice, you're… mystifying in person"
Ok, this was now getting weird, but I still manage to smile back at him even as I give Lisa a confused look. Taylor meanwhile is looking between me and Alec, mouth slightly open as she clutches her backpack to her chest. But not to tightly, her still reinforced spiders were in there. That was something I was going to have to bring up soon.
"T-thank you?" I say to Alec as the elevator dings, letting us out on the 6th floor. After a moment of walking, we make it to the apartment. Lisa looks for her key while I just grab mine and slide it into its slot. The door clicks and I begin to open it.
When it opens, I see bombs clicking away almost comically, along with a letter on a wall that reads…
'Bakuda sends her regards.'
"RHO AIA-".
They explode.