Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Taylor
It took Armsmaster five minutes to figure out how to open up the egg. Glory Girl's left sleeve was torn up and slightly bloody but she seemed otherwise fine once he was removed from the restraints.
"Oh, god... As if I needed another reason to not like eggs," she said.
"Are, are you alright?" I asked her.
"More or less," she said. "More pissed off than anything. There was like, a needle or a pick or something in there that just kept tapping me faster and faster until it broke through my shield. It's nothing that Amy can't fix in less than a second."
She looked at me carefully, then looked to Hatchet Face's cooling corpse. "Are you okay?"
"I'll be fine," I lied.
"Well, good riddance," she said in regard to the killer. "I'm gonna go get my arm fixed, check on Amy, and thank whoever's listening that we both got out of this alive. I'll call you later."
She flew off and I sat there, silent, for a few more moments until Armsmaster turned around. "...Where's Glory Girl?"
"She uh, went home. Said something about getting Panacea to fix her wound... Why?" I asked.
"Because that device was designed to restrain her specifically, as far as I can tell," he explained. "At the same time, it could have easily been designed to kill her but the only method of harm within it would only cause serious damage if she was inside for several hours. She'd starve to death before the pick would do permanent damage. There shouldn't be any... Major risk for her flying off like that, but she's most certainly someone's target for recruitment in the Slaughterhouse 9."
"She thought that Bonesaw was targeting Panacea. It's, why we came out here, someone tried to get into their house last night. That's kind of why... I was running a tracking spell to find them and... Doesn't Hatchet Face usually target brutes? She might have been his target."
"Yes, but that doesn't mean that Bonesaw isn't targeting Panacea," Armsmaster said. "I'll run that by the think-tank, maybe post some security near the Dallon house if they'll take it just in case. Bonesaw's previous history indicates that she sees Slaughterhouse 9 as a substitute for the family that she murdered and targets people who she thinks would be good fits for a role in the family that she feels is lacking... What little girl wouldn't want a 'big sister' to help with 'homework?' It's certainly possible that both of the Dallon sisters were targetted."
He looked at the corpse. "I feel I should ask," he said, "how are you holding up? The first kill is the hardest."
"I'm fine," I said defensively.
"Princess, stop lying to people about this," Opal chastised.
"I'm not lying," I defended.
"The lie detector in my helmet says that you are."
"...Shit."
"Language."
Armsmaster stood there, looking as awkward as I felt. "I am... probably the worst person for you to have this conversation with," he admitted. He stood in silent concentration for a few moments. "Okay, shot in the dark, have you ever read To Kill a Mockingbird? Or perhaps seen the film?"
"It's required reading," I confirmed.
"There's the sequence with the rabid dog. It needs to be put down, and Atticus Finch is recruited because he's the best shot in town. And he does it. He does not feel bad about shooting a sick animal, but nor does he revel in it. The animal was going to die anyway, and it was a danger to everyone around it, so he lines up a clean shot and puts it down. It had to be done. Hatchet Face... Most of the Slaughterhouse 9, if we're being honest, are like that dog. They're broken, something is fundamentally wrong with them, that makes them a danger to everyone around them. They can't be fixed, or saved, and even if they could it's probably not worth the risk to others to try. What you did here? It had to be done. You put down a mad dog, he won't be hurting anyone anymore, and if there's anyone sympathetic to him because of what drove him to this, they'll probably be happy that he's not hurting anymore. The kill could have been cleaner, but lining up a clean shot isn't always something you can do in the heat of the moment."
He went silent for a moment.
"This isn't working, is it?"
"A little bit?" I said half hesitantly. "What you're saying, it makes sense up here," I said with a gesture to my head, "but it doesn't make me feel better."
"The PRT offers counseling services," he said. "Normally you would have to join the Wards, but with your celebrity status and image licensing contract, you might be able to negotiate something... I should have opened with that."
"I'll think it over," I said, even though I probably wasn't going to. "Do you need me to make a statement?"
"No, it's pretty clear what happened here. There's the matter of Hatchet Face's kill order bounty, but that can be handled after the current crisis is dealt with."
I stood up and made to leave when I noticed that Armsmaster's body language changed.
"What's going on?"
"Just got a call. Crawler's rampaging near the dockyard and—"
I didn't catch the rest of what Armsmaster said. The second he said 'dockyard' I remembered that Dad had gone into work today, my heart immediately started racing and I took off flying towards the docks.
A thousand worst-case scenarios flew through my mind as I soared through the air. To force images of my father, torn apart, from my mind, I focused on all the things I could have done differently with Hatchet Face.
All the things I would do differently with Crawler.
Crawler was one of the strongest brutes in the world, a regenerator able to survive the destruction of vital organs and replace hundreds of pounds of flesh and bone in moments. Every time he regenerated, his body healed in ways that would make him harder to hurt in that way again. Over a few years, he'd gone from a human being to a horrific, multi-limbed monster. That which did not kill him made him ever more of a pain in the ass to fight.
When I got to the dockyard... Well, the good news is that Crawler didn't seem to have gotten into the yard proper.
The bad news, however, was that he'd caused a significant amount of property damage in the area around it, and judging from the... Bodies, killed a good number of people. Including, based on the vehicles and the armor on some of the bodies, a squad of PRT troopers.
I didn't see any bodies that looked like Dad. That was something.
Crawler was truly a sight to behold. As long as a T-rex with a similar head, but much lower to the ground. His bulky but flexible form was held aloft by six powerful legs, his frontmost pair branching into a pair of armored, humanlike arms. A set of strong and deadly tentacles complimented his limbs, and every inch of him was coated in some kind of armor. Thick hide reinforced with chitin, or scales, or bristles of hair that looked coarse enough to sand off paint. Countless eyes traced the contours of his body, and a tongue like sandpaper dripping with something highly caustic hung from his monstrous jaw.
I didn't bother trying to sneak up on him, he'd probably already seen me flying in from above.
I landed and selected my class card. I'd considered the possibility of finding some vital area and shooting it out with Archer's quickdraw, but countless people had tried and failed to do that. Turning Saber's holy sword against this monster had appeal, as did using Caster's witchcraft to sap his strength with curses, but...
But Crawler needed to be defeated quickly.
"Install: Lancer."
The truth is, I wasn't comfortable using Lancer again not half an hour since I'd killed someone with her power... But my comfort wasn't important right now. Instead, I focused on what needed doing and worked Lancer's magic.
Crawler turned to me and purred loud enough that I could feel the vibration through the ground. "You? You're the girl who almost killed Leviathan. This'll be fun."
"I'm giving you one chance," I asserted as evenly as I could. "If you and your demented friends leave town now and never come back, I'll let you live." I hoped that that sounded more convincing than it felt.
Crawler laughed, deeply and loudly. "You think you can kill me? Maybe, maybe. No one has ever done as much damage to one of the Endbringers as you... This is exciting, very exciting... Hit me with your best shot. I'll sit still and take it, give me that good pain!"
Well, I'd warned him. That was more than I'd given Hatchet Face.
The circle of runes I'd secretly drawn on the ground around him as I landed flared to life, creating a magic circle that generated a barrier around him. I conjured twelve Gae Bolge in the air and made them pierce the ground lining the circle, and with a few gestures made so that each spear became adorned with more glowing blue symbols, the word "Gravity" spelled out in the Irish Ogham and framed on either side with Primal Runes alluding to the same.
I dropped the barrier, and thick bands of magic formed from each spear and with lightning speed unfurled and grabbed each of Crawler's limbs as well as his torso and his jaw, pulling his body taut, holding him in place, increasing the force of gravity upon him, and forcing his mouth wide open.
I conjured another spear. When thrown, Gae Bolge created a massive explosion strong enough to... If I set that off inside Crawler's body with a carefully aimed throw down his gullet... He'd be dead before he could feel anything, and wouldn't be able to hurt anyone else ever again.
I spun the spear a few times while I lined up my shot. No remorse, no revelry. Just like Atticus putting down the rabid dog.
"Taylor!" Opal shouted urgently from her place as my pauldron. "Lisa's texting again, she says that you're a—!"
"Not now!" I shouted. I threw my spear. "Gae Bolge Alternative!"
My spear flew and soared towards Crawler...
Only for it to be snatched out of the air by a black and white striped hand as the Siberian manifested from the aether. My spear was then snapped cleanly in twain by the murderous exhibitionist.
Crawler began to loudly curse at his teammate, mentioning the phrase 'blue balled,' and I... Turned and ran. I didn't have anything that would work against the Siberian and I couldn't help anyone if I was dead.
"Princess, Lisa says that you're a tar—"
Opal was cut off by The Siberian appearing before me and grabbing me by the throat. I could swear I heard her whisper 'welcome to the family' as I blacked out.