AN: Please put your hands together for my beta reader Functionality and for some of the wonderful readers that clarified bits of fate trivia and played the role of sounding board as I worked through the issues of writing a full out battle. Here's hoping I did it all justice.
Looking over at the two villains… well given blood loss, and adrenaline crashes were a guarantee at this point, it was hard to tell if Sundancer was shaking more or less than seeing that fight would have called for. But Imp's shoulders were hunched over and tense.
"I take it that was your friend?" I shouted to be heard across Vista's slowly expanding crescent of open space.
Sundancer only had time to nod her head before the radio filled with orders and questions.
"I want an update on the evacuation, now! How many people do we still need to get out?" Director Piggot demanded.
"It's been five minutes! If that! We've barely gotten people moving, never mind getting them to abandon what little they still own! Even if we had enough vehicles, which we don't, this is going to take time!" Someone shouted back.
"Director, what about backup?" Assault asked. "Puppy and I are good to go, but a contact cloner is not something we should be punching. And two of us won't be enough to deal with swarm tactics. Legacy's good but… hell kid you have anything in your bag of tricks for this?"
Concerns about whatever my power had just done be damned if there was a fight coming, I'd just have to hope it wouldn't act up like that again until I knew what happened. Though I could kick myself for dismissing all those copies of Gáe Buidhe. Was there anything in the unlimited blade works that would help with this?
"Back up is enroute now. ETA for first response, seven minutes, with more arriving after. Legacy, Kid Win, do either of you have anything for a situation like this?" Piggot asked.
"I haven't had enough time to repair my alternator canon, but I might be able to get more power out of my pistols if I… give me a few minutes?"
"Hurry, Legacy?"
"I could start spamming massive energy blasts into the city. I mean now that it's condemned property value isn't a concern, but I can't aim at something I can't see. If there's anyone innocent out there-"
"A better plan, please." Battery cut in.
Buildings? Structurally unsound, can't climb them and snipe. Plan: indiscriminate property damage, vetoed. Trace bullets would work, but if this monster cape was smart enough to attack from multiple directions… I can't aim at things I can't see and the camp is big. Could I work with Vista? Probably, but trying to hit multiple targets through distorted space, without practice, with friendlies nearby sounded like a recipe for friendly fire. Did I have any noble phantasms for this?
"We've got Police, PRT, and National guard at the edge of the camp. We can provide support, but it's going to be a weird mix of weapons, Director. None of us have drilled together before." Someone offered after I apparently took too long to answer.
I didn't bother talking further, too busy searching through the Unlimited Blade Works. Lots of energy blasts, some homing weapons with prerequisites I couldn't meet right now, cursed blades by the dozens, more torture implements than I was entirely happy with… "Damn it! If I have any say this will be organized properly when I finish inheriting it all!"
"Contact West!" The sound of machine gun fire and a short scream said I was out of time.
"Contact East!" The civilians started screaming as they realized we were under attack.
Fuck everything. She was smart enough to attack from multiple directions. Watching the line of buildings, I traced throwing knives and added my own proclamation to the radio chatter.
"Contact North!"
Throwing knives didn't weigh much but at the speed I was launching them they were not something to be ignored either. I fell back towards the camp with Assault and Battery. Damn those two deserved something, something easy to use, maybe…
I tossed the duo matching… well, a historically accurate mace should have spikes or wedges of metal for extra damage. But I wasn't sure how they would react to something that looked menacing. What they got were two foot steel rods with leather wrapped handles, and fist sized spheres on the end for extra oomph. If a pair of brutes couldn't make those lethal no one could. Best of all they were simple to use.
"Either of you want a riot shield while I'm at it?"
A burst of gunfire from the edge of the warped space saw me taking up my own offer as I put bullet resistant plastic between myself and whoever, whatever, was shooting. I caught a glimpse of a misshapen head behind a gun barrel, but it ducked out of sight at my return salvo of projected knives.
"Please." Battery said.
Assault grunted something negative.
I passed Battery my shield and traced two more. One for myself and one I passed off to Vista who offered a shaky node in thanks.
"MARS! I know you're there, Mars!" A nearly inhuman voice bellowed in the distance. "Stop running from me! It's just us now. The bastard killed all the others! I need you, Mars! Together we'll track him down. We'll get our revenge for what he did to the others! It's the least he deserves!"
"I don't think we're going to be reasoning with her." I muttered sending more knives at the shadows between the buildings.
The only good news right now was that the clones didn't seem to be just rushing us. The gunfire from the camp was too scattered for that, and my targets certainly didn't seem to want to give me a clear shot. Instead, they skulked around the buildings and wreckage.
"Can you give me a weapon?" Vista asked.
I glanced down at the girl who seemed almost dwarfed behind the round riot shield I'd given her. Battery's and mine were more like a tower shield, but Vista just wasn't big enough to use one of those properly. The round shield was smaller and manageable but it was still oversized for a girl her size. The police baton she was clutching in a death grip wasn't going to do much here.
"Know how to fight with anything in particular?" I grinned as a projected knife buried itself in the head of a clone that didn't duck back into cover quickly enough.
"No." She bit out.
Well, that wasn't great, but she certainly needed something. I traced a short spear with a seven inch blade for her.
"Don't try to get fancy with it. Thrust and pull back."
The girl nodded seriously looking like the tiniest, most historically inaccurate, Greek spearman.
She opened her mouth to say something, but we both had to brace our shields as gunfire peppered the asphalt around us. A group of clones took the chance and broke cover to charge the camp while hiding behind makeshift shields. When throwing knives didn't break through, I started launching swords. At least one of the clones behind the shields went down.
The gunfire picked up and Vista shrieked. Her shield stopped a bullet, but the impact spun her a quarter turn, and nearly ripped the shield off her arm. I stepped in front of her and braced myself. I caught at least three rounds with it before Vista did something and the rest slammed into the dirt. I spotted the muzzle flash and sent three swords and a spread of throwing knives through a window after the shooter.
I cursed as I looked back at the shield bearing clones. They hadn't been rushing the camp. They'd been rushing to Lung.
"Stop those clones!" At Battery's shout gunfire opened up from the nearest checkpoint and I launched a few dozen knives and swords, but the clones were on the ball with those shields. Shitty as they were for actually stopping anything, it was enough to foul up line of sight, and the clones didn't mind soaking up losses to secure their cargo.
Kid Win started into a dive, pistols ready to fire, but a burst of gunfire from an alleyway forced him to break off. Battery shouted at him over the radio to get to cover, and he clawed for altitude while flying a serpentine path towards our defensive line.
I was about to try something drastic when flickers of green heralded multiple clones going down with bloodied legs, and they took the ad hoc shields down with them. Apparently, Vista took my advice about that spear seriously. I let loose a barrage of swords even as bullets ripped through the small crowd. I wanted to push forward, but there was enough gunfire coming from enough angles that I really didn't want to risk leaving my sides exposed, or my back for that matter. Friendly fire was no joke, and being in melee with everyone's targets sounded incredibly stupid.
"I have a dumb idea…"
Shirou, who had felt more alert and attentive since the fighting began, didn't bother to ask a question, but curiosity radiated off of him as I did something ridiculous.
"Is that a harpoon?"
I ignored Vista's question in favor of throwing the damn thing as accurately as I could, and making sure there was enough rope to haul my target back.
"Cover me, please?" I asked.
Space around us distorted further as I dropped my shield and started hauling the still unconscious Lung towards us. If anyone asked later, I was definitely telling them I had in fact been aiming for the leg I hit.
A few clones tried to stop me dragging the scaly fuck to safety but the National Guard, the Police, and Vista… well they discouraged that. It got bloody. Fast. The clones had enough brains to back off.
A pair of troopers rushed forward to haul the big bastard off as I dismissed the harpoon. He wasn't waking up yet so I'd have to trust them to keep him away from the fighting. I did not want more dragons running around. We were already spread paper thin trying to defend the camp. One bull rushing brute could wipe out a lot of civilians before they could be brought down. If that fucker woke up and started making things worse, I was going to make sure he didn't get up a second time.
Things settled into a nerve wracking quiet after that. The clones all ducked back into cover and didn't stick their heads out. After twenty seconds I found myself sharing glances with, well everyone nearby really. Even the radio chatter I'd been ignoring trailed off as everyone seemed to hold their breath.
An angry inhuman scream spilt the silence with all the subtlety of a bomb blast.
"Guess she knows she isn't getting more Lung clones." Vista said.
Glancing down I flashed a strained grin.
"Yeah. Just wish I knew what her next move was going to be. Or that I could start bombing the damn city."
"Could you really do that?" Kid Win asked as he came up on my left side.
"Sure, but it would be pretty hard to hit something I can't see, and I've never had to push my power that hard before."
I knew I had enough energy to spam noble phantasms, and I knew most of the strain was handled by the remnants of my original power, but if my body still handled any of that stress directly? Most powers didn't have those sort of limits, but some did. How far could I push myself? I'd produced a lot of noble phantasms already today. I felt fine so far. Good. Hopefully that wouldn't change.
"Reinforcements are three minutes out."
"Contact!" The sound of heavy gunfire echoed from somewhere behind us. "Heavy push from the South East!"
There was another noise that had been rising since the fight began. Something I'd been doing my best to ignore. People were screaming in fear. At first it had been easy to ignore but now… Now the number of screams and shouts was growing into a crescendo. The civilians were panicking.
I needed to clear the field a bit. I needed to do that without explosions, or massive indiscriminate energy attacks. I needed something controlled, targeted… Wasn't there… yes. Yes, there was.
"Damn it, whatever that was before, don't do it now. I need this to work." I wasn't sure who or what I was directing the thought at, but I meant it. I did not need distractions right now. The Blade Works modifying weapons on me would be a serious distraction.
"I am the foundry and forge." Nothing strange happened and the spear I wanted snapped into existence. It was an interesting noble phantasm.
The man who used the spear in life had been notable, but not nearly so famous as most heroic spirits. In fact, the earliest and most important part of his legend was a shared victory. Kato Kiyomasa, one of the Seven Spears of Shizugatake, bodyguard to Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Pretty standard story of rising through the social hierarchy by merit in combat, but that initial victory that started his rise was a shared victory. A noble phantasm shared between seven heroic spirits? Maybe not the most impressive individual servant, but it made this phantasm a particularly useful blend of power and control which I desperately needed with friendlies so close.
He was also a religious extremist I'd happily stab for his slaughter of pregnant mothers, but that wasn't relevant right this second.
"Legacy to all. Do not shoot me, or the spectral horseman. I'm going to try and clear the field a bit." I pumped power into the spear and thrust the tip into the air. "For Toyotomi-Dono!" I shouted. The spear answered. I rose into the air on the back of a spectral purple horse and six others formed beside me each carrying a spear wielding samurai. "Charge!"
It took a moment to build up speed, but then the thunder of hooves across blacktop filled the air as I led a cavalry charge around the edge of the camp. In seconds I could see the attacking clones and the spears came down.
It was almost too quick to process. All I could do was adjust the spear and trust in the horse.
The clones screamed as they were stabbed and trampled. Blood splashed all over my legs but there was no time to worry about that. The attack ended once we were through the throng of now pulped clones.
Landing deftly on my feet I traced another riot shield for my off hand and retreated to the cheering and jeering line of soldiers and cops. They were more than able to finish off the scattered survivors on their own.
"We get out of this alive. I'm naming a kid after you." Someone called from my left.
"Where the hell are you going to find a woman willing to fuck your ugly ass, Sarge?"
"Focus!" I barked. "Survive first, jokes later."
I punctuated the point by sending a knife flying down an alley that was much closer to the perimeter so far away from Vista. I could plainly hear the scream as this one buried itself in a clone's guts.
I didn't have time for anything else as a massive thing jumped from a nearby roof coming in like a scaly meteor. Someone shouted "Scatter!" about the same moment I grabbed the closest soldier by his combat webbing and jumped to the side. We got clear, but I still had to put my shield between us and a massive tail swiping for my chest. The blow ruined my landing and set me rolling across the black top, which earned me an elbow to the tit from my passenger. I was going to be feeling those bruises for a few days.
Most of the other men at the checkpoint were not so lucky. The Lung clone, and damn it I had hoped she wasn't keeping any in reserve, shredded them. Then swung its blood streaked face my way. It was a mottled gray wyvern, now streaked with fresh crimson. It bared its fangs and lunged, not at me, but into the camp.
The screaming spiked instantly, and I was hot on its heels with a new copy of Gáe Buidhe replacing the yari spear I'd been using.
There were a lot of very still bodies, and body parts, some of them very small. I didn't let myself stop and think about it. It's fuel for the forge. I just had to kill the fucker as fast as possible and maybe mount his skull on a pike!
Clearing the edge of a tent I had to duck and roll to avoid the bastard's spiked tail. But then I was on him, and lashed out with quick thrusts to the back right leg. Not enough to sever any muscles, but I didn't have time for more. Pumping power into my legs I jumped up clearing the tarp sized wing that swept over the ground as the dragon turned. I lashed out with the spear just before rolling through a landing and was rewarded with a pained shriek. Finding my feet I got a good look at the beast's face, and its newly shredded eye.
Then it opened its mouth, and there was fire.
The flames sprayed out in an arc as it whipped its head back and forth. Tents, bodies, even the ground burned with clinging fire. I leapt back and cursed as more than one person dropped to the ground and began to roll desperately. I doubted it would help.
Then the fucker coiled like a spring and leapt up, clawing at the sky in a bid for altitude.
I wanted it away from the civilians, but if that thing started strafing the camp…
"Like hell I'll let you!"
Swords spears and a few spiked masses shot up in an instant, ripping the relatively delicate wing membranes to shreds. Gravity took hold and it plummeted fifteen feet back to ground with an angry squawk.
I moved, and in the next instant the golden spear ripped into the already damaged eye, and then out the other. A shiver traveled down the length of its body from my armature lobotomy. As the tremor passed, every muscle went slack.
With a huff I pulled my arm back, and tried to shake off the worst of the blood. This costume was going to be a complete write off. Now… where the hell was I needed next?
The ground shook and something roared to my left. Not good, especially considering I could hear it over the screams and gunshots. Probably where I needed to go next though.
I could do nothing for the wounded that someone else couldn't, and if there were more Lung clones... I didn't care what the girl's power had done to her, or if she wasn't mentally fit. I was going to kill her for this.
Moving through the panicked crowds without accidentally stabbing someone was actually more difficult than fighting the Lung clones. Half of these people saw me in all my blood splattered glory and ran like I wanted to gut them. Others recognized me from my earlier tour through the camp and moved to put me between them and whatever was roaring now.
"Make a hole!" Just as I shouted something else screamed from where I'd been standing with Vista and the others.
I hesitated for a moment. I didn't have time to hesitate, but where was I needed most?
The burning light from the North almost sealed the decision for me, but then the thing roared again.
"Damn it, Mars! Stop fighting me! If we join together, we could burn everyone between us and our revenge!" The light was Sundancer. And she might not kill her friend, but I doubted she'd let herself be hurt.
The light grew brighter and the edge of a rolling ball of flame swelled into view over the tops of the tents. The bitch roared in pain and rage.
Right, they could probably hold for now. Mystery monster first, then haul ass to put an end to this shit. Even at my speed it took a minute to get to the latest hotspot while dodging around panicking civilians. When I did, I wanted to hurl.
It was another Lung clone. It looked like a biotinker stuck the head of a crocodile on the body of a big cat and covered the result in pale green scales. Oh, and made the body the size of your average minivan.
Assault and Battery were doing their best to keep the fucker away from the civilians, but it had pretty obviously beaten them here. Damn that bitch! No one deserved this, and there were kids here!
Law enforcement and the National Guard were peppering the thing if they saw the chance but mostly focused on eliminating the more human clones that were trying to take advantage of the chaos.
I was just in time to see it swipe a claw, and a pressure wave of wind sent Battery flying back.
I tossed my spear ahead of myself and the golden blade dug deep into its shoulder. By the time I reached the monster it was starting to look for the new threat, and I'd already traced my next weapon. I pumped power into it and hissed the words to activate the noble phantasm.
"Gáe Bulg!"
Reality warped and the blade thrust deep. A pained croak welled up out of the clone's throat along with a rush of blood, but I was already moving on to cut down the few remaining clones with Shirou's favorite swords. If they had guns and any kind of training, they might be a threat. Naked, and armed with whatever makeshift club they could find? I was never going to get all this blood out of my costume.
I could hear the roar of at least two motorcycles now. But I didn't bother to check where the noise was coming from. There was still the cloner to deal with. And then mop up if any remaining clones didn't die with their creator. I broke out into a sprint opening one last clone's throat as I went. Assault and Battery fell in beside me. At least until Battery's charge seemed to fade and Assault scooped her up into a bridal carry. We cleared the last of the tents in time to see our backup pull a drive by on what I would honestly call a Lovecraftian centaur.
The girl's flesh was a gelatinous murky pink through which I could just make out a few lumps that were probably people. There were mouths on her sides and her face was a picture of rage. Between her and the camp was a pulsing ball of fire giving off enough heat to melt the blacktop by mere proximity. The Guard, Police and Troopers had apparently given up on dealing with her and were instead gunning down clones. One of the mouths along her side disgorged a trio of naked twisted bodies, they were immediately riddled with bullet holes.
Two motorcycles circled her at a healthy distance. Miss Militia drove one, with Flechette taking shots using her arbalest. Red Hood drove the second with Phantom clinging to his back, both were peppering the bitch with their respective blaster abilities. Kid Win was circling above and adding his weapons to the attack. None of this was proving particularly effective but it was pinning her down. And Vista was taking full advantage of that by making an island of expanded space around the monstrous cloner.
Phantom had frozen small chunks of flesh, but they fell off almost immediately, and new flesh bubbled up to replace the old. Hood's explosive blast, more than enough to kill when he wasn't holding back, were only slightly more effective. Kid's lasers were essentially worthless as far as I could see, and Flechette was having more luck pinning the cape's feet to the tarmac rather than inflicting serious damage. Though that last might just be concern over hitting one of the people trapped inside the monstrous cape.
Another regenerator. What the hell was with this day? Aside from the normal clones, which barely rated as a personal threat, this would make regenerating brute number six! Yes, most of those were clones, but still!
Shirou gave a mental jab in the direction of the monster and I winced at the silent rebuke.
"Right, focus. Threat contained, but not eliminated. Hostages at risk from strong or badly aimed attacks… they might all be gangsters or mercenaries, but there's no way to know that for sure."
Two swings of Shirou's favorite swords and another clone went down before it could get behind a group of cops.
"Gáe Bulg might work, but there's no guarantee this thing has, or even needs, a heart anymore. And if it doesn't… I don't think it would switch focus to one of the hostages, but even if it just doesn't work that would still leave me standing right in front of the bitch."
Out of easy targets I drew deep on Shirou's memories and the history of the swords in my hand before throwing the pair of blades.
"Gáe Buidhe is perfectly suited to fighting regenerators, but I'd kill for it to have a larger blade right now so I could do more serious damage quickly."
The thrown sword's flight ended as they sank into the chest cavity of the Noelle's human body with meaty thuds and the sickening crack of bone. She screamed even as her already healing wounds began forcing the blades out.
The sound of crystal gears started to chime in the back of my mind.
"Don't you dare! I do not need a migraine on top of this shit show!"
I wasn't really expecting that to work, but the sound instantly cut off for a full heartbeat. Then with a single chime I felt the Blade Works almost shift as something was pushed to the forefront.
"That… ok, that could work."
"Hedge trimmer." Shirou countered.
"Not going to be picky about this Shirou. Dead is dead."
"I am the foundry and forge." I started running to Vista's side even as I focused on properly tracing this blade for the first time. "Steel is my body and fire is my soul." The almost wireframe of energy took shape. "I have inherited over a thousand blades." The black and purple scythe fully took shape as I held it to one side in my right hand while the end of the attached purple chain wrapped loosely around the same arm where it wouldn't disrupt my swing. Harpe, every bit as good against regenerators as Gáe Buidhe, maybe even better. More importantly it had a blade longer than eight inches.
"Vista, I need you to put me in front of her."
"Are you nuts! The last thing we need is clones of you running around!"
"She has a point." Shirou muttered.
"Well, I'm not throwing a fucking scythe. You have a better idea of how I'm supposed to hit her with this thing?"
"... Tell me where you want to hit. Swing at waist height on my mark."
Well, no time to second guess.
"The human torso right above the navel." I was tempted to go for the neck, but this was our first time trying this trick together. Might as well give her something a little larger to aim at.
"Ok, ok." Vista took a deep breath and stretched out her right hand. "Three, two, one, mark!"
There was almost no resistance.
Noelle's face went from incandescent rage to stunned disbelief. Then she screamed, and for the first time since this cluster fuck started, she was clearly afraid.
The mutated mess that had been her lower body stumbled back but it didn't collapse. The human torso started to drag itself forward. Maybe she still planned to attack. Maybe she just didn't want to get crushed, it didn't matter. The torso had just puked up another trio of clones so this wasn't finished yet.
"Front right leg, just below the knee!"
"...Mark!"
I didn't manage to sever the leg this time, but I certainly crippled it.
"Front left, same place!"
"Mark!"
"Back left!"
"Mark!"
"Last one!"
"Mark!"
The mouths on the blob of flesh screamed and spat up more clones, but the damned thing wasn't going anywhere.
Our backup stopped their bikes and dismounted. Kid Wind came down to hover nearby and the Guard and LEO's spread out. Some of them circling the fucker and some of them tearing off. Probably to hunt any surviving clones and help with the wounded and calming the civilians.
"Jesus fuck, kid." Assault muttered as he and Battery stepped up on my left.
I sighed and started walking forward.
"Let's just finish this." The adrenaline rush was over and I was already starting to feel the crash. I was not in any way ready to help deal with the injuries, or the civilians. But they wouldn't just wait for me to feel better. There was still work to be done and this? This was just one more thing to do.
The flesh thing shrieked again and then the human part of Noelle, who was surprisingly not dead, started to shout.
"You, fucks! You, sons of bitches! I'll kill you! I'll kill you all and then that slimy traitorous fuck, Coil! You're dead once I heal! Dead!"
One of the National Guard didn't like that and let loose a three second burst of gunfire into the crawling upper body.
Those wounds healed. Very quickly. I propped the scythe over my shoulder and kept walking.
"Don't you get it you, dumb fucks! You can't kill me!"
"They can't." I kept walking as her face snapped to look at me. "I can". I hefted the scythe a few inches off of my shoulder. "Meet Harpe. It prevents regeneration, only natural healing will fix the damage it does. It's why you don't have the beginnings of a new lower half. It's why that sack of flesh isn't getting back on its feet."
Her eyes got wider and wider as I spoke. Part of me, a large part of me thought talking was a waste of time. But the rest? The vindictive furious rest of me that was going to have to go and comfort the people her clones had burned and maimed. The families who had already lost so much only to have even more ripped away…
"I'm going to kill you. Then I'm going to kill the thing that used to be your lower body. And when every last bit of you is ash in the wind I'm going to go and do what little I can for the people you've hurt."
I wasn't sure why no one had stepped in yet. Maybe they agreed with me. Maybe they were afraid I'd lash out if they tried to stop me. Maybe they thought the scythe would only work for me. Maybe they just didn't want to do it themselves. It didn't really matter.
"No." She flopped onto her back and started to crawl back without daring to break eye contact. "No. NO! I can't die here! I have to kill Coil! I have to avenge Krouse and the others! I can't die here!"
"You can. You will." I hefted the scythe in both hands and reared back for an overhead strike. "If I meet the fucker, I'll send him along behind you for setting this in motion. But you're going first."
The point of the scythe buried itself in her skull. When I pulled it out her corpse flopped to the ground. The flesh monster still roared, and spat up another clone. With a sigh I cut that down and went to work.
I couldn't ignore the wracking sobs coming from Sundancer. But with how many more were coming from the camp I couldn't feel too bad either.
A glance to the side showed my fellow heroes grim faced. But not angry. After a moment's hesitation Flechette started forward.
"I'll deal with the clones." She offered hefting up her arbalest.
In spite of everything my lips twitched up for just a moment. It was a terrible day. But it was nice not going through it on my own.