Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Taylor

"Princess," Opal said as I blasted the crap out of my twelfth imaginary meteor of the night, "I know you're upset about what happened this afternoon but this isn't the most healthy way of dealing with it."

The last two weeks had been great. For some reason or another, I'd been getting far fewer threatening e-mails and was being harassed less in the hallways. It had all gotten fucked up, however, because apparently someone had found out I'd been sneaking up to the roof at lunchtime and had been waiting for me with a water balloon full of rancid peanut butter. I stepped up to the roof and I'm up there for less than a minute when I get winged in the back of the head. I stumbled and fell on impact, and the only thing to tell me that I wasn't alone on the roof was the sound of someone running past me and down the stairs. I tried to turn to see who it was, but they were gone.

The foul smelling slime coating my hair had to be the worst thing to happen to me, bullying-wise, since Emma… I fumed for a few minutes, and when Opal, equally covered in disgusting shit, wiggled out of my ruined hair to check on me, I immediately grabbed her, tranced, and flew home.

"You weren't very happy about it either," I countered. Once I'd washed my hair for the third time, she made me step out of the shower and run her a bath. My hair still didn't feel clean.

"No," she replied, "I'm not. But shooting satellites out of the sky isn't the best way to solve problems."

"But-"

"A little catharsis now and then is okay, but it's a terrible long-term solution for stress relief. Especially for a dignified young lady such as yourself," Opal interrupted, "all it does is make you more likely to explode in violence. Now, what is it about this incident that was different from all the others?"

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean," Opal answered, "is that you have taken threats of violence or death, the theft or destruction of your school work, and in general things that are arguably far worse than what you experienced this morning and suffered them in silence. You normally just go home, write what happened in your journal, and then we go out flying or you go to the firing range and it's like you're fine. This time," Opal continued, "you're not fine. You're still angry. You're aggressive. What's different?"

I mumbled what was different.

"What was that?"

"My hair."

"I'm sorry?"

"My hair! My hair is what's different!" I hadn't meant to shout, but… Opal sort of coiled around my arm in a pseudo-hug. "Look," I said, "you know I have issues with how I look. My hair is the only thing about myself that I like because it's the same as my Mom's was and..."

"I understand, Princess." One of her wings tapped me. "But your hair is fine, you've washed all of the filth out, there's been no permanent damage. When the Traitor and those cretins cut it or bleach it, then you can stay upset."

I took a deep breath. My hair didn't feel clean but… "Okay."

"Now," Opal began, "It's Friday evening. That means you do not have school in the morning, and I know that you're meeting with Lisa tomorrow afternoon." Opal unwrapped from my arm and bent into what I'd come to think of as a smile. "So, why don't we go home, relax, maybe sleep in tomorrow, and then have fun and just don't think about those brutes for a few days?"

"Okay." This would be my third meeting with Lisa. She'd wanted to meet at the Marketplace for some reason. I took one last calming breath and made to head home.

On the way home, however, I noticed something. Another flying figure dressed in white, albeit one flying far lower than I usually soared, was flying through the streets in the dock region at great speed. I could make out that they were chasing someone and… something inside me made me move, and I took off like a shot, flying around and down before landing at the edge of an alley just in time for a Japanese looking man in the Azn Bad Boyz' colors to see me and come to a sudden stop.

The look on the man's face was almost comical, his jaw gaping in surprise and fear. He turned, perhaps intending to run back the way he came, but his pursuer came around the corner and in a flash was right behind him.

The other flying girl in white was Victoria Dallon, alias Glory Girl. She was about my age, maybe a little older, and a junior member of New Wave, a group of heroes that had taken off their masks so that they could be held accountable for their actions. She was an Alexandria package-flight, strength, and invulnerability. She took one look at the ABB thug and then looked past him to me. "If you're trying to copy me," she said after a moment while pointing to her own golden tiara, "then you're doing a good job." I did not expect that. "Seriously, that costume looks great on you." I blushed at the compliment, and then noted that Glory Girl had bad taste in fashion.

Opal wiggled from my hand, earning a wary look from the blonde. "Thank you," she said, "I put a lot of thought into my Master's outfit."

"So," I said hoping to get this back on track, "what's going on here?"

"Two days ago, Susan 'Suzie' Wong, a senior from Arcadia, was abducted off of the streets," Glory Girl explained. "They tried to grab one of her friends too, but the friend got away. This asshole," the hero pointed to the ABB thug, "matches the description the friend gave of the snatcher but he won't tell me where Suzie is."

"Really now?" My stomach sank. The kind of things that the ABB did to girls they abducted…

"Forgive my ignorance," Opal said, "but why would this crude young man be abducting a young girl?"

"Well," Glory Girl said, still cautious of Opal, "Lung, this guy's boss, makes a lot of his money by kidnapping girls, sending them somewhere, where they get tortured and brainwashed until they become compliant little whores for his clubs."

Opal hummed. "Princess," she said, "kill this man."

"Opal," I said as the man looked at us both in fear, "I'm not going to kill him."

"Why not?"

"For one, he's not worth it," I answered quickly. "For two, heroes are supposed to be better than the criminals. For three, he knows where the girl is."

"Exactly," Glory Girl picked up. "And the son of a bitch won't tell me where they're keeping her." She grabbed the young man by the arm and wrenched him close to her. "Maybe you and I could persuade him?"

I facepalmed. "What did I just say about being better than that?"

"Look, Glory Hole, you're terrifying," the captured Asian gangster said to the blonde hero, wincing as she tightened her grip at his crude insult, "but the beanpole scares me more and neither of you-"

"Why are you more afraid of me than her?" I asked in genuine curiosity.

The thug blinked. "You don't remember me?"

"Should I?"

"My friends and I beat the shit out of you for making a scene on the docks!" he shouted. He seemed honestly offended that I didn't recognize him.

"Oh," I answered bluntly. I recognized him now-he was the leader of that group of assholes. "Anyway, where are you keeping the girl?"

"What?" The man was confused, wasn't he? "Don't you care that-"

"Cretin," Opal interrupted, "my master has had far more important things to do than dwell on the actions of some cowardly brute that needs three other brutes to assault an innocent young lady. Personally," Opal continued, "I'd like to crush you like the inelegant roach you are, but it's not my call to make."

I rolled my eyes as the thug's own widened. "Like I was saying," he began, "you two are scary but nothing you can possibly do is worse than what Lung will do if he finds out I talked."

The sudden loud whirring of a dentist drill was the response. From the corner of my eye, saw that Opal had sprouted a cartoonish drill from the top of her… head. "Are you so sure about that?"

I sighed. "We're not torturing him. Now," I said to the asshole, "you know before Lung can kill you for talking, he'd have to get to you. You'd be nice and safe in a jail cell."

The man scoffed. "Do you honestly think-" He was cut off by another whir of the drill. "There's a farm up in the mountains!" he quickly shouted. "It's a big shack, red walls and green roof. I don't know if that's where she's at but it's the only one I know about."

I blinked. Apparently, this guy was all talk. "Thank you for your cooperation."

"And thank you," Glory Girl said to me. "I'm gonna take this guy in and see about organizing a raid. You want in?"

"No," I answered. "I need to get home-getting involved here was kind of an impulse when I saw the chase, I'm not..."

"Let me guess," the blonde picked up, "your parents don't know you're a cape and you need to sneak back home before they realize you're gone?"

"We'll, actually my Dad knows but otherwise..."

"Okay, I understand." Glory Girl hoisted the guy up and shifted so that she was holding him in a fireman's carry. "Well, I'll see you around Princess," she said, and then flew off.

"Wait!" I shouted after her. "That's not my..." she had already disappeared into the night. I sighed. "Opal, I hope you realize that I hate you right now."

*F/KLPT*

After meeting Lisa at the boardwalk, she led me to what looked like a fancy boutique.

"So," I asked, "what exactly are we here to do?"

"Oh, you know," she answered, "shopping, trying on clothes, and other girl crap like that."

"Okay, I guess." I didn't quite like the sound of shopping-this place's wares looked a bit pricier than my normal outfits. I suppose I could just say that I didn't like anything present, I suppose, but...

Lisa handed an apparently substantial tip to the clerk who came to greet us and said something about a private changing room. As we were lead to a back room, I noted that there was a distinct lack of baggy pants and longed sleeved sweaters.

"Wait here," Lisa said once we were alone. "I'm gonna go grab some outfits to try on." and with that, I was alone in the changing room. I looked around and the room was basically what I expected-a few changing booths and a mirror.

Opal wiggled out of my hair and came around to the front of my face. "Having fun yet, Princess?"

"Not yet," I answered as I trained my eye on the reflection of the door in the mirror, ready to snatch Opal from the air at the first sign of movement. I wasn't exactly embarrassed of Opal herself, but "this is my friend, the talking magic wand that lives in my hair," was an awkward conversation that I did not want to have with my new friend.

"Well, she has good taste," Opal said. "Perhaps while we're here we can address some of the problems with your wardrobe?"

"There's nothing wrong with my wardrobe," I said, "and besides, I can't afford most of the stuff they have here."

Opal was prevented from replying by the door behind us beginning to move. I quickly snatched her from the air and shoved her into a pocket just in time for Lisa to return. I'd thought she'd have taken longer?

Lisa was carrying several hangers and bits of folded clothing with the grace of someone who's done this several times before. "So, what were you talking about? Something about not being able to afford stuff from here."

I freaked, just a little bit, she'd heard me talking to Opal and "um" was all I could say.

Lisa blinked. "Calm down Taylor, lots of people talk to themselves, it's not a big deal." She sat some of the closes down on a table by the mirror. I hadn't noticed it before. "And don't worry about not being able to afford anything-if there's something you really like, I'll buy it for you."

"Lisa, I can't accept that," I said, looking at the stack of particularly nice looking clothes she'd brought in. "I'm not comfortable accepting such an expensive gift and-" Lisa was giving me puppy eyes. "Lisa, that doesn't work when you're taller than the person you're trying it on." She responded by crouching down to look up at me. "Lisa, that's not gonna work."

"Come on," she said, "You need a bit of variety in your wardrobe."

I blinked, "Why?"

"Well, for one, I'm pretty sure you've worn the same pair of pants every time we've met." I looked down to my pants. I mean, I didn't have that many but the same pair every time? "And you don't really express yourself with your clothes. sweatpants, hoodies, long sleeves, and everything is so baggy. Then it's all so plain. White, black, gray, brown, and beige. Try some color, Taylor, show some skin." I kept looking down. I'd had this conversation with Opal before. "I mean honestly, what are you trying to hide?" I didn't answer.

"Taylor," Lisa said after a moment, "are people picking you?" I didn't answer. "Okay," Lisa continued, "here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna get you some expressive clothes, and then you're going to tell me who these… mean girls are." Lisa slowly brought her hands together until her fingers were tented before her heart, and in a deadly serious tone said: and then, I shall use my contacts within this city's criminal underworld to have them killed."

The massive, foxlike grin she had as she finished talking was... I couldn't help it, I laughed.

Lisa was still smiling when I was finished. "Feel better?"

"A little," I answered.

"Okay, now let's try these things on," she gestured to the clothes she'd gotten.

"Look," I said, "Lisa I'm still not comfortable accepting something like that."

"Taylor," Lisa replied, "when my parents… You know, they set me up so that I'd never have to worry about money. I'm loaded. More money that I'd ever need and I get more monthly-I'm giving most of it to charity and I've still got cash to burn." She smiled. "I can't think of anything better to do with it than occasionally treat my friends."

"Lisa..."

She was back to crouching and giving puppy eyes. "Please?"

"Okay, fine," I said. "One piece of clothing."

"Two full outfits."

"One outfit, Lisa."

"One outfit and on your birthday I'm completely replacing your wardrobe."

"Deal!" Wait, what just happened? The next thing I knew I was in the changing room with a little less than half of the clothes Lisa had picked out. After a brief clothes changing montage, I ended up choosing a blue blouse and a pair of skinny jeans. I wasn't so sure but Lisa insisted that it looked good on me.

"Okay, now I'll just take these rejects back," Lisa said in reference to the clothes we'd decided against, "and then we can pay and leave."

She grabbed the pile of clothes and left, while I returned to the changing booth to switch back to the clothes I came in with.

"That outfit does look good on you," Opal said from her place in the corner.

"If you guys say so," I answered. Once I had changed back, Opal wiggled back into my hair and we waited for Lisa.

After my blonde friend returned, we went to the front of the store, Lisa paid for her own purchases-several full outfits-and mine and we left.