Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Taylor

So far, the hardest part of getting to the meeting zone was getting through the crowds of civilians. There'd been pamphlets, school assemblies, drills, and all kinds of other things meant to ensure that everyone knew what to do in the event of an Endbringer Attack, but people were still freaking out and ignoring the rules. People with more items than they could carry on them, kids carrying pets which weren't behaving, and even some jackass in his car.

I could have just flown over it, but I didn't want to leave Mister Saito behind. Eventually, we managed to make it to a section of street cordoned off with tape and police cars and managed to get pamphlets directing us to the meeting place.

Another taxing walk through panicking crowds later, we arrived at a six-story brick and mortar building with tinted windows. Just as we got there, my attention was drawn to the sky by something big and loud heading this way.

Dragon landed, a four-limbed mech-suit twice the size of a PRT van with a giant jet engine on it's back and equipped with missiles twice as long as a person was tall. Rather than going inside, she started staring out into the bay.

"I can't help but note how inelegant such large firearms are," Opal commented.

I rolled my eyes. "It's not about elegance. It's about hitting a giant monster hard enough to make it go home."

Mister Saito and I went inside. Shortly afterward, a loud crack of thunder rang out from outside but with how the storm in the bay had been progressing, I figured it couldn't be leviathan yet and paid it no mind.

I turned to Mister Saito and commented. "I think we chose the worst possible time to take down Lung for good."

"Or the best," Mister Saito replied, almost bitter.

"He wouldn't have shown up," came a woman's voice from behind us. I turned and was starstruck by the perfectly fit woman. The long, dark hair. The helmet, and the gray costume. The tower on her chest. The pinnacle of what it meant to be a brute. The invincible.

Alexandria.

"We approached him with an offer to join the Protectorate after Kyushu," she explained. Alexandria was explaining something to me! "He refused, citing a belief that the Endbringers couldn't be defeated. It's highly unlikely that he would have shown up." She looked at me closer. "Princess, I presume?"

Alexandria knew my cape name! I wasn't able to answer verbally, so I nodded.

"The Triumvirate keeps an eye on rising stars. If you ever change your mind about Joining the Wards, any of us would be happy to have you in one of our cities."

"You can speak to the local Director, Piggot, about the bare minimum financial compensation my Master would require before I'd even begin to consider tying her up in a non-mystical organization," Opal interrupted.

I glared death at Opal in response.

"And a word of advice," the strongest and toughest woman in the world said as she and the other people I hadn't even noticed behind her moved onward. "This is the worst possible time to get starstruck."

I started doing some breathing exercises, moved out of the entryway, and looked around. The room was stocked with folding chairs and various capes. All the local heroes were here. The Protectorate, the Wards, New Wave-weirdly split up. Brandish was sitting off to the side, with Panacea, with the rest of Newave's adults sitting near bye discussing something, and Glory Girl was with the other junior members a little bit off. Glory Girl noticed me and waved me down.

I turned briefly to see if Mister Saito was still with me. He'd walked off and was speaking to a masked girl with a quiver full of large needles with a woman I recognized as Parian, a rogue with cloth control powers, standing near them. When Mister Saito conjured a bundle of black blades that seemed similar to the girl's needles and presented them to her, I turned around and joined Glory Girl.

"Hey," I said awkwardly.

"Yeah," Glory Girl said in response. A living natural disaster about to hit wasn't the time to be making small talk. "These are my cousins," she gestured to the other two New Wave kids, a blonde girl with red arrows and lines on her white costume and a young man with similar Blue Shield themed costume and dyed blue hair. "Laserdream and Shielder-or Crystal and Eric, since well, we're all public IDs here."

Why had I thought the blue haired one was called Lancer? I raised my hand in a half wave. "Princess. Or Taylor, if you'd prefer."

"Princess?" Opal interrupted. "I hate to do this, but I tried contacting your father. He is neither at home nor in his office."

That…

"He doesn't have a cellphone?" Crystal asked.

"Uh, no. We haven't had a cell in the house since my Mom died."

"I'm sorry," the blonde said, "how did she die?"

"You know how they say you shouldn't text and drive? Yeah..." I really didn't want to talk about Mom when I couldn't get into contact with Dad.

"Well, he's probably already in a shelter," the boy, Shielder said. "Right now, the most important thing to worry about is getting back to him in one piece and making sure that there's a city left to live in. And remember, you're not the only one here for the first time." There was a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"Princess, if I may," Opal interjected, "there's still time to hide from the giant monster that's likely to kill everyone in this room based on what you've told me. It's even practical; after the carnage, opportunistic criminals are likely to crawl out of the woodwork, so ensuring there's at least one-"

"Opal, we're a bay city sitting on an aquifer," I interrupted. "Leviathan's a macro-hydrokinetic with weather control powers. If we don't stop him, don't drive him off, there won't be a city or anyone to live in it."

I pointed out to where Empire 88s representatives were. Kaiser, Hookwolf… I thought Purity had left the Empire? Kreig, Victor, Othala, and Rune was glaring at me. "Those people are criminals and Neonazis. Some of the worst people in the world, and they're here to protect this city. How can I call myself a hero if I run and hide while they're here in force?"

I caught the Undersiders in the corner of my eye. I hadn't noticed them at first, because Hellhound and her dogs weren't there. Tattletale looked away when she saw they'd gotten my attention. "They're minor crooks, they're still here."

Off to the side, I caught sight of a woman with yellow hair, feathers, and a matching yellow show costume. She looked as nervous as I felt. "That's Canary. She's not a hero or a villain, she just uses her powers to sing. But she's here."

Canary had actually been in legal trouble not too long ago. The selling point of her music is that her voice has minor emotion affecting properties. There was a risk of prolonged exposure to her singing leaving someone suggestable, however. An ex-boyfriend of hers showed up at a concert in Boston and waited backstage to confront her about money, and not knowing that he'd been there for the whole show, she'd told him to go fuck himself and he got very badly hurt trying to do so. Charges had been filed, she'd cooperated, but the prosecutors came down hard with some what-ifs and the initial trial judge violated a lot of her rights as a 'precaution' based on the prosecution's claims. She'd said in an interview that early on, while she was bound and gagged in her prison cell that she'd broken down and promised anyone who would listen that she'd pay it forward if she got out of it okay.

That was the night I accidentally shot down a satellite and it landed on a corrupt judge in Boston. And then Canary's trial was reassigned to a judge who saw through the bullshit and the incident was ruled a freak accident, with Canary being cleared of all charges. In the post-acquittal interview, she mentioned taking time off from touring to make sure that this didn't happen again and the aforementioned promise. I felt less bad about hospitalizing a judge after I learned that.

I guess this was how she was paying it forward.

"Okay, okay, I get it," Opal said, defeated. "I will never forgive you if you die here, Princess. No pressure."

I pulled out the Class Cards, trying to get a feel of which of them would be the most effective here.

Saber, Caster, and Lancer were my most powerful cards, and of the three Lancer was the most versatile.

Assassin and Archer… I'm not seeing them doing much damage to Leviathan, but they might have some maneuverability.

Berserker? Maybe if the storm gets bad, but lightning against a water user seemed a bit iffy.

I could just stay in my default form…

As I cycled through the cards, I came across the Rider card. I'd only used it once when I summoned Prydwen to eat a hit when I claimed the berserker card. I'd never installed it.

A magic shield that became a ship, or a ship that became a shield, and as a shield it could be used as a surfboard. If there was ever gonna be a time where that would be useful, this was it.

Everything started to quiet down, and my attention was drawn to the front of the room. Legend was up there. He was about to give a speech.

Legend… Legend the well-toned man in the white and blue suit with flame and electrical patterns. The Supreme Head of the Protectorate. A voice that dripped charisma and authority.

Legend was famous for his speeches, and I was about to hear one.

"It warms my heart," he said, "to see such an enthusiastic response to the attack on the City of Brockton Bay. I'd like to thank Dragon and Armsmaster for getting us such an early warning. We can prepare. Plan. Organize, instead of throwing ourselves into a chaotic mess as we arrive. That gives us a better chance." He paused. "...But even with that, if this is a good day, it's highly likely that one in four people in this room will die by the end of the day. Anyone having second thoughts may leave now, if they wish. There should still be time to make it to a shelter."

Not a single person moved, though there were still some murmurs.

"Now that everyone is aware of the risks, you know not to underestimate Leviathan," Legend continued. "People like to think that he's the least dangerous because he's not as big or powerful as Behemoth or as subtle and manipulative as the Simurgh, but Leviathan is faster than either of them, and his waves can cause catastrophic damage." His voice took on a stern quality. "We've had to completely redraw the map because of this beast, and I've personally seen far, far too many good men and women die because they thought a little water couldn't hurt them."

"Brockton Bay is a soft target, a location where we cannot afford to take our time and wear Leviathan down," Legend explained. "The second he makes landfall, we have to keep him in our sights at all times. We have to hit him hard, fast, and often, and do our best to push him back. We have to hurt him and fast. Killing him is a pipe dream, but he can be hurt. He can bleed. The more you hurt him, the sooner he'll flee back into the sea." He looked out over everyone. "If you find your attacks aren't effective, try to support someone whose attacks are. Focus fire. If your powers synergize with someone else's then work together."

Legend gestured to Armsmaster, who took center stage. "Dragon has created Armbands meant to be worn over the wrist. The Wards are passing them out now. A screen shows the city as a grid and keeps track of your own location and the last known location of Leviathan. There are two buttons. The first sends a message to everyone, though if you are not a member of the Protectorate the message will be put on delay for three to five seconds while Dragon's programs screen it." He too became sterner. "In an emergency, say 'hard override,' to bypass the delay, but abuse of this feature will cost you message privileges. The second sets off a ping, if you're in need of rescue. Both buttons together will give a priority message, use it if you need tactical assistance."

At that time, Gallant came by and handed out armbands to everyone in our area. By the time I had my securely fastened and entered my name, I could see Glory Girl hugging the armored Ward in the corner of my eye.

"Everyone who has fought an Endbringer before!" Legend called out. "Step Forward."

All the Protectorate present, most of the out of town Wards, a girl who looked eight—Bambina if I wasn't mistaken—and a group led by a guy in a red mask and a top hat all stepped forward. I think Armsmaster recognized them because he whispered something to Miss Militia.

"The Protectorate have trained and drilled for this," Legend continued, "when in doubt follow our orders. If you are lacking direction and cannot find a Protectorate, any of these individuals can provide guidance and instruction. Now, we are dividing responders up by skills. Anyone who has high-level durability or can generate expendable minions, you're with Dragon and Alexandria."

He pointed to where Alexandria stood, and people began to form around her.

"Any melee combatants who believe that they may be able to harm Leviathan but aren't durable enough for sustained physical engagement, join Armsmaster and Chevalier."

Once more, people formed around the designated heroes. Fewer than the first group though.

"Shakers, wide area blasters, telekinetics, and anyone who can create barriers, form on Bastion. Your ability to restrict Leviathan's movements or hold back his waves will be inevaluable."

"Flyers, speedsters, teleporters, and other high-end movers will be responding to pings with Myrrdin," Legend gestured to the man with his staff and burlap robe, "while blasters and other ranged combatants are with me. Anyone who fits in more than one category, go to wherever you think you'll do best."

Where did I go? I could do all of that. I was good at all of that. As people moved about, I held out the Rider Card and installed, just to see what it would do.

Exactly one second after the transformation completed, I realized that Glory Girl was staring at me.

And then I realized that I was in a skimpy red bikini and canceled the install. Hopefully, no one else noticed. Or noticed how red my face was I holstered the Class Cards and decided on search and rescue. I figure if I nothing else I could provide supporting fire and if I'd be better elsewhere I'd be told to go elsewhere.

Mister Saito was already lined up in Myrrdin's group, and a slightly giggling Glory Girl followed after me shortly.

"For those of you who are left," Legend called out, and then some people started screaming.

I couldn't make out what was happening, but I could see that part of the ceiling was caving in. Bastion's group had come into action to hold it up. I heard Legend call for Strider and then a crack of thunder sucked the air from my lungs and rattled my bones.