Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Taylor

My first instinct had been to blast the ever-loving crap out of the hulking ax-murderer that was practically flying toward me and my currently powerless friend.

Unfortunately, Hatchet Face was made of sterner stuff than most villains and a blast that would have knocked the wind out of most people barely cost him any momentum. The brute swung the chain he was holding onto and the white thing strapped to his back tore off and came flying towards us. Seeing it clearly, it was something shiny and egg-shaped and the size of a person.

I threw up a shield hoping to block the impact, only for the object to shift to the side all on its own, wrap around us, unfold like a blooming flower, and swallow Vicky alive before sealing itself shut again.

I stared in shock for a moment, but when I realized that Hatchet Face was pulling back the chain and dragging the egg back to himself I snapped back into action: I swung Opal hard and fast, sending a thin crescent of mana to shatter a link and break the chain, then twisted and fired a continuous beam at the killer hoping to push him back.

I didn't see anything sharp, stabby, or otherwise dangerous when the egg unfolded. The egg was a trap, not a weapon, so if I could get Hatchet Face away from it, well, Glory Girl could bench press a fully loaded cement mixer so she should be able to break out.

The killer grunted from the impact of my beam, was even pushed back some, but he seemed... Lung had been tough, but that was a combination of his healing factor, armored scale, and sheer bulk. With Hatchet Face, it was like his entire body was harder than diamond and stronger than steel.

I'd done some reading about big-name threats after Leviathan hit, because I might have been requested to help with some of them. Hatchet Face was a relatively recent induction into the Nine, from what I could tell. If I have his origin story right, he gained his powers in response to being brutalized and disfigured by a powerful Brute, developing a high-level Brute package himself and an aura that negated any parahuman power within so many yards of himself. He'd made a career of hunting down and murdering any Parahumans, hero or villain, he could find with a particular affinity for Brutes or Capes who abused and brutalized victims the way Hatchet Face had been.

Clearly, he was planning to murder Glory Girl, a powerful and somewhat beloved local Alexandria Package, as yet another innocent proxy for the man who savaged him into misanthropy, but I couldn't let him do that.

He'd be a tragic figure if he wasn't such a monster... Though I suppose it's possible that the beating that gave him his powers also gave him severe brain damage.

When my blast cleared to reveal that Hatchet Face barely been pushed back, the brute dropped his chain and charged at me, both hands gripping the handle of his ax.

I swung Opal again, sending a cutting edge of mana at Hatchet Face's hands hoping to break his grip but of course, his hands were just as durable as the rest of him.

However, there was enough distance between us that I was able to create a magic circle in the air right before his ankle. When he stepped through it, it locked his leg in place and he tripped, landing on his face.

He was able to pull his leg free with enough force to shatter my circle trap, but that had only been meant to hold for a second. In that time I'd sent a blast of Mana into the air, straight up above the skyline where it exploded in a flash of white that would linger for a few moments, not unlike a signal flare. With any luck, someone would assume it was just that and come investigating because getting Hatchet Face away from the egg by myself didn't seem like it was working.

As the killer pushed himself up, I reached for my card holster and installed the first card I grabbed.

I finished transforming into Lancer just in time to use a Gae Bolg to block an ax to the face.

With a wave of my free hand, I conjured a line of runes that each erupted into a gout of flame... Which Hatchet Face ignored completely as he just pulled back for another swing.

A man this big and muscle-bound should not be able to move this fast, not when they're already absurdly tough. It wasn't fair.

Klang!

I was just glad that whatever my spears were made of seemed to be stronger than the steel of my foe's ax.

Klang!

Every impact of his blade against the shaft of my Noble Phantasm caused chips of metal to fly from his weapon.

Klang-cush!

On his third blow, the ax-head shattered completely. I had exactly one second to smile at my gained upper hand before there was suddenly a meaty fist buried in my solar plexus.

I emptied my lung with a powerful gasp, dropped my spear, and stumbled back, almost bent in half from the painful spasms in my chest... And Hatchet Face kept up the assault by grabbing my throat with both hands and squeezing hard enough that I could practically feel things break.

Between the pain, my lack of strength, and his vice grip he was able to wrestle me to my knees while continuing to choke the life from me. My lungs burned, screaming for air even as the aftershocks from the first blow still ravaged my body.

As everything started going black, I summoned another Gae Bolg and, focusing what little strength I had left, raised it up in Hatchet Face's general direction. A last-ditch effort to break free, to survive, and—

There was a wet snikt type sound underlaid by a sickening crunch, and Hatchet Face's grip around my throat was broken. I immediately gasped for air, readily gulping down as much precious, life-giving oxygen as I could get... And noticed a metallic odor.

As my vision cleared, I realized that somehow, despite not being physically capable of reaching his center mass from my position, I'd run the spear right through his sternum. Blood slowly flowed from his wound down the shaft of my weapon, and Hatchet Face gurgled as the life began to fade from his eyes.

After what felt like an eternity, he finally stopped twitching or making noise. I let go of my spear, which prompted the ejection of the Lancer card... And without a Gae Bolg holding him up, Hatchet Face's fresh corpse fell and landed on me.

I shrieked, pushing it away, and scooted until my back hit a wall, my breathing sharp...

A few moments later, I heard sirens and a group of PRT response vehicles led by Armsmaster on his motorcycle pulled up to the ally.

The blue-armored hero took one look at the scene and came up to me. "Princess, are—"

"Egg," I interrupted, "Glory Girl is trapped in the egg. I, I'll be fine, but I don't know how much air is in there."

I didn't think I'd be fine. I'd just. I'd just...

"Princess," Opal whispered to me. "Lisa texted again. She's begging, demanding that it's vital that you answer."

"Opal, I can't... I just can't, not right now..."

And I sat there, huddled against a wall as all the things that I could have done if I hadn't been taken by surprise and kept on the defensive invaded my thoughts while I just... Tried to process that I'd killed a man.