Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Taylor

After about a month of R&R, I was starting to get a little stir crazy. I think after taking the time to rest and, sometimes, talking things out with Opal or Kelly that I was more or less over what had happened to me.

And also, I needed some kind of stimulation. More than just occasionally talking to Lisa or Vicky on the phone. Or answering the questions that Kelly had about the differences in this world and the one she'd come from.

...I wasn't sure if the bewildered look on the face of my badass alternate future legendary superhero self when I told her what I'd done to Leviathan was an ego booster or something I should be concerned about.

And Dad? Dad seemed off-put by Kelly's presence. He almost jumped when he caught her watching the news over his shoulder. She'd seemed bewildered by the little girl sitting with the Mayor's family during that press conference too.

And the downright predatory look she gave when Mr. Saito came in to check how I was doing was a bit... Creepy.

But, mostly, Kelly wasn't here often. Well, she might have been, but in astral form. She'd mentioned when I'd pressed her, that she was using what she could remember of her own timeline to try and help deal with problems before they had time to fester and was arranging things with a couple of other heroes to try and head things off.

...There was one minor annoyance to having her around now, however.

I finished brushing my teeth. "There has got to be a better way to top off your mana reserves than this."

"There is," Kelly admitted, "but you wouldn't like it, and frankly neither would I. I'm looking into alternative arrangements but pickings are slim." she paused for a moment. "So, what's the deal with that Saito guy? I don't think he existed in my original timeline."

"Uh, he's a mage. Conjures swords. Runs a shop that fixes old appliances and sells refurbished used goods. Sort of a family friend, I think dad met him because he gives discounts to people who work in the Association. Something about being good neighbors... Why do you ask?"

"No reason. I just realized I hadn't asked about that difference yet," Okay, that makes sense, but... I put it out of my mind.

"Anyway, I'm gonna go explore the town a bit. See if I can jog loose any other important memories. If you need me, just call me." And then Kelly faded into Astral form.

Now alone, I looked at myself in the mirror and sighed. Bonesaw had shaved my head when she had me. Whatever Kelly had done to heal me after had grown some of it back, but even after a month, it wasn't as long as I was used to. It'd probably be a year or two before it was... And honestly, that might have been worse than the nerve probing.

There'd been something up with my eyes ever since that day, too. For one... I could see clearly without my glasses. Even without being in a transformed state. Which was for the best, since my glasses had been lost when The Siberian had taken me to Bonesaw. And my irises had gone from brown to a winelike red color. And every so often I'd get a vague feeling when I was looking at someone when they said or were doing something. The uncomfortable feeling when Kelly first met Mr. Saito for one... she was definitely up to something, too, but I didn't get the feeling that it was something bad.

...and Dad was almost certainly hiding something about that antique cane he'd been carrying ever since the Nine came to town.

After that, I went to the living room. Dad was at work, so with Kelly out and about it was just Opal and me in the house.

Speak of the devil. Just as I was getting comfortable on the couch Opal floated up to me. "You got a text from Lisa. She would like to know if you are feeling up to meeting for tea at that outdoor cafe on the boardwalk this afternoon?"

"Yes," I said without hesitation. I needed to get out of the house and this sounded like a good opportunity. I mean, what's the worst that could happen?

...I just jinxed it, didn't I?

Still, I had Opal text back to confirm a specific time and then got ready, leaving a note for Dad, just in case, before I left and about an hour and a half later I was sitting with Lisa at a small table at a cozy cafe, sipping a cup of black tea with milk.

It was a weekday, so even in early summer, there weren't that many people about. Mostly tourists. Thus, we had the place more or less to ourselves.

"So, how are you doing?" Lisa asked me.

I shrugged. "I think I'm doing as well as anyone can be after what I went through. Mostly I'm just wanting to get back to normalcy. Start doing things again, get back in the game. What about you? Uh... How are your..." I looked around before leaning in. "Illicit activities going?"

"First, it's good that you're doing well," Lisa said neutrally. "Second, we haven't done anything 'illicit' in over a month. Honestly..." Now it was her turn to lean in. "Apparently two members of the Undersiders running into danger to rescue a well-liked hero from the Slaughterhouse Nine with no apparent gain has earned us a bit of goodwill. Enough that some government types have been looking into our case files and... The other day I got an anonymous email asking to meet at Somer's Rock... That's uh, a bar that's considered neutral territory by the villains."

"It was a PRT lawyer offering the Undersiders a plea bargain. Apparently pre-cleared with the district attorney's office, too... And it was almost too good to be true," Lisa had kind of a sour expression on her face. "Someone's working an angle, and I don't like it... But as far as I can tell it's not a trap per se..."

"Are, are you allowed to..."

"Oh, yeah. I can talk about it. We confess to a modified list of charges in exchange for a slap on the wrist probation. As long as we don't commit any major felonies we'd be considered 'Auxilary Probationary Wards' which means we'd be getting Wards paychecks and trust funds, except Grue who'd be getting extra pay since he's already 18, for the next five years but would only actually be on duty in emergencies... So basically they'd be paying us to not do crimes. They also agreed to let us invoice the PRT for food and vet care for Bitch's dogs."

"...Bitch?"

"The Media calls her Hellhound. She prefers Bitch," Lisa explained. "If, after five years we don't violate the... Virtually nonexistent terms of our probation, we get a clean slate and an opportunity to join the Protectorate with favorable contracts. We've talked it over and it's a three-to-one agreement that we should take the deal. Most of us were only in it for the money in the first place."

"So you're just gonna get off scot-free?" I said... Trying not to sound bitter. I'll admit, I still had some complicated feelings about my best friend being a supervillain.

"Would you feel better if I told you I was forced into it at gunpoint? Like, literally at gunpoint?"

"Were you?"

"For most of it? The worst of it? Yes," Lisa said while meeting my eyes. "All cards on the table, there's some pickpocketing and credit card fraud stuff from before that, but in my defense, I was a homeless runaway and it was either steal money or starve to death."

I took a deep breath. "Why did you run away?"

Lisa stared into her cup of tea for a moment. "...After my brother... After he... Killed himself, my entire family blamed me for it. I'd noticed that he'd been acting a bit off, but... Didn't put it together until it was too late. And then I got my powers and... And suddenly I could see just how fake everyone was. And my father found out and wanted to exploit my powers for... God, I must sound like some cliche sympathetic crook out of a mystery book you'd find at an airport giftshop literature section."

That thing with my eyes again was going on, but... Different? Less like she was hiding something and more like... she wasn't?

"I'm so sorry."

"It's fine. I'm dealing." Lisa sighed and drank the rest of her tea in a single gulp. "There is one catch on the deal. Bitch is wanted for serial murder. Technically, she's only actually guilty of manslaughter or reckless endangerment, and if she got a fair trial with an unbiased judge or a sympathetic jury she'd probably walk on self-defense, which the deal acknowledges... But they want her to be psych evaluated. Maybe get proper psych treatment. And for some god damned inexplicable reason, the only Psychiatrist in the region who is both qualified to evaluate her and is willing to do it is in the middle of a long-term rotation at the Parahuman Asylum in Philidelphia."

"And she doesn't want to do it?"

"She doesn't want to do it," Lisa confirmed. "I've been jumping through hoops to convince her to go through with it and convince the authorities to be accommodating... I've managed to convince her to go if I can find some muscle in case this turns out to be a trap after all, and I've managed to get the authorities to agree to let us bring up to two non-criminal parahumans if we're willing to arrange our own transportation to Philadelphia. And she can bring one of her smaller dogs as an emotional support animal."

"So, what, do you want me to be one of your muscle capes?" I asked. "Cause I'll do it, but I'm not sure legally how much I'd be allowed to do if things go sour."

"Actually I wasn't going to ask you but if you're feeling up to it that'd be great."

"I mean, I'd have to explain what's going on to my Dad. Can't just disappear to Philadelphia on him."

"...Look, I'll explain things to him. I can be very persuasive."

"Okay, and I can bring Kelly."

"You called?" Kelly's voice said from behind me.

If the cafe had been busy I imagine that her appearing out of nowhere would have caused a commotion. In this case, it just got our table a side-eye from one of the hostesses.

"No, Kelly I just..." As I turned to look at her there was something off about her body language. She didn't seem happy, she never seemed happy, but she seemed... Content about something. "What's got you in such a good mood, relatively speaking."

"While I was out I ran into Mr. Saito and took a shot in the dark," Kelly explained. "Alternative arrangements have been made, you won't have to worry about supplementing my mana anymore."

Lisa paused and looked at Kelly. "What kind of arrangements?"

Kelly looked back. "A strictly professional arrangement between two adults that is intended to be handled with discretion and dignity. Or at least as much description and dignity as I can manage, given that I'm batshit insane."

Lisa shuddered. I decided that I didn't want to know the details.

"Anyway..." Lisa said "I don't think that... Kelly is technically a parahuman... If she can just appear when you say her name though she's definitely a good backup plan, but I'd prefer an actual second Cape on the job and I can't think of anyone."

I gave it a moment of thought.

"I think I know someone who'd fit the part."

Lisa looked at me, peering into my soul. "No. There is no way in hell I'm asking—"

F/KLPT

Glory Girl and I were sitting in one row of a small chartered Limousine, sitting across from Tattletale and... Bitch in costume. Five and a half hours into a six-hour drive. Most of which had been spent in awkward silence.

I very much got the implication that Bitch, even after agreeing, did not want to do this. With whatever was up with my eyes, I could almost kind of see the aura of "don't want this" radiating off of her.

Lisa was drinking a grape soda out of a glass bottle. "Okay, seriously. The drinks are part of the cost of the limo, if nobody drinks them that's just wasted money."

I was then handed a bottle of an off-pinkish color. Couldn't figure out what it was from the label but tasting it I think it was peach?

The sound of drinking did nothing to alleviate the awkwardness that had been building for hours.

Eventually, Vicky gestured to the small dog that Bitch had with her. A terrier of some variety, with an ear and eye missing. "Is she a rescue?"

"Her last owners were assholes," Bitch replied tersely.

"Well, she seems perfectly happy with you."

Bitch grunted. "She's still in training. Still testing the limits."

"Oh, yeah, I read something about that," Vicky replied. "Some old study about wolves. It's mostly been debunked, but if you put a bunch of wolves together without some clear hierarchy they'll fight amongst themselves until the strongest one bullies all the others into submission and you get something dysfunctional."

"A real pack is a family," Bitch said quietly. "You've got the parent and the kids. The parent is strong, strict, and scary. but the parent cares. They're not too strict. They don't scare to be mean. The kids know that. Sometimes when there's a new member of the family it's a bit rough. Sometimes there's a fight. But nobody means anything bad for it. The way family should be. Nobody gets hurt. Nobody gets left behind."

...Bitch was obviously projecting.

"Yeah, that was more or less why the study was debunked," Vicky said. "None of the wolves were related. Even the guy who did it said that he did it wrong and basically just ended up hurting the animals he was trying to learn about."

"People are stupid about animals," Bitch replied. "Most people get pets and they don't know how to take care of them and end up doing it wrong."

"Yeah," Viky continued. "Like getting a fish and then not keeping it in the right conditions. I had a classmate who had one of those fighting fish. He went on vacation and while his uncle was house sitting he decided that the fish was lonely and put another fighting fish in there and then forgot about it. My classmate came back to a filthy tank with two torn apart fish in it."

"I'd have killed the uncle."

"He tried to. He's in juvie now. That's why I said I had a classmate, not that I have one."

"Don't play word games with me."

"Sorry."

"My dad knows a divorce lawyer," I added. "I overheard them talking once. He said you'd be surprised how many couples treat the pets as something they can use against the other. "I want the dog, I want the cat" and then when they get the pet they have it put down or abandon it in the mountains or something just to hurt the other person."

"There should be a law," Bitch muttered angrily. The irony of a criminal saying that seemed to be lost on her.

"Oh, if you wanna talk nasty divorces you should talk to Vista some time," Vicky added. "The stories she has to tell..."

The conversation, which seemed to have Lisa bewildered, continued on like that until we arrived at the Asylum.

The Philadelphia Parahuman Asylum, or rather the Parahuman Asylum East Branch, was a very clean and sterile environment. After checking in with a receptionist, an orderly was called up to escort us to the office where the doctor who'd be evaluating Bitch was working.

It was a pretty straightforward walk. Only a few turns. We saw orderlies going about their business and what I assume to be low-risk patients going about their days...

...There was one thing that put me on edge though. As we walked through an intersection, in the corner of my eye I saw a woman going down the perpendicular hall who set off my... Eye thing. She was dressed like a doctor, vaguely familiar in a way I couldn't place, but she put on a Fedora as she vanished around the corner. She was definitely up to something but I realized I was falling behind the group. I'd bring it up later, Maybe in private with Lisa and Vicky, since it wasn't like I could prove that I could see... See people's intentions? At least vaguely. I'd tell Lisa and she'd be able to figure out what to do next.

I caught up to the others just as they were led to a door. Our escort knocked on the door and an Asian woman in business casual clothes stepped out.

"Just a moment, please. I'm finishing up with a patient."

And a few moments later a boy with white hair with smoke coming out of his head exited the room, followed by the doctor. She introduced herself as Dr. Yamada, made some token statements about how this was a safe place before gently coaxing Bitch into her office. As the boy walked off I noticed that he scratched his arm.

Since our escort had wandered off, saying something about a smoke break, I thought now would be a good time to bring up the suspicious hat lady but Lisa seemed preoccupied. "Penny for your thought?"

Lisa shook herself and turned to me. "Sorry, it's just that I know that kid."

"You do?"

"Kinda," Lisa admitted. "Saw him a few times. He goes by Scrub. He was with the Archer's Bridge Merchants. If I've got the facts straight, he first triggered when the Merchants were making a push into ABB territory after, well, the second time you defeated Lung. With Lung and Bakuda both captured the gang was destabilized and the Merchants sensed weakness." She paused and made a face as if she was trying to reassure me that she didn't think that that was my fault. "Anyway, he got caught up in the violence, triggered, and the drug-pushers took off with him when they realized he had powers. He's some kind of blaster but... I don't know why he's here."

"Based on the fact that he was with the Merchants, he's probably being treated for drug addiction," Vicky stated. "You saw how he was scratching his arm."

"I know that," Lisa said with just a hint of resentment in her voice. "What I don't know is how he got here. I keep my thumb on the pulse of the city and I haven't heard anything about any of the Merchants being captured or defecting... And why was this Dr. Yamada seeing him at the time we were supposed to be here for Bitch's eval."

"Obviously his session ran long," Vicky said reasonably.

"No," Lisa insisted. "There's something going on here. Someone's up to something, I don't know what, and I don't like it."

"Couldn't you just read some minds to figure it out, Ms. Psychic?"

"Actually," Opal spoke up after being unusually quiet all day, "psychic powers might be rare to begin with, but outright telepathy is almost unheard of in mortals."

Dear God, the death glare Lisa gave Opal at that moment. Vicky, meanwhile, seemed more intrigued by what Opal had said. "So Psychic powers are real?"

"Oh yes, quite real," Opal confirmed. "They're caused when someone has a channel of perception into some form of mystery outside what is considered 'normal' in their brain. You've got clairvoyance, precognition, a sensitivity to spirits of assorted types, telekinesis, and pure eyes among the well-recorded powers. They're not quite Magecraft, but they're similar. Some can be developed but others you have to be born with. There are also some theories that psychic powers have something to do with the Counterforce."

"Pure eyes?" I asked.

"A psychic ability that allows someone to see things that aren't readily apparent to mundane perception. However, anything seen with pure eyes or other extrasensory abilities will inevitably be committed permanently to memory, so if you can't turn it off or control it somehow you'll eventually have some kind of break down from information overload."

"Is that what's up with my eyes!?" I said, suddenly concerned.

"...Yes and no," Opal explained. "After doing a few scans your eyes do seem to be some kind of psychic mutation, and they're very similar to pure eyes, but... Well, do you perfectly recall everything you've seen since your eyes changed."

"...No?"

"There you have it," Opal said conclusively. "You have some kind of filter limiting the power, keeping you safe. A filter that isn't present in pure eyes. Whatever it is, it's something else."

By the time my train of thought had returned to the mysterious hat lady, our escort was back from his smoke break.

Eventually, Bitch came out of the office looking no worse for wear.

"How did it go," Lisa asked.

"Fine."

"How do you feel?"

"Hungry," Bitch answered bluntly.

"We've got a cafeteria," our escort said. "It's meant for staff, low-risk patients, and visitors and... guess you count as visitors. It's like five bucks a tray for non-patients to eat though."

Lisa looked down at her costume, which had no pockets.

"Opal," I began, "where do my pocket contents go when I transform?"

After sorting out how to pay, our escort led us to the Cafeteria, whose selection Vicky and I had determined was better than the food at Winslow but not as good as what was at Arcadia.

Eating lunch at a small table in a room full of mental patients and case 53's was certainly an experience... Until...

It started with the sound of loud, gluttonous slurping. And then I heard a voice. A voice that chilled my bones and made my heart race. A familiar voice.

"So Dr. Ortiz says she doesn't think I'm dangerous anymore and I can go out and socialize, but they don't even let me have a spoon for my pudding. If they don't trust me with that why even let me out of my cell?"

Lisa and Vicky caught on too, though Bitch didn't. I didn't blame her. She'd never met...

Slowly, I got up. And turned around. And looked at the little blonde girl sitting alone with her back to the table we were at.

And she seemed to sense that she was being looked at and turned herself.

Her hair was cut shorter. And she was dressed in an asylum patient's uniform and some kind of electronic collar. But there was no mistaking it. That was Bonesaw.

The next few things happened on autopilot. In one second I grabbed Opal and made to blast the murderous bitch into elemental dust. In the next second, she flinched while Kelly materialized and yanked my arm back. In the next, Vicky, Lisa, and even Bitch put themselves in between me and Bonesaw while several patients startled by what was happening began to panic. In the corner of my eye, I saw that Scrub kid from earlier. In his panic, he reflexively let off some kind of blast in our direction. The next second, I took all the energy I was going to use lay down a righteous smiting to instead create a barrier.

When the blast hit the barrier, the barrier exploded in a bright light that engulfed the whole group.

The next thing I knew I was hurtling through an all-encompassing field of sensation and color. All the colors. Every color. Colors I didn't know existed until just now, making every shape pattern imaginable and some that weren't. An infinite kaleidoscope.

As I spun through it I was overcome with strange thoughts and feelings. Like I'd become a moon princess. Like my blood was melting. Like I could feel Heaven. Like I'd visited a garden of sinners.

After what felt like an eternity it became too much for me and I blacked out.

F/KLPT

When I came back to my senses, I was laying on the grass. Why was I laying on the grass? And then I heard someone speaking. It sounded like a young woman. "Okiro~ Koko de netara kaze hikuyo~"

Not having the slightest clue what that meant, I opened my eyes and sat up. Looking around, I saw that I was in a forest of some sort. And my only company was a young woman in clothing that... I wouldn't care to wear personally, with skin the color of caramel and silver-pink hair.

"A, okita?" She said. "Yokatta, daijōbu dato omotta kedo, sore demo ne... watasi no kotoba, wakaru?"

Well, I wasn't in Kansas anymore.