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Rating:
Mature
Archive Warning:
Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Fandoms:
Parahumans Series - WildbowFate/stay night & Related FandomsFate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works (Anime 2014)
Characters:
Cú Chulainn | LancerTaylor Hebert | Skitter | Weaver
Additional Tags:
Self-InsertCYOA
Language:
English
Stats:
Published:2023-11-19Updated:2026-08-08Words:70,172Chapters:22/?Comments:390Kudos:1,408Bookmarks:566Hits:50,257
Hebert's Hound
TheCandyManCant
Chapter 14: 14
Chapter Text
School was uneventful for Taylor. The trio tried to mess with her some more, but all of their efforts were once more plagued by bad luck. The glue they left in her seat suddenly ended up on their own chair. The 'lunch' they stole was actually a bag full of marbles that spilled around them, causing them to slip and fall. After so much bad luck, it seemed like Sophia and Madison were losing interest in the whole affair. Taylor still wasn't fighting back, and Taylor was pretty sure the two of them were pestering Emma to start picking on someone else. Honestly, the whole thing felt so…inconsequential now.
Taylor was officially a hero. She had PHO threads about her. The news had just run a segment about her new cape persona on TV. She had bigger things to worry about than mundane bullies.
'Can we patrol tonight?'
'You're my master, master. You are the one that makes that decision, but haven't we gone out enough this week?'
'We haven't done anything though.'
Lancer had a point. Ever since she'd met with Glory Girl over the weekend, Taylor had dragged her servant out into the streets of Brockton Bay looking for trouble at every opportunity. They had yet to find any.
'What's your goal here, master?'
'What do you mean?'
'Are you just looking to get into a fight or do you want experience?'
'I want to help people.'
'If your only goal is to help people, you could just as easily use your magecraft for something other than fighting. I know some runes you can use to heal injuries. Perhaps you could volunteer at hospitals like that Panacea girl?'
Taylor frowned. 'That's not…'
Cu chuckled in her mind. 'Be honest with yourself, master. Why do you want to go out?'
Taylor glared at the whiteboard at the front of the class. 'I want to fight villains. I want to stop them from hurting people.'
'There you are, master. Never feel like you have to lie about your goals to me. I understand wanting a good fight better than anyone, but you have to make sure you're smart about it. Your safety is my number one concern. Letting you run around the city night and day looking for a fight until you're so exhausted you can't stand will not satisfy either of our objectives. This is Brockton Bay. Sooner or later, an opportunity for you to shine will present itself. Until then, you just have to be patient, master. Be patient, and take care of yourself so you are ready to leap at your chance when it arrives.'
Taylor's shoulders slumped. She hung her head. 'I guess. I just feel like I haven't done anything yet.'
'Trust me, master, there will come a time far too soon when you feel like you're unable to do everything that needs to be done. Enjoy the journey. Don't always look to the destination.'
"Taylor,"
Taylor's head snapped up as the teacher called on her. "Uh…yes?"
"What do you think the reason is?"
'Forty-two,' Cu said in her mind.
"Forty-two," Taylor said out loud.
Silence fell in the classroom. Taylor felt uncomfortable as everyone in the room looked at her strangely.
The portly teacher standing in front of the class fixed her with an unimpressed look. "You believe the Great Depression ended because, 'forty-two'?"
'Goddamit, Lancer,' Taylor growled in her head, trying her best to drown out the sound of Cu laughing directly into her mind. If he wasn't so agile, she'd kick him in the shin for that.
X
Taylor walked down the street, back straight, eyes peeled as she scanned her surroundings. So far, she hadn't noticed any villainous activity. There were no capes causing trouble. There was no trouble at all, no crimes of any kind perpetrated by either capes or regular people. All Taylor had encountered so far were groups of people with their phones out filming her and taking pictures of her. One young girl had even walked up to her and asked for an autograph. Taylor had awkwardly signed the little piece of paper before flying away as other people approached, presumably to ask for more autographs.
She was on patrol to catch bad guys, not mingle with the populace. So why were there no bad guys to catch?
'Master, I seem to recall a very intelligent servant saying something about modern patrolling being useless.' Lancer's voice drawled in her mind. 'With so many people filming you and presumably posting about you online, the less scrupulous residents of this fine city know exactly where not to commit their vile deeds. All you've done is tell them your location.'
Taylor flew high up into the sky on traced spears. She stopped when she reached the roof of a building, sitting on the edge and letting her legs dangle, Cletiné rested against her shoulder. She idly spun its haft between her fingers. She frowned as she looked out over the city.
"This isn't what I was expecting."
Lancer shimmered into being at her side, sitting next to her to stare out over the city. "In what way?"
"I just… I thought I'd be doing a lot of good by now. All I've done is walk around like an idiot in a fancy costume. I haven't helped anyone yet."
Lancer smiled softly, laying a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I understand your frustration, master, but you will help people. You'll do everything you've been hoping for and a whole host of shit you didn't sign up for. It's just the nature of the beast. Just make sure…" Lancer trailed off, frowning.
"What's wrong?" Taylor asked.
Lancer looked out over the city. "Company. You wanted to help, master. I'll leave you to handle this. Don't worry. I'll be right here, ready to step in if the situation requires it." Lancer's form shimmered as he faded from view.
Taylor's eyes narrowed at the space he vacated. Company? What did he mean?
Taylor inhaled sharply, leaping to her feet and backing away from the building's ledge as an object approached.
A large platform of concrete with uneven edges like it had been pulled straight from the ground flew through the air down the street. People walking on the street rapidly fled. Cars turned around, engines roaring as they tore away. People on the sidewalks sprinted from the scene. The street and the entire block around it were emptying. Only a handful of residents remained, phones held high to capture film as they ducked behind dumpsters and parked cars.
The platform continued down the street, ascending towards Taylor where she stood atop her building. Three figures stood atop it. The first was a young woman in an emerald green robe. Her hood was pulled down over her eyes and nose. Only her mouth was visible. The second was a man who looked to be in his mid-to-late twenties. He wore a dark tactical vest over a red shirt and a black red mask. The third was another young woman in a red bodysuit. She had an Ōþala rune emblazoned on her chest.
Taylor's shocked expression morphed into a glare. Her grip tightened on her spear. How dare she? That rune signified home, inheritance, native land. A nazi was claiming Brockton Bay as their inherited home?
The concrete platform came to a halt at the edge of the building. The three figures stepped off of it as Taylor continued to back into the center of the room. Aside from an air conditioning unit, there was nothing up here to bar her way, giving her plenty of room to maneuver. She held Cletiné in a loose ready stance, preparing herself for her first true taste of combat.
The man took several steps forward, placing him at the head of the group. He smiled brightly at her. "Greeting, Cletiné. It is a pleasure to meet another daughter of Brockton Bay blessed with the gifts to guide our home. My name is Victor. With me are Rune and Othala," He motioned to the girl in the cloak then the one wearing the jumpsuit with the rune. "We've come to speak with you. I'm hoping we can find common ground."
"Common ground?" Taylor scoffed. "What could I possibly have in common with a group of nazis?" Taylor fell into a fighting stance. "Each of you have active warrants for your arrest. Surrender and I'll take you in peacefully."
Victor's smile dimmed slightly. "I would caution against that course, Cletiné. There are three of us and only one of you. We did not come to fight. Can we not speak like civilized people?"
"I can't see you saying anything of value, but go ahead and try to surprise me." Taylor said, gently flaring the runes scribed into the flesh of her shoulders, hidden beneath her costume. So far, no one else was appearing as a threat to her but the three villains in front of her. That didn't mean the nazis came alone. They probably didn't. At the very least, they would have backup on standby ready to support them. As much as Taylor wanted to engage them immediately, she needed to locate their backup before she made her move.
'Lancer, where did you go?' Taylor asked frantically through their bond. Having him with her would make things a lot easier.
'I'm still here, master. You're the one who said you wanted a fight. I'll step in if I'm needed, but I have faith in you. These three are small potatoes. They'll be a good first test.'
'Leaving me alone against three villains is not a good way to test my progress!'
'You don't even want to know what Scathach did with me. Trust me, this is nothing. You'll do great!'
Taylor had been so caught up arguing with her servant, she'd missed the first part of whatever Victor had been saying to her.
"–this city, Cletiné? I'm sure you've seen how it deteriorates before your eyes. What have the heroes done? What have the politicians done? Nothing. Now think of the communities beneath the Empire's aegis. Do they suffer? No. They need not fear Lung kidnapping their daughters, their children taken by the Merchants' poison. You could join us in expanding that aegis, Cletiné."
Taylor looked at Victor through half-lidded eyes. "Your pitch really boils down to, 'help us steal more territory'? Wow. I've heard used car salesmen more convincing than that."
Victor was openly glaring at her now. "I see the propaganda the heroes love so much has poisoned you against us. No matter. We will have time to change your opinion of us. Why don't you come with us? We can show you all the ways you've been led astray."
Taylor's eyes narrowed. "You did not just insinuate you're going to kidnap me."
Victor's smile was back as he shook his head. "Kidnap you? Of course not. No, I simply want to expand your vision. The PRT's lies have blinded you. We will help you to see the truth."
Taylor fell into a stance, preparing to strike. "I'm not going anywhere with you. This is your last chance to surrender before I take you in by force." She still couldn't find whoever they brought to back them up. Maybe they hadn't bothered to bring reinforcements to approach her because she was presumably weak and alone, but that would be incredibly stupid. Lancer had drilled into her head to always keep your allies appraised of your activities even when you don't expect trouble. The Empire's backup was probably just hidden inside of a building. Taylor still wasn't as good with runes as Lancer was. Too many barriers blocked her vision.
"I will be gentle, my girl." Victor said, raising his fists and shifting his feet into a fighting stance. Othala laid a hand on his back for a moment before scurrying behind him. Rune drifted into the air, flying off to Victor's right. Dozens of small objects rose into the air to orbit around her – ball bearings, rocks, chunks of concrete. For the moment, she was observing, not attacking, but Taylor kept Rune in her vision.
Victor advanced, slow, controlled. Taylor didn't want this fight to be set on his terms.
Taylor dashed forward, stabbing with Cletiné. Victor sidestepped her strike, his hand snapping out to latch onto Cletiné's shaft as the sharpened tip zipped past his chest. He was fast. He wasn't bumbling around. No, he knew how to fight. It made sense.
Most of the powers possessed by the Empire 88's capes were widely known because they'd been around for so long. Lancer and Taylor had done a deep-dive on PHO to find everything she could about the capes in Brockton Bay to see what they might be facing. Victor was a skill thief. His power let him steal skills from anyone he touched. The Empire probably supplied him with many champion fighters to steal their skills. There was a reason Taylor was engaging him at range with her spear rather.Ggetting close to him was dangerous.
His skill wouldn't save him.
Taylor grinned, activating the rune beneath her hand on Cletiné's haft. A snap of electricity cut through the air as lightning danced up and down Cletiné's shaft. The energy knocked the spear free of Victor's grasp, but he appeared unaffected by the lightning itself. He only frowned.
"It appears there's more to you than meets the eye. Why do you choose to fight me?" Victor asked. "We could–"
Taylor didn't wait for him to finish, stabbing Cletiné towards his shoulder. Once more, Victor sidestepped. Taylor was expecting it this time.
A spear appeared over Taylor's left shoulder as she traced it into existence. The spear fired forward, directly into the path Victor had taken to avoid Cletiné.
Victor grunted as the tip of the traced spear shattered against his shoulder. Taylor leapt away from him, frowning. That spear was traced, but it should have hurt him before shattering. Taylor's eyes tracked over Victor's shoulder towards Othala.
The woman stood nervously behind Victor. When she saw Taylor looking at her, she hugged her arms close to herself.
Othala was a Trump. She had no powers she could use to affect herself, but she was a vital asset. She could imbue others with a host of other powers, invulnerability among them. That must be why Taylor's attack had no effect on Victor. If Taylor couldn't knock him unconscious, she'd have to get creative.
Spears formed all around Taylor as she traced them into existence. They all fired forward into the ground around Victor, creating a loose cage around him. Taylor slapped her hand on the ground. Runes flared beneath each of the spears, linking them together with crimson energy.
Victor reared his arm back and struck the spear nearest to him. It shattered, immediately replaced by another that Taylor traced, this one closer, boxing him in.
Stuck in the slowly shrinking ring of spears as he was, he couldn't easily dodge as Taylor traced smaller spears to shoot towards his legs. He dodged the first three. The fourth swept his leg out from underneath him. Spears rained down atop him at awkward angles, pinning him to the roof. The ring of spears around him bent in on itself, trapping him. Taylor couldn't affect him while he was invulnerable, so she would trap him until his invulnerability ran out. In the meantime…
Taylor leapt over the trapped form of Victor. Othala squealed in shock and fear as Taylor appeared right in front of her. The butt of Taylor's spear snapped out, catching Othala in the temple, sending her crumpling to the ground, unconscious.
"Rune!" Victor cried, still struggling against the spears that trapped him.
Taylor's head snapped backwards as a metal ball bearing struck her in the forehead. A chunk of concrete smacked into her stomach. Taylor rolled to the side, avoiding the majority of Rune's other projectiles. If her reinforcement hadn't been active, that ball bearing might have knocked her unconscious. As it was, her vision was wobbly.
Rune flew over Victor up into the air, more projectiles flying down towards Taylor from her cloak. Rune's power was telekinesis. She could mark an object by touching it and control it with her mind. That was probably how she was flying. She likely wore a harness underneath her robes that she was lifting with her telekinesis.
Taylor danced across the rooftop, doing her best to dodge Rune's attacks, but there were too many of them. Taylor traced spears that fired at Rune in retaliation, but Rune was airborne, easily dodging the attacks.
Taylor growled in frustration, tossing Cletiné into the air. Free from Taylor's hand, Cletiné lived up to its name as a dancing spear. Cletiné zipped through the air in front of Taylor, spinning about in a dazzling display as it deflected Rune's projectiles before they could strike Taylor.
Taylor kept tracing spears to fling at Rune, but she couldn't land a hit on the girl. Taylor's frustration was building. She needed to deal with the flying nazi before Rune landed a lucky hit on her, but Taylor's ranged options were limited. She could trace spears and propel them forward, but that was about it. She could try a rune, a magecraft rune not a nazi Rune, but most had very limited range. Runes worked best on things you could touch and draw them on.
Taylor wracked her brain, trying to think of how to bring Rune down. A plan began to form in her mind. Taylor prepared to execute her plan.
A fist struck Rune's jaw from the side. Rune's body instantly went slack. All of the material she had orbiting her fell to clatter and clink against the roof, some falling over the edge to the street below. The massive concrete platform the three nazis used to fly up here tipped and flipped off the edge. Rune herself only fell a few inches before she was caught in a bridal carry.
Victoria Dallon, Glory Girl, smiled wide and proud as she hovered in the air above Taylor, cape gently flapping in the wind, Rune's unconscious body held in her arms.
"Need a hand?" Glory Girl asked.
A sound like the roar of thunder cut through the air. The building shook beneath Taylor's feet. A blaring alarm sounded.
Taylor and Glory Girl flinched. They peeked over the edge of the building. The massive concrete platform had fallen to the street below, landing haphazardly on the front of a red sedan. The lower windows of the building were shattered. The car was totaled. The car's alarm was screaming in fury.
"Heh, oops," Glory Girl said, scratching the back of her head awkwardly.
"Well done, miss Dallon," Victor said. He'd given up struggling against the spears holding him down. "Once again, the heroes save the day by causing thousands of dollars in property damage." He shifted his head as much as he was able to look at Taylor. "These are the people you choose to side with, Cletiné? I'd expect better of a young woman with such good breeding."
"Do not ever say anything about my breeding again." Taylor said, feeling a disgusted shiver travel across her whole body. "In fact…" Taylor walked over to the downed form of Victor. Another traced spear appeared in her hand, best not to risk touching him. She used the butt of the spear to trace a rune on Victor's mouth.
Victor raised an eyebrow, opening his mouth to speak. He started panicking when no sound came out.
"Much better," Taylor said, letting the spear dissipate, a pleased smile on her face.
"Woah! You can give bad guys an off button?" Glory Girl asked, flying up next to her.
Taylor shrugged. "I'll undo it when we take them to the Protectorate."
Glory Girl raised an eyebrow at her. "We're not going to them. They come to us. I sent a call out when I saw you fighting them. They should be here in a few minutes. Actually, speaking of calls, why didn't you call for backup?"
Taylor opened her mouth, then closed it. "It slipped my mind?" She didn't really need to call for backup with Lancer in the area, but she couldn't use that as an excuse without giving away that Lancer had a Stranger power.
Glory Girl pursed her lips. "It worked out this time, but you need to be better about that. You still have my number, right? And did you get a cape phone?"
Taylor reached into a rune-crafted pocket in her skirt and produced the burner phone Lancer got for her last week. She was cheating with magecraft to make more space than there should be in her pocket to fit the phone in her skintight suit. Taylor had no idea how Glory Girl transported her phone around in nothing but a skirt.
"Good! Now gimme!" Glory Girl plucked Taylor's phone from her hand.
"Hey!" Taylor said, moving to snatch it back.
"You need to set up a code to protect this thing." Glory Girl said distractedly. "Annnd done!" She held the phone back out to Taylor. "I added my number. I put New Wave's official phone and the PRT emergency line in there too."
"I…you had it for five seconds." Taylor said, hugging her phone to her chest. She didn't like it when people took her things.
"Yep, I'm amazing. Now come here!" Glory Girl's arm wound around Taylor's shoulder and she leaned in close to Taylor as Glory Girl's phone appeared in her hand out of nowhere. Seriously, where was she keeping that thing?
"Say, 'First villain takedown!'" Glory Girl said.
"Uh…"
Glory Girl snapped a selfie, then floated a short distance away, inspecting the photo. She nodded, satisfied. "Yep, that's a keeper. I might throw that up on PHO later if you're okay with it."
"I…huh?" Taylor had been embroiled in the midst of a fight two minutes ago. Now the danger was over and the adrenaline was starting to fade. Glory Girl's antics were not what she would have expected a hero to be doing after beating a group of villains. Shouldn't they get handcuffs or something?
A flash of bronze caught the sun's light, reflecting it into Taylor's eyes. She had to squint to look up at the new arrival.
Dauntless floated down towards them. Taylor could hear sirens in the distance, steadily drawing closer.
"I was told the Empire was attacking." Dauntless said, looking over the roof. "I didn't expect the fight to be over before I got here. Good job, Glory Girl."
Glory Girl shook her head distractedly, typing away on her phone. "Don't look at me. Cletiné took out Victor and Othala before I got here. All I did was blindside Rune while Cletiné had her distracted."
"Really?" Dauntless turned. Taylor shrunk in on herself as his full attention fell on her.
"Good job, Cletiné. For a first fight, this is quite the accomplishment." Dauntless said, an encouraging smile on his face. "I'm Dauntless. It's good to meet another hero."
"Cletiné," Taylor said, shaking his hand.
"Um, Cletiné?"
Taylor looked up at Glory Girl. The floating girl had finally put her phone away. She was staring at a golden spear floating in the air.
Glory Girl hooked a thumb at the spear. "Is it supposed to float there like it's possessed by something?"
Taylor grinned. She held out a hand and activated the rune etched onto her forearm. Cletiné flew through the air, landing in her waiting hand.
"You can make spears and control them with your mind?" Glory Girl asked, excited.
Taylor shrugged, resting Cletiné against her shoulder. "I already told you. Spears are kind of my thing."
The sirens were directly below them now. PRT personnel were flooding the street, setting up barriers and escorting civilians out of the area.
"Speaking of powers," Dauntless said. "How would you like to come down to HQ with me? We need to drop these three off. After that, we can sign you up as an independent and do some power testing if you'd like?"
Taylor swallowed nervously. "I…I'd like that."
Dauntless smiled warmly. "Awesome. Glory Girl, can you carry Rune down to the street and–"
"I'm here!" a new voice cried.
Dauntless and Glory Girl flinched. Taylor just sighed.
Lancer leapt onto the roof from out of nowhere, landing on the tippy toes of a single foot with his spear held over his head like he was trying for some dramatic crane pose.
"Where are the villains?" Lancer said, eyes scrutinizing as he scanned the roof's occupants.
"Lancer, goddammit," Taylor said under her breath.
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