It's an absolute shame about the lack of a uniform. How can I boast about how absolutely superior I am to everyone else if we're not even on the same playing field?
"Hmph! I still don't understand why you want to go to school. I can make you money! You'll be a hero! You don't need to know the difference between long and short vowels to sting someone with all the bees." I said, complaining about the fifth time too.
"Long and short vowels? Do you think I'm ten?" Taylor said, raising an eyebrow.
"That's not the point!" I said while pointing at her.
Taylor sighs.
"We've been over this before, Ishtar. I won't ditch school, period. It might make Dad suspicious, plus… I won't let them win."
I doubt Taylor wanted me to know that last part, but something tells me that spite is her main fuel here.
I felt like sighing too.
"You're a hard head one, aren't you?"
Taylor ignored me. We were already in the hallway and, although only slightly, I could see Taylor flinch slightly as she opened her locker.
The sight only made me angry and clench my (ghostly) teeth.
"Fine! Ignore me all you want! But don't think this discussion is over!"
"Ishtar…" Taylor looked like she was about to say something, but she stayed silent and continued gathering the materials for her first class.
Hmph!
I hate this! I didn't want that stupid girl to come back to Winslow! It's stupid! Coming back here just reduces any trust I've been able to build up to 0. All my work will go down the drain!
And I'm sure she won't be able to rebel or anything right now! If I'm not mistaken, today is the day she just ran away after her mother was made fun of. From then on, she stopped going to school and thanks to that, she later got the courage to face her bullies. Right now? There's no way she'll do something like that.
The worst thing is that she threatened me to use a command seal to get her to school and forbade me from interfering… Damn these new generation Masters. In my time, command seals were a last resort, not a stick.
They were a super stick at least.
Of course, I won't pay any damn attention to her, although I admit that the point about not losing trust with her father is a good one. It's part of my missions to get them along, and lying to him doesn't seem like a good idea in that regard.
Leaving that aside for now…
While Taylor was in the shower at GYM, I was thinking about what I could do to help her, and a few things came to mind.
To start off, my priorities are twofold: One is to prevent Taylor from losing trust, and the second is to prevent the trio from being able to harass Taylor ever again; without killing them, of course. Point one is for a long-term mission that will benefit other missions as well. Point two is for a short-term mission that will benefit the mission from point one in the long run. Due to lack of time, I will focus on the second point, i.e. stopping the trio.
There are more ways than stars to prevent bullying. My only real restriction is not to kill the trio. I could make them sick, brainwash them, beat them up, destroy their houses, kidnap their families, destroy Winslow, kidnap some students to get the school shut down, brainwash more, etc.
They're all oddly violent, but quite effective! I'm not crazy!
Hell, I could unleash a plague on them that would make the Book of Exodus look like a nice vacation by comparison. My foolish Master, who ignores her Servant's warnings, would be the prime suspect, so I wouldn't do it of course…
For now, at least. It seems like a good way to get Taylor in trouble.
There are so many ways to deal with the trio that at this point I'm not looking for a way to do it, I'm looking for a way to do it and have the benefit of doing it help me in another aspect.
I could capture them, for example, and then with a combination of mind control and Tempest Jewelry turn them into dogs for Taylor or something. The problem with that is that Taylor is not stupid, and the last thing I want is for her to know that I can control minds, at least on that level. Plus, capturing Emma and Madison won't get me any points, and it might get us into more trouble than I want for kidnapping a Ward.
I can't forget that part of the mission is to make Taylor a hero; making her an enemy of the PRT is a bad first step.
Mmn… Maybe I'll be lucky enough to get a quest to torture the trio or something? I wouldn't do it out of the blue, but for a quest, I wouldn't think twice.
Aside from the quest that makes me a Servant for Taylor, I only have one (of a surprisingly many) quest to impregnate Butcher XIV. I have no plans to travel to Boston for now and looking for Butcher seems like a lot of work, but it seems like something I might do at some point, so I accepted it for now. That means I have a free slot to accept quests, which means I can accept more.
And… Nothing.
Disappointing, but not unexpected.
Plan B is to use the trio in a way that will fuel Taylor's confidence. That would involve Taylor fighting back, but how?… Canon Taylor eventually even challenges Sophia, but that's after gouging out Lung's eyes.
A little thought and… An idea popped into my mind.
I might not have a brain, but I have an idea. Hehehehe. This will require some preparations.
I found Taylor in computer class; if I'm not mistaken, that's Ms. Knot. The teacher who is at least neutral when it comes to Taylor's bullying. At least until her job was in jeopardy, but I don't blame her for that.
The moment I walked into the room, Taylor immediately turned her head to where I was floating. She drew a bit of attention, causing her to blush before turning her attention back to the computer. I wonder how many people look at her weirdly because of the grimaces on her face every time we talk.
It seemed like she had already finished her homework, so she was surfing the internet. Classic.
Taylor looked a little downcast, but she was still focused on her research at PHO. Although there wasn't much to look for this time, she ended up never meeting the Undersiders or Armsmaster, hell, she doesn't even know what happened to Lung. I've kept her busy enough to avoid questions, but I just hope that lasts for two and a half more days.
Too bad I can't show her that Lung is actually in jail, it would have been a nice confidence boost.
"Hey, Taylor!"
Taylor jumped as soon as she heard my voice. I guess she thought I was still mad at her. A silly thought: I'm a magnanimous and kind woman. It's on my FGO wiki and everything.
"Yes, Ishtar?" Taylor replied without looking away from the screen, though she definitely wasn't paying attention to it like she had been before.
"I just want to tell you that… it's okay that you want to come to school, I'm not going to stop you from doing so anymore. I still think it's a waste of time, but I can't force you to do anything, either." At least I won't stop you from wanting to go to school. Other people, on the other hand...
Taylor seemed relieved by my words, but a suspicious look crept across her face.
"Are you sure?"
"Promise!" Taylor stared at my innocent, transparent form for a while before sighing.
"Well, it's good that you understand."
Oh, I understand, I understand very well…
With that, Taylor continued to concentrate on her research, and I was lost in my thoughts waiting for the next meeting with the trio. Or at least that was my intention until…
"Hey, Ishtar, do you know what happened to Lung?"
Shit!
"So Coil's men… Sounds dangerous."
"Yes, yes, very dangerous." I nodded quickly, even though there was no one around to see it.
What do you do when you don't want to take the blame for a dead body? You dump it on someone else, of course!
Taylor and I were on our way to her next class, World Issues. I paid more attention to the school this time than I had during my discussion with Taylor earlier. I was expecting a school with vandals in the hallways, graffiti everywhere, and more of a third world prison than a school, and what I found was…
A pretty normal school. It didn't have the appearance of a high-end private school or anything like that, but it wasn't two steps away from being a drug factory either.
The crowd wasn't too bad either. I had the impression that there would be people spitting on Taylor in the hallways, tripping her in the hallway, sneering looks, you know, the classic stuff; however, there's just a typical indifference.
That reinforces my thinking that relying on a teenager's point of view is a bad idea. Taylor is getting some appreciative glances, and I'm sure in her mind they are mocking glances and not horny teenagers. The girl is not an hourglass nor does she have a supermodel face, but she is a cute banana.
I came here expecting to burn down the school, but now it seems I got carried away by the meta impression. It would suck to destroy the place just because there are some morons here and there.
Oblivious to my thoughts of setting her school on fire, Taylor continued.
"And you're sure those… Undersiders (?) are with them?" It's weird to hear her mention the Undersiders as if they don't exist, considering who she is.
"Huh? Oh, yeah! Definitely! I mean, I don't have any concrete proof or anything, but they seemed pretty coordinated. You were hurt, so I decided to let them go without a fight." Sorry, Lisa, someone already knows your group's big secret. Be thankful that Taylor probably didn't talk to many heroes anytime soon.
"A shame… Though what would they want to do with Lung? You'd think that as rivals between the three main gangs in Brokton Bay, they'd want him out of the picture, but the Protectorate should have said something by now if they had Lung in custody." They don't.
I shrugged (?).
"Maybe it was bad reputation to say that they owe their victory to villains? They'll probably keep him locked up for about three days and then make a big announcement or something."
Buy it, buy it, buy it!
"They're the good guys! They're not supposed to do that!" Oh, dear.
Taylor didn't seem to believe it, though not for the reasons I expected. I guess without joining the Undersiders her morals are a little monochromatic right now. Oh well, she'll probably lose it once she meets Shadow Stalker or something. Maybe Glory Girl?
"That's my guess, as far as we know, we're wrong and Coil took Lung to extract information from him and then execute him."
Taylor was about to enter the classroom when she heard my thoughts. She stopped in her steps for a second and turned somewhat pale. Before shaking her head vigorously and entering the room. She still looked a little chalky and was slow on her feet, but it seems like that won't be a problem for long considering her seat seems to be the closest to the door, surely to escape as quickly as possible as soon as the bell rings.
However,
"S-so if he dies it will be my fault?" She said with her mental voice shaking a little.
…It's such a Taylor thought that I can't believe it didn't occur to me before I suggested Lung's death.
"Of course not, Taylor, it would be Coil's fault. And besides, it was just a theory, as far as we know he's just imprisoned in a secret base or something…"
Where they'd be making him wish he was dead. Of course, I didn't tell her that last bit, not that any of it is true anyway. Lung is in a coma as I turn him into credits.
That seemed to do the trick. And Taylor's rationalization kicked in enough to convince herself, he's not dead and it's not her fault.
So delusional. With a few firmer steps now, she was about to sit down in her seat, but an orange flash caught my attention.
"Taylor wait!"
Taylor immediately stopped, all social cues gone from her face. It seemed like she had activated her fight/flight system with my call. Oops, I probably shouldn't have shouted it so loud.
"Taylor, look at your seat."
Taylor turned her expressionless gaze back to her seat and there it was, a pile of orange juice ready to stain her pants as soon as she sat down. Normally Taylor would notice something like that, but I guess she was distracted. Who knows why?
When Taylor saw the prank, she was angry, but she had relaxed a bit knowing that it wasn't an attack or anything. With a click of her tongue and her anger making her completely forget about her previous dilemma, she sat down in a chair a few rows away.
I turned my attention back to the classroom and the students as I tuned out Gladly's speech. As a microcosm of the school, no one was once again paying much attention to Taylor. Sure, there were a couple of glances here and there from people surprised by her new outfit, but nothing out of the ordinary, except for two people.
A blond boy who looked like the human version of the world's most annoying toothless chihuahua and a short, cutely dressed teenage girl with a nasty smile.
I guess the first one is Greg. It's amazing how Taylor completely ignores him ogling her, but that must be the power of the brain ignoring what it doesn't want to see in action.
The second one is a bit more obvious and made me grit my teeth. Madison. The odd one out of the trio, a normal girl who has nothing to do with Taylor as soon as she leaves the school context. Her bully behavior is probably the fault of her distant parents.
Argh! It's so annoying! I feel like doing bad things, but these are kids! It's all so stupid! They're so stupid! Master is so stupid for listening to something so stupid!
I looked angrily at the situation I vaguely remember from canon.
Gladly has the students form groups for a presentation. Taylor forms a group with the chihuahua and the potential drug addict. Taylor does a good job. Greg loses her work to a blonde girl whose name I won't even bother to remember. Madison doesn't want to give the work back. Taylor does nothing about it.
…I wasn't planning on interfering until the end of this class, but I have an idea.
Here's the thing. The spectral form in a Murder-Death-Kill isn't that great against other Servants. In the end, it's just a spiritual form that weakens me in exchange for saving magic energy and its immunity to physical attacks is useless because it's something Servants have by default.
That is normally. However, according to the Catalogue I am some sort of fully revived Servant, which would make me, in fact, vulnerable to worldly damage. However, the fact that while in my spiritual form I am completely immune to worldly damage is something that still holds true.
I thought this would make me basically unbeatable in this world without magic, but some tests with Master proved that that's only half true. Things that are used or directed by Parahuman powers are actually capable of affecting me, as demonstrated by a bee controlled by Taylor.
My theory is that Parahuman powers, due to their nature known by few, have mystery of their own that gives them inherent qualities, capable of affecting spirits. After all, mystery is a fundamental component of magic in the Nasuverse. Even so, it's still a very good thing to know.
Why am I saying all this?
Perhaps because I have never been a Servant per se, but in fact I only recently found out that I am perfectly capable, albeit more difficult than usual, of affecting the outside world, even in my ghostly form.
That's broken, even against parahumans, it's basically a free surprise attack, and that's what will allow me to do this.
I slowly floated over to where Madison and her group were triumphantly holding their new task.
Taylor was looking downcast and a bit grumpy, but as soon as she felt me approaching, she had a look of surprise that was slowly turning into panic. She started to subtly shake her head, trying to warn me not to do anything stupid, but I ignored her.
"Ishtar, no!"
"Ishtar, yes!" With my finger I created a very small Gandr. It was a kind of personalized Gandr, where I concentrated more on the sick aspect than on the aspect of being shot like a bullet.
I slowly moved it closer to Madison's stomach until…
"Eww how disgusting!"
All the girls quickly moved away from a Madison who looked very bad after having thrown up all the breakfast she had this morning. Because it was a sudden vomit, she didn't only stain herself, but splashes landed on her supplies, her clothes and, most importantly, her friends.
"Are you okay, Madison?!" Gladly luckily didn't care about any of that and simply wanted to make sure of the health of her student who was fine a few moments ago.
The others were not so merciful, and of course the first to attack were her "friends."
"That was my new dress!" Heh.
"Look, all that disgusting vomit doesn't surprise me coming out of a mouth like yours!" Et tu Brutus?
Her classmates made no attempt to help her and most of the class simply looked at her with apathy and a bit of disgust mixed in, perhaps one or two idiots giving her looks of amusement. Her friends stared at her like hyenas looking at a wounded gazelle.
Of course, I made sure that the nausea would just make her throw up, so Madison was pretty much like nothing had happened almost immediately. That only made feeling the stares from the entire class harder for the girl who immediately ran out of the classroom. To what I assume is the nearest girls' bathroom.
Everyone was silent for a few seconds before chaos broke out in the classroom as everyone began to argue about what had happened. Gladly was trying to regain control, but his cool facade started to bite him in the ass.
Taylor was somewhere between fascinated by how things turned out and angry at what I had done. Me?
"Hohohohohohoho! Hey Master! Did you see her face! It was absolutely hilarious! Ooohohohoho!" I could be completely mean.
I didn't care about the girl's reputation in the slightest, this school has less than a month left to live, even if she ends up getting some bullying or something, it won't be even a tenth of what she put Taylor through. A little humility will do her some good.
Eventually, Gladly managed to take full control of the classroom. And class continued as planned. Unfortunately for Madison's group, a good portion of the vomit ended up on Taylor's paper, so they didn't really have anything to turn in. Not that Taylor's group fared any better when Gladly sent Greg to do the presentation, and naturally he made a mess of it.
Taylor kept looking at me, but it was a somewhat conflicted look, as if she didn't know what to feel about this whole situation. Of course, I know what she's feeling.
"Don't feel sorry, Master, it was just a little vomit." It would be completely counterproductive for Taylor to feel sorry for her steps towards greatness, but I know that's not the problem here.
"I-it's not that… I-I'm supposed to be better than them, I'm a superhero, so why… did I feel so happy about that? I should be angry. Why am I not angry?" Because, just like all parahumans, you're a complete psychopath. I didn't say that, of course.
"Master… You're not a saint, you're not supposed to turn the other cheek, you should just kick the shit out of the person who slapped you in the first place, otherwise you'll be left without a cheek to turn." Educational Talent makes me regret not buying another Talent; it's so damn useful.
"…"
Taylor didn't respond to what I said, but she seemed thoughtful. That's good, it's a lesson she'll have to put to the test very soon.
The class continued without any problems for a while longer until the bell rang for lunch.
This time Gladly didn't call Taylor to have a talk about bullying, but quickly gathered his things and left without looking back. I guess the show drained his social batteries or something.
Taylor, still very quiet, also came out of the classroom where she was greeted, which must be a usual sight for her: Emma, Sophia and half a dozen girls waiting for her outside ready for their usual whack-a-mole session. I guess Madison would have joined in too, but she was… unwell.
Ignoring the Mobs, I focused on Emma and Sophia. Both girls were cute and young. Emma had an hourglass figure and an attractive face. She looked like the type of girl whose puberty had hit early, and she had rather striking red hair. I could see how she could charm horny guys without much trouble.
Sophia, on the other hand, was more on the spectrum of sporty girl than sexy girl. She had dark skin and was at least as tall as Taylor. You could tell she took care of her body. She looked strong and confident, like she was in her element as she prepared to watch Taylor squirm as usual.
"How disgusting, I heard that her mere presence made everyone in her class vomit." Punching Bag 1 said.
"It's horrible, I don't think there's anyone uglier in the whole school." Punching Bag 2 replied.
"I heard she does favors for teachers in the bathroom to avoid expulsion," Punching Bag 3 completed. It's weird for her to say that, I'm sure she was the one who yelled about her dress.
It was a barrage of insults. It was somewhat surprising the things they would come up with at times, not to mention how much they would start contradicting each other while doing it of course.
Taylor was simply ignoring them all. From an outside perspective it looked like she was simply staring into space behind the girls, but I knew the truth. Taylor wasn't dissociating herself from the tide of insults, no, Taylor was staring at me. Her gaze seemed defiant, as if daring me to do something about the scene in front of me, but underneath there was something else.
I knew from the bottom of my heart that Taylor was looking at me as a last ember of hope, my Master was asking me for help. How could I refuse such a plea?
The first indication that something was wrong was the look on people's faces.
The people who were originally passing by were acting as expected, indifferent. They saw a troublesome situation with two troublesome girls bullying a lonely girl and simply walked away from the trouble. However, now their gazes narrowed, their fists clenched, many stopped to continue watching.
Those kinds of people slowly made up the majority of the hallway that was slowly falling silent. Emma, seemed too full of herself to notice the change in atmosphere, while Taylor was too focused on watching my apparent lack of action to notice anything.
Sophia and the others were a different story.
Slowly, they began to hurl fewer insults and looked noticeably uncomfortable with the pressure of the place. Sophia, as expected, did not react to the atmosphere with a cringe or nervous sweats; instead, she flexed her legs, lowered her body slightly, and bared her teeth as she stared intently at the people around her.
She looked like a cornered animal.
This change in behavior finally caught Taylor's attention, causing her to shift her gaze from my spirit form to the people in the hallway. And the entire place seemed to be dead silent, but everyone knew it was a bubble about to burst.
Emma also noticed the silence, but in her delirium she decided to continue with the show and spoke for the first time since Taylor left the classroom.
"What's the matter, Taylor? You look upset"
Not really. Taylor looked more confused than anything, but someone else answered Emma.
"Cut the fuck out you bimbo bitch!" A big boy who looked like he was part of the baseball team because of his uniform made his way through the crowd with his friends.
Emma looked shocked and scared for a second before putting on a mask of anger and indignation, Sophia seemed seconds away from starting to growl.
"Who the fuck are you?!" another person in the crowd shouted in Emma's defense. Another group of boys.
"I'm sick of seeing those bitches fucking anyone in the hallways! Tell your whore and her group of bitches to stop the show, or I'll knock both their teeth out!"
"Who are you calling a bitch, filthy monkey?!" The insult seems to have been too much for Emma's Mobs because with a backbone no one knew they had they fought back.
"What the fuck did you say about my boyfriend?!" Which of course attracted the attention of another group of girls.
Things only escalated from there.
"Damn rice-eating Chinese, you son of a bitch!"
"I knew a bitch like you was bad news!"
A bunch of increasingly angry teenagers, yelling at each other. At some point there were no sides or reasons, they were just angry and were letting it out on anyone.
Another bubble, this time more dangerous, formed until…
"What did you say about my mother!" The sound of a fist colliding with a skinny face echoed through the hallway.
"You are just parasites, fucking rats that are everything bad about this society!"
"Pig, slug, cockroach!"
And the punches began. Friends watched each other's backs, the big boys got all the attention and as much as they were more capable of doing damage, they were also the easiest targets. The weaker ones were quickly eliminated or were clever enough to hit a weak spot here and there, it was complete chaos.
Although for some reason the situation didn't escalate to gunfire, a bunch of people, hitting each other, was already problematic enough. If you looked hard enough, there were some teachers trying to stop the conflict, but it wasn't that simple. I would know, after all, I was the one start this of course.
Shining Great Crown. A personal skill of mine that allows me to briefly mimic the authorities I possessed when I was a Goddess at full power. As a Servant my control over authorities is minimal at best; non-existent would be a better description. While I intend to overcome this limitation, I have no problem using the Crown in the meantime.
Normally, this personal ability of mine is used to access Ishtar's Authority over Venus so that I can make use of my Noble Phantasm; however, since when is that Ishtar's only authority? It would be short-sighted to have all the power of a Goddess like me and use it to simply throw a planet at someone.
To start this conflict, I used my authority as the Goddess of War. In exchange for only having a weak effect, I extended the time of the crown to make all the people affected by it feel the need to enter into conflict, I used the same authority to place a mental Geass and thus avoid serious accidents, but even so everything ended up being violent enough for my needs.
In this conflict, there was one person who stood out like no other: Taylor, my Master, who was completely unaffected by the effect of my Authority. Taylor, who was watching the conflict in utter disbelief, was backed up against the wall. She was so confused that she missed how one person besides me had also noticed how disconnected Taylor seemed from the whole situation.
"You!" With a leap like a feline catching its prey, Sophia Hess launched herself at Taylor. Sophia had a few wounds here and there, but compared to Emma who was crying, holding on to her hair that had been torn apart by who knows what, and the other girls, it was clear that Sophia was different.
Taylor was in shock, so she was slow to react when Sophia elbowed her in one of her ribs. Taylor ducked in pain and Sophia used her advantage to strangle her in an absolutely sloppy choke hold, probably out of anger.
Sophia didn't say any more words, she was just grunting.
Taylor was struggling weakly until at some point she just stood still and closed her eyes as if hiding from what was happening. It didn't look like she had fainted or anything, she had just given up.
"So this is where you end up, Taylor Hebert?"
Taylor, who could hear the disappointment in my tone of voice or even my emotions through our bond, opened her eyes wide. Her eyes were bloodshot and somewhat dilated, but also, absolutely furious.
"Fuck you!" Taylor's scream completely disconcerted Hess, causing her to loosen her grip. Taylor returned the blow to the ribs without hesitation, which got her out of the bad situation.
Taylor didn't hesitate for a second before landing a strong punch to Sophia's jaw, causing her to turn her face, followed immediately by a kick to her knee. The blow brought Sophia to her knees and Taylor looked ready to continue punching, but Sophia was no weakling.
Taking advantage of her short stance, she lunged forward with all her might, striking Taylor's stomach with a headbutt. The blow stunned Taylor enough for Hess to seize the opportunity and land her own punch on Taylor, hard enough to knock her to the ground.
Panting, but ready to continue, Hess climbed on top of Taylor and placed her knees on her arms, blocking Taylor from using them to escape. Taylor started to flail her legs around, but it wasn't enough. As if to let her know, Hess punched Taylor in the face again. This one was especially hard and gave Taylor a black eye, but Taylor didn't look away. That only seemed to make Sophia even angrier, who was ready to punch Taylor again when…
"Ishtar Roundhouse Kick!" Someone interrupted their fight.
That person was the most beautiful person in the now half-destroyed hallway, in the school, no, in the world! A beautiful tall girl, perfect body and curves, jet black hair that shines like the night and ruby eyes that pierce the soul of anyone who dares to look at them.
Yes, she was…
"Ishtar ready to help her M-Friend!"
Yes, it was me, Ishtar!
Of course, I wasn't in my Servant clothes or anything, but the same sportswear I was in this morning, but with a red t-shirt above my sport bra. If Taylor looked out of place before, me and my absolutely untouched state from this whole debacle was a neon green flag in the middle of a bunch of red flags.
I held out my hand to Taylor, who looked at me as if I were an angel fallen from heaven.
Did she really think I would abandon her? How rude!
Slowly, she took my hand and stood up. She looked at me with tears about to come out of her eyes and a flushed face. Normally, she would look pretty, but her face, being the mess it is after the beating, made her look like a tomato with many lumps.
Of course, a Goddess like me doesn't notice such things, but I will need to prepare those healing gems. My Master can't look so unsightly.
"Who the fuck are you?!" It seemed like my sudden appearance had brought Sophia out of her animal state. Also, it seems like the conflicts have been dying down, so it seems like the effect of the Crown has ended.
That didn't change what I came here to do, and it didn't change what Taylor seemed to want to do either because we turned on Hess at the same time. We both knew what we were going to do.
"No questions!" I shouted, with that we both ran in Sophia's direction.
Sophia crouched down ready to fight them both, but as expected, she didn't stand a chance.
Even with my power down to the minimum I was so far above her, it's not even funny, I could have turned her into a puddle of broken bones in seconds, but that wasn't my goal.
I took on a more supportive role in the beating that followed. My mission was to stop any halfway decent counterattack attempts Hess could muster against Taylor, while also creating some opportunities for Taylor to take advantage of here and there.
Taylor took her sweet time to let out all her frustrations.
Legs, arms, liver, kidneys, intestines, stomach, ribs, chest, spine, face. Taylor hit everything she could with ferocity, while Sophia could only put up a symbolic resistance. And to finish Taylor punch her with, a textbook well-executed punch right on the chin.
The blow sent shockwaves through Sophia's brain, and in a combination of shock, injury, and exhaustion, her body simply could not take it anymore and she fell unconscious.
Taylor just stood there, absolutely exhausted, staring at Sophia's fallen body as if she couldn't believe it. She looked over and there was Emma in the fetal position. She looked around a little more, and the girls from before had bruises all over them.
I knew what was going through her mind, all her suffering, all the hurt, all the pain that came from all those girls she saw as so above her and in the end… She was the only one left standing.
You could almost see a huge weight that wasn't there before lifting off her shoulders, a shadow being lifted from her, Winslow going from being her personal hell to just another place.
Taylor let out a small, soft laugh as tears fell down her face.
"Ishtar I…"
She turned her gaze in my direction, but I was no longer there.
"Huh?" Taylor couldn't understand why she had suddenly disappeared until a series of heavy footsteps made their way down the hallway.
"Police, everyone on the ground now!"
Taylor appeared to be in shock as dozens of police officers with riot shields approached all the students still standing at the scene.
"On the ground now!"
She was also in shock when she was thrown to the ground and handcuffs were placed on her wrists. It was while she was lying face down on the ground that her mind was finally able to react.
"ISHTAAAR!"
Edit: I changed the ending a bit after reading comments. Kind of stupid in retrospect that the police would go armed into a massive conflict of minors. Oops. No need to reread anything I just mentioned that there are a lot of police and that they enter the hallway using shields instead of glocks. It doesn't change the story at all, but if it improves immersion it doesn't cost me anything to change it a bit.
Another chapter three times as long as I want, I'm starting to accept that I'm a lost cause. On the other hand, aside from starting to write, I had a lot of fun writing it, I did it with Fate UBW Abridged playing in the background so it may or may not have stuck.
I also noticed that most of the dialogue is mental in this chapter, which got me thinking... Should I bring more characters into Taylor's circle, shouldn't I? We'll see about that.
I feel sorry for those who were expecting a cruel and elaborate revenge against the trio. This one is a bit violent at best and not very personal either. Figuring out how to deal with the trio took me a while, but in the end I'll go like WB, completely write them out of the story at the first opportunity.
"As the saying goes, all's well that ends well. Isn't that right, Taylor?"
"How the hell do you think this ends well?" Taylor replied without taking her eyes off the window.
We were in her dad's car, on the way home, after he managed to get Taylor out of the police station. The fight in the school hallway may have been short, but it was big enough to get the police involved.
The scandal was big enough at the police station that many parents threatened lawsuits left and right. The school, the teachers, the parents of the other students, the police, hell even the paramedics were almost sued on the spot. Danny seemed ready to jump into the fray, but Taylor barely held him back.
Most of the students involved were the fainted ones, who were taken to the emergency room by paramedics. Those who were standing, like Taylor, were instead taken to the police station to answer questions. Although because they are minors, that didn't get very far. Eventually, they were all let go, and with a lot of concessions and calls, Taylor was later picked up by her father.
And now we are here.
"Don't you see, Taylor?! No more school!" Mission accomplished! That's it for me.
"It's just a week, Ishtar. After a week, everything will be back to normal." Somehow I doubt it very much. Wink, wink.
That's right, because of that disaster, Winslow is now under intense scrutiny. It is not entirely clear what caused this case of "mass hysteria", but when even the PRT got involved, it was known that this was going to be something serious.
At least one week without school.
It was perfect! Not only did I get Taylor to get away from that place! But I also made her face her fears!
And my reward for that completely flawless plan? It was right in front of me.
20 credits.
Yes! I actually managed to complete a side quest! Particularly the one to stop the trio from continuing to harass Taylor. With Emma going completely crazy and Madison's parents taking the girl to that rich people's school, it seems that the Catalog considered that a closed school and a lonely Sophia are enough to consider the trio detained.
"He he ~ Master, life is so good, isn't it?~" Lalalala~
"I don't know why, but seeing you so happy about the school closing down, when I'm the student here, and it was all totally your fault, makes me want to punch you. Also, it's Taylor." Yeah, it was hard to convince her that it wasn't a Master (heh), but a Shaker effect. Though I doubt the PRT would see it that way.
"No need to be so violent~, Taylor. This is definitely going to benefit you too, you know?"
" Hmm?"
"Yeah, yeah. No school means you'll have more time to train and be a superhero. What kind of heroine only goes out on weekends or at night?"
"That… you might be right."
"I always am!"
"How cruel that world inside your head must be." Taylor looked like she was about to cry.
How rude, the world in my head is perfectly fine!
"Hmph! And I was going to give you this new super-specialized training plan!"
"Didn't you just give me one today?" Details!
"That? Pff. That plan is outdated because it includes time for your school schedule. Things from the past, huh! With my new plan, I'll teach you new things and at the same time you'll have more time for patrols! It's perfect!"
Of course, I'm not going to mention that I did both training plans at the same time because getting rid of school was always my idea.
"…Hah. I'm not even in the mood to comment on that."
"I'm always in the mood for praise, Taylor!"
"That's good…" Those words put an end to our little conversation.
I may have forgotten about him a little, but Danny was here the whole time. As usual, his conversations with Taylor were an awkward mess that only lasted for the first five minutes of the trip.
Right now, Danny is just sending Taylor sideways glances as if he's looking for something to comment on. Taylor, however, seemed ready to call it a day.
Once we got home, Taylor crawled all the way to her room, threw her expensive clothes (not really) on the floor, and then grabbed the cute butterfly pajamas I made her. She seemed to move on autopilot, changing into the pajamas and without much thought, threw herself into her bed where she fell asleep almost instantly.
I guess I can allow her to take a nap for now. Although I'd like to see us go out and fight crime today, an hour or two of rest never hurt anyone.
I materialized floating in front of her and gave her a small kiss on the forehead.
Taylor was still hurt from the fight at school, so she took some jade gems to heal her wounds. I didn't want to heal the small wounds she got and half healed using ISHTAR, but I healed her face enough so that it doesn't hurt anymore and looks decent.
Secondly, I started working on an idea I had planned since this morning. It was pretty easy to accomplish, since Rin already knew a pretty similar example. It will be a gift for Taylor later.
I worked on it for a little over an hour. Mostly thinking, starting and discarding designs. The magic part, on the other hand, went pretty quickly.
I nodded at my work.
It looked pretty good, even by my standards!
I turned my gaze to Taylor, who was still sleeping. I was originally planning to go to bed with her, but I remembered that I have things to think about and do.
I entered my spirit form and began to plan a little for the future as I flew towards my first target location.
For starters, there's canon. At this point I'm pretty sure it's about three days until the bank robbery. Taylor was supposed to join the Undersiders today, tomorrow they decide to rob the bank, on Wednesday they plan the robbery, on Thursday at noon they execute it.
I have a good idea of the early canon and its timing, but beyond that I'm pretty much out of the loop and have no idea when things happen, only that they do.
I'll start with the most basic question… What do I do with the robbery?
Since Tattletale doesn't know about the fact that ward classes in Arcadia last until noon, all the wards who study there will be present at the robbery, and without Skitter that can only end badly for the Undersiders. Mainly, because Glory Girl and her sister will be there.
If I let it happen like that, the Undersiders will almost certainly go to jail, which according to fanfics, means Tattletale's death, and Grue joining the heroes. I wouldn't be so sure though, at least about Tattletale's death.
Hmm…
Well, it's not my problem.
I'll just let fate decide on them. If I get the chance to capture them at some point, I will, but until then I won't bother trying to prevent their deaths or anything.
In fact, I might do a bit of the opposite… Helping the Wards can't be bad publicity, and it will also help my Master have good relations with the other heroes.
I started nodding to myself. Yeah, having Master help out with the bank mess would be ideal. Even though we'll do it in secret, they probably won't let us help if we ask. After all, we're not in their chain of command, and we don't have a rich boyfriend to pay for damages.
Now the deepest part of this whole mess: Dinah Alcott.
Dinah is a bit like the golden goose in any story, the one everyone always thinks of protecting. Would I do it? Maybe. I'm not a heartless person, but I'm already looking after my own girl.
What would I get out of it? I guess Dinah could work as a long-term target for Taylor. Knowing her, she'll need one of those sooner rather than later.
However, that would lead to us becoming enemies with Coil, and fighting Coil without much help from me is a very bad idea, at least for now. Plus, if I help Master too much to defeat him, then Coil isn't worth fighting in the first place.
We'll do that eventually, but I'd like Taylor to at least be canon-leveled for that. She'd also need allies.
So… Should I let him kidnap Dinah?
Again, I'm not a heartless person. Saving her will help me weaken Coil so that his eventual defeat will be easier...
I guess saving Dinah will be the choice. I'll do it secretly too.
What else?
Two days after the bank, the mess with Bakuda occurs. That has already been resolved.
A few weeks after that, Bakuda gets caught and the Undersiders ruin the charity party. Considering the Undersiders are going to jail, I doubt that will happen in the first place.
A few days after that is the mess with the E88. Coil's thing. I don't see why it wouldn't happen again. I'd like to minimize the damage to civilians in this particular attack, go back to the old hypnotism technique? I'd need to be able to find them and for that I'd need a particular Perk. I guess I'll pin that idea for now.
I can't just do away with E88 either. They're a Minion factory, which means experience for Taylor.
That same day, Leviathan arrives in Brokton Bay.
Could I stop Leviathan from coming? I almost certainly could. I'd just have to kill Echidna, Bakuda, and Coil. Then Leviathan wouldn't have to come. He'd probably go on vacation to Florida or something. However, there is one mission that is about Taylor participating in an Endbringer fight. Taylor isn't yet a suicidal lunatic who would willingly go to every Endbringer fight she finds, so I need the Endbringer to come to us.
It's a dangerous plan. Leviathan is perfectly capable of killing me with one good hit. He's definitely one of the few I think could pull it off. I'd like to get a backup Template or two before I get into trouble against him. I don't even want to imagine how dangerous it will be for Taylor if I risk death myself.
Argh, this is complicated! It's like I'm playing a Nuzlocke with two Pokémon, one level 70 and the other level 10. Deciding what Taylor can and can't do is complicated.
Fine! Whatever! I won't think about it until I'm done with Bakuda! At least that's done.
So, what about the Waifu Catalog?
I have 20 credits. I have to be very careful about what I buy…
That thought only lasted for two seconds, of course. At this early stage I'm OP in this particular world. As long as I don't try to conquer the world or something, I'll have no problem getting all the credits I want. I guess I'll just buy something to make my life easier.
Mapper and Target Tracker.
Perfect.
It's not the Bounty Tracker I'd like to buy down the road, but they're still incredibly useful. Now I just need some photos, and with my new map I have a good idea of where to get some good shots.
"Ishtar? Where are you?"
Taylor's voice interrupted my Parahuman Snap session.
"Oh, Taylor! I hope you had a wonderful dream!" I replied.
"Thank you. Where are you? I can feel that you are not around."
Taylor asked again. She didn't sound particularly nervous, maybe a little weirded out by this new distance. Now that I think about it, it was probably the first time we were apart since I came into this world.
"I went for a walk! I managed to create some fascinating magic, and I thought I would put it to the test as soon as possible."
"Really? Normally, you're not this enthusiastic about these things."
"You'll see, Master! I'm on my way!"
"Okay. I'll wait for you in my room."
With that, Taylor disconnected from the call.
I left the dogfighting ring I was in and started flying towards Taylor's house. I could teleport, but I wanted to get my whole story in order first.
I want Taylor to know about my new Mapper and Target Tracker.
I don't need to tell her that one of my missions to "save humanity" was to prevent her bullying, nor do I want to explain where the reward came from. Then I came up with the idea of passing off the whole Mapper and Target Tracker thing as magic.
While flying, I prepared the main gem and a silver plate that will make me sell the story better.
About 10 minutes later, I was back inside Taylor's room.
Taylor was still wearing her cute pajamas and had her legs crossed as she looked at me expectantly. Taylor has always been excited about things related to magic, so it's a bit of a shame that I can't teach her anything; however, I'll always try to live up to her hopes at some point.
"Well, Master! Behold my new magic! The Eye of Heaven!" With that, I took out the silver plate, but this time it was not separated from the gem, an amethyst, but the gem was embedded in the center of the plate.
"Oh!" Taylor seemed to have her eyes shining as she looked up and down at the silver plate. I guess she immediately realized that the special thing, in fact, was not in the plate, but in the gem.
When she finished exploring to her liking, she turned to me waiting for me to start explaining.
"The Eye of Heaven is a masterpiece of information gathering! When I touch here…
I used my index finger to touch the amethyst, activating the magic contained within the gem. Immediately, a hologram identical to the map on my HUD appeared above the plate.
"A map?" Taylor didn't seem disappointed, just confused. I guess that shows the faith we've come to have in each other.
"Exactly! But it's not just any mara, Master. Not only does it update in real time, it can also do this!"
With a gesture of my hands as if I was changing images on a digital phone, an arrow appeared at the location where Arcadia Highschool is located, moving from side to side and saying "Glory Girl."
"You can track anyone you want with that?!" Taylor's enthusiasm came back in full force as she instantly understood just how cool this invention really was.
I squirmed a little in embarrassment. And I felt myself blushing at my Master's high expectations. She seems about to set out to conquer the world with the help of the map.
Argh! How I wish I could meet your expectations! It's simply a stone that creates a real-time illusion of the same map that's on my HUD.
"I-I'm sorry, Master, but I haven't been able to do anything like that. I can only track people I've seen since I made the map."
Still, Taylor's excitement didn't diminish in the slightest with my words. She stopped staring in fascination at the name of Glory Girl floating around and turned to me.
"Don't you understand, Ishtar?! This is still amazing! What other names do you have?"
I smiled softly. Before quickly turning my head away.
"Hmph! Of course, I understand, you silly Master!" I snapped my fingers to change the shape of the map, mostly for Show, of course. This time showing Taylor all the names I had except for Lung, Bakuda, and Oni Lee.
"Why are almost all of them heroes?"
"Because I have no idea where the villains are!"
"That… makes sense."
Taylor studied the map a little longer.
"Yes, this will definitely become our ultimate trump card. Well done, Ishtar."
"Praise me more! I want a sanctuary!" Of course, I was joking… sort of.
"Catch some criminals instead of letting them get kidnapped by other villains, and maybe I'll give you a chance."
My face immediately heated up.
"Ghk! It was just once!"
"Yes, yes."
"You don't believe me! You don't believe me! Do you?!"
"Well…"
"Put on your suit, Master! We're going to defeat some villains today!"
"Now?!"
"Of course! You want me to catch villains?! We'll catch villains! It's time for you to have a proper debut for once!"
Taylor seemed excited by the proposal. That's right, let your inner parahuman psychopath flow.
"Okay, I'm with you. What about Dad?" Taylor asked, letting the worry show on her face for a moment.
"Relax, I've got you covered." With that, I pulled out an amethyst from my inventory.
I continued. "With this gem, he will fall asleep until tomorrow. It may seem a little strange to him, but he won't suspect a thing."
Taylor nodded. An excited smile slowly began to appear as she looked at me with shining eyes.
"Good!"
With a leap, Taylor quickly went to the hidden drawer in her closet where her costume was, but as soon as she picked it up she immediately realized that something was wrong. The box was light, very light, as if it were empty.
Taylor immediately suspected what was going on and directed her suspicion towards me.
I simply shrugged, not bothering to hide the cat-like grin on my face.
Taylor only looked even more suspicious and started shaking the box. She probably wasn't expecting much, but the sound of something metallic bouncing off the walls of the box immediately stopped her experiment.
"Huh?"
I nodded in satisfaction, causing Taylor to stare at me. A second later she opened the box and there it was.
It was a thin bracelet of a dark grayish color. It didn't have much decoration or attention to itself, except for one element. A single gem that looked like a sea of stars, paintings of blues and dark tones intertwined with each other, forming beautiful, abstract figures.
"A gem?" Taylor tilted her head.
"It's not just any gem, Master. It's your new costume!" I exclaimed proudly.
"How?" Taylor didn't doubt my words, but she clearly hadn't watched enough magical girl shows to understand how it worked.
I positioned myself as a teacher ready for an explanation.
"The gem is an alloy of sapphire and obsidian. The sapphire is responsible for maintaining the gem's functionality by functioning as a mana battery. The obsidian, on the other hand, uses its vacuum and negation properties to create a small pocket dimension. Inside is your costume and your tools. Since the pocket dimension is connected to my own pocket dimension, the only real cost is bringing and shipping your stuff, making it especially cheap."
Taylor could only stare at her new bracelet. She seemed amazed at its usefulness.
"So… How do I activate it?"
"With this." I tossed a ring in her direction, which Taylor caught clumsily. It was the same gray as the bracelet. It also came with its own gem included. This time it's simply a sapphire. The function of the ring is to send out a small magical current that will activate the bracelet. It doesn't need an alloy of anything, and leaving the sapphire alone will actually allow it to withstand more magical energy.
I continued.
"You just need to make the gem on your ring touch the bracelet and shout "Transformation!" and you'll be all set," I said without a hint of shame.
I could almost imagine it. Taylor raised her gauntleted arm, bringing it to her chest and pressing down with unnecessary force on the ring. Her glowing eyes stared at her enemy. The background faded away as she screamed. Transformation! And she was surrounded by a cocoon of darkness that slowly uncoiled, revealing her true power!
Cinema!
Taylor stares at me. Without looking away, she simply brings her finger with the ring to her wrist, and a second later her costume is already in place.
I started to sweat and looked away from her.
Taylor slowly removes the ring from the bracelet while still looking at me. She slowly walks towards me and I feel myself getting smaller and smaller as Taylor takes advantage of her greater height to look down on me.
I couldn't see her eyes behind the lenses of her mask, but I could almost imagine the expressionless look on her face.
"Transformation, huh…"
"O-Oh, wow! It's fixed! Who knew your presence would fix the silly bug on the device! Yes! As expected of Master!"
"…"
"…" Don't look away! don't show guilt! don't hesitate!
"How do I get rid of it?" I let out a sigh and mentally clenched my fists. She believed it!
"Y-you just have to press the ring twice in a row against the bracelet!" Taylor nodded, but didn't take off her suit.
"Alright. Time to go." She sounded especially intimidating with that deadpan voice of her now that she was in the suit, but now was not the time for joking around.
I entered my spirit form moving towards Danny, ready to send him to Lala Land when Taylor interrupted me.
"Inana."
"Yes, Master?"
"If you try to embarrass me like that again, I will punish you."
Gulp.
I mentally checked the identical bracelet in my inventory, but with a fairly substantial amount, less clothing.
Although that would be hot… No!
Must… Resist… Stupidity impulse!
Much shorter! Well done me. It does feel a bit filler though. There was supposed to be a fight in this chapter, but it ended up being a transition chapter. I hope to have the next one up sooner.
While writing this chapter and thinking about the next ones I realized how hard it is to avoid having the protagonist just finish the whole adventure in three summary chapters. That's how broken the Waifu Catalog is. It also made me appreciate the average power builds more and not the 8000 credit builds I sometimes did in a power fantasy.
I'm also having trouble giving Ishtar trouble. I mean, I could, but I'm also afraid of sidetracking the story too much by throwing curveballs (Ishtar has definitely done enough nonsense for that). I also think I shot myself in the foot a bit by having almost 10 chapters with almost no other characters than the two of them on the scene. I hope to break that up with the next one.