Unbeta'd, fresh off the presses, and probably in need of serious work, but I present to you...
Embrace of Steel
A Fate/Stay Night inspired Worm AU
Chapter One
Taylor Hebert was caught, with no retreat in sight. She had underestimated the opposing forces motivation, and was now mired in an untenable situation.
Emma had called, and was now chattering on to Taylor about
fashion.
"Taylor, you ready?" called the voice of a savior, echoing up the stairwell of the Hebert house.
Taylor stuck her head out of her room and called back, "Just a minute Mom!", then popped back into her room to end her friend's seemingly endless parade of opinions.
"Yeah, we're all heading out," Taylor said, cell phone pressed to her ear. "Okay. See you Monday?"
Hearing an affirmative, she hung up and pocketed her phone with a sigh of relief. Emma was her best friend - close as sisters, it felt at times - but could be a real chatterbox when she got going.
Taylor had been searching her closet for a particular shirt when her phone had rung, and now couldn't recall which one it had been. She huffed in annoyance and turned away from the closet, giving it up as a lost cause.
In doing so, she caught her reflection in the mirror. The silvered glass showed a girl of fifteen, slender and willowy, with impressive height for her age. She frowned at her lack of curves, and the too-wide mouth that emphasized her dour expression didn't help improve her opinion.
She couldn't help but compare herself to her friend, with her impressive proportions and attractive face. The only thing Taylor really felt she could match her in was her hair. Dark brown, curly tresses as compared to the fiery red locks Emma had, but no less well taken care of.
Taylor shook off her musings on her friend and finished getting ready for the evening. A simple white blouse over jeans and well-worn sneakers, with her favorite black hooded jacket for the night-time breeze. It would have to do.
It was a Saturday, and and for the Hebert family, that meant the Boardwalk. The three of them would pile into the beat up sedan and go for a drive on a family outing. Visiting the local shops - too pricey for them to shop in, but fun to browse - and on occasion catching a movie.
It was important to spend time together, as her father said. You never know when that time will be taken from you.
Taylor made her way downstairs, and met her parents in the living room. The pair stood at the front door, waiting on Taylor to leave, and smiled at her as she came into view.
"All ready?" asked her father, with a small smile.
Danny Hebert was a man that could only be described as 'gawky'. Tall, reed thin, and balding, he was not what one would call attractive. His eyes were large, and the glasses he wore enlarged them even further, giving him a slightly surprised look at all times.
Taylor smiled back. "Yeah, got distracted when Emma called, but I managed to get away unscathed."
Taylor's mother, Annette, laughed at that. "That girl can certainly talk your ear off, can't she?"
Her mother, Taylor knew, was speaking from personal experience. Emma had once dragged her into a half-hour explanation on why one brand was inherently superior to another on the basis that its manufacturer used materials from national sources, rather than lower-quality imports.
Needless to say, she had forbid Taylor from ever leaving Emma alone with her ever again.
"Yeah, but we love her anyway," said Taylor with a grin.
Her mother gave another laugh, and smiled at her. "There's no doubting that."
Taylor noticed a bundle of red cloth in her mother's hands. "What's that?"
"Oh, I heard it was supposed to get a little chilly tonight, so I grabbed this." She held the cloth up.
It was a long, knitted scarf. Annette reached over Taylor's head and wrapped the scarf around her neck a couple times, and tossed the ends over her shoulder.
Done, she gently took Taylor's shoulders and turned her to around, to face the hall closet and the mirror it supported.
"There, you look nice," said Annette, beaming at her daughter's reflection. Taylor had to agree, the red
did look good with the white blouse and black jacket.
Seeing them together in reflection brought Taylor's attention to their similarities - and differences.
Annette Rose Hebert was, much like her husband and daughter, tall. But where the rest of the family was gangly and uncoordinated, Annette was graceful, and slender in the way that actresses and models aspire.
If that was what she had to look forward to, Taylor was happy to wait a few years in adolescent awkwardness.
Taylor turned, and gave her mom a quick hug. "Thanks."
"If we're all ready to go ladies, let's get a move on." Danny pulled open the front door, and held it open in a display of gallantry for the Hebert ladies, who giggled at his antics.
Taylor watched as her mother stopped next to the passenger side, idly running her fingers along the mismatched fender and door, looking off into the middle distance and obviously lost in thought.
"Mom?" Taylor knew where her mother's thoughts were, but was hesitant to bring it up.
Annette continued to stare at the car. "Hm?"
"You okay?" asked Taylor, biting her lip.
"Yeah… yeah. I'm fine honey." Annette smiled softly at her daughter.
The moment broken, they piled in and Danny pulled the sedan out into the street, headed towards the Docks.
As they drove, Taylor observed the city around her.
Her home lay in one of the slightly better portions of town, near the Docks. But 'slightly better' still meant 'rough', compared to any other city it seemed.
Ever since the advent of the Boat Graveyard and the collapse of the local shipping industry, the Brockton Bay economy had gone on a death spiral, bringing the cities inhabitants with it.
Her father, as HR for the Dockworkers Union, had fought to revitalize the Docks, but had been shot down multiple times.
If it weren't for the support of her mother, thought Taylor, he would like as not give up on his fight. Even now, he tended to come home from a long day of struggles with a defeated air, as he had once again been forced to tell his people that no, there weren't any jobs.
Taylor dropped the depressing line of thought, and idly wondered at what her parents had planned for the night. Maybe they had enough to eat out for once?
Her thoughts were violently interrupted by an eruption of curses from her father, followed by the car swerving across the incoming lane and whipping Taylor into the door, stunning her.
With a tremendous crash and the sickening impact of collision, they stopped.
"Mom… Dad?" Taylor's vision swirled and rocked, as reality stuttered around her. She fumbled at her seatbelt, trying to unlatch the infernal strap that held her in place.
She was interrupted in her valiant struggle by hands gently taking her own, and she looked up to see her mother, looking shaken but unharmed.
"You okay little owl?" she asked, as she unbuckled the seatbelt.
"Mmfine…" Taylor slurred in response, though she desperately wanted to say otherwise, and simply curl up against her mother's comforting presence.
She heard her father speaking. "Annette, we have to get out of here before things get worse."
"I think Taylor's concussed, help me move her!" Taylor felt arms encircle her chest, and she was heaved to her feet.
"M'okay." Taylor protested her treatment, but shuffled along obligingly.
They had only managed to travel a short distance, before they were once again sent reeling by a blast of concussive force. Unsupported, Taylor flopped to the ground in an undignified pile.
Blearily, she lifted her head and looked around to see figures a distance away, engaged in dance-like maneuvers and acrobatic displays. One of them had even turned into a wolf!
Wait, what?
Taylor shook herself, and sat up. She was still slightly dizzy, but had managed to shake off most of the effects of the crash.
With clear eyes - miraculously, her glasses had stayed on - she observed the carnage around her.
Multiple stalled cars, many with their doors hanging wide open in their hasty abandonment. There were cracks and craters in the asphalt, and more than one lightpole had fallen. Her family's own car was up on the opposing sidewalk, having slammed into a row of newsboxes.
There was a five-foot column of metal embedded in the street not far from her current position. Tracing the path of the car, her father must have veered to avoid it, and hit the newsboxes instead.
Taylor glanced around, and saw Danny laying prone on the sidewalk a couple feet away. She crawled over to him.
"Dad?" She shook him roughly, as he groaned and blinked at his daughter.
"Taylor?"
"Dad, what happened? Where's Mom?"
Danny blinked a few more times. "Annette…"
Taylor looked around wildly, searching for her mother. A frantic moment later, she spotted her further down the street, nearer to the cape battle raging nearby.
"Mom!"
Taylor's mother was sitting up in the middle of the street, watching the cape fight in a dazed sort of confusion, bleeding from the head and obviously not all there.
Less than half a block away from her, members of the Protectorate were battling with what looked to Taylor to be both the Merchants and Empire Eighty-Eight. Though the two were often as not taking potshots at each other, making it a three-way battle.
Taylor propped her father against a the face of a nearby shop, and hurried over to her mother. As she limped towards the battle, she saw Armsmaster and Miss Militia as they worked together to fend off Hookwolf and Kaiser as Skidmark, Mush, and Squealer harassed them all from a distance.
Armsmaster deflected a lance of steel from Kaiser, and severed the shaft before launching it towards Skidmark at impressive speeds. Skidmark cursed fouly, and lay down a shimmering field.
The lance hit the field, and immediately reversed, flinging itself at speed back towards Armsmaster, who nimbly dodged out of the way.
Allowing the impromptu projectile to continue its deadly course, straight for Taylor.
Time slowed down, and she could only watch in horror as the spear inevitably drew closer. She couldn't react, couldn't even blink as she watched her doom approach.
And suddenly, she couldn't see anything but a mass of dark curls. There was a blood-curdling
shriek of metal on bone as an impact sent her flying, and she landed on the rough asphalt.
Unharmed.
Taylor stared in shock at the scene before her, unbelieving.
Her mother, the rock of their family, the unshakeable source of strength for them, was standing in the middle of the street, swaying slightly on her feet.
And protruding from her chest was a length of steel, dripping with her life's blood.
"Little Owl…" she whispered, before falling to the ground in a lifeless heap.
Taylor couldn't speak, couldn't breathe.
Her mother was dead, taking a blow meant for her,
and it was all her fault.
-
DESTINATION
AGREEMENT
-
Taylor came to, and couldn't remember what she saw. She knew it was important, but for the life of her, she couldn't pull the memory to the surface. Like sand, it slipped through her fingers and dissipated.
What Taylor did remember, however, was what happened immediately before.
Her mother, and the lance.
A sob broke free, and Taylor had to struggle to keep from breaking down then and there.
The assembled capes had been knocked through a loop as well, and had regrouped into their collective factions. The fight restarted almost as if it hadn't been uninterrupted.
Taylor watched as the Heroes and Villains fought on, ignorant of the destruction they had caused, the complete annihilation of a family's heart.
It made her angry.
Something within suddenly broke, and all Taylor could do was shake in barely restrained fury, rage and despair warring within.
She saw Miss Militia let loose with a barrage of automatic fire into the metallic body of Hookwolf, driving the caniform back with sustained fire. The rifle was quickly replaced with a cavalry saber as a thrust of steel centered in on her, and she parried the strike.
//Begin Synchronization
//Determining Creation Ideology
//Analyzing Composite Materials...Read Error
//Base Core not Located
//End Synchronization
Taylor gasped as something shifted in her mind, and a sharp sting in her eyes made itself known. She blinked away tears, and focused on the closest fight, unnaturally drawn to the conflict.
She watched Armsmaster skillfully parry and deflect the spikes and lances of metal called forth by Kaiser with his Halberd, a weapon of unparalleled versatility and strength.
//Begin Synchronization
//Analyzing Composite Materials
//Determining Creation Ideology
//Understanding Forging Procedure
//Reading Accumulated History
//Sympathizing with Experience
//Projection Stored
//All Processes Complete
The words came to her like old friends, as if she had always known them.
"Trace On."
//Begin Projection
//Loading Projection 'Halberd'
//Sympathizing with Experience
//All Processes Complete
Suddenly within her hands was a copy of Armsmaster's Halberd. It was perfect, down to every imperfection in the steel.
But it was hollow, an empty shell.
It would have to do.
As she handled the weapon, she felt the crystalline matrix of the steel, felt the rigid, ordered structure that gave it strength. She forced this rigidity onto her mind, and felt her fury and anguish dim.
Slowly, Taylor untied her mother's scarf. It was long, and had survived the crash and her falls with ease. She took it and wrapped it around her head carefully, concealing her face except for her eyes and pulled her hood up over her hair, obscuring it from view.
She was calm.
She was Steel.
She felt the accumulated weight of years within the weapon, knew just how to hold it, the feeling of swinging it in hundreds of hours of combat and practice.
With the force of Steel within her, Taylor Hebert charged into the melee.
She was going to end this, here and now.
Basically, Taylor triggers with what is essentially Shirou's Reality Marble. The ability to read, memorize, store and project weapons in an instant. I tossed in a dash of Metalcrafting from Codex Alera for the Mind of Steel, but otherwise it's mostly the same. Annette obviously never died in the car crash, and Taylor never left for summer camp. Emma still had her experience, but instead of clinging to Sophia's ideology, she clung to Taylor instead.
*EDIT*
Taylor now has a scarf.
).
