Deviox's Orphanage of Snippets (Mostly Wrom Crossovers, now featuring Touhou!)

[Deviox]

I watched as the woman walked around me. Sizing me up. I tried to recall how I found myself here but trying to remember that was messy. I recall getting thrown into my locker, probably Sophia's doing, struggling, trying to get out.

Next thing I knew, I was seeing a Kaleidoscope of lights passing by me. Seemingly endless, at least until I suddenly ended up here. With this woman sizing me up.

"Hmm, I see potential. Lots of potential even." She mumbled. "But bringing it out…"

Yep, she was sizing me up. I could only squirm a bit as she did so.

"Stop squirming. You're safe in here. We've got time, but not an endless amount of it." She then said. I didn't let out a scared scream as she chastised me. The woman only let out a sigh.

"I suppose it might be better to start from the ground up. I am Scathach. Do you know who I am?" She then said, introducing herself.

I dive into my mind for a few moments. I've heard that name before. Of that, you have no doubt. I dive deeper and deeper, trying to recall where I've heard that name before.

"Sh- Sk- Sca…" I make a few attempts to pronounce her name before giving up. "You're a Teacher of students in Celtic Mythology. Your most known student was Cu Cuhluin." I tell her, though pretty sure I also butchered Cu's last name.

"Celtic words and names don't play well with English, so I'll forgive you for the time being, " The woman, now known as Scathach said.

I had to be delusional. There was absolutely no way I was talking to a legendary teacher of heroes. I wasn't entirely familiar with her legend or Celtic mythology as a whole, but I do know that she was a great teacher.

"Still, I do expect you to make an effort to learn how to pronounce my name."

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Tch, why the fuck did I think this was a good idea. I only had my Wooden Spear at the moment. Sure, I had runes on it that made it immune to fire. Sure, it also had runes that made it as tough as Steel. Sure, my teacher has given me a bit of her strength…

An echoing roar reminded me of the issue in front of me. A good fight, my instincts told me. More like fucken suicide by Cape. I push my worries aside for now. I had to focus on beating down this false Dragon.

A few wall kicks lead me onto the roof of a nearby building. One of the countless abandoned buildings in the area. While keeping collateral to a minimum would be preferred, this was Lung. The Dragon who went Toe to Toe with god damn Levithan and lived.

Lung let out some kind of aggravated shouts. His transformation far enough to make any sort of English difficult to make out. Enough such that I didn't care what he head to say right now, but I assumed it was some of the typical trash talks that gets thrown around.

I reached into my pouch, pulling out several Runestones. Namely the exact I needed at the moment. A quick pulse of Prana into them cast the spell, or more accurately Mystery, causing various old bolts of ice to shoot out towards Lung. While my Master's fighting style would likely make good use against a Dragon, my dull wooden spear wouldn't be able to do anything against one.

The roar of pain that echoed out was enough proof that I needed that it worked. Lung let out various aggravated shouts as he shifted farther and farther into his Dragon Form. When I saw him, it seemed like he regenerated from any damaged that spell had delt.

I spin my spear around to cut down a ball of fire. Most of the runes on my wooden spear lighting up. I swallow down my fears and get ready to face Lung head-on, leaping off of the roof and go on the offensive.

---------------------------------------------

"STRIKE HIM DOWN," I shout, chanting my final trump card. "BATA FIDOAH!" With all of my strength, I threw my spear. There was a brilliant streak of light as my makeshift spear hit Lung. The Man-Dragon letting out a roar of pain as he went down.

I could only wait for the light to fade and dust to settle before truly letting my guard down. That attack meant to be a last resort. Exchanging my Spear for a final chance to take Lung down. I kept breathing in the tense air, waiting desperately to see the results of my attack.

And I eventually did. Before me laid Lung. His body reverting back to its human form. I finally let my body relax. My body aching and burning. The latter no doubt from overuse of my Circuits. Soon, I heard the Engine of a certain Tinker Tech motorcycle pull up. Armsmaster.

'Well well well, looks like my student just had one hell of a fight.' I heard my Teacher say within my mind. 'And against a dragon too. A false one sure, but a dragon never the less.'

Those words slowly made it click just WHAT I've accomplished. 'Holy shit, I just beat Lung.'

'Yes, yes you did. Now you have to deal with the glory from such a success.' My Teacher then told me. Right. Assmaster. I sighed, pulling myself up. I couldn't let myself show any obvious weakness before him. While a 'hero' if his caliber would no doubt be able to tell me that I'm currently weakened, I had an image to maintain.

I held myself in a casual lean against a wall. Letting the runes woven etched into my costume work it's magic in obscuring my true identity. Handy bit of magecraft there. I saw the Bearded Asshole pull up. "Armsmaster," I said professionally.

"Skadi. I should have known." The leader of the Protectorate replied in kind, looking around at the collateral damage from the fight. "You left quite a mess. Do you have any idea how much-"

"Spare me your 'pleasantries' Armsmaster." I cut him off. "You know as well as I do that most of the buildings around here would be condemned if giver a proper inspection."

"You continue to treat this entire thing as a game."

"You continue to think that you and yours are above the law." I counter.

"You know full well that we dealt with Shadow Stalker-" Armsmaster fought back.

"You know full well that you ignored every damn red- GAH!" I let out a painful cry as my circuits flared with my emotions. "Damn it… Now's not the time for this discussion. Just do what you have to do with Lung and go."

Armsmaster let out a grunt, thinking he won our argument. I saw some needle extending out of his halberd and being stuck into Lung. Likely some form of Brute Level sedative I figured. "There's the matter of credit."

"I'll take all of the credit due to me," I said.

"You know that will put a big target on your back."

"One of a dozen others."

Armsmaster wasn't happy with the response before speaking into his helmet. I was leaving, letting the Leader of the protectorate do his damn job as I left.

Edit: Some PoV Fixes.

 

[Deviox]

The Blacksmith of Legends​

Taylor made one final inspection of her handiwork. It was yet another legendary weapon from days of old. From before the age of parahumans. From when legendary heroes roamed the planet.

In the wrong hands, anything I made could be a devastating weapon. Thankfully, I don't get to decide if the weapon in my hands is a weapon of mass destruction or just a pointy sword. Rather, the old holder of the weapon decides if you truly get to hold the power contained within.

It was a weird feeling to Taylor. Calling upon the ghosts of the past to decide who is worthy and who is not of their legendary weapon. Her power calls these legendary weapons 'Noble Phantasms.' Thus, she chose her cape name.

"Phantasma." A voice called to her from the back. A familiar voice. It seems like he's here to pick up his order. Phantasm sighed.

"I'm putting the finishing touches on your order now," She shouted back, through the curtains that separated her forge from her shop. It was a bit of a white lie, but ultimately a harmless one. She was truly one. However, she just wanted to look at what she made one last time.

A few brief moments later, Phantasma walked out of her forge and into her shop. "Here's your order. One legendary sword. Fit for a knight of honor. Remember, there are no refunds if the blade finds you unworthy."

"I am aware," Phantasma's client, Armsmaster said. The young hero smiled, handing over the sword to the leader of the Protectorate. He gave the blade a long look over. "My scanners tell me that…"

"Please, finalize your payment before you start exposing your new weapon's secrets," Phantasma told him. He let out a short grunt before handing over the payment due.

She double-checked the payment she received and was satisfied. Every last penny was accounted for. No change needed to be handed back. Made sense for a Tinker who was all about efficiency.

"Everything is in place. I hope you take good care of Arodight. Please return to Unlimited Blade Works whenever you want another legendary weapon," the shopkeeper told the hero. Armsmaster simply turned around and left without saying much else. Phantasma simply sighed before returning to the forge.

She could already imagine how Armsmaster's saga with Lancelot's weapon would go. Armsmaster was a skilled, but professional man. Too professional. And far too much of a glory seeker.

And he seemed to be in a close relationship with the tinker, Dragon. After the two of them fail to make any headway trying to pick apart Arodight, some big event will happen where Armsmaster will need to defend Dragon, possibly at the cost of his glory. At that point, Lancelot will deem him worthy and lend Armsmaster his strength.

Phantasma took off her identity obscuring helmet, returning to Taylor. She let out a short sigh, her eyes drifting towards another Noble Phantasm. The only such item she's seen that she didn't make.

She had found it in the basement, where they packaged all of her mom's stuff. Her power allows her to quickly any Noble Phantasm. First, she thought that it simply helped her know what she had made exactly. In reality, it simply told her the name of any Noble Phantasm.

"Avalon," Taylor mumbled it's true name to herself. The scabbard of King Arthur stirred in her hands.

How or why her Mom had such a thing was beyond her. It didn't help that she had no way to get in contact with anyone from her Mom's extended family. Such a precious heirloom was no doubt passed down from generation to generation.

Though Taylor thought that Avalon going missing was a major part of Arthurian mythology. It was what let Mordred kill Arthur. Yet here it was. Was she the descendent of whatever thief took it? Or was something else at play here? Taylor honestly had no clue.

She sighed, returning the sheath to the lockbox she kept it in. The scabbard felt almost saddened when it was returned. An odd feeling, but one Taylor had no clue on how to deal with.

She lit the forge back up. There was a second type of weapon she could forge. One that was relatively easy to mass-produce. Mystic Codes. While they could have a wide array of effects, generally less potent than their Noble Phantasm counterparts, she instead focused on simply making the most durable weapons she could.

In short, this let her produce a fair amount of nigh-indestructible weapons that never needed any maintenance from the end-user. Such weapons were in surprisingly high demand. Turns out a lot of capes from across the world used such weapons, and we're willing to pay a premium to never worry about weapon maintenance ever again.

Sure, they could break, but the effort required for such a feat would require the likes of someone like Alexandria to brute force it. There was likely a power out there that could easily destroy a Noble Phantasm, though she had no clue what such power would actually be. Likely some form of disintegration.

Taylor was pulled out of her musing when the shop bell rang. "Coming!"

Taylor turned back into Phantasma and exited the rear forge. Before her stood a woman wearing an expensive-looking suit and a fedora. "Welcome to Unlimited Blade Works. Are you looking to have a custom order made?"

The woman smiled back. Something about it seemed fake, however. "I am," She said, pulling out a package. "Are you able to make a weapon using this?"

Phantasma didn't outright reject all custom orders, she often had the PRT or Protectorate sign off on anything that came with a proper offensive effect. Typically, it would be signed off by Piggot. The only order that Armsmaster has signed off on was his own Arodight.

Her first thought of an order that didn't go through the PRT was a simple staff. They requested something that could heal. And the first Noble Phantasm that came up was technically Nameless but had a powerful healing 'spell' tied to it by the name of Pain Breaker. An Anti-Thaumaturgy Noble Phantasm as her power calls it. She told the buyer that it was Anti-Wound just to save the headache.

The PRT wasn't happy about it, but given that it really wasn't more dangerous then Panacea holding a metal rod, eventually backed down. They did 'request' it goes through a series of tests at the rig, but that decision was ultimately left up to the buyer.

Though, she never did hear from Thomas Calvert afterward. Strange since he promised to be a repeat customer.

Phantasma returned her attention to the package in front of her, opening it up. It would be the first order where a special material was being requested to be used. Though she figured it was probably something special enough to cover the hole of Noble Phantasms she couldn't normally craft.

As the Blacksmith inspected the mysterious ore in front of her, her face slowly started to pale. The dark black ore seemed to terrify her. "Miss, I know that I would normally have you go through the local PRT to get cleared for a custom order, but…"

"Will a sign off from both Legend and Head Director Rebecca Costa-Brown do?"

Phantasma blinked. She still seemed to be getting over from what she saw from the rock. "Let me see it," she said trying to call the fedora woman's bluff. Everything appeared to look good to the young rogue. "Everything appears to be as you say, Miss Contessa, but I just want to call up the PRT to make sure."

"Go right ahead," Contessa said, doing a great deal of patience. As though she'd be willing to wait till the end of the world to get her product.

Phantasma returned to the back of her shop. She had to mentally reminding herself that without her forge, that black stone was no more dangerous than any other rock. After several phone calls, Phantasma was ultimately satisfied with the result. The papers were legit.

"Okay, so, everything is in order. But, just a quick word of warning. The weapon that you'll get is ultimately an Anti-Endbringer weapon at its weakest," Phantasma warned her customer.

"You misunderstand something. This weapon is not for me to hold," Contessa told Phantasma. "It will be for you." Phantasma blinked, surprised by the statement. "They do, however, want to see a finished product at the earliest possible time. The next Endbringer is poised to strike soon."

Phantasma could really start to see where Contessa was going with this. What she was really implying. She has yet to come into contact with the ego behind the weapon, but it was being implied that the Protectorate think tank thought I would be allowed to use it.

Phantasma was already considering showing up for the next Endbringer battle. Supposedly, it was supposed to be Leviathan. That… turned Brockton Bay into a possible target. Something that deeply worried the forge master.

"What will it be called?" Contessa suddenly asked, drawing Phantasma out of her thoughts.

She stared at the rock for several long moments. As though it's name was cursed. Slowly, she let it roll around in her head before speaking it, almost in a whisper.

"Ea."

Spoiler: A/N

Typed this up on my phone using a different spell/grammar checker then I normally do. I personally like how all but the ending turned out too. Though I figure writing Taylor into a shop keeper of Noble Phantasms would be rather difficult.

 

[Deviox]

Chaldea of Earth Bet​

Taylor looked at her Projection. It… He called himself a Servant. "Think of me as your tutorial Servant." He explained. A man with skin so tanned that Taylor couldn't tell what his original skin color was. His hair white as snow, wearing Black Armor and with a pair of red sleaves, and a red… skirt-like thing that Taylor feels like she should know the proper name of.

The fact that he seemed to have a good amount of free will seemed strange to the young girl, but what did she really know about powers? Sure, she knew about the flying unstoppable brick that was Alexandria, the master tinker Armsmaster, and the supersonic Legend. But did she understand the nuances of their powers? How they got them? Not really, though she has heard that Trigger Events are rather traumatic events. She figures the locker counts.

Still… "Tutorial Servant?" Taylor asked back, sitting up from her bed. She had gotten back from the hospital not that long ago. The ride back had been quiet. Her projection didn't manifest during the whole trip. Though he had been able to talk while not manifested. She learned that at the hospital.

"Yes. Your Tutorial Servant. Do you see those red markings on the back of your hand?" He points out. Taylor turned her attention to the back of her left hand, looking down at it. On it was a simple, yet artistic 3 part design. "That's what tells me that you're my Master."

"Like you clinging to me wasn't proof enough, Archer." Taylor rebuked, calling him by the name he had given her.

"Heh, looks like you're getting the idea." He countered, eventually pulling out what appeared to be a colorful, yet utterly dull grail. "Here, this was given to you when you summoned me." He said. I grab onto the strange grail. "I'll explain what that is in a bit, but just know that it is important."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The explanation that came was rather long and convoluted. A lot was going on with my powers under the hood, but it boiled down to a few things. First, Archer isn't my only Projection. Well, I suppose I should start calling him a Servant instead. He's here because he's apparently contractually obligated to do so. He said that he made a deal with a higher power in exchange for his soul.

Moral of the story? Be damn sure that whatever you're selling your soul for is something you know you're truly willing to spend all eternity murdering millions for whatever that higher power wanted you for.

There were other mechanics at play here. First, there was the whole Heroic Spirits and Servants thing. Do something awesome enough to be written down in legend? You get put onto the Throne of Heroes in the afterlife. Think of it as a VIP Lounge for big-name people. On occasion, you'll get called upon and summoned as a Servant. There's a lot more technical info that I don't quite get, but a Servant appears to be an aspect of a Heroic Spirit.

Anyway, I don't get just 1 Servant. I get 7. Well, Archer expects I'll get 9, one for each of the Classes a Servant can take up. Saber, Archer, Lancer, Rider, Caster, Assassin, and Berserker. There are other, non-standard classes outside of those, but they're quite rare from what Archer explained. One thing it looks like I'm going to need to do is to give a reason for some to be among the living. Many quite enjoy their retirement package on the Throne it seemed.

Next, were the Command Seals on the back of my hand. While I have yet to truly experiment with them, they were truly powerful. Worthy of a capital P if what Archer said was true. Able to bend space to teleport, give a Servant a power boost, or make them do something they're morally opposed to. There was very little a Command Seal couldn't command from a Servant. However, I was limited to 3. According to Archer, normally when a Command Seal was used, that was it, it was gone. However, because of, reasons I don't understand, part of it tied to this strange grail, I would regain one of the Command Seals every 5 days.

And, of course, there's the grail. Namely THE Holy Grail. The same thing from Arthurian Myth. Though not really. While it's called a Holy Grail, it's more so just a cool sounding stand-in for a really good Prana battery. There's a lot of technical stuff involved that I just don't understand, but apparently, it's standard practice for those same 7 servants to fight over the Holy Grail for a wish. Something that won't be happening here, so no wish for the Servants that get summoned.

What I'm generally supposed to do with this, is summon a Caster class Servant, and have them use the Grail to create a base of operations where all of the other Servants I summon can reside so they don't pull all of my Prana in an instant. According to Archer, trying to support even two servants can easily drain the average Mage dry. For reference, the Average Magus is often purpose-bred to have loads of Prana.

Archer said for this to happen, he'll purposely cut himself off from me and sustain himself using his Independent Action skill while Caster sets up the base on top of a ley line. Of course, we'd need to find said ley line first.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A rusted door busted open, letting Taylor enter in. Archer followed not too far behind her. Taylor inspected the boarded up area. There was plenty of abandoned junk all around the place. Enough to tell that this place had yet to have been looted. The building itself was located near the docks and used to belong to a major shipping company.

"Is the ley line really here?" Taylor asked her Servant. While the building itself was relatively close to the Ship Graveyard, it was also wasn't a casual walk away. Something Taylor herself didn't really like all that much. Still, the other ley lines they've discovered were at Med Hall tower and The Rig. An abandoned building like this really ticked every box needed, save for the legal issues that might come up from basically commandeering it for her own uses.

"It is," Archer replied, heaving up the supplies he was carrying with him. It was everything they would need to perform a Servant Summoning. He scanned the room for anything of note. "No alarms." He stated.

Taylor nodded. "Let's find a room we can use then." She reached into her bag and pulled out what appeared to be a handful of simple rock of sorts. She tosses it up and they all transformed into several orbs of light. At a mental order from Taylor, the orbs of light started to scout out the building.

A few minutes passed. Taylor made sure her orbs double and sometimes triple checked any area they scouted across. She carefully took in all of the information she was sent, filtering out anything not immediately useful. Multitasking wasn't all that easy of a task, but Taylor was more than capable of stepping up to the challenge. "Found a good room." She said, setting up the orbs to work as a series of waypoints for the two of them to follow.

"Let's not waste any time then, Master," Archer said, following behind her. The building itself was heavily boarded up. Honestly, Taylor was surprised that the building showed no signs of previously forced entry. It was honestly some prime real-estate as far as Taylor could tell. Though, given where various gangs were set up and how pointless having a workplace around the docks area, she probably shouldn't be as surprised as she was.

Still, the company did a good job getting anything if any real importance out. Several wooden crates were empty or at worst had packing supplies. Or even just trash that's still being picked apart by various rodents.

As the pair walked past an orb of light, they began to follow their master, following her and providing light. "Here it is." Taylor eventually said, opening up a set of double doors to what was likely once a large cafeteria. Now, all it was was a big empty underground room.

"Hmm, this will do nicely," Archer said, walking towards the center of the room. He began the process of making the magic circle needed for the Servant Summoning ritual. Archer got to work, etching out the circle carefully. Taylor kept a few orbs around and sent out the rest to both patrol the area and check for any items of possible interest.

"It's done," Archer said, summoning one of his countless swords and chucking it to the raised ceiling above. Soon after, the sword began to let out a powerful glow, not unlike that of a powerful lightbulb. It wasn't blinding but did provide enough light that Taylor could dismiss the scouting orbs still around. She also dismissed the orbs she still had scouting out the building.

She was about to perform some very powerful magecraft and knew that it would probably be best if she didn't let any other spells, or rather mysteries, mess around with it. Taylor manifested the grail that had been magically placed within her body and placed it nearby. Archer cut himself off from her Prana. The time limit was set. "Let's do this." She said.

Spoiler: A/N

So, this took longer to get out than I'd have liked. And it's neither of what I said it would likely be. So what happened? Well, to put simply, I just didn't really have enough content in mind for the Gamer!Taylor fic for it to be worth really putting out, sitting at only about... what 300 to 600 words? There's definitely the potential for a full story there, but I just need to figure out how to really get it on paper.

As for that Apocryia? I just didn't like how it was ending up on paper even after several rewrites. Also had an idea for a Post-GM SMT Fic that's currently meeting a similar fate, though that one is more due to the fact that the only non-Persona SMT game I've played is SMT4, which really lacks in using the greater SMT Multiverse in any real way.

Which eventually leads us to this. Something I'm a good bit happier with which did go through various smaller rewrites and changes as I went through it. Including having The Jeweled Sword Zeleretch instead of a god damn Holy Grail. What the fuck was I thinking when I thought THAT was a good idea?

Anyway, I hope I didn't fuck up Magecraft too badly, but I'm sure the more hardcore Nasuverse fans will give me a list of 9001 things I did wrong. Some of it is deliberate, mostly to make it seem like Taylor was still wrapping her head around things she just had no hope of truly understanding. Anyway, let me know what you all think of what I made. This is honestly more likely to get a part 2 than what I've put out thus far, given that the latter half was originally later into the story.

 

[Deviox]

A/N: Low-quality snip ahead. Read A/N at the end for more details.

Isn't the Demon Lord supposed to be dangerous?


"...And this is the Achievement printer.". Kataline said, showing me the magical machine. "Just place your hand on it and you'll be able to reap the Achievements of your previous life!" I nod. I chose to go down this path, despite the very real option of just… moving out to a dark or something.

I sigh, likely far more wearily than I had intended to and placed my hand on it, and let the machine get to work. Sure enough, a sheet of paper started to print.

Of course, how did I end up here? Well, after meeting with what appeared to be some kind of god of the afterlife, who is apparently a stand-in for the one currently on vacation, I was sent to… this world. For a second chance at life.

And as it turns out, fresh reborn faces are a common enough occasion to warrant turning the 'summoning platform' as they call it into a proper welcome house. While it is out in the middle of a field, it's also not that far from a town either. So it's a fairly easy trek back and forth to and forth. It even as carriage stop by several times a day.

"Wow… you were definitely a well-known person if you have all of these Achievements," Katherine said in a bit of awe as the list continues to print out. "You might be able to skip straight to the second tier of Classes even!"

Ah yes, Classes. Turns out this entire world is basically a giant video game. Complete with stats, levels, skills, and more. The Achievement machine's printer is there to help the workers of the Adventures Guild guide a fresh arrival eager to become the Demon Lord slayer land on their feet.

Yep, Demon Lord. That's honestly what the people here call him because, supposedly, anyone who ever met him close enough to talk to him died. Thus, the simple name of Demon Lord.

"Wah! Why is it still going?" Katherine cried out in a bit of a panic.

"What point is it at?" I ask.

"Oh, umm…". Katherine takes a look at the sheet. "Something about a Slaughter House Nine."

"Oh, it's about halfway done then." I think I heard something broke inside katherine. eh, it's probably nothing.

Katherine called for someone to take a closer look to make sure everything was alright. the man, Cid, grumbled, saying that everything appeared to be fine, so I just held my hand to it and let it keep printing out my 'Experience Points.'

As more time passes, I was also starting to get a fair bit worried. It was getting easier and easier to jostle the machine by accident. And it was a VERY sturdy looking machine, no doubt made from various magically enchanted alloys. So I just focused on moving my arm as little as possible.

Soon, my restored right arm started to obtain various golden lines streaming across it. An Achievement for getting my arm cut off? That would mean that the machine should be done soon. Then, there was one final burst of power. One that caught me off guard completely. The next thing I knew, there was a sizeable dent in the Achievement Machine.

"Uh, oops?" I say, holding a fair bit of cringe in my voice. Katherine was just busy staring at my comically long list of Achievements. And I do mean long. It practically looked like what Santa's list looked like in countless cartoons. "I mean, I did do a lot."

Several silent seconds passed. "Well then, um…". She paused for several seconds, probably trying to put everything together. Let me just… go through everything here."

"Uh, right."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I casually strolled into the Demon Lord's territory. Supposedly, he'll be in the area. I casually heaved up one of my greatswords. A pair of great swords that were easily as big as I was. Finding one, let alone two weapons, that could survive a proper swing from me was a challenge. However, given that I could take on X Tier quests alone barehanded, acquiring the funds for such a weapon was easy.

Sadly, I've yet to find a challenge that this world could throw at me. This was my first time on a proper X Class Quest, but now that I'm here, I'm disappointed in the lack of a proper challenge. The massive creature I just took down in a single strike had a few million HP, but given that I had a few quintillion HP caps, it didn't seem like much.

Though, I've been repeatedly reminded that I don't fall into the standard framework of other adventures. It doesn't help that and hit I have also taken seems to have been absorbed by my natural defense.

Now that I think about it, I probably could be doing this quest naked. I sigh, oh well. Dual welding comically sized greatswords are good practice anyway and likely made for some good intimidation factor too.

Still, all of the demons had broken rank and were fleeing the scene in fear. I spin my arms around, getting my second greatsword ready as I charged into the countless demons before me, casually breaking the sound barrier as I did so. It only took a few seconds to carve through the few hundred fleeing demons.

My Quest Crystal lit up, letting me know that the quest was completed. The Demonic Incursion into the local area had been halted, and I can head back to collect my reward.

All in a day's work it would seem. Hmm? Is that the demon lord running in the distance? Nah, I must just be seeing things.

Spoiler: A/N

I hate this snip. I hate everything about this snip. From Taylor's simple introduction to the world to how I handled the mechanics and more.

I was originally going to have the world itself follow the theming of Shield Hero or Overlord. Unfortunately, I couldn't find myself writing the snip and being satisfied with what I came out with. So in the end, Konosuba style world.

Another theme that I just couldn't seem to nail was Taylor just not understanding any of the video game mechanics of the world she ended up in. This is likely the result of me just growing up playing too many games and just being unable to understand such issues.

So in the end, we've got... This utter mess of a snip that I had ready to post over a week ago and just... Never did until now. Thankfully, I've got a much better idea lined up for writing next time. I just need to decide on which RTS to commit to.

 

[Deviox]

Heroic Speculation​

"Let me start this meeting off," Director Piggot said, her glare at two people in particular, "by saying that what we're about to discuss is considered wild speculation. As such, what is said in this room stays in this room. Is that understood?" While the statement was directed at everyone, it was really directed at the same two people she glared at. Clockblocker and Assault. After a series of confirmations, the director gave the floor to Armsmaster.

"We are holding this meeting due to some recent information Grail unintentionally revealed about her ability," Armsmaster said. "However, before we start, it would be best to review what we already know about Grail." A projector lit up, revealing the hero in question. Here, she was wearing a white dynamo mask, a simple yet professionally crafted white shirt that overlapped a black skirt. A black and gold belt was revealed around her waist, with white heavy-duty boots covering her feet and lower legs.

"Independent hero Grail made her debut approximately a month ago, intervening in a fight between ABB's Oni Lee and Empire 88' Stormtiger. While the fight ultimately ended with no arrests, her intervention forced both sides to withdraw from the area. At the time, she looked like this." The projector revealed a girl wearing a similar dynamo mask as before, but with a more silvery color, along with long, brown hair that was straightened out, wearing a silver and purple armored sailor outfit and a heart-shaped tip.

"When the fighting ended, she shifted out of her breaker form and was approached by Miss Millita," Armsmaster continued. "The report and footage available at the time indicated that she was a breaker with a simple mover form, with either a brute or striker rating and a possible thinker rating." The mover rating was obvious given how quickly she moved around the battlefield. The striker rating was up for her grabs given her demonstration of super strength, but could easily change to a brute rating if she also had some durability. Lastly, the thinker rating was there for her extreme skill with the spear she held.

"Her ratings at the time were pending a review from the Think Tank when she repelled an assault from various Merchants from an abandoned warehouse. It was and still is speculated that she is operating from said warehouse as a base of operations. Here, however, she had a different form and demonstrated a different set of abilities. These were blaster in nature." Armsmaster shifted the projected picture to that of a similar-looking woman, this time wearing a robe using two different shades of Purple, waving around the staff as though she was a wizard. "As such, it was speculated at the time that she had multiple breaker forms, netting her a trump rating."

"Throughout several more encounters, we encountered several other forms. Each one she had a label for. The one with a spear she called Lancer. The one with the staff she called Caster." He sent the projector through two more forms, labeling them Rider and Assassin. Rider was dressed in a white robe with some armored joints, holding a cross-like staff. Assassin wore a black, tattered dark cloak, Grail's hair this time was far messier. "Of note, Rider added a Master Projection in the form of a large Dragon, and Assassin added a Stranger rating."

"This leads us to the other day, where Grail got swept up in some of Uber and Leets shenanigans. Here, she revealed Archer." The slide changed one more time, revealing Grail, her hair far less messy than Assassin, but still unkempt. She was wearing a traditional Japanese Military Uniform. "Here, Grail referred to Archer as Oda Nobunaga. This was passed onto the think tank who made a startling conclusion. All of Grail's forms are based on figures from myth and legend." A long pause followed

"Wait, what game was Uber and Leet recreating?" Cockblocker said, breaking the silence.

"I believe that it was some game called Command and Conqueror," Armsmaster replied. "As I understand it, you play as the commander of an army in it. Grail deciding to use a military commander in such an environment simply makes in that sense."

"So, we're here to take a stab at figuring out who's behind each of Grail's forms? I'm down for that." Assault said.

"A crude way to put it, but yes," Armsmaster said. "Does anyone have any suggestions on where we should start?" The projector shifted to show all If Grail's forms at once, minus the already revealed Archer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So in the end, we're no closer to figuring out any of Grail's true names than before.". Piggot said with a sigh. "You're all dismissed." She said with a grumble, pinching the bridge of her nose.

She opened up her emails, looking to catch up on any paperwork she fell behind In as a result of the 'team-building exercise.' In it, she found some new info from the think tank. Related to the subject she just dismissed. With a disgruntled sigh, she opened up the email.

"Its speculated that all of their personas that Grail wields were all female in their life." Piggot read aloud. "But wasn't Nobunaga a male?"

Spoiler: A/N

Have something a bit shorter. I was originally going to have a scene break jump offer to Taylor, but then I realized that I don't know how to write Brynhilder. At all. So, I figured that it would probably be best to send the snip off like that.

Still working on that RTS related snip. I've got plenty of small ideas for it, but writing it as a quality I feel is acceptable is fairly rough. Part of the reason I prefer writing about experienced MCs is that they don't trip over their own two feet. And this Taylor could possibly end up as a high class threat fairly early on...

I will say what RTS I settled on though. Supreme Commander.

 

[Deviox]

Tuesdays (SMT x Worm)​

I looked at my new arm one more time. To say it was some advanced piece of tech would be an understatement. Capable of moving as though I hadn't lost it, and filled to the brim with all sorts of tech. Programed into it was the 'Demon Summoning Program,' A mysterious program that lets one interact and Demons.

Though, Demons seem to be a catch-all for all sorts of supernatural beings given form in this strange, doomed world. I now found myself in New York City, namely the island of Manhattan. Common misconception people had about the Big Apple was that all of New York City was one big island. That's not really the case. In reality, it was broken into a bunch of islands. Manhattan was just where almost all of the tourist attractions are. Well, were.

I don't think too many people would look into visiting the city as it is now. This world was apparently stuck dealing with a demonic invasion instead of dealing with Scion and Parahumans. Honestly, in the long run, I can't tell what's worse. A large number of demons running amuck or a giant golden boy.

At least I can negotiate with Demons. Scion never gave anyone that chance.

The scan from my arm's Mapper App told me that the area was empty. I saw no reason to stay in the area. "We're going now, Pixie," I call out to my companion.

"Aww, already?" My demon called out, disappointed.

"Yea, there's nothing left in the area we could salvage for Macca," I explain, securing my bag onto my back, making sure it didn't get in the way of my rifle. While in my old world, I have a heavy preference towards lighter weapons, the demons here would fight to the death. And would require heavier ammo than what a standard pistol would offer.

Also, the fall of the US Government made its currency utterly worthless. Demons used Macca as currency, which could often be salvaged in small amounts from their body. This eventually turned it into a replacement currency that even humans would use. Given that even the Demon Summoning Program uses it for many of its features, it only seemed inevitable to take over once the government fell.

My eye drifted to the Demon Radar App. It was a relatively simple program, capable of detecting when any non-contracted demons were nearby. None were nearby according to it, but it wasn't always the most reliable thing. "Let's go," I say, my eye drifting towards One World Trade. The monolith of a tower is the only structure left mostly untouched by the demonic invasion. Supposedly, Angel's have occupied it, though they haven't been seen for quite some time.

My eyes narrow at that thought. Angels. I didn't believe in any kind of god. At least not any that truly had humanity's best interests at heart. If the biblical god did exist, where were his soldiers when Scion ending the world? And if Scion truly was a god, then he could go fuck himself for treating humanity like some tool.

I only did what I had to do that day because there was no other way to bring all of humanity together to actually fight that monster. Not when there was already so much bad blood left between everyone. So many loose ends that needed tying up. If there was some better way to bring everyone together to actually fight Scion, someone better to lead them, I would have been more then fine letting-

"Master! You're spacing out again!" Pixie called out, drawing me out of my thoughts. I sighed.

"Thanks, partner," I said with a light chuckle, my eye drifting to the radar. Shit. I readied my rifle, scanning the area. There was a bunch of demons ripping through a destroyed storefront. I quickly summon my party of demons and aim with my rifle.

The next thing I knew, I was flying through the air. I rolled across the pavement as focused on lessening the impact. But the demon, a blue scaled dragon by the looks of it. My arm was quick to identify it as a Seiryu demon. The dragon was quick to press its advantage of catching me unaware by unleashing a powerful and cutting gust of wind.

It wasn't the strongest gust of wind I've seen a demon put out, but its unpredictability was quick to catch us up in 3 of its hits. I quickly recalled Pixie into my arm for a more useful demon for the situation. Namely a Setanta. His ability to repel wind attacks should be able to force openings in Seiryu's guard.

Setana was quick to rush in, landing a powerful blow against the demon. My other two demons out were quick to pepper the dragon with a pair of random elemental spells. The Bufula spell from my Tiamat was no doubt resisted. My Feng Huang's Agilao faired better but didn't create a solid opening.

The Seiryu was quick to try to free himself from the melee he was locked up in against Setana with a Zanma spell. It didn't fare that well for him as Setana's ability to redirect the spell back allowed him to charge through without a care. I did take note of how the redirected spell fizzled out when it made contact with Seiryu.

I ordered Setana to keep the big bad dragon occupied while I cast a quick spell. "Tarukaja!" I declared, empowering myself and my demons. The results were immediately obvious as Setana's next attack no doubt hit harder than before. A quick command to Feng had him firing off a Zio.

It ripped Seiryu's mystic defenses to shreds. We've found his weakness.

The fight from that point on was a breeze. The dragon failed to make any successful attempt to escape from the effectively endless stun-lock my demons had him locked In. Not for a lack of trying mind you. The dragon's weakness to Zio class spells was all I needed to take him out.

And soon enough, I had another dragon added to my belt.

I let my demons recall themselves one by one as I scavenged the corpse for any useable goods. I wasn't sure if the meat was any good, so I carved off some of it to take back to the shelter. The other demons looting the store had fled during the fighting. They likely saw a big dragon and ran. Most people, hell most other Hunters would at least have second thoughts.

For me? It was Tuesday.

Spoiler: A/N

So, have a Shin Megami Tensai Snip. Been binging a bit on the franchise as of late. As you can notice though, Taylor's in New York instead of Tokyo. That's for several reasons. One is that I don't have to handwave why Taylor would know Japanese, but the main reason is that I am far more familiar with NYC instead of Tokyo. This was also a bit of an experiment at actually writing out a more fleshed fight scene, so hopefully, that turns out well!

I haven't really been following through on much of what I've been saying when it comes to what snip I'll likely turn out next, but I'm leaning towards a Servant!Taylor snip next.

 

[Deviox]

The Red Mage


PRT Threat Assessment file #W-34754

Date: 2-5-2011

Cape Name: Red Mage (Tentative)

Real Name: Taylor Hebert

Summary: Red Mage is a Ward in training with a wide arrange of skills and abilities. While each ability she has access to isn't as strong as Eidolon's, she has full access to them at all times. Her list of abilities listed within this report is by no means exhaustive and is continuing to grow as she trains.

Blaster: 4
Red Mage can conjure and launch projectiles of Fire, Lightning, Ice, Water, Stone, and Wind. These abilities can become fatal. Red Mage has noted that she will likely develop stronger variants as she improves.

Shaker/Trump/Master: 6+
Red Mage has a wide array of both beneficial and detrimental abilities. These include what Red Mage calls "Protect" and "Shell" which grants a basic, personal shield that reduces the impact of various kinds of attacks. More importantly, however, is her ability to seal off another Parahuman's power with "Silence." The true breadth of this ability is still being tested but seems to act akin to a stall on one's powers, rather than its removal. This in conjunction with her ability to cause anyone to fall asleep can prove to quickly and non-lethally remove anyone from a fight.

Thinker: 2
Red Mage has shown the spontaneous ability to properly use any bladed melee weapon, in particular one-handed Swords and Daggers. However, she is not a perfect swordswoman. It should be noted that like all other aspects, this also appears to be improving, though I have also been advised that this could simply be Red Mage gaining experience with her newfound skill with a blade. Though, whether or not Youth Guard or PR will permit her to use such a weapon has yet to be decided.

Tinker: 3
Red Mage is capable of enhancing an item of her choosing similar to Dauntless. Unlike Dauntless, however, the effects of each enhancement do not stack under any condition. Instead, any enhancement will simply be replaced. It should also be noted that most enhancements bestowed recolors the object in question to a shade of Red, typically of a brighter shade. Like many aspects, this is also continuing to improve.

Brute/Striker: 2+
Red Mage has shown to be capable of peak human performance with minimal input. With the addition of several Shaker/Trump abilities, this can easily increase. Initial testing also indicates that this rating will naturally improve as she gets more physically capable.

Other important notes: All of her abilities, except for her physical and Thinker abilities, pulls from a shared energy resource. Depletion of this resource will restrict her from using any ability that uses said resource. Resting seems to accelerate its recovery, especially sleep.

In addition, she has a healing ability that can be used at a distance, however, this healing ability is still undergoing testing as of the creation of this report.

Combating Red Mage: Due to the wide breadth of her capabilities, with its only true limiting factor being her energy pool, a long, protracted engagement is likely the best way to successfully neutralize her.

This report is currently outdated. Please refer to PRT Threat Assessment file #I-34754-5 for an updated file.

Spoiler: A/N

Yea... It's been a while... And this isn't that Servant!Taylor thing I promised about... *Glances at Necro warning* Uh, 4 months ago...

In short, work has been the bane of my existence. That and my shitty phone. And the various games I get myself addicted to. So yea.

I have several ideas on how to expand this.... Few hundred word file (lord, I could have thrown in so much more, couldn't I have?) Into a fully fledged story.

This was written after reading that Rydia!Taylor fic, making me realize we have several Summoner and White Mage Taylor's, but not really any Red Mage Taylor. And after dipping into FF11 as a Red Mage. And realizing that Debuffs would be really OP in Worm.

Anyway, any little snips I release in the immediate future likely won't be all that long.

 

[Deviox]

What if Taylor was Lancer's Master?​

"Lancer, keep an eye on this… priest." I mentally whispered my Servant. "He reminds of the wrong kinds of people."

"Gotcha," Lancer replied in a surprisingly serious tone. His usually carefree attitude was gone from his voice. Looks like he did know when it was time to take things seriously.

"I had imagined that someone different would be acting as the Association's master." The Priest said, making small talk. He was no doubt trying to pry into me. Trying to see what made me tick.

I decide to shrug. "I heard she got some nasty food poisoning before the summoning," I say, partly revealing the truth. While it was true that Bazett had gotten a nasty case of food poisoning, proper poison was later found in her system. Poison designed to mess with one's Magic Circuits.

Bazett will make a full recovery, but not in enough time for this… Bloodsport called the 'Holy Grail War.'

The 'priest' before me, Kirei Kotomine, was set to be the neutral arbitrator of this Holy Grail War. Thus far, only the last two Servants, Saber and Archer, were unaccounted for from what he's told me thus far. While I've had a Safe House setup, I still needed to go to the church to make my registration official.

Or so the Priest told me. To me, this more 'holy' reeked of Jack Slash vibes. Unfortunately, I can't get away with killing him until I had a reason.

"Are we done here?" I ask the priest, wanting to get away from him and plot his assassination.

"Oh, you don't have any questions?" The priest said. I can see the outlines of some smug grin on his face. Oh, he was toying with me now. So be it. I feign a sigh.

"Fine. Has there been a… proper investigation into why the last war ended as it did?" I said. The priest seemed to be… surprised at my question. That was odd. I think he was expecting an entirely different question.

"Why? That is a good question. Tell me, girl, what have you heard about its outcome?" He said, prying into me. Was he stalling for time to give me a certain answer? Still, I'll humor him.

"Just that, when being given a chance to use a wish-granting artifact, Kiritsugu Emiya, the victor, instead decided to betray his employer and destroy it," I replied. The ending of the last Grail War reeked of something foul to me. If you have a powerful, wish-granting artifact, why would you destroy it, knowing full well it'll just come back, instead of making a pointless wish? Or simply wishing for the heavens to smite your employer?

It makes no sense to me, and my sudden drafting into this war hasn't given me the time to do any research into it.

The priest lets out a chuckle. He knew something. "Unfortunately, he vanished shortly after the war, so the best we've got is pure conjecture." He replied.

Bullshit.

And he knew I was smelling his bullshit. "Lancer, we're done here." I declare out loud. Oh, I'm going to get my answer from him. Even if I have to rot his crotch off to do so.

---

I stared at the Magic Circle engraved into the wall of the school. "What sick person…" I grumbled to myself. "Lancer, when we find out whoever set this up, I don't want you to hold back against them. Neither Servant nor Master." I tell him. He materializes next to me, staring at it.

"Can you do anything about it?" He asks me. I simply shake my head.

"I doubt anyone but a first-class Magus could do so much as disrupting this," I tell him. It went without saying that my meager training wasn't going to cut it. Instead, I open up my circuits and reach into one of my pockets, pulling out various orbs.

Working my Magecraft on it, they light up briefly, before dimming out, shattering into various smaller, dist sized bits. To a normal observer and even plenty of Magecraft practitioners, they would see a trick failing.

To me, this was my signature trick. I launched up the 'dust' and it started to spread around the school building, revealing to me every little nook and cranny within. I couldn't operate it anywhere near the range of my swarm yet, but it still made information gathering an absolute breeze.

And that didn't go into the more physical conditioning I've undergone since coming here.

I grimaced as I let the information from new new 'swarm' flow into me.

"Let me guess, there's more of these all over the place." Lancer guesses. He could tell that whatever I was seeing wasn't good.

"No. I'll probably need to do something to get this school shut down for the duration of the war," I say, looking towards the roof.

"And there you go, drifting back to those old habits." Lancer chastises me. I grimaced. I really shouldn't have told him about my past. I don't know why I thought getting a few drinks with an Irish hero would be a good idea, but apparently, I spilled out damn near my entire life's story.

Naturally, I decided it was best to just spill the rest soon after.

I don't want to go back to that damn priest unless I was going to kill him. I have no clue how the second owner would react to this sort of event. Or even if they could do anything about this Magic Circle.

"I guess this means we'll need to put extra work into finding whoever's responsible for this, and kill them before they can set it off," I say with a sigh. Naturally, easier said than done, but at this point, I had little else to work with. "You qualify for Caster right? I can't tell how much longer it'll be until they're primed."

Lancer leans in to get a closer look at the engraving. "Eh, if I was a Caster right now, I'd have a better clue, but for now? I've got nothing." Fair enough. His specialty was more in the way of Rune Magecraft anyway.

I suddenly hear something… faint. I glance up. My dust didn't cover the roof of the building. The wind was too violent up there to get any control. I glance to my Servant, and in an instant, he was gone.

Moments later, a girl in Red was jumping off the roof. A fenced-off roof. She was a Magus, and the Servant materializing right next to her made it clear that she was a Master in this War. Good. I stretch my limbs a bit.

"Go ahead and have some fun, Lancer. I'll be keeping an eye out for any third party." I tell Lancer. "Remember, Saber hasn't been summoned yet, so the war hasn't started yet. Don't kill him."

"Right right," Lancer said in an unconcerned voice. This would be his first real fight since he's been summoned. Add onto the fact that he's a pure battle junkie, I decide it's probably just best to watch the fight from the shadows.

Spoiler: A/N

So, it's been a while... Haven't really been motivated to write anything as of late. However, reading Hereafter and playing through Fate/Extra (on my second playthrough with Caster right now, first was with Archer) I finally decided to type this little thing up. Not entirely sure I like it, but I might type up other bits and bobs of it in the future, depending on how things go.

In other news, a part of me wants to take another stab at a 'Grail War in Brockton Bay' thing, but the amount of preplanning I'd probably need to make for that is... offputting to say the least. Also debating on if I should drop this in the Hereafter thread for Apyrophia reasons or not...

 

[Deviox]

Earth Bet.

A world marked for harvest by a race of Aliens. A world beset by three unstoppable monsters. A world secretly ruled by a shadowy cabal. A world where darkness reigns supreme. A world drowning in despair.

A world ungifted and unprotected by a Mothercrystal.

A pair of aliens Entities; one named Eden, the Thinker, and the other Zion, the Warrior; set their sight upon the world and its neighboring sister worlds, in a futile search for an endless source of power. To break the fundamental forces of reality itself. The search for truly limitless power.

Three creatures, not unlike many Eikons home to lands with a Mothercrystal, lay siege upon this world. Each appearance slaughtering untold hundreds. Never once, had one of these creatures truly been defeated. And never once, had one of these Eikons truly brought its full might to bear.

All the while, a shadow cabal manipulates this world to their whims. Toying with alien powers they can't hope to understand. Following the direction of an alien power that they do now know the motives of. Conducting countless experiments in search of a silver bullet. A silver bullet that could topple one of the Aliens they could never hope to understand.

Yet, the countless villains, each with alien gifts of their own, are left to frolic around the world unimpeded. Forcing this world's hero's to play by their rules. Lest the false Eikons of this desperate planet be left to rampage without the assistance of but a handful of these villains. And so, time and time again, these villains get captured, only to escape but mere days or weeks after their capture. Forcing entire cities, or even nations, under their dark rule.

And yet, despite all the despair, all of the darkness, a kernel of hope remains. Hope for a better tomorrow. Hope of a better future. Hope of a world wrestled from the grasp of Villan and False Eikon both. A hope slowly being eroded by the endless siege being laid upon by the forces of chaos.

It is this world where the trap, set up by the Mothercrystals of countless worlds past is sprung. For the death of one of the two aliens would bring forth its partner as a sacrifice and catalyst both, for the birth a new hope.​

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Taylor Hebert, Warrior of Twilight.​

I looked at the floating... fluff ball that managed to get me out of the locker. "Oh you poor thing, Kupo!" It said, snuggling up with me. "Who did this to you? I'll show them the true meaning of pain, Kupo!" It took a bit of doing, but I managed to pry this furball off of me.

"Okay, first things first, who are you?" I ask him.

"Oh! Sorry, sorry!" The furball flew back a little bit, striking a pose. "I am Mog the Moogle!" He said, introducing itself, spinning itself around soon after.

I'm no scientist, but I'm pretty sure its wings don't let it spin in the way it was. Or could support its flight at all for that matter.

I'm suddenly reminded that I'm in a school when the PA System suddenly turns on. "Due to a sudden emergency, all students are being released early today." It suddenly said, causing me to look up at it. It didn't even take 5 seconds for the hallways to become filled with students. "Oh! Let's get you out of here!" He said, floating around, helping me up, and then pushing me from behind.

Soon, I managed to force myself forward, somehow managing to blend into the crowd. All of whom didn't deem to notice the furball near me. Was Mog a Stranger?

Still, it didn't take too long to get out of school soon after the declaration was made. My bag was still with me despite the… I shiver a bit at the thought of what happened.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I walk through the front door, almost forgetting to avoid the bad step as I walked in. "I think I've seen worse, but this isn't exactly the… best place, kupo…" Mog said, floating around as she looked at everything around. "It's all run down and just filled with… Kupo…" He said.

"Filled with what?" I ask, turning on the Television. Hopefully, it'll tell me why school was dismissed early.

"Sorr- What in the Crystals!?" He said, looking at the Television in surprise.

"Huh?" I say, my head snapping to Mog, only to see him staring at the Television.

"That box has moving pictures and is making all kinds of noise, kupo!"

"Oh? You're not shocked by cars, but a Television surprises you?" I ask, looking around for the remote.

"It's a Television? Is it part of this Tinkertech, kupo?" Mog asks. I dig up the remote between the cushions.

"Huh? No, it's normal tech." I say, unmuting the Television.

"-tuning in, let me give you a rundown of what's going to be the main story for the next few weeks." The news anchor said as a video started to play, showing a picture of Scion… helping a cat out of a tree. "The Golden Hero Scion, the first Paharhuman, is dead."

The golden man suddenly let out what could best be described as some painful noise as his body suddenly started to crystalize. His entire body frozen up as it covered more and more of his body. After only a few seconds, Scion's entire body was covered in crystals.

And then it shattered into countless small pieces.

I could just stare at the TV in awe.

"Oh, yea! His death gave birth to this world's Mothercrystal!" Mog declared.

Spoiler: A/N

What's this? Another snip so soon? Yep. Something that's been on my mind as of late after playing a lot of FF4, 11, 14, and a bit of Bravely Default. Add in the hype I've got for Endwalker, and I'm sure you can see I'm on a bit of a Final Fantasy binge.

I've got plenty of ideas in mind for this little story, and I'll probably make more snips of it in the future as I include a (Hopefully) unique take on the Job System, give FF's Behemoth the love it deserves, and have Eikon vs Endbringer showdowns. I did want to add a good bit more to this snip, but when I typed out that ending, I couldn't help but end it there.

All that said, it's doubtful that I'll give it the fully-fledged story it probably deserves, but eh. Who wouldn't want to see a Dragoon!Armsmaster vs Lung fight in a future snip?

 

[Deviox]

A True Phoenix​

Director Piggot glared at the two-man carnage ripping through her city. Well, one man and one girl, but that hardly made a difference. The heat the two combatants were letting off caused the air around them to refract. The cars surrounding them were but an amber of fire away from lighting aflame. Though, given how more than a few houses have been light aflame, the cars are ultimately the least of the problems here.

Naturally, the two flaming brutes duking it out made it impossible for any emergency services to even get close. "You're sure your suit can't handle the heat those two are letting off?" Piggot directed towards Armsmaster over the radio.

"Correct. The climate control systems can't handle the heat Phoenix is letting off." Piggot sighed at Armsmaster's response. She did not want to think what would happen if Armsmaster boiled alive in his suit. Of course, most of the heat came from the fresh trigger. One whose powers no doubt seemed to have pinged off of Lung.

Just at a glance, Phoenix (a temporary name for the moment. She was sure that name was taken somewhere) was in more or less every way a better version of Lung. Which alone was a terrifying thought. Could generate hotter fire from more than just her mouth. Seemed to be a full Alexandria package. Had Regeneration so powerful that despite getting crushed into literal pulp by Lung, she returned in peak form moments later.

And that total… respawn for lack of a better term right now, even gave her a fresh set of clothes. Simple stuff thankfully. A white long sleeve shirt and red trousers with suspenders and some strange fantasy seals on them. A handy gift for any regenerator to be sure. Piggot has seen more than her fair share of incidents occurring when a regenerator was left almost but naked after a fight.

And all that was tied up in a neat little 'no ramp up required' package. The one saving grace they had whenever needing to deal with Lung. A point that had long since passed before Phoenix even showed up. Most likely as a fresh trigger from Lung's rampage, regrettable.

Ah yes, the Trigger. Speculation was already flowing around as to what the cause of the Trigger was. And given that the only thing that seemed to be hotter than her flames was her burning hatred towards Lung, she had little doubt that Lung did something more than just step on the girl.

"Facial recognition has just come back." Dragon suddenly pinged in. "Had to tweak some settings. Like we suspected, her hair color changed with her trigger." Piggot leaned back into her chair. Finally, some clarity. "Phoenix is one Taylor Hebert. Student at Winslow and seems to be an outcast at a glance, but…" Dragon paused. "Well, it's not important right now. What is important is that one of the buildings Lung ran through was her home. I suspect that her Dad was with her."

Piggot didn't bother suppressing a wince. Still, it finally gave them something to work with for Phoenix. A grieving girl looking to avenge her father's death. "And her mother?" Piggot replied.

"Died two years ago in a car accident." And given that she was a social outcast at school, Phoenix likely felt like she had nothing left to lose. At least if you work under the assumption that she had virtually no friends, which seemed likely.

Naturally, people who felt like they had nothing left to lose were the most difficult to de-escalate. "Keep digging. See if there's anything that could help us calm her down." Piggot directed.

"Already on it." Once she was sure Dragon wasn't peeping in over the cameras, Piggot rested her hands on her face, resting her elbows on the desk.

"What a clusterfuck." She grumbled to herself.

"I think I've figured out Phoenix's weakness." Armsmaster suddenly radioed in.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Taylor grunted as she lay in the rubble of yet another house she's been chucked into. Honestly, she suddenly finds herself with a regeneration power strong enough to survive getting crushed into pulp, and she's still stuck dealing with the pain of every blow. Lung looked utterly towering and dragonic.

If she didn't know any better, she'd say that the only time Lung's probably been bigger than he currently is was back when he fought Levithan. Lung let out a snort as he looked down at her. The bastard was letting her lay there.

That

Fucken

BASTARD!!!

With a rage-filled roar, she lit her entire body on fire. Flame wings sprouted out from her back as she suddenly lunged at Lung. She ripped out a powerful kick, ripping into several of Lung's scales. Her foot dug deeper and deeper into the 20 foot tall, false dragon's chest. Then she l let it ignite with blue hot flames.

She wouldn't let herself be beaten by this false abomination of a dragon! She heard the dragon let out a roar of pain before she felt her head get grabbed! Moments later, it popped like a grape. To most people, that was the end of the line.

But for me? It was just a minor inconvenience. My body enveloped itself into a ball of fire and I returned to peak condition, floating in the air. Up where the dragon couldn't reach me. Sure, it had wings, but those pathetic things couldn't hope to lift its heavy body.

Lung let out a roar before blasting me with some fire. I wonder why though. The flames washed over me like a warm gust of wind. It was a reminder that the two of us were effectively immune to any kind of fire, at least on the skin level. Still, I'm not going to stay still and find out. I rocket up into the air, summoning my wings partway through.

Then, with the help of gravity, I rocket my way downwards, my flames shifting from red hot to blue hot. I wasn't too sure how fast I was going, but I was sure I was going faster than terminal velocity when I proceeded to let out an echoing headbutt. The sound of both of our skulls crunching could be heard. I quickly flared my powers again, allowing me to regenerate first as I ripped my fist into Lung's exposed neck.

I wasn't sure if crushing Lung's skull like I just did would be enough to take him out. So, I instead let loose a blast of fire on Lung's innards. Hoping, praying that it would finally, finally be enough to kill him. To boil his body from the insides, where his scales wouldn't be enough to keep him safe.

Eventually, I stumble back. Cutting my fires off as I take a look at Lung's body. Come on, stay down damn it, stay down!

I see Lung's limbs stumble a bit. He very briefly tries to stand back up, before collapsing again, his body simultaneously healing and reverting back to his human form.

I let out a relieving sigh, before stumbling back myself. All the exhaustion I had built up slammed me harder than any of Lung's crushing blows. I stick my hands into my pockets, about to walk away.

And then I fell face-first onto the ground. Darkness taking me.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


On the top of one of the City's few towers sat a woman. Her long blond hair refused to even acknowledge the winds blowing. Her grin revealed as she closed her purple fan. Her long, flowing, expensive dress shared the color. "How interesting. I didn't think you'd be one of the first to find someone, Mokou." She said to no one in particular. Her gaze drifted around across the city.

Not even Reimu's or Marisa's had found a new… partner to move in with yet. Though, she was sure that Marisa would find a lovely partner nearby.

"Fufu, well then, I expect a good showing~" She said, vanishing into a gap.

Spoiler: A/N

Well, it's been a while. Again. Threw this together in two little writing sessions after getting back into a little Touhou Binge. Blame that new Sakuya TINO fic. That said, I've always enjoyed Mokou as a character, but was surprised that the only instance of a Mokou!Taylor was a Quest that didn't even get its feet wet. I mean, we half-Oni!Taylor, Okuu!Taylor, Original Youkai!Post-GM Taylor, Pachouli!Taylor, and Alice!Taylor to name a few I can think of.

That said, I am sitting on several more ideas that I kinda want to type, but have been having a rough time putting to paper. Among them is a gag scene where Zeltrech picks up Taylor after getting two tapped, dumping her on Rin's shoulders. Another is a Return Isekai Taylor from a more generic Isekai setting. And the last one is a Gamer!Taylor with a Tree of Savior-inspired Class system.

As for the fic itself, I'm not too happy with the fight scene. I don't feel like I could properly describe the LONG and utter BRUTAL brawl I was imagining. I'm talking a several hours long melee because neither end could deal a proper killing blow. I'm personally imaging that the only reason Lung finally went down was that his shard decided that it didn't want to keep this near-endless brawl going.