Magical Girl Escalation Taylor (Worm/Nanoha)

On rereading 8.8:

TAYLOR WAT HAZ U DUN!?
... Holy crap, Taylor essentially gave her permission to spill to Cailleach
@Silently Watches, you're terrible, please respond to this so I can give you a new like.
Pffft. Guys, the entirety of 8.8 was basically this. I actually wrote 8.8 after 8.k specifically so it would read differently once you knew what was going on.
 
Civil War 8.9
Bit of a short one this week, but it needed to end where it did.


Civil War 8.9

Wednesday, May 25

You hurry down the hall of the hospital, your fingers clenching and relaxing in turn. Three days. That was how long Benediction said it would take for your dad to recover. That was on Sunday. It's now Wednesday.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. One, two, three.

Lacey told you she and Kurt would see him during the afternoon now that he had been moved around to another room in the neuro-ICU under his real name – more for any visitors who had noticed you and Samantha visiting than for the hospital staff, who can't say anything because of the stack of NDAs that one nurse told you about when you were getting your MRI – but now that school's out you want to see him. You need to look at him with your own eyes and see for yourself that he's okay.

The doors slide open, and you have to hold yourself back from running. Because of the sixteen-foot range of his powers, they had to put him in a corner room where there was a little more space, so he would be—

Lacey looks up from where she is seated in a chair outside your dad's room and jumps to her feet. "Taylor, wait. We need to talk—"

Fear grabs your heart in its icy grip. "What's wrong? Isn't he awake?"

"Well, yes, he's awake, but that's not the issue."

"I don't care! If he's awake, I'm going to see him."

Lacey tries to say something, but you ignore her attempt to stop you and open the door to his room. His bed has been forced to the back of the room, but there he sits on top of it, clad in a hospital gown but awake and alive like you haven't seen him since he ran off to fight Behemoth. He wears a dazed sort of expression, but that's only to be expected. He did just wake up to find that he had lost a week and a half of time.

"Dad!"

He turns to you, his mouth set in a faint frown, and your smile dims a little. You are happy that he is awake again, but for some reason he does not appear quite so pleased. He better not still be angry about you talking to the TSAB, because if his first words after waking up are to scold you again you're going to put him back in a coma yourself.

The two of you stare at each other for almost a solid minute before you repeat, "Dad?"

"I'm sorry, but I think you have the wrong room."

What? You don't have anything to say in response to that and instead just stare dumbly at him. "Dad, what are you talking about?" you finally ask.

"I'm talking about the fact that you have me mixed up with someone else," he tells you in a flat voice. No anger, no cruel humor, just dry facts that are the farthest thing from the truth. "I don't know who your father is, but I'm not him. Now, could you please leave? I'm waiting for my family to arrive."

"Dad, it's me. Taylor."

His eye starts twitching, and an angry flush spreads across his face. "Look, kid, I don't know what kind of game you're playing, but I'm not in the mood to be screwed around with. I think I'd recognize my own daughter, and you aren't her. Now get out before I have the nurses call security to throw you out."

One staggering step back, then another. You whirl around and all but run out of the room, confusion and sorrow and pain streaming down your face.

He doesn't know who you are. He doesn't know who you are!

"Taylor!" Feet pound behind you, and thick arms grab you and pull you into a tight embrace. You latch onto Lacey and sob into her shoulder while she rubs small circles on your back. "I'm so sorry, honey. I tried to tell you not to go in. You didn't need to hear that."

The tears are a long time stopping, but finally you force yourself to meet her eyes. "What's wrong with him?"

"Whatever that cape did almost worked. Danny's awake, and he understands what's going on, but…"

"But?"

"He swears up and down that the last date he remembers is June first," she whispers. "June of 2005."

2005. Six years ago. You were getting close to your tenth birthday. You and Emma were inseparable just as Zoe and your mom had been at that age. Your mom had still been alive, even. Is that why he doesn't recognize you, because he saw you weren't old enough to be his wife but too old to be your nine-year-old self? "Has anyone told him?"

"Kurt and I both tried talking to him, but he refuses to believe us. He thinks we're playing an elaborate practical joke on him. We'll keep working on it, but until then…"

"Until then, he won't believe that I'm me, and he won't recognize me." You wipe your face with your hand and look again at her still-downcast expression. "What else is wrong?"

"There's still the issue of what to do with him. He's weak, and between the need for rehab and the memory issue, you can't take him back to the apartment. About the only good thing in this whole fiasco is that his powers aren't working so hot either. Kurt's talking to the social worker now, but it sounds like he needs to spend at least a little time in some midlevel care facility." She rubs your shoulder. "Until he gets better, you and Samantha are more than welcome to stay with us."

"I don't… We… Can I think about it?"

Lacey frowns when you pull yourself from her grasp, but she does not say anything about it. She just nods. "Of course. We'll keep the living room light on when we go to bed if you aren't back by then."

You give her hands a gentle squeeze, thanks for being so understanding, and then you turn around and walk out of the ICU.

You can't handle this right now.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx​

«…and that's about the long and short of it.»

Samantha takes a bit to absorb the information you have just given to her before she replies. «So what are you going to do?»

«I don't think I have much of a choice,» you think with a sigh. «Lacey and Kurt have legal custody of me according to Dad's will, not that I really want to kick up a fuss about that. Even with Kurt griping about how the Protectorate and we have worked alongside the gangs to fight MS-13, living with them hasn't been too bad. I just wish…»

«I know. I miss him, too.» You force back the tears that want to spring up anew. «Try not to worry about this right now. Fly around a little to clear your head. All of these decisions we can discuss tomorrow.»

Good advice from your Guardian Beast. Closing the telepathic signal, you drift over the business sector and watch as stores start locking their doors and flipping off their lights. Even in Philadelphia, people have to sleep sometime. This isn't New York City, after all.

With darkness beginning to fill the street and your eyes adjusting to the lessened light, you can just barely make out something moving on the distant rooftops. Vista? Some other allied cape? Or possibly the Maras trying to cause trouble on the worst day they could have possibly chosen to pull this shit. A frown takes over your expression, and you cautiously make your way closer.

The rooftops are empty, and you come to a halt and shake your head. Maybe it was just your imagination, but your gut is still grumbling in suspicion. Something is not right here, but you can't put your finger on it.

Something flickers in the corner of your eye, and you conjure Strong Shield just in time to block the cluster of energy blasts coming at you. Three figures charge out of a stairwell, clearly itching for a fight.


Um. I think I'll just show myself out. This chapter was not a happy one to write.

Who's up for battle plans? This enemy you're going to go against without any hints.

[ ] Aerial barrage
[ ] Close the distance for melee
[ ] Focus on defense
[ ] Run away

Because Taylor is not in a good headspace right now, there is a better than zero chance she (I) will deviate somewhat from any battle plans you vote for. Not terribly, but some of the fine details may be changed.
 
[X] Aerial barrage/Run away
-[X] Drop a Wide Area Search and a Bursting Flare Shooter aimed at the ground in front of them to gather data and provide cover while getting some height on them...eighteen or nineteen hundred meters should do.
-[X] Once you've got some nice, protective distance...and some targeting data...light them up with as many Flare Shooters as you can put out for making this day suck even more while thinking up a more nuanced plan.

EDIT: Not sure if the part of my plan involving racing for the cloud line pushes the plan from 'Aerial Barrage' to 'Run Away', or if it's all just height.
 
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Three guys initiated a fight with us, for no particular provocation or reason?

...There is no way this isn't a trap. No chance.

[X] Aerial barrage/Run away
-[X] Drop a Wide Area Search and a Bursting Flare Shooter aimed at the ground in front of them to gather data and provide cover while getting some height on them...eighteen or nineteen hundred meters should do.
-[X] Once you've got some nice, protective distance...and some targeting data...light them up with as many Flare Shooters as you can put out for making this day suck even more while thinking up a more nuanced plan.
 
[X] Aerial barrage/Run away
-[X] Drop a Wide Area Search and a Bursting Flare Shooter aimed at the ground in front of them to gather data and provide cover while getting some height on them...eighteen or nineteen hundred meters should do.
-[X] Once you've got some nice, protective distance...and some targeting data...light them up with as many Flare Shooters as you can put out for making this day suck even more while thinking up a more nuanced plan.
 
"I'm talking about the fact that you have me mixed up with someone else," he tells you in a flat voice. No anger, no cruel humor, just dry facts that are the farthest thing from the truth. "I don't know who your father is, but I'm not him. Now, could you please leave? I'm waiting for my family to arrive."
"He swears up and down that the last date he remembers is June first," she whispers. "June of 2005."
Well fuck. This basically means things haven't changed.
Something flickers in the corner of your eye, and you conjure Strong Shield just in time to block the cluster of energy blasts coming at you. Three figures charge out of a stairwell, clearly itching for a fight.
MS-13's locals don't have Blasters. They're either reinforcements, or the Acolytes are getting pissy.
 
[X] Aerial barrage/Run away
-[X] Drop a Wide Area Search and a Bursting Flare Shooter aimed at the ground in front of them to gather data and provide cover while getting some height on them...eighteen or nineteen hundred meters should do.
-[X] Once you've got some nice, protective distance...and some targeting data...light them up with as many Flare Shooters as you can put out for making this day suck even more while thinking up a more nuanced plan.
 
[x] Aerial barrage

I dont see why they can't explain to him who she is. he's got to realize what date it is sooner than later. newspapers and tv are enough evidence, heck new power ( for him) should clue him to the fact things are not ok.
 
[X] Aerial barrage/Run away
-[X]You're not in the right mindset for dealing with this; whether it's the original Calamity Witch's impression or your own earned instincts, something tells you that going head on, as much as you may want to, is a bad idea.
-[X]Call the Protectorate and PRT; you don't know what you're dealing with here, you better let your allies know you're in danger. Inform Samantha.
-[X]Activate Recurion Field
-[X] Drop Wide Area Search and a Bursting Flare Shooter aimed at the ground in front of them and begin climbing. Your first priority here is getting away.
-[X] Once you have enough head on them, Spatial Translocation to New York.
 
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[X] Aerial barrage/Run away
-[X] Drop a Wide Area Search and a Bursting Flare Shooter aimed at the ground in front of them to gather data and provide cover while getting some height on them...eighteen or nineteen hundred meters should do.
-[X] Once you've got some nice, protective distance...and some targeting data...light them up with as many Flare Shooters as you can put out for making this day suck even more while thinking up a more nuanced plan.
 
"He swears up and down that the last date he remembers is June first," she whispers. "June of 2005."

2005. Six years ago. You were getting close to your tenth birthday
...Well. Isn't that a bitch? Seemingly permanent loss of ~6 years of memory. I suppose, in a real way, some part of Danny did die during the Behemoth fight.

Something flickers in the corner of your eye, and you conjure Strong Shield just in time to block the cluster of energy blasts coming at you. Three figures charge out of a stairwell, clearly itching for a fight.
Hm. Either some idiots have zero survival instinct, or there's an ambush lying in wait. And we're not in the most analytical/observant mindset atm...

Who's up for battle plans? This enemy you're going to go against without any hints.
[ ] Aerial barrage
[ ] Close the distance for melee
[ ] Focus on defense
[ ] Run away

Because Taylor is not in a good headspace right now, there is a better than zero chance she (I) will deviate somewhat from any battle plans you vote for. Not terribly, but some of the fine details may be changed.
Well, given the warning here, going too detailed on combat plans is likely not going to work out as intended. *Hmms*

For now, going-
[X] Aerial barrage
 
[x] Aerial Barrage
--[x] lots of it
---[x] FUCK THIS, FUCK THE MARAS, FUCK LUNG, FUCK THE ENDBRINGERS, FUCK THIS PLANET, AND FUCK YOU THREE IDIOTS IN PARTICULAR!
 
There's no way this isn't an ambush; one clearly made with good intel on us since they're trying to drag us in with long distance fire while flanking us.
[] Aerial barrage/Run away
-[]You're not in the right mindset for dealing with this; whether it's the original Calamity Witch's impression or your own earned instincts, something tells you that going head on, as much as you may want to, is a bad idea.
-[]Call the Protectorate and PRT; you don't know what you're dealing with here, you better let your allies know you're in danger. Inform Samantha.
-[]Activate Recurion Field
-[] Drop Wide Area Search and a Bursting Flare Shooter aimed at the ground in front of them and begin climbing. Your first priority here is getting away.
-[] Once you have enough head on them, Spatial Translocation to New York.


EDIT: OH SHIT. Wouldn't Teacher also know about magic?!
 
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[X] Aerial barrage/Run away
-[X] Drop a Wide Area Search and a Bursting Flare Shooter aimed at the ground in front of them to gather data and provide cover while getting some height on them...eighteen or nineteen hundred meters should do.
-[X] Once you've got some nice, protective distance...and some targeting data...light them up with as many Flare Shooters as you can put out for making this day suck even more while thinking up a more nuanced plan.
 
[X] Aerial barrage/Run away
-[X] Drop a Wide Area Search and a Bursting Flare Shooter aimed at the ground in front of them to gather data and provide cover while getting some height on them...eighteen or nineteen hundred meters should do.
-[X] Once you've got some nice, protective distance...and some targeting data...light them up with as many Flare Shooters as you can put out for making this day suck even more while thinking up a more nuanced plan.
 
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