Kirunax
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Chapter 13
🕑 Added 2025-04-08 19:59:26 +0000 UTC“She attacked my daughter!”
“Thank you, Brandish. I heard you the first time,” Director Piggot replied dryly.
In Emiya’s honest opinion, the situation with Dean’s girlfriend had ended amicably. It turned out the girl had an emotional aura— the very power that convinced Glory Girl that Dean and her were in this cluster thing. The aura caused those around her to focus on her, experiencing either awe or terror.
While Emiya had felt awe and had to struggle to tear his eyes away from Glory Girl, Tanya had been overwhelmed by terror—and responded by trying to tear the girl’s head off.
Allegedly, only Vicky’s enemies were supposed to feel fear. But even she admitted the response was inconsistent—it depended heavily on the impression she left on people. Probably. There were a lot of assumptions.
Emiya had been tempted to recommend more power testing, but he didn’t want to give the PRT any ideas. They might drag him in for testing next.
Still, the girl had admitted fault. That should’ve been the end of it. They’d parted ways, Dean had promised to call, and the trip back to HQ had been uneventful.
Panacea, however, had other ideas.
Shortly after their return, as they were preparing to give their reports, a furious woman in a suit stormed into HQ, dragging a miserable-looking Vicky and angry Panacea behind her.
Carol Dallon, also known as Brandish. Also, a lawyer.
Emiya had never personally dealt with one of those. He’d never sued anyone, and had only been to court once—and hadn't been granted legal representation. Although… weren’t prosecutors lawyers too? He wasn’t sure. In that case, they’d read out charges and, in light of his “unspeakable crimes against humanity,” declared the Murder Abolition Act suspended for the duration of his trial.
So, listening to Brandish tear into Director Piggot, Emiya supposed he’d been lucky.
To Piggot’s credit, she stood firm under the verbal assault, and wasn’t throwing Tanya to the wolves.
“She is dangerous and unstable!” Carol thundered.
Dean shifted awkwardly.
“Mrs Dallon, my unfortunate incident with Glory Girl, while regrettable, was resolved without injury and on amicable terms,” Tanya said, calmly trying to reason. “It was a simple case of a poor power interaction.”
Carol turned sharply. “You tried to decapitate her!”
“I was caught off guard by a wave of terror and reacted instinctively. Even then, Glory Girl was not harmed.”
“She could have been!”
“Forgive me,” Tanya said with a raised brow, “but how? From what I understand, she’s invulnerable.”
Vicky winced. Panacea crossed her arms.
“It doesn’t matter. The fact that Victoria’s aura affected you that way tells me all I need to know.”
“Excuse me?”
“There has never been an incident where Victoria’s power negatively affected a fellow hero.”
Tanya seemed momentarily at a loss for words. Emiya sympathized. Carol was reaching. Frankly, an involuntary shift of attention during a fight wasn’t a benefit. At best, it was a net zero—assuming the enemy was similarly affected. If they weren’t, or were outside the aura’s range, the distraction could be fatal.
It was a power best used while fighting alone.
“Mom, that’s bullshi—”
“Quiet, Victoria!” Carol snapped, pinning her daughter with a glare. “We’ll talk about the fact that I had to hear about this from Amy later.” She turned back to Piggot. “If you won’t act, I will pursue legal action.”
Will you now?
Emiya chuckled.
Carol narrowed her eyes. “Something funny?”
“I caught the news the other day,” he said casually. “Kids were watching while I was cooking. Some singer was on trial for killing her boyfriend or something. I wasn’t paying close attention, but even half-listening, I learned a lot. I know a sham trial when I see one—paint the defendant as deranged, a weak lawyer, a dramatic judge, and righteous public outrage to seal the deal.”
“What are you implying?”
“I’m just saying, it’s a bad time to be a Master in court,” he shrugged.
“Victoria is not a Master!” Panacea snapped.
“Is she now?” Emiya asked.
“Glory Girl’s emotional aura is classified as a Shaker power,” Piggot supplied.
“I thought Masters were the ones who influenced emotions?”
“Power classifications aren’t about mechanisms,” Piggot explained. “They're about combat effect. Glory Girl’s emotional influence is secondary to her battlefield impact. The effect is short-term and leaves no lasting impression. Her classification is fair, if perhaps a fringe case.” She met Carol’s gaze. “Though that distinction may be lost on someone unfamiliar with our work.”
“In other words,” Emiya added, “the public might not see the difference between one emotional power and another.”
Carol loomed over him. “Are you threatening my daughter?” she hissed through clenched teeth.
To his side, Tanya subtly shifted her footing. Behind Carol, Dean pointed both hands in their direction. Panacea made to rise, but Vicky held her back, eyeing her boyfriend, who shook his head vigorously.
“So far, Victoria has seemed like a reasonable young woman,” Emiya said with a disarming smile. “I’m just wondering how much of that she got from her mother.”
Carol opened her mouth to retort, but Piggot slammed her hand on the desk.
“Enough, Brandish! This is—”
The door opened. A new arrival entered, taking in the room at a glance.
“Director?” he asked, tone questioning.
Brandish answered for her. “Armsmaster! Your children are out of control!”
“Understood. I’ll see to their punishment, Brandish,” he said calmly.
Carol blinked, thrown off by how quickly Armsmaster agreed.
“Do you even know what happened?”
“I was briefed on the way here.”
She clearly wanted a fight, but Armsmaster’s calm defused her momentum. Emiya had already distracted her once—pointing out her threats might backfire—and now Armsmaster gave her a way to save face.
Emiya wasn’t joking about that trial on the news being a sham regardless of the singer’s culpability and he wasn’t joking about Victoria being in danger of a... biased judgement. He didn’t wish that for the girl, but he wanted Tanya on the other end of that judgement even less.
Carol could either take the out and walk away victorious in appearance—or push and look unreasonable.
She chose the former. With a huff, she turned and swept out, dragging her daughters behind her. Dean followed, no doubt hoping to catch a word with Vicky. Emiya doubted he’d get far with Carol still present.
So this is the father of my current body.
The man was tall, late thirties, with a trimmed beard and a hard expression. His blue-and-silver power armor made it obvious where the design inspiration for Emiya’s and Tanya’s costumes had come from.
No one spoke. They simply stood, assessing each other.
Emiya wasn’t sure what to say. He didn’t feel anything. Was he supposed to?
Tanya had no such uncertainty.
“Mr. Wallis, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” she said, stepping forward and offering her hand.
“Likewise,” he replied stiffly, bending slightly to shake it.
“I’m sorry our meeting had to occur under such unfortunate circumstances. I hope we didn’t pull you away from anything important? As head of Protectorate ENE, your schedule must be tight.”
“I was on a break.”
“I see,” Tanya said, uncertain.
Silence returned.
After five long seconds, Piggot sighed. “If you’re quite finished, I have things to do. You can talk outside.”
“Shouldn’t we discuss my punishment?” his sister asked.
“Carol’s tantrum has no bearing on PRT operations. Her threats are empty, and if she cares so much about self-control, she can start with her daughter,” Piggot said bluntly.
Tanya looked at Armsmaster. He replied, “Disciplinary actions for Wards fall under the Director’s purview.”
Understanding dawned. Tanya relaxed. “I see.”
“If that’s all, I’ll head out on patrol,” he said, turning to leave.
Emiya winced. That halberd on the small of his back—compact mode, plasma torch, grappling hook, scanners—it was the most complex piece of tech ever to enter his Reality Marble.
It was an incredible weapon. Far from the majority of his magical arsenal, but among the mundane blades, this halberd was unparalleled in the sheer ingenuity and technological scope. The precision required to build something like this was unbelievable. Artisanal weapon, created with purpose, precision and care.
It was astonishing just how many parts it had, how tightly they fit together. Technology so far ahead of its time... And yet, it had been made by hand. That level of astonishingly precise craftsmanship made the tracing difficult—but not impossible.
Curious, he summoned it from his Reality Marble.
Everything checked out. He ran through the configurations—welding mode, flail, EMP. It was an incredible weapon. Not magical, but unparalleled among mundane arms. Its complexity and ingenuity were breathtaking.
Somehow, he knew the only reason he’d managed to trace it was because it had been made by a human. That… mattered, though he wasn’t sure why.
Finished admiring it, Emiya dismissed the weapon—only to find Piggot and Armsmaster staring at him.
Ah. Right. Tinkertech was a big deal.
“…What?” he asked, trying to play it cool.
“That was my halberd,” Armsmaster stated.
“It was,” Emiya confirmed, seeing no reason to deny the obvious.
“You’ve never demonstrated the ability to copy tinkertech,” Piggot said, her lips pursing.
“If you're referring to the fact that I never did it with Kid Win’s gear, I believe I’ve already made it clear that I’m limited in what I can recreate. His devices don’t include blades of any kind,” Emiya explained.
It had been difficult enough to recreate this weapon. The complexity was staggering. Kid Win’s various inventions had always resisted meaningful analysis when Emiya had bothered to try, but this halberd had gone into his Reality Marble directly, without the need of applying Structural Analysis.
“Show it again,” Armsmaster demanded.
Emiya studied the man for a moment but judged it easier to comply than drag the meeting out any further. If Piggot didn’t demand a demonstration, Tanya certainly would.
So, he summoned the halberd once more and casually tossed it to Armsmaster, who caught it with ease and immediately began inspecting it.
“It’s fully functional,” the man observed. “I can’t detect any differences between this and my own. In fact, they are identical.”
“If you’re thinking of taking it apart, don’t bother,” Emiya warned. “My projections remain only until they’re destroyed—and dismantling them into components counts as destruction.”
“Noted,” Armsmaster replied. He turned the weapon in his hands, deep in thought. “Still... this has potential. Can it be modified?”
“To a degree,” Emiya replied. “Given the complexity, I don’t know the exact limits. I’ve never traced something with this many intricate parts.”
“But if I do modify it, and bring it back…”
“I’ll be able to recreate the modified version. As long as it remains a blade.”
“I’ll be taking it with me, then,” Armsmaster said matter-of-factly.
“I expect a full report on this development on my desk tomorrow,” Piggot interjected impatiently. “Now get out of my office.”
On the way back to the Wards’ quarters, Tanya gave Emiya an approving nod.
“That was well done, brother. You raised your value and covered for me at the same time. Thank you.”
Yes, that was absolutely my intention, Emiya thought.
“You know the situation with Vicky wasn’t your fault, right?”
“I know,” Tanya said, voice steady. “But higher-ups don’t always care about fault. Director Piggot has been reasonable, but there’s only so much trouble one person can cause before they’re considered a liability—justified or not.”
She shrugged.
“At the end of the day, keeping good relations with eight capes is more important than protecting one Ward. Especially when one of those capes is Panacea—the best healer in the world. And considering how rare healers are…” She shook her head. “It’s simple math. I’m surprised I wasn’t thrown under the bus to appease the Dallons. But I’m not under any illusion—I’ll need to work hard to make up for this incident.”
“Well,” Emiya smirked, placing a hand on his sister’s shoulder, “if push comes to shove, I can always bury them in tinkertech halberds and then refuse to make more unless they treat you right.”
She snorted, but shot him a grateful look. And in a rare moment of tenderness, she didn’t push his hand off her shoulder.
Comments
Dragonin
Can’t spell Carol without crippling mental issues
Lmc9389
barter swords for a tinker tech orb
James Smith
Damn that's good. I hope for more interactions between the kids and Armsmaster, they are made for each other. Thank you for the hard work
Joseph
Shirou just killed any possibility of anything except a minor punishment of training to for more 'discipline' (which I doubt Tanya really needs considering I suspect this to be PTSD over the Type-95). After all, not only is Shirou in the PRT, but recreating any Tinkertech, even if it's only blade-based, will make him very, very valuable.
Zaiaku
Good old hypocritical Carol.
