Cross Effects 3.0 - November 16, 2014—April 13, 2015

[YOLF]

Tar

Henry was not having a particularly nice morning. Not with all the paperwork he had to fill and reports he had to read and with everything from last night weighing on his mind. Which is why hearing this argument apparently related to Saber when he went to front to get more coffee from the machine in the precinct; and deciding to butt into it; were in hindsight probably not the best ideas.

One of the doors to the reception area of the police station swug open, and Henry walked in carrying a cup of coffee, looking ever the grumpy aging detective.

The first thing he noticed was the honest to goodness Saber clone, and what the hell, even though it immediately enlightened him about the context of the conversation he was walking in to. The second was that she was smoking.

Henry shot a glare at McGruffkins, slammed down his coffee cup on top of the reception desk, and then stomped forward and smothered the tip of the girl's cigarette between his fingers.

"First off, I don't smoke in here and I'm a cop, so you damn well don't either," he started, staring harshly down at her. "Second off, Saber hasn't come in today yet. So how about you go for a walk, and come back later?"

Or never. They had enough things to worry about, even though the unchained showed none of those thoughts on his expression.

After stepping back and giving the girl some room, Henry continued with a sigh, "Or just leave your name and phone number at the desk and we'll give you a call eventually. Whichever. So long as you don't idle about in here."

[Kotomine_Rin]

Normally, Lorenzo would've facepalmed  at such a display of idiocy and utterly suicidal behavior. Still, he didn't feel like taking the fool seriously, so in an almost spiteful manner, he added insult to the blonde man by simply standing and doing nothing, waiting for whatever was to come at him.

[Ivan The Mouse]

Seeing the pirate, definitely a pyromancer, literally come rocketing in to basically snatch his thunder right out from under him, Michael stared at the spectacle, then at the downed blonde, then back at the pirate.

"...Show-off," Michael says with a sigh.

Then he looks back at the manor entrance, where he last saw the rather weak-willed girl who, in hindsight, ended up being the linchpin in this whole mess. Granted, the immortal admitted he'd been itching for a fight, but the kid's mouth was really what made this shitstorm inevitable. Hell, if he'd just taken his lumps and tried to enjoy the fight as a chance to test his skills or something, then this would have gone over a lot smoother. If he'd refused outright, that would have been fine too, but no, fucker just had to go mouth off to his colleague and then spout off about how he apparently liked people who didn't care about the shit he gave them. Honestly, though, that wasn't even what really annoyed the immortal. The true annoyance was that, when offered a free shot, the kid not only turned it down, but acted like his victory was guaranteed or something. Power's sake, this kid earned the beatdown the pyromancer was about to hand hi-

Where'd she go?

Strangely enough, the girl was nowhere to be found.

...No matter.

With that, Michael advances towards the pirate.

"Hey now, can you wait your-" Michael starts to say, when the sound of a rifle being loaded registers.

Time seemed to slow down to a crawl as he turns to the entrance to see the girl bearing a rifle, which was pointed at him, loaded, and aimed. Michael's brain shifts into overdrive immediately as he processes what he sees with a mind sharpened to a razor edge from countless battles.

Rifle aimed at my center mass, gotta move out of the path. Keep my movement unpredictable, keep her from getting a bead on me. Enhance.

Michael dashes in at an angle, zig-zagging as the magic flows through him, augmenting his physical capabilities far beyond their normal limits. It's too late, though, as she's already pulling the trigger, having managed to track him before the Enhancement took effect. Unfortunately for her, Michael is already to changing his direction, turning what might have been a hit into a near miss as he dashes in, now moving at inhuman speeds with the staff moves even faster, smashing the rifle up hard enough to tear it from her grip before reaching in, trying to flick the two blades out of their sheathes and far away from her before she could possibly think to reach for them.

With that, Michael quickly lashes out with the staff, aiming to sweep her off her feet.

The man with the staff was so unnaturally fast, that Yukina wasn't really able to react to the sudden charge at her. While the rifle was flicked away from her hands, the blades can't really be flicked away from their sheaths that easily due to the inherent way that the two blades were shaped, as well as the overall construction of the whole set. However, she was easily knocked down by the lower sweep of her feet, which brought her to the ground.

Normally, Lorenzo would've facepalmed  at such a display of idiocy and utterly suicidal behavior. Still, he didn't feel like taking the fool seriously, so in an almost spiteful manner, he added insult to the blonde man by simply standing and doing nothing, waiting for whatever was to come at him.

As Neo tackled Lorenzo to the ground due to his complete inaction, he saw that was happening afar from him, that Yukina was being attacked by the man with the staff. And, as much as he usually insulted the Japanese lady, he didn't like what he saw, as Neo very well remembers the time when she saved him and Rattus from danger when the first met her. Might it be that he seemed abrasive to her, he absolutely didn't tolerate what happened. This, coupled with the fact that Yukina tried to save him once again from the two men despite not asking for it, only pushed him to a breaking point.

"Goddamn it, Yukina!" At this point, Neo's smug glee has been replaced with some kind of a berserk rage, as he began to grit his teeth and mightily grabbed the downed pirate at the throat by one hand, intending to suffocate him. His other hand was throwing hard punches at Lorenzo, targeting the general head area. He must finish the man before him quickly, he thought to himself, and then aid Yukina from the man who was challenging him earlier.

[Panda]

...Well this is a mess, Michael notes, the sounds behind him telling him that either the blonde actually managed to get the drop on the pirate or the pirate simply wasn't paying attention. Either way, the rifle was long gone from the girl's hands, though the blades weren't so simple, Michael having failed to note that neither of them had guards. Thanks to the enhancement, the girl seems to be falling in slow motion while he's still moving in real time, and he decides to put this to good use. Reaching in, he grabs the handle of the shorter of the two blades, sliding it free of its sheath before turning his head to find Neo choking the pirate with one hand and slugging him in the head with the other.

The blade obviously wasn't designed to be thrown. It was single-edged and the balance was a bit off, but he'd worked with worse. The girl finally hits the ground in the moments it takes him to adjust to the knife.

Flipping the weapon so he's gripping the blade, Michael takes all of a singular instant to take aim before tossing the blade fast enough that it's a blur as it slices through the air towards Neo's elbow with the intent of piercing through the elbow to take that arm out of commission.

She's willing to fight, and she still has a blade. Dammit...

Without bothering to look back at the girl, Michael brings the staff down with Enhanced speed on the girl's left knee with enough force to shatter the kneecap, intending to incapacitate her as well.

Disappointing. No fun at all.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Vanguard

Mph, a true warrior indeed. She will only fight those she deems strong it would seem, she seems untroubled by other matters, but this talk about the saint...

The knight pondered for a moment on the current situation. Of course, he wished to resume his duel against Empress, but he needed to at the very least recover enough to do so. And to add more, it seemed this saint was somewhat important, at least enough to pique the girl's interest -and his own.

But before he could say anything, a stranger appeared out of the blue, singing madly as if his life depended on it. His pants soiled and face full of lamentation, Vanguard couldn't help but feel pity.

"What... is going on? Stranger, why do you sing in such a way?"

[Cherry Lover]

Rider waited a moment for Sakura to reply, hearing Vanguard respond to the singing man as he did so.

Eh, why is she not replying? she thought. Did she not hear me?

Sakura? What should I do? she sent over their mental link.

[SINIB]

Sakura

Sakura? What should I do? she sent over their mental link.

Sakura began to cry, large tears streaming down her face as she collapsed to the ground. She looked at the sky, her long purple hair hanging behind her loosely. ”I--I don’t know Rider.” She replied softly. ”I don’t know what you should do—I don’t know what to do. Just... can you just figure it out on your own?” Sakura asked in between sobs, taking a deep breath before continuing in a firm but shaky voice. ”Figure something out. I don’t care what, just figure it out on your own.”

[Kotomine_Rin]

Lorenzo Remei

Lorenzo smiled at the blonde man's sudden display of violence. He had, at least, a better impression of him now (or at least a less bad impression). By that, of course, he thought that it sure took some massive balls to charge headfirst like that. The man's attempts to hurt him were rather... stimulating.

Heh, lad sure can throw a punch, not as good as Gut's by a long  shot, but he's certainly hardier than the nutjobs from earlier. Still, not good enough, definetely not good enough. 

He'd commend his guts, but he was still dissappointed by the blonde's piss poor combat wiles. Any fighter worth their salt would've went for vitals or tried to incapacitate his opponent, but that man simply pounded on his face mindlessly without any reason or logic.

"You rotten bastard... do it right! ", he snarled before grabbing onto the man's face, pressing onto his eyes in an attempt to get him out of the way. He too saw what just happened, and it disgusted him to say the least.

"Just... let go! There, she is in danger!"

He'd get Yukina out of this mess, but damn this clusterfuck annoyed him. First that blonde idiot being an insufferable ass and pissing him off like that, but now things were much different. If insulting a woman was a disgusting offense worthy of grave punishment, to harm one would be an unforgivable, irredemable deed.

"Quit it lad!", he roared as he struggled to get away as quickly as he could.

[Kat]

Vanguard

Mph, a true warrior indeed. She will only fight those she deems strong it would seem, she seems untroubled by other matters, but this talk about the saint...

The knight pondered for a moment on the current situation. Of course, he wished to resume his duel against Empress, but he needed to at the very least recover enough to do so. And to add more, it seemed this saint was somewhat important, at least enough to pique the girl's interest -and his own.

But before he could say anything, a stranger appeared out of the blue, singing madly as if his life depended on it. His pants soiled and face full of lamentation, Vanguard couldn't help but feel pity.

"What... is going on? Stranger, why do you sing in such a way?"

Gintoki

"Shut your trap, Stand, depart to Heaven right now!" Gintoki yelled at Vanguard who continued talking in spite of his "exorcism". Ignoring Rider and Suiren, he continued on singing the song with burning determination, as if he really believed he could banish Vanguard.

[Cherry Lover]

Rider could hear the anguish in Sakura's mental voice as she replied to her question. She was clearly starting to fall apart, and Rider was extremely worried about her.

Sakura, are you OK? Rider asked, her concern clear. What's wrong?

I have to get out of here and back to Sakura, fast, she thought.

Rider considered her options for a moment, before recalling the discussion she had had with Sakura a few minutes earlier.

Wait, that "saint" is in the apartment building Sakura wanted to avoid.

The question was, though, whether she wanted to trust the woman with that information.

Why does she want to see him? she thought. Is she a friend of his, or an enemy?

Rider would be more than happy to point the girl in his direction and get her out of their way, except for the fact that she knew the man would come after her if he was warned of her presence. That would endanger Sakura further, it was not something she could risk. Not to mention that strengthening him further was not exactly a good idea. But, without that, she was unsure how she could get back to Sakura.

As she was thinking, the new arrival replied to Vanguard.

"Shut your trap, Stand, depart to Heaven right now!" he said, before returning to his singing.

What is he talking about? thought Rider, tensing up in case of an attack.

Then, ready to respond to any action from the newcomer, she addressed the woman who had been fighting them.

"My master is not in a state to talk to you right now, but I may be able to assist you myself. However, before I will answer, I need to know your motives. Why do you want to find him? And, what do you know of him?" she said.

[Umbra of Chaos]

David

"There are magi who blow themselves up with make a single mistake or are too overt with their display of magic. It's not useless if it works fine 12 hours per day." Deborah tried to avert the topic Damn it, why you won't just give up...

Although he hid it under a neutral expression David was enjoying this immensely. There was rarely anything to be  "I didn't say that it was completely useless. I only said that it was useless to beings that prowled the night or darker places of this city instead of the day."

The living dream rested his cheek in the palm of his hand and clucked his tongue in false annoyance. "Maybe I should try a different conversation starter? Let's try... are you human or some other kind of entity? If you tell me what you are I'll tell you what I am."


Ann

Death gave Sarse a small frown before relenting and pulling her foot back. "This is a very boring start to the day, Little Angel. You will carry me as compensation for not letting me enjoy myself."

The tone in her voice offered no room for argument as her arms wrapped around him in a vice-like  grip. Ann paid no heed to the piddling magus for now. He wasn't important enough to warrant her attention right now.

[Kat]

Tar

Henry was not having a particularly nice morning. Not with all the paperwork he had to fill and reports he had to read and with everything from last night weighing on his mind. Which is why hearing this argument apparently related to Saber when he went to front to get more coffee from the machine in the precinct; and deciding to butt into it; were in hindsight probably not the best ideas.

One of the doors to the reception area of the police station swug open, and Henry walked in carrying a cup of coffee, looking ever the grumpy aging detective.

The first thing he noticed was the honest to goodness Saber clone, and what the hell, even though it immediately enlightened him about the context of the conversation he was walking in to. The second was that she was smoking.

Henry shot a glare at McGruffkins, slammed down his coffee cup on top of the reception desk, and then stomped forward and smothered the tip of the girl's cigarette between his fingers.

"First off, I don't smoke in here and I'm a cop, so you damn well don't either," he started, staring harshly down at her. "Second off, Saber hasn't come in today yet. So how about you go for a walk, and come back later?"

Or never. They had enough things to worry about, even though the unchained showed none of those thoughts on his expression.

After stepping back and giving the girl some room, Henry continued with a sigh, "Or just leave your name and phone number at the desk and we'll give you a call eventually. Whichever. So long as you don't idle about in here."

Mordred

"Okaaay, I guess I will compromise. I will freeload outside" She did not want to push her luck today. Going for a walk could mean stumbling on another crazy guy picking a fight while she had more important stuff to "Wait a minute, I think I have seen you before..." Mordred remembered that this was the same officer she saw when spying on the crime scene from the building. She put out her cigarette and threw the stub to nearby bin. "I changed my mind, I might have a question, if you don't mind a one. About that murder I heard about."

The living dream rested his cheek in the palm of his hand and clucked his tongue in false annoyance. "Maybe I should try a different conversation starter? Let's try... are you human or some other kind of entity? If you tell me what you are I'll tell you what I am."

Would she reveal her true identity to sate her curiosity? He probably suspected already whom she is, but she would play around for a while. "Only if you tell me who are your companions are. To be honest, you don't look interesting in comparison." Deborah commented.

[SINIB]

Sakura

Sakura, are you OK? Rider asked, her concern clear. What's wrong?

Sakura didn’t respond for a long while, just looking blankly at the clouds. After a good period of time, she sighed, and finally responded to Rider. ”Please Rider,just leave me be. I don’t want to talk right now.”

[Ivan The Mouse]

...Well this is a mess, Michael notes, the sounds behind him telling him that either the blonde actually managed to get the drop on the pirate or the pirate simply wasn't paying attention. Either way, the rifle was long gone from the girl's hands, though the blades weren't so simple, Michael having failed to note that neither of them had guards. Thanks to the enhancement, the girl seems to be falling in slow motion while he's still moving in real time, and he decides to put this to good use. Reaching in, he grabs the handle of the shorter of the two blades, sliding it free of its sheath before turning his head to find Neo choking the pirate with one hand and slugging him in the head with the other.

The blade obviously wasn't designed to be thrown. It was single-edged and the balance was a bit off, but he'd worked with worse. The girl finally hits the ground in the moments it takes him to adjust to the knife.

Flipping the weapon so he's gripping the blade, Michael takes all of a singular instant to take aim before tossing the blade fast enough that it's a blur as it slices through the air towards Neo's elbow with the intent of piercing through the elbow to take that arm out of commission.

She's willing to fight, and she still has a blade. Dammit...

Without bothering to look back at the girl, Michael brings the staff down with Enhanced speed on the girl's left knee with enough force to shatter the kneecap, intending to incapacitate her as well.

Disappointing. No fun at all.

Yukina screamed and cried in pain when the staff smashed her knee in a second. Unlike her two companions, she was not used to combat, so her reaction was understandable.

Lorenzo Remei


[...]

"You rotten bastard... do it right! ", he snarled before grabbing onto the man's face, pressing onto his eyes in an attempt to get him out of the way. He too saw what just happened, and it disgusted him to say the least.

"Just... let go! There, she is in danger!"

He'd get Yukina out of this mess, but damn this clusterfuck annoyed him. First that blonde idiot being an insufferable ass and pissing him off like that, but now things were much different. If insulting a woman was a disgusting offense worthy of grave punishment, to harm one would be an unforgivable, irredemable deed.

"Quit it lad!", he roared as he struggled to get away as quickly as he could.

However, Neo heard what happened to his companion far away. "Jappy! No!" he yelled. "Goddamn it, you shouldn't have!"

He then noticed that his elbow has a Japanese blade sticking out of it. He was already used to the pain, so all he did was take the blade out of his elbow by the grip. He then moved the hand pressing on his face and pointed the blade the pirate's neck.

"Ya' heard that, nigger?!" Neo said, obviously seething with rage. "Let's fuck him up! You with me?!"

[Panda]

Michael couldn't even be bothered to wince at the sound of the girl screaming. Sounded like she wasn't used to combat at all.

...You know what, forget this. It isn't even fun anymore.

"My apologies for that," Michael says to the incapacitated girl, stepping out of her reach in case she tries to use her remaining weapon anyway, "I'll send a healer over as soon as I can. Fairly sure I can find one in this city. Regardless, that was extremely stupid of you. Given the pirate's interest in you, it would have been smarter to simply put yourself between him and the kid."

With that said, Michael then takes a look at the blonde, who just pulled the blade out of his arm like an idiot.

"That was unwise, kid," Michael says, "You're going to be losing use of that arm soon. The pirate might actually be a decent fight, but I'm not in the mood anymore. Kneecapping non-combatants just sucks all the fun right out of things. If you'll let me go now, I can get a healer and we can put this mess behind us. If not, that healer is going to be looking after three people. Either way, I'm leaving."