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

[Umbra of Chaos]

Alvis

"I just needed to confirm your intentions, and have a little fun with it if possible." The setting changed again and while Alvis was perfectly fine he was now sporting a miniature surgeon's outfit and both Adjutor and the other were bound with chains on surgical tables.

"It is difficult to hide things from me in here." Alvis whistled a jaunty tune as his fingers parted the flesh covering Adjutor's heart as if they were blades but the man didn't feel pain or bleed a single drop. "And I'm much less nice to people who lie to me in here."

The heart was easily removed and then shifted to an apple. Alvis lightly tapped it and all  the skin fell off and the apple was carved into neat slices. He popped one in his mouth before shoving one down the throats both of his compatriots. "Is there anything you want to eat before we begin? I can come up with almost anything in here."

[Panda]

Honestly, this whole experience was turning into a somewhat disturbing rollercoaster ride. But, it was nothing more than that, a ride. Temporary. The rush would be gone soon after an-

Then the kid took his heart out, turned it into an apple, and fed him and Xarrest a slice before popping one into his own mouth.

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!

"Not really," Xarrest says, doing a much better job of dealing with this experience than Adjutor, "We had some pancakes before we came here, so we're fine. And we have no reason to lie to you, so this is somewhat unnecessary. Then again, we're fun with you having your fun, seeing as none of this is likely to be permanent, other capabilities you may have in here aside."

"So," Adjutor says, having finally gotten over the sudden change in circumstances, "What was it you wanted to ask?"

[Umbra of Chaos]

Alvis

The child looked down at the shadowy replica of Adjutor before he literally smacked the mouth off of the creature's face. "You talk too much." Alvis clapped his hands and the setting rearranged itself so that they were sitting at a table with both men facing him.

"I would really advise you to eat before we start, Adjutor. This may be the only chance you get to have any unique dishes from your homeland." Alvis himself had no reservations about this as a veritable buffet of foods materialized in front of him.

"Hydra meat is such a delicacy now. No one dares to get close to them considering how poisonous they are." As he said this he quickly stuffed his face with the meat before continuing. "So what exactly is the criteria for what you hunt?"

[Panda]

"We actually didn't try much in the way of delicacies back in Orthos," Adjutor admits, "Between searching for the Elementals, training, and hunting, we were a bit busy, to say the least."

"As for what I hunt," Adjutor continues, "The criteria are actually pretty simple. First, potential to kill those who don't deserve to die. Second, potential to kill indiscriminately. Third, ability to stop oneself from the above actions. Fourth, desire to perform the above actions. Fifth, possible justification. Sixth, kill count. These are the main ones, but there are two more that will earn an instant designation as a Monster. First, being a Rapist. Second, seeking to create a Monster. That aside, blatant cases aside, I usually evaluate these things on a case-by-case basis."

With that, Adjutor decides that he might as well enjoy something, and cuts himself a slice of hydra meat. Taking a moment to absorb the curious taste, a strangely spicy meat, but with the saltiness associated with most ocean creatures. Not bad. Not bad at all.

[Umbra of Chaos]

Alvis

"Not the worst kind of person we've taken in. Are you used to working in a group? That's generally how things go in the Elites. It's too dangerous to have people walking around solo. Especially at night." The world distorted into a dark room with the whole group seated in three comfy chairs and a huge screen hooked up to a laptop that Alvis was holding with a file labeled 'Adjutor's Memories' displayed on it.

"It would be a chore to have to root through everything in your head to see how much you've done work with others so telling me would be appreciated."

[Panda]

...I suppose I should be surprised, but...

Adjutor notes the screen with a slight sigh.

"I've worked with groups before," Adjutor admits, "Usually either as decoys or as specialists on whatever prey I'm hunting, though not very often. I usually work solo, though I'm fairly sure I could get used to working in a group. That said, the night is usually my ally, in more ways than one. Would you like me to tell you what I can do, or would you rather just pick it out of my head?"

[Umbra of Chaos]

Alvis

"I'll just take a quick peek. Time still goes at a normal rate on the outside after all." A few practiced clicks and a .pdf file with a list of Adjutor's capabilities and equipment were displayed onscreen. It took him a little while to look over it and check everything out but he seemed satisfied.

Then a look filled with childish hope covered Alvis' face as he asked, "You, you wouldn't mind letting me use the Armogarians, would you?"

[Panda]

...I honestly can't say I'm surprised, except I kinda am. Didn't think he'd actually be this...well...all things considered, I suppose it makes sense.

"...Sure, why not?" Adjutor says after a moment of deliberation, "What did you want to do?"

[Kotomine_Rin]

Richard Maxwell

"Hahah, finally here.", richard murmured nonchalantly as he stood before the compound's main door. Taking a closer look, it didn't seem like a bad place, looked cozy alright. Sure, it was by no means a 5 star hotel, but he had seen worse, definetely seen worse.

There were two couples outside, so he waved shyly before advancing, walking past them while trying to not look too suspicious.

This doesn't look shady all

Lightly scratching his head, Richard spoke up, just loudly enough to be heard by anyone nearby.

"Ahum, hello there. It's the milkman, delivery for the..."

No, that just sounds wrong.

The man shook his head, pausing for an all too ackward moment before coughing. Calmly, he resumed with an all too natural composure.

"Um, scratch that. Gentlemen, would you by any chance live in this compound?"

[Arch-Magos Winter]

Forest

Forest followed Archer as he went to the door, wondering if she should grab her gun on the way.  Deciding that Archer was a good enough arsenal for now, she followed him as he opened the door.  She made sure to stand out of the way of the sunlight and peered out.

Standing there was a Faerie maiden in her very early twenties, her long red hair pulled up in a messy bun.  Freckles sprinkled across her cheeks and nose signaled her as being part human and eyes the color of peridots looked around.  The girl tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear as she studied the wall.  Standing with the young lady was Law, looking even worse than he did last night.

Forest winched at his condition, and noticed the fact that the girl was holding a broomstick and Law's car wasn't anywhere in sight.  She nodded to Archer and said, "He's of the good. I invited him a place to stay.  See, some guy shot a sword at him last night while trying to kill me and he's been sleeping in his car and the ghost of Travis Bickle is protecting him."


Abigail

Once close to the compound, Abigail could sense the wards surrounding the place.  She frowned at the sheer power in their creation, but the lack of fine tuned finesse confused her.  Then she recognized the "signature" of the caster who created the wards.

Lady Umbra was a boogywoman to a lot of Fae due to a sword she forged in the Victorian era to take out a power-maddened member of the Faerie Council in a duel.  She was also a "comfortable rival" of Lysandra's and a master crafter of weapons and enchanted items using gemstones.  Abigail had met her once and the Lady of Shadows had left an impression.

Then she saw the giant Asian man in bondage pants and the pretty blond vampire behind her.  Abby blinked and said, "Wow, I didn't know that Asians came that tall and . . . You're Lady Law!"

The blond's indigo eyes widened and she threw up her hands.  First thing Abby was aware of was the blond braided pig tails and then her height.  As tall as the Asian was, the blond vampire was almost as tall.  Then Abigail realized that Law Unto Herself had been turned in her late teens, meaning that the ancient vampire had been a teenage girl for over a thousand years.

"And wow, I bet once you left Scotland you were like, 'Why did all the people shrink?'"

Lawrence


There was a blinking moment of silent thought from Law as Abigail suddenly launched into 'gushing fangirl mode' over the vampiress, that perhaps he should have called Forest ahead of time to tell her he might be bringing someone else with him to the compound, at least for a while. Hindsight was always 20/20 after all, especially in this sort of situation.

The Travis Bickle comment though, simply wouldn't fly unmentioned by the Driver.

Who?

I don't know. Maybe someone she met?

You're hiding something from me.

No, I'm not, now let's just get inside and go get some breakfast or lunch or whatever.

The other uncomfortable moment of silent thought was that the man holding the door open was awfully similar to Shirou, if you threw him in a tanning bed for a year and bleached his hair. Then again it might just be because he was Asian as well.

Archer

Archer noticed the scruffy dull green stare of the newcomer on him for a second longer than normal, but figured it was nothing serious. He probably just looked like -

"Wait, fired swords at you?" Archer asked. Was Gilgamesh here? His body tensed up for a few seconds, a spike of wariness shooting through him.

"Yeah." the scruffy looking man scratched the back of his head as he walked inside, looking around the place. "Well, according to Forest it was a sword. I think he just shot some sort of RPG shit at us considering the explosion. Is that pancakes I smell?"

[MissingMandible]

Elyssa:

Around the same time Adjutor disappeared, the Warmonger once again began leaving. As she approached the wall, the Gate Rune on her chest activated, her body beginning to phase through.

The fastest way to travel between two points is in a straight line, yes?

[Umbra of Chaos]

Alvis

"Hopefully I can push Murk down a few flights of stairs without anyone having proof that it was me." The illusory world began to fade and they were back in the break room again.

[Elf]

Abigail

Abigail frowned and asked, "How do you shoot swords at someone?  Like throwing them is stupid because they're not made to be aerodynamic or anything like that."

She looked at Forest and the vampire shrugged and said, "Magic."

Abigail sighed and then put her hand on Law's shoulder.  "He really needs to get inside and warmed up.  The potion I gave him so he wouldn't go hypothermic on the broom ride here."  She let go of the broom to let it hover.  She stared at Archer defiantly and said, "I ride a magic broomstick."

Forest

Forest raised her eyebrows at the Fae girl's antics and disposition.   With the hair and eyes, she had to be Seelie Court and probably raised with humans so the weird Fae culture wouldn't warp her.  So the redhead was adorably cheerful, the sort of cheer that made Forest want to dote on her like she doted on Gabriel.

Then she saw the slim, pretty man lurking in the background, but before she called back to Archer and said, "It was a magic sword mounted on a magic bow to explode.  Hurt like hell when it hit too."

"And what about you, Mate.  What brings you here?  I don't recall meeting you," she called out to the lurking man.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Richard's eyes widened in surprise at the discussion he overheard. This talk about brooms and exploding swords and the like was not something a man hears every day, even a man like Richard.

"Well, that's because you didn't, silly!", Richard humored before smiling, rows of white teeth gleaming as he held his hand towards the blonde woman.

 "Name's Richard, Richard Maxwell. It is a pleasure, really.", he said with a polite smile.

"As for why I am here... to put it bluntly, let's say there is important buisness to be dealt with, and all the traces lead to this very compound ."

[Panda]

"Umm...That depends on how well this Murk person takes being shoved down stairs," Adjutor says, "But I'll see what I can do."