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

[Kaze]

EMIYA SHIROU

The archer’s orange and white eyebrows rose slightly when Mia took the vampire’s hand and not his own, but regardless he made his way off the roof and down the stairs right behind the recovered Law without a word. A few minutes and way too many flights of stairs later, the uneasy group walked out of the building and into the small parking lot in the front.

“Where are your cars?” Shirou asked in English for Law and Mia’s benefit, his thick accent making the words difficult to understand.


AKIHOLARME

The last dragonborn frowned at Rebeca’s inquiry. If the girl didn’t know what Tamriel was, then it just confirmed that they were a very, very long way from home. She hoped that Lucia would be alright, Lydia should be taking care of her in Whiterun.

“Your white hair and red eyes are unheard of in the lands I have traveled, they grant you a very distinctive appearance,” Aki said as she looked into the starless sky, watching as snowflakes fell in the chilly breeze. “This land is very strange to me. I assume you to be familiar with it?” It was then that she remembered that she had yet to introduce herself in return, and turned to face Rebeca again.

“Oh, you may call me Aki.”

[Elf]

Forest

Forest gave Mia's hand a gentle squeeze and swung it lightly as they began to walk down the steps.  To keep the not-girl appeased, the ancient teenager decided to make a little game out of it.  She thought for a moment, at all the nursery boggles she use to sing for Gabriel once upon a time.

She began with,

"Mistress Mary, Quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With Silver Bells, And Cockle Shells,
And so my garden grows."

Jumping lightly down each step, knowing fully well that Mia could keep up with her.  Soon they were outside and Shirou asked in thickly accented English, “Where are your cars?”

Forest eyed him and said in Japanese, "If its easier for you to talk in Japanese and have me translate, I'll be more than happy to do so, Calico."  There wasn't anything mocking and malicious in her tone.  She knew how difficult it could be to learn a second or maybe even a third or fourth language.

In English for Mia and Law, she pointed and said, "Just right down this street and at that alley right there.  It's the 67' Camaro.  Its black."


Saber

"Not to mention one of my companions might be getting cross," Saber admitted, gesturing to the building.

[SINIB]

Sakura watched in surprise as Rider summoned pegasus. What is she expecting to do with that, she doesn’t know where the house is. What does this accomplish? Sakura cleared her throat, “Rider, neither you nor I know the path back to the house from here. I think it would be better for us to just walk.”
 

[Cherry Lover]

She doesn't know where her house is? Rider thought as she dismissed Pegasus.

"Oh, I see. I thought you would be able to direct me...", she said.

[Knick]

Hamara

Hamara walked through the city, its size impressed him. It was a sign of the power, of the potential, of the majesty of humanity. Despite the blights of monsters that dwelled within it.

Why simply on his walk he has eliminated twenty different monstrosities in human form, beasts with fangs which live on the blood of men. Vampires, as his brothers and sisters told him.

But yet he continued to walk, not stopping for but a moment. And then he arrived at the Hospital. It was a large building, a large red cross on the wall, while at the same time many of those metal carriages where sitting outside unmanned.

But he paid them no mind; instead his attention was immediately drawn to the group standing outside. And timed seemed to slow as he saw them.

A beast in the guise of a woman, but was not born human. She was something else from her very origin. The beast is a monstrosity above most others, a monstrosity that must be purged without exception.

A man that had taint running thick through him. He was once man, and is still not far from it. But something else has been on, grafted onto his being. He has fallen, a former brother to be purged in blessed light.

And a young sister, slight taint ran though her, power not hers, power she should not have filled her. Something that that should not be there was. But she has not fallen; she is still his Sister, but stands on the precipice to such a fate. So she will be spared.

Hamara stopped walking, he looked at the three. And with incredible speed six spears appeared above the Divine Saint. Many spheres began to float around him, balls of pure light which emanated intensity far beyond the spears.

“Abomination which adopts a false visage, one that is not yours to have, know this. I, Hamara, The Saint that Stands in the Fields of Creation, will be your end.” He addressed the thing. The fallen brother was not a priority; he will be cleansed after the pure monstrosity was dealt with.

And with his intent stated, the spears where fired, as if they were rounds shot from a sniper rifle, all of which enclosing on the purple haired beast.

[Panda]

After staring at the fires for all of about a minute, Henderson realizes something. A certain friend of his is no longer on his shoulder.

"Rupert?! You too?!" Henderson scrambles to his feet, oblivious to the infernos raging on either side of him as looks around frantically for a moment before heading back to his car, throwing Betty inside without care for gun safety, then taking a moment to offhandedly sweep the broken glass out of his seat before starting up the Buick and peeling out, leaving the twin infernos far behind as he considers where to go next.

"Well, it could very well be that I left Rupert behind somewhere..." Henderson notes, taking a moment to consider whether he should start at that one coffee shop, the first place he went, or at the hospital, the last place he went...Or perhaps the Manor...

[Cherry Lover]

Rider stood awaiting Sakura's response. However, before it could come, she noticed six spears appear above a nearby man. He turned and addressed her.

“Abomination which adopts a false visage, one that is not yours to have, know this. I, Hamara, The Saint that Stands in the Fields of Creation, will be your end", he said and the spears flew in her direction.

What?

As quick as a flash, Rider checked behind her to ensure Sakura was not in the way and, then, jumped to the side and out of the way of the oncoming spears changing into her battle outfit as she did so.

"What in Hades' name are you taking about?" she shouted, angrily.

[Alice]

Rin

"Not to mention one of my companions might be getting cross," Saber admitted, gesturing to the building.

"Well, we wouldn't want to keep them waiting, would we?" said Rin with a smile. "Lead the way."

[SINIB]

Faust turned around to face the source of the voice, and was greeted by several floating balls and spears which filled him with an ominous feeling. As they were fired at Rider, he quickly made a decision. He launched a blazing inferno at the ground converging around the man, intended to instantly liquefy the ground beneath him.
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Sakura watched in horror as the newcomer attacked Rider. What is this man doing here! Why is he attacking her! He's supposed to be... Sakura shook her head. “Rider, look out! Caster, help Rider! Stop this!”

[Knick]

Hamara

Hamara ignored the words spoken to him by the abomination. His statement was clear. He would not give it anything more than its end.

Then more spears formed and were fired from the same location above him the others did, and again, and again, until it resembled a continuous stream of light. The light ripping up pavement as it hit it.

But at the same time Hamara did not move other than to follow the movement of the abomination. All the while orbs of light started to flicker to life around Hamara, rotating around him as if they were planets and he was the sun.

And then the woman screamed, and the fallen one attacked. Some form of demon magic was sent at the ground beneath him from all directions, converging onto him.

But something happened the moment it came close to Hamara.

It was… it was almost like water hitting a rock. The spell stuck something, something that could not be seen. It was almost if the area around Hamara would not allow anything into it that would harm him

The spell was halted and crashed against the invisible thing, and as if a drop of water was striking against a molten stone it harmlessly dissipated.

Hamara did not even seem to recognize he was attacked, only turning his head slightly to look at the fallen one before resuming focus on the monstrosity a moment later.

It was not something he would pay mind at this moment, his fallen brother would be dealt with in time, his Sacred Palace, his great Temple, in which he resided would protect him from harm.

But for now he had a greater threat to cleanse.

Mia

Mia jumped down the stairs with Forests, giggling while she sang. The song resonated oddly with Mia, the true meaning behind it being on of death and suffering, which was close to one of the fragments that made Mia up.

When they reached outside she found her hand grabbing Shirou’s while he talked to Forest, with Forest’s replying to him. She could understand them both now matter how they spoke, no matter what they said they were simply words Mia could understand.

The idea of Languages was just an odd notion to her.

As Forest pointed out where he car war Mia began to lightly hum, as she walked with Shirou and Forest to the car. The song she was humming was soft and had a slow pace, giving it an ominous feeling to those that heard it.

And up ahead, a small child could be seen playing with a ball, his form flickering, before running at the sight of the group, disappearing through a wall.

This, this appearance of a singular of a ghostly child, was a weak manifestation of her Curse of Lost Children, occurring for all those that heard her humming. There was no magic involved; there was no energy, no trait that could be felt.

It was simply an imposition of part of Mia's nature on them, for but a moment.

But then Mia’s song was done, and no more children would appear.

[Arch-Magos Winter]

Lawrence could feel Mia's shell reach out, a hallucination similar to the ones he knew the Driver coated over his form in the Phantasmal shroud popping into existance somewhere out of his sight. He motioned to the japanese man to follow him, with exaggurated sign language. He couldn't understand moonspeak but fuck it, he didn't need to. As soon as Law reached a point he considered out of earshot of the evil little bitch of a child, he let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

"So, right. Car. Red Firebird. Redid the paintjob, tuned up the engine and suspension, fixed some of the interior all by myself, with some help from a roommate. Nice car." Law said, unlocking the door and sliding in. He was parked a good block from Forest's Camero, but he knew where that was. "So, Shyrow... you uh, blow people up often?"

Smooooooooth.

Shut up. I'm trying to at least not get shot in the face here.

Quit being an awkward ass then.

[Panda]

Henderson soon finds himself parked at an empty intersection with a serious problem at hand; he's out of blunt paper. Henderson continues to pat himself down when, suddenly, he happens upon those pages from earlier. Remembering the Detective's lecture about smoking evidence back when he was still alive, Henderson makes sure not to use the page with the strange designs on it, instead picking out a different page with all sorts of weird shit scribbled all over it and, taking advantage of how massive a blunt wrapper this thing was, wrapping it around enough densely packed medical grade weed to cause the hotbox to end all hotboxes.

At least, it would have, if the Buick's windows hadn't been blown out by an explosion. As it is, Henderson still manages to hotbox himself despite the windows not being present, with the smoke from the Necronomicon-wrapped blunt being thick enough to mostly obscure Henderson's vision, though not enough that he can't manage to get back to the Hospital. Upon reaching it, the first thing he notes is a set of what look like some really messed up traffic pylons. In the weed induced stupor, Henderson doesn't realize he's driving towards the larger group of pylons until it's almost too late, with the old man slamming on his brakes and come to an even harder stop than he'd expected due to the road suddenly having the consistency of tar, Necronomicon-enhanced weed-smoke still billowing up out of the car itself in thick clouds. Then, amidst the smoke, Henderson notices that the pylon he's stopped next to seems to be glowing with some sort of...light. A light that made him feel strangely...safe. Like his mam had once told him he'd feel in the presence of Jesus.

Jesus...is a glowing street pylon? Henderson wonders, his concerns about Rupert momentarily forgotten.

[Knick]

Rebeca

Rebeca heard the melancholy the person felt, her feelings for the people close to her. That feeling… it was not something Rebeca felt much when she came to the Nexus.  Her annoyance vanished, and she looked down at her lap before talking again.

“It’s nice to meet you.” She said in a more subdued manner then before. “And ya, I can help you out. In fact this is someone else I am showing around. Do you want to join us?”


Grenth

As flames from the explosion flickered over the wall, Grenth stood up. He was panting heavily.

“I am incredibly,” He took a breath in the middle of the sentence, “out of practice it seems.”  He finished, panting some more.

It had been a long time since he had created that much ice infused with that much power. The ice would remain for some time. He felt the power of the beast dissipated, death having reached him.

He sent out a mental command to his minions in the sewers, to bring his body to his basement. There he would draw back the soul of the monster and make it suffer its punishment. But for now he did not have the energy or desire to do such a thing.

 his armor dissipating in place of his peacoat and fedora, his cane being appear in his right hand has it tapped the ground, "Well, that was a bother."

He looked over to the swordsmen,“Hypothermia?" He asked calmly, the signs were obvious due to Grenth with his extensive medical knowledge. "Hmm, shall we fix that?" he did not wait for affirmation and simply waved his hand at Time.

The curse Grenth just cast was suppose to cause someone's blood to heat up and start boiling, a rather painful way to die. But Grenth adjusted it, putting in only enough to keep his body at normal temperatures.

So when the curse hit Time, rather then causing an agonizing death, it instead began to warm to its normal temperature. Protecting him from the effects of the cold while also making sure to not put his body from into shock due to a sudden change in temperature.

It should dissipate once the man arrived in more favorable conditions.

[Cherry Lover]

As Rider continued to dodge the incoming stream of spears, she considered her options. Fundamentally, she had two options. Fight, or run. Normally, running would be the obvious choice. She had no particular desire to risk her life trying to kill some weird religious loony who had, presumably, escaped from the local asylum or something. But, the presence of Sakura and Faust complicated matters, as did the fact that her opponent seemed to be targetting her exclusively. She couldn't easily fit both Sakura and Faust on Pegasus, and if she attempted to do so there was a risk of her enemy shooting Pegasus down, causing Sakura to die alongside her. Equally, whilst her opponent was not currently targetting Sakura, if Rider ran he might turn on Sakura instead, and she doubted that Faust was fast enough to dodge the spears as she could. So, leaving without Sakura was clearly not an option either.

Ideally, she would hold him off whilst Sakura fled with Faust, before escaping herself when Sakura was safely out of range. However, she knew her master well enough to know that she was unlikely to agree to leave her here, particularly since they had no way to meet up later. Rider had seen the sheer joy in her expressions when they had contracted, and she knew that Sakura was stubborn at the best of times. There was no way Sakura was going to allow Rider to get left behind.

So, despite her reluctance, it seemed like the best option was to fight. He seemed not to be too strong so far, although the orbs rotating around him seemed rather ominous. However, before she could make any move, she noticed Faust launch an attack, sending a raging firestorm in the man's direction, intending to melt the road and burn him to death.

What the hell?

Rider watched the results of the attack with great alarm. The road all around her enemy had melted but, as soon as the attack came close to harming the enemy himself, it just suddenly crashed into an invisible wall and fizzled out, leaving the ground surrounding him totally untouched. Clearly, he had some sort of defensive shield, much like the one Faust himself had.

I may be able to break it, but those orbs look ominous, and if I die I don't think Sakura has any way to escape.

Still, right now, running didn't seem to be an option. The guy would simply kill her as she tried. Then, suddenly, she heard the screeching of a car approaching, giving off a large cloud of smoke with an extremely unusual smell, likely preventing her enemy from tracking her movements, whilst she, who wore a blindfold in any case, was mostly unaffected.

Now's my chance.

With that, she ran towards Sakura, the smoke cloud obscuring her movements. She quickly grabbed Sakura into her arms, ensuring to keep her body in between Sakura and any incoming attacks just in case, and dodging the attacks that did come, before summoning her Pegasus once more and climbing on board with Sakura in her arms.

"Caster, grab on to something! I'm getting us out of here", she shouted, preparing to take off.

As for the other guy, well, he wasn't Sakura....

[SINIB]

Faust was shocked when his spell was stopped by an invisible shield and fizzled out. What in the world? What kind of power does that defense of his have? It’s obviously very short range, less than five meters, but it seems extremely powerful. 

His concentration was broken by Rider. She slashed her throat again, a magic circle of her blood floating in the air. after a few seconds, the pegasus reappeared, at which point Rider grabbed Sakura and leapt onto the winged horse.

“Caster, grab on to something! I'm getting us out of here", she shouted.

Faust quickly made a snap judgement and jumped onto the pegasus. I hope this works...