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

[SINIB]

Sakura was searching a patch of hedges when she heard a man speak.

The bespectacled man then approached her carefully, until he was around 15 feet near her. He then called her out, "Good afternoon, young woman. Do you need any help?"

She looked up, noticing a well dressed and short young man standing about fifteen feet away from her. She glowered at him and slowly stood up, her hand clenched in a fist.

She responded in a guarded, deadpan tone. "No, I don't. Do I happen to know you, by any chance?"

[Kaze]

EMIYA SHIROU

As the smoke from the magic induced explosions dissipated, it became clear to the Nexus’ resident supernatural sniper that he had not succeeded at killing his target. She was hurt, yes, burned all the way to the bone in some places, but still standing.

And she was staring straight at him.

Shirou cursed inwardly, mentally preparing another blueprint in his mind to project another sword, when he realized that a bystander had been caught in the blast. For a moment he hesitated, horrified that he could have killed an innocent needlessly, when the vampire moved.

The Dead Apostle moved so quickly he could hardly track her, even at this great distance. The magus didn’t have time to consider his options, she would arrive at his building in a matter of seconds. Without a second thought he began to mentally construct one of his favorite weapons, the sword of Beowulf that would follow its target until blood was shed. Having already expended a considerable amount of prana it was too dangerous to turn his makeshift arrow into a Broken Phantasm, but there was enough time left to perfect the sword’s structure and power.

“My body is made out of swords,” Shirou chanted quietly to himself as his arrow finally began to materialize in a blue haze of magic. Again taking careful aim at the blond girl closing in on him, the archer pulled back on the bowstring and adjusted the arrow’s intended trajectory to compensate for her speed.

 “Hrunting.”

With that whisper Shirou cut loose, and the Hound of the Red Plains came down on the vampire bound and determined to see her blood spilled.

[Panda]

Having long since left the Tim Horton's behind, Henderson starts on his way to the bridge that nice young man from earlier mentioned, not even bothering with the speed limit. Remembering the nice young man's warning about more of those fucking poodles, Henderson pulls over, pops his trunk, and takes Betty out, and puts her in the passenger seat, making sure to buckle the shotgun into the passenger seat securely. Henderson is about to get moving again when a blur passes him, shaking the Buick and almost throwing Henderson out from the force of the winds caused by the blur's passing.

"What, in the nam' o' th'-" Then a reddish glint catches his eye, a very familiar glint that reminds him far too much of 'Nam.

"Cutlery," he growls as he grabs Betty, pulls a slug shell from his Cargo Pants, and manually loads it into Betty, all in record time.

In the meanwhile, the hated utensil is fired at something that Henderson couldn't care less about, as he is already sighted on the blade itself. Somehow accounting for the speed of his target, its flight path, his own bullet velocity, and the wind speed, Henderson shoots at the flying thing, sending a 12-gauge slug hurtling straight for Hrunting.

With that he buckles himself in and peels out once more, making his way to the origin point of that hated thing.

[Ivan The Mouse]

Sakura was searching a patch of hedges when she heard a man speak.

She looked up, noticing a well dressed and short young man standing about fifteen feet away from her. She glowered at him and slowly stood up, her hand clenched in a fist.

She responded in a guarded, deadpan tone. "No, I don't. Do I happen to know you, by any chance?"

Rattus noticed the hostility of the girl in her manner, tone and words. It seemed as if she was wanting to be left alone. And so, he answered, in the same droning, pedantic and monotonic tone he always had used whatever the situation might be, which was thought to be soulless-sounding even by Yukina and Neo.

This, compounded with his strong Teutonic accent, tended to make him noticeable whenever he spoke. "If I knew you by any chance, I would have instead called your name and greeted you like an acquaintance. But you I could see that you are hostile to anyone, as observed by your reactions to strangers wanting to lend you a hand."

Neo, seeing that the girl was hostile, then expressed his opinion. "Ratt, that bitch is totally cray. Let's bug the fuck outta' here and leave 'er alone, she might bite yo' ass off, man. Just leave 'er alone."

"B-but Neo-san," Yukina objected. "Maybe we can help her with whatever problems she has right now. If she really has something wrong in her mind right now, it would be cruel to just leave her alone."

Rattus stood his ground and pondered for a while to make his decision, which caused an awkward and maybe tense moment of silence. But after a short while, he finally turned and replied to Neo. "Yukina is right. It would be inhumane for us to leave this young woman alone in the streets, if your rough psychiatric evaluation of her is correct. But otherwise, we can't force her to seek help she does not want." He then paused for a second, before finally turning to face the hostile girl and punctuating his reply. "...That is, unless we notify a psychiatric facility nearby to get a professional evaluation of her mental state and sanity."

[SINIB]

Rattus noticed the hostility of the girl in her manner, tone and words. It seemed as if she was wanting to be left alone. And so, he answered, in the same droning, pedantic and monotonic tone he always had used whatever the situation might be, which was thought to be soulless-sounding even by Yukina and Neo.

This, compounded with his strong Teutonic accent, tended to make him noticeable whenever he spoke. "If I knew you by any chance, I would have instead called your name and greeted you like an acquaintance. But you I could see that you are hostile to anyone, as observed by your reactions to strangers wanting to lend you a hand."

Sakura continued to glower at the man, and opened her mouth to speak, when she heard:

Neo, seeing that the girl was hostile, then expressed his opinion. "Ratt, that bitch is totally cray. Let's bug the fuck outta' here and leave 'er alone, she might bite yo' ass off, man. Just leave 'er alone."

He face cleared up completely, and then she assumed an ominous expression, with an evil looking smirk. Her hands clenched even more, and she emenated a dark, almost palpable aura.

"Excuse me, are you insinuating that I am not mentally sound? I really hope you aren't, because that would be quite unfortunate for you if you are."

As she spoke, if one where to look closely at her shadow, one would notice that it seemed to be writhing, subtlely growing and shrinking in size.

[Ivan The Mouse]

Sakura continued to glower at the man, and opened her mouth to speak, when she heard:

Neo, seeing that the girl was hostile, then expressed his opinion. "Ratt, that bitch is totally cray. Let's bug the fuck outta' here and leave 'er alone, she might bite yo' ass off, man. Just leave 'er alone."

He face cleared up completely, and then she assumed an ominous expression, with an evil looking smirk. Her hands clenched even more, and she emenated a dark, almost palpable aura.

"Excuse me, are you insinuating that I am not mentally sound? I really hope you aren't, because that would be quite unfortunate for you if you are."

As she spoke, if one where to look closely at her shadow, one would notice that it seemed to be writhing, subtlely growing and shrinking in size.

Rattus, being the person who is closest to her position, noticed something in the aura of the strange girl. His companions noticed it too, but Neo felt it the most: He was familiar with the feeling, and it crept into his spine.

And then, the German noticed something in the girl's shadow. It was deforming in size and shape. By then, he realized that his vigilance paid off and he suddenly said, "Neo, now."

Upon his signal, Neo quickly drew out his M1911 pistol and pointed it towards the girl. "Freeze, bitch!" he howled. Rattus did the same with his P08 Luger pistol, except he didn't point it at her. Instead, it has pointed downwards, towards the shadows. In this case, it's either he shoots and hits the shadow, or he doesn't hit the shadow and instead the bullet ricochets towards the girl.

"Don't move or do anything aggressive, young woman." Rattus told her. "You have two handguns brandished towards you. If you try to attack one of us, someone will shoot you back. Now, please cooperate or else, we will have to use force."

[Knick]

Grenth – Minions
Location: Near Lawrence

A nearby sewer lid started to jiggle, before being pushed away. Out from the hole climbed four small creatures, made of bone and flesh, they bodies almost like small children. They had sharp claws and their heads were skulls.

Following the four creatures, a living shadow floated out. It had six glowing eyes and no true form other than the mass of shadow that was apparent. It somehow gestured over to a box by the side of the road, a box riddled with shrapnel. Two of the beast moved over to it, cutting the box open with their claws before dragging out a body. A poor hobo caught by the shrapnel of the explosion.

The last two creatures followed the shadow as it moved towards Law, the creatures moving to him and pocking and prodding him with their razor sharp claws, making small puncture wounds equivalent to a needle.  They made clicking noises as the shadow thumped.

And then they started to move back to the sewer hole, the other corpse having already been dropped down by the other two.

[SINIB]

Sakura continued smirking, while chuckling to herself.
"Well, I see you've revealed your true colors, drawing your weapons upon an unarmed young girl like myself. How cruel! How villianous!"

Sakura sighed.

"Very well, what are your conditions?"

[Ivan The Mouse]

Sakura continued smirking, while chuckling to herself.
"Well, I see you've revealed your true colors, drawing your weapons upon an unarmed young girl like myself. How cruel! How villianous!"

Sakura sighed.

"Very well, what are your conditions?"

"Self-defense isn't villainy at all, young woman." Rattus sternly said. "We know that you are hiding something from us, and it is in the shadows. Mister Langraad here is a trained magus and an alchemist, so he knows that you aren't unarmed at all. And so, we draw weapons." He was referring to Neo as a trained magus.

He then pushed back his glasses by the bridge with his right hand, as he was holding his gun with his left. He then continued, "But you are right, we do have conditions for helping someone. To us, you are a client. We will help you, but for a price. But quite honestly, we don't know what price we give you yet. So consider this as a trade in which you get help from us, and you could worry about what you will pay for later. Is that a deal?"

[SINIB]

"Self-defense isn't villainy at all, young woman." Rattus sternly said. "We know that you are hiding something from us, and it is in the shadows. Mister Langraad here is a trained magus and an alchemist, so he knows that you aren't unarmed at all. And so, we draw weapons." He was referring to Neo as a trained magus.

He then pushed back his glasses by the bridge with his right hand, as he was holding his gun with his left. He then continued, "But you are right, we do have conditions for helping someone. To us, you are a client. We will help you, but for a price. But quite honestly, we don't know what price we give you yet. So consider this as a trade in which you get help from us, and you could worry about what you will pay for later. Is that a deal?"

Sakura looked at the three carefully from head to toe. She stopped and stood still for a while, pondering her decision. Finally, she changed her posture, evidently having finished her deliberations.

"I'm sorry to say, but I don't think I am going to accept your offer. This is my personal search, and I don't appriciate you trying to but into my affairs. Now, are you going to allow me to continue on my way?"
Sakura responded, with just a hint of sarcasm.

[YOLF]

Mr. Tar

Henry had to contain himself from metaphorically blowing up. Things to nurture his paranoia just kept showing up. It didn't help that this particular one looked stupidly unearthly, and had just waltzed in on a restricted location while they were trying to do their job. He allowed himself to twitch at the man's words. He had heard this kind of self-righteousness, this certainty of purpose before, and they brought him no good memories.

But at the time the Demon was more annoyed with how the pale man was trying to so dismissively take the situation into his own hands and with the derogatory pity he had directed at Saber.

"Listen buddy. You have no business being here, and I do not appreciate you talking over an officer like that, so I suggest you go spout your crap at someone who cares. Preferrably elsewhere." Henry said, bodily placing himself over the man's field of vision. The detective shot him an authoritary glare, which relented a second after into a gruff expression before he continued. "I don't look favorably on people who dispense careless vigilante justice, so by all hells, you better watch yourself."

[Arch-Magos Winter]

Grenth – Minions
Location: Near Lawrence

A nearby sewer lid started to jiggle, before being pushed away. Out from the hole climbed four small creatures, made of bone and flesh, they bodies almost like small children. They had sharp claws and their heads were skulls.

Following the four creatures, a living shadow floated out. It had six glowing eyes and no true form other than the mass of shadow that was apparent. It somehow gestured over to a box by the side of the road, a box riddled with shrapnel. Two of the beast moved over to it, cutting the box open with their claws before dragging out a body. A poor hobo caught by the shrapnel of the explosion.

The last two creatures followed the shadow as it moved towards Law, the creatures moving to him and pocking and prodding him with their razor sharp claws, making small puncture wounds equivalent to a needle.  They made clicking noises as the shadow thumped.

And then they started to move back to the sewer hole, the other corpse having already been dropped down by the other two.

Lawrence squirmed, batting the things away. The dead man wasn't what was scaring him, or the corpse things; what was really capturing his attention was the Shadow. To most eyes, it'd look just like a shadow.

To him, who could see what truly lay within the Twilight, it made him want to scream even louder. It was covered in stitches, each tiny little puncture wound having an invisible thread and needled pulled tightly together, giving a mishmash of souls one form. And they hated it. They hated it so much. Every moment was screaming agony and he could see just what had killed each and every one of them. A decapitation. Plague, that caused the victim to waste away as their lungs died and rotted. Suicide, the rope burns staining the neck of the soul. A wild beast, that had killed and eaten the man out of pure hunger.

What is that.

Nothing like me. This wasn't said directly to him by the Driver, words on a nearby newspaper to Law's eyes flickering and changing the headline to this simple declaration. Not natural. Made.

But why? The question on Lawrences mind would likely go unanswered for now as the creatures skulked back into the sewer. Wherever he was though, thiings had changed. This wasn't Kansas any more.

[YOLF]

Butler

"...Butler. Your master calls you."

Where there was nothing one moment, by the next that had changed, the call of the lord answered. Appearing out of thin air without so much as a sound or show in front of his lord's throne, facing him from the right, the loyal servant inclined his head to him.

"Milord." He said simply, announcing his arrival with a pleasant, reverent tone.

His burning eyes shone from his throne, as he focused upon his servant.

"There are intruders at our gates. I leave the situation to your discretion."

Reclining further, the lord contemplated for a moment before speaking again.

"...It is cold outside. I desire a spot of 'hot chocolate', as they call it," His voice was quiet, as befitting a nobleman of his stature - even though it was shown that his savage streak was stell resting within. "...The Parisian, I think, will do nicely."

Butler lifted his head, facing his master's mighty gaze with professionalism. His one visible eyesocket glinted with mirth. Truly, his lord bled kingly demeanor from his every pore. He would have to answer that highest of presences with results worthy of it, as always.

"Of course, Lord Vlad. Please wait a few moments." The inhuman servant said. And with a quick bow, he was gone.


"It's too quiet."

The lone male voice echoed in the empty entrance hall of the castle with a note of trepidation. Its owner clacked his fangs together as he searched for anything out of place, anything that could show he and his compatriots were being expected. The lack of any defense had tipped off his alarms, but such was not the same for the others.

"Don't be a coward," a female vampire carrying a sword over her shoulder answered, overtaking his step. "We're armed to the teeth, and there isn't supposed to be anyone in this castle except for the master."

"There's a fine line between cowardice and caution, and the corpses outside inspire both." He retorted, standing in the same place as more bloodsuckers geared for battle entered through the gate behind him.

Another, younger looking vampire scuttled up to his side and patted his shoulder before speaking. "I'll scout ahead for our mark. We won't be surprised."

"I hope not."

The female vampire growled at him from the base of the great carpeted stairs. "Quiet, you're ruining my groove. Just ready your spells and - "

The heavy main door slammed shut, cutting off the leader of the intruders. Nine heads snapped towards it, to find nothing there. The female bloodsucker's boby tensed, gripped the handle of her sword tighter, and made to turn with her whole body. But faster than alarm translated into reaction, hands grabbed her head from behind.

Her neck snapped to the side, prompting a choked gurgle as the body twitched once from the head down.

Someone started yelling. "What the fu -"

In an instant, Butler flexed his joints and kicked the slumping body with superhuman force. Bones cracked and lifeless organs burst in a single disarmonious note as the vampire went flying. One of the vampires barely managed to dodge the high speed mass - the one behind him was slammed into the gate with the body of his former leader, impacting in a crushing sound.

Butler resumed a casual stance as the two corpses fell to the floor.

The vampire mage reacted, whipping his hands in Butler's direction as he began to concentrate magic, just as one of the grunts lept at him.

Butler scoffed.

The vampire roared, but claws reached only air, uselessly. Without time to adjust, his arm was suddenly grabbed and twisted behind him. In a flash, Butler pulled the vampire to him in an iron grip, his other arm sneaking under and over the intruder's to force his head forward by applying pressure on the back of the neck.

The mage hesitated, but the others who had pulled guns opened fire. Butler chuckled as his shield was filled with hot lead, manuevering it so not a single bullet grazed him. When the smoke settled, the vampire's corpse fell to the floor, and Butler was gone.

A step echoed on stone, and the vampires spun around to find the butler in front of the main gate. They backstepped and raised their arms once again. The vampires held their ground silently, perhaps too fearful to make more unexpected moves. Butler's single eye shone ominously in the dark, peering at the guests as he spoke.

"Greetings. I am Butler. Custodian of the Ordo Dracul, keeper of this castle, and personal servant of Lord Vlad. My duties include cooking, cleaning, paperwork, and taking out the trash."

He adjusted his gloves with a snap. And a rain of ice came flying at him in response. With impossible agility, he danced through the projectiles, dashing at the mage. Two of the remaining vampires attempted to intercept him, far too slowly. He dodged the punch of one and flipped the other bodily through the air; the mage tossed another bolt of magic in desperation, for it to wheeze past where Butler's head was a second before.

Inside the vampire's guard, Butler kicked up. Flesh and bone torn, and the mage's head flew off his shoulders like a rugby ball.

While Butler slowly put his foot down, the skull rebounded off the floor several times before it rolled to a halt. Three of the remaining five vampires decided to run.

With a small jump in space, he stepped into one's path, drew a sword from the armor hung near the wall, and decapitated him. Before the other one could go further, he flung the weapon at her retreating back, impaling her against the ground. The one he had flipped into the air was still attempting to get up, and so he simply walked up to him and crushed his head beneath his foot.

The only one left was the vampire of young adult appearance who had offered himself to scout, taking a hesitant step back every time Butler took one towards him, shaking incoherently. Until he hit a wall. Butler's eyes smiled.

Working more on fear than anything else, the young vampire put all the power he could into his legs, and jumped over Butler's head, across the entire hall, towards the window directly in front of him.

But his momentum stopped in mid-air, a hand of steel grabbing his head from behind.

"I just fixed that window yesterday." Butler said simply, and pulled them both down into the stone floor.

For a fleeting moment, the vampire's expression changed from terror to despair, but then he felt only pain.


Humming a tone, Butler checked his silver pocketwatch. Three minutes had passed by. Nodding to himself at the creamy appearance of the drink, he stopped stirring the hot chocolate, laid it on the silver tray he had prepared and revealed the biscuits he had added to it.

Hanging a handkerchief on his arm, he picked up the tray and promptly vanished from the kitchen.


Exactly five minutes and fifty two seconds after he had departed, Butler reappeared at his master's side. With a slight bow, he deposited the tray with the parisian hot chocolate and the biscuits on the table propped up to the left of Vlad's throne.

"Here is your beverage, sir." Butler said, hefting the remaining burden he was carrying as he moved to face the front of the throne.

Dumping the broken form of the last remaining intruder at the lord's feet, he stomped on the vampire's back, drawing out a gasp of pain and reawakened fear. The loyal servant lowered his head.

"I guessed you might wish to have words with one, my lord", he spoke, raising his gaze. "The others are unable to speak."

[Elf]

As Forest was hauling ass to find out who had - or probably lacked- the stones to try to shoot her in the back, she just happened to look up.  Something red was shooting her way, moving impossibly fast.  So fast it was just a crimson blur rushing towards her.  A dull roar filled her ears and she pivoted to the side to avoid its path but . . .

It followed.

She tried weaving back and forth, but it kept giving chase until her vision exploded into bright red.

Pain seemed to explode from her stomach, firing almost all of her nerves at once.  Her vision blurred and her knees shook as she fought to stay upright.  A trembling hand went to her stomach to be suddenly soaked in her cold blood.  She looked down at the sword/arrow thing currently imbedded in her stomach and wrapped her hands around it.

The blades cut into her palms, drawing more blood, and a cry escaped her lips as she pulled the sword out.  Supernovas of white light exploded behind her eyes as she stumbled forward, gasping needlessly in agony.  The blade clattered to the ground and a hand went on the healing wound.

Red was filling her vision as she reached the skyscraper her sniper was on.  She charged through the glass door feeling it shattering around her as she made it to the steps.  The red was starting to pulse in her vision and she was aware of her fangs throbbing with that edge of pleasure-pain as they cut into her lips ever so slightly. 

She kicked open the door with a low growl and shouted, "Here I am!  You got the stones to try to kill me to my face, you wanker?"

******

Saber felt her jaw tick as she stared at the pale man and his statements.  There was honesty in his words, but Saber wondered if it was the belief of a zealot that drove him.  She looked at the detective before the zealot again.

"This is a police matter.  I kindly ask you to step back," Saber said, her voice low but soft, "If you do not, we will drag you back, with force if necessary."

[Knick]

Hamara

"Listen buddy. You have no business being here, and I do not appreciate you talking over an officer like that, so I suggest you go spout your crap at someone who cares. Preferrably elsewhere." Henry said, bodily placing himself over the man's field of vision. The detective shot him an authoritary glare, which relented a second after into a gruff expression before he continued. "I don't look favorably on people who dispense careless vigilante justice, so by all hells, you better watch yourself."

Hamara looked at the man who stepped into his vision and for the first time in a very, very, long time was confused with the situation in front of him. 

This man was one of his brothers that much he could tell, and yet he did not understand what Hamara was. No, even more than that, he did not even seem affected by his presence.

That was simply a truth, any true human would recognize him, at least on some level. Even after arriving in this strange place that has not changed. The fact that this one before him was completely unaffected was unheard of.

Hamara’s eyes narrowed at he examined the man in front of him, not even bothering to respond to the misguided words. Instead he was trying to figure out what was different about this man then the others.

"This is a police matter.  I kindly ask you to step back," Saber said, her voice low but soft, "If you do not, we will drag you back, with force if necessary."

His focus changed to the small woman again, the polluted one. “Ahh, yes, Police. I assume that is the method for my brothers and sisters to regulate each other in this place.” But other than that he showed no care for her threat or their authority, just making sure to mentally note that any action she takes against him would be responded to by his sanctuary.

The sanctuary that was 2 meters in radius. The Sanctuary that she was currently standing in. Not that anyone would be able to tell without it acting.

His focus then returned to his brother before him, “Tell me brother. Do thou truly not know what I am from simply observing me? This other one cannot, for she is polluted and impure. But thou, thou are nothing more than a man. Tell me.” He questioned, his voice alone carrying an absolute authority that normal men would be unable to question.