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

[YOLF]

Sarse

The Symphony trembled as the man-shaped abomination of bronze walked towards them. It shook as the being opened its mouth, and in proclamations of power forced its dissonance on the world.

Sarse's face twisted into a burning glare at what it dared do in front of him. Creation was being disrupted, not just by the natural backlash of such powers, but by their very nature. Innocents, rightful denizens of the universe, people were being endangered. The angel's eyes widened and unfocused as he heard panic and pain and death beginning to pile up.

His narrowed gaze focused on the intruder again, just in time for it to produce great bursts of water aimed directly at Sarse and the other two's direction. Sarse did not move a muscle as the attack lashed at high speed towards them. In his eyes, celestial light blazed with anger.

The Angel of Choice sang. Without words or sound, nor gesture or grandeur, he sang a celestial miracle from his soul, channelling essence. In the path of the attack, Sarse was surrounded by wind, and blasting loudly on impact, the powerful bursts of water dispersed uselessly against the cyclonic currents.

Taking a step forward, the Seraphim drew an empty sword hilt of brass. Resolutely, he grasped it strongly with both hands and channelled power through as his step pushed him with more than human strength. At speed unmatched by mortals, Sarse dashed for his enemy, bringing the fiery blade that burst from the brass hilt to bear.

[Knick]

Crest

“Looks good”, Crest replied, “Let me just check it out a bit and set some traps. You set up a camp, start a fire or something.” And with that he began to make his rounds.

It had a few windows and another entrance around the back, a small backyard with a few metal structures, it seemed like something to climb and play on. Crest knelt down and looked at the dirt, small tracks. Judging from the shape it is probably canines of some kind.

“Better just play it safe,” he mumbled, seeing some discarded metal cans. He collected them before rejecting a small hole in them and leaded wire through them. He then hung them up in the entrances, low enough to be triggered by animals. Admiring his work for a moment he then walked through them, a loud clanking echoing though the building.

Giving himself a pat on the back he began to look around the house, but it seemed the stairs were broken, leaving but a wall where there was once a staircase. He began to pull himself up and looked around the top floor. The Windows seemed boarded up, it was far more defendable, “Hey, camping up here might be better!” he called to Caedia, before continuing his search.

It was not long before he stumbled on a pair of skeletons, huddled together in the same room. Who knows how long they have been here, long enough to not leave a smell. Crest quickly wondered how they died before looking for anything scavengers might have missed.

The only thing he found was some nails, metal wire, and a box hidden under a squeaky floorboard. The box was a rather good haul; in it was what looked like a few green bills with a hundred on them, a few coins, some jewelry, and finally a picture. The picture was of a very beautiful woman, dressed in a manner that left little to the imagination. He quickly stuffed all the stuff he found away in his many pockets, before he left to find his compatriot, paying no more attention to the two things that were once human beings.

[MissingMandible]

"We just left Radcliffe there to die, Sergeant!"

Corporal Mathew Blackburn was barely listening to the argument between Private Beckett and Sergeant Halliday, mind being numb from all he had experienced the last few days.

"If we waited, we would have died with him!"

"Everyone shut up!" Specialist McCregor spoke up while increasing the volume of his vox caster.

"-ime to perform our charge." a voice blared over the speakers, "In fealty to the God Emperor (our Undying Lord), and by the Grace of the Golden Throne, I hereby declare Exterminatus on the Imperial World of Valanis Secondus. I hereby sign the death warrant of an entire world and consign a billion souls to oblivion. May Imperial Justice account in all balance. The Emperor protects."

Everyone in the Valkyrie went silent...

The fleet is going to drop a Cyclonic Missile, and they still have yet to leave atmosphere...

Mathew approached the left viewport of the dropship, seeing the skyline of a Hive City at war. All of a sudden, the horizon was glowing an angry red. The wall of fire, the product of the atmosphere igniting, was quickly coming their way! "Everyone, hold on to something!" One of the Valkyrie's pilots shouted over the comms.

Everyone in the troop bay, Blackburn included, began screaming at the tops of their lungs when the Valkyrie was swept up in the fire. Every single soldier was tossed around like ragdolls while the Valkyrie was thrown around all over the place.

Everything went dark for Mathew when the ship crashed onto solid ground

[Kaze]

EMIYA SHIROU

Shirou blinked in surprise at Mia, the girl was quite sharp. Rin got flustered before covering it up while Saber looked a little on-edge. He valiantly suppressed the urge to squirm in discomfort while the three girls talked. He really needed a change of clothes.

He was about to ask Saber where she intended to go eat when a man in uniform approached their group. He likely had something to speak with the former Servant about. Shirou resigned himself to waiting longer for his answers and made a visual sweep of the area, eyeing alleys and rooftops for movement.


AKIHOLARME

Donkey suddenly broke away from them and walked ahead while looking at a large building with glowing words and pictures on it. Boots crunching in the fresh snow, the dragonborn and her guide caught up to the dark skinned man just in time to witness him shout profanity to the cloudy heavens above. Looking at the door Aki saw the “closed” sign and let out a sigh. She knew how Donkey felt all too well, many a time she wanted to sell her spoils to local shopkeepers only for the doors to be locked.

“Perhaps there is a nearby inn for us to spend the night,” Aki said, placing a gauntleted hand on his shoulder. “We may come back in the morning. I am curious about this place myself,” she said while looking up at the glowing fist through the slit in her dark metal helmet.


ANATU

The light was as devastating as it was blinding. Snow melted. Grass shriveled away. Trees disintegrated. Flesh broke apart until it was little more than vapor on the wind. When the light faded and Anatu opened her eyes once again, there was nothing left but soil and rocks. Just as quickly as the danger had come, it was gone again.

She looked around, hair swaying behind her and was relieved to see that her stable was untouched. The adrenaline high started to fade, and her body relaxed, shoulders slumping. It had all happened so fast it took her a moment to process it all. The Babylonian realized her hands were shaking and tried to hide it by hooking them underneath her armpits, taking a deep breath to calm herself.

“Um… thank you, mister,” Anatu said, forgetting that the man would not be able to understand her native tongue. She looked up at him, his presence both soothing and intimidating. He was not the King, but he had saved her. Even among her people this man would have been of impressive status, let alone the people here in the Nexus. She could only imagine what rank he would hold here.


SAMUEL IBARRA

Autonomous entities that could appear and disappear at will, held considerable magical power and had sworn fealty to this man? There was clearly more to David than he seemed, but there was no denying the usefulness of the Scholarly, farfetched as the whole thing seemed. Then again, it’s not like the Nexus or Ibarra himself weren’t well outside the norm.

“If you can do whatever you’ve got to open up your own portal, that would help me out a lot,” the soldier said, giving the Joyous a pointed look before taking a step away from her. “The boys back home call me whenever a big one shows up, so until my phone rings there’s no point in going out wandering when we’ve already got one right here.”

[Umbra of Chaos]

Caedia

The Arisen suppressed a twitch as Crest went to look around the house and set traps. She wanted to search the home. With a slight sulk she began preparing the room before she heard him cal out another, better location.

Without a complaint she tracked the voice until she found the broken stairs. She hoisted herself up onto them and made her way to the more defendable upstairs. She gave a pleased hum as she examined the boarded up windows. It didn't take her too long to find a decent spot to start a fire and when Crest came to find her what he would see would be rather different considering how Caedia previously held herself.

Her armor and weapons had been left to lie against a wall, easily within arms reach and she was currently just wearing a dark red tunic along with  casual light grey pants. The guarded look in her eyes along with the constant alertness was still there but had faded a bit. She gestured towards him to sit down as she held out a small cloth bag filled with nuts, leaves, and dried pieces of meat. Of course, only she knew that many of the leaves were Greenwarish but that would be a pleasant surprise. Then she gestured towards Crest and indicated the spot right next to her for him to sit.


Ascended

The metallic being narrowed its harrowing gaze at its apparent opponent. The defense seemed to be capable enough and the charging angel was deemed a threat. The Ascended opened its mouth again and let out a much more low pitch sound.

And with that sound came a strange darkness that flooded the mall. It smothered the lights and left a void of light that was only breached by the light emanating from the angel's sword, but even that barely gave enough light to see a foot in front of him. It was a near physical thing that almost made it feel like you were wading through mud.

Perhaps if the entity had been anyone else the Ascended would be just as blind, but this work was of his own creation. A terrible shadow crafted with Light and will in order to defy the laws set by the world, and nothing made of his hands could ever hinder him. He could see through the darkness as if it wasn't even there and in order to breach the shield surrounding the angel he prepared another attack.

The Ascended pulled back his hand and summoned an ornate spear of pure Light. The Light was still dimmed by the void but it would serve its purpose
Then, with inhumane strength and precision, the being threw the spear at the angel.

[Knick]

Just – Hand of the Saint

“Cold...” said a monotone voice in snow. “Cold, cold, cold.” He repeated. “What I would give to be at the Beaches of the Farland right now… would do my old bones some good.”

It was an old man, but his voice would not show it. It was stern and even, no sign of exhaustion. To add to this he wore great armor. Pure white metal with gold designs; a cloak acting as a cape that rested on his shoulders. He had a great shield which was strapped to his arm, said arm also holding his helmet as he looked around. In his other hand he held a spear, which rested on his shoulder, and on his belt there were numerous pouches and a beautiful sword, in a simple sheath, rested.

And despite his eye patch he seemed incredibly aware of his surroundings, a testament to his experience.

Spoiler for Hiden:

Overall, he seemed really, really, out of place. But yet he kept walking through the darkness, looking for something. That is until he saw something from down the street in front of him.

“What the…” He then looked down the street, the direction the thing came from. He saw a few figures, but could not make out anything about them. He smiled and slowly began to walk in their direction; hopefully they have seen his lord, Creation willing.


Rebeca

Rebeca felt kind of embaressed, she lead them this whole way without even thinking it might be closed. All this walking and they had nothing to show for it. It was also late. She knew she could get to safety, nothing could sneak up on her after all, but she had her doubts with these two.

So she blushed slightly and looked away from them before speaking, “Well… I don’t live to far from here. You could stay over… if you like.” She paused for a moment before continuing. “Like, It would be a tight fit but I can get us there without any trouble really.” She finished.


Mia

“Hmm, is that so…” She hummed in reply to Rin, obvious doubt on her face. It sounded like she was saying it was good to lie. But it was not something really felt like focusing on right now.

She did say, "Officer Riggs made an uncouth comment about Forest's lack of attire, which she presumably lost when she fought you, Shirou.  Not to mention she lacks body heat and it is a very frigid night.  Also, any establishment that we would have taken her to in that state would have turned us away.  Knowing her, she left for our benefit and to hunt the monster who slaughtered that family."

Mia looked up at Saber in shock before looking to Shirou. Forest and Shirou fought? They were not being nice to each other? Slowly but surly a dissonance formed between her original perception of Forest and the one currently forming, something that only Forest could change though her actions.

But she looked back at Saber, before nodding, still trying to process the new information in her head.


Crest

Crest made his way over to Caedia, who was sitting next to a warm fire. He had to admit, without the armor she looked much less intimidating, why, he might even say he was a bit charmed. With a slight smile he began to remove his own equipment, first his weapons and grappling hook, then his small bag, quacking rummaging though it for some jerky to share.

He then sat down next to her, taking some of her offered food out of her pouch as he passed on some jerky and poured some water into the cap of his canteen for her. He took a quick look at the food he gave her, meet and seeds mixed in green oily leaves. She would not be that much of a jackass… would she?

He gave her a skeptical gaze before putting a small amount into her mouth. Immediately the bitterness hit him, he slowly chewed it and sent it down the good old food hole.  He then gave her a slight glare, but it was not mean spirited, made more in friendly annoyance. He then broke into a slight grin.

“Man, I really just can’t take bitter things huh?” He finished, adding a slight chuckle to the end as he took a bit of a piece of his jerky.


Hamara

He looked into the darkness for a moment after his attacks, waiting a moment before he was sure that the beasts were gone before he turned back to the girl he was defending.

“Um… thank you, mister,” spoke the girl.

He smiled gently at her. It was… not like the smile he gave when he arrived. It would be like comparing a simple rock to the greatest gemstone. It could not be described truly why it was different. Perhaps it was the difference in the emotions behind it, or who he was speaking to.

He then spoke, “There is no need to thank me. Rather, please accept my greatest apologies for not arriving sooner, for not stopping the beasts before they could torment you.” It was soft, but the honesty and sincerity his words carried could not be denied. He was not even thinking of himself, this girl was his only concern.

[Ivan The Mouse]

[...]

"Yay!" Yukina cheerfully hailed Lorenzo for his reaction to the cheese-flavored energy bars.

"Mhrm." Rattus grunted, after observing the man. It only further cemented his deductions about him, and so he opted to probe him more. He then asked, "So tell me, what was your previous condition and quality of life before you unpleasantly got sent here in Nexus City? Do you have any memory or idea what sent you here?"

[Kotomine_Rin]

Lorenzo Remei

"Yay!" Yukina cheerfully hailed Lorenzo for his reaction to the cheese-flavored energy bars.

"Yahooo!", Lorenzo joyouslt yelled in response to Yukina, taking a long sip of his drink before slamming it on the table with great force. " 'is some darn fine drink mates, you must be a great noble royal family of renown!", deduced the man as he drank more of the glass's contents greedily.

Cheeks colored in a slightly pinker tone, he felt the powers of ol' mighty baachus flow into him.
"Har har har har!! Me head feels a bit hazy, but t's all in the good ol heart of thee drink!", Lorenzo roared, merriness accompanied with a laugh of booming thunderous might.

"Back in the good ol' golden days, I was captain of the greatest pirate ship in the world! Ya could say our crew had the finest lads of the seven seas. Aye, all men would shit n' tremble at the sight of the Fiery Fortune. Bloody hell, I would've done the same were there hundreds of cannonballs going straight at me face!", the pirate boldly declared before adding "Conditions weren't so awful over there honestly. In all the years , we've only had a few cases of scurvy and a rat infestation, but the food..."

A sudden deadpan silence filled the room, broken after an excruciatingly long amount of time by Lorenzo's gulp.
"...yeah, it was bloody hell back there. Only the crazy or the stupid would sail aboard a pirate seas. Sadly, I happen to be both. But still... it was a pleasant experience, there was nothing to regret about it." he spoke, his eyes showing slight traces of sorrow.

Taking yet another CaloryMate, he managed to open it on the first try before eating it, savouring the alien yet delectable taste.
Solemnly, he continued his tale, simultaneously finishing the drink. "Mhhh, but that's all in the past now. As for how I got here... well, eventually I found myself in the high waters, thought I was to feed the fish, but thankfully Davy Jones decided I was to be picked 'nother day."

Looking up at the ceiling, the man let out a sigh before going back to his usual more cheerful tone.
"Not sure how I go there, but I ended up in this strange isle, things happened and I ended up finding this door...  you know how the rest goes."

With that said, Lorenzo patted Yukina and Rattus on the back before roaring "How about we splice the mainbrace together, fellas? A drink is wasted on a lonesome soul."

[Ivan The Mouse]

Lorenzo Remei

[...]

With that said, Lorenzo patted Yukina and Rattus on the back before roaring "How about we splice the mainbrace together, fellas? A drink is wasted on a lonesome soul."

"Eh?" Yukina was confused, as if taken by surprise. "I... do not drink rum, Remei-san." She then giggled nervously and rubbed the back of her head, while still keeping her cheer.

Rattus, on the other hand, payed careful attention to the story of the pirate. He then remembered that he used to live in the same time period as Lorenzo, only that he was a cavalryman. And indeed, he said to himself, that life was less convenient back then, especially in terms of battlefield nutrition and medicine, among other things. The apparently rudimentary methods of these areas back then only worsened the life of an average soldier during that time, especially when the tactics during the Napoleonic era had a penchant for allowing droves of men die en masse, with all those smooth bore flintlocks, troop formations and, especially, ways of fighting that proved to be bloody and painful for any soldier.

The German, however, thought to himself that thinking too much about the past isn't, in anyway, good for his mental health and, to prevent him from experiencing another psychiatric fit, he opted to take the only glass of iced rum left on the tray.

"So, you were a highly notorious pirate captain, isn't it? I usually drink absinthe myself, but..." Rattus commented, stopping abruptly. He then raised his glass towards Lorenzo and calmly said, "Regardless, I toast to you, Captain Remei." He then drank the contents of the glass, which slowly dissipated the nerves he got from reminiscing the days gone by.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Lorenzo Remei

"Eh?" Yukina was confused, as if taken by surprise. "I... do not drink rum, Remei-san." She then giggled nervously and rubbed the back of her head, while still keeping her cheer.

Hearing the woman's answer, Lorenzo frowned in disappointment. In a sudden snap of his fingers, he  "Oi, oi, oi, oi, oi... Now that is not a good thing, young lass. The wonders of a good drink should be experienced by all!"

Waving his hand, he pointed at Rattus's glass. "At least this lad here knows 'bout the finer things in life. Aye, food, drink and sex are the very spice, without em, t' would be nothing but a sad and dull wait for the day ya kick the bucket, don't you agree?"

Lorenzo paused for a second, before lightly tapping Yukina's head, not unlike a friend poking fun at her.
"Cmooooooooon, they do say there's always a first time for everything, so what about it? We're gonna drink and sing and eat club house sand witches till the day breaks!"

[Panda]

Henderson considers Forest's refusal for a moment, then shrugs before taking another hit, "Okay then. No skin off my back in any case."

"And as for what they'd want with my lawn gnomes," Henderson says, letting loose yet another cloud of the delicious weed smoke, "Don't know, don't care. They can't have mine."

[YOLF]

Sarse

Sarse supressed a deep growl at the offense of the new sound that reached his ears. It was a screech of darkness, violating and obscuring the air as though replacing it with tar. The angel's head tingled with the massive disturbance of the fabric of creation in the area, but he didn't stop charging, even with the new resistance. For a mortal it may have been like moving through a pit of some thick liquid, but in the face of his emotions and the power of his body, it was near nothing.

He focused on the light of his sword. Even in this void, it shone. That his weapon burned still was all he needed to reassure himself.

Then a spear of otherwordly light was thrown, whistling through the darkness at him. Sarse's reflexes burned for him to move, recognizing it as more than physical force - it would pass through his shield. But the attack came too fast and too strong, and under the current circumstances, he could not easily dodge it.

Roaring, he met it head on. The blade of celestial fire met the spear of light. The muscles of his vessel strained against the impact, and the once-fallen angel pumped more essence into the fiery sword. It grew more intense, and with a grunt of effort, Sarse's swing completed, the spear of light rebounding away.

He still knew where his foe of bronze was, and so without missing a breath, he charged and closed the distance in less than a second. Honed skill guided his sword in a chain of relentless attacks.

Engaged in melee range, he once more sang. Thunder boomed across mind, spirit and flesh, temporarily overpowering all sounds other than the angel's. The air itself halted as it was stunned, as would all beings caught in it. Thie fiery sword rose in follow up for a finishing strike, and Sarse brought it down to rend the enemy from shoulder to hip.

[Lycodrake]

Than'Sanel

His senses swam and he looked on with blurry vision at the battle between the oppressive White being and Sarse, alight with Red and White magic. He felt particularly useless in such a situation, particularly because he wasn't sure how to process what the metallic being had done. He could not simply parse it down to colored magic as he knew them.

The being certainly seemed to be using White magic, but he had never encountered it being used for such horrifying acts of un-making. Innocents were in danger and the being didn't care. Lives were at stake because it had used power and it radiated little, if any, emotion in doing so.

He did the one thing he felt he could do. He willed the Saproling off his back, the skittering near-elemental's crystal shining. His eyes and hands glowed with power, White and Green magic blending together at his guidance. The walls that had been un-made and the danger to the innocents - he could address that much.

He snapped his hands down like a whip, the lights swirling around them snuffed out, but the effect became obvious when the saproling rooted itself into the ground, crystal ablaze with light, and white roots began erupted from the ground in an attempt to catch the floor above them.

[SINIB]

Noel sat on the small bench and continued to write her poems.

The winter night is serene and quiet, no animals make any noise.
Only the branches swaying in the wind disrupt the soft atmosphere.
The snow looks so soft, so fluffy and calm; peaceful as a newborn babe.

She paused for a second to look around and take in the serenity of the park, an oasis of peace with the large and crowded city.

“Oh wow, a shooting star!” She exclaimed. “When you see a shooting star, you’re supposed make a wish!” Noel quickly put away her notebook and held her hands together over her heart. “I wish...” She paused mid sentence. “Wait, it’s getting bigger. And closer! “ As it continued approaching, something became very clear to her very fast. “That’s not a shooting star!” A large burning plane was streaking towards her, she saw a flaming wing break off, the plane spinning out of control.

 Noel quickly ducked to the ground and crawled under the bench just as the disintegrating spaceplane streaked overhead. She felt an intense wave of heat sear her back, accompanied by loud squee and finally a resounding crash.

Noel laid under the bench trembling for about a minute after, “Is it over?” She asked herself in a doubtful voice. She crawled out from under the bench and looked in the direction of the crash site. About fifty meters away, she saw the mangled wreckage of a large green plane. The cockpit was trashed, the engines spewed smoke, and it was missing a wing.

“Maybe I should check for survivors!”

Noel brushed herself off and made sure the blue headpiece was still on and intact.

“Good, Professor Kokonoe told me not to take these off, I don’t want to lose them.”

She set off towards the plane with a run, quickly closing the distance. When she was about ten meters away, she stopped, “Hello, is anyone alive in there?”

[The Man With All The Cute Boats]

AKIHOLARME“Perhaps there is a nearby inn for us to spend the night,” Aki said, placing a gauntleted hand on his shoulder. “We may come back in the morning. I am curious about this place myself,” she said while looking up at the glowing fist through the slit in her dark metal helmet.

This person... So calm under pressure, unfazed by the obstacles of the world... How gallant! How manly!

I'm so sorry I thought you were a dangerous person, Aki! Please take me as your disciple!

So she blushed slightly and looked away from them before speaking, “Well… I don’t live to far from here. You could stay over… if you like.” She paused for a moment before continuing. “Like, It would be a tight fit but I can get us there without any trouble really.” She finished.

I snapped out of my very cliche (and very intentional) line of though to hear her speak, and I made a realization.

This girl... was very cute.

Was she feeling bashful about offering to house us? Thinking "ah, I like sleeping at home alone, b-but sometimes, company isn't bad?" Was she embarrassed at my display, yet still kind enough to offer shelter? Did she somehow think the gym being closed was her fault and offering shelter in compensation?

I have no clue, but the way she couldn't look us straight in the face as she offered housing, with that blush...

It, as previously mentioned, was very cute. Enough to wipe away my first impression marred by screeching.

Way ho hey, back on track. This is hardly the time to be thinking about cute grills. You need roof.

"Ah, if you have the space, I'd really appreciate it," I kind of stumble-talk my way into. "Beats sleeping under a bridge, that's for sure."

Don't get weird now, Donk. If she asks, joke it off. Nobody sleeps under bridges.