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

[Kotomine_Rin]

Vanguard lit up and quickly stood as a newcomer appeared. Quickly he stood, only to notice Rider now took a completely different stance, her garnaments changed as well.

For a second, he turned to gaze at the intruding person, a lady-like body and fair height, but what shook him the most was her... aura. He could feel it, while her appearance was closer to one of a human, she was... different.

Strong, this woman is most truly strong.
So, heeding her call, he approached the enthusiastic girl.

"If you are to challenge me, I cannot refuse. Very well, if you wish it to be so, we will fight here and now."

"Name yourself at once, to duel without knowing one's opponent is not appropriate for warriors such as ourselves, that assuming you are a warrior of some renown.", said Vanguard with utmost calmness.

[Kat]

Faust nodded. “I doubt this ‘Law’ is a powerful enough vampire that she doesn’t fear the cleansing power of the sun. I imagine that very few are capable of that. Although, I’m sure there are some here this being the Nexus.”

Mordred

"If they don't compensate for being immune to the radiance of our star with something, it will be too unfair. I wish they were sterile in exchange, the ability of vampires to turn humans into one of their kind is their most troublesome trick. It's good that Saber is not a human after all, otherwise I would suspect that this vampire is grooming her for a 'successor', so to speak" Mordred speculated "Though, there is a chance that this vampire does not have such limitation like vampires of my world... If Saber is just ignorant of the true nature of her associate, I will open her eyes."

[Knick]

Suiren

’Damn saint?’ Is there where Hamara disappeared to? Well, looks like it is an interesting place after all. Suiren thought as the woman changed her clothing and the armor thing stepped forward.

"If you are to challenge me, I cannot refuse. Very well, if you wish it to be so, we will fight here and now. Name yourself at once, to duel without knowing one's opponent is not appropriate for warriors such as ourselves, that assuming you are a warrior of some renown." It said.

And then Suiren began to chuckle, “Not challenging you buddy, whatever you’re supposed to be. I am simply telling ya both, you and that thing dressed like a whore, to come at me.” Her grin, if possible, appeared to grow. "You both might just be a challenge. Just might."

“But if ya need to know my name, ya can just call me… the Empress, the Mightiest in the World!” She declared. "Now!" The light around her limbs intensified, "COME AT ME!" She yelled.

[SINIB]

Sakura

"Rider, support Vanguard!" Sakura said to Rider. "Vanguard, I expect you to show me your strength now! Don't dissapoint me, got it!"

[Kotomine_Rin]

Vanguard laughed at the girl's eagerness, it had been far too long since he felt the thrill of battle himself.

"Very well, Empress, I shall accept your spirit!", roared the metal warrior as he adopted a fighting stance. His position would've looked odd to anyone, a stance unlike anything ever displayed in the world, there was not a single style that corresponded to it.

As his stance lowered further and further, the colossal behemoth now readied himself, fists seeped with incredible amounts of energy as lightning coursed trough his gauntlets.

"Here I come.", an echoing voice declared behind his cold metal armour.

The creaking sound of metal could but accompany the obscene surge of power, without wasting a breath or a single movement, his fist came flying towards his opponent's center, a massive punch meant to blow her away with a colossal boom.

[Knick]

Suiren

Suiren was actually kind of disappointed at the simple attack, and so as the strike closed in it was brushed aside with a simple redirection with her left fist. Then she took a step and sent a powerful blow into the armor with her right, “ONE PEAK!” She yelled out with the attack.

And so the attack hit armor that was the opponent, and sent them flying into a wall back the way he came.

[Cherry Lover]

Rider mentally facepalmed as Vanguard enthusiastically accepted the challenge of the newcomer, without waiting to see how his new master felt about the situation.

"If you are to challenge me, I cannot refuse. Very well, if you wish it to be so, we will fight here and now."

Name yourself at once, to duel without knowing one's opponent is not appropriate for warriors such as ourselves, that assuming you are a warrior of some renown.", he said, calmly.

Oh no, he's not one of those idiotic "blood knight" types, is he? she thought on hearing his eager acceptance.

Rider herself had no issue with the concept of fighting the girl, as long as the result would not be detrimental to Sakura, but the girl had not confirmed that, and nor had Sakura agreed to the fight. Admittedly, he was not in quite the same situation as her, since he did not rely on Sakura's magical energy to be able to fight but, even so, his rash response may have dragged Sakura into a fight she did not desire, and his insistence on the usual bullshit about duelling and "knowing one's opponent" did not reflect well on him in Rider's eyes.

In response, the warrior facing them began to chuckle.

“Not challenging you buddy, whatever you’re supposed to be. I am simply telling ya both, you and that thing dressed like a whore, to come at me", she said, her "whore" comment causing Rider to glare at her. "You both might just be a challenge. Just might".

“But if ya need to know my name, ya can just call me… the Empress, the Mightiest in the World!” she continued. "Now! COME AT ME!"

As she said that, the light around her limbs became brighter. Meanwhile, Rider just stood waiting, not yet sure if she should fight, or grab Sakura and get out of there. A few moments later, though, Sakura gave her, and Vanguard, an enthusiastic green light to fight the woman. Rider prepared and got into fighting stance, but didn't move just yet, cautious of the unknown assailant.

That light must mean something. I have to be careful here, especially at close range, she thought.

Unfortunately, Vanguard seemed to be rather less thoughtful than Rider, and simply charged in and threw a punch at the opponent's chest. As Rider expected, this did not seem to phase her, and she easily swatted his fist aside with her left fist, before launching a powerful attack with her right, sending Vanguard flying backwards into the wall.

As this was happening, Rider took the opportunity to throw her nails at the opponent, hoping to catch her off guard. She knew she had to remain at a distance, the woman's punches were simply too strong.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Vanguard was blown away by the ridiculous amount of power directed by that attack.

Absurd... this blow would've pummelled a castle wall to dus-

But he did not have time to think, before he knew it, he crashed into a wall with incredible force, the impact formed a crater. As soon as the knight had enough footing, he leapt with all his might and burst towards the opponent, earth shattering as the knight leapt rapidly to reach her.

If the previous mistake was due to  the lack of adjustment in Vanguard's body, who had not fought for millenia, this time he would not do such a mistake. With that said, that exchange did have it's purpose, with that, Vanguard could assess her strength approximately, even if...

She's pulling her punches, even an amateur could tell. Not that he was going all out either.

Suddenly, he saw a chained dagger-like weapon launched to the opponent, most likely Rider's weapon.
Without wasting breath, Vanguard swiftly dashed towards the girl, this time ready for a counterattack.

If her strength and speed was so immense, he simply had to compensate by constantly readying a steady defence, and await an opening.
And if the opponent was to counter it, well, then he would have a pretty good estimate of what to do.

[Kaze]

LANCELOT

Lancelot felt the tension leave the spear he was holding, and whirled around to see the man with long dark hair summon another lance from thin air. He considered for a moment that he may be facing another Servant, a heroic spirit, and readied the lance in his hand. Thick red lines of unearthly power now lined the spear, dominating it, making it his own.

“I must apologize for intruding on your battle uninvited, warrior. I hold no grudge for you, we need not clash our weapons.”


AKIHOLARME

For a moment, Aki didn’t register what Rebeca’s words implied and was ready to prod the girl awake and chide her for being lazy. Instead she frowned down at her hostess and crossed her arms.

“I don’t recall telling you my full name,” the imperial soldier said severely.


EINAR KRONHOLM

Einar approached the foreboding castle, paying little mind to the imposing spikes sticking out of the ground and the corpses impaled on them. It was an impressive show, and obviously a warning to intruders, but that did not concern the blond swede.

Walking up to the large main door, Einar gave the hard wood three sharp raps with his knuckles. “Hello, anyone there?”

[Panda]

Thank you, I will.

With that, Adjutor searches for the stairs for a moment before making his way back up to the shower and grabbing his bloody clothing before making his way to the designated location, surprised for a moment by the washing machine, as it's been a while since the last time he saw one. He fumbles around for a moment before managing to get his hands on the brown bottle. Quickly going about the task of pre-treating the clothes before dumping them into the washer, he fumbles around with the machine for a bit before remembering that there were supposed to be directions somewhere. Adding a modicum of detergent to the mix, he starts it up and decides to make his way to the bedroom Forest pointed out for him earlier. Taking a moment to summon the Elementals to him, he slides off his boots, slips into the bed, and quickly drifts off to a nice peaceful-


Red. Red everywhere. Darker patches of it here and there denoting things other than blood scattered about the room, like a untidy atelier that played host to some macabre artist who preferred flesh and blood over other mediums.

Adjutor looks around, feeling as if he's moving underwater. The room is soaked in blood, with viscera randomly strewn about the place, and torn apart as if a bomb had just gone off. Strangely, the teen himself is more or less untouched. Taking a moment to raise his non-red hand, Adjutor does his best to wipe his face clean, eventually giving up and pulling up some of the inside of his tunic to take care of it.

Strangely, amongst all the gore, Adjutor can pick out a sizable bed, likely meant for just one person, but large enough that they should be comfortable while on it.There seems to be a misshapen arrangement of...things, they can't quite be called limbs or a body anymore, with barely any of the bones remaining, what little that does stripped almost completely of flesh up to a certain point. Except...the head seems to be intact, albeit covered in enough blood to hide any distinguishing features, as if it was just outside of the bomb's area of effect.

A disturbing, unshakeable dread crawls up Adjutor's spine as he makes his way over to the head of the bed, stepping over an emptied out carcass that can't possibly be human (Too broken, too bloody, unrecognizable) as he does so. Making his way over, Adjutor checks his pockets over, finding some rags and using them to try to wipe off some of the blood.

The blood has to be fresh, as it comes off fairly easily to reveal-

No.

Adjutor takes an involuntary step back, then another, backing away from a face that can't possibly be there(You know who it is), this room that he can't possibly be in(You know where you are). In his haste, he trips over the ruined carcass (Human. It was always human and you just denied it for your own sake.) that couldn't possibly be human, landing sprawled out on his back as he frantically scrabbles away, trying to put as much distance he can between himself and that...that...

A skeletal hand, with most of its finger missing, clamps down on the side of the bed. Slowly, it pulls itself up, trying to swing legs that little more than torn flesh and shattered bones over the side of the bed and ending up falling off, landing on the slick red floor with a fleshy thud, nothing more than a torso, a head, and arms with barely any flesh attached to anything below the neck. The face, however, was perfectly intact, accusing eyes boring into Adjutor's own as he finds himself paralyzed, whether by fear or something else being a question he doesn't have the presence of mind to answer.

"You did this to me," it(you know who that is) says with a raspy voice, likely the result of damaged vocal cords, that's barely audible, but crystal clear nonetheless, "You did this. You could have avoided this. This is your fault."

"I...I...no...I didn't..." Adjutor tries to voice his rationalization(excuses), that he didn't know that his mana could destabilize(you lost control) before this happened, but his words die on his lips, the teen unable to articulate his reasons(Excuses!) in the face of one of the many victims of his...his...(Incompetence. Foolishness. Stupidity.). The paralysis continued to spread as it(Youknowyouknowyouknow) drew closer(Yourfaultyourfault know what you've stolen. Know what you've lost the right to.)

"I...would have...been happy," it(Don'tDenyDon'tDenyDon'tDeny) said, accusing him(RepentHuntKill. Never yours.You've lost the right.) as it pulled itself(YouKnowYouKnowYouKnow) up by what it could grasp of the teen's clothing, "We...would have...been happy. What...did we do...to deserve..."

Nothing. You did nothing. That's why I don't...don't deserve...to be happy. Not for myself.

"We...weren't...your prey..." it(YOU KNOW WHO THAT IS) continued, now almost even with him, "But...you killed...why...?"

"I couldn't..." Adjutor tries to get out, "I..."

EXCUSES

"I..."


With a gasp and a stifled cry of terror, Adjutor bolts upright in...where...What was this place...

Oh right, Forest's...I suppose this place would be like a compound.

With this realization, and the sight of the four elementals scattered about the room, Adjutor relaxes, starting to rub the sleep from his eyes as-

Good morning, sir emo. Did you have a nice rest?

Her face, bloody and twisted in hatred. Her eyes, boring into his own as if digging through the barriers that keep the memory of that night hidden away.

...I killed them. I'm the only one responsible.

Oh fuck. That again? Look, we've been over this al-

Shut up. Only thing we can do is keep moving. Keep moving forward and don't look back. The next Hunt, the next job, the next Monster, whatever. Just keep moving.

You know, we're going to have to face it, eventually. And you're going to have to accept that it wasn't your fault. You didn't know, dammit! We didn't know. Had no way of-

I shouldn't have lost control. Shouldn't have-

Let's face it, emotions were running high then.

It's still my fault!

And if it's your fault that happened, then it's just as much my fault as well, dumbass! Either of us can keep our reserve in check, and yet it still did...that. We know it can happen now. And we know how to make sure it doesn't. Now, if you can't accept that it happened and it wasn't your fault, then get the fuck out of bed. If you're just going to keep running from it, at least try to be productive while you do so.

...

Adjutor slid out of bed and went about the task of getting ready for the day, just going through the motions as if he were simply numbed to the outside world.

[SINIB]

"If they don't compensate for being immune to the radiance of our star with something, it will be too unfair. I wish they were sterile in exchange, the ability of vampires to turn humans into one of their kind is their most troublesome trick. It's good that Saber is not a human after all, otherwise I would suspect that this vampire is grooming her for a 'successor', so to speak" Mordred speculated "Though, there is a chance that this vampire does not have such limitation like vampires of my world... If Saber is just ignorant of the true nature of her associate, I will open her eyes."


Faust

“So, you think that the vampires have some sort of conspiracy going to convert Saber into one of their own? I have to admit, that would probably be a fearsome vampire, but I doubt it’s actually the case.”

[Knick]

Suiren

Suiren's blow stuck true, launching the living armor away, and at that moment she saw the nail chain-weapons moving straight at her. A simple attack and it was only fitting that Suiren humiliated her opponent for underestimating her. Again.

And so with a small pivot she narrowly avoided the nails, and then her hand lashed out, grabbing the chains of the weapon before wrapping the chain around her arm, making sure her grip would not falter. And the golden light spread to the weapon, dancing along it. “First rule of combat, straightforward attacks will bite you in the ass.”

She vaguely noticed the armored man charge at her once again, this time with a guard up. So Suiren pulled on the chain and used it to whip the purple haired whore into the living armor, forcing the two to collide.

[SINIB]

Sakura

Sakura watched her servants get manhandled with dismay.

"Vanguard, this can't be all you can do, show me your full strength! And Rider, help Vanguard fight better, I know you both can do much better!" Sakura yelled at them from the sidelines.

[Cherry Lover]

Rider watched her nails fly towards the enemy as Vanguard was launched into the wall. Unfortunately, though, her opponent also saw them and, with a slight pivot to the side, avoided the incoming nails, before grabbing hold of the chain. As she did so, a golden light spread along the weapon.

Oh, shit, thought Rider.

“First rule of combat, straightforward attacks will bite you in the ass", the woman said, holding onto the chains as she saw Vanguard rushing at her.

Seeing the woman's obvious intentions, Rider released her grip on the chains, cutting off the mana supply to them and attempting to dematerialise them.

As she did so, she heard Sakura's shout.

Damn, I can't fight like this. I don't think she's going to target Sakura, and I cannot disappoint her now that she's shouting for me. I need to move, she thought.

With that, she leapt to the side, running around to get behind her opponent, intending to re-materialise her weapons as soon as they disappeared.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Vanguard

Vanguard's charge was put to a halt as the enemy used the chain to flay around Rider towards him. Luckily the servant unhanded her weapon and avoided him, thus there was no impact.

Readying himself, Vanguard stepped quickly to the side, avoiding the chain before dashing to the side opposite of where Rider went for.

He could now tell clearly, he was fighting a masterful combatant highly skilled in close quarters combat. If he were to fight on her terms, he could never win. So taking hold of his cape, he tore it from his back before casting it away upon the opponent. The thick and imposing cloth blocked him from her sight momentarily, incredibly heavy fabric meant to catch her, not unlike a net cast upon a fish.

He was now before her blind spot, the cape masked his presence just enough to give him an instant to act. Ancient words of a forgotten tongue emanated with power as he readied himself for the exchange, looking at Rider as to direct her to follow up. He prepared himself for the attack.

"Heaven's Pummelling"