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

[MissingMandible]

Corporal Mathew Blackburn:

"Do you have anyone you care about back home?" Noel asked him.

"Well, my family" Mathew began, "My father and mother, along with my two older brothers, work in the Manufactorums on Harlech. Parents and Richard work in a weapons factory, while Marty helps build Leman Russ tanks.

"My sister Lizzy became a Tanker of the 412th Harlech Armored Regiment, being the gunner of a Devil Dog. She's two years younger than me. Last I heard, her regiment is being sent to Cadia. Something big is going on there, but I never really heard what.

"Aside from them," Mathew's face took a more sorrowful expression, "Well, my squad's dead as you already know. Don't know who else is still alive in my company."

[SINIB]

Corporal Mathew Blackburn:

"Do you have anyone you care about back home?" Noel asked him.

"Well, my family" Mathew began, "My father and mother, along with my two older brothers, work in the Manufactorums on Harlech. Parents and Richard work in a weapons factory, while Marty helps build Leman Russ tanks.

"My sister Lizzy became a Tanker of the 412th Harlech Armored Regiment, being the gunner of a Devil Dog. She's two years younger than me. Last I heard, her regiment is being sent to Cadia. Something big is going on there, but I never really heard what.

"Aside from them," Mathew's face took a more sorrowful expression, "Well, my squad's dead as you already know. Don't know who else is still alive in my company."

"I`I'm sorry, I should have known better..." Noel apologized. Noel glanced up at the clock on the wall. "OHMYGOSH! It's so late, I lost track of the time. I'm sorry, I have to go! I have some errands to run."

[Panda]

The immortal continued to wait, thoroughly bored, when a feathered arrow shaft suddenly appeared in his leg. Doing his best to keep from tensing up, the immortal winces at the pain, which is soon followed with a slight bit of dizziness.

Poison? Oh for Trinity's sake.

Regardless, the position of the arrow shaft in his leg gave him a general idea of the direction of the shooter right before he pulled the arrow out, thankful it hadn't stuck in deeply enough to require being pushed out the other side. Tossing the arrow to the side with a disgusted grunt, Michael quickly enhances himself, taking care to restrict the magic to just his arms and his eyes. Following the path to where he guesses the shooter could be, he grabs a nearby dumpster, likely used for residential waste, and heaves it in that general direction at fairly rapid speeds.

With that, he turns to look around for the expected horde of enemies to find that he isn't disappointed. The injured leg won't take as much weight, so he decides not to take up a stance yet, instead letting his hands fall loosely to the sides as a wave of dizziness strikes the immortal again.

Going to have to work fast, then. Well, looks like I'm actually going to have to try. At least they'll be less hesitant to approach now.

Deciding not to let them have the initiative, though he never really had it in the first place. With the dizziness continuing to assail his senses, Michael steps down on the injured leg, grunting again as the pain stabs through the haze and into his brain like hot knives. With the dizzying haze cleared from his mind, the immortal prepares himself for the inevitable charge.

[Umbra of Chaos]

Natara

When she saw her 'protector' pull out a the arrow that had suddenly been embedded in his leg and toss a dumpster at the general direction of the shooter Natara repressed her fear. She was no combatant and there was something especially filthy about drawing upon The Chalice. There was some relief in that she wouldn't have to do much for this.

Nevertheless her eyes darted around, trying to see whatever could be hunting her. Even if he seemed strong accidents could always occur and she still might need to defend herself. Hopefully there would be enough of them this time. It was always difficult to find sacrifices during the day, and it would be very bad if the prisoner was not kept sleeping and satiated.

[yinsukin]

Sepulchure

Medaka

Medaka stood firm in front of the man looking him straight in the eye and said, "it is Lorenzo's ship, if he does not want to play I don't see any reason why I should play with a person who shows such disrespect.  However, know this power does not ensure command over others.  One day you may find an ant stealing your food."

Sepulchure had grown extremely weary of their antics. The girl especially annoyed him, she had less subtlty or tact than the pirate, which was the only impressive thing about her. He reached out and with unnatural speed, he grabbed for her neck, trying to lift her off the ground.

While Medaka expected some kind of aggression, she did not expect him to move with such speed.  She wasn't able to react properly with conscious movement.  However, she forced her subconscious reflexes and martial arts training kicked in.  She attempted to push his hand away with a basic but powerful block.  At the same time, she struck the ground with her foot powerful enough to shatter steel, hoping to escape to the bottom floors.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Blast me...

This was bad, very bad. Of all the things that were bad, this was the worse. If the both fought here and now, there was no way he could get his plan done. If that armoured man turned hostile, he knew full well they could both lose their lives, or worse. If she was to descend lower, his whole scheme could be compromised and if he found out, things could go badly indeed.

And to put salt on th ewound, what that man did...

Yes, the moment he attempted to strike her, he felt something bubble inside him. His blood boiled for even the smallest instant and the air around the ship turned dry. The pirate's face was livid, ghastly like a ghost and containing anger that not even the flames of hell could quell.

"Both of you, stop!" Lorenzo roared, trying to keep the situation contained, keeping his rage in check. That man would pay, of that he could be sure. But acting too suddenly could hold no good result.

"It's my fault, I got cocky. I accept all blame, but please do not harm her again!"

[SINIB]

Sepulchure

Sepulchure raised his eyebrow a hair, slightly surprised that the woman had actually managed to react to his attack. Other than the giant wolf, nobody had been able to do anything in responce to him. However, this was not enough to faze him. Not anywhere close to enough. As she stomped the deck beneath her feet, splintering the wood, he had already begun to act. Countless dark tendrils erupted from the ground and grabbed everything on board in their shadowy embrace. Looking at the now helpless man, he asked him a question.

"Why should I spare either of you at this point?" He asked, eyes narrowed.

[yinsukin]

As Medaka was snatched up by the darkness, she knew that this was the natural result.  She knew the whole time that this dark man was above her in power, yet her personality could not allow her to back down.  She was not used to being completely outclasses like this and felt guilty for dragging her new friend into this situation.  However, she still had her companion Lorenzo and decided to continue putting her trust in him.  She looked to the pirate and their captor, looking for a chance to react, studying them in anyway she could.

[Kotomine_Rin]

This was just...great. Any normal man would have despaired by what just happened, but Lorenzo knew... he could make something out of this situation. That scurvy bastard would surely pay a thousandfold.

"Good question lad, glad you brought it up." Lorenzo spoke with a gleeful smile.

"Well, for one, you are atop my ship. For two... if I died, you wouldn't be atop my ship anymore. Do you like my ship? It is a nice ship. My ship is also the best ship, so I rather have you not shed my blood on it. Surely it would be a pain to clean."

And without any warning, the ship began to move at a great pace, turning around and performing a barrel roll.

[Kaze]

EMIYA SHIROU

The incoming pegasus slowed its approach, then angled slightly to the side, giving Shirou a view of the passengers on its back. There were two women with long hair of different shades of purple, the taller of which was wearing a blindfold. The younger girl seemed familiar, but he couldn’t place where he had met her before.

Those thoughts were quickly eclipsed by the third passenger. There was no mistaking that messy mop of bright orange hair and whiskey colored eyes. The freelancer blinked, his mind automatically denying the young, almost teenage version of himself. A strange, unpleasant feeling settled in his gut when he realized that in all probability that’s exactly what was going on. He had already met a teenage Rin here, after all.

Shirou suppressed a sigh and relaxed his stance, but didn’t let go of his prepared blueprints as he watched the phantasmal beast prepare to touch down. Anyone his younger self associated with probably wouldn’t attack without warning, but best to be prepared anyways.


ANATU

The older man laughed a full belly laugh, which made the young babylonian glare harder. She knew he was teasing her, but she wasn’t quite able to keep it from getting underneath her skin.

Then he pointed over at the cooking spot where had burned dark pits into the home. The memory of what had happened several hours earlier suddenly rushed back to her, and Anatu’s heart sank. Her shoulders drooped and she tilted her head forward, causing her long golden hair to fall in front and hide her face.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly in their language, as she had to the heroic man in blue before. Her voice was barely above a whisper, afraid that this man before her would throw her out or beat her for the trouble she had caused.

[YOLF]

Shadowkhan

The man's resistance to the wound and the poison were surprising, but such was meaningless. With nary a sound, the Shadowkhan descended upon the alleyway, cutting off both exits in great numbers, surrounding their two targets. The ninjas menacingly bore their fists and their weapons, ancient swords and throwing stars, stalking around the man.

Before anything else could happen, they had separated the man poised to fight back from his charge. The Shadowkhan leapt at him in sychronized offense as the remainder attempted to seize the woman by force and moved to rip the chalice from her hands.


Butler

Butler watched the warrior leave silently, his frustration and grisly determination written plainly on his back. It was true that from a certain point of view, what he had shown too was admirable. It was a laudable inner strength to do what he decided he must, for the greater good he believed in.

Were it not for the essential difference that separated him from Suiren and made her just greater in any direct confrontation, he might have heard Vanguard out. But as it stood, he did not have any interest to focus on him. Instead, Butler turned to the half-demon, seeing the weariness in her expression despite the calmness it had regained.

"Defeatism can be quite unsightly, wouldn't you say?" he asked with a respectful nod.

[Panda]

Separated from the person I was going to defend, poisoned, wounded, and almost surrounded. Well this is just Pantheon-damned wonderful. Regardless, enhancing runs the risk of enhancing the poison, so it looks like I'll have to make do with this.

Heaving a disgusted sigh at the black tidal wave, the immortal points the hand holding the stick towards the ground before extending it out to its twelve foot form, launching himself back towards the chalice girl (going to have to ask her name later) and bowling over the beings charging at her.

Stopping his movement just in front of Chalice girl with the staff, the immortal shortens the weapon back down to its eight-foot form, the staff a lethal blur in his hands as he stands his ground, dispatching any shadowkhan that approach. The poison slowing his movements forcing him to get a bit creative in doing so, but doesn't hamper him enough to let any of them past the seemingly impenetrable wall of stick.

[Cherry Lover]

Rider brought the Pegasus into land, looking at the Shirou as she did so. He looked somewhat like the Shirou from her home dimension, only his skin was somewhat darker, his hair a little whiter and, yet, he seemed to be quite a bit younger.

Which means he's been over-using his projection....

Rider wondered what might have caused him to do such a thing. Had his Sakura been put in a situation where he'd needed to fight for a longer period to save her?

Once she had touched down, she jumped down off the horse, preparing to assist Sakura and Shirou off if necessary, but not approaching him just yet.

[SINIB]

Sakura

Sakura excitedly dismounted the horse and ran up to Shirou. She stopped right in front of him, holding her hands being her back. She inspected him closely, a large smile on her face.

“Senpai, you’ve got something on your face.” She said. “Hold on, I think I have a cloth somewhere...” She began looking in her pockets.

[SINIB]

This was just...great. Any normal man would have despaired by what just happened, but Lorenzo knew... he could make something out of this situation. That scurvy bastard would surely pay a thousandfold.

"Good question lad, glad you brought it up." Lorenzo spoke with a gleeful smile.

"Well, for one, you are atop my ship. For two... if I died, you wouldn't be atop my ship anymore. Do you like my ship? It is a nice ship. My ship is also the best ship, so I rather have you not shed my blood on it. Surely it would be a pain to clean."

And without any warning, the ship began to move at a great pace, turning around and performing a barrel roll.

Sepulchure fell off the ship as it spun rapidly. Darkness began to envelop him, and he shortly reappared on the ship, walking back out of a dark portal. He slowly walked back to Lorenzo, and punched him squarely in the arm, shattering bones.