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

[yinsukin]

Medaka blushed as the pirated carried her on his back.  Suddenly, she felt his body heat up.  It felt absolutely wonderful.  Still, she was not used to being taken care of like this.  Still blushing, Medaka coyly asked Lorenzo a question that had been sitting on her mind since their fight with the dark man.

"What is magic?"

[Elf]

Abigail

Abigail was keeping time with her quartz pendulum.  Having a watch wasn't something she could exactly do; she'd end up killing it within a matter of weeks.  Her magic would just fry the electronics, and that meant that having a Smart Phone was even more out of the picture.

She'd dropped Law off at the station and they said they'd meet up at the Target.  So there she was, sitting at the Starbucks the Target posted that was by the entrance and waited for Law.  She scowled as she saw Archer approaching first.  After all with his height, build, white hair, and red clothing he wasn't hard to miss.  Law's scruffy, slimmer frame sort of was.

She lifted her hand, the one that wasn't holding the chai latte, and waved them over.

[SINIB]

Sepulchure

Sepulchure was chasing the smaller dragon feverously, blasting away city blocks with every dark breath Fluffy released. Suddenly, a brilliant lance of light came hurtling from a far away building and collided with Fluffy in a cataclysmic explosion with radiance rivaling that of the sun for a brief moment before it faded away, leaving a shattered Fluffy to go careening down into the ground, mowing down any cars or passerbyes who still happened to be around.

Sepulchure was livid. His target had been allowed to get away through the interference of some third party and live another day, while he spiraled in an uncontrolled freefall and crashed into the ground, leaving a small crater in the pavement. The remains of his fallen dragon were shortly consumed by a gigantic dark portal, leaving him standing alone in the street.

“HAHAHAHA, THIS IS SURPRISING, ISN’T IT? WE WERE COMPLETELY DESTROYED!” The Doom Blade cackled at Sepulchure in its usual manner.

“...Yes we were.” Sepulchure eventually replied. “We lost, completely and utterly. This city-is more than it seems. I miscalculated.” He admitted.

“YES, BUT THIS IS INTERESTING AS WELL, ISN’T IT? THERE’S SOMEONE STRONGER THAN YOU HERE!”

Sepulchure ignored the Doom Blades further taunting and evaluated the situation. He clearly needed to find out more about this city, and as fast as possible. But first, he needed to obtain a base of operations.His game plan in mind, he vanished, moving faster than a bullet down the streets, searching. He knew the general direction, at least.

[Arch-Magos Winter]

Abigail

Abigail was keeping time with her quartz pendulum.  Having a watch wasn't something she could exactly do; she'd end up killing it within a matter of weeks.  Her magic would just fry the electronics, and that meant that having a Smart Phone was even more out of the picture.

She'd dropped Law off at the station and they said they'd meet up at the Target.  So there she was, sitting at the Starbucks the Target posted that was by the entrance and waited for Law.  She scowled as she saw Archer approaching first.  After all with his height, build, white hair, and red clothing he wasn't hard to miss.  Law's scruffy, slimmer frame sort of was.

She lifted her hand, the one that wasn't holding the chai latte, and waved them over.

"Right, so, clothes and shit? Need me to grab some groceries for you too?" Law said, as he slid into the seat across from hers, Archer standing awkwardly behind him. "I mean I have the car, so, I might as well do this you know?"

Wow, you're really desperate to get into her pants

Crazily enough no, I'm just being nice.

Boring. Find something to do that's violent instead.

"Hey, uh, Archer, would you need anything?"

"No." The bored tone in his voice spoke volumes. For him, this was a waiting game now. Sooner or later, he'd find himself. Then he'd kill him.

[Elf]

Abigail

Abby sighed at Archer's terse response to Law's offer.  She said, "Your Bondage Boy probably needs some civvies.  He sort of stands out like the villain in a kung-fu movie."

She picked up her chai and said, "I should get you some blankets and pillows since you're going to be staying a while, and maybe an inflatable mattress . . .  Also I have a dog and a couple of familiars that stop by from time to time.  I hope you're okay with animals."

[Kaze]

EMIYA SHIROU

As soon as the woman with strange red eyes made known the implication that she would use force if she felt the need, Shirou knew that the time for talking had ended. Tossing Kanshou up into the air, he took a step backwards and let gravity do the rest.

Shirou plummeted down the side of the 30 story building, expecting the woman to pursue him. He couldn’t make use of a bow with only one hand, and so prepared half a dozen blueprints to project and fire off when she came for him.


LANCELOT

Saber rubbed her temples as Irisviel yelled indignantly at the former Knight of the Lake. The blond then put one hand on his armored chestplate and told him that the overly excitable woman didn’t mean any harm. The message was clear: he was not to antagonize her. Only a touch disappointed, Lancelot folded his arms and turned his head to survey the area, tuning out the ladies’ conversation in favor of scanning for any other potential threats.


ANATU

Anatu and her new friend - and apparently bodyguard - Just strolled around the Nexus rather aimlessly. They were beginning to wander into a more shady and run down area of the massive city, where buildings crumbled from neglect and the homeless took whatever desperate refuge they could from the city’s more dangerous inhabitants.

Anatu didn’t notice in the slightest. She was entirely enraptured by the utterly delicious brown and white cone shaped food in her hand. It was cold, almost icy, and yet it slid down her throat more smoothly than any berry. She gleefully took another bite, staining her lips white and brown in the process.

Motion caught her eye, and for the first time in several minutes she looked up from the delicacy she was holding. There, leaning against a condemned building covered in overgrowth, was a beautiful woman with long brown hair who seemed to radiate with vitality. Her eyes were closed but her lips were moving, and though she couldn’t be certain, it almost seemed as if the plants were paying heed to whatever whispers left the woman’s lips. The babylonian couldn’t help but be drawn to her. Not the same way she had been drawn to the King or was toward the man of blue, but rather the way a scholar was drawn to her books, driven by the need to understand the secrets of the world.

Anatu turned to look back at Just, as though to confirm that he was witnessing the same thing she was. She looked back at the mysterious woman, her curiosity demanding to be satiated, but as the same time her shyness prevented her from just walking over.


BRIAN SLUGUS

Brian stalked figuratively and literally after the blond woman - Mordred, if he recalled her name right - grumbling to himself all the while. She didn’t seem to have had any particular destination in mind, just going around poking her nose at a few windows and marveling at the items inside like they were fucking renaissance sculptures. And that was before she had somehow gotten in a somewhat tense conversation with some guy in armor.

He really wasn’t paid enough to deal with this.

As things stood he was just going to have to keep trailing her at a distance like the creeper that he was. No telling when the bossman would be free again, but probably another several hours.

[Lycodrake]

Than'Sanel

Eventually she stumbled upon a broken building that seemed just short of falling apart, but that was not what had garnered her interest. The towering pillars of brown vines with large green gems held within them quite easily caught her eyes and attention. With a slight hum of approval she walked over to one of the larger pillars, sat down, and leaned her back against it.

She recognized it as her own. It was an elemental, not quite the same as those she remembered but it was close enough. It was still her Child. Her presence alone caused the vines to overgrow and almost hold her as she sat against it, and almost at peace she closed her eyes and quietly whispered lullabies in the First Tongue as the plants cradled her.

The half-elf's intention to address the police, firefighter, and ambulance teams was put on the sidelines immediately when he felt his saproling-pillars spring to life. That shouldn't normally be possible; unless they were animated by the instinct to protect innocents or were in the presence of his magic. 'No, that's not entirely true,' he thought, 'Others in the Conclave of course could do this. Or perhaps another Green mage.'

So it was when he saw the woman smiling slightly resting against one of the pillars and singing to his saprolings, he was taken aback only slightly. She appeared human, but was singing in a language he both did not recognized and yet understood somewhat. The only thing he could liken it to was the language of elementals on Lorwyn - a primal communication. He shifted his focus to the spectrum of colored magic.

And found himself blinded by the beacon the woman truly was. Life. Life abundant. Nurturing. Green, yet encompassing the other colors.

"Beautiful."

[SINIB]

Irisviel
Irisviel looked at Saber with concern as she rubbed her forehead. “Saber...” She began to say ask if she was alright but stopped, beginning to realize her mistake, that this wasn’t quite the same Saber as the one she knew and had fallen in love with, and allowed her voice to peter out.

Saber placed a hand on the black knight’s chest and told him that she meant no harm to her. Irisviel felt vindicated when he folded his arms and looked away from the two women at only he knew. Serves you right! She thought angrily, making a small move towards Arturia before she stopped, too embarrassed to get any closer

Saber cleared her throat and turned back to the blushing and stammering Irisviel and said, "In my war Kiritsugu was still alive and you acted as my master by proxy.  You. . . did not survive.  At least that version of you did not."

“Eh?” Irisviel squeaked. “Your world as well, Saber?” Irisviel asked her sadly. “It’s strange to think of a world where Kiritsugu survived and summoned you as intended. I guess it’s not really surprising at all... I guess... I guess the me from your world doesn’t have these?” Irisviel asked, removing her glove and showing Saber the cup shaped command spells on her hand. “Oh.” Irisviel exclaimed before looking around. “Um...” Her blush greatly intensified as she leaned in close to Saber’s ear. “Did... Did I have Avalon? In your world?” She asked in a low, barely audible, whisper.

[Panda]

Michael

The immortal's mind raced as he made his way through the streets, his charge in his arms and his movements still Enhanced.

This is just a bad situation all around. Now we've got bits of whatever is inside that damned cup of hers roaming around the city, assuming they've finished up with that hydromancer by now. As that wasn't bad enough, we've got a group with seemingly infinite peons after us, and while they might not be worth a fight, may the light of Novus be snuffed out if they aren't infuriatingly sneaky, especially with that shadow-walking. And those are just the peons.

Seeing the traffic ahead of them and deciding that trying to jump over them wouldn't be the best idea with the Chalice to worry about, Michael slows to a stop as the flood of cars races by them, taking a moment to catch his breath and grimacing at the painful throbbing in his injured leg, now brought back to the fore as the adrenaline rush faded. Setting Natara down as he keeps an eye on the rooftops, one hand on her shoulder to assure him of her presence, Michael takes a moment to consider the situation he now finds himself facing. Normally, the idea of taking on such a group would something to look forward to. A fight decided not by physical strength, but by strength of will and strength of mind. Normally, he wouldn't have someone to protect while taking on said group, someone he really couldn't let out of his sight. Normally, that someone wouldn't be holding an artifact containing some kind of evil primordial being. Normally, the group wouldn't be after said artifact. At that moment, a flash of realization hit him.

"It's probably a bit late," Michael says to the girl standing beside him, "But I don't think you ever told me your name."

[Kat]

Vanguard

“Very well, I understand. It seems you will not heed my request peacefully. At the very least I can see you are a good hearted fool. A quality in its own way, some would say.” Said Vanguard, his dull echoing voice resonating throughout the area.

“Your loyalty is admirable, but your self-preservation is lacking. No, it’s not that. You do not value your life at all would be a more appropriate statement. You would rather throw your life away than to betray one’s trust. Honour and loyalty, beautiful qualities.  A child would commend such a thing as heroic, but I am no child. So tell me, Mordred. If I was to tear you limb from limb, would you talk then? Or perhaps I ought to slay those you hold dear before your eyes, maybe then you would talk. But I digress, such a thing would be most distasteful. Besides, there is no pleasure in beating children.”

"I will not lay a hand on you, consider this your reward for displaying such loyalty to a fiend."

And as soon as he spoke, his core glowed of a bright silver blue, the very space surrounding the two becoming thicker as an invisible force pushed all downwards as if to crush it. Needless to say, the woman would feel a force equivalent to about fourto five times her own weight slowly crushing her.

Mordred

Her bones were grating. Her muscles crying in pain. She could not relax even a finger or she could have been crushed in a next moment. Fuck this city. Fuck those bastards, always trying to squash her for what she was or what she believed in. That is a reward? Stop talking as if you are a God Almighty, you fiend. She tried to crawl under the weight, glaring at the man who tried to bring her down: "Fuck... You..., You... Devil...", still as persistent as before even if being crushed by the foul arts of the monster.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Vanguard responded to Mordred's defiance with a rare laugh, unfazed by her disdain or futile struggle.
“Me? A devil? You have no idea just how right you are.” He chuckled, his body inert as the force kept pushing the woman further and further to the bottoms.

“I did not want to resort to this, but you really are giving me no choice. “

And as soon as he said that, the force that brought all to the depths ceased the crushing along with it. But Vanguard gave no time for relief, for as soon as it ceased, he kicked Mordred straight in the gut, sending her flying to a nearby thrash can with unparalleled force. Of course, he held back consciously, else her body would have been blown off to scrapes of flesh.

"This is the pinnacle of foolishness. You have nothing to gain from doing this aside nurturing a meaningless pride. You are pathetic, like a worm writhing and crawling to his death. Do you think that filth would suffer the same for the sake of a child like you? Foolishness, Mordred. Foolishness. The thrash you are surrounded with suits you. “ Said Vanguard, his voice cold and emotionless even has he belittled the woman.

“Even so, you struggle for the sake of one you consider a friend. No matter how misplaced, honor is to be respected and admired among all. The individual cannot understand your actions, but the knight commends your actions. You may be a foolish person, but you are indeed a valuable ally.“

[Umbra of Chaos]

Natara

As they slowed down and she was put down Natara sighed in relief. Her focused chanting ceased but she continued to hold The Chalice cautiously. Ignoring his question she said, "Your staff, it's different now. Show me it. It could be dangerous."

[YOLF]

Rachel Finnigan

"Damnit!"

With that expression of exasperation, Rachel rose from her aiming position, relocating hastily. Her gun clattered against her clothes at her side as she dashed to the another corner of the roof and skidded down to a crouch. She whipped her rifle back to an aiming position, scanning the streets through the scope to reestablish line of sight. Why did they have to run behind the buildings?

She ignored the mess continuing at the alleyway for now. Her irritation at the progressively out of control situation and her hesitation nonwithstanding, after an instant she managed to put a bead on her targets. 'Got you.'

"Shadowkhan!" She called out. A contingent of the shadowy ninjas appeared behind her at the command. If she had looked back, she would've noticed that some actually appeared quite shaken now. But that fact, and that a number of them had already been corrupted and split from her command, were meaningless to focus on. She wasn't going to let them get away like this. "On my mark, I will open fire. You will pile up on top of those two and seize them. Do not let the girl tilt, drop or spill the chalice. As soon as you're able pull her away and cloud your escape."

With professional speed, she adjusted the sights of her gun and secured her line of fire through the gaps in the buildings. She absent-mindedly praised herself for picking a vantage point that towered over most structures in the area, and considered the distance between her and her targets. It was long, but she wasn't aiming to kill. It would do.

"Mark!" She said, squeezing the trigger. Bursts of suppressed gunfire sprayed down, aimed at the feet and below the waist of her targets. She focused on the man, hoping to disable his legs rather than kill or overly wound cup girl. As she opened fire, the ninja oni behind her disappeared - and few seconds later appeared again on the streets, following Rachel's directions.


Sarse

The seraph of Destiny let Than'Sanel see about the mall, and waited with a small smile. He resolved to take his mind off the many distortions in the Symphony he could feel rippling in the distance - he couldn't reach or correct all of them on his own anyways, and his mood wasn't all that light at the moment - and instead more carefully check for the damage his bike had taken the previous day.

Something, however, called his attention before he could even begin. Something he had never seen the exact likes of before (which seemed to be happening a lot since arriving at this city). He heard a powerful, lively melody, humming with strength and life in turn, seeping into those around it. He lifted his gaze to see a woman, simple of vestments but athletic of build, precede Than'Sanel towards the mall. And the shaman's saprolings blooming at her presence, their own sound strengthened by hers as they cradled her amiably.

Sarse blinked at this. The woman was giving off enough primal power she might as well have been overflowing with essence. It did not in fact appear to be the case, and he couldn't match the resonance of her loud presence in the symphony to anything he already knew.

But then again, he'd already met Death of all things. So he would have liked to say it was going to take much more to surprise him now. But for now, seeing Than's reaction, the angel decided to simply wait and observe.

[Kat]

(thing with Time is retconed as per request of Puck, PM which I forwarded to a co-GM)

Gintoki

The authorities arrived at the site, collected bodies and taken survivors in. After Gintoki got patched up by medics and interrogated as a witness about what happened, he got released. His arm and leg bandaged, he decided to have some fresh air even if he really should stay in hospital bed instead of strolling around with a walking cane. After all, there was still a problem to solve. To find a place to stay. Living in a cardbox was not something he really looked forward to.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Lorenzo Remei

"Magic, huh?" Lorenzo chuckled, galopping like a horse along the street to find a clothes shop. Truth be told, he had no idea if he would find one.

"Well, it's a tad bit hard to put in words. You know, magic is a bit like the soul. Everyon ehas his own knick with it, and you can see that trough the magic itself. Looking at one's magic is in a way like looking at their souls you see?"