Cross Effects > Areas

The Slums

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YOLF:
Justice

"I'll obviously look, but I suspect I won't care for the details," he said, slumping. Which only made him look slightly less built like an impressive statue, as opposed to not at all. "Suerte, do you want to do the honors?"

yinsukin:
Suerte

"Yaaaaay!  Destruction!" she cheered, a beaming smile on her face.

For a moment she glanced at the guns she was holding, then at the toned body she had crafted but never really used except for parkour and lifting.  She could just blow up the door, or.... The guns were holstered back on her belt. A hand grabbed hold of the hinges and ripped it off like a kid tearing through a Christmas present.  The door split in half midway through, pieces of it flying in every direction.

"Yeeeesssss!"

Kotomine_Rin:
A-702

The door blasted wide open, and of course Spidey posed cooly in the back. That's when  they saw the room filled with monitors and recordings. Tapes, data and more. So this was the end huh? End of the line.

That's when they heard the banging. Wait, no way, this had to be a mistake.

There was an ominous feeling in the air. It couldn't be.


C-9K9

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

A monstrous creature blared its fangs at the trio its one eye wide open as if to burn them to death with all its hate. The moment the lights flickered in the data room, Spidey's eyes sparked and he basically dashed and hopped straight forward.

"GAAAAARRRRRRRRRGHHH!!!" The creature also charged forward with its fangs bared to slash and gnaw at them. However.

SLAM!!

Spidey smacked straight on the protected glass pane, flattening his mug over it. The creature also bumped against it. It looked like it was trapped in a giant glass tube, floating and unable to get out. The dazed spider shook his head and looked at the monster like it was an old friend and grinned from ear to ear like an idiot.

"Chop!? Where the hell have you been?" With a full combo slash of his strings, the glass was ripped apart, and he hugged the giant vicious ball of eyes and teeth with all his heart. The one-eyed monster also grinned, its entire existence smelling like death and destruction.

"Jesus, you've got fat! C'mere good girl! Oh, that's right, you love dem scritchy scratches huh? Huh? Ohoooo! Goochie goochie goochie!"

Suerte and Justice would never believe it. This night of terror all lead to something like this!? This was a story you couldn't spin even to your grandkids. It was utterly surreal. But A-702 was so happy, you couldn't believe it. Tears streamed from his face, and he just laughed. "She's here! She was okay! We can get her out safely now! Big sis! Big sis!"

Then, the monster slipped out of the hug and cheerily went up to Suerte and Justice, slobbering them wet with big loving licks. Justice's grace reacted harshly at the sight of it, sending Justice a signal at the back of his head. But his senses would tell him clear as day, this creature wasn't malicious. This was just a reunion between siblings. Yet it felt strange, it hadn't reacted like this before. Were they connected somehow?


A-702

"Oh man, so that's where they kept you!? I'm a dumbass. All this time... if I just had the guts to pick this door over the other one..." He sniffled and grinned. Wait, there was another door?

"It has been a while since I had a visitor. I am quite thrilled."

But a familiar voice suddenly cut the reunion. It cleaved it like a knife, mocking this reunion too. Wait, no. It was too familiar. It sounded... exactly like something they heard before.

"Let us see how suitable you are."

"The reasons or context behind the attack are still a mystery to us, I am afraid we cannot divulge information that we lack. However, we may ask any other question. Please, do as you may. Who we are, where you are, and our activities. Those will surely be relevant in your investigation."

"Excellent. Most excellent. Your performance is befitting of an A-series class model. If you keep this up, you might just be able to rival our Z-class models."

A smaller screen showed the same flashing images as before, but they ran through a loop.

The boss was just a recording. There hadn't been a boss in this place since the old days. This whole organization... ran on a fucking recording. It was created for a purpose, but no one was there to even remember it.  This whole organization's original purpose has long been forgotten and, and they simply continued the same experiments over and over because it would otherwise be irrelevant if it went to waste. No one had ever seen or interacted with the boss face to face. Just following orders blindly...

It had brought this entire branch to ruin.

"Thanks. Now, this nightmare's finally over. We... are the last models. The Vanguard project's done. Even if they wanted to, there's no way they'd be able to get kids like us to fight their battles. The organization is finished."

The monster looked straight at Suerte. After all these years, it had finally found love.

"Care for some sushi? It's on me."

Umbra of Chaos:
Mai

6:00 AM Nexus Time

This is a morning in the life of Mai. She opens her eyes, as restless as ever from an eight hour meditation session. She rarely sleeps anymore, as things more real than dreams await her in her unconsciousness. She makes sure not to rub the bags under her eyes. She has been told that makes them more pronounced. She spends the first few minutes head bowed in prayer, and she begs forgiveness from the gods for the sin of kinslaying. The memories are fresh but her eyes are dry.

She asks forgiveness for that as well.

Mai dresses herself, she combs her hair, and then she goes out to beg. She could make great profit with a sword. If she sold her skills like a common mercenary, she could undoubtedly make her fair share in bounties. But she will never raise her sword for the sake of profit.

The Demon is quiet this morning, even if her hands are never far from her sword. She seats herself upon the concrete and leaves her bowl out in front of her, and the infrequent generosity of strangers sometimes seems it filled with the occasional coin or bill. She ignores the gnawing of her stomach, the pain of a weakened body.

Mai does not relish in pain, but she has come to acknowledge it as deserving.

But today, there is a disturbance. She raises her hands to her mouth and breathes a puff of warm air over them. Except, they do not feel cold. She flexes her fingers and feels the distinct warm of the rising sun, almost confused. Then the mildest shiver traces its way through her body. She exhales harshly, and even though it is as pleasant as any other day she sees it distinctly in the air as if it was winter. There is a chill in this place, even if it was not physical. A cold that branches out from the soul.

If it was her, then Mai was sure that it would be simple to identify exactly what the source was. She was always more sensitive to such things after all. But Mai has no choice to awkwardly fumble her way though such a world, her eyes darting back and forth until the source revealed itself.

He was taller than her, for one. Black hair fell past his shoulders and a strip of white ice seemed to sparsely span his face. Then there were his clothes, finely stitched, and the way he carried himself. He was certainly no demon, no. But he was certainly more than human. Some sort of spirit, or youkai, or god. Still, if it was only that then there was no reason to be concerned. Then she notices his cold, blue eyes looking at her. Not generally, not curiously, but with an intensity and focus that has her hand ache for her sword. But why is he--

Her sword is already in her hand. She can taste the coppery flavor of blood in her mouth, so thick as if to be overflowing, even though she has not even bit her own tongue. The anticipation, the curdling bloodlust, the silhouette of a phantom limb restlessly rising from her back. Mai is suddenly aware of it, all at once. The one thing she had refused to recognize but was drawn to. The fact she could not shake from her mind now. He was wielding a sword.

What an embarrassing display.

She sinks then, as if deflating. Her sword clatters to the ground next to her and she resumes her sitting position. Her eyes shut, and her focus returns to meditative exercises and harsh discipline. And, the faint hope that the stranger will not investigate her actions.

YOLF:
Lubei

His first mission from the Seraph begins at the crack of dawn, and Lubei does not have illusions it will be pleasant. He and the escorts provided by his... friend, do not speak between themselves, no more than necessary to confer the operation. If the lack of rest was making him sullen, then he was allowed that indignity without remark. Lubei can't say the same for the suspicion that Ivanna's troops scream at his back with their eyes, or even at his face when they think he's not paying attention.

He doesn't need an excuse, but he finds a reason to make himself scarce anyway, once they have begun in earnest. They have the supplies and they know how to distribute them, but he's the only one familiar with Uria's creatures, so he'll go on patrol for their presence and send any streetdwellers left in the ravaged area towards the nuns. The search is as fruitless as expected. There are no new bodies to mourn, but the few lives that remain here will not leave their shelters or homes for him. Lubei wouldn't either, not willingly, so there is need to grease the wheels... he's still an invader, and this is much like conquest.

But rather than countless soldiers, the faces of the few stick longer to memory.

He notices her before he hears the sword ringing as it falls, but then he sees her. The figure tries to seem small, but there are things that can't be missed once they are within reach. The cold is homely to the demon king, but a chill touches his spine for an instant, and he searches for what it was.

Her hands are calloused, the fingers worn as far as the knuckle from training. Her posture betrays years of being forced into formality even in slumping. The features she carries bring to mind the people of Dongying - there is no Dongying here, no more than there is Shenzhou, but individuals of all colors and shapes frolick easily in the Nexus, Ivanna said. Lubei's gaze comes to rest on a perfectly mundane sword, but Three Poisons suddenly hums in his sheathe. His arm itches to grab the hilt of the sabre, but something hazy in his nerves warns him not to. Lubei knows better than to defy himself outright.

"Come with me," he says, out of his mouth with conviction before he can take it back. His boots cover the distance between them with soft crunches on the cement and trash of the street, until he is properly a swordspan away, much more vivid than seconds before. "You look in need of alms. Some have come to provide, and more besides."

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