Cross Effects 3.0 - April 13, 2015—June 23, 2016

[theunknownhero]

Shirou (HF)

With the other me all healed up it looks, everyone's ready to head home. As soon as Sakura lets the other me go, he goes on his way to complete his mission, what ever it is.
As for me, all that's left is the see what home is here life and live out my life with Sakura. I then look at Sakura and ask her.

"So, shall we head home now, Tohsaka and I still need to see the place."

[Kaze]

KARIN ZARAZA

The brunette’s hands twitched, then gripped at the broken stone beneath her, crushing it. Her eyes opened, and the pained expression left her face. The burned flesh sloughed away, to reveal pristine new skin. She got onto her hands and knees, shaking slightly, and then slowly stood to her feet. She stared at Vanguard with a flat, blank expression utterly devoid of emotion. This was no longer about being angry. Thing thing was too dangerous and disruptive to be allowed to continue existing.

She only needed one more strike.

Taking a step forward, Karin smashed her fist through the robot’s melting plate armor. It was hot, it burned. It was nothing.

One moment Vanguard was standing upright, the next it was in pieces. It’s body literally exploded in a flash of something black and unnatural. Shards of twisted, broken metal flew about the park, but somehow left Karin untouched. All that was left was her standing there, over the remains of her shattered enemy, victorious.

But there was no prize for this victory, nothing to be gained. Her quarry had escaped, and tracking Mordred would be all but impossible now.

She could feel rage bubbling within her, but there was no point in being angry now. With an agitated click of her tongue, she walked over to Brian’s limp form and carelessly threw him over her shoulder, before striding out of the devastated plaza.

[yinsukin]

Medaka

As Lorenzo embraced Medaka, she wrapped her hands around him.

"Don't worry.  As long as we are in this city, I will not leave your side.  You still owe me a proper trip around the city after all."  She said, still speaking in a soft tender voice.

Just then, she noticed a person watching from the distance.  Thinking back, she thought she heard someone calling out to Lorenzo.  This is likely a friend not a foe.

"Excuse me?  Can you please come out?  I don't want to fight."  She shouted, being sure to keep her voice friendly.

[SINIB]

Dr. Faustus

Faust ignored the irrelevant shenanigans going on in front of him-Sakura had fallen asleep, the brown Shirou was going to leave—what happened in the intervening time was utterly meaningless to him. He was busy anyway, not that it affected how much attention he was giving to the situation in front of him. He had been paying attention to a large gathering of prana in the sky nearby—something seemed familiar about it, like he knew it somehow. . .

Suddenly it clicked. It had the same feeling as the that armor that had appeared in the basement earlier had. He felt the massive gathering discharge in what he presumed was an ultimate attack of some sort. He’d been curious what he’d been up to since the demon had been destroyed, and he suspected he may need help. To do something of that magnitude was no mean feat, and as such he could potentially be a valuable asset after all. He cleared his throat loudly, “Excuse me, but I need to attend to something right now. Rider, make sure you get Rin, Sakura and Shirou home safely. If I’m not back before you leave, I’ll meet you at the house.” He said, putting emphasis on his words to give off a strong subtext that said ‘don’t mess this up.’ He opened up his coat, releasing a gigantic black crow that he leapt upon, flying off to find out what had taken place where Vanguard remained.

[SINIB]

Irisviel

Irisviel was slightly surprised. She wants to hear what he’s going to say as well? I guess there’s nothing wrong with it, but...

“I—guess there’s nothing wrong with it. . . Now with me, anyway—Tow- er, do you have a problem with this?” She asked him. It could be a negotiation for a magical contract or who knows what else, only he knew if it was appropriate for Sakura to attend.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Vanguard

Magnificent. Simply magnificent. Even despite having witnessed his mightiest blow, that nameless woman had endured. He was to blame, not expecting her to possess that regeneration of hers. Because of that, he could not avoid her powerful blow, and his vessel was obliterated.

Still, even now he couldn't help but find some humor in this situation. Was he not in such wailing agony, the warrior (or what little remained of him) would have laughed at the sheer irony. It was not her who was looking down, but he. From the very start, he expected her to be weaker than him, expected her to be but common rabble. But that conception had been shattered by that nameless woman.

She was a formidable opponent, despite her twisted being. In a way, to not go all out had been improper in the face of an opponent who deserved his fullest attention. Yet he had underestimated her own abilities, not unlike how she underestimated his own. Looking at things from that perspective, they had not been so different to begin with.

That was why he lost. And it was because of that that she managed to get trough and vanquish him. It was truly humorous, but he could not spare any laughter. The one thing left of him was the burning helmet of his, facing down. The warrior emitted no sound, not even a grunt escaped him. The pain was unbearable, but compared to the shame he felt it was nothing. Yes, shame, for he had taken lightly an opponent of utmost magnificence.

Even so, he also felt a tint of anger at this predicament. No, anger was not the appropriate term. It was more akin to annoyance. After all, he was acting with the intention to ease her burden. To be taken advantage of in such a fashion was not something he took to heart. But he digressed. After all, he had no heart to begin with.

Besides, now was not the time to bear regret or to complain. He had lost and she had won, it was as simple as that. Nearing closer and closer his eventual destruction, Vanguard could only agonize alone, powerless. And there was nothing he could do to prevent that. Truth be told it was not unlike that day.

A shame, he still didn’t find his answer.

His senses were slowly fading away, one by one. He couldn’t see anything, nor could he hear a thing. It was clear that his end was obscenely near, for even the capacity to think was beginning to leave him. Even so, he struggled silently in order to maintain himself present, fighting existence itself which tried to deny him.  He had no intention to perish, not before he gained what he needed to gain, not until he saw what he needed to see and not before he understood.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Tohuw Balagan

“Not at all. It makes it much easier as a matter of fact.” Said the demon with a frank smile. Rising, he waved his hat gracefully and as if it was slipping away, it vanished.

“Lead the way.”

[Arch-Magos Winter]

Emily

Her task completed, Emily allowed a moment to catch her breath before collecting herself and straightening up to face Abby.

"Last time I checked, it's rather difficult to check for broken ribs without touching someone," Emily pointed out, "Unless, of course, you happen have an X-ray or, in this case, are willing to strip the injured person down in public."

With that, she allowed a grin, "That aside, I must admit to finding it amusing that that was the first thing you thought of."

Emily cut herself off there, deigning to not fire the final verbal shot. For now, at least.

Archer held his tongue as well, starting to size up Mordred as an opponent. In his weakened state even someone not too much weaker than him could possibly be a heavy threat for him.

She's totally a muff diver.

Which one?

All three.

Bullshit. Abby isn't.

Probably swings both ways hard.

Law cleared his throat. "Well, um, if you needed to do that there's you know, changing rooms behind me. Yeah." The 'I hope you decide not to' was left unsaid. He wasn't sure what exactly to think about all this crazy shit going on.

[Cherry Lover]

Sakura

Sakura smiled as the two of them agreed to allow her to listen in.

"Thank you", she said as she followed after Irisviel. "An explaination of your situation would make things much easier, Togan".

[Cherry Lover]

Rider

Rider continued to hold Sakura, watching as she complained loudly at Shirou's attempts to remove her from him, only holding on to him even more tightly. Rin came over and attempted to persuade her to let go, but she was clearly not listening.

Clearly irritated that Sakura simply would not let go of him, Shirou removed his coat and, then, pushed Sakura's arms up and off his body. Rider held on to her, preventing her dropping, as he took hold of her legs and pulled them away, freeing himself and leaving Sakura grasping onto his coat. Rider laid her master down over her arms, one arm supporting her back and the other supporting her knees as the Shirou she had been holding walked to the edge of the building and jumped off, not even attempting to regain possession of the coat from the sleeping girl.

Then, the Shirou approached the sleeping Sakura.

"So, shall we head home now, Tohsaka and I still need to see the place", he said, causing Rider to give him a perplexed look, as if to say 'she's asleep, idiot, she's not going to hear you'.

OK, well, I guess we'll need to go back now, she thought. Taking all three of them will be difficult, though.

She turned to Faust to discuss how best to get back but, before she could say anything, he addressed her.

“Excuse me, but I need to attend to something right now. Rider, make sure you get Rin, Sakura and Shirou home safely. If I’m not back before you leave, I’ll meet you at the house", he said, the emphasis on his words , before leaping onto a giant black crow that he had created.

Rider glared at him, annoyed at the way he had treated her as if she was too incompetent to manage such a simple task.

"I'm not an idiot", she said in response as he flew away.

Still, she wasn't entirely sure what the best method was. It would be difficult to safely transport four people on Pegasus, but Sakura was tired and needed to sleep, and Rin was obviously cold and needed warmth.

"Rin, Shirou, do you two think you can keep hold of me if we travel on Pegasus? I will carry Sakura", she said.

She probably could get them all on, but she needed to be sure the two of them could keep hold of her, since she could not do much whilst she was holding the sleeping Sakura.

[Knick]

Crest

‘Like a rabbit indeed’ Crest thought has he looked at the girl, Rebeca, as she held the gem close to her chest. Then he switched his attention to Aki and followed her in, he looked around.

People in light clothing, not at all suited for the weather at hand, missing the bags he saw other bring into this place. He could smell the sweet and fell the warmth of the building.

And so he got an idea. Walking up to Aki he gave her a pat on the back, “Come on, let’s give it a chance. You might learn something.” Giving her a grin he looked at the man behind the desk.

“So, unarmed only? Do you got a place we can put our stuff then?” Crest asked.

The man looked at him, sizing him up for a moment, “Ya, changing rooms and lockers over there. First day is free, like a trial run.” He explained while pointing to a different part of the building. “We will even supply ya with gloves and gear if ya need it.”

[Milbunk]

Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald

There was no way he could avoid the blow, he was too busy with his casting to even dodge, all he could do was take the full brunt of the strike which caused his body to fly towards the opposite end of the hallway.

Bracing for impact Kayneth coughed out his lungs as the reinforced coat to the brunt of the force and he fell to the ground.

'The reaction was positive, it seems this course of action has angered the beast, more action may prove to be effective.'

The breath struggled to come to his lips, but eventually the words poured from his mouth.

"Pestem, Pestem! PESTEM!"

His hands were glowing a sickly dark purple as his hands dug into the floor, his crest screamed in pain and his body burned, but he continued to shove magical energy into the ground, the curse of decay would destroy this beast. This was his best chance.

[Kat]

Mordred

"Gah, I'm don't need a changing room or anything right now! There are more important things to take care of!" she verbally lashed out, remembering that she had to warn everyone about the new threat. She had little patience right now for them joking around. "If Emily haven't warned you, I will. There is someone really strong hunting down people like me and Emily. Someone I'm convinced I cannot take down myself. Not the current me, at least. Are you sure nobody is observing whatever building we are in?"

Rikuyo

Before Natara turned her back on others, Rikuyo glimples the Chalice. She didn't know why, but just from witnessing the accursed things feelings of anger and regret welled up in her. But why she was angry? Why she had regrets? Jumbled memories flowed to her mind, memories that were not something she truly experienced, yet were hers. As if the aura of primordial evil that the cup exuded brought some kind of ancestral memory to the fore.



A stone. Blood sinking into the ground. What *** have done.

The example set. The firstborn judge their father. A sundered world.

The 'vision' stopped there. She didn't really understand or recognize what she have 'seen' but like in a trance, she felt impulse to destroy the thing Natara carried, as if it could have be sort of repentance for something.  She dropped the boy to the ground, from enough low height though that nothing could have happened to him. Taking few steps towards Natara, she paused, regaining a semblance control over herself. Glaring at Natara, she said:

"I don't know who you are, but get the hell out of here. Or I lose it and destroy that thing along with you!"

She didn't feel an impulse to kill Natara herself, but if she acted on her urge to destroy the cup she wouldn't care if the girl was in her way.

[Elf]

Rin

Rin watched as Calico Shirou shimmied out of his coat, revealing what was literally Archer's outfit without the red coat and tail.  Suddenly it felt as if her heart was in her throat and her blood was roaring in her ears.  She wanted to go after him, wanted to yell at him, wanted to hug him, wanted to thank him, and then wanted to make sure that he would be okay.  That his life wouldn't end up like her Archer's.

Instead, just like her former Servant, he attempted to hide the fact he was freezing, and jumped off the roof.  Automatically her eyes went to the coat in Sakura's sleeping hands and she walked over to it.  Her hand swept over the collar and she was delighted to easily find one snow white hair and one brilliant ginger one.  Securing them in a handkerchief in her pocket, she slid her precious bundle into one of the satchels she had a few gems stored in.

Then Caster generated a giant crow that he flew away on, telling Rider to not be an idiot and to take them home.

Rider said to them,"Rin, Shirou, do you two think you can keep hold of me if we travel on Pegasus? I will carry Sakura."

"Are you crazy?  You're just going to use your Noble Phantasm in full view of a city?  You know what sort of panic that will cause?  I mean, Caster flying off on a giant bird is troublesome enough, but I want to think he's at least going to use a cloaking spell or glamor to keep from being noticed?  Not to mention if the Association finds out about it we'll be in some big trouble, and you don't even want to know what they'll do to Sakura once they find out about her," Rin said, running a hand through her rain dampened hair only to find parts of her hair were actually frozen.


Abigail

Abigail shrugged, looked at Emily and said, "I would have used a diagnostic and scanning spell before just feeling up someone to check if they're hurt or not."

Then she frowned at Mordred and said, "This is a store.  There's lots of people watching, not to mention Bondage Boy over here draws attention by existing.  Asian's aren't suppose to get that tall!"

[SINIB]

Sakura

Sakura felt the warm presence slip away from her, leaving her grasping at the cold void and whimpering. She wondered where it was going—why it was leaving her alone. She had curled up into a ball and closed her eyes, trying to keep the bad stuff away, when she heard Rider and Rin discussing—what are they discussing?

She groggily opened her eyes and looked around. Brown Senpai was nowhere to be found, but she found she was holding onto his scrunched up coat, which she quickly buried her face into. Please be ok please be ok pleasebeok! She fervently prayed before she was distracted by a loud outburst of Rin’s.

"Are you crazy?  You're just going to use your Noble Phantasm in full view of a city?  You know what sort of panic that will cause?  I mean, Caster flying off on a giant bird is troublesome enough, but I want to think he's at least going to use a cloaking spell or glamor to keep from being noticed?  Not to mention if the Association finds out about it we'll be in some big trouble, and you don't even want to know what they'll do to Sakura once they find out about her," Rin said.

Sakura shook her head at her sister. “Don’t be silly, there is no association here.” She brusquely told her sister. “This is the Nexus, we’re not on Earth anymore—nobody will care.” Sakura said while rubbing her eyes, still hanging from Rider’s firm grasp and not trying to get out of it. “And-ah-Faust. . . I doubt he’s cloaking anything, he really doesn’t like doing that.”