Cross Effects 3.0 - October 21, 2015—June 23, 2016

[Elf]

Forest

Forest folded her arms around herself and looked down.  Then she answered, "It's . . . I normally don't spending the night with people!  Ever.  Same with the day . . . And I don't have any of my stuff . . . And . . . "  She gestured absently and shook her head.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Sakagami Kenzo

Kenzo rolled his eyes and kept running, dashing past cars and red lights without a care, jumping off walls and roadblocks like he was skipping rope.

"Oh really?" He said nonchalantly, keeping at his teasing attitude. He didn't really care if she didn't want to or not, he had already decided he'd bring her and show her all his things. Not having any customers and sleeping alone with a pillow was starting to become annoying. If she was his friend, she shouldn't have a problem with spending some time with him.

"Well, we'll get your things another time. Okay?" He said with a bright smile, carrying her along as he flashed trough the streets like, well, the flash. Only slower. And without a silly costume.

[Elf]

Forest

Forest looked around, having to respect Kenzo's mad parkor skills as they bounded the city.  The city was a blur around them, flashing lights, sounds and smells.  With the light pouring down on them she felt her head spin.

She swallowed and pushed a lock of her hair back from her face.  A knot started to form in her stomach; she was helpless.  He was apparently stronger and faster than her, and he could have her before she could even draw her gun out.  He could take her wherever he wanted and she couldn't do anything.

In her mind she could see Gabriel, Wynn, Ash, and even Hawk lecturing her about sometimes helping others wasn't the right thing to do.

What was probably worse, Kenzo didn't realize the connotations of what he was doing. 

He smiled brightly and said, "Well, we'll get your things another time. Okay?"

"Okay," she said in a small voice with a nod, before frowning.  Great, now I might have to form an escape plan that's going to epically fail. Bugger it all, why do I keep rolling Ones?

[Kat]

Noel

“Oh, um... They don’t really have, how do I put it, any real criteria as far as I know. As long as you can fight they’ll let you in, basically.” Noel said. “And it’s my fault for mistaking her, although the resemblance is scary...”

Mordred

Fight she could, but Mordred was worried about such requirements. If Elites had access to confidential information and they had people like Arthuria there, she would be concerned about them not leaking to the public. "Yeah, I kinda freaked out a bit myself when I saw Saber for the first time. I'm glad though we're not behaving the same. Honestly, I need you tell something.", she leaned closer to Noel and whispered so that nobody would heard them.

"You know Saber nonchalantly leaked me confidential information? In a public place. That's completely irresponsible. I'm not gonna talk about it, but somebody other could have taped us or record her in some way..." And in Mordred's mind that could have likely happened. "You're a friend of Henry? Please tell him about it when you meet him, he or his superiors should reprimand Saber for that."

Noriko

Of course, her pet didn't bother to conceal that arm made of shadows. No wonder why Mr. Armor scrutinized her, that could be odd even for a walking armor like him. It didn't escape her notice that the woman glanced back at the group. Was that because of Seras or for different reason?

"Thanks, I'll tell Vanguard that you agreed." An odd name fitting an odd looking person.

[Kaze]

EMIYA SHIROU

Shirou tensed and tried to pull away when the boy took one arm and placed it over his shoulders, allowing the archer to rest his weight against him. It didn’t do any good, he was exhausted and the boy seemed very strong for someone so young. Shirou hesitated for a moment, then gave a resigned sigh. It grated on him that he was the one who needed help, especially after having failed so utterly, but the reality was making his way across the Nexus at night in his current condition was dangerous.

“Okay,” he said in his accented english. “This way.”

*****

It felt like a very long time before Shirou and Adjutor arrived at the very abandoned looking building the freelance magus was currently squatting. He was exhausted, sore, and feeling sluggish. The almost constant stress of the past 24 hours had taken a severe toll, and now it was all catching up to him. It took all his concentration to put one foot in front of another, even with this unknown kid helping support his weight. Shirou wasn’t sure how much he could trust him, but he was grateful all the same.

“This is it,” the archer managed to grate out, moving to one of the low, boarded up windows. With considerable effort, he pulled two of the boards out of place, being much less secure than they appeared, and stepped through the opening.


AKIHOLARME

Aki hadn’t seen the man’s massive axe until he moved, but she wondered why she hadn’t noticed it before. The light from the pillar seemed to dance around it, beautiful and terrifying. Her features crumpled into a scowl beneath her dark helm at his threat and her hand moved to the hilt of her ancient sword while her grip on Spellbreaker tightened.

“How about you just answer the damn question instead of threatening people,” she said, taking a step forward in a clearly aggressive stance. “Unless you prefer I just beat it out of you.” Truthfully, that option wasn’t unappealing. If it came to blows, she could probably loot that sexy looking axe off of him. Still, she wasn’t going to attack without provocation, despite her words. Even if it was tempting.


KOTOMINE KIREI

Something blurred in the edge of the priest’s vision, but he paid it no mind as he wound up to slaughter the helpless mage before him. His fist swung out to deliver the final blow - and his arm was suddenly blown from his body. In a burst of unbelievable speed, the redheaded woman had dashed up to, past, and through his right shoulder, completely severing the limb in the instant it took for his strike to build up momentum. The arm flopped to the ground, where it lay useless. Kotomine had to take a step backward to re-stabilize himself, and by then the mage had pulled off some spell that almost instantly burned through the hand and wrist holding her aloft, who promptly collapsed to the ground in a heap, struggling to breathe.

The staff-guy came down hard from above, but the blow failed to inflict any noticeable damage. He just didn’t have enough mass to perform an effective air strike on him. Kotomine whirled about, the promise of death showing on his face, only to be replaced by a surprised expression when he saw Roxas’ charged keyblades aiming at him.

The blast of light blew through most of his face, leaving it a searing wreck of burned flesh. The damage was clearly lethal. Patience and the advantage of surprise had served the keyblade wielder well. The priest’s body stood there, unmoving, as though he had yet to realize that he had died.

Probably because he hadn’t. The same black substance that had covered the building previously oozed out of the wounds, replacing the parts that had been blown away. The darkness congealed, solidifying into a new arm and a new face before assuming the same color as his skin. Within seconds, the damage that had been dealt to him was undone. Even his clothes were pristine.

This isn’t worth it.

Kotomine judged that he could still kill them despite their unforeseen tenacity, but it wouldn’t be nearly worth the effort required. It burned to have even this tiny victory denied to him. He wanted to slaughter them, to strike them down and prove his dominance, but he had learned from hard experience to listen to his gut when it told him to cut his losses and beat it. Giving the troublesome group one last hateful glare, he turned and sprinted through the large field away from the battle, taking a few seconds to accelerate to full speed.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Sir Pent

Standing guard on the floor above, one of the six cavaliers, sworn protectors of the castle and its guests, honourable knights of the red branch table, observed that the castle gates had been opened. Someone was taking his leave so soon?

His majesty Tohuw would be most displeased if any harm was inflicted on a guest, at the very least the knight ought to make sure all was well. So he opened the window spectacularly and leapt, flipping mid air in a fantastic fashion, spinning like a graceful ballerina before landing right before the front door in a kneeling bow.

“Leaving so soon? Is anything wrong milady?”

[yinsukin]

Medaka Kurokami

Medaka was just about to walk through the open door, when she heard the sound of a window opening.  She turned around, only to see a knight like figure flipping through the air.  He landed just in front of her in an admirably spectacular fashion.

“Leaving so soon? Is anything wrong milady?”  He said, bowing.

The knight most likely belonged to the white haired woman who owned the castle.  Considering both how hospitable she was and the fact that she saved her life, Medaka at least owed her a reason for leaving.

"I am looking for my friend.  He seemed to be bothered by that strange white sun and im not sure if he can survive in this city alone.  Please, give your master my regards."  Medaka said in a formal tone.  She was being honest but vague.  She didn't want the white haired woman worrying about her.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Sir Conference

I see... she wishes to find the master.

Normally, the knight would've had to discourage such a decision. His duty was explicitly to keep his master's identity secret and to protect his toys in his absence. However, he knew he would hardly be able to stop her. Knowing that, it would be preferable if Tohuw dealt with this matter himself, rather than to expose her to needless danger.

"Very well. However, my duty is to make sure my master's friends are satisfied, safe and well. If possible, allow me to assist you. I believe you are aware of how dangerous the city can be for those who wander alone."

[Panda]

Adjutor

As the man led them home, the teen found himself unable to help but stare at the place. Desolate, dilapidated, and most certainly abandoned, the condemned building stood like a raggedy shadow of the more functional buildings they'd passed on the way here. His back throbbed as he looked upon the place, Adjutor unable to help a grimace as they drew near.

...He's probably keeping it at least somewhat well maintained on the inside, right?

Chances are decent. It would actually be a pretty smart move. Who the hell is going to check some dilapidated building that looks like it could possibly fall over in a strong breeze?

Then they entered the building, and the teen's mouth dropped open in horror. Indeed, the inside of the building matched the outside perfectly. Dusty, dilapidated, destitute, with holes in the walls and carved into harshly enough for rebar to be visible, like bone beneath rended flesh. In fact, there seemed to be patches of the building that were actually rotting.

Adjutor looked around, horrified, before looking at the man.

How in the Pantheon's many realms is he still alive?!

...I honestly wish I knew.

"...How do you even live here?" the teen asked, a tiny bit shocked, "I can honestly say I'd feel safer camping out in the wilds back home. At least there, all I had to worry about were the various nocturnal predators, not my very shelter collapsing around me and burying me alive."

Looking around one last time, Adjutor sighed and closed up the entry-way behind him.

"I'm sorry, but this is insane," the teen stated, "Do you really have nowhere at least a little bit safer to stay? At least somewhere where you don't have to worry about the roof collapsing on your head."


Seras

Seras raised an eyebrow at him, looking at Vanguard quizzically before realizing that the shadows were hanging around her.

"Oh, this?" Seras asked, waving the shadows around before they coalesced into an inky black arm with a few tendrils floating lazily about it, "I...honestly don't know. I lost an arm some time ago, and then this just appeared in its place. I can manipulate it, as you saw, but...yeah. Not much else to say, really."

[yinsukin]

Medaka Kurokami

Medaka bowed politely to the knight.  "I will be more than happy to accept your company brave knight.  May I ask your name?"

[Thedoctor]

Shinobu

She watched keeping her gaze locked on the hallway as the robots got cut into pieces both vertically and horizontally by what appeared to be some slicing force. She walked a bit closer to the hallway and looked into the darkness focusing her vision as much as she could.

"Tenma, you have those googles right?, can you use them?" she asked the scientist. "To me it looked like some blade cut them apart, maybe you will have better luck seeing it".

[Kotomine_Rin]

Hyoudo Tenma

Tenma frowned at the pathetically easy destruction of her drones. Judging from the neat, clean and distinguished angles of the cuts cleaved trough her CATs, the hallways could be either filled with laser nets or am absurdly sharp wire. Maybe both. At this point, Tenma knew better than to expect something normal out of this place.

Silently, she pressed a button on her glasses, flipping trough her heat vision, night vision and X-ray vision modes to try and see what was going on in those two hallways.

Not good...

[Knick]

Crest

Watching as the girl dried herself out with the towel around herself and begin to gather her clothing, "In the other room, not here." There was to little space, and she was far to calm for his liking, he would need more space if she tried something.

So as she walked out of the bathroom to get dressed, Crest moved to stand up. As he did however the world spun, and he staggered a bit before regaining his balance. It was quiet, and there was no way the girl would have noticed.  He blinked twice, before shaking his head a bit and taking a drink of water from his wine skin.

He then followed the girl and found a place to sit while she got dressed. “You’re going to answer some of my questions.” He told her, his eyes hard as his ribbons continued to dance around him in those alien patterns. “First things first, this city, tell me, where is it most densely populated, where are guard’s centered, and a place to draw fresh water and find food?”

Need to get his priorities down first.

Suiren

More

Her body crackled with energy as the earth began to groan. The power surged though her body.

More!

And then she took a space forward, and in an instant she was next to Aisha. Her hand swung upward, and with it Aisha was launched into the air. And then Suiren jumped. As Aisha reached the peak of her arc, her body already restored, Suiren appeared at her side, and then struck downward. Aisha flew like a bullet towards the ground, and Suiren began to fall, collecting the golden light from the air around her.

And so she fell, and as she landed on Aisha she struck again, “Falling Heaven”, and the earth shattered yet again, Aisha’s body exploded, bone, blood and flesh flying over the crater. And Suiren stood there, looking down.

Roger’s Theater

After the boy and his separated, Just heard a sound. Trumpeting music with a blazing, energetic, rhythm. Immediately his posture changed, his face hardened as his attention was focused to his senses, his eyes locked on the front entrance, and then they entered. A man, an oddly dressed man, and behind him walked many pale and lifeless humanoid beings, dolls directed by some force.

Just’s eyes narrowed. A group coming in force… he would give them one chance and one chance only. “You.” He pointed his spear at them as he lowered himself into a ready stance, “You have until I count to ten to leave.”

And without waiting for a response be began, “Ten. Nine. Eight…”

Matou Construction Site

“Very well.” He stomped forward, his body facing her from the side, and then he began to spin his axe in his hand, turning to a vortex of death. And then it stopped, sending dust flying away from him with the force.

His stance was strong, one of his hands remained opened and it pointed towards his opponent from his side, his legs were spread increasing his stability, and his axe was held in his right hand behind him, close to the axe blade, the shaft against his arm.

"Come!” He declared.

Viper’s Den

As the woman flipped her goggles to night vision something was revealed, if she looked close enough, but it was difficult though the slightly pixilated image given by the goggles.

Wire. There were wires filling the halls. No so densely packed that it would be obvious, but they could definitely be seen, some potentially not as obvious. In addition the hallways seemed to hit a T-turn not far from the entrance to the halls, both turning towards the same direction, one having turns at the end, and leading to additional paths.

When combined with the small nature of the halls, it was obvious both halls were dangerous, especially for a large ground and if there were additional hidden traps, no matter which way they went.

[Kotomine_Rin]

If you smelelelelel, look at the tongue, what the Toe! Is cooking!

The man standing before the other, pink haired one was quite callous to say the least. Few had the audacity to bear a spear before his image. If it wasn't so utterly stupid, he would be applauding this display of bravado.

The Toe immediately reacted, giving the man a shocked look and raising his hands in surrender, clearly unsettled by the situation.

"Hey, hey, hey! Slow down there buddy, I'm not here to fight or anything. I just came to perform! Tonight's my big show, so take it easy okay?" He said with a sincere tone.

With that, he walked up to him and handed him a front row ticket to what seemed to be a play. Beware Of Those Who Use An Umbrella On A Sunny Day!: The musical by T The ticket itself looked authentic, quite elaborately decorated too with a deep blue color and golden trimming.

"See?"

In the meanwhile, the balloons continued to float high up the city, aimlessly. Like balloons.

[Fel]

Kihara Kagun

"Nngh..." the man moans as he slowly opens his eyes. His eyelids feel heavy and yet his heart feels even heavier. Upon opening his eyes he at first could not understand what is going on. He looks around and concludes that he is in a bedroom, lying on top of a bed. It was quite a soft bed, really.

The man looks down at his own body. He is bandaged and for the most part no longer feels the prickling pain of his wounds. The arm that was missing is still missing however.

"Seems like I failed..." he mutters under his own breath. "Was hoping to die like that simply too greedy? Was I simply running away from my sins? Is this a message from the heavens..." Kagun thinks to himself with a solemn look of disappointment in his eyes.

"A message from the heavens" is an uncharacteristic thought for a man of science to have. And truly the old Kagun would never even have considered something as foolish as that. But even if that thought raced through his mind for a moment, a Kihara is still a Kihara, and as such he dismissed the unscientific idea of a message from the heavens.

"No. My survival is just a coincidence," he reasons.

He then simply lays there for a moment, thinking about what to do now that his perfect revenge had failed. To live, or to still attempt carrying it out? And he arrives at his conclusion, "No. My death has no meaning if it's not by the hands of Kihara Byouri. And said Kihara Byouri is now dead, killed by my own hands. As such, the only choice I have left is to move on and survive." Much like how he decided to extract his revenge, he arrived the the answer of abandoning it in a very similar fashion. He calmly, mechanically, and coldly analysed the situation, everything that had happened, and everything that his choice will affect, to, in only a few second, make a decision that will determine whether he lives or dies.

And just like that he chose to live. He then proceeds to move on and determine the actions that give him the best chance of survival. He concludes that he has recovered enough to move, and that he must move, in order to get a hold of his current location, and to have an idea as to what is going on and who had healed him.

Kagun gets up from the bed, slowly and quietly approaches the door, opens it slightly and peeks through the crack to see if anyone is there. And there was nobody to be found, as such he moves into the wide hallway, and begins quietly and yet quickly walking through the corridor, whilst sticking close to a wall. Whilst walking he eventually hears the sounds of people talking. In the situation Kagun found himself in, people could be dangerous and hostile, but they are most definitely the best source of information imaginable.

He slowly approaches the sound, arrives next to the source, and stick close to the wall. He then makes the final decision, and decides to peek around the corner. What he sees there is a group of people, a group that is not quite big, not quite small. And he does not move out from behind the corner he is sticking to. He simply listens to the conversation that all those in the group seem to be participating in.