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

[Panda]

Annabeth

The Hunter allowed a faint smile as she felt Ron calming down under her fingers, continuing to scratch him behind the ears. Looking around to make sure nobody was paying any particular mind, Annabeth felt something lapping at her fingers, the sensation drawing a giggle from her as she looked down to find Ron lapping at her fingers.

"Yeah, we should probably get going," Annabeth said, "Let's find you some place to change first and then we can be off."

[SINIB]

Rider

Rider sat next to Sakura during what Rider felt was a slow and leisurely trip to their destination, smiling as she saw the sweet girl fall asleep on her beloved's shoulder, holding his hand gently. Shirou, too, seemed contented, looking out at the city which was his new home with wonder, gently squeezing Sakura's hand as he did so. Finally, though, they arrived at their destination. Sakura, who was still sound asleep on Shirou's shoulder, was gently awoken, her inane reply to Shirou's comment causing her to giggle and Rider to smile amusedly.

“Let’s go”, continued Sakura and, as suggested, Rider climbed out of the taxi, leaving Sakura to pay the driver.

"OK, where should we go?" she asked as her master got out of the car, a happy smile on her face.

Sakura Matou

Sakura yawned a bit, pointing at a large shopping mall, a gleaming fountain sparkling in front of the entrance. "There's a clothing store inside, we'll go there first." Sakura said, walking off without handing the driver any money, holding Shirou's hand as she let the group along.

Emiya Shirou

Shirou happily followed his lover along, stunned at how expensive everything appeared to be here. The quality of the architecture was exquisite, unrivalable by anything he'd ever seen back home. He sincerely hoped Sakura was only splurging like this because it was a special day, and that she normally lived slightly more modestly. "Sakura, where are we?"

"The Golden Rule shopping mall, we're going to have so much fun, Senpai! We're gonna go out to eat, I'll show you around, maybe see a movie…" The joy she was displaying had put him completely off guard. He was sure they'd only come here to celebrate their reunion now, and that getting him new clothes had just been a convenient excuse for her.

Well, splurging every once in a while is fine, right?

[Aiden]

Ron

Right. Change. First he had to figure out how to do it, then he had to go through the process. This was going to hurt.

Well, at least Ron finally had some pants again.

__________________________________


Pants and shirt and shoes on as needed, walking on two legs, Ron was ready for an evening out at the bar. Sure, his face was still pretty hairy, but that was true before everything got strange anyway. Now it was just a matter of getting all the pesky little revelations out of his head with a nice stout drink! Something from the place down the block from his apartment maybe, since he could trust them to not put anything strange in the stuff. Wouldn't do to try to pay this particular debt back with bad beer or anything, either.

So along he went, keeping close to Annabeth and telling her just enough about the place to get her interested like "seven out of ten bar fights here end in the winner buying everyone a round" and "I have yet to be mugged on my way out. Not like the more common being mugged on the way in, which is why I carry a ... revolver... damn it, I knew we forgot something." You know, the little things like that draw a person's interest to a drinking establishment.

Then they were there. The Red Bear Bar, named for the time an actual bear appeared from the alley next to the place and the bouncer got his face eaten off while stabbing it in the eye. Well, no, it was because the owner thought it was a cool name, but Ron liked to think the story was more interesting.

"Well, here's the place," he said with a grin and a flourish of his arm to the neon sign nestled into an alley between a pair of three story buildings. "Not the fanciest, but it'll certain meet the important points. And the glasses are clean, which is a plus. Since we got here before happy hour, we shouldn't even have to wait."

Ron moved his hand to the door, pushed it in, and let the sound of patronage reach his ears. The creaking of floor boards at a volume level he'd never experienced before, his nose being hit with the stench of fresh and stale beer alike, his eyes picking out the golden droplets drip dropping from the taps across the way at the bar...

Hell, the bouncer at the door? blood and rust, slight favoring of his left side, probably cut himself on something before his shift

He shook his head to clear it until his senses went back down to their usual level.

[Panda]

Annabeth

The Hunter listened closely to Ron's explanations, parsing the possible tall tales from the facts. Upon the mention of having forgotten his revolver, the Hunter checked for her own, soon finding the comforting grip of her revolver in her hand. While Elephant Gun might make the simple .45 somewhat irrelevant in a fight, sometimes the answer wasn't always to take a limb off someone, not to mention the problems of using a Nen ability in public so casually.

Upon reach the door, however, the Hunter had to wonder if the Bouncer had in fact been attacked by a bear. He certainly looked grizzled enough to have survived such an ordeal, and there were more than a few scars on his face...

Shaking her head to clear that particular train of thought, the Hunter couldn't help a wistful little smile at the sight of the relatively cozy little pub. At least, cozy compared to the establishments in York New. Really, this reminded her more of one of those little bars in Meteor City, only with less sand.

"Well, beyond the basics of cleanliness, what really matters are the drinks," Annabeth said, "...And the hope that the cops don't try to crash in on us for that mess back in the store..."

[Aiden]

Ron

Ron nodded to the bouncer, who nodded back and waved the two of them by after giving Annabeth another look, a raised eyebrow, and a look back to Ron who just shrugged. Then he blinked at the mention of cops. "Wait, which cops are you talking about? As long as we didn't kill anyone or cause lots of property damage we should be fine. Too many things happen in this city for them to pay attention to the little things."

He felt drawn to his usual spot at the bar, but something was telling him to go find a corner and keep his back to it. He almost listened to that something. Almost.

[Panda]

Annabeth

The Hunter followed Ron in, an eyebrow raised at his reply.

"Do they not have the..." the Hunter trailed off for a moment, checking to make sure nobody was taking any special interest in their conversation, "The Nen Police? They're the usual party crashers when Nen Users end up having to use their abilities in public. Though I suppose I can't blame them."

[Cherry Lover]

Rider

Rider nodded at her master's choice of destination, happily following her as they headed towards the large mall. As they approached, Shirou spoke up once more, asking where they were.

"The Golden Rule shopping mall", replied Sakura, the joy clear in her voice, "we're going to have so much fun, Senpai! We're gonna go out to eat, I'll show you around, maybe see a movie…".

Rider smiled brightly. It was obvious that Sakura was really looking forward to this day, and to the chance to get to spend some time with the man she loved more than anything.

"That sounds fun", Rider said, the joy she was feeling at Sakura's happiness obvious.

[Aiden]

Ron

Ron grabbed a seat at the corner of the bar, sat down, and pat the one next to him for Annabeth. Then he waved the bartender over, and got a silent 'one moment' gesture from him.

"Right, okay; you're going to have to break that one down for me," Ron admitted once his companion sat down. "I have no idea what this 'Nen' is. Actually, that was going to be my next question. How long have you been in Nexus City for? Cause let me tell you, we get types from all kinds of places, and they don't exactly play by the same rules. Or so I hear."

[Panda]

Annabeth

The Hunter was prepared for many responses, ranging from dismissal to curiosity, but absolutely nothing had prepared her for the response she got from her companion.

"You...you don't...what?" the Hunter's jaw fell open in utter disbelief, "But...self-healing, that's an Enhancer ability, and while there's something off about your aura, you definitely..."

At that point, another thing he'd mentioned registered for the cowgirl.

"Wait, Nexus City? I've only been here for about...a day or two, I think," Annabeth admitted, "Wait what do you mean, don't play by the same rules?"

[Aiden]

Ron

The bartender chose then to show back up again, a bald black man rubbing his five o'clock shadow in interest as he looked between Ron and Annabeth. He did not, however, make a comment on his regular's new company.

Thank you, Barton.

"Hey, keep. Think you can get us something strong? Really strong?" Ron asked, pointing between himself and the lady next to him. "I think we're gonna need it tonight."

"Are you paying for both this time?" the barkeep asked, rubbing his stubble harder. "You know I don't do tabs with all the transients we get through here."

Ron nodded firmly, and the barkeep grinned. "Well alright then," he said as he pulled out a bottle of something clear from under the counter, and poured a pair of glasses for both of them. "Go easy on it. Or, don't; your choice."

"Cheers," Ron replied, nodding and then focusing his attention back on Annabeth completely. "Sorry about that. Thought you might need it for this one. Nexus City is... well, it's called that for a reason. People just appear, from all over. Different worlds, where things work differently. Folk don't like to talk about it, but we've seen people around here who... well, they've done pretty much everything. Some do the same thing as others, but do it in a completely different way. And the things you've seen me do?"

Ron chose then to take a gulp of the clear liquid from his glass, grimacing at the strength of it. "No idea what I'm doing. For all I know, you're right and I'm doing things the way you think I am."

[Panda]

Annabeth

The Hunter stared at Ron for a good minute, mind whirling as she tried to process what he was saying. The very idea of an alternate world like this was simply impossible. The Dark Continent was unknown to all, but the Hunter doubted it was so alien as to be considered a different world and-

Feeling a headache start to form, Annabeth quickly downed the glass of clear liquid in one go, sighing as the warm burn crept down her throat. In hindsight, this was actually a little comforting. After all, this would have to mean he wasn't a Nen User, but rather used some other kind of power that she'd mistaken for Nen.

That doesn't explain the abnormal amount of aura, but...

"If that's the case, then there's no way you can be a Nen User," Annabeth said, unable to help a slight chuckle, "Which is a surprisingly small comfort right now."

The Hunter allowed a moment to mull over the idea, before promptly deciding that she was far too sober right now. With that in mind, she promptly filled up her cup again and topped off Ron's.

"So...everyone I knew before I came here," Annabeth said after a moment, "They're back home and I'm stuck here?"

[Elf]

Cobrin

"Ack!" he managed to cry before Shinobu was on him, shaking him like a rag doll and shouting about doughnuts.

His teeth rattled from the force of nature that was Shinobu as he pointed to a white box on the counter across from him.  "T-there love, there!"


Rin

Great job Rin.  Despite this being Emiya Shirou, this isn't your Archer.  Apparently that other version of me failed so badly . . .

She sighed and said, "I know you're not my Archer, but I need to know the differences between you two so I don't treat you like I do him, and to show that I'm not going to screw up like your Rin did."

[Thedoctor]

Shinobu

Shinobu flew of him, diving towards the box that contained a piece of heaven itself. Or that was whar any sane person would rationalize just happened because it looked like the box somehow teleported into her hand. Before you could even blink the doughnuts were being consumed bt the devourer, never to be seen in this world again. The vampire paused in her eating and said. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Archer

Archer shaked his head while responding. "Oh no. I'm pretty certain we don't differ on that point, and seeing how confused you are he most likely never told you..."

[Aiden]

Ron

The werewolf made an exaggerated show of staring back at her, but blinked first when it was clear she was zoned out in thought. Huh. Guess I was spot on with the drink this time.

Once she filled his glass for him Ron raised his glass to Annabeth. "I'm afraid so, far as I can tell. Haven't heard of anyone leaving before. So, unless you had a mountain of enemies back home that you're glad to be away from... well, there's more where this bottle came from."

[Panda]

Annabeth

Annabeth looked at him for a moment before allowing a singular laugh and downing her glass.

"Well, I had some friends back home, but more than a few enemies," Annabeth noted, "Then again, I am basically a bounty hunter...well, I suppose it's was now, so I'm not going to say a fresh start isn't handy. ...even so..."

With that, the Hunter trailed off, already feeling the beginnings of that familiar buzz.