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

[Kat]

Gintoki

Fighting a war one couldn't win? That was all too familiar for Gintoki. His comrades were all stubborn like that, more stubborn than him. He would respect the girl's decision, but he needed to ask her something first. "Hey, leaving like that without at least telling us what you saw? It's your call what you do, but just don't leave us hanging. The suspense's killing me more than those traps might." he quipped, trying at least to have this girl spill out her beans on what she observed.

Noel

“I’m glad you’re not like Saber, Mordred. Even though you look like her, your personality isn’t anything like hers. Your place should be fine. You can get whatever you want, I’ll pay.

”

Mordred

"That's nothing special, Noel, it's just that I have some common sense like many more people, unlike her." Noel's words made her glad even if she tried to downplay that now in a show of modesty. The triumph shouldn't get into her head. She might have been weaker than Saber and nobody told tales of her deeds (which probably were forged by court sycophants to clearly mask King Arthur's incompetency), but she found now someone who clearly valued her over that irresponsible person. It was a good feeling.

"I don't want to infringe on your hospitality, but I'll just buy a hoodie. This weirdo light thing makes me sneeze like if I was in a middle of a pollen season. Maybe some supplies too, I'm not hungry, but I will cook something good for ya." At least that way she could be a good host for her guest. The motel room had a mini-kitchen facility. Modest, but she would figure out something.

[Umbra of Chaos]

Ghost Child

The sound of a fist smacking against an armored palm echoed through the theater. The child had warped its outfit into one resembling just's and had begun to pretend throwing his own imaginary spears as well. "Good throw, grandpa! You're really strong! Can we go get the guy trying to make the roof go boom too?"

[yinsukin]

Medaka Kurokami

The man before Medaka was a strange creature.  High heels, shark teeth, a flamboyant long pink mane, monocle.  However, the voice was Toe.  She didn't care for the world around her.  All that mattered was the demon before him, the being known as Tohuw Balagan.  She raised her hand very slowly and gently.  Then, with one swift movement she formed her hand into a fist and slammed it into Toe's face.

"Toe!  Im sure once before you used to be a benevolent demon, a man who gave gifts to the poor!  But one day, something horrible happened and you became the horrible demon you are today!" She declared, in the most DASHING way possible to humans.  Then, she took a deep breath.

"Yes that is what I would like to say.  However, I cannot speak in such proud words when I couldn't even save the life of one man.  But as a demon who desecrated the name of the man I failed to protect, you shall be reformed!"  She shouted, attempting to stab him with her altruistic deceleration. 

She won't harm him, she can't stop him but she will help him.  This was her answer.  She would kill him with kindness.  This was the only way to avenge his shattered memory.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Tohuw Balagan

Medaka's fist struck true, sending tohuw flying until he crashed into a wall. Bleeding all over, he looked straight at Medaka and cried. Yes, at the moment, his face was as pure as an angel's the poor boy sniffling and sobbing pathetically, wiping his eyes to reveal a serene smile. Despite the blow being very bad for a human, Tohuw was not a human.

At that moment, the air seemed a little colder.

His bones and organs weren't actually necessary, so no damage was actually done on him. He simply made them more bendy to take the blow! But even if he didn't, he could've changed the shape of his damage and make his wounds become nothing by reverting to his prior shape.

But he didn't. Instead, he bled on and got up, as if nothing happened. No, he was definetely hurting, he had to! His legs were shaking, his body was falling over and blood oozed from his temple. He had to be hurt, and yet-

"Don't get the wrong idea Medaka. I am not crying because your serious punch hurt. There are tears of joy. I've waited all my entire life for someone to come and correct me and my mistaken path! I'm so happy I can barely keep it in, thanks to you I can finally reform! Thank you, I am so grateful to you!!" He said cheerfully, tears rolling down his cheeks like pearls as he stood up.

Suddenly, an aura of malice overwhelmed all his surroundings, the world itself around him warping in a disgusting, unsightly manner. It was absolutely revolting, and to make it all worse, his cheerful smile only seemed to grow larger. And from the warping space around his hand, a grotesque gun came to be.

"So in order to not cause you any further trouble, I'm going to grab the next sucker that passes by and do something really nasty to them to let my anger out for all this pain!"

Right, he could also recover while pretending to be injured. Although it didn't make the pain any less or the trauma, he wasn't injured at all any more. It was all fiction.

Quickly, he pulled the trigger-

And everything came back to normal, a tiny squirt of water oozing from the muzzle, splashing the ground. That was all.

"Juuust kidding~! Anyhow, how have you been Meddy? Didya miss me? It's been so long! Did you enjoy the feast?" He said, his cheerful tone unfaltering.

[yinsukin]

Medaka Kurokami

The site of Toe's regeneration was disturbingly familiar.  The eerie sarcasm, that nasty tendency to get back up no matter how bad the blow.  It was almost like Kumagawa. Yet what as on her face could not be classified as anything but firm determination.  She walked up to him very slowly, being careful not to make any sudden moves.  Then she attempted to give him a hug.  In that moment her face softened and it became gentle, soft and warm.

"Of course I missed you.  I was worried you had gone off somewhere alone.  This city is dangerous at night. You could have died.  You should know how I feel about that sort of thing."  She said, regardless of whether or not he denied or accepted her hug. 

[Kotomine_Rin]

Tohuw Balagan

Man, this was great. Honestly, she was much more entertaining than the old fart over there. Nodding, Tohuw smiled brightly and gave her a tight hug. Without frowning or breaking his cheerful attitude, he spoke with a gentle smile.

"Oh, that's great! But you know, you should stop with the violent outbursts. If you punch me like that again, I'll die you know!? Besides, the one who desecrated your friend's name was not me, but you! It's your fault that he became someone who can't return! Anyhow, how was the food?"

[yinsukin]

Medaka Kurokami

"The one who desecrated your friend's name was not me, but you! It's your fault that he became someone who can't return, not mine!"

Medaka jumped slightly when she heard that.  Then, she backed off.

"Yes, I am sorry for punching you.  It was very brash."  Her voice was low, weak and apologetic.  Her face was lowered to the ground.  "I know.  Its my fault he can't come back.  I failed."  As she continued her body language changed.  Her fists began shaking and after every word her voice became more intense.  "However, if you ever USE HIS FACE......."  As her speech intensified, her hair flashed red.  Noticing her increased anger, she took a deep breath.

"Im sorry.  I shouldn't raise my voice to someone whom I have just hurt.  It appears I need to learn to control myself."

[Kotomine_Rin]

Tohuw Balagan

Tohuw looked at Medaka with an odd, wry smile and let go of the hug, snickering before bursting into laughter. For a second,a whole different quality could be sensed from his eyes.

"Hahaha, I didn't mean that Meddy! GOD you're hopeless. There, let me help you..."

Then, with a cruel, sharklike smile, he gripped her shoulder tightly, his eyes cold and piercing. He was still kinda mad for the punch. Only a bit.

"Look, you remember didn't you? He died to save you, threw himself away so you could enjoy your life. Well, not really. It's not like I have any clue why he did it, its just a wild guess! Point I must emphasize is, he died as a friend. Your friend. But instead of honouring what he died for, you'd sell your soul and reject everything he accomplished, going against his sacrifice. Why? Oh, I'll tell you why! Because you want him to save you from the fact that you failed him. You spat on his will, considering your selfish whim to be more important than his dying wish. THAT is how you desecrated his name."

Then, he let her go and stopped smiling. For a moment, he seemed much more serious. Grave and solemn.

"The man called Lorenzo Remei was not born to serve you."

[Cherry Lover]

Sakura and Shirou

Sakura frowned at the obvious arousal in Rider's voice, and the fact that she was seemingly more interested in the hyper-attractive exotic woman than she was in getting to know Ilya's mother. However, unfortunately for Rider, the woman seemed entirely uninterested in her, instead simply excusing herself and walking off with the other girl. Sakura would have expected her servant to reply, but something seemed to distract her, and she did not say anything.

Before Sakura could question her servant, though, Irisviel spoke up.

“Yes, I am”, she said with a smile. “Nice to meet you, Shero.”

“But, um...what’s with the sadness when Illya comes up? She’s fine. Well, she’s with...Saber...but otherwise fine! Probably. No, definitely!” She’s definitely fine. Definitely...”, she continued, her voice becoming steadily less certain as she realised the situation her daughter had been left in.

Shirou and Sakura, though, were too focussed on the question about Ilya to pay much attention to Irisviel's rather-amusing rambling. Both of them looked down to the ground with sadness, trying to work out what to say in response. After a few moments, Sakura finally spoke, Shirou still too upset from thinking about what had happened to his sister to give a response.

"Erm... she... she isn't OK.... Not in our world...", Sakura responded, the sadness clear in her voice. "She... she died."

Shirou, meanwhile, just looked down at the ground, his face full of sadness and guilt at his failure to save his sister.

Rider

Rider awaited Sakura's reply anxiously, feeling extremely worried about what might have happened, enough so that she was paying little attention to what was happening around her. Soon enough, though, she received a reply.

Hold on Rider, I need to talk to Rin, I can’t respond right now. I’ll explain what happened in a few minutes, her master said.

Sighing in relief, she noticed Sakura looking at her questioningly, only to get distracted by Irisviel responding to her question with a question that immediately made Sakura and Shirou's faces drop. Rider, however, found her obvious lack of trust in her servant amusing, particularly since they were presumably close. Although, how could the servant be surviving without a source of prana? Was Ilya in this world too?

However, right now was not the time to ask questions. Sakura and Shirou were clearly upset by what Irisviel had asked, and that was a far more important thing than grilling Irisviel about the nature of her servant. Further, just as Sakura spoke up, she received another message from her master.

Rider? Are you there? I want you to come to me, it's important, Sakura said through their mental link, distress clear in her voice.

Rider frowned.

What's wrong? she responded with concern.

Then, waiting for Sakura to finish speaking, she spoke herself.

"Sorry, Sakura, but I will have to leave soon. My other master needs me, and she sounds distressed", she said, a sad tone in her voice at the thought of having to leave so soon.

[SINIB]

Sakura

“Yeah, no problem.” Sakura said simply to Noriko. She wasn’t really paying that much attention to Noriko at all, more making a concious effort to not look at Rin.

”Rider, I need you right now! It’s very important. Top priority!”

[SINIB]

Irisviel

“Oh...” Irisviel inaudibly whispered, beginning to mull over this. She was dead, and so was her daughter. She wasn’t sure how to feel about that. She was erring on the side of shitty.

[yinsukin]

Medaka Kurokami

The once proud Medaka stood frozen as the words passed through her ears. 

Normally her obvious retort would be that she always sells her soul to others.  That was the main idea of the Medaka Box.  People could use her as she wished, to take on step forward to their own happiness.  However, the difference between then and now is that Toe was right. She didn't do it out of selflessness but her own regret.  She wanted to undo her mistake, no more no less.

"I..."  She mumbled.  Then she fell to her knees and stared helplessly at the ground; tears watered the dry concrete beneath her.

Wait.  He didn't mean to say it but he was right.  Lorenzo didn't save her life so she could waste it in service to this person.  He saved her life because he valued her, he was her friend.

No, that made it worse.  If he was alive now he wouldn't even bother to make fun of her.  He would simply frown and walk away.  Still, what would he say about this person?  Someone who used his name to harm her?  The image of Bellitanus's agitated face was burned into her mind.  This kind of deception truly was something dishonorable, something horrible, even by mages standards.  He needed help.  That was all that kept her together.

"Forgive me Lorenzo." She said, looking upwards at Toe and wiping the tears from her eyes.  "But this man is no more worthy to wear your likeness than I.  I know you won't be happy about this but I have decided to protect him from now on."

[Cherry Lover]

Rider, Shirou and Sakura

Sakura frowned again as she heard Rider speak up, saddened that her servant needed to leave so soon. Seeing that Irisviel was in a contemplative and somewhat upset mood as a result of what she had said, she turned and responded to her, whilst Shirou simply stood and listened.

"OK, I understand", she said, sadly, knowing that her servant could never allow any version of her to suffer distress or harm.

At the same time, Rider received a message from her master.

Rider, I need you right now! It’s very important. Top priority! she said.

Rider smiled at Sakura sadly, before pulling her into a hug. Holding her there for a moment, she sent a reply to Sakura.

OK, fine. I'm coming now, she said, a little annoyed at the lack of explanation, but worried enough about Sakura not to question things any further.

Then, with her new master dealt with for the moment, she addressed her old one once more.

"Thank you, master", she said with a hint of sadness. "I'm glad you found me again."

"Yes, me too", Sakura responded, a tear in her eye, before grabbing hold of her beloved servant tightly. "I'm so glad we found you. I was worried you were lost forever."

The two of them continued to hug for a while, before Rider pulled away sadly.

"Sakura, I'll come back and see you as soon as I can. I left my phone at home, so I'll get one here so I can call you", she said before beginning to walk off.

"OK", Sakura said with a smile. "I'll see you soon."

Hmm, I'll need to get a new contract, my phone doesn't work here without Togan's help, she thought as Rider accelerated out of sight, seeking out her new master.

I hope she's OK, Rider thought, wondering what the problem might be.

Meanwhile, Shirou turned to Irisviel, concerned about how she might feel having heard of her daughter's fate.

"Irisviel, are you OK", he asked, kindly.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Tohuw Balagan

Looking down at the poor, pathetic Medaka’s reaction, the demon’s lips curled upwards ever so slightly.

Tohuw felt good. He felt great. Shattering the mind of a sweet, diligent girl and drawing the darkest, vilest and truest feelings gave him what could only be described as indescribable pleasure. A sympathetic, concerned look grew on his face and he knelt before Medaka, caressing her cheek gently and wiping her remaining tears with a handkerchief.

“There, there. Now is not the time for tears. That comes later.” He spoke nonchalantly, smiling as he rubbed the girl’s back, giving her a comforting hug.

“I’m sorry for doing that, you know? (Lol not really, I'm not sorry at all.) The truth is, I didn’t want to hurt you. I wanted to help you acknowledge the truth. Lying is bad, this is a lesson that I’d like you to remember. Why else would I save your life? Oh, that’s right! I almost forgot…”

The demon quickly searched frantically for something in his pocket, scrambling in its mysterious contents until he felt the familiar touch of film. With that, he smiled kindly and handed her a picture. A picture of Medaka and Lorenzo smiling cheerfully and being alive.  Both seemed to be in a fair of sorts, an amusement park. Lorenzo was holding her arm and eating the poor girl’s cotton candy greedily while holding a teddy bear. Medaka was wearing a funny pirate hat. Both seemed content, happy, and were smiling brightly at the camera.

“There, it’s for you.”

[SINIB]

Rachel Alucard

As soon as the foolish meathead took a step towards her, a black portal enveloped her and she fell into it. As soon as she got out, she would find herself in the bowels of a sewage treatment plant, neck deep in a vat of sewage being processed, like the worthless refuse she was.

Rachel then returned her attention to Ragna. She sighed, resolving herself to have to repeat herself endlessly to this simpleton.

“I said Noel’s fine, she wanted to see you. I don’t understand why anyone would want to talk with you, but she seems to want to regardless.” Her tone was slightly softer than usual, still extraordinarily caustic and biting, but not quite so much as normal.