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

[Umbra of Chaos]

Urthemiel

His arrogance was grating but the insults were paltry considering what she had done to him before. However, Urthemiel did think of herself as above everyone in the vicinity even she would not have wasted time talking when under attack. But she would not dirty her hands. Others could enact the punishment.

The moment the other blonde began to move she drew upon the power of the blood that had been spilled to enhance her magic and with the clenching of her hand a scarlet glyph of paralysis appeared under him. Strengthened by the magic of blood even beings of supernatural strength would find it difficult to move much at all.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Tohuw Balagan

The demon pierced the three with a glare. One of them charged at him while the sniveling worm applied another glyph to paralyze him. It didn't matter, for he only had one thing in mind.

To send them all to hell.

Awaken, Pandora. He said with utter calm. Red lighting cracked around him as a crimson aura seeped from the cane like smoke, glowing ominously.

And before the ice hit him, the world around the three became hell. Ground fissured as a litteral inferno erupted, lava bubbling forth and  swallowing all that it met as the earth shook violently. Fire swallowed it all, the ground breaking apart like butter as explosions blew random surroundings to kingdom come, as if hell itself had now claimed the earth. Some houses collapsed while fire and smoke claimed others. Luckily, an evacuation had been taking place due to the violent fight, most citizens had fled at the sight of the monster.

At the same time, the glyphs were dispelled because of the earth's destruction. While the ice hit him, the demon had enough time to grow to his largest extent, bubbling into black mass bigger than an elephant, and managed to get a tiny piece of him uncovered by the frozen prison. That small gap was enough for him to slither out with inhuman speed and, ignoring the burning pain and his injuries, grow grotesque wings to escape all while shrinking to a size as small as possible.

He'd run for now, but he'd be back. He would not kill them, no. He would take everything they loved, everything they cherished, everything they lived for and annihilate it before them. They would wish they could die. But for now, he'd grant them this battle. If they escaped this hell, but he had no doubts they would. They had proven to be pesky flies.

[Elf]

Forest

Forest blinked as the girl with the very odd choice in fashion did the the thing that any sensible person would do when one person turned into a big yellow bear and the other into an oni.  The poor thing teared up and hid behind Kenzo, wanting to know what happened.  Kenzo gave her a gentle hug.

The vampire walked up to the girl and Kenzo.  She smiled and said, "Welcome to Nexus City.  I can give you an explanation if you'd like, but it may be hard to believe."


Figma Shirou

Shirou heard the commotion and ran out to find Sakura and Tohsaka.  He saw his betrothed and said, "Sakura, you get to the basement.  Tohsaka and I can see what's going on with Rider outside."

He rushed up and patted Sakura's shoulder.


Rin

And what do you think I was doing during the Grail War?  I'm far better now than I was back then, Rin thought with a frown. 

However, since Sakura went for Shirou, Rin made sure her earrings were in place and headed out to see what Rider was doing.

[SINIB]

Matou Manor

As Rin walked up to the front door and tried to turn the knob, she found it would not budge. It was locked! Sealed! Nobody could get in or out!

[Elf]

Rin

Rin felt that the door wouldn't budge at all and gritted her teeth.

She wants to keep me a goddamn prisoner here?  Well, fine, I'm leaving.

Since Sakura was busy with Shirou, she ran to the broken bedroom where she had put her gems and grabbed her stash.  She secured the pouch and headed for the door again.  Bracing her wrist, her crest flared to life in a green glow before she pointed her finger at the door and shouted, "Gandr! Gandr! Gandr!  Gandr Shooter!"

Then she let loose onto the door with a machine gun fire barrage of the Finish curse.

[SINIB]

THE POOR POOR DOOR

"FUCK!" The door would have yelled, had it not been an inanimate object. Instead, it simply took the fire of the curses, and blocked them for a short few seconds, holding strong. However, as the barrage continued, it began to crack, fal apart until... it finally snapped, breaking into a smoldering heap.

Sakura Matou

Sakura was happy Shirou was alright. More than happy, in fact. She was the happiest girl in the world because of it. But then, she felt Rin doing something stupid. She was attacking the front door. "NEE-SAN?" Sakura yelled in confusion, running after her. "If you really want to leave, just ask, don't bust down the damn door!" She yelled.

[Elf]

Rin

Rin smirked to herself as her barrage of curses did the trick.  She made a tiny fist and said, "Yosh, didn't even need a jewel!"  Then she started to walk out of the house when she heard a familiar voice call out.

"NEE-SAN?  If you really want to leave, just ask, don't bust down the damn door!"

Rin didn't look back as she stepped outside the house.  She was greeted by dazzling sunlight and cold, fresh air that stung her nostrils with the first breath.  Rin made a note to repair the door when when all of this was over.

She saw some lovely blond woman teasing Rider holding Armor-san's armor and talking in his voice.  There was also a man with white hair and a pretty blond teenager standing by the gate.  No one was fighting, and Rin continued walking outside to get some answers.


Shirou

Shirou ran after Sakura and said, "You know the wards not being able to let Tohsaka out would just piss her off . . ."

[Umbra of Chaos]

Ghost Child

As the spirit girl ran away Ghost Child visibly deflated and even sagged as if the air had literally been squeezed out of him. It was only when the blonde woman moved to interrupt before the kid and the tall man were finished that he got back up and a small smile crossed his face.

With that innocent smile on his face he floated over in front of the blonde and right before she finished a lash of Essence reached into her still open mouth and grabbed onto her tongue. He happily yanked it out of its normal position and out in the open. Then leaned in and with a sickening amount of cheerfulness said, "Shh. Shh. Shut up. You aren't Kenzo. Don't bother her."


Urthemiel

The mage signed as the earth split apart and both fire and lava was released from the depths. With a bright glow she transformed once more into a glorious dragon and grabbed onto Mordred and gently placed the dress over a horn before taking flight. The heat was much less bothersome as a dragon and the force of their takeoff had already created a bit of distance between them and the disasters.

It only took a short while and a few directions from Mordred before they arrived in front of the apartment. The blonde was placed back on the ground as Urthemiel changed back. In one hand she held the black dress from earlier while the other glowed with a faint light as the Changeling's agitated injuries were being repaired. "Oh, what am I to do with you, Mordred. You've already dirtied your suit and been injured. I do hope this isn't too common."

Despite her words there was a hint of carefully crafted amusement in her tone. She got closer and granted Mordred another kiss on the cheek but the healing magic from her hand poured ceaselessly to numb pain and repair damage even as she gently took the Changeling's arm. "Surely it isn't too much for even an injured knight to take her lady home?"

It was good to allow someone to retain their pride and strength. Allowing her this at the very least should on some level make her feel better. At the very least, Urthemiel did enjoy playing the caring part on occasion.

[Elf]

Forest

Forest's eyes narrowed as her tongue was grabbed and forced out of her mouth.  Her eyes flashed crimson for the briefest of moments before she sent to the Ghost Child, If you think I need my tongue to communicate you're sorely mistaken.  Now let go of my tongue, and ghost or not, I'll box your naughty little ears.

[Cherry Lover]

Rider

In response to Rider's suspicious question, the girl looked at Rider as if she was a complete idiot, before addressing her with a voice full of sarcasm.

"Uh, isn't it obvious? I've found it in the middle of the street and, having noting better to do, decided to smash it. Then, I thought I might fly around with it, and just by pure coincidence, I happened to meet with someone who knew someone who looked like this armour. I also just happen to have the same voice, but clearly I have nothing to do with this besides the fact I decided to carry it around for no reason. Isn't that right, Rider?" she said, following it up with a smug smile.

Rider gave the girl an annoyed look. Of course it was not a co-incidence that she had come here, carrying Vanguard's armour and using his voice. The question was whether Vanguard had somehow transformed into a woman with his loyalty to Sakura intact, or whether she had somehow stolen his body and was here to trick them. Nothing he had said gave her any indication as to which had occured.

"Of course it's not a co-incidence", she said, an annoyed tone to her voice. "I never said it was. In fact, your voice is the reason I am still talking to you rather than simply getting rid of you as I was ordered. However, last time I heard that voice, it was not coming from the body of a silver-haired girl...", she said, still uncertain whether this girl could be trusted. "So, could you please answer my questions?"

Rider was being deliberately vague, not wanting to give the girl any information about what she already knew. After all, if she was truly Vanguard, she would already know, and if she were not then, the less she was told, the more likely she would be to make a mistake and reveal herself.

[SINIB]

Oka

As soon as Oka got far enough away, she had Haunter put her down on a room. She just collapsed and began to cry. She felt awful. She wanted to meet up with Shiro, she was cold, she was in an unfamilar place, and she'd just grappled with an exceptionally unfriendly pokemon. She just wanted to find a nice hotel and collapse into a bed. She noticed a strand of pink hair dangling from her head. And her hair was pink again! She'd dyed it purple for a reason, she'd gotten tired of having this hair colour! She'd been planning on surprising Shiro with it, he hadn't seen her since she'd dyed it.

"He probably thinks I'm a jerk, doesn't he? Day's coming, we were supposed to meet yesterday." A stiff breeze caused her to begin to shiver profusely, as she let out Wormy from his pokeball. "Warm me up. Please..." She said in between tears as she hugged him. She took off her backpack and pulled out a heavy raincoat and a sleeping bag which she climbed into. "Why has everything gone wrong today?" She stroked wormy's soft fur and looked him in the eyes, wishing for an answer. "Everything sucks."

[Kaze]

EMIYA SHIROU

They traveled through Adjutor’s strange shadow-world for some time, the kid apologizing for the dragon’s behavior all the way. Shirou idly wondered if it was some sort of reality marble, but it didn’t match what he remembered from Rin’s lesson on that subject. before stepping out into a dark room. Shirou squinted, making out what appeared to be a dining table before the teenager flipped the lights. The archer blinked several times in succession before his eyes adjusted, revealing a dining room just large enough to seat a small family.

“Where is this?” Shirou asked, deciding that question was more important than asking what the kid was muttering about.


AKIHOLARME

The last Dragonborn found herself doing something she had only ever done once before: running like a bitch. She had known intellectually, even before coming to the Nexus, that there were things out in the world she hadn’t surpassed yet, but holy crap fighting that axe-wielding man was like trying to beat down a draugr deathlord while sick with rockjoint. Risking a brief look behind her, she found that he was no longer being pursued. Well, at least she could be grateful for that.

She slowed her pace down to a shuffle, limping along until she found a bench of wood and metal near a small open patch of grass and flowers. Aki gingerly sat down on it, careful not to aggravate her wounds. She took off her helmet, revealing wet, clumped, and matted hair, and a badly discolored nose with a trail of dried blood leading down to her lips. It had taken what little magicka she had left to repair the truly threatening wounds, so until it regenerated, she was stuck feeling like one giant bruise with a limp. She breathed out through clenched teeth, indignation and shame bubbling up and warring within her at having been defeated.

[Panda]

Michael

Michael found himself wandering aimlessly once more, more than slightly unamused. Just when he'd been about to start up on that entrance guard, he took his eyes off them for all of a few seconds and suddenly they'd vanished. And it hadn't just been them. What few guards he'd spotted inside the building, the suns, the white snow, all of it. Gone. Profoundly annoyed in ways that he hadn't felt in centuries, the immortal found himself nearing a park bench near a small patch of greenery when he noticed the other person sitting there. A fully armed and armored woman looking like she'd recently had the stuffing beaten out of her. Even so, her eyes spoke to him, of indignation, shame, and defeat. But also of the sheer force of will he'd found in what he considered his best students.

Intrigued, the immortal made his way over, seeming all the more like the average passerby.

"Hope you don't mind," Michael said, sitting down next to her, "But I've simply got to get off my feet. ...You don't look like you've had a pleasant time recently. Lose a fight?"

[Kat]

Rikuyo

She couldn't help but be amused by what the ghostly kid did to the ghost girl. If you bothered a kid having a family moment like that, you had it coming if you get bullied. "Oi, just leave them be, it ain't a moment for explaining." she joined Ghost Child in reprimanding Forest, in her case merely with words.

[Umbra of Chaos]

Ghost Child

The child seemed rather unperturbed by the telepathy and his smile remained the same as he balled up his fist and tossed a handful of ethereal confetti at her face. A sound not unlike a party horn burst into existence as if to say congratulations to the blonde as the spirit continued to calmly float.