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

[Kotomine_Rin]

Kenzo

After a heartfelt reunion and a good amount of chitter chatter, the foursome had finished dinner. Due to previous discussions and stuff, they had decided to have a sparring session in the woods, but Forest couldn't come because of the sun, so they would spar in the dojo instead. Kenny vs the Elephant Akatsuki and Hairy chick vs Pale chick.


(In the forest that isn't Forest)

The demon looked at the destoryer with gratitude and lowered to a combative stance, like a panther about to leap on its prey. His eyes were fierce, wild and animalistic. If it wasn't Kenzo, one might think they were the eyes of a killer. Smiling, he spoke up calmly, avoiding to give away his eagerness.

_{Horrible pun}
"You ready (lady)?"

[Umbra of Chaos]

Oren

It had been about two minutes now and the Great Stag was as relentless as it was in the beginning. It was also around this time that Oren began to change things up. She leaped from the street to the back of a truck before launching herself onto a close rooftop. Even with the sudden change in altitude she began to return to her extreme speed until she had reached the highest building that wouldn't hurt her too much to fall from.

Oren gracefully bounded off the building and hit the pavement running. The landing sent a jolt of pain up her legs but she was sure it was nothing. Losing was not an option!


Erica

The blue haired girl blinked owlishly as Noel suddenly snapped and went after the girl who had dragged Ragna away. After another full rotation of the script around her eyes Erica decided it would be unwise to do anything more with the blonde. Taking any more action would probably only agitate her. Still, there was something that felt wrong with just leaving now. Regardless of her feelings towards it this seemed like a wrong time to make a move and Noel could take care of herself, so the construct simply floated out of her seat and simply left with a half hearted wave as a goodbye.


The maneuverability of the Spirit Vessel meant that it took barely any time at all for the construct to gain a decent distance away from the buffet place. Once that was done she took a moment to consider if that was truly worthwhile. Of course, the answer soon made itself clear to her. Despite the embarrassment and social stumbling she felt wonderful. The feeling of being acknowledged and seen as someone by a person she cared about made her wrap her arms around herself and hold on tight with glee. She started to walk... Blue eyes flared bright and she immediately moved back into the air before staring at her legs in confusion. When had she...?

She quickly ignored the issue entirely and began to focus on what needed to be done. It was day, and that ensured maximum exposure which would be perfect for what she needed to do. The Mantle formed into a pair of wings and she quickly took flight. All she needed to do was a bit of poking around and she would be able to get to work. 

[Kotomine_Rin]

VanAlma

Vanguard immediately sensed a new presence suddenly appearing and breaking into the castle, a greater aura than that of a normal person. Suddenly, it stopped in the bathroom. He couldn't let whatever it was harm Rin. Immediately, he burst into the bathroom and pummelled the intruder's head into the wall with her hand, cracking the stone and pushing him away from Rin. Then he grabbed his arm and twisted it painfully on his back in a submission hold.

Lightning danced around the girl, and she spoke in a deep commanding voice. However, her look was entirely calm, collected, and frighteningly emotionless.

"You have three seconds to explain yourself."

[Cherry Lover]

Rider

To Rider's distress, Sakura gave her no response, instead simply standing completely still, gripping the cutlery in her hands. Rider could sense a servant breaking through the bounded field, but she made no effort to intercept it. Right now, dealing with Sakura was more important, and Vanguard could handle the servant if it had bad intentions. Instead, she pondered how to react, watching whilst Sakura's beloved dragged a chair over and sat in it, before pulling her down as well.

Rider watched on with great distress as Shirou pulled the kicking and fighting Sakura into his arms, overwhelming her with his strength and trying to comfort her. But, Rider knew something was badly wrong. Sakura was obviously having a panic attack, obviously did not know where she was, and she was sure that Shirou was not helping.

"What's happening to her? Can she hear you?" Shirou said, addressing her.

Rider knew she had to respond but, first, she wanted to get through to Sakura, if she could.

Sakura! Sakura! It's OK, I'm here, it's just me and Shirou here, she said, trying to reach her master.

Then, she addressed Shirou.

"Shirou, stop, she's obviously distressed. I know you're trying to help, but she's hallucinating, something about a dog trying to eat her, you're making it worse by holding her down", she said.

[The Man With All The Cute Boats]

"Yes I was, and none of that shit makes any sense. You think I'm stupid or something, you stupid? Like hell I'm going to buy crazy shit like that you weirdo. Now shut your damn mouth and know your damn role before I rip your head off."

"I don't know where here is, but it has a roof and that's all I need. What do you want?"

"What I want is none of your business. All I need is someone who knows what this place is, and how to get back." She said, not mentioning she had to get back to her boyfriend. "I'm not really interested in chitchat with idiots."

_{Horrible pun}
"You ready (lady)?"

Akatsuki looked down a bit first, still shaken by her encounter with ghost child, a somber mood that had taken her through the dinner. But, now that it was time to spar, for a solid practice, she shoved it away and concentrated on the man before her.

"Hm! I'm ready!" She said, with her guns all revving up and starting to shift.

"Honestly, it's your damn fault. There must be something wrong with you if you panick so much when you see two women kissing. You had no excuse to yell so loud and even if I bit overreacted, I'm still in the right."

"Well hold on, I didn't react like that because of two girls kissing, I reacted to anyone kissing Noel as soon as I woke up, that idiot. And just let me..."

"I think you should rethink your current course of action. It's going to lead you to a bad place."

"Woah, what? Back off, you idiot, I don't need you to step in for me. Just, go talk to your girlfriend some more, or something."

Ragna got between Noel and Noriko, with the angry girl at his back.

[SINIB]

Rider

To Rider's distress, Sakura gave her no response, instead simply standing completely still, gripping the cutlery in her hands. Rider could sense a servant breaking through the bounded field, but she made no effort to intercept it. Right now, dealing with Sakura was more important, and Vanguard could handle the servant if it had bad intentions. Instead, she pondered how to react, watching whilst Sakura's beloved dragged a chair over and sat in it, before pulling her down as well.

Rider watched on with great distress as Shirou pulled the kicking and fighting Sakura into his arms, overwhelming her with his strength and trying to comfort her. But, Rider knew something was badly wrong. Sakura was obviously having a panic attack, obviously did not know where she was, and she was sure that Shirou was not helping.

"What's happening to her? Can she hear you?" Shirou said, addressing her.

Rider knew she had to respond but, first, she wanted to get through to Sakura, if she could.

Sakura! Sakura! It's OK, I'm here, it's just me and Shirou here, she said, trying to reach her master.

Then, she addressed Shirou.

"Shirou, stop, she's obviously distressed. I know you're trying to help, but she's hallucinating, something about a dog trying to eat her, you're making it worse by holding her down", she said.

Shirou

"Rider, can she hear you? Stop panicing. If she can hear you, tell her it's me, okay?" Shirou told Rider with authority, as if he knew what he was doing.

[Cherry Lover]

Rider

Rider frowned at Shirou's words.

"I already did, she isn't responding to me any more. Please, don't hold her down like that, you're making it worse", she said.

Sakura! Please, calm down. It's just Shirou holding you, everything will be fine, she said to her master.

[SINIB]

Oka

Oka was shocked. Not even the largest department store she'd been to had been even close to this big. So this was what the big city was like. Maybe this was even as big as Unova. "Wow..." She said full of awe.

[Thedoctor]

Jin

Jin was also slightly awed by the the impressive size of the place, it might even be the biggest building he'd ever been in. "It's rather big yeah, I think I see clothes store over there" He said as he gently grabbed Oka's hand and turned her in the direction of it urging them to go.

[SINIB]

Sakura Matou

Sakura continued to fall. But now her mind was forcing her body to stop standing. Or it was trying to, anyway. It felt like the very air around her was crushing her and trying to make her valiant efforts be brought down to nothing. Rider said something, she thought, she couldn't quite tell, and she fought. She fought with burning emotion against whatever was trying to make her stop acting normally. She couldn't speak, she couldn't hear, she couldn't see, or maybe she could and it was just perfectly dark, but she still knew one thing she could do freely. She could move. And so she continued to do so. However, after an eternity, she heard Rider again, faintly.

And what Rider said caused her to pause in her convulsions, for a moment.

It's…it's Shirou? Oh… she wanted to cry, but couldn't seem to muster the tears. I wanted him to not notice—to not find out, this time. But he did… "So Shirou's…is he holding me, Rider?"

Shirou

Shirou ignored Rider's requests. He was sure that this was best. He knew his fiancee best, better than anyone. Even after she managed to kick the chair out from under him, sending him tumbling to the floor with a crash, he didn't loosen his grip at all. He slammed his head into the floor, shielding Sakura from the blow and taking the full brunt of it himself, blood beginning to trickle from the would. He didn't mind. He would do anything for this beautiful, wonderful woman. This was nothing.

And finally she stopped flailing, and he noticed she was crying. "Sakura…" he said to her softly. "It's ok. Everything's ok."

[Cherry Lover]

Rider

Rider winced as Sakura kicked the chair Shirou was sitting on, sending them crashing to the floor. For a moment, she was angry at him for ignoring her advice, angry at him for putting Sakura in danger and allowing himself to be harmed, which Sakura would inevitably blame herself for. But, then, to her surprise, Sakura stopped her flailing.

So Shirou's…is he holding me, Rider? she said.

Rider sighed with relief at her response, glad that she'd finally gotten through to her master. Shirou, meanwhile, began to comfort the now-crying girl, reassuring her.

Yes, he is. Everything is fine, Sakura, there's nothing to be worried about, she said.

[MissingMandible]

Corporal Mathew Blackburn:

Oh shit oh shit oh shit

Well, he accidentally knocked her to the ground and she was rather indignant about it. The other vampire  was already offering a hand to pull Shinobu up, so Mathew went ahead and apologized, "I'm sorry, ma'am."

Time to disengage and perform a tactical retreat.

[SINIB]

Shirou

Shirou was worried about Sakura. He had been for a while. Well not really that long...he realized they'd only really been together again for a day.

His head hurt. Blood was streaming out of the wound on the side of his forehead, getting absorbed by his golden-brown hair and the floor. He registered this as a fact in the background of his mind, as it was currently being consumed by Sakura's... condition. She'd never been this bad. She'd always been fairly fragile, and had never seemed to feel completely safe…

This line of thought always made him blame himself. He was supposed to have been a hero, and this poor, wonderful, beautiful girl had been abused by someone whom he had considered a friend, a brother, for years.

It was his fault. He felt eminently guilty. It wasn't something that he thought he would ever get over, or ever be able to make up but...

He wanted to be Sakura's hero.

And his inability to be of much use, only able to keep her from hurting herself or others during her fit was...

Sobering. When he'd arrived, he'd thought that everything would be perfect from now on, that all the worries of the past few years would be over now.

He now knew for a fact, as hard and fast as the sky is blue, and gravity, that that was not the case at all. But what could he do? He could protect her from external threats, but something like this… when her mind was attacking her from within...

He'd need to try and figure it out.

But for now, he was going to ignore his pain, and just continue holding Sakura close to him.

He was sure whatever she was going through was even worse.


Sakura Matou

The intense pressure on her body was no longer scary. Now that she knew what it was; where it was coming from, it wasn't frightening at all. On the contrary, it was comforting. She knew it was just Shirou, holding her steady, keeping her safe.

"Rider? You're still there, right?" Sakura probed her mind for her servant. She wasn't sure she would be able to broadcast to Rider. Not when she was like this. She was sure Rider was physically there, but here was a...very different place. "Sigh."

[Cherry Lover]

Rider

Rider watched as Shirou continued to hug Sakura tightly, trying his hardest to comfort her. There was little she could do to help, aside from stay here if Sakura needed her. And, sure enough, Sakura soon called out to her.

Rider? You're still there, right? she said, before sighing.

Rider frowned momentarily, before putting on a smile.

Of course I'm here. I'll always be here for you, she said.

Rider cared for Sakura more than anything, and she hated seeing her like this. She was determined to find a way to help the poor girl regain her sanity.

[Thedoctor]

Shinobu

Shinobu graciously accepted the hand offered to her and let herself be pulled up to her full length standing a fair bit taller than the other blonde, she did however notice that her grip lacked the strength one might expect from a vampire. She then bowed slightly to Rachel. "I suppose a thank you is in order Rachel" Shinobu leaned closer before whispering in her ear. "You possess non physical powers, do you not?".

The vampire then turned around to the man who had bumped into her and glared at him. "You never answered me".