Cross Effects 3.0 - June 23, 2016—April 02, 2018

[Panda]

Emily

Some indeterminate time that is less than five months later...

The past little while had been...interesting, to say the least. Emily couldn't truthfully say she'd grown accustomed to the strangeness of this city in her time here, but she'd certainly made progress. Having a place to stay certainly helped, though she was well aware she owed that to Gabriel for the most part. Finding a job hadn't been all that difficult, and there had been more than a few openings for someone of her talents, though it wasn't all that surprising, considering the things that injuries and ailments she'd seen people coming in for.

While the changeling occasionally found herself taking a trip to the Hedge for some reason or another, most of Emily's free time found her in various clubs, taverns, and the like. Sometimes the excursions were with Gabriel, sometimes by herself, though they'd been quick to establish that their relationship would be a fairly open one. It certainly hadn't stopped her from enjoying herself all the same, and that it helped chase away both the monotony of her days and the occasional pang of homesickness was certainly a bonus.

Today, it was a curious little tavern called 'The World's End' that she'd come across, and it was with a spring in her step that she made her way through the streets and into the building. Perhaps it was a product of her court affiliation, but Emily had always enjoyed Spring out of all the seasons, between the warmer weather, the cooling rains and breeze, and the oddly reinvigorating feeling the season carried with it after the lifeless chill of Winter. Of course, the fact that her abilities always felt more potent during this time of year was certainly a bonus, but far from the main draw.

Despite the warmer weather, however, the changeling still found herself making her way in a sweater that, while a bit snug, was still plenty comfortable, and jeans for which she could say the same. Curiously, unlike a decent number of the taverns she'd visited during the past few months, the occupants of this one didn't seem to be making any particular effort to hide any inhuman features or tendencies, and the majority of its occupants indeed seemed to be some manner of supernatural.

Well, I've got plenty of time before I have to show up at work today. Might as well make the most of it.

With that in mind, the changeling made her way to the bar, seemingly ignoring the stares she drew as she went, and seated herself at the bar, ordering a glass of rum to occupy herself for the moment while she looked around the bar, not entirely sure as to what she was looking for, but certain she'd know when she found it.

[Aiden]

Gadreel

Well, he could imagine eras in which such discrimination as a common feature of law enforcement. When there were law enforcement agencies of any sort to be found, that is. It was such a relatively recent phenomenon to have standing forces for such matters. But for such a high percentage, a super majority of law enforcement officials, to discriminate against her for such reasons? That was... unlikely.

It was certainly not how it worked back in his own world after magic was revealed with the rise of the Adversary.

I do believe the hostility is not working in our favor, Forest, he sent to her, this time accompanied by a quite visible Look.

[Aiden]

Ron

Ron's response was muffled by Rikuyo and her... enthusiasm, quite thoroughly. So he didn't really get a verbal response out for Medaka to hear. Instead he groaned into the kiss, and tried to figure out where his hands should be because there were three beautiful women this time instead of one and he was just going with what felt right. He twitched in the vampire's hand.

He wondered how they would react if he got even bigger.

[Thedoctor]

Shinobu

The crazy redhead shoved herself in, stealing the werewolve's attention away. It was an irrefutable fact that he did enjoy it going by how the big hard thing twitched in younger vampire's hands.

 So the blonde vampire fully engaged herself in instructing the younger one.  She moved closer to the blue haired girl's air as she whispered. "It looks delicous does it not? Go on, you can taste it Medaka. But do mind the fangs, we would not want unfortunate accidents to occur." Maybe this would break him out his passivity.

[Aiden]

Muramasa Katase

"Mifune..." she said to herself, as if to taste the name on her tongue. Well, her puppet's tongue at least. "Very well. Mifune Katase shall be this form's name. It should be simple enough to remember, Minato-chan."

[Umbra of Chaos]

Liseth

A rather comfortable rut had defined Liseth's life for the next couple of months. Helping Sakura and Rin a bit, playing games, browsing the internet, forgetting and then later remembering to take her vitamin D supplements. It wasn't that too different from home, really.

So after winter had gone by it was entirely unsurprising for any regular in the bar to see her sequestered away in some corner with her laptop and headphones dressed in her standard t-shirt and shorts. She never really bought any drinks (even though she kind of wanted to try them) but she did have a strawberry sundae resting on the table half eaten and melting.

But it was getting kind of boring. She had just finished her third game of Frost Wyrm spam in Warcraft and it was time for a short break, So as she absentmindedly browsed a few forums she looked around the bar a bit. There were a few dwarves, some guy with white wings, a lady who looked like she was kind of fading away, and what looked like to be a crocodile walking about on two legs. Nothing that odd. They were mostly regulars.

But then there was one girl who was... ridiculously attractive. Like this was getting kind of silly at this point. She was almost certain that women in the Nexus were far prettier than they had any right to be, At worst they were plain, and even that wasn't so bad.

And then she realized that she'd been staring. Her ears went red and she immediately went back to looking at her computer. No one noticed, right? Nah. Of course not. People had better things to do than just keep an eye out on anyone that might be looking at other people. That's just silly.


Erica

Time changed nothing apparently. Erica floated out of the way of a hail of gunfire as she released her own barrage of needles. Each one perfectly aimed to destroy their own weapons. It was a simple process. Almost mechanical. She flitted away from a thrown grenade and another burst of gunfire before returning fire once more.

Eventually they were practically unarmed, and she had not sustained a single injury. It was as it should be. But without their guns and only desperation left it was only natural that... There it was. An attempted retreat. Unacceptable.

She crashed down onto the stragglers like the hand of God. Yells and screams being silenced by the practiced movement of the giant fists the Mantle had become. Squish. Squish. Squish.

And then there were two. They were begging. Pleading. Irrelevant. The disturbances to the peace caused by these rebellious gang members was unacceptable. She gathered them up in her Claws and carried them over to one of the small leftover areas still under the sway of these gangs. And then she squeezed.

The pressure grew and grew. Bones cracked then snapped. Flesh tore. Organs ruptured. The screaming stopped. And Erica saw the people, and they were angry but they were afraid. More afraid of her and what she would do than angry at what she had done. The message was clear.

[Panda]

Emily

The changeling didn't have to look for long, a smile curving her lips up just a slightest bit, just enough to give her expression a teasing hint to it, mixed with some curiosity. The subject of her curiosity, a girl with a half-finished strawberry sundae next to her who the redhead had caught sight of out of the corner of her eye, stood out on a number of levels. First, while she was certainly on the cute side, she seemed like one of the few truly normal people here. Second, in spite of the homely atmosphere of the tavern, she'd tucked herself away into a corner of the room, isolated by distance and the laptop that she suddenly seemed extremely interested in, even by the standards of the few gamers she'd met back home.

Of course, the final thing of notice was the visible blush coloring her face, along with Emily being sure the girl had been looking in her general direction immediately beforehand, when she'd first gotten a glimpse of her out of the corner of her eye. That aside, there was a certain something to the way the girl carried herself that spoke of at least some degree of repression, which would likely prove to be interesting enough by itself.

With that in mind, the redhead eased herself out of her seat, taking her drink with her, and made her way over to the other girl's little corner of isolation, allowing a warm smile as she approached, her mantle giving the changeling's surroundings an almost rejuvenating feeling.

"Hello there," Emily said, drink in hand as she stood far enough not to risk putting the girl on edge, but not too far as to make the greeting seem cold and distant, "Would you mind if I joined you? It's much more enjoyable to have some company when you drink, and the company being enjoyable can only help."

[Elf]

Forest

Forest glared at the Rent-A-Cop, stifling the urge to just knock him out and go on.  Which meant dealing with the people in the floor above them with guns.  She weighed the options for the moment and debated on going completely still, glaring, or sod all attempts at being gentle.  She could just really reach into his mind and tweak until he was chasing imaginary chickens if she wanted.

Gadreel gave her a Look and sent to her, I do believe the hostility is not working in our favor, Forest.

I mean, if I really wanted to get hostile I'd just KO him and be on my merry way . . . Forest sent back before an Idea came to her.  Her indigo eyes widened as an idea came to her that was kind of crazy, but just might work.

I have a very crazy idea, Forest sent to him.

"Fine, we'll wait," Forest said aloud before leaning on the registration desk by where she placed her axe.


Rin

Rin blushed at Archer's comment then perked at his suggestion.  "Something I'd like to read, huna, well, I just hope you're not too disappointed.  And promise you won't make fun of me okay?" Rin said as she headed towards the shelves.

Her guilty pleasure was romance novels; fluff she could get through in a few hours and be done with it.  However, she wasn't going to present Archer with one of Harlequin's best.  No, she was going for a classic book she had read several times; mostly on flights to and from Japan and England.

Still blushing, she returned with her selection.  Then with a smile, she handed Archer a leather bound copy of Sense and Sensibility.

[Umbra of Chaos]

Liseth

The dark haired girl was very good at keeping calm. She was certainly not panicking in the slightest as she felt the redhead walking towards her. Alright, this wasn't so bad. It could just be coincide-

Nope. Not coincidence. The girl started talking to her and Liseth was suddenly raking her brain for an adequate response. This never happened to her. She wasn't approachable! But she wasn't completely floundering. "I- uhh- sure I guess."

Alright maybe a little floundering, and she was almost certain her face was red. But that wasn't so bad. Especially since the redhead managed to keep up the comfortable silence that Liseth had been stewing in.

Eventually the gamer started to feel just a little bit bad. She didn't owe this person a single thing, but it felt rude to just ignore her and play around her computer. So after a few moments of coaching herself in what to say she leaned over and held out her hand to the redhead. "Hey, I'm Liseth. What's your name?"

She cringed a bit inside. God, that was almost hopelessly generic.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Vanguard

Finding her wasn’t too difficult. He knew her as a being of routine, with a simplistic and logical thought process that led into very narrow, specific ways of proceeding. Eat, work, sleep.  Knowing that, it was only a matter of guessing her next pattern.

That and the fact it was out in the open broad daylight. His expression was hard as stone, but despite all appearances Vanguard was not calm. This mockery of a farce was something unacceptable, unbearable.

Hearing their pleas and agonized cries, Vanguard came to the conclusion he did not like what he saw. And so he spoke once, his voice absolutely calm but with a hint of menace that he had never displayed in a long time. It was enough to terrify any lesser man, but neither Erica nor Vanguard could be considered as such.

"Enough."

His cold blue eyes gleamed with hints of fury, and despite his immovable stone expression, his quick decisive steps betrayed the rage in his heart. Before long the two were so close his head could touch hers.

"Are murderous impulses all that drive you? There is no meaning to this carnage, they already surrendered and lie helpless before justice. Making examples of these scum is one thing, but even scum deserve dignity." He spoke coldly, shifting his tone into mockery.

"Then again, what would a puppet know of dignity?“

[SINIB]

Henry Barthow

He quirked his lips up in a strangled smile at her humor. "Don't take me for a perv," he dissed. Henry had to admit it looked like a far more sensible choice of outfit, but he didn't have the chance to laugh about this prattle.

His forehead furrowed wearily at the promise of danger comparable to that mess they'd last seen months past. At least that one was acting in a contained manner (they had surmised, at least). He had the feeling this one wasn't. Not by the way they had attacked in broad daylight for everyone to see. That spoke of very intentional methods to him.

"Shit, alright. We need to get everyone up to speed," he said, rubbing his eyes. "They said on the comm the site of the attack is being taken of by the enforcers now, so we're headed back to the precinct instead."

Henry looked behind him with an arm hooked over his seat and to the side mirror before he sped out of where he'd parked, and fixed his eyes on the road. "I hope you're up for explaining the bastard's traits in detail."

Noel Vermillion

"Well, I'll do my best." Noel said without a huge amount of enthusiasm. She wasn't sure she'd be able to give more than his basic appearance, but she was the best lead they had, other than the unconscious man in the hospital. They'd need to send an officer over to bring him in for questioning once he was stabilized.

"We'll need to send some junior cop to collect the civilian I rescued for questioning once he's released from the hospital, too." Noel added, unsure of what to talk about. She was never good at small talking under pressure.

[SINIB]

Hospit-Noel

The short blond elite yawned as she approached the hospital she'd been called to. On her day off, no less.

"This sucks, why are we so absurdly busy lately." She grumbled to herself.

As she got closer, she saw the two stooges and groaned. Oh god, not her... She groaned, quickly casting an ars to protect her mind from probing and summoning Bolverk in the form of an oversized shotgun, far too large for someone of her stature. However, she held it ready, clearly knowing how to use yhe weapon effectively.

She'd heard stories of this Forest, and considering she was friends with the moron cop Saber, she wasn't inclined to believe she was a particularly nice or smart person.

Larry, on the other hand, was also well known in the force, and she'd chatted with him a few times when she'd been sent to deal with this or that. He seemed nice enough, and probably didn't deserve whatever grief they'd given him.

She raised her weapon and in her most commanding and assertive voice (which was hardly either of these things), said "Put your weapons on the ground and your hands on your head." She turned to face Larry. "So what's going on?"

[Thedoctor]

William

He shrugged as Relius proposed that he was a telepath. "Perhaps I am, perhaps I'm not. The mind is but one of many disciplines." The last statement by the man actually made one of his eyebrows rise. That was after all pretty rich coming from him. "It's quite ironic that you say so considering you're actually wearing one."

He paused for a brief moment before he continued with a deeper voice. "But you're correct on that, let's get to the heart of the matter Relius. I'm going to seize power here and I want you to work with me as I do. I can provide you with a whole new field from which you can harvest what you so desire."

[MissingMandible]

Lone Wanderer:

Now facing the smartly-dressed man, Jeremy only shook his head. "I agree, it would b the polite thing to do," he said, "But I learned since coming here that it''s just safer keeping it on."

I don't know you.

"Please forgive me. I'm Jeremy Braniff."

[Umbra of Chaos]

Erica

An interruption? The script in Eric's eyes twisted back and forth as if focusing while she examined the man before her. The size of that soul was rather impressive. It would actually take the Vessel some work to break such a thing down. She would need to be wary. Verbal attacks would be best.

"My artificial nature is irrelevant to this. Their lives are forfeit already. Anything that might have been theirs is already lost. Regardless, dignity is irrelevant. If you would judge me for this construct of a form then you must acknowledge that dignity is also a construct. It deserves only as much as respect as one cares to give it. It carries no intrinsic value. No one is obligated to follow such a thing." The Mantle flexed its claws, dropping the near dead bodies but not before making perfect lacerations along the gang members' arteries. They would die soon enough regardless.

"And I am not driven by a desire to kill. Only necessity. Their suffering serves as a message."