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

[Aiden]

Lucy

The girl simply smiled and shut her eyes. Just a bit of rest wouldn't do either of them harm. Probably.

She nestled her head into the crook of his neck and simply waited. Maybe he would even fall asleep? That would be interesting in and of itself.

Gadreel

She wasn't wrong, though. I really will...

Then for the first time in many decades the Wall of God fell into a deep and recuperative slumber. He was so still that only the gentle rise and fall of his chest and the beating of his heart gave away his continued existence.

[SINIB]

Shirou

Shirou frowned as the girl stepped backwards. It was obvious that he was discomforting her somehow, and he was unsure how to react.

"Erm...", he said, unconfidently, not sure how best to explain things. "Well, my wife, Sakura, looks very similar to you. I mistook you for her at first."

Then, he sighed.

"Sorry if I'm discomforting you", he said, genuinely regretful. "I'm just very confused about all of this. It seems like there must be another version of my wife around, who I've not met yet."

Oka Kurosawa

Oka relaxed a bit. Maybe he was just new here? But then, it seemed unlikely that there would be two duplicates of two people in the same situation. Some crazy coincidence, I guess.

Before Oka said anything, however, her pokemon responded for her, letting out an ear-splitting cry that caused the last of the birds and small animals to bolt. Oka reached up and grabbed the creature, holding him in her arms. If Shirou looked at the bottom of it, he'd see a dark, writhing mass of pure darkness, oozing an aura of death for anyone who was foolish enough to peek underneath it.

[yinsukin]

Medaka

"You!  You did kill him!"  She screemed.  Her hair and eyes turned a scarlet red.  Her body radiated an evil aura.  She furrowed her brows in a way that turned her determined glare into one of murderous intent.  Her eyes pierced into his, attacking his very soul with that evil aura.  Had it not been for Shinobu's rebuttal, she would have already followed up on that nonverbal threat.

"You seem to be under the assumption that she needs to kill you, that is quite an extreme stance. Especially when there are always other options." 

No.  I cannot.  My emotions are no longer my own.  I cannot let myself become him, not while I am attached to her...

She slammed her foot into the ground, causing the concrete to shatter.  The shockwave from the impact knocked over the nearby clothing racks.  She bit her lip in frustration, causing a stream of blood to flow down her chin.  Her voice rose like a beast as she said, "Fangs..  They take far too long to grow.  The skill to use them takes even longer to obtain.  In the time it took to better myself, I already lost someone else. Believe me, I want nothing more then to end your life.  But in this city, power amounts to nothing.  There is always a stronger force, one that can take away what you hold dear at any moment."

Her hair returned to its natural color.  Her eyes calmed down a bit, becoming more soft, meek even. "No you are right.  I cannot undo what is already done.  I don't know the answer yet either.  But there is one skill I have, one ability that no one else can take away from me.  Empathy."

Medaka took a step closer, getting into his space.  She maintained eye contact the entire time.  The moment she took that step, her eyes regained their strength.  "I done nothing but fail since he died.  I thought I could help Toe by staying by his side.  I was scared of Theodore's sudden change so I avoided him.  However, I ask that you listen to me.  Please, even if you refuse my demands, at least consider their meaning."

The young vampire simply stared at him for a moment before continuing.  "Theodore....  He is dead, gone from this world at your hands.  Even after that, I still wish the best for you.  No matter what happens, I cannot shake my love for strangers.  So please, give me back my soul.  There is no need to fight, no need to create a superfluous cycle of anger.  If we come to an understanding, then no one has to die.  And please, don't kill anyone.  You are a gentle soul.  There is no need for such brutality anymore."

[Aiden]

Sakura Matou

Sakura flashed a smile at Rider and Ron and then turned back to the cashier to order. "I'll have the lettuce, tomato, onion with the barbeque sauce. Hot sauce hasn't been agreeing with me lately."

The cashier nodded politely and then turned to Ron. "And what would you like, then?"

Ron

After a moment of thought the werewolf nodded. "I'll get the same thing, without the onions." He would have kept he onions, but those made him pretty sick if he turned into a wolf while they were still being digested. He learned that the hard way since it wasn't as common a bit of info as dogs not being able to handle chocolate.

The cashier nodded and gave them a receipt with their order number on it. "It should not take too long. We'll bring it out."

With that, Ron motioned to somewhere in the back. "All right, let's get a table then shall we?" He had his eye on a nice table by the corner where it was easy to see anyone else approaching. It wasn't a large restaurant, so they could see pretty much everything out in the open from there.

[Cherry Lover]

Rider

Rider nodded with a smile, eagerly anticipating her delicious meal. Noticing that the man appeared to be looking towards an empty table in the corner, Rider headed towards it.

"Yes, I think this would be a good table", she said, pointing towards it.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Vanguard

Was it fear that he felt when he witnessed the true Kurokami Medaka? No, a pale imitation of a war god could never make a warrior hero like him flinch. His heart was not shaking, merely dancing at her sight, her words. He had been mistaken, she had grown. But this wasn't enough, such measly resolve could never challenge him, let alone a god.

Perhaps he should have trampled the other one as well. To give her a push, turn her into him, so he could kill the him that was her. But such thoughts were foolish, because for as much as he saw himself in her, he realized that the divide between them was still far too wide. Either way, she wasn't ready yet.

As intimidating as her display was, as menacing as her words were,she was still nothing but a modern ordinary girl.

"Gentle? You have a poor sense of humor, child." He scoffed ironically, there was a tinge of bitterness to his mockery that hadn't quite surfaced until now. "Besides, the one who attacked me was him. I merely protected my life and the soul that was rightfully mine, something you have not done. Have you forgotten already? You threw it all away, deeming it worthless. Why the change of heart?"

The gigantic figure shrugged and smirked, finding some enjoyment in the catharsis of it all.

"Even if I did kill its prior owner, whose pocket it lies within does not matter, because it is something you forsook by your own choice, out of your free will. Only you can reach back to claim what you rejected. Not me, not her, not anyone else. Isn't it selfish for you to ask me to save you, when you are not even willing to save yourself?"

[Cherry Lover]

Shirou

Shirou let out a sigh of relief as the girl relaxed slightly, glad that she seemed a little less on edge after his response. However, his relief was short-lived as the weird creature on the girl's head let out a loud shriek which caused Shirou to jump back in shock, his ears aching from the sudden noise. As he was recovering, the girl picked the sheet up off her head, holding it like she might hold a doll, the sheet dangling down like some kind of clothing. The creature looked extremely strange, with a drawn-on face and a wooden tail, but Shirou wasn't entirely sure if that was part of the creature or something the girl had drawn on, so he decided not to make any comment on how it looked, although there was a confused look on his face.

However, he was unsure what the noise had been for. Had he startled the creature somehow? Unsure, Shirou decided to apologise, just in case.

"Sorry if I startled your.. pet", he said, apologetically.

Then, realising he'd not introduced himself, he decided to remedy that.

"Oh, I'm Shirou, by the way", he added with a smile. "Sorry for not introducing myself before."

[Break]

Coppelius

As the doll arrived at the hospital, he quietly entered through the front door; looking around the entrance hall, he let out a little sound of admiration at the gothic architecture before making the first step toward whisping away the ones the old Puppeteer asked him to.

[Elf]

Rin

Rin wondered just what sort of desperate woman would cuddle with a living skeleton, or what kind of really weird kink that was.  Then she shuddered, but didn't comment on it.  Well, she did mutter to herself, "Good luck with that."

Joe stood up and said, "Alright, I just realized.  I think we can use some of the rubble as paddles."

Rin said, "That could be dangerous though.  You or me get a nail through the hand and it's tetanus shot time.  Honestly, if I had a set of dry clothing I could push the boat to the docks.  Just, has anyone thought of what we're going to tell the rental place?"

[Kotomine_Rin]

Lorenzo Remei

Lorenzo folded his arms smugly and grinned.

"Hehehe, don't worry. I got it aaaaall figured out." He said cooly, but coming from him it was honestly kind of terrifying. He walked up behind Joe and smacked him on the back, waking up the sissy boy from whatever plan he was planning.

"Oi, aren't you forgetting something? It's your turn to tell your story, kiddo."

[Thedoctor]

Shinobu

This was unlikely to go anywhere soon, either of them were too stubborn to back down. At the rate this was going, it was gonna end in a total disappointment and she would have to deal with Medaka's sulking, a prospect she did not look forward to. What the man wanted was clear to her, which led to but one conclusion that would work for them. It would require for her to get invloved, but that was better than having to deal with a sour aftermath.

The blond took a step back as she raised her voice. "If you beat him in a battle Medaka, I will give it back to you, your soul."

[Panda]

Annabeth

With a glass of beer now in her hands, the Hunter continued to survey the bar, feeling a degree of boredom starting to settle in. However, with how Ron's abilities worked, keeping a cellphone on hand didn't tend to work out well for him, so they relied on meeting at predetermined places at predetermined times. That aside, she doubted calling him away from whatever he was up to to have a drink would work out well.

Well, don't suppose there's anything wrong with starting up a conversation with someone here. Might learn something in the bargain, if I'm lucky.

At that point, however, the Hunter's eyes fell on a strange man, and not just strange because of the way his hair caught the light. Stranger still was the uncanny attractiveness he gave off, drawing Annabeth's attention and keeping it locked in place for all of a few moments before she mustered up enough will to close her eyes and shake her head quickly to be sure she wasn't just seeing things. Nope, he really was just weirdly hot. Feeling rather conflicted about her unexplained attraction to the man, Annabeth took a closer look, cocking an eyebrow as she noted something somewhat...off, for lack of a better term, about his aura.

...Well, shouldn't be any harm in just having a chat and a drink...

With that in mind, the Hunter moved over next to the man, drink in hand, and sat down at the next seat over.

"Howdy there," the cowgirl started, "Mind sparing me the boredom of drinking alone?"

[yinsukin]

Joe

"Thats a good point"  He said to Rin.  As the pirate gave his input, his face scrunched up on instinct.  "Uh oh."

Right after that, the pirate came up behind him, slapping him in the back.  Joe scratched his head.  "My story huh?  Well my life is pretty boring, but I could tell you about the time I was almost killed by a werewolf."

[yinsukin]

Medaka Kurokami

"Yes, gentle.  You blatantly wear the aura of a warrior.  Even if you choose to wear the skin of a savage, your essence is kind.  That is the difference between animals and humans.  As such, you could have subdued him without killing him."  She said with a soft determined voice.

At least, thats what she wanted to believe.

"But you are right.  I did give it up.  In my naivety and desperation, I believed I could reverse my past mistakes by sacrificing myself.  However, I didn't mind, selling my soul i mean.  As long as I can make another happy, as long as I had a chance to save him, I didn't mind."  The regret in her eyes was obvious.  But even then, she didn't look away.  If he already knew everything about her, she would not hesitate to show him everything.

All of a sudden, Shinobu spoke up.  "If you beat him in a battle Medaka, I will give it back to you, your soul."  It would be at this point that someone with Medaka's intelligence and experience would have realized that Shinobu could have given back her soul at anytime.  However, that thought was cast aside in favor of her abnormal faith in others.  No, it was cast aside even faster because it was her.

Medaka bent her knees a bit and raised her fists into a perfect kickboxing stance.  "You are not wrong.  That is why I will take Shinobu's suggestion.  Perhaps if I can save myself, I can save you too."  She asserted.

For better or for worse, she would be greedy, just this one time.

[SINIB]

Shirou

Shirou let out a sigh of relief as the girl relaxed slightly, glad that she seemed a little less on edge after his response. However, his relief was short-lived as the weird creature on the girl's head let out a loud shriek which caused Shirou to jump back in shock, his ears aching from the sudden noise. As he was recovering, the girl picked the sheet up off her head, holding it like she might hold a doll, the sheet dangling down like some kind of clothing. The creature looked extremely strange, with a drawn-on face and a wooden tail, but Shirou wasn't entirely sure if that was part of the creature or something the girl had drawn on, so he decided not to make any comment on how it looked, although there was a confused look on his face.

However, he was unsure what the noise had been for. Had he startled the creature somehow? Unsure, Shirou decided to apologise, just in case.

"Sorry if I startled your.. pet", he said, apologetically.

Then, realising he'd not introduced himself, he decided to remedy that.

"Oh, I'm Shirou, by the way", he added with a smile. "Sorry for not introducing myself before."

Oka Kurosawa

"Oh, I know, I already figured that out." Oka said  to him. "And she was just saying hi, couldn't you tell?" Oka asked him before she looked around for something, scanning the area.