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

[Thedoctor]

Shinobu

The blonde vampire lazily followed Medaka as she gave a long drawn out yawn. "That is good and all but all this commotion has worn me out and I did not even get a chance to rest earlier, in no small part thanks to a certain someone." She teasingly said as she looked at the blue haired girl. Medaka would have to find a place soon unless she wanted to deal with a zombie rather than a vampire.


Neptune

The purple haired goddess bit into the approaching slice of pizza with absolute shame. Shame from sumbitting to this most vile of beasts. Her composure almost broke however whe nshe felt him patting her back with his reassuring hand, but no she wouldn't break, not infront of someone she just met, she had an image to uphold after all.

Struggling not to burst out laughing, she somehow managed to finish the slice with just as much vigour as the previous one. "Gimme more...master."

[Cherry Lover]

Shirou

Shirou continued to stroke the little dog, which gradually began to warm to him. He certainly could see himself taking this creature home to Sakura as a pet, and it seemed like it was capable of fighting. As he was stroking and playing with it, he heard the girl return.

"So, do you like him?" she said. "He's a great guard dog, and mightyena is even better. Are you interested in any other pokemon? Eevee is ever popular, as is pikachu! I could show you them. If you want a pokemon that's strong, eevee evoles into some quite strong species that also remain cute."

Then, before he could respond, she reached down to her belt and pulled out another ball.

"I could show you one of them, if you like", she added.

Shirou turned to her and smiled as he considered his response. The dog certainly was nice, but he wasn't sure if it was really what Sakura would want, or if it would be strong enough. On the other hand, as much as "Eevee" looked cute, $2000 was more than he could easily afford. They would certainly need to take a few extra jobs, and they were over-worked as it was. Plus, it would mean they were less able to deal with the real threats, those who went after targets too irrelevant to attract much of a bounty.

"He seems nice, yes, but I would like to see more", he began, before pausing to think further.

If Eevee was strong enough, then it could be worth picking one even despite the cost. It could take some of the workload off of them, and allow them to take stronger bounties. But, if he was going to choose a Pokemon that evolved, he needed to see the result, so the girl's offer made sense.

"I did like the look of Eevee. I'm sure my wife would love him. But, he is rather expensive, I'm not sure if I can afford to pay that much right now", he said, a little downcast as he considered the fact that he might not be able to afford the best pet for Sakura.

"Still, I'd like to see the evolved form if you have one. Your brochure doesn't have that. I also liked the look of those two little mice. Plus..un? and Minus..le? Do you have either of those with you?"

[Aiden]

Gadreel

If anyone were observing this Gadreel's good name would be dragged through the mud. But then, apocryphal libel had already done so centuries ago - the accursed Book of Enoch had been written by the winners. This exile had certainly not come out of the extermination of the Nephilim a winner. So with his name having little good behind it already, he restrained his humor to a mere tremble of the shoulders and continued on.

The angel escalated, his hand moving up her back until he was patting her on the head like some form of pet. And retrieving another slice of pizza, the second to last. "Very well... it is good that you now know your place."

[SINIB]

Shirou

Shirou continued to stroke the little dog, which gradually began to warm to him. He certainly could see himself taking this creature home to Sakura as a pet, and it seemed like it was capable of fighting. As he was stroking and playing with it, he heard the girl return.

"So, do you like him?" she said. "He's a great guard dog, and mightyena is even better. Are you interested in any other pokemon? Eevee is ever popular, as is pikachu! I could show you them. If you want a pokemon that's strong, eevee evoles into some quite strong species that also remain cute."

Then, before he could respond, she reached down to her belt and pulled out another ball.

"I could show you one of them, if you like", she added.

Shirou turned to her and smiled as he considered his response. The dog certainly was nice, but he wasn't sure if it was really what Sakura would want, or if it would be strong enough. On the other hand, as much as "Eevee" looked cute, $2000 was more than he could easily afford. They would certainly need to take a few extra jobs, and they were over-worked as it was. Plus, it would mean they were less able to deal with the real threats, those who went after targets too irrelevant to attract much of a bounty.#

"He seems nice, yes, but I would like to see more", he began, before pausing to think further.

If Eevee was strong enough, then it could be worth picking one even despite the cost. It could take some of the workload off of them, and allow them to take stronger bounties. But, if he was going to choose a Pokemon that evolved, he needed to see the result, so the girl's offer made sense.

"I did like the look of Eevee. I'm sure my wife would love him. But, he is rather expensive, I'm not sure if I can afford to pay that much right now", he said, a little downcast as he considered the fact that he might not be able to afford the best pet for Sakura.

"Still, I'd like to see the evolved form if you have one. Your brochure doesn't have that. I also liked the look of those two little mice. Plus..un? and Minus..le? Do you have either of those with you?"

Oka Kurosawa

I've got a nibble!

Oka was ecstatic as soon as he showed a bit of interest in spending even more money. If things went well, Jin and her could go out somewhere fancy tonight.

"Go, Sylveon!" Oka yelled out, throwing her ball out, out of which her beloved pink friend appeared. "Use hyper beam!" Oka said, pointing her finger at a large sturdy tree.

"Kkyyyuuuuu!!!" Sylveon said, unleashing an immense white beam of energy that hurtled towards the tree, punching through it with ease and slamming into the tree behind it as well, which after some cracking noises, fell and slammed to the ground along with the other one.

"Pretty strong, right?" Oka said cheerfully, confident her show of power would amaze him. She just wouldn't tell him quite how much work it was to get them this strong is all.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Malcolm

Malcolm eyed the drink suspiciously, as if he had just been offered poison. He sniffed it, narrowed his eyes, twirled it around the glass a little and then downed the whole thing. His eyes widened, and the cowboy wannabe gulped and grinned widely like a jackal. After all the shit he got in one day, he honestly needed that.

"Pwaaah, that's the stuff." He sighed in satisfaction.


Methuselah

Light and darkness clashed and sent shock waves through the entire mall. This was no longer a fight between men, or monsters, but between gods. But there was a simple misconception that his enemy seemed to believe in. Had this been a simple clash of strength, of energy, then surely she would have come victorious. But there was one simple problem, one fundamental problem that became her undoing.

Darkness is not a power or an energy. It is the lack thereof. You cannot punch nothing with something, a plus and a minus will always result in a minus. Her attack was fearsome, but this match had already been decided by affinity. The beast of shadow did not resist her attack, but invited it, and as she entered the beast's maw the fierce aura around her dimmed and corroded until it was ripped from her body and eaten. Flesh, magic, souls, chi, even light itself was being scraped away and devoured by the darkness.

And the more the clash continued the more the wounds around her body began to grow. The more she penetrated his shadow, the more the shadow penetrated her and her chi. Escape was impossible, the moment she had entered him, dark energies were sucking impossibly at her, rippiing her skin and muscles from her bones little by little. The only thing she could do was charge forward to her doom.

But there was one simple problem, one fundamental problem that he had overlooked.

Rikuyo was strong.

A fist tore through the shadow like a flickering star in the darkness, holding the smallest amount of energy he could not corrode. "WHAT!?" He screamed, but he couldn't even blink as the mangled girl ripped herself from the darkness and punched him straight in the face with monstrous might. In the end, he could devour her power, but he could not devour her strength. Time slowed down as his face cracked like porcelain, shattering with glowing red wounds, and his eyes rolled back.

He was being blown down, floored by the massive strength of his opponent, but as one knee touched the floor, a single thought screamed in his mind.

Not yet.

Suddenly his eyes immediately focused back on his opponent. Was it divine power, instinct, determination, or something more? He couldn't tell, but the one thing he knew was that he couldn't lose here. Shadow enveloped his fist and he roared to strike back at his enemy with all his power.

His fist could never reach her, his vessel was far weaker than hers physically, but the shadow had caused some damage. As small as it was, there was a chance, a single opportunity, that as long as she was wounded he might be able to match her. In that moment he put the entirety of his faith into that chance and resolved to strike her with all his being.

[Cherry Lover]

Shirou

As soon as he responded, the girl threw the ball to the ground, yelling as she did so. Out of it popped a cute pink creature with odd tendrils that Shirou was sure Sakura would love. Reacting to the girl's call, the creature called "Sylveon" let out a cute scream before unleashing a white beam towards a nearby tree, going straight through it and demolishing the tree behind it.

Wow, that's pretty good, he thought.

"Pretty strong, right?" the girl said, obviously confident of the display's amazingness.

Truthfully, Shirou was less impressed than she expected. It was nothing when compared to the power of Excalibur or, even, the Pegasus that Rider had used against Saber. But, still, despite that, it was clear that the creature was very powerful. Certainly, he felt that it would be a useful addition to their family of heroes.

"Yes, it's very impressive", he said, with a smile. "And cute, too. My wife would love it."

Still, there was one nagging doubt. Whilst the creature she had shown him was very strong, she had mentioned that it could evolve into many different species of Pokemon. Further, she had mentioned levelling and, based on what he knew from playing video games, he was sure that a higher level Pokemon would be much more powerful.

Whilst he was sure that the girl was too sweet and kind to be trying to trick him, he nevertheless knew he needed to find out more. If he could obtain a creature of this power, then it was worth the cost, but he had no idea what other possibilities there were.

"You said this 'Eevee' could evolve into multiple different species, right?" he said, obviously a little wary. "How difficult would it be to get one as powerful as your Sylveon, and are the other species just as cute and powerful?"

[yinsukin]

Medaka

Medaka's smile finally faded at Shinobu's comment.  Even though she was just teasing, she still felt pretty bad about that.  After returning their costumes, the two walked into the food court of the mall, where there was a wide variety of different places to eat.  She strutted over to a group of empty isolated tables.  The blond should be able to sprawl out here if she decided to use multiple chairs.

"Wait here.  Ill be back." she said casually.  She walked over to a Panda Express and came back with two dishes, chow mien and some fried rice.  "Which one do you want?"

[Thedoctor]

Neptune

"Mhm...." The hand that was now patting her head was most agreeable, her back arched a bit as she pushed against to gain even more of her new master's affection. The second to last pizza slice was finished at a noticably slower pace than the previous one, the girl too distracted by the patting to eat at her regular pace.

She raised her head and met his gaze mischievously. "My place master.....is to be by your side for all eternity serving as your toy for you to do what you want with, sounds about right?"

[Aiden]

Gadreel

His fingers scratched gently behind one of Neptune's ears while he enjoyed the moment for what it was. The young (?) goddess was quite the actress, perfect at least for the role to which she was resigning herself right now. And so he grinned, and clarified something for her. "That sounds like an aspiration on your part more than anything."

This time he let her remove the tomato sauce from the tips of his fingers as she so pleased. He wondered which of them would falter first. It was so very close. "But, an appropriate one."

[Panda]

Michael

His hearing had more or less recovered as the immortal waited, taking the time to consider what could be made of the situation. Of course, he'd disassembled whatever weapons the second wave of gangers had on them while he waited. To his curiosity, the sounds of chaingun fire drew closer, and he could've sworn he'd felt the reverberations of a cannon going off from further down.

Pantheon's sake, just what kind of gun runners are these? Well, a bit more fun than what I'm used to, to be fair.

With his sight on the mend, however, he noted the sounds of fire dying off, racing footsteps preceding Meti bursting into the room, painted with blood and her breathing a bit heavier than usual. Allowing a smile, the immortal dropped down the hole he'd made once more, landing in front of her with an easy grace, hands still dripping with blood, but the rest of him untouched.

"Well, nicely done, Meti," he said, looking the girl over for a moment, "I do hope you don't mind if I have a little fun with our friend outside. You have to give Vanguard some credit, though. Until the part where he said not to destroy their weapons, I admit I hadn't guessed that he might be leading us on for his own ends. Though, I do wonder what he plans to do once he's taken over this gang's place. Well, assuming our friend in the skies leaves him anything to rule."

[Thedoctor]

Super-William

And here he found himself being pulled away this girl who had a suprisingly strong grip. If only he hadn't been so distracted by the girl with the killing intent. Focus, do not lose awareness, that's a quick way of dying. "When I said drink I was referring to something a bit stronger than a milkshake." The sudden pull had brought him off balance in more than one way. Let's see how they intend to follow up on this.

[Cherry Lover]

Rider

Rider, still slowly eating her delicious meal, could tell that Sakura was concerned by what she had said, and it did not surprise her. As a result of her past, Sakura was very sensitive to the thought of someone being abused or controlled, and the way the man spoke made it sound like his girlfriend was rather too controlling for Sakura's liking.

As soon as the man made a suggestion of perhaps moving into a bigger place, Rider could tell that Sakura was considering something, perhaps planning how she could help the man. Soon enough, she had come to a decision, and she leaned back in her chair with a smile, before offering him a place to stay as a reduced rent.

A smile came over Rider's face too as she realised Sakura's plan. With him living in one of her houses, Sakura would be able to keep an eye on him and ensure his "girlfriend" was not acting abusively.

Good plan, Rider said over their mental link. If he lives with you, you can keep an eye on him and make sure his girlfriend doesn't do anything bad.

Then, she turned to the man.

"I'm sure she would have a place that would suit you", she added.

[Thedoctor]

Neptune

She leaned in closer to him, showing her approval a smile she couldn't quite keep from her face. Only a little more and she'd win this, there was no way she could lose now after all. "What do you want your cute pet to do master? it could be anything you want, anything , even those things. I'm awesome in a lot of ways~"

[Aiden]

Ron

He could practically smell the scheming from the young ladies. At least, he thought they were young; having had sex with a couple of vampires an hour ago left him a bit leery of just assuming. So when Ron actually heard the offer on the table his eyes rose up to his brow a bit. "Really? Well, that's... quite an offer. You weren't kidding about having a lot money."

The werewolf let out a whistle as he thought it over. During that time the second order that Sakura wanted arrived.

"Well, I might be able to rustle up a security deposit... it's not like there's any contract about where I'm staying now."

[YOLF]

Rafalia Tredecim

When the first blow of the battle was struck, Rafalia was well outside of the area where the two contestants delivered destruction to assail one another, but the first aftershocks rung through her body with the carving of the environment. But with the mortals that had heeded her advice scattered from the danger, she found her attention questioning Methuselah.

After speaking so vigorously against the threat of the girl's stance, his power sprung without concern for the obstacles on the way to felling her, restraint thrown to the side. Had he determined that material damages were meaningless in the face of the offense upon the moods of the people? Perhaps that was just an excuse, and he did not want to be honest to his nature of disproportionate retribution. Was he so personally wounded by his adversary's attitude that anger boiled through his standards and became the power he called to rip through glass and steel? Or could he simply not hold back his ravenous strength?

But now, as Rafalia danced through debris and stepped between the beats of their game of desolation to watch from close by, she realized. Of course he could not. The verses of gods and monsters were not such a simple thing that had consideration for the world that embraced them, no matter how wide it was. They were a song beyond prose that cracked the wheel, which knew only a match in a fitting spirit.

Between the sea of devouring darkness and the blur of burning energy that trailed through the air, she remembered the battles of deep myth and the clashes which ripped through the branches from which worlds hung. It was no mere test of violence that she witnessed, but the grounds where divine intents struggled for dominance. It was not an exchange of miracles, but there was absolutely nothing ordinary in the amorphous waves and maws of shadow hunting the halls for their prey and corroding even light within their core, or the manifestations of bestial puissance adopted and shed by the girl that avoided her hunters only to leap boldly to the challenge like a lightning bolt.

The excrucian saw the climax arrive with her true gaze, allowing the stars to witness it. The shapeshifter's spiritual power pierced a path through the dark avatar's consuming attack and crashed into his body as a falling mountain, but brute strength wouldn't decide the true victor. Rafalia saw it in the brilliant aura of his spirit, but Methuselah made it clear on his own. Though the other sizzled with the will to take every bit of satisfaction from this battle, could that lust overcome his desire?

Her footing cracked thunderously with the force of the blows on the surrounding floor and Rafalia flew, spiraling perfectly in the air to rest on a tilted shop sign. "Methuselah! Now is the time to be iconic! Express yourself!!" She cheered, arms spread in grandeur.