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

[YOLF]

"Rikuyo, I guess. It's not my only name, but I like my human name. Nice and short." Plus possessing a body of a mortal really rubbed on her in many ways. "And huh, he's still alive, right? He looks as if I killed him in the heat of battle at first, but he's just more wrecked than me. I'm not in mood for finishing him off anyway."

A loser could always get up and try again. While she believed in kill or be killed nature of the world, she made some compromises for the sake of her own entertainment.

Rafalia Tredecim

Curling up like the tail of a prowling cat, the faerie's lips parted with an echo of distant memories. "Well, for as much as it matters to you and me, you can call me Rafalia Tredecim."

Shouts of distress made her look over the opposite shoulder where she'd set Methuselah's body over a pristine tassel, catching sight of the two security who had kindly acquiesced to her evacuation instructions. Placidly, she sent them a wave and rose umblemished from the ground.

"He'll live!" Rafalia answered the primal being in the shape of a girl. At least that is what she seemed to be, but whether skin or punishment she could not discern simply from looking. Another question, but not a priority. "So no worries. It would have been unfortunate for me if his story ended here too, Rikuyo."

A moment passed before she started walking the distance left by her impromptu assistants, leaving Rikuyo with an advice not yelled but left softly behind her. "Unfortunate things might be coming if you don't plan on leaving soon, by the way."

She seemed to be telling people to leave for their own sake a lot lately, but that time appreciation included at least some years amid pastoral misadventures. She was still more used to goading them to press on.

[yinsukin]

Relius Clover

Relius chuckled."Well that is rather offensive," he exclaimed, with an ostentatious rise in the pitch of his voice.  "I would have thought holding a train hostage would have gotten a bit more attention.  If only that creature wasn't there."

He walked towards the door, resting his hand on the handle before turning his head to face the assassin girl.  "Well then, if you are still incapable of even the elementary levels of trust then I will be on my way."  He pulled the door open, stepping through with a calculated step.

[Umbra of Chaos]

Paladin

The beast shrieked as its heart was struck. Then it exploded. A blinding wave of light burst from it along with a shockwave of force that made the building shudder for a moment. And in the aftermath Paladin was simply laying on the ground, armor giving off just a bit of smoke.

"Ugh." And then he stood up, brushing some of the dust and ash from the explosion off his armor as he slowly stood up. There were slight dents across his armor and he felt about as beaten up as he looked. "That wasn't fun."


Oren

Hmm. The Fae played around with her forms a bit, eventually reaching one that had a close enough resemblance to the kid that one could mistake them for family. Oren completely ignored the pinching feeling and instead picked Red up like she would her own child. "Well, we do now! Besides, you're cute enough to overlook that. But Red's a pretty weird name, y'know. Your hair isn't even red!"

[Panda]

Michael

"The blades are perfectly ordinary," Michael said, paying no mind to the man and instead drawing a blade with a fluidity that was graceful beyond measure by the standards of mortal men, but rather lacking by his own standards, "A symbol of human effort, unruly metal beaten into a fitting shape for our purpose, wielded by someone who had the potential to surpass the pinnacle of human accomplishment."

"And she threw it away," the immortal continued, sliding the blade back into its sheath, leaving a finger-length of metal still out of the sheath, "A shame, I suppose, but you have your purpose. In a way, she really has become a blade, raw materials forged into something more fitting for your purpose."

As he came to that conclusion, Michael couldn't help another chuckle, though his hands ached to do something interesting than just wait. Maybe hone his own blade skills on these puppets? No, he'd have to find proper targets if he were to improve at this point, even with a weapon such as this.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Vanguard

Vanguard kept working solemnly on the vessel, applying synthetic flesh and skin on the moon white limbs. It was uncanny in a way, just how much one could shape a single doll into becoming a completely different individual. Sparks flew as the puppet assistants worked in tandem with him, working on the bones and structure in order to make it closer to her build. Curious, but even if that man was correct he would refuse such base assumptions.

Still working on the body, he spoke calmly without a shred of emotion.

"Threw it away? On the contrary, she has seen an opportunity and taken it. It is childishly idealistic to assume one can reach such heights in a single lifetime, you of all people should know that. Besides, even if she did surpass human accomplishment, it wouldn't be enough. That is the path she has chosen proudly, I won't let you make a mockery of it."

He paused for a second and looked at his work. As flawless as it was, he couldn't help but find it sloppy. He wondered if he should keep the burns and scars on her body. A cold finger traced down the outline of her burnt neck, sliding down the wound across her chest before settling on her stomach. Ah, but of course. It was too perfect, there was no beauty in flawlessness, no genuine emotion.

Even if he replicated them aesthetically, they would pale in comparison to the dignified symbols of her struggle, the flames running across her shell that sung a story of their own. Once the shallow skin tissue was crafted on her body, he painted an outline on it with an inflammable mixture.

"She has lost nothing really, aside her right to live a human life. You delude yourself if you think a monster like that wants, nay, needs such a thing. But if the smith forges and the sword cuts, then the swordsmen... do what exactly? Well, let them do whatever they want, so long as they exist for the single purpose of being strong and beautiful.In that sense, you are correct. What I have before me is nothing more than raw materials meant to be molded into a blade that suits me."

Without much candor, he took the crimson orb and inserted it in her chest. Whatever it was made of melted like gelatin on her body, coursed inside her body until it filled her veins. Soon, it began to glow and pour out of her body like flames, sending suffocating waves of heat into the once steril and cold room. Magic circles formed beneath her and began to crack with strange multicolored lightning bolts, sending life coursing into her as she burnt.

This would be her test, to see if she could confront her own flames.

Vanguard forced his hand into her, digging deeper into her soul to give it shape, to keep the corruption contained in her. The pain would be unbearable, a burning far more biting than fire, the burning of her past memories. She was alive, but not awake, and as he brought her soul back into her vessel each and every memory was dissected and sliced with a red hot blade. And suddenly, he smiled.

"I wonder, what will end up devouring the other? The fire inside her, or the fire around her?"

If she could not shoulder such a weight, if she could not cut the fire shackling her down, she would be consumed. Whatever would open her eyes would not be human either way, but whether it would be Meti or a mere puppet was only up to her.

But if you do awaken, then make sure to burn this into your memory until the end of times. Your burning soul.

[SINIB]

Shirou

Shirou smiled back at the Sakura-like girl as he continued to pet the cute Eevee, taking back the card and the weird ball which the creature had come in.

"Erm, how do I use this?" he asked, uncertain how the ball worked. "And is there any reason I should?"

There was another thing, he was unsure about, too.

"You talked about 'levelling up', but how can I tell if he's done that? Or whether he's close to evolving?" he added, needing to clarify a few other things.

Meanwhile, he continued to stroke his new pet lovingly, glad that he seemed happy with all the attention he was getting.

Oka Kurosawa

"Huh?" Oka said, quizzically tilting her head at him. "I already showed you how to use it, though, didn't I?" She asked him, confused about why he was asking her again. Was he dense or something? A bit slow on the upkeep, maybe. "You just press the button on the front, and the pokemon will be returned to the ball. And it's only for convenience's sake, having an animal follow you around all the time can be troublesome. We're not in the boonies, so it won't be allowed everywhere."

Oka paused to take a breath before she continued.

"And about knowing when he's about to evolve. You don't! He just evolves whenever he feels like it." She said cheerfully. "It's kinda exciting, watching your friend level up, wondering when they're going to change forms."

[Aiden]

Neptune

"Dogoos are the servants of evil, they're nasty creatures who eat humans for breakfast. You'd recognize them if you saw them they're about this big and say Dogoo all the time." The purple haired goddess was gesticulating with her arms in an attempt to describe their size with an excited way.

"Dogoo." a sound come from behind her.


"Yeah exactly like that Gaddy, Dogoo." She nodded to him.

"Dogoo, Dogoo, Dogoo Dogoo."

Gadreel

The fallen angel leaned over to a slight degree to gaze past the admittedly alluring Neptune stationed in a rather convenient location for observation over him. It was then that Gadreel was struck with a rather pertinent question.

"Are these so-called Dogoo blue, vaguely round, and of a visage which resembles that of common household animal?"

[Aiden]

Sakura Matou

Sakura giggled at the two. Ron for his stupidity, and Rider for her reaction. She had absolutely no idea why Ron had made that leap of logic, but it was funny and cute. She liked him.

"So, um, when should we meet up?" Sakura said as she stood up with a bit of difficulty, using the table to lift herself up. She didn't ask for any help though, she didn't want it.

After she got up, the girl extended her hand to Ron. "I really hope you'll take me up on my offer."

Ron

Well, I certainly made a good impression here. Insert uncertainty here. In any case, he had a thing to do. "Well, if you're still going to be around for a while then I guess we could meet up in... let's say a couple of hours? That way I can do what I said I'd do first."

He didn't insult her by offering any help. The predator in him would have balked at receiving that kind of offer given to him, so of course he wouldn't be a hypocrite about it.

Ron smiled and accepted her hand, shaking firmly. "I don't really doubt that I will. So whether we meet up again soon or not, you'll be hearing from me about that."

[Aiden]

Forest of the Past

The ancient Scot shrugged and answered, "I wouldn't say psychic monster per say.  There are people who are immune to probes or don't broadcast.  It's kind of rare, but it does happen.  It could just be some bloke.  Or it could be some scary thing as well."

She frowned, wishing that she had brought her magnum, but she had the pistol she confiscated. 

I have a bad feeling I might be under prepared for this.

Liam

"Think we'd best prepare for the scary thing, just in case." Liam looked to the shotgun that Forest disarmed from that other guy, then to his own slugger, and shrugged. "Take the shotgun. I'll make do with this. And if ya can check the other minds there to see if they know who's there, that'd be good."

[Cherry Lover]

Shirou

Shirou sighed at the girl's obivous confusion. Yes, she had explained how to get the Pokemon out of the ball, but he couldn't remember anything about how to get it back in. Still, it seemed simple enough, not that he was inclined to try it right now. After all, his new pet seemed happy enough cooing in his arms as he stroked it lovingly. So, he saw no reason to respond to her.

The next part, though, he did feel he needed to react to. Not knowing when or if their pet would evolve was fine, but he still had no idea how he was supposed to know when he had levelled-up. It's not like a status window appeared in his mind like it had for Saber, after all.  And, there were other things he needed to cover, too.

"OK, but how do I tell if he's levelled-up? Or what level he currently is?" he asked, confused.

"Also, what should I feed him? I have no idea what Pokemon eat. And, is there anything else I need to know about him? I don't want him getting sick or upset because we don't know how to look after him...", he added, genuinely worried for the well-being of their new pet.

After all, the cute creature now relaxing in his arms was their responsibility now, part of their family. Shirou wanted to make sure he had a good, happy life.

[Thedoctor]

Shinobu

The golden haired vampire tilted her as she saw Medaka entering some form of thinking pose to present hr idea. She then responded in turn, sounding amused as she did. "Oh a game you say. What kind of game would that be?" As she answered the blue haired girl, she inched closer, closer, until she was in range.

"Hah I have it." She waved the other girl's wallet proudly and then took off at full speed.

"Catch me if you can you slowpoke~"

[Thedoctor]

William

"You were saying?"

The dark mage of darkness had already finished two of the double chocolate-mocha milkshakes in the blink of an eye before the girl had even finished her question. How he'd performed such a feat was a complete mystery, maybe he cheated or....he was just that good.

"There's far too much chocolate here, it looks like a drink made for teenaagers with a diabetes wish. Do you seriously drink this every day? A healthy body and a healthy mind requires a steady dose of healthy food." His tone was harsh as it seemed he was scolding her.

"Disappointing."

[Thedoctor]

Neptune

"Bingo. We have a winner here!" Her hands came down to point at the winner. "Behold the grand prize, a million free rides on Neptuneland's greatest attraction: the Nep-train!" She went silent for a second, and another...."How did you know by the way?"

"Dogoo"

The blue monster horde had seemingly multiplied many times over behind her. What had only been a few mere moments ago were now dozens, no scores of the vile beings were congregrating on their position, drawing ever closer.

"They're right behind me aren't they? Hehe, of course they are. Having the thing you're describing appear behind you is a normal plot development in comedies." She turned around to have a look at the situation.

"Whoa there's a whole army here, if only I had my wea-...."

A pair of swords fell from the sky at that moment cleaving the closest dogoo in half as the poor thing exploded into....pixels. The protagonist of protagonists calmly jumped off the bench and walked over to pick up the swords in a way that was totally fitting of the main character. She then immediately lashed out a dogoo that was trying to sneak up on her. "Uselss, Useless, Useless"

[Panda]

Emily

Of course, the changeling ended up leaning into the pats, as if there was some greater force directing her movements. That, or she just liked the patting, and Emily was far more willing to bet on the latter.

"Mm, I can see where you're coming from there," Emily admitted with a pleased little hum as she leaned into the other girl's touch, "Oh, where are my manners? My name's Emily. I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you, but I think that part has already been made quite clear."

[yinsukin]

Medaka

"Well, I was thinking we-"  Before she could even formulate a response, the blond vampire stole her wallet and bolted, taking off at full speed.

"Hey!" Medaka shouted, dashing after her at full speed with an playful smile.  Of course, she knew that Shinobu was out of her league when it came to speed and agility, so she would have to get creative.  As they passed through the mall, she grabbed some hot sauce from one of the tables, as well as a bucket of water and soap that the mall janitor likely left sitting around.  The moment the two left the food court, Medaka opened the bottle and threw it above Shinobu's head, hopefully causing some of it to splash onto her.  Then, with another hefty toss, she threw the soapy water ahead of Shinobu in confident that she would be either be forced to slow down a bit to dodge it or outright slip on the substance.