Cross Effects 3.0 - November 16, 2014—April 13, 2015

[Cherry Lover]

Vanguard

The knight fell back for a second, shocked by Rider's revelation.

Could it be...

"Fufufu, I see. So you are simply from a different record than mine. It seems they didn't stop after the second one.", he muttered before laughing sarcastically, almost pained.

"You are most unfortunate, Rider. It seems we may be cut from the same cloth, you and I."

She could be... useful.

"Tell me, do you truly despise the gods, Rider?"

Record? What is he talking about?

Perhaps he meant some sort of alternate world, but the way he talked about the "second one" made it sound like a sequential process of destruction and re-creation, much like the Golden, Silver and Bronze Age people had been destroyed or died for various reasons. Had his Gods destroyed his world more than once, as they had for hers? Indeed, the story of the citadel itself sounded much like that of the people of the Silver Age. They had been mostly OK people, certainly no worse in their attitude to each other than more modern people, but their refusal to worship the Gods meant that they were destroyed, and demonised as evil by future generations.

Still, it seemed unlikely that they were truly from the same world. She knew of how her world had been created in her mythology, and if there had been a citadel in the past she would surely have known of it. Besides, she was aware of the possibility of alternate universes and different gods, it made more sense that he was simply from such a world.

"What do you mean by 'record'?" she asked, curious. "I do not believe we are from the same world. I came here from an alternate universe, and I believe the gods I know are not the same as yours."

She paused for a moment, considering her answer to his question, before speaking once more.

"As for my feelings towards the gods, hmm....

Well, there are gods I knew who were not so bad. I was even in love with one, for a while. Until he abandoned me to my fate, that is....

Overall, though, yes, I would say that I despise them. They care only for theirselves, and demand worship without providing anything in return. They perform acts that would be considered to be beyond any bounds of acceptability if performed by a human, and yet are excused for them because of their supernatural power."

[Kotomine_Rin]

"Ay mate!", said Lorenzo, still using the corpse as cover.

Advancing further, he felt shooting pain on his leg as he realized he had taken a few hits earlier.

Damn... I got cocky. Enough playing around.

Dropping the body, he exposed himself to the thugs, who mercilessly opened fire on him. But Lorenzo didn't even flinch, no, instead he smiled a feral smile alike a rabid beast.

Gunfire launched itself at him from all sides, there was no way he could cover or avoid something like that. To drop his one protection against the gunfire would have been nothing more than suicide, any sane man could tell that much.

Luckily, Lorenzo was no sane man.

As the Helloweeners pulled their trigger around the pirate, pyre covered everything that stood before Lorenzo. The bullets never reached the pirate, flesh and metal melted off as all those surrounding him burned to ashes in a fiery explosion.

In the middle of all the destruction, Lorenzo smirked. "Tsk, you shouldn't ha-"

Before the pirate could finish his sentence, a loud bang interrupted him. His head was blown back as blood dripped, it seemed the sniper took advantage of the opening, and shot his head...

And yet Lorenzo's grin grew wider than ever, a bloodcurdling smile that would horrify even the blind. The bullet simply stopped, all it could've managed was to graze the pirate's forehead before it was caught by the flame bird that stood atop him earlier.

Pointing to where the shot had come from, he looked right at the sniper, smiling unlike ever before. "There, there you are."

The flames circled around the pirate, fully covering his body as they spread further and further. He now looked more akin to a demon than a man. In a hair's breath, he simply leapt from the ground, the flames around him firing from his feet like a rocket, he traveled at speeds comparable to a motorcycle, advancing towards the sniper's location.

[Knick]

Mia

“Hihi” Mia giggled as her dangling arms began to swing, following as her body slightly swayed from side to side. “Hihihihi” And as she laughed the rabbit hanging from her jacket began it move, its head turning to watch the man in front of Mia step back.

Then her head swung up as she stared at the man in front of her, her eyes glowing red with wisps of miasma leaking from the light. And the smile, a bloodthirsty psychotic smile.

“You’re going to be a really fun toy Mister!” She said in a jovial tone as her arms and body swayed with hypnotic movements. And then the red smoke emanated in her hands and shaped itself. It solidified and shifted, and then the red vanished and in its place was a blade. A beautifully made katata that’s metal blade appeared to be a brilliant silver.

If someone had sensitive enough supernatural senses they would be able to tell. The blade was wrong, the world around it screamed, air, space, the natural flow of energy, everything that touched the edge of that blade was cut. It rends everything into pieces and severed without fail or exception. Simply by existing it cut apart the world.

It was the one of the original Demon Tools, a demon given a physical form to focus its great powers to a more precise purpose. Its name was Silver, the Rending Flash.

Then she moved and in a burst of movement closed the distance between her and the man. And she swung down the Demon Blade in a diagonal line with one hand. The only warning for this attack was the slight jingling of her bells as she began to move.

Hamara

“What are you getting at?” Sakura asked suspiciously. “Rider is Rider, and of course I know what she is. She’s my servant! But more importantly, she’s my friend. She’ll protect me no matter what!” Sakura continued, getting more and more animated with each word.

If Hamara doubted her words he did not show it, “But yet she is not human, and was never human.” He replied simply adding to her list. Then he got up and slowing walked over to the window, looking out onto the city.

“She has the form of man and deceives them; she has that from and constructs this lie that she is one of them. And for that I will cleanse her, for spinning such a deceit and using a form that is not hers to use and for endangering their place in the world.”

[Kotomine_Rin]

Vanguard

The knight softly took hold of Rider's shoulder, his cold metal hand grazing her cheek, he laughed softly.
"You are most absolutely right. But you see... the root of the question lies much deeper than that."

"Yes, it is possible the gods you know bear difference from those in my record... the issue is not there. As for my word, it i most definitely not the same as this one. But I can assure you, those who watch from above are a never ending constant."

Taking hold of a crystal glass, he filled it with water before dipping his finger in it.

"Tell me Rider, why do you think we were created? Why would the gods give life, only to take it back in the most cruel ways? What do you think we are to them?"

[SINIB]

Sakura

If Hamara doubted her words he did not show it, “But yet she is not human, and was never human.” He replied simply adding to her list. Then he got up and slowing walked over to the window, looking out onto the city.

Sakura was confused. “Why does it matter if she’s human?” Sakura thought. “I don’t see the problem.” Her gaze followed Hamara as he moved to the window. Once he stopped moving, she began to ask her question. But then, Hamara continued to speak.

“She has the form of man and deceives them; she has that from and constructs this lie that she is one of them. And for that I will cleanse her, for spinning such a deceit and using a form that is not hers to use and for endangering their place in the world.”

Sakura forcefully stood up, knocking the chair over in the process. “Why is it bad Rider has a human form, she can’t help it!” She yelled, beginning to cry. “Why does she deserve to die just for existing! She hasn’t done anything wrong! And what gives you the right to decide she dies?”

[SINIB]

“I’ve heard of some before, but I haven’t met any either.” Faust chuckled. “However, as you said, this city is bizarre, you can’t take anything for granted.”

"I'm curious if you heard about the same as I did. There is that vampire hanging out with that Saber girl. How outrageous or naive to associate yourself with someone who sucks human blood." Mordred did not hide her feelings about the vampire kind. Stealing mortal blood to perpetuate one's existence was disgusting to her even if a vampire only weakened the victim without killing.

Faust

“I’ve heard about a blond girl who wields a sword on the police force, and that she hangs around with some vigilante vampire girl who calls herself something like the The law of myself, or something silly like that. I think a vampire pretending to be good is fairly comical, but I can’t see it ending well.”

[Panda]

It is at this moment that the difference between Guts, who had been born and raised on the battlefield, and the Halloweeners, who while dangerous, weren't much more than bored and violent rabble with guns, became apparent. While most of the assembled thugs took a moment to stare at the pirate literally rocketing off towards their sniper support, Guts took the opportunity to bring the minigun to bear, taking advantage of the temporary reprieve from the covering fire that had been keeping him pinned down until now to set the barrels and, after a brief wind up period, unleash a hail of hot lead upon his distracted assailants.

The mercenary's inexperience with the weapon was hardly a problem here, as all he needed to do was point in the general direction of what he wanted to kill and it would go down eventually. Even so, some of the Halloweeners managed to get a few shots off before they fell to the hail of bullets, and the few that weren't mowed down by the initial barrage took cover behind nearby cars. Some of the shots managed to penetrate Guts's armor, sending hot stabs of pain through the mercenary's body. He didn't stop, though, almost seeming to enjoy the pain as he continued to mow down everyone unlucky enough to be on the other end of his newest weapon.

Meanwhile, the sniper on the roof watches, wide-eyed, as the girly-looking fop in lace suddenly starts rocketing up at him, immediately after tanking a head shot.

Quickly snapping out of it, the sniper tries to take aim at the target, taking advantage of the fact that the pirate is moving straight towards him, to line up a leg-shot, figuring that, if he was propelling himself through the air like a rocket, taking out one of the thrusters would go a long way to fucking up the flight path. Taking aim and doing his best to account for the pirate's approach, the sniper zeroes in on his target and fires, the bullet exploding from the barrel as it tears through the air towards Lorenzo's leg.

[Kotomine_Rin]

The rocketing pirate shot trough the skies like a shooting star, only less bright and sillier to look at. Just as he was about to give the sniper a good ol beating, he felt a cold burning sensation on his right leg. Lorenzo yelped, not in pain, but in surprise. He didn't see that coming, and was flying far too fast to react.

Losing control of his trajectory, the pirate began to spin out of control, swinging from side to side, until he burst trough the airs with uncontrollable speed, shooting towards the building the sniper stood atop.

Bracing himself for the great impact, he graciously crashed onto a nearby window, banging on the side of a queen sized bed.

"Goddamnit...", he muttered.

Lorenzo let out a groan, he was almost used to this by now. Quickly rising, he didn't let his torn cloth and bleeding limbs faze him. Like the devil's wind, he ran towards the rooftop's entrance.

And with the grace and might of a professional dancer, he smashed the old wooden door open with a powerful kick... only to have his foot stick out of the unbudging door, stuck.

So he did the most logical thing he could think of. Taking a rough, brutish tone, Lorenzo imitated the voice of one of the thugs.

"Hey, Bruce, I got him good, open the door so we can give the poor fool a good ol' carving."

[Panda]

Unfortunately for them, cars don't provide much cover from something like a minigun. Bullets tore through the steel horses, ripping into those who sought cover behind them as Guts made sure the cars they used for cover, and hopefully the people behind them, were riddled with holes before moving on.

And then, with just one more car left untouched, the barrels of the minigun, now glowing red and smoking slightly, stop spewing lead and come spinning to a stop. There's a moment where Guts drops the weapon, looking down it as if it betrayed him in some unforgivable manner, followed by a long silence before the sole survivor of the minigun massacre pokes his head up.

Guts is already in motion, picking up Dragonslayer, which he'd left behind when he grabbed the minigun, and barreling towards the punk, ignoring the pain shooting through him with every step as he holds Dragonslayer up in front of him as a shield. A few of the punk's shots manage to hit areas not covered by the sword, but none of this slows the berserker down as he rushes forward.

Then a dry click resounds as the punk's magazine empties out. The Halloweener stares at the mercenary, then looks at the gun, and reaches for a magazine while fumbles around with the release, leaving the previous magazine to drop as he finally grabs a fresh mag, slamming it into place just in-

Then Dragonslayer shears through the car roof and the top half of the gangster's body with hardly any change in the weapon's speed.

Looking around at the carnage, Guts allows himself a sigh as the dull throbbing of multiple bullet wounds pounds through him.

"Well, that was hardly any fun at all."


Bullshit, Fred thought to himself as he approached the door.

Still, he did have a few people spread throughout the building just in case of someone trying to force their way up. But there was the sound of a window breaking after he shot that fop to account for.

Deciding to take a bit of a risk, Fred put the rifle down and drew a pistol before making his way over to the door with a foot stuck out of it. Taking a moment to brace himself, the sniper yanks open the door to find-

A pirate?

[Kotomine_Rin]

"H-hello lad.Nice weather isn't it?", Lorenzo mustered with a hesitant smile... as he drove his rapier right trough the gap the open door left, stabbing right trough the sniper's shoulder.

Using his other free hand, he quickly drew his flintlock towards the man's face.

"One muscle, move just one muscle, say one word, breathe even once, and you're dead. If you get the gist of things, blink once, and drop your weapon carefully.", he snarled before twisting the blade.

[Panda]

The sniper dropped the pistol with a grunt of pain as the rapier was driven through it, then found himself facing down some really old looking knockoff of a pistol.

Strange, though, his shoulder shouldn't be going numb yet, there hasn't been nearly enough blood loss...


Guts considers the area around him, covered in blood and gore and the general leftovers of a battlefield. All that's missing are some crows.

The mercenary takes a look at the building where the sniper was spotted, then at the long road between him and that building. The dull throbbing of the bullet wounds made him think better of trying to go looking for Lorenzo, and he briefly considers taking a quick nap. Then he thinks better of it and starts making his way to the nearest hospital on foot.

Well this is convenient...

Fortunately, the nearest hospital turns out to be only a few city blocks away. Guts lumbers into the entrance, sits down heavily on one of the chairs, and promptly passes out.

The mercenary is carted away for treatment only half a minute later.

[Kotomine_Rin]

« Ok, good boy. », Lorenzo whispered with a smile, twisting the blade once more.

« Now listen carefully mate, this is important. I’l count to five, you’re going to slowly use that free hand of yours to push my foot back. You won’t speak, you won’t move your head an inch, and if I feel even the slightest amount of pain, I’ll blow your head off. »

Pulling the trigger with remarkable quickness, Lorenzo fired the flintlock, a bullet shot trough the man’s left ear, blood trickling down the sniper’s face.

« I’m quite fast with the gun, and I can be trigger happy at times, so don’t try anything funny lad. Do everything I say, and maybe you’ll live another day. »

And with that, the pirate smiled warmly, an eerily serene face. « Understood? »

[Panda]

"And you just wasted your only shot, dumbass," Fred says before raising his voice, "HEY! HE'S UP HERE!"

[Kotomine_Rin]

"Eh, that was cute lad." And with that, he shot the sniper in the head multiple times, killing him for sure.
Waiting patiently, he braced himself for the wave of thugs, surely they would come to get him... but there was only one hallway reaching to him.

"Bah, I can handle this.", he chuckled, smirking, holding his flintlock  and sword. This would be much more entertaining, of that, he was sure.

[Cherry Lover]

Rider laughed slightly in response to his statement about the nature of the gods.

"Indeed, it does appear that gods tend to be much the same as one another. Always selfish and jealous.

As for why we are created, as I have said, I was not created by the gods. I was originally a goddess myself, created through the wishes of mankind. Still, I understand your question as it applies to humans, and I suspect I know the answer you are looking for. Gods create people for their own enjoyment, and to show their power. They desire worship and they enjoy watching the trials and difficulties that human life throws up. So, no, it is not surprising that they get angered when people withdraw recognition.

Further, in my world at least, I believe that gods lose their status if they lose worshippers. At least, that is what my master's sister said. A divine spirit only has power as long as it is worshipped. So, of course they react poorly to losing that worship."