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

[Knick]

Suiren

Suiren looked at the… skeleton man (?) before her and blinked, confused at his sudden offer. “I guess tea sounds nice?” She said hesitantly.

Ok, she was a little weirded out. I mean, he was acting really polite, but to offer her tea? In the middle of what was basicly a battle field?

Just a tad bit strange, even for her.


Rebeca

As they walked to the gym Rebeca lead Aki in silence in silence. Her guilt was gnawing at her and it just would not stop. Aki was a good person; she helped a lot of people and seemed to be accepting of so many. She knew, she saw the entirety of her life since that dragon attack saved her life.

But still, Rebeca kept her ability a secret. She didn’t tell Aki because she was afraid. But she wanted to share it was someone, just one person she could trust with her secret.

“So,” the last dragonborn started once she caught sight of their destination just down the street. “Do you know what people do in this place?”

She was jerked out of her thoughts as Aki’s question. “Well, it’s a MMA gym. People fight, practice, and work out.” She replied. Then she sunk back into silence.

She thought about something for a moment, “Hey, can I talk to you about something?”

[Umbra of Chaos]

Caedia

A frown spread itself across Caedia's face at Crest's statement. Then she removed her bow from her back and shoved it into her compatriot's hands. "Magic requires nothing other than stamina, knowledge, and focus. The basic magick arrow could be done even by the most inexperienced man. The magick is there in the bow. Just reach towards it and pull it out."


Natara

The Caretaker wasn't sure exactly what she was expecting but being thrown over the man's shoulder like a sack of potatoes was not what she had in mind. Her hands clumsily shifted to keep The Chalice steady but it nudged itself and the ṡ̡̰̫̹̳̓̇̿i̹͎̣̫̱͉ͨ̽̕c̜͇̎̀͌͋̓ͫk҉c̻̭̯͋̑͛͗̿͛̑o̺͍̘̦͚͊̎̉ͅr̛̰͖̻͚͈͈ͬ͂ͣͅrͫͦ͐ų͓͙̐̄͛̽ͩ͌ͭp̀ͣt̹̮̙̠͐͛ͦ͢ͅev̙̪͇̱̔͌͛̍̎̏ͅi̼͑̆̽ͭ̒͐̿l͚͈̻ liquid spilled and even before it had touched the ground the area was already tainted with its corruption.

The air tasted of malice and as Natara saw the ground around the poison twist into shadow and darkness she knew that they needed to do. "We need to go back! It spilled and if they touch it I don't know what it will do!"


Urthemiel

There was a curiosity that filled the Old God as he walked the streets of this strange city of metal and glass. This time he wore a dark purple robe with his symbol emblazoned on his shoulder and a cape fashioned from the feathers of many colorful birds. He had wandered and observed for quite a while until he saw a ship fly through the sky.

It was rather majestic even as it twisted and turned in the air, but right when Urthemiel had decided to observe it closer a ball of shadow had swallowed the ship whole and left nothing behind. It was a waste but whatever had annihilated such a beautiful structure was powerful, and it was unwise to remain unaware of the powerful or those with the potential to become so. An old memory stirred at his thoughts. Of the ones that had sundered his wings and stilled his heart a lifetime ago. It would be prudent to widen his knowledge here.

So with caution in mind the Dragon of Beauty pulled upon the power of the Fade and with a flash of light he had shifted into an august eagle. He quickly flew towards the area where the ship had once been and overlooked the fighting mortals that had fallen from the sky. They were all rather pleasing to look at in their own ways. It would be a shame if their struggle ended in death.

[Cherry Lover]

The smile on Rider's face from her master's happiness at seeing another version of her beloved turned into a smirk as she tried to avoid breaking out in laughter at Sakura's attempts to wipe the "dirt" off his face. As she looked for a cloth, Shirou looked her over for a moment, before responding.

“Sakura?” he said, unsure.

Rider frowned on hearing his response. Even if this Shirou had somehow not ended up in a relationship with Sakura, she'd still have expected a more enthusiastic response to meeting someone who was basically family to him. Had something bad happened to the Sakura he knew? Or, was he just surprised to have met her in this new world?

Sakura seemed to feel similarly, and cocked her head in confusion. But, she continued to search for the cloth and, having found it, began to rub his face. Quickly, though, she realised that the "dirt" was not coming off. However, instead of recognising her error and stopping, she simply began to rub harder, exclaiming to Shirou that the dirt did not seem to want to come off.

"Erm, Sakura", Rider said, trying to suppress a chuckle, "that's not dirt...."

[Knick]

Crest

Crest raised his eyebrow at Caedia but took the bow anyway, deciding to humor her. She described it kind of like one of that Demon Tool’s the rumors talk about. “I guess I’ll give it a try.”

And like she said Crest focused on the on the bow, he closed his eyes and focused. And focused, and focused, and what the fuck was he supposed to do.

Then he tried to do something else, he emulated the feeling he had when he used his rejection, but focused on the bow rather than rejecting something.

He simply stood there, focusing, and unknown to him his rejection formed in the bow and ate away at the magick within. Crest stood there for another minute, constantly trying to focus on what was in the bow.

Eventually he simply let out a sigh and held out the bow to Caedia, “I don’t feel anything. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He had reduced the magical tool to nothing but a normal bow, all without knowing.

[theunknownhero]

Shirou (HF)

As I see Sakura rub the other me's face, I can't help but be reminded of a man I barely remember in the Holy Grail War. He was clad in red, and his body was made of swords. I can no longer recall the man's face but, when I see the other me, I can't help but recall the man. The man in red from before, the one whose arm I used to save Sakura, is epitome of Emiya Shirou's ideal. Yet, in order to save Sakura I had to give up that very ideal. I then look at the other me and reflect on our differences. I have no idea what happened to this other me's face, but I know he walks he path of an ideal I once held. As he says the name of the woman I love, I can see he does so with hesitation. It appears this version of me choose a path separate from Sakura and ended up apart from her. I can't say I'm surprised, but to forget her like he did, it isn't something I myself could do. I recall a time at the end of the Holy Grail War when my body and mind were falling apart, even then the name and face of the girl were precious to me, and my mind refused to forget about them. It seems this other didn't have the same conviction when it came to Sakura. But, I guess it can't be helped, in the end he choose the path of Emiya Shirou who stands by his ideal, where as I gave it up for the woman I love.

It's then I hear Rider remind Sakura that the other me is not covered in dirt, and I then let out a small chuckle. I then turn to the other me and stare at him. I feel like asking him how it was my face came to look like that, but... it's kinda of strange talking to myself so I decide not to. I then turn to Sakura and ask her.

"So, that now that we've found the other me, what are we going to do next?"

[Panda]

Damn. Empire City had some crazy shit going on, but this...this is something else.

The weight of just how far removed he was from anything he knew hit the prime conduit harder than the coffee he'd taken off some guy in the nearby alley, who apparently took his coffee black and more than a little burnt. Coughing a bit, the Conduit glared at the coffee for a moment, took another sip, then coughed again and set the coffee down next to him with a disgusted sigh, half-considering just tossing the affront to morning beverages away before the urge passed. Old habits died hard, it seemed, even with the time of the quarantine so far behind him.

Getting up from the transformer he'd been sitting on, Cole leaped over to the nearest building before taking a moment to consult the map he'd begun to draw out of this strange place. After a few moments, something made itself quite apparent to the conduit.

"Wait a minute," Cole noted, "That building wasn't there just now...the hell?"

Then again, it stood to reason. He'd been pulled out of nowhere into this strange place, so there was no reason that other stuff couldn't be pulled in from other places too.

"Hell, there might be alternate timelines this place is pulling stuff from...and seeing as this seems to be some kind of alternate dimension, it could be pulling shit in from literally anywhere...well then..."

With an slight chuckle, electricity crackles through his hands, lighting the map on fire as he tosses it away. Looking across the roofs, Cole quickly maps out a path through them to somewhere else, then stops himself as he realizes that he has no reason to do so. There's no Beast, no Plague, no Zeke, no gangs, nothing that he was used to in Empire City.

Sighing, the conduit sits back down on the transformer, finding himself completely without anything to do for the time being. This city would be his sooner or later, but first things first, he needed to get some clue about how things worked around here before he could get anywhere.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Ito Kizumi

It had been some time since he clashed with that girl, his stomach now filled and itch troughoutly scratched, Ito let out a satisfied sigh as he walked trough the streets. It was strange, this city was strange, and everyone he met so far was strange. Perhaps he could find what he looked for here...

Then he found some random person, lightning popping out of him.

He looked different from those he met in his life., his whole being oozing a particular force that made him a bit uneasy. Also lightning popped out of him. That ought be mentioned. Still, this was not quite the bad twist of fate. Without making as much as a sound, he casually walked up tot he stranger, his heart's beat barely any more audible than a scattered leaf and his step lighter than an insect's.

Silently, he waved to the man, calling him out.

"Hey, you look strong. What's your deal?" Ito spoke softly, his whisper almost as chilling as the air and his eyes unfazed, brimming of a blank dullness.

[SINIB]

Sepulchure


As Lorenzo began to freak out and fire flames from his pistol, Sepulchure was not paying attention to him. He was focused on the girl. Medaka had changed. An expression of fury had encompassed her very being, it looked as if she was a completely different person. Her hair had changed colours, and she gave off a faint aura. His attention was completely focused on her, he didn’t know her new powers. The now titanic birds made of a blazing inferno washed over Sepulchure, doing nothing.

After a split second, he decided to finish then both off quickly. He turned black and waves of dark bullets fired from him, lancing towards both of them. One that missed left a dark scar on a building, slowly burning through it.

[Panda]

Cole raised a non-existent eyebrow as the familiar tingling of bio-electricity pinged him from somewhere behind him and approached. Before he could be bothered to turn around, the person, likely a ninja, greeted him weirdly.

"Yeah, I'm strong," Cole says, looking the stranger over incredulously, "What of it? And are you suppose to be some kind of ninja? If you are, you're doing a horrible job of it. Ninjas didn't go around in clothing that would make them stick out like sore thumbs."

Under him, the transformer thrummed as Cole was briefly tempted to blast this fool trying to sneak up on him, but he held back the temptation. Yet another old habit dying hard, though this one wasn't nearly as old. When the electricity eventually ran out in Empire City, he couldn't just toss off anything that actually required energy without care. While there may have been a lot of people, they'd run out eventually if he didn't keep himself down to a relatively sedate rate of consumption.

[Kotomine_Rin]

"But that's what they expect me to do! If I wear this, no one will suspect I am a ninja, and they won't expect me to whoop em either. If ninjas wear clothes that don't stand out and I do, no one will be able to tell I am a ninja!" Ito responded, still whispering with a bemused smile growing under his scarf, despite his eyes not flinching or growing any expression of any kind.

"And yes, you look strong. Damn strong, that lightning trick is neat. I like it..."

[Knick]

Just

Just gave the girl a slight frown before rubbing the back of his neck. He walked over to her and flicked her on the forehead.

He gave her a soft smile, “Calm down, your with friends here. If Our Saint brought you here we wouldn’t do anything to you.”

He really hope she understood, at least a little.

[yinsukin]

Sepulchure


As Lorenzo began to freak out and fire flames from his pistol, Sepulchure was not paying attention to him. He was focused on the girl. Medaka had changed. An expression of fury had encompassed her very being, it looked as if she was a completely different person. Her hair had changed colours, and she gave off a faint aura. His attention was completely focused on her, he didn’t know her new powers. The now titanic birds made of a blazing inferno washed over Sepulchure, doing nothing.

After a split second, he decided to finish then both off quickly. He turned black and waves of dark bullets fired from him, lancing towards both of them. One that missed left a dark scar on a building, slowly burning through it.

Unlike Medaka expected, the flame birds caused no reaction from the dark man.  Medaka could not properly fight the man with Lorenzo unconscious before her.  She quickly grabbed Lorenzo and jumped through he hole in the ceiling, dodging the bullets.  She ascended several feet above the building.  As she descended she noticed that she had not destroyed the ceiling completely.  Before she descended through the hole once more she dropped Lorenzo on the remaining space of the roof.


Normally when she takes this form, she prefers to use raw violence rather than martial arts training to defeat her opponent out of respect for the disciplines she has learned from.  This was an exception. She then took a boxing stance against her opponent. With that challenge she glared at the dark man with furry in her eye, waiting for his next attack.

"I would rather die than let my friend be harmed any farther by you!  Come, we shall settle this!"

[Kotomine_Rin]

Lorenzo's face fell and distorted into utter disbelief, awe and defeat as that being withstood his flames without any hindisrance. The cold sweat dripping from every one of his pores now gave him an unsightly appearance, and the snot and drool oozing from his nose and gaping mouth leaked in abundance.

He couldn't move, not anymore. He was defeated, crushed, finished. That monster would kill him, an dhe would die here and now. He could do nothing, he was unable to. His body kept shaking in place, frozen in fear. He couldn't even cry or close his eyes, his breath simply weezed out until stopping. He would die.

Then Medaka grabbed him once more  and jumped through he hole in the ceiling, dodging the dark bullets. This fear, this terrifying sensation froze him. He felt he was choking, he couldn't breathe.

His palms were sweaty, knees weak and arms were heavy. He was going to lose himself, to his fear and to his cowardice.

"I would rather die than let my friend be harmed any farther by you!  Come, we shall settle this!" she said.

Yes, this was just like that day. But he, the proud Lorenzo Remei, how could he? How could he allow such a thing? He wouldn't. Not anymore would he fall to his fear.

"DAMN STRAIGHT!" Lorenzo howled, madness finally overtaking him and shutting his fear off, even for an instant. Focusing all he had, his whole being and soul into the flames surrounding that armored fiend, the pirate exhaled heavily. In that moment, the flames burst and grew to ungodly sizes, engulfing and swallowing all as they circled around the fiend, grabbing onto him.

Without any warning, the whole building shook, an exploding inferno ravaging all over the area as the structure crumbled down.

Lorenzo couldnt't see anymore, he couldn't hear anymore. All he could do was wisper an apology and curse his luck as blood trickled down his mouth before spewing violently. And with that, he stopped thinking and collapsed.

[Panda]

Cole took a moment to really stare at the strange man incredulously before shaking his head with a light chuckle.

"People don't usually judge your ability to fight from your clothes," Cole says, "And the point isn't that you don't look like a ninja, it's that you stick out like a sore thumb, which is just going to draw even more attention to you...well, I can't really talk there..."

"And...this?" Cole moves his arms a bit, feeling a little concerned by the sight of lightning arcing across them, "Ah, looks like I need to work a bit more on my control. But yeah, this is nothing."

[Umbra of Chaos]

Urthemiel

The hawk lazily circled through the air until the top of the building exploded. He watched the changed woman deposit her friend on the ground before going back to combat the other within the building. Seeing the immobile body of the man convinced the Old God. Beauty must be preserved and it would be a tragic waste for both of them to die here against their foe.

The enemy filled Urthemiel with a bit of trepidation. Whatever magic it used was foreign but nevertheless he could feel it in the air. The power it used was powerful and unrestrained. It would  be foolish to fight it now while knowing so little. It would be best to just retrieve the two and leave, but it would need to slow or distract the opponent.

With that in mind the bird glowed and Urthemiel shifted back into the form of man before plummeting to the ground. In free fall he reached for the Fade again and tapped into its ethereal power to perform a spell that the Tevinters would call Mana Clash. A surge of energy that would completely destroy the mana of an opponent and cause a backlash effect roughly equivalent to the mana lost. Grey wisps of power coiled around his hand as he fired the magic at the being that had been tossing arcane powers around without a care.

Hoping that would stall or just kill the aggressor Urthemiel's body glowed in light once more as he took on his original form. An enormous dragon covered in gorgeous purple scales. It was said that Urthemiel was the most graceful of the Old Gods and whoever said that was absolutely right. He swooped down and the building let out a terrible groan as he landed on the broken roof. A clawed hand grabbed the prone man while another reached in the building and held out an open claw for the woman to jump on.