Cross Effects 3.0 - April 13, 2015—June 23, 2016

[Kat]

Richard Maxwell

"Very well. Accept this as your farewell gift, monster." said Richard, nodding before taking a stance. His hand was pointed at the woman, open as if to grab something.

Then, there was a powerful surge of magical energy. All the water collected around the man's arm, swirling into a sharp edge at his palm. Not one droplet was left, all that was there was a maddening drill of water swirling around the man's arm, as if to consume it. Richard's face twisted in pain, the magical energy growing in power exponentially.

Then it all stopped, the water forming what seemed to be a lance of ridiculous size, it's point aiming for where the man's palm was directed at.

Rikuyo

"Huh? You plan to go back to your pond, kappa?"

The spear made of water was surprisingly large. But that didn't matter, she just needed her attack to match its size. She released the energy towards Richard, yelling at the top of her lungs. She bore him no ill will, but if Richard was to perish in her attack, she didn't care much about it. After all, she also put her life on the line here.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Richard Maxwell

"Der Heilige Nagel Requiem!" Richard yelled, pouring all his energy into the lance of water. With those words, the liquid projectile shot forward, surpassing the speed of sound and causing a tremendous shockwave. The concrete below the bursting water shattered under the sheer force, a force so great even Richard was sent back a few feet.

He wouldn't be using that arm any time soon it seemed. How troublesome. However, even if that woman's blast was quite powerful, it wouldn't be enough to cancel out the full attack.

[YOLF]

Butler

Butler pondered the question, and lightly walked over to Suiren's side. He cast his gaze along the city as her eyes followed him, and felt the crisp air blow on his body. After a moment, he answered.

"I think of the people that dwell within. Of everything they may have to offer. I think of the fruit of their engine, and their daily tribulations, and their transient joy of being. I think of the potential here, of the many different flames that burn in these streets, each with something to offer, each individual with a different sort of heat and light in their heart."

He turned to face Suiren, his 'expression' like a wily smile. "At least, that is some of what occurs to me," he said.


Rachel

The shadowkhan following the chalice holder reported that she had finally split off from the walking  ass-kicking machine that accompanied her before. The information rose Rachel's spirits, but not enough to make jump to the opportunity. With all the shit she'd seen the chalice pull off, she was not certain of just going in again and attempting to bodily seize her. In fact, she was starting to consider showing herself and declaring her intentions peacefully to see if she'd comply.

At any rate, the mercenary wasn't feeling in a rush to get it done after the earlier fiasco, so she had decided to get something in her stomach in the meanwhile. She wasn't thinking of dumping her mission even just for a short time, so to stay in a reasonable area of surveillance Rachel just picked up some burgers and a beer to go. She wasn't a picky woman (actually pretty fond of fast food), so it was fine.

And there she was, nonchalantly having a meal on top of her parked bike about two blocks away from her target when she suddenly felt a wave of malice and evil energy crash over that direction, silently roaring with consuming power. She promptly choked on her burger, missing the fact every single shadowkhan there retreated to gain distance or mindlessly ran away through the shadows outright.

[Kat]

"Der Heilige Nagel Requiem!" Richard yelled, pouring all his energy into the lance of water. With those words, the liquid projectile shot forward, surpassing the speed of sound and causing a tremendous shockwave. The concrete below the bursting water shattered under the sheer force, a force so great even Richard was sent back a few feet.

He wouldn't be using that arm any time soon it seemed. How troublesome. However, even if that woman's blast was quite powerful, it wouldn't be enough to cancel out the full attack.

Rikuyo

The two attacks clashed. Rikuyo firmly stood her ground, not thrown off balance by the pressure of the attack. Unlike him, she did have a body that surpassed realms of what a human was capable off. After a while, the struggle ended and the girl got hit by the attack of Richard after her beam cancelled out the majority of it. "Crapbaskets!" she swore as the remainder of the attack engulfed her. The impact of the attack made her stagger and drop to one knee, panting heavily.

[yinsukin]

Medaka Kurokami

Medaka watched as Lorenzo somehow repelled himself into the air using his fire magic.  He shot some sort of fire like slash with his blade, intenting to destroy the source of the black lava.  She watched and waited for a counter attack to strike Lorenzo.  Nothing in this city is as it seems.

Roxas

Roxas went in this first assault expecting to be countered but he underestimated the versatility of the staff.  The very moment that he exerted force against the keyblade, Roxas let go of it to avoid going off balance.  He was already pretty close so he needed to keep on the attack.

He stepped forward, moving to the opposite direction of the staff strike.  Unfortunately, the staff still struck his shoulder but only the outer part.  It hurt but it didn't stun him.  he immediately re-summoned the lost blade.  Coming back around with oathkeeper horizontally, he charged the blade with light magic, increasing his speed, power and range for both the blade and his body.  After delivering this desperate strike he planned to retreat by dodge-rolling backward.

[Elf]

Abigail

Abigail blinked at Mordred's tirade about wanting to kill Forest and about Abby being a "loyalist" or whatever that meant.   For some reason she was reminded of the American Revolution with the people being loyal to England and those being loyal to the Colonies.  However, Mordred started ranting about Abby being loyal to people being slaves, and she felt her eyes narrow.

"Mordred," Emily said in a firm voice, "I'm fairly certain there's been a gap in understanding here. Chances are actually fairly good that Abby isn't quite like us. First off, she doesn't seem to have a Mask, unless pointy ears are part of it for some strange reason."

Abby felt her cheeks heat up and she reached up to touch the point of her left ear before trying to pull some of her red hair over it.  She nodded and replied, "Emily's right.  You feel completely different than I do.  There's enough similarities that my senses tell me that you're part of some sort of Fae and human, but not a Fae where I'm from, and where I'm from if a Faerie tries to take a child to raise as a slave that's a grave crime with an even worse punishment.  Children are precious.  Faeries especially don't go around stealing them from their parents arms to put them into slavery where I'm from."

Then Emily turned to her and asked, "And while you may not know it, pretty much everything you've said would've elicited much the same reaction from most Changelings where we're from. So that begs the question, do the terms Wyrd, Gentry, or Arcadia mean anything to you?"

Abigail frowned at the question and toyed with the crystal around her neck.  She said, "I'm sorry, and . . . Weird means stuff that's strange, Gentry is another word for 'aristocrat', and isn't Arcadia the name of Captain Harlock's ship?"

"Uh, gals? I think there's a better place to talk about this than in front of a changing room at Target. Like maybe my car. Or the parking lot," Law said, clearing his throat.

Abigail looked at him and said, "I don't want to get Mordred more riled up, so I want to get this cleared up before we deal with this hunter dude."


Rin

"No, he just got one before you got here, remember?” Sakura showed Rin the faint scar on her hand, “You healed me of the cut after you got here.”

Rin shrugged and said, "Maybe the lack of your prana did cause him some mental damage?  I mean, Emiya's always been dense but this is ridiculous."

Then Sakura spoke some more, getting more and more animated with each word she spoke.  “I hate this city.” She bluntly told Rin. “Everything that’s gone bad is because of this damn[/b] city!”

Rin patted her and and said, "I know.  So, you said this was a dimensional Nexus right?  Is it just from worlds similiar to ours or . . ."  She had a brief memory of finding a book of her father's in his work shop and opening it.  The book started chanting in German as it tried to suck her into is pages until Father had saved her.  She had no idea where it was trying to pull her, but she knew it was a hostile environment to say the least.  She wondered if this Nexus had attracted worlds such as that.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Richard Maxwell

A mighty attack, a lance that could not be avoided or averted by even the greatest of beasts of his knowledge. Unleashed, it was powerful enough to cut trough a skyscraper cleanly. And yet-

She was alive. More precisely, in one piece. That meat doll, that mound of monstrous flesh, that thing. It withstood his mightiest attack, a spell crafted with the sole purpose to kill him.

"You..." growled Richard, his tone furious yet astonished. She did not seem to have any vampiric or demonic power. If one went by appearance alone, she was but a normal girl. And yet, her power compared to the strongest monsters out there! This was almost too strange. Almost.

So he laughed. He laughed loud and heartily, as if he was being tickled. He seemed relaxed.

"Are you alright?" said Richard, his mood unnaturally jolly compared to the situation. Despite his exhausted state, he did not pant or show any sign of fatigue.

[SINIB]

Sakura
Sakura nodded at Rin sadly, she couldn't really refute it. Her Senpai seemed to be extremely different than she remembered him, and apparently Rin felt the same way. "Yeah..." She said softly to herself as Rin continued, asking excitedly about the Nexus.

“Yeah, the Nexus is a gathering place of sorts. It pulls people in, but doesn’t let them out. I got pulled in here just about three years ago now, and it’s got people from every which place, not just from universes similar to ours. I-don’t know that much about the Second Magic, but—I don’t think that they work very similarly.” Sakura said in a hopeful and helpful tone. “It seems to be, uh. . . much more than that.”

[Knick]

Suiren

Suiren gave a light smile as she turned her head back to the cityscape. “Ya, that’s a good answer…” Slowly she raised her hand before he palm was reaching out to the city, almost as if she was trying to grasp it.

“I see… I see everything. Everything’s nature, everything’s worth, their truths and their lies; I see this place, and I see things that do not belong here, stolen work, stolen blood, and stolen legacies. ”

She kept watching the city as snow gently fell around her, then a small pulse of golden lightning collected in her hands.

“But… but it’s still so beautiful.”

And then it faded and a flash of silver appeared, but then, almost as if it was an illusion, it vanished. And then Suiren chucked softly.

“Hey, Butler, am I a hypocrite?” She didn’t care if she was, but she wanted to know, she wanted to know because she had to accept all of herself, accept everything of her nature.

It was simply part of who she was.

[Elf]

Rin

Rin lightly hit her palm with her fist and said, "Well, I need to figure it out.  To get you home and to maybe fix your Shirou as well.  Your Rin misses you terribly.  Rider too!"

She gave Sakura a wry grin and said, "Part of me is horrified about being sucked here, but another large part is excited about all I can learn here."

[YOLF]

Butler

"Perhaps. And what of it?" Butler answered, unflinching and earnest. "People are hypocrites. It does not matter how much they say otherwise, for even to be aware of that hypocrisy does not eliminate it. Life is a succession of stomping over lesser things in the chase of our own happiness. It is give and take that is defined moment by moment regardless of how far into the future we look. Choosing to act more in one way over the other does not make one virtuous or a sinner in and of itself."

His voice carried a whimsical tone, as if he was reliving a long held discussion.

"Ultimately, only we can decide the value of our own lives. Those we leave behind will judge the integrity of our actions, but the final say, the one that matters, is ours. And likewise, we are only ones who can decide the value of the world we live in. By the constructs we as self-aware beings create, every breath we take is hypocrisy. And yet, it does not matter, so long as our brains function and we recognize ourselves, and we strive towards what our hearts tell us."

He chuckled.

"Pardon me. I have gotten ahead of myself and gone on about personal philosophical perpectives."

[Cherry Lover]

As soon as Sakura mentioned the idea of helping cook, Togan's face lit up. Sakura watched him in utter bemusement as he danced around the room.

He actually wants me to cook with him?

This was definitely not a response she was used to. In her household, cooking duties were something to be fought over, not enthusiastically shared. True, Shirou did somewhat enjoy cooking with her, but the emphasis there was very much on the “with her” part. Aside from her (and sometimes Kiyoshi, who was allowed an exemption from the general prohibition on anyone else cooking on the grounds of his age and desire to learn) no-one was allowed in his inner sanctum whilst he was cooking, and nor, with very rare exceptions, was anyone aside from her allowed to cook a main meal whilst he was in the house,. She herself had only achieved that privilege by a combination of stubbornness and extremely-effective puppy-like sad looks any time he decided he was going to put his foot down on the issue. The fact that Shirou enjoyed her company and being in close contact with her helped a lot too, of course.

After dancing around for a few moments, Togan spoke once more.

"Very well! Let us cook! To the kitchens!" he exclaimed, before doing a theatrical twirl which resulted in a pristine white chef's outfit appearing on his body.

“Yes, let's!” Sakura said, caught up in the enthusiasm.

She turned to head out of the door when, suddenly, she came to a realisation.

“Erm, I don't know where the kitchens are”, she said, somewhat sheepishly. “We'll have to ask Irisviel....”

[Knick]

Suiren

“Hmm” Suiren hummed in response, as she simple looked out to the city. And then she closed her eyes, and in that moment she saw another place, another time.

Suiren sat; she sat across from a curtain. The figure of a woman could be scene behind it, but nothing more. Suiren simply sat there, the tea in front of her growing cold as the woman behind the vail drank her own.

That woman was the First, that woman was the greatest; she was the one that control space and time, who safeguards the half demons, one that has killed and surpassed a Saint.

And she spoke to Suiren, and she talked calmly and peacefully as Suiren stood and glared, as Suiren screamed and rebelled.  Because Suiren did not want what she was saying to be true, to be who she was.

And then the First rose from her seat and the vail separated. And there a woman stood, with short silver hair framing her face.

And Suiren knew…

“I know you for we are no different.” A soft voice echoed.

 Suiren simply sat on the ledge, remembering that scene, remembering when everything changed for her. She remembered her hate for the First, but she also remembered something else.

“You right, it does not matter.” Suiren said simply as her reaching hand clenched into a fist.

A summer day, a grave, and a promise. A garden, a fight, and a declaration. An island, a strike, and a victory. A tower, a talk, and a revelation.

None of those things, none of those moments in her life, none of her victory or loses, none of them mattered.

She will surpass herself, it does not matter what people think about her. It just matters that she knows who she is, and go beyond that… to make her Might, her Weight, greater then all others that are.

“I’m the Empress after all.” She simply declared. It was simply making a statement, but it could not be denied that that simple stamen carried more weight than any speech.

[MissingMandible]

Corporal Mathew Blackburn:

Mathew was going to do it. He was going to apply for the policing agency of the Nexus.

Thirty Minutes prior:

Food in the fridge, spare key is under the fuzzy doormat(the one with the kitties, not the flowers!) and watch out for the loan sharks! I've got some police business I have to take care of.
-Noel

He might have known Noel only for a short while, but this kind of note of her's was...expected. However, the police business got him thinking. Back on Harlech, policing was on of the duties of the Planetary Defense Force. Though he was far overqualified by their standards, here in Nexus it would be up his alley.

And applying for it would get him away from the apartment and the possibility of those loan sharks coming. The Dragoon had no idea who Noel owed money to, but he has seen the movies, Gangsters with their Beastmen musclemen...

So, Mathew put on his now clean fatigues, strapped his Carrapace Armor and the rucksack on it, plugged in and hooked up the volleygun, and holstered his Hellpistol while sheathing the chainsword. If he was going to apply, he might as well show them all he's got (And looking rather spiffy helped matters out, too!). As Mathew walked out the apartment complex, he had the foresight to write down the address on a slip of paper (This habit was formed due to an...incident when he was stationed offworld of Harlech).


Present:

The Police Station should be around the corner, according to the directions some woman gave him (She did look like she was about to shit herself when he approached her. Must remember that people around here aren't used to seeing soldiers in full combat gear!). Right when he was about to turn, a man almost bowled him over while running. "Watch it!" Mathew indignantly sputtered.

Upon making the turn, Blackburn's mind drew a blank. Some black ooze that seemed...alive was practically eating the building. "What the..."

A few law enforcers were getting people out. The Dragoon almost went for them to get a sitrep, but he noticed a young woman with white hair and a black dress standing by some of the goo. Securing civilians would take priority in this kind of situation. It would be a quick escort, then he could learn what the fuck is actually happening.

Unhooking the volleygun ('Would this even hurt that...thing?' he wondered), he dashed to the woman. "You can't stay here, ma'am!" Mathew hurriedly yelled.

[Kaze]

AKIHOLARME

Thankfully, Caedia complied and placed Rebeca back on the ground, and Aki’s hand fell back to her side. The young white haired girl crossed her arms and glared, reprimanding both of them, to which the dragonborn merely gave an unconcerned shrug, not really paying her words any mind.

Aki saw the man named Crest walk away in the edge of her vision, reminding her of what she was originally doing here. So weapon fighting wasn’t allowed here, but apparently the patrons left their valuables in one of the rooms here. She wandered after the man, her mouth quirking upward at the idea of sifting through all the new and interesting things people kept around in this city.