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

[Kat]

Mordred

Sorcery? It looked like it would be a challenge to make Breeze adapt into this world. From what she figured out she guessed that Breeze wasn't a sorcerer herself, and if she deemed basic technology as sorcery maybe she wouldn't bother to grasp it. The hope was that she was not so stuck in her old ways. The changeling could just convince her she's now a sorcerer too if she was particularly insistent on that. But more importantly, she should keep away her from Emily, so no bad influence from her would reach Breeze, no matter how repentant she sounded now.

"If you really feel sorry about what happened, maybe go join AA. Getting so wasted is not something done on a spur of a moment, but shows there is something more to it. If you really want to promise anything, then get your shit together and sort out your life." Mordred had nothing more to say that moment other than a stern reprimand.

[Panda]

Annabeth

The Hunter's frown only deepened as Rikuyo proceeded to blast a hole in the ground straight into the beast's lair. To make matters worse, Ron followed her in. The former she could understand being so reckless, as she seemed pretty strong. Ron being reckless, however, usually ended up with him in that monstrous berserker form, and while she felt like she could handle that by itself, that combined with whatever was down there would likely be troublesome.

The Hunter remained at the edge for a few moments more, running through her options in her head. Well, if she had to, there was no reason she couldn't just widen the hole to give them both some more room, but first...

Allowing a resigned sigh, the Hunter dropped down into the hole, spreading her aura out to try to detect anything within their general vicinity and a bit further.

[yinsukin]

Medaka Kurokami

Medaka listened carefully to the elder vampire's response.  Something that transcends willpower?  She kept watching as the vampire climbed off of her and walked to the middle of the room.  She cut her wrist and blood spilled onto the floor.

Medaka looked at the blood, somewhat entranced by it.  That strange feeling, the one that reminded her of hunger was rapidly building inside her.  It grew into a unimaginably powerful urge, one similar to that of a deprived addict.  Yet, the feeling also was similar to hunger, as if she actually had a physical need for the blood.  The blue haired vampire stood up, her gaze never leaving the blood even as she rose to her feet.  She did her best to control herself, but all that resulted in was a restrained akword movement.

She took a single step.

Drink the blood.  You need it.

I cannot.  I just promised to not drink the blood.  I promised not to harm anyone.  I may be a failure but I am not a monster.

She took another step.  Her face reflected her internal struggle as she broke into a sweat over the sheer stress of controlling herself.

You are a vampire now.  You are not a human, you barely were before.  Besides, she is giving it to you. It wont hurt anyone.

No she is not giving it to me.  She is showing me a reflection of myself.  I don't have too accept it...  But....I think I need it.

The blue haired girl took several more steps, enough to arrive right in front of the blood.  She gently slid her hand on the floor, picking up the blood on her fingers.  To her, the blood seemed to have this shiny quality, it seemed to shine on her finger, begging her to take it.  She held her blood dripping hand near her mouth, ready to lap up the sweet nectar of Shinobu's blood.

Drink it!  Consume your fill.

She let the blood drip into her mouth for a moment, savoring the flavor.  In the very next moment her eyes widened.  Immediately, she spit out the blood onto the floor, without swallowing a single drop. Then, opened her mouth once more and bit her own arm until it bleed, heightening her own physical reception to pain in the process.  She stumbled for a moment before returning back to normal.  "Even symbolically, I cannot give into such a basic urge.  Even hypothetically I would sooner harm myself before another.  Take that as my proof.  I would never harm you, nor anyone else.  She said, still making eye contact with the blood on the floor.

"With that being said.."  She turned to face Shinobu.  "Can I please have more blood?  I am bleeding myself, so I can give you some of mine as a trade."  She begged, giving a guilty smile accompanied by desperate puppy dog eyes.   

[Elf]

Forest

Forest noticed Gadreel's eyes flicker when she mentioned Gabriel, yet he remained silent.  Maybe introducing him to Gabriel would be a good idea . . .  If anything, the two men would probably fascinate each other due to their unique natures, and considering Gadreel's very patent nature Gabriel probably couldn't needle him.

"Changing rooms have a great deal of privacy," Gadreel said in a quiet voice. "By design."

She nodded and said, "L-let's just pay for these first and if push comes to shove I could trick the clerk at the changing room . . . or just slip them a fifty."  She steeled herself as she went to go pay for the boxer briefs.

She walked to the counter, made her purchase, kept the receipt in case, and returned.  Tension was thrumming through her, and anticipation.  Luckily, she didn't have to slip anyone a fifty to be allowed to the dressing room.  She opened the door to the stall and stepped in, locking the door behind them once they were both in.

"So . . . you might want to sit down," she said, pointing to the bench in the dressing room.

[SINIB]

Archer

Rin yelped as the tentacles wrapped around her, Sakura's tentacles then begun an unstoppable tickle assault of a calibre never before seen. "All the evidence are pointing to the contrary and the tentacles are besides the point. You're clearly trying to divert our attention!" He followed Sakura's over the top behaviour, as he joined in with more accusations.

We wouldn't know...until you did it. Besides, you need to thoroghly search her. He answered her back, anticipating the outcome.

Rin

Rin rolled her eyes as Sakura went on about her being possessed.  Then those shadows started to tickle her, making her squirm underneath them.  She shook her head as she started to giggle in response to the tickling attack.

She laughed, shook her head, and said, "I'm not though!  If you don't stop, I'll be really mad!"

Sakura Matou

Oh, you'd like to see that, wouldn't you? My sister getting played with by my long, black, tentacles...

Instead of doing that, however, she stopped tickling Rin entirely, and simply hugged her quietly for a bit. Finally, after a period of silence, the microwave beeped and signified it was done.

If you want to see that though, you'll need to gain her consent. I'm not going to go any further than that.

"Nee-san~" Sakura sung out. "That beeping means your food is done!"

[Kat]

Mighty Bear

One of the lords of the forest woke up fully only to discover he is snowed under a pile of rubble. Who dared to wake up him from his slumber? These were thoughts of the creature that rose up and roared, scattering the rubble around. Only to learn who was messing around in his lair.

Oh no, that insane mortal again. A while ago, some crazy outsider started roaming the forest, only to anger more and more spirits dwelling here. That bitch who destroyed trees within his territory where bee spirits gathered the honey that he stole! What's next, she would eat all fish spirits in the river? The bear spirit had enough. He would tore apart the challenger who disturbed the territory that he carved out.

"Yo, old man. Still angry about those bee hives? It was just a prank, old timer." The red haired further taunted the ancient spirit. Now that he was close enough to smell her stench, the bear realized that she reeked like one of those children of Father Wolf. And one of her companions was a werewolf without doubt. But strangely enough, what he felt about her was stronger than what he felt about the wolf. As if that scum was far less removed from the ancestors of Uratha than the cub.

Not that it mattered, she would pay for her 'prank' regardless whom she was. The bear stood up on two legs and let out a mighty roar that echoed through the spirit landscape.

[Kat]

Petra

Before whatever trick the criminal that infiltrated her apartment was using took effect, the situation got complicated further by another person coming without invitation. What was wrong with those people? The second intruder was also a Servant. She recognized her status and class thanks to her abilities as a former Ruler. A saint from medieval France that got burned on stake over political reasons. And also a Ruler, and a spirit. Did it mean that a Grail War was going on too here? Fuck, she got so angry over that that she had to throw out one of them to calm herself. The drunken one would go first.

With overwhelming speed, she grabbed the drunkard, and dropped her into open dumpster that would cushion her fall from the first floor. Fuck pretending she's normal, punishing the intruder was worth it. "Ha, that will teach you to not barge like a thief!"

[Panda]

Emily

Wincing a little at the reminder of that mess and the events that had resulted aside from what had happened in the shower. If that alone didn't provide enough incentive to not try something like that again, then AA didn't have a chance. Putting that aside...

"Look, I know last night didn't leave a very good impression, but I'm not an alcoholic," Emily said, some firmness entering her voice in turn, "Admittedly, I didn't make the best choice to deal with losing almost everything I'd worked for before I landed here, but it was a one-off thing. That aside, to be perfectly honest, I've probably found better incentive than what an AA meeting could hope to provide, putting aside the fact that I'm honestly a little terrified of what kinds of beings would end up going to something like that."

Putting aside the sudden mental image of some alcoholic draconic creature bemoaning that it couldn't even go for a few hours without a drink with a shudder, Emily remembered something else of import. After all, that strange intruder had ended up breaking the lock on his way in.

"Oh, before I forget," she continued, "It's probably not safe to stay at that hotel anymore. All things considered, we don't even know what kind of people were looking for us or what kinds of resources they might have, and I'd rather not take any chances."

[Aiden]

Gadreel

The fallen angel sat down without any hesitation, and cast his long red locks back over his shoulders. Even while he was sitting Forest was just about at eye level with him, so he did his best not to let his gaze linger overly long. He knew prolonged staring provoked anxiety in humans, a remnant of their shared biological ancestry with terrestrial primates. Though their souls were of higher providence than their current forms, humans were still quite bound to the limitations of their flesh.

Even the undead ones, it seems.

"I am ready when you are, Forest."

---------------

Liam

What the fuck just happened?

That was the first rational thought Liam had about that bit o' strangeness. The first actual thought was something more like hell fire and falls of blood everywhere, or tearing the wings from fallen angels and leaving them lookin' like King Tut, or something screwed up like that. There was something wrong with that drunk girl and her pets that wouldn't stop making fun of him for that kind of thing to go through his dead head.

And now slim little Petra was picking people up and putting them in the trash - literally.

He looked at all the puppets that got left behind and just, shook his head. "Best go take care o' your friend, fellas," the mobster told them, for lack of better ideas. He motioned out the door with his head.

Then, there was another nice young couple there, and just to be polite Liam put his gun away. "Evenin," he said to greet them. "As you can see things're a little messy at the moment."

---------------

Ron

That's a big bear.

He had to take a step back after landing when it let out that roar, sending the forest trembling with its power - or volume. One of those. All Ron knew was this was giving him flashbacks of that pink thing from back when he first changed into a wolf - it was something bigger and probably stronger than him that he'd have to outmaneuver, normally.

But Anne's teachings meant he could use his natural strength-boosting abilities even better than before, better than he probably should be able to right now. So, he figured he was up for wrestling a bear. His wolf-form grew bigger, until it was proportionally the size of a horse, and energy surged through his muscles and bones until he reached this form's limit.

Then he went for the thing's side when it turned to focus on Rikuyo, ready to bite down with jaws that right now could probably tear a car engine apart.

[Panda]

Annabeth

The Hunter's eyes widened as she felt the thing, probably a bear, albeit a really big one, enter her En.

...well fuck.

It was at this point that the bear roared, the cave quivering around them as Annabeth went into Ren on reflex. Deciding that this probably wouldn't be the best place to fight with some spirit bear that Rikuyo had apparently pissed off, the Hunter was about ready to make a new hole in the ceiling if she had to in the process of getting out when Ron started shifting as well, his own aura flaring.

Why do I suddenly get the feeling he was only pretending to listen when I tried telling him about the benefits of advancing with caution?

Noting the form he took, the Hunter stepped forward as he leapt and tried to snag him by the leg before he did something stupid.

"Hang on," the Hunter said quickly, giving Ron a stern look, "Rikuyo did say it was her turn to show off, didn't she?"

[SINIB]

Shirou Emiya

Shirou's head was pounding.

He wasn't quite sure why anymore. He was pretty sure he'd known at some point.

No matter.

He blindly stumbled alongside Jeanne, following her around and up the stairs into an apartment. He held onto her hand with one hand, while he held onto his face with the other. He bleakly looked around, confused.

This wasn't home at all!

He'd been all ready to go and lay down in bed too...

Instead, he found himself in the middle of some strange party,  with a naked woman and a small cute girl. They seemed to be having a good time until the small cute one threw the naked one out of the window.

"Wh-why'd you do that?" He blurted out, summoning one of his favorite swords, kanshou, in his free hand. At least, that's what he meant to do. Instead, he tripped on his own feet and lost his balance, pulling Jeanne down with him. The floor embraced them both with a loud thud.

[Kat]

Rikuyo/Mighty Bear

The spirit was overflowing with Essence unlike anything that the group have encountered so far. Maybe the pops would give a run for her money. She would throw herself into the fray without much thinking, but this time she had a companion in whom she had interest, and he attacked the old man first. Ron was like unripe fruit that would mature into something greater than just one of many Uratha. Just thinking about it made Rikuyo enthusiastic. She really didn't care he had already an 'teacher'. She was the strongest here, and she was confident about her snatching Ron away.

The spirit once called Divine-One-Who-Ruled-A-Mountain, wasn't one of lords of the forest for nothing. Though now diminished, he still wouldn't yield easily before some uppity cub. He had no warm feeling for children of Retasureta Kamuy, The White Wolf God. A jerk who bossed over his Father just because Tomba, the Moon Goddess, fancied him. He wouldn't be any stronger than him if that woman didn't mate with him. After all he also ruled a single mountain like him.

The foolish human fortunately for the bear was a hindrance to the one who challenged, delaying the wolf's charges even if for a bit. He had no doubts that he was stronger than the cub, but the agility was another issue. The young one could have reach him fast enough to chomp down on him, but he had time to raise a wall of hardened rock in front of the face of the charging wolf, stomping on the Earth with his leg. You wanted to prank the old bear? The old bear had tricks in his sleeves too!

[Thedoctor]

Jin

His lips was met by Oka's as she pulled him into a passionate kiss, the girl was so spontaneously romantic some times. He matched her passion with an intesity of his own, his tongue going into her mouth, pushing againts her tongue playfully.

As quickly as he started he pulled away from her in a gentle manner. "I know you do." He told her with the same confidence as earlier. "Now on to that restaurant". Jin pulled her along with him not accepting no for an answer.

[Cherry Lover]

Rider

An annoyed frown came over Rider's face in response to Mobb "shushing" her, covering the "phone" as he did so before turning to resume the call. Nevertheless, despite her annoyance, Rider decided to simply keep quiet and listen to the conversation. Rapidly, it began to turn darker, Mobb's "boss" threatening him with death if he failed to "prove his worth". Rider glared angrily towards the phone, as if threatening death in return on the person making the comment. After all, as annoying as Mobb was, he didn't deserve death, and Rider did not appreciate the sort of bully who would threaten their employee in that manner.

Yet, as annoyed as she was by the man on the other end of the phone, it wasn't really any of her business. At least, that is, until the psychotic man on the other end of the line mentioned a "friend", Mobb's response making it obvious that he considered his employer to be a potential threat to her and wanted to keep him away from her. Of course, what he didn't know was that Rider was very definitely not a normal human.

Finishing the conversation, Mobb dropped the book to the floor, obviously frightened, before rising up again into a menacing pose, looking over his shoulder at Rider, glaring at her.

"Rider, you gotta help me. Do you know... Anything about this dump?" he said in a sombre tone.

Rider sighed. Truthfully, she didn't know much either, but she would try to help him as best as she could.

"Not much, honestly", she said, sadly. "I only arrived here a few days ago. I do know, though, that it seems to suck in people from many different dimensions. I've met all sorts of weird and different people here."

[Kat]

Mordred

"One-off? That's what everyone with a problem like that keeps saying. And don't use such ridiculous excuse to not attend. You're shying away from taking responsibility and tackling your problems straight. Unlike you, I'm not escaping. Whatever may come, I will deal with that." Thank God she didn't have to stick around with her. She didn't want to deal with whatever thought would come to her irresponsible brain. "Nobody saw those people snooping around anymore. The armor guy must have dealt with them somehow. He was a jerk, but in the end he did make up for that."

Certainly he was more reliable than Emily. Jesus, just thinking about her stay with her gave her migraine.