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

[Umbra of Chaos]

Lucy

"He works in mysterious ways, doesn't he?" There was something just a little mocking in her voice, but it was the playful sort. "Good thing I'm simpler, hmm? But let's get on with the fun stuff? We don't come from quite the same place, but I should be able to pull something interesting off with you."

Lucy stepped back a bit before glowing brightly again. She thrust a hand out, and the light surged forwards around the angel. Then it coiled and wrapped around him, singing its celestial song, and then it began to burn. A fire bloomed and flowed into him. And then she was done.

[Elf]

Rin

This undead pirate is starting to get on my nerves.  Maybe I should just tell Sakura about him; pretty sure her hatred for the undead spans past vampires, Rin thought as the Pirate Skeleton had the nerve to mock her pose.

"We let you on this boat and then you ask us for liquor?  You have some nerve, you know that," Rin said, taking a step to put herself between Joe and the skeleton.  "Of course we don't have liquor; he rented this boat.  You should show a bit more gratitude for your rescuers, you know."


Forest

The room now reeked of blood, cordite, sulfur, and semen. 

The ancient teenager looked at the four unconscious poison peddlers lying on a lump on the floor.  Each of the front of their pants sported a wet spot, but other than that and a few bruises they were pretty much unmarked.  They'd awaken a little woozy; she'd made sure to take enough blood to weaken them and make them more compliant.

It was also the best meal she had since Gadreel in the dressing room, except no where near as enjoyable. 

There was nothing sacred in this blood taking; it wasn't given freely and Forest had taken it in vengeance.  She had done it out of spite.  They had wanted to get off with her so she just gave them their wish, just not in the way they were imagining.

She kicked Spit-Roast Guy in the gut out of spite, more of a light tap and he grunted in his sleep.  In her feeding she managed to get the combination of the safe they had here to store their cash.  The drugs she'd give to the cops, but she was going to keep some cash to use as capitol for her club.

She stretched, any trace of gunshot wounds completely healed, and grabbed the shot gun.  It hadn't been fired and between the lot of them there was still enough ammo to fill a clip and have a spare in one of the pistols.  It seem like they favored .40 Glocks.  She heard her student, Quinn Frost, genius dhampire and "Dear Detective", snort in her head before he ran down the reasons why a .9mm Glock was better than the .40.  Mainly due to the fact that the .40 and .45 models could have defects that were very dangerous for the shooter, defects that for some reason the .9mm didn't have.

There was the matter of the person doing the ultra-violence upstairs.  If they were a cop or vigilante, like her, she didn't want to get into a confrontation.  So, she tied up the four idiots using their suit jackets and debated calling out.

"Works with bears," she muttered to herself before shouting, "Hey, you having a bit of a party upstairs, can you hear me?"

[Kotomine_Rin]

Lorenzo Remei

"Sure, suuuuuure." He said disappointingly. A ship without liquor? Was that even possible!? No, surely they were trying to trick him and keep all the drink for themselves, what a bunch of assholes.

"So, I s'pose you're here for the treasure as well. What's yer names me hearties?" He said casually

[yinsukin]

Joe

Joe stepped back as Rin walked in between both him and the undead thing.  There was something about the pirates retort that was strange. It seemed genuine, like he actually expected liquor on this ship.

Joe walked next to Rin.   “I am Joe Joeson.  This is my date, Rin Tohsaka.  We were just out for a boat ride.”  There was a slight glint in his eye and energy in his voice, even as he tried to keep it fairly neutral.  “Whats this about treasure?”  He asked, obviously a bit curious.

[Aiden]

Lucy

"He works in mysterious ways, doesn't he?" There was something just a little mocking in her voice, but it was the playful sort. "Good thing I'm simpler, hmm? But let's get on with the fun stuff? We don't come from quite the same place, but I should be able to pull something interesting off with you."

Lucy stepped back a bit before glowing brightly again. She thrust a hand out, and the light surged forwards around the angel. Then it coiled and wrapped around him, singing its celestial song, and then it began to burn. A fire bloomed and flowed into him. And then she was done.

Gadreel

He could not know, intimately, the ways of God. Angel or not, there was a hierarchy in place and only an archangel given the gift of the Metatron could speak with their great Creator directly. That was how it had been for eons, ever since Seraphim and the Old Gods were exposed to humanity and narrowed in scope from their original existence until they were... limited to their scale.

It was a profound difference, one that meant Gadreel could scarcely recall more than the faintest echoes of the earliest epochs he'd experienced. He had faith alone to go on that his current path was the will of the Lord. His rational mind was quite simply not capable of grasping that primordial grandeur again.

Lucy's light was a test of that faith. His profane body, a static existence locked in a single form, cracked and crumbled as the divine authority of the true Revelation attempted to reach deep into his past and restore the celestial might of a Seraph. His eyes were nuclear furnaces, and his feet boiled the earth beneath him. Thick chains of light and fire lashed out from the crevices in his flesh and sought to crush all around him save for her. The exile fell to his knees and let out an unearthly howl carried on the air for blocks around.

Then as the very tips of radiant wings made of fire wrought into steel sought to escape from his back, he grew still. As if subject to an unstable reaction the angel collapsed. His light and heat burnt out, and all that was left was cold and mundane. Profane.

So close...

His flesh was slower than ever before as it tried to knit back together.

[Umbra of Chaos]

Lucy

"It's such an unkind light, isn't' it?" Lucy's was speaking almost absentmindedly amidst the light and howling. As it finally died down she placed her hand on his cheek and let light come forth again. A soothing shine that wiped away his injuries and left him whole in body if not spirit.

Then she reached out and grabbed his hand. "I'm much nicer. But I guess we should focus on more important things first, right? Let's go get you some clothes." That's when Lucy started to pull him towards the exit to the alley.

[SINIB]

Ron

"Ah, it's mainly a lot of different meat dishes except pork, but it's pretty fresh. Especially the chickens; they get those fresh from a place down the street," Ron explained for their benefit, rubbing the back of his neck with some embarrassment. "I probably should have asked if either of you were vegetarian, but if you're still up for it..."

He stopped with his neck and extended his arm to shake Sakura's hand with a smile of his own, and the same with Rider. "Nice to meet both of you, too. Have you been in the city long?"

Eating with company was better. Might be the pack instinct in him, but he'd always felt that way.

Rider

Ron's response to her question hadn't really told her anything that she didn't already know, but Sakura seemed happy enough to try it, and Rider didn't have any strong objections to the idea of the poorly-described restaurant, certainly not enough to question Sakura's decision.

"Yes, that would be fine, neither of us have any problem eating meat", she responded, smiling back at the large, hairy man as she shook his hand in a manner which would be considered firm for a normal human. "I've been here for a few months now. Sakura has been here for a while longer, though."

Sakura Matou

"Oh, I've been here for ages. It's been years now." Sakura told him with a smile. A smile that quickly went away as soon as the sky turned black. She opened her mouth but no words came out.

Shirou! Sakura thought to herself, beginning to hyperventilate as she worried about what was happening. She clenched her fist and began to shake, remembering the strategies she'd been learning to stay calm.

It's ok, calm down. He's with Jeanne. I know that, because she told me that earlier. She'll keep him safe. It's all ok. Everything's fine.

And just like that, as if nothing had happened, the sky returned to normal. Daytime returned instantly, and nothing was worse for the wear.

Other than her nerves. Her heart was still pounding, and she was sure she was sweating.

"Um, well, let's work our way to the restaurant then, ehehehe." She laughed nervously, unable to help herself. The woman took ahold of the two's hands and began leading the way.

[Aiden]

Mordred

Even if the incident had lasted only for few moments, there was a good reason to be concerned. She wasn't neither as carefree as the two nor she could just ignore that as an Enforcer. So, she called her friend in the police to ask her if she knows anything about the possible cause of that. Mordred excused herself and went outdoors to phone Noel.

Auspicious Breeze

She glanced in Mordred's direction when she noticed her getting up. The former gladiator's lips pursed together when she saw her leaving to do something outside, and for a moment she worried. Then the airplane came and she was going "aaahhh" and oh gods that was delicious.

"Haaah, at least this city has something delicious like this going for it~." The smile would not end at this rate! But her mind kept going back to Mordred there. "Ehh... hey, Sakura. Do you think Mordred is upset at me?"

[Elf]

Rin

Rin stared at the pirate for a moment, her mind's stout logic stalled for a moment.  Here was a skeleton pirate talking about treasure like it was a serious thing.  Rin thought about Liseth and made a mental note to make sure the pirate never found out about the young woman.

Then she chuckled, shaking her head before smirking at the pirate.  "Let me guess, it's deep in 'Davy Jones' locker' right?  Only a virgin on the light of the full moon has the ability to bring the treasure up from it's watery depths," she said with a shrug.  "However, since Joe gave you our names, what's yours?"

[Thedoctor]

Jeanne

The hands on her head grew more desperate as they pushed her down on the hard dick that was completely filling her mouth. She let them with a smile on her face as she tried to maintain eye contact with Shirou. His hard dick was pushing against her throat, demanding entry to that tight spot. Jeanne felt the head push past the entrance and she found herself fighting her own gagging reflex as her throat convulsed around him.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Lorenzo Remei

If Lorenzo had eyes or brows, he would've raised them in confusion.

"Huh? Are you stupid or something?! If it was that convenient I wouldn't have gone through all this trouble." He sneered in discontent. He'd have thrown her out of the boat for mocking him, but he owed his life to her, so he wouldn't. A pirate must have some pride, else he's nothing more than a scoundrel, scum no better than street thugs and rapers.

So he twirled and posed dramatically before the two, making sure he was right in the middle to give off that tough and imposing leader vibe.

"I am the the scorching blaze that shall turn the seven seas upside down! The king of all oceans, the demon emperor, the one and only, the great Lorenzo Remei! Bwahahahahahaha!!!"

Suddenly, fireworks flew out of his body and exploded behind him colorfully. In the blink of an eye, he was right in front of the girl, kneeling as if about to propose. He copped her hand between his and looked up to her, smiling.

"And you must be the sun to set my heart ablaze. In that case, I don't mind if you call me... Icarus."  He purred before closing her hand gently. When he let it go, what had once been a smooth moon white hand was now illuminated by a beautiful rose made of fire, that for some reason felt as warm and pleasant to the touch as a warm cookie.

[Aiden]

Ron

He looked up at the sudden darkness and frowned. At first he thought it was some kind of eclipse, but it wasn't all that cloudy out and he couldn't find the sun at all. Was it some kind of magic? Why did it feel a bit familiar, like he'd been near something similar before? Before he could really work out any answers to his questions it ended, and he was blinking and turning his eyes down to avoid the sun. With a bit of frustration he shook his head and tried to put it out of his mind. It wouldn't be the first time the sky did something weird here, and there wasn't anything he could do about it.

"Ugh... yeah, yeah let's just get some kebabs." That being said, he made sure to point out the place as soon as he saw it since Sakura was leading the way, and oh that did smell good. It was the kind of place where you had to go up and order and then they'd bring it to your table. Everything was written on a set of chalkboards with the prices marked, behind the counters.

Tactfully, he didn't comment on Sakura's anxiety even if she reeked of it to his nose. He focused his senses back on the food. "I think I'll get mine as a chicken sandwich... but ah, I mean, ladies first!"

[yinsukin]

Joe

Joe raised an eyebrow at the pirate’s display.  All that dancing and posing made him look like a shitty ginyu force member but the fireworks were cool.  Really all of it was pretty harmless, except for the end.

The super sentai pirate actually stopped just in front of Rin, crafting a beautiful ugy, shining dead rose made from fire.  All the while he gave her some cheesy lines about his heart being on fire or something.

Oh fuck you.

In that moment, Joe had forgotten his weariness.  His steps became heavy as he marched over to the kneeling pirate and threw his foot into the pirate’s jaw. “Are you seriously going to hit on Rin right after I told you she is my date!”  He screamed as his foot connected with the zombie’s face.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Lorenzo Remei

Too slow, too damn slow! He thought as he spun sideways and backed out to avoid Joe's violent kick. If it did connect, his skull would've come flying into the water, and that would've been bad. He whistled in admiration and clapped.

"Nice, very nice! You've got guts for a sneaky scoundrel. Did you really think I wouldn't see through your trick? A man and a woman, alone on a ship at sea. Hehe, I must say, for you to have stumbled on such a bold man... I'm kinda jealous."

Lorenzo chuckled and gave the girl a good pat on the back. Was he coming onto him? He was definitely coming onto him.

"So, now that we know each other, what are you two lovebirds going to do?"

[Panda]

Emily

Emily had finally reached the end of her rope, though it wasn't what she'd expected.

It wasn't the doctor in her finally deciding enough was enough with Liseth's gaming habits, nor with what her dietary habits probably were before they'd started their culinary explorations together. It wasn't the Spring Courtier in her growing a little frustrated at the fact that they hadn't gone out for a good time for a while now. Well, to be fair, that last one was related.

No, what had made Emily finally decide that enough was enough was the fact that her girlfriend had gone for at least a week without breathing outside air. Enough was enough.

It had been difficult, extricating Liseth from the fortress of isolation from the outside world that she'd crafted for herself. It was warm, cozy, adequately stocked with snacks, and Liseth was warmer still. It had taken force of will that Emily had forgotten she possessed to pull the Liseth free of her NEET cave, all but force the taller girl into outdoor clothes while putting some on herself, and nearly drag her out into the real world again. Of course, she did take the time to tell Liseth why she was doing this once they got outside, and to let her know that they'd be enjoying breakfast outside today, at a nice cafe perhaps. Admittedly, Emily was less sure about that last part, but it could be nice if things worked out.