The Experiments... Come to test them.

-Cross exploded his bullet as it passed through the machine hoping to see what he would do to it, if the machine still managed to reform and take no damage Cross stood still putting up the same dying will flame shield as he did before seeing the beast through the darkness by movement or just looking it it plainly with his x-hair eye. He aimed to block the bullets with the super dense solidification attribute of the lighting flame-

The explosion had done no damage to the Ebony Slider, either, it would seem, but the reason for this was unknown. The balls of bright energy would make impact, but not with Cross' flame, but rather the ground around it. The Ebony Slider had not been aiming directly at Cross, but only in his general area to begin with. There would be a flash of light, blinding with brightness that was... very bright. The brightness was supposed to be a cover as well as blind Cross hopefully, unless the Lightning Flame could keep light out as well. Regardless, the Ebony Slider pursued. It pointed its two large 'fists' at Cross, aiming all of the linear lights in his direction. There was an intake of what seemed to be the pure essence of darkness, being fired off as a beam of energy in the same way light would be taken in. The area started to brighten again as the beam was initiated, but darkened once fired at Cross, again at the same speed as how he fired his initial bullet.

"... Umbral Rifle in working condition... Stability of light and darkness in the area... Confirmed. Fluctuation and resonance of light and dark... being monitored with caution."

Cleff took his attention off of the battle and instead took direct note of the Ebony Slider and the light to dark ratio in the area...

-Cross figured that the machine had to turn solid to at least attack or else that would be entirely too cheap so he figured that he used the lightning flame to block this massive attack which caused some considerable chakra to keep, but Cross directly applied special bullets to the hide of the machine while it was firing to see if it was vulnerable while it was attacking, if not then a surprise was in for this beast.-

Naturally, its top half was vulnerable while firing, becoming solid once it did for just a moment, however even still, it had other ways of evasion. The numerous wires that made up its body would separate from each other, leaving many large gaps everywhere in the machine, causing the fired bullets to pass through it, still, generally. Once it thought the bullets had passed, it closed the gaps in its body. It then slipped into the blackness once more, then appeared... Out of another machine that had black parts on it. It was an unexpected event, even for Cleff, but he trusted that the Ebony Slider was planning... Something.

"... Let us see how its intelligence works..."

It started to intake energy again, causing the area to darken once more. It fired off several rounds of bright energy, each momentarily lighting up the area before it returned to darkness. Each time a shot was fired, it became darker and darker... There were massive flashes of light when they made contact with something, which it hoped would be either Cross or the area around Cross. It did not attack further after that. It seemed almost weightless, protruding from that machine like that...

-Once the bullets entered, cross would explode them again except this time they would explode into piranhas that have the ability to devour pretty much anything with their lightning flame covered teeth allowing them to plow through the most potent of energy attacks and hard substances, now that they were already inside the machine they would go about and attempt to consume him or at least inflict some critical damage to the damn thing. If it was still alive, or some how still functioning enough to preform its attack Cross took off towards the machine strafing in between the blasts of light nearing the machine in a matter of milliseconds, Cross destroyed the machine the Ebony Slider was using as a 'host' of sorts hoping to affect it somehow then followed through with a kick to the slider.-

Even with the piranhas, the Ebony Slider did not seem affected. It initiated its attack as planned.

"Blackness regenerative capabilities, efficient... Intelligence seems to be up to standards..."

However, something critical happened... The robot being used as a host was destroyed. However, If there were pieces still around, the Ebony Slider would stay connected to any pieces, though if even the pieces were destroyed, it could still use its 'ebony sliding' power. It had darkened the area by a great amount, therefore, it was almost completely dark. Since the entire room was basically dark, the Ebony Slider vanished. The room then became pitch black. Cleff was not expecting this, but... It seemed as though the Ebony Slider had something in store... Cleff would wait it out, then...

-Cross sighed, he figured that he'd have to destroy the robot in order to win but he remembered, that he had the ionization light from the harvester he could use this to win.-

"So you made an invincible robot with horrible offensive capabilities? This robot reminds me of Atra so I can only imagine what happens next."

-Cross said nonchalantly he wasn't particularly amused nor surprised but he figured that he'd just win using the vacuum gun like he did before, his left arm changed into the vacuum gun and he waited for the first sign of attack.-

Cleff shook his head.

"... The Ebony Slider is not invincible... I know not of what makes something... Invincible. It is hiding its largest flaw as best it can... And it seems to be working. Its intelligence is given considerable recognition. Not only that... its strength does not lie in its offensive capabilities... It is not supposed to."

Cleff took note of the vacuum gun that Cross had... He knew what was coming next. But he would not warn the Ebony Slider of this. It was time to see just how intelligent it was...

The Ebony Slider made it so that the entire area gradually became blacker and blacker, and when it was pitch black, it indirectly struck. Through the blackness it was hidden in, it let out a slight light feed to outline the entire room, and just as swiftly, the blackness began to compress around Cross at a high speed, aiming to trap him in blackness... Not darkness, not shadows, but literally... blackness. The light outlining the room would keep it so that when the darkness had been compressed, light would surge through, or else this attack would not work. It was as if the Ebony Slider was... Eating Cross.

-Cross nodded, and struck at the first sign of attack like I posted last once the environment began to become blacker and more darker Cross lit his ring surrounded the outlining of the room with the lighting flame he had so gracefully acquired with this and the slide attempting to 'compress' some energy around him Cross banished himself becoming immune to all attack on this plane and emerging on the outside of the compressed sphere outlined with the lightning flame which coincidentally contained the ebony slider inside the sphere unable to remove it self since it couldn't break out due to the lightning flame.-

"I'd destroy it completely with a little trick I have up my sleeve, but subduing it will do just fine."

The Ebony Slider had been subdued.. Once again, there was a problem with their functioning because of this (GODDAMN MOTHER FUCKING) flame of some sort...

"Cleff sees... This flame is very troublesome to my machines... It has been noted and will be included in the final design."

Cleff had something for the flame later... But for now, the Ebony Slider was forced to implode on itself, totally destroying itself in the process. This meant that another experiment would be used.

"... I shall summon the next experiment. Your opinion of the Ebony Slider? I am in dire need of constructive criticism."

As he waited for Cross, he signaled for the next Experiment to be brought out...

"Well, I'll have to admit that I cant figure out what its weakness is. Which means it's probably something terribly stupid like Kham's weak point being his right knee or how TJ will drop whatever she's doing if you tell her that her hair is not done."

-Cross said as he landed on the ground in a kneeling position, he dusted himself off and rose slowly transforming his arm back to normal. He planned on keeping this liquid light substance.-

"But I mean... it's weird, it's offense is standard constantly using the same strategy but it seems to have some heightened sort of intelligence. Maybe its fine the way it is. But I'm letting you know now that the will is a limitless source of power, finding some technological means to best the power of will is impossible because the human will is unpredictable and irrational unlike chakra or something."

Cleff nodded, taking this in.

"... Really? Human will? ... Maybe... The will of the living? Mmm... ... !!!!"

Cleff's eye gleamed brightly for a moment as he thought of special machines that he had at his disposal with that said 'will.' Himself, his Pact 'Beast' Nirvana, and... The E-100 series. Yes... It made complete sense. Cleff now knew the secret of the rings (no pun intended), however, it could not be utilized in a proper way, as Cross previously stated. No matter.

"... Oh yes. The weakness of the Ebony Slider... It cannot manifest itself when there is no blackness. It is specially made so that it can manifest itself instantaneously in anything that is black... If there is no blackness, there is no Ebony Slider. That is something even I cannot fix..."

Cleff shook his head, but naturally took in the information about Kham and TJ... It was extraneous, but Cleff wanted knowledge of EVERYTHING... And thanks to Nirvana, Cleff constantly gained knowledge... But it felt... weird, somehow... No matter.

"... Well. It is time for the next experiment... And truthfully, one of my favorites, just because of its abilities... Experiment 033, XLI"

A small robot walked out, holding an even smaller device. The device was pressed and the upper torso of a massive creature formed out of an odd type of energy...



"... XLI does not stand for anything, actually. I just put some letters together and... yes."

It seemed like a rather incomplete experiment... Having no lower torso, and all, and also seemed to have very little weaponry on it... But surely, it had some tricks up its sleeve.

-Cross sighed and crossed his arms getting him mentally ready for whatever was about to happen he was going to strike first either way it went, though the appearance of this robot was a bit scary looking generally not to cross.-

"I'm willing to bet that it's abilities are worse than the Ebony Slider, though it was a lucky guess that the slider was inside that sphere blackness."

-With that cross pushed off the ground with amazing leg strength and power appearing on all sides of the XLI, about 5 Cross' to be exact whether or not the were real or not had yet to be tested. Since Cross had to test the abilities of the robot he couldn't go hard from the start so they all attempted to throw blows to the machine with strong punches to the surface of the robot.-

Cleff smiled, hoping that his XLI would prove to be a lot better than the other 2 experiments. He wanted it to live up to its status as the 'favorite.'

"... Assessment initialized..."

XLI immediately retaliated from Cross' attack by blocking all of the blows from each direction with its bladed arm... Simultaneously. How was this possible? Well, XLI was not using just one blade, but 5. The blades seemed to manifest themselves the very moment Cross launched his attack, almost as if it knew what Cross was going to do before it happened. The force of impact seemed to be nonexistent, as well, for some reason.

"... Instantaneous manifestation seems to be working out just fine for my XLI... Yes.."

It would then release from all 5 blades a massive wave of pure force, equal to that of which Cross launched the punch with... Or rather, what the impact would have been from it, only concentrated in a different fashion. This came out as a dome around XLI, thus forcing away everything in the immediate area around it. It outstretched its hand.

-Cross figured that the robot absorbed the collective kinetic energy from the force of his punches and sent it back as a wave, similar to the way his repulsor gun works. If this was the case then he can just reabsorb this dished out potential or kinetic energy which is what he did should this not be potential or kinetic energy that was absorbed and re dished out magically, then the Cross would still be relatively immune and would only fly back a foot or two its not like they couldnt take their own blows, should the energy be absorbed or not the Cross' next moves would be to take a couple steps back and dip their punches in to portals targeting the slightly smaller robot with the device in its hands filling it up with powerful punches of sorts so close in fact that it was if cross was manually applying his fists to the body of the small robot itself.-

Though Cross reabsorbed his own energy, it wasn't like it was supposed to really harm him... Just get him off of XLI's back. However now, it was Cross' attack, again. Again, with its blades materializing before where the punches were about to connect, they would not only block the blows and absorb Cross' kinetic energy, but also drained some of his chakra this time around. It did not seem like the machine was carrying the energy it absorbed, however...

"... Energy absorption capabilities, optimal. Energy location capabilities, functional. I wonder if it will be able to use its other installed abilities..."

The small robot, out of fear, immediately ran elsewhere that it found to be most safe at the time. XLI, on the other hand, would point its hand at Cross, unleashing a sort of wave that would conflict with his own chakra, causing it to rupture if he were to be caught within it.

-Just because the robot ran 'out of fear' didn't mean it ran fast enough nor was quick enough to dodge Cross' massive punches which would connect and eradicate the robot entirely dropping the device in which the XLI was summoned, and since the portals were placed upon the smaller robot blocking them was impossible. Cross picked it up transfering it via portal back on his person. It was now when this wave came, he sensed that his chakra was drained but he can convert whatever every he absorbs into chakra to such an ability was trivial. Cross banished himself avoiding the wave and materialized by himself in the same place he stood. It seemed the other Cross' were gone. Though it seemed that the robot had the ability to neutralize any kinetic energy forcefully applied to it any non concussive energy attack should harm it rather well. Cross transformed his hands into the vacuum gun and unleashed a beam of light at the XLI hoping to undo the fiber of his atoms which would make blocking impossible once again and should the thing dodge cross would just open a protal predicting his movements using his x-hair eyes foresight ability giving him a very small window of opportunity to completely evade this.-

The tiny robot was destroyed with the device in Cross' possession, but there was a lot more that this robot could do. The blast shot from Cross would not be evaded in the slightest... However, it would be converted and absorbed into the robot as it neared him. In addition, the device that Cross picked up would instantly drain all of the energies within him as a defense mechanism, aiming to leave him completely drained.

"... An Energy Conversion and Absorption Machine. It does not convert and absorb one type of energy... It does this to all forms of energy. Oh, and the device is specially made to instantly and completely drain unauthorized beings that are to touch it."

Just then, the XLI dematerialized and then rematerialized behind Cross, releasing the same wave specifically made to rupture Cross' chakra. If the chakra drain worked out as it should, then Cross wouldn't be able to do anything about this and as such, be subject to his own chakra being ruptured and therefore, hopefully unable to be restored for a while.

"I knew that once I picked the thing up... That's why I don't have it. And your robot while it can absorb all types of energy does not mean that it can cope with its properties and break them down into raw energy for consumption that in itself is impossible if it wasn't I'd be able to do it myself and I will prove it to you now"

-Cross said, he did take the machine but it was hangign' in limbo at the moment where the other Cross' went when they went back to their respective dimensions. All this repetitive banishing was beginning to become a bit costly on the chakra, so Cross snapped his fingers, a pulsing sound was heard and the blast seemed unable to affect him. Cross used the void shot to do this. With Cross' last statement he turned towards the robot and murmured the names 'murder and lament' his pistols transformed into two white long ornamental guns he clicked the triggers and waited.-

Cleff nodded.

"... Yes... I see... However, I will tell you a secret... XLI is made up of pure energy, in a sense. In addition to its absorption and conversion abilities... It is made up of adaptable energy of the purest form."

With 2 very dandy weapons being pointed at the machine, obviously, it is going to move. It dematerialized from the direction that the guns were pointing and rematerialized somewhere... Else near Cross. Though XLI could assess the amount of energy that is being used, is lost or is concentrating in places, it could not definitively tell how much was coming out. It could only make predictions, really. It did go in for another attack once it thought it was safe, manifesting more of its bladed arms around Cross, trying to stab him and convert him into energy for the taking.

-The robots attacks would freeze in time for what Cross just shot was the 'Void Shot Lvl 2' instead of firing vacuums of empty space, pure filled expansive space was shot outlining the the area which would compress over Cross target and either contain them or remove them from existence. This space, is so dense and powerful it prevents and severely slows down movement which is why it seems like the robots attacks stopped, but in reality they are moving EXTREMELY slow as if the space was filled with some iron water of sorts. Anywho, this space around the robot would begin to compress around him trying to contain him, Cross did not wish to destroy this creation for this was one of his favorites so far-

Cleff smirked, knowing already what the major flaw of this robot was.

"... It was wise of you to separate the device from the machine in two separate dimensions... As the device is the key to this beast, not the beast itself... It absorbs, converts and contains any and all forms of energy... within the confines of the device, which is what one would call 'infinite space,' I guess. The beast, being able to change, manifest and restore itself from pure energy, is not the target in the least... But it cannot traverse the dimensions. Not many people would be able to combat XLI... It is one of my prized ones."

Cleff looked up to Cross from under his hat, trying to see if there were anymore that needed to be tested "... Your thoughts on improvement...?"

"I suppose it would fare well against the common foe..."

*Cross looked to his left, out popped the device that the robot came out of which resembled a lighter of sorts...*

"But it's offensive capabilities are relatively mediocre, probably because the robot itself is made out of energy which should make up for that it many ways. I like it"

Cleff was pleased that Cross liked this one. Cleff wasn't sure how he could possibly mass produce this specific robot, but he could definitely do it.

"... For your assistance, you may keep that specific robot... That XLI belongs to you, now... I have more."

Data started to flow out of Cleff and back into him. The reason for this was unknown, even to Cleff, yet it was happening.

"... I still have one more to test... The other 2 I have are not completed yet, and as such, shall not be used in this experiment. My final experiment for today is... This."

The room started to change shape. It became many times larger, and the floor started to change into what seemed to be a runway for a plane. The floor split down the middle and loud whirs were heard. What was coming from the ground was another large robot, much larger than all of the rest of them, the size of a plane. It had massive, sharp claws and a visor where its eyes should be, as well as gigantic wings. On its back was the same glowing orange liquid that was used for the Blind Harvester, meaning that this could be a similar variation of it.




"This... Is the Bloodwing. Initiating start-up sequence..."

The immense robot started to glow, its claws pushing its mighty body into the air, in which it would start to hover slowly.

"... Anti-gravity and Anti-force propulsion, check... Checking parameters for flight sequence..."

It started to make another noise, the lights on its body glowing again.

"... All systems, green. Lift-off."

The Bloodwing launched itself from its starting area and high into the sky, yet still within the confines of the room. It was moving at a magnificent speed through the air, the speed of a jet. It flew around in odd positions, doing nothing for the first few moments.

"... I do hope this one pleases you as well, Cross..."

*Cross's hair flailed back and forth as the giant robot emerged from the floor he stood unwavering though a bit overwhelmed at the size of the thing... as it took off Cross trailed it in the sky then sighed as this was probably going to be relatively, yet stupidly difficult like fighting the darkness robot. Cross rooted himself into the ground and sprang into the air after the blood wing, for some reason it was as if Cross was propelling himself into the air void of air resistance closing in on the beast all the more faster*