Seperate But Similar: Youkai and the Flock

by CybeastFalzar

Maximum Ride was out on a stroll over the heavenly paradise that resulted at the end of the last book. She and the flock are attacked when Yukari launches Nitori's automated sentry drones on an "empty world". Realizing her mistake, she pulls Max and the flock into Gensokyo, where she offers to teach them danmaku. But she's bored again, so it's not quite that simple. One shot.

Separate But Similar: The Youkai and the Flock

This is a Touhou X Maximum Ride crossover. For information about Touhou Project: Google Touhou Wiki

For information about Maximum Ride, please view the relevant Wikipedia article:

Go on Wikipedia and search Maximum Ride.

The flock was airborne, when Gazzy decided to break the tension of flying with some humor. "Hey guys?" he asked. "How's this sound?" Suddenly, he went stock still, the wing flaps becoming labored, robotic.

"Uh, Gazzy?" I asked. "Why are you acting so-"

"The attack drones launch in 5 minutes. They'll fly in, shoot a couple of rounds, and return to us." Gazzy said, using a voice which sent a chill down our spine.

Then he switched, using another voice. "Oh boy, oh boy! I gotta see this demo!" In contrast to the first voice, the second portrayed unexpected enthusiasm.

Then he recovered, his wing flaps returning to normal and his face clearing. "Uh, guys? What just happened? Why are you all staring at me like that?"

Angel spoke. "We may have a problem. I have a bad feeling this isn't his usual mimicry."

"What do you mean, sweetie?" I responded.

"I can read all of your minds, just a reminder. And when he did that, I felt another presence among us."

"So what was it LIKE?! Who are we up against?!" Fang demanded.

"Extremely powerful, and unbelievably intelligent. But I only detected her for a split second. She thought to herself "A Satori? Out there?" and I lost any reading from Gazzy's mind at all." Angel responded.

"Powerful how? Money, physical strength?" I asked gently. Since we needed to know these things if we hoped to deal with every psycho that wanted us dead.

"Look, can we talk about this later? I'm hungry, tired, and want to find someplace to rest." Iggy broke in.

At this, we suddenly saw something flying toward us. It looked like-

"Mechanical birds? What?" Gazzy asked in confusion. Then their mouths opened, revealing guns.

"Flock! Scatter! Take them from the back!" I shouted.

We scattered, ready to deal with them. Which would have worked, too, if it weren't for the guns that appeared under each wing. "Um..." Then they opened fire. I felt a needle pierce into my arm. I tried to keep going, but it was like swimming in chocolate. My wings grew heavy, and I passed out.

We awoke near a building. It seemed to be some sort of house. Sleeping in the house, there was someone wearing clothing that, from the little we'd seen of the world, appeared to be Japanese.

"OK, flock. Anyone have a clue where we are?" I asked hopefully.

They all shook their head no.

So we all knew nothing about where we were or how we got here. Lovely. I was just about to remark that we might want to ask the person sleeping inside, when a camera flash went off in my face.

"What a scoop! 'Mysterious Children Appear at Hakurei Shrine!'" said a woman who was holding a film camera.

Yes. A FILM camera. Those things had been obsolete for years! No proper newspaper reporter used those anymore. This is something even I knew.

I discarded my opinions on how this woman was a ditz almost immediately when she suddenly moved right next to me and started taking pictures of my face. And I mean suddenly. One second she was in the trees, the next she was next to me, shoving her camera in my face. How can she move that quickly?

"Anything you remember before winding up here?" she asked us.

"Well, uh, yeah. There was some mechanical birds, and-" Gazzy started yakking, but I cut him off.

"Gasman. Shut up! We don't know where we are, or whether this person is friend or foe. It's best to keep a lid on information until we know who we're giving it to!" I said.

The reporter frowned. Then, as if noticing something, she zipped around to the back and started snapping more pictures of us. At the same time, she spread a pair of jet black wings and seemed even more interested. "A cautious philosophy, but it makes me wonder. I can't help but notice those slits you've cut into your clothes. You're not worried about me, you're worried about who I work for."

"Corrrrrrrect." I drawled.

"Well, I can see a lot better than you seem to think. I see the feathers curled against your back under the slits. Well, tengu to tengu, just let the wings loose. There's nothing to fear in terms of superstition. Everyone here is used to this kind of thing. This place is a haven to youkai. We all fly, here. Just let the wings looooooose... It's not good to have them cramped up like that."

What the h-e-double toothpicks was a tengu? She spewed out words that made no sense. Youkai? Everyone flying? I was convinced I was dreaming. But if it was a dream, why did the rest of the flock appear to be having the same dream?

"Just relaaaaaaax... you're understandably tense. I bet the humans persecuted you. But there's no need to worry. I haven't met a new tengu in so long... youkai generally are slower to reproduce... Youkai Mountain will be a safe place."

What was a tengu? Why did she seem to think we were tengu? These questions tumbled through my brain.

"Excuse me, Miss Shameimaru?" Angel asked, causing our mysterious camerawoman to leap back.

"Oh, sorry. Since you were showing us some of your unnatural talents, I forgot you didn't know one of mine. I can read minds. And some of that stuff in your head I really didn't want to know..."

She turned rather pink at that.

"But if I'm getting your picture right, a tengu is a type of youkai? And a youkai is a supernatural creature that is less vulnerable to physical damage but is more susceptible to faith."

She nodded. "Why do you know this? You're clearly not a Satori."

Angel grimaced. "We're the products of laboratories trying to splice human DNA with animal DNA. 98% human, 2% avian. Some of us have unnatural powers. I can read minds and transmit thoughts."

I realized that if what she had said was true, we weren't even in our own world any more. "I have this mysterious Voice in my head telling me where to go generally. I guess I'm insane, sort of."

"You'll fit right in, then. We already have two people that are insane, sort of." she said back.

Angel cringed at whatever mental image Aya had provided. Lovely.

"I also can breathe underwater for some reason. No idea why."

Nudge spoke up. She'd been surprisingly quiet. "I'm Nudge. I have the ability to attract metal for some reason. Like Max, I have no idea why."

As expected, Fang had vanished by now. "Where'd your serious guy go?" Ms. Shameimaru asked.

Fang chuckled, moving and revealing himself.

She streaked over, taking more pictures. "Wow! Abilities like these! What a scoop! Have you ever tried danmaku?"

Angel looked shocked. "You mean to tell me that... THAT'S how conflicts are resolved here?"

"Spit it out, Angel." I said. "Quit having a one way conversation with her here!"

She looked at me and said: "If what she's thinking is true, this place may be even more dangerous than our world. Because apparently the way people settle disputes here is shooting thousands and thousands of colorful bullets at one another in set patterns. THAT is what danmaku is, apparently."

All in favor of finding a way home, say aye. I wanted to say. But I had a sinking feeling it wouldn't be that easy. Iggy and Gazzy seemed enraptured by the idea of a place where the strange was commonplace and the commonplace strange. Angel seemed to be considering staying. And I was starting to get curious myself.

"Yes, what your Angel says is correct. That is the primary method of resolving conflicts here. But no worry, no fear. The tengu live on Youkai Mountain. It's practically unassailable! Oh, and by the way, my name's Aya, nice to meet you."
Suddenly, the door opened, and the woman we'd seen earlier came out, looking very grumpy and tired. "People are trying to sleep here, Aya." she groused. "And who're these people? Yukari hasn't been dragging more people here, has she?"

"I thought you'd know."

"I've been TRYING to get some shuteye! But how am I supposed to sleep with all the pictures you keep taking of these... are those tengu? What's going on, Aya?"

"Nothing. I was just taking them back to Youkai Mountain. Good night, Reimu." Aya smoothly replied.

Aya said to us: "You're in it for the long haul now. But I had no choice. She was two steps from busting out a Spell Card."

I frowned again, as I'd only heard that term when discussing card games. "What's a Spell Card?"

Aya said: "Tutorial for the newcomer! We settle things here by these things called 'Spell Card Duels'. A Spell Card is a bullet pattern that is specially designed to look amazing, and is composed of many colorful energy bullets."

As we flew back towards the mountain, Aya explained who was who, who to talk to, who would hand your ass to you if you approached, and I could feel a growing sense of security that I hadn't felt since Angel was taken from us all those months ago.

Staying here... would it be so bad? No, I think I will stay here for now...

The next day, we woke up in the comfiest beds we'd had in a long time.

"Morning, Max!" Aya said. "I've been talking with your flock, and I have to say, such atrocities are something I'm glad we've never went through. You may be 98% human... but you've put up with more stuff out there than most of us youkai have! I have to get to the Bunbunmaru now... so I'll see you around! Take a tour, enjoy Gensokyo. When Yukari pulls someone in, they're generally here to stay. But go have a look around."

"OK, flock!" I shouted. "Ready to fly out and explore?" Fang pulled me to the side. "Max. The younger kids may have bought into this crap, but you know, and I know, that this can't be real. We're obviously under heavy drug-induced slumber. So you in favor of looking for a way out?"

It hadn't even crossed my mind, but Fang was probably right. This place was too crazy to possibly be real. "Yeah, I am in favor of it. Let's go-"

"Leaving? Really? Why are you so convinced that this isn't reality?" A voice rang out that sent shivers down my spine. Space tore itself open in front of me, and a lady stepped out in front of us. "Oh, my, you're not together right now. Let me gather everyone so I can explain things better. You really shouldn't have told your life stories to that tengu, it's probably going to wind up in tomorrow's newspaper."

Another tear appeared in space, ejecting the rest of the flock in front of us. Everyone looked rather confused. Then the lady spoke to us all, and my blood ran cold. "Greetings. My name is Yukari Yakumo. I am the youkai of boundaries. You all ran afoul of Nitori's creations, and I had to take drastic action. I do apologize for bringing you here like this, but you'll fit in better here, anyway. But you need to learn how to survive in this new land, and since I brought you here, I feel it's necessary I teach you. Follow me..."

She disappeared into the same tear in space, which remained open. "Do we follow her?" I asked.

"No. No way, Max." Fang said. "This is a trap that will split us apart."

A girl with two tails and a girl with 7 fox tails came out of the gap. Before anyone could react, they shot a ton of bullets at us, knocking us out again.

We came to in a bed in a house, Yukari standing over us. "Sorry about that, my shikigami can be really overzealous sometimes. Now we need to cover how to shoot bullets. It's said if you get hit by them enough, you can learn how to fire them. Let's not test that out until we have to, though."

"Angel, I believe you could learn the best. Watch us fight, and observe. Ran! Come here for a second."

"Yes, Mistress Yukari?" Ran asked.

"Let's teach the newcomers how this system works! You ready?"

"You don't mean..."

"[Barrier: Curse of Dreams and Reality]!"

I was then treated to one of the strangest sights I'd ever seen. Both Yukari and Ran rose into the air, and an unbelievable amount of bullets poured from the air around Yukari. Ran, meanwhile, flew into the bullet storm, firing back and dodging through tiny gaps. Angel had her eyes closed, and appeared to be concentrating. A voice echoed in my head. Now I was used to the Voice, and to Angel telepathing, but this one was not welcome and judging from the expressions on everyone else, was addressing all of us at once. Angel here should be paying close attention to my mind. I've lowered the barriers around it so she can read how to shoot these bullets. Yukari said to all of us. Now, once I sense she gets the concept, we'll work on teaching all of you. "Why do you think she'll learn first?" I asked. Because she's currently reading right into my mind, and I INVENTED this system. Yukari said back, with a touch of amusement. "Many have learned how to do this. I'm sure that even though you aren't youkai born of the same forces that made the rest of us, you'll pick it up. That reminds me, I need to punish the fools that made you. Messing with the natural order of things makes me angry.

Angel flinched again. "Hey! Quit making her uncomfortable!" I yelled. Angel rose into the air... but she wasn't flapping her wings, just rising. Her eyes were still shut. Oh, remember what I said about her learning through watching this? I lied. I need to... unlock this potential. This won't hurt... too much. "Mistress Yukari?" Ran asked. Angel turned, a blank look on her face. Then she abruptly pulled a card from thin air.

"[Flock Sign: Sparrow Storm]" she said dazedly, a glazed look in her eyes. Suddenly, tons and tons of tiny sparrows came from the air around her, flying towards Ran. "What the f-MMMF..." Iggy started to say, but was abruptly shut up. No cursing, please. It will be your turn soon enough. And, by the way, Iggy? That blindness is sometimes useful. It means you are less likely to fall prey to visual tricks... which some people rely upon. Max, you're next.

"What? I-" Then sheer pain racked my entire body as it felt like my head exploded. The streamers ran up down my body, but where it passed, I felt tougher, stronger, faster. But this pain... it was so horrific! Why couldn't anyone hear me scream!? I felt a presence reach out and touch my mind. It was familiar, yet unfamiliar. Angel? I silently thought over the pain.

Yes and no. Yes, this is Angel's mind. No, she's not at the wheel. Yukari Yakumo speaking to in-pain birdgirl. *chuckle* Ok, dry wit aside, the reason no one can hear you scream is because I'm manipulating the border between quiet and loud. You're basically on mute. Same with Angel. She's also unconscious, because she tried to fight me. Relax. I'll teach you how to do it. Now then, what is something you hold most dear?

Unbidden, as if she searched my memory, Dr. Valencia Martinez swam to the forefront of my mind.

You would do almost anything to protect her, wouldn't you? She will be your trigger. Your switch to enter combat mode, if you will.

Who or what do you hate the most? she asked me.

I thought about it. Who did I hate? Jeb used to be someone I loved, then someone I hated. Then someone who I was ambivalent towards. I used to hate Ari, but I cried at his funeral. Was I even truly capable of hating someone?

Don't worry about that, Max. Reimu is incapable of remaining mad at anyone, yet she does just fine when someone's in her way. I guess you'll figure that shortcut out on your own.

What is the object you believe symbolizes you? Angel there believed birds were the best symbol for her. You may believe differently.

As she'd been asking these, the pain had flared up again, worse than before. For this third one, it burned so fiercely I felt I would die, yet I felt detached.

What object symbolized me? I soared on wings, yet those were not my symbol. It would be presumptuous to claim that. I thought, and thought, and thought. As I thought, I remembered the times we got into battles, all the close combat I'd done. It seemed like hardship was my life, and as I thought, it seemed a melee weapon was what symbolized me best.

Melee weapon? Improvised weaponry, you mean. Well, I think some knives would suit that best. As well as the old boomerang trick.

Pain flared up in me as she spoke those last words, consuming me. I felt my arm seemingly rise of it's own accord, as my mouth opened. "[Lashback Sign: Pain of Persecution]" I threw a pipe out front, which curved around and came back to me. At the same time, I watched as a series of knives seemed to fly at Ran. Then I blacked out.

I woke up floating in a mysterious purple void. Max? Is that you? asked the voice of my youngest.

Angel? Where am I?

Yukari sent you into one of her gaps. You've taken the longest to recover. I'd like to get you out, but Yukari's taking a nap right now. Ran shook her head when we asked when she'd wake up. You do not want to know her answer. Just hold tight, I'm a perfectly capable leader when it's absolutely necessary. And with you stuck between dimensions, it is, right?

Time passed. I despaired of ever being rescued, floating in this endless void where time seemed to have no meaning. It was like the time I was in the sensory deprivation tank, only even worse. I'm going to kick Angel later.

At this point, a hole appeared. Yukari stuck her head in, yawning. "Damn it, Ran, you were right! I don't know how that Angel tricked me, but..."

Alarm bells went off in my head. I put two and two together and it quickly became clear that Angel had launched another "take over the flock" campaign.

Well... I don't know what to say. She must have been meddling while I was trying to teach her how to survive. Yukari apologetically said. She tricked me into believing there was only her and the others.

Fantastic. If she had tricked Yukari, Angel had really grown as a tactician. I resolved to congratulate her for that... AFTER beating the tar out of her for trying to take over!

After extricating me from the gap and feeding me a breakfast of waffles, waffles, and more waffles, Ran said: "It takes a lot to trick Yukari like that. Your flock probably was also tricked. Angel took them to live at the Hawk's Peak, and she had them post sentinel. I wasn't sure why, but it's clear now. She didn't want you coming back. We've given you what you need to survive in this land... I guess this will be the best opportunity to demonstrate what you've learned."

I took off, flapping towards Hawk's Peak. Not knowing where it was, I started flapping in the direction they pointed.

Stage 1: Forest of Magic

After dodging the umpteenth fairy and shooting them out of the sky with these mysterious knives, I was already starting to get peeved. Suddenly, a bird shape shot out of the trees. She wore Top-Siders on her feet, had a wingspan larger than your average bird, and she came out talking.

"Are you the impostor that we were warned about? I, Nudge, will protect the flock with my power! Prepare to rumble, fake!" [Chatterbox Sign: Volume Matrix]!

She swooped up into the air, showering down... "Volume symbols? Really, Nudge?" Shaking my head, I opened up with the knives, watching as they impacted against Nudge, who seemed to shake them off, continuing to fly around. I nailed her in the head with one, and she broke off the attack suddenly. As if responding to an unseen call, she turned around and flew off into the distance. I followed after her, but she soon got away.

Stage 2: Misty Lake

After traversing my way through another bunch of fairies, including one who claimed she was "The strongest" and tried to freeze my tuckus off, (Note to self: Find out who that was: re: beat the tar out of her later) Fang came out of the lake, taking flight fast. "Fang! Don't you remember me? It's me, Max?"

"Don't talk to me, impostor. Max died years ago, protecting the flock so they could get away. Angel took over as leader, and if you think I'm falling for this, you're nuts! Prepare for battle!" [Avenging Angel: The Pain Of Despair]!

Fang swooped down, trying to ram me, at the same time making projectiles... Heart shaped bullets? Now I've seen everything... A few good knives hit him, but then he started barrel rolling. I opened up with a "bomb", as Yukari had called them. His hearts were swept away by the force of the bomb as several pipes flew out and whacked him on the wings. He fell back into the lake with a splash. Shaking my head, I kept going.

Stage 2a: Dark Cave

I came to a wide cave. It seemed pitch black, but with my raptor vision I could make out someone in there having dinner. I looked closer, then gagged and wanted to hurl. What the... ugh. What I had taken to be a deer or moose or something on closer examination was a human corpse. And despite looking like a little girl of no more than 12 or so, the creature tore into it delightedly. I could make out red eyes, a red ribbon, a black dress, and blonde hair. I hovered there, wondering who she was. Then Angel's words about the youkai came back to me, and I realized she was probably one of them. Oh, that's just lovely.

"A tengu? Haven't seen one of them around in a while... maybe they're hungry. Hey! You want some? There's plenty here." she called out. My stomach turned at the thought. Ugh. That's... "Oh, right, the vampire contract. Well... don't worry about it, he wasn't from the village." she stated. "My name's Rumia, by the way. For a tengu, you certainly seem... different." She seemed like a mild-mannered dimwit. One could hardly begrudge her for her eating habits, she seemed too dumb to know any better. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'm looking for someone- *cough cough* Hey!" While I'd been talking, she'd lobbed something into my mouth. "Seriously, give it a tryyyyyyy..." I gave not gagging a try, and decided that I'd rather not hang around anymore. I made my excuses and left.

Stage 3: Bamboo Forest of the Lost

Back on the trail, I was flying above a forest constructed entirely of bamboo. I wondered who would block my path this time, since it seemed people had nothing better to do then to get in each other's way. I saw another speck off in the distance. Then I was abruptly plunged into darkness. "Hey, what?" I listened and could hear singing. "Lalala! Tonight's the night! The impostor of the flock dies!" It was an unfamiliar tone, so it wasn't the flock. Then a voice that WAS familiar broke in. "Yeah, impostor, how do you like being blind? Mystia here is the best friend I could have found. Finally, the rest of the flock knows my pain. All I have to do is convince her to sing, and the whole flock is blind. Although I find her viewing of humans as food rather... odd." It was the blind man, Iggy.

"Odd, Iggy? I met a sicko who thought like that in a dark cave back there. She had red eyes, blonde hair, and a black dress." Mystia stopped singing at that, and my vision slowly began to return. She looked at me with curiosity. She was apparently a sparrow with a brown dress and a human-like face. Oh, boy, another birdgirl. "You found Rumia? Where? She keeps to herself during the daytime... I've never been able to find her except at night." Finally able to see, I swooped at Iggy, brandishing the pipe that always seemed to appear in my hands when I got pissed. I started whacking him over the head with it. Iggy smirked and pulled a card out. Holding it up, he declared his attack: [Union: Blind Duo] He and Mystia took to the air, Mystia attacking with music notes, him with lasers. Dodging through it and throwing knives at Iggy, I fought him for a while, when he suddenly threw his hands up in the air. "Max? That... you? But you died! Wait... ANGEL. She tricked me! I'm coming with you to punish her."

I felt like screaming. "Why is it you remember, but no one else does!?" Iggy looked in my general direction thoughtfully. "No clue."

Stage 4: Mountain Lake

Iggy and Mystia had decided to tag along with me to beat up Angel. As we climbed up Youkai Mountain (Hawk's Peak was apparently up there), we met a wolf tengu, who after a bit of talking and shooting we convinced to move out of our way. We kept climbing the mountain, when suddenly, a blur crossed my path. It was our old pal Aya Shameimaru, camera and all. "Hello, Iggy. Why'd you bring their enemy here?!" Ok, something was definitely up. Find out what's going on, Max. She should remember you. After all, you admitted to being part insane. I groaned as the Voice spoke to me, reminding me that I did have a mission to save the world I came from. But first I had to get the flock back. And then we had to find a way out of this crazy place. Actually, you don't. The Voice was back, and saying something very weird. Remember? You already failed that mission. The world became wrecked, half cliffs and half water. I remained silent. Granted, it hadn't been the cleanest save, but it wasn't annihilated, either! Wonder what Yukari would think if she saw the state the outside world had come to? The Voice certainly seemed to know a lot about what was going on. As for your situation, you're chasing a dead end. You'll find out the truth though. It then vanished. It seemed familiar, though. Much more than it used to. I wanted to scream at it being cryptic. In the meantime, while I'd thought about this, Iggy and Mystia had defeated Aya, Mystia blinding her while Iggy struck.

Stage 5: Kappa Airspace

I ticked off the members of the flock. There was me, Iggy, Fang, Gazzy, Angel, Nudge, and Total. I'd fought Iggy, Fang, Nudge, and apparently Angel had turned Aya and Mystia into honorary members. That left Gazzy and Angel. No prizes for guessing who probably was here. Sure enough, after flying around long enough, I heard Iggy's voice. "Hey, faker. I never planned to ACTUALLY team up with you. Prepare to die."

"Gazzy", I said, "I'm not an idiot. You're trying to make me deck my allies. Now show yourself."

The gasser himself came out of a cloud. "Angel warned me about you. A fiend who's trying to worm your way into our hearts by looking like our old leader. You may have fooled Iggy, but you won't fool me." He jutted his chin out at that last statement, trying to look fearsome. He succeeded in looking foolish.

[Night Sign: Song of the Night Sparrow]!

Mystia suddenly declared an attack, swooping in and shooting nets of bullet streamers. I shot Iggy a dirty look, as well as an audible groan. Iggy cursed. "Damn it, Max! I can't keep her on a leash, you know. She does what she wants and she wants to fight right now! So stay back and let me handle Gazzy." As night blindness closed in, I could hear the sounds of bullets and cards. Then they stopped, and my vision came back.

Gazzy was tied up next to a tree. Iggy stood there, trying to convince him to see past Angel's lies. Given Gazzy was Angel's brother, hearing the truth probably hurt. But since he wouldn't listen, we left him tied there.

Stage 6: The Destruction of Illusion

I broke into the Hawk's Peak at my highest speed, startling Angel. Then, she threw her arms around me. "MAX!" she said, half sobbing. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again!"

Wait. Time out. What?

"Everyone else thinks you died! They all say I told them this. They give me a really detailed description of events that never happened! I have my suspicions about who's behind this, but... no one believes me! The worst part? I was locked up by the tengu for trying to tell my story!"

"Hold. The. Phone. WHAT happened?"

"Remember when we first came here, and Yukari taught us how to shoot danmaku? Well, she was very... invasive about it. I'm sure you felt her rummaging around in your memories. She planted fake ones in everyone's heads, I know it! I found this." She held out a note.

"When you're down a leader, the danmaku trial has begun. When the flock loses their memory, the test of guts has begun. When the leader reunites with the prisoner, the flock's memory will return. ~ Yukari"

Suddenly, the door burst open, and the flock entered with sheepish faces. "We'd like to apologize to Max, and ANGEL. YOU'VE GONE TOO FAR." Fang stated. "Hold up, guys, it's not her fault." I said. "NO? Then explain."

Wordlessly, I handed the note to them. Fang read it, then snarled. "If HALF of what I've heard about Yukari is true, she IS a good candidate for being behind this. So what say we show her you don't mess with the flock?"

"YEAH!"

Extra Stage: ?

We had barely finished that when we were swept away into a mysterious house. Yukari stood there, smiling. "So, you've returned. And I take it you found Angel. Yes, it was I who was behind all this. I dragged you all here. I forced danmaku into your system. In doing so, I made you all half-youkai. I planted your memories, imprisoned Angel, made her the scapegoat, turned you on one another. I can't say I got Iggy to hook up with Mystia, but that was a nice bonus. So come at me!"

BGM: Necrofantasia

"Flock! You ready for this?!" I yelled.

"That's the spirit! Give me all you've got! Let's see what you're made of!"

[Barrier: Curse of Dreams and Reality]

It was the first display of danmaku the flock had seen, the one she'd first used on Ran back when we first met her. Knowing the pattern from Ran, it was easy enough to dodge.

[Barrier: Balance of Motion and Stillness]

"Gee, she has a lot of barrier cards." Gazzy remarked, as we worked our way through bulletstorm number 2. If we get through this, I'm taking a vote on who wants to stay.

[Barrier: Mesh of Light and Darkness]

Iggy took some hard hits, but he kept going.

[Evil Spirits: Yukari Yakumo's Spiriting Away]

She pulled a twist on us here. A gap opened in the corner, and our old pals the Erasers came pouring out. Angel, Gazzy and Fang moved to deal with them, but Yukari wasn't done.

[Evil Spirits: Bewitching Butterfly Living In The Zen Temple]

Another gap opened in the corner, and I saw Dr. Valencia Martinez step out. She started walking in my direction. Jeb came out, too, along with other friends the flock had met. Iggy shouted: "Watch out, guys! There's danmaku flying out of that gap! C'mon guys, move!

Jeb threw his arms around Gazzy, and then... There was an explosion, which sent Gazzy flying out of the battle.

Realizing it was a trick, I tried to concentrate, but Yukari would have none of it. I went to kick her a good solid blow. Then she just gapped me back again.

[Shikigami: Ran Yakumo]

Ran appeared. "Oh, you summoned me to battle? Then fight I shall, without more prattle!"

Ran started shooting bullets. At the same time, Yukari yawned and gapped back any bullets we had sent her way. "OH, COME ON." I complained.

Ran pulled out some spell cards too.

[Shikigami: Hermit Fox Thoughts]

So now we had danmaku disguised as our loved ones trying to grab hold, Ran shooting at us, and the Erasers flying around trying to kill us. Lovely. We were outmatched, and I knew it. "Guys, I think this will be our final fight." I said. "If we go down here, I want you to know I love all of you."

[Shikigami: Banquet of Twelve General Gods]

"No worries, Max. We won't lose here." Nudge suddenly overloaded a Spell Card. "Guys! Bomb her!"

[Chatter Sign: Vocal Destruction]

[Silence Sign: Fangs of Fury]

[Odor Sign: Toxic Smasher]

[Satorin: Mind Crusher]

[Blindness Sign: Optical Illusion]

[Sorrow Sign: Pain of the Leader Torn From the Troops]

As the bombs hit, Ran seemed to falter, and I felt a strange warmth in my hand.

BGM: Skies Beyond The Clouds

I turned it over to find a new card. The Voice spoke: Use this! It's the power of your flock, all in one!

I spoke, with a voice not just of my own, but seemingly resonating from the very soul of our unity.

"Yukari! You tore us apart! You tricked the flock and turned Max against them! You locked Angel away for realizing your trap, and you treated our relationship like a plaything! Now you pay!"

[Flock Unity: The Birds Gone Through Hell And Back]

The attack sent Ran plunging out of the way. At this point Yukari suddenly disappeared. "Get back here!"

"I surrender. Would you like a back rub?" Without waiting for an answer, I suddenly felt a hand rubbing my backside. I whirled around to hit it, but there was nothing there. "UGHHHH... What was the point of all this?!"

We moved back into Hawk's Peak. It was nice having some company on the Youkai Mountain. We all had unanimously voted on staying here... it beat the ruined world we came from, that's for sure. Maximum Ride, signing off.