A/N: This is a continuation of my Ed, Edd, 'N Eddy and BlazBlue crossover series "Blaz, Blaz, 'N Blazy." I encourage all of you to read that and my other two fics in addition to this since it would probably make more sense that way.

Marie was walking back to the trailer park after her fifth after-school detention that week. "Stupid teachers, making me stay in that dumb place longer than I should be," she grumbled under her breath. She opened up the door to the Kankers' trailer to find her sisters Lee and May sitting on the couch and watching TV, like usual.

"About time ya got home," Lee said. "We were gonna have yer meatloaf if ya didn't show up in the next ten minutes."

"Ah put a sock in it Lee," Marie scoffed. "I'm not in the mood to get teased tonight."

"What happened now? Was it another detention?" May asked.

Marie pulled a piece of paper out of her backpack. "Worse than that. Since I got pegged for five detentions in one week, the school's making me do 'community service.'" She took a minute to read the paper. "Apparently I have to put on a stupid puppet show for kids at an orphanage otherwise I'll be suspended."

"A puppet show? Jeez, those chumps are getting tougher these days," Lee sighed.

Marie tore up the paper and threw the pieces in the garbage can. "I can't believe they're getting that crazy. All I did was super-glue the teacher's butt to the chair. I don't even know how they found out about that!"

Lee smirked. "I gotta hand it to ya, that was pretty funny. But ya realize they have security cameras, right?" Marie facepalmed. "Anyways, what are ya going ta do about puppets?"

Marie shrugged. "No clue. No one around here does puppetry, so I can't really ask for help." Suddenly a lightbulb appeared over her head. "Wait, I can go ask Rachel if she knows anyone who can do it! She knows pretty much everyone in Kagutsuchi and what they do, she should know something!"

Lee and May stared at her in confusion. "Who the heck is Rachel again?" May asked.

"She's a girl who hosted that Halloween party I went to, remember?" Marie said, smacking her younger sister in the head. "Anyways, I'll be back later. I have to see if she knows anything." She took out her tablet and got ready to open a portal.

"Hey Marie, what's with the paper weight?" Lee asked curiously.

"Just shut up and watch, okay?" Marie held out the tablet and said "Rachel's mansion!" A portal to the Boundary opened, shocking her sisters. Both of them stood there with their mouths opened, completely speechless. "I'll explain later," Marie said as she stepped through the portal.

Rachel Alucard was sitting in the middle of her garden, having her evening tea time with her butler, Valkenhayn, and her familiars, Nago and Gii. Rachel delicately sipped her tea, smiling at the taste. "My, this has a remarkable flavor Valkenhayn. May I ask what this is?" she asked.

"This evening's tea has been imported from Ibukido. If I recall, it is known as the Ibukido Cherry Blossom," her butler said.

"Yes, I can understand why it is called that. I can detect a hint of cherry in the flavor." She sipped the tea again. "This is excellent Valkenhayn, you have my thanks."

Valkenhayn bowed with a smile. "I only wish to serve for your happiness, milady."

A few seconds later, Rachel got a notification from her tablet. "Oh honestly, in the middle of my tea time?" she complained. With an anguished sigh, she let the person from the other side come through. A portal opened up and Marie stepped through. "Marie? Well, this is quite an unexpected surprise," Rachel said, greeting one of her few friends.

Marie returned the greeting with a smile to one of her own few friends. "Hey Rachel, I have a favor to ask you if it's not too much trouble."

Rachel crossed her arms. "Even for an acquaintance of mine, I will not do a favor unless you return it yourself," she said.

Marie got nervous. "Um, sure. What do you want?"

"Try to refrain from interrupting my tea time again," the vampire said. Marie looked a little sheepish at the fault she did. Rachel then smirked. "Relax child, I only jest. I know you all from Peach Creek cannot understand my tea times in your dimension."

Marie relaxed and gave a nervous chuckle. "Jeez, I can never tell when you're messing with someone or not. You'd give my sisters a run for their money on April Fool's Day!" She then sobered up and remembered the reason she came here in the first place. "The reason I came here was to ask you if you knew anyone that knew puppeteering that could train me."

Rachel cocked an eyebrow. "Puppeteering? What on earth made you decide to pursue an activity such as that?" she asked curiously.

Marie sighed. "I gotta put on a puppet show for an orphanage so I don't get suspended from school since I got in trouble too many times this week. No one back home knows squat about it, so I thought I'd ask you."

Rachel frowned. "Unfortunately, I do not know of anyone that knows the art of marionettes myself. Carl Clover's doll of a sister, Nirvana, is commanded by her own will, which is as close as anyone in Kagutsuchi is to puppetry. I apologize, seeing as I cannot help you."

Before Marie opened up the portal to go home in defeat, Valkenhayn took the opportunity to speak up. "Milady, you have a friend in a city in Japan that knows puppetry if I am not mistaken. Why not persuade her to assist Miss Marie?"

Rachel looked at him quizzically and then quickly remembered what he was talking about. "Are you referring to Alice? Yes, I do believe she would be the perfect tutor for Marie." She turned to her friend. "If you are willing to travel with me to Japan for a couple of days, I will introduce you to my friend Alice. She so happens to be a master of puppetry in addition to creating her own marionettes."

Marie's face lit up with excitement. "So there IS someone who can teach me? And we're going to Japan!?" She suddenly calmed down and realized something. "Wait, she'd be cool with us staying there and teaching me?"

Rachel shrugged. "I am quite certain she will not think too hard on the matter. If you are willing to go, I will contact her and we will leave tonight. So I will ask again, are you willing to travel with me?" Marie nodded. "Very well, meet me here at the hour of seven so that we may be on our way."

Half an hour later, Marie was in the Kanker's room, packing a suitcase with a smile plastered on her face. Lee came into the room and saw what her sister was doing. "Hey Marie, what's with the suitcase? Ya runnin' away or somethin'?"

Marie looked at her sister with an annoyed expression. "No idiot, I'm going to be gone for a few days so Rachel's friend can teach me puppetry stuff." She closed her suitcase. "It's Friday anyways, so no one should really care if I'm gone."

Lee was confused a bit, but she shrugged it off. "Ah well, hopefully you can use those puppets to get some chores done when you get back, ha ha ha." Marie was annoyed. "It was a joke Marie, lighten up will ya?"

"I gotta go, I'll see you and May in a couple of days." Marie opened a portal and headed back for Rachel's place.

Marie, Rachel, Valkenhayn, Nago, and Gii were all in the foyer of the mansion, planning out their travel plans. "As explained, I will open a portal to Alice's home. Unlike our dimensions, which require the use of a tablet, I will be able to access her residence simply by teleporting."

Marie was surprised. "Wait, you can do that too? Wow this dimension is weird."

Rachel checked her watch. "It seems we should be on our way. Alice is surely expecting us soon." She looked at her familiars. "Nago, Gii, we shall be off."

"Yes Princess!" they said in unison while Nago turned into her umbrella.

Valkenhayn gave the girls a package. "This is for Miss Alice in exchange for her hospitality." He opened the package to reveal fresh scones. "Prepared fresh after your tea time, milady. I hope you do not mind."

Rachel smiled at her butler. "I am sure Alice will be most appreciative of this gesture, thank you Valkenhayn." She turned to Marie. "Well, shall we?" Marie nodded. In a flash, the four of them had teleported out of the mansion and on their way to Gensokyo.

Alice Margatroid was sitting in her log cabin, drinking tea and building a new Shanghai doll. Suddenly, she heard a knock on her door. "Oh? That must be Rachel and her friend." She walked over to the door to greet the vampire, her familiars, and the unfamiliar human girl standing before her. "Hello Rachel, it has been some time, yes?"

"Yes it has. I am glad you were able to assist us on short notice," Rachel said. "My acquaintance here would like to study the art of puppetry under you. I assume you would be willing to help her based on you agreeing to let us stay the next couple of nights?"

Alice nodded. "That's right. I have two beds made up for you both." She turned to Marie. "I'm sorry, I didn't get your name."

Marie held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Marie Kanker, what's your name?"

Alice shook the young girl's hand. "My name is Alice Margatroid, the Rainbow Puppeteer," she said, leading the girls into her home. Rachel and Marie took a few seconds to take in the sight of her home, which was full of dolls and marionettes in addition to the simple wooden furniture. "Can I interest you both in some tea?" she asked.

"That would be lovely, thank you," Rachel replied. She took out a bag of tea leaves. "I hope it would be alright for you to use these." Alice looked over the tea leaves and nodded.

As Alice went to go brew some tea, Marie decided to explore a bit. She went from room to room to look at all of the dolls. She saw ones that were nearly life-size and tiny ones that looked like the kinds of dolls you'd win at a carnival. She went into the kitchen to ask the puppetmaster a little bit about the dolls. When she opened the door to the kitchen, she saw Alice using her Shanghai and Hourai dolls to work on the tea. She was amazed that the girl could actually get stuff done with nothing but dolls.

"How are you doing that?" she asked. Startled, Alice lost control and Hourai accidentally exploded. Both of the girls, black from the explosion, looked at each other.

"Oh my, I'm sorry!" Alice frantically apologized. "I rarely have guests here, I guess I got a little scared."

Marie looked more scared than anything. "Are those puppets or bombs!?" Marie asked, freaked out that her tutor just turned a cute doll into the world's most lethal children's toy.

Alice sighed. "I see Rachel did not fully explain what sort of puppetry I do. Very well, I will explain." She controlled Shanghai to pour a cup of the freshly-brewed tea. Marie dropped her jaw in amazement. "Unlike most puppeteers, I possess a special kind of magic that allows me to manipulate my dolls to do tasks as well as fight for me," she explained as she then made Shanghai wield a razor.

"Woah woah woah, what do you mean by 'magic?'" Marie asked, confused.

Alice stared at her. "Do you not understand magic? It is what allows most of Gensokyo's residents to fight as well as how Rachel was able to get you two to travel here."

"My apologies Alice, but she is a human from a completely different dimension," Rachel interjected, walking into the kitchen. "Unfortunately, the residents from her home do not have any magical abilities whatsoever, which could prove somewhat of a challenge."

"Someone without magic? That's rare, ze." a girl dressed in a black and white dress with a witch's hat said while standing at the window.

"I agree Marisa. Wait, MARISA!?" Alice yelled. "When did you get here!?"

"I decided to drop by for a visit, didn't know you had guests though. You rarely invite anyone here besides me and Reimu," she said, coming in through the kitchen door. She looked at Rachel and Marie. "Oh, my bad. My name's Marisa Kirisame. Who are you?" she said, holding out her hand.

Rachel took it. "Rachel Alucard, head of the Alucard vampire clan. Pleasure to meet you. This is my acquaintance Marie Kanker."

Marisa looked at her curiously. "Vampire, huh? You're not one of the Scarlet's cousins or something like that, right?" Rachel looked at her, not understanding who she was referring to. "Never mind, anyways I heard Marie here doesn't know magic but she wants to learn puppeteering from Alice, ze?" She looked at Alice. "Any idea how that's going to work?"

"I do believe I can provide a solution to our dilemma," Alice suggested. "It is possible for me to give Marie magical abilities on a small scale that will let her control the dolls, but not do much more beyond that."

"So I can do magic other than card tricks? That'll be fun to do at talent shows," Marie said with a laugh. She then looked at Alice with a worried face. "Wait, I'm not going to end up blowing up my trailer with those things, right?"

"Not at all," Alice giggled. "All you will be able to do is control their movements, not battle with them like I do."

A few minutes later, the four girls were sitting at Alice's dining room table with Gii pouring them some tea (well, Rachel was sitting on Nago in chair form). Marisa decided to take the initiative and ask the question her and Alice had been wondering. "So why did you decide to do puppeteering?"

Marie took a long swig of the tea before she answered. "My school gave me five detentions this week, so now I have to do community service by putting on a puppet show for some dumb orphanage. No one at home knows anything about puppets, so I asked Rachel and she suggested talking to Alice." Marie eyed Shanghai intently. "Though I didn't think she did the kind of puppetry that involved turning the dolls into suicide bombers."

Before Alice could apologize again, Marisa cut her off. "It might be hard to understand, but most of us who live in Gensokyo actually fight with magic. Alice fights using her dolls, ze. I happen to be a magician myself."

Marie looked her over again. "Oh, THAT'S why you look like a witch, I get it now." Marisa stiffened at that comment, but she let it go since it was an innocent observation.

"Anyways, since you don't know magic, I thought you could use this." Marisa took a small vial full of a green liquid out of the folds of her dress. "This potion boosts a person's magic ability by a slight bit. This should be enough to let you control the dolls."

Rachel raised an eyebrow. "Mind me asking why you just happen to be carrying that around with you?"

Marisa shrugged. "Hey, free samples from my shop means potential customers, you never know."

Alice looked at her friend. "Wait, people DO visit your shop besides me and Reimu?"

A vein popped in Marisa's head. "Of course they do! How do you think I can afford all of my ingredients?"

"To be fair, you are known as a thief."

Marisa waived off the comment. "Pssh, I just have my own special methods, that's all, ze." Alice facepalmed. She turned back to Rachel and Marie. "If you drink this, it'll put you to sleep for the rest of the night, but you should wake up with some ability. Are you-." Marisa didn't even get the last word out before Marie snatched the vial and chugged the potion.

"Hmm, tastes like our Kanker burgers back at home," she commented.

Marisa looked at her watch. "3...2...1...now." Marie immediately fell asleep as soon as the countdown ended. Alice and Rachel helped carry her to one of the spare beds Alice prepared.

"Mind me asking how long this potion will keep her asleep for?" Rachel asked. "I am afraid we have a finite amount of time to prepare her and I do not wish to be kept waiting around forever."

Marisa thought for a moment. "Probably for the next twelve hours, ze. She should be ready to go tomorrow morning. I'll be back to see how well the potion worked."

Alice raised an eyebrow. "But you already KNOW how well it works, right?"

Marie put a hand behind her head and gave a nervous smile. "Erm, heh heh. It's actually experimental. I just made it this morning."

Rachel got irritated. "Are you implying that you have no clue how well this potion will work on Marie!?"

Gii flew up to Marisa's face. "Oh, you have no idea what you've done now! You won't like the princess when she's an-" Marisa hit him in the head with her broomstick. "Owowowowowow! That hurt more than when the princess hits me!" he whined, rubbing the newly-formed bump on his head.

Rachel smirked. "While I am glad you saved me the burden of disciplining that fool myself," she began. "Are you not afraid of what will happen if your potion proves to have negative effects on her?"

Marisa laughed. "Pssh, I'm not afraid of anything other than it not being successful." Rachel shocked her, making her body light up like an x-ray being done. "O-okay. Now I'm afraid of that…" she resigned.

"That is only a minimal amount; if you're potion is anything short of harmless, I will see to it that you feel the full strength of my lightning," the vampire said, her hand glowing with electricity.

"Point taken." She turned to Alice. "I'll be back tomorrow to see how she's doing, ze." She said goodbye to the girls and flew home on her broomstick.

Rachel looked at the clock on the wall. "It seems it is getting late as well. I will turn in for the night." Alice agreed and the girls went to bed to prepare for the events that are to come tomorrow.