Hello again, Antagonist here. This chapter introduces our first scenes in Gensokyo, as well as our last scenes in the Koprulu Sector (although, it'll be in that order, not the other way around). Well, our last scenes in the Koprulu Sector for a while, at least. Onto chapter two!
DISCLAIMER: Touhou Project is the property of Team Shanghai Alice, and Starcraft is the property of Blizzard Entertainment.
…
In the end, Izsha was the only one who didn't accompany Kerrigan into the chamber, as she couldn't really leave the Leviathan anyways. As Kerrigan led the small Zerg army into the chamber, some intelligent ones marveling at the strange device at the other end, Stukov ruined their cover.
"Wahaha!" he shouted. "I haven't been in a real fight since Skygierr!"
Kerrigan briefly turned around and glared at him, before running at the Tal'Darim base. Now that they knew they were here, all bets were off. The Swarm would obliterate them.
…
"Wahaha!" shouted Marisa Kirisame. "I feel like a million yen today!"
"And guess who doesn't," grumbled Reimu Hakurei.
The pair was only killing time in the summer heat. There weren't any incidents to deal with, and it was a very hot day. Marisa dealt with the heat by staying in the air, where the winds were stronger, whereas Reimu dealt with it by lazing around. Currently, her feet were dangling off the edge of the shrine, while she lay on her back. Her upper half was covered by the shade of the roof, while the rest of her body succumbed to the sunlight. Since she was currently baring her midriff, she was reasonably certain that she was going to get a sunburn, but she didn't care enough to do anything about it.
"C'mon, Reimu!" Marisa grinned. "Lighten up! We've got all summer to laze around, let's go do something!"
"Don't feel like it," Reimu sighed. "It's too hot. Maybe if it cools down."
"Did somebody say cold?!" shouted a nearby voice. Reimu just glared in the general direction of the source, while Marisa grinned. "Because I can do that!"
"I said cool, not cold," Reimu sighed. "You idiot."
"I'm not an idiot!" Cirno shouted. "I'm a genius! Cool and cold are synonymous anyways!"
"Oh? How'd you learn that word?" Reimu asked, sitting up. Cirno's mere presence made the shrine cooler, encouraging Reimu to laze a little bit less. It was still warm out, though.
"Sensei!" Cirno grinned in pride. "I do get tutored, ya know."
"To be fair, Reimu," Marisa pointed out. "Cirno's pretty bright for a fairy. It's no wonder Keine tutors her and that green-haired friend of hers, ze."
"Dai is the smartest! Just like I am the Strongest!" Cirno proclaimed.
"Sure ya are!" Marisa encouraged, flying down to ruffle the ice fairy's hair. "Strongest in the land, smartest in the magical community! Without you two, Gensokyo'd fall apart, ze!"
"Don't encourage her, Marisa," Reimu groaned. "She'll prank everyone if she gets too confident. That's always how it's been with her. And, like always, she'll start by throwing eggs at the Shrine. Like she always does. And I will have to clean it up, as I always have to do when she gets too confident."
"Aw, come on!" Cirno cried. "I won't do it this time! I promise!"
"So, you admit that you're going to prank people period," Reimu sighed, bringing her fingertips to her forehead. "Fine. I'll let you get away with it this time. Just make sure your pranks don't get too out of control. The humans in the village would complain, and I would have to kill you. Again."
"G-got it, ma'am!" the fairy responded immediately, saluting nervously.
"Heh!" Marisa laughed. "Don't worry, kid, it probably won't have to come down to that."
Cirno nodded, but didn't seem at all comforted by Marisa's words.
…
Abathur had little in the way of combat ability. It just wasn't what he was designed for. He was practically designed to never meet the Protoss- he was the Zerg Evolution Master. The Zerg couldn't infest the Protoss or use their essence, since the Protoss were protected by the Khala. Ergo, he had no use for the Protoss, and he couldn't even defend himself from one.
So why Kerrigan made him join her in her attack was lost on him. Perhaps it had something to do with the giant arch at the end of the hall, likely the artifact. It might even have been purely for speed reasons. Backup was soon, after all. This didn't change the fact that he could die at any moment.
When a Zealot got too close for comfort, a nearby group of five Zerglings pounced into action. When a Stalker blinked right behind him, an Ultralisk saved him. A trio of Mutalisks carried him away from a High Templar that attempted to Psi-storm him. A Hydralisk seemed to snipe an interceptor that wandered out a little too far from its carrier and a little too close to Abathur, and a pair of Roaches took it upon themselves to follow Abathur from underground to keep him out of trouble. Of course, they were all just being controlled by Kerrigan, which showed that Kerrigan was aware of his inability to fight. So why did she bring him?!
His strange contempt for her grew less strange.
As his Roach bodyguards unburrowed to protect him from an Immortal, he couldn't help but fantasize about ruling the Swarm himself. It would never happen, of course, and he wouldn't be happy doing it, but he felt like he was actually taking power away from Kerrigan. And that made him feel good.
Before he knew it, Kerrigan had destroyed a giant Colossus, killing the remainder of the Tal'Darim forces.
Kerrigan walked over to the end of the chamber. Staring at the massive arch, she held her hand out and touched it- seemingly activating it. She closed her eyes and shuddered as the glowing green energy of Xel'Naga coursed over the device. The empty, black hall behind the arch was replaced by a glowing green wall. And then, Kerrigan opened her eyes.
"Abathur, I've got an update on our little… agreement," she grinned.
"Clarify?" he asked.
"I know what the Xel'Naga device does, now," she answered. "It's a portal. It leads to a marvelous place, filled with fantastic creatures. Creatures that shape reality to their very will. Creatures that constantly fight and improve their tactics. Humanoid creatures. This place is called… Gensokyo."
…
Reimu Hakurei, now up and about cleaning the Shrine due to Cirno's presence, felt a shock go down her spine. Something was very wrong. Or, it would be, soon.
…
"Gensokyo?" Stukov asked. "That sounds… Japanese."
"It is," Kerrigan grinned. "It's hidden on Earth, protected by something called the Hakurei barrier. This portal alone can break past that barrier, and it has to send the user back in time a few centuries for it to work right, but it can work! And I know the person to send through."
"The, Evolver?" Dehaka asked, referring to Abathur. "I, must, be, correct."
"That you are, Dehaka!" Kerrigan grinned wildly. "Abathur's going to go in. He's not gonna go alone, though, that's pointless. He'd die too fast without help. So, I'll send the Zerg who assisted him in this battle with him as bodyguards!"
Stukov raised an eyebrow.
"That's magnificent, my queen!" Zagara complimented. "Except for one thing. How would be reconstitute old and new Zerg or upgrade the existing ones? The Evolution Master could be gone for a long time!"
"Not to mention, he's not horrible to be around," Stukov added. "I want to keep him around."
"I'm sorry, who's the Queen of Blades? You, or me?"
Stukov and Zagara backed down. Stukov glanced apologetically at Abathur, as if to say, "Sorry, I tried."
"Do not mind," Abathur answered. "Will miss… friends, but will return soon."
"One more thing, Abathur," Kerrigan grinned. "I don't want you to infest the Youkai- the creatures that live there. That could turn out very badly for us. Just focus on collecting Essence and spinning it into the existing Zerg. Also, I want you to take your personal project with you."
Abathur silently cursed himself. Of course Kerrigan knew. She knew everything that happened in the evolution pit. She saw through the eyes of the Zerg in there.
"Personal project?" Stukov asked. "You didn't tell us about it."
"He kept it a secret from me, too," Kerrigan grinned. "He was just too naive to realize that there was no way I didn't know. After all, miniature Leviathans are a pretty big deal."
"Miniature Leviathan?" Zagara asked. "How does that work?"
"Spin strands of Swarm Hosts, Brood Lords, Splitter Banelings, and Scantipedes into Leviathan sequences," Abathur sighed. "Have been working on it for months."
"Anyways, I'm bringing it over right now," Kerrigan answered. "It should be coming around… now!"
And it did. The miniature Leviathan, currently passing the stairwell down into the chamber, was about the size of a bungalow. It had only one large room, which would theoretically be able to contain all of the other Zerg with Abathur. Except for the Ultralisk. Abathur would have to find something to do about that.
The Miniature Leviathan was closely followed by Tal'Darim reinforcements.
"Dammit!" Kerrigan cursed. "Get yourself and your troops onboard now! Go through the portal, and steal the very essence of Gensokyo!"
Abathur crawled over to the Leviathan when it landed, and the Zerg chosen to accompany him boarded, too, with the exception of the Ultralisk.
With one last glance at those fighting the Tal'Darim, the Leviathan and the Ultralisk headed through the portal.
…
Once through the portal, Abathur was greeted by sunlight. He looked through the transparent wall of the Leviathan, and found that… Gensokyo was natural. Forests, mountain ranges, and a lake. It was like a postcard that he once found in Kerrigan's chamber.
"...Interesting," he noted. "Was expecting a war zone. Can barely tell that Youkai fight here."
He looked down, and saw the Ultralisk waiting. He instructed it to burrow- he'd figure out somewhere else to keep the thing later.
The Leviathan continued onwards, coming within sight of… some sort of base of operations. Was this a Youkai hive?
…
"Aw, come on, sensei!" a human child cried. "Can't we go outside? Math is boring!"
"No, we can't," Keine Kamishirasawa chided. "Math may be boring, but you need it. You need to be in top shape before summer break begins!"
"Hmph…" he groaned. "I wanna-"
"What's that?!" a little girl interrupted, pointing out the window. "There's something in the sky!"
"It's probably just that boat temple," another girl groaned. "It's nothing."
"No!" the girl cried. "I know what the Myouren Temple looks like, and it's not that! It's like… a fish! With tentacles, and spikes on the end!"
That alarmed Keine. She walked briskly over to the window in question and looked up, seeing some sort of… hideous abomination.
"Dear lord," she breathed. "Everybody, I'm going to go get Fujiwara-san! She'll watch you while I take this up with the authorities!"
"Okay!" the class responded in harmony.
Keine ran out the door, and immediately ran off to go get Mokou.
…
"Slow down, Cirno," Reimu sighed. "Could you repeat that?"
"I said, I'm gonna make a biiiig ice cube, and stuff it down one of Yukari's gaps!" Cirno grinned. "Like stuffing an ice cube down someone's shirt!"
"As tempting as it is to do that to Yukari, I don't think it would work. It wouldn't actually touch her back," Reimu explained. "It'll just float around in that weird dimension of eyes."
"Reimu!" shouted a voice, obviously full of panic. Reimu turned around in alarm, seeing Keine Kamishirasawa run underneath the arch.
"Kamishirasawa-sensei?" Reimu asked.
"Sensei!" Cirno grinned.
"Reimu, there's something above the human village!" Keine cried. "It's horrible, it's monstrous!"
That made Reimu perk up.
"Let me at it," she said. "Marisa, we've got something to deal with!"
"I heard ya, ze!" she grinned, flying down. "Abomination, eh? We usually deal with human-lookin' Youkai. This ought to be good."
…
Sarah Louise Kerrigan wandered the halls of the Leviathan, stopping to take a look at the empty evolution pit.
"You're wondering if you made the right choice," Stukov said from behind her. "Aren't you?"
"Augh!" she shouted. "Tell me that you're here next time!"
"Sorry. This part of the Leviathan is very dark," he apologized. "We should probably do something about that."
"Never mind about that," Kerrigan sighed. "Yes, I am. I sure as hell don't miss having him around, he's despicable, but I'm worried about the Swarm. What if he takes a year to gather all the essence he needs? I should have sent more Zerg with him."
"It is too late to deal with that now," Stukov smiled. "Quite honestly, I am somewhat envious of him. He gets to go to a place as wonderful as Earth."
"Yeah, well," Kerrigan responded. "It's not a vacation. He has to work more than ever now."
"I understand," Stukov backed up. "Well, let's head back to the nerve center, shall we?"
Kerrigan simply stared for a moment before following him.
"I just hope he doesn't leave us in the dust."
…
And that's it for chapter two! Remember to review! Antagonist, signing off.
