Lord Over Gensokyo
by Cyberchao X

Disclaimer: Touhou Project property of ZUN; Disgaea property of Nippon Ichi.

Chapter 2: It's Gonna Be a Long Ride

"So, this is the one you were telling me about, ze?" Marisa Kirisame asked. "He seems…oddly familiar."

"Yeah, I noticed that too. Short, red eyes, blue hair, gigantic ego…it's like looking at a male version of Remilia."

"Ah, that's it. I was wondering why he seemed familiar even though I know I've never seen him before in my life."

"Yep. Here to try again?" Laharl started to answer in the affirmative, only to be blasted from behind by a Prinny.

"Not this time, Prince. You had your chance; now it's my turn to try!"

"It's KING now!" Laharl roared back at Etna.

"Hmm, now this looks like a worthy opponent, ze. Very well." Marisa and Etna took to battle. At the beginning, it seemed that Marisa had the obvious upper hand, as Etna was not a natural magician and was firing her danmaku from a modified gun, but although she didn't have the volume that Marisa had, she was still doing far better than Laharl had against Reimu. She was also supplementing her shots with…Prinnies. At first, only a few—these were essentially the "large bullets"—but then…

"Slave Sign |Prinny Raid|!" The effect was incredible. Prinnies rained down upon Marisa, who was hard-pressed to dodge them all, and quickly had to go to her own first spellcard, Magic Sign |Stardust Reverie|. Etna, however, managed to avoid the attack, and despite her lack of flight capabilities, which were seemingly as much a necessity as the ability to create danmaku to win battles in Gensokyo, Etna appeared to be winning. "Looks like maybe I'm the one who should be considering this place for my dominion." Laharl grumbled, while Flonne, Jennifer, and Gordon cheered for Etna.

"Let's see if you're still so cocky after this, ze. Love Sign |Master Spark|!" The huge laser shot out, and Etna was unable to dodge.

"Cute. I've got a 'Love Sign', too, you know. Maybe we should trade info after the battle. Love Sign |Sexy Beam|!" Again, Etna's usual special had been modified for use as a spell card, creating multiple heart-shaped arrays of laser fire rather than the usual one.

Marisa found it easy enough to dodge, but was impressed nonetheless. "Not bad. Are you sure you're not a native?"

"Just a quick learner," Etna replied.

"How is she doing this?" Laharl asked.

"Well, I modified her gun to allow it to fire the same type of bullets that they were using in these battles," Jennifer said, "but as for her ability to create 'spell cards', that's all on her. Unless…Flonne, you're probably the best one at magic here. Did you help her?"

"Well, maybe a little…the spell card battles looked like so much fun, I couldn't help but want to try them out! So Etna and I had some battles…I won the first few, but she's been unbeatable lately."

"…So you could help me become stronger, too?" Laharl asked.

"Yeah…"

Laharl grinned. "Just what I wanted to hear."

Back on the battlefield, Etna and Marisa were evenly matched. Both released their third spellcards. "Love Sign |Non-Directional Laser|!" "Demon Sign |Chaos Impact|!" The two clashed, and for a moment it looked like Marisa had regained the advantage…and then Etna revealed that despite only having three "specials" to call her own, she had prepared a fourth spell card. "Ballistic Sign |Totenkreuz|!" The flaming cross knocked Marisa out of the sky, and Etna had won.

"Wow. That was a nice fight."

"Yeah, you too. I'm not used to fights where only non-lethal attacks are used, but this was…kind of fun."

"So then you've been hardened by years of life-or-death combat? No wonder I couldn't beat you, ze."

"I still haven't gotten to battle anyone yet," Laharl complained.

"So it's a battle you want? Okay…Pandemonium!" Suika's attack leveled Laharl.

Flonne quickly cast a spell to heal him. "Maybe you should hold off for awhile on the spell card battles, Laharl," she suggested.

"I think…you're right," he agreed, though he obviously wasn't happy about it. They retreated. "Etna, get over here!"

"I'll be back later," she replied, "don't worry about me!"

"I'm not worried about you; I just don't trust you to come back on your own!"

"We'll make sure she goes back when she's done," Reimu said, and Flonne finished dragging Laharl through the portal.

"I swear, I've never seen anyone meet me with such a friendly demeanor. It…annoys me to no end," Laharl said.

"Now, now, I think it's a good thing that they're not resisting," Flonne answered. "At least, not directly…"

"…Whatever."

CCX: Yeah, I noticed the similarities between Laharl and Remilia awhile back; was considering them as a crossover ship here, but not sure if I'm gonna do it. As for the reference last chapter, it was to a support conversation in Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, specifically Matthew/Serra B. Ja ne!