Chapter 3
Nuclear Breaker


It was nighttime on the same day the disastrous incident happened in front of the Myouren Temple. The truck belonging to the man and his gang was parked in a field full of flowers.

The man got out of the truck and marched across the flower field until he came across someone sitting inside a small shack made of flowers. "What business do you have here, human?" the person inside the shack said. "You do realize that I feel nothing but hostility toward your kind. You also dare show yourself to me after the chaos you've caused at the fun fair held by those at the Myouren Temple."

"Which I believe will do me good in accomplishing something," the man said to the person. "It was also necessary to do that at the fair in order to make people realize the things that are soon to come. They have never witnessed what true chaos is, so I see fit to open their eyes and make them experience things firsthand. Anyway, I am here to help you accomplish your lifelong dream."

"My lifelong dream? What do you know about me?" the person replied. "If you knew about me, then you would never have come here, as it will surely be the last day of your life."

"Obviously, I didn't come unprepared," the man said. "You try to do something, and my men will burn up this whole place, including you."

"Don't you dare do anything like that!" the person angrily said to him.

"Then let's talk business, shall we?" the man said. "I guarantee you that you won't be disappointed if you work with me. I will provide you with the tools for getting the job done."

"Are you sure about this?" the person asked. "Assuming that you succeed in helping me accomplish my dream, are you not afraid that I may turn against you?"

"Threats and death do not scare me," the man said. "If that does happen, then it only proves my belief that all living things should live by their nature. You will only be proving and enforcing what I said if you kill me, and I will be the one laughing the end."

The person remained silent for a few seconds after hearing what the man said before saying, "You're weird… You're not like any normal human being…"

"In this dark and twisted era, being normal will only cause you to become prey for the strong and abnormal ones," the man said. "This world needs more people… who can see the true nature of life."


Kogasa Tatara the karakasa was staring in silence at pair of sandals at the side of the dirt road. She had been strolling around this place for several days already, and every time, she saw this pair of sandals lying there.

The blue-haired girl with heterochromia bent down in front of the sandals and looked at it with a look of slight sadness for several seconds in silence. Eventually, she picked it up and said, "Poor thing… Abandoned by its owner… I wonder if its owner lost it and forgot about it or threw it away."

Holding the sandals with her fingers, she started walking down the path. "People keep on forgetting to bring home with them their properties," she said. "I sure hope that they learn to remember more often and will also come back to pick up the things they left behind."

As she was traveling down the road, she spotted an elderly man walking in her direction, and when he came closer, she managed to get a good look at his sandals and saw that they were old and worn-out. In fact, they looked like they were going to break apart any second. They greeted each other when they crossed paths, and Kogasa continued to keep her eyes on the old man from behind as he walked away.

She looked at the sandals in her hand for a few seconds, and then she ran after the old and called out to him. He turned around and asked her what it was that she wanted, and she replied, "I noticed that your sandals are worn-out. Is it uncomfortable to wear?"

"I admit… It's a bit uncomfortable…" the old man replied. "The straws are sticking out in every direction, so I get a stinging feeling whenever I put these on… I wish to buy a pair of new sandals, if only I can afford them…"

Kogasa showed him the sandals she had with her. "You can have these, then. I found them on the side of the road, and it seems that they are abandoned. I know they look a bit old, but at least it looks newer compared to yours."

"You really want to give me that? What if the person who lost them came looking for them?" the old man asked her.

"I've been seeing these for a while already, so whoever owns them probably forgot about them," Kogasa told her. "Perhaps if you wear them around, someone will eventually see and recognize them. It's your choice on what you want to do with them, though."

"You have a good idea, little girl," the old man said. "I will try them now." He took the sandals from her and then changed the ones he was wearing with them. "My! These don't sting my feet! They're more comfortable to wear!"

"I'm glad to hear that!" Kogasa happily said.

"However, as these do not belong to me, I feel I should hand them over to the police," the old man said. "If the owner never shows up, then I'm sure the police will let me keep it. I will be wearing this back to the village in the meantime. Thank you very much for your kindness, little girl!"

"You're welcome! I'm glad to be of help!" Kogasa said, and then she waved good-bye to the old man as he continued down the road.

Having done a good deed, the karakasa happily skipped down the opposite direction. "It feels so good to be able to help someone!" she said. "It also feels good to find an owner for that pair of sandals! I hope they will be able reunite with their owner soon, and even if they don't, they at least have a new owner! How great it would be if all the lost and abandoned items in the world can have owners! Me included! Heehee!"


Somewhere near the foot of Youkai Mountain lies the entrance to the Underground Geyser Center, which took the appearance of a large hole on the ground. It was a place were nuclear-related research took place for the purpose of benefitting Gensokyo. At least that was what Kanako claimed…

As nuclear was a dangerous substance to approach, commoners were kept from entering the Underground Geyser Center. Barb wires were set up in the area around the hole, and a white wolf tengu was standing in front of the only gate to keep watch.

Armed with a sword and a shield, the white wolf tengu looked around the place for possible intruders, but she was inclining to the fact that there would never be anyone trying to break into this place, as she had been doing this job for quite some time already, and nothing bad had every happened, to the point where she thought it was pointless having someone guard this place.

Bored and hoping that the time to switch with another guard would come soon, she stretched her arms into the air and let out a loud yawn. The moment she closed her eyes was the moment her job as a guard came to an end, as a bullet whizzed in her direction in a moment's notice and went right through her head. As if that wasn't enough, another bullet was fired at her, this time going through her throat. The white wolf tengu instantly succumbed to her fatal wounds and fell back onto the ground, eyes and mouth still open.

A masked man suddenly appeared out of thin air, and he signaled for his boss and his comrades, who were scattered all over the place and hiding behind trees, rocks, and bushes, to come out. "That cloaking device we took from one of those so-called kappas after killing her sure helped a lot!" the masked man said.

"Hand it over," the leader said to him, and he did. "It will be of help to me while we're down there. All right, everyone get to your posts and get ready when we give the signal. You better remember everything you have to do."

"Yes!" his men replied.

The leader then went towards the giant hole on the ground, bringing with him three masked men. They walked past the dead white wolf tengu, went through the gate, and then stepped on a piece of ground that was sticking towards the hole. Once they were on it, that piece of ground suddenly descended to the bottom like an elevator. It was the way down to the nuclear facility for those who were incapable of flight.

Once the "elevator" touched the bottom, the three men stepped out and approached the large door that was at the end. Before getting too close to it, one of the masked men aimed his gun at a security camera that was spotted toward the upper right corner of the door and fired a small device that latched onto it. The device released electricity that caused the camera to malfunction without making it short-circuit or explode.

The four men continued their way into the nuclear facility, and once in there, they looked around to make sure that were nobody, and luckily for them, there were none. They went a bit deeper and noticed a door with the words "Hazmat Room" written on it. Knowing that it was dangerous to move around in a nuclear facility without wearing protective clothing, the men went over to that door. The leader opened the door slightly and peeked inside to make sure that was nobody in there before going in with his men.

Once in there, they quickly put on the hazmat suits. Once they were done, the leader said to them, "Wearing these should decrease the chance of people finding out our identities, but we still have to be careful about our actions, you understand?"

"Yes," his men replied with a nod.

"All right, let's go over the plans again," the leader said.


Reimu and Marisa were brought by Nitori to a place close to the foot of Youkai Mountain, as the latter was going to show them how they were going to find those group of people who caused trouble in Gensokyo recently. "So that thing is complete? Marisa asked.

"Yep!" Nitori replied with a nod.

"Wow! You sure work fast!" the witch commented commented.

"Actually, Rikako was the one who did it," Nitori told her. "I told her that we need something that can help us find that man and his group, and she said she'll get to work on one right away. Much as I hate to admit it, she's actually smarter than me in the field of science and technology, and knowing that looking for this man is an urgent matter, I had no choice but to ask someone who is smarter and more skilled than me to get the job done…"

"And you were always boasting how smart and skilled you are in the field of science," Reimu said to her.

"At least I'm among the top," the kappa said. "Okay, we're close to one of the entrances. Personally, I would use the underwater entrance in the river, but since the both of you can't hold your breathe for that long and aren't skilled at diving, I have to use one that is suitable for you."

"Wait, you're saying that there are various entrances to this science lab?" Marisa asked.

The kappa nodded. "Yep! Entrances to the lab are hidden, like, all over Youkai Mountain. There's even one inside the Moriya Shrine! Anyway, we're here."

Reimu and Marisa looked around for the entrance, while Nitori went over to large rock. She looked at the base of the rock as if searching for something and then kicked a part of it. Once kicked, the rock raised into the air, revealing itself to be a hidden elevator. Reimu and Marisa were surprised at the sight of it, and when the door opened, Nitori told them to come inside, which they did. Once they were in there, the elevator descended, and from the surface, one wasn't be able to tell that the rock contained a secret once again. When Marisa asked about the door opening by itself, Nitori replied that elevator doors automatically open by themselves using electricity when "summoned".

It took a few seconds for the elevator to reach the bottom, and when the door opened, the group stepped out. Reimu and Marisa were both amazed at the sight before their eyes, especially the latter. The whole place was made of metal and concrete, and various kappas and fairies were walking, running, and flying around the place, doing various things to keep themselves busy. There were also machines of various sizes, some giving off colors and some giving off sounds. Due to lacking knowledge in the field of science and technology, the shrine maiden and the witch had no idea what most of the things the workers were doing were about and what those machines were.

"Man! This place totally blows my mind, even though I have no idea what exactly it is I'm looking at!" Marisa said.

"I never knew that a place like this exists in Gensokyo!" Reimu said. "Kanako and the lot of you sure did a good job keeping this place a secret!"

"And you thought you saw the whole of Gensokyo, eh?" Nitori said to her. "Kanako says that Gensokyo isn't ready to embrace technology yet, so she decided to keep it a secret until the time is right, whenever that is. Plus, Gensokyo is currently in a very primitive state, so we still have to figure out how to transfer the various sources of energies we have to everyone. It may still take quite a while, but once we manage to make electricity widespread in Gensokyo, life for everyone will become better! We will finally be able to live life like the outside world!"

"I've never been to the outside world before, so I can't be the judge on whether that is a good idea or not," Reimu said.

"Yeah, simply reading books, hearing about it, and seeing stuff from there aren't enough," Marisa said. "Would be nice to be able to see the outside with my own eyes some time…"

"Trust me, I really want to see the outside world as much as you," Nitori said. "I've heard a lot about it and also read a lot about it, and it sounds like the perfect place for an engineer like me! Anyway, I'll take you to Rikako, who I asked to whip up something that can help us find those people. Follow me!"

The kappa led the duo through the place, and all the while, Reimu and Marisa looked at the place in awe and with curiosity. These were things that they had never seen before, and it made them think if science labs or whatever they were called were exactly the same as this in the outside world.


In order to hide their weapons, the villains got a trolley and hid them inside it. Now they had no fear of traveling through the Underground Geyser Center with their weapons being seen while still bringing them around.

Some of the workers of this place, also dressed in hazmat suits, greeted them when they crossed paths, and they greeted back in order to not arouse suspicion by lacking manners. When they came to a map that was on the wall, they took a few seconds to study it to find the location of the room they were looking for. After that, they continued on their way.

When they came across a cabinet that contained several control rods, the leader took a few seconds to think about something before taking one of them with him. "This should come in handy if we ever run into her," he thought.

They eventually arrived at the door leading into the room they were looking for. When they went through the automatic door, they saw a large pillar-shaped reactor in the center of the room. When the door closed, one of the masked men went over to the door's controller, which was at the side, and tinkered with it. "We don't have to worry about anyone coming in now," he said. "I can make it functional again when we're ready to leave."

"Good," the leader said, and then he turned to the reactor. "We got here way too easily. Most of the inhabitants here have little to no knowledge of nuclear power, so it's obvious that nobody would break into this place to steal anything, thus resulting in weak security. Someone will have to let these people realize the consequences of being too relaxed! All right, get to work!"


After a bit of walking, Nitori, Marisa, and Reimu came to a door that opened by itself by sliding apart both ways. Nitori told them that this automatic door differs from elevator doors in the way that the former is designed to open by itself when it detects a heavy enough weight in front of it. "That would make entering houses and rooms a lot easier if it is available to the public!" Marisa commented as they went through it.

"Doors like these are pretty common in the outside world, apparently," Nitori told her. Once in the room behind, they walked to the far end of the room, and Reimu and Marisa looked at the various kappas and fairies working in front of computers. They remember seeing such things in Kourindou, and according to Rinnosuke, it was a device that captured the spirits of different objects and living beings to project them onto their screens, and then one can view them in however way the user wanted to and even manipulate them. The kappa told them that wasn't how computers work and that spiritual stuff was definitely not involve in any of their functions.

They finally came across Rikako Asakura, who was also sitting in front of and working on a computer. The purple-haired scientist spun on around on her spinning chair and looked at the trio as they approached and said, "So you finally came."

"Did you finish making that?" Nitori asked her.

"Since this morning," she told her. "I spent most of the night working on it. It really isn't that hard, but to ensure that it works perfectly and that the results are accurate, I had to perform various testing until I found it satisfying."

"You spent most of the night building this computer thing?" Marisa asked the scientist.

"No, it's the software that I made, not the computer," Rikako told her.

"Software? What's that?" the witch asked.

"Encoded computer instructions that allow computers to perform various kinds of tasks," the scientist explained, "but there's no use explaining such things to people like you, since you won't understand any of those."

"Well, you're right about that…" said Marisa, admitting the truth.

"So… how are you going to use that software thing to find that person and his group?" Reimu asked Rikako.

Rikako faced the computer and searched for the software while saying, "This software will take a good look of the person's face on the footage Hatate recorded yesterday, and then it will scan the whole of Gensokyo for anyone with a facial appearance that matches his. The closer he is to us, the faster it can obtain the results."

She opened the program and then let the software "study" the face of the man in Hatate's recorded footage. Once it had the man's face "memorized", it showed a bird's eye view of Gensokyo and started scanning the entire place for either this man or anyone who looked like him. To Rikako's surprise, it took only two seconds of scanning for the result to appear. "What the?! That fast?!" she said.

"This isn't normal?" Reimu asked her.

"The only explanation for this is that this man is either in the same place as us or a place that is really, really close to here!" the scientist replied as she clicked on a button that made the software show the place the man was in. When the map of the place he was in was shown, Rikako and Nitori were surprised at where he was.

"He's… He's in the Underground Geyser Center?!" the kappa said.

"Underground Geyser Center? You mean the place where you do research on that form of energy called new clear?" Marisa asked. "And also one of the places Utsuho works at?"

"Exactly!" Rikako said. "And this place connects to that place too!"

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's head over there and capture him at once before he does anything or gets away!" Reimu suggested.

Nitori quickly turned to one of the kappas in front of a computer and said to her, "Quick! Warn the people in the Underground Geyser Center about intruders!"


The leader was watching his men removing a spherical device that was about one and a half meter radius big from inside the reactor. After successfully removing it, they carefully placed it onto the top of the trolley, which was designed in a way so that large spherical objects wouldn't fall off it so easily.

"All right, then to move out," the leader said. "If anyone questions what we're doing, we'll just tell them that it needs a checkup, but if they still questions us, we'll silence them using the hard way."

One of the masked men went to tinker with the door's controller again, and while he was doing so, a loud voice was suddenly broadcasted into the room. It was broadcasted throughout the facility, so everyone present was able to hear it. "Warning! Intruders have entered the nuclear facility!" said the feminine voice. "They are the same people who robbed the Scarlet Devil Mansion and killed people at the Myouren Temple's fun fair! Find and capture them at once! At least keep them from getting out of here!"

"What?! How did they know we're here?!" one of the masked men said in shock.

"Get out the weapons at once!" the leader said. One of the men slid open the side of the trolley and took out the guns inside for everyone. After the man working on the door's controller managed to get the door to open, they quickly rushed outside.

Shortly after leaving the reactor room, they were confronted by two workers in hazmat suits. "What are you doing with the reactor's core?" one of them asked. "It's dangerous to move that around! It may explode!" He was immediately shot in the chest by the leader with a shotgun.

The other worker shrieked at the sight of seeing her partner getting killed, but she was immediately silenced in the same manner. "You guys go on ahead! I'll keep you covered!" the leader said to his men.

After moving forward, another worker showed up behind them. After seeing what they were taking with them and the two dead workers on the floor, he managed to come to the conclusion that the ones getting away were the intruders, so he shouted for them to stop, only to get blasted in the head by the leader's shotgun.

The villains ran through the facility as fast as they could, and on the way, the leader called for one of his men to contact their gang outside, and he did as told. They also shot down anyone who showed up to stop them. When they were finally close to the exit, a loud voice shouted at them. "Stop right there at once!"

The leader quickly turned around to fire at the person who told them to stop, but that person managed to dodge the shot with swift movement. The leader then gave the person a good look. It was a black-haired girl wearing a white shirt and a green skirt. Notable features about her were her black raven wings, the right foot that was encased in concrete, an orange arm cannon for the right arm, and a red, intimidating eye in front of the chest.

"You must be the intruders!" the girl—Utsuho Reiuji—said. "I won't let you get away with that reactor's core! That's a property of this place and can be very dangerous if misused!"

One of the masked men asked the leader, "It must be her… Right, boss…? What…? What do we do…?"

"Hand me your gun," the leader said to him, and he handed him his machine gun. "Go at once! I'll hold her back!" Then he open fired at Utsuho, but the hell raven swiftly moved to the side. His men quickly used this opportunity to run through the door.

"You're not getting out of here!" Utsuho said as she began to give chase, but the leader stopped her by firing at her with the machine gun, so she had to get out of the way. The masked men managed to get out of the facility, and then the door closed. "Hey! You let them get away!"

"All the better to get you to stay out of our business!" the man said as he switched the machine gun with his shotgun to fire at her, but she once dodged the shot.

"Well, then I'll take on you instead!" Utsuho said as she pointed her arm cannon at him. "Take this!"

BGM: Shall We Fuse? (remix of Nuclear Fusion, done by dBu)

She fired continuously at him, so he kept on running to avoid getting shot. He eventually pointed his shotgun at her and fired, so she stopped firing to dodge it. The hell raven then took off into the air, got in front of the man with a fast speed, pointed her arm cannon right at his face, and fired. However, the man acted fast and hurled himself to the side in the nick of time.

When he looked up after landing from his jump, he saw Utsuho swinging her arm cannon at him like a baseball bat, and he was hit in the face and sent flying back. The man grunted in pain as he got back up and saw the hell raven pointing her arm cannon at him. "You can't beat me! Give it up now!" she said to him, but he responded by firing his shotgun at her, only to have her dodge it. "Not giving up? Don't blame me for burning you to ashes, then!"

The hell raven fired rapidly at the man, so he found himself on the run from getting hit by nuclear energy balls once again. He quickly jumped behind a machine for cover, but the energy ball destroyed the machine in a single hit, and the explosion propelled him backwards.

The man was in pain from getting blasted by the explosion, and the part of the hazmat suit that covered his head was burned off as well. He ignored his pain and stood back up, firing rapidly from his machine gun at Utsuho when he did so. The hell raven flew into the air, pointed her arm cannon backwards, and released a burst of energy to propel herself forward headfirst. "Rocket Dive!"

Because of the speed, the man was unable to get out of the way in time, so the hell raven rammed him in the stomach really hard, pushing him forward a bit before pressing him against the floor.

Utsuho stood back and looked at the man, who was grunting in pain. "I'm sorry if I hurt you too much, but this is what you get for not willing to give up," she told her. "Had you decided to surrender yourself, I wouldn't have to do this to you. All right, now that you've lost the fight, you should allow yourself to be arrested. Here, let me help you up."

The hell raven stretched out her hand to help him up, and he allowed himself to be helped up. Shortly after standing back up, the man forcefully raised her arm cannon and then pointed his shotgun into its turret and pulled the trigger.

BANG!

Utsuho cried as the blast pushed her back a few steps, and she also felt pain in her hand. "Ow! What did you do to me my Third Leg?!" she angrily said. "That does it! I'm not showing mercy anymore!" When she tried to fire at him, the arm cannon started to tremble and release smoke from the turret, and all of a sudden, it exploded into pieces.

BAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!

"YAA!" Utsuho screamed. The hell raven grabbed her burned arm and cried in pain. There was also a rod pierced into her palm. "YAAAAAAA! IT HURTS! MY THIRD LEG AND HAND! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"

"The moment I went to hide behind the machine that you destroyed, I took the opportunity to quickly insert the control rod I took from the cabinet into the turret of my shotgun," the man explained. "After you helped me up, I fired the control rod into your Third Leg. Control rods are used for controlling the rate of fission of uranium and plutonium, and since your source of power comes from nuclear energy, I figured I might be able to counter you using one. When the control rod was fired into your Third Leg, it caused the latter to explode when you used too much energy to fire from it."

The man then pulled back his fist before punching Utsuho across the face really hard. He punched her in the face multiple times and then grabbed her by the back of the head before slamming her forehead against the edge of a nearby table. After that, he kneed her in the abdomen three times and then pushed her forward onto the floor. The hell raven tried to crawl away while crying for help, but he placed one leg on her back and pulled her wing. With his other hand, he pointed his shotgun at the screaming and struggling hell raven.

He was going to pull the trigger when suddenly a miniature yin-yang orb flew into his hand and knocked the firearm away.

BGM Ends

When he turned to the side, he saw Reimu, Marisa, and Nitori standing there with angry looks on their faces. "This is as far as you go!" the shrine maiden angrily said to him.

The man growled in anger and then turned to run for the exit, but Marisa quickly got in front of him using her broom. "You're not getting away that easily!" she said before smacking him in the face with her broom. Nitori ran to him from behind and caught him by his shoulder. Due to the kappa having superior strength, the man was unable to break free from her grasp that easily.

The kappa forcefully pressed him against the floor, and Marisa pointed the back end of her broom at him, while Reimu pointed her gohei at him, saying, "There's no escape for you now! You're coming with us quietly!"

The man could do nothing but growl in anger and frustration. Much as he hated to admit it, he was without doubt caught with no way to escape.


TO BE CONTINUED

Please be warned that IT IS POSSIBLE to run into NSFW pics and videos when looking for any of the mentioned BGMs on Youtube. You have been warned.

Also, I am going on a church retreat on Saturday, and if there is no update before that day, then it may take a while before the next chapter comes out, as I will not be returning until Tuesday. I apologize for the inconvenience and hope that you will have the patience to wait for my return and the next chapter.