They didn't take long to arrive at the shrine, where the doors seemed to open themselves to allow the group in. When they entered, the doors closed and a being hidden in the shadows began getting closer.
''So it has come to this. In the end, I cannot fulfill my plans without a battle. Such is the nature of Gensokyo.''
Everyone was ready for a fight, the tension was rising, at any moment a big battle would come. The shadows were cast away by light, and the figure's identity was revealed as...
Yamame Kurodani. She was standing there, fearless and imposing, and giving her back to the other girls while facing a wall. She quickly realized her mistake.
''Oops, sorry!'' She turned around to face the right direction.
She was carrying Youmu's Katana, Roukanken, in a sheath on her hip. Also, one of her eyes was red like Reisen's. There was no doubt that she had parts of other residents of Gensokyo.
''So you're the culprit, after all?'' Star asked.
''Yes, I am. And since you've made such a big effort to get to me, I guess you deserve an explanation.''
Yamame slowly walked from one side to the other without making any eye contact, stopping to turn around at the end of each sentence.
''Change is an inevitable thing in the world, without it existence would soon become stale and not worth living.''
''Each one of us changes the world that surrounds us to some deg...you know what? I'm not going through a long speech. Let's just say I'm going to kill you.''
''But why are you doing all of this? You can't just not tell us after all of this.'' Sunny replied.
''Maybe you're right. I will explain to you.'' she stopped in place and looked at the girls in the eyes. ''Remember when you were visited by the hell raven and the kasha? I was there in a way, I was the purple brick.''
''Then how aren't you dead?'' wondered Luna.
''Simple, I once was the brick, but now I am more than that. It all began dozens of years ago, back when a dumb man tried to build a new and improved Hakurei Shrine made of nothing but brick, despite having no connection with the Hakurei Shrine, he managed to gather resources for it, but he was sadly stopped when the shrine maiden of the time found out about it.
Most of the bricks were used for other purposes, but I wasn't as lucky. I was left unused, and with time I became alive and learned an important lesson about change, and the nature of it.
Then the day came when another human decided to throw me to the underground, and I hit Yamame in the head. As it turns out, this caused my consciousness to move into her body, allowing me to possess her.
I saw it as a sign, a message, I had to use my newfound powers to promote change throughout Gensokyo to make it the way I wanted. I started giving you the old brick, expecting it to end hitting someone important, and that's what happened.
I thought I would get to control her directly too, but it didn't work that way. I can only possess this body, and trying to move to another could go badly and end with me without a body. However, Yukari ended crazy and compliant, and with her powers of gaps and my magnificient plan, I could go around hitting anybody who came to my mind with a brick.''
''She also brought people from outside, and modified a few residents of this land, but I never asked for that. It was a wonderful, perfect plan, and then the bird, the kasha and the ice fairy ruined it by going back in time and destroying my old body.''
''That's why you decided to steal Reisen's eye instead.'' stated Yukari.
''That's right, and I spent time mastering its use to make people be like I wanted them to be. And on the way, I decided I could steal other body parts and substitute mine by attaching them with my sticky string to make a perfect body, but things didn't go as well as planned. For example, Aya's legs didn't make me as fast as her.''
Finally having finished her speech, she put her hand to the hilt of the katana and got ready to battle ''And now, no more words, the moment you've all been waiting f-''
The three fairies interrupted her by charging at her at once while covered by projectiles. She got hit right in the chest and they all crashed against a wall.
Yamame (or whatever she should be called in that situation) recovered fast from the impact, reacting quick by grabbing Star and using her as a club to swat away the other two fairies. She then proceeded to smack Star against the ground a bit before throwing her away. Right after, she was shot in the face by Shinmyoumaru, who was flying right in front of her face like a pesky mosquito; thanks to her short size she had managed to avoid her sight while jumping out from Sunny's hair.
Yamame tried punching the little girl, but a gap opened right in front of her, making the fist go in through it and out of another one that appeared right on top of her head. She hit herself hard enough to get dizzy for a second, a second which Shinmyoumaru used to stab her in the punching arm.
The brick-possessed spider woman screamed in pain, it was nothing but a incoherent shout, but somene answered to it.
''You called?'' It was Reimu.
''You should have been here from the beginning!''
''Hey, be happy that I let you live here!''
''Don't talk back! I made you, and I can destroy you!''
''I'll have to rethink about letting you live here! But first, I have to deal with a few girls who don't learn their lesson.'' And Reimu began kicking butt.
She kicked Shinmyoumaru in the butt, she kicked Star in the butt and then Star's butt was kicked (a second time!). There wouldn't be a fourth kick in the butt, since the girl who's ass was going to be kicked (that's Yukari) blocked with her parasol, which she then used to hit Reimu in the gut.
Following that, Yukari started spawning lasers to strike Reimu with, the barrage was relentless and Reimu was being hit by every single one. She only got saved by Yamame shooting web to cover Yukari's face and blind her, after which she got down and dirty, giving her a few mean punches before pulling out Roukanken to chop at her pleasure.
Yukari managed to take off the web from her face and closed her parasol. She began dodging and parrying away with it.
The fairies and the inchling tried to stop it, and Reimu intercepted them. She began by hitting Shinmyoumaru with the gohei, followed by using it to point at star while she delivered a comment.
''Look at you! First you try to mooch off me and now you try replacing me! You're disgusting, you didn't even get the color right! And where is your gohei?!''
''The gohei?'' Star thought about it ''I think we left it in Marisa's house during our investigation.''
''You disgust me.'' She generated a ying-yang orb and threw it at Star.
Star managed to hit it back with some bullets, making it fly back and pass over Reimu's head. Luna an Sunny seized the chance and flew towards the orb, hiting it in the air with more projectiles to change its course again and hit Yamame in the back. This stopped the spider woman's attacks, and Yukari hit her with several traffic signs coming from a gap.
Yamame was sent back flying until she hit Reimu. When they got back up on their feet from the impact, Yamame barked an ominous sounding order.
''Things aren't going well, it's time to use that power.''
''I don't think so.'' replied Reimu.
''Don't be lazy!''
''Don't make me turn this shrine around and put it back in its original palce!''
Yamame groaned loudly before trying something different. ''Alright...'' and she suddenly shouted ''Yuugi! Get here now!''
From the floor bursted Yuugi Hoshiguma, the big Oni, or ``Yuugi the strong´´, as some know her.
''Kill!'' Yuugi said as she flexed her arms. Or rather, her arm, since one of them was missing.
Shimyoumaru observed that ''She's missing one hand and you still ask her to lend you the other? Kind of cruel, don't you think?''
''Oh, she already lent me a whole arm.'' Yamame said as she raised one of hers. ''I don't think she'll mind.''
''Enough talk! I will kill you and get drunk on your blood!''
''Yes, I guess after you're done with them you can take a break from carrying the shrine over your shoulders.''
''Yes! I will!'' Yuugi began shooting short lasers everywhere, hitting everyone in the room, her allies included.
Right after, she jumped at Sunny and began pounding with her one fist. Luna and Star tried to stop her, and Yuugi countered by kicking them away.
Shinmyoumaru instead went for Yamame. She grabbed the needle, which was still lodged in the spider's arm, and pulled hard to take it out of there. With great effort she managed to take it out, causing great pain to Yamame, who tried to cut her down.
Both the spider and the red shrine maiden were hit then by the DeLorean, which was thrown by Yukari by means of a gap. Shinmyoumaru didn't let the chance go to waste, and threw the needle at Yuugi.
The oni stopped the needle in the air with her hand and crushed it, accidentally letting Sunny free. The fairy took the oportunity to escape and shoot Yuugi in the face, which made her flinch but not much more. Yuugi managed to answer with a swift punch that sent Sunny back, where Star caught her in the air.
Luna and Shinmyoumaru meanwhile kept shooting at Yuugi and doing an alright job at dodging her attacks; a few of them were worryingly close, but they were doing fine. Reimu jumped in to change that with flying kick that knocked Luna flat on her butt.
Then Reimu got shoved to the ground and stomped by Yuugi, who's thirst for blood was stronger than her team spirit. Reimu called forth a wave of talismans that hit the oni to get her off of her. With that done, she got up on her feet and tried stabbing Shinmyoumaru with the gohei.
The little girl was quicker, she managed to dodge and grab onto it with one hand as she shot projectiles with the other at Reimu's arm to make her loosen her grip. The shrine maiden felt the pain, but she merely clenched her teeth and gave the inchling a headbutt. Yuugi followed by knocking down Reimu with a hit from her elbow and grabbing Shinmyoumaru before going for Sunny and Star.
On the way, she stopped to look at Shinmyoumaru, who was biting her hand with strength but to no avail. As she stared beffudled at the tiny girl, Luna got back into the battle and together with the other two fairies started generating a huge amount of bullets that joined together into a big ball of projectiles to throw at Yuugi.
The big mass of energy was sent flying quick and hit the oni, causing her to lift off the ground and be blasted backwards, letting Shinmyoumaru go in the process. Despite it, she managed to land on all four (well, all three, but you know what I mean) like a dog, and like one she lunged at the girls, still running with her legs and arm.
Meanwhile, the possessed Yamame was throwing all she had at Yukari. Bullets went flying all around the place, but Yukari managed to avoid and cover herself from all of them. Yamame was clearly in a hurry, and that made her less efficient in battle.
Noting this, Yukari said ''Without Yuugi carrying the shrine, we will hit the ground soon. That's why you're trying to end this battle fast.''
''Don't think it'll be so soon. Right after you got inside Yuugi started making this place ascend very high, just as I had ordered her.''
Yukari created a gap on top of Yamame to make a tombstone fall on her. The possessed tsuchigumo hastily created a spider web that slowed it down for her to hit and send towards Yukari.
The woman with the parasol dodged without much trouble, and the stone broke through the floor, revealing their altitude. They were still far from the ground, but at the speed the building was falling, it wouldn't take too long for it to crash. Even worse, they were right above Youkai Mountain.
''Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!'' Yamame shrieked ''Yuugi! Yuugi! Yuugi, come here, you need to lift this thing right now!''
There was no answer, Yuugi was blinded (and deafened, it seems) by rage. With her out of the equation, she called to Reimu. The shrine maiden, while checking her body was still unbroken, answered.
''I can't do that myself, I only lifted it the first time because you were inside the shrine helping me.''
''What?!'' Star said, while still busy fighting Yuugi ''How long have you been inside without us knowing?''
''Ever since I hypnotized Reimu, that's all you need to know.'' she dismissed the fairy. ''Now get to helping me, Reimu!''
''Coming right now...''
Yukari shot at them and they barely tried dodging. They flew at high speed into the hole, ignoring whatever damage the bullets might have done to them. Yukari followed them.
''Have you really come to stop us?! You're crazy, we'll all die if this shrine falls!''
''I doubt any of us would die from that'' Yukari replied ''losing the shrine would be a shame, but in the long run it wouldn't be a setback for anybody but you.''
''You must think you're very clever, I liked you better when you were changed by my old brick body!''
''I, on the other hand, would like nothing less than going back to that state.''
''Your comments will only motivate me to kill you faster...by ordering Reimu to fight you!''
''No way'' Reimu refused ''You do it yourself, you mooch!''
Yamame sighed ''Alright...I get no respect for a mastermind.''
With only one of them holding the shrine, the only thing they could do was slow down the eventual impact against Youkai mountain. If Yamame wanted to stop it, she had to defeat Yukari fast, on the other hand all Yukari needed was to hold on until the inevitable happened.
The spider began with a barrage of projectiles, big enough to create a wall that blocked view. Yukari prepared her parasol to block all that, yet Yamame bursted through the wall of bullets with Roukanken in hand and cut the parasol in half, leaving her oponent with one less resource in battle.
Yamame kept at it, she charged at Yukari to chop her up like, as Merriam Webster dictionary defines it, ``a sandwich consisting of a patty of hamburger in a split typically round bun´´. Yukari reacted in time, opening a gap between the two of them which the spider woman went through. The exit was another gap that opened close to Reimu, who got hit by a high-speed Yamame.
To finish it off, Yukari also threw at them through a gap the anvil that Reimu dropped before. This sent them flying far from the shrine for enough time, but just to make sure, Yukari closed in to them and kept applying pressure by shooting lasers at them.
Meanwhile, at the Moriya Shrine, Suwako was still doing her pelvic thrusts and Kanako was sitting near a tree in an attempt to calm down, but what progress she might had achieved was wasted when she noticed something in the sky.
''THIS MUST BE A JOKE!''
''What's the matter, Kanako?'' Asked her frog goddess friend.
Without answering her, Kanako shouted towards her shrine ''SANAE, YOU BETTER GET OUT OF THE SHRINE RIGHT NOW!''
Sanae came out of the shrine in an instant ''What happens?''
''LOOK UP THERE, THE GODDAMN HAKUREI SHRINE IS GOING TO FALL ON TOP OF OURS! I WANTED YOU TO GET OUT JUST TO MAKE SURE,BUT SUWAKO AND I COULD EASILY STOP THE SHR-'' And then the Hakurei Shrine fell on top of theirs, completely demolishing both.
Suwako stopped practicing her dance moves to look at what was left. ''That's bad.''
''BAD?! YOU DON'T KNOW THE HALF OF IT! I'M GOING TO KILL WHOEVER I SEE FIRST!'' she then added, after a second ''OF COURSE, NOT COUNTING YOU.''
Lucky for her, soon enough someone came out, and it was someone with a big body to beat up. I'm talking of Yuugi, of course. She roared, still moved by her desire for bloodshed, not knowing what was coming to her.
''GET HER'' Kanako ordered to Suwako.
''Okay.'' Suwako nodded, and summoned a giant stone arm from the ground that trapped Yuugi and raised her high in the sky.
Kanako closed in and generated a big log to beat up Yuugi with. After several hits, Yuugi managed to break the stone hand by sheer strength and hit Kanako back. The snake goddess used the log to block, but the first hit from Yuugi's fist damaged it seriously, and the second one broke it in three pieces. Before the third punch, Kanako moved sideways as she threw the two pieces of log she was holding at the oni's face.
Kanako then used her heel to kick Yuugi on top of her head and send her towards the ground. Suwako intercepted the falling Yuugi with another giant arm made of stone, this one closed in a fist. It hit her, sending back up to Kanako, who shot her down yet again with a rain of bullets. Yuugi hit the ground with such strength that a hole was left all around her, kind of like in Dragon Ball Z.
The oni tried getting up to keep the fight, but she passed out, letting out only a defeated groan before losing consciousness.
The fight over, Kanako looked closer into the ruins of the two shrines.
''What are we going to do now?'' asked Sanae?
From the broken shrines came out the three fairies of light and Shinmyoumaru, they were a bit disoriented, but otherwise fine.
''Looks like that there shrine is giving birth to fairies'' said Sanae ''wait, no, they're the fairies from before.''
Shinmyoumaru looked at Yuugi on the floor ''Did you defeat her? I thought she'd never stop.''
''Why were you fighting her?'' wondered Sanae.
''We weren't just fighting her.'' started explaining Star.
Sunny then finished the explanation ''We found the culprit! It's Yamame, she was with Reimu and Yuugi at the shrine, and a brick possessed her!''
''AND WHERE ARE THEY NOW! I WANT THEM TO PAY!''
Yukari appeared, and without pause she signalled towards the sky ''they will likely come here soon.''
''There she is!'' Yamame made her arrival known with her voice. ''And the rest are with her too.''
''This is getting worse by the moments, Yamame. When I let you in the shrine you said it wouldn't break!''
''Stop complaining about the shrine, I'll build you a thousand of them when we defeat them.''
''DEFEAT US? STOP DAYDREAMING, YOU WILL FALL LIKE THE INSECT YOU ARE.''
Reimu corrected her ''Actually, spiders aren't insects.''
''QUIET, IT'S A MANNER OF SPEECH, I KNOW WHAT I SAY!''
''Whatever'' Yamame interrupted their conversation ''Even if you have a god or two with you, we have an angry oni who...wait, is that Yuugi laying on the floor?'
Suwako took a closer look at Yuugi to make sure ''Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's her.''
''Damnit! Things are getting bad.'' She looked at Reimu ''It's time to use that power of yours!''
''I can't bother to do it.'' replied Reimu.
''Stop being lazy! Do it!''
Reimu was about to say no again, but both her and Yamame were hit by the flying pieces of the Moriya and the Hakurei shrines, carried by a strong gust of wind that Sanae created.
''Do it now!'' managed to shout Yamame between impacts.
''...Okay, but only this time.''
Reimu used her secret technique: Fantasy Heaven. With its power active, she became untouchable. She, however, could attack everyone else without worries.
''WHAT THE HELL?!'' Kanako asked.
''We can't do anything now until she stops'' said Yukari.
Yamame laughed as if to mock Yukari ''Reimu isn't going to stop due to some silly self-imposed time limit. She will stop when I say so, and I won't ask her to until you're all dead!''
''What now?'' Asked Shinmyoumaru.
Sunny thought it over. ''There is something I think could work.''
''Are you thinking about...?'' wondered Star.
''Yes, exactly that.''
They told the others about it. Yamame and Reimu were not able to hear a thing.
''I don't know what you're planning, but it won't help you!'' screamed Yamame from the top of her lungs ''Die, and never come back!''
Both Reimu and Yamame shot enough bullets to kill an entire platoon (so, like thirty-something guys). They raised so much dust upon hitting the ground, that it became impossible to see. When the dust dissapeared, there was nobody left, they had dissapeared.
Yamame couldn't believe her eyes ''Did you kill them? Did you kill them so hard their bodies vanished?''
They stopped flying and walked a bit around the area. Reimu stopped Fantasy Heaven now that she didn't need it anymore.
''And what do we do n-'' Reimu stopped talking and began convulsing as if she was being hit by invisible people.
''What the f-'' Yamame rubbed her eyes, but she still couldn't see anything ''What's the meaning of this?!''
Suddenly, in front of her eyes , Suwako, Kanako and Sanae appeared. They were beating Reimu so badly that she couldn't fight back.
''Damnit! Damnit! Damnit, I don't know what's going on but I won't let you do that!''
She shot relentlessly at them, but a gap formed in-between and absorbed all the bullets.
''No, this cannot be!'' Yamame began tearing at her hair.
''Unfortunately for you, it is.'' Yukari Yakumo's voice was heard, and she appeared without any sign of damage.
''Seems like your plans didn't go out so well.'' Shinmyoumaru Sukuna became visible again, followed by Sunny Milk, whose head she was standing on.
''When you attacked us, we used my powers to manipulate sunlight to become invisible.''
Luna Child appeared at her side ''We also used my powers to mute sound so you couldn't hear us.''
Finally, Star Sapphire became visible again ''And when you thought you had won and Reimu stopped her attack, we striked again.''
The three fairies said at once ''It's over, Yamame!''
''No! Never! This doesn't mean anything!'' She began clawing at her own face ''I won't let you ruin my plans! I will end you, and I will erase any trace of you before creating the world as I see fit!''
She began firing even more at them ''I'll kill you! I'll kill you all!''
The fairies and Shinmyoumaru moved in closer, dodging all the bullets. They sprayed her with lasers, fire, and bullets, knocking her back. At the same time, Yukari unleashed all the bullets shot by Yamame that the gap absorbed. She was unable to shoot back any longer, and fell on her knees after some seconds, loudly cursing the names of her opponents all the way.
When the fairies stopped shooting, she managed to get back up and started swinging Roukanken at them with what strength she had left. But much like Yuugi, she passed out, she dropped the katana and fell to the ground, finally defeated.
But it wasn't the end of it. The spirit of the brick refused to accept defeat. She abandoned Yamame's body and gave some parting words ''This is not the end! You will see me again!''
''Quick, use the sword!'' Shinmyoumaru said.
The three fairies took it and flew towards the spirit at full speed. With one decisive swing of the katana, she was cut in half, and the spirit began to visibly shatter into pieces.
''No! You cannot kill me! Mere fairies shouldn't even be capable of harming me! I was supposed to be inmortal, a force above nature!''
She left out one last scream of anguish, which faded away as her pieces disappeared.
''Bet that'll lift your spirits.'' quipped Shinmyoumaru
Kanako jumped into battle right after ''THAT'S IT, REIMU IS OUT AND I'M READY TO TAKE ON THE CULPRIT!'' She looked around ''UH...WHERE IS SHE?''
Yukari looked at Yamame's unsconcious body and said ''It's finally over. We made it.''
At long last, the spirit that had caused so much commotion in Gensokyo was gone.
