Neither Reimu nor Marisa were willing to try and assault the sphere again after that. After a few days, the kidnappings stopped. People stopped seeing the strangers from the now named "blue moon" that hung motionless in the sky day and night. Many others tried to get into the sphere, some even formed alliances and armies, but no one ever made it close to the sphere.

So, Gensokyo adjusted to life without the people who were kidnapped. Some were more affected than others, and the occasional few had to adjust their way of life completely. Each night, Reimu herself would look up at the massive blue orb with the faint green halo around it. It seemed to taunt her with its very presence. She silently swore to herself that everyone who had been kidnapped would be saved.

As time went by, the seasons began to change. The leaves on the trees changed from a brilliant green, to a ruddy yellow, and finally to dark shades of red and brown. It wasn't until the trees were bare that Reimu noticed something: it was still warm outside. Not hot like in the summer, but a pleasant temperature. Normally no one would have noticed, or even cared for that matter, but some who felt rather strongly about the situation almost took it personally.

Reimu was having another staring contest with Router one afternoon when she heard the familiar voice behind her. "I told you." She turned to see Cirno standing a ways behind her. She looked rather upset.

"It seems you were right." Reimu replied. Cirno gave her an angry look. "Unfortunately, there's nothing I can do. I've tried."

"So, you're giving up?" Cirno snapped back.

Reimu wasn't sure how to respond. Unfortunately, she didn't have to. After a very brief, awkward pause between the two of them, a massive BOOM could be heard coming from the huge blue sphere. They barely had time to notice the giant grey mass before it collided with the ground, sending tremors throughout Gensokyo, smack into the middle of the Forest of Magic. Thick, grey smoke could be seen rising from the crash site.

Reimu sprang into action, taking off into the air and zooming toward the crash site. Cirno shouted something behind her, but Reimu didn't hear what it was or care enough to go back.

When she arrived, she nearly fainted. An entire of forest had somehow been turned into metal. The trees, the grass, everything had been converted to a shining grey-silver color. She eventually came to a clearing and couldn't believe her own eyes. Alice's cottage, which had once only been half metal, was now completely silver.

After a moment, she realized Alice was not too far off. She was cringing on the ground in front of someone Reimu didn't recognize; she was wearing a skin-tight, black jumpsuit with metal bars running all over her body. She had white skin, green eyes, and messy black hair. The air around her was covered in a kind of black haze, and several large, spherical objects floated around her. She was holding some kind of device and pointing toward Alice's head. Evidently, it was a weapon of some kind. "Be thankful this is all you get." She said in an incredibly monotone voice. "There are others with worse fates than yours."

This was when several events happened all at once. First, a sudden stream of light came from deeper in the metal forest; a blazing laser in a rainbow of colors. It struck the girl from the side, knocking her to the ground… several feet away. Marisa emerged from the shadows of the metal forest. "Am I late?"

No one had time to answer. Second, a kind of glowing, blue orb shot out of the forest from the left and hit Marisa square in the face. Another girl emerged from the same direction; the same girl Reimu noticed fighting Sanae at Moriya Shrine. They had time to say "You!" to each other before the third event happened.

Utsuho Reiuji of all people flew out of the forest behind the girl and started grappling with her. They flew for a while and went into the forest on the opposite side.

Reimu had time after that to assess the situation. Marisa was lying on the ground, cloudy-eyed and rubbing her head. The girl that was originally threatening Alice was also lying on the ground, small lines of electricity flashing around her. Assorted screams and blows could be heard from the direction that Utsuho and her partner had gone.

A few silent moments passed before Utsuho was knocked out of the forest. The girl she was fighting with walked calmly out of the forest, chuckling to herself. Utsuho snarled and almost yelled "Who are you?"

"My friends call me Gig. I am Third Processor of Router and Command Chain Three of onExplore." Her eyes gleamed a kind of neon green and Reimu could almost feel the air grow slightly warmer as she drew near. She raised one arm. Panels and switches seemed to move all over arm, changing it into something else. Reimu could barely see inside her arm; there were no bones or muscles, only metal. When the shifting was done, her arm had been transformed into a perfect cylinder with a ring floating around it.

Utsuho stood up and aimed her control rod at Gig. "You've messed with the wrong raven. Prepare to feel the wrath of the sun!"

Gig only laughed. "Nuclear energy, really?" She glanced around for a moment. "Honestly, this Gensokyo place has such great potential. Don't put your faith in something with such a low output."

"Why you…" Utsuho was reaching critical. "Explosion Sign: Mega Flare!" Never mind, she had hit critical. Pure fire and energy poured forth from the front of her control rod, bathing Gig in a stream of yellow light. When the ray faded and the smoke cleared, Gig stood there still, unscathed.

She laughed one more time. "You don't know half of what science is capable of!" She took off into the air. "Now witness the power of a thousand suns; the power of a super nova; the absolute epitome of physics itself!" She then aimed her arm cannon at Utsuho. The stream that poured forth was not yellow but glistening white. For 30 full seconds, time seemed to stop. Reimu's vision blurred and she slowly lost consciousness.


Note* Okay, I have some explaining to do. No, I did not rush this chapter out in one day. In fact, it took me a week to write. The only reason it was released almost immediately after a previous one is because I like to have finished chapters stockpiled so I can update at least once a week. I just finished chapter 11, so I figured posting 9 now wouldn't be too bad. I think I'm improving, so bear with me just a little longer.