The Adventures of Team 9 Catering

by Cyberchao X

Disclaimer: Very little belongs to me.

Chapter ❿

"Illusion World |The World|!" The time-stopping attack stopped the Yagami twins in their tracks, but the maid was unable to find them in the darkness and was forced to allow time to restart. "What was that?" Kuroi asked.

"She has power over time," Rumia told her.

"Whoa. That's definitely dangerous. What happened here? There weren't so many powerful youkai here when I was sealed away."

"Uh…that's a human. At least, she hasn't been confirmed not to be. Nobody really thinks that she's a normal human, though."

"…You're kidding."

"So, you're the one responsible for this, eh? Well, personally I like the darkness, but someone's going to end up resolving this incident, so it might as well be me. Scarlet Sign |Red the Nightless Castle|!"

"Damnit, another one? And this one can see in the dark," Kuroi cried.

"Hey, Rumia-chan! Whatever happened to just waiting around for Reimu-san to take care of the incident?" Wriggle called out.

"I never agreed to that! Neesan and I are getting along much better now!"

"Don't push it, Rumia-chan," Kuroi deadpanned.

Sakuya struck again. "Illusion Sign |Killing Doll|!" The knives sank into both Kuroi/Rumia and Remilia.

"Ah! Sakuya, watch where you're throwing those knives! …Oh, wait, I get it; you hit me on purpose, didn't you?"

"I can't see very well in this darkness. I merely attacked the source of the sound. I did hit the darkness youkai as well, didn't I?"

"Um…I don't know why they're fighting with each other, but this might be our chance to get away," Rumia told her sister.

"Okay, go for it, but once we get a short distance away, I want to give them something else to deal with."

"Sounds good. Just regular danmaku, or a Spell Card?"

"Spell Card. I was thinking maybe Midnight Oil."

"Good idea."

"Hmm…I guess I deserved that," Remilia said. "And yeah, you did well—that's how I know that it wasn't a mistake. No one else got hit besides her and me. Of course, now that your attention is on me, she's getting away."

"But not without a parting gift," Kuroi told them, "Darkness Sign |Midnight Oil|!" The effect was not entirely unlike that of a solar eclipse—a large black orb ringed by a fiery corona. Well, okay, more like numerous small black orbs, but that's beside the point.

"Don't be foolish, Sakuya-chan!" Remilia cried out. Then she noticed the others and said, "Good; you're not so stupid as to try to take this on all by yourself."

"What, were you worried about me?"

"Hmm…maybe."

"Suika-chan, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be preparing the celebration?" Reimu asked.

"I am!" she replied. "But I'm also spreading your big news!"

"Hey, there's no time for chatter," Ran said, "she's getting away again!"

She wasn't for long. "Forgiveness |Honest Man's Death|!"

"What? But she shouldn't be able to see us!" Rumia said. "Wha-what is that?"

"Okay, how did you manage to aim that so perfectly?" Mystia asked. "I can barely see through this, and I'm a night sparrow."

"Kaguya-chan has an interest in foreign technology. Even though she doesn't really leave the mansion herself, she's probably Kourindou's top customer by way of proxy. This is one of the many devices she's picked up along the way; it amplifies light to allow for vision in low-light conditions, though it has the drawback of causing higher levels of light to become blinding. I had to shut it off when I fired off my spell card."

"Ah, so that's why you kept firing off danmaku a single bullet at a time while we were moving."

"Yeah. That, and the rabbits wouldn't be able to follow me if I didn't."

"You're all really starting to annoy me!" Kuroi shouted. "Darkness Sign |Suffocating Abyss|!"

This spell card was of the "giant, takes up over half the screen" variety rather than the "pattern of bullets" variety. It also easily cleared away Mokou's spell card. However, the others, minus Remilia and Sakuya, soon caught up from behind. "Shikigami |Banquet of 12 General Gods|!"

"Wriggle-chan? What are you doing here?" Mystia asked.

"Ah, Mystia-chan?" Wriggle flew closer. "Mystia-chan, it is you! And you managed to heal Luna-chan…Star-chan is waiting back in the Nuclear Furnace with Sunny-chan; last I knew, Sunny-chan was still down."

"Ah! Show me the way!" Luna demanded.

"Just…follow those two."

"Who? I can't see anything."

Wriggle brought her over. "Sakuya-san, you two are headed back to the Nuclear Furnace, right? Could you take Luna-chan with you?"

"Sure, no problem," she replied. That taken care of, Wriggle returned to the battle.

"Wait…where are Cirno-chan and Lily-chan?" Daiyousei asked.

"Do you really want Cirno-chan going to the deepest part of the Underworld?" Wriggle asked. "It's rather fiery."

"Oh. Good point."

"So what do we do now?" Rumia asked.

"'We?' Heh…I guess it's time to admit defeat."

"Aww…I was actually starting to like you."

"Why do you think I'm admitting defeat now instead of fighting to the end? I want to finish this with some dignity. I have one condition upon which I'll agree to end this peacefully. I want my own body."

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Reimu said.

"Y-You're leaving me?" Rumia started to cry, but Kuroi stopped her.

"I just want to make it up to my little sister for all of these years sitting inside her head needling her about what a sad excuse for a darkness youkai she was. We're more alike than I thought. In fact, if it will make you more comfortable—actually, even if it won't—I wouldn't mind giving some of my power to her permanently, if that's at all possible. At least enough for her to be able to see through her own darkness."

"You have to admit, this is how your incidents usually end," Ran said. "The antagonist agrees to stop causing trouble, and you all have a tea party."

"Yeah, that's a good point. Although, I've got something much bigger than just a tea party this time. It sounds like all of you—" she addressed the other members of Team 9 as well—"are doing quite well with your business, and while I would like you to take care of the food for my wedding, I won't be needing you to serve as waitstaff like at Marisa-chan's wedding. You're all invited as guests, all six—seven of you," she corrected.

"Are we allowed to bring dates?" Wriggle asked.

"Right, of course. Ran-sama would have been invited anyway, but yes, there's room for two more,"

"Three more."

"Three more?" She turned to Daiyousei, who confirmed it. "Okay, three more. So that's a table right there, even if Chen is at Yukari-sama's table."

"Huh? The darkness is receding…looks like we're too late!" Marisa Kirisame cried out.

"Well, when you're flying around shooting off Master Sparks every twenty seconds and beating up every youkai you see, you're going to miss the real action!" chided her wife, Alice.

"I couldn't help it! It was dark; I needed something to light the way!"

"So you chose to use giant energy beams?"

"Actually, you have perfect timing. Kuroi-san, this is the Seven-Colored Puppeteer, Alice Kirisame. If anyone can make you a new body, it's her."

"Make? So my new body is going to be artificial?"

"Well, yeah; we can't have you possessing someone, can we?"

"I guess not. Besides, this way I can get a new body that looks just like my old body."

"And what does your original body look like?" Alice asked.

"Exactly like the body I'm in now. We're identical twins." She dissipated her aura of darkness completely so as to show off her body.

"…Rumia-chan?" Marisa asked.

"Yes?" Rumia replied.

"…Okay, I'm confused."

"Long story short, it turns out that hair-ribbon amulet was sealing away Rumia-chan's twin sister Kuroi," Reimu told her.

"Well, we should go now; the sooner I can get to work on your body, the better."

"…Can't you just come get me when it's ready?"

"Nonsense. You're going to model for it, aren't you?"

"Am I going to have to be nude?"

"…Yes."

"Okay, cool."

"Wha-wha-whaddya mean, 'cool'? This is still my body, you know!"

Make her a member of the Midnight Crew!

CCX: So, what was originally supposed to be a one-chapter gag became a three-chapter extravaganza that also encompassed the end of The Scarlet Devil, and rather than disappearing back into Rumia as originally planned, Kuroi became a permanent member of Team 9. I think I may have accidentally foreshadowed this in their first appearance in this saga, when I mentioned that ironically, Rumia filled the "Big Guy" role in the Five Man Band despite being one of two Stage 1 bosses as opposed to the three Stage 2 bosses. Well, Kuroi's a Stage 6 (although after willingly giving up some of her power, she's kind of in between a Stage 5 and a Stage 6 in power level.) That's much stronger than anything else the group has.

Unfortunately, I kind of vowed back in The Scarlet Devil that the only OCs I was going to make would be NPC-level, and I kind of shattered that idea. It actually is a little ironic, seeing as how the chapter that this plot started in was intentionally chosen to reference KimikoMuffin's "Team ❽", and Kuroi's story is in many ways a parallel to Yasora's. Funny how that happens. Chapter ⑪ won't start until I've put the finishing touches on The Scarlet Devil, though, so it might be a little bit of a wait. Ja ne!