Ch 10: S.S.D.D.

The moment they entered the Tengu village, the outlook was dark, and the mood darker. Buildings had fallen, broken and blasted to rubble. This was the power of Danmaku. The power to break buildings, burn trees to cinders, yet leave human, youkai, and everything between alive and well. It was... hard for Issac to know how he felt about this.

Most of the village was in ruins as they flew by. "The destruction..." Issac said, having gone to sitting on the broom to give his feet a rest from standing. "What's up newbie?" Marisa said as she pulled back a little noticing he was looking down.

"Just... Taking in the scenery." He said, casting a hand out, gesturing towards the once colorful and intact buildings. "Yeah. Danmaku isn't a perfect system...but we've found that it's much safer than anything else. People don't often die in incidents because of the spell cards. Losing a life..." Marisa paused, "I asked an old friend of mine what dying was like, once."

Issac lifted his head from looking to the ground at that. "Really?" He said, his voice sounding a bit more surprised than he really was. "Yeah, and from what she would tell me before sending me away," She took along pause, " It is not a thing I am eager to experience." She said, looking down, remembering her old friend.

Issac let the topic drop, remembering the look from when his parents had to go through his grandparents dying. There was nothing to say, and the only cure for that look is thought, deep often very saddening thought. With a small nod, he moved up towards Reimu, watching as she effortlessly scanned the destruction for something or other.

"You alright Issac?" She asked, glancing up to him, then back to her search. "Yeah, just thinking I suppose." Reimu shifted, making herself a little more vertical. "About?" She asked as she shifted, looking as if she was about to start grinding her teeth. Being that close to Issac was drawing her anger out, as it had done before.

"Just...has anyone actually died from this...'Danmaku' stuff?" He asked, putting air quotes around the word. Reimu sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. "I could tell you, but you might not like the answer. Heads up, we got company." Reimu pointed to just behind Marisa, where 3 fairies were tailing them. "Wonderful, Marisa, heads up, we have three bogies on our tails!" Issac shouted. He chuckled a little, then reached into his bag. He had always wanted to say that.

The dog fight started from there, the three of them pulling together, before going off into different directions as more fairies showed up. Reimu broke off to the left, Marisa to the right, leaving Issac to go down the main street of the Tengu village. "Keep up if you can!" Issac yelled out and jumped up onto his feet, surfing on the broom once again, explosives in his hand. He had two grenades, and quite a few of the black disks. Issac wouldn't touch the C4 for now, not after what he heard about it.

Tossing one grenade behind him, Issac turned the broom so he was angled more to the sky, letting fairies follow him into the sky, the tail end of the swarm that had gathered being engulfed in the blast. "Got you, you little – Woah!" Issac yelled as he was nearly hit by a giant wave of Danmaku. The remaining fairies were not too happy with his explosives.

That set off the chase about 20 fairies right behind him as he weaved in and out of broken buildings, nearly crashing when it came to making a sharp turn or stopping on a dime to avoid hitting something. The shots behind him did not help, as they seemed to always be going faster than him. He had to watch his front and back, and the one time he stopped watching his front for a moment, He felt himself enter free fall, lurching forward and down towards the ground.

A danmaku shot had hit the broom, shattering it right out from under Issac's feet, leading him to land on the ground, tumbling end over end as his body rid itself of momentum. It wasn't long before he slammed into a small rubble wall, yelping out in pain as he lost the last of his momentum. It took him a little bit to stand, and by that time, the fairies were all around him.

"Well...Damn it." Issac cursed and took a step back, his back to the wall. "I'm sorry Syrena..." he whispered to himself looking over the things that would be his killers. Freaking fairies would kill him, either that or that thing approaching at high speeds? Issac blinked, than smiled. He reached into his bag, then threw something into the air as someone grabbed his outstretched arm.

The fairies never stood a chance against the block of C4 Issac detonated in the middle of them after Marisa saved him. "Nice save Marisa." Issac said, putting the detonator in his pack again. "You owe me. Let's go, we need to meet up with Reimu again. She should be finished with that youkai now." She smiled as Issac climbed up onto the broom.

The trip was short, and silent. The sounds of a dead city was their music, and the wail of wind, their conversation. Marisa let her own feet touch the ground before jumping off the broom and letting Issac off. Reimu was looking up to the top of the mountain they stood in front of, watching it as she waited for the other two.

"I don't like this they have been too quiet up there..." She said before turning back to them, then jerking forward. A high speed danmaku shot from the top of the mountain hit her square in the back. "REIMU!" Issac yelled, rushing forward and trying to catch her, but her body had vanished before she hit the ground. All he ended up grabbing were two red squares.

"What...What the hell just happened?! What are these, Where is Reimu!?" Issac panicked. He stood up turning back to Marisa before getting a hand across his face. "It's alright. We have to move!" She said grabbing the broom and giving it to him, then grabbing the ying yang orbs, than started to float.

"What just-" Issac started before Marissa snapped. "She took a bullet for you! That one was aimed for your heart and Reimu took it in the back!" She was completely calm, as she knew it was only another life lost, but that doesn't mean they would be safe here. "Come on, she'll be back in a few minutes!" She yelled and took off, leaving Issac there for a few moments before he slipped the two red squares into his pockets and took off, following Marisa.

He hoped she was right that Reimu would come back soon. This was going to get difficult, and it was going to get difficult fast.