Anybody here know that I play MUGEN? I have a ton of Touhou characters on it; just about every major character in this (I'll give you a full list at the end of the chapter) and I have it set to that most characters get a theme song in arcade mode. Kanako is the only character whose theme in MUGEN is actually the original by ZUN, because I don't think any remixes capture Kanako as well as the original. Sanae's theme in MUGEN is the Foreground Eclipse arrange of her theme, and I brought MUGEN up because that same song was pretty much the only thing I listened to writing this chapter.
Also, whoever knows what scene is referenced at the end of this chapter, let me know that you know!
"Ayayayaya!"
"What news do you have to report, Aya?" Kanako could tell just by the look on Aya's face. It was the kind of news that only came once ever few decades. And given the situation Gensokyo was in, odds were that it was very bad news. "And please, for the love of me, don't let it be an earthquake."
"It's not an earthquake." Aya held out the newest edition of the Bunbunmaru, and said "Hot off the press for you, Lady Kanako! Everybody's been going nuts all over Gensokyo!"
"…what?" Kanako grabbed the paper from Aya's hands, the gesture seeming more aggressive than she meant it to, as she looked at the story on the front page. "All over Gensokyo," she started, reading quietly, "I've been getting reports about people showing sudden demented behavior all over Gensokyo. The first of these reports came from Keine Kamishirisawa, who until just yesterday resided in the Human Village, and she had reported that her dear friend, Fujiwara no Mokou, had been seen burning down anything in her path. The first two locations that were targeted were, in this order, Eientei and the Human Village. The latter location was barely saved by Keine when she rendered Mokou unconscious. Other such reports range from one by Youmu Konpaku regarding her master's sudden cannibalism to a report from our own Momiji Inubashiri, who reported (on her day off, may I add) that there have been riots in the tengu city. More on this as it develops."
"I'm guessing you-know-who is the one to blame?"
"Suwako? No. Crazy as she may be, she's far too structured in her madness to change up her tactics like this. It has to be Sanae's doing. But the fact that she's made a move this big can't be good. Either she convinced Suwako to change her mind about the three-day warning, or she has her own plans, which I can only imagine will end in disaster. Whichever possibility comes out to be true, it's safe to say that we're in a deep pile of trouble here."
"Should I gather the tengu?"
"The sane ones, at least. And the kappa as well. I need to speak to Reimu about another race familiar with Youkai Mountain."
"You've got it!" And with that, faster than the wind itself, Aya was out of the shrine, off to gather the tengu and kappa that were still sane!
"My, my," Mima said, looking over the wreckage of the Hakurei Shrine that had yet to be repaired. "Those goddesses have quite some nerve, destroying my shrine without thinking about the consequences."
"So now it's yours, Mima? I hope you didn't hurt Reimu too badly to get it." Yukari gave off a witty little laugh as she stepped out of a gap and onto the shrine grounds. "But in all seriousness, we're in a dire situation here. People are going nuts all over Gensokyo; I was just attacked by both Ran and Chen! To top it off, that Moriya miko is probably getting more powerful as we speak."
"I've been meaning to talk to you about her. A human goddess, they call her. Just how true is that?"
"As true as can be. She's descended from an evil goddess."
"One of two in Gensokyo. …well, this Sanae girl sounds awfully interesting. I think I'll need to pay her a little visit around the time that this all cleans up. For now, care to help in fixing this shrine? A god without a shrine isn't much of a god, is it?"
"Very well. You seem to not be that concerned about Marisa, given the light of this situation."
"Marisa? She's…" While trying to think of the right words, Mima started waving her hands around as they emitted a green light, and as the pile of rubble began lifting itself into the air. "Well, I may be partially to blame here, but she's not exactly sane herself. I'm sure this wave of insanity didn't impact her."
"Ah. But if she were to have an enemy who was previously docile; a particularly powerful one, or even a former student of Mima who wished for a little rough playtime …"
And just like that, the rubble that was held up by Mima's magic fell to the floor. "You don't mean to imply that Yuka could be after her, do you?"
"Perhaps I do. You'd best find out."
"…" And in an instant, Mima was gone.
"Damn," Yuka said. "If only Lady Suwako had sent me out yesterday…" The flower youkai held a bit of ash in her hands; it seemed that getting Marisa and making a sacrifice of her would be harder than Yuka expected. Whatever set fire to Marisa's house, they were pretty serious about making sure nothing was spared. But not even that worried her in the slightest. However, something did worry her. If Mima were to return to Gensokyo, and she were to find that this house had been burnt down, then given the fact that the Hakurei Shrine was destroyed by Sanae…that could make her target the Moriya Shrine. And as highly as Yuka thought of Suwako and Sanae, she feared that not even the two of them combined could even compare to Mima's full power. If that were to happen. But, fortunately Mima wasn't-
"What the hell happened here, Yuka? I hope you're not behind this."
Mima wasn't in Gensokyo. "I'm not responsible, Mima-sama. You have my word. I was sent here to find Marisa."
"Hm?" Mima put a hand to her chin, and said "I don't recall asking anybody to find Marisa for me. Unless you're following orders from somebody that I don't know of? So tell me, Yuka. Who are you answering to?"
"The Moriya Shrine. Perhaps you should join us, Mima-sama? I'm sure even our two goddesses would be honored to have you join them!"
"They're the prime suspects for burning this house down," Mima said coldly. "I'd rather be powerless than join them if they're trying to harm my apprentice. Especially if my other apprentice, who is so infamous for her sadism, happens to work for that shrine." Holding out a hand, Mima said "I've returned, and I was going to look for you once I located Marisa, as a matter of fact. Between the three of us, no force in Gensokyo will ever hope to stop us in our goals. So join me, Yuka; fight alongside your master to achieve her greatest dream."
"True godhood?"
"Well, that too. I was referring to conquest of Gensokyo. And I promise, you'll have a fine little harem of slaves to do with as you please."
"…" That was pretty tempting bait. But she was faithful to Suwako and Sanae! On the other hand, Mima was her master; the one that had been so missed by Yuka, even if she seemed to have forgotten entirely about her. Truth was that Mima vanishing was why Yuka had even cut her hair short; seeing that long green hair in the mirror every morning was too much. "I'm yours to command once again, Mima-sama."
"Excellent. We have to find Marisa alive. Do you have any idea where she might be, or who she might be with? Any ideas at all, Yuka?"
"Let me think for a moment…"
"Please," Kogasa shrieked, all four of her limbs being held tightly by figures in black cloaks. "Not this again! I don't want to die! I'll do anything you ask, I swear, anything, but just don't put me through this again!"
"You have no choice in the matter," Sanae said from atop the throne above the altar. "If Suwako or myself can find some use for you beyond a recurring sacrifice, we'll be sure to enlist you into our service. But until then, shut up, lay down, and accept your fate. Just have a look around." Sanae gestured around the room to the various worshippers. "Some of Gensokyo's finest worship here, and I'm sure they wouldn't appreciate you running. But they'd probably be a hell of a lot less pissed off than I'd be, I can assure you of that at the least, Kogasa."
"I'm sorry," Kogasa screamed as she was placed in the altar. "I don't know what I did to make you hate me like this, but I'm sorry!"
"…hold it," Sanae said not seconds before Kogasa would have been killed for the second time in sacrifice to the miko-turned-god. "I know what to do with this karakasa…"
"Thank you, Lady Goddess Lots-of-Other-Stuff Sanae! Thank you!"
"Quit sucking up to me, or I'll just let these fine ladies continue with the sacrifice."
"Point taken," Kogasa squeaked.
"As carefree as it may seem, being an evil goddess is very stressful. And I've simply had no way of venting that stress. Somebody find Suwako; I need to ask her about these rumors I'm hearing about a torture chamber beneath the shrine."
About five minutes later…
"Well color me surprised," Sanae said, but not in regards to the karakasa. She was surprised by the effort put into this torture chamber. "You've outdone yourself, Suwako."
"Somebody has to outdo me," Suwako wittily replied. "Don't worry about bloodstains. In fact, as you can tell, this chamber is very new. And nobody's been down here yet, so…go ahead and go nuts with bloodstains."
"Believe me," Sanae said, sounding much more evil than she had in her entire life. "I will."
"Ooh, that even sent shivers down my spine! You have fun now, Sanae."
"Will do." And once Suwako was out of the room, Sanae had a better look. Well, before anything, Kogasa needed to be held down by something so she couldn't run…the steel cross in the center of the room. It had cuffs built in to hold somebody prisoner near the wrists, just above the ankles, and at the neck. That would do perfectly. Sanae put the karakasa on the cross and started locking it up. "I hope you like how that steel feels against you," Sanae said. "I think you'll be down here for the rest of your life."
The karakasa's fear multiplied when she heard that. "W-Wait…what did you have planned?"
"I'm just making it up as I go along. But I think I get why Suwako put those leg-cuffs right above the ankles instead of on the ankles…this hammer and this big nail give me a pretty good idea of why that was."
"Don't do it! I have no idea what you're talking about, but please don't do it!"
"Too late," Sanae said. Sanae carefully placed the nail up against Kogasa's Achilles tendon, and said "Alright. On the count of three, I'm going to sever your Achilles tendon. Ready?"
"No!"
"One…" CHING!
"Aaaaaah! It hurts!" Kogasa found herself crying in pain. She didn't even want to look down at the injury Sanae had just given her; she was afraid that doing so would only make it hurt more. Being sacrificed was painful and all, but that didn't even begin to compare to this! Not in the least!
"…oops," Sanae said with a fake tone of apology. "I guess that's three."
Whoever knows what scene is referenced at the end there, lemme just say that Sanae won't get a flashback chapter. And if you don't know what scene was referenced, I just gave you a bit of a hint. Since I'm already on the topic, I didn't cry during that flashback episode. I ALMOST cried at the end when the miko (not specifying which one in case of spoilers) kicked the bucket, but I thought somebody was going to get seriously pummeled because of who was standing right there when she died.
That episode ended very sad. That's the kind of thing even I can't make a joke about, and I've made jokes about some pretty fucked-up things, so this is saying something on my part…or on the part of that flashback episode.
And if you've seen it too, I KNOW I'm not the only one who thought "Oh shit" when Kanako's theme started playing and the snake showed up. Right?
I want a new episode badly, with the old drawing style. And I want demented serial-killer Koishi back too while I'm at it! And more Flandre! Add Mima, too! You can never have enough Mima!
*continues to make suggestions that sound like demands despite the fact that the creator is in Japan and the odds of him/her reading this are far less than one-in-a-bazillion*
No MUGEN list because I'm lazy and tired.