(A/N: You should all listen to "She's Purity" by RD-Sounds. It was the main force behind this chapter. Good music puts me in a writing mood.)

Marisa

Marisa Kirisame, the black-white witch residing in the Forest Of Magic, was traveling.

Most people would consider travel a rather docile affair. She considered it to be a high-speed endeavor filled with lasers.

She was widely known as a thief, a shameless flirt, and a destructive maniac. Among those who knew her, she was also considered haphazard and disorganized as a magician. Nevertheless, she was tolerated because Reimu tolerated her; and even then, that was only because she turned her lasers to solving some of the incidents that happened on a regular basis, even if her reasons weren't exactly selfless.

Still, it was generally agreed that, once she was done with her transparent lies, she was at least honest about herself.

I can be honest about myself. If I'm not, then I'm not me, and I don't think I'd be good at not being me, ze~

This morning I learned that the Buddhists were throwing this whole big party. Now I'm all for parties, especially if there's something worth fighting, ze. But just as I was preparing to leave, the idiot ice fairy walks by my house, ranting angrily. When I asked her why, she said it was Yuuka's fault.

Yuuka Kazami! I've been meaning to beat her for a while now; that way, she might stop getting after me about borrowing her Master Spark spell. So I spent several more minutes gearing up. Today's the day!

But I have to get there first. I considered using Blazing Star to make it there, but I don't want to risk running into Reimu or Mokou. Both of them can beat me up pretty hard. So although I'm going at normal speed, I've consoled myself by Master Spark-ing anything that catches my eye. So far, I'm up to twelve fairies, six youkai, two humans, three fuzzballs, two gods, and a shrine maiden. However, there was a third human who I didn't shoot because she was wearing a bright red hat with white clothing.

Basically I've taught myself to shoot at anything that isn't red and white during these trips of mine. Reimu is red-white, and so is Mokou. It's very simple, but sometimes unfortunate. For instance, there was one time the ice fairy replaced all the blue in her clothing with red and challenged me. It was very nerve-wracking, shooting at her then. I still won, of course.

As I flew, I nailed a few more fairies and a bird youkai in quick succession. To my suprise, the bird youkai got back up in the air and pointed a despairingly familiar cannon at me.

Utsuho Reiuji, the hell raven. The only one who outmatches me in sheer firepower, and she doesn't have the common courtesy to wear some red and white.

"Marisaaaa!" She yells, flaming black wings spread wide. "I'll disintegrate you! PETA FLARE!"

I reply in kind. "MASTER SPARK!"

Here's the thing. Master Spark is a big white laser of raw power. Pretty wide, all-around useful. Peta Flare is a HUGE blast of raw power in the form of flames, solar energy, and nuclear fusion. So even though I fired off my Spark, I angled my broom downwards, intending to use Blazing Star to get away…

…But she brought the hell cat with her. Aargh…

"The Needles Of Yore And The Vengeful Spirits In Pain!" she intones. Needles fit her well, I think. I just don't like seeing them pointed at me. I hate that card.

"Master Spark!"

Wait, what? That wasn't me…

Oh hell, Satori's here! …Pun not intended.

"BLAZING STAR! Sorry, but I got a party to get to, ze~!"

That WAS me. I'm getting out of here; I'm not so brazen as to think I can take on three particularly high-level youkai at once. But I did make sure they know I'm not running; I'm just late, that's all, ze~

Considering all the gear and spells I have with me, I coulda taken them; but I'm saving it for Yuuka. I don't fear being chased, either, since Satori'll probably calm them down, ze~. Still, I refrain from randomly shooting anyone else on my way there.

I must admit, I was surprised; I was still a ways away, and I could already see the Palanquin, airborne again. And… Yes, there was Yuuka, as I got closer. It looked like she was about to fight someone already.

I don't mind watching a good fight. Besides, it might tire Yuuka out, ze.

Or possibly not. Although her opponent is Youmu, who is quite tough, I doubt she can match Yuuka. The duel started quickly; Youmu started with one of her big slashy cards, human soul or something like that. Yuuka used her flower sign; not the one she used during the flower incident, though. This one was different, and it seemed a lot more difficult. To my amazement, Youmu got hit within seconds. I tried to recall the name of her spell… Ah, yes. "Flower Sign ~ Skunk Cabbage"

… What?

Youmu then used one of her Hell God spells. Yuuka retaliated with her beauty of nature thingy. This time, the match lasted a little longer. A couple of times, though, it seems she grazed really close intentionally; just playing around. Eventually, Youmu got hit again. She began to call out her next spell, but then Yuuka did something that dropped my jaw. She pulled out what looked like a mini hakkero, wedged it on the end of her umbrella, and used Dual Spark.

It didn't look like her usual Dual Spark. I couldn't tell if it was more powerful or not, but it WAS faster, and hit Youmu while she was busy preparing her spell; she wasn't expecting that card, I suppose.

Yuuka then floated back down to the ground, where her gatekeeper was waiting. I forget what her name was, though I think I might have beat her up once. Still, this wasn't about her. This was my chance to beat Yuuka once and for all, ze~!