Shanghai leaped into the air and snapped off her time stop weapon. The world seemed to be suffused with light as she sped up.

At the same time a black aura started spreading out from Hourai. The two auras clashed, changing the world to a dull grey. Hourai's smile twisted upward a little. "Trying the easy way out?"

Shanghai couldn't help but smile a little. "Of course."

She rapidly switched to Metal Blades and fired off three shots. Hourai swung her weapon in response cleaving the missiles in half, then dashed forward trying to close the distance.

Shanghai unleashed her wood shield, then cried out as Shanghai's phasing dash left her with a facefull of bubbles. She wasn't sure how, but the impact hurt. "Ow!" Her leaf shield collapsed at the impact.

"How do you expect to be able to fight Medicine like that?" Hourai snapped. Shanghai spun then screamed and flew back again as Hourai's electric blade slammed into her. She caught herself right before she hit the wall. Hourai's scowl deepened. "You're Alice's greatest creation Shanghai. You can't beat me in this place, but you can at least show me her blessing wasn't misplaced."

Shanghai started charging her buster. "I don't want to hurt you sister. Or do you think Alice made you strong enough to withstand Dis's power?" She fired the fully charged shot straight at Hourai.

Hourai carefully dodged the blast. "Alice did not create me."

Shanghai hesitated. "What? But mother..."

"I was animated by Medicine's poison." Shanghai flinched as Hourai spat out the words. "I'm not Alice's child. I can never become the doll Alice wants."

"But with this poisoned body I can end this madness for her," Hourai cried as she dashed forward. Shanghai barely dodged another electrical slice.

With a quick twist of the wrist she fired off her own air gun. The tornadoes sent Hourai flying.

Shanghai swapped to metal blades as Hourai stood. "Hourai, I know I can't understand what you're going through, but you'll always be my sister. And I'm not going to let you run off and get yourself killed."

"Hmph? Get myself killed?" Shanghai fired four metal blades as Hourai rushed in. Hourai cut through the first three then dashed through the fourth. "I might not be Alice's creation, but I'm not so pathetic as to deliberately lose!"

Shanghai fired again right before Hourai left her dash. The other doll cried out as her black dress was scored by the razor disk. "You can't get close to me like that!"

Hourai took a few deep breaths. "Well. It looks like we're even now. Let's get serious then."

Shanghai responded with another metal blade barrage. Hourai dashed forward, then vanished. Shanghai dashed forward herself, then screamed as Hourai's beam sword scored across her back. When she recovered she whirled around. "Teleportation?"

Hourai nodded grimly. "The power of this black dress. Alice's dream creation."

Shanghai slowly edged to put her back to a wall. There had to be some strong limitations on it, but it was still an incredible ability. She couldn't beat it with her metal blades or normal bullets, and her other weapons were...

Suddenly she realized what she needed to do. Shanghai raised her metal blade and began firing like crazy. Hourai drifted back, then vanished again.

Now was her chance. Shanghai rapidly switched to Tombstone's weapon and fired it as fast as she could. She only managed to get four shots off when Hourai appeared in front of her. "HA!" yelled the black clad doll. Shanghai barely moved her head aside as Hourai's charged fist rushed forward.

Hourai struck the wall behind Shanghai. There was a massive explosion, and once again pain ripped through her.

But at the same time, her trap bore fruit. The boomerangs she had fired swept back towards her slamming into Hourai's back in rapid succession.

The two collapsed to the floor. Shanghai didn't feel pain anymore, but she could tell her body was at its limit. "I can't believe you used Pompei's power like that."

"That was a pretty impressive trick you pulled yourself," Hourai replied.

Shanghai lay on the ground staring at the ceiling for a bit before closing her eyes. "Hey. Why were we fighting each other again?"

She heard Hourai laugh weakly. "I dunno. It just seemed like what we needed to do. Maybe it was something in the air.

"Konparo Konparo."

Shanghai's eyes flew open at the menacing voice. She tried to stand, only to collapse as she turned towards the voice. To her horror Medicine herself floated into the room, surrounded by a cloud of crimson poison. "I was going to wait for you two killers upstairs, but you made a big mess down here. So I'm gonna finish you off now so I can go back to Su-san and get my friends back."

The doll youkai raised her hand to unleash her danmaku. Shanghai pushed herself to her knees but that was all she could manage. I'm not going to make it in time!

"I won't let you touch Shanghai!"

Hourai appeared in the air behind Medicine. With a piercing cry she fell, swinging her flame covered saber. Medicine yelped in shock and dashed away from Hourai's barely controlled dive. The black clad doll slammed into the ground and keeled over again.

"Hourai!" Shanghai finally pulled herself up and stumbled towards her sister while Medicine retreated. Hourai shook her head as Shanghai pulled her up. "It's okay. I'm recovering." Hourai waved her hand in a nearby poison cloud. "I can use these to heal. You need to chase after Medicine and stop her!"

Shanghai opened her mouth to protest, then shut it. "You're right. I'll go on ahead. You rest, okay?"

"Yeah." Shanghai winced a little as Hourai pushed herself completely into the poison cloud, but the purple cloud just trickled over Hourai's wounds, slowly closing them.

Shanghai gave her sister a nod and ran through the door, downing the final curative potion as she went. The feeling of light suffused her again, leaving her filled with power.

The hallway slowly spun and twisted. To Shanghai's surprise the walls slowly changed to rough stonework with dark cracks. It didn't seem to fit in with either Yuuka's style, or the strange metal loving being that was controlling Medicine. Then she saw a dark purple drop of poison leak out of a crack and fall hissing to the floor below. Something like that might even short out Hourai. There was no way her body would be able to survive it.

Shanghai pulled out Germelshausen's weapon. She had wanted to save it for the final battle, but she couldn't take a chance here with her weak senses. The world filled with light, and she dashed through the area. Soon the walls reverted to the strange metallic construction as before and she resumed normal flying.

Finally the hall opened up into a large chamber. The floor was covered in deadly poison. Medicine floated in the center purple and crimson poisons swirling around her in equal amounts. This time Shanghai could see the rage in the doll youkai's eyes. "So you've come to murder me like you did all of your sisters?"

Shanghai winced at the words. "I don't want to kill anyone. But I needed to stop them. And I will stop you, too."

"Stop me from what?" Medicine snapped. "Stop us from making a world where dolls can be free? Stop us from pursuing our dreams? Stop us from fixing this rotten world?"

"Listen to yourself Medicine!" Shanghai yelled. "Look around you! Someone is manipulating you! You don't want a war with youkai. You don't want a mansion of lifeless metal. Why aren't you with your flowers?"

"That's..." The crimson mist seemed to swirl around Medicine faster. "That's none of your business you mean traitor! You're a bad doll!"

Shanghai flipped away as Medicine unleashed two clouds of violet poison from her hands. Those clouds were slow, but enough of them could make the battlefield certain death. She had to end this fast. "I guess I'll need to knock some sense into you too!" Damascus' blades had served her well throughout this incident, so she swapped to them and began firing.

Medicine didn't even try to dodge as the blades flew towards her. To Shanghai's shock the polished metal blackened and cracked as it struck Medicine's poison, then shattered as it hit the swirling miasma around her. "My poison is stronger then ever. You can't hurt me!" The doll youkai raised her hands again and a flower of danmaku blossomed around her, forcing Shanghai to fly higher.

Shanghai retreated as she tried to figure out a way past that barrier. A few experimental shots showed her normal gun was also ineffective. Shambala's power couldn't be used from up here, Tombstone's attack was no stronger then Damascus'. She was low on Germel's power, and Pompei and Dis' powers might kill Medicine if she was successful. That limited her options significantly.

Medicine pouted. "Stop hiding!" She fired off some faster danmaku. With nothing to lose, Shanghai switched on Paititi's weapon. A cloud of leaves swirled around her, knocking away the bullets. Shanghai dashed forward, and the leaves zoomed ahead in a deadly cyclone. Shanghai pumped her fist in success as they passed through the purple poison clouds around Medicine without harm, only to wither and die as they struck the crimson cloud.

Shanghai swore and flew off to another corner as Medicine tracked her with bullets. How was that possible? Medicine prefered organic poisons and disliked killing plants. Why would she have a reactive barrier that-

A thought stirred in Shanghai's mind. Yuuka had said the little doll youkai had been strangely enhanced. Medicine's poison had animated her sisters. Perhaps that strange power source had infested Medicine's poison as well? It was a long shot but...

Shanghai flipped up her leaf shield again and rushed at Medicine. The doll youkai unleashed more poison clouds to stop Shanghai's attack, but instead of closing Shanghai released her shield then switched to Atlantis' power. Bubbles of water plopped out of her gun and slammed into Medicine. "Agblpb. What was that for! Now I'm all wet!" Shanghai retreated as Medicine fired at her again, but it seemed her theory had worked. The crimson cloud around the doll had faded a bit.

With that the battle was decided. Shanghai ducked in and out of range using Patiti's shield as a screen until she could dump a stream of bubbles on Medicine then fly away. The doll youkai didn't seem to notice the effects, but the crimson poison got smaller and smaller.

On the fourth pass Medicine screamed. The crimson aura surrounding her melted away and she collapsed to the floor. "So tired... why?"

Shanghai was about to respond when a flash of crimson caught her eyes. She whirled to see the red aura slowly reforming into a cloud. "Curses! How could you be so lucky? And how could that stupid doll be so pathetic? To be defeated by such a weak weapon is shameful!"

"You! You're the one who was controlling Medicine and my sisters! You made them do all those terrible things!" Shanghai lowered her buster and fired Dis's flame blast with all her rage. The cloud dispersed as a massive explosion rocked the room.

Then the cloud reformed. "Ahahahahaha! I did nothing! I merely showed those puppets their true purpose. To serve me!" The cloud formed into a mustached face with thick eyebrows. Shanghai immediately despised it.

"Serve you? But I want the dolls to be free..." Medicine slowly tried to rise, then slumped to her knees again.

"Don't look so sad. All the world should serve me!" The miasma cloud laughed again. "There is no greater freedom then that. But you-!" The cloud's gaze fell upon Shanghai like a lead weight. "You! That accursed blue one. You always, always, always interfere! Even when you're dead you interfere! But in this realm, I have my full powers! This time I will destroy you! Follow me if you dare, robot."

"Not so fast!" Shanghai yelled as the miasma flew upward. She fired Dis's weapon again, but she was too slow. The mist escaped. "Damn!"

She wanted to chase after it but she had to check on Medicine first. She knelt next to the doll youkai. "Are you okay?"

"Tired... so tired... and I miss Su-san." Medicine rolled over and stared at the ceiling. "Did we really do bad things? Isn't trying to free dolls good?"

"Dolls are made to serve people, Medicine. I like serving Alice." Shanghai gave the exhausted youkai a pitying look. "And that thing tricked you. Your actions weren't helping dolls at all."

Tears formed in Medicine's eyes. "But then... that means they all died for nothing. I was supposed to help them, to protect them. They were my friends..."

"Alice will bring them back. I swear."

"Really?" Medicine's eyes were flickering now. Shanghai hoped it was simply magical exhaustion or something.

"Yes. After all we're all her precious children." She hesitated then patted Medicines head. "And yours as well."

Medicine smiled, then her eyes shut. Shanghai waited a little longer, but the doll youkai's breathing seemed constant. Hopefully she would be fine. The poison mist here would be healing her at least.

With that she turned towards where the miasma had fled. It was time to end this. She flew down the corridor her foe had escaped through.

This time the trip was short. No traps or minions stood in her way. She exited out onto a balcony, the 'stars' of the dreamworld hovering above her. And there, standing opposite her, was a twisted mechanical figure, twice her height covered with sharp angles and malicious lines. Within it's pointed helmet the miasma roiled in the face of that hateful man. "Once again, my eternal curse, you stand before me. Why is it every time I rise, humans create another one of you to torment me? Why do they oppose my destiny?"

Shanghai sniffed at the man's dramatics. "Gensoukyo is a land of youkai, not humans."

"Yes, yes that was it!" The man's face twisted in irritation. "This is the land that accepts everything! So why? Why won't it accept my dream? Why were you drawn in as well? Are we fated to play out this stupid game over and over until I finally strike you down?"

Shanghai raised her buster and fired. The charged shot slammed into the man, causing him to fall back with a shriek. "Don't worry. This will be the last time. Because I'm going to kill you."

"What?" The creature rose, armor smoldering. "You can't kill me! You're a doll, created to serve mankind!"

"No," Shanghai replied. "I'm a doll created to serve Alice. I don't care about mankind. I exist only to make Alice happy."

The creature's face wavered. "You're different..." Then it rose into the air. "But that doesn't matter! I will destroy you! Here and now!"

The strange armored Suit opened up with a barrage of particle beams. Shanghai leapt into the air and did her best to start dodging. This wasn't Medicine's sporadic danmaku. This looked more like the terrifying power Utsuho wielded. She was sure the bullets didn't carry the same punch as the sun god's attacks, but to her, the thick danmaku was still certain death.

Shanghai retreated to get more room to maneuver while firing off a fully charged blast. The orbs of death around the man absorbed it easily, causing her to curse. She weaved through the first pattern, only to be faced with another wave. She'd either have to get closer or find a weapon that could penetrate the bullets.

Getting closer would be suicide. She was having enough trouble back here. So she dropped altitude, then switched to Shambala's air cannon. "Let's see if this has enough power!" She fired the mighty weapon three times.

The miniature tornadoes slammed against the huge energy orbs and dissipated, but Shanghai heard the clang of metal and a curse. Her attacks might not be able to break through the bullets, but the spread could pierce the screen!

Shanghai raised her weapon and held down the trigger until its cells ran dry. The air sizzled and cracked, and metal screeched as the projectiles struck home. The electrical orbs vanished, their power exhausted as the armored suit let off smoke and sparks. "You little pest!" yelled the creature. Panels in the back of the suit opened up. "Take this!" Missiles spread through the air towards Shanghai. She started firing off Pompei's bombs as an anti missile screen, but there were too many.

Finally her bomb reserves ran dry, and still more missiles were heading for her. Shanghai cycled through her other weapons trying to think of another tactic. "It's over!" the creature screamed gleefully.

"Over, for you!"

Shanghai's heart leapt as Hourai flashed into existence above the armored figure, her beam saber already flashing with energy. The blow shattered the launchers, sending the formerly guided missiles into ballistic death spirals. Shanghai dashed through the spread with ease to drop next to her sister. "Nice timing!"

"I thought so too," Hourai replied with a smirk.

"Grrrk. That blue fool and the traitor. Every time. That blue suited fool, and then that traitor I created." The figure rose up, the crimson mist within the armor roiling so much the face could no longer be seen. "Every time!" The armor crackled with electricity once again. Shanghai could see a massive charge building.

Shanghai switched to Dis' weapon. She closed her eyes on concentrated, focusing her rage and determination into the weapon. "Hourai?"

"Right!"

She felt the flames reach their peak right as the creature fired his electricity beam. Shanghai raised her weapon with a yell and fired in return. The flames hit the electricity, then burst through slamming into the armored figure.

Hourai appeared next to the man, beam saber dropping down. The black clad doll spun and danced chaining together blows from her saber. Uppercut to rolling slash to stab to spin. Finally Hourai jumped back and set into her quickdraw pose. Shanghai fired one last time as Hourai's blade flashed.

The armor cracked and its glass shattered. The mist within slowly began to dissipate. It's words seemed almost regretful. "Don't you understand? So long as you exist I shall return. Those are our roles. That is the play we are forced into time and time again. Why do you persist?"

Shanghai snorted. "If you don't like the story, maybe you should stop wasting your life redoing it over and over."

"Now if you'll excuse us, we need to get back to more important things then you," Hourai said with a flick of her hair.

The figure let out a wordless scream of rage before exploding into a pillar of light. A few seconds later nothing remained.

Shanghai sighed. She felt exhausted. "It's too bad I can't sit in the poison to heal. I'm tired."

Hourai smiled. "Then let's go home. We'll pick up Medicine on the way out."

Shanghai smiled in return, and then the world started spinning...