Let's keep our dance going, Sakura da ze!-grinned the blonde girl riding a broom through the night sky.
KYAAA!-screamed the winged card mistress behind an oval floating silvery surface.
Marisa flew circles around Sakura, shooting a barrage of rotating multi-colored lasers. The card mistress was taking cover behind The Mirror, but it could only protect her from a single angle at a time, and the black-white witch was constantly changing directions while skillfully dodging the erratic deflected light beams that bounced out of the magic glass. The air heated up and vibrated with the extreme heat of the incoming lasers, producing a buzzing sound that further pressured Sakura and not giving her any opening for attempting a counter-attack.
C'mon Sakura, show me more of your magic da ze!-shouted Marisa, relentless on her laser assault.
Sakura was starting to run out of breath, but she she saw something silently fly behind Marisa, carried by tornado of yellow lights. Syaoran and Luna Child stealthily flew behind the ordinary magician whose action was fully focused on the magician girl from the outside world, and the boy managed to get close enough to grapple Marisa from behind, grasping her arms and trying to yank the mini-hakkero from her hands. The young witch proved strong and resisted, not that surprising considering she lived by herself in a forest full of dangers and she was used to carrying big weights as part of her jobs. Still even as Marisa managed to hold to her magic furnace, Syaoran managed to pull it towards the sky, making the lasers bursting from the magic item shoot upwards. The boy then gazed at Sakura and she understood he had given her an opening. The Card Mistress dismissed The Mirror and quickly closed in with Marisa, swinging her wand at the blazing mini-hakkero.
Return to the form you were meant to be in, Marisa card!
The lasers froze in mid-air for a moment, then turned back into magic energy that flew into the tip of the star wand, coalescing in a card that then flew into Syaoran's right hand. The boy was distracted by a moment as he retrieved his new card, allowing Marisa to break free one of her arms and grab the handle of her broom between her legs, pointing it downwards. Both celestial and ordinary magicians started plummeting down at extreme speed as the broom shot downwards with its riders! Sakura and Luna were left behind hanging in mid-air too surprised to react, before they started to fly after them as fast as they could, although the witch's broom was much faster.
Have you lost your mind? You'll get us both killed!-shouted Syaoran, now holding to Marisa more to stop himself from falling of than exactly trying to restrain herself.
Next stop, ground! Marisa broom airlines won't hold responsible for the safety of any passengers, in particular free loaders da ze!-yelled Marisa while cackling madly.
As the trees below them came closer faster and faster, Syaoran dropped his grab and jumped out just as they were about to hit the green canopies, throwing a jufu below him to create a small wind barrier to slow down his descent. It was still a pretty rough fall, and he mentally thanked Tomoyo again for the resistant clothes he was wearing that absorbed most of the shock from impacting against the branches on his ways down. Syaoran then saw Marisa break trough the trees and seemingly about to splatter herself on the floor, before turning her broom upwards in the last moment and landing on her feet, then dismounting and taking a deep breath. Soon after Sakura and Luna descended from the trees, the card mistress dismissing her wings as her feet touched the grass.
Now the real battle begins!-dramatically announced Marisa pulling another of her cards and placing it behind her mini-hakkero.
All that came out from the magic furnace were some puffs of black smoke, then nothing.
Hmm, out of fuel da ze...-Marisa frowned as she took a closer look at her favorite magic tool, then tucked it away inside her skirt.
Bind Marisa-chan and finish this! SHADOW! RELEASE!-Sakura unleashed another card seeking to subdue her opponent, and the shades of the forest started converging towards the black-white witch.
Whoever said I was finished already?-grinned Marisa lowering her large hat over her eyes while retrieving several small flasks from inside her skirt and throwing them to the ground around her, unleashing a circle of violent and bright explosions that pushed back the incoming shadows and revealed a grey mantle, the true form of the card.
As Sakura, Syaoran and Luna closed their eyes due to the sudden bursts of light, Marisa swiftly pulled a long and thin object fully wrapped in brown paper from inside her clothes. Ripping out the package with her teeth, she pulled a wooden stick from inside it, with a tiny golden star at its tip. A wand.
Sakura, watch out, Marisa just unsealed some powerful magic!-shouted Syaoran, still half-blind but feeling a strong mystic energy coming from Marisa, not nearly as powerful as her magic furnace but still a threat.
But he was too late as the witch swung towards The Shadow while chanting:
Return to the form you were meant to be in, Sakura card!
The floating dark mantle was pulled towards the star at the tip of Marisa's wand, coalescing in the form of a card.
What...?-asked Sakura in disbelief as she saw one of her beloved cards captured by somebody else.
...Hehehe, looks like I got the hang of that trick of yours at the first try, Sakura! Thanks a lot, I would have never learned it without you showing me how da ze!
...Sakura, leave this to me.-warned Syaoran, positioning himself between the speechless card mistress and their opponent, with his blade pointed at Marisa- Now that Kirisame's learned your capturing technique, it's too risky for you to use any more cards against her... At least while she has that wand. Where did you even get that, witch?
Oh, this?-asked Marisa while spinning her wand between her fingers- A present from my old mistress, the one who first taught me how to use magic. Not as fancy as Sakura's wand there, I can't even tell what is it made of, mine's just plain wood and metal. Much safer and easier to use for a beginner than a magic furnace. Actually the only spell implement easier and safer to use than this would be an animal totem, a wand with the head of a bird or some cute mammal on top, but that's just for little naive girls. Anyway, looks like a basic star wand can still pull some tricks my mini-hakkero can't, you learn new stuff every night da ze...
Marisa interrupted her speech as she noticed Syaoran had suddenly rushed towards her and his lunging blade was now inches away from her belly. She managed to pull her broom to block it while jumping back. The broom was sliced in half but Marisa escaped unscratched.
Hey, that's quite rude, not letting someone finish their monologue during battle da ze!-frowned Marisa, discarding the leftover piece of bamboo.
Just making sure you couldn't run away. Now excuse me because this will hurt a bit...-replied Syaoran, pulling a jufu and placing it over his sword-Obey the command! God of thunder, Come Forth!
Just as the thunder was being released from the paper amulet, Marisa pulled four small colored stones, red, blue, green and purple, each with insribed white runes and threw them in the air in front of her while swiftly drawing four straight white lines in mid-air forming a square that started to rotate over itself. The stones grew in size until they were as big as basketballs and converged to the corners of the square, spinning along it in front of Marisa, and Syaoran's lighting was blocked by the moving pattern.
Before I could use a magic circle, I learned how to do a mystic square da ze.-boasted Marisa before tilting her wand towards Syaoran, and the orbs glowed and started launching a barrage of white magic bullets at Syaoran!
Syaoran-kun, I want to help you!-shouted the card mistress while pulling a card of her own as the boy quickly jumped to dodge the bullets, trying to close in with the witch between the gaps of the attacks.
NO! this is just a desperate last ditch effort from Kirisame, I can handle it alone! Fairy, cover Sakura-chan for stray shots!-shouted back Syaoran while pulling fresh jufus.
...I trust you, Syaoran-kun.-replied Sakura, lowering her wand and card.
That's it, just hang back and enjoy the show.-smiled Luna as she raised a yellow spherical barrier around them-I had only ever heard tales of Marisa fighting with a wand. Seems like she used it all the time back when she first started to do magic duels, but in the last years she only ever used it against that crazy buddha team.
Hoe...?
Heehee, I'll show you a bit more da ze... -Marisa tilted her wand forward, and her flying orbs suddenly spiraled towards Syaoran and seeking to smash against him!
The boy was caught completely by surprise at the sudden change of attack pattern and knocked violently against a tree.
Like this... And this, and this... And this da ze!- Marisa kept moving her wand much as a music maestro moves his baton, and the orbs danced at her command, pulling back to recover momentum before launching themselves against Syaoran again!
This time the boy managed to roll out of the way in time, throwing the jufus he had been clutching in his hand at Marisa, who lowered her wand to make her orbs return in front of her, shielding her from the attack as the amulets exploded in bursts of fire, cracking the blue stone, that disintegrated.
Ah, paper amulets.-grinned Marisa, while making her remaining orbs start shooting white bullets again-Ofuda, jufu, whatever you call it, they're kinda of the predecessor to spell cards. Magic power stored in paper format for ease of transport and storage. Main difference is that the cheaper, more simple version is usually just good for one use. Never got the hang of those. But say, why don't you use a real card, boy? Afraid I'll take something precious from you as well ke?
Magic cards should only be used when there's no other possibility.-replied Syaoran, closing in through the gaps between the bullets and rising his sword-Those orbs of yours aren't even relics or anything. They're just a crude stone version of paper amulets.
His blade came down and the enchanted metal crushed the rune of the purple orb, making it crumble to dust as well. Marisa only smiled and rised her wand upwards, unleashing a torrent of golden stars to the sky!
Can you dodge this?
As the star-shaped bullets rose, they suddenly turned their trajectories downwayd, showering the area around Marisa with a magic curtain!
Obey the command! Petals of wind, Come Forth!-Syaoran placed a jufu over his sword just in time, creating a green shield of air around himself to block Marisa's attack, then struck down the green orb.
And finally da ze!-Marisa pointed her wand directly at her current opponent and from its tip shot a large blue laser forward.
Syaoran twisted his body to the side to graze the last-ditch attack from the witch that burned a hole through several of the trees behind them, while lunging his sword forward to destroy the last, red orb from Marisa, nothing else between them.
Then the witch suddenly turned her body and butt-slammed Syaoran, knocking him on the ground! Before the boy could recover, Marisa hit his forehead with her index finger, throwing him off balance then kicked him in the groin, sending Syaoran reeling back! Sakura and Luna flinched just from seeing Marisa's last attacks.
How was that? Amazing, right ke?-Marisa smiled as she dusted off her skirt.
Ah... Where did you learn that fighting style, Kirisame?-asked the boy, now using his sword as a crutch while trying to recover his breath, feeling more glad than ever he was wearing Tomoyo's reinforced padded costume, or that last kick would've definitely knocked him out cold.
You're not the first martial artist nor sword user I fight. A girl's gotta learn some moves if she wants to succeed by herself in Gensokyo da ze.
I see...Self-taught. But without your orbs, I can finish this with...-Syaoran rised his sword while searching inside his clothes with his other hand for more jufus. But found nothing. His expression changed to suprise.
Searching for this?-grinned Marisa, revealing Syaoran's deck of jufus inside her hand and retrieving one, pointing it towards him-I'm no good with holy ofudas, but elemental magic, I can swing that way da ze... Obey the command! Fire God, Come Forth!
Syaoran's eyes widened as he saw the jufu in Marisa's hand explode forth in a stream of fire that quickly approached him.
[Hindering Light] "Moonlight Wall"!
Several barriers of purple translucent energy formed in front of Syaoran, blocking the incoming flames. He then noticed Luna Child had flown to his side, holding up a glowing card and sweating, focusing on it.
Thought you would need some help, Syaoran-kun...-said the moon fairy, rising her free hand to shoot several yellow globes of light through the barrier at Marisa, who easily dodged them while activating more jufus to intensify her attack.
One of the Luna's barriers disintegrated under the witch's fire stream, the others starting to twist and end under the intense heat.
You idiot, Kirisame will just capture your spell as well!-shouted Syaoran at the fairy.
Not...If... You... Defeat...Her...First...-frowned Luna, clearly struggling to maintain her spell.
Go ahead, Syaoran, you have some real cards in you, I can sense them. Show them to me da ze!
Very well, Kirisame, you leave me no choice then...-declared Syaoran, reaching deeper inside his shirt and slowly pulling a card, that he dramatically showed towards Marisa. The witch's face suddenly went pale while her expression changed to a terrified one.
No... No way you could have that...-there was now clear fear in the Marisa's voice, and her fire assault started to become weaker.
FANTASY HEAVEN!-shouted Syaoran while holding the card up.
Nothing happened, but Marisa still jumped back out of instinct and tripped on the ground, falling on her back and dropping the jufus, her attack ending.
Finally seeing an opening, Syaoran swiftly jumped over Luna's barriers and aimed to land over the fallen Marisa with a drop kick!
[Demonic Control]...-started to whisper a nearby voice hiding in the shadows while holding a card.
As Syaoran's feet crashed against Marisa's face, he felt something was wrong. He felt like he was kicking wood. As the witch's body fell down on the floor from the impact, her limbs twisted in ways that should be impossible for an human. Marisa's eyes remained open but didn't move, nor had any signs of life, her smiling expression completely frozen. Not an human of flesh and bone anymore, but a life-sized doll.
..."Return Inanimateness"!-a chant was finished from inside the surrounding shadows.
The witch doll exploded violently, with nearby Syaoran just having enough time to protect his face with his arms before the explosion launched him back! Sakura rushed to his side and the fairy followed with a sigh, dismissing her barrier.
Syaoran-kun, are you alright?-asked the card mistress, helping the bruised boy get back up on his feet.
Kirisame... What happened to her?-asked Syaoran as he recovered his balance, and noticing that all that remained in front of them was Marisa's fallen wand near a scorched earth crater.
Geez, Alice, I had everything under control, you didn't need to do that lame switchover trick!-came Marisa's voice from behind a tree where the spell chanting had came from.
Sakura, Syaoran and Luna then saw the witch with an annoyed look on her face being carried in mid-air by several dolls while the youkai puppeteer followed behind with a smirk on her face:
I've seen you fight the red-white enough times to know a good kick is all that's needed to knock you out, Marisa. And although it pains me to admit it, I would rather sacrifice a doll as a decoy than letting you lose right here.
Speaking of Reimu... Just where did you get that card, Syaoran ke? -asked Marisa with a quite serious face.
Long story. The short version is that the shrine maiden went to our world in search of Sakura-chan to try to bring her here to Gensokyo. We defeated her. -replied Syaoran.
And then she became friends with us and we showed her around our city! Reimu was a really nice person once we got to know her better. She was your friend as well, Marisa-chan?-asked Sakura with a warm smile.
Friends? Pfft, we're rivals! We teamed up a few times out of necessity, yes, but we fought each other a lot more to see who got to solve the latest big incident. But I guess that Reimu having gone to the outside world explains why she's gone missing, good riddance. However despite having captured her strongest card... You can't actually use it. You just bluffed me da ze!
Indeed, I can't activate Fantasy Heaven. It's the ultimate Hakurei bloodline technique and it won't accept an outsider like me or Sakura-chan as its new master. But I guessed that Reimu would be pretty well known around here and the name of her strongest spell alone would carry a lot of weight.
You were lucky you were fighting Marisa then.-commented Alice-She kinda has an inferiority complex towards the white-red, since they've been fighting for years and Marisa loses three battles for each two she wins against Reimu. If you tried to pull that trick with any other opponent in Gensokyo, they would've just laughed and shot you in the face.
Ah...Hmm...So, can we all agree that everybody fought their best and call it a night?-asked Sakura innocently.
Alice fell silent and turned towards Syaoran, dropping the strings holding Marisa in the air while pulling more dolls from inside her clothes and positioning them around herself while dropping her smile:
Not yet... Syaoran, that was quite rude of you, running away from our battle. I still need to have my dolls pass judgement on you...
Syaoran-kun came to help me, so if you still want to battle him I'll fight you too, Alice-chan!-declared Sakura, positioning herself at her boyfriend's side with her wand at the ready and a look of determination on her face.
Sakura-chan's so cute when she declares a challenge!-squealed a familiar voice.
Everybody turned their heads to notice Tomoyo lurking behind a nearby bush, recording everything with her camera. Then Meiling's head popped out of the bush at her side, sighing with a tired look on her face:
Look, Tomoyo-chan, you're not supposed to disrupt a combat like this!
...Didn't I tell you to remain at my house while I went to the forest to look for Sakura, Syaoran and Marisa? The night is filled with stray youkai.-frowned Alice.
And how did you even reached us so fast? Alice knows this place pretty well and can see in the dark, but humans easily get lost in the Forest of Magic.-asked Marisa.
Well this little fellow helped us a lot...-said Meiling, rising her arm from inside the bush and dragging Star Sapphire and Sunny Milk along, the chinese girl's hand holding the back neck of the fairy's dresses-Turns out Star-chan's a living radar and can detect anything moving in a pretty big radius, and Sunny-chan could make us invisible if we had to get close to anything suspicious. Helped us both to find you and avoid the youkai.
Star-chan! You're alright!-smiled Sakura with a bright expression.
I told you fairies can't die, Sakura-chan. But I'm still too tired to help you again... Oh, Luna-chan, you did great just now! Show Marisa the true power of fairies!-smiled Star.
...Actually, I've had enough danmaku for a night, I'll join you in the sidelines for now, Star-chan.-declared Luna, flying towards the bush where her friend was, and everybody else sweatdroped.
Hahaha, you have no chance against us without your fairies now da ze!-grinned Marisa.
...Hadn't you said the fairies were just small fry and would just hold us back, Kirisame?-asked Syaoran with an unamused face.
Pfft, that was like several minutes ago, get on with the times boy. Hey Alice, how about we put on a nice group show for your guests now? We really weren't very coordinated so far. Let's do the Animism trick da ze!
If you insist, but please don't humiliate yourself too much more, Marisa...-replied Alice, starting to remove the puppeteer strings on her left hand.
Alice... Here I come! Doll System Dual mode!-shouted Marisa, stretching her hand towards the puppeteer youkai.
They're all yours, Marisa!-replied Alice as she threw her removed puppeteer strings towards Marisa along some cards.
I have your control strings now! Pattern select: No.027 A...! Engage!-Marisa quickly started to fit the puppeteer rings in her hands before holding up one of the cards that Alice had lent her, shouting:
[Puppeteer Sign] "Maiden's Bunraku"!
Alice almost spontaneously pulled another card of her own and chanted:
[Sword Sign] "Soldier of Cross"!
Marisa's and Alice's cards burst out in dozens of tiny dolls forming a perfectly lined circle around them. Half of them had metal armors and long swords stored on their backs, each easily as long as Syaoran's own, the other half had tiny wands and long conical black hats. Alice moved her hand holding the strings and her dolls drew forth their swords. Marisa moved her hand holding the strings and her dolls shot thin colorful lasers from their miniature wands to the night sky above.
Sakura and Syaoran found themselves awed by the display of synchronized magic, and there was a moment of silence in the dark forest.
Come on, what are you waiting for?-frowned Marisa- Show us one of your team magic combos da ze!
Hoe?-Sakura's eyes started spinning in confusion as she held her wand with both hands.
You know, Sakura, when you let an ally use one of your own spells for which they have an affinity. For example Marisa here is really good at handling lasers, so she can use my beam-shooting dolls pretty well.
...You willingly borrow spells to each other?-Syaoran made a dumbfounded face, still holding up his sword.
I admit it isn't something we do that often, but you had seriously never heard of it ke?-Marisa made a dumbfounded face back at Syaoran.
Indeed, you claimed to be in love, and yet you don't even know how to link your spells? Young magicians this days...-sighed Alice with a disappointed expression.
Somewhere else in Gensokyo, in a place covered in black shadows.
Shou Toramaru slowly walked forward, his jeweled pagoda shining brightly in his hand while she chanted:
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow, I fear no human, for Byakuren is with me; Your scroll and your Vajra, they comfort me...
Is that so?-asked a voice from behind him, and Shou turned around startled, to see a little blonde girl with short hair and red eyes, her arms spread out. She wore a black vest and skirt, and white blouse with a red tie bordered by two large red beads around her neck. She also had a small red amulet tied to the left side of her hair, making it look like a ribbon.
Oh, greetings fellow youkai. I'm Shou Toramaru and I was seeking for the card mistress, a young human magician with hair as red a ground cherry, when I stumbled upon this strange darkness. You're welcome to share my holy light if you wish.
Is that so?-asked the little girl in an innocent tone, taking a step closer, and the light of Shou's Pagoda lost some intensity.
Yes, if you happen to know anything about the card mistress, please contact me, or visit the Myouren Temple.-Shou didn't seem to notice right away the radius of her light had shortened.
Is that so?-the little girl took another step towards the tiger youkai, and the light on her pagoda became weaker again, making their feet now covered in darkness.
Correct, there will be great rewards for any leads you can give us on finding this human...-Shou was starting to look a bit nervous as her shining pagoda was clearly weakening.
Is that so?-the little girl took another step closer, now almost touching the tiger youkai, and her jeweled pagoda's light was reduced to barely that of a candle.
...Are you creating this darkness, fellow youkai? Could you please stop it? I need the Light of Dharma to guide my path.
You behave a lot like a human. Are you of the edible kind?-smiled the little girl, revealing several sharp teeth inside her mouth.
Then the light of Shou's pagoda was completely snuffed out, and a moment later inhuman screams filled the darkness.
In a large river somewhere in Gensokyo.
Captain Murasa was a creature of the seas, but there were no such large bodies of water in Gensokyo, so she was searching across the next closest thing around. There was a big lake, but she already went there and just found annoying fairies that had only wasted her time. It was Murasa's reasoning that humans were always drawn to shores, so that was the best place to look for any clues from Sakura's whereabouts. After some searching she spotted what looked like an human peacefully sleeping inside an old-looking small wooden boat laying on the river sand, and there was a large scythe at her side, with wispy ripple at the end of its blade.
Hey, human!-shouted Murasa-Have you seen the card mistress, a young human magician with red hair and a pink wand?
Murasa flew down, and the human opened her eyes. They were red, under her short pinkish hair, with two ponytails tied by two double hair beads. She wore a white dress underneath a blue vest, and had an obi with a large coin tied in the center.
Young humans aren't my line of work.-said the woman in an eerie voice, yawning before easily picking up her large scythe with a single hand as she stood up, and Murasa understood she was was no human-Or at least they shouldn't be. But you... You seem like something I should be searching for. I must thank you for coming right to me, that saves me a lot of work. Mind getting on board here with me?
You wouldn't want me in your boat. I either sink them, or take command of them.-said Murasa, her hand instinctively reaching to the anchor on her back as she suddenly felt a chill down her spine at seeing that woman.
Silly drowned ghost, you can't do anything against my Titanic.-grinned the pink haired woman, holding her massive scythe with both hands and starting to spin it over her head with clear skill.-Now be a good spirit and step inside, and I'll take you right to the Sanzu River. My boss's gonna be pretty happy with a big catch like you! I may even get her to forgive me of all my recent slacking!
Murasa turned and started to fly away, but then realized she wasn't moving from her place. The scythe woman, still grinning, started slowly floating towards her. The ghost captain again tried to put some distance between them, but it was useless. The pink haired woman was getting closer, and there was no escaping her.
Don't think I will just surrender without a battle!-shouted Murasa, pulling her anchor and holding it with both hands.
Being provoked into a fight is this world's splendor.-smiled the pink haired woman, moving her oversized scythe for a wide swing.
In a forest path somewhere in Gensokyo
Ichirin flew between the trees, carried by Unzan. Numerous bugs buzzed all around them.
The insects are annoying I know, just don't pay them attention, we have more important things to worry about, somebody in Gensokyo must've seen the card mistress...-said the youkai monk to her companion. Then a small humanoid figure flew down from the canopies above and deliverered a single devastating kick that sent both Ichirin and Unzan tumbling down.
Hey, hey, hey. You've got some guts, ignoring me. I hope you've got the determination to match that!-said the owner of the foot, hidden in the shadows and the swarms of flying bugs that seemed drawn to it. There was no reaction from Ichirin and Unzan laying on the ground, as they seemed to have both fainted.
...Damn newbie youkais, thinking so they're high and mighty. What were they saying about seeing a card mistress? Like, there's plenty of women and girls with cards in Gensokyo. Probably nothing important, not even worth remembering. Anyway that sure showed them this is our turf! I bet they won't dare to come here again any time soon!
Several fireflies started glowing around the concealed figure, who released a joyful laughter of victory.