Chapter 25: Clash Against Ghostly Steel

It was a bumpy trip through the gap Alex and Shina had flown into. By the time they were out they were already on a downward spiral to the ground, the experience having left Alex unable to focus on his flying. But he saw the ground fast approaching, and with the seconds he had to spare he fought the air velocity to point his back at the ground and brace for impact.

The crash hit his spine the hardest, biting his teeth down on the very tip of his tongue. He hissed through the pain and kept a tight grip on Shina so she wouldn't go flying. She was scared, trembling even, and could only let out a high-pitched gasp of fright as it felt like the ground would soon collapse.

It took some time for things to settle down and either of them to dare check where they had landed. Alex let go of Shina first, letting her stand up on her shaky legs beside him. She then grabbed onto his right hand and tugged with all her might to pull him free of the crater he just made.

His backside was sore all over, and he had a terrible headache. The last two minutes were an utter blur and devoid of any degree of sense. First he had stopped time to escape Komachi's pursuit, then the next thing he knew there was nothing but darkness, and finally the two had been shunted off to a place seemingly detached from the rest of Gensokyo.

That couldn't be further from the truth. They were still in Gensokyo, but it was a part that was rarely ventured into. The skies mimicked the darkness of nighttime without a veil of clouds hanging overhead. The sun had never touched these lands, which were black as pitch, and the only source of light shone from the winding staircase directly in front of them.

The steps were grey, alit by the hand-sized violet wisps that lined its sides. From a brief glance they seemed to stretch towards eternity, but upon reaching the top of the hill they were laid out across Alex could see a pale blue luminescence guiding them towards it with an otherworldly allure. When all this combined with the haunting puffs of fog spread across this canvas of harrowing sights, Alex knew where they had arrived.

"The Netherworld..." He murmured internally with a disturbed grumble. He crossed his arms and felt the creeping of undead spirits along his skin, and their whispers penetrated his ears deep enough to freeze his legs cold.

Shina was catching her breath, her chest heaving far with every puff of air she sucked in. Alex turned to her, guilted by the look of panic in her eyes, and tried to lay a comforting hand on her shoulder while whispering her name. But she gently patted it aside, released a heavy sigh, then raised her head with an increase in fear and whispered, "Alex...what's going on?"

He backed off a bit and closed his eyes. His lip curled a bit all on its own, and once she looked at his face it curled in tighter until he was almost biting it. After coiling a fist close to her chest she demanded from him as politely as she could, "Please Alex, tell me what happened with Shikieiki!"

She deserved to know, having been swept in the chaos. It was just difficult for him to put the right words in his mouth without mentioning...

"No, forget it. I can't keep this hidden any longer." The guilt was tearing him up inside, threatening to leave him hollow.

...So in a surprising move, he would tell her everything he had learned, though started by clarifying the recent events.

"Shikieiki was about to send me to Hell for a few months in hopes of rehabilitating me." Alex crossed his arms slowly as Shina widened her eyes and gasped. Her eyes were pale, frightened, and the slow response time told him enough about how hesitant she was to ask more.

He'd just have to do it willingly himself, no matter how much it'd pain both of them to do so, "...It probably didn't help that I challenged her verdict on my soul."

Shina lowered her hand from her mouth and murmured, "She judged it black, didn't she?"

"Yes," Alex didn't pause, and faced the disbelief in her eyes even though having a heart that felt faint, "But it wasn't just her judgment. It was her sheer refusal to help us combat the mastermind that pissed me off."

He bit his teeth down and hissed through a scathing scowl of self-doubt, "I-I wasn't thinking straight! I know I shouldn't have done what I did, but I did it anyways...And I almost fell victim to the mastermind's trap."

Shina opened her mouth with a hand raised towards him, then retracted it and turned around. She wanted to think alone for a bit, and would be granted that silent request. Alex painfully closed his eyes and thought about what he had done. Hell was a fate he deserved after that crap he pulled. It wasn't just a betrayal of his vow to uphold justice, but he had almost turned the one he loved into a co-conspirator to his crimes. And worst of all, had he been incapable of feeling guilt, she would've gone the rest of her life not knowing of his lie.

She had every right to be pissed, but instead clutched her hands in a cross before her chest and asked firmly and quietly, "Alex, you figured out who the mastermind is, didn't you?"

Alex widened his eyes and didn't blink for a few seconds. Shina had always been pretty perceptive underneath that goofy, laid-back exterior of hers, but he had assumed he'd hidden that bit pretty damn well.

"I suppose this is the kind of thing only a love one'd be able to deduce..." He mildly sighed and then gave her a brief nod.

After turning back around she said with a quiet mix of disappointment and confusion, "I knew it."

Then punctuated it with a firm but calm inquiry, "How long?"

He responded immediately, "Ever since I talked with Mamizou...Sort of. It took until meeting Hecatia to fully confirm who they were."

"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked while squeezing her fist tight to her chest and hiding her eyes by keeping her head hung.

There was no right answer there. Alex felt himself trapped, compelled to say the immediate thing on his mind to try and justify what he did, "I've always been their target. It didn't feel right involving you when you're so close to-"

Shina whipped a pair of fingers hard against his forehead and caused him to wince with an 'Ow!' She then puffed her cheeks slightly with her eyes looking watery. Her expression was a rather childish way of showing anger, but it hurt all the same to see.

"Don't make those kinda excuses Alex!" She started wagging a finger right in his face like she was suddenly his mother while also berating him delicately, "The moment you said you loved me, your problems became my problems and vice versa!"

She then pressed her knuckles against her hips and leaned in closer to his face, telling him in no better terms, "So forget the mastermind! If ya got a problem, you tell me immediately, got that?"

Alex closed his eyes and felt like a total dolt. She was right. Absolutely, unequivocally right. If he thought so little of her as to not entrust her with the mastermind's identity, then what was ever the point of admitting that he loved her?

"I'm sorry Shina," His response was heartfelt and tough to speak without feeling the urge to cry. Shina backed up a tiny bit as he poured his heart out to her, "I swear I didn't mean you any harm. And I promise you, I'll be more open with you from now on."

She smiled brightly and giggled, "That's all I wanted to hear from ya Alex."

That simplistic resolution only could've been possible with someone special like her. He really didn't deserve that, but would strive to be better someday.

Shina then stood up, leaned her hands behind her back, and inquired, "Soooo who is it? Who's the mastermind?"

"Yukari Yakumo." Alex stated immediately.

Shina's eyes swung wide open, and her mouth drooped halfway open. She took a few moments to register the information in her head, then slapped the side of her face and gasped, "Oh my GOD! H-How did we not figure this out sooner?!"

"...Don't feel bad, I thought the same thing when I figured it out." Alex sighed.

Shina then clutched her fists up by her chest and pondered many questions, "But what I don't get is...why she's so adamant about screwing you over? Or how'd she get ahold of all the artifact pieces? And how'd she use that strange aura? And-"

"There'll be plenty of time to ask her directly," Alex haphazardly brushed his right hand out and remarked, "Didn't you notice where we are?"

She looked the way he gestured and let out a shocked gasp, "We're in the Netherworld?!"

"Yeah, isn't that just convenient?" Alex commented, "Last place we need to check for the Cosmos Drive also happens to be a place our mastermind tends to frequent?"

"Its not a coincidence, its an outright declaration to 'Come and find me'."

Shina turned towards him and pointed at the top of the stairs from under her chest, "So ya think Yukari's waiting for us at the very top?"

"Yep."

Shina tilted her head and looked positively baffled to be saying this with a straight face, "With the Cosmos Drive too?"

"More than likely. It would explain why the artifact's not given off a reaction so far."

"...Who the FUCK does she think she ?!" Shina proclaimed while stamping her feet on the ground, throwing Alex completely for a ride.

"S-Shina?!"

She bitterly puffed her cheeks and glared at Alex, "No I'm serious! She's been playing cat 'n mouse with us this whole time, and using the last hope of my people as the friggin' bait!"

She tightly clenched her right fist up and with a smile that could match his in ferocity she declared, "So I say its time we snag her bait and shove it right where the sun don't shine!"

Alex grinned and folded his arms with a smirk, "Heh, couldn't have said it better myself."

They faced the formidable staircase head-on and bent their knees down, then ran right for it. As soon as they set foot on the steps a swarm of Fairies descended from the sky like snow. They were much stronger than the ones they briefly saw at the start of their visit, and fired Danmaku from their entire bodies in spherical waves.

Shina quickly activated the Gunslinger Drive while Alex drew his sword, the both of them striking back while zipping around the bullets. Their time was better served talking some more.

"I'm still tryin' ta wrap my head around why ya attacked Shiki." Shina remarked.

Alex flipped through a bunch of bullets and spun around to send multiple bolts of lightning to blow away the fairies surrounding him, then responded upon landing, "We had a Spell Card Duel before she decided she'd lock me away, just saying."

"That doesn't answer my question Alex..." Shina sighed while blowing away a whole group with a rocket launcher blast.

"Fine," Alex bit his teeth as he dug his feet into the ground and swiped the air, throwing the fairies on a collision course with the stairs due to a sudden gale, "I had to do it to escape the Ministry...Plus, it seemed like it was Yukari's plan to trap me in Hell for a bit so you'd never be able to reach the Cosmos Drive."

"Huh? Ya sure about that? Cause then if that's so, why bring us here?"

"Because I managed to escape, so she must've figured 'Screw it!' and decided to finally get off her ass and deal with me personally."

"Guess that makes sense, but ya really gotta work on not going hog wild on government officials Alex!"

"I know, I know!" Alex scoffed with some deep embarrassment towards himself, "But its not easy dealing with those stiff lipped assholes!"

Alex smashed the ground after leaping over some bullets, blowing away at least a dozen fairies without getting in Shina's way. But as she kept the pace going forward, something about the logic Shina brought to the table struck him as...curious.

Yet before he could bring it to mind fully, he felt a powerful energy coming at them fast. Zipping back and forth down the steps was a towering, silvery wave of pure sharp energy. It moved so fast that even the sound was sucked in, creating this dreadfully hollow vacuum.

"What the hell?!" Alex declared as he and Shina narrowly escaped getting caught up in its rampage. The fairies succumbed, but they're immortal anyways so they'd wake up later with a mild headache.

Pressing on further up the stairs, more of those waves kept coming to impede their progress. Some hugged the sides of the steps, others zigzagged back and forth, but they were all just as fast as the others and equally as deadly.

"So this is her opening act huh? Can't say I'm impressed!" Alex said while chomping his teeth down and hissing as he narrowly avoided getting sliced in twine.

"Who's even sending these? I didn't hear no Danmaku chime sound off, that's for sure!"

"This is definitely NOT Danmaku." Alex said while widening his eyes at her even humoring the idea.

Nevertheless, their ceaseless sprinting quickly brought them to the top of the stairs, where the source of the luminescence became obvious. The pathway from here-on-out was surrounded by cherry blossom trees with bright lilac colored petals as dense as fireflies, while at the end of the path loomed a tall and terrifying tree drowned in the shadows of the lights surrounding it. It had a thick trunk and not a single petal or leaf to its name, but even while stagnant this tree covered the Netherworld in an atmosphere of dread.

Alex and Shina looked around for any signs of life, but were caught unawares by a deep and virtuous voice yelling at them from above, "I won't let you get any closer!"

Then two more massive waves of that energy swiped on by beside them, but stalled in place to create walls of continuously slicing force. Before the two even humored the idea of escaping, the areas behind, front and above them were sealed off by similar energy.

Finally the person responsible zipped into view in front of them and pushed the sword they held into a black sheath. The wind they created from running suddenly swept up a ton of dust from the stone path, briefly obscuring their assailant's appearance.

But its not like it'd be hard to figure out who they were. There was only one swordsman in all of Gensokyo capable of attacking and moving this fast. She had short silver hair in a bob cut, bright red eyes, and a formless white phantom floating besides her. She wore a dark green and white dress with several ghost insignias along her sides and her breast pocket. A black ribbon was tied off-center in her hair and behind her waist were two sheathes, one long and one short.

Mastery of one blade was exceptional in of itself, but a mastery of two put her on a whole other playing field from her peers in the sword. Her runt-like size shouldn't leave her underestimated, she was the trusted guardian and gardener of this place for a reason. And her name is...

"I, Youmu Konpaku, will be your opponent!" She declared with a firm grip on the handles of both her swords at once, her body bent in a stance that showed a readiness to spring forth at even the slightest hint of motion from her opponents.

Youmu Konpaku ~ The Phantom of Sharpened Steel

"So you're our first obstacle..." Alex grumbled, taking into consideration all that the half-ghost gardener was capable of and thinking so little of her regardless. As he rubbed the back of his head, she proved unamused by his assessment.

"Your first and your last. As long as you stand ready to threaten Lady Yuyuko, my blades shall not yield." Her eyes carried this glint similar to diamond's, showing the strength of her resolve. But her words were bewildering, given why the two were here.

"Yuyuko? We're not here for her, not at all!" Shina blurted out, then was swiftly punctured by the glare Youmu shot forth from her narrowing eyes.

"I'd sooner believe a tanuki than the likes of you." Youmu firmly stated.

Alex rolled his eyes and swung his left hand out with to create a fireball, "We really don't have time for these shenanigans."

The moment he launched it out it was caught up in the forcefield and sliced to unrecognizable bits until Alex could no longer even feel the presence of its energy. He widened his eyes, mildly impressed. Youmu then explained in perhaps unnecessary detail, "I have trained long and hard to create this impenetrable wall. Escape only if you feel brave enough to survive being diced down to your bare atoms!"

Alex wagged his hand around and humored the gardener's ploy, "So what you're saying is that the only way out's through you?"

"Defeating me will undo the barrier, but the odds of your victory are zero," Youmu drew her longest weapon, a katana, in her right hand and flashed its peerless silver blade before their eyes while boasting, "For the things that cannot be cut by my Roukan-Blade, forged by youkai...are close to none!"

Alex sighed then swung his sword up before his chest while Shina drew her pistols. She leaned closer to Alex and whispered in his ear, "Guess she musta got tricked into fighting us."

Alex raised his brows and harshly spoke of the half-ghost's will, "Ironically, she's not the sharpest tool in the shed."

He wielded his sword with a firm grip and stared deep into Youmu's iron clad eyes, noting at least one thing positively about her, "But those blades of hers are no joke. If she's not playing by the Spell Card Rules, then she could chop our limbs off in a flash."

"Oh right..." Shina bumped up her firepower from pistols to SMGs then nodded her head, "Then I'll stay on guard!"

"We don't have time to play around half-ghost! We're breaking through whether you like it or not!" Alex declared, much to Youmu's dismay.

"Then you've chosen your fate," Youmu resheathed her blade and bent her stumpy legs down, "And I shall cut even that!"

Alex had faith in Shina's capability to evade the half-ghost's speedy attacks, but regarding himself? Not so much. He'd just have to strike hard with his many elements and hope to catch Youmu by surprise.

The half-ghost made the first move and lunged forth in a single motion towards them both. She drew both her blades, signaled by the brief glint of silver in the air, and slashed them opposite the arms she held them in as she passed the two by.

Shina propped her defenses up with a hefty wall of aura that was immediately cut to shreds, while Alex lowered his blade before his waist and managed to deflect the attack. He was lucky, a centimeter off and his stomach would be bleeding out.

He turned around first and watched as Youmu halted to perform a quick turnaround, not even waiting for it to finish before leaping straight through the air towards him. She slashed the air three times in blinding succession to pummel the boy with blades of air that forced him in retreat.

While he dealt with those backing up, Youmu sheathed her shorter sword and grabbed her katana in both hands. She dove straight at him with eyes flared open and swung decisively towards his open chest.

He gripped his blade and swung from before his chest all the way out to the right, deflecting her attack right in the nick of time but recoiling from the sheer force. Youmu skid a few feet along the ground then held her katana backwards and tried to stab Alex's back from underneath her armpit.

With his heart racing Alex bit his teeth and used his heel to upheave a spike of titanium that briefly held Youmu's Roukan-Blade back. Those precious couple of seconds allowed Shina to get in close to the half-ghost and blast her in the face with a shotgun.

Youmu's feet were dragged closer towards her wall, but she held herself back from getting close and didn't even look to break a sweat. She drew both her blades and went straight after Shina while Alex was reorienting himself from the earlier strike.

Shina kept her aura up even as Youmu's blades sliced around in blurs and shredded her defenses to ribbons. Without a word Youmu's ghastly counterpart flew overhead and turned into a pale mimickry of her, complete with her own blades.

And while they weren't nearly as sharp, they were still swords. The hairs on the back of Shina's neck stood on end and she performed a hasty backflip over the phantom's swipes. She pointed her SMGs downward and fired many bullets, using them to keep herself flying over the phantom as they were distracted spinning a single blade circularly to deflect them all.

Once Shina landed she leaped away and leaned her head back, sucking in her neck to avoid the tip of the real Youmu's blade after she used her phantom to vault forward. Youmu grimaced a little, possibly cursing internally for her mistake.

And now her mistake would be punished thusly, with Alex stamping his foot on the ground and making a pillar of stone to throw Youmu higher. While she tumbled around uncontrollably her phantom leapt up and grabbed onto her left arm, throwing her straight back down towards Alex.

The boy retaliated with blasts of lightning that she sliced down the middle the moment they emerged. When she got in close to strike Alex buckled his fists down and thrust one straight past Youmu's cross slash to strike her in the gut.

She gasped out a lot of saliva and almost lost grip on her swords. Alex dug his knuckles in deeper to prolong how long she was suspended there as he pummeled her around a bit with both his fists. He was lucky to have connected with the first punch, and couldn't squander this opportunity.

The phantom intervened soon enough, using its malleable form to sneak under Alex's line of sight and then shank him in the gut with one of its blades. Now Alex was the one coughing in shock, but luckily the phantom wasn't as disciplined as its human body and had missed any vital organs. Youmu was freed, and prepared to finish swinging her blades down on his arm.

Shina flipkicked into view and rammed her heel into Youmu's face, squishing it up before she was launched away. Then after flipping around fully Shina brought her leg down upon the phantom. It was no fool, and made a slippery retreat back to its owner.

Youmu dug her swords into the ground to slow down then turned her body to the side as her phantom took on her form behind her yet again. They flashed their katanas forward at the same time then sheathed them, holding onto both their blades with a firm grip.

Shina could feel the dread of something powerful about to be unleashed, and Alex knew even her aura would not hold up if Youmu was about to do what he thought she would. Before the two Youmus charged out, Alex reached into his pocket to touch the Gaia Temporis.

When he felt the Youmus make even the slightest budge forward, he stopped time completely. Diagonal slashes of silver swept across the entire battlefield, each one capable of cleaving through buildings. The slashes were eventually going to converge upon his and Shina's location if he didn't do something to intervene.

He took in a deep breath and concentrating, motivating himself by wanting to be rid of the sight of Shina's frightful expression. He then grabbed his sword in both hands and flung himself in the path of each individual slash, striking them with all his might. The strain on his mind from stopping time would prove disastrous if he screwed up. He couldn't afford a mistake.

He didn't let a single strike escape his sight. Once he was done, he sought out Youmu's power and created a condensed fireball to intercept where she'd end up. Then he stuck by next to Shina, resumed time, and let the fireworks fly.

Every slash shattered down the middle in a fantastic display that left Shina blown back. She immediately turned to Alex and saw him hunched over with a hand on the side of his head. A second later, the fireball he set up went off and blasted Youmu down onto the ground with smoke seeping out across her body.

Her phantom hadn't the presence to be caught, and resumed diving straight after the paralyzed Alex. Shina relieved her boyfriend from flirting with danger for a bit and intercepted the phantom by smacking it with the barrel of her rocket launcher.

After the phantom was knocked down she aimed and fired her payload. It used its malleable form to shape itself like a donut so it'd pass through. It then returned to Youmu's form and sliced the air down in one clean sweep, forming a powerful vacuum that dragged Shina in closer.

When she was inches away the phantom sheathed her blade and leaned back. A moment later, the phantom had swapped places with Youmu, who followed through on her other half's attack by lunging forward with blinding speeds.

Shina didn't have the time to respond, but her "other half" did. Strenuously guiding his sword with his mind, Alex had thrown it over her head and before her legs at the last moment to deflect Youmu's single powerful stroke. His nose started to bleed from blocking that attack, and the sword had to be dispelled for the sake of keeping his mind intact.

Youmu caught this vulnerability from the corner of her eyes and sprinted to exploit it. She drew both blades up beside her face, believing her strike would hit true. Of course, she really, REALLY underestimated what Alex Whiter was capable of.

He took his staggering body and channeled all his strength not into his legs, but his left shoulder. He rammed quick and strong into her chest, preventing her deadly blades from ever getting near him. She was quick, she was tough, but she was also small. And there was no amount of discipline or training that would steel her diminuitive body to handle the kind of power Alex could swing her way.

Once more coughing up spit, Youmu stumbled back onto the ground and went rolling quite a ways away. Alex's shoulder felt sore after that, but at least he was free to finish catching his breath. Shina fired a couple rockets her way, but they were sliced down swiftly by Youmu's blades.

Yet her followthrough was slower, and afterwards her knees started to stagger. She stood up, fought through the pain of it all, then sheathed her blades for another attack. Shina assaulted her with SMG fire aplenty, but the phantom came to her defense and spun the bullets away.

Then Youmu was ready, and started by attacking the ground with her katana to send one of those shockwaves barreling after Alex. She immediately drew her smaller sword and sped past her attack, getting behind Alex and slashed downward to pincer him between two shockwaves.

Shina came to his rescue, holding her arms out to squeeze him between the protection of two thick aura walls. They hastily broke down under the shockwaves' pressure, but it gave Alex time to do something . He cupped his hands by his hips and started charging flames into a compressed orb.

When it was ready, he decided to push his luck just a little more and reached for the Gaia Temporis. After stopping time he curved around Shina and Youmu's efforts, holding the orb before his right palm and swinging it directly towards the half-ghost's face. Time resumed, and Youmu's face lit up with disbelief.

"Out of our way!" He yelled strenuously as he blasted her with a bright cone of flames, of which she remained consumed inside of for five seconds before getting launched back.

The walls she made shattered, and her body tumbled across the stone path until she stopped at the base of the foreboding tree lying flat on her face. Her hands trembled to hold onto her blades, which she used to push herself back onto her feet. One of her eyes had to shut, and what little vision remained was blurry. Even through tattered clothes and burned skin, Youmu's resolve was as peerless as her blades.

"You've done enough, Youmu." A gentler, almost hypnotic voice, caused Youmu to heel on the spot.

Alex and Shina looked up at the front of the tree, as a fair and ghastly maiden descended from above, veiled in a pinkish glow. Her eyes were maroon and full of mystery and joy, her short wavy pink hair fit perfectly underneath her blue mob cap, and her bluish-white kimono had a feel of regality to it. Her skin was not pale, and was smooth without a single flaw. Her innocent face could disarm the roughest hearts, while a mature allure came from her shapely frame. She was a real mystery this one, a curious soul with neither good nor evil in her heart. With a guiding hand that felt unimpeded by the world around her, she covered her mouth with a fanciful paper fan, and looked down upon her company without the slightest hint of malice.

Youmu dropped to her knees and bowed her head, addressing her with a staggering degree of respect, "Lady Yuyuko, forgive me, I-"

"You didn't fail. Far from it," The ghostly girl smiled, "Our guests have been welcomed splendidly. You couldn't have done anymore for me if you tried."

She then set her sights upon the two, and Alex seemed to be who she was drawn to the most. Closing her eyes to further her allure of mysterious, she murmured a gentle but expected greeting, "It wasn't merely by some whim of fate that you were brought here, Phoenix of Destruction."

She peered through her eyes with a disarming gaze, and whispered something ominous, "It is only fitting that the dead eventually return to their final resting place, after all."

This woman was no ordinary ghost, even in the context of Gensokyo. She was Yukari's closest friend, and a deceptively good fighter with a very, very deadly power. Yet death meant nothing to Alex now, not when he was so close to giving Yukari a piece of his mind. And so he met the woman's glare with gusto, and vowed that he would win. He would beat the one of whom many refer to as...

Yuyuko Saigyouji ~ The Phantom of Cherry Blossoms

Next Time: Border of Life