The library door slammed shut.

Marigold panted, backing away from the door as it magically sealed itself. "Ha~h… ha~h…"

Fwi-shi~ng!

The door shimmered, the lock fully realizing itself.

"Du~de…" Osamu was happy. "There're so many hot chicks! I mean, they want us dead, but… holy shit!"

Hikari was covered in lipstick marks. "I feel violated."

'The fact my clothes are half disintegrated really doesn't help…' Hikari shuddered, recalling the feeling of hands caressing her curves. 'That's gonna be in my head for too long.'

Hiyori had a single, large lipstick mark on her cheek. "I'm glad we escaped from that."

"Get back he~re!"

At that moment, three succubi roared by, fleeing from a flock of tomes being led by Koakuma.

With her breath recovered, Marigold turned to Hiyori cynically. "I blame you for that."

"I accept the blame." Hiyori continued to stare in the direction they departed.

Ahead of them, four succubi hovered out from behind a bookshelf. Their eyes glimmered, red light flashing in them the moment they saw the party.

Hikari felt herself shiver involuntarily. 'No-not again…'

Osamu groaned. "Fucking… When'll these succubi just get lost!?"

Osamu tried Defense Down Ω!

"O-ooh…"

"Ahn…"

"N-no~..."

The four succubi all moaned as their defense fell, feeling even softer than ever before.

...Marigold blinked. "What was that?"

Osamu grinned. "Yelling magic, dude."

They continued towards the party, now slightly softer.

"Like, which of you wants to fuck the tall one?"

Marigold readied her Heavy Bazooka, taking aim with it…

One of the succubi got groped by her friend. "Ah-ahn…!"

"She's got big boo~bs, too!" They all lecherously eye Hiyori-

Boom!

Fwo-Fwo-Fwoo~sh

Three chummy succubi were vaporized by the blast.

The last one's eyes went wide. "A-aah!? Holy shit…!"

"Pfft…!" Osamu chuckled. "Hahaha~! Fuckin' wasted!"

...Outnumbered four to one, the final succubi flew back into the shelves, not confident that she could take on the party.

After that, the party was alone.

Hikari sighed. "...Getting further's going to be a project, isn't it?"

"Probably." Hiyori folded her arms, walking ahead. "Stick behind me."

'She's the most sturdy of us.' ...Hikari timidly looked over the kiss marks on her body. 'And more disciplined.'

Progressing forward, the party hung low beneath the library's grand shelves. Above them, dogfights between succubi, Invincibles, and giant angry tomes played out.

Lasers shot out from shelves adjacent to the party, stretching into the dim airspace of the library. They struck tomes, vaporizing them.

'Uh oh.' Hikari felt like there was more laying low than just them.

Marigold noted this development, as well. "...Someone's intervening and making sure my mother's tomes don't get very far."

"What, really?" Osamu looked up, unable to make sense of the chaos. "...How?"

"Do you not see them being wiped off the sky?" Marigold exasperatedly threw her arm up, sweeping it overhead.

"...Like, with a cloth, or something?" Osamu grinned.

"Yeah." Marigold slowly raised her bazooka towards Osamu… "Exactly."

One of the thin anti-tome lasers cut through the book shelf.

Vrrrr~!

"Woah…" Hiyori stumbled out of the way, the beam nearly grazing her.

'Well, I think we know where-'

Boom!

The bookshelf blew open, books flying towards the party at high speeds.

Hikari tried Shield ß!

Hikari was protected by the power shield of light!

The tidal wave of tomes flew into her. as she shielded herself with her arms.

"Hngh…!" Hikari gritted her teeth, the many books slamming against her form. Eventually, they piled high upon her, burying her. "He-hey! No!"

Hikari was trapped under the pile of books, the interior illuminated by the shield of light. It weakly repelled the books, allowing Hikari to curl up into a ball shape to avoid being crushed.

'It's snug.' She found herself unable to make progress.

'So this is how it ends, huh?' Hikari joked to herself.

It took a few moments for Hiyori to dig her out. The books near where Hikari's head was slid away, and she looked out.

"Hi." Hikari greeted her gingerly.

Hiyori hastily began trying to dig the other books off-

Fwaaa~m!

A thick laser blew Hiyori right off the pile, and also blew the pile off of Hikari.

Hikari would've flinched, were she not held in place. "A-ah…!"

Before the party was a huge, brass robot. It was similar to the spinning robots Hikari faced in the woods before, except it was big, and brass. Similarly to its cousins, it jerked and moved like a poorly calibrated Roomba, spinning and moving imprecisely on its large treads. The large body atop the treads was chaotic in the manner it addressed the party.

A wireframe limb that resembled an arm stretched upward, glowing brightly..

FwiChoo~m!

Thin lasers stretched towards all party members-

"A-aackh…" Including Hikari, who got a beam through the gut. 'Ow, ow, ow…!'

Marigold was grazed, her flesh searing where the beam passed it. "Aah…"

"Gah!?" Hiyori was pierced by the beam, which traveled through the kimono she wore, though it didn't damage the clothing itself.

"Oouu~w!" Osamu roared in pain, clutching his new incision. "Son of a bitch!"

Hikari stumbled from the books, a hand held on her new, bleeding hole. "Uugh-"

Swish!

The machine disregarded its treads entirely, its arms spinning like tiny, highly propelled bundles of branches. The floor creaked in protest as the machine bounced along, foregoing navigation to hit Hikari.

She was knocked aside. "Au-augh…"

'Th-this can't…'

Hikari tried Lifeup Ω!

...Hiyori looked up from her wound, disregarding the growing red blotch on her kimono. Lifting her mace, she charged at the robot. "Hraa~h…!"

She swung-

Cla~ng!

The robot was dented, but not moved by the strike.

'Holy…' Hikari blinked at the machine's durability, as her wound quickly closed itself. 'That thing's strong…'

FwiChoo~m! Hikari's power shield of light shot a thick beam at the robot.

Cla~ng!

Its results were similar to Hiyori's smack with her mace.

'That should've been a magical attack, too…' Hikari backed away slowly, before her back bumped into a shelf.

Osamu fought his way from the books that went up to his waist, his own wound closing. "It's a giant fucking robot, dude!"

"Oh, really!?" Marigold shouted at him from across the battlefield.

Osamu tried Defense Down α!

Bo~ng. A few bolts slipped off of the metal sheets that composed the robot's body.

Hikari giggled at the sudden noise. "O-okay, then…"

Voile Destruction Device tried Shield Ω!

Voile Destruction Device was protected by the power shield of light!

Conductive Spirit was protected by the power shield of light!

Succubus was protected by the power shield of light!

From beneath the books, the brightly flashing form of an electrical skeleton rose, pushing books from itself. From there, it jittered as it rigidly approached Marigold.

Marigold grinned slowly as she backed away from it. "Wh-what is this? Get away from me, you…" She aimed her bazooka at it.

"And now you're mine!" The succubus from before swooped down from above, homing in on Hiyori…

Hiyori extended her arm, and allowed her to fly into it.

Bam.

"Damn it…" The succubus reeled back.

A beam shot from her shield of light, striking Hiyori. "Hnh…"

'Why can these things use my shield?'

Voile Destruction Device tried PK Thunder ß!

Thwaa~sh!

The conductive skeleton was stricken. It consumed the thunderbolt whole.

Thwaa~sh!

Bam!

"Egeguguhuh!?" Hikari was stricken. For a moment, everything was white. Then, everything was black.

==== GENSOKYOBOUND: MARIGOLD'S VIEW ====

"Egeguguhuh!?"

Marigold head Hikari wail from the nearby pile of books. When the electricity faded, the jittering and smouldering form of Hikari was left wobbling around.

'O-oh, no!' Marigold knew just how bad the results of getting electrocuted could be. "Hi-Hiyori! Heal her!"

Hiyori looked to Hikari. "Right!"

The succubus attempted to intervene with her claws. "No! Lights out, honey!"

She threw an orb of darkness towards Hiyori. Quickly, darkness gathered around her eyes, rendering her blind.

Hiyori tried Lifeup γ!

...Hikari flopped over.

'Hikari!' Marigold stepped forward cautiously, almost sliding to her doom after stepping on a few loose books on the tome-laden floor. 'Wo-woah…'

...She was reminded the electrical skeleton existed. It reached out to try and poke her, but she leapt away. "He-hey! He-ah…!"

She ended up tumbling down the side of the pile. She reached for her bazooka-

Boom!

'Eheh… accidental discharge…'

A pile of books was blown up, nearby.

==== GENSOKYOBOUND: HIKARI'S VIEW ====

'Uurh…'

Boom!

Hikari was roused by the explosion.

'Is the world over, yet?'

...Hikari opened her eyes. She saw an electrical skeleton casually marching towards her.

'...I'll take that as a yes.'

"Fire Metal Sign! Saint Elmo's Pillar!"

Hikari looked to the sky, to see a giant orb of fire rain down from above. Quickly, she scrambled back onto the book pile, very reluctant to be caught in the path of the fire bomb.

Boom!

The fireball became an immense pillar of flame, stretching to the library's ceiling. The whirling robot was flung into the air, before it came back down-

Bam!

It was left half-embedded in the floor.

'...Woah.' Hikari blinked.

Boom!

Another explosion rang out. Hikari witnessed the electrical skeleton falling apart, as if the bazooka blast that ended it only faintly coerced it into falling over.

'So many explosions…' Hikari rubbed her ears.

The whirling robot found its limbs obstructed by the floor.

From above, Patchouli floated down, nimbly floating out of the way of oncoming succubi, and returning fire with crystals of flame she had flying by her side.

Osamu tried PSI Shield Ω!

"Wo-woah…" He felt how much mana he used.

The entire party, Patchouli included, were protected by psychic power shields!

...Patchouli curiously tapped hers, causing it to shimmer. "Hmm. Impressive."

Hiyori flailed her limbs at the succubus, pushing her away from herself.

"You…" Eventually, she moved away, and went around Hiyori's arms. "Come here!"

Tackling Hiyori from the side, but failing to even nudge her, the succubus laid a thick kiss on her other cheek.

"Mmm~..." She moaned into Hiyori's cheek. "Mwah!"

...Hiyori moved her arms to embrace the succubus.

She smiled mockingly. "There. That be-"

Fwoo~sh. The succubus was crushed after Hiyori abruptly jerked her arms towards herself.

"Hmph." Hiyori was blushing, but otherwise unaffected. "Flying obscenity."

Marigold looked up at her mother, who seemed to have successfully warded off the opposing succubi with sustained firepower. That, and the assistance of very large, multi-elemental books.

"This should be the last one." She gazed down at the giant brass robot. "Water Sign, Jellyfish Princess!"

A bubble of water formed around her in addition to her psychic power shield.

Osamu snorted. "Geez. Got enough defense, there?"

Patchouli focused on the trapped robot. Her fire crystals focused on it, and continually shot small, spammable fireballs at it.

They lightly clinked against the metal exterior of the robot, which was slowly moving to free itself of the pit it got stuck in…

Marigold furrowed her brows at her Microwave Gun…

Voile Destruction Device tried PK Thunder ß!

Thwa~sh!

Hiyori jittered mildly, the bolt striking her horns first. The electricity promptly jumped from her horns to her shackle, arcing through the air to do so. The shackle glowed a pastel yellow, before dimming again.

'...Lucky.' Hikari furrowed her brows, envious.

Thwaa~sh!

Patchouli's water shield jiggled as the electricity surged through it. In moments, it was neutralized. "As anticipated."

The robot spun its arms. It smashed the branch-esque appendages against the library's floor, righting itself.

"Hikari!" Marigold called out. "Do you have that moon lens, that one magician gave us?"

'What?' Hikari drew a blank… 'Oh, yeah.' "Why now?"

"I need it." Marigold elaborated. "For things."

'...Good reason as any.' Taking the lens from her pocket, Hikari leapt across the books to where Marigold was.

She landed loudly, wincing a little. 'Gravity sucks.'

"Hey, now…" Marigold eyed her friend's legs warily. "...Oh, you didn't break them, somehow."

Hikari's expression became dry. "Here."

Taking the lens, Marigold kneeled, holding the Microwave Gun by its side. "Thanks, Hikari!"

"Earth Metal Sign…" Patchouli waved her arms in front of herself. "Emerald Megalopolis!"

In that moment, a large crag of emerald stone erupted from the floor, launching the Voile Destruction Device.

Boo~m. The library shook as another protrusion of emerald was erected, for the robot to fall onto-

Krraa~ng!

The metal lurched violently as the emerald spike bested its brass form-

Boo~m. The head of the robot was removed from its main form, a third large emerald spire forming even though it was as good as dead anyway.

From there, the brass robot was no more.

'Wow.' Hikari was impressed with the prompt destruction. '...I think she has better spells than us. She didn't use any of those while she was possessed...'

...Patchouli sighed, floating downward. "There. Now my tomes can defend in peace."

...Marigold huffed. She had replaced the standard glass lens on the Microwave Gun with the moon lens the magician had given them. "I wanted to test this on it…"

As she approached the floor, Patchouli dispelled her water shield. The liquid that formed it rained to the floor-

Splash!

Hikari flinched back as the water splashed onto her, a few drops flecking her face.

Osamu's jaw dropped. "Dude! You like, soaked all the books!"

...Patchouli's expression was blank. "Waterproofed."

'That's cheating.' Hikari instantly wanted her books at home to be waterproofed. 'I could read books in the hot spring…'

...Osamu stared at the books in awe.

Hiyori stepped down the mound of books she stood upon-

Crunch, crunch, crunch!

She stomped some books flat on the way down, involuntarily.

...Patchouli sighed, bringing a hand to her face. "I don't know when you four got here, but this is not the most opportune time to browse."

"We got dropped here by a youkai that can make holes." Marigold explained to her. "You know. The one."

Patchouli went from rubbing her temple to facepalming. "Excellent. Should we expect her to airdrop us an arsenal of rocks, as well?"

The party observed her growing annoyance. 'To be fair, I think we're able to do more than rocks…'

After a pause, Patchouli continued. "Wait, the Yakumo are active? Marigold, what are Yukari's intentions to deal with this incident? I believe it has gone far beyond the boundary that standard nonsense may walk, and if she's not already mobilized, I will see it so."

Marigold snorted, before pointing to Hikari.

...Hikari noticed her friend pointing at her, only after a moment of Patchouli staring at the two of them idly.

"You were not gifted with a voice box to avert the use of it." Patchouli jabbed.

Grinning, Marigold used her voice box to the best of her ability. "Yukari wants Hikari and the rest of us to fight the source of this incident."

"Why?" Patchouli seethed. "Has she genuinely become mentally deficient at last? Does she plan to be rid of you? Is this some 'trial by fire' nonsense?"

Marigold put her hand up. "Hey, hey, you're one to talk, about that last one."

"There are a number of better candidates for this all-out war than the four of you." Patchouli folded her arms. "This implies that oni of yours is useful for more than taking damage."

Hiyori furrows her brows.

"Because you're really good at taking damage yourself." Marigold jeers back at her mother. "Mother, now's really not the time to be getting upset about stuff."

"The idea is to not-..." Patchouli switched tracks. "This, of all times, is not one where upset is warranted!?"

'She said the wrong thing.' Hikari sighed. 'Moms are voracious.'

That was when Hiyori fell into a gap, with a yelp. "Huah!?"

'...Oh.' Hikari took a moment to process that.

Osamu was next. "Oh- shit!"

...Marigold saluted, before she fell straight down.

Patchouli fluffed up. "That damned…!"

Hikari gave her a thumbs up, before dropping into a gap herself.

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

Hikari landed in a cushy chair. '...This is good.'

Around her, her party was also seated. Except for Marigold, who's backpack full of stuff ended up tipping over the chair on landing, it seemed.

"Uu~gh…" She groaned, lying beside the chair and still stuck to the backpack.

Hikari tried Lifeup α!

'That looks like it probably hurt.'

She gave Hikari a thumbs up, moving to get into the chair... "Th-thanks…"

...Across the room, Reimu was also in a cushy chair. Next to her was Yukari, who had numerous glowing seals adorning her form.

Reimu double-took upon seeing Hikari. "What happened to you!?"

...Hikari tilted her head. 'Uhm…?'

Reimu disregarded the bland plastic table's existence by stepping over it to reach Hikari, to Yukari's visual disdain.

The room they were in resembled the inner rooms of Eientei, blue trimming lining the edges between the blue tiled floor and the sterile white walls.

Reimu dropped down next to Hikari, and began examining her face and neck…

'Oh. The kiss marks.' Hikari had let them slip her mind when she got fried by a lightning bolt. 'Also, the char marks from the lightning, but that probably wouldn't've been terribly obvious on its own.'

"Where are these from?" Reimu rubbed one, the lipstick smearing off onto her hand…

"...Molestation." It took Hikari a moment to think of a good one-word explanation, as she likes to do.

Reimu snorted. "So it seems…" Bringing her lipstick-smeared thumb to her face, Reimu took a sniff. Her eyes widened, "Wo-woah… potent stuff."

Osamu grinned. "Dude, hundred yen if you lick it."

...Reimu's blank stare slowly shifted into a glare.

Osamu put his hands up in surrender.

"Come, sit, Reimu. Eirin will be here shortly." Yukari requested.

...Reimu huffed. "Fine."

With that, she relocated herself to her cushy blue chair proper.

Moments later, a simple wooden door swung open, Eirin stepping in. "Hello, hello. I see a crowd has gathered in honor of Yukari's passing, here."

Yukari folded her arms, taking a moment to peel one of the seals from herself. "Master of comedy. Wouldn't you be so kind as to inform these curious interns of how you plan to aid them in the fight against Giygas?"

Eirin smiled. "I won't."

"In all seriousness…" Eirin dryly continued after her attempted jeer, "Giygas himself seems to have been all but evacuated from Gensokyo at this point. Chasing a formless entity who borders on conceptual is rather futile."

"Says you." Reimu countered, before turning to Yukari.

...Yukari sighed.

Eirin observed. "...Point. Regardless, it is impossible to simply directly engage Giygas at this point."

...Hikari nodded. 'Okay…' "So, now what?"

"It is simple." Eirin stepped towards a immense cloth in the back of the room, past the table. Grabbing it, she pulled it off.

Inside sat a cerulean gate, big enough to fit a human.

...Reimu brings the thumb to her mouth, and licks the residual lipstick while no one is watching, curious.

"Giygas is to return, and likely will not interfere in excess until he believes himself long forgotten." Yukari speaks. "Once his attack inevitably falls flat to the force of Gensokyo, he'll bide his time."

"Pftoo~!" Reimu spat the lipstick out onto the floor. "Nasty…"

...The party stares at her dryly. Unfortunately, Osamu missed the exchange, raising his brow at her displeasure.

"So we just wait?" Hiyori tilts her head.

Yukari snorts. "No~, no, no. Too much can happen to Hikari in such a time frame."

Reimu glared at her. "Can you not write my daughter off as dead in front of me?"

"As such…" Ignoring the shrine maiden, Yukari gestured for Eirin to pick up the slack with her gloved hand.

Eirin makes an announcement. "The four of you will be going forward in time."

'What.'

"Wha~t!?" Osamu and Reimu hollered.

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

Osamu's head was face down on the table. Marigold seemed drowsy, and Hiyori was counting the ceiling tiles.

"And such is why the~..." Eirin paused, finding words. "...The flux device? Yes, it would seem to be. The flux device is in need of systematic modulation sequencers, the kind of which can only be fully realized by material of another quantum level. Specifically, time, and not ours."

'She just doesn't stop talking…'

Hikari tried Hypnosis α!

Energy rippled around Eirin, but served no purpose.

"When I told you to 'get on with it…" Yukari was lurched over, lounging on the table. "I didn't mean-"

"This is getting on with it. I'm simply giving the essentials." Eirin countered. "To properly educate them would require classes, which we haven't time for. You see, time travel in the-"

Lazily, Yukari drawled at her. "No~, it wouldn't require classes..."

...Eirin's brow twitched. "I'm sorry? Do you wish to explain the task at hand, then?"

"Science." Reimu's muffled voice came from her arms, which she had resting on the table along with her head.

"Mmmph." Osamu was unintelligible.

"Time stuff." Marigold yawned.

"Things." Hiyori was still looking at the ceiling.

"A time portal you jump in and stuff." Yukari explained. "We're not building it, you know. If we were making a gun, must you explain the gun's design to us?"

Eirin was perturbed. "Wouldn't knowing the design be the first step in making it?"

"Eirin…" Yukari spoke up softly.

"I never gave you permission to use my first name." Eirin coldly shot back at her.

"Eirin, Eirin, Eirin…" She wagged a finger at her. "It's just a portal. If it's not as simple as pushing a button for the consumer, what good is it?"

Eirin furrowed her brows. "But- the complexity warrants it! It's convenient time travel! You can't expect it to be as simple as-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Yukari waved her hand. "Look, you can explain more when we're done here. For now, in simplest terms, inform Hikari what steps need to be taken for time travel."

'I'm not sure about this whole 'traveling through time' thing…!' Hikari was annoyed by Yukari's insistence.

...Eirin takes a breath. "Hikari needs to find traces of alien rock in order for the time machine to function."

'...I think I know where to get that.' Hikari nodded.

"Explain it to her like she's five." Yukari grins. "It's the only way."

Eirin audibly sighed. "...Hikari needs space rocks to time travel."

'Why.' Hikari stared Yukari down.

"...I don't think that was entirely necessary." Marigold perked up at the new discussion.

Osamu rose his face from the table. "Can we go back to fighting the big breasted succubus things?"

Reimu double-took.

Hiyori grinned at the bluntness of his statement.

"Ye- no." Yukari resisted the urge to thrust the party into another unfortunate situation. "Instead, you four will be searching for some sort of extraterrestrial rock. In the meantime, I'll see if I can fetch you a qualifying rock from the moon, instead."

Hikari spoke up. "There was this meteor that landed near the shrine, a few weeks ago. I saw one of those Starman things near it, for the first time."

Yukari blinked, bemused. "When was this?"

"The Gensokyo New Year party." Hikari provided. "You were dead drunk."

...Shaking her head, Yukari propped her elbow on the table, and her head on her arm.

"Time is ticking." Eirin stares at Yukari expectantly.

Eirin bites. "What are you doing?"

"Genuinely reflecting." Yukari stares into space, grinning.

"You'll be something to genuinely reflect upon when I'm done with you." Eirin threatened loosely. "Make haste. I've much work to be doing, including reparations."

"Alright, alright…" Yukari stood. "I'm gapping you all to the meteor."

"Why can't you just grab it yourself?" Reimu stood, ready to beat Yukari up again.

"...I don't feel like it." Yukari winked at her.

Fully expecting it this time, the party let her gap them, complacently dropping into the holes below, ready to land.

Reimu raised her gohei into the air, marching towards the gap youkai with the intent to bludgeon.

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

It was dark, again.

Hikari looked around for her friends. She saw dim figures next to herself in the shade.

Six, to be exact.

'Uh oh.' Some of them probably weren't like the others.

Osamu made himself known. "Marco!"

Marigold was across the dim shrine's interior. "Polo!"

Hiyori's horns were easy to make herself out. She walked into a figure, who wasn't Osamu or Marigold. 'Or me.'

Thud. The figure fell to the floor.

"Oh, sorry…" Hiyori apologized.

"Hrr~h…" The figure hissed up at her.

Marigold flipped on her Shield Killer.

An Invincible, unarmed, was on the floor. She leapt up at Hiyori, wrapping around her upper torso.

"Wo-woah!" Hiyori was more surprised than hurt by the resulting clawing.

Hikari held her gohei high. "Hey, hey…!"

Thwack!

The Invincible looked at her, but refused to acknowledge the hits, hugging itself against Hiyori like a frazzled cat.

Hiyori reached up and grabbed the Invincible, and attempted to pull it off, only to find it highly resilient.

"Dude, lemme- oah! Woaa~h!" Osamu falls over.

Marigold shines the Shield Killer towards him, only to find that he was crawling away from an actually armed Invincible.

"We've got a big one!" Marigold backed away, skittish.

'Oh, boy.' She reached for her ofuda…

The Invincible spun in the air, a flurry of pale blue orbs hovering in the shrine's interior. Unfortunately, most of them collided either with the floor or with walls, neutralizing the vast majority of the attack.

Marigold took this moment to take out her Microwave Gun, which now had the moon lens attached to it. "Alright, here goes!"

She fired it. A pale blue beam stretched towards the Invincible. The hum was more ethereal, and echoed.

Wou~h-h-h...

As it struck the Invincible, it hovered unaffected, even as pale flames ran up its form. Floating down, it stabbed its blade in the floor…

'Here we go…!' Hikari mentally prepared herself to be stabbed in the stomach, again.

...The Invincible never became its invisible form. Instead, it floated idly in the air, the blue flames becoming more subtle but still visible on its limbs.

'It's not doing anything.' Hikari stared at it blankly.

The abyss stared back.

Marigold held the beam on it.

Osamu stood up again, watching the Invincible carefully.

Fwoo~sh…

Hiyori killed the Invincible clinging to her face by repeatedly smashing her head into the wall.

"That thing just… gonna stare at us?" Osamu questioned it.

The Invincible idly switched its stares between the party members, as if contemplative.

"It's genuinely reflecting." Hikari joked.

Marigold and Osamu snorted.

After a moment, the Invincible lifted its blade from the floor.

'Dang. I was kind of hoping it was friendly…'

It hung in the air menacingly. Eventually, it spun around again, but created no orbs.

"It's just spinning like a retard!" Osamu was amused.

In response, the Invincible stabbed its sword into the floor, and became idle again.

Marigold turned off the blue beam. The Invincible continued to 'burn'.

Hikari decided to engage it.

Thwack!

It didn't react past a subtle flinch.

"I think we broke it." Marigold deduced.

...Hiyori lifted her mace. "Should we finish it off?"

It lifted its sword from the ground.

"Yes." Hikari backed away.

Hiyori ran up to the altered Invincible, and brought her mace down on it.

Fwoo~sh

Air whipped the party's hair for a moment, before everything was quiet again.

'Now…' Hikari stepped forward. 'To find that meteor.'

Thud. Her leg hit the kotatsu. "Ow…!"

The party looked in her direction, only to find out that she bumped her leg on the kotatsu.

"Nice goin'." Osamu sassed her.

"Yeah, yeah…" Hikari huffed. Looking around the floor of the shrine, her eyes rested on something that slipped her mind…

Trying to keep the party on target, Hiyori began speaking. "Where will that meteorite be?"

"Just outside, in the woods." Hikari slowly stepped through the darkness, her eyes locking onto an object.

Kneeling, she reached for the jet black gohei.

"Let's get goin'!" Osamu clapped his hands. "It's fuckin' dark in here!"

Wrapping her fingers around the gohei, Hikari found herself unable to let go.

'Let's do this.' Hikari was more confident, this time.

Dizziness struck her…

"Hikari?" Marigold became unsure of her friend's presence. "Are you still-"

Thud.

The party moved closer to her. Marigold shined her Shield Killer on Hikari's body, the evidence of what happened in her hand. "Of all the times…"

Osamu rose his brows. "Damn, dude. Y'think she picked it up by accident?"

Marigold furrowed her brows. "...How would it ever be by accident?"

==== BLOODLINES BEQUEATHED ====

Hikari stood in the strange space she had encountered once before. Yin-yang patterned tiles stretched as far as the eye could see above and below. Images of the Hakurei Shrine and surrounding hillside filled the horizon, messing with Hikari's depth perception a little…

'This place is still weird.'

"Ah. It's you, again."

Hikari turned, and saw the form of Sendai Hakurei no Miko behind her, sitting with her legs crossed. The jet black gohei lied in her lap.

...At that moment, Hikari assessed herself, and found that her clothes were intact and she was free of molestation marks in this dimension. 'Mental space is fun space.'

Springing to her sandals, Sendai gripped the gohei tightly with one hand. Looking down at it, she rose a brow. "This thing's been a hot commodity, recently. Black and red freaks've been coming in here. Reimu toss me into an abyss or something?"

Hikari shook her head. "Nope. Evil dark abomination tried to invade Gensokyo, this is the final lash, I think."

...Sendai shrugged. "Good reason as any. I guess you'll be needing this?" She holds up the gohei.

Hikari brought up her own gohei. "I'm sure you're not going to make it easy."

At that, Sendai grinned. "Bingo."

Reeling her arm back, Sendai tossed the gohei into the distance, where it whirled off until it became a blur.

Hikari felt her body prepare itself. 'I'm stronger, now. I'm definitely not going to go down as badly as last time.'

Hikari tried Shield ß!

Hikari was protected by the power shield of light!

Lashing out, Sendai sent a barrage of three ofuda outward, fast as lightning.

Hikari reacted on instinct, stumbling out of the way. 'St-still so fast…'

Smirking, Sendai began strafing. "You managed to dodge that, this time. Barely."

Not bothering to retort, Hikari held her gohei tightly…

Flinging herself forward like a bullet, Sendai extended her knee outward in an attempt to strike Hikari.

"Ha~h!" Hikari heaved as she leapt upward as fast as she could. She fell somewhat awkwardly, not expecting to gain the height she did. 'Wo-woah! I almost hit the ceiling, there…!'

As she fell, Sendai ran to engage her with her dukes.

Unable to do much about the incoming blow, Hikari swung at her-

Thwack! Bam!

They exchanged blows. Hikari was sent flying from Sendai's dark punch, while Sendai's head only jerked in the direction it was stricken.

"Pffft…" Sendai folded her arms. "You hit way harder than last time, and it's only been a few days. I assume whatever the hell's goin' on outside of here's been beefing you up, a bit."

Hikari skidded to a stop, clutching where Sendai struck her stomach… 'Pa-pain…'

Hikari tried Lifeup α!

...She felt better. Sort of.

A thick beam shot from the power shield of light. Sendai reached out and grabbed the beam's tip with her hand as it homed in on her, neutralizing it.

"...Still hasn't taught ya to stop spamming healing spells." Sendai cracked her knuckles. "I was gonna go a little easy on ya, there being some kind of disaster going on and all, but if you think you can just heal your way out of this…"

'Nevermind. I don't feel better.'

WIth that, Sendai sprinted towards Hikari, increasing in speed as she neared.

'A-ah…!' Hikari tensed up, readying to either tank or dodge.

Sendai leaped into the air, and at the apex of her jump, she summoned a large Yin-Yang orb. It rained down from above like a meteor, forcing Hikari to relocate herself to avoid being crushed by it.

As Sendai neared the floor, Hikari thought she could use this opportunity to exploit one's inability to control their downward momentum. She ran for Sendai, and swung.

Woosh.

Sendai backflipped away from the swipe, before skidding to a halt only a few feet from where she began.

'Now…' Hikari decided it was time to take advantage of her expanded mana pool, since physically attacking seemed to not be going anywhere very fast.

Hikari tried PK Fantasy ß!

Hikari threw her right arm forward, a technicolor polygon of psychic energy rocketing out.

FwOwOw!

Sendai was taken by surprise. Guarding with her arms, she tanked the hit. "Ghn…"

Repeating her right arm's action with her left, Hikari surprised her with another technicolor projectile of blunt trauma.

FwOwOw!

"Hnn…" Sendai grunted, sliding back from the impact.

Red, yellow and blue sparks of energy rained down from above, bypassing her defenses.

Fizzle!

Sendai instead chose to focus on staying steady enough to tank the next onslaught, rainbow energy roaring across her body.

Fizzle!

Hikari was put off by how well Sendai seemed to grit her teeth through the attack.

Through this focus on the elder miko, Hikari unleashed her final psychic blast of the attack.

Bwaa~sh!

"Ho~h…" Sendai exhaled loudly as the blast flung her into the air. As she floated for the floor again, she promptly executed a backflip to land on her sandals stably.

'...I'm going to have to use a lot of attacks.' Hikari concluded.

Sendai grinned. "That's the attack you used before. You caught me off guard a little, this time, starting with those glowing box things first."

...Hikari blinked. 'I did?'

Stepping forward, the elder miko exuded confidence. "Unless those are the kinds of attacks you've been holding back, and not just some one-shot desperation move… this is gonna be really one sided."

She arched back, floating into the air. "Thousand Blades!"

Ofuda flowed out like a waterfall from her sleeves, quickly working to generate axes around herself.

'Not this time!' Hikari was sure she had a way to counter it, this time.

Hikari tried PK Fantasy γ!

Throwing her arms out, she launched two more polygons of seizure-inducing psychic energy outward.

FwOwOwOw!

Stopping before the many developing axes, their energy blossomed outward, constructing a solid hexagonal wall.

TinkTinkTinkTink!

The yellow and red hexagons stood tall before Sendai, as her axes began to blossom outwards themselves.

Many broke apart on Hikari's hexagonal fantasy shield. Ofuda which glowed with vibrant rainbow energy exploded from numerous of the axes that attempted to bust through the shield, until a few finally broke one.

ShatterShatterShatterShatter!

Shards of energy shimmered through the air, as a single hexagon's destruction caused a chain reaction, leading to a maelstrom of hurtling towards Sendai.

She lowered from her floating posture, only to be bombarded. "Hu-guhk!? Hua-huwah!?" She was juggled through the air slightly by each strike, red and yellow energy obscuring her form.

Hikari focused on her, her eyes flashing.

Bwa~sh!

"Hnh…!" Sendai was air tossed once more by the final psychic blast, though all it did was allow her to recover with her backflip again.

'I have a lot more mana than I thought…!' Hikari felt like she could use her third tier flashy spell more often.

"Now, that's better…!" Sendai's eyes were full of excitement. "One hell of a defensive move!"

...Hikari dared to grin. 'I think… I think I got this!'

Sendai ran towards her, before dropping into a slide, moving along on her hip across the tiled floor.

Hikari's eyes widened, and she ducked.

"Ho~h!" Sendai kicked upwards, flying over Hikari. She landed on the floor a few feet behind Hikari, before pivoting on her heels.

Hikari pivoted as well, feeling slightly dizzy from doing it so fast. 'Ah…'

Sendai pulled out a book, and flung it forward. It began spiralling around in the air, the pages floating out and becoming razor sharp blades that followed the book as it moved.

Cautiously eying the sharp pages, Hikari easily found a spot out of their path. 'The books have betrayed me.'

She looked up, seeing Sendai rise into the air with a fierce, darkness-imbued uppercut.

'She's coming back…' Hikari predicted. She found herself stuck inside the ring of razor sharp pages. 'Only one way out of this…'

Hikari tried Shield ß!

Hikari's power shield of light grew stronger!

Sendai descended from above with a flying kick. "Hra~h!"

Hikari shielded with her arms.

Bam!

Hikari slid backwards, into the pages-

Shink!

She slid through the ring of whirling pages. 'Ow, ow, ow! That sti~ngs…!' The cut she received was not grievous, or deep. For that reason, it stung worse than a myriad of other injures she'd endured.

Hikari tried Lifeup ß!

...The bruise on her arms began to de-escalate, and her super paper cut quickly sealed itself.

Annoyed by the healing, Sendai quickly stomped her front foot into the tile before herself. Flinging herself backward, she spread her arms.

Eight similar tomes flew out from somewhere on her person. Hikari double-took upon seeing the sudden spike of angry tomes. 'U~gh, this is gonna sting, isn't it…?'

The books whirled into the air, while Sendai stayed on the floor below them. They aimed their selves in the air to arc slightly downward, facing Hikari.

"Holy Spark!" Sendai snapped her fingers, holding a hand up high into the air as she pointed upward.

Hikari's eyes widened. 'Wait, what…!?'

From the tomes came a pure white laser, which filled the entire airspace between the each of them.

Hikari braced herself. 'Holy…!'

Vrrrrrr~!

As the laser faded, Hikari stood numbly in the center.

'...Ouch.' Hikari was mostly unaffected by the holy attack, even if she felt extremely uncomfortable after being blasted by one of such intensity.

Sendai chuckled. "What, that really scare ya!? Aren't you holy elemental!?"

...Hikari huffed. "Big lasers… are always big lasers." 'And big lasers… are scary.'

With that, Sendai abruptly ran at Hikari again.

"A-ah…!" Hikari found her movements stiff after being caught in the holy laser. She awkwardly leaped, this time gaining far less height than she anticipated. She attempted to take the opportunity to swing downward, but Sendai uppercutted, soaring into the air and colliding with her from underneath.

Bam!

"Ghuhk!?" Hikari's wind was not only knocked out of her lungs, but her lungs now owed the environment air they didn't have.

The dark uppercut ended at the ceiling, where Hikari was slammed into the ceiling.

Bam! "H-hu~h…!"

...Sendai fell to the floor again, accelerating the process with a downward kick.

As Hikari fell, her mind raced. 'My-my…'

Hikari tried Lifeup γ!

...Her stomach gradually felt better-

Thud. "Ghuh…" Hikari landed on her legs awkwardly. 'Da-darn it…!'

Sendai stepped up to her, sensing the progression of the battle. She barely acknowledged the light beam that roared out of Hikari's shield, destroying it with a powerful swing of her arm. "...What? S'that it?"

Hikari felt her adrenaline build as the elder miko neared…

'It-it's now, or never!'

Hikari tried PK Fantasy Ω!

Two more colorful, technicolor polygons zoomed outward on Hikari's command, as she flung her arms from the floor.

FwOwOw, FwOwOw…

Sendai attempted to strike the incoming polygons as if they were trying to collide with her. Unfortunately, they rotated rapidly instead.

FwOwOw…

Zooming in, they finally closed in on Sendai. Curious, she stared at them as they neared…

Hikari's eyes flickered as they were painfully forced open by her attack, forcing her to focus on the elder miko. '...I-I should probably mentally prepa-..." Her mind was drowned out by noise.

KABOOM, boom, boom…!

Blue and yellow energy erupted around Sendai, encapsulating her. Her yells were drowned out by the deafening roar of the psychic blast, which filled the entirety of the mental space. Immense light caused all of the space to go blank with intense, overbearing yellow light…

Boomboomboomboom!

A gridwork pattern of round blue, yellow, and red dots was all Hikari's mind processed, and all that filled the mental space for a brief period of time. As the energy power surge spread and diluted, raw technicolor tones randomly colored the entire linear world. The tiles were inconsistent rainbow colors, the horizon was nothing but blurry colors, and the round curves of Sendai's form could barely be made out in the violent whirlwind of blinding vibrance.

Bam, bam bam!

The colors died down. The space's normal colors and images began quickly returning, their colors only slightly offset and weird from the previous attack.

The realm was quiet.

Hikari's senses returned to her. "...Wh-wha~h…?"

She looked around, dazed. Ahead of her, she could see the kneeling form of Sendai Hakurei no Miko, her outfit slightly disheveled and hair frazzled.

'...Did… I do it?'

...Slowly, Sendai stood, her breathing ragged. "...Not… bad."

Hikari tilted her head.

"...Not bad at all." She took a deep breath. "...That was your Fantasy Heaven."

'...Was it?' Hikari blinked. 'I don't get to see much of that last one… but I can tell it makes big things happen.'

"But I'm still standing." Sendai promptly stumbled a little. "...Barely. Heheh…"

...Hikari wasn't sure whether or not to engage, from here.

"Unfortunately…" Casting her head downward, the elder miko grinned widely. "You're gonna have to live through mine."

Hikari tried Lifeup γ!

Quickly, Hikari clumsily clambered to her feet, immediately knowing bad things were about to happen. 'S-so lightheaded… I-I have to get away…'

...Kneeling over, the miko that came before felt her impulses surging through herself. "...Fantasy Heaven!"

Darkness flowed out from the core of her being, quickly progressing up her form until her being was coated in a single tone of shade.

Hikari stared into her eyes. Though her body didn't resemble it, the yellow glow of her eyes reminded Hikari of the Invincibles that roamed the shrine grounds as of present.

'...I expected something more explodey.' Hikari reflected. 'I remember Mom's being a nightmare for her opponents…'

The hunched form of the dark miko ran along the floor, her long nails allowing her to gain traction with all four limbs as she shambled after Hikari.

Hikari leapt into the air-

Swish.

The feral miko moved erratically, zipping somewhere behind Hikari before zooming out from her left, stopping in front of her.

'Woah!' Hikari's eyes widened, and the hair on the back of her neck stood.

Lunging forward, the feral miko began clawing at her with her two long-nailed hands.

Swi-swi-swi-swish, swish!

"Ghnh…" Hikari felt herself hang in the air as the claws bombarded her arms, no blood emerging from her new scratches. Even so, a dull pain creeped up her arms.

The feral miko arched back, and began kicking at Hikari using her sandals.

"He-hurk!?" Hikari tried to object, but found the kicks more powerful than she anticipated. "Au-agh-augh!"

Curling up into a ball, Sendai spun around Hikari, unseen slashes keeping her suspended in the air.

Swish, swish, swish, swish!

"Ehn- ahn- ga~h…" The slashes that seemed almost harmless at first started to wear at Hikari's energy, the pain building…

Arching back in the air, Sendai unleashed a flurry of slashes in a sphere all around herself, their paths illuminated brightly in the air.

Swoo~sh!

Finally, Hikari was released from the massive stunlock attack, allowed to be sent flying back. "Gua~h!"

...Thud. Hikari landed on the floor, all her wounds finally bleeding.

'Aaaa~h!' Instant indescribable pain slammed Hikari's mind all at once, almost sending her into shock.

Hikari tried Lifeup Ω!

...Her wounds began to heal, but the pain stuck around for awhile. That, and the tier she used was meant for healing parties and not individuals, rendering it less effective.

"A-aah, aah, aa~h…" She hissed repeatedly into the air, her entire form sticky and adorned with red splotches from the numerous tiny cuts and incisions the residual darkness left by Sendai's slashes caused.

A few feet away, Sendai stood on her hands, and kicked her legs into the air, accomplishing little other than showcasing her extraordinary handstanding skills.

...Hikari's power shield of light shimmered brightly, before-

Fwam!

A massive beam shot out, homing for the feral youkai miko.

The laser struck it, and it flew back, knocked into the air.

Hikari drew her ofuda quickly. 'Sh-she's weak to holy…!'

She tossed two ofuda at the miko.

Slap, slap!

No noise was produced by the aerial miko, but it was flung higher into the air. The ofuda glowed brightly, holy flames beginning to burn its form.

Hikari began running towards the shady being, her gohei ready.

As it slowly drifted towards the floor, Hikari swung her gohei at the back of the feral youkai miko.

SMAAAA~SH!

The miko was juggled, again.

...Hikari realized something she should have done a lot sooner.

Hikari tried PK Flash Ω!

Fwaa~sh!

Blinding, white light filled the realm.

As it faded, the regular form of Sendai Hakurei no Miko was on her knees, breathing heavily.

Hikari gingerly walked up to her, cautious.

Sendai looked up at her, taking deep breaths. "...Wha' the hell… was that last one?"

"Holy." Hikari went into vivid detail. "I thought you knew I was holy elemental."

...Sendai chuckles. "Guess so. Well… I'm not gonna lie and say you were skilled, but you've got a hell of a lotta heart."

Hikari furrowed her brows.

Sendai laughed. "Hahaha! Lighten' up. Skill comes with time, y'know. Even though I may've been more skilled when I was your age…" She tilted her head side to side, debating how to judge. Finally, she smiled. "Well, you're not dead. I think that's what counts."

Hikari was not reassured. "...I see."

Slowly, the realm began to fade to white.

"Give Reimu the good 'ol one-two, for me!" Sendai gave her goodbyes. "...Also, feel free to pop in again for an ass whoopin'!"

"I'll think about it." Hikari would really rather not.

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

Hikari obtained Jet Black Gohei!

Hikari's eyes shot open. She was greeted by darkness.

'...Huh.' She wasn't sure what to do about that.

Fortunately, Marigold pointed the Shield Killer at Hikari. The vaguely electrical-elemental arrows traveled into her eyes, blinding her.

"He-hey…" Hikari rubbed her eyes.

Putting a hand next to her mouth, "She's up, guys!" Marigold called out to the absent party members.

Thump, thump. Stuff fell over in another room.

'...What were they doing, while I was out?'

Some doors swung open.

"Shit, shit…!" Rushing back into the main room, Osamu quickly slammed the door, pressing his back against it. Scratching was promptly heard from the other side...

Hiyori closed the one she emerged from marginally more calmly.

Marigold idly shined the Shield Killer at his eyes, instead of at Hikari's.

"Fr-freaking…" He held an arm over his eyes.

Marigold relented, tilting the device to the side a bit.

"Guys…" He began. "I think I found bats."

'Bats.' Hikari blinked.

"Bats, huh?" Hiyori echoed.

Bam, bam! The door began shaking.

"...Let's just go." Hikari decided, moving for the door out of the shrine.

"Yeah. Fighting bats in the dark doesn't sound fun." Marigold would really rather not do that.

Hiyori followed behind them. Once they had all mostly left the room, Osamu abandoned the door, sprinting after them.

On the outside, things were also dark, but much brighter than inside the shrine. A half moon hung high in the sky, the sound of bugs chirping echoing out around them.

A few Invincibles hovered in the air over the shrine, seemingly idle as they drifted in vague directions.

'Hope they don't see us.' Hikari felt like they'd see her the moment she thought that.

Once they were outside, the party made note of the fact that Hikari now held the Jet Black Gohei, unaffected. Osamu's eyes widened. "Du~de!"

Marigold glanced over, but jerked her head to stare at the gohei. "Oh!"

'What…?' Hikari noticed where they were staring. 'Oh, right!'

Proudly, she held the gohei up high. "I won."

"Wh- how!?" Osamu requested. "Dude, she was like, a god!"

Grinning, Marigold nodded. "Maybe you're just bad at fighting on your own."

...Osamu whirled to face her. "Yeah? Like you are?"

Marigold shook her head. "...Maybe if I didn't have this fifty pound backpack on me."

Expecting her to full-on retort instead of agree, Osamu's argument lost wind. "...Yeah, guess I could see that."

The Invincibles overhead started floating down towards them, as they moved across the shrine courtyard.

'This time I remember that they're weak to holy.'

"Incoming swordswomen!" Marigold thought they were women, since they resembled shrine maidens, if only vaguely.

As the party readied for more engagement…

Hikari tried PK Flash Ω!

Fwaa~sh!

In that moment, Gensokyo was as bright as day, again. The party all closed their eyes, the brightness becoming too intense…

"We~ll…!" Osamu walked around aimlessly. "That's one way 'a doin' it!"

...As the light faded, the bright white tint across the land revealed that most of the Invincibles were gone. One was left, but it was jittering awkwardly in the air, seemingly unable to locate the party.

It swung its sword wide, no where near the ground, unable to hit anything at all.

'I wonder if light blinds it, or if it just doesn't like being in the light...'

...Hikari began strutting forward. "Let's move, guys."

"Mmm." Hiyori agreed.

Sharing no further commentary, the party quickly moved to the hillside aside the shrine. Hikari stepped down it with ease-

"Wo-woaa~h!" Osamu slipped, and began sliding down it. "Oo~h shi~t!"

Marigold, who was still before the decline, guffawed. "Pfffft-hahaha~h! Wow!"

'...I suppose she liked that.' Hikari thought it was pretty funny, too. Hiyori didn't display much more than a wide grin, which Hikari thanked the fading artificial light for letting her see.

Hikari and Hiyori continued down the hillside. Hikari looked back, seeing Marigold awkwardly try to move her way down the slippery, dew-laden decline.

'Should I help her?' Hikari contemplated watching her slip and slide, too…

"Wh-wa~h…" She quickly tried to dig her shoes into the grass, only to begin sliding. "He-help!"

Deciding to aid her, Hikari moved to grab her as she slid. While she succeeded in grabbing her-

'A-ah!' Hikari did nothing to stop her downward momentum, instead being pulled along with her.

...Hiyori increased her tred to a brisk powerwalk to keep up.

The slide was quick and painless overall, their speed quickly decelarating to nothing once they reached the bottom.

"Oof." The oversized backpack collided with Osamu.

'Now half of me is soaked from the dew…' Hikari was vaguely annoyed. 'It's chilly...'

Slowly, they all got up, half-heartedly attempting to pat their clothes dry as if it would help. Hikari wiped what water she could from her exposed patches of skin.

Hiyori eventually caught up. "You guys had fun?"

Even though the light Hikari cast was almost all but gone now, she could tell from Hiyori's voice that she was quite, quite smug. "Yeah, yeah."

"...Woulda been awesome if it were like, summer." Osamu hugged himself. "It's fucking cold!"

"It is a bit nippy…" Marigold supposed. "Especially with our outfits half gone."

...Osamu shrugged. "I mean, I ain't complainin'..."

"I have a bazooka." Marigold assured him.

Suddenly, the leaves overhead shuffled, causing the party to come to a pause. They stared at the nearby tree curiously.

...Hikari looked at her hands. In one hand was the Miracle Gohei, and the other held the Jet Black Gohei. 'I can only really use one well…'

...She turned to her friends. "Who wants a free gohei?"

Osamu's eyes lit up. "Dude, me! I need a good weapon!"

Shrugging, Hikari tossed it to him. He fumbled to grab it, but once he secured it, he hugged it to his chest. "Oh, baby!"

Hikari snorted.

The tree overhead rustled again.

'Someone's here.' Hikari was pretty sure, now. Pointing her Jet Black Gohei at the tree, she called it out. "Show yourself!"

Out of the tree's leaves came a crow. It was a rather familiar looking crow, to Hikari…

'...This thing, again…'

"Cahahahaw!"

A crow wearing cartoonishly large sunglasses landed before them, laughing and grinning slyly.

...Marigold stared at it blankly. "What is that?"

"A crow wearing sunglasses." Hikari confirmed. "Why wouldn't it be?"

Stoked by the appearance of the crow, Osamu marched up to it. "Dude. Du~de. I found my pet, guys."

Hikari grinned. "Really, now…?"

"Yeah! Dude, this crow's a badass!" Osamu gestured to it with both arms. "Imagine the ass it can kick!"

...Suddenly, the crow flew up, and swooped for his eyes.

"No-not mine! Dammit!" He swung the Miracle Gohei at it wildly.

Think. He clipped the enemy with it, but it didn't do anything productive.

Moving to rescue him, Hikari lunged forward with her Jet Black Gohei-

Thwack!

It wobbled in the air after the strike barely collided with one of its wings. Dissatisfied with the results, Hikari smoothly moved to execute a similar strike, her movements more fluid than she remembered...

SMAAAA~SH!

The full-on blow sent the crow straight into the floor at immense speeds-

Krik! It bounced off the floor a good foot into the air, before resting in the autumn leaves a short distance away.

"Whoops." Hikari realized that she may have killed it.

Hiyori sighed. "...I think we can exercise a little self-control, you know."

"What the fuck…" Osamu brought his hands to the sides of his head. "You fuckin' killed it! Du~de, I had a name for him and everything…!"

...Then, to their surprise, the crow rose again. It removed the pair of glasses with one wing, revealing that one of the lenses was shattered completely. "He~h heh heh he~y…!"

'That must have been the cracking sound.' Hikari rose a brow. '...I kinda just assume cracking sounds mean someone broke their bones, by this point…'

Osamu was overjoyed. "Holy shit it's alive!"

Then, it flew away.

"Fuck, no!" He ran after it. "Come back! Little dude! Little du~de!"

It was too late. The crow was gone.

...Osamu shook his fist in the direction it took off. "Fine!"

Marigold grinned as he returned to the group. "...I don't think it would've made a particularly good pet, anyway."

"It had sunglasses, dude." Osamu stressed. "When're we ever gonna find another crow with sunglasses?"

'Hopefully never.'

As the party continued into the woods, Hikari reflected on the crow a bit…

'The first one I fought turned back to normal. It was probably possessed by Giygas…' She tilted her head. 'That one didn't, though, and I must've hit it way harder than when I was just starting to get thrown into this…'

She shook her head. 'Maybe it was just… a youkai?' Hikari wasn't certain, anymore.

Hikari felt herself mentally pause, making sure they were going in the right direction.

The bushes rustled nearby. The other party members looked to it, but Hikari kept walking…

'Last time I came here, I was thinking the entire time, too. I think we're on the right track, then.' Hikari's logic was precarious, but worked.

"Awoooo~!" The piercing howl of a stray dog rang out from the bushes. It suddenly bolted from the bush it disturbed, throwing itself towards Hikari-

Thwack!

"Arf!" The dog was whacked on the muzzle. Hikari's strike was a bit awkward, since the arm she used was on the opposite side of her body, but it made the dog pause regardless.

'There. Self-control.' Hikari excused her lack of force.

Marigold nodded. "...Huh. It's a dog."

Osamu clapped his hands. "Alright, dude, that's my pet."

Marigold's expression was vain. "What's with you and pets…?"

"Dogs love guys. They're like, man's best friend!" Osamu casually walked up to the wild dog, and moved to pet it. "Who's a good-"

Crunch!

"Yeee~ow!" He flailed his arm, unable to free it from the dog's maw. "Hikari, somebody! Kill this stupid thing! He~lp!"

Hikari kicked it.

"Arf!" It released Osamu's hand, and ran off into the bushes.

'...Seemed like a normal dog. It was probably scared by all the sword wielding maniacs that've been on shrine grounds.' Hikari reflected. 'And the robots. And my explosions…'

Now that she thought about it, she was probably seriously disruptive these past twenty four hours.

Hikari tried Lifeup α!

Osamu's hand healed up… "Stupid, mangy mutt…"

"I would recommend not petting wild dogs." Hiyori advised.

"How's I supposed to know that…!?" Osamu protested.

Continuing forward, Hikari's intuition proved to be true, when the party came across a glowing hole in the Earth…

'Here it is.' Hikari took a deep breath. "...This is where I first got my Sound Stone."

"No foolin'?" Osamu was the first to march ahead, and stare into the crater.

'...Technically where I got my Sound Stone, anyway.' Hikari remembered. 'That bee actually gave it to me, but I met the bee here.'

Eventually, the party all gathered around the crater, the orange glow pulsating off of the rock within.

"...So, who wants to burn their hand off touching that?" Marigold proposed.

Hiyori moved without comment, kneeling and reaching her hand in. She touched the meteor's surface, before plunging her hand into the rock, forcibly extracting a chunk of meteor with her fingers of steel. Her hand glowed as a result of the immense point-blank heat the meteor produced.

'That works.' Hikari was happy that Hiyori was physically superior than herself in every way. 'Except for speed, maybe, but she can go pretty fast when she rips apart the floor in the process…'

"I'm surprised this thing is still hot after a few weeks." Hikari reflected.

"It snowed, too." Marigold knew all too well.

Holding the meteorite fragment, Hiyori turned to Hikari. "...Do we just get gapped back now, or what?"

...Hikari realized a shortcoming of Yukari's plan. "Good question."

Slowly, the party came to the realization that they were stranded.

"...Aa~h, shit." Osamu sighed.

"We can just teleport there." Hikari spoke. "They're at Eientei, I think."

"Not so fast, Hakurei!"

The loud, echoing voice caused the party to look around in the dark night…

Lights glimmered somewhere in the night sky. After one sharply sparkled, it seemed to expand before the party…

"...Did a sun explode?" Marigold's eyes slowly widened at the expanding light.

"Yes." Hiyori confidently stated.

As the light lowered to the leaves below, it revealed itself not to be something celestial, but rather...

Thunk!

Before them, in the dirt, was a round, metal ball. Piercing lights shone from a ring around its body, fiercely lighting up the forest around them.

"Cool…" Osamu liked the aesthetic.

"Annoying." Hikari's eyes were going to take a moment to adjust…

As she was able to stare at the creature more closely, she saw a shadowy presence forming next to it…

"I have come to claim you, Hakurei!" The visor of the tall, shadowy form glowed red as it 'spoke'. "For you oppose Lord Giygas' will!"

Hikari snorted. "...Yeah, well, I'd rather not be 'claimed' by anything."

The Ghost of Starman slowly panned its head to gaze at the party before it. "...I did not say you had a choice, in this matter."

The robot next to it stood. Long, lanky hose appendages began expanding, each hose tipped with a sharp, metal spike. The spikes had small holes at their tips. A small protrusion rose from the top of the metal ball, revealing itself to have two cylindrical eyes.

'At least, I think they're eyes…'

Ghost of Starman tried PK Starstorm α!

More lights came hurtling down from above. The party looked up curiously, but Hiyori quickly recognized what was happening as they neared…

"Incoming!" Hiyori darted for the nearby trees.

As the yellow stars homed in on various party members, everyone else quickly recalled what this attack was, as well.

'Well…!' Hikari didn't expect an attack like this out of the blue. Moving quickly, she went for the trees, as did the other party members.

The unaimed, white stars got in Marigold's way.

Bam! "Guh…!" Marigold shielded herself with her arms, before the yellow stars trailing her slammed into her, as well.

Blam, bam! "Gua~h!" Thunk. She flew into a tree trunk, pressed against it from the knockback.

Boom, blam! "God da~mn!" Osamu wailed from the forest floor.

Hiyori ran from the woods, the stars still trailing her. She leaped over the immobile ghost with a mighty bound, the stars lowering in ignorance of their new obstacle-

Bam! Boom!

The ghost's form shimmered, some of its energy dispersing. "Ignorant fool!"

Hikari tried to follow suit. Unfortunately-

Bam! Boom! The stars flew into her back.

"Oauh!" Hikari cried out, the magical impact's energy forcing pain to spike throughout her entire body.

Stumbling forward, she managed to avoid shambling into the immobile ghost. '...Good thing-'

Vzzt!

The tubby robot began firing lasers from its spike tentacles, aiming them precisely at party members.

Vzzt! Vzzt!

Hiyori was caught off guard, being the first target. "Ah…" Both her kimono and her gauntlet glowed, doing their part to reduce the damage the magical attack did to her.

"Hukh!?" Osamu gasped for air from the floor, suddenly finding his lungs not working.

Hikari's stomach was pierced, again. "H-hkh…" 'Yo-you'd think… I'd be used to this by now…'

She grasped her wound, finding liquid hitting her hand.

'He-heal! Heal!'

Hikari tried Lifeup Ω!

...Like the waking dead, Marigold and Osamu rose from the floor, their bruises and incisions healing.

Giving a thumbs up, Osamu thanked the healer. "Damn, that heal everyone!?"

Ghost of Starman tried PK Starstorm α!

Hiyori looked up, and sighed.

Hikari looked up, too. 'You're kidding me.'

Everybody just tanked it, this time.

Blam! Bam! Boom! Bam!

"Fu-fu~ck…" Osamu flopped to the floor. "Wake me up when we're dead…"

"Je-jee~z…" Marigold's knees gave in, and she dropped to the floor. "It-it hurts…"

Hiyori violently exhaled. "Hoo~h…"

Hikari made no noise, her eyes shutting from the sudden pain. 'For crying out loud…'

Hikari tried Lifeup Ω!

...Once more, Marigold and Osamu stood up.

"Fucking…" Osamu focused on the Ghost of Starman. "Oo~h, yeah, you're real scary, spammin' that one stupid move!"

...The ghost panned its visor towards him. Then, mysteriously, it whispered. "Three…"

Hikari rose a brow.

Osamu tried PK Thunder γ!

Clapping his electrical hands, Osamu yelled. "Eat shit!"

Thwaa~sh!

Go~ng.

The robot was struck.

Thwaa~sh!

Electricity ran down the form of the Ghost of Starman, more energy dispersing from it, and its form dropping in visibility.

Thwaa~sh!

The next bolt hit the robot, again.

Go~ng.

"Three?" Marigold snorted.

Osamu's eyes widened. "Holy shit…!"

Hiyori brought her mace up, but reconsidered physically assaulting the ghost.

Hiyori tried PK Freeze γ!

KaKaKa~...

A snowflake pattern of ice crystals generated inside the form of the Ghost of Starman, rapidly freezing and thawing…

Boom!

After its process was done, the frosty blast it unleashed froze a portion of the Starman's figure, solidifying it.

"Two…" The ghost mumbled, jittering its red visor around.

'Now!' Hikari saw her opportunity. Rushing up to the Ghost of Starman, she swung at the solidified bits-

SMAAAA~SH!

"Uu~ooh!" Turning solid, Ghost of Starman wiggled stiffly, the powerful smashing sensation frightening it.

Like water flowing around an obstacle, Hikari swung again, a line of black left in the air behind her Jet Black Gohei.

Thwack!

The solid form of the Starman was struck, albeit it only slightly vibrated from it. 'Seems like hitting it while it's frozen does more…'

The robot brought one of its tentacles over its own head. It began to drip tiny, scarce drops of golden liquid onto its own form, replenishing its fuel supply.

Marigold pulled up her Microwave Gun, and fired the pale blue, moon lens-accented beam.

The beam's hum echoed across the clearing as it stretched to meet the Ghost of Starman. It stopped on its form, the azure flames instantly spreading across its entire figure. It tried to become ethereal again, but stuck in its solid state.

"What!?" Even when startled, Starmen made no physical reactions that might hint that their emotions were genuine.

Seeing her opportunity, Hiyori began marching towards the ghost, her mace ready…

Ghost of Starman tried PK Starstorm α!

But it failed!

"Three…" Suddenly, the solid red visor glowed immensely, casting a red glow on Hiyori as she rose her mace to smash it…

Hiyori brought her mace down on its head.

Bam! Purple sparks flew from the place where its scrunched head was, the crunch of metal being smooshed starting and ending abruptly.

The Nuclear Reactor Robot slowly rotated on its stubby legs, and began using its tentacles to fire more lasers.

Vzzt! Vzzt! Vzzt!

Hikari felt the urge to roll her eyes, as the beam instantly connect with her thigh. "Hn~h…"

Osamu shook as his stomach was pierced, again. He stuck up his middle finger at the robot. "Fuck yo~u!"

Marigold, being the last to be shot at, managed to fall out of the way of the beam. "Oof…"

Hikari felt mental fatigue as she focused on the party's status. 'Ugh… We have to end this quickly.'

Hikari tried Lifeup Ω!

...Osamu broke from his stiff position. "Alright! Hiyori, kick its ass!"

Osamu tried Offense Up α!

...Hiyori took a deep breath. "On it."

With newfound strength, Hiyori marched up to the Nuclear Reactor Robot, bringing her mace up. "Hra~h!"

She struck the broad, round body it had.

Clo~ng!

Her mace bounced off the side, leaving a large dent in the metal. The robot jerked to the side, before dropping down on its stubby legs to steady itself in the dirt.

Hiyori didn't let up, bringing her mace up again. "Hn~aah!"

Clo~ng!

The dent got deeper, the metal buckling from the strike.

Marigold moved around the side, aiming her modified Microwave Gun at the side of the machine, curious. Pulling the trigger, the ethereal beam stretched out to meet the robot…

The beam connected, and the robot 'burned'. It didn't seem affected, though.

Osamu tried PK Hydro α!

A bubble of water floated out from his position, slowly hovering over the robot…

One of the robot's tentacles hovered over its own head. Then, it began dripping tiny, golden drops once more. As they connected with the metal, they were absorbed, replenishing its fuel supply.

...The dents Hiyori made began to creak, becoming undone.

Hiyori furrowed her brows.

Drawing an ofuda, Hikari lobbed it at the bubble.

Pop!

Water rained down on the machine, coating it in water. "Use magic!" Hikari instructed her party.

"That's the plan!" Osamu agreed, rubbing his hands together.

Osamu tried PK Thunder γ!

Thwaa~sh!

The first bolt struck the robot, its bright lights becoming bright enough to blind most of the party. 'Hey…'

Clo~ng!

Thwaa~sh!

The second bolt struck the ground next to Marigold, making her flinch. "Ah!?"

Thwaa~sh!

A third and final bolt hit the robot again.

Crrea~k!

The robot's top began shifting unevenly, the tentacles flailing wildly as they seemingly became misaligned and miscalibrated. A faint hissing sound came from the uneven seam around it…

Hiyori brought up her mace, and hit it again. "Rah!"

Bang! The top of the Nuclear Reactor Robot was knocked from its seams, bisecting the machine. The gas inside was exposed to the world.

For only a moment, Hikari had a good view of the machine's blindingly bright interior.

KA~BOOM

'Wa~h!?'

The night was lit ablaze by the amber blast. Hikari found herself flying through the woods-

Bam! Her side hit a tree, creating an impression on the tree's bark, and slightly tilting it.

"Hkh…" She felt her body scream at her as she rolled from the tree's side. Pain continued to build as she fell to the floor, and her vision blurred, though she wasn't sure if it was from tears, or because her body just slammed into a tree at high speeds.

'Aaaa~h!' If she could scream, she would.

"Fuaauaauaa~!" Osamu's roar was heard somewhere over the crackling of flames.

In this moment, Hikari didn't care how much healing ate at her mental strength.

Hikari tried Lifeup Ω!

For a moment, she felt better. Then, she realized she was on fire. 'No, no, no~!'

Patting at herself frantically, she decided to try and undo the fire.

Hikari tried Healing γ!

...She sighed in relief, the flames going out, her seared and charred skin still stung by the flame's intensity.

...Wiping her tears with a charred arm, she focused on the forest around her.

It was burning.

'Oh, good. Great!' She ran into the forest's midst, looking for her party members…

She saw Hiyori's horns from the distance, and ran up to her figure…

Though she was burning, she didn't seem particularly affected. She was embedded halfway into the floor, at an angle, her posture stiff as a board. "...Hi." She greeted Hikari.

"He-hey…" Hikari panted. "The-the others…"

Hiyori tensed up. "You didn't find them?"

"Try healing them." Hikari's eyes wandered, and she found the destroyed robot's form. Neon green liquid of some kind was flowing from the overturned lower half of the machine, which was all that seemed to be left.

Crrea~k! Trees began falling, the intense flames consuming them.

Hiyori tried Healing γ!

Hikari tried Healing γ!

'I have no idea if that worked.' Hikari reflected.

Hikari tried Lifeup Ω!

'Ahh…' She felt her vision blur for a different reason, her reserves beginning to drop.

For awhile, all they heard was the crackling of flames…

Osamu tried PK Hydro γ!

A shuriken of water formed over the forest, and Hikari sighed in relief. Heavy drops of water rained across the land, wetting the trees and the nearby embers.

It seemed as though the fire only marginally lessened by the time it was over.

'Uhm…?' Hikari stared into the bright, intense flames.

"Help! He~lp!" Marigold came running through the flames, burning again.

Hikari tried Lifeup ß!

Hiyori tried Lifeup ß!

As a result, Marigold healed twice as fast. Unfortunately, however, she was still on fire.

"Do-don't just heal me!" She cried, dropping to the floor. "Put me out! Put me ou~t!"

Hiyori tried Healing γ!

Hikari tried Healing γ!

The flames went out with a hushed gust of air. Marigold was still shaking, hugging herself on the forest floor. Osamu ran from the other end of the clearing, somehow not burning. "Holy fuck! Holy fu~ck!"

"We should just get out of here!" Hikari shouted over the flames. "Everyone, me!"

Marigold scrambled from the floor, and Osamu danced towards Hikari, revealing that his shoes were burning.

Hiyori fought to free herself from her indent in the forest floor, reaching the party's read as they lined up behind Hikari.

"Let's go!" Hikari didn't give them any prep time.

Hikari tried Teleport ß!

The party began running into the burning midst of the woods. Hikari scrunched her face and squinted her eyes whenever they passed or dashed through a patch of particularly heated inferno.

The forest, again, was as bright as day, for different reasons.

As they sped up, narrowly dodging trees and getting scraped by burning bush branches-

KraKoo~m!

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

KraKoo~m!

The party flew straight into the glass doors of Eientei-

Shatter!

-and saw to it that there were no more glass doors.

At the front desk, Reisen widened her eyes. "Whah!?"

Hikari tried to dig her sandals into the floor below to stop the party, only to find that the tiled floor was unforgiving.

'O-oh no!'

Bam!

"Urk!" Hikari felt her stomach slam into the counter, saliva flying from her mouth at the impact. "Ough… oo~h…"

Reisen stared at her with wide eyes.

Slowly, Osamu and Marigold peeled from the conga line. Osamu began running in circles. "Dudes- I'm burning! I'm burning!"

The sprinklers went off.

...He slouched, the flames on his robes and shoes slowly going out under the showers. "...Cool."

Something within the service desk began cracking and popping loudly.

Reisen jumped. "Eep!?"

...Hikari sluggishly broke from the desk, dropping to the floor. "U~gh…"

Marigold timidly stared down, rubbing her burns. "Hi-Hikari…? Are you okay?"

"Kill me." Hikari felt dead inside.

Hiyori stared at her arms. "...Uh~m…"

...The party looked at themselves, as they began to glow neon green.

"Dude…" Osamu grinned. "We got the power to glow in the dark!"

Reisen quickly shot for the desk, tearing the shelf holding the ticking object out. The object she pulled was a Geiger counter. "Yo-you…"

'...Not sure if this is good or bad…' Hikari examined her glowing arms. 'I'm going to assume good.'

Marigold knew what radiation was, though. "We-we're… oh, dear…" She covered her face with her hands.

Osamu rose a brow. "...What's up with you?"

...Marigold took her hands from her face, staring at him. "Look at us! We're going to die!"

Osamu chuckled. "H-how!?"

Reisen informed them. "Yo-you… you're all poisoned!"

'Oh.' Hikari sighed.

Hiyori decided to question her. "...How so?"

"Ra-radiation poisoning…" Reisen seemed to want to leave the room, slowly backing for the back door. "It-it slowly breaks down the body, and-and… y-you're all going to die!"

Marigold lurched over. "A-aah…" She held a hand to her stomach. "I-I'm going to be-"

Hikari looked over at her-

"Bwaa~h!" Marigold threw up, emptying her stomach onto the floor.

Hikari wiggled away from it. "Yu-yuck…"

Reisen slowly shook her head. "I-I'm so sorry…"

...Hiyori furrowed her brows. "How long does it take to kill?"

"Con-considering…" Reisen narrowed her eyes, unsure. "I-I don't know… maybe less than a day?"

'What!?' Hikari tried to sit up. Looking to the side, she saw the red vomit puddle. 'Geez…'

"A day!?" Osamu stepped forward, before tripping. "Ah- hey!" Thud.

Dizzily, Hiyori stepped up to the counter, taking care to not step in the blood puddle. "There's a cure for this, right? Isn't this place the surface's healers?"

Reisen slowly shook her head. "I-I… I don't think… we'd have anything for… radiation this severe."

...Hiyori silently stared at her, and looked back at the party, realization setting in. "Really?"

Hikari tried to get up, but found her legs too weak. "A-ahn…"

...Osamu began yelling. "Guys! Oh, fuck!"

"St-stop shouting…" Marigold sat down.

"My hair!" He began brushing his head, his hair becoming loose and leaving his scalp. "Fuck!"

"Th-there has to be a way!" Hiyori slammed a fist on the counter, cracking it. "Genuinely?"

Reisen frowned, looking as if she was about to cry. "I'm… I'm sorry."

...Hiyori looked over the party, her anger growing as they seemed to grow worse.

Marigold lied down. "A-ah…"

Osamu couldn't get up off of his stomach. "Grh…"

Hikari felt it become harder to breath. 'Th-this can't…'

Reisen sprinted for the phone, picking it up and dialing rapidly.

Hiyori felt her adrenaline kick in, even if she couldn't do anything. She knew healing them before didn't cure the status, but…

"Ei-Eiri~n!" Reisen wailed into the phone. "We-we've… I-I know, listen! I-..."

Hiyori slammed her arms on the table. "It won't end here!"

Crack! The desk broke open, the plastic top breaking inward and dropping into the interior shelves.

Hiyori tried Healing Ω!

Slowly, the party began to stop glowing.

Hiyori looked over them, a new realization washing over her.

"It-it's the four! Th-the shrine maiden and her friends!" Reisen drawled into the phone. "Th-they have acute radiation syndrome!... Wh-what do you mean, 'what'!?"

Gradually, the geiger counter began ticking slower, before stopping altogether.

The remaining noises were the groans of the party members, and the white noise the sprinklers produced.

Hiyori realized they still weren't getting up, so she acted.

Hiyori tried Lifeup γ!

...Hikari suddenly felt a whole lot better. "A-ah…?" She was still really cold and wet, though. Sitting up, she noticed the water had caused the blood Marigold vomitted up to spread, and it had flowed into her side. "Really…"

Hiyori tried Lifeup γ!

...Marigold sat up, soaked and sad. "So-so cold…"

Hiyori tried Lifeup γ!

'Hn~h…' Hiyori groaned mentally at the mental exertion.

Osamu's hair slowly began to grow back. He rose from the floor, his robe sloshing about in the water. "Damn it…"

...Hiyori wasn't sure about her own status, so-

Hiyori tried Lifeup γ!

-she healed herself, just to make sure. She didn't feel much different, though, sans the dizziness which departed.

'Wet, wet, wet…' Hikari tried to wipe her face of water with her arm, only to find water there. 'Annoying…'

"Th-they're going to die!" Reisen wailed into the phone. "I-I'm so sorry, Yagokoro-sama~!"

'...That's going to be trouble.' Hikari realized.

A gap opened adjacent to Hikari. Yukari zoomed out, looking around with a serious expression. "What's going on."

...The wet party stared at her blankly, while Reisen began shaking…

"My hair!" Osamu pointed to his full head of hair, again. "It's gone!"

Yukari slowly hunched over, his dress beginning to press against her body as she was quickly soaked by the sprinkler.

"...It's not." Marigold corrected him.

Osamu furrowed his brows. "...What, you freakin'..." He brushed a hand across his hair. "...Oh. The fuck."

Yukari slowly drifted towards Reisen, who dropped the phone, backing towards the corner of the room. "I-I, uhm…!" She crouched, shielding her ears.

Hiyori saw the angry Yukari begin to raise her hands, and called out to her. "Don't. She was right, for awhile."

...Yukari slowly turned to her. "How are you right, 'for awhile', about something like this?"

Hikari blinked, the past few minutes she was afflicted sort of a blur to her. '...This is going to be awkward.'

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

The party chose to trek to the room manually, Yukari following along behind them.

"You do realize how angry your mother will be, yes?" Yukari once again asked Hikari.

"You keep saying that like it's my fault." Hikari was anxious, despite her counter.

"...I know." Yukari sighed. "It matters not whose fault it was. But, do be aware, heads will be rolling."

'I figured as much ten minutes ago.'

Hikari felt a strange sense of relax wash over her as she approached the room's door.

"I mean, she can't be that angry, right?" Osamu grinned. "She didn't bust a wall in, or-"

Bam!

A wall was blown open.

"Gugh!" Eirin was slammed against the hallway wall by a large yin-yang orb, which broke from her form and returned into the room.

Yukari facepalmed. "Here we go…"

Dropping from the wall, Eirin brought up her bow. "Hakurei! You leave me no other choice than to-"

SlapSlapSlapSlapSlap!

Eirin was covered with seals, which pushed her back into the wall. Once they were all on her, they lit up a bright, golden color. She dropped to her knees, and let go of her bow.

...Osamu, Marigold, and Hiyori all began hugging the wall to the left of the hole in the wall, intent on not being spotted.

'Oh, boy.' Hikari was ready to watch the fireworks.

Reimu darted from the hole in the wall, tears in her eyes. She sniffled loudly as she looked around, and she spotted Yukari.

...Yukari put an arm up. "Now, Reimu… If you'd just give me a moment to-"

Slap. A seal met the hand Yukari rose.

Yukari sighed.

Bam! Bam, bam, bam!

Yukari was knocked down the length of the hallway by a surge of yin-yang orbs, which rushed after her to beat her up. Gritting her teeth, Reimu roared after her, more orbs forming in the air around her.

"Whelp." Osamu grinned. "We did good, guys."

Marigold snorted. "I think the doctor needs a doctor."

Hikari looked over to Eirin, who was lying on her side, covered in glowing seals. Approaching her, Hikari could see the doctor was staring up at her, unable to move her own head.

"Hi." Hikari sat down in front of her.

Eirin opened her mouth, but couldn't speak.

'Considering her deadpan expression, she seems fine.'

...Leaning over towards her, Hikari began removing the seals with her bare hands, working to free Eirin from her imprisonment.

Osamu decided to help, too, so he came over and grabbed a seal-

Zap!

"Ow!" He shook his hand. "Stupid…!"

'Good job.' Hikari smirked as she continued to remove Eirin's seals. The party watched, until Hikari removed the last seal, which was on Eirin's forehead.

By that point, Eirin was sitting, with her legs crossed. "...These will be an eventful few days, won't they?"

==== GENSOKYOBOUND ====

END OF CHAPTER 29

Protagonist: Hikari Hakurei, Disciple of Paradise

-Inventory-

Weapon: Jet Black Gohei - The gohei once wielded by Sendai Hakurei no Miko. Theoretically, anyway. Boosts attack power, and critical hit rate. The dark impulse of the gohei frequently allows Hikari to strike twice instead of simply once, even when unprepared.

Arms: Iconic Hakurei Arm Sleeves - Keeps arms warm. A Hakurei tradition. How they stay on is a Hakurei family secret.

Body: Devastated Miko Outfit - Her combat miko outfit, except mostly annihilated. It's going to need some serious repairs.

Misc: Royal Red Ribbon - A ribbon made with rich materials, with a floral pattern.

-Skills-

Attack: Quickly! Swing your gohei at them for massive damage! Sometimes happens twice from the Jet Black Gohei's dark impulse.

PK Fantasy α, β, γ, Ω - Bombards the enemy with pain in the form of flashing colors. Deals magical damage. Heavy mental strain that increases with each tier. Third tier forms a barrier, which breaks upon moderate damage. Final tier is a non-elemental nuke of immense magical power.

PK Flash α, ß, γ, Ω - A bright flash that distributes very random status effects to enemies. Usually makes people cry. Higher tiers increase chances, and introduce possibilities of fainting or dispel. Higher tiers can instantly destroy more varieties of foes, and make people feel weird.

Hypnosis α, Ω - Puts weak enemies to sleep for a short time. Works better on tired or exhausted foes. Can also be used in a far more costly form that works on multiple opponents.

Shield α, ß - Halves damage the target takes. Only works against physical attacks, and enough strikes, or powerful strikes, will dispel it. Higher tier turns it into a power-shield that protects even better and even reflects a fraction of protected damage.

Lifeup α, ß, γ, Ω - Heals target a little. Higher tiers heal more grievous wounds, like bone fractures. Highest tier heals everybody in the party.

Healing α, ß, γ - Heals basic status ailments. Higher tiers can cure more dire effects, like burning alive.

Teleport α, ß - Allows instant transport to the general location of an area remembered by oneself or one's party members. Requires a long, fast run-up to execute, however. Higher tier allows a circular motion to control the run-up instead, giving Hikari more control over the teleport.

Ofuda Toss - Throw a holy ofuda that does massive holy elemental damage to youkai and dark elemental foes. Effect lessens the more holy the thing you're attacking is, to the point of healing holy things. Only works if you actually have ofuda, though.

Cautionary Barrier - Summon a barrier that deflects attacks and magical attacks of all elements. Can be broken by stronger attacks, and is holy elemental.

Lightshine Ofuda - Two ofuda which explode into orbs of light. Area denying holy attack.

Summon Koishi - Using the Heart Gem's power, Hikari summons Koishi Komeiji. Casts three random HK spells on enemies, before using a higher tier one that depends on her current mood. Typically can manage two uses before she's out of mana. Costs sizable mana.

Ω-Ω-Ω-Ω

Mage: Osamu Katsumi, the Wannabe Mage

-Inventory-

Weapon: Miracle Gohei - Not nearly as effective in Osamu's hands. Does a tenth of its usual damage, and is unable to inflict critical hits. Might break if swung too hard.

Arms: Nothing

Body: Rugged Robe - A sturdy robe enchanted to resist damage. Made partially with sturdy cloth from deep underground.

Misc: Red Mage Hat - A red colored mage's hat made from cloth in the Human Village. Minor resistance to thunder, ice, and fire magic from its well worn usage in the past. Didn't see much action… until Osamu bought it!

-Skills-

PK Thunder α, ß, γ - Very random thunder attack that deals limited damage. Higher tiers increase number of bolts, and sometimes power.

PK Hydro α, β, γ - Gets everyone wet. Usefulness with PK Thunder and PK Freeze depends on whether you hit yourself or not! Creates whirling water spirals at higher tiers.

PK Freeze α, β, γ, Ω - Generates ice crystals at the target's location. Medium damage and effect; may freeze some targets, especially wet ones. Highest tier has a near-guaranteed freeze chance and immense ice damage, at the cost of being very taxing.

Fireball - Manipulate mana to make a shoddy fireball. Low damage and effect.

Static Hands - Not a real spell. Result of a very undercharged PK Thunder that can accidentally go off.

PSI Telepathy α - Speak to friends you haven't met yet! Unstable connection and only works if they have the skill or are asleep.

PSI Shield α, Σ - Halves damage from magical and psychic attacks. Thunder spells fry it instantly, and harder blows dispel it. Second tier applies basic shield to entire party at higher mana expense.

PSI Magnet α, Ω - Costs no mana to use, and steals a very tiny amount of mana from the enemy. Enemy has to have mana in the first place for it to work, though.

Offense Up α - Get pissed! Boosts strength and confidence depending on caster's power and receiver's power.

Defense Down α, Ω - Throw the enemy off their game. Makes them slightly more vulnerable to physical attacks.

Ω-Ω-Ω-Ω

Inventor: Marigold Knowledge, the Tri-Magi Love Child

-Inventory-

Weapon: Spectrum Shotgun - A Marigold Knowledge invention. Filled with foil chip bags to conduct the mana, and it is transmitted into a wind stone. Upgraded to draw mana from a simple wooden block filled with immense magic reserves, giving it virtually unlimited ammo. The addition of a battery and a prism allow it to fire seven rainbow colored beams at a wide spread, which deal non-elemental damage. Firing long enough allows them to focus and deal incredible damage, at the cost of insane recoil and instability.

Arms: Nothing

Body: Really Custom Adventure Dress - A custom dress made by Alice, burnt into fragments by an inferno. Provides slight defense against magical and psychic attacks. Now allows very free movement, but is worse for the cold.

Misc: Swirly Glasses - Lets Marigold not be blind.

Backpack - Allows extended inventory. Aged relic from the Kourindou.

Unnamed Lock Opening Device - Opens locks very precariously. Made with steel, burnt cloth, packaging peanuts, thumbtacks, string, and wooden wheels. Don't even ask…

Ruler - Lets you measure the world around you!

Protractor - Lets you find the angles of anything ever. Totally overpowered.

Scotch Tape - Transparent adhesive from the outside world. Weak, but handy!

Deck of Cards - Allows Marigold to play Strip Poker with the party. Just kidding… or am I?

Shield Killer - Electrical device used to subdue harassers. Has settings ranging from Tickle Torture to Arse Blaster. Fires electrical projectiles, of unknown power.

NF Burst Gun - A Marigold Knowledge invention. Uses a Pop Gun as the base, but amplifies its power with an array of random batteries jammed into the base with the Pop Gun. The more batteries, the better, but the typical yield is about five bullets per trigger. Spamming the trigger doesn't make it go any faster, unfortunately. Has no foreseeable ammo limit, and the batteries are only there for mana circulation, meaning their power is really inconsequential.

Holmes Brand Designer Hat - Village swag! A retro village hat that ceased production ten years ago. Sells for a pretty penny nowadays, but it's pretty useless otherwise.

Slime Generator - A bulky box that shoots a small splat of slime. Doesn't seem good for much.

Counter-PSI Device - A weird device Marigold found from a flying saucer. Works in strange ways, and seems to disrupt everyone's concentration. Marigold is immune to its effects.

Charm of Sleep - Grants immunity to sleep while equipped, or held. Can be equipped to Arms or Misc.

Microwave Gun - A Marigold Knowledge invention. Constructed with a controlled flame crystal and metal parts, it fires a beam of sustained microwave energy that cooks biological foes alive. Fire-elemental at its core, it's also very inefficient against machines. The lens used in it was switched with a Moon Lens, allowing it to instead deal moon-elemental damage and silence foes. Silenced foes are unable to use spells.

Defense Shower - A Marigold Knowledge invention. Made of a broom, a showerhead, some magnets, and uses jars of water as ammo. Slapped together with ofuda, giving it a holy defensive effect. The jars are usually filled with Talcum Powder, for alchemical purposes. The liquid that is dispensed becomes auto-applying lotion.

Heavy Bazooka - An invention developed in part by Kappa Tech and Marigold Knowledge. It shoots heavy fire-based blasts of fire magic, and deals high knockback. It was constructed by stuffing some fire and gravity stones into a tube, adding a cap on one side to direct the fire, and hooking a magical wire to the handle. Nitori did most of the work, though...

-Skills-

Is A Nuclear Girl - She got it cleared up, though.

Comes From A Nuclear Family - Not really.

Comes From A Modern Stoneage Family - From the town of bedrock!

Is The Real Identity Of Hong Kong Phooey - She's quicker than the human eye!

Radiated - Hehehe~y, kid! Wanna get… nuuhuhuhuu~ked!?

Ω-Ω-Ω-Ω

Fighter: Hiyori Hashimoto, the Buddhist Oni

-Inventory-

Weapon: Mace of Devas - The last of the four treasures held by the Devas of the Mountain. Ability to whack stuff really hard. Increases critical hit rate by lieu of being a really big, blunt, spiky weapon. Allows partial blocking of magic attacks.

Arms: Shackle of Devas - The first of the four treasures held by the Devas of the Mountain. Grants immunity to sleep-inducing magic. Grants fifty percent resistance to wind and thunder magic.

Body: Kimono of Devas - The second of the four treasures held by the Devas of the Mountain. Grants immunity to paralyzing magic. Grants fifty percent resistance to fire magic. Insanely durable. Has a floral design to it…!

Misc: Bows of Devas - The third of the four treasures held by the Devas of the Mountain. Grants immunity to confusion-inducing magic. Grants fifty percent resistance to ice magic.

-Skills-

PK Starstorm α - Summons forth the stars from the night's sky to rain down upon enemies. Hits all enemies, and deals high magical damage, at the cost of being highly mentally taxing. Can hit allies if they're in the effective area, as the white stars don't have homing properties. Power proportional to amount of enemies, as well.

PK Fire α, ß - Creates an igniting blast of flames at the target's location. More impact comes with higher tiers.

PK Freeze α, β, γ - Generates ice crystals at the target's location. Medium damage and effect; may freeze some targets, especially wet ones.

Shield α, ß, Σ - Halves damage the target takes. Only works against physical attacks, and enough strikes, or powerful strikes, will dispel it. Higher tier turns it into a power-shield that protects even better and even reflects a fraction of protected damage. Highest tier applies a basic shield to the entire party.

Lifeup α, ß - Heals target a little. Higher tiers heal more grievous wounds, like bone fractures.

Healing α, ß - Heals basic status ailments. Higher tiers can cure more dire effects, like burning alive.

Teleport α, ß - Allows instant transport to the general location of an area remembered by oneself or one's party members. Requires a long, fast run-up to execute, however. Higher tier is largely automatic and requires little room to execute.

Martial Arts - Skilled in hand-to-hand combat.

Ω-Ω-Ω-Ω

Author's Note:

OOH this chapter's a biggun, yo

13 k words instead of the normal 10k, mostly 'cause there was a lot of action and i wanted to push things along a bit so you guys feel like this went somewhere

nuclear reactor robots are fun

added in radiation as a status for funsies; i bet the party will think twice before blowing up walking nuclear reactors again

that forest's gon' be ugly when they get back, though

anyway yeah lots of robots and bad guys and stuff; really reflects how the end-game of many games is full of LONG AND DAUNTING encounters, which end up being either SUPER IMMERSIVE or SUPER ANNOYING because of their length and difficulty, which, in some games, doesn't really translate well with their mechanics

earthbound's kinda fine because you have plenty of ways to circumvent encounters you don't want to fight, that and the combat system is either like "wow i just blew past ten battles without trying" or "the first fucking fight half my party got wiped by a series of unfortunate events"

i have a love/hate relationship with that battle system! i think it fits thematically though

i got this feeling that the shock value of the party getting beat the fuck up has gotten kind of dry if there was any to begin with, but that actually work 'cause the party is getting stronger and the story's almost over anyway so you should kinda be used to me fucking their shit up with tough encounters

to be honest, the AFTERLIFE BUREAUCRACY and YUKARI being the control freak she is HAVE made the end-game plot kinda clunky thus far (at least i think) but the next chapter should largely be some FINAL PREP and some steps into the END END (which is before the END END END).

so yeah wanted to push things along and make ya guys feel like this is movin', 'cause it is

also updated things in the freakin' end-chapter spell and inventory... inventory, to more accurately reflect what they freakin' should be; should be LESS STUFF MISSING now

as always, see you all next time!