Touhou Gensokyo Girls
Episode 37: Scarlet night party (The Devil's Bullet)
SCARLET MANSION DINNER HALL: night
The shrine maiden, who was still recovering from the strange poison Remilia tricked her into drinking, stood at the refill table contemplating whether it would help to make another drink, or if it would just make it worse.
Nearby the news reporter tengu was making a strong drink herself, she then drowned it with one chug, then she looked around to verify that no one was in earshot, made eye contact with Reimu, then approached her with determination, "Miss Hakurei, could I get a comment?"
"On what?" Reimu was not really in the mood to converse with anyone at the moment.
"On what happened, and your personal feelings on it." Aya was being a hundred percent professional about it.
"That's simple... IT WAS A NIGHTMARE!" Reimu took a sharp intake of breath and then screamed in anger.
"That much was clear to me." Aya replied, but the outburst was a bit surprising, then again she was pretty used to people screaming.
"When my power returns, That pesky no good lolita leach is going to pay BIG TIME for poisoning me!" Reimu's voice was filled with venom and loathing.
"Do you know why she would poison you?" Aya asked very curiously.
Reimu shrugged her shoulders while her eyes still glared daggers, "No, I never know what that pale 'midget' is up to!"
Eirin then interrupted them, she had thought about it and wanted to share her wisdom, "I apologize for interrupting, but I believe without knowing too much, that she wanted to hold her hostage, in exchange for Flandre."
"I see what you are going for, but isn't that her, right over there?" Aya questioned and pointed over to where Flandre danced with Marisa and Alice.
Eirin had not thought about that, and in order to not appear dumb, came up with a new theory, on the spot, "true indeed. so maybe It's for revenge only?"
"I don't really care, let's find her and ask her." Reimu cracked her knuckles and with determination in her eyes.
"But, where is she?" Aya scanned the area for their host and target, and true enough she was nowhere in sight.
"COME OUT AND FACE ME YOU COWARD!" Remilia shouted as she and Sakuya searched the corridors.
Remilia had personally requested of Patchouli and Koakuma to come up with a way to catch Yukari, so far they had made a magical sealing that prevents anyone from leaving the mansion without their approval, however stopping Yukari from swapping back and forth between dimensions inside the mansion, was a different problem altogether.
As Remilia and Sakuya searched for their uninvited guest, they came across the ghost princess of Hakugyokurou, standing in the doorway, "YUYUKO! What are you doing here?!" Remilia demanded to know in an hostile tone.
"Oh don't mind me, I just want to watch." Yuyuko replied fully calm and innocent.
"I dare you not to interfere." Remilia threatened her with a hiss.
"She won't." said a voice from behind her.
Remilia instantly fired her 'Spear the Gungnir' spell at the voice, but only the wall was there to take the punishment.
"I assure you." Yukari confidently finished the sentence from the opposite direction.
DINNER HALL: same time
"Where did my sister go?" Flandre asked suddenly as she noticed her sister was missing.
"Don't know, let's catch her, and have her dance with us!" Marisa was hyped about the whole, catch Remilia, part.
"Great idea!" Flandre giggled before saying in a singsong voice, "you can't hide from us sister~" both nodded and sprinted out of the hall.
"Where are you two going?!" Alice called after them. but by the time she finished the sentence they were long gone, "...oh well, there are plenty of people to talk to." she told herself to ease the disappointment she felt.
"Miss Margatroid, have you seen lady Yuyuko?" Youmu asked as she sought her out.
"No I haven't, has she gone missing?" Alice asked, now that she got something else to think about.
"She was with me the entire night, and now she is suddenly, gone..." Youmu told with a tiny bit of worry in her voice, mostly for everyone else than her mistress.
"Weird." Alice muttered mostly to herself, as Youmu continued to ask around.
Remilia sprang around, from the ceiling to the walls, to the floor, and back to the ceiling, while bombarding Yukari with her powerful vampiric arsenal.
Yukari just opened gate after gate to direct everything back at Remilia, who if not for her high speed capability, would have been killed several times over by her own spells already.
"Can you fight with your own spells, instead of bouncing with mine!" Remilia spat in Yukari's direction.
"As you wish." Yukari just replied nonchalantly, then channeled enough energy to fire her own centuries old spells, that blew away Remilia's offense and forced her back at a distance.
The walls in the the scarlet mansion were strong and magically enhanced, but both Sakuya and Yuyuko could see cracks from the bullets of the mistress and her adversary, then they noticed that a third spectator had arrived.
"I Really hope I didn't miss too much important stuff." Aya thought, as she got her camera and notepad at the ready to document the event.
Yukari was apathetic about the whole thing and really wanted to make Remilia realize the futility of the situation, "fighting me will only resolve in the destruction your own home."
"I WILL FEAST ON YOUR BLOOD!" Remilia screamed at the top of her lungs in a diabolical and sinister tone, then fired her deadly 'Scarlet Meister'.
"I sincerely doubt you will find my blood to your liking." Yukari coolly replied with a smile and countered with 'Boundary between Wave and Particle'.
Remilia then, instead of firing back at Yukari, jumped up on the roof, then just as Yukari, sent the spell her way, she dived right into it, she quickly transformed herself into a bat, to minimize the risk of being hit, then as soon she passed the spell, she transformed back to her former vampiric self to deliver the killing blow.
But Yukari just smiled, Remilia then to her dismay discovered a dozen smaller portals which instantly fired burning lasers between each other, Remilia had to disengage fast to avoid being cut to pieces, which in turn left her wide open.
Yukari quickly opened a series of portals around Remilia, designed to trap her, "Your tactic might have worked, if it wasn't for all the time I spent with your little sister." Yukari was being smug as the portal trap nearly closed around the Scarlet.
Then time froze, and when it returned to normal, Remilia was in Sakuya's arms.
"If you want to fight beside your mistress, I could get Ran to join... Or maybe even Flandre!" Yukari offered in a polite, but provoking manner.
"Leave my sister out of this!" Remilia shouted angrily, as she was sat down by Sakuya.
"Or maybe, you should let her go." Yukari calmly suggested.
"Perfect reply, this will be great material for my next issue." Aya commented in a low voice, as she was taking pictures of the showdown.
"I can't wait to read it." Yuyuko replied with a smile as she stood beside Aya, watching the events unfold.
Then the witch of the mansion came running as fast she could without fainting.
"Well you just made it in time for the second half." Yuyuko announced with a smile, as Patchouli gasped for air.
"PATCHOULI, SAKUYA, ATTACK YUKARI!" Remilia commanded as she prepared herself to join, but nothing happened.
"That would be very unwise." Patchouli politely declined and stood her ground, now that she got her breath back.
Remilia felt a shock of disbelief, "What did you SAY!" Her voice rose an octave.
Patchouli could feel Remilia's tense eyes on her, so she tried to explain, "but Yukari is only doing what we should have been doing all these years, if we knew how."
"SAKUYA, ATTACK NOW!" Remilia exclaimed loudly in a commanding voice, ignoring Patchouli all together.
"...No mistress..." Sakuya was hesitant to says so, but she said it nonetheless.
Remilia unleashed the full force of her authority upon her servant, "I, COMMAND YOU!"
Sakuya felt bad about what she was doing, but she also knew, that it had to be done, "I am so sorry Milady... B-but Lady Patchouli is right!"
Yukari said nothing, she just awaited what the outcome would be.
Aya was writing like crazy, she had to slow herself down to avoid setting her notepad on fire from the friction, "This story just gets better and better."
"I'm really sorry it has come to this, but we can't control Flandre anymore, and to be honest, we never could." Patchouli pointed out, she had resigned herself to that fact long ago.
"Just seeing her so happy today made my heart warm..." Sakuya knelt in front of Remilia, "I beg of you, let Flandre go, and let go of your grudge towards Yukari, it will only bring us death!" she was nearly driven to tears.
Remilia just stood frozen, she had tons of conflicting feelings, on one hand she wanted to slap Sakuya for her disobedience, on the other hand she had this feeling of complete helplessness, and she suddenly felt very exhausted, like everything she had was sucked out of her life into one gigantic black hole.
All the spectators held their breath, as they awaited Remilia's answer, "Long ago I promised my sister. that she could go out on her own, once she turned five hundred..." she paused to dramatic effect, then continued, "...that's a full two years from now, so in the meantime, Yukari!" She raised her voice for that name only, and pointed in her direction, "I intrust her to you, but I dare you, you will keep her out trouble, or I will come for you personally. Are we clear!?"
Yukari found the threat more amusing than actually threatening, "She is still a prideful little child." But she nodded in acknowledgment, "You have my word."
Remilia addressed both Yukari and the crowd, "Now please leave, I need to converse privately among friends..."
Yukari gave a nod, then she made a gate for herself, Yuyuko and Aya. Aya stood nearby writing down everything, "In a sec." she sped up her writing despite the friction burn risk, and quickly left with the rest, luckily nothing caught fire.
Once only Remilia, Patchouli and Sakuya remained, Remilia uttered in relief, "It's over."
Sakuya too felt the relief wash upon her, "I am so glad, it's finally over."
Patchouli smiled at her friends as she said, "Now everything can finally go back to how they were... With or without Flandre..." she added.
Remilia clung tightly to Patchouli for support, "I am sorry Patchy, you were right, you always are!" She apologized deeply.
"It's okay Remmy." Patchouli accepted it with a soft smile and a gentle stroking of her hair, but then added a bit more seriously, "But I think most of all... You should apologize to miss Hakurei."
It hit Remilia, like a lightning strike on a clear day, "What have I DONE!? My dear shrine maiden probably hates me now!" tears began falling from her eyes, faster than she could possibly imagine herself ever crying.
"Remmy! That's sweet, I wanna call you that too!" another vampire exclaimed in bliss.
"Flandre!" Remilia was mortified to make her sister see her in this vulnerable state.
"Me too, its sounds funny." Another too familiar voice added, in an upbeat tone.
"Marisa! Not her too." Remilia was not happy that Marisa, of all people, saw her like this, "by the devil, why do they have to come here now!"
Then Marisa threw some kind of glowing chain that immediately bound her hands to her wrists, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" she tried to break free, but the little chain was remarkably strong, "Unhand me this instant!" she demanded.
"No! We are going to make you dance with us!" Flandre demanded, while holding the other end of the chain.
"Come on 'Remmy', don't be shy." Marisa grinned in delight at teasing Remilia.
Remilia who was too tired to come up with an escape plan, and could not get free, "...I'm coming..." she muttered in resignation, as she was dragged back to her own birthday party, while everyone else was baffled beyond speech.
"Should we-?" Sakuya started to ask, but stopped herself.
Patchouli shook her head, "No... but let's follow them, just in case they get creative."
SCARLET DINNER HALL: same time
In the meantime Koakuma had taken the liberty to ask the Prismrivers to play some of their more famous songs, which were a lot more lively and aggressive.
The result? Everyone was dancing around like crazy, so when Marisa, Flandre and Remilia entered, everyone were dancing everywhere and the music made Flandre and Remilia instantly switch to party crazy mode, Flandre dropped the chain, releasing her sister in the act, and together they jumped into the air, everything that had happened, was a thing of the past.
In an instant, it was not Remilia who was being dragged around, but Marisa, with no means of flying, she was being 'danced' with by the two vampires, which meant being thrown around, "I think I know how Reimu must have felt earlier." As she found herself helplessly spinning around.
Once the song ended, it meant a free fall for Marisa, until she was caught by a nearly invisible net, "Nice catch, Alice!" she made a thumbs up in the air as a great job.
"This is the second human I caught tonight." Alice grinned and set Marisa down on the floor.
In another part of the hall Reimu had observed dancing in the air, and as the song ended, she spotted the culprit of this whole tragedy, "There you are! You are going to pay for this! You sad excuse for a bat!" she was almost frothing at the mouth with hatred in her voice.
Remilia blood froze to ice, as she turned around to look at the angry maiden in antagonizing slowness, but then sprang at her and grabbed her around the waist, "I am sorry, I am so sorry, please forgive me, I'll do anything, just ask!"
Reimu, in her anger, was about to smite the little clinging vampire, but Marisa stopped her.
"Remember! Remmy here, just said anything, *ZE*" Marisa was smiling manically.
"She can start by getting off of me!" Reimu said bitterly.
Remilia released immediately, with a look of immense sorrow on her face, "Whatever it is, I'll make it up to you."
Reimu thought for a moment, then smiled as she looked over the options, "I could ask her to leave me alone the rest of my life, or to pay me huge sums of money, or maybe to extent themoney contract to a life time, then I wouldn't have to think about money ever again." she thought back and forth, but the more she thought about it the more creative she became, "I could have Sakuya become my maid instead, help me exterminate youkais and clean my home, yeah! That one could actually be fun."
Reimu then looked at Remilia with a smile, "okay, I demand... that Sakuya becomes my maid."
Remilia was stunned, could she really give up Sakuya? She never thought of that possibility that Reimu would demand her most skilled servant.
Sakuya too found the demand puzzling then responded, "I will help you if my mistress wishes it, but I will not become your personal maid."
Reimu thought about it, then laid out her terms, "If you will come one day a week to clean my shrine, help me if I require assistance in hunting youkais and finally you will help every time I hold a festival in my shrine's honor."
Sakuya stood with an uneasy feeling and awaited her mistress' response to the shrine maiden's terms.
Remilia felt lousy with the whole situation, but now that she thought deep into it, she found herself lucky that Reimu didn't demand her mansion instead, and losing Sakuya once a week might not be as bad as it sounds, she will at least be in contact with Reimu through Sakuya, she then made up her mind, stepped over to Reimu and gave her hand, "I accept the terms." she said reluctantly.
Reimu smiled and shook the vampire's hand in agreement, "Alright!" she exclaimed in a delightful mood and thought to herself, "now I don't need to worry about cleaning when Suika is not around."
Sakuya didn't know if she should smile or be sad, she just accepted her fate, like she had done so many times in the past, now that she thought about it, helping a human was perhaps closer to her childhood.
Youmu noticed Yuyuko floating towards her slowly, "There you are mistress, where have you been?"
"I haven't been anywhere." Yuyuko said with a teasing smile and an exaggerated innocent voice.
"She's probably been watching the fight, that the rabbits are talking about," Letty told her co-worker in a casual manner.
"What fight!? Where?" Youmu exclaimed in confusion.
"I don't know, ask the rabbits or Yuyu... mistress Yuyuko here." Letty said with a casual flick of her wrist, then added a correction before getting punished by Youmu.
"Please mistress, tell us!" Youmu was curious as to what had transpired and let Letty's slip-up slide, this time, in favor of being told the news.
Yuyuko didn't feel like telling stories at the moment, "The Crow Tengu, is making a news article about it, so don't worry you'll hear of it, I'll make sure of that." she waved them off and headed straight to the buffet where Komachi was already stuffing her face.
Youmu and Letty just looked at each other and sighed, before following suit to get something to eat as well, before it was all gone.
"So what happened next?" Kaguya asked as a circle of youkais and vampires were gathered around the two rabbits.
"I WILL EAT YOUR CHILDREN!" Tewi exclaimed loudly with her best Remilia impression.
"...No." Reisen cut her off before Tewi turned it into a soap opera, "Sounded more like, 'I'VE FEASTED ON YOUR BLOOD!'" she shouted loudly with her own Remilia impression, which was more spot on, but not quite.
Aya couldn't help but laugh as she walked past them, until she spotted a certain black-white magician, she knew there were still gaps in her article that needed to be filled, so she decided to ask them, "Miss kirisame, I need to ask you, how did you get such a small chain to hold a vampire?"
Marisa smirked, she was ecstatic to be asked about her brilliance, "By using a vampire of course."
"Please elaborate." Aya begged of her, with her notepad at the ready to write down every word.
"The chain is driven by the user's strength, the chain is useless on its own." Marisa explained with great joy.
Aya thought about it for a moment and then asked, "I think I understand, you needed Flandre, or someone else with a similar strength, to hold Remilia, right?"
"You're not as much of a birdbrain as a bird brain, *ZE*" Marisa moved in and clapped Aya on the shoulder.
Aya for a moment wanted to reply, but then she thought it wasn't worth it, and was about to find other people to converse with, when Suika came waddling over to them, drunk as always, "Sake?" she offered them, holding her bottle of strong oni sake right in front of Aya.
Suddenly Aya's throat felt very dry and before she knew it, she had already swallowed most of the bottle's interior, "That was refreshing!" she exclaimed like she had been caught in a desert for days without any water.
Marisa, who was next in line, also couldn't resist the offer, and after she emptied the bottle she mumbled, "Tha-at waash... ve-ery de-elicio-ous *hiccup*"
Aya could see how most people, like Marisa, were getting rather subdued, "I'm glad I have a high alcohol tolerance, or I wouldn't be able to record the drunken fun all the others are going to have." She thought to herself as she looked around to spot the first one to act up.
Suika continued her aggressive approach to liven the party up, going around and forcibly giving drinks to people, she decided needed a drink or two… or many, humans, youkais and vampires, all started to feel the effect of the oni's sake, to the point where they no longer cared.
"So, Kurumi, have any of you visited France recently?" Remilia asked as thought back on the old days.
Kurumi thought for a moment, then replied "A few decades ago, I think."
Remilia smirked mischievously, "Is it still known for its 'un baiser amoureux'?"
Kurumi giggled giddily in response, quite clearly it was still known for that.
"What does that mean?" Alice asked in a curious voice, it was very apparent that she was interested.
Remilia smiled broadly, and said with a romantic feel to her voice, "A lover's kiss."
The two vampires began to explain what that involve, Alice's cheeks were getting rather red as she listened to each and every juicy detail, slowly imagining it in her mind.
"...That sounds really nice..." Alice thought with dream-like expression, the alcohol was slowly getting to her brain, which is why she thought this was a good idea, "HEY! Marisa, want to try something?"
"Sure~" Marisa mumbled, completely oblivious to what was about to occur to her, to which Alice, without hesitation or reservations, clasped their lips together, before immediately deepening the kiss. Then the kiss gave Marisa quite the adrenaline rush, "That was… an experience, to be sure." she muttered in surprise, she was definitely more sober now.
Cirno was following the two of them with her eyes, "That looks fun." then looked at her counterpart, the fairy that heralds spring, who was flying happily all over the place, "LILY, OVER HERE." she called loudly.
Drunk as she was, the white fairy flew over to the calling, "Are you drunk too?"
No other words were exchanged as Cirno forcibly clasped their lips together... with the result that they were frozen together at the tongue tips, because of Cirno's drunken lack of control over her powers, Lily swiftly panicked which drained some of the fog in her brain and tried to convince Cirno to get a grip on herself, "Neleach my ongue Cirno, Nelease! my! ongue!"
"I'll help." Suika sure was eager to help people in need… however, her approach would be a disaster to them both.
Which is why Mokou quickly got involved, "Let me help, before anyone get's hurt." Mokou then heated her hand to gently defrost their connection.
In the meantime, Remilia was twisted in disgust as Alice tried it out on the drunken Marisa, "how she could choose Marisa over everyone else in the room is beyond me."
Flandre saw the two of them, clearly it looked fun, fun that she was missing out on, "HEY! no fair, I want to try too!" and she too dived for a kiss with Marisa, which meant nearly sinking her fangs into Marisa's tongue.
"FLANDRE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Remilia nearly screamed in horror, but went unheard by a sudden announcement.
"EVERYONE! PARTY GAME! KISS THE HUMANS!" Suika announced extremely loudly.
Reimu and Marisa just looked at each other... completely horrified, "RUN!" they exclaimed in unison, and ran for the exit.
Sakuya, who was serving food for the guests, had to stop time and get away before getting over-mauled by the exact same guests she was serving.
Mokou made a powerful tent of fire around herself, not willing to be a part of this insanity.
"Poor humans." Youmu said with a sigh, glad she was not involved.
"Wait, aren't you half human too?" Letty asked her coworker.
Youmu froze for a second, "wait, what?!"
"YOUMU COUNTS AS HUMAN~" Yuyuko was having a great time, as she enlisted her servant as a part of the game, she was feeling so giddy at the moment.
Youmu was appalled and confused, "Lady Yuyuko WHY?!" before a throng of people were jumping at her, their lips puckered and ready, so she had to escape to save her virtue.
At the same time, Reisen and Eirin had to stop Kaguya from entering the game, though that allowed a certain rabbit free roam.
"Please princess Kaguya, do not participate!" Reisen begged of her royal highness.
"Come on, it looks fun, and Tewi just followed them!" Kaguya huffed in irritation, she couldn't believe she was being denied something that Tewi got permission for.
"You're a Princess." Eirin told her firmly, trying to hammer it into her head, that royalty had to act with a certain dignity.
Yuyuko overheard them and decided to respond, "Oh you are a Princess too!" she asked, even though she knew the answer.
"Really? I am the not only princess in Gensokyo?" Kaguya asked in surprise.
"No you are not~, there is some competition from the dead." Yuyuko told with a smile, she really needed to boast before her nemesis.
Kaguya was mostly intrigued as they conversed, while the rest of her companions wanted the ghost as far away as possible and urged their princess to stop it.
Reimu and Marisa reached the exit but was stopped by a barrier, "W-why can't we get out?" Reimu asked in a panic.
"Oh, you can't leave before I give you my permission." A sweet and drunk voice sounded from behind, Remilia got herself into position, "And I don't feel like giving it… Come to me, Reimu~" She grinned and then she jumped headfirst.
Reimu's first instinctive thought was to block her with Marisa as a shield, which she did while shouting, "SORRY ABOUT THIS!" then there was a collision of lips, and Remilia rolled around on the floor in disgust, while the two of them got away.
"DAMMIT REIMU! That was uncalled for." Marisa scolded Reimu while they were running away from the crowd again.
"I had no other options!" Reimu apologized frantically, while similarly running for her dignity, it might have been smarter to fly away, but the small corridors made it difficult to be airborne, plus Marisa couldn't fly on her own, and lifting her would be too much trouble.
Youmu was also running for her life, she was fairly more successful, in avoiding it all, though there was the occasional close call when Tewi was within inches of her lips.
Sakuya knew the mansion inside out, so she hid herself in a secret room in the kitchen and remained there until it was over, and no one ever saw her leave.
Mokou just remained in her flaming tent, with Keine sitting next to her so they could converse on recent events.
Meanwhile, Reimu and Marisa continued their great escape, "I hope there is a time limit on this game, I am getting pretty tired here." Marisa knew she was awesome, but also knew that everything awesome still has a limit.
Reimu didn't have time to answer as something was coming at them, she quickly put up a barrier, which a half drunk Wriggle dove into, got paralysed and crashed on the ground, "Damn mosquitoes." she muttered under her breath.
Marisa then thought she heard something, then looked up to see the roof swarming with bats, "REIMU! DUCK!" Marisa exclaimed in warning.
Both of them threw themselves down on the floor before they would have gotten bats in their faces.
But then another larger black bat with blood red wings, made a loud screaming noise that made all the other bats flee in terror, then casually landed on Marisa's shoulder.
Reimu was about to target the bat, but Marisa held up a hand, "This one is our bat." Marisa said with some affection in her voice, and stroked it with the other hand, the bat in turn, hugged Marisa's head.
"Oh it's the little sister, I can't tell the difference." Reimu said in haste as they continued their run for cover, though with little luck.
Then as they reached the end of a corridor and ran into a large living room, a large number of fairies spot them, then the bat transformed and quite literally dragged Marisa away, clearly she wanted no competition on this particular human.
...This of course left Reimu alone, "Hey! Where are you going?" she called after Flandre and blazed after them before she was overwhelmed by fairies.
After hours of intense chasing there was a clear winner, Aya whispered the result to the founder of the game, and Suika proudly proclaimed, "AND THE WINNER IS ...REMILIA! CONGRATULATIONS!" she vociferated loudly before the throng of participants.
The winner was not particularly happy about her title, because of the one she kissed, it left a sting of regret and disgust.
The two humans, both completely exhausted, plus a vampire, found a couch and dropped dead down on it.
"That was intense," Marisa was beginning to feel the adrenaline slowly drain out of her blood.
"You said it." Reimu took a deep breath and then released it all in one go.
"That was fun!" Flandre exclaimed in her usual cheerfulness.
"...Shut up!" Reimu muttered with an angry glare.
Alice then came into view, "there you are, and here I thought you three left the mansion" she smiled mischievously.
"Unfortunately, Remilia has the mansion locked with some sort of spell." Reimu muttered slightly irritated, "My God, knows if I'll ever get out."
"Don't worry~ I'll get you out." A happy oni sang out merrily as she got close, and added, "Sake?"
"Thank you very much." it came simultaneously from the four of them.
Reimu was too tired to say no, despite being extremely angry with the oni for the kissing human game suggestion.
And they sat there drinking until they were eventually released by their host's permission.