Forewords
Here we are, guys: the Versus Okuu fight.
As everyone may expect, nuclear power is a very nasty one. This fight will begin with the very last Redshirt dying, and the Raiders missing, leaving LT to fight Six-Ball alone.
And then we'll have Koishi's replacement to wrap up the SA Arc, and begins the final battle of Mission 1, and then off to Mission 2 we go!
Hint for the replacement: she's a character from POFV, often shipped with Alice Margatroid.
Chapter 51: The Last ZPM
Time: 1705 Hour; 24th of July, 2125.
Location: Decontamination Chamber, Nuclear Furnace of Old Hell.
"Here we are, guys: the final dungeon..." LT told everyone.
Everyone finds themselves looking at a bulkhead with a very large "Radioactive" symbol on it. The bulkhead is also covered in yellow tapes with "CAUTION!" and smaller "Radioactive" symbols on them.
"But how do we get in there?" David pointed out. "The control conduit is smashed."
David was right, the control conduit right now is just a unit missing it's display and keyboard, and wires are jutting out of the machine.
"Let's just hotwire the thing and get going with the ZPM..." Harrison said as he puts down his shotgun and walks toward the control conduit. He then begins hotwiring the machine. After minutes of working, all he got was a silent alarm in the decontamination chamber. "This isn't working!" Harrison cursed as he dislodges a nearby pipe and drive it into the conduit. Only now did the bulkhead open, not completely but still enough for everyone to get through.
"Arm yourselves, people. We'll be facing the penultimate, if not final boss." LT told everyone, and they all readied their weapons.
...
Location: City of Oni, Old Hell.
"Scoop get!" Aya announces as she close her notebook. "Thanks to this shortcut via the missiles deployment chute, I don't have to worry about those Zombie Fairies at all!"
Aya stopped when she saw a group of Oni Soldiers packed at the main gate of the Palace of Earth Spirits.
"Ayaya... Guess I'm too late again. Looks like the Outsiders got Satorin..." Aya told herself as she readies her camera.
She then flies toward the mansion as fast as her wings can take her, setting off a small turbulence on the ground. "Perhaps I can learn something about Yukarin's intentions from her..." She thought to herself.
...
Location: Compound Entrance, Nuclear Furnace of Old Hell.
"Nuclear weapons..." Takagi spoke to himself, while standing guard. "That's one thing Asahians won't ever forget..."
"Fat Man and Little Boy... The Registanian got some dangerous sense of humor.
Then there's the Daiichi Nuclear Disaster at 2011... The country's nightmares of everything nuclear just kept on coming...
Hence why we swapped nuclear power for the Zero Point Modules, invented by the Summers Technologies Industries at 2102."
Takagi then looks ahead and saw something... dark.
"Wait a minute..." Takagi exclaimed while showing surprise, rare from his usual emotionless state. "So you're this Yakumo that started everything?!"
"How could you?! You say you're doing this for fun?!
You are a devil amongst devils!"
...
Location: Reactor Core, Nuclear Furnace of Old Hell.
The descend into the Reactor Core is easy. Probably because it's in hibernating mode, and the decrease of gravity strength in there.
Everybody fell slowly toward the ground and landed safely due to the low gravity.
"Now this is what I call Magi-Tech..." Harrison pointed out. "A Nuclear Reactor Core that is cold as heck and has low gravity? Science cannot even imagine that."
The Reactor Core itself also has a scientifically impossible architecture. The floor is made of what appears to be energy with several patterned shapes. Under the floor is, simply said, some kind of miniature sun with broken magical rings surrounding it. The walls have similar patterned shapes on them.
"Speaking of which, it looks like gravity is the only thing that can exist in both magic and science as the same thing..." Harrison hung a lamp.
"And such designs made this Reactor Core look like an evil entity such as Cthulhu would call home..." LT noted. "But, even Lovecraft Lite isn't this nightmarish..."
Despite the ambience and creepiness in the Reactor Core, nobody has appeared to fight LT and co.
"I'm not getting any readings from the ZPM itself, but there are traces of it's energy signature, ending..." Harrison scanned the surroundings with his Scouter, pointing all over the Reactor Core until he's pointing at the center of the eldritch floor itself. "...right here."
"Hyperspace Storage..." LT added.
"What's that?" David was confused, and so is Edge and Alice Lou.
"Hyperspace Storage, it is completely different than Hammer-Space. The former magically stores an object by putting it through a Spell such as Pentagrams. The latter stores objects larger than itself for unexplained reasons, like putting an entire RPG into your shirt pocket."
"The latter turns up a lot in animations and video games..." Shanghai L hung a lamp.
The Reactor Core is getting brighter at the moment, but still nobody to challenge LT and co.
"Hey, I was expecting a boss at this point!" LT shouted.
He got a response.
"Very well. You shall have your boss fight. Unyu..."
...
Location: [DATA EXPUNGED]
"Hah! Here's Okuu, the nuclear-powered Hell Raven!
See if you can even get close to her without getting irradiated!
I'll be looking forward to your funeral, Jack Summers...
HAHAHAHAHA!
Now if you excuse me, Takagi...
I have some urgent business with your comrades..."
"You wouldn't! Devil of Devils!"
"Right... Off to the GA-Raider we go!"
...
Location: Reactor Core, Nuclear Furnace of Old Hell.
"But you made the mistake of even meeting me!" "Giga Flare!"
"Evasive maneuvers!" LT yelled as he rolled toward the walls and stayed as small a target as possible.
It was almost instantly that a very bright pillar of light descended, and when it ends, there was just the feet of the unlucky Guard left in the center of the floor. The stub of the feet appear to be cauterized, and smoking.
"That's a big ass laser... Hang on, where's everyone?" LT commented, then immediately notices the disappearance of everyone but him.
On the floor was a note held in placed by a half-molten WL-2. It didn't took LT too long to recognize the paper used and the writings on it.
I got your friends and right hand man, Jack Summers. If you want to see them alive, then bring your precious ZPM and come meet me at the GA-Raider. We'll settle this once and for all... ~Yukari Yakumo
So says one side of the note. LT turned the piece of paper around to read the other side of the note.
That is, if you can survive confronting Utsuho Reiuji and her magic-enhanced nuclear power...
"Take this!"
LT looked up to find a ball of light headed straight for him. He jumped just as it's about to hit the section of the floor next to him.
The low-gravity in the Reactor Core allowed LT to jump high enough that he can reach the ceiling. He looked down while clinging onto a pipe at the ceiling to see the ball of light erupting in a blinding flash. When the lights cleared, nothing was left on the floor, as though everything disintegrated.
"Magic-enhanced Nuclear Weapon..." LT noted.
He then saw a figure standing on the floor. It was the same girl next to Rin Kaenbyou in the newspaper photo from earlier.
The Hell Raven looked up at LT with a dark face.
"So you must be Utsuho Reiuji..." LT said.
"And I'm your harbinger..." Replied the Hell Raven, Utsuho from the floor.
LT pulled out his shotgun and jumped off the ceiling, firing the gun at Utsuho as he's falling.
Utsuho just stood there as LT watches the pellets bouncing off her body, as though she's made of steel.
"Honestly, did I just shoot her like those soldiers were shooting Faora in the movie?" LT lampshaded the phenomenon.
Utsuho aims her arm cannon at LT, and began charging a shot that is sucking the light out of it's surrounding.
LT kept firing at the Hell Raven, this time at her head, and still no damage.
"Darn, I am!" LT cursed as he runs out of bullets. He throws the now empty shotgun at the arm cannon...
...And part of the shotgun literately disappeared as it touches the ball of light that is in front of the arm cannon. As the remaining half lands slowly on the ground, LT took a good look at it.
"The remaining half is half-molten, the section contacting the light seems to have melted in a flash, the stub is still a bit like liquid metal..." LT analyzed the scrap, then a look of horror appeared on his face.
"No way! Instant sublimation of metal?!" LT exclaimed.
"I don't know what you're talking about, but you should try out my Mini Sun!" Utsuho responded to LT's exclamation and fired the ball of light at him.
LT pulled out the Zantankuto and then jumped off the floor, leaving the sheath of the sword down there as the Mini Sun explodes the entire floor in a flash so bright even a person wearing sunglasses can be blinded by it (which LT avoided by looking away from the light). As he clings on the ceiling once more, he looked at the sheathe of the Zantankuto to find that it's painted plastic outer-casing is completely disintegrated, leaving the Adamantium inner-casing charred on the eldritch floor.
LT looked at his feet to find that the bottommost layer of the soles of his boot is dripping off like liquid rubber. A nasty stench emerged from it at the same time.
"Nuclear weapons are usually bombs or Radiation Blasters, however that arm cannon of hers not only fired a mini-nuke in energy form but also fires a Mini Sun hot enough that even metals can sublimate like dry ice..." LT analyzed the current situation. "I can feel the heat even from this high, roughly 50 feet away..."
Utsuho charges and fires another Mini Sun at LT. LT quickly jumps off the ceiling as the projectile hit it. Close proximity with the Mini Sun had burned away one of his sleeves as he descend toward the floor slowly. Utsuho remains floating in the center of the Reactor as dislodged Coolant Pipes bounces off her head and shoulder.
The Reactor Core was surprisingly cool despite the numerous Mini Suns fired by the Hell Raven. In fact, the floor was ice cold when LT landed.
"Now that's against all forms of logic..." LT noted as the dislodged Coolant Pipes froze upon hitting the floor. "Low-gravity, floor lacking physical texture, cannon that fires an infinite amount of compressed nukes, and complete denial of heat absorbing by the Reactor Core..."
"Looks like I'll have to fight at full power..." Utsuho announced.
"Full... That's not even full power?!" LT exclaimed upon hearing that.
"YEARGGGGHHH!"
And with that, the Hell Raven's wings grew in size, and a cape appeared on her wings. The cape has what looked like a picture of a starry night sky on it.
"Great... Some says not to bring a knife to a gunfight, now I'm in a magic-fuelled artillery-fight with just the Zantankuto..." LT hung a lamp on the situation.
"Here I go!" Utsuho announced once more, and then casting a Spell Card. "Ultima!"
Upon casting that Spell Card, the Reactor Core became pitch black, with LT and Utsuho both staying lit for unexplainable reasons.
"Crap..." LT cursed as he witnesses the true power of his opponent.
A large glowing transparent ball materialized between LT and Utsuho. The ball begins to shrink and shrink smaller until it becomes as small as a soccer ball, then it flashed for a split second and expanded to it's original size with multiple explosions occurring inside it.
...
Location: [DATA EXPUNGED]
"Yes!
Finally got that son-of-a-bitch!
I should've send him to Okuu first if I knew that Six-Ball could've curb stomped him.
Ah well, too late to regret now...
As for you guys..."
"You monster of monsters!"
"...Off to the GA-Raider we go..."
"Not so fast! Look at Mr Summers again!"
"?!"
...
Location: Reactor Core, Nuclear Furnace of Old Hell.
LT laid in the middle of the eldritch floor, his suit torn all over, cauterized wounds all over his body, his legs twisted in an angle that implies they are broken. His right hand is still holding onto the Zantankuto.
"Am... I... going... to... die...?" LT struggled to speak. "With the... Summers family lineage... ended, how would... humanity... hope to... survive against... the STICK Army... and other... greater threats...?"
"I may know nothing of human biology, but at least I know you should save as much energy as you can." Utsuho taunted, putting her left hand on her hip.
"You're right..." LT struggled to respond. He made his grip on the Zantankuto tighter, and lifts his right hand up. "I should... save what energy... I have left... to do... what I should..."
Utsuho pointed her arm cannon at LT without moving closer, staying in the center of the Reactor Core. "Gap Hag would reward me nicely for your head."
"What makes you think... that Yukari Yakumo... the Youkai Dictator of... Communist Gensokyo... would really pay you...?" LT struggled another response, while pointing the Zantankuto at Utsuho.
Then with all the energy he could muster, he tossed the sword at the Hell Raven.
Utsuho reacted and tried to swat away the blade with her arm cannon, but the Zantankuto had driven itself right into the business end of the cannon.
Electricity began building up all over the arm cannon and electrocuting the Hell Raven. Then with a loud bang, it exploded into shrapnel and fireballs. Pieces of the arm cannon and Utsuho, with her right hand blew apart by the explosion, began falling toward the floor slowly due to the low-gravity.
As Utsuho lands on the floor, she struggled to turn and look at LT with a look of horrified astonishment, "Nice trick you pulled there..." before falling unconscious herself.
The Zantankuto then lands next to LT's head, it's sharp tip bouncing off the floor.
"Heh, thank you... for the... compliment..." LT put down his right hand and shut his eyes...
One second... five seconds... ten seconds... One minute...
LT had wondered why he wasn't dead yet, despite the fatal injuries he had sustained.
When he opened his eyes, he found his body to be fully healed of all injuries. No wounds, no broken legs, even his clothing was good as new.
There was a note placed on LT's chest, along with the fourth and last ZPM materializing from the center of the floor. LT snatched the note with his newfound burst of energy and read it.
And I must say, that's a neat trick you pulled there, Jack Summers. I guess I shouldn't have underestimated you after all. You're a worthy opponent for all of Gensokyo.
But this isn't over yet. I have decided to heal you just so the two of us could fight each other face-to-face.
So, grab your ZPM, and come to the GA-Raider, where we will settle everything.
~Yukari Yakumo the Youkai of Boundaries
LT clenched his fist, crumpling the note into a mess.
"Challenge accepted..."
He then stood up, snatched the ZPM from the floor, and jumped back toward the Core entrance, where he proceeds his journey back to where everything began...
The GA-Raider shall be the final battle ground between Lieutenant Colonel Jack Summers and Yukari Yakumo...
Afterwords
Whew, longest chapter ever made...
This is how I decided the Versus Okuu fight will go. Pretty epic, huh? My depiction of the Reactor Core where Okuu lies is just like where she was found in the Touhou Nekokayou web-comic. Very eldritch indeed...
For those of you readers who are Japanese, I didn't mean anything offensive when I mentioned the Hiroshima-Nagasaki bombing (changing the provinces' names for the sake of alternate history, but still) and the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster of 2011. If you're a survivor of the latter, I'm sorry if you find this offensive.
Okay, we have Koishi's replacement left and the SA Arc will be all wrapped up. Then moving on to the final boss...
Shout-out index:
"...Cthulhu would call home..." "Even Lovecraft Lite isn't this creepy." - I even referenced the name of the work, so go get a psychological check if you don't get it. Note that I didn't read Lovecraft Lite, I just heard of it on TVTropes.
"Did I just shoot her like those soldiers were shooting Faora in the movies?" - LT was referring to General Zod's right hand woman from Man Of Steel.
"Ultima!" - One of the most powerful dark magic in Final Fantasy. This one is specifically referencing the FF10 incarnation of the spell.
That is all "Until then..."
