Forewords
I guess I should have just spit out the identity of Koishi's replacement, eh? Some people actually guessed Aya just because she's there!
I will say this to you directly: the replacement is not Aya. She is...
*Drums roll*
*SMACK*
...Medicine Melancholy.
Pretty surprising, right?
Chapter 52: Medicinal Melancholy
Time: 1745 Hour; 24th of July, 2125.
Location: Satori's Office, Palace of Earth Spirit.
"Perhaps I should repeat myself: I don't have any tricks up my sleeves..."
"Ayaya, just kidding when I asked that question..."
"Then what is your true purpose here?"
"Excuse me?"
"You forgot that I can read your mind. You are here under orders from Yukari..."
"Got me there... Anyways, I'm here to deliver a message to you, as I did the other Superpowers of Gensokyo..."
"That would be Remilia, Yuyuko and Kaguya, correct?"
"Actually, Yuyuko resigned her position, so she isn't anymore. Besides, you didn't get all of them there."
"Now I understand. What did the Gap Hag offer Myouren Temple, Crown Mausoleum and The Inverted Castle with?"
"She didn't say..."
"..."
"What's wrong?"
"Despite being able to read minds, I still don't understand why Gap Hag is so desperate to stop Jack Summers there just for the sake of her own entertainment..."
"Entertainment...?"
"Why would she hire Byakuren Hijiri: who has a military force but refuse to use it under any circumstances, Toyosatomimi no Miko: whose military forces aren't even close to technological, and Shinmyoumaru Sukuna: who doesn't even have a military force to begin with..."
"I'm a Tengu reporter, so I know nothing about military affairs. But anyone, even devils, will find Yukarin's abuse of her 'dictatorship' just for amusement an unforgivable sin. No, I have to be very serious about this..."
"And besides, I've just lost contact with Rin and Utsuho. Assuming they are defeated..."
"Wait, what's happening to those Oni?"
"...Then Jack Summers is now headed for the final showdown against the 'Youkai Dictator' as he calls her..."
...
Location: City of Oni, Old Hell.
"My name, is Lieutenant Colonel Jack Summers...
'Lieutenant Colonel' is part of my name, I was born with it...
I am the CEO of a technologically advanced business empire known as Summers Technology Industries, or STI for short.
For the last three centuries, my family watched over humanity, developing technology for our race all those time...
We are doing this for our family's survival, as well as humanity's...
I will not allow anything not of this world...
...to threaten anybody with their powers.
No, I will never allow anything, or anyone like that, to even think about messing with humanity...
Especially not Youkai Dictator Yukari Yakumo!"
"I'll be borrowing your RPG, thank you...
You keep your booze-covered muscular hand away!
Taste the Zantankuto!
Sorry, little miss jealous, I need to cross your bridge. And sorry about soaking you too.
Hey, Zombies, EAT RPGs!"
BOOM!
"I got no time for such trivial matters, get out of the way!"
...
Location: Drained Geyser, Entrance to Underground.
It took awhile, but LT had finally reached the top of the drained geyser hole while carrying the ZPM on one hand.
"Damn that Youkai Dictator, wouldn't have needed to hunt down the ZPMs if it weren't for her..." LT muttered as he holds onto the ledge.
He then performs a somersault over the ledge and lands on solid ground while still holding onto the ZPM.
"Now for the final part: defeat Yukari Yakumo..."
The ruffling of a shrubbery made LT jerk back slightly.
"Another Communist?!"
All the nearby shrubberies and trees suddenly withered away and crumbled to dust...
...Leaving what looked like a blond girl in a red-and-black dress, with a doll hovering near her.
"Let me guess: a poisonous doll coming to kill me?" LT questioned.
The girl made no response...
LT placed the ZPM down and raised the Zantankuto just in case.
The girl spoke, in a tone anyone will find creepy.
"Enjoy your poison..."
And with a finger pointing, the girl launched a ball of green liquid at LT.
LT sidestepped to avoid the projectile. "Where are you aiming?" LT taunted.
When he turns back to look at the projectile, he finds that it has completely melted a rock upon hitting it. "Acid?!"
The girl, without saying another word, unleashed a barrage of acid balls at LT.
LT rolled out of the way to avoid the acid balls, which continued with their trajectory and melted more rocks.
"Let's settle this quick, shall we?" LT said while making a taunting motion at the girl.
"If you wish..." The girl replies as she sends a wave of green acid at LT, and LT charging straight at her...
...
Location: Landing Site.
At the Landing Site of the GA-Raider, the automatic turrets were all disabled, and everyone tied up and gagged.
"Darn Medicine Melancholy trying to interfere... Oh never mind, she won't make it too far, anyway..." said Yukari Yakumo.
There were no response from the Raiders, since they were unconscious. Harrison was awake, but he was blindfolded as well.
Harrison tried to shout some profanity at the Youkai Dictator, but the speech was all muffled by the gag.
"Don't even bother, Harrison..." Yukari responded. This seems to have surprised LT's right hand man. "You'll be wearing that blindfold and gag for the rest of your life..."
Harrison remained silent.
"Now if you excuse me..." Yukari said as she turns toward someone else. "You know what to do, Ran..."
"Yes, Yukari-sama..." replied the person as she leaves the scene.
...
Location: Drained Geyser, entrance to Underground.
The acid-manipulating girl laid on the ground motionless, her accompanying doll having been sliced in half.
LT was moderately injured. Bits of his clothing has melted away, and his bare feet was exposed from the molten tip of his boot. There were also acid dripping off the tip of the Zantankuto.
"I guess you must be very old indeed. You're more fragile than a plastic doll, which is what you are..." LT taunted as he kicks the body of the motionless girl. There was no response.
"Ah well, better get going with Youkai Dictator's challenge..." LT told himself as he sheathed the Zantankuto, picked up the relatively undamaged ZPM, and heads for the GA-Raider, to end the mission he came for in the first place...
Afterwords
Well, I felt like botching the Versus Medicine fight because I have no idea on how to do it.
And yes, the other three Superpowers of Gensokyo are indeed Byakuren, Miko and Shinmyoumaru, you didn't read anything wrongly, I did thought of making arcs based on Undefined Fantastic Object and Ten Desires when I first began this series, but eventually ditched the idea as I made my three month absence at September-to-November 2013. I only thought of involving Double Dealing Character after my return from the absence seeing DDC having been released fully (it wasn't even released when the series began, and was still demo before my three month absence).
Anyways, that wraps up the Subterranean Animism Arc. Let's see the body count...
Zombie Fairies: 123 killed
Kisume: 1 death
Yamame Kurodani: 1 death
Oni Soldiers: 42 killed
Utsuho Reiuji: 1 death
Guards: 3 killed
Turks: 2 killed
Total body count: 173
That's a pretty small body count. But let's sum up the total death count of this story...
EOSD Arc: 207
PCB Arc: 55
IN Arc: 9220
SA Arc: 173
Total: 9655
Time for the final boss battle: Versus Yukari!
No shout-outs in this chapter.
That is all. "Until then..."
