Took a little while, sorry for the waiting. Anyway, for the reviews:
To Derago: Don't worry, I'm not offended. I do feel a little frustration when some of my favorite fics suddenly stopped or just deleted.
About the Jizu... thanks for reminder, and I have added her in the story, just you see.
To crazetigerz: Thanks for your compliments.
To InDeathAtonement: Thanks for your compliments. And here is it, chapter 3 in motion!
'You... bastard...' That's the single line crossing his mind, when he felt the hole digging through his chest. A bullet has made its way through him, sending immeasurable pain through the whole body, stopping his mind from sending signals for any actions. There's no emotion there, when he was pushed to the ground, and he saw Ghost trying to kill the General, but ended up being shot first. Then, he was pulled up, and thrown into a ground further from there, and Ghost was followed as well. Then, those soldiers poured gasoline on them, and Shepherd started the fire with its cigar. In the last moment, he saw the General walking away with the DSM in his hand.
'You... are not getting away...'
'Soap...Price...make him pay for what he has done to us...'
'...'
'If you can't... I WILL!'
"DAMN YOU!" Roach gets up immediately after not feeling the pain, and finding a new energy inside of him. That damn bastard caused his teammates' deaths, and he's going to kill him! "SHEPHERD! YOU ARE SO DEAD WHEN I FIND YOU!"
"Mister! Don't get up so fast like that!" He immediately turns to his right, to see a young girl with black hair tied in two long braids, brown eyes. She's wearing a long grey dress with a line of red buttons on the front, a red scarf covering her left shoulder, and a conical straw hat. She's kneeling next to him, with his weapons laying next to her but out of his reach. "You were just nearly got killed."
Hearing the last word, he immediately reaches his hand to where he thought he got shot. However, there's no hole there, and the pain... his clothes are not burnt either. Though, that doesn't matter more than what he just shouted. He asks the girl: "Where are they? Shepherd's soldiers and the Terrorists?"
"Sir, you must calm down first." The girl makes the hand gestures, but Roach doesn't like it. "You are angry, but read this first." She then gives him a piece of paper...
"Sorry, not now. I have to... GHOST!" He turns to his left, but he couldn't see the body of said person. He turns back and asks the girl: "Miss, you saw someone next to me?"
"Sir, I told you to read this first." This time the girl adds heavy tone in the tone, causing him to stop his questioning. He looks down at the paper, reaches for it and reads:
"To Roach.
If you're seeing this, then Narumi must have healed you. I have to inform that you are dead. At least, in the Outside World. I have to, in the best way I can say, screw with the Cycle of Life to bring you back. But, I couldn't let you return since it could cause major manipulations in the World Pro, so I have to send you here, in Gensokyo. If you have questions, ask Narumi, but don't interrogate her like a criminal.
And don't worry, the war is over. Shepherd is dead, Makarov is killed as well. The world has regained its peace... not for long before another terrorist arises like any other times. Also, I have revived some of your comrades and their comrades as well. Including Ghost. They're somewhere in this world, you can try to find them.
This world doesn't run like the one you know. There are some rules you must follow, if you don't want to get killed again. Politics doesn't matter here... outside of the human village.
Good luck. Live your new life well.
Sign: A certain someone."
There's also a Japanese paragraph below, but he can't read it.
On one side, he's satisfied. That damn betrayer is dead, one less problem for the world. But... he is dead as well...But he is revived, along with a few more. And he can't return...
"Mister." He turns to the girl, whose expression has softened. "Let me lead you to a friend of mine here. Forest of Magic is not very friendly towards human."
... He's having questions about what she's saying, but hearing 'not very friendly' means that he could still be in danger. He nods then reaches his hands towards his guns, which doesn't make the girl stop him. He checks both guns only to find out they're empty. One of them is his USP 45, and the other is AK47 with Grenade Launcher.
He asks the guns: "Miss, where is their ammo?"
The girl tilts her head. "Ammo? I didn't do anything to them. It just happened to lay next to you, but I have to move them before I healed you."
...One, the guns are useless at the moment. Two: "A bullet wound and fire burnt. That kinds of wounds aren't easily fixed."
She smiles. "Nothing is impossible with magic."
Yep, that word again. Magic. Is he revived in a crazy world? Though, he decides not to question that. Instead, he stands up, straps the weapons on him, and swats the dirt out of his outfit. "If you say this place is dangerous, then we should go now."
Following the girl, he reorders his thoughts. He was revived, thanks to someone who he definitely didn't know, but he is in a different world. At least his world is saved. Soap and Price probably did it, those guys can do impossible things. Some of his comrades are here as well, but they could be in danger. He needs to find them fast.
Also, human village... does that mean... he asks the girl: "Your name is Narumi, right?" She nods. "Did you read the letter?"
"I can't read the first half. But if you know my name, then it should have written it out. Though, the later one gave me enough details about you. You are a soldier, right?" He nods. "In a war?" Same answer. "Got shot by your own ally? Left for death? World was in danger?" All ends up with the nods. "The person wrote that I should lead you to Marisa, as 'those two are alike'."
Alike? "What did that mean?"
"Well, if you meet her, we can find it out."
"Okay then... magic. They are real?"
"I heard that you don't believe in it anymore, right?"
"Considering they are fictional..."
"Then you are wrong. Magic is real, but since you human don't believe anymore, magic nearly went extinct. Gensokyo is where most of magic have left. Though, there are cases when people outside could still do magic."
'That's something to remember.' "So it seems... You said 'you human', and when I read, there's a human village...are there another intelligent race? No offense."
She tilts her head in confusion. "You mean Youkai?"
"... I don't know that term... come to think of it, where is Gensokyo?"
"An isolated part of Japan. You can't find it by normal means."
"...Carry on."
"About Youkai... you could say they could be anything. Like myself. I was a statue of Jizu, but through years of staying in this forest I have turned into a Youkai."
"..." He can't respond. He doesn't know what to say. This is more complicated than he thought. He has heard of strange cultures from Third World countries, or even the communities hidden in the dark corners of large cities. But, to hear about actual magic...
"The letter said you will be confused. Seems like he's right." That snaps him out of his daze. "Here we are mister. Marisa's place."
... "Are you sure? I mean, this one looks..."
"Wild?"
"No. Western."
"Ah, that's right. This was here before Marisa resided here. It's not hers at the beginning."
"It was abandoned?"
"Could be." The girl then walks away. "I think it's enough. Good luck living here and finding your friends soon."
Roach waves goodbye, but before she goes out of sight, he calls her back: "Hey! I forgot to introduce myself!"
The girl giggles back. "Don't worry, I have known it, Roach. By the way, I do know that's your nickname, so I won't laugh." Then the Jizu disappears into the deeper part of the Forest.
"... That's... interesting." That's all he can say. Seems like he gets himself into some kind of fantasy world... like a game that one guy in TF141 keeps playing during his free time. What is it? Something Online, with those weird cartoon-looking images, and... too many girls... "*Shudder* Better not thinking anymore."
Walking up to the house, he observes the tree vines running on the walls, before knocking on the door. Something falls and causes crashing sound, followed by footsteps... then the door opens, revealing its owner. "Hello! Want to buy something from my shop?"
Top to toes... he could just call her 'a blonde maid' to make it simple. But, considering he knows her name: "Hello miss Marisa. My name is Garry, and I was led here by a girl named Narumi."
"Oh, her? Why, you were lost or something?"
"...Something like that. I was here not long ago. Reasons... I don't want to talk."
"Hm...Well then, just come in. Maybe you can find something you like. You have to pay if you want it though."
"Noted."
Upon walking inside, Marisa closes the door and walks to one of the bookshelves. Roach looks around to see books. A lot of books on shelves. And bottles of chemical with various color, none has labels which concerns him a little. There's a ladder leaning on one shelf...
"SO!' Marisa starts. "Garry, isn't it? Why did you head to me instead of the human village?"
"A letter told Narumi to guild me to you. I don't know why, since it's written in your language."
"And yet you're speaking Japanese?"
"... I am? I thought you could speak English?"
"Hm. Seems like that woman's doings then." Who? "Anyway, I sell stuffs here. Magical ones. No books, sorry."
He picks up a book, and ends up putting it down immediately when he notices how it's written. "So you are a witch then. I doubt there's a book I could read here."
"Who knows? I borrowed a lot from Patchouli's Library. There could be some you could read. And I would like to be called a magician." Then she finds out what she needs, and she walks to a... boiling... cauldron. Next to it, various types of... mushrooms are laying around on a table, being cut, chopped, or whole. Some chemical bottles are next to them as well.
"Um...miss Marisa...what are you doing?"
"Oh? Just my work everyday. Don't worry, it's safe."
'That color of liquid is screaming the opposite!' Roach mentally shouts. He's not trusting that looking at all, not after he has seen what happened if combining Mentos and Coke. That thing looks worse than that!
She then pours some more ingredients into the cauldron, causing whatever in it to boil even more violently. "Marisa..."
"It's fine, it's fine! I do this all the times!" Marisa just laughs it off.
"Okay, seriously. I don't know you, but I'm feeling that's a bad idea..."
"Yeah! You don't know me, so you won't know what I'm capable of! So just let me..." The cauldron suddenly shakes up.
'NOPE! NOT GONNA LET HER FINISH THAT!' Grabbing her around the waist, he dives with her behind a table. She tries to pry herself off him, but he's not taking the risk. And then...
Present
"That's pretty much what happened before the explosion."
"I feel you, Roach. That lady back then opened Flashbang and Smoke Grenade right in front of her face."
The two TF141 soldiers decide to help the girls fixing the house up, by letting the smoke off and reordering everything that's blasted off its original positions. They even try to throw the chemical away, but Marisa manages to gather them before they could do so.
"By the way, Ghost. Why was I in that forest instead of being with you?"
Ghost: "Um... you're not going to believe it, but it seems the person who revived us LIKE to teleport into some 'coincident' places. I was dropped into a place of ghosts. Figure out why by yourself."
Roach stares at him blankly. "Really? If that's the truth, then that girl is a roach Youkai?"
"I AM HUMAN!" From a corner shouts out Marisa in utter disbelief that they would think her as one.
Ghost: "Well that one's out. Could it be anything else?"
Roach: "Let's see... what would you think of a roach?"
Ghost: "Dirty. Sneaky. Get into everything. Hard to die..."
Youmu: "Sounds like you alright, Marisa."
Marisa smiles brightly for that: "Yeah, I won't deny that."
Roach groans: "I'm nothing like that. I hope Narumi didn't see me that way."
Ghost: "I doubt that. Anyway, since we know Marisa now, once we're done here, we're heading to another person's home for some clothes."
Roach: "But our clothes..."
Ghost: "We're not going to return, so we better have extra stuffs to change... and try to find a job as well."
Roach: "...You have a point. So, that person's a tailor?"
"She's a doll-maker." Youmu puts a stack of books on a table. "But she makes clothes to sell. We can borrow some from her and pay later."
Marisa: "I'm not sure if Alice would like to see them. Remember the last man trying to flirt with her?"
Youmu nods. "He ends up getting kicked... to the face."
For a moment both of the men cringe when they hear the verb, then sigh in relief. Youmu giggles. "Sorry you two. Just messed with you a bit."
Ghost: "Yeah... we better prepare ourselves."
Roach: "Hope we're not facing the same fate."
Then, their radios pick up signals. Both of them immediately drop what they're doing, as Ghost pulls his own out and starts fixing the signal while speaking: "This is Lieutenant Simon Riley of Task Force 141. Over." More statics. More fixings. "This is Ghost, come in!"
"G...is that... where..." The radio starts catching signals, causing Ghost to pause a bit, before fixing the signal slowly. "...Ghost, where are you?"
When the voice's clear enough, they recognize who's talking to them. Roach immediately says the name of the caller: "Soap?"
"Roach too? You two are revived..."
Ghost nods. "We are. Where are you?"
"At a person's home named Alice. I'm planning to head out to find you..."
Roach interrupts: "Stay there, Soap. We're heading there too. We're helping this person first before going, so wait for a bit."
"Are you in trouble?"
Ghost: "You see the smoke?"
"I doubt there's a person not seeing that. Except they're sleeping for some reasons."
"Night Youkai, maybe." Marisa says from the background.
Ghost and Roach nod, and the former says: "We're finishing soon. Meet you there ASAP."
"Will wait. And I'm glad you two are here."
Roach: "Us too." The call then stops.
Marisa walks to them and asks in wonder: "What is that?"
Ghost: "A hand radio. We can talk to each other, but in a ranged area."
Roach: "Doubt this place has one."
Marisa disagrees: "There's a shop, owned by my friend, that sells Outsiders' stuffs. If necessary, we can head there."
Ghost: "Thanks. But we need to meet our friend first. And we have a lot to catch up."
Chapter 3 end!
I hope you could see that coming. A little check about roach, and it IS really Marisa in a way XD.
SO, with that, I will end this chapter. Soap in Alice's place, try to guess why. See you all in the next chapters!