Chapter 5
The Touhou franchise is owned by ZUN, and as such I own nothing in this story other than my own original creations.
Reisen was inwardly scowling. The information they had gotten about Xhi from Reimu was telling of the woman's capabilities. Her telekinesis and ability to disengage Fantasy Seal were the most telling about her power, but her skill in combat wasn't glossed over either. But that wasn't what infuriated her. The entire time these people have been going through fight after fight with this woman and losing, and yet Reisen herself, the person with the most stakes in all this, had just been sitting on her hands, waiting for the others to do their thing.
Well she could wait no longer. As soon as Reimu had finished her story, she immediately stood up. "Yukari, open a gap to Xhi's house. I'm going after her." To say this surprised everyone was an understatement based on the looks on their faces. After around a minute of silence, Yukari herself started laughing, causing even more bewildered expressions on the faces of the other three, and Reisen to inwardly groan. Eventually, Marisa spoke up. "Okay, first Reisen says she wants to charge headfirst into a fight with someone who's curbstomped all three of us, and then Yukari starts laughing. Is there something we're missing here?"
At this point, Yukari had managed to calm herself before responding back. "Sorry about that, I just realized why Reisen was looking so irritated." Yukari obliges by Reisen's request and opens a gap near her destination. "Now, if you're looking to settle the score, I suggest you do it while still have this burst of drive." Reisen nodded to Yukari before heading through the gap to her destination.
Reisen was expecting to get dropped at the shack, not a couple feet away from it. Oh well, she was here no point griping now. The door opens as usual. 'Huh, her face does look intimately familiar. Wait, why is she smiling?'
Xhi soon burst into a fit of laughter, and not the pleasent, joking kind she would've expected. This was the "I'm about to snap into a sadistic fit, so you better get as far away from me as possible" kind of laughter. There was that polite tone sure, but underneath it, Reisen could practically feel the primal hysteria wafting off her. And with that, whatever courage she had when going to face this woman wilted almost immediately, and all she wanted to do was get as far away from her as possible.
Xhi managed to calm herself before finally speaking."My, I didn't think anyone actually made it out of that mess, and yet here you are, sanity and control intact." Reisen instinctively took a step back when she said that. 'How is this woman a human?' Her voice almost seemed garbled when she said those words, like there was a hidden demon that was finally breaking out. Still, Reisen knew she had stakes. She couldn't chicken out of this fight, and with that, some semblance of courage returned, though it was a far cry from what it was before.
"Listen Xhi, I dont care what the hell you're planning or why you're planning it. But here, you'll either release everyone under you're influence willingly or I'll force you to." At this Xhi started laughing even harder than before, calming herself after a few seconds, and then spoke in a voice that wasn't distorted this time. "Wow, that's a bold proclomation. The bravery you're displaying while facing me is rather amusing."
Xhi soon turns around, not allowing Reisen to see her face. "Still, you have potential. Potential I want to see brought out to it's fullest. Which is why I promise, upfront and wholeheartedly, to go against all my instincts, and not murder you here and now." Xhi soon starts chuckling. 'What about this situation is so funny to you?!' Reisen had been screaming this in her head for a while now, almost like a mantra. "No." And with that word, Xhi turned her head, revealing her face had now been smeared with a cheshire cat grin so large it seemed physically impossible for the facial muscles required for the action to pull off, accompanied by bloodshot eyes higlighting her green irises. She soon spoke once again in that mangled tone. "I'll just beat you so hard your ears will rupture from the screams you'll be making!"
With those words, Xhi clences her fist... and Reisen screams so loud she swore her eardrums actually did rupture, before collapsing to the ground in agonizing pain. 'What in the world? It feels like my insides are being... compressed.' Reisen then coughs up so much blood that if it weren't for the irregular movement of her chest, you'd think she was vomiting it. Before she could move though, Xhi grabbed her by the head, before slowly closing her hand around it, purposefully straining the bones around her skull near their breaking point. All the while Xhi still had that massive grin on her face. Reisen feels the unendurable pain for a whole minute before finally losing consciousness.
Xhi drops her "opponent" before stretching her limbs. She could fully admit that what just happened was pretty great stress relief, but not good for flexing her legs, so to speak.
Before she goes back inside, she checks on her prior casualty, only to find them gone, with the only trace of what happened being a brief moment of a gap closing up, yet it was enough to make her smirk. 'So the Youkai Sage has finally found me. Good, took her long enough.'
With that thought she finally heads back inside. This next fight was certainly going to be interesting.
Shock was the ultimate euphemism for the general reaction of the room upon seeing Reisen's state. Quite frankly, they were appalled at just how much damage Xhi could cause if she wanted. Alice, Marisa and Reimu knew they were lucky to have not seen her full wrath.
Speaking of the rabbit girl, the other's could see her stirring, and eventually opening her eyes. She looks to the others with an almost inquisitive expression, before having a face that seemed like she realized what was going on. "I am never having a show of courage like that ever again!"
I think I had a bit too much fun writing this chapter. Quite frankly, this is not only the shortest chapter so far, but it's also hands down one of the absolute darkest I will ever write for this story. I might have had fun with that scene, but I know blatant torture like this isn't something you should ever take lightly, and I tried my best to give the characters the appropriate reactions to Reisen's injuries. I wasn't kidding when I said I was going to be a massive jerk to her.
