Prologue 2

A New Home

"Finally made it… Holy crap that was a long walk up…" complained Natsuki as he finally arrived at the entrance of the Shinto gate. Looking forward, he saw two girls having tea at the stairs in front of the shrine.

'Huh, so there are people here. Might as well ask them what this whole place is about.'

Reimu was just sipping the green tea as she met eyes with a strange-looking person that neither her nor Marisa had met before. Immediately, she asks "Who are and what are you doing here?"

"That's what I'd ask myself, but this happened to be the closest thing or place that seemed to make sense and seems like it's safer here than at the lake. That forest seemed dangerous, don't know why, and there are fairies flying around shooting stuff at me," the man retorted.

"Wait, you just came from the Forest of Magic? That place is charmed to make you lose your stamina and power over time. How are you still alive?" said a very surprised Marisa.

"Wait, wait, you mean to say I could've died there?"

"Yeah? But you're obviously alive so that's good I guess." 'This guy might have some powerful magic if he managed to survive running around there. Probably something to reduce the effects if anything,' thought the magician.

"Never mind that, did you seriously walk up the stairs here? Are you a newcomer to Gensokyo?" asked the shrine maiden.

Looking around and recognizing next to nothing other than his own house near the lake, Natsuki nodded. "For all I know, I think my house and myself got transported to whatever this place is. You said Gensokyo?"

"Yeah, just wait a second, let me call a certain gap youkai… YUKARI!"

No answer

"Just our luck, that old hag seems to be hibernating," complained Reimu.

"Wait, youkai? You mean those Japanese spirits that feed on humans?"

"Yeah, except the ones here are past that 'feed on humans' part, except for a certain youkai of darkness," Marisa said nonchalantly. "If anything, most of the small fries and lesser youkais are just trying to play tricks on you or something along those lines. Do you know how to defend yourself? Because if you don't and lose consciousness against those lesser youkais, they might just eat you. They usually don't need to do so as they feed on the spirit energy in the air and Gensokyo is practically an infinite supply for them."

"I-I see. Well, I don't know how to defend myself against anyone in this world, and I kind of need some help learning the ins and outs of danmaku. Sure, I may have seen some similar occurrences, but I definitely can't do anything since I'm pretty much just an ordinary guy," said Natsuki in a worried tone. 'They don't have to know that I could use dark magic or anything along those lines. Why do I also feel like I had seen what these danmaku are? I didn't know they existed or what those barrage of bullets were even called until now, but why do I feel familiar with that term?'

"What's your name anyways? I'm Marisa Kirisame, just an ordinary magician."

"I'm Reimu Hakurei. I'm the shrine maiden here."

"Huh, introductions. Forgot about that. I'm Natsuki Komaeda."

"Well, let me explain how things work around here I guess…"

No, I will not explain stuff here as I am too lazy to do that. If I am to make a proper explanation, you may have to wait for an update. I will explain what danmaku battles are and how they work. Eventually, once we reach IaMP, the battle system will change to that of the fighting games permanently along with they usage of spell cards still being used like the usual schmups. I plan on keeping a BlazBlue-escque style of battle and it works since both fighting games from both series have a barrier system along with what is essentially a drive (spell card in Touhou's case). I plan on making an explanation on how each characters' supposed drive would work at the end of every chapter. Now, moving on with the story.

Spell card battles, or just danmaku battles, involve shooting a barrage of bullets towards the enemy. Usually knocking someone down in a few hits, it's become common for participants in danmaku battles to always dodge incoming bullets whenever necessary.

It's necessary for participants to be able to fly around in the air freely to make sure that the battles are fair and with much more room to move around in as well. Pretty much anyone who have magical powers have learned to fly. Marisa here uses her broom because it allows her to fly around faster, but she can still fly without it.

The reason why we call it Spell Card Battle is due to how we use Spell Cards during battles as well. These are spells and danmaku that have been put together in manner that should be difficult to dodge even for some of the best out there. They usually self-destruct after some time, ending the barrage of bullets and making the user opt back to normal shots again. These used cards can be captured if said person somehow drops their card, but it cannot be used by anyone again unless it is fresh and new. Don't ask how we make these cards; it's just made and infused with the user's own magic and will stay there till it runs out of juice.

"Ok, I'll believe what you just said. I guess I'll have to learn some magic if I want to survive?" asked Natsuki.

"Yup, and I would teach you only the basics, but I need to clean up first." Said Reimu.

Marisa had already left like the ninja she is and Natsuki didn't even notice. Reimu of course knew that, and she just went ahead to get her cleaning supplies. She soon stopped in her tracks as a red mist suddenly appeared near the lake and covered the skies of Gensokyo.

"What the heck? Is that supposed to happen?" asked Natsuki.

"No, I don't know what it is, and it smells like an incident. Just my luck as well, today is the first day of summer," Reimu complained. "I can't leave you here as that would be asking for trouble. Since you appeared in Gensokyo, I guess it has something to do with what happened in your own world and that you got sent here like any other people who were looking for refuge from the outside world. Can you fly?"

Natsuki shook his head. "Never tried it at all."

"Yare yare daze. There's an extra broom Marisa left behind. It should have some magic left so you can try and fly with that for now."

"Guess I'll try then."

Natsuki struggled to make the broom do what he wanted, but he eventually got the hang of it as the two flew away to the source of trouble.

(Touhou Koumakyou - Start)

And that's it for the Prologue! You can expect some longer chapters maybe, but I would like to keep to around 1000-1500 words if possible. Anyways, time to introduce the powers and abilities of both Natsuki and Reimu! No, they are not a pairing in this story. If you saw the Lambda tag, then let that be clue enough as to what may happen. I will definitely keep to keeping some major battles similar to regular battles with some danmaku involved, basically Immaterial and Missing Power style with hints of BlazBlue as well since, well, Natsuki is here.

Natsuki Komaeda

Drive : LOCKED - Phase Shift

Phase Shift allows Natsuki to teleport short distances while leaving a trail of purple particles that have been proven to be harmless. He can attack immediately and can teleport up to three times consecutively. There is a 6 second cooldown to recharge the teleport fully after using all three teleports. Natsuki is unable to use this ability in Gensokyo due to the lack of seithr as well the lack of a grimoire that was absorbed into him and caused his eyes to look purple.

Overdrive : LOCKED – Phase Shift Enhanced

For a short period of time, Natsuki is able to teleport up to 10 times while also being able to create shadows of himself. The cooldown is reduced to 3 seconds to fully recharge. Since Phase Shift is unavailable to Natsuki, he cannot use his overdrive.

Distortion Drive : Infernal Slash (LOCKED)

Natsuki hits the opponent, and chains their limbs to the ground, locking them in place. He then slashes the opponent multiple times with his dagger. (2400 DMG raw, 1500 DMG scaled)

Astral Heat : Void Spark (LOCKED)

An endless void surrounds the opponent. A dark energy blast that can destroy dimensional barriers shoots through the empty space and obliterates anyone standing in it's way. If Natsuki succeeds in sending the opponent into the void (first hit of the attack must connect. Can be used in a combo.), he will gather his power into his hand and then ejects it as a beam of darkness towards the enemy. If used with 100% power, it is guaranteed to erase any trace of anything that is in it's way, leaving nothing behind which is why Natsuki only resorts to using it at around 40% which is his usual maximum due to restraints that keep his seithr at bay.

On that note, Natsuki will be unable to use any of the aforementioned abilities and I will make a new profile for him after he learns to defend himself as he should. Start from zero and make his way to possibly someone worth considering as a regular incident solver.

Reimu Hakurei

Drive : Youkai Buster

Youkai Buster involves two different types of danmaku for Reimu. She has access to homing attacks as well as stronger straight shots that deal more damage when focused to one point. All of Reimu's special attacks that involve shooting danmaku are done through her drive. Reimu does have martial arts training as well so she can handle herself in close combat. Hakurei Amulets can be equipped for more firepower and having all four out at once lets Reimu meet the requirements for performing Evil-Sealing Circle.

Overdrive : None

Spell Cards

Fantasy Sign : Fantasy Seal

Reimu shoots large homing energy blasts that can destroy incoming bullets. A total of 9 shots are sent out and it deals a large amount of damage. (Raw Damage : 2250)

Seal Sign : Evil-sealing Circle

Reimu traps the opponent in a magic circle and shoots down a divine beam from the heavens. Deals a large amount of damage while penetrating any form of defense other than Barrier Blocks. Requires Hakurei Amulets to be unlocked. (Raw Damage : 2670) (Raw Damage if guard is destroyed : 2950)

Last Word : UNKNOWN

You might be confused on Reimu's 2nd spellcard, but it's kind of a reference to how barriers can get smashed and destroyed in both fighting games. In BlazBlue, if the Barrier meter reaches 0, the player enters the Negative State with Danger appearing on the Health Bar. Said meter charges back up slowly and the player leaves the Negative State once the empty Barrier reaches 50% and is usable again. A player can also input and charge up a barrier break attack to break regular blocks. The same also happens in Touhou, and in both cases, according to my experience, you take more damage than usual. Destroying someone's guard is just a niche for Reimu to deal more damage than usual, but Barrier Blocks cannot be pierced through although it still takes away 50% of the Barrier meter and it cannot regenerate for 10 seconds. This is just how I think it would work in-game so don't worry, just know that it pierces all defenses and Natsuki's Barrier Block is the only way to successfully block said attack. Despite being this insane, the only drawback is that it requires setup which I will show later on in the EoSD arc. Speaking of EoSD, Chapter 1 is next, and the first arc is Embodiment of the Scarlet Devil.