Mr. A Ending – Anton decides to side with Mr. A.
-Anton Drevov's POV- (Human Village, two hours before disaster strikes…)
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...
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„…Mr. A!"
After I had exclaimed out loud who I picked, I immediately could tell from their reactions who felt what.
Mennini wasn't surprised at all, I could easily tell that he was disappointed.
Mr. A was clapping his hands together in excitement, walking over to me while slightly laughing.
Johann… is just standing there. Menacingly… If I may add.
Why did I go with Mr. A? He is a native to this Gensokyo, so he certainly knows best with how to deal with things. Not to mention, he is right. If the youkai remain, no one can ever truly feel safe. They must be dealt with, and I believe regardless if we beg for mercy or not, we are already screwed. So why not go for a total war and try to either reduce the youkai to zero, or the human population?
Only one side may survive. Otherwise this conflict will never be resolved!
Mr. A is confident that everything will go according to plan. Let's hope his plan will grant humanity not only victory, but also salvation.
„Ahaha! I knew I could rely on you, my Vozhd! Do not worry! I will explain everything to you in grant detail now! After all, all of us need to be adequately prepared!"
Mr. A exclaimed, as he walked next to me to look for something inside a large box filled with various items.
„…My Vozhd."
After hearing someone call me, I turn to face Mennini who had a stoic expression, but I could see the anger hiding beneath it, slowly building up as he tried his best to contain it.
„Thank you for everything, but I will be going now. You may be suicidal and care even less about others, but I don't. And I certainly am not willing to die for a stupid cause as this. I rather try to save myself if no one else is willing to. Call me coward or traitor, but I am done with this."
„Hey, Mennini, wait!"
I tried to tell Mennini to stop, but he had already rushed outside and was heading towards and village exit, presumably.
„Ignore that fool, my Vozhd. We have plenty of things to do and we cannot be bothered by someone like him. Aha! Here it is…"
Before I looked over to what Mr. A found, I tried to find Johann in the room. However, I only found the lack of Johann in this room instead.
I wonder where he went. Did he too, get angry and left? Well, I will give him a piece of my mind once I see him. This is, after all, the second time he disappeared when he was needed! I do not care if he becomes even more eerie the next time he shows up, I will punch him right between his round glasses if that teaches him to stay put in place and not wander around like a bored cat or whatever!
„Here, we need you to be well armed, after all."
…what in the…
„Mr. A…? What sort of firearm is this? I don't remember this being in the weapon cart!"
Mr. A only laughed at this. Before smiling and explaining the origin of this firearm to me.
„It's because it wasn't. This here, I managed to obtain a long time ago. I never grasped how it worked, but since I do now and you honoured me with your decision. I think you deserve to carry this weapon. Oh, and these things here should be what goes into this slot, is that correct?"
…
„Yes, that is correct. But… how… how did you obtain an AK-47?"
The firearm, is an old AK-47. It looks in good condition, but one can tell that it has seen better days. The ammunition to it seems to be enough to shoot to one's heart's content. At least, if one is to be sparse with it.
„AK what? Is that's the name you Outsiders call it under?"
„Yes, this is a very renowned firearm, after all. …Where exactly did you obtain this one?"
„We found this on one occasion where we searched for an artefact which could protect the village from youkai threats, instead of finding that artefact, we found this in a container along with the things you feed to it. I was curious, so I took it with me."
„Hmm, I see. Well, I gladly accept this gift. Seems more familiar with me than these other firearms we gained."
„I am glad to be of service. After all, we both have the same end goals, so we must help each other along the way. At least one of the two of us must remain at all costs, otherwise the villagers might lose hope in freedom from youkai!"
„Yeah… But what now? You mentioned a second attack from behind the mountain?"
„Exactly, yes! Here, we attacked from here, now I will go and gather my members to attack from there! That way, we can very likely get them worried and assure victory!"
Mr. A explained, as he kept pointing and dragging his finger along the map for me to see his war plans.
„Now, my Vozhd. I request you to barricade yourself in here. In case I don't come back in the next thirty minutes, expect that something must have gone wrong. I will make sure that no one comes in here. However, if someone does, open fire with the weapon I gave you!"
„What? But what if it was you, coming back?"
„Well, in that case… I know! If you hear the sentence "The Secret Association is here!" ridiculous as it sounds, that's going to be me. So don't shot then, but in any other case, fire away!"
„Hm, alright. Just could you tell me, why, I have to stay here?"
Mr. A shakes his head in disappointment.
„My Vozhd, you are the chief of the village, or have you forgotten? If you die or get captured, the villagers might falter or lose the will to fight as their chief might die or is dead! Your safety is the utmost priority!"
„…I guess."
„Good! Now, if you excuse me, I must hurry! We have enemies to remove from this soon to be human land! Ahahaha!"
After a short while, I can no longer hear Mr. As laughter as he was now too far away.
Deciding to do as he says, I knock over both tables and move furniture around to block the windows and make cover for me, while making sure the door is able to be slid open.
…
I hope you can save us humans, Mr. A. You have all of my confidence at the moment. If you fail, I doubt we will live after this.
Not really feeling like any of us will be spared if this ends poorly for us. If we had low chances to before, now we have none.
…
…
I hope you can forgive me if I fail to stand my ground in the worst case scenario. You were there and you helped me get this far, and I will try my best to last.
-3rd Person POV- (Human Village Outskirts, one hour and forty-five minutes before disaster strikes…)
„Get ready, we're about five minutes away from the village." Reimu said, her warning mostly aimed at the two Outsiders who decided to join in to help take down Anton.
„Finally! I was starting to get sick from these fairies and youkai blocking our way like four times! What the hell is their problem!?" Mike complained, agitated by the rough journey they had gone through.
While the group of four was making haste to arrive to the village by foot, they were slowed down by many fairies getting in the way to cause a bit of mischief, along with a few other individuals who had a bone to pick with at least one person from the group.
„Hell, that ice fairy almost beheaded me with an ice ball! A fuckin' ball made out of pure ice!" Mike stated.
„Stop complaining, I took care of her and her friends as quickly as they came." Reimu rolled her eyes, getting annoyed from the comments.
„Well, yes. I am grateful for that. Issue is, we wouldn't have had to deal with her if a certain someone here wouldn't have thrown a knife at her in the first place a few days prior!"
Mike said, slightly glancing at Sakuya, which was giving him a piercing gaze.
„That annoying fairy would still have attacked us, for a different reason. Best to remove her quickly without a second thought." Sakuya answered, keeping her perfect composure intact.
„Oh really? Then why didn't you do anythin'? You were expecting us to take care of the problem or what?" Mike inquired, as Sakuya didn't throw a single knife at anything until now. Merely dodging and slicing the occasional fairy if it tried to tackle her in any way.
„Yes."
…
…
Suddenly, everyone stopped moving, including Reimu, who turned to look at Sakuya, tilting her head slightly.
„Excuse me? What does that exactly mean?"
„As I have said, Lady Remilia tasked me to accompany you. However, she also stated that I shall only observe and not involve myself in anything unless I need to defend myself." Sakuya answered.
…
„Great. That means I am going to have to do everything again, as always." Reimu stated with a deadpanned expression.
They resumed their walk while Mike kept recalling the other encounters with youkai such as a bird type of youkai, which only attacked them because 17 accidently spooked a few birds which were pecking at something in a bush close to the path they were walking on, safe to say that even a slight misunderstanding was quickly resolved with bullets rather than communications.
Eventually, they finally arrived in front on the village. Now, they had to get past two guards guarding it. One carried a spear, while the other carried one of the firearms.
„Halt! State your bu- Oh. It's the shrine maiden." Said the guard with the spear, keeping it pointed at them.
„As well as that maid and the two Outsiders from earlier." Said the second guard with the firearm, slowly raising it to aim at them.
„Open the gate. I need to have a word with a certain Vozhd guy or whatever he is called." Reimu states, not in the mood to wait.
„Uhhh… what were we meant to do if someone comes around?" Asked the first guard, glancing over to the second guard, while tightly clutching the spear. He was slightly sweating from anxiety.
„…" The second guard appeared to know exactly what they were ordered to do if anyone, even the Hakurei shrine maiden, comes by.
„Ugh, just let us in or-." Reimu said, as she was slightly raising her gohei, before she immediately dashed to her right.
*DUT DUT DUT*
The guard with the firearm suddenly opened fire at them. This also made the guard with the spear charge at them.
Mike grabbed 17 and threw himself to the ground with him. As pretending to be dead was probably the best choice they had at the moment.
The guard with the spear charged at Sakuya, who was standing still without any worry. This slightly worried the spearman, as he was unsure what the maid was planning to do, if anything at all.
The guard with the spear was about to impale Sakuya, when she suddenly side stepped the guard, making him trip on her foot she placed in front of his feet and proceeded to knock the guard into the ground as he was falling down, knocking him unconscious the moment he hit the ground, hard.
While the guard with the spear was taken care of, the guard with the firearm tried his best to hit the shrine maiden, but kept missing.
And before the guard realized what has happened, Reimu had already knocked the weapon out of his hands, leaving him bare handed.
„I ask one last time, let u-"
Reimu was saying, before the disarmed guard attempted to punch her square into her face. This failed as Reimu bend backwards to avoid the incoming fist.
She grabbed his outstretched arm, and threw him behind her. The guard was quickly flying through the air until he landed onto the ground, and decided to just remain there, in order to not get beaten up any further.
With the last guard taken care of, Mike and 17 rose back up and cleaned themselves from the dirt and dust they had now on their clothes, while Reimu proceeded to forcefully open up the passage into the Human Village.
As the Incident Resolvers got inside, Mike spoke out.
„Alright, you go and restore order or whatever, we go and try finding Anton and beat him up. C'mon, 17."
„On it!"
„What? Wai- Oh dammit!"
Before Reimu managed to stop the two Outsiders, they have already ran off into an alleyway along the walls of the village.
„As long as they remain undetected, they shouldn't face much harm in this village. Despite the circumstances." Sakuya said, standing behind Reimu with her hands crossed.
„As long as they don't get in the way…" Reimu exhaled, before going down the road deeper into the village itself.
As the both of them walked down the road, they noticed that the village market streets appeared empty, they only saw the occasional villager or two, placing down defensive measures in fear that they might soon get attacked by youkai.
Soon, they arrived near the village centre. The HQ was close by, however, they soon saw someone approaching them.
Reimu immediately prepared a fighting stance once she realized that it was one of the Outsiders which were causing the trouble in this village, but that wasn't needed as the approaching Outsider was signalling that he wasn't here to fight, but discuss.
„Don't hurt me! I don't want to fight, I wish to surrender and… well… get the hell away from these lunatics." Mennini said, as he was ten meters in front of them. Keeping his distance just in case.
„What? You want to surrender and get away scot free?" Reimu questioned, unsure if this was genuine or a possible trap.
„I don't care if I get punished, I just don't want to be associated with those who caused this mess! I would rather help fix things then procced with this madness! So, please let me help!" Mennini begged, he had finally had enough with being the loyal lapdog of the Vozhd.
He decided to do what was right in his mind and try to at the very least save himself and then save those who too, do not want to be a part of this.
„I see. Very well, you can start by helping us locate where this Vozhd guy is." Reimu said, she was glad that this guy was willing to help and make this whole thing easier for her. After all, if he was going to tell them where the troublemaker was, that would spare a significant amount of time.
„Oh, alright. Well, if you go into the direction I came from, you should se-"
*BANG*
…!?
Reimu's reflexes didn't fail her, as she shifted her body to the left side, narrowly avoiding a bullet which almost hit her in the neck.
She looked in front of her and was shocked to see something she didn't expect to happen. She wasn't sure if she could believe her own two eyes, but the gasp she heard from Sakuya confirmed her fears.
Mennini wasn't the one who shot the bullet at Reimu, rather, someone shot the bullet THROUGH Mennini's head.
Mennini… was missing the right side of his head, as it was deformed and blood was gushing out of him as his body swayed for a few moments. Before at last, he fell to the ground.
As Reimu looked up from the bleeding body, she saw the person who had shot Mennini and almost her as well.
The revolver the person was holding was still emitting a bit of smoke after being fired.
The person holding the revolver was…
Johann.
„What a splendorous morning, isn't that right, ladies?" Johann smiled at the two individuals as he put the gun down to his side, holding onto it.
„You idiot, you do realize that guy was with you, right?" Reimu said, shaking her head in disappointment. She was THIS close to have an easier job, but alas, the world was against her and forced her to do everything once more.
„Was he? Hmm… I don't remember a traitor to be with us, besides, he was going to make this boring, wasn't he? Spoiling where the rabbit had hid the Easter eggs is simply unheard of." Johann said, confusing both Reimu and Sakuya with the last sentence.
„After all, if the lapdog has contracted a terrible disease, why not put it out of its misery?" Johann pointed out, making sure they realized no one was messing around anymore.
„Hm. Well, I suggest you step aside. Or do wish to end up as the one on the ground?" Reimu said, as she slowly stepped forward.
„Oh, your attempt at a threat is pathetic. After all… if you were truly capable of killing me, why not do it right away?"
…
Reimu now understood.
This was no simple Outsider anymore.
Johann threw the revolver away, as he slowly floated upwards. Engulfed in a shadowy aura, his eyes were glowing red behind the glass of his round glasses. A smile which became inhuman was sending shivers to anyone around. Expect Reimu and Sakuya.
This was a youkai.
A youkai who was asking to be exterminated for not only killing an Outsider, which could be excused, but for likely killing other villagers. Which was a death sentence.
„Ugh, you darn fool. Fine, let's get this over with. I quickly exterminate you and beat up the guy in charge and have this madness end at once." Reimu exclaimed, slowly floating up herself as she pointed her gohei at Johann.
„Come. Come, and prove to me just how powerful you are!" Johan cackled, before getting into a fighting stance himself.
A magical battle was about to begin.
(Human Village, one hour and twenty minutes before disaster…)
Meanwhile, Mike and 17 managed to get to the opposite side and were closing in on the HQ, where they expect Anton to be hiding like the coward which he is. At least, that's what Mike believes to be the case.
Mike pops his head out to check the corner, after not seeing anything, he turns to face 17 and speaks.
„Alright. The coast is clear, let's go beat that madman up."
„Yeah, but… we won't kill him, right?" 17 asked, not feeling up to the idea of taking anyone's life.
„Nah, we just bruise him and-"
„I don't think you will bruise anyone. Not you or… you."
Both Mike and 17 stand on guard as Takeo appeared in front of them, holding a revolver and pointing it at them.
Takeo was glaring at 17, for he has already met him during the night, and was aware that the both of them most likely are against him and the village.
„Pal, no need to open fire now, ight? Let's all just calm down…" Mike said, holding his hands in front of him, with 17 doing the same.
„No need? I believe putting both of you to rest would be the best choice." Take said, making sure he always had the revolver pointed at one of them.
„You don't have to, pal. We just go down on the ground, and you can tie us up, y'know?" Mike was saying, as he was slowly lowering to the ground, with his hands reaching for the dusty ground as well.
„You can't get out of this one, I'm afraid. Sorry, but this is for the best." Takeo said, before he slowly started to put pressure on the trigger.
„…I too am afraid, but not sorry." Mike stated, as he was touching the dusty ground with his hands.
„Wh-" Takeo stopped his motion for a single moment, to grasp what Mike meant, only to receive the answer the most unexpected way.
Mike was quick to grab a handful of dirt and sand from the dried out street and hurl it into the air right into Takeo's face.
„AHH!"
*BANG*
As Takeo closed his eyes and moved the hand holding the revolver, he accidently fired a shot which was flying into 17 direction. 17 was quick to act, and jump backwards into the wall of a house as the bullet went past him and into the house.
It seems the house was empty at the moment, for no screams or panic erupted as the only reminder that a shot was fired was the bullet hole in the wall. A trace of gunpowder was nowhere to be seen…
As Takeo managed to snap out of the sudden surprise attack, he witnessed Mike throwing himself at him.
Takeo quickly managed to grab on of his hands, but Mike grabbed the one which held the revolver.
They both struggled to push the other off or gain the upper hand. While Takeo tried his best to aim the revolver at Mike, Mike knew he still had an ace up his sleeve and that all he needed to do was keep Takeo in place.
„17, would appreciate some help here!" Mike said out loud.
Takeo realized immediately that he was in a disadvantage and attempted to kick Mike off of him. However, Mike foresaw this course and action, and by being the first to act, managed to kick Takeo in the patella, sending him down on the ground as Takeo lost his balance.
While Takeo was on the ground 17 rushed over to help tackle Takeo.
Takeo wasn't about to let that happen, however, as he used all his upper body strength to try and yank Mike to the side when he suddenly pulled to his left. This worked as Mike lost his grip on the revolver for a second, allowing Takeo to try and aim it at Mike's head.
Mike quickly duck and threw his whole body at Takeo to try and avoid getting shot.
Both men now laid on the ground, as Takeo's back made contact with his back, he let go of the revolver as it slipped out of his hand. While Mike immediately tried to go for it, Takeo had already attempted to once more get the revolver.
Mike and Takeo were struggling, slightly pushing, kicking and punching each other, not allowing one of them to obtain a window of opportunity over the other.
When suddenly…
„S-Stop fighting!"
While Mike and Takeo were trying to both break free from this dead lock, 17 pulled out the knife and attempted to stab Takeo in the hand. Which would leave him no choice but to retrieve his hand and let go of the gun.
But the moment 17 was about to strike, Takeo and Mike rolled into 17. In that moment, 17 lost balance and the knife went down past the intended targeted spot.
While 17 failed to stab Takeo in the hand, he managed to stab Takeo somewhere else…
„Gaaah! Grggllgrrhaaa!"
„O-Oh my god! No! I-"
„Fuck!"
17 was in shock. Mike on the other hand, was quick to let go of Takeo and grab the gun from Takeo as Takeo fully gave up on it.
Instead, Takeo tried his best to rip the knife out from his throat, as he was in total shock and grasping for air.
„I'm so sorry! I didn't meant to! T-This wasn't my intention!" 17 was too shocked to do anything else but yell apologies at the bleeding and suffocating person on the ground.
„Don't look at it, c'mon, we gotta move!" Mike was quick to grab 17 by the shoulder and start pushing him away while covering his eyes.
„Mike, no! We have to help him! He's going to die!" 17 begged Mike to stop and help.
„Shit's fucked! There is no saving him, now move it! He wanted to shoot us dead anyways, now let's go before anyone else comes around!"
Mike dragged 17 all the way into the building which they assumed to be where the Vozhd was hiding.
„I-I just killed a m-man… I just..." 17 was still in a state of shock.
He had already stabbed an eye out from a youkai. But this was different. He had just stabbed someone in the neck by mistake. There was no doubt Takeo was going to die if no one comes to save him.
„Listen 17, it was either him or us! You di-" Mike was trying to calm down 17, but it seemed to only make things worse.
„But I didn't want to kill him!" 17 almost yelled, but Mike placed his hand onto his mouth to lower the volume and not draw attention from any nearby listeners.
„Shhh! Anton is likely in this building, we gotta get our shit together and procced like we planned to."
Mike explained, looking around if someone's is coming.
„I… I feel sick to my stomach…" 17 said, he seemed very pale and was likely close to vomiting the contents of his stomach, which wasn't much, but still wouldn't be good.
„Calm down, okay? I'm here. Look at me. I'm here and I'm telling you everything will be fine. We are going to make this out alive and no one else is going to die, okay?"
Mike was fully serious and 17 was quick to realize this. 17 managed to calm down a little, but still felt horrible after what had happened like a minute ago.
„Do you want to sit this one out while I go beat that madman up?" Mike sincerely asked, he knew having 17 be present once he confronts Anton would be good, but he didn't want to drag 17 in when he would be unable to stand on his own two legs.
„N-No… I'm good… l-let's just get this over with…"
Mike helped 17 back up, since he had to sit down to calm down.
„Ight, let's go then. If things go wrong, we can use this to state our point." Mike said, as he checked the revolver which he took from Takeo.
„Hmm… I saw a few revolvers in a museum once, but this one looks unlike anything I've seen before. Perhaps it's been modified, with what or how, I don't know."
Mike said under his breath. As he finished examining it, both Mike and 17 went to search for Anton.
„Good. I think he is in this room. On three."
„One."
„Two…"
…
„and three!"
As Mike yelled three, he kicked the sliding door frame in, which resulted in half the wall collapsing in front of them and revealing the room to them.
As they saw what was inside, both of them had a terrible feeling. The whole room was turned upside down, as there were barricades everywhere and a table was lying down as a barrier close to the wall they just send collapsing down onto the wooden floor.
„Wh-! You two!?"
The person hiding behind another table which was flipped to act as a shield, suddenly exclaimed when taking a look at who has just busted inside the room.
It was…
The Vozhd!
„Anton! We came to put an end to your shitshow!" Mike yelled at Anton while pointing the revolver at him, but all that has done was turn Anton's shock, into a slight smirk which continued to grow by the second.
„You will need a bigger gun for that to happen…!" Anton said.
„I beli-"
*BANG*
Mike wasted no time and immediately opened fire the moment he noticed Anton pull out and aim the assault rifle he had.
Anton leaned to his right and managed to dodge the shot while opening fire on his own.
*KA DUTDUTDUTDUTDUT*
Both Mike and 16 dived down to behind the laid down second table to use it as cover. However, it was only a matter of time before they would need to switch positions as the shots Anton was firing were slowly chipping away their cover.
„…Blasted fools! Didn't think I was prepared for intruders, did you!?"
Anton was saying, as he stopped firing aim properly.
Mike didn't give Anton the chance and immediately raised the revolver over the table and fired several shots. This forced Anton to take cover behind the first table himself, before quickly using both his hands to raise the assault rifle and blindly fire at them to try and supress them, and if lucky hit them.
Mike was quick to realize that Anton had the superior firepower at the moment, and that time was off the essence!
The moment Mike heard that Anton needed to reload as the assault rifle signalled that it had run out of ammunition, was the moment Mike peaked out and tried to aim where Anton was covering.
Anton was quickly reloading the assault rifle with another magazine which he had placed on him earlier, but saw his life flashing before his eyes as a bullet went through the table right next to his head, barely missing him.
Anton rolled to the side and finished reloading, quickly placing the gun out in the open to continue raining fire on the both of them.
17 quickly changed cover and crawled over behind a large crate while Anton was reloading, to give Mike more room to dodge the incoming rapid fire.
As Anton once more opened fire, Mike was starting to sweat as the second table was almost completely wrecked and filled with holes. Mike kept firing at Anton in return just to make sure Anton doesn't get the chance to aim properly.
This resulted in Anton to fire multiple shots at the ceiling, which weakened the structure significantly as time went on.
After yet another minute, Anton was heavily breathing. He still had several bullets in his magazine but was forced to stop firing as he realized that until now, Mike didn't need to reload a single time.
Mike also realized this, but he knew something was different the moment he saw that the shots he fired from the revolver appeared far more blue than they should be. Which, they shouldn't be at all.
They were now in a standoff, waiting for the other to shoot as none of them dared to leave cover to take a peak, expecting the other to be waiting for them.
However, each of them were covering. It quickly turned awkward. Anton spoke up soon after.
„We both know it's just a matter of time until one of us has nowhere to hide and gets shot by the other!" Anton yelled.
„Why don't you two just pack up and leave me the fuck alone! I promise I will hold my fire while you do!" Anton negotiated, but Mike smelled bullshit all over his words. He knew Anton was lying through his teeth and would immediately take the chance to blast open their heads the moment he could.
„Nice try, dickhead! But I rather leave after ya have long departed into the afterlife!"
Mike yelled, as he stood up from his cover and attempted to aim down at Anton, but at the same moment, Anton decided to stand up as well and aimed down on the one who posed the bigger threat for him. This was Mike, since he was the one with a firearm.
Both were about to start blasting once more, until they looked to the wall on Mikes left and Anton's right, as everyone, including 17 who risked to take a quick peek, heard something loud coming right towards that very wall.
Before they managed to even get a single thought out, the sound of the wall breaking was heard and all which could be seen was a massive ash cloud which caused a smokescreen like effect to take place, as Mike, Anton and 17 started coughing.
Just what the hell was that? Was the thought of both Mike and Anton.
(Human Village, one hour and thirty-five minutes before disaster…)
Marisa was on her way back to the village, flying as fast as she could with her broom.
„Almost there! I can already see the village from afar, da ze!" Marisa said to herself, pushing herself against the wind to get there quickly.
Marisa managed to go around the battlefield going on at the Youkai Mountain, she saw the situation was stable but she had to hurry. After all, she didn't have much time to spare.
As Marisa was descending down, a guard operating a large machine gun mounted on a platform last night close to the village walls spotted her.
He recognized the flying individual as Marisa, and decided not to fire at her.
„Hey! Someone's approaching! Open fire!" Said a member of the SHA/SHS, who stood up after sitting down to look at the approaching threat.
„Why? That's just that weird girl, Marisa. I know her father quite well, why should I attempt to shoot her down? She'll likely just blow us up instead…" The guard who was manning the turret answered. He clearly wasn't going to shoot her.
So the SHA/SHS member pushed him off the platform.
Luckily, the guard only got knocked out from the fall and only slightly bruised a few spots, so the damage was minimal. Now, however, the SHA/SHS member was manning the gun, and now the turret was starting to take aim at the flying kleptomaniac.
*TRRR DUNDUNDUNDUNDUN-*
The bullets flew fast, but Marissa expected to be shot at once more. She swung left and right, did a U-turn and even a barrel roll to avoid many of the flying projectiles. After avoiding them for a good minute or two, she decided to dive down right into the turret.
The fanatical SHA/SHS member started to sweat as Marisa suddenly was so close, he could see her smirk as she dodged one last bullet, and dropped a flask right at the fanatic's feet.
„Ah, shi-"
Were the last words before a rather large explosion occurred, which destroyed both the turret and platform.
Marisa didn't waste any further time, flying away from the explosion she caused without looking back. As she flew height above the village, looking for Reimu, she quickly spotted a person fly high up into the air as well. She decided to investigate and as she approached, she was quick to realize that the person was fighting with Reimu!
She quickly grabbed a particular item from under her witch hat, and flew closer as she began charging a large laser we all know and love…
(Human Village, one hour and thirty minutes before disaster…)
While Marisa was avoiding bullets, a magical battle begun.
Johann, who has revealed to have become a youkai somehow, started sending waves after waves of dark purplish flame projectiles at Reimu.
Reimu was shooting her own danmaku at Johann, who dodged with ease.
However, so did Reimu. Both opponents had a hard time hitting each other, but it was clear to say if even one hit the other, it could result in a chain reaction.
Both Reimu and Johann kept their distance, they weren't going to engage into hand to hand combat without reason. While Johann had to fully rely on his own dodge skills for the most part, Reimu could always create a small barrier to shield herself, if only for a brief moment.
The dark purplish flames Johann was shooting appeared lethal, being hit by one could resume in severe burns. Reimu wasn't going to test that theory, she kept dodging and shooting, rarely grazing a flame or two.
Each time one of the two dodged, it resulted in more damage to the buildings around them. The dark purplish flames where burning on various spots, but it seemed they refused to expand. However, even then, the area around them proceeded to look more like an abandoned ruin, then a prosperous village.
Several minutes have already passed, as Sakuya waited in the back. She observed every little detail, for she needed the most accurate information she could obtain from this. After all, Lady Remilia would love to hear an exact description on how everything turned out to be.
Sakuya was standing far away enough to only occasionally be bothered by a stray bullet from either Reimu or Johann.
Johann and Reimu were flying up and down while trying to hit each other from head to toe, anywhere where it could prove to be a decisive hit. Unfortunately, both always managed to get close to hitting the other, but ultimately failing.
Johann created a wall of dark purplish flames and threw it at Reimu. The wall blocked every danmaku from Reimu as it flew towards her. Reimu decided to drop on the ground and duck under it, before leaping over several dark purplish flames right after.
Johann was impressed with the skill the shrine maiden proved. It was at this point Johann realized he might have to reconsider his approach. He decided to rise higher up in the air to avoid a sudden burst from Reimu, which possibly could have hit him if he went down to the ground to dodge it.
After yet another miss, Reimu knew that this would take too long if she were to procced like this, so she decided to use her first spell card and possibly end this right now.
As she was holding one in-between her fingers, and did a spin in the air to dodge five flame bullets from Johann, she was about to call out her attack when suddenly…
„MAAAASTEEER SPAAAAAAAAARK!"
Both Reimu and Sakuya turned to face the direction where the scream came from. Johann did so as well, but instead of seeing a person, he saw a massive laser right in front of him.
The massive laser, at last, was the thing to hit Johann as he was sent flying further down the street until colliding with a building, breaking through the wall.
„Ha! Didn't expect that, did ya!?" Marisa yelled as she pointed towards the direction the figure was sent flying.
Both Reimu and Sakuya flew up towards the ordinary magician as they waited for the dust to clear out.
„You certainly never fail to appear out of nowhere, Marisa." Reimu said, as she pursued after Johann into the direction he was master sparked to.
„Hehe, well, I'm always ready to kick some ass, da ze!" Marisa said, joining Reimu and following after her to help.
Sakuya quickly flew after them to continue her observation for Lady Remilia.
As they arrived, the dust and ash has just settled down, but the cough fit of several people did not.
„*Cough**Cough* J-Johann!? The fuck are you doing here!? What the hell hap-" Anton spoke up once he realized Johann suddenly broke through the wall and landed almost next to him, but was quickly interrupted.
„Oh, be silent you pitiful dog. Help me by shooting these slippery bastards!" Johann ordered as he summoned more dark purplish flames from his hands and threw them at Reimu and Marisa as they quickly dodged the small barrage.
„Wha-!? Reimu and Marisa!? What are you guys doing here!? Wha-" 17 yelled before dropping to the floor to avoid a flame which Johann threw into his direction.
„Just beating people up like always, ze!" Marisa yelled, before shooting several star shaped danmaku at Johann who jumped over the table shield and Anton jumped back to avoid getting hit by them.
„Wait, that fucker here is Johann!?" Mike suddenly yelled as he noticed Johann throwing more projectiles at Reimu and Marisa.
„I have no idea who that is but I guess so!" Marisa said, as she dropped onto the floor and sent several more danmaku towards Johann at close range. Johann responded to that by raising yet another wall made out of the dark flames and sending it flying towards Marisa, who simply jumped over it and continued firing.
„This building won't last if this kee-" Mike was saying, as he looked towards 17. Mike was trying to tell 17 that the both of them should get the fuck out until it's too late, but was cut short by someone everyone seemed to have forgotten about.
„Enough!"
*KA DUTDUTDUT-clickclick*
„AGH!"
As everyone turned to look at who yelled, 17 was the first to scream out.
„MIKE!"
Quickly standing up from the floor he jumped towards Mike who was kneeling down after getting hit in the shoulder by a bullet from Anton's assault rifle.
„Dammit! ...put it in, put it in…!" Anton was mumbling to himself as the magazine just ran out of bullets and he quickly needed to reload, while hiding behind rubble and the hole filled table.
„Its fine 17, I just got hit in the shoulder, I'm gonna live…" Mike was saying, holding the spot where he got shot tightly to reduce the flow of blood out of the wound.
„No! I-It's not fine at all! You're bleeding!" 17 wasn't buying the "it's fine" card at all.
While 17 was treating Mike, Johann continued to throw out more dark purplish flames at both Reimu and Marisa, who had pretty much cornered Johann at this point.
Johann slid under several ofuda danmaku which Reimu shot at him, but didn't react fast enough and got swiped by Marisa with her broom.
This threw Johann out the hole he himself created.
Everyone, including Sakuya, where currently inside the room which each second became more and more broken and the whole structure seemed to be about to crash into itself.
Reimu tried to fly outside and finish of Johann, but suddenly was caught off guard by someone who hid to reload a while ago.
„DIE YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"
Anton screamed as he opened fire and went full auto, holding down the trigger as the whole magazine was unloaded into the whole room.
Sakuya dodged towards the other wall, opposite of the hole caused by Johann, while Reimu threw herself into the direction Anton was, but into a blind spot he didn't notice, but Reimu did.
Both Mike and 17 threw themselves at the ground as another bullet hit Mike into his leg.
Marisa managed to avoid getting hit and was about to blast Anton when she noticed the ceiling above Mike and 17 started to crack as it was about to collapse on top of them.
„Yo! Watch out!"
Marisa cancelled her attack and quickly flew down as fast as she could towards Mike and 17. She quickly realized she would be able to only save one of them in the nick of time, as grabbing both of them would take too long to dodge the incoming rubble from above.
She had to make a choice as who to save…
And so she did.
Marisa quickly grabbed 17s hand and pulled him with her, both quickly tumbled along the floor and into the wall next to where Sakuya was standing. Still observing.
Sakuya saw what was about to happen. Sakuya could have stopped time to save the life of Mike. But she chose not to do so. Her loyalty to Lady Remilia was far too strong for her to allow herself going against Lady Remilia's wishes of not using her ability until she returned back to the mansion.
„MIIIIIKE" 17 yelled, as he quickly noticed the rubble falling down on top of Mike, the moment he hit the wall with his back and was forced to look at Mike struggling to move out of the way.
Mike only stared in complete terror at the incoming wooden rubble falling down right at him. He couldn't feel his leg and didn't managed to move out of the way. He opened his mouth to scream one last time, but wasn't able to let out a single noise as a wooden pole which was holding the ceiling crashed right into his head, partially crushing his front. The rest of the rubble landed around him as well as his lower body. A puddle of blood was slowly forming around his head and crawled through gaps and holes through the damaged floor right into the room below.
„NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" 17 screeched as tears were forming and rapidly sliding down his cheeks.
*click click*
Anton was about to reload once more but suddenly noticed something small quickly approaching him from the corner of his right eye. It was a fist which belonged to Reimu. While Anton fired the whole magazine out, Reimu managed to avoid most of it by going into a blind spot Anton wasn't aware of and the moment Anton stopped his rapid fire to reload, was the moment Reimu jumped out and sucker punched Anton right into his mouth.
Anton tumbled over the table blockade and landed on his back while also dropping the AK-47 in the process. Anton quickly grabbed his bleeding mouth and realized he was missing some teeth. But before he could look around for them, he locked his eyes onto Reimu who quickly approached him with a stare which send Anton shivering, as if he had fallen into an ice lake. He was slowly crawling backwards, trying to get away from Reimu as she slowly approached him. But that was no use…
Reimu was quick to grab him by the throat and pull him up to look him right into his eyes.
Gasping for air as Reimu held him tightly, Reimu could tell Anton was regretting not listening to her back when she first payed a visit and told him not to do anything stupid, which he did regardless.
It was at that moment that the damaged floor, barely holding on, started to crack and was about to crash into the room below along with the wall under the hole Johann was send flying through.
Marisa looked at Reimu and quickly nodded, before grabbing the crying 17 and throwing him onto her broom and quickly flying out of the building from the hole they came in, with Sakuya right behind Marisa doing the same.
Reimu contemplated if she should leave Anton inside and have him possibly die when he crashed through the floor or get him to safety and see what other punishment he would receive.
As she starred at the puppy eyes Anton was making, she sighed before flying out of the building with him as the floor collapsed along with the lower wall beneath the hole. Revealing the empty bottom room to the whole village outside.
As they all landed to the ground and Reimu threw Anton onto the dirty street, ruining his fancy but torn outfit, and also his cap, which somehow managed to survive unscathed until now, had finally flown off his head onto the ground. It was as if the cap looked at Anton to tell him he has failed and this is the end of his reign, despite how short it has been.
Marisa gently placed 17 down on the ground and tried to calm him down, before remembering that she had to inform the tengu, before it was too late.
Reimu quickly looked around, but noticed the lack of Johann. She grumbled to herself a bit, since it was obvious that he took the chance while everyone was distracted to flee the scene.
„Aight, tie the Vozhd guy up while I go inform the tengu that we got him! Thanks, byeeee!"
Said Marisa, grabbing the cap which fell from the Vozhd's head before jumping onto her broom and flying off into the direction of the Youkai Mountain.
„Marisa, w- Grr… she left as she arrived, with no explanation…" Reimu merely sighed once more, before tying up Anton with a rope which Sakuya handed her.
At first, Reimu looked at Sakuya as if she was asking her "How do you have this prepared/Where did you get this?" before simply taking it from her. Sakuya then glanced to the market stand close by which was selling handmade ropes and pots.
Without another word, Reimu went to make sure Anton won't be able to escape while Sakuya went over to comfort the crying 17.
Marisa arrived in the nick of time, as the roaring battlefield started to get out of hand. Instead of flying past the battlefield and towards where Megumu was likely waiting for her, she decided to take a different approach.
Landing right into the middle of the battlefield, she surprised both humans and tengu, who were about to accelerate the heat of battle, before yelling at the top of her lungs
„ENOUGH! ALL OF YOU LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPONS! IT'S OVER, ZE!"
This alone would not end the fight, but the certain item she waved above her, certainly did. It was the cap of the Vozhd, the guards immediately stopped fighting and gasped in shock. The tengu seemed to both cheer and be relieved that things were about to finally stop.
„R-Retreat! Head back to the village!"
A few of the higher positioned guards yelled for the other ones to retreat. They could tell that it was futile to continue fighting when the one who was leading them was likely out of action. Surprisingly, it appeared as if only the guards were present. The SHA/SHS members seemed to have vanished a while ago, as there was no trace of them in front OR in the back of the mountain.
„Well done Marisa, without a leader they seemed to have fallen prey to fear and ran off. It appears things will return back to normal."
Marisa turned around to notice Megumu along with Hatate and Aya, who was covered with bandages on a few spots, land behind her with satisfied smiles that this conflict ended.
„Yeah, hehe… well, do you want me to hand bring you the Vozhd gu-"
Marisa was about to ask if the tengu yearned for Anton and if they planned some sort of punishment, for he was the one who disturbed the Youkai Mountain by ordering the villagers to attack it.
„No need. I have the feeling that the Vozhd is already suffering from a punishment we would only dream of being able to give him."
Megumu explained, denying to have Anton brought to them.
„Oh yeah? What kind of punishment?" Marisa asked, curious what they could mean.
„Humiliation. But that will likely not be the last one. After all, I think the village would like some revenge as well, for all the damage and lives he has taken."
Megumu answered, before turning around and flying off, likely to attend other matters.
The disaster has been avoided.
„Huh… Well, I guess I'll better head back and help Reimu with calming down the villagers."
Marisa explained, jumping back onto her broom, facing the direction of the village.
„AYAYA! Wait for me!"
Aya said, before jumping on the broom herself.
„Huh? Aya? Why don't you stay and rest?" Marisa asked, already knowing the answer.
„Heee!? While there is so much scoop to write down and take pictures of!? No way!"
…
…
Shortly after, they both laughed while Hatate just simply shook her head while trying to supress a little smile of hers.
Marisa started flying shortly after, towards the Human Village.
Meanwhile, Reimu tied up Anton and had him sit down while Sakuya managed to calm down 17. 17 still had tears on his face which failed to fade away, but stopped producing more for the time being.
Reimu tried asking Anton a few questions, but he refused to answer each time by staying silent. After deciding to force the answers out of him, Reimu noticed that Anton was actually trying to answer her, but somehow seemed unable to speak a word. Only guttural noises was all Anton managed to produce. He pointed at his throat, then at Reimu.
Reimu quickly realized that she may have damaged his vocal cords when she grabbed his throat and choked him for a bit. However, the cause could have been something else she might not be aware off.
Regardless, Anton seemed very stressed out about not only losing his pride and glory, but also his only tool in his life.
His voice.
„What the hell happened here!?"
„The village… Oh, Reimu! Could you explain what happened here while I was gone?"
It was Mokou and Keine who had just arrived at the scene. Mokou looked pissed while Keine seemed a bit confused.
„This Outsider here decided it would be a good idea to take over leadership of the village and send villagers out to fight a war against the tengu." Reimu stated, with an expressionless visage. However, if one who knew Reimu very well would look at her, they could easily tell that Reimu was very much irritated about this whole absurd thing which has occurred. Simply because a fool wanted to play a big role in the village.
„So YOU'RE the guy who caused everything!?" Mokou said in an anger filled voice, her right hand forming a fireball as Anton's eyes expanded and he started shaking his head in denial.
„If you want answers out of him, you won't be getting any. He doesn't seem to be in the condition to properly speak anymore." Reimu said, crossing her arms while starring at Mokou.
Mokou quickly calmed down, the pathetic display of Anton was enough to sate her hunger for vengeance. After all, frying Anton alive would be like stealing candy away from a child at this point. It simply wouldn't be enough of a punishment to kill him on the spot.
„Keine, where have you been all this time? No way would this Outsider be able to accomplish everything on your watch." Reimu asked, turning her attention towards the guardian of the village.
„He couldn't have anyway. I was still here when he arrived with two other individuals." Keine answered, she too, was confused on how all of this could occur.
„Huh? Something seems to be missing here." Reimu concluded.
„All I know is that Eientei was involved in this. Kaguya made Eirin make a poison which was then likely used to not only weaken Keine but also kill the village chief." Mokou explained. Before Reimu could ask how she knew all of this and why she didn't mention it sooner, two people soon spoke up.
„Eientei, huh? We might pay them a visit then, ze!"
„Ayayaya! Even more scoop for my next headline and future hit!"
Both Marisa and Aya arrived and quickly joined into the ongoing conversation. Sakuya too, was listening in, but still standing near 17 to keep an eye on him.
„No need to go there. I already wrecked the place. Tch… that bitch got me good, however… if those random villagers didn't suddenly jump out of a bush next to me, I wouldn't have been distracted and could have dodged…"
Mokou seemed angry about that fact, before continuing.
„She refused to tell me any more information because of it, but at least she did let Eirin help Keine recover."
„I'm not fully recovered just yet, still feeling a bit dizzy from all of this…" Keine quickly corrected her friend.
„Don't worry Keine! I'm sure Akyuu would be willin' to help you recover faster in any way she can, ze!" Marisa said, as she placed her broom on a shoulder.
„Wait… Now that you mentioned it, where IS Akyuu?" Reimu pondered.
…
…
„Oh no! I hope that they didn't ki-"
„Not to worry."
Keine was interrupted when a voice made its presence known behind her. Everyone turned around to come face to face with two more people joining this discussion.
„While most of the guards were preoccupied, Sekibanki here managed to break me out and knock the two guard guarding me unconscious." Akyuu answered.
„Oh, did the Vozhd guy lock you up, ze?" Marisa questioned.
„Yes."
Anton suddenly started to try and untie himself, sadly, with not much success. He wanted to scream out that he himself NEVER locked her up! Hell, he wasn't even aware WHEN he would have locked her up… or did he forget about doing such thing…?
„Anton here tried to make sure I couldn't challenge his cruel rule. So he forced villagers into making sure I wouldn't be able to do anything to him." Akyuu claimed.
Anton was gazing at Akyuu with a ruthless glare. Yet, somehow, he could feel like as if Akyuu herself didn't want to say these things. It was almost as if she was blackmailed into doing so. Anton wasn't sure, but he knew something was certainly up.
„I see. In that case, I think the best thing to do is lock this Anton up, until the villagers decide his punishment." Keine spoke, angry at what Anton has done to the village.
Anton was sweating, crying and shaking his head. He tried to say "I didn't even do half these accusations!" but he was unable to.
„Still, I believe the true culprit has yet to show herself." Reimu suddenly spoke. Drawing everyone's attention, before a voice behind them all made all of them, expect Reimu who was waiting for it, turn around to face it.
„Oh my, you accuse me of being the mastermind behind it all? That's just silly, Reimu~"
An all too familiar voice it was, and everyone knew exactly who it was. The person who was walking with an umbrella towards them. The person who had a cheerful smile on her face, but everyone could tell that that smile meant nothing good. It was none other than…
„Yukari…"
Reimu spoke, as she gripped her gohei with more strength.
„Yes, my dear Reimu~?"
The person with the umbrella was none other than Yukari, the gap youkai and one of the sages of Gensokyo.
Yukari has dark golden eyes along with long blonde hair. She wears a deep purple dress, a pale pink mob cap with a thin red ribbon and smaller ribbons tied liberally on her accessories and the tips of her hair.
„You had a part in this, didn't you!? You better explain the meaning of all of this or I WILL exterminate you!" Reimu was pissed, if one couldn't tell.
Reimu knew that the gap youkai was somehow involved in this ever since she realized that there were Outsiders involved.
„You're accusations are going to make me cry, Reimu… Are you truly that heartless?" Yukari questioned, pretending to be hurt and about to cry.
Reimu only raised her gohei higher, and was prepared to strike Yukari if she doesn't start explaining the next moment she opens her mouth.
„…Yes, I did get these Outsiders into Gensokyo, but that's it. I didn't do anything else, I promise you that, Reimuuuu~!" Yukari said, still acting as if she didn't care one bit that everyone around her looked like they were about to rip her apart.
Reimu wasn't buying it. Yukari certainly must've played a bigger part in this then she is letting on. It simply doesn't explain that everything fell into place without much trouble for the Vozhd.
„Mmmm… Why not tell you all? After all, the movie is about to end anyway." Yukari shrugged, before turning around and slowly trying to explain everything.
Yukari chuckled for a bit, before proceeding.
„As I was observing the Human Village, I noticed that the villagers appeared to fear the youkai less and less. Just as Ran informed me when she visited the Human Village to buy some tofu. So, I decided that needs to change a little."
„This is when I decided I would randomly pick up a few humans from the Outside World and drop them in. To see what might happen. I cannot deny that it was much more of a success then anticipated! The villagers will now fear youkai for a long time until they once more get bold enough to no longer feel any fear. Isn't that right, Anton?"
Yukari smiled sweetly at Anton. Anton once more, tried to desperately utter any coherent sentence, but again, failed to do so. Anton knew that Yukari didn't ask him that question for no reason. Anton knew that she must have withhold certain information from the rest, making him seem more like the only evil culprit in this insanity, which Anton was unable to correct due to his lack of words.
Anton was unable to throw back any remarks or accusation, he simply had to take it all in and become the lamb which was due to be sacrificed.
Reimu was quick to point fingers while everyone else was stunned by the sheer ridiculousness of Yukari.
„You almost destroyed Gensokyo by letting the villagers die!"
„Now, now, Reimu. One shouldn't point at people, you know? But no. I merely planned to teach the village a lesson, not wipe it out. If things would have gone a direction I don't like, I would have interfered. But now? I think things went fine! The villagers once more, fear the youkai as they should and won't try anything in the far coming future. I believe I have merely just done my job to keep the balance of Gensokyo intact. Wouldn't you agree, Reimu~?"
Reimu just shook her head. There was no point to argue with Yukari. Her way of thinking is impossible to understand and even when she explains something, it mostly isn't the whole truth, as she liked to withhold certain specks of information which she deems unimportant, despite it being a very important.
„…Why…?" Sakuya stepped aside as the attention was now on 17, who after staying silent for the most part stood up and turned to face Yukari as he spoke these words.
„…Why… us…? Why d-did we have t-to be the ones…?" 17 tried his best, but his newly gained confidence has once more broken down, as the stuttering he managed to get rid of returned once more.
„Like I said. I picked you at random. But if you want me to be more precise, then so be it." Yukari said, turning around as she looked at 17's face, and an eerie smile slowly crawled on her face.
„I brought exactly six Outsiders into this world. Six Outsiders, who were in six different places and who were about to suffer six different accidents, per say."
„…Accidents…?" 17 asked.
„Oh, you don't remember about what happened before I send you here. Since that would certainly have changed the way you all behaved, and I didn't want that."
Yukari then cleared her throat, quickly giving Anton a smile just so she could irritate him more, as she recalled the past.
„Ahem… let me recall…"
„Paul Garmith, a soldier who was currently running on a training track trough a forest. He was about to be jumped by a bear after he accidently disturbed the bear by being too close to her offsprings."
„Giovanni Mennini, a military engineer who was about to be shot in the head by a stray bullet while he was overjoyed of achieving success with something he tinkered with."
„Johann von Hochmär, an occultist pretending to be a priest, who after swearing to have his revenge on the ones who doubted his theories, would be sliced in half after slipping and falling down from a great distance onto very thin and sharp railways, in an abandoned amusement park. …I still find it hard to not laugh at, fuhuhu!"
Reimu was not amused.
„Next we have, Mike Victorn, a janitor who would have been crushed to death by a heavy crate falling on him, after he tried to get a hold of it and pull it out from the shelve above him."
17 paled and felt sick to his stomach, as he realized that he pretty much died a similar way.
„Then we have the star of the show, Anton Drevov, a politician who after calling for a change in society, rising up with many of those he convinced to fight for a safer and better world, would be executed either by bullet, or by hanging once his revolt, failed." After saying that, Yukari slowly turned to look at the horrified Anton.
Both knew what this meant.
„Funny how he got into that situation after attempting to do similar things like he did now…" Yukari softly spoke.
Anton seemingly remembered everything which happened before he arrived in Gensokyo. Tears started to roll down his eyes, he wanted Yukari to stop. But he felt so weak… his father would have punished him for showing weakness and cowardice… just like in the days were he was still but a child.
Afterwards, Yukari turned to face 17, who slowly backed away. Afraid to hear what was to come. It was almost as if he already knew.
„Lastly, we have someone who no longer yearned to exist. The desire to not exist was strong enough to scribble away his own name. It was so strong, that even his own will was severally weakened. Perhaps you recall hearing from someone that your "eye" seemed unusual? In any case, after losing someone you could have protected, fuhuhu, you felt as if nothing made any more sense. In the end, you became the perfect candidate to take to Gensokyo."
There was silence as no one knew what to say.
„I won't be revealing anything about you, so fret not. Just know, that you still have to survive one last trial before you can break free from your past… if you even can, that is."
17 felt even worse than before, it was as if his very soul was about to leave from his eyes, which started to shed tears once more. Just not as many, as they were mostly out of stock. Meanwhile, Anton still had plenty to spare, but couldn't offer them in any way if he wanted to.
„For this, might be the worst outco-"
„Enough Yukari!" Reimu heard enough, and decided to step in before the gap youkai would try to do anything else.
„Aww, you're no fun, Reimu~!" Yukari giggled, as she made a gap to take out her paper fan and cover her mouth with it.
„There are still many things I want you to explain. I can clearly see that you're not telling us something very, VERY important!" Reimu pressed on, convinced that Yukari was hiding something from them.
Anton stopped crying just to nod with his head drastically as to signalize that Reimu was right.
Yukari seemed to have muted Reimu, not Anton since he already was muted to her amusement, as she ignored Reimu completely.
„So, I must say, all of this was very amusing. But I think everyone of us has something to do. Bye Bye~ "
„YUKARI, YOU BETTER NOT LEA- AAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
Reimu stomped her feet before flying off. Presumably trying to find Yukari to beat her up.
„Since this seems to conclude this incident, I shall now leave you all. For I must return to Lady Remilia and inform her of how things concluded." Sakuya exclaimed, and was already walking away, back to the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
„Ayayaya, I need to go start setting everything up right now!" Aya informed, shortly before leaving only a dust cloud behind.
At the same moment, some guards appeared and looked over the scene on what was going on.
Akyuu was quick to respond and clear their confusion.
„Anton, the Vozhd, has committed crimes against the village and its inhabitants, and therefore shall be imprisoned. Keine, would you make sure that Anton is properly put behind bars, if it isn't much to ask?"
„No, not at all. Guards, grab Anton and follow after me."
The guards looked at Anton, as Anton was staring at them with sadness in his eyes. The guards hesitated just for a moment, before proceeding to do as both Akyuu and Keine ordered.
Pulling him up, they started dragging him towards the place where he would be imprisoned for the while until the village decides his fate.
Keine followed after them and Mokou quickly joined in to follow after Keine.
„Wait up! I want to make sure you don't get poisoned again!" Mokou yelled after them, running to catch up to them.
„Ha-ha, very funny…" Their voices as they talked slowly getting weaker as they got farther away.
„*sigh* There are many documents to go through, I must help get everything back in order, so if you could excuse me. " Akyuu said, before bowing down and leaving for her place.
In the end, all who remained by the half burned HQ was 17 and Marisa.
„Say, 17, right…? You seem like you don't want to leave Gensokyo but don't have anywhere to live, right?"
Marisa asked, as she noticed 17 looking into the distance, with an expressionless face.
„..." 17 didn't say anything, but that was enough for Marisa.
„Soooo… what about living at my place until you find a place of your own? I have a spare room you can use… if you can ignore the many piles of things I have stashed in it, hehe…" Marisa said, placing a hand on 17's shoulder…just like Mike always did…
17 turned around to face Marisa, and with a weak smile, agreed.
Without any further word, they both jumped on the Marisa's broom and went flying towards the Forest of Magic.
One Month Later
(Inside Marisa's House, thirty minutes after Marisa left…)
-17's POV-
It's been a month ever since that day.
All this time, I have been living with Marisa in the Forest of Magic, helping her with experiments and whatever she invited me to help with.
Marisa always tried to cheer me up and at times even dragged me outside to look at the night sky with her, telling me that it would help ease my mind.
She did her best to make me forget.
But forget, I cannot.
Every time I close my eyes, I can see the moment of Mikes death repeat and loop every time without a hint of stopping. But instead of his scream, I can hear a single sentence of his being repeated each time I see him die inside my mind.
"„We are going to make this out alive and no one else is going to die, okay?""
…
Mike failed to keep his promise.
But I don't blame him.
Since…
He wasn't the first.
Every time I close my eyes, when I go to sleep…
I can see that face and hear the voice of my father, as he is about to die.
Each time, he dies the same way as he died one month before I arrived in Gensokyo.
…being hit by the train which would have hit me instead…
We went hiking that day, and as we were returning home, we had to cross some old train tracks.
Father said that these tracks weren't in use and weren't used for a long time, so that I shouldn't worry.
…
I should have never stepped onto them.
As I was going across, I heard the tracks under my feet rumble.
Looking to my left, I saw two lights, blinding me as they approached faster than my mind could figure out what was going on.
…It appeared out of nowhere and so close…
"„(…), WATCH OUT!""
…
Were my father's last words, as he pushed me out of the way and took my place.
As I fell to the ground, I managed to turn around and look into my father's terrified face one last time, before I would never see it again.
He screamed my name, but I hate my name because of it.
Every time I heard my name uttered, the more I died inside.
I hated it so much, I even forgot about it when I first appeared in Gensokyo.
Only remembered it, because of that day, where I had to experience the pain of losing someone you saw as a father figure, a second time…
First month was my father, the second one was Mike…
Today, is the third one.
This whole time, Marisa was taking care of me and teaching me many things.
…
…
If I am cursed to the point, where everyone I look up to dies in a months' time, then I feel like I must shatter the curse, by taking away the source.
…
I don't want Marisa to suffer the same fate as both my father and Mike had to.
I don't want to risk it.
Not anymore.
If Marisa were to die, it would devastate the lives of many.
But if I were to die instead…
…
…
Nobody would care.
…
I entered the room I have been accustomed to over the month. It was dark inside, but it was still enough light to see for the next half an hour.
…
Marisa said she would be helping Reimu resolve a strange on going incident and it would take at least an hour until she would come back.
…
…
I'm sorry Marisa, but I can't risk it.
You tried your best to put a smile on my face, but the truth is, there was no smile after the moment Mike died.
It was all just a façade, and I am sorry.
I have taken the time to write a prolonged apology for Marisa. I started the moment she left the house.
I already finished it, as it laid next to a souvenir I took from a market place, that day Mike died.
…
Father… Mike… Allow me to break the curse…
Allow me to beg for mercy…
Allow me…
…
…
…to join you.
…
…
…
…
…
…
-Anton Drevov's POV- (Human Village)
…
…
It has been a month, but now I finally get to see the blue sky above me.
…if only for a short amount of time.
„Anton Drevov, you are here today to be executed on the wish of the whole village, and everyone which lives have been taken and ruined by your actions and leadership."
…
For one month, I have been trapped in a cell. Iron bars and little to no food. Water was handed to me every second day, that way, I wouldn't need to pee as much, they said…
Every day, I was waiting for Mr. A to come and rescue me as he promised.
He promised to me, that he will be there to save me.
He had managed to sneak a letter to me from the little window in my cell, which let in only slightly the light of the sun, so that I may see how thin I had become.
In that letter, it was written, that the SHA/SHS still had control over the village, and that they would help me out very soon. That I had to be patient, it was written.
That everything, while a lot of changes happened, was still going… according… to… plan…
…
„Anton Drevov, the village has decided that the suited final punishment would be death by hanging."
…
Ever since that day I was disgraced, I was unable to speak. No matter how many times I tried, I couldn't utter a single word. Only guttural sounds, if I really pushed my limits.
I do not know, whether it was because of that shrine maiden, which nearly choked me to death, or something else, which I may not be aware of.
But I know one thing and one thing only…
…
…
I want to go home… home to my mother so she could comfort me as I ran back home crying, after being bullied by the other kids for being weak.
I want mother to soothe my mind as she ruffles my hair, and tell me everything will be fine.
That one day, I will show these people what willingness to fight on for a better world could achieve.
…
Father never looked at me. He was disgusted by what I coward I was.
…and am.
…I hope that if we meet in hell, that he still will be too disgusted to even remember me.
„Anton Drevov, the preparations are finished…"
As the new village chief was saying, I finally dared to look up.
All the faces I saw were one and the same.
Pure hatred.
Every common villager yearned for my death at this very moment just like the day I was kicked out of my fragile throne made out of glass.
I noticed two guards in the back, they were the ones I have saved.
They weren't angry. They were merely saddened and perhaps disappointed.
I do not blame them one bit.
I look towards the sky, ignoring the screams and yells and the speech about my execution.
It appears the sky is turning dark.
As I lower my eyes I…
…
…
Mr. A.
I see him.
He is standing all the way in the back.
He knows very well I noticed him, as the smile he has grows bigger.
…
That fucking…
He tricked me.
He…
HE TRICKED ME.
„…Do you have any last words?"
I try my best to spit out the truth. The truth that I have been used as a puppet and meat shield all this time. But I wasn't able to, no matter how much I attempted to.
I noticed Mr. A slowly raising his right arm, as he waved goodbye to me.
He knew this was going to happen!
He knew! And he told me everything will be fine so I wouldn't try to escape on my own!
He knows I have dirt on him, so he wants me gone!
He wants everything to remain a secret, so he even blackmailed that one girl that guy!
I have no clue how, but he probably threatened to burn down the village!
…
As the final moments of my life were at hand, I didn't care if I was going to spit blood everywhere.
I pushed, and pushed until…
…
I managed to clear my throat just enough, to say a single sentence.
It was very hard to hear, but I managed to say it regardless.
My final words were…
„I curse this village, that until everyone knows the truth, people will die day by day, until only the man who betrayed remains, all alone."
-3rd Person POV-
As Anton was hung, he soon couldn't hold onto dear life, and his lifeless body was hanging still as villagers were cheering that a youkai in human skin was brought to justice.
Little did the villagers know, that Anton's final words were heard by the executioner who stood next to him. The executioner was sweating the moment he heard Anton speak, after one whole month of silence.
Soon, the sky was dark, as the blue sky was consumed by darkness. The villagers didn't know why this was happening, but the executioner suddenly blurted out in fear.
„It was Anton! He has cursed the village and each of us here!"
The future of the village, might either be resolved in a day, or slowly evolve into the second Salem madness.
…
…
…
„17, I'm home, ze!"
…
…
„I hope ya didn't get bored while I was gone, but that was one craaaazy incident!"
…
…
„Both me and Reimu and even Youmu had to go and resolve it!"
…
…
„You probably heard about Youmu, but I can tell you about her while I explain all that happened!"
…
…
„…?"
…
…
„Hey, 17… you there, buddy?"
…
…
„Are you in your room? Hang on a sec, just gotta dry off real quick. Started raining for a bit at the end. Gonna grab us both a drink, to-"
*CRACK*
„…Yeah, it's a storm alright."
…
…
…
„…Okay, I'm coming up!"
…
…
*knock**knock*
„…You asleep…?"
…
„Aight, if you ain't, just know I'm gonna come in now."
…
*creeeeeaaak*
„Yo, 17 ya go-"
*CRACK*
„-od…"
…
…
*Shatter*
…
…
…
*thud*
…
…
…
…
…
„…17…"
…
*sob*
…
…
…
Mr. A Ending – The End
-People/Factions and their allegiance/opinion towards The Vozhd, Anton Drevov-
-Night of the Long Pikes Occurred--Mr. A Choice-
Johann von Hochmär – ?
Giovanni Mennini – ?
Mr. A – …
Mr. A's followers (The SHA/SHS) – … (Loyal to Mr. A)
Takeo – … (Loyal to Mr. A)
Paul Garmith – ?
Mike Victorn – ?
17 – ?
Villagers – ?
Loyalist Guards – ?
Guards – ?
Youkai – ?
Kappa – ?
Eientei – ?
SDM – ?
Tengu – ?
(Two birds with one stone, was this truly what was planned…)
The truth has been forgotten...