Johann Ending – Anton decides to side with Johann von Hochmär.
-Anton Drevov's POV- (Human Village, two hours before disaster strikes…)
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„…J-Johann!"
After I had exclaimed out loud who I picked, I immediately could tell from their reactions who felt what.
Mennini was surprised at first, the surprise slowly turning into uncertainty.
Mr. A was taken aback and I could tell he was nervous at first, before shaking his head and starring daggers into me.
Johann… is just standing there. Menacingly… If I may add. …slowly smiling at me… if I dare add on…
Why did I go with Johann? …Wait, why DID I go with Johann? I was more confused than anything from his plan and he is one creepy son of a bitch, I won't hold it in any longer. It is just what I see him as. But… maybe that's the key. The confusion! Since, if we don't know what the fuck we are doing, how are our enemies supposed to know what the fuck we are doing? Going defensive or offensive or surrendering or anything like that is something the enemy might have expected and prepared for it. But if Johann has been doing something in his absence, then maybe he truly does have a surprise for both the enemy and us to use! …So, as afraid as I am from this choice… It seems to have been the best one and I want to believe that I can endure the eerie aura Johann is carrying around him.
Only we or they can get out of this alive, I can say that for certain.
Johann seems happy I choose him and I certainly do hope he can deliver. If not, well, I guess I can go start shovelling my future grave. Let's hope this wasn't a mistake on my part… again…
„I… I mean, Johann did say to try and get a deal of sorts going right…? I… I think I might go and… try to tell anyone who might come here to… do that? Make a deal…? Yeah, don't mind me… leaving…"
Mennini was confused and unsure, and likely just wanted to get away as far as possible from us. I… I don't really blame him, to be perfectly honest.
„I am at a loss of words. My Vozhd, there is something you should… Hmm… doesn't matter. I better go check if the Child of Miare is still in her room."
Just like Mennini, even Mr. A hurriedly tried to leave not only this room, but the whole building. …I did notice Mr. A trying to tell me something, but once he glanced over to Johann, he seems to have changed his mind.
…
…Should I be concerned?
„I am surprised, dear Vozhd, truly I am."
Turning around to face Johann, I immediately took a step backwards away from him after I witnessed that smile of his, plastered on his face.
„Choosing me despite how unsure all of you were about my suggestion? It only proves you have taste for the unknown, do you not?"
Johann chuckled slightly, making me raise my guard even more than it already was.
„Let me ask you something, oh, dear Vozhd… Do you know anything about… Black magic? Or perhaps the other name, Dark magic? Both are one and the same, if you wonder."
…What the hell is he on about? Black magic? What the hell was he doing in the short time he wasn't with us yesterday!?
„…What are you talking about? You mean, the forbidden kind of magic in children stories?"
I have a bad feeling about this already, and Johann hasn't even explained anything…
„Are you willing to claim you live in a children story, then?"
Enough with this nonsense!
„Johann, what the hell are you trying… to…"
„What is it? Cat got your tongue, mmm?"
When I tried to force Johann to stop playing around, he suddenly flicked with his hand and a dark flame now burns in his palm.
It has a purplish aura, but mostly appears dark to the naked eye. Starring at it feels like I am slowly starting to hear voices…
I rather not.
Closing my eyes and shaking my head, seems to have made those voices fade away.
„Surprised, are you not? Oh, what fun it is to tease you all!"
…this… this…
„This… you aren't… Johann, are you…?"
I knew something was fishy ever since Johann returned after he seemingly disappeared. He wasn't acting like he used to. His smile, he never smiled before or not that often at least, was horrifying to look at and overall had a much more aggressive aura around him.
„What ever could you mean? I am Johann! In flesh, standing before you!"
In flesh… but not in spirit.
„I know what this is."
Exclaiming that I have grasped what this foul play is, I grabbed a tea cup from the second table and slowly backed away.
„Oh? Want to serve us some tea? Go ahead! I certainly wouldn't mind some!"
„You are Johann, alright. But a Johann which has been possessed by a spirit! …or possibly youkai? Whatever! Point is, you aren't human anymore!"
…
*Clap*
*Clap*
*Clap*
„Bravo, dear Vozhd. Bravo! You didn't get it outright correctly, but you are aiming in the right direction."
So I was right. This is just a youkai using Johann's body. But that leaves the question…
„What did you do to the REAL Johann?!"
„Why, he is right here, is he not?"
„Enough with this! Answer me or-"
„Or what? Little, fragile, defenceless human?"
…
…
„Let us calm down, yes? If I wanted to harm any of you, I would have already done so."
„…Who are you…? What the hell do you want from me?"
„Go on, take a seat. I won't bite."
After "Johann" tells me to take a seat, I slowly do so while making sure he doesn't try something the moment I drop my guard.
„I have been asleep for so long, and now that I am awake, it is such a joy to see you all struggle to win an unwinnable scenario!"
Unwinnable scenario… has truly no one confidence in this war except Mr. A…?
„However, I decided I want to help you win against those pesky tengu! They deserve a little humiliation, after all."
…huh?
„So… You are saying you want to help us?"
„I said what I said. All you need to do is agree. You are the leader, no? So once you decide, it is settled."
Hang on, wait, this… doesn't seem smart.
„Now, hold your horses for a moment! So, you are a youkai, right?"
„And you are human, right?"
„…right. Just… Just WHY should I work with a youkai who, not only is using the body of Johann, but is also someone which could get me in trouble for if any villager found out about? Like, you do realize the whole village at the moment is strongly against youkai, do you not? Why do you desire so much to help us? I just don't get that logic…"
„Hahaha! Oh, I love that confusion of yours! Now, to tell you the truth? I have my own things to do and working with you is just the most beneficial. After all, you DID choose me, did you not?"
He kept smiling at me with that eerie smile. Knowing that it isn't actually Johann while looking like Johann is honestly starting to make me sick. I feel on edge every second. I feel like I am losing years of my life just listening to him.
„Regardless, time is slowly running out and we cannot afford to waste it anymore! So, do you agree to work together and kill two birds with one stone?"
…
„…But what about Mr. A? What if he finds o-"
„The extreme anti-youkai guy? I wouldn't worry about him."
He laughed, making me unsure what he meant by that.
„How so…?"
„He already knew."
„…H-He did…?"
„Precisely. He knew the moment I entered the room! But he choose to remain silent and observe me. After I played along and decided to agree with him about starting that war, he seemed to have no intentions of exposing me until he deemed me useless."
…Mr. A… that sneaky bastard! But why?
„If you are asking why, well, I could tell he wanted to use me as a puppet in his plan."
I guess that would make sense. Still, why so secretive? Was there more going on behind my back that I am unaware off?
„…Unfortunately, I have no desire to be a puppet or slave to anyone. So, I would have made him MY puppet instead!"
…
„…What about me, then? Am I too, just a puppet for you?"
I wasn't sure what to believe anymore, I was afraid, but also curious. Angry, but also co-operative.
„Oh no, no! If you agree to accept my help, we will both be equal! No one can force the other to do anything, yes? Doesn't that sound, nice? All I want is for you to help me prepare everything for not only your victory in this conflict of yours, but also for my little amusement! We both win and are free to do as we want! Enough talk. Do you agree?"
…
…
Knowing that saying anything else besides yes or no would likely irritate the youkai possessed Johann, I decided to state my answer after I took in a deep breath, and placed down the tea cup I was clutching all this time back onto the second table, right where it stood before I picked it up in the first place.
…
„I agree."
Johann… started to smile more than ever, to the point I could tell that it was inhuman. Feeling my blood run cold, I decided to try and calm down. Trying to convince myself that I didn't just make a deal with the devil.
„Wonderful. Now, let us not waste any more time."
„Alright… what the hell was your plan in the first place…?"
„Dear Vozhd, do you know how to perform a ritual?"
„…Anything magical related is a no go. Just… so we spare these questions."
„I see. Do not fret, I will explain as we prepare it."
How did I get here… Why am I doing this…?
„Oh, dear Vozhd. Here, take this. In case we get disturbed before the ritual is complete."
…
…
…a revolver…?
„Where did you… Where did you get this from?"
„While Mr. A was distracted by Mennini, I nabbed it from him. Apparently he had two of those revolvers on him. Surely he doesn't need more than one, does he now?"
…right.
…
As we begin to prepare the room for a ritual of some kind, I begin to question myself. Is this really the way I wanted things to go? Siding with a youkai who might be devious for all I know to save my people? Can I still consider myself human after agreeing to work with a youkai? Am I a traitor in denial? Is this ritual going to cause more harm than good? What even is it for? All I was told was that by doing this, I and the humans have a chance to achieve victory in this already lost war…
…
…
I hope the real Johann can forgive me for siding with this youkai. I do not know how this happened and if you wanted this to happen or not. Did you do a ritual on your own in this magical world which freed a youkai? If so, why? Or was it unintentional when you were just messing around?
Were you even a priest to begin with, as you claimed at the very beginning? In the end, it doesn't matter… It is too late to try and look into things, isn't it…? I just hope that I haven't gotten myself into deeper shit then I already was by agreeing with a being, which I swore to destroy, pretty much.
I hope I can be forgiven for siding with the enemy, to defeat the enemy.
-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, but even other more powerful fairies, such as a spring related fairy, which only attacked them because Mike sneezed a few times due to an allergy and when 17 asked why he sneezed so suddenly, Mike explained that it just happens at times, but that he hates spring for that reason because it happens mostly during that period of the year. This apparently didn't bode will with the fairy which claimed spring to be the greatest thing after she jumped out of a bush next to everyone. 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 lowering it down to the ground.
„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.
„…Eh, I don't know. The orders we got seemed pretty… strange… so I guess just not let them in?" The second guard appeared to know what they were ordered, but wasn't sure how to act if someone like the Hakurei shrine maiden were to come by.
Which she did. So the second guard decided to just stay put.
„Ugh, just let us in or-." Reimu said, as she was slightly raising her gohei, before she immediately dashed to her right.
The first guard tried to poke her with the spear, but missed completely as he was too slow with it.
„Away with you! We're not letting anyone inside at the moment!" The first guard decided to just not let them in.
Reimu was not amused, she had no time to waste and she wanted things to get done quickly so she may resume her peaceful routine.
…That is, until everyone once more gathers up to her shrine to party once more after an incidents conclusion. Something which annoys the miko, but at the same time makes happy. After all, free food is free food.
„You're right. You're not letting anyone inside." Reimu calmly said, closing her eyes and taking in a deep breath, while walking slowly closer to the first guard.
„…huh? Oh, at least yo-" The first guard lowered his guard as he was about to say how understanding Reimu was, that no one was to be allowed inside. Up until…
„But I'm not asking to enter." Reimu said, before sliding her leg under the guards feet, promptly resulting the guard to fall on his back, since he wasn't expecting such move out of nowhere.
Before the first guard realized fully what had happened, he came face to face with Reimu's gohei, almost making contact with his forehead.
The first guard decided to close his eyes and try to pretend dead, which was useless as he was slightly shaking and sweating bullets. Reimu soon moved on with the rest of her group through the gate into the village, which the second guard with the firearm had opened for them. Only telling the group to be careful as not to agitate the villagers too much.
…
„…I told you it was a bad idea to not allow that Hakurei miko inside. …I also told you she would easily beat you up the moment she would show up. …I also to-" The second guard kept saying, while standing guard and looking into the distance, before being cut off by the first guard grumbling.
„Oh, shut up, will you…" The first guard uttered, not doing anything else afterwards.
…
…
„…Don't you want to stand up again?" The second guard asked, still looking forwards into the distance.
„…No, I think I'll pass. The ground fells nice at the moment…" The first guard mumbled. He was too ashamed to stand back up, so he opted to rather just lay down and think about what he has done wrong.
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 don't agitate the villagers, 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, along with some villagers wearing robes which had the words of some kind of society painted on it, 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… perhaps talk things out…?" 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 want any more trouble to be caused, and uhhh… I think both the Vozhd and Johann might have a deal for you prepared…? I… I'm sorry, I have no clue what's going on anymore…" Mennini seemed to question himself more about what actually is on the loose, he seemed too confused to properly explain himself.
He tried to do what was right in his mind and convince the shrine maiden along with her silver haired friend behind her that they should likely try and talk things out peacefully so that no more lives are endangered.
„I see. Very well, you can start by telling us where this Vozhd guy and that "Johann" 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 troublemakers were, that would spare a significant amount of time.
„Okay, alright. Well, if you go into the direction I came from, you shou-"
*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…
Mr. A.
„I always knew that Mennini was nothing but a rotten snake! Now look at him. He died as he lived. A pointless hindrance in my way." Mr. A huffed. Mr. A seemed stressed and annoyed greatly by something. It certainly did not help that the shrine maiden is here. The shrine maiden being present only meant that he had to change his plans further, but as the amount of changes increased and kept increasing, Mr. A was reaching a breaking point.
„You foolish shrine hobo and traitorous slave, I do not have time for you to mess up my by now fragile plan! I will not allow it to fall into obscurity!" Mr. A shouted, his complaining clearly directed towards both Reimu and Sakuya.
„Pff, if throwing insults at us is all you can accomplish, you better back off before I beat you up." Reimu nonchalantly said, slowly walking towards the rowdy villager which seems to have a few screws lose. Although Reimu claimed she wouldn't beat him up if he were to step aside, Reimu already decided to give him a good whack for calling her a hobo.
„That darn Anton completely threw everything I had planned into the fire by siding with that abomination which claims to be the same Johann! But that doesn't mean I will accept defeat, no, not me! I will-"
Mr. A kept shouting until he noticed Reimu getting too close. This snapped him out of his little rant before he backed away and shouted once more.
„You think you can approach me?! Don't you dare lay a hand on me! My followers, attack them!"
As Mr. A shouted the last part, several villagers appeared from all around them. They slowly approached as each of them had some sort of weapon in hand. From a firearm to spears, swords and clubs. Even a fork, if one had to be specific.
Reimu quickly looked at Sakuya who was quick to put her back against Reimu's, drawing out a single silver knife to defend herself if she were to be attacked.
„If they attack me, I will try my best to knock them out and not hurt them. You too, should try to just disarm them and force them to back off. If we use too much force or aggression, we might get the wrong impression from the other villagers which seem to be just starring in confusion." Sakuya informed, clearly aware that they had to be cautious as to not hurt the villagers or else they might need to fight the entire village due to a misunderstanding. Something they couldn't afford right now.
„*sigh* It's never that easy, prepare for anything to happen…" Reimu responded, clearly expecting something worse to come forth.
„Get them!" Mr. A shouted, forcing his followers to begin their assault. Mr. A quickly ran off while everyone was distracted. His destination, a certain book store…
Both Reimu and Sakuya braced themselves, as a battle of endurance began.
(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 sword 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 point that blade on us 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 the sword was pointed at one of them while he slowly walked forwards.
„Perhaps, but you will have to get through me first." Mike suddenly explained, nabbing the knife 17 carried before 17 realized it.
„En garde, as they say!" Mike shouted, before jumping into action.
„Who says wha-" Takeo was slightly confused but quickly took a defensive stance once he noticed that Mike charged at him.
Takeo quickly blocked the strike from Mike with his sword and counter-attacked. Mike was quick to slightly bend backwards and dodge the swipe, before grabbing Takeo's arm which was holding the sword. Takeo wanted to punch Mike with his free hand but instead grabbed onto the wrist of Mike's arm which tried to slash the knife into him.
Mike threw his body at Takeo which forced him back as both parties released their grip on one another. Takeo decided that there was no room to mess around and rushed in with a prepared swing. Mike quickly dropped on his knees and managed to parry the swing with the knife, as sparks flew left and right from the contact.
Mike attempted to quickly plunge the knife into Takeo's abdomen, but Takeo was quick to jump back, leaving Mike enough room to fully stand up once more.
What happened then was a fierce fight with many parries and dodges. The occasional graze occurred where a piece of clothing was hit, but not deep enough to cut skin and cause bleeding.
While both Mike and Takeo were clashing with each other, 17 sneakily made his way behind Takeo without anyone taking note. As Mike and Takeo clashed once more, both of them jumped back to get some breathing room. That was when 17 decided to help Mike out.
Mike charged in, prepared to clash again. Takeo was going on the defence when suddenly…
„Mike, strike now!"
17 yelled as he jumped onto Takeo, who was quickly caught off guard.
„Get off!" Takeo shouted, as he threw 17 in front of him onto the dusty ground. Unfortunately, this took away too much of his focus, meaning he lost track of Mike for a few seconds. A few seconds, which would soon be the end of this battle.
Mike managed to slash just in time as Takeo was about to refocus his attention to him. Takeo failed to block the slash with his blade in time and the result was a direct hit to his should which held the sword.
„Gaah!"
Takeo spit out as he dropped the sword to the ground and held his now bleeding wound.
„So, you want me to put YOU to rest now, eh?" Mike said, with a cocky grin on his face as he pointed the knife at Takeo.
„…"
Takeo remained silent, before slowly backing away. He soon turned around and ran away. Takeo may have kept his life, but he has lost all his pride as a warrior. At least, that's what he likely assumed since he lost a fight against an Outsider.
„Wow! Mike, I didn't know you could do that!" 17 excitedly spoke up, smiling at Mike who simply laughed.
„Hehehe! You're not the only one! I have no idea how I am still alive!" Mike was laughing as he said that, he certainly was a bit overwhelmed with stress as he assumed he was going to get sliced in half at any moment.
„Anyhow, we better get moving! Here, take the knife and I take the sword our friend left us here." Mike said, after calming down enough to think. Mike quickly handed 17 the knife and picked up the sword from the ground. Giving it a good few looks, he was impressed by the craftsmanship of it.
„Ight, let's give that madman a beating he won't forget so soon!" Mike stated, as both he and 17 started walking towards the building they presumed Anton was hiding in.
„Okay… nobody seems to be down here… Perhaps upstairs…?" Mike questioned.
After only a short while, the both of them arrived inside and slowly looked around making sure to not get jumped by anyone as they searched through the entire ground floor. Mike was a bit suspicious, while 17 a tiny bit anxious. It was too quiet for their taste. Something seemed off and once they were on the second floor, they felt a strange something coming from one of the rooms on it. As they faced the door which seemed to be from where the strange aura was coming from, they both whispered to each other as how to proceed.
„Good. I think he is in this room. On three."
„One."
„Two…"
„Wait!"
17 pulled at Mike, who quickly stopped to listen to what 17 has to say.
„Do you think this is a good idea? Something feels reaaaaly off about this…"
…
„Yeah… but if we stay put, things will likely only change for the worse. We have to act now." Mike responded, he too was unsure but also determined.
„Can't we just wait for Reimu to show up?" 17 asked, awaiting Mike to answer.
„Let's get in and try to distract Anton long enough until Reimu arrives, ight? That way we can make sure he doesn't do anything while we wait for the cavalry." Mike decided. He was sure this plan would be the best as both lacked any firepower. They only had close range weaponry while Anton could have something long ranged.
„Okay, then let's do this!" 17 whispered one last time, as Mike nodded in agreement.
…
„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 room seemed engulfed in darkness and the whole room's furniture was mostly moved to the sides to make space in the middle of it. In that space in the middle of the room what seemed like ash was on the ground, forming a weird circle with many strange rune like symbols surrounding it.
„Wha-! You two…?"
A person who was kneeling down and working on the strange circle suddenly jumped up on both feet and seemed confused by the new arrivals.
It was…
The Vozhd, Anton!
„Ahhhh… Lovely, it seems we have visitors, dear Vozhd."
…and Johann…?
Mike was flabbergasted by the sight and it took him a good moment before he shook his head and proceeded to speak up.
„Anton! We came to put an end to your shitshow!" Mike yelled at Anton while pointing the sword at him, but all that has done was turn Anton's shock, into a slight smirk which continued to grow by the second.
„Truly? Well dare I suggest we rather talk things out? After all…" Anton was saying, carefree of the threat Mike was presenting himself as to him.
„You brought a sword to a gun fight." Anton said, before lightly chuckling as he pointed the revolver at Mike, ignoring 17 for the moment.
…
„You make a fair point." Mike said, as he lowered his sword. 17 glanced at Mike and did so too with the knife.
Anton after seeing both of the home invaders lower their weapons, decided he could allow himself to lower his guard. After all, he didn't worry that much about the two. He was mostly worried about Johann and what the hell this ritual they were doing was going to accomplish.
Putting the gun back into his pocket, he once more kneeled down to finish the circle as Johann readied the last candles in the room.
„…What the hell is this about…? Some occult magic shit?" Mike questioned, bewildered on what he was witnessing.
„Hell if I know… All I know is that it's something which will help me keep my position." Anton muttered, not paying much attention. Anton stood back up after he was done and took a few steps back, then he waited for what would happen next.
„…You… don't know? Wait, if you aren't behind this here, then that mean-" Mike spoke as he slowly shifted his eyes towards the man in brown. The moment both of them saw face to face, was the moment a cold breeze ran down Mike's back.
„Indeed, it is I who decided to help the Vozhd out with a little, funny, silly ritual." The man in brown spoke. 17 immediately knew something was off. There was no way this was the very same Johann he recalled from the past, 17 was sure of it.
„…Anton, what the hell is wrong with J-" Mike questioned. He had worry in his voice as he kept his eyes on the man in brown, who was in return staring back at Mike through his round glasses with an eerie smile along with it. But Mike was quickly interrupted by Anton, who already figured what Mike wanted to ask.
„Believe me that I too would like to know the whole truth, but I have to work with what I have. Now, "Johann", what's going to happen next?"
Anton just wanted it to be over as soon as possible. Johann finally broke eye contact with Mike, as his head turned to look at Anton, before he uttered.
„Now? Now… we begin the ritual, dear Vozhd… Now, the ordeal of the darkest day commences!"
As the man in brown exclaimed, his hands caught on fire. The fire was dark as the night with a hint of purple inside its core. Soon, every single candle lit up with the same flame and the circle began to glow.
Rune like symbols which were carved around the circle began to glow and even take spiritual shape as they flew into the air and started circling around inside the circle, as if caged and being charged.
„…I don't like this. 17, we have to stop them! Now!" Mike shouted, as he prepared an offensive stance once more. 17 quickly nodded in agreement and did so too.
„I cannot allow that. I… I'm sorry, but if you take one step forward, I won't hesitate to open fire." Anton spoke, as he once more had the revolver aimed at both Mike and 17. However, Anton seemed to be conflicted. He was getting unsure if this really was a good idea as the ritual continued its process.
„…Then so be-" Mike was about to charge in, despite the danger of being shot dead on the spot, before the circle suddenly fired off an enormous laser into the ceiling, destroying the whole roof of the building they were all in, exposing them all outside as the sky began to darken.
„…holy… mother… of… God…" Mike was completely stunned by what he was exposed to.
„…The sky is turning dark!" 17 exclaimed, starting to panic.
„… What have I done…?" Anton silently muttered to himself in disbelief.
„Today, a new age has star-!"
The man in brown spoke before quickly jumping back, as several ofuda bullets were shot at him and hit the floor where he stood a second ago.
„I assume you are that Johann guy, huh? Well, causing an incident like this is you begging to be exterminated on the spot." The new arrival in red and white spoke.
„Ye! My master spark has got more power than whatever you fired off! Don't believe me? Well, you're about to see and feel a first-hand experience, da ze!" The second arrival in black and white spoke.
„Lady Remilia will certainly want to know what had occurred now more than ever." The last arrival spoke.
A great battle was about to begin.
(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 noticed a lot of villagers fighting someone close to the dragon statue.
After flying a bit closer, she quickly noticed that it was Reimu and Sakuya, who were harassed by the villagers.
„Tsk… What's this all about? Attacking the one person who would help them at a time like this? Hmm… Somethin' doesn't feel quite right… I better get to the bottom of this…" Marisa said to herself, as she felt something weird was going on nearby. She quickly flew towards Reimu to come and help them out.
(Human Village, one hour and thirty minutes before disaster…)
While Marisa was avoiding bullets, Reimu and Sakuya braced themselves as they fended off one attack after the other, trying to ensure that the villagers who choose to observe don't join in.
Their goal right now was to disarm the villagers with firearms and then fly off towards the direction Mr. A ran towards.
There was no real challenge, as both Reimu and Sakuya easily parried the swings, slashes, stabs and punches, the fanatical members of Mr. A offered. The only problem were the ones with firearms. They were in the back and made sure that if even one of them would try to fly into the air, it would be the last thing which would have been done.
„Are we going to stand our ground or move out?" Sakuya inquired, as she blocked a swing with her knife and pushed the attacker back with said knife, knocking one more member onto the ground.
„We stay here, I have a feeling our problems will be solved on their own." Reimu answered. Reimu knew why she said so, as while she was blocking two attacks at once with her purification rod, she noticed a small black and white dot rapidly approaching in the far distance.
Marisa was the ticket.
After Reimu pushed both attackers back, she quickly spoke to Sakuya.
„Sakuya, start spinning."
Although unsure why, she quickly did so. But before she started to spin, Reimu forced both of Sakuya's arms to hold her up as she pressed her back onto Sakuya's. As more fanatical member tried to attack them, all of them quickly regretted that action. For once Sakuya started to spin, Reimu started kicking everyone close enough all around them, forcing most of the attackers to back off or receive a kick into the face. Around five of them received the second option.
It was at that moment, where some members with firearms took aim to try and shoot them, when suddenly star shaped danmaku fell from the sky and knocked the firearms out of their arms, leaving them defenceless for the time being.
„ZEEEEEE! Ya better invite me too before ya have a party this big!" Marisa exclaimed, after targeting every villager with a firearm in hands.
Both Reimu and Sakuya quickly flew off along with Marisa higher into the sky.
„You never fail to show up at the most convenient times, don't you?" Reimu said, thankful that they got out of that ambush without anyone getting serious hurt on both sides.
…if you don't count those ones who received a kick into the head.
„Hehe, what can I sa-" Marisa was about to make a silly joke, but the world disagreed with her intent.
As suddenly, a giant purplish dark beam shot from a building into the sky, draining the colour from it as it turned dark.
„Woah! I think we know where to find the culprits now!" Marisa stated, looking down from the sky at the building which was missing a roof as the beam slowly faded.
„…Lets go beat them up and fix the sky… again…" Reimu said, remembering a former incident where the sky was covered by a red mist instead. However, this time it seemed like the sky itself was turned into nothing but darkness.
Wasting no further time, they quickly flew towards the building from which the beam emerged from.
(Youkai Mountain, one hour and ten minutes before disaster…)
The fighting was intense. While the human invaders aimed to kill, the tengu defenders had orders to disarm and defend, not counter-attack. The tengu were aware that if they took the fight seriously, they would have absolutely slaughtered the human villagers, since they are fighting on tengu home grounds.
Momiji Inubashiri, a white wolf tengu, was at the frontlines were the heat of battle was at its climax. She ensured that no one would get hurt and also slowly managed to disarm a few humans who she then had taken hostage for the time being.
It seemed like another charge was about to happen as several human guards prepared to rush out from behind cover and attempt to breach the tengu defences.
But everyone stopped the fight everywhere, as out of nowhere the sky started to darken.
Both tengu and humans were looking at both friends and foes in confusion. Eventually, one human guard which was directing most of the guard forces shouted at Momiji to come out and have a talk.
Momiji was quick to do so, trusting that the guards wouldn't open fire or attempt to slash her if she did.
The leading guard asked for a compromise that both sides would lay down their weapons, until whatever phenomenon was occurring would pass. Momiji accepted, and both sides promptly lowered their weapons.
On many more spots such agreement came to be established, as both human and tengu had a bad feeling about what was going on. It was as if their very own instinct for survival was screaming the moment the sky turned dark.
However, despite that, fanatical members of the SHA/SHS refused to lay down arms and continued to fight the tengu in a few locations. To the tengu's surprise, they seemed to have been successful in pushing the tengu deeper into their home territory. The only explanation the tengu higher ups came up with was that the sudden darkening of the sky must be the main reason as to why.
The conditions still applied as a result. If too many tengu would start to die or the time limit Marisa was told about would expire, the order to forcefully push back the human invaders all the way back to the Human Village would activate.
The future seemed grimmer than ever before.
The only way to avoid disaster now was to return the sky back to normal and either capture… or kill, the one in charge.
Anton Drevov.
(Human Village, one hour before disaster…)
This was it, the final fight.
The man in brown, known as Johann, gently floated upwards as he summoned several dark purplish flames around him, which he prepared to use as his main way of attacking. Reimu decided to up her game and take it more seriously, summoning two yin-yang orbs which she would use to the fullest. Marisa too, decided to try a bit harder, as plunging the sky into total darkness was certainly not something she would tolerate. She readied her mini-hakkero as well as a few bottles which would certainly ruin anyone's day if they would land next to someone. Sakuya, while being present, was still merely observing. However, she considered helping if things turned out for the worst.
Meanwhile, on the second floor with no more roof or ceiling, Anton had the revolver which was given to him by Johann drawn and ready to shoot at both Mike and 17. Mike was prepared with the sword he took from the defeated Takeo which ran off, while 17 was trying his best to look intimidating with the knife he held in front of him. The knife which once belonged to Paul Garmith.
Not a moment later, the fight broke out both up and below. Johann fired all the dark flames towards both Reimu and Marisa, while adding in more and more. Reimu dodged with ease before throwing her yin-yang orbs at Johann. Marisa was doing well herself, but was caught off guard for a single moment when the flames which were flying past her suddenly exploded into multiple smaller flames which flew all around her, causing her to get grazed a few times as she managed to dodge the majority of them by flying straight up, before dropping down.
As the yin-yang orbs approached, followed by several ofudas, Johann quickly threw several flames in front of him and erected a wall of dark purplish flame which was fuelled by the extra flames thrown at it. Before the yin-yang orbs reached him, he threw the dark firewall at the orbs, resulting in all projectiles thrown by both parties to explode and send several stray shots which survived all around.
Several shots even almost hit the ones below. Anton at first hesitated to open fire, but quickly convinced himself otherwise as he realized that there was no turning back now, he either dies by not doing anything or by fighting one last grand battle. He might even survive and win if he tries hard enough.
After dodging the stray shots which came down on all of them, Anton opened fire at Mike, shooting three bullets into his direction. Mike dodged left and ducked to avoid two, but the last one, he seemed to not be able to dodge by any means necessary. Seeing that he either dies now or manages to do something very risky, but lifesaving, Mike decided to try and go for the second outcome.
Mike placed the sword sideways in an attempt to deflect the bullet in time. By a miracle, he managed to hold onto the sword for dear life, as he deflected the bullet upwards, but was pushed back and fell on one knee as a result.
Anton only opened his mouth in shock, before speaking out.
„You can still join me! You don't have to fight me! If you do, you are doomed to die!" Anton shouted, as he was barely heard from the bullet hell above them.
„Join you!? The only thing I am willing to join you in is death!" Mike was quick to shout back, he was determined to end Anton and his reign of madness.
„Then, show me what you got!" Anton said, aiming the revolver at Mike once more.
Unbeknownst to him, 17 was slowly making his way to try and pull the same trick he did with Takeo, on Anton. Only difference is, if he gets noticed, he is certainly going to die.
Meanwhile, the battle upwards between two incident resolvers and one trouble maker continued on fiercely. Johann was surprisingly stubborn to be hit, but so was Reimu and Marisa. They all managed to graze each other multiple times by now, yet not able to overpower the other.
That was when Marisa decided she had enough.
She charged her mini-hakkero and waited for the perfect opportunity. Once she saw Johann dodge another barrage from Reimu, she called out her spellcard and yelled at the top of her lungs.
„MAAAAAAAASTEEEEEER SPAAAAAAAAAAARK!"
A bright coloured light, which expanded into a huge size, beelined straight towards Johann, who only had mere seconds to react to it. But these mere seconds turned out to be just what he needed. Johann quickly pushed all the dark purplish flames he had created once more around him in front of him, and created a round shield from them.
As the master spark reached him, he pushed his whole body against the shield and attempted to push against the giant beam. As the master spark went all around him, he was safe thanks to the shield, but he didn't stop just there…
Marisa kept her master spark up, assuming he was dealing hefty damage to Johann. However, in reality, Johann was slowly pushing against it and climbing it towards Marisa. It was only when the master spark stopped that Marisa nearly suffered a heart attack as the shield Johann used was almost in front of her. Johann immediately threw the whole shield in front of him towards Marisa, the moment the master spark stopped.
Marisa only managed to close her eyes as she anticipated to be hit square in the face.
But the pain never came. As she opened one eye to take a glance as to why, she noticed Reimu in front of her who created a barrier and was pushing against the shield which tried to break the barrier down. Eventually she created a second barrier behind the first one, and launched it towards the dark shield.
Once more, a giant explosion occurred and several stray bullets flew all around.
It was around this time that Reimu has had enough.
Looking down below, the explosion caused both Mike and Anton to wobble a bit, before resuming their fight. Anton kept shooting and soon noticed that the revolver seemed to somehow not require any kind of reload. Thanking the luck he had, he carelessly shot at Mike.
Mike tried his best to dodge and block the many bullets shot at him, but he was slowly losing. He kept getting grazed and blood started to flow from a few spots where his clothes were torn from a bullet hissing past.
As Mike managed to get close enough towards Anton, he soon realized that was where he made his biggest mistake.
The closer he was, the easier Anton could hit him.
As the though crossed his mind, he felt itching pain from his right shoulder as a bullet grazed him, but caused his skin to open the gates for blood to slowly slither down his shoulder.
He lost balance and fell on his knees, right in front of Anton.
Anton only smirked as he opened his mouth to speak to the kneeling Mike.
„You gave it your best shot. But the last shot, will be from me." Anton jested, as he slowly aimed the revolver towards Mike's head.
„As well as me!"
Anton was too late to turn towards the sound as he was tackled to the ground. 17 managed to sneak behind just in time to stop Anton from shooting Mike. As Anton fell to the ground, he lost his grip on the revolver as it slid behind a table in the corner of the room where most of the furniture was put.
17 attempted to stab Anton in his knee to ensure he couldn't run or fight anymore, but Anton was having none of that.
„You little fuck!"
Anton said in an angry voice as he turned around and punched 17 in the right cheek. Dazed from the punch, 17 was too slow to react as Anton fully turned around while having his back on the ground, before kicking 17 into a wall. As 17 slammed against the wall, he was experiencing terrible pain in his back and face. He also dropped the knife, which Anton picked up as he stood up.
As Anton dusted himself of, he quickly realized that Mike was still behind him. As he turned around, Mike was already mid swing with the sword. Anton barely blocked the strike with the knife as the sword managed to cut into Anton's fingers on his left hand, causing blood to start dripping.
„Argh! You piece of shit! Take this!" Anton yelled as he slammed his head against Mike's. Both of them quickly stumbled back from the impact, and the cap Anton had finally slipped off his head and fell onto the floor, right onto the droplets of blood.
„You know what…?"
Anton spoke, as he shook his head and looked at Mike with hatred in his eyes. Mike too, stared back with hate and waited for Anton to speak out.
„I don't fucking care anymore if we win this war or not. Neither do I care if I remain in power or not…"
Anton spoke as he cracked his shoulders and slowly walked towards Mike with knife in hand.
„I just want the both of you dead."
Mike spoke no more, he merely charged towards Anton, as Anton charged towards Mike.
Meanwhile, Johann was starting to get overwhelmed both Reimu and Marisa had already used plenty of spellcards and Johann created plenty of close calls which saved him until now, but he knew he had to do something big if he wanted to turn the tides around.
The moment he found a bit of breathing room, he quickly surrounded himself in dark shields and started chanting a big attack which could potentially grant him victory. However, Reimu saw something like this coming. She knew, that this had got to be his final move before he would be too exhausted and hurt to continue. If she could stop the attack in the process of its creation, that would be it.
„Marisa, I want you to use everything you got onto a single spot on one of the shields surrounding him." Reimu ordered, and Marisa quickly gave Reimu a thumbs up before doing so.
Marisa supressed fire onto a single spot, but it seemed to not be enough to break through.
„Sakuya, could I request a single knife?" Reimu asked the spectator who was only dodging the occasional stray bullet.
Without saying a word, she tossed a knife towards Reimu who quickly grabbed it and then charged towards the spot which Marisa was firing on with all her power.
As Reimu was about to make contact, she threw the knife into the exact spot Marisa was firing at, before swirling around and using all her strength to slam her purification road into the knife handle before it made contact with the dark shield, giving it one last big push.
*SHATTER*
The dark shield suddenly broke, and Johann was caught off guard. Before he realized what had happened.
…
He merely felt something impale him through his abdomen. Looking down, he noticed it was Reimu's gohei. As he slowly looked up to look Reimu into her eyes, he was shaking in utter shock.
Sadly, Reimu wasn't done with him.
„Divine Spirit "Fantasy Seal""
A terribly bone chilling screeching could be heard from above, but neither Mike nor Anton could care any less about it. The both of them exchanged punches left and right and attempted to stab each other multiple times. But both always managed to dodge in the nick of time.
When suddenly, the whole floor collapsed from all the damaged it had sustained, and crashed down into the room below. One whole side of the building wall collapsed, leaving it open for anyone to see from the ground level.
At this point, Anton was covered in blood as his whole suit had several tears and blood was slowly ruining it further. Regardless, he stood up and clenched his teeth as he looked at Mike, who was slowly standing up.
Despite being able to stand up, he wasn't faring any better. He too, could drop from exhaustion at any moment.
While Mike and Anton soon continued to clash despite falling down a floor, and Johann was busy being exterminated from reality, 17 managed to slightly recover as he dropped down a floor, laying down on his stomach. As he looked in front of him, he noticed the revolver under a broken table in the corner, surrounded by rubble. He slowly crawled towards it in an attempt to seize control of it.
As 17 was slowly making his way, Mike seems to have been brought down to the ground. Anton was standing above him and raised the knife high. He had a wicked smile on his face, one which belongs to a monster who has lost all sense of awareness and rationality. Anton only yearned to kill Mike at this very moment.
„Hahahaha! We shall meet again in hell…" Anton laughed with glee, before whispering one last sentence. Then, he was about to plunge the knife down onto Mike.
„ARGHAA!"
When suddenly, Anton screamed.
The knife was shot out from his hands as Marisa appeared behind Anton and shot a star danmaku at his raised hands.
Marisa was about to say a remark, when suddenly, she paled after what happened next.
As Anton lowered his head down towards Mike due to the pain he felt flow through his hands, Mike took the chance to end this fight once and for all.
He swung the sword.
…
And decapitated Anton on the spot.
His head fell onto the floor and rolled towards his cap which was covered in blood and rubble. There, it stopped moving altogether.
His lifeless body soon fell backwards, and didn't move any further as only blood was gushing out, before even that, slowed down to a stop.
The Vozhd, Anton Drevov, is dead.
Exhausted, Mike dropped the sword onto the ground and laid back down to deeply breath in and out several times until he managed to calm down his pounding heart.
„…you didn't have to kill him…" Marisa sighed, slightly distraught over a pointless death.
„Both of them were the reason for all this trouble. It makes little difference if only one or both die. …Look, it seems like the darkness is fading!" Reimu stated, before noticing the sky slowly brighten.
As Johann was reduced into nothingness, the sky slowly returned back to normal. The birds were chirping once more and sunflowers looked up to the sun too. Near the Youkai Mountain, both human and tengu combatants applauded the return of the blue sky. Funnily enough, while both sides waited for the sky to return, they started playing dai shogi. In the end, when the sky returned, no one wanted to fight anymore and rather decide the outcome of the battle via dai shogi.
The fanatical members of SHA/SHS who partake in the attack, were soon stopped in their step. Deciding this was a lost cause, they attempted to flee the scene, but most of them were captured or committed seppuku once they assumed they would be caught.
The disaster has been avoided. …for the most part.
„All of these events will certainly amuse Lady Remilia, I shall be on my way to inform her right away."
Sakuya said, satisfied with everything she saw. She believed everything was over and decided to tell Lady Remilia all about it. Certainly, it would be a tale one would find hard to believe normally, but in Gensokyo, it might just be nothing that unique.
…
„Is it all truly over…?" Mike questioned, still laying down on his back as Marisa checked how badly he was wounded. Fortunately, it were only minor cuts. Except for his right shoulder, which needed to be cleaned and bandaged.
„Well, the sky isn't black anymore and the one who caused most of the trouble is no more. I believe it to be over." Reimu said, exhaling a breath of satisfaction. Now, she could resume her normal day activity.
„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. Both of them walked inside the ruined building from the large hole on the side, where previously a wall stood tall. Mokou looked pissed while Keine seemed a bit confused.
„Long story short, an Outsider caused a lot of ruckus and decided it was a good idea to attack the tengu, while another Outsider caused the sky to turn black." Reimu didn't bother going into detail, leaving only a confused Mokou and Keine starring at her.
„That reminds me, where were you all this time Keine? I believe something like this shouldn't have had happened on your watch." Reimu questioned, looking at Keine while crossing her arms.
„Oh, I was apparently poisoned. This left me in a pretty bad shape and I was forced to remain in Mokou's house for the past few days. I only started feeling better once Miss Eirin gave me something to drink, but I still need a week or two to fully recover I think…" Keine explained, before putting a hand on her face.
„Yeah, Eientei was involved in this mess." Mokou quickly informed. Reimu only rolled her eyes, as she wasn't surprised to this revelation.
„But that's not it. Apparently someone was planning all of this from the start."
When Mokou mentioned that, Reimu immediately imagined a certain youkai with the ability to manipulated boundaries to be the one who planned it all. However, as Mokou continued, she was surprised to hear who it actually was.
„After I killed Kaguya, she mentioned that someone who likes to go by the name of "Mr. A" was the one who planned everything out." Mokou stated.
„Mr. A…? Oh, now it makes sense." Everyone turned to Keine who seemed to immediately understand what was going on.
„That Mr. A is a stubborn man, he truly believes that in order to save humanity and restore balance and what not, the youkai threat must be removed from the surface of the world. He is the sole reason I made a deal with the child of Miare, to have a school build where I would then teach the importance of both human and youkai for Gensokyo's stability and existence." Keine explained.
„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. Mike too, quickly sat up to look at the newcomers.
„As soon as "Mr. A" left, Sekibanki here broke inside the room I was being held hostage and with a bit of help from me we managed to force both villagers who were tasked by him to guard me to make a run for it." Akyuu explained.
„That guy caused us a fair bit of trouble. He stirred the villagers to attack us near the dragon statue." Reimu informed.
Akyuu placed a hand on her chin, before speaking out.
„That must have been his followers. He has gained quite the following with his ideas and plans. I wonder if he planned for all of this to happen…"
„He didn't."
After a moment of silence, everyone turned to look at the person who was walking with an umbrella towards them. The person had a cheerful smile on her face, but everyone could tell that that smile meant nothing good.
„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.
„But… why? Why us?" Mike asked, as he rubbed his hurting shoulder.
„Mmmm… Why not tell you all? After all, the movie is about to end anyway." Yukari shrugged, before looking at everyone and recalling everything which happened, how it happened, and why it happened.
„I was bored and was looking around what the denizens of Gensokyo were on about. That was, when I noticed a certain man, let's call him "Mr. A", was planning something which immediately caught my interest."
„That man planned a scheme which would rid the Human Village of its guardian as well as Village Chief. At the same time, he already send a few of his followers to provoke beast youkai to attack the Human Village, so that he has a chance to get more villagers to join his side and try to force youkai away from Gensokyo."
Yukari chuckled for a bit, before proceeding.
„It was such a silly, little plan. So I decided to play along and maybe teach the man a lesson along the way. 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 interesting to observe!"
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.
„I still don't get it… why did you pick us out of like… what… millions upon millions of other people?" Mike questioned. He kept a calm demeanour for the time being as he was still slightly bleeding, but was attempting to bandage it with a piece of his clothes which he tore apart.
„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 leaned closer to Mikes 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."
„…suffer accidents…?" Mike muttered, mostly to himself in disbelief.
„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 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 you, Mike Victorn, a janitor who would have been crushed to death by a heavy crate falling on you, after you tried to get a hold of it and pull it out from the shelve above you."
Mike, paled a bit, as his memories seemingly returned after Yukari informed him of how he was going to die if not for Yukari taking him away.
„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. …apparently decapitation would soon follow after he was hung, fuhuhu~"
Afterwards, Yukari turned to face 17, who was backed away in the corner of the room. 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, 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."
„Enou-!" Reimu was about to put a stop to Yukari, when someone else turned up and yelled.
„Enough! I had enough! My plan was ruined… But that doesn't mean I have lost yet."
Everyone turned around to notice two people standing outside the building, as they stared at everyone who was inside.
„K-Kosuzu!" Akyuu gasped in fear once she noticed what was going on.
Standing Outside were both Mr. A and Kosuzu Motoori. Mr. A held Kosuzu in front of him, while also having a revolver placed right on the side of her head.
Akyuu didn't need to think twice to realize that Kosuzu was in grave danger.
„That idiotic Vozhd and youkai impostor ruined everything! But I won't run away, no… It will be YOU, who will run away, right now!"
„Just what do you want?" Mokou asked, trying her best not to lash out and risk Kosuzu dying.
„I want all of you gone! Leave this village and Gensokyo! Go! Or this girl gets it!" Mr. A has completely lost it. His earnest desire to remove all youkai fully consumed him, turning him into a madman with no remorse. …If he had any to begin with.
„…Do you not realize that by doing what you are, you are no different from the youkai you wish to be gone for good?" Reimu spoke up as she took a step forwards.
„Shut up! I will not be berated by a youkai hugging disappointment of a shrine miko! The once before you were worth more than you ever will be!"
Reimu was prepared to turn Mr. A into a youkai meal. But she endured the harsh badmouthing. She knew that if she approached too close, Kosuzu would be soon seen near Sanzu River instead of Suzunaan.
Everyone was tense, except Yukari who was seemingly enjoying the sudden twist of events.
„I will count to three, before I send this girl into the afterlife! I will say it one last time! Leave this village and Gensokyo!" Mr. A shouted, before starting to count.
Mr. A was giving everyone an ultimatum which couldn't be accomplished. Yet, they couldn't do anything as one slight movement from anyone would alert Mr. A to pull the trigger. Perhaps if they were fast enough, but would they dare try to risk it?
„…One!"
As Mr. A shouted, Kosuzu began crying. She was terrified about what was going to happen. Akyuu kept looking at her, and tried to calm her down with her eyes. Trying to mentally let her know that everything will be fine. But it was hard to believe at the moment for even Akyuu herself…
„…Two!"
Kosuzu closed her eyes as tears kept sliding down her cheeks. She only wished for it to not hurt. Akyuu had tears sliding down her face, too. Sekibanki was anxious. Mokou and Keine were furious, but also were on the brink of letting out a tear or two. Reimu was anxious, still contemplating whether she should risk it or not. Marisa looked away, not wanting to witness what was about to happen. Mike was hurt that there was nothing he could do. Meanwhile, Yukari seemed to smile…
This was it.
The moment everyone dreaded.
„…Three!"
*BANG*
…
…
…
*thud*
…
…
Everyone was shocked at what just happened.
The one to fall dead on the ground was…
…Mr. A?
„WAAAAA!" The moment Mr. A lost grip as he fell to the ground backwards, was the moment Kosuzu started to scream and run towards Akyuu. She quickly hugged Akyuu who hugged her back. Telling her to take in deep breaths and relax. That everything is fine now.
Everyone else soon turned around, too look into the corner of the room.
They saw 17, holding a revolver which was emitting a bit of smoke, after being used.
…
„HAHAHA! 17, you magnificent bastard! You did it! You saved that kid from that lunatic!" Mike was the first to burst into laughter as he praised 17.
„Yup! Although it's a shame things had to turn out this way… you did the right thing! If it wasn't for you, Kosuzu wouldn't be with us anymore!" Marisa said, as she ran over to grab 17 by the hand and drag him up to his feet.
„There was another person here? I didn't even notice him." Keine said out loud.
„That's exactly the thing which saved Kosuzu. It seems not even Mr. A realized that there was another person in the back corner. Giving 17 enough room and time to aim and shoot." Reimu said, a smile on her visage. Perhaps NOW she could resume her normal daily routine…
„It seems like everything ended with a happy end…"
Yukari stated, with a few people nodding while others stared at her with immediate suspicion.
When suddenly, screams were heard from outside. Coming from several places all around the village.
„…or not." Yukari ended her sentence, slightly giggling.
„…Yukari… what. did. you. do…?" Reimu was one word away from ripping the gap youkai apart.
„Oh, shush! Why don't you ask the saviour in this room? After all, it often happens that someone resumes the legacy of the one who passes away."
Everyone turned to look at 17, who had fully paled.
…
„Takeo… " Was all he said, before running outside. Followed by everyone else.
Outside, several bodies where seen on the ground with a puddle of blood around them. Takeo had seen from afar the death of the one man he had sworn to do anything for. Filled with hatred and anger, he ordered the other members to kill several village woman and children as payback. This was Takeo's revenge, for if Mr. A couldn't be around, neither should the village remain.
Half an hour has passed. In these thirty minutes, the whole gang managed to secure the village as the last SHA/SHS member fled the village. At the moment, it seemed like dark days were going to be haunting the village.
As one captured fanatic shouted that, this was a civil war between the humans. Seeing as the ones who were not members of the SHA/SHS were traitors to their own species. Many guards who returned from Youkai Mountain were left to mourn the deaths of their loved ones. Many of them swore revenge and decided to do everything in their power to protect the village from these fanatics, which split the human population in Gensokyo in two.
At that point, everyone else returned home. Reimu tried to find Yukari, who seemingly disappeared into one of her gaps, while everyone else decided to help the villagers recover.
Mike ended up deciding to remain in Gensokyo, and help the villagers in the fight against Takeo and his legion of what remained of the SHA/SHS.
The villagers were appreciated any kind of help. Even the tengu decided to help out the village. As they send both resources and patrols to help protect the village from future attacks.
Besides the ongoing civil war between humans, everything seemed to return to normal.
Everything… except 17.
17, although saving Kosuzu, was blaming himself for everyone which died. He explained many times to Mike that maybe… maybe if he had spoken more, he could have prevented all deaths which occurred.
Mike reassured that 17 was not to blame, and that punishing himself for it would only hurt him.
Regardless, 17 wondered for many nights, as he spend his days inside the village with Mike and occasionally Marisa, who came to visit them from time to time.
He wondered and pondered…
What would have happened, if HE would have tried to resolve the situation not by action, but by words? Would many villagers be alive? Would Takeo not be doing this? Would Anton, be still alive, despite everything which had happened?
17 didn't know the answer.
In the end, despite not reaching clarity, he decided to try and protect the villagers from outside threat.
…
Ironically, he seemed to be just like Anton in a sense. He too, tried to protect the people around him. But this time…
From an actual threat.
Johann Ending – The End
-People/Factions and their allegiance/opinion towards The Vozhd, Anton Drevov-
-Night of the Long Pikes Occurred--Johann Choice-
Johann von Hochmär – Exterminated.
Giovanni Mennini – Dead.
Mr. A – Dead.
Takeo's followers (Former SHA/SHS, currently Takeo's Legion) – Hateful (Loyal to Takeo)
Takeo – Hateful
Paul Garmith – Dead.
Mike Victorn – Hateful
17 – Forgiving
Villagers – Uncaring
Loyalist Guards – Sorrowful
Guards – Uncaring
Youkai – Uncaring
Kappa – Uncaring
Eientei – Uncaring
SDM – Pleased
Tengu – Unforgiving
(A war after a war, hate knows no bounds, as fear forces anything into action…)
The end is never the end...