Hakurei Shrine
Much speculation filled Reimu's thoughts on what the ornate chest might contain as she peeled off the paper charms that covered the lid (these charms are just imitations with no powers, magical or divine). Then she undid the fasteners that kept the lid secure to the chest.
Genji held his breath (not that he needed any as a divine spirit), as he watched the shrine maiden remove the lid of the ornate chest...
...Revealing what appeared to be a paper umbrella in it.
"Huh?" Reimu cocked her eyebrows as she grabbed the paper umbrella with both hands and lifted it out of the chest. "This is it?" She eyed the paper umbrella with disbelief. "I thought such an ornate chest would've store something that at least looked fancy..."
"I would say that I am just as confused as you are..." Genji said.
The two glanced at each other, then turned their attention back on the paper umbrella.
"Just... who left this here...?"
...
Meanwhile at the main building, Marisa is doing her best to impress the lesser shrine maidens...
"-so I based this costume of mine off of a dude from a story told by my mom. With some modifications, of course. This dude's name is Star Lord. Or rather, that's his self-given nickname. His real name is Peter Quill, and he's the leader of this awesome team of ass-kicking heroes called the Guardians of the Galaxy-"
Marisa soon noticed that her speech had gone over the lesser shrine maidens' collective heads, as all four of them looked at her with utter confusion.
"You're not gettin' any of this, ain't cha?" The half-western witch asked.
All four lesser shrine maidens shook their heads. So did Marisa's cat. Ruukoto, on the other hand, simply declined to comment - either verbally or physically - as she collected the now empty teacups and took them back to the kitchen.
"Of course we don't." Said the dark-haired shrine maiden.
"Figures..." Marisa said as she scratched her chin. "As I was saying..." She then continued with her impression. "This awesome team, as their name implies, protects the galaxy from all sorts of bad guys from a damn crazy warlord to a freakin' planet. Of course, they didn't start out as heroes. For starters, Peter was a self-centered pirate-"
"What is that?" Interrupted the blonde shrine maiden with the red ribbon, as she pointed at the sky.
Everyone looked up to see a beam of jade-colored light shooting down from the sky.
"A light?" Marisa wondered. "And it looked like it's hitting the...storage shed?"
...
Back at the storage shed, Reimu had decided to put the paper umbrella back into the ornate chest, and decided to leave it behind. She then decided she should clean up the shed, starting with removing all the unneeded items from it.
Of course, with the ornate chest being the only thing that appear to be unneeded, it is the only thing that Reimu has taken out of the shed.
The ornate chest is actually heavier than it looked. The shrine maiden massaged her shoulders after moving the chest out of the shed and putting it down in front of the entrance.
"I still don't get this thing..." Reimu said as she turned her attention back on the paper umbrella. "Why would any one of the previous Hakurei shrine maidens keep something so... ordinary? It's even in very good shape, as though it was supposed to be a treasured possession..."
"The answers continue to elude my thousand years old knowledge..." Genji said as he scratched his forehead.
"You don't know either, gramps?" Reimu expressed. She sighed, as she took the paper umbrella out of the chest and held it in her hands again. "It would've been something unique if not even you knows about it. And yet it looked just like any umbrella you could buy cheaply in the village of Touhou-Ri. Or Hoppou-Ri, ev-"
The shrine maiden paused when she looked up in the sky and noticed a jade-colored glow in the clear blue sky.
"Genji, are you-"
"I see it too, Reimu. It feels like... divine magic?"
All of a sudden, the glow in the sky morphed into a beam, which shone itself on Reimu. Or rather, the paper umbrella in her grasp.
The jade-colored beam only shone on the paper umbrella for a few seconds before it faded away as quickly as it came.
"What is going on?" Reimu wondered as she turned her attention on the paper umbrella.
Before the shrine maiden can get an answer, the paper umbrella suddenly reacted, glowing intensely as it released a huge amount of white magic energy.
"Wh-what is this?!"
"It appears to have absorbed the divine magic of the light!"
At the same time, the four lesser shrine maidens and Marisa (with her cat resting on her shoulder) rushed to the storage shed to see what is going on. They too are surprised by it.
"Hey, Reimu! The heck's goin' on?!" Marisa exclaimed, raising her right hand to shield her eyes from the intensifying glow.
Reimu isn't able to answer as the glow is reaching peak intensity.
Soon after that, changes began to occur on Reimu...
The shrine maiden's crisp white haori jacket morphed into a bright red top with a frilly rectangular white collar decorated with a yellow ascot. Her sleeves widened as ribbons appeared around their ends. Her slightly dark red ankle-length hakama skirt morphed into a bright red frilly skirt which went only halfway past her thighs, as white leggings with similar designs as the sleeves materializing to cover what of her legs that the skirt did not. Her geta shoes then morphed into a pair of knee boots. Only her hair tubes and ribbon remain unchanged.
Once Reimu's outfit has been magically changed, the paper umbrella wrapped itself in the same white magic aura as the glow become to intense that everyone had to look away or cover their eyes.
When the bright light receded seconds later, everyone in the immediate area finds that Reimu is no longer holding the paper umbrella. It appears to have transformed into a gohei that is longer than Reimu is tall, with a haraegushi that is just as long attached to it.
Of course, everyone's immediate attention are not on the long gohei that had replaced the paper umbrella. Rather, the center of the attention is Reimu herself.
"What just happened...?" Reimu wondered out loud as she stood where she is, dumbfounded. She quickly noticed that everyone are staring at her. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"
The lesser shrine maidens made no response.
"Uh, how should I put this...? Your... outfit?" Marisa stuttered trying to come up with an answer.
Confused by the half-western witch's statement, Reimu inspected the frilly, flashy outfit that had magically replaced her normal shrine maiden robes...
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"WHAT THE MAKAI?!"
...
Misty Lake
In the center of the Misty Lake, there is a small island.
The small island is seldom visited, even by fairies, due to being enveloped deep inside the lake's namesake mist. All anyone knows about the small island is that nothing lives on it except for a few weeds.
However, that is about to change...
The thick mist and ambient silence that have enveloped the island since its very beginning are disturbed when a tiny ball of magic energy suddenly appeared not too far above it.
The tiny ball of magic energy soon began its slow descend toward the island. In the process of doing so, it spawned a small, mild vortex around itself, only made visible by the lake's mist being caught in it.
As the ball neared the ground, the vortex surrounding it began to shrink in size. The weeds flapped in sync with the billowing of the mild vortex.
Soon, the ball of magic energy touched down. The vortex dissipated altogether at the same time.
All of a sudden, the tiny ball expanded into a massive size instantly, covering almost all of the island.
The magic ball remained in place for several minutes before dissipating, revealing in its place a massive manor of western architecture made of marble with different shades of red all over, topped by a clock tower with a golden clock face and diabolic-looking spears as clock hands.
Standing on the balcony of the manor are three people, all inside a translucent red hemisphere which is surrounded by five differently colored crystals that are hovering off the balcony.
"And now, it is time for the inhabitants of this land to kneel before their soon-to-be ruler..." Declared the one clad in red and with bat-like wings.
Lost Daughter of Vlad Tepes
Remilia Scarlet
"That is I, Remilia Scarlet, the Lost Daughter of Vlad Tepes!" The red-clad lady finished her declaration before raising a fist into the air. "And there is nothing that can stop me!"
If the red-clad lady, Remilia, is expecting something dramatic to happen, she doesn't seem to be getting it, either from the environment or her audience of only two people. The next few seconds was silent enough that the three people could hear each other's soft breaths.
"That is the 666th time you've made the same declaration in your lifetime, Remi..." One of the audience of two - a pink-clad lady with purple hair and is reading a book - deadpanned to Remilia.
Hearing that, Remilia lowered her hands before going through a slight charisma break. "Nnnnggghhh... Why do you always have to ruin the dramatic moment, Pache?! Ju-just do as we've planned!"
...
Hakurei Shrine
After the strange event that had occurred, everyone gathered at the front of the shrine to discuss about it.
Or so they initially planned to...
Reimu, not liking her currently bright red and frilly outfit, did everything she could to try to undo the transformation. From tapping both ends of the extra long gohei on the ground, to holding it over her head as though pleading to the heavens, to even making ridiculous poses and shouting ridiculous phrases (all of which are suggested by Marisa, much to Reimu's chagrin)...
None of it worked. Reimu's bright red, frilly outfit did not revert back to her normal shrine maiden robes.
Genji is practically overworking his brain trying to figure it out.
The shrine maiden sighed. "Just... what is with this flashy, ridiculous outfit...?" She complained as she tugged at the yellow ascot tied to the rectangular collar of her top. "This looked like something only a...only a fairy tale heroine would wear!" She then turned her attention on the sleeves. "And these looked like they could be detached!"
Marisa sounded like she is snickering at Reimu's overreaction. "I dunno. I've heard of plenty of guys and girls who wore more ridiculous outfits as superheroes. Then again, none of 'em are real, so..."
The lesser shrine maidens couldn't help but giggle at Marisa's statement.
Reimu then approached Marisa. "So what?! I am the shrine maiden of the Hakurei Shrine! And this!" She emphasized by tugging at her skirt. "This is so short! And then there's these stockings... Why do I have to bare my thighs?! I look so indecent in this!" She ended her ramblings by bringing her foot down.
The shrine maiden stomped the ground hard enough that a small foot-sized crater was formed right there.
Everyone went silent as they slowly turned toward the crater that was formed unexpectedly.
"Uh... Have you ever stepped hard enough to do that before?" Marisa raised a question, unsure of what to make of it.
Reimu nervously shook her head. "No. I'm just as surprised as you are..."
It is at that moment that Ruukoto emerged from the kitchen, carrying freshly refilled cups of tea on a tray.
"There appears to be a localized mild tremor right outside the main building, and it appears to have lasted only a split second..." Said the green-haired maid as she placed the tray of teacups down on the veranda. "Might I inquire exactly what had just happened?"
Everyone remained silent for the next few seconds, due to being unsure of what to say.
"It's a long story..." Reimu answered, before quickly grabbing a cup of tea and gulping down its contents.
The shrine maiden didn't even finish the cup of tea before the teacup inexplicably imploded in her hand.
Reimu's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates at the thought of having just crushed a ceramic teacup with just one hand. A bare hand at that.
Marisa's cat meowed in a way that sounded like it is saying "What the heck?"
"Did I just..." Reimu, retracting her hand while thinking about her unexpected handiwork, uttered in bewilderment.
Marisa interrupted Reimu by grabbing her hand. "Well, look at this. Clearly your...uh... transformation gave ya more than this admittedly silly-lookin' outfit..." The witch then reached for the extra long gohei, only to immediately retract her hand the moment she touched it. "...And this magic staff/pole thing that just freakin' zapped me..." She added while massaging her zapped hand. "What I'm gonna say is that-"
"'With great power comes great responsibility'?" Ruukoto interrupted.
Marisa snapped her fingers. "Yeah! That's what I was gonna say! A dude called Peter Parker was told that in regards to his superpowers! But the point is that ya need to be responsible with your newfound powers, especially one ya barely understand!"
Reimu, not getting Marisa's reference and point, raised her eyebrows with all the confusion she has gotten in the past hour.
This is going to be a very strange day for me... Reimu thought.
...
Touhou-ri Village
Having been confused enough by the unwanted transformation, Reimu decided to cool off by flying off to Touhou-ri - the closest village to the Hakurei Shrine (the lesser shrine maidens went back to their respective shrines after that). She had expected that her bright, frilly outfit (and the umbrella-turned-gohei that caused it to begin with) would be very eye-catching to the villagers and cause debates about it. But the shrine maiden is not in the mood to pay attention to them. She came here specifically to take her mind off of the matter.
Unfortunately for Reimu, Marisa decided to follow her to Touhou-ri, and the witch just won't shut up about her "great responsibility" speech and the stories she kept citing as her reference points. Even Marisa's cat, tucked under her hat, is finding it annoying as it pressed its paws over its ears in an attempt to block out the speech.
"-While the phrase 'with great power comes great responsibility' is specifically tied to Peter Parker, it actually applies to the heroes of the Marvel stories that my mom told me about. Like for example: Tony Stark with his fancy suit of armor, Steve Rogers with his super soldier powers, Stephen Strange with his wizard powers, et cetera. Okay, I know it doesn't really apply to Peter Quill, since he and his Guardians buddies are all a bunch of a-holes, whom got little respect even after kicking the ass of this egomaniac called Ronan, and this even bigger egomaniac who literally calls himself Ego-"
It doesn't look like the witch is going to stop anytime soon...
"Marisa, would you kindly..." Reimu tried to grab the witch's attention.
But Marisa didn't notice, as she went on with her speech. "Of course, all this 'with great power comes great responsibility' thing apply to just about any heroes, not just the Marvel ones, and they don't have to have superpowers either. There's this guy called Ethan Hunt-"
"Marisa... Shut. Up!" Reimu's finally had enough, as she interrupted Marisa by shoving her...
Hard enough to send the witch crashing into a ramen stand. Marisa's cat meowed in surprise as it crashed into the stand together with its master.
Good thing for Marisa that the stand is still being set up at the time, so there are no boiling hot soup spilled on her (or anywhere else). But the stand's owner is definitely angry about having her stand trashed.
Reimu clearly didn't expect the result, as she approached the stand's owner and apologized. Then she turned toward Marisa. "Are you alright?"
Marisa groaned as she got up from the wrecked remains of the ramen stand. "Geez, ya sure got one heck of a shove there, Rei..." She snarked. "Ya coulda just told me to shut up..."
"I'm so sorry..." Reimu apologized as she helped Marisa get up. "It's just that-"
"Looks like the two of you have some kind of problem there~" Chipped a familiar voice from behind Reimu.
The shrine maiden turned around, and found herself facing a pair of formerly maniacal red eyes.
Not-So-Maniacal Law Enforcing Princess
Sonozika Kotohime
"Oh, it's you..." Reimu dully greeted Kotohime who at the moment is in uniform.
Marisa, on the other hand, waved her hand at Kotohime while treating her like an old friend (despite being not). "Hey there, Constable! Ya lookin' for something to do?"
Kotohime scoffed in response, much to the surprise of both Reimu and Marisa. "Actually, I'm the Chief of the Gensokyo Police Force now~"
"Wow, congratulations!" Marisa said as she extended her right hand toward Kotohime for a handshake.
The not-so-maniacal princess refused the handshake. Not surprising, given her history with Marisa last year. "It was nothing, thief..." Kotohime said, suddenly dropping her usual air-headed demeanor, much to Reimu and Marisa's surprise (again). "My niece, that is, the previous chief of the GPF, insulted a western woman on the sole basis that she is not Yamato..." She seemingly groaned at the thought, as she did an aside glance. "The village elders deemed her to be presenting a bad image of the GPF, so they unanimously voted to kick her out..."
"Ouch." Marisa winced at the thought. "Talk 'bout responsibility..."
"Speaking of responsibility, Miss Kirisame~" Kotohime pointed out, her usual cheery demeanor returned. "I want to talk to you about those little witches who follow you all the time..."
"Ya mean Ako and her gang?" Marisa interrupted. "Yeah, I know about that stunt they pulled a while back. But no worries, Miss Mima has already punished 'em."
"That, and your association with the evil spirit, Mima..." Kotohime added as she pulled out a pair of handcuffs. "As well as your numerous charges of burglary and-"
Marisa's cat suddenly leaped out from under her witch hat, and pounced on Kotohime, causing her to fall on her back. The cat, standing over the not-so-maniacal princess's face, assumed an intimidating stance as it hissed at her.
"Cut it out, Shade. Ya don't have to be so rough." Marisa told her cat as she picked it up.
The cat meowed in response.
"Whaddya mean, 'she's becoming a threat'? She's just doin' her job as police chief!" Marisa answered back, somehow understanding what her cat was saying.
Reimu blinked in confusion as to how Marisa is able to perceive her cat's meows as a language.
Kotohime wiped the dirt and paw prints off her face, then she stood up and dusted her police uniform clean. "Wow, that's a cute little fellow! Just like Ellen's Socrates~" She, forgetting what she was saying prior to being pounced on, chirped as she playfully extended a hand to tease the cat, who hissed and tried to claw at her.
"Her name's Shade." Marisa introduced her cat to Kotohime. "She just showed up at my house one day, and I figured that a witch ain't complete without a cat, so I kept her."
"Why 'Shade'?" Reimu raised a point. "That sounds very sinister to me..."
"I was gonna call her Salem, but that name was already taken. Hence Shade." The witch explained as she tucked her cat under her hat. "Actually, I had plenty of other names in mind. It's just that-"
The sudden cry of a villager brought the conversation to a halt., and grabbed the attention of everyone.
It quickly became apparent why the cry happened: a thick aura of red suddenly appeared out of nowhere and quickly enveloped the whole sky, bathing all of Gensokyo in a shade of scarlet.
"What is happening?!"
"Is this the work of a Youkai?!"
"Are we going to die?!"
The villagers talked about the event worriedly. The sound of children crying can also be heard, as parents hurriedly escorted their children indoors.
Marisa, however, isn't worried one bit. In fact, she seem excited as she summoned her magic wand into her hand. "Well, whoever's doin' this, they're sure gonna get some ass-whoppin'!" She then turned toward Reimu. "Just like Makai, eh?"
"This has little in common with Makai..." Reimu said, momentarily forgetting about her bright, frilly outfit as she stood up front with a serious expression. "But it is an Incident that needs to be solved, and you need the Hakurei shrine maiden to do it."
Marisa then gleefully patted Reimu on the back. "Now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout! Maybe we could be like the A-Team...no wait, those guys are all Mundane humans. Maybe the Avengers? But we've got just the two of us right now... How about Charlie's Angels...?"
Reimu groaned at Marisa's references, as she face-palmed on the spot. "Just... please, shut up, Genevieve..."
Marisa stopped with her references upon hearing that. "Hey!" She called out to the shrine maiden, feeling offended by being called her middle name.
And so begins the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil Arc...
If Reimu's transformation reminds you of a magical girl transformation sequence, that is because it is my intention (this chapter's name should've tipped you off already). I'm making this version of Reimu basically a shrine maiden-themed magical girl, complete with superpowers such as super strength and sixth sense. And yes, she can transform back at any time, she just haven't figured it out yet. To quote a G-Mod newbie: "How do I shot web".
And here's Marisa making a boatload of pop culture references, including but not limited to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. "How does she know about all these pop cultures?" you might ask. The answer is simple: she got them from Claire Rainymist, aka her mom (introduced in Exotic Inventory). It's like I'm implying that Marisa's mom might not be a Gensokyian of American descent, but actually be from the United States. And since this story is supposed to be set in the 2110s, it means that Marisa (and her mom) are making references to pop culture from as far back as the 1990s, with her name-dropping Charlie's Angels...
Next up: Reimu comes up with the Spell Card Rules to help her win fights and solve Incidents, but finds out that it doesn't make things any easier...
"And that, as they say, is that..."
Afterword ends here.
