…
My eyes fluttered open, and were immediately met with bright lights shining down from the ceiling…
...no, that can't be right. When we left Ethos, I went straight back to the shrine and practically collapsed onto my futon. So where was I now that had lights on the ceiling?
"Nnngh." I wrenched myself up off of the floor, when I saw what I was wearing: my Metaverse outfit. I also felt my wings twitching; I only had those in the Metaverse. Somehow, I ended up back there. But… how did I get here? I wasn't even sure where "here" was.
I looked around and tried to get my bearings. I was in a big, black room on top of a large stage in the center. The floor around the stage was red and blue, and there was a balcony off to one side.
And beside me…
"Mmh." Marisa rolled over, opened her eyes, and looked at me. She was also in her Metaverse outfit.
"...Reimu?"
"...Marisa?"
Marisa got up and looked around as well. "The hell is this place? How'd we get here? And why are we in our Metaverse outfits?"
"I'm not sure…" I shook my head. "This must be a dream. I'm imagining all of this, and you're not the real Marisa."
"Whaaaat? How can I not be me?" She shook her head as well. "If anything, I'm dreamin', I'm imaginin' all this, and you're not the real Reimu."
I stood up and drew my gohei. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter who's real and who isn't. I don't know how we got here, but we need to find a way out of here." I headed down the stairs, looked back at Marisa, and said, "are you coming?"
"Ah, yes!" She jumped up onto her feet, and followed me off the stage as well. We made our way up a set of stairs leading up to the balcony, then along the balcony to a set of doors leading out of the room.
We emerged out into a glass tube, which was actually a bridge over a very bright area of some sort. About halfway across, we stopped and looked out.
"What the hell is this place?" Marisa asked. I was wondering the same: what we saw was a large, white atrium with metal and glass structures scattered throughout, including a large pillar which this bridge led to. There were also several people walking and standing around. And, unnervingly, they were all smiling.
"What are they all so happy about?" I asked. "C'mon, let's get down there and take a look around."
At the other end of the bridge inside the central pillar, we worked our way around a circular path up to another door which led outside into the main atrium. There, we wandered around and then down the stairs, looking up at the grandiose, spiraling metal and glass sculptures hanging from the ceiling, and around at the bright, wide-open space around us. It was completely unlike anywhere I had ever been to or seen in my life; not even the Lunar Capital was quite like this. Probably because it was covered in ice the last time I went, and even when it wasn't the mood was rather dour; here everyone was smiling and happy.
Almost unnaturally happy, I felt.
"Man, I couldn't believe it when they told me all I had to do was just throw my fears away, but I'm glad I did!" a man said.
"I don't have a care in the world!" a woman proclaimed. "I'm so happy I feel like I'm walking on air!"
"I can't wait to receive Dr. Maruki's salvation!" another man proclaimed.
Marisa shuddered. "Geh. It's creepin' me out just how cheerful all these people are. Also… someone named 'Dr. Maruki?' Does he own this place or somethin'?"
"I have no idea," I said. "Again, we should just focus on finding the exit."
"Yeah, of course. Sooner we blow this creepy place the better."
We went down another flight of stairs past some benches when we looked around. Above us were cameras and panels flipping through different numbers while people all around us stood around and waited. "Welcome," said a female voice, "and thank you for coming, patients. You will be guided to one of our specialty care facilities according to your individual desires. We will assist each and every one of you. Rest assured, everyone can become happy. Should you have any questions about the facilities, feel free to bring them to our staff members nearby."
Marisa furrowed her brows. "Patients? Care facilities? What is this, some kind of fancy doctor's office?"
"And 'individual desires'..." I thought about what Goro was saying, about how the person causing the anomaly Outside seemed to be bent on granting everyone happiness…
I shook my head. I must be overthinking things, I thought. "Nevermind that, let's keep moving."
We passed through a set of double doors, out into another room with people reading billboards off to the side, and others walking by us. It was almost as though we were invisible to them, because they didn't seem to react at all to our mere presence, let alone our relatively stand-out costumes. But if this was a dream, I realized, then maybe I should have expected that, since in dreams reality can seem to twist and bend illogically seemingly all the time.
...but then again, this was an awfully lucid dream, and I never got lucid dreams, making me wonder if this was a dream at all. And not only that, the Marisa beside me claimed to be the real one, and that she was dreaming too. None of this made sense at all, and that was part of why I wanted to end it as quickly as possible by leaving this place.
Walking behind the billboards, we looked down at a strange, tubular glass door. We then watched something come up, the door open, and release some more people before closing and going back down.
"It's an elevator," I observed.
"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Marisa snarked. I just rolled my eyes in response. "I wonder if that's the entrance, or at least if it leads to it."
"It has to be," I reckoned. "Let's go down there immediately." We were just about to head down when we saw the elevator come up again. This time, it released two darkly-clad figures, one with a long coat, red gloves and frizzy hair, and another whose features I couldn't make out. Both, however, gave off a vibe of being trouble. Quickly, we hid behind one of the billboards and waited for them to pass. We watched them run up the staircase, and towards the doors we had just come out through.
Then, one of them spoke up. "We must hurry," he said… in a very familiar voice. "We don't know what he has done with Sumire." The two then went through the doors.
I looked at Marisa, who based on her expression was likely thinking the same thing I was.
"Was that… Goro?" she asked.
"It… certainly sounded like him," I answered. "But… what's he doing here? And what's with that costume he was wearing? I've never seen him in it before…"
Marisa got up and tugged on my hand. "C'mon, let's tail 'em. We gotta see what they're doin'."
I shook my head. "No, absolutely not. We're trying to leave, remember? Plus, this is a dream, that's not the real Goro, and if we follow them we might end up lost, if not in a death trap."
"Yeah, but…" she looked at the door. "Because this is a dream, if we die here we just get booted back out into the real world! And we don't gotta worry 'bout gettin' lost, 'cause we'll have to wake up eventually!"
I sighed. "Yes, but-"
"If 'yer gonna pussy out, be my guest. Me? I'm gonna go see what he's gettin' himself into!"
"Wait, Marisa!" I reached out, but she already took off toward the door. I groaned in frustration. That damn idiot, I thought. Well, guess I had to catch up with her now, to keep her from getting killed. I sprinted as fast as I could after her - catching Marisa was hard for me, since I couldn't run as fast as she did, or fly as fast for that matter. That's one reason why I relied on my homing amulets when dueling her - that, and they happened to counter most of her go-to attacks.
When I finally caught up, she was standing in the middle of the waiting room atrium, trying to find Goro and the other man but having no luck. "Damn, they got away," she said.
"What have I told you about running off blindly in a hostile place?" I huffed. "We don't know what all could be here, and that's we have to-"
"Did you see those dashing gentlemen go through the door to the V.I.P. Auditorium?" one woman said.
"I know, right? They looked so ~dreamy~! I wish I could live with one of them happily and forever!"
"Bingo," Marisa smirked as she tipped her hat, before taking off through the door.
"W-WAIT!" I shouted, tailing her. Past the door was another set of stairs leading to some kind of waiting area, filled with benches full of people and with sculptures and vases lining a hallway. I walked down the hall, paying close attention to my surroundings to avoid threats. I eventually found Marisa by an open treasure chest off to one side.
"Nyehehe, amateurs," she snickered, tossing a black rock up and down. "Didn't notice this chest over here out in plain sight. Now this thing - whatever it is - is mine for the taking!" She turned her head and saw me. "Am I right?"
I sighed. "At this point, I'd be more shocked to not see you hoard any treasure you happened to cross, even if it was so little as a scrap of vellum with something written on it in Latin and used as toilet paper by an oni."
"'Ey, everything's a treasure that has value!" Marisa insisted. "'Ya never know if somethin' you find is worth a fortune to someone somewhere, or if it could help a witch like me discover the secret to immortality or-"
"HALT!"
We turned around and saw a shadow, dressed in a lab coat and with a strange spiral mask on its face, looking straight at us.
I sighed. "See, this is why I wanted to get out of this place! But it doesn't matter now, we have to fight, all because you let your curiosity get the better of you."
"'Ya think I mind fightin'?!" Marisa bellowed, before running toward the shadow and jump-kicking it into the opposite wall, causing it to dissolve and reshape into three figures: two floating, blood-covered teddy bears with evil looks and skulls spilling out of their guts, and a red-robed purple-and-white striped demon holding a marionette puppet. Summoning our Personas, we got ready to rumble, with the people around us seemingly not noticing.
"Who do you think you are?" the demon asked while directing the teddy bears to attack.
"The red-and-white death of paradise," I said coldly.
"And the ordinary witch!" Marisa grinned. She directed a Mafrei attack at them, which was very effective against the teddy bears, knocking them down and leaving them vulnerable; I took advantage by going straight at the leader with my gohei, whose mere touch burned its flesh and left it writhing on the floor in pain. Once they were all down, all that was left was to finish them off with our very own All-Out Attack.
After dusting ourselves off (and Marisa pocketing the money they dropped), I turned around and scowled. "That was reckless," I said. "You should have known there were shadows here."
"But they were chumps, right?" Marisa said.
"Perhaps, but there may be stronger ones elsewhere. As I keep saying, we should just head back and head out."
Marisa didn't say anything, but instead looked at, and then pointed toward, a large gold-plated sign saying the door it was next to led to the "V.I.P. Auditorium," the room Goro and the other man were apparently heading for. "See?" Marisa said, "it's right there. Goro's just inside, we didn't hafta go far at all." She tipped her hat. "Don't underestimate a witch's senses."
"More like a witch's luck," I frowned. "But since we're already here, I might as well humor you."
"Hehe, excellent," she smiled.
We went over to the door and started to open it, before we started to hear voices on the other side.
"You hear that?" Marisa asked.
"I do," I said. I put my ear against the door to make out what they were saying. It was quiet and mumbled, but…
"Anything?" Marisa asked.
I turned around. "Something about 'true reality' and 'what his friends desire.'"
"True reality…" Marisa thought for a moment. "Think this might have somethin' to do with the incident?"
"What do you mean?" I asked. "Isn't this only a dream?"
"Yes, but, didn't Goro say Doremy told him that dreams and the Metaverse are connected? So just because this is a dream doesn't mean it ain't related to what's goin' on."
"That's… you have a point," I conceded.
"See? I'm always right!"
I was very tempted to tell her otherwise, but I also knew right now we had more important matters on our hands. So, very carefully, I opened the door and we snuck inside, hoping that whoever was in there wouldn't notice us.
We managed to get into the room, a large, circular and deep auditorium. Down below us were Goro and the other man, and opposite them was a large throne where a girl in a red jacket sat, a man in a white tuxedo standing next to her and some people sitting behind them.
"Well, it's time…" the tuxedo man said.
"Time for what?" Marisa whispered.
"Shh." We found some seats near the entrance and hid behind them, peeking around them so we could see what was going on.
After a moment of silence, the tuxedo man spoke. "For the sake of Yoshizawa-san, and the rest of your friends… I ask you to give me your answer."
After a moment's pause, the other man said, "I can't accept this reality."
The tuxedo man stepped back in shock. "Huh?" A blue light, which flashed like a butterfly, shone between them.
"Negotiations seem to have broken down," Goro said. What negotiations, I wondered?
"...I see. It seems we still haven't reached an understanding."
"No…" The girl woke up, and spoke with an anguished voice. She stood up. "You're not serious, right? Please… I'm begging you, Ren-senpai. Please let me live as Kasumi!"
The other man, whose name was apparently Ren, shook his head. "Don't hide from the truth."
"But why? This pain is too much… Why can't I just leave it behind me?! Kasumi is gone forever, and it's all my- it's all Sumire's fault! I can't live that kind of life!"
"What's her deal?" I mumbled.
"I feel like we're missin' important context here," Marisa responded.
We turned back to the stage, in time to see the girl… Sumire? Kasumi? Who the hell was she? Anyway, we saw her briefly flash into blue flames before acrobatically jumping in the air and in front of Goro and Ren, now dressed in a black leotard and coattail jacket with a sword on her hip. "Please… don't try to stop me…" She drew her sword. "If you do, then I'll-"
"They gonna fight?" Marisa asked.
"Probably."
"How stubborn…" Goro said. "No matter what you say to her, I doubt she'll understand. I don't think we have a choice in the matter here." He turned around. "I could take care of it for you right now… But you'd prefer her to leave here alive, right? Just hurry up and end this." He then walked away, leaving the other two to duel.
Marisa winced. "Did he just suggest he could kill her? Didn't think he was that ruthless!"
"This isn't like how I usually see him act at all…"
"Please…" the girl said, "don't make me do this…"
Ren looked down, then held his mask, seemingly calling forth a Persona which looked like a bizarre, dancing, floating demon with long frizzy black hair and claws. I could hear Marisa whisper "Rangda" under her breath. He then took a battling stance without drawing his own weapon. "Sumire…"
"I can't stop this! I refuse to live as Kasumi's killer!" She then called forth her own Persona, which took the form of a woman made entirely out of glass and with blonde hair. "Don't do this to me!" Her Persona then used some kind of violent slashing attack, only for the blow to bounce right off of Ren in a manner similar to how Shadow Mitori reflected attacks and hit her instead, causing her to cry in pain and stagger back.
"Sumire!" Ren pleaded. "Please stop! I don't want to hurt you! You're only hurting yourself by doing this!"
"STOP IT! SHUT UP!" Sumire screamed. "Cendrillon!" Her Persona then cast a powerful light wave at Ren, but it too bounced off and struck her, knocking her back.
Again, Ren shouted, this time tearfully, "Please! Don't run away from the truth! Don't keep living this lie! Just accept that Kasumi isn't around anymore and move on! If you don't… that's what she'd want you to do! It'll only keep eating away at you if you ignore her wish!"
"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT!" Sumire steadied herself, then focused in, causing a column of energy to surround her. It was easy to tell she was charging up some kind of huge attack.
Ren held out his hands. "Sumire… you don't understand… I'm not doing this to take away your happiness… I want you to be happy, to heal, to be strong! Sumire… please know… I… I… lo-"
"NOOO!"Sumire shrieked as her Persona unleashed swords which circled and struck Ren, only to, once again, be reflected right back at Sumire and strike with a sickening * THWAB*, causing her to collapse to the ground. "Why…?"
We kept watching, as Sumire gasped for air. "Looks like you lost," Goro said coldly.
"...why?" Sumire asked.
"You need to stop," Ren proclaimed. "Your fight isn't with us."
"...Ren-senpai…" She paused. "...no. I can't. I can't go back to being Sumire… You saw it all for yourself, Ren-senpai. It's my own fault that my sister's… Why don't you understand?! Please, I beg you…"
I shook my head. This girl… she couldn't bear the weight of killing her sister. That, I totally understood. But… what was she trying to accomplish by wanting to live as her? Nobody can really live as another person, not even people like Mamizou or Nue. Sure, you could certainly mimic their appearance, but everyone has their own quirks and personalities which can never be truly replicated. This girl, Sumire, would only be killing two people by attempting to live as someone else: her sister, and herself. If she were before the yama right now, she'd be going to Hell, no question.
...but…
"Yoshizawa-san…" the man in the tuxedo said solemnly, before taking a determined stance and walking down the steps toward them. He held out his hands, proclaiming, "I can give you strength, so you don't have to suffer."
"Doctor…" Sumire murmured.
"Tell me… if you want your pain to end, and desire to live as Kasumi… I'LL ACTUALIZE IT!"
Suddenly, the space around him darkened and a number of tentacles emerged from the floor, grabbing onto Sumire and lifting her into the air while she panicked and struggled.
"Whoa, what the hell?!" Marisa exclaimed. "What are those? Did he summon them?!"
"Geh…" I clenched my fist and stepped back, tensely looking on as the tentacles reacted with Sumire somehow, causing her to scream before her mask broke and she fell unconscious, and her Persona materialized, only now it was glowing red and visibly pissed off. "Goddamn it," I sneered. That doctor, taking that girl against her will and draining her power to use as his attack dog.
At this point, he was no better than a youkai dragging a girl out of the village to kill and eat in the woods.
And I was under oath to execute such offenders.
"Did he-" Goro grunted angrily.
"Sadly she has lost sight of herself," said the doctor. "She's in pain… Now, be her guide… and together, escape from the nightmare!"
The Persona gripped her head in agony as the tentacles coiled around her. "No… I can't… I don't want to go back to my life in cinders, ever again!"
"What the hell…" Goro sneered. "This so-called 'kindness' of his disgusts me!" You can say that again, I thought. "Let's do this quick."
"I refuse to go back!" the Persona shouted. "I'm happy here… THIS is where I belong!"
"I'll rescue you… the only way I know how!" the Doctor said, before snapping his fingers, summoning two yellow demons on either side of the Persona, all while Sumire's unconscious body hung in the air.
"Tch, it's gone totally berzerk," Goro said. "We need to stop her Persona!"
Marisa turned to me and whispered, "should we jump in there and help 'em?"
"Not yet," I cautioned. "We don't know what that thing can do, and frankly I'd rather not get my ass beat and die here, even if this is a dream."
"Whatever you say," Marisa said, rolling her eyes. We watched the ensuing fight, where the Persona demonstrated that it could drain the demons to restore its vitality, that the doctor could just summon more to replace them, and that they could power it up while it attacked with sword attacks and light waves, which Goro appeared to be weak to. The Persona he used was also a lot different then Bond, and unlike anything else he had. I kept wondering why he just used that one and didn't switch to something else… didn't he have an Archangel or something that blocked attacks like that? What's more, the man next to him did apparently have other Personas, including one which looked like a red-coated demon with mechanical wings and a fedora, and another which resembled Minamoto no Yoshitsune...
"Dammit," Goro grunted. "There's no end to this! Just what the hell is this thing?!"
The Persona called out, "I refuse to return! I will never go back to being such pathetic, soot-coated garbage!"
"You can't tell?" the doctor said. "It's her refusal to accept the truth…"
"Gah! We can't afford to waste time on this shit!" Goro shouted. Immediately after, the Persona began charging up an attack, aimed right at him. At this point, instinct took over, and both me and Marisa realized he wouldn't survive the attack.
"PLOT TWIIIIIIIIIIIIIST!" Marisa bellowed as she jumped down and summoned Mima to intercept the blow, while I jumped and floated down and summoned my own Persona to block the other attack as well. But then, we heard another voice, a boy's, call out, "I don't think so!" We felt another presence beside us as the berzerk Persona unleashed its attack to absolutely zero effect. As the dust settled, we saw that he was some kind of blonde guy with a skull mask and a biker outfit, while Ren, Goro and the doctor were suitably confused at our combined presence.
"Dammit, Skull, I told you not to rush in by yourself like that!" said another voice, before a whole group of people rushed into the room, including some kind of black talking cartoon cat.
"At least it seemed to work out in our favor," said another girl.
"You came…" Ren said.
"Our apologies for making you wait so long," said the tall one with the fox mask and tail.
Then, one of the girls pointed at us. "Is that…"
"Akechi-kun and Dr. Maruki?! And… who are those two?"
I helped Goro off of the ground. "You would have been a goner had that attack hit you."
He looked up at me through his red-visored mask. "...who the hell are you?"
"...huh? You don't recognize me? It's me, Reimu! And that's Marisa! Seraph and Starburst!"
"What the hell are you talking about? I don't know anyone with wings or who's some kind of vampire hunter," he snarled.
"...what?"
"I see," Marisa observed. "This ain't the real Goro, or at least the Goro we know."
Everyone in the group jumped back in shock.
"Wait," said the girl with the orange hair, "you two know Akechi-kun?"
I turned around and looked at the berserk Persona. "Look, it doesn't matter right now. That thing is pissed off and raring to tear us to shreds." I whipped out my gohei and spread my wings threateningly, while Marisa flipped out her knives and crossed her hands.
"I get that, but," the cat looked up. "Yoshizawa's trapped by… why's her Persona doing this?! What in the world is going on here?!"
The blonde boy stomped. "Ugh. So much of this shit makes no effin' sense, but we'll cover it later. We've gotta stop her first, right Joker?"
"Alright. Let's get in formation!" The cat looked over at Ren, a.k.a. "Joker." Huh, guess they had codenames just like us… wait a minute. Could these be the "Phantom Thieves" Goro was always talking about?
"What should we do, Joker? Who should go first, what about those two girls?"
Joker looked over at the orange-haired girl. "Oracle, scan them really quick. I want to know their abilities."
"On it!" "Oracle" said, before summoning her Persona, a black orb with creepy rainbow lines, and jumping up inside of it.
"You don't hafta scan us," Marisa boasted. "I'd be happy to give you a demonstration myself!" She then cast Mafari at the enemies, knocking the demons down. Joker then capitalized on this by switching to what seemed to be Bishamonten and blasting them with what looked like an even stronger version of Marisa's attack.
"Dang!" Marsia said. "You guys ain't no amateurs!"
"Scan complete," Oracle announced. "Their Personas don't seem to be all that powerful… but they're also giving off insane readings I've never seen before."
"I can easily tell," the cat affirmed. "Their Personas might be green, but they're far from rookie fighters!"
"I've personally kicked Princess Kaguya's ass," I said. "I bet you all can't claim the same."
"Er…"
"It doesn't matter right now," Joker said. "You two seem like you can hold your own, so just do your best. Everyone else: I want Queen, Skull and Noir up here with me, Mona in the back tossing heals and the rest of you on standby to replace anyone who can't fight."
"What about me?" Goro asked gruffly.
"It's too risky for you to fight her right now," Joker said. "You stay in the back and be ready to jump in."
"Grr… fine. I defer to your judgement."
"Alright, cool!" Marisa said. "Let's rock!"
For the most part, the fight continued as before, with the demons powering up the Persona and sometimes tossing fire attacks, while the Persona itself threw out light waves and slash attacks. I realized I could body-block the light attacks for everyone else, so I did that, providing cover for them and allowing Goro to sneak in potshots. Marisa focused on knocking down the demons which the biker chick, Queen, finished off with her own attacks before nullifying the power-ups, and Noir seemed to be solely focused on blasting it with Psychic and gun attacks. Dr. Maruki, however, just kept summoning more demons which the Persona kept eating.
"Geh," Marisa grunted, "they just keep comin'!"
"It's that damn doctor," I said. "Seems like he has an endless supply of them."
Marisa tilted her hat. "Cover me. I'm gonna do something about this." She then dashed somewhere so quickly I couldn't follow her.
"Where's she going?" Skull asked.
"She must have some kind of plan," Queen commented. "Let's keep attacking."
"Yes, ma'am!"
About a minute of fighting later, we took down the demons again, but it was clear between our draining energy and the Persona's continued aggression that we were at an impasse.
"Don't you see?" Maruki said. "This is Yoshizawa-san's refusal to be bound by pain…"
I stomped my foot. "BULLSHIT! Do you understand what you are even doing?! Taking her and forcing her to become another person, just because she's torn up over accidentally killing them?! Do you realize how many sins you're committing and making her commit right now?!"
"Sin is but a concept," he said calmly. "If only you understood her pain and suffering, her side of the story-"
"I'm dead serious about the sins!" I shouted back. "The yama isn't going to give a flying rat's ass about your excuses. It's not 'just a concept': they'll send you to Hell, and oni are going to beat you up and grind you to a bloody paste over and over for God knows how long before the Ministry of Right and Wrong decides to throw your soul back into the cycle of Life and Death! If you don't wish that, I humbly suggest you let her go and surrender right now."
"The hell's she goin' on about?" Skull asked. "She some kinda religious fanatic?"
"Well, she does look like an angel," Noir said. "Maybe she's one of them?"
"But then, what about the bat wing?" Oracle asked.
"Maybe she's only half-angel," said the girl in the catsuit who's name I didn't know.
Dr. Maruki held out his arms again. "I'm sorry, but I fail to see the wrong in helping to guide Yoshizawa-san, and everyone else, away from their pain and suffering. I will actualize their wishes and give them the lives they want."
...actualize their wishes, lives they want… wait… could that mean… he…
"ACTUALIZE THIS, ASSHOLE!" Marisa shouted, before slicing open the tentacles behind Maruki, tackling him and rolling over to the side where she pinned him to the floor.
"WHAT? You…"
"I got 'im on the ground!" Marisa said. "Finish that thing off!" Maruki tried to wiggle free, but Marisa slammed his arms down. "Nuh-uh, don't even think about tryin' to escape! I can beat Kappa at sumo-wrestling, you think a normal-ass human like you can do any better?!"
Once Maruki was down and the Persona was alone, Joker wasted no time casting a dark, demonic wave to knock it down. Once it was on the ground, I walked up to it and pointed my gohei at it, with my Persona doing the same.
"Adios," I said, before directing my Persona to fire a shot into its chest, sending shattering glass everywhere and leaving a gaping hole, causing it to hunch over and clench itself.
"Ahh… I can hear them… the bells of midnight are tolling… now, my dream... won't be… the clock strikes midnight!"
Once the strange girl… what was her name… "Reimu?" Once she fired that last shot, Cendrillon dissolved into darkness, as did the tentacles holding up Sumire. She dropped to the ground, her Metaverse outfit reverting to her winter outfit, and she collapsed, before Reimu caught her.
"Yoshizawa-san!" Makato called out. I rushed over to them, and Reimu handed her over to me so I could carry her.
"She's still breathing, and she has a pulse," Reimu explained. "She should be okay." She then turned her attention to Dr. Maruki. "Now then…" she said threateningly as she walked over. The other girl… "Marisa," if I recall - she got up off of him, and stepped to the side.
Maruki started to get up, and looked at us. "You've all - I can't believe you've thrown away your happiness just to come here and-"
"SILENCE!" Reimu shouted as she delivered a brutal kick to his chest, causing him to fall back down, double over and cough up blood, before stomping on his chest to pin him down.
"Whoa, what the hell?!" Ryuji exclaimed. "What's her deal? And… what's doc doin' inside a palace?!"
"He's ruling this palace, is what he's doing," Akechi explained. Everyone else jolted in shock.
"Wha-?"
"Not only that, he's the one who's generated this whole distorted reality." Akechi scoffed. "Not that it matters now, if that girl plans on having her way."
Reimu suddenly glared at us. "He's causing this distorted reality…" She turned back around, looking down at Maruki. "Well then. Well then… that changes the context of his crimes entirely."
Maruki coughed. "W-who are-"
"I'LL FUCKING TELL YOU WHEN YOU CAN TALK!" she screamed, stomping him again.
All of us trembled where we stood. "I sooo don't want to piss her off," Ann said. Makoto gulped and nodded, and we all knew when even she was off-put, then whoever was doing it was not to be fucked with.
"You… not only did you assault and molest this girl, use her power as your own personal attack dog and force your will upon her… but you have also committed the crime of threatening the Great Hakurei Barrier. That I cannot forgive."
...huh? What was she talking about?'
"Hakur-what now?" Ann asked.
"I'm so confused…" Morgana said.
"How does she know about the distortion?" Akechi wondered. "And… how does she supposedly know me?"
Reimu shook her head. "You leave me no other choice." She drew her gun.
"...no!" Makoto exclaimed.
Reimu stuck the muzzle right into Maruki's mouth, then spread her wings. "Sorry…" She put her finger on the trigger. "Business is business."
Then, suddenly, Marisa tackled her, knocking her away and making her drop her gun.
"THE HELL ARE 'YA DOIN'?!" she screamed. "YA' CAN'T JUST CROAK THIS GUY BECAUSE OF SOMETHIN' HE MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE DONE! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU LOOKIN' OUT FOR HUMANS?! SURE, WHAT HE DID TO THAT GIRL WAS SHITTY, BUT-"
"Marisa…" Reimu said coldly. "You… This is my duty, as the Hakurei Shrine Maiden. If one breaks the rules, I must be the judge, jury and executioner, without doubt, without remorse." She grabbed Marisa by the sides. "You might think incident resolving is just a game to collect treasure, have tea and look badass, but I see it differently. When I say I exterminate troublemakers, I fucking mean it, bitch!"
Marisa's pupils shrunk, and she slugged Reimu in the face, causing her to stagger back. "The fuck you just call me?!" She rolled up her sleeves. "You say you live by those rules, and threaten to exterminate anyone who doesn't comply with them or the spell card system. But you can hide behind your fancy divine power, leavin' people like us to fend for ourselves! Lemme tell 'ya something: one of these days, somethin' big and nasty will kill you, because might makes right in this world. The strong kill the weak, that's how it works! That's what I realized long ago. That's why I train to be a magician, and climb my way up to the top of the shit pile!" She looked over at Maruki. "But… I won't kill unnecessarily. You, on the other hand, use your rules as an excuse to commit murder!"
Reimu snarled, "I'm 'murdering' the guy who's threatening the Barrier!"
"You don't know that for sure!"
"Oh yeah?" She drew her gohei and pointed it at Marisa. "Then come at me!"
"Alright, you asked for it!" Marisa activated her knife-gloves and the two lunged at each other, before they suddenly both started glowing along with Reimu's gun. In an instant, there was a bright flash, causing us all to look away, and when we turned back, they were gone.
…
"...what the hell was that all about?" Ryuji asked.
"More importantly," Yusuke said, pointing at Maruki.
Maruki looked up at all of us, his arms wobbling as he struggled to steady himself. "*cough*... Feb*cough*... February 3rd… come back here by then… then I'll hear your *cough*... decision…" He too then disappeared into a flash of light.
We all looked at each other, still utterly bewildered as to what just happened. In particular, just who were those two girls, how did they come here, and why were they here?
"We need to get out of here immediately," Akechi said. "Yoshizawa-san needs to recover, and we have much to discuss."
"You can say that again," Morgana said. Ryuji helped me carry Sumire out of the room and toward the nearest safe room so that we could leave as soon as possible, before heading straight back to LeBlanc to debrief.
As we made our way out, one thought kept bothering me: how did those two girls know Akechi? Was it possible… was it possible, wherever they came from… could he be there? And if so, how could I get there?
