When I started doing this, I never imagined this would get this big. By that, I mean word count. With this chapter, ICB will be over 600,000 words long. Why is that a big deal? Because Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace is 587,287 words long. Yes, THAT War and Peace.

Think about that. This work is now larger than War and Peace. If you've sat down and read all the way from the beginning of ICB to the end of this chapter, you have read more words than in War and Peace.

Not that I'm aiming for milestones, but the next milestone? The Bible, at 788,280. Then? The Harry Potter Series, which collectively stands at 1,084,170.

The funny thing? Ever since over a decade ago, I've wanted to write a novel. I've wanted to sit down and write out a work that I had been planning for a long time at that point. And it has never seen the light of day. In no way shape or form has it come out publicly. On an old computer, there might be a few text files, but I need to find it first.

Funny, isn't it? That I did manage to write, though not how I originally planned. But for it to be received like this? It's what I could hope for. That people tell me that ICB is the 'greatest story on FFN', which I don't know if it is, it's just...

...Really, thank you all for your continued reading. Thank you for your support. Thank you for taking the time out of your life for this. It's just fan fiction, yes. It's not a published novel.

But for you, the reader, to come this far and care about this story? That just blows my mind.

Enough talk. You came here for a long chapter, and you're getting it. It is over a hundred thousand words long (or, it's supposed to be - in the doc manager, it says it's over 120,000 words, but the site is only counting it at half that for some reason when its published). So, make sure you are in a comfy chair or are lying comfortably in bed. Laptop/Tablet/Mobile users? Plug those in. Get something to drink, and something non-greasy to snack on so you don't smudge those tablets or mobile devices.

And above all else, enjoy.

Because after this? After this is Meltdown.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is owned by Nagaru Tanigawa. Touhou Project is owned by ZUN and Team Shanghai Alice. I own neither. This is a fan fiction of those works.

Beta Readers for this Episode(Alphabetical Order):

Another Duck
Smooglii

Late Summer, 2008.

-login-

-Emiri K.-

-update on subject: Yukari Yakumo-

-Lately there have been an increase times when the youkai Yukari Yakumo has used time travel to accomplish something. Her activity has increased, but this entity is unable to discern what she is doing. One could attribute this to her preparing for what is coming in the winter, yet time still remains. If the world was to indeed end in the winter, then the question remains - wouldn't the future cease, and therefore, the time travelers cease to exist? Either way, Yukari, who has been very cooperative with us before, has become very secretive in the past few months. This has worried some of us in the Society, as we wish to keep constant vigilance on her methods. Yakumo is indeed powerful, and while she has been cooperative, we still seek to monitor her activity in case she changes her mind on our arrangement. It's not that we don't trust her - which we don't - but it is standard protocol to acquire more data. It is our nature, and her recent behavior has been noted. I will continue to =DELETED= -

-first update-

-Yukari Yakumo has since taken me aside in her realm and quickly told me that she is being monitored by another party, that her realm is relatively safe for brief periods of time. I had asked for more information and have gotten no answers, but it appears that there is another person or persons involved, which would explain her actions. I still do not trust her yet.

-second update-

-There is definitely another party involved. Yuki Nagato has stated, it is a 'feeling' I'm getting. I have no hard data to support this 'feeling', but I do feel like I'm being monitored at times by something. Whatever it is, it is not human. Yukari Yakumo's actions appear justified. Recommending increased scans and counter monitoring to see if we can find out who this is.

==ADMIN UPDATE: COUNTER SURVEILLANCE APPROVED==

-third update-

-I am unable to pinpoint who it is who has been watching Gensokyo, but it is not the Sky Canopy Domain. Nor is it the one who is involved in the upcoming scheduled Summer incident. Will continue to seek this new party. On the subject of said incident, there has been a development that might cause trouble. Subject Haruhi Suzumiya's subconsciousness has reappeared and - [FILE DAMAGED] -

-logoff-

UNKNOWN LOCATION

It's almost time.

Years of watching them, it's almost time.

They've amused me for so long, but... I'm so bored watching them. I want to be a part of this world, to be a part of the incident resolving, the adventures, and 'saving the world.'

And the addition of Kyon, Haruhi, and the others has made it all the more fun to watch. So many interesting things have been happening down there, and now, finally, I'm going to get to play with the girls of Gensokyo.

The girl with the blue hair smirked, staring down at Gensokyo. She had been planning her incident for a long time, and was held up out of nowhere by a surprise visitor. She was told to wait until August, until a particular day.

At first, she wasn't going to do it. Normally, anybody telling her what to do would have been dealt with. However, due to the person in question, she complied. Still, the anticipation was killing her. It had taken her a long time to set everything up, after all, and to have it pushed back this much...

The girl leaned back, a rock materializing to give her support. She rested for a bit, still going over what had happened, and what was to happen.

She had challenged the visitor, but had gotten completely wiped before she could use her weapon. The girl knew what the visitor was, so the special effect of the sword would have worked if she struck her with it. Again, she didn't have the chance. She was just too quick, really. As expected of her.

The girl got giddy, reliving the scene in her head, even though it was a one-sided fight. It had excited her, and it was the sole reason why she honored the request. Not much had been able to excite this girl, which was why she had taken to watching the events that had been happening on Earth that concerned not only Gensokyo, but Haruhi as well.

Interesting. The girl sat up, taking notice that two of the Brigade members were making their way to where Gensokyo would be in their world. A pang of hope and excitement went through her, as them getting involved would make this immensely more interesting.

I shouldn't set myself up to a letdown, but here's hoping they make their way in. Fingers crossed!

Ah well, the day had finally come, and had given her something to look forward to. While the anticipation was a bit too much, she found that it had excited her as well in another way.

Something had to give. The girl was experiencing what they refer to 'cabin fever', but it was centuries in the making. She wanted to experience something new, something that made her feel alive again.

If only Yasumi had let me do what I was gonna do two months ago, and if only she'd allow Kyon or someone from the Brigade in. That would make this so much more interesting! She flicked her hair, the smile widening. No matter. The day has finally arrived. I'm gonna make this grand.

She grabbed her weapon, the Sword of Hisou. The flame blade of the weapon began to intensify, reacting to her emotions.

Let the games begin!

The year I was waiting for, the year of my death.

Man it still sounds weird when I say it.

It wasn't so much the anxiety of the knowledge that I could die, it was just the waiting of it all that was so unbearable. I wanted it to happen so we could get it over with, but the first two winter months had passed, so I had to go through the other seasons to get to the final month.

That's not to say that things didn't happen. For me, not so much. Just trying to maintain the balance of every day college life and keeping myself ready. I'm so grateful that the craziness that surrounded Suzumiya had pretty much died down. Well, not really. That's why I chose this world over Nagato's, after all. It's just that I don't think I could have handled Haruhi's stuff happening alongside all of this. So, yeah, it was a difficult situation, I wanted something to happen, but at the same time, it was good that nothing did.

Regarding Gensokyo, however, ever since the Moriya Shrine appeared, Gensokyo got busy. The peaceful year of 2006 gave way to more conflict. Yukari was right - a new era had begun.

But the Moriya Shrine thing wasn't the first event of 2007.

Where do I even begin with 2007?

Okay, I have to set the stage here. What transpired is kind of a big secret, and even those involved didn't know the full story. Due to Emiri's reports and Nagato sharing said reports, I became privy to what went down, despite the limited information. But the only ones in Gensokyo who knew the full scope of things were Yukari, Ran, Yuyuko, and Youmu, and they weren't talking. Everyone else were only able to see events from their limited point of view. What I'm saying is that people like Reimu, Marisa, and the like didn't know and still don't know what exactly happened, or why they really happened, even though they went through it.

A Lunarian rabbit... or Moon rabbit. I think they're technically just 'Moon rabbits', since they aren't really Lunarian. At least that's according to one of the reports. Anyways a Moon bunny soldier had come down to Gensokyo, as she had gone AWOL, and made contact with Eientei. I don't know what happened, or the details pertaining to what really went on, but that triggered the whole event, I think. It ended up with Yukari manipulating Remilia into going to the Moon.

If I was there, I would have wasted so much time trying to convince Remilia not to go, only to be dragged along. Even though it'd be interesting to add 'went to the Moon' on my proverbial résumé.

That's right. Yukari had manipulated Remilia into going to the Moon for a 'second youkai invasion.' Though it wasn't so much as an invasion as Remilia going with Sakuya, Marisa, and Reimu in order to take over the Moon. Oh, and a number of fairy maids were there too. How did they get there? Well... it's going to sound weird: Patchouli built a working rocket out of wood and various other materials, while using National Geographic magazines as a reference. And it worked. It got them there. Though another incident occurred before they did their takeoff, but I'll get to that.

When I heard that, of Patchouli's accomplishment, I wasn't even surprised. I mean, why not? Why not build a rocket ship out of wood? You know, besides the obvious?

Wood. In space.

I know what you're thinking. I thought it too when I first found out. Impossible. Right? But it worked. Magic seals kept in the oxygen and air pressure, recycled the air, they brought enough food, water, they had enough magical fuel for the 'rocket' part, and they used Marisa's hakkero for cooking. She had enough personal mushroom fuel to keep it going.

Geez, Patchouli. If you could accomplish a working space program using magazines and wood as reference and materials respectively, what is your limit? What can't you do?

But anyway, they got there, and they were wasted by a single Lunarian in danmaku battles. Yes. Reimu lost again.

However, they were the bait. Yakumo had also let slip the information of the 'invasion' to Eirin, who had compiled information of the people in Gensokyo, and had sent that information to that Lunarian. That's how the Lunarian was so prepared. This Lunarian was loyal to Eirin, you see - she was more than happy to help her master. Yes, this Lunarian was a protégé to the good doctor. Anyway, Yukari then warped to the Moon, and had gotten caught by the Lunarian's sister. She was then "humiliated" by the Lunarians for another failed invasion.

However, Yukari was also bait. Your head spinning yet? No? Okay, let's go even further. You see, Luna is pretty pure in energy. Anything from Earth, youkai or human, would be detected by the inhabitants, since they would be impure. That's why Yukari was caught the moment she set foot on Luna - she was detected. Unless you were a soul, especially a pure soul, you would be detected by all the inhabitants. And Yukari is no pure soul.

I think you know where I'm going with this. Using another prepared Yukari portal, Yuyuko and Youmu gained access to Luna while the other 'invaders' were being dealt with, stole some Lunarian sake, and brought it back to Earth. Even though they encountered Lunarians, nobody thought anything of them due to how 'pure' they were in spirit. They came from a pure land, after all.

For all of that, it seems rather mundane, doesn't it? Especially since Yukari allowed herself to be humiliated by the race she hates.

I didn't understand it until I had given it some thought. Yukari had proven her absolute dominance over Eirin and the entire Lunarian civilization. Despite being humiliated, because she allowed herself to be caught, she won.

Besides the fact that she had someone take from the Lunarians, it was a consumable - so there was no way the Lunarians could have even attempted a recovery of it. Not only that, but think about something.

Yuyuko.

What if Yuyuko turned on her instant kill powers?

That's the message Yukari had struck to the doctor. 'Not only did I outsmart you, or the people you trust the most, nor did I simply prove that can I go into your world whenever I please and take what I want of yours, but I also had the means of wiping out your entire race.' It would be like transporting a weapon of mass destruction through a country undetected, and then revealing it to its inhabitants on how easy it was to do so after the fact.

'It was that easy to manipulate you. It was that easy to outsmart your protégés. It was that easy to take from your people. It was that easy to commit genocide. It was that easy to erase your civilization in an instant. I deconstructed everything you have ever set up. Your race and legacy are alive only because of my whims.'

But that wasn't all. That wasn't the crescendo of Yukari's 'second invasion.' Yukari had Eirin drink that sake right in front of her, and said the following:

"It must have been centuries since you left your hometown. I thought you were becoming distraught with homesickness, so I had some sake from the Lunar Capital prepared for you."

Eirin froze after drinking it, staying still for a few moments, so she had to have realized what had happened. All the while, Yukari was standing right in front of her, smiling. Eirin quickly left for Eientei after that.

That's dominance. Can you imagine how Eirin felt upon that realization, when she drank that? In that minute, she must have realized what had happened, and she had to have Yukari right in front of her, smiling over it all. All that, and she couldn't lose her composure in front of the person who just outwitted her.

Holy hell. Yukari, you are a savage.

Still, isn't Eirin in exile, or a fugitive? No, Kaguya is supposed to be in exile, right? I'm not sure. Eirin would be a fugitive for aiding Kaguya. Anyway, so why was the doctor really helping out the Lunarians? I don't know - this all raises up more questions than answers with what I know. Maybe I don't have the entire story. And I have no idea what brought that on. None at all. Why would Yukari go so far, send people to the Moon, just to prove her superiority? Well whatever it was, it had to have taken time to plan and execute, so this wasn't a spur of the moment action. Yukari had to have been planning for this for years. Decades, maybe.

Anyway, I'm glad that nobody died as a result of that. I mean, imagine if Yukari had somehow decided to commit a genocide of the Lunarian race? She had the means to do so. Would I put it past her? No. I know how ruthless she can be. But that would get two immortals after her - Kaguya and Eirin, and I don't know if Yukari had the means of dealing with them on a permanent basis. Well, I'm sure she could come up with something if she was that desperate.

I still can't understand the real meaning behind it all. Maybe it's just Yukari's hatred for the Lunarians? To just give Eirin a proverbial slap to the face? What I do know is that I'm glad I'm an ally of hers. I do not need those layers of dominance going up against me, thank you very much. Someone like that to tear my world apart? Who would have plan after plan after plan going on that I don't see what she actually did until the end where she won? No thanks. I'd rather she put her manipulations to good use.

And now back to that incident regarding Sanae.

I truly didn't know what had happened until fall of that year. The incident that involved Sanae occurred, and she attempted a takeover of the Hakurei Shrine. Reimu fought back, of course, defeating her new rival miko. From what I heard, Sanae is actually more powerful than Reimu due to the gods' blood running in her veins - Reimu only won because she had more experience in magical battles. Another example of skill versus power.

For some reason, and I don't know why, but the Moriya Shrine was located near the summit of youkai mountain. It's nowhere close to the village. To me, that makes no sense. I mean, there was plenty of land surrounding the village - and it would be smart to end up being closer and more convenient for the village than having to travel to the Hakurei Shrine. I mean, heck - The Myouren temple would end up right on the outskirts. So... why? Unless one is fine gathering the faith of youkai. I mean, is that even possible? That would be like secondhand belief, wouldn't it? Faith/fear keeps the youkai alive, and they share that faith with the Moriya Shrine. Does it work that way?

Considering that I haven't heard anything about the shrine failing, I guess it did. According to Emiri's reports, Sanae is still there, so I guess she really is seen as a youkai due to her blood. Otherwise she'd probably get swarmed and attacked.

Anyways, the incident itself. Reimu got Marisa to join her in a counter attack on Sanae. And again, if I was there, I would have attempted to convince them not to, especially since I knew the girl, but I would have gotten dragged along.

Mind you, neither of them had attempted to scale youkai mountain before, because usually humans who go up there don't come back. On the upper section of the mountain is the fabled village of the tengu, (which is supposed to be inside the mountain?), while at the bottom is the location of the kappa's village. Reimu and Marisa actually fought gods. Weak gods, but still. And guess what? Two of them were the Aki sisters. Imagine that. They fought another god, whose name escapes me, followed by a fight with Nitori and Aya, with Nitori telling them to go back because youkai mountain was deemed too dangerous for humans, and Aya fighting them because she happened to be on guard duty for her village (I think - Emiri's report wasn't clear on that) that day along with another tengu. A white wolf variation, I believe. I don't know.

But then they reached the shrine, and defeated Sanae and one of the gods at the Moriya Shrine. It turned out the god there had decided that the Hakurei Shrine was weak and wanted it for themselves, but didn't expect Reimu to put up a fight and end up knocking them out.

Ah, Sanae. Part of me wishes I could have been there so you wouldn't have had to go through that.

So okay, Gensokyo now has two powerful miko from rival shrines. One being part god. It just keeps getting more interesting, doesn't it?

Now we get to this year - 2008. One incident has already happened this year. Right at the beginning, during spring, there was something called the 'Great Fairy War.' It was set up by the Three Fairies of Light - Sunny Milk, Star Sapphire, and Luna Child. Yes, them. They had coordinated with most of the other fairies in Gensokyo to initiate a takeover, their own little rebellion. For... some reason. I'm not sure. Like I've concluded - the fairies aren't very bright, but they were quite numerous. All of them could have been a legitimate threat if they focused their power. Just about every single fairy in Gensokyo had joined together to form an army - apparently even Lilly White. The only ones who didn't join were the ones employed by Remilia.

Well, there was another certain fairy that didn't join up with them. And I think you know who it was. It just had to be her.

Why oh why is it always her?

You're not going to believe it, but Cirno was not a part of this. Well, not a part of that uprising or whatever it was. I don't know why, but Cirno started fighting back against the other fairies, taking down every fairy who was a part of that war, eventually ending with a three on one match against the leaders, and she emerged victorious.

Let me say that again - Cirno took on a majority of the fairies in Gensokyo when they had united, and won. She single-handedly took down an army. Even some of the Scarlet Devil Mansion's fairies had joined up. No wonder Cirno was so respected during the resistance. And chalk up another example of 'if you defeat them they'll respect you.' It was a waste of everybody's time, but the Great Fairy War counted as an incident for some reason, even though nothing really came of it. Reimu wasn't even a part of it.

For some unknown reason, right after the Great Fairy War was over, Cirno had the guts to challenge Marisa and she won, just like I heard Reimu say so in the future. I don't know the details, but Cirno has most certainly gotten more powerful - just like I know she will eventually. Cirno had somehow managed to survive several Master Sparks from Marisa during that fight. A far cry from her getting defeated from a single spark while in Mayohiga.

Now, I said one incident happened... but I was on the cusp of another.

And it wasn't the underground one.

First, I need to go back to how I ended my first story regarding Gensokyo.

This was not supposed to happen, I was not supposed to be a part of this, and I was not supposed to meet her. I mean, I saw her at the resistance, but I was never meant to meet her. But it would possibly be the one of the most important turning points, if not the most important turning point, for me in all of my contact with Gensokyo.

It was instrumental to my very survival, what happened to me during this incident. What I got.

It all started with somebody stupid enough to destroy the Hakurei Shrine...

"Almost a year has passed since the shrine maiden went to the mountain.

The Hakurei Shrine's crisis was averted without incident, and a sweltering summer has visited the shrine as usual.

However, the shrine maiden has been afflicted with an unusual continuing drought.

Even during sudden cloudbursts, almost no rain would fall on the shrine.

But that's not all - rain continues unabated over the forest, and at the mansion that's usually hidden behind thick mists, snow falls out of season...

It was an amazing incident of abnormal weather.

Nobody had any idea what was behind the strange weather.

But it was obvious with a glance at the big picture...

The one plagued by incessant sun, the one under a deluge of constant rain, the one enveloped in deep mist...

Yes, their strange weather only continued around them, personally.

But the real crisis would probably start once the strange weather patterns collided.

That glimpse of the weather crisis' true nature signaled the start of the incident's resolution in a manner that resounded across the land.

-A great earthquake strong enough to reduce the shrine to ruins.

Nobody knew why she was the only one to feel its effects.

But it was enough to send the shrine maiden out to find the cause of the incident."

-Scarlet Weather Rhapsody, Prologue.

Imperfect Cherry Blossom - The Movie : Scarlet Weather Rapture

"Doing what you like, as much as you like, is wonderful.

But not coming into contact with others isn't good.

Not leaving any memories with others...

...Is the same as not existing in Gensokyo."

-Remilia Scarlet, from the doujin "Miss Patchy's Diet (Part 1)" by Karaage's Shop

August 9th, 2008

When I was in college, I made the trip to find the outside world's, well, my world's Hakurei Shrine. The shrine that Remilia spoke of during our first dinner together was indeed the Hakurei Shrine - one in Gensokyo, one in my world. It was the only thing besides the general terrain that both worlds shared. Koakuma had told me that the area Gensokyo was in was near Lake Suwa and in between the Nagano Prefecture and the Yamanashi Prefecture. Which, when I looked it up first chance I got after getting out of Gensokyo, put it in the Yatsugatake-Chushin Kogen Quasi-National Park - smack-dab in the middle of Japan.

It took me a whole day of hiking around, but I found it. It was hidden, tucked away in heavy foliage and overgrown trees. If it wasn't for the red gate, I would have missed it. A run down, abandoned, decrepit old shrine. But it was easily recognizable to me. There was no doubt - this was the Hakurei Shrine, the shrine where I spent an afternoon lazing around with Marisa Kirisame and Reimu Hakurei before they tried to get me out of Gensokyo. Seeing it brought a flood of memories back as I brought out my nekomata figure as if in automated response.

I felt like crying. My fist tightly held onto the figure as I fought the tears.

Exploring it after recovering from that, I found that nobody had been there in decades, possibly well over a century. Dust was piled everywhere, the roof was collapsed at some parts, and it was just dark, with all the trees giving shade. I spent an hour there, just looking at the shrine. The only object there was a lone donation box.

I put a 1,000 yen note in it.

Hope you get that, Reimu. It's not much, but it's something, right? Besides, the cost of traveling here really put a dent in my wallet. And maybe you won't have to beat up some poor random youkai to make ends meet.

I tried not to think of Marisa, but I knew I smelled her scent as I turned to leave. It was unmistakable. The thought that she possibly just passed my position in Gensokyo in relative to my world...

She must be visiting Reimu right now. Right now, a few feet from me, in Gensokyo, they are talking to each other.

Damn it, I can still taste her kiss.

It's still not fair.

It's still not fair to harbor such feelings for her, especially since I was the one who declared a break. Makes me regret that decision at times. Just sometimes, when I'm laying there at night, I'd think about it. You know, the usual 'what ifs' and second guessing that people normally do. It wasn't healthy, but it couldn't be helped, I guess. I try not to let it eat me up, and for the most part I succeed. There are those rare occasions that I fail, though. And those are the nights I don't get much sleep.

She also grows up to be even more beautiful. Just being near her made my heart flutter. Man, that was a real downer - to see what I gave up. She was smoking. And I got to hold onto her...

Calm yourself, man.

But then I remind myself that I made the right decision. After all, where would I live? With Marisa? She lives in the middle of a forest that was deadly.

Yes, there are some youkai in the Forest of Magic, but the real danger are the mushroom spores. According to the report on the Forest, the spores get so numerous sometimes that they will suffocate you. And that's if you're lucky. Some spores are just flat out toxic.

Marisa, what the hell are you doing living there. I mean, come on. I guess one could view the advantages of living there with easy access to magic-granting mushrooms as a huge plus, but... I don't know. The threat of suffocating or being poisoned is not where I'd set up a home. That's just me.

I'd have to rely on her for transport all the time, and that'd be a hassle not just for me but for her. I mean, imagine - if I needed to get something from the village, I'd have to pester her until she was able to take me. If she was doing an experiment, or asleep, I'd have to wait on her. That would be a hassle for the both of us. Unless she taught me to fly.

Actually, that's possible. If I stayed, there would be the possibility that she'd help me achieve that. Maybe even help me learn a few spells for self defense, even. Because even if I learned to fly, youkai could still fly up to me and catch me, unless I earned their respect and was able to defend myself.

There would be a whole host of problems for me staying in Gensokyo. I'm very used to electricity and all its luxury benefits. I'd miss movies, TV shows, games. Yes, it's all luxury and all, but dammit, I'd miss it. Granted, electricity would be coming, but still, I'd be missing out on so much.

Also what would I do? Would I really become a farmer?

Farmer.

Considering how much I love my interesting life, and how I wouldn't trade it for anything, I don't think that would do it for me. I don't know. Also, being a farmer in Gensokyo would be extraordinarily dangerous. If you didn't have the respect of the local youkai, or the protection from a strong faction, you were game to whatever was out there. And even then, you were game to any of the new youkai and factions that would eventually come into Gensokyo and try to establish themselves or didn't know you were under someone else's protection.

Death comes quick to the weak. The rules of nature. Gensokyo is a hard place... no... not just Gensokyo. The world is a hard place. People get reminded of such a thing when a kid doesn't look both ways before crossing the street, for example. It's so easy to forget that despite how safe we make our surroundings, humans are still mortal, and death can come quick and out of no where when we aren't looking. Watching Mokou's body get torn up repeatedly by Yukari was proof of how fragile we really are.

...death can come quickly...

It was still on my mind, you know. How could it not be?

I still lingered, both lost in my thoughts and not wanting to leave the shrine. To be truthful, I couldn't bring myself to. This was the closest I've been to it and Gensokyo itself in almost four years, barring my encounter with Yukari at the Moriya Shrine's crater.

And again, there we are in 2008. What a year it has been already - I had been waiting for the first two months, but nothing happened in either January or February - those two winter months were a bust. So I knew that it would have to be in December instead, which meant I would have to wait even longer. Anticipation had become a big enemy. I wanted it to be in the first two months so badly, so I could get it over with, but no, I had to wait until the end of the year for it.

Speaking of waiting, Koizumi was probably waiting for me to come back - he was my ride out here, and helped chip in for the trip. I'll have to thank him for honoring my unreasonable request today. A week prior, I felt like searching for the Hakurei Shrine. I don't know why, but I just had that feeling. After making sure of the general area, I had asked Koizumi to help me in getting there, expecting him to not grant me such a foolish wish, but he accepted. So it was just the two of us getting up to the Nagano prefecture.

It was nice, to see the countryside of Japan, and I didn't expect to find it, yet there I was. My world's Hakurei Shrine.

Still he did tell me not to stay too long. The border is near here, and I have no intentions of slipping into Gensokyo right now. He warned me of that. That Gensokyo was still by all intents and purposes a closed space, and there was a chance I could still slip in. It wouldn't be bad to visit, I guess, but really, whenever I do go in, it's not all fun.

I was about to turn to the shrine, ready to bow, show my respects to the Hakurei, when all of a sudden I felt a tremor. For a second the earth violently shook, and I heard a cracking, followed by a crumbling - and it was over. The shaking made me fall, and I could still feel the tremors. That was an obvious earthquake, and it felt too intense, even if it was quick. I laid there on the ground, breathing heavily - not knowing what to do. I was wondering if was over, if the tremors would be going away - and they did. I laid still, waiting for more, but nothing came of it.

Was that it? Real quick earthquake there. But no aftershocks? Weird. Even made a weird noise-

My eyes widened. I realized that the crack was something that resulted of the quake. I quickly got up, turning to the shrine, praying that it wasn't what I thought happened.

It did happen.

The Hakurei Shrine had collapsed. Only the roof had stayed relatively intact - everything underneath it was done for.

"No...no no no no no!" I ran up to it, feeling concern, anger, just a mix of emotions. I wanted to do something, but I couldn't. I just stood there, looking at the ruins. It felt like I just witnessed the death of a friend right before my eyes, really. It had been a while since I had felt so helpless.

What could I do there? I had no means of putting it back together at all... Though I do have Nagato and/or Koizumi. I began to think about asking one of them if they would be so kind as to rebuild it. I mean, it's pretty important, even though it's abandoned in our world, and it would be a nice gesture of remembrance. The more I thought about it, yeah, I could get either or both of them to help rebuild it, or at least put it back together.

Well, that would be nice. I mean, the Ise Grand Shrine of the Mie Prefecture gets torn down and rebuilt every twenty years as a symbol of revival...

Hold on a second. Something didn't feel right. I put off my thoughts of rebuilding the shrine as I looked around, and there was no damage elsewhere. The red gate, which was just as decrepit and barely standing as it was, didn't collapse. No trees upended, even though some of them were clearly dead and ready to go.

No, it was just the shrine.

That's interesting. Almost as if were specifically targeted. Why though?

My thoughts went to an enemy of mine trying to make a statement, of targeting the shrine right when I was there. Of who, I didn't really know. If Suou is here, then I might be in some trouble. I brought out both cards, one in each hand, looking around. I wanted it to be Suou, because I had her weakness. But if it wasn't... then I don't know.

Nothing. Just the far away cries of some bird in the National Park. Other than that, it was oddly silent. Not even the buzzing of cicadas could be heard, or the other sounds of summer. Eventually, even the bird quieted down, making me anxious. Nature should not be that silent. I felt like I was going to be ambushed soon.

Nothing happened in those moments of waiting. I slowly put away the cards, backing towards the gate, ready to begin a quick descent down the stairway, until I caught a glimpse of something behind the shrine.

Actually, someone. A small teenager, with brown hair, and a...

A... a North High uniform?

And a... a yellow smiley face hair accessory?!

I was stunned. I thought I knew who that was.

Yasumi?!

I had not seen her for years, not since the attempted takeover of Haruhi's powers. I found myself walking towards her, but then I stopped. Right. If this is an ambush, that would be a pretty good way of luring me into a trap.

Though... I was alone for a few minutes in an open space. If anyone wanted to attack me, that would had been a good time as any, right? Why try to bait me later when I was already alone and in a prime ambush spot?

Curiosity was getting the better of me. I decided to tentatively look, but if anything didn't feel right, I'd immediately leave. I tried messaging Koizumi for possible backup, but my phone didn't get any bars. Okay, that's another red flag. Even though I was in a national park, I should have been getting some coverage there, at least a bar or so. Making sure I was also armed with Asakura's card, just in case, I slowly made my way behind the shrine, looking for the girl, but also had my feet in a position to start running in case my flight response activated. I had faith in my own speed, after all. All that playing with Haruhi had paid off.

You see, since that day in 2007, some of the tennis club members saw the two of us playing, and a few challenged us. Haruhi and I were unbeaten as a team. I don't think I need to tell you how Haruhi was so good, but as for me, I was able to hang in there, thanks to my time with my girlfriend. Like Nagato said - constantly training with perfection does work. I've even taken on and held my own against some of the tennis club guys. I'm not too bad.

Tangent.

I didn't feel in danger, even though this was a surreal experience. First, I made it to the shrine, unable to believe I had found it, then I spent some time thinking about Gensokyo again, then it got destroyed, and then I see Yasumi of all people there. What a series of events.

It also crossed my mind that if Yasumi was actually there, then there would be a chance that she herself just destroyed the shrine, though that brought up more questions, like why. Why would the subconscious of Haruhi do that? I mean, wasn't Yasumi kind of a reserve power that helped out in a crisis?

Though in that train of thought, what kind of crisis would this be? What purpose would destroying the shrine serve from her perspective? And if it isn't her, then who has the audacity to do such a thing? Such thoughts only served to bring more questions than answers.

"Hello?" I paused, awaiting an answer, not really expecting one. I had cleared the back of the shrine, and stared out behind it. Again, nothing but that damn silence. I'd chalk up my encounter with Yasumi as nerves after seeing such a traumatic thing like the shrine destroyed, but something wasn't right there. My gut was telling me that. Again, I didn't feel in danger, but something was off.

Nothing. Nothing happened. The silence was just so deafening for lack of a better word.

Nah, screw this. I'm done here. Maybe it really was nerves. I let out a sigh, letting all the tension that had built up go. Man I really must be-

I realized something. I had cleared the shrine, but I didn't make any attempt to see if someone was behind me. The hairs on my neck stood up, as I had the massive feeling that someone was.

She then spoke. "This is for the best."

Yasumi?! I whipped around, and caught a glimpse of her, but she had come from behind me, and pushed me down. I fell flat on my back, and laid there in shock over a multitude of things, staring up at the glaring afternoon sun.

Holy crap. That really was Yasumi! Why? It wasn't doing me any good thinking it, so I sat up. "What are you-"

She wasn't there. I scrambled to pick up the dropped Asakura card, and held it out, ready in case something else happened. Nothing. Nobody was around, and it wasn't long until my eyes drifted to the shrine again. Again, another shock. The decrepit shrine was no longer decrepit and worn down. It was still destroyed, but it looked maintained.

I looked to my surroundings. The overgrown brush and trees were no longer there, but replaced by the familiar care taken area of the shrine. The real shrine of Gensokyo.

Yasumi was gone, and had appeared to have 'pushed' me into Gensokyo.

I'm... I'm back?!

My chest felt lighter, because I was there wishing it. And it was granted. I was missing them so much after seeing the shrine, and...

...And...

As soon as I realized that my wish had been granted, I started to feel annoyed over it, because in the back of my mind, logic was kicking in.

I mean, the underground incident wasn't supposed to happen until winter, so why was I there in summer?

Unless...

Dammit. Every time. Every time I am brought in...

Not all fun.

Man don't tell me something is going to happen today. Every time. Every damn time I show up something happens. Why? Why do I have to be in eternal conflict?

I know it's whiny of me to wish for something like this and then go back on it when it actually happens. But why else would I be there?

Also, why did Yasumi seemingly send me there? Actually, that's something to consider. Did she really send me here for a reason then? Is she the reason why I wanted to show up, so I could end up here? Maybe this is necessary. Granted, it wasn't the winter, but I was sent there by Haruhi's power itself. Something has got to be happening either today or soon. If I was lucky, I'd get to have Sakuya's cooking and a day or so of rest beforehand. If I was lucky.

I sighed, not knowing what to really make of this despite the fact that something had to be going down. I shouldn't complain too much, I guess. While it isn't the luxury comforts of the SDM, I'll take starting at the Hakurei Shrine over being tossed into the lake or placed right next to Rumia. While I wouldn't be having immediate access to Sakuya's delicious cooking, at the very least, I'd be there with...

Hold up. I realized it. The shrines in my world and Gensokyo were both destroyed.

Oh. Oh crap. I got up, staring at the ruins, wide-eyed.

Well then. There's a reason for conflict, and a legitimate reason for me to show up. Someone was stupid enough to destroy the shrine. I mean, it was one thing that an abandoned shrine was destroyed, but... Reimu's home too?! Oh God, she's going to be so devastated. That is... if she wasn't inside of it when it got destroyed. Oh great, now I have to entertain the thought that she just got crushed in her home. Not a very nice thought.

On the flip side, if she survived it, she would be pissed off. More angry than I've seen her - and she could be grumpy. She might have set up the game of danmaku to avoid killing, but she just might murder the person who did this.

Let me tell you a little something about the Hakurei Shrine. Save for a small store room off to the side (where I assume that android maid is located), it's all one building. Religious places up front, and a series of small rooms in the back, including the residential area. A hallway separates the two, and the residence does have openings to the back. Reimu lives where she works, all in one place. So losing the shrine does mean she lost her home.

"It's totally wrecked. I just... I just can't clean this up..."

From the front of the shrine, I heard Reimu's voice. I was immensely relieved that she wasn't inside. I made my way around, stopping at the corner when I saw the miko standing there, and a broom was at her feet. I considered approaching her, but another person arrived at the shrine almost immediately.

"Man, what a mess." The witch was brushing off water from her outfit as she landed. "It's been raining so much around here that I can't even do my friggin' laundry, ze."

It was Marisa, of course. I saw the two of them. Oh man they really do become such amazing women. My heart fluttered a little at their beauty. Marisa was still busy wringing out water, while Reimu was just standing there, staring at the shrine. She had her steel face on, but I could tell that she was...angry? She just had this look on her face that put me off, that made me decide not to show myself. Also, neither of them noticed me yet.

Hold on. Why is Marisa all wet? She's soaked. I looked up to the clear, sunny sky. Didn't she say it rained?

"Wait, what the hell is this?" Marisa went wide eyed - she had finally noticed the shrine. "Geez. What happened?! Reimu, what-?"

Reimu took a few seconds to compose herself. "Ah... yeah." From where I was standing, the miko had a rage behind her eyes.

I had again considered stepping out, but the look on Reimu's face made me think twice.

She might be ready to go off on someone right now. Despite my willingness to reunite with those two, my gut was telling me not to approach Reimu, unless I wanted to be knocked out.

And I did not want to be knocked out, thank you.

Marisa took a step towards Reimu, with a look of concern. "You okay?"

Huh. I was wrong. Marisa didn't visit when I thought she did. She just showed up.

"The shrine is the shrine. Even if it's... wrecked." Reimu pursed her lips, and cleared her throat, her face going normal before she finally turned around to Marisa. "What about you? Are you okay? Is your house? Did you get hit by that earthquake too?"

Marisa's brow furrowed. "What? Huh? Really? There was an earthquake, ze? That's what did this? Thought it was a youkai, but an earthquake?" Marisa scratched under her hat, a quizzical look on her face. "Huh. Didn't notice it then. I was flying just now."

It suddenly began to rain.

Reimu just looked up, her shoulders sagged. She looked completely defeated, and angry. "Ah, yeah, that's just perfect. Just damn perfect. My home collapses, and now it finally starts to rain."

I looked up as well. The sunny sky had given way to... reddish rain clouds? Well that's unusual. The clouds had pretty much instantly covered the sky, making me wonder what just happened.

"No surprise here. It's been raining nonstop lately, after all, ze."

Reimu glared at Marisa. "What? Why do you keep saying that? There's been nothing but sun. And besides, the earthquake was huge. How could you have missed them?"

Marisa shrugged. "Beats me."

Reimu tapped her chin. "That's strange, isn't it? Smells like a disaster... or an incident, to me."

"I was thinking the same thing, ze." Marisa let out a single chuckle. "I feel sorry for the idiot who did this, though."

I instantly understood where this was going. Leave now, Marisa.

Reimu tapped her gohei into her hand, giving the witch a small glare. "Still... interesting that you show up, bringing a change of weather, and you didn't even get an earthquake."

And that was why I didn't step out. Reimu really was about to go off on whoever was in front of her. Marisa, get out of there!

"Whoa. Whoa. Easy, ze." Marisa's eyes widened, as she slightly raised her hands, backing away. "You don't actually think I'd do this to your home, do you, ze?"

Reimu, if I was in your position, I'd be angry too. Just don't take it out on Marisa. Of course, I shouldn't say anything. I had left Marisa to the wolf, essentially.

Reimu had that youkai extermination gaze, dead set on the witch. "If you were in my position, what would you do? It's a shrine maiden's job to set out investigating the smallest oddity as soon as she notices it." Reimu pointed her gohei towards the sky. "And that rain isn't natural. My intuition says you're involved. That... weather you brought with you.."

Marisa brought weather? Though it did start to rain when she showed up. Either that's a coincidence, or... something really weird is going on. You know, par for the course.

Marisa was running out of ground to back up on. The witch was obviously not looking for a fight today. "Hey, come on, ze. Reimu, it's me, okay? Marisa. I wouldn't do something stupid as destroy one of my favorite places to hang out, right?"

"I mean, look at the damn clouds. They are scarlet. Those aren't natural." Reimu was advancing on Marisa. "I gotta treat everyone equally when it comes to an incident." The miko had brought out the Fantasy Seal sometime during that.

When Marisa saw that, she too brought out her hakkero, ready to defend herself. "I'm telling you, ze, this wasn't me."

Reimu didn't appear to care. "Also... Somebody destroyed my home!"

[SPELL CARD: SPIRIT SIGN "FANTASY SEAL ~ CONCENTRATE"]

I couldn't take this. Despite my own tentativeness about Reimu's current state, I stepped out into the open. "Reimu! Enough!"

Instantly, the tension between the two went away, and they both turned to me. Unfortunately for Marisa, that didn't stop the spell card.

I should have stepped out sooner.

Marisa groaned from the floor, while Reimu just stared at me, with a rightfully confused look on her face. "Kyon?"

Well, at least confusion won out over rage. I didn't need her taking this out on me.

I shrugged. "Yeah."

"But-"

"I know."

"How?"

At least she understands how weird this is. I made my way to the two of them, "I was visiting your shrine in my world, actually, and I kind of ended up here." I saw the utter disbelief on her face, and I had to reiterate that. "That's what happened. That simple." Though I wish it wasn't.

"But the shrine in your world is abandoned."

"I know. I just wanted to see it." I gave a smirk. "I, uh, donated to that shrine."

Reimu frowned, placing her hands on her hips. "Donating to that shrine does not do me any good." She tried not to look at the state of her shrine.

I frowned at her greed. Fine then. I thought it was a nice gesture. See if I do something nice like that for you in the future. I had to say something, however. "Reimu... I'm sorry."

She let out a sigh, looking tired. "Yeah."

"Are you okay? You didn't get hurt or anything?"

Reimu shook her head. "No. I was outside sweeping right there," She pointed at a spot, the spot I was in in my world when the earthquake hit. "And then it happened."

That is so weird that we were in the same spot for that.

She then blinked, as if remembering something. "We haven't seen each other for years." She gave a soft smile, which looked a little forced. Again, considering that she lost her home, it was understandable. "You've become so... handsome."

"So have you." I paused, clenching my teeth. "No, ah, I mean, you've become so beautiful, the both of you." Way to go, idiot. Seeing the two of them at nighttime, under the Moon in a few years time didn't really show their features, but man... Reimu... If I didn't have a girlfriend, I'd really start worshiping you right now. You are such a beautiful shrine maiden, and again, a guy could easily fall for you. "It really is good to see you."

She smiled. "Yeah."

The rain stopped, replaced by the clear sunny skies again, and breaking us out of our awkward greeting. The two of us looked up, seeing the red clouds dissipate.

"I take it that's not normal."

"No." Reimu shook her head. "No, it's just been a drought around here for the past couple of days. For rain to appear and disappear like that, it's very unusual, even for here."

You'd think someone would have control of the weather or something. There's gotta be a spell in a spell book to do that somewhere, right? I'm sure Patchouli could do something like that.

I looked down to the knocked out Marisa. "Uh, shouldn't we help her?" I gave Reimu a raised eyebrow. "Also, was that really necessary, Reimu?"

She put her hands on her hips. "First off, what would you do? And it's not like I really hurt her."

"You knocked her out." Even though you're supposedly best friends.

"I didn't hurt her. She can take danmaku blasts." We both knelt down to the witch, with Reimu already going through Marisa's pockets. "Come on. She usually carries some vials with her. In... one of her many pockets."

She still carries around the cherry blossom vials? "Why does she carry them?"

Reimu shrugged, and looked up at me. "Well, remembrance, really. She's still in love with you, you know."

That was one of the last things I wanted to hear, especially after that heart breaker four years prior. Man, you've gotta be kidding. I sighed, bringing my palm to my forehead. Man... "I thought she'd move on."

"I thought so too. I guess her heart wasn't able to let go." Reimu paused. "Where was I... right. Second, I could tell there was something about her that had something to do with whatever happened."

You mean besides you being pissed off that your home was destroyed and you took it out on the nearest person? If that was the case, then I was glad I stayed hidden. "Your intuition?"

She nodded. "But now that she's knocked out, it's gone." Reimu looked up again. "Gone like that rain." She brought her attention back to me. "It's like she's clean of whatever this is or something."

That's interesting. So, what, she really did bring that weather with her? I kept that question to myself as I had joined Reimu in searching the pockets - and there were a lot. There were keys, small books, mushrooms, small potions that weren't the cherry blossom vials, pens, a pocket watch-

"How much stuff does she have?" I'm surprised she doesn't have any tsukumogami. Or I guess we'll have to wait for Seija to show up.

Reimu looked like she was about to say something, but her eyes widened when she explored another pocket. She brought out a small flask of sake. "So that's where that's been!" She glared at Marisa, before she pocketed it herself and returned to her task.

That's another thing. If I stayed with Marisa, I'd have to get used to having all my stuff taken at one point or another. Though, isn't kleptomania a sign of impulse control disorder? A mental condition? The thing is, Marisa would be the first to tell you that she's crazy.

I was about to say something else, until I felt a small plastic sheet of something. I brought it out, and it was a photo - the one Marisa had pick-pocketed from Nagato four years ago. The one of the S.O.S. Brigade. I stared at it, memories of my high school days coming rushing back.

Simpler times, before I knew about all of this stuff, before Gensokyo, that is. Before my world was blown wide open into the truly wondrous one I know. I mean, it was when I knew of Haruhi's powers, yes, but before I made that trip into Gensokyo on New Years. Taken the very day before it, actually. Despite what had happened to Nagato, we were all obviously having a good time together. That stupid snow mansion tried to mess with us, and we came out of it with a drive to stick together.

Then the very next day, well, night, everything changed. And what a huge, world-view-shattering change it was. My very perception of reality got shook up.

I didn't want to dwell on it, so I placed it back, but not before staring at Asahina one last time. I miss you.

Back to work. Marisa has a lot of pockets. And a lot of them were hidden. I was surprised we didn't find the vials by then.

I felt a hand grab my wrist, and brought it to... Marisa's breast. Marisa grinned at me, holding my hand there. "Why Kyon, you just got here and couldn't keep yourself from touching my awesome adult body, could you? I can't blame you, ze, especially from such a handsome guy."

I could feel my face burn. So... soft! And I could feel the warmth of her body through her rain-soaked clothes.

I looked to Reimu, expecting help, but she just rolled her eyes and continued her search. "Where are the vials?"

Really?! You're gonna leave me hanging?! I need a little help here, Reimu!

Marisa slowly lifted her head. "Ah, leg pouch... right leg. Under my skirt." The witch winked at me. "You can get it if you want to, ze."

You have no idea how tempted I was to do so. Just flip up her skirt and... Dammit don't make me think those things! Don't make this any more difficult for me than it already is! And let go of my hand already!

Seeing that I was too modest and... occupied to look, Reimu again rolled her eyes and brought out a vial. It was warm with Marisa's body heat when I downed it.

I am going to have some very interesting dreams later on.

The taste of the vial wasn't as bad as I remembered. The border reached into her, and I sighed. "Can you please let go of my hand now?" I couldn't bring myself to look her in the eye with my hand on her chest.

She chuckled, bringing my attention back to her face - she grinned even wider and held up both hands. "Oh, I let go a few seconds ago, ze. You're groping me all on your own."

Dammit Marisa! I quickly took my hand off her body, still burning in the ears.

Marisa grunted, sitting up, and stretched. "Man, Reimu, what the hell, ze?"

"Like I told him-"

"Yeah, yeah, I heard most of it." She turned to me. "I mean, the shrine gets destroyed and Kyon is back, ze? This really is an incident." Marisa looked me over. "Oh I'm so jealous. You really grew up fine."

"Uhm, thanks. So did you." No, really, you really did. Really did.

Passion, please keep quiet.

The two stared at me, as if expecting an answer to my sudden appearance.

"Your guess is as good as mine." I crossed my arms. "Yeah, I'm back, and I don't know why." I told them of what happened, that Yasumi had to be the one who brought me into Gensokyo. It was still up in the air whether she did this to the shrine, however.

Reimu stood there, arms crossed as well and deep in thought over it. "That's very peculiar, but yeah, you're right. Why would Haruhi's subconscious do that to my home?"

If she did it in the first place. I shook my head. "No idea, though when she pushed me, she said it was for the best."

Though that does bring up an interesting idea. If it was Yasumi who did this, and Reimu was to hunt her down, who would win in a fight between them? I've never seen Yasumi fight, however, so I couldn't fathom how that would go down.

Marisa stroked her chin. "Interesting, ze. So if Yasumi has a hand in this, then I guess you being here is important, right?"

"I guess so. I just wasn't expecting this. I was expecting to come back in the winter."

"So were we." Reimu again glanced at her shrine, again trying to suppress her emotions about what happened. "Still, what kind of incident does a part of Haruhi deem it necessary for you to be involved in?"

"You're taking the whole 'destroyed home' thing well, ze."

Reimu gave a small, wicked smile, that familiar steel gaze coming back onto her face. "That's because I know I'm going to take it out on whoever did this. They'll be eating a spell card before today ends. I will tan their hides and then get them to rebuild my shrine. And I will not stop beating their ass until I'm satisfied."

Hoo boy. Youkai extermination Reimu. Also, was it okay for her to curse on her own shrine grounds? I know you're pretty lax, but this is a holy place, Reimu.

Reimu took a deep breath, and let it out, returning her attention to us. She looked to Marisa. "Wanna come along?"

Marisa grinned. "Hey, I got nothing better to do, ze. You know, except laundry." She looked up. "Figures though. Perfect weather to do so now."

Reimu then looked to me. "So?"

I sighed. "I know."

"Chances are you were brought in for a reason, just like the previous times."

"I know."

"I won't blame you if you want to stay here."

A small smile formed on my face. "I know."

She smiled as well. "You're not going to stay at the shrine, are you?"

I shook my head. "Nope."

Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. I can't. I can't sit this one out. Reimu helped me save my family. Even though it hasn't happened yet for her, I owe her. She helped me with my problem in the future, so the least I could do is help her in her time of need now. Someone had the gall to destroy her home. What kind of person would I be to turn my back on her in such a time, especially after what she's done for me?

There was no way I'd turn my back on her, not after the failed rebellion. Not after she did her part in freeing my family from Seija's timeline hostage thing.

"I'm coming with you."

"You don't have to."

"I know, but I want to be here for you." I pointed to the shrine. "After what you've done for me, there is no way I'm gonna let someone get away with that."

Marisa hugged me out of nowhere. I was surprised by it, especially the sensation. Oh she's so soft, and I can feel her body heat and- I quickly peeled her off me, but not before she gave me a quick kiss. "I thought you were over me." If you keep doing that, I think I'm gonna relapse.

She gave a small smile. "God, it really is so good to see you again." She did look a little saddened.

You really are still in love with me. Seeing that tugged a deep part of my heart that I thought I had buried long ago. Really, this isn't fair. I did my best to bury that, and it's coming back so easily.

Oh I've missed you, Marisa. Yep. The kiss tasted just like I remembered. Who knows. This might be fun. And I probably just jinxed it.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. Allowing those feelings to come back at that time would help no one, especially in that situation. I had to keep focus, since I was brought in for a reason. I mean, that's how it has always been.

We all stared at the destroyed shrine. Who could be behind this? The destruction of the Hakurei Shrine? What kind of monster would do such a thing?

"Yeah." That was Reimu after a moment of silence. "Yeah, I'm gonna slap an amulet on them, break their ribs, kick them in the face, and then shove a spell card down their throat."

What kind of idiot would do such a stupid thing as destroying the shrine of Gensokyo's protector?

The girl grinned, getting to her feet, as she could barely contain herself. She didn't expect this turn of events.

Kyon is here! Kyon is here and it's going to make this so much more fun!

She stopped, breathing in and out, reminding herself that she shouldn't expend too much energy.

She stared down at the scene, and as her head cleared, a thought came. Huh. And I wondered why Yasumi asked me to hold off on this incident.

She didn't expect that. For Yasumi to personally bring Kyon into Gensokyo this late in the summer had answered the question the girl had been asking herself ever since June.

Meeting Kyon had always been her dream, actually. Not only had she been watching the exploits of those in Gensokyo, but she has also been watching the adventures (and sometimes mis-adventures) of the S.O.S. Brigade. It was all so very amusing, and wondrous. She had considered making contact years ago, but something about the data entities put her off. Sure, the girl was strong, but even she shirked when thinking about going up against reality hackers, much less a little girl with infinite power. If Yasumi was any indication, then the girl might not have been ready.

And that infinite power had contacted the girl, telling her not to start the incident until that day. And now she saw why.

The smile dropped off her face as she began to think about the situation. Actually this changes things, doesn't it? This is no longer for solely my amusement. I might actually be challenged here.

This was a double edged sword, really. On one hand, this incident she started had certainly gotten more interesting with Kyon thrown into the mix. On the other, he always seemed to find a way to win against those vastly more powerful.

She looked to her weapon. And I certainly am powerful. But if he's there, then it might not be enough.

She flicked her blue hair. "Well then. Kid gloves will be off. I won't go half power on them for this."

She had planned to toy with them, to not let them see her real power, to give them an actual chance, since they couldn't handle it. But Kyon being there changed everything. People seemed to rally around him for some reason, become stronger, which means that there would be more guests by the end of things.

And no need to hold back.

Yuyuko didn't hold back to the point where she toyed with all of them, and she failed against Kyon.

Suou didn't hold back by paralyzing them, and she was nearly killed by Kyon.

And he had been training with Haruhi herself, making him more agile; not to mention how he could move his body with his other training.

Oh. Oh yes. This is going to be fun, either way.

As excited as she was to have such a challenge, Tenshi Hinanai would have to show no mercy to the group that was coming.

The celestial twirled the Sword of Hisou, and pointed it right at Kyon.

"You and I... are going to have a lot of fun today. But you're not going to use that stupid healing barrier in our fight. I won't allow it when you get to me." She chuckled. "We'll see how far along your training has come, if your little moves and tennis actually means something." I'd like to see how you'll pull this one out. Please don't disappoint me.

"Didja see that?"

"Well, yeah. The shrine got destroyed."

"This is an incident, isn't it?"

"It has to be. And this is gonna be very interesting, too. Very few people have directly attacked the shrine."

"Been years, hasn't it?"

"Last time was when the ghost person locked up in there did it, right?"

The three fairies looked out from their hiding place in the bushes. As Luna had her sound barrier around them, they couldn't be heard by the three humans standing out there. Luna Child slowly nodded. "Yeah. I think so. So whoever did this is in big trouble."

"Hey, that's that human, isn't it?" Sunny Milk nodded at the male. "The same one who was in the spring snow?"

"He's grown up quite a lot." Star Sapphire's face brightened up. "But every time he's here, the incidents get more interesting!"

Luna gave Star a scowl. "You call being chased into the shrine by murderous youkai 'interesting'? We lost some good friends that night."

"Cool it, girls." Sunny motioned them to hide again, as the humans began to move out. Peeking after they had left, the three fairies came out. "But no, Star's right. Things get more interesting when he's here. We should follow them!" Before Luna could complain again, Sunny spoke. "I know, I know. But as long as you mute our sound, and I bend the light around us, they won't know we're here!"

Star leaned closer to Luna. "After all, what else are we gonna do today?" She smiled. "Besides, I kinda wanna see Reimu go all out. You know she's gonna give a good show!"

Luna wanted to object to this, but eventually relented. She too ached to see what would happen next. And besides, we do need this. The failure of the Great Fairy War has stung for a long time.

"Interesting."

Patchouli grunted as she slowly sat up. "What is, Remi?"

Remilia Scarlet tilted her head, looking at the downed librarian. "When I defeated you, the weather you brought disappeared, just like when I defeated Sakuya earlier with her weather."

The two were in the library, and had just finished a danmaku battle. The vampire rubbed her chin thoughtfully, as Koakuma rushed to Patchouli's side, helping up her master. "But what does that mean, Lady Remilia?"

Remilia looked back to Sakuya, expecting something. "No... no it's still gone. Hmm." The vampire looked back and forth between Sakuya and Patchouli. "Whatever was different isn't there any more. The weather is back to the heavy fog." Remilia returned her attention to her maid. "What was the weather that followed you around again for the past couple of days?"

"Overcast, milady."

Remilia nodded. "Right." She looked over to Patchouli, who was being helped into her usual chair.

"Huh? Oh. I..." Patchouli thought about it. "I believe it was 'spring haze' for me?"

Remilia crossed her arms. "Huh. Someone has been screwing around with weather, but on a personal scale?"

Patchouli glared at her best friend. "I was working on that, until you barged in here looking to defeat me for some reason. And what the hell are you doing fighting Sakuya out of nowhere?!"

Remilia slyly shrugged. "I just wanted to test something. I noticed the weather clashing when we were together. Same with you."

"You have a very bad habit of fighting with your servants, Remi!"

"I like to think of it more as keeping them in shape. And in line." Remilia eyed Patchouli with a mischievous grin. "Speaking of, I have been thinking lately that you needed to get into shape."

Patchouli was ready to yell at the vampire again, but Sakuya spoke. "Please, Lady Patchouli. Milady's assumptions were correct, after all."

The librarian just scoffed, staring down her friend. "Well, whatever, fine. As bad as your methods are, Remi, you figured something out."

"Learning from books only gives you so much." Remilia chuckled. "Sometimes you have to get out there and make things happen."

"Yes, quite." Patchouli frowned as she opened a notebook. "I've noticed this phenomenon for the past few days, actually, when I went outside."

"That's rare," quipped Remilia. "For a shut in like yourself."

Remilia's remark didn't faze Patchouli. "It appears to only have affected four of us in this house - none of the other servants have this, and your sister doesn't appear to have anything like this either."

"Wait, four?"

Patchouli nodded. "It appears that Meiling has dust storms following her around."

The vampire stroked her chin. "I hadn't noticed that..."

"I was going to test something, but you beat me to it. It appears whatever this is, it gives us personal weather, and when you beat someone, your weather becomes more dominant."

The vampire smirked, flicking her hair. "Of course mine is dominant. Did you expect anything less?"

The librarian grimaced. "However, Remi, we have to consider something. This weather is created by scarlet clouds. Whatever this power is, I know it isn't us, but..."

Remilia slowly nodded. "Yes I know."

Patchouli sighed. "So we have to expect her to show up sooner or later. And she's going to come right for you."

Remilia had a wicked grin spread across her face. "Oh I know." Oh, today is going to be fun. "I've been looking for an excuse to take her on again." The vampire turned to her head maid. "I was gonna ask you to retrieve people with odd weather around them, but something tells me they'll come to us instead. Tell the guards to let in future guests without resistance. Except for Meiling. Let her take down as many as she can, and once she's defeated, she can stop."

As if on cue, Meiling burst into the room. She looked pretty dumbfounded. "Milady! We have an unusual weather pattern coming right for the mansion!"

Remilia's eyes sparkled. "Really now? What kind of weather pattern?"

Meiling paused, looking at the danmaku scarring in the library, and appeared to internally debate on asking what had happened. She decided against it. "Ah... a swirl of weather. Clear skies, snow, sprinkles, and sun showers. They're all swirling together. It looks really weird!"

So... four different people, with four different weather types? Remilia's grin got wider. Oh this is going to be a really fun day!

"I'm back!" Reisen set down the empty crate at the entryway to Eientei. She took the time to wipe herself off with a towel she had brought along. For the past few days, it seemed that Gensokyo was plagued by vapors. We're lucky it's not so bad that it's preventing the medicine runs. But it made her body sticky, so she had to go out without her uniform's jacket, and she had to roll up the sleeves of her white dress shirt.

Reisen took off her large straw hat, letting her ears out. Selling and handing out medicine in the village required such a disguise - they definitely didn't trust youkai enough for their prescriptions, rabbit youkai at that. If she hid her ears with illusions, there were some humans who could have detected it, so she had to go with that low key deception. She rubbed her right ear, as it was a bit sore.

Reisen wasn't expecting anyone other than the rabbits to be there, so she was surprised when the princess poked her head out the doorway. "Ah, Reisen!"

"Princess?" Reisen stopped her action, and bowed. "What are you doing here at the entry?"

"I was waiting to talk to you, actually." Princess Kaguya smiled as she stepped out, looking up at the sky. "This weather is quite unusual, isn't it?"

"Yes, my princess. Although it's not terrible weather, it's certainly bothersome." Reisen quickly put away the towel, embarrassed to be caught in a situation in front of her superior. "So... what did you want to talk to me about?"

Kaguya pointed to the sky. "About the weather."

Reisen's ears bent a little. "...Oh." What? Why?

The princess noticed the soldier's reaction, and chuckled. "Ah, no, nothing as mundane as a casual conversation about the weather." Kaguya stepped outside, and spread her arms. "I wanted to see something for myself, something that Eirin noticed." Kaguya turned to Reisen. "When you left, the weather cleared up. And when you came back, so did the vapors. This has happened the last time you made your run as well, according to Eirin and Tewi."

Reisen blinked. "So, I'm doing this?"

The princess smiled and shook her head. "Ah, no. I'm thinking someone did this to you. This could actually be an incident. I've even noticed this on that street worker when we fought yesterday - she appears to have some sort of weather following her as well."

"What kind, Princess?"

"I believe it was volcanic ash. I think it also had an effect - I began to burn when I became stationary. So, it isn't just you... someone is doing this." Kaguya clicked her tongue, standing there for a few moments. "I... know we haven't been particularly liked by our Gensokyo neighbors as of late, thanks to Eirin's betrayal."

Where did that come from? "They would have invaded properly if my old master didn't get that information."

Kaguya nodded. "I know. But that doesn't change the fact that she betrayed the people of our current home. And the worst part is, the sukima seemingly knew about that information, and forced Eirin to play her hand." The princess sighed. "And then there was the sake. I swear. Yakumo can really get under Eirin's skin."

"I thought master wasn't bothered by it."

"That's what she wanted you to think." Kaguya shook her head. "When she came back home, she retreated to her quarters and destroyed her room. She spent the rest of the night repairing it. That's why you didn't see her for a full day afterwards." The princess approached Reisen. "What I'm trying to say is, we need to reestablish some goodwill in Gensokyo. I am asking you to go out and assist in the resolving of this incident, especially since I got word of what just happened."

"What happened?"

"For one," she pointed up. "For one, the vapors have a hint of scarlet color. That should give you an idea of where to go first. And second, you don't know this, but we've had a rabbit watching the Hakurei Shrine ever since last year. He just got back before you did in fact, with some information." Kaguya paused, as if deciding on how to say what was next. "The... Hakurei Shrine got destroyed, and Kyon has returned, it seems."

Reisen's jaw dropped. "What?!" Kyon is back?! But we're not supposed to go into battle until the winter! And who would destroy that shrine and rile up Hakurei?!

"Exactly, Reisen." Kaguya began to walk back inside, giving a light shrug. "This is very unusual, and since you did offer your gun at their side, I won't hold it against you if you were to help establish some goodwill by assisting today." She stopped, giving Reisen a smile over her shoulder. "Of course, you shall still be assisting in the winter, regardless. But I would like for you to offer your combat expertise for those two right now." Kaguya's smile dropped, her face becoming serious. "Take care, Udongein. Something is not right today. I can feel it. Someone very powerful appears to be behind this; someone who may actually be more powerful than both Eirin and I. If that's the case, then Hakurei and Kyon will need help. I can sense that something is very wrong."

Reisen pondered this, before standing up straight and giving her princess a salute. "Of course, my princess! I'll make you proud!"

It was scarlet weather, so there was only one place we were going, obviously. I was not looking forward to assaulting the Scarlet Devil Mansion. And even if it wasn't Remilia, then Patchouli might have known what was going on, or maybe have a book on this, as I had mused earlier. Barring that, even if they didn't have anything to do with it, it still would be nice to check in with them, at least from my perspective. Understandingly, Reimu was not in a good mood, and I had the feeling she was in the 'picking fights' state of mind.

On the plus side, such a state of mind would allow me to see how powerful she had become in four years. I've seen their power five years further down the line, sure, but for now I'd see if they were ready for the winter.

Either way, there we were, on our way to the Scarlet Devil Mansion, flying over the Forest of Magic. Ah, the broom. Already making part of me sore. And Marisa's body... oh I did miss holding onto her. Yeah, I'll admit it. And it's not like she minded - she encouraged it.

Okay, I need to get back on track.

"That is just strange." I scoffed. "I mean, come on. A localized earthquake? Can Remilia even do that?" And even if she could, why attack the home of someone to whom she swore loyalty?

Marisa spoke over her shoulder to me. "Either she can, she got Patch to do it for her, or we might be dealing with a totally brand new youkai then, ze."

"One that can cause an earthquake of that magnitude to destroy a building in two worlds? Even the beings that Koizumi faces can't do that. They can destroy all they want in a closed space, but it doesn't affect what's out in my world. But this did." That has got to be real power. I shook my head. "It was real intense from where I was, girls. I guess Reimu and I were at ground zero for it."

Reimu pointed to the sky with her gohei. "And also the rain that was following Marisa... All falling from scarlet clouds."

"Do you think someone is making weather follow people around?"

The two looked at me, seemingly thinking that over. I had just thrown that out there, not sure if it would stick, but when I said it, it kind of made sense. Well, made sense in a Gensokyo way.

"That..." Marisa tilted her head. "That would be totally new."

Reimu rubbed her chin. "That might make sense though... It would explain why it's been so dry for me lately."

"And why it's been raining for me for so long."

"I can't believe that we have to assault that mansion again, however."

"Come on, Reimu." Marisa's shoulders showed that she sighed. "We're going after the SDM? You remember the last time a mist happened, ze. You charged into the SDM and beat up everyone, only for it to end up as a waste of time."

"Mesmeric Mist Incident, right? That was Suika's?"

Marisa nodded, responding to me. "Yeah." She shook her head. "Man, hard to believe that was only four years ago, ze. Time flies."

You're not the only one who thinks that. I paused, remembering something. "Where was Suika, anyway? She wasn't at the shrine." I thought it might have been useful to have an oni backing us up.

"Went over to visit Yukari, I think. Has been for the past few days." Reimu sighed. "I finally had the shrine to myself for today, and this happens. Still." Reimu stopped, turning to us. "Scarlet clouds? What would you think?"

Marisa stopped as well, looking down. "Yeah, I guess. I'd pay them a visit too, ze."

"Are we really going to have to assault the SDM?" I don't need to do that.

Reimu just glared at me for my complaints.

I mean, I understood her logic. Remilia did seem vain and bold enough to pull something like this off. So, that brings up the question - if it was Remilia, is she doing this because she has a good reason, or just for fun to cause an incident? I'd like to think she's smarter than that - destroying the shrine would be asking for Reimu to seal you up if not beat you within an inch of your life. I mean for crying out loud - Seija was smart enough to not destroy the shrine. Though I'm guessing if she won, she'd just as easily burn it down with Reimu watching.

Oh yeah, that would have been bad. I could totally see Seija do something that rash to prove her 'point.' Maybe I'm overthinking this. It's possible the three of us are - it could be someone totally new. Although...

"Maybe it's Yukari?"

Marisa stared at me like I was crazy, but Reimu slowly nodded. "Maybe." The miko looked to be in deep thought. "Possible. I mean, you got brought in, and she didn't notice someone crossing the border? That's kind of suspicious."

I shouldn't have said anything. Now we'll be visiting Mayohiga after the SDM. I shook my head. "Right, whatever." I looked to Marisa. "Got any vials?" I had a feeling this was going to get messy before it was over.

"Minus the one you already used," She counted on her fingers. "I've five on me, ze. Five more at home. I've been running out - while I have some blossoms..." Marisa paused. "Somewhere in my mess of a house, the SDM has the remainder of them. I don't know how many they can make with those, or if they even made any more."

Well at least I still had my ability, and if Patchouli had the rest, then yeah, the SDM would be our goal.

Though... crap. I need to make sure we don't take all of them. I'll need that twenty pack for the future. If I remember correctly, I used up seventeen, so there would be only three left by the end of the resistance. Shoot. That's another thing I have to take into account. I might end up using up the vials I'll need for my past self in the future either today or in the winter. That would be very bad, wouldn't it? If Seija and her forces didn't reach that point, then my family might stay dead in that timeline hostage situation that I saved them from. And considering that I wasn't as good at moving around back then compared to my adult self, I'd need those vials, or make sure that we had enough for that twenty in the future.

Well, it might be as simple as making sure that a twenty pack is squirreled away for future use. Though if Marisa said that she's running out, then there is a good chance the SDM is too. However, I don't like the fact that she said cherry blossoms instead of vials. There's a chance they might not have any ready, and...

Right. They might have been waiting for before the incident. Which meant that they knew it would be happening in December.

Still, I hadn't even thought about that. The cherry blossoms were running out. The Ayakashi could only bloom a finite amount of them four years ago during Spring Snow, so the numbers had to have been dwindling since it got sealed back up. And without them, I'd never use my ability again.

It was ending.

Okay, new plan, get to the SDM, deal with them, and directly ask Patchouli how many vials are left, total, if they have any. Then find out how many blossoms they still have in order to make more vials. Make sure there will be enough for the future, and figure out what do do with the rest in between today and the Underground incident.

Of course, the alternative was to allow the Ayakashi to wake up, feed it spring, and harvest the blossoms.

That was not going to happen. That thing is too dangerous. I had learned through Emiri's reports on Yukari's decision regarding that idea, and a lot of people agreed with keeping it out of the way. Nobody wanted to take the chance of giving it power to bloom and the chance to wake up, so we were limited to what we already had.

Again, RPG 101. Manage your resources. Wanna know the funny thing? I was always a hoarder in those games, especially since the good weapons and armor cost so damn much at any one point of the game. And I would always sparingly use my magic users, as magic restoring items were expensive as hell too. That left me in some sticky situations, but there was a reason why I kept my magic users in reserve - so they could go all out on the bosses with full magical power. Made it tough for me going through the regular enemies, but it made it worth it for the thrashing I'd give to the harder enemies. Rydia was always weak during regular encounters as I always held her back, but when I unleashed her full power against the big bads...

Where was I?

Right. Waxing nostalgia of my Final Fantasy playthroughs aside, we continued.

"So was the rain really following me, ze? It's so interesting. I mean, for weather to follow a specific person? That could be handy in the right circumstances, especially if you could control it." Marisa chuckled.

I thought about that, and I had to chuckle myself. "It would also be very comical, if I was a grumpy gloomy character with their own literal rain cloud following me." Though I guess it would fit me at times. "How long has this been going on?"

"Past couple of days. I just thought we were having a deluge, ze."

"Just non stop sun for me." Reimu scoffed. "It sucked. It was way too hot at my shrine."

Right. It gets like an oven during the summer.

"You know, maybe you should have had the grumpy gloomy rain clouds, ze, and I could have gotten the bright and cheery sunshine!" Again, Reimu stopped, and glared at Marisa. The witch shrunk under the stare. "Uh, not that you are a grumpy gloomy person."

"I also wonder if..." I was going to ask if they really thought that everyone had their own weather in Gensokyo, or if it was just them, but Reimu cut me off.

Reimu's eyes snapped forward. "We'd better keep this disaster a secret from non-humans."

"Why?"

"If youkai know about it, it might really start an incident." She nodded up ahead.

"Is that... hail?"

Sure enough, I could easily see the small hail balls pelting the trees ahead of us. We could hear it make contact with leaves, branches, and the ground.

And...

And they were following Alice, who had Shanghai and Hourai with her, and wearing that huge puppeteer backpack, while they were flying up in the air.

At the very least, today will allow me to catch up with people I haven't seen in years. Alice hadn't aged much, if at all, as she wouldn't in five more years. She was still that beautiful puppeteer. Hard to believe that she was directly created by a god, though.

She was going in one direction, seemingly preoccupied with something, as she didn't notice our group. Eventually, Shanghai had casually glanced in our direction, and looked to get really excited. She tugged on her master's sleeve, and pointed to us. Even from that far a distance, we could see Alice's eyes widen. Her jaw dropped when she saw me, especially.

"Oh my. Kyon?!" Alice rushed to us. "It's been so long!" She embraced me.

"It's good to see you too, Alice."

She backed up a bit, smiling. "You've become so handsome!"

A fit body has its advantages. I smiled too. "And you're still as beautiful as ever."

She blushed at my response. "Ah... thank you." Alice looked to my two companions. "What's he doing here?"

"You're not gonna believe this, ze, but he just showed up."

Shanghai had come up to me, giving me a little hug. Even though she was kind of creepy in her little doll way, it was adorable. I patted her on the head. Hourai, of course, just remained by Alice's side, giving me her usual glare. "Yeah, I was visiting the shrine in my world, and I slipped in here thanks to Yasumi."

Alice's brow furrowed. "Haruhi's subconscious?"

"I know, right? And I don't even know why."

Alice just shook her head as Shanghai returned to her master's side. "Strange. Gensokyo has just been so strange, lately, especially with all the hail." Alice looked to Reimu, who had remained silent. The miko was just staring at Alice, for some reason. The puppeteer appeared to get a bit timid over the look she was getting. "Uhm... I don't see you around the forest often, Reimu. Why are you out here in this horrible weather?"

"Why are you?"

"I have my experiments to run. Mushrooms to gather." Alice looked to me. "it's a coincidence. I'm actually gathering the finishing touches on what I've been asked to do for the upcoming underground incident, for you."

"For me?"

Alice nodded. "Yukari has asked me to outfit you with gear. The puppeteer moved closer, looking me over. "Yes... it should fit you." She then smiled. "It really is good to see you again."

What kind of gear am I getting? It should be expected, however. Yukari did say that the ones involved in the Underground incident would be getting support from Yukari herself, Suika, Aya, Alice, Patchouli, and Nitori.

So I guess I'll be getting support from Alice directly then? "Same here, Alice. Uhm... what kind of gear?"

She simply bowed a little. "Why, Shanghai and Hourai, of course, as well as a few other dolls."

...I did not expect this. And apparently, neither did Hourai. The look she gave Alice was just frightening. It was like the doll was silently screaming "Are you serious?!" Shanghai, however, seemed pleased with it. As... pleased as a doll could be, I guess. Alice gave Hourai a return glare, staring down the doll. Hourai backed down after a few seconds.

Well isn't that great? The objects I consider some of the creepiest things in Gensokyo, the dolls of Alice, are going to be my support. So, what, I'm going to have them at my side for the entire...

It dawned on me.

Wait a second, so is that why they weren't there then at the revolution? They died with me?

Things were starting to make sense, and fall into place. This keeps getting better and better, doesn't it? Also, it explains how she got depressed in the original timeline - her creations failed. Of course. Alice has been grateful to me, since I brought her back with the Paranormal Border in Hakugyokorou. She couldn't protect me, and Shanghai and Hourai would end up being destroyed at my side then? So that's got to be what Seija was talking about. I mean, if they are assigned to protect me, and I died...

...is that how Youmu died in the original timeline, if that's why she wasn't there?! She died trying to protect me?!

I didn't know what to think about that. I mean, she said it to me, didn't she? "I'll lay down my life for you."

I was beginning to see the positive effects of Seija's influence, and I also began to understand what she meant when she said that I couldn't afford to prevent her. Not only for my apparent sake, but also for the sake of the girls. I really couldn't prevent it, even if I wanted to put a stop to her. And I had actually considered that, to tell the truth. If I was to survive the upcoming underground incident, I was giving actual thought to a total prevention of what Seija was going to do. I didn't know how I was going to go about it, but I was considering my options.

So, whatever Seija did, allowed Youmu to survive, right? Something happens, changes that part. But it also shows me another thing - there is a chance that because of that declaration, Youmu doesn't make it. That probability is still there.

Of course, I could avoid that entirely and tell Youmu to not come, but that would be a slap in the face of her honor as a samurai, wouldn't it? And besides, during such an event, I'd really appreciate someone of her skill there with me.

Things were starting to make sense. Just slightly, but they were making sense.

After Alice scolded Hourai for the doll's silent outburst, she went back to her original position, clutching her grimoire. "I've been lucky, really, gathering my supplies. It's amazing the damage to the forest isn't that severe, with all the hail that's been going on."

Just as she said that, the hail caught up with us. It was pretty light, so it didn't hurt, but it was still annoying.

Okay, that kind of seals it. Weather really is following people around, isn't it?

"Strange weather, Kyon appearing..." Alice's eyes lit up a bit. "This is a disaster, isn't it? An incident?"

Reimu got that steel gaze on her face. "Well, isn't that suspicious?" She crossed her arms, her grip on her gohei tightening. "I didn't say anything about an incident, did I? Are you hiding something?"

Ah come on, Reimu. Don't.

"No. I don't know what's going on." Alice shook her head. From the tone of her voice, it didn't appear that she was hiding anything. She sounded sincere.

"Something's strange, Alice. I can sense it." Reimu pointed her gohei at the puppeteer. "And I can sense it from you as well."

Alice slightly backed up - she wasn't looking for a fight. That didn't stop Shanghai and Hourai from arming themselves - shield and lance respectively. "Hey. Hey, I'm not a suspect, okay? I'm sure whoever did this is going to get it, but if this is an incident, and you don't take care of this soon, this weather might destroy your shrine."

I brought my hand to my forehead. Oh Alice...

"My shrine was destroyed."

Alice blinked. "Oh."

"Nobody said my shrine was destroyed."

It dawned on Alice what the situation was. "Oh... crap."

"How did you know it collapsed?"

Alice backed up further, panic setting on her face. She knew she was about to get it. "I didn't!"

"Was it you?" Marisa and I got closer. "You know, I took a Fantasy Seal to the face over this if it was you, ze."

First off, why would Alice destroy the shrine? Second, I'd have to side with Reimu here. For Alice to say that out of the blue, it was pretty much a confession, and even I'd get suspicious. And even if she didn't have anything to do with it, it was a really bad choice of words. I think Marisa stepped up to take on Alice so she wouldn't suffer at the hands of an angry Reimu.

Although considering Marisa's fighting style, I don't know who would be gentler.

"It wasn't me!" Alice said, as she moved her hands, and a large number of dolls came out, armed. Shanghai and Hourai did as well - Shanghai with a shield, and Hourai with her lance.

If I didn't know how easily Gensokyo fights started, I'd comment here on how quick you are to defend yourself.

Reimu came over and grabbed me off of Marisa's broom, and we gently landed. Yeah, thanks. I'd rather watch another Marisa vs Alice fight, not be a part of it again.

She actually had no trouble picking me up there, despite some obvious strain on her part. Huh. Reimu's stronger than she looks.

Alice opened up with a scattering of dolls, a lot of them going to different positions in the air, but they didn't do anything. Marisa responded with a few lasers to take some of them down, before turning her attention to the puppeteer, but Alice's dolls were dragging their master around, giving her a speed boost. She was far more mobile than in Spring Snow. A lot of the dolls were still on the field, just standing there, as if waiting for a command. Alice was setting up something, even though Marisa took some time to knock down the dolls.

"She's very strategic," remarked Reimu. "Even to a fault. Alice always seems to have some sort of battle plan she wants to enact, but if you defeat her early, she won't be able to get it going."

No, I understand that. She tries to think a few steps ahead. Though, against a reactionary opponent like Marisa, that may not be the smartest thing to do.

Marisa directed her laser shots right towards Alice, but Shanghai absorbed the shots with her shield. Whenever Marisa got too close, Hourai was there attempting to attack.

Shanghai was suited for defense, while Hourai was clearly an offensive doll. This might not be too bad if I have those two with me. They're obviously able to defend their master on their own, without much input. This didn't seem to be a bad idea at all, having those two be at my side. I actually might stand a chance with those two, if I use them correctly. Hourai might be a problem, but Shanghai is okay. I just had to hope Marisa didn't do something stupid like destroy them.

I frowned. Actually, that's a real possibility. Please don't do that, Marisa. I might end up needing them.

Some of the dolls began attacking, attempting to get Marisa in a crossfire, but she kept her offense. Go for Alice, destroy a few dolls, rinse, wash, repeat. Alice kept replacing the dolls almost as fast as Marisa could get rid of them. Almost. It wasn't too long before about a dozen of the dolls that were put out were gone. Alice got frustrated, and brought out a spell card.

[SPELL CARD: GRUNTS "SUICIDE SQUAD"]

Do you have DC Comics character dolls or something? Gonna be whipping out the Joker or-

A number of dolls popped out of Alice's backpack, spinning in the air. They weren't doing anything, and I wondered what this was, until I saw a lit wick on the back of each of them. It made my blood run cold.

Oh crap! They really are a suicide squad! Alice what the hell are you doing with this kind of attack?!

"Marisa! Kamikaze dolls!"

The witch's eyes widened when she saw the fuses as well. "Ah crap!"

They launched at their target. Marisa zoomed around, swerving in between the dolls that were detonating in a danmaku explosion near her. The dolls kept pouring out of Alice's backpack, throwing themselves to their explosive fate.

"Hmph. All that work to make those dolls, and she just throws them away like that." Reimu was shaking her head in disapproval.

"Well if she didn't destroy them, Marisa would." Where did that come from, even if it's true?

I heard Reimu chuckle in response, and we kept our eyes on the battle.

Things were getting real hectic for Marisa - the bits and pieces of the dolls were making contact with her skin, and I could see that it was effecting her - she was slowing down. Really slowing down, as if she had taken direct hits. Dammit, the fragmentation of the dolls is danmaku too. She's slowly being drained, but... Waste of dolls notwithstanding, this was a pretty effective spell card. Still, she's acting like she's taking direct hits.

Marisa shook her head, trying to stay awake. "To hell with this!"

[SPELL CARD: LOVE SIGN "NON-DIRECTIONAL LASER"]

The rotating lasers. It cleared the area, giving Marisa much needed elbow room. Again, Shanghai was deflecting any attacks that got near Alice, and Hourai was ready in case Marisa tried to get close again. But the Suicide Squad was put down. Alice spent the next few moments avoiding the lasers, another spell card in hand - she was waiting for Marisa's card to end so she could use another of her own.

"Amazing that the doll can deflect Marisa's lasers so effortlessly." Shanghai's shield area was a lot larger than the actual shield itself. It was like it gave off an invisible wall of protection, big enough for a human target. I guess a shield the size of a doll wouldn't be the best protection against a barrage of magic attacks.

"That Shanghai is a problem, especially her shield. It's resistant to most forms of magic." Reimu shrugged. "I've seen Marisa and Alice both develop that thing - it can even stand up to a full Master Spark, so I don't know why Marisa is okay fighting someone who can nullify her signature attack."

Okay, now I'm really looking forward to working with Shanghai. Seriously? She's able to block even a Master Spark? That's awesome.

[SPELL CARD: SWORD SIGN "CRUSADERS"]

With Marisa's spell card depleted, Alice activated hers. More dolls flew away from Alice, their tiny arms wrapped around lances as big as them as they spun in circles like tops. Every time one of them got more than ten meters away, Alice would jerk one of her fingers, sending them back towards her as though she were wielding a dozen yo-yos. They kept moving back and forth, changing trajectory each time they went out.

Hourai began to take the initiative, 'yo-yo-ing' as well, and like with Youmu, her attacks solidified and became danmaku as well. That doll was very effective at tracking Marisa's speed, and was able to deflect shots with her lance. I was already seeing the potential of both dolls.

Even without Hourai, this attack kept Marisa at bay, as she continued to dodge, and watch. This was giving the witch time to recover, as I think even one more graze would have put her down. There was certainly a pattern. Even when the witch put down some of the dolls, when they returned to Alice's side, they got replenished, so the barrage wasn't stopping. Hourai was even taking a few lasers, but her body didn't tear up like the others - she just tanked through them.

Marisa kept her focus on the dolls, and she appeared to have an idea. When the dolls converged on Alice to replenish their numbers, Marisa took aim. She blasted just as the dolls left, but still in a cluster - they were gone, save one that went in a direction that was no where close to where Marisa was.

She got through!

Marisa brought out a spell card along with her mini-hakkero, which she pointed at Alice with a grin. Shanghai and Hourai both got in the way, with their arms up, ready to absorb the blast.

Then... Marisa aimed the hakkero behind her. What is she doing?

[SPELL CARD: COMET "BLAZING STAR"]

The Master Spark fired behind her, giving Marisa a boost, and she just blasted through the dolls, knocking them away, and slamming into Alice. As soon as Alice was hit, her spell card ended, and all the dolls fell to the ground.

That was the spell card - she used a Master Spark as a turbo boost to slam into her opponent. It also gave off spread shots of stars, but that was moot by then.

Man, I never thought about using the Master Spark as a booster. That actually makes sense to use it like that.

As soon as she hit Alice, Marisa put on the brakes and ended the spell card. But she was still a ways away - the distance she had traveled in those few seconds was quite far. She made her way back to us, rubbing the her face as if trying to get rid of her sleepiness. "You okay, ze?" She called down to Alice. "I hope I didn't overdo that."

"How the hell did you come up with that one?" Seriously, I wanna know, because that was kind of awesome.

Marisa was already digging into her pocket for a vial. "Ah, kinda figured it out on my own. The Master Spark has massive recoil, so why not use it to boost, ze?" She tossed down the vial, which I caught.

If you were in a Gensokyo race, you'd give anyone a run for their money with that thing.

"Look. We were right." Reimu motioned to the sky. "The hail is gone."

I was in the process of healing Alice (and Marisa), and I looked. Sure enough, the Sun had come out again, the summer heat already melting the balls of hail around us. I brought up the puppeteer. "You all right?"

She dusted herself off, a look of annoyance on her face. "I'm fine."

"You're taking losing a fight pretty well."

She gave me a small glare. "My heart wasn't in it. That's all."

Right. Also, you're quite powerful but don't want to use that power, like Yukari said.

Marisa looked over her opponent. "You good?"

Alice scoffed. "Never better."

The witch grinned. "Sorry about using that on you, ze."

"Ah, Marisa," Reimu had joined us, arms crossed. "You just wanted to impress Kyon with one of your flashiest spell cards."

Marisa blushed. "Ah, yeah, so what if I did, ze?"

Really? You don't have to impress me, Marisa. I turned to Alice. "Ah, sorry. If I had known-"

The puppeteer waved it off. "No, it's fine." She then gave a glare to Reimu. "So are you convinced now?"

The miko nodded. "Yep. Whatever was affecting you is gone now, and so is the weather." She raised her eyebrow. "So you didn't do it then?"

Alice shook her head. "No. I mean, I haven't really gone into weather spells or anything, but I guess it's possible." She scratched her chin, thinking it over. "No, weather spells do exist, after all. But to make it follow someone else, and multiple people? I mean, that would be some high level-" Alice looked like she was going to say something else, but she stared past us, into the sky. "...There's another weather." She then blinked, her eyes widening as her attention went down to ground level. "Oh my."

"Oh for crying out loud, no matter where I go, it's so damn damp and humid. My body is all sticky and stuff. Ick."

All of us turned, and there was Komachi Onozuka; Death herself. She was wiping her exposed skin, and wiping that off on her dress, all the while grumbling to herself.

Honestly, one of the last people I expected to see.

Tenshi sat up, not expecting this. For Alice to show up randomly in front of Reimu was unexpected, yes, but for the shinigami to show up as well?

Oh this day is getting better and better! She looked towards the Scarlet Devil Mansion, where another fight was beginning - four of the others that were affected had arrived, to take on the remaining two there.

Tenshi grinned and bit into a peach. She was very satisfied that she had two fights to watch at the same time. And now the rabbit was on her way to the mansion as well, though it seems that she stopped by at the immortal's house.

I wonder how quick they'll catch on about the weather effects, besides the princess. It'll make their danmaku fights so much more interesting! After all, they were quick to deduce that someone else was doing the control of weather.

They're quicker to deduce things when Kyon is around. For the most part, they just wander around. When he's around, things get more... streamlined. Tenshi scratched her head. That was true, and an interesting thing. Almost like he's some sort of catalyst to make the 'story' flow better or something, if this was a story.

Ah well. Enough thinking. It was time to enjoy -

Something was moving at the shrine.

Tenshi smiled. Goodie. I have another person to give weather. Out of boredom due to the extra time, she had given the immortal weather as well, but this? I wonder what weather the Hisou will give to this particular person? It was seemingly random, but it identified the spirit of the person, and gave them according weather and effects.

This person was in dire need of a little extra something.

The woman blinked, wondering why there was nothing but rubble. It was child's play to blast a path out, and she rubbed her eyes, getting rid of the drowsiness. She could tell that it was still day, and obviously not nighttime, even though the clouds above her began to curiously swirl.

What happened? Did... Somebody had to have destroyed the shrine. Wow. Even I couldn't do that. She stepped out, looking for her warden, and upon finding herself alone, she scoffed. Somebody did me a huge favor, it seems.

She put out her hand, and her crescent moon staff materialized. She grabbed it, and went up into the air, looking down at Gensokyo. She grinned a wicked grin, despite the rain that had begun to fall, and a light rumbling was heard above her.

Well. Might as well have some fun then.

Mima was free.

She went up into the sky, searching for the miko, but saw someone else in the distance. It was the tengu reporter.

"Hello?" Reisen called out at the small unassuming shack in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost. It was the home of Mokou, the immortal defender.

No one seemed to be there, but white ashes were floating through the air - thankfully not enough to choke her, and the whole area was coated in a layer of white. From a distance, it looked like mid-winter. If what the princess had said was correct, then this was the weather that was following Mokou, and if she was right about the effect... I don't need to be set on fire today, thank you. She even felt a rise in temperature when she slowed down, so it was smart to keep mobile. But if this weather is following her, then she should be here, or at least in the area.

Even though it was volcanic ash, Reisen was still kind of relieved to have something other than the vapors that have been plaguing her.

"Hello? Miss Mokou? You in there?"

In a matter of seconds, the pyromancer stepped out, lighting a cigarette. She eyed Reisen curiously. "Hmm? Oh. It's you." Mokou took a puff. "It's unusual for you to come to my home, rabbit." Mokou's eyes fell on the gear Reisen was packing, and her face became impassive. She slowly cracked a smile. "Heh, tell me she didn't send you after me. S'only gonna end badly for you."

Reisen vigorously shook her head. While she was sure with her training that she could take on just about anybody, someone who could repeatedly come back would not be worth it. "Ah, no. I'm actually here to recruit you."

Mokou raised an eyebrow, keeping quiet.

Reisen pointed up in the air, referencing the weather. "You see, it has something to do with this. I think you've noticed it by now, though..." She pointed to the amulets Mokou wore. "I don't think it bothers you. But it has to have bothered those in the human village, right? I haven't seen you over there for a while."

Mokou shrugged. "Yeah, people have been complainin' and stuff about being burned while I was around."

"Been wondering why?"

The immortal furrowed her brow, giving it serious thought.

"It's not just you, it seems." Reisen pointed at herself. "I seem to have some weather following me as well."

"That a fact?"

Reisen nodded. "I know you don't take the word of my princess well, but she senses that someone did this to you and me. And we have an incident, in case it wasn't obvious."

Mokou crossed her arms. "I'm listenin'."

The soldier decided to just come out with it. "The Hakurei Shrine has been destroyed, and Kyon is back."

Mokou's cigarette dropped from her mouth. "...Oh." She quickly stepped on it while she brought out another to replace it.

She didn't say anything else, so Reisen continued. "It's pretty fair to say that this is indeed an incident. I'd like for you to join me, in joining them. At the very least, we can find the person responsible for giving us this weather."

Mokou puffed away at her cigarette in silence for a moment. She took one especially long draw, before answering. "Ah, why the hell not. I got nothing else today." She shot a glance to Reisen. "Is the cutie here?"

"Uhm..." Reisen blinked, unsure of who the immortal was talking about, until she remembered. "Oh. Him? I don't... I don't know."

Mokou actually looked disappointed by that. I wonder if this will be all right. Her head's not really into this, but...

Having an immortal on your side in battle was always a plus.

I didn't expect this, for Death to show up out of nowhere.

What is she doing here?!

"Some sort of mist," Alice softly spoke, referencing the weather Komachi seemingly brought with her. The sunlight began to dim in the wake of this. "River mist?"

"That would be kind of fitting for someone whose job is at the Sanzu, ze."

Actually, that would be. This weather really compliments the person it follows in particular.

Reimu casually scoffed upon seeing the shinigami. "Oh it's the Slackmeister."

Please don't insult a shinigami.

Komachi looked up from what she was doing. She looked a little upset at being called that. "Wait wait wait. 'Slackmeister'? Really?" She then noticed the rest of us, me in particular. "Oh hello. Hey, it's you. 'Sup?"

I didn't know how to really respond to a shinigami casually greeting me. I mean, how could a person do such a thing? "Uhm, not much?"

"What are you doing out here, Death?"

"I was on another break, and I heard you guys fighting and stuff, so I came to check it out. Maybe I'll be entertained." Komachi took a few seconds to assess what was before her, and disappointment crossed her face. "Looks like I was late to the party. And I came all the way from the Sanzu."

Right. I kinda need to go over this. And again, this is from the reports. The Forest of Magic has a way to the Sanzu, according to the Flower Incident's file. However, it wasn't as simple as going from point A to point B. One couldn't get to the Sanzu directly from just any direction. You had to take a certain path for it to appear. Think of it... think of it as a 'folded' closed space. That's the best way Nagato explained it to me. If you get there from any other path/direction, it won't appear, and just be another part of the forest. But if you take a certain path from a certain direction, you'll come across the Sanzu proper, and a way into the entryway to the afterlife judgment area. The path is kind of like how the Bamboo Forest of the Lost is set up, but not really. But that should give you an understanding of how it works. You have to go a certain way to reach the Sanzu, otherwise it won't be there when you get there. Get it?

Not that I would want to go there, for many reasons. One being is that the path is extraordinarily dangerous, as extremely powerful youkai were said to be on that path. Again, this is all from that file. And I had no interest in testing any of that out.

Reimu kept staring at Komachi, assessing the shinigami. "Now, maybe Alice wouldn't be able to change the weather... but you, with your ability to move distances..." Reimu stepped forward, pointing her gohei at Death. "It wouldn't be too hard for you to move weather patterns to your liking, would it?"

Komachi just had a confused look on her face. "What? I... uh... I don't understand..."

"You have your own weather. River mist. It's only following you around."

I wonder what kind of weather I'd get if that really is the case, which it seems to be pointing to. Not me getting weather, but weather following people.

"Really," Alice complained. "I got hail? My home took all that damage and it was because weather stayed with me?"

Why does Alice seem to usually end up getting the short end of the stick in these incidents? Getting taken down by Marisa, almost killed by Letty, having her doll crushed by Flandre, Shanghai getting ripped in half, and getting toasted by Mokou? Then she gets hail to follow her around, and gets defeated by Marisa again. It's like her whole life is just suffering, which is really bad, since Alice seems like such a nice girl. The type of girl you'd like to have as a real good friend or even as a girlfriend.

You know, as long as she doesn't keep doing the creepy doll thing.

"Huh." Komachi scratched her head. "Now that you mention it... it has been following me, even at work. Whaddya think it means?"

You're asking us? We barely understand it ourselves.

"Interesting." Reimu kept intently staring at Komachi. "I think I'm starting to get a bead on it."

"Can you do it without that stare? It's kinda bothering me."

I chuckled. Even a shinigami is uncomfortable with Reimu's stare. She could get intimidating.

"Now that I've seen different weathers, I can see it. There's a common energy amongst them." Reimu pointed her gohei at Komachi. "And it's similar to your energy right now."

Yep, it's the norm. Going around Gensokyo and getting into fights. This is what I wished for.

"Either you're behind this, or your energy is being used to do this." Reimu casually cracked her knuckles. "I'll be destroying that energy now."

I stepped away from Reimu, since I had no interest being near her when she's picking a fight with a shinigami. It would not be smart to stand next to her. Marisa and Alice did the same.

I thought Komachi would be offended, or angry, but she just got this amused look on her face. "My energy?" Komachi got a huge grin. "You want to destroy my energy?" Her left eye became black and empty, like it disappeared into the eye socket of a skull. In fact, part of her face appeared to go to bone. Her voice came out raspy, and when she spoke, it felt like it rattled my soul. I don't know how else to explain it. I haven't experienced that sensation before. "That's cute. Do you seriously want to do that?"

Okay, so this is the face of Death. That's her version of 'going youkai.' And it was intimidating. The eye socket was just so... empty, like an endless void. It wasn't like how Yukari's eyes would go black - this was oblivion. Emptiness. Nothingness.

Oh God she's scaring me. This was more frightening than most of what I've encountered before. It was evoking fear on a primal level. And I know, for me, that's saying something, especially when you consider my previous experiences.

"Someone's gonna get destroyed."

"Why's that?" Komachi was very giddy at the prospect of a fight, and still had that grin.

Reimu got into an attack position. "Someone was dumb enough to destroy my shrine."

"Oh. Oh, yeah, that's a good reason to destroy someone." Komachi chuckled. "Okay, maybe I'll help you, but first you have to do something for me. Maybe you'll rouse me again, Hakurei." Both her eyes were gone. "The last time I've had my heart beat rise in the thrill of battle... was with you. You can't understand how this feels, to be what I am and be so bored with my existence. You made me feel... alive, for the lack of a better term." Komachi's features returned to normal, but her voice didn't. "Make me feel the joy of battle again, and my powers are yours for this incident. Fail to do so..." the shinigami cracked her knuckles. "...And you're just gonna have a bad time."

"Okay, fine, but-"

[SPELL CARD: DEATH SIGN "SCYTHE OF FINAL JUDGMENT"]

This was out of nowhere. Suddenly the shinigami was right at Reimu - Komachi raised her scythe, a bright light emitting from her weapon, and this red aura appeared around her. She slammed the scythe into the ground, creating a pillar of danmaku light around her - and I mean a big one. Like the area of a truck, and it extended to the sky - this was a powerful spell card. She kept distance-jumping to where Reimu was, and did this three times.

Okay, that is NOT a nice sounding spell card!

Reimu had barely dodged this one by jumping away before each of the pillars erupted - each blast lasted about a second, and it was a wide area. It was a surprise opening attack. The miko had gotten way faster - I don't think the girl four years ago would have been able to move that quickly. I myself certainly wouldn't, even with my footwork. When Reimu landed after the final one, she just glared into the pillar, angry that she was almost cheap shotted.

The light died down, and there stood the shinigami, resting her scythe on her shoulder, a small mischievous grin on her face. "Huh." Komachi shrugged, speaking with a normal voice, before rubbing the back of her neck. "Always wondered why people never use their stronger attacks first against you. It is kind of demoralizing to have those fail outright so soon." Komachi got into a fighting position. "Whatever. Here we go."

Angry, Reimu appeared to dash forward, as well as the shinigami. I say 'appeared', because they weren't getting closer to each other.

It was weird - they obviously went towards each other but they didn't go anywhere. That's the best way I can describe it. They kept at this for a few seconds, before they stopped, and looked down. They realized they were still in the same position.

"Are you using your powers here, slackmeister?" Reimu's grip on her gohei tightened, as she looked extremely annoyed at this. "Because that's against the rules."

Komachi dropped her aggression, slightly raising her hands. I could see the blatant confusion over this. "Hey, it ain't me. I'm not doing this, all right?"

"You control distance."

"I'm telling you, this isn't me. I wanna get to you as well. If I was doing this, I wouldn't let you near me while letting myself move about freely."

Suddenly, the weather started clearing up, the river mist giving way to the sunny sky. Reimu looked up, then took a step. She actually was able to move closer. "Interesting. Maybe it isn't just weather. Maybe there's other effects."

Marisa rubbed her chin. "You mean like danmaku hurting more during the hail storm, ze?"

Alice turned her head to the witch. "Yeah I noticed you taking more damage during that fight."

"There might be other effects in play. Not just weather."

Okay, that's really weird then. Not only is weather following people around, but it's doing things as well? Somebody really had to be behind this.

Komachi looked lost at what we were saying. She shook her head, and got into another ready position, as did Reimu. They both rushed at each other, shooting their respective shots. Komachi was using coins as her main source of danmaku. Which kind of makes sense - you pay the toll to cross the Sanzu river, and I guess Komachi has a lot of change on her then? I mean her belt is held together with a friggin' coin itself.

Komachi also did something that I saw Yuyuko do - use ghosts as danmaku. They slowly moved around the area, and I'm guessing they were there to keep Reimu from certain areas. And of course, Komachi was dangerous for another reason. Her scythe was huge, which gave her a lot of range with that weapon. And didn't she say if she strikes you with it, she'll take half your life? That made her all the more dangerous.

Reimu was obviously faster than Komachi, running around, trying to get a shot at the shinigami. But Komachi's scythe was knocking away those shots, while at the same time trying to pin down the speedy miko with the coins.

It was a stalemate at first, until Reimu took the initiative. After tossing a slow moving amulet, she zipped around Komachi, and ran right for her. The shinigami swung at Reimu, who ducked.

And Reimu did a standing split type kick right to the face of the shinigami. It knocked her into the air. I could also see what happened - there was a bright gleam around the kick - danmaku.

Komachi, knocked into the air, spun to get rid of the momentum of the kick, and just glared at the miko while rubbing her face.

"Ooh." Marisa chuckled. "Reimu's Ascension Kick."

"What?"

She smiled at me. "Reimu doesn't look like it, but her legs are really strong. She kicks like a mule, ze. And her adding danmaku makes that standing kick like an uppercut." The witch shook her head. "I haven't seen her do that in a while."

"Okay." Komachi brought out a card, seething in anger. "That did it. Now I'm pissed."

Oh, this is going to be bad. Who knew what an angry shinigami would do.

[SPELL CARD: SPIRIT SIGN "ANCIENT EARTHBOUND SPIRITS ARISE"]

Whatever Komachi was doing, it appeared to make Reimu really go on a hurry up offense. You see, there were ghosts gathering beneath Reimu, and from the looks of things, they were charging up some sort of attack. Judging by the name of the attack, it had to be some sort of pillar danmaku attack. Komachi wasn't making it easy to get hit, as she started speeding up. I assume she was slightly using her distance powers.

No matter how fast Reimu moved, the ghosts under her kept up. The ghosts charged, and they lit up-

The mist came back. Reimu and Komachi were separated nearly instantly, and the pillar went off without Reimu there. Oh thank goodness.

Komachi slammed her fist on the ground in frustration. "Oh come on!"

Reimu blinked, showing confusion over this. "You really aren't doing this, are you?"

The shinigami angrily shook her head.

There was nothing the two could do but circle each other at a fixed distance and fire futile shots at one another. Thankfully, it didn't take long for the Sun to come out again, and they were free from the fixed distance.

I wonder what this means. Are the two weather types clashing? This didn't happen with Alice's hail.

Both girls used a card at the same time.

[SPELL CARD: SPIRIT SIGN "ABUNDANT FLOATING SPIRITS"]

This was a soul attack, and it was a wavering spread shot.

[SPELL CARD: JEWEL SIGN "CONCEALED ORBS OF LIGHT"]

Reimu brought up her left hand to her forehead, like she was concentrating something, and then pointed at the sky. A number of yin yang orbs about a meter in diameter then launched from her hand, bouncing around.

Between the two cards, the area was kind of chaotic. Ghosts and orbs were going all over the place, and I couldn't see what was happening for the most part. Komachi wasn't letting Reimu get close enough for another kick, and was doing a good job at knocking away the miko's shots.

Didn't it take most of the Gensokyo girls to unite to even bring down Komachi a few years ago? Reimu has gotten way more powerful. I wasn't going to complain about it - if Reimu was this powerful, then the upcoming underground incident would be cake.

Right?

Anyways, the spell cards ended, and the two stood there, as the mist rolled in again, separating them. This is almost like some sort of boxing match. They're getting time to recover a bit in between the time they're allowed to go at each other.

Komachi stretched, while letting out a signature yawn. "This is clearly a mismatch."

"I know." Reimu grinned, tapping her gohei on her shoulder. "That's why I'm going easy on you."

I've missed this banter.

I thought the shinigami would be angry, but Komachi outright laughed. "Oh you make fights fun, Hakurei." The anger that Death had shown was gone - she was enjoying herself now. "I'm feelin' it again."

Both of them didn't even bother shooting at this point, they simply waited for the Sun to come back out, but Reimu timed her card perfectly.

[SPELL CARD: TREASURE SIGN "DANCING YIN-YANG ORBS"]

Obviously, a number of yin-yang orbs were involved. Reimu went up into the air, with numerous orbs spinning around her, before they dropped to the ground. They bounced all over the place like super balls, and appeared hard to avoid. Komachi had abandon the card she was about to use in order to keep moving.

My observation about Komachi earlier was correct - she's slow, and only fast when she's using her distance control. Still, that weapon of hers gave her the reach advantage, more so than Youmu had with her katana. Her focus was on the orbs, so she almost didn't see Reimu come from the side. She took another swing of the scythe, this one blazing fast, and Reimu had to bend backwards to avoid it. Komachi, at the end of her swing, used her handle to trip up the miko -

But Komachi couldn't follow up - she got hit on the side by the orbs. She staggered, as Reimu scrambled to get back up. The shinigami used her scythe to remain standing, as I think she would have fallen over from that.

"Oh... yes." Komachi was just smiling. "Yes that's it, Hakurei. I feel so alive right now."

Are you girls really that bored that you'll entertain yourselves with fights for the sake of fighting? Where are you from, Dragon Ball Z?

[SPELL CARD: SOUL SIGN "SOUL GAME"]

Reimu didn't respond, so the shinigami used this card. Slow moving ghost danmaku appeared around us, and converged on Reimu's location, like a reverse spread shot. Reimu instantly recognized this, and moved away from where they were gathering, though Komachi went to where the shots were going. A symbol appeared around the two of them for about a second, and then they switched places as the gaps were closing.

I rubbed my eyes upon seeing that. Oh that's just flat out cheating.

Komachi smirked at this, while Reimu knocked away one of the souls - she still got grazed on her left arm.

Reimu glared back at the shinigami, rubbing where she got hit. Again, the souls appeared, and began their slow converge, but this time where Komachi was. The shinigami grinned mischievously, obviously waiting for the right time where Reimu couldn't get out due to the switch.

Reimu moved right for Komachi, taking a swing with her gohei. The shinigami realized what Reimu was about to do - the switch would keep Komachi in the line of her own fire, so she got ready to move - the symbol appeared, and both of them quickly escaped the area.

The two just stared at each other, and I saw Reimu bring out seven amulets in one hand, and a spell card in the other. This card that Reimu had... had an unusual sheen to it. Like a holographic card would have, but it glowed in its own right. It wasn't like a Lunatic or a Taboo. This was clearly different.

Marisa straightened up upon seeing it. "Uhm, guys..." She grabbed both Alice and I by the arms, and took us behind a tree.

What's going on? Marisa looked really worried. What is that spell card?

Another ghost convergence was happening, and Reimu moved out of the way. "Ready to go to back to sleep, slackmeister?"

[SPELL CARD: FANTASY NATURE]

A number of ying yang orbs formed, and spun around Reimu. They weren't doing anything, but they were spinning around the miko.

"Oh crap!"

Hearing Marisa's tone made me worried. "What? What is it?"

She tentatively looked out from behind cover. "It's Reimu's finisher!"

She has a real finisher now? I thought the Fantasy Seal was her finisher. I too looked from behind the tree. Neither of them had moved, though Komachi had watched our reaction and was then staring at Reimu with a curious expression. Reimu looked as serious as ever.

Reimu timed it with the symbol, rushing at Komachi so that she was close -

The switch happened, and Reimu landed seven quick hits with her gohei.

The orbs lit up, and the crackling of magic surrounded Reimu. She then charged right for Komachi, the orbs intensifying in light. Komachi was a bit stunned from the attacks, allowing an opening, and -

The barrage that came from Reimu was unlike anything I've ever seen, or comprehended. Well, from what I saw of it before I had to take cover against the tree. It lasted for seven seconds, and it was pure danmaku. The tree that was affording us cover vibrated from the attack.

What the hell is this, Reimu?!

Let me tell you how the Fantasy Nature works, as explained to me later. Obviously, when used, seven orbs appear. The only way to survive this card was to not let Reimu land seven hits after use. Each orb activated with a hit, and upon the seventh, Reimu just explodes in danmaku. Not in the way future Mokou did. Not a suicide. But the miko just poured danmaku from her body. This ended battles, especially at point blank range.

That was the only way the Fantasy Nature was survivable and legal - if she used it, you avoided her and her hits, and wait for it to run out of time, or flat out ran away. And it had to be physical hits - shots don't count. I say this, because this was truly an impossible spell card when it went off. Nobody could have dodged any of it, especially that close. Just a near endless amount of lasers, amulets, needles, and God knows what else erupted. Even a data entity going 2D would have trouble avoiding a hit, and I couldn't even see Reimu or Komachi due to the attack. I had thought some spell cards impossible, but no, this was. No chance to dodge if you let her activate it properly.

Maybe Seija was right. Maybe Reimu really was unfair in a fight.

Speaking of the amanojaku, why didn't Reimu use this against Seija? Or... would 'doesn't' apply here better? Either or. Still, if she was going to end the resistance in one fell swoop, why not activate it, pick on a weaker youkai or fairy for the seven hits, and go to the other side when the card goes off proper? It didn't take me long to realize it. Because then everyone would be crying foul in such a large scale battle, and it would give Seija real meaning to her rants. I had to be grateful she didn't do that, which would have prevented me from saving my family.

Anyway, when the light died down, we all looked back to the fight, which was obviously over. Reimu stood there, staring at Komachi, who was still standing, wide-eyed, teeth clenched, and letting out a choking gasp. She let out a grunt before she collapsed, her eyes closing. Komachi did not get back up.

Yeah, that is totally a finisher.

"My goodness." Alice had her hand over her mouth, wide eyed as we all stepped out of cover. "My goodness, what power. I've never felt anything like that from you, Hakurei. How come I've never seen this before?"

Reimu didn't say anything - she just stumbled back a few steps before falling down.

Okay, I can see why this doesn't get used - it takes too much out of her. I rushed up to the downed miko, who looked up at me with nearly glazed over eyes. Reimu's chest moved up and down, as she struggled to breathe. I didn't hesitate to use a vial for her. "That's some finisher."

She sighed and took a deep breath up being healed. "I don't use that very often. I just wanted this fight to end. I didn't like that last spell card and I didn't want another river mist to show up." She grunted as she got up. "That was just an annoying fight."

Still, you got to kick a shinigami in the face, so it wasn't a total bust.

The three fairies were still gasping for breath, as they had rushed to cover when that card activated.

"I told you!" Luna struggled to get more air into her lungs as she laid on the ground. "I told you that we should have been hiding behind something!"

"Quit griping! We didn't get hit!" Sunny looked out again, seeing the shinigami fall to the ground. "Geez. I knew the miko was powerful, but not that powerful. Taking down a shinigami? That's skill."

"Kinda of makes one think twice about pulling a prank on her, doesn't it?" Star dusted off her outfit. "I mean, imagine if we pranked her today? If it wasn't for that earthquake or whatever it was, she might have gone after us like that."

"That doesn't fill me with much confidence." Luna sat up with a frown. "Either we need to leave her alone, or we need to step up our game. She's gotten through way too many of our pranks, and even if a prank goes well, we go through something else, almost like karma."

"Well, either way, we shouldn't be pranking her any time soon." Star helped up Luna. "Even if she resolves this, she is going to be angry, and will be in youkai destruction mode. Even us fairies won't be spared her wrath."

Sunny slowly nodded in agreement, before turning back to her friends. "Still, that was an awesome fight."

The other two agreed as well.

Tenshi applauded the end of the fight, but quickly quieted down upon the realization of what just occurred. She didn't expect that finisher. And hearing Marisa's explanation of it was lucky - otherwise she wouldn't know how to avoid it. Still, it seems that she needs to land physical hits. Otherwise she would have gone with her cheap homing amulets to do that. Getting close to a youkai was always a gamble for a human, as they could easily tear a man in half. For her to have a spell card set up for physical hits means she's confident in her melee capabilities. She was confident enough to get within striking distance of a shinigami, of all things.

Tenshi plopped down on a rock. Seriously, that finisher... Tenshi didn't even know about that spell card. Crossing her arms, she thought about how she'd engage in their upcoming fight. The others I can down easily. Hakurei seems to be my only real challenge. Unless Yakumo also joined. If she did, then Tenshi would have to go after the demon right away in the fight, or outsmart her. Because if Yukari and Reimu joined up... I might be taken down as fast as I was when Yasumi showed up. I need to prepare a game plan. Maybe I should start out with an overwhelming number of keystones.

Tenshi let out a sigh. She didn't expect to put in this much work, but she didn't feel like losing. Still, it was kind of amusing to see that the shinigami's reasons were exactly the same as Tenshi's reasons.

I hope you can make me feel alive, Hakurei. I've been watching you all, and I can't help but want to be a part of everything. Tenshi stood up, gripping the Hisou. Yes, hopefully you'll be able to rouse me. Give me a reason to feel grateful for being alive.

Otherwise I'll be forced to destroy everything you hold dear. Just a little incentive for you.

...Someone was at the Hakurei Shrine again, but in the outside world's version.

Koizumi tried his cell phone again, not getting an answer. Where is he? He's been gone for far longer than he said he would. They had agreed to have a set amount of time before they would leave the park to go back to civilization. When Koizumi waited far longer than he should have, he went in search of his fellow brigade member.

So, this is the Hakurei Shrine. He noticed the red gate and was making his way up the stairs, still trying the cell phone, still awaiting an answer. He considered one scenario. After four years, he might have become a little too attached. He might just be standing there looking at the shrine, reminiscing over old times. If I were in his position, I think I'd be doing the same. That was probably it - just standing there, forgetting the time. Again, understandable. I won't hold it against-

Koizumi had cleared the stairs, and was staring at the destroyed shrine. Quickly putting away the cell phone, clenching his jaw, he quickly made his way around, calling for his friend. He's not out in the open. Tentatively looking at the ruins to make sure that this wasn't some situation where he got crushed by a collapsing shrine, an idea of what happened formed in Koizumi's head. There could be a lot of reasons why the shrine was collapsed, but he isn't here. Which could mean...

He debated on it, as he stared where the Barrier was. If he's still out here, he'll be angry that I left. Still...

No. He had to have been brought in, or he slipped in, but that would have been against Yukari's wishes. Koizumi made his way to the barrier, to the east of the shrine. Which would mean that something serious is happening.

Pausing for a moment to text Nagato on what was going on, Koizumi then entered Gensokyo, feeling his powers return to him. Getting into the air, he dashed to the shrine, only to find this one destroyed as well. Finding no trace of anyone, he looked around, wondering how to proceed, until he saw the scarlet clouds in the direction of the mountain.

Something really is happening. It has to be an incident of some sort. He took a deep breath, steeling himself for this. I hadn't expected to do something like this, but I'm ready.

As an esper, he had to always be ready.

"What... What happened here?"

Reisen and Mokou had arrived at the Scarlet Devil Mansion, and there were a few things instantly noticeable. The gate guard had propped herself up against the wall of the Scarlet Devil Mansion's fence. She looked like she was sleeping, but she was drifting in and out of consciousness. The amount of danmaku scarring was dense all over the place, especially to the current sitting point of the chief guard.

"She's all messed up, Reisen." Mokou carefully opened Meiling's eye - she was completely out and non-responsive. "Someone did a number on her."

She looked up to the sky that was right above the mansion itself, the weather swirling with sun showers, snow, and fog. Their weather hadn't caught up with them yet - she noticed that if she went really fast, the weather didn't have much of a chance to keep up.

"Look at that."

The swirl above was beautiful in its own way, the mixture just colliding. Almost like watching a hurricane form on Earth. Reisen used to watch some of the weather patterns that would form on Earth. It was just something Lunarians did - Earth watching. It was right there in the sky of Luna, after all. Oh, wait, I hope we don't come across some bad weather like a hurricane or-

One of Reisens ears bent down, as she realized something. "Wait a second. Wasn't there another one?"

Mokou stood up, tapping off the ash of her cigarette. "Whaddya mean?"

Reisen stared at the sky, furrowing her brow. "Weren't there two rainy weathers? The snow and the fog were in between them when we were coming over here." After leaving the Bamboo Forest proper, they instantly saw the collection of weather at the SDM.

Suddenly, the snow just stopped, leaving the Sun showers and the fog.

Mokou let out a long draw of smoke. "Now it's down to two. This really is interesting 'n all. I kinda-"

"You hear that?" Reisen's ears went up, as she turned her attention to the building itself.

"No, I don't have your ears."

Reisen brought out her gun, making sure it was loaded with danmaku. She gave a single nod towards the building. "Someone's fighting in there."

Komachi was grunting, trying to move her body, but she was too far gone to do even that. I healed her, and she slowly sat up. "Not... not bad. That was such a good one, Hakurei." Komachi was grinning like an idiot.

"Are you a masochist or something?" I asked as I helped her up. I think at least one of you would be, with your obsession with this danmaku game. That stuff hurts.

"Me? Nah. I can just appreciate a good fight, is all." She stretched, making another grunt as she let out what sounded like a yawn of content. "I didn't expect her to get this powerful in a few years." She placed her hands on her hips. "You humans are amazing. Now there's people who can really take it to someone like me."

"It's gone from her too." Reimu was staring at Komachi. "Whatever energy she had, it's gone." Looking up, she brought our attention to the sunny sky above us. "And the mist is totally gone again."

I say above us, because there were scarlet clouds in the direction of the SDM. A reminder of where we were going.

"Interesting." Alice thought about this. "It seems the dominant person has their weather dominate Gensokyo."

"So, what?" I pondered this as well as I made my way back to Marisa and Alice. "Does that mean that the end game will have Gensokyo under pure sun if Reimu wins everything?"

"I had rain though, ze." Marisa shrugged. "So why didn't it take over when I beat Alice?"

"Because I already beat you, so my weather became dominant?" Reimu furrowed her brow as she approached us. "If that's how it works. It's like someone set this up to make danmaku interesting. Some sick game of messing with the rules."

"Again, you're not the cheery sunny type, ze. I don't get it."

Let that go, Marisa. Reimu appeared to be right, however. There were several people with their own weather types, and it seemed to be that the weather carried some sort of effect. Well, we figured out the effect for the hail and the mist, but not the sunny sky or the rain. But yeah, Reimu had a point. Someone set this up for danmaku play. Anything else doesn't explain the hail's effect. The distance thing, yeah, it could have other applications, but the hail was set up for it.

Komachi had casually joined us. "Sounds like someone wanted to send a message to you by using your game." Komachi's eyebrows rose. "So somebody destroyed the shrine and made weather have effects on danmaku." She looked to Reimu while tilting her head. "Someone wants your undivided attention."

Reimu's face went passive as she processed this notion. But as for me, I had to agree with Komachi. Not only did someone destroy the shrine, but someone was messing with the game of danmaku. Obviously someone has it out for Reimu. That... that won't be a short list, I don't think. Who knows how many youkai the miko has angered? Unless it was someone new. That would be worst case scenario, because it would be someone unexpected and who also did their homework. They would have the advantage of knowing Reimu, danmaku, and not being known themselves.

Which also meant that they might know me. If my own exploits had really become legend as Miko alluded to, then I'd be scouted out as well. I turned my head to where the Hakurei Shrine was. Dammit, Yasumi, what did you get me into?

Reimu began to nod. "No, you're right. You're right. Someone is targeting me in more than one way."

If it's someone new, I'd like to have some vials in case things get really messy. "It still would be a smart idea to go to the SDM, see what Remilia has to say about all of this. I'm kind of dead weight without a full pack of vials, after all. We only have three left on us." And if it isn't someone new, if it happens to be Remilia, then we can go there and be done with all of this.

"You won't necessarily be dead weight." Alice smiled. "I'm going to give you Shanghai and Hourai to work with today, to see how it turns out."

Whoa, excuse me? "You're not coming with us? And... I get to use them?"

Alice shook her head. "I can't come with you. I have some things I need to accomplish, dolls to make, and gear to finish up on. It's for the underground incident." Alice looked over me for a bit. "Yes, the measurements Yakumo provided appear to be correct. The gear I've made for you should fit. And yes, you do get to use them. I had considered allowing Yukari to let Shanghai and Hourai come to your world so you can practice with them, but what better way to practice than actual use in battle, should it come to that?"

I'd rather avoid battle, thank you, and playing the part of a medic is what I've been good at. Also, I don't know about having those dolls be my backup.

"Shanghai and Hourai for the most part can act autonomously, and will protect you to the best of their abilities." She backed up, to give herself some space. "However, they will react to your motions.

Alice closed her left fist, and held it in front of her like she was holding a shield. Shanghai reacted, going in front of Alice with the shield up. "Now, this shield can obviously deflect danmaku and most magic spells. It's also resistant to nearly all physical attacks. Shaghai's stronger than she looks, so she can take the impacts of just about anything." Alice dropped the motion, and Shanghai returned to her position behind Alice's left shoulder. "Now, for Hourai..." Alice extended her right index and middle finger like a 'gun', and made a slicing motion in the air. Hourai jumped out, attacking in the same exact motion Alice made with her lance. When Alice sliced horizontally, or vertically, Hourai responded in kind. "Hourai is far stronger than Shanghai, but she has no defensive capabilities. Still, her lance can cut through a lot. Maybe not as strong as Youmu's katana, but-"

Alice whipped around, slicing at the tree vertically. Hourai struck, and split the tree right down the middle. Alice then went into the shield stance again, and made a 'shield bash' motion. Shanghai rushed forward, and knocked the split tree over.

My jaw dropped. Okay you convinced me. I'll gladly play with dolls. I had vastly underestimated these two.

Satisfied with her doll's show of strength, Alice turned to me with another smile, her hands on her hips. "Shanghai and Hourai are my most advanced dolls. They also can regenerate their own magic, so you don't need to refuel them. This means that they can do their own magic attacks, too. However, if they use too much, they'll just go limp, so I've designed them to show fatigue if they are on the verge of running empty. Give them time, and they'll be good to go."

"You made them user-friendly. Gotcha." I was looking forward to practicing with them.

"You've seen their attacks, right? These two can do their own miniature Master Sparks, but if you combine them..." Alice extended her arms in front of her, and made a diamond shape with her index fingers and thumbs. "They can generate a real Master Spark."

Shanghai and Hourai got in front of Alice. Extending their free hands forwards, light began to emit from their palms. It took two seconds to charge - out shot a laser that looked just like a real Master Spark.

"Alice, I want some of my own dolls, ze." Marisa was smiling over that.

These dolls would do really well at Christmas time. I can see the commercials now. 'Come get your magical battle mage dolls, everyone! Complete your set! Get a Shanghai and a Hourai!' I was smiling like an idiot. I was going to be able to use a Master Spark! Do you get that? I'd be able to shoot lasers! Lasers!

Maybe this won't be so bad - and I just jinxed it again.

Alice bowed, and bid us goodbye, leaving the two dolls with us. We watched her as she went on her way.

Komachi patted me on the back. "That's awesome. Makes me want those two. Do all the fighting for you."

That's because you're lazy.

"So you're joining us?"

Komachi gave a light shrug. "Why not? I got nothing better to do today."

But you ferry souls across the Sanzu. How is that not better? That's important. I opened my mouth to tell her as such, but what could I say? "I hope you don't slack off like this when my time comes." I didn't even want to consider such a thing.

Getting ready to take off, I noticed that Hourai was just floating in the air where Alice left her, arms crossed. Shanghai had already gone behind my left shoulder, and we all stared at the doll in red.

I don't know why, but I got angry and frustrated over that. What is your problem with me? Why this protest out of nowhere? And I've done nothing to you, you stupid doll. Nothing to deserve this treatment. Don't just decide to automatically hate me.

I wasn't going to put up with it at all.

"No, let's just leave her. When this is all over, we'll just tell Alice that Hourai didn't listen to her orders." I stared down the doll, as it tried to do its best glare. And call me crazy, but Hourai looked kind of surprised that I was willing to just leave her behind. I don't care if you hate me, Hourai. I don't have the time to put up with whatever grudge you hold against me. The point is you were given a task, and you choose to ignore it. That's on you. I looked to Marisa. "Let's go. I'm not putting up with her."

Marisa appeared to want to say something, but she just shrugged and we began to leave As we passed the doll, Hourai latched onto my sleeve. We stopped again, and Hourai still wouldn't look at me, but I could see the resignation. Well, as resigned that a doll could be.

The reality is that she was given a job to do and she didn't want to do it.

Hourai kept her eyes lowered, and eventually went over my right shoulder. Shanghai just gave her a nod, to which the other doll didn't respond.

I decided not to rub it in. I don't need BS. I will not put up with BS.

We went towards the SDM.

Yukari Yakumo grunted, trying to get back up. Remilia Scarlet grinned as she stood over the demon. They were in the rotunda lobby of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, with the entirety of the servants turning out for this, some down each hall, some along the walls.

"Had enough, Sukima?"

Yukari let out a single chuckle. "I didn't expect you to become this strong, Remilia. I underestimated you. My mistake." Yes, our mistake. Yukari's eyes went to the other three that were with her earlier. Youmu, Yuyuko, Suika. All on the ground. They had ganged up on the gate guard, only to fall when they reached the mansion proper. Remilia Scarlet was far more powerful than Yakumo remembered her being. "It's because of your weather. Vampiric Fog."

Remilia ran her tongue over her fangs. "I know. Wonderful, isn't it? It seems every hit gives stamina equal to the weariness it inflicts. This weather really is set up to danmaku, it seems. I gotta give thanks to whomever did this for me."

"You'll be unable to stop the one behind this." Yukari shook her head, grimacing when she tried to get up - her solar plexus was sore.

"Oh?" Remilia began to show annoyance. "And why's that?"

"It's just her venue. You wouldn't stand a chance there, and something like me would have a hard time as well."

The vampire peered at her with suspicious eyes. "So you've known this would happen."

"Of course I did." Yukari propped herself sitting against one of the walls. "Your power, however, wasn't part of this." Yukari rubbed her temples, trying to keep her eyes open. "I wanted to end this quickly. This incident was held off a few months, so I knew it was altered."

Remilia slowly nodded, tapping the Gungnir on her shoulder. "So that's why you four came at us at the same time." She grinned. "But for you to unite and still fall to me? That's kind of pathetic."

"What's at play here is worse than you realize, Remilia. This threatens all of Gensokyo in its failure state."

"Right now it seems that the vampire is the biggest threat."

Everyone turned to the open doorway, where there stood the rabbit soldier and the immortal pyromancer. Mokou is involved... this really is altered. I can feel the power surrounding the immortal as well. Yukari still made the attempt to get up, but found she didn't have the power. Remilia really did a number on her.

Mokou tapped on her cigarette, glaring at the vampire. "I was hoping to get a little revenge on the demon n' all, but kicking your ass after you kicked hers will satisfy me." She flicked the cigarette, and stepped on it, rubbing it into the marble floor.

Some of the maids gasped and murmured amongst themselves. Sakuya took some aggressive steps toward the immortal, but Remilia slightly raised a hand, to keep her from continuing.

Remilia fully turned to the new intruders, scowling at the disrespectful act. "Okay. That? That right there? That's just rude."

This side of Gensokyo was astonishing. Well, nothing new was around, it was just the weather portion of it. If I was a meteorologist who didn't know much about Gensokyo and saw this curiosity, I'd be massively impressed. As I wasn't, it didn't ring with me that way. This was something out of the movies - swirling red clouds of intimidation. I'll call it what it appeared to be. There was a massive swirl of clouds and thunderstorms surrounding Youkai Mountain, and there was some sort of fog, ash, and lighter fog surrounding the Scarlet Devil Mansion, which was in view. If I was a betting man, I'd say that Youkai Mountain is the goal. That weather looks like it belongs to a final boss or something in comparison to the SDM. Still, the plan was to head to the mansion to see if Remilia was behind this, and to pick up more vials, if possible. We only had three left, after all.

"Weather!" Komachi pointed up to the clouds that began to extend over us. "We got incoming weather! Someone is approaching!"

What followed was high winds with heavy rain - a tempest. Very bad weather. It shook both Marisa and I, and we were forced to land in an open field - the witch was having trouble flying for two people in such bad conditions. Both Komachi and Reimu stayed up there.

After landing, I kept looking to the sky, trying to see who the weather belonged to. "Anybody see anything?"

Reimu was watching the sky with a stern look on her face. "No, but I feel it! Someone powerful!"

I was unnerved by the situation, and tried doing the arm thing to test it. Shanghai went in front of me, shield up on command. That's very comforting. Very. At least the blue dress doll was more reliable than the red one. And I won't have to rely on using or throwing vials to defend myself.

"There!"

Marisa had spotted it. From the clouds came someone, and I tensed up, until I realized they were falling out the sky. It took me a second to realize who it was.

Aya.

Her body was limp, and her limbs were flailing - she had gotten knocked out. You want to know the selfish part? When I saw that, I could only think of two things. We'd need her for the Underground incident, and again for the resistance - her camera anyway.

"Someone catch her!"

Komachi distance-jumped to the falling tengu, catching her and bringing her to us on the ground. Aya was out cold, burn marks on her clothes. Marisa handed me a vial, to which I popped open and was ready to down, but I paused. Corking it back up, I shook my head. "No, whoever did this might still be here. We don't have much on hand." Sorry, Aya. This wasn't some sort of revenge on the tengu for her article that got the human village in trouble in five years time. I was just thinking clearly.

What happened next was just so quick, that it felt surreal. Like it happened in semi-slow motion. But it happened in a span of a few seconds.

I don't know what happened. Reimu had looked down to us for just one second, to give us a nod over my decision, and then she wasn't there any more. Just one second of her breaking her concentration, one second of being off guard. That's all it took.

The area she was in was replaced by something I hadn't seen in four years. The Twilight Spark.

It came from the clouds, the stream of dark magic, and when it ended, Reimu was on the ground. I just stared at her, unable to accept that I really just saw that, and I think Marisa was shouting something, but I couldn't hear her. My focus was on the miko. I couldn't even tell if she was breathing or not.

I didn't think - I reacted. I ran up to her, getting the vial ready, trying to reopen the cap, when a number of 'dark' lasers came down in between Reimu and I. That finally snapped me out of that trance as I stared up, and saw the perpetrator descend to us.

Mima. It was Mima.

It didn't take me long to realize what had happened. The destruction of the shrine also meant the destruction of Mima's prison. And this ghost just ambushed her warden.

Mima floated down to us, carrying her crescent moon staff or whatever it was, with an evil grin. It was the best way to describe it. My blood ran cold, as I wanted to help out Reimu, but I certainly didn't feel like going up against this ghost. Yes, even with the dolls, I felt helpless in a fight.

"Lady Mima!" Marisa ran to put herself in between me and Mima, aiming her hakkero at her former mentor. "What did you do?! What did you just do?!"

Mima's smile softened upon seeing Marisa. "Ah, Kirisame. It's been a while. You haven't visited me when I get out of my seal every full moon."

Marisa's arm was shaking, still aiming. But she wasn't firing. "You... Reimu... You just..."

The weather began to get worse than just a tempest. Some of the clouds descended near us, and the wind began to pick up. The rotation of the clouds, the...

Wait a second. That's a supercell.

The hanging 'anvil' of the clouds near the top, the cloud base striations. It was a supercell - a rotating thunderstorm. This was the type of weather that spawned tornadoes.

In no way was any of this good. None at all.

The ghost looked to the downed miko. "Ah. No, she's still alive. I need her alive for now. I've told her as such when she faced me for real back then. I'll defeat her, but I'll stop short of killing her." Mima moved closer to Reimu. "The yin yang orbs need her to be alive to work properly." Mima laughed. "Perhaps I'll have her sealed so I can use them whenever I want!"

Marisa just roared. "Get the hell away from her!" Her hakkero began to light up.

The witch's defiance kind of inspired me. I was totally out of place, but I stood next to Marisa, Shanghai and Hourai out in front. Hourai, this won't be the time to be defiant. I need you to do your job. I realized that I had my feet in position like I was about to play tennis, ready to move in case something happened. I hope this was enough. I hope that being able to meet Haruhi's shots allows me to be ready for real magic shots.

It was as good a time as any to find out. I wasn't going to let someone do something to Reimu. Again, I owed her.

Mima's face turned scornful as she turned back to her former servant. "Do you really think you can take on your master, Kirisame? You really believe you'd ever come close to my level?" Mima glanced at me. "And you, boy, you really think-" She stopped, staring at me, as if trying to recognize my face. When she did, she got really angry. "You!" Mima started to aim her staff at me.

Oh come on what did I do to you?!

There was a whistle from the side, catching everyone's attention.

[SPELL CARD: NAUTICAL SIGN "FLOW OF THE RIVER"]

All of a sudden, Komachi got a boat, I'm guessing the ferry boat she uses to transport souls across the Sanzu? Or just a danmaku boat in the air. I... I don't know. This was an attack where she tried to slam into the opponent with it. She rushed right for Mima, who moved out of the way. Using her scythe's handle as an oar, the shinigami quickly changed course and kept going after the ghost. Mima kept moving, giving the two of us humans the chance to get to Reimu.

"Dammit Mima, why'd you have to do this, ze."

Before I could bring out the vial, another Twilight Spark rang out, shattering the boat and knocking Komachi clear across the field, near Aya. That didn't last long. You'd think that Death would last a little bit longer.

No wonder she got busted down to ferry woman.

Marisa brought up her hakkero and didn't hesitate.

[SPELL CARD: LOVE SIGN "MASTER SPARK"]

Mima responded in kind.

[SPELL CARD: DARKNESS SIGN "TWILIGHT SPARK"]

The two lasers clashed, both of them ending when they met each other. It was like it was out of Dragon Ball Z - an actual beam struggle. But it was bad, because it was actually happening right in front of me for real. What was worse is that Marisa was instantly losing, her beam shrinking when the two met. It was set to overwhelm us in just a matter of seconds, when-

A red light blazed past me, landing right next to Marisa. I just stared at who it was.

Koizumi?! How did he get in here?!

The esper placed his hand on the hakkero, the red light that surrounding him instead going to the beam, making the Master Spark red, and it began to push back the Twilight Spark.

"Koizumi? What-"

He turned his head and gave me another one of his smiles. "You weren't answering your phone, so I came looking, and..." His smile dropped. "We'll talk later."

"Kyon! Get Reimu out of here and heal her, ze!"

I nodded, picking up the miko, and started to run, not questioning what Koizumi was doing. Was he lending his esper power to give the Master Spark a boost? I mean, he could use it as a projectile, or to slam into Haruhi's celestials, so obviously it's a flexible attack.

Whatever. It was working. I shouldn't complain.

"Kirisame, what did I tell you? You can't measure up to your master!"

"I've kept up with Reimu! I've kept up with her as she's gotten stronger and stronger! And she was just a kid when she beat you multiple times, ze!" Marisa screamed that, as the lasers were getting louder and louder, due to the users increasing their power to try to overtake the other. Oh, and the wind was howling by that point. The rain was at a torrential downpour as well. Hail should be coming soon, and after that, a tornado touchdown.

If Mima has this weather attached to her, we need to down her now before it gets worse!

"Such impudence! You disappoint me, Kirisame! Remember our plans? We'd rule over Gensokyo, you and I!"

"No, it would have just been you, with me serving! I serve nobody, ze! I'm free to do what I want!"

As Koizumi had just joined us, he stayed silent. I would have too. This was something personal between the two magicians.

I ran to the nearest tree, hoping for cover so I could safely take out the vial and not be interrupted. I was trying to bring it out, but I dropped the only one I had - Marisa had the other two. I stopped, trying to find it in the grass, when the Twilight Spark began to overtake the Master Spark. Marisa and Koizumi were being pushed back due to this, and the witch's face was red with the effort. Marisa can't do this. Marisa really can't take down her master, even with Koizumi's help. The Twilight was just too powerful.

I had to find that vial. I put Reimu down gently, and began to search the grass with both hands. "Shanghai! Hourai! Help me out here!" Shanghai immediately began looking, and after a seconds delay, Hourai joined in. Really, Hourai, you better not screw us here! Stupid doll.

I couldn't find it. And the flapping grass due to the wind did not help at all. Come on, where are you you stupid thing!

I looked up, and saw that the Twilight Spark was about to overtake them.

And I did one of the stupidest things I could think of.

Reacting to what I saw, I made that diamond pose with my hands, having Mima be in the diamond area. Now's a good as time as any to see if this works.

Shanghai and Hourai got into position, bringing their hands together and charging the attack. As they did, I realized the situation I was throwing myself into. If this didn't knock her out, Mima was going to come after me with everything she had. I've mentioned that I didn't want to piss off a magician before, and yet there I was. Please be strong enough to take her down, you two!

The dolls fired, causing Mima to take notice. Before it reached her, she glared at me. Please work!

I couldn't see her, but the Twilight Spark ended, so thank goodness for that. Marisa ended her spell, and doubled over, gasping for air, before using her broom to dash to us. Koizumi followed suit. When the doll's spark ended, I was able to see Mima again, and she had her staff in front of her, as if to block it. Which is what she did.

And the pure hatred on her face...

I'm gonna get it. I'm gonna get it so bad. At the very least, I had proven I could use the Doll Spark, or whatever it was. Any other situation, I would have been giddy over being able to fire lasers, yet context is important. I was about to receive a butt kicking. I looked around, trying to decide what to do, and there at my feet was the vial. Figures.

Mima rushed right for us. I quickly picked up the vial, deciding to throw caution to the wind and just wake up Reimu. We needed her right then and there.

Then I heard something, as Marisa and Koizumi's eyes widened to what was behind me.

[SPELL CARD: UNTITLED "FLYING MYSTERIOUS SHRINE MAIDEN"]

I turned, staring at the unconscious body of Reimu, unsure of what this was. She activated a spell card?! What?!

A spell card floated right in front of the miko's chest, as Reimu's body began to shine, her red miko outfit beginning to turn... white? Still out cold, her body went up to the air, and six yin yang orbs appeared, surrounding her. Eyes closed, her body went into the Fantasy Seal position - arms outstretched.

Yeah, I'm bailing. Flashes of the Fantasy Nature went through my mind. I ran to where Aya and Komachi were, as did Marisa and Koizumi. Reaching them, I brought up Shanghai, who shot me an unsure glance. Don't give me that look. And I hope you can block this. I motioned for the the others to get behind me.

Mima didn't bother attacking us - she was just bewildered at what Reimu was doing. "I knew it. I knew it. The true power of the Hakurei. The power of Gensokyo itself."

Mima tried attacking the miko, but to no avail. It didn't even faze her, save for Reimu's eyes opening, staring forward at nothing. Mima's own eyes widened, and she began to back up.

Reimu, what happened to you? What is this?

Then the card really activated.

The orbs spun around, firing an endless stream, while a large amount of spread shot amulets emitted from the miko's body. It wasn't as bad as the Fantasy Nature, but this was much longer than seven seconds. Much, much longer. And it really was endless. It just kept going. And going.

Shanghai held, but wasn't going to last - her body began to 'breathe' hard. Crap - Alice said the dolls will show fatigue if they're running low on magic, and I used that Doll Spark. I began to slowly move towards the nearest tree, making sure everyone behind me could do the same (Marisa and Koizumi dragging the knocked out Komachi and Aya), and when they were clear, I ran to cover, only to be surprised with the three people I bumped into.

The three fairies. Sunny, Luna, and Star were there, as I had bumped into them when they were invisible, and they fell out of their invisibility. I didn't have time to think - I recovered, and pushed them behind the tree, taking them with me. Nice to see you girls again, but now's not the time! I numbly noticed that all the leaves of the surrounding trees were gone due to this spell card.

It just wasn't ending.

Seeing as we were safe at that point, I angrily turned to the three fairies. "What the hell are you three doing here?" Well, I wasn't angry at them per se - I was angry at the situation and of being startled. I gotta say - bumping into something invisible is still unnerving, despite my closed space experiences.

Luna gave Sunny a slight shove, showing her own anger. "I told you we had to move! Why'd you have to always stay out there like an idiot?!"

"Well excuse me for trying to get us to see what was going on! And if you wanted to move, why didn't you?" Sunny poked Luna's chest. "He bumped into all three of us!"

Luna put her hands on her hips. "I need your light bending so I won't be seen!"

Star got in between them. "This isn't the time for this, girls."

"Hey, it's you guys." Marisa dropped Aya, and walked over to us. "You three weirdos, ze."

I caught myself almost saying their names, and I shut that down quick. That's right. I can't let on that I know about them. I've never heard their names outside of the resistance in a few years. I stared at them, wondering why they always got involved in my Gensokyo affairs, like Cirno did. These three fairies followed us for a bit after Mayohiga, were there on the way to the Hakurei Shrine on that Endless Night, and were instrumental during the resistance. Are these fairies that bored that they stick their nose into everything? Also, you guys tried to stir up your own fairy rebellion and lost. One would think you'd try to lay low for a bit. Speaking of fairies, shouldn't Cirno show up by now? Or is she going to show up later?

"Are you seeing this?" Koizumi was peeking out at what was still going on, which returned my attention to the battle.

Well, it wasn't so much a battle as Mima was doing her best to keep ahead of it, to blast way the shots, to shoot at Reimu, but was ultimately doing nothing of value. It was decidedly one-sided.

"Why?" Mima growled, while gripping her staff and clenching her teeth. "Why won't you stay down? Why do you have to keep winning?"

I'm starting to see why Seija became so obsessed with defeating Reimu.

Mima couldn't even set up for another Twilight Spark - she was kept on the run. And it caught up to her. The ghost let out a yelp before another wave hit her, causing her to grunt. Then another wave, this one silencing her.

It just didn't stop. Mima kept getting hit over and over. She was out cold, but the hits kept her in the air. It was a complete stun lock.

This card lasted far longer than any other I've seen, even that long one by Yukari on Reimu years ago. Far longer. The supercell was gone by then, with the sunny sky taking over, and it still wasn't ending.

"See girls, I told you." Sunny slowly shook her head. "I told you if we followed them we'd see something cool!"

"You guys were following us?" I looked down to them. "Since when?"

"We, uh, saw the destruction of the shrine." Star didn't want to chance a peek any more, as she had kept flinching whenever a shot came near. "We wanted to see Reimu take it out on someone."

"Yeah, and she really is." Luna let out a low whistle. "This just isn't ending."

On that note - "Marisa, what the hell is this?"

"We can't stop this, ze!" Marisa grabbed her broom, her teeth clenching. She was coming down from the adrenaline surge she had. "It's gonna continue until she cancels it!"

"But she's knocked out!"

"Other than removing that spell card, I don't know what else to do, other than knocking her down again!" She paused, looking over the situation, as if deciding when to take action. "Or, I dunno, wait until she wakes up! Her danmaku is too dense to get close to her, ze! There aren't any openings!"

I afforded another look, and the spell card was still floating there right in front of her chest. Man, a self activating card? What is this, Reimu? Is Mima right? Is this your power defending itself?

Again, I looked to my surroundings, trying to figure out how to end this. Reimu was going to be okay, but this spell card didn't seem to want to end, and we couldn't leave her like that. Maybe someone's powers? Well, the three fairies were stealth masters, so they wouldn't be able to do much against indiscriminate firing. Man, if we had Komachi with her distance control, or Aya with her speed, we'd...

My eyes went to the tengu, who was still out.

...Aya.

The tengu camera!

It was around her neck, and since she was caught by Komachi instead of being allowed to hit the ground, it was in working condition. I put it around my neck, and looked to Shanghai. "You good?" The doll gave a nod, and using what trees I could use for cover, I got closer to the miko. Waiting for the orbiting orbs to pass, and the spread shots to get past my tree, I turned the corner, shield and camera up, taking a snap shot.

The danmaku got caught in the photo, dissipating, and giving me the opening. It finally allowed Mima to fall to the ground as well. I ran for Reimu, shield still up. You'd think that my footing wouldn't be good in a field that just had a massive amount of rain, but surprisingly I had no trouble running. All that training was good for something. I never would have been this quick four years ago.

I still don't think I would have made it. The danmaku began to pick up again, so I brought up the camera-

[SPELL CARD: COMET "BLAZING STAR"]

Before I could take a picture, Marisa zoomed into view, plucking the spell card out of the air, and ramming into Reimu. The miko's clothes returned to normal as she fell to the ground, her eyes closing again.

The card ended. It finally ended.

Marisa was left breathing heavy, and I just bent over, sighing. That was a total mess, and we almost all paid for it. If we all got knocked out, would we have been endlessly been hit by that card until she woke up? Yeah, that's a scary thought. Knocked out for hours in a place of youkai.

I ran my fingers through my soaked hair, before I patted myself down, trying to get rid of the water on my clothes. That supercell was nasty. Still, could be worse. I could have ended up like Mima, stun locked for a good while.

"Okay, shinigami fighting, the shrine got wrecked, and an unconscious spell card." Sunny patted the backs of her two friends, grinning. "I told you today'd be interesting!"

Luna rubbed her back, where Sunny patted a little too hard. "...Okay yeah I admit, that was pretty cool."

I didn't notice that Koizumi had approached me. I just stared at him, not knowing what to ask first. The smile on his face was of amusement, and it was genuine. "I leave you alone for a few hours, and this is where you end up?" He put his hands on his hips and raised an eyebrow. "And I thought I reminded you of the dangers of being around a closed space."

I couldn't help but smile. "I know, right? It's been a crazy day, but not as crazy as how I got in this time."

How did that happen? What just happened?

Reimu had just pulled off something unexplainable. She was unconscious, but she still activated a spell card. She got knocked out, but she didn't lose her weather. This was totally against the rules Tenshi had set up. It didn't make any sense - Mima had defeated Aya, and the tengu's weather was gone, but Reimu's was still active.

Amazing. Hakurei is truly amazing. Or the biggest cheater in Gensokyo. Tenshi began to feel unsure about this, like she had bitten off more than she could chew. After all, if Reimu could still fight you even after being properly downed, then why bother picking a fight with her?

Tenshi shook her head. No. No, this won't deter me. I didn't do all this just to back out now. I wanted her at her best, and it looks like she will give me her best. Besides, she's been beaten before, and she didn't use that. Tenshi continued to ponder this, as she felt as she missed something.

...The Twilight Spark.

Tenshi snapped her fingers. That's it. The Twilight Spark is so powerful, it put Reimu in real, actual danger. Few cards had the raw power of that attack, and it was both borderline illegal and lethal. Reimu had also been legitimately taken down before, but those were in non-lethal battles. While Tenshi had been watching a good deal of both Gensokyo and the Brigade, she wasn't able to watch them 24/7, so there were obviously some things she had missed. I think I remember Marisa and Reimu talking about a spell card that keeps reappearing in Reimu's deck, even though she didn't want it. That might be it. A self-activating card that protected its user. How about that. As long as I don't do something stupid like nearly kill Reimu, that thing shouldn't activate. Again, she would have to prepare, and balance her attacks.

The celestial smirked, even though it was unsure, bringing out her best spell card. "Besides, you're not the only one with a 'cheap' self-activating spell card. And nothing can stand up to celestial weaponry. Gods fall to them, even. The siblings of the Yatagarasu, and the son of Chun Hu, for example. And you, Hakurei, are no god. At the end of the day, you're just a human."

...Right?

As long as I don't properly strike you with it, you'll be fine and won't self-activate. Coating the blade in danmaku will suffice.

Still, despite this new danger, the whole thing excited Tenshi.

Mokou fell to the ground out cold, unable to continue. Remilia took the time to catch her breath, motioning for Sakuya to give her something to drink. The maid instantly was at her side with a glass of blood, from which the vampire sipped. The victorious vampire looked to the only opponent left standing - that vile Moon rabbit.

Remilia got embarrassed by that Lunarian, and had been itching for an excuse to go after someone from the Moon. She wasn't going to flat-out attack Eientei - that would have been rude, and a declaration of war. Nor was she going to ambush the rabbit with her medicine runs - again, rude, and it would have been detrimental to the village, which would have gotten Eientei allies against the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

My patience has paid off. Remilia grinned. Little Moon rabbit Reisen there has come to my doorstep so I can wipe the floor with her.

The soldier just stared back at her - the rabbit's body tense, but ready to move, her hands on the M16, but not aiming at Remilia.

The two kept staring, until Remilia finished her drink. Sakuya quickly took the empty glass away, leaving the vampire and the rabbit in the center of the lobby. Neither spoke for several moments, and some of the maids began to get antsy. After disappearing with the glass, Sakuya reappeared without it, and went to Mokou, to drag her to the wall with the other ones who had fallen to the vampire.

"Thank you, Sakuya."

After she had done her job, she curtsied, and returned to her position with Patchouli and the others. The lobby's central area was clear again.

Now... now it's just me and the bunny.

"I have something to ask."

Remilia blinked. "Hmm?"

"Is this alright?"

"What do you mean?"

Reisen narrowed her eyes in annoyance. "I mean that you're here fooling around and trying to impress your servants when there's a real emergency going on out there."

Excuse me? The vampire frowned. "I don't have to impress them."

The rabbit smiled. "I think you do, especially after what happened last year."

Remilia slowly closed her fist, before letting out a chuckle. "Heh... before I tear you apart, bunny, can you tell me what you meant by this being an emergency?"

Reisen looked to Yakumo. "It's an incident, isn't it?" When she got a nod in answer, Reisen returned her attention to the vampire. "I came here, thinking that the scarlet clouds were a clue, thinking that you might have an explanation." She scoffed. "Obviously I'm wasting my time. You're just flaunting your power to your servants to make yourself look better. I would have been better off searching for Yakumo."

Keep running your mouth. Keep running your mouth and see what happens. Remilia took a deep breath, her jaw clenching. She could feel her wings begin to shake with rage. "I'm gonna tear your ears off."

Reisen smirked. "That's cute. But do you even know what's going on out there?"

"Somebody is messing with weather, obviously."

Reisen straightened up, the tension in her body going away. "Yes. And it appears there are effects, and... other issues."

"...Like?"

Her smile dropped. "The Hakurei Shrine was destroyed not too long ago."

Remilia lowered her weapon a little. "What?" She quickly glanced to Yukari, who nodded.

"And Kyon is back."

Everyone turned to Reisen, save for the knocked out Mokou. Remilia looked to Sakuya, who was wide-eyed at the news.

My servant... is back?

"How?" Yukari struggled to stand up. "How? He's not scheduled to come here! I would have noticed!"

Memories of four years prior flooded Remilia's mind, of what that normal boy did to help save her mansion. Of making sure Sakuya didn't die during a moment when the vampire was crazed.

You're back, Kyon?

...

"...No." Remilia frowned. "No, how dare you. How dare you, bunny. How dare you use him to try to put me off guard." She gripped the Gungnir tightly, feeling overwhelming rage. Playing with my emotions is not the smart thing to do, you bunny bitch.

Reisen shrugged, bringing up her gun. "Believe me, or don't. He's here."

"Enough talk!" Remilia charged right for Reisen. "Have at you!"

"You okay, Aya?"

I had healed everyone, except for Mima, which brought us down to two vials. The tengu held onto her head as we helped her up. She just grimaced as she stared in the direction of the knocked-out ghost.

"Yeah. I don't know why she attacked me out of nowhere." Aya shrugged. "She was spouting some nonsense of 'you're an ally of Hakurei.' I mean, I hang out at the shrine a few times, but not enough to be called an ally."

Star looked to her friends. "I'm glad she never saw us then." They nodded in agreement.

Reimu, who was standing over Mima, spoke bluntly. "You're all an annoyance at best."

I was worried that being knocked out would put Reimu in a really bad mood, but she was back to her usual cranky self.

"Bite me." Aya frowned, but Reimu wasn't turning to us - she kept her gaze on the ghost. "Whatever. I got attacked, and I should have been able to run circles around her, but the weather around us was just so bad." Aya looked up to the sky. "It's been bad for the past few days. A major tempest around youkai mountain." Letting out a sigh, she smiled a bit, basking in the sunlight. "Ah, the first time I've seen the Sun in a long time. It feels nice."

"Not a supercell, ze?"

"No, that appeared when the ghost did. Caught me off guard, and I guess it slowed me down. Or, I don't know. She managed to catch me." Aya's eyes brightened up. "Wait. Was that it? Weather?"

"Looks like it." I looked up again. "Yours was taken down, as was Mima's, but Reimu's is still active, I guess?"

"It is, for some reason." Komachi had her eyes on Hakurei, a thoughtful look on her face. "I think I can see it now. Interesting. The miko got knocked out, but she wasn't properly defeated by Mima, I suppose. I don't know how this works. But the effect is still around her. The sunny sky is her weather, and its still active. She cleared the immediate skies of Gensokyo." She scratched her head. "This just bothers me."

"What?"

"There's something about the weather's energy. I feel like I should know it. It's oddly familiar in power, almost like... spiritual."

I wonder what that means. So, what, ghosts? Wouldn't that put someone like Yuyuko to the forefront of the suspect list then? While I'd like to see Hakugyokorou again, I'd rather not in a hostile manner.

We had Aya's full attention on this. "So this is an incident?"

I sighed, as Reimu didn't want this to be known as an incident, otherwise youkai would be riled up. I didn't want Aya to print anything, because I personally knew the damage she could cause with her sensational headlines. Still, she's gonna print this regardless. Maybe we can ask for a favor.

"Yeah, this has gotta be an incident, right? After all, someone took down the shrine-" I put my hand over Sunny's mouth, wishing I had been quicker. The look in Aya's eyes after hearing that...

Dammit, Sunny.

It took several minutes to calm down the excited Aya - she wanted to know what had happened to the shrine, obviously. In exchange for her keeping quiet for a few more hours, we told her what was going on as we saw it, especially the part about the shrine.

"Okay, that is news." She pointed to Marisa and Reimu with her pencil, as she was already taking notes. "I keep quiet for a bit, and I get exclusives, all right? You don't get interviewed by anybody else but me."

Do you have real competition? The only tengu paper I've heard of is yours, and that's because Keine and Reimu get it. You at least have human customers. Hell, the Bunbunmaru is the only news source I can name from Gensokyo.

"Deal, ze," Marisa said, clearly annoyed. "But just keep it down for a bit, 'kay? We don't want too many youkai trying to do something crazy already."

Aya began gathering her things, and looked to the mountain and the mansion. "Looks like you're gonna have to go to those places."

Reimu spoke from her position, still not turning to us. "We gonna have trouble going to the mountain, if we have to?"

I didn't understand what she meant by that, until Marisa leaned closed to me. "Tengu are very territorial, ze. They'll attack you up there if you don't have permission."

Oh great, another thing to worry about. I turned to Aya, silently pleading her to do something about it, even though she was just a journalist. Would she have enough pull to allow us to go up there?

Aya slightly waved her hand. "Fine. I'll let the mountain know you're coming, so you won't be bothered by anyone." She grinned. "Soon as I'm done with that, I'm getting footage of the shrine." Aya kept looking to Reimu, as if expecting a response. The miko remained silent. The tengu shrugged. "All right, whatever. I'll catch you guys later."

She took off in her speedy manner to the mountain, leaving the eight of us. Ten, including the dolls. Eleven including the knocked out ghost. So, either she does have pull, or she's just exaggerating her importance. From the look of things, we were going to find out sooner or later if Aya would come through for us. I did not feel like taking on tengu. One Aya was annoying enough.

As the crack of air rang out and eventually silenced, we turned to Reimu. She was still standing over Mima.

"What kind of power do you think Reimu has?" Koizumi had finally spoken.

"Hmm?"

He crossed his arms, pondering this. "I thought you had to read out your spell cards for them to activate. But she was knocked out, wasn't she?"

"Very unusual." Star moved closer, like she was sharing a secret. "We've been watching a few incidents and battles, and we've never seen that before. That doesn't seem within the rules."

I don't know if Reimu heard us - she didn't indicate she did.

This was quite the question, wasn't it? One that would have to be repeatedly asked inside my mind due to my involvement with Seija. Who is Reimu? Who is this miko who came up with the game, yet is so loose with the rules? Its not an easy question to answer. For all intents and purposes, she's human, yet obviously so much more. While she doesn't hold power, her affinity to keep the peace and the standards here does give her power in itself.

Just who is Hakurei? After my brief encounters with her, I'm still not really sure, and I don't think I'll ever really know; whether it be my own experiences, or Seija's ramblings on the miko. The one thing we had in common is that we both wanted to protect this world as it is.

Maybe that was it. Maybe that's why I still cling to being on her side, even with what Seija has shown me. Yeah, take away the fact that Reimu saved me and did her part to save my family, we had that in common.

Marisa placed her broom over her shoulder. "Well, yeah. But Reimu is obviously different, ze."

"What was that form?" I continued to wring out my clothes from the rain. "That all white form?" If I didn't know any better, it was like she had a Super Saiyan form or something.

"I've seen that sometimes. It's very rare, so..." She looked to the fairies.

"We haven't seen that card, like at all."

Marisa shook her head. "Not that spell card, but... that. That pure white form. Sometimes, when she gets real serious, or when she's really pushed, she taps into whatever that is. And I don't think she's aware of it. It could just be the power of the Hakurei, ze, like Lady Mima said. Keeping her alive." Marisa's face was serious, as she kept her eyes on the miko. "If she's Gensokyo, and Gensokyo is full of youkai power, then... I guess it would want to survive. Just my theory. I'm not sure exactly what it is, though. It scares me about her, ze. She's a different person in that form."

What are you saying? She has a state she can activate, or it activates on her own?

"That card though..."

Marisa's lips pursed. "Yeah, about that, ze... Reimu has repeatedly tried to leave that behind, but it's always appearing in her deck."

I turned to Marisa. "Excuse me?"

"She doesn't even remember making that card." Marisa's eyes looked into mine, and she was one hundred percent serious. "I've helped her try to get rid of it, ze. It keeps showing up in her deck."

"A spell card with a mind of its own?"

Just when I think things can't get weirder.

"Spell cards can't think, Sunny."

The fairy in red gave a small glare to the fairy in white. "Who knows when it comes to her, you know? I mean, she made the game, so, why not?"

Despite the ramblings of the fairies, I too was thinking what it could be. What in the ever-living Hell does that mean then? What is that card? It's not the Fantasy Nature, but some sort of defense mechanism that Reimu unconsciously uses?

...Or subconsciously?

Like Yasumi?

That card was her Yasumi. "It's her Yasumi." I said it as the thought occurred to me.

"That..." Marisa blinked, as she realized it fit. "Okay, that makes sense, ze."

"Put like that, it becomes understandable. And well within the rules of our world. Yasumi comes to the aid whenever Haruhi needs something to happen." Koizumi rubbed his chin, as he thought this over. "It wouldn't be too far fetched to suppose someone else had this kind of ability in another form."

Komachi let out a low whistle. "Remind me not to seriously take her on in an actual fight then."

The three fairies were obviously lost on that part, and we didn't feel like explaining it. I shook my head as we all kept our gaze on the miko. She had a lot of potential, and she wasn't even the strongest person in Gensokyo. Yet there was just a mystique about her, that made her a living legend as well. A legend in a land of legendary creatures, and she peace keeps it all.

I don't know if Seija would have stood a real chance, even with that Miracle Mallet, unless she targeted the Untitled card's activation. And even then, I don't know. Maybe she was prepared - she was so sure of herself going up against Reimu. Too bad she didn't really make it past Marisa. But I began to see it. Even though Reimu wasn't in the category of sheer power of people like Mima, she was still really strong in her own regard. Plus, even though I wasn't a part of it, just the previous year, she tangled with actual gods and won.

Mima moaned, and Reimu immediately slapped an amulet on the ghost. Chains appeared to extend from impact, wrapping around Mima and sticking to the ground. Mima opened her eyes to see this.

"What? No! I-" She stared up right at Reimu, and her anger came back, clenching her teeth. "...Hakurei."

"Mima."

"When I get out of here, I'm gonna-"

Reimu simply placed her gohei over the ghosts mouth. "Enough." The miko leaned closer. "I should banish you to somewhere like Makai for what you tried, but," Reimu smiled. "Nothing happened. I think the saying is 'no harm, no foul.'"

That made Mima even more angry, as she struggled with the chains. "You stupid miko! You little brat! I almost had you! I'm the terror of Gensokyo!"

You keep saying that like it means something.

"A terror who got herself knocked out by someone unconscious." Reimu shook her head - she was enjoying this, judging by the grin. "That's pathetic. You finally had me, and you couldn't get it done. You couldn't finish it. The Hakurei orbs were right there, and you managed to still fail." She chuckled. "No, I won't banish you. Just going to seal you up and keep you, making sure you know your place again," Reimu began poking Mima's cheek. "And again, and again, and again."

You do have a bullying side of you, Reimu.

Mima was red in the face, both from her struggle, and I think from shame. It was starting to hit home for the ghost. Reimu was right, after all - Mima had Reimu down and out, and still managed to lose. That'd be like hitting an inside the park home run yet managing to trip just meters away from home plate, allowing the defense to get you out. I've seen clips of that happening online, actually.

With that, Reimu straightened up, hands on her hips. "Okay then. You stay there until I'm done with this weather thing, and then I'll come back to put you where you belong." Reimu then turned and walked towards us, an impish grin on her face.

"Wait! Hakurei! You're not going to just leave me out here, are you?"

Pausing, Reimu's smile dropped, and she spoke sternly. "I could banish you for good right now. So shut up and just lay there for a few hours. I'll be back when I feel like it. Hopefully someone from the human village doesn't make it over here and decides to exterminate you."

I understood what Reimu was doing. Oh you are so sadistic.

Mima's eyes widened.

"Yes, that'd be bad, wouldn't it? All of your talk of being the terror of Gensokyo, and you're set up right now to be ultimately defeated by any human who knows how to take down a ghost." Reimu was enjoying this way too much. "That'd be an anticlimactic way for such a creature's afterlife to end, now wouldn't it?"

We actually weren't too far from the lake, which meant we weren't too far from the village itself. Considering it was still daytime, yeah, a human could be out and about if they had means of defending themselves. Which would put Mima in a predicament.

"Yeah, I'm not going to mess with Hakurei, either." Koizumi shook his head. "Ever."

I couldn't even bring myself to feel sorry for the ghost, who kept pleading to be let go. Reimu got to us, and kept walking. We all stared at Mima for a bit, before turning to join Reimu.

"Kirisame! Kirisame!" Panic was starting to set in on Mima. "Are you really going to be so cruel to leave your master?!"

Marisa waved her hand dismissively. "I guess I am, ze. I don't measure up to you, remember?"

That's what you get, Mima, for openly insulting and attacking her.

Mima dropped all pretense of pride, power, and superiority as she began begging. "Kirisame! Kirisame, don't leave me! Free me, and we'll both rule Gensokyo evenly! Kirisame~!"

Part of me wanted to taunt Mima for her attempt on us, but I decided against it. I didn't need to give her a legitimate reason to hate me. She seems to hate me anyway for some other reason, so I shouldn't give her another. Seriously, what did I do to her to warrant that? I didn't understand.

We left the field, and Mima was still shouting for one of us to let her go. Marisa leaned closer to Reimu. "Nobody is gonna come this way, right? I mean, like Keine, ze? Lady Mima's gonna be okay, right?"

Reimu turned, her eyes uncaring, as was her smile. "Who knows? I certainly don't."

Sadistic.

Marisa shot one last look back to Mima, and shrugged. "Whatever. She shouldn't have done that."

You have such a casual attitude over the fate of your former master. "What about you, Reimu? Are you okay?"

Reimu's eyes fell on me, and it seemed like she was internally debating on telling me the full story. "Yeah," was all she said.

"So what was that?"

"I can't tell you because I don't know." She crossed her arms. "Why don't you ask Haruhi what Yasumi is?"

That is totally different. Yasumi is another being that forms. You become that form. It happens to your body. "So it just happens and you accept it?"

She sighed. "What do you want me to tell you? I don't know what I become when that happens. I..." She avoided my eyes, looking off to the field again. "If it's the power of Gensokyo, then it's the power of the youkai. The youkai give power to the Barrier, which in turn gives me power. If that power overtakes me..."

She clenched her fist, and her lips pursed. I began to understand what she was implying.

"So that form makes you a youkai?" Youkai Reimu... I shudder to think what kind of power that kind of creature could have. Also...

She lowered her head. "I hope not. I'd hate everything about that. I'm not in control like that. I'm something else. I never want to be that form."

...You'd be what you despise. A group of youkai kill off your family, and you end up becoming one? I can't even imagine that feeling, of what Reimu must be going through when she takes on such a form.

She didn't look like she wanted to talk about it, so we dropped that subject. Getting back up into the air, we continued on our way to the mansion.

And yes, the three fairies still followed us. Reimu whipped around, annoyed already. "And where are you three going?"

The three fairies stopped, bumping into each other. Sunny averted her gaze, and timidly touched her index fingers together. "Uhm, Miss Hakurei? I-it's okay if we follow you guys, right?"

"And why would you do that?"

"We'd like to see what's going on." Star pointed to her and her friends. "And besides, the shrine is one of our favorite places to hang out too."

Luna paused, as the other two looked to her, expecting the fairy in white to say something. "Ah, yeah. What they said."

Reimu frowned, before looking to me. I shrugged. "Hey, if they're not in the way, why not?" Also, the resistance showed me their use. It might not be a bad idea to keep them around.

The miko took a moment, before pointing her gohei at them. "Stay out of the way, and don't bother anyone. Got it?"

The three fairies looked relieved, since Reimu was giving them that steel look. "Sure thing! Yeah, you won't even know we're here!" And with that, the fairies went invisible. "See? I can bend light, okay? Luna can also control sound, so you won't hear a thing! We're totally quiet!"

So at least we got an audience. And if we need their stealth, they'll be there. Also, reminder: I need to really think about having them join us underground. I can't forget that.

We continued on our way after that interruption. "I was wrong earlier." Reimu quickly broke the silence. "This... weather energy or whatever it is wasn't just coming from Komachi. It's coming from our bodies. Even mine. I hadn't noticed it, because I didn't know where to look. It was more prominent with Komachi, but now... I can see it."

"Yes, I can see it too." Komachi hurried up to Reimu's side. "You're radiating some sort of power that causes the weather to change. And the dominant one supersedes the others. Because we were defeated by you, you alone have that radiation. We no longer have it."

"Fascinating, if that's the case," said Koizumi. "To have weather follow someone around would be an interesting thing to have in our world. There would be many applications to such a thing, especially being able to alter any environment to how you see fit."

That would be true. You'd be able to bring any weather with you across the globe, and make differences. Of course, the main one would be bringing rain to farmlands. That would be the most applicable use of it that would have the most benefits. I said as such to my companions.

"Of course would be. Bringing rain has been a sought after power," Koizumi said with one of his usual fake smiles. "If I remember correctly, some of the tribes in North America were actually pretty good meteorologists in their own right, and would follow the weather, exchanging their 'rain dance' services for trade before the storm could reach that location."

Marisa turned to him, eyebrow raised. "Hold on. You serious? People were conned that way?"

"Rainmaking is an old ritual. And conning people is an age old tradition, it seems."

Judging by Marisa's reaction, she might end up doing that herself for the farm fields here. Though not the rain dance part. Maybe.

...I don't know, but the thought of Marisa in her witches outfit doing some sort of rain dance is just so hilarious. I clenched by stomach, suppressing my laughter.

"Yes." Reimu tapped her chin, deep in thought, but not over the rainmaking bit. "But this power is coming from me, and causing the drought I've been experiencing at my shrine. I'm kind of worried. If this is permanent, then I'll be bringing a drought to Gensokyo if I defeat everyone. I don't like the thought of that."

Neither do I. Also, that's an interesting point. What was going to happen if Reimu's weather becomes completely dominant? Will it stay that way, or will things go back to normal? Until we find the one responsible, we have no way of knowing that.

"That power was coming from our bodies, ze. That's crazy. I mean, someone went and did something to us to cause this without our knowing." Marisa shot me a glance. "It's smart if you don't let youkai or some other party cast something on you."

"I would think so. Don't need any curses or anything like that." If something like that happened to me, I would feel extremely violated.

Also, that would be very unfair. And a lot of bad things could happen if you allow such a thing. I mean, if a youkai is able to cast an unknown spell on you, you'd be screwed, especially if they have some sort of plan. Like when I was frozen by Ryoko in that classroom.

"Yukari would be a good suspect in this." Komachi stretched and yawned. "I'm not sure of the extent of her powers, but if I had to guess, she could easily do this." She moved her arm around. "Still. Coming from our bodies and changing the weather suited to each person. Maybe based on temperament? It was kind of fitting that I get river mist with what my job is, after all. So yeah, somebody had to do this, I think." She pondered it for a while. "That's what it means? Does the weather reflect us, or did someone assign it? Because I did not like feeling all wet and sticky." Komachi then turned her head to me. "Get your mind out of the gutter, human."

What? I didn't even have a chance to think about that! And it wasn't fair at all. Considering Komachi's body... No, really, she's right. I do need to get my mind out of the gutter. She was the one who put it there, however.

...She would look really great in a wet t-shirt. That would be for damn sure.

"Again, I'm not gloomy, ze. I think someone assigned it."

Will you get off of that subject, Marisa? After Koizumi brought up the rainmaking rituals, I thought you'd let that go.

The mansion was covered in fog. Two kinds. Mountain vapor, and heavy fog. They were swirling on the grounds, as if they were trying to overtake the other. Meanwhile the mountain still had its thunderstorms.

"When I was flying towards the mansion, I saw different weather types other than just these two fogs." Koizumi narrowed his eyes at this. "It looks like other people have been defeated."

"Yeah, it isn't raining any more," said Reimu. "That would mean that someone in there has been defeating people all day."

"I'd say it was-" I stopped, as I saw the lone figure propped up against the wall near the gate - Meiling. "Land! Land now!"

We landed, to see Meiling slowly get up, holding onto her head. She'd seen some action, and from the looks of the danmaku scarring around, it was massive.

"Meiling! What happened?"

Upon hearing my voice, her head perked up. "...Kid?" She took a few staggering steps towards, before standing before us. Despite her obvious soreness, she looked happy. "Kid... kid you've grown up so well..."

"You haven't aged," I said as I hugged her. Oh, softness. She winced a bit from the hug, but she didn't mind it. "What happened?"

She stretched out her body, slowly at first. "Dunno, kid. We think an incident is going on. It has to do-"

"With weather." Reimu looked past the gate guard, to the open door of the mansion. "We figured that one out, actually." She then sighed. "I was hoping that the youkai wouldn't figure it out though."

"Four of us had weather. I had dust storms, Sakuya had normal storms, Lady Patch had haze, while Milady has the fog." Giving one final stretch, she appeared fine. "Milady noticed something was up, and defeated Patch and Sakuya."

Wait wait wait. She attacked her own servant and best friend? "Why?"

"Might make sense," said Komachi. "We're probably not the only ones who noticed that 'radiation.'"

"And it's a way for Remilia to establish her dominance again, ze."

I recalled what Patchouli told me one time: "Remi will be Remi." So do you fight Sakuya for fun then, Remilia? Do you beat on Patchouli in danmaku every now and then? I could totally see her do that if she was bored enough. Then I'm glad I don't live here. I don't want to take a beating every so often just because Remilia is bored. Haruhi doesn't beat people up. She might put me through hell but she doesn't attack me.

We would have said more, but we were cut short. From the open doorway, some danmaku spilled out.

"Crap!" Meiling began running to the mansion. "That's right they got past me!"

We joined her. "Who?"

"Four of them! Yukari, her oni friend, and the two from Hakugyokorou! They ganged up on me!"

...For those four to unite, the damage to Meiling seemed rather trivial.

[SPELL CARD: PHANTASMAL RABBIT "PARALLEL CROSS"]

We came to the open doorway, and the scene before us was of Reisen taking on Remilia. Reisen wasn't wearing her usual blazer - she was in a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up. She still had her skirt and her necktie though. Mokou was slowly getting up from the ground, while the four that Meiling mentioned were using the wall to prop themselves up, or sitting against it - not because they were lazy, but because they were recovering. Anyway, the spell card. Reisen's eyes glowed red, and suddenly numerous phantom Reisens began to jump out of her body. Eventually Reisen went invisible, and the phantoms floated in the air, firing away at Remilia. The real Reisen popped up, and repeated the process, moving to a new location, creating more phantoms, and the like.

Is copying oneself really an ability? I know Flandre can do Four of a Kind, but more people can do this? Man, I want to be able to do that.

Remilia tried attacking the phantoms at first, but when it was obvious that it wasn't doing any good, she growled. "Okay, I get it. Familiars." Remilia kept dodging the danmaku bullets from the many rabbits, moving in a blur.

[SPELL CARD: DRAGON "REMILIA STRETCH"]

Remilia cocked back her fist, and red energy began to gather in it. It was a massive danmaku punch. She tore through the phantoms, and knocked into the invisible soldier, making her visible again. Reisen rolled her body along with the punch, to minimize the damage. Switching to the MASS, she used the shotgun to try to get at Remilia from such a close range. The vampire quickly bounded away, the pellets missing her by mere centimeters with every shot.

Remilia formed some sort of red spear (not the Gungnir) that was attached to a red chain, and threw it - it hit Reisen's gun, and attached. Remilia then launched along as the chain retracted into her. It was like a reverse spear move from Scorpion of Mortal Kombat; instead of bringing her opponent to her, she went to her opponent. Anyway, before Remilia got too close, Reisen dropped the gun, and rushed backwards, to avoid a slash from Remila's real spear.

Reisen brought out a grenade canister - it was a smoke grenade?

[SPELL CARD: POISON SMOKESCREEN "GAS-WOVEN ORB"]

It gave off a green gas. No, it was a danmaku gas grenade. You can do breathable danmaku? Isn't that just sleeping gas?

As soon as Remilia knew what it was doing, she got away from it, but it seemed to have affected her. She was shaking her head already, trying to get rid of the sleepiness she had gotten. Suffice to say, everyone moved away from the gas, lest we go to sleep. This gave Reisen the chance to go for her gun again, and she began picking it up.

[SPELL CARD: MIDNIGHT SIGN "DEMON KING CRADLE"]

Remilia launched into the air, a spiral danmaku swirl in front of her. She held her breath, as she went through the gas and drilled herself to Reisen - she connected. Reisen's spell card ended upon that hit, signaling the match was over. The impact launched Reisen to the wall, which the soldier slid down and slumped over.

Remilia stood there, breathing hard, but triumphant. "Didn't I tell you, you bunny bitch? You-" The vampire paused, and I could see her nostrils flaring. The anger in her face ebbed away, and she turned towards us, her eyes going right to me.

It had been four years since I've seen them, barring Yukari. Youmu, Yuyuko, Suika, Sakuya, Patchouli, Koakuma, Reisen, and of course, Remilia. I thought that my standing at the shrine would make me miss them, but finally seeing them again really made me realize the scope of it. I really did miss these girls.

Everyone else still conscious turned as well, and they were silent. I decided to not withstand such a silence, as I stepped forward to the center of the lobby, and bowed. "Milady. I've returned."

"My my." Remilia quietly spoke as she slowly walked up to me, taking the time to look me over. "The young boy I once knew has become such a handsome young man."

I felt myself blushing. "Thank you." A compliment from a vampire is a good thing, right?

Youmu was the next to get to me, well, to limp to me. She bowed, putting a closed fist over her heart. "It's been a while, Kyon."

"Same here, Youmu. It's just kind of weird to see that some of you haven't aged." It's so disorienting. Everyone in my life had grown with me, but these people, creatures, they didn't. They were stuck in a certain age.

She stood up straight, smiling. "Oh, I age. Just very slowly."

"Upset that some of us are gonna outlive you?" asked Remilia.

...I know you mean nothing by that, but... I decided to let that go.

"So the rabbit was right." Patchouli and Koakuma joined us. "You are back."

"Agh, I told you." Reisen was slowly getting up, rubbing the back of her head and wincing. "Today is very unusual."

"Four years," said Sakuya, with a small smile. "Four years, and you've finally come back."

The others had also came up and greeted me, and I had to do my best to not break down. These girls had been there for a very special part of my life that I remembered with fondness. Ever since getting back from the future, nothing of real paranormal value had happened to me or the brigade. As I've said, Haruhi has calmed down, and there was no need for me to go to Gensokyo, so for the most part, all the fantastical things in my life were reduced to the memories of my past experiences. And these girls were there for those memories. Flying in the air, saving the world from an ancient threat, saving their world, facing off against a rogue reality hacker, going to the future, saving my family; everything I had gone through was due to Gensokyo and them.

I was at my second home.

"Hey."

Koizumi paused as he noticed Mokou move close to him, his heart skipping a beat. "Ah, Miss Mokou-"

She frowned. "You don't have to say it like that, y'know? I ain't some grand figure." She tapped the ash from her cigarette as she looked over the esper. "Damn. You got cuter in four years."

"Thank you."

The two awkwardly stood there, not sure of how to proceed. Come on, I can talk to her. I mean, sure, we shared a very intimate night together, but we need to work with each other, at least with the upcoming incident in the winter.

"About what happened-"

"We were drunk." Mokou quickly answered. "Though I'll admit... you were just so damn cute I couldn't help myself." She smirked. "And I'll have to say - ya didn't disappoint."

"I didn't really drink that much, so I remember it quite clearly." Koizumi could feel himself blush. And you were amazing.

"I'll admit that I can hold my liquor. So I remember it too."

The two blushed a deep red. Why does she make me feel this way? She's over a millennium old - I'm sure she's had lots of people she's been in love with. I might just be one of many, but...

Koizumi sighed, as he hated being in a position where he couldn't control his emotions and expressions. He shot a glance at Mokou, and felt his heart flutter. No, that was just a one time thing. An... amazing one time thing.

I have to remain professional here. I can't let myself be swayed by such... such an amazing woman.

I caught a glance of Mokou and Koizumi, and they were standing there, obviously not looking at each other, and beet red in the faces. This had to be one of the few times I've seen Koizumi get flustered at all. Standing there, I couldn't even remember the last time I'd seen him like that.

"All right all right, clear up." Remilia lightly pushed the others away, standing before me. She looked genuinely pleased. "You've been gone far too long."

I quickly forgot about those two, as Remilia then looked like she was expecting something, so I did the first thing I could think of. I knelt. "Milady."

"Welcome home, Kyon."

For a brief second, I heard someone running down the hall towards us, and then the doors flung open. There was a pause, then a little girls voice cracked the silence.

"Kyooooooon~!"

Ah no! No!

The others cleared out, as Flandre jumped me. I didn't want to fall to the marble flooring and crack my skull so I caught her embrace, managing to just fall to a sitting position. Some things never change, and neither does your grip! "Good to see you too, Flan!" I struggled to say even that. Someone get a crowbar please!

Remilia's prying got Flandre off me, allowing me to stand up as I gasped for air. "So, why are you here?"

Upon catching my breath, I told her, of Yasumi, of me appearing for no good reason at the same moment of the Hakurei Shrine's destruction.

"Yasumi brought you in?" That was Yukari, who had a concerned look on her face.

"Yeah, at least, I think so. She had to be the one, as she pushed me down, and I ended up here."

Yukari didn't answer, just had this deep-in-thought look on her face.

"So somebody out there has it out for Hakurei." Remilia finally looked to the miko, who still stood at the doorway. Everyone else in the group had already come in. "That's not a short list."

That's exactly what I thought.

"Still, that's very stupid." Remilia stepped away from me, still eyeing Reimu. "It's very rude to go after another person's house, especially if you don't manage to kill the person. Because then they'd have incentive to destroy yours."

"So you didn't do this?"

Remilia grinned. "No. I know about the scarlet weather out there, but I give you my word that I have nothing to do with this."

"Because if you destroyed my home-"

"I wouldn't have been stupid enough to leave you alive."

The corner of Reimu's mouth turned upward as she scoffed. "Your usual brutal honesty is refreshing at times."

Remilia shrugged. "Well, that, and we're 'allies', in the faintest sense of the term, after all."

Reimu stepped inside. "So... if you aren't behind this, then what was up with all the weather surrounding your home?"

"I'll tell you. Besides, we've already skewered from the original timeline," said Yukari. "In a way. There obviously is an incident going on, but it is extremely late in the timeline. When it properly begun, I wanted to end it quickly, lest events get set back." She gestured to the ones closest to her. "That's why I had joined forces with Suika, Yuyuko, and Youmu in an attempt to clear the weather effects."

"So you know about the weather too?"

The demon nodded. "Yes."

"So you know who's behind this?"

"We do."

"We?"

Suika wiped her mouth after taking a drink. "Yeah, 'we.'" She cleared her throat. "You see, Yuyuko and I already fought with the one behind all this."

"Whoa whoa hold on." Are you kidding me? "If you already did that, then why is this still going on?" Why was I brought in if this was already resolved?

"Because that's the way it had to go, apparently." Yuyuko glanced over to Yukari and shrugged. "I'm not too sure, but that's how it went in the timeline according to Yukari."

While it'd be nice to go straight to the final boss, I do know the importance of preserving timelines. I'd rather not skewer any more than I have to.

Suika smiled. "Hey, I ain't complaining. I got me a new home because of it."

"Huh." Marisa scratched under her had. "So that's where you've been, ze. Been wonderin' where you ran off to."

At least Reimu won't have to suffer a freeloading oni at her shrine. I looked to Yukari. "So who is behind this?"

She held up a hand. "Patience, Kyon. This is going to be a surprise for Hakurei... and apparently for you." She frowned. "I still don't understand why Yasumi would bring you in. It had to be for a good reason to throw you back into Gensokyo." She quickly waved her hand, dismissing that thought. "Well, either way, it changes things." A small smile formed on her face, before I could say it. "Then again, I did try to change things from my end. I was worried that this incident wasn't going to happen on schedule, so I did try to force events."

"Isn't that kind of dangerous, Miss Yakumo?"

"Koizumi, you can call me Yukari." She then gave a nod. "Yes, that can be dangerous to people who want to preserve the timeline. However, considering what is going to happen in the winter, forgive me for trying to make sure things are the way they are supposed to be."

I rubbed my temples, a headache overtaking me. "Ugh. Messing with timelines, events not happening like they're supposed to..." Including the resistance. "I'm getting the feeling that more harm than good is coming from you knowing what happens in the future."

She let out a tired sigh. "You're not alone in that feeling. Makes me feel like Nagato that time when you corrected her 'malfunction.'"

Yeah, I bet.

"Okay, so I'm all for catching up, but-" Remilia butted in between all of us, hands on her hips. "Who is supposed to resolve the incident today? And why is everyone at my home?"

"Your home was one of the possible stops for incident resolvers. And you know who is the resolver."

It wasn't hard to figure out. We all looked to Reimu, who was still at the doorway.

I heard Remilia let out a dissatisfied sigh. "After all that fighting I go through, she swoops in and solves it?"

"Actually, I have an idea. After this fight, I'll tell you what's going on."

A thought crept into my head when Yukari said that. Turning to her, I saw a mischievous smile on her face. "Yukari..."

"I didn't expect Miss Scarlet to develop this much, to be honest. Now I'm curious." She tapped her fan on her chin. "I for one would love to see Reimu versus Remilia three."

We're in the middle of an incident! How can you even consider this? "You want Reimu and Remilia to-"

"We do need to clear up the weather. Make one dominant. That'll help stabilize Gensokyo, anyway." Yukari had this weird grin on her face - it just unnerved me.

Are you really going to do this? Glancing down at the vampire, her eyes brightened up upon that prospect. Of course she's game for it. Reimu continued to stand at the doorway for another moment, before she came inside proper with that steel gaze set right on her soon-to-be opponent. You girls are really gonna do this. I could feel myself clench my jaw in auto-response.

"Hey, another Remilia and Reimu fight, ze?" Grinning, Marisa was backing away from the two of them, giving them space. Everyone else was doing as such, minus the grin. "I got no problem with that."

Yuyuko crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow as she and her group went to the wall. "So this is why you asked us to join you."

"We should have dominated." Yukari placed her hand on Yuyuko's shoulder. "Like I said, I made a mistake underestimating Miss Scarlet. I'm sorry about this. I'll make it up to you later though."

Soon, the lobby's center was only left with me, Reimu, and Remilia; everyone else was standing along the walls. The two set to fight had locked eyes, and weren't breaking contact.

"Kyon, could you be a dear and run along?" Remilia had taken out her finger-less scarlet glove, the one for wielding her spear. "It's about to get messy."

"Oh I agree," said Reimu. "Make sure Sakuya's ready with a mop so she can have something to pick up her master with."

You're talking like you're gonna murder each other! I felt like I had to do something. "Girls-"

"Kyon." Both spoke, sternly. "Leave."

I let out a sigh, as I began to back away from them. I was really torn here. I know I said I owed Reimu, but I also owed Remilia. I didn't know who I should cheer for, if either at all.

You see, the truth is, part of me wanted to see this. I've only heard of Remilia versus Reimu fights, and... I don't know. On one hand, they're my friends, and one shouldn't be hoping for their friends to get into fights with each other! On the other, I really did look forward to seeing it. But who was the underdog here? Reimu, by all intents and purposes, is human. Which is debatable at times, especially due to what I recently saw of her. On the other hand, Remilia is a flashy, powerful vampire who commanded unending respect and loyalty from people like Meiling and Sakuya - she had them as servants. I've also witnessed how ruthless Remilia can be, and how quick she is. Yet I've seen both get taken down. They aren't invincible.

Also, yes, Remilia has never beaten Reimu. During official incidents, Remilia had a zero and two record against the miko - the Scarlet Mist, and the Mesmeric Mist. I don't know if they sparred with each other during non-incidental times, but that's Remilia's record. And she was enough of a brat to hold that against the miko.

Don't do something stupid like killing each other.

Like any other sport, or physical game, yes, accidents happen. According to Emiri's reports, some deaths have occurred due to danmaku, but they were accidental. I guess the major thing would be knocking someone out over a body of water, like what happened with...

Oh. Seija would have drowned. She would have been an accidental death statistic. I didn't know if I should take comfort in preventing that or not. Though... no, she wouldn't have. Wakasagihime would have fished her out, for the lack of a better term, and just turned her in alive. The mermaid didn't seem like someone who would kill another person.

Well, speaking of preventing, we got Sakuya here. She'll be there to prevent anything bad happening to her master. And I don't think Yukari would needlessly risk Hakurei either. The only true danger to this fight was the weather, actually. "Hey, you two? Keep it inside. Reimu's weather is the Sun." I saw Remilia nod in response to that, still locking eye with the miko. When everyone was away, Patchouli cast a barrier circling the area. Oh cool. Now we can't get hit by stray shots. Though I did see a wash of confusion on her face when she did it for some reason. I didn't give it much thought as I looked over to Sakuya. "Seriously, be ready just in case they go outside." She gave a quick nod.

Koizumi moved near me. "To tell the truth, I'm very interested in seeing this," he said as he crossed his arms and with his usual smile.

"You and me both." Of course I had to admit it.

"I've always wondered how Reimu handles herself against far stronger opponents. I can appreciate that kind of ability."

"Considering you take on towering celestials?" I tilted my head, thinking about that. "Yeah, I guess you can." Those things were all about power, and the espers could just cut them down piece by piece.

Anyways, back to what was about to begin. The two began to circle each other in the massive lobby. "I have been waiting for this for years, Hakurei."

"You wanting to lose to me again, vampire?"

Oh their banter is here!

"I don't think you've noticed, but I just wiped the floor with Yakumo, Saigyouji, Konpaku, Ibuki, Udongein, and my servants. All in one day." Remilia grinned, spreading out her arms. "And I didn't even break a sweat yet. I'm unstoppable right now, Hakurei. I've taken down everybody that has come here. I've come a long way since our last fight during an incident. I'm far more powerful and skilled." She flicked her hair, a confident smile on her face. "Who did you take on today?"

"Marisa. Mima. And the slackmeister." Reimu casually pointed to our shinigami companion.

Komachi slightly waved her hand, as if she was finally noticed by everyone else. "'Sup."

Remilia stopped her walk, her eyebrow raising. "The shinigami, huh? By yourself?"

"Yep."

The vampire eyed her head maid. "According to Sakuya, it took all of you to take the shinigami down three years ago."

Reimu grinned. "Exactly. I've gotten better too."

Remilia grinned as well, returning her attention to her soon-to-be opponent. "Oh, this excites me so much, Hakurei. I wouldn't expect anything less. You and I in battle again."

"What, you want to make it 0 and 3? I'll happily oblige."

Remilia shook her finger. "Ever since you've beaten me, my pride has kept me up during the days. I've lost sleep over it. Obsessed over it. And all of that, all of it, and I could have let it break me. But no. I've made myself better, you hear me?" She spread her arms. "It's gotten to me, but I've made myself better. I haven't let it define me. And you see it before you." She pointed to the others. "Look at what I've accomplished!"

Remilia really is old school. She's a warrior. All of these girls are. Everyone there had real fighting experience. I mean I've gotten into some fistfights myself in school yards at times. I'm not afraid to throw a punch at another guy. But what was I doing there among that crowd? I bet even some of the maids have gotten into real fights for survival. But Yukari, Mokou, Reisen, Reimu, and everyone else... I don't think I could ever measure up. Do I even want to? Well, it was one of my dreams, to be able to do something like this, to be like these girls. Saving the world with powers that I had somehow unlocked. That something was special about me. At the most, I had been given my healing abilities, and also given these two dolls.

...I shouldn't sell myself short. I have to stop doing that. I had stood up to Yuyuko and walked away. I had torn into Suou and walked away. I had finished off Seija after she threatened my family and walked away.

No. I belong here among them. I do.

"You're really unlucky, vampire."

"Oh?"

"My shrine was destroyed, after all." Reimu stopped, her fist tightening around her gohei. "In an earthquake. What, oh, what," Her voice had an edge as her eyes drilled holes at Remilia. "Am I going to do with my frustration of having no place to live?!"

Okay, Remilia just might be the underdog here. I could see it in Reimu's eyes - she had bottled up all that emotion of losing her home and was ready to unleash it. You might want to save some of that for the actual culprit, however.

The tension in the room was palpable. Nobody but them was speaking, and I could see that everyone was tense, ready to witness this fight.

"Isn't that simple?" Remilia flicked her hair, undeterred by Reimus actions. "We warriors do what warriors do." Remilia motioned for Reimu to come at her. "Have another glorious battle with me, Hakurei."

Reimu got into an attack position. "I was gonna do that even if it wasn't suggested!" She tossed out a number of amulets and needles, to which Remilia responded with bat-danmaku and kunai knife danmaku. Colored red, of course.

[SPELL CARD: TREASURE SIGN "DANCING YIN-YANG ORBS"]

Reimu whipped out the bouncing orbs as she charged right for the vampire. Thankfully, Patchouli's barrier held, containing the attacks.

[SPELL CARD: CRITICAL "HEART BREAK"]

This was a quicker version of her Spear the Gungnir, as Remilia threw a small danmaku spear, charging right for her opponent as well. In midair, the regular danmaku attacks hit each other dead on, dissipating. The spear that Remilia threw was eaten up by the orbs, and before she could reach the others, she launched back, clinging onto the barrier itself. Then in a flash of red light, the vampire dove right at Reimu. There was some sort of power surrounding Remilia during the dive, kind of like how Koizumi used his body to slam into celestials. That's what this dive was.

Reimu leapt back, amulets in hand already, and she had a barrage waiting for the vampire. Remilia met each amulet with a slash attack, giving the miko enough time to move out of the way of the dive, and she moved fast. Both moved fast. Remilia was a blur, hopping all around the place, trying not to stay in one location for too long. Otherwise Reimu's homing amulets would be brought out. Reimu was responding in kind with surprising speed of her own, though not to the extent of the vampire.

What was even more surprising was that I could keep up with Remilia's movements. I didn't lose track of her, and I've lost her movements before when I've seen her speed years ago. Who would have thought that tennis with Haruhi would have paid off like this.

Reimu was keeping her eyes on Remilia the entire time, only briefly averting them to watch for the danmaku that the vampire peppered around as she was moving, using her gohei to knock them away, as with any melee attack. Remilia seemed like she liked to do that cling dive thing, trying to slam her body into her opponent.

"Interesting." That was Patchouli, as she was rubbing her chin and had a serious look on her face. "Hakurei is much faster than she's supposed to be."

I was about to ask her what she meant by that, but then an idea popped into my head. I looked outside - the Sun was out, and the fog was gone. So that's the Sun's effect in this incident? You're able to move quicker in a battle? Another thought struck me. So that means that even Remilia is moving faster, which means I can track someone beyond a normal Remilia. Okay, that was actually impressive on my part.

"Anything else?" I asked Patchouli.

"There is something, but I can't place it." She looked to Yukari. "You seem to know what the weather effects are, so..."

"No, this isn't right, but I can see what it's doing to her." Yukari frowned. "You see, the Sun was originally supposed to just make movement easier, even after being hit. Better to escape bad situations. Yet she has more."

So something has changed from the expected timeline then?

"This? Increased mobility is there, yes." Yukari had called a portal to cup her in a seated position, and she was enjoying tea that she had picked up from somewhere. I didn't see where she got it from. "And also general barriers have no cost of magical power during the sunshine effect." She took a sip. "Reimu can play defense all day under this. But this isn't the original effect of the Sun." Yukari's eyes narrowed as she watched the fight. "I don't understand this. Her weather alone seems to be the only one that differs from what it was supposed to be. The timeline has indeed changed."

Patchouli blinked, her eyes wide. "So that's why making this barrier didn't cost me anything."

Interesting. Not only is she speedier, but she has an added bonus. She must have gotten some sort of lucky roll in this timeline alteration. Though this does make me worry - something or someone caused a change. Even the smallest change can mean that something bigger has changed. If only I really knew what the rules of time travel were at that point = it seemed to be going against everything I was told about it. I wonder if Asahina tried to console me over her explanation of time travel on that bench. I mean, probably yeah. She said that even if someone went back in time, they couldn't change anything, yet I had her go back to prevent something from happening. I've even closed my own loops that I've created with her help. So even though I had more time travel experience than anybody on the streets, I still was not sure how it really worked, especially with Seija's abuse of it.

Back to the fight at hand, and the effect. Even at its original state, the sunny weather sounded like a very useful weather to have. However, our talk appeared to be picked up by the vampire, as she had slowed down and looked our way. She grumbled something as she resumed her attack on Reimu. The miko on the other hand, had comfortably settled into a defensive game. She must have figured it out, as she was liberally tossing around barriers to deflect attacks. Yeah that's fine and all, but you gotta keep your eye on the weather outside. Because when it changes, you'll tire yourself out. The door was left open, I think for that purpose, so we can see what was in effect. Speaking of...

"So what does the fog do?"

"The fog has a vampiric effect. A successful attack grants the attacker stamina." Yukari gave a small but unsatisfied smile. "It was how Miss Scarlet was able to last that gauntlet."

That explains that, and it's really fitting. Remilia able to take away the 'life' of her opponent like that. That could be a problem, especially in a close fight. It would turn it totally around.

I heard the vampire groan in frustration over Reimu's game plan of playing defense. Some sort of glowing chain formed around Remilia's left arm, and she began to swing it around, trying to catch the miko in one of the whips. One swing got close enough, and it wrapped around Reimu's gohei. Remilia pulled on the chain, easily snatching it out of Reimu's hand, flinging it elsewhere. She disarmed her!

[SPELL CARD: MIDNIGHT SIGN "DEMON KING CRADLE"]

Remilia launched into the air, a spiral danmaku swirl in front of her as big as a truck, aimed right at the gohei-less miko. It was some sort of danmaku drill attack - it looked exactly like a drill.

Reimu's body stiffened, crossing her arms across her chest -

And she teleported, catching the gohei before it hit the ground.

She can teleport?! When could Reimu do that?! Or is it that she moves too fast that it only seems like she teleports? Seriously though, when did you learn how to teleport? Did you spend too much time with Yukari? Well, whatever it was, it was just a very short teleport. She couldn't do long range.

Yet another reason why Seija would have a problem with Reimu.

Several of the people there exclaimed something, most of which I can't repeat, so I guess that they didn't know Reimu could teleport either.

[SPELL CARD: JEWEL SIGN "CONCEALED ORBS OF LIGHT"]

With the space to do it, and not immediately in the line of fire from the vampire, Reimu used this card. More of the bouncing yin yang orbs, and they rained down on Remilia, who had to swerve out of the way to not be hit. She veered to Reimu's left, landed on the 'barrier', and did a spiral attack from there, trying to 'drill' into Reimu again with another spiral attack. The miko's body tensed, as she bent her left knee-

She's going for an Ascension Kick!

She did as such, but it looked like Remilia blocked it with Gungnir - the impact still lifted Remilia into the air, however.

[SPELL CARD: SCARLET SIGN "RED THE NIGHTLESS CASTLE"]

The red cross attack that the vampire used against Kaguya years ago, though this appeared to be a weaker variant. It charged around her chest, and the four beams extended from the vampire as she was right above Reimu, and -

[SPELL CARD: DREAM SIGN "DEMON BINDING ARRAY"]

Reimu slammed an amulet on the ground, and she emitted a white light pillar of her own. The two lights clashed at each other, like another beam struggle. I could see the both of them tense their bodies, as they tried to overtake the other's card with their power. Looking outside, I could see that the fog had replaced the Sun. Reimu couldn't liberally use a barrier for now. It was time for attacking.

"See, this is what I was talking about! This feeling I get when fighting you!"

"It's called fear, Remilia. Embrace it!"

The vampire grinned wildly. "Oh I love our fights."

Ending the spell card, Remilia hopped in front of the miko, cocking back her fist, and a red energy formed. Upon seeing this, Reimu ended hers as well and again used the gohei to block the next attack - a slash attack that reached further than Remilia's childish arms should have had any right to.

One would think that a weak and thin looking wooden ceremonial stick could be easily broken by Remilia. I guessed that wasn't the case for such a holy item, especially in Gensokyo. Still, Reimu was more cautious this time, not relying on barriers. She was straining to keep out of the way of Remilia's swipes and danmaku. Remilia held back her fist, and a red aura surrounded it. She was obviously charging this up. Reimu leapt backwards as a three meter swipe extended from the vampire. The reach Remilia has is astonishing! Again, her small size was very deceiving.

The weird thing is that Remilia didn't follow up - she too leapt back. She whistled, and shouted. "Patchi!"

Patchouli nodded, and waved her hand - an opening in the barrier formed, and I didn't know what was going on, until three fairy maids moved in. It thought Remilia was going to try to outnumber Reimu, but surely she could have gotten Meiling, or Sakuya, or better yet her own sister to join in, right?

Mokou clicked her tongue, an angry look forming on her face. "Not again..."

I didn't understand it, until my eyes went back to the fog as my blood ran cold for some reason. I realized what she was doing. Oh, Remilia, you cheap...

Remilia dove right right at her own maids, and sent them flying back out after slamming into them. The hole closed up, and Remilia let out a satisfied sigh. You recharged yourself. That's how you've lasted this gauntlet. You're taking the stamina from your own maids. What was even scarier was how quick those maids were to get in there and offer their stamina to their master. And they didn't even have to call for it - which had to mean she was doing this all day once she figured it out. I hope you don't expect me to offer my stamina. Because I'm not going in there.

Recharged, Remilia was back to leaping around, trying to find an opening, and avoiding the amulets that Reimu was tossing around on occasion. Save for the opening attack, Reimu was on the defensive for most of the match. Still, that wasn't a bad thing. Like a boxer who specialized in counter-punching, Reimu was looking for an opening to counter. She wasn't worried, she wasn't in a rush, especially since the Sun came out again, swinging the match to her current fighting style. Despite the fast movements of her opponent, there was a calmness in Reimu's eyes, yes, but also that steel gaze.

Remilia has to keep this up, and has to be perfect. If she shows any opening at all, Reimu is going to take full advantage of it and unleash everything she has to end the fight.

[SPELL CARD: DIVINE SPEAR "SPEAR THE GUNGNIR"]

The air around Remilia began to crackle with energy, and the danmaku spear began to form above her. Remilia twisted in the air, grabbing it, and using her momentum threw it with all her might.

[SPELL CARD: SPIRIT SIGN "FANTASY ORB"]

This was a streamlined and quicker Fantasy Seal. It was more direct than homing. The colorful balls formed, and directly charged right at the vampire. Upon seeing what Remilia was doing, Reimu used this and aimed right for the spear, intercepting it. The two attacks cancelled each other out, though it took all of the orbs to take out the spear.

She's on the defensive. She's looking for that opening. She's-

I could see the impatience in Remilia's eyes. Reimu was just taking everything that the vampire was throwing at her, and not only that, but the miko had deflected Remilia's signature weapon.

"Stand and fight, Hakurei!" Remilia's left eye twitched.

"I am fighting." Reimu coldly said. "Your attacks just aren't getting through."

I'd question this tactic, but I knew that Remilia got more bratty and reckless the angrier she got. That's a double-edged sword though. Sure, she'll make more mistakes, but she'll get closer to full power.

Obviously, Remilia started to get angry. She began to move even faster, and it seemed like she was getting a little more sloppy with her attacks. She simply went to spread shots, along with her attempted dives. The vampire was still fast due to the Sun's effect, but so was Reimu.

"Lady Scarlet has been fighting all day," commented Youmu, a serious look on her face. "I don't care who you are, even with that stamina absorption, it's going to take a lot out of you."

I smiled. "Even someone like you wasn't able to last against Sakuya on that staircase."

She gave a nod. "Exactly. And that was simply a prolonged fight against one foe. Lady Scarlet has fought at least eight opponents today, one after the other."

Youmu was right. Despite the stamina boost she had given herself, Remilia was beginning to look more and more winded as time passed on. She kept increasing the spread shot density, trying to go even faster, only to keep meeting the barriers of Reimu, or miss due to the teleportation. The frustration just kept building, too. Remilia's eyes glowed red, and she was baring her fangs as she kept up her assault.

"God dammit, you aren't unbeatable, Hakurei!" Remilia screamed at Reimu as she teleported away from another dive. "I've seen you lose to that Lunarian!"

"I am unbeatable. When it comes to you."

Stop antagonizing her!

Remilia leapt back again, clinging to the wall.

"Milady," shouted Sakuya, "Calm yourself!"

The vampire blinked, and quickly shook her head, getting rid of some of that anger. She let out a deep breath, and dropped to the floor. The two stared at each other, with Remilia being upset that she couldn't take down Reimu by that point. The vampire's shoulders were quickly moving up and down as she struggled to catch her breath, sweat pouring down her face.

I noticed another number of maids getting ready to enter the barrier. The fog is back?! But the second they did, Reimu spun around and took aim before Remilia could. The maids were easily knocked down by the homing amulets. Remilia tried to use that opportunity to attack Reimu, but another teleport avoided that.

You need to mix it up, Remilia. Reimu isn't going to let you use the maids again to recharge yourself.

Remilia whipped out the chain again, this time with a spearhead at the end. It launched right at the miko, and at the last second, went to the ground, sticking there. This gave pause to Reimu, who expected it to try for the gohei again or something. But then Remilia pulled on the chain, and was launched right at Reimu. Think of this particular attack as a hookshot from Legend of Zelda.

[SPELL CARD: TREASURE SIGN "YING-YANG ORB"]

Reimu extended her arm, and a ying yang orb shot out, obviously. It was ablaze, and bigger than her - bigger than me, even. It only stayed right in front of her, but it was effective for someone in proximity. It startled Remilia, who used Gungnir to block it before she reached the end of the chain. The two weapons grinded against each other, sparks flying off both items.

Such a holy item was too much for Remilia. Reimu pushed forward, and it knocked back the vampire, who stumbled a few steps. Using that time, Reimu quickly cancelled that card, and brought out-

[SPELL CARD: SPIRIT SIGN "FANTASY SEAL ~ CONCENTRATE"]

Reimu is whipping this one out early? Quickly regaining her footing, the vampire leapt and bounded around the lobby, trying to make Reimu's signature homing attack miss. The first few harmlessly hit the ground before they could pull up and correct for the vampires movements, but the rest followed. Remilia was on the run, doing laps around the lobby, with the orbs following right behind her. Reimu charged up a few homing amulets, and tossed them at Remilia for good measure, as well as her direct needle attacks. So, basically, Remilia had to contend with two homings, and the direct danmaku.

Remilia, what are you doing? You can't just keep running. You're obviously running out of gas; Reimu's gonna back you into a corner and finish you off if you don't do something. Remilia going on the defensive didn't seem like her, and she didn't look comfortable in this position. No, you really are the kind of person who is offensive minded. Being on defense doesn't suit you.

[SPELL CARD: DRAGON "REMILIA STRETCH"]

Remilia again cocked back her fist, and red energy began to gather in it. Upon the apex of that energy, she whipped around, and used that punch to absorb the last remaining homing shots. She also lept forward was well, to avoid the incoming needles, as the miko gave chase, readying more homing amulets.

[SPELL CARD: MIDNIGHT SIGN "BAD LADY SCRAMBLE"]

Remilia jumped to the barrier, clinging to it, and like the Demon King, did another spiral attack to her target. The whole process took one second, as this was a faster Demon King. Reimu skid to a halt, holding out her hand - a barrier formed. She had committed too much to the chase, and couldn't dodge this. She had to try to survive it. Looking outside, I saw the fog was still up - Reimu would have to rely on her own power for this barrier.

The symbol of the barrier easily went down, but it gave the miko the chance to at least move out of the way, but not before her leg got caught. Reimu cried out, leaping away, and quickly fell to a knee. She began rubbing her leg to negate the numbness and get the feeling back into it. Remilia's momentum carried her to the other side of the lobby, and when she stopped, she went right for Reimu, as she smelled the proverbial blood in the water. Reimu's mobility would be limited for a bit with a numbed leg.

Remilia, this is your chance. If you don't finish this now, Reimu is just gonna wear you down.

[SPELL CARD: HOLY RELIC "YIN-YANG SANCTIFIER ORB"]

This was a much bigger version of the Ying Yang Orb. It took up nearly her half of the lobby, and it gave Reimu a few seconds to recover, as Remilia stopped, not wanting to run into it. Smart, Reimu. You gave yourself space for a breather. I could see Reimu continue to rub her leg, still trying to wake it up. The orb then slowly moved forward along the ground, but it had to be enough - she stood up, and got ready to move again.

Remilia jumped back to the barrier, again clinging to it, ready to launch at the miko the second the orb allowed her to get a shot in.

[SPELL CARD: SCARLET DEVIL "SCARLET DEVIL"]

This was the supercharged version of the cross that the vampire used at Eientei - the beam much thicker. Again, the light formed on Remilia, and she unleashed it. She tried to catch Reimu in it, hoping the miko wasn't mobile enough to avoid it. But she was. Instead of attempting another beam struggle, Reimu waited outside of the light's area of effect. Remilia gritted her teeth when she saw this - she couldn't move, and she gave Reimu a chance to recover and set up her own attack.

This might end soon. How much do you have left in you, Remilia?

[SPELL CARD: DIVINE SPIRIT "FANTASY SEAL"]

This was an upgraded Fantasy Seal - the danmaku orbs were twice as big. Slower moving than the Fantasy Orb, but man, when they impacted, I could feel the building shake. When Remilia's spell card ended, Reimu used this, trying to catch the vampire. Remilia landed on the ground, and that's when the orbs impacted. The vampire was still breathing heavily, and leapt back to the barrier.

[SPELL CARD: MIDNIGHT KING "DRACULA CRADLE"]

The energy around Remilia surged, crackling like a live electrical wire, and began covering her body. This was a supercharged Demon King, as she dove right at the miko, and tore right through the orbs in her drill.

You guys are just spamming cards by this point!

[SPELL CARD: DIVINE ARTS "WIND GOD KICK"]

Speaking of spamming spell cards, Reimu used this one.

Is this ever gonna end? You two are just insane!

Ever play Street Fighter? You know those kicks the guy with the blonde flattop does? His name is Guile, by the way. Anyway, Reimu launched into several flash kicks that ended with a midair Ascension Kick. Flash kicks being backflip kicks, essentially, and when she did such a kick, there was a swirl of danmaku that followed the kick and absorbed some of the spiral. It broke through the energy of the Dracula Cradle and caught Remilia. She got kicked twice by those flash kicks, before the Ascension Kick landed right on the chin of the vampire. Remilia was just launched into the air, and went through the ceiling.

Holy crap! Reimu just kicked Remilia right through the damn roof! What power that spell card had! If I had kicks like that, soccer in high school would have never been a problem. This had to be it. I didn't expect Reimu to have the leg strength to punt someone through a building, but there you go. I saw Komachi's reaction to that. I guess she realized she got off light earlier.

Patchouli cancelled the barrier, and all of us ran to where the hole was - we could see the sky.

Reimu flew right after her. I had thought that the sunlight would be bad, but the fog was outside. And good thing, too, what with the usual vampire weakness.

On the trail of that thought... As we all left to the outside, I turned to the maid. "Sakuya!" Sakuya nodded, instantly understanding the situation. A Reimu win would potentially kill Remilia if she didn't have any shade for the changing of the weather. I wanted to get out there as well, as I needed to convince those two to take the fight back inside before the Sun comes out again. Or at least watch it.

Yukari portal jumped us up to the roof, and there they were, continuing their fight.

Remilia was bleeding from various places. Understandable, considering what she literally went through. How are you still standing? You've got to be running on empty by now, Remilia!

Remilia was clutching her spear, hunched over, struggling to breathe. "Is... is that all y-you got?"

I think your obsession with defeating Reimu is the only thing keeping you up.

"Remi, please," pleaded Patchouli. "That's enough." She gestured to Flandre, who was under an umbrella held by Koakuma, just in case. "Nobody here wants to see you get torn up like this!"

Flandre was wide eyed, and her lower lip was trembling at what her sister was going through. "Remi..."

Remilia's eyes went to her sister for a few seconds, before returning to Reimu. "...Flan... You know... you know I have to do this."

Flandre didn't answer her. I wouldn't put my sister through something like this. "Milady, enough." How can you let your sister watch this?

Ignoring us, Remilia continued, using her chained spear again, which Reimu blocked, but it attached to the gohei. Remilia rushed forward, as she detached the chain from the spear, trying to use the spear to get to the miko, but Reimu parried with the gohei. It seemed that Reimu was solely on the defensive here, until I saw her take out an amulet with her free hand, and charge that one.

Upon seeing that, the vampire upped her attack, trying harder, but I guess the kick took too much out of her - she wasn't as fast as before. Also, even if you heal with blood, Remilia, you said so yourself - you've been in multiple fights today. You've reached your limit.

Sad, really. Remilia wanted to take on Reimu, but she probably used up most of her energy already.

Wait a second. I glanced over to Yukari, wondering. Did you purposely tire out Remilia for this, so Reimu wouldn't lose? Because Remilia legitimately gets stronger. I know this, since she was able to last longer than you during the resistance. Along with Yoshika, and that blue haired girl. What was her name? I think Reimu said Tenshi? I'll have to ask about her later, but I have to make sure she's already known, otherwise I might be screwing with the timelines. The question remained, though. Did Yukari get everyone to make Remilia run a gauntlet so she'd be out of it by the time Reimu came?

It was possible. But if Yukari was pleased with how this was going, she wasn't showing it, other than her amused smile over the fight.

My thoughts went back to that blue-haired girl. Tenshi... So her name was literally 'angel?'

I noticed something else, bringing me out of my thoughts. The fog wasn't as heavy as it was before. It was slowly getting lighter.

Oh no! The Sun is coming out! Sure enough, the brighter it got, the slower and weaker Remilia was getting. This fight is going to end soon, and fatally, if Remilia doesn't get inside quickly!

"Both of you! Get inside now!" Come on, please listen to me! Of course, they wouldn't. Remilia was too stubborn, and Reimu wasn't about to let this fight go back inside when she was getting the upper hand due to a youkai's weakness.

The vampire swung her spear, which the miko met with her gohei's handle. The two struggled against each other - the weapons handle to handle.

"It's over, Remilia. The Sun's coming out. Yield now." Reimu had an annoyed look on her face. "I don't like having fatal outcomes in my danmaku fights."

Remilia was breathing even harder, her skin turning red and spots of whiteness were appearing on her skin. I didn't realize it then, but those spots were ash. Small patches of her skin were becoming ash. "Not a chance! I don't give up! You're gonna have to knock me out!"

"Milady!" I shouted. "It's not worth it! Go back inside!" You're gonna kill yourself over this!

Either she didn't hear me or she ignored me - I think it was the latter. She kept pushing, trying to overpower Reimu, but was fighting a losing battle. Reimu began pushing the vampire back, as Remilia struggled with all her might.

Reimu shoved away the spear, and with a quick motion, slapped the amulet on Remilia's forehead. The vampire's arms went limp, and she fell to the ground.

Remilia wasn't moving. Please tell me that's it. Let's get her inside quickly if that's it.

Reimu bent over, taking a moment to catch her breath from her exertion. Standing straight up, she walked to the vampire, looming over her, smirking. "That's 0 and 3 for you, vampi-"

Remilia lunged forward, grabbing Reimu by the ankle with one hand, and ripping off the amulet with the other.

You're still not done?!

Smiling a crazed smile at the miko, Remilia then spun around, flinging Reimu up to the clock tower. Reimu didn't get much of a chance to respond, though she did yell as she was thrown.

[SPELL CARD: DESTINY "MISERABLE FATE"]

A number of red chains appeared, whipping around. Remilia ran to the bottom of the tower, and began to direct the chains up to where Reimu was going to land - I think Remilia had expected the miko to stay up there, but...

Where do I even begin with what happened next?

Reimu landed feet first on the tower's wall, right above the clock face, sliding a bit up it. After pausing, I could see the anger on her face. After all, Remilia was stubbornly still trying to fight despite the Sun coming out, even after Reimu offered a way out of a fatal situation. Reimu then began running down the tower, right at Remilia, and avoiding the whipping chains and danmaku bats, knives, and shots.

What?!

Reimu was easily weaving right through the shots, and she kept to one side of the tower when she saw a whip coming up, but she continued her run down the tower, not stopping or slowing down in speed. Just faster and faster, using gravity and her own two legs to go right for the vampire.

One of the chains violently ripped into the tower where the miko was, kicking up a cloud of dust, but Reimu came right out of it with an amulet in hand and had begun to charge it - it was glowing.

This is gonna end right here one way or the other! There's no way it can go past this!

Upon seeing that, Remilia got desperate, as she had forgone the spell card when Reimu reached the halfway point, and just blasted danmaku. Spread shots, direct shots, homing. You'd think that with the target coming at you, it'd be easier to hit, but Reimu just kept moving in between the shots. Whenever it seemed like Remilia would corner the miko, she'd just teleport to the other side and continue her run. The tower began to shake as the danmaku hit it with such explosive force. That, and the whipping chains had left deep scars on it.

In a last ditch attempt, as Reimu was nearing, Remilia threw Gungnir. Not a fake one, but the real one. It went right for the miko, and again, an explosion of smoke, brick, and wood supports came out of the tower, which, by the way, I still don't know how it was still standing. I thought Remilia had pulled it off, but then Reimu appeared out of the smoke, and jumped from the tower, slamming the amulet right on Remilia's forehead. Reimu did it with such force that they crashed through the roof, down into the library.

How much force was that? How much gravitational force did Reimu take advantage of there? I'd never find out, and I didn't want to. What just happened was just... Okay, that was one of the most awesome things I've ever seen. I'll admit it right now. Already the trip to Gensokyo was totally worth it.

Also, the timing couldn't be more perfect. The Sun broke through the fog at that point. Any longer, and Remilia would have been history.

"Damn man, they gotta start charging tickets 'n stuff for these fights!" Mokou was as awestruck as the rest of us.

Part of me thought that the fight was over, but the fog didn't fully dissipate. Thanks to Yukari, we were a portal jump to the hallway outside of the library.

What we saw in the Library was Remilia on her knees amongst debris, and Reimu standing a few meters away, with a spell card out.

That spell card.

Oh no.

[SPELL CARD: FANTASY NATURE]

Nope! Nope nope nope nope! I grabbed who I could and led them back to the hallway.

It didn't even take long - I guess Reimu got in seven hits quickly enough, and once again, man.

That's very cruel of you, Reimu. Remilia was beaten pretty good already, and that was just overkill. Was she using her shrine's destruction as an excuse to go around beating down people to relieve her anger? Maybe. Does that make it right? No. Am I gonna be the one to call her out on it? No way, not after I've seen how she fights.

However... Remilia was on her knees when I saw her. Even after being slammed through a building, she was still getting up. Maybe Reimu really did have to use that to keep the vampire down.

Patchouli saw the amount of danmaku that poured out of the open library door, and nearly went ballistic. "What did you do in my library?!" She nearly ran into the barrage, as Koakuma had to hold her back. "What are you doing?!"

Soon, the card ended, and I tentatively peeked into the library.

It was a complete mess. Books scattered everywhere, tables upended, some of the bookcases had dominoed from the initial place where Reimu used her card. And a hell of a lot of danmaku scarring over everything. Remilia was already on the ground, and Reimu stumbled back, falling into a pile of books. She was breathing heavy, but she appeared satisfied.

"Zero and three. Zero and three, Scarlet."

We get it. You enjoy establishing your dominance. I eyed the damage to the library, part of me hoping I wouldn't be reined into fixing this up. I was, after all, 'employed' as a book reshelver here. The other part of me was feeling bad about the work Koakuma would have to do to clean up. I don't envy you.

"Kyon..." Patchouli tugged on my sleeve. She appeared like she didn't want to look. "How bad is it?"

I took a deep breath. "You might want to retire for the day. It's really bad."

She let out a small grunt of pure annoyance, I think accepting that there was nothing she could do at that point except get ready to put her library back together.

Again, I hope I don't get pulled into doing that. I should count my lucky stars that Haruhi never had me do something so drastic as putting a good portion of a library back together. I'd straight up quit the Brigade before doing that.

...Actually, no, I wouldn't.

That was awesome! Tenshi let out a satisfied sigh after the fight had ended, clapping her hands in her solitary applause of the finish. "Hakurei, you didn't disappoint." And reality was, it was for the best, as the vampire would have stood no chance against Tenshi. Not because of her skill... well, yeah, because of her skill, but that was beside the point. It was always sunny in the realm she was in - Heaven. Remilia would just die.

Hakurei just kept on building herself up more and more, showing how great she was. That defensive game she put up thanks to her weather was quite a sight to behold, though it easily frustrated the vampire.

I'm patient. I don't frustrate easy. I bore easy, but not frustrate. Speaking of being bored, she took another bite of a peach, already numb to the taste and texture long ago. Nothing grew in her particular realm but these peaches. There was no food other than these peaches. Couldn't we have been sent to a realm that has more food options? Like, even if it was just a vegetable, or fish, or anything else so she could have some other taste.

Just... peaches. And every way that peaches could be cooked, made, or served. When she ascended to this realm with her family, she actually loved the taste of peaches, but that quickly waned within the first year. And it had been so long since that year.

Peaches, parties, feasts of peaches, talking to the same people for centuries, and doing nothing but 'blissing' in Heaven. If she wasn't able to watch what went on with the mortals down there, she'd have gone mad long ago.

I need this. All I have for company are my family, the other nobles, and the celestial servants. I need to do this for my own sake. I can't take this any more.

She wanted to be part of an incident, wanted to be a part of something more than just her caged realm. She could leave if she wanted to, but she had decided against that. At least I had that contact with the others...

The ghost mistress of Hakugyokorou and the oni had come up there, and taken her on. She had gone really easy on them, and they defeated her - the oni asking for a home in that realm. Tenshi hadn't told her father yet about it, but she wanted something new. That oni would finally bring it some diversity. And her sake isn't bad. Then again, all I can reference it to is the peach sake. She shuddered thinking of how bad that can get.

Tenshi stared at the peach in her hand, a plot forming. She had already decided to go harder on them, to not go easy on the new group coming in... But if I do that, I might easily kill them. Unless...

There was a particular property about these peaches. It made the consumer tougher, stronger, faster, better. It could make a human a superhuman for a while, as long as it was ingested. Even just the juice was beneficial.

Tenshi stood up, playfully tossing the peach into the air and catching it a few times. Snapping it out of midair after a few tosses, she quickly bit into it, deciding something. Yes, Kyon was with them, and it might make their chances of success higher, but Tenshi wanted this to be really interesting. Maybe I was hasty in my earlier thoughts. This is actually a chance for me to be even stronger. If they're stronger as well, I can push myself further for them.

Part of her started to want them to really have a chance. After all, she had been watching them for years, so she became attached to the Brigade and Gensokyo, in a way. Investing her time with such people, she had came to care about them a bit.

However, the fact that Yukari said that this was supposed to happen, and that she had seen the events beforehand was troublesome. She expects me to lose, doesn't she? She must have seen this happen before. She was talking about the weather of Hakurei, after all. Tenshi didn't want to lose, and she had kept in mind Yukari's knowledge of the future. That sukima must be planning something, if she hasn't already. She already threw the oni and her friend at me, and I lost...

Tenshi crossed her arms, tilting her head as she thought over what needed to happen. Looks like they may all gang up on me. It won't help them, though she might tell them who I am, and how to defeat me. So many decisions to make. To go all out and do a complete wipe, contrary to her original plan of making it interesting, or to play along with Yukari and just be another one of her master plan victims. It was quite a difficult situation to think about, as she didn't know the extent of the knowledge that the demon had.

She sat down, thinking it over for several moments as she finished the peach, before standing up and nodding. She had decided what to do.

She whistled. In a matter of seconds, a number her servants arrived. "Yes, Lady Hinanai? What do you request of us?"

"I'm about to have some... guests. Please gather a large number of peaches for them, enough to fill a wicker basket." The servants appeared to balk over this, and Tenshi quickly spoke. "And don't tell my father about it. I'll tell him. Later. But please gather the peaches."

The servants quickly bowed, before taking off for the groves. Tenshi yawned, and stretched. She reminded herself that she'd have to stretch out before the fight, as she'd been sitting down all day watching them. "All right, Gensokyo. Be grateful, all of you, because I'll make you superhuman. I don't want you instantly dying on me when I hit you."

I had offered to heal, but they said to save it. For crashing through a roof, Reimu was surprisingly fine - though she did kinda use Remilia's body to do the crashing and cushioning.

Thankfully the maids were busy repairing the library, setting things right, with Koakuma and Patchouli directing where everything was to be put back. Remilia was all right after a pint of blood in a bottle, and had invited us to a quick dinner. Apparently it was Spanish day. We were served an appetizer of albondigas, which is Spanish for meatballs, and... I hope I'm saying this right - Tosta de boquerones. Which is anchovy toast, served in a aioli sauce with pickled onions. Sounds simple, but I liked it. Also, the aioli sauce is supposed to be garlic, but again, vampire home, so no garlic at all. Heck, the sauce's name means 'garlic and oil.' There was also Chicken Croquetas, which is chicken with mashed potatoes that are breaded and fried.

Sakuya, I've missed your cooking so much.

Funny thing is? When we entered the dining room (new and improved, by the way), I paused at the door, and coughed into my hand.

It fell off the hinges.

Some things never change.

Remilia frowned at it. "Are you kidding me? That hasn't happened for four years!"

I guess it just happens when I'm around. The running gag lives!

I didn't know why Reisen was all the way over there at the SDM, until she said she was on a 'good faith' mission from her princess to establish better relations. Apparently people were still sore over that 'Lunar invasion.' She had gotten Mokou to help out, and made their way to the SDM, where they were dropped by the vampire.

Pertaining to the incident at hand, we did find out that Patchouli had been noting the weather and its effects, but we didn't really put much together until we got to talk to the ghosts. Youmu and Yuyuko both noticed that this weather required spiritual power - Komachi didn't say anything because she wasn't a hundred percent sure herself until talking to them.

"So it is spiritual energy." Komachi crossed her arms, looking a bit upset - I think with herself. "I should have seen that the instant I got that weather. I wonder if someone took the time to mask it from me."

"We think that was possible, Miss Onozuka." Youmu shrugged. "We ourselves weren't sure, until Yukari came along and helped us see it. Someone took great pains to keep beings like us from seeing it."

Komachi's eyes went to Yukari, expecting an answer. "I've said it before, Miss Onozuka. This incident has diverted. I had to manually make things happen."

This is so delicate. The timelines have been pretty screwy lately, but you still got to treat things like that with kid gloves. Like, imagine if that idiot driver actually succeeded in killing the inventor of time travel. What would happen? Would we paradox? Would time travel cease, and would have Mikuru just 'faded' out of existence as she wouldn't have been able to be there? I don't know - just that all these events are not concrete anymore with the introduction of time travel, or us. From what I understood, it seemed that the Gensokyo incidents didn't get this messed up without me, or the Brigade influencing. I was brought in today, on the day that this incident was held back to. This was no coincidence. This had to be fate, or some other plan.

Anyways, while eating: "So, you have a place... where?" I asked, still wanting to know what Suika meant, before I bit into another bite of anchovy toast. I know it sounds disgusting, but I was really digging it. I had to get my mind off of that serious stuff. It was depressing when I would realize how precarious my existence was.

Mortality, am I right?

Suika shrugged, slyly smirking as she poured some sake for Yukari. "Ah, Yukari asked me not to tell you where it is."

Yuyuko giggled in between the meatballs. "It's kind of a surprise for you all. Yukari wants you to experience what's coming on your own."

"I'd totally tell you, as we oni don't lie, but I did make a promise to her not to spoil it." Suika winked. "Seriously, you're gonna love it."

Okay, I'm intrigued. My eyes went to the demon, who was taking the time to enjoy her meal.

"This was supposed to happen." She put down her tea cup. "Yuyuko and Suika have already fought with the one behind it all - as was supposed to originally happen. But it's been held off for two months, so I had to force it for them, directly point them to the perpetrator."

Suika leaned back, drinking from her gourd. "Yeah, it was a tough but satisfying fight, and I managed to get myself a nice new place. That's why I haven't been around much. I've been moving my stuff in."

Reimu paused in between her usual fast eating. "You don't have any stuff."

"I have some stuff."

The miko frowned. "My stuff." Her eyes widened. "...Some of my stuff has gone missing. You haven't been taking them, have you?"

Suika's smile dropped. "...No..." She looked to Marisa.

The witch held up her hands. "Hey, ain't me, ze. I've been at my house for like two weeks straight, mostly waiting for the rain to end."

I didn't want to go down this route, as it may have ended with Reimu attacking Suika, so I spoke. "Yuyuko, what are we in for?"

"This opponent is particularly tough, and isn't what you expect. She's not a youkai."

Not a youkai? So what is it?

Youmu rubbed her chin, deep in thought. "One would think that a youkai would be the perpetrator to take down the shrine. Or some sort of evil spirit or demon." She appeared to have thought of something. "Hey, it wouldn't be that thing sealed up at the shrine, would it?"

Reimu shook her head. "Nah. But she did break out and I beat her down. It's not her."

You beat her when you were already unconscious, but yeah, you took her down.

"Miss Yukari, if you will, please?" Koizumi had dropped his smile, and he looked a bit annoyed. "We didn't expect to be in Gensokyo today, so I'd like to know what we are up against."

"Patience, my esper. I'd like for you to be surprised. All of you. But just know - this is going to be a tough fight. One of the toughest you've come across." She looked to Reimu especially. "Trust me on this one. The surprise will be worth it for all of you. I promise. In your wildest dreams, you wouldn't have expected this." Yukari let out a quick sigh, crossing her arms. "That being said, due to the nature of this, I ask that most of us go resolve this incident. I do not like the fact that things have changed, because the last few times that happened, Gensokyo needed you all to band together to even have a chance. And against this perpetrator?" She shook her head. "No. We have to join forces."

"So what are we fighting, if not a youkai?"

Yukari looked right at Koizumi, with a huge grin. "In due time. But I think you especially will appreciate it."

I'm getting tired of your games, Yukari. I was about to say more, but then I noticed something weird about one of the windows - it was frosted over, like how a window gets during the winter. I got up, and looked through it, not finding who it could only be. I opened the window, and stuck my head outside - both Shanghai and Hourai went out there, to see what had my interest. She's not out here, but I can definitely feel the chill of the air despite it being summer.

"What is it?"

I pointed at the frost for Sakuya. "I think the ice fairy was here." I then turned my attention to Yukari. "Is Cirno supposed to be a part of this?"

Yukari had gotten up, and joined us. "No." She shook her head, her brow furrowing. "No, she isn't. But if she's here, then..." She sighed, bringing her palm to her forehead. "We need to end this quick. The timeline has drastically changed." Looking to the others, she put her hands on her hips. "Take it to go. I'd like to get this over with as fast as possible."

You're not the only one. I was getting a feeling of dread in my stomach, and I don't think it was the food. Even if it was a little more spicy than I thought it would be.

So that's it. Weather, huh? And at the Youkai Mountain?

Cirno had snuck onto the grounds after noticing everyone there, and had watched the fight from afar. That run down the clock tower was awesome, but she didn't know who won until they got to the dining room, and she put her ear to the window. She was already off when they started talking about boring stuff like the oni's new place to live. Nobody cared about boring things like that!

Someone is changing the weather, eh? And whoever beats the others gets their weather dominant? Cirno smirked. It was barely noticeable, but she had her own weather too, bringing light flurries. So Eye'm part of this then! She puffed out her chest, feeling confident. Then Eye can go and make flurries domen... dominen... She paused in the air, scratching her head. Dom-in-ant? Yeah, dominant. Dominant all over Gensokyo. She continued on her way, to the biggest swirl of scarlet clouds in the sky, right over Youkai Mountain.

In a flash of lightning, up in the clouds, there was a shadow of a person that could be clearly seen. The fairy paused, feeling a little intimidated by the lightning. No, I'm not scared. She shook her head quickly. Eye can do this. Eye can do anything. After the Great Fairy War, Cirno had felt invincible, especially after her finally being able to take down the witch. It took her five years since she first fought her, and finally Cirno picked up the win. The fairy clenched her fists, trying to hype herself up for taking on whatever was in the clouds. Whoever is in there has got to be the one doing this, right? Just watch. Eye'll prove to everyone in Gensokyo that Eye'm the strongest!

Suika leaned back in the dining room chair, letting out a sigh of contentment, yet annoyance. She was happy with the usual quality of the food of the SDM, yet...

She looked to the other person seated at the table. Yuyuko.

Everyone had already left. Remilia had gone elsewhere, to direct reconstruction on the damaged mansion. Really, if I were her, I'd leave it for a bit. Let the scars of such a wonderful battle last a while. Suika smirked, assured that she had chosen to follow Reimu. The miko had proven to be so skilled, with a hint of a very powerful energy inside her. Watching the miko take on the vampire actually made Suika proud.

"Oh? What are you smiling about?"

Suika dropped the smile, turning her attention to Yuyuko again, who had taken time to stop stuffing her face to actually do something other than eat at a dinner table. "Nothing you need to be concerned about."

Yuyuko merely nodded, before she got up, and moved closer to Suika. Sitting down next to the oni, the ghost gave one of her carefree smiles. Suika considered getting up and moving herself.

"I don't understand something, Miss Ibuki."

"Hmm?"

Yuyuko had paused, and had placed two cups in front of them, looking at Suika as if she was expecting something. Suika grimaced a bit, before she complied. Okay, you want me to look like the rude one here, so I won't be. She poured a cup of sake for the ghost, and put the gourd on the table. Yuyuko then poured for Suika, and the two toasted, before drinking.

"Ah, your sake has such a unique flavor," Yuyuko said, lightly licking her lips. "Not the best I've had - that would have been the Lunarian sake, but still quite enjoyable."

Suika grumbled. "I'm sorry my sake isn't up to your standa-"

Yuyuko put her cup down, her smile dropping as she stared right at the oni. "Miss Suika, I do not understand the hostilities. We've known each other for four years, and while we do not have much in common, besides..." She looked to the dinner still on the table. "...Besides an appreciation for fine food and alcohol, you have repeatedly been rude to me."

Suika downed her cup before placing it down, and crossed her arms. "Okay. Finally. You want to talk?"

"I'd very much like to." Yuyuko clasped her hands together with a joyful smile. "Another thing we have in common is our friendship with Yukari, and I was hoping that-"

"That what, we could be friends too?"

Yuyuko seemed to be taken aback by Suika's tartness. "I do not understand your problem with me."

Suika tilted her head. "It's because of your friendship with Yukari."

Yuyuko blinked. "Oh?"

Suika narrowed her eyes. "Yukari was so much more fun when she was younger, you know. The two of us tore up Japan, in a gluttony of drinking, fighting, and domination." Suika leaned back in her chair again, propping her legs on the table. "Sure, she went ballistic on the humans after what happened to her, and then you came along."

Yuyuko slowly nodded, understanding it. "Ah."

Suika pointed a finger at the ghost. "When she met you, and you did nearly kill her, by the way, she came out of that changed. She wasn't the same."

"I remember that. I also remember meeting Ran back then when she was still just a fox, but I wish I could have met you." Yuyuko smiled. "Maybe I could have changed your opinion of me."

Suika pounded her fist into the chair's armrest, shattering it, and stood up. "No! You don't get it!" She glared at Yuyuko. "When you killed yourself, she went to a very dark place afterward! And that's when she came up with that Lunarian invasion bull crap!" Suika's muscles tensed, like she wanted to attack the ghost, but she thought better. She'd just instant kill me if I tried something. She let out a breath, before she looked at the chair. Ah, crap. Remilia wasn't going to like that. Calming down, she snatched up the gourd and took a swig. "No. No, that invasion was just a death trap, including for her."

Yuyuko didn't say anything.

"I just..." Suika took a few steps away, and turned back to the ghost. "The way she made it sound, she made us believe that we had a chance. That we could actually put those damn Lunarians down."

Yuyuko's face softened upon a realization. "...You were a part of that."

Suika tapped her chest. "I believed in Yukari. After you died, she came up with this plan, and I thought she was back to her old self. We had a huge party the night before, you know. Then?" Suika took another drink. "Next thing I know, I wake up after being drugged, and they're already up there, getting killed. Only Kazami and the nue came back right away. Everyone else was getting executed." Suika began pacing. "Now, I knew some of those guys, and a lot of them deserved it. But that didn't explain why she herself didn't get out of there." Suika spread her arms, eyebrows raised. "I mean, come on. They could have executed her. She could have died. And I didn't understand why that happened until she came back. I wanted to go up there and save her, but I was just one oni." Her arms dropped to her sides. "What the hell could I have done alone when a thousand as strong as I got wiped?"

Yuyuko sat there, her face deep in thought. "I never gave that much consideration to that. She told me about that, but..." Yuyuko's eyes widened.

Suika nodded, and went right up to Yuyuko's face, scowling. "That's right. She wanted it to end. She was so distraught over losing you, that she took the chance that she'd be killed up there."

Yuyuko lowered her eyes. "I... I didn't know..."

"I didn't know either, until she came back after being healed by those Buddhists. And then she was back to her usual self. Why?" Suika frowned. "Because in her near death state, she was able to see you, and able to see you as a youkai." Gritting her teeth, Suika picked up the broken chair, and flung it across the room. "I... dammit." She turned to Yuyuko again. "Why? Why does she bend over backward for your sake? I mean..."

Yuyuko had kept calm throughout this, staring at the oni's near tantrum. "Miss Suika, I understand where you're coming from, but don't you think this is the alcohol speaking? You've been chugging way more than usual." Suika merely scoffed in response. "But you have opened my eyes. While I did save humanity, I did so without really giving thought to what it would have done to her. For that, I apologize. And I'm sorry that you feel that I shouldn't have-"

Suika quickly shook her head. "No. No, you did the right thing. That stupid tree was consuming youkai as well as humans, and I hate threats against humans." She placed her hands on her hips. "I'm an oni. I exist to better humanity, to challenge them, to set the bar high for their strength, and to follow their strong." She rubbed her temples, trying not to let her rage out. "No, I don't hate you for what you did to save humanity, but I hate you for what you did to my friend. She wasn't the same."

"She's my friend too."

"No, you were part of the problem. Well," Suika sighed. "The ghost you. The one reborn after you died. You had her body, but not her memories. That put her in another dark place for a while. She cared about you so much, and you promised not to forget her, and you did." She pointed at Yuyuko. "I can't forgive you for that. You hurt her so much."

Yuyuko slowly got up from her chair, a somber look on her face. "Miss Suika, when I regained my memories, I apologized to her for that, because I did realize that."

Suika nodded. "Good."

"She's my best friend too. Whether it be the human me, or the ghost me that she made friends with all over again, she's my friend." Yuyuko picked up the two cups, and went to Suika. "I think I finally understand your attitude towards me." The ghost held out her hand for the gourd, which Suika begrudgingly gave. "I do understand that she seems to be willing to do anything for me," Yuyuko said as she poured for Suika. "She doesn't have to, as she doesn't owe me anything, but she does do these things. She goes through great lengths to make me happy."

Suika poured for Yuyuko, the oni's anger ebbing away. "I'm not one to be jealous, but it's just frustrating."

"But does she not do the same for you?"

The two held their cups, and Suika gave Yuyuko a puzzled look. "What?"

"Think about it." Yuyuko spread her arm to the window. "Gensokyo is a place where you oni can come back to. Sure, you oni exist to better humanity, but humanity left you behind in the outside world, which is why you all had to disappear. Yet Yukari went and made this for youkai. Not for me, because I already have a place, but for creatures like you." Yuyuko smiled. "And she got you to fight against a human who was able to go toe-to-toe with you in a fight. I was present at that fight, and you looked so happy, even after losing. Isn't Gensokyo perfect for oni? Plenty of humans who won't leave you behind, and some even strong enough to be worthy of challenging. And not only that, but she got you that new place to live by encouraging you to challenge the celestial." Yuyuko chuckled. "She got you an amazing new address in one of the best afterlife realms, and all you had to do was what you do best. Fight."

Suika just stared into her cup. "I... Huh." She looked up to Yuyuko, the oni's anger completely gone, as was all her tension. "Huh. Yeah."

"Yukari does a lot for her allies, and especially for her friends. It's not always apparent at first, and she has a roundabout way of doing things, but she always finds a way to reward those she cares about."

Suika slowly nodded, before looking back at the destroyed chair. "I, uh, I'm sorry about that then." She again stared into her cup. "I just... It's just been on my mind for a long time. But no, you're right. This place is just perfect for me, and the new place is amazing. I just feel so stupid its taken me so long to really realize it. I just... I think it's because I saw you with her, that I just rejected a lot of what Gensokyo was and just stayed with Hakurei instead of her." She sniffed. "Man. I must have been such an asshole to her."

"She has done so much for us. We're her oldest friends, and she doesn't have too many of those left these days. I think there is very little she won't do to make us happy, and she's not above having herself lose to see her plans come to light." Yuyuko raised her cup. "To Yukari?"

Suika sniffed again, and nodded. No, you're right. Yukari is something special. A damn good friend to have. "To Yukari."

They toasted.

"You want to do this?"

Mokou shrugged, as she finished her cigarette. "I'm okay with it. Didn't have anything better to do today 'n all." She brought out her pack of cigarettes. "'Sides, it's either this or kill Kaguya again."

You say that so casually.

The group was in the air within several minutes, and we were on our way to the mountain. I had overheard Mokou and Koizumi, as they were the closest to Marisa and I. Remilia could not go with us, so instead sent Sakuya in her place. So, we had... Koizumi, Mokou, Youmu, Sakuya, Marisa, Reimu, Yukari, Komachi, Reisen... and I think that's it. Oh, wait, forgot the invisible fairies. They should have still been with us, even though they haven't come out of hiding since. Though I think some of the food went missing during the dinner, so they had to have helped themselves.

Another thing. There weren't any vials ready. I had asked Patchouli about them, and they said that they were waiting until before the Underground incident to prepare them - the vials lost their potency if left standing. That's what was so horrible about them in the first place - preservatives. And since I had complained about the taste all throughout the Endless Night, they didn't make any. So, that means the ones in the future had a preservative. I then asked how much they had left, and it wasn't enough. With what they had, they could only make forty more.

I used seventeen during the resistance, so I'd need at least the twenty for that. Which meant I'd only be able to use twenty during the upcoming incident. Which then meant we were at that time limited to what was available from Marisa. She still had a few cherry blossoms of her own, enough to make some more, but she didn't know exactly how much. So, after making a stop at Marisa's house, we had seven on us.

By the way, Marisa hadn't cleaned her house. Four years ago, she proudly said to Sakuya that her house has a lot of junk strewn about, and yes, that was still the case. Well, not junk, so much as stuff she finds. Things that were pulled into Gensokyo that she finds. Weapons, armor, tools, various leisure items. There was so much stuff littered on the outside, even some computer monitors she had found. She went in alone, stating that the inside was even worse, and came back out with her vials.

The cherry blossoms are ending. They're almost used up. That's it. After I use them all, I'll never be able to use this ability again. It'll be the end of my special power. It was a sobering thought to ponder during the flight, knowing that I was about forty eight away from never using the healing Paranormal Border again. Okay, I just need at least nineteen for the future. Which means I can afford to use twenty eight this year. More if Marisa can find and use up the remaining cherry blossoms she has at her home. Sad that I was going to be setting up Patchouli to make the vials so they could be stolen from her and used for an enemy of Gensokyo's order.

Off track. Back to where we were, though speaking of the vials, yes, I again offered to heal them up, as some of the girls were clearly still recovering from their fight with Remilia, but they declined, citing that we didn't have many vials left.

At least they were doing better healing item management than I was.

Koizumi slowly nodded. "Ah, but Miss Yakumo said that you originally weren't part of this, that your weather is totally new."

Mokou lit up her cigarette. "Well, I got defeated, so don't matter now anyhow."

"Actually," Yukari had joined them. "Actually, it does. The final individual has a weather effect that randomly mimics all the other weather effects."

Koizumi raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

That... that sounds really cheap. And on par for this. I mean, seriously - that was something a final boss in a video game would have - the ability to have any ability featured in the game by the rest of the cast.

"It'll randomly switch to another weather effect during the fight, bringing the benefits and the like with it."

Koizumi nodded, crossing his arms. "Sounds a little complicated. Though when you think about it, danmaku is just like any other game, with its rules. I suppose one could say that this is adding to those rules, a... modification, if you will."

When you put it like that, it makes sense to what it is. Just adding new rules to the rules. Modding the danmaku fights.

Yukari smiled. "That isn't too far off." She looked to the two of us, especially me. "I'm about to get long winded here. Just a fair warning."

I shrugged, though grateful she was giving me a heads up.

"We know Reimu's weather, and what it was supposed to be-"

"And now I got something even better, for some reason." Reimu shook her head. "This doesn't bode well, you know. If things are changing, then we can't really rely on your future predictions or whatever."

"For now, it seems only your weather has been changed." Yukari paused for a bit, looking upset. "I was afraid of this, of things changing. Barring that, and since we all know Remilia's weather effect, I thought it would be a good idea to let you know the rest, since there is a still a chance we'll encounter them. Just bear in mind this is what it was supposed to be, and it may have changed, like Reimu's."

Sun - Reimu. Originally movement is easier, even after being hit, but now it's easier maneuverability, and better defense. I guess it's similar enough? Still, Reimu got lucky here.

Drizzle - Marisa's weather. Spell card damage increases. No wonder Reimu knocked her out so quickly.

Cloudy - Sakuya. Using a spell card costs less power. I guess that sounds practical.

Blue Sky - Youmu. Can cancel attacks faster than normal, being able to chain better. Fitting for a swordswoman, I guess.

Hail - Alice. Regular danmaku damage increases. Yeah, we figured this one out. Marisa got really affected by those grazes.

Spring Haze - Patchouli. Melee attacks are rendered ineffective, with magic regen. Very fitting for such a magician, really. But still, really? So if you punch someone under that effect, it doesn't do any damage at all? That's so... weird.

Heavy Fog - Remilia. Vampiric effect - leech stamina from what you hit. Again, fitting.

Snow - Yuyuko. Getting hit/grazed costs you magic, and can disable cards. Seemingly random. I guess it's a card killer? I don't know.

Sun shower - Yukari. Blocking wrong breaks the guard. So you have to be absolutely perfect at blocking and guarding, otherwise it won't work. One would think you'd be teleporting all over the place with something attached to Yukari.

Sprinkle - Suika. Special attack power is maximum. Again, another one fitting for the person it revolves around.

Tempest - Aya. High speeds, high movement, can zip around. This is fitting for such a fast person, really.

Mountain Vapor - Reisen. Spell cards are randomized for you. How would this work out? You reach for one, and it's not the one you want or needed, unless by chance?

River Mist - Komachi. Combatants are at fixed distances from each other. Yeah, we saw this one. Out of all the weathers, this one fits the user the most, maybe besides Remilia.

Typhoon - The next opponent. There is no guarding. Basically this is the weather to go all out. What kind of person does this benefit? It's gonna be tough to just go toe to toe with this one. Not being able to use defense is going to be a hindrance.

Aurora - The one behind this incident. The random weather effect. So, basically, whoever is behind this can have any weather effect they want. That's cheap, and again, fitting for a final boss.

Volcanic ash - Mokou. You'll burn up if you stand still for too long. Interesting that this is a new one. Whoever is behind this wanted more people to get involved.

Supercell - Mima. Unknown. It did allow her to take down Aya and Reimu, so whatever it is, it's got to be special.

Dust Storm - Meiling. Counterattacks are easier, and hit harder. Perfect for a martial arts master.

Diamond Dust (Sharp Flurries) - Cirno. If you're knocked down, you take danmaku damage from standing up. What kind of effect is this? It makes no sense! It's also very specific action, so its use would be very limited, unless you're an expert at putting your opponent on the ground. Wouldn't that be more fitting for Meiling than a fairy?

If this sounds very contrived to you, you're not alone in this feeling. Some of these are more useful than the others. I mean, come on - no melee attacks? So, what, you can't physically throw a punch? Yes, I was still on that. Also, I put it in a list there because this went on far longer than it should have. Yukari went on and on about the exact details of the effects, so I just summed it up. So even though it wasn't too much of a distance from Marisa's house to Youkai mountain, it felt like a long flight.

There was also another weather. Calm. A healing weather. Yukari wouldn't say who this belonged to, but she said to keep an eye out for it, just in case, since Meiling and Cirno's were active for the day.

"That being said," Yukari's face went serious. "Meiling and Cirno aren't supposed to have those weather effects for a while. They weren't supposed to have them for this incident, but for a later one."

"What do you mean, ze?"

Yukari dismissively waved her hand. "Another, separate incident that had the weather effects for some reason. I should have stuck around doing more research, but I couldn't. It doesn't happen for another few years. And that one has the calm as well."

"So that explains why I had such trouble with the vampire." Reisen looked annoyed. "My own weather worked against me."

Not being able to use the spell card you intended to sure would be a hindrance to everyone. Judging by that, you got the unluckiest weather.

"Maybe so, but Milady had the same problems." Sakuya rubbed her chin. "I'm still kind of saddened that I didn't get a chance to see my weather effect in action. Milady took me down too quickly, as with Lady Patchouli."

"I'm just saying. I could have taken her."

Please don't start trouble. Sakuya is very quick to defend her mistress.

"Though I wonder what Lady Mima's supercell was." Marisa looked over to Yukari. "Any ideas, ze?"

She shook her head. "Unless I was there to notice it, I don't know. And that is troublesome. It means that the Aurora now has an unknown effect to cycle."

Reimu slowly nodded. "Right; and whatever it was allowed Mima to catch Aya, and get the drop on me..." A light bulb appeared to go off above her head. "Maybe... maybe dulled senses?"

"Again, I don't know, but if it allowed her to take down the two of you, then it's possible. I wouldn't hold my breath on it being the case, however." Yukari frowned. "I just don't like these new effects being thrown into this incident, nor do I like this push back of the timeline. When it happened for the Spring Snow, things got worse."

"With the heavier snow and the blizzard conditions, right?" I scoffed. "And of course, me becoming involved."

"Correct. More unknown variables, and worse conditions. This isn't the ideal situation."

Yeah, tell me about it. I'd rather not deal with that supercell again.

Cirno thought about where the instigator could be, and after several moments of flying, she came up with the idea of someone being inside the clouds. She wasn't looking forward to it - clouds were water vapor, and since she was so cold, that vapor would solidify on her.

Eye hate that. Gets stuck on my wings and makes it harder to fly.

Groaning and muttering about it, she went up into the clouds, already the water beginning to freeze on her wings. She sped them up, to try to shake them off quickly. This is gonna be annoying! That's why Eye hate humidity!

Getting angrier and angrier by the second due to what was happening to her body, she called out into the clouds.

"Hey! Whoever is up here causing the weather, stop it, or Eye'll give you a beating!"

...Nothing. No answer, just an increase in wind, and were the clouds getting darker? The daylight was ending soon, so Cirno didn't think much of it.

...But... no. It's okay. Just the sun setting.

They kept getting darker, and Cirno felt a rumbling in the air. A shot of fear went through her body, because she thought it was thunder or lightning. Or both.

No, there would be light if there were lightning. And Eye didn't see-

A bolt of lightning went past her, nearly blinding her, and making her heart leap to her throat. She let out a yelp, stiff with fear. It took her a few seconds to remember to breathe, as she gasped for air. She blinked as her sight returned to her.

"Ah, ah... Is... is whoever up here the p-person who did this?"

Another bolt of lightning. The ice fairy cringed, but thankfully it wasn't as close. She kept looking around, already wanting to go home, yet still wanting to be the one to solve this incident.

One more and Eye'm out of here! Unless...

Maybe this is another weather? Maybe they're trying to scare me!

Just thinking that made her angry. Her fear began to subside, being replaced by rage. Trying to scare me off? You don't scare me that easily!

Another bolt. Okay, maybe that easily! She was about to fly off, when she saw someone up there with her. Some sort of woman in weird clothes, with a weird ribbon thing floating around her. The woman hadn't noticed the fairy, and was going off in a direction towards the forest. Cirno stared at her, seeing the electricity surround the woman.

The rage built up again. You... you're causing the thunder! You have to be the one doing this weather! And you tried to scare me off!

"Hey! Hey you!" Cirno flew up to the woman, who slowed down, and merely turned to her. "You're doing this, ain't you?" The fairy began forming ice around her, getting ready to attack. "My name is Cirno, and Eye'll make you pay for-"

Suddenly Reimu stopped, and we all nearly bowled into her. "Hold up! We got localized thunderclouds!"

We gotten to the mountain proper, which, by the way, we didn't have any issues with any tengu guards. I guess you finally came through for us, Aya. The particular part of the mountain, besides being near the top, was home to a stone bridge that was overlooking a river that lead to a waterfall. The reason there was a river there was because there was supposed to be a lake up here as well - the one taken with the Moriya Shrine. Which also meant that the shrine wasn't too far.

Sanae's got to be there. I'm so close to her. It hadn't even connected with me that I'd probably reunite with her, but I began to realize it then.

"Hey, Kyon, isn't..." Koizumi looked to the mountain, not smiling. He must have realized it as well. "It's here, isn't it?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"All those weekends looking for clues, and it was here."

The clouds surrounding the summit of the mountain were, again, scarlet, and were rumbling like crazy, silencing us. The clouds were just so concentrated around the mountain, that it was so weird for them to be that loud and sudden when we were just under pleasant sunlight.

In fact, the scarlet clouds had begun to expand, slowly covering Gensokyo. The remaining sunlight of the day was fading, making it really dark, save for the clouds.

When the Hakurei Shrine crumbled, it was already late afternoon, you see, so the Sun, while important because of the weather effects, was already going down. It was already evening when we left the mansion, and if it wasn't for the longer days due to summer, it would have been night by that point. As it stood, the clouds were choking the light out.

Okay, if this was a video game, then this is the part where the final boss begins to show up. That being said, this was the first time I was at the mountain. Looking out at Gensokyo, you could see just about everything. The shrine, the village, the mansion, the forests (both of Magic and the Bamboo), and of course the lake. Barring the present weather, the view was spectacular, even with this low light. Thing is, even if this was just a storm, this feeling of dread had already begun to build up inside me. I didn't like this. Some of my companions shared my concerns as well.

"Ah, guys, it's gettin' worse." Mokou looked back to the village, a small look of concern on her face. "This ain't good."

Youmu stared up at the clouds, tentatively clutching her swords. "We might want to get lower, along the mountain. We shouldn't be too far from the summit if we walk from here."

I was about to ask why she was so concerned, but then I realized. Lightning, and she has two metal objects. Yeah, and I'm up in the air during a lightning storm. All of us are asking to be struck. We quickly landed on one side of the bridge, silently deciding it wasn't a smart idea to be up in the air during such weather. Already, all of Gensokyo was covered by the scarlet clouds.

"This is definitely getting worse," observed Koizumi. "The crescendo is happening either now, or soon. This will come to a head."

During Spring Snow, the blizzard picked up as we were nearing the end. And it's happening again. The clouds are covering all of Gensokyo again.

Sakuya whistled under impression of the light show going on above us. "Dominance of the weather..."

"Yeah, the Sun isn't even really shining through this." Reisen was looking down the sights of her M16, trying to see if she can catch the person this weather was assigned to. "Whoever is behind this one is powerful."

"And that's not just thunder." Yukari opened her parasol, as the rain began to come down. "That's the typhoon."

Oh, gee, thanks for allowing us all to get wet again. I had just gotten somewhat dry from the supercell weather, too. I looked to the two dolls behind me, noticing they were getting as soaked as I was. "I take it you both are waterproof."

They both nodded, and were even using their free hands to shield their eyes from the rain drops. That's actually kind of cute.

Also, I kind of forgot that they were still with me. They were just silent, and hovering over my shoulder out of the way, that I had actually forgotten they were even there. Rest up, you two. If this is the next opponent, then the final boss is up after. I'll need you both at a hundred percent.

"Interesting." Reimu looked up to the sky. "So our next target has to be here..." She straightened up, eyes wide, and pointed to the sky. "Up there!"

As if to answer us, a lighting bolt struck the ground on the other side of the bridge. It was so sudden, and scary, but that wasn't the weird part. The lightning stayed.

What is this?!

Despite the almost blinding light, we could see someone descending the lightning, holding onto it like it was a rope allowing her - it was a woman - to be slowly lowered down in a very theatrical entrance.

Wait, why does she look familiar?

But that wasn't the only thing coming down. There was a tiny body coming down from the clouds as well, with her charred blue jumper dress-

Cirno! Cirno was falling from the sky, her clothes smoking. Jeez, did she get struck by lightning?!

"Cirno!" Out of thin air, the three fairies of light appeared, and went right for her. Catching the ice fairy, they brought her to us. Cirno was in bad shape, her eyes closed, and there was a massive black mark on her chest, like...

Did she get struck by lightning on her chest?! But that would stop her... I just stared down at the little body.

"She's not breathing!" Sunny looked up to us, wide eyed, panic on her face. "She's not breathing!"

Oh crap...

Reisen put her rifle on her back. "Okay, put her down. Don't touch her." Everyone gave the two some space, the other three fairies wide eyed at what had happened to Cirno. The soldier knelt down, and listened for a heart beat. It was hard to tell if the fairy was even breathing. After a pause, Reisen went for a CPR pose, and began chest compressions. "Her heart stopped. Come on..."

Oh God, Cirno! Part of me was worried. I mean I know fairies can get reincarnated, but what if this does something to her? Or... I don't know, screws me over for the resistance somehow? I mean, even if she died, she'd get back up later, right? I don't know how this works! Please don't paradox; or, shoot, don't stay dead, Cirno! My mind was in a dozen different directions over this. Reisen kept the compressions, and gave Cirno a breath of air, before continuing. Come on, Reisen.

I could have used my Border, but she was cold, right? Didn't Letty say my healing Border warmed, and would therefore be damaging to ice-based individuals? I don't want to be doing any more damage to the fairy.

"Do any of you know how to use a defibrillator?" Reisen asked as she kept doing the compressions. "I need to keep this up. There's one in my bag."

"I do." That was Koizumi. He knelt down behind Reisen, rummaging through the bag. "Considering what I do, of course I took a professional first aid class."

That... that makes sense. You're fighting against massive beings, and I guess being ready with first aid techniques would definitely be handy.

"Yo, guys," Marisa had turned to the stone bridge, hakkero in hand. She had a serious look on her face. "An obstructive person showed up, ze."

Shoot! I whipped around, staring at the new person.

"Hmm. You're not a tengu. Not a kappa. Not a ghost, either. Just humans. And fairies? It's rare for humans with such a group to make it this far up youkai mountain."

We were so distracted by Cirno, that we had forgotten the woman in the lightning. She finally came down on the other side of the bridge. Letting go of the lightning, it went back up to the clouds. She stood/floated there, and stared at us with her red eyes. She had our complete attention, save for the two working on the fairy. I numbly heard Koizumi use the defib, before Reisen continued with her compressions.

This woman with short shoulder-length blueish purple (or lavender - it was kind of tough to tell in that light) hair was wearing a long black skirt, with white blouse with red frills. She also had a capelet with the same color scheme - white with red frills. There was also some sort of long shawl with the same scheme that floated around her, wrapping at her arms, and floating mostly above her back. She was wearing a black fedora with a red ribbon on the front. Her clothes occasionally sparked with electricity. Even from where I was standing, I could see some electricity in her eyes.

It wouldn't take a genius to figure out what power she has, or that she was the one who did this to the ice fairy. I want nothing to do with this one. Still, there was a slight anger rising in me. I mean, striking a girl this small with lightning? That's both overkill and cruel!

Wait. Hold on a second. My blood ran cold upon realization. This is one of the women at the resistance! On Reimu's side! My initial thoughts of taking absolute vengeance against whoever went overkill on a fairy was gone, replaced with uncertainty. We're going to need her in the future, and she'll become an ally for Gensokyo.

But her being an electrical enemy at that point was, of course, concerning.

Sunny angrily began moving towards the new woman, danmaku forming in the fairy's hands. "You! You did this to her, didn't you?!" Yukari quickly caught up to the fairy, holding her back.

The woman merely shrugged. "I was challenged by her. She wanted to take me on for some reason. I defended myself."

Again, the defib was used.

"By stopping her heart?!" Mokou angrily shouted. "Who the hell does this to a fairy?!"

Exactly! Fairies are useful! Might be annoying, but they're useful, and some are far stronger or tougher than they look! I've seen and experienced first hand the power of fairies. They were not to be underestimated.

We heard a gasp for air. Cirno had sat up, clutching her chest, and coughing up a storm. Tears were forming in her eyes over the coughs. Reisen was there, patting Cirno on the back, asking her medical questions of 'where does it hurt', and the like. Having someone who learned from the greatest medical mind in existence is definitely a boon I can get used to.

"Cirno!" The three fairies went to her, hugging her. Reisen peeled them off, so the ice fairy could breathe.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Despite my convictions for the little idiot, I needed that fairy... or... I did? I already needed her? No, I would. Right?

Ugh, this time travel stuff sucks.

Yes, it's selfish of me to act this way, I realize that. It's just that I was dealing with timelines, which if recklessly dealt with, could cause paradoxes. I did not need those.

Koizumi was putting away the defib, with an actual smile of accomplishment. "I have to say, the first time using these on an actual person... well, fairy, was interesting."

Yeah, good thing you took those classes. Also, this was another new thing I learned about Koizumi. At least if I need my life to be saved, you're there too.

Though... He didn't take those classes for me, did he? Nah, he said it was for his esper job. Still... it was comforting.

Crisis averted, Reimu turned her attention to this new woman. "Who... no... what are you? Someone who swims in thunderclouds clearly isn't normal."

So far that was the understatement of the day.

"These are the kinds of clouds I swim in." She curtsied. The woman didn't show any emotion over the fairy getting back up. "I am a messenger of the Dragon Palace."

Youmu's jaw dropped. "The Dragon Palace?!"

"What?"

"Dude," Komachi snorted, a small smile forming on her face. "She's a messenger for the gods."

"Oh shoot." Youmu quickly whipped around to the view of Gensokyo - she had realized something. "Scarlet clouds, and a messenger from the Dragon Palace?!"

Youmu's reaction was starting to worry me. "What? What is it?"

She turned to us, worry on her face. "Something like her is out to deliver a message of a disaster! Like, a major disaster!"

"Correct." The woman bowed. "My name is Iku Nagae. I am an oarfish youkai, and one of the most trusted messengers of the gods."

An oarfish youkai? That seems kind of random for such a creature to be given what looks to be a high stature. Also, a messenger of the gods. So, what, like Hermes? Although... I think I remember that the Dragon Palace, in legend anyway, is a thing that was supposed to be underwater? Maybe? If so, then an oarfish youkai wouldn't be that random.

"As I was saying, I am a messenger. We swim in the sky only to warn of certain disaster." She waved her arm to Gensokyo, and its current cloud cover. "This scarlet mist is a mist of temperament. The scarlet sky is a sign of the disaster to come. The scarlet clouds shall shake the earth. We swim to convey these things."

Okay, hold up. "Shake the earth?! You don't mean-"

She nodded. "Yes, an earthquake. Though it hasn't happened yet. Very soon now, a great earthquake will occur, and judging by the strength of the clouds, great destruction will come to this land. I am to merely warn everyone abou-"

"It already happened, idiot!" Reimu angrily yelled. "My shrine got destroyed!"

"Really now?" Iku furrowed her brow in thought over that. "That's odd."

I didn't like the way she said that. It was like she was expecting more.

"You knew it was coming, and it still happened without your messages?" Asked Komachi. "I thought you Dragon Palace guys were more efficient than we in Higan."

"Well, yes, but not for that. Not for a shrine." Iku shook her head. "If the earthquake happened, then the clouds should have settled already." She looked to them. "They haven't. In fact, they expanded beyond anything I've ever seen. This tells of a much larger earthquake than one that would destroy a single shrine."

Oh.

Oh okay.

Now I understand why I'm here. And did it have to center around a giant earthquake?! Geez, so what does this mean then? Is there going to be an earthquake that might destroy the entirety of Gensokyo? I brought my hands to my face, desperately trying not to scream in frustration. I had to be brought here for this?!

"Okay, if there's an earthquake, my stuff's gonna get messed up too. That ain't happening, ze."

"Hold on a second," shouted Reisen, who had finished with Cirno. Reisen of course looked concerned. "What are we talking about here? How bad is this gonna be?"

Iku somberly looked up to the clouds. "Judging by the power of the scarlet clouds, we might be talking about complete destruction."

"Whoa whoa whoa! The shrine was completely destroyed, ze." Marisa took a few steps towards the woman. "You're saying that something even bigger will happen?!"

"Yes. I am."

Nothing but the sounds of the rain could be heard, as we all fell silent. No. No. No this isn't going to happen. It can't. If... no, something isn't right. Why was I brought in for this? Is this it? Because something changed in the timeline, that this incident doesn't go the right way, and it actually happens? We get an earthquake that totally destroys Gensokyo?

"But... no, this isn't right. It wasn't like this just a few minutes ago." Iku rubbed her chin. "I wonder if it's her doing. Such a troublesome-"

"You knew this was going to happen and you did nothing?!" Reimu walked right up to the bridge, screaming at the youkai. "You didn't warn anyone?! I could have saved my shrine?! And there might be something worse coming?!"

Oh boy. Now this? This was a scary situation. Yes, Japan gets hit by earthquakes, and they are scary as hell, but something that says 'complete destruction'? It made me shudder. But I'm not running away. I've got to see this through. I've got to help out Reimu here.

"Maybe..." Iku lowered her head, her hat covering her eyes. She was obviously thinking about this, and took a moment. "If I may?" She looked back up at us. "Maybe your shrine was a test run?"

And she confirmed it. A test run? "I felt that one in my world. If a bigger one is coming, then who knows what damage will be done to Gensokyo and my world as well!" Despite all we were saying, Iku wasn't showing much emotion other than confusion over the clouds. It was getting on my nerves, and I think on everyone else's. I mean, here was a woman who not only stopped someone's heart, but then casually says that we were facing a really bad disaster like it didn't really matter to her. "How can you be so laid back about this?"

"If you're so worried, if you've already seen how fearsome an earthquake can be, especially for your shrine," Iku tilted her head, her attention on Reimu. "Why not hurry home and make arrangements for disaster prevention?"

I brought my palm to my face, and I think most of our companions did the same. You just pulled an Alice. Congratulations. You're going to be torn apart by Reimu. I looked to Marisa, in case she wanted to step in again. She was just shaking her head.

"Hey, uh, Iku? Her shrine is her home. Well, was."

Iku's eyes widened. "Oh. Ah. Okay." She had realized what was going to happen, as Reimu's grip on her gohei tightened. Iku took a step back, closing a fist, and electricity began to form in it.

"You wanna know how I do disaster prevention?" Reimu tapped her gohei on her shoulder. "I beat up the people who plot them."

Like Seija.

"I got her." Koizumi had stepped in front of Reimu.

"Koizumi?" Reimu did a double take, as she didn't expect it. "But-"

I didn't expect this either. You just saw what she did to Cirno, and you're going to willingly go up against her!?

He looked back to us, with his usual fake smile. "It's okay. I kind of need this. I haven't been able to use my powers as of late due to how stable Miss Suzumiya has been." He shrugged. "No closed spaces, no need for an esper." He paused, his smile faltering a bit before he regained it. "Not that I'm complaining. This past year has been the most stable ever since I've become an esper. I've had chance to actually live my life instead of worrying about closed spaces." He returned his attention to the youkai. "That being said, I had agreed to be a part of the upcoming incident. I... may have gotten rusty." Red energy began to form around him, as he began to float up into the air. "If it's okay with you, I'd like to use this opportunity to make sure I'm worthy of joining you all for that."

Reimu was silent, but began to slowly nod. Even with her bottled up anger, she understood the situation. All of us did. "Okay." The miko began to back up, giving them space. "Just... I don't think your usual esper method of slamming into your opponent will work against someone who conducts electricity."

Koizumi's brow furrowed, as she stared right at Iku. "Ah. Right." He lowered his head as his smile disappeared - he had a serious look on his face. "Or it could... If Gensokyo is supposed to make espers stronger, then maybe I can combat her on my terms, as well as danmaku terms."

"Are you really going to fight me?" Iku again lowered her head, so her eyes disappeared behind her hat's rim. "You saw what I'll do to you if you challenge me. I'm a messenger of the Dragon Palace. I have the powers of the Dragon God."

"I suppose I will fight you, messenger."

Right. The 'Dragon God.' The supposed deity of Gensokyo, who hasn't been seen since Gensokyo cut itself off from my world. One of the more powerful beings in existence, this was a god that could transcend the borders of Gensokyo freely. Though aren't dragons based off of weather, and associated with rainbows? It would be kind of fitting for one to be at the end here, and here we have someone who claims to be a part of that.

Ah, yeah, tangent again.

Sakuya turned her head to Yukari. "Miss Yakumo..."

Yukari merely nodded. "She's affected by the weather too."

Great. So our group was destined to fight her regardless.

Iku began to float to the bridge proper, and it was just Koizumi and Iku, on opposite sides. Koizumi floated up into the air, and a burst of red energy came to life, surrounding him in his esper ball. Iku did the same, but she got struck by a bolt of lightning, and it stayed on her, surrounding the youkai in the same fashion.

Koizumi, you better know what you're doing here. Because I don't know what to do when someone gets electrocuted, other than use a vial. I didn't know if this was going to be a real fight, or what, until Iku brought out a card. Oh, thank you. Kind of comforting to know that danmaku has spread to this Dragon Palace.

Thing about her card was that even it seemed to conduct electricity. And what's even worse was that Koizumi remembered what was said earlier. "Uhm, Miss Yakumo?"

"Yes?"

Koizumi slightly turned his head to us. "What was that about the Typhoon weather again?"

"Zero defense. Blocking danmaku does not work."

He slowly nodded, before returning his attention to Iku. "Okay. Actually," His energy seemed to intensify. "I'm completely fine with that."

Yeah, hopefully your esper powers can help you withstand electrical shocks. Otherwise she's going to stop your heart. We continued to back up, giving them space, me taking the time to make sure I wasn't standing in any puddles. I didn't need a stray lightning shot to ruin my day.

The rain wasn't letting up, by the way. Already my hair was matted to my forehead, and the rest of us were drenched. This was perfect weather for someone using electrical attacks. Just one good shot would end the fight. Interestingly enough, Iku didn't appear to be short circuiting despite being soaked too. I guess that makes sense then, her being an oarfish. Able to conduct despite being in water.

Iku was the first to attack, as she leapt back, and flicked her arm - several electrical orbs shot out in a spread pattern, and slowly moved forward, gaining speed as time passed. This was merely used to get Koizumi in the air, to which Iku used that card - she... did some weird pose, like a disco 'point' pose.

[SPELL CARD: LIGHT ORB "GLEAMING EYES OF THE DRAGON"]

Iku released two orbs of electricity, and they spun around, attached to each other by a linking strand of lightning. As they spun, they gave off their own spread shots. Iku kept doing this, adding more and more, covering the area in a mess of lightning orbs.

Watch it, man. Just one good bolt will end this.

Koizumi held out his arms, forming the red energy that surrounded his body to his hands, and began to fling them to meet the orbs and the shots. He's so quick! However, as 'blocking does not work', the danmaku phased right through each other. Some of them neared Iku, so she sidestepped them.

Okay, so this really is all-or-nothing. Can't even use danmaku to block the other danmaku. But that meant she couldn't block it either.

Koizumi had to have realized this, as he covered his body in that energy again, and began to zip around, weaving in and out of the shots. I thought the electricity might arc onto his wet skin, but no, it just kept its shape, which was weird. Then again, am I really surprised that the laws of electrical conductivity can bend here as well?

The strange thing about Iku was that despite her seemingly calm demeanor, when she was using electricity, her movements were weird, like she was dancing. And the electricity was responding to her 'dances.'

Iku quickly moved, as Koizumi tossed out more of his esper energy, and the two were moving about in that electrical mess. Iku made a motion with her arm, and her shawl extended, covered in electricity. She had a dangerous reach, like Remilia, and it whipped around, trying to either catch Koizumi, or wrap around him. One of the shawl had slightly wrapped around the red orb surrounding him, but his movements allowed him to slip out.

Oarfish were like eels. If she wraps around you, she's ending you!

Jeez, and I thought Reimu's dodging skills were impressive running down that clock tower. Reality is, I've seen how fast he can be in a proper closed space, able to use his body to slice apart one of those celestials. And if this 'Gensokyo Effect' helped him become stronger, then he had to have gotten even faster.

[SPELL CARD: THUNDER SIGN "ABODE OF THE THUNDER GOD"]

Iku did another pose, and the clouds above us rumbled - lightning began to strike the ground around Koizumi, to which they emitted spread shots upon impact. She then moved, and did the same pose - again like a disco pose. This time, the lightning surrounded her, I guess to give her some breathing room. That's how it went. Go to a location, the lightning went for her opponent. Next, it covered her location.

Koizumi quickly recognized the pattern, and only had to worry about the spread shots for the most part, besides the obvious barrage. That's the only time he had to go full speed. The look on his face told the tale - he was taking this seriously, and was coming up with a plan on how to attack this person.

I realized something. We may have been talking about it, but I don't know if Iku understood what we were talking about - she might not know the weather effects.

"Koizumi! No defense! Get her!"

He paused for a microsecond, before resuming his movement. The next time Iku had a lightning barrage cover her, Koizumi went all out - firing a barrage of his power at the youkai.

The shots went right through the lightning. Iku, who had paused to do her pose, got smacked by it, mostly on her left arm, letting out a yelp. The spell card ended, and the youkai was rubbing her arm to get the feeling back into it. Using this opportunity, Koizumi closed the distance.

"Knock that bitch out!" shouted Mokou.

An electrical charge formed in the right hand of Iku, and she applied it to her numbed arm - she recovered. Her left arm back to working order, the messenger thrust forth both arms, and four bolts of lightning shot forth, leaving their jagged trail behind. I don't know how, but Koizumi threaded through them, not taking a hit. Electricity began emitting from Iku again, so Koizumi had to back off.

"Not bad, human. I'm actually impressed you can avoid my shots." She still rubbed her arm. "Not many are that fast."

Koizumi gave one of his fake smiles. "Thank you, Miss Nagae. I haven't actually fought in a long time, so I was worried I'm not up to par."

"Hmm." Iku slowly nodded, looking to the rest of us, as if searching for an explanation of what had just happened. "So... no defense, huh? Can't block... And weather effects..." Iku then got this really annoyed look on her face. "Ah. Okay. I think I know who's behind this then. It really has to be her."

No wonder you're the next to last opponent. Whoever reached you would find out the source.

"Would you share this information?"

"The one behind this is a troublesome celestial girl. In other words, a being from Heaven."

A celestial? Not a shinjin, which are Haruhi's celestials, but a tennin. Shinjin are 'godlike people', while tennin are 'heavenly people' - Holy creatures. "Wait a second!" I blurted out. "A being from Heaven?!"

"So that's why we're going up here, and that's why you called for me to be at that location." I turned, to see Komachi staring at Yukari with a bemused look, before she gave a bow to Reimu. "I'm sorry, but I lied earlier. I was called on by Yukari to face you after Alice had been defeated."

Before Reimu could ask, Yukari slightly raised her hand. "It's as I said, I wanted to help speed things along for this incident."

Youmu slowly nodded with a smile. "So that was the surprise you had in store for them."

"Just hold on a second." I looked around, and everyone who was living was just staring at those three - Yukari, Komachi, and Youmu. We all shared the same stunned faces.

No way. There's no way.

"Yukari..." Reimu pursed her lips. "Where is this person located?"

Smiling a coy smile, she simply looked up.

No.

I could hear Sakuya nervously chuckle. "Y-you're kidding, right?"

The cigarette dropped out of Mokou's mouth. "That's not... You can't be serious."

Youmu just crossed her arms. "Well I've never been there, but I hear it's lovely this time of year."

Komachi chortled. "It's lovely all year."

"What?" Star looked up at us, obviously lost. "Where is this person?"

"You guys are freaking us out," said Luna. "We don't know what you mean."

I gulped, trying to speak, finding out that my throat had dried up. I stared right at Yukari's eyes, and struggled to sound out the words. Just the notion of this was making me shiver. You're joking with me, right? This is all one big elaborate prank. You can't be for real on this. "Yukari..." I paused again. "Are you talking about Heaven?"

She let out a happy sigh, closing her eyes. "I was so looking forward to seeing your reactions when we got there, but I guess the surprise is ruined."

You could have knocked me over with a leaf. Or any one of us who were fully alive and human. It began to dawn on our fairy companions as well.

Sunny nudged Luna and Star. "See? I told you today would be interesting."

Yeah, no kidding. I... I actually get to see... Heaven?

A bolt of lightning passed us. Oh, right. There's a fight going on. Part of me wanted to shout out at Koizumi to hurry it up so we could get there, but I refrained.

I mean, think about it. Yes, I've been to Hakugyokorou, and yes, I've been to various other places, but Heaven? Actual Heaven? I know Nitori mentioned it, but to actually be in a position where I could, while still alive, visit that afterlife realm and see it for myself?

This, above all else, makes today's trip worth it. I know I did nothing but complain for the past few hours, but thank you, gods, for giving me this opportunity.

Seriously, who is offered such a chance? That you can actually go to Heaven?

I found myself shaking, so I had to calm down. I had to get my mind off of this, otherwise I'd get too excited. Returning my attention to the fight, Iku was using a spell card.

[SPELL CARD: LIGHTNING FISH "SWIMMING THUNDER SHOT"]

Iku shot out a single bolt of lightning, and as Koizumi avoided it, the bolt paused for a fraction of a second before going for Koizumi again. It was a homing attack. He had to twist his body around to avoid getting struck. Again, the lightning bolt paused, and went for him a final time. Ducking his head, it grazed his hair, and he rubbed the top of his head, watching the bolt fade out. That's what this spell card did - it shot out, and attempted to hit the target a few times before fading out. Koizumi had to go full speed to avoid this.

"I think it's safe to say that Koizumi hasn't lost a step, ze."

I'll say. He's able to actively avoid lightning bolts! I guess that's the benefit of fighting those giant celestials - you learn to move quick, lest you get caught. I blinked, looking around, as I noticed the rain ease up. Is the sky getting lighter?

The Sun had to be coming out! Its effect is active!

Koizumi ended up right in front of Iku, who quickly used another spell card when her whipping shawl didn't catch him.

[SPELL CARD: ELECTRIC SIGN "THUNDER DRUM SHOT"]

Why isn't Koizumi using any spell cards? It had been all Iku so far, with the esper just using regular attacks, and the oarfish moving her body with the grace of a ballet dancer. She was contorting herself in ways that I never thought possible to avoid being hit.

Anyways, the card - this was just a ball of electricity, shot Hadouken-style. She charged it in her hands, and it blasted out. At first, that's what it seemed like. After traveling about three meters, it exploded into eight orbs, which extended from its origin point for a bit, before they dissipated. This was just a quick card, and it was fast enough - Koizumi wasn't able to move, and reacting, he threw his arms in front of him to block it - his power responded in kind as it absorbed the shots.

Thank you, Sun!

Iku stared at him dumbfounded, before noticing the Sun. "Ah. So defense is back." She frowned. "I'm really going to give that girl a talking to after I'm done with my job."

Koizumi's face was washed in relief for a second, before he returned to being serious. Recharging his energy, he went right for Iku.

In response, Iku lit herself up, electrical energy crackling around her like Koizumi's, and went right for the esper herself.

The two collided like billiard balls, both knocking each other away, but that didn't even seem to give them pause - the two kept at it, lighting up the sky with esper and electrical energy coming into contact with each other.

Eventually, they both stopped on an impact, and both of their energies began to grind off each other - sparks of both their orbs were shooting off, as they were pushing into each other.

The two stared into each other's eyes, their faces becoming glares. "You fight very differently than most humans I've met."

"I'm not like most humans you've met." Koizumi grunted as he tried to push again, which only resulted in more sparks flying. "You may be chosen by your god, but I was chosen by mine."

"Oh really? Then I guess we're the same, you and I."

"Not quite."

One of Iku's eyebrows rose, as she pushed and pushed, trying to overtake Koizumi's energy. "How so?"

Koizumi gave a strained grin. "I was chosen to fight. Not send mere messages."

Oh great, this place is getting to you too, man. Now you're antagonizing people.

If it upset the youkai, she didn't show it. The two kept struggling, but after several moments of this, it proved to be futile, so Iku took the initiative. Suddenly her shawl whipped out of her orb, and wrapped around Koizumi's orb, until we couldn't even see his red energy.

"Koizumi! You gotta get out of that!"

Iku began swinging around the entrapped Koizumi, just gaining more and more momentum, while lowering her altitude. When she got close to the ground, she stopped her drop, but not the swing. Swinging her own body around, she slammed Koizumi's orb to the ground, before whipping it up. At the apex of that, she charged herself again, which extended into her shawl.

"No! Koizumi!"

She wasn't done. Building up electricity again, a lightning bolt came down, striking the wrapped orb.

I was stunned, unsure if I just saw one of my friends destroyed before my very eyes.

"You bitch..." Mokou lit herself up, her flames making steam in the puddles around her. The rage in her eyes matched her flames intensity. "You little-"

Mokou paused, her anger fading, as she stared up at the scene. I returned my attention to it, and saw that Iku's shawl were stretching out. It was hard to tell from my position, but the wrapped orb was trying to pull away. Iku grunted as the shawl were wrapped around her arms, and were beginning to squeeze. She was trying her best to keep a hold of them.

Suddenly the wrapped orb slammed into Iku's, then pulled away, then slammed. Koizumi was trying to break free. So he didn't get fried? That was such a relief.

Iku responded by sending more electricity through her shawl, but it wasn't having any effect. Koizumi kept bashing into Iku and pulling away, and wasn't slowing down. With one final pull, we heard cloth ripping, and the shawl of Iku tore away, allowing Koizumi to be free - his red energy shining through.

I was about to shout out how grateful I was that he was okay, but...

Koizumi was shivering, and his clothes had singe marks. He didn't get out of that unscathed. He had to have taken a few shocks. You're lucky, man. You're covered in water, and you could have had a really bad electrocution. And the look on his face?

This was one of the few times I've seen him legitimately angry.

Once again, he slammed his orb into Iku's, giving her a death glare. He didn't say anything as he tried to push his orb through hers. Iku appeared surprised over Koizumi's state - both that he survived what she put him through, and that he was willing to keep going. Koizumi was actually pushing Iku back, despite the youkai's efforts to push herself.

After a few meters, Iku broke off the contact, separating, as they saw the rain pick up again. The Typhoon effect was active - no more defense.

[SPELL CARD: FASCINATION "CROWN VISION"]

This was a supercharged Light Orb. The orbs were twice as big, and faster, as they went all over the place, showering the area in their lightning.

[SPELL CARD: FAWN'S SUFFERING "THE PROBLEM OF EVIL"]

Finally he uses one! Speaking of lightning - his weird spell card. The last time I've seen him use this, hell, any spell card, was during the battle against controlled Kaguya. The trees were up, lightning struck, and the danmaku forest fire began. In between the Crown and the Fawn, the whole field was chaotic, and bright. Lighting and fire, after all.

"Man, we can't even see a damn thing!" Mokou was shielding her eyes. "You two are overdoing it!"

I couldn't see what was going on, so sadly I can't describe what those two were doing. This lasted for well over thirty seconds, as both of them had to be doing their own shots in it as well - electric bolts and esper shots were being flung out of that bright mess.

"Let me... let me at her..." Cirno was trying to get up, yet she was struggling to even speak. She looked angry, her eyes dead set on the battle.

"Cirno, no." I knelt down to her, while the three other fairies were trying to hold her back down for her own sake. "Your heart stopped, okay? You're in no condition to do anything. Take it easy, all right?"

She glared at me, and spoke through her teeth. "S-screw you! Eye can still go!"

Cirno is nothing if not tough. For a fairy.

"Hey, Yukari?"

"Hmm?"

I stood up. "Can you, I don't know, make it so my Border doesn't hurt her?"

Yukari's eyes went to the fairy, and back to me. "Ah. Right. The warmth will hurt her." She shook her head. "I can't do that. But I can do this."

A small portal opened above Cirno, and a blast of really frigid air came down, along with snowflakes. I guess she opened a portal to the south pole or somewhere. The three fairies jumped back from the sudden sensation, while Cirno sighed in contentment.

"Ah, that's... Ah..." In a matter of seconds, her breathing became normal, as she placed her hand over her heart. "It... it doesn't hurt any more." She just laid there, taking in the cold.

"Thank you, Yukari." I returned my attention to the fight.

It wasn't long before the lights faded, and there in the air the two remained, breathing somewhat heavily. Besides getting hit earlier, Iku was none the worse for wear. When Koizumi attempted a few more direct shots (and they were quick), Iku's body moved with such fluidity - she spun, bent her body, and 'rolled' with the shots, not even her clothes getting grazed.

I know I've mentioned that Sakuya's attacks were like a dance against Letty, but that's what Iku's whole battle plan was - like a magical, electricity-fueled dance-off.

[SPELL CARD: THORN SIGN "THUNDER CLOUD STICKLEBACK"]

There's no other way to put it - Iku lit up. Her whole body was covered in electricity, and she went right after Koizumi, trying to slam herself into him like with earlier. The only good thing about this card was that it lasted for only several seconds. It was another quick card attack, and she tried to catch him off guard.

As she neared, Koizumi used another card.

[SPELL CARD: PARADOX "MISSING SQUARE"]

A faint grid appeared around the field, and began to be filled with various cubes of danmaku - each arranged in shapes - triangles, rectangles, and the like. They then began to shift around, seemingly at random, forming shapes, some breaking off and forming even new shapes. As time went on, the shifting went faster and faster, the shapes becoming more complex.

Obviously this was all to either slam into the opponent or corner them. Iku weaved through the shapes, not letting herself get cornered. Once again, she calmly did her midair dance, allowing the shots to come near her, but she just kept out of the way each time. She stayed in the middle area, that way she had room to maneuver. She was a very slippery foe and you would have to get right in her face to actually hit her, or outsmart her and wait for her to pause or something.

So this is the card Koizumi used against a controlled Reisen in the clearing. Kind of a weird one to use - this seemed more like a close combat card than one to use against a sniper back in the Endless Night.

He needs to use closer combat, it seems. This youkai wasn't going to allow her opponent to hit her again from afar.

[SPELL CARD: SPINE SIGN "ACANTHODII OF THE THUNDER CLOUDS"]

Iku rose into the air, and a sudden spread shot emitted from her. Electric, of course, but... she was encased in electricity herself. She then tried to slam herself into Koizumi. This was like the Stickleback, but it lasted much longer.

Iku couldn't last long - she had to pause, and recharge her body like that. The spell card was still active, but she had to recharge.

During one of these recharge times, Koizumi brought out his card.

[SPELL CARD: PARADOX "SCHRÖDINGER'S CAT"]

His containment spell card! Koizumi just negated Iku's slamming ability. Her shots were still getting through, but without the threat of Iku herself, the spell card was more than manageable for the esper. The electricity coming from the contained area faded, and Iku had to have been doing her best to avoid to whatever was going on in there - I couldn't see it clearly. Though if a little rabbit could survive this, then maybe Iku could. It only worked back then because Nagato joined in against that rabbit.

She did survive it. Iku stood there, breathing hard, yet with no grazing damage. Yeah, you're going to have to melee her or something. She's too good at moving her body.

The youkai flicked her hair, before taking in a deep breath. Letting it out, she raised her hand, and got struck by a constant bolt of lightning.

She's gonna finish it right now!

Iku's electricity intensified, as her body itself tensed. Already the thunderstorms increased, with more bolts just striking her over and over, adding to the energy even more.

I've never liked lightning, and seeing it this close multiple times did nothing to quell that. In fact, it made me flinch a lot.

Soon, all of Iku's body glowed - she was completely lit up and covered in electricity. She brought out a spell card, this one just crackling with energy.

[SPELL CARD: CLOUD REALM "THUNDER FROM THE SEA OF ETERNAL CLOUDS"]

Iku again went up into the air, and everything came down. Lightning came down like crazy, and the occasional spread shot also occured upon impact. It was also coming off her body in bolts in just about every direction. I had never before seen so much lightning.

The thing is, as powerful as this one was, Iku was stationary...

The light came back through the clouds.

Oh thank you! The Sun!

Koizumi had to end this quickly - there was just too much lightning falling all around him and Iku. He also had the means.

[SPELL CARD: REBUILDING "SHIP OF THESEUS"]

Okay, this is the paradox about replacing every part of something and then asking if it's the same thing. At least, I think that's how it was. Kind of like how one would rebuild a shrine like I mentioned earlier. Does it remain the original shrine if you rebuild it by every piece? And what would happen if you use the old pieces to make another shrine? What would that shrine be?

As for the spell card itself, it started off with an explosion of spread danmaku from Koizumi's position, which then contracted and exploded again, into eight pieces. Those pieces went to different areas, and exploded. Meanwhile, in the original position, a new explosion occurred. I think you know where I'm going this this. The original position was the spawn point for each original piece. Sure, the others kept contracting and exploding, but they didn't spawn anything new. Eight new expanders were added with each 'spawn.' They were rotating around Koizumi, effectively building and building with each new 'object.' They kept up with him, and he used his speed to go after Iku. They afforded him cover, absorbing some of the shots and even some of the lightning. Picking up speed, he went right for Iku, the power around him crackling as he did.

Koizumi rushed right into that lightning rod that was Iku, his esper energy versus electrical. He kept directing the shots to absorb bolt after bolt, and as he got closer, she directed them to him. It was a battle of attrition.

Koizumi let out some kind of yell as he got within five meters of Iku, his body picking up speed, and -

In the brightness of the lightning, there was a slash of red energy where Iku was. The lightning died down. Koizumi was suddenly behind Iku, whose shoulders began to sag. She let out a grunt, her eyes starting to close, but was struggling to stay awake.

"W-what... how..."

He got her! I don't know how, but he got her!

It was then that I noticed a new danmaku slash scar on her clothes, right over her heart. Iku shakingly stared down at it as her hat fell off her head.

Koizumi had his hand up, his red energy forming a blade over his arm, and he stared at it. "I focused nearly all of my energy into..." The blade retracted. "Huh. I didn't know I could do that."

I was just about to ask how you did that! You can make blades?!

"It's over." Koizumi smiled, as he placed his hand on the back of Iku's head after the blade faded. "Thank you for pushing me to this extent, Miss Nagae. I really do appreciate it. You've helped me confirm that I'm ready for what's next, and helped me push my body beyond to what I thought my limits were - and it seems that I can do even more with my powers. Words cannot express my gratitude." With his free hand, he brushed his hair out of his eyes, giving a genuine smile. "I never meant to really hurt you, by the way, so I do hope you heal fast from what I have done. Oh, and this." A bit of red energy formed in his hand, and went to the back of her head. Iku's eyes rolled up, and closed, as she fell from the sky, landing in the middle of the stone bridge.

Koizumi, you've never looked more like a badass than at this very moment. I had to admit it. That was one of the best performances I could have hoped from him. I mean, who can take on an electrical live wire of a youkai? He just tanked that charge that he got from Iku, and...

As I was approaching Koizumi as he landed, I began to change my tune. Koizumi's smile dropped when his feet were on the ground - stumbling to the stone railing of the bridge. His body was shaking, letting out a moan while sliding to a sitting position. He just wouldn't stop shaking.

I looked to Marisa as I began to run to him. "Vial!" She nodded, tossing me one. Catching it, I downed it - down to six. Mokou was already on her way to him, sliding to a stop.

Koizumi let out a sigh of relief as the barrier went into him. Looking him over, and before he started to heal, I noticed what looked like bad burns on his hands. Geez, man. Iku hurt you more than you let on. The electricity did make contact with his body. With that amount of electricity, how are you not dead? She struck you with multiple lightning bolts!

He began to open and close his hands. "Ah, thanks." Koizumi clenched his teeth. "My hands and feet were numbed." He let out a pained chuckle. "That hurt so much."

Explains why you were so angry then. Geez, you must have been running off of adrenaline by the end of that.

"You're lucky." Mokou helped him up, concern on her face. "I've died by electric shock a few times. It ain't fun." When he got up, their faces were close together. Both of them paused, staring into each other's eyes. For a brief second, it looked like Mokou got flustered, as did Koizumi.

Hold on. You guys only spent one night together four years ago. You... Did they still have feelings for each other? I think I could grasp the notion of the awkwardness they would have due to that, but still...

Why do you still cling to her then? I mean, I've seen you go out with so many girls... and then you... never go out with them again.

Is this why you can't hold down a relationship?

Koizumi, while, yeah I'll admit he's handsome, wasn't able to maintain a girlfriend for the years that I've known him. Crazy, right? Guy like him should have girls lining up. But... nothing. Nothing ever lasted. And it wasn't due to esper conflicts - like he said, his need to be at his 'job' had decreased, so that wouldn't have been a factor.

Do you seriously have that problem? I had always looked up to him in that regard. A cute girl every week or so, catching their attention every time he went through campus. Finding time to go out on his own, spending time with the ladies.

Or was there something else I wasn't getting? Despite being with him for the past four years, I still didn't know that much about him. He'd spout out mostly his philosophical views on the matter at hand, or in general, but very rarely about himself. That had not changed - he really worked to stay relatively distant from me in that regard. It was one of the constants about him. Being the yes man for Haruhi, always there ready to make sure she was stable, and looking for ways to entertain her. He'd rarely drop his fake smile, and seeing him like that with Mokou at that point was jarring. He was showing an actual emotion for once. Showing vulnerability.

It didn't last long. He 'reset' his composure, and gave Mokou his trademark smile. "I can attest to that. It wasn't pleasant."

I began to ponder if it was possible for someone to find their soul mate even though that person was born over a millennia ago, but I was interrupted by the other girls as they approached me. Now they wanted healing to fully recover. Can't complain. It's the smartest way to make it efficient. I had to use it for Koizumi, so might as well share the wealth, right? Looking down at Iku, I decided to heal her as well. Since it wasn't raining anymore, I tentatively tagged her, afraid she'd shock me if I kept my hands on her for too long. I didn't need that.

"Koizumi, well done," said Yukari as she closed her parasol and shook the water off of it, stopping over Iku. The demon appeared genuinely impressed. "Well done indeed. Miss Nagae here is not someone to be taken lightly. There is a reason why she was chosen to serve the gods, after all."

"Yeah, really." Koizumi and Mokou broke contact, and he made his way over to Iku. "I suppose I lucked out with my abilities. I wouldn't have won that under normal circumstances." His smile faded. "Actually, I shouldn't have won that at all."

"You're getting stronger, Koizumi. Don't sell yourself short."

Yeah, that's my job.

Iku moaned from the ground, her arm reaching for the stone railing. Within a matter of seconds, she had pulled herself up, rubbing the back of her head.

Reimu had stepped forward, her eyes up to the still scarlet clouds. "I was hoping against hope that Yukari was messing with us, and that you were the one who was behind the weather." The miko shrugged. "Considering your power, one would think you were the mastermind behind such a scheme."

That's a fair assessment. If Yukari hadn't told us about the upcoming weather types, I definitely would have guessed Iku to be the root cause of all this.

Iku shook her head. "No. I'm just a messenger." Iku turned to us, back to her serious face. "As I said, I'm just to warn everyone of what will happen. I can't control it. No one can stop it... except... her."

"You're pretty bad at warning if the shrine got destroyed," said Mokou. "Ain't ya?"

Iku narrowed her eyes for a bit at the immortal, but didn't say anything.

"Who? Who's going to get a Fantasy Seal shoved down their throat?" Reimu got close to the youkai, her anger coming back. "Just tell me her name already."

Iku shook her head. "I doubt you can beat her."

"We beat you."

"I'm a mere pittance to her."

We're really doing this trope?

"Who is she? Who is this celestial?"

"If I know her, then she probably did cause the earthquake, but she is the only one who can stop the next one."

Mokou is right about you. I frowned at Iku. "You know, for a messenger, you are not getting your message across clearly." I heard Marisa chuckle at that. Seriously, if you're going to be a messenger, be clear and concise! Though... wait a second. "Whoa, hold on." I gave Yukari a frown. "Reimu, Yukari already knows who it is. Why are you wasting your time with this youkai?" I can't believe I got caught up in that! Yukari already does know who started this whole thing!

Reimu's anger disappeared. "Oh. Right."

Youmu sighed, bringing her palm to her forehead. "Reimu, I know the level of anger when you feel your home is violated. I understand it clearly." The gardener shot a quick glance to Sakuya, who was smiling over that, before returning her attention to the miko. "But if you allow it to cloud your judgement, you'll lose."

"Like you did?" asked the grinning Sakuya.

"Yes." Youmu let out a chuckle. "Exactly how I lost my fight."

Reimu closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Ever since I had shown up at the shrine a few hours ago, the miko looked ready to go off on someone. In fact, she did, on Marisa, Komachi, and Remilia. And... Mima, if you can count that, which I didn't. But that wasn't enough to let it all go. She had so much pent up anger over losing her home, and was still ready to explode on someone.

"If we're done here," said Iku. "I would like to be on my way."

I frowned at her bluntness. Can't you read the atmosphere here?

Koizumi was the one who had found, and gave back, Iku's hat. She dusted it off, and casually put it back on. She then appeared to remember her torn shawl, and looked around - but the wind had blown them away somewhere. "Ah, great. Those were a gift..."

"Miss Iku?" She turned to Koizumi. He gave a genuine smile, and bowed. "It was an honor to fight you. I am in debt to how far you pushed me."

Iku stared at him for a moment, before the corner of her mouth cracked to a smile. "Very well. I enjoyed our battle too." She looked to Cirno, who was still sitting. "And you?"

Cirno angrily tried to get up again, but was held down by the other fairies - they were telling her to rest.

"Don't overreach your power, little fairy. It's not smart to go up against random youkai."

"But did you really have to stop her heart?" asked Sunny in annoyance.

"I-"

"Yeah, defended yourself. You said that already." The fairies just had such scorn on their faces.

Iku bowed. "I admit it was a bit overkill. For that, I apologize." She turned to us. "Now if you don't mind, I have my purpose to fulfill." Iku walked to the end of the bridge, and gave another bow. "I bid you farewell, and good luck, if you are to face that celestial." Iku then did another one of her poses, and lightning struck her hand - it didn't go away. Again, like a rope, this carried her up into the clouds.

"Hey!" Reimu shouted up at the youkai. "What's the name of this celestial?"

"Her name is Tenshi, human! And she is far stronger than I!"

Again, you could have knocked me over with a feather. I numbly stared as Iku disappeared into the clouds.

Tenshi.

The one who was able to go up against a Miracle Mallet powered Seija?! During the resistance, Reimu said that Remilia, Yoshika, and Tenshi were still up. It had to be that blue haired girl, the one in the blue dress. I never got a good look at her, as I was definitely preoccupied with other matters, but...

We have to take on that girl?!

In the corner of my eye, I noticed Yukari was staring at me, noticing my reaction, her face impassive. Crap. She knows I know that name. She has to.

But she didn't say anything about it.

"Man." Marisa stared up at where Iku disappeared to. "I bet swimming in the clouds feels good, ze."

I slowly turned to her, unable to discern what she meant by that. Thankfully it broke me out of that realization for a bit, but I was just confused by what she said.

She noticed me, and raised an eyebrow. "What? You never thought about what it feels like to swim in fluffy clouds, ze?"

You really are insane. But you're not incorrect.

We picked up an escort. Aya had indeed came through for us, so that the tengu wouldn't attack, but there was still one following us. Escorting, to make sure we didn't do anything detrimental to tengu interests while on the mountain. Whoever she was, she was in white, and appeared to be some sort of wolf girl, with a red leaf on her shield. I didn't get a good look at her, however, but I think I've seen her somewhere before. Reimu said that this one was a sentry tengu, a white wolf, and that she'd dealt with her before. Anyway, the tengu hung back far enough from us so that she wasn't really a concern, but still, she was following us. It was just a little unnerving to be followed like that by someone armed with a sword.

We continued on the path up the mountain, as it was a short walk to the summit. Basically we followed the river up, as it would reach the lake, which was near the Moriya Shrine.

Of course, in the back of my mind, besides me worried about Yukari noticing my reaction to Tenshi's name, and that we were being followed, I couldn't get the thought of Sanae out of my head. We were so close to her home.

It's been over, what, seven, eight years since middle school? Four since that crossroad. What would I even say to her if I meet her again? Will she even remember me? So many questions, especially with the ones I wanted to ask her. Why didn't you tell me you were part god? What can you do? Do you have any abilities? Are you superhuman- I had to shut that down. It wasn't going to do me any good to get distracted. Like Reimu had to keep her anger in check, I myself had to remain focused on the task at hand.

"-A celestial is poison to the body of a proper youkai, and my natural enemy. I'm naturally weak against them as well, and all of their energies." Yukari pointed to herself. "I'm not a holy being, after all. Far from it."

Oh, right. Yukari was giving her rundown on the upcoming enemy during our walk to the summit. I had phased out of it upon the Moirya shrine's realization, but I brought myself back to what was being said.

Reimu was nodding, arms crossed. "Can they be put down?"

"Oh, yes, just like anything else, if you know how to do it properly. Generally, celestials are ascended humans, obviously. Rewarded through their faith, earning their way into nirvana, or other favors. And yes, the gods do favor them. Compared to regular humans, they're unaging, yes, and have super powers. Superhuman, super strong, super smart. And again, I can't stress this enough, youkai are weak against them. Celestials are even powerful enough to kill gods, due to their weapons."

"Isn't that kind of... counterproductive, ze?" Marisa said wryly. "They're favored by the gods, but it makes them able to kill gods?"

That is totally counterproductive and is just asking for a rebellion, if someone wanted to do such a thing.

"It's the weapons. Celestial weapons are on the same level of divine weapons. And besides, since they're in Heaven, generally they don't have many wants. So the gods have nothing to fear from them."

"But, Lady Yukari." Youmu slowed her walk to a stop, making the rest of us stop, with Yukari taking a few extra steps ahead of us. There was concern on the gardener's face. "If they can kill gods, and you are naturally weak against them..."

Yeah, hold on. Yukari, why are you here?

Yukari let out a breath, and turned to us, smiling a tired smile. "Yes. I am really at a disadvantage here. I think you know how easily they can take down beings like me if they can kill gods."

"So why be here, Lady Yukari, if you're running to fight someone who you are ultimately weak against?"

"It's obvious, isn't it?" She looked out at the expanse of the land. "My Gensokyo is directly threatened, and this incident was altered somehow. I can't allow what happened during the Endless Night or Spring Snow to repeat here." She returned her attention to us, determination on her face. "I am not weakened like I was during Endless Night, nor am I prohibited from entering the area of the instigator as in Spring Snow, so I can give it my all here."

"But Heaven-"

Yukari raised her hand. "Youmu. Enough. I'm not about to sit idly by this time. I need to be here, because if things have changed, we might still fail, even with all of us."

"What do you mean?" I shot a glance to Reimu, and then back to Yukari. "Reimu's got this, right?" Yukari lowering her eyes made me fall silent.

"This... Tenshi normally would have gone at the incident resolver at about half power, and yes, lose, but... then she'd defeat everyone in Gensokyo, including Reimu, including me, just by increasing her power a bit. Yes, we would prevent the earthquake, but Tenshi is far and above us." Yukari stared into Reimu's eyes. "She ultimately defeats you, Reimu. And that's not the worst part."

How does it get any worse?

Yukari motioned for us to continue so we wouldn't lose the remaining daylight.

"So she just goes through us?" asked Sakuya.

"Like a hot knife through butter." Yukari lowered her head. "In the original timeline, you all fought so hard against her, yet she just takes you all down." She shook her head. "No, but that's not it. The reason why I'm really worried about this one is that Tenshi has been watching Gensokyo."

She went silent, I guess to have us realize it. It took me a few moments, but it struck me. I was about to say it, but Marisa beat me to it.

"Whoa. She knows you went to the future to scout out the incidents, ze?"

"Yes. She knows we're coming, and she has the information on all of us. She has to know that I know about this incident, and what will happen. She's ready."

This did get worse. I needed to stop jinxing myself. Again, this was like with Seija. Someone taking advantage of this time travel thing. I couldn't help but glare at Yukari, as this was her fault on both accounts. You may have done some good, but your meddling with time has caused some really bad situations. Now I see why you're here. Tenshi might actually win this first fight and destroy Gensokyo instead of defeating you guys later after you save it. I rubbed my temples, trying to get rid of the headache I got from this realization. Once again I got dragged into a very bad situation because of Yukari.

Still... Yasumi thinks I'm important enough to be here. There was that. I was brought in, so I had to be important. These six vials better be enough, because I don't know how I'm going to contribute otherwise, unless I get really lucky with the Icicle Fall, can somehow use these two dolls efficiently, or have enough power to bring out Asakura. And speaking of that, would Asakura be able to go up against Tenshi?

"You mentioned celestial weapons." Reisen hurried up to near Yukari's side. "Does this celestial have such a weapon?"

"Oh, most definitely. A shape shifting weapon that can become whatever the wielder desires. Even armor, if need be."

That sounds like the ultimate cheating weapon. Awesome to have, but... wow. So not only can it attack in any way, but also protect?

"Wait wait wait." Komachi stopped, frowning. "...Not that, right?"

With a somber look on her eyes, Yukari turned to the shinigami. "I'm afraid so, Miss Onozuka."

I didn't like the look on their faces. I'm gonna hate this, aren't I?

"The Sword of Hisou." Komachi's face was grim. "One of the more powerful divine weapons. It uses the spirit energy that surrounds the area to power it up. It can even use the energy of the person its fighting against, and attack using the weakness of that person. It actively counters to the specific person it's fighting against. It can control weather, and cause earthquakes, and... so much more. The worse thing it can do is to draw out the ki, the soul of a living or non-living thing, and destroy it. It can erase beings. Even gods."

Yep, I hate it. I wanted to start screaming. How are we supposed to stand up to that? So, what, if we piss her off too much she has the ability to erase us? I was probably one of the first people ever to not look forward in going to Heaven.

No wonder she was able to stand up to Miracle Mallet Seija. Even when Seija made herself the absolute strongest, Tenshi still hung in there with a cheating weapon of her own. One that can automatically detect and use the weakness of its target? Screw that weapon.

Reisen had her arms crossed. "Okay, but what if we were able to take their weapons? If this one is wielding such a devastating item, then we can just take it away, right? Use it on them?" Already the soldier was coming up with a battle plan. The obvious threat was the weapon, so why not take it out of the equation?

Yukari shook her head. "Only a celestial or divine person can wield celestial weapons. And those things can lay waste to armies." She looked over us. "And this group is way smaller than an army. If she was serious, she could kill all of us without much effort." Yukari noticed our concern. "But, she's been messing with the rules of danmaku. Her weather effects are specific to it." She nodded to Reimu. "She'll play by the rules, to a point. She expects to win, though, because she is more powerful than most creatures than what you're accustomed to. And there's also the fact that she's not above cheating."

Great. So I guess she's Seija before there was a Seija. "She's going to be wielding such a weapon during this fight, and we can't do anything about it?" Because that sounds totally unfair.

"Can we make her drop it?"

"If you hit her hand, yes, but you can't interact with it, unless you're another celestial, a god, or you're favored by a god."

That kind of limits our actions. At least with Seija, we were able to neutralize the Mallet. A god killer? Because let's face it - that's what the weapon was. I don't know how we would begin to approach someone who had such a weapon.

Reisen stopped, causing all of us to do so as well. She rubbed her forehead, showing some frustration and anger at Yukari. "So, wait. You're saying that our home, our home, is in danger, and that we may not be enough to stop it." She pointed to the rest of Gensokyo. "That this celestial or whoever she is, you're acting like she'll wipe us out, and totally destroy Gensokyo." Reisen spread her arms. "Then why the hell are we the only ones here? Shouldn't you have gotten an army to defend our home? You're not the only one living here. Why send such a small group against such a threat?"

I was about to agree with Reisen, when Reimu scoffed. "Yeah, now you know how I feel during most incidents."

"That would be the concern I would have under normal circumstances." Yukari twirled her closed parasol, smiling. "You see, all of you have become far stronger than in a vanilla timeline, due to preparations for the upcoming incident." She turned, looking over all of us. "I believe this group has the chance to stand up to her, even if she goes closer to full power. You have been training for another incident, but this one had to come up first. I know I have emphasized the danger, because the danger is real. If I thought we needed more, I'd have brought Yuyuko and Suika with us, and, yes, more people. I have faith in each and every one of you, that you are ready, not only for this, but for what's coming in the winter. And truthfully, this will be a good test, to see if you really are ready for the underground incident."

Reisen slowly nodded, but still appeared to be unsatisfied. "And if we don't win? If this goes FUBAR?"

Reisen didn't say the acronym.

Yukari then lowered her head. "...If we can't defeat her... then we aren't ready at all to save the world, much less Gensokyo, and we may deserve that destruction."

That silenced Reisen. And nobody else had anything to say about that. No, it was true. Everyone had been getting ready for a world ender. And if everyone here couldn't defend one piece of land, then how could they realistically defend the entire world? If I can't help Gensokyo survive, then how can I expect myself to survive? How can I expect to save the world if I can't save Gensokyo? It was a little harsh, though. I wouldn't have said it the way Yukari did just then. Still, it got the point across, and Yukari did say she trusted us to be enough for it. We were silent for the remaining walk up the mountain. I think we all agreed with Yukari on that matter. I know I did. If we were unable to handle a celestial, then we were nowhere close to handle someone who absorbed a god, let alone one who could use nuclear power.

Of course, that was pure conjecture on my part. I had no way to gauge the power of such creatures, so I had to assume. I mean, it would make sense that a real god is above a real celestial, right? Unless there were weak gods out there... actually there were. I mentioned that already. Scratch that thought then.

It wasn't long until we reached an open area near the summit. We turned around a rock formation, and I stopped in my tracks, seeing the lake before me, and the worn dirt path becoming a stone path. My eyes went up to the main focus of this area, besides the lake.

The Moriya Shrine.

I knew what it was, because of the pictures that Haruhi had in the club room. A Shinto shrine like the Hakurei Shrine, but slightly bigger, the Moriya Shrine sat on a hill up on this level of the mountain. A stone staircase led up there, with a brown, wooden gate at the bottom of the stairs. Sanae's shrine and home, and there were already lights on inside. Someone had to be there.

My heart rose up in my chest, as I was so close to Sanae again. It wasn't like I was obsessed over her, but the constant pictures of her in the clubroom and her shrine just... I don't know... made me want to see her. Haruhi's obsession with it led to it becoming a constant in my mind. For over a year, I've known about you, Sanae. What you really are. We've only been classmates for a year, but... if I had just known. If I had just known what you were, my life would have been totally different. I may not have ever needed the Brigade if I was with her. I never would have lost my belief in the paranormal if I just knew who she was.

"Kyon," said Yukari. "Sanae is not a part of this incident. She can't come, and we mustn't bother her. I've already deviated from the timeline enough. We can't risk any more changes."

I gulped, and nodded, taking in deep breaths. I was so close to her, after a long while of Haruhi wanting us to find Sanae. Yet so far.

The basket was ready. Everything was ready. She had chosen the proper place to fight, an open field where nobody was to bother her. It was quite expansive, able to hold many in battle, and she ached for it. She knew who was coming - the miko and the witch she had sorely wanted to meet, but the maid and the others would be making the fight even more interesting. The chronomancer, the samurai gardener, the esper, the immortal pyromancer... And if those fairies are still around, I'll have to contend with the cryomancer. They would be bringing so many fun abilities with them.

Tenshi kept staring at the place where they would come in, trying to remember if the way was open on their side. It wouldn't matter if it wasn't - they had the shinigami to open the way.

She had a heavy heart, upon hearing what Yukari had to say. Tenshi had wanted to do this, to challenge Reimu and the others, so she could have a grand fight, but...

They could lose not just Gensokyo, but their world. The upcoming incident, the underground one, Tenshi had heard of. Four years ago, she was lucky to catch some of the conversation they had in the limo by sheer luck. She thought it weird that Yukari disappeared during the full moon celebration, then reappeared in a limo with them, yet also reappeared during the celebration at the same time. She was torn on who to listen to, with the Yukari at the celebration being interviewed by Aya.

She made a point talking about the physical time travel device, and also saying that her servant was the one who guarded her when she was asleep. It was a weird interview, and it bothered Tenshi. I don't know. It felt so... artificial, when I heard it. What was even weirder was that Yukari did not have her servants with her for that.

The interview was over rather quickly, so she then turned her attention to the limo, and barely caught the bits and pieces about the underground incident. But when she returned her attention to the party, that Yukari was already gone. And the Yukari in the limo never went back in time - just went home and slept after dropping everybody off. Yukari's actions aside, Tenshi clasped her hands, putting them under her chin. The Brigade had gone over what was to come when Haruhi wasn't around, so that information was readily available. The celestial was surprised when she found out that the reason an amanojaku suddenly appeared outside Kyon's home was to take him to the future. She had later heard Kyon tell the Brigade what had happened, and it fascinated Tenshi. If only I had paid more attention to that. And apparently he came back from a future where he had died, along with several others, because of the underground incident.

So what do I do? Do I just go through with my original plan and crush them? Yukari says I win if I go over half my power. Or do I let myself lose, letting them think they are ready, which causes them to get themselves killed if they aren't?

She actually felt... responsible for this. She had the information, so what should she do with it? Warn them? Allow it to happen? Take action? If some of them died, then they wouldn't be around to be entertaining... No... not just that. Tenshi would miss them.

Like she pondered earlier, Tenshi had invested a lot of time with Gensokyo and Haruhi, almost to the point of obsession in the past few years. Nothing was as grand as that year of 2004, but it was still interesting to see them go about their daily lives. She even came to care about them in some way, to get invested in their struggles, their lives, and their drive to live on. For the past four years, they had been focused on this year, and its incident in the winter, getting ready to take it head on. Kyon himself even had a specific drive, talking about the future beyond this year, and doing his best to play boyfriend while all the while the ticking clock continued forward to the day he could die. Interesting that he told the Brigade about that, but not anyone in Gensokyo. Even Yukari appears to be in the dark. Tenshi ultimately decided against sharing that information - it wasn't her place.

I did this so I could be a part of their world, to get away from my dull existence up here... and it's threatened. I don't know what to do here. Am I destined to lose the first fight, and then take them all down later? Do I go above half power? Do I crush their hopes and drive, just to satisfy myself? Or do I just go along with the timeline that Yukari says happens for the sake of maintaining it?

Actually, that brought up another thought. Everybody already lived through their lives, in order for Asahina to exist. Most of them had already gone and died before Asahina could come back. Twice, really. Meaning, that since time travel exists, it means we've already done all of this. I've already lost. And won, on the flip side. Then time continued, Asahina was born, time travel became a reality, and she came back, making this timeline, grew up, and then became the one to send herself back. And then making even more timelines, with the time traveler interference.

This is just way too tricky to ponder sometimes. But most mortal lives have already been lived. People like Kyon, Reimu, Koizumi, Marisa... they're already dead in Asahina's eyes. Their lives are just being relived because of time traveler interference. That notion was sobering. She had never felt like this, and it was troubling in and of itself. All these different people getting together to stand against something that threatened their world, despite all that. They even had the Moon rabbit with them, after what the Lunarians at Eientei did to them during the 'second invasion.' And they accepted the rabbit's help.

It was... inspiring. Putting aside their personal differences to save the world. It was something she had wanted to be a part of. Something special she dreamed of involving herself in. And I'm here, ready to end it for my own amusement.

Those extra months have given her more anticipation, but also more time to think it through. She never thought she'd regret this plan, but there she was.

Her heart became heavier, as she lowered her head.

What do I do?

What do I do?

What do I do?

It was him. She watched from the shadows as he stared up from down the hill, before they continued on their way to the top. She had continued to watch until they were out of sight, before she stepped into the remaining light of the day.

Her heart had fluttered at seeing how handsome he had become. The last time she saw him was in middle school, and she had a secret crush on him, even if it was just a small one. Her cheeks flushed as she remembered the times she had spent with him, as it was the only real time she ever even talked to a boy during that time frame.

I wish I could have told you what I was.

The two goddesses with her had advised against her talking about her lineage so casually. One such goddess was approaching - the one she had descended from, and also the goddess the shrine itself was named after.

"Sanae?"

Sanae Kochiya turned to her. The small god smiled at her. Suwako stood there, hands on her hips. She was the size of a child, with shoulder-length blonde hair, and a pleasant aura about her. She had long white sleeves with a short purple dress with frog designs on it. "Yes, Lady Suwako?"

"I know that you had feelings for that boy. Oh, do I ever remember." The goddess chuckled, running her fingers through her hair. "Yet he was right there. Why didn't you go to him? That was the perfect chance to go see him."

Sanae lowered her head. "I'm afraid."

"Afraid of what? That he might not remember you?" The goddess vigorously shook her head and moved even closer. "No no no no. Gensokyo isn't the place for someone like you to be afraid! You have my blood, after all! Gods and goddesses are revered here, and you know his history. Yakumo shared the Brigade's information with us. He's perfectly fine with the paranormal, so you can't be afraid that he wouldn't accept you." The god patted her hand on the small of Sanae's back. "Why are you so afraid? C'mon, you can tell me."

Sanae didn't answer her.

Suwako searched her descendant's eyes. "Or... are you afraid that he will remember you?"

"You know the information - he already has a girlfriend."

"Really? That's it?" Suwako laughed. "And you had a boyfriend in high school. Both of you moved on from middle school. That's life, ain't it?" The goddess patted her on the back. "You can't be clinging to that past. Time changes, time moves on, as do people, dammit. The two of you have changed, evolved, and grown. You just desperately cling to him because he was a shining moment in a lonely part of your life, when you were beginning that teenage angst stuff."

"You know what it was like for me. You were there for it."

Suwako gave a grin. "Yes, Sanae, I know. You aren't the first family member I've watched go through their teenage years. But that was you. You were awakening to your powers, and you were afraid of what they could do, so you shut yourself off from everyone else. Everyone but him." The goddess chuckled again. "That is, when you weren't playing cupid."

A small smile formed on Sanae's face. "Ah... I just-"

"I know. You wanted to play a goddess when you heard you had divine blood, and thought you could decide what you were. Teenage arrogance." Suwako rolled her eyes. "You wanted to be a love goddess - but isn't that kind of hypocritical of you? I mean, you wanted people to be happy, which isn't a bad thing, but you denied your own happiness? That disappointed me, Sanae. I thought your parents and I raised you smarter than that."

Sanae smiled. Her ancestor could be blunt at times, yes, but she did care for her family, and sought to do the right thing for them.

"Sanae, you used your miracle powers to bring people together. That really is a good thing."

"And if I used my powers on him, it would have been irresponsible."

The two of them went quiet for a moment. Suwako slowly nodded. "Ah. Now I get it. Finally I see it."

"If I had concentrated my power, I could have gotten him to love me. But it wouldn't have been real." Sanae shook her head. "That wouldn't have been satisfying."

Suwako slightly shoved Sanae's arm. "But I think he did like you. He was handsome then, and he's a real looker now, you know!"

"What do you mean?" Sanae then blushed. "Oh, uh, not that last part, but the first. Ah..." She covered her face with her hands, to which Suwako laughed at.

"Sanae, it's okay. You're human. You have feelings and needs too." Suwako narrowed her eyes mischievously. "Truth be told, I wouldn't mind it if you added his bloodline to ours."

Sanae blushed even harder. "Lady Suwako!"

The god laughed for a moment. "No, I'm just messing with you." She sighed in contentment. "But no, why else would he spend his lunch breaks with you?" The goddess smiled at her. "He obviously enjoyed your company, and the both of you had the same interests. You wasted so much time talking about anime, manga, ghost stories, and all that. And those video game discussions just went on and on." She sighed. "The point is, Sanae, is that the two of you were more similar than you originally thought. You didn't need any powers to make him like you. You were yourself, and he enjoyed being with that person. You were just too afraid to take the jump."

Sanae slowly nodded. "Maybe."

"But on the other hand, it's good that you two didn't stay together. Otherwise you would have broken his heart by now in disappearing to Gensokyo." The goddess motioned to the sight before them. "And now? Now you do have a chance to be together again on equal footing, on a case of where you can be your true self. You don't have to hide who you are to him. And maybe you won't be with him as lovers, as you had wanted to, but as friends. There is no reason not to do so." The goddess clasped her hands. "So, the question is, what will you do now?"

Sanae kept quiet, and turned back to where he had been. "I don't know."

I don't know. What do I do?

Suwako lightly patted Sanae on the back. "May I make a suggestion, however? Just go to him."

Sanae tensed, not expecting that.

"Just go to him. What's it gonna hurt? I mean, what's the worse that can happen? You're just gonna reunite with an old friend. That's all it is."

Sanae still wasn't going. Suwako got right next to her. "Okay, how about this?" Sanae looked down at Suwako, and the god had narrowed her eyes. "If you don't go to him, I got a lot of chores for you to do right now." She then slyly shrugged. "Buuuut, if you do go to him, I guess I can do them myself."

The miko blinked. "Blackmailing? Really?"

"Hey, I'm family." Suwako gave a toothy grin. "I do get to blackmail you, okay? Just go."

I didn't see Cirno leave, and the other three fairies had disappeared again a while back. I didn't know if they had left or not, but we obviously didn't have time to ponder their absence.

After continuing down a path further up the mountain, we were on a cliff, with the summit not too far from our position, so we were pretty much at the top, as the path seemingly ended at said cliff. And the view...

"I keep forgettin' how big Gensokyo is." Mokou flicked her cigarette, rubbing it into the ground with her shoe, while still staring out at the expanse.

"If you'd actually go elsewhere besides the human village and the Bamboo Forest, you'd actually remember that, ze." Marisa smirked, her attention on Gensokyo as well - we all were entranced with the sight. "But yeah, it really is big."

We could see just about everything, including places I never saw before. Well, I did, but they were covered in snow when we flew over them. There appeared to be some ruins on the western part of Gensokyo. I asked what they were, but Yukari simply told me 'they're not important right now.'

How big is Gensokyo anyways? That was one of the grey areas of the reports. As the barrier was prone to bring in things, it was kind of fluctuating. Expanding, contracting, not even retaining a circle shape at times. But by Emiri's estimates, it hovered around 40 square km, if I remembered it correctly. I think that bothered the data entities, that Gensokyo constantly shifted like that, because Emiri's reports regarding that went on and on about the differences at various times of the day, month, and year. I considered asking Yukari again, but something told me she'd just repeat with 'that's not important.' And she'd be right. Gensokyo is pretty much its own thing, its own universe, constantly shifting, expanding. Seemingly staying the same yet always evolving to accommodate what's going on within.

I've personally seen only, what, parts of this place? The lake, the SDM, the Hakurei Shrine, that weird store, the human village, parts of the Forest of Magic, parts of the Bamboo Forest of the Lost, Eientei, Mayohiga, and some small paths in between. That's not enough. Standing from where I was, I estimated I've seen way less than even a quarter of what Gensokyo had to offer. Even that day, I was flown up the mountain, so I had skipped most of the mountain proper, including the kappa and the tengu villages that were supposed to be around there. And considering that there was enough room near the top to hold a proper lake, the sheer size of Youkai mountain was big. Even bigger than Mount Fuji - big enough to accommodate two separate villages, a forest (called youkai forest) a river system with various waterfalls, a lake, and a shrine.

Seriously I've only seen a fraction of Gensokyo. I've only seen bits and parts of the eastern side. Maybe one day, if I was bold enough and had the proper escort, I'd make the effort to explore this place.

Reimu kept her eyes on where her shrine was. She was just so quiet, letting her rage simmer, getting ready to unleash it on the one behind this. I walked up to her, standing at her side. "Are you prepared?"

The miko blinked, still not taking her eyes off her shrine. "Yes."

"That's not what I meant." When she gave me a nasty look, I sighed. I gotta be careful here - she might go off on me. "I understand your anger. I understand the rage you feel when someone threatens something personal of yours."

"You never-"

I held up my hand. "Reimu, I understand, okay? Just hear me out. You're just focused on what happened to your shrine."

Reimu bluntly responded to me. "It's my home, Kyon."

"And that's the problem." Her anger got replaced by confusion, as she stared at me dumbfounded. "You already lost focus today, and what happened?"

Reimu clenched her fists, lowering her head, not speaking for a few seconds. "No. No you're right." She took a deep breath and let it out, allowing herself to look at the rest of Gensokyo. "You're right. I can't let that define me now. Rage is useful, but it can cause one to lose focus, and I've been out of focus all day." She slowly shook her head, before giving me a smile. "But that doesn't change the fact that I'll tear this celestial apart."

I smiled back. "I wouldn't expect any less. I just need the badass fighter that you are to shine today, because while I have these two-" I pointed to Shanghai and Hourai. "-I am not confident enough in my own abilities to actually contribute in the actual fighting of something like a celestial. I'm relying on you girls to do your thing."

She gave me rather hard pat on the back. "Come on, you'll do fine with healing us."

"I only got six vials."

"It's more than you had going into the fight with Suou, and you came out of that one in one piece with her bleeding all over the place." She returned her attention to the view. "You got this." She paused, before speaking again. "You wanna know something? When Suou took you into that closed space, I really thought you would have died, but you proved me wrong."

I pursed my lips for a second. "You thought I'd die?" Really?

"Part of me did. But the other part knew you went in there with her weakness." She gave me another smile. "You took on something that could alter reality, when she wanted to kill you, and not only did you walk away, but you left her bleeding on the floor. That is not bad for a normal human being, you know."

Thanks for the vote of confidence. You have more confidence for me than I do when it comes to paranormal beings. She was right - I did have more vials going into this one than against Suou. As long as I was smart with them, I could keep the girls up and running during the fight. I'd prefer not to be left alone again like with Suou, however. I have the dolls, yes, but I do not want to deal with that. I lacked that confidence that Reimu had in me.

We shared a silent moment at what was before us. "It really is easy to forget how big Gensokyo is." Reimu slightly shook her head. "And to think that we're just a part of a bigger country, which is just an island for a continent, which is just one of seven in the world." She sighed. "I just feel so small sometimes."

Yeah. This view is just one of many in this world. Reimu has been limited to this land of Gensokyo - she hasn't seen much else of Japan, much less Asia. She only got out during that visit, but for her to be stuck here? You need to see more of the world. I can appreciate you protecting this land, but there is a whole world out there. Though if you feel small just from this, then I pray you don't try to grasp how big the universe is, and how small we really are. Country, Continent, planet, solar system, super cluster, galaxy... And that the Milky Way Galaxy is about one hundred thousand light years big, yet the observable universe is over 90 billion light years in diameter.

Actually, you didn't just go spend that time with the Brigade. You did go out into space and to the Moon. Imagine the view. If only I could see that, if I could travel to that place... Travel...

I looked to Reimu again. "I've been meaning to ask you. Since when could you teleport?"

She let out a little scoff. "I think I was born with it."

"...Excuse me?"

She kept her eyes on the horizon. "Kyon, there's a lot about me that even I don't understand. I mean, knowing that I'm directly tied to Gensokyo and its border, and therefore the youkai power, it kind of makes sense?" Reimu shrugged. "But I just don't know all of my abilities. I've just barely scratched the surface of what I could do - in that Moon 'invasion', I was able to channel a few gods into me."

Right. That's what helped Reimu have a fighting chance against that Lunarian, before she lost.

"And the Fantasy Nature? I can keep that going forever, if I wanted to. Placed into a spell card, that's what limits it."

"So you can endlessly toss out an infinite number of danmaku, if you ever let yourself go all out?"

"Apparently." Reimu chuckled. "You know, when Marisa saw me do that the first time, she freaked out."

"Because it was unfair, ze." Marisa was over with Reisen talking about something, and had obviously overheard us. "That thing needed to be limited. Otherwise it wouldn't be fun to play danmaku against Reimu."

Yeah, I'll say. With the Untitled card, you can at least have somewhat of a chance. The Fantasy Nature? I don't see anybody standing up to that finisher when it activates.

"Still, when did you learn to teleport?"

"Okay, that?" Reimu scratched her head, a small quizzical look on her face. "That kept happening to me, actually. Sometimes I'd find myself in another place in an instant. I was freaking out for a bit, because I thought I was experiencing blackouts. And then it happened in front of Marisa."

"I suggested she visit Yukari to control it, ze. If anyone knows how to teleport, it'd be her."

"You didn't take kindly to actually going to Yukari for help," said Koizumi. "I assume."

"Nah, but let's face it, she knows teleporting." Reimu shrugged noncommittally. "And that's it. She helped me learn how to control it, and I can do short range teleports. I need to know where I'm going to do it, so there is a limit." Reimu stretched, and sighed, looking tired.

I would love to have some of the powers you girls possess, even at just a fraction. Teleportation, holy powers, time stoppage, unmatched swordsmanship, immortality, among others. I'd kill for them... No, that's too much of an extreme.

"This is the first time I've seen you so worked up, you know?" Komachi had made her way to us. "You're not the type of person to hate anybody."

Reimu gave Komachi a glare. "My home-"

"Yeah, I know." Komachi shook her head, frowning. "But you can't fool me, you know. I can see it in your heart. You're forcing yourself to be this way - to maintain the feeling of this anger over losing your home." Komachi noticed my confusion over this, and she used her thumb to point at the miko. "Truth is? Reimu is too innocent-hearted. That's why she always appears to befriend youkai instead of really chasing them away and making them fear her."

Except she couldn't befriend Seija. Maybe the inchling - I mean, the inchling lived at the shrine, but not Seija.

Reimu's eyes narrowed. "Slackmeister..."

Komachi pointed again. "See? That's what I'm talking about. You forcing yourself to have that gaze, trying to be intimidating, but you can't hold hatred in your heart. Annoyance, maybe, but you can't hate." Komachi yawned and stretched. "You're just gonna wear yourself out by doing this to yourself, you know? Holding onto the anger ain't doing you any good at all. Just, I dunno, go along with the incident like you usually do." Reimu didn't say anything, just kept that gaze. Komachi shrugged, and replied with a "Okay, whatever."

This was an interesting bit to take in as we all stood in silence again. If I were to take Komachi's word for it, and let's face it, the shinigami didn't seem to have any reason to lie about Reimu at that point; but let's take that and try to use it to counter Seija's reasonings. Seija treats Reimu as a dictator in some sense, or at least an enforcer. Yet Seija's only real dealing with Reimu had to have been during her incident, when Seija was cheating, and managed to be defeated despite cheating. That would set anybody off, that you cheating wasn't enough to take down someone playing within the rules. I know I'd be upset, and try to convince myself that the winner was the real one cheating. Otherwise I'd have to face the fact that I wasn't good enough.

...Is that it? Is it that simple regarding Seija's grievances with Reimu? That she came up with such a convoluted rebellion to take down someone she couldn't beat even when cheating?

Seija had said that I wasn't a good enough person to judge Reimu as I hadn't even spent a week with the miko. But realistically, how much time had the amanojaku spent? She couldn't have spent much, and when she was there, she was losing. So, Seija would have had to look for information in a world of fantasy. She would have had to look for people or youkai with their own grievances with the miko. Seija did not seem to be the kind of person to accept good points - in fact, she'd probably ignore any good information and focus on collecting all the bad information to make her case and justifications. And the reality is, I'd take a shinigami's word over an amanojaku's. Komachi doesn't seem like someone who lies often. Maybe little ones to help her out in her slacking, but no, I just had this feeling that Komachi was telling the truth about this. I mean, does this shinigami have any real reason to lie?

Youmu was the first to break from the view, looking around us. "Uhm, Lady Yuyuko told me that the final goal was up here, but where is the entrance?"

I wanted to slap myself. I was so preoccupied with the view and my thoughts that I had forgotten where we were going. Looking around, I had forgotten what I was thinking about Seija. There was nothing. No doorway, no shining bright light, no portal to take us anywhere. I sighed. "It's not like trying to find the Sanzu, is it?" I don't feel like walking around a specific path to unlock the way.

"I hope not." Sakuya frowned, her hands on her hips. "That was just annoying. It would have been so much easier if we just could go from point A to point B, but it didn't work like that."

Again, I'm glad I wasn't there for that.

"Hmph." Reisen was rerolling her shirt sleeves, and was frowning too. "So, what path do we have to take? Do we have to go back down, follow the river, go through a cave or something?"

"It doesn't matter what path it is." Komachi smirked. "You guys have me." She twirled her scythe. "Just... hang on. I've heard that for humans, that experiencing this brings a sense of euphoria."

"Experiencing what?"

She gave me a huge grin. "You'll see."

After having us back away, Komachi walked over to the cliff of the mountain, one that had a particularly steep drop. She raised her scythe, and struck the ground with the handle. It partially went in, and a light emitted from where she struck the ground. Turning the handle like with a key and a keyhole, we heard an unlocking noise. So yeah, it was like a key. The light faded...

And we were awash in a different light.

Out of nowhere, at the edge of the cliff, a set of stairs made from gold had appeared, leading up to a golden door. The light that came from the cracks of the door was so bright. When it hit our bodies, it had an effect - my eyes became teary, and a warm sensation rose in my chest. I couldn't help but stare at that. It was like that for most of my companions as well - the sensation obviously went through all of us. Yukari was the only one who shunned the light, and Youmu didn't appear to mind what was happening.

I really was experiencing a sense of euphoria. At that moment, I just felt so many positive emotions coursing through my body. Tears were falling from my eyes due to this experience, and as I wiped them away, I couldn't help but gasp out. "Is that...?"

Komachi turned to us, still smiling. "It's been a while since I've done this. Opening the way to Heaven for someone." Her eyes went to Yukari. "So is this it, Yakumo?"

Yukari nodded, still shielding her eyes. "It is. I thank you for your help this day. I owe you."

Komachi chuckled and bowed. "I know you're good for it. Having you in debt is always a great thing." She brought out a pocket watch, some slight concern appearing on her face. "Whelp, I need to get back to work. The dead won't ferry themselves, and I don't want to be yelled at for taking this long a break." With that, the shinigami distance-jumped out of sight, leaving us.

Standing there, at the stairway to the most important afterlife in human society, I should have come up with something smart to say. Or witty. I don't know. I was in complete awe of this sight, and the positive feeling wasn't going away. But no, like with "Get dunked on," I failed to come up with something appropriate for the situation at hand. All I could mutter was "Whoa" like an idiot.

"Never thought I'd get to do this." Mokou said, wiping at her eyes. "I... I'll never go there. But, now? Now I get to see it?"

Right... you can't die, so you... I began to feel sorry for her. While not staying dead is a big plus, she'd never officially make it to the afterlife.

"I even gonna be able to go in there, Yakumo?"

"I don't see why not. You just can't get in there through the normal way, but you should be able to get in there through this physical way."

"The Lunarian princess visited Lady Yuyuko once in Hakugyokorou," said Youmu, as she began to ascend the stairs. She turned to Mokou. "She was just fine, and that's my afterlife realm."

I guess that answers that. So just like with Hakugyokorou, there is a way to physically enter the other afterlife realms that are accessible even to immortals.

Mokou raised an eyebrow at Reisen. "Why'd she wanna visit that ghost?"

The soldier merely shrugged, a wry smile on her face. "Because she felt like it."

I'm guessing that's the motive for a lot of Kaguya's actions, due to your response.

Still in awe, we followed Youmu up the stairs.

"This isn't the main entrance, is it, ze?" Marisa began to show a little bit of disappointment. "I mean, for such an important place, I thought it'd have a more grand entrance."

"Yeah wasn't the Hakugyokorou entrance a bit bigger than this?" Reimu scratched her head with her gohei. I think we were getting used to the euphoria, as the positive emotions were ebbing away. "Though that platform was stone, and not gold." The miko eyed the staircase. "...Would it be wrong if I-"

If you're planning on stealing a piece of the golden stairs to Heaven, "Yes, it would be." I can't believe you're even thinking that! What kind of Shinto priestess are you? Funny how Seija never mentioned that obvious flaw about Reimu - that she wasn't much of a religious figure to look up to. All the amanojaku griped about was how she got beat despite cheating.

"This is more like a back door. Or maybe calling it a side entrance might be more apt." Even Yukari was getting used to the light, as she wasn't bothered by it anymore. "Gensokyo has access to all the realms, after all. It's a crossroads for them."

Just like Meiling said, and Nitori confirmed.

Koizumi, who was up ahead, had turned around, his fake smile dropping a bit. "Sakuya?"

We turned. She was still on the cliff, clutching at a necklace of hers, with an unsure look on her face, staring down at the first step golden step. It didn't take me long to realize it. She was holding onto her cross. If her expectations of Heaven didn't match what we would see for ourselves, it would damage her faith again. Losing her faith twice... that would kill it for good.

"Sakuya," said Reimu as she stopped halfway up the staircase, "You don't have to come with us if you don't want to." Thankfully I wasn't the only one who understood the situation.

Actually, yeah, this is a delicate situation. Even for me. I know it's Heaven, but what if it doesn't match what I think it'd be due to my own beliefs? Let alone for Sakuya, or a Shinto shrine maiden, or... whatever other religion these girls follow. I was beginning to feel a little bit of uncertainty that I thought I would have. Do I even want to really see it? Should I see it? Do I deserve to even bathe in this light? A million different questions quickly sped through my mind, over the religious aspects of this, which hasn't happened. This was kind of different than what I went through for Hakugyokorou.

"No, I want to. And I don't want to." Sakuya lowered her eyes. "It's..."

She's having the same conflicts as I am right now.

"You don't have to explain yourself." Reimu looked to the doorway. "I understand. This isn't something you should take lightly."

The maid's grip around her cross tightened. "If it's not what it's supposed to be..."

"It's fine if you want to sit it out."

Sakuya stood there, still unsure if she should continue. I was about to go up to her, but Yukari approached her first.

"You'll be fine, Miss Izayoi. A lot of times..." Yukari held her parasol like cane, both hands on the handle. "A lot of times, our expectations of what something actually is turns out to be different. For instance, when Yuyuko became a ghost, I expected her to have her memories, for her to remember me, but..." Yukari let out a small sigh, and shook her head. "No, sorry. That was a wrong way for me to try to compare what you're experiencing to something from my life. The point, Miss Izayoi, is that you have make a decision. You were ordered by your master to be here in her stead. However, you face the dilemma of your faith versus the truth." Yukari placed her hand on Sakuya's shoulder. "But what you need to know is that we're going to a realm of Heaven. Just like out here, with closed space and different realms, Heaven has its own separate realms."

"So..." I glanced up to the golden door. "There's more than one Heaven?"

"In a way, yes." Yukari looked back at us, smiling. "It's just one part of Heaven, so don't fret if it doesn't match what you think it is. But you will enjoy it nonetheless." Returning her attention to Sakuya, Yukari lowered her head to meet Sakuya's eyes. "Do you understand? It's going to be fine."

The tension in Sakuya's body was ebbing away, as was her grip. She gave a shaky nod. "Okay."

Yukari chuckled. "Relax, Izayoi. It is in my best interest that a human maintains their faith. That's what Gensokyo is all about."

"So." Reimu looked to each of us with a serious look on her face. "Does anyone else have any apprehensions?"

Ah, this again. The final step before we go into the lair of the incident causer. Hakugyokorou and Eientei, where we were given the chance to back out of it.

Marisa shouldered her broom with a raised eyebrow. "Nah, we're good, ze. We know the stakes now, so there's no backing out." Marisa grinned while rubbing the back of her head. "And actually, I wanna see how Heaven looks. This might be my only chance at seeing it."

Don't say that so casually, even if you're joking.

"Okay, but..." Reimu looked to Yukari. "If what she's saying is true, that this celestial is tough, and carrying a legendary weapon like that, then I don't want any of us to really engage her until we can come up with a strategy." The miko returned her attention to us. "If you do fight her, do it in at least a pair. We have the numbers, so make use of them," A light bulb appeared to go off in her head as she realized something. "Oh, right. If you see the weather, call it out, okay? If you notice whatever effect is going on, call it out. The weather has been playing a factor in danmaku all day, so if that continues, we can use that to our advantage. Otherwise back off if she tries to single you out, got it?"

I've forgotten how good a leader you can play. Nobody had any objection to that plan, so we continued our ascension.

Walking up the stairs, the uncertainty I had felt was fading fast. The closer I got to the door, the more I wanted to see it. No, I needed to see it. Isn't this something. I hear I might die this year, and yet here I am willingly going to the afterlife. What a wild ride my life has been.

"Uhm, question, Miss Yakumo?" asked Koizumi.

"Yes?"

"If this is a realm of Heaven, then what kind of Heaven is this?"

Yukari thought about it for a moment, "I believe this is a Buddhist Heaven - Bhavaagra... I think?"

Buddhist Heaven, huh? So Miko screwed herself out of this because of her selfishness. At least she'd be able to visit it in a physical form when she woke up.

"Wouldn't that make this the highest form of Buddhist Heaven, then?" Reisen looked back at us, her brow furrowed in thought. "Ah, if my memory on the Buddhist religion serves me correct, then... there are three realms, but there is a realm even higher than that. In Buddhism, 'Bhavaagra' means 'Sphere of Neither Perception or Non-Perception', and that realm lies above the realms of..." She closed her eyes, searching for the words. "...Desire realm, form realm, and formless realm." She looked to Sakuya. "Think of those three Buddhist realms to be akin to purgatory. That's the closest example I can think of for your religion."

Sakuya nodded. "Okay, so they cast off themselves as they go higher."

"Exactly. But Bhavaagra is the end that they all seek to achieve."

Youmu looked to the door. "So this is the highest peak for Buddhism?"

"I think it's just the name, Konpaku." Yukari shook her head. "I'll tell you right now - some people up there still have desires, so..." She looked to all of us. "I digress. It's just named like that. But it is a realm of Heaven, one of many; they should be all connected to each other via similar doorways, so for people like Sakuya, one could eventually find their way to the Christian Heaven though this route."

So each religion has their own Heaven? That, or she was saying that to assuage Sakuya.

Youmu, who was far ahead of the rest of us, had reached the door, and pulled it open. Again, the light washed over us, brighter this time, and reinforcing the euphoria. Yeah, nothing is keeping me from seeing this. This wasn't like entering Hakugyokorou, which gave me anxiety. I felt at peace with this; a true inner peace. It was like I was experiencing every positive emotion at once, and I wanted to continue feeling this way.

No fear, no worry, nothing bad. Just a want to be where the light is coming from.

I get to experience Heaven. I actually get to see it for myself.

Youmu had already disappeared into the light, as did Reimu and Marisa. With no hesitation, I stepped in.

Momiji stood there, watching them disappear into the way to Heaven. She sat down as they all left her view, and her senses. After Aya had barged into Lord Tenma's place, he went and ordered for the Hakurei group to have an escort when they arrived. And I get the lucky draw. Seriously, I don't know why he listens to that idiot. Damn crows.

Still, the Sun had finally come out for the first time in a while, so she was grateful for that. She stretched, setting down her sword and shield. She had been waiting for a while, and when they did arrive, they were higher up the mountain than she expected. She got there in the middle of that fight the human had with the messenger, and the human did unexpectedly well. Exceptionally well. Being able to take down someone who works for a god is quite the achievement. She looked to the doorway, wondering if she should pursue... though they weren't technically on the mountain any more, so she wasn't technically supposed to follow them from then on. Still, they should come back out, so I might have to wait a while.

They had been talking about something, about an incident, but Momiji wasn't interested in their affairs and had tuned it out. It seemed to give them some sort of resolve, however. Maybe I should have eavesdropped... but that would've made me more like that damn Aya.

Momiji let out a yawn, feeling tired as the day was ending, and hoping they'd get out before darkness fell. That way I can just go home and sleep, or maybe grab a drink before that. Been a long, boring day. Because of the bad weather, most of the sentries stayed indoors, including her. Her mind was going numb with boredom as it was, and to sit there again and wait?

"Oh. Hey, Momiji!"

The white wolf looked up, and saw the kappa, Nitori. "Oh." The tengu smiled. "Oh hey Nitori." Nitori was one of her kappa friends. "What are you doing all the way up here?"

Nitori looked to the doorway. "Uhm, I was looking for them. The... ah..." Nitori grumbled a bit. "Ah, his name is difficult to remember, but his nickname is Kyon." Nitori smiled at Momiji. "I heard he was here."

"Yeah, they just went in there a moment ago."

The kappa clicked her tongue. "Shoot. I just missed them."

"For what?"

Nitori's eyes lit up. "I'm almost done with the mark 2 stealth field." The kappa took off her backpack as she sat down next to the tengu. "This one puts my previous design to shame!"

Momiji's ears flattened. "Wait, your stealth camo thing again? Didn't you already make it portable last year? You used it against Hakurei and Kirisame during that incident, right?" And even then, you got beat. So what good was it in combat?

Nitori nodded. "Uh-huh, but this'll be way better. It'll cloak, and activate a barrier! So it's great for defense!"

Momiji scoffed, a grin forming on her face. "Oh, that would have been perfect to use against those two. Too bad you couldn't make such a thing a year ago." Momiji shrugged, before yawning again. Nitori began to rummage through her backpack at that moment. "...What are you doing?"

"Since you obviously can't go anywhere..." Nitori beamed as she brought out her great tengu shogi set. "I thought we could finally get around to finishing our game."

Momiji blinked before smiling herself, sitting up straight. "Really? About time! It's been, what, three years since we started that game?"

Nitori began to set up the board, bringing out a notebook of where their pieces were.

Dai shogi: "Large shogi". 65 pieces per player with 29 different types on a board of 225 squares. However, that was human dai shogi. Gensokyo had developed their own variant - great tengu shogi, and it was more complicated, introducing treasures on the game board which effected the game. Games could take weeks, and this particular game Momiji had been playing with Nitori off and on had taken three years. Each of them were down to 9 pieces, and Momiji was a few moves away from winning, that is, unless Nitori saw what the tengu was trying to do. And considering that its been over a month since we last played, she's had more than enough time to study our piece placement and see what I'm doing. She has to know what I'm gonna do with my phoenix.

It was one of the few things Momiji looked forward to - playing shogi with the kappa. None of the other tengu liked playing with Momiji - she was too good for them. She liked playing against the kappa. Their engineering minds thought differently from tengu, being more methodical than the usual overwhelming tactics that tengu liked to employ. Nitori especially was a challenge these past three years, the only one to last this long against Momiji. Nitori is easily the best the kappa have to offer. In that regard, Momiji respected the kappa more than her own kind when it came to thinking games.

The game set up, Momiji rubbed her hands as she sat facing the kappa. The pieces were where they should have been the last time they played, and the tengu took a few moments to get back into the mindset of the game. She once again felt the thrill of going up against such a good opponent, but she was eager to put her down. Nitori, you are the best player I've come across, but I'll win this game. I'm the best shogi player in Gensokyo, and I intend to win to keep my title.

Momiji noticed a sure smile on Nitori's face, but when the tengu gave her full attention, the kappa dropped the smile. Momiji stared into Nitori's eyes for a few seconds, a pang of worry shooting through her. Her eyes went back to the board - and she saw it. Nitori herself was a few moves away from winning, if Momiji went with her original plan.

Not bad, Nitori. I thought I was going to win for sure, but it looks like I'll really have to mix things up here. I can't rely on my phoenix to fix things. I'll just have to use another piece to surprise you. Momiji sighed, realizing that this game would go on for even longer, and began going over the move she was about to make, hovering her hand above her last remaining pawn. A few more moves, and the pawn can become a gold general...

Despite the Sun setting in Gensokyo, in the realm we entered, the Sun was out, bright, but not too hot. It was akin to a spring day, with occasional breezes to make the temperature comfortable. Perfect, even. The skies were clear, but there were occasional clouds at ground level. We were in a field of some kind, with wild, blue and white flowers dotted around here and there. Off in the distance, we could see mountain ranges, clouds, and more fields. There were streams, ponds, and waterfalls. The 'Sun' itself wasn't hurtful to the eyes even if you looked at it.

No pain, no discomfort, nothing bad.

...It's just so beautiful. I didn't know what I expected Heaven to be like, or to be this wild, for that matter. Hakugyoukorou had flowers, but they were in flowerbeds, gardens, and the like. That was more controlled nature. This wildness, however, was awesome in its own right. It was like the natural beauty of the Earth, multiplied by ten.

The door we had come out of was cut into one such mountainous rock, and Youmu closed it behind us. All of us were taking in the time to admire the view.

"It's as beautiful as I thought it would be." Sakuya said while staring in awe. She appeared satisfied with this.

I think I'm satisfied with this too. We came in through the back door, so we're obviously not where most of the action in Heaven is. So what do people up here do then? Party all day, feast, dance, enjoy the nature, be merry for all eternity? I can dig that. But would I be worthy to come here? That started to make me think if I had prepared my own soul so I could be sent to Heaven. I'm so grateful that I can actually see it. A sneak preview, if you will.

"Really?" Youmu crossed her arms, her face a mixture of both amazement, and discontent. "These are the heavens? I do all that gardening at Hakugyoukorou, and Heaven leaves itself wild and unkempt? How is it revered more than my home?"

That's what you're gonna complain about?

I heard Marisa laugh (which I joined in), as Koizumi spoke. "Is that jealousy I detect, Miss Konpaku?"

"No, just a little frustration. They should take more pride in taking care of their realm. I do."

"Still, to think." Sakuya looked around. "This is the heavens... The land above the clouds where there is no bad weather. Such a luxurious world, too."

Mokou was one of the last ones in, her eyes tearing up as she looked around. "Man... I... I never thought I'd..." She sniffed. "I've been denied this for so long, even though I don't deserve to ever come here..." Koizumi stepped forward to place a hand on her shoulder, but she quickly shook her head. "Ah, I'm fine. I'm just... just a little overwhelmed, y'know?"

"At least you know now you can physically come here," said Reisen. She smiled as she looked around, a smile that was somewhat sad. "Ah, this is as beautiful as Luna. Makes me a bit homesick."

We moved away from the mountain, into a large empty field, enjoying the sensation of just being there. I was just awash in euphoria. It was unlike any other experience I had ever encountered. As of this moment, I can literally die happy. And yes, I realized the irony of that thought.

I noticed Yukari slightly clenching her jaw, and using her parasol to cover herself. "You okay?"

She gave a nod. "It's a little distressing, but I'm fine." She let out a breath. "I'm really out of my element up here. Heaven would really hurt most youkai because of its purity."

But you're not like most youkai. And that's right... while the rest of us are enjoying this, you're suffering. This meant Yukari would be hindered, and not be at full power. She really must have faith in us then.

Reimu stepped forward, her grip on her gohei tight. "Now then. Where is she?" She began sizing up the place. "The one who's going to have her teeth kicked in?"

We just got to Heaven, Reimu. Can't you at least enjoy it for a bit before you start kicking in faces?

"I-I'm kind of scared about this." Sakuya was still gripping her cross. "If I meet Saint Peter, or-"

"Wouldn't he be at the main entrance?" I asked. Also, Yukari said this was a Buddhist Heaven. "We came in through the side door." Or however this is set up? However Haruhi views Heaven? And if it was up to her, would he even be there? This went back to one of my original concerns for this whole thing, actually. "I mean-"

Reimu put up her finger to shush Sakuya and I. "Shh."

"What?"

We went silent, trying to listen to whatever Reimu heard. And there was nothing. Absolutely nothing.

"It's way too quiet up here, ze." Marisa slowly got out her hakkero as she too looked around.

She was right. The air was too still. It shouldn't have been that quiet. It was absolutely still where we were, save for slight breeze brushing through the grass.

It was unnerving, to say the least.

"Too damn quiet."

Should you curse in Heaven, Mokou? Or, hey, she can get away with it, right? She can't stay dead.

Everyone was unnerved as well. Reisen checked her gun, making sure it was loaded before scanning the area. "Mokou's correct. Something's not right."

Everyone was armed, looking around. Like I felt earlier at the shrine, my flight and fight instincts were sharp. The thing is, there was nobody around but us. Nothing living (or unliving?) anywhere. Just the blue sky-

The blue sky... is turning different colors. Several dancing lights in the sky, all different colors, almost like-

Oh no. Scarlet clouds quickly began to form as the lights changed colors.

I called it out. "The Aurora!" Tenshi had to be close by.

Then it happened. Out of nowhere, the weather hit us. Rain. Snow. Gale winds. Fog. Hail. It was everything at once. For a few intense seconds, we were hit by everything. I could feel the chill of the snow, hail, and flurries as they met my skin while the torrential downpour of the various rains combined. The wind blew around the fog everywhere, and I could feel the heavy air enter my lungs with each breath. I also felt a slight burning sensation, so I guessed that was the volcanic ash effect, so I tentatively took some small steps, which made the burning go away. The noise all of this made was horrific, and made my ears ring when it all stopped. Of course, when it happened, I threw my arms over my face in protection, and I stood there in that motion, shook up. I didn't expect that, of course.

So much for a 'land above the clouds where there is no bad weather'! The sudden impact of that had shaken me out of my state of euporia, 'waking' me up to what we were there for - to defeat the person who destroyed Reimu's home.

I gasped for air when it was over. Looking around, I noticed that everyone was alert - whatever that was woke us up out of our awe of Heaven. We were also soaked again. I miss being dry! I've been wet ever since the rain at the shrine! I swear, if I get a cold...

Reisen was looking down the sight of her gun, scanning the area. She was ticked off from experiencing that. "Yeah, it's safe to assume that we're in the right place."

Mokou was dusting herself off from that weather barrage with anger on her face. "Man, that was - that was just intense."

Yukari shook her parasol to get rid of all the water on it as she looked around. "Everyone okay?"

"Yeah, yeah just spooked a little, ze."

"Keep alert." Reimu glared around her. "Whoever did this obviously knows we're here."

Sakuya wiped away the water from her eyes. "Anybody see anything?"

"No. I don't feel anything...wait."

Before Youmu could elaborate on that, a young woman's voice began to speak. It was from all around us, so we couldn't tell where it came from. And what she spoke... it was like she was reciting some sort of poem.

The way of the heavens and Earth.

Reverses at the extremes.

And breaks at the fullest.

Even the warmth of summer, with the passing of time, will cool and turn into winter.

With Heaven, control the Earth.

With Earth, remove its hinge.

The scarlet-ness of human hearts will be reflected.

The scarlet mist, that is the air of non-perception.

The air of non-perception, that is the essence of living things.

The weather is the essence of the Heaven of non-perception.

Welcome to the distant heavens.

In the heavens song and dance.

And then after, more song and dance awaits you.

See flowers in mid-bloom.

Drink sake when half-drunk.

That's the knowledge of those to make it to Heaven.

Being at the Heaven.

Control the land.

Being at the Earth.

Remove its keystones.

And lay bare the scarlet hearts of man!

What kind of poem or whatever is that?! I kept looking around, and all of a sudden, there was a young woman sitting on a floating rock not too far from us. I audibly gulped, and it got everyone's attention, as we all faced this girl.

Upon seeing her, everyone lined up in an attack position, Youmu in front of me, katana drawn out. Shanghai and Hourai lined up as well, their respective shield and lance at the ready.

It was her. The girl who was able to outlast the likes of Yukari, Yuka, Yuyuko, Kaguya, and Eirin during the resistance in the future. Dark red eyes, long blue hair. A black hat with two peaches and leaves on it. Wearing a white button-up blouse with a red bow. A blue dress with a white apron that had a rainbow patterned trim on it. She tapped her knee-high brown lace up boots on the rock, to call attention to her. Whoever this woman was, she was gorgeous. This is a celestial? Man, she comes close to Kaguya in terms of beauty.

This girl was able to remain standing against a Miracle Mallet-powered Seija. Even when Yukari fell to Seija, and everyone else - this celestial was one of the few remaining. She can take on someone who wished themselves to be the strongest in Gensokyo. It wasn't driven home to me until that point. Sure, what Yukari said put me on an edge, but realizing who it was made it all the more real - actually seeing her really made it a reality. We are in so much trouble here.

"I'm going to take a wild guess that you are the one doing everything." Reimu stepped forward. "Causing earthquakes and screwing up the weather."

"That would be correct." This girl was playing with some sort of handle thing. It looked like the grip from a sword without the blade, with a brush hanging off the other end of it. She was flipping it, and running it between her fingers like a bored student with a pencil would do. "And you're the disaster resolution specialist. Gensokyo's number one." The woman spread her arms, and gave a sincere smile. "Let me be the first to welcome you all to Heaven." She stood up on her floating rock, and gave a bow. "I'm a member of the Hinanai clan that lives in Heaven. I am Lady Tenshi Hinanai."

Yukari leaned closer, and spoke to me and Koizumi. "The Hinanai are nobles. Yes, even Heaven has upper classes and lower classes." I could feel the disdain Yukari had in her voice over saying that.

Really? I guess some things don't change. It was kind of disappointing to hear that. So even if I make it up here, there will be people who will be above me.

"I've been waiting for you, Reimu Hakurei." She looked to the rest of us. "And... everyone else. Marisa Kirisame. Sakuya Izayoi. Youmu Konpaku, Reisen Udongein Inaba, Fujiwara no Mokou, Yukari Yakumo, and..." Her eyes settled on Koizumi and I. "The Brigade. Two members of the Brigade."

"Our reputation proceeds us." Koizumi gave her his usual fake smile, and a slight bow. "So we don't have to bother with introductions, it seems."

"No, we don't." Tenshi smiled, twirling her hair. She had confidence about her, like she was in complete control. "I've been looking forward to meeting you all, you know. Spending a few years watching you in Gensokyo, living your daily lives, and the like."

At least I'm not the only one being watched.

"It's just been so intriguing, you know? Watching all of you in your fights, your drama, and training for what's to come." Her eyes fell on Reimu. "Especially you. Incident resolver, defeater of youkai, among other things." Tenshi had this weird smile over what she was saying. It was putting me off.

Reimu simply stood her ground, not taking her eyes off this celestial. "You sound like you want me to resolve this."

"Yes. Yes I do." Tenshi had stepped off of her rock, and I thought she would fall down to us, but another rock had materialized out of thin air, giving her a step. It kept happening as she spoke - she was casually walking down a staircase of appearing rocks. "Surprised it's not a youkai doing this?"

So is your power to control weather and make rocks appear out of nowhere? Well, whatever it was, it was giving the effect that she is powerful. And considering what I know about her in the future, it was true.

"One would think that someone from Heaven would know better than to mess with the mortal world," remarked Youmu from behind her drawn blade. She had on her 'samurai mask', ready to go. "But yeah, we are a little surprised."

"Funny you should say that," muttered Marisa. I heard Sakuya suppress a chuckle.

"I'm not from Heaven though." Youmu responded under her breath, some slight annoyance on her face.

So you're trying to say you're excused from what you did?

Tenshi waved her hand dismissively. "No, when you're playing disaster resolution, the opponent doesn't have to be a youkai, or one of those sorry excuses for gods in Gensokyo, right?"

Reimu's free hand balled up into a fist. "Playing...?"

Tenshi nodded. "Playing."

"Playing?!" Reimu was letting her anger out again. "My home got destroyed!"

"I had to do something to make you come to me, Hakurei."

And you just flat out admitted it.

Reimu gripped her gohei tightly. "Are you bragging about taking away my home?"

Tenshi put her hands on her hips. "What if I did, actually? What would you do?"

Okay, you're powerful, but you are really antagonizing Reimu. You are asking for a beatdown.

Reimu just glared at Tenshi, and I swore that Reimu looked like she was going to attack then and there. Instead, the miko took a deep breath, and regained her composure. "Okay, this is what is going to happen. I'm gonna do three things to you. I'm breaking your ribs, I'm kicking you in the face, and then I'm shoving a spell card down your throat. You're not not getting away with that, nor are you destroying the rest of Gensokyo. You're not walking away from this, you celestial bitch."

Stop cursing in Heaven!

"And you're not destroying milady's mansion!"

"You ain't destroying the human village either!"

"Or the home of my princess!"

"Or..." Marisa shifted on her feet a bit. "You know, my... little house, ze."

Same here. I owe these girls. I'll help defend their home.

"Yes!" Tenshi grinned, raising a fist in the air. "Yes, that's it! That's the drive I wanted from all of you! I want you to give it your all!" Tenshi glanced over to Yukari, the grin becoming crooked. "Because I'm giving it my all." Yukari, who was silent during all that, was giving the celestial a scornful look. "Oh, I know about you, Yakumo. You've traveled to the future, looking over the incidents. So you know. You know I was going to go easy." Tenshi shook her head. "Not anymore."

Yukari's fist slowly closed. "But that means I can go even harder myself."

Tenshi seemed pleased by this. "Good."

"Hold on." I shook my head. "Really? All you're looking for is a fight? You're threatening everything in Gensokyo just to have the opportunity to fight us?" What the hell is this, Dragon Ball? It must be, because that's the excuse Komachi and Remilia both had!

Tenshi let out a chuckle. "Oh, Kyon." She again shook her head, as she began to walk perpendicular to us. "Oh, Kyon Kyon Kyon. You don't understand the situation I'm in."

You're already pissing me off with your attitude. You admitted to destroying the shrine for mere attention. "Enlighten me."

She stopped, and her smile faded, replaced with a tired look. "Do you understand what I am?"

"A tennin celestial."

"Yes, but do you know how I came to be?"

"I can answer that." Yukari's scorn didn't go away. "Her family performed a service to the gods, and got rewarded with ascension. To be more specific," Yukari's frown strengthened. "Tenshi's parents did all the work, yet she piggybacked to Heaven despite doing nothing to earn her way in."

That didn't faze Tenshi, who pointed at Yukari, responding quickly. "Correct! I never really did anything to attain nirvana. I was just a girl when we ascended. Most celestials cast off their Earthly desires and their wants. But me?" Tenshi took a deep breath, her right eye twitching. "Me? I didn't. I couldn't. Do you have any idea?" The celestial clenched her teeth. "Any idea how numb I feel? How long I've felt like this?"

Oh. That caught me off guard. I had already pegged this celestial as someone who was mean for the sake of being mean, but... What could I say to that?

"You still retain Earthly desires?" Sakuya slightly lowered her knives, as she had to feel what I was feeling about this situation.

Tenshi smiled again, and continued her walk. "Do you get it now? It's so boring up here. Every day is singing, singing, singing! Drinking, dancing, and singing over and over and over and over." Her eye twitched again. "It was fun the first few years, but it's been so long since then."

That would actually drive most people mad, I would think.

"Great, ze. We're dealing with a rich girl who's bored with her privileged life so she screws up other people's lives for fun."

The celestial frowned, pointing at the witch. "I don't want to be hearing that from a girl whose father owns half the market at the human village." That actually earned Tenshi a glare from Marisa. "You're one of the richest families there, yet you live as a thief. Why do you do it?" Before Marisa could answer, Tenshi apparently answered for her. "'Because magic is fun.' That's your excuse. 'Because stealing is a thrill.' That's your excuse, you adrenaline junkie. Because getting into fights with beings far stronger than you and you walking away is the ultimate adrenaline rush." Tenshi scowled at Marisa. "If I were you, I'd shut up."

The look on Marisa's face told the tale - that really struck a nerve. Her grip on the Hakkero tightened. Is that true, Marisa? You're actually really rich? I know she mentioned her family to me during my first week awake in Gensokyo, but I couldn't remember if she said her father was a wealthy merchant or not.

Turns out that yes, the Kirisame are the merchant family in Gensokyo. Remember Kourindou, with that guy running the 'interdimensional pawn shop'? That's a Kirisame shop. Well, was. He worked for the Kirisames before buying that place out for himself. Which also meant that he grew up with Marisa, so they knew each other pretty well.

"No." I vigorously shook my head. "So destroying someone's home is your excuse?" Please don't tell me that's really the issue here. Please tell me you're joking.

"Well, life in Heaven gets really carefree, and boring."

"No, no!" I rubbed my temples, as I felt like I had a headache. "How the he-... how in the world can you be complaining about Heaven? What kind of over privileged brat are you to be complaining about the ultimate gated community?"

...I wasn't even going for the pearly gate pun there.

She spread her arms, yet again with that eye twitch. "I'm bored out of my mind up here! How would you feel if you did the exact same thing day in, and day out, eating the exact same foods, drinking the same drinks, listening to the same music, ad ifinitum? If you had no desires, you'd be content with all of this. You wouldn't want variety!" She brought her hands down to her sides, making them into fists. "I. Have. Nothing. Nothing to break that cycle. You call this Heaven. It's closer to Hell for me."

"Are you trying to make us feel sorry for you?" asked Yukari coldly.

It is kind of working on me, I'll admit. I mean, isn't one of the requisites for entry into Heaven to strip away your earthly desires in some religions? If you manage to come up here with them intact, what would happen? Would you really tire of blissing? Of being in euphoria?

Tenshi chuckled. "I don't expect you to show my kind any favor, Yakumo." The celestial sighed, running her fingers through her hair. "I've been bored for so long, so I've been watching. Watching you... and you." A small smile went on her face. "That's been my only saving grace. That we up here are able to watch mortal affairs. I'd have gone completely mad without it." She pointed to Reimu. "You, playing with your disaster resolution games for about a decade. It's been so much fun to watch."

"They're not games." Reimu shifted, but I could see uncertainty in her eyes. None of us (besides Yukari) were ready for what Tenshi was saying.

"But danmaku is such a fun game! And it's awesome to watch! I certainly had fun watching." She tapped her chest over her heart. "It's been one of the few things that has been able to get my heart beat in excitement lately."

You're like Komachi in that regard. Like Remilia. Bored... privileged... but needing a reason to live. And you found it in magical battle. Despite my resolve to help Reimu, I actually began to feel some sort of sympathy for this incident causer. It wasn't like with Yuyuko risking Gensokyo's well being with stealing spring. Nor Suou's... I inwardly shook my head. You forget, idiot, that Iku said that a massive earthquake is waiting if we fail. You forgot Tenshi willingly destroyed someone's home just to sate her boredom. I keep on getting taken by these people with charisma, and Tenshi definitely had a charisma about her. No, she is risking Gensokyo. And possibly the outside world, if I was able to feel that quake outside. How someone feels does not excuse ultra-destructive actions. That's a child's excuse. 'I drew all over the wall and ripped into the wallpaper because I was bored!' That doesn't work! That would be like if I had allowed Haruhi to run too rampant during high school!

"And us?" Koizumi was in a fighting position of his own, a blade forming on his arm with his power. "Where does two members of the Brigade fit into your scheme?"

"Oh. You?" Tenshi looked over the two of us, eyes resting on me. "Where do I even begin, if you were here by my design? I began to watch Haruhi after she awoke, and then you came into her life after you were there at the 'beginning of time', and then again when you properly joined her high school. In between danmaku and Haruhi, I haven't been bored. Seeing all of that going on, and even when you guys combined, it was a dream come true for me!" She clasped her hands with a genuine smile on her face. "It was like... a dream crossover! I loved it! It was so much fun! These past four years have been so entertaining. I never fully understood mankind's recent obsession with 'reality television', but watching the Brigade is just so entertaining in its own right. Even just watching you live your high school lives was entertaining for me."

So I had multiple people watching me at any given time? Why?! I wanted to ask her that, but I let it go. It wasn't going to do me any good at that point. "Do you have any idea why I'm here?"

"I don't know exactly why you came into Gensokyo on this date. I've been thinking about that all day, actually. Considering it's Yasumi's design, who knows. But I'm not complaining. I get to play with you too, so it's all right."

I'd rather not play with you, if you don't mind. This girl was getting on my nerves, and it seemed like it was the same with everyone present. Tenshi, while charismatic, was not really likable due to her selfish actions. At least you're in the dark like us as to why Yasumi wanted me here.

"It didn't take much to get Hakurei to play disaster resolution with me. So I had to cause a little one."

You must really want to be beaten up. Seriously, are you a masochist?

"Don't be so flippant!" Reimu growled, her anger coming back. "You destroyed my home, you bitch!"

Seriously, stop cursing in Heaven!

"That was to make sure I had your attention. And also to make sure it worked. What happened to the shrine a few hours ago was just a trial run." Tenshi flipped her handle thing and pointed it right at us, and her voice lowered, becoming serious. "Next up? Oh, next up is the real thing, if you don't play with me, or if you all fall. I'm talking 10 on that human Richter scale for Gensokyo. All of Gensokyo. Every inch will be hit by it. It's going to be so glorious if you don't defeat me."

Okay, you really have our attention. She completely wrecked the shrine with a concentrated earthquake, and this girl said admitted she'd do the same to the rest of Gensokyo. "You'd destroy Gensokyo for fun?"

"The human village..." Mokou closed her fist.

"Milady's mansion..."

"You'd really destroy all that?!" I shouted at the celestial. "What kind of person are you?"

Tenshi shook her head. "I'm not a ruthless villain. I just want you to give me a reason to live, by giving you a reason to fight me."

Reimu angrily pointed her gohei at Tenshi. "By threatening our lives and the lives under our care? You really must want to die, don't you?"

Tenshi quickly ran her hand over the handle, and to where the blade would be. As her hand passed over it, fire came from the end, giving it a fire blade. It was one of the cooler things I've seen. And yes, the flames formed the blade, even flickering a bit. It didn't set her on fire, as she placed the blade against her shoulder as she grinned at us.

I could feel my body tense up when she activated that blade. That's... kind of cool? Makes the sword easier to carry.

Everyone's anger subsided upon the activation of that weapon. A weapon that can change shape, and exploit the weakness of the target. We knew the implications of such a thing.

Reisen's aiming stance softened a bit. "You do know the rules of danmaku, right?"

"Mmm. Of course I do. Why else do you think I added in new rules to the game? The effects of the weather make things much more interesting, don't you think?" Tenshi grinned, throwing up her arms. "Spice things up a little bit. Make things different, you know? Exciting. Because things get so boring when they settle down into a monotonous grind." She let out a long sigh, her face looking tired. "I should know."

Again, here we go with the 'parts of Haruhi.' This is something she would have done if she realized her powers. No, really, think about it. If Haruhi realized herself back in high school, she would have done so much to amuse herself, to the point of being bored, before she started causing trouble to alleviate her boredom. In fact, that's what she did unconsciously. Consciously? I didn't even want to consider that level of damage. Hell, she wanted something to do, and in a roundabout way, she got what she wanted in having the computer club president being pretty much absorbed by a cave cricket thing. And that was just by a third party trying to keep her from being bored. What would she actively do? That right there is a scary question, one that I had thankfully put on the back burner ever since she became more stable. I mean, maybe now as an adult she'd be more responsible. Just try to think what a high school teenager could come up with, with such powers.

Seriously - with Tenshi we had someone who could manipulate weather and cause earthquakes to literally shake things up and become the center of attention. Haruhi could easily be this person, and do far more damage to the world just to sate herself. What I was seeing before me was one of the possible failure states for the Brigade if we didn't do our job and contain Haruhi. I'm even more grateful for the Brigade now.

I shot a glance to Koizumi, who had a serious look on his face as he was thinking about something. He noticed me, and nodded. "Miss Suzumiya, right? That's what you're thinking?" I gave a nod in response - he was thinking the same thing I was. "If we weren't there, this would have been an outcome."

"So you are going to use that sword in our fight then?" asked Youmu. "In a game where we can't be at full power, you're gonna cheat."

Tenshi smiled again. "And why not? You've all decided to fight something that will use full power in a few months by using this game, right? Why should this be any different?"

You know of the underground incident?! A cold realization came over me. If she knows, then she really has been watching us, which means... Which means she knows about my future trip. She knows what I'm doing. She knows everything I'm capable of, which isn't much. But she knows what's going to happen. She knows that Seija will start something in the future. Seija may have done paradox insurance, but I may have inadvertently caused a paradoxical situation. Tenshi was to be a part of the upcoming Rebellion. Now that she knows about it, does that mean she might do something different? End the fight before I have a chance to save my family? Did I just permanently kill my family?

"This sword can lay bare a person's temperament, turning it into a mist, and I gather it, and..." She plunged the sword into a floating rock that had materialized. It disintegrated in an instant - Tenshi grinned at her handiwork. She obviously didn't care about my brief panic attack over my decisions. "And the energy gathered in the sky causes the earth to shake. Well, shatter. Furthermore, it shifts the keystones beneath my feet. And yours."

Plunging the sword into the ground, various parts of the 'Earth' here moved up and down, causing us to lose our footing. It was weird - meter long octagonal portions of the ground rose up or down. Upon further inspection, the ground was divided up into those portions. Tenshi did a stomp, and pillars shot up behind her, and kept going up and up. They stopped several dozen meters into the air, and with another stomp, the ground returned to normal - the pillars becoming even.

Oh. Oh that's just perfect. Not only can she control weather, or form rocks, but she controls the very ground we stand on. Since I was the only one who couldn't fly, that obviously put me at the serious disadvantage.

I was right earlier. Tenshi was in total control in this realm. Though she's just the daughter of one of the nobles up here. What kind of power do the others have?!

"Soon, all of Gensokyo, and parts of Japan, will tremble." Tenshi grinned, as she held up a fist and clenched it. "That is, if you don't win." Tenshi leaned closer, her smile dropping. "Do you understand what I'm saying? All of you? Do you get it? I want you at your best. Otherwise go home and await its destruction. This isn't just about my own amusement." Tenshi began to walk again, circling us. "No. I've watched you all. I've come to... enjoy my times watching you. I understand the upcoming incident, and appreciate how hard you've trained. And, believe it or not, I'd like to see you win and do the whole 'save the world' deal."

Reimu just kept giving her that steel gaze. "You have a funny way of showing that appreciation."

Tenshi wagged her finger at the miko. "I know. I know. But it's the truth. I would like for you guys to be even more powerful. So... I think you understand what has to happen, Hakurei. Same to you, Kyon. Because if you don't stop me, I'm going right for your university next. And then I'll head on over to Kobe and aim right for your alma mater. Right now, I'm giving you an early taste of motivation." Tenshi spread her arms again. "You want to save your world and everyone you care about? I've given you that motivation right now. Defeat me, and prevent the early destruction of what you hold dear."

Okay, now you're directly threatening me, and where my family lives. I have to fight you. As much as I enjoy the thought of the destruction of my schools, that's not gonna happen, especially since I kinda live at the college for now. Also, if you watched me, you do realize what happens to those who threaten me, right? I don't let them walk away from that.

Granted, one of those times was when I was in the future.

"So," said Koizumi. "This really is just all a game to you." For once, he had allowed annoyance on his face - this was one of the rare moments when he was showing his true emotions. "All of this for your amusement, just so you can get a fight out of it."

"Does it remind you of anyone?" said Tenshi with a smirk. She spread her arms again. "Come on, Koizumi. I know what you're thinking. I'm an unchecked Haruhi. So I'm giving you this. You get to finally vent your grievances. Years of putting up with that selfish child, and you can finally let it all out on me."

Really, are you a masochist? You gotta be.

"You fail to realize that I actually liked my time with Suzumiya. You seem more insufferable than she ever was." Koizumi frowned. "But you didn't answer my question, Miss Tenshi. This is a game to you, isn't it?"

Tenshi stopped, crossing her arms as she jutted her jaw. "Yes and no. I mean, originally it was just for sole amusement. I've been thinking a lot while waiting for you all." She slowly shook her head, another smile crossing her face. "What you've all done today has been exquisite, especially you, Hakurei. I mean, that run down the clock tower? And you? Koizumi? That fight against the dragon god's messenger? Amazing. Simply amazing that you survived being electrocuted to that degree." Tenshi stopped and turned to us, hands on her hips. "If it were up to me, I'd say you were ready for the underground. Maybe. I don't know what goes on down there."

It was then that I had noticed Yukari's face. The earlier disdain she had with Tenshi was replaced with confusion.

Tenshi must have noticed it too, as she pointed at the demon. "Surprised? I mean, I'm doing what you wanted to happen, right? In a way, you knew this incident would happen, that Hakurei would lose her home, yet no warning."

I could see Reimu's body tense, and then she slowly turned her head to Yukari with that steel gaze. I got in between the two of them, and shook my head at Reimu. Not now. Later, if you have to. But not now. Yukari wasn't the one who did it anyway. Tenshi pulled the trigger. I think Reimu understood my intentions, because she merely nodded and returned her attention to the celestial.

"I mean, you can hate me, Hakurei, but Yukari knew you were going to lose your home and did nothing to prevent it." Tenshi gave a non-committal shrug. "But what do I know?"

"Regardless of how your plan works," Reimu let out a low sigh. "Or who did or didn't know what was going to happen, you're obviously the one who caused the earthquake. You ruined my home just to get me to 'play' with you."

Tenshi nodded. "It worked, didn't it?"

The more we talked to her, the more I was sure that Reimu would see her as an eternal enemy. That put another thought into my mind - that Reimu would forgo ever asking Tenshi for help during the resistance, which would pretty much guarantee a Seija victory early on. Remilia took damage, and Yoshika tanked a lot of abuse, but from what I remember, Tenshi had no damage on her. Even though I didn't really study her, I do not remember her taking any damage. Then again, my priority then was to save my family, not gawk at her while she was fighting, so my memory may not be the best thing to rely on at that point.

Actually...

She said she wanted to help us, and this is some sort of motivation to give her a fight. And what if we can give her an actual fight? If she was able to be called on to help Reimu during Seija's Rebellion, then that means Tenshi will be a great ally in the future, or at least tolerated by the shrine maiden. No, the celestial had to be an asset. Despite Yukari not liking her, there was the chance that Tenshi would be immensely useful. The possibility is there. I might be able to play this. You're only as strong as your friends, after all. And if Tenshi was going to become one anyway...

I was actually considering the plan that had formed in my mind. Pretty harsh consequences if we fail, but the reward would definitely be worth it. She outlasted so many of the people from Gensokyo that I had considered insanely powerful. If she's as strong as she says she is, then why not enlist her? "Why not?" I didn't even realize I had said that out loud. A few of them looked back to me, silently asking what I was talking about.

Though... I looked around. Is this group able to do this? We didn't even have Yuyuko, Suika, Remilia, and a few others with us. I mean, Reimu is Reimu, but what about everyone else? They've already been taken down today. No, that was actually the situation. Everybody else here, save for Koizumi and I, had already fallen today. Even Reimu. I know I healed everybody, but everybody has already fallen.

Screw it. I'm asking her.

"You want a fight to end all fights, right?"

Tenshi's attention went to me, and the rest of the girls turned their heads. "I do."

I looked to Yukari, and I think she understood what I was about to do, because she immediately shook her head and frowned. "No. No, we're not doing that."

"I'll ask you later on why you hate celestials, because you obviously do, but I'm asking her."

"No we're not."

"We're not asking what?" Sakuya's eyes shifted between me and the youkai. "What is he saying?"

I stepped forward, ignoring Yukari's silent protests. There was nothing in between me and Tenshi, and that scared me a little bit. Taking a deep breath, I made my pitch. "How about this, celestial? If we beat you, how about we get your services?"

"Oh?" Tenshi 'sat', as a rock materialized to give her seating. Her eyebrows rose in amusement. "What, may I ask?"

"For one," I casually pointed to Reimu. "You fix her shrine. No questions asked. Complete rebuilding, and it's to how she wants it. And if she wants it better-"

"I'd like a hot springs at the shrine." I paused, looking back to the miko, who shrugged. "What? It'd be nice, and get more people to show up."

With your luck? You'd only get more youkai visiting your shrine to use those hot springs and drive away more humans. I couldn't fault her, though. A private hot springs would be a very great luxury to have.

"With no funny business." Yukari noticed our confusion to what she said, so she sighed. "Tenshi would have rebuilt the shrine, but with a way to siphon the power of the Hakurei for herself."

Reimu angrily turned back to the celestial. "You are so gonna get it!"

Tenshi's smile dropped as she clicked her tongue. I clenched my jaw, because I wanted to start yelling at the girl, but I refrained. Really? You lose fair and square and you try to cheat? You really are Seija before Seija.

Tenshi scoffed, before she dismissively waved her hand. "Fine. Complete rebuild, with no funny business. And I'll throw in a hot springs just for kicks." She eyed me again. "And...? You obviously have something else in mind."

You're really quick to agree to this, especially Reimu's request. "Second, I'd like to enlist you for the other incident this year."

I could feel Reimu's glare for even entertaining the thought. And Yukari's. Tenshi, however, was caught off guard by that. She sat there blinking at me for a bit, unsure how to respond.

I heard Youmu whisper to me from behind. "What are you doing, Kyon?"

Still keeping my eyes on Tenshi, I leaned back a bit to whisper a response. "If she's as powerful as she says she is, as Yukari says she is, we'd be remiss to not take advantage of that."

Maybe. Just maybe, Tenshi can be the deciding factor for the Underground incident. The idea of me dying, let alone some of the girls dying, weighed heavily on my mind. If I can use this celestial to keep that from happening, then damn it all, I'm doing it. Not just for my sake, but for theirs. They are not dying. I am not going to lose anybody!

"I understand that, but we'd have to beat her first."

I looked down to Youmu. "Not confident in your own abilities?" Because I should be the one lacking confidence. Not someone like you. I'm also doing this for you, Youmu. In one timeline, you don't survive. Maybe she can prevent that from ever happening.

The corner of her mouth frowned. "You don't see her power like I do. I'm not even sure if I can properly take her on."

Are you serious? "So you wouldn't want her as an ally watching our backs?" Please don't be doing this. I can't do this if you girls aren't there, if you don't believe you can do this. Youmu, I don't want to die this year, and I don't want you to die either.

Youmu's eyes went up to me, frowning. "I didn't say that."

"We got this, Youmu." I hope. I turned back to Tenshi. "We have to get this." I heard the gardener sigh in response.

Tenshi was bobbing her head side to side, as if deciding on how to answer. "Mmm. Actually, that doesn't sound half bad." She hopped off her rock. "I mean, you're asking me, someone who's become enamored with your exploits, to join you on a save-the-world adventure?" She grinned. "How can I turn that down?"

I know the risks I was taking in asking her. If she died, she wouldn't be there for the resistance, which means I wouldn't know her, which means that when this cycle repeats, I won't ask her, which would cause a paradox. I was kind of taking a page from Seija there. I'll paradox this world if I have to.

I mean, I've said it. I'll beat that incident, even if I have to cheat. Especially if I have to cheat. And if I have to make nice with someone who carries a weapon that exploits weaknesses, and is essentially a god killer, I'd be insane not to ask for their help.

Whatever the intended effect, Tenshi was beaming over this news. "Now you got me wondering if I should just throw this fight right now so I can go on that."

Please do, so I can go home. No such luck. Even with the enjoyment of Heaven, I did not want to fight this girl.

She put her hands behind her head as she leaned back, more rocks forming to give her support. "But... I did spend a lot of time with this incident, so it'd be a waste to just let it go. So that part is not happening. I do agree on your terms, however." She wagged her finger. "Don't get me wrong. Just remember - you lose here, I destroy everything you care about. Gensokyo, and the places the Brigade have gone to."

I appreciate your agreement, but don't say that you'll destroy so casually!

She chuckled. "Relax. I'm not a bad person. I just want you to have the motivation so you can take me on. You just have to go into this with the understanding that your home will be destroyed if you all fail." Tenshi clasped her hands in front of her. "Now, since we're gonna be great friends, here." She held out her hand, and from the left, a floating rock carrying a wicker basket came into view, and landed in front of me.

Peaches. A lot of peaches.

"Are you insane, celestial!?" That was Yukari, who looked stunned. "Why? Why are you doing this!?"

What? What's wrong with these peaches?

"No. It's just that I'm not gonna hold back, Yakumo. But I don't feel like killing you all. You'll need to last against me." Tenshi moved closer, and reached into the basket, grabbing one. Backing up, she spoke in between bites. "Basically, you'll become superhuman when you eat these peaches. They all grow up here. As long as its in your system, you are tougher, faster, stronger. I want you at your best here, since I'll be giving it my best."

I looked to Yukari, who simply nodded, still recovering from that shock. "It's as she said. The peaches in Heaven grant you some power."

I myself never really cared for the taste of peaches, but hell, I'll have some then. Seriously, these things give power? I can become a superhuman by eating this? Picking up the basket, and backing up into our group so we could gather around it, I studied one. It was just an ordinary peach. I looked again to Yukari, who shrugged.

"Wait... are these...?" Reisen was staring at one in slight disbelief. "These look like the same peaches that grow on Luna..."

"They are, Udongein." Yukari nodded. "It's one of the few things that Heaven and Luna share."

"Then..." Reisen took a bite, chewed, and swallowed, savoring it. "Oh, they are!" She stared at the peach. "It's the same effect. The exact same effect."

Isn't that kind of weird? That Heaven and the Moon grow the same peaches? Also, are these gonna be our Senzou beans?

I was a little nervous about the peaches, but upon seeing Reisen eat one, I decided to go for it. I took a bite, chewed, and swallowed. It was an unusually juicy peach, as far as peaches go. The juice was also... thicker? Almost like a syrup.

"Ah, right. Shoot." Reisen looked to us after we all took a bite. There was some concern on her face. "Uhm, it's going to be an unbearable sensation the first time, so..."

Before I could ask what, I felt it. The sensation was... weird. At first, there was a pain, like growing pains, but all over my body. It felt like each and every one of my muscles were being stretched during a growth spurt - you know, that aching soreness that doesn't go away. I dropped the basket, as my body kept shaking from the intensity. The pain just kept building as I could feel my muscles stretch and move around. Everyone else was going through it, save for Yukari, who didn't eat any, and Reisen.

Reisen went to me, as I was almost falling to the ground. She grabbed my shoulders while looking into my eyes, trying to reassure me. "Hey, you're gonna be fine! It's just changing your body chemistry and structure to accommodate itself! It only hurts for a little bit during the first time you have one of them!"

This was a big mistake! This was a-

Then, just as quickly as it came, the pain went away, replaced by a cooling sensation that I could feel in my veins. I could feel my blood vessels for a few seconds. My muscles then tensed and it was all over. I was back to feeling like how I normally did.

Actually, I felt better. Like I had gotten up after a full night's sleep and had a hearty breakfast - ready to take on the world.

Reisen moved her face closer to mine, helping me right myself to a standing position. "See? You're okay. Your body just had to get used to the effect." She started looking me over, still reassuring me. "I don't see anything wrong with you, so you're fine, okay? It just happened on the inside."

By then, everyone had recovered as well. I stared into my hands, unsure of what just happened. That was an intense moment for me, and I didn't know what it really meant, or if it worked. If that really did work, then it was a small price to pay for becoming superhuman, I guess.

"That's it?" Sakuya opened and closed her hand, staring into it. "I don't really feel different after that."

Yukari slowly shook her head, smiling. "Try throwing a knife."

Sakuya brought out a knife, and...

It zoomed out of her hand when she tossed it, like a bullet. It went off somewhere in the distance, lost in Heaven. All of our jaws dropped at that. "Okay." Sakuya looked into her hand again. "Okay, that was unexpected."

Seriously? I didn't have to train? All I had to do was eat a fruit? That wasn't fair. If the peaches did as advertised, then I would have easily done Nagato's training.

"Watch this." Reisen took out a combat knife, and pressed the blade against my arm. I was freaking out, until I realized she didn't even pierce the skin. She smiled at me. "See? You're tougher now. That's why your body had to go through that at first, to get itself ready for that."

I can't be cut?! Reisen patted me on the shoulder as she returned her attention to Tenshi, leaving me to my situation. I'm... superhuman? Superhuman as long as the peach is in my system. Which means I'll naturally turn back to normal over time. But this is... This was a big revelation for me. I mean, a magical or whatever it is food that just makes you better. Man this really is Dragon Ball! I'm tougher now; that's definitely a fact. And if all the other effects ring true, then I'll be more likely to survive the winter. Things were definitely looking up. Now all I need to do is to ensure that we win this incident, and we should have it in the bag.

"More strength, endurance, stamina, toughness. Everything a growing girl needs. Or boy." Tenshi finished her peach, leaning on her sword. "There. Now there will be no excuses, Yakumo. You've been training them for something else, but it's not enough. These peaches? These mean I can go even tougher on you all."

And I began to regret it. Of course there had to be a downside. Tenshi wouldn't have to really hold back, which means she'd have to go even harder in the fight to take us down. But seriously, she just gave people like Youmu, who was already strong, and Reisen, who was strong in her own right, the means for even more strength. If Youmu could slash at a quarter of the speed of light, then what was her speed after eating that thing? Yet Tenshi still looked so confident. I gathered what peaches I could, and put them in the satchel Marisa had given me - the one that contained the vials. Hey, if they were useful, then I wanted to keep some around.

I still didn't feel any different overall, and I didn't know if I should test something out even further - Sakuya's sudden showing of strength was enough for me, and it was obvious the peach did something to my body with the way it wasn't cut. I wonder exactly how long this effect lasts. I didn't know at what rate I would have to constantly consume these peaches.

"Well then. Looks like our job is simple." Reimu licked her fingers from her meal - like usual, she was a fast eater. "All we have to do is take you down! And after that, you're rebuilding my shrine!"

Considering the strength we currently have, you could possibly rebuild the shrine by yourself in a day. I began to feel like I could take on the world.

Tenshi stood up straight, again grinning. "Good. Good! That's the enthusiasm I was looking for! That's why I'm threatening your home, your livelihood, and everyone in Gensokyo that you care about! Give me everything you got! I want your A-Game! I want you to have a real reason to take me down! I don't want to go on living the boring life of a celestial forever! That ends today! The weather in the sky, the stability of the earth, and the hearts of man are all in the palm of my hand! Show me the weather with which you defeated everyone in Gensokyo today!" Tenshi's smile dropped. "However..."

She stomped on the ground, and suddenly I was lifted into the air. The ground I was on rose, and Tenshi had used her appearing rocks to reach my level. She's so quick! I was caught off guard, and apparently so were Shanghai and Hourai - they didn't react as they were left behind down there. Tenshi quickly took away the satchel with the vials, before leaping back, landing on a floating rock. The pillar went back down, putting me at ground level. The suddenness of the action put me in a state of being stunned at what happened.

Tenshi held up the satchel, frowning. "However, you are not healing in this battle!" She reached into the satchel, and took out the packet of vials. After she placed them in one of her pockets, she tossed down the satchel to my feet, to which I rushed to pick it up.

Okay, I can't take on the world. I felt like I got punched in the gut. She just took away my most important ability in Gensokyo. She took me out of the equation. She took away... me.

Tenshi glared at me. "No standing around, Kyon!" She raised the sword again. "You're fighting!"

Instantly, a rock wrapped in rope and paper talismans appeared, and she jumped on it. It was a keystone - she could summon those out of thin air, obviously.

She pointed with her finger, and another keystone appeared, this one smaller, but still about the size of a head, and a few red lasers shot forth from it, before the rock disappeared. There were lasers aimed at each of us, and I moved, sure that I was going to get hit, but I found that I had leapt five meters away without much effort on my part, and in less than a second.

"Whoa!" Holy crap the peaches really do work! I felt the confidence build in my body, as I stared into my hands again. For such a large amount of movement, I didn't even feel that. I didn't feel that expenditure of energy, or strain on my legs.

Any other circumstance, I would have gone wild with that. I mean, come on. Superhuman. I was told I was superhuman, and I had just done an improbable physical action. I'm stronger, I'm faster, I'm... being aimed at...

Tenshi again summoned even more keystones, and they were beginning to light up.

Okay, we're doing this! This is starting!

Tenshi kept doing that, summoning more keystones as laser turrets, as the one she was on floated about. Sakuya especially had taken offense that Tenshi had taken away the vials, as she was the most aggressive. Already I could tell that the peaches worked on the girls, as they were far faster than I remembered. Okay, I want lots of peaches for the underground. No question - we're getting these peaches, as many as we can carry. Tenshi had already called a lot of those keystones onto the field, with lasers shooting everywhere, but everybody was easily dodging this, even me.

I had to be careful. I almost over-dodged, leaping right into a laser. It would have connected, if it wasn't for Shanghai blocking it. I need to compensate. It's like tennis. If I don't position myself correctly, I'll be backed into a corner. Still, what a problem to have, right? Over-dodging lasers? As good as the peaches were, they came with their own problems. If I didn't quickly get used to my new body, I'd be put down rather quickly. And again, thank you, Alice.

[SPELL CARD: BURIALLUSION "PHANTASMIC KILLER"]

The upgraded Killing Doll! I found that I could count the number of knives Sakuya used for these spell cards - apparently the peaches also increased my perception and concentration. There were thirty four knives that did their spinning around Sakuya, before homing in on Tenshi.

Tenshi summoned multiple keystones, these bigger and absorbing the shots - they spun as it did so. Okay, she can defend herself with keystones and use those to attack! It didn't take a genius to understand that I had to expect a lot of floating rocks for this. Not only did the rocks act as turrets, but they absorbed shots.

I heard Sakuya mutter to herself as her spell card failed. We had to get closer to the celestial, and with that sword, that was just a bad idea. That was Tenshi's game plan - she was showing us that we had to get close and face her and her weapon. In fact, Tenshi had set up a grid around her, like a dome.

Mokou ran forward, sliding under one of the floating keystones, and rushed to the celestial's position while ablaze. While the immortal brought out a spell card, she didn't get to use it, as Tenshi's keystone backed up and into the air, and after a while, she jumped back a little, before kicking the keystone - it went right for Mokou. The immortal quickly twisted her body, the rock brushing past her, and exploding as it hit the ground a few meters behind. During that time, Tenshi landed on the ground, and jumped up above the immortal, and at the height of the jump, another keystone formed, on which the celestial landed - when she did, it slammed into the ground. Mokou rolled out of the way, upon seeing Tenshi above her.

Tenshi just tried to crush Mokou with a keystone curb stomp! That was fast, too!

"Mokou," Reimu angrily shouted, "Get out of there! What did I say earlier?!"

I blinked, noticing that the aurora had vanished, and was replaced with hail coming down. I called out to the other girls. "It's Alice's weather!"

The girls who could afford a nod did as such, with Mokou rolling out of the space Tenshi had given herself, rejoining us in the laser dodge fest. Tenshi was all alone in her little space, but then shifted her focus on the gardener. The celestial dashed after Youmu, the surrounding keystones following suit.

"Move! Youmu!" Dammit, we can't let Tenshi single us out!

Youmu may have been made faster due to the peaches, but Tenshi was even quicker. The gardener soon found herself in that 'arena' as the keystones surrounding Tenshi had let her in. She wasn't being shot at, but the keystones were preventing her from leaving. The celestial slowly made her way to the gardener, while Youmu backed off, blade drawn. She remembered what Reimu said. The two stared at each other, Tenshi's face a bit impassive, with Youmu showing a bit of uncertainty, and Myon hiding behind her human body.

Come on, someone get in there. Youmu might need help.

"You..." Tenshi smiled. "You are Youmu Konpaku."

The gardener slowly nodded. "Yeah..."

Tenshi twirled her sword handle, seemingly pleased with that. "Ah. The granddaughter of Youki Konpaku?"

Again Youmu nodded, her uncertainty becoming more apparent. "Yes, that's his name."

Youmu, get out of there. We can't take her on by ourselves. Some of the others tried to make their way in, but the keystones kept blocking them.

"You have my respect, then." Tenshi held up the swords handle. "You see, I've trained with some of the masters of sword fighting up here as a means to pass the time, but they all stated that Youki is the true master of the blade."

This was actually the first time I've heard of any part of Youmu's family. But what is Tenshi doing?

"He is." Youmu began to show some anger, as this was starting to get personal. "But what is it to you, celestial?"

"Oh, nothing." Tenshi placed her hands on her hips. "Just disappointed. I've studied you, Youmu. I had hoped that as Youki's grand daughter, you would provide the ultimate sword fighting challenge for me, but..." The celestial shook her head while sighing. "You're nowhere near his level, and never will be, even with the peaches."

The hatred Youmu had in her eyes told the tale as she gripped her katana tightly, and got into an attack position. Okay, that's what Tenshi is doing. Me yelling for Youmu to make a break for it or not fight was going to fall on deaf ears.

"No, no no no..." Reimu was upset at this, because she too knew what was going to happen. Youmu was just insulted through her family. Something like that with someone who was pretty much a samurai?

Honor.

Youmu mentioned earlier to not get too emotional, yet there she was.

Tenshi was still on the ground, and simply watched Youmu run right at her.

[SPELL CARD: ENLIGTENING SWORD "RISE FROM DELUSION SLASH"]

It was the sword extender. The Rounkanken was covered in its blue fire, and went to the long flame blade variant. That was pretty smart - it gave the gardener some attack range. Youmu used some sweeping blade movements, both attacking Tenshi, and destroying the keystones surrounding them. Already the half-phantom had destroyed well over half of them.

Tenshi, though, was dodging it all. The celestial simply smiled and dodged with her hands at her sides, the "sheathed" Hisou (meaning the flame blade wasn't active - it was just in its handle state) held in her right hand all the while.

During all this, I had gotten used to my new speed, and I was amazed that I was able to pay attention to my surroundings - that I could watch what was going on with Tenshi as well as actively dodge the lasers. There is no way I'm going underground without these things in stock. I don't care if I have to beg Tenshi for them. I'm taking as many as I can carry, and I'll get the rest of the girls to carry them too.

That being said, I kept praying for Youmu to stop fighting and wait for someone to get inside that arena. But that was the thing - the lasers kept us mobile, so we couldn't get through the keystone grid, as they kept getting replenished.

The celestial bemusingly watched as Youmu destroyed most of the active keystones, with a huge grin on her face. "I take back what I said earlier. Seeing you first hand, you're actually not that far off from Youki. Not bad with that sword. Really. However-" Tenshi responded in kind with her first spell card, as she unsheathed the Hisou. "Mine's bigger."

[SPELL CARD: TEMPERAMENT "METEOROLOGICAL REVELATION"]

The hail ended, while at the same time, some of the scarlet clouds above spiraled into the sword,extending it, making it far longer than Youmu's spell card extension. Tenshi slashed with her sword. And it was quick, too. It caught Youmu, who stumbled back, before regaining her footing.

Youmu had taken a direct hit from danmaku, and was still standing. Man these peaches are something else.

It was all the celestial needed, however. Tenshi smirked, standing there one second, then she quickly closed the gap - what speed she had! She delivered a knee to Youmu, and before the gardener could react, she caught some lasers point blank to the base of the skull. Tenshi wasn't finished with the gardener. The celestial raised that handle causing the flame blade to come out again, fefore pointing it down as she quickly used another spell card.

[SPELL CARD: EARTH SIGN "SWORD OF UNLETTING SOIL"]

Thrusting the sword into the ground, it created a 'wave' of rocks that emitted from the impact point. As she was right there, Youmu was hit and carried by that wave, pretty much being comboed out of the fight. It flung her out of the area she was in, and judging by her limp body, she was already down. It was then that I noticed the weather had changed during the Temperament to drizzle. Increased spell card damage. Even superhuman Youmu was knocked out by that. Or... super... half-human?

She landed not far from me. "Youmu!" I ran to her, sliding to a stop as my enhanced strength nearly carried me right past her. I was still getting used to my new state, after all. Yukari was quickly there as well. The half-phantom just laid there, out cold. Dammit, that didn't take long at all! Then again, she took two spell cards in quick succession with the spell card damage increasing weather, as well as some danmaku to the back of her head.

Without the vials, there was nothing I could do, and it made me feel so useless. I had to leave her, as Tenshi was again setting up another enclosure of keystones. I sighed, getting ready to dodge, but also decided to at least provide some kind of support for the girls. "Drizzle! Spell cards out!"

"To hell with her singling us out! Let's end this one quick!" Reimu pointed to Sakuya and Marisa. "On me!" Looking to the immortal the miko quickly waved her hand. "Go! We can end this now!"

Mokou gave a nod, and rushed for Tenshi, still with that spell card she didn't use earlier. Before the celestial could begin firing away again -

[SPELL CARD: BLAZE SIGN "SELF DESTRUCTION: GIANT FLAME WHIRLWIND"]

The fire tornado. Mokou became engulfed in flames, and yes, she did kill herself for this one. I didn't notice it when she used it on Alice as my focus had been on the puppeteer. But the tornado sucked in the keystones, destroying them, and clearing the way for Sakuya, Marisa, and Reimu as Tenshi struggled not to get sucked in herself.

I also noticed Koizumi was flying around the side, and came up on Tenshi from behind with one of his cards.

[SPELL CARD: PARADOX "SCHRÖDINGER'S CAT"]

I realized what he was doing. Containing Tenshi so she could be set up for-

[SPELL CARD: ILLUSION SIGN "KILLING DOLL"]

[SPELL CARD: MAGIC SIGN "MILKY WAY"]

[SPELL CARD: SPIRIT SIGN "FANTASY SEAL ~ CONCENTRATE"]

The three homing attacks that took down Yuyuko! They went right for Tenshi, who simply did another point, but this one launched keystones like missiles. The keystones were even thinner, and more spiky. She met each shot with them, which meant she used a lot and with extremely quick and accurate reflexes. She even had to use multiple keystones for some shots just to finally get rid of them. She did all this while dealing with five different spell cards.

This is her not at full power?! What the ever-loving hell is this?! Most fighting game bosses aren't this cheap! Even with the girls faster, stronger, and with the weather effect advantage, Tenshi was just seemingly blocking everything.

To hell with this! I wanted to end this fight early as well. I brought out my trusty spell card, making sure I was far enough away, and that none of the girls would be caught up in it.

[SPELL CARD: ICE SIGN "ICICLE FALL ~ EASY"]

This added even more danmaku for the celestial to attempt to block. She couldn't have blocked them all - even in the chaos, I could clearly see some of them get through to where she should have been.

I noticed Reisen took aim with her weapon, spell card at the ready.

[SPELL CARD: PHANTASMAL RABBIT "PARALLEL CROSS"]

Her clone one again. A squad of Reisens opened fire at Tenshi as well.

Seven. Seven spell cards, and Tenshi was still blocking them.

Come on, Yukari. You gotta do something. We can end this right now. We have to. This weather effect is our best shot if we overwhelm her. What Tenshi did to Youmu showed our fate if we tried to take her down one on one.

[SPELL CARD: FANTASY NEST "NEST OF FIREFLIES"]

No, this wasn't one of Wriggles, even though it sounded bug related. And on that thought, where is Wriggle? I let that go. Anyway, this was Yukari's. Numerous portals opened up behind the demon, and shots poured out of them, aimed right at Tenshi.

She... she just kept blocking them. She wasn't suddenly dropping out of the sky. She was still under this barrage.

Dammit, we should have waited until the typhoon, then she wouldn't have been able to block.

The spell cards ended, and there floated Tenshi on a keystone. She was smirking, proud of herself for surviving all of that, but breathing a little bit hard. There were some grazes on her clothing, so we had to have made contact with all of that. It would have been embarrassing if we didn't hit her at all with all that. "Is that all you've got? That's very disappointing." She paused, and shook her head, blinking a few times. "I thought you were supposed to be strong enough to save the world."

You really are someone who's easy to hate. But at least we got some hits on her - the danmaku effect should slow her down by making her tired. For a while, she looked like she was fighting falling asleep, actually, but after she pressed her palms to her temples, she again quickly shook her head, waking herself back up. That was demoralizing. I saw Reimu clench her fists, and Koizumi was backing away in disbelief. Please let that slow Tenshi down to reasonable levels. She slashed faster than Youmu for crying out loud.

Marisa called out to us. "Sandstorm!"

Okay, counter-attacks... oh no.

Mokou was getting up from having killed herself, already on fire again, and enraged that Tenshi was still up. She went right for the celestial, yelling, while Tenshi simply took a defensive stance.

"No!" Koizumi called out to her. "Mokou!"

Tenshi held out the fire blade, waiting for the immortal to strike. Mokou tried to crash her body into the celestial, but Tenshi simply spun, avoiding it. Almost instantly, a shot emitted from the sword right at Mokou as she was still passing her. It hit the immortal right on the side of the head, and as she went back down, her eyes closed.

Damn, the counter attack...

Mokou tensed her body, keeping herself from falling, and lit herself up again, going for the celestial, actually rising above the celestial. What is she doing?

A spell card.

[SPELL CARD: UNDYING "'SOUTH WIND, CLEAR SKY' SOARING KICK"]

This was a flaming dive kick. However-

"Too easy," said Tenshi, as she brought out a spell card - a spell card used as a counter. Tenshi was using the effects to her advantage as well. Even though we were super powered, the celestial still knew how to take us down easily.

[SPELL CARD: HEAVEN SIGN "SWORD OF DIVINE JUSTICE"]

Tenshi slashed upward as she jumped - it was like an uppercut, and she caught Mokou in it. Upon impact, the flames of Mokou died out, her eyes closing again. The immortal's body flew, and she was out cold as well, landing awkwardly and just laying there.

Dammit girls, she's wasting us! And how many cards does Tenshi have?!

I think the girls and Koizumi took it to heart, as they unloaded at the celestial as she went about setting up her grid of keystones. Tenshi bobbed and weaved, again hands at her side, and thoroughly enjoying this. This was all a game to her. She utterly knocked out two of our friends, and she was just enjoying our efforts and attempts to hit her.

"Very well, Hinanai." Yukari glared at the celestial, and reached into a portal. "If that's the way you want to play, then I'll gladly give you everything I can dish out." Yukari then pulled out the Roukanken - she took it from the downed Youmu - and went right for Tenshi.

the Sun came out again, but this time with some rain. Sun shower. I hope you're perfect with parrying, Yukari! Tenshi once again drew the blade -

Something happened. The world became gray, like... Is this a time stop? I looked to Sakuya, and she grayed out as well. What? She's time stopped? But if she's not doing this...

I kept looking around, and the sword was the only thing in this realm that had color to it. It shone so bright in this dull and gray time stopped world. What is this? I took a step forward, finding that I could move, but it felt like I was moving in very thick water. There was some sort of resistance to my movements. Did... what happened to me?

Next thing I knew, the color returned, and the two kept fighting.

As the two went at it in sword combat, I blinked, unsure of what I went through. I also felt unbearably hot behind my eyes, like I was up watching TV all night.

She didn't block it right, I guess. It went right past the keystone, and hit her left arm. Tenshi let out a gasp, quickly backing away, and rubbing her arm. But she wasn't angry with the hit, nor disappointed.

She was grinning, and had an almost perverse look in her eyes, as if she was experiencing something pleasurable. "Okay. Now I'm starting to feel excited again."

Really, are you a masochist, or are you that numb that any sort of contact like that is excitable? Still, what the hell was that?

"Weather change!" Koizumi called that out as he had checked up on Mokou when he could - the immortal was just out, which brought me out of my thoughts. The esper went back to circling the area, still looking serious. He wasn't going to let his emotions take over for this fight, and he kept looking for an opening on Tenshi to attack.

High winds, and rain. This isn't the supercell. "Tempest!"

"Dammit Yukari..." Reimu pointed at the maid. "Sakuya! Help her out!"

Nodding, Sakuya moved forward, to join in on the fight between Tenshi and Yukari. Tenshi was able to keep up with both of them, while still making time to bring out several keystones to make sure the rest of us had something to dodge. Thanks to the Tempest, it was relatively easy to move about. I've got to be going over 40 kilometers per hour, and I'm not even pushing myself to my current limit! That would have made me on Usain Bolt's level!

Except that I'd be disqualified for... well, let's face it. It was a performance enhancer.

"Geez, man, just who the hell is this celestial?" Marisa just stared at her dumbfounded, as she had joined me in my speedy escape from the laser barrage. She was easily keeping up as well.

Reimu too had joined us, except she was serious, not taking her eyes off the celestial except for watching for incoming shots. "She's good. Too good."

"What do you mean 'too good'?" I shot her a worried glance when I could afford it. "You can beat her, right?" I don't need you of all people losing confidence!

The miko pursed her lips, and for once, I could see uncertainty on her face. "I don't know. I just don't know. If all that grows up here are those peaches, then she's had a steady diet of them, which means-"

I didn't like saying it. "Which means she's overpowered and far beyond us." I sighed. "I get it. It's just very demoralizing to see you lose your confidence, Reimu."

She gave me a stern look. "I'm not saying I'm ready to lay down and lose. I'm being realistic about this." She returned her attention to the fight. "I just need to see a weak point in her fighting style, and I'll be able to take her down."

"I can't believe she withstood all those spell cards."

"It affected her, at least. She's definitely slowed down." Reimu pursed her lips. "And she won't withstand any more, if the Typhoon comes up. That's when we all strike again."

I gave her a quick smile. "You know, I was thinking the exact same thing."

"We just got to bide our time, or maybe just wait for the right weather to present itself. She's been taking advantage of it, but we can take it too." Reimu turned her head to me. "We just have to pick the absolute right time to cripple her. That's what she's been doing to us."

I should point out that during all this, the three of us were able to easily dodge the incoming lasers and keep moving. All that running, and I felt zero fatigue. None of us attacked, due to Yukari and Sakuya still fighting Tenshi. Already this final battle is crazier than any other final battle I've been a part of. Reisen and Koizumi were circling the fight as well, with the soldier trying to get in a snipe when she could without taking down either Sakuya or Yukari.

"Still, can you believe this stuff, ze?" Marisa gave a shaky smile, while opening and closing a free hand. "I've never felt this good before."

"We're still down two people though. Tenshi knows how to take us down even though we're like this." I eyed the pocket where she put away the vials. "We need the vials so I can get Youmu and Mokou back up!"

The winds and rain died down, giving way to the Aurora. Great. So what's the random effect? "What's this?" I said, looking up at the sky.

[SPELL CARD: "CHARMING QUADRUPLE BARRIER"]

This was one of Yukari's spell cards - a spinning purple symbol appeared before her. She used it as she was retreating - Tenshi slashed her a few times. The symbol stayed in the air, and the celestial didn't pursue.

Yukari backed up, as Tenshi had also gotten a sudden surge of attack speed. The demon leapt back from the fight, as Sakuya continued her assault. The maid began to pop in and out, attacking from one side before using her time stoppage to go to another. The thing is, Tenshi kept meeting it all, with an ever-widening grin. Reisen had joined in through her long range attacks, keeping the pressure on the celestial, and so Sakuya didn't have to fight Tenshi truly alone.

Actually, looking over the celestial, there were new cuts in her clothes. Yukari and Sakuya had to have gotten through a bit. And while Tenshi was taking the quick time to block the incoming shots from Reisen, some were striking her. How many danmaku hits has she taken anyway? She's not going down!

Yukari had left the fight because she was fatigued, the purity of the place finally taking its toll. Breathing hard, she neared us. "It's the same effect as Youmu's weather - the blue sky!"

I reached into the satchel, producing a peach, to which Yukari accepted. She needed it. Even though I don't have the vials, I can still provide something, at least.

Sakuya must have heard us, as she began to stand and fight Tenshi, as the time popping wasn't doing any good. With her free hand, the maid produced two spell cards - she was going to chain them. Sakuya called out to us. "Watch out!"

[SPELL CARD: ILLUSION SIGN "INDISCRIMINATE"]

[SPELL CARD: WOUND SIGN "INSCRIBED RED SOUL"]

Two at the same time?!

Sakuya's random knife spread shot attack and her slashing attack. It wasn't hard to avoid the flying knives (And who would have thought I'd ever legitimately be in such a situation to say that), and on the plus side, they destroyed some of the keystones. With the added strength due to the peaches, Sakuya's arms were barely visible as she launched into the slashing card, but Tenshi responded in kind.

[SPELL CARD: NON-PERCEPTION "SWORD OF RAPTURE"]

This was the celestials own slashing attack. Tenshi just slashed just as fast as Sakuya did, maybe even faster, meeting each and every knife slash and knife shot with her single sword. For a good ten seconds, they kept at it, sparks flying every time the blades met, and eventually the entire area was awash in a shower of sparks. I don't know how, but Sakuya's knives were able to stand up to that sword. Hey, if they were able to stand up to the Roukanken, then why not this?

There was a serious problem, however - Tenshi activated her slash spell card slightly after Sakuya did, so Sakuya's ended a bit earlier.

Yeah.

Sakuya tried to match Tenshi, but the maid's arms weren't fast enough after her spell card ended. Her knives dropped out of her hands as Tenshi slashed at the maid for a few seconds, before ending with one big slash that launched the maid. The knockback was ridiculous, and sent Sakuya flying.

"I'm not done with you, maid!" Tenshi quickly ran to where the maid would land, catching Sakuya in another spell card, again, taking advantage of the 'chaining.'

[SPELL CARD: SWORDPLAY "SWORD OF SWAGGER"]

The hell kind of card name is this? Before Sakuya could even land, the celestial just went to town on the maid. In one second she slashed Sakuya nine times, and that was it for the maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Sakuya fell unceremoniously to the ground, as Tenshi watched, smiling like a kid in an amusement park.

I wanted to start yelling at her for how cruel she was. She had used two cards in quick succession to down both Youmu and Sakuya... yet on the trail of that thought, she did make us stronger. It's just... it just wasn't fair though. This didn't seem fair, even if we outnumbered her. I kept thinking that, as Yukari had regained her strength, and went to battle it out with Tenshi again, who was momentarily distracted by Reisen and Koizumi taking potshots. The two locked in battle again as Tenshi redrew her sword, as she was constantly 'sheathing' and 'unsheathing' it-

It happened again. Time stood still, the world graying out, with the only thing in color being the Sword of Hisou. I found that I was able to move a bit easier this time, with the resistance against my body being more tolerable. A thought crossed my mind as I stared at the celestial, wondering if I should take advantage of it.

I began to move forward, towards the fight. I found that Shanghai and Hourai were keeping up with me, and another thing. When I was taking steps, color slowly faded in, but was a mixture of color and gray. I looked back, and I could see the confusion on the faces of Reimu and Marisa, as they stared at me.

Am I moving fast for them? Is that what this is? What happened to me? How is this even possible? Who-

This is for the best...

The realization of what had to have happened felt like a slap in the face. ...Yasumi did something to me. I returned my attention to the fight, right at the only thing that was in full color as Yukari and Tenshi were frozen in mid-fight - the celestial sword. Those two hadn't noticed me, but Koizumi and Reisen had, and they too shared the same confusion at my relative speed.

Whatever this is, this is obviously tied to the sword. Seeing as how much emphasis was put on that weapon, another idea came to me.

You knocked out Youmu, Sakuya, and Mokou. You destroyed Reimu's home. I'm taking you down... if this works.

I moved as fast as I could, wondering if the resistance I was feeling was air resistance, or the limitations of my body at this speed. Tenshi's eyes noticed me, and slowly widened as I made my way to her-

Then it ended. I was about two meters away from the two of them, and time normalized again. I was already in the process of making that diamond symbol, calling for the Doll Spark. Shanghai and Hourai both appeared to react as fast as I could, even when I was running at that speed.

Tenshi appeared to want to say something, but the Doll Spark forced her to leap away from the fight - Yukari also moved to she wouldn't get hit. I didn't get the celestial, but the look she gave me was pretty priceless. The keystones went inert, and Tenshi just stared, showing confusion, anger, and annoyance. She took a moment, before scowling at me.

Koizumi was staring at me wide-eyed. "How did you move that fast?!"

Like if you asking me is going to let me really answer you. I don't know!

"Oh," Tenshi grumbled. "Yasumi, you little bitch..." Tenshi raised her hand, the remaining keystones gathering again, half of them lighting up, with the other half reshaping themselves to become missiles again.

And they were all aimed at me. Tenshi saw me as a major threat.

Okay, you know what? Having super powers isn't fun. It just makes you a bigger target.

When I went back to moving, I found that I wasn't as fast as before. In fact, I was beginning to feel fatigue, and slight hunger. But, I just ate the peach. It shouldn't have burned through that fast - the others are still fast, even. I don't see Tenshi having to eat more. So...

...Unless I burned through it by moving that fast. That was a possibility. I took out another peach, not wanting to be a normal human in such a laser show anyway, and quickly took a few bites. Shanghai was doing her best to block the lasers, while Hourai was eliminating the keystone missiles by shattering them with her lance. After using the doll spark, both were tired. The effect the peach had wasn't taking effect yet, as I wasn't getting any faster. Come on... come on!

[SPELL CARD: EARTHQUAKE "SWORD OF WORRY AND JOY"]

HOW MANY DOES SHE HAVE?!

Tenshi once again struck the ground, and glared right at me. Nothing happened, even though there were tremors under my feet. I couldn't help but be unnerved by the way Tenshi was looking at me. The tremors began to increase in intensity, and a bad thought went through my mind.

"Marisa! Get me off the ground!"

I ran to where Marisa was, as she rushed to me as well. She had to have understood it. Everyone got into the air as well - but we couldn't do anything for those knocked out. Marisa brought me up as the ground violently shook. I could see the effect it had on those knocked out - it bounced them into the air as the ground shook. Tenshi's spell card hit those who were on the ground - it was meant for me.

The aurora disappeared, a light humidity moving in. I didn't know what it was, until Reisen called it out. "Mountain Vapor!"

Ah, dammit. Random spell cards.

Tenshi backed up, using this time to catch her breath. We used it to regroup. There were several keystones still in the air, but they weren't firing. In fact, Tenshi hadn't replenished them. She kept her eyes on me, silent for a few moments. At that point, nobody fired anything, and nobody was about to leave the use of a spell card to luck.

"Kyon, what the hell was that?" Reimu said that as she kept her eyes on the celestial. "You just moved."

I felt my body lose its fatigue, I guess meaning that the peach had taken effect. I let out a sigh. "I don't know. It just happened."

"Why are you eating another one?" Yukari raised an eyebrow at me. "The effect shouldn't have worn off this quickly."

"I don't know, I think it burned through during whatever that was."

"Like it fueled it, ze?"

Exactly what I was thinking. "Maybe." I gave everybody a shrug. "Your guess is as good as mine, okay? I don't know what the heck that was."

"I've never seen anybody react that way to the peaches." Reisen came close, looking me in the eyes. "I mean, you look fine. There's nothing wrong with you..." She felt my forehead, her eyes widening a bit. "...Except that you're running very hot."

"I felt hungry after that happened."

"Hmm." Reisen rubbed her chin as she thought about that. "Maybe it used your metabolism to do that." She looked to Marisa. "Possible that the fuel thing was literal."

"So," Koizumi rubbed the back of his neck, unsure of this situation. I mean, for all intents and purposes, he had 'researched' me, finding out that I had no abilities. Then I get really super speed? "What, he eats those peaches and he gains even more abilities than us?"

Jealous?

Reisen shook her head. "I don't think so. That seemed activated. If it was just you eating them, then it would have happened the instant you consumed one. Something else happened - some other catalyst."

Reisen's right. If it was just the peaches, I'd be zipping around the field by now. No, it's something else - the peaches are just a part of this.

"Heads up, weather's changing again."

As I said, nobody wanted to risk wasting a spell card due to the random nature.

It went back to the Aurora, bringing another pause. Tenshi looked up, and smiled. "Okay, I can work with that."

[SPELL CARD: KEYSTONE "HEAVEN'S ROCK"]

Tenshi pointed again, another keystone, but this one glowing. It zipped past, and stopped - and then began to emit spread shots of danmaku. She kept doing this, zipping around the battlefield, creating more and more turrets. She began to move around while doing this.

We began to move, because not only did the spell card dictate that we did, but we could feel the burning. It was Mokou's weather.

"Okay, you know what?" Reisen rubbed her eyes, and they began to glow. "I've had just about enough of you!"

[SPELL CARD: WEAK HEART "DEMOTIVATION"]

Reisen reeled back, charging her eyes, and it was a bright flash that followed. Tenshi paused, and shivered after it. The celestial's spell card had ended in an instant. Tenshi brought out the same spell card, and tried reading it. It didn't activate. Neither did the others she brought out. It was a status effect card. It disabled spell card use for the opponent for a short while, while cancelling the active spell card. Reisen bought us some time, which was good since Tenshi's deck of cards seemed just about limitless.

Reisen rubbed her eyes again. "I'm keeping her from using cards! That won't last long! Focus on her!"

Tenshi looked at us with a sneer. She was reduced to using regular danmaku for a short while.

Marisa landed, letting me off, and used a card.

[SPELL CARD: COMET "BLAZING STAR"]

Marisa took off right for Tenshi, blasting through the remaining keystones the celestial used to defend herself. She didn't make contact, but it opened up the way for the others to use theirs.

[SPELL CARD: FAWN'S SUFFERING "THE PROBLEM OF EVIL"]

As soon as Marisa was clear, the others went for Tenshi.

[SPELL CARD: DIVINE SPIRIT "FANTASY SEAL"]

Again the upgraded Fantasy Seal.

[SPELL CARD: MAGIC EYE "THE MAGIC EYE OF LAPLACE"]

This was Yukari's. A multitude of portals opened up around the field, each having a purple eye looking out of it. After a moment, they all fired a short barrage at their target. This was kind of disturbing to see, with all those eyes.

Tenshi was on the move, still quite fast, but noticeably slower than earlier. Her body whipped around upon getting hit by a ying yang orb, but she kept going, trying to get out of the way of the barrage and that forest fire.

Dammit, man, we keep hitting her, but she won't stay down. How long has she been eating these things? On the plus side, having her back us up would be wonderful and kept looking better and better. Focus. Defeat her first, and then celebrate getting her on our side. More than anybody else, Tenshi was already the toughest person I've come across.

The aurora faded yet again, replaced with a torrential downpour. The typhoon!

We all began to converge on Tenshi, when Yukari held out her arm to keep us from going. "I got her."

Tenshi was breathing heavily as she was fell to her knees, loudly gasping for air. This has got to be it, right? Yukari can end this fight, especially like this.

Yukari, with her parasol open, landed in front of the celestial. "Not bad, Miss Hinanai. You actually managed to take down three of us. Very impressive."

Tenshi didn't lift up her head. "...A little disappointed that they didn't last?"

Yukari shrugged. "In battle, one can't really dictate the chaos that follows. One can take precautions, prepare, maybe even coax certain events to occur, but it's ultimately up to the ones fighting the fight on how it ends." Yukari smirked. "At the very least, you've shown this group that they should train a little bit harder. Then we should be ready."

"What makes you think this fight is over?"

"Because it is." Yukari playfully twirled her parasol with one hand, and brought out a spell card with the other. "All aboard."

[SPELL CARD: OBSOLETE LINE "TRIP TO THE OLD STATION"]

What kind of card is...

Two very large portals opened up, one right in front of Tenshi, and one behind.

...Oh.

Already the sound of the incoming train was heard, the horn blasting, and the lights from within one of the portals already on the celestial. Yeah, if I had to use a finisher, I'd like to have this card. Kind of excessive, though. Part of me felt relieved that this was going to end, as I didn't want to see any more of us drop. Seeing Youmu, who said she was going to protect me, go down first did not boost my confidence. I couldn't blame her though - she was put into an unfair situation after all. At the very least, she'd use this defeat as a means to better herself.

When Tenshi saw the card being used, she hurriedly searched for something in her dress, her face showing panic. Upon it activating, she whipped out a card in the brief second that she had before the train hit her.

[SPELL CARD: TEMPERAMENT "STATE OF ENLIGHTENMENT"]

Tenshi raised up the sword, and a burst of red energy covered her, with red electricity covering her body. It was super armor, enough to negate the no defense. She simply stood there, and the train split in two down the middle when it made contact with her, the sound of metal being torn apart ringing in everybody's ears - the screech and the crashing just horrible. The pieces were flailing past and crashing behind the celestial. Thankfully they didn't appear to hit anybody, either from our group or anybody here in Heaven - they just landed in the large open field we were in.

Oh come on - I realized what this meant. Yukari! Move!

Tenshi did not stay still. She moved forward, right for Yukari, who attempted to bring up the Roukanken, but she wasn't quick enough. The look on Yukari's eyes told the tale - she screwed up.

[SPELL CARD: KEYSTONE "WORLD CREATION PRESS"]

This was another uppercut slash with the Sword of Hisou, and she caught Yukari in it, who had tried to block it with a barrier, but to no avail.

No!

Yukari was launched into the air, with Tenshi following, and at the apex of the slash, a huge keystone formed, which came down on Yukari. The keystone shattered when it hit the ground, leaving the knocked out Yukari there, with Tenshi standing over her, looking pleased with herself.

Damn it, she knocked out Yukari! That is, if she didn't flat out kill her. If that was regular rock, Yukari would have been crushed.

We couldn't do anything. River mist moved in, making sure we would be separated. Tenshi again used this time to catch her breath, nobody else doing anything, as the armor was still active. It was just me, Marisa, Reimu, Reisen, and Koizumi left. Tenshi had already wasted four of us, and our morale was bottoming out. It was for me.

Reisen's ears lowered, as she glanced to the miko. "...So... got any ideas?"

We can't lose like this. We just can't. If we can't stop Tenshi, then she's going to destroy so much.

The game had been going great. Momiji had managed to capture the remaining treasure, and had upgraded her last pawn to a Golden general. That upset Nitori, but that wasn't as bad as that point, when Momiji used that distraction to upgrade another piece and eliminate her last wolf. Now Nitori's Prince and King were alone. This is the endgame, Nitori. You might as well surrender. You're done in three moves.

Momiji stretched, unable to hide the grin she had. This was the best game she had ever played, but like everyone else in Gensokyo, they had all fallen to her. Nitori fretted over the board, looking over it up and down, trying to see if there was a way she could win. There wasn't. Every move from there on out would get her King or Prince checkmated.

Eventually, the kappa's shoulders sagged, defeat setting in. She placed her index fingers on the king and prince respectively, and knocked them over. "You got me."

Momiji grinned, reaching over the board with an extended hand. "Great game."

Nitori shook hands, still dejected, and sighed. "Three years. Three years we've been doing this off and on, and you still got me. Even when I took time to analyze the board, you just slowly tore me to pieces with each encounter."

"Don't feel bad, Nitori. You were easily the best I've played against."

Nitori began to beam a little over hearing that. "You're just saying that."

Momiji shook her head. "No, really. You're better than anyone else I've played." The tengu got up, yawning. "Ah, man. That's a relief though. All that time, and to finally end it is just such a good feeling." Momiji placed her hands on her hips as Nitori began to put the board back in its box. "Hey, Nitori?"

"Hmm?"

"When my shift is over, wanna grab a drink? I think what we both went through deserves something on tap."

Nitori smiled. "Sure." She finished putting the game away, and looked to the golden stairs. "They're still in there? I thought they'd be done by now."

"Yeah, me too."

"Can you hear what's going on in there?"

"My hearing isn't that good to hear across realms." Momiji wiggled one of her wolf ears. "It'd be interesting, but also a pain. But I'd-" The wolf stopped, as she heard and smelled the person coming closer. "Hold up." She grabbed her sword and shield.

Nitori quickly threw on her backpack, and went behind the tengu, sensing the person as well. "Hey, wait. Momiji, isn't that...?"

Momiji relaxed her stance, as the miko of the Moriya Shrine approached. They stared at each other for a bit, until the miko gave a smile and walked to the golden stairs.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"To help them, obviously." The miko giggled. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you tengu protected the afterlife realms. Am I doing something against our agreement?"

Momiji sheathed her sword, unable to find a counter argument. "No... no, you're not. And you're not moving against tengu interests, so..." Momiji just shrugged. All she was ordered to do was to watch the Hakurei miko's group. "Do whatever you please."

"Thank you."

The kappa and the tengu watched as the miko with the divine blood ascended to Heaven.

We were all looking to Reimu for an answer, and the uncertainty on her face was just heartbreaking. Reimu, don't do this. I need you. We need you.

Reimu then paused for a bit, and a small smile formed on her face. "...Actually, now would be a good time for a sneak attack."

What? Everyone was showing confusion, especially Tenshi. She just stared at the miko, as the armor began to fade.

"I'll let you guys come to my shrine for real, okay? I won't shoo you away." Reimu spoke louder. "I said, now would be a good time for a sneak attack!"

I saw it. The slight waves in the air behind Tenshi, like how the air around a hot car appeared. No way... they're still around?! The River Mist was leaving as quickly as it had came, again the weather replaced by the Aurora. Without Yukari to flat out tell us what it was, we were going into it blind.

The armor ended, Tenshi's eyes widened, and from behind her-

[SPELL CARD: TEAM TECH "FAIRY OVERDRIVE"]

The three fairies and Cirno! Danmaku rained from the sky over Tenshi, and the four fairies phased in behind her. Cirno backed off from the other three as they surrounded themselves with red magic circles and they began to move from right to left above Tenshi, before trying to slam into her. The celestial moved, getting grazed by that first slam. Then the fairies went in the air, and passed over her. When danmaku passed through the area the three fairies were, they went ablaze, becoming stronger, heavier shots. They kept doing this, raining down on Tenshi, and trying to slam into her.

I'm so glad you four decided to stick around!

Cirno joined us, puffing out her chest in pride. "Eye bet you're glad to see us!"

You have no idea! Score one up for the fairies of Gensokyo!

Tenshi attempted to call up more keystones, yet they were met with amulets, lasers, and Koizumi's shots. The three fairies were being covered.

I was using this time to gather the girls that were knocked out, placing them next to each other. My plan was that if we got the vials back, I could make quick tags instead of having to travel the battlefield for each person. Each girl felt like they weighed next to nothing, which I attributed to my super strength. But yeah, they were just completely knocked out. Hold on, girls. If I can, I'm bringing you back into this fight. As I laid down the last one, Sakuya, I returned my attention to the fight - the three fairies had not successfully hit Tenshi. Sunny ended the spell card, and brought out a third of one.

Only a piece of a card?

"Okay girls, we gotta use it!" Sunny called out to her friends. "Form up!"

Luna slowly shook her head, uncertainty on her face. "This isn't what I expected to do when I woke up this morning!" Despite her griping, she and Star went behind Sunny, with a third of a card as well.

"We're in position!" Star pointed at Tenshi, also with a piece of a card. "Sunny! Do it! Let's get her!"

So it takes all three of you to use this one.

[SPELL CARD: "THREE FAIRIES"]

The Three Fairies strongest spell card. Star and Luna extended their arms towards Sunny, a beam of energy forming from each of them and pouring into the fairy in red. Sunny used their energy to both defend herself, and to attack, emitting so many spread shots. What made it even harder is that the spread shots became charged again after hitting the ground, bouncing back up into the field. So shots were crisscrossing everywhere.

I kept watching Tenshi, looking for an opening to see if I should try for the vials in her pocket. What was really concerning me was the sword, yes, but I still wanted to get the girls back up.

I would have done something. Except that Tenshi didn't take kindly to being sneak attacked. She angrily turned to the fairies, and brought out a Taboo card.

No! Sunny! Luna! Star! Get out of there!

[SpElL cArD: "sKy Of ScArLeT pErCePtIoN oF aLl YoUkAi"]

To put it bluntly, this was a red Master Spark that fired from her sword, but it managed to be worse, because the beam lasted far longer. When the beam activated, it displaced the air away from it, the burst almost making me slide back. When it made contact with something, regular danmaku would chip off, spreading out. Already the danmaku from the fairies was beat out by the beam, the three of them already calling off the card and getting ready to flee, but they were quickly overtaken. The spell card of the three fairies ended, and we were faced with the danmaku that had come off of them, as well as Tenshi beginning to swing around the laser towards us, it digging into the ground and kicking up clouds of dirt as it blazed a trail to us. I numbly saw the three fairies land behind Tenshi, as I got ready to move-

"PERFECT-" I noticed that Cirno, who had yelled that out, had brought out a spell card, and the temperature around us dropped drastically.

[SPELL CARD: PERFECT FREEZE]

"- FREEZE!"

Cirno, I love you!

It seemed that Cirno didn't take kindly to what Tenshi did either. The shots and the laser all froze which meant the ice covered the sword as well. The celestial's eyes widened at this, as she struggled to free the sword to no avail. All the shots were just stuck, frozen in the air, and as the laser was striking the ground, it was in place. Just a giant tower of ice. Otherwise I think Tenshi would have been waving that hunk of ice around like a club.

Cirno charged right at her, a ball of ice forming over her head, as she was set to bash Tenshi with it. "Nobody messes with us fairies! Eye'll show you!"

For a brief second, Tenshi still struggled with the sword, before raising her free hand, another keystone missle forming, this one just zipping right into the ice of the fairy, breaking it. Cirno flinched, giving Tenshi the time to summon another keystone, this one shooting a laser right at Cirno's face. The ice fairy didn't last.

Dammit Cirno, why didn't you dodge?! Also, that was quick. The four fairies didn't last long at all.

Tenshi was about to use her keystones to break the ice, but Reisen, who had moved during the taboo, was going for the celestial from the side.

[SPELL CARD: ILLUSION BOMB "MIND-STARMINE"]

Her eyes glowing red for a bit, and a spread shot of bullets and red circles emitted from Reisen. The circles were stationary, the bullets weren't. It appeared that this one gave Reisen breathing room, as well as the obvious bullets shooting out. Tenshi abandoned her sword, backing away from the barrage of bullets from the soldier. Marisa, Koizumi, and Reimu all gave chase to the celestial, who had to rely on keystone summons.

She willingly disarmed herself! Reisen did what she had suggested we do. Since the celestial wasn't packing as much heat, Marisa moved in, getting a little bolder than she was - she had been unusually passive during the fight. I would have expected her to be more on the frontline.

[SPELL CARD: LOVE SIGN "MACHINE GUN SPARK"]

Wait what? A new variation to the Master Spark?

Just like it sounded, this was a rapid-fire Master Spark. The problem with the Master Spark and attacks like it is that it was one single beam, and from how people used it (and by that I mean how I witness such attacks being used), it appeared to carry momentum as they had to struggle to 'turn' the laser. This one shot out quick Sparks that lasted for about a second and a half, allowing Marisa a brief window of time in between to adjust her aim without any struggling on her part. I wonder what other variations you've come up with, Marisa. Or if you've come up with something stronger than the Final Master Spark. Marisa was able to chase Tenshi around with this one.

The fairies had landed not too far from each other, and I went to check up on them, and bring them to the rest of the girls. They were still breathing, but they were long gone. What were you girls doing? I appreciate it, we all appreciate it, but to go this far? After placing the three fairies of light, I stood over Cirno, the little fairy actually looking cute while she slept. As she was face down, I turned her over, and some of her spell cards had spilled out. Silently cursing myself, I grabbed them and was about to put them into a pocket of her dress, when I noticed something.

...A second Perfect Freeze? What was she doing with a second one? She still clutched the one she used in her hand, so this was an unused Freeze.

I took into consideration the ethics of stealing a magic item from a knocked out fairy, but I needed it, especially considering how much trouble it gave to Tenshi. I placed it into my pocket, thinking about how my pathetic deck of cards was. Yeah, I have the very flawed Icicle Fall, the Perfect Freeze, and the...

I still had Ryoko. I looked to where Marisa was, who at that time was aiming for Tenshi's head with her lasers. I'll need magic. I do not have enough for Ryoko. Hopefully Marisa brought enough mushrooms with her.

Also, I had to move. The fight was coming back to me, so I quickly picked up the ice fairy and brought her to the others, before I moved away from them. I eyed the sword stuck in the ice tower for a bit, wondering if I should do something about that. I didn't have to. Reisen, who was the closest to giving chase to Tenshi, had switched to her shotgun and was unloading at Tenshi. The celestial zipped around the tower of ice, which was beginning to fade out. One of the shotgun blasts went and freed the sword, knocking it up into the air. Upon seeing this, Tenshi lunged for it, hand outstretched to catch it, yet a stray volley from Koizumi hit her arm, and she flinched. The sword just fell, landing...

Landing in my arms.

I had the Sword of Hisou.

Tenshi backed away from the barrage of shots, but took a brief second to see where her weapon had landed. When she saw that I had it, she became briefly dumbstruck. "No way! Only celestials or gods can wield celestial weapons, or even hold them! You're not even supposed to touch them!"

What? So I'm not supposed to be able to even have this...

As for the sword itself, it weighed next to nothing, and the criss-cross leather design gave it some good grip. I could also feel some heat off of this thing, despite it being previously encased in ice. Not uncomfortable heat, mind you, but like it was body heat.

"That's impossible." Tenshi blinked, clenching her teeth. Her confusion was quickly becoming anger.

For a brief second, part of me considered giving her the sword back, but logic won out. If an opponent in a fight loses their unfair weapon, why give it back?

Tenshi essentially threw herself to the ground, causing a stomp that made the earth or whatever it is here in Heaven rise up in those pillars, cutting off everyone else from me and her. Reimu was chased out of the way by several keystone barrages, and when she was out of the way, the wall of the ground gave me and Tenshi a small arena. I gulped, as I realized what was going on. She wanted me one on one for daring to take away her toy.

Extending her hand, and doing her best to not lose her composure, she growled "Give it back!"

Again, I considered it, and again, I declined. I shook my head, even though I knew it was going to end badly for me and the dolls.

"You little idiot, you don't know what you're doing with that!" Tenshi pointed at me, anger, and... panic? Was it panic? Well, whatever it was, she was showing anger. "Someone like you can't wield that! You're not supposed to have that!"

"What, and you can?" Why am I engaging in her with this?

She quickly shook her head. "No! That's not it! I know how to cover the blade in danmaku! If you use it, you'll use it for real! And why are you able to even hold it?!"

You're asking me? I don't know! Still, what she said had piqued my interest a bit. If I could hold it, I could wield it? Is that what she's implying? And not just hold it, but actually use it?

If that sword could find an opponent's weakness, if it was a celestial weapon, then it could really do some serious damage. I had not considered that she had coated it in danmaku. Of course, I didn't know how to do such a thing, so I was...

Wait a second, what are you implying? Are you... are you scared of me because I have this?

Tenshi did have a slight fear in her eyes. They shifted from the weapon, to me, and back to the weapon. You're scared of what I can do with this. If I can actually use this against you...

...Would I be able to kill you?

I gulped, feeling like a young child who had suddenly found themselves holding something extremely dangerous when their parent just walked into the room. I looked over the handle, unsure of how to even activate it, and not even wanting to do so. So this thing can lay waste to armies. What kind of damage could it do to a celestial? Of course, I had briefly considered that, and shut down that line of thought. I did not want to kill her. I didn't want to kill anyone.

What a terrifying weapon and responsibility I had in my hand.

Tenshi's eyes widened, and she just screamed at me. "Give me back the Sword of Hisou!"

For a brief second, I had considered doing as such. Yet she'll just waste you. "...No." Oh this is going to be very bad. Of all the times to find courage, it had to be there. Also, it wasn't fair. If I gave it back to her, she'd knock me out with it. If I held onto it, she wouldn't have an easy time until she managed to get it from my grip, which of course meant she'd be gunning for me from that point on. The keystones she shot were manageable by the other girls - it was this sword that was the problem.

I had to keep it away from her. Again, not one of my smarter moves concerning my own safety.

I think I pissed her off, because as she went back into the air, she reached into her dress and produced a-

Is that another Taboo card?! By then it was too late to return it. You are freaking kidding me! I have to take on a Taboo?!

[SpElL cArD: "kAsHiMa PrOtEcTiOn"]

"You shouldn't have picked that up! This ends now, boy!"

I'm sorry! But I can't let you win! She had seen to it that I had to win, if I wanted a college to go back to.

I helplessly watched as a few dozen meters above me, keystones covered the sky. Don't tell me she's going to try to - yes, she's going to try to crush me. A whole line of keystones were falling from the sky, right for me, and my path. When they hit the ground, they exploded into danmaku fragments. Hourai jumped to my defense, thrusting her lance at the stones that got too close to me. Each one she struck burst apart, thankfully without any of the fragments being an issue for me. Still, the fragments of the others were a problem, so I had to move about, trying my best to not get caught in them.

It dawned on me. It was raining rocks and there were explosions of danmaku going on! I clutched the sword handle, as she really wanted it back to warrant this.

"Stay still!"

Tenshi began producing those keystone turrets, shooting lasers at me. I really couldn't afford to stay in one place. I began running around the outside of this small arena, using Hourai and Shanghai to both attack the keystones and shield from the danmaku respectively.

You might be asking why nobody was coming for me over the top - because there were lasers shooting out above the wall. I glanced, and saw a few of the girls circling around, trying to get in, but they couldn't. Also, the worst part is, I was too close to Tenshi. Even if I charged up the Icicle Fall, she'd easily get close enough to avoid it. All I could do was keep running.

Shouldn't Reimu be able to-

Then Reimu showed up, teleporting in.

-Teleport. Ask, and you shall receive.

"Kyon!" She twisted her body to avoid some of the danmaku shots, and looked up at the falling rocks, seeing what she got herself into.

Yeah, it's not the ideal situation. But if there was anyone I was to be stuck with in a fight, I'd gladly have Reimu watching my back.

"They can be destroyed! Aim for the keystones!"

She quickly nodded, and began tossing up her needles and amulets to the falling rocks.

"Take this!" Tenshi went down to the ground again, stomping, and bringing up more of the ground, making it uneven, before she returned to the air and shot lasers at me. She was trying to slow me down, but I wasn't having any difficulty moving. I was fluidly hurdling over the rocks, and scrambling up the ones that were too big for me to jump over. My body knew what to do, and being 'superhuman' gave me the energy, the power, and the drive to flawlessly do those actions.

The parkour was paying off. Nagato, thank you so much for suggesting it! Years ago, I think I would have gone down instantly to this card.

This seemed to get Tenshi even more angry, as I kept lasting. None of her shots, none of the lasers, and not one of the falling keystones even grazed me. "Are you kidding me?! How?! How are you able to avoid this spell card?!"

Holy crap that's right. I was surviving a Taboo. I'm actually surviving a Taboo! No, don't lose focus! Keep moving! Keep using the dolls! Those two were already indispensable at that point. Again, I was grateful to Alice for them. Of course, Reimu helping destroy the keystones was a big help too.

"Want me to use a card?"

I quickly responded, deciding right then and there that I wanted to stick it to Tenshi in some small way. "No! We're capturing this one!" This is gonna be for Sakuya, Youmu, Mokou, the fairies, and Yukari!

Again, Tenshi stomped the ground, making it rise in increments of two meters, like a staircase. It kept going up and up. It didn't deter me - I just kept moving, dodging the falling keystones, and her lasers, as I climbed higher and higher. Eventually I was reaching where Tenshi was in the air (she was about twenty meters up) , and a crazy plan formed.

I couldn't fly, so I shouldn't have done it, because the fall was going to hurt... No, I'm thinking in terms of my original body. I might be able to survive this. Otherwise my only hope was that this disrupted Tenshi in some way so that maybe Reimu could catch me.

As long as I didn't use a spell card, this should still let me capture it. "Get ready, Hourai!"

Reaching Tenshi's level, I turned from running along the outer wall, and jumped toward her, bringing Hourai's lance forward.

Tenshi didn't expect that.

She did, however, block it, but the impact of the lance must have done something, as the pillars all went back down to the ground. Tenshi herself was knocked back, the force pushing her some ten meters away, surprisingly.

As for me, I fell, and I wasn't looking forward to the impact, when I felt a hand grab me. Reimu had rushed to me, catching me. Thank you so much!

The celestial was just glaring at me, especially when...

...I captured it?! A copy of the Kashima Protection fell to the ground, and Tenshi shook upon seeing that. But I had captured it. I wasn't hit, nor did I use a spell card.

I just captured a Taboo. A freaking Taboo! After Reimu and I landed, I claimed my prize, before looking up at the celestial. Her fists were balled up, and her piercing glare told the tale - she was going to target me. It was understandable. I had taken away her weapon and one of her Taboos.

She rushed right at me, a wall of missile keystones forming again. You really abuse those things, don't you?! Reimu got in front of me, her body tensing.

"Kyon, get ready to run!"

When she said 'run', her word began to slow, and the color was drained out of everything again. What's causing this? The Hisou felt even hotter in my hand, and I brought it up, staring at it. Actually, why am I even able to hold this thing? Only a celestial can wield this, right? So why and how can I carry it? Why is this time stop happening?

The two had to be connected. It was obvious.

...Can I actually wield this?

I put my left hand on the hilt of the handle, and like Tenshi did, I slowly 'drew' out the flame blade as I extended my arm from the hilt. Holy cow I can call the blade. I looked to the celestial, and I saw her reaction to what I did even in this time slow down. Her eyes widened, as the missiles began to fire.

Reimu, you helped me so many times. Let me return the favor.

I don't know what I was thinking, but I moved, getting in front of Reimu, and I swung the sword. They easily tore into the rock. It felt like swinging a tennis racket, actually, the ease this felt. Heck, there was less resistance in cutting through the keystones than there was in making contact with a tennis ball. I just kept slashing, finding myself being able to move even faster in this grayed out world, destroying all the missiles in what had to be a few seconds in real time. The range of this sword was just insane - I didn't have to move much from where I was to get all of them.

When all the keystones were destroyed, the color shifted back, and I felt tired again, and hungry. The sword also felt heavier.

But this was worth it, as the look on Tenshi's face was of pure astonishment. She slowly shook her head. "No... no this can't be happening. What happened to..." She blinked, before her eyes widening. "...Yasumi..." She had to have realized it too. And that realization turned to anger. "No! She couldn't have done this to me! I spent so much time on this just to let this battle go to waste! I should at least have a chance here!"

I didn't feel comfortable with the blade out, so I reversed the motion, and the blade went away.

Reisen and Reimu both got in front of me, ready to protect. They must have realized that I was normal again. The miko glanced at me. "Yasumi...?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." I rummaged through the pack for another peach.

Tenshi's confusion ended when she saw me eating. "...I see. The peaches fuel whatever that is." She cracked her knuckles, smiling. "Okay. That's easy to figure it out. Then I guess I'll just take them away from you as well!" Tenshi outstreched her arms, more keystones forming, and she rushed towards, us as they began to fire their barrage.

I wasn't going to be fast enough. The peach I had quickly eaten hadn't taken effect yet.

"Kyon," Reisen grabbed my hand. "Mo-"

[SPELL CARD: ESOTERICA "9 CHARACTER PIERCE"]

Who...? Nobody I saw used that!

Out of nowhere, multiple lasers in multiple colors appeared in between us and Tenshi, forming a grid. It acted like a fence, and Tenshi stopped before she reached it - the laser grid destroyed her keystones and blocked the celestial's lasers. She glared at me from one of the gaps, before looking up at the sky.

"What? What weather...?"

Whatever weather it was, it replaced the aurora. A beam of light was going from person to person, that is, the people not knocked out. When it washed over me, the fatigue in my body went away. What is this? A healing weather?

Tenshi's eyes widened. "...The calm?!"

The calm? The last weather type?

Reisen and Reimu looked to each other in confusion. "Did you set up those lasers...?"

Then I heard her voice.

"It really is you, isn't it?"

I don't know why, but my heart skipped a beat. That voice... Even though it's been years, even though her voice had changed, I could still place it. Everyone was looking behind me, to the source of that voice.

Middle school. One semester. A number of weeks of contact with a certain person. That's all it really was. Watching her with semi-interest as she tried to make people fall in love with each other, to set things up. Of casually talking to her about the paranormal. Of spending a few lunches with her to talk of such things. And then, when the semester was over, she was gone. I never understood what happened, of why she left. But that's life. Sometimes we only get to have a few brief instances with another person.

"When I heard of the nickname 'Kyon', I couldn't believe it. I thought there had to be someone else with that nickname. There just had to be, because I couldn't believe it could be you." She let out a small chuckle. "Imagine my surprise when it really was you, when I saw the pictures in the papers here in Gensokyo for myself."

I turned to her, and there she was, the light beaming down on her, highlighting this absolutely gorgeous woman.

She stood there, smiling at me. "It's a hell of a coincidence, isn't it?"

Sanae. She's so beautiful. Fitting for someone who has gods' blood in them. She looked better in person than she did in the picture of her I saw a year prior.

Sanae Kochiya, my old classmate from middle school. Who I didn't see when she transferred out. Who became a shrine maiden, and could cause miracles. Who disappeared from our world, along with her shrine.

Speaking of her being a miko, what she was wearing was almost like Reimu's outfit, but instead of red, her shrine maiden outfit was blue with a white stipple pattern on it. Again, a detached sleeve miko outfit. Is that popular religious garb here? Sanae was holding an old-fashioned onusa - a stick with a rectangular strip of white paper and some dangling paper streamers on the end. Like the gohei, the onusa was a Shinto ceremonial stick. The slight breeze in Heaven moved her long, green hair, and she still had a snake and frog accessory. Her dark green eyes happily gazed upon me.

"Sanae..."

"Kyon..." Sanae rushed over to me, helping me up and hugging me, with a genuine smile on her face. "Kyon! Oh Kyon, it's been way too long!"

Memories of us being in math class came roaring back, of us sharing the same textbook when one of us forgot ours. That she stumbled over her words in an attempt to get to know me, and that I spent a few lunches with her, talking about the paranormal. She was into a lot of the same stuff I was. She would also do her cupid thing, always looking to bring love between people, and feeling good when it actually worked.

How could I have forgotten her?

I didn't know how to react to this. I mean, yeah, I haven't seen this girl for years, and even then I didn't really know her. But she was a classmate.

An awkward, cute classmate, who had transformed into this woman who was holding me. But wow. She really became a beautiful woman. Her transformation was like with my cousin. Sanae got blessed with... well... I just have to say it. She has a rocking body that rivals Meiling in many aspects.

Two aspects of which were pressing up against me pretty tightly.

Two big Yuyuko-sized aspects.

She's so soft!

I was beginning to understand the miko fetish. A pure, religious, and absolutely beautiful girl in that outfit... Passion, really, keep yourself together here. "Sanae, uhm..." Please put me down quickly before I have another 'incident.' Cold showers... baseball... cold showers... baseball...

"Huh?' She realized that my face was dangerously close to her... aspects. "Oh!" She blushed, releasing me, and I fell to my knees, taking the moment to recollect myself. I looked up to her, and she was blushing as well. "Ah, sorry. Growing up and out was quite interesting for me, you see."

Yeah, I see. You really were blessed.

"Damn, Kyon, you're so lucky today, ain't ya, ze?" The witch chuckled to herself. "First me, and then her!"

Not the time, Marisa!

Tenshi used a barrage of keystones to cut into the laser grid, shattering it, and regaining our attention. Sanae's spell card had ended.

"Right." Sanae turned to our opponent, her smile dropping. "Bad time for reunions." She helped me up to a standing position. "Reuninon later, fighting now."

We might actually have a chance now. Sanae is part god. We might have the power to do this. Reimu is powerful and skilled in her own right, but didn't Yukari say that Sanae is even more powerful? Reimu can summon gods into her body, and Sanae is actually one. What can stand up to this team?

"The other miko." Tenshi grumbled, showing clear annoyance. "There was a reason I didn't invite you to play."

"By play, you mean fight." Sanae shook her head. "Truly, anywhere I go, there always seems to be someone wanting to fight. Everyone in Gensokyo seems so rough."

Yeah, you're telling me. That's all we've been doing during this incident.

Tenshi smiled. "I could blame the red miko for that, but then again, we aren't in Gensokyo right now, are we?"

"Fair enough." Sanae's eyes went to Reimu. The two stared at each other, and I could sense the slight animosity between the rival shrine maidens. "I heard about what happened. My condolences."

Reimu didn't say anything for a few seconds, before turning to face Tenshi again. "All right."

"We cool?"

"If you help us with this, yeah. Sure."

"Good. We should be working together more anyway, for the betterment of our religion." Sanae gave another smile as she got into a combat position. "But I can live with you accepting my help in a fight."

"Crap!" Reisen brought us out of our talk, and began firing at Tenshi.

You see, during that, the beam of light had washed over Tenshi, healing her up. The effect was slight, but it spelled problems for us, who had worked so hard to get her down to that level of fatigue.

Sanae was quick. I guess being part god has its obvious perks. She raised up her onusa and a red star formed behind her. She pointed at her target and the star shot straight forward, slightly increasing in size. With a mere flick of her onusa, she also summoned a scattering of amulets that also shot forward.

In fact, she was like a cross between Marisa and Reimu, with her danmaku. Amulets, stars, lasers... it was interesting to see.

Tenshi was back to using her keystones, but had a new priority - me. She wasn't giving up the Hisou that easily. "Actually, you know what?" Tenshi got this new grin on her face. "Yeah, I don't know why I didn't invite the other miko into this!" The new influx of Sanae's danmaku was obviously making this harder for the celestial. "This makes it all the more challenging!"

The celestial made a move for me, and Sanae got in between us.

[SPELL CARD: ESOTERICA "GREY THAUMATURGY"]

Sanae stood still, raising up her onusa, and then she quickly made motions to five points, like a star. At each point, a burst of star danmaku spread out. It forced Tenshi to back off, but she took aim-

[SPELL CARD: WEATHER "SCARLET WEATHER PRESSURE"]

Tenshi pointed, and a barrage of red danmaku just launched forth in a cone. It lasted only two seconds, but the amount was staggering.

Let's see if I can get this!

I again drew the sword, and it forced a time slow down. Okay, so this is obvious. The sword is the trigger for whatever this is, and runs on the peaches. Hitting the damaku in the air just came naturally for me, as they were slower than tennis balls in this mode, or whatever you want to call it. I'll think of a cool name for this later. Right now, I gotta focus on this fight. And the ones I didn't get, Shanghai and Hourai dealt with.

As I had no intention of killing Tenshi, I had decided to just limit this to deflect shots. Again, Nagato, your tennis suggestion has payed off. I owe you a dinner.

Again, the drawing of the sword left me tired, hungry, and normal. It appeared that I couldn't just endlessly use this ability, whatever it was.

[SPELL CARD: SHORTSIGHT "X-WAVE"]

Remember Flandre's Four of a Kind? This was a Three of a Kind. Reisen had given herself a small squad of... well, herself. She used it to cover me, as the celestial had tried to get to me while I was coming out of that time slow down thing. This card didn't last long, despite all three of them unloading their guns at the celestial. Turning her attention to the Reisens, the celestial quickly downed one, crushing it underneath a keystone curb stomp, and blasted another one. I guess this was a shell game, because the real Reisen got away unscathed.

It had given me enough time to consume yet another one. I had an idea, and handed one to Sanae. "Take this!"

She nodded, quickly taking a bite. I then realized what she was about to go through. Shoot! I screwed up! Tenshi realized this, as she brought out a spell card. Dammit! No!

[SPELL CARD: QIAN AND KUN: "VIOLENT LAND THAT MOTHERS ALL"]

What kind of spell card name is that?!

Tenshi went back to her attempts at keystone crushing, but when she hit the ground, pillars shot up from underneath all around her. The pillars all shot up at different heights. They began rolling to our location as the changes the peaches did began to happen to Sanae. No, not like this!

I felt someone grab me, and lift me into the air. It was Marisa, while Koizumi had grabbed Sanae - they whisked us away from the ground. The pillars went up were we were not even half a second later, and with the force the pillars that came would have been history.

Tenshi kept at it, but now was squashing down pillars, and each impact caused the pillars to change height, causing the battlefield to change. Some of them were reaching our height, so Marisa and Koizumi picked up the speed. I had taken the time to put myself on the broom proper.

Sanae appeared fine, shaking her head. "Ah, that was intense."

"Sorry, I forgot to tell you-"

"Don't worry about it! I knew about these peaches, and the effect it would have. I forgot it too!" She released herself from Koizumi's grasp, and went flying with us. "It's fine!"

You're pretty calm in that I almost got us both knocked out. I was internally kicking myself for having a lapse in judgement there. I should have remembered what the peaches did to people for the first time.

Tenshi abandoned the card when it was obvious she wasn't going to hit anyone with that ground based attack.

[SPELL CARD: HOLY RELIC "YING-YANG SANCTIFIER ORB"]

This was an upgraded, and much larger attack than the Treasure sign one. Reimu used this to cover us from Tenshi's obsessiveness of going after me. She really wanted the sword back. Shanghai and Hourai were getting tired after blocking even more shots from the celestial, with both of them finally dropping thier shoulders - they were out of power. Rest up. You dolls did your part, more than I could ask for.

"Guys, what are we gonna do? She's aiming right for me now!"

"Just keep running, ze!" Marisa looked back to me, with one of her toothy grins. "Just play keep away!"

"We can't keep running forever!" Koizumi tossed another few shots towards the celestial. "We're going to have to figure out a way to take her down for real!"

"Weather change!" shouted Reisen.

It was the heavy fog - Remilia's weather. Upon realizing that, Tenshi went for the downed girls.

I realized what she was going to do. Hit them and regain some stamina.

"No! Stop her!"

[SPELL CARD: MIRACLE "MID-DAY SUPERNOVA"]

Another Sanae card. Raising her onusa, she made a swift motion to where Tenshi was, and down came several orb sparks. No, not Master Sparks, but danmaku sparks, which also rained down their own lasers. This blocked Tenshi's path, forcing her to take on the miko.

[SPELL CARD: MEDITATIONS "EARTH-CALMING STONE"]

Tenshi pointed, another keystone -

Holy hell! This one just went wild with lasers! And that wasn't the worst part. Various balls of light began to rain down onto the ground, and when they made contact, a big keystone shot up from below.

Sanae bobbed and weaved in between the shots easily, despite the density. The miko got closer and closer, getting ready to attack. Holy hell, Sanae. You really have guts to get closer to that keystone. When Sanae's Supernova ended, she used another spell card.

[SPELL CARD: OMIKUJI "RANDOM OMIKUJI BARRAGE"]

Omikuji? The 'sacred lot' shrine fortunes? Sanae reached into her pocket, and produced some heavy looking wooden amulets. She tossed them into the air, and they arced, before coming down and exploding. It was essentially a mortar attack. Oh okay, you're using fortunes as an attack. I can dig it. Like Reimu did in the future against Seija. Anyway, Sanae was aiming for the area in between Tenshi and the knocked out girls, keeping her from getting to them.

I patted the witch on the back. "Marisa! Tenshi's held there!"

She gave a nod. "Got it!" She turned her head. "Hey, Koizumi! Let's get her!"

We dove down, lining ourselves up to Tenshi perpendicular. I don't know if Koizumi had any beam spell cards, but he was forming two of his energy balls, getting ready to contribute. Reisen and Reimu were on the other side of Tenshi, getting ready to attack with us - they understood what we were going to do while the celestial was busy with Sanae.

[SPELL CARD: SPIRIT SIGN "FANTASY ORB"]

Reimu had joined in, using her straightforward orb attack. And Reisen...

[SPELL CARD: CHARMING LOOK "COROLLA VISION"]

Reisen bent back, her eyes glowing intensely, and I could see that energy was gathering in that buildup of light. Who are you, Cyclops?

And she shot lasers out of her eyes. Okay why not. You can shoot lasers from your eyes. Cool.

[SPELL CARD: MAGICANNON "FINAL MASTER SPARK"]

It appeared that Marisa really wanted to end this fight at that point. If Reimu's Fantasy Nature is her finisher, then this is obviously yours. Tenshi finally saw the attacks coming, and abandoned her fight with Sanae, dropping to the ground. She got clipped from the combined attack, as she twisted around, holding onto her shoulder.

How many times have you been hit? Why aren't you going down?

Tenshi looked absolutely exhausted, her shoulders rising up and down as she struggled to breathe, and her eyes nearly closing. The weather changed again, the fog fading, taking away her chance to regain her stamina. It went to some weak mist.

Upon realizing this, Tenshi made for one final push, gunning for me. Despite her fatigue, she was still very quick, and was still able to use her keystones to block attacks from Marisa and Koizumi. As she neared, Koizumi formed a blade, and went right for her. Tenshi made no effort to block it.

What is she doing, is...

I realized what the weather was. It was Patchouli's weather. The one that negated melee attacks.

"Koizumi! Use a shot-!"

Too little too late. Koizumi's blade simply bounced him off of Tenshi, sending him reeling. The celestial didn't care for him, just went for me and Marisa, already forming a keystone to use against us. The witch brought up her hakkero, but nothing happened.

I could feel the witch's body tense, and I could hear panic in her voice. "Ah, dammit!" Marisa used her free hand to search for something in her clothes, but it didn't matter - Tenshi reached us with a laser keystone on both sides of her. The only comfort I could take was that she couldn't use melee.

That was it for Marisa, who took the blasts to the chest.

Marisa!

Tenshi grabbed the sword handle, and with surprising strength, pulled me off of Marisa, as we all fell. Hourai weakly flailed at Tenshi, unable to do anything.

"Give it back!" the celestial yelled in between clenched teeth.

Although I held onto it as hard as I could, I'm going to attribute her strength to her being a celestial, as she easily ripped it out of my hands. It actually hurt my fingers when she did that. She pushed off of me, and landed in a roll, near her original position, cradling the sword to her body.

Ah, dammit! I felt guilty for not being able to keep it away from her. She had gotten her main weapon back.

Also, the landing I had (landing on my feet) didn't hurt too much, just left a soreness in my knees. Even Marisa falling on me was all right, in more than one way. It's official. I love peaches. After catching her, I put her on the ground, trying to wake her up, but she was out too. Ah, dammit, Marisa. I'd later find out that the reason Marisa didn't do much at the end there is that she was out of magic, having barely enough to keep us in the air. She didn't have anything left to defend herself.

Koizumi landed near me, an apologetic look on his face when he saw that Marisa was knocked out. "Ah, I'm... I'm sorry, I didn't hear you in time. I didn't realize-"

I couldn't blame him for this. "It's okay." Is it? I lost Marisa in this fight. The one who helps me be very mobile, who contributes a lot in these final battles. But I couldn't blame Koizumi.

Tenshi raised her sword into the air, and the blade covered her body, like the armor card a while back. All the shots bounced off of her, as she used this time to regain her breath. Considering that melee was useless, and so were the shots, we couldn't do anything. The look of relief on her face showed it - she had sorely wanted to get the weapon back.

"That's... that's bad, isn't it?" Sanae backed up from Tenshi, eyeing the sword.

"She wasted everyone with that!" I pounded my fist into the ground. "Now what?"

I looked around, noticing that everyone was showing fatigue as well, as they all landed too. We weren't as bad as Tenshi, but even superhuman, we all were reaching our limits.

Tenshi began to giggle, and it eventually went to a chuckle. "Ah... you... you thought you could keep it away from me." Tenshi stood straight up, still gasping for air. "You... you think you stood a chance? I spent too much time on this to just lose. But this is better than I thought it could have been!" She turned to Sanae. "Especially you. You changed this fight. Your cards actually caused me to flinch."

The weather changed again, to snow.

Tenshi bent over, hands on her knees. Her dress was shredded and burned, the worn threads flapping in the slight breeze as the snow came down around her. "But did your gods at the shrine tell you what celestial weapons could do?"

Sanae went quiet for a bit, before speaking. She didn't look happy. "Such weapons could kill gods."

Tenshi laughed again. "Ah, yes! Yes, they can!" She then gave the blue miko a crazed smile. "And you still want to go up against someone who wields it? Who has had centuries of practice with it? Are you suicidal?!"

Don't you dare consider hurting her.

Sanae let out a small sigh. "I knew it when I saw that weapon. But I'm still here."

"What makes... what makes you think you can realistically have a chance against me?" Tenshi pointed to the downed girls. "I can strike your weakness! This is over now that I've got this back! It's only a matter of time! I'll just wear you all down!"

You're barely standing yourself! Are you sure you're not the one ready to go?

"You couldn't... you couldn't even beat Reimu when it mattered." Tenshi took a few staggering steps towards the blue miko.

Sanae slowly nodded, a serene look on her face, surprisingly. "That's true. When I got here, I'll admit I was taken aback by how Gensokyo was."

"You lost."

"I know." Sanae gave a smile. "If you want to know something funny, I had expected to just dominate here." She tilted her head. "Well, not here in Heaven. I mean in Gensokyo." She blinked, her eyebrows raising. "...Whoa." Sanae looked around, taking in the view. "I just, uh, realized I'm in Heaven."

NOW you're realizing that? At least I wasn't the only one who could only think 'whoa' upon that realization.

Sanae quickly shook her head, and resumed her speech. "Ah, yeah. Right. Uhm, where was... Right. Gensokyo." She spread her arms. "I got to Gensokyo, and I thought that with all my powers, knowing what I was, that I would take control." She looked to Reimu. "I honestly thought I could just take your shrine for my gods. That with my blood, I could even take all of Gensokyo, for the faith of my shrine." Sanae shook her head. "But, despite my own power, I was beaten by Reimu. Soundly, even. This place, and the people in it, are truly amazing. That even gods can find a challenge here. Even my gods couldn't beat Reimu. So what makes you think you can?"

"...You're buttering me up because you want something." Reimu, who was with Reisen, was having some sort of whispering conversation, and had paused to say that.

Reimu! Take the compliments! She's-

Sanae blushed a bit, lowering her head. "Yeah."

...Oh come on, Sanae. That was disappointing.

"It has to do with your shrine. I think I have an idea that would benefit us both..." Sanae got into another combat position, focusing on the celestial. "Speaking of which, why'd you destroy it?"

"For attention," I said. "To make sure Reimu came to her."

Sanae chuckled and shook her head. "Yeah, I tried to mess with her shrine last year, and it didn't go well for me."

"Also, Tenshi's going to destroy Gensokyo if she wins!" Koizumi kept his gaze on the celestial. "And parts of our world, too."

Sanae's eyes narrowed. "Now why would you want to do that?"

Tenshi spread her arms, smiling. "I just want to make sure I have their attention. To give it their all. To give them something to fight for."

Sanae slowly nodded. "Yeah, okay. Uhm, yeah." She started to get angry. "I just moved here last year. I kind of like it here, so obviously, I can't let that happen."

"Good." Tenshi brought out a spell card. "Let's see you all take on more spell cards that use the Sword of Hisou!"

[SPELL CARD: HEAVEN AND EARTH "LAND THAT OVERSEES THE DISTANT WORLD BELOW"]

Tenshi brought out the sword, twirled it, and thrust it into the ground. Pillars shot up from where she was standing, and Tenshi was on the tallest one. She then raised the sword into the air, and red danmaku just rained down. She then jumped to a lower pillar, and did the same. Thrust into the ground, rise up, rain down, repeat. So basically, this was a literal spell card - one that had Tenshi hold the high ground.

"Reisen!" Reimu pointed at the celestial. "Do it now!"

[SPELL CARD: DESOLATION "DISCARDER"]

Reisen formed a red bullet in her hand, and placed it into the M16. Taking aim, she shot Tenshi at the height of one of the pillars.

It hit her square in the chest.

This was another status effect one, like the Demotivation. And it had the same effect - disable spell card use. Disabled her from using another card for a while, with the added benefit of ending Tenshi's current spell card. Again, Reisen bought us time. To think I'd find yet another reason to like bunny girls.

Tenshi had spent all that time trying to get the sword back, and the second she tried to use it in a spell card, she got disabled.

I realized something. The weather, too. The snow - if you got hit, it kills your spell cards and costs you magic. I stared at the miko across the way, the smug look on her face telling me - Reimu had concocted that plan on the fly and made it happen.

The pillars went back to ground level, and Tenshi stood there, stunned. She shakingly raised her sword again, but nothing happened. No armor, no flame blade. She moved her hand, and no keystones appeared. And that last burst she used to get to Marisa and I for her sword? That was her last bit of energy. She couldn't move as fast any more.

Tenshi was totally disabled.

She looked at all of us, worry setting on her face. She was wide open.

"Yeah..." Reimu took a few steps forward, tapping her gohei on her shoulder. "You see, you keep talking about weakness, but you forgot one thing." She pointed her gohei at Tenshi. "You are subject to the same rules as anyone else. Including loss of magic." Using her free hand, she pointed to the falling snowflake, before reaching into her outfit for a card. "And it is a particular weather, isn't it?"

Tenshi's shoulders sagged again. She knew what was coming.

[SPELL CARD: SPIRIT OF LIGHT "DIVINE ORBS"]

All I can say about this one was that it was an upgraded Fantasy Seal. It started out like a standard Fantasy Seal, but when the orbs reached a certain point, they stopped. Reimu made a gesture, and then they just exploded into many more shots, fragmenting and going all over the place. This was used in tandem with Sanae's spell card, which was-

[SPELL CARD: MIRACLE "NIGHT OF THE SUPERNOVA STORM"]

Unlike the other Supernova one, this was just one spark that hung in the air, and shot its lasers. Reisen also used a spell card.

[SPELL CARD: FARSIGHT "INFRARED MOON"]

A reddish hue covered the area, and Reisen disappeared. I could still hear her, and I could see the shots she was making. This was a cloaking stealth card.

I have to say - Reisen's attacks are all very tactical. Disabling, gas grenades, cloaking. She is heavy on the illusion attacks, it seems. Add in the fact that she's a trained soldier? That makes her doubly dangerous.

Tenshi was too busy dodging to really do anything. Actually, that was the only thing she could do. Reimu was right - we just had to wait for the right weather and take advantage. I had thought it would be one of the other weathers like typhoon or drizzle, but not snow. Disappointed with myself, I shook my head. I had fallen into the Seija trap of thinking that strength was the ultimate factor in these fights, that the typhoon or whatever would be the deciding weather, when it was a different one that was doing the trick. We had shut down Tenshi's ability to do anything during this weather.

She can handle these three... so what about four?

I turned to the downed Marisa, and rummaged through her pockets, half expecting her to guide my hand to her chest again. No such luck. By sheer other luck, I found them in the second pocket I searched - the mushroom blocks.

You see, even if I used what I wanted to use, there was still the fear of losing her to danmaku, since she was weak against it. But since Tenshi was totally dry, this was the best time to do so. I ate one full block, as that seemed like a serving size, hoping it would be enough.

I brought out the blue card.

Koizumi stared at it. "Is that...?"

"Yeah."

He nodded, giving me space. "...Okay. If you really trust her enough, then I will too. Bring her out."

We need to end this now while we have the advantage!

[SPELL CARD: "DELETED ONE"]

The sand formed, and my high school classmate began to form as well. One thing about Ryoko - she didn't age. I guess being stuck as a spell card kept her from aging.

She stretched, letting out a sigh. "Oh, it's so good to be let out every now and then." She looked around, showing slight confusion. "This isn't the club room, and this certainly isn't underground, so..."

"Okay, quick explanation. We have a celestial who is directly threatening Haruhi's safety." By proximity of Tenshi destroying the school, since Haruhi lives in the dorms. It wasn't a lie, really. I was sort of counting on Ryoko's scewered loyalty to the Data Overmind to play a part.

Ryoko's head perked up, her smile dropping, and she turned, as her eyes fell on the celestial. "Hmm. I assume that's the target?"

"Yep."

"Parameters?"

"Knock her out." Koizumi pointed to Tenshi. "And she won't threaten our school or Haruhi again." He turned his head to me, eyebrow raised, as if silently saying 'is this how we're handling it?' I nodded, and he shrugged.

Again, this was pretty much true. We weren't lying about that. "Do what you got to do, Ryoko!"

Ryoko gave a nod, not taking her eyes off Tenshi. Cracking her knuckles, she went up into the air, knife barrage already forming. Sanae and Reimu called off their spell cards, as Ryoko and the invisible Reisen quickly struck the celestial multiple times. The two mikos then joined in, circling the action and throwing amulets when there was an opening, or when Tenshi tried to make an attempt to get away from the school girl or the soldier. Tenshi just kept getting hit. If it wasn't by melee, it was by the two mikos. It was just... constant. She just wasn't going down.

I picked up Marisa and brought her to the rest of the knocked out girls, noticing that Yukari was stirring. Gently placing down the witch, I went to the youkai. "Hey, you okay?"

Yukari grunted from the ground, her eyes slightly opening, as she was struggling to regain conciousness. "...Tenshi..."

"It's okay, all right? We're finishing her up."

Yukari quickly sat up, clenching her teeth. "...I...got...to..." Yukari closed her eyes again, and slowly laid back down.

...Got to what? I shook her a bit, trying to wake her up again. ...Shoot. I had a bad feeling about this. Yukari obviously knew something else. Tenshi has got to have another plan. But what?

Reisen's card ended, putting a stop to her cloak. She backed off, and switched to her shotgun. Running up to the celestial, Reisen fired a danmaku blast to Tenshi's chest. The impact made the sword leave her hand, spinning, and eventually struck the ground, the flame blade activating. Tenshi's magic was back.

The clouds began to form above us, ending the snow. The supercell had finally shown up.

End this now! Tenshi's magic will regenerate without the disabling effect! We can't let her get back into the fight when she's on the ropes like this! And we didn't know the effect of this weather. I'd rather not have found out its effects the hard way.

Ryoko kept stabbing Tenshi with her danmaku knives, just rapidly attacking the helpless celestial. Sanae and Reimu had landed, getting closer and landing blows themselves.

Tenshi is still standing! Geez, why won't she go down?!

Reimu brought out an amulet, charging it up. She shot a glance to Sanae, holding it up. Sanae nodded in response, and she too brought out an amulet. When both were charged, they ran for Tenshi.

In fact, all five of them converged. Koizumi, Reisen, Ryoko, Sanae, and Reimu. At the same time, they dealt the final blow to Tenshi. She staggered a few steps, her eyes rolling to the back of her head, letting out a small groan, before she finally fell to the ground as the rain started.

After all of that, she finally dropped. Finally.

Good God that was the longest danmaku fight I've ever been a part of. I let out an exhasperated sigh, feeling tired. Not physically tired, but just mentally tired. After all of that, after all we went through, we finally got her by using the weather she gave to us against her. She did it to make it more interesting, all for her own amusement, and it ended up being her downfall.

Whose weather was that, Yuyuko's? I'll have to... well, I can't really thank her for something she didn't do. Maybe at least acknowledge it.

With her job done, Ryoko turned to me, giving another one of her smile. "I appreciate you letting me out again, even if I was used to finish off this person."

"Thank you, Ryoko."

"I look forward to the next time you use my card." She began to form back into the spell card. "Until we meet again!"

No, really, thank you. You helped us end this quickly. This could have gone on far longer. Koizumi collected the card.

Reisen collapsed, sitting on the ground. "Jeez, man. How do you guys do these incident resolutions? That was tougher than I thought it would be."

"That wasn't so bad."

Reimu gave Sanae an annoyed look. "That's because you showed up at the end. You weren't there since the start."

Sanae smiled, crossing her arms. "Okay, yeah, you have a point there, but I did help out."

"She did." Koizumi gave Sanae one of his smiles. Now that the threat was down, he went back to his usual self. "If Sanae hadn't kept Tenshi from the knocked out girls during Remilia's weather, Tenshi would have fully recharged herself, and this would have dragged on even longer. We surely would have lost."

"So the weather had effects?" Sanae's eyes lightened up. "That's so cool! What did the snow do?"

"Disabled spell cards and magic upon hits." Koizumi stretched. "Add that to Reisen's Disabler, and-"

Sanae snapped her fingers, her expression bright. "-And she was helpless! That's so smart!" Sanae looked to me. "What were the other effects?"

"I'll tell you later." I stood up. "Right now I want to heal these girls, and get back to Gensokyo. I like Heaven, but this trip up here has been less than pleasant."

I heard Reisen chuckle. "Ah, yeah. Yeah, isn't that the truth." She got up, grunting. "I haven't pushed myself like that since hell week."

"...Hell week?"

Reisen dismissively waved her hand. "Ah, sorry. Part of military training for special forces. They push your body to the absolute limit, even to the point where you start hallucinating. It's a week of pure physical and mental strain to make sure you don't easily break, to weed out the ones who would. Sleep deprivation, food, water, putting your body through both sides of the thermometer. Just everything to push you to each extreme. I hear that some human special forces do that as well."

We stared at her. "You..." Sanae held onto her head like she had a headache. "You were pushed to hallucinating?"

Reisen let out a laugh. "During mess in the middle of the week, I was handed a metal spoon and told to skin the bear in the corner of the mess hall. I turned and I saw it, and I actually went to do it. It wasn't there, of course, so they had a good laugh as I was at that corner alone. They told me I was pretty diligent at stabbing at the air, and laying out the 'skin.'"

Geez, Reisen, you put yourself through that?!

Reisen began to laugh at that. "Oh, that... that's actually funny now, now that I think about it."

We all were staring at her, and Reimu covered up her mouth, as she began to laugh too. "You... you actually did it in your mind?"

"Uh-huh! Skinned the thing and everything. Laid out the bear rug too, and 'presented' it to my CO!" Reisen doubled over. "I even - I even put it in his office!"

Koizumi placed his hand over his mouth as well, as the image must have been too much for him. I mean it's messed up, but still, someone in the corner alone stabbing at the air with a spoon, attacking a hallucinated bear? And then putting that 'skin' in an office?

Sanae burst out giggling, and that was it for me. I couldn't help myself.

I don't know how long we shared that laugh. But what I do know is that it was needed.

That laugh put Reimu in a good mood. After we had finished, Sanae placed her hands on her hips. "Ah, okay. Okay. I'm good." She took a few breaths. "So, Hakurei. I think we need to talk."

"What about?"

"I've been wanting to make an offer, that we could install a satellite shrine at yours."

Reimu's smile dropped. "Oh?"

Sanae slightly held up her hands. "Look, we got put in a real bad spot, okay? All the Moriya Shrine can do is give faith to tengu, kappa, and other mountain dwellers. We need this." Before Reimu could say something, Sanae continued. "I'm not talking about taking over your shrine, but just a little place so that people can pray at and give their faith to the gods of my shrine. At the very least it's gonna increase people to your shrine, okay? We get enough donations from the tengu alone to sustain ourselves, so you keep whatever donations are given, okay?"

Huh. There are apparently enough Shinto tengu to keep a shrine going here in Gensokyo.

When Sanae mentioned donations, that made Reimu pause, and she appeared to seriously think it over, rubbing her chin. She didn't answer right away.

Reisen wiped a tear from her eye, as she finished laughing. "Ah, my stomach hurts." She sniffed. "Ah, yeah." She looked down to the still knocked out Tenshi. "Right." Glancing over to where I was, she nodded. "All right, let's get them up and out of here."

I nodded, getting ready to go over there and take back the vials, when I heard Yukari again.

"...self..."

I turned, and saw that she was weakly reaching for me.

"...self...act..."

"Guys?" I said to the others as I knelt down to the youkai. And what she said made my blood run cold.

"...activ...ator..."

I could feel the dread overtake my body. I quickly stood up, noticing the Sword of Hisou. The flames of the sword had intensified.

This wasn't over.

"CRAP!" I frantically waved my arms at them. "GET AWAY FROM TENSHI!"

The others noticed it, and the spell card that was spinning above Tenshi's chest.

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!

Suddenly, the ground began to shake. What appeared to be fire covered the sword, but it just shot up into the air into a pillar, accompanied by this awful noise. I don't know how to describe it.

I debated on whether I should run to Tenshi and try for the vials, and I decided against it. I didn't know what the sword was doing, nor the card.

A blinding beam of light rose from the sword, and-

I found myself on the ground. Not that I had been knocked there, but forced. We were lifted into the air by pillars - the entire ground just rose, and kept rising, faster than any speed I've ever encountered before. I could feel the G force as we just kept rising higher and higher. The 'Heaven' we were in just faded as we were lifted, darkness and the stars replacing the blue sky and clouds. And when it slowed to a stop...

I couldn't believe where we were.

We were so far into the atmosphere, that we could actually see space itself, and we could also look down on a great portion of the world.

I scrambled to my feet, and just stared at the backdrop - we were so far up! We had to be somewhere at the mesosphere! No! That can't be possible! That's 80 kilometers into the freaking sky!

"Guys?!" Reisen called out to us, returning my attention to the matter at hand. Tenshi had gotten back up, looking angry. She was in the air, and the Sword of Hisou was in front of her, spinning, along with that spell card.

The others began to back away after getting back up - the lift had knocked all of us to the ground.

This couldn't get any wilder! We're having a final battle in space! How am I not freezing to death?! How are we even breathing?! Shouldn't I be depressurizing at this elevation? Not that I was complaining that I wasn't, but seriously, what the hell? This totally broke all the laws of physics. Judging by the height, we couldn't have been in Gensokyo any more, or Heaven, or... shoot, I don't know! We were pretty much in space! This was out of a video game! A final boss battle in space, with the horizon of Earth as the backdrop!

And then the card fully activated.

We survived all of that and we still gotta go through one more?!

[SPELL CARD: "SCARLET WEATHER RAPTURE"]

Tenshi was drawing in the atmosphere of the earth, the scarlet weather, into her sword, and it was giving out a massive amount of lasers. Not only that, but when the lasers made contact with the ground, they exploded into spread shots.

The scarlet weather appeared to focus, aiming right for -

"Laser! Watch out!"

Another red laser, again not unlike the Master Spark. And during that, there were more small lasers. The speed kept increasing, of the Master Spark-like laser. They just kept increasing, kept getting faster and faster. The look on Tenshi's face... She was angry.

Koizumi cried out, and was silenced - he got caught. One laser hit him, and Tenshi kept aiming at the esper, juggling him in the air over and over, until Tenshi let her go to aim at someone else. His unconscious body just laid there afterward. Koizumi! Dammit!

The thing is, Tenshi wasn't moving for this. She's in the same spot.

"She's stationary!" Reisen quickly reloaded her gun, and waved at the rest of us."Go! Go! I'll draw her fire!"

"But Reisen-"

The soldier ran off in another direction, already unloading at the celestial. "Just go!" She was going to sacrifice herself so we could get in position.

...Thank you.

"Kyon, let's go!"

We dashed in the opposite direction that Reisen went, my (Shanghai) shield up. I hope you two dolls had enough time to rest and recharge. Reimu had a spell card in hand. I saw what type of card it was, and I understood where she wanted to go with it - she'd have to be close for it to work. Right under Tenshi, actually. There was enough room beneath the celestial for Reimu to do what she wanted to do with her card.

"You're gonna have to be right at her to use that!"

"I know!" Reimu shot me a glare. "You got any better ideas?"

Actually... I brought out the Perfect Freeze I had taken, and tried reading the words - No such luck. The words weren't even lighting up in any way shape or form. The Ryoko card had drained me. I felt like slapping my forehead. I screwed up again - I should have taken more of the mushroom blocks with me.

Reimu's card was the only option available to us with this self activator. Reisen's shots were getting eaten by the lasers.

"Spread out a bit! We don't want to get caught in the same laser if she turns!"

We complied to Reimu's request, the three of us running, trying to circle around her so the lasers would have to travel the furthest to get to us. Sanae kept throwing amulets, and they were hitting Tenshi, but just not phasing her. I wanted to cry foul over that, and this made me question if Reimu's spell card would be enough.

In the corner of my eye, I could see Reisen getting caught in the blasts - she had given us just enough time, I hoped. She went down after, not getting up.

Come on...

Tenshi began to turn to us, as we had reached the opposite side where Reisen was - Reimu began her full sprint right for Tenshi.

Please work! Please work, Reimu!

"Go!"

The scarlet weather aimed down, right at Reimu, and I dashed away with Sanae. Already we could feel the danmaku whizzing past us as we ran, and I got hit in the back of my leg, and Sanae got hit in the back - we both fell. I brought up Shanghai and Hourai, and they were quickly overwhelmed by the sheer power of this card, being knocked down, and some of the lasers began to hit my body. Already the stinging and the shock of the hits rang through my body, making me tired.

The lasers were too quick - they had reached Remiu -

Who then teleported to right under the celestial.

Reimu! Do it!

[SPELL CARD: DIVINE ARTS "DEMON BINDING CIRCLE"]

It wasn't a circle. It was a pillar of her own. Raising the spell card into the air, Reimu slammed it into the ground, and an immense beam of holy light just shot straight up, right for the celestial.

Tenshi took all of it. Instantly, the lasers stopped, and the scarlet weather disappated.

I wanted to lay down. I wanted to lay down and close my eyes, over how tired I felt. I rubbed my eyes, trying to make the weariness go away, and also to get rid of the remainder of the bright light that the danmaku had shown.

Is... is it over?

Reimu had dropped to a kneeling position, looking tired, her shoulders rising up and down, as she struggled to get oxygen back into her body. There was danmaku scarring on her clothes, so she got grazed, big time.

When the red lights had faded, we could see that Tenshi was on the ground, but standing. She was unhurt - I could see a Paranormal Border surrounding her, and she was breathing hard.

Are you kidding me?! She can do that too?!

Tenshi fell to a knee, gasping for air as the Border faded. I could see some of the new danmaku scarring on her clothes - she got hit by a part of that spell card, but she protected herself for the most part.

"She can't have much power left." I nodded to what Sanae said. The other miko was on her arms, trying to get up as well. Tenshi couldn't have much left in the tank after that. After all, Marisa had said that it takes a lot of magic to use an actual Paranormal Border. To survive a constant beam attack, she had to have used a lot of them.

Sanae groaned from her belly. I flipped her over, and tried to get her up as I attempted to rub some feeling into my leg. The danmaku must have sapped what super strength I had in my body, as I struggled to do even that.

"This is the great Hakurei? The one who was able to face all those youkai? After all that, that's all you had? You had me knocked out, and you still are going to lose?" Tenshi shook her head, a manic smile on her face. "Oh, the irony. ...I'm disappointed, really. I expected more of a challenge." The celestial slowly got to her feet, and redrew the blade.

"I told you, didn't I?"

Tenshi limped her way to Reimu. "Hmm?"

Reimu looked up at Tenshi, the miko gritting her teeth. "Didn't I tell you what I was going to do to you?"

Tenshi smirked. "That fell flat on it's face, didn't it?" She clicked her tongue, a look of disappointment and bemusement on her face. "All right. Time to say goodnight, and time to say goodbye to Gensokyo."

It can't end like this! It just can't! I struggled to get Sanae to her feet, as she fumbled in her outfit for something. Come on, Sanae. Use something! Anything! She produced a paper amulet, and quickly charged it. She looked up into my eyes, with a determined gaze.

"Turn me to her."

With a burst of energy, I lifted her up, turning her to the celestial. Sanae threw the amulet.

Tenshi swung the Hisou, the blade's swing aimed right at Reimu's face.

No!

All of a sudden, the sword had dropped out of her grasp, clattering to the ground to me, Tenshi's arm still going up with the swing. I didn't understand what had happened, until I saw the paper amulet dangling off her arm.

Sanae hit it.

Perfect shot! I quickly grabbed the sword, not wanting Tenshi to get ahold of it again, and I ended the blade.

The celestial stared, wide eyed at the miko, realizing both what had happened, and that her entire right side was open. Reimu was also crouched, next to Tenshi, holding a spell card that I didn't see until just then.

"Didn't I tell you?!"

[SPELL CARD: FANTASY NATURE]

Oh crap! Sanae let go of me, collapsing. I frantically tried to wake up the dolls, as I needed the both of their strength to hold the shield. Some of the others were stirring as well - in fact, Sanae and I were in front of them. Yes, they were brought up with us as well. Yukari had slowly sat up, and stared at what Reimu had for a moment, before she began portaling the knocked out Reisen and Koizumi to where the knocked out group was. The demon collapsed after doing so, joining the others in their unconciousness, so I guess she left the defending to me and the dolls. Oh gee, thanks for depending on me to protect everyone with downed dolls!

The reality was, I had to. The knockback of the Fantasy Nature would have knocked everyone off into space. It was up to me to protect everyone, but I couldn't do that without the dolls.

Reimu wasn't kneeling - she was ready to spring. The miko's legs tensed, and I could hear Reimu grunt with the effort as she brought up her knee, and the glowing aura around the attack - she kneed Tenshi in the ribs. The next thing I heard was the crack of broken ribs upon impact.

That's one hit! Come on! Get up, Hourai! Wake up, Shanghai! Wake up!

Tenshi let out a gasp, taking a step back, her right arm dropping, as well as her jaw. The celestial realized it - she was in trouble, especially since Reimu positioned herself for her next attack.

Reimu used her momentum to get into another ready-to-spring position, but right in front of Tenshi. Making a strained grunt, Reimu delivered an Ascension Kick, right to the chin, quickly closing the open jaw of the celestial. I could feel the impact of that.

Two! Shanghai blinked, shaking her head. She looked around, and I guess she realized the situation, as she got up with her shield. Hourai quickly jumped to her feet, before falling over again. I caught her, righting her. She nodded at me, and joined her doll sister, both at the shield, but both still looking tired. Please be enough to hold it. I don't want to be knocked out into space!

Since they got up, I was able to really return my attention to what was transpiring before me. Where have I seen this before? I couldn't place it, but I swear I've seen something like this before somewhere. Not exactly what Reimu was doing, but the motions just seemed oddly familiar.

Unlike with Remilia, the kick didn't knock the opponent into the air - the impact whipped Tenshi's head back, and caused her to do a 'nod' from the recoil. Her eyes appeared glazed over from the damage, but she still wasn't going down. Her arms just hung there, her knees bent a little, and she didn't move. All she could do was stare at her opponent.

When you get hit in the chin, it tends to knock your brain around. The impact causes your head to accelerate around for a fraction of a second, and then quickly decelerate. However, the brain is floating in liquid, so quick acceleration to deceleration isn't good, and can cause trauma as the organ bounces around. This in turn can overload the brain, which leads to temporary paralysis, and loss of conciousness. That's why boxers like to get square hits on the chin on their opponents.

I say this, because that's exactly what happened to Tenshi - she was paralyzed from a perfectly placed Ascencion kick. Paralyzed, and wide open for...

Reimu stumbled back, gasping for air, struggling to stay standing. Already she had gotten a few amulets in her hands, and all her target could do was blink. It appeared that Tenshi didn't lose conciousness - she was just under the effects of the neurological paralysis.

That's kind of horrifying. Being paralyzed but concious, seeing what was going to happen, and being unable to do anything about it. Considering what Tenshi has done, and had planned to do, it couldn't have happened to a nicer person, however.

Reimu aimed right for the temples of Tenshi as she slapped the amulets on the celestial. Left and right, left and right. They were constant head shots, knocking Tenshi's head left and right, and it kept repeating. It was designed to make sure Tenshi's brain was knocked around inside the skull even more - to truly knock her out. With each hit, I could see that Tenshi's eyes closed a little bit more. She was on her way out, and she couldn't do anything to stop it. The constant head shots, especially to such a weak point on the head... Reimu wasn't pulling any punches.

Punches...? Oh wait a second. I have seen this before!

Sanae was the one who spoke up about it, as she had sat back up, watching what was transpiring before us. "Is she doing the Dempsey Roll?!" She gave me a small smile over this.

"It looks like it, huh?" This day just gets weirder and weirder.

Even though Reimu had long gotten seven hits, she kept at it, wanting to make sure Tenshi paid for what she did. Reimu's body began to light up, and-

You two, I hope you're able to block this!

I squinted my eyes, putting my right hand on both dolls backs back to help brace them. When the brightness came, I felt the dolls get knocked back into me, and I did my best to hold them up. We were actually getting pushed back from this attack. The seven seconds of this card did not disappoint.

Come on! Hold! Don't pass out!

Just as the dolls began to go limp, I felt another pair of hands over mine. It was Sanae, and I think she was putting some of her power into the dolls, since they rightened themselves up and kept blocking the shots. The two of us were pushing, yet were still being forced backwards. The seven seconds felt like forever, and we kept getting pushed back. I could feel the knocked out body of Mokou pressing against my feet. I don't want to be pushed over the edge!

When the brightness subsided, and the card ended, I looked over to where those two were, as the two dolls collapsed. Tenshi's body had whipped back, and bounced off the ground due to the impact, before lying still.

Damn, man. That was a magical Dempsey Roll! Yeah, that was pretty much the end of the second Sendo fight from Hajime no Ippo. You know, barring the magical attacks. That was so awesome!

Shanghai and Hourai were shaken up from that, lying on the ground, but they appeared to be fine. The shield held. "Alice really built you two well, didn't she?" Both gave me a nod, as I patted their heads.

Reimu had kept standing there, staring down at her opponent, but then Reimu took a step back. Then another. She didn't stop - she getting ready to stumble past us. I got up as fast as I could and caught her. She was breathing heavily as I sat her down, and looked exhausted. Sanae also came over to us, grinning.

"I can't believe you just Dempsey Rolled her!"

I smiled. We just survived that, and that's what you bring up, Sanae? Anime references? At least her interests hadn't changed since I last knew her. Also, I'm one to talk on someone making references.

Reimu blinked, before giving Sanae a puzzled look. "Dempsey what?"

Yeah, she wouldn't know. I shook my head. "It's something from the outside world. A real move, but very romanticized by a story. That combination you did mirrored it almost to a 't.'"

"Is that good or bad?"

I let out a sigh. "Good, because the person who used it won, even though-" Oh no. The two noticed my sudden shift in mood as my smile disappeared. "Wait a second." I realized it. I couldn't believe I had forgotten that fight. "Sendo got right back up. He got back up." I felt an icy chill run down my spine. "He got right back up." Don't tell me...

Sanae looked real worried. "You don't think-"

We looked over to her.

Tenshi was back up, scowling, using her left hand to pull off the amulets on her face.

Holy crap this really is the second Sendo fight. Also, come on! You're kidding! What does it take to put you down?!

She stood there, scowling, glaring at Reimu. The miko just stared back, seemingly unable to believe that the celestial was up. We all were in shock.

How tough is this girl?! Who gets up after that spell card?! After everything we threw at her, after everything she took, she is still up?!

With a shaking left hand, Tenshi grabbed the remaining amulet, and ripped it off her. Her right arm useable again, she motioned for another keystone to materialize, and it did.

Come on. Sendo wasn't able to continue. He couldn't answer the ten count. Don't, Tenshi. Stay down. We had nothing left, really. If Tenshi could keep going, we were all done. None of us three were even able to stand up. Reimu let out a grunt, and did her best to sit up straight, gripping her gohei. She glared right back at Tenshi.

Nobody was saying anything. The two glared at each other. She can take us out right now with a well placed laser barrage.

The celestial took a step towards us, the front of the keystone beginning to glow red, getting ready to fire. All of a sudden, Tenshi's eyes glazed over, and she tipped over a bit. She blinked, tensing her whole body, as if waking up again, and kept standing.

"Like Sendo..." Sanae quietly said.

She was right. Sendo almost fell over during the count in the exact same way; he almost lost conciousness. Holy crap I can't believe we're mirroring Ippo vs Sendo 2. If that is the case, then she'd be falling over for good right about...

Tenshi's face softened, her shoulders sagging. All of a sudden, the keystone dropped to the ground, crumbling upon impact. She glanced down at it, as if wondering when she'd let it go. Returning her attention to Reimu, Tenshi let out a silent scoff.

Her eyes rolled back as she fell.

Now.

The celestial landed without so much as a sound.

I just kept staring at her. Tenshi had just wiped the floor with us, had pushed us to the limit even when we were made superhuman, and had taken everything we threw at her. And she was finally down.

"Is it over?"

We didn't answer Sanae. We just kept staring at the downed opponent, expecting her to get up or something.

She didn't.

I wasn't going to take any chances. I struggled to my feet, leaving Sanae with Reimu. Tenatively making my way to Tenshi (mostly because I kept falling to my knees), I turned her over, so I could find the packet - and there they were, in pefect condition, despite everything. I got a vial, again grateful for the healing properties. Quickly leaving the celestial before she could get up again, I drank it and I began to tag everyone, and again a smile crept on my face as I shot a look to the celestial. How about that. I just saw a Dempsey Roll happen in real life.

After getting healed, Reimu went to stand over Tenshi, staring down at the troublesome Celestial. "Kyon?"

I was in the process of getting Yukari to her feet - the last person I tagged. "Yeah?"

"This celestial isn't much use to me knocked out."

I paused. "You sure about that?" If she doesn't want to play by the rules, Tenshi could really hurt us if we get her back up.

Reimu simply nodded, at which point I complied. I didn't want to, mind you. I made sure the handle of the sword was in my back pocket, as I wasn't about to let the celestial have a chance to start the fight again if I could help it. You'd better not start this up again.

Tenshi healed up, and began to stir. She was mumbling something about peaches, I think. I don't know. She slowly opened her eyes, to be greeted by a ticked off Reimu.

The two silently stared at each other, and I could see Tenshi's fist close. She knew she was beaten. But then she smiled.

"...That was the best fight I've ever had."

"You're rebuilding my shrine, you know."

Tenshi chuckled. "Ah, yeah. I know." She sat up. "Don't worry. I'll hold up my end."

Tenshi was pretty casual in taking a loss, like it didn't truly matter or whatever. Her attitude was beginning to make Reimu even more angry, so the celestial just waved her hand. "No, really. I'm just... happy that I got the fight I wanted. I'm happy that you were able to stand up to me. I'll make your shrine good again."

"And since you know I time travel, I don't want you to do that to the Hakurei Shrine this time."

Tenshi paused to what Yukari had said, and she looked up to the glaring demon. The celestial appeared to think it over. "...Nah, you're right. I guess. You'd know anyway." Tenshi laid back down, letting out a sigh of contentment. She actually appeared at peace with the whole situation. "Finally... finally I'm satisfied. That was the best thing to happen to me in ages. Thank you all."

You really, no really, must be some sort of masochist. Despite you giving a pretty bad one to everyone, you took one of the worst thrashings I've ever laid eyes on.

The residents of the Scarlet Devil Mansion had gathered on the terrace in the yard, staring up at the scarlet clouds. They had formed soon after the group had left the mansion, and kept getting more and more ominous. Even massive lightning was visible up the mountain, putting on quite the spectacle. And for the longest time, the clouds had gotten more and more threatening.

"Milady, look." Meiling pointed up at the sky.

Within a matter of seconds, the scarlet clouds faded from the sky, like they weren't there at all, allowing the remaining sunset to take over the sky. Remilia opened her parasol to remain covered.

"Did they...?"

"I think they did." Suika wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand, grinning. "The power of the clouds is gone now. They beat that celestial."

"It took too long. The fight they must have had couldn't have gone totally in their favor." Yuyuko moved up into the sky for a few meters, staring. She sighed. "Yukari, why did you have to be this difficult? We could have gladly helped you out, especially with that weapon she wielded."

"I'm sure they're fine, Miss Saigyouji." Remilia smirked. "They were working together, after all. Some of them may have been downed, but they pulled it off. The clouds are gone."

Yuyuko looked back to the vampire, some slight concern on the ghost's face. "I don't think our servants were ready for a fight at this level. The celestial and her sword would have been too much on a one on one fight."

"They may be true, but whoever got downed can hopefully take this as a lesson to train themselves harder." Remilia sighed. "I understand that it was in the chains of fate that Sakuya would go and fall. Now, now she'll use this as a drive to succeed in the upcoming incident."

"It's better this way, I think." Patchouli kept her gaze up at the sky. "Four years, and Sakuya had begun to lose motivation in her training. If she did get knocked out, then this could revitalize her." Patchouli nodded to Yuyuko. "The same for your servant."

Yuyuko silently floated there, staring down at them. She then returned her attention to the sky. "Yes... perhaps. Maybe this is for the better."

Suwako sat on the gate of the shrine, tiredly staring out at the land. The clouds had gone, so the incident was resolved. She sighed, before quickly downing yet another shot of sake.

All right, Yukari. You wanted my Sanae to join into this incident resolving business. You'd better make whatever reward you have in store for me worth it.

Those damn celestials were a bother, especially a dirty one, and even Suwako didn't know if Sanae was ready for one. But I guess it's all right. This means she won, right? She took another shot, the familiar burning sensation afterward making her close her eyes and scrunch her face. "Oh, yeah, that was a little too fast." She coughed, putting down the glass. After clearing her throat, she returned her attention to the setting sun. No matter how many times I've seen this in my two thousand years, it's still beautiful. She took in a deep breath, her thoughts shifting to what was to happen soon.

Me and Kanako are going to have to deal with the underground soon. I mean, we got the Yatagarasu all ready, but we just need access. In fact, that's where the other god was - off negotiating passage. We're gonna need someone to help us bring nuclear energy to Gensokyo. But who? She got up, standing on the gate, and stretched. Well, it would be ideal if it was another bird, to match the Yatagarasu. A compatible body, though didn't Kanako say that it would be more ideal if the person was simple minded? That way, they could control them easily. Suwako chuckled, knowing that whoever they chose to house the Sun god would end up with vast power. It would be a massive upgrade for them.

We need to do this. We've planned, and planned, and... it has to be this way. Modernization was already creeping into Gensokyo - there was no denying that, and no stopping it. But if it could be controlled by the youkai and the gods, on their terms, then it wouldn't be as cancerous as it was in the outside world. Modern amenities would not be detrimental to faith based creatures. Everyone, from god to youkai to human, would be able to enjoy modern technology without any real problem for anybody.

But first, we need that power. We need a constant flow of electrical energy. And that means getting someone down there to help us out.

Someone who can control nuclear energy.

"You're welcome, you know." Tenshi was slowly moving around her limbs, still smiling contentedly. "You should be freezing and or choking right now, if I didn't extend the atmosphere up with us."

At least that explains that break in the laws of physics. Suffice to say, upon waking up, everyone was in awe of the backdrop we were looking out at. The Earth.

"Why shoot us up here in the first place?"

"The view, of course." Tenshi extended her arms to it. "You need an awesome view for such a fight, don't you think? An epic final attack deserves an epic backdrop. I mean, look at it. Beautiful, isn't it?"

Flair for the dramatic, much?

"It's so hard to remember how massive this world is when you're down there on the ground." Yukari let out a small sigh. "Looking at it from here, one can't help but feel small, even when you have power such as I. All the petty differences of man seem so silly."

Tenshi sat down at the edge, legs dangling over. She patted for us to join her. Some of us were a little hesitant to do so, until Reimu went to the edge, and sat down. ...Okay, why not? I mean, when am I going to be able to do this again? I sat on the other side of Tenshi, kind of freaking out at the action. My feet dangled over the side, and the view just made my heart leap into my throat, but in a good way. As long as someone doesn't do something so malicous as try to scare me by 'pushing' me, I should be fine. I was on solid ground, uh, rock, for the most part.

"Wow." That was all Mokou was able to say to this, as she sat next to Koizumi. She didn't even light up a cigarette. "I've lived down there all my life... and it's so..."

Koizumi let out a small chuckle. "Haruhi was right, you know. You really do feel small and insignifigant when you can see the larger picture. When you actually comprehend how massive this world is, it can be daunting. And think. Seven billion people on this planet." Koizumi pointed towards India. "And one billion people in that small area alone."

Youmu slowly shook her head. "I can't get over how huge the world is."

"Oh we're just seeing half of it. That's the screwed up part. One could sit here all day, and realize that's only half of it all."

"I don't mean to be a killjoy, but are we really doing the whole scope of the universe thing here?" Tenshi leaned back on her hands. "It's kind of been done to death, you know?"

Yukari began to laugh over that. Koizumi lowered his head. "Well sorry for trying to give some perspective."

"You are kind of annoying with your philosophy. Just my opinion on watching you."

That actually earned Tenshi a nasty glare from Koizumi, though it earned a smile from me. At least you and I see eye to eye on something.

"It really is beautiful." Sanae, who was sitting next to me, wiped a tear from her eye. "I've always dreamed of this, you know? It was one of my childhood dreams. Go into space, and look down on the world. And now I'm actually here."

It was one of mine too. And now it's a reality. I can gaze down upon the world up here in all of its glory.

Kind of undermines our struggles, you know? All the human conflict, in a speck on the face of the Earth at times, and when you look out at what else is in the universe, you tend to wonder... does it really matter? In the grand scheme of things, does it really matter? That our squabbles, from petty to grand, do they matter in the entirety of the universe?

I looked to the people around me, and I already knew the answer. Yes, it does. I have people on this small hunk of rock that I care about, and who care about me. The bigger stuff in the universe? Well, our own Earth is pretty big too. There are limits to what we can do, how far we can go. Until we could find a viable way to travel the stars, humanity was to be stuck on Earth, and hopefully, hopefully, we could at least find a way to be amicable to each other. Maybe some day we could join the data entities in traveling the stars; when we're ready, of course. I would very much like that.

Creationism, evolution, Darwinism, whatever, however we all got here, here we all are.

It was on the back of my mind as well. The fact that there would be a threat to this. Someone that was powerful enough to wipe out the world.

Always coming back to that thought of what's coming.

"It's nice to come up here and contemplate." Tenshi slightly swung her legs. "I've forgotten how many times I've done this over the centuries." She raised an eyebrow over to Koizumi. "And that's how I know about the whole scope thing."

Over the centuries, huh? "How old are you?"

She had to mull that over. "...Pretty old. In fact, it's been so long since I've become a celestial."

That's not really answering my question.

Tenshi crossed her arms, frowning. "Huh. I can't remember how long it's been. I guess that's how long. I don't know - without watching humanity, one kinda loses track of the year when you're stuck in Heaven." She shrugged, giving up on that answer. "Anyway, I was human, once, you know. In fact, wanna know my real name? It isn't Tenshi. My name was Chiko Hinanai, and I changed it when I arrived in Heaven. "

"You changed it to 'Tenshi.' 'Angel.'" Also, 'Chiko'? Interesting. Also interesting that you essentially look down at Heaven but you still aren't above taking that name.

Tenshi shrugged, smirking. "I thought it was fitting, even though my dad didn't like it. My family, we were a family of priests charged with protecting a keystone. It was supposed to prevent earthquakes, but they happened anyway, way too often. Our job was taken away from us, and given to another clan." She straighted herself up. "We were given entry into Heaven as a consolation, because we had served the gods, even though we didn't do a very good job at it. I was just a little girl when that happened. Even though we were given the title of nobles, we were never respected like the others. We never cast off our Earthly desires - we were 'dirty' celestials. And that pissed off my dad. He always wanted us to be better than the real celestials. That's why he was so harsh with me."

"That reminds me." Reisen turned her head to Yukari. "Why do you hate celestials so much?"

"Because, my Moon rabbit, they are too much like Lunarians, in that they think themselves better than everyone else." Yukari than frowned in disdain. "But the main thing is how they are keeping Heaven."

Tenshi scoffed, lowering her head. "Ah, right. That." She looked a bit discouraged.

Reimu raised an eyebrow. "What is Yukari talking about?"

The celestial shook her head. "Not important right now. But Yakumo, I finally get you now. I'm not a part of that decision though, okay? That's not me. The 'pure' celestials are like that, but I'm not. My family isn't. But I get you. I hate that about my 'race' too."

Seriously, what are you guys talking about? "Yukari, just what-"

Yukari held up her hand, her disdain disappearing. "No, Tenshi is right. Not important right now."

Tenshi still had her head hanging down. "I'm... I-I'm sorry about threatening your world. I just wanted to be a part of something bigger, you know? I know I'm a holy being, so I shouldn't be feeling jealousy of others, but I do. I couldn't help it, you know?" She looked to each of us, obvoiusly apologetic. "I've watched you all, with your incidents, your gatherings, your adventures, and your events, and I thought... I want that for myself. I wanted to be a part of an interesting world. I became so interested in the art of combat, especially since we got a few of them up in Heaven. I learned from the masters, trained my body to be especially tough, even by celestial standards." Tenshi got up from the edge, walking to the center of the platform. "I've become bored with Heaven, you know? It's mind numbing to do that over and over. I've just been so restless, but watching you guys?" She turned to us, who by that time, we all got up too. Tenshi had her hands on her hips. "All your adventures, all your experiences? That made my life interesting again. I had nothing to look forward to when I woke up every morning, until all of you. Get up in the morning, thinking 'what are you guys going to do today?' I..." She smiled. "I guess you could say I've become a fan of what goes on with you guys. But lately, it's been so boring, what with Haruhi being stable, and the incidents of Gensokyo not being as frequent."

"So you created your own." You got bored of watching us, so you made something happen to us. You really are Haruhi's failure state.

"I know I'm in the afterlife, but I wanted my afterlife to have meaning, you know? I can't just stay in the same routine day in and day out. It's maddening." Tenshi sighed. "It was selfish of me to do this, to do all of this. But what was I supposed to do?"

"You sound lonely." Koizumi gave her his usual smile. "Maybe you just need a friend."

"That's very sappy." She let out a laugh. "But I think it's true. I just wanted to be a part of you guys. I was just... so jealous of your lives."

I guess that's a compliment that someone from Heaven is jealous of my life.

"You gave me a good fight, though. You gave me what I wanted," Tenshi said, as she placed her hand over her heart. "And I am forever grateful to all of you. I'll never forget this." She blinked, and began wiping away at her eyes. "You don't know how long I wanted to feel something new, something real, or even just something."

"So, what, you couldn't leave Heaven?"

"No, I could, but without a proper reason, I'd just be punished. Now? Now I can say I'm going to repair what I broke, and I can properly go to the realm of the living without consequence." She shook her head, before staring out at the Earth. "My dad thinks I'm a screwup. That's not gonna change. But at least this gives me a real reason to be with new people."

Koizumi was right. You just needed someone in your life. Someone to help bring meaning, and substance to living. Or... after living.

Again, my thoughts turned to Haruhi, and how alone she made herself in the beginning of high school. If I hadn't bothered to talk to her, she never would have formed the brigade. We never would have spent all that time together. Chances are, she'd still be alone. As for Tenshi, well, Tenshi was a failure state of Haruhi in more ways than one. As powerful as both of them are, they wanted more for their lives. I finally felt sorry for the celestial. I can't even imagine how it must have been. To almost go mad with numbness. To be put in the best place in the afterlife only for it to turn on you.

Tenshi kept her gaze. "Kyon..."

"Yes?"

"You gave me a scare there." Her eyes went to mine. "When you were able to pick that up, able to use the Sword of Hisou, you really could have flat out killed me." She slowly took a breath. "How? How were you able to do that?"

"You're asking the wrong person. And I wouldn't have killed you - one death on my hands is one too many."

She slowly nodded, returning her attention to the Earth. "Then we're the same, I guess, about being the wrong person. If Yasumi did give that to you, then you're like me, in a way." She sighed. "Just a normal kid given power they didn't earn, and suddenly you don't know what to do with it."

That has pretty much been part of my experience with Gensokyo.

"Still." She got a grim look on her face. "If it gets bad during the upcoming incident, are you going to be willing to, in case it comes to that? To save a life, even your own..." Tenshi had paused, staring at me, making me wonder if she had heard what I said to the Brigade regarding what happened to me when Seija took me into the future. She then continued. "Even to save your own life, or to save another's, will you be willing to kill? Or will you freeze up and let yourself or another die just to keep your feelings sated?" Without waiting for an answer, Tenshi suddenly stomped on the ground. The pillars began to descend, thankfully at a slower speed. We were going back down to Heaven. "Hakurei, I will do as asked of me. Your shrine will be rebuilt, and I shall assist you on the upcoming incident." The celestial smirked. "Maybe I'll get an even more interesting fight! Prevent complete destruction. Save the world. That kind of deal. It sounds fun, you know?" The smile she had was genuine.

Nobody said anything, as we were lowered back into the atmosphere of the Earth, and I was trying to decipher where Heaven was, until the pillars descended into a cloud, and we were back in the wild realm. Without the constant weather changes, it was back to being the same beautiful setting when we first showed up. You know, barring the danmaku damage and the smoldering wreckage of the train. Wait, that wasn't danmaku?! Those were real trains?! Yukari, what the hell?! Note to self: don't anger Yukari too much.

I turned my attention to the celestial, unsure of what to say to her, or what to really think of her. Yes, I felt sorry, yes I felt anger for what she put us through to even get to that point, but it was just so conflicting, you know? Still, I can't deny it. Even though she nearly destroyed us, Tenshi has done some good for us. She's shown that most of us are probably not ready for the winter. In fact, some of the group would flat out say such a thing. It would get them to train even harder. And the added force of the celestial would be a bonus. There is no denying that - having someone as strong as her on our side could only mean good things. We had gained a really powerful ally for the upcoming underground incident.

When the pillars went back to the ground for good, Tenshi went up to Reimu. "I'll make right by you, okay? Your shrine will be rebuilt soon."

Reimu gave a nod. "Very well. I expect you to do a good job."

Tenshi gave a mischevious grin. "Well... I don't know the first thing about shrine construction, so, uh, I'm really going to be winging it."

That should be interesting.

We had left Heaven, with Tenshi pausing when she got outside, taking it all in. Nitori was out there with that tengu wolf girl. It was good to see her, and she said she was working on a new stealth camo for us, which sounded amazing. A quick portal jump later, and we were at the Hakurei Shrine. Tenshi stared out at it, and I could see her balking a bit.

"Now do you realize the extent of your damage?"

She rubbed the back of her head, sheepishly smiling. "Ah, yeah. It was so much different looking down at it. But seeing it up close? That's... messed up." She let out a slow breath. "But a promise is a promise." Then Tenshi went to the wreckage and began clearing the debris. Again, her strength was mesmerizing. A single person easily picking up parts of a ruined building.

'I'll be watching over her," said Yukari. Everyone else can go back, except for the Brigade."

Marisa paused. "What? Why, ze?"

"I'd like for them to get going. I would love to use my time travel device, but... it seems there are now limitations on how I use it." Yukari pursed her lips. "I think my future self did something, because the time travelers are angry at me. So they've limited my uses with the device."

The resistance.

"Which means I can't use it to send them back to when both Koizumi and Kyon entered Gensokyo. They'd have to leave soon to catch their train home."

Aw, I won't get to say goodbye to everyone this time, nor will I be able to enjoy in the festivities after the incident. No extravegant Scarlet Devil Mansion dinner this time.

"We had to rent a car to get here." Koizumi rubbed the back of his neck. "I can't leave that, as it's in a parking lot for the national park."

"I'll warp that too so you can return it." Yukari chuckled. "Don't worry. You won't lose your deposit." The youkai eyed us for a moment. "The two of you performed exceptionally well. Kyon captured a Taboo card, even. I never expected you to get this far."

I brought it out. "Thanks for the vote of confidence." And to be fair, I had help from Reimu, Shanghai, and Hourai.

"I meant that as a compliment. You have exceeded my expectations."

I slowly nodded. "Hopefully it's good enough for the next incident."

"You have a history of rising to the occasion when the situation calls for it. I have faith in you, human." Yukari then moved aside. "Now, I do think this is the time for goodbyes."

I stared out at the girls, a tightness in my chest forming. The next time we see each other... it will be for the fate of the world. We managed to save Gensokyo and my school this time, but the stakes are even higher for the next round. And some of us might not even come back from the next one, particularly me.

I looked to Tenshi, eyeing the sword handle hanging off her dress. At the very least, I now have something extra I can do. With the peaches, this new ally, that sword, and the vials, I have an even stronger chance at survival.

I'm not dying. I'm not going to let any of these girls die. I'm not allowing my world to end. I am going to perfect this next incident. I am not losing anybody.

I turned back to the girls, Youmu already up to me. She bowed. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to last long in that fight. I hope that doesn't make you think any less of my abilities when I said I would protect you."

"It's okay, Youmu. Tenshi made it personal for you, and you tried to hold the honor of your family. I get it." My heart was heavy, looking at her, knowing there was a future where she didn't live past this coming winter, and therefore a chance she wouldn't make it.

She gave a stern nod, allowing Sakuya to come up to me.

"I wish I could have done better in that fight." She smiled. "It seems that you and I are destined to always be at each other's backs for these incidents, huh?"

You have no idea. "I look forward to the next time we fight alongside each other." I paused, before remembering something. "Can you tell Patchouli to have just twenty vials ready for the incident, and the rest saved for later, just in case?"

Sakuya appeared confused by my request, but she nodded anyway. I need to make sure I have enough for the resistance.

Reisen was next, and she crossed her arms as she approached us. "Ah, yeah. Look, I'm not really liked by the rest of them, thanks to what my master did, but I can look at you and see that you appreciate my role today."

"I think they do appreciate what you did as well. We definitely wouldn't have won if it weren't for you." I know I appreciate what you did. You willingly let yourself get taken down so we could put a stop to Tenshi. When they realize that, they'll come around.

She nodded, looking to the side. "Yeah. It's just going to take a little while to earn their complete trust."

"Then if they give you any problems, tell them that I don't want to go down there without you, okay?"

That earned a big smile from the soldier. I think I could understand what your master did. I won't hold that against you.

"What Doctor Eirin did is on her," said Koizumi. "If other people can't realize that, then that's their problem."

Mokou approached us, her had lowered. "I didn't do much for this incident, y'know? Getting knocked out by the vampire, and then getting downed by the celestial early on?" She let out a deep breath. "Makes me wonder if I'm really ready for this."

"I think you are."

"You're just kind of reckless, Mokou. If I may say so." Koizumi stared into her eyes.

She smiled. "Maybe so, but that's kind of my charm." She went up to Koizumi. "Heh. Just like that night, you lasted longer than..." She then blushed, realizing what she was about to say out loud in front of everyone. "Uhm, yeah." Standing there while blushing deep red, she then impulsivly gave him a kiss. "I'll, uh, see ya later."

Koizumi was blushing too. "I'm looking forward to it."

The fairies came up to us, blushing over the kiss and the innuendo.

Sunny cleared her throat, staring at the immortal and the esper for a moment, before turning to me. "So that was fun. Being on the resolving side of an incident was interesting."

"Painful, yes. Interesting, definitely." Luna scoffed. "I don't know if we'd be able to do something like that again."

"Actually, I was gonna ask if you four could join us for the next one."

Star blinked. "Wait, you want us to join you guys?"

"Why not? Your stealth almost got the drop on a celestial. Those kinds of abilities would be useful, and as long as you don't reveal yourselves too much, you shouldn't be in any real danger." I really wanted their help. They proved useful during the resistance, and they should prove useful for the underground. Especially Sunny, as she played a part in helping me save my family. Not to mention that when the fairies worked together, they became a big threat to their opponents.

Cirno was smirking over that. "Eye see. You want to guarantee a victory with us! As expected from someone who uses my spell cards!" She threw her head back and laughed, but used too much force, as she fell to the ground. She sat there, getting red in the face, before hopping up and quietly moving away.

At the very least, you're good for a laugh. But no, Cirno was worth it, and the Perfect Freeze was even able to stop a celestial weapon. If she was smart with her powers, and lets' face it, she isn't, she could be a real threat. She almost killed me one time, after all. So why not use her abilities?

Marisa was next. "So this is just another goodbye that we get to have, huh?" There was a small sadness in her eyes. "Just... show up, do the incident, and leave, ze."

"Marisa, if things could be different, I'd stay. If things could be different, I'd..." I stopped myself, because I knew what I was going to say. Even thinking about it was tugging at my heart. It was what I was thinking when I had arrived at the shrine at the beginning of all of this. Oh God, this feeling again. That's just not fair. "I do wish things could be different. Because the next time we meet-"

"-We'll be in a world threatening incident." She had a wry smile. "Just like when we first met, ze."

Don't make this any harder, please. "Marisa..."

She looked into my eyes, as if expecting something. "Hmm?"

I stared right back, with the need to drop all pretenses. "If things were different, I think I would be with you."

That actually made her reel back. "Wha-?"

"I know I shouldn't say that, but it's the truth. I've been thinking about you sometimes, unable to get you out of my head when I'm out there. I mean, my heart is with Haruhi, but there's a piece that still clings to you." I moved up to her. "Despite all that, we can't be together. I know I've accepted it, yet I haven't. I'm not saying this to bring up any old feelings or whatever, but I just needed to say it. If this was any different, I wouldn't have made you cry back then."

I couldn't stop it when I began talking. It just came out. Why did I have to open my mouth? That... that just hurt.

Marisa just stared right back, blinking a few times, before giving me a small smile. "...I'm glad. I'm glad that you said that. There are times I can't stop thinking about you either."

Oh thank you. Thank you for taking this easily. I was worried that I might have hurt her with that confession of how I felt. I gave her a shrug. "We saved each others lives and been on some crazy adventures together. How could we not?"

She gave another smile, and standing on her tiptoes, kissed me on the forehead. "Yeah. How could we not?"

That kiss actually felt like it filled a hole in my heart that had opened long ago. I had kicked myself for making her cry, and this felt like she had forgiven me. She was taking this far better than I thought I would have if I were in her shoes. She really has grown up, and not just in her body... her awesome body, like she said. Before she left, I asked her if she could take back Shanghai and Hourai to Alice.

I patted both of the dolls on the head. "Thank you, you two. You really helped out. Alice would be proud of what you accomplished today." Both of them gave me a curtsey.

Reimu approached us, hands on her hips, and smiling. "Speaking of crazy adventures."

I let out a laugh. "Yeah, this was a wild one."

"Dealing with weather that changed the rules of fighting, taking on a shinigami, a vampire, a celestial, a vengeful spirit..." The miko trailed off, her smile fading as she stared in the direction of the lake. "...uh oh."

Marisa, Koizumi, the three fairies, Reimu, and I all stared in that direction in silence for a few moments.

The witch was the first to break it. "Uhm, should we-"

"She'll be fine, I think. I'll just have her there for a while, since the chains will hold. With the shrine destroyed, I don't have anywhere to put her anyway."

Sadistic. And again, it serves you right, Mima.

"Has she been stuck there all this time?" asked Koizumi. "I had completely forgotten about her."

Reimu dismissively waved her hand. "Ah, don't worry about it. A lot of people have forgotten her." The miko gave me a big smile. "Anyway, thanks for helping me out. I really do appreciate your willingness to find out who destroyed my shrine."

"It's not a problem, Reimu. And you don't owe me anything, okay?" I actually still owe you.

And last... was our new companion miko. Sanae stood before me, and goodness she was so beautiful. I didn't know what to say to her, so the first thing that popped into my mind, I said.

"Hey, uh, weird question. In middle school, you didn't use your powers for your cupid excursions, did you?" I kinda want to know what your divine powers really are.

Sanae's face brightened. "You remember that? No, no I didn't. In middle school I did it normally."

"Why?"

"It was something I wanted to do." She scratched her head. "I guess... I didn't know what kind of god I was back then, so I kinda fancied myself as a love god for a while."

That kind of explains your obsession to bring people together. "So your powers..."

"If I concentrate and pray long enough, I can make anything happen. In theory. I...once spent an entire week praying, and I caused it to rain for a farmer during a very dry season. Remember that heat wave four years ago? And in the news, that miraculous concentration of rain for the farmland near my shrine?"

Ha! Rainmaking! And this time, it wasn't a con! "That was you?"

She nodded, smiling. "But that was straight praying. No sleep, no going to school, nothing. Just pure conentration of body and mind, focused on it. But yes, according to Lady Suwako, I can make anything happen with prayer. It's due to the small amount of god blood in me. That's also why I was able to see them, and nobody else could."

"...Lady Suwako?"

"Suwako Moriya."

I blinked, looking to Koizumi, before looking back to Sanae. "Moriya, as in-"

Sanae nodded. "The god of the shrine, and my ancestor. I'm her descendant. So, as you can see, I had to become a shrine maiden for the shrine. It's in my blood."

You became the shrine maiden of the shrine that housed the god you were descended from? That is just too perfect!

"I was quite useful with ah, smaller things. You know how I said in middle school I played cupid normally? In high school, when I found out how to get people to fall in love, lots of other school girls would visit my shrine and ask me to pray for them. " Sanae gave a sad smile. "Kyon, I became popular. I got a boyfriend. I had made it. I was finally... normal. Not just some geek girl."

And after all that, after making some friends of your own, you just left them? "So why leave all that behind?"

She lowered her eyes. "It wasn't my intention. Lady Yasaka had decided." She again noticed my confusion. "Oh, right. Another one of the gods of the shrine. Well, actually, Lady Yasaka is goddess of the lake that came in with us. But they were beginning to fade out. There was no more faith for them out there. People had more faith in me than they did in them." Sanae shook her head, brushing her bangs from her eyes. "I don't blame them. They did it for survival. If I was in that position, I'd do the same thing to keep living another day. Lady Yasaka and Lady Suwako were my only friends growing up. It was either let them die or I give up the friends I made in high school."

That's... quite the bombshell. You grew up with two gods, and it was either you live your normal life, or you help them survive. Your happiness for their very survival. "Sanae... if I only knew..." But that's just it. I didn't. If I had, things would have been so much different.

"I know. It was tough, but I don't hate them for it." Sanae looked out to the land. "Gensokyo is nice, Kyon. We live amongst youkai on the mountain, and they've accepted us. The youkai are really nice to me. We get donations and faith from the youkai themselves. It's weird, but this is the happiest I've been in my entire life. I can finally be the real me." Sanae turned to me, grabbing my hands. "You want to know something, Kyon? I always liked you. I know you hung out with other people, including that Sasaki, but... you were the one who talked to me the most in middle school, even if we shared just one class."

"Sanae..."

"The sad part? You were the closest thing I had to a friend back then."

...That really is sad. A girl with amazing powers, and I was the closest thing she had to a friend?

"But I'm glad it was this way. If we had stayed in contact, you may not have met Haruhi. You may have ended up with me... and I still would have made the decision to go into Gensokyo." She let out a single chuckle. "I... would have left you. Willingly left you. I'd make that choice again and again, no matter how many times it could come across me. They're my family."

Literally, in the case of one of the gods. "So, at least this way, we can know that each other is all right."

She nodded. "Exactly." Sanae pursed her lips, uncertainty on her face. "This incident that's coming up, I want to help out. I'm getting used to being myself, allowing my powers to move freely, and now the world might be threatened?" She shook her head. "No. I won't allow that." She took a step closer. "Kyon. I'll help out too."

The day was so worth it. We gained two powerful new allies. One part god, one a full celestial. We came to know about the peaches, which Tenshi would deliver for use in the underground incident. The sword's reaction to me was still unknown, but it was attributed to Yasumi's influence. This... 'focus mode', as it became known, did run on the peaches, meaning I would have to be carrying around a lot to make liberal use of that ability. I was still weary of wielding a sword, but using it like a tennis racket suited me just fine.

Nagato was updating me on everything that had happened. Oh, speaking of Nagato, turns out, she had finally gotten the text sent from Koizumi and was waiting for us at the train station, where we caught the last train back to the college. She was apologizing for not taking part in the incident, but considering the last attack, that may have been very fatal for her, so I didn't hold it against her. In fact, it was probably for the better. With everything that was flying around, it would have been bad for her. But she found out that something was happening to me due to the nanomachine injections - that she could possibly make it run more efficiently, that focus mode. She was pretty excited over this new development, as was I. Nagato would then tell me what went on in Gensokyo after we left.

We never did find out exactly what the supercell did, though upon hearing what happened, Nagato suggested it could have been something like delaying spells. I suppose that makes sense, as the self activators of Reimu and Tenshi didn't go off when they were downed. Still, she was interested in the effects the weather had, and wanted to see if she could recreate those effects, especially the winter one. She wanted to test my enhanced body when we got back to the club room, but by that time, it wore off. Kind of disappointing - I wanted to blast through her training with that.

Tenshi would work throughout the night, and with the materials provided by Yukari, had a good deal done by dawn. The debris was clear, and from what I hear, the shrine was looking like a shrine again. Tenshi said that during the upcoming incident, she'd use the Sword of Hisou, only lending it to me when I needed it. Upon hearing of what Tenshi did, her father apparently did get upset, but since she was taking responsibility for her actions, she was allowed passage to Gensokyo without punishment. She now frequents the shrine.

Sanae and Reimu agreed to make a small shrine to gather faith for the Moriya gods, set up at the Hakurei Shrine. And since they had also agreed to work together, the two frequented each others' shrines, sparring with each other to better themselves during downtime, or for Sanae to just get more accustomed to life in Gensokyo. Donations didn't increase, but they didn't decrease, so that was a win for Reimu.

Patchouli would honor my request, wondering why I wanted half of what she had available. But now I had 49 vials on standby in total - Marisa managed to find enough loose blossoms in her home to make even more. There was even talk about infusing half of them with the peaches, making a super vial, but without the exploding nature of it. I was fine with that.

Youmu went back to training, more determined than ever after being so soundly defeated. She would train with Tenshi, who imparted some of the things she learned from the swords masters in Heaven, helping Youmu a bit, and Sakuya too. The three blade wielders would learn a lot from each other.

The others did start trusting Reisen more, as yes, they did realize how instrumental she was in the fight in Heaven. Yukari would contact the kappa to give Reisen's guns a complete upgrade, making them better suited for magical attacks. The Demotivator proved especially useful, so Reisen was tasked with making rounds that had its effect. If combined with the snow effect, it could magically cripple a target like it did with Tenshi. So, this was another good thing to come out of this incident - Reisen would be armed with such ammunition.

Mokou went to training the only way she knew how - by killing the princess over and over again. This time, she was on a streak, being undefeated. The immortal pyromancer had gained a new drive in something she had lost a while ago - survival. Koizumi won't talk to me about his feelings for Mokou, and I chose to not pry. There is obviously something there between them, but I guess it would take more meetings to work it out.

The fairies... the fairies were doing what they did. Doing minimal training and doing their usual pranks. They took advantage of Reimu's invitation, which wore thin really quick. She chased them off after a week, but they still hang out around the shrine. That being said, I did look forward to working with them.

Shanghai and Hourai suffered some minor physical damage from the incident, but this was more of a test run. Alice repaired and replaced the doll parts with stronger materials, making them even tougher, and thus ready for what was coming. I really would not have lasted that day without them.

As for Marisa, she was always catching up to the others. Everyone else had their natural ability, but as I've mentioned, Marisa is a normal human. Which meant she hit the books hard. Patchouli's books, to be exact. And by hit, I mean stole. For the next few months, she focused on her spell power, trying to increase it even more. After all, her signature was the Master Spark, and even when she used it against Tenshi, it didn't really down her. She couldn't have that.

These girls. These amazing girls are willing to do their part to save the world. I can't let them down. I can't let any of them die. I refuse to allow any of them to make the ultimate sacrifice. I'd like to avoid it, but I'd rather it be me before any of them. I have twenty nine vials going into the incident in the winter, and I'm going to be smart with them. I'm going to go in there, save the world, and stop that timeline where I or some of the girls don't make it. With the peaches, this new 'focus', and the ability to use a celestial weapon, I have a real shot at it. More than ever, I have a realistic shot at surviving. Even if I have to do what I don't want to do.

It's a celestial weapon, after all. Tenshi said it - it's a god killer. I learned I was going to be dealing with someone who consumed a god, and all of a sudden a god killer drops into my lap? That's no coincidence. That happened for a reason.

...even if I have to go against what I've convinced myself that I would never do again. I don't want to take a life. But...

This is still difficult for me. I can sit here and hope that it doesn't come to that, yet that would be naive of me. Murphy's law, after all.

Of course, all this? This upcoming incident means I'll probably still have to deal with Seija. She is still out there, the one who first got that charged mallet. I'm not looking forward to that. It does make me wonder, however. At this point, I have more abilities now than I did back then. Why not pick up this me?

I don't know. Something didn't add up. Despite how everything had come together for that weather incident, or whatever it would be called, there was just something off. My own intuition was ringing an alarm that I had missed something.

But for the life of me, I couldn't figure it out. The only thing I could hope is that it wouldn't come back and bite me at the worst possible moment.

New incident report:

"Scarlet Weather Incident"

In early August of 2008, the Hakurei Shrine was destroyed in a localized earthquake, with the intentions of drawing out the Hakurei Shrine maiden to resolve an incident concocted by an unknown party. During this earthquake, [NAME REDACTED] "Kyon" had entered Gensokyo, and agreed to assist Reimu Hakurei and Marisa Kirisame in resolving this attack on the shrine. This incident was unique in that some of the participants of the incident had weather following them. The weather also modified the game of danmaku, depending on which weather was active. The effects of the weather are in the attachment to this file. As multiple individuals had effects, multiple individuals got involved, instigating fights, and discovering the effects of the weather in the process. Reimu Hakurei, leading the group of Marisa Kirisame, [NAME REDACTED] "Kyon", Itsuki Koizumi, Sakuya Izayoi, Youmu Konpaku, Yukari Yakumo, Reisen Udongein Inaba, and Fujiwara no Mokou found the instigator - a tennin celestial named Tenshi Hinanai. This celestial proved to be extremely powerful, able to fight off this group, especially with their weapon - the Sword of Hisou. Further information on that weapon is in the second attachment to this file. The instigator had destroyed the shrine in order to be challenged by Gensokyo, and had threatened to destroy even more if she won. The group from Gensokyo ended up defeating her, but not without (knockout) casualties. The crisis was averted, and the instigator rebuilt the shrine.

In the eyes of these interfaces, this was a benchmark for the upcoming incident. Recommending that all involved do further training.

==RESOLVED==

-File Catalogued by Yuki Nagato & Emiri Kimidori.

Scarlet Weather Rapture

Based off of Touhou 10.5: Scarlet Weather Rhapsody.

Original name: Touhou Hisouten ~ Scarlet Weather Rhapsody.

Original game created in joint by Team Shanghai Alice and Twilight Frontier.

"Hello?"

She looked back and forth, still unable to move.

"...Hakurei?"

Night had fallen, and there was nobody around. Not even a fairy, which was unusual.

"...anyone?"

She was tired, as she had struggled all day, but to no avail. The chains had kept her immobilized.

"Please? Anyone?"

She heard footsteps approaching, unsure if she should call out to them, lest it be someone who didn't like evil spirits. To hell with this! I've had to lay here for the past few hours! I'm not doing that! "Who's there?"

"Oh, there you are." Mima's vision was soon occupied with that lazy shinigami. She stared down at her, half amused. The other half was tired, as she let out a big yawn. "I was wonderin' if the miko was gonna let you go, but I guess she won't."

"Get me out of here, shinigami!"

"You gonna apologize?"

Mima stared up at her like she was crazy. "And why would I do that?"

"Because you knocked me out."

"You stupid shinigami! If you-"

"Yeah yeah yeah, blah blah blah, you're strong and frightful and whatever." Komachi scratched her ear, before frowning at the ghost. "But you're also rude. And I don't like rude people."

Komachi then disappeared from view. "Wait! Wait! I'm sorry!"

"You don't mean it." Her voice was getting further away, as were her footsteps in the grass.

"Wait! Wait!" Mima growled at her. "You better let me go or I'll..." Mima stared up at the night sky, realizing that she was going to be stuck there for a while. "...or...I'll..."

The footsteps faded away, and Mima just laid there, silently cursing everyone involved. The miko, the shinigami, her own apprentence, and those two boys.

Everyone but herself.

Mima just kept staring up at the night sky, the anger in her fading, becoming replaced with regret. She felt abandoned, especially since she had been exposed to the elements for hours. She closed her eyes, sighing. They'll get theirs. They will. I won't let this go-"

"Planning revenge?"

Mima opened her eyes, to find Yukari Yakumo standing over her, which startled the ghost. "Yakumo?!"

"Hello, Miss Mima." Yukari grinned down at her. "I take it you've had an interesting day?" Before Mima could respond, Yukari continued. "Oh, I jest. I know what happened to you."

Mima was about to order Yukari to let her go, but she paused. Asking Yakumo for a favor usually means you owe her. Mima's aggression faded, staring up at the youkai.

"I have a proposition for you, Mima, concerning the upcoming incident." Yukari knelt down to her. "I was going to ask you regardless, but now you're in a true position to agree to my terms."

The smile on Yukari's face made Mima's skin crawl. "...What is it?"

"Oh, I just need your assistance in an upcoming incident. It'll be just like old times, with Hakurei, and Kirisame, right? Just like when you all entered Makai together."

"What do you want, Yakumo?"

Yukari leaned in closer, her smile widening. "Oh, I need help in changing things, and I can get you out of your imposed prison. Not just here either. I'm talking about being free of Hakurei for good."

Mima scowled at her. "I know better than to make deals with the devil."

"Make no mistake - there is a chance you won't come back, but that's the problem. Even your apprentice is threatened. At least this way, you can earn your freedom, as well as my gratitude. I know how you feel about me, but even you know that when I owe someone, I make it worth their while." Yukari stood up. "It's your call. You can accept and be free, or just lay there and wait for Hakurei to come back to collect you, and imprison you again. And again. And again." The youkai scoffed. "Or maybe you've come to like that lifestyle in the past several years. Regardless, the choice is yours, Mima. Continue being her prisoner, or I can give you freedom, and a nice plot of land not too far from your Kirisame." With that, Yukari left Mima's vision.

Mima stared up at the sky for a moment, trying not to start shouting in frustration, before she begrudgingly called out to Yukari. "Wait." What am I doing...

September 19th, 2013

"That fairy." Tenshi was pointing at the little ice fairy who was taking on the Prismrivers and the tsukumogami. "I want to fight her. She's got spunk. I haven't fought..."

Tenshi stood there, staring at the fairy in blue in confusion.

"Wait, I did go up against her. I thought I didn't." She scratched her head. "That's right. She was the one who froze my sword." Tenshi frowned. "...I thought I didn't for a second there." She turned to Reimu. "Isn't that weird?"

Reimu paused too. "Huh. That's weird. I thought you didn't either, but you're right. She was there." She shrugged. "Ah well, it doesn't matter. We need you here in case-"

[UNKNOWN LOCATION/UNKNOWN TIME/UNKNOWN DATE/?/ERROR/ERROR/UNKNOWN]

The girl smiled, as she skipped down the hallway of the empty school building. What she witnessed was quite fun, and entertaining. Of course it was entertaining. Who wouldn't be entertained after seeing such a fight? That, and she had avoided the data entities counter monitoring yet again. They couldn't catch her, because they didn't know where to really look for her.

Still, it was troubling. The entire group in Gensokyo had gotten surprisingly more powerful. Working together, they were able to take down a serious celestial, especially such a bothersome one who went out of her way to cheat. And for Kyon... That was the worst thing that could have happened. He was a survivor, and giving a survivor more tools could only mean bad things for their plans.

This talk of timelines... it is a concern, as well as Yukari figuring out that I have to pause my spying for a bit to get into her realm. Who knows what she's been doing. She stopped, twirling her long blonde hair. They were supposed to get stronger, yes, but not this strong. Not this defiant. And if Yakumo has been peeking into the future, then we might have to contend with her usual manipulations. I keep telling master to do something direct, but she's just concerned with her usual stuff.

Also, it was very risky. This was a very real threat when they started to mess with the affairs of that combined world. After all, there was a future established where they were able to make use of time travel. They had to allow that world to exist for a while for Asahina to be able to come back to it, otherwise nothing would have worked. And with a future already established, who was to say they couldn't undo what was coming? Yakumo's recent surge of activity was alarming, but not unexpected. She wanted to actually struggle against what was coming, but that would be like a mere child struggling against the oncoming tsunami while halfway buried in the sand.

Master had asked for an update, and she certainly was going to give it, but...

The girl kept standing there, before stretching her body and her fairy wings.

Still, Kyon being able to wield that weapon is now a very big problem. Now he can actually fight back. The child can actually have a chance at struggling.

He would have to become a priority target. His biggest support would have to go though. Nagato giving him those nanomachine injections? Who knew what they would do. And now not only do they still have those damn vials, but now access to the peaches. Damn Tenshi taking the vials away during the fight. He would have used up all of those by now. Now he has nearly fifty going into the next incident! But the biggest thing was what he could do - that focus thing. And he can hold onto celestial weapons. The girl shook her head. No. He certainly is a priority, now more than ever. He'll have to be one of the first to die during the incident. We can't afford to allow him to last again. Every time we've done this, he's been more trouble than he's worth, despite being just a weak human.

And that's not even mentioning Reimu and her new ability. That was completely unexpected. Concealed the Conclusion Reimu out of nowhere. That all white variant just had power pour out of her. Reimu has never done that before. This is bad. This is really, really bad. The only grace we have is that she only accesses that power while near death, so if we just hold off on her, we should be good.

The girl continued down the hall, making her way outside the door to the club room, and stared at the ruined city out the window.

Yet Master insists on allowing them to get that far every time. Well, once I tell her that the boy can wield celestial weapons, and Reimu can access CTC mode, that'll change her mind. I'll make her see reason.

To be fair, Master said that this was a possible danger. That the crossing over of two worlds like this might make both sides stronger. Yet it was a desired result.

And there was The Agreement...

If it were up to me, I'd just kill everyone and everything and be done with it.

In fact...

She couldn't help but smile, thinking over what was to happen. All her planning would come to fruition, hopefully. If they were powerful enough, her plan would begin proper.

First, I need to tell Master... not necessarily everything... but enough. Just enough to let her know that Kyon has to die first. Under no circumstance will he live. None. He will drown as planned in that tsunami. All of them will. Drown in the onslaught of power and death that awaits each of them. With some smart thinking, we can manage CTC Reimu if we save her for later.

The onslaught that had awaited them every time before, and ended them, without fail.

Giggling, she looked in the reflection of the window, adjusting her purple with white polka dotted jester hat.

She then entered the S.O.S. Brigade club room, ready to report.

It's almost time for you to die, Kyon. When my Lady wants something to happen, it will happen.

You don't have a chance.

You.

Will.

Die.

Now who could that be entering that club room?

Thank you for taking the time to read all the way down here. That was quite the journey, wasn't it? And it was quite the journey to write. You know I actually convinced myself I would have gotten this done by January 1st? Imagine that.

Next up is Meltdown. The very intimidating to write Meltdown.

See you next phantasm.

Read and Review.

Lady Yukari demands it.