Ah yes, Subterranean Animism. Yukari wasn't lying - this one is important, and sets off the next few incidents. It also plays unusually. You are limited to Reimu and Marisa in character choice, but you also have three support characters for each, essentially giving you 6 different playstyles total. For every character's assist, even your attacks are different. Even though you have two, it's more like you're playing with six. These support characters are also in contact (via radio or magic), so you get different dialogue too. Some are more important and knowledgeable than the other characters, giving you better understanding of what's going on.

In fact, in the original game, Reimu and Marisa don't even know why they're going down there. Chalk up ICB to get them to understand.

Items are very important in this game - you can build up bombs through the power you get. You can only stock up on 4 bombs though, via your 4 levels of power (each level of power lets you use a bomb, but you lose attack power upon use). That makes it MUCH easier to build up bombs, and therefore bomb your way through tough situations. Remember though - a bomb is a spell card, so you can't capture a card if you use it during one.

Reimu has Yukari, Suika, and Aya backing her up. Under Yukari, Reimu can teleport to the other side of the screen via a Yukari portal; useful if you're stuck, but you have to be careful you aren't waltzing into a stray shot. If you don't know what you're doing, you might just trade one bad situation for another one, or one that's even worse. But the portals are very helpful, and that makes her very popular for Reimu players. Suika allows you to use gravitational pull to gather items (release the controls), and your shots home in. Can be very useful in-game as you can gain bombs very quickly, allowing you to stock up and afford some hairier situations. Aya is speed and agility - you are very fast when you're not shooting. That sounds good, but it's a double edged sword, especially since it's very easy to run smack into an oncoming shot. This makes Aya pretty much the least useful assist in the game.

Marisa has Alice, Patchouli and Nitori supporting her. Alice's dolls are sacrificed when you bomb, so you drastically lose attack power, but you can stock up to 8 dolls/bombs, effectively doubling the power of any other assist and allowing Marisa to beast with enough bombs stocked up. Each doll stocked increases your attack power, so it's a trade-off - do you want to clear the field with a bomb, or keep them so you can blaze through a fight? Patchouli is actually 5 different ways to attack - you can cycle attacks by tapping focus and attack together; it's very useful depending on your situation as you can attack no matter where you are on the screen. It's a more tactical person's option of playing, but more advanced. It's not something you can expect to go into at once - it'll take a lot of time getting used to, but the ability to shoot behind you is useful in certain fights where you can get behind an opponent. Nitori is pure defense - her bomb is a shield with the stealth camo, and if you use it and don't get hit, you get back 50% of the power used. Getting hit does disrupt all shots on the screen. Basically, it acts like the Paranormal Border. Useful if you are bomb-happy, or just in any tight situation at all. This makes Nitori a pretty popular choice for backing up Marisa.

And somewhat like Imperishable Night, character and support choice play a factor against one of the bosses.

You'll see.

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 Reader for this episode:

Smooglii

A young girl was walking in the human village, taking in the winter scenery. The buildings had snow on their roofs, and the paths were shoveled, yet a light flurry was already creating a thin film of snow on the ground, already making the world start to look clean and pristine. She bundled up, feeling quite toasty in her coat, and relished the dual temperatures she was experiencing. The battle between hot and cold that made one feel cozy being right in the middle of it all.

The girl had just finished with her work shift, and was just randomly going down the streets. She took in the usual scenery of winter in Gensokyo, and was watching adults and children alike go about their business. Everyone seems to be closing up shop early today, but quicker than normal. Like they have a fire under their pants or something. She shrugged, unsure of what to make of it all - her thoughts returned to the upcoming holiday of the outside world. The girl had learned about it after reading a few books at her work. Christmas. While it wasn't unheard of, it wasn't necessarily celebrated in Gensokyo. She paused. I still don't understand the whole Saint Nick thing. The girl twirled one of her twin tails, one of the bells in the tie ringing, wondering if she should do something, like start celebrating it so the village could follow soon. It sounded fun. A mythical figure hands out presents to children just because, and others share presents as well. Banquets, get-togethers... and she couldn't forget the presents. That stuck on her mind - free stuff. Of course it sounded interesting to her. Maybe I should stop by the bakery if they're still open and buy a few things. This Nick person is supposed to like cookies, and he comes during the night? The girl paused, wondering that if he did make it into Gensokyo, he might be accosted by a few of the youkai. That... could pose problems and get him to not come back.

She noticed another girl, a few years her senior, kneeling at the base of the dragon statue. The statue itself was fairly simple - an obelisk with the dragon wrapped around it. But the girl...

"Lady Akyuu?"

The young noble turned her head. "Ah, Kosuzu." She smiled. "Why are you out here? Shouldn't you be inside?"

Kosuzu bowed, and stepped up to the noble girl. "Everybody left their work, and Suzunaan closed early according to Keine's orders." She joined Akyuu's side. "It's crazy. Do you know what's going on?"

"I do." Akyuu raised an eyebrow. "Ah, that's right - you're working now. Your new part time job at the book renter. How is it?"

"It's okay - I didn't expect to see books that have youma in them, though. It's kind of scary to be right there with those things." Kosuzu's eyes shined. "But it's also awesome, in a way."

"As long as they're sealed up, you'll be fine, to a point."

Kosuzu paused, and started to show worry. "What do you mean?"

Akyuu shrugged and gave a little smile. "Spending time around such objects might cause some of their power to leech into you. It's not unheard of for some humans to develop abilities when they surround themselves with magical items all day." She looked over to where the book shop was located. "Magic and the paranormal is like putty in a way. That's why places with dark pasts are able to accumulate ghosts and create haunted areas. Or why the Forest of Magic's mushrooms are so good at granting magic to the consumer. Magic begets magic." She looked back to the statue. "Some here in the village won't admit it, but there are a few humans who will develop abilities in Gensokyo. It can vary, however - not everyone develops abilities. Kirisame has been around so many magical items and powers since she was born, but she's still just a normal human. On the other hand, others can quickly develop something special about them within a short time frame of exposure."

Kosuzu fidgeted a bit, looking down as she blushed. "Uhm... I think it's already happening."

Akyuu got up and fully turned to Kosuzu, eyebrows raised. "Really?"

Kosuzu paused as a woman with short red hair passed them, before leaning closer, and whispered. "I don't understand it, but I've been able to read everything." The book lender looked like she was afraid of getting into trouble. "I mean everything. I can read any language now, and some of the lost languages as well. I think I can read any language by youkai as well." She fidgeted again. "I thought I was going mad, but..."

Akyuu smiled and put her hand on Kosuzu's shoulder. "There is nothing to be afraid of. You just developed a special ability. You did nothing wrong, Kosuzu." The noble let out a chuckle. "It's kind of perfect, however. You work with books, and now you can read any book regardless. Still," Akyuu rubbed her chin, the noble's smile faltering. "Still, you might want to downplay it a bit. If that librarian in the Devil's Mansion hears about your ability, you might be whisked away to work for them. On the bright side, if Keine or Reimu needs something deciphered, they'll have you."

Kosuzu gulped at the prospect of working for the Scarlet Devil. But being of help to Reimu and Keine? That didn't sound bad at all.

"If word of your ability gets out, you'll become more involved with Gensokyo, I believe. So keep quiet about it until you're ready for it to be known." Akyuu smiled. "Cheer up. Your world just got more interesting."

Kosuzu nodded. Maybe this won't be so bad after all. She was afraid that she had done something to be 'cursed' with this ability, but it was sounding better after hearing that she might be useful to Keine and Reimu. A thought crossed her mind. "Lady Akyuu?"

"Yes?"

"Do you have something special about you?"

Akyuu went silent, and grinned. "...Don't tell anyone, but I actually do. I just won't tell you, because it's kind of a big deal. At least, I won't tell you until you're a bit older and ready to understand. That's a promise."

Kosuzu stood there a moment, unsure of how to continue that. Deciding to drop it, she returned her attention to the statue, still feeling relieved that Lady Akyuu said that she could be useful. "So what are you doing here?"

Akyuu turned to the statue and returned to kneeling. "I'm praying. The dragon is essentially the god of Gensokyo." She turned her head to her friend. "Well, a major one here. You know how the Hakurei shrine has no statues and no god to worship? Some say that this dragon is the god Hakurei observes, even though I know that's not true. Anyway, the last time he was physically seen, was at the creation of Gensokyo's current state - when the Hakurei Border went up."

Kosuzu looked at the statue again. She hadn't known that - she just thought it was a cool looking statue. "I never knew that."

"It's said that if you pray to him, if enough people pray, then the collective wish and belief will take form, and be granted." Akyuu let out a small sigh. "Yes. His power puts him amongst the strongest gods..."

"How do you know this stuff, Lady Akyuu?"

"It helps to read up on folklore, youkai, and Gensokyo's history. It's very important to remember our history, little one." Akyuu smiled, before sighing. "Take some time at your job to learn more about them. This is the world you were born into. Just... be sure to read the right book and not unleash something horrible. Some of those books you're working with have sealed away some of the worst creatures this world has ever seen."

"When you say it like that it makes my job sound really scary."

"It'll be fine. As long as you take precautions, like with any other job, you'll be safe."

Kosuzu was told to keep the shaking books sealed and tied up. And to take great care of the ones with locks. "So what are you praying for?"

She motioned to the dragon. "Right now, an incident is happening. Hakurei, Kirisame, and some others are going to go resolve it. I am praying for their well being."

"An incident is happening?" Kosuzu tilted her head, a look of sheer confusion on her face. "How do you know?"

Akyuu pointed to the statue's jewel eyes. "Do you see the eyes of the dragon statue? Normally, they change color to predict the weather in Gensokyo - white for sun, grey for clouds, and blue for rain. But when they turn red, an incident is going on."

"So that's why everybody is going home early." Kosuzu slowly nodded, understanding. That's how Keine found out something was going on in Gensokyo. She studied the statue's eyes - they appeared to resemble jewels. "Gee, the eyes are such a deep red." They look like someone put rubies on that statue!

"Yes." Akyuu lowered her head. "Yes, they certainly are. Something big is happening today."

Kosuzu stood there for a few more seconds, before giving Akyuu a bow. "Mind if I join you, Lady Akyuu?

Akyuu smiled at the younger girl. "You may. And we're friends - you don't have to use the honorifics, Kosuzu."

The younger girl smiled, giving another bow. "Yes..." Kosuzu's smile widened. "...Akyuu."

"Lemme try something."

Reimu went up to the massive hole. Or... Kaguya, as Mokou called it. You know what, I'm not gonna call it that. Otherwise I'll be spending all day laughing. As it was, I was still trying to not laugh. Just forget that bit. After all, Princess Kaguya lets me call her by her first name. Actual mythological royalty allows me to be on a first name basis with her, so I have to at least show some respect.

...But it's still funny to hear Mokou insult her.

Reimu stopped at the edge, looking down, and the seals weren't activating for her. The miko motioned for Mystia to approach, with which the nightsparrow begrudgingly complied. As she came closer, the seals lit up, getting ready in case Mystia dared to cross.

"Ah, Reimu's cheat seal breaker." Marisa saw our confusion, so she explained: "Something she came up with. An all-general dispel gesture, ze. She can break any seal. This should be cake."

You didn't sound too happy about saying that. She sounded disappointed in that, in fact. So even Reimu cheats at her most basic job. If Seija knew this, which she probably does, she'd use this as one of her many reasons why she hates the miko.

Back to what was transpiring - nothing was happening. Reimu began making gestures at the seal, or around the seals in the air - she was drawing circles in the air, touching the seal, and then wagging her finger at it. She kept trying, but to no avail. Reimu stared at the seals, showing frustration. "This has never happened before. I can break any seal by doing this." She turned to us, frowning. "This never happened before!"

[Yukari:] "That's why we're worried. This type of seal is new. It has repelled everything we've done to it, and none of the usual dispels have worked."

[Patchouli:] "The magic involved, and the properties of the seals and runes... I've never seen anything like it, and I've been studying magic for over a century. This is advanced expert-level stuff, or maybe even master-level. It's beyond even my current understanding."

Even with that entire library at your disposal, you can't figure out how to crack it? To be fair, I didn't know all the knowledge stored within that place.

[Alice:] "Some of them do look familiar, so we might be able to break them the old fashioned way, with counter enchantments, one by one. Like picking a lock and going through each tumbler, but in a magical context. But that would pretty much only apply to the one it's specific against. If we were to break it for Meiling, it wouldn't do anything for the others."

[Patchouli:] "They're all over the place, too. Some even covering the others, so we'd have to slowly peel it apart. Like I said, this is essentially supreme master-level."

Chiyuri, who had quickly brought out a notebook, flipped to a page, shot a look at the orb while raising an eyebrow. "Uhm, aren't you the one they call Patchouli Knowledge?"

[Patchouli:] "I am."

Chiyuri paused, reading a passage from her notebook, before slowly putting it away. "The magician who's over a hundred, right. So you've been studying magic for over a century and it's not enough?"

[Patchouli:] "The arcane arts are vast, Miss Chiyuri. I've mastered quite a few disciplines myself, or so I thought. This makes me think I'm not the master I thought I was. This is total mastery. It would take me even more centuries to get to this level by my estimate."

So in other words if we wanted to get everyone through, there's a good chance we might be here all day. Great. One would also think that Patchouli would at least have made some headway already, but for her to admit she's never seen anything like this even with an entire library to back her up... And the fact that they've got Kaguya, Eirin, Yukari, and more there, people who have been alive for over a thousand years and they still can't figure out how to break it? Especially Kaguya - she was said to be a great magician in her own right. This was worrying.

Also, that notebook - Chiyuri had done her homework, it seems. Information she's gotten about the people in Gensokyo. I'd find out a bit later that she did in fact get that info from what was shared by the interfaces, so I assume that info would also be shared by the professor. I think I'd like to meet that professor. After all, according to the files, she was able to give Reimu a tough battle despite being a completely normal human using just her smarts and technology.

In fact, Yumemi was the only normal human who started an incident. Everyone else Reimu had to deal with were youkai, oni, gods, ghosts, etc. Heh. Yumemi is an inspiration to us normal humans. Able to 'stand tall' with incident instigators like Remilia, Mima, Yuyuko, and Tenshi.

"Can't we just warp through it?" asked Chiyuri, despite my inner ramblings.

[Yukari:] "You're not going to like this. Watch the hole."

Tenshi turned to us, a grim smile on her face. "I hope you guys didn't have a big breakfast."

Before I could ask what was going on, a portal appeared right inside the hole, and out came... Okay, granola, coffee, please don't come back up. It was a red slush with bones of a tiny animal. I just stared at what I saw, as did everyone else. Youmu gagged at that, turning away. I could feel the blood drain from my face, as I watched it just drop down into the darkness.

[Yukari:] "What I just sent was a guinea pig. What came out was a biological slush. If I try to use portals to cheat our way through, it destroys the body on the cellular level. When Nightbug went down there, we found that short range portals work within the underground. It's just that I can't warp from up here to down there. I don't want to test long range, in case it does that again."

Poor animal. Also, thanks, I guess, for using a small animal instead of a larger one to show it. "All right. Gotcha." I gulped, trying to keep what little I had in my stomach down. So we can't cheat our way forward. This confirms it. Someone did prepare for us. That gave way to another thought. If we can't cheat our way through, then what will Seija do? Will the Mallet be effective at all? "So we can't just warp all the way to the final boss, unless we want to become soup."

[Yukari:] "I'm afraid not."

I kept my eyes on what I witnessed, shuddering at the thought. Again, poor animal. And again, yeah, this was making me more and more uneasy. As I stared, I noticed something about Kagu- I mean the hole. I need to stop thinking that. I pointed it out to Koizumi and Chiyuri when I saw it. "You see that?" This blowhole, or whatever, had a spiral road that was cut into the sides, and it went all the way down. Maybe road was too strong a word - a path.

Chiyuri took interest, taking note where the spiral ended at our level, and brushed away the snow. There was a worn down stone path, that led away. "Interesting. There's a path to Hell, it seems."

[Aya:] "There is a reason why there are so many youkai in the Gensokyo area. I think Yukari said it to you guys in the summer? I interviewed her, and she revealed it to you - it's the access to the realms. We tengu have our own reasons, but for the most part, it is due to this area being the crossroads between Heaven, Hell, the Netherworld, Higan, and others."

I raised my eyebrow at the orb. "Are you trying to tell me that there was some sort of trading route to Hell? Because one of the main reasons for making stone roads or paths was for ease of commerce." Also because I don't really see any other reason for anybody to willingly go down there on their own accord. You know, besides us.

Also, what the hell am I doing talking to a floating ball.

[Suika:] "One of the reasons, yeah. There was a lot of traffic on this old path down there long ago. Not any at all any more."

I didn't even know Meiling had gone to the small building, until she came back out with supplies - a lot of satchels. "Kid, we've got some things for your trip."

Satchels with two canteens, dried food, various bandages and small tools. Survival gear, I guess. There was even a ten pack of glow sticks - the ones you shake, snap, and it produces eight hours of light. Basically a fire-less flare. Makes sense, we're going underground. The most important though, was a pack of vials. The trusty twenty count, with ten having an orange tinge to it - I'm guessing peach hybrids, and a smaller pack of the extra nine Marisa provided. I studied one such orange one, placing it in a pocket for quick access and further study later, while placing back the packet.

I looked up to Meiling. "You guys got twenty more as spares in the SDM, right?" She nodded, and I continued to look through the satchel. With Shanghai and Hourai, I had no intention of using one as a grenade at all. We were down to these forty nine, and I had to make sure we had at least seventeen for the future. The most I could use for this incident was thirty two. If I go over, I'm not gonna make it to Reimu, and I'm gonna paradox. Or, at the very least, I won't be able to heal everyone at the end of the rebellion. The first example really scared me. I mean, I could suffer maybe one or two and not heal everyone at the end, but I had to have enough to even reach Reimu while all those impossible spell cards were going on. That or I'm gonna have to go back...forward in time and get myself to be a better dodger. Because if I didn't reach Reimu and undo what I did for Seija, the amanojaku would win.

[Remilia:] "We'll try to drop supplies to you when we can. Well, Yukari will. She's got these, uh, 'care packages' from somewhere, ready for each area. Whatever is doing that to the portals doesn't seem to effect normal items. So if you need anything, we'll send it."

"The heck are these?" Mokou pulled out what looked to be some sort of white tank top, with those fire protection symbols on them. I checked my satchel - I had one too. Everyone had them. They were light, but had a sort of stiffness to them. It moved fluidly, but applying force to them tightened them up.

[Alice:] "Oh, right. Uhm, Yukari asked me to make those for you all. This is what I was working on during the summer. Tailor skills for dolls transfer to tailor skills in general, you know? Underground youkai are supposed to have a lot of sharp points on their bodies, so..."

Reisen knocked on it, with raised eyebrows. "Stab vests? Body armor? Really?" The soldier looked impressed.

Oh you have no idea how happy I am right now. Finally some protection.

Koizumi was inspecting the material closely. "This is very fine tailor work, Miss Alice. Better than anything I could buy in the store, that's for certain."

I could almost hear Alice blush.

[Alice:] "It was really difficult to make it easy to move in while providing protection, but I think I got it just right. Might also protect a bit from danmaku if it hits your body. You'll also notice the fire protection-"

"Yeah, just like mine." Mokou held one of the amulets tied as a ribbon on her hair, smiling. "Smart. Gonna get hot down in the Earth, right?"

[Patchouli:] "Correct. The temperature rises about twenty five degrees Celsius per kilometer in the Earth, or one degree Fahrenheit per seventy feet. And considering all the geothermal activity going on, it might be even hotter than that. Those should keep you safe from excessive heat and fire damage."

[Aya:] "Down there is gonna be really hot, guys. This should keep your bodies from dehydrating."

Alice, I could kiss you! Thank you so much for this! I had forgotten about the rise in temperature in the Earth, but it was good that someone else prepared for this. One less thing to worry about. We turned away from each other as we put it on. Even though the area we were in was quite warm and humid due to the proximity of the hot spring geyser, there was still a slight chill of winter. Chiyuri was presented with a number of different sizes to fit her, while the rest of us got one.

"How did you get our measurements?" That was Youmu. "Don't tell me you eyeballed it."

The next few seconds of silence from the radio answered that. I heard Koizumi chuckle. "Again, Miss Alice. You are really talented."

I had put on the tank top, patting it. It clung to my body, but not to the point of it being restrictive. Fire protection, body armor, yeah, Tenshi was right about Yukari making sure we survive. I was feeling better and better. What I wasn't feeling was the heat from the hole. It felt like room temperature.

[Nitori:] "Okay, for reference, uh, the TauTona mine in the outside world, which I believe is the deepest mine in the world at 3.5 km...no, 3.9 km. Yeah, that's it. Well that mine can get to be sixty degrees Celsius which is one hundred and thirty one degrees Fahrenheit. If you wore those tops down into that mine, you'd be fine. You'd barely even feel the heat."

As if on cue, Tenshi spoke up. "What did I tell you, Kyon? We're gonna be okay."

I'm putting my faith in you girls. Just do your part in making sure we all survive, Tenshi. I'm gonna depend on your toughness and power here. After putting everything back on, I turned, to see some of the girls looking at me as they were finishing with their clothes.

Marisa let out a small whistle. "Oh I'd like to eyeball your measurements."

I blushed. I didn't turn to watch any of you! Come on! That's not fair!

"Why would anyone mine that far down into the Earth and put up with heat like that?" That was Reimu, grumbling to herself after hearing about that mine.

Koizumi chuckled. "The TauTona mine is a gold mine, Miss Hakurei. A pretty good one too."

Reimu's eyes sparkled a bit, before she cleared her throat. "Huh. Well that explains it."

Youmu was patting her belt-thing, looking down at it with a curious expression. "I still don't know what this does."

[Yukari:] "What you have, Youmu, is the ability to draw targets closer to you. Since you're a melee fighter, it's beneficial. Reisen has a tengu camera, so you'll be able to go faster, and can use the photos to eat up magic or danmaku."

They were talking to the others, as I went back through my pack. I noticed some jerky for later, which I would eat once my stomach calmed down from seeing that creature turned to mush.

Reisen looked up to the orb. "Eat up?"

[Aya:] "If you take a picture of a spell or a spell card, it'll capture the shots into the photo, and erase them from play."

"Oh right." She nodded. "What Aya did a while back."

Speed might be useful, and the camera can be used to zoom in. I'm sure that's beneficial for a sniper. Interesting as well about the Youmu thing - drawing people closer. Since the belt didn't seem to have any buttons on it, I had to assume it was activated by will or magic. Otherwise we'd be drawn into Youmu right now. Also, I hoped we would be okay with bringing in Aya's camera again. I still needed it for the incident that was to come.

"Wooo!" Marisa grinned as she dug into her pack. She brought out several crystals, and they floated around her. Each was a different color - red, yellow, green, blue, and purple. The witch was obviously happy. "Man, Christmas came one day early, ze!"

[Patchouli:] "Even though I was against it, Yukari asked me to lend you my magic crystals. They are lent to you, so I expect them back. You should become stronger in the magical arts with them."

Patchouli sounded as unhappy as Marisa was happy, the librarian's voice dripping with regret.

"Really? I get to use them, ze?"

[Patchouli:] "Don't break or lose them, okay? And they're just being lent to you."

Marisa waved her hand dismissive. "It'll be fine, ze."

[Patchouli:] "No, I mean it. You are going to return them."

Sanae patted her stealth camo, openly satisfied with it. "I already know what my gift is, so I'm good."

Jealous. So jealous.

Koizumi's satchel came along with Alice's puppeteer backpack - all loaded with dolls. He hefted it up, looking pleased with it. "Oh. I get this?"

[Alice:] "Right. As for Kyon and Koizumi..."

"You said I'd get Shanghai and Hourai." They flew to me, armed, and right behind my shoulders. "Hold on," I turned to the orb. "Didn't you say-"

[Alice:] "Yes. I know we said I thought you'd use the dolls, but Yukari decided it would benefit Koizumi to carry that. If you bring one out, I can control them from here thanks to the rings on my fingers, so you don't have to worry about making them move, or attack. Most of them are exploding types but they won't explode until they get triggered to. They're obviously not on the same level of Shanghai or Hourai, as they are weaker, but they can still bolster your forces."

Koizumi turned to the orb and bowed. "Thank you, Miss Alice."

[Alice:] "I'll be making more, so if you start running out, we can teleport more to your location. The dolls don't seem to be effected by whatever is making Yukari's portals weird."

Looked like we were all set. Loaded up with the gear, we all turned to the blowhole. This was it. The incident resolution was going to begin. We got this. We got this. I had to keep telling myself that.

"Ah, it's her." Sanae's voice brought me out of that path I was going down again - I was trying to psyche myself up. Looking up, I saw a swirling of wind a few meters away from us, and it was coming down to the ground. There appeared to be someone forming in it, going from transparent to a full bodied woman.

A red dress with white frills and a kerchief, with knee-high black boots. Her dress had some sort of spiral - it almost looked like the kanji for 'misfortune'. Her hair was aquamarine, and she had a big bow on top. Weirdly enough, some of her hair was tied under her chin into a front ponytail, resting on her chest. This woman was... beautiful. Like, divinely beautiful.

Sanae happily turned to me. "Kyon, I want to introduce you to Hina Kagiyama." The miko-god's eyes shined. "She's a god. Not a part-god like me. But a full god."

Meeting a baku. Meeting a god. Today is so interesting already and it isn't even noon.

The Meltdown of Haruhi Suzumiya

Episode 2:

["The Gluttony of Yamame Kurodani"]

The Wind Blowing From the Thankless Land

Fantastic Wind Hole

-Stage One, Touhou 11: Subterranean Animism

"Winter is the season when I can happily look back on a whole year of protecting everyone who lives in this mansion."

"As far as I'm concerned, having those I care deeply about at my back is all I could ever ask for."

-Hong Meiling, from the doujin A Hot Moment, by: Morino Hon

Interesting choice of words I had, wasn't it? "Divinely beautiful"? I was right on the money. I stared at Marisa dumbstruck before turning back to this... god. A goddess. An actual goddess. Not like how Haruhi is "supposed" to be one, but an actual divine being. This was a whole new first for me. For a long time, I've been told that there were gods in Gensokyo, and finally I was in the presence of one.

"Kind of a dramatic entrance," Reimu snorted, "Isn't it?"

Hina kept smiling at us. "What, I can't make a good impression on people from the outside world?"

"It'd be only more dramatic if she rode down a lightning bolt like that Dragon Palace messenger," said Tenshi, letting out a laugh

Sanae gave the goddess a bow. "Lady Kagiyama, what do we owe the honor?"

"Ah, that's right, we have somewhat of a timetable to keep to. Miss Yukari asked me to show up in a short amount of time, and I have obliged." Hina stepped up to us. "I am here to give blessings, as we recognize that this could be a very harsh situation. Make no mistake - the place you are descending to is a place full of sin, misfortune, and all other negative aspects of human life. It is so saturated that evil spirits can attach themselves to your very soul, especially if your soul is impure to start with."

That's right. We weren't just going underground. We were going to Hell, of all places. It was one of the things I had convinced myself not to think about - that we were just going underground.

Hina placed her hand on her chest. "I am a goddess of misfortune. Usually, I collect from Nagashi-bina, but I can do it directly."

[Remilia:] "I've heard of Hinamatsuri. Isn't that the festival where people float dolls down a river? Something about the dolls taking away the misfortune?"

[Yukari:] "You are correct, Miss Scarlet. Gensokyo holds that festival every year as well, and Miss Hina here collects them."

Yeah, but in my world, they don't do it any more in large scale because too many fishermen get their nets full of those dolls. I inwardly chuckled. So that's why you had to retreat to Gensokyo. If you were a part of that festival, then for them to tone it down would have been bad for you. I gave a bow. "It's... it's an honor to meet you." Seriously, this was the first actual god I've met in person - does anybody have a guide to how to react?

"You didn't even know who I am. Not many people do these days." I was taken aback by her bluntness, but then she gave a big grin. "No, it's nice that you are acting like this. I just don't want you to fool yourself. But I do appreciate your attempt to be respectful. It's nice. Thank you." She then gave me a bow.

"Uhm, you're welcome."

Hina then cleared her throat as she straightened up. "As for the dolls, that is exactly their purpose, and exactly my purpose. My taking your misfortunes right now will aide you and provide some protection, but after you are finished, I recommend you come see me, or find some other means of purification. Because otherwise you might be stuck with an evil spirit. If you are, those evil spirits will eat away at your very soul, warping your personality into something different. The damage they do to youkai is even worse."

Ah right, back to business.

"I'm already having second thoughts about this," said Chiyuri. "Please don't add to it."

You and me both.

"I don't take anything lightly, Kagiyama, not when it comes to incidents." Reimu had her arms crossed, and gave the god a serious look. "I know the implications of what's going on here. I can feel it too."

Hina gave the miko a nod. She then straightened herself up again, and raised her right hand. "Now, allow me to carry away your misfortunes."

At first, it appeared that nothing was happening, until Chiyuri spoke up. "Fascinating." We turned, and there was some sort of faint white aura escaping her, and into a ball in Hina's hand. It happened for everyone present, even me. I stared at the aura escaping my body, pondering why I didn't feel anything. Just like with Lilly White, taking the spring away from my body, I guess. Also, this was awesome - a god giving me front row seats to their power. And not only that, but she was performing an action that would benefit me.

Everyone's misfortune aura dried up, save for...

Me.

Hina stood there, still taking away the misfortune, and began to have a worrisome face as I wasn't ending.

Okay, gods, this isn't funny. I mean, if I was someone else watching this, I'd be-

Marisa was doing her best to not burst out laughing. Yeah, screw you too.

"...This is highly unusual." Hina stared up at the orb of energy, utterly astonished.

[Patchouli:] "But not unexpected."

Bite me. At least this explained a lot, and at least this meant I wouldn't have such misfortune for the rest of my life. However long that lasts. I know I shouldn't be cynical concerning such matters.

By then, some of the girls were stifling their giggling. Reisen, who also had a long draw of misfortune taken from her, just stared at me with her jaw agape. "...Are... are you for real? That much?"

"You make it sound like I had something to do with this." Man I should have taken those Hinamaturis more seriously when I was younger.

[Yukari:] "That... that is far more than I thought you'd have."

[Kaguya:] "How is that even possible? I mean, with that amount, shouldn't he be in accidents every day?"

[Eirin:] "Or at least breaking bones or suffering from fractures. That amount of misfortune should not be in a human body."

I wanted something special about me, and I could have done without this.

Eventually, it stopped, and Hina was holding up an orb that was larger than a basketball. She held onto it with both hands, shaking her head. "I thought I'd have to make two trips. That was so much."

I felt myself blush, and I looked to the girls. "All right, ham it up. But that means I have got the biggest advantage here, as I got rid of the most." Things can only go up from here for me, right? Though... Yukari asked her to be there. Okay, so this is another one of the things that Yukari put in order, like Tenshi said she would. Inwardly, I thanked the gap youkai.

Meiling patted me on the back, a jovial smile on her face. "Seriously, kid? That was almost comical."

Again, bite me. All of you.

"Damn man," said Mokou, lighting up another cigarette. "How do you live with yourself? How have you not, like, died in an accident yet?"

If you only knew what was to come, you wouldn't be saying that.

"Could be the grace of Miss Suzumiya," said Koizumi.

"One could make the argument that I have that misfortune due to her," I quipped.

Tenshi let out a low whistle. "You must be really lucky to offset all of that."

"If that's the case," said Koizumi with his usual smile, "Then you are really going to shine today."

One can pray. And on that note, I turned to the goddess again, and gave her a deep bow, the most sincere bow I've ever given. "Thank you, Lady Kagiyama. I really do appreciate it." If you got rid of all that misfortune I've been carrying around, then thank you. Really. I'd need every advantage I could get.

Everyone gave their thanks, though Sakuya was a little hesitant to. Hina gave a little bow as well, still holding onto that orb of misfortune. "Good luck, everyone. The lives of everyone on Earth depend on you." She began to spin as she went up into the air. "May all of the gods grant you fortune, strength, courage, wisdom, and power. May they also show you the way. I'm off to dispose of your misfortunes." With that, she disappeared.

I continued to stare where she disappeared to, unable to shake a new positive feeling I had. I mean, if even the gods were on my side, then who could be opposite? Relax. This is a new timeline. This has to be. Then another thought crept in, making my good mood drop. I checked my phone, before I remembered that I shouldn't be getting reception. Ah, Nagato. You missed out on meeting such a person. You said you would have liked to have met a god and there was one right here. Where are you?

"Yukari?"

[Yukari:] "Hmm?"

"Any word on Nagato?"

There was a moment of silence from the other end, before it was broken up.

Remilia stared at Yukari from across the table, dumbfounded. "Wait, that's right. Where is she?"

Yukari sighed, rubbing her forehead. "That's the thing. I can't find her, and neither can her own people. She's vanished." The youkai heard the murmurings coming from the opposite side of the communications orb - of Marisa asking Kyon what was going on.

The Lunarian doctor was drumming her fingers on the table impatiently. "If the reality hacker was here, this would be going a lot more smoothly."

"I know."

"So what are you doing about it?'

I will come over there and slap that smug face. "I'm about to send Ran back to the campus to search. If anyone can track Nagato, it'll be her. Any trace will tell Ran what happened."

"You sure your fox is up to it?"

Yukari clenched her jaw. "If you're implying that because she's an animal youkai it automatically makes her less intelligent-"

"Is she up for the task," said Eirin, raising her voice and shooting Yukari an angry stare. "That's what I'm saying."

"Ran doesn't flaunt it, but she has a genius level intellect, and I personally trust her to run things in my stead. She is capable of running Gensokyo in my absence. So for this task, if there is something to be found, she'll find it."

The two glared right at each other, until Yuyuko came up to Yukari. "That's enough. You two are here for a greater good." The ghost led her to the coffee table. "What is going on?"

Yukari lowered her eyes. "I don't know, the doctor-"

Yuyuko shook her head. "I'm not talking about that. I know your hatred for the Lunarians. I mean what's going on with Nagato not being here?"

Yukari slowly turned to the coffee pot, as a maid served a cup. "I told you, I don't know. She disappeared."

"When were you going to tell us?"

"I was getting to it. Let them have their reunion, before bringing it up." Yukari could feel the stare of her friend. "I know. Nagato would make this far easier. She just went and disappeared." The youkai lowered her voice. "...and after I took steps to avoid..." She shook her head. "I just hope it isn't a worst case scenario here."

"Yukari, what are you talking about when it comes to worst case?"

Yukari turned to her concerned friend. "I don't know, specifically. Honestly, there are a lot of ways this particular incident can go bad, not counting the obvious nuclear youkai. But I am doing my best here. I don't want anything to happen to Youmu either. You're not losing her."

"But..."

Yukari grimaced. "Nagato had been giving Kyon nanomachine injections, to make his body more efficient, according to the last time I talked to her."

"When was that?"

"Right after the Scarlet Weather incident. But she was going to make it easier to tap into that 'focus' state he was in when he wielded the Sword of Hisou." Yukari took a sip. "Slowing down time for him with that weapon would have made this far easier, and would make him a force to reckon with instead of hiding behind the girls."

Yuyuko slowly nodded. "But what happened to him for the sword to react like that?"

"I don't know, exactly. Yasumi did do something to him. But whatever it was, Nagato felt confident that she could control it."

Yuyuko stood there, arms crossed and pondering this. "...You're right. This is really bad. It's bad enough that we're missing such an important ally like Nagato, but-"

"I know." Yukari sighed, looking over to the others. "The Sword of Hisou is already useful in Tenshi's hands. I was looking forward to what kind of abilities Kyon could unlock."

"So you think I might develop something?"

I stared at Tenshi, grinning. She publicly told me that since I reacted to the Sword of Hisou, that she thought it would be a good idea for her to stick close to me, to see if I could get a further reaction. It was an excuse for her to stay by my side, really, and not to offend Youmu. But basically, spending time with magic tends to make one magical themselves, and she wanted to see if I could develop something. Yet Marisa, for all intents and purposes, is still a normal human.

I think Tenshi was also doing this to get my mind off of Nagato. Truthfully, whatever happened to Nagato was out of my hands, and I couldn't ask for better people to look for her while I was doing this other thing. If anybody can find anybody, it's got to be Yukari.

Tenshi shrugged. "We'll see. You've spent time with magic stuck in your body without you using it, after all, so it's got to have some effect on you. Sometimes, all you gotta do is spend time with a magic item. And it's obvious that you reacted to the Sword of Hisou, in a way I've never seen before. Even if it's just Yasumi doing that, you are still reacting to it. She could have unlocked something, or..." Tenshi shook her head, dismissively waving her hand. "I don't know. I don't know, but that's what makes it so exciting. Because of that, you have some sort of potential, I believe."

I'd ask why Marisa doesn't have any abilities, but she possibly burns through the magic in her body on a daily basis with her flashy spells. Me? Four years. Four years I had magic in my body ever since the Imperishable Night, and the most I did with it was say part of the enchantment of the Icicle Fall spell card to watch the lettering light up. Holding onto that magic had to have done something to me. But to further it with contact with the sword? That I may have some actual potential here?

I had no quarrel with that plan, so we agreed to it, as did Youmu. The gardener was still going to be near my side, however.

Reimu had approached the hole, staring down into it. "So how we doing this?"

Reisen hefted her gear on her back - a lot of gear. Guns, supplies, the camera, and the medical kit. "Orbital drop."

I paused, my grin fading. "...Orbital? ...Drop?" Seriously, we're just going to drop?

"Obviously we're not gonna drop from orbit. But yeah, I had some training in preparation for the invasion of Earth. This was during the Human Invasion of Luna in 1969, mind you, so things were different. A different mindset. Command thought it might help to do some drop training in case we wanted to strike back."

I just stared at the soldier, wishing she was joking with me. But the serious look on her face said she wasn't. "So... wait. You're talking about a Lunarian invasion of Earth."

"It was planned, and we were trained for it."

"...How far planned?" I almost didn't want to know.

"Planned enough. Send troops down there, take over cities and military installations. Show Earth that Luna meant business. That sort of thing. Thankfully subterfuge won out in the end after the Apollo 13 sabotage, so we didn't go the loud route for that."

"No, you just..." Chiyuri bitterly smiled at the rabbit. "Installed alien spies into the governments of the world."

That is something that should not be real.

Reisen narrowed her eyes at Chiyuri looking a little insulted. "Command did. I'm just a soldier."

"Then I'm glad you guys didn't invade." Sanae was shaking her head at that. "Imagine... an alien invasion. It'd be cool, but scary."

Reisen rubbed the back of her neck, looking down as her ears lowered. "With my squad wiped, I don't think I would have had the chance, so, yeah. I might have been reassigned to something else. Maybe there wouldn't have been a chance of me doing that."

Funny, isn't it? A few decades prior, and Reisen would have been an enemy combatant against Earth. Well, she was. She fought against Earth's forces. And look at her now, willing to fight for Earth.

"Okay, people, this is pretty simple." Reisen smirked as we joined her and Reimu at the edge of the hole. "'A spell made simple so simple soldiers don't end up as pancakes.' As said by my instructor." She formed an orb of white light, and 'pushed it' over the hole. It then began to drop, leaving a trail of orbs every several meters or so. "A lighted orb path will light the way, for the lack of a better term. Uses gravity to calculate the distance. Four colors when it's active and ready. Green is for safe, yellow is slow down, and red is full stop. Purple is the bottom. You ignore or miss the red and see purple, you've ended up as paste on the ground, and you'll be scraped off with a spatula." Reisen blinked, looking down. "Man I really do sound like my old drill sergeant." She lightly shook her head. "Anyway, you just drop, and start flying when you see yellow. You need to watch the orbs."

"How far down is the blowhole?"

[Suika:] "A little over half a ri. One thousand and one hundred hiro, actually."

Two kilometers. I didn't like hearing that. "But?"

I heard the oni sigh.

[Suika:] "With all the seismic activity, I'm afraid it might have collapsed at some points. I know it was collapsed when I left there, and I cleared some of it, but that was years ago. Chances are, it won't be a straight shot - you might have to take a detour or two."

Great. "So..."

[Patchouli:] "Let's see... Going by kilometers, if you're free falling, you'll be going at about two hundred meters per second by the time you hit the bottom in twenty seconds. That is, if it is two kilometers. So I do recommend following the rabbit's advice of easing up."

Reisen shrugged. "Again, paste."

So I'm going to be dropping down into the Earth? This is not how I imagined my Christmas Eve to go. "We gotta do this?"

[Yukari:] "This is the quickest way down. Otherwise you can walk that spiral, or slowly lower yourself two kilometers. Your choice."

"No thank you." I nodded to Marisa, and we got on her broom. Everyone joined Reisen over the hole, looking down. The orb path just kept going down into the darkness of the Earth. One way or the other, dropping would be the quickest way to end that experience. Even just hovering over the massive hole unnerved me. There was just something that scared me about it, an ominous feeling. Slowly lowering ourselves down into the darkness didn't seem like a good choice.

[Aya:] "Don't worry, Suika knows the tunnels pretty good. Unless she's drunk..."

That didn't fill me with confidence.

"Guys." We all looked to the group that we'd be leaving behind. Mystia timidly waved to us. "Good luck, okay?"

"Hey, as soon as we can break these seals, we're coming down with you, okay?" Meiling cracked her knuckles. "So save some for me."

"Please find out who it is who is unleashing the geysers," said an annoyed Letty. "It's raising Gensokyo's base temperature, and ruining my season."

I was beginning to realize it as I looked around. This could be the last time I see the sky. The last time I see the sunlight, or snow, or anything up top. Don't think like that. Don't think like that. Just focus where you are right now... over a massive pit and are about to drop into it... That was not soothing at all. Anxiety came rushing forward, as I fully comprehended what I was about to experience. I'm gonna fall at most two kilometers while riding on a broom. My heart began to pound in my chest.

Marisa looked back to me, nervously grinning. "Ready?"

I vigorously shook my head. "No. Not at all."

"I've fallen to death a few times before," said Mokou as she snuffed out a cigarette on her heel. "Intense pain for about a second before nothing."

Don't be telling me that!

I stared around, realizing that this really was it, that we were finally beginning the incident that we've known about for four years, and that we eleven were going to be the first line against this nuclear threat. A nuclear youkai who would wipe out the world in an instant.

Reisen, yes, was carrying all that gear. She had her trusty M16 with its attachments, including a scope and an angled iron sights so she can tilt it and use it for closer quarters. There was also some sort of small sniper rifle she had. You have no idea how glad I am to have a trained soldier on our side, Reisen. I look forward to seeing what you can do. Youmu noticed me looking at her, and gave me her usual samurai mask of confidence with a nod. I could still see some slight fear in her eyes. That reminds me... how is your relationship? I mean, you've had four years since you confessed. I hope you've come along with that, and I hope that I won't fail you or Yuyuko. I'm going to bring you back home, Youmu. Reimu was her usual serious self, staring down at the dark hole, ready to get this done. Even if you go down hard, you have that youkai form, and those cards. I'm not too worried about your survivability - you're probably the best one for this job, along with Marisa. As for the witch, she still seemed to be in a good mood, eager as ever to go on another thrilling adventure.

Mokou didn't look too worried, and with good cause. She was guaranteed to survive this, after all. Still think it's unfair that you are expected to die a few times. Sanae was giving me a smile, saying that we were going to be okay. I wish I held your optimism. I just know too much, so I can't. Chiyuri was still quite unknown to me, as I've never seen her in action. She noticed me and gave a single nod, before staring down into the darkness. Still, if you're a powerful esper, and you were able to challenge Reimu even before you got your powers, you got to have something good about you. Also, she still had that gun in her holster. Whatever it was, it was chrome, and it shined brightly in this morning sun. I remembered reading that when Reimu won that 'tournament', Chiyuri tried to hold up the miko with a gun. Is that the same gun? Koizumi was readjusting the backpack full of dolls, and of course smiling. I looked to my doll companions, knowing that they should be ready. I'm gonna depend on you two a lot, so I hope you're up for it. Tenshi was confident, and the anticipation on her face was genuine. Out of the Scarlet Weather incident, getting her on our side had to be the best thing to happen to us. If you could survive that beating, then you can survive just about anything, I bet. Sakuya held her hand over her cross, silently praying. She had a large metal contraption on her back, what looked to be radio gear. It was to boost the orb's transmitting, so we could stay in contact. The maid was armed pretty good - various straps for the knives covered her limbs, and she had a sack full of peaches. Hey, wait, why haven't we-

The light turned green. My thoughts went back to the action we were about to take.

Oh man what am I doing-

"Go!" Reisen was the first to fall into the darkness after turning on a flashlight. "Drop!"

My adrenal gland went into overdrive, and the sinking feeling in the stomach came into play. The light of the day began to fade as we dropped into the Earth. I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm on a broom, and we're just-

[Patcholuli:] "We got seismic activity! It's big!"

I barely heard her, as the air whipping by my ears was pretty loud. The sunlight afforded to us quickly became shadow - I looked up, and the pit of my stomach sunk even lower, as a boulder was falling right above us, causing me to grip Marisa tighter. The witch quickly looked too, and her eyes widened.

"Falling rock! Go!"

Not this way! I didn't come here to die right away!

The others afforded a look above us, and they too began to speed up.

Chiyuri twisted her body so she was facing up, and using her esper powers, she blasted at the rock - the boulder didn't shatter or anything, but it stalled for a second. She didn't go full power for that blast - shattering the rock would have made it worse anyway.

"Yellow!"

I looked, and the series of orbs were already yellow, and I didn't know if twenty seconds was nearing already. Down, below, quickly coming up, was the red orbs already. The purple orb was pretty bright, and we could see that it was lighting up a cave in - the blowhole didn't go all the way down. Are we gonna get crushed here between the boulder and the cave in?! Are we gonna straight up die here?!

"Offshoot! Follow me!" Reisen sped up and quickly turned into an open area against the hole, and we quickly followed. As we did, I could feel the boulder displacing the air, as it whooshed by. All of us just tried come to a quick stop in this cavern, as we didn't know if there would be a wall there. I had fallen off the broom, and thankfully Marisa had slowed down enough that my fall didn't hurt that much. The crash of rock on rock soon followed, amplified by the cave, and kicking up a cloud of dust, blacking out what little light the blowhole provided. We were in complete darkness, until Reisen lit a flare that was provided by her satchel, as she clipped the flashlight to her shirt. The others did the same.

We all stared at from where we came, breathing hard, and I could feel my heart pounding. I patted at my vial pack, making sure that they were okay - they were. And since there wasn't an explosion of danmaku, none of the vials broke. Pretty miraculous if you ask me. Gasping for a few breaths, I called out to them. "Everyone okay?"

"Yeah." Tenshi got up from the ground, dusting herself off, having a nervous smile on her face. "Yeah, I'm fine. That's one way to get your attention."

[Alice:] "Is anyone injured!?"

"No, we're good." I turned on my flashlight and looked over the girls who were getting up off the ground. I noticed that Sakuya was holding onto her knee, a slight trickle of blood seeping from in between her fingers. She had a slight grimace of pain, but it didn't seem to be serious. Already Reisen went to patch up her leg with a bandage. Some of the other girls were rubbing parts of their body, as if they were trying to rub away the pain where they hit the ground. "Just a few scrapes and bruises I think, but we're fine."

"The hell was that, ze?"

[Yukari:] "I was afraid of this. The Underground Incident deals with some seismic activity, and what happened when you all dropped was a small earthquake. It shook a boulder loose."

"An earthquake gave us that geyser and some hot springs, but I forgot that it would be detrimental to us for this incident." Sakuya dusted herself off after getting patched up, and looked around. "Where are we?"

Where were we indeed. Turning my attention to our surroundings, we were in a decent size cavern, with a soft, white ground. So this eased my fall... wait... I picked up the granules, and smelled it - salt? I tasted it and spat it out. Yep, salt. I should put a mine down here. I'd make a pretty good living off of it.

[Suika:] "One of the caves. Okay, hold on..."

The yin yang orb floated up, turning so the camera could get a good look at everything. Eventually the orb stopped at an open hole to the left of where we came in, and rushed to it, before turning to us.

[Suika:] "Ah. Okay, I think I know where you are. Just take this path down, and it'll lead you to the bottom of the blowhole. This is a setback, but not too much. You guys ain't too far from where you gotta go."

So we nearly got crushed, and we brush it off and continue? Okay, why not. Also, it wasn't as if the way back was blocked. It was just that a boulder almost came down on us and prevented us from using the hole to go further down. So if we wanted to leave, we could.

Sakuya hefted up her pack again, reminding me of my previous thought before I fell. Okay, hold on. "Yukari, why haven't we had the peaches yet?"

[Yukari:] "Right. But something needs to happen first."

[Eirin:] "Does this have anything to do with the medical supplies Udonge was given?"

[Yukari:] "Yes, doctor, but I hoped we could have skipped that person in particular. They may have to fight her. Miss Reisen, if you will? The first medical packet marked 'one?'"

Reisen nodded, and knelt down, rummaging through. She produced a small pack of-

Shots. Medical shots. Just clear liquid inside plastic tubes with the needles covered. I shivered, staring at them. I'm gonna have to get a shot?

Reisen stared at them in confusion. "Are these the immune boosters you had Master and I concoct?"

[Yukari:] "Yes. If you had eaten the peaches, the needles wouldn't have pierced your skin. Miss Reisen, could you inject everybody with one dose?"

What do we need immune boosters for?

The soldier stared at the orb for a moment, before relenting. "Okay, fine." She motioned for us to come to her before she took out a glow stick, lighting up the area. "This won't take long."

I hesitated, but then I remembered that this was Yukari's plan for us. I have to put my trust in her today. Rolling up my sleeve, I approached the rabbit. The injection stung, but it was over in an instant, and Yukari said it was okay for me to have a peach.

After everyone got their shots, and had started to eat, Reisen placed the needles in a bag, under which a portal opened up that took them away for disposal, I guess.

Chiyuri's body started to go through the change, as she doubled over, shaking, letting out small grunts of pain. It seems that someone forgot to tell her what the peaches do to a body for the first time they eat them. After it was over, she was rubbing her arm, gritting her teeth. "That was painful... but interesting. I could feel my whole body restructure itself." She looked to Tenshi. "I'd like some more samples of those, for study. The professor would be glad for them."

"I'll think about it," the celestial casually responded.

[Yukari:] "I've also instructed Meiling up there to give the shots to everyone who is coming down, if we can get those seals undone."

[Yuyuko:] "You've brought up the shots before, but you haven't told us what it's for."

[Yukari:] "It's all in due time, everyone. Trust me here."

"Man, this really is Kaguya. After you enter her, you have to get shots."

Dammit Mokou!

[Kaguya:] "Reisen, could you be a dear and shoot her for me?"

The soldier paused for a second, staring at the immortal, and for a second I thought she was seriously considering obeying. "If I may? It might be a waste of ammo, my princess."

I don't want to start this incident off with friendly fire, thank you. Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed. I hopped on the broom with Marisa, and the group went down the tunnel.

"What a way to start an incident, eh?" Marisa slightly elbowed me. "Threat of instant death, either by falling or being crushed, ze, and we have to get our shots."

"Makes me long for simpler times of dealing with snowstorms threatening Gensokyo."

Tenshi was snacking on a peach, not bothered by the shot she got. Unlike when she had pizza in the club room a month ago, she showed no joy in eating, so I had to guess her taste buds were totally numb to peaches. "I wonder what kind of food they got down here. I didn't eat breakfast, so I'm kinda starving." She frowned. "And Yukari telling me to hold back on peaches, I'm guessing so I could have that shot, well, I'm really hungry thanks to that."

You're not the only one. I only had half a granola bar before this. "You sure you want to eat anything down here? I mean, who knows how things work." I smiled, finishing my peach off. Not exactly a balanced breakfast, but whatever. "I mean, imagine if it's like Orpheus, or Izanagi."

Sanae slightly chuckled, moving her bangs from her eyes. "Ah, right. Their wives ate the food of the underground and had to stay in the Underworld."

Koizumi furrowed his brow. "Wait, Orpheus? Isn't that the Greek myth?"

"Yeah, and the Izanagi tale is a Japanese parallel to it."

Tenshi eyed all of us, before she went back to eating, looking slightly disappointed. "All right, got it. No eating of the food down here in case Haruhi took something from those stories."

That does bring up an interesting question - what is Haruhi's envisioning of Hell? I figured that I'd find out soon anyway, so I didn't sweat it that much.

"Kinda disappointing, ze." Marisa grinned. "I mean, if we make friends down here and have a banquet, you're saying we could get stuck here?"

"I hope that's not the case if it comes to that." That's only assuming that there are Greek influences, or influences from Izanagi. Of course, that would take into account that the denizens of Hell were actually friendly to outsiders.

"Hmm." Tenshi turned her head to Sakuya. "Hey, maid, we gonna have a feast after this incident is done? Please tell me there's gonna be a Christmas banquet or something to celebrate."

Sakuya smiled. "Milady has great plans for Christmas. A traditional English Christmas dinner."

I could see Tenshi shiver, and that made me smile. "Go on." Tenshi was giving her full attention to the maid.

"Prawn cocktails, duck, goose, and turkey, served with pigs in blankets, Christmas pudding-"

"What's Christmas pudding and please tell me it's as good as it sounds."

Sakuya's smile went wider - she was enjoying this. "It's a plum pudding served with brandy sauce while on fire."

"And what are pigs in blankets?" asked Youmu.

"Sausages wrapped in bacon."

"Keep talking." Tenshi was actually drooling, her eyes wide. I could also see that Reimu was paying about as much attention as Tenshi was.

"We'll also have mince pies, cheeses, cranberry sauce, bread sauce, roasted potatoes, and of course brandy. Lots and lots of brandy." Sakuya stopped, as she noticed that everyone had ceased advancement and were silently staring right at her. Nobody on the other end of the orb was talking either. "Of course, that's when we finish this incident."

[Yuyuko:] "...Youmu, please give it your all today."

Tenshi cracked her knuckles, and the celestial had a serious look on her face. "I'm taking that nuclear youkai down."

"Not if I get to her first," remarked Reimu, who shared Tenshi's seriousness.

I'll say. Add another reason for me wanting to survive this. You know, besides me not dying. Still, that dinner sounded so damn good.

Mokou wanted to light herself up since she was up front, but due to the fact that there are sometimes underground gas deposits, we didn't want her to blow up the area. You'd survive such a thing, but we wouldn't. Instead she led the way with a glow stick in one hand, and a flashlight in the other. Reisen was right behind her, and the rest of us closely followed. The green light of the glow stick was painting a rather eerie scene around us against the cave walls. Despite how spooky the green light makes everything, this is actually quite pretty. It was also kind of relaxing, which I needed after nearly being crushed.

Reisen was busy placing glow sticks down every so often, making sure she was chaining them together. She was leaving a trail behind in case more people could show up. We were following Suika's instructions on where to go, so it wasn't like we were getting lost. The tunnels themselves were about the size of a two-lane car tunnel at its widest, and slightly less than a one-laner at its thinnest - plenty of space for all of us, even when we had to funnel through those thin points. I hope we don't get attacked at such a chokepoint. A good spreadshot can get us all in these close quarters.

Youmu sped up, and landed up ahead, kneeling down at a bundle of objects as she laid down a glow stick. "What is this, a mine?"

The group came upon it, and it was a pile of mining equipment. In the area of the tunnel we were in, could see the cut out rocks - there were also some mineral veins around, some halfway depleted. This really is a mine. That building up top was there for this, and I'm guessing for any other caves that had ores.

"Wow. People mined this deep in Gensokyo?" Reimu thoughtfully eyed a pickax that had a good amount of rust on it. "This equipment looks like it's been here a while."

"Mining all the way out here from the human village is suicide, though." Mokou kicked over an empty wooden cart that then fell apart, shaking her head. "Whoever did this is long gone."

"Yeah." Youmu straightened up, and got back into the air, a slight grimace on her face. "Just kind of disturbing."

[Aya:] "From the look of things, it's like they just left that stuff there in a hurry."

"I hope this isn't like some horror story where we find their remains up ahead, and the youkai who did it."

I turned to Sanae, frowning. "Don't say that, even as a joke." You probably just jinxed us too! That is totally going to happen now! Also, what a shift from dinner plans to probable horror.

Sanae floated there for a second, before her eyes widened for a bit, and she got an apologetic look on her face, as she brought a hand over her mouth. "Oh! Sorry! I didn't mean it!" She vigorously shook her hands. "Forget I said anything." We continued on our way, finding more and more equipment left behind, before she spoke again, pursing her lips. "...That's gonna happen though, isn't it? Biohazard stuff. Just... finding journals of theirs, as they were hunted down one by one after getting cut off from the exit-"

"Sanae!" Don't do this! I'd rather focus on the dinner than something like that!

The part-god miko flinched, again apologetic. "Sorry!"

"Besides, Biohazard took place in a mansion."

"Also had that cave section."

"...I had forgotten about that." I hated that part, especially when the hunters showed up.

"What are you guys talking about, ze?" Marisa eyed Sanae and me. "A movie, or-?"

I shook my head. "It's a game. Horror survival game, dealing with zombies, monsters, and the like."

"If you wanted that," said an annoyed Reimu, "Then don't play games - just stay in Gensokyo."

But you guys haven't come across Yoshika yet. Also, if I were to die, I'd stay dead. I don't get the luxury to reload a save or use a continue.

The tunnel opened up to a large cavern area, about the size of a football field, and as tall as a three story building. Various stalagmites and stalactites were scattered about, as well as more equipment, with even a makeshift camp down here. There were actually a lot of ores, though the majority looked to be salt. I could feel some slight cool air coming from where we had come from, so I assumed that the blowhole allowed pretty good ventilation for these caves.

[Nitori:] "A salt mine?! Oh, that is really useful."

"How?"

[Yukari:] "Kappa have salt deficiencies, so this would be really beneficial for them."

[Nitori:] "After this incident is done, I gotta remember this..."

Oh then this would be really good for you guys.

Chiyuri looked around, her brow furrowed in thought as she lit up the walls with her flashlight. "I'm just guessing here and naming a few... bauxite, coal, iron, salt, lapis lazuli... This is highly unusual for all of them to be this concentrated and together like this. Geology isn't my best subject, but this is an obvious worthwhile mine." She clicked her tongue. "Yeah, most of this is iron. Makes sense. Five percent of the world's crust is iron."

It was just so strange, as the ores were everywhere. Again, some were depleted, but some were untouched. And there was still mining equipment scattered about. Please don't tell me we're gonna come up on the remains of the miners.

Sakuya searched the camp area, not finding anything worthwhile, save for a plastic barrel halfway filled with old drinking water, and rotted food in another plastic barrel. "Aya was right. Someone left in a hurry." She curiously eyed the barrels. "This looks like stuff from the outside world."

No, I don't need this. I don't need this type of mystery to solve. At the very least, we were going to get sidetracked, and I kinda didn't want that.

"Mining equipment up top. Mining equipment down here." Koizumi smiled to the orb. "I'm starting to sense a theme."

[Yukari:] "It's part of Gensokyo's history. You know that Gensokyo was set to be purged of youkai, right? There is a reason for that. There is a reason why humans wanted this land."

I rubbed the back of my neck. No wonder.

[Remilia:] "...Now I understand. Finally I get it. Gensokyo is rich in resources."

The blue miko slowly nodded, eyeing the ores. "Now it makes sense."

[Yukari:] "Really rich. One of the richest on Earth. That's why there was a rush to try to claim this land from the youkai. But it happens to link the afterlifes, and also be a link down to the underworld. It was set up to be a paranormal hub long before the minerals were noticed."

Marisa chuckled. "That's why our ancestors tried so hard to drive you from this land, ze."

[Nitori:] "It's also the reason why we kappa have the materials to make our engineering feats. We man the mines that we find, and we keep finding deposits of more and more ores. We're not running out of materials."

Chiyuri let out a slow whistle. "It's a part of human history. The never ending fight for resources." She blinked, before quickly turning to the orb, the espers face alight with realization. "Is that why they tried to seal you guys away? So they could take it for themselves when you were gone?"

We heard Yukari chuckle over the radio.

[Yukari:] "Yes. But they didn't realize that we took the resources in with us. They had nothing, so they just turned the area into a national park."

You won in the end, I guess. They tried to screw you out of the area, but they screwed themselves. Again, reminder to never piss off Yukari - all she's gonna do is make you regret it while also slapping you in the face. I heard Remilia burst out laughing.

[Remilia:] "Oh that's rich! I wish I could have seen the look on their stupid faces when they realized what happened! Good show, Yukari! Good show indeed!"

Marisa had quickly landed, as she noticed a cart that still had a few items in it. And of course Marisa has her never ending search for things to steal. She searched through it, moving aside old lanterns, more pickaxes, a faded and dusty Walkman that looked like it was straight from the eighties, and various other junk until she produced a small rock of something, to which she looked really happy of finding. Quickly looking over to Reimu, whose brow was furrowed as she looked around, Marisa dragged me aside, showing me. She had a yellow rock, and for a second, I thought it was gold, until she began to bob it in her hands. She then got disappointed as she smelled it.

"Bah, it's not that heavy, and I can smell the rotten eggs. Just iron sulfide, ze. Fool's gold."

How disappointing. It would have been nice to find some down here. You know, come out of this incident rich. ...Though Reimu would probably lay claim to any we find, and beat down anybody trying to claim it for themselves.

Marisa looked like she was about to toss it away, but then thought about it. "Meh, if I extract it from the iron, I might be able to do something with the sulfur for an experiment, ze." She then pocketed it, as her face brightened up. "This can actually be good for me. Lots of minerals to find, lots of experiments to run with everything down here."

Just make sure that doesn't slow us down, okay? I'm depending on you for flight when we need it, so don't load up on rocks. I looked over the Walkman - and of course the battery was dead, before I checked the cassette tape itself. Best of Bee Gees? Seriously? The Walkman really did scream 'Eighties!'

...Also who the hell listens to the Bee Gees while mining?

We then moved to rejoin the group. I paused, as something shifted near my foot as I was walking. Looking down, I was horrified to see that there were bones on the ground. Son of a... Human bones. "Guys?! I think I found some of the miners!" I moved my flashlight around, displaying the horrific scene, and I backed up until I bumped into Mokou. About three incomplete skeletons, each missing various bones. Sanae you just totally jinxed us!

Upon seeing that, everyone got into an attack position, as they realized what this meant. Everyone was looking around, just in case whoever caused all this was still around.

[Patchouli:] "I take it those were the miners?"

You think?

[Aya:] "Just three? That's too small a number for all that equipment."

Sanae scoffed. "I'm telling you. Biohazard."

Shut up, Sanae. I don't need this!

"Why are they missing limbs though?" Chiyuri put on some gloves, and knelt down to the most complete skeleton - it was only missing the right arm. The other two were missing far more limbs, one even missing the skull. "Hmm..." She picked up a bone, and inspected it. "Male... late thirties... Asian descent, and looks like he was suffering from early osteoporosis. Probably a possible side effect of high salt exposure to the bones."

"Brittle bones? Isn't that brittle bone disease?" asked Sakuya over her shoulder. "That's the kind of disease that should keep a miner from their job."

"Yeah..."

[Eirin:] "Let me see..."

Chiyuri held up a bone to the orb's lens.

[Eirin:] "Yes, that's what it looks like. Very good, Miss Kitashirakawa. I'm impressed you were able to eyeball that."

Koizumi smirked as he stood over the other esper, with a glow stick in hand as he lit the scene. "Miss Chiyuri happens to be the assistant of one of the most brilliant human minds to exist, after all. Of course she'd be smart herself."

[Eirin:] "There is something else about the bones. Can you tell me what it is?"

Chiryuri went back to examining the bone. "...This man did not die in a nice way." She held it up so the rest of us could see, pointing to various marks on the bone. "Teeth marks. This guy had his very flesh and cartilage gnawed off. It's presumptuous of me, but it looks post mortem. There's no blood in the crevices, so he was gnawed on after he died."

This is getting worse by the minute. Also, what was this? Some crime investigation show? I think Chiyuri was simply showing off her intellect.

The esper then pointed to the missing arm. "See that? That may have been what killed him." She pointed to the arm socket, and it was just destroyed. "Coupled with the brittle bones, it looks like his arm was ripped off, and judging by the lack of other wounds that I can tell, that may have been what killed him." Chiyuri scoffed. "Had his arm ripped out, bled to death, and was snacked on later."

What a way to go. And he may have gotten off lighter than the other two. The violence that was behind the scenes of Gensokyo was becoming apparent again. It was just one of those things one didn't want to think about. Granted, I guess this wasn't technically Gensokyo, but still.

Reisen slowly took a few steps back towards us, still aiming down her gun, and shot a look at the skeleton. "Hmm. Master, yeah, she's right. The scapula and the clavicle appear to have suffered traumatic damage when the arm was ripped off."

[Eirin:] "If this male was suffering from osteoporosis, then it wouldn't have taken as much force to do that kind of damage to the bones themselves. The capsular ligament of the shoulder would have still done its job and tried to keep the arm in place..."

The orb went closer to the bone.

[Eirin:] "Yes, that's what it looks like. The cartilage attached to the bone was pulled on and therefore was what caused the bone to be destroyed."

"Like putting super glue in between two paper cups and pulling," said Chiyuri. "One of the cups will rip."

Seriously when did I get dropped into a crime scene investigation?

"Oh, Kyon, you're not gonna like this." I returned my attention to Sanae, who had bent down and picked something up. "There's a journal."

Don't read it.

She read it.

"Uhm..." Sanae flipped through the pages for the next moment, stopping a few times, and let out an unsatisfied sigh. "Well, good thing is that whoever did this to them might be long gone. This dates back to what would be 1984 in our world."

As I thought - eighties.

[Aya:] "...Hold the phone there! That makes that twenty four years ago!"

I stared at the orb, a little off-put by Aya's outburst.

[Yukari:] "Ah. The Tsurube Otoshi."

A bucket dropper? Youkai who live in buckets and when humans get to close to their area, they drop down, grab them, and eat them. They basically ambush humans. Think... think 'thwomps' from the Mario games. Except that instead of crushing you they grab you and pull you in, and their grasp was said to be...

I stared down at the bones.

Oh.

With the missing limbs.

Okay. I felt really uneasy. We're in the lair of a tsurube otoshi.

Reisen was still looking around for any threats as she spoke. "There was an incident with a bucket dropper?"

[Remilia:] "Wait. Really? A youkai in a bucket that drops? That's what it is?"

"Doesn't necessarily have to be a youkai in a bucket, milady." I inwardly sighed, as I remembered that Remilia herself said she wasn't well versed in eastern youkai. "Sometimes they're flaming skulls that drop down and eat people." Which I hope isn't the case here. I can do without seeing that.

[Remilia:] "Flaming skull? Now that's more like it - that's a proper youkai."

[Aya:] "Anyways, not an incident per se, it's just that there was just a small thing when a bucket dropper scared some kids at a well here in Gensokyo. Nothing really happened, but it resulting in the closing of that well."

[Nitori:] "'Nothing happened?' I read about that. The youkai popped out of the well and was throwing body parts at children, traumatizing them."

[Remilia:] "Not a bad way to traumatize kids, mind you."

This already doesn't sound like a pleasant youkai. And Remilia, please don't give praise to someone who throws dead body parts around! I had to count my lucky stars that someone throwing body parts at me wasn't my welcome into Gensokyo. Seriously, who of sound mind does that?! I don't wanna meet this thing!

[Yuyuko:] "I read about that too. It wasn't body parts, but bones. Though I guess those count as body parts."

Them being bones doesn't make it any better!

"Throwing bones at children?" Marisa looked a little disturbed. "I already don't like this one, ze."

"Yeah," muttered Youmu. "Already these undergrounders don't sound pleasant."

I heard Mokou curse. "I remember that. In fact I filled that well with dirt so that thing wouldn't come back. The scariest thing was that nobody knew whose bones it was, and when we looked for the bones, we couldn't find 'em. The youkai might have taken them back. Nobody from the human village died prior to that, and nobody was missing, so nobody knew who it was." She eyed the remains, frowning. "Really pissed me off that we couldn't solve that thing."

Chiyuri placed back the bones, and took off her gloves. "Well, at least you can confirm who it was, at least. Chances are, just some poor souls who got spirited away in here. Simply bad luck." She looked up to Sanae. "Any info?"

Sanae turned the next few pages, now looking unsatisfied. "Not really. No ID, and the journal offers little information. Just some names of a few of the miners." After pausing for a few seconds to read what was on the page she was currently on, she tapped the book. "Seems like a large number of miners and their shack up there got spirited away into Gensokyo, and were dropped off at the blowhole, along with their equipment. According to the entries... about twenty?"

Mokou scratched her head. "Wait, I don't remember a group of miners appearing at that time."

Sanae shook her head. "No, they didn't seem to know about the village, and some stayed in the shack to keep trying their radio to find out where they were. But they found the mine and went to explore it, finding the ores, and began to set up since they had nothing else to do... and the people in the shack had died when something attacked them." She kept flipping pages, as she was trying to find something to substantiate what she was saying. "Ah. Okay, they escaped down here, and passed the time mining, since they thought they struck it rich with the deposits. Hmm. Scary situation, and they only cared about making money?" Sanae slowly shook her head, obviously not happy with this representation of humanity with an audience of non-humans looking/listening on. "Okay, they had enough food and supplies brought in with them, but..." Sanae stopped, and appeared to reread the passage she came across, before looking to me, her face apologetic. "You're not gonna like this, Kyon. Something started to pick them off."

I brought my hands to my face. I don't need survival horror plots right now! Can I go back to thinking about Christmas pudding?!

"The journal said that they were picked off deeper down, and that those three were the last ones alive, according to the last entry." She let out a sigh, staring at the remains as she closed the book and pocketed it. "I'm guessing this is what happened."

"I have to say, this is really not how I thought today would go," said an unsure Koizumi. He was pursing his lips while looking down at the skeleton missing the head.

Man what the hell did I get myself into?

"How did you think it was gonna go, ze?"

He threw up one of his fake smiles. "Ah, fair point, Miss Kirisame."

[Nitori:] "I'm kind of glad I'm not down there with you guys, actually."

Tenshi patted me on the back, trying to comfort me. She must have been watching my reactions to all that information. "On the plus side, that was over two decades ago. Chances are the youkai-"

"No, it's still here."

I shakingly looked to Reimu, who was staring up and had her serious face on. "Reimu..."

"Something has been watching us once we set foot in this cavern." Reimu brought out an amulet. "And it still is."

"Why didn't you say anything?" In fact, Reimu was silent ever since we entered the cavern. Now I know why. You were keeping tabs on the youkai.

"Because it wasn't doing anything against us." She scoffed. "If I stopped and told you all the things that were watching us during the Scarlet Weather Incident, we'd never have reached Tenshi that day. Hell, during any other incident would have had me stop and tell you every fifteen seconds."

Okay, you got me there.

"That would have been disappointing," said the celestial, hands on her hips, like she didn't care we were being watched even though Reimu clearly said so. "And boring."

Well, if anybody could be calm in such a situation, it would be a nearly indestructible celestial.

Chiyuri suddenly looked up. "Did you hear that?!"

Reisen's ears perked up and she too was staring where Chiyuri was pointing. "Up there."

Using our flashlights, we discovered a plethora of holes up on the ceiling of the cavern. Each big enough for a human body.

Youmu began to back away, as each of us were directly underneath a hole. "Okay, let's uh, not be right under those things."

Good idea. I backed away from the hole I was currently under. Holy Hell. The ceiling is like Swiss cheese! Perfect for a bucket dropper! How did I not notice that?!

"Whoa!" Sakuya exclaimed as she moved her flashlight back the way we came. "Did you see that?!"

I saw something move, something wooden, up into the ceiling. "I saw it too!" Oh crap. Okay. Don't freak out. If it wanted to pick us off, it would have started already, and we're no longer underneath any of the holes. It's just a youkai that's there. It's not attacking us. No need to give it fear and therefore a reason to really mess with us. I slowed my breathing, getting my heart rate under control. It's just a single youkai, and I've got backup. It's not like I'm alone.

"Damn bucket dropper," grumbled Mokou, before she went right to shouting. "I'm gonna kick your ass for that well! Nobody but me was brave enough to go near it to fill it up with dirt, so I had to do it by myself!"

I shot her a glare. "Can we not aggravate the damn thing?" Then I turned my head to the orb. "Yukari? Suika? Info please if possible?" That's what you said you'd provide!

[Suika:] "I believe her name is Kisume. She might look cute, but she's quite vicious. If she grabs you into her bucket, you're either gonna lose the limb, or she's taking you all the way up and you're not coming back. Word of advice: her bucket is pretty much invulnerable, so you'd have to shoot her actual body."

"All right, got it. Don't get pulled in, and aim for her body." Sounds easy enough. I just had to make sure that I didn't lose any limbs, or my life, for that matter.

[Yukari:] "She's not relevant to the incident at hand. Just an obstacle. But she's still a hungry youkai, so take care."

"So we don't have to deal with her?"

[Patchouli:] "Seems to be the logical conclusion. If all it does is drop on you, then you don't be where it drops, to put it in layman's terms."

"Guys?" Sanae appeared to have realized something, and there was some slight fear on her face. "We're spread out now."

I looked around, and sure enough, we were spread around the cavern as we didn't want to be near any of the holes. We just divided ourselves!

As if on cue, what sounded like rope rubbing against stone began to echo from the ceiling, and down dropped a bucket attached to a rope. What appeared to be a little girl with green hair and pigtails was in the bucket, and-

[SPELL CARD: HORROR "TSURUBE OTOSHI APPARITION"]

Well at least they use spell cards down here!

The bucket dropper was firing tri-lasers at us, while at the same time throwing danmaku balls into the air - they hung there for a while, before raining down. Everything was spread out, and meant for us.

Shoot! I began to run, and as I did, the bucket dropper went back up into the ceiling. A second later, she descended to where I was running. I understood what she was doing - trying to make us go to one of her areas. I leapt back, thankful for the speed and the reaction time the peaches gave me, and for Shanghai - she rushed forward, shield up, and bashed the bucket. Kisume's hands brushed against my arm as she made a grab for me, and she was enraged that she missed as she swung back from the impact of the shield. Just as quickly, she went back up into the ceiling while firing away, her spell card still active.

My heart nearly stopped when I realized what almost happened, that I was almost taken by a damn bucket dropper. I couldn't let that faze me. I was then dodging her shots, and trying to make sure I wasn't being led under another hole. Damn, this youkai is quick!

"...Bucket's invulnerable..." Chiyuri stared as the shots from some of the other girls were bouncing off. She then quickly glanced to Koizumi after deciding something. "I'm baiting. Get a blade ready." Nodding to Tenshi, she looked to the Sword of Hisou. "Ready to knock around a bucket?"

Tenshi responded by grinning and bringing out the flame blade. "I'm ready when you are."

Without waiting for anybody else to respond, Chiyuri went under one of the holes, and Kisume dropped down, her arms already going for her prey. Chiyuri just glared up at the youkai while Koizumi went into the air. Kisume saw this, realizing what they were doing, and tried to go back up, but Tenshi came from behind, striking the bucket, and causing it to swing forward, making the rope come even closer to the esper. Koizumi cut the rope, and the bucket fell to the ground. The little youkai within let out a small squeal.

Upon impact with the ground, the youkai tumbled out of the bucket. She was actually cute, and pretty small. Not Shinmyoumaru small, but she was just a small girl in a white kimono. She sat there on the ground, stunned, before realizing she was out of the safety of her bucket. She began to scramble towards it -

[SPELL CARD: UNDYING "'SOUTH WIND, CLEAR SKY' SOARING KICK"]

Mokou's flame dive kick. In a brief moment, Kisume looked up, and I swear I could see her pupils dilate upon seeing what was coming down on her, the bucket dropper's jaw dropping. Mokou connected with her kick right in the face, knocking out the little youkai.

I breathed in relief. Pretty smart, Chiyuri. Okay, I'm impressed. Though kind of stupid that you used yourself as bait. And Mokou, that was overkill.

Reimu approached the downed youkai, and slapped on an amulet. Just like the one used to contain Mima, chains wrapped around Kisume and anchored on the ground.

[Remilia:] "Was that really necessary?"

"If you're going to be sending more people down here, then this youkai might be an obstacle for them," Reimu bluntly said. "We just took her out of the equation." She then looked to the rest of us. "Everyone okay? No lost limbs?"

No, we're fine. Just got surprised.

Tenshi clicked her tongue, frowning. "That was kind of over too quickly. Disappointing."

"But it was a nice wake up." I ran my fingers through my hair. "I wasn't expecting that." I really need to get back into the mindset of Gensokyo, especially down here. If I falter, I can easily die.

Before anyone could say anything else, Mokou angrily picked up the bucket and flung it somewhere across the cavern. We heard something wooden bounce around in the darkness.

I couldn't help but laugh. Jerk move Mokou, but if I had to fill up a well with dirt by myself, I'd react the same way to the one responsible.

[Patchouli:] "Speaking of others... I think we can peel away one of the seals. We might be able to send down some more people."

That's great news!

The gate guard had gotten a piece of paper, and was standing in front of the hole, reading enchantments from it. Already some of the seals were beginning to fade.

"You sure about this?" Luna Child nervously stared, realizing that they were getting ready to go underground. "You know that the underground people don't follow the same rules that they do in Gensokyo. Those guys eat each other, and really bad things have happened underground. What'll the underground people do to us?"

"Hey, Reimu and the others wanted us to show up." Sunny Milk was just as nervous, but was desperately trying to play it off. "And we'll be fine. We're going in all stealth like, okay?"

"But-?"

"You heard the news, Luna - this is big," said Star Sapphire. "Like, end of the world big."

"I get that, but why aren't there more people? Why is it just us four fairies, the gate guard, the lamprey stand owner, and the yuki-onna?"

"I'm here too." Luna stared at the misfortune goddess who was busy taking away Cirno's misfortune. The god looked a bit upset she was forgotten so easily. "I just cleansed you."

"Sorry."

"It's because of the seals." Mystia came up to them after hearing 'lamprey stand owner.' She had her arms wrapped around herself to stay warm. "If we could, we'd be sending the likes of Yukari down there. Also, there is the Gensokyo/Underground agreement that nobody invades the other."

"...How's that any different than what we're doing?"

Mystia paused, before rubbing her chin. "I think we can do this without breaking that since the underground broke it first, technically. You've been seeing the geysers, right?" The three fairies nodded. "Those aren't the only things that came from the underground. Some of the spirits from Hell have escaped into Gensokyo. They've been contained, but still, it happened."

Sunny thoughtfully stared at one such geyser in the distance. "Ah, I get it. Since they let some of their spirits out, they broke that agreement. Smart."

Luna was about to say something else, but Cirno began to loudly speak. "Letty, Eye'm sorry you can't come with us this time. Those sorry excuses for incident resolvers will be missing your power!"

"It's okay, little one."

Cirno puffed out her chest. "Don't worry! Eye'll be the difference maker for the both of us! The entire underground is gonna get frozen over!"

"Okay!" The gate guard backed up from the seals, as a series of them shone brightly, before fading. "Fairies can get through! The seal keeping you guys out is gone!"

Whatever protests Luna could think of were irrelevant. She was there, and to back out at that point would be seen as an ultimate act of cowardice. Besides, the three fairies were strongest when working together. Sunny and Star are adamant about going, and I am not about to lose them.

The four fairies lined up, getting ready to drop, when Mystia approached Cirno. "Hey, one more thing, Cirno?"

"Yeah?"

Mystia fidgeted, wringing her hands with worry. "Wriggle went down there over an hour ago and hasn't come back up." The night sparrow pursed her lips. "I-I'm just worried. She was supposed to come back right away. Can you make sure she's okay, or...?"

Cirno gave a nod with a confident grin, and slightly raised a fist. "Eye'll bring her back. Count on it!"

I wish I could share your optimism. What am I doing?

We continued into another series of tunnels, finding some of them blocked off by cave in. There was also more mining equipment, but still no bodies or remains of the rest of the miners. If we're gonna find out what happened to these guys, I'd rather we get this over with. Otherwise this is going to eat me up all day.

Sanae was still going over the journal, as she had merely skimmed it. "Okay, this totally takes a page out of Biohazard."

"Sanae..." There better not be zombies here. I will leave right now.

"No, I mean literally." Sanae was not happy about what she just read. "The miners were coming down with various diseases for no reason."

All of us paused, and then looked to Reisen, before looking to the orb.

"The immune boosters?"

[Yukari:] "I'm afraid so."

Okay, you proved it. I can trust you with my life.

[Eirin:] "What went on down there, Yakumo?"

[Yukari:] "Okay, this is the first major obstacle you're facing. The first major youkai."

I heard Suika sigh, and mumble something that sounded like "Really? Her?"

[Suika:] "Fine. Her name is Yamame Kurodani. She's a tsuchigumo - an earth spider youkai - and while she is essentially weak in comparison to most other underground youkai, she is extraordinarily dangerous for the unprepared."

Oh, great, spider youkai. As if I wasn't going to be freaked out enough. I'm almost afraid to ask what makes her so dangerous. "How so?"

[Yukari:] "For one, she can control and induce infectious diseases."

I felt like crying. I felt like giving up despite my four years of waiting for this incident. I should have been more afraid. Of course a tsuchigumo could control diseases - they have done so in their folklore. And to think that I was only worried about a nuclear youkai. Now there are bio-hazards too. "Sanae, you weren't far off from that 'Biohazard' reference, were you?"

"I hated that part of Biohazard though, the spiders." Sanae shivered. "Freaking monster spiders. And the Tiger Spider boss fight?" She quickly shook her head. "Nope. So much nope. It was worse on the GameCube remake with its details on the thing. It looked photorealisitc. At least the ones in the original PlayStation release was more blocky and manageable." She began to quickly speak, as she was off in her own fear-induced world. "Oh man the worst part was when you'd kill the spiders but then their egg sacs would explode and the room would be filled with their babies all coming after you! I always hated those parts about the games! It was so bad in Biohazard 3!" Sanae really shook after saying that, as she rubbed her arms.

Why'd you have to bring all that up? I had totally forgotten that Sanae would sometimes go off into her own little world in explaining how she felt about something.

Marisa chuckled. "Are you afraid of spiders, ze?"

Sanae vigorously shook her head. "No, I'm fine, to a point. If a spider is smaller than a coin, then I'm cool with it. Bigger spiders just kind of freak me out a bit." She wanted to get that across.

I'm guessing admitting what you are afraid of while a bunch of youkai are listening would be detrimental. To be fair, I guess I'm in Sanae's camp in regard to spiders. I mean I don't like them in general, and I don't scare if I see a small one (unless they totally surprise me), but bigger ones can really freak you out. Especially when they skitter across the floor or wall pretty fast. But no, I agree with you a hundred percent. Screw the spiders from the Biohazard series. I hate those.

"Man, a gigantic hole, taking in eleven people at once, you need your shots, and you might end up with an infectious disease right after entering?" Mokou had the biggest grin. "This really is Kaguya."

I couldn't help it. I burst out laughing, and couldn't stop even when I covered my mouth. I desperately tried to stop especially when Reisen was giving Mokou and me a nasty glare.

[Kaguya:] "Shoot her. Shoot her now."

Thankfully Reisen didn't, but for a few seconds, I could see she considered it. Mokou, cool it with the Kaguya-bashing. It's funny, but this isn't the time.

I heard some pages being turned coming from the orb.

[Patchouli:] "All right, Tsuchigumo. 'Earth Spider.' I got some information in front of me here... Japan has no native tarantulas, so possible influences to their origin was the Chinese bird spider, also known as the 'earth tiger'. An aggressive species, as it hunts birds, as its name implies. Used as derogatory term for humans, and also for the spider youkai. Like oni, term is used to demonize enemies of the court, mostly because spiders hide in the ground. Also used for clans, and mountain people. Mostly because those were blacksmiths, and they would pollute the waters with their castoff. Ah, okay, here are the youkai implications. Chimera-like. Faces of an oni, body of a tiger, with arms and legs of a spider. There is a tale called the Tsuchigamo Soushi, where a commander defeats a spider youkai. Hmm."

"Yeah, I remember that part from the Heike Monogatari." I took in a breath, as my stomach hurt from laughing, and I was glad to get my mind off of the out-of-place comedy for a bit. "Same commander, he gets sick with malaria and slays a spider youkai. When he did, his sickness disappeared. That commander was named Yorimitsu, and he fought quite a few spider youkai during his life. Enough so that his blade became known as the Kumo-kiri - the spider cutter."

Youmu turned her head to me, smiling. "That's an awesome name for a sword. I'd like to get that blade."

Especially now in our situation. Oh that would be epic. "But if I remember correctly, the spiders held a grudge against him. I think his burial mound became a nest, as a final 'screw you' from the spiders." Very disrespectful.

[Patchouli:] "Very good, Kyon. I'm impressed. I almost don't have to be here if you have that kind of knowledge."

"Thanks, Patchouli. I just have some knowledge thanks to my courses and what I've been studying." It comes in handy. Though too bad there won't be any Greek influences here.

"Yorimitsu? That guy?" Mokou slowed down to match us. For a second, she reached for her cigarettes, but remembered that it might be a hazard. She put the pack away. "I remember him. His father conspired with the Tsuchigumo clans against the Fujiwara. That's why the guy was cursed to fight youkai. Though Yorimitsu... I do remember him serving the Fujiwaras?" Mokou scratched her head, thinking. "Shoot. Been a while."

How about that. Now it's kind of personal here.

[Nitori:] "Interesting that you are connected to this, Fujiwara."

The immortal shrugged. "Meh, it comes with livin' too long and having a huge family." Mokou rubbed her chin, her brow scrunched up in thought. "Damn, man, I think I met him. Yeah, I think I remember him. Guy was pretty much the enforcer for the Fujiwaras, along with his brother. Killed off bandits and guys like that for my family."

"Though," I paused, as something else came to mind, and considering who was on the other end of the orb, I didn't know if I should bring it up. I internally debated, but the looks from the others sealed it - I might as well. "Yorimitsu wasn't just a spider slayer - he was a youkai slayer, and a hardcore one at that."

[Suika:] "He killed the strongest oni in Japan. Poisoned the guy and cut off his head."

And that was why I was hesitant to bring that up. I didn't know if Suika would hate hearing that or not.

[Yukari:] "Yorimitsu slew and banished lots of youkai in his day. But the tsuchigamos held the biggest grudge against him, and yes, they did turn his burial mound into a nest."

In the end, the youkai got the last laugh.

[Eirin:] "Still, how fascinating. I would love to capture this spider youkai if possible. I mean, imagine the medical applications of being able to produce any number of diseases in any condition, and therefore study the effects."

Reimu gave a small glare to the orb. "Why would you even want this thing, doctor? If it got out into Gensokyo, or if you couldn't control it-"

"You can't make antivenom without handling the venom itself," said Reisen over her shoulder. "Same thing applies here. Gaining samples of a disease is the first step in curing it."

I suppose that's one way such a youkai could be useful. Yeah, if this Yamame could be controlled, Eirin could go a long way in curing so many diseases.

[Kaguya:] "...Eirin, I don't want an infectious spider youkai in our home."

[Eirin:] "But, Princess-"

[Kaguya:] "Absolutely not! I will never allow that. Just because we're immortal doesn't mean we can't get sick and die, and dying by disease is a very bad way to go."

"Yeah, you'd know all about contracting diseases and dyin' to them, wouldn't you?" muttered Mokou under her breath. I don't think anybody but me or Marisa heard that, and the three of us did our best to not laugh.

The mining equipment began to become more numerous, and there were more abandoned ores in carts. There was, however, something that stuck out like a sore thumb. A shiny metal crate that had glowing trim, not unlike the glow stick flares we were using. Everyone stopped, and Reisen curiously moved closer to it.

"...No dust or anything. This was put here recently."

"This looks way too modern to have been here for two decades," said Chiyuri. "Maybe too modern for modern times."

It was just too new. No rust on it or anything, and the polished surface just screamed "notice me!"

Reimu gazed over to Mokou expectantly, and the immortal sighed. "Fine, right." She then moved up to the crate, and opened it.

Really, Reimu? Just in case it is a trap?

It wasn't a trap, but full of supplies, most notably ear loop health care respirator masks. You know, those blue surgical masks. There were also some bottles of liquid, some more glow stick flares, batteries for the flashlights, and some disinfectant alcohol. Mokou was bringing those out as she searched the crate.

"Lady Yukari, is this one of the care packages you spoke of earlier?" Youmu timidly eyed the contents, unsure if it was safe.

[Yukari:] "Yes, this is one of them. They're provided from, well, read the note."

"Kyon, you might wanna see this." Mokou held up such a note after reading it. "It's addressed to you."

I recognized the writing. It was so pretty, so 'girly', but it was exactly how it was five years ago.

Please take this and any other supplies you need. I will try to provide for you at certain points what you might need to get through an area or a threat. I am sorry that I haven't been more useful in the past, so maybe this will make up for it. It's one of the things I regret. I am breaking a lot of rules by doing this, but I don't care. I want everyone to survive this. If I can finally be of use to you through these care packages, then so be it.

The unmarked liquid is immune boosters from my time, so hopefully with Doctor Yagokoro's immune boosters, you and the others can withstand whatever infectious disease is thrown at you, especially since this liquid covers diseases your time doesn't even know about. Risky, yes, but a chance I'm willing to take. Oh, and they can be consumed, so you don't have to worry about the peaches not letting you inject. This is all just in case something happens in the chaos of the new timelines. I'd rather you be prepared than... well. You know.

Please survive. The future is counting on you.

-Mikuru Asahina

P.S.: The youkai is ectothermic like other spiders. There is a geothermal source in its lair.

Mikuru! I reread it again and again, filled with the ache of missing her. I gulped, feeling a pain in my chest, like how it felt when she finally left us. I closed my eyes, as I fell to my knees, still holding onto the note. Eventually, Reimu came up to me, and read it.

"Reisen? There are more immune boosters. Pass them around so we can drink them."

They left me alone, silent as they got the materials ready, I guess understanding the situation. I could feel a presence looming over my shoulder, and I looked up to Koizumi. He gave me a genuine smile. "You okay?"

"Yeah." I stood up. "Yeah, I am." I stared down at the note. "I thought she couldn't get involved with us any more."

"I'm proud of her. She found a way to help out." His smile grew. "One would think that she would be barred from interfering with the past even more, but she's still here in spirit, in a way."

I found myself smiling too. "Yeah. She's still here for the Brigade."

"Her duty was always to the time travelers, but she's still rooting for us."

I held the note to my chest, before folding it up and putting it in my back pocket. Thank you, Asahina. You were never a useless person. Never think that. You helped make the Brigade, and you helped save my family.

Reisen came up to me, giving me a small bottle. It tasted like grape-flavored cough medicine, actually. Done passing out the boosters, she started handing out the masks. "Everyone get a mask, and put it on. If she lives like a spider, then there might be some dead husks in her lair, and if she killed anybody with a disease, who knows if it's airborne or not. Even if the bacteria is dead, she still might be able to reactivate it."

This just gets better and better. And this is barely the first major youkai we're going up against? So much preparation for just the first threat.

To be fair, yeah, this would need a lot of preparation. A youkai who could control any infectious disease would get your attention. Disease has been a lifelong fear of mankind ever since someone contracted the first cold. The mask fit snugly on my face, and soon everyone was masked up. Lifelong fear... If word of this youkai got out, she'd easily become strong due to fear alone. Who's to say she isn't already strong? The fear of disease is a very real fear.

I realized something. "Hey, girls, hold up." I downed a vial, healing them. After all, they had scrapes and open wounds already. No need to have such bullseyes for a disease controlling youkai, right? Sakuya removed her bandages, giving me a nod. I hope you understand I'm gonna try to be conservative with my vials here. I want to stretch them as far as I can.

It wasn't much longer down the tunnel that we started to feel a slight increase in temperature, and some moisture. Also, our flashlights began to reveal spider webs, increasing in size as we went further. Oh boy. This is it. Still no bodies, however. I don't know if that's a good thing or bad thing.

"This does not fill me with much confidence," remarked Sakuya, eyeing a web that covered an entire side of the tunnel. "I'm starting to not want to meet this youkai."

You and me both. Well, actually, I didn't want to meet this one as soon as I heard about her.

In response to Sakuya, someone from up ahead-

"...Who's there?"

...Wriggle? "Is that Nightbug?!"

I had totally forgotten she had come down here before us. We rushed forward, and the tunnel opened up to another cavern, much larger than the one where we faced Kisume. As we tossed down more glow sticks, it began to light up the area. There was more mining equipment, more living quarters...

The first clue that I had that I wasn't going to enjoy this room were the massive amounts of webbing everywhere, all over that equipment. I seriously wanted to just run back up top, because I knew what would be in this room.

And I wasn't wrong. The rest of the miners, strung up against the walls in the webbing. What was left of them anyway. As soon as I saw them, I turned away, not wanting to focus on such a sight. I mean, it was bad enough that they were desiccated, but they also looked mangled due to disease. Each of them appeared to have suffered from something, as what was left of their faces were frozen in pain. I accidentally lingered on one such miner's face, and that image burned into my eyes - his eyes were gone, totally dried out, and his mouth open in a silent scream of death. Even through the mask I could smell it - the sickly sweet smell of death in the chamber. Please, out of everything, please let none of this be airborne. Just give me that one thing.

[Yuyuko:] "...By the gods..."

[Nitori:] "Yeah I'm really really glad I'm not down there with you."

"Oh I would hate to be the one to clean this up," said Sakuya dryly. "This is what happens when you don't do proper cleaning regularly."

There are bodies on the damn walls and this is what you're complaining about?! This isn't the time for dark humor! There are human bodies on the freaking walls!

"I think it's safe to assume this to be a spider youkai's lair," remarked Chiyuri. She shone her light on some of the bodies, and upon seeing them, had brought out her gun and focused her red esper energy into it, so it was glowing. "These guys did not go gently. It looks like they suffered a lot before expiration, probably strung up and left to suffer through a disease for a while before being finished off."

I don't need to be hearing this! Uh... Christmas pudding! Brandy! Turkey! Anything to get my mind off this horror show!

The orb went up to inspect some of the bodies, inspecting the ones that Chiyuri was shining her light on.

[Eirin:] "Ah, small pox, black death, that looks like a flesh eating bacteria, maybe. They've all had to have burned out, so the corpses shouldn't be infectious. Very tough to tell, but that's what it looks like from what I'm seeing. I'm just guessing from what I'm seeing through this - I won't know for sure unless we did something like get them on an autopsy table and ran some tests. But... I don't think I want to bring them into Eientei."

[Kaguya:] "Thank you for seeing it my way."

[Eirin:] "That being said, please don't get near them in case they are still contagious. And under no circumstance should you remove your mask while in that chamber."

So she captures you, infects you, lets you suffer, and then eats you. That was one way to induce supreme fear. And what a way to go, too. Also, really?! Small pox and black death?! "I think the guys who got taken by Kisume got off lightly."

Mokou scoffed. "Y'think?"

[Eirin:] "I'm serious! Don't do something stupid like touching the bodies, okay?"

Koizumi slowly shook his head. "No intention of doing that, doctor."

The Lunarian had that outburst because Youmu had inched closer to one such body. The gardener looked back at the orb, pausing, before making her way back to us. Not the time to develop curiosity, Youmu!

[Remilia:] "I know she's a spider and all, but this is just kind of much. Clean up your web. Seriously. Take some pride in your home. I don't leave my food all over the place."

Even if you did you'd just have Sakuya clean it up.

I heard Youmu quietly counting as her light went along the cavern wall opposite the one Chiyuri was looking at. "Uhm, how many do you have, Chiyuri? How many bodies?"

Please don't.

"I'm counting at least fifteen."

"I'm counting just as many over here."

Not just miners! The frown I developed hurt.

[Kaguya:] "She's gotten people unlucky enough to come down there."

[Nitori:] "How come the bodies are preserved like that? I mean, its been over two decades, right? And there's that steam opening. There's a bit of moisture in the air. Shouldn't they be like dust or something, or... I don't know?"

[Patchouli:] "If she eats people like how a spider eats, then she takes all the liquid from their bodies. She essentially mummified and preserved them. Preserved them to where they're even holding up against outside moisture. Must have sucked them completely dry."

And they're still hanging on the wall. Actually Remilia was right - this spider youkai should have taken better care of her home if these guys had been up there for two decades. That is... if they had been up there for two decades and these people weren't fresher kills. I think I'll go with the two decades rather than the notion that more have suffered at this spider's hands.

In the corner of the chamber, there was a steamy opening, as Nitori pointed out, I'm guessing the geothermal area that was talked about in the note. I eyed it, noticing it just provide a steady stream. In fact, even though I was protected against heat, I could tell this was slightly warmer than the other tunnels we had been through.

[Aya:] "You know, they say that if you see an Earth spider at night, it was let in by a thief."

Where did that come from?

"First off, it's still day, and second off, what the hell, Aya?" asked an annoyed Reimu.

[Aya:] "This is just kind of exciting, you know! So exciting! And what a story, just concerning the miners and their fate!"

It isn't exciting when you're up close to it all! I'm nearly freaking out down here! Barely holding it together as it is!

Reimu angrily turned to the orb, shushing it. "If you're just gonna make small talk while we're in a lair, then don't say anything, okay?"

"Will you keep quiet?!" Sanae whisper-shouted to us. "If we can sneak past this thing, we won't have to face it!"

I'm totally with Sanae here. If we can be stealthy, I'd rather do that.

Turning my eyes from a few more bodies, my vision fell on Wriggle Nightbug, caught in a web in the middle of the chamber. She wasn't wrapped up in webbing, so hopefully she wasn't infected with anything.

Wriggle, who looked like she was silently weeping to herself for a long time, had her eyes light up in hope when she saw us. "Finally! You guys came down..." Her eyes fell on me, and she became angry. "You again?! Why are you here? Every time you show up in Gensokyo, something bad happens to me!"

You're not lying. You're gonna get knocked out a few times in the future. Also, don't be putting this on me, you stupid bug. You got yourself caught in a spider web. I didn't need her to be reigniting an old hatred between us. For the most part, I had forgotten her attempted killing of me when I was asleep. I haven't forgiven her for it, but I've let it slip my mind.

"Nice to see you too," I sneered. Seeing her put my near-panic on the backburner.

"Bite me."

"You sure you wanna say that? Poor choice of words, you know? You're the one stuck on a spider web. Something's going to bite you soon enough." You stupid idiot.

She blinked, and then her hatred washed away, as she looked to the webbing. "Ah... right. Uh... forget I said anything." Wriggle apologetically looked to me, her face pleading. "I'm sorry. Really. I'm sorry. Just get me down." The bug looked ready to cry.

Of course I didn't want to leave her. If I were in her position, I'd want someone to save me, especially from such a room.

Before I could say anything, Tenshi flew up to her. "Okay, okay." The celestial giggled. "Kinda funny that you got caught. You're a bug youkai. That means you survived longer than normal bugs to even become one. That includes avoiding spider webs."

Wriggle sheepishly looked down. "The web came down on me."

Tenshi, who had activated the flame blade, paused. "Excuse me?"

"It just fell, swinging down from the ceiling. I came in here, started to see the bodies, and I freaked, trying to get away, when the web came down on me. It might have been a trap."

Oh no.

[Nitori:] "Get the bug and get out of there now!"

"Guys?!" I heard Youmu say with a slight panic. We turned to her, to see her flashing her light to the way we came - there was already a web there.

Oh no!

[Alice:] "No... No!"

Wriggle then gasped, and tears began to fall from her eyes. She was doing her best to not move, but her eyes went up to the web. It was slightly vibrating. I quickly ran up the flashlight to it. I caught a glimpse of something amongst the webbing, but it moved into the shadows, and I lost it.

She's here. Oh God she's here. So much for being stealthy!

Everyone spread out, looking at the ceiling or crevice where the youkai could come from. I was breathing rapidly, almost on the cusp of a panic attack, and I did my best to calm down.

"Get me down get me down getmedowngetmedowngetmedown!" Wriggle was quietly saying, trying not to move against the web. Tears were pouring down her face. "I don't wanna be a snack! Get me down!"

The webbing was then really moving. We shone the light around, trying to catch a glimpse, and Sakuya's light revealed her.

It was a woman, a blonde woman with a short ponytail, and some sort of brown dress. Her lower body was round, almost like the usual abdomen of a spider. It was actually how her dress was; for a minute I thought she was plump, but no, her dress was just loose on her that way. She just stared at Wriggle from where she was with her brown eyes, the spider youkai smiling as she hungrily licked her lips.

"Oh. Oh she's more human-like. I'm so okay with that." That was Sanae, who sounded relieved.

[Suika:] "That's Yamame all right!"

[Nitori:] "Spider! Spider! It's an Earth spider!"

Don't be freaking out, Nitori! I'm barely keeping myself from doing as such!

Wriggle gave up the pretense of trying to remain still as she struggled with all her might. "No! Noooo! Get her away! Someone help me! Help meeeeee!"

Tenshi had backed away, her sword still out. We didn't know how to go forth with this, how Yamame activated diseases. Obviously nobody wanted to get near the spider.

The spider youkai's eyes then went to us, at first confused, but then curious. She had been drooling over Wriggle, and wiped her mouth on her sleeve. "Oh? Humans? How unusual." She moved down the webbing, closer to Wriggle, but also to get a better look at us. "Who are you all?" The spider cocked her head aside. She was still curious. "Did you come underground to play? I'd say that there was a feast going on and that they'd allow you to participate, but I don't think with its current state that it's ready to accept you." The spider youkai smiled. "If you're gonna go, go, and leave me to my own feast with this bug."

Wriggle began to weep again. I was shaking at that point, but I had to say my piece. "We can't." My eyes went to the bodies on the walls, knowing that if we just left Wriggle, she'd end up like that. I just can't. I can't knowingly abandon someone to that fate if I can help it. That's just such a bad way to go, and my heart would never forgive me. "We can't leave her with you."

That actually earned me a small glare from the spider.

[Patchouli:] "Be careful, undergrounders are very different than us!"

Youmu got in front of Marisa and I. "Hey, the bug is with us, okay? We aren't going to let you have her, and I thought Gensokyo law was that youkai don't eat other youkai."

[Alice:] "That's what's different between Gensokyo youkai and underground youkai!"

It took me a moment to process the meaning of that statement, and I had to gulp when I came to the realization. You... eat each other? Underground youkai are cannibals?! Ew! This just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?

[Yukari:] "Gensokyo doesn't necessarily have absolute laws, but there's an unspoken agreement against cannibalism! But that isn't important right now!"

"This is the underground, not Gensokyo," bristled Yamame. "I'm very hungry. If you're denying me the first meal in a while, then I'll have to attack you." The spider tilted her head. "Actually... actually that sounds like a good idea. You all look suspicious... and delicious." She began to drool again. "It's been a few decades since I've had a feast of human." Her eyes went to the walls, beaming with anticipation. "I have some nice spots on there just for you. I haven't punished a human with diseases in a long time, and I have some new ways I want to eat human."

Oh dammit you do torture your prey with disease! Immune boosters, don't fail us! Also I don't wanna join those desiccated corpses!

Again she wiped away at her mouth. Her eyes showed how hungry she was, as she eyed us with the utmost anticipation. "This is going to be so good. Oh, I don't know who I'll eat first!"

Definitely not me!

The spider youkai went up into the air, in between Wriggle and us. "I'll show you the power of the youkai who were banished underground!"

Yamame held up her hand, two waves of spread danmaku spiraled from her, with the first wave changing to direct shots in mid-flight. The insanity was the sheer number of shots she produced, as well as the speed of the shots. This attack rivaled most of the high-level spell cards I've seen. In fact, this looked like a Lunatic spell card, or even a Taboo, but it was just her basic danmaku.

Again, I'm grateful that you guys play danmaku! But I'm not grateful for the idea of what happens to us should you knock us out! "Marisa, move!"

Yamame kept doing that, going to a position, and unleashing a hell of a danmaku storm. "Get knocked out already so I can start eating one of you!"

"Holy crap, this isn't a spell card?!" shouted Tenshi. "I've never seen basic danmaku like this!"

That's just what I was thinking!

I half expected someone to be falling, but they weren't. Nobody had gotten hit yet, even with this quick danmaku, whizzing past us. This upset the spider, as she sped up even faster. After a few more rounds of not being able to hit us, she paused her shots, and went up to the ceiling, smacking it. A layer of web then swung down, trying to catch us in a sweep.

Both Reisen and Chiyuri were doing their best with their guns - and yes, it seemed like Chiyuri could focus her esper energy into a projectile attack through her gun, somewhat like Koizumi could form a blade. The two gunslingers were shooting the strands of the webbing, making it fall apart at some places. I suspected such accuracy from Reisen, yes, but Chiyuri's skill surprised me. Where does a scientist learn to shoot like this?

[SPELL CARD: TIME SIGN "PERFECT SQUARE"]

Bullets weren't going to be enough, obviously. Sakuya's barrier spell card fried the web, causing it to just fall. It also gave Reimu an idea.

"Mokou! Set it on fire!"

The immortal paused, but then nodded. Against something like Yamame, it was time to throw a little caution to the wind. Mokou lit herself up (and thankfully there were no underground gasses to ignite), and went around setting the webbing on fire. She was covered by Sanae with her barrier stealth field, so Yamame's insane danmaku didn't hit the immortal. The best part is that it hopefully killed all the bacteria and sterilized this lair of hers.

...Even though there are some bacteria that could withstand extreme heat. "Thermophiles", I think they are called?

Anyway, Yamame was enraged at this, of the destroying of her home, especially since the fire began to consume the bodies stuck on the walls. But the webbing was getting destroyed, so it was working, as Yamame still tried to get us caught in her webs. "No! Stop!" Already the flames had gotten to the webs she would have used, and she got even more angry. "The more you struggle, the more painful it'll be when I eat you!" She held up a spell card. "Just be good little morsels and lay down!"

[SPELL CARD: SPIDER "CAVE SPIDER'S NEST"]

I take it you're not too creative with names.

A spider's web of danmaku launched from Yamame, and then it collapsed on itself, spreading out all over the place seemingly at random. She was using this to try to go for Mokou, but as she did, Sakuya took this opportunity to help out the firefly.

[SPELL CARD: WOUND SIGN "INSCRIBED RED SOUL"]

Sakuya's cutting attack! She had gotten in front of Wriggle, and used her knives to quickly cut up the webbing holding the firefly in place. Wriggle fell off, and as soon as she hit the ground, she got up, and ran for the exit, only to remember it was blocked off too. She then went to the miners' equipment and hid amongst that.

Yamame just howled in rage after that, after losing Wriggle. As the fight went on, the crazed look in her eyes just got more intense, her features... more spider like? I think that was the best way to describe it. Her human eyes began to glaze over into red, and smaller eyes began forming on her forehead. She was going more youkai like due to hunger, if I had to guess. All this movement of yours can't help with your state.

By then, pretty much all of the webbing was gone due to the flames, and Tenshi struck her sword on the ground to produce a heavy wind to put out the flames so we wouldn't have to deal with fire as a major obstacle. The dust was blown away from us, just in case there was anything that could have been airborne.

I have to say, the training the girls went through was paying off, especially Marisa. She bobbed and weaved through the shots like it was nothing, and for the most part, Shanghai and Hourai didn't have to do anything. With Yamame, there seemed to be very little room for error. She's playing like an expert. She can easily take down several of the Gensokyo danmaku players for sure.

[Yukari:] "Youmu! Tenshi! Sakuya! Spider cutter!"

Youmu nodded, and brought out a spell card as Tenshi did as well. What are they-

[SPELL CARD: ENLIGHTENING SWORD "RISE FROM DELUSION SLASH"]

[SPELL CARD: TEMPERAMENT "METEOROLOGICAL REVELATION"]

It was their sword extenders. The two leapt up into the air, and did an 'X' slash, with Yamame at the middle of it - she took both slashes. At the end of that dual attack, Sakuya had her spell card ready as well.

[SPELL CARD: ILLUSION SIGN "KILLING DOLL"]

Yamame took all of the homing knives, being knocked even further back. I expected the fight to be over, but Yamame, who reeled back from the attack, merely gave us a death glare with eyes that now glowed a deep red, much to the surprise of everyone.

[Yukari:] "What?! But... that should have dropped her!"

I'm gonna assume that underground youkai are far tougher! It had made Yamame pause, so the girls unleashed shots. The spider youkai was as quick as her danmaku, and she gravitated deeper into the chamber, closer to the opening with steam.

"Okay, that's it! First one I catch, no theatrics of wrapping you up and liquefying your insides! I'm eating you raw in front of everyone!" Ending her spell card, Yamame let loose a rotating spiral of danmaku that covered the ceiling, before they paused and rained down on us.

"Geez, man," shouted Marisa. "She took three attacks at the same time and she's still standing? She ain't even superhuman, ze!"

"She's got to go down eventually!" shouted Sanae. "Even my ladies weren't able to withstand much!"

Reisen reloaded her assault rifle. "Just keep firing!"

"The rest of you are all gonna suffer through the worst diseases for this!" The rage on Yamame's face just made her features even more frightening. She bore her drooling fangs at us. "I'll make your skin melt off your bones and have you watch as I eat it!"

I'm going to have so many nightmares about you!

[SPELL CARD: MIASMA "UNEXPLAINED FEVER"]

Okay, I don't need you to infect us with something if this spell card does this!

Three tight spirals of danmaku formed, getting larger and larger and - why aren't they stopping?!

Well, they did, but they were the size of trucks. They then launched, and half of them paused. They then collapsed back to Yamame and went all over the place. She kept creating those spirals, making sure that the field was insane. The worst part? She went back to her first attack as well, just launching those spiral spreads alongside the card.

Yamame was forgoing the whole 'give them a chance' aspect of the rules. She wanted to knock us out so she could start eating. She's just going to smother us in danmaku!

[SPELL CARD: FREEZE SIGN "PERFECT FREEZE"]

Every shot froze, as well as the remaining webbing. I heard a crash from behind us - which was the webbing that covered the exit/entrance. In flew the four fairies - Cirno, Sunny, Luna, and Star.

"Sorry we're late! Eye slept in!"

Sunny turned to me, giving a small smile as they reached us. "We're here like you wanted! They just undid the seals on the fairies!"

"I'm glad to see you girls, but..." I trailed off, as I noticed Yamame. She had her arms around her, shivering like she was in sub-zero weather. The best part was that she stopped firing.

"N-n-no..." Her features slowly returned to human ones. "T-t-this can't be happening."

I was confused by her sudden mood shift, but then one word came to mind.

Ectothermal.

Chiyuri said it at the same time I did, as we realized what this meant about Yamame. "She's cold-blooded!" Mikuru, you really aren't useless! And neither are these fairies! Once again they were going to come into play. I motioned to Cirno as I pointed to the steam hole. "Cirno! Freeze that up! Then make it as cold as you can!"

Reimu called out to everyone, understanding my plan. "Get ready to fire! Hold off until she doesn't move! Reisen, cover the fairies!"

Cirno nodded, and disappeared with the other fairies. Yamame tried shooting at the fairies, but to no avail.

"N-no! Not fair!"

Even when Yamame started to fire blindly, it was rendered moot, thanks to a snapshot from Reisen via the tengu camera. Within seconds, the hole was covered in ice, and it immediately effected Yamame. She kept shivering as the temperature in her lair kept dropping. She was attacking less and less, eventually not attacking at all. She went to the iced up hole and tried to bang on it, in a desperate attempt to let in the warmth, but to no avail. Her teeth were chattering, and she was balling herself up, trying to stay warm.

"S-s-so... so hungry... s-s-so c-cold..."

Yamame was easy prey for everyone. Like stepping on a stationary spider.

Still, she lasted up longer than I thought she would. She took quite a few shots before she finally dropped from the air. As soon as the spider hit the ground, Reimu slapped on an amulet, wrapping chains around the youkai and pinning her.

"Mokou." Koizumi pointed up to the iced opening. "Could you?"

Reimu raised an eyebrow at the esper. "You sure about that?"

"It's not like she can do anything, right? You sealed her. It'd be cruel to leave her to freeze to death anyway."

Even though she was knocked out, the spider was still shivering, slightly becoming blue. I had to agree with Koizumi, especially since it was my plan to do this. Reimu relented, and the steam once again was allowed to heat up the room. The spider stopped shaking, and just appeared to be peacefully sleeping. You know, take away the whole 'control infectious diseases' thing, and this spider is actually kind of cute.

[Yuyuko:] "You're such a nice young man, Koizumi. Willing to help out a youkai who only minutes before was going to infect you with a disease and then eat you."

Even from behind his mask, I could tell that Koizumi's smile faltered a bit. "When you put it that way, Lady Yuyuko..."

"All this feels like, ze, is that we just beat up someone completely unrelated to the incident."

[Alice:] "Isn't that what you always do anyways?"

I let out a laugh. Yeah, I was about to say that. Isn't this just business as usual for you girls? From what I've experienced, there were people who got caught in the crossfire for incidents all the time.

[Aya:] "Okay, that was an interesting fight. I'm gonna have so many articles to write about this one!"

"It's a good baseline, though." Reimu shone her flashlight down into the cavern, and there was another tunnel that exited out the back. "If this mere spider is this tough, then I'm guessing the next 'obstacles' will be even tougher."

[Yukari:] "Like we've said, Reimu, underground youkai are very strong. In fact I was surprised that Yamame was able to take those shots and still stay up."

[Eirin:] "That being said, I have to admit that you all did very well. Nobody got downed. I'm actually impressed."

Reisen rested her rifle on her shoulder, almost unconsciously removing her mask, but then she caught herself in the act. "That wasn't too bad. Most of us didn't even have to use our abilities or the items given us." The soldier stretched. "No, we did well."

Yeah, yeah this is good. We took down two youkai that had killed off multiple people, and nobody got hurt. I'll call this a win, even though it's small in the grander scheme of things.

Things were looking up.

"Miss Sasaki?"

Sasaki was in her dorm room, laying on her bed, watching a dubbed 'It's a Wonderful Life' marathon. She spoke without looking away from the television. "Hmm?"

"I am confused."

Sasaki turned to Amaya, finally taking her eyes off. The interface was sitting on the floor next to her bed, handing Sasaki drinks or snacks when she wanted them.

"You realize that if they fail, that this world might end. That humanity may be wiped out."

Sasaki slowly nodded, taking a sip of some hot tea. "I do realize this."

"So why are you so calm?"

Sasaki chuckled. "Oh, Amaya, I'm not completely calm. I am a little frightened over this." She paused. "Actually, I'm more than a little. I'm kind of terrified. Who wouldn't be, when faced with the notion of their own mortality? If a deer sees a predator approaching, it's only natural for that animal to feel fear. However, seeing as how I'm not supposed to come anywhere close to this, and I'm nowhere near the front lines, why should I be a complete wreck?"

"I'm just saying, Miss Sasaki. I've had limited contact with humans, but even your behavior is odd in such a circumstance." Amaya tilted her head, in her attempt to show confusion.

Sasaki sighed. "Maybe I've just accepted it, should it happen. Maybe humanity has run its course already. Maybe it's time for something else. Besides, if the world were to end, it would be out of my hands. So again, why worry?"

Amaya sat there, processing this. "I suppose that is a logical course of action from someone in your position. Worrying when something is out of your hands is kind of useless, and only serves to fill one with negative emotions." The interface gave a nod. "Yes, that would be logical..."

"Would be?"

"You aren't necessarily out of this. We could go over to Haruhi right now. She's been knocked out. We could take her power, and make you a perfect god, and avoid-"

"I still do not care for taking that power. But in all seriousness, if I were to take her power, what guarantee is there that I won't change, that I'll be able to stop this? Can you guarantee to me that it'll solve the problem? And what will I become?" Sasaki sighed, returning her attention to the television. "If... if the thing about becoming a youkai is true... that you become insane... "

"But by all reasoning, you will become a god."

"There is supposed to be little difference between the two. Kyouko has told me that youkai and gods are two sides of the same coin. Gods are ultimately just youkai who gather faith. If I took Haruhi's powers, and became this thing, what will become of me? Youkai are supposed to have a semblance of insanity. If I do this, I might lose myself. I can't explain it, but that notion scares me more than the end of the world. I'm okay with me being me, and I have... faith in them. It's crazy, and illogical, but I have faith in them." Sasaki chuckled. "Heh... yes. It's hypocritical of me. Worry about insanity and then say you're crazy anyways." Sasaki paused to take another sip. "And then, even then, I'd lose myself, if not to insanity, then to becoming one of those things."

Amaya sat there in silence for a moment, before responding. "I do not understand what you mean by that."

"Youkai and gods are what they are. Nothing more, nothing less. While their nature is malleable, they are nothing more than their nature. Say, someone dies due to being frozen, and they become a yuki-onna, correct? They then lose themselves, and become that youkai, concerned with cold and taking away the body heat from the living. They are different creatures. Or, say, a funa yuurei, a drowning ghost. What are they besides a ghost that wants to drown others? Or that vampire that's supposed to be in Gensokyo? Five hundred years ago, she was just a normal girl, growing up. Then she turned into that bloody vampire, someone who was completely different from that little girl she once was. That is what I'm concerned about, Amaya. Sure, you've become a powerful being, but you then become shackled into that creature, the very nature of that youkai or god overriding your basic personality, who you are, how you think. Your very being is changed. A human is complex. A youkai is simple. A youkai will always have to be what it is. If I become this, I'd have to be completely sure about it, that I am okay with losing my current self."

The two continued to watch the movie for another moment, before Sasaki spoke up. "...Are you going to go after Haruhi? Is that what your command has decided?"

"No, and that is the truth. I am just stating an available option in this scenario. That is all."

"..."

"And isn't it irresponsible to just condemn your own species like that? If this can stop an extinction level event, then why not take it? All we have to do is-"

"No, Amaya, I don't want to take away Haruhi's power. I never wanted that. It's what your people, your 'side' wanted for me. People like Fujiwara using this to try to achieve their own goals. I admire the effort, but I can see right through it."

"I understand."

They watched the scene where George Bailey begged his angel to help him, and began running back home, shouting Merry Christmas to everyone.

Sasaki let out a resigned sigh. "...However, you're right. It is irresponsible. ...Amaya?"

"Yes?"

"You can check up on their progress, right?"

"Yes."

Sasaki didn't say anything until the movie ended. "...I do not wish for Kyon to die. I've been weighing that. I actually would allow humanity to die before Kyon. If it gets bad down there... just... be prepared. I... might be willing to... lose myself..."

"Very well. I will do as such if the parameters are met."

Sasaki let out another sigh. "Okay." She sat there, silent for a few moments again. "I'm not necessarily out of this, however. I've been praying, hoping, that they succeed. Maybe my own powers can activate and be enough, but if it isn't..."

"Might take me a while to do so. I think the green-haired interface is still around. So it wouldn't happen right away."

"Just don't hurt her, okay? I don't want people hurt on my account."

"...Parameters acceptable."

The two watched as the movie started up again.

"This movie is enjoyable," said Amaya. "Very 'heart warming', as they say."

"Yes, it is, isn't it?"

-uploading file-

"Faith Incident" (Unofficial Name)

-October, 2007. Arriving in Gensokyo earlier that year, the Moriya shrine quickly established itself with the tengu and the other youkai on and around the mountain. Unsatisfied with faith from youkai, the gods of that shrine commanded their shrine maiden, a Sanae Kochiya, to take over another Shinto shrine (the Hakurei shrine) that was closer to the Human Village in an effort to get a satellite shrine. Reimu Hakurei objected to this, and struck back against the mountain, along with Marisa Kirisame. The two fought off three different gods who attempted to keep them off the mountain. They were the twin goddesses of Fall, the Aki Sisters; the other god was Hina Kagiyama. Eventually the two humans met and fought against Nitori Kawashiro, who also attempted to keep them off the mountain. Two tengu, a Momiji Inubashiri and Aya Shameimaru, also attempted to stop them, but to no avail. Eventually Reimu and Marisa got to the Moriya shrine, and defeated Sanae Kochiya, before battling it against the god of wind and rain, Kanako Yasaka. Later, after Kanako's plan failed, Suwako Moriya, the true god of the shrine, challenged, and failed, against Reimu.

-Additional information: It's interesting that two gods are sharing the same shrine, especially since Kanako appears to be the 'alpha' while the namesake of the shrine seems content to go along with whatever Kanako plans. Upon further research of the lore surrounding these two, it's been discovered that Suwako Moriya, who is even older than Kanako (who is 2000 years old) was defeated by the wind god, and Kanako now uses the shrine as her own home base. Turns out that Kanako can access the faith from the shrine, but shares it with Suwako. The two may have started out as enemies, but their working together for the betterment of their shrine has benefited both and has made them close friends.

-Further information: It's been confirmed that Sanae Kochiya is in fact a descendant of Suwako Moriya. Sanae has been working with both gods, and the interesting thing is that she acts as a faith gatherer for both. This faith powers up both Suwako and Kanako, but that faith has to go through Sanae first.

-Addendum concerning Sanae: Recent scanning has revealed that Sanae may have benefited from such an action. The faith that is keeping her two gods alive may have activated in her body and due to the faint god blood within her, she - [data corrupted]

=STATUS: RESOLVED=

-File catalogued by Emiri Kimidori and Yuki Nagato.

-end file-

Kosuzu's ability is to decipher any text she comes across. And yes, she gained that ability after constant exposure to paranormal books. I had originally thought that she wasn't in any of the games, but she is a background character in one of the stages of Touhou 13.5: Hopeless Masquerade. She has shown up comparatively late in the Touhou lore, but she is the main character of one of the canon manga series. Forbidden Scrollery.

Another thing. Yamame's opening attack is quite famous...though maybe 'infamous' would be more appropriate. A LOT of people go down to it, even seasoned players. Lots of people consider it pretty much unavoidable if you're in the wrong part of the screen, and if you see the Lunatic run of her, one would be inclined to agree.

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