There have been several things that have happened since my last upload, most notably the next game having a demo, and two new manga out there. One involves Satori being a detective, though considering she can read minds, that makes her a cheating detective. Go look them up. The new game seems to be more... action-oriented than the others. Somewhat in the vein of the fighters, but different in its own right. It has to deal with a new resource that has popped up. I'll leave it to you to figure it out.

Anyways, I might have mentioned this, but the SA crew is pretty popular. Well, the Palace of the Earth Spirits residents. Okuu especially. There are so many remixes of her song alone, and Koishi keeps on being pretty high up in the popularity polls. She even unseated Reimu from number one.

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 (and partial writer) for this episode:

Smooglii

-you might need this. Nothing I could have done would have helped in a fight against a mind reader. Besides, I trust you were clever enough to figure out how to defeat her. If you are reading this, then I was correct. But the contents of the box will assist in the lower levels. Please take the pills, and carry the device. It's a Geiger counter. Just in case, you know? I admit, just the notion of hearing that it was a nuclear youkai was scary to me as well when I heard it in that limousine ride. There's-

There appeared to be pages missing from these notes, and even this note was partially slashed, making it unable to be fully read. The care package was open, so I had to assume Rin took the pages and did this damage to the remaining page. The contents didn't seem disturbed at all though.

Definitely not good. If Asahina had some words for us, they're gone.

The first thing that we saw when we came to the care package in the courtyard of the Palace of the Earth Spirits was a little black and yellow box, like a rather large cell phone. And like Asahina's note said, it was a Geiger counter. There was also a bottle of pills, with a radiation symbol on it. Rin had already gone down, and the elevator had to take its time going back up. The runes didn't allow us in until Rin had already reached the bottom, and that took a while, so it would take as long to come back up. Upon getting to the courtyard, we found the care package. Yukari was off doing something, according to those in the orb, as she had rushed out in somewhat of a panic. No amount of asking from our end was letting us know what was going on.

Whatever it was, it was giving me a bad feeling. I've spent most of the day relying on Yukari to come through for me, and suddenly she's gone. Not only that, but Asahina's care package was messed with, part of her notes were gone, which helped out in the previous battles...

No amount of sighing or whatever I could think of was getting rid of the tension that had been building up in my body. I was shaking again as I took a drink from my canteen, the slow realization of what was coming up soon - the final showdown with Utsuho Reiuji, and possibly even Hecatia herself.

I was right about what I said earlier. The holidays were stressful. Though granted, in my case it wasn't for the usual reasons.

[Nitori:] "Now, for those who don't know, a Geiger counter is a radiation measuring device. Lemme just put it this way about radiation. Just think of it as an invisible killer, okay? Think of scalding hot water, but without the water. It's just the invisible heat that damages you from the inside. That may be the best way you can understand radiation."

At least Nitori was in an information giving mood. Getting my mind off of potential bad situations of what could cause Yukari to rush out of 'command'. "I have to admit, since you guys are kinda stuck in some Edo-era place, I keep forgetting that you probably know some of the more modern aspects of my world."

[Eirin:] "How do you know about radiation anyways?"

[Nitori:] "I've done my research. Same as the librarian did to make her space tower thing."

[Patchouli:] "Sometimes modern books make their way into Gensokyo. I assume you found out about it that way?"

That's right. Patchouli did find out how to make her own space shuttle because of a magazine.

[Nitori:] "Exactly. I know how scary nuclear power and radiation can be for the Japanese."

Yeah, tell me about it.

[Alice:] "Sensei mentioned something like that in school back in the day. A nuclear weapon that wiped out two cities in an instant, essentially ending the largest war in human history."

Youmu let out a low whistle, shaking her head. "That amount of power is insane, and I've seen the showing of power by people in Gensokyo. But that's youkai. Humans killing other humans, wasn't it? Those weapons?"

"It was more like two separate weapons did that to two separate cities on two separate dates. Two bombs, to be more precise" Chiyuri shook her head as she continued looking into the care package. There was water, more equipment, ammo, and artificial mushroom blocks. "The blast was so intense that it vaporized people and left their shadows forever burned into the ground." She had a faraway look in her face as she paused what she was doing. "I've seen them, some first hand and some from photos. One of the more haunting for me was the person with a cane. It's just there, a clear human figure leaning on their cane. Just... gone. Their shadow on the ground."

I've seen the photos too, and yes, they are haunting. Seeing this equipment in the flesh was driving home what was coming up. I mean, if an Altered Orin wasn't bad enough, then Utsuho... Focus, man. One thing at a time here.

Chiyuri was checking out the Geiger counter after finding the pills in the supplies, having passed them around. "Let's see..." Chiyuri frowned, thinking hard. "Ah, zero to twenty five rems is okay - relatively safe. Twenty five to a hundred results in blood changes, so it starts hurting you. One hundred to two hundred causes a temporary drop in blood platelets and white blood cells, which means a weakened immune system. Uh... Two hundred to five hundred is... severe blood damage, nausea, hair loss, hemorrhages... and death. Over six hundred is a death sentence. You reach that level of radiation, you'll have less than two months to live. Anything more just results in a quicker but not less painful way to go. " She popped a pill. "So, yeah, I recommend taking these pills."

Can you keep this to yourself? I kinda don't want to know about this stuff. I know it's important considering the type of youkai up ahead, but I don't want to think about it. Ignorance was bliss in this situation.

Reimu was shaking her head as she held a pill in her hand. "You know, here in Gensokyo, I just gotta worry about a youkai eating me." She took the pill. "Now I gotta worry about my hair falling out as my body falls apart too?"

The pill was so bitter that I almost coughed it back up, but I forced it down. I didn't want any radiation problems, thank you.

"Everyone." That was Satori. She was staring at the lift, when she wasn't staring at Marisa. For some reason, Satori kept reading Marisa, much to the witch's discomfort. "We have an issue." She finally turned to the rest of us. "I was able to glimpse into Rin's mind while she was in that state."

"Oh?" Reisen looked interested. She was the one in our immediate group who had the most contact when it came to people with static in their eyes, after all. "When I was under, I remember being given commands."

[Kaguya:] "It wasn't the most pleasant experience."

"That's funny," snarked Mokou. "I thought you liked having people inside you."

Is this really the time, Mokou?! Thankfully nobody responded to the insult.

[Eirin:] "It felt like a dream, really. Or a nightmare where you can't control your body. That'd be more an apt description. Ah, forgive me, Miss Satori - what was your cat being forced to think?"

Satori hesitated with a somber look on her face. "There was a command going around her head as she stood there. Once you go down this lift, the altered outside will attack the city. They plan to overwhelm, take over, and attack your group from behind with the full force of this city."

I keep asking myself if things could get worse and they keep doing as such. I need to stop thinking while I'm ahead.

"Are you kidding me?" Tenshi frowned. "That fight... that fight to the city was kinda fun, but we barely survived it. If we add in everyone in the city to the fight, we're not gonna survive."

[Alice:] "You'll get torn to pieces. Everyone got pretty torn up from that fight, but more altered?"

[Remilia:] "Dammit, where's Yukari when you need her?"

Where are you, Yukari? We need you. I need you.

Yukari stared at the upside down furniture in Sasaki's room, before making her way down the halls to Haruhi's room. Ran would be okay, and the interfaces would recover given time. As long as they weren't totally destroyed, an interface would come back due to their regenerative properties. Chen was already cleaning up should any humans come back to these dormitories and start asking questions. Tsuruya was a wreck, crying and sobbing and worrying about how it all happened so fast when she turned her back.

Yukari had to calm her down yet again, telling her that whoever did this waited for her to not be there, that they timed her leaving with their attack. "I'm glad you thought about the others instead of leaving for your date. If you did, you wouldn't have known this happened, and wouldn't have told me." The enemy would have had both of them and I wouldn't have known.

They struck, and struck hard. Yukari's mind drifted back to the chess board. You spend a portion of the game getting your pieces in place, and wait for the right time to strike. Of course, sometimes the game takes a different course than what you plan for it to, so you have to think on the fly. But you usually still have a few pieces out there in position to force moves or force your opponent not to move. For instance, you can hold a piece in place if it's the only thing keeping the king piece from getting checked, effectively taking it out of the equation of the match until either you are ready to move against the king, or the enemy moves the king out of the planned path of attack.

...

...Planned path of attack. Her thoughts kept drifting back to the early constructed lift for the next several moments, her own gut sensing that something was still wrong about it. That was an important and big issue, all that power, water, and the ability to trade with the underground.

If Satori had it built, she had to have given permission. Which means that the Moriya shrine-

Yukari blinked.

She opened a portal, leaving Ran in Tsuruya and Chen's care.

The Moriya shrine. Things sure were different for this plot of land than the last time Yukari was seriously there. She allowed her mind to briefly go back to when she traveled back in time to catch the anomaly on tape.

I should have figured it out sooner than I did. But thankfully hindsight is 20/20, right?

The whole place was covered in danmaku scarring, which was already being covered in snow. In front of the shrine was a knocked out person - the little body's unique hat indicating that it was Moriya herself. Yukari approached it, already sensing the presence behind her.

"You're not being clever, you know. Or is that how you announce yourself?" Yukari turned to face the girl - she had a familiar face, and two familiar blue-gray horns stuck up through her black, red-and-white-streaked hair. "I guess I overestimated you... Seija Kijin. Well, not my Seija, now are you?"

The alternate Seija was floating a meter over the ground, tilted at an odd angle. Her posture was subtly different from the one Yukari knew; more relaxed, but at the same time, much more precise and confident. "You really did go to the future. I bet you think you know me, right?" Her tone of voice had a similar edge to it; this was a much older, more experienced soul. One that had taken a different path through life.

"I know the you of this universe... and I know the real you." Yukari gave a small smile. "As for the person before me, who can say?"

"You sure are cocky for someone who's been outplayed this whole time."

Yukari turned her eyes down on the screen of the cell phone for but a moment, typing out a message with her thumb before putting it away. "That's because you messed up."

Seija grimaced. "If that stupid rich bitch left the building, we wouldn't be having this conversation. Why the hell was she getting coffee for everyone..."

You can plan for a lot. One thing that's hard to plan for is the human element. "Yes, and I wouldn't have known that you've taken Haruhi, Sasaki... and Koishi." Yukari slowly nodded, feeling elated when Seija's eyes widened in response to that. "Vanilla timeline, isn't it? When Koishi saw the lift down in the underground, she'd get curious and visit the ones behind it. She visits the Moriya shrine after the incident was over." The boundary youkai sighed, still smiling a smile of understanding. "That was the only way to force her to visit a location. She's just too random otherwise, alternating between the surface and the underground at pure id, and it's near impossible to find her unless she approaches you, or another person." Yukari looked to the downed Moriya. "The only way to find Koishi was to know beforehand, and you forced her to visit early, didn't you?"

Seija was gritting her teeth. "Why the hell are you smiling? We won, you idiot. Everyone in that group you sent down there is gonna die."

Yukari debated on bluffing, but decided on the truth as she returned her attention to the amanojaku. The truth would hurt much more in this situation anyway. "Because all the pieces on the board are exposed to me. I was wondering, you know? What would the play be from your side?" Yukari reached into a portal, and pulled out her parasol. "Now? Now this is the situation in chess that one calls 'end game.'" She opened it, as the portal went behind her, and she sat in the cup of it. She floated up in the air to meet Seija's height. "Your side got really sloppy. Which is a shame, since you almost covered every base which honestly impressed me. But signing the runes with her own name?" Yukari shook her head and clicked her tongue. "That's just pure arrogance. It's almost embarrassing to fight such arrogant opponents. Arrogance is a deadly sin for a reason."

The amanojaku was getting red in the face. "Are you stupid? You've already lost. It's over."

"Mmm-hmm." Yukari glanced down at the still knocked out Moriya. "The only way you could have won against the interfaces, Ran, and Moriya there would be if you attacked them from an angle they weren't expecting." She returned her attention to the amanojaku. "And like I just said, I can see all the pieces now. The early lift was really bothering me. But thanks to you and how badly you handled the abductions, this is game over."

"They're all going to die underground!"

"Are you sure about that? I mean, you were sure I wouldn't have found out about the abductions, correct?" Yukari brought out a fan, opening it and covering her mouth with it as she created multiple portals behind her. "Oh, and if you and I are to fight, I can guarantee you that I'm not some faith-starved god like the one on the ground. Don't worry. My group can do without me for a few more minutes while I play with you." Yukari then motioned to the amanojaku, dropping the fan to reveal a sure smile. "Now then. Come attack me."

The Meltdown of Haruhi Suzumiya

[Episode 7]

["The Lust of Rin Kaenbyou"]

Hellfires of Times Past.

Remains of the Blazing Hell.

-Stage 5, Touhou 11: Subterranean Animism

"Wow, you really did a number on this place."

Yuugi's voice penetrated the tense atmosphere of the Palace, and I saw her standing by the hole in the wall. Behind her, Goeiki and a few other youkai were hanging back behind the wall, looking oddly timid, which confused me until I saw Yuugi flash Satori a wicked grin that made Satori turn away and put her hand over her third eye like it was a reflex from touching hot coals. If I had to guess, our new mind-reading friend had just been made to witness some unpleasant images.

Wha- Was that really necessary?!

"Don't worry about it," Satori mumbled to me, taking her hand off her eye and pointing it at me instead of her. "It's their only defense against me."

This is your house, though!

"Figured I'd come make sure you're all right. Got pretty noisy over here." Yuugi's eyes went between the lot of us, counting heads, and when she'd accounted for all of us, she shrugged and said. "Guess it was pointless."

"They didn't finish her..." I heard Goeiki mutter from behind the wall.

"Man, I had dibs on a cushy management job," said someone else. More voices followed, and it quickly became apparent that the real reason most of the other youkai had come here was to try and seize Satori's position and property. They were proper vultures, too - some of them left right away, but others still hung around, watching for further opportunities.

I think I'm starting to hate this place.

"Yuugi," said Satori, still averting her eyes. "The Altered are planning an attack on the city. A real one."

"Huh, really?" Yuugi's casual mood was not affected in the least by the news, but she stood up straight and looked down on Satori, showing that we had her attention.

Satori looked at me, then at Reisen, then finally at the floating yin-yang orb and said, "You won't win if they destroy us, and your group is big enough to split. We need your help."

[Eirin:] "Big enough to split doesn't mean big enough to win. We're expecting casualties down there."

She said it. She said it in front of everyone. Eirin's matter-of-fact statement that some of us might - or in her mind, almost certainly would - die in the upcoming battle was... not an inspiring statement, to say the least, but we were all thinking it.

Satori looked between the rest of us, lingering once more on Reisen, then said, "...The rabbit will be enough."

"You..." Reisen's ears flopped down as she stared at the Satori like she was crazy. "You do realize that I'm here-"

"You are a soldier, and that is why I'd like you to defend." Satori glanced over us. "Isn't securing the flank a part of a soldier's job?" Before Reisen could say anything- "Your skills as a sniper could be immensely useful too, if you had to use lethal force."

Reisen fell silent, looking to the orb, wanting an answer from her master, apparently.

"If they take over the city, the Altered force will be too big for your group to handle. We'll all be overwhelmed." Satori gave a shrug. "And what would be the point of all this with that outcome?"

"Hey, I won't say no to the rabbit joining us." Yuugi smiled over the bunny. "You're trained to fight, unlike some of these idiots." She pointed her thumb at the other guards. "Some of the defenders of the city right now are just guys in armor and with a weapon."

And nasty attitudes.

Reisen was still awaiting an answer.

[Eirin:] "Yukari isn't here, but if it were up to me..."

[Kaguya:] "And it looks like it is."

[Eirin:] "I'd have you defend the rear right now."

Reisen stepped up to the orb, slightly confused. "Master? You actually-"

[Eirin:] "I won't argue it - Miss Satori's logic is sound. I'd probably make that very decision if I were down there. Udonge, you've been training under me after all. I know your capabilities. Besides. If you aren't able to handle some under grounders, then you haven't met my expectations of you."

"...Master..."

[Patchouli:] "Satori, you're just asking for the rabbit, right?"

The mind reader gave a nod to the orb. "As soon as the elevator starts going down, the attack will come." She turned to the rest of us. "Please give us fifteen minutes before you go down, okay? That should give us time to set up defenses." Again she looked to Marisa for a second, before Satori approached me.

"I have no need for these." She surprised me by handing me a collection of spell cards. Not the entire deck she had during our fight, but ones she personally picked out. "You might make better use of them."

The recollection cards?! But-

"You having a larger deck and more attack options could come in handy. These are the best cards you have witnessed, and you know what each does."

She didn't even give me a chance to speak, placing them in my hands. On top of the deck she was handing me was the monster Ryoko one, and I briefly looked through them. The sword extenders, Tenshi's hyper armor, barrier cards, Reisen's sleeping gas - wait, the demotivators too?!I had the girls' best cards. "I-I don't know what to say, Miss Komeiji-"

She slightly raised her hand, the corner of her mouth going up in a smile. "Satori. You've taken me down and definitely earned my respect." She then turned around, walking to the torn down wall. "What's coming next might be too difficult for you, but I do hope that you having further options can give you more confidence and ability in getting past the challenges in store." She stopped, staring at Marisa again. "...I hope we're doing the right thing here. Oh." She paused, as if remembering something. "If you can help it, can you avoid any real lasting damage against Orin or Okuu? If you can? If she's that far gone that she has that static that you hate, it might come to..." It was obvious what she was implying, but would like to avoid. Satori then walked to the torn down wall, stepping outside, which got some murmurs from the guards. "As for me, however, I'm no longer going to sit in my home while my city is threatened." Satori stopped outside, looking up at the snow that was falling down. "It's not healthy, after all. No more sitting on my hands hiding. I may be hated by everyone in it, but this is still my city, damn it." She turned her attention to the rabbit. "You coming?"

Reisen was pursing her lips, still unsure. "...Reimu."

"Hmm?"

"You guys going to be okay without me?"

"Honestly I'd prefer if you stayed, but if they think you can help stop a wave youkai from attacking from behind, then I'm for it."

Personally, I was still torn on the idea. Reisen was a big force multiplier, as she proved during the fight to the city. To lose a trained fighter... though if she was guarding the rear, it would still be having her put her abilities to good use. Yeah, the logic was sound but it didn't mean I completely liked it.

Reisen slowly nodded. "Ah..." She perked her head up, as if realizing something. "Oh, right. There was something I had to do if another insult was flung."

Reisen brought up her gun and pointed it at Mokou's head.

And she fired.

Nobody was expecting that. The loud sound just put me into a small shock that it took me a while to comprehend what Reisen did, as Mokou's body just whipped back, falling to the floor.

Reisen stared down at what she did, frowning. "I took no pleasure in that, you know? But I told you what I was gonna do if you insulted my princess one more time. This is just in case I don't get the chance later if the world ends."

What the hell?!

Reisen turned around, and walked out of the palace.

This is beyond screwed up! Koizumi appeared to be the only person to share my sentiment, equal looks of confusion, anger, and surprise on his face. I guess everyone else was just used to Mokou dying again.

Of course, Kaguya's laughing over the orb didn't help my mental state.

Yukari smiled at her opponent, who was breathing heavily, and whose clothes were in disarray from all the danmaku blasts. "My my. If you're supposed to be strong, then-"

"Stop..." Seija grit her teeth, her anger blatantly taking over. "Stop talking!"

"-Then your master must be very disappointed in you. I hope your master isn't as disappointing if your fighting abilities are to be taken into consideration. I mean, after all, your fairy got taken down by an ordinary human."

"You're so talkative in this universe! Why can't you be like your other selves and shut up?!"

[SPELL CARD: AERIAL BAIT "LACED WITH VENOM"]

Activating a spell card, Yukari still kept her smile. Dozens of transparent squares appeared around Seija, each emitting a tracer laser in a seemingly random direction, before shooting the lasers a second later. Seija let out a groan as one of the lasers went up her arm.

[SPELL CARD: FANTASY NEST "NEST OF FIREFLIES"]

Yukari didn't let up. As soon as Seija got hit, she activated another spell card. Transparent circles appeared behind Yukari, and it took another second before they fired a barrage of sharp danmaku.

"This is why we hate you no matter the universe!" Seija clenched her teeth when her kneecap took a direct hit. "You're so unfair!"

"You as in your group? Or you as in all Seijas across the multiverse? Because I aim to please all parties equally." Yukari clasped her hands, a sparkle in her eyes. "Or do you mean all of them? I do hope that's the case!" She leaned forward, grinning. "You know, I'm not all bad. I'm going to give you a chance, so you can't complain later." Her grin widened. "Well, who am I kidding? You'll complain later despite whatever happens. That's an amanojaku for you."

"Chance for what?"

"Your only chance for survival is if you help us right now. I'm making you an offer. Join us against your boss, or I'll have you all wiped out."

Seija grit her teeth, pure rage on her face. "Are you kidding me?! I'd never work with you! No instance of me would ever work with a Yukari!"

"...Are you sure about that?"

"As sure as I am that you're gonna lose."

Yukari slowly nodded, bringing up a spell card in silence as the snow continued to fall around them. The only sounds were their breathing in the cold winter air.

"...I know."

[SPELL CARD: SHIKIGAMI "RAN YAKUMO"]

Seija's eyes widened as Ran Yakumo came blazing right for her, in perfect condition and with no danmaku scarring anywhere on her.

"What's the matter?" asked Yukari as Ran connected with Seija in the midsection, knocking the wind out of her. The demon waited for Seija to regain her breath, already calling back Ran. "My my." Yukari brought up her closed fan to her lips, still unable to contain her smile. "Now, I wonder who's wasting who's time here."

Seija's anger faded, her body having a pang of panic shoot through it. "...What? What did you do...?" Seija stared at where Ran disappeared. "But... I... I knocked her..."

"I told you, didn't I? They can do without my guidance for a while. Now then." She opened the fan, hiding her grin behind it. "You and I still have time to play."

Seija just stared at Yukari, wide eyed. "You have... you have it..."

"The idiot princess got to me. I don't hold anything against the rabbit for doing that." Mokou rubbed her head where she was shot when she came back to life. She casually looked behind her, to where the bullet had lodged into the wall - it went clean through her. "Lucky it didn't get stuck in. I'da had the bullet in my skull when the Hourai elixir did it's thing."

Just when I think getting shot was bad, you made it worse. Aw man, can you imagine? Having that stuck inside your - you know what? I'm not going to think about it any more. That just makes me shiver!

[Kaguya:] "I'm somewhat surprised you don't go after her to get to me."

"You kiddin'? She gives meds to the village n' all. She saves so many lives." Mokou lit up a new cigarette. "Reisen contributes to the village and is useful, unlike you."

And that excuses her putting a bullet in your head?!

To say that the relations between some of the people in Gensokyo were complex could be an understatement. Though it's also simple, in a way. After all, these girls battle against each other constantly, and I guess Mokou was used to dying so much that she doesn't mind it. Even the other girls of Gensokyo didn't seem to really mind it. After all, Mokou regularly does it to herself in non-lethal fights. Seriously, she wasn't angry over it. The rest of us, us being Koizumi and I, were rather upset that one of our group killed another member, but... This is just so screwed up!

"Are you sure you're okay?" Koizumi was still fretting over this.

"I'm fine." Mokou waved her hand dismissively. "I'll even kill myself by eating poisonous mushrooms every now and then. Makes me stronger, you know?"

"Geez, you're almost like that American comic book villain. I forget his name-" Sanae scrunched up her face, thinking. "Deadday? Doomspool? No, Doomsday. Every time he dies he comes back stronger."

No, every time he dies, he becomes immune to how he died. Not just 'stronger'. I corrected Sanae, who nodded.

The elevator had finally reached us, and due to Satori's request, we waited those fifteen minutes. During that time, we didn't have much else to do.

Of course, we had a talkative member in our group, whose weather Tenshi had brought out to heal us all up so I didn't have to waste a vial.

"You think they'll ever tell our story?" Sanae said in between gulps of water from her canteen. "I mean, of what went on here? In some form? And no, I'm not talking about it being put in a paper nobody reads."

[Aya:] "Hey!"

Reimu ignored Aya's outburst as she answered Sanae. "Like... you talk about your anime, and manga, and whatnot. But all it is is modern day storytelling. You have such ways to express stories, in ways people in Gensokyo might have some trouble understanding. But I've seen that Alien movie, so, it's possible for someone like me to grasp the scope of such a story." Reimu let out a small smile. "I wonder what happens to Ripley, if she made it back."

"She, uh, does, but she goes back to the planet to exterminate them. After she overshot Earth and ended up in cryosleep for far too long, outlasting her own daughter." Reimu shot me a look like I was crazy. "It's complicated. And that wasn't even in the theatrical release, but it's canon." Though sorry for spoiling it for you. But when would she realistically see the other Alien movies? As far as I knew, Gensokyo had no real means of showing movies.

Also actually, yeah, the Alien plot is quite screwed up when you take into account the cut content. Tangent.

Sanae looked up to the ceiling of the underground, snow still drifting down into the courtyard. "I just really wonder if someone would tell our story as it is, and not behind some sensational headline."

It's kind of interesting to think of this stuff. "I mean, there's no doubt that our lives concerning Gensokyo certainly would be interesting enough material for some form of media."

Koizumi gave a smile. "No doubt the situations we got into during our time in High School would be interesting as well."

[Patchouli:] "If you were a character in such a story, how would they make one of your long winded theories interesting?"

I barely contained my laughter. Koizumi just smiled at the orb. "Oh, well, if they balanced my exposition with the interesting set pieces, you could have good pacing make up for it."

"Or they'd have to get someone really good to voice you, so it's worth listening." I didn't think I'd be this into such a conversation, but I was. Huh. I never gave it such thought. I suppose what I've experienced might make an interesting series if someone were to write it all down or even go so far as to animate it.

"Dwelling on it, I really wouldn't mind if someone retold our story." Koizumi gave one of his... well, this was a cross between a fake and a genuine smile. Like he was somewhat sarcastically saying it, but also meant some of it. "It would be nice to get some recognition in the public eye, even if it were fantasized. I understand the importance of secrecy regarding my line of work, but I don't think a little understanding would be bad." He gave a wide grin. "Besides, it's so fantastical that even if you did publish it, it might sound too out there to even be partially true."

"I actually did tell Haruhi what was going on once."

Koizumi blinked, his smile disappearing. "Excuse me?" The looks of slight shock on the faces of the girls had matched Koizumi's.

Huh. So none of you knew I did that. I shook my head. "She just didn't believe me. I straight up told her what was going on, and she belittled me for making things up." I shrugged, giving a frown. "It's not like I've been trying since. I just said it out loud once, and never brought it back up." A thought crossed my mind, a little sadism growing in my thoughts, of what to tell Koizumi, if I should tell him exactly what Haruhi had to say. I did say I was going to get back at you. This can be a little part of that. "'There is no possible way that all the brigade members I randomly chose could be that special!' That was her reaction to it. She even guessed you were an esper when I started telling her everything. She got so upset at me that she drank my coffee and had me pay for her drink too."

Koizumi kept his stare for a few seconds, before forcing a smile. "Sounds like her. She doesn't like anybody messing with her." He slowly let out his breath. "It's sort of relieving to hear that I was doing my job so well that even when someone told her what I was, no, when she herself guessed it, she didn't believe it."

True. You did keep it secret, and did such a good job that when the truth was told it wasn't believed.

"Can you imagine if you updated everything that's happened since then, ze?" Marisa chuckled. "Celestials, closed spaces, world of youkai, aliens, time travelers, espers, and world threatening incidents. It's actually a lot wilder than the tengu manga here in Gensokyo."

If I told her everything that's happened since, Haruhi might simply slap me.

"Something like that sounds like it might have something for everyone." Reimu slowly nodded, putting away her canteen as she finished drinking from it. "I'd read it."

Koizumi slightly regained his fake smile. "Yeah but I'm in the middle of it and it seems like a complete mess at times. I shudder to think how much trouble an outsider would have keeping track of everything. You'd have to put forth real effort to understand what's going on, and sadly, not too many people are willing to put forth such effort to enjoy a series." He raised an eyebrow at me, the corner of his mouth frowning in disapproval. "That was really risky, you know."

"Weren't you the one who told me that her logical side keeps her in check? It worked out."

"When did you tell her?"

"Right after her attempt to recreate the world at North High."

"That long ago?" He slowly nodded. "Huh. I think you told me this...?" He rubbed the back of his head. "Maybe... I remember something like that, or someone else told me you did that."

"There is a lot to keep track of in our lives."

"Quite." He took in a deep breath, his fake smile spreading across his face after a moment, resetting his usual attitude. "Like the consequences of a baseball game or even making that movie."

Telling stories, due to performances, or even through media. Would anyone even believe everything I've gone through? I hardly believe it sometimes. But to actually put it out there for all to see like some movie?

"Ha," Reimu sighed. "If I could show movies, the Hakurei Shrine would get a lot of visitors."

As if on cue, my mind drifted to when Reimu taking me aside that day the girls visited the outside world, after we got out of the movie theater, wondering how such images were shown. I had to explain to her (while Koizumi kept Haruhi busy) the basic notion of animation, where multiple images simulated movement. Then light goes through these transparent images at such a speed that it looks like its moving, hence "movies." My explanation was quick and messy, so I don't know if she really understood it, but she got the gist of why movies exist - to record performances and show them without the performers elsewhere.

Maybe I just take modern stuff for granted, but it was still kind of a culture shock to see someone my age not get how movies work.

"Takes a lot of equipment to show movies. You need a power source, a projector, a media player, the media to play, and a screen to show it all. Oh and all the connections between them." I then noticed that Reimu was giving me her full attention. "Wait you're seriously-"

"It takes a lot of prep time for performances. It was amazing to just sit down and have a performance play out in front of me with mere flashes of light." Reimu shook her head. "When we went to the outside world, I had so many questions, but Yukari told me that I would see a lot of things I wouldn't understand, and just accept some of them." She stared at the platform, as if she was already ready to get going. "Loud, metal carts moving by themselves on those stone roads, stone and glass everywhere, flashing lights on those objects, buildings that stretched to the sky, and readily available food and drink in those... what did you call them... vending machines? Things I could never even dream of. I really wanted to ask you more about things other than just how movies worked. People talking on those phone things. You know how amazing your world is? You can contact other people clear on the other side of the planet." The miko looked a bit frustrated. "All those tools and... everything. It was kind of overwhelming and wonderful at the same time to see it all in action. I never really cared too much for that stuff before, you know?

"Makes you wanna respect the stuff in Kourindou more, huh?" Marisa was smiling. "I got that feeling too, ze. I look at that stuff from the outside world, and after seeing a lot of it in action, I'm kinda curious to how some of that stuff really works."

"Performances are fun!" Sunny's eyes were brightened after hearing about this stuff. "So we can use light to make a show?" That was the extent of what she understood, apparently.

"It takes equipment, little fairy." I looked at my cell phone's clock. Fifteen minutes already. "All right... Enough chit chat."

[Alice:] "Are you all ready? You go down there, the attack starts."

"I'm ready." Reimu was the first on the elevator. It was actually quite huge, able to accommodate our group and still have room.

The lift itself looked to be made of metal, but glowed yellow. In the center of it, was a ying yang symbol, surrounded by a pattern that looked like Marisa's mini-Hakkero, further surrounded by some more designs. They were kind of hard to make out due to the glow. At least we won't be in complete darkness as we delve even deeper underground.

[Reisen:] "I really do hope you guys are ready."

"Reisen?" It took me a while, but I realized it was coming from the orb. Wait, did you... did you go back to the surface that quickly or-

[Reisen:] "This was in the care package. A little radio. Seems like I can keep in contact with you guys. Hey, uh, Mokou?"

"S'cool. You did warn me and I still did it. Ain't gonna hold a grudge."

You should! She shot you in the head!

[Reisen:] "I still killed you."

Exactly!

"I pissed you off. Forget about it."

I wouldn't! I mean, I've forgiven Reisen for shooting at me, since she wasn't in control. This was different. This time she intentionally shot a bullet at someone!

"So this is it, huh?" Sakuya gulped as she entered the lift, the final person to do so. "This is really it."

Tenshi cracked her knuckles, before ending Sanae's weather - we were fully healed. "Case it goes south, it's been really fun being with you all, you know?" She smirked. "I'm serious. I haven't had this much fun in centuries. I'm glad I met you all."

"Threatening our homes and land with an earthquake?" Luna clicked her tongue. "You have a very warped sense of fun."

"What was fun was beating you!" Cirno smirked right back at Tenshi.

"You didn't beat me, fairy. I knocked you-" Tenshi shook her head, not wanting to deal with the idiot fairy. "Never mind."

"We all knew what was at stake when we started this." Youmu was taking the time to inspect her katana, and she didn't look up from it as she spoke. "Either we do this, or there won't be a Gensokyo tomorrow."

"May not be a livable Earth tomorrow." Chiyuri activated the Geiger counter, before going to the lift controls. "Yukari said that in a vanilla timeline, this Okuu would cover the world in nuclear fire if she wins. Now? Now I don't know what to think might happen if we lose." She looked to Reimu.

The miko gave a nod.

A push of a lever, and a grinding of gears humming to life indicated that we started to descend even further into the Earth.

[Reisen:] "All right, you must've gone down, cause these guys are going wild. Gonna go radio silent on my part, since this looks like it'll get ugly!"

"Good luck, Reisen!" Come back alive, okay? I'll try to do the same.

[Remilia:] "Happy hunting, all of you."

"Are the preparations complete?"

Akyuu looked back to the gathering of people who were praying in front of the dragon statue. More and more had seen that the eyes had gotten even redder, to the point where they were giving off a red haze. "Yes, but I'd like to know what we're ultimately praying for. It didn't take much for people to join me in the prayer, but-"

"It'll be all right." Yukari let out a breath into her hands, trying to stay warm. "I've provided you instructions."

Akyuu frowned. "Where?"

"Just dropped them into your pocket."

Akyuu grunted, reaching into her kimono and producing a letter. "I'd wish you'd stop portaling stuff onto my person. That's very annoying and invasive, you know."

"I'd like to-" Before Yukari went further, her cell phone vibrated. "Excuse me." She took several steps away from Akyuu, keeping her eyes on the crowd. "Chen? ...No, it's fine. When Ran is better, she'll be good to go." Yukari allowed her eyes to drift to the mountain for a moment, before she returned her attention to the crowd of people. "Of course I won't push her. It's not like I'm going to use her for a spell card in the near future. But will you be good to go?" Yukari scanned the crowd, looking for that little head with the bells on her hair. "That's good to hear. But is Ran good to move now?" Yukari's gaze kept on Kosuzu in the crowd for a moment. "Good. What of the interfaces? ...If they're not dead, they can recover. If Emiri says she can continue, then she can take care of cleanup. Tell Tsuruya to go if she wants-" Yukari rolled her eyes to what she was hearing. "I swear, that girl. Fine. If she wants to look over interfaces when they don't need it, let her skip her date. Get Ran ready to move, a portal will be coming your way in a bit, and we'll meet at the SDM."

Yukari was about to put the phone away,when something was said on the other end that caught her attention. "...A message, huh? Could you repeat it to me?"

She stood there in silence for a moment, before slowly taking in a breath. "I see. So that's how it is." With that, she ended the call.

Yukari kept her cell phone in her hand, looking at it, before returning her attention back to Akyuu, who had taken the time to read the letter.

"This is..." Akyuu slowly shook her head. "This is kind of too specific, isn't it? Why only them?"

"It'd be the extent of the dragon's power. Otherwise I'd send the whole group in." Yukari tapped her cell phone on her body before putting it away. "I have to work with the limits, and figure out a way to be as efficient as possible."

"Like that attempted SDM invasion of the moon, right?"

Yukari chuckled. "Yes, quite right. There are limits to wishes, after all. Whomever... or whatever is granting them needs to be able to handle the power of that wish." Yukari sighed, readjusting her cloak. "Well, wish me luck then. I have a lot to accomplish in the next few moments."

Akyuu put away the letter, getting ready to go back to praying, not bothering to conceal her annoyance with her friend. "Oh, yes, you have that time travel device, correct? Don't you have all the time in the world?"

Yukari grinned, opening a portal in an alley. "Yes. Something our opponent no longer has access to either."

Seija clenched her fists, struggling to breathe. Yukari was just slinging spell cards at her, one after another, and most of them were connecting. Nothing Seija did even came close. Her power wasn't even affecting Yukari. "...How... how are you doing this?!"

Yukari's smile didn't falter. "Maybe you really aren't as strong as you think you are." Ran and Chen were with her, and instead of using them to attack the amanojaku, she had them prepare tea. Yukari leaned back in her portal, as Chen handed her a cup. The demon savored the caramel scent, before taking a sip. "Mmm. Delicious. Hojicha just might be my favorite type of tea during cold weather. Isn't a fresh hot cup of tea just the thing for such a winters day?" Yukari's smile went wider upon seeing Seija's anger. "What's the matter? Not a fan of tea?"

Seija looked like she wanted to shout something, probably some vulgar obscenities again, but she appeared to have recomposed herself. Seija kept staring.

"Didn't I tell you? This is endgame." Yukari leaned forward, handing Ran her cup, when Seija didn't say anything. "What's the matter, cheater?"

Seija kept staring at Yukari, the amanojaku looking like she was shrinking under her gaze. She once again opened her mouth to speak.

"Mallet."

Yukari's smile dropped. She opened up her fan and covered it up. "...I see. No matter the iteration, you always were clever."

"...Always?"

Yukari clicked her tongue.

Seija slowly nodded, defiance on her face, but did so as she was backing away. "You somehow got it to work..." The amanojaku took in a deep breath. "That's why-"

"-This is endgame." Yukari opened up more portals surrounding the youkai. "You-"

Seija waved her arm behind her, the closed-eye portal opening up behind her, and she jumped in, the portal closing just as quick.

Yukari sighed as she closed her own portals, a little miffed by the hasty retreat the alternate amanojaku took. Being handed back the cup, Yukari took the time to savor the taste and the view of Gensokyo before she would have to become active again.

She then looked down at the knocked out Moriya before reaching into her dress and producing the golden mallet. Yukari tapped the mallet on the god's head, causing Moriya to stir.

Yukari looked to her two servants as she tucked the mallet back in her clothes. "Let's get going. We have a lot of work to do."

We were silent as we went down, the clanking of the gears drowning out all else as we slowly descended further into former Hell proper. The elevator was maddeningly slow, giving us time to reassess everything. It reminded me of the part in Biohazard 2, where the protagonist takes that long elevator ride down before the final area. Even sounded like it, at least, to how I remembered it.

This was it, and we knew it.

If Chiyuri was correct, then this was all or nothing. We would be destined to lose, to die down here. And when we did, the world would come to an end.

But that was with just Reimu, Marisa, and the SOS Brigade going up against this creature. We had added the Flower Master Yuka, the immortal Mokou, the celestial Tenshi, the Esper Ace Chiyuri, a time stopper in Sakuya, one hell of a samurai in Youmu, the master magician Mima, my two puppet bodyguards Shanghai and Hourai, fairies, and we also had others backing us up topside, among other parts of this place.

Oh and the Stranger. I again forgot about her. She's good at staying out of the way. Looking at her, again, the only part I could see was the lower half of her face and some of her pink hair. The rest was covered by the cloak.

Still... It's never enough though. It never is. The four of us against Yuyuko...we almost got wiped out. The twelve-plus of us against the SCD...we came close to being killed. Against Tenshi, if Sanae didn't show up, it might not have been enough. Heck, even against Seija, I couldn't win until I brought in someone else from the opposite side - Sunny. Cynical, yes, but also true. We really lucked out to survive those incidents.

But this incident...

...to go up against a youkai that has control over nuclear power...

...and that we were destined to die against...

Everyone else was doing pretty much the same - making sure that they were physically ready. Thanks to the care package resupplying us, we were good there. The ones on the radio were quiet as well, I guess knowing that we needed this silence. Hourai tugged on my sleeve, pointing out that her left arm was damaged from the battle with Satori. I repaired it, as quiet as she was. She just calmly stared up at me, I guess with trust? I don't know. But it was just calming. Replacing the arm, I patted it, to which the doll gave me a nod. Shanghai also nodded in approval.

Reimu was on her knees, eyes closed - as if she was silently praying. I think that's what she was doing. Her breathing was steady.

"How can you be so calm, Reimu?"

She didn't open her eyes. "You kidding? I'm scared out of my mind."

Surprising you even admit that! "You certainly aren't acting like it." Seriously, she was her usual self. If she was scared she was doing a damn good job at hiding it.

"A little fear for your own safety and for the safety of others is good. Keeps you alive and alert."

"In case we don't make it, miko..." Mima paused, as if she was debating whether she should continue or not. It didn't last long. "...You're one of the best fighters I've come across."

*click*

Before anyone could respond, all of us heard it as we saw it. The thing that had made a noise was a single click of the Geiger counter, and the elevator had passed a large yellow and black nuclear symbol that had taken up the side of a wall as a warning.

Oh God. Oh God oh God oh God.

Dread shot through my body, as it had to have happened with my companions. All of our heads perked up, all our eyes drawn to the symbol.

I swallowed hard, the full weight coming down on me. All my courage, everything was ebbing away. This was it. My breathing became shallow, and I did my best not to start shaking, though I was internally.

"Hey, hey." Marisa put her hand on my arm. "Calm down. Don't lose it now, ze. Your friends and the world are counting on you."

I took a deep breath. I had to focus. I had to think of Haruhi and Nagato, and all my friends. I had to think of my mother, my father, my sister. Everyone I cared about. The people who lived in my town, hell, the people of the world. If I died there, they wouldn't see the next sunrise.

I scoffed at myself. This is what I wanted when I was younger, to be put into this situation.

Can't blame anybody but myself for this.

We stared at the wall, even though the symbol had passed. My body was tense after seeing that, the fear still gripping my body. Just when I had begun to ease up, it happened again.

*click click*

Two more clicks of the Geiger counter. Another symbol passed. I clenched my jaw and my fists, trying not to shake even more.

"Just in case..." Chiyuri stepped to Koizumi and me. She had brought out her 1911, and ejected the magazine and the chambered bullet. "Just in case something happens to me and you can use my gun." There was a somber look on her face. "So you can defend yourselves, you know?" She showed us how to eject the magazine, where the safety was, and the crash course workings of the gun. "Oh, and don't hold it too high. This gun is custom-fitted for my smaller hands, but if you boys grab it, don't hold it too high up the grip." She pointed at the hammer. "Hammer bite hurts, okay? It's a moving metal part, and if your flesh is anywhere near a quick moving metal part, it's gonna get chewed up." She held up her right hand, showing a barely visible scar on the webbing between her index finger and her thumb, all while having a wry smile. "I learned that the hard way. Hurts so bad you might drop the gun."

Honestly, I was a little iffy on using guns. I told her as such.

"It's okay. Like Reisen said, they're only tools." She smiled. "Just keep your finger off the trigger and don't point it at anything you don't want dead. As long as you're careful, it's no more dangerous than that sword. Probably less, actually."

"Hopefully we won't need to resort to using your gun, Miss Chiyuri."

"Koizumi, how many times I gotta-"

*click click*

That silenced us. It kept happening. Click of the Geiger, another symbol. They were getting more frequent. Eventually the elevator was slowing down, the heat getting way more intense. Even with the fire charms, I could feel it.

"Heh." Tenshi approached my side. "Speaking of anime, if this was an anime? You just missed the hot springs episode."

It took me a few seconds to understand that, to put it together. Tenshi was right. Gensokyo had been enjoying a boon of hot springs, and the Hakurei hot springs was also-

"Hakurei hot springs is kinda small, so it's mixed bathing at times."

Please don't be putting these thoughts into my head right now. I mean, I get you're trying to ease the tension here. But...

...

...Mixed bathing with these beautiful girls...

...

...Mixed bathing while being pretty much the only guy surrounded by these girls...

My mind wandered so far at that point, actually sending a shiver down my spine. I had to catch myself from thinking about it, well, thinking about it further. I mean, come on - it's a male fantasy. You experience hot springs, it's a male fantasy.

A hot springs encounter with all of them at once-

I clenched my fists, digging my nails into my palm. Now's not the time, you idiot! Passion, if you're ever gonna show maximum control over yourself in my life, now is the time. Also, Sanae and Youmu were expectantly looking over to me, watching for my reaction, obviously. Sanae in a hot spring- Stop it you idiot! But she would have a literal god-like body. Stop! Tenshi's smug face was just so irritating, however. I don't want to attack you, Tenshi. We don't need that - Reisen shooting Mokou was too far already. But the celestial's level of smugness was just begging for someone to smack her. I would have preferred Reimu do it though. Koizumi, however, was avoiding my gaze. I still haven't forgotten you leaving me high and dry earlier. I swear I'll get back at you if it's the last thing I do.

Tenshi was having too much fun leading my mind down a certain path. "If I were you, I'd feel cheated."

Was it sad that I actually did? If I had known that the girls were enjoying hot springs while I was cramped in my dorm room while being snowed in, I'd have wanted to join.

"Oh!" An understanding look appeared on Marisa's face, who shifted to smug as well. "Well, Kyon, if you're thinking about that stuff, ze-"

Please no! Not you too!

[Suika:] "Yukari?! Where-"

[Yuyuko:] "What happened to Ran?! Is she all right?!"

We all looked to the orb, me being thankful that Yukari returning would bring me out of that situation, and part of me getting worried upon hearing that something happened to one of her servants.

But I wouldn't like where it went. Wait, Ran?! Doesn't that mean-

[Yukari:] "We have a big problem."

All of us turned out attention to the orb, and before anyone could ask-

[Yukari:] "Haruhi and Sasaki got taken by the enemy. I think they took Koishi too. The dorm was attacked as well as the Moriya Shrine."

My mind raced. My body felt heavy as my heart. Before I could start screaming something, anything, we were greeted by a blast of hot sand, and the strong smell of sulfur. A huge open door was the greeting to our destination. I couldn't even see what was in there, except it was a lit cavern.

And there stood Rin Kaenbyou, in front of a large wheelbarrow, grinning at us.

In that wheelbarrow?

Haruhi and Sasaki, out cold.

That heaviness, that frustration, that fear, everything that had been building up in me for years, let alone that day?

I let it out in a cry of rage.

How dare you have them! How dare you have Haruhi!

But the rage I had didn't match the glimpse of pure fury I caught on the face of Koizumi, who immediately muscled past me and the other girls, his body lighting up in red as he ran for the kasha.

Rin simply stuck out her tongue at him, at us, before licking her lips, and took off with the wheelbarrow - as fast as Marisa was.

A youkai had Haruhi and Sasaki.

"The Mallet?"

The amanojaku nodded. She had come to report first thing, looking pretty ragged.

"If that's the case..."

"I told you, didn't I? It's dangerous for them to have a future."

Hecatia slowly got up from behind the Brigade Chief's desk, before turning to the window, staring out at the dead world. "Unfortunately it's necessary. If a future doesn't exist, then time travel can't happen. If time travel can't happen, Haruhi can't be inspired by Kyon when he goes back." Hecatia's shoulders went up and down, indicating a heavy, frustrated sigh. "Haruhi's world has a few time paradoxes. If Kyon wasn't sent back in time, how could he inspire her to come to North High? If Kyon wasn't sent back in time to save himself, how could he have gotten away after being stabbed? And there are others too, not just those." The goddess let out a grunt. "It's just how their world is set up, almost like it's set up for it not to be messed with. Failure to allow time travel creates another paradox in and of itself. Besides, you know how risky it is to deviate too much from each world's path. Events don't happen correctly."

"Yet this world exists, doesn't it? The one we're in? It's dead, it doesn't have a future, so why-"

"The rest of the world reacted, but not this room, not certain areas affected by Haruhi's power. The Brigade club room was always special, so everything in it remains untouched." She referenced to the objects that littered the room, especially the bookshelf and the items on it. "Well, these obviously aren't part of the Brigade." She grabbed the book from her desk, and put it back on the shelf, with the rest of its volumes. Hecatia glanced at the ten books, the titles including the same name, before she turned her attention to the other objects. Volumes, compact discs. She picked out one compact disc case from the collection, noticing the red and purple cover, with Yukari's outline on it. Yukari... you always have to make this difficult. Each of you try something new, yet every time...

Seija grumbled, gritting her teeth. "But if Yukari has the mallet and somehow got it to work for her, aren't we screwed? I mean, how did she manage to even use it in the first place? She's not a-"

Hecatia placed the disc back on the shelf, before going back to the desk, sitting down. "No... it shouldn't be too much of a problem. It's certainly a new tactic, but it shouldn't be a problem. Shouldn't even be a factor."

"But-"

"The Miracle Mallet? All it does is turn its wielder's dreams into reality. It's the very same power that created this universe, but far more limited - which means we're stronger. If she or it had the power to undo my runes, Yukari would have already done so, and it would have affected her, which tells me she still can't go against my power. It's not strong enough." Hecatia leaned back in the chair. "No... she would have..."

"And if she purposely isn't undoing the runes?"

Hecatia fell silent for a moment. It was a while before she spoke. She got up again and went back to the window, looking out at the remains of North High. "Definitely possible. Looking weak before springing her full plan is certainly one of her tactics. If that's the case, then I can't leave this to simply Clownpiece or Junko. I may need to intervene to see the extent of what she did." She chuckled. "Now see? This is why you're useful. Your abnormal way of thinking comes up with plausible scenarios when a new view is needed."

"You're gonna-"

"I'll have to do this directly. But..." Hecatia again went silent, before a smile cracked across her face. "Yukari is so fond of using others. What would happen if I break their spirits? To destroy the morale of the ones she uses? Take away their will to fight for her? She wouldn't risk a one-on-one direct fight against me that she knows she can't possibly win. She'd retreat." Grinning, Hecatia turned to Seija. "We'll break their spirits, and it's over." She cleared her throat, looking to the door. "Hey soldier girl? Are you out there?"

The door opened, and a woman in a set of yellow keikou armor entered the room and stood at attention. "Lance Corporal reporting, my Lady."

"You don't have to be so formal, you know? I'm not your real master." Hecatia's smile dropped, remembering that they might not have the numbers. "How many troops do you have left? I know we lost a lot lately and can't replenish them anymore. You just finished with cleansing the other worlds with them, right?"

The soldier's face slightly grimaced but regained composure. "A platoon. Forty two soldiers. They're all that's left. They're ready if you need them, my Lady."

"My condolences then, for the losses. But good job in completing the mission." Hecatia regained her grin. "I have another mission for you."

We took off after them, of course. Chiyuri and Koizumi taking the lead, with the rest of us right behind. My focus was on the one in front of us, that damn cat.

Just when I thought this couldn't get any worse, it did. The best thing about all these incidents in Gensokyo were due to how far away they were from Haruhi. They had nothing to do around her, and unlike some of the other events that took place surrounding the Brigade, there was no way she could have discovered what was going on due to proximity. Sure, some were close, like the girls coming to visit us, and I think the most dangerous was Remilia being in the same room as Haruhi that one time. But this? This was obviously different. Someone went out of their way to attack us, my friends, and capture not just Haruhi, but Sasaki as well. They intentionally got her involved. It was the one thing. The absolute one thing we had tried to avoid in our five years together, to not allow Haruhi to self realize. And I say that even though I had maybe in a way tried to sabotage that by sitting her down and trying to tell her what was going on. Thing is, no amount of explaining was going to dispel this. If she woke up in former Hell while being carted by a corpse stealing youkai who was under control...

If that came to pass, I'd have to rely on Koizumi throwing a Hail Mary of an acting job to try to convince her this isn't real. I don't know how, but I assume it'd have to be more than his last one of the group hypnosis on that ski trip.

Speaking of the esper, he was flinging his shots at the cat, as she led us deeper into this cavern. There were occasional lava rivers on the floor, giving us both heat and light. Just like it was for the Ancient City, this "cavern" was massive, making me question how did the ground stay stable when there were huge pockets like this under our feet. Well, it would have made me question it, if I didn't have more pressing issues at hand.

I felt violated, to tell the truth. To have someone taken in front of my eyes again? No. No way would I allow that to happen. I got back Asahina, so I was definitely going to get back Haruhi. I personally may have been useless to stop Asahina's kidnapping. There was no way in Hell that I was going to be useless again.

Chiyuri was also using her gun to fire her power, but this cat was just so quick. We couldn't catch up to her, unless -

"Marisa!" Reimu shouted, as she was giving us directions, and obviously frustrated that her homing amulets were too slow to go after Rin. "You're the fastest-"

"She's still too fast!" Marisa was shaking, pushing her speed to the limit - and I think it's because I was with her that she wasn't as fast as she could have been.

"You need me off?"

Marisa kept her gaze forward. "Nah! We'll get 'em! You'll wanna be here too!"

On one hand, I agreed. I'd want to be there. On the other, I'd want to make sure that we caught the person who took Haruhi. "Where the hell is that-"

[Yukari:] "Got it! Sorry Reisen, but we need this!"

A portal opened up in front of us, the tengu camera that Reisen took with her dangling out of it. I reached up for it, grabbing it as we passed, and placed it around Marisa's neck. She started speeding up, gaining on the cat.

"We ain't gonna let her lose us, ze! This cat is going down!" The hot air from former Hell blasted at my face as we sped up, and we began to catch up to Koizumi. I had thought he wasn't this fast, but he had been able to stay in front of Marisa and on the heels of the cat. I guess his rage gave him a justifiable speed boost.

Seriously, I can't remember ever seeing him this angry and focused. I could hear him letting out grunts as he flung his shots - he was putting everything he had into this chase.

"Youmu! The belt!"

Youmu gave Reimu a nod, I guess activating it, because Orin noticeably started to slow. Koizumi was the closest, his fingers almost touching one of the cat's braids-

Orin swerved straight down, allowing gravity to give her a speed boost, and forcing us to change direction. She had already put a good distance on us when we had to correct, and before she hit the ground, she righted herself and kept her direction, leading us deeper and deeper into this realm. My heart had lept to my throat upon seeing them drop, as I was worried Haruhi or Sasaki would fall out of the wheelbarrow, but no, they stayed, possibly from the momentum and sheer speed.

I was getting frustrated, but again, we were slowly gaining speed. Reimu shouted something to Sakuya, and the maid time-stopped to get in front of the cat, trying to catch her in a danmaku blast of knives. Rin swerved, but went around and kept going... in a certain direction.

Something didn't feel right. My gut was telling me that something was wrong, well, more wrong than the situation already was.

Sakuya appeared before the two of us, in the grey world, grabbing both Marisa and I. "All right, we blast her, okay?" The three of us moved up to the cat, Marisa getting her mini-Hakkero ready while I reached out for Haruhi -

The color resumed as did time, Rin moving the wheelbarrow out of my reach. Sakuya's teeth were clenching, her body obviously strained. "I-I don't get it..." We resumed the chase. "It's like something is really limiting my time power. Wasn't able to fully use it in the fight before the city either."

"Gotta be Hecatia! If I were her, I'd limit you, ze!" Marisa strained her body, the broom gaining even more speed.

Rin just glanced over her shoulder, her static eyes mocking us silently, while the smile on her face got even bigger. Again, my internal alarms went off. Why? Why am I feeling like this? My focus should be on Haruhi, yet my self preservation is going haywire. Orin once again moved closer to the ground, an open area with a lot of boulders.

I blinked. My focus is solely on Haruhi and the fact that she is taken. It's not on where we're going.

I turned to the girls, seeing realization appear on Reimu's face. She must have come to the same conclusion I did. "Trap! Get back! It's a trap!"

From behind the boulders, they came. A mass of vengeful spirits and fairies in all directions, with far more numbers than there were outside the city. They swarmed upwards, a solid dome of burning, smoky skulls and tiny winged bodies rising above us and cutting off our escape.

You have got to be kidding me.

Rin turned around, still smirking at us, with the wheelbarrow in front of her, acting as cover. Koizumi paused, looking at the new enemies, but still focused on Rin. That was his highest priority.

"All right, this is what I wanted!" Tenshi gleefully drew the sword. "Target practice!"

"We'll handle this!" The Stranger already lunged forward, taking out some of the vengeful spirits with some crushes. "Save those girls!"

"But-"

Youmu didn't let me finish, as she shouted at me while slicing up some spirits on her own. "We got this! Get Haruhi!"

[Nitori:] "And Sasaki, while you're at it."

Mima's staff lit up. "Nobody cares what happens to vengeful spirits, sadly. Which means I can go all out!" With a blast of her Twilight Spark, she cleared out a section of the ambushers in an instant.

So, at least they had this handled. And it wasn't like we were confined to the ground either. We were more mobile.

The group was busy handling the ambushers, leaving Marisa, Koizumi, Chiyuri, and I to Rin. The kasha just continued to smirk at us. My eyes kept drifting back to Haruhi, who still looked peaceful. If only she knew the danger she was in. Though isn't that the sad fact of her life when it concerned Suou?

[Remilia:] "Yukari, what's up with her? What's going on with the cat? Satori said she doesn't have any abilities, but that's not the case, huh?"

[Yukari:] "No. She has developed abilities. She can communicate with spirits."

"Patchouli..." Koizumi formed a blade over his hand. He still didn't take his eyes off of the cat. "Tell me a kasha's weakness."

[Patchouli:] "They're regular youkai. Nothing too obvious for their weakness."

"Koizumi." I cleared my throat, my eyes going back and forth from Haruhi to Rin. "Hokuetsu Seppu. A priest was able to repel a kasha. So..."

"All right! Fine!" Reimu left the group fighting off the ambushers, her face serious and ready to fight. "Guess I can take on another kitty cat!"

I didn't mean to pull you from fighting! Though even at this point, the group appeared to have it under control. Tenshi was having a grand time going all out against the vengeful spirits. Back up top, we didn't try to really kill anyone, just knock them out. Down here? They did go all out.

They were mostly vengeful spirits, leftovers from when this place was actual Hell. One could suppose that they aren't going to be missed... I shot a look to Reimu, wanting to know if she was okay with this. "You sure-"

"We're fine this time!" Sanae had used her omikuji card to blast away a group of fairies. "Don't have to hold ourselves back here!"

If you say so. Rin hadn't moved, still there, as if silently mocking us for even attempting to chase her. In the corner of my eye, I could see the Stranger and Youmu both take down even more of the vengeful spirits. That's right. Youmu and the Stranger can instantly destroy those things. And it was just those spirits and fairies, who were just as quickly put down by the others. They have fairies in former Hell too?

Enough of that. Haruhi was the absolute biggest concern, despite the fighting going on around us. She was still out cold, though it appeared that Sasaki was stirring, as I saw her mouth begin to move, mumbling something. Whatever it was, I couldn't hear it, due to how far away they were, and the battle noises.

Chiyuri had her gun aimed right at the kasha. "Satori doesn't want us to hurt you. So if you can still hear us, just step away from the wheelbarrow." Chiyuri focused her power into her gun. "Otherwise we'll have to put you down, and not just for your own good, but for their good."

Rin stood there for a moment, before leaning down, and slowly licking the face of Haruhi, all the while still not taking her eyes off of us. "YoU'rE aLl GoInG tO dIe DoWn HeRe." She was speaking in between licks. "YoU'lL aLl MaKe SuCh BeAuTiFuL cOrPsEs. I'lL hAvE sO mUcH fUn CaRrYiNg ThEm OfF tO tHe FiReS." She grabbed Haruhi by the hair, making her face Koizumi. "HaRuHi'S dEaD bOdY wIlL bE sO lOvElY tO pLaY wItH." Her grin went wider. "iF tHeRe Is AnYtHiNg LeFt Of HeR aFtEr."

Don't say stuff like that! Not only is it creepy, but you're just gonna get a bigger beating!

The look on Koizumi's face was unlike any rage I've ever seen. I thought I was angry; he was on a totally different level. Haruhi had given him a new purpose in life, and had been his focus, his very reason for living, for the past several years. Taking in a deep breath, Koizumi appeared to reset himself, this time wearing a fake blank face over his anger. "Everyone." Even his voice was shaky. "Help me. Help me put this cat down."

"You don't have to ask twice." I was kind of jealous of his rage. Haruhi was my girlfriend, yet he was more angry than I could muster. Not that it was lack of trying on my part, mind you, nor was this a contest. Not only was she my girlfriend, but she was my friend, and the sole reason why my high school life was so interesting. Hell, my whole life being so interesting. Even my excursions into Gensokyo had something to do with her. She gave me so much.

Like Hell I was going to let someone take her away from me. Not if I could help it.

"We're the ones chosen by Haruhi to protect her world." Chiyuri kept her gun aimed at the cat. "There's no way we'll let you hurt her, kasha."

Rin appeared to enjoy hearing that. "YoU cAn'T sAvE hEr. YoU cAn'T sAvE YoUrSeLvEs." She raised her hand, and several fairies broke off of fighting against our group, and joined her.

Watch me, cat bitch. Nobody messes with my family, nor does anybody get to mess with the Brigade!

"Hang in there, Haruhi." Koizumi's body lit up in red. "We won't fail you."

That's for damn sure. You messed with the wrong people. There is no way you're walking away from this!

The fairies formed a wall in front of Rin, and took the shots that we unleashed. They went down with one hit, while Rin fired away danmaku at us. They were standard spread shots, with a light, slow spiral added in. She still used the wheelbarrow as cover, as if daring us to hit the two girls in her captivity. Even if Koizumi moved up, Rin backed away.

The cat was playing keep away, and winning. We couldn't catch her.

Stop running and fight us!

"So you going or not?" The woman with the green eyes sneered at her. "I was told to let you idiots pass, so go on ahead. But you won't survive it, you know."

Wriggle clenched her fist, already hating this youkai in the weird dress. Having been lost for hours, she had felt relief upon finding the main pathway to Former Hell. Well, she had to. She couldn't for the life of her find the blowhole, and she desperately wanted to get out of there. Meeting the two youkai earlier surprised her, they passed her, and Wriggle tried to go the way they came from as a means to escape, only to end up on the same path. It took her several hours to even realize that the glowing sticks were used to indicate a path, but she followed it the wrong way, apparently, ending up at the bridge.

Upon seeing another soul (besides the two knocked out ones back up in the caves) Wriggle had hoped to get some help, but this was a nasty youkai, so caustic with her attitude. The firefly desperately wanted to kick her teeth in.

The youkai sized her up again, then went back to looking out in the darkness that the bridge expanded upon. Wriggle looked back where she came, then to the entrance to Former Hell. I... I can't do this on my own. I should have kept with the group. But...

There was no getting past it. Wriggle was deathly afraid of what was going on. And getting caught in the spider's web had unlocked a new level of primal fear within her she never thought possible. That's why she ran. Though in doing so, she had abandoned her friend Cirno. ...And the group did save me. They saved me and I ran like a coward. Even that boy helped. She was feeling useless.

Turning to the wall, she gulped, her body feeling like it was tensing up to the point where she couldn't move, nor even breathe. She forced herself to take in breaths, letting them out slowly. Calm down. They cleared the way, right? They had to. They have a celestial, the shrine maiden, the maid, and all those people with them. And Cirno. Cirno may be a complete idiot, but she'll keep on fighting as long as she could get back up.

It was one of the reasons why Cirno was the 'leader' of their group of friends. She was stupid, but she fought for them and wouldn't stop, even to the detriment of her own good.

The firefly gulped again. It took all Wriggle had to begin to take steps, and each one was tougher than the last. Upon reaching it, she felt like running away again.

No, she felt like someone was behind her.

Turning around, she saw the gate guard. "What? How-d-" Wriggle almost lost her balance. "How'd you get down here?"

The guard gave a small grin and a shrug. "Dunno. Looked like the runes faltered, you know?" She placed her hands on her hips. "So... bug?"

"It's Wriggle."

"And I'm Meiling." She cracked her knuckles, looking at the portal to the underground. "Got lost, huh?"

Wriggles antennae lowered in shame. "I, uh, yeah..."

"Ain't nothing to be ashamed. Almost got lost myself a few times. It's confusing." Meiling's smile dropped. "...Or is it something else?" Wriggle looked away, not wanting to face her, which apparently was all that needed to be silently said. "Oh. Well... You're not alone right now. You got me."

"You're useful. I dunno how useful I'll be."

"You survived down here long enough, and these guys eat each other. That's useful."

Wriggle sagged her shoulders, now of the firm opinion that Meiling's positivity was getting far too much in the way of her sulking. She opened her mouth to say something, but couldn't find anything meaningful. She shook her head, deciding to let someone else take charge. "Yeah, sure, whatever. Let's just go."

Patchouli stood up from her chair, so fast that she felt a hamstring almost pull itself. She tensed a bit, waiting for the pain, but it never came, just left a tingling. By the time that was over, she noticed that everyone was looking at her. Sure, there was a fight going on, but there was a victory. "Yukari," said Patchouli as she began to scribble out instructions on a paper. "Send this to the group in the mining building." The magician smiled in triumph. "I found the incantations to undo the runes for them."

"What about us, Patchi?!" Remilia stood up, already with her spear in her hand. "I wanna get down there as soon as possible!"

Patchouli shook her head. "Still working on that. But I got the ones for the night sparrow and the poltergeists." She tapped the book in front of her. "Now that I know where to look concerning our opponent, I can and will counter her. Nobody outsmarts me when it comes to magic, even if she is a god of magic." It felt good to be arrogant, and back it up. She noticed the looks of approval from around the table, even from Yakumo herself.

"Very good, Miss Knowledge." Yukari gave her a nod of approval before returning her attention to what was transpiring from the video feed. "You are meeting my expectations. Now see if you can get us access down there as well."

[SPELL CARD: CURSED SPRITE "ZOMBIE FAIRY"]

Wait, when could Altered use spell cards? Tewi, Reisen, Kaguya... they didn't use spell cards against us! This was certainly different, and different rules to this kind of threw me off. In fact, Marisa was vocal about it, crying foul enough that I didn't have to.

The fairies that were down? Their dresses turned black, and their skin dark gray. They stared at us with their static eyes and slowly moved towards us.

Okay, it was time for me to be vocal. "Are you kidding me?! Freaking zombie fairies?!" I wasn't anywhere near the exit; part of me felt like keeping my word - I seriously wanted to jump off the broom and start walking back to the surface. I mean, come on, zombie fairies?! Really? Really?!

Rin was also shooting a spiral wave of danmaku at us, I guess to keep us moving. The zombie fairies didn't seem affected by it, and they looked to corner us.

"Wait, she just brought in others to be in her spell card? They aren't familiars?" This was certainly new to me.

"That's a slave card! Getting another to fight for you, to be another output for danmaku!" Marisa rolled to avoid a wave. "Yukari uses slave cards for her Ran and Chen attacks!"

I always simply thought they were classified as familiar cards. I guess there were still more card types to learn about.

The zombie fairies, with static in their eyes, kept advancing. Marisa aimed right at one of them, but hesitated. "What's wrong?"

"...Scarlet Devil Mansion maids..."

"What?!"

Reimu, who was about to take a shot at the fairies, lowered her arms, disgust on her face. "Aw, don't be reminding me of that! That was so annoying!"

Marisa put away her mini-Hakkero, going back to dodging. "Several of Remilia's maids have a tactic of getting in the way of attacks, while not attacking themselves. If you down them, they'll unleash an explosion at you, ze." Marisa kept track of the wave of shots as well as where the fairies were. "I'm worried that's gonna happen here."

"Now that you said it I know it's gonna happen now." Reimu was really torn between attacking or going on pure defense.

"They have static, don't they? They'll need to be downed regardless." I get where you're coming from, but...really, Remilia? You had your maids do that?

[Remilia:] "Don't be putting down my maids! Some of them can't attack properly, so they do 'suicide' tactics!"

"Like I said long ago," shouted Sakuya. "They're bad at their jobs sometimes!"

So you have them just stand around, waiting to be shot only to kamikaze?! I was really grateful that I wasn't a permanent worker at the SDM.

Marisa grunted, before bringing out her mini-Hakkero again, aiming it at an advancing fairy. "Ehhhh... I'm gonna hate this."

Koizumi had already downed a zombie, and it exploded into danmaku. He barely escaped it. Well, not really. His left arm got the most of it, and it hung, obviously numbed out. He grit his teeth, letting out a pained strain.

"Yeah, I'm gonna hate this, ze!"

Not as much as Koizumi is right now! "You okay, man?!"

"Ah..." He began to put distance between himself and the zombies. "I'm... I'm fine! Okay... don't shoot the fairies when they're close! Lesson learned!"

The downing of the zombies made it chaotic, sure, but other than those, it was a manageable spell card otherwise, when we kept our distance. Well, it should have been. The zombies kept getting back up, and kept letting out explosions of danmaku with every hit that put them down again.

Sanae, I think you did jinx us earlier, because here are the zombies!

[Yukari:] "We have some good news for you. Patchouli is making progress in the rune-busting, so we'll be sending more down there shortly."

[Patchouli:] "Taking some time, but the research came through. Now that I know where to look, I can and will beat this so-called god of magic."

Okay, forget the jinx! If we can hold out, we can win this! No, scratch that. It would take them hours to get there, and I didn't know how much longer Haruhi would be sleeping. The big victory would be if Patchouli could undo what is keeping Yukari from using her portals to her full potential. Then everyone we'd need would be here in a second.

[Remilia:] "You'd better leave some scraps for me. I wanna get down there and tear someone apart!"

Just so long as you don't drown me in your pool, you can do whatever you want!

After a while, Rin cancelled the card, allowing the zombie fairies to stay downed, and there they remained on the ground. They better not be getting back up. Who am I kidding? Chances are they will be.

[SPELL CARD: MALICIOUS SPIRIT "SPLEEN EATER"]

This time, several vengeful spirits joined in, encircling us, and leaving a trail of danmaku. Upon Reimu's orders to blast them, we did as such, and they dissipated with enough danmaku shots, but the trails they left behind remained. The trails then collapsed on us. The walls were too thick.

A Yukari portal opened, giving us a means to escape that situation. We popped out of it, only to find more spirits getting ready to circle. They were taken down by Reimu, effectively rendering them useless, and freeing us up to try to take down the cat. Which, of course, was not happening. Not with her speed.

Again, none of us were using spell cards as we didn't want to risk hitting Haruhi or Sasaki. Reimu was arguing for it since the two girls were already knocked out, but Koizumi was having none of it. He was busy rubbing his dead arm, trying to get it moving again. I could see his left fingers slowly open and close, but that seemed to be the extent of what he could do.

As for me? What did I want? I wanted to get both Haruhi and Sasaki away from a youkai, obviously. But using a spell card on them? I can't do that. I can't bring myself to do that. I mean, maybe I could start up the Icicle Fall, and hope that they don't get hit, but with the way Rin was keeping them as a shield, I'd have to be extra precise with it. Could Ryoko handle it? I don't know. I didn't feel comfortable bringing her out when there was danger to her person. Monster Ryoko? She'd just probably do her whole classroom scthick against the three of them, and I'm not subjecting Haruhi to that nightmare. Even Yukari was trying to throw out portals to rip them away from her, but the cat was just too quick. We needed an opening.

I quickly went over what we could do. Portals weren't working, we couldn't catch up to Rin, she was using hostages as a shield, most of our group was still fighting off the enemies, and none of the weather abilities seemed like they would help in this situation. As for tools, only the camera was even allowing Marisa the chance to keep up with Rin. We were the only ones getting close enough to the cat. Youmu did have some success with drawing Rin closer, but she was busy. Stealth might work. Also, if our group finishes off the enemies, we'd be able to overwhelm Rin with our numbers. That actually looked like it was our best play, as the amount of spirits and fairies were way down. With Sakuya being hindered, popping out with her time powers was also limited, as proven earlier. So back to what I thought - would stealth work?

...Actually stealth sounded good. "Fairies." I felt a hand pat me on the shoulder. "Sneak up on the cat, but be careful." Another pat, and they were gone. I'm putting a lot of trust in you four to help get back someone very precious to me.

[SPELL CARD: ATONEMENT "NEEDLE MOUNTAIN OF A FORMER HELL"]

Aw, what now?! This card doesn't sound good! Again, a mass of spread shots, and again, a mass of spirits. This time, they were spinning in rapid succession, again leaving massive trails. The shots of both Rin and the spirits would stall, before moving, so not only did we see the sheer number of shots, but we'd have to deal with them. They were so massive in number, I had to retro-agree with myself over not bringing out Ryoko - she would have gotten torn to pieces.

[SPELL CARD: DREAM SIGN: "DUPLEX BARRIER"]

Reimu whipped this out, activating it as she got in front of us, and instantly ending the shots.

"Thanks, Reimu!" Koizumi had an esper blade his right hand, and a card in the other. Upon seeing it, I saw it was his Schrödinger's Cat card. "We just need to get them away from her, then it's over!"

Chiyuri also saw what he had. "Contain her, then blast the living hell out of her?"

Actually, that'd be the best way to deal with her. It'd negate her speed if we just corner the cat. We just need to solve the problem of getting Haruhi away from the line of fire, and getting Koizumi close enough to trap Rin in the containment.

He nodded. "There is no way I'm getting her caught in any cross fire of any kind." I guess he noticed Reimu's roll of her eyes. "I'm not doing that, Hakurei."

"They're already knocked out."

"I am not willingly bringing harm to Haruhi."

"We gotta do something, ze!" Marisa was showing frustration, obviously antsy that we haven't been on the offensive. "We haven't attacked at all!"

"We've been downing fairies what are you talking about?!" Reimu shouted. "Or-"

"That don't count! I wanna get at the big bad, ze!"

[SPELL CARD: "REKINDLING OF DEAD ASHES"]

When I saw what it did, my heart dropped. Oh you've got to be kidding me. It was one big slave card.

All of the remaining fairies, the ones fighting the group, stopped their attack, and joined Orin. The fairies on the ground had gotten back up as well, and they attempted to physically get at us, as well as shoot surprisingly large danmaku shots. I'm talking human-sized here.

Thankfully, this freed up the group to finish off the spirits, and within a matter of seconds, they joined us in taking down the zombie fairies, who could also be downed. Yet they would get back up.

Sanae unleashed a bunch of amulets that exploded on contact with the zombie fairies as she joined Marisa and I. "I totally jinxed it about the zombies, didn't I?"

Not the time Sanae!

"Gather up and get ready to dodge! Gonna laser sweep, ze!"

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

Everyone got in position to avoid the lasers from Marisa. The lasers swept the area, knocking down all the zombie fairies, but again, Rin just avoided it, moving up-

[SPELL CARD: COLD BODY "SUPER ICE KICK"]

"Eye am the strongest!"

Cirno and the other fairies appeared right behind Rin, Cirno had gone up above, and dropped down. Sort of like Mokou's fire dive kick, this was Cirno's version of it, except she was spinning down during the kick, making it a drill-dive kick? It connected with Rin's face, and I could hear the constant 'thwack' as Cirno was kicking away at the cat's face. I couldn't really see it, as the ice was evaporating too quickly in this hot environment and creating a mist in the area around them.

Once again, the fairies came through for us. And once again, a kick-centric spell card proved viable.

Rin let go of the wheelbarrow as she was launched right towards us from the impact. My heart leapt in my throat again, but thankfully, Sakuya time-moved to catch the wheelbarrow.

Seeing that Haruhi was out of harm's way, Koizumi didn't waste any time.

[SPELL CARD: PARADOX "SCHRÖDINGER'S CAT"]

This was followed by everyone else (save Sakuya, since she was gently lowering the wheelbarrow) unleashing their spell cards as well since Rin was trapped in the box. I'd list them, but that'd take too much time. We heard a yowl come from within it for a few seconds, before it went silent. When the spell cards ended, Rin fell to the ground, eyes closed. The fairies went down again, but they remained knocked out, so I guess when the user goes down, the slaves do too? I don't know.

For a second, we stared at the downed Rin, half expecting her to get back up, but she didn't. She just laid there, still breathing thankfully.

To be honest, this kind of felt anti-climactic, or... I don't know. Wrong. It felt wrong. Here was someone who had Haruhi and Sasaki, and they went down relatively easy. Heck, even Satori felt like she was a bigger battle than this.

Of course, Koizumi didn't bother with her for too long. He went right to the wheelbarrow, followed by Chiyuri, and after I patted Marisa on the shoulder, me and the witch followed suit. Sakuya was looking over Haruhi and Sasaki, deeming them fine but out cold. I hopped off of Marisa's broom as we got to the ground, making a beeline for Haruhi.

"She's fine?"

Sakuya nodded at me. "Seems so." She gave a small smile. "Kind of like you, huh? Knocked out when you were brought into Gensokyo?"

"I was chased by Rumia at first before getting knocked out. This is different." Haruhi still had that same peaceful expression that she had when she was in her bed earlier. I was grateful that she was fine, but I was also deathly afraid. I looked to Koizumi, who looked so relieved that our Brigade leader wasn't hurt. "This is still bad, isn't it?"

He let out a huge sigh of relief, and looked absolutely exhausted at the end of it, sagging his shoulders and lowering his head like he had no energy left after a long day. "Yeah... yeah but this could have been a lot worse."

Please don't jinx us any more today than we have already experienced. Our track record has proven that we are so jinxed.

Chiyuri took over for Sakuya, checking up on the two. "Haruhi is fine, but Sasaki looks like she's stirring. Wouldn't it still be bad for her to wake up to this?"

"Yes it would. That's why you're going to hand her over right now."

I felt the blood drain from my face, as I recognized a certain sneering bastard's voice. Whipping around, I saw two people. One in a long yellow wool dress. The other was in a black turtleneck and jeans. Kyouko Tachibana and Fujiwara, two people I thought I'd never see paired up again. When did they get down here?!

Oh, and Fujiwara was aiming a gun right at me with his contemptuous sneer on his face. Chiyuri aimed right back with hers. As well as all our friends with their weapons.

"Hey, punk, I don't know what bright idea you're having, but you're kinda outgunned here." Tenshi scowled at him, having a keystone hover in front of her, ready to start blasting the guy.

Fujiwara glanced around him, seeing that he was surrounded by the girls. Youmu was closest to him, her hand on her blade, ready to strike. He eyed her for a moment, his sneer getting even bigger. What are you sneering at? You're one bad move away from having these girls tear a new air hole in you.

"So you're Fujiwara, huh?" Mokou's flames intensified from her hands. "I was kinda wondering. You using that name 'cause you a descendant of one of my jackass half siblings, or you just using it as a cover?" Mokou cracked a crooked smile. "'Cause either calls for a butt-kicking from me."

Fujiwara's attention went to Mokou, and I could swear he looked amused. "Ah, the daughter of Fuhito."

This actually was a question that popped into my mind over his choice of name. If he's actually a Fujiwara. Though if he was, and he was calling Asahina his sister, then wouldn't that make her a Fujiwara as well if that was the case? It was something I never figured out.

"No I'm serious here. If you're using my family name for fun it's an offense." Mokou clenched her teeth so hard that her cigarette fell out. "I'll beat ya black and blue before burning ya to a crisp."

Fujiwara condescendingly smiled at her. "Now that's the question, isn't it? Maybe I am related to you. After all, your old man couldn't keep it in his pants, huh? But I'm not under any obligation to tell someone so ancient anything."

Are you really this stupid that you're going to insult us even though you're vastly outnumbered? And what the hell was this anyway? He's from the future and that makes him automatically better than everyone? Is there a term for this? I certainly don't know.

"What in the world are two you even doing here?" Koizumi was again serious, getting in between me and Fujiwara so the gun wouldn't be aimed at me. "I thought you'd still be too busy licking your wounds from your failure four years ago, Fujiwara."

Koizumi, don't antagonize someone when they have a gun pointed at you! But it wasn't as if I didn't understand his frustration with the guy. Fujiwara was just a difficult person, to put it mildly. Part of me was wishing he tried something, because the girls would tear him to pieces.

"Enough! Stop! All of you!" Kyouko lifted Fujiwara's arm so he wasn't aiming at anybody, and waved her free hand at the rest of us, a pleading look on her face. "Don't do this! We're not here to fight each other!"

At least one person on your side is level-headed.

[Remilia:] "You're that other type of esper, right?"

[Patchouli:] "The ones from that dead closed space, if I remember correctly."

"No, really, why are you here?" Reimu looked confused. "And how?"

Kyouko looked to Fujiwara expectantly, to which he just rolled his eyes while grumbling, before he holstered his weapon. Kyouko gave him one last nasty look, before turning to Reimu. "It was at his request. This gun of his is from the future, and he says it's designed to take down the one behind this all." Kyouko was making her way to Sasaki. "As to how, I used my powers to travel through our closed space. Much faster, and no obstacles."

"Wait a second." Mima pinched the bridge of her nose, already looking angry. "You telling me we could have avoided all that fighting if we went with you?"

Kyouko shrugged. "I guess so, but I detected Miss Sasaki in this world, so we came out of it."

"Damn terminals." Fujiwara scoffed as he stared at the wheelbarrow containing the two girls. "What the hell was Amaya doing? I thought they were better than this."

[Yukari:] "She had her arm ripped off by the kidnapper, for your information. But she'll be fine. She didn't bleed over anything of yours." The snark on Yukari's voice was kind of uplifting to hear. "That being said, I am glad you two got out of your world."

Geez, she had her arm ripped off?! What the heck has been going on out there?!

Mima pointed at the orb and shouted. "Yukari, did you know about-"

[Yukari:] "I actually did, but I was going to use that other world as a back door so the rest of us could get down there. However, there were complications. Hecatia put the runes in that world too."

Fujiwara finally showed some emotion on his face beyond sneer. He looked surprised. "Hold on... what?"

[Yuyuko:] "So that was your plan?"

[Yukari:] "One of them. But it looks like Hecatia knew that Fujiwara would be coming that way."

This is... really, really bad, isn't it? If one of Yukari's plans was countered... It also reminded me that we were indeed going up against someone who was pretty active in their own plans, as if Haruhi being taken out of her room wasn't a glaring red flag. All I could do was hope Yukari was smarter than her opponent. Otherwise we were going to lose, and lose big.

[Nitori:] "Isn't that bad? That means she knows you have a weapon against her."

[Yukari:] "Exactly. She's ready for you."

Fujiwara and Kyouko shot worried glances at each other. Fujiwara turned, walking past some of our group, and stopped. I could see him clenching his free hand, him shaking with rage.

[Kaguya:] "Not as smart as you thought you were, huh? But I guess that settles it. You really are a Fujiwara."

Dammit Kaguya...

Mokou's face turned red, and before she could let profanities fly - "Whoa, hold up there." I stepped in between Mokou and the orb, again affording a glance to Haruhi, making sure she wasn't waking up - she wasn't. With Fujiwara no longer pointing a gun at anyone, Chiyuri was looking over Haruhi, while Kyouko did the same for Sasaki. I don't know how we're gonna pull this off now that those two are with us. "Those two" being Haruhi and Sasaki obviously. "Hey, Mokou? Last time you flung an insult, you got shot. Enough."

"You're shooting each other?" Fujiwara glanced back at me in such disgust that it made me want to go over there and punch his face. "I was right in knowing that you people couldn't get this done!"

I swear I'm gonna smack you. "If anyone deserves to be shot, it's you." I really did mean that. Looking at him brought back old rage that I had buried long ago. "Now, look, we're all in a really bad spot, okay? Even you know this." I pointed to the wheelbarrow. "They're not looking to take just Haruhi, but Sasaki as well, all right?"

Fujiwara's resulting frown was instant as he crossed his arms. "Are you suggesting what I think you're going to suggest?"

At least you realized the situation. "I don't like it any better than you do. In fact, I possibly hate it more than you. But is that gun of yours able to solve this?"

He looked down to his weapon, before looking back up to me and sighing. "If I answer yes, then I know what you'll ask me." His eyes went to Sasaki's sleeping form. He stood there for a moment, pursing his lips.

"Look, I don't care what you feel about the Brigade," said Tenshi, upset with this time traveler. "But all your little plans won't work if Sasaki is taken, right? It'll be all for naught."

If Sasaki is taken, or is under threat of being taken, it screws with your entire plan to change time. I had hoped that he had given up on it ever since his failed attempt on Haruhi's life, as I haven't seen him since. Or I assumed he had given up. Either proved false, sadly.

His face scrunched up, like he was trying to reject the logic. As for me? I didn't want to be anywhere near this son of a bitch if I could help it.

...But...

But if he had the means to take down the final big bad...

This choice was obviously difficult for him as well. His blatant disdain for us was apparent, enough so that Tenshi wanted to take him down right then and there.

After what seemed like several moments, he turned his head away form us, clicking his tongue. "Just don't piss me off, okay?" He ran his fingers through his hair. "Once we're done here, we go back to the way things were."

I can't believe we're actually going to be working with Fujiwara here. And neither did the rest of the group, since they still were aiming right at him.

"Tell them." That was Kyouko. Her focus was on Sasaki, but she had this sullen look on her face. "Just... tell them what you told me."

"...Let's just say that the future is obviously threatened, and we time travelers are already seeing the consequences."

"What's going on?"

He gave me a sharp eye. "Nothing your primitive mind needs to know, because you wouldn't know what to do with the knowledge. Besides, we fix things, it stops. That's all you need to comprehend."

I'll seriously knock some manners into you. I didn't even realize I had taken a step towards him with my fists clenched. He found my reaction amusing, which pissed me off even more still. I'm seriously like two seconds away from unleashing my anger and frustration on someone. Please give me an excuse to go after you. Having Haruhi being taken put me in a bad mood, and Fujiwara was only increasing it.

[Remilia:] "You know what? Your disrespectful butt deserves a spanking. I'm gonna give you to Flan as a playmate."

That's not a spanking. That's a death sentence. Would be too extreme for him.

Fujiwara just scoffed, before turning his head to the orb. "Well? What do you have in mind, Yakumo?"

[Yukari:] "First things first, we need to get Haruhi and Sasaki out of there. Thankfully you have the means to do so rather quickly."

It took us several seconds to understand that, as our gazes went to Kyouko. She blinked, before realizing it herself. "Oh, right. Same way we came in, and I can get them out rather quickly."

Of course, we explained why the portals wouldn't work. Fujiwara didn't like it, obviously, but he had some semblance of self preservation, thankfully. Losing those two girls was worse case scenario.

"Thankfully they're already in something I can transport them in." She looked back where we came from, and I could see her heart drop. "Just have to go back the way we came. All the way."

"Need some help?" When I gave Sakuya a quizzical look, she sighed. "I... My powers aren't at a hundred percent right now, okay? I can't be as effective."

"Thank you, Sakuya." Koizumi gave her a bow, and a genuine smile. "I know you'll protect them with your life."

"You sure about this?"

Sakuya just gave me a small shrug. "It is going to be kind of weird that the two of us aren't at the final battle together, huh?"

[Remilia:] "If you feel that's the right play here, then I'll leave it to you. Get back here safe, you hear?"

I just stared at Sakuya for a moment, realizing that she had been an important part of my time in Gensokyo. She was always there at my side for the final battles. To send her away for this one felt kind of weird. I mean, I got the logic. Her powers were hampered, so if she could be useful by getting the girls out-

"You taking my wheelbarrow, sis?"

We all turned to the voice from the ground. Rin was propping herself up, slowly. She let out a grunt as she got up to a sitting position, and from the looks of her eyes, she was clear of that alteration, and she was smiling.

"Aw, man. I guess I was right in sending up those spirits. Knew help would come."

That's right. We knocked that alteration out of Rin. She's normal now. Well, as normal as a corpse-carrying youkai that worked in former Hell could be.

[Yuyuko:] "So you are the one who sent up the spirits."

Rin slowly moved around her body, trying to get some feeling back into it. "Ah, yeah. Had to learn how to do it. Had to, since sis got real powerful." Rin eyed us, an amused look on her face. "Didn't expect humans to come. Or for you to be this strong. It's really touching!"

"Eye am the-"

"Or fairies for that matter. Them kicks hurt, sis." Rin rubbed her face, still smiling. "At first... at first she was one of Miss Satori's pets, just like me, but... sis got really powerful lately, it's like she can do anything." She paused, eyeing the maid and the other esper. "...If you're waiting for my permission, go ahead. You can borrow my wheelbarrow."

We silently watched Kyouko and Sakuya enter the other closed space realm with the wheelbarrow, as they were good to go. They 'faded' out. So that's what that looks like. Good luck, you two. Get them to safety. Sakuya had left her backpack, leaving Chiyuri to carry it for us.

"You're talking about Utsuho, right?" Reimu stepped up to the cat, continuing the conversation. "The nuclear power bird? What happened with her? We have an idea, but something else happened down here, didn't it?"

"Dunno what exactly it is, sis. But... see, nobody can take care of her in that state. We animals get really powerful when we live long and we can get even more strong by swallowing up ghosts and vengeful spirits, see? Her?"

"Swallowed a god, huh?"

Rin blinked, looking surprised to have her answer taken away like that, before smiling even wider. "Huh. Seems like you all know your stuff."

"Obviously something more happened, right?" Sanae looked to the ground still littered with fallen fairies. "The static."

"That's what it's called, sis?" Rin slowly got up. "It happened not too long after I had to send up the spirits. We had problems down here with those things that had the weird eyes, but then it got so bad. Dunno what I was doing, but I went to Okuu, maybe if she could help with that incredible power. Meeting her was the last thing I remember before becoming this." She rubbed the back of her head. "Man, next thing I know, I'm in the courtyard, looking at you all."

Rin seems pretty friendly. Then again, we did save her. She was willing to give up some much-needed, from our stance anyway, answers.

"But why send out a call for help?" Youmu raised her eyebrow. "I mean, you sound close to her, and I kinda know what she's gonna do if we fail, but why?"

Rin lowered her head. "Okuu ain't right in the head, sis. Not like that. She has this idea that she wants to spread hellfire to the surface so the underground could take it over. Recreatin' the surface as the new Blazing Hell so we aren't all stuck down here." Rin shook her head. "Okuu's my friend, but she's dumb as a rock, see? I don't know where she got that idea, or why she thought it was a good one to begin with."

"Let me guess." Sanae grimaced. "Lady Kanako and Lady Suwako told her that they wanted to bring the power of Former Hell to the surface, and Utsuho took it literally."

Rin stared at Sanae, before letting out a single chuckle. "Heh. That actually sounds like her. One hundred percent her."

You gotta be kidding me! This whole thing started because the person behind this is too stupid to properly wield their power?! Could be said about my whole life, honestly. Well, Haruhi wasn't stupid. Just ignorant.

"Sanae, I'm so gonna kick their butts."

The living goddess didn't look at Reimu. "I know."

If I was crazy enough to take on gods like Reimu planned to, I'd do the same.

"All of you are strong, so against her normally, I think you'd be able to stand up to Okuu." Rin's smile dropped. "Now? Now I don't think so. There was another god, I think."

That got our attention. "Hecatia?"

The cat shrugged, before rubbing her face with a hand, like she was trying to wake up. "Dunno her name. Just... vaguely remember another person down here that ain't a spirit or something else."

Further questioning yielded no results. Koizumi looked back to where Sakuya and Kyouko disappeared. "How'd you get them anyway? How'd you get Haruhi and Sasaki?"

"That's what I was talking about. That person I vaguely remember. Someone else is down here besides Okuu." Rin started to severly think. "...She... she had weird hair. That's all I can remember from her. Sorry bro, couldn't focus much."

[Eirin:] "Sadly a side effect of being under."

[Kaguya:] "You still should have been able to understand what they wanted. What orders were you given?"

"You know why, sis." Rin looked to the downed fairies. "Ambush. But that's it. That's all I knew."

"This is bad." Reimu jutted her jaw, looking around. "If Rin didn't finish us off, then I get the feeling-"

Don't be doing this Reimu, even though I totally believe you are right. "That other person is going to ambush us, huh?"

"Hey!"

Marisa exclaimed something, noticing a care package that wasn't there before. Tenshi was closest, so she reached for it, opening-

As it opened, all my internal alarms went off.

Someone in red, white, and blue popped out from the box.

Kyouko looked back from where they came from. She was sweating heavily.

"Oh right, you guys don't have the fire protection." Sakuya pursed her lips, thinking for a second that Fujiwara might need one, but decided against it. She's seen how he acted to the Brigade, and what he almost did. Screw him. He can suffer the heat. At least this girl seemed far friendlier. "Let's just get you and these two out of here."

"You think we'll be okay?"

"I think so." Sakuya stared down at the two girls. "Actually, no. This is bad. They're starting to wake up!" Even Haruhi's eyes were moving, slightly opening. Sakuya gulped, not too sure what to do here. Even if they made it back up, they'd still be in a realm of youkai, and they were hours from the exit. If I could stop time all the way back up, I'd do it.

"What are we going to do?!" Kyouko looked panicked as the two girls were slightly moving their limbs.

"I..." Sakuya bit her lower lip. "...Wish I learned some spells from Lady Patchouli..." A sleeping spell would be just the thing right now.

They were so focused on those two, that they almost didn't notice that they were already at the elevator. These types of closed spaces I can get behind. You can cover large distances in them. They had gone by foot, and the trip was quicker than the flight into former Hell. Sakuya paused, feeling slight hatred at Yakumo for making them take the long way, until she began to think about it. Actually, if we took the easy way, that bug would be killed by that spider, we wouldn't have gotten proper access, we might have still be ambushed by that Hell fairy, we wouldn't have met the Buddhists and set that ship free... That wasn't the biggest thing. Since they fought their way to the city, they showed the residents how to fight back against their current problem. Sakuya began to understand that maybe Yukari set up even more than she let on.

Well, Lady Patchouli has gone along with Yakumo's plans, so she probably can be trusted to a degree. Patchouli was the smartest one at the mansion, hands down. If the librarian trusted her, it was good enough for Sakuya.

Those thoughts vanished upon hearing something. It sounded like a slight rumbling, making Sakuya worry that there was another seismic event, but it sounded too uniform for nature.

...Are those footsteps? Not just single footsteps, the realization sending a chill down the maid's spine. That was a march of many people.

From the lift, they came, marching in unison until they formed a line between them and the lift. Sakuya quickly counted them, reaching forty three, her stomach dropping further and further. They were all in some sort of brown colored Japanese armor, all of them looking the same, save for one. The one in the center looked the fanciest, in yellow armor, and not wearing a helmet like the rest. This was obviously the leader.

Soldiers? The bad guys have an army?!

The soldier in yellow took steps towards them, and drew a sword pointing it right at the maid and the esper.

Sakuya knew she was going to be in for a fight. She armed herself as she got in front of the wheelbarrow, hoping she would be enough to protect the three with her. Even with several knives in each hand, she was totally unsure, as she wasn't going to be able to fully use her powers.

Isn't this something. Nobody said anything about Hecatia having soldiers. Though it was to be expected - someone that powerful had to have servants. Stupid Yakumo, not being prepared for this. ...And stupid me for agreeing to do this. It's not like she could go back on it, however.

"Greetings, maid. You look smart enough to know why I'm here, and you look smart enough to know that you can't win this, so I'll only ask once."

"I'm not handing them over." Sakuya quickly responded, knowing that she was vastly outnumbered and was likely going to lose. The maid looked back to Kyouko, who looked ready to break down. "Get them out of here. I'll buy you time."

"B-but-"

I don't have time for this! "Just go!" Sakuya was steeling herself for the pain she knew she was about to go through as she returned her attention to the soldiers, hearing the wheelbarrow move away from her.

The woman in yellow smirked. "Do not worry. I don't have orders to kill you. I just need those two girls." She then motioned her troops. "Forward!"

[SPELL CARD: INFERNO "STRIPED ABYSS"]

Yeah. It was an ambush.

...Clownpiece...

The "Flash Man" laser spell card. Tenshi was just smacked by the lasers as she was too close to Clownpiece, and the rest of the group were too close to properly react as well, and they were bunched up. I don't know how I dodged on foot, but I did. The lasers were getting faster and faster, more danmaku being shot from Clownpiece and causing us to scatter away, if not outright downing the group. Shanghai and Hourai didn't stand a chance, getting downed pretty quickly. In fact, it was because of them that I think I managed to make it through - they took hits for me. The spell card ended after a moment, and there stood Clownpiece, in the open box. She stared right at me, before pointing her lit torch-

Marisa took this opportunity to try to ram into her with her broom, but Clownpiece simply jumped right at her, and caught her by the throat, slamming her to the ground.

No! Marisa! Clownpiece held up her torch, which just shot random danmaku everywhere. I took cover behind a nearby boulder, me affording a look every now and then. I noticed the downed bodies of some of the girls, such as Youmu, Tenshi, and a few others, but my focus was on the fairy and the witch. As far as I knew, I was the only one standing.

Actually, no, I shared the boulder with Orin. Her quickness saved her here. The kasha stared at me, before returning her attention back to the fairy. "That's one of them. I remember her."

Marisa clawed at Clownpiece's hand, letting out choking sounds. Sure, there was fear on her face, but there was more anger than anything else. "Stupid fairy! I'm gonna-"

"Garbage like you doesn't get to speak to their betters like that."

"Gonna shove my Hakkero down your throat..."

"You sad, sad excuse for a human." Clownpiece shook her head. "You still don't get it, do you? You don't know your place in all of this. None of you do." The fairy scowled at her captive. "Your lives, the people you know, the places in this instance of a universe? All don't matter. Just a means to our ends." The fairy cracked a psychotic smile. "Only a part of your world is useful, fruit to be harvested, got it? The rest gets thrown away, which includes you, trash."

Clownpiece tightened her grip on Marisa's throat, but the witch managed to choke out a few words.

"Was... was it you?"

"Hmm?"

"...did...you...kill...my...mom..."

Clownpiece leaned down to Marisa, who was struggling with all her might against the fairy's grasp.

The look on Clownpiece's face...

"Mommy screamed real good when I set her on fire. But that's to be expected, you know? Gotta slash and burn what's useless to help the harvestables grow."

Marisa's eyes widened for a bit, and then was replaced with pure rage, but she couldn't move.

She wasn't the only one feeling rage.

"How did it feel to watch that? To watch her building burn? To hear her screaming from within? To be so helpless, that you-"

I couldn't take it any more. Everything that had built up for the entire day, the past several years, just broke through. I had rushed at them without even thinking about it, and I don't know how I managed to weave through all that fire. The next thing I knew, my fist was making contact with Clownpiece's face. The fairy made a loud gasping noise as she was knocked back a good several meters, letting go of Marisa who was left gasping for air, and the fire ended.

Clownpiece's glare, that I actually hit her... it couldn't match the anger on mine.

I just couldn't stand hearing that.

I can't stand these things.

I just can't.

Clownpiece spat out something; turned out to be her left upper canine. I had knocked out one of her teeth. I numbly felt something akin to accomplishment, but that didn't matter to me.

I felt myself clenching my teeth so hard that they were starting to hurt. "Doesn't matter..."

Clownpiece looked at me like I had committed a grave offense, which I admittedly did. Knocking out someone's teeth kinda ranks up there. "You little-"

I didn't give her a chance to speak as I took steps towards the fairy. "Doesn't matter if you're dealing with animals, or humans, or even youkai. Even fairies. Some losers just need a good beating before they'll learn anything! Of course..." I screamed at the top of my lungs. "Rabid animals who are beyond learning just need to be put down!"

I have never met anybody so despicable. To just gloat about killing someone's mother like that. Like hell I was going to ignore this! And I didn't even care she was a girl. At that point? Such a thing didn't matter. If you're a monster, you're a monster.

Clownpiece was not going to leave here under her own power. At the very least, I was gonna knock some sense into her.

Clownpiece wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand, spitting out blood, not breaking eye contact with me, before breaking out her torch, lighting it up. She then reached behind her, producing another torch, using the first one to light up the second. The Sword of Hisou was teleported in front of me, and I took it.

[Remilia:] "Get her, Kyon."

I almost didn't even hear Remilia. My focus was solely on Clownpiece, and how I could hurt her. The two of us stood there, glaring at each other. Never had my senses been so clear, never have I ever been justified in such hatred.

Never before had I wanted to hurt another person this much.

"Filthy human."

"Psychotic little fairy."

"You shouldn't have done that. Trash like you doesn't get to do that."

"That's too damn bad 'cause I'm gonna do a hell of lot more and you won't stop me."

She clenched her teeth (which would have looked funny with that missing tooth if I was in a normal state of mind), her grip on her torches tightening. I followed suit, with my weapon.

We then rushed right for each other.

"Kyon!"

"Clownpiece!"

She brought down her two flame blades, meeting mine, once again we stared into each others eyes upon their collision, and once again, the impact knocked us away from each other.

You're not walking away from this you psychotic fairy! Marisa... Nagato... you've proudly admitted to hurting people that I care about! I'm gonna break you into tiny little pieces!

Clownpiece again was dragging her torch-swords on the ground, same stance as last time, as she approached me. When she got close, she started circling, as did I. The rage on our faces had to have been mutual, the hatred we had for one another apparent. This was going to be a fight. One of us was going to break.

Clownpiece brought up one torch, swinging for my head, and I jumped back, as I had an inclination of what she was going to do - she was dual-wielding after all. Sure enough, when the first sword hit its apex, the other was already swinging at body-level. She was counting on me to block the first one.

Okay, can't afford to block anything. She'll get me with the other. I have to stay out of her range until I am ready to attack. Following my gut instincts saved me there.

Clownpiece looked even angrier that I didn't fall for that, knowing that I knew what she wanted to do.

I'm not going down that easy. I didn't come this far just to die on the first hit.

Again we circled each other, me just out of her range and backing up, as she was tentatively trying to get close enough. Sure, we were angry, but it seemed that we were still smart enough to try to size up the opponent to land a blow. If I fell, it wouldn't have done me any good, and I wouldn't be able to teach her a lesson. I'm kind of surprised I kept my wits despite my anger.

Clownpiece began taking swings, trying to catch me in them, and I kept moving. I had to. Each swing came from a certain side, followed by the next from a totally different angle. Overhead, uppercut-style. After she took two swings, I moved forward, but she brought up her left torch, ready for any strike as she brought back her right had. No, she'd just block me and counter before I could do anything. The focus wasn't on, it seemed, as the color of this realm was still there.

She has me outgunned. It's like I have a hand tied behind my back in a boxing match. I can't carelessly strike, otherwise she'll cut me down. I don't have the range that-

I did have the range. Thank you, Satori! I quickly looked through the deck I had, managing to find it on the second card.

[SPELL CARD: RECOLLECTION "RISE FROM DELUSION SLASH"]

The Sword of Hisou's flames increased in length, and I swung at her body. She brought up both torches, and met it. Now it was her turn to get out of my range. I advanced on her, taking stabs, swings, to which she was blocking. Come on, if I could just activate the focus or know how to activate it, I could speed up on her. Clownpiece jumped really out of my range, holding up the torch, activating her flame armor again, before charging right at me.

She evaded my attacks, jumping in the air, and swinging both torches down on me. I managed to get the sword up, meeting her two flame blades. We were struggling, her pushing down, the surprising strength of hers bringing me down to my knees, to which she grinned at.

"When I'm done here with you, I'm gonna give your family what I gave Marisa-"

Oh Hell no! That did it.

I quickly swung my head back, before hitting hers with mine, as her armor didn't cover her face. I aimed for the side of her face, where I had hit her previously, hoping that the loss of her tooth had given her a sensitive spot. It worked, as she reeled back from it more than she should have, bringing up one hand to her mouth and letting a pained grunt. It even killed the armor. Her whole body had tensed, her eyes even closed, which I took advantage of. I ended the flame blade, but kept the sword in my right hand, clenching it, and brought it right for her face again. I don't know how, but it connected again - she had brought down her hand just at that moment, I guess getting ready to attack - her eyes even opened right before the impact.

I put everything I had into that punch, to the point where my whole body strained, and she flew backward, the scene of her body being flung by my attack almost satisfying to witness. She even slid on her back from the punch, and laid there for a half a second when she came to a stop, before she jumped to her feet, a glazed look in her eyes, which then went to rage.

But there was also something else. Almost like it was... fear.

I've had my fair share of scraps, of fights. There's a reason why I know how to throw a punch. Bullies really don't like it when people stand up to them, after all.

She spat out more blood, but not more teeth. Pity. But the blood was trickling from the corner of her mouth even more. She used the back of her hand to wipe at her face, and it streaked red away from her mouth. I leaned towards her, opening my mouth and running my tongue up and down my own left canine, as to show off that I had something she didn't any more.

"Want me to knock out more? Then come at me!"

My taunt seemed to have an effect, as her face scrunched up in anger as she killed the lights on both torches, and took a step forward, striking on the ground.

I was ready for it. I rolled to the right, avoiding the flames while getting right back up to my feet (again, thank you parkour) and running for her left again.

I still didn't have the Hisou out - in fact, I ended the spell card and pocketed it. I tackled Clownpiece to the ground, knocking the torches out of her hand.

In danmaku, melee attacks are acceptable, though they are usually coated with a layer of danmaku magic to make them more effective at knocking out a person. Of course, I couldn't do such a thing. I couldn't even use danmaku without having to use a spell card in the first place.

But I could knock some sense into a psychotic fairy.

I had hoped that I would remain on top, but she flipped me off of her, as she rolled to her feet. I did the same and turned to her. She stared at me, before looking back at the torches a meter behind her, and then back to me.

I know it wasn't the time for it, but I suddenly felt a little... iffy on punching a girl. I just came to a realization of what I was doing, of what I did a while ago. Not that my anger wasn't gone, but I just understood what I was doing, you know? Well, whatever. I brought up my fists, keeping my eyes locked with hers. She saw what I did, causing her to clench her teeth.

"You really wanna fight me without a weapon?"

"I already did. Might as well go through with it." I again ran my tongue up and down my left canine. "Besides, it's working."

Her fists clenched as well. She reached up a hand in the air, and from another portal, dropped a-

A baseball bat?!

It looked like an ordinary bat, but at the same time, it was all too familiar.

Clownpiece grinned at me, tapping the bat in her hands. "Yeah, familiar, ain't it? Your SOS Brigade home run bat. The same one you used way back in high school in that game?" Her grin widened. "Managed to find it. But I just realized something right now. Dying in a fire is too good for you." Clownpiece's smile dropped, becoming a death glare. "I'm gonna beat you to death."

"You're only gonna lose more teeth."

She took several swings at me as she closed the distance, I could feel the air move as the bat narrowly missed my head each time. I was feeling the fear of being hit by such an object, but I felt insulted. No, even further enraged that this psycho girl intended to use something from one of my precious memories against me. Even though it was totally silly, us playing against pros, I still fondly looked back on that stupid baseball game.

Clownpiece stepped forward, bringing the bat behind her, and I was getting ready to duck, in fact, I began to. I realized it was a mistake as she adjusted her swing, instead bringing it up. I moved my arms in front of me, clenching my teeth as I could feel the bat hit my arms. The swing made my arms open up, as Clownpiece began to take another swing.

A black cat with two tails jumped on Clownpiece's back, clawing away at her. The fairy let out a yell, her eyes closing for a second, but it was enough to make her pause her swing.

Is that Rin's cat form?! It was. I realized it when I saw her two red hair ribbons on her tails. In my fight with Clownpiece, I had forgotten she was still up.

I had to act, kicking the fairy in the midsection was my only course of action, which I did. It stunned her for a second, to which I took advantage of. We were near one of the many boulders, so I grabbed her by the hair, and with a quick motion, slammed her head onto it, even though my arms hurt and felt numb at the same time. I again had to give thanks for the peaches for making me superhuman - with the force I was hit, Clownpiece would have broken my arms right there otherwise. I could feel the stinging already and knew they would be bruised badly. Rin had jumped off the fairy's back, and landed at my side, hissing at Clownpiece.

She quickly recovered from the slam, elbowing me in the gut with the handle of the bat, which brought me to my knees. She began raising it to bring it down on me, but I caught her arms, pushing up. We were nose-to-nose at that point in that struggle, so there was only one thing I could do.

I slammed my face into hers again. She reeled back, a slight spray of blood coming from her mouth upon impact, dropping the bat.

I immediately went for it, grabbing at it as soon as it left her hands, and used the handle of the bat like she did on me, right in her gut. She doubled over, but rolled before I could bring it down on her. Again kicking me in the midsection, which knocked out a good deal of wind out of my body, she scrambled to the torches. Rin was already on Clownpiece, clawing away, trying to buy me time to recover. Clownpiece grabbed Rin by the tails and flung her away, but still focused on getting back her weapons. The torches were already lit, so when she grabbed them, she immediately spun around, bringing them to her mouth. Gasping for air, I ducked behind the boulder, avoiding her fire breath.

I had two choices - hide behind the boulder until she stops, at which point she'll attack, or...

[SPELL CARD: CAT SIGN "VENGEFUL CAT SPIRIT'S ERRATIC STEP"]

What in the world?!

Rin in her cat form had used a spell card. Using her small size to evade Clownpiece, Rin leapt and bounded around the fairy. Each time the cat hit the ground, it gave off a spread shot of danmaku. The spread shots were making some contact with the fairy, who then turned her fire breath to the cat.

...Satori did ask us to take care of her pets. I wasn't about to let her down. Besides, she helped me in the fight.

Bringing out my deck again, I found what I was looking for rather quickly. I had noticed another, and I kept it on the front of my deck, because I had a plan.

[SPELL CARD: RECOLLECTION "KILLING DOLL"]

Knife danmaku homed in right on Clownpiece through her fire breath, I could hear them hitting her as the flames died down and via her gasps. Rin the cat ended her card, and went to me, her body going back to human form, and she joined me at the boulder.

"Not bad, bro! Thought you were gonna leave me high and dry, actually."

"Wouldn't think of it." I wasn't done though. Ending the card, I used the next one.

[SPELL CARD: RECOLLECTION "SCHRÖDINGER'S CAT"]

The box surrounded Clownpiece, allowing me to run up to her, me bringing the bat behind me, winding up. As soon as I was close enough, I ended it.

The look on her face, right before she realized what I did...

That's right. I got you to hold still.

It's been a while since I've felt so satisfied.

The bat connected with her midsection, taking her off her feet and just flinging her away. Her eyes widened, she let out a choking gasp, then a pained yelp as she was just launched. I collapsed as I hit her, so I didn't see where she went, and I don't think I got all of the swing. I ended up on the ground, still gasping for air. I looked up, trying to see where Clownpiece landed, but again, couldn't. Propping the bat up, I used it to get myself to my knees, my attention to where the rest of my group was.

"Man I really did luck out in getting the right people for the job." Rin was beaming, the ends of her tails flicking a bit before wrapping around her side as she made her way to me. "Even the normal humans kick butt."

"Thanks for the assist," I sighed as I struggled to stand. "Damn fairy did a lot of damage to everyone."

Rin kept smiling at me, and it was kind of hard to read it, until I saw sort of a predatory look on her face. Not hostile, though. As she got me up, her body was rubbing against mine. I could hear a light purring coming from her.

Oh. Oh, okay, that's what she means.

It was how cats show affection. Not that I didn't appreciate it, mind you. I mean, I've said that Rin was quite alluring. Whereas Chen was a cute cat-girl, Rin there was an alluring cat-woman. Oh my gosh the softness. Her body is just...

"You're so kind, bro. Saving me from that static stuff," Rin's mouth was close to my ear. I could hear the slight purring in her voice. "And making sure I didn't get hit in that fight with the fairy." She full-on pressed her body against mine, with a devilish grin on her face.

I gulped, my body heating up in response to the stimuli. "This really isn't the time for this." Any other time, I'd appreciate it more. Just the wrong situation, you know?

"That's what I was about to say." I turned my head, and Reimu was already up, clutching her left side. Danmaku scarring was there, as well as her left sleeve being blown away. I guess she didn't like the imbalance of it, because she got rid of her right one. "You did it again, Kyon." She smirked as she took off her sleeve. "Finding a way to survive." The miko raised her eyebrow at what Rin was doing. "...And looks like the cat took a liking to you."

This wasn't my intention!

[Remilia:] "Of course he found a way. He's my servant, Hakurei!"

Remilia, I know you're proud of me, but not now. I'm really not in a position to be messed with any more. My arms burned, stung, as did my lungs. My whole body felt strained, despite me being super human, so who knows how much force I put into that fight. However, my body was... pressed up against something rather good, but I couldn't let that continue. I had to peel Rin off of me, who seemed disappointed that I did so.

[Nitori:] "Enjoying yourself there, Kyon?"

[Kaguya:] "I've heard that you're a cat person, but this is taking it too far, isn't it?"

Don't, ladies. Please.

That earned a few giggles from the orb, making me want to hide behind a boulder for a while. I mean, I'll admit, animal-girls are fine, but... I never thought of myself as a cat-girl guy until that point. Okay, no, get back on track. There is a dangerous enemy close to you, you idiot. "Seriously, Rin, not the time." I just waved her off, not needing to deal with this at this point. She backed up a bit, but not far enough. Judging by the look on her face, she may have become enamored with me - she had the same look that Marisa had on several occasions. Cats doing what they want. Par for the course, I guess.

Reimu had moved up to my position, looking out where Clownpiece had been launched, I joined her, but so did Rin, who still didn't get the hint. I again glanced to where I thought I launched Clownpiece, letting out a breath. "She just... she admitted to..."

"I heard." Reimu lowered her head, a grim look on her face. "Marisa's mom..."

I shook my head. "And she was so proud of it." Speaking of Marisa, that reminded me to go look for her. I was torn on getting the others up, or going for Clownpiece. I couldn't see the fairy any more, but I could see the girls, so that's what I decided. Another vial... shoot, I lost count of how many I have left. I didn't bother counting, as my focus was getting the girls back up. Geez, Clownpiece got you all good with that spell card.

Unfortunately, the first one I encountered after tagging Reimu was Fujiwara, laying on the floor and groaning. I considered leaving him, but knew I couldn't. "Get your worthless butt up!" I shouted as I tagged him (well, I kicked his leg, but it activated the barrier), before finding Marisa. She was still gasping for air. "You okay?!"

Marisa... Marisa had this look on her face. Just a calm look. Her eyes belied such calmness, and I knew what she wanted to do. She didn't say anything as I got her to her feet. ...And Rin helped her up as well. Seriously, Rin wasn't leaving my side.

We heard Clownpiece screeching from somewhere close by. "This is where you all die!"

So much for hoping I took you down with that home run swing. I still had the bat, by the way. Marisa motioned for me to go on to the others.

"Oh someone's gonna die today. But none of them are gonna kill you, ze!" Marisa tipped the brim of her hat down, so we could hardly see her eyes, as I went around getting everyone back up. Marisa looked to all of them "Nobody kills her. You leave her alive. Knock her out if you hafta, but she's mine."

Mima had gone to Marisa's side, with this look of understanding. The two didn't say anything to each other, but I think they didn't have to. They knew. They stopped their stare at each other, before turning their attention to our enemy.

"Stupid worthless witch!" Clownpiece had limped into view from behind one of the boulders two dozen meters away. I think I got her good, as her breathing was labored, and even more blood had come out of her mouth - the red streaks had increased. "You're gonna die screaming without avenging mommy!"

"I'm gonna shove my Hakkero down your throat and fire!" Marisa got on her broom, not taking her eyes off of her target. "Or I could stick it up the other way and fire. Doesn't matter to me. Only thing that matters is the look on your face when I do it, ze."

"How 'bout you stick it up one end and I'll take the other and fire too." Mima's staff glowed. "This fairy isn't surviving today."

The rest of us lined up with Marisa, ready to go. "Give up right now," said Reimu, as focused as ever. "Maybe I'll convince Marisa to let you live. Can't guarantee it."

"You're outnumbered!" Cirno shouted. "You ain't gonna beat us! Wanna repeat of earlier?!"

"Long as it isn't just us again," quipped Luna, "I'm fine with it."

Clownpiece held up her torch and looked to the cavern's ceiling. "Master! Give me the strength to kill these worthless vermin!"

A portal opened up, but not one of Yukari's. It was that closed-eye portal, like it was some sort of dark reflection of Yukari's. I don't know how you can be a dark reflection of what is essentially already a demon's power, but there you go. From it, red white and blue fire poured out, and into Clownpiece. She was taking deep breaths, like she was breathing it in, acting like it was waking her up. Her eyes got wider and wider, her body brighter. The process took less than five seconds. The flames appeared to form a chain around her. It wasn't anything solid, but it was made of the flames, and you could see the links. It was moving, wrapping around her.

The portal closed, and the fire covered Clownpiece, the wrapping chains going to her back and forming fire wings. Her eyes glowed, her torch's flame was even bigger.

Yeah, just by looking at her, one could tell she had gotten more powerful.

Clownpiece was arching her back and throwing her head back in laughter, arms spread open. She stared at all of us in a wide-eyed fervor of being powerful. "Aahahahaha! This feels wonderful! This is what it is to have even just a fraction of my master's true power!" She grinned right at me. "You can't beat me now!"

I slightly opened my mouth, and ran my tongue over my left canine. "Your little buff doesn't bring back your teeth, does it?"

Her smile disappeared, her fists clenching. "I'm gonna enjoy beating you to death."

"I'm gonna enjoy knocking off another part of you. Wings, teeth, what's next?" I pointed the bat at her. "Come on. What are you willing to part with? I'm open to suggestions." I know I'm not the taunting or aggressive type. It's just that against this particular person, it felt so right. So justified.

[Patchouli:] "Can you not aggravate the obviously supercharged fairy?!"

[Remilia:] "Ease off, Patch. He learned from the best - me! But I do worry that you can't take her on on your own."

"He's not alone!" Tenshi had come to my side facing the fairy. "She is!"

He was in danger again. Emiri hurt all over, but she still recognized that he needed help. She was still damaged, in a sense, and couldn't bring herself to help earlier.

There is no way I'm not helping you out. Not after what they did to us all.

"We're taking you down, fairy!" Shouted Youmu. "This won't be like before!"

"Exactly." Clownpiece's tooth-missing grinned at us. "I'm even stronger now."

"You ain't getting us by surprise this time, jackass!" Mokou spat to the side, wiping her mouth with her sleeve. "We're ready for you!"

[Yukari:] "No offense to our fairy companions, but a powered-up fairy is ultimately still just a fairy."

The fairy opened up with waving both torches in the air, a wall of danmaku fireballs forming behind her, which she then directed towards us with a point of the torches-

There was a click, and the danmaku disappeared. Marisa took a photo of them with the tengu camera. This appeared to stun Clownpiece, more of being surprised than anything. I drew the sword, hoping against hope that it would work.

The world went gray. Thank you! Whatever is making this work, thank you! I had the time to decide what to do, what course of action to take here. It was obvious that Clownpiece got powered up, so, what could we do? Her flame wings were the only thing in red, so I had to assume that was a target. I didn't want her to start flying around again, not when I grounded her earlier by cutting off her wings. It was what made her vulnerable to me, making us equal in the sense that we had to fight on the ground. Looking to Marisa, I began to think what I could do. Clownpiece's power got increased, but looks like her speed didn't. She's not in the gray world with me. Come on, focus. What can I do? I stared at Sanae, my own jealousy at her having the stealth camo returning, but I began to consider getting it. Stealth did work for us, after all. The camera was viable for ending barrages, I didn't know how in the world to use Suika's belt, couldn't use Patchouli's crystals, and Koizumi had the dolls. ...Dolls! Shanghai and Hourai were still down from earlier, so I couldn't use them.

Let's see... tool wise, I can use the stealth camo, the camera, maybe one of the dolls with Koizumi, the Hisou, the bat, the vials- I took the time to count. Got five left. Okay. Really need to save those for the final battle. What about weather? Reimu, Marisa, Youmu, Tenshi, Mokou, Mima, Cirno, and Sanae were the only ones who had a possible weather effect that were with us. The only ones I could think of in this situation was Marisa's drizzle for her spell card damage boost, or Tenshi's aurora and hoping to roll the dice.

For now, I have to ground the fairy. Keep her in my reach. If she played keep away with such barrages, we were going to lose, no question.

I ran up to her, my every instinct wanting to hurt her, but I needed to do this. Besides... I still... I still couldn't bring myself to kill another person, you know? I didn't want to. I couldn't.

I sliced through her wings, my flames snuffing out hers, as time resumed. The 'impact' of it knocked her forward a few steps, as she made a grunt. She turned her head to look at me, sheer surprise quickly followed by sheer anger. I had to move, as I ran out of peach power by then. The fairy swung her two torches at me, to which Youmu, and I don't know how she got to us so fast, blocked with both her blades. The samurai gardener bought me enough time to recharge on magic and peaches, parrying each of Clownpiece's strikes.

"Tenshi! Marisa's weather!"

"Got it!"

I tossed the sword into the air, to which a Yukari portal got it to Tenshi's hands. Within a matter of seconds, a drizzle began forming down here. Even though it was so hot (I could feel it even with the heat protection) it still rained. The sword was returned to me.

Clownpiece really was charged up, as her strikes were forcing Youmu to back up. I need something quick. Something... My thoughts returned to another battle I fought at Youmu's side. I found the card, again, rather quickly. Either I was lucky, or... well, Satori gave me this deck like this. So something was going on.

[SPELL CARD: RECOLLECTION "RABBIT BALL"]

"Youmu! Move!"

She understood it as soon as I called out the card. The ball hung in the air in front of me, to which I struck with the bat, right at Clownpiece. Sure, it wasn't tennis, but I still knew how to hit something in a direction, you know?

The ball whiffed right by Youmu's body as she dove off to the side, smacking Clownpiece right in the face, knocking her away from us.

I kept hitting that damned psycho fairy in the face, and I have to admit it was satisfying every time.

A shot rang out, and Clownpiece's flame armor disappeared, the flame chains that had wrapped around her shattering, or snuffed out into nothingness. It was Fujiwara's gun. He really did have the means of taking down Hecatia's power.

Reimu shouted at the rest of the group, who were holding back. "Now!"

[SPELL CARD: "TRINITY SPARK"]

There were more, but that was the major one used on the fairy. Since Youmu and I weren't in the line of fire, which is why the others didn't attack, they just unloaded. Clownpiece disappeared into the light, and when it was done... she was still standing. Dazed, but still standing.

[Yukari:] "Like I said. Ultimately just a fairy."

[Kaguya:] "She must be a glutton for punishment! Why don't you oblige her?"

I ran to Youmu, helping her back up. "Come on! We're not done with her!"

"I heard what she admitted to. This has got to be Marisa's take down."

I was inclined to agree, and I think everyone silently agreed to it as well. Mima said something to Marisa, to which the witch, who never took her eyes off of Clownpiece, hopped onto her broom again, aiming herself right at the fairy, but pointing the mini-Hakkero behind her. I knew what she was going to do.

[SPELL CARD: COMET "BLAZING STAR"]

Marisa stuck out her arm, so she didn't just slam into Clownpiece, she just clothes-lined her, causing the fairy to spin in the air before slamming on the ground, knocking the wind out of her and leaving her gasping for air. Fujiwara was the closest to approach her, aiming right at the fairy. He had a sure look on his face.

"See? I told you it was effective."

"Yeah, it was. Now stop patting yourself on the back, human." Yuka also approached the downed enemy. "She only went down fast because we took her down together."

"We still downed her quickly. She went down quicker than she did against Kyon alone." Reimu again applied amulets to Clownpiece, to which Sanae added some of her own.

"She had all that power, but I think she was too stupid to know how to use it. She just tried using a simple barrage." Mima smirked. "Kinda disappointing, really. Seeing her get all powered up got my hopes up for an epic battle."

[Alice:] "Don't be arrogant here. Her master has to be nearby and watching for her to quickly give a power up to Clownpiece when she asked for it."

That actually sent a chill down my own spine. Marisa, whose attack got her way past the fairy, was already on her way back to us, stopped, and quickly looked around.

"Why'd you have to bring that up, ze?" She looked slightly angry. "I was gonna teach her some manners."

"If you're gonna finish the fairy, finish her now then." Fujiwara kept his gun on her. "If we can whittle down their numbers, all the... better..."

He trailed off, since he heard it too. It sounded like marching.

[Aya:] "Please tell me that isn't what I think it is."

I was gonna ask that. Also, if it is, what the hell?

The orb went into the air a bit, looking around, then it came right back down to us after an exclamation of various people from it.

Oh no...

It didn't take long for them to come into view. Dozens of men and women, no, soldiers in brown armor marched from all around us, surrounding our group. Most of them immediately went to surround Clownpiece, forcing Sanae, Reimu, and Fujiwara to back away from them. They broke the amulets and got the fairy back to her feet.

[Yuyuko:] "Oh my..."

[Nitori:] "I've said this before, but I'm really glad I'm not down there with you guys."

Out of the soldiers, there was one that stood out. The woman was wearing yellow keikou armor, with gauntlets, a short sword sheathed in front of her, and...she looked strangely familiar, like I've seen that getup before. It didn't take me long to realize she looked like that haniwa soldier on display in the Tokyo museum. A clay soldier girl?! Like the terracotta soldiers that were created for guiding spirits to the afterlife. The others had similar armor as well. She didn't have a helmet like the rest, instead she had two parts of her hair tied off and held by white ribbons. Her skin was... unusual. She had a reddish tint, almost looking sunburned. The rest shared her complexion as well.

Fujiwara still kept his gun trained on the fairy, but he looked surprised at this new development. He wasn't the only one.

Clownpiece began to laugh from behind the wall of soldiers. "What was it you losers said about being outnumbered and doing the smart thing?" She looked right at me. "Didn't I say it? You're all gonna die."

We heard a moaning, and some of the soldiers had dragged a body into our view.

Oh no...

My heart sank when I saw it was Sakuya, bloodied and bruised all over. She looked beaten to death, but she was still moving, making slight noises. They threw her to the ground in front of us, and she was letting out gasps, as if it was a struggle to breathe. It was then that I noticed that the soldiers had some slight damage. Some even had Sakuya's knives stuck in them, but they acted like they didn't feel it. One soldier was even missing half his face, and he was hollow inside.

They really are clay soldiers. What the hell?!

[Remilia:] "Sakuya! You bastards! When I get down there I'm tearing you all apart!"

I debated on using a vial right away, but judging by the looks of things, I'd have to wait until we finished with this threat, because we were going to get hurt here. Seeing Sakuya in that state was bringing back the anger I had used up against Clownpiece. Hang in there, Sakuya. Please be okay.

The woman in yellow armor moved forward, protected by the other soldiers, each with various weapons. Spears, swords, shields, bows, until she got to the side of the fairy.

"Took you long enough to get here, Mayumi..." Clownpiece had bent over, hands on her knees, she too struggling to breathe. "Now-"

"You're done fighting," said the yellow armor girl that Clownpiece called Mayumi. "You're in no condition to fight. Back away - we'll take it from here."

Clownpiece looked incredulous. "But-"

Mayumi shook her head. "My Lady's orders. Stand down." Mayumi turned her attention to us. "We'll end this."

Clownpiece stared at her, but then grinned, turning right to look at me as she stepped back away from them. "Fine. But you leave him alive. I'm beating him to death."

I audibly gulped, backing away from all of this. We were really outnumbered here.

"Yukari, what do we do?!" Mokou had her flames ready, but it was obvious she was panicking.

There were no answers from the orb. From it, we could hear the others shouting at Yukari to answer. There was only one way to take that reaction. Oh crap she didn't expect any of this!

Mayumi pointed her sword at us. "Take them down, troops!"

Our group had to fight once again a large attacking force, the main difference was that this wasn't some mindless mob. This was a trained army. They slowly advanced upon us, weapons at the ready.

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

Marisa used the lasers again, catching a few of them unprepared, reducing them to a pile of broken terracotta. The rest got their shields out and blocked it. Most of them who didn't have shields simply hid behind the ones who did.

I could see that Mayumi was not pleased with losing soldiers. She redirected her army to advance behind the ones with shields. "They are strong in this one. The spell cards have..." She looked to the still drizzling air. "...I see."

Right! We still have increased damage going on!

"All right then, we'll just take them down." Reimu ran right at them, bringing out a spell card.

[SPELL CARD: DREAM SIGN "DEMON BINDING AWAY"]

The white light pillar erupted from her, knocking a few of them away, shattering some of the soldier's limbs. The majority of them converged-

"Mokou!" Reimu had teleported from being surrounded, leaving them grouped up.

The immortal didn't hesitate. "Screw it!"

[SpElL cArD: rEgReTfUl LiFe "iMmOrTaLiTy'S rEcKlEsS sAcRiFiCe"]

What?! Mokou?! What are you-

The immortal went into the bunch of them, activating her suicide card. The explosion blasted the group of soldiers, reducing them to chunks of shattered terracotta. What was disturbing was that the clay was twitching for a bit afterward, as if life was leaving them. Life was returning to the... pieces of Mokou as she was put back together. I'll never get used to that!

Already we had reduced their numbers. The suicide explosion took out half of them. I gave Reimu a glare for even doing that, using Mokou as a kamikaze. Koizumi appeared to have a reaction, but then reset himself, I suppose accepting it. It was part of what Mokou did.

Mayumi narrowed her eyes at us, no, wait, just at Marisa. I instantly understood what she was going to do-

And there was nothing that I could have done to stop it. In a blink of an eye, Mayumi closed the distance between her and the witch, striking Marisa with the sheathe of her sword (not the sword itself, thankfully). Upon striking her, the drizzle stopped, but-

The gray world. It took over, as I saw the soldier girl unsheathe her sword, her eyes still on Marisa.

No you don't!

I ran right for her, and as I did, in that gray world, she turned her head to me, bringing up her blade to meet my sword. When the two struck, color resumed, as Marisa fell to the ground. The soldier didn't move, just stared at me.

"So that's the power." Mayumi eyed the sword of Hisou. "Annoying, but not an obstacle." She pushed against me, separating us from each other. She took a few steps back, her face serious, but with no hatred. Like this was simply a job she was doing. It was also just a quiet confidence in her that made me completely unsure about this. She sheathed her sword, and stared at me, as if she was expecting me to do the same.

She was challenging me. I hesitated, and her eyes went to Marisa as she slightly unsheathed her sword, indicating that if I didn't fight her, she'd go for the witch. I couldn't let that happen, obviously.

I "sheathed" my sword, and that satisfied her. She took steps away from Marisa, and I followed. The two of us kept our eyes locked on each other, coming to a stop away from anyone else.

What am I doing?! This was an obvious professional soldier, who could move a great distance in an instant. But what was I to do? I wasn't going to sacrifice anyone else on my account.

"You don't really have a reason to fight me, do you?"

Her sudden words caught me off guard, as I was internally trying to figure out how I was going to get through this one. The corner of her mouth went up, and she looked to the left, indicating where I should draw my attention. Behind her, several of her soldiers brought a captive Kyouko into view, which made my heart go to my throat again, because the next thing that came into view was the wheel barrow, and the two girls in it. No! You... They got past Sakuya, so of course they got Haruhi. Unlike Sakuya, the others were unharmed. Kyouko started sobbing and apologizing for not getting them out upon seeing Sakuya's state. I returned my attention to Mayumi, understanding now that I was going to fight this woman whether I wanted to or not.

Damn it... damn it!

Mayumi held out her left hand, the soldiers tossing a bow and quiver of arrows to her, to which she put on her back, still not taking her eyes off me.

Koizumi was the first to react, going to fight the soldiers, followed by the others. It looked like it was up to me to take on their leader. I could hear various voices around me, some from the orb, but I couldn't hear them. My focus wasn't on that. It was on the soldier in front of me.

I got no choice, do I? I drew the sword, as did Mayumi.

"Now that you have a reason to fight, a reason to live, now you can give it your all, and there won't be any complaints." She said that so matter-of-factually that again, my confidence was going.

I'll give you something to complain about. I don't know where my bravado was coming from. I just knew I had to do something. You hurt Sakuya. You have Haruhi. I can't let you get away with this.

The others moved, fighting against the soldiers, as I had my own battle to deal with.

"Don't worry, boy. I don't have orders to kill you. Just break you."

I already knew that I wouldn't have an 'easy' time with this one as I did Clownpiece. The gray world encompassed us as I drew the sword, Mayumi mirroring me with hers. The two of us remained in color.

You know, if I wasn't personally doing it, a time stop fight would seem so badass to watch on a movie screen. ...Not the time, idiot!

I moved to her, and my gut again telling me to watch for counters. I feigned a strike, and she had immediately moved to intercept it with her sword. Even in this, she could easily meet me. She's faster than me...

I decided to even the playing field. I had the tools to do so.

Moving away from her, I went to Marisa. Mayumi was surprised that I had apparently run from battle, but then she saw what I was doing. She wasn't as instant as she was in normal time, but she ran to me, catching up to me as I had grabbed the tengu camera. Her color grayed out a little as I grabbed it, making me realize it was the right choice to make. I had an advantage, even if it was slight, and some confidence returned to me.

Mayumi swung her sword, and I matched it. I don't think I got the right angle to deflect, but thankfully the Hisou did small things like correction for that. It was nice to have a cheating weapon. Swipes, stabs, she kept at it, blatantly upset that I had gotten a speed boost and that I could keep up with her. She was still strong, each time our swords making contact it made me have to take a step back, the vibrations hurting my arms as they felt each impact.

I had to go on offense, lest she fatigue me. I waited her to take a wide swing, deflecting it away from her, thrusting my sword right for her body-

The sword of Hisou split and splayed at the tip, splashing across her glinting yellow armor, which shone like gold as if to advertise that it wasn't as primitive as it seemed. It took me a second in that time stop to realize it wasn't just 'like' gold, it was gold armor.

We both came back into the color world as Mayumi took a step back, looking at the light scratch that the Sword of Hisou left. She rubbed at it, her lips curling in disgust. "This was a gift to me, you know?" She got into an attack position. "You should feel honored, however. That was the first time anyone or anything has left a mark on it."

Jeez, I can't even hurt her! Her armor is able to stop this sword! And it wasn't danmaku, where I could freeze it.

I backed up, bringing out a spell card. Let's see if this works!

[SPELL CARD: RECOLLECTION "MASTER SPARK"]

The light encompassed her, I didn't see her get out of it. When the light faded, she still stood there, her gauntlets covering her face. Her gauntlets and armor gave of a light smoke.

For a second, my jaw dropped. She took a Master Spark point blank and it didn't even do anything!

Her hair was a little singed, however. The ribbons in her hair took the worst of it, being blackened. She dusted off her armor after that, still not breaking eye contact.

[Alice:] "Just who is this girl?!"

[Yukari:] "Listen to me here. This girl is very powerful. Her power is equivalent to-"

Mayumi took aim at the orb with her bow, and I reacted. She already fired by the time I brought out the Hisou, leaving the arrow in the air for me, which I sliced in half. Going back to color, I pointed at her. "Your fight is with me!" It had to be, as nobody else would be fast enough to keep up with her.

[Yukari:] "Her power is equivalent to her loyalty to her master! If she has unflinching loyalty, she is near-unbeatable!"

That would make her the perfect soldier, unable to ever rise up against her master, lest she becomes weak. This would also mean that this girl would have to be completely behind whoever was behind this.

Mayumi took aim, and in quick succession, she shot several arrows in my direction, and by the time I stopped time, she came right at me as the arrows were still in the air. I moved into the area where the arrows were, meeting the sword slash she was bringing up. I again had no choice but to be on defense as she attacked. Even though I was quicker, I wasn't confident enough to hit a place on her that wasn't covered by armor. Her legs, her arms, and her head were the only unarmored portions.

I attempted strikes, and she would either let me hit her body armor or hit her gauntlets, which too deflected my sword. Time resumed, and the arrows burst into pieces around us, each of them hit by stray swings.

Mayumi jumped back, landing as she drew her bow at me. It was another barrage, but she tensed her leg muscles - she was going to rush me! I barely was able to hold onto my sword when she struck in a normal fight, but if she had the running start-

I dove out of the way, the arrows flying past me, as well as her lunge. She kept doing this, back and forth, getting a running start at a lunge during a barrage of arrow fire.

Even with my speed boost, she was too good. Clownpiece's strikes were wild, but Mayumi's were precise and powerful, leaving me with no real opening.

One more lunge, and she managed to strike my sword. It flew out of my hand, clattering somewhere.

[SPELL CARD: HANIWA "SKILLED ARCHER HANIWA"]

Oh you've got to be kidding me!

Mayumi instantly turned around to face me, using the spell card. Several of Mayumi's soldiers joined her, armed with bows, and they fired at me. Well, from behind them the danmaku arrows formed. It was another slave card - they were firing the arrows like machine gun bursts, 10 at a time in each burst, but four of those bursts per archer. Mayumi herself was spread shooting arrows from her location.

Okay me, what do I do?! I don't have the sword, so I need armor...

[SPELL CARD: RECOLLECTION "STATE OF ENLIGHTENMENT"]

Thank you again, Satori! I owe you so much after this! Tenshi's armor card covered me, as I charged right for her soldiers. The arrows just bounced off my body. Mayumi's eyes widened as she saw this, calling for her archers to fall back, but I reached several, taking the baseball bat to them. Seeing that some of them survived Sakuya's knifing, I had to do something a little more drastic, like aiming for their heads. They shattered, collapsing into shards of terracotta. Even the ones who simply had their clay heads knocked off simply fell over and stopped moving.

For a moment, I was a bit mortified with what I was doing. But I couldn't dwell on it - Mayumi ended the spell card, telling her soldiers to back off. She came right at me again, her blows knocking me around. I couldn't feel it, thanks to the armor, but it wouldn't last. I needed to locate the Hisou, but she was on me, not letting me do anything.

I can't do this on my own! I need help!

Youmu had appeared by my side, trying to meet swords with Mayumi, and she told me to find the celestial sword. It was a breather, one I sorely needed. I scrambled to where I think the sword was, but another Yukari portal opened, dropping it in front of me. Thanks Yukari! Grabbing it, I turned back to the fight, and Youmu was already losing. Even though Youmu could strike at a quarter of a speed of light, Mayumi was just cutting into her. Already Youmu was bleeding from several slashes from her sides.

Seeing that blood brought back that anger. You're not hurting any more of my friends today, haniwa soldier!

I ran to behind Mayumi, who whipped around to face me, while also using her gauntlets to parry Youmu's strikes. She was fighting off the both of us.

[Eirin:] "What am I even seeing here?!"

Eirin's exclamation was on point. This was insane, one of the most insane things I've encountered even in Gensokyo, actually, insane considering Gensokyo. Mayumi was effectively a one-woman army in comparison to these girls. By then my armor had ended, and I had to watch for her strikes.

How are we gonna beat this girl?! Please someone have a plan!

[Nitori:] "Kyon back up!"

[SPELL CARD: FLOWER SIGN "DOUBLE SPARK"]

Yuka had made a copy of herself, doing two sparks as she aimed at Mayumi. Youmu and I both struck at the same time, trying to pin Mayumi in place. She knocked our strikes away and jumped over the two sparks at her. She brought her sword down on Yuka-

Not gonna happen! In the air, she was under the rules of gravity, unless she used flight to force herself down. I ran to her location as she struck her sword into one of the Yuka's, which then collapsed into dust, so I assume it was the copy. I managed to swing my sword at a part of her body, her leg, but she brought down her gauntlet to meet it without even looking at me. She swung her elbow at me, forcing me to whip myself back away from her.

My lungs and my body were burning from over-exertion. I've never felt more exhausted. Every strike she made, it took so much out of me to even defend from.

Mayumi fully turned to me, lifting her sword into the air.

"My Lady, grant me the power to end this."

What?!

The corrupt portal opened up again, with what looked like dust raining down on her. It attached to her body, causing her golden armor to glow intensely, before the portal closed. The dust formed a chain, wrapping around her armor, and it glowed the brightest from where it touched the armor.

She lunged at me again, the swing connecting with the sword of Hisou, and it felt like my body broke. Overwhelming pain overtook me as the impact of the two swords clashing reverberated through my body. My body gave out, falling to the ground, my head hitting the ground pretty hard, and causing me to see stars.

"Kyon!" I heard someone shout. I couldn't tell who, not in my fuzzy state of mind.

"Oh that's it! Just unload on these guys!"

Mayumi stared down at me, sheathing her sword. She reached down, but the items I had were taken away by Yukari's portals, I'm guessing so they couldn't be taken by the enemy. Mayumi frowned at this, but seemed to accept it. She stood right back up, calling for her soldiers to surround her.

"Just attack! Get them!"

"What the-"

Another corrupt portal opened up not far from me, and I watched as a woman floated down from it. Who...

This woman looked distinctly Chinese, with how she was dressed. A red and yellow tabard over a long black dress, and she was wearing a Chinese crown - I think they were called dalachi. Her long orange hair slightly swayed as she came down to the ground, and she smiled at all of us with her red eyes. She was a beauty, but obviously an enemy.

"Lady Junko." Mayumi gave a bow. "The area is secure." I saw a soldier bring the wheel barrow to us, showing me that the group couldn't save the two in it.

The Chinese woman, Junko, grinned. "Very good, Mayumi. I can see that you remain undefeated. You live up to your reputation." She made her way over to me...

I felt pressure. Like it was hard to breath and I was deep under water. It got more intense as Junko neared, and I couldn't move at all.

"What is this?!"

"We can't get close!"

I couldn't even turn my head to see who was talking.

"Kyon!"

"Haruhi!"

[Patchouli:] "There's runes!"

The corrupt portal that had 'dropped off' Junko moved overhead, and I could see with my limited vision (I couldn't even move my eyes, just barely blink) and shone down runes around the area. I could hear several spell cards go off, but no shots were getting to us. I felt myself falling for a second, but Mayumi grabbed me - Yukari had tried to portal me out. Junko said something under her breath, and I guess the portal closed, because Mayumi placed me back on the ground.

"Do something Yukari!"

[Yukari:] "I'm trying! She's blocking me!"

Junko stood over me, looking down at me with a smile. "I don't know why you children all struggle against the inevitable. It's not like the outcome will ever change."

I couldn't respond, just stare.

She seemed amused by this. "Ah, poor poor child. You actually thought you stood a chance against us, didn't you?"

[Remilia:] "What's going on Yukari?!"

[Yukari:] "She has a purity field! Nothing impure can enter it or move around her!"

Junko's smile widened. "That's right. And this human here is just an average human. Impure. Can't even hope to face something like me." She leaned closer. "Why? Why did you waste your time against us? Why struggle?"

I was trying to move something, trying to even speak, but nothing. It felt like every part of me was chained to the ground. I wanted to tell her off, wanted to say or do something. Come on! Why can't I move?!

"Get out of your little safe space and I'll show you a struggle!"

Junko looked up to who said that, and giggled as she brought up her hand to slightly cover her mouth. "No."

I was feeling more and more anger with every passing second, until a face popped up in my vision.

A face with a tooth missing. She grinned at me.

"Oh, Kyon, what did I say I was gonna do?"

It was at this point that I felt utmost fear. Mortal, unrelenting fear.

No... no... not like this!

"I'm gonna enjoy this." Clownpiece took her time, mounting me, staring down at me the entire time. "I'm gonna beat you to death in front of your friends!" She looked to everyone. "You all better learn from this! This is what happens when you defy us!"

I couldn't make a sound, couldn't protest, couldn't call for help, couldn't move. This was the most terrifying thing I could have ever imagined. Someone... anyone... Help me!

And then she brought down her fists.

She didn't stop.

She didn't stop hitting me.

Read and review. Lady Yukari demands it.