Imperfect Metamorphosis

by TakerFoxx

It's the first day of spring, and Cirno and her friends are once again up to no good! But after stealing a strange box from Marisa's house, they soon find themselves over their heads as they discover some things are meant to remain locked up.

30. The Storm, Part 3

The Storm, Part 3

The Fury

In time the pain starts to subside. The horror, however, takes much longer to die away. You feel as if someone has reached deep into your soul and touched something buried and primal, something you had no idea you even had. Touched and mutilated it.

As you struggle to bring the storm within your mind under control, Yuuka remains patient and sympathetic. "Perhaps I should have skimmed over that nasty little bit," she murmurs, her tone worried. "My sincere apologies. Still, it was necessary that you learned of that before being taught about something else."

Confused, you ask Yuuka to clarify.

In answer, she plucks the lavender stone off the gold band around her finger and holds it up. "You see, when the smallest bit of my mind leaked into Satori Komejii, it nearly broke her. Now to be honest, I found it hilarious. It sounds cruel, I know, but imagine for a moment that there is a rude person who takes enjoyment out of peeking through windows and spying on other people. Now, say this person looks through the wrong window and beholds an ancient man, covered from head-to-toe with warts, standing full in the nude and pleasuring himself." She laughs as you start gagging. "A vile image, I know, but would you not also be amused by the irony?"

Yuuka places the crystal back onto the ring. "However, irony is a double-bladed weapon. As fate would have it, poor Satori was not the only person to be forced to learn something that they'd rather have not known and suffer for it." She sighs and shakes her head. "It's amazing, really. You can go through life thinking that you know everything there is to know and that you've got everything figured out, and the universe will still surprise you. Sometimes I believe that reality is in fact sentient and in possession of a crueler sense of humor than my own. Hard to believe, I know."

You wonder what in the world she's talking about. Or at least, you would be wondering if your head still didn't hurt so much. If she's being deliberately vague just to make things more confusing, than she's certainly succeeding.

"Well, I suppose it's too early to touch on that," Yuuka says. "We really should be getting back to the tale." Her twisted smile turns down. "Because this is where things start to get a little worrisome."

…

Me again (the one that went after Yukari. Such a brave girl)

The Skillet Plateau was now completely destroyed. The smoke from the fires rose thick and dark, forming a black pillar that could be seen for miles. What few stone spires remained were crumbling away, their bases weakened by the intense heat. As for the heat itself, it could be felt even from several meters away, forming a sweltering curtain that no one sane would even dare to approach.

And near the center of the inferno, a skeletal hand suddenly thrust itself out of the fire. It grasped around before coming to rest on one of the few remaining pillars. It was joined by its twin, and Yuuka Kazami hauled herself out of flame. Or at least, what was left of her did. While she still wore a mostly human form, she was now more scorched flesh clinging to bone than a living person. Only her eyes remained whole.

Yuuka pulled herself upward, hand-over-hand, meter-by-meter, painfully moving upward like a wounded spider escaping a flood. Finally she reached the top and lay still, letting her flesh heal.

When she was capable, a harsh laugh rasped out of her throat. "Well now," she croaked. "That was a trip. Yukari doesn't do things in halves, does she?"

With that, Yuuka sat up and peered down into the flames. "I wonder what's keeping her, though. Surely that alone couldn't have finished her. Is she just being obstinate again?"

She shook her head. "Well, I suppose I can't blame her. It is her way. After all, I wouldn't want someone faulting me for acting according to my nature. We all have our little habits and ways of doing-"

"Ahem."

"Ah, there you are!" Yuuka said as she turned around. "And looking so…dramatic! I love it!"

Yukari floated several feet in the air, her arms folded and her glowing gold eyes glaring down at her nemesis. And there was not a burn on her.

"Well, credit where credit's due," Yuuka said admirably. "You're looking remarkably well for someone who had just been pulled into a raging mile-wide firepit. Or is it just your makeup? You really must introduce me to your-"

"Shut. The hell. Up."

Yuuka was lifted right off her feet by an invisible force. She was thrust backward, to slam spine-first into the sheer sides of the pit. Yukari watched dispassionately as Yuuka was scraped along the wall. Then she pulled Yuuka back into the air so that their eyes were meeting.

"My gods," Yukari muttered as she shook her head. "You really love to hear yourself talk, don't you? Not even burning you to a crisp can make you stop."

Her eyes glanced down, and Yuuka suddenly plunged back down into the fire, only to reemerge a second later, scorched anew.

"And for your information," Yukari said as Yuuka hurriedly slapped away the flames. "A few days ago I had the misfortune of having my own fire turned against me. It hurt a bit more than I'm comfortable with. So I took steps to keep that from happening again."

"Smart," Yuuka coughed, her voice strained and smoky. "Well, that round goes to you. Shall we move onto the next one?"

"Yeah, about that," Yukari said. "A couple of problems with that idea."

Yuuka tilted her head.

"First, you made the mistake of letting me know that I'm only dealing with one-fourth of yourself. Now, up until now, I thought you had brought along the full package. As such, there were certain tactics I refrained from using, as I was sure that they wouldn't work. But now that I know that you don't have the defenses that I thought you would, I really see no reason to hold back anymore."

"Ah," Yuuka said. "How careless of me." She paused, and then said, "This is going to hurt, isn't it?"

"Oh, a lot," Yukari agreed. "And by the way, that's quite the lovely smooth head you're sporting there."

At first Yuuka didn't seem to understand. Then she reached up to touch the top of her head, which was still healing and perfectly devoid of hair. And flowers.

"Oh," she said. "Oh dear."

"Yeah. I really hate those things, by the way." Yukari said. "And don't try to grow them back. It's kind of difficult to surprise me with the same trick twice."

Yuuka's body suddenly stiffened. She grimaced as her arms were forcibly stretched to either side, fingers splayed out. Her legs shook as they pointed straight down.

"Again with the symbolism," she said. "What's next, white lilies in the snow?"

"Funny," Yukari said. "But getting back on subject, once I realized how much the scales were tilted in my favor, I could have rushed away, right to my companions' aid. But it seems your other selves are using those godsdamned flowers as well, and I really don't feel like searching through that mess. Besides, it's not like I especially care for about half of them, and I trust the ones I do care for to handle themselves." She smiled. "Besides, why go hunting for Yuukas when I have a perfectly serviceable one right here?"

"And you say I talk too much," Yuuka observed.

"We all have our little hypocrisies," Yukari said. "But I agree. Enough chit-chat. Let's have some fun."

With that she suddenly stretched her arms out in front of her, fingers curled and grasping. She motioned upward, as if she were hoisting a great weight.

And below came a deep rumbling.

Curious, Yuuka glanced down. The center of the flames was now lurching upward, rising higher and higher with every surge. It reminded Yuuka of an ever-increasing heartbeat. Made of fire.

Yukari thrust her arms to either side, and the flames shot up and twisted in a corkscrew as it rose up behind her. It took shape, forming itself into a serpentine body with clawed hands and curved spines running down its back. A triangular head appeared at the tip, with burning yellow eyes and a wide tooth-filled maw. More flames rose from the pit, attaching to the main body and spreading into two incredibly huge wings.

"Oh," Yuuka said as she stared. "Oh…my. Oh my goodness. That's…that's amazing. That's beautiful."

"Thank you," Yukari said. "Oh, and what was that you said earlier? Something about meeting your ridiculously oversized friend?" She glanced back to the flaming dragon that hovered obediently right behind her. She smiled. "Well, now meet mine."

Yuuka felt the restraints holding her in place disappear, freeing her to move.

"You," Yukari said as she pointed at Yuuka. "Start running. Flying. Whatever. And you," she pointed now to the dragon. "Fetch!"

…

"Okay, even I have to admit, that was pretty impressive," Yuuka says as you gape at what's taking place in her teacup. "Still, for all her criticisms, Yukari is not immune to tactical errors. And taking the time to summon a huge dragon of fire just to torment me was a significantly large one. I understand that she had been under a great deal of stress and needed some way of burning it off…Pun unintended, but I wish it was…But really, she should have just torn that piece of me apart and gone after the other ones. Wasting time like that only makes sense if you're just looking to have good time. And Yukari really had too much running to indulge in personal satisfaction."

Yuuka stops. She frowns. "Hmmm, never thought I'd be the one to say such things. I must have been more seriously injured than I thought." She sighs, and then continues. "Well, point still stands. Had she not been so focused on making that bit of me her outlet, she might have found that her fellows were not faring as well as she had thought. For example…"

…

Team Scarlet

The many-limbed monstrosity that was Yuuka Kazami moved slowly through the room, her tentacle-like vines feeling around rocks and into cracks. It was an eerie sight. When she was in the darkness, all that could be seen were the red searchlights of her eyes and the blue glow of the flowers. Beyond that, there was only a monstrous shadowy outline. But then she would move under the holes in the ceiling, into the light and rain, and the whole of her twisted form would be revealed. Sakuya had trouble deciding which one was worse.

"I know you're in here, girls," Yuuka called, her voice echoing through the open air. She chuckled and started clanging the blades at the tip of her vine-arm together. "Oh vampires, come out and play!"

Sakuya glanced down at the two vampires at her side, who were also staring at Yuuka. Their night-vision was considerably sharper than her own, so to them it would be all the same. "Do not move," she hissed.

"I had figured that, thank you," Remilia hissed back.

"But what are-" Flandre started to say in her normal voice. Remilia quickly slapped a hand over her sister's mouth and shushed her.

It was too late. Yuuka suddenly turned her body around directly toward that. "What was that?" she said as she lurched her way forward. "A squeaking rat, two fluttering bats? A mole-in-a-hole, a…I can't think of any more rhymes."

Realizing that Remilia and Flandre's eyes would be just as visible as Yuuka's, Sakuya quickly motioned them back further into the cover of the slab. Then her hand slipped into the folds of her cloak. She gripped one of her weapons.

"Oh, don't be like that," Yuuka said as she swayed. "I came all this way to play with you, and this is the reception I get?" There was a rustle of motion, and two objects appeared in her hands. "Look, I even brought your toys."

Sakuya almost choked. Yuuka was holding Gungnir and Laevatein. That wasn't good no matter how you sliced it. It was bad enough that Yuuka had cut them off from the majority of their powers and now fully outclassed them, but if she had armed herself with the weapons of gods…

Then she heard the angry growling coming from behind her. Sakuya's eyes widened when she realized that Yuuka using the weapons was the least of their worries. She turned around to prevent the disaster she saw coming, but it was far too late.

"That's mine!" Flandre cried. Her bizarre wings snapped open and she shot out from under the slab and darted straight for Yuuka.

"Flandre, no!"Remilia screamed. She tried to grab at her sister, but she might have been trying to seize a lightning bolt.

"Ah, there you are!" Yuuka said cheerfully. "Goody!" With one smooth movement she tossed both weapons into her normal hand and whipped back her vine-arm. It completed its arc and shot forward, the tip whistling as it cut through the air.

However, as quick as it was, Flandre was faster. She twisted her body out of the way, neatly dodging the blade while honing onto Yuuka, fingers outstretched and fangs bared.

"FLANDRE!" Remilia shrieked. The little vampire was nearly frantic. She whirled toward Sakuya and said, "What are you waiting for? She's going to get herself killed! Help her already!"

"Yes, Mistress," Sakuya said, though she doubted her chances of success. Still, the Young Mistress was in danger, and the order had been given. Her path was clear.

From within her cloak she withdrew a long metal tube with a pump-handle. Keeping it held tightly in her grasp, she scanned the area, trying to judge the best way to attack Yuuka. But the darkness and the fact that she was constantly moving made it extremely difficult.

That was when Yuuka's body suddenly lurched back with a roar of outrage. Sakuya's eyes widened when she saw that Flandre had somehow grabbed onto the place where the vine-arm and the shoulder met and torn it clean off. Yuuka staggered as a green sap-like substance oozed out of the wound. The younger Scarlet then wasted no time in taking advantage of Yuuka's momentary distraction and darted in deeper to wrest Laevatein out of her grasp.

"Mine!" she yelled as she held up the legendary wand. The cave was suddenly filled with crimson light as Laevatein burst into brilliant flames.

…

Yuuka slumps forward and massages her forehead with her fingertips. "All right, so I forgot about that part. But you know how the fortunes of battle can change. Let's change the focus a bit."

…

½ Team Halloween (Marisa)

Move. Move as fast as possible and don't stop. Just keep moving and don't look back. Just keep moving and don't…

A brief look back. Yep, Yuuka was still there and still pissed. And ugly. Marisa refocused her eyes on the winding stone corridor ahead of her. Her hakkero was fixated on the tip of her broom and functioned as a headlight as she tore through the underground at breakneck speed. She was now completely relying on her enhanced senses and reflexes to keep from running into a wall, and even then it was a terrifying experience. If she slowed down in the slightest Yuuka would catch her. If she miscalculated a single turn she would end up as a bloody mess all over the stones. And if she ran out of tunnel she would be screwed at both ends.

Her face was plastered with a mad grin. It was days like this that made life worth living.

A sharp right was coming up. Marisa pulled her broom hard and was pleased to see that the tunnel had evened out. Good, it would give her time to-

Then she sucked in a sharp breath. She had run out of tunnel. A dead end was coming up fast, with no branches paths. Acting purely on reflex, she grabbed the hakkero and screamed "MASTER SPARK!" The end of the tunnel disintegrated in a cloud of dust and stone chips. Marisa plunged right in. Hopefully it had been enough…

The smoke cleared and Marisa got a second shock when she saw yet another rock face coming right at her. "Shit!" she screamed as she yanked the broom straight up. There was no visible ceiling and the air roared in her ears as she flew higher and higher and higher…

Marisa shot into open air and continued up for a several meters before regaining the presence of mind to bring herself to a stop. She was now far above ground, with the surface of the Blasted Lands extending in every direction. The rain was now coming down hard, but in her exhilarated state she barely even noticed.

Marisa remained still for a moment, panting hard and listening to her heart pound in her ears. Her hands were shaking hard as she gripped her broom handle and her eyes wouldn't stay still.

Then she grinned. "Holy shit, that was awesome! I can't wait to tell Alice and Reddie about this!"

Then she noticed sometime moving in the distance, something large and flashy. She moved in for a closer look.

"Huh?" she said when she got it. "What in all the hell…"

What could only be described as a huge headless worm made up of grey roots, green vines, branches and bright flowers was doing battle with a small but quick-moving point of light. The light kept zipping around the beast, dodging its lunges while pelting it with blasts of energy and glowing missiles.

Marisa recognized it in an instant. "Mima!" she cried. She popped another black spellcard into her hand and kicked the broom into high-gear while yelling, "I'm coming, Master!"

…

"You see?" Yuuka says as you watch. "I seem to be doing fairly well there, and they both look pretty desperate. But then, when confronted with something as intimidating as that, most people would-"

…

½ Team Halloween (Marisa again)

At first Marisa thought the spellcard had failed. Certainly there seemed to be no immediate effect. The only difference was that everything was steadily growing darker, and even that was hard to tell through the rain-

A piercing cry cut through the air

Marisa looked up and nearly had a heart-attack. Black smoky things were swirling down from the clouds, things that she might have mistaken for pieces of the clouds themselves if it weren't for the fact that they had freaking death-heads with burning lights in their eye sockets.

"This has been a very freaky day," she said, not daring to so much as blink. Her grip on the broom tightened as the phantoms flew and howled all around her. "So…what exactly am I supposed to do now?" She raised a trembling finger and pointed toward the mass of foliage that was fighting Mima. "Uh…Sic her."

To her surprise, the phantoms immediately broke off and screamed their way toward Yuuka. They slammed right into her overgrown body, exploding into little black puffs. And everywhere they hit, plants withered and died.

The Yuuka-Worm bellowed as the phantoms kept hitting, forcing her down. For her part, Mima simply hovered and watched the bizarre spectacle with an expression of utter bemusement.

Then she looked up to see Marisa coming toward her. "Oh," she said. "Well, there you are. Took you long enough."

Marisa gaped. "What?" she squeaked. "That's all you can say, ze? Not, 'Oh Marisa, I'm so glad you're okay!', or 'I was so worried!', or 'What in the hell is with those freaky ghost things you're commanding?' or something like that? And hey, I just fought freaky giant plant Yuuka twice and won! Wow, thanks for caring!"

"Oh, calm down," Mima said. "I knew you were all right. If something that happened to you, I would have known, bloody blue flowers be damned." Then she smiled. "Though you're right. You are doing extremely well."

Marisa grinned in return. "Hey, thanks!" She looked down at the hideous, shuddering mass beneath them. "So, can we kill her now? We were saying something about killing her, right? Because I really wanna kill her now."

"There's considerably more Yuuka than there used to be," Mima pointed out.

"Mima, I've still got seven more of Yukari's Holy-Shit-Did-That-Just-Happen spellcards to use, I haven't even used any of my own tricks yet except for the hidden blade which was so very awesome, I'm hyped up all to hell and if I don't burn this energy off soon I'm gonna start talking like a freaking chipmunk!"

"All very good points. And I'm getting a little sick of her too. So, would a major deforestation be in order then?"

"Aw, hells yeah!" Marisa cheered. She pumped her fist in the air, and red lightning shot down to meet it. "Break out the chainsaws and flamethrowers, it's time for some environmental unfriendliness!"

"How do you know about chainsaws and flamethrowers?" Mima asked.

"Tell you later. Hey Yuuka!" Marisa called. "Did you enjoy that? Well, here's one of mine!" She hurled the ball of power straight down. "Spectacular Supernova!"

…

"Again? Is this thing broken?" Yuuka frowns as she flicks the side of the teacup, sending ripples across Marisa's sweaty, grinning face. "I must have been hurt more badly than I thought, because I don't remember any of this. I was certain things were going better."

…

Team Underground (what's left of it, anyway)

A large black cat slowly padded her way through the stone tunnel. She kept near the wall as she approached the entrance to the cavern beyond. A short stalagmite with a wide base stuck up from the ground near the entrance. The cat hid behind it as she cautiously peeked inside the cavern.

The cavern was dimly lit, but the cat had lived her entire life Underground. As such, her eyes were sharper than even her surface-dwelling kin. She scanned the interior, searching for two specific individuals.

Shadows moved. The cat stiffened when she saw a tall woman moving through the center of the room. The other individual was nowhere to be seen.

The cat slowly backed away and slinked back into the relative safety of the tunnel. As she moved further and further away, her body morphed and changed, becoming that of a red-haired young woman.

Orin quickly returned to where Utsuho was crouching. "Okay, Yuuka Kazami's definitely still there," she whispered. "I couldn't see the boss, though. Yuuka must have moved her."

"Acknowledged," Utsuho said, her voice a low monotone. Her eyes glowed a dull crimson in the darkness.

"Good. Okay, you remember the plan, right? You distract her the best you can, and I'll run in and find the boss. Then we all run like hell, got it?"

"Understood."

"Alrighty then." Orin took a deep breath. "Okay, let's go."

As they made their way back toward the cavern, Orin found herself suddenly jealous of Utsuho. At least she had some sort of cool, mechanical alternate personality she could shift into whenever things got hot. At that moment, Orin was so angry and so scared that it was all she could do to keep one foot moving in front of the other. Sure, she looked calm and determined, but she had literally decades of experience in appearing composed, even when she felt like she was about to lose her mind. As far as she could remember, even before they had met Satori, Utsuho had always looked up to her. And even now that Utsuho had somehow become the single most powerful entity in the Underground, she still looked up to Orin, trusting her to know what to do. Orin wasn't going to betray that trust by freaking out now.

Even if they were about to attack someone so dangerous that Yukari had assembled ten of Gensokyo's best to take her down. And they were going to do it on their own.

Sometimes, just sometimes, life really, really sucked.

The neared the jagged mouth of the tunnel. Orin steadied herself the best she could and whispered, "You ready?" When she got Utsuho's confirming nod, she pointed and said, "Okay, go!"

Utsuho obeyed immediately. She leapt into the cavern and spread both her legs and wings to brace herself. The arm sheathed by her Third Leg snapped up, its tip glowing as she searched for her target. A split second later Orin shifted into cat form and bounded into the room, hugging the shadows and searching for Satori.

She expected the shooting to start immediately. She expected the air to fill with flashes of light as Utsuho hit Yuuka with everything she had. She expected to hear charging attacks, explosions and battle cries.

But there was nothing. Utsuho remained planted where she was, cannon outstretched with nothing to point it at. Yuuka Kazami and the boss were both gone. The room was empty.

Utsuho kept her Third Leg pointed straight out for a moment longer before letting it drop. "Error. No targets found," she declared.

Orin leapt off the wall and shifted back into youkai form. "You think?" She looked about the room as feelings of confusion and frustration grew within her. "I don't get it. I just saw her here, I know I did! And this cave's only got the one exit!"

"That's assuming that I need a physical exit in order to leave," said Yuuka's voice, seemingly from all around.

Orin yowled and whipped around. Her heart beat fast and her hair stood up on end. She frantically searched the cave with wild eyes. Nearby, Utsuho's Third Leg had snapped back up.

"Where are you?" Orin demanded.

"Somewhere. Everywhere. Nowhere," Yuuka said. She laughed. "Does it really matter?"

"I'm thinking it does, yeah! And what the hell did you do with Satori?"

"Oh, not much. Just, shall we say…crystallized her worldview." She laughed again. "Okay, so that was a little cheesy, even for me."

Orin had a sudden sinking feeling. "Wait, you're not saying-"

"Caution!" Utsuho yelled as the air filled with a sudden klaxon alarm. Her Third Leg snapped into focus directly at Orin's feet.

"Utsuho, what-" Something horribly strong grabbed her by the ankle. Orin looked down and cried out in shock when she saw a pale hand protruding from the ground, its long, slender fingers seizing her foot.

Stone rumbled and smashed apart as Yuuka Kazami rose from the ground. Orin was literally pulled off her feet and dangled upside-down as Yuuka lifted her in the air.

"Target locked-on!" Utsuho shouted. She aimed for Yuuka's head and declared, "Fire!"

Orin didn't even have time to tell her to stop. Yuuka yanked her up and shoved her directly into the path of Utsuho's atomic fire, forcing her to take the full heat.

It hurt. Of course it hurt. A Human would have been burned down to the bone. A youkai wouldn't have fared much better. Fortunately, Orin had lived her whole life among intense heat. Her job description included tending what used to be the very fires of Hell, after all. And she spent a considerable amount of time with Utsuho, who was somewhat accident-prone. As such, instead of turning into a blackened corpse and disintegrating, she was only mildly scorched and made to feel very, very sick.

"Orin!" Utsuho cried, her voice returning to normal. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean-"

Orin didn't respond. Yuuka dropped her into a heap and grabbed her darkened forehead. "It's time for kitty to go night-night," Yuuka sang.

Orin's eyes crossed as they tried to focus on Yuuka's hand. There was a sharp whining, a blinding green flash, and then Utsuho was left alone with Yuuka.

…

"Ah, now that's much better!" Yuuka says cheerfully. "See, it isn't all grim. And it gets even better!"

You decline to respond. Having just witnessed an innocent woman turned into vapor right in front of her friend, it is difficult to say anything at all.

"At any rate, I think I'd better quit with the commentary and just let the events speak for themselves," Yuuka says. "We'll just finish with this one here and let things take their course."

…

Utsuho (The only one left)

Utsuho grunted as Yuuka swung her back into the wall. One of Yuuka's hands gripped her Third Leg, forcing the barrel upward. The other held her by the throat.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," Yuuka said. "I know it had to be unpleasant. But the good news is that she'll be back soon enough, right?"

Don't listen to her, Utsuho thought. She tried to focus, tried to return to BattleMode and regain the strength that it gifted her. But she couldn't summon up the self-control even for that.

She squeezed her eyes shut. Tears dribbled down her cheeks, leaving filthy rivulets through the dust. She had been told to do what everyone was afraid she might do and blow things up, and she couldn't even do that right. And now the people she loved had suffered for her failure. First Satori, and now Orin.

"There, there, there," Yuuka murmured. She gently wiped Utsuho's tears away. "Don't cry. You'll ruin your good looks. You are very pretty, you know. I'm tempted to take you with me. If anything your master could use the company."

"Satori?" Utsuho's eyes snapped open. "What h-happened to her? What did you do?"

"Oh, don't worry about her. She's safe." A vine slithered out of Yuuka's back. A pink bud formed on the tip, which blossomed into a flower. And sitting on the center of the flower was a large round crystal, glowing with soft purple light.

"Huh? What's that? What is…" Utsuho gawked when she realized what this meant. "Let her go!" she begged. "She didn't do anything to you! Please, let her go!"

"Hmmm, no." The flower closed up and the vine shrunk and disappeared. "I'm not done with her yet. Though I regret to tell you that our business is now finished. I'm needed elsewhere, it seems. Good show, though. It was quite enjoyable."

The hand holding onto the Third Leg suddenly tightened. Utsuho screamed as metal crunched and circuitry sparked and fried. Tiny roots snaked out of Yuuka's fingers to dig into its inner workings.

Yuuka released her hold on Utsuho's neck and brought her hand to her mouth. She licked the tip of her index finger. A single drop of some kind of black substance remained behind.

Then she looked down to the large red eye that stared out of Utsuho's chest. "Yatagarasu, I presume?" Yuuka said. "Or what's left of him, anyway. A strange fate for a strange god. I've met him, actually. Funny fellow, a bit vague. Ah well." She held the drop over the eye and let it fall. It spread through the crimson like a cloud of ink. Utsuho gasped as a sickening feeling washed through her.

"And with that we are finished," Yuuka said. The roots retracted back into her hand and she dropped Utsuho to the ground. "Please extend my compliments to the kitty when she comes around. Toodles."

She left Utsuho there, crying and clutching at her Third Leg, trying to get it off.

And then it spoke in a calm, mechanical voice. "Self-Destruct Activated. Remaining Time: Thirty Minutes."

…

½ Team Halloween (the other half)

The odds were two-to-one. The two included a spirit of great age and even greater power. It also included a master swordswoman, descended from multiple generations of warriors, who was blessed to wield blades famed for their ability to cut through almost anything.

On the other side was a crazed little girl named Elly wielding an oversized scythe, a type of blade that was not even designed to be used as a weapon. With this in mind, the battle really should have been a no contest. All advantages went to the representatives of the Netherworld, or so it seemed.

So then why, as Youmu reflected as she desperately twisted her body to avoid being cut in half, were they being beaten so badly?

Well, part of the problem was Yuyuko herself. Despite being the heavyweight of the fight (magically speaking, of course), she just couldn't seem to get it through her head that this was not a danmaku duel. As such, instead of simply cutting to the chase and hitting the girl with all sorts of mystical force, she just kept hovering and filling the air with dazzling patterns and starbursts of glowing butterfly-shaped bullets in shades of red, pink and blue. It was very pretty, and if Youmu were not currently fighting for her life, she might have been more appreciative of her lady's skill. As it was, they only gave Youmu one more thing to have to look out for.

At the moment, Elly was focusing most of her attention on Youmu, pausing only to deflect any bullets that came too close with her blade. Youmu was doing her best to fight back, but even though the number of things that couldn't be cut by her blades was next to zero, Elly's scythe seemed to be on that list. Elly blocked a downward slash with the handle and swung the scythe around to knock a swiping cut aiming for her legs aside. She then brought the handle up and smacked it against Youmu's face, making stars explode in her vision.

Instinct took over, and Youmu rolled backward to avoid the decapitating slash that followed. She tried to shake the dazedness away. Even that ended up taking too much time and the scythe was swinging in an outward arc toward her again. There was no time to leap over it, and the rocks prevented her from rolling out of the way. So she did the only thing she could: fall to her knees and bend her body as far back as it would go. Her eyes crossed to follow the scythe as it passed literally inches over her body. Youmu braced herself, read to roll to her feet as soon as the blade was clear.

But then, just as the flat of the blade was directly over her face, it stopped. Youmu stared at it in confusion. What-

The scythe came straight down smacked her in the face. Youmu once again saw stars and she was dropped flat on her back.

"Problem, little half-breed?" Elly said. She swung the blade downward, forcing Youmu to quickly cross her own swords in front of her to block the attack. "Finding me difficult? You're not wondering why-"

Elly stopped talking. She cast a quick glance over her shoulder and frowned in annoyance. Youmu suddenly found herself seized by her shirt and yanked right off the ground as Elly leapt aside to avoid a swarm of blue butterflies.

"Stupid ghost princess with her stupid bug-bullets who doesn't know a real duel when she sees one," Elly muttered as pulled Youmu behind a boulder large enough to shield them from Yuyuko. She threw Youmu to the ground and held up her scythe.

Youmu braced herself in anticipation of the blow, but Elly didn't bring it down. Rather, she seemed to be waiting for Youmu to do something.

"Hurry up, now," Elly said impatiently. "As we were."

Youmu stared, and then she slowly crossed her blades in front of her.

"That's better!" The scythe came down to clash against the swords. Elly reapplied the pressure as she picked up where she left off.

"Now, as I was saying, you must be wondering why little old me is winning, aren't you?" Elly giggled. "Well, I mean besides the fact that your master is completely useless."

Actually, Youmu was wondering why she had allowed herself to be returned to this position, but she grunted, "Enlighten me."

"Glad to. Be right back."

The pressure suddenly disappeared as Elly leapt into the air. She lighted on top of the boulder and threw herself toward Yuyuko.

"My lady!" Youmu cried. She flew after her, cutting down glowing butterflies as she went. "Look out, she's coming right for you!"

Yuyuko noticed, and activated one of her spellcards. The sky filled with a shimmering field of violet as a brilliant backdrop displaying a country scene came to life behind her.

"No, my lady!" Youmu shouted in frustration. "Not spellcards! Use something that doesn't-"

It was too late. Elly spun as she shot upward, literally drilling her way through the clouds of danmaku that surrounded Yuyuko. The Princess of the Netherworld brought her hands up to protect herself, but it was too little too late.

The pole of the scythe smacked into her belly, doubling her over. Elly spun her weapon around and slapped it against Yuyuko's back. The brilliant shroud of the spellcard exploded into sparks.

"My lady!" Youmu screamed. She pushed herself to go faster, but then Elly yanked back Yuyuko's dazed head and held the tip of her blade against the ghost's throat.

Youmu stopped immediately.

"It's like this," Elly said to Youmu. Her rain-soaked face was split with a predatory grin. "Even in this world, where all rules are lightly enforced, there are certain predator-prey constants. Fire will burn wood, wolves will prey upon rabbits, scissors will beat paper, and against ghosts, Shinigami will always, always win. It's the circle of life and death."

Then she leaned in close to Yuyuko's ear. "By the way, my master told me to say something clever as I finished you. She said that the phrase 'Eat this!' would be appropriate. She said you'd know what it meant."

Instead of responding to the jib, Yuyuko just turned her head and blinked in confusion. "I know her, don't I?" she said. "Where do I know her from, Youmu?"

Elly's blade flashed three times, and Youmu screamed as Yuyuko fell limply down to the earth, trailing pink vapor the whole way.

…

"Oh, well done Elly! Do it for Mystia!" Yuuka cries, startling you once again. She squeals in delight and clasps her hands together. However, the sudden motion seems to pain her, and she winces while quickly separating her ruined fingers. "Ow, I always forget not to do that."

Then she glances up and notices your surprised expression. "Oh, so sorry. I told you that I'd be quiet. My apologies, I just love that bit so much. Well, enough about that. Moving on."

…

Team of Scarlet Devil Vampires

Sakuya and Remilia stared in awe as two of Gensokyo's most powerful and feared beings engaged in mortal combat right in front of their eyes. One of them was Remilia's younger sister. They wasn't sure exactly what the other one was, but Yuuka Kazami was certainly capable of some impressive feats.

But despite all the dread she inspired in others, despite all of her overwhelming power, Yuuka was losing. Even without her ability to destroy with a thought, Flandre was going all out on her foe. And she was succeeding magnificently.

Laevatein burned with consuming fire. Flandre swung it to either side, cutting away at Yuuka's vines as they tried to reach her. Then she pointed the tip at Yuuka and screamed as a pillar of flame so dense that it was almost physical shot out. Yuuka cried out as she was driven to the ground, some of her vines instinctively curling around her in a protective ball while others thrashed about in pain.

"Oh, well done Flandre!" Remilia said as she clasped her armored hands together. "Well done, indeed! Isn't she magnificent, Sakuya?

"Yes, Mistress," Sakuya said automatically. Truth be told, she was more concerned with seeking an opening to begin her own assault. Flandre may have overwhelming power, but she lacked the presence of mind to employ it correctly.

However, Sakuya had multiple lifetimes worth of experience in taking advantage of just about every single opportunity presented to her. Flandre's actions may be lacking in finesse, but they made for an excellent distraction. All Sakuya had to do was sneak around and find the place to-

There. She spotted it. While the protection provided by Yuuka's burnt and ragged vines shielded her from violence from above, there were a handful of gaps closer to the ground. Of course Flandre would never think of using those, preferring to continue hammering away in rage, but it was perfect for Sakuya.

"Stay here," she said to Remilia.

Her Mistress looked up to her and blinked in confusion. "What? Why, where are you…Sakuya, where are you going? Don't leave me alone here! Come back! Sakuya!"

Though it pained her, Sakuya disobeyed. She skirted her way around the battlefield, running from shelter to shelter and staying well out of the way of Flandre's stray fireballs and Yuuka's thrashing vines.

She made it to the cover of a dome-shaped boulder and crouched behind it. She quickly examined the pump-handled tube in her hands and nodded her satisfaction when she found it to be in working order. Then she peered out to take stock of the situation.

Not much had changed. Remilia had fortunately obeyed, though she was watching Sakuya with obvious agitation. Flandre was still bearing down on Yuuka, her rage driving her beyond reason. For her part, Yuuka's vines were quickly being hacked and burned away, only to have new ones sprout to life to replace them. However, something was strange about Yuuka's demeanor.

Sakuya had taken up position directly behind Yuuka's head, and as such she could clearly see her face. Instead of grimacing in worry, pain or fear, the expression on Yuuka's face was of absolute delight. For a moment Sakuya disgustedly believed that Yuuka was receiving some sort of sick masochistic pleasure from the beating she was receiving. But no, that wasn't it. It wasn't a look of ecstasy, it was one of complete admiration. Bizarrely enough, though she was on the receiving end of Flandre's wrath, Yuuka was enjoying the little vampire's display as much as Remilia had, if not more.

Well, so long as Yuuka remained focused on what was above her Sakuya would not begrudge her entertainment. Sakuya honed in on those glowing blue flowers in Yuuka's hair. The magical interference that was screwing up their abilities had to be coming from somewhere, and those were the most likely culprits. Sakuya braced herself, waited until the vines moved enough to give her a wide enough opening, and started sprinting.

She bounded off and soared forward. As she neared, she could hear Yuuka speaking. "Magnificent," her target said. "Absolutely magnificent. Oh Yukari, if you only knew the jewel you possessed."

Sakuya twisted her body as she moved through the vines. She quickly righted herself, pointed the end of the metal tube directly at the top of Yuuka's head, and pushed down on the handle.

A ball of orange chemical flame spat out from the end of the tube. It washed over the flowers and set them ablaze. As Yuuka's body lurched in response, Sakuya threw the tube aside and flicked two knives up into grasp. A moment later Yuuka had something else to think about.

"Ah, godsdamnit!" Yuuka cried as her remaining hand went to her bleeding and burning face. "Why! Is it always! The eyes?"

Sakuya didn't bother providing her with an answer. Instead, she flew upward, out of the nest of pain-maddened vines and into Flandre's line of sight.

"Young Mistress!" Sakuya called to the startled vampire. "Go kyuu now!"

"Huh?" Flandre said, clearly not comprehending.

"Her eye!" Sakuya said. "Try to crush her eye again!"

"But it doesn't-"

"Now! Before she thinks to grow them back!"

Flandre was still obviously confused, but she held up her hand and looked down at Yuuka. The writhing creature was just in the process of removing the sharp silver blades from her eyes, and had yet to see to the flames in her hair. Flandre closed her fist and whispered "Kyuu…"

Yuuka's twisted body exploded into splinters and green mist.

…

½ Team Halloween (the not-quite-as-despicable half)

"Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow!" Marisa gaped as she watched the giant burning plant-worm topple and collapse. "Look Master! Look at it burn! Burn! It's burning down! Hahaha, look at it go! Fire! Fire!"

"I see it," Mima said. Unlike her prodigy, she was not so enthused by the sight.

"What's wrong?" Marisa said. "We beat her, and Yukari didn't, ze! Can'cha see how pissed she's gonna be? We can rub it into her face every time we see her and leave her little notes that say 'We got her and you didn't!' on her doorstep. Little notes attached to potted plants. That are on fire! It'll be awesome!"

"It was too easy," Mima said.

"No, we're just too awesome," Marisa countered.

"This is a fact, but I am starting to believe that we have just cut off the hand. If we are to finish this, we need to kill the head.

Marisa's racing heart fell, just a bit. "Oh yeah. The big one that was chasing me. Shit, I forgot!"

"Well, no worries. She should be long any moment now." Mima frowned. "Unless of course she's just stalling to annoy us. That would be just like her."

"Can't we just go down and find her, ze?" Marisa asked.

"No. Because that would be stupid."

"Not if we just blow the hell out of the whole fucking place and pull her out of the dust!"

"I…" Mima blinked. "Rather like that idea, actually. Okay, let's do it!"

"Sweet! All right, let's try this one!"

Marisa popped one of Yukari's loaned-out spellcards into her hand. She tilted the broom at a downward angle, so that she was facing the ground, and activated the spellcard. The red letters started to glow with a fiery light, while an aura the color of midnight surrounded the card. It lifted from her fingers and floated away to hover a few feet in front of her.

"Uh, you maybe might wanna get back a little," Marisa told Mima. "I'm not really sure what any of these do, so if things start going hey crazy, it would probably be smart to-"

The card blazed with a sudden brilliant purple light. Marisa cried out and shielded her face with her arm as the card started to spin around and around.

And then Marisa found herself surrounded by eight purple magical circles, each one of them containing the familiar eight-pointed star that she used in so many of her own spells.

"Okay," she said. "This is starting to look a hell of a lot like Non-Directional Laser. Is Yukari cribbing my notes here?"

And then sixteen more circles appearing, right outside the first ring. A third ring of even more circles came into being right outside the second. And then a fourth one appeared. And then a sixth, seventh and eighth, each one progressively larger and containing more and more of the encircled stars.

One final circle, this one larger than the others, materialized directly in front of Marisa. The young witch gaped as it wildly spun around and around. The other circles followed suit, making Marisa feel as if she were in the center of some great gear-driven machine.

"Oh…This is gonna be big," she whispered. "This is gonna be really, reallyWHOA!"

In unison, each and every one of the circles unleashed a beam pure destructive force, in varying shades of purple, red and blue. The center beam twisted around like a corkscrew, presumably to cut through anything and everything in its way while its smaller fellows disintegrated the leftovers.

"HOOOAAAHHHH!" Marisa screamed. She pumped her arms in the air in absolute ecstasy. She was already hyped up on magical potions and adrenaline, and the thought of controlling so much power at once was absolutely glorious.

"GO!" she gibed as she stared without blinking. The nature of the spellcard fortunately prevented her from being blinded by the same force she had let loose, and she intended to enjoy every second of it. "Go! Go! Go, go, go! Hahahaha, burn! Explode! Go boom! Boom! Boom for the boom goddess! Bow down and worship my boomness! GO!"

At her side, Mima cleared her throat. "Um, very impressive. But unless you're intending on digging right to the earth's core, I suggest you start directing your glowing phallic imagery so as to widen the effect?"

"Huh? Oh, right! Okay, let's do it! Come on, baby. Move for momma!" Marisa pulled her broom to the left. To her delight, the beams moved with her.

"Fucking A!" she crowed. She swung the broom back and forth, destroying several square miles of the Blasted Lands in the process. Vaporized stone billowed up in a swirling cloud as canyons fell to pieces and underground caverns collapsed in on themselves, taking the top layer with them.

This was hands-down the most beautiful thing she had experienced, much less actively been the cause of. This had to be what it felt like to be a goddess. No, strike that, this had to be what it felt like to be the Goddess, the head honcho, the big cheese, looking down upon the puny mortals and delivering judgment and destruction as She willed. She didn't even care about the humiliation that had brought her here. If she ever saw Yukari again she would kiss her right on the mouth. This was worth a thousand beatings. This was beyond magnificent, this was a rush like nothing else, this was absolutely orgas-

And then it was over.

The spellcard timed out, and the beams cut out as the circles disappeared. Unprepared for the sudden change in pace, Marisa nearly fell off the broom. She clutched it tightly, staring down at the gaping black hole she had created. It had to be several miles long, and she couldn't even see the bottom.

"I…Oh, shit," she breathed. "Oh shit. That was, that was…Hehehehe…"

She instantly popped the next spellcard into her hand. "Let's do that again!"

Mima instantly grabbed her wrist. "No, no. No more indiscriminate harbinger of the apocalypse for you. Save it for Yuuka." She glanced down. "Oh, and stay away from that dust. It cannot be good for you, what with all the poison Yukari's pumped into the place."

"Foolish mortal, goddesses need not fear poison, ze!"

"Huh. Okay then," Mima said, giving her a sidelong look. "Well, tell you what, your worshipfulness. What say we find the giant crazy plant lady and smite the unbeliever?"

"Yes! Her soul shall writhe in flames eternal, and she shall look up at me and know that I am the motherfu-"

Something very large, very long and green rose out of the hole. It was similar to the plant-worm that Marisa and Mima had vanquished earlier, only this one was nearly twice its size. And at the top was Yuuka's enormously bloated head.

Monster-Yuuka was angry, that much was obvious. Her snake-like neck swung back and forth as she searched for the source of the disturbance. Then she caught sight of Mima and Marisa. Her mouth opened wide to issue a challenging bellow that shook the teeth in Marisa's skull.

"Kill?" she said to Mima. "Kill that, can I?"

"Oh, yes. That my dear is what we call a weed. Weeds are made to be killed." Mima's hands erupted into green flame as her eyes started to glow. "Let's go do some gardening."

Marisa let out another whoop of delight and together they charged.

…

Yukari (taking a little break)

Yukari hovered far above the flaming pit. She was sitting cross-legged on one of her gaps. The rain was repelled away from her by a small barrier, and she was sipping from a cup of hot tea as she watched the scene taking place.

Below, Yuuka was doing battle against the flame-dragon. Yukari had to give her credit, she was doing…decently. At least she was fighting back, and had at one point managed to throw the thing against the pit's wall.

But all-in-all, it was a rather one-sided event. If it weren't for the fact that Yuuka was healing herself like mad, she would have been reduced to ash and smoke about a minute in.

As Yukari watched with no small measure of satisfaction, she wondered if she should just finish things up and go help the other teams. It was rather annoying when she thought of it. After all, she had brought them here to help her. But then, none of them were particularly small-fry, and one-fourth of Yuuka really wasn't much of a challenge, once you figured it out. Perhaps she should just trust them to handle themselves and enjoy the catharsis.

Something several miles off caught her eye. It was a continuous line of brilliant light. She frowned at the displayed and zeroed in her vision onto the source.

To her surprise, she saw Marisa Kirisame sitting on her broom and employing the "And the Sun Rises Red" spell she had leant her. The witch was obviously having a good time as she blasted away at whatever she was blasting. Furthermore Mima was hovering behind her.

Yukari relaxed. No doubt their target was Yuuka. Marisa was on good terms with Yuyuko and Youmu, and wouldn't turn on them so easily. Presumably the Netherworld representatives were somewhere out of sight. Yukari would know if Yuyuko were to ever meet her second end, and that had definitely not happened.

She turned her attention back to Yuuka, who had her entire bottom half burned away and was now crawling away from the dragon with her fingers. As for the dragon, it was also seemed to be enjoying itself as it kept the flames going mere inches away from Yuuka's body, driving her forward.

Yukari took another sip of tea.

…

The other ½ of bloody Team Halloween. You know, the incompetent half.

As Yuyuko's limp body fell, Youmu immediately tried to rush to save her. Unfortunately, Elly chose that moment continue her attack. Youmu was forced to defend herself as Elly's scythe flashed forward again and again and again.

While Youmu was quick enough to block the attacks, they kept coming. She gritted her teeth as she was driven further and further back, each blows sending tremors up her arms. Keeping this up was foolhardy. Sooner or later Elly would break through, and Youmu's service to her lady would end prematurely. She needed some kind of break, some kind of opening…

Fortunately, while she did not possess quite the large arsenal of tricks as some of her teammates, Youmu did have a couple. One had been taught to her by her father, a technique developed by her ancestors and perfected as it had been passed down from parent to child. As far as special abilities went, it wasn't as impressive as some of the others found in Gensokyo, but with a little creativity it could give her the edge she needed.

With a slight mental tweak, Youmu slowed time.

Suddenly Elly's blinding-fast slashes and thrusts came to a crawl. Her scythe was in the process of swinging back from one strike, and its movement dwindled until it might have been moving through thick syrup. Despite the seriousness of the situation, the expression on Elly's face as she realized what had happened was actually pretty funny, as her maniacal grin slowly molded itself into a jaw-drop of surprise.

Unfortunately the technique was a two-way street, and Youmu was likewise hampered. However, she had been expecting it, and the speed of thought was unaffected. She studied the situation, judged where Elly's blade was most likely to go, and begun the necessary movement move out of its path. At the same time, her wrists turned into the correct position, ready to strike out as soon as they were able.

As soon as she was ready, Youmu let the current of time retake its natural course. Things sped up immediately, and Elly's blade continued on its intended path. However, Youmu was no longer there. She spun out of the way and swung her shorter sword at Elly's neck.

"No!" Elly cried as she tried to compensate. To her credit, she was still incredibly fast and managed to avoid what would have surely been a decapitating blow. That didn't stop Youmu from leaving a painful-looking red line along the little Shinigami's jawline.

Youmu slowed time again. She watched as Elly reeled back in slow motion, judged the quickest way to press her advantage, and sped things up again.

This time it was Elly with the look of panic as she brought up the scythe to block Youmu's downward slash. Youmu turned her swords so that the blades were facing outward. She then let then slide along the scythe's handle in either direction, toward Elly's fingers.

"Ow!" Elly cried as she released the scythe. She stared as her hands. Once again, she had moved in time to avoid losing entire pieces of her body, but both of her index fingers were now cut nearly to the bone.

And then Youmu kicked her in the stomach and clocked her over the head with the hilt of her katana.

Her opponent dealt with, Youmu turned her attention back to Yuyuko. Her lady was lying motionless on the ground below, the glow of her body shining through the rain's haze. Youmu immediately started toward her…

…only to gasp in pain as someone punched her in the kidney. Bloody fingers seized her by the left wrist, and a palm thrust itself against her elbow, popping the joint out of place and causing her to drop her shorter blade. As Youmu reeled from the sudden pain, her other arm was twisted behind her back and the bones of her thin wrist were squeezed together, forcing her katana out of her grasp. Both swords spun to the earth.

Elly hissed as she wrapped her legs around Youmu's torso and grabbed her neck in a sleeper-hold. "Tip number one," she snarled. "Never turn your back on your opponent. Tip number two: if you have the opportunity to finish your opponent off, take it. Tip number three: Shinigami aren't knocked out that easily."

Youmu might have answered, but Elly was squeezing tightly with all her limbs, and the world was quickly growing dark.

…

Team Scarlet (honestly now, is this the only team that managed to stay together?)

Tiny bits of Yuuka were settling to the ground like snow. Sakuya squinted and waved the stuff away from her face. At her side, Flandre was watching the particles with an expression of entrancement. She grabbed handfuls of the stuff and rolled it around in her palms. She sneezed, upsetting the clumps she had gathered.

Even though the stuff was irritating her eyes, Sakuya forced her vision to remain focused on the place where Yuuka's main body had been. She felt a twinge of satisfaction when she saw a cloud of pale green mist rising up through the dust. Excellent.

She turned toward Remilia, who looked absolutely stunned by what she had seen. "Mistress Remilia!" Sakuya called.

Remilia jolted, and looked up at her. "Oh! Uh, yes?"

Sakuya gestured toward the mist. "The crystal! Seal her before she regenerates!"

"Oh!" Remilia's eyes widened. "O-of course! Right away!"

As the small vampire patted her armor in search of the sealing crystal, Sakuya returned her attention to the cloud. She frowned. Was it her imagination, or was it starting to move unnaturally? It did seem to be gathering together into a dense ball. And the bottom was thinning out and stretching downward, forming a stalk that reached toward the ground. That couldn't be good.

"Hurry!" Sakuya called.

"I am, I am!" Remilia said in frustration. "I know I have it stashed somewhere-"

As quick as thought, an arm of mist shot out and hit Flandre in her midsection. She squeaked in surprise and was driven against the far wall. Remilia instinctively looked up only to be similarly hit and immobilized.

The cavern suddenly filled with tendrils of green mists that slammed into the walls, the ceiling and the floor. Stone pillars were smashed apart and the ceiling lurched upward as the wispy limbs forced their way up. Sakuya saw several of them whipping toward her and twisted her body out of the way. That unfortunately only put her in the path of several more, and she was forced to break hard and throw herself backward in the opposite direction. And so she continued, desperately dodging and reacting, all the while making her downward while only barely managing to avoid being hit herself.

And then something hit her, and hit her hard. She was thrown sideways to the floor, slammed into it at an angle, and the world spun round and round as she rolled to an ungraceful stop.

Sakuya blinked and tried to figure out what had happened. It hadn't been one of the tendrils. She was still moving freely, or as freely as her woozy body would allow. Her arm didn't feel right though, and her vision wouldn't focus. She tried to sit up, but a wave of nausea rose up to fight her.

She squinted and saw several stone fragments hitting the floor nearby, likely from one of the destroyed pillars. That had to be it. One of them had run right into her and knocked her for a loop.

Well, such things could be recovered from. Yuuka had not captured her, so there was that at least. Now all she had to do was move quickly and free the Mistresses. True, things were definitely set against them, but Sakuya had been in tight spots multiple times, and she had always come out ahead. Well, she had survived at least. All she had to do was get up. Just as soon as the room decided to sit still and that rushing in her ears went away.

Sakuya rolled onto her side and stared as the mist contracted and solidified, becoming rough bark. A leafless tree now stood in the center of the cavern, its naked boughs reaching everywhere, touching everything. Remilia and Flandre themselves were pressed against the floor and wall respectively, their bodies immobilized by thick clusters of branches that pinned down their limbs and pressed their torsos against the stone. Special care had been made to ensure that Flandre's fingers were spread wide and prevented from closing.

The only part of the tree that did not contribute to the web of branches was the top, which was perfectly round. Green shoots appeared on the dome. These grew large, sprouting leaves and red blossoms. The largest of these swelled up, becoming gigantic and blooming. The petals opened to reveal the source of the problem herself, aggravatingly alive and well and sitting in the middle of the flower like some sort of forest nymph.

Yuuka looked around at the chaos she had created. She tried to stand, but apparently dying and resurrecting with such gusto had taken something out of her, as she staggered and sit back down. "Oh, goodness me," she muttered. "That was…That was very interesting."

Then she looked at her staring captives. "Well. What a bizarre place we have found ourselves. What to do now, I wonder?"

Sakuya would have raised challenge, but right about then everything went dark.

…

½ Team Bloody Halloween

Wind tore at her hat. Rain slammed into her face. An incredible amount of energy, some of it natural and some of it artificially induced, sang through her veins. She was crouching forward, balanced on the handle of a wooden broom, one hand gripping the brim of her hat and the other holding onto the tip of the handle as she circled a twenty-story monstrosity made out of plants, blasting it with balls of flame from the six multicolored spheres spun around surrounded her. If an outside observer with no knowledge of the events that had led her here were to see her now, they would likely conclude that she was completely insane. In fact, if an insider with full knowledge of said events were to see her now, they would still conclude that were was completely insane, and probably only moments away from getting herself killed.

And Marisa Kirisame could not care less. She was having far too much fun.

She twisted and turned as she flew in tight circles around Yuuka, dodging the thrashing tentacle-like vines that tried to catch her and the predatory flowers that tried to swallow her, all the while dousing Yuuka with as much fire as she could. A mental buzzer went off in her head, telling her that her spell was about to time out. So she put some distance between her and Yuuka, turned to face her target and thrust her finger at it. The flame-spewing spheres shot forward, hitting Yuuka in six different places and erupting into huge fireballs of red, yellow, blue, green, orange and purple. That actually seemed to hurt Yuuka, as her monstrous worm-like body lurched back. Her grotesque head turned to face Marisa and her mouth opened, revealing dozens of needlelike teeth.

And then Yuuka's back exploded in bursts of bright viridian. Yuuka roared as she doubled over, her conjured garden shaking with pain. Mima came into view behind her. The (formerly) Evil Spirit of Makai had changed her appearance somewhat. She had grown four arms in addition to her stock two, and from her back six massive purple wings were unfurled. Marisa, who had seen her in this form many times before, had once asked her why she chose the number six. Mima's answer has simply been, "Because it pisses Shinki off". Marisa had declined to inquire any further.

However, this form did have practical advantages as well. Four of the arms were holding emerald spears of blazing power. She hurled one of the spears at the back of Yuuka's head and another at what passed for her neck, setting them ablaze with more of the green flame. Yuuka roared again and reflexively turned her head toward her new assailant. This just allowed Mima to throw the remaining spears right into her eyes.

As Yuuka thrashed about, Marisa held her hands close together. White energy collected between her palms, forming a sparking ball that grew larger and larger with every passing second. When it was about the size of a watermelon, Marisa thrust her hands forward and screamed, "Booya, Ugly!"

The ball arced forward, leaving a shining tail behind. It split into four shooting stars which slammed into the side of Yuuka's head, her neck, her midsection and the base of her body.

Marisa and Mima both flew upward to meet near the clouds and survey their work. Yuuka was in pain and on fire in every color of the rainbow, but she was recovering.

"Tenacious, isn't she?" Mima remarked. "What is it about weeds being so hard to kill?"

"Heck, I don't mind!" Marisa gibed. "Just means we can kill her some more!"

"Fair enough. This time we might want to concentrate on getting rid of those beds of Mykr's…Those glowing blue flowers. It's what she's using to shroud the place, and preventing me from accessing some of my more interesting tricks."

"Great! Let's get to it then!"

"Of course. I was thinking…Uh, you do know that you're glowing, right?"

Marisa grinned. "Hey, look at where we are! What's not to get excited about, ze?"

"No, not glowing with excitement," Mima corrected. "I mean literally glowing."

"Eh?" Marisa looked down at the arm holding the broom. True enough, it was surrounded by a bright white aura.

"Where in the hell…" Marisa mused. She didn't remember casting any spell that would cause something like that. But then again, her memory wasn't exactly that great at the moment. She shrugged and pointed a finger at Yuuka. The power she had supposedly gathered leapt off of her to form a tightly focused beam. Marisa closed one eye and stuck out her tongue as she concentrated on writing her name on Yuuka's body.

She ran out partway through her surname. "Gah, figures," she complained.

"Marisa Kiri?" Mima read out loud. "Sounds like an exotic dancer. Which would be quite fitting, actually. You know, given your history."

"Shaddup. It was one time and I was drunk."

"And a couple thousand yen richer when it was over, if I recall," Mima smirked. "Not bad for a night's work."

Marisa threw her hands into the air. "Hey, why are we talking about my embarrassing little misadventures when we should be killing the giant plant lady?"

"Okay, okay," Mima said with a gentle smile. She looked over Yuuka's shaking form with a critical eye. "Hmmm, burning them off doesn't seem to work in the long run. She just keeps regrowing them. Say, what say we skin her?"

"Sounds like fun!" Marisa grinned. "How?"

"Do you remember that encounter we had with that wind serpent right after your eleventh birthday?"

"Yeah, what about…Oh! Oh, ho ho!" Marisa laughed. She hopped back into a sitting position and stuck out her hand. "All right, I was wondering when we could do this one again!"

Mima placed one of her hands in Marisa's. "Well, it does seem appropriate, given the shape of things."

"Sure it's gonna work, though? What with all the interference?"

Mima nodded. "I believe so, so long as we don't drift too far apart. And I don't see that happening, do you?"

"Nope!" A soft green light appeared between their hands, warming Marisa's palm. They both looked down.

Yuuka had finally lurched upright. The last bits of fire were being extinguished, and the burnt areas were swiftly regenerating. She looked around, evidently confused as to why her adversaries had disappeared. Then she looked up.

It was as good a signal as any. Marisa and Mima swooped downward. As they closed in, Mima shouted "Now!" and they flew apart. As their hands separated, a crackling green beam appeared between them, tethering them together.

As they descended, the two spellcasters started to chase each other in a circle, using the magical tether as both an anchor and as a way to coordinate their movement. They went faster and faster, until it seemed that they had become a rapidly falling green disc.

Yuuka blinked her massive eyes in confusion. "Wait, what in the…Oh. Oh dear."

The effect the whirring disc had as it came down on Yuuka was rather akin to that of a weed-whacker. It washed over her, cutting away skin and hair from her face and shaving away several layers of bark from the thick stalk of her body. The leaves, flowers and smaller vines were cut away entirely as Mima and Marisa swept her clean.

They descended further and further into the hole Marisa had created, reducing Yuuka into a naked stalk with a bald and flayed head at its top. At long last they reached the base, where their spinning finally came to rest and the tether vanished.

"Okay, hit it!" Mima called from the opposite of Yuuka's now much thinner body.

Marisa, who was now even giddier from the rush, wasted no time in popping out another black spellcard. "Okay, do something awesome, ze!" she said as she activated it.

It complied. A thick maroon mist swirled around Yuuka's stalk. It solidified, becoming a clinging goo that vibrated with her frenzied movements. Marisa wasn't sure what that stuff was, but it definitely didn't like plants. She stared in fascination as the tender green flesh sizzled away beneath it. Yuuka's thrashings took on a new level of urgency.

And then Mima made her move. Now free from the dampening effects of the Mykr's Sirens, she directed her will toward the swirling storm above and harnessed its raw power. As Yuuka whipped back and forth in her efforts to free herself, her ravaged face looked up just in time to see multiple thunderbolts coming right down upon her. She opened her mouth to roar, but then the bolts hit and it became a scream.

As Yuuka slowly toppled forward like a tree cut off at the base, Mima took the opportunity to sidle up to Marisa. "You were right earlier," she murmured. "We are just too awesome."

Marisa held up her fist, and Mima bumped it with her own.

…

The Dying Half of Team Halloween

For someone who appeared to be a ten-year-old girl, Elly's physical strength was impressive. She forced Youmu down to the earth, all the while squeezing the air out of her lungs and preventing any oxygen from reaching her brain.

Youmu was fading fast. Already she could hear the blood rushing in her ears as her consciousness slipped away from her. She tried to struggle, but Elly had every possible advantage over her. She was too strong, locked in too tight, and Youmu was hurt too much to fight back. She couldn't even slow time, and even if she did, what good would it do her? This was it, this was her final…

A voice spoke, as if from very far away. "Now I remember where I know you from."

The pressure around Youmu's throat and ribs immediately released. She didn't get up though. It seemed like too much trouble. And for the life of her, she couldn't think of why she should get up in the first place.

Another voice spoke. "You! Up already?" There was a whooshing noise of something moving very fast through the air. "Well, I'll just have to cut you again."

Youmu frowned. Why was everyone talking so loud? She wished they would be quiet and let her fall asleep. Sleep sounded so good right now, and everything was so nice and warm.

"You are the Shinigami that once worked for the Yamaxanadu Jamshid Eiki, brother of Yamaxanadu Shiki Eiki," said the first voice. "You served him for forty-three years before your negligence allowed the soul of a serial killer to escape and return to the physical world. Fearing your master's wrath, you fled, seeking refuge in the Twisting Ether. It was there that you met Yuuka Kazami and swore yourself to her service in return for sanctuary. And thus have you lived since, following her from the Twisting Ether to the Dream World. And from there, to Gensokyo."

There was a pause, and the second voice said, "H-how did you know that?"

"But that wasn't the first time you had ran away, is it? I wonder if your current master knows of how little Elizabeth MacLeod allowed her little brother to drown back in 1793 because she was too busy spying on the neighbor's boy."

"Shut up!" the second voice shouted.

The voices were obviously not going to stop talking. Youmu grimaced and forced her eyes to open. She could just barely make out two blurry figures: one tall and glowing and the other short and holding some sort of long stick.

"That was the first time you ran away," said the first voice, which evidently belonged to the tall figure. "You couldn't bear to face your parents, so you hid your brother's body and immediately fled to the city, hoping to start a new life there."

"I said shut up!" shouted the short figure. "You think you know me, Yuyuko Saigyouji? You think you can beat me this way?"

Yuyuko Saigyouji?

The name jolted Youmu's dozing mind, giving it the boost it needed. She remembered where she was. She remembered what had happened to her. And she remembered what she was supposed to do.

Though her body still felt like jelly, she managed to force her eyes open the rest of the way. She took in slow, deliberate breaths. It hurt her throat, but she forced the oxygen into her lungs anyway.

Yuyuko was standing nearby, talking to Elly. Her lady was hurt, and hurt badly. Youmu could see the deep slashes cutting across her chest, side and over one shoulder. Pink mist rose from the wounds, though Yuyuko didn't seem to notice. "But the city didn't provide the exciting new life you were expecting, did it? First was the workhouse, where you shared a bed with three other girls and spent all day working the cotton mills. And then one day you got into an argument with one of the boys and shoved him into the machinery, costing him his hand."

"Shut up already!" Elly screamed. She lunged forward and slashed at Yuyuko with her scythe. Youmu's vision was still too blurry to make out what happened next, but it didn't seem like she had succeeded, as Yuyuko was now standing atop a stone as she continue to dig up pieces of Elly's past.

"After you ran away from that, things got even worse," Yuyuko said, as if she had not just narrowly avoided being cut in half. "Because then you found yourself working in the coalmines, spending endless days in the darkness and the cold, opening and closing the doors for the coal wagons. But then you failed once again. Fell asleep on the job, and another girl was crushed as a result. And so you ran away. Again."

Youmu's whole body was trembling with pain and fatigue, and her dislocated arm felt like it had been ran through with daggers of ice, but she managed to bring herself to her knees. Coughing, she looked to her right and saw her wakizashi lying in the mud.

"Will! You! Shut! Up!" Elly cried, punctuating each word with a swipe of her scythe. Yuyuko managed to keep just out of reach, floating backward in a circle that led Elly around and around.

Youmu forced the stiff fingers of her working hand to close around the wakizashi's handle. She pushed herself to her feet. The world swayed worryingly, and she had to fight a sudden urge to vomit, but she managed to stay upright and keep her stomach under control.

"And then you stowed away in merchant craft bound for the East, hoping that a new world would give you the escape you craved. But not even that worked. Had Jamshid not appeared to you as you lay starving and diseased in the ship's hold, you would have died as you had lived; a cowardly failure, unable to face the consequences of your own incompetence."

"Incompetence!" Elly shouted back. "I'm one swing away from turning you into a piece of ectoplasm! And don't think I don't know what you're doing. You're trying to get to me, play games with my mind. Make me screw up. Well, I've got news for you, you…you…"

Elly stopped talking. She looked down to see the tip of Youmu's blade protruding from her left shoulder.

"What…" she whispered, sounding more confused than anything.

Youmu pulled the blade out. It had definitely not been the killing blow she had intended, but in her state it was all she could do to stagger forward and stab at whatever she could hit. She took a deep breath and straightened up.

But it seemed to do the trick. The angry look on Elly's face dissolved into one of complete bewilderment. She touched the wound on her shoulder. "I don't…How did this…"

Then she looked up to see Yuyuko and Youmu standing side-by-side. Despite their wounds, they were standing up straight. Youmu held her blade up in challenge, and Yuyuko's hands were glowing with power. And from the look of things, this time it was not danmaku.

Elly looked from one grim face to the other. She started shaking. "Wait, this wasn't how…It wasn't supposed to go like this…"

The look of uncertainty on her face gave way to fear. She slowly backed away. "Don't touch me," she said. "Don't either of you dare touch me, or I'll…I'll…"

Then she whirled and jumped into the air and flew away as fast as she possible could.

Yuyuko and Youmu remained where they were. When they were certain that Elly wasn't coming back, they collapsed against each other.

"Oh Youmu, thank goodness she left," Yuyuko muttered. "I don't think I had enough energy to last another thirty seconds."

"Agreed, my lady," Youmu said, her voice painfully raw.

"And excellent timing, Youmu. Despite your injuries, you were able to recover and take advantage of the distraction I had provided. Your father would be proud."

Youmu managed a shaky smile. "Thank you, my lady. But speaking of those injuries…"

"Here, Youmu. Let me see."

Yuyuko gently picked up Youmu's dislocated arm. Youmu tried not to wince too much at the touch, but it was very difficult.

"Youmu, if I may…"

Youmu nodded numbly.

Yuyuko held Youmu's loose elbow and her upper arm. She gave former a quick twist and a shove. It popped back into place. She held it a moment longer, letting the warmth from her otherworldly fingers seep into the joint and ease the pain.

Youmu breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, my lady. But what of you? You are also injured."

Yuyuko looked down and blinked. It seemed like she was honestly surprised to see her own wounds. "Oh, my. Did she do that to me, Youmu?"

"Yes, my lady."

Yuyuko passed a hand over the gouges. They closed up behind it, preventing any more of the pink mist from escaping. Youmu shook her head. Sometimes, having an entirely spectral body had its advantages.

"Unlike you," she said to Myon, who was just now coming out of its hiding place. "Some help you were."

"I'm sorry, Youmu. Did you say something?"

"Ah, no my lady. Nothing of significance."

"Then it's all right then, Youmu."

Though Youmu would have preferred to remain sitting in the warmth of her lady, it was raining, and her blades were out in the open. She pushed herself to her feet with a grunt, was pleased when the world remained steady this time, and went to retrieve her katana and wakizashi. She dried the former the best she could and wiped the latter clean of Elly's blood.

"Now, Youmu," Yuyuko murmured as Youmu sheathed her blades.

"Yes, my lady?"

"It seems that we were victorious, Youmu."

"Yes, my lady."

"And yet, it seems that we were only attacked so as to prevent us from assisting Mima and Marisa Kirisame in battle against Yuuka Kazami, Youmu."

Youmu's heart sank, but she said, "So it would seem, my lady."

"As such, Youmu, we have two paths ahead of us. We can either return to the Netherworld to recover, or continue to do our parts, despite being hurt."

That was a difficult choice. On the one hand, coward she may be, Elly had done a number on them. Though Youmu's arm had been put back into place and the hurt (mostly) soothed away, it was far from being fully functional. And nearly being strangled to death while having her ribs crushed made breathing a bit painful. Fortunately, her heritage meant that Youmu recovered more quickly than plain Humans, but not by that much. And that wasn't even touching on the damage done to Yuyuko by Elly's scythe. The spirit princess was immensely powerful, but she was not invulnerable.

But on the other hand, that would mean abandoning Mima and Marisa to fight Yuuka Kazami alone. What little Youmu had seen of the woman had been a strong indication that she was a major-league heavyweight. The two magicians would need all the help they could get. She and Yuyuko might have been brought into this operation to keep an eye on those two and control them if necessary, but that didn't mean Youmu didn't still regard them as comrades-in-arms. She had worked directly with Marisa on quite a few occasions, and despite the severe differences in temperament the two enjoyed an easy relationship, almost a friendship of sorts. And while she bore no love toward Mima, she did not bear her any ill will either.

Youmu sighed in weary resignation. Even though it was probably not the smartest idea, there really was only one way this was going to go. It was the only way she was going to be able to live with herself afterward.

Her lady saw the look on her face and smiled. "As expected. Shall we return to the fray, Youmu?"

"Yes, my lady."

…

Team Scarlet (so much for that)

Remilia struggled against the branches and twigs that held her immobile, but even with her considerable vampiric strength it did no good. She considered becoming a swarm of bats, but her bindings were so closely knit together that even the bats would be too large to slip out. Yuuka had done her homework.

It just wasn't fair. They had been so close to winning, so close! All she had to do was find the crystal and seal Yuuka up. Then they could have handed her over to Yukari, gotten their names scratched off her Bad List and gone on their merry way. Perhaps Yukari might have even shown gratitude. Perhaps they might have won her good favor.

But no, that was now denied them, and all because Remilia had failed to remember where she had stashed that stupid crystal in her stupid armor. Why was she wearing this thing anyway? It had done her no good so far.

And to top it off, she now had the tip of a particularly thick branched shoved into her mouth, which had grown in such a way that her fangs were now driven deep into the bark. It was large enough to prevent her from speaking. And it tasted foul.

Nothing wrong with her eyes though. She looked up at her sister. Remilia's imprisoned limbs started shaking as she watched Flandre try to move her body enough to tear herself free. As someone who had lived her entire life with incredible strength, being rendered powerless must be terrifying, even moreso than it was for Remilia. And, just to add insult to injury, a branch as thick as man's arm wrapped around her face and covered her eyes.

"Remi?" Flandre called out. "Where are you, Remi? What happened? I…I can't see, Remi! I know you're here, I can smell you, but I can't see you! Say something! Sakuya? Are you here? What's happening to me?"

Remilia wished she could respond, wished she could console her sister in any way, even through a lie, but the branch shoved into her mouth prevented that. Which, as she noted with a feeling of horror, had to be Yuuka's reason for muting her and blinding her sister. Flandre was terrified and instinctively seeking comfort from the person she was closest to, and that person was not only prevented from giving it, but Flandre was likewise prevented from knowing the reason why her cries were being ignored. And though she was a centuries-old supernatural monster and (in some circles) a legendary powerhouse of destruction, Flandre would forever have the mind of a child. For a child, there is nothing more terrifying than being abandoned by someone you trusted.

Remilia had heard many tales of Yuuka's cruelty. She had never realized how true they were up until that moment.

Yuuka took her time in coming down from the tree. Those blue flowers, which had to be the reason for all of their technical difficulties, grew back as she did so. Which meant that they were still on their own.

If there was any sort of silver lining in this catastrophic storm, it was that though Yuuka's body was now completely whole, recovering from Flandre's onslaught had taken quite a bit out of her. She moved carefully across the floor, holding onto the spiderweb-like network of branches for support. But she kept coming, moving closer and closer to Remilia.

Then she stopped and looked down at the imprisoned girl. The look on her face was one of pure self-satisfaction. If Remilia could have spit on her she would. "Well, well, well, little Remilia Scarlet," Yuuka said in a low voice. "The Scarlet Devil. Catchy title, by the way. Oh, don't look so surprised. Of course I've heard of you. Or rather, once I had learned that our mutual friend Yukari Yakumo had shanghaied you into our nasty business, I made a point of looking you up."

She looked Remilia up and down and tsked. "Well, I really should apologize on my opponent's behalf. It really doesn't look like this game has done you any favors. And just taking what I heard of your argument earlier with your sister, you really do seem to be under a lot of stress at the moment. I imagine that with the difficulties of looking after such a problematic family member, being sucked into this war would only complicate things further." Yuuka snapped her fingers. "That's it! Tell you what. Why don't I make things easier for you and remove a major headache? You want your life to be simpler, don't you? Well, don't you worry your pretty little head. Auntie Yuuki knows just how to make that happen."

Remilia felt her already cold blood chill even further as Yuuka crouched over her. Yuuka pointed a finger, and a green shoot snaked out of the tip. It slithered downward and crept over the surface of Remilia's armor, searching for a way in. Remilia closed her eyes when it found one and crawled in. Her body twitched as she felt it moving around inside, searching.

"You know, there's something that's always fascinated me about you vampires," Yuuka said as she worked, almost as if they were meeting for drinks one afternoon. "I mean, as far as monsters go, you're pretty high up on the hierarchy. Universally feared, in possession of great power, and don't get me started on your reputation as godlike lovers. It seems that whenever you're brought up, people are either deathly afraid of you or they want you to throw them down and jump their bones. Sometimes both. And yet…Here we go!"

The shoot mercifully exited Remilia's armor. She opened her eyes and received a shock when she saw that the end was holding the very sealing crystal she had been unable to find. Yuuka held it between her fingers and peered through it at Remilia, its multiple facets reflecting a thousand scarlet eyes.

"Clever little thing," Yuuka said. "Small, portable, but I imagine it can get lost very easily. But what was I saying? Oh, yes. Vampires. At any rate, despite this incredible mythos your people have accumulated around yourself, there are probably more ways to kill or weaken you than any other immortal species. And many of them are extremely silly. I mean, really? Direct sunlight? Are you just deathly allergic to the ultraviolet? And what of your weakness to running water? Specific religious symbols? Garlic?"

Actually only the first two were correct, but Remilia couldn't have corrected her even if she had wanted. Just as well, as Yuuka was far from done.

"And then there are the ones that are oddly specific. You can survive having any number of essential organs torn out, regenerate from any injury, but if your head and your neck ever part ways, then that's the end of the road for you. And of course, there's my personal favorite. The all-time classic."

Yuuka held up her right arm. Out of the sleeve came brown roots that reached up over the hand and came together to form a sort of spherical covering. Out of the top of this a long, sharp point grew. Remilia's entire body clenched in fear when she realized what Yuuka was doing.

"The stake through the heart," Yuuka mused. "Why is that, I wonder? Well, I suppose the heart bit makes some sense, given the whole blood motif you've got going." She traced the point in small circles over the breast of Remilia's armor. "But why a stake? And why does it have to be made of wood? I've never really understood that part. Why wouldn't a blade work just as well? Or a metal spike for that matter? Is this another one of your strange allergies?"

She smiled, gave Remilia's breastplate one final tap and, to Remilia's immense relief, backed off. "Ah well, I suppose I should just be thankful that frightful creatures as yourself can be brought down by a humble plant. Now, to do as I promised…"

She turned and walked away. Remilia stared after her, wondering what that had been all about.

Then she saw that Yuuka was making her way toward Flandre. The feelings of panic surged back to life. She strained against her bonds but they held fast. She tried to bite her way through the wood gag, but only succeeded in driving her fangs in deeper.

As such, she could only watch helplessly as Yuuka drew in close to Flandre. Yuuka glanced at Remilia, winked and blew her a kiss. Then she looked back to her other captive.

"Flandre?" she said. "What in the world is this? Explain yourself!"

Remilia made a choking sound. It was her voice. Yuuka was using her voice. Yuuka was speaking to her little sister using her voice!

"Remi?" Flandre said. She tried to turn her head toward the sound of the voice. "Are you there? Help me!"

"And why would I do that?" Yuuka said scornfully, still using Remilia's voice. "Look at you! All you had to do was one thing, one simple thing, isn't that right? And you couldn't even do that! Why should I save you from the consequences of your own actions?"

"What?" Flandre said, her voice filled with confusion. "But I tried! I tried, Remi, but-"

"That's Remilia to you, young lady!" Yuuka snapped. "And in light of your previous behavior, I'm tempted to just leave you there. Honestly, I don't know why I've held onto you for so long. All you bring is trouble. I should have just gotten rid of you ages ago."

Don't listen to her, Flan! Remilia begged. It's not me! I'd never say something like that, no matter how angry I was!

Unfortunately, her pleas went unnoticed. "W-why are you saying this? Why are you saying these things, Re…Remilia?" She was on the very verge of tears now, as was Remilia herself.

"Oh, don't act like you don't know!" Yuuka snapped. Despite the scorn of words and her borrowed voice, the look on her face was one of naked delight. "You've been nothing but a burden from day one. I should just do us both a favor and cut you loose."

"What?" Flandre gaped. "No! P-please Remi-"

"REMILIA!" Yuuka roared.

There was a pause, and then Flandre said in a small voice, "Please Remilia, don't do that. I…I'm sorry, I…"

"Oh, save your whimpering. It's not like you're ever going to change. Besides, I thought it's what you wanted. To go off and be with that idiotic bird, was it not? Well, news flash for you, Flandre. She has got to be the only person in the world stupid enough to actually want you. And there is no way she'll be able to hide you. Have you forgotten that her master reads minds? And even if she did, it wouldn't be long before she tired of your insufferable self as well. More likely than not she'll lose patience with you and turn you into a cinder! You'll be better off fleeing as far away as you can." Yuuka sighed dramatically. "Though I suppose it would be too cruel to just release you into the wild. It wouldn't be long before everyone's after you as well, most likely with the intent of ending you as painfully as possible. And you are my sister after all, as much as I loathe the idea. If anyone's to do the deed…"

Oh, no. No, no, no. Remilia's mind was nearly paralyzed with dread. She watched as Yuuka held up the pointed stake that covered her right hand.

"Here you go," Yuuka continued in Remilia's voice. "One last mercy. Not that you deserve it, of course. Goodbye, Flandre."

"Huh?" Flandre said. "What are you-"

Yuuka plunged the stake right into Flandre's heart.

…

½ of Bloody Stupid Team Halloween

Marisa scratched her head. "Yah'know, this is getting kinda old. Seriously, what does it take to kill her?"

"An excellent question," Mima grunted. "By my calculations, we should have destroyed her completely about seven times over. At least. Of course, not knowing her exact species complicates things, but even someone as strong as, say, Yukari should have at least been temporarily reduced to vapor."

They were both high in the air, staring down at the huge crater. At the bottom, Yuuka was again struggling to recover from their latest onslaught, this one involving a storm of ice, meteors and a swarm of tiny, angry microscopic fairies (Mima had been responsible for that last one). Like all their previous attempts, they had kicked ass. And just like before, Yuuka had somehow managed to survive.

"Perhaps this calls for a change in tactics," Mima said. "It's obvious that just hitting her with everything we've got over and over isn't working."

"Hey, why don't we try from the inside out?" Marisa suggested. "Like, turn really tiny and let her swallow us-"

"No."

"Aw, come on! I've done it before. It's not that bad."

"Ha ha, but seriously, we need to…You're not joking, are you?"

Marisa shrugged. "This one time? Like three years ago? I accidentally shrunk myself to the size of a termite. And before I could change back this stupid maple tree youkai wandered up and swallowed me whole."

"Ah," Mima said. "I did not know that."

"Sorry, I kinda forgot about it myself until now. Anyway, it was really gross and sticky, and I didn't have my hakkero or spellcards along. But I could still use all my other spells. And as it turns out, youkai insides aren't reinforced against being spontaneously combusted. It was kind of fun, actually. Except for the part where I ended up smelling like liver and pancakes for two weeks straight, ze."

"Well, that certainly sounds like an adventure," Mima said with a sigh. "But I feel obligated to point out that a maple youkai and Yuuka Kazami are hardly the same thing. For one, Yuuka seems to be a shapeshifter. She can probably change her insides to crush or chew us up if we were to enter, no matter how small we got."

Marisa's face went a little pale. "Okay then, no swimming in someone else's digestion then."

"I'm honestly relieved you're willing to discard that option," Mima said. "But you're right. We do need to find an alternate solution. I assume you're still opposed to calling up Yukari and letting her finish this?"

"Fuck yeah. This is our win."

They looked down again. Yuuka's giant stalk of a body had coiled itself up like a snake, and her head was slowly taking in huge breaths and releasing them.

"I think she's preparing for something," Mima noted.

"Yah think? All right, enough is enough."

Marisa took in a deep breath of her own, cast a voice-amplification spell, and yelled, "HEY, QUEEN OF THE JUNGLE!"

Yuuka looked up. Her huge, bulbous eyes narrowed.

"LOOK, WE WERE JUST NOTICING THAT YOU WERE PREPARING TO DO SOMETHING! BUT WE'VE BEEN KINDA KICKING YOUR ASS FOR AWHILE NOW, AND CAN KEEP DOING THIS ALL DAY IF WE HAVE TO, ZE! AND WHILE IT'S BEEN A LOT OF FUN, IT IS GETTING A LITTLE REPETITVE. SO WHAT SAY WE JUST SKIP TO THE END AND HAVE YOU DIE SO WE CAN GO HOME? COME ON, YOU KNOW IT'S GONNA HAPPEN SOONER OR LATER."

"Oh, brilliant idea," Mima groused. "That's even worse than Reimu's little speech a few days ago."

"NOT COOL, MASTER! BUT SERIOUSLY, LEAFY. WHY DON'T YOU JUST GIVE UP?"

"You do know that's not actually going to work, right?" Mima said.

"HEY, IT'S WORTH A SHOT! OH, HELL. I FORGOT TO TURN OFF…WAIT, WHAT THE HELL IS SHE DOING, ZE?"

Despite Marisa's call to surrender, Yuuka was doing nothing of the sort. Rather, she was focusing on growing back her arboreal covering. However, instead of a mess of vines and flowers, this time it was in the form of several large prickly brown spheres that puffed up out of her body like fungus.

"THE HELL IS THAT SHIT?" Marisa asked.

"Seed pods," Mima said. "She's changing tactics before we are. This isn't…Wait, Marisa!"

Her warning came half-a-second too late. Marisa had already created several comet-like explosives and let them fall right over Yuuka. However, Mima was still an extraordinarily powerful magician. She waved a hand, and a thin green barrier appeared beneath them. Marisa's bombs hit the shield and exploded without even getting close to Yuuka.

"HEY, WHAT GIVES?" Marisa said, throwing her hands up the air in indignation.

"They're seed pods, dimwit!" Mima snapped. "Blow them up and they'll just release the seeds!"

Marisa stared. "OH. UH, GOOD POINT." She slowly lowered her arms.

"Instead, we should be using spells that burn the pods with the seeds inside. I suggest-" Mima winced in pain. Below her, her shield shattered into sparks. "Ah! Not again!"

The pods had burst open even without Marisa's help. And out floated hundreds, if not thousands, of fist-sized…things. And each and every one was glowing blue.

Marisa slapped a palm across her face. "AGAIN WITH THE FLOWERS? JESUS, I AM GETTING SO SICK OF THOSE THINGS! COME ON, DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT!"

"She has," Mima said. The ghost winced and rubbed her forehead. "Looks like she hybridized them with something else. And you really don't need to keep that voice-amplification spell…" A handful of the seeds caught a draft and floated up more quickly than their fellows. Mima snatched one out of the air and frowned at it. "Oh. Well, that's not good."

"EH?" Marisa said as she nervously kept her distance from the things.

"Leech seeds." Mima held the seed toward her. The blue flower sat on top, while the bottom was a nasty-looking cluster of curved thorns and a wriggling root that looked an awful lot like a tongue. "She's combined them with leech seeds. Mykr's Leech, I guess it would be called now?"

Marisa made a face. "THE HELL IS THAT?"

"It's a parasite. It digs into your skin and feeds off your blood. I think she's targeting you specifically."

"AW SHIT." Marisa swallowed noisily. "CAN THEY BURN?"

"Certainly, but there is a rather lot of them. I think we should…Oh dear."

Yuuka roared, and the cloud of seeds rushed upward.

"MOVE!" Mima shouted, her voice briefly as loud as Marisa's. She tossed the seed away and started to spray the cloud with liquid fire. "They can't hurt me, so…What?"

The Mykr's Leech she had just tossed aside suddenly attached itself to the back of her palm. Its thorns hooked in while the root tried to push its way through her ethereal skin.

Mima grimaced and threw her other hand over the flower. The whole thing crumbled to dust. "Never mind, they can hurt me. Seems they've been modified even further." A moment later she realized that she had remained stationary while the bulk of the cloud flew up towards them. "Oh, this is going to suck-"

"MIMA!" Marisa screamed as her former mentor was overrun by Mykr's Leeches and disappeared. She would have flown to her rescue, but the cloud was moving so fast that she had to immediately soar upward to avoid being consumed herself.

Marisa flew higher and higher, eventually going right through the storm clouds. She cast a quick warding spell to keep herself from being struck by lightning, and kept going through the clinging vapor. She just needed to find a place to regroup and collect her thoughts. Then she could figure out a way to save Mima and wipe out Yuuka once and for all.

And then she was out of the clouds and in the sunshine. Marisa let out a small cry of surprise and flipped her broom up and over so that she was hovering upright.

What she saw made her glad she had skipped breakfast. The Mykr's Leeches were already there, floating up out of the dark clouds below and into the light of day. Marisa looked up and gasped. They were there too, moving above her and around her, coming in close and caging her in.

…

Team Scarlet (well, one of them at least)

Flandre's body went completely rigid as the pointed tip tore through her blouse and sank right into her chest. Her mouth opened as if to scream, but no sound came out.

And then she seemed to relax. Her limbs slumped in the branches' grasp and a long, slow breath whistled out of her mouth, the sound of which was not dissimilar to a deflating balloon.

Remilia stared in shock. This couldn't be happening. There was no way this was possible. This had to be another nightmare. She was asleep, the battle with Yuuka was still coming, and all of the stress was causing her subconscious to dream up the absolute worst case scenario. That had to be it. Flandre was fine. All she had to do was wake up and go downstairs to see her. That's it. All she had to do was wake up…

Flandre's skin faded to grey and her body crumbled to dust, leaving behind a small red cloud that held her shape for the briefest of moments before falling apart.

A muffled scream built inside Remilia, restricted by the branch but losing none of its intensity. Flandre's clothing, now empty of their owner, slipped down between the branches as the dust billowed all around them. They continued to flutter their way toward the floor only to alight on one of the many tree limbs that connected the room. A small twig stuck up from the newly created hole in her blouse.

"My point exactly," Yuuka said. "You can be killed by a well-placed stick! How exactly have your people become so feared?"

Then she held the sealing crystal into the red cloud left behind by Flandre's demise. The mist slowly contracted and entered the stone, filling its clear facets with a blood-red glow, changing them to scarlet.

"A pity you didn't bring more of these along," Yuuka remarked as the last of the haze entered its glittering prison. "I could have collected the whole set. Instead, I have to pick and choose. I suppose that's a dilemma that all collectors must face, sooner or later." She held the crystal in front of her face, letting the chaotic crimson light wash over her features. "Still, all things considered, I do believe I've made the right choice. I don't believe your sister really is as uncontrollable as you believe. She just needs a gentle hand and an understanding heart and the ability to return to life from just about anything."

With that, she opened her mouth and placed the crystal on her tongue. Her lips closed and she swallowed.

Please God, Remilia begged as tears rolled freely down her face. I know I haven't spoken to you since I was Human, and I know you probably don't listen to people like me, or anyone in Gensokyo for that matter, but please. Let this not be real. Let me wake up.

Then she smelled something warm close by. Remilia looked down out of the corner of her eye and, to her disbelief, saw Sakuya crouching behind a stalagmite. Even through the shadow cast by her hood Remilia could see that Sakuya's face was heavily bruised, with a large purple swelling partially closing her right eye, and her right arm was hanging lifelessly at her side. But she was free, she was alive, and she was there at Remilia's side.

"Don't move," Sakuya whispered. "Don't look at me, don't acknowledge my presence at all."

Remilia quickly averted her eyes.

Yuuka was moving again, walking across the room on the branches of her tree, balancing as if she were walking a tightrope. "You know, it's funny," she said as she moved in seemingly no set direction at all. "I honestly can't decide if I'm annoyed or pleased that you people showed up at all. I mean, I do understand that you had no real choice in the matter and that Yukari had forced you into this through some horrible means or another, so please don't take this as me lecturing you. But still, this was just supposed to be a good-natured brawl, between me and her. We would both show up and the appointed time and place, I would knock her around, she would knock me around, the overall geography of the area would be irreversibly altered, and then we would shake hands and go home. People used to do those sorts of things all the time! In fact, they still do! Isn't this supposed to be Gensokyo's national pastime? Having completely pointless fights because oh why not?"

As Yuuka ranted, Sakuya slipped out from behind the stalagmite and starting moving through the darkness, catlike and silent. Even though Remilia dared not look at her, now that she had Sakuya's scent, she could still keep track of where she was going, even though she had no idea what her chief maid was up to.

"But no," Yuuka continued. "She had to go and screw everything up. Bring in a bunch of people who had no business being here in the first place. That is just plain shameful, if you ask me. I mean, look where it's gotten you. And your sister. And everyone else, for that matter. Had Yukari just done the honorable thing and faced me on equal terms, none of this would have happened. And yet…"

Sakuya was now near the tree itself, on the opposite side as Yuuka. Though Remilia was doing her best to remain still and not give away her position, she was nearly driving herself mad with feelings of worry and anticipation. What was Sakuya planning?

"…and yet," Yuuka said. She stopped pacing and shook her head. "And yet, I'm actually a little glad she tried to cheat. Just a little, mind you. I cannot, on principle, condone her actions. But thanks to them, I may have gained more from this excursion than a chance to stretch my muscles and use them to pound Yukari's face unrecognizable. I have profited. Gained future prospects. I haven't quite decided what I'm going to do with them, but I'm already working on a few ideas."

She shrugged and smiled. "Well, I suppose that's enough of me blabbering on and on. You're probably getting bored, and are anxious to go for my throat. And I really need to wrap this up, so what say I give you one last opportunity to go down in a blaze of glory? Look, I'll even let you have your spear!"

The bindings holding Remilia in place withdrew. She quickly leapt to her feet and looked up to see Gungnir spinning through the air toward her. The shaft smacked against the palm of her hand. Remilia stared first at the weapon in her hand, and then at Yuuka.

Yuuka grinned and spread her arms wide. "Come at me, sister!" she taunted.

Remilia was more than happy to oblige, but right about then was when Sakuya made her move.

It did not end well.

…

Yukari

Yukari sighed and shifted her weight. She supposed she had wasted enough time. As enjoyable as it had been, it really was time to wrap things up.

The dragon had Yuuka pinned down with one burning claw and was breathing down a constant stream of super-heated air. The heat and fumes were enough to melt away her skin as quickly as it regenerated, but not so much that she was incinerated.

"Hold," Yukari said. "Let her up."

The dragon obeyed. It withdrew from Yuuka's ravaged body and perched on the edge of the crater, waiting on its master's word.

Yukari dropped the teacup into the gap and closed it up. Then she floated down to where Yuuka lay. She waited as the burns lightened and the flesh was made whole. Soon after Yuuka's clothing also regenerated and covered her newly healed limbs.

Yuuka's eyes opened. "Well…" she said in a weak voice. "I guess I was right."

"Really. About what?"

"About how much that was going to hurt." Yuuka coughed and sat up.

"Hmmm, true enough. But seriously, were you expecting anything less?"

Yuuka's perfect teeth flashed. "Actually…I was…expecting more."

Yukari rolled her eyes. "Oh, very droll. Be honest, Yuuka. When was the last time you experienced pain anywhere near that level?"

"Last Saturday…At my weekly…poker meeting."

"Excuse me?" Yukari said.

Yuuka shrugged. "Sorry…Sounded funnier…in my mind."

"I'm sure it did." Yukari shook her head. "Well now, one-fourth of Yuuka. It's been fun, but all good things must come to an end. Plus, I need to root out your other pieces and kill them too."

"That won't…be too…difficult."

"No, I'm sure it won't." Yukari held up one hand. "But at any rate, this is endgame. Goodbye, you sad sack of shit."

With that, she gathered her will together.

It was something she had done numerous times in the past. If she wanted to kill someone quickly and permanently, the best way was to grab the core of their essence and tear it apart. Of course this became more difficult, sometimes even hazardous, when dealing with creatures that were on her level, which is why she had refrained from doing it up until now. But as she was only dealing with a fragment of Yuuka, she saw no reason to hesitate.

She felt the supernatural energies of Yuuka's being as they twisted around the monster's physical form. Chaotic, violent and incredibly deadly, but she had seen worse. As such, she had no problem in taking her will and plunging it into Yuuka's essence.

The effect was a bit different from what she had been expecting.

Yukari recoiled as her head erupted in pain. She stumbled backward, clutching at her face. With an effort of will, she blocked away the pain and opened her eyes. As she withdrew her trembling hands, she saw that her fingernails were bleeding.

Marisa and Mima had been right. Yuuka was no youkai. There were very few beings whose essence could have that effect on her while being so much weaker than her. Which meant…

Oh no.

"Problem, Yukari?" she heard Yuuka say mockingly. Though oddly enough, the voice was not coming from the Yuuka sitting before Yukari. Rather, it was coming from somewhere behind her.

Yukari had started to turn around when something wrapped around her waist. Her mind had just enough time to register a dull green vine topped with two pincer-like blades before she was yanked right off her feet and sent tumbling through the air.

It was a short trip. A massive boulder-like hand came down on top of her, and Yukari was nearly pounded right through solid ground.

Coughing and spitting out dirt, Yukari pushed herself up to see that two more Yuukas standing over her, each wearing identical grins. One had replaced her right arm with the flexible vine that had flung her into the air while the other had layered her hands, arms and shoulders with more than five times their normal mass.

"So sorry we're late," said the one with the vine-arm. "Your friends gave us a wee bit more trouble than we had expected."

"Speak for yourself," said the one with the huge fists. "They barely even touched me."

"Yes, well, I do believe my opponents were just a little bit higher on the competence scale."

"Now, now…don't fight…" said the third Yuuka, the one Yukari had been tormenting. "After all…we are on the…same team, aren't we?"

"She does have a point," admitted the whip-fist Yuuka. "I apologize."

"No, no, the fault was mine," said the hammer-fist Yuuka. "I started it, after all." She looked down at the dazed Yukari. "Well, shall continue where we left off?"

"Oh yes, let's."

Yukari felt two oversized hands reach under her armpits and hoist her up. She was then flung into the air. The vine-limb cracked forward again. She was seized by the leg and snapped back into the earth.

Yukari tried to get her bearings, but then she was being pulled up again. Yuuka swung her round and round over her head. Once, twice, and then Yukari was snapped forward toward the large-fisted Yuuka, who was drawing back her right arm.

The next thing she knew, Yukari was slowly inching back to consciousness. She was lying face-up in the dirt at the end of a trench dug by her body. All three Yuukas were standing over her, waiting. The two newcomers had allowed their arms to return to normal and were supporting Yukari's Yuuka between them.

"Ah, that was quick," said the one on the left. "You are a hardy one."

"Tell me…about it," said the one in the middle. "It's amazing…what she can…" The rest of the sentence dissolved into a fit of coughing.

"Easy there," said the one on the right. "Don't exert yourself. You've been through a rough ride."

"But you still performed spectacularly," the left-hand one was quick to say. "Way to take one for the team!"

Yukari forced herself back to full consciousness. "You are…other fragments of Yuuka, I presume?"

That prompted a laugh from all three of them. "What a silly question! Of course we are!" said the one on the right. "We just finished up with those scalawags you brought along and ran here to support our sister-in-arms."

"You know, Yukari, you really should choose your help a bit more wisely," said the one on the left. "Raw power is no substitute for actual ability."

Yukari choked as both of them held up her own sealing crystals. One shone with a pale violet light while the other burned with violent crimson. "What did you do to them?"

"I warned you," said the one on the left, the one with the crimson crystal. "Send any more puppets after me, and I would break them. I did nothing more than what was promised."

"I'm pretty sure there are survivors though," said the other. "Though they would not be in the best shape at the moment. Feel free to scrape them from the rocks once we're done here. That is, of course, if you don't require someone to put you together yourself."

"Speaking of which, I believe we've been apart for far too long," said the one of the left.

"But what…of our sister?" said the one in the middle. "She is…not here yet."

"Give her time, she'll catch up," said the one on the right. "But I don't think she'll be offended if we were to start without her."

With that, both of the Yuukas placed their crystals into the hands of the weakened Yuuka in the middle. At the same time, they leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. Yukari's vision blurred for a moment. When it cleared, there was only one Yuuka standing before her, holding both crystals between the fingers of her right hand.

"Now you see them," Yuuka said. She made a magician's flourish, and the crystals vanished. "Now you don't." Then she held up her fist. There was a loud crack! and a flash of light. When it cleared, her umbrella was once again within her grasp.

Yukari quickly took stock of the situation. All right, so now this Yuuka had three times the power as the one she had been fighting. And once again, she couldn't just reach in a tear her apart without risking damage to her own soul. And from the looks of things, she had lost at least of the teams. This was not good.

She glanced over her shoulder and saw, to her chagrin, that the dragon of fire she had summoned was still sitting perched on the lip of the crater. That was the problem with these constructs. They only responded to specific commands. Absolutely no initiative whatsoever.

"Get her!" Yukari screamed.

Yuuka raised an eyebrow. "Who are you…Oh. Right."

The dragon roared as it lunged into flight. Its mighty wings beat the air and left a trail of flame as it charged towards Yuuka.

Yuuka didn't flinch. She merely braced her legs and pointed the tip of her umbrella at the beast. As the dragon opened its mouth to incinerate her, a sudden sharp whining sound pierced Yukari's eardrums.

There was a green flash, and Yukari's dragon simply exploded. The sky filled with brilliant flashes like fireworks, and flaming bits rained down on the earth.

"I think we've had enough of him," Yuuka said. "Once again, I remind you. This fight is supposed to be between you and me."

"One-on-one, eh? Then what were those other Yuukas then?"

"No, not one-on-one," Yuuka corrected. "You and me. They were still me, so it just became you and me and me and me. Still well within the bounds of the rules."

…

"The rules, the rules, the rules," Yuuka murmurs. "They're put there for a reason, you know. And yet so many people disregard them. Now laws, laws you can safely disregard. In fact, you should do just that. They're silly, they're impersonal, and it's so much fun to see those bumbling lawmakers throw temper tantrums when you refuse to do as they say. But the rules? Those developed for specific situations? Ah, ignore those at your own peril. They are put in place for a reason. And without them, where would we be?"

For a moment you're afraid that she might require an answer, but fortunately that is not the case. "Chaos. That's what we would be reduced do. Pure, unadultered chaos."

She leans back with a smirk of satisfaction. "Now, I know what you're thinking. 'But Yuuka, I thought you enjoyed chaos! I thought that causing chaos was your calling card! Your M.O.!' And you would be correct." She spreads her arms, indicating the perfectly ordered and peaceful area around you. "But that does not mean I do not appreciate the value of order."

She plucks both the lavender crystal and the scarlet crystal off the rings and holds them side-by-side. "Order," she says, displaying the lavender stone. She then holds up its scarlet counterpart. "And chaos. Organization and entropy. The two forces that make the world go 'round."

A spectacular sequence appears in the teacup. A great red star goes nova, consuming all the planets in its system. A tiny white bud blossoms into a beautiful white flower. An angry mob sets a center of government ablaze. A mother breastfeeds her child. A dormant volcanic mountain suddenly erupts into flame. Microscopic life appears on a planet devastated by war.

"Brahma creates; Shiva destroys; and Vishnu preserves," Yuuka continues. She holds the lavender crystal in front of her whole eye and the scarlet one in front of her eyepatch. "One cannot exist without the other to define it. There are many that commit wholly to one or the other. As for myself, I see the beauty in both." She closes her fingers around the stones. "Of course, I'd be lying if I said that I didn't find chaos to be so much more fun, but I like to think that I compensate with the world I've created. Tear down the worlds of others while building up my own. And as such, while I am the nurturing mother and protector to all within the bounds of my realm, in others I am become Death, the destroyer of world. And as such, balance is achieved. It is the natural order of things."

Yuuka stops talking for a moment. She leans back in her chair and frowns. "And yet….that is the problem, isn't it? The natural order of things? I always found it to be so simple. Even as my life drastically changed, the order remained the same. And in the end, everything was the same, just different. But now…is the order I knew the correct one? Or was it entirely fabricated? If so, where do I fit in this new reality I have discovered? Am I subject to the whims of a higher consciousness with no will of my own? Or is it my actions that shape the actions of my new friend? The puppet or the puppeteer? I must confess, I do not know."

She clasps her fingers in front of her and tilts her had. "More to the point, where do you fit in this, my friends?"

Friends? You look around, but there is no one else there.

"What is your part to play in all this? Do you even have one? Or is yours the most important piece of this puzzle? Ah, that is the question of the hour. That is, after all, why I brought you here."

Your heart skips a beat. Wait, Yuuka was the reason why you've suddenly come to this terrifying beautiful place? If so, then why?

"Unfortunately, that is a question that is not so easily answered," Yuuka says. "But fortunately, now that I have gotten a more broad view of the gameboard, I can get to work on putting together the pieces. It promises to be quite illuminating."

She smiles, and her single eye stares right into you. You try not to look away, but after awhile, it's all you can see.

…

You know, this transition from italics to italics really ruins the effect.

Anyway, I guess an explanation is in order as to why this one took over a month to come out despite only being fifty pages. Fortunately this time it wasn't due to laziness (though the Team Scarlet bits fought me a bit at the beginning). Rather, this was a severe case of me underestimating just how long The Storm was going to be. I thought I could make it a trilogy like Deep Within, but it just kept going and going and going. So finally, about last Saturday, I hit page eighty with the end still nowhere in sight and thought "Screw it, let's just make it a four-parter". The good news about that is that as a result, I've already got a good sized chunk of the fourth part done, so it won't be nearly as long. Promise.

All right, on to the chapter itself. This is kind of a difficult chapter to do any sort of commentary for, as it's probably the darkest one yet. To tell the truth, even though the scenes were planned out months ago, I still found myself becoming very uncomfortable during the Utsuho and Flandre scenes. I know that there's been some real cruel things done thus far to various characters, but that was probably the first time I found myself being disturbed. Not enough to not do them of course (the plot gods demand it!), but it was still rather…disquieting. For me at least. Make of that what you will.

As for Yuuka herself, I'm finding that the best way to portray her is as a walking contradiction. Even going beyond the nice, cultured woman who loves children and flowers being so incredibly terrifying, she also disproves of profanity but freely uses it whenever she loses her temper and breaks her own rules whenever its convenient, but provides an explanation as to why. And perhaps by doing so, she becoming consistently inconsistent and there is no contradiction at all. And maybe I should stop trying to explain how Yuuka works because quite frankly, that girl baffles me.

Anyway, business. Tomorrow I'm going to be leaving for the San Diego Comic-Con and won't be back until Monday. As such, I won't be able to respond to…anything until then. Fortunately I have my phone set up to receive emails and update me on new reviews and comments, so feel free to leave me any feedback, positive or negative, you might have, and I'll respond to what I can when I get back, as well as correct any errors in this chapter. Also, my lack of an internet connection does not mean a lack of access to Word, so I do plan on using my evenings to finish up the next chapter, so hopefully it'll go up in about a week or so.

Also, if by some weird coincidence you are also at the Comic-Con and happen across a tall white guy cosplaying as Harry Dresden on Thursday, it's probably me. Or not. I dunno, I don't actually keep in touch with other tall white guys who cosplay as Harry Dresden on Thursdays.

Well, I think that's everything. Until next time, everyone!