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.

36. Rocking the Underground

Rocking the Underground

The Ancient City was a wonderful place to live, and the bazaar was easily the best part. At least, that was the opinion of one Yamame Kurodani, a spider youkai who had dwelt there almost since the day of its founding.

And who could blame her? It was quite the impressive sight: a huge circular plaza right smack dab in the middle of the city, filled with ring after ring of booths, shops, gaming tables, out-door eateries, even a dueling ring, which saw frequent use. The buildings that lined the plaza's circumference housed the businesses that either required some sort of decent structure or had owners wealthy enough to afford one, such as the Mountain Deva's Blacksmith and Yumi Gelatin's Frozen Sweets. An obsidian obelisk jutted out of the center, marking out the center of both the bazaar and the city itself. Every day the bazaar would fill with oni, subterranean spirits, youkai and mineral fairies, come to buy, sell and browse. Ask anyone in the city, and they would be happy to tell you that there was no finer, nor larger, market to be found in the whole of Gensokyo.

Well, perhaps the Youkai Market was a little bit larger…

Though Yamame had long grown used to the enthusiastic chaos of the bazaar's crowds and now knew all of the merchants by name, she still loved wandering from stall to stall, inspecting the new merchandise and chatting away with the shopkeepers. And given the size of the place, it was not unheard to come across a surprise treasure.

Today, she was there for supplies. Unfortunately, she had a bad habit of entering the bazaar only to immediately forget what she had come for. And so she had to carefully write everything down and constantly check her list.

"Okay, we've got radishes, beer and mustard," she muttered as she wandered her way through the crowd. "Now all we need are bread, door hinges, dental floss…What? Why did I add…Good day to you, Mrs. Mitzura! How are the hatchlings? Oh, that's wonderful! Send them my love! Let's see, no to dental floss, but we are running out of porridge, and definitely some more carrot juice, noodles, basilisk eggs…"

There was an unzipping sound as the pack she wore on her back opened. Out popped a green-haired head with two pigtails. "And two hardboiled eggs!" Kisume piped.

"And two hardboiled…" Yamame blinked. "No, wait. What? What's the point of buying hardboiled eggs? We can just make them at home!"

Kisume's face fell. "But I like hardboiled eggs…"

"All right, all right. Be good, and I'll buy you some for lunch. Now, let's see…" Yamame glanced around. They were currently wandering the outer ring, near the perimeter. "Well, the blacksmith is right over there, so we might as well see about those door hinges."

She walked over to red-brick shop and tried to open the door. Strangely enough, it was locked. Yamame frowned as she rattled the handle. That was odd. Yuugi Hoshiguma rarely left her shop, and she was always working.

"Hello?" the spider youkai said as she rapped her knuckles against the door. "Yuugi? Are you there?"

Kisume pulled herself partially out of Yamame's pack and climbed over her head. "Look!" she said, pointing.

Yamame glanced up. A notice had been nailed to the side of the door. "Out Testing," she read. "Be Back When I'm Done."

"Where's that mean, Yamame?" Kisume asked. "Where'd she go?"

"Eh, who knows?" Yamame said. She reached back to push Kisume back into the pack. "Guess she has some new toy she wants to try out. Probably some new type of gunpowder." Yamame sighed and adjusted her pack. "Well, I guess we can come back later," she said as she turned away from the door. "C'mon, Kisume. Let's go get you some eggs."

...

At that moment, miles away on a large subterranean plain, a curious experiment was taking place. At one end, a thick strap of rubber had been attached to two stalagmites. Yuugi Hoshiguma had pulled the strap back, stretching it nearly six feet and turning it into a giant slingshot. Nestled in the pocket was an iron cannonball, fifty pounds in weight. At the other end of the field and directly in the cannonball's path was Suika Ibuki.

As the sign had said, Yuugi was out testing.

"Okay!" Suika sang. "Release!"

Yuugi complied, and the cannonball shot forward. It flew across the field and struck Suika right in the chest. The force of the impact lifted her right off her feet and drove her back. Oni and cannonball alike collided with the cave wall.

Yuugi jogged over to the newly created crater. "So, did it work?" she called.

The rubble shifted, and Suika climbed out, the cannonball under one arm. She tapped the undamaged steel armor Yuugi had made for her and grinned. "Not a scratch!" she declared. She tossed the cannonball aside. "It worked perfectly!"

"Excellent." Yuugi rubbed her hands together eagerly. "All right, stick your hands out and hold still!"

Suika obeyed, and Yuugi slowly circled around her, inspecting the armor for any sign of damage. A far cry from the bulky suits worn by the European medieval knights or the terrifying sets preferred by the ancient samurai, the set Yuugi had prepared for Suika was streamlined and elegant. Formed by a series of tiny, interlocking diamond-shaped plates with seams so fine not even a hair could hope to pass through, the material was light and thin enough to be worn as casual wear, but strong enough to, well, deflect cannonballs.

Yuugi nodded in satisfaction. "All right, no signs of damage," she mused as she straightened up. "Now, ten feet."

Suika's body shot up to the requested height, her form filling in to compensate. Her armor had no problem growing with her.

"Twenty, then down two, then three inches!" Yuugi ordered.

Suika complied, shooting twenty feet high before immediately shrinking down to two, and then down to three inches. Yuugi put her hands on her hips and grinned down at the tiny oni looking up at her.

"Great!" she said. "Okay, turn back!"

A moment later, Suika was normal-sized again, with her armor unharmed by the rapid changes in size and density.

"All right," Yuugi said. "Looks like it's done!" She held up her open palm, and Suika enthusiastically clapped it with her own.

The two oni started to walk back toward the Ancient City. "Though the funny thing is, as tough as that suit is, in a few months I might be able to smith one that makes that one look like a tin can," Yuugi said.

"Huh?" Suika said. "How?"

Yuugi's eyes glittered with excitement. "Just got a message from one of my suppliers in the Western Underground. Apparently, they found some sort of new material. Actually, I think it found them. Just dropped right through the roof and kept going until it sank into the bottom of a lake of magma."

Suika looked up at her in confusion. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"No one's sure," Yuugi said. "They don't even know if it's metal. Apparently it's a ball the size of a house, and it's denser than anything before discovered. If I can just get my hands on a little bit, I can create an alloy that…" She let out a low moan as she thought of the possibilities.

Suika, however, was less than impressed. "Big deal," she said. "You want dense? I can do dense." She picked up a rock as large as Yuugi's head. In her hand, it shrunk down to the size of a marble. She turned her hand to one side and let it fall. The stone floor cracked when it landed.

"See?" Suika said, pointing. "Dense!"

Yuugi rolled her eyes and smacked the back of Suika's head. "Yeah, you can do dense all right. I mean naturally dense! Yours wears off if you don't keep concentrating. This one won't!"

"Yeah?" Suika said as she rubbed the lump Yuugi had given her. "And where's it from anyway?"

Yuugi shrugged. "No one knows. They're still trying to bring it out of the lake. Like I said, it's one heavy motherf-"

Her voice trailed off and she stopped walking. Suika's face twisted in bewilderment.

"Yuugi?" she said. "Why'd you stop?"

"The hell is that?" Yuugi asked, pointing.

Suika looked. Off in the distance, the lights of the Ancient City could be seen, but Yuugi wasn't pointing toward that. Her finger was directed higher, toward the darkness that shrouded the roof of the cavern.

As they had evolved in the darkness beneath the earth, the oni had exceptionally sharp vision. As such, Suika could make out a tiny speck of light falling quickly. It seemed to be trying to slow down, but it wasn't having much success.

"Dunno," she said with a shrug. "Maybe a fairy got lost or-"

The falling object slammed into the steeple of the Brawler Guild's tower. The tip shattered, and the object was sent spinning toward the center of the city.

"Come on!" Yuugi said. She snatched Suika up under her arm.

Before she could build up steam, Suika squirmed out of her grasp. "Hey!" Yuugi snapped at her. "Now's no time to stand on pride!"

"I know!" Suika shot back. "I'm just faster, that's all!"

"Faster! With those little-"

A moment later Yuugi realized that she was now tucked under the arm of a fifteen-feet tall Suika. She rolled her eyes and mentally kicked herself for not seeing this coming.

No longer hampered by her short stature, Suika bounded forward, carrying her fellow oni back to the Ancient City with all speed.

...

The bazaar was in chaos. Granted, it usually was, but the cheer and good feelings were gone, to be replaced by confusion and panic. Yamame quickly vaulted onto the top of a fish booth to avoid being trampled and squinted at the source of the commotion.

The thing that had fallen out of the sky had landed near the obelisk. Already those near were gathering around and staring down at it in pure bewilderment. Though Yamame couldn't blame them, it did mean that they were blocking her view.

"What's going on?" Kisume asked. She tugged on Yamame's hair. "Yami, what's happening? What is that thing?"

Yamame slapped away her companion's hand. "I don't know, I can't see from here. But it looks like something…or someone, just dropped out of the roof!"

"Who?"

"I just said I couldn't see," Yamame said irritably. She scanned her surroundings. Already people were moving closer to the place of impact, further obscuring her line of sight. Others, ones with more common sense, were quickly exiting the bazaar. Following them wouldn't be a bad idea. After all, there were many members of the Brawler's Guild present, and they were known for making short work of intruders. It was likely that this one was well on their well to being reduced to a bloody pulp.

But Yamame was still a youkai, and as such she had a youkai's natural curiosity. Her eyes fell upon the obelisk. Yes, that would do nicely.

"All right," she said as she adjusted the straps of her backpack. "Hang on!"

"Why?" Kisume asked. "What are-"

Yamame leapt into the air and shot toward the obelisk.

"-WHOA!"

The trip took less than two seconds, and soon Yamame was clinging to the obelisk's side and peering down at the scene. "You okay back there?" she whispered over her shoulder.

"I…I…" Kisume gasped. She sounded like she was trying her best to hold onto her lunch. "I don't feel so good."

"Too many eggs," Yamame muttered. "I warned you." She focused her eyes, trying to make out what was going on.

Someone was lying in a broken heap at the foot of the obelisk, a very strange looking woman. Her skin was as pale as marble, and her flowing hair black as pitch, with several white ribbons tied into its tresses. She wore a black vest and a pair of baggy, floral-patterned pants, and ropes were tied around each wrist like bracelets. That in itself wasn't threatening, but Yamame could immediately see that this was a dangerous person. For one, she had razor-sharp talons for fingers, never a good sign. For another, an aura of darkness and red-and-purple fire surrounded her body.

"Huh?" Kisume pulled herself further out of the backpack and peered over Yamame's shoulder. "Who is that?"

"I…" Yamame shook her head. "Have no idea."

There was a pause, and the Kisume said, "Hey, is that the Devouring Monster? You know, the one that there's a big bounty on?"

"Huh. Maybe." Yamame's eyes narrowed. "I don't think so. It really doesn't look a whole lot like those wanted posters."

"Yeah, but those were really cruddy drawings anyway. They looked like a grade-schooler did-"

A low gasp passed through the crowd, and Kisume shut up. The strange woman had sat up.

...

Deep Within

Rumia groaned as she pulled herself to her feet. Her head was swimming and her knees buckled under her weight, but she managed to keep from falling over.

"Rin?" she said as she rubbed her head. "Where are you?"

"Here," the little Kirin said. She wasn't as rattled as Rumia, but it still look like her bell had been rung pretty hard. "What happened?"

Rumia rolled her eyes. "It's your freaking body, you tell me."

They both turned toward the screen. On it, there wasn't much to see. Just a straight pattern of connecting rectangles.

"Uh, huh?" Rumia said. "Rin, are you broken or something?"

Rin frowned. "Oh, wait. Those are tiles. I'm facedown. Hang on."

The view shifted as Rin's physical body sat up, and then Rin and Rumia found themselves staring at a great number of staring youkai and fairies. This group looked significantly tougher than the kind found above ground. There was more chains and armor included in their apparel, not to mention no small number of weapons. And a strange number of triangular purple hats, though the color was probably just due to the tint of Rin's vision.

Rin sighed. "Rumia? Why does this keep happening?"

"Because we both have horrible, horrible luck. And do I really need to tell you what to do now?"

"Get out with all due haste," Rin said. "Okay, let's go even-"

The scene was suddenly jerked to one side, and Rin and Rumia found themselves staring into the ugly face of a burly male oni, one with three horns sticking out of his bald head like a claw and a disgusting beard stuck with old bits of food. His meaty hands were gripping Rin by her vest.

"What is this?" he demanded. "You've got some balls, coming down here. So you'd better tell us why-"

His eyes filled with pain and surprise. His head jerked down to see his hands turn black and shrivel like prunes. He let out of a bellow of fear and tried to release Rin before it spread to his forearms, but his fingers could no longer respond.

Fortunately, Rin realized the problem. She shoved her hands against his bare chest. Her touch left dark handprints against his flesh, but she managed to break his hold before he lost the rest of his arms.

"Shit, shit, shit," Rumia said, on the verge of panic. "Move, move, move!

Rin didn't hesitate. Like she had with the mushroom youkai, she quickly leapt into the air and circled around, ready to plunge into the ground.

However, this group wasn't as inclined to let her go as the last one had been. Rather than frightening them, the sight of their companion's affliction had angered them into motion. Already most of the fairies were in the air and chasing after her, with the youkai not far behind. Below, the burly youkai sputtered and bellowed orders.

"Kill her!" he roared, spittle splattering all over his beard. "She took my hands! Kill her!"

Rumia reflexively stumbled away from the screen. "Rin!"

"Stop yelling my name!" Rin screamed back, sounding as panicked as Rumia felt. "I'm trying to-OOF!"

Rin lurched to one side, grasping her head. At the same time, the view spun crazily. Rumia's footing slipped and she fell onto her back.

She quickly sat up. It didn't take long to identify Rin's attacker. A large fairy, one with ragged wings, wild green hair and an outfit that looked like it had been sewn together from bat skins, stood over Rin. A spiked mace was clutched in her hands, and a bloodthirsty grin twisted her features as she lifted it high for another blow.

...

Yamame tried to get a better look at whatever was causing the commotion, but the crowd was clustered in too thick, both on the ground and in the air. Members of the Brawler's Guild were huddled in the center, and she knew that it would be pointless to try to squeeze her way around them.

A raucous cheer erupted from the Brawler's Guild. The crowd parted enough for her to see Milda of the Tattered Wings hitting something repeatedly with her mace.

Yamame winced. Well, that was the end of that.

"Ooooh," Kisume said. "Is that legal? I don't think that's legal."

Yamame pointed at the Brawler Guild members. "You want to tell them that?"

"No, no, not really," came the quick reply.

However, while Kisume was loath to remind everyone of spellcard rules, someone else did.

"All right, what is this?" shouted a commanding voice that rose over the crowd's cheers. "You idiots know the rules about brawling. Break it up!"

The crowd moved aside, making way for the Yuugi Hoshiguma, the blacksmith. But while Yuugi was considered a paragon of the community and held most everyone's respect, Yamame suspected that the reason everyone was so quick to get out of her way was the gigantic armor-clad that followed her. Yamame almost skittered away herself until she recognized the oni's face and relaxed. It was Yuugi's old traveling buddy, Suika Ibuki, doing her size control thing. If those two couldn't restore order, than nothing would.

"What's wrong with you?" Yuugi demanded as she muscled her way toward the Brawlers. "Do you idiots really want another inquiry?" She seized Milda by the neck and bodily hurled her away. "I swear, every week it's something new with you guys." Two lizard youkai found themselves grabbed by their necks and their foreheads bashed together.

Vilt, a rake-thin oni female who wore more iron chains than clothing, put herself in Yuugi's path. "It's not our fault!" she shouted. "We were provoked!"

Yamame felt Kisume's fingers tighten on her shoulders. "This is awesome!" she whispered breathlessly.

The spider youkai shrugged. "Eh, I've seen better. Remember that rout back in seventy-nine? Now that was a market brawl!"

Down below, things were far from settling down.

"Provoked? By whom?" Yuugi demanded.

The other oni pointed to the crumpled wreck on the ground. Yuugi glanced at the broken intruder and groaned out loud.

"Ah, are you serious?" she said. "Is that the thing that fell out of the ceiling?"

"Yeah, right out of nowhere!" shouted a nearby beetle youkai.

Milda came clomping back. "And look what it did to our tower!" she hissed, pointed at the broken steeple.

The warrior fairy received a smack upside her head. "You stupid idiot!" Yuugi seethed. "So some poor digger gets lost and falls into our city, and you beat her to a pulp? Do the words 'spellcards' even mean a thing to you? Did you even think of at least just using danmaku?"

"Danmaku!" thundered big Tonko Trispine. He elbowed his way toward Yuugi and stuck out his arms, both of which were shriveled down to the elbow. "She did this to my arms, and you have the nerve to talk about danmaku?"

A hush fell on the crowd, and all eyes centered on Yuugi, waiting for her reaction. Yamame heard Kisume's teeth chattering, as they always did when she got nervous. She couldn't blame her pint-sized companion, as she was tense with anticipation as well.

Yuugi looked down at Tonko's arms. Her brow scrunched up, and then she glanced up at Suika.

"Hey," she said. "Suika. Isn't this the same thing you were telling me about?"

"Uh," Suika knelt down to get a better look. A low growl rumbled from her throat.

"Yeah," she said as she straightened up. "Had little bits of that all over. And Reimu's foot looked just like that."

"Interesting," Yuugi murmured. She turned to look at the fallen newcomer. There was something predatory in her expression.

Up above, Yamame sucked her teeth. Here it came…

...

Deep Within

"Rin?" Rumia said as she shook the Kirin girl's shoulders. "Come on, Rin? You gotta get up, this ain't good at all."

Rin's head listed back and forth. Her eyes were barely open. "Uh…uh…" she moaned.

"Come on, please?" Rumia begged. "Miss Reimu's oni is here. You know, the one who beat you up? I think she's going to do it again."

"Hey!" said a voice from the outside. Rumia looked up to see that the huge one-horned oni woman was glaring down at them.

The oni pointed at the large man whose arms Rin had corrupted. "You wanna explain how that happened?" she demanded. "Are you the monster everyone's been looking for?"

Rumia turned back to Rin. "Come on already!" she yelled, her voice cracking under the desperation. "Wake up! Get us out of here!"

And then it all went even deeper into hell.

"Yuugi, why are you even bothering with questions?" rumbled the towering figure of Reimu's oni friend. "The ESP only understands this!"

ESP? Rumia though. Wha-

She had no time for further thought, for then the screen went dark as Suika Ibuki's massive hand closed over Rin's physical head.

...

Everyone, Brawler and civilian alike, practically tripped over themselves to back away from Suika Ibuki as she pulled the disoriented intruder off the ground and held her high.

For her part, Yuugi was just confused. "ESP?" she asked, scratching her head.

"Evil Shadow Person," Suika explained.

"Ah." Yuugi shrugged. "Fitting, I suppose. And you're sure that's her? The same one?"

Suika glanced down at Tonko, who was practically salivating with glee. "Yeah," she said. "I sure am!"

"Huh." Yuugi rubbed her chin as she mused over this new development. She hadn't expected to encounter the Shadow Youkai, or whatever it was calling itself these days, so soon. And she certainly hadn't expected it to fall right through the roof and land in the center of town. While it certainly removed the need to go out and hunt it down, it had chosen a rather inconvenient place to appear. Market brawls, while fun, were always a bitch and a half to clean up. And if it was true that this thing was capable of killing immortals (something she had no trouble believing, given the state of Tonko's limbs), than it would be best to get it out of the city as quickly as possible before some idiot got themselves dead or eaten.

She glanced up at Suika, whose gauntleted hand was starting to tighten around the ESP's head. "Yo, Suika! Wait up."

Suika blinked her huge eyes at her. "Wait? Why wait? I wanna crush now!"

"Yeah, why shouldn't she pop that bitch's head?" someone wanted to know.

"Come on, let her crush that thing!" added an angry voice.

Other furious demands for immediate violence joined the first two, and soon most everyone was shouting at Yuugi, demanding that she stand aside and let the ESP get a little taste of oni justice. Yuugi tolerate for maybe five minutes before her patience snapped.

"Shut UP!" she roared. She swung one muscled arm up to point at the dangling monster in Suika's grasp. "That thing can grow new heads! We can't kill it, and it recovers quickly!"

"So?" Tonko growled. "Just keep squishing it over and over until it stops!"

Yuugi blinked. That wasn't a bad idea, actually. She glanced up at Suika, who shrugged.

"He's got a point," the oversized oni said.

"True," Yuugi said. "All right. Liquefy the murdering punk."

Suika grinned. She held up her fist, which was wrapped around the ESP's head, and began to squeeze.

...

Deep Within

"Get up!" Rumia screamed into Rin's face. "You're about to get turned into silly-putty!" She slapped Rin's cheeks with the back of her hand. "What's the point of being immortal three times over if you're just going to stay unconscious?"

Rin shuddered. She blinked her heavy eyelids slowly at Rumia. "Ru…Rumia?" she muttered in a groggy voice as she rubbed her eyes. "What…what…"

"Hurry up and get us out of here!" Rumia demanded. "Before they crush-"

Suddenly Rin's eyes popped open wide. Her head snapped back and her spine stiffened as she tried to scream, but no sound came out.

Rumia stared at her. "Oh," she said with a feeling of dread. "Too late." After a brief pause, she added, "We are so dead."

But then Rin's mouth clamped shut. Though her body shook with pain, she managed bring her head down. Her fingers grabbed Rumia by the shoulders for support. Rumia winced as they dug into the muscle, but stifled the protest she felt rising.

"No," Rin said in a hoarse whisper. "Not…not this time!"

...

Though she was no stranger to witnessing acts of brutal violence, Yamame still winced as Suika Ibuki squished the intruder's head in her hands. It didn't matter how much you could take, that had to hurt. And judging by how the intruder's body thrashed about, apparently it was in full agreement.

"Ouch," Kisume said, echoing Yamame's thoughts. "Uh, that thing is a bad guy, right?"

"I guess," Yamame said. "Yuugi wouldn't have told her to do that if she-"

A sudden cry of surprise rose up from the crowd, and when Yamame and Kisume saw the reason they joined in. The intruder had managed to brace its hands against the underside of Suika's metal-encased fingers and pushed itself out of her grasp. It fell to the ground and lay still.

Yamame stared, her mouth agape. She wondered if the thing was dead. Its head was a shapeless mess, and its body wasn't disappearing the way youkai did upon being killed.

But then the crushed lump on its shoulders seemed to melt into itself. Its features blurred, only to reform anew, creating a new mouth, a new nose, and new eyes, which opened into twin flames of lavender.

"Ew," Kisume gagged. Yamame wholeheartedly agreed.

The monster levered itself up to a crouch and glared at everyone surrounding it. It hissed in fury.

That did it. While the crowd was willing to follow Yuugi's orders to stand back so long as Suika held the monster helpless, there was no chance they would let a challenge like that pass. Even Yuugi and Suika now looked less concerned with keeping order as they were with delivering an economy-sized beatdown.

With a roar of outrage, everyone swarmed forward as one. "I'll squash you flat!" Suika howled as she lifted her foot high to do just that.

She brought it down. The force of the impact sent a small shockwave that knocked everyone not in the air stumbling back. Even Yamame almost lost her grip on the obelisk.

The mob stopped in their tracks. "Hey, come on!" someone yelled. "Move your foot and let someone else have a turn!"

Suika complied. She lifted her foot up again to let them have their shot.

A hush fell on the crowd. Instead of a squishy puddle of flesh, there was just a hole filled with incredibly fine dust. The monster was gone.

The roar of anger that rose up was almost deafening. Again the mob started to move forward, reading to dig their way down with their fingers if they had to. Fortunately for them, this proved to be unnecessary.

"Everyone back!" snapped Vilt in a voice sharp enough to cut as she pushed her way to the center. "I got this!"

Yuugi looked her fellow oni up and down. "You got a plan, Vilt?"

Vilt grinned her bloodthirsty grin. "Oh, do I ever." Her bony fingers stroked the manacles that bound her many chains to her body. "What, you think these are just decoration?"

At her command, the half of the manacles clicked open and the chains unraveled themselves from around her body. The tips rose into the air like serpents, manacles clacking together eagerly. And, as one, they plunged into the hole.

...

Deep Within

"All right, Rin!" Rumia cheered. She gave Rin an encouraging slap on the shoulder. "Way to bounce back!"

Rin grinned at her. "I know, right? I may stink at fighting, but running away? That I can do!"

Rumia nodded in approval. She watched the earth in front of them disintegrate as Rin burrowed deeper down. "Well, just keep it up. Go all the way to the other side if you can. They'll never follow us-"

The dirt stopped disintegrating. The image had come to a stop.

"-there? Uh, Rin? Why did we stop?"

Rin looked at her. Confusion was written all over her face.

"I…don't know?" Rin said. "I think…something's wrapped around me…"

The view suddenly jerked back and sped away, as whatever it was that had seized Rin pulled her back at high speed.

Rin and Rumia stared at each other, naked horror on both of their faces. However, only Rumia was able to give voice to what they were both feeling.

"Oh, FUUUUUUUUUUU-"

...

"Haha, yes!" Yuugi grinned in approval. She patted Vilt's shoulder. "Nice catch!"

The skeletal oni returned the grin. "Always hated fishing, but this kind I can get behind!" she said as she reeled the ESP in.

"How long can those things get, anyway?"

"As long as I want them!"

"Nice," Yuugi said, impressed. "You've got to teach me that enchantment."

"Come by the guild someday. Beat me unconscious, and I'll be happy to," Vilt grunted. "Aaaaaannnnd, here it comes!"

With an explosion of silt, the chains erupted out of the hole. The ESP was caught tight in their grasp. It struggled and lurched as it tried to squirm free.

Everyone started laughing at the sight. "That's right!" Vilt howled. "Dance, little sluggy, dance!" She motioned with her hand, and the chains flipped around so that the ESP was dangling head-down. "Did you really think you could escape from-"

Yuugi's hand came down on her shoulder. "Vilt!" she hissed as she pointed. "Look!"

Vilt looked. And she did not like what she saw. Her chains, which she had assumed were wrapped around the monster, were instead sinking into the monster. The end links literally disappeared into its flesh.

What was more, it was drawing them in further. Slowly at first, but quickly picking up speed. In a matter of seconds, Vilt found herself being dragged forward, toward the monster. She threw herself in the opposite direct and desperately clutched at a nearby pottery booth. But the pull exceeded even her immense oni strength, and her hands gave way.

Her companions spurred into action. The monster found itself under attack from all ends by swords, maces, wooden beams, pieces of stone and whatever else could be used as a weapon. Those who weren't members of the Brawler's Guild stayed out of reach and settled for hurling the odd bullet into the fray, though whether or not any of them found their mark was debatable. One enthusiastic young youkai tried to get a spellcard off, but many of his fellows did not fancy getting caught in the crossfire and quickly beat that idea of him.

And it was working. The monster was fading. It slouched to the ground as it slowly succumbed to the blows.

...

Deep Within

Rin fell to her knees. Her head slumped onto her chest and jerked with every blow her physical body took.

Rumia was going absolutely frantic. "Rin, what are doing? Get up! Come, you're supposed to be able to take anything!"

"Too much," Rin mumbled. "Can't…can't absorb…"

"Well, try again!" Rumia snapped. "Because if you give up now, if you let them take us, you know what I'll do? I'll…" She wracked her brain for a fitting punishment. "I'll never speak to you again! That's right, you'll be stuck here with no one to talk to for the rest of forever!"

Rin grimaced. She balled her hands into fists and slammed them down to either side. Under the skin of her back, her muscles tensed and twitched.

"Okay, that means you're about to do something, right?" Rumia pressed. "You're getting all pumped up to do something, right?"

Then Rin let out an earsplitting scream that silenced Rumia. Her eyes snapped open as she shrieked at the screen, "Stop HITTING ME!"

...

The bazaar exploded.

That's what it felt like, at least. A shockwave of heat and force lashed out of the monster, knocking everyone back. Yamame let out a cry of alarm and leapt straight into the air. Kisume screamed in concert and threw her arms around Yamame's neck and held on tight. Once they were high enough, she looked down to see what was going on. It wasn't a pretty sight.

The bazaar was on fire. All of the stalls and stands were burning, and flaming people were running every which way. She saw two fairies burning like torches fall to the ground and evaporate. She saw Tonko tackle a pain-blinded Milda to the ground and kick a pot of water over her. Off to one side, the enormous Suika had fallen facedown into a stall of caged slugs and was lying flat in a daze, her head covered with slime.

Kisume whimpered. She closed her eyes and buried her face into the back of Yamame's neck. The spider knew exactly how she felt.

Not at all surprising, the oni were the least affected by the fire. Yuugi threw herself to the ground, rolled over her shoulder to extinguish the flames clinging to her shirt and lurched forward to grab Vilt by the wrists, stopping her from being pulled any further. However, the monster did not stop drawing the chains in, which meant that it was now being pulled toward them. And seeing how what touching it had done to Tonko, neither of them fancied having it reel itself it the rest of the way.

"Get rid of the chains!" Yuugi shouted. "Drop the rest of them!"

"Are you crazy?" Vilt snapped back. "Do you realize how long it takes to make a set like this?"

"You can't make new ones if you're dead!"

Yamame started biting her nails. Dead? Did she mean dead dead, not just temporarily not existing while their life energies put themselves back together? Was that monster capable of such a thing?

She glanced at it. It was hovering in the air like a wraith, its arms outstretched and talons bared. The aura of flaming darkness swirled and writhed around its body, and its violet eyes were glowing with hate.

Yeah, it was capable of such a thing.

Yamame frantically searched the chaos for some way she could help. There was no way she was going to confront that thing herself, but maybe she could find someone who could.

Unfortunately, no one was of a mind to help. The residents of the Ancient City were so used to fire and heat that encountering a flame that could burn so intensely had shocked them out of their rational minds. Those who that weren't panicking or fleeing were doing their best to help the wounded, and none looked strong enough to stop Vilt from being dragged to her demise.

Except one.

Yamame felt a surge of hope when she saw Suika brace her hands and slowly push herself up. The oni was covered in slug mucus and a good portion of her hair had been flashfired away, but she looked otherwise all right.

Yamame quickly swooped down to her side. "Suika!" she said urgently. "Suika Ibuki! Get up! You've got to save them!"

Suika turned her massive head to look at the (from her perspective) small spider girl with a cowering Tsurube Otoshi in a backpack. She spat out a mouthful of slime and said, "Huh? Who are you?"

"Never mind!" Yamame said. She pointed her finger across the bazaar, to where the two oni women struggled with the monster. "They need your help! Now!"

Suika looked. Her eyes widened when she saw the situation. "Oh, no you don't'!" she cried.

Yamame would never have believed that anything so large and encumbered by armor could move that fast. And yet, almost as soon as she saw what was going on, Suika had turned herself around and lunged forward on all fours. Both hands reached out and snatched the chains that bound Vilt to the monster. Suika stood up and yanked the chains into the air, taking both Vilt and the monster with them. With a growl, she gave the chains a hard twist, as if she were wringing out a towel.

"No!" Vilt cried. "They're not-"

It didn't matter. The chains snapped like brittle noodles.

"Suika!" Yuugi called. She released the shocked Vilt.

Suika looked at her.

"Get rid of it!" Yuugi ordered. "Get it out of the city before anyone else gets hurt!"

Suika nodded. But first she wrapped her right hand around the monster and brought it close to her face. "I'm coming for you,"she growled.

Her threat made, she seized the ends of the broken chains and swung the monster around once, twice, and three times before letting go. The monster sailed away, over the tops of the buildings and out of the city. Below, Suika returned herself to normal size and launched herself into the air. She pursued the flying monster, her normally drunken eyes focused by hate.

...

Deep Within

"Stop!" Rumia cried. She clung to the screen for dear life as she screamed at Rin. "Stop yourself and start digging!"

"Trying," Rin muttered. "Can't. Too much momentum."

"What does that even mean?"

Rin didn't answer. She just sat down and crossed her legs. Her eyes focused on the screen. While she might have been unable to halt her trajectory, she was able to turn her body around to stare at the pursuing oni.

"Yeah, I remember you," Rin growled. "You wanna come for me?"

Rumia gaped at her. She couldn't mean what she thought she meant, could she?

Rin slammed her fists down to either side of her. "Well, here I am!" she screeched. "Come and get me!"

...

Utsuho Reiuji sat on the spiral ramp that connected the reactor to the Palace of Earth Spirits, her Third Leg sitting unfolded next to her and legs dangling over the side. A partially eaten egg-salad sandwich was in her hand, and she sung to herself as she munched on it, pausing at times to pick off pieces of the crust and toss them to the flame-bats circling above the palace. It was a song Satori had taught her once, when teaching her about those who lived on the surface and their culture. Granted, she didn't understand what most of the words meant, but she still liked it, as it was very pretty.

"Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms,

On meadow-hills and mountains

As far as you can see.

Is it a mist, or clouds?

Fragrant in the morning sun.

Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms,

Flowers in full bloom."

It was almost scary, sometimes, how close to normal things had gotten. The first week after the fight, Utsuho had been convinced that the palace would crumble into infighting. But despite the inevitable clashes of personality, Orin had managed to sweet talk enough of the more dominant of Satori's pets into cooperation to keep things under control. And those who weren't open to friendly discussion were quickly reminded who the alpha cat was.

Since then, order had been restored and life at the palace went on. Everyone already knew their jobs, and Orin worked extra hard to make sure they did them. At times, especially when Utsuho was hard at work running the reactor, she could also make herself pretend that nothing had happened, that the fight with Yuuka Kazami had been nothing more than a horrible dream. But then she would come down for dinner, and Satori's place at the table would be empty. That made it hard.

Still, they had to carry on until Satori came home. Orin had made it clear that the inhabitants of the Underground were to think that nothing had changed at all. But what Utsuho found strange was how easy it was. She never visited the Ancient City or any of the smaller settlements, but some of the other pets did. And according to them, no one there had the slightest clue that their ruler was missing. Utsuho found this to be a bit troubling. On the one hand, it was a good thing that no one was getting all scared and panicking. On the other, shouldn't somebody miss Satori? She was kind of like their queen, after all. Shouldn't someone care enough to at least check up on her?

Orin had told her not to worry about it, but sometimes, when things were quiet, Utsuho couldn't help but wonder…

"Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms,

Across the Spring sky,

As far as you can see.

Is it a mist, or clouds?

Fragrant in the air.

Come now, come now,

Let's look, at last!"

Today she had found herself with a few minutes of free time and decided to spend it outside. She was rather fond of the lake of fire and magma that now surrounded the palace. The colors it made were so pretty, and she loved playing with the flame-bats that it attracted. The others hated the little creatures and called them pests, but she couldn't understand why. She thought they were cute.

One of them noticed where the flying bits of food were coming from and fluttered close, his burning wings flashing with gold and blue fire. Utsuho grinned and tore off a piece of her sandwich. She held it out.

"Hey there," she said. "Hungry?"

The flame-bat regarded her with suspicion. It was clear that he wanted the piece of sandwich, but was hesitant to approach the much larger creature in order to retrieve it. Utsuho laughed and tossed it to him.

"Well, okay," she said as he snapped it up in his tiny scarlet jaws. "Be that way. You don't have to be scared. I'm not going to…"

Her voice trailed off as her eyes fell upon the scene beyond the bat and the lake of fire. There, off in the distance, the lights of the Ancient City could barely be seen through the smoke and heat. It was a familiar enough sight, but it looked like there was a new light, a big one. Almost as if something were…

"Exploding!" she cried as she jumped to her feet. Her sandwich slipped from her lap and tumbled over the edge, where it was set upon by three flame-bats and torn apart. She didn't pay it any attention.

Something was happening at the city, something bad. They had to be under attack, or maybe the Brawler Guild was getting way out of hand. Either way, someone had to do something.

Usually that would be Satori. After all, it was her city. But Satori was gone. So that meant Orin. Utsuho nodded to herself and started toward the palace only to stop when she remembered. Orin was gone. She was busy tending the furnaces that fed the lake of fire. And Utsuho couldn't interrupt that. It was a very important job, and if no one did it, then the fires would go out. Utsuho wasn't really sure what would happen then, but it couldn't be good.

She hesitated. Technically, she was stronger than Orin. So she could probably had the best chance of chasing off whoever was attacking the city. She didn't have to hurt them, just give them a good scare.

But that wasn't a very good idea. She would probably just end up messing things up. And then Orin would yell at her for making trouble, and everyone would be mad at her again…

Two more explosions erupted right outside of the city. Flaming rocks hurled into the sky. Some struck nearby buildings. Utsuho couldn't see if they did much damage, but she was sure that they did.

That did it. Utsuho slammed her right arm into the Third Leg. It closed over the forearm. Lights lit up on its facets and it hummed with power. Utsuho nodded in approval and leapt into the air. Her wings beat the superheated air as she flew towards the city, all three of her eyes burning with determination. All the while, she kept reciting Satori's rules for whenever she went out in public, with slight modifications.

Don't set anyone on fire. Don't let loose with any dangerous radiation. Don't blow anything up. Don't hurt anybody. Unless it's Yuuka Kazami. But even then…no, then we hurt her a lot. Orin would understand, right?

...

Suika landed in a crouch right outside of the city. The ESP had landed about twenty feet away, at the end of a blackened trench. Despite having been hurled over a mile by a pissed-off oni, it was still getting to its feet, none the worse for the wear for the impact it had just taken.

Good. Suika wouldn't want this to be too easy.

"Hey," she said.

The ESP looked at her. It said nothing, but its burning eyes flared up. It recognized her.

A mad grin split Suika's singed features. "Ready for round two?"

The ESP spread its fingers. At its command, its hands burst into flames.

That was as good as an affirmative as she was ever going to get. Suika let out a cry that was half roar, half whoop of delight and charged. As she headed toward her opponent, she increased in size, adding weight and mass to her momentum until she was eleven feet tall and running with the force of a charging grizzly.

The ESP thrust its hands at her and sent a cone of flame at her. Suika lowered her head, held her forearms stiffly in front of her like a shield and barreled right through. It burned, it hurt but she endured and kept going. Her right arm swung back to hammer forward, slamming right into the ESP's stomach and lifting it into the air.

The ESP let out what sounded like a cry of pain and tumbled through the air in an ungainly mess.

Suika didn't even give it the chance to land. She continued her charge and tackled it as it descended.

"This is for my gourd!" she roared as she bodyslammed the ESP to the ground. Then, powered by pure rage, she started pounding the abomination with her metal-encased fist, fully intending to end the threat right there and then.

...

Deep Within

Rin slumped to her knees. Just as she had while being pummeled back in the city, her body jerked with every blow. She let out small whimpers.

"What are you trying to do?" Rumia asked in bewilderment. "Do you really think you can beat her? Just keep running!"

"Trying…" Rin murmured. Her head flinched to one side and she grimaced. "…trying to absorb. The kinetic. Energy."

"What does that even mean?" Rumia cried.

"It means. I want. To adapt. To her punches."

Rumia stared. "Wait, you mean make it so she can't hurt you anymore?"

"That's the…the…" Rin fell to her hands and knees. "…the idea. But it's…not working. I don't. I don't think…I can. Absorb. Kinetic…"

Then she fell to her side.

...

The ESP gave one final shudder and lay still. Suika tilted her head to one side and sighed. Well, that had been disappointing. She punched its head one more time and let it drop.

"Suika!" she heard Yuugi call. Suika turned around to see Yuugi running up to her. The other oni had changed into her own armor, a much bulkier set that looked very much like that worn by the ancient samurai.

Suika waved. "Hey there! Too late though. Fight's already done!"

Yuugi skidded to a stop. "Wait, you beat it already?" she asked incredulously.

"Yep!" Suika pointed at the crumpled mess at her feet. "Take a look!"

Yuugi stared at what was left of the ESP. "Wow. Uh, that's…really anticlimactic. I mean, after all that…" She held out her hands. In it was a skull-like helmet. "And I even brought your helmet and everything."

Suika shrugged. "Hey, the armor still helped." She nudged the ESP with her boot. When it didn't respond, she rolled her eyes and turned away. "Guess it was havingan offday or-"

"Suika!" Yuugi cried.

Suika started to turn, but the warning had come too late. The ESP was already up and had gripped her midsection with its talons. Suika reached out to grab it, but it growled and shoved her hard.

Very hard.

Now it was Suika's turn to go flying back. Yuugi put herself in her path and caught in her arms. She stumbled a step back with a grunt but managed to keep her footing.

"By Shuten Douj, that thing is strong," Yuugi hissed as she set Suika down.

"Yeah," Suika said in amazement.

"Did it hit that hard last time you rumbled?"

Suika thought for a moment. "No, not really."

"Huh."

Both oni turned toward the ESP, which was standing still.

"What's it waiting for?" Suika wondered.

"Probably for us to make a move." Yuugi handed her the helmet she had brought. "Let's not disappoint it."

...

Deep Within

Rumia gaped at her fully revived companion. "How…how the hell are you getting up so fast?"

"I…I…" Rin stared at her hands, looking just as astonished as Rumia. "Wow. I knew that the Hourai Immortals could recover from anything, but…wow. I mean, first I everything was going black, but…right after she stopped punching I started to feel better."

That took Rumia by surprise. She had almost forgotten the regenerative powers Rin had gained from Kaguya Houraisan and Fujiwara no Mokou. But even so…

"Okay, you're all better, that's great," she said. "Now can we stop this stupid fight and get out of here already?"

Rin didn't appear to have heard her, an unfortunately familiar state of things. She kept looking at her hands. "Mokou and the Princess…" she mused.

Rumia snarled. She stormed over and grabbed Rin by the shoulders. "Hey!" she yelled into Rin's face. "Crazy girl! Remember what I said about ignoring me?"

"Oh!" Rin started. She backed out of Rumia's grasp. "Sorry. I just…got a really interesting idea."

Rumia didn't like the sound of that at all. "It better involve running away," she warned.

...

Wearing a helmet was not something Suika was accustomed to, and with the burns her skin had taken it wasn't exactly comfortable either. But she didn't mind. If it would keep her from taking more burns or having to deal with that freaking taint again, she would gladly bear the discomfort.

Besides, the idea of two fully armored oni waging battle on a nightmarish beast of darkness was the sort of things they made songs about. She just hoped that whatever bard sang the tale remembered to get her name right. She was sick of being confused with watermelon.

At the moment, she was standing directly in front of the ESP, staring it down. The monster still had yet to move, which was a bit worrying. Yuugi was standing by her side. "You ready?" she asked Suika in a low voice.

To answer, Suika roared so loudly that nearby stones shook. She hurled herself forward, every step cracking stone as she clasped her hands together and swung them back, as if she were holding a club.

She expected the ESP to spray her with fire again, or maybe use those darkness tentacles. But it just kept standing still. Suika chalked that up to it having suffered brain damage and pounded its head with her hand, further adding to its mental confusion.

That was the plan, anyway.

To be truthful, she got about as far as swinging her clutched hands forward when it suddenly twisted its body out of the way, ducking under the blow and coming up to ram its knee into Suika's stomach. Thanks to the armor, she barely felt it, but the sudden motion was enough to take her off guard, allowing the ESP to hook its leg behind her knees and grab the face of her helmet with its talon. With one swift motion, its leg went back and its talon went forward. The back of Suika's head hit the ground so hard that the granite shattered.

...

Deep Within

"It worked!" Rin cheered. She jumped up and down and pumped her little fists into the air. "I can't believe it, it worked!"

"Holy moly!" Rumia blurted, completely forgetting how mad she was that Rin wasn't running away. "How the hell did you do that?"

Rin had the silliest grin on her face, like a child who had just managed to climb the tallest tree. "Uh…you know how when I absorb someone, I can use their powers and their senses and look through their memories and all that?"

Rumia gave her a look.

"Right, right," Rin said hastily. "Of course you do. But, as I keep finding out, there's still loads of stuff I can do that I just don't know about, you know? So I got to thinking: what if there's more I can use from the people inside me?"

Rumia decided to leave the snickering for another time. "Okay. Like what?"

"Well, like reflexes and learned skills," Rin said, her grin turning crafty.

Rumia frowned. She thought she had a pretty good idea what Rin meant, but she wasn't entirely sure. "So…what you're saying is…"

"Yup," Rin nodded. "I may suck at fighting. But Princess Kaguya and Fujiwara no Mokou? They probably know more about it than anyone alive." Now her grin was more than just crafty. Now it was downright malicious. "And what they know, I know."

...

When Suika had charged the monster, Yuugi had been content to let her have the first wallops. After all, Suika had fought the thing before. That technically made it her nemesis. Yuugi was just there for support. And so she had jogged after her at half-speed, ready to join in on the crushing when her friend decided to give her a turn.

But when she saw the thing take Suika down so easily, Yuugi's heart rose into her throat and she broke into a full-out run. She threw herself forward and tackled the monster with her shoulder.

The monster tried to move out of the way, but there was no time. It took the full of Yuugi's charge in its stomach and was driven back to the floor. Yuugi snarled as she drew back her fist and drove it down at its horribly beautiful face.

But the monster was just as fast as before. This time, it managed to snap its talons up and grab her by the wrist. It wasn't enough to stop her fist from coming down, but it was enough to change its path enough so that it drove into the ground right next to its ear.

Yuugi couldn't help but wonder what had made this thing suddenly become so competent, but she didn't have time to think about it. After all, the monster's face was literally less than a foot away from hers. And so she did the only thing one could do in such a situation: she slammed her helmeted forehead into its face. The back of its head hit the granite with an audible crack!

...

Deep Within

"OW!" Rin cried as she grabbed both the front and back of her head with a hand apiece.

"What just happened?" Rumia cried. "I thought you were supposed to start kicking ass!"

Rubbing her forehead, Rin glowered at her. "Hey, I just found out that I can do this, okay? I'm still getting used to-OW!"

...

Yuugi headbutted the monster again. "Now stay down," she warned.

It didn't answer. Of course, she wasn't sure if it could speak or not, but that was beside the point.

With a grunt, Yuugi pulled her arm out of the ground. She grabbed the monster by the collar and stood up, taking it with her.

Then she wrapped her arms around its waist in a big bear hug and squeezed.

...

Deep Within

That's it, Rumia thought in despair as Rin writhed in pain. We're dead. She finished. I'm finished. We're both finished. That's it, all gone, bye-bye, see yah…

Then Rin pounded the "ground" with her fists and yelled "ENOUGH!"

Rumia felt the strangest sensation, as if the world of nothingness around her were contracting. Then the view on the screen warped and wiggled. The next thing she knew Rin had somehow escaped the big oni's arms and was driving her back with a flurry of punches and kicks. The oni managed to block the first few, but then Rin threw hers physical body back, landed on her elbows and drove both feet into her opponent's chest, knocking her several feet back.

"What?" Rumia said, her mouth hanging open. "How?"

"I can temporarily return to my gelatinous form, thank you very much," Rin said coldly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm still not used to being able to fight and really don't need distractions right now."

...

Utsuho soared forward, her midnight-black wings occasionally beating the hot air that rose from the stone and odd pool of magma. The Ancient City was dead ahead, and from the look of things, there was some kind of ruckus going on. And it did not look like a danmaku duel. So either the Brawler's Guild was getting out of hand again, or…

Her eyes narrowed. She flattened her limbs against her body and flew faster.

...

What had started off as two oni warriors teaching a renegade monster a lesson had quickly devolved into an all-out brawl.

Suika pounded the ground with her fists, cracking the granite and dislodging a chunk the size of an anvil. With a ferocious battlecry, she hefted it up and hurled it at the ESP.

The ESP, which was busy trading blows with Yuugi, must have heard it coming. It glanced to the side and Suika felt a surge of grim satisfaction when a look of shock passed over the horrid thing's face. It abandoned the fight just in time to grab the rock with both talons. Unfortunately for it, that just left Yuugi open to punch the chunk and drive it right into the ESP's chest.

"All right!" a hoarse voice cheered. "Smash that bitch!"

"Show her what happens if you screw with the Underground!" another put in.

Suika froze. She looked to the side. A crowd was gathering on the edge of the battlefield while others were standing on top of the nearby buildings, consisting of a mix of those who had been attacked at the bazaar and other locals, drawn by the sounds of violence.

That…probably was not a good thing. Suika exchanged a worried look with Yuugi. The residents of the Ancient City were far tougher than most of their fellow Gensokyians, but this was not a fight they should be anywhere near. All it would take was one stray blast of that thing's darkness powers, and someone's life would end.

Unfortunately there was no time to work on moving the battle someplace safer. The ESP tossed the chunk of granite aside and threw a punch at Yuugi, its fist surrounded by phoenix fire. Yuugi sidestepped the blow, swung around to the ESP's back and grabbed it again by the waist, this time from behind.

"Suika!" she bellowed. "Head's up!"

With that, she threw her upper body back, arched her back, and suplexed the ESP right at her fellow oni. Suika leapt into the air, hands open and ready to receive.

She never got the chance. Somehow the ESP managed to twist itself around so that Suika received a face full of feet for her trouble.

A loud groan rose up from the crowd, but Suika was not down for the count. Her helmet had absorbed the blow well, so that even as her back skidded across the ground she already had her hands around the ESP's legs.

Then she stood up, lifting her opponent up with her. The ESP realized what she was attempting and immediately started pounding on her helmet with its fists, but while the clanging hurt her ears, Suika managed to shut it out. She moved her grip up to the ESP's thighs, lifted it straight up and drove it backfirst into the ground.

"Duck!" she heard Yuugi cry. Suika, who had expecting the order, obeyed, bending her body forward. Yuugi rushed up, leapfrogged over Suika and landed feetfirst right on the ESP's face.

A cheer rose up. The crowd had grown, and they were getting excited. Yuugi looked at them, and even through her masked helmet Suika could tell that she was getting nervous.

"We gotta get away from the riffraff," Yuugi told her. "What say we move this to the testing field?"

"Agreed," Suika rumbled. "Give that thing another stomp and let's-YUUGI!"

At the same time Suika shouted her warning, a cry of horror rose up from the spectators. Yuugi looked down and jumped in surprise, or at least she tried to. The ESP had changed. Everything from the shoulders up had melted away, becoming a clear, formless mass that had covered her legs up to the knees and was rapidly crawling upward.

...

Deep Within

"Wait, are you actually going to eat her?" Rumia said.

Rin glowered at her. "You got a better idea? That armor's way tougher than the stone I've been digging through. I can't hurt them through it! But I think I can eat my way in. And hey, let's face it. Having an oni's power will be all kinds of useful, you know?"

"Hey, I'm not criticizing," Rumia said, holding up her palms. "It's just…you know, coming from you…"

"Well, what am I supposed to do?" Rin said in a cranky voice. "I'm sick of people beating me up, and I'm sick of running away from those people just to find more people who want to beat me up!"

Rumia tilted her head. "Uh, Rin? You're not…about to go all bad guy, are you? Because as great as it is that you're growing yourself a spine, I'd really like to get off before you decide to eat everyone in Gensokyo."

"No, I'm not going to go all bad guy," Rin said in exasperation. "I'm just…" Her head jerked up, her eyes widening. "Oh, for Heaven's sake!" she complained. "You had to distract me! See, this is just what I was talking about!"

...

"Hold her steady!" Suika ordered. She was holding the ESP up, one leg under each arm. Across from her, three of the biggest Brawlers had grabbed Yuugi by the arms. The tall oni was not at all happy about the solution they were pursuing.

"If this ends up cutting me in half, I'm going to break your back," she warned. "All of yours. At the same time."

"Oh, we're shaking in our skins," said the Brawler directly behind her. "I guess that's gratitude for you."

"Shut up, all of you," Suika said. She took a deep breath. "Okay. One, two, three, pull!"

They pulled. The ESP tried to hold onto its prey, but against the strength of two oni, one marble youkai and one…something massive and covered with bony protrusions, it was a futile effort. The clear slime was slowly pulled off of Yuugi's legs, like a serpent's skin being discarded.

Suika growled and gave the thing's legs a sharp tug. It came free, and the sudden release of resistance made everyone fall back.

Suika breathed a sigh of relief, but that ended when the legs she was holding started to squirm and their color receded. At the other end, the ESP's head and arms reformed, and it sat up to glare at Suika with hate-filled eyes.

"Oh, no you don't!" Suika shouted as she hurled the monster over her back in panic.

Yuugi, who was just managing to get up, looked to see what was wrong and stiffened. "Suika!" she cried. "No!"

"Huh?" Suika turned around and icy fear gripped her heart. In her haste to get rid of the thing she had inadvertently thrown it right at the crowd of onlookers.

"MOVE IT!" she screamed as she ran after it. "DON'T LET IT TOUCH YOU!"

She needn't have worried. The residents of the Ancient City were aggressive and reckless but they weren't stupid. As soon as they saw the ESP flying their way they parted instantly, letting it sail right into an open alley.

...

Deep Within

"That didn't work!" Rumia screamed as she hung onto the screen for dear life.

"I know!" Rin screamed back. "And of course it didn't! Nothing I try works! I'm cursed or something!" Her eyes fell onto the view on the screen. "It's like I'm doomed to keep failing at everything I try, no matter-"

The rest of her complaint was swallowed up as her face filled with horror. "Oh!" she squeaked. "Oh no!"

...

"Yamame, I don't think this is a good idea," Kisume said for what had to be the umpteenth billionth time. Yamame could feel her little friend's body trembling through the backpack.

"We won't be there long," Yamame reassured her as she snuck along the sides of the building. She turned into an alley, one that connected to the edge of the city. "I just want to make sure Yuugi and her friend are okay."

"They're oni!" Kisume squeaked. "They're trained for these sorts of things! We're not!"

"I'm not planning on fighting, I'm just going to make sure things don't get out of hand. We'll be back home before you-"

Kisume's little hands suddenly grabbed her by the hair and pulled hard, sending jolts of pain through the roots. "YAMAME!" she screamed into the spider's ear.

Yamame looked up and her body froze with fear. The dark monster was sailing fast through the air right at them, talons extended and mouth open wide, its steely teeth sharp and gleaming.

...

Deep Within

Rin was in a state of panic. Thanks to that oni's toss, she was heading straight for that pair of youkai and was going too fast to be able to stop in time. The collision would cover them with that killing darkness, if it didn't cut them in half upon impact.

She had to do something. She had to hold it back. But that was difficult even under the best of circumstances, and there was no way she could muster up the concentration to keep it under control.

And just like that, it was too late. The terrified face of the spider-youkai with the ball-shaped dress filled the screen. Desperate, Rin gathered up all her will, directed it at everything she had gained when she had absorbed Rumia and blasted off a singled command.

NO!

...

Yamame screamed when the thing hit her. She was driven back and the back of her head cracked against the ground, causing her to black out for a few seconds.

When she came to, she found herself in the most awkward of situations. She was lying flat on her back, with the monster lying almost entirely on her. It had its talons on her shoulders, and was staring at her in the eye. There was a look on its face that greatly resembled surprise mixed with fear, though that didn't make sense, coming from it.

Yamame didn't dare move. She just stared back and tried to keep from screaming, though a few stray whimpers escaped.

The monster stared at her for three excruciating heartbeats longer. Then, slowly and carefully, it removed its talons from her shoulders and stood up.

"I…I'm sorry," it told her.

Yamame blinked. She had not been expecting that.

"G-get out of here," it whispered. "Run. Go where it's safe. Please, just stay a-away from me."

Yamame just continued to stare. Her head was still swimming from the knock it had taken and she wasn't entirely sure if she was conscious or not.

Then new voices cut into her confusion. "Hey, is everyone all right?" said someone from the other end of the alley. "Did anyone get hurt?"

"Hot hells, there's the monster!" someone else said.

The monster flinched. It leapt onto the nearby wall and scampered up, almost spiderlike itself in its movement. It pulled itself onto the roof and disappeared.

Yamame soon found herself surrounded by people. "Hey, are you all right?" said a fairy with short blond hair. "Missy? Are you okay?"

"I'm…fine," Yamame said, something that was no small surprise to her. "Yeah. I'm good." She tried to sit up, but a sharp pain through her head made her regret it.

"Whoa, easy there," said a stocky youkai. He took her by the arm and helped her steady herself. "Looks like you took a nasty bump. Take it slow."

Yamame nodded her thanks, but then the fogginess cleared enough for her to remember something very important.

"Kisume!" she exclaimed, sitting up straight again. The pain made her wince but she ignored it. "Where's Kisume?"

Those around her muttered in confusion. "Kisume?" one of them, a dark-haired youkai girl with pale skin, asked. "Who's that?"

"My friend!" Yamame slipped out of the backpack and looked inside. She was slightly relieved that it didn't contain Kisume's crushed body, but it was still empty. "Please, you've got to help me find her!" she implored her rescuers. "She's a little Tsurube Otoshi with green hair and wearing a white kimono! She was riding in my backpack when…" Tears started to fill her eyes.

"Uh, is this her?" someone asked.

Everyone turned toward the blond fairy, who was standing a few feet away. There, curled up against the wall and trembling with fear, was Kisume. She was scared out of her wits but unharmed.

"Kisume!" Yamame cried as she scampered to her feet and rushed over. She picked up the little bucket-dweller and gently shook her by the shoulder. "Are you okay? Come on, say something!"

There was a breathless pause, and then Kisume said in a small voice, "I think I peed myself."

Yamame glanced down at the dark spot on Kisume's kimono. She let out a ragged laugh. "Yeah, but don't worry. I almost did too." She hugged her friend tight, not caring one bit about the smell. "I'm…I'm just really glad you're okay."

A wave of relief passed through those gathered, and one or two of the braver ones started chuckling nervously. "Well," said the oni as he patted Yamame on the shoulder (which did not help her headache at all, but she refrained from complaining). "Looks like you're both okay. But still, you'd better get home fast, before something else happens."

Yamame had no objection to this at all. She carefully slipped Yamame into the backpack and put it back on, and soon the two were heading back to the little apartment they shared.

When they were about halfway there, Kisume said suddenly, "Hey, Yamame?"

Yamame glanced over her shoulder. "Hmmm?"

"Is this real life?"

It took a couple of seconds for Yamame to figure out what she was being asked. "You mean…were we almost killed by the Devouring Monster?"

"Yes."

"Yup. We were." Yamame let out a slightly crazy laugh. "But we survived. Just think of what everyone at the Goblinstone Alehouse will say when we tell them. I bet we'll get free drinks!"

"Oh. Okay," Kisume said. There was a dreamy sound to her voice. "That's good to hear."

Then her head slumped against Yamame's shoulder as she fainted dead away.

...

To Utsuho's disappointment, by the time she reached the battle, it was already over. It was obvious that someone had been fighting there, judging by all the broken rocks and the people milling about, but the action was long gone.

She swooped down to talk to a nearby Kappa trader. "Hey there!" she said.

The Kappa looked in her direction. Her eyes went wide when she saw who she was talking to.

Utsuho waved at her and grinned. "Hi there!" she said. "I'm looking for whoever was fighting here. Do you know where they went?"

"Uh…" Kappa immediately pointed toward the city. "Yesh. Dey's gone dataways."

"Thanks!" Utsuho took off in the indicated direction. All around, people cried out in surprise and rushed to get out of the way, but she barely paid them notice. They all looked like they were okay. She needed to find everyone who wasn't.

...

Deep Within

Rin stared at her open hands. "What…what just happened?" she whispered to herself.

Rumia was quick to provide an answer. "You…you did it!" she said in amazement. "You touched her, and didn't make her turn black and shrivel up!"

"I did," Rin said. She sounded as if she could barely believe it herself.

"But you were just holding it back, right?" Rumia pressed. "Like with the mushrooms, right?"

Rin shook her head. "I didn't have time for that. I just told it to stop, and it…turned off."

Rumia grinned and slapped Rin on the back. "Well, there you go! I knew you'd figure it out. It's just like you figuring out how to fight. All takes a few seconds of total panic and you-"

"Oh my gods!" Rin gasped.

Rumia stiffened. "What? What is it now?" Her eyes darted to the screen. They were currently bounding from rooftop to rooftop, and while they were definitely being pursued, that was a situation that was quickly become the norm. Besides, they were faster than their pursuers, who were still a reasonably safe distance behind.

"I almost killed them!" Rin cried.

"Huh?" Rumia's face twisted in confusion. "Well, yeah. I guess, but it's not like it would have been on purpose."

"But it still would've happened," Rin insisted. "And…Oh gods, I think I was about to try to kill those oni too!"

"So what?" Rumia said. She really didn't understand what Rin was getting so upset about. "They were attacking you! You were defending yourself!" She shrugged. "Okay, granted, you really shouldn't have been fighting, what with all the running you needed to be doing, but still…"

"But that's just it!" Rin wailed. She grabbed her head, her blue eyes wide with dismay. "I shouldn't have been fighting them! But I was just so angry that I wanted to hurt them, and I just kept getting angrier and angrier and…What's happening to me? What am I turning into?"

Rumia nervously glanced at the screen. Thanks to Rin's rising emotional state, her path was starting to wobble. "Uh, Rin? Maybe you can save the emotional breakdown until we can get somewhere safe? Because they're starting to catch up."

Rin swallowed, but to Rumia's relief she listened. Their path straightened.

"Okay, good," Rumia said. "Now, how about we stop going forward and start going straight down? I don't see that bony oni with the chains anywhere, so nothing should grab you this time?"

"G-good idea," Rin said. "Okay, there's an alley up ahead. I'll dive down-"

That was when the armored oni with two horns flipped over the side of the upcoming rooftop and planted her boot into Rin's face.

...

"Gotcha!" Suika cheered as the ESP staggered back. "Thought you could get away, huh?"

The ESP regained its foot and shook off the blow. "Leave me alone!" it cried.

That actually made Suika stop in her tracks. "What?" she said in confusion. "Say that again?"

"I don't want to fight anymore!" it said. "I'm sorry about the people I hurt, but please just let me go!"

"What in the world are you going on about?" Yuugi said as she landed on the roof behind it. "You attacked us, remember? And now you want us to stop?"

"It was an accident! I didn't even want to come here! Please, I just want to go…somewhere else."

"Yeah?" Suika's eyes narrowed. "Well, you're gonna get your wish, and go straight into Yukari's magic box."

"No!" the ESP said, its horrible voice rising in panic. "Look, I swear, I don't want to-"

"Hey!" cut in a new voice. "Hold it right there!"

Suika, Yuugi and the ESP all looked at each other in confusion. Then, as one, they all turned and looked up to behold an awesome sight.

A stunningly beautiful woman hovered overhead, her majestic black wings spread wide. A halo of power surrounded her, and on the center of her chest was the unblinking flaming eye of a sun god. On one arm was a bizarre contraption that looked an awful lot like a gun's barrel, and a dazzling cape displaying the motion of the Universe's constellations was draped over her wings.

"Well, okay," Yuugi said as she stared. "She's here. There goes the neighborhood."

Utsuho smiled as she waved at the combatants. "Hi!" she said brightly. "I'm looking for whoever was causing trouble back there. Can you tell me who it was?"

Suika glanced at herself, and then Yuugi, both of them oni warriors dressed in battle-scarred armor. Then they looked at the ESP, which clearly was no local.

As one, both oni swung their fingers up so that they were pointing at the ESP.

The ESP looked from one oni to the next. "Wait," it said as it realized what they were doing. "Oh, come on! You guys were doing just as much damage as me!"

"Really? You?" Utsuho scowled as the monster. "Okay, now see here. It looks like you're new here, but you can't go around starting fights!" She gestured with her cannon-thing as she lectured. "I mean, this place gets beat up enough, what with all the brawls people get…Are you listening?"

The ESP was not. In fact, it looked like it had taken quite enough of people pointing things at it. "Leave me ALONE!" it cried as it leapt at Utsuho.

"Whoa!" Utsuho yelped as she jerked back. In her surprise, a ball of glowing energy leapt out of her cannon, which then shot forward, missed shaving off one of Suika's horns by mere inches, and continued on to slam into the wall of a nearby apartment complex.

From there, everything happened in a blur. The building burst into flames as its occupants fled screaming from the windows and doors. The ESP passed by Utsuho without trying to touch her and headed down, towards the street. Suika leapt forward after it and hit it with a tackle, wrapping her arms around its waist. However, it continued to dive down, right through the street below, taking Suika with it.

...

Utsuho stared at the building burned with atomic fire. She wasn't sure how that had happened, but she was sure that she was responsible. Oh boy.

Everywhere, people were running and screaming for help. A group of the more level-headed were directing evacuation efforts. The armored oni, the one that hadn't jumped after the scary, glowing person, looked up at her. Its shoulders slumped and it buried its masked face in its palm before it leapt in to help.

"Oh crap," Utsuho moaned. "Orin is going to kill me."

...

Suika hadn't been entirely sure what would happen when she had tackled the ESP, but being dragged down through the earth while clinging on for dear life had definitely not been it. She found herself caught in a wave of disintegrated stone, her arms wrapped tightly around the monster's waist and praying that her strength wouldn't fail her now.

Unfortunately, one cannot be in such a position without their host eventually taking notice. Which, of course, the ESP did. "GET OFF!" it roared, its voice still audible even through the rush. It sent a spray of flame at her, which melted the silt and sent her cutting through magma.

Suika's response was to give it a strong jerk upwards. If she couldn't stop the thing, she could at least keep it from reaching wherever it was going.

The monster growled. It shoved its talons against Suika's face, trying to push her off. One of Suika's hands slipped, but she managed to hold on with the other while she punched where she thought ESP's face was. It hit, and the blow stunned it and changed its direction yet again. Suika took advantage of its momentary distraction and punched it yet again. And again.

"Okay, I've had ENOUGH!" she heard it cry.

Then both of its talons lashed out to hit her full in the face. Suika slipped again, managing to grab the ESP by the knees. But then, just as it had done with Yuugi, its knees contracted and slithered out of her grasp, and Suika was caught up in the wave of grit that washed her away.

The next few moments were a blur of rolling and confusion. When they stopped, she found herself in a tunnel filled with the wake of the ESP's flight.

She lay still for a few seconds, listening to her heartbeat. Thanks to Yuugi's fantastic workmanship, none of the grit had gotten into the armor. But that didn't change the fact that she was still buried who knew how many whatevers beneath the Ancient City.

"Oh great," she moaned. "Not again. Yuugi is never going to let me forget this."

Then, with a weary sigh, she started to dig her way back.

...

Deep Within

"We got away, right?" Rumia demanded. "You lost them, didn't you?"

Rin shook her head, though it was from bewilderment rather than an actual negative. "I…I don't know," she said breathlessly. "Everything's so confusing. I…I think so, though."

"You… you think so? Do you think so or do you know so?"

"I'm not omnipotent!" Rin said. She sounded like she was on the verge of tears. "I don't know everything! But…but yes. I think we got away."

Rumia stared at her. She wanted to question her further, but there was no point. If Rin said that she didn't know, than she didn't know. Any further interrogation would just make her even more upset.

Her legs suddenly felt like jelly, and Rumia half-sat, half-collapsed on the floor. She slumped over her knees as her body trembled. That had been way too close. Sure, they had gotten away at the end, but that had been due to dumb luck and some very surprising discoveries on Rin's part. And given how their luck usually went, they couldn't count on it to save them again.

She looked over to Rin, who was silently sitting and staring at the screen. She tried to tell herself that the situation wasn't all that bad. After all, Rin had figured out how to control her aura of death (or so she claimed. Rumia wasn't ready to start up the celebrations just yet). But that didn't change the fact that once again, Rin had refused to listen to her and had nearly gotten them caught. No, scratch that, they had been caught, and had only gotten away by the skin of their teeth.

Rin was dangerous, both to them and everyone else. She was reckless and erratic and more than a little crazy. Granted, Rumia could be all of those things too, but she was at least smart enough to know when to cut her losses and book it. Another fight like that, and they might very well be trapped together in Yukari Yakumo's magic little box for all of eternity. That was, if she didn't just up and eliminate them instead. Rumia wasn't enthusiastic about either fate.

What was she going to do? She couldn't make Rin listen, and she couldn't get rid of her either. She may not hate the little Kirin like she used to, but she wasn't going to let her get them caught either. She had to do something.

The silence hung heavy for several minutes longer. Then Rumia cleared her throat and said, "So…Rin."

Rin glanced at her. "What?" she said tonelessly.

"Which way are we going again?"

Rin shrugged. "Down. I think."

"Are you sure? That oni knocked us off course pretty good."

"I guess. But I'm pretty sure we're still going down."

"Right," Rumia said, not feeling reassured in the slightest. "Just so long as you're sure."

And then they both cried and flinched back as the screen exploded with light, assaulting their corneas. Rumia's eyes watered (how were they doing that anyway?) and she blinked and rubbed them until she could see well enough to check where they were.

As it turned out, they were currently soaring high in the sky, surrounded by clouds with the sun shining bright overhead.

Rumia had absolutely nothing to say.

Rin looked. She stared at the screen with unreadable eyes. Then she put her head between her legs and started to cry.

...

Okay, full confession time. I was in a really bad mood when I did the last seven pages, and as such, I might have taken it out on the characters. Just a little bit. Hey, it was lousy day.

And apparently, the site deletes triple asterisks, greater than and less than symbols and only lets me add the divider lines when it feels like it, but triple periods are A-OK? Whatever, I'll take it. Though they've also removed the ability to add links to the author profile pages, meaning the TV Tropes page and Spacebattles thread are no longer accessible from there. Grrrr...

Anyway, as a couple of you pointed out after the last update, yet another canon error has popped up. Or rather, it's been around for awhile and has only just attracted attention. Namely, in canon, Makai and Ancient Hell are not the same place, and indeed Makai is more of another plane of existence rather than a physical place, whereas in this story they've been referred to being the same place many times and has even been hinted at as being reachable by digging far enough. This one was actually one I've been aware of for awhile, but since it's existed for almost a year-and-a-half (I've been referring to Shinki as the Queen of Hell ever since chapter thirteen) and was already so ingrained into the story I decided to just roll with it and wondered how long it would be before someone noticed. Which they now have. I may go back and fix it along with some of the other egregious errors (the Akyuu one's already on the chopping block), but that's something for the future.

On a more pleasant note, the story's two-year anniversary is coming up. Who knows? Maybe I'll do something special this year.

Until next time, everyone!