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.

40. The Arena

The Arena

She sat alone on a gently sloping hill that descended into a shallow valley, a tall woman wearing a red plaid skirt and vest over a light pink shirt, her head covered by a linen shawl, her hands gripping the handle of a copper cane that was held upright between her knees. She was hunched over and seemed to sway with the wind. A brief glance might give the impression that she was a frail old woman, so withered by years that a strong breeze might knock her over. But while it was true that she was very, very old, it would be a mistake to believe her to be frail, a potentially fatal mistake. She was not in the best of health to be sure, but she was not frail.

At the moment, her attention was focused on a small copse of trees, about two-thirds of a kilometer from her position. Within, a number of people were plotting against her, and she was patiently waiting for them to finish. It wouldn't do to attack them before they had readied themselves for battle; that would just be rude, and she could not abide rudeness.

Finally they finished and dispersed, each of them leaving to take position. She didn't know exactly what their plan was, assuming that they had one at all, nor did she care. What mattered was that they were ready.

The woman allowed a slow smile to lift her lips, twisting them into a smirk of satisfaction. "Well now," she said, seemingly to herself, "the game is afoot. The combatants are moving, and we are ready to begin. Given how the last one went, one can't help but wonder what little surprises await our players."

She cast a glance upward. Overhead, the sky was blotted out by a domed canopy of swirling clouds, all glowing with an eerie blue luminescence. "And how fitting that we should have a proper arena this time." She frowned. "Though it does seem to be lacking something. A battle of this caliber deserves more than an audience of one, stadium seats full of bloodthirsty spectators and that sort of thing. It just isn't the same without the roar of the crowd."

The woman snickered. "Ah, but then, I am not the only one watching, am I? I never was. And you are watching, aren't you? Where else would you be? This is where the party is, after all."

She leaned back onto her elbow and stretched out her legs. "Though while it warms the very cockles of my heart to share this moment with you, I hope you are not annoyed if I take this opportunity to run some things by you. I've been doing some thinking since our last meeting, about our rather unique relationship, and have come up with some personal theories about all that. I know you really can't answer, but even so, would you mind terribly acting as a sounding board? Who know, maybe I'll introduce a change in perspective that you had not previously considered. If nothing else, it'll give you something to think about."

…

Reimu walked beside Rin through the trees, heading back toward the tall grass. She watched the mutated Kirin out of the corner of her eye, trying to read her expression. Unfortunately, Rin's strange but beautiful face betrayed nothing but determination.

The shrine maiden wished she had Rin's composure. The sheer absurdity of the situation was threatening to make her break down in hysterics. And if she was having trouble keeping her cool, she could only begin to imagine how Rin must be feeling behind her stolen features.

"You don't have to worry about me."

Reimu's head jerked up. "What?"

Rin was now looking at her, a small smile on her lips. "You were staring at me."

"No, I…Well, yeah, maybe a little," Reimu admitted. "It's just a little weird, that's all."

"What we're about to do, or the fact that you're doing it with me?"

Reimu managed a laugh. "A little bit of Column A, a little bit of Column B, to be honest."

"Well, if you're worried that I'm going to bug out on your or switch sides or something, don't worry." She winked in a reassuring manner. "I'm not as crazy as everyone probably think. I can handle this."

Reimu felt a grimace forming and tried to hide it. Despite Rin's assurances, she was worried. She was worried quite a bit.

…

Then…

"Reimu, a word, if you please."

Reimu frowned. The hallucinatory strategy session was over, and she, Mima, Marisa, Sanae, Rin, and Rumia were all back at Mima's mental representation of Hakurei Shrine, mentally readying themselves. Rin and Rumia were sitting huddled together in one corner, talking in low voices. Marisa had apparently engaged in a boxing match with an imaginary Yuuka, and was swinging at the air with her fists, punctuating each blow with a spoken sound-effect. Sanae was pacing back and forth, muttering to herself and anxiously wringing her hands. And as for Mima…

"What's up?" Reimu said to the spirit.

"I need to talk to you about those two," Mima said, inclining her head to Rin and Rumia. "There is something about them you should know."

Reimu frowned. "Er, yeah, sure. If you say so. You want to go outside or…"

"No need. One of the many perks of hosting a party inside my mind is that I get to dictate what my guests perceive. As far as everyone else is concerned, we're discussing what tricks Yuuka might have in store for us."

Once again Reimu was reminded why Mima was so scary. Added to the fact that she had installed spying spells into the Hakurei Shrine, evidence that some sort of forceful eviction will become necessary in the near future was starting to accumulate at an alarming rate.

However, that was neither here nor now. Keeping her face neutral and her thoughts under control, Reimu said, "Okay, I guess that works. What's the problem?"

Mima smiled, and Reimu had the unsettling suspicion that she knew exactly what Reimu had just been thinking. But instead of addressing the shrine maiden's distrust, Mima said, "If I were to be truthful, something I freely admit I'm not known for, I brought you all here for reasons beyond holding an impromptu war room. I also wanted to get a closer look at that fascinating creature." Once more she nodded towards Rin. "In this world of strange and wonderful lifeforms, she is truly unique. To let such an opportunity slip away would be nothing short of criminal. Besides, considering the sorts of things she's reported to be carrying, I thought it best to act on the side of prudence."

Glancing at the Kirin, Reimu asked, "Okay, fair enough. So, what'd you find out?"

"Oh, many things. Full credit must be given to Eirin Yagokoro, young Rin is quite the find." Mima's voice took on a note of wonder. "A pity the current situation is so pressing. I would give a great many things for the chance to study her more in depth, preferably with her in a glass jar."

"Are you being creepy on purpose?" Reimu demanded. "Knock it off, and get to the freaking point already."

"As you wish. And you're right, scientific progress can wait. No, I need to talk to you about her passengers."

"You mean Kaguya Houraisan and Fujiwara no Mokou?" Reimu said, her interest rising. "Can you bring them out too?"

"Alas, no. Rin and Rumia I was able to invite due to their minds being so close to the surface. But she has our immortal friends buried deep inside their own minds."

"She does? Why?"

Mima shrugged. "I cannot say, nor do I care enough to ask. Though given how active their respective subconscious minds are, I'd say she got fed up with having them hanging around and decided to send them into a dream to keep them busy."

"Oh," Reimu said. "Well. That's…kind of terrifying, once you think about it."

Mima raised an eyebrow. "You call it terrifying. I call it potentially the most lucrative entertainment medium the market has ever seen. A pity she's a dangerous lunatic who's wanted by just about everyone. If this weren't so, people would be lining up to be eaten by her."

Reimu buried her face in her palm. "Mima, please, for the sake of my already tenuous sanity, quit it with the disturbing crap and get to the freaking point!"

"All right, all right," Mima said, holding her palms up. "As you wish. And the freaking point is that it seems my previous assessment about her was correct. Specifically, the one concerning her other passenger."

Reimu felt a sudden chill. She shot a glanced at Rumia. The little youkai girl was still talking to Rin, though by the looks of it their conversation was swiftly turning into an argument. Big surprise.

Even if it was unnecessary, Reimu lowered her voice. "You mean the Shadow Youkai? It's still around after all?"

"Of course. But it's in deep, even deeper than those two nincompoops. And very likely up to no good."

"Well, why don't you do something about it then?" Reimu demanded. "You're the big, bad evil sorceress. Go blow it up!"

Mima gave her an exasperated look. "Reimu, while it's true that I am an arrogant egoist who thinks quite highly of herself, that doesn't mean I'm stupid. Part of the reason I've lasted so long is that haven't deluded myself into believing that I have no limitations. I may be powerful, but I am not about to get into a slugging match with the avatar of Azrael."

"Yukari did," Reimu pointed out. "So did my mom. And they won."

"Good for them," Mima said as she sarcastically clapped her hands. "But with full respect to Yukari and your surly predecessor, a newly formed avatar of a Fallen Angel that has yet to come fully into its powers is not the same thing as one that has had six decades to scheme and allow its strength to germinate. And I for one would rather not fight such a creature within my own psyche. You've already seen what fighting that thing did to Rin. I'd rather not have the same happen to me."

"Rin?" Reimu frowned. "But she looks fine."

"Appearances can be deceiving, child. Her adaptation reaches beyond the physical, and the regeneration she stole from the Hourai immortals protects her as well. But trust me, I cannot recall the last time I have seen such a damaged creature. She has been wounded deeply, where it hurts the most." Mima tapped her left breast, where her heart would be if she had one. "Believe me, if it weren't for those factors, she would be quite the entertaining basket case right now."

"Oh."

"And all that to say this: with the Shadow Youkai digging around inside her, doing who-knows-what, we are all in incredible danger. As bad as things are, with that unbelievably annoying gardener mucking things up and the trouble Yukari might bring down on our heads, none of that compares to the catastrophe that will result if that monster gets loose."

"I know that already," Reimu snapped. "Good gods, you think I've been sleeping through all those lectures you people have been stuffing down my throat? Yuuka bad! Shadow Youkai bad! Rin dangerous! Yukari problematic! Doom, death, destruction, darkness, and despair! I freaking get it already!"

"Oh, so good to hear. Then you'll have no problems with keeping an eye on the girl."

"I was planning on doing that anyway, thanks. You think I haven't been thinking the same thing?"

Now Mima's smile was genuine. "No, I suppose not. My apologies."

"For how much that's worth," Reimu muttered. "And hey, if the Shadow Youkai is such a problem, shouldn't we, oh I don't know, tell Rin that it's still knocking about in her head?"

Mima shook her head. "I can see why you would think that course of action would make sense. However, the last time we so much as suggested the possibility, she threw a tornado of death at you and destroyed a large chunk of forest."

"Well, yeah," Reimu admitted, her spirits falling at the memory. "But we weren't on the same side then."

"True. And I have a feeling that if you bring that subject up, you won't be on the same side now. I told you that the Shadow Youkai had damaged her mind and soul. I have little doubt that her refusal to consider its survival is something of a coping mechanism. Try to claim otherwise, and you may trigger another panic attack."

Another obstacle. Fantastic. "All right, baby steps then," Reimu sighed. "And hey, what about Rumia? Can we trust her?"

"You mean the one we have with us?" Mima shrugged. "Well, there's no denying that a connection exists between her and the Shadow Youkai, but I could find no evidence that she's acting as the avatar's tool. Even so, it's best to get this over with quickly. Rin needs to be taken to Shinki ASAP. The sooner the Shadow Youkai ceases to be a problem, the easier it will be to restore Rin to something more…socially manageable." Mima's face fell. "Pity, though. Such a magnificent mutation. The possibilities…"

"Shut up, Mima," Reimu growled. "And what about Rumia? What are her chances of survival?"

"Hmmm, well." Mima rubbed her chin as she thought. "No idea," she said at last, shrugging.

"You don't know?" Reimu said in disbelief.

"Understand, the number of avatars of Fallen Angels that have come into existence can be numbered in the single-digits. And in each case, the Forces of the Silver City were quite thorough in their clean-up. Not a single avatar is known to have survived, though whether they were killed by the decontamination or executed immediately after is something only the Angels themselves know."

When Reimu didn't respond, Mima sighed and said, "Reimu, you probably already know this, but sometimes, you can't save everybody. Sometimes you have to content yourself with saving the ones you can and mourning the rest."

"I know, I know," Reimu groused. "It's just…Well, she's annoying and, hell, not really a good person, but she's still just a kid."

"Everyone is, to someone else," Mima said, her voice surprisingly soft. "You are one yourself, as is Marisa, and as is what's-her-face. In fact, there are many creatures to whom I would be considered a youngster. However, I regret to remind you that in situations such as these, children do not have a high survival rate."

…

Rin walked out of the copse and entered the wild grass. Overhead, the clouds had thickened and the blue glow had brightened. That scared her. It felt too much like a cage. While Rumia might disagree, she found the prospect of being trapped again to be far more terrifying than death.

Forcing herself to look away, she turned her attention to the grass that now came up to her knees. Despite the seriousness of the situation, she still felt a small measure of satisfaction in the fact that everything was not withering around her. Of course, the reason she had been so adamant about learning to control her powers to help her hide. It was just her luck that she would gain control right before hiding was no longer necessary.

The Strutter wasn't difficult to find. She could see it clomping away along the valley's perimeter. Despite her intentions to kill it, Rin felt an odd kinship toward the creature. Like herself, it had been created as a weapon by the Asakura sisters and things had gone horribly wrong (or right, depending on one's point of view). And like her, it had been encouraged toward a homicidal rampage by a sinister voice in its head. The only difference is that it was more of a listener than she was.

…

Then…

Rumia twiddled her thumbs and looked around. It was strange, just sitting inside of the Hakurei Shrine's living quarters and not being chased out. Of course, she wasn't at the actual shrine, but the replication was perfect. To be honest, it gave her the creeps. This was too much like that horrifying dream Rin had sent her through. Granted, it lacked the creepy imagery and irritatingly vague metaphors, but the parallels were there.

What was stranger was the company. Rumia was all too aware that she was the weakest person present, and that no one of those gathered liked her, save possibly for Rin, and hers was a complicated case. Granted, her former self was strong enough to make even Yukari sweat, but Rumia heavily disliked the association.

"Hey, uh, Rumia?" Rin said in a low voice.

Rumia looked at her. The little Kirin girl reminded her of…well, herself, when she was cornered by things stronger than her with little chance of escape. Rin's blue eyes darted Reimu to Mima to Marisa to Sanae and back again, though they lingered most often with those first two persons.

"You know Reimu, right?" Rin said. "I mean, as much as someone like you can."

Rumia arched an eyebrow. "Er, kinda, yeah. What of it?"

"Should I trust her?"

Rumia let out a bark of laughter, only to regret it when everyone turned to look at her. Smiling sheepishly, she waved them off. When their attention was elsewhere, she said, "You're picking a really lousy time to ask that question, Rin."

"I know, I know," Rin said apologetically. "But still, I wanna know. Do you think she's telling the truth?"

"About trying to fix you, you mean?"

Rin nodded.

"Hell if I know," Rumia shrugged. "I mean, if it as just her alone, then I'd say yeah, she's probably telling the truth. But it ain't just her. You've got those two," she nodded first toward Mima and Marisa, "and her goddess is in it too," she indicated Sanae, "and they're all known for being kinda…ruthless. Maybe one of them is really behind it, and this is all some kind of really, really sneaky trap."

"Maybe," Rin said. "But I don't think so."

Rumia scowled. "Well, then why the hell did you ask me for?"

"I just wanted your opinion. But okay, let's say this is some kind of set-up. What happens then?"

Rumia shrugged. "Then we're screwed, I guess. I don't know, you're supposed to be the smart one. What do you think?"

Rin pondered the question for a few moments before answering. "Well, I guess that depends on what they're planning to do. If they're just going to kill me…well, that's that, I guess."

"And…you're okay with this?"

"Aren't you?"

Rin's question hit Rumia a lot harder than might have been expected. She winced, and said, "Getting kinda personal there, Rin."

"Sorry," Rin said, sounding like she meant it. "It's just…" She leaned back and stared upward, searching for the right words. "If it turns out that they're going to kill me, then…I think I'm okay with that. I mean, don't get me wrong, a cure would be fantastic, but escape is escape, you know?"

"If you say so," Rumia muttered, trying not to show that she had much the same thought not too long ago. "So no matter what happens, it's a win-win for you, is that what you're saying?"

The answer took much longer to come than Rumia expected. "No," Rin said at last. "If this is just them working against me, then that's…that's okay. But if it turns out they're working for or being used by Yukari Yakumo…" She shook her head. "I'm not having any of that. I'm not letting her take me."

"Why not?" Rumia said, now honestly curious. She was scared of Yukari too, but couldn't fathom why having her involved would make things worse.

"Because…I just have this feeling, you know? That she's not going to settle for just killing me. That if she catches me, she's going to put me back…" Rin grimaced. "Back into that box, only this time forever. I'm not going to let that happen, Rumia. I'm not going back into that box. Even if…" She looked down at her tiny, normal hands. Rumia did too. And for just a moment, she saw them superimposed by black, metallic talons, stained with blood. "Even if I have to give in and go full bad guy, I will. I'm not going back into that box. Ever."

…

"So that's the infamous Rin Satsuki," Yuuka mused, rubbing her chin. "Well, I cannot speak to her character, never having met the girl in person, but I still must give credit where it's due: she does cut quite the imposing figure. That aura is quite the nice touch, and while the talons lack subtlety, when combined with the rest of her features they do have their own savage beauty. She is a most intriguing quarry. I am most interested in seeing what she can do."

She stared intently at the distant, glowing figure a moment longer, her single eye narrowed. Then she broke contact and relaxed. "But anyway, getting back to the subject at hand, ours is an interesting relationship, one that I feel is poorly defined. The reader, and the character. Reality and fiction. Seemingly two separate opposites, but woven together by subtle threads. The latter cannot exist without the former, to be true, but if you'll forgive me for waxing philosophical, does the world of tangible truth truly mean anything without the world of shadowed fantasies to define it?"

Yuuka chuckled. "And honestly, what is reality anyway? Is it limited to what we see, what we feel, what we hear and smell and taste? Are our oh-so-limited senses the final arbitrator of what is and what isn't? And understand, this is coming from someone well-used to possessing far beyond the standard set of mortal senses, to limit what is to what we can personally experience seems quite a bit on the presumptuous side."

"Take you, for instance," she continued with a vague wave of her hand. "Assuming you are not all figments of a foolish old woman's overactive imagination, you exist in a place unreachable and invisible to myself and all that inhabit my neck of the woods. Save for my own brief glimpse, you might as well not exist for all we're affected. But does that negate your existence? Certainly not."

"Now take us," she said, placing a hand at the base of her throat. "Myself, my friends, my wards, my neighbors, and my enemies. Now to you, we do enjoy some form of existence, but not through anything tangible. We exist through tales and stories; through words and pictures, crafted by your fellows. Cute, but troubling if you happen to live on this side. Because that suggests the possibility that all this," she waved a hand at the valley and the rising chaos it contained, "is nothing more than a stage-act, put on for your pleasure. All the lives at stake, all the grudges being nursed, all the vows of honor and so on and so forth, nothing more than shades of passing entertainment."

"Now, assuming that this is true, what then does that make me? Am I hero of legend, whose tales is being told for others to experience and remember? Am I a Ringmaster, putting on a show for my audience's benefit? Or am I puppet, dancing on the strings moved by another for the masses to look at? I look at these options and wonder, are they not equally terrible?"

…

Rin quickened her gait, closing the distance between her and the behemoth. She dug into the deep well of Rumia's power, and smoky black energy gathered around her hands. In response, the tips of the nearby grass shriveled and died.

I sure hope you know what you're doing, Rumia said from inside her head.

She didn't, actually. That was the problem. She was supposed to just start firing away and draw out whatever it was that Yuuka Kazami was planning and make things up from there. But she hated that plan. Granted, thinking on the fly had served her well in the past, but to wholly rely on intuition and improvision to see them through just seemed stupid to her. Especially when going up again an enemy who, by all accounts, was much better at it than she would ever…

Rin slowed down and stopped.

"What's wrong?" Reimu said. "You see something?"

"This is stupid," Rin said, mostly to herself.

What? Rumia said.

"What?" Reimu said, almost at the same time.

Raising her voice, Rin said, "This is stupid. I'm just supposed to march up to that thing, hit it with something that everyone agrees probably won't work, and just hope I survive whatever nasty trap Yuuka has hidden?"

Reimu looked troubled. "Okay, when you put it like that, it does sound pretty stupid. But-"

"But what? So, just because I'm a near-indestructible powerhouse of destruction that means I have to be the one to spearhead this…" Her voice trailed off, and then she admitted, "Okay, so when I put it like that, it does make a lot of sense. But it's still stupid."

"Rin?" Reimu said with a frown. Her dark eyes bore into Rin, as if she were trying to gauge the Kirin's thoughts. It made Rin feel even more uncomfortable. "Are you…feeling okay?"

"Feeling okay?" Rin repeated, confused. "I feel fine. I just think we're going about all this all wrong."

She pointed at the Stutter, the thing they had come to kill. "See that thing? It's just a hunk of metal with a bunch of plants holding it together. It's just a tool. Why are we even fighting it?"

Hear, hear, Rumia said, her tone dry.

Reimu's face twisted up. "Uh, because it's controlled by a super-powerful youkai who gets a kick out of playing dumb games like this and won't let us go unless we win?"

"See, that's what I'm talking about. Who's to say she'll let us go? She never promised that. We just assumed that those were the rules. And even if they were, why do we have to follow them? Who is she to force us to play her game?"

Finally you're talking sense! Rumia cheered.

As for the shrine maiden, she was starting to edge away from Rin. That was odd. It wasn't like Rin was going to attack her. She was just pointing out the obvious.

"Maybe you have a point," Reimu said, her voice slow and controlled. "But do you have a better idea?"

"Sure. Forget the Strutter." Rin's hand, still surrounded by the power of the Shadow Youkai, swung upward to point at the sky. "We go after them."

"The Sirens?" Reimu looked up. "But Mima said Yuuka's going to expect us to attack them and has some sort of crazy protection."

"See, that's another problem. Everyone's so convinced that this lady is so insanely powerful that there's nothing we can do to beat her." Rin suddenly leapt into the air. Phoenix fire sparked to life and surrounded her body. At the same time, a twisting aura of writhing darkness enveloped her, mixing with the fire, forming a barrier of heat and cold. "But I've had to have killed an entire forest by now. You think I can't handle a bunch of flowers?"

Reimu's eyes widened. "Wait, it's more than a just a bunch of flowers!" she cried. "She supercharges them with something!"

"Big deal. You wanna know what I'm supercharged with? Because I think you already know."

With that, Rin shot off, heading toward the canopy of clouds and blue lights, trailing a line of flame and darkness behind her.

"Rin, stop!" Reimu called after her. "You don't understand! Yuuka fought Yukari and beat her! She beat her! You're not strong enough…" The rest of her pleas faded as she left earshot.

Deep within her mind, Rumia cleared her throat. Wait, Yuuka beat Yukari? Uh, come to think of it, Miss Reimu has a point. Maybe this isn't a good idea.

I beat Yukari too, Rin reminded her.

She didn't know what you could do. Something tells me that Miss Yuuka's done her reading.

Rin declined to answer, though it was mostly due to her approaching firing distance. Gathering flame in one hand and concentrated decay in the other, she focused on one particularly thick bundle of glowing clouds and attacked.

…

"Admittedly, if I had to choose, I vastly prefer the middle option," Yuuka mused. "I've always considered myself to be something of a show-woman, and I certainly love what I do. With that in mind, what does it matter if there are others to enjoy it with me? I cannot see them, so it should make no difference."

She steepled her fingers thoughtfully. "The answer to that should be quite obvious: it makes no difference. By that, I mean that nothing I do makes a difference. I could surrender myself to Yukari and become her willing slave, and nothing meaningful will change. I could break this country to pieces and condemn all those who dwell here to die slowly and horribly as their bodies are digested and their fluids feed my babies. I could shave myself bald, dress in drag, and dance the hula from one end of Gensokyo to the other, and save for inducing some confused chuckles, nothing of any value will be gained or lost. Such is the burden of living in a fiction."

"Of course, there is another possibility, one that I mentioned during our last meeting. It is possible that I am as real as any of you, and my adventures are simply being leaked into your world. This is far preferable to the alternative, and it lends itself to any number of possibilities. After all, if word of my exploits can reach across the vast fissure that exists between worlds, who is to say that others things cannot come across as well." A rough chuckle bubbled out of her throat. "Like, just an example, my own self? Now, wouldn't that be grand? After all, who wouldn't jump at the chance to meet all of her adoring fans? Now that would be…"

Her voice trailed off as her eye, which had taken on a wistful look, refocused. "Ah, excuse me my dears, but I do believe little Rin is attempting to leave the stage." Smiling with amusement, she sat back and shook her head. "Well, while I suppose I can't fault them for constantly making escape attempts, you would think that they would learn by now. Ah well, everyone always had to learn for themselves. A pity they couldn't learn from the mistakes of others though. It would certainly save a great deal of time and-

A moment later, Yuuka found herself lying flat on her back, remaining eye wide and staring up at the sky she had created, heart pounding and muscles still twitching from the blow that had had come barreling out of the psychic link she shared with her babies and hit her with all the impact of a tsunami.

And it wasn't stopping. Though the initial shock had passed, the pain remained and was spreading. What in the world was this? Yuuka had taken some very heavy hits in her day, Yukari's worldview-changing soul mutilation being the most recent, but this was wholly new and unexpected.

Well, no, not new. Yuuka had once felt something similar, when that idiot ghost had wandered into the Garden and touched Yuuka on the cheek, letting her know what death felt like. But that had been a gentle caress. This was an iron-knuckle blow.

Digging her fingers into the ground, Yuuka pulled herself back into a sitting position. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and glowered out at the valley. Despite having destroyed enough flowers to create a hole, Rin Satsuki was still dousing the dome of Mykr's Sirens with flame and darkness, indicating her intentions to bring the whole thing down.

Frustrated and confused, Yuuka searched the valley for some way to stop her. She could always directly intervene, but to do so would be as good as admitting defeat. And unfortunately, the Strutter was too far away.

"Well, I suppose our conversation will have to wait," she muttered to herself. "Fine. Desperate measures it is."

…

"I don't believe it," Reimu said in wonderment. Overhead, Rin was continuing to annihilate Yuuka's flowers and doing a good job of it. "It's actually working."

Of course, that only made her all the more nervous. There was no chance that Yuuka hadn't noticed. Biting her lower lip, Reimu glanced over her shoulder at the rest of the team. They were nearly five kilometers away, gathering around the Hisoutensoku. When Yuuka made her move, she was going to be on her own. Fortunately, it didn't look like the Strutter had started towards them yet.

"Not bad, huh?" Rin called down to her, her still scary voice giddy with excitement. "Just give me another minute or so, and we won't even have to fight the Strutter!"

That did it. She had to go and say it. Now they were all doomed.

Careful to keep a good distance between herself and the torrent of destruction Rin was releasing, Reimu flew into the air and looked around. She squeezed her fists tightly as she fed energy into the spinning Ying-Yang Orbs that encircled her waist. Both Maris and Mima had emphasized how Yuuka could come out of seemingly nowhere, wielding any number of nasty tricks. As such, Reimu was going to be ready. If she saw so much as a dandelion fly past, then it was Fantasy Heaven time.

Then her ear twitched as she registered a sharp whistling sound, audible even over Rin's onslaught. Reimu spun to the side, neatly dodging a small object and letting it fly past. She whirled toward the attack's origin, glowing spellcard held in her hand, ready to be set off.

She had been expecting to see the Strutter lumbering toward them, or perhaps Yuuka herself, looking to get a piece of the action for herself. Or even her serving girl, Elly.

What she hadn't been expecting to see was the humanoid creature with the face that looked like it had been shaped from melted wax that was now hurtling toward her. And yet, despite its deformed features, she could still see two perfect eyes, glaring out from under its drooping brow.

Then she noticed the spare strands of blue hair that were still clinging to the thing's skull and the blazing sword clutched in its hand, and she understood.

"Tenshi?" Reimu said, her incredulity taking her off guard.

The Celestial respond by hurling two more objects at her. Instinct took over and Reimu spun around, blasting the objects with danmaku.

A moment later Reimu was doubling over and coughing violently as a thick black cloud enveloped her. Her watering eyes squeezed shut of their own accord. Smoke bombs. Now that was just cheating.

The Ying-Yang Orbs spun at an even greater rate and Reimu swung her arms out. There was a burst of light, and the cloud was banished. Reimu forced her stinging eyes to open. Tenshi could attack at any moment.

But as it turned out, the Celestial wasn't even interested in her, and had used Reimu momentary distraction to turn her attention on Rin. Reimu's vision cleared just in time to see Tenshi hurl something at the Kirin's back.

…

"Do the words 'this is too easy' mean anything to you?" Rumia asked.

Rin scowled. Not helping, she replied.

"Actually, I am. Because you're doing it again."

It?

"Yes. That thing you do, when you start doing something really stupid and dangerous, and ignore anyone that tells you to-"

A sharp but now discouragingly familiar pain stabbed into Rin's back, cutting off her assault on the flowers. Crying out, she lurched forward and craned her neck over her shoulder to see that she had been hit by some kind of blade attached to a long chain.

"And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what we call a visual aide," Rumia remarked drolly. "Congratulations, captain dumbass, you just got yourself harpooned for the third time. Tell me something Rin, are these stupid attacks part of you being crazy, or are you just an idiot?"

Rin didn't respond. Her attention was focused on the seriously ugly thing holding onto the other end of the chain. It looked like a wax sculpture that had been left out on a hot day.

Even Rumia noticed. "The hell is that?"

I have no idea. I've never seen anything that looks like that before.

"Is that so." Rin heard Rumia sigh. "Rin, did anyone ever tell you that you attract the most interesting enemies? And by interesting I mean disgusting."

Fortunately, this time Rin didn't have to waste time fighting this monster, as she had the oni. Reimu looked like she had been hit by something disorienting, but she had recovered enough to lash out at the melted monster with a storm of glowing danmaku, all the while yelling things that weren't so much coherent thoughts as they were a constant stream of violent profanity. The thing released the chain and flew backward several meters to avoid being hit.

"Oh yeah, she is pissed," Rumia noted. "You know, having her on our side is turning out to be pretty useful after all. So, you gonna do something about that chain thingy, or are you going to pass it off as a piercing?"

I can't absorb it.

A few seconds ticked by, and then Rumia said, "Oh, ha ha. Seriously Rin, just absorb the damned thing already and set that ugly creep on-"

"I can't absorb it!" Rin said again, this time out loud. She clawed at the where the spike had penetrated, trying to dig it out. But it wouldn't budge, it wouldn't dissolve, and, for some horrible reason, it burned.

…

"Well, that was predictable," Mima said as she watched Reimu fight off the smoke and Rin writhe in pain. She clicked her tongue in admonishment. "That's the problem with working with overpowered amateurs. Always so confident in their strength, and yet they always seem to be taken off guard with such ease." She shrugged. "Ah well, mission accomplished either way. We wanted her to draw out Yuuka's trump card, and she did."

Marisa pushed her hat back to scratch the top of her forehead. "Yeah, but Tenshi? Yuuka's using Tenshi? Why? I mean, I've fought the annoying twerp before, and sure, she can hold her own, but she's still a born loser, ze. Not exactly someone you want on your team."

"Hmmm, well, you find your tools where you can. And even a dull axe can fell a mighty oak when swung by the right woodsman." Mima gestured toward the ruckus. Tenshi had managed to spear Rin with a bladed chain and was now flying off at top speed with the Kirin in tow and Reimu in hot pursuit. "In this case, Yuuka doesn't need her to win, she just needs her to cause chaos. Which is, as I'm sure you know, well within Tenshi's capabilities."

"Can't argue with that," Maria admitted. "But how do you know she's even working for Yuuka? I mean, she was already here to catch Rin. And hell, she don't exactly need Yuuka to make her cause trouble."

"A valid possibility, but when dealing with creatures such as Yuuka, it's always best to assume they're behind everything, even if it's just to give a rambunctious brat a nudge in the right direction. Besides, I can't help but notice that her face has been miraculously healed of certain horrific burns while still retaining heavy disfigurement. Right off the top of my head I can think of at least fifteen different plants that can-"

"Hey."

Mima and Marisa turned to Sanae, who had grown quite fed up with the two spellcasters' academic observations of Tenshi's appearances. "Hey," she said again. "Hey, hey, hey! Why are we talking about the stupid Celestial when we should be talking about that?" Her arm swung up, index finger extended and pointing at the hulking figure of the Hisoutensoku. "Because I think we really should be talking about that!"

Marisa glanced her over. "Whoa, Mossy. Looking kinda deranged there. Might be time to think about cutting back on the caffeine, ze."

The witch had a point, Sanae had to admit. Adrenaline flooded her system, giving her a bad case of the shakes and covering her body with a cold sweat. Her eyes were wide and her voice was reaching speeds and octaves usually reserve for animated rodents. However, she really could not care less. There were robots to be discussed, and damned if she were to tell anything distract from that.

"Shut up, Marisa. Just shut up. Both of you, shut up, and let's get back to the important things, okay? That okay with you two? Great. Now, Hisoutensoku? Please?"

Marisa laughed. "On second thought, maybe caffeine's innocent, ze. Fangirlism is a way more dangerous drug."

"Yes, I suppose you would be our expert on intoxicants," Mima said. "And you're probably right. Did you know that the word 'fan' is derived from the work 'fanatic,' which in turn means-"

"HISOUTENSOKU!" Sanae shrieked so loud that she almost damaged her throat. "NOW!"

"And the prosecution rests," Mima said, snickering. "Though she does have a point, unhinged as its delivery might be. Our metal friend here certainly bears discussion."

"Yeah about that," Marisa said as she stepped back to take in the whole of the Hisoutensoku. "What we gonna do with it, anyway? I mean, its controls are pretty much all shot, right? And you can't remotely control it anymore."

"A problem, to be sure," Mima agreed. She floated over to the Hisoutensoku and rapped her knuckles against its foot. "Though not an insurmountable one. It just means I'll have to employ a more direct form of control." She tapped her lower lip and nodded. "Yes, a good old-fashioned possession should do the trick."

"Possession?" Sanae said, feeling the bottom fall out of her stomach. "You mean run it by yourself?"

Marisa's face bunched up. "Yeah, is that even possible? Possessing a machine, I mean."

"It's easier than possessing something with a soul, and comes with none of the head-spinning side-effects. In this case I'll be substituting the electronic data that would normally be surging through this big guy with my own essence and using its body as a shield from the Mykr's Sirens' effects." Mima smiled. "I've yet to merge with something of this size, so it should be quite the fascinating experience, even with the drawbacks."

"Drawbacks?" Marisa said.

"Indeed. Unfortunately, most of my concentration will be taken up with just getting the damned thing to move and keep moving, so I'll have very little mental capacity left to devote to any actual fighting. As such, I'll need one of you girls ride along in the cockpit and act as pilot. Now, I know spending the fight stuck inside an oversized suit of armor instead of participating directly isn't the most glamorous job in the world, but I'm sure one of you-"

"ME!" Sanae screeched. She jumped up and down, waving her hands in the air. "Pick ME!"

Marisa shoved her aside, her own hand in the air. "Ah, hell no, like I'd let a chance like this pass by? Come on, Mima, you know you love me best."

"No!" Sanae grabbed Marisa by the collar and stared at her with mad eyes. "I've been waiting for this moment my whole life! And I am not going to-"

"That's enough, ladies," Mima said. "Your enthusiasm, while appreciated, is unnecessary. And I'm afraid Mossy here is correct, Marisa. She is the most suited for the job."

"What?" Marisa said in indignation as Sanae screamed in delight. "Why you gotta be picking her over me? I thought we were buds!"

"Oh, come off it," Mima said. "It's quite simple: I need whoever isn't doing pilot duty to fly support, and let's be honest, your skills in that area far exceed hers. I'd really rather have our biggest gun where it can do the most good."

"Exactly!" Sanae said, not caring one whit that her own skills were being verbally diminished. "So, we're decided, right? That's how we're going to do things, right? Great! So let's go do it already!"

…

"Absorb the chain!" Reimu yelled as she hurtled after Tenshi and her involuntarily attached captive. "Absorb the godsdamned chain!"

"I'm trying!" Rin screamed back. She was trying to yank the chain out of her back, but to no avail. "It isn't working! It's made out of something weird, something that burns like crazy!"

"Seriously?" Reimu gaped.

Rin let out a wordless cry of frustration in response. Reimu had heard demons make less frightening sounds. Oh yeah, Rin was serious.

Fantastic. The one time they needed Rin's freaky-ass powers to work, and they started glitching up. Reimu supposed that there was some magical/scientific/spiritual/whatever reason, but at the moment she wasn't especially interested in experimenting.

"Fine!" she called back. "Then brace yourself!"

"Why, what are-"

Mentally praying that Rin would forgive her, Reimu opened fire, each of her Ying-Yang Orbs spewing forth danmaku. She relied primarily on her homing spells and made sure they were targeted at Tenshi, but with Rin trailing behind the deranged Celestial like a fish on a hook the Kirin still took some of the bullets.

"Hey!" she cried, trying to slap away Reimu's bullets. "Quit it!"

Reimu ignored her, her attention being focused on Tenshi. The Celestial had turned around and was blasting Reimu's projectiles out of the sky with one hand while slashing the ones she missed with her sword with the other, all the while continuing to accelerate away from Reimu. What was more, she was doing so successfully. The shrine maiden had to give Tenshi credit: personality problems or not, the Celestial was good. That, or just completely off her rocker. Crazy people always seemed to have a surprising amount of success accomplishing the batshit insane.

Rin, however, was not so impressed. Quite the contrary, she was entirely fed up with being dragged around at one end and shot at from the other. "Al right, that's enough!" she yelled as she grabbed onto the chain with both hands. But instead of trying to yank it free, she jerked it back. Hard.

Celestials are very strong, but Rin was stronger. Tenshi's momentum was arrested with bone-rattling force.

Holding tightly to the chain, Rin started spinning around and around, swinging the dazed Celestial in a wide loop. Tenshi's fingers slipped and she tumbled to the ground.

Panting, Reimu came to a stop at Rin's side. "Why didn't you do that to begin with?" she asked.

"It's kind of hard to think with this thing sticking out of my back," Rin said testily as she tugged on the chain in hopes of dislodging it. "What is this anyway? I can't absorb it, it's stuck, and it burns like-"

"YAAAAHHH!" Tenshi screamed as she shot up toward Reimu and Rin, swinging her sword in front of her face.

Acting instinctively, Reimu snapped her hands up and rained storm of ofuda charms down on the Celestial, slowing her down. Reimu pulled out a Fantasy Seal spellcard, intending to take Tenshi out of the game completely.

And then a ball of fire splashed into Tenshi's shoulder, setting the rest of her alight. Screaming, the deranged Celestial was sent spiraling back down to earth.

Reimu blinked in surprise. Then she shot a glare at Rin.

"What?" Rin said. "Oh, don't give me that look. She stabbed me in the back! And I'm pretty sure she was trying to kill you just now."

"I had it handled," Reimu hissed.

"People don't try to hurt me, and I don't set them on fire. Simple as that. Besides, she's a Celestial. She'll be fine!" Then uncertainty washed over Rin's face. "Uh, right? I mean, she is immortal, right?"

"Actually, Celestials aren't so much immortal as they just have the power to fight back when the Shinigami comes for them," Reimu said, her voice cold. "If they win, they get a longer lifespan. If they lose, they're gone." Which was probably something she should remind Mima about, though she doubted that the spirit would care. She looked down at Tenshi, who had managed to smother the flame and was now not doing much beyond breathing hard. "And I'm pretty sure she's not in any condition to win that sort of contest."

A moment passed, and then Rin said, "Oh. Uh, oops?"

"Yes. Oops. Look, just because you're indestructible doesn't mean everyone is. So let's try not to kill people unless you're sure they can take it." Reimu quickly reconsidered that statement. "No, check that. No trying to kill people. Period. Got it?"

"Yes," Rin muttered.

"Good," Reimu said. She pointed at the chain. "And about that thing? I thought you could absorb anything."

"So did I, up until a minute ago. It's made out of something weird, and it burns. A lot." Rin grimaced. "Okay then. One, two, thrAGH!"

On three, she pulled with all her strength. This time, the blade came loose, but it took a piece of her with it. Some kind of black goop coated the blade, which sizzled and crackled like a frying egg.

"Ow, ow, ow," Rin moaned, clutching at where it had come out. "The heck is this thing?"

Taking the weapon from Rin, Reimu held it up and squinted. Beneath the layer of goop, she could see that the blade was partially dissolved and warped. "Looks like you managed to absorb part of it."

"Really?" Rin said, her head perking up. "Well, that explains why it was so hard to pull it out, but not why it was resisting me so much."

Reimu shrugged. "Well, the Celestials have a bunch of weird magical weapons. I guess they got one that doesn't agree with you." Which was spectacularly bad news, the implications of which she did not want to contemplate. Unfortunately, she did not have that luxury. The only thing she could do was put it off until the current crisis was dealt with.

Sticking her thumb over her shoulder, Reimu said, "So, uh, you wanna take another whack at that thing, or…"

Rin looked. Behind Reimu, the large chunk of dead flowers she had created had already been cleared away, and new flowers were swiftly growing to replace them.

Shuddering, she said, "No, I think I'm gonna to play by the rules this time. I do it again, and she'll probably send two crazy ladies to stab me."

"Which would be bad." Reimu shielded her eyes and focused on the Hisoutensoku, which was starting to move. "Looks like they managed to get that thing working after all," she remarked. "So, back to Plan A then?"

"Looks like," Rin said glumly. "Fine. Let's go squish that bug."

…

Upon seeing the jumble of hanging wires that made up the system that Nitori used to capture her movements and thus control the Hisoutensoku, Mima had declared the whole thing to be a hideous rat's nest and, over Sanae's protests, torn the whole thing out.

"Don't worry," Mima said as she hurled the wires and cables out of the Hisoutensoku's cockpit. "You need that Kappa's silly cellophane outfit to use this mess anyway, and that simply would not do. For one, it wouldn't fit you. For another, it was an atrocity of fashion. I simply refuse to allow my pilot to go into battle dressed up as a Milky Way bar."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Sanae asked as she gazed forlornly at the damaged cockpit. "Stand there and think really, really hard?"

A smile began to form on Mima's face. It started small, little more than a smirk, before becoming wider and wider until it had evolved into the wide grin that had terrified thousands of her enemies over dozens of generations. "Something like that," she purred.

Moments later, Sanae had renounced any misgiving she had ever held toward Mima and was wondering if Kanako and Suwako would allow her to become a tri-theist.

A round, green bubble now floated in the center of the room, its top and bottom tapering off and extending into the cockpit's ceiling and floor through the holes where the wires had gone. In the bubble's center floated (or rather, hovered) Sanae. Insulated away from the Mykr's Sirens, Mima's magic held her in place. It didn't matter how much the Hisoutensoku was knocked around, how fast it was going, or if it were bounced up-and-down like a yo-yo, Sanae would remain firmly in place.

According to the spirit, the bubble was a field that operated much like Nitori's network of wires. Every move Sanae made would be copied by the Hisoutensoku, only with a much quicker response time. Furthermore, anything the Hisoutensoku experienced would be experienced by Sanae in turn, though obviously instead of pain she would receive a much less unpleasant sensation. The point was to make her aware of damage, not cripple her with agony.

The shrine maiden's face was split by a wide grin of pure exhilaration. She lifted her arm and squeezed her hand into a fist. Outside, the Hisoutensoku mirrored the movement. The feeling of power rushing through her was incredible. She had been called a near-goddess in the past, but now she felt like an actual deity, of the old school variety. And now it was time to unleash some divine fury.

"Everything working correctly, I hope?" said Mima's voice, coming out of the air. The spirit had infused herself throughout the Hisoutensoku's body, filling its circuits with her essence. For all intents and purposes, she was the Hisoutensoku. Or rather, she was the fuel on which it ran. Sanae was to act as the brain, directing its movements.

"Perfect!" Sanae laughed. "This…this is fantastic! You're amazing!"

"Was there ever any doubt?" Mima said smugly. "Now, brace yourself. I'm about to hook your brain up to the Hisoutensoku's eyes."

Pins and needles broke out on Sanae's forehead. There was a moment of disorientation as Sanae's vision blurred, and the cockpit faded away. When her eyes cleared, she was suddenly thankful for being kept out of gravity's influence, because otherwise she would have fallen right onto her butt.

She was now more than fifty meters high, looking down on the valley. Granted, as someone with the ability to fly, she was not unused to seeing the world from such a height or greater, but in this case she was not hovering over the valley, but standing in it. Before she had felt like a goddess. Now she felt like a titan. Within the bubble, she took a step and felt a surge of thrill when the Hisoutensoku copied the movement.

"Excellent," she whispered.

Then her vision came alive with a flurry of data. A series of tiny screens appeared along the edges, displaying the area around, above, and below her, giving her a three-hundred and sixty degrees worth of vision. At the same time, a targeting grid superimposed itself over the valley, with tiny targets pointing out any object of worth. What was more, Sanae not only saw all this but understood it as well. At any other time, her mind would have collapsed under the crushing avalanche of information, but for some reason she was now able to process it.

Mima. Of course.

"All is well, I hope?"

"Yeah," Sanae said in wonder. "I'm good."

"Very good. You're adapting well. Now, if you'll recall, the nitwits that created the Strutter managed to sever one of this magnificent creature's hands during their initial bout. Look down. Can you see it?"

It took a little searching, but Sanae was able to spot the limb in question, lying in the grass.

"Yeah, it's right there," she said, pointing with the Hisoutensoku's remaining hand.

"Yes, I see it. Excellent. Now, pick it up and put it back in place."

Sanae did so, and felt a tingle of thrill as she easily lifted the detatched hand. The Kappa were known for using lightweight materials, but even so, the thing must have at least weighed a ton. Oh yes, this was going to be fun.

She held up the stump of her other arm and put the hand back in place. Green electricity crackled along the seam. When it faded, it had fused the two parts back together, making the limb whole again.

"And that takes care of that," Mima said in satisfaction. "Ah, there's Marisa!"

On one of the smaller screens, Sanae saw the witch flying up on her broom. She turned her head to look at her directly.

"Not bad, Mossy!" Marisa called to her, her voice tiny. "Just don't get any ideas. You swat at me, and I blow your head clean off, ze!"

Sanae laughed. "Just try it, punk!"

To her surprise, her voice boomed out over the Hisoutensoku's speaker. Marisa jerked back, her eyes widening. "Holy crap, what'cha trying to do, deafen me?" she demanded.

"Now, now, girls," Mima said. "Let's not argue. We're all friends here. Save it for the spider."

Apparently Marisa could still hear Mima as well, as she started grumbling, "Fine, fine. Where is the ugly thing anyway?"

Sanae searched her all-encompassing vision until she spotted the Strutter. "There," she said, pointing the Hisoutensoku's giant finger. "And I think it's spotted us."

Sure enough, the flower-covered spider was now staring at the Hisoutensoku. Though it didn't have a Human face, Sanae was fairly certain that it wasn't thrilled to see its nemesis up and moving again.

"Righty-ho, then," Mima said. "Now, as I said, I'm going to have to devote most of my concentration to holding this thing together and providing the raw firepower. I trust you can handle the actual combat aspect?"

"Yeah," Sanae said, nodding. The view bobbed up-and-down in response. "I can handle it." Then she was struck with an idea, one that was too good to pass up. "Hey, hold up a second! You're connected to my brain, yeah? Can you read my mind and see my memories?"

There was a short pause, and when Mima responded her voice was slow and mired with suspicion. "Shrine maiden, I truly hope this isn't going to be another distrustful questioning of my motives, because as amusing as it is when Reimu does it, this is neither the time nor the place."

"No, no! Nothing like that," Sanae said quickly. "It's just…Well, there's this song I know, and it would be really awesome to have it playing during the fight…"

…

"So, how quickly can you kill that thing?" Reimu called to Rin as they raced toward the Strutter.

Rin shook her head. "No idea. If this was just your regular, run-of-the-mill plant monster, then like five seconds, tops. But if this lady is really as unpredictable as you say, I really have no way to tell, you know?"

"Of course," Reimu whispered. To Rin, she said, "And, uh, just for the record, you can kill this thing, right? I mean for sure?"

Rin looked at her. She shrugged and smiled sheepishly. "I guess we're gonna find out, huh?"

"You're not filling me with optimism here."

"Optimism?" Rin laughed, a huffing chug-chug-chug sound that sent shivers down Reimu's back. "What is this 'optimism' you speak of? Because I….wait. Reimu, is that you making that sound?"

Puzzled, Reimu tilted her head to one side. "What sound?"

"That would be a 'no' then. That…whistling? No, it's more like…"

Rin fell silent. Reimu frowned and listened. Now she could hear it too. It was faint, but high-pitched and growing in volume. Come to think of it, it sounded a lot like…

"…aaaaaaAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Rin and Reimu turned to see Tenshi Hinanai charging them once again, screaming the whole way. This time the Celestial wasn't even bothering with strategy. She was just coming straight at them, blazing sword in one hand and some kind of double-bladed knife in the other, wildly swinging them both.

Diving out of the way just in time to avoid being fileted, Reimu cried, "Seriously, what is wrong with you, you moron? Leave us alone!"

"She's insane, that's what it is!" Rin said as she flew in the opposite direction. "She's completely bonkers! She…Oh, shut up! It's not the same thing, and you know it!"

"What?" Reimu said.

"Not you! Rumia just thinks she's funny. Knock it off, no it wasn't!"

Life in Gensokyo was strange, but Reimu was starting to believe that her life was becoming strange even for a native Gensokyian.

Realizing that she had missed her targets entirely, Tenshi came to an abrupt stop and whirled around. Now that she could get a good look at the Celestial, Reimu cringed at what she saw. Most of Tenshi's clothing was burned away, and now more than sixty percent of her upper body was as melted as her face, further adding to her resemblance to a wax sculpture on a hot day.

"Okay, gross," Rin said, her strange features twisting up in disgust.

"Your fault," Reimu pointed out.

"No, I'm gonna go with her fault."

Reimu decided not to argue the point, because Tenshi was attacking once again. Fortunately, her madness had apparently caused her to forget that long-range attacks such as danmaku were a thing. She slashed again and again with her blades, and though a single hit would probably maim Reimu horribly at best, it was fairly easy to remain out of disemboweling range.

Deciding that the Celestial was beyond being able to be reasoned with (if she ever had been), Reimu put some distance between them and began hurling a spinning cyclone of bullets her way, forcing Tenshi to stop and use her sword to shield herself.

Drawing close to watch, Rin observed, "Well, okay. For a half-cooked lunatic, she is pretty good with that thing."

Reimu allowed herself a grim smile. "Yeah, but even when she was sane, Tenshi was never very bright."

"How do you mean?"

Rather than answer, Reimu simply nodded in Tenshi's direction. The maddened princess was so focused on the danmaku flying directly toward her that she completely failed to guard her back, allowing the four homing charms Reimu had shot off to hit her right in the spine. Startled, she pitched forward, which allowed all the bullets coming directly toward her to slam into her front.

"Oh," Rin said as Tenshi was sent sprawling. "Well, okay then. Cool."

"Yeah." Reimu flipped out a Fantasy Seal. By now she was quite sick of Tenshi, something that never took long whenever that brat was around. Now Reimu wanted to see if she would be able to cut her way out of a first-rate shrine maiden sealing spell.

…

"Do the impossible, see the invisible. Row, row…"

"Fight the POWAH!" Sanae half sang, half yelled as her arms and legs pumped forward in a running motion, moving the Hisoutensoku forward.

If she had been feeling giddy before, Sanae was now downright nuts. She was using her thoughts and motions to control a super robot powered by the essence of a several-century old spirit sorceress and directing to attack a giant half-plant, half-robot spider cyborg at full speed, all to the accompaniment of quite possibly the most appropriate soundtrack imaginable. Not for the first time, she blessed her goddess Kanako Yasaka, whose return was now good as assured, for bringing her to this land of miracles. Even in her wildest of dreams, which she had to admit could get pretty wild, she never imagined that something like this would actually happen. And yet, here she was.

"Touch the untouchable, break the unbreakable. Row, row…"

"Fight the POWAH!" Sanae shouted again, only to be surprised when a second voice joined in. She checked the tiny screens that bordered her vision and saw Marisa riding her broom next to the Hisoutensoku's head. The witch grinned at her.

"What?" Marisa said. "I like this song."

"You've heard it before?" Sanae said dubiously.

"Nah, but it's pretty easy to pick up," Marisa said with a laugh. "I think I found a new theme song."

"No!" Sanae said, laughing in turn. "My theme song! Go find your own!"

"Since when has that ever stopped me, ze? Oh hey, Spiderfreak's decided to do something about us. Game time."

She was right. The Strutter was rearing up, no doubt preparing to attack. There was the sharp whining sound of something charging up.

"Yeah!" Sanae shouted. "Bring it on, you ugly piece of-"

The next thing she knew, she was blinking the spots out of her eyes and trying to make her brain stop quivering. The data she was receiving told her that the Hisoutensoku was now lying flat on its back, almost a full kilometer from where she had been.

"What the…" she mumbled. "What happened?"

"What do you think?" Mima's voice said in her mind. The spirit sounded slightly miffed. "The Strutter answered your challenge and, as you put it, 'brought it.' To be specific, it brought a large energy blast. If I hadn't been able to deflect most of the impact, you would have joined your goddess as a cloud of free-floating atoms."

"Oh," Sanae said.

"Yes. 'Oh.' I seem to recall you claiming that if you were in possession of a large mechanical suit of armor, you would be able to fight that thing. Tell me, is providing the Strutter with a bit of low-stress target practice part of some unexpectedly clever strategy. Because if so, I must extend my compliments, as even with my highly advanced mind I cannot figure it out."

"Sorry," Sanae said. The dazed feeling was starting to recede. "Wasn't ready."

"No? Then why were you charging?"

"Didn't know it could do that." Sanae checked herself over and was pleased to find that Mima's bubble had protected her perfectly. "I mean, I was expecting some sort of flowery attack. Like vines or exploding seeds or something. Who knew it could shoot lasers?"

"Most everyone, actually. Yuuka is quite fond of them."

"Oh," Sanae said again. She frowned. "Hey, wait. What can I do?"

"Now she chooses to ask," Mima lamented. "Girl, my magic is powering this thing. Thus, my magic is arming this thing. And my range of offensive spells is so vast that it might as well be infinite. Be creative."

"Oh," Sanae said for the third time. She made the Hisoutensoku sit up. Fortunately, the Strutter wasn't pressing its advantage. Unfortunately, that was because it was focused on Marisa, who was now focused on Marisa. Though Sanae had to admit, the witch was doing better than she had. Marisa was darting in and out around the Strutter like a fly, though the comparison ended when it came to the trail of liquid fire she was leaving behind. It fell upon the hideous garden the Strutter carried on its back, setting the various shrubs and flowers alight.

Still, it wasn't enough. Any fire she started was quenched within seconds, and any plants she burned were quickly replaced. Any second now the Strutter would start taking her seriously and blast her away just as easily as it had Sanae, only Marisa didn't have a shield of metal and magic to protect her.

"Creative, huh?" Sanae muttered. "Okay, fine. How's this?"

She thought of what she wanted to do. She held onto the image of her idea, crystalized it in her mind, and directed it down the bond she shared with the Hisoutensoku. And then she lifted its left hand up, extended the index finger, and touched it to the ground.

Immediately a shockwave of force shot out and headed straight for the Strutter, cracking the earth and kicking up clouds of dust as it went. The Strutter's eight legs were swept out from under it and it was sent crashing down.

"Better?" Sanae said.

"Better," Mima said. "There may be hope for you after all. Now, pick yourself up before it does and do your job."

"Aye, aye," Sanae said as she braced the Hisoutensoku's hands against the ground and shoved up. "All right, cue my music again. It's time for the next round."

…

Yuuka's face was already bunched up in a frown of displeasure, which only deepened as the arrogant Celestial was broken down even further. Ignoring the battle of the metal titans completely, she watched as once again Tenshi charged Reimu and Rin Satsuki in a manner that could only be described as deranged, if not completely suicidal.

"Well, she has enthusiasm at least," Yuuka muttered with a disappointed shake of her head. "But at this rate, the most she can hope for is to soften them up for someone else. A pity. And she was so sure of herself too."

She sighed, and glanced around the valley. "Well, I guess it's time to start waking the rest of the gang up. Here's hoping at least one of them has at least a basic level of predatory cunning."

…

"We're doomed," Rikako moaned. She sat with her head between her knees, her hands grabbing at her temples. "We're doomed, we're doomed, we're doomed."

"Shut up, Rikako," Rika hissed. To be truthful, her own feelings about their current situation were more-or-less the same, but her sister's repetitive whining was grinding her last nerve.

"We're doomed, we're doomed, we're doomed."

"Shut up, Rikako!"

The two of them were still in the copse of trees that the others had left them in, which was just fine by them. The farther they were away from Madam Mima, AKA the Boogeywoman as far as anyone who had grown up in the Human Village was concerned, and Rin Satsuki, who was making no secret that she still harbored quite the grudge, the better. With their Strutter gone and the canopy of weird-ass flowers cutting off their escape route, the current plan was to hide and wait until some way to leave presented itself.

Of course, that plan unfortunately included a lot of waiting around while beings of near-divine power engaged in a landscape changing war all around them, a scenario that meant that they were stuck with being both utterly bored and completely terrified.

"We're doomed, we're doomed, we're doomed…"

Rika opened her mouth to yell at her whimpering sister again, but before she could, an unexpected third person entered the conversation.

"Well, I have to say," said voice smooth as silk and as odd as an out-of-tune radio, "this is not at all encouraging. I had expected better from that magnificent creature's creators, but I guess that's the problem with people who rely entirely too much on their toys. Why, if it weren't for the fact that I am not exactly spoiled for options, I'd be tempted to pass you two over completely."

The noise Rikako made was almost a perfect imitation of the sound mice make upon having their tails caught in a mousetrap. She scooted back against a tree and frantically looked around, her large eyes widening even further behind her glasses. As for Rika, she just sat very still and said nothing at all.

The voice, its owner unseen, tsked reprovingly. "Ladies, I know the situation is dire, but is that really reason to give up? Buck up now, and show some backbone!"

"We…can't," Rika said. She didn't bother asking who was talking to them. Whoever it was, it had to be bad news. "We lost the Strutter."

"See above comment about overreliance on artificial power. Besides, conquering your weaknesses and prevailing despite such setbacks is the stuff that legends are made of! And be honest, you don't want this trip to be for nothing, do you?" The voice laughed, a high-pitched grating sound that set Rika's teeth on edge. "I don't dare guess how much losing that big galoof will cost you, but with the bounty you might at least recuperate your losses."

"The bounty?" Rikako said in surprise, her surprise overriding her fear. "But, we weren't after the bounty."

"Rikako," Rika said. "Now would be a great time to shut up."

However, it was the voice that fell silent. While it didn't have a face that Rika could see, she was still getting the impression that Rikako's comment had surprised its owner.

"You're…not after the bounty?" the voice said at last. "Then why oh why are you even here, driving a heavily armed mechanical monstrosity and picking fights with other heavily armed mechanical monstrosities if not because you're hunting Rin Satsuki?"

"We are!" Rikako said. "Just not for the bounty. We were going to give to Yukari Yakumo, and then everything would be better!"

"Rikako. Shut. UP!"

"Oh, were you?" the voice said. It sounded amused. "So then, you're Yukari's agents then. You know, I once told her that should I come across any of her little puppets, I would break them. And I always keep my word."

Before either of the Asakuras could voice a protest, the trees themselves moved to intervene. The one Rikako was pressed up against swooped down with its branches and snatched her up, wrapping its now flexible twigs around her neck and binding her arms to her torso. As for Rika, so soon found herself under attack by the roots themselves, which heaved up out of the ground to seize her in a crushing embrace. In addition to terrifying the two of them beyond belief, it eradicated any doubt as to identity of the voice's owner.

"Now granted, the letter of the law hasn't been violated, seeing how she hasn't sent you two after me specifically, but I do like to be thorough." The trees tightened their grip as the voice spoke. "And an example or two has always had its use."

Rika tried to speak, but the air was being crushed out of her. Rikako, however, still had breath enough to scream, "NO! Not working for Yukari! She didn't send us, she didn't send us!"

The trees paused in their homicidal squeezing long enough for the voice to say, "Dear heart, I appreciate the gravity of the situation, but you just got done telling me differently. Come now, let's try not to insult my intelligence."

"Am not! Hunting Rin for her, but not sent by her!"

"Is that right? And that makes sense, how exactly?"

The tree must have loosened its grip on Rikako's throat, as she started babbling at a quick rate. "Got into trouble with her, was afraid she would come after us after everything else was over, thought if we got Rin for her she would forgive us, she doesn't even know we're here, oh gods please don't kill us first!"

"Oh," the voice said, sounding disappointed. "Is that it? What a letdown."

Immediately the roots pulled back, freeing Rika. She coughed and hacked and, once she was able, gasped in lungful after lungful of air. Nearby, Rikako was dropped to the ground, where she did the same.

Ignoring their distress, the voice said, "Well, that's just annoying. Ah well, I guess I have no real reason to continue this conversation. Best of luck ladies. Do try to keep your noses out of my business in the future."

Despite the voice's farewells, Rika didn't dare move for at least a full minute. Then, slowly and painfully, she pushed herself up.

Once she was sitting up, she locked eyes with her sister, coughed, and said, "Okay, so you were right earlier. We are so fucked."

…

Overhead two hawks circled the valley, careful to keep out of range of the deadly clouds but still high enough to see the scope of the two battles. After a while, they swooped down to the relative shelter of a small, stony alcove in the side of a hill.

"Well, this went FUBAR in record breaking time," Nue said as she regained her natural form.

"Got that right," Mamizou agreed. She folded her arms over her breast and smirked. "Told'ja so."

Nue glowered. "Yes, you did. You were right, I was wrong, good freaking job. Now shut up."

"Glad'ta hear it. 'cept that won't get us out of this here mess."

"Working on it," Nue groused as she ran the problem over and over in her head.

Mamizou tilted her head to one side. "So, that's it, right? We're forgetting this stupid bounty and hauling tail outta here, right?"

Nue sighed. Even after things had started to go horribly wrong, she had been prepared to stay and wait for the right opportunity to come their way. But now, after seeing what Satstuki had done to their competition…Well, having been barbequed by that little freak of nature once already, Nue wasn't anxious for a repeated performance. And she sure as hell didn't want to go anywhere near that crazy girl with the sword.

"Yeah, okay," she muttered. "Fine. You win. As soon as there's an opening, we split and head towards-"

"Ah, I'm afraid that is unacceptable."

Nue and Mamizou leapt in surprise, which turned out to be a bad idea given how low the alcove's ceiling was.

"The hell?" Nue said, rubbing the top of her head. "What was that?"

"Sorry for surprising you," said the strange voice. "But I couldn't help but overhear your plans to abandon the contract."

Nue exchanged a glance with Mamizou. The Tanuki shook her head and shrugged helplessly. Nue knew how good Mamizou's sense of smell was. If she said that she couldn't sense anyone nearby, than there was no one nearby.

"Yeah?" Nue said. "What's it to you? And who are you, anyway?"

"Oh, just someone representing the interests of my client, who so happens to be your employer."

"My what?" Nue asked, baffled.

"The ice fairy Cirno, whose contract you accepted. I am here to ensure that you do not violate the terms of your agreement."

Nue stiffened. While Cirno was in fact the one who had posted the bounty, everyone knew the real personality behind it. "Yuuka Kazami?" she said cautiously.

Mamizou's eyes went wide. She opened her mouth to speak, only for Nue to immediately shush her.

The voice laughed. "I'd be careful about speaking that name out loud. Certain superstitious folk believe that its careless usage can summon its owner."

Nue declined to mention that it was a little late for that. "What do you want?" she asked.

"What do I want? Dear child, did I not already make that clear? You agreed to hunt the person Rin Satsuki in exchange for a substantial amount of money. To back out now, while so close to your quarry, would violate your given word. And I for one simply cannot allow this to happen. I abhor dishonesty, especially when it comes to such weighty matters."

"It's an open bounty, not a contracted hit!" Nue protested. "That whoever gets Satsuki first gets the prize! No one's under any obligation to-"

"'Very well, little fairy. I'll take your bounty,'" said Nue's voice. "'Provided, of course, that you have the money to pay.'" There was a short pause, and then the first voice returned. "Do you remember saying that?"

"But that was-"

"You told Cirno that you would hunt her mark, with no conditions attached. You then openly expressed doubt that she would live up to her end of the bargain. And yet, here you are, about to abandon your own." The voice tsked. "How disappointing. You're just as bad as those whimpering scientists."

"Nobody said anything about giant mechanical monsters, killer clouds of death, insane sword-wielding lunatics, or Reimu Hakurei getting involved!" Nue shouted. "The full details were not made clear!"

"What part of 'no conditions attached' did you not understand? And every such undertaking comes with unexpected dangers. That's part of the fun. Besides, isn't that why you decided to join the hunt in the first place? Because you were bored?"

"Well, yeah," Nue admitted. "But-"

"Nue," Mamizou said, touching her shoulder. "Shut up and look."

All along the alcove's curving wall and ceiling grass roots were sticking out. And while they had been as still and unthreatening as such things were expected to be when Nue and Mamizou had taken shelter, they were now growing long and thickening. What was more, they were slithering through the dirt like maggots through a corpse's flesh and extending out to tangle together, forming a thick mass. Nue and Mamizou quickly backpedaled out of the alcove and watched as the small space was consumed by the thicket of dirty roots.

"But nothing," Yuuka's voice admonished. "You gave your word, and you will see it through. I do not take kindly to those who betray the rules. So saddle up girls, you have a great deal of work to do."

…

"No," Meira whimpered. "Leave me alone."

"Leave you alone?" purred the soft voice of Yuuka Kazami. "My dear, your work remains unfinished. The bounty is unclaimed, and I have it on good authority that you entered this valley with the expressed intent of claiming it. You're not going to back out now, are you? Come now, there are so few of you left."

Meira shook her head miserable. "No," she repeated. "Too much. This is too much. I quit."

She had come to her senses not too long ago, lying in the same place. The mad aristocrat had gone, and Tony hadn't returned. While she had tried to figure that out in her head, the ground had started talking to her.

"You quit," the voice echoed. "Well, this is getting pathetic. Are able hunters really in such short supply? Is this really how you react to a few obstacles? Come on girl, your quarry is right there!"

"No," Meira moaned. She grabbed her head and started rocking back and forth. "No, no, no. Go away. Leave me alone. I quit."

"I…see." The voice sighed. "Well, there truly is no point to continuing, is there? I know a lack of potential when I see it. A pity, really."

Meira felt something squirming beneath her behind. She squeezed her eyes shut and mentally begged it to go away.

"You know," the voice said conversationally, "this would normally be the part where I slip you down the gullet of a Dragon Snapper and let you be digested alive, or toss you into the grip of a Devil's Snare or something. But you know what? I think leaving you alive would be a greater punishment. Cowardice is a terrible fate, Human; one that you honestly have no chance of escaping. But then, you already knew that, didn't you?"

The movements stopped and the voice fell silent, leaving Meira sitting alone and wretched.

…

What felt like an invisible wall slammed into Reimu and bowled her over, interrupting the sealing spell she had been charging and causing the spellcard to explode into sparks. She regained her senses just in time to arrest her backward momentum before hitting the ground, only to be knocked the rest of the way when a second wave of force hit her.

Trying to fight her way through the dazedness, Reimu staggered to her feet. "Rin!" she called as her eyes searched the surrounding area for her unlikely ally and her unseen attacker.

"Here," Rin said as she stumbled into view. "What happened?"

"I don't know, another one of Yuuka's surprises probably." Reimu shook her head as she tried to clear away the cobwebs. "I'm starting to see why…" Then she noticed something unfortunate. "Uh, Rin? You're doing that thing again."

"Huh?" Rin looked down to see that the grass surrounding her was starting to wither. Her eyes went wide with horror. "Oh crap! Uh, uh, how'd I stop it again? I think it was like this…" Mercifully, whatever she did was apparently did the trick, as her aura of death immediately ceased.

Reimu breathed a sigh of relief. The whole operation was dependent on being able to prove that Rin wasn't an out-of-control monster. Unfortunately, that meant that the longer this fight continued, the more control slipped away.

And then a third wave hit them and knocked them over. Now thoroughly irritated, Reimu spat out grass and decided to wait until this persistent problem was dealt with before worrying about Rin.

"Do you know where they're coming from?" she said to Rin. "I mean, can you sense the energy or whatever.

"Uh, no. But I don't think that's going to be a problem."

"Why?"

"Because I'm pretty sure those blasts are coming from over there."

Reimu looked in the direction Rin was indicating and groaned out loud. Once again, it was Tenshi. And once again, she was proving herself to be the biggest nuisances in Reimu's nuisance-filled life.

The Celestial was now hovering in the air above them. Her arms were outstretched, what was left of her face pointed skyward, and circling her were three grey boulders. Reimu, whose memory of her last encounter with Tenshi was still very fresh, figured that each of the shockwaves had been the result of one of the stones activating. She had no idea how Tenshi had managed to bring those things out without her noticing, but

"Reimu?" Rin said nervously. "What are those?"

"Keystones," Reimu answered.

"Oh. Okay. What's a keystone?"

That was actually a very good question, one that Reimu wasn't too sure of the answer, so she just said, "Magical earthquake thingies."

"Oh. Sounds bad."

"They are," Reimu assured her, not taking her eyes off Tenshi. Right now the aura of energy was too volatile to risk assaulting Tenshi directly, what with there being three keystones. Doing so would risk blowing both of their heads off. And disrupting things from afar was potentially fatal for Tenshi. Admittedly, Reimu wasn't quite sure just how much punishment a Celestial could take before finally keeling over, but she wasn't about to risk murdering the daughter of their king and queen.

"'kay," Rin said. And then, "So, what good is an earthquake? I mean, seeing how we're flying and-"

All three keystones dropped like the rocks they were carved out of and thumped into the soft ground. There was a sound like a giant's heartbeat, and Reimu's teeth rattled. She could literally feel the tremendous energy being emptied into the ground.

A moment later, the valley collapsed.

…

Marisa felt uneasy. This was odd, given the circumstances. She was fighting a giant plant spider thingamajig side-by-side with an oversize robot piloted by her friend and powered by her mentor. At that moment, she shouldn't be feeling anything but "BURN BABY BURN, ZE!" But even so, the longer the battle went on, the less her heart was in it. And she was starting to understand why.

The last time Marisa had fought Yuuka, it had been hands-down the greatest experience of her life. Defying ever her own bloated expectations, Yuuka had turned out to be a monster of ridiculous caliber: malicious, highly aggressive, overpowered to an insane degree, and so infuriatingly smug that she practically begged to have her smirking face blasted away. As such, any misgivings Marisa might have felt about trying to end Yuuka's miserable life had quickly crumbled away. Granted, all the enhancement potions she had drank might also have had a part to play, but even after they had worn off, she hadn't regretted blowing Yuuka to bits, and would gladly do it again if provided the opportunity.

But this fight was different. While the Strutter was certainly imbued with Yuuka's power and directed by her will, the fact remained that it wasn't Yuuka. It was simply a pawn, a puppet, much as Marisa had once been on Yukari's behalf. Only the Strutter wasn't participating of its free will. Yuuka had, for all intents and purposes, conscripted it for kicks, and was now forcing it to fight to the death for her amusement.

Okay, granted, Mima might have done that exact same thing before Yuuka had. And okay, the Strutter was just a machine, with no free will or sentience to speak of. And maybe Marisa was no one to throw stones when it came to taking other people's weapons and using them for her own purposes. But still…

Maybe it was the knowledge that she wasn't actually fighting Yuuka. Sure, the Strutter was an extension of the nutcase's will, but it wasn't actually her. Marisa knew that she herself was no saint and frankly didn't want to be one, but she at least handled her problems in person. If she felt like killing ants or something, she didn't fry them with a magnifying glass, she shrunk herself down and kicked their asses personally! Well, okay, so maybe she had never actually done that, but now that she thought of it, it did sound like an awesome idea.

"Hey, Marisa!" came Sanae's booming voice.

Marisa's head jerked up. "Uh, yo?"

"You wanna wake up and give me a hand here?"

Right, right, now wasn't the time for questions of morality. She had to save it for another time, by which time it would have been forgotten entirely.

At the moment, Sanae had the upper hand. Which was to say that she was holding tight to the Strutter's foremost legs and was shoving its head into the ground with the Hisoutensoku's foot. Twin beams of intense heat were shooting out of the Hisoutensoku's eyes to burn away large chunks of the garden on the Strutter's back. Unfortunately, surprising Marisa not the slightest, any damage was only temporary.

"Hurting it doesn't do shit, ze!" Marisa called to the Hisoutensoku. "You gotta go for the kill, not the wound!"

"Yes, I'm getting that!" Sanae snapped, cutting off the optical blasts. "Which is why I'm holding it down so you can drop one of your big explosion things! Come on, some teamwork please?"

"Right, okay." Marisa fished around her apron for something that would do the trick. That was another difference between her last encounter with Yuuka and now. Back then, she had gone into battle armed to the teeth. Now, all she had was what she usually had on her. Which was actually quite a lot, come to think of it.

Her fingers touched plastic, and she pulled out a tiny blue capsule. She frowned at it. "The hell was this thing again?" she wondered out loud. Then she shrugged and dropped it.

For a few seconds, it looked like nothing had happened, leaving Marisa to wonder if she had just tried to bomb the Strutter with a vitamin pill. And then she noticed the tiny blue cloud starting to form around the area of impact, jogging her memory.

Oh yeah. That's what it did.

"What are you waiting for?" Sanae snarled, giving the Strutter's head another kick. "I can't hold this thing forever!"

"…eighteen…nineteen…twenty," Marisa counted as she watched the cloud grow. "Okay, that's big enough. Hey, Mossy?"

"WHAT!"

"You see that pretty blue cloud right there?" Marisa said, pointing.

"What about it?"

"You wanna set that area on fire for me?"

If it were possible for the Hisoutensoku to give her an odd look, Marisa had no doubt that it would be giving her one now. But Sanae obeyed, turning her heat beams back on.

Moments later, the Hisoutensoku was almost tripping over its oversized feet in hasty retreat as a blazing blue inferno erupted on the Strutter's back. "Hey, warn me next time!"

Laughing, Marisa said, "It was one of my tricks! What'd you think was gonna happen?" She had to admit, she was starting to feel a little better. Internal turmoil or no, blowing stuff up was good for the soul.

"How can I tell with you? How can anyone tell with you?" Sanae gave the writhing Strutter a kick of pure frustration. "And what the hell was that anyway?"

"Flammable gas," Marisa answered. "Duh."

"You carry around things that can make flammable gas?"

"I like fire," Marisa said simply.

The Hisoutensoku gave her another one of those not-quite-an-odd-look-but-might-as-well-be things. Then Marisa heard Sanae sigh loudly over the loudspeaker before attacking the burning Strutter with glowing fists.

And then Marisa frowned. Maybe it was the fact that explosions were now on her mind that brought it to her notice, but there was a tingle on the back of her neck that could not be ignored, the kind that sometimes went off when things blew up without her direct involvement. She turned her broom around, searching for the source. It didn't take long.

Not too far from the valley's border the earth was upheaving itself. Dirt-covered pillars of stone erupted skyward as the ground fell to pieces. And flitting in and out of the chaos where two figures that Marisa knew well.

Marisa wasn't exactly the most logical thinker, but that didn't mean she was an idiot. And now the pieces were coming together in her head, forming a conclusion that she didn't like one bit. All this time, they had been operating under the assumption that Yuuka was here just to stir things up for her own amusement. To force them to put on a show for her. To present them with a deadly opponent and make them believe that all she wanted was an arena match.

But while doing so was certainly in line with the sort of person she was, they had forgotten completely about Yuuka's other personality traits, such as her sense of honor. As twisted as her heart was, Yuuka was a woman of her word. She kept her promises, and expected others to do the same.

And in all the chaos that they had been dealing with, with Yuuka's clashes with Yukari and the ever-present threat of the Shadow Youkai's reemergence, they had forgotten something very important. Yuuka had allied herself with Cirno's gang, taking them under her protection and vowing to support their bounty.

Of course, once that announcement had gone out, everyone had assumed that her support would consist of what she had claimed it would: additional money for the victor and messy deaths for anyone who would try to impede it. But accepting her words at face value failed to take into account the kind of person she was. She wasn't just going to make sure that no one tried to stop the bounty from happening, she was going to ensure that someone claimed the prize.

It wasn't about them. It had never been about them. It was about Rin, and the people who hunted her. As far as Yuuka was concerned, Marisa, Sanae, Reimu, and Mima were just obstacles.

"Mossy!" she screamed over her shoulder. "We've got a problem!"

The Hisoutensoku paused in its endeavors to pound the Strutter into scrap metal. "Uh, what?" Sanae said. "Another one?"

"Remember what Mima said earlier?" Marisa pressed. "About how Yuuka likes to use distractions and sneaky surprise attacks?" She pointed. "Well, who's to say the Strutter isn't just a trick to keep us from seeing that!"

"The Strutter? A distraction?"Sanae shot back. "That's just insulting!" But she looked. She saw. She understood. And within moments, the Hisoutensoku had abandoned the downed Strutter to go stomping toward where Rin and Reimu were doing battle.

And then Marisa realized her mistake. "No, wait!" she screamed. "Don't turn your back on-"

Too late. Despite its damaged state, the Strutter still managed to lurch back onto its bent legs and hurl itself at the Hisoutensoku's back. Several tons of metal and burning foliage slammed into the giant robot and knocked it down.

Cursing Sanae for being so foolish and herself for forgetting how quickly Yuuka's pets recovered, Marisa swooped toward the Strutter, all the while charging up a force spell. Hopefully, it would be enough to get the Strutter's attention before it started tearing into the Hisoutensoku.

She needn't have bothered. The Strutter wasn't pressing its advantage. In fact, now that it had forced the Hisoutensoku down, it seemed to forget about the enormous metal humanoid and turned its attention on Marisa, who cried out in surprise and yanked her broom sharply to the side to avoid being perforated by a barrage of thorns that came spewing out of the Strutter's back.

Moments later, Marisa was flying at top speed, zigzagging back and forth as the Strutter scurried after her. While zipping through the air mere millimeters away from a very messy death was common territory for Marisa, the sheer ferocity of the Strutter's attack surprised Marisa. Granted, Yuuka hadn't held back either, but there had been an almost playful quality to her actions, as if unrestrained violence was simply how the game was played. And okay, Marisa held a lot of empathy for that viewpoint, but that just meant that as a connoisseur of violence, she was able to tell the difference between Yuuka's attempts to kill her and the Strutter's. Yuuka had been having fun. The Strutter just wanted her dead, to the point that it was willing to ignore the Hisoutensoku in order to carry out the deed.

"You know," Marisa marveled out loud as she avoided yet another whiplike vine, "I think that thing has it in for me, ze."

…

"Why are we hiding?" Rin demanded.

"Quiet," Reimu hissed. She strained her ears, trying to hear for any signs of Tenshi's approach.

Thanks to Tenshi's keystones, the earth had more-or-less vomited up the underground, turning what was once a relatively flat land into a metropolis of stone and dirt. She and Rin were hovering in the shadow of a tilting pillar, their backs pressed against its side. Somewhere out in the maze she had created, Tenshi was lurking, searching for them. And apparently Rin had a problem with that.

"I can hear her just fine," Rin said. "She's nowhere near us. And you still haven't answered my question. She's not in our league, so why are we hiding from her?"

Reimu scowled. "Because some of us don't have super adapting powers. She gets in one lucky hit, and I end up in itsy bitsy pieces. I kinda want to make sure that doesn't happen, so please humor my poor mortal cautiousness and not do something stupid, all right?"

"Then let me handle it," Rin said. "She may be tough, but I spent most of yesterday fighting a bunch of oni barehanded, you know? I'm pretty sure I can take her."

"Don't remind me," Reimu muttered, her mind going back to the condition Suika had been after the brawl at Eientei. "And I told you, I don't want any killing."

Rin's talons dug into the pillar's side, gouging the stone. "You're still afraid I'm gonna wig out and slaughter everyone, aren't you?" she asked, her voice thick with frustration. "You think I don't know where the line is."

Reimu opted not to remind her of that tornado she had used to devastate the forest near Hakurei Shrine. "Not the time, Rin."

"I'll take that as a 'yes' then," Rin said with a bitter laugh. "Besides, I'm not talking about killing anyone. I was going to try hitting her."

"Hitting her?" Reimu repeated in puzzlement.

"Yeah. If we just knocked her out, would that be okay?"

"I suppose…"

"Good."

Suddenly Rin pushed off from the pillar's side. She let herself fall about ten meters before swooping up and around so that she was facing the pillar. Her aura starting writhing, the black, red, and lavender tendrils twisting around each other with greater intensity. Reimu had a sudden sinking feeling, like she had just made a colossal mistake.

But before she could say anything, Rin shot forward. She hit the pillar and kept right on going, digging through the solid rock like it was water. Reimu was so surprised that she almost let herself fall. She quickly regained control and flew up to see that Rin had dug a perfectly round tunnel right through the pillar, and she had done so in less than a second.

Such was Reimu's shock that the only thought her brain was able to conjure up was, Oh, so that's how she's stayed hidden all this time.

Then the rest of her mind caught up when she saw Rin on the far side of the tunnel, already engaged in battle. Shaking off her stupor, Reimu swooped around the pillar.

It was just as she had feared. Rin, apparently having heard Tenshi moving on the other side of the pillar, had tackled the Celestial head on. For one terrible moment, Reimu was certain that Rin had cut Tenshi in half, digging through her body as easily as she had the pillar.

But no, Tenshi was still alive. Rin had turned that power off just in time. Which wasn't to say what she was now doing wasn't worryingly violent. In a reversal of their previous encounter, Rin was now clinging to Tenshi's elbow, dragging the Celestial behind much as Tenshi had dragged her. Only this time, there was an abundance of pillars and other rock formations with which she could use to play crack-the-whip.

It was then that Reimu realized her mistake. Shadow Youkai or no, Rin had spent the better part of the last two months on the run. She was terrified, angry, and frustrated beyond belief, something that the frequent attacks had done nothing to alleviate. And she had the mind and self-control of a child and the powers of a god. She craved some sort of release, something she could vent her anger on. No doubt the maddened Tenshi provided a very tempting target.

And Reimu had just given her permission.

"So, you wanna stab me again?" she heard Rin demand of her helpless prisoner. There was the fleshy sound of a soft body smacking against hard stone, and Tenshi cried out in pain. "You wanna hurt me, like everyone else does? Is that it, huh? Well, let's see how you like it!"

"Rin, stop!" Reimu screamed as she shot after Rin. "That's enough! You beat her, it's over!"

Rin came to a sudden stop. She whirled around to glare at Reimu with furious eyes, Tenshi dangling lifelessly in her grip. "Over?" she snapped. "This creep jumps me out nowhere, stabs me and hauls me around like a piece of meat, and I'm just supposed to let it go?"

"You've already gotten your revenge! You don't have to keep hurting her!" Reimu pointed to the ruined Celestial, or what was left of her. "I mean, just look at her!"

Rin did so. In addition to the horrific melted stated her body was in, Tenshi now looked wholly broken. Reimu wondered if there was an intact bone left in her body.

Rin stared. To Reimu, she looked completely dumbstruck, as if she were unable to comprehend that the wreck she now held was of her doing. As Reimu watched, the hate left her eyes, to be replaced by horror.

"Oh gods!" she cried, instinctively released Tenshi's arm. The Celestial crumpled onto an outcropping of stone.

"Rin?" Reimu said as she cautiously approached.

"I…I…" Rin turned to stare at Reimu, her eyes wide. "I did that, didn't I?"

Reimu winced. "Well, kinda, yeah."

"I did that. I hurt her. I wanted to hurt her, so I did. And there wasn't anything she could do to…" Rin brought her trembling hands up to clutch her forehead.

For a moment, no one spoke. And then Rin slowly lowered her hands.

"Reimu?" she said in a slow voice.

"Yes?" Reimu said.

"I think…I think I might need help."

Reimu almost burst out laughing. There was nothing at all funny about the situation, but the sheer redundancy of Rin's statement nearly made her laugh anyway.

"Yeah, you do," she said. "Don't worry, that's what we're here for. So let's just finish up with this mess and-"

Tenshi sat up.

And then, before Reimu could shout a warning, the Celestial had lifted her sword and plunged it through Rin's back and out through her stomach.

…

Rin was no stranger to pain. She had been stabbed, smashed, impaled, burned, blown apart, electrocuted, had her mind ripped apart from the inside, poisoned, crushed, and been punched in the nose by Rumia. And as much as the thought bugged her, she was starting to grow used to it. She didn't enjoy it of course, but it didn't affect her as it once had. Maybe it was her stolen regenerative capabilities, maybe it was the fact that most pain was only fresh for a few seconds before her body adapted and it no longer hurt, but whatever the reason, being skewered on that Celestial's sword shouldn't have done much more than slow her down.

However, there was something wrong. Whatever the sword was made out of, it had that same burning quality as that bladed chain she had been unable to absorb. It hurt. It burned. And it kept on burning.

"AAAHHHHH!" Rin screamed as she doubled over. She clutched at the flaming tip extruding from her stomach, only to sear her hands in the process. Why wasn't the pain dulling? By now she should be absorbing the sword into her body, making it a part of her. Why wasn't it working?

And suddenly, the pain vanished. Gasping, Rin looked numbly down at herself. Had her power finally kicked in?

No, the sword wasn't being absorbed. It was simply gone.

Then there was the sound of an impact. Rin looked over her shoulder to see the Celestial with her back against the wall and sliding limply to the ground. Reimu hovered over her, massaging her foot and wincing. The Celestial's sword was in her hand.

"Maybe you have a point about this idiot," Reimu said flatly. She jammed the sword into the pillar's side. It stuck. "You okay?"

Rin considered saying something down the lines of "I told you so" but, as tempting as it might be, this was not the time. There were other pressing matters. "I couldn't adapt," she said.

Reimu frowned. "You mean like before?"

"Yeah," Rin said, nodding. "It felt just like before. There's…something in her weapons, something that my body, I don't know, rejects." She rubbed the closing wound in her stomach and winced. "And it burns like you wouldn't believe."

"Maybe something's gone wrong with your powers?" Reimu suggested, looking concerned.

Rin considered this, but shook her head. "I don't think so. I was able to absorb those cables they skewered me with without a problem. I think it has something to do with her."

They looked at the downed Celestial, who, despite everything she had taken, was still moving, albeit weakly.

"What's she made out of?" Reimu wondered. "Solid iron?"

"No idea. Maybe I should try to absorb her and find out."

Reimu rolled her eyes, but when she realized that the suggestion wasn't dark humor on Rin's part she fixated the Kirin with a cold stare. "Yeah, how about no?"

Rin had been expecting this. "Reimu, I set her on fire, Phoenix Fire no less, and slammed her around this place like I was using her to pound mochi. And I'm pretty sure I overheard that ghost of yours bragging about hitting her in the face with a high-velocity explosive."

A guilty look passed over Reimu's face.

Sighing, Rin continued. "Look, I'm not trying to pick a fight about what tactics are acceptable. If you don't want me killing, fine. I get it. I don't want to kill anyone either. But it's obvious that this person is not going to stay down. We need her out of the way."

Frowning, Reimu cocked her head to one side. "Huh. Hey, if you don't mind me asking, how old are you again?"

The question took Rin by surprise. What difference did her age make? "Uh, I'm not sure. Eighteen, nineteen I guess. Around that."

"And what does that figure into Kirin years?"

"How should I know?" Rin demanded. "I never lived with them, I don't know a thing about them. Why?"

"Nothing," Reimu said with a shrug. "It's just…you're really not sounding like a kid right now."

That made Rin laugh. "A kid? Shrine maiden Hakurei, I'm not sure if I have a species anymore. I don't think concepts like 'kid' or 'adult' meant a whole lot anymore."

And then another voice cut in. Er, she actually has a point, Rumia said.

Rin frowned. "Hold that thought for a moment, 'kay?" she said to Reimu.

…

Deep Within

"Say what again?" Rin asked, turning away from the screen to face Rumia.

Rumia took a deep breath. "Well, look. I've been hanging around you for a while now, and I've seen pretty much all your moods. And I gotta agree with Miss Reimu, you're not really…acting like you right now."

A strange twitch developed in Rin's right fingers. They started tapping rapidly against her thigh in rhythm: pinky to ring to middle to index and back to pinky again, in a smooth, repeating wave. But if she noticed her new tic she made no sign. "Whatever do you mean?" Rin asked, staring Rumia right in the eyes. A stiff smile was on her face, one that never passed her cheeks to reach her eyes.

Rumia swallowed. Rin had been creepy before, but now she was getting scary. "I'm just saying, ever since we got chased out of the Ancient City, sometimes you're, uh, normal, and sometimes you're going pretty crazy, which is perfectly all right, by the way! I mean, I would too! But other times, you get kinda…I dunno, cold."

"Cold?" Rin's smile expanded, her teeth baring. It was hands-down one of the ghastliest things Rumia had ever seen, and there was some serious competition for that title.

"Yeah, I mean, I don't have a problem with it," Rumia said quickly. "Hell, I totally agree with you! We should definitely kill that bitch! But, uh, it's just weird, hearing it from you. I mean, you don't really sound like you. And it's not just what you want to do, it's how you talk and..." Offering a brief prayer to the gods, Rumia continued. "Uh, don't take this the wrong way, but you kinda sound more like me."

Rin's hand stopped twitching.

For a few terrifying moments, Rumia had no idea what Rin was going to do. Was she going to seal up her mouth again as punishment? Banish her back to the world of nightmares?

But to her surprise, Rin started laughing. "Is that so," she said in a passable imitation of Rumia's voice. "Well, what can I say? Maybe I've been hanging out with you too long. Maybe you really are a bad influence."

"Maybe that's it," Rumia said cautiously. "Or maybe-"

"Or what?" Rin said sharply. "What? Or what? What is it, Rumia? What are you about to suggest?"

"Nothing," Rumia said hastily, holding up her hands. "Forget it."

Rin's hands clenched into fists and her eyes squeezed shut as her face twisted into a grimace. "Look, Rumia," she said in a low voice. "I'm hanging on by a thread here. A thread. Even the people trying to help me keep expecting me to turn into the bad guy, and I'd be lying if I said that it wasn't really tempting to do just that. I don't wanna be the monster they think I am, but it's getting really, really difficult."

"Okay, cool," Rumia said. "But-"

"And who's the real monster, anyway!" Rin suddenly shouted, making her jump. "You heard what Reimu said to Mima, right? How that Celestial's parents were really important and she didn't want to risk making them mad, right?" She swung her finger up to the screen. On it, the partially melted Celestial was still squirming.

"You saw what she did to me, right?" Rin demanded.

"Rin, I am literally a part of your body now. My mind is all gunked up in yours. I felt what she did to you."

"Exactly!" Now Rin's voice was rising to a shriek. "You were here, you've been here, you've seen, felt, experienced everything they did to us! I try to hide in the bottom of the sea and they come for us! I bury myself a hundred meters underground and they still come for us! I join up with some of the most powerful people Gensokyo has ever seen, and they still keep coming for us! It just. Doesn't. Stop!"

"Preaching to the choir, Rin. Preaching to the choir."

Rin turn to glare hatefully at the downed Celestial. "I never did anything to her, and she attacked me anyway. Same with those shapeshifters. Same with that Kappa. And don't get me started on the Asakuras. I'm sick of it, Rumia. You remember when you called me a death-seeker? Said I was suicidal? Maybe I was, kinda. But now I'm just angry."

Rumia opened her mouth to respond, but Rin wasn't done ranting yet. "I mean, what's the freaking point? It's like, even if they do find a way to make me normal and let us both go, I'm still gonna have to deal with people trying to kill me every day! It won't matter that I'm not a threat anymore, they'll come after me anyway, I know they will!"

She sank to her knees as angry tears formed along the edges of her eyes. "What's the point?" she muttered. "What's the freaking point?"

Folding her arms, Rumia looked down at her captor/companion and wondered if she was at all moved by Rin's breakdown and found, to her complete lack of surprise, that she was not. Whether this was due to a lack of sympathy or her having long become desensitized to Rin's emotional problems was up for debate. Maybe if Rin had absorbed Daiyousei or Mystia or maybe even Wriggle she might be traveling with someone willing to take on the role of comforter, but she had chosen Rumia, who had never been known for being especially sentimental.

"So, you think you should just say 'Screw it!' and go full bad guy?" Rumia asked. "Is that what you're saying?"

Rin looked up at her. "Do you think I should?" she asked, sounding confused.

Rumia opened her mouth to say something sarcastic, but another thought struck her. Rin was asking her for direction. That in itself wasn't out of the ordinary, but the full implications were finally making themselves realized in her mind. Rin wanted her to tell her what to do. Rin, the sometimes nutty, sometimes annoying, always weird girl that could drive Rumia up a wall like no one else could. Rin, who was (mostly, if her recent cold-blooded mindset was any indication) a spineless wuss who folded with a single punch, except for the time when she snapped and went into raging fury that always ended with her making things even worse.

Rin, who was so powerful that she made Yukari Yakumo declare a state of country-wide emergency. Rin, who was the single most destructive force in a country populated with destructive forces. Rin, who could not be killed, could not be stopped, who could lay waste all of Gensokyo and reduce it to a pile of smoking ashes without becoming so much as winded and was held back by nothing more than a childish mind and a set of morals that were quickly becoming eroded.

And she was asking Rumia what to do. All of that power, and Rumia controlled it. Not perfectly, of course, given how many times Rin had stopped listening to her in favor of doing something stupid. But she was listening to her now.

One word, and Rumia could unleash the Apocalypse with a capital A. Of course, everyone would try to stop them. The whole of Gensokyo would come down on them. And even if Rin were to win, there was the Outside World waiting for them, with an endless array of enemies to come after them. Rumia had only the vaguest idea of what was out there, but of one thing she was certain: Rin would lose. Sooner or later, should she berserk, she was going to lose. And then it would finally be over.

Rumia was sick of it. She was sick of being stuck in a world of nothing with no one but Rin for company. She was sick of the mind-numbingly long periods of boredom that were only broken up by sheer terror and pain. At this point, oblivion was a welcome alternative.

She almost did it. She almost gave the word and told Rin to just cut loose, just to bring an end to the madness. But before she did, she was hit with another realization: she did not want to die. Death might be preferable to her current situation, but it still wasn't an option she was enthusiastic about, especially considering what she and Rin would have to do to achieve it. Rumia was not one of the good guys, she had no illusions about that. She was a youkai through and through, and youkai were not known for their sense of morality. And she had killed before and not lost sleep over it. But even she had a hard time stomaching the idea of kicking off a genocidal rampage.

Besides, as much as she wanted to be free, she also wanted to live. She wanted to see her friends again. She wanted to go home.

"Rumia?" Rin said.

Rumia shivered, as if to shake off what she had been about to do. "Rin, we are now closer than we've ever been to escaping from this nightmare. You wanna just throw it away now because you're pissed off?"

Rin flinched. "But…"

"You've held on this long. You think you can hold on for a few more minutes?"

"Hold on for what?" Rin said, her tone bitter. "What is there left for me?"

Rumia thought about that. "You ever wanna see Reisen again? Because cutting loose and killing everyone is a good way to make that not happen. You know, except for the few seconds before she burns with everyone else."

The name of her adopted parent seemed to ignite something within Rin. Suddenly she was up on her feet again, holding onto Rumia by the throat. She wasn't squeezing hard enough to choke Rumia, but the threat was there.

"Don't speak her name!" Rin cried. "You do not get to speak her name!"

Rumia placed her hands on Rin's shoulders and shoved. Miraculously enough, it worked. "Why not? I'm right, ain't I? Burn Gensokyo down, and she'll burn with it. Is that what you want, Rin? Or are you gonna suck it up and take the chance that Miss Reimu might be telling the truth?"

Rin stumbled back and regained her footing. She glared at Rumia with murderous eyes. Rumia readied herself should Rin go for her throat again. There was no way she would win. After all, in this world, Rin might as well be a goddess. No, scratch that, the Goddess. But even so, Rumia was determined to at least squish her nose if it came to it.

But the attack never came. Rin's face twitched and her hands shook, but she closed her eyes and took in deep, slow breaths. In time, the hate and anger slipped out of her face, back into the bottle they had escaped from.

When she had regained enough control, Rin opened her eyes. She was still angry, Rumia could tell, but she wasn't on the verge of breaking anymore.

"You know, I kind of hate you sometimes," Rin said.

"Really?" Rumia responded, giving her a look. "Aw, that's too bad. And were getting along so well until now."

"Thanks though. That was mean, but it worked." Rin took in one last deep breath, held it in, and slowly let it out. "Okay. Now that that's out of my system, what were we-"

"Uh, excuse me?"

Rin and Rumia turned to see Reimu's enormous face on the screen. The shrine maiden was staring at Rin with impatience.

"You guys done with your staff meeting or whatever?" she demanded. "Because we really need to get back to the others."

"Right, sorry," Rin said hastily. She jogged back toward the screen, Rumia following behind. "Just had a minor morality crisis, but it's…"

Her voice trailed off as her attention was grabbed by something in the screen's corner. The view refocused to show the defeated Celestial, now lying motionless. But what was new was the pulsing aura, white even through the screen's lavender tint, that surrounded her body. Rumia recognized it immediately: a shrine maiden's sealing spell, and a strong one at that.

"What in the world?" Rin wondered out loud.

"What?" Reimu said, sounding offended. "Hey, I'm a shrine maiden, remember? Sealing up supernatural threats is my job!"

"Yeah, but I didn't think they would work on a Celestial! Aren't they kind of too strong for that?"

"Not when they've been beaten unconscious and partially melted," Reimu said. "Now, can we please get moving before someone else shows up?"

Rin and Rumia exchanged a glance. Rumia nodded.

"Yeah, sorry," Rin said, turning back to the screen. "Let's go-"

She stopped and stiffened. "Wait, do you hear…" Then she shoulder slumped. "Oh no, not again."

Rumia wanted to ask her what was wrong, but before she could form the words the world exploded.

Someone else had just shown up.

…

"Nice shot," Mamizou said as Nue lowered her arm. "What'd you say that thingie's called again?"

"Nitori called it a Mama-In-Law," Nue said as she examined the metal gauntlet that now encased her right arm. Steam rose from the round port that sat over the wrist, from which the tiny missile had just been discharged. "Weird name if you ask me."

"Not me," Mamizou said. "I never did tell you how my second marriage ended up, did I? Trust me, that baby be named right."

They looked at the aftermath of Nue's surprise attack. Rin Satuski had been blown clear through the wall of the fissure created by that crazy Celestial, leaving a sizeable hole behind her. As for Reimu Hakurei, she was lying on the side of a slanting pillar, trying to regain her senses.

"Well, that worked out pretty well," Mamizou observed. "What now?"

Nue unstrapped the gauntlet from her arm and tossed it to Mamizou. "Now? Now you go after Rin Satsuki and finish her off. As for me…" She pulled out her pair of specially-made Kappa pistols. "I'll handle the shrine maiden."

…

Thanks to Tenshi Hinanai's keystones, the flat land that had been the Hisoutensoku and the Strutter's battlefield had collapsed in onto itself only to be vomited back up, forming a labyrinth of pillars, spires, slabs, and other jutting rock formations. And given the Hisoutensoku's sheer size and weight, navigating such a metropolis was a lesson in futility. Fortunately, it compensated for such drawbacks by being extremely strong, strong enough to smash down the new obstacles and stomp the rubble into something easier to walk on.

Unfortunately that still left Sanae with the problem of the Strutter, which, despite being more awkwardly shaped, was moving through the hazardous environment quite well. Having eight flexible legs helped, and whatever opening weren't wide enough for it to squeeze its fat body through were quickly expanded, courtesy of the disturbingly tentacle-like vines that writhed on its back.

The new terrain definitely did not favor the Hisoutensoku. However, the Strutter did not seem to notice its advantage. In fact, to Sanae's surprise, it was scuttling away from the Hisoutensoku as fast as its legs would take it.

"Hey!" Sanae shouted, her voice carried to the outside by the loudspeakers. She started to climb after it. "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

"Ain't it obvious?" Marisa's voice grumbled. "It's still after me, ze!"

"It is?" Sanae focused on the area in front of the Strutter's path. Sensing what she wanted to do, her vision magnified, and the Hisoutensoku's targeting system quickly picked up a tiny dot flying away at a very high speed.

"Yeah, it fucking is! I told you this thing has it in for me! Stupid bug, go fight your nemesis! What'd I ever do to you?"

"Well, golly Marisa," Sanae said sarcastically. "You were in the last fight with its master. Is it possible that you might have done something to really, really piss Yuuka Kazami off? Something she might still be mad at you for?"

There was a short pause, and then Marisa said, "Uh, maybe?"

"Yeah, I thought so." Sanae tried to close the distance between her and the Strutter, but the Hisoutensoku just wasn't suited for that kind of travel. "Damn it. Hey, can you swing around and bring it back here?"

"Hell to the no. Grab it yourself!"

"I can't, you idiot!" Sanae yelled in frustration. "It's too far away!"

Marisa's voice exploded over the loudspeakers, loud and angry. "You unbelievable fucknut! Use the fucking harpoons!"

Sanae was about to shout back, but then she realized that Marisa was right. She was being kind of an idiot.

Feeling rather foolish for not thinking of it first, Sanae pointed both of the Hisoutensoku's fists at the Strutter's bloated abdomen and focused on her wrists. At that moment, the Strutter was scurrying up a pile of rubble, leaving its whole back exposed. She recalled the bladed cables that Nitori had fired off to spear Rin Satsuki with, held the image of them shooting out, and gave the command for it to happen again, all the while praying to a goddess that was kind of vaporized at the moment that the cables had not been one-use weapons and if they were, that there were more of them.

Fortunately, either Kanako's miracles did not seem to be impeded by her gaseous state or Nitori just really like harpooning things, because the Hisoutensoku still had more of the cables sheathed inside its wrists. Eight of them, to be precise.

The Strutter lurched when it found its movement impeded. It started forward, straining against the cables. The Hisoutensoku was nearly yanked off its feet, but kept its balance. Grimacing, Sanae held her ground and yanked back. The Strutter was strong to be sure, but the Hisoutensoku was stronger. Slowly but gradually, the Strutter was pulled back off the rock pile.

Then it finally seemed to realize what Sanae was doing and lashed out with its vines, seizing onto its surroundings and tethering it in place. Sanae grunted and strained, but the Strutter wasn't budging. A problem.

Sanae almost called Marisa to start firing, but then she realized that she didn't need to. She had the Strutter right where she wanted it. Of course, it was only a matter of time before it freed itself, which meant that it was now time to do what Mima had demanded and get creative.

One thought, and suddenly all eight cables erupted in blazing green light as power shot through them and into the Strutter, creating a deadly circuit. Sanae had no idea what she was pumping into her opponent, only that she wanted to fill it with whatever would do the most damage. And thanks to Mima's power, the Hisoutensoku was complying.

And it was working. The garden on its back was going from green to brown to black, and small electrical fires were springing to life all along its body. What metal that was still visible crumpled and deformed under the intense heat. The Strutter threw its head back and lead out a strangled, mechanized roar. Even though Sanae knew that it was impossible, it honestly sounded like it was in pain.

And then Sanae realized that she was running out of juice. She didn't know what would happen should she exhaust Mima's power, and she wasn't especially eager to find out.

"Marisa!" she seethed. "Any year now!"

"Yeah, yeah. Keep your shirt on."

There was a flash of white light, and one of the vines holding the Strutter in place was cut in half. More flashes followed, and soon the Strutter no longer had any support. It toppled backward and slid all the way to the bottom of the rock pile.

Panting, Sanae slumped and turned off the juice entirely and retracted the harpoons. "So, is it done?" she gasped. "We won?"

"Hey, remember what I said earlier: it ain't over until it explodes. And Yuuka shrugged off way worse than that last time. You just knocked over, that's all."

"Right, right, okay." Sanae frowned as she studied the thrashing beast. It was acting like most spiders do when flipped over: all legs grasping at the sky while it rocked its body back and forth, though that plan wasn't seeing much in the way of success. Which meant that its underbelly lay vulnerable. She marched over to the Strutter and raised both arms over her head.

"Mossy, look out!"

Marisa's warning came too later. The next thing Sanae knew, thick vines had coiled around both of the Hisoutensoku's wrists. Taken off guard, she instinctively tried to bring them down anyway, but they moved first, yanking back and pulling the Hisoutensoku down.

More vines sprouted into existence. They attached themselves to multiple points in the surrounding terrain. Some pushed, others pulled, and the Strutter was lifted up and over so that its tremendous bulk fell full onto the Hisoutensoku's chest. Of course, it could have landed on its legs, allowing it to hover over the Hisoutensoku without crushing it, but it didn't.

Sanae gasped as she felt its weight press down on her chest. The thing had been playing possum, and she had fallen completely for its trap. More vines lashed out, pinning all of the Hisoutensoku's limbs to the ground.

"Mima?" she said. "Mima!"

There was a short pause, and then Mima's voice said, "Er, ah, it seems that I may have made a slight oversight."

"WHAT!"

"It would seem…it would seem that using my body's essence to animate forty-seven tons of steel and let you play with moderately advanced offensive spells within a Mykr's Siren-rich environment was…less than prudent."

Sanae's jaw dropped. "Are you saying you're out of-"

A massive vine chose that moment to lift high into the air and come slamming down on the Hisoutensoku's face. It hit hard; not hard enough to pierce the armor, but hard enough so that the whole cockpit jerked violently. The green bubble that held Sanae aloft flickered in and out of existence. It wasn't gone for long; it returned in less than a second. But it was still long enough for Sanae's body to pitch along with the cockpit and for her head to slam into the now-vertical cockpit ceiling. The bubble reappeared, and she slumped limply in its grasp.

It should have ended then. The Strutter held its enemy helpless in its grasp. It could had ripped it apart, limb from limb.

Instead, it contented itself to hold the Hisoutensoku immobile while returning its attention to the skies. It didn't take long for it to find the tiny dot of a humanoid zipping frantically back-and-forth, desperately trying to seek a way past the vines that defended the Strutter. Once it held its target in sight, the Strutter renewed it attack, sending its vines skyward again to catch and crush the pesky witch. Marisa immediately shot off, staying just ahead of the Strutter's grasp, all the while screaming, "I KNEW it! You have it in for me, ze!"

…

Strictly speaking, it was impossible to knock Rin out. Her physiology simply didn't allow it. She had no solid organs, no brain, nothing that could be damaged in such a way to induce unconsciousness. She could be dazed, perhaps rendered senseless for a time, but not knocked out.

But whatever it was that had just hit her came closer than anything else had.

When she came to her senses, she was lying at the dead end of a long, dark tunnel, her body awkwardly splayed over a pile of smashed stone. Everything hurt, but the worst of it was her head. It throbbed so hard that it was almost impossible to think.

Which was fine, as far as she was concerned. Thinking sounded exhausting, and she felt tired. So very time. She was content to lay there and do nothing.

But of course, her regenerative abilities would not let her. The pain ebbed away and her head cleared. A pity.

She stirred, moving rock chips off of her. Rumia? she thought.

"Here," Rumia said weakly. "The hell just happened?"

Rin sighed. Something hit us. Again.

"Is that so." Rumia let out a laugh, one that didn't sound exactly sane. "Rin, tell me honestly: is there like a big red bull's-eye painted on you? A Kick Me sign? Has beating you up suddenly become the nation sport and everyone just forgot to tell us?"

Rin laughed as well. What else could she do? Haven't you heard? she responded. The universe hates me, you know? I thought it was obvious.

"Oh, completely," Rumia agreed. "So, what asshole needs to be taught a lesson this time?"

Rin actually didn't care, but she supposed that she might as well find out. She focused on the light of the tunnel's outlet and kept her ears open for any sign of this new attacker.

Thought her night-vision was impeccable, she saw nothing, no sign of movement. However, there was a sound, one almost too faint to be picked up: a tiny scratching, as if an insect were scurrying its way toward her.

Rumia must have heard it too. "The hell is that?" she demanded. "A bug? Are we being attacked by bugs? Is Wriggle after us or something?"

Shush.

Rin stared at where she thought the sound was coming from. Now that she was looking for it, she thought that she could see something moving, but it might have been her imagination. For all she knew, she have finally gone completely mad and was now hallucinating. Not a pleasant thought, but still a possibility.

"Soooo…." Rumia said. "You gonna let loose with the fireworks now? Come on, it doesn't matter if you can't see it. Melt the tunnel, and you're sure to get it anyway."

Rin held up a hand, ready to do just that, but managed to stop herself in time. No, she thought firmly. We're trying to be good guys, remember?

"Sure, sure," Rumia grumbled. "Too bad no one else is."

Rumia…

"Fine, whatever. But I gotta tell you now, being the good guys sucks a big fat one."

Rin was puzzled. A big fat what? sheasked.

"A…never mind. Look, whatever you're gonna do, just do it already. Before that thing reaches us."

'kay, Rin muttered as she straightened. She looked up. Well, okay. She needed some room to move around anyway.

Rin shot up, digging her way through the earth as she always did, only this time she didn't bother to collapse the tunnel behind her. Her new friend would follow, and she would be waiting.

It took less than two seconds to reach surface. To her surprise, the first thing she noticed was a huge glowing blue dome. The blast had thrown her outside of the valley's borders and, as a result, the arena.

Rin hesitated. She could just leave now. Run, as she had been doing. With everyone busy with Yuuka, no one would notice until she was long gone.

The temptation passed quickly. She was through with running. And this might very well be her last chance.

She crouched near the edge of the hole, waiting for her attacker to reveal itself. Unfortunately, the hum of the flowers made it impossible to pick up the minute scratchings.

Rin started to feel uneasy. If she couldn't see the thing or hear it, that meant it could sneak up on her again. Which put her at something of a disadvantage.

Rumia said, "I have a bad feeling about-"

A moment later, Rin was once again nearly a kilometer away from where she had been, trying to fight through the pain and the dazedness.

"We got hit again," she mumbled out loud.

"Yup," Rumia said. "Must've got past us somehow. You know, I really don't like this person."

"Better than the Celestial."

Rin staggered to her feet. What kept hitting her, and where was it coming from? She looked up, and was surprised to see a youkai woman with a very large tail running toward her with her arm point straight out at Rin. Though it was difficult to tell, there seemed to be something metal around her outstretched arm.

Then there was a flash and a whoosh, and Rin suddenly knew she was being shot at again.

That should have been that. The projectile was too fast, faster than the Strutter's rockets even. By rights, Rin should have taken a third hit and resigned herself to a fourth.

But she had the experience and reflexes of Kaguya Houraisan and Fujiwara no Mokou to work with, sharply honed to inhuman levels over a millennium of use. And she had all of the unearthly speed of Rumia's evil half, this "Shadow Youkai." Taken together, Rin was capable of things that would normally be considered impossible, even by Gensokyian standards.

As the projectile sped towards her, she threw herself into her captives' stolen attributes and let them guide her movements. Her body twisted with more grace than a master gymnast and the projectile passed harmlessly under her arm.

The woman with the large tail skidded to a stop, her eyes wide with shock. Clearly, she had not expected to miss.

Nor had she been expecting Rin to thrust her hand forward and blast her with a colorful but still painful blast of rainbow energy. As far as Rin was concerned, the woman should just be thankful that she had used Kaguya's power instead of her other two options.

"Hey, I recognize that tail now," Rumia said. "I think that's a Tanuki."

Rin frowned. Tanuki?

"Yeah. Never met one, so I don't know too much about them, but I do know one thing: they can change their shape, turn into other things."

Is that right? Rin's eyes narrowed.

"Uh-huh. And…" Rumia's voice suddenly cut off.

Rin frowned. Rumia? Is everything-

"Holy crap, she's a shapeshifter!" Rumia blurted suddenly.

Now Rin was confused. Uh, yeah. I thought we'd established-

"No, you idiot! She's a shapeshifter! She can disguise herself as whatever she wants! You can steal people's powers! Do I need to draw you a freaking map?"

Rin got it then. One severe drawback of her morphing ability is that she had very limited control over what form her body took whenever she absorbed someone, limited to regaining her gelatinous state for short periods of time. As such, while she had learned enough to keep from leaving that trail of death everywhere she went, she still had a body that stood out in a crowd. And by now, near everyone knew her face.

Of course, she could always absorb someone else and change her appearance, but while she was now more open to aggressive survival tactics, she had not sunk that far yet. But to be able to change shape and look like anything anytime she wanted? Such an ability would be…invaluable, to say the least. And given how resistant she was to spells, she would be untraceable. There was still the problem of needing to absorb the Tanuki and possibly her partner in order to gain that power, but Rin was more open to the idea of lesser evils these days, especially when people who had gone out of their way to attack and hurt her were concerned.

But there was one other problem with Rumia's idea. I thought I didn't have to hide anymore, Rin thought to her mental passenger.

"We don't know that yet. Wouldn't you rather have some insurance, in case things go rotten? You know, like they always do?"

Maybe, Rin admitted. But still…

"Oh, come on! Look, if it turns out that Miss Reimu's plan is legit, you can just her go with the other two."

Rumia had a point, Rin had to admit. In the long run, a little extra insurance would be smart. And she had absorbed two people already. Another one or two wouldn't damn her any more than her previous actions had.

That didn't change the fact that the very idea turned her stomach.

Rin felt strange, almost as if her mind were rebelling against itself, one part pushing her toward Rumia's ruthless way of thinking and the other recoiling with revulsion at the kind of monster that would cause her to become. It wasn't like when the Dark Voice had been whispering to her, but it was more than a simple moral struggle. This was something else, something that came from…well, deep within. When she had fought the Celestial, slipping into that dangerous mindset had been so easy that she had hardly noticed it happening until Reimu had snapped her out of it. And now that she was under attack again, she was sorely tempted to go all out again. It was almost as if her mind were being pulled into something darker.

Now that was terrifying. It should be the other way around.

But even so, she felt that she was entitled to a little rage at this point. Maybe a few hours of riding along in Rin's mind would change the Tanuki's views on certain things.

Maybe, Rin thought, careful not to let Rumia pick up on the doubts she was having. But worry about that after we've had a little talk with her.

"Agreed. Oh, this should be interesting."

Rin strode toward the Tanuki as the latter tried to recover from the blast she had taken, though she seemed to be having a hard time of it. Princess Kaguya might not have the sheer destructive power of Fujiwara no Mokou or Evil Rumia, but she still had plenty of mojo of her own.

The Tanuki managed to get her feet under her. She started to straighten but froze when she realized that there was someone standing directly in front of her. Slowly she looked up to see Rin standing over her, arms folded, right-hand talons tapping impatiently against her shoulder, and lavender eyes glaring down at her.

For a moment, no one moved. And then the Tanuki started to raise her gauntleted arm, presumably to try to shoot Rin at point-blank range.

"No," Rin said.

The Tanuki swallowed. She nodded and lowered her arm.

"Very good," Rin said. "Now, guess what I want you to do next."

Moving with slow deliberation, the Tanuki unstrapped the gauntlet from her arm and slid it off. She laid it on the ground. Rin glanced at it with disgust and crushed it under her foot.

"All right," Rin said. "Now, let's talk about-"

Suddenly the Tanuki lashed out, thrusting her fist at Rin, probably hoping to catch her with a lucky sucker-punch. Rin's hand came up, and the Tanuki's fist smacked into her palm.

"Stop that," Rin said as she closed her fingers around the fist, holding it in place.

"Let go!" the Tanuki snarled as she tried to pull free. She had a very thick accent, Rin observed, one that she had never heard before. Though given how little contact she had had with the rest of Gensokyo this was to be expected.

"No, I don't think so," Rin said. A single thought, and a wall of fire sprung to life around them. It wasn't close or hot enough to be dangerous, but it was still a wall of fire. They had their own strength.

"Try to escape, attack, or change shape, and this cage gets a whole lot smaller," Rin warned. "Got it?"

The Tanuki nodded.

"Good. So, now that we know where we stand, let's start off with the introductions: my name is Rin Satsuki. Do you know who I am?"

"Yeah," the Tanuki said, her voice hoarse.

"Good. Who are you?"

"Mamizou Futatsuiwa."

"Mamizou Futatsuiwa," Rin repeated. She nodded. "'kay, nice to meet you Mamizou. Why are you and your friend here?"

Mamizou scowled. Her face was already slick with sweat. "She wanted to claim the bounty, I went along to watch her back. Things just rolled outta control."

Rin sighed. That freaking bounty. "And you never thought that maybe you two should forget that stupid bounty when the robots showed up? Or that flower dome went up? Or the earth started collapsing, or when Reimu Hakurei and I beat the crap out of that Celestial?"

"Wanted to," Mamizou grunted. Her hand, the one Rin was holding prisoner, was starting to shake. "She wouldn't let us."

Rin tilted her head to one side. "She?"

"Yeah. Yuuka Kazami." Mamizou spat the name out like a curse. "She contacted us and made damned sure that we wouldn't back out, the creepy bitch."

Hmmm, now that was interesting, if not at all surprising. That Celestial had probably gotten a similar call, which explained why she had never stopped attacking.

"When did this happen?" Rin asked. "When did she contact you?"

Mamizou shrugged and grimaced. "Eh, a little bit before that damned Celestial blew up the ground, I guess."

"So, it was after that dome of flowers went up?"

Mamizou nodded.

Rin hissed as the rage ignited again within her. Still maintaining her hold on the Tanuki's fist, she knelt down so that they were looking at each other eye-to-eye. "And what about when you two came to me when I was impaled and helpless and started shooting me in the head?" she demanded. "Or when you tried to disguise yourselves as Yukari Yakumo to get Reimu Hakurei to abandon me? Did she make you do that too?"

Mamizou's eyes went wide with fear. She didn't say anything, but she didn't need to. Rin had her answer.

"Uh, Rin?" Rumia said. "You're starting to scare me here."

Rin ignored her. "You know, I am just so sick of you people," she said. "I never even met any of you, and the first thing you do when you see me is try to hurt me until I can't take it anymore, all so you can hand me over to the lunatic responsible for this mess." She shook her head. "Gods, what the heck is wrong with you people?"

"Wait!" Mamizou said, trying to yank her hand away. "No! I'm sorry! Don't kill me!"

"Kill you? I'm not going to kill you. I'm not a monster like you. Instead, I think I'll just let you see things from my point of view for a while."

And then the talon holding into Mamizou's fist lost color and became transparent.

...

Hooray, I live!

Anyway, there's a crapton of stuff I need to talk about, some good and some bad, but since this was a double-update I'll wait until the end of the other chapter to go into it.