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.

41. Ashes to Dust

Ashes to Dust

The day following her meeting with Qilin, Yukari's second meeting was scheduled to take place. However, unlike the last time, the other party would not be coming to her. Fortunately, that did not mean she had to leave her house to go meet with them. She didn't even have to leave her bed.

She lay with the curtains drawn and the covers pulled up to her neck, staring at the satin canopy. She would have preferred to have gotten this out of the way the night before, but unfortunately the persons she was to meet with had insisted on a daytime meeting, citing having too many responsibilities to see to while the sun was down.

Sighing, Yukari closed her eyes and concentrated. Given how easily she tired out these days, she supposed that sleep would come to her without help sooner or later, but she wasn't interested in waiting. As such, she found the border between sleep and wakefulness and gave it a nudge.

The physical world melted away, followed by Yukari's weakened body. There was a brief sensation of vertigo, and she found herself standing in a pleasant garden, filled with colorful flowers and bushes cut into the shapes of people and animals. The afternoon sun was shining warmly overhead, and she could hear the sounds of chirping birds and buzzing insects as they went about their business.

Yukari's mouth set in a thin line. Dream or not, she was not overly fond of flowers these days. And the fact that the bush directly in front of her was cut into the form of the Shadow Youkai was not improving her mood.

There was a path of white pebbles at her feet. Moving warily around the bush, Yukari followed the path until it took her to a small, circular clearing, ringed by glowing blue flowers. A round white table sat in the center of the clearing, overshadowed by a pink umbrella. And there, sitting at the table sipping a cup of tea, was Yuuka Kazami.

Yukari was hardly surprised at all.

Sensing her approach, Yuuka turned in her seat. "Yukari!" she said, rising from her seat. "So good to see you! There is something important I must tell you!"

Shaking her head, Yukari said, "I really don't have time for this."

"You can't brush this off, Yukari," Yuuka said. She stepped fully out of the umbrella's shade. Yukari scowled when she saw that her adversary was heavy with child.

Cradling her pregnant stomach, Yuuka said, "Won't you at least take responsibility for your actions?"

Instead of addressing Yuuka's accusations, Yukari instead rolled her eyes skyward. "Is this supposed to be some kind of joke?" she demanded of the air. "Because I don't find it at all humorous."

"A joke?" Yuuka said, taking a waddling step closer. "How could just dismiss something like this as a-"

"STOP!" a new voice cut in. "Stop, stop, stop, stop!"

Yuuka obeyed, stopping in mid-motion, with one foot in front of the other and her mouth open, the remainder of her sentence left unfinished.

A door opened on a nearby tree, out rushed a harried looking woman with long, golden hair and a red gown. From her back sprouted a pair of gossamer wings.

"Gengetsu," Yukari said icily. "Good to see you. I assume this display serves some other purpose than to anger me? Some sort of new greeting service, perhaps? To lighten the mood? Or did you forget that I was coming?"

Distressed, Gensetsu babbled apologies as she rushed toward her guest. "Lady Yakumo, I am so, so, so sorry! I don't know how it happened, but your personal dreamspace was left active. I only just noticed myself and…I assure you, the person responsible will be harshly disciplined!" She snapped her fingers, and Yuuka quite literally popped, vanishing with an explosion of green sparks and a puff of smoke.

Oddly enough, that only annoyed Yukari further, as it made her all the more aware that the real Yuuka couldn't be banished with such ease. "Disciplined?" Yukari repeated, taking care to fill the word with acid. "Well, I am just thrilled to hear that. Pity it had to be necessary to begin with, wouldn't you say?"

Gensetsu ran her fingers through her hair as she frantically tried to think of a way to salvage the situation. "I…I am so sorry. I have no idea how it happened, and I offer you my sincerest-"

Despite her anger toward the dream goddess, Yukari was starting to find her panic amusing, but she was not about to let her know that. "Forget it," she said, brusquely pushing past Gensetsu to head towards the tree trunk door. "I plan to. Deal with it however you see fit, but for now, we have other things to discuss."

"Of…of course!" Gensetsu ran to catch up. "Whatever you say."

It was difficult to precisely define the role Gensetsu and her younger twin Mugetsu played in Gensokyo's affairs. On the surface it seemed simple enough: they were the twin goddesses of the Dream World. Every Gensokyian had a small dreamspace within the Dream World, and whenever they slept, their subconscious minds would connect to their private dreamspaces and, using their thoughts, memories, and feelings as raw material, construct dreams for them to enter.

That in itself was uncomplicated, but the Dream World was not exclusive to Gensokyo. Yukari was aware of at least two other demesnes that Gensetsu and Mugetsu catered to, and even their Dream World was part of a vast whole known as the Dreaming, in which was contained the dreams of all creation. To that end, Gensetsu and Mugetsu were not listed among Gensokyo's Ringleaders, as their roles were not of community leaders but more of hired consultants and suppliers of a needed resource. As such, Yukari was not so much as an authority figure to them as she was a client. A very, very powerful and influential client, one that they could not afford to offend, which Yukari took great pleasure in exploiting.

The door led to a huge, circular room that was half throne room and half amphitheater. The floor was sunken, encircled by a ring of tiered steps that led up to a line of columns, each one made of a different material: gold, silver, diamond, and stardust stood alongside coal, grass, hair, and watermelon. The floor itself was made of water, the surface of which had been hardened enough to walk on but still allowing a view of the strangely shaped sea creatures that swam within. Above the room spun a shimmering galaxy, a perfect replica of the Milky Way, if the Milky Way happened to be pink.

On a plat at the top of the steps at one end of the room were two thrones made of spun sugar. Seated in one throne was another young woman, this one a fair-skinned blonde, though it was impossible to tell under the dark hair dye and white face-paint. And given the extravagant robe she was wearing, Yukari found herself both anticipating and dreading the explanation behind her new choice in fashion.

Seeing Yukari enter, the girl's painted face lit up. "Ah, Lady Yakumo!" she said, rising from her chair. She quickly descended the steps and bowed low. "Welcome! Your magnificent presence brings honor to our humble household."

"Mugetsu," Yukari said with a cordial incline of her head. "Assuming that is you, of course. I had not been made aware that you had added 'geisha' to your résumé."

Mugetsu laughed with delight. "I know, isn't it great?" she said, twirling in place and letting her robe swish around. "I feel so elegant!"

"And well you should." Yukari glanced at Gensetsu, who was just now walking past her, and raised a questioning eyebrow. Gensetsu just sighed and shook her head. "It's a phase she's going through, please ignore it," she said in a low voice.

The two sisters ascended the steps and sat down on their respective thrones. Never the one to be looked down on, Yukari opened a thin, horizontal gap in the air behind her and sat upon it like a swing. It rose into the air, elevating to a height just above the sisters' foreheads.

"Well ladies, let's cut to the chase and keep this short. I recently have had nothing but of problems. Everything from monsters to riots to flagrant insubordination." She crossed her legs and clasped her hands over her knees. "Currently, one of my largest problems goes by the name of Yuuka Kazami, whom we have discussed in the past, as she dwelt within your world for some years before coming to mine."

The sisters winced. Gensetsu said, "Lady Yakumo, while we are nothing but remorseful that this creature entered your land by way of our domain, Yuuka Kazami is not our creation. She came to the Dream World from another part of the Dreaming, and her history before that is mostly unknown to us. Furthermore, her actions now fall outside of our-"

Yukari raised a hand. "No, no, you misunderstand me. I am not here to hand out accusations. I know you don't know where she came from. But I am hoping you can point me in the direction of someone who does."

"But that's part of the problem," Mugetsu said as she wrung her hands. In contrast to her earlier carefree manner, the wannabe geisha was now as worried as her sister. Discussing Yuuka tended to have that effect on people. "After you asked us the last time, we talked to our neighbors in Nighthelm, where she entered our world from, and they pointed us to the Burial Dance, who in turn pointed us to the Featheratopolis, who in turn pointed us to the Sideways Mountain, and so on. After a certain point, the trail just dried up." She shrugged. "I'm sorry, but we can't help you find her origin. No one knows it."

"Is that right?" Yukari said. "Well, while I am grateful for the lengths you two went to in order to retrieve this information for me, it seems that backtracking the trail of someone so notoriously unpredictable as Yuuka through a place so notoriously unpredictable as the Dreaming is a rather inefficient way to gather information."

Gensetsu spread her hands helplessly. "We work with what we have."

"Understandable. You are incapable of drawing me a map yourself, and it would be a tremendous waste of my time to try to pick up where you left off. Fortunately, my reasons for meeting with you have less to do with your own efforts to trace Yuuka's path and more of your connections to someone who can perhaps provide me with the help I need."

"Really?" Gensetsu said in confusion. "Who?"

Yukari smiled. "Isn't obvious by now? Who better to paint an accurate path through the Dreaming than the one who holds it in the palm of his hand?"

Mugetsu stiffened.

"I don't under-" Gensetsu's eyes went wide. "Oh."

"Yes," Yukari said.

"No!" Mugetsu shouted, perhaps a bit louder than she had intended.

"Why not?"

"Because…because…" The two sisters looked at each other, their eyes mutual pleas for the other to provide a satisfactory answer.

"Because ours is a small and relatively unimportant piece of the Dreaming!" Gensetsu said at last. "We can't just go up to him and ask him to do the searching for us!"

"I would never suggest such a thing," Yukari said, her demeanor unruffled by her hostess' distress. "I only ask that you arrange for me to speak with him. You can do that at least."

"But…we can't just…"

"Why not?" Yukari shrugged. "As I understand it, he's recently undergone a bit of a metamorphosis. And all reports indicate that the current incarnation is much more reasonable than the previous one. Even then, he was not averse to negotiating with foreign dignitaries. Surely he would at least hear my request."

Truthfully, Yukari understood her hostesses' fear very well. Unlike Yukari herself, Gensetsu and Mugetsu were not the ultimate authorities of their domain. They ran the local district, yes, but someone else still ran the overall franchise. And while it was true that he was not known for being a bloodthirsty despot, he was also not known for suffering foolishness, and the punishments incurred by those who have upset him were legendary.

But it was also true that the Lord of the Dreaming had undergone a drastic change recently, one that Yukari (or anyone else for that matter) did not fully understand, but if it had made him more amiable, then Yukari really didn't care how it had happened.

"Ladies, I am in a terrible bind right now," Yukari said as she spread her hands. "Yuuka has turned out to be far worse than anyone could have imagined, and she is bound and determined to destroy me and all I've created. Now, I realize that her passage through your realm is not your fault, as Gensokyo shelters a number of beings that have come to us through many realms, and it isn't reasonable to expect anyone to keep track of them. But the fact remains: a most terrible monster, one that had already garnered a reputation for extreme mischief while she was in your domain, entered my world through yours, and is currently wreaking havoc. Once word gets out that you allow such nightmares to invade your clients' territories, it would do severe damage to your reputation, perhaps to an irreparable level. Especially when it is learned that you refused to do everything in your power to assist a high-level client every way you could. You'll lose your contracts, in which case word of my situation will reach the ear of the Dream King anyway. Would you prefer it to do so on your terms, while the situation can still be salvaged?"

That did it. While being residents of the Dreaming meant that Gensetsu and Mugetsu had some uncommon peculiarities, they were still businesswomen. And no businesswoman wants to be the one to appear incompetent in front of the boss.

"I…" Gensetsu bowed her head. "You're right, of course. I'll contact him, and make the necessary arrangements."

"That's all I ask. Thank you." Yukari nodded to each of the sisters in turn. "Well then. Gensetsu. Mugetsu. Thank you for your time. I'm sure you have much work to do, and so do I."

That done, she let her dream body drift away. The throne room faded away, and her consciousness rose to rejoin the world of the waking.

However, instead of the expected soft sheets, blankets, and pillows, Yukari found herself awakening in a rather awkward position: namely, slung over Ran's shoulder and carried, still in her nightgown, down the hallway away from her room and toward the kitchen.

Yukari watched her Shikigami in bemusement. She wondered if she was still dreaming, and if she was, what excuse Gensetsu would have for this one. Curious and still partially asleep, Yukari remained still and allowed Ran to take her all the way to the kitchen. Once they were there, Ran walked over to a large, wooden tub filled with cold water and tossed Yukari right in.

The shock of the cold and indignation yanked Yukari to full wakefulness. She yelped in surprise and sat up, sputtering. "Ah-ah-are you out of your mind?" she demanded.

"Oh, thank the gods, it worked!" was Ran's response. She held a hand over her heart and slumped against the counter with relief.

"What in the name of every Hell that has ever existed are you babbling about?" Yukari said, her voice rising to a near-shriek. She tried to stand. "I should pull out those tails of yours and use them as-"

Before she could fully announce her intent to help Ran's tails find a new life as featherdusters, her foot slipped. Fortunately, Ran was quick to seize her by the arm, preventing her from falling over.

"I'm so sorry, Master," Ran said, her voice urgent. "But I've been trying for nearly half-an-hour to wake you. This was a last resort, I swear!"

Yukari's heart fell as rationality returned. Ran wouldn't do something this disrespectful unless she had very good cause.

"I was in a meeting," she said gruffly, allowing herself to be helped out of the tub. "And I didn't wish to be interrupted. But I take it from the fact that you just threw me into a washbin that one or more of our persistent problems has just wandered into sunlight?"

"Yes, Master," Ran said. She grabbed a towel and started wiping Yukari down. "All of them, to be specific."

Yukari didn't say anything. She just turned her head to look at Ran with resigned eyes. After nearly a minute, she mumbled, "I shouldn't be surprised. All of them, eh? At the same time?"

"Yes," Ran said.

"And the current situation is…"

"Hot."

"Right." Yukari took a deep breath. "Maybe you'd better start at the beginning. Use short sentences."

…

"Get up, shrine maiden."

Reimu felt something prod her side. "G'way," she muttered, wishing Genji would just leave her alone. Or was it Reisen? The voice did sound feminine. "Lemme sleep."

"I said get up. Or would you like me to push you over the edge instead?"

Cranking one eye open, Reimu glowered up at the source of the voice and wondered what exactly Reisen had done with her hair. Or ears, for that matter. And why was she wearing that ridiculous looking arrangement on her back? And come to think of it, what had they been doing the previous night to make Reimu's body ache so much? And did she want to know the answer?

Reisen pointed two weird silver instruments down at her. "Last chance, shrine maiden. These things were made special for your cannibalistic friend, so I have no idea what they'll do to a Human. Don't make me curious."

That wasn't Reisen.

Reimu sat straight up and regretted it when her stiff body screamed in protest. "Ah!" she cried and she doubled over, grabbing at the back of her neck.

"Glad to see you awake," said the not-Reisen. "Now, hands behind your head. I see your fingers so much as touch a piece of paper, and you're going to end up with some very painful holes."

Reimu squinted at the silver instruments. They were obviously weapons of some kind. Still groggy and pain-wracked, Reimu grimaced but forced her hands to lace together behind her head. "The hell are you even doing here, Nue?" she growled. "Have you gone completely insane? Do you even have the slightest clue what's going on?"

Nue licked her lips. Her eyes darted back and forth. "No talking," she said.

Guns, Reimu realized. Nue was pointing guns at her. Reimu's personal experience with guns was very limited, especially ones that small. She didn't approve of their use as a rule, and having two of them pointed at her head didn't do much to improve her opinion. Quite the opposite, actually.

"Get those things out of my face," she said.

"Shut up," Nue snapped.

"Seriously, answer my question already: what the hell are you doing here?"

Nue laughed, a strange hissing sound that raised the hairs on Reimu's neck. "Doesn't matter anymore, does it?"

"I'm thinking it does, yeah. Don't tell me you're just after that stupid bounty. Because that would just be too pathetic for words."

Nue's laughter turned into a low, guttural growl. "I said shut up!"

Something told Reimu that she probably should listen to the probably unstable youkai pointing two guns at her face, but Reimu had lived her whole life being unafraid of guns and she really didn't feel like starting to fear them now. "It is, isn't it?" she continued. "You're here because you want to be the first to take Rin Satsuki down and claim the money!" She eyed the weapons pointed at her face. "And I may not know a whole lot about technology, but I recognize Nitori's work when I see it. Did you team up with her or something?"

"So?" Nue demanded. "We decided to split the bounty. What's wrong with that?"

Now it was Reimu's turn to laugh. "Weren't you paying attention? Didn't you see what happened to Nitori? Don't you see what's happening now? And you're still going after Rin?"

Nue's fingers tightened, and Reimu stopped talking. "It doesn't matter," Nue said, glancing over her shoulder. "It's almost over anyway. Mamizou's gonna take your pet monster out, and this shitfest will be over."

Reimu gaped at her, the shock of disbelief driving away the remaining grogginess. "Wait, are you serious? You think your Tanuki friend is going to take Rin down? Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously!" Nue nearly screamed. "What, you think she can't do it? I gave her the biggest gun we have, specially made to take the freak down! Satsuki doesn't stand a chance!"

"Who are you trying to convince?" Reimu asked. "Me or yourself? And hey, you want to know what happened to the last person who thought they could take Rin down?" She inclined her head toward a jutting platform on another pillar. "She's right over there."

Tenshi Hinanai still lay bound by Reimu's seal. She was breathing, though with great difficulty. The results of her run-in with Rin were plain to see on her ravaged flesh.

"Yeah, Rin did that, and that was with me keeping her from going too far," Reimu said as Nue recoiled in disgust. "Oh, and that's Tenshi Hinanai by the way. You've heard of her, right? Princess of Heaven, daughter of its King and Queen? Kind of a big deal, and she brought along a lot of magic firepower. Look where it got her."

Visibly shaken, Nue forced herself to look away from Tenshi and back to Reimu. "Shut up already."

"And don't think she was the first. You want me to start naming off everyone Rin's roughed up? Hell, you probably read those Tengu articles. You think Mamizou can succeed where Suika Ibuki failed? Or Eirin Yagokoro? Madam Mima? Yukari freaking Yakumo? And oh yeah, Rin really wasn't in a good mood when you guys decided to jump us. What do you think's gonna happen to Mamizou when Rin really gets pissed off and no one's there to stop her?"

There was a small green flash, and Reimu was hit with a small shower of stone chips. This was followed by a yellow flash, a red one, a blue one, and so on as Nue kept discharging her guns at the wall over Reimu's head, showering her with the debris.

"Piss me off again, and I do that to your head!" Nue shouted, redirecting her aim back at Reimu. "So shut up!"

This time, Reimu obeyed. Nue was nervous. Though most of her attention was on her hostage, she kept glancing around and twitching at the slightest sound. Naturally, given the guns pointed at her, this wasn't making Reimu feel any better about the situation. However, she couldn't help but wonder why Nue was so scared to begin with. Granted, this was a dangerous situation, but she didn't look so much like a warrior in a hostile environment as someone with a knife to their back, with full knowledge that the slightest misstep would result in a severed spinal cord.

In a flash of intuition, Reimu finally put the pieces together. Tenshi's madness, Nue's terrified persistence, they all sprung from a common source.

"She's forcing you, isn't she?" Reimu said. "Yuuka Kazami."

Nue stiffened. She opened her mouth to yell. "I told you to-"

"That's why Tenshi wouldn't stop coming, even after Rin almost killed her! That's why you and Mamizou are still going after us! Yuuka won't let you back out!" Reimu started laughing. "Oh my gods, you're all her trump cards!"

Bright red anger burned on Nue's face, but her lips twisted into a ghastly smile. "That's right," she rasped. "She sent us a message right after those clouds showed up. Turns out taking the bounty comes with a contract, one with a strict Termination Clause. Try to back out, and you get terminated."

Reimu shrugged. "Well, hey, that sucks and all, but honestly, what the hell were you expecting to happen?"

The smile disappeared. "I already told you to shut up a dozen times," Nue said, her voice almost a snarl. "I have enough problems without adding a mouthy shrine maiden to the mix. So please, before I pop an artery, just shut that yapping mouth of yours and-WAH!"

While Nue had been ranting, Reimu had been carefully moving one leg so that it hovered right next to Nue's, on level with the youkai's shins. Then, when Nue's rant became more of a rave, she lashed out with her other leg, hitting Nue's knees and sending her tumbling over Reimu's first leg.

Of course, if she had been just a bit savvier about how firearms worked, Reimu might have realized just how stupid that move had been. Nue had been aiming two pistols at her head and was clearly not in a sound mental state. The surprise could have easily caused Nue to perforate her out of reflex. And she nearly did just that, as Nue starting firing wildly, blowing up small chunks of stone.

Reimu moved quickly, grabbing Nue by the wrists and forcing her arms over her head. Nue tried to push back, but though she was stronger, the leverage was against her. And while Reimu didn't know much about guns, she did know a thing or two about self-defense. Her thumbs dug into the sensitive nerves of Nue's wrists until she forced the youkai's fingers to loosen enough for Reimu to snatch up the guns and toss them away.

"No!" Nue cried as she grasped at the tumbling silver pistols, but by then Reimu had already grabbed her by the waist and pulled her away.

"Not happening!" Reimu said as struggled with the frenzied youkai. "Tell Yuuka that she can go boil her-"

Nue managed to free one hand and punched Reimu in the gut. The wind was driven from her lungs and she fell back, gasping. Nue squirmed free and threw herself over the edge, her bizarre wings spreading wide.

Move it! Reimu commanded her. She snatched up a handful of her charms as she forced herself to stand. She had to find and neutralize Nue before she got her guns back.

But then she looked over the edge and realized that Nue wasn't going after her guns. Instead, she had looped up and around, changing her shape as she went. Reimu had just enough time to register the screeching golden eagle heading straight for her before it raked its talons across her face.

…

"Huh. You actually went through with it. Interesting."

Rin felt exhausted. Not physically. Through processes that she did not fully understand, her body never needed fuel, nor did it deplete its energy. But even so, she felt tired, drained. She felt like she had just been in a battle, one other than the physical one taking place, and didn't know if she had won or lost.

With a groan, she sat down on a nearby rock and slumped forward, her head between her hands. She felt like vomiting. She no longer had a stomach nor consumed food, but she still felt nauseous on some level, even if it was just on a metaphorical level.

The Tanuki was gone, sent to a dream world of its own. She made certain that it was separate from the one that Kaguya Houraisan and Fujiwara no Mokou were in. She wasn't sure why. She just felt that mixing their subconscious minds would be a bad idea. Either way, it meant one less voice in her head. The one she had already was making enough noise as it was.

"So, uh, what exactly do you look like now? I mean, do you have a great big stripy tail? If so, you might wanna get rid of that."

A quick glance over her shoulder confirmed that, yes, she had grown a great big stripy tail. Rin wasn't sure what the rest of her body looked like, as there was no reflective surface at hand, but she was sure that it was even more bizarre than her previous forms had been. There were only so many people one could toss into the mix before the combination of different features stopped being fashionable.

She touched the Tanuki's power, gave it a specific command, and the tail withered away. She felt the rest of her body changing as well, reforming itself to the shape she had before, the one made up from Rumia, Kaguya, and Mokou. It was probably best not to advertise what she had just done.

"So," Rumia said, "you wanna go get the other one too? Two shapeshifters for the price of…two. Whatever. Maybe she can do something that the Tanuki can't. You wanna cover your bases, don't you?"

Rin sighed. Hey, Rumia?

"Yo?"

Please stop talking.

Rumia snickered but she obeyed, at least for the time being. Rin sat still for a few moments longer, trying to gather her thoughts. Then she stood up and directed her attention back to the makeshift arena.

The dome of Murky Sirens, or whatever they were called, still glowed menacingly. Even from outside of its immediate influence, Rin could still feel their presence, a kind of uncomfortable humming in her teeth, a buzzing in the back of her eyes.

"You're not planning on going back in that thing, are you?" Rumia asked.

Hey, I told you to stop talking, didn't I?

"Since when were you the boss of me? Answer the question, Gooey."

Oh, don't you start calling me that too, Rin thought, exasperated. And no, I don't think I wanna go back in there.

"But you're not planning on bolting either," Rumia said. There was a distinct lack of a question mark in that statement.

No. I'm thinking of going back to Plan A.

In her mind's eye, she could see Rumia's face twist with confusion. "What, kill the Strutter? Isn't it kinda inside of that mess? Doesn't going after it kinda contradict the whole 'not going back in' idea?"

Oh right. That had been Plan A. No, I mean I'm gonna…

Then she saw something. She stopped talking. And she stared.

After about half-a-minute, Rumia started asking, "Yo, Rin? Going kinda blank on me. You're gonna do what now?"

Oh, what? Rin jerked out of her stupor. Sorry, but…

She pointed to an area just above and to the side of the dome. Have I finally gone completely insane, or is there a flying boat over there?

"I, er, WHAT!"

There was a brief pause, and then Rumia started laughing. "Well, to answer your question, yes and yes. Yes, you are completely, full-on balls-to-the-wall insane, and yes, there is a flying boat over there. What's more, I think I've heard of that boat."

Really? Rin asked as she watched as an honest-to-goodness flying ship made a slow circle around the dome, as if seeking a way inside. From where?

"I think it belongs to Byakuren Hijiri. You know, that Buddhist lady that's been getting real popular? Has a temple near the Human Village and keeps talking about peace and friendship between Humans and everyone who wants to eat them?"

Rin started. She was in fact familiar with that name. Wait, hold up! Didn't Reimu say that this Byakuren person was working with her?

"Yup," Rumia said. Even without looking at her, Rin could tell that she was smiling. "If so, then I'd say we have some reinforcements. Awesome."

Or not, Rin reminded her. They're not much use from the outside. Fortunately for them…

"Huh?" Rumia said. "What?"

Rin grinned, baring her sharp teeth. "I was gonna take care of that problem anyway," she said, speaking out loud. "Let's see Yuuka try to stop me this time."

…

Captain Minamitsu Murasa was well accustomed to encountering things both strange and mysterious. After all, as a disembodied spirit captaining a flying vessel, she was something of a strange mystery herself. As such, upon coming across a huge glowing dome of blue energy where none had been the day before, she was hardly surprised.

That still didn't change the fact that she had no idea what to make of it. But as she wasn't one to charge blindly into potentially dangerous situations, she contented herself with waiting patiently while those more scientifically minded among her crew investigated this strange new puzzle.

In time, her scouts returned. Murasa raised an eyebrow as their leader, a woman of indeterminable age and species wearing a white hooded robe, floated down to the deck. Behind her was the sentient pink cloud that served as the Palaquin's primary source of automation, now in the form of a massive bearded man's face.

"Well?" Murasa said.

Ichirin Kumoi shrugged. "Well, the best we can figure, it's made out of flowers."

Murasa took the pipe out of her mouth. "Flowers?" she repeated. "Flowers?"

"Flowers." Ichirin glanced over the railing. "I'm not sure exactly what kind, but they seem to be emitting a kind of…disruptive energy."

"Explain."

"Again, we don't recognize the species, so we can't say for sure, but there seems to be a kind of…interference coming from the flowers, one that affects nearby magical energies."

Well, that explained why she now felt so itchy. "Are they dangerous?"

"Considering the situation? Probably."

"Of course," Murasa said, nodding. "Any suggestions on how to crack this probably dangerous nut?"

Ichirin wrinkled her nose. She glanced to Unzan, scratched her head, and shrugged. "Got me. I've never seen anything like them before."

"I see," Murasa said. She nodded to a point past Ichirin. "Well, maybe they can help then."

"Huh?" Ichirin blinked in confusion. "Who?"

Murasa pointed. "The person doing that."

Someone was writing them a message, using the sky as parchment and fire as ink. Huge flaming words were appearing in the air before them.

They read: TO THE FLYING BOAT: GET FAR AWAY FROM THE BIG BLUE THING! I'LL TAKE CARE OF IT!

"Wha…wha…wha…" Ichirin stuttered.

"Yeah," Murasa said, puffing her pipe contemplatively. "Not exactly subtle, ain't it?"

She glanced over to Unzan, who was likewise stupefied by the sight. "Well?" she said. "You heard the fire. Get us away from the big blue thing!"

Unzan blinked. He glanced uncertainly at Ichirin, who, after a moment of hesitation, nodded.

As the cloud pressed against the sails and moved the Palaquin away, Ichirin took the moment to sidle up to Murasa and ask, "So we're just going to do what it says, no questions asked?"

Murasa sighed. "Kumoi, if there's one thing I've learned in all my years of sailing the seas and the skies in highly flammable vessels, it's that when giant fiery words tell you to get the hell out of the way, you get the hell out of the way."

"That's…an awfully specific lesson to have learned."

Murasa favored the monk with one of her rare smiles. "Ain't it? Life, what'cha gonna do?" She waited until they had traveled more than a kilometer before saying, "All right, that should be far enough. Now, let's see what our new friend is planning."

…

"I hope you know what you're doing," Rumia said nervously.

Rin didn't, actually. However, she rarely did, and she was still alive, though Rumia would probably have a few choice things to say about that argument.

Still, there was no backing out now. Rin focused on the area above the dome and concentrated. As she did so, she reached into the well she had filled with the power of three different people and drew from the deepest, darkest, coldest part.

When she had been under the flowers' canopy, Rin had been unable to fully exert her full power. Even now, the flowers' combined influence made it difficult. But without their pressing weight smothering her, their power was no longer a match for her own. Or rather, they were no longer a match for Rumia's.

A bitter wind started to blow, rustling the grass and swaying the trees. The air grew cold and dry, as if all moisture were being drained out, taking the heat with it. Overhead, black clouds started to form, blotting out the sun. They swirled in a slow vortex, its apex directly over the dome of blue flowers. Lightning flashed within the clouds, but no thunder boomed in response.

Now it was time for the tricky part. Rin was uncomfortable enough with calling upon the powers of Rumia's darker half, even if she was now deceased. But she now had to carefully wield those powers in such a way that the flowers and the flowers alone would be destroyed, while harming none of the people contained inside. To that end, creating another tornado like the one she had used at Hakurei Shrine was straight out. And enveloping the thing with a huge blast of life-destroying energy was probably not a great idea either.

To that end, she took a more concentrated approach. The silent lightning flashed down, striking at the dome's exterior. Everywhere it hit, the flowers shriveled and died. Knowing that she had to do this before Yuuka could replace them, Rin hit the dome again and again, all the while praying that none of the lightning was accidentally breaking through to strike anyone inside.

Finally, when the entire dome had been reduced to a blackened wreck, Rin turned up the winds, directing them up to the eye of the vortex. It wasn't the irresistible suction of the tornado, but it was still strong enough to rip apart the now severely weakened network of stalks and roots and tear it apart. The dome broke apart, its pieces flying up to be consumed by the clouds.

Finally, when the last of the flowers had disappeared, Rin allowed herself to relax. The winds died down, the temperature rose by a few degrees, and the clouds simply melted away, allowing the sunlight to shine again.

"Well, okay," Rumia said. "That worked. Oh, and congratulations: you are now officially the scariest person I know."

Rin allowed herself a nervous laugh. Though the effort hadn't tired her physically, her nerves were certainly now even more frayed than they had been before. You're the one to talk, she thought. I mean, where do you think I got all that mojo?

"Don't remind me," Rumia muttered. "So, all right then. The flowers are gone, we've got some serious help now, and as far as we know, Yuuka's backup is now all kinds of beaten up. So can we kill that stupid bug already?"

Rin nodded. Yeah, that idea sounded just fine to her.

…

"Augh!" Reimu cried as she threw herself away from the edge. She just managed to keep from losing an eye, but wasn't fast enough to avoid the eagle's talons entirely. Hot lances of pain raked across her face.

Reimu screamed as she clutched at her face. She fumbled around, trying to find a shielding charm, but with the burning agony taking up her attention it was almost impossible to direct her hand to the right place.

Forget the pain, she ordered herself. You've been hurt before. Deal with it. Put it behind you. Nue's going to come at you again, and you don't want to lose to her, do you?

Strengthened by her refusal to die such an embarrassing death, her fingers finally found a shielding charm. Rolling onto her back, Reimu squinted through her good eye, frantically trying to spot the eagle Nue had become before she was attacked again.

A bone-rattling roar told her that she was looking for the wrong animal.

A shadow leapt at her from an overhead ledge. It was fast, so fast, and moved with such deadly grace that it was almost fluid. Reimu thrust the shield charm in front of her, praying that it activated in time.

The next thing she knew, Reimu was shoved onto her back by a crushing weight. For a split-second, she was certain that she was about to have her throat ripped out, but then she saw the glowing shield separating her from Nue's new form.

The relief didn't last long, as Reimu found herself staring into the snarling jaws of a tiger, the pattern of its stripes mimicking the shape of Nue's unusual wings. Reimu hadn't known that Nue's shapeshifting abilities went that far, but she supposed that you learn something new every day, especially when that something is bearing down on you and trying to eat your face.

Nue clawed at the shield, trying to dig her way through to reach the soft Human on the other side. She roared in frustration when this produced no success. Reimu stared up at her in wonder. It wasn't as if she were covered by one of Yukari's dome barriers. Why didn't Nue just jump off and turn into something that could go around the shield, like a snake?

The answer came to her a moment later: much as Tenshi had pursued Rin to near-suicidal levels, Nue was also partially driven mad by desperation. She was terrified of what Yuuka would do to her, and thus wasn't thinking clearly. In fact, Reimu wouldn't be surprised if Yuuka was using some other means to influence the bounty hunters. Those stupid plants of hers seemed to be capable of just about anything.

But if that were the case, then Yuuka had shot herself in the foot. Crazed soldiers were difficult to stop, yes, but they were very easy to outsmart.

Keeping her eyes focused on the tiger, Reimu reestablished her connection to her Ying Yang Orbs. They rose into the air and started spinning around Nue, who was so intent on shredding her way through Reimu's shield that she didn't notice.

"Hey," Reimu said as the Ying Yang Orbs started to glow. "Nue."

Nue paused in her snarling to glare at her through slitted feline eyes.

"Riddle me this: what's black and orange and bruised all over?"

It was almost funny, watching that dangerous, predatory face twist itself in puzzlement. Reimu could almost hear Nue wondering what in the hell she was going on about.

And then Nue looked up and saw the ring of orbs spinning around her. Confusion gave way to fear as she realized just how screwed she was. Letting out a yelp, she leapt off of Reimu, trying frantically to get out of the way.

Tigers are very, very fast. Danmaku is faster.

Letting out a shaky breath, Reimu banished the shield. She stood up and brushed herself off. Then she looked around.

Nue had fallen against the side of a mound of dirt and as now lying in weakly moving heap. She had regained her natural form, which meant that the orange part of Reimu's joke was now inaccurate. But given the color of her dress and hair, the black part still applied. As did the bruises.

Reimu gingerly touched the cuts on her face and winced as the burning flared up. It wasn't deep, but it certainly stung. And, if she didn't have it treated, she might be stuck with a scar. Suddenly she was struck with a wave of empathy for Rin's earlier cold-mindedness. If this was the sort of thing she had been dealing with, then it was astounding that she hadn't completely lost her mind already.

Which still could happen, Reimu reminded herself. The longer this nonsense continued, the more likely that became. She stepped off the ledge and floated down to Nue.

"Hey," she said as she approached. "Ready to give up?"

Nue managed to flip onto her back. She glowered at Reimu, but unlike Tenshi, she didn't look like she was going to fanatically continue the attack. The fight had been taken out of her.

"Go ahead," she said, her voice almost a sob. "Take that freak back to Byakuren. Let her burn down the temple! I just hope she eats you first."

Reimu gaped at her. "Is this what this was all about?" she demanded. "Trying to protect Byakuren from Rin?"

"You know I'm right! I took Eirin Yagokoro's notes! I read that interview with Yukari Yakumo! She's a monster! They locked her up to keep her from hurting people! You think they wouldn't have done that if she wasn't beyond help?"

"Because she was locked up…You idiot!" Reimu yelled. "So was Byakuren! Doesn't that mean that she's a dangerous monster that can't be trusted?"

The look of shock on Nue's face told Reimu that the youkai girl had honestly never even considered this point. Reimu shook her head in disgust. Freaking youkai. She was fine with them for the most part, but sometimes they could be so unbelievably stupid that they could be mistaken for Human.

Either way, Reimu had wasted enough time as it was. A moment later, Nue had joined Tenshi in unconsciousness and lay sealed by one of Reimu's spells.

That done, Reimu tried to recollect her thoughts. By her count, that should be the last of the bounty hunters, at least the ones they knew about. So now she had to find Rin, hopefully before that Tanuki got cut into mincemeat. Then Rin could kill the Strutter, thereby ending this stupid game.

Of course, finding Rin was the chief problem. Reimu had no idea what Nue had hit her with or where she was now. And with the maze the valley had become, it could be a long time before she found-

Wait, something was changing. Reimu looked up at the canopy of clouds. During her fight with Nue, Yuuka's flowers had continued to glow, blanketing the majority of the magic in the area.

But now that glow was starting to fade, though not all at once. It was happening in bits and pieces, almost as if the canopy were formed by a million light bulbs that were randomly blinking out. At the same time, the clouds were disappearing, revealing the thick mass of flowers they concealed.

Stupefied, Reimu could only stand and stare with one eye as Yuuka's arena dome, treated as a significant obstacle by even Mima, simply withered and died. Soon all of the blue glow was gone. Then the dome itself was torn apart and sucked up into the sky, to be consumed by another canopy of clouds, one that was much darker and colder than Yuuka's.

Rin. She had tried attacking the dome directly before, only to be interrupted by Tenshi. Now she was trying again and succeeding. Reimu didn't know if she should be amazed at the power that was being demonstrated, relieved that those damned flowers were finally gone, or terrified by the implications. It didn't take long for her to decide to go with all three.

…

"Murasa," Ichirin said in a small voice. "What's going on?"

Murasa didn't provide an answer, as she didn't have one. She simply watched as the bizarre blue dome was torn apart by a power unlike any she had ever seen.

"Heya, cap'n?" said another voice. Murasa looked down to see that Nazrin had joined them.

"Yeah?"

Looking up at her, Nazrin flipped off a shaking salute. "Permission to crap myself?"

"Denied," Murasa said.

"Uh, what if I already did?"

"Clean it up, then."

Ichirin suddenly grabbed her by the arm. "Murasa," she said, pointing. "Look at that!"

Murasa did just that. Then she closed her eyes, counted to five, and looked again. No, it was still the same.

"So," she said as she took the pipe out of her mouth and tapped it over the side of the Palaquin. "Someone want to tell me why there's a giant plant spider sitting on an even bigger metal guy over there?"

Unsurprisingly, neither Ichirin nor Nazrin had an explanation. However, someone else did, albeit a simple one. Another flaming message appeared in front of the ship's prow, this time accompanied by an arrow pointing to the spider monster. This one read: THE BAD GUY.

Normally Murasa would regard such directions from an anonymous source with suspicion, but in this instance, she had no problem believing what she was told.

"All right, looks like we've got our orders," she said as she stuffed a fresh wad of tobacco into her pipe and lit it. She walked to the helm and grasped the wooden handles. "Nazrin, get changed and get everyone organized and at battle stations. Ichirin, you're with Unzan, like usual. Make sure he doesn't freak out. If that thing isn't dead in the next fifteen minutes, you're all taking a pay cut."

…

"And the shrine maiden picks up the win!" Yuuka said, shaking her head. "Well, this isn't looking good for our team, I'm afraid. Too bad. I kind of liked that girl, I must admit. She had a taste for theatrics, which I've always appreciated." She shrugged. "Ah well, maybe my motivational speech wasn't such a good idea after all. Gets their heart into the game, to be sure, but it does make them a bit too nervous. A pity, really. I have to admit, the home team does seem to be better at performing under pressure. Let's see, with the goddess still down, the Kappa out of the game, the spider a victim of friendly fire, the Celestial both unconscious and melted, and those three fairies disqualified, that leaves the current score being…" She sighed. "Well, seven-to-one, in their favor. How discouraging. Granted, the hunters are technically competing against each other as well, but I had hoped that they might have presented us with a better showing. That just leaves us with the Tanuki and the samurai, and let's be honest, they're not exactly the MVP's here."

"But then, perhaps I'm being too harsh on them," she continued. She tapped her lower lip as she wondered out loud. "The samurai is a useless coward, there is no doubt, but the ring-tail does seem to have a good head on her shoulders and a tough spine. And underdogs make for fantastic protagonists. Who knows? Maybe this will be her day to shine. Wouldn't that be wonderful, if she managed to win the day against such astronomical odds and claim the prize? I really must throw in a nice bonus, if she does. Maybe a free use of the Tulip Room? She'd probably appreciate that."

Yuuka shrugged. "Well, it's something to consider, at least. It would probably be best to check up on her. I don't know if you've been following her, but I'm afraid I am not blessed with the same seats as you. So let's take a quick peek."

She fell silent for several moments, her single eye staring forward. Then she blinked and her face fell. "Well, never mind then!" she said, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "The Tanuki ended up beaten and eaten! Good job girls, so nice to know I could rely on you. And we are at eight-to-one now, with no one but the samurai left. And…" Her shoulders slumped. "Oh joy, it looks like now there is a fully armed airship of all things knocking at my door! Fantastic. I really should just pack it up now and call it a day."

"But that wouldn't be right," she sighed. "I should at least give her a chance. Maybe she'll surprise us, who knows? Unlikely, but…"

Yuuka's voice trailed off as her eye narrowed. "Wait, what is that little sponge doing?" she muttered, this time to herself. "Is she going to try to open a hole for the boat?" Letting out a dismissive snort, she said, "Well, good luck with that. I've seen what she can do, and I for one am not about to allow her to…"

The sky beyond the dome grew dark.

"…uh…"

And then Yuuka was confronted with the possibility that maybe, just maybe, she wasn't the toughest kid in the yard.

Now contrary to popular belief, Yuuka was just as capable of being surprised as anyone else. This was deliberate on her part, as she preferred to live in the moment, to enjoy the here and now to its fullest. Cynicism spoiled that enjoyment, and as a creature known for her unpredictably, she preferred to not try to predict the actions of others, except when making sport of them.

However, it was exceedingly difficult to shock her. Anger, yes. Disgust, yes. But not shock. She had been alive for a long, long time, and had seen both the best and worst people were capable of. She had done the best and worst herself, and had enjoyed both in equal measures. As such, there was very little out there capable of truly stunning her. However, there were exceptions.

When Yukari had forcibly combined their souls and showed Yuuka the other side of the curtain, it had been a shock like none other. And now, as she stood stupefied, watching as her botanical chimera was torn apart from the outside, she was receiving another. Perhaps not on the level of Yukari's, but a powerful one nonetheless.

There was no question as to who was responsible. Satsuki, having disposed of the Tanuki, was once again breaking the rules and going for Yuuka's makeshift arena. What was more, she was doing an admirable job of it as well. If her previous attempt had been an iron-knuckle blow, this was a skewering thrust with a white-hot lance.

This was impossible. Nothing on this plane of existence should have that much power. It exceeded anything Yuuka had encountered since taking her present form. Rin Satsuki, the little troublemaker, was easily stronger than any of the puppets Yukari had brought along to the duel. In fact, Yuuka was willing to bet that Rin was stronger than Yukari herself.

And, as the last of the dome was devoured by the swirling clouds overhead, Yuuka was struck with a very troubling realization: Rin Satsuki was more powerful than even herself. Perhaps not as versatile, to be sure. Yuuka's skills were many and varied, whereas this was one singular talent with but one purpose. But in terms of sheer supernatural muscle, Yuuka had just met her superior.

No, wait. That wasn't right. Not Rin Satsuki. The Shadow Youkai was the true possessor of that power. Rin was just borrowing it. However, that didn't make her any less of a danger. She was the ultimate scavenger, who had come across the ultimate weapon. And all accounts seemed to agree: if she had once held reservations over using it, she was losing them.

Yuuka bit her lower lip as she considered this new development. While she had been enjoying this little diversion, she was now wondering if it had been wise to venture out of her sanctuary. Perhaps, for the first time in a long, long while, she was in over her head. And if the powers this Rin Satsuki possessed came from where Yuuka now suspected they did, perhaps fear was not an inappropriate reaction.

…

"Rin!" Reimu called as she circled around for a third time. "Can you hear me? Rin!"

She was starting to grow frantic. While the defeat of the last (or so she hoped) of the bounty hunters and the removal of the Mykr's Sirens were cause for encouragement, they meant nothing if she lost Rin again. Unfortunately, the mutated Kirin had yet to turn up. Reimu knew that she was around here somewhere. The means of the Sirens' destruction was proof of that. But that only made Reimu all the more desperate to find her, before she descended too far into the Shadow Youkai's habits.

A fresh flare of pain made her stop and clutch at her face until it ebbed into something more tolerable. The cuts across her face were not making things easier. Oh yeah, Byakuren was getting an earful about not keeping track of her groupies.

"Rin!" she called yet again when she was able. "Come on! I know you can hear me, so come on out already!"

"Here!" came Rin's ghastly voice. Reimu looked up and felt a surge of relief. Rin was flying toward her. "Sorry, I got distracted."

"Yeah, I figured! Had my own idiot to deal with. These guys just won't quit, will they?" Then her brow furrowed. "And speaking of which, where's Mamizou anyway? You didn't go monkeyshit again, did you?"

Was that a moment of hesitation on Rin's part? "I beat her up a little, and she bolted. I guess she's smarter than the others were. Anyway, she's gone, probably not planning on coming back."

Reimu felt her stomach clench up. Given the sort of company she kept, she had a good nose for when she was being lied to. And Rin wasn't anywhere near Mima's level. Rin had done something to Mamizou, something she didn't want Reimu to find out about. In Reimu's mind, there were two very bad possibilities about what that might be. She deeply hoped it was the one that didn't leave a corpse. That at least was fixable. Still a problem, but fixable.

"Well, good then," she said, careful to mask her suspicions. "And, uh, thanks for getting rid of the flowers?"

"No problem. And don't worry, I was extra careful not to hurt anyone. See? Like I said, it's all under control." Rin cocked her head to one side. "Hey, wait a minute. What happened to your face?"

Reimu sighed. "Look, my dance partner was kind of rough, and I can't heal like you can, okay?"

"Ouch. You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll get Mima to fix it later," Reimu grumbled. "In the meantime, we still haven't taken care of that Strutter."

"Right, right, that thing." Rin glanced over her shoulder. "And hey, guess what? We got reinforcements!"

Reimu stared. "We got what now?"

Almost as if in answer, a shadow passed over them. Reimu looked up to see a long, vaguely oval shape moving between them and the sun.

"It's Byakuren Hijiri's flying boat thing!" Rin said. She sounded proud of herself. "They were trying to get in, so after I took care of the flowers, I pointed them toward the Strutter!"

Reimu slowly lowered her head to look at Rin. "You did what?" she said, her voice a low monotone.

"Yeah! Now it's the one outnumbered!"

Steady Reimu, the shrine maiden told herself. Yelling at her will only make things worse. Taking great care not to lose what little control over her temper she had left, Reimu said, "Ah, Rin? Just so we're clear, you're strong enough to take out that monster by yourself, right?"

Rin blinked. "Uh, yeah, I think so."

"Right." Reimu took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "So, what. Exactly. Was the point. Of throwing someone who. Probably can't take on the Strutter into the fight. Where they'll probably be hurt. And just get in the way?"

"I…Oh." Rin wilted. "I, uh, guess I didn't think of it like that." She looked up at the Palaquin, which was now accelerating. "Maybe we'd better go stop them?"

Reimu let out a hoarse laugh. "Yeah, like she'd listen!" she said. She swooped around and shoot out in the same direction as the Palaquin. "Here's what we'll do instead: kill that thing before it can kill them!"

…

Nearby in an alcove formed by two rough pillars that had fallen across each other, forgotten by everyone and thankful for the lack of attention, another person was watching. Meira crouched alone, shaking hands gripping the handle of her katana in a death-grip, eyes wide as she watched her enemies desperately try to regroup and fight off the beast made of plants and metal. She had been hiding there ever since the valley had collapsed, too scared to move, too scared to try to escape, too scared to do anything but tremble in place and pray that everyone remained focused on killing each other and left her alone. Even when the strange blue clouds had disappeared, she hadn't dared move, for fear of a trap.

Cowardice is a terrible fate, Human.

Licking her dry lips, she watched as the monster hurled the other robot and the Buddhists' airship aside. Either one of them was a fearful opponent in their own right, but it was tossing them around with such ease. How was anyone to stop it?

There truly is no point to continuing, is there? I know a lack of potential when I see it.

And if the situation was bad enough, Yuuka Kazami's scornful words kept replaying in her head, over and over. Granted, she had been criticized for her tendency of running away from battles when things got too hot before. Tony mocked her for it all the time. But that was Tony. This time, it had come from an authority figure.

Cowardice is a terrible fate, Human; one that you honestly have no chance of escaping.

Meira squeezed her eyes shut and tried to block out the words. but it was impossible to ignore accusations of being a coward when you were hiding in a hole while everyone else, even those you had hoped to gain honor from by defeating, were out and actively risking their lives.

But then, you already knew that, didn't you?

…

"It can't be," Yuuka whispered to herself. She sat with her knees drawn up, her hands clutching at her hand. "One of the Fallen? Here? Shinki, perhaps? Or Sariel? No, wait, no. It can't be them. The Shadow Youkai's been loose before and had nothing to do with them. A third? But which one?"

She nodded to herself as she tried to make sense of this new development. "No, no, no that one. Not that one either. They're both in the Abyss. But what of their weapons? Might this be an avatar? Maybe. But which one? Which one indeed."

Her single eye narrowed. "Too many. Too many to count. Have to narrow the list down somehow. But does that girl know what she carries? Does she understand the power she wields?" She chuckled. "Heh, no wonder Yukari has been so upset. I almost feel sorry for her, having to deal with…"

Then the present caught back up with her. She looked up and checked her connection with the Strutter.

What she saw was not encouraging. In addition to the large metal man still held helpless under the Strutter's bulk and Marisa Kirisame (whom she really should have a little chat with, once the current situation was resolved), there were now several figures rushing to join in. Reimu Hakurei, which was to be expected. The flying ship was new though. Yuuka had heard that that the Buddhist had sent her oversized bathtub to patrol the area, but she hadn't been expecting it to show up at the party. But then, there were a lot of things she hadn't expected. And speaking of which…

Yuuka focused on the glowing figure flying at Reimu's side. Now, that was one individual whom she had fully expected. After all, Rin Satsuki was practically this party's guest of honor.

But given the wholly unexpected things Yuuka had just found out about her, Yuuka was now certain of one thing: she didn't want Rin Satsuki anywhere near her.

"No," she growled, her voice low and guttural. For the briefest of moments, she lost herself in the connection between her and the Strutter, forgetting that they were two separate beings. "No, get away!"

…

"Now?" Reimu demanded. "Are we in range now?"

Rin eyed the Strutter. "Close enough." Dark power swirled around her hands. "Just try to keep everyone out of my way, and we should be-"

Whatever strange stupor had been holding the Strutter immobile vanished. It suddenly reared up, its massive body turning towards the approaching figures.

"Careful!" Reimu cried, swooping away so as to provide a more difficult target. "It's gonna-"

It did. There was a sharp whining noise, and a flash of brilliant green light. Reimu's eyes shut involuntarily as spots consumed her vision.

When she opened them again, Rin was gone.

…

A split-second warning that the spider was going to attack was all Murasa had, but that was all she needed. She spun the helm hard and fast, swinging the Palaquin to the port, hopefully safely out of the way.

A tremendous blast of some kind of green energy passed by, so intense that the ectoplasm that formed Murasa's body tingled. A clean miss.

At her side, Ichirin was clutching to the rail. The monk's face was pale, but she didn't look like her nerve was about to fail. "I don't think it was aiming for us!" she yelled unnecessarily loud.

"Not us? Then who?" Murasa demanded.

Ichirin shrugged.

"Did it get them?"

Another shrug, though this one was accompanied by a, "I think so! It's hard to tell."

Murasa wondered who exactly was so threatening that it would cause the spider to favor attacking them instead of the obviously hostile ship charging directly toward it. She decided to make it regret that mistake. "All right, all starboard guns get ready!" she called as she brought the Palaquin around in a wide arc, looking for a clear shot through all that rubble.

She found it. "Fire!"

The starboard cannons belched light and energy, and a hailstorm of purple spheres shot out to pound the spider's hideously overgrown body.

Of course, though she had managed to obtain permission to arm the Palaquin after weeks and weeks of cajoling, Byakuren had never allowed any ammunition beyond danmaku. And like all danmaku, the ones they were firing now operated under spellcard rules. Yes, they were blasts of magical energy. And yes, they were shooting out at high velocities. But they were not dangerous, strictly speaking. Certainly, they were capable of temporarily disintegrating fairies and low-level youkai, but most things were. And even if they were to score multiple direct hits against a mortal being such as a Human, their target would emerge with nothing worse than a few bruises, a stung pride, and perhaps a need for a seamstress.

However, as spellcard rules were intended to protect the lives of mortals, this protection did not extend to inanimate objects or lower lifeforms, such as plants and hunks of metal. Against those, Murasa's "cannonballs" operated as any spherical projectile fired at high velocity would.

Tree, flower, and mold exploded under the Palaquin's onslaught. The metal beneath crumpled and folded.

And still the spider did not defend itself. It continued to sit on its entangled prisoner, its single eye searching the sky. But for what? Its original target, the one it had ignored the Palaquin in favor of?

Murasa's mouth tightened around her pipe's stem. Contrary to what her crew might think, she was not unemotional. She had just learned the value of self-control. Byakuren had taught her that much, as had spending several years as a malevolent ship-sinking terror. But there were still a few things that really pissed her off, that made that control slip. Not being taken seriously was quite high on the list.

She spun the helm back the other way, looping the Palaquin around. Fine. If this strange walking jungle didn't want to pay attention to her, then she would just have to show it the error of its ways.

"Port cannons!" she barked, her voice carrying to the whole of the ship. "Prepare to fire!"

…

"Where are you?" Yuuka murmured, swinging the Strutter's eye back and forth. "Come now, a little love tap like that shouldn't have put you down." When simple sight failed to produce results, she tapped into the nearby network of plantlife, the connection of roots that bound the grass to the trees to the flowers to the shrubs and so on.

This time, she got her answer. Rin Satsuki was lying dazed in the grass outside of the crater, not too far from where she had battled the Tanuki. Yuuka frowned. Perhaps she was being too hard on the girl. Dangerous as she and her dark passenger were, she was but a child. Perhaps Yuuka was overreacting here.

Then, with her panic cooling and her rational mind reasserting control, she noticed that her pet was again under attack and taking a great deal of damage. Well now, that had been careless of her. Now she would have to take care of these annoyances before returning to the more pressing business of Rin Satsuki.

…

"RIN!" Reimu screamed as she flew high. Dear gods, why did this keep happening?

"Yo, Reddie!" she heard an exhausted voice call at her. Reimu looked down to see Marisa flying up toward her. Judging by the amount of sweat soaking Marisa's thick outfit and the way her hands were trembling, she had to be close to draining her final reserves of energy. But her cocky grin didn't waver, nor did the determination in eyes.

"What took you so long?" Marisa demanded when she drew level to the agitated shrine maiden. "Strutter's been kicking our asses here! I mean, it's cool that you brought back a warship as an apology, but-"

"Marisa, shut up," Reimu said tersely. "We need to find Rin. Now."

Marisa scowled. "Aw, Baby Jebus Christo, Armpits! Did'ja lose her again?"

"No! I mean, yes, she was the one that just got hit by that giant green flash thing!"

"Oh," Marisa said, blinking. "Well, that sucks. It didn't kill her, did it?"

"If it did, I wouldn't be looking for her!" Reimu barked. "And we need to find her before Yuuka crushes the Palaquin and everyone aboard!"

No sooner did she finish that sentence that a chorus of blasts and bangs rose up, courtesy of the Palaquin's cannons. The Strutter, which seemed to have forgotten how to move after it had blasted Rin out of the sky, just stood there and took it. Which was to say it didn't defend itself, not that it didn't take damage. Which it did.

Marisa looked down at the immobile automaton and then back up at Reimu. "I dunno," she drawled, removing her hat and using it to wipe her glistening forehead. "They look like they're doing okay, ze."

…

"HaHA!" Murasa crowed as the spider shuddered. One of its legs snapped under the assault, causing its body to slump to one side. "Did you notice that, insect? Well, did you?"

"Captain, with all due respect, you are starting to scare me more than that thing is," Ichirin called. She was now sitting with her back wedged into a corner of the deck, hands clutching the rail for dear life. Murasa wondered why. If she fell off she could just fly back on.

"Come on, learn to enjoy yourself!" Murasa called over her shoulder. "When was the last time we got to have a little fun?"

"Do you even know what 'fun' is?" Ichirin shot back. She was starting to look a little green. "I didn't know that word was even in your vocabulary!"

It was true, Murasa wasn't known for her sense of humor. But even the most stiff-spined person in the world had something they enjoyed. And at that moment, Murasa was very much enjoying herself.

"It is now!" she said as she swung the Palaquin around for another go. "Come on, a couple more passes should do it!" Then, without really knowing why, she began to sing.

"I'm Murasa the sailor ghost!

I reigned from deep to coast!

Now I captain the skies!

On a ship that flies!

I'm Murasa the sailor ghost!"

"Okay, stop the boat, I want to get off!" Ichirin cried. "My captain's been possessed by a madwoman! She's a ghost, and she somehow got possessed!"

Murasa just laughed from the exhilaration of it all. By the gods, she had missed this! A pity the spider wasn't putting up more of a fight though. Cathartic as blowing that ugly thing to pieces might be, it still amounted to glorified target practice.

And the Palaquin lurched to one side without Murasa's intent. The helm tore out of her grasp and spun around. "What?" she demanded as she reestablished her grip. "What was…"

Then she saw it. They had not been hit, as she had feared. Instead Unzan, loyal, mighty, not-especially-bright-and-so-shy-he-couldn't-even-make-eye-contact-with-strangers Unzan, had swooped down from his position behind the sails and shoved the Palaquin off course.

Shocked and infuriated by the sudden mutiny, Murasa snapped, "Unzan! Explain your actions!" She turned to Ichirin. "Ichirin! Explain his actions!"

Another jolt, and then the commanded explanation became unnecessary. The spider had finally taken notice of them. Long, sinuous green vines had extended from its back and were now grasping for the Palaquin. Had Unzan not acted when he had, they would have been caught for certain.

"Never mind, good job!" Murasa said as she hastily spun the helm to coincide with Unzan's pushing. "All cannons! Target the vines and-"

She needn't have bothered. Her crew had taken the initiative and were enthusiastically firing away. But for every vine they destroyed, three more sprung up to replace it. And they were destroying quite a few.

"Ah," Murasa said as a mass of vines thick enough to cast a shadow over the deck descended upon them. "Well. This is a problem."

…

Dying was painful. Dying was unpleasant. But returning to life? Having your scattered atoms slowly gather together in clumps, forming first cells, then molecules, then lumps of tissue, then organ, and then a functional body? That was nearly unbearable, especially to one unused to death and found the entire concept to be personally degrading.

As such, when Kanako Yasaka finally opened her renewed eyes, she was in a rather disagreeable mood.

It didn't take long to piece together what had happened. Those last few moments still burned brightly in her memory. Why the valley was now the wreck it had become, she could only imagine, though she already knew that the answer was going to make her even angrier than she already was.

Shaking her head, she straightened up and reestablished her connection with the local web of energy, looking for any interesting anomalies. Her murderer, the rebellious machine known as the Strutter, was easy to find, and it unfortunately seemed to have upgraded itself in the meantime. It didn't take long to pinpoint Reimu Hakurei and Rin Satsuki as well, though the fact that the latter was outside of the valley's borders and not moving was worrisome. Sanae, however, wasn't showing up. An icy spike of fear plunged through her heart. She wasn't one to jump to assumptions, but it was hard not to. If anything had happened to Sanae…

But then her attention was attracted by another blip, this one nearly as large as the one Rin was making. She had missed it earlier, due to being distracted by other matters, but now that she was actively looking, it was hard to miss. And given the nature of the energies it was emitting, it didn't take long for her to give it a face.

Well now, that both complicated and explained things.

Kanako set her mouth in a straight line. She flew over to the source of the blip. There, a tall woman stood with the support of a cane and talked loudly to the air.

"Nasty piece of flying driftwood! Who invited you anyway? I should march straight to your master's temple and scold her for interfering! We'll see if she still sticks her nose in places it doesn't belong after I've torn it off and used it in pasta sauce!"

Though Kanako had never actually met the woman in question and thus didn't really know her on sight, there was no doubt as to who she was. Fortunately, upon learning that this person was to become heavily involved in the ongoing situation in an antagonistic role, Kanako had made to read up on habits and behavioral patterns. And while they did seem to be terrifyingly erratic, there was a certain pattern that Kanako had spotted, one that she believed she could use to her advantage.

Kanako cleared her throat. "Ah, Yuuka Kazami I presume? A word, if you please?"

Yuuka whirled around, though the sudden motion caused her to wince and clutch at her side, which at least confirmed the news of her recent ailments. But the smile on her face was anything but deterred. "Ah, and the local tribal goddess graces me with her presence!" she exclaimed. "Excellent! It is not every day I get to converse with divinity. And my congratulations on your speedy recovery! In fact, insofar as divine resurrections are concerned, I do believe you've broken the previous record by two days and a number of hours!"

Actually, the real record was much, much shorter, but Kanako figured Yuuka was just trying to get under her skin. Well, further. Making sure the pleasant smile on her face never wavered, Kanako bowed her head cordially and said, "Lady Kazami, I bid you greetings. I assume the recent series of events are of your doing?"

"Ah, well, not all of course," Yuuka said. The pain seemed to pass, allowing herself to straighten to her full height. "But I may have influenced things here and there."

"I see," Kanako said, nodding gravely. "You do understand that I must ask you to cease your actions and leave immediately, of course."

This was the dangerous part. If Yuuka took offense and attacked, then Kanako risked a second demise. As strong as she was, she was not eager for a straight-up battle, even when within her place of power. But she had a feeling that Yuuka's reaction was not going to be hostile.

She was right. "Leave?" Yuuka said. She sounded amused. "Why would I do that? My dear deliciously deluded deity, can't you see that the current situation requires my utmost attention? The Strutter is an excellent toy, there is no doubt, but I'm afraid that it is severely lacking when it comes to thinking for itself. And I simply cannot abandon it now!"

"Nevertheless, you must leave," Kanako said, her voice polite but firm. "There are certain things taking place, incredibly important things, that your interference threatens to send into jeopardy."

Yuuka raised an eyebrow. It was then that Kanako saw clearly into the shawl Yuuka was wearing to see that she had but one visible eye, the other being covered by a black patch. Interesting.

"Must?" Yuuka repeated with a click of her tongue. "I 'must' leave? Oh no, I think not. And while your bravery really must be saluted, surely you are not so ignorant that you are unaware of the sort of things that tend to happen to those who try to dictate my comings and goings."

"I insist."

"Oh, do you?" Yuuka lifted her cane off the ground and brought the tip up. It started to glow green. "I'm afraid I must offer a dissenting opinion."

Kanako steadied herself. "Lady Kazami, while I respect your power and influence, you do realize that I am the monarch of this territory, correct? The goddess of the Youkai Mountain and the surrounding area."

Yuuka laughed. "And you believe that alone will grant you power enough to stand against me? Sweet thing, you are just so precious!"

"No, I do not. I simply bring this up to remind you that it is my responsibility to look after this land and its people. And I take my job very seriously." When Yuuka didn't immediately disintegrate her, Kanako pressed on. "In fact, I do believe that you yourself are the ruler of your own territory. The Garden of the Sun, correct? Do you not also do your duty as a responsible sovereign?"

There was a pregnant pause, and then Yuuka lowered her cane. "I do," she said.

"Then I know that you surely do not tolerate trespassers who would seek to threaten your land and its inhabitants. After all, you are responsible for its wellbeing, just as I am responsible for that of this land."

Yuuka said nothing.

"Furthermore," Kanako continued, "your presence here has disrupted a critical phase of a highly significant operation."

"You mean that little rapscallion, Rin Satsuki," Yuuka said.

Kanako nodded. "Yes. The shrine maiden, Reimu Hakurei, has enlisted my help in turning her and reducing her as a threat. And while I harbor many doubts about our future success, I do not deny that the cause is a noble one, and have pledged myself to its service. I know you to be a woman of your word, who values the important of keeping your vows. Would you prevent another from keeping hers? From one monarch to another, I ask that you try to see things from my point of view, and understand why I need you to leave."

There was another long pause, during which Yuuka did not move. She just stared unblinking at Kanako. Kanako stared back, without challenge but also without surrender.

Then, to Kanako's surprise, when Yuuka spoke again, her voice was…sheepish. "I, ah, suppose you have a point there. I really didn't think of it like that," she admitted. She looked out toward the battle, where the Strutter still had the Palaquin in its grasp. "Maybe I did get a little carried away there."

"It happens," Kanako said.

"But even so, I really should have held greater control over myself. This is quite regrettable." Holding her cane to one side, Yuuka crossed the other hand across her stomach and bowed at the waist. "Lady Yasaka, my actions today are, as you have pointed out, most unmannerly. I pray that you accept my apology, and do not allow this debacle to negatively color your opinion of my humble self."

"Accepted," Kanako said with an incline of her head. "I thank you for your understanding."

"But of course. Here."

Yuuka suddenly took Kanako by the hand. The elder goddess stiffened. She tried to pull away, but Yuuka had already released her.

Kanako looked down. She expected some sort of hideous trap, but instead, Yuuka had passed a small but heavy oilskin bag into her palm. The strings were undrawn, and inside she could see the glint of a great many precious stones.

"I brought it along should the need to pay off the bounty arise, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen any time soon. However, it should cover the damages and pay for the restoration efforts," Yuuka said. "And I must say, I am pleased to have met a woman of such upstanding character. A pity that so many of your colleagues do not possess your moral fiber. Had Yukari been of your temperament, our previous encounter might have gone much differently!"

Still mesmerized by the small fortune she held, Kanako had to shake herself back to the situation at hand. "Huh? Oh, well, this is Gensokyo. One can only expect so much."

Yuuka laughed merrily. "Truer words, Kanako Yasaka! Truer words!" She nodded at Kanako. "Farewell, goddess of the Youkai Mountain. My your name be praised and your miracles be celebrated. Oh, and do extend my compliments to your shrine maiden. She is quite the feisty fighter, and rather ingenious at that!"

"Sanae?" Kanako said, startled. "Wait, what do-"

Yuuka was gone.

Kanako shuddered. She was all too aware of how close of a call that had been. Had not Yuuka's personal sense of honor not come into play, Kanako might have once again been reduced to a mist of atoms. Also, just talking to that…thing made her crave a long, hot shower.

She glanced down to the bag of gems in her hand. As tempting as they might be, she probably should get rid of them, or at least have them checked out. Gifts from such creatures often came with hidden surprises, and not the fun kind, unless you happened to be the gift giver. Then it tended to be a blast.

Enough. She could investigate Yuuka's gift later. For now, it was time to end this madness. "Momiji!" she called. She mixed in her power and authority into the name, ensuring that her call would be heard and obeyed regardless of distance and noise levels. "Here! Now!"

As expected from a professional of Momiji's experience, Kanako's Call was answered swiftly. Before a minute had gone by, the silver-haired leader of the Hakurou came rushing toward her, accompanied by four of her warriors.

"My lady!" Momiji exclaimed, visibly overjoyed. In perfect formation, all five wolf Tengu landed with bent knees in front of their goddess. "May your name be praised, and celebrate-"

"Yes, yes, all of the above," Kanako said tersely. "I'm sorry, but time is short, and lives are on the line. Are all your people here?"

"Yes, my lady! We've been held back by that foul barrier, but now nothing shall restrain us now!"

Barrier? What barrier? Clearly, she had missed some important events. "Great! Get your people ready then. Yuuka Kazami just left, so this nonsense should be wrapping up. So we have one hell of a cleanup in front of us."

"Preparations have already started!" Momiji said as she straightened. "In fact, I was just contacted by Captain Kotohime Sonozika of the Gensokyo Peacekeeping Front. She and her people have pledged their assistance."

Kotohime? Kanako wasn't sure how she felt about that. On one hand, the GPF's help would be invaluable. On the other, having them involved would likely lead to Yukari making an actual appearance, this time for real. That couldn't lead to anything good.

Kanako banished that line of thought from her mind. Her foremost duty was toward her home and her people. "Excellent. Let her know that we would appreciate any help they can give us."

"Of course!" Momiji bowed low in reverence, with her men doing the same. "Right away!"

After they had left, Kanako allowed herself the smallest bit of relief. This had not been a good day, but at least things were starting to return to normal.

That was when a far off roar tugged her attention back to the situation at hand. Her jaw dropped when she saw that the Strutter was not only more active, but was now even more violent than ever. It shook the helpless ship in its grasp, waving it back and forth. For one horrible moment, Kanako was afraid that it would crush the Palaquin, but instead it simply hurled it aside. Then its vines came down and dragged the lifeless bulk of the Hisoutensoku out from under it.

With a flash of intuition, Kanako understood what Yuuka had meant about her shrine maiden. She also knew why she had been unable to sense Sanae earlier. She watched in abject terror as the Strutter hoisted the Hisoutensoku into the air, swung it around with far more ease than anything of that mass should be swung around, and hurled it the opposite direction of the Palaquin.

Why was this happening? Yuuka had kept her word and left. Why was the Strutter still fighting?

Then intuition flashed again and Kanako realized her mistake. She had asked Yuuka to leave and Yuuka had graciously complied. Nothing had been said about turning the Strutter off, or removing the plants that now infested it. And without Yuuka to direct its movements, it was now running wild.

Without a second thought, Kanako leapt up and took off, pouring all available energy into her speed, even though she knew that she was much too late.

…

"Full stop!" Murasa yelled at the top of the lungs she no longer possessed. "FULL STOP!"

Unzan strained with all his considerable might, though given the force with which they had been flung, they had gone nearly past the valley's borders before he was able to bring the Palaquin to a halt.

"Damage report!" Murasa barked.

There was the sound of skittering, and Nazrin staggered back and forth up to the main deck. "Uh, we be okay, cap'n," she said, snapping off a dizzy salute. "The mast is looking kinda crooked, and the hull splintered a bit from all that squeezing, but we're not about to fall apart."

"Why didn't it crush us?" Ichirin wondered as she floated to Murasa's side, Unzan following close behind. "It could have snapped us in half. Why didn't it?"

Murasa had been wondering the same thing. However, the only answer she had was, "Question not the actions of berserking beasts. It wastes time that could be spent killing them."

"Wait, we're still going after that thing?" Ichirin gaped. "Why?"

"Because that thing hurt my boat, that's why," Murasa responded. "That just don't fly. So the two of you get back up there and fill our sails."

Nazrin cleared her throat. "Uh, cap'n? Won't that just put the Palaquin in position to get hurt more?"

Murasa focused her gaze on the grey-haired mouse youkai. She said nothing, made no movement other than the constant puffing of her pipe. She just stared.

Nazrin winced. "All right, I'm going, I'm going," she said as she scampered back down the deck. "Sheesh."

…

"Ugh," Sanae moaned. She shook her head, trying to clear away the dancing stars. "What?"

"Glad to have you back with us," said Mima's voice. "Suspending the unconscious body of a teenaged girl inside my head is not how I wish to spend my afternoon."

Sanae jolted back to full wakefulness. "Mima, you're back!"

"Yes. The sudden removal of the Sirens has allowed me to recharge somewhat. I really must thank Rin for that."

Sanae frowned. She opened her mouth to ask another question, but Mima cut her off. "Now, here's the long and short of things: the best I can figure, Yuuka has decided that she's had enough fun for one day, and has gone home."

"She's gone?" Sanae said, hardly able to believe it. "Really?"

"Yes. Unfortunately, she neglected to take her ball with her. The Strutter is still active, and is now acting independently. And it has decided to celebrate its independence by attacking everything in sight."

"Oh."

"Precisely. And I regret to inform you that the Hisoutensoku is not in the best of shape right now. I doubt that it will survive another round. Honestly, at this point the smartest thing would be for me to abandon this tin can and deal with the situation in person."

"But aren't you kind…drained right now?" Sanae asked.

"Yes, considerably. And in interest of being economical with what I have left, not controlling a large metal man is in my best interests."

"Maybe," Sanae admitted. "But before you do that…"

"Yes?"

Sanae took a deep breath. As foolish as it might be, this was still the first and likely only time she would be able to pilot a giant robot. She was not going to have it end in defeat. "Is there any chance you might have enough juice for one more big attack?"

…

Still in her hiding place, Meira gaped as Reimu Hakurei and Rin Satsuki, the two people she wanted most to defeat, charged the berserking beast, for all the good it did them. Satsuki was shot right out of the sky, and Reimu Hakurei, now joined by the witch, found herself under fierce attack. But she didn't retreat. Despite being little more than a girl, she didn't retreat. Didn't she understand that her life was in terrible danger?

Meira looked down at her sword, which had been passed down to her from her father, who had inherited from his mother, and so on and so forth, back through over twelve generations. Her family had once been a highly-regarded samurai clan that had served under the Sonozika family, the same that led the Human Village and the GPF today. But when her ancestor had fled in fear and abandoned his master to be burned alive by a vengeful enemy, the shame had haunted his descendants, all the way down to Meira. She had tried many times to erase the disgrace, convinced that if she could defeat a worthy enough opponent, it would return honor to her family's name. But it would seem that her ancestor's pusillanimous ways were hereditary, and she had ended up fleeing for her life time and time again, just as he had.

Cowardice is a terrible fate.

But here were two girls little more than half her age, refusing to back down despite being heavily outmatched, despite almost certainly doomed to fall within moments. Her partner, Tony, was nothing more than a common thug, but she wouldn't be able to look even him in the eyes if she were to let this continue.

Though her body was still shaking with fear, she drew her blade from its sheath. Yuuka Kazami had been absolutely correct. Cowardice is a terrible fate, one that she no longer wanted to have any part of.

…

"Okay, we have got to get out of here!" Reimu shouted as she dodged yet another whiplike vine. "It is going to kill us. It is seriously going to kill us!"

"Then kill it first!" Marisa shouted back. She was some meters below Reimu, likewise trying to keep from getting hit while returning fire, not an easy task considering the sudden savagery of the Strutter's attacks. "Pull a Fantasy Heaven outta your ass or something!"

"I'm trying, but I can't concentrate long enough to-"

Then she was hit. It wasn't a direct blow, which was fortunate, because she would have broken in half. But it still sent her spinning back to Earth.

"Reimu!" Marisa screamed. She swooped down to her friend's assistance, darting in and out of the Strutter's vines, until she reached Reimu's side.

"Come on Reddie, talk to me!" she said, shaking Reimu's shoulder. "You can't die now!"

"Stop it, I'm not dead," Reimu said, slapping Marisa's hand away. Which was true, though she had hit her head hard enough to make the world spin and, judging by the splitting pain that sent her gasping every time she moved her torso, she had cracked her ribs as well.

A shadow fell over the two of them. Reimu and Marisa looked up to see the cracked crimson Strutter glaring down. As chaotic as its previous swipes had been, Reimu had a feeling that its next attack was gonna be much more direct, and nothing but final.

"Oh, okay," Marisa said, staring. "Death by chia pet. Yeah, that's totally how I wanted to go."

"My ancestors are never going to let me hear the end of this," Reimu agreed. Despite their approaching demise, she felt a certain peace about it, though that might be due to her cracked skull. She glanced over to the witch kneeling next to her. "Marisa, I-"

Marisa patted her on the shoulder. "I know, Reddie. I know."

The Strutter reared up, all of its vines rising like snakes about to strike. Reimu closed her eyes.

Then a hideous squeal of pain assaulted her eardrums. Reimu's eyes snapped back open. The Strutter was lurching back, all of its vines flailing wildly. At first Reimu had not the foggiest clue what was happening. Then she saw the dark silhouette on the Strutter's eye, outlined by red light.

"Hey!" Marisa said, pointing. "Ain't that the lady that tried to cut off your head?"

Reimu's jaw dropped. Marisa was right. The samurai woman that Marisa and Sanae was there. She had managed to wedge her sword into one of the cracks and was trying to tear it fully open.

"Get out of there!" Reimu screamed, raising herself up her elbows. "Do you wanna die?"

Marisa tapped her throat, magically amplifying her voice. "HEY! SWORD LADY! BEAT IT! THAT THING IS GONNA-"

The cracked opened, and a sizeable chunk of the Strutter's eye fell off. Its screamed increased as a torrent of scarlet energy burst out of what was once Rika Asakura's Sigma Evil Eye. It washed over the samurai. Reimu's breath caught in her throat as she watched the woman's body burn. Oh, no. No, no, no.

Then the samurai simply fell to disappear into one of the many crevices. Reimu watched her go. It was then that she realized that she still didn't know the woman's name.

Reimu was no stranger to death. Her father had disappeared under mysterious circumstances before she was born, and her mother had died when she was eight, leaving no one but Genji to raise her. And while the spellcard rules meant that there was a lack of fatalities where there normally would be, she still occasionally came across the corpses of those unlucky enough to cross paths with some of the more rebellious youkai or wild animals. But no one had ever, ever, ever died on her watch before, especially not while saving her life.

Marisa grabbed her shoulder. It was then that Reimu realized that she had unconsciously started to crawl toward where the samurai fell.

"NOT NOW, RE-" Marisa cut herself off. She rolled her eyes, flicked her throat, and said, "Not now Reddie. She's gone, and we've got other things to worry about."

Feeling like she was in a trance, Reimu stared at her. "She's gone because of me."

"When you'd get so self-centered? Could be she didn't even know we're here. Don't turn into one of those people who think everything's their fault."

"But-"

Marisa nodded toward the Strutter, which had now gone completely haywire. It had backed up far enough so that the two of them weren't likely to be accidentally squashed, but the way it was stumbling back and forth, vines jerking with convulsions, meant that the increased distance could easily change.

"Maybe we can save the breakdowns until we're actually done here, ze," Marisa said.

Reimu jaw clenched, but she nodded. Marisa was right. They had to deal with the problem at hand.

The problem was that Reimu wasn't sure if they could. She didn't know if she could stand, much less fly and fight. Every moment sent lances of pain shooting through her side, and it was hard to breathe. And while Marisa wasn't injured, she was nearly spent.

Then things started to look good. "Reimu!" a familiar voice cried. "Marisa! By faith, are you all right?"

Reimu felt her heart rise with hope. She turned to see Kanako flying towards them.

"Snake Eyes!" Marisa called joyfully. "Hey, you're back!"

"So it would seem," Kanako panted as she touched down next to them. "What of you two?"

Marisa shrugged. "I'm okay, but my juju's almost gone, ze. And Reddie here took one hell of a hit."

"Think I broke some ribs," Reimu said, rubbing her side. "There's no way we can fight that thing."

"Well, what about them?" Marisa asked.

Reimu and Kanako looked at her. "Huh?" Reimu said. "Who?" Kanako said at the same time.

Marisa pointed. Reimu looked, and only the pain kept her from cheering out loud. The Palaquin was coming back. It had taken a beating, but was in fairly good shape, all things considered. It approached the Strutter, careful to stay out of range of the thrashing of the vines. And then, when it was in position, it opened fire.

Once again, the mobile jungle was blown to pieces by Murasa's cannons, and this time Yuuka wasn't around to bring it back. They shot off the vines before reducing the remaining flowers and shrubs to mulch. The Strutter's mechanical screams took on a whole new level of urgency. It tried to turn toward the Palaquin, but the glowing cannonballs beat it down.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" roared another amplified voice, this one not belonging to Marisa. The Palaquin must have seen something Reimu could not, because it wasted no time putting distance between itself and the wounded Strutter.

Then the Hisoutensoku came bounding back into the fray, once again accompanied by that silly "Fight the Power" song. Like everything and everyone else, it was in bad shape, likely only being held together by Mima's ironclad will. But that didn't stop it from leaping up and coming down onto the Strutter's back.

It lifted its remaining hand into the sky. White energy surrounded it, forming the shape of a sharp tipped cone. With a sharp whining the cone started spinning. "GIGA! DRILL!" Sanae cried as she drove the cone straight through the Evil Eye Sigma. "BREAAAAAKER!"

At last, that did the trick. There was a puff of scarlet energy, and Evil Eye Sigma was shredded. Now headless, the Strutter's legs collapsed out from under it. It massive body fell to the ground and lay still.

…

Murasa watched silently as the spider died. She had to admit, she was somewhat miffed about that Tin Man rushing in and stealing her kill, but upon reflection she supposed that since it had been in the fight longer, it had a greater claim to the final blow than she did. Besides, she had still managed to give the spider one hell of a thrashing, which was what mattered.

She puffed her pipe twice, took it out of her mouth, and said, "Toot-toot, motherfucker."

…

"I…I did it!" Sanae said, staring. "I did it!"

"Yes, you did. Congratulations. Not an especially pragmatic idea, but it was showy, impressive, and it worked, which is the important thing. Now, I really must suggest that you put the victory celebrations on hold, because quite frankly, this thing is about to fall apart, and I feel no inclination to prevent this."

Without further warning, the link between Sanae and the Hisoutensoku vanished. She reeled in disorientation as the view of the valley was replaced by that of the cockpit. A moment later, the bubble that held her aloft disappeared as well.

"Chop-chop, shrine maiden," Mima said as Sanae stumbled against the wall. The door at the back of the cockpit slid open. "You do not want to still be in here when I vacate the premises. Besides, there's someone outside that wishes to speak to you."

Confused, Sanae was about to ask her what she meant, but then she felt it. It was as if an infected wound had been cleaned and healed, as if she were taking her first breath after being held underwater for so long. It was as if sunshine were shining on her soul, warming it, soothing it, and making it whole again.

"Kanako!" Sanae cried with joy as she ran towards the exit. Sure enough, her goddess was floating just outside. Judging by how she had one had raised over her head, Kanako had been banging on the hatch when it had opened, which spoke volumes of how loopy Sanae was at the moment, seeing how she hadn't heard a thing.

Kanako's eyes widened when her shrine maiden came rushing out the Hisoutensoku's cockpit. "Sanae! You…you…"

Tears streaking down her smudged face, Sanae smiled up at her goddess. "You're back. I knew you'd-"

Suddenly Kanako snatched her up by the shoulders and slammed her back against the Hisoutensoku's head. "What in the hell do you think you were doing?" she practically screamed into Sanae's face. "I told you to stay away from this mess! I gave you a direct order! And now, here you are, stomping around that idiot Kappa's machine, throwing yourself upon that…that monstrosity! You could have been killed! You should have been killed! By rights you should be dead right now, you…you stupid, disobedient fool! You're grounded, for…for…no, that's not enough! I'm going to…" She growled and clutched at her face. "Wait until my rational mind has returned before I think of a punishment. But rest assured, when I do, whatever Yuuka Kazami had thrown at you will seem tame in comparison!"

All through Kanako's ranting, Sanae's happy smile never left her face. When it looked like Kanako was winding down, she said, "I missed you."

Kanako stared at her, her cheeks hot with anger. Suddenly she pulled Sanae close and embraced her.

"Don't you ever, ever scare me like that again," Kanako whispered. "Sweet faith, what were you thinking?"

The two of them were so caught up in their reunion that they failed to notice the Hisoutensoku start to pitch forward. Gravity slowly strengthened its hold until it fell over the Strutter's body to land facefirst in the dirt.

Green mist seeped out of the fallen robot's body and gathered together into a mostly humanoid form, albeit one with a transparent tail. Though given the amount of power she had spent, most of Mima was close to transparent as well. Though she had lost the need for sleep ages ago, she now found herself wishing that she still had that ability. A long nap would serve her well.

Glancing up at Kanako and Sanae, who were still hovering where she had left them and holding each other tightly, Mima rolled her eyes. The sentimental types always annoyed her, with their strong emotional overreactions and-

"Hey. You made it."

Mima turned to see Marisa floating down toward her. Like herself, the girl looked like she was on her last legs, but Mima knew she wasn't going to fall over any time soon.

"So did you," Mima said, looking her former apprentice up and down. "Though from the look of things, it is fortunate things ended when they did, lest you became drained of power entirely."

Marisa scowled. "Hey now, you ain't looking so hot yourself. I mean, I can see right through you!"

"Were you using your essence to animate a fifty meter metal giant and throw around fifth level offensive spells? Were you? No, I think not." Then Mima let out a weary laugh. "Though it occurs to me that perhaps attempting such an ambitious endeavor in a Mykr's Siren rich environment was not at all prudent."

"Couldn't top off the tank, eh? Yeah, neither could I."

"Indeed," Mima said. "Admittedly, this was something I should have foreseen, and…Wait a minute, how do you know what 'top off the tank' even means? Have you even seen an automobile?"

"I read."

"Right, right," Mima said. "Even so, victory or no, that could have gone much better."

Marisa stuck her hands in her pockets. "Tell me about it. Nothing blew up. I though at least one of these things was supposed to blow up." Then her face brightened. "Hey, maybe we can-"

"No," Mima said. "We are not going to expend what little energy we have left just to fulfill your pyromaniac impulses. There will be plenty of explosions in the future."

"Spoilsport," Marisa grumbled, giving a nearby stone a kick. "If I had all my toys, I could probably rig a real pretty bang right now. At least the last time she gave us enough time to prepare. This time, all I had was what I usually carry with me." Her shoulders slumped. "So, I guess I'm gonna get a lecture about always being prepared for anything, huh?"

Mima looked at her surprise. "Good heavens, no. What would be the point of that? Trying to prepare for all possible scenarios is, well, impossible. It's far better to teach yourself to make use of the tools you have at hand and still achieve victory. Preparation is important, but adaptability is far for useful. And I'd say you did quite well in that regard."

Marisa smiled. Far from her usual cocky smirk, this was a genuine smile of gratitude. "Thanks." She held up her fist, and Mima bumped it with her own.

Then, looking up at Kanako and Sanae, Marisa said, "Though be honest with me, ze. Did you really need someone to ride along as pilot?"

"Marisa, are you suggesting that I fabricated that part so as to give the girl her longed for chance to pilot a giant robot and therefore take her mind off of her deceased goddess?" Mima said, sounding both shocked and offended. "Need I remind you that while I may not be playing for Team Evil anymore, and while I do occasionally perform what some might call a 'Good Deed,' I am not and never will be altruistic? I mean, really now."

Laughing, Marisa elbowed her in the side. "Sure, just keep saying that, you big softie."

"Humph." Mima folded her arms. "I thought you knew me better than that."

"Though speaking of altruism and good deeds and all that silly shit," Marisa said, looking around, "you have any idea what happened to Rin?"

…

Deep Within

Rumia lay flat on her back, staring up at the world of nothing that now acted as her home and prison. She had been laying there for some minutes now, ever since Rin had gotten hit with that green flash. It occurred to her that she might want to think about getting up sometime in the future, but for now she just couldn't be bothered. Maybe, if she lay still for long enough, she might be able to sleep. That would be nice. It had been a long time since she had last slept.

Except…

With a weary groan, Rumia sat up. Now was not the time to lie around. They had to get moving.

Rin was easy to find. She was lying on her side, looking as resistant to getting up as Rumia had been. With a sigh, Rumia walked over to her and gently nudged the Kirin's back with her toe.

"Rin?" she said. She pushed harder. "Yo, Satsuki! Let's go."

"Mmmmph," Rin said. "Don't wanna. Go 'way."

"Yeah, screw that." She stopped nudging and progressed up to kicking, though softly. "Get up already. We're not done."

"I am. Every time I get up, someone shoots me back down. So I quit. Yuuka Kazami wins."

Then she yelped when Rumia's foot slammed into her kidney area. "No! You dragged me into this hell, you promised to get me out of this, so you are not going to just give up when we're so close. Get up, or…or…" Rumia wracked her brain for anything she could use as a threat. "Or I'll bite you," she finally decided on.

A moment passed. Then Rin turned around to look at her, a perplexed frown on her face. "Bite me?" she said.

"Yeah." Rumia pulled up her lip, displaying her sharklike teeth. "Right in the throat. See how well you whine after I've done that."

Rin rolled her eyes, but she stood up. "Oh no, anything but that. Please, scary youkai girl, don't hurt me." Her shoulders lifted as she took in a deep, slow breath, held it in, and then let it out. Then she walked back over to the screen and sat down.

Coming up behind her, Rumia cleared her throat and said, "So, the plan is…"

Rin's face twitched, but her voice remained calm. "Well, taking recent events into account, I'm starting to think that headlong attacks have a consistent tendency to drive our opponents to designate me as their primary target and respond accordingly, so I am starting to believe that relying solely upon the overwhelming destructive forces at my disposal is not enough, and for this attempt I should seek a more subtle approach."

Rumia let out a low growl. Now she was doing it on purpose. "Rin, I love that you're taking this seriously, I really do, but knock it out with the big-talk. It doesn't impress. If you're gonna try sneaking up on it, then just say so."

Rin muttered her apologies, and soon they were moving again. Rumia stood with her arms folded, silently watching as Rin reentered the valley. But instead of heading back to where the Strutter was, she hung to the perimeter, slowly moving along the piles of stone. To Rumia, she seemed to be searching for something.

After a few moments of this, Rumia cleared her throat. "So…"

"The Nue. You know, the fake Yukari?" Rin said, not looking at her. "Reimu left her around here somewhere."

Rumia frowned. "What'd'ya want with her?"

"The Tanuki can shapeshift, sure," Rin said by way of explanation, "but the Nue can do more than that. She can hide herself from tracking spells, energy readings, that sort of thing. I don't really know what kind of senses the Strutter has, but better be prepared, you know?"

"How do you know all that?"

"The Tanuki," Rin said, shrugging. She tapped her head. "Memories, remember?"

"Oh yeah." Rumia nodded. "Okay. So, I guess we're over the whole 'feeling bad about eating people we don't like if it can help us' thing?"

A long silence passed between them. Then Rin said, "Well, you know. What's one more, right?"

"Right," Rumia said. "Sure."

Rin resumed her searching. Before too long, she came across the place. There, the Celestial and the Nue were still lying unconscious, bound by Reimu's seals. Rin flew over to where the Nue was being held and hovered over her.

After about twenty seconds had gone by without anything happening, Rumia coughed and said, "Well, are you gonna do this?"

"I guess."

Rumia watched as Rin's arms lost color and shape and covered the Nue's body. The sealing spell starting flashing frantically beneath the layer of goo, but it soon stopped and broke apart. The Nue's body quickly followed suit.

It didn't take long for the Nue's mind to take shape and appear in their midst. She twitched, muttered something incomprehensible, blinked her eyes and looked up.

"Wait a minute," she said, staring at Rin and Rumia. "Where…"

She never got the chance to finish her thought. Rin snapped her fingers, and the Nue's body vanished like smoke.

Rumia shuddered. It wasn't just the creepiness of what she just saw. Everything just felt wrong, like she had swallowed something cold and slimy. She freely admitted that she wasn't exactly a moral person, but as much sense as it made to do so, for Rin to just absorb someone cold like that, without anger or desperation, just because it was convenient…a line had been crossed. There was no other way to describe it.

Then the emptiness that surrounded them seemed to shiver, and everything on the screen grew just a little bit lighter. "Okay, we are off the grid," Rin said as she directed her physical body back toward the battle. "Let's get this…"

Then she stiffened. "Wait," she said, gaping at the screen. She stood to her feet and moved in closer, disbelief all over her face. "Is this for real? Really?"

The Strutter was more-or-less where they had last seen it. However, it had been violently dismantled, with its abdomen crushed and gutted, its legs broken and scattered, and its head reduced to scrap metal. The plants that had animated and powered its rampage were likewise torn apart. The Hisoutensoku lay over its nemesis's remains, in better shape but obviously in bad shape. Overhead, the Palaquin hovered with its anchors holding it in place, almost smug in its status as the last one standing.

Rumia found herself in complete agreement with Rin's reaction. "They already killed it without us?" she said. "That's…that's not fair! We weren't down that long, were we?"

"I wasn't keeping track, I have no idea!" Shaking her head, Rin stepped away from the screen. "So, all of that was for nothing?"

"I…I guess. B-but that's good, right?" Rumia forced a cheery smile. "I mean, game over, we win! Go team us, yeah?"

Rin finally turned to look at her. Judging from the expression she was wearing, she didn't share Rumia's views. Her face was bright red with rage and frustration, and she was making small squeaking noises that could not be accurately described as speech. At her sides, her shaking fingers were slowly curling into claws.

Wincing, Rumia braced herself, but the expected outburst never came. Instead, Rin just closed her eyes; let out a long, hissing breath; and let her body relax. "Right," she said, opening her eyes and lifting her mouth in a weak smile. "Go team us, all the way."

Another long silence followed. Then Rumia said, "Well, now that that's over with, guess we better find Miss Reimu and company, yeah? Call it a day."

Rin's shoulders moved in an action that wasn't quite a shrug, but was close enough. She slowly circled around the scene, searching for movement.

"I don't see them," Rin said, squinting.

"Maybe they moved?" Rumia suggested. "Hell, I would. They probably went to the boat. I mean, give me a choice between hanging around on a big rock or a sweet flying boat, I know which one I would choose."

"It's possible," Rin agreed. "Or they went over there."

She pointed at a relatively flat slab, located a fair distance away from the two fallen behemoths. There, Rumia could just barely make out several tiny figures standing together.

"Or they did that," Rumia said, nodding. "Don't know why. I mean, the boat's right there." She scratched the back of her neck. "Though, uh, is it just me, or is there…more of them than there used to be?"

There did seem to be an unusually large number of figures moving around. Near the center, Rumia was certain that she recognized Reimu's group, or at least most of them. Kanako Yasaka was among them, which was definitely an encouraging sign. However, they had been joined by a large number of wolf Tengu, all of them carrying bladed poles. Rumia knew them well. One didn't live in the general vicinity of the Youkai Mountain and not be aware of the Hakurou.

Well, that only stood to reason. Given everything that had happened, it only made sense that Kanako would bring in the mountain's defensive force to help clean up the mess. But what Rumia found disturbing was that there was a second group joining them, this one mostly composed of Humans, though there was a scattering of youkai and fairies among them. The two groups didn't seem to mind each other and were even working in concert as they took control of the area.

However, Rumia was not at all enthused by the second group's presence, as each and every one of them was wearing a black uniform.

"No," Rin said in a small voice. She fell to her knees and leaned forward so that her forehead was touching the screen. "No, no, no."

Rumia was fairly certain she knew what Rin was so upset about, as she had been thinking something similar. However…

Clearing her throat, she said, "Uh, you know that just because the GPF's here, it doesn't mean Miss Reimu was working for Miss Yukari, right? I mean, it's their job to show up as these kinds of disasters, so…"

"So?" Rin said. "They still work for Yukari Yakumo. They'll report to her the second they see me."

Rumia nodded, slowly. "So, uh, what do we do?"

"Do?" Rin giggled. "We do what do we do what do we do. We do, and they find us. We don't, and they find us. So we do nothing." She straightened and stiffly stood up. "But not anymore, right? You were right, they can't find us now if we don't want them to. So we wait. We wait until they're all gone and meet up with Reimu then." She giggled. "Hey, good thing I ate those guys after all, huh? We can just sit around and wait, with no one being the wiser."

…

"Hmmm, well, it could be worse," Mima said as she closely examined the slashes Nue's talons had cut across Reimu's eye. "Fairly shallow for the most part, and it missed the eye itself, which is the important thing. It's pretty much guaranteed to scar, though."

"I know that," Reimu growled. "Can you fix it or not?"

Mima shrugged. "Easily enough. Though, are you certain you want me to? Such a scar, especially one earned on the field of battle, might be to your advantage. Certainly it would discourage people from picking fights, and I hear that they're quite fashionable in many circles. It'll make you a hit with the ladies, that much is certain."

"Mima," Reimu said through clenched teeth. "I'm a girl, remember?"

"So? That's never stopped Marisa."

"That's her! I'm not into girls, okay?"

"Or boys, for that matter," Mima observed. "Or most anyone. Goodness, child. No wonder you're always so crabby. The sexual frustration must be-"

"Shut up already and fix my godsdamned face, all right?"

"Tch," Mima said. She raised a glowing hand and pressed it over Reimu's eye. Immediately the burning cooled, to be replaced with blessed numbness. "You know, you might want to reconsider that tone. Rudeness toward your physician is generally a bad idea."

Anger welled up within Reimu. She was about to start yelling again, but better sense took precedence. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I just…never had anyone die on me before."

"The samurai?" Mima removed her hand and moved away. "Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later."

"Yeah, but…" Reimu took a shuddering breath as she tried to figure out how to explain herself. "I mean, she saved my life. And she really wanted me to remember her. But I don't even know her name."

"Tsukito no Meira," Mima answered without hesitation.

Reimu stared. "How…"

Mima nodded toward where the GPF had set up white pavilion to act as a temporary headquarters for the recovery effort. There, the grizzled tarantula youkai that had accompanied the samurai was sitting by himself with a dazed look on his stubble-covered face. "I overhead him talking to Kotohime Sonozika's sycophants. Apparently you two really did fight once, a long time ago. Well, by your standards anyway. Back around the time when you first met Marisa, unless I miss my guess."

"I wish I could remember," Reimu said, frowning.

Mima shrugged. "Don't let it get to you, or at least too much. Because honestly, I'd say you have more than enough problems to burden your shoulders without adding undeserved guilt to the load."

Mima couldn't be more right. Once it had been confirmed that Yuuka and her flowers were gone for good and that the Strutter wasn't getting back up, Kanako had quickly retaken charge. Momiji Inubashiri's Hakurou Tengu had descended upon the shattered valley en masse. They were soon joined by the GPF, who had gained word of Rin's rampage earlier that morning and had likewise arrived after Yuuka's flower dome had gone up but had been held back by the chaos. The two groups had quickly joined forces and set to work rounding up the remaining bounty hunters and providing aide for Reimu's group. Reimu supposed that this could be considered a victory for all that race-to-race cooperation that Byakuren kept going on about, but she was finding enthusiasm difficult at the moment.

Still, there were small sources of satisfaction. As it turned out, the persons responsible for that sudden firework display earlier had been none other than the Three Fairies of Light: Sunny Milk, Lunar Child, and Star Sapphire. Apparently they had yet another burst of their customary stupidity and decided to go after Rin themselves, only to change their minds and turn tail once Yuuka started to play her game. This had earned them an instantaneous disintegration, and they had resurrected just in time for the Hakurou to snatch them up. While it was true that those fireworks had been useful in blowing Nue's cover, Reimu couldn't help but feel a small amount of sadistic pleasure at their incarceration. In fact, an eviction was probably in order as well.

Nitori Kawashiro had also returned to life around the same time, and had also been taken into custody. She didn't seem all that concerned about that however, but learning how much damage the Hisoutensoku had taken made her strangely quiet. She wouldn't even respond to direct questions, preferring to sit still and stare at the ground. That is, until the GPF caught the Asakura sisters trying to sneak out of the valley. Rika and Rikako had been handcuffed and taken back to where they were keeping Nitori. Upon seeing them, the sulky Kappa had suddenly become animated and continued spewing wave after wave of verbal abuse at them ever since. Reimu wondered if the Asakuras had any idea what she was saying to them. Her own grasp of the Kappa tongue was admittedly shoddy, but Sanae assured her that Nitori's words were creative, graphic, and extremely profane.

Unfortunately, the conditions of the other hunters were less entertaining. The tarantula had been arrested like the others and, upon being informed of his partner's recent death, had become extremely confused. Reimu wasn't surprised. The youkai concept of death was different to that of a Human, and some were simply incapable of understanding it at all. Tenshi Hinanai's condition was best described as "horrific." Though she was somehow still alive, Kanako didn't dare turn her over to Heaven just yet for fear of risking a diplomatic incident, especially since Mima refused to treat the Celestial, claiming that, "She got what she deserved. No one can say otherwise."

Maybe that was true, but Reimu was willing to bet that Tenshi's parents would have a contradictory viewpoint. She for one was more than happy to let someone else handle the Celestial problem. She had already dealt with more Tenshi for one day.

But the true problem lay with Nitori Kawashiro's partners, Nue Houjo and Mamizou Futatsuiwa. When last Reimu had seen Nue, she had been unconscious and safely tucked away under her sealing spells. But upon returning to the area, both youkai and spells were gone. That left Reimu with two possibilities: either she had managed to escape, or someone else had gotten her. And seeing how Rin had been noticeably evasive about Mamizou's fate earlier and was still missing, she had a feeling she knew which one it was.

Finding Rin was currently the Hakurou and the GPF's top priority; Kanako had made sure of that. Reimu wanted to be part of the search, but her injuries were making that impossible. And so she was forced to sit in place and listen to the incoming reports, all of them exactly the same: Rin Satsuki had vanished. Nothing was working: spells, technology, and yelling her name very loudly. Kanako claimed to have been able to sense the energy Rin was emitting earlier that day, but now there was nothing.

According to Mima, this wasn't at all surprising. If Rin had absorbed Nue and Mamizou, then any attempts to find her were hopeless. "We are talking of more than just shapeshifting here," she had said. "The Nue especially. Their ability to hide their form means just that: hide it from everything. If Rin does not want to be found, then you are not going to find her."

Which was nothing but bad news. Their operation hinged upon Rin's cooperation. And if she was eating people again and hiding from them, then everything could fall apart.

"There's got to be something you can do," Reimu said as Mima finished tending to the gash. "A spell, a tracker, something?"

"If there was, I'd have done it already," Mima said. There was a hint of impatience in her voice. "Besides, I'm exhausted. What I'm doing now is the magical equivalent of applying a Band-Aid and it's still something of a strain."

"Well, we've got to do something!" Reimu yelled. She reflexively started to her feet, only to wince and sit back down when her ribs screamed at her. Mima had tended to that as well, but they still hurt like mad. But that didn't keep her from continuing her protest. "I'm not going to let this whole disaster be for nothing!"

"Uh, Reimu?" Sanae said. The green-haired shrine maiden was sitting close by, a blanket around her shoulders and a mostly untouched cup of cocoa in her hands. "Sorry if this is a stupid question, but what if we can't find her? How are we supposed to help her then?"

Reimu was about to say something biting and sarcastic, but another voice spoke before she could. "You know, that is an excellent question, Sanae Kochiya. And I for one am extremely interested in hearing the answer myself."

The breath caught in Reimu's throat. Sanae froze in place, her eyes widening with fear. Even Mima backed up a bit.

Yukari was now approaching. Or rather, she was being pushed towards them by Ran, courtesy of the ornate wheelchair she was now sitting in. Reimu was suddenly aware of the fact that this was the first time she had seen Yukari in the flesh since being taken to meet with Shinki and Sariel. And apparently, the reports of the elder youkai's condition were not exaggerated. Yukari looked positively shriveled, with ugly looking clusters of tiny blisters popping up here and there along her tight skin. But despite her weakness, the look of anger and determination in her golden eyes was still the same.

Unlike the last time, Reimu had no problem believing that this was the real Yukari Yakumo, just like she had no problem believing that she and her friends were now in a great amount of trouble.

"Well, well, well, isn't this an interesting sight," Yukari said as Ran brought the wheelchair to the stop. "Just this morning I entered the Dream World for a diplomatic meeting with its sovereigns, only to be awakened suddenly by my Shikigami here," she titled her head toward Ran, "who told me that not only had Rin Satsuki resurfaced, but was involved with quite a spectacular mess taking place at the foot of the Youkai Mountain. And not only that, but Yuuka Kazami has also slithered out bed to wreak havoc once again. Unfortunately, I arrived too late to gain control over the situation, but according to all accounts things could have gone worse." Her red tongue snaked out to lick her lips. "But then I overhear a number of conversations, concerning the actions of the Hakurei shrine maiden and how she is pursuing a shockingly foolish endeavor. 'But no,' said I. 'Surely this cannot be. My Reimu is much too smart to get involved in anything like that.'" Yukari tilted her head to one side, her eyes burrowing into Reimu's. "But I couldn't help to overhead the tail-end of your conversation, which really has got me wondering: what exactly have you been doing these past few weeks, Reimu?"

Reimu tried not to flinch. Well, here went nothing. "Uh, Yukari? We really need to talk."

There was a lengthy pause, and then Yukari said, "Yes, yes I agree." She sighed. "Unfortunately, if what I have been hearing is true, then I suspect that this is the last thing we're going to agree on today."

...

Yukari, you ruin everything.

=sigh=

Anyway, I promised to give explanations for...a great many things, so let's start off with the business part. Obviously, this update is breaking one of the longest hiatuses yet, and there is a number of reasons for that. There were the usual writing problems, which I'll go into later, and there's also the fact that I'm now writing for two fandoms, which is what it is. However, the main reason for this update taking so long is that not long after the last chapter went up, I started working two jobs. As a result, I was working seven-day weeks and anywhere from six-to-nine hours a day. Naturally, this left me with very little free time, and though things are more-or-less settling down now, it got pretty nuts for a while. And since I'm sure you're all as tired of me disappearing and returning full of apologies every few months as I am of doing it, here's what I've worked out as a way to at least keep you in the loop. There's been two new additions to my profile: the first is an update schedule, which lists the next five planned updates and what story they go to. The general idea is to alternate between three chapters of Resonance Days and three chapters of Imperfect Metamorphosis, with a RoSD chapter counting for one of the IM chapters until it wraps up. Also, there is also a progress recorder thingamajig, which will keep track of how many pages of the next chapter are done, to be update every time I finish a decent amount of writing. Generally chapters tend to be anywhere from forty to sixty pages, so when it hits that, it's getting close to being done. And when the rough draft is done, it'll read "Being Edited" until the actual update is made. Unfortunately, I can't predict exactly when said update is going to happen until it actually happens, but at least it'll keep everyone somewhat in the loop should another hiatus happen.

Also from the business front, I did manage to get all of Imperfect Metamorphosis and it's side-stories uploaded to the Touhou Wiki. Sort of. Unfortunately, doing so cancelled out any font and alignment changes and I haven't had time to fix it, so it's kind of rough right now. What does that mean for you guys? Absolutely nothing, but I just thought I'd mention it. :P

And, uh, time for the big one.

=takes a deep breath=

Okay, here we go.

If there's one thing I've learned, it's that if I start complaining about my own work in the author's notes, that seems to be the only thing anyone comments on, usually to the tune of "You're right, this chapter is pretty meh." Still, these last few chapters do have quite the rant attached, which I'll be posting in full on the Spacebattles thread, as it's easier to reply to comments there. So if you're interested in seeing a great deal of creator backlash and a full explanation for many of the problems that have been popping up lately, that's the place to go. But the gist of it is something like this:

There were a lot of people complaining about Yuuka's sudden appearance and her reanimation of the Strutter back in chapter 39, and a general consensus that the story was starting to go downhill.

I full agree with everything that was said and wasn't happy about it myself, but did it to prevent an even greater long-term narrative problem.

Still, there is probably a lot of people who aren't exactly happy with the quality of these two new chapters. Again, I don't blame you, because I'm not exactly thrilled with them myself, but I did the best I could and consider the final results to be the lesser evil.

And despite my dissatisfaction, the desired result was achieved and the plot knocked back on course. So that coupled with my job situation now looking to be more manageable, we should start to see things improve soon.

Still, I'm really sorry about the mess things have been lately. The last three months have been one hell of a headache. But at least it's finally over with and things can return to normal. So I say it's time to go see what our favorite dream-hopping immortals are up to.

Until next time, everyone!