Clash of the Elements Summary

by mewmaster93

A summary of all the events in the series ordered chronologically from Part 1 all the way to the most recent story arc. Made to help people interested catch up in the lore without having to read the very old stuff that's...not so good grammar-wise. And maybe if interested, help them focus on what they want to read specifically. Warning: Will include many ideas from multiple series.

22. Part 4 EX Story 8: One Last Fantasy

Its the final stretch of Shina and Alex's long journey. Reflecting upon their past experiences and what brought them together, they make their way to the place the Cosmos Drive shall be housed at. To their surprise and somewhat confusion, they're heading to yet another Earth.

But upon entering the atmosphere, the two of them suddenly drift asleep, crashing into the ground like comets from the sky.

Alex is the first to awaken, greeted by two playfully bantering girls, one a shrine maiden, the other a witch. Alex doesn't recognize them at first. The two talk about him being a drop-in from the "Outside World", with the witch assuming he's a giant from "Ah-mer-ica".

Alex finds Shina beside him and prods her to wake up. Upon her doing so she recognizes the two girls as "Reimu Hakurei" for the shrine maiden and "Marisa Kirisame" for the witch.

After some introductions though Alex pulls Shina aside to talk about how weird it is that they're in Gensokyo, believing they've been forced off-course.

But Shina theorizes that no, this is where they need to be. What better place to hide the Cosmos Drive but in a place very few people know about, let alone are able to enter?

Alex buys that, but wants to double-check the artifact just to be safe. However, Shina's lost it...Or rather, Marisa snatched it off them while they were asleep.

Upon recovering it Shina discovers that they are, indeed, at their destination, as the stone no longer glows with aura.

Shina then tells Reimu and Marisa about their goals, but neither of them know about any "Cosmos Drive". So Shina decides they'll just look around Gensokyo on their own.

But Reimu is against the idea, as they don't know what Gensokyo is like at all. After Reimu and Marisa bicker a little over who should be their tour guide, Alex pops one of his flames in his palm to confirm they can handle themselves.

Instead this annoys Reimu, who lays down the law of how things work in Gensokyo so Alex doesn't go acting like a thug.

Thus begins a brief introduction to the Spell Card Rules, with Marisa offering a demonstration while Shina tries to fight her with her Gunslinger Drive providing the perfect compliment to how Danmaku works.

Once the demonstration is over Reimu's content letting them go on their merry way. Marisa even offers them guidance to their first place of interest: The Scarlet Devil Mansion.

Alex and Shina do agree, as their librarian would have dabbled with enough magical artifacts to perhaps recognize a Cosmos Drive.

When the two head off, it turns out Marisa didn't exactly have the kindest intentions sending them there. She's using them as a distraction while she sneaks in and steals some books.

Thus Marisa flies off slowly after them, while Reimu grumbles and goes to lie down, thinking to herself that she swears she should know who the boy was...

On the way to the Mansion, Alex and Shina are ambushed by a few fairies playing around with Danmaku, including the spring-loving Lily White.

But to Shina's relief, Alex just harmlessly passes them by instead of attacking. When they reach the mansion proper, Shina's still worried Alex will try breaking and entering, and tries to convince him not to.

They approach the gate and find its guard, the stalwart Hong Meiling, napping on the job. In his attempt to wake her up, Alex winds up getting knocked down and pinned by her powerful grip.

But upon realizing he's human, sort-of, she lets him go.

Alex and Shina then make it clear they're here to see their librarian. But obviously, given the mansion owner's a vampire, Meiling's hesitant to let them in. Until Alex shows he can use fire, which convinces Meiling they can hold their own...But is worried for other reasons.

Thus Meiling lets them head on inside, where they, and by they we mean Shina, announces their presence loudly.

This alerts the maid, Sakuya Izayoi, who appears without warning and despite some annoyance at their gatekeeper, allows them entry.

They are brought straight to the mistress of the mansion, Remilia Scarlet, a young looking but very charismatic vampire.

After giving their names, Alex gets right to the point and wants to see Patchouli, much to Shina's annoyance. But to her surprise, Remilia's taken in by Alex's brass attitude and heeds his request.

Patchouli Knowledge is brought in by Sakuya and grants Alex the right to go visit the library about the Cosmos Drive, since Shina's already worn down Patchouli's patience.

Shina is thus forced to stick behind and have tea with Remilia, with Sakuya serving them both.

Shina once again finds the tea she's given bitter, comparing it to Rachel's tea. Remilia finds her manner of speak interesting, and with her vampiric charisma and hypnotic eyes manages to deduce rather quickly the kind of person she is and where she came from. Not specifically, for sure, but just a general idea.

Remilia offers Shina a chance to become her servant, believing this to be fate. Shina resists her wills and is about ready to go join back up with Alex.

Remilia, however, cannot let an interesting subject like her go free. If she cannot persuade Shina with words, then she'll do so by bewildering her in a Spell Card Duel.

She shall not duel her for nothing though. If Shina manages to beat her somehow, Remilia plans to divulge some important information for her ears only.

Then the weather starts to cloud up, thanks to some of Patchouli's magic. Shina wonders how she can be here but not Alex, yet its too late to really investigate as Remilia takes to the skies for their duel.

Shina, without any other choice, activates the Gunslinger Drive to duel Remilia.

As the denizens of the mansion gather to watch below, Remilia is intrigued by the power Shina displays. Shina worries about not having Spell Cards, but Remilia assures her that so long as she can make bullets she'll be just fine on her own.

Remilia then slashes through her first Spell Card, Fall of Night 'The Beginning of the Harvest', to begin their duel.

Shina weaves around for a while to try and get her bearings on flying around Danmaku before firing off shots of her own. Remilia's card comes with a few tricks though to keep her on her toes.

Shina groans how her first opponent just had to one of the elites of Gensokyo, but tries not to lose confidence until the point where the Spell Card breaks.

This surprises the denizens of the mansion, who are also joined by Marisa, fresh out of robbing Patchouli's library.

Patchouli activates another spell as Remilia begins bragging about the glory of vampirism. The clouds part behind her, revealing a crimson moon whose light bleeds through the sky.

With this the stage is set for Remilia's second and last card, a fine and powerful Spell Card that combines her graceful demeanor with the power of everlasting twilight...A Last Word: Immortalization of the Scarlet Night 'Vampire's Dominion'.

Shina starts taking more hits as she weaves around, struggling to avoid this fierce onslaught of blood, bats and devilish trickery.

Shina can't hope to win straight on like this, so goes for a hail mary of firing a rocket point-blank into Remilia's face.

The Last Word breaks and both of them go crashing down. The crimson moon fades, and Sakuya provides Remilia with shade for the returning sun.

Despite Shina clearly being the worse for the wear of the two, Remilia chooses to name her the victor. Marisa boasts that it was HER teaching that allowed this rookie victory, but Patchouli chides her for such arrogance as usual.

The Spell Card duel was really tiring on Shina, but Remilia remarks how she'll get used to it over time. Remilia isn't too worried about losing her as a subject, as she had fun regardless.

Though in the aftermath of this Shina's more worried about what happened to Alex...An answer she soon quickly gets when one of the basement's walls suddenly blows open...

Turning back the clock a bit, it seems as though Patchouli did not lead Alex to the library, but rather, led him through a series of hallways until ultimately directing him towards the lone staircase to the basement.

Despite knowing this is an obvious trap, Alex is curious to see what Remilia's planning and willingly goes to the basement for answers.

Patchouli leaves on her own to do other things. Alex notices right away how depressing this room feels in comparison to the rest of the mansion. And sure enough there's a reason for that.

Remilia's little sister, Flandre Scarlet, greets Alex curiously like he's a new plaything for her. Alex stares into her eyes and becomes a little unnerved, especially because she's smiling.

It becomes apparent that Alex is down here to 菟lay with her, and decides to do just that. Flandre, however, finds Alex disturbing in her own right. Apparently he's looking at her with a bunch of 兎yes and wishes for him to stop.

Flandre reaches up, ready to use her ability to destroy anything when she squeezes her hand...But manages to restrain herself at the last second. Not that it reverses the hastened pace of Alex's heart.

Alex first tries to ease the tension between them by offering to help mend her broken teddy bear. He manages to do a perfectly good knit job, much to Flandre's surprise.

Their meeting is broken up by the sudden appearance of Sakuya, who delivers a curious message to Flandre and then changes the space of the room to a much larger size.

Sakuya then departs, with Alex realizing he's going to need to face Flandre in a Spell Card Duel to get out of here.

Flandre's all too eager to play so wastes little time in getting started with her first card: Mesmerizing Scarlet 'Temptation of Blood'.

Alex just assumes he can tank through the Danmaku to attack Flandre but as it turns out, Danmaku actually stings a bit!

At least this way Flandre can't do any ACTUAL harm to him or the mansion, but he still stays on edge as he strikes back with ridiculously large attacks to ensure she gets hit.

Alex calls his brutal fighting style just as valid of Danmaku as anything else, and Flandre starts getting REALLY excited to be playing with him.

In a matter of time after, Alex manages to break her Spell Card. Thus, Flandre proceeds on to her Last Word: Devil's Deception 'Dance of the Four'

She splits into four copies of herself to aid in her attack in various ways. Most importantly of all, she surrounds Alex and traps him in a cage of Danmaku.

Despite taking a lot of hits more than probably necessary, Alex focuses in on the real Flandre through some clever work involving mirrors and manages to focus all his power into one singular powerful Danmaku.

But because he defeated her the effects the duel had on their reality end and cause the explosion mentioned prior.

Alex quickly goes to check on Flandre but she's just fine. In fact she really wants to go again. However, the appearance of Remilia and her cohorts along with Shina interrupt her fun.

After a brief cooldown Alex confronts Remilia about this little game. The vampire is happy to provide answers...in her own manner. If she gets her way though, then Patchouli will genuinely let them into the library to look for the Cosmos Drive.

Taking a magic megaphone into the skies above, Remilia suddenly announces to Gensokyo the arrival of the 摘lemental Overlord

Alex nearly spits up in disbelief as Remilia continues on to mention to all able denizens that if anyone can step up and defeat Alex Whiter and his companion Shina Aurora, then they shall receive a favor from hers truly.

With the stage set for conflict between the denizens of Gensokyo and Alex and Shina, Alex glares at the vampire and is ready to accept all challengers that get in their way.

Unfortunately Remilia immediately goes to bed for the day afterwards and her buddies are kept quiet before Alex can question them on how they know of him.

The search for the Cosmos Drive proves fruitless too, meaning the only thing this accomplished was painting a target on their back.

On their way out they say goodbye to Meiling, who then suddenly ends up catching an arrow fired through the air.

But she wasn't the target, as the arrow comes with a letter of invitation for Alex and Shina...From the denizens of Eientei.

Annoyed, Alex nevertheless believes they might as well get it over with as the owner of Eientei probably would know a lot about the Cosmos Drive.

So they make a beeline for the Bamboo Forest...and instantly get lost.

Fortunately they receive some help from a pale-skinned white-haired woman who is able to control fire. She is Fujiwara no Mokou, a lady with some familiar ties with Eientei.

Upon telling her where they need to go, Mokou agrees, though doesn't really get why they'd bother. It isn't until she walks with them for a bit that she recognizes them as the people that 砺ampire was going on about.

She leads them to their destination and runs into some earth rabbits pounding mochi for a coming festival. They run into one of the rabbits in charge, Reisen, who panics at the sight of Mokou this time of day.

Mokou ensures her she's not here for 鍍hat and prepares to just drop Alex and Shina off and bail. Reisen makes her stick around a bit to celebrate, but Mokou would rather not.

However, the appearance of Eientei's princess, the stunningly pretty Kaguya Houraisan, causes Mokou's interest to change a bit...Though not for the reasons one would expect.

Mokou and Kaguya are prepared for their daily killing of each other, firmly dropping their attention out of Reisen's control.

Alex trods up to Reisen and has her finish taking them to Eientei while Mokou and Kaguya get crazy with Danmaku.

Reisen brings them to their main manor where they're introduced to its master, Eirin Yagokoro. Reisen is left to return to her tasks, and Alex and Shina sit down to speak with Eirin.

Eirin quickly deduces their names from a pigeon she enchanted and also knows why they are here, but regrets to inform them that she knows nothing about a 鼎osmos Drive being here.

However, that's not to say she hasn't heard of it. Its surprising to know its here in Gensokyo, honestly.

Alex picks up the knowledge Eirin seems to have regarding Elemental Overlords, however. But Eirin's not up for divulging what exactly that is, not yet.

First, she wants to conduct a test.

She calls out to the feuding Kaguya and Mokou, wanting them both to work together to face Alex and Shina in a Spell Card Duel.

Mokou isn't a fan of the idea but figures it could spice things up for a bit.

Alex and Shina step aside to plan out their attack, then rise up to meet the feuding immortals in battle. The two has surprisingly come up with a Spell Card in record time and activate it to start things off: Rising Phoenix over the Moon

A combination of Mokou and Kaguya's signature Danmaku floods the skies. Alex quickly gets annoyed having to face it and swaps out to Shina, who performs far better in dodging and attacking on the fly.

But she's also taking the brunt of most of the Danmaku and getting tired, which is a bad sign given this is only the first of two really difficult cards.

After Mokou blows and reforms, the two immortals prepare their Last Word, with Alex cursing himself for not helping Shina out.

Eirin and Reisen watch close by. Eirin starts dissecting the nature of Alex Whiter to Reisen, specifically regarding the soul he houses inside of him. In many worlds, that soul is called the 摘lemental Overlord but to Lunarians such as here he is referred to by another name...

The Butcher of Sin

Kaguya and Mokou's Last Word is named 擢light of the Bamboo Phoenix combining their respective legends into one magnificent display of fire and eternity.

This winds up proving to be advantageous for Alex as these Danmaku have elemental energy and thus make it easier for him to sense and dodge.

He tags Shina out and handles the rest of the Duel thereafter, managing to deal the final blow on Kaguya specifically.

After the princess explodes and reforms, Kaguya playfully waves it off as a brief excursion but also teases Mokou for not throwing her weight around more.

Mokou gets pissed and the two immediately resume their feud, much to Alex's dismay.

Alex then cuts right to the chase with Eirin, hoping this wasn't a waste of time. Eirin first tries to have Reisen judge Shina and Alex's characters.

But Alex, tired of that nonsense, gets confrontational with Eirin over her stalling for time. Eirin starts flexing her strength as a Lunarian a bit and freaks Alex out.

Alex remains courageous and then, and only then, does Eirin state he has passed the test.

Eirin then tries to have Reisen escort Shina around, but Alex states that anything that's important for his ears only is something Shina can hear too.

They head back into the manor and Eirin has them sit down. The test was all about gauging their worth as people, for Eirin, even for all her smarts, still has trouble understanding humans at times.

In truth, she believes that there's something very abnormal about the way Alex has been acting to everything around him...And so decides to inject a little fear to draw out his true humanity.

She pulls out a small vial that makes Alex's stomach curl while Shina's skin turns pale.

Alex immediately panics and demands to know where Eirin got this. Shina describes what she sees as the antithesis of everything near and dear in the world...Referring to it as the 鄭nti-Genesis Theorem

Alex is STUNNED she knows what the means more than Eirin knowing about it. Not as much as Shina is surprised that he knows about it, given the Theorem was a creation of the Aurian Ten Sages.

This seems to contradict Eirin's earlier statement but she insists this is news to her too.

Shina explains how the Theorem was supposed to have been created as a deterrent to the Elemental Overlord, and was imprinted onto two people...Her mom, and the Dark King.

Alex wonders now if Shina has it in her blood, but its nothing like that. The Theorem is more akin to a magic glyph that can be used in a multitude of ways...But it doesn't pass down genetically.

Alex figures now is as good of time as any to get some answers on this stupid glyph and looks to Eirin for them.

What Eirin reveals is that the Anti-Genesis Theorem is accursed beyond compare. It is the perfect perversion of God's design for the universe, basically the anti-code for existence.

Even Eirin in her younger days, curious and reckless as she may have been, would have never considered creating such a foul glyph let alone use it on any living being.

But now it begs the question as to how Eirin got a hold of this glyph, which she believes she's under no obligation to reveal.

Shina then tries to politely ask her to hand it over, vouching for Alex's character. Eirin trusts in him too, but has to keep cautious regardless.

She has some advice to impart to alleviate some of Alex's frustrations. In the days of old when gods vied for control over the newborn universe, she was one of the youngest. But there were those her race of Lunarians could not conquer, and after one had defeated her thoroughly...They gave her a very important piece of advice that led to her no longer being so narrow-minded.

The world ends with you. If you want to enjoy life, expand your world.

The meaning of these words in regards to Alex is to get him to enjoy the time he has. Even if he's annoyed by the antics of others, he can also use said experiences to broaden his horizons.

After reflecting upon how close-minded he's been, mostly in part out of fear of losing control should he be TOO vulnerable, Alex decides to relent on taking the Anti-Genesis Theorem away from Eirin.

But only if she promises to do something about him if he becomes a threat to Gensokyo.

He then quietly leaves with Shina, with Eirin murmuring that 都he was wrong to be paranoid about the 撤hoenix of Destruction

Shina and Alex leave the Bamboo Forest behind, and Shina's proud of Alex for how he handled that.

He's then smacked by a thick bundle of papers, with a note attached to the very top.

This time they're getting an invitation from the Moriya Shrine atop Youkai Mountain. Specifically its goddess, Kanako Yasaka...Though the other goddess Suwako and the shrine maiden Sanae have their own input in the letter as well.

Alex looks to Shina for advice and she figures they might as well go, since they'll probably have to cover all of Gensokyo to find the Cosmos Drive at this rate.

They go right to up Youkai Mountain, getting a little sightseeing in along the way that captivates Alex a little more than he expected.

They then reach the shrine up top, which is being guarded and cleaned by Sanae, a rather enthusiastic girl that nearly matches Shina's own.

Fortunately Alex is kept from gagging when the resident goddess, Kanako, wanders up and immediately recognizes him for his power.

After some brief introductions Kanako invites them into her shrine proper.

However they are then introduced to the shrine's REAL goddess...At least, as she still believes herself to be, just to annoy Kanako. Her name is Suwako, a littler girl with a penchant for using frogs.

Kanako offers a seat to Alex, but not Shina. Not to be rude or anything, she just didn't feel like Shina would find this conversation interesting.

Alex has Shina hang out with Sanae for a bit while he gets down to business with the two goddesses.

Kanako and Suwako had heard whispers of the Elemental Overlord's time here...Tales that make the man of legend come across as a god of war more than the humble warrior Alex barely knew about.

The two are also intimately familiar with the nature of souls inhabiting bodies, though are surprised a mortal body like the Elemental Overlord could accomplish such a feat. Alex remarks on how divine power was involved, but doesn't know the full details.

Kanako calls it a blessing though, as it means he's had full control of his element powers this whole time.

However this leads to the meat of Kanako bringing him here...He wants to give him a way to keep the powers of an Elemental Overlord, without having his spirit inside of him.

Meanwhile Shina and Sanae are hitting it off pretty easily regarding their nerdy interests. However, the talk quickly goes sour when Sanae makes Shina realize they're probably trapped inside Gensokyo with no way to escape.

Shina ends up running to the shrine and freaking out on Alex, who has to knock some sense into her by reminding her of the Gaia Temporis.

This distraction manages to get Alex to focus their objectives though, and he's prepared to leave with Shina until...Kanako adds more to the bargain, stating she knows where they might find their Cosmos Drive.

All Alex and Shina have to do, however, is beat Suwako and her in a Spell Card Duel.

The battlefields are decided. Kanako and Shina will duel over their lake, while Alex and Suwako will face each other out at the hot springs.

Sanae chooses to watch Lady Kanako's duel, conflicted in who to root for, though ultimately choosing Kanako over Shina.

Kanako has a different setup for their duel. Using her gigantic onbashira as platforms, she dictates that they can only use them as the battleground. Jumping and running is fine, but there can be no flying whatsoever. And if either of them hit the water, its an automatic defeat for either side.

Kanako's first Spell Card is Ceremony of Divine Blessings, utilizing the onbashira that form the perimeter to fire off more Danmaku than her own.

Shina manages to utilize a loophole in the rules by making jets on the shoes that cause her to float around, not fly.

And upon finding a safe space in the pattern, Shina quickly wears down Kanako's first card.

Kanako praises her ingenuity in the heat of battle, remarking how she was clearly born from a warrior race. It reminds Kanako of days long, long past, when she was a god of war herself.

But now she can only relive those glory days through Spell Card Duels, and she intends to recreate the field of battle upon which she felled hundreds with her Last Word: The Venerable Ancient Battlefield.

A fiercer pattern assaults Shina, who is starting to get the feel for these kinds of duels, just as Remilia knew she would.

With some clever footwork, Shina manages to propel herself forward and kick Kanako off her platform. Kanako smiles and has no qualms with being defeated like this, praising her warrior spirit yet again.

Sanae is SHOCKED that Kanako lost, but the goddess again states she's fine with this...As she won in other ways.

At around the same time Alex and Suwako move to their battlefield. Suwako teases him for going along with Kanako's silly games, but at the same time doesn't believe he can properly make her pay with a taste of humble pie.

Suwako's variation of Spell Card Duels is to lock the two of them to a battle of nature. So they can only use plants, water and wind to fight with. Also, they will be sticking to lily pads she'll make atop the hot spring water. Fall off, and instantly lose. And of course, no flying allowed.

Suwako's first card is Fountain Parade for Native God, utilizing rain droplets, geysers and even rainbows made by light reflecting off the water to attack.

Alex focuses on trying to capsize the lily pads with jetstream bullets, but Suwako's agile enough to avoid hitting the water.

Suwako quickly gets bored of this little conflict and decides to escalate it, causing the hot spring to vent a lot of hot air so all their lily pads get launched high into the sky.

She then breaks her own card to switch out for her Last Word: Rain, Rain, Rain 'A Blessing of Frogs'.

It then starts to rain frogs, TECHNICALLY still following the rules, though Alex accuses her of being a child.

...Only for him to then start slicing through the lily pads with air blades to ensure he'll win. Unfortunately he's also destroying HIS possible footing, and in his arrogance to try and knock Suwako off...A giant frog drops on top of him and drags him all the way into the hot springs.

Though Alex is peeved, Suwako thanks him for a fun time and helps him out. Kanako, Sanae and Shina then wander in to see who won.

Once Suwako confirms her victory, Kanako considers it perfect, as it means with one victory on both sides they can get all the information delivered as needed.

To ensure Alex doesn't go running off, Kanako starts by explaining how he can retain his elemental powers...By becoming part of the Moriya Shrine.

If Alex acts as a hard worker for the humans in Gensokyo, then he can become something akin to a god due to their faith in him. Then he can relieve the Elemental Overlord's soul from his body, and still maintain the powers.

But Alex refuses the request, as his humanity is the last thing he wants to relinquish. He'll do good cause that's what he knows is right, not out of some sense of gratitude for humanity.

Not to mention him being a god would throwing Gensokyo's power balance out of wack.

Kanako does agree, and chooses to let him go with a direction towards the Cosmos Drive. She believes the Myouren Temple, home to hundreds of treasures, MAY have it. Though its slim, its better than nothing.

Alex and Shina thank them for the hospitality, and head on their way.

Only then does the true extent of Kanako's scheme get revealed to Sanae. Remilia's message has imprinted the worth of the Elemental Overlord into the humans' mind...So now that Suwako has won, if no one else will, then it'll only provide their shrine with more faith.

Thus, its crucial to have sent them to their shrine's rivals to deal with them now rather than later when they have a chance to prepare.

On the way over Alex is a little bothered by something and has him and Shina drop into the forest to talk it over. Alex lacks confidence in his ability to do Danmaku and looks to Shina for advice.

Shina cuts right to the chase that he's too tense and tries to treat Danmaku like normal battles. He needs to be more loose, comparing how she fights to how a ballerina dances.

After some massaging to loosen Alex's nerves, she then follows it up by having him try to compare the feeling of bliss he has now to something in his memories. If he can keep that feeling constant, he'll be able to dodge bullets with ease.

She decides to leave him be to think about that while she goes on ahead to the Myouren Temple.

Alex wonders if he even HAS any pleasant memories to rely on. It takes some time for him to get to the obvious answer regarding how Shina makes him feel.

But this bliss is interrupted when Shina returns and catches him by surprise. Turns out she wasn't feeling confident about going alone and decided to just come back and wait for him to go.

Now Alex is feeling tense, as if something or someone is watching them close by.

Through simple conversation with Shina though, Alex notices that she's not calling her sister "sis" and draws his sword on her.

This draws out "Shina's" true identity as the black and wily Youkai, Nue Houjuu. Alex assumes she did something to Shina and attacks.

However, Nue gracefully flips away and then vanishes into the trees, activating a Spell Card called "Endless Loop-de-Loop 'A Trial of Deadly Shapes'"

Alex is pissed he has to do another Spell Card Duel and decides to get it over with quickly in order to catch up with Shina.

Nue swarms Alex with a plethora of multicolored shapes with seemingly no way to escape either high or low.

The game is one of hide and seek, and Alex has to pick out one of the thousands of shapes is the real Nue. The only thing stopping Alex from just flushing her out with an inferno is that they're in the forest.

Instead he recognizes that despite her disguise, Nue keeps a physical presence in the world. So he smokes her out, very literally in fact, causing the smoke to stick to her body.

He then times his attack to strike her with all his might, taking her out of this Spell Card in one go.

He then pins her against a tree and tries to interrogate her about their plans. Nue knows nothing about Shina's condition cause she's not on that team. So Alex forces her to bring out the person who IS leading this team.

And the answer isn't too surprising...Walking out of the forest with a smoke pipe and a lofty aura is one Mamizou Futatsuiwa, a tanuki lady, who refers to him as the Phoenix of Destruction...

Meanwhile Shina arrives at the Myouren Temple and, despite expecting a warm welcome, is actually targeted by its priestess, Byakuren Hijiri.

And she's not alone. She's joined by the leader of the opposing religion, Toyosatomimi no Miko, the Crown Prince of Shoutoku.

The two's presence here is alarming, especially with the implication they KNEW her and Alex would be coming to Gensokyo.

The two leaders are working together to deal with them before they can cause trouble, but refuse to divulge why, only that they know about the "Phoenix of Destruction".

Shina can't blame them for wanting to protect their home, but refuses to yield to such baseless accusations and prepares to beat them in a Spell Card Duel.

Byakuren and Miko are working together in a tag-team against her one, with Byakuren beginning the first assault with her Spell Card: Grand Magic 'Dharma's Light from Beyond'

Shina raises her weapons to fight but only manages to get a few hits in before Miko swaps in with HER Spell Card: Choice and Consequence 'A Path of Many Roads'

Despite all their prior experiences, or perhaps BECAUSE of them, Byakuren and Miko are a deadly duo and prove to be Shina's toughest opponent in Danmaku thus far.

Yet through incredible persistence, Shina holds on tight and concentrates her attacks on them as they swap around. Eventually Byakuren falls, followed by Miko.

But the two then rise back up and fire off an incredible light display combining the symbols of their religions into one unholy seal that shall serve as the means through which their Last Word shall be made manifest.

Forbidden Unification 'The Bond of Buddhism and Taoism' is the name of their Last Word. The skies over the temple are flooded by the light from their Danmaku, and Shina is awed...But not deterred from victory.

To alleviate some of the pressure Shina summons drones to add more Danmaku of her own to the mix, cutting through the gaps in her foe's attacks to reach victory.

Miko takes defeat in stride, as ultimately the prolonged duel proved the strength of Shina's character to her and Hijiri.

Though the matter of Alex's character is still up in the air, but they plan to leave that up to the tanuki...

Back with Alex and said tanuki, Alex lets Nue go and then tries to pry information out of Mamizou. Mamizou plays coy all the while, leading the conversation into the direction of another Spell Card duel.

Mamizou leaps into the trees for some hide and seek, taunting Alex to find her while her 溺ischief Troupe of the Forest is active.

Instead of bullets, this time Alex has to dodge the sway of literal hammers coming down around him, all while trying to piece together Mamizou's location.

He tries to rely on Shina's methods to clear his mind and begins dodging the hammers with ease. Eventually he manages to pick out the one sound that gives away Mamizou's location and pulls her out of the trees...

Except its just Nue again, and the real Mamizou pops out with a sword at Alex's back.

But she still gives him the win, since he overcame his anger long enough to think straight. Though...he didn't really figure out ALL the Spell Card's tricks.

Mamizou whistles to the trees and two unlikely figures drop out. The daughter of the heavens, Tenshi Hinanawi, and the menreiki of 66-masks, Hata no Kokoro.

Though they seem to be in the know about the Phoenix of Destruction stuff, they just flash a brief greeting and then are on their way.

Thus, kept alone with Mamizou, Alex starts asking questions as she promised he could do. He just wants to know HOW she knows as much as she does.

Turns out Remilia was hiding how much she knew too, as she had some involvement in the same string of events that dragged Mamizou, Byakuren, and Miko into the affairs of the Elemental Overlord.

But first Mamizou wants to know how Alex is liking Gensokyo. He thinks the place is bizarre, especially its denizens. Mamizou takes this to mean Alex isn't really used to dealing with his smack talk getting sent back in his face.

Alex then turns the question on her, asking how she feels about Gensokyo.

She calls it 撤aradise You can live it up however you please here, so long as you don't kill humans, and the Spell Card duels allow energetic fighting without the threat of major harm.

The conversation veers towards the concerns about those who vie for control, bringing up the likes of Remilia, the Moriyas, even Hijiri and Miko aren't exactly immune to this scrutiny.

But when the name 添ukari comes up, Alex becomes paralyzed with surprise. And Mamizou finds that curious, as she believes he'd have no reason to be surprised by her name...Especially given how easily he knew HER name.

Mamizou's figured out that Alex knows things he shouldn't, and Alex can't exactly hide it for long.

Thus the tanuki moves on to the story regarding how she came to learn of the Phoenix of Destruction. It starts off involving Tenshi causing an Incident with Kokoro, and ultimately wound up in some grand confrontation with Yukari where the Youkai tried to force out Kokoro's hidden power to prepare for the Phoenix of Destruction's arrival.

There's a few important details Alex picks up such as how these events started five years ago, BEFORE he became the Elemental Overlord.

Ultimately Mamizou, Byakuren and Miko had decided that IF the Phoenix of Destruction came to this world they'd deal with him in their own way.

And Mamizou concludes that Alex is not the threat he was built up to be, that Yukari was just huffing hot air. Not that it matters, given she's 泥ead

But its not even certain she's dead. Mamizou has been around for some interesting circumstances regarding Gensokyo's Phantasm, and though other parties involved in her have seen her, only she seems to notice how odd things are...

Alex is starting to believe Yukari is the mysterious stranger who has been bothering them on all the other worlds, but feels like she couldn't have done what she's done without attracting the attention of some higher power...Especially if she's 電ead

Mamizou tells him to just keep that in the back of his mind for now and worry more about the Cosmos Drive. Alex remembers he's left Shina alone for too long and decides to follow Mamizou to the Myouren Temple to meet up.

But for now, despite his concerns, Alex decides not to bring up Yukari to Shina.

Him and her reunite at the Myouren Temple, where Mamizou speaks with Byakuren and Miko over how their meetings went.

Afterwards Mamizou decides to offer her aid to the two as compensation for bugging them. With the help of Byakuren's followers, Shou and Nazrin, along with a bunch of her tanuki, Mamizou believes she could sniff out the Cosmos Drive using the artifact's scent.

Shina relents the artifact for now, though Mamizou warns that it'll take some time, a whole day in fact. So perhaps for now, the two of them should enjoy the festivities in the Human Village tonight.

Even for as rough around the edges as he is, Alex is intrigued by the idea and decides to go have some fun with Shina.

Immediately upon him accepting, Miko and Mamizou kidnap Alex to go robe him properly, leaving Byakuren to dress Shina.

Shina then realizes that she's going to be going on a DATE with Alex, and gets very nervous over it.

Byakuren rests her weary mind a bit, with a couple of her follows, Kyouko and Ichirin, offering their support as well.

As Byakuren brings out a robe to dress her in, the two talk about Gensokyo. Byakuren's ideals come up a bit, with Shina believing she's done a lot to help Youkais out, even if the priestess isn't in full agreement.

Byakuren then imparts a little advice about love, as best as she can offer anyways, before sending her to meet with Alex dressed in a nice kimono.

Meanwhile though its a little troublesome for Alex to get fitted, as he's a male trying to fit into a female's old robes.

One of Miko's retainers, Futo, is annoyed at the disrespect being rendered upon their lands due to Alex shredding though her prince's clothes.

Miko goes to find a particular robe that'll better suit his needs. Meanwhile, Mamizou goes to town teaching Alex about how to properly handle a woman.

By the time Alex has been thoroughly trained in the art of dates, Miko returns with a robe that better fits a man. Though its lilac in color, Alex chooses to wear it so he can look his best for Shina.

Then comes a little cleaning up on his end before he's returned outside, right as Shina emerges from the Myouren Temple.

The two lovebirds gawk at each other before nervously holding hands and flying off to enjoy the nightly festival on their first date.

Tonight, Alex wants it to only be about him and Shina.

The two land in the Human Village and are captivated by the bright lights and colors. However, neither of them really know what to do in a festival.

They run across Sanae, visiting here with Suwako, even though they have wandered off elsewhere with Sanae's money.

But this is perfect timing regardless, as Sanae can lead them around to find stuff to do. Their first destination is the stand of one Nitori Kawashiro, the scheming Kappa.

She's set up a target practice thing. Hit the wooden crows, win a prize.

Alex immediately suspects some trickery on Nitori's part to scam people out of money but tries the game out anyways to win a prize for Shina.

He loses, due in part to Nitori's trick coming into play and hiding the secret target at the last second.

But when Shina takes a go at it, she's able to figure out the trick with the help of her aura and hits the target, winning the grand prize of a beautiful paper fan once used by a princess.

Sanae then departs soon after upon finding Suwako dancing around with the oni Suika.

Thus, leaving Alex with the daunting task of feeding Shina's insatiable appetite. There was so much food to partake in, and she didn't know where to start.

Lucky for him, perhaps, they run into Remilia, Sakuya and surprisingly, Flandre.

After Remilia teases them a bit, she offers to guide them to some good food. Flandre's escorted off by Sakuya to meet with Kokoro, who is performing a dance tonight. Apparently, the two are friends.

Remilia brings them to the grilled lamprey stand of one Mystia Lorelei, who feeds them in earnest.

While they eat Alex decides to speak to Remilia about the conversation he had with Mamizou. Remilia says she's washed her hands of those affairs and simply wanted to have fun, nothing more and nothing less.

They then part, Remilia to meet with her sister, and Shina and Alex go to enjoy Kokoro's Noh dance.

The dance represents familiar events Alex recalls from Mamizou's story. Its a beautiful dance, and the menreiki offers the full strength of her soul into every movement.

When the dance is over Shina wants to meet with Kokoro to try and make her her second little sister. Kokoro parries her with stunning bluntness.

Tenshi then comes strolling in, claiming she's already Kokoro's one and only big sister. Again, just as Mamizou's tale explained.

Kokoro does accept being Shina's friend though. Then her and Tenshi go off to enjoy sweets.

Alex and Shina stand around for a bit after, reaffirming their love with a first kiss as the fireworks go off above them.

Not long after, the two have a run in with Mamizou, who is taking a brief break here in human guise. Sensing the two are tired, she offers them rest at her makeshift home here in the village.

Its a very homely place, with just enough commodities to survive the night...Except, there's only one mattress to speak of, meaning they'll have to sleep together.

This is a problem for the two of them, but for differing reasons...

Alex has never slept with a girl before.

And Shina, well...She's feeling really hot all over thanks to being put in this situation, on top of Alex showing her a very good night in the village.

Shina can't really stop herself from loosening her kimono and baring her body to Alex, who finds himself pressed underneath her hands as she delicately tells him she wants to go a little further in their relationship already.

Even if they know nothing about this kind of love, Shina resolves herself to try. She wants to prove that her love is sincere, and even if Alex feels on the verge of death staring at her beautiful, naked body...He vows to try and love her just the same.

And he can't really stop himself anyway. The moment she puts her lips on his, their bodies move on their own in perfect harmony. For this is their night, the night they chose to truly love each other unconditionally...

The next morning Alex is the first to get up, still a little dazed from that long night...And to his horror, Mamizou's looking in on him from the window sill.

He scrambles to shoo her out so they can talk in private. He nearly threatens to kill her but she swears she saw nothing. She can simply just tell.

Regardless, Mamizou has an update to report on the Cosmos Drive hunt. She's scoured every square inch of Gensokyo save for a few less than savory places: The Shining Needle Castle, the Underground, the Ministry of Right and Wrong, the Netherworld...And a single person named Hecatia.

Mamizou then returns the artifact and leaves to let them handle the aftermath of their little night of love-making.

Shina wakes up and gets properly dressed in her old clothes. Both of them are super nervous around each other and for good damn reason.

They try to distract themselves by getting breakfast in the now quieted down village. But it doesn't help that neither of them can stop bringing it up.

Shina AND Alex are both panicking about Auris' reaction to this, as she obviously saw them doing it.

Fortunately? Marisa walks up and breaks up their panic. Convenient too, as they need her advice regarding the last few areas they need to check.

From her recommendation the Shining Needle Castle is the best place to try first.

Alex leaves Shina to go there while he'll use the Gaia Temporis to try and enter the Dream World where that Hecatia person is probably making her home.

Not to mention this'll give them time apart to think about the last night...

Shina flies to the Shining Needle Castle, thinking warm thoughts about potentially having a child with Alex and the reactions of her family once she gets back.

Upon arriving at the castle proper she explores around until she has a sudden run in with its tiny owner, the inch-sized Sukuna Shinmyoumaru.

After a bit of getting off on the wrong foot Shina tries to ask her for permission to search the castle for the Cosmos Drive.

However, Sukuna's offended at all the remarks about her size and says she can only forgive Shina if beaten in a Spell Card Duel.

Sukuna's first card is Tiny, Tiny March 'An Inchling's Resolve'. Despite her small size her Danmaku is positively gigantic, proving to be a pain in Shina's rear for the first few moments of the duel.

But upon breaching the first Spell Card Shina watches as Sukuna whips out something called the Miracle Mallet. With its incredible magical power Sukuna makes herself more human-sized and activates her Last Word:

Valiance of the Inchlings 'Heroic Unyielding Heart'.

Now Shina falls prey to Sukuna's even BIGGER Danmaku, which comes out in waves so thick that it leaves barely any room for Shina to get her shots through.

Shina's forced to fire as many shots as she can when openings arrive before she gets overwhelmed. While it winds up being a short duel overall, Sukuna has proven to be the toughest so far.

Shina has nothing but praise for the inchling as they shrink back down to their normal size. Sukuna, flustered like a little child, winds up caving in easily to Shina's requests to explore around for the Cosmos Drive...

Meanwhile Alex is flying around on his lonesome, feeling the exact opposite about last night than Shina was. He's full of panic, thinking he could never, ever be a good father to any child.

He quickly approaches the strange skies of Gensokyo and draws the Gaia Temporis to attempt breaching a hole into the Dream World.

But the stone isn't responding. He assumes the entrance must have been moved around due to an earlier Incident Reimu, Marisa, Reisen and Sanae partook in.

Before he can go looking elsewhere for another entrance, he's taken by surprise by a drummer tsukumogami named Raiko Horikawa.

Drawn in by the peculiar rhythm she felt from him last night at the festival, she wishes to face him in a Spell Card Duel to unravel his tangled rhythm.

Alex, normally focused on his mission, is fine with spending a little time doing a little therapeutic fighting and draws his sword to duel her in Danmaku.

Raiko's first Spell Card is Metronome over Gensokyo, which comes with her banging out a rave like rhythm from her drums.

In the midst of their duel Raiko urges Alex to listen to the call of freedom chained in his heart and her powerful rhythms certainly prove capable of pushing him towards that goal.

Once Alex breaks her first card she immediately sets up for a more powerful show through her Last Word, creating thunder claps in the skies above: Heart's Beat and Thunder's Clap.

Urging the both of them to play their 途evenge beats she sounds off ferocious cries of Danmaku throughout the skies. Alex actually finds himself respecting Raiko's free heart a little, and treats her as a serious opponent throughout the remainder of their duel.

Ultimately while Alex proves triumphant in the duel, Raiko got victory of her own, as she understands why Alex's rhythm is off...Because there's many other souls not in harmony with his own.

Alex looks within himself and feels a twinge of regret over not communicating with the souls of the Genesis Samurai and Elemental Overlord for years now.

But Raiko states how its not kind to those souls within him for him to feel regret, as they bear no ill will towards him. Not in the slightest.

Raiko leaves, but not without a warning of ill omens in the sky.

Alex doesn't get any time to reflect on that as Shina reappears, having not managed to find the Cosmos Drive in the castle.

The two are then suddenly taken by surprise with the sudden appearance of Hecatia Lapislazuli, the Goddess of Hell, and the woman they wanted to find.

But she is not alone. See, she has a problem...A big, giant problem called Junko. And not the normal Junko whom she is friends with.

With a familiar vibe akin to the incidents involving Mr. Reality, Alex becomes beholden to a monstrous kitsune that screams for vengeance towards a woman named 鼎hang'e

This is Shadow Junko, the Incarnate Malice. And Hecatia hopes that 鉄arajin's successor can handle this well...

Spell Card rules do not apply here, yet it seems as though a barrier has been erected to keep the battle contained between the four of them.

Yes, four, as Hecatia fights against Alex and Shina despite wanting Junko to be returned to normal. Her motives baffle the two.

Alex tries to go into Phoenix Form to get this over with quickly, but Junko's power of purification renders his form unable to function and causes it to cease in seconds.

Alex can't help but empathize with Junko's screams for revenge, but knows that she doesn't deserve to suffer the fate of being a monster like this.

Through his and Shina's coordinates efforts, they do manage to inflict enough damage to Shadow Junko to dispel the 鉄hadow and return Junko to normal.

But the battle doesn't end with Hecatia being thankful or anything of the sort. She tricks Junko into thinking they're in the middle of a fight with Alex and Shina, so they can move on to a Spell Card duel.

No screwing around, Hecatia and Junko immediately spring out their combined Last Word: Dream of Salvation 'Requiem Blue'.

Hecatia splits into her three bodies for Hell, Earth and the Moon while Junko combines her purifying power into Hecatia's Danmaku.

Alex and Shina combine their powers into fighting the two partners off. Alex demands to learn some answers if they win, and Hecatia's more than happy to comply...As its a very big 妬f that they'll win.

And true enough, the two are very difficult to stop once they get rolling. Though Alex and Shina have great teamwork of their own, and are able to win it out.

True to her word, no more trickery, Hecatia will tell Alex what he needs to hear...About the 釘utcher of Sin Though she only plans to tell him. Shina's left to hang around with Junko.

Hecatia starts off by surprising Alex and calling the old Elemental Overlord something of a rebel. The story as to how she got this impression begins long ago, when Yukari had led an invasion of the Lunar Capital with an army of Youkai.

Curiously, history didn't get one detail correct...The Youkai were so fierce and numerous that they WERE going to win...Until the Elemental Overlord was brought in as back-up for the Lunarians.

Though the Elemental Overlord performed his duties to the fullest, he despised the cutthroat nature of the Lunarians, who left their kind to die for them without an air of care to their words.

Once the army of Youkai had been repelled by Sarajin's strength, he turned his blade on the Lunarians, believing them to be pure evil.

Sarajin inflicted the fear of mortality upon the Lunarians by drenching the main part of their capital in their blood. It was a spectacle that only lasted less than a minute before the 塗igher-ups intervened.

And as punishment for going too far, Sarajin was forced to return to Gensokyo and kill more Youkai to even the numbers. Even Gods fell, including the likes of Yatagarasu, Tenjin and Raijin.

Hecatia's story ends suddenly with her pushing a pop quiz upon Alex. First, she wants to know if he believes another's sin can be passed onto another.

Alex thinks no, and it'd be stupid to think otherwise.

So Hecatia wonders how Alex now feels about Sarajin's past actions. Alex thinks there's a contradiction in the story, as Hecatia played up Sarajin's strength of conviction only for the story to insinuate he was a stooge to the 塗igher-ups

Alex believes he wouldn't have any compromise when it came to delivering justice. If faced with the Lunarians, he'd wipe them all out.

Hecatia wonders if justice should be valued over the balance in all things.

Alex chooses 屠ustice because ultimately he can't possibly accept a universe where people who kill, fearmonger and lie hold equal value to innocent lives.

Hecatia thinks that's totally cool, saying how his experiences on other worlds has made his soul strong.

Alex is surprised she knows. Turns out Hecatia might not exactly have been native to Gensokyo to start off with...

Not that she's up to talking about it. Instead, she offers to perhaps enlighten Alex about what happened to Junko.

She mentions the 擢our Guardians four people chosen by the 塗igher-ups to sort of keep their own quadrant of the universe in line. They're also last resorts to stopping rogue Elemental Overlord or Dark Kings.

There's a boon to being a Guardian though. The 塗igher-ups grant them one wish. Hecatia wanted to be a Guardian herself long ago, but she was 妬ntercepted by one...Yukari Yakumo.

Now it feels true now more than ever that Yukari is the one who has been plaguing Alex and Shina on their journey. But if she's a Guardian, then how the hell could she have been allowed to do all that she's done?

It probably isn't cause of the wish. If Yukari's goal was to torment Alex, then she'd just use the wish to do so.

Hecatia, though intrigued by the prospect of tackling Yukari, has to bow out after what happened to Junko.

But she does have one last bit of advice to impart...If Alex wants to learn more about what Yukari has done, he should visit the satori in charge of the Underground and ask her about a war between the Underground and the tengus a while back.

Hecatia then picks up Junko and leaves elsewhere. Alex decides he'll tell Shina a bit about what they talked about on the way to the Underground.

The trip through the Underground is long and a little haunting. The worst of Youkai-kind live down here but luckily for them, none of them come looking for a fight.

They eventually arrive at the Palace of Earth Spirits, home to the lonesome Satori Komeiji, the mistress of the Underground.

They're surprised to find actual Earth creatures living inside of the palace. Though there's one cat who is clearly abnormal, having two tails that flicker with flames.

Said cat pounces on Alex and becomes a girl named Rin Kaenbyou, one of Satori's favorite pets and closest friends.

After Alex gets her off he introduces himself along with Shina, asking to meet with Satori.

Rin brings the two to Satori's bedroom, where they find her reading from a book and looking rather tired.

Satori, as a satori, can easily read Alex and Shina's minds to learn why they've come and what they seek.

Rin is tasked with guiding Shina around the palace to search for the Cosmos Drive while Satori walks with Alex for a bit, divulging his reasons for seeing her specifically.

But Satori has only a vague recollection of said battle, or if the one called Yukari had any involvement in it.

She has an idea though. But exerting herself through a Spell Card Duel, she believes it'll stimulate her ability to remember her lost memories.

Alex goes along with the plan, dueling Satori within her own palace. Satori reads Alex's mind to create her first Spell Card: Reflection of the Inner Soul 'Seven Elemental Purge'

The Danmaku here utilizes Alex's seven elements, with Satori providing commentary regarding the odd feelings Alex has for encountering his powers in this way.

The card breaks quickly, much to Alex's disappointment towards himself. Satori believes Alex's mind wanders too much for her to properly concentrate, and decides to delve deeper into Alex's mind to draw out a stronger card.

Alex is unable to keep her from doing so and inadvertently, Satori seems to get 菟ossessed by the anger of the Phoenix of Destruction.

She grimly calls out the name of her next card: Visions of Turmoil 'Hellfire of Destruction'.

Now things get crazy, as Satori's Danmaku manifests as uncontrollable flames of hate that even manages to damage the palace around them.

Alex is forced to treat this like a serious life or death battle for them both and focuses all his strength into tanking through his own hate and punching some sense back into Satori.

Though this was an unorthodox way of doing it, the battle managed to awaken some of Satori's buried memories of that odd battle...

Yet before she can reveal them, a powerful shriek roars throughout the palace. Satori worries that it came from the Hell of Blazing Fires, and drags Alex with her to check up on things there...

A little while ago, as it so happened, Rin had brought Shina to the Hell of Blazing Fires in their search for the Cosmos Drive.

Rin calls out the person in charge of this soul cauldron: Utsuho Reiuji, host of Yatagarasu...and a complete bird-brain to boot in both figurative and literal senses of the word.

Though despite her clumsy mind, Utsuho is able to try and search for anything close to an indent for the artifact. Sadly nothing can be found, leaving Shina to worry if the last two locations will even have the Cosmos Drive either...

For now though, Rin and Okuu (Utsuho's pet name), pester Shina to play with them. Shina sees no harm in enjoying a little Spell Card Duel for now, since Alex is probably still busy with Satori.

Shina faces Rin and Okuu together, who combined their Danmaku into the Spell Card known as Corpse Burning 'Funeral Pyre of Nuclear Flames'.

There's a lot of nuclear suns Okuu made flying around amid glowing, ghostly skulls from Rin's part. Shina's awed by their raw power but takes the Danmaku on splendidly.

In time she beats the first Spell Card. However, doing so causes Okuu to start getting a little fired up, upon which she wants to try fighting Shina solo.

Rin is a little worried for Okuu going out of control like before but peels away to let her have her fun.

Okuu then activates her Last Word: Blazing Cosmos 'Solar Overdrive'.

If Shina was seeing suns before, now she's seeing a whole friggin' galaxy of them. On top of that, beams of nuclear flames threaten to reduce her fighting spirit to ash.

Its a harrowing battle within the soul cauldron of this former Hell, but Shina manages to prevail by choosing not to lose heart.

Yet her victory does not seem to have settled well with Okuu, as the raven starts freaking out and spurting flames from her body uncontrollably.

A horrifying transformation unfolds, bringing forth a dark power similar to what ensnared Junko. But instead of a Shadow, instead, a God is reborn.

Yatagarasu fully consumes Utsuho's body to be reborn as The Crimson Raven Who Swallowed the Black Sun. And now, with nothing chaining its power, Gensokyo's existence is in jeopardy...

Alex and Satori arrive, Satori consumed with fear over seeing her dear Okuu consumed by this malicious fire god...

Alex assures her that he can save her and charges into the heat of battle alongside Shina once Rin's safety is secured.

Satori has confidence that Okuu is holding on for dear life, fighting for control of her body. That's the kind of advantage Alex and Shina need in order to bring her to her senses.

Yatagarasu violently thrashes against the cauldron, focusing most of its wrath upon Alex in particular due to the soul he houses.

When the heat starts to get to Shina, Alex benches her and tackles the raging sun god alone. Empathizing with its destructive urges, he nevertheless cannot allow it to keep on living through Okuu like this.

He puts his all into attacking Yatagarasu's third eye, its proven weak point, until even its unstoppable vengeance finds that it has to cease.

The flames of the sun god turn to ash and dust with one last shriek, upon which the tiny bird that is Okuu's true form drops into Alex's hands.

She's alive, but very tired, so he passes her off to Satori for safe-keeping.

Satori has the two in her debts, but must insist on having Shina carry her pets back up to the palace.

While she's gone, Satori consolidates with Alex about her memories. The stress of seeing Okuu like that made her forget the full extent of that one battle, but there's one thing she knows for sure...Yukari Yakumo is responsible for this, and warns Alex about going to confront such a dangerous foe.

Alex starts to come to the realization how everything they've been doing in Gensokyo has been pointless from the start...More than likely, Yukari has the Cosmos Drive in her possession.

Thus there's really only one thing to do from here...Go to the Ministry of Right and Wrong and try to recruit Shieiki Yamaxanadu to help deal with Yukari.

As they fly over the sunflower fields, Shina worries that Alex has been distracted ever since meeting Hecatia, but lets him be until he's comfortable with talking.

Upon crossing the fields they pass through an invisible rift between worlds to arrive at the Sanzu River, the last crossing for dead souls.

The river is protected by a Shinigami named Komachi Onozuka. She's pretty lax yet when it comes to these two showing up, she does spring to attention a bit.

Only for her lax side to show up again when she's perfectly willing to help them cross the river to meet with her boss.

Komachi fills in the time crossing speaking about her job as a Shinigami. The subject of the dead returns the conversation back to the Elemental Overlord's time here, which annoys Alex.

Fortunately the subject doesn't last long before they arrive at the Ministry. Its not very busy around here, for once, so the two are allowed free entry inside, though are advised to make it quick.

But only one person can go in at a time, so Shina, being the more tactful of the two...somehow, is chosen to go in.

Shina's nervous to meet the Yama for the first time, even though it proves to be unwarranted. The Yama's a pleasant person to speak with, and is happy to answer any and all of her questions upon gleaming the true nature of her character with her mirror.

Its a simple visit that ends with Shikieiki remarking that Shina's reached a dead end here. But before Shina can leave this dominion, Shikieiki wants her to call Alex in for a talk...

During this time Alex is planning on how he'll persuade Shikieiki to his cause. Not helped by being constantly pestered by Komachi, who easily knows about the situation regarding his many souls.

Shina returns to deliver the news, but Alex is cautious about going inside if the Yama knows who he is ahead of time.

Compared to Shina, Alex finds the halls of the Ministry suffocating. The meeting with the Yama starts off tense from the start, as Shikieiki brings up the Elemental Overlord's body count in Gensokyo.

Alex wants there to be no shadow of a doubt regarding the Elemental Overlord's true self and asks the Yama to judge his soul with her mirror.

Though his soul was once stained, he cleansed it in his final moments. Ultimately, he is a just man.

It seems that was all Shikieiki was interested in seeing, but Alex isn't done with her. Not by a long shot.

He requests to explain his journey so far, connecting the troubles he had to Yukari Yakumo. A series of exchanges ultimately end with Shikieiki believing his stories and having no doubt that Yukari is responsible.

And yet, to Alex's dismay, she does not act upon this news. For Yukari is still a denizen of Gensokyo. Any karma to be rendered upon her shall be delivered upon her passing.

Yet Alex shouts that she already HAS died and it didn't matter. This shocks Shikieiki, who knew nothing of the sort from anyone. Not to mention a Kishin would've been sent to deal with the matter if it were true.

And Alex stands by his guts here and tells Shikieiki off for not doing her job the way he believes it should be done.

Shikeiki has trouble listening to Alex's words due in part to how black his own soul currently is. She tries to impart wisdom, but Alex is tired of hearing about that crap now.

He tries to challenge Shikieiki to a Spell Card duel in hopes that defeat will persuade her to listen to him. She calmly raises her judgment rod and activates a Spell Card: Cleansed Crystal Judgment -Alex Whiter-

It reflects the poor nature of Alex's soul and manages to overwhelm him with Danmaku born of his sins. With little effort, Shikieiki defeats him and makes her judgment clear once more.

Alex starts to break over how unfair it is that justice evades Yukari Yakumo, and in a moment of weakness, he attacks Shieiki with fire.

When he realizes what he's done he quickly makes a break for it, snagging Shina up and flying up the Sanzu River with Komachi in pursuit.

Komachi's power over distances keeps Alex and Shina from making a true getaway until Alex uses the Gaia Temporis to stop time and allow them to press forward.

Upon reaching the end of the river, they fly into a newly opened gap to be sent elsewhere...

Their final destination? Where they always wanted to be all along...The Netherworld.

Alit with a ghastly glow, the realm invites the two up a long flight of stairs to the dead tree at the very top.

But before they decide to climb it there's the matter of what just happened. Alex tries to justify him lashing out against Shikieiki. Shina's willing to hear him out because she's been with him so long.

Alex nearly reveals who the mastermind's true identity is, but Shina catches his brief slip of the tongue and confronts him about not trusting her.

Alex apologizes, trying to use "she's only after me" as an excuse, only for Shina to whack him lightly on the head to remind him of the promise they made to stick together through all problems.

So Alex reveals the truth...That they're after Yukari Yakumo. Shina feels stupid for having not pieced that together sooner.

Given they're in the Netherworld now, its painfully clear they're being lured towards a final confrontation with Yukari with the Cosmos Drive being the bait to trap them.

Nevertheless the two resolve to stand together and face whatever odds stand against them. They charge up the stairs, and are quickly assaulted by waves of slicing energy.

Not Danmaku, mind, but pure physical force.

Their first opponent is Youmu Konpaku, the ghostly gardener of this place. Forgoing the Spell Card Rules, she decides to strike at the two with her two blades of ghastly steel.

Though her speed is without compare in Gensokyo, Alex and Shina are able to handle her with a little tag-team action.

Youmu continues to try and stand defiantly until a gentler voice holds her back in reverence...

The princess of this realm, the ghostly Yuyuko Saigyouji, descends before the giant cherry blossom tree at the top of this realm to confront Alex and Shina.

And Alex isn't the least bit surprised, as Yuyuko is one of few people here that Yukari calls a friend.

Alex and Shina's attempts to demand answers leads to the princess dancing around them expertly, eventually turning against them by remarking how they are bold given their nature as intruders upon her domain.

Alex meanwhile sees through all of Yuyuko's lies for what they are and realizes they're wasting their time trying to get the princess to speak up.

Shina ultimately confronts Yuyuko on her loyalty to Yukari, but Yuyuko chooses to believe in her friend's path even if she's committed wrong-doings of some sort.

Yuyuko finally withdraws the formalities and holds up a Spell Card, intending to finish what her friend started years ago by punishing the two of them proper.

Upon activating Blossom of Spring 'The Ignoble Fall of Winter', the Netherworld goes crazy with bright lights enter brighter than the Danmaku she sends their way.

Alex and Shina fire back, determined to find the way to the truth through Yuyuko's deceit.

It doesn't take long for that determination to earn them victory over Yuyuko's first Spell Card. But upon doing so, another entity arrives to assist Yuyuko.

They are the nine-tailed fox, Ran Yakumo, shikigami to Yukari. Ran is less kind than Yuyuko, saying it shall be a pleasure to rip Alex's heart from his chest.

Ran continues to play along with Yuyuko's deceit that Yukari is dead, but Alex and Shina aren't buying it.

Ran and Yuyuko combine their Danmaku to create the Spell Card: Butterfly Dichotomy 'The Rainbow's Deceit', a fitting name all things considered...

Alex and Shina continue to refuse to yield, and break through yet another Spell Card in their path. Yet in doing so, shatter the light surrounding the Netherworld.

But that light then flickers back stronger than ever, with the cherry blossom tree fully bloomed and Yuyuko rising up with a paper fan at her back and Ran guarding her front.

They then prepare to strike the two down with their Last Word: Border of Life ~Under Death's Shadow.

Ran and Yuyuko start breaking the rules to create impossible to dodge Danmaku that funnels the two into wherever they want them to go.

It doesn't matter what they try though. Alex and Shina's bond has proven strong throughout so much bullshit that they choose their own path forward, and follow it to the letter to take the two's last Spell Card down.

Yuyuko and Ran fall to the ground, defeated, and Alex quickly runs up to Yuyuko to threaten her for Yukari's location.

Shina notices Alex is going berserk and tries to get him to calm down, but Alex can't accept patience after everything Yukari has done to them.

In his moment of hesitation though, Yuyuko uses her power to inflict death upon Shina, then does the same to Alex without him even able to resist.

It seems as though this would be the end, but the universe is not so kind...And neither is the Gaia Temporis.

Alex wakes up a few seconds back in time, though perhaps not in the same time as he was in before. With time left frozen, he's given a brief warning by what seems to be the Gaia Temporis itself.

Alex grits his teeth, goes into Phoenix Form, and then when time resumes stands between Shina and Yuyuko to save Shina's life.

Alex's Soul Shields, born from those no longer shackled to life, can guard against the physical if invisible presence of Yuyuko's deadly power.

Alex then yells to Yuyuko that he refuses to let ANYONE ever harm Shina again.

Yuyuko feigns ignorance on even trying to kill Shina to begin with, but Alex refuses to listen to her and attacks.

Yuyuko vanishes away from his attack and levitates before the cherry blossom tree. Turns out their battle early offered up a banquet of elemental energy to the tree to revive it, and now Yuyuko plans to fuse with the tree itself to offer up the ultimate opponent for Alex and Shina.

The newly formed Spirit of the Ayakashi starts filling the Netherworld with deathly butterflies. If either of them were to touch anyone here, death would be inflicted instantly.

Ran pulls Youmu way then forces Alex and Shina to be trapped against the tree. Shina activates the Valkyrie Drive and ignites her sword with aura to slice through the power of death using the power of life, while Alex focuses on attacking the tree proper.

Ultimately Shina's tasked with surrounding the tree with aura so Alex can compress a ton of flames into one location and finish the evil tree off, and flush Yuyuko back out into the open.

Finally, Alex resumes threatening her for information and this time, is about to not hesitate when it comes to killing Yuyuko to draw Yukari out.

And finally, he gets his wish, being whisked around through a gap of Yukari's making.

Shina is left puzzled as to what happened, and Ran boasts how Alex is finally receiving his proper judgment...Though its not as if he could have ever been judged a "human" to begin with,

Shina turns on Ran to demand she take her to see Yukari, but Ran laughs, flashing her claws out and preparing to whittle down the last bit of faith Shina could possibly have in the irredeemable "Phoenix of Destruction".

…

…

It all begins with a tale about a strange girl, a girl who had only one friend, but they were their most cherished person in the world.

They formed a club, the Sealing Club, to investigate the paranormal and unexplainable in their world...Only to realize that the girl was the most unexplainable of them all.

This girl would become trapped by her own powers, and lose all the time in the world until oblivion came to the universe.

This girl became the vessel to a dangerous power that no human could comprehend...Except her. She made that power her own, and with it, sheltered all traces of her old self deep within her subconscious.

In the dawning of a new universe, this woman would pursue the faint memories of her past self, returning to the land she once dreamed of seeing forever...Now, an embryo, currently stuck in its past.

And in this world she'd come to be known by another name, with another type of power. With nothing to hold her down but a faint trace of humanity, the woman grew to become cunning and wily.

She nurtured the world she loved, so that one day perhaps, that girl would dream of this world again and come to visit it...Continuing a cycle that may never end.

The world would become sealed away, safe within its own space. And in this graceful prison of fantasy, the woman continued to nurture the future...

Only for it be cruelly taken away by fires that hosted only rage...and cold contempt. The Phoenix of Destruction, her then to be mortal foe, reduced her dream to ash.

And with it, the cycle began anew. That girl became that woman. The universe died only to be reborn. The fires burned once more.

And with a loathsome spite towards "God", who birthed the Phoenix of Destruction from its hand, she began to work tirelessly throughout many incarnations of the universe to prevent the flames.

Which brought that woman to this moment. With her eyes meeting those of her enemy, she greets him with a smile and her dainty parasol.

For the woman was Yukari Yakumo, the ultimate unknown Phantasm. And he...was merely an obstacle in her way.

The Phoenix screeches for answers, to which Yukari provides without any hesitation. Calmly, coldly, she wears away at the Phoenix's tenuous grip on reality.

Because there was a horrible truth he'd have no choice but to digest...He is an abnormal birth in the universe, a corruptive influence known simply as a "Blank".

He was created by an "Author", whom the Phantasm reveals to be the Chronicler.

The "Author" comes from the true reality of which all our eyes now gaze upon this story through the glass screen laid before us.

The fictional universe, which the likes of Yukari and the Phoenix of Destruction inhabit, is akin to a computer. It can be programmed, its code meddled with in many dire and dangerous ways.

But to do so an "Author" requires a "Blank" to act as its "Avatar". In other terms, they are a "Self-Inserted Program".

The "Author" who birthed the Phoenix of Destruction wasn't content with influence the fate of one world, like many others. Nay, he had to control the fate of all worlds.

His attempts at being an "Author" without the use of a "Blank", foolish as it sounds, led to the expansion of the Realm of Darkness and the end of the Kingdom Hearts universe.

But luck prevailed in the "Author's" favor, as he was able to cull the favor of the arbiter of this fantastical reality...Futanji Shinryu, leader of the "higher-ups".

Now blasphemously claiming the title of "God", the "Author" continued to observe the flow of the present timeline until he found a perfect opportunity to create a true "Blank".

To avoid the prying eyes of the "higher-ups", the "Author" did not create a "Blank" that was grown-up...Rather, he injected a second zygote into the womb of Lumina Whiter...Alex's "mother". The first zygote...being Joe Dark, Alex's brother.

The "Author" wished to hijack the Elemental Overlord's legacy and artifacts to create the ultimate "hero" that can take part in the events of other worlds in the fictional universes. Because of this, Alex Whiter became the Elemental Overlord instead of Joe Dark, who became the Dark King.

But it was never going to end with one "Blank". The "Author" took advantage of the Elemental Overlord's powers to create two more "Blanks", Mew and Riku.

However, Yukari has no grudge towards them. Alex is the only one who threatens the existence of Gensokyo and thus, she's been doing everything in her power to hijack the "Author" role and through it, guide Alex to her and ultimately, defeat him so thoroughly that it shall expose the "Author's" lies before the "higher-ups". Or, if nothing else, it shall remove the Phoenix of Destruction from the board.

Alex loses it upon hearing all this "bullshit", choosing to forgo all the peace and love he built up with Shina to resume his hypocrisy, and burn Yukari to nothing in pursuit of his justice.

But Alex's justice is all for what Yukari did to Shina, which comes as a surprise to the Phantasm.

Alex plans to destroy Yukari in the one thing she holds dear: A Spell Card Duel.

But Yukari not only meets his challenge, but destroys him complete through little more than four Spell Cards: Barrier 'Boundary of Life and Death', Evil Spirits 'Yukari Yakumo's Spiriting Away', Border of Body and Soul, and Border of Fiction and Reality.

All of them exist merely to grind away at the good feelings Alex has built up over time, and expose the miserable, shrieking destroyer hidden within.

Perhaps something she accomplishes a little TOO well, as Alex does not take defeat lightly and immediately goes into Phoenix Form with the intent to kill her for real.

Yukari calls upon many powers not just from her world, but from other worlds as well, to defend herself. Pushing Alex to the brink, she forces him to use the Blazing Overlord Fist to kill her...

But she still had another trick up her sleeve...Another Yukari appears, deposited in via her boundary powers from the timeline where Yuyuko had killed Alex and Shina.

This is how Yukari could be "alive" while "dead" in Mamizou's story. When she "died" before, the her from the timeline where Alex had been sealed away in the Boundary replaced her here.

Thus, no matter how hard Alex tries, there is no way for him to kill her in any way that matters physically OR spiritually.

Driven to the drink of ultimate despair, Alex cracks and in doing so, awakens the power of darkness within himself...Much to his confusion.

Yet Yukari knows all, and tells all. She states how Alex knows nothing about anything, least of all himself, or the truth of his heritage.

She uses the Border of Light and Darkness to cut off Alex's new powers and then tears him apart mentally with the power of the boundary.

When she's had her fill, she throws him back into Shina's lap a catatonic person. Yukari then apologizes for the grief Shina's suffered and reveals how she timed things out to the letter so the pathway the artifact led them on would intersect with Gensokyo.

As repentance, Yukari opens a gap that will take her back on course to where the Cosmos Drive is located. Shina, however, draws her sword and Yukari and with anger as cold as the coldest ice...Threatens to kill her if she ever, EVER, does anything to Alex ever again.

Yukari takes the threat seriously and bids Shina farewell, creating a bubble that shall sustain their travels the remainder of the way.

Shina carries the weakened Alex onto it and departs...

But Yukari is not quite done yet. Alex is still alive after all, and there can be no cause for doubt that his frightening strength be stopped.

For see, all this time she had been in contact with another regarding the tales she tells for each world. A man who is quite familiar with the Elemental Overlord's legacy in more ways than one...And loathes the interloper who corrupted all he held dear.

He is a man with one name, and with it comes an engulfing tidal wave of fear and concern...Justek Arcavira.

A month passes by before Alex starts to get back to something resembling. Shina sits by his side as much as she can, 24/7, to ensure he'll be comfortable when he awakens.

They eventually arrive at a place unlike anything they had seen so far. A part of the universe where space is fully breathable, and full of wondrous life. The depths of space are bright blue, and far away is the brightest, bluest cluster of stars they had ever laid their eyes on.

There is where the Cosmos Drive lies. Finally, they are at their final destination.

Shina lets Alex be for a bit on one of the many planetoids so she can explore around. She wanders across what was supposed to be an extinct kind of berry tree, and replenishes her energy just off one of their sweet blessings.

She decides to try and bring one back to help Alex out too.

But before she arrives, she is greeted by the curious voice belonging to a total stranger. All she knows is that he sounds like an old man, and seems to be familiar with her kind.

Shina believes them to be the Grand Cosmic Aurian Sage, but they are instead another figure from the past...With a connection to Auris, her mother. And they too, can see the future.

With that power, he's been able to see the painful lengths they've gone through to make it this far. He is inspired by what she's accomplished in particular.

Shina wants to be on guard around this person, but finds it hard to believe how polite they are. However, she has to ask why this man, Justek Arcavira, is speaking to her to begin with.

Turns out he has some important information to impart, and shall leave her alone once he's done.

Without giving away his connection to Yukari, Justek tries to act as a neutral party to the whole issue of the Phoenix of Destruction.

Shina can only curse him out, wondering why so many people have it out for Alex.

Justek only has the future of everything in his thoughts. The lives of so many are riding on this one last moment to stop the Phoenix of Destruction from being born...A burden that is now to be placed on Shina.

Shina absolutely, positively refuses. To the bitter end she believes in Alex's character.

Yet Justek reminds her of just what his 田haracter entails. He is a bitter soul who shall always yearn for destruction. Shina's kind in her attempt to save his soul, but love is not enough to cure him.

Justek relates this current dilemma to a story from his past, about a certain someone who could never change themselves. And though Justek admired that man's strength of character, he cannot deny that said strength led to his fall.

And he will not allow another to foolishly believe in one who cannot change. Not when the future can still be rewritten.

So it is with great regret that Justek takes advantage of the flaws in Shina's mind to control her against her will, and in turn, have her draw her blade against the one she loves the most...

Only at the very last second does Shina manage to divert her blade away from Alex's heart. But the damage is done, and Yukari Yakumo takes advantage of the situation from here to furthier sow discord between the two.

With Alex so easily broken by the earlier encounters, he falls for Yukari's hallucinations that depict Shina as a traitor to him all along...

The fake taunts him, stating how she was working for Gravitus the entire time to get the Cosmos Drive, and that Alex was a fool for believing her.

But in reality, Shina is trying, begging for Alex to hear her...Yet nothing's getting through.

Enraged by the last betrayal he either needed nor expected, Alex lashes out, beginning a terrible battle that never should have happened in any timeline...

Shina desperately tries to hold Alex back, doing everything she can to keep him from activating his sword. Alex thrusts him at her relentlessly, continuing to fall for the fake's lies.

The battle escalates over and over again, threatening to engulf this entire space in their bitter duel. Shina activates the Gunslinger Drive and eventually the Valkyrie Drive, refusing to lose her determined will to save his life.

And her voice slowly begins to slip through, as both her and him flash back to all the key moments that brought them to this point in time.

The planetoids around them are swept up in a maelstrom of fire until ultimately, Shina forces Alex down to the ground and starts wailing on him to beat Yukari's influence out of his head.

Alex is not only plagued by her deception, but also the whispers of his other self. Feeling nothing but anger and sadness and destructive impulses, Alex is becoming little more than a feral beast.

Yet Shina STILL believes in him, not because of any sense of righteousness now, but because he believed in her all this time.

Ultimately its Shina's focused determination that allows her to cut through Alex's aura and render him immobile. Believing she can finally snap him out of it with words while he's unconscious, she failed to realize a dangerous truth about Alex Whiter...

While its true that she cut down AN aura, it was not his...It was the embodiment of the Elemental Overlord's spirit. Alex Whiter's aura...is pure black darkness, and with it, he devolves into a mindless beast hellbent on ending her life.

Shina fights him off with the very, very last depths of her strength, pleading with him to listen.

And in one last moment of self-preservation, she finds her sword plunged through his chest.

He comes to his sense, too little, too late.

What he awakens to are genuine tears of grief she's shedding for him. And worst of all, he is going to die.

The moment she pulls her sword from his chest, and she will have to to save her family, he's finished. They both know this, but only he accepts it.

With his last breaths, Alex confesses to all his hypocrisy and mistakes, most of all making her cry. He convinces her not to go after Yukari in vengeance, as Yukari was only after him...

And then, Alex forces her off of him with one last mighty gale, accepting the cold embrace of death, so he can depart from this world forever...

...If only it could be so simple.

Once more, the Gaia Temporis has control over his life, and rewinds his own time to restore his body back to normal.

And with this revival, Alex can only curse his existence once more.

He can no longer feel Shina, nor is he even certain how long its been since she departed...Or if she's even alive.

He doesn't want to confront this fact. Rather, he'd prefer to deal with a more important matter...Yukari Yakumo.

SHE hurt Shina, made them hurt each other. He can't let that stand, nor does he wish to allow anymore evil to persist in the universe in general.

If he is to be the Phoenix of Destruction, then he'll turn his destruction upon evil alone.

And his first targets? The Lunarians of Gensokyo...And then Yukari Yakumo herself.

There is nothing left to say otherwise. A final battle awaits him, on HIS terms this time...

Part 4.5 Story 8 END