Foreword: Hey, sorry guys...I've been extremely busy for the past days, and I apologize for delivering this chapter so late. This is the start of a new arc...so I hope you'll enjoy as much as I do, or even more! Please tell me what you think! Until the next chapter then!
Touhou Duel Masters Cafe
Chapter 17 - Start of a Neverending Story
"Ho…You are the two duelists that brought Duel Masters here in the first place…" A smile crossed Remilia's lips as she surveyed the two worn out boys in front of her. "You have my thanks for bringing this form of entertainment here."
"A, ah…" They bowed slightly, unsure of what response would be appropriate.
"Sakuya." The vampire clicked her fingers, and the next instant, her silver-haired maid was presenting two cups of hot red tea to the duo. "This is the most expensive type of tea in my mansion. Consider it as a gift from me."
"Ah… Thank you." Carefully taking the apparently pricey cup, Michael took a small sip, and his eyes widened at the taste. "…It's good."
Remilia's smile widened at the praise, as her wings fluttered happily behind her.
"…" Taking note of this obvious excitement, Jonathan took a taste of the red tea as well."…There's no blood in this tea right?"
"Of course not. This tea was reserved just for you, you have my word." The vampire promised. "This is only the 2nd instance that I have made this tea for someone from outside my mansion. Fortunately…it seems that you treasure this tea much more than the first person I offered it to."
"Excuse me for not understanding your tastes." Reimu grumbled as she sat in the shrine, drinking along with Marisa, Sanae and Alice.
"Haha…Excuse Reimu." Michael laughed dryly. "She's been like that since she was small…" Said shrine maiden just rumbled in response and downed another cup of sake.
"Oh… So Reimu-san has always been this lazy and bad-mouthed since she was small?" Sanae asked with an innocent face, and Reimu shot a glare at the green shrine maiden while Marisa burst out laughing.
"Ma…" The black-haired boy just laughed lightly as Reimu's gaze was redirected towards him, and he coughed and stopped himself.
Jonathan handed the empty cup back to Sakuya and nodded his praise of the drink, while the maid smiled in return, and the cup and dish in her hand disappeared the next moment.
"Fufu… To see the people who have raised Reimu and Marisa as duelists… It is a pleasure indeed." Remilia said. "It would be an even greater one if you would accept a challenge?"
"Thank you very much for your praise, Miss Remilia." Michael answered. "But we are quite tired for today. May I ask you to put off this duel to another day?"
"I see, I shall put off the challenge then until later then." The vampire did seem not at all displeased with the rejection. "I hope that time will be soon."
"Thank you."
"In return, I would like to have a taste of your coffee, if that is possible." Remilia told the two café masters. "I have heard from Sakuya that your drinks are quite tasty, even rivaling that of hers. She doesn't give that compliment often."
"It would be a pleasure to have you taste our coffee." Jonathan answered humbly. "If you would visit our café tomorrow, we would be sure to make a nice cup of coffee for you."
"That is good then."
"Muh…" Reimu slumped on the table. "Getting intimate with everyone so fast…"
"…" Marisa evidently wasn't too happy with Jonathan getting friendly with the guests too.
"Fufu…Getting jealous are we?" A gap opened, and Yukari's upper body leaned on the border of it. "So cute~"
"Chi… Mind your business, Yukari." Reimu and Marisa clicked their tongues said in unison.
"Oh my~ I'm hurt." Yukari's expression was contrary to her words. "You should understand them trying meld in after being gone for 10 years. Much has changed…and they need to adjust to Gensokyou again."
"I know…but I still don't like it." Marisa pouted and sipped her sake. "Hah…"
"…It's not often that we see such expressions on Reimu-san and Marisa-san's faces." Sanae stifled yet another chuckle.
"Yes… It's quite a sight." Alice agreed with her, and eyed the two boys, who have begun a reunion with Rinnosuke and started to exchange some banter, while Jonathan thanked the shop owner for taking care of Marisa all this time.
In her boredom, Marisa searches her pockets and takes out the few cards she picked up in Muenzuka along with Reimu.
"…I wonder how I'll put these to use…" She mumbled, and Yukari narrowed her eyes at the cards, but pursed her lips and decided not to say anything.
Reimu also examined the cards she picked up closely for the first time since she obtained them.
"These don't fit me that much…but I suppose they might be of some use later on." She commented as she tucked them away in a small wooden box and sighed. "I suppose my deck is enough for now…"
"Fufu… It's always better to have spares." Yukari expanded her fan. "Well, I'll be leaving for now~"
"Don't come back again." Reimu grumbled, and Yukari disappeared back into her gap after leaving a small chuckle. "Sanae, pour me some more sake!"
"Hai hai, Reimu-san." The green shrine maiden obeyed.
The two boys returned to the shrine some time later, even more fatigued now from the various conversation they had with the residents who arrived after their sealing.
"Hah…I'm worn out already…" Michael stumbled into the shrine and lay on the floor, unmoving.
"Me too…" Letting out an audible sigh, Jonathan sat beside his partner and massaged himself.
"And I'm sure you two had a jolly good time." Marisa came over and pinched Jonathan's waist hard.
"Owowowow! I'm sorry!" He apologized in pain, and Marisa let go of him while plopping herself on his lap.
"Hmph!"
"Yareyare…"
Reimu, on the other hand, thrust a cup of sake into Michael's hands, much to his chagrin.
"You know I don't like alcohol much…"
"Drink." She ordered. There wasn't another available choice judging from her tone.
"Ugh…" Looking at the cup, Michael could only gulp down the alcoholic drink. "Bleh… Bitter…"
"You and your sweet tooth." Reimu refilled Michael's cup.
"Eh…"
"Hehe… It's fun to see Reimu-san and Marisa-san's reactions like this." Sanae chuckled and downed some more sake too, her face getting red from the amount she consumed, and laughed some more as Jonathan squirmed uncomfortably from Marisa's weight on his lap.
"Hm…" The more reserved Alice just continued to take small sips from her cup, while keeping an eye on Michael, who was forced to drink yet another cup of sake by the red-white.
The small vampire, accompanied by her maid, also joined in this small party again, and presented some more tea to the two duelists, who happily accepted them, especially Michael, who was in desperate need to neutralize the amount of alcohol he consumed.
And thus the banquet continued its second night, amidst the noise and music and dancing.
The crowd has dispersed, and the shrine ground was nearly deserted, save for the few who had stayed in the shrine. All was quiet around the small mountain that the shrine was located on, and total darkness settled upon them, as the moon hid behind the clouds and only a few lamps around the shrine illuminated it.
Washing his face with the small spring at the back of the shrine, Jonathan let out a sigh of exhaustion. The party had dragged on much longer than he thought, and the remaining girls were resting in the shrine.
Rubbing his head, he retuned to the sacred building and found the girls all asleep, while Michael was slowly tucking them into the spare futons he found. He too was on the verge of falling asleep, and he could barely keep his eyelids open in the dead of night.
"Hawa…." Letting off a tired yawn, Michael tucked the last person, Reimu, into bed, and covered her with a thin blanket.
"Good night mate…" His head slumped on the small table, and he was in his dreams before he even noticed it.
"Night…" Jonathan too, was fast asleep in no time.
It was only when the shrine was embalmed in dead silence that two small spheres of light expanded from a small box and Marisa's pocket, and eventually encased every person in the shrine.
Marisa awoke to the sound of muffled explosions, as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She surveyed her surroundings. "…!?"
It wasn't the shrine. Bolting right up, she checked her belongings and attire. Her broom was gone, but her Hakkero and hat were still here. The other girls, Reimu, Alice, Sanae, Remilia and Sakuya were still asleep, in their usual clothes.
"What is this place…" Looking around, she found some stuff she had a vague idea of in her mind. A small, flat box that seems like a "television"…and another box on the wall that Rinnosuke described as an "air conditioner"…
…The outside world…?
Looking outside the window, her eyes widened. Jonathan and Michael had their shields expanded, dueling two figures that she couldn't make out from this distance. Turning to the other sleeping girls, she rudely shook them awake, Reimu mumbling her annoyance. "Girls! We have a problem here!" Marisa waved her hands at her waking friends.
"Wha… This is?" Sanae was the first out of them to notice their surroundings. "The outside world?"
"Oh right, you're originally from the outside world…" Reimu remembered. "So this is the outside world…" The shrine maiden scanned the modern-looking furniture and appliances around them.
"Yes…this definitely looks like the outside world." Sanae nodded.
"Heh…so the outside world has changed so much in just a decade…" Remilia remembered the times when her mansion was still outside the Great Border.
"Whatever! We need to get outside now!" Marisa told them, and pointed to the window.
"Michael and Jonathan are dueling…?" Alice peered at them. "With whom…?"
"We'll know once we get outside! Let's go!" Not waiting for the other girls, Marisa grabbed her hat and rushed out the door.
"Chi…What's with this annoying situation again…" Reimu complained and followed her friend outside.
BGM: Pandemonium of Parade (Rin House Set ~ Scarlet Devil Mansion)
They arrived the see the duels between the 4 duelists, already heating up at this point.
"You belong with us! You're our friends! Why don't you understand! Have you been brainwashed?" A young man with his hair tied behind him and a band covering both his eyes questioned, as he broke one of Michael's shields with Sagrada Familia.
"Kuh…Chitose…! I know you aren't the real Chitose I know… Although you resemble him in every aspect…" The shattered shield reformed in Michael's hands. "My turn! I summon Berlin!" The bell-shaped Hedrian Hunter materialized on his field. "Turn End."
"I AM Chitose. She's Haruna!" The young man Michael called Chitose pointed to a black-haired girl who's hair was tied into a ponytail. "Why don't you remember?! I summon Southern Renaissance!" The Angel Command Dragon appeared beside Sagrada Familia and Start Dash Achorite. "I draw 2 cards with Southern Renaissance's ability."
"Michael!" Reimu called out, and he shifted his attention to her.
"Reimu! Girls! You're awake!"
Chitose's and Haruna's attention turned towards them too.
"Who are they?" Haruna shot the question at Jonathan. "It's not the Pleiades either…"
"They're…they're are friends." Jonathan answered. "They our new friends now, and the least I can do is put you to rest this time for sure!"
"I understand now…You've been brainwashed by these people!" Chitose exclaimed. "Don't worry… As your friend and colleague, I will definitely return you to normal!"
"Hey!" Marisa protested, but of course she was ignored.
"Kuh…what a good flow for Chitose's deck…!" Michael gritted his teeth as he drew his card. "I cast Divine Punishment! I destroy Southern Renaissance and tap Berlin on my field."
"My turn, draw!" Chitose declared. "I summon Sagrada Famila for one mana, and evolve him into Silence Topaz!" The Initiate was bathed in a white light and evolved into the Outrage that looked like a flying saucer. "Now no one can cast cost 4 or more spells during their turn! Sagrada Familia! Shield Break! Topaz! Double Break!"
Michael's 3 more shields vanished. "!"
"Shield Trigger! Inga's Mixture Kilt! I tap Achorite." The Light Oracle pointed her staff at the Outrage and rendered him powerless.
"…Turn End." Chitose said.
"My turn. I summon Zorro Star!" Michael summoned the monochrome Oracle. "Battle! I attack Familia with Kilt." Kilt rushed at the Initiate, and a swift swing of her staff destroyed Sagara Familia. "End Phase. I destroy the tapped Kilt with Zorro Star's effect, and I bring out Sacred Cavalry Alternative. With Alternative's effect, I destroy Topaz since Zorro Star is on my field. Turn End."
"Draw! I summon Schreiber. Turn End." Chitose summoned the Initiate.
"Draw… I summon Mist Rias…Turn end." Michael ended his turn quickly too.
"My turn! I summon Sagrada Familia. Then I summon Southern Renaissance and draw 3 cards!" The Angel Command Dragon appeared once more.
"Kuh…I draw 2 cards." Michael used Mist Rias's ability.
"Turn End."
"…Chitose 's mono White rush is as strong as usual…" Michael pondered. "He has 4 attackers and 3 hands…" Then…!
"My turn. I cast Hyperdimensional Shiny Hole and tap Southern Renaissance! I bring out Victorious Prin and target Sagrada Familia with her effect. I draw 1 card with Msit Rias's effect… Then I attack Southern Renaissance with Alternative!" The Oraclion and Angel Command Dragon pierced each other with their weapons, and exploded in two explosions.
"Heh…He really isn't bad." Remilia commented, under the shade of an umbrella Sakuya found. "He's holding himself fairly nicely against that rush."
"…I haven't seen him use monochrome Acid before…" Reimu told the vampire. "…Hey! Is that the Acid you gave me!?"
"Sorry! I just wanted to try something out for a little!" Michael replied apologetically.
"Don't you dare lose!" Reimu crossed her arms. "You'll make me look bad!"
"…" Chitose stared at the girls through his eye band. "My turn. I summon Raiden and tap Berlin! Then I cast Diamond Sword!"
"Na…!" Michael could already foresee the end of this duel from this spell.
"With Diamond Sword's effect, Prin's effects is now useless. Sagrada Familia! Break Michael's final shield!"
"…Kuh…" Michael stared at his final shield. "Apocalypse Day…"
"Oh my…" Sanae couldn't find any words at all.
"I'll snap you out of this! Raiden, todomeda!"
"Uwahhh!" The former Cancer duelist was thrown back as the Arc Seraphim delivered the final blow, landing on the floor as he lost consciousness.
BGM: Lucifer Battle (Duel Masters Versus OST)
"Let's continue!" Haruna declared as she shifted her attention back to Jonathan from the girls' interruption. "I summon Gil Gil Puppet Kodamanma! I return one shield from my hand… Strike Back! Duel Shock Dragon!" The red Armored Dragon materialized, letting out a loud roar. "I send of my shields to my graveyard with Dual Shock Dragon's effect."
"Sacrificing her shields for speed huh…" Sakuya observed. "It's risky…"
"But against a deck like Danmaku Fernando… It's more than enough." Marisa explained, as she realized Jonathan took her unused deck also.
"Heh… So the little rat gets stolen from too?" Remilia smirked, to which Marisa snorted in return.
"Braid Claw! Break Jonathan's first shield!" The Dragonoid that fought since the dawn of Duel Masters smashed through one shield with his claws.
"Shield Trigger! Ultramotion Rage Crystal! I destroy Kodamanma…" Jonathan bit his lip and destroyed the Death Puppet.
"My turn… I cast Bone Dance Charger and drop the top two cards of my deck to my graveyard. Bone Dance Charger goes to my mana. Turn End…" He was starting to regret this deck choice now.
"My turn. I summon Onikirimaru!" The Unnoise Humanoid materialized, and immediately rushed at another shield due to his Speed Attacker. "Onikirimaru! Braid Claw! Break Jonathan's second and third shield! Dual Shock Dragon! Break his last shields too!"
"Guh…!" All 4 shields vanished in an instant. "Haruna…!"
"Jonathan!" Marisa called out desperately.
"My turn… I cast Fortification against Barrage and Ambush!" Jonathan declared as his deck revealed itself one by one until it reached Fernando the 7th. "I destroy all creatures with power 10500 or less…" All 3 of Haruna's creatures vanished in an instant, engulfed in a barrage of bullets that rained down from the sky. "Turn End."
"Jonathan…I'll wake you up with this! My turn! I summon Onikirimaru! Battle! Onikirimaru! Todomeda!"
"Gaaahh!" Jonathan landed heavily beside Michael, who had been defeated at approximately the same time.
"Michael!""Jonathan!" The girls tried to reach the two defeated boys, but Chitose blocked their path as Haruna gathered up the two boys. They could feel his fiery gaze; even through the eye mask he wore.
"I would condemn you here and now for using our friends like this…" He told them. "But we've got more important stuff to take care of now."
"Hey! Listen to us…!" Reimu started, but the two duelists had already vanished, taking Michael and Jonathan with them.
"Gr….!" Reimu growled in frustration. "What's up with those people! Just taking them like that…"
"…" Alice, who stayed silent the whole time, now spoke up. "They called those two Chitose and Haruna…and they obviously know them too."
"Maybe…this is their previous world?"
"How is that possible?" Sanae asked. "Wasn't their world destroyed by Shangri-La?"
"I do not know." Alice shook her head, much to the others' disappointment.
"…When I used my powers to try to sense their fate…" Remilia said as she crossed her arms. "I couldn't sense anything."
"There are only two possibility when my powers fail. One is when the target is able to block off my powers. The second…is when their fate has already ended."
"…" The girls became silent at that.
"You mean…" Marisa gulped. "They're dead already?"
"…But they seemed so real…and they even defeated Michael and Jonathan…" Reimu pursed her lips. "This doesn't seem like an illusion or a revival of a dead person…"
"..." Even Sakuya did not know how to explain this situation.
As the girls stood there, not knowing what to do, they heard two panting voices coming towards their direction. Turning their heads, they saw two girls running towards them, panting and out of breath, and stopped in front of them to take large gulps of air.
"Eh…Are you alright?" Sanae asked them, a little worried about the girl. Taking a close look, one of them was in a long blue dress, with short hair matching the color of her clothes, and a small cap on her head. The other girl was a little shorter than her companion, a large hood over her short deep purple hair and a piece of cloth accentuating her breasts, which was clearly larger then Reimu or Marisa's. Taking a small peek at Sakuya, Alice found the maid's hands trying to for the dagger on her legs.
"…"
"I'm sorry…" The blue-haired girl panted between gasps. "Have you seen two boys with glasses, one with white hair and one with black hair passing by?"
"…" Reimu stared at the two girls, a little dangerously at the hooded girl's breasts. "…Do you mean Michael and Jonathan?"
"Yes!" The capped girl brightened at this. "Have you seen them?"
"…Before we answer that… What is your relationship with them…?" Marisa narrowed her eyes at the girls.
"Eh…" The capped girl's face reddened. "We're…we're just colleagues."
"….Ho…" Reimu responded in a flat tone, not at all convinced by this answer.
"Why would you ask such a question?" Shaking the embarrassment out of her cheeks, the capped girl asked in return.
"Because we are the ones who will become their lifetime partners from now on!" Marisa declared proudly, to which the two girls widened their eyes in complete shock.
"Wha… What are you saying!" The capped girl stuttered as the hooded girl bristled with malevolence at the girls. "I… I…"
"And what are you going do about it? Hm?" Reimu smirked tauntingly at them, and the hooded girl seemed to get even more furious than before.
"Kuh…! We've answered your question! Now it's you turn to answer ours!" The blue haired girl fumed.
"…Ah. We came with them. They just got abducted by two guys named Chitose and Haruna." Marisa told them. "You know anything about them?"
"Chitose and Haruna… The Constellations?" The capped girl rubbed her chin. "But why?"
"Constellations…?" Marisa's memory winded backwards to the day they met "Subaru". "…!"
"You know them?" Marisa grabbed the hooded girl by the shoulders, startling her.
The girl opened her mouth, but no sound came out whatsoever.
"Please calm down." The capped girl peeled Marisa's arms away from her companion. "The Constellations are where they belong for now…"
"Constellations…so this is really their original world? But why…" Alice could not find a reasonable answer for this question, and she hugged her grimoire tight as Shanghai perched sadly on her shoulder.
"…? What are you talking about?" The capped girl turned to Alice.
"Ah…It's nothing."
"…Anyways, we'll be leaving for the Constellations base." After cocking her head curiously at the puppeteer, the capped girl told them.
"…Wait. We'll be coming with you. We can't leave them there." Reimu said. "Not in this place."
"…Huh?"
"…Lead the way. We'll explain as we go on."
"…." As they started to walk, something caught Sakuya's eye. In a second, she was holding two cards in her hand. Acid and Fernando.
The capped girl, who they learned was named Levia, crossed her arms as she tried to comprehend what the other girls told her.
"So you're from the future…?"
"That is what we can deduce from the information we have at hand." The 500-year old vampire answered. "However…there are too much inconsistencies that we cannot explain."
"…" The hooded girl, Karma, remained silent as she listened to the conversation.
"…" Levia didn't seem to be very trusting of these new visitors to this place, especially after their "life-long companion" statement earlier. Neither was Karma.
"Regardless of the truth of your words…there is one thing I can be sure…" Levia stopped and turned to Marisa. "I…We will not give them up to you so easily!"
Karma nodded furiously, her hood nearly falling off.
"Heh…" Reimu's and Marisa's hands reached for their decks. "I'd be glad to show you we're the most suited to stand beside them…!"
"Likewise…!" Levia and Karma reached for their decks also, the 4 girls soon found a dozen spears at their throat, each held by a puppet that seemed to appear out of nowhere.
"It is no time to be fighting now." Alice told them coolly. "I suggest you calm down a little and fully assess the situation at hand."
"…" The girls reluctantly stopped, and the horde of puppets disappeared into thin air with a wave of Alice's hand.
"Please continue to lead the way." Alice motioned, and Levia glared at Marisa and Reimu before resuming her walk.
"To stop even Reimu-san and Marisa-san…" Sanae could feel respect for Alice welling up inside her.
Remilia eyed the puppeteer, and a smile crossed her lips as she continued to wake under the shade of the umbrella.
It was another 10-minute walk before they reached a tall building that looked somewhat out of place compared to the relatively short buildings surrounding it.
"…We're here."
"…" Marisa looked at it.
"…I don't have a good feeling about this…" Reimu muttered.
As if responding to her sentence, the sky started to turn dark, expanding from the top of the building.
"…" Remilia motioned for Sakuya to put away the umbrella. "…Seems there will be trouble. Be on guard, everyone."
Then the sky rumbled, and the sun was blotted out.
Everything was thrown into darkness.
Decks:
Michael: Monochrome Acid
Jonathan: Danmaku Fernando
Chitose: Mono White Rush
Haruna: Mono Fire Rush