Warning, A Gore warning is in effect for this chapter for those that dislike it. you have been warned
Silence, just pure silence was shared between the duo heading to Shibuya 109, Ziden and Remilia, taking on a more adult form while traveling with him, her wings flapping proudly behind her.
"..."
"..."
No words spoken for a moment but soon Remilia broke the silence entirely.
" You don't have to act tough, if you want to cry, cry, its not wise to hold in your emotions, I know." Remilia said while side eying him as he gazed at her.
" Coming from you, how funny, I'm fine. We just need to destroy this hell and get everything back to normal." Ziden said while looking at her.
" I heard you in your room, I heard you cry to sleep." Ziden soon looks forward. " I know what you are going through and why, you have to remain strong for the people who do not know you, the ones who look to you to save them from this hell."
"..."
" The mantle of a leader is heavy, I know, but amongst us, your friends, do not let your pride cause you to crack in a high stress situation." Remilia was gving advice about Pride, she herself has been acting the same way as him.
" Right, I'll do that when you practice what you preach blood breath." Ziden said, hearing a huff from the vampire.
" Honestly. Do what you want, you break apart, we will be there to rebuild you. No matter what." Remilia said as they now stood before the building and soon headed inside of it, seeing that the lights were still on, even right now.
" So this is where ole Monk face is hanging out?" ziden asked while looking at the Escalators moving up and down as Remilia tilts his head at the sight.
" Moving stairs, how...fascinating." Remilia said before walking right over to them and soon standing on a step and seeing herself being brought up.
' Gives me a speech like that and she's excited like a kid at a candy store on this stuff.' Ziden said while going up right behind her.
" And for your information, I have a name, it is not Monk face." Ziden shuddered before seeing the warm smile of Byakuren behind them, holding bags of food and drinks.
" You can also not do that, scared me senseless." Ziden said while Remilia reached the upper floors and saw a familiar dog keeping the area tidy.
" Please, come on inside, I am sure that you guys will find it nice here." Byakuren soon moves past the young girl, waving to her and entering inside the impromptu temple.
Shibuya ( Shin Megami Tensei Noctrune)
The temple was nice to look at, seems she was hard at work here these past few weeks since Gensokyo fell, There were a small amount of people here, hearing the voices of a couple, the same couple that he heard on the radio, atleast they made it.
" Welcome to the New Myouren Temple, its not much, but I have been keeping any humans and stray Youkai here for their safety." Byakuren said before heading to the kitchen area and placing down the food, gently looking at the fridge that was brought to her by one of the oni youkai.
" Alot nicer than I was expecting honestly." Once Ziden stepped foot inside, he felt a tingle through his body, one that Remilia felt as well.
' This sensation..!'
' A heavy bloodlust roars through this place...we're perceived as threats'
Ziden and Remilia feel mass unease as they head inside and he soon goes to sit down.
" It is good to see you two but I am confused, from what I recalled, you died Ziden." Byakuren said while Ziden sighed.
" So I heard from Xiaomu, when We get back I will have to ask exactly what you guys mean." Ziden said while Byakuren was confused.
" What? What do you mean get back?" Byakuren stares at him as Remilia spoke up.
" Contrary to what you think, many others in Gensokyo Survived this and are hiding out somewhere, we came here to get your crew and take you there." Remilia said as Byakuren thinks for a moment.
" You are not lying Miss Scarlet, very well, we can go but, there are some Youkai in the back room I should talk to." She was seen getting up. " I've not seen neither Nazrin or Shou for a while since I sent them back there to feed them dinner last night." Byakuren looked nervous about this but shakes it off and heads to the back of the temple.
Ziden and Remilia look to each other and follow her, seeing her knock on the large green doors, Remilia's nose violently shook. " Blood...tons of human blood behind there."
Ziden heard this as he heard a voice speak through the door.
" A NEW PLACE TO LIVE? FAT CHANCE, THIS PLACE IS THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE! WE AIN'T MOVING NOWHERE NUN SO GO BACK TO PRAYING AND SAVING HUMANS!" The Youkai's yell reached out to Ziden and his eyes became more focused.
" But that place has more of your kind there no doubt! And with so many more strong people there, you all can be safe!" Byakuren pleaded as Ziden slowly approached the door.
Even he could smell the blood but Byakuren couldn't? Traces of magic, he could feel it, this door is...he sees now.
" I CARE NOT. THIS PLACE IS A PARADISE, IF SOMETHING COMES WE SHALL SQUASH IT, EVEN IF BISON HIMSELF COMES! WE REMAIN HERE!"
"...He is far too stubborn but as a guide to both species, i cannot leave him here...sorry, but i shall remain here." Byakuren said as Ziden pushed her to the side. " What? Ziden!?" Ziden reared up his leg and kicked the doors right down, letting the lights of the room come on, though the sight within made him wish, they had not seen what occurred in this room. " This is!?"
The inside of the room was a literal bloodbath, corpses and limbs strewn about the room, teeth markings upon them indicating that they were feasted on, men, women, children, even in their conditions, he could tell that this was a cruel endeavor. " This explains alot,no wonder why did not see as much people as expected." Remilia said as she stepped into the room.
Ziden's eyes scanned along the room, not only torn apart bodies but organs strewn about as well, intestines, hearts, lungs, stomachs, chewed into and devoured as his eyes comes to a sight that he could tell was not a bearable sight, a body in a grey dress, upon a table with a club smashing in where the head would be where it should be. the head was far too damage but the sound of someone dropping to the ground from behind them. It was Byakuren, in shock from what she saw.
Nazrin was upon that table, torn asunder and feasted upon by the being they could see now, a hulking beast, red of skin and wearing purple clothes, that giant horn upon its head, he knew what this was. " An oni demon...not of the Youkai variety either."
The oni could be seen sneering. " Useless woman, you let a fanged punk into here and a useless human in here?" His voice was no long as booming as Byakuren struggled to speak. " Heh, see that you noticed my meal on the table, she was being loud when i was feasting on her so." The oni was seen going to stand up and taking the massive club like sword out from what her head was, stained in the blood left behind.
" N-Nazrin...this is why I could not find her...why...would you do this...?" Byakuren was confused before the creature laughed and was seen holding up something behind him, the bod of Shou being held up by arm. " No...not Shou too!"
" Relax, you worthless fleshbag, she still lives, been feasting on this one slowly, Tigers...are so delectable to feast on." An audible tear was heard before a scream was heard from Shou, seeing her plummet to the floor minus an arm. And that arm would be seen being chomped right on, flesh and muscle tearing and being devoured by the oni.
"...The reason people kept vanishing...I was told by you that they were going back home...you lied to me." Byakuren stated as she struggled to contain her grief as Ziden's eyes noticed that tied up and gagged Ichirin.
" They were foolish enough to come back here and be devoured by me, that's the folly of humans, the lesser race, alongside their Youkais." The oni slammed his blade down into the floor and making it shake as Shou struggled to crawl away. The Oni's eyes focused down on the woman trying to get away.
" B-byakuren, run...this creature...is a monster!" Shou tried to move and Ziden tried to stop what was coming before he saw that blade stab down into her, the laughter of the Oni ringing through the room. Ziden could hear the unholy scream coming from Byakuren, the scream of sorrow laced with rage.
" Demons...they really are disgusting beings." Remilia said while going to step forward before stopping Remilia and walking forward.
" Oh? You just gonna come to me then human? I'm still quite hungry, I am sure you will taste good mixed with Rat." The oni was seen pulling his blade out of Shou, the auras of the room told him, Shou still lived but Nazrin was beyond gone. Ichirin was entirely fine it seems, her heart rate high but seeing people close to his friend dying or dead.
"...Byakuren, close your eyes, I don't want you to see my work in action with your pure eyes." Ziden simply stated as she simply complied, blackness taking her as she heard the clashing of blades 3 times before the demon screamed and something loud hitting the ground.
"HOLY...HELL...WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU...! NO HUMAN SHOULD BE ABLE TO PIERCE MY FLESH!" The oni could be heard cowering and holding up its remaining arm, Byakuren fought the urge to look, her eyes wavering and wanting to open. " WAIT, DON'T KILL ME, I'M SORRY!"
" How many times have you heard those words from your victims? Demons like you, are the ones I can't stand, slaughtering for no reason!" And Bykuren opened her eyes only to see Ziden's blade come down and behead the demon, the blood spray coating the room and even hitting parts of Byakuren's dress.
There was no more sound in the room, only the soft sobbing of Byakuren in the back as he looks back to her. "...You didn't deserve this at all...to have your kindness destroyed like this."
Ziden was seen gently bending down near Shou who was holding on by sheer willpower before gently pouring a potion onto the wound, watching her scream as the wound began to heal shut. A hellish pain but he knew it was better than dying, the male going to scoop up Shou as Remilia went to free Ichirin who looked at her comrade with sadness glazing her eyes as Byakuren stopped him.
" Wait...let me...get Nazrin...she should atleast the rite of being buried." Byakuren said while walking past him, her movements slow but she made sure to grab the remains of Nazrin.
Heroes are now solemnly walking back to HQ...
When they arrived, no words of praise were said, the kids that were playing stopped and stared at Byakuren, carrying her comrade, covered in a blanket, the couple at the temple following behind her. Ziden making his way down into the base and moving to where Eirin was at a brisk rate. Once he reached her office, no words were spoken as she quickly got her into the bed and went right to work after putting her to sleep.
"...To think, the worst these guys dealt with a battle of colorful balls, now they have to deal with the cruelty of War like this." Ziden said while sighing as Eirin looked at the body of Shou while hooking her up to the machines salvaged from hospitals.
" Yeah...the Lunar war toughened me up to seeing sights like this." Eirin said as he sees other people coming into the room, Reimu, Marisa, Yukari, even Byakuren came in. Xiaomu and Reiji came in with the man having cleaned up massively since Xiaomu's return.
" We fought those Ultima Brigade bastards only for Bison to come and do this. This world, can we really restore it to normal?" Marisa asked while Ziden nodded.
" Time is an odd thing but when its forcibly changed like this, destroy the source and the world returns to normal." Ziden explained as Romani appeared on a blue screen before Ziden.
" Wait, has this sort of thing happened before for you?" Romani asked while Ziden nods.
" Yeah, this isn't my first rodeo with something like, just the first time that I am learning it was caused by your world going up in flames. Guess Bison used something from that energy that did it and used it to shape this world to be his." Ziden thought.
" Do you believe it is that simple?" Ziden looked up to see Yorihime sitting down in the corner and looking at them.
" Yeah Ziden, for all we know, this could be something far bigger than just this." Reiji said while Ziden nods.
" Reiji could very well be right Ziden, the Incineration of Humanity seems to have even affected this world, whatever caused it, the start of that path to find the cause may all be started here." ziden sighs at Romani's words as Mash and Olga were peeking into the room.
" Well, that just means that i will have to solve this and see if the events are connected." Ziden said while leaning forward. " But first things first...I want to know right now, why did all of you think I was dead?"
A silence flows through the room as he can see the discomfort on everyone's face, even Eirin's.
"...If you really want to know, then very well, I'll tell you." Reimu looked to Yukari who sighed.
" It was a day after Gensokyo fell and Reimu died, we all headed to your mansion to be safe and i blocked the link between the Isle of Hope and Gensokyo.. But Bison found a way to connect the two somehow, or by some other means, Roxanne, you, Flandre and Reisen tried to fight the army as we escaped to an old hide out of yours in Shibuya. We saw everything was still running and set up. We thought you guys escaped and would meet us but..." Yukari looked off as the room slowly brightened up, taking everyone into the flashback.
Flashback...
Golbex Clad in Black ( Final Fantasy 4)
The Shibuya hideout was still in great condition, this was made in case of a Apocalypse tier event occurring in Japan and Ziden was sent in to deal with it, Yukari and the others settling in as they used one of the tvs to keep an eye on the news after many minutes of trying to figure out how it worked., once they did, they came across a sight they did not want to see.
A public execution for the enemies of Shockerloo and three familiar figures standing up on a wooden stage and chained up to prevent their escape.
Ziden, Reisen and Flandre, with Ziden looking the worse for wear, odd metal bars jammed into his legs and forcing his legs to be broken at odd angles. Reisen had alot of bruises on her visible skin and an wrap around her eyes to prevent her from gazing at all at anything with those lunatic eyes of hers. Flandre had steam coming from her cuffs, made from silver so they would not be breakable by her.
And the man himself stood above in a large scaffolding, M Bison, the air crackling with power around him as a korean woman stood next to him and most ominously, a Black clad knight stood next to him.
" People of this new Nation of Bison, behold, this is your last hope, your chance of your world returning to normal and free of my control, destroyed before your eyes. Those among the infernal Illusionary Heroes, let it be burned into your eyes when you see your allies die for opposing our will." Bison declared with arrogance, the organ music ominously playing as Ziden could be seen looking at Reisen.
Words too low to be heard but the movement of her lips, they were prayers, a hope that they would be saved like this was their last adventure. His eyes soon go to the right as he sees Flandre panickingly crying. " There there Flandre...just...don't cry. I am sorry, that you have to go through this."
" I'm scared...why isn't big sis here to save us like before?" Flandre asked as the ground shakes as he sees an executioner coming up the stairs with 4 Shocker Combatmen holding large blades, anti youkai metals it seems.
" She will...you just have to wait." He could see a bit of hope appear in her eyes for a moment before he felt a sharp pain through his chest, looking down to see a pitch black blade tearing through him. "...What, T-this sword?"
Reisen could hear it, the spilling of blood onto the wood and the terrified scream of Flandre, she could not see what was happening but she knew Flan knows Ziden could heal from anything so that meant whatever they did, was unholy.
Ziden watched his skin blacken as the night and began to fade away into Ash as he looked to the sky, the clouds over taking the sun entirely, the blade was dissolving his body and soul away as he feels himself fading away, he could hear Flandre screaming for him before his body vanished into Ash staining the ground, the massive executioner now motioning for the Combatmen to do their business.
" No matter, what you do to us, we will never give up. We will fight back to over throw the world you ruined. Doing this and showing the world will only empower these people to rise!" Reisen gave her rousing last words as one of the Shocker Generals laughed.
" You honestly believe that these weak humans will be roused by your deaths, de gaso! And here I thought you Moon people were smarter than this!" A large squid like man was watching this in a stand directly diagonal of Bison's as he soon motions for the Combatmen to do his work.
Reisen spoke no more words as Eirin watched her body soon be impaled with those large blades, seeing her shake from the impact, the way they aimed, they made sure to hit vital organs and make the death painstakingly slowly for her, one of them even throwing off her blindfold so she could watch Flandre;'s turn.
" Rejoice young girl, you will be reunited in death with these two, and you shall not be alone." The executioner looked down at the Vampire before seeing tears rain down her face, she wasn't even allowed to speak when the blades came through her heart at both sides, feeling intense pain and then nothing.
" Big...Sis...I'm...sorry." Flandre felt her body lose itself, and her eyes losing light before she fell forward, turning into ash as per the law of heart impalement to a vampire.
At the Corneo's mansion, he made sure to show her this so she would have her rage build in her heart, solely because he wanted such anger in her heart to increase her beauty.
The executioner left the stage as Reisen fell to the ground limp, slowly dragging herself to where Ziden and Flandre were. "...Don't...leave me alone...just like...in the war...don't go, without me..." Reisen was left there, unable to move, unable to breathe due to her lungs being pierced, her final words being one of a bitter memory of a war past.
Eirin forced herself to remain calm after seeing this but the roar of agony from Yukari scared everyone, Ziden dying was never a big deal to her, so they said nothing, hoping in their hearts he would return to them and fix this...he did not, in all that time they watched that monitor.
Back to the Present...
Ginza (Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne)
Ziden simply sat there in silence as everyone was forced to remember pains they buried, this was a true war, not the fun adventure they had last time. The bodies piling up on their side proved this heavily.
"...That blade, was that of the Onyx King, a weird Youkai I killed in the past, that sword traps your body and soul in the dimension inside of that blade. Its why he never came back, they wanted to seal him away." Ziden explained while letting out a sigh.
"...More importantly, from whatever that memory was, I could tell, the woman that stood next to that man in red, was a Servant. a Powerful one at that." Romani explained while Tsukasa was seen looking down outside of the room, eating a piece of cake.
" That's why everyone thought I was dead, they saw my die to that blade and didn't come back." Ziden softly sighed as he looks at everyone. " My past self died to that blade and is trapped in that blade dimension, he's not me, he doesn't know how to get out like I or you could, Yukari."
Yukari was not even paying attention at this point, simply lost in thoughts right now.
" Yeah, after that, those of Gensokyo who were here, just all left because they had no hope. Reimu was gone, you were gone, there was no hope in us anymore ze. I had to step up, take back our home and hope we can find a way to fix it all." Marisa said while gripping her broom.
" Hence why she went all control happy with power, she didn't want us getting anyone involved outside of this because they would likely die." Eirin explained while sitting back, her eyes closed.
" Well, I saw where that went, you dying and the only survivor at the end being Yukari." Ziden said while rubbing his knuckles, his rage was boiling over. " No Matter what happens, we are gonna stop Shocker and Shadowloo! No matter what it takes!"
" That's a perfect then!" Everyone turned to the door as a familiar Plumber walked into the room with a grin on his face. " We will make sure to help ya the best we can!"
" Hah! Glad to see you guys finally made it!" Reimu was smiling, seeing Mario and the smashers coming in, some that they remembered from the battle against Ultima.
Luigi came, Yoshi was there, Samus cloaked in her armor was there, Marth and Link came as well, the duo silent as he spots Pit and Palutena coming in as well. Even Fox and Falco came to this party.
" You were all that was free to aid us?" MArisa asked while looking at them before Sonic sped into the room, a grin on her face now. " We...can probably do this now!"
" I made sure to bring the Emeralds to this place too, but honestly, they have been acting wonky since we got here." Sonic runs his hand through one of his quills.
" It matters not, we should gather up all the allies we can and save as many as we can." Reimu said.
" Which means, we should gather the rest of the Kamen Riders we can find, along with anyone who is in this mess." Ziden nods while standing up. " Go ahead and get them all settled in." Ziden said while looking at everyone as they looked to each other and began to funnel out as he soon goes to leave, only to feel someone hugging him hard from behind.
Ziden could tell it was Yukari." Don't ever...let yourself die like that, understand..." Ziden could tell by her tone she was holding this in for a while.
" This is out of char for you, caring this much." Ziden said while gently looking back at her. " But don't worry, I won't die like that." Ziden softly looking to the door, his own tears flowing down his eyes.
"...Let me stay like this for a while."
"...Do this for as long as you need." Ziden said while gently closing his eyes before feeling a massive rumbling of the area that quickly snapped the duo out of it.
" A quake? No, something is moving above ground and its huge!" Ziden said as he looked out the door and he saw Shotaro running by and out of the base, the gaze in his eyes. " Yukari, i gotta go."
" Understood...stay safe." Yukari said before letting him go. " Hah, hard to believe I am feeling emotions like this again. Must be the perk of having a family."
" Might be, I will fix this world and fix our family to its fullest Yukari." Ziden said while running out after Shotaro, the sound of Glass shattering as he ran.
" You have reached the second Rank of the Boundary Arcana. continue to further bond you share."
Ziden could hear gunshots from above as he was now outside of the base and looking up at a peculiar sight, a massive plant in the distance, being attacked by 4 girls, and Shotard was already running out. Ziden looked behind him and seeing Marth coming out right behind him.
Tsukasa was not far behind, the group soon reaching the sight as the plant opened up. " You pesky girls, all I wanted was a nice meal and feast of your bones and use the remains to fertilize the soils, such annoying humans." A womanly figure emerged from the flower, Green skin but stark red hair, her body exposed but having vines along her skin, adorning it, her hair covering her chest.
" You...you're the one that attacked Futo!" Shotaro yelled out as the man glared at the demon.
" An Alraune huh, what a pain." Ziden said while cracking his knuckles as he sees two of the girls grabbed out of the air and slammed down right in front of the duo hard.
A blonde haired woman and a black haired girl. Their outfits looked alot like this world but the way they survived that impact.
" Yang! Blake! Are you two alright!?" And the one in Red soon runs over after firing bullets out of the scythe at the demon.
" We're alright Ruby, our Auras are going strong, even in this place!" The one named Yang got to her feet before looking at the duo behind them. " Whoa!"
" You kids clear out, this is a battle for adults." Shotaro stated while gazing at the demon.
" Hey, hold on now, this thing attacked us, we atleast need to finish our fight." Blake stated while standing up.
" You all may fight if you wish, this creature is one that must not live." Marth stated while drawing his blade.
" Hmm? Oh! Wait, I've seen you before! You're that guy who was fighting that monster guy way back!" Ruby said while the demon in the background was roaring.
"Why are you all ignoring me, you useless food matter!?" Alraune was mostly annoyed at this as the one in white leapt over to the group.
" Weiss, any plans?" Blake asked as Weiss shakes her head.
" None, those tentacles make it hard to even get near the creature at all!" Weiss was looking at the creaturewhile Ziden sighed.
" Well, I am the guy you saw when Omega tore open portals to other worlds, swore that he didn't do that-"
" I showed them your exploits." Ziden turned to see Yukari in her trademark white and purple dress, her face carrying that familiar smirk.
" Makes alot of sense but we can talk later, its time, to Garden and remove some weeds." Ziden said while looking up at the massive plant monster.
Trivia:
story is, once more, gonna be dark, mainly because this is more 'serious' than UBW due to this being an actual war to save the world.
2. The oni comes directly from SMT and it will be explained next chapter exactly why Nazrin, Shou and Ichirin could not stop it.
3. Alraune also came SMT.
4. Yukari's breakdown is out of char for her but it shows how serious things got, and a touch of Adult fear for losing the kid you raised and knowing he is not coming back this time, expect alot of breakdowns from chars, not just touhou chars.
5. This is gonna be a big crossover, i did say that.
Deaths:
Nazrin
Flandre
Reisen
Author's Note: Do not ask, i had alot of muse and damn I wanted to type like crazy so this came out really damn fast. As always, leave a review if ya enjoyed the chapter. Next time a face familiar to comic and Anime fans as well will appear. The story has 4 Favs so far so thanks all for the faving!