Touhou belongs to Team Shanghai Alice. So do concepts, characters and everything else you have experienced while playing the game, except the dishes. Here's another man who wants to use his ideas for a story.
Pre-story note: This story will feature a combination of letter, script and standard narration. As you read on, you will understand why it isn't really possible to write it in my usual way. Featured in this particular chapter is another game, but you do not require any knowledge to read this.
Radio: OPEN FIRE!
*Air raid sirens began blaring*
Radio: GO! ATTACK!
Three soldiers dashed away from the water's edge amid the hail of gunfire, rifles in hand. Two friendly tanks followed behind them to provide armored support, but one of them was knocked out shortly and exploded into a ball of flame.
Radio: The battle has already begun! Everyone get out alive!
The trio immediately caught up with another of their squad near an anti-tank stake on the beach, and the four of them begin their assault as per the shore-landing mission.
The three soldiers knew each other; they each had their own codenames, namely 'Iron', 'Ice' and 'Falcon' (A.N.: And will be known as such throughout the chapter). The last soldier, the one who they met up with, was known as 'Flower'. The last soldier might have been a total stranger, but in times of war, if two soldiers wore the same uniform, they would still be comrades in arms. The four of them then fell into a frontal assault formation and each took cover behind a stake.
An enemy artillery fired a shell from inland; it exploded harmlessly a distance away from cover.
Falcon: Shoot! Shoot that skeleton! It has a gun!
Ice: This war is about us against skeletons, of course you will be shooting skeletons!
Iron: Shut up! Two incoming!
Before any of them could fire their weapons, both skeletons were already dispatched with one shot to the head each.
Iron: Nice shot, Flower!
Four skeletons appeared from the sides and fired a shot at them.
Radio: Put the gun barrel away from the screen to create a shield.
Flower reacted first and raised a shield to deflect the incoming shot, before shooting the skeleton in front, again in the head. The other three raised their shields and shot their own targets shortly after. While they were doing so, Flower was already shooting at enemy soldier skeletons further down the beach. A bell ranged and Flower's rank had been promoted from "Private E-1" to "Private First Class".
Falcon: Wow! How did you get you promotion so quickly?
Ice: That's simple. Flower was shooting at more targets in the distance, so there would be more points. And with higher amount of points, rank promotion comes quickly.
Falcon: We better catch up, or we three guys are going to be beaten flat in this game by a lady!
They gave me weird looks when I joined them for the game. Of course, I had just simply reached from behind them and inserted a coin into the credit slot to signify my intention to join the three of them in a game of 'Worldcombat'. I don't know what actually made them stare at me; being a lady who wants to play 'Worldcombat' or because I barged into a private game and taking my seat on the last available tall chair on the right.
Very gentlemanly of them, though, to help me onto my seat. I guess these boys aren't as bad as the ones I've seen in Gensokyo, though.
'Worldcombat' is a modern military shooter game for four players, telling a story about a war in which humans fought a war against an opposing army of skeletons with modern weaponry and armaments, including tanks, helicopters and aircraft. Yukari told me you long knew of Earth's existence, so I doubt these would be alien to you.
This game apparently utilizes a crisis sighting, where most of the bullets are harmless, yet the ones that will hit will be larger and obvious. Thanks to danmaku battles in Gensokyo, naturally, such a game shouldn't be a problem as I will be able to read the game screen and react quickly, unlike my Outer World 'comrades'.
So far, I think I like this game.
I'm beginning to liken this as a real-life scenario where, one day, Yukari will reopen the dimension to Gensokyo and us, being the soldiers, fighting against Usutho's army in a bid to recapture Gensokyo and restore our lives back again. Our first location will definitely be the near the Sanzu River, near the boundary between life and death.
Shore-landing operation, huh. While the banks of the river isn't exactly a beachhead, a war has to start somewhere. When we escaped from Gensokyo twelve years ago, it was only possible, even with Yukari's massive spellwork, due to the fact that the weakest link between boundaries existed near the river. We will need a path back into Gensokyo, and I find no better fitting location than to start back at where we held our last stand.
This will be where our first struggle to recapture Gensokyo will take place; it will be a bloody battle to gain our first foothold back home. Some of us will fall and join you in the afterlife while the rest will have to carry their burden and charge onwards.
No turning back.
Radio: No turning back!
Flower led the squad through the obstacles on the beach and soon encountered an enemy armored vehicle, accompanied by two skeleton soldiers.
Radio: Aim for the vehicle!
The machinegun on the tank was painted a transparent red and began pinging on the screen while being labeled as the weak point. The four players concentrated their firepower, attempting to hit the weakpoint. Ice scored the first hit on the tiny weak spot, and a colored bar appeared beside the weak point, showing players the remaining durability of the enemy, which required four more shots on the weak point to destroy the tank.
Ice, after missing nineteen out of the twenty shots he had per magazine in the rifle, tried to continue firing on an empty magazine, but the game began prompting him to reload his rifle by lowering his gun from the screen.
One of the skeletons on the side fired a burst at the players, and the bullets appeared larger than before, signaling a hit if the targeted player did not raise a shield to deflect the shots. At that moment, the shots were aimed at Ice, whose shield had been raised as he had to reload his gun.
Ice: Too damned close!
Iron: Keep a watch out!
This is exactly like danmaku; only amateurs forgot how much ammunition he has left. If you run out of shots in a danmaku battle, you lose. If you lose concentration and get hit by a stray bullet, you lose too. In a real war, getting hit by a bullet can be fatal. Remilia had been shot five years ago and she did not survive it.
Our upcoming war in Gensokyo is going to be this way, except it wouldn't simply be a spellcard duel: it will be the duel of our lives. If we lose a single duel, we won't survive, not without the Spellcard Rules in effect. Yukari herself had been aware of the loss of the boundaries when you died, and I believe she made the right decision to prevent more deaths in case some of us tried to fight back.
Yukari held me back when I tried to join the defenders of Mayohiga during our last stand. She knew what would have happened to me if she hadn't stop me. Everybody knew I have the strength to defeat Usutho easily, but apparently the Boundary Youkai knew something that I did not. For once, I was grateful for her actions, but that was also the first time I faltered in the face of danger.
Not this time.
Not anymore.
I will lead us this time. Even if I get hit during the battle, I will not fall back. I will tear and shred every limb, wing and feather of the hell ravens that get in my way. I will light the path to victory and end our nightmare. We will win this.
WE WILL WIN THE WAR!
Flower snapped two shots at the nearby skeletons before landing four consecutive hits on the tank, destroying it and earning another promotion for herself. The other three players nodded their approval as the game scene moved on.
The rest of the stage moved smoothly, apart from a rocket attack by one of the skeletons, which caught Falcon off guard and so lost one life from his pool of three, losing the rank he had just gained from an earlier promotion and being bumped back down to Private E-1. Flower's rank was the highest at Staff Sergeant.
As they defeated the last standing skeleton, the scene changed to show an attack helicopter taking off from the ground, a warning alarm tolling in the background.
Radio: And another!
The screen showed another transport helicopter approaching the beach.
Radio: They're going to attack!
The stage boss battle began with the attack helicopter showering them with bullets from above while flying towards them at high speeds. None of the players were hit during that first phase of attack. The screen quickly switched over to the second helicopter, which had the passenger doors already opened. A rocket soldier fired down at them, but Iron managed to destroy the projectile before it could hit them.
The helicopter's cockpit was the highlighted weak point; all players aimed their guns for that and fired.
Radio: SGT Ice defeated the enemy!
A medal was immediately awarded to Ice and added some points to his score. However, the boss battle had not ended and it switched back to the remaining attack helicopter. Without suffering another hit, the team defeated the boss when Falcon managed to score a hit on the weak point. The stage ended with a cinematic showing the destroyed helicopter crashing onto the beach before exploding into flames.
Radio: THE OPERATION WAS A SUCCESS!
The boys cheered and gave each other high fives, while Flower simply smiled while looking at the score screen with a victory tune playing in the background, her gun sitting comfortably on her lap. While both Falcon and Ice won a medal each for defeating the two bosses, Flower's rank remained the highest and was proclaimed as the leader, hence being awarded an extra life, much to the amazement of her three comrades.
The joy of a victory in battle.
However, we cannot rest. Winning the battle at the banks of the river is only the beginning. If my comrades think it was the end of the war, they will be sorely disappointed. When Usutho attacked with her hell raven army, she conquered every part of Gensokyo. We will do the same and recapture the entire world back from her.
We will have to decide where to go next, and Mayohiga is the only way forward.
Mayohiga is conveniently located in one corner, along the Road of Liminality. Unlike past wars fought in the Outer World, we have the advantage of flight in Gensokyo, despite the air being tainted. The long Chuu Road can be easily covered in a matter of time, and we will descend upon the abandoned village and continue our battle from there.
It is like a resurrection, ironically. It has been said that the dead will pass through this Road before crossing the River, and we will do the same, except that we are headed in the opposite direction, back to life.
Recapturing Mayohiga is essential; there was a reason why Yukari had chose to stay there. Maintaining the borders near the Sanzu River couldn't have been easier if she was elsewhere. After all, she is the Youkai of the Boundaries. Whatever the real reasons are, they aren't mine to know.
All I ever wanted was to go home.
I still want to go home.
Will the day come where I can step into my home once again and declare "home, sweet home"?
Radio: An explanation of your next mission.
A tank icon above the part of the map labeled "Town" began glowing, signifying the location of the second stage of the game. The opening cinematic of the stage showed the squadron storming a town occupied by the enemy, complete with helicopter support from the air.
Radio: We are going in. Please provide support from the air.
Being only the second stage, the difficulty ramp from the previous mission was barely noticeable, even when the squad encountered an armored vehicle, just like they had met one during the shore mission. Iron landed successive hits on the vehicle's weak point while the others cleared up other skeletons near the vehicle, but Ice managed to snag the last hit and destroyed the armored vehicle.
The enemies, throughout the stage, had taken heavy cover behind debris and in houses on all sides, and were harder to hit without proper aiming. Most of the shots missed and hit said debris, but even then, the players managed to breeze through the stage. At some point during the mission, the supporting helicopter crashed into the town's square, spawning more enemies who had been responsible for the attack.
Mayohiga, despite being abandoned, is, after all, still a village. The many houses provide good cover for our enemies. I have never been to Mayohiga for all my life, but it should be pretty secluded, based on the map.
After all, nobody had really seen Yukari's mansion before, hadn't they?
From what I have been watching on the television all these years, urban warfare can be lethal; the enemy could simply be just around the corner and eliminate an unsuspecting group from a hidden or well-covered position. However, this is going to be very different once we step foot back into Gensokyo.
Hide all they want, we will obliterate them all. The more they hide in those crummy huts and shacks, the easier to deal with them. Hell ravens are still birds in some way; they require shelter of sorts to roost. All we need to do is to torch those buildings up and we can almost end the battle as soon as we start it. Yukari's mansion is going to be the tough one; I don't think she will want to return to a ruined home.
Radio: Tanks have appeared in the town! Will our armament be enough?
The boss for the stage were two tanks which had suddenly rolled out of hiding into the town square, where they players had finally reached. The top hatches of both tanks flipped open and skeleton on each appeared, firing the machinegun at the invaders. The cinematic zoomed in slightly to where the tanks' barrels were mounted on before painting that area as the weak point.
Machinegun fire, in addition to the tanks' shells and other skeletons milling around, pressed the players hard and forced them to stay behind their shields most of the time.
Falcon: This game is so fake! How can rifles destroy tanks?
Iron: You aim for the weak point, dumb ass!
Falcon: The guide here, beside the start button, spoke of alternate weapons, such as the machinegun and rocket launcher. Aren't they going to appear for this battle?
As soon as Falcon said that, Flower picked off a distant rocket enemy and a power-up weapon 'Rocket Launcher" was spawned in its place.
Iron: There you have it.
Falcon fired a shot at the power-up and was instantly granted three rockets to use. His first shot hit the tank on the side, but it totally obliterated the tank, hence being awarded a medal, but shortly after, before he could take aim at the second tank, the tank fired a shot at him. He was too late in raising the shield and so was hit.
Having no more lives, he had to insert another credit to continue the game. Much to the players' dismay, the rocket launcher upgrade was lost when Falcon dropped to zero remaining lives, hence they had to resort to firing at the weak point again. Flower led the team, once again, to victory with the last shot, earning herself the medal and ending the mission with a high rank of Brigadier General.
Another round of congratulating between the four players as they waited for the next stage to begin.
If I guessed it right, they would have found Yukari's mansion too inhospitable for them; Yukari has a bad habit of leaving her belongings all over the place. Bonus points for that since they probably left the mansion in a hurry just before our exodus. Taking out the other buildings and engaging the rest of the occupants in old fashion danmaku will be easy, especially with our combined strength.
Take a strand of grass, twist it and it will break into halves easily, but weave and bind them together, the feat will require much, much more effort to achieve. Together we will prevail against all odds. We do not need rocket launchers or modern cannons to win this war; we are who we are, Gensokyo has managed to remain pacified without modern interference.
The nuclear fission underground was the result of attempts to modernize Gensokyo, albeit too late a symptom of failure for us. Of course, nuclear fission alone, as far as I understand with my years of reading in the Outer World, couldn't have caused that catastrophe, but anything goes in Gensokyo.
Anything goes.
Including us taking it back.
The next two stages ramped up the game's difficulty noticeably, causing many hits to be taken and, ultimately, game over till they fed another coin to continue the game. Flower may seem to be the strongest player among the four, despite being a stranger, but it was obvious that it was also her first time playing the game.
The trio had also admitted, at some point, to her about having played the game a couple times before, but had never made it past certain parts of the game, and had came together as a group in hopes to complete the game for their first time. Through the stages, while Flower had her own dark reveries regarding Gensokyo while keeping a faux smile, the guys apparently were enjoying themselves despite the poor play they were putting in comparison to Flower.
It was truly a sight of teamwork, as they kept encouraging each other and, at other times, laughed whenever one of them was hit by the enemy. Credits kept flying into the game machine as they recklessly played through the game, and at one point, even wondered if they should give up. However, with Flower's strong gameplay, it kept them going in invisible effort to prevent themselves from losing out to a female player.
Flower's experience on the fourth mission, a night mission in the jungle, reminded her about the Bamboo Forest of the Lost.
These young punks' spirits are as inexhaustible as the stubborn spirit of an immortal unwilling to submit to Death. I really do admire their tenacious spirit, because it reminds me of you. I wasn't there during that Night (I did curse the endless night, for it did me no good even as a youkai), but I was told one of your greatest expeditions in an incident took place in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost.
From Mayohiga, the way we should go is still straightforward; either over the sheer mountains or through the bamboo. As youkai, a flight through the night means nothing, but our enemies, too, are youkai. Rumors have it that a land journey through the bamboo forest is almost impossible without the guide of the rabbits living there or the aid of Mokou; it was a simple thing to have her lead us through the land.
Naturally, the bamboo provides good cover against the aerial attacks that the hell ravens may take, and yet at the same time, Eirin may be able to access Eientei again and, hopefully, find Houraisen Kaguya there, waiting for some sort of link up to combat against the enemy. Having the three immortals on our side in the front lines will greatly help our efforts, but I'm worried about the existing rivalry between Mokou and the Lunarian duo.
Radio: Enemy reinforcements coming from the air!
A boss cinematic showed a helicopter unloading four different-looking skeletons, complete with gear and weapons that gave the impression of commandos, charging towards the players, who were near a trench network. Taking up equally spaced positions on the opposing side, the battle began with all four commandos performing a continuous barrage of gunfire at all four players.
Iron: Whoa! How are we supposed to attack them?
Ice lowered his shield, attempting to fight back during the lethal hail, but was immediately hit. That alone discouraged any further attempts to fight back. However, after a few moments, the commandos apparently had run out of ammunition and began scampering around their side of the trench, attacking with irregular bursts of rifle and rockets.
Knowing that the rockets would take a while to hit them, Flower lowered her shield and shot the projectile in midair, but was caught unaware by some shots that had been well hidden behind the rocket. Slightly irritated by the unfair hit that she had sustained, she began to play defensively for that battle, keeping a sharp lookout for any movements in the dark and dense foreground.
Radio: Lookout! Grenade!
All four players heard the warning of an incoming grenade, but could not see it at first.
Ice: There! On the bottom right side of the trench!
Without waiting for the others to take action, he shot the grenade, which exploded harmlessly in mid flight and nicked the one commando skeleton that had somehow sneaked towards their position in the trench and attempted a close-range grenade attack. Both Falcon and Iron then trained their shots on one of the commandos while Flower began tracking another that was taking cover between trees in the background.
A commando suddenly popped out, again in front of them, and fired a rocket at point-blank range; Iron took the hit, but was avenged when Flower quickly changed targets and shot the crafty skeleton in the head.
Seemingly programmed by the game, the two remaining skeletons took up their first positions again and began a repeat of their first attack of continuous fire. However, this time, they only managed to focus on two of the players and so allowed the two flanking players, Iron and Flower, to take deliberately-slow aim at the head of their targets and pulled their triggers simultaneously.
Radio: THE OPERATION WAS A SUCCESS!
Falcon: Man, that was a tough stage. How many credits do you think it will take us to complete the game?
Iron: As much as it is needed. I intend to complete this today.
Falcon: How much money did you bring for this?
Iron: Enough.
Ice: Why don't you save that money up and treat all of us to yakiniku tonight?
Again, the boys broke out in laughter, with Flower herself also laughing softly at the silly-sounding joke.
If only both Houraisen and Fujiwara can bury their millennia-long hatchet beneath them, this will have been the pleasant outcome at home. Mokou had refused to stay with us in the Yakumo Mansion, despite Yukari pleading with her to stay, because of the ongoing rivalry and instead left Kochiya Sanae with us, who was extremely shy and quiet.
For some reasons, she seemed to fear my presence in the household, but gradually accepted me as one of the elders of the house. To be honest, I have nothing against her, even if she seemed to try to stay away from me, even during dinner. I definitely will need the Moriya Shrine Maiden's help in my next mission: The Youkai Mountain.
Radio: An explanation of your next mission.
Ice: Look, it's that helicopter icon again, this time on the Mountain stage.
Falcon: The helicopter boss was easy, we can definitely do this again.
Ice: *Smacks Falcon in the back of his head* Don't be an idiot! No game developers will put an easy stage in the middle of the game!
Radio: OPEN FIRE! *air raid alarms toll in the background*
Iron: Shut up you two, the stage is about to start.
Radio: The Howitzers are in the mountains. Let's go!
As the ingame chatter had said, the mission was about smashing heavy artillery pieces in the mountain ranges, also part of whatever military strategy the human army was taking.
Yet another mission that was spotted with nasty sneak attacks, the players met with fierce resistances as they fought through the mountain path where their objective laid: two howitzer cannons that were harmless to the players, assuming to be firing at some off-screen targets of high priority. The skeletons in this particular stage appeared mostly from a far distance, making them a harder target to hit. To add on to the handicap, the skeletons were firing their weapons as they slowly charged towards the players, forcing them to alternately stay in cover while trying to snipe down the small targets.
At the base of one mountain, which looked more of a hill than mountain, the screen turned upwards and showed one of their targets. A small skeleton with seemingly perfect accuracy kept showering the players with shots that would hit an unshielded player, and all four of them spent roughly ten seconds trying to shoot him down. Another two appeared when the irritating target fell, adding more frustration as they tried to repeat their earlier success.
However, the skeletons did their job: diverting attention away from the main target, the howitzer cannons. The screen turned away, scoring irritated grunts and colorful languages, mostly, and surprisingly, coming from Flower, and switched to a view of the sky, showing four helicopters flying by. During the distraction, two knife-wielding enemies popped out at point-blank range in an attempt to slash the players, but were shot without much difficulty.
As the four of them thought they had definitely missed their first target, a cinematic suddenly showed the four soldiers dashing up the mountain path and arriving at their first intended target, which was then placed right in front of them, allowing the players to destroy it without any difficulty. No medals were awarded, however.
A few moments later they managed to destroy the second howitzer and managed to fend off a small band of charging skeletons before being warned of the stage bosses' arrival.
Radio: Enemy choppers! Will we be alright?
I don't know how far in my wild fantasy will this really happen in our actual battle, but I began to worry about some of those destructive… things those kappa had left at the base of the mountain. The way Nitori had described about some of the security features she had wanted to add in the Yakumo Mansion those years ago, I think it's highly possible that such armaments might exist on the Mountain.
You are probably wondering, by now, if I'm still living in the dream world, which exist…-ed, or the real world, which exists. The dream world used to be the real world for us, and now the Outer World, or Earth, is. I still don't know which is the one I should be calling 'home'.
Yukari ever mentioned once, but only once, about us 'not supposing to have existed here'. Are we products of somebody's dreams in the Dreamworld? Are we just stage puppets of Alice Margatroid's Play of Life? Who are we? Youkai like myself don't exist on our own; we manifest from somewhere.
I have to know if I'm real or just a concocted creature of fantasy, like my plans for taking back Genso-
As the last survivor of the players, Flower finally got hit by a stray bullet from a short burst of machinegun fire from the overhead helicopters while being distracted by her thoughts and so lost the game for all of them. The guys looked at each other, hesitating on whether to continue the game from there, as they had spent a substantial amount of money that day.
Seeing that nobody else was going to continue the game, Flower decided that she had enough for the day too. The score screen appeared and they found out that their combined score made it into the high score list. The students, firmly believing that they were only able to make it so far because of Flower's strong play, gave her the honor of entering her desired five-character name for high-score entry.
Exchanging friendly handshakes with the boys, she reached down beneath her seat and retrieved a pair of mechanical tools, adjusted her hat and slowly slid off her chair.
Ice: Are you going to be okay, miss?
"I will be fine, thank you," Flower replied.
How real are my plans? Will they ever happen?
Never.
Because…
Even before the war has begun, I've already lost half of the war. The war of my will.
To fight.
One of the students quickly offered to support her while another helped position her mechanical tools. With a nod of gratefulness, she began moving towards the exit door.
I'm a failure, a cripple.
What more can I do for my beloved Gensokyo?
She waited for the doors to fully slide open before leaning forward and, using her crutches, limped her way home. Back in the game center, the students, after picking up their bags and replacing the chairs and guns properly, looked at Worldcombat's game screen again, just as the high score ranking was scrolling. As it neared the top, the trio finally saw their score:
6th Place – X,XXX,XX9 – YUUKA Team
A.N.: I was planning for Yuuka to complete the game successfully, but realized I'm running out of words to put in for the letter segment. Writer's block at full fury!
I'm not very fond of crossing games with Touhou, but a recent playthrough of this game in a local arcade really inspired Kazami Yuuka's story, so it's hard to try something else. In fact, subtly, all of my previous entries were inspirations from games. Some might be obvious, others aren't.
In this take, I gave Yuuka a very mild dose of sadism and ended her off with the 'slow but strong' theme. Not a nice way to end the U.S.C.'s majestic career, but hell, even the strongest break down after a while! I was deciding if she would be living alone, but decided to throw her into the rehab for U.S.C.s known as Yakumo Mansion (okay I'm joking!)
The number '9' in the high score isn't a reference to Cirno, but gamers will know that it is a counter for the number of continues you have used for that particular run. A 9 denotes 'nine continues and beyond', which doesn't speak very well of your skills.
The map of Gensokyo I based my story on is an unofficial one that seems to be 'the most accurate with lots of research'. You can search for this map if you want.