A/N: And so here we are again. Doing chapter...what? Seven? I'm sorry for not updating for so long, I've been bogged down with my personal life and school coming to a close for the Summer.

"She got beat by the moron Mifune?!" Blackstar asked incredulously as he watched Naigus patch up Youmu's wounded leg. Though it seemed to be doing most of the natural healing on its own, which surprised both Blackstar and Naigus in the infirmary.

"Yes," Youmu started in a rather defeated tone of voice, "I wasn't cautious about my opponent, so he got the best of me at the start of the fight."

Blackstar crossed his arms and gave her a mean stare, "Yeah, he almost killed you!"

"But he didn't. Sid's destruction of whatever they were making in there disrupted his concentration, and he was recalled by Mosquito."

"But he could've! You have to assume every opponent you face is trying to kill you so you fight at a hundred percent!"

"That's stupid," Youmu turned to glare at Blackstar, her eyes flashing a sudden ruby red, "Why would I assume everyone I fight is going to kill me? That isn't how we fight where I live."

"Yeah, well, we aren't where you live now, are we?" And with that, Blackstar left the infirmary, leaving behind a sighing Naigus who had chosen to remain silent as she continues to patch up the ghost girl's leg.

Youmu sighed and ran a hand through her snow white hair, irritated by the young boy's chastising of her. He was right of course, she realized. That doesn't mean she'll give that smug face of his the satisfaction in knowing that.

"Alright," Naigus said as she stood up fully, "your leg should actually be healed in a couple of minutes, despite the large amount of blood you lost...your physiology is really amazing."

"Erm...thanks...I guess..." Youmu hopped off the medical bed and did a couple of stretches to test out her leg. Upon finding it in working order, she smiled at the nurse then respectfully bowed and left the infirmary to go find Blackstar, eager to give him a spar that they haven't had before, to show him exactly what her "full power" really was.

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Meanwhile, in the streets of Death City, specifically towards the edge of the city itself, Komachi Onozuka and Spirit Albarn were conducting a routine patrol around that area of town. The difference was that it was day time, as opposed to the dead of night. Komachi landed from flying from the school and looked around as she hefted Spirit up on her left shoulder, a cocky grin on her face.

"This shouldn't be too hard," Komachi said in her lazy tone of voice, "I've fought tougher opponents than these weird Kishin eggs before breakfast. So these should be a piece of cake."

"Pride comes before a fall," Spirit retorted back as his reflection appeared on the scythe blade.

"Not when it's based on...eh...well...I'd say a millenia or so...I kind of forgot."

"You forgot your own age?"

"You try living as long as I have and see how well you remember your age."

The pair walked through the empty mid-day streets of the outskirts of the city, both of them getting a feeling of dread in their stomachs. Suddenly, an animalistic roar is heard in a dark alley, followed by a blurring color of grey. Komachi got into a fighting stance and gripped Spirit with both of her hands and grinned as she looked at her prey.

The kishin beast had a massive jaw, similar to an angler fish, mottled skin of gray mixed with shades of black and red. It had piercing white eyes and what could best be described as a glowing blue light hanging from its forehead, also similar to an angler fish. Though the claws it had looked sharp, Komachi was confident in herself to be able to avoid those.

The beast lunged, growling loudly as it slashed violently at the female shinigami, who deftly jumped up and over the creature. Expertly swinging the scythe downward, she sliced it cleanly down the spine as she landed on her feet. To her surprise, however, the cut only seemed to anger the beast as it turned around and lunged once again, causing Komachi to roll to the side to avoid the attack. Komachi twirled the scythe around in a blur, surprising Spirit as she walked forward, using him as a buzz saw. The beast lunged again, except into the twirling scythe, leading to its own demise.

Komachi frowned as she walked over to pick up the glowing red soul that remained of the creature she killed. Spirit transforms back into his human form and grabs the soul before the shinigami could, earning a look of irritation from the girl.

"What? I'm hungry!" And with that, he gobbled down the soul, a sound of disapproval emanating from the girl's lips.

"Your rules about how to handle souls disturbs me. No ferrying them, no judging them, just gobble them up. As much as I don't like ferrying, I do it because it's efficient," Komachi placed a hand on her hip, watching the other redhead, who turned back to look at her.

"Well, it works doesn't it? I don't see why we should change the system. Besides, we get a power-up as a result, and we can keep the peace with that power!"

Komachi chose not to respond as she started walking back to the academy to report back to Lord Death. Spirit followed, trailing behind the shinigami by a few feet, "This girl...no, this shinigami...walking around freely, and lazy...is as strong, if not more so, than Lord Death himself..."

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Blackstar fell back into the dirt, flat on his back. Standing above him, clad in only her sarashi wrappings and mid-thigh length bloomers, was Youmu Konpaku, a fist extended where she struck him directly in the solar plexus. This girl was faster than Blackstar had originally thought, and she was around the same height he was, if not a little shorter.

Blackstar jumped back up and spun around, swinging a high kick for Youmu's head, which she promptly blocked with her left forearm. She then wrapped her arm around his leg and twisted, sending him rolling on his side towards the ground. He stopped himself, putting his arms out, he launched away from the girl, slipping his let out of her grasp. He jumps up once again and rushes behind her, slamming his elbow into the spine of the half-ghost, sending his soul attack right into her.

Youmu yelped in pain, spitting blood down onto the ground, but she turned and delivered a flat backhand across Blackstar's face, sending him sprawling to the ground in a heap. She must've used more force than was necessary, because he was knocked out cold by the blow.

Tsubaki quickly ran to his side, leaning down and sighing softly, "Geez...couldn't have picked a weaker opponent to fight...?"

Youmu wiped her lip and looked down at Blackstar, "Sorry for the harsh blow...put too much force in that one...he's still breathing it looks like, which is good. Hopefully he'll just have a minor concussion...then again, he sort of deserves one if he thought he could get away with thinking he could fight me and beat me," and with that, the half-dead girl grabbed her clothes, put them on, and walked out of the training grounds, her other half floating silently behind her.

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Meanwhile, far outside the city, lay the Scarlet Devil Mansion, but deep beneath its crimson walls, lay the massive library, which was now buried in the sand due to the transportation spell Patchouli cast to get them to Death City.

Patchouli, the purple haired, pajama-clad witch of the library was sitting at a desk, coughing lightly as she searched through a book containing details on Asura. There were near mountains of books all around her, both on and off the desk. The ones on the desk had already been read, the ones off, were to be read at a later date.

Patchy set her current book down and laid back in her chair, sighing tiredly as she stared at the high ceiling, walls upon walls of books all around her. Some she's read, some she's written, many she can't even begin to understand, and some she hasn't started yet. For being a hundred years old, Patchouli felt rushed. Witches lived much longer than a hundred years, but then again, they didn't have her physical issues. Anemia and asthma were hard to live with, especially since she's had them since she was born.

Yet, despite her physical limitations, she's risen through the ranks of the Witch Order, becoming one of the most powerful known witches, perhaps even alongside the greats like Arachne and Medusa. However, her excommunication from the Order still left a sour taste in her mouth.

How could she hand over Remilia and her sister to them? They're just vampires, weak beings compared to Maba herself. Remilia could manipulate fate though, even if it's just subconsciously, which could be used against the DWMA, and their enemies in a more broader sense. Her sister, Flandre, could possibly be stronger than the elder sister, having the capability of destroying nearly anything instantly with just the flex of her hand. It was no wonder the Order wanted to either recruit or eliminate the pair.

Patchouli though, had become increasingly attached to them, Remilia specifically, enough to be considered the best friend of the vampire. With word that elite witches were beginning an assault on the mansion, Patchouli did the one thing she could think of that wouldn't end in the death of everyone within the manor, she teleported it to the mythical world of Gensokyo.

The witch wondered how things would evolve from here on out, if the Order found out that Remilia was assisting in the takedown of Asura, and Arachnophobia as well, they might decide to assault her best friend once again.

Suddenly, she was snapped out of her thoughts, turning to the only hallway down this area to meet eyes with the disturbance standing in the hall.

It looked like a girl, maybe around ten years old, with blonde hair and yellow eyes with a cat-like slit on them. She wore a black dress with a hood, and two snake tails extending from the hood. Patchouli raised an eyebrow in curiosity, feeling the magical aura coming off the child.

"Medusa," she stated plainly, "I was wondering when you'd get here. It seems like Alice and Stein did a poor job of eliminating you."

The child, now identified as Medusa, crossed her arms over her chest, a look of irritation on her face, "Such a shame, you ruined all of the fun in revealing myself," Medusa stated with confidence as she started walking towards Patchouli's desk.

"The attire and air of confidence, along with the eyes, sort of gave you away," the purple haired girl moved her hands into her lap, somewhat warry and wondering if the other witch will attack.

"Fair point, perhaps I should've kept on the maid uniform I used to get past all of those fairies," Medusa hopped up on the desk and stared Patchouli in the eyes, bright yellow meeting a dull purple.

"Perhaps. What are you doing here?" Patchouli asked quizzically, "being in the middle of the enemy's den is hardly hiding. Then again, a great deal of the DWMA is incompetent, so hiding here might've worked, if you didn't expose yourself to me."

"I came here for a book. A book I wrote, but only gave out one copy to the Order's library. A book you took with you when you were excommunicated. Your appearance here definitely is to my advantage," the venom lacing Medusa's voice was apparent. Patchouli determined that she was still sore from her defeat during the release of Asura.

"Ah, that book? Yes, I do believe I skimmed through it when I got here," Patchouli replied in a deadpan voice, though still on edge and worrying to herself about suddenly being attacked.

"I would like it. It's vital to my research to perfect and finalize my black blood research."

"Is that so? I was under the assumption that, since you created the black blood, and wrote the book, you wouldn't need it anymore."

"800 years is a long time to store memory of words I scribbled down into a book, Patchouli. Perhaps when you grow up, you'll understand that...if you live long enough."

"Is that a threat?"

"It could be if you don't give me that book."

Patchouli narrowed her eyes slightly, the snake had to be bluffing. She wouldn't dare risk an attack on her, here, in the middle of the library, where a maid is a shout away, "You wouldn't. You'd be exposing yourself, and wouldn't make it past the front door before Remilia, Sakuya, or, if you're really unlucky, Flandre, got to you," Patchouli then got up and slowly walked to one of the bookshelves to her left and pulled a book out, examining the front of it, then absentmindedly flipping through the yellowed pages to make sure everything was intact. She closed the book with a thud, which sent a spew of dust out, causing her to cough heavily. She mentally cursed herself before walking back over and holding the book out to the snake.

"Take it," she said, "you're a witch, a member of my own race, despite us being on the opposite side. If you aren't here for Remilia, nor are you here to attack me and wreak havoc in my library, I don't see what could come from giving you this back."

Medusa grinned widely and swiped the book away from the purple witch, looking at the old cover she designed for it, "Ah, thank you dearly for this, child. I will keep you in mind when the end is near for this pathetic attempt at stopping what I've set in motion."

"See that you do, because I'll say this now, you're going against an alliance that not only has a powerful shinigami at the wheel, but a youkai sage, and a shrine maiden who holds grudges for people who ruin her lazy time. Alice and Professor Stein will be nothing compared to the wrath that will bear down upon you once Reimu Hakurei takes this seriously."

Medusa sneered, her pointed tongue sticking out of her mouth, "I've prepared for every possible scenario," Patchouli noted that the venom was practically spewing from her words now, if she were a human, she'd be dead, "this lazy shrine maiden will be facing the worst horrors that could possibly be thrown at her in every which way."

With that, the snake left quietly the way she came, book in hand. Patchouli let out a breath she was unconsciously holding and flopped back down into her at her desk. She glanced at an antique pocket watch on a book, admiring the ornate gold and silver plating on the cap.

If Reimu hopes to beat Asura and Medusa's plans, then she needs to mobilize quickly. This isn't one 'incident' she can shrug off like all the others.

She was tired, so she closed the book and decided she was done reading for the day and got up to go to her room and sleep, not wanting to dwell on what had happened.

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Lord Death hummed absently, staring at his mirror as he sipped his cup of tea. He turned to look at Remilia, who had just come in after requesting an audience. Of course the girl never used the mirror, being a vampire must be hard he hypothesized.

Remilia's confident aura seeped off her being as she took a seat in her scarlet velvet chair, her trusty maid standing silently next to her. Remilia cleared her throat then began to deliver her intelligence report, "My bats have determined where Arachne will go next, and what magic tool she'll go after," she smirked, her fangs sticking out from her mouth and lips.

"And where will that be Remilia?" Death was curious, yet fascinated at how information got to her so quickly. If only the DWMA had a means of getting information like that.

"Alaska. She's going after Brew."

A/N: And that's chapter...what? 6? Whew, this was a long one for me. I feel like I could've gone further with Patchouli's history with the Witch Order and her eventual excommunication. Like and review please!