A/N: And so here's chapter 8. This is at the top of my rotation/update list, as tempted as I am to update my new GoT/Touhou crossover...but I'm making this commitment and I'll stick to it. This chapter we'll see Youmu and Sakuya assist in the assaulting on Brew. Not much will change this chapter, but as the war on Asura progresses, major events will be different.

Sakuya pulled the red rippling scarf over her mouth, concealing her facial expression from anyone looking. Her and Youmu were flying side by side above the invasion force of an island near Alaska. The site had been the scene of a horrible experiment the Witch Order had tried attempting. The result was the island in perpetual winter with a swirling vortex in the center where the temple and ancient lab were located.

The pair floated downward and flew alongside the boat Sid, Maka, Blackstar, and Kid were located with their respective weapons in hand. Sid turned to look at the pair flying next to the landing craft and nodded, "Alright," he started, "Sakuya, you'll go with Kid, Maka, Blackstar, Kilik, and Kim to the barrier's edge. From there you'll guard the entrance to make sure Professors Stein and Marie don't have any hostile followers," he turned to Youmu, "you'll follow me and deal with the Arachnophobia foot-soldiers and, if possible, eliminate high priority targets such as Giriko or Mifune."

Giriko, Youmu and Sakuya learned, was a weapon who took the form of a chainsaw, except he was autonomous in the similar sense of the Death Scythe Justin Law. Not incredibly dangerous Sakuya thought, but could clearly pose more of a threat if left unchecked.

Once the pair had been briefed, the boats made their landing and the girls parted ways to go with their respective teams. Youmu went with Sid, Azusa, and Naigus, while Sakuya flew off with the barrier infiltration team. The ghost-girl touched down in the snow and pulled up the pink scarf over her mouth and adjusted her black leggings. She unsheathed her katana, Roukanken, and pressed forward in the storm with Sid leading the charge.

Youmu quietly contemplated the situation her and the others were in, which was clearly not the usual incident in Gensokyo. This would have repercussions that will be felt all over the world if this threat was to remain loose. She couldn't even begin to imagine how the various worlds of the afterlife will deal with the possible madness wave seeping through the globe.

She didn't know, nor was it her job to know. That was her mistress's job, and the Yama's. Not hers. She was just a gardener plucked from her position and thrown into this outright war. To her, she didn't necessarily think it was fair for Yukari to ask Yuyuko, and not her, for permission to use her skills in this battle. Youmu didn't like the gap hag, as some had affectionately called her, and didn't like being near her. She was doing this as a courtesy to her mistress, not to her mistress's friend. The shrine maiden and the magician were on the case, she reasoned, her participation shouldn't be required simply by their very presence.

Youmu let out a quiet sigh, sending a puff of hot steam through the scarf and into the chilly winter air. Sid turned around and gave her a curious glance, "Everything alright Youmu?"

She snapped out of her thoughts and glanced up at him and nodded, a determined look on her sapphire eyes, "Yes, just thinking about the best possible avenues of attack."

"Well I'll let you know about it, first we have to head to the high spot on that hill," Sid pointed up to a snow-covered hill and hefted Azua's crossbow form onto his shoulders and marched up the hill. The sounds of battle echoed through the valley below, screams of dying men, and distant gunshots.

"And so I'll just be backup incase our position is overrun?"

"Sort of, you can also beat me to any enemies that are priorities, while I can spot them for you."

"Fair point...Azusa, do you have anyone?"

The crossbow flashed a reflection of the woman within and sighed, "I can't see worth a damn when I'm pointed at the ground. Sid, point me up."

The zombie rolled his eyes and complied, crouching down on one knee and scoping the weapon, before taking a shot and picking off an Arachnophobia agent that was about to execute a DWMA soldier. Sid turned his attention to a group of ruins and froze, seeing Mifune plow through half a dozen soldiers with ease. The blonde hair samurai turned upward and looked at Sid, somehow being able to see him through the snow.

"Contact! High priority target!" And with that, Youmu took off down the hill with Sid firing blast after blast from Azusa. Youmu herself joined in the barrage and fired down danmaku bolts which flared from her katana. The blonde in the ruins deftly and expertly deflected the blasts into the snow around him, sending up puffs of the white stuff where they hit. Youmu slid down the hill and leaped up once she reached the bottom.

Mifune grunted, bringing a second sword up to bear as Youmu came down on top of him. Clanging metal could be heard as the two swords collided, sparks flew, and lightning fast blows were thrown between the two opponents. Youmu shoved her enemy back with her shoulder to create some distance between the pair. She looks around her, seeing the dozens of swords scattered about, stabbed into the snow. Getting a firm setting as to where she is, she darts towards Mifune, who just spat out the straw piece that was in his mouth.

The blonde samurai groaned in irritation, connecting blades with the ghost girl once again. Their speed was blinding, nearly untraceable to the normal human eye. A shockwave caused by the force the two created between themselves echoes throughout the small valley they're in, sending ancient rubble flying into the snow-covered hills.

Youmu keeps a firm lock on Mifune's blade with hers. Due to Roukanken's magical nature, it was nearly indestructible, so she didn't have to worry about the edge being ruined by clashing blades with Mifune. She unsheathed her wakizashi and took a jab at his left wrist, prompting the samurai rotating his body to avoid it. The male moved into the vicinity of another blade and grabbed it to create another blade lock with the shorter sword.

The pair jumped away from each other, nearly out of breath, causing the chilly air to create puffs of steam from their mouths, "You've gotten better," Mifune started, "I've actually almost had to try now."

Youmu gave him a wry smile, "Gotten better? I simply stopped holding back."

"Really now? No wonder I'm barely giving any effort to this."

"The sweat on your brow says otherwise."

Mifune scowled and narrowed his eyes, dropping the second blade, which prompted Youmu to sheath her wakizashi, "Why do you continue to fight alongside the DWMA? It seems to me they would no sooner kill you for not being a human, meister, or weapon."

"I'm serving Lord Death at the request of Yukari and my mistress, Yuyuko Saigyouji. Why do you serve the force that wants to drag the world down into uncontrollable chaos?"

"I'm doing it to project the one I swore myself to," Mifune clenched his sword tightly.

Youmu wasn't surprised by the sudden revelation. She figured that the little girl she saw the first time they fought was the one Mifune wanted to protect. She sighed and adjusted her battle stance, "So change allegiances. If the DWMA is making exceptions to their 'kill all witches' rule, then they'll make an exception for ex-arachnophobia agents."

"It isn't that easy, besides, I'm committed to this right now, and I'm not going to change sides...not until I know Angela is safe."

"Then I suppose we'll continue our little spat, then?" A slightly remorseful look was now on Youmu's face.

"Yes, we shall."

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Sakuya shivered, slightly regretting not wearing leggings like Youmu had chosen to worn. Nevertheless, she was determined to stick this one out until the end. She took a look over at Kid and frowned behind her scarf, the boy was...quite attached to her. She was his image of what perfect symmetry was like, and she couldn't exactly blame him. She did, after all, do her best to make sure everything is neat, in order, and elegant in display. She had an even, symmetrical number of knives, and her attire was symmetrical down to her scarf having a tail on each side of her back.

She let out a small sigh, her right hand gripping a green-hilted knife and remaining on guard incase any Arachnophobia soldiers tried launching an attack on a bunch of kids.

"Gaaah! This is so booooring! Professors Stein and Marie were supposed to be back ages agoooo!" Blackstar's exclamation knocked Sakuya out of her trance, the scream was followed by a sudden slap upside the boy's head by Maka.

"They've only been gone ten minutes Blackstar...even though they SHOULD be back by now..." Kid mumbled the last part as he turned to look at the massive swirling vortex that surrounded the demon tool facility. It glowed an ominous red with black lightning cackling off of it into the sky. Wind swirled along the edges, and everything had a strange fuzzy feeling, like when one would touch something filled with static electricity.

Sakuya turned back to look at the vortex as well. Maka stood next to her and looked up at the maid, "What do you think Ms. Izayoi?"

"I think the professors are running out of time. We should go in and get them."

The soft, yet firm voice from the maid surprised Maka. She nodded then gazed at the vortex, "We're going in. Kilik, Kim, Ox, keep watch for us will ya?" The three students nodded and turned back out to the snowy hills, keeping watch.

The team of four marched into the vortex, and after about a minute of walking, they found themselves on a cobblestone path, and further on down the path, at the center, was a massive Mayan-styled pyramid.

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Marie couldn't figure out what was happening with Stein. She was brought from Oceania to give a calming effect to the near-insane professor, and until a few weeks ago, it had been working. Now he seemed to be getting worse, and she couldn't tell what was causing the problem. She gritted her teeth and continued dragging the cackling professor towards the exit when she encountered the team of four.

"What are you people doing here?!"

"We got worried, and you didn't report back...Is professor Stein alright?" Maka asked in a concerned voice as Stein groaned.

"I don't know honestly...if you guys have it under control, I'll get him out of here...you are all in so much trouble!"

"We'll do our best to recover the artifact, just make sure Stein gets to safety. Your bodies are already starting to distort," the quiet voice of Sakuya was heard, startling the people present, but her words rang true, as Stein's and Marie's bodies distorted as if they were in a bad television screen. Taking Sakuya's words to heart, they quickly shuffled out, leaving the four people there alone with their weapons.

As the group moved along, they encountered various strange oddities. An after-image of Lord Death, showing him flying through the air above the temple before it exploded, and a mysterious figure that Kid said was Eibon. The third mysterious figure they came across was a rather short man, smaller than Remilia in Sakuya's eyes. He had a top-hat on, and a rather fashionable suit. One of the weirder things about him, however, was the long, pointed nose.

"Ah, hello children. It appears that you've found me," the man said in a seemingly wise tone for one of his age, but I must be going. It's a shame you weren't here to get Brew before I did."

Kid, Maka, and Blackstar froze, and clutched their weapons tighter, Maka spoke up first, "We can't let you have Brew, so give it to us and maybe we'll let you live."

The man looked amused and scoffed, setting down his briefcase and putting a small cube up under his hat, "Hm...200 years? No...400? Maybe...but I think 100 years back will be enough for you runts," he seemed to be mumbling something, but Sakuya couldn't tell what it was.

"What are you talking about? Spit it out old man!" Blackstar seemed ready to get this done and over with.

"The name is Mosquito, child, remember that!" Suddenly, Mosquito's body flexed, and bulged in a sudden and violent transformation. The pupils in his eyes vanished as his body grew into something that reminded Maka of something she saw in one of those new super hero movies, minus the little stubby legs Mosquito had now. He turned to the kids and grinned sadistically, "Feast your eyes on what I looked like 100 years ago!"

Sakuya didn't waste any time and sprung into action. For a moment, time froze, then continued on, except there were now dozens, if not hundreds of knives encircling Mosquito's massive body. Once time resumed, all of the knives converged and exploded, creating a thick dust cloud as a result. Having bad experiences with normal knives simply bouncing off harder surfaces, Sakuya decided to coat the blades in a thin layer of explosive magical energy. Not all of her knives did this, but half of the amount she carried with her had this enchantment, courtesy of Patchouli.

However, once the dust cleared, Mosquito would have his arms crossed over his body, grunting in pain. Sakuya at least took satisfaction in seeing the hulking man in pain, "We need to hurry," she said anxiously, "we've only got 8 minutes before we start feeling the effects of the storm, but if he can revert back to forms he's had previously in the past, he can keep going."

"Quite right child! With all these bodies at my disposal, I can potentially last forever!"

This time, Blackstar capitalized on the stunned opponent and slammed his fists into Mosquito's belly, firing off his soul wave inside the man. Maka then lept off of Blackstar's head with her soul resonance form of Soul fully charged and swung the scythe down onto Mosquito, creating a massive dust cloud as Maka was sent flying into the air, though thankfully she rights herself and lands softly on her feet.

The smoke cleared slowly, and the sight shocked all four combatants. Mosquito was standing upright, and flexing his massive muscles, and an irritated look was on his face. "Kids...just kids after all it would seem. Feast your eyes on this! This is when I was my most toughest!"

Sakuya clicked her teeth and froze time once more, tossing out two dozen more knives all around the man. Once time unfroze, they all collapsed in on him and exploded once more, sending the massive man reeling.

Soul know this wouldn't work, they were running out of time, and they needed a plan. He knew that if everyone's souls were resonating with each other, their attacks would be more effective, but he didn't want to risk letting the black blood contaminating his friends, Sakuya included. Nevertheless, he resolved that it was worth the risk.

"Guys," he started, "we're gonna attempt a team resonance using sound as the medium. Sakuya, this might feel weird for you since it's the first time you've done something like this. I'm able to feel everyone's wavelength through Maka, so I'll play the piano in my soul and hopefully that'll give us the boost we need to beat this bastard."

The group nodded and got into position, knowing that time was most certainly not on their side.

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Youmu breathed heavily, her hot breath misting in the cold air. She clutched her right arm in pain as blood dripped down into the fresh snow. Her and Mifune had been going at for what seemed like eternity, and neither was willing to quit. Sid had been knocked out of the fight early on due to an injury involving falling swords, leaving Youmu alone to fend for herself against the skilled swordsman.

She grinned and spat into the snow, fixing her stance to begin her lightning-fast assault once more, eager to make the man submit. "I'll admit," she said, "You're the most fun I've had since my last sparring match with my father, and that was thirty years ago."

Mifune looked irritated and shifted his sword to his left hand, "Is that so? Well you're certainly more engaging to talk to than the blue haired kid, so I'll give you that."

"Why are you working for Arachnophobia? To protect someone you love? Someone you're bound to by an oath?"

"Both."

Youmu frowned, her right arm twitching in pain, "Is there any other way? It seems unnecessary to work for an obviously evil organization."

"As if the DWMA is any nicer to witches."

"I never sided with the DWMA. My goal is to stop the Kishin and his potential allies."

"Then why are you working with them?"

"Because my mistress told me to. She's someone I protect as well you know, so I suppose we have something in common."

"It would seem so...why do you seem intent on turning me against Arachnophobia?"

"Because you're clearly not evil, nor are you entirely content in doing this."

"How do you know that?"

"Your eyes. They're conflicted."

Mifune paused, suddenly glaring at Youmu, "So what if I am?"

"You clearly want a better place for whomever it is your protecting...perhaps I can offer a place for you to go to. It could probably use your help actually."

"...And where is this place?" He seemed hesitant.

"It's a place in Japan, called Gensokyo. A majority of the DWMA's allies are from there, and the human village there can also use more protectors such as yourself."

"And how do they treat witches?"

"Like members of society, well, probably not in the human village at least...but magical beings are common place in Gensokyo itself."

Mifune sighed softly, then blinked as he saw a massive symbol for the DWMA being drawn the sky above the pair. "Is that supposed to happen?"

Youmu looked up as well then tilts her head, "That's the symbol to retreat and fall back for my side. Looks like we won't be killing each other after all. Guess this is another draw?"

"Another one? I won our first match." With that, Mifune turned and began walking away, leaving Youmu alone in the snowy tundra by herself.

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A/N: And finally here it is, the next chapter to Fantasy Kaleidoscope! Yes, I did nerf Youmu, much to my chagrin, but if I went with the calculations that give her a maximum speed of mach 70, this story wouldn't last all the way to the final fight on the moon.

Speaking of the moon, I decided to give Junko an appearance in lieu of TH15's story involving the moon itself. So at least you can look forward to a confrontation between Yorihime, Junko, and Asura.

Sakuya being a weapon was inspired by a friend of mine roleplaying as a Sakuya adapted to Soul Eater, so her weapon design will also be inspired by that. I also have definite plans for Marisa turning full witch, which should be a fun little fight to write.

For those correcting me on Alice and Patchy not being witches in the sense of Soul Eater, or in the general sense, I felt as if it was rather unimportant and a minor issue that could be quietly changed without much debate.