I'm baaaaaack!

School and stuff, please forgive the lack of updates.

Anyway, let's do this!

Chapter 8: Interloper

"nng... ah."

I groggily turned my head to the side, greeted by the empty bed on the other side of the room.

"...Bowen? Mmng..."

Slowly picking myself up, I assumed a half-sitting, half-laying position.

"Dammit."

I heard a splash nearby.

Getting out of bed, I brought my feet to the ground, stepped into my shoes, and walked outside, still half-asleep.

Another splash, more cursing.

I have the oddest feeling...

As I walked through the nearby tree line, my suspicions confirmed themselves as I saw Bowen sitting at the edge of a small body of water, fishing rod in hand and yet not a single fish around him.

"Any luck?"

I had just now realized how much I was starving. Based on the average human, we had a week and a half until starvation finished us off. And that's if something didn't eat US first.

"Nope."

"Should we just move on?"

"Not until I catch every fish in this pond.'

It was a surprisingly murky pool of water, considering how small it was. You could see some movement below the surface, but the fogginess covered most of it.

"You're gonna take way too long doing it like that."

I stuck a finger in the water, bringing some danmaku to the tip of it and letting it fly.

Soon afterward, literally every living thing in the water was on the surface.

"Son of a bitch, why didn't I think of that? I would've woken you up sooner."

"If we can find more water, we could make quite a bit of profit selling fish."

"Eh, we should eat what we have first."

"Good thought." No self control? It's like this place is distilling everything in our personalities into fine, stereotypically exaggerated points.

Bowen waded through the chest-deep water, collecting the fruits of our not-so-arduous labor, ensuring us our first meal in weeks.

Later, outside the shelter, we used a few branches and my companion's danmaku to roast the modest pile of fish within minutes, eating it moments later.

"I never thought fish could taste so good." I licked my fingers.

"I forgot how it felt to be full." Bowen sat down on the spot, resting for a moment. I followed suit.

As we were enjoying the peace, a chunk of metal fell between us, lodging itself in the ground.

At this point, we had seen too much to be fazed. We just mulled over the cause of it.

"...Isn't this the door from the airship? The emergency exit from the cockpit?"

"Looks like."

"Just how much force did that thing explode with?"

"I could see the trees bend while we walked away."

"I swear, it's like he's building these things out of TNT sometimes..."

I looked up at the sun.

"Oh god, it's noon already!"

"WHAT?!"

"It's noon!"

"OH GOD WE'RE- Wait. Why are we in a hurry again?"

"Because all daylight is precious."

After a short convincing session, I packed up the shelter, and consulted the energy tracker.

"Well, it's still picking up the tower. And that mansion over there, too. We've checked both of those, so our next destination is..." I scanned the map. "...Here." I brought my finger down on a location just on the edge of the miraculous plot devi- er, amazing peice of machinery.

"Let's get going then!"

Piggybacking as usual, we reached our destination in minutes. The longest wait time yet. The ride was smooth, also a first.

"This is it?"

Bowen hopped off of my back, looking up at our new lead.

We had arrived at what appeared to be a large wall, obviously surrounding... something. What other purpose does a wall have?

"Well, we'd better find an-"

CRACK

Once again, Bowen had just punched the cause of his problems.

"...Entrance."

"Ohh... right. Entrance. Yeaah."

*sigh*

"No use in finding it now. Let's go."

We walked in, drawing even more attention to us than knocking a portion of the wall down did.

It appeared that we had walked in upon a town of average people performing average tasks. Grocery shopping, children playing, et cetera. Of course, our grand entrance had earned the attention and time of everyone present.

"...Hello? Sorry about the wall, I didn't think-"

"HALT, YOUKAI!"

Through the crowd came a pair of guards, each with a spear but not much protection.

"You have breached the walls of the human village, prepare to die."

They pointed the spears at us.

"Oi. Who says we're youkai?"

Spears lowered slightly, confused looks.

"But your hair... it's red. That can't be normal! You're-"

"Hair dye."

"You knocked down the wall!"

"Danmaku-enhanced physical ability."

"You wear outlandish clothing!"

"We're outsiders. Please, shut up. We're just looking for our friend."

"Why do you think he's here?"

"Because this thing says this place has some major source of energy somewhere in it, and he uses huge amounts of energy for what he does."

I held out the energy detector, showing it to them. It probably didn't mean much to someone from here, but...

"...Only outsiders have these kinds of things. We believe you."

Spears completely lowered, returned to standing position.

Everythingwentbetterthan- no dammit, brain get out of internet mode. I know that was an argument, but it wasn't that big...

"We apologize for the mistake."

"No, no, we should be apologizing for the wall..."

During this exchange that apparently bored him immensely, Bowen saw a newspaper on the ground.

"They have a newspaper in Gensokyo? Hell, I didn't know so much as a printing press existed here..."

Picking it up, he immediately noticed something very off.

"Ray... Come over here."

"What?" Turning away from the village guard, I was somewhat annoyed.

"Remember last night? Those flashes?"

"Yeah." Now, intrigued.

"They were photos."

"And you say that, because...?" Interest piqued.

Bowen handed him the newspaper.

On the front page, the headline, "Maniacs attempt to destroy Scarlet Devil Mansion!", along with a picture of the two of us on top of the airship.

"...Dammit."

Reading further, such innaccuracies such as "gigantic metal dragon" made it evident that whoever wrote this clearly either had no idea what they were talking about, or just wanted to sell a ton of papers.

"Whoever wrote this..." Bowen's tone took a quick change for the worse. "I SWEAR TO GOD..." He turned away, raising a fist. "...I WILL RIP OUT THEIR SPINE, KEEP THEIR HEAD ATTACHED AND USE IT AS A FLAIL TO OBLITERATE EVERYONE THEY EVER KNEW OR LOVED."

Zero to "destroy all life" in ten seconds. Get 'im while you can, folks.

"RAY!" Suddenly turning to me, I recoiled a bit, now intimidated by the sudden demeanor change. There was mad, and then there was "all keeping him from his goal shall lay in eternal blazing ruin" mad. This was the latter.

"Find out who wrote this." His eyes were literally glowing red. "Find out and take me to them."

"But shouldn't we be more concerned about why this village was one of the most powerful things in this area?"

"NO!" Random wisps of fire were forming and dissipating around his body as he began to grow impatient.

Taking a step away from the potential living bomb was probably the best idea that entered my mind that day.

"Excuse me." I attempted to gain the attention of a civilian. "...Excuse me, but do you know who wrote this article?" I held up the paper.

"Literally the fastest in Gensokyo, Aya Shameimaru. She usually exaggerates, though, so don't get too riled up just because she villainized you here." This statement was accompanied by a laid-back smile, so it seemed legitimate.

That's a relief. At least nobody took this seriously... Except Bowen.

"That's the problem, my friend is. And he doesn't let go of grudges until he has (i)personally(i) ripped out their skull and placed it on a trophy wall."

"Well, if it would calm him down, you should just stay here until she shows up tomorrow to deliver the next issue."

"Thanks!"

Returning to my friend who was now quite literally fuming, I told him as the villager had told me.

"Bowen, she'll be here tomorrow. The one who wrote this. You can fight her then, but for now we have to stay the night or camp nearby."

"Oh? Okay."

That was unexpected.

His eyes stopped their glowing, and the heat enveloping the area dissipated. As I watched, something hit me.

Wait, Bowen's eyes were some shade of reddish-brown before, weren't they?

"Bowen. Your eyes... They're red."

"Like when I got mad in the outside world?"

Bowen had this unique trait about him. His eyes normally had a deep chestnut shade about them.

However, back home, if he exerted himself or got angry enough, they would adopt a red glow much like the one they had now. We just thought of it as a side effect of the radiation caused by a lab accident on Luke's dad's part, like my sudden speed increase.

"...Yes. Exactly."

I'll ask someone about that later.

"What do you think it means?"

"That you were linked to Gensokyo before you got here, somehow?"

"I seriously doubt that..."

"A month ago you doubted the existance of fairies even more."

We were broke, so an inn or something was completely out of the question.

Even further out of said question was going back to Hakurei Shrine, and broke at that. We might have been able to feed ourselves, but I doubt that would've been enough.

That said, our leaving the first safety we had had for weeks had some context.

Some.

"But couldn't we-"

"You already recommended selling fish." I deadpanned.

"What abo-"

"Let me guess; Youkai-fighting? Look, no matter how you put it, all your plans will backfire at some point. So, for the last time, we CANNOT AFFORD TO STAY IN THE VILLAGE."

Bowen hung his head, for the first time I've ever seen. He was actually disappointed.

No, wait. He'd still be walking if he was conscious.

"...Bowen?"

He returned to reality momentarily, snapping to attention.

"Whoooaaah..."

He shook his head a bit, twirling his slightly undone braids.

"What was that about?"

"I'unno." He shrugged. "Had this trippy vision."

"Chaos emeralds do that. It's what spawned your religion in the first place, remember? All it does is literally short out its holder's brain momentarily."

"Will it stop eventually?"

"After the first few, they'll get much less frequent and far less disturbing. You mind's just getting used to additional power flow."

Seconds blended into minutes. Those minutes, hours. Time passed slowly, along with the points of our discussions.

With night growing closer, and our point of stakeout decided, we set up about 30 feet from the village, our instant shelter thankfully not making enough noise to attract attention.

"You know what I don't get?"

"What?"

"Forests are supposed to be full of Youkai. We've been sleeping in and travelling through them for weeks now, and only found one or two."

"Eh. I can't say I don't blame them. Can't you feel energy too?"

Back when we first gained our danmaku, we had also apparently gained slightly heightened senses. It wasn't much, but if someone strong was standing in front of us, we'd know it.

"I don't think you can feel your own energy without trying.."

"Oh, right. Anyway, even from how little I can sense, you're just letting it fly, and tons at that. Maybe you've scared off all the youkai we'd have run into."

"That would only be true if they were all small fry. In a place like this, do you really think that could happen?"

"Yes."

Bowen's turn to facepalm, and unrightfully so.

Things cut to black for a second, then faded back to normal, bringing into view the still-lit and yet sunless sky.

Whoah, am I time slipping? If that's possible, wonder what else...

Accompanied by more fade-outs, stars began to show.

"GAH!" A searing pain in my side accompanied by a huge force came with the final flash.

"Nng..."

I looked at the spot, lifting my shirt to get a better view.

No marks... But this pain can't be my imagination.

With a hand over the source of my pain, I walked into the shelter.

"Took you long enough."

Bowen was sitting on the edge of his bed, barely awake.

"What do you mean?"

"You were just standing there outside. Actually decided to try punching you a couple hours ago. You didn't budge."

"I just felt it now..."

Two seconds of a mutual awkward stare, then...

"...I'm not even going to question that. Now, we sleep."

I quickly got into bed, not bothering to remove my shoes or clothes and hastily drifted off.

I wonder, if this place is truly a land where mythology is true...

Noise... there's a noise. And I can feel something cold... Wind? I closed the door. Am I dreaming?

Opening my eyes, my newly-regained sense of sight dictated that I was in some kind of white void. No floor, no walls, simply floating.

"WAH!"

Lunging backward, I sent myself spiralling, reeling from the force of my midair maneuver.

I didn't put any danmaku into that... where did the force come from?

I tried it again, trying to push myself slowly forward, and the dream obliged, gracefully moving my body in my direction of choice.

"Uh..."

"Re-e-b..."

A new, raspy voice joined me, with no figure to match.

"What?"

"Remember..."

"Remember what?"

"Remember... Roots..."

"What are you saying, dammit?!"

"Remember... Power... From roots..."

I have a power I don't know about?

"What roots? What power?"

"Rem... Power... Restore... Reawaken..."

"Remember your power. Restore it. Let it reawaken from your roots."

"WHAT ROOTS, DAMMIT?! I'VE NEVER BEEN HERE BEFORE!"

"Not... entirely... true..."

This is getting more confusing by the second...

Before I could pinch myself, something that appeared to be wisps of air began to collect in front of me.

"Remember... me?"

By the time the wind removed itself, a black-haired figure with matching black-and-white clothes stood before me. A kindly, yet sharp-featured face, atop a messily-tossed black haired head sat above a body garbed in black-and-white tradidional Japanese clothing.

The midieval equivalent, anyway.

"...I've seen you before. Aren't you..." I pondered the orgin of this figure. "An old ancestor of mine? Like, twenty-times-great grandfather or something?"

"Close."

The voice was less raspy, and more human now.

"How did you recognize me?"

"Old family paintings. Gramps used to say you were still alive by the time he was born. Hah, what a joker..."

"It was such a beautiful sight, even though I had seen it so many times before. The miracle of life never ceases to amaze me."

"...You... actually were? Alive for that long, I mean?"

"Of course! What did you think, that I was human? Oh wait, that might have been your great-great grandfather... but, it's close enough."

Oh, FUCK. Is that where he's going?

"...Are you a youkai?"

"No."

"What are you then? You look like one."

"I am a Tengu. We come in a few types, wolves and birds are among the most recognized, and as it turned out I was a crow."

"Does this mean I have the blood of a youkai?"

"A part of it, yes. This place has restored its energy, which is from what I can tell what allowed me to appear here in front of you."

"So, let me get this straight; you were long-lived, even for your species, and somehow managed to get your family line into the outside world, and because I came here, remnants of your blood in me began to take over with gathered floating residual energy, giving me some of your strength and ability."

"Abridged, that's about it, yeah."

"I'm part Tengu now?"

"Correct. Your spell cards and danmaku should match."

...Uh oh.

"...What happens if I already picked a danmaku?"

His calm, assuring expression faded.

"I'm not sure. You could get both, or your first one could disappear outright. One thing's for sure, mine is much more powerful than anything a newbie could pull off."

"So even if it does replace mine, learning a new strategy will be a small price to pay for better firepower."

"Well... There's always the chance yours matches mine. If it does, and their energies conflict too much, the resulting reaction will do too much damage to your spirit core, and you won't ever be able to use danmaku again."

"I assume there's a low chance of that."

"Right."

I felt a pulse run throughout the area, followed by a small rumbling.

"That's... Your time of full awakening is near. Wake up."

"What? I still have so much to ask you!"

"I'll be able to come back... I think. Don't worry. You have to wake up, now."

"Wait. What did you mean by "full awakening"?"

"When you come into contact with another Tengu, the blood should recognize its own type, and take over your body completely with energy stolen from the full Tengu. A small physical change will happen, plus my danmaku and a few of my spell cards will manifest themselves in you."

The rumble got closer much faster, now shaking the entire area visibly, somehow.

"Go. Now."

The wind began to gather around him again, and as I plummeted into the abyss, away from him, he dissipated.

"AH!"

I stood bolt-upright in my bed. It was just before the sun came up, and a dull greyish light flooded the outside. Bowen was still sleeping like a log.

"Well, at least I kept my stuff from last night on."

I jumped out of bed, searching for the cause of my imminent "full awakening".

"Hello? Is someone here?"

Instead of an answer, a huge gale blew through the area, in the direction of the village.

Walking outside, I immediately saw a winged figure suspending itself just above the height of the village's wall.

"OI!"

That seemed to get her attention.

She flew toward me at an alarming rate, stopping on a dime about 3 feet from me.

We took in each others' appearances for a few seconds. She has jet-black hair like me, reaching down to a spot just above her shoulders, and her eyes are red. Short, less-dark-black skirt, and white shirt. Surprisingly modernized for here.

"Aren't you one of the two who tried to destroy the Scarlet Devil Mansion a few days ago? Where's your friend?" She produced a notepad and pen, apparently ready to write down everything I said and then some.

"First of all, we didn't try to destroy it. We stole and destroyed the object TRYING to destroy it. And Bowen's inside our house."

If you could call it that...

"House? But you just got here!"

"It's not technically a house yet. And how did you know I just came to Gensokyo?"

"You can't keep any facts from me!" Vigorous smile, slightly-changed pose to match. Enthusiasm must be a shared trait among the race.

"Well then, you got quite a bit wrong in that article you wrote about us."

"But you were riding a giant metal dragon that had just dropped explosives on the Scarlet Devil Mansion! What was I supposed to think?"

"How about "Let's go ask them what they're doing before PUBLICLY VILLAINIZING THEM"?"

This was neither of us. From within our small white hut, Bowen stepped out.

"Oh, right. This guy here is my friend Bowen, and he ALWAYS wants someone dead. Right now, it's you, so it's probably a good idea to run."

The anger-indicating wisps of fire had returned, this time forming strictly on the ground around his feet.

"No, I don't want you dead. I have one request; A spell card battle."

"What?"

"A spell card battle. I win, you write a recall of your previous statements about us, you win, you can write whatever you want. If THAT was a front-page story, then you'll need a more important place to put articles with us around."

"That idea makes even less sense now than before. This is someone who has been doing this for YEARS. You won't stand a chance, Bowen."

"Well, how can I know I won't if I don't try?"

"Because brute force isn't always the answer."

"If my idea is SO terrible, then what do you recommend?"

"I have an idea. Supposedly, the woman standing before us is one of the fastest beings in Gensokyo. Considering what I can do..."

"You did NOT just recommend a race."

"I did. Well, race-fight."

"Are you two done yet? I have newspapers to deliver."

"Not quite. How would you be open to a race?"

She stood there for a good ten seconds. Then...

"...snrk... HAHAHAHAAA!" Broke out into an uncontrollable laugh.

"I'm serious."

"That's... AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA... even more- HAH... insane. HAHAHAHAHAHAA..."

"I said I'm serious."

"...Getting cocky now, are we? ...snrk..." Expression toned down from "wide grin" to "large smirk".

"It's not quite just a race, really. More a fight."

"...I'm listening." Look of interest. Smirk lessened.

Eyes never lie, full speed ahead!

"Well, I was thinking something like this: We attempt to beat each other, one spell card each, no speed limit in place. Move as fast as you want. Tiring out also means losing, and no other rules are in place. Any spell card you want."

"And you think if all else fails I'll tire out first?"

"Nah, I just threw that in there so the fight wouldn't last more than a week."

"You're getting cocky, human."

"Well? Yes or no?"

"...Yes."

Come on, master plan, don't fail me now! Not you either, luck, you're working overtime too!

"Alright! Want to shake on it?"

I held out my hand.

"...I'm not sure what you mean by this."

"Look, you grab it with the hand that will make our palms connect, and shake it."

"That's certainly an odd way to agree on things."

"Wait until you see spelling and pronunciation."

She took it, severely overdoing the "shake" part, but pleasantly enough enough not blasting my hand off.

This had better work... I won't have any spell cards if it doesn't.

"Come on! Let's do it already!"

"Just a minute..."

I... Feel lighter. Is this the transformation?

I tried to summon my danmaku, bringing it to the tips of my fingers. I got the exact same lightning as always.

What? Did I really overpower a decades-old, ultra-powerful Tengu with a danmaku I thought up two weeks ago?

No... there is something. I can feel it. Power is gathering somewhere else. It's not in the center of my stomach, it's... higher. Near my center of balance. Let's try summoning it from there, now...

I closed my eyes, returning to the depths of my spirit.

I was right... there is something else. I can see it.

Bringing my consciousness over to the new orb of light was a bit of trouble, but I somehow managed it. Its aura was a very bright bluish green, just on the edge of white.

Well then... Let's try it.

This energy core was more than willing to co-operate, instantly responding to the simple commands I issued to test it. Well, it WAS already a danmaku...

I stretched over what we had designated as the starting line (a charred line of grass courtesy of the resident pyromaniac/slap-happy moron).

"Right, let's go over the rules one more time. One spell card each, no speed limit, first to tire out or lose ability to fight wins, rest is standard spell card battle ruleset. We start on "go", and have to run forward 50 feet from the starting line before attacking."

Bowen stood to my left, a single hand raised into a finger-gun orientation, pointing straight upward.

"Rules understood. Can we get going?" She actually seemed to be anticipating the battle.

"3..."

I bent down, resting with one foot behind me and the other just in front, the knee attaching it to my body bent in preparation. Both my hands were on the ground, just in front of my forward leg.

"2..."

Closed my eyes, lowered my head.

Don't fail me now...

"1..."

I looked over at my opponent. Her eyes are absolutely gleaming.

Stay focused. I brought my eyes to the front, ready for whatever this terrain was going to throw at me.

"GO!"

The mad dash began.

So, you guys, am I improving?

REVIEW DAMMIT

Anyway, even though Ray, Bowen, and (eventually) Luke were only meant to be references to Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails, it wound up getting more out of hand than that...

See which attributes of theirs are accidental references and/or similarities.