Chapter 11: The Fall of Pride
The rain began to slow down, and would in seconds dry out completely. That was because the cracks in the barrier were growing to the point that it was tearing through the clouds in the sky. By Alex's rough estimate, Gensokyo had little more than an hour left before the barrier would break.
As for what happened beyond that, who could say?
"I'm sure as hell not sticking around to find out..." He groaned as he levitated through the broken realm. With the thunder and lightning having ceased to be, it was a lonesome, eerie silence that kept him company on his journey to...
"...Where am I even going?" He poked his head up somewhat and found himself gliding through the center of the Misty Lake towards the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
"Oh right. There..." He murmured in a matter-of-fact sort of mood. His body may as well have been sitting on a conveyor belt with how he was proceeding, for he hadn't a clue what motivated him to head to this place otherwise.
Was it to cling to that very, very small hope that the mansion's residents would hear him out? Certainly not. He knew that Remilia was too prideful to accept his request, even in light of the end of the world. Then perhaps he was just avoiding delaying the inevitable? Certainly possible. Even he wasn't certain of that himself.
His body was clean, but it didn't feel like it. In his eyes his skin was caked dry with blood, its crimson touch itching at his nerves and demanding that its cravings for more be satiated. His heart froze for a second and he found himself clutching his right arm tightly as it began to twitch.
"Stop it stop it stop it!" He gasped desperately as his heart sank to his stomach, which began to feel ill.
He slowly opened his eyes and looked to his arm. The shakiness died just a bit, but he felt it would only return the moment he let go. At this point however he could not run away. Doing so would just be spitting in the face of all those he had slain. Their deaths had to be worth something in the end.
"...I have to do this...Not for me, but for her..." Shina's well-being weighed heavily on his conscience and yet, helped to numb the shakiness. He let go of his arm and took in a deep breath.
"Easy Alex...Once Yukari's gone, then she'll be safe...I'm sure of it." But as he let his breath go in a sigh he found himself clinging to his arm once again and looking down at the lake. He could barely see his reflection on the surface and found that what was reflected back had red irises and a livid smile.
"...Its not like she needs me anyways..."
"Indeed. How could a beauty ever truly love such a deplorable beast?" A bitter, spiteful cur of a voice spoke to the boy from not too far away, guiding his disdainful eyes upward towards the descent of a group of four.
Ran, Yuyuko and Youmu were the ones that were familiar to him on a personal level. But the fourth one, a young cat-like human with dark brown eyes and hair, wearing a green mob cap and red dress, was a newcomer to him on that front.
"What was her name again?" He murmured, barely mustering up the urge to care as his spite dwelled solely upon the witch's loyal shikigami.
But the cat did have a name. One proudly given by her own master...
The Ill-Omened Troublemaker: Chen Yakumo
Ran stood in front and center with her tails raised high like a peacock's feathers and a vengeful sneer on her face. Alex shifted his gaze briefly towards Yuyuko floating innocently with her arms held out and quickly drew his sword to activate his Phoenix Form.
The moment he finished transforming, his heart stopped racing fast and he turned to the kitsune, who raised the back of her hand to her chin and let out a hearty chuckle, "Oh there's no need to worry about her...For now. No. You are solely meant to be my prey to claim, Phoenix of Destruction."
Alex sternly stared her down from across the foggy venue and asked, "Where is your master, mutt?"
"Too preoccupied to be sulling her hands on the likes of you," Ran slowly turned her hand around and rested it before her chest, displaying her sharp claws with a wicked smile that could frighten a dragon, "And furthermore, she needn't waste her energy this time when I am more than capable of handling you on my own."
"Tsk, big talk coming from the coward's pet," Alex narrowed his glare, "Cause by 'preoccupied' you mean she's too busy sending everyone to their deaths through paranoia and lies. Don't you?"
"...Fufufu." Ran tucked her hands into her sleeves and closed her eyes.
"What's so funny?"
"Are you referring to the tanuki's demise? Or perhaps the Moriya goddess' decision? Oh no no no, foolish Phoenix...That had nothing to do with Lady Yukari. Everyone of those events was orchestrated..." Ran raised her head up high and laid a hand firmly atop her chest, "By yours truly."
Alex barely mustered up a look of surprise as he muttered, "What?"
"Oh, and it was such a simple matter too. My master sowed the seeds of discord in their hearts, so all I had to do was prey on their fears to move the pieces exactly as intended. Settling my grudge with that irritating tanuki was simply a bonus."
Alex hung his head with a frown as Ran continued to proudly drone on, "And with her gone the Buddhists and Taoists would fall to that shred of doubt that you were responsible. And with them gone, Kanako Yasaka would be given zero reason to ignore my 'warning'. After that it was simply a matter of supplying them with the tools necessary to fight you. And whether they won or not, it did not matter...The blood on your hands combined with an empty solitude...Would suffice enough to bring you to your knees at my mercy, Phoenix of Destruction!"
"..." Alex clutched his sword tighter and began to tremble.
"This was as Lady Yukari would have ordained it! As such...I did not require her permission to execute this plan."
"...And what about the barrier? Did you kill Reimu?" He asked with a hollow sounding voice.
"Alas...That was but an unfortunate, unforeseen circumstance," Ran gently hung and shook her head, but then raised it back up with a smile as she remarked, "But I need not concern myself with the end of Gensokyo. As long as Lady Yukari lives, so too shall we!"
"..." Alex's mouth began to open wide, revealing his teeth and gums in a gleeful smile, "Heeheehee..."
The soft laughter suddenly flooded out in a vicious cackle as Alex swung his head back and grabbed onto his forehead. His sounds of amusement could be heard all across Gensokyo as he dried his throat laughing as hard as he was.
By the time he was done his upper body hung over and he let out a few ragged gasps while lifting back up and glaring at Ran with an empty chill in his pupils. Keeping a shaky smile he rubbed the front of his hair back and said, "You know...I'm really glad you admitted this...You know why?"
Ran taunted him by responding, "No. Why?"
"Because now...I'll actually be satisfied killing someone."
Ran bore her fangs in a gristly smile and twisted her body aside, putting her untoppable stature on full display as she whispered, "You're welcome to try, Phoenix of Destruction. Death by my master's hand would've been a mercy...I will not be so kind."
"Hope your master scratches behind your ear in Hell, you bitch." Alex dispelled his sword and went charging at Ran with his right fist aflame. Leaning down the kitsune charged forth with the speed of a jet and met him partway with her right claws unfurled beside her face and her vicious smile reflected in his eyes.
THE NINE-TAILED FOX: RAN YAKUMO
Alex felt goosebumps on his cheeks as Ran's claw tips drew nearer. Sensing something amiss he pivoted his body to the right while still going for the punch. Ran twisted aside as well, resulting in the two twirling close together and ending up staring each other down on the opposite sides of where they started.
Alex quickly drew his sword and slashed a wave of fire down to trap Ran. The kitsune dug her claws in the center of it and tore straight through the middle, leaving the embers trickling to nothing in the air. She then summoned ghastly fox fire to her aid and flicked them all at the front of Alex's body, leaving a couple at her side.
He cut them down with a single spin of his blade, keeping it positioned upright to defend against Ran's vicious charge. She claws at his blade twice and then flung her fox fire past it towards his hips. Alex let his soul shield handle blocking that while he shoved the kitsune back a few inches and then lashed his blade out to consume her in a burning wave of fire.
She stood her ground with barely a black stain upon her silky tails and drew her claws aside. She twirled around towards Alex, using her tails as a bush to obscure where her claws would strike from next. Alex held his blade out and leapt over her, keeping the blunt edge in front of him at all times in preparation for her attack.
She waited for him to drop behind her to twirl around and lunge her right claw out, grabbing tightly around the blade's edge so she could force him in closer. Her other claw immediately plunged itself towards his chest with an assured degree of confidence on her face.
Alex grit his teeth and twisted aside, throwing his sword up out of her grasp and using the free hand to snag her hunter claw and then throw her way past him. She dug her feet into the air and backflipped over his head, swinging her right foot up to kick his sword away while using its blunt edge as a foothold to spring down at him.
Dragging his body back away as Ran's claws ripped through the atmophere with a dirty red scar, Alex swung his hands back and began charging flames in his palms. But then his vision became plagued by a bountiful swarm of bright, neon pink butterflies, courtesy of Yuyuko.
Alex kept his flames at the ready to the point the sphere threatened to overcome his hands and wildly shifted his gaze around. Sensing movement from the left he spun and fired the flames through the butterflies, only for it to immediately be cut down the middle by one of Youmu's blades.
The ghastly gardener held on for dear life as the flames swept past her sides and her distraction ultimately paid off as Ran was able to slip behind Alex undetected and thrust her right claw towards his neck. He turned around biting his teeth and nearly failed to summon his blade in time to block the assault.
The colliding attacks sent the butterflies to disperse in the wind, where upon then Ran took her other claw underneath Alex's blade and ripped it straight across his gut. His second shield was shredded through in an instant with a light amount of blood drawn from his abdomen.
Alex rammed his forehead into Ran's and paid back blood with blood upon her repulsion. The kitsune let the trickle of blood drip around her nose and eyes as her frenzied, slitted eyes stared deep into his shaken soul.
"Did you honestly think we'd let them have all of the Theorem?" She asked in a curt tone of voice.
Alex cared not. He quickly carved a flaming "X" into the air and sent it her way, then turned around to focus down Youmu. Ran quickly dispensed of the attack with a casual swipe upward and rushed in to the battle.
Youmu put her all into blocking just one of his slashes but was still repelled twenty feet for her troubles. She grabbed onto both of her blades as they remained lodged into their sheathes and narrowed her eyes on the sight of Alex. Her body was shaky. Sweaty. But most importantly, determined.
Before Alex could come after her again, Yuyuko provided back up from afar, using a couple giant butterflies that blew up into a swarm of smaller ones upon touching Alex's face. The repulsion activated his third shield and put him right in Ran's path.
But this time he could sense the kitsune's wild aggression drilling a hole through his neck and turned to meet her. He blocked one of her claws with his blade and dispelled it the second after to grab onto her wrist. He squeezed with the proportionate strength of a mountain-sized crab and started to crack her bones.
Ran twirled to her left and pulled the boy in closer, using her tails to cover his face. He retaliated by setting his body ablaze, but to his surprise she did not back off. Her tails were not so weak as to be alit like a bonfire.
And with that plan's failure, Alex let go of Ran's wrist and quickly pulled upright before her free claw could make mincemeat of his back. He threw one quick jab into her face and then swung down his other fist with greater force. She blocked that punch by crossing her arms and wound up being knocked back a good ten or so feet.
She immediately swung her arms down to her hips and jolted forward. Alex lined up another punch to knock her head clean off when, like her animalistic namesake would suggest she could do, she nimbly tucked her body down and swiped her claws clean through his defenses to cut his knees not once, but twice.
But at that close range there was no dodging his kick, which he supercharged with millions of volts of unbridled fury. The blinding flash that ensued parted the fog draping across the whole lake and left the surface water riddled with electricity for minutes.
Even Ran had to take a moment to recover from the attack, for it left her immobilized with static tingling across her skin. But instead of pursuing her during that moment of vulnerability, Alex turned his attention towards Youmu once more. Still positioned in the exact same pose as he left her, he wondered for a brief moment if there wasn't some greater purpose behind her steadfast refusal to budge.
But after the likes of Reisen, Nue and even Koishi, he has learned not to overlook the weak links in the chain. Before whatever plan the kitsune had concocted could go underway, Alex swung his right hand up and started turning the cold atmosphere against the swordsman.
The chill of a thousand arctic winters began covering over Youmu's body. Even in the Netherworld she had never experienced such insanely low temperatures, and her whole body quickly shivered. But she never let go of her blades, even as the sounds of the frost growing on her skin crackled like brittle wood.
A few embers surrounded Youmu and provided her heat. Not from Ran but from Chen, who in spite of being a childish shikigami, still had enough power residing inside of her to offset the winter's embrace. With a playful "Mrow!" the cat leapt straight over Youmu's head and tackled Alex's stomach with her whole body, bouncing right off his shield and landing with her hands pawing at the air like she was raring for a fight.
Alex remained stone-faced and immediately spun to the right as Ran came flying at her, as he expected. He swung his sword straight up to deflect her claw and then continued to spin to slam her gut with a kick. Ran brought her claws down the moment the sole of his shoe was planted and grabbed onto the bottom of his legs.
With a sinister smile the kitsune held on tight as Alex turned towards Youmu. Right on cue she let out a sigh of relief and dragged both her blades out of their sheathes, the sheer force behind it creating two massive, curved gashes.
The moment the blades were drawn and not a second more, Ran pulled her claws off Alex's legs and took another shield with her. Alex's heart was racing as he leapt into the air and tightly twisted his body around, keeping even the smallest hair out of the reach of those building slicing cuts.
Time seemed to crawl at half its usual pace as he hovered between the attacks, waiting for them to cease. From the corner of his eye however, he saw Youmu fly at him with a yell to fuel her advance. The next second after she stabbed one of her blades into his left arm, where it penetrated between the bone and wound up stabbing tip first into his chest.
"Damn it all!" Alex kept the cries of pain entirely in his head, denying the kitsune the satisfaction. But that was fine with her, for she'd simply find another way to yank those screams free from his throat.
Upon Youmu's attack coming to an end Ran immediately ran in and punched the hilt of her blade to plunge the blade deeper into his body. It was fortunate for him that it failed to reach his lung. But not so fortunate that the pain was flaring in his body like a forest wildfire.
Ran's punch managed to separate him from the group for a moment. It was easy to pull his arm away and get the blade out of his chest, but the kitsune wasn't about to let it get any further than that. She came barreling in, using the same mystifying dance with her tails to keep him guessing where she'd strike from next, but this time surrounded herself in a cloak of foxfire.
Alex didn't waste time guessing. He raised his right hand up high and pounded the kitsune with a pocket of air, throwing her back and dispersing her tails and fire. She swung her tails up over her head and gathered the remaining embers to their tips.
Her whole body then became consumed in those flames, leaving just her hollow eyes visible amongst them. She charged straight for Alex, rolling around and around like a bowling ball to make the flames grow bigger. Once more punching through the flames with a bullet of air, he was shocked to find that its innards were hollow.
The flames were but a distraction to mask that she had briefly slipped into a gap of her own making and wound up reappearing right behind him. Instinctively turning as his hairs raised on the back, Alex swung his left arm up and summoned his blade to defend himself, but all Ran had to do was adjust the angle of her attack a couple degrees to punch the hilt of Youmu's blade and the pain did the rest.
Even the dullest part of the blade was rough on his nerves, much like sandpaper. As long as that blade remained lodged in his systems he could not rely on his shields to defend himself. And as easy as it would be to force it out with a thought, Ran was not giving him the opportunity.
Much like Yukari, Ran's mind calculated things down to the finest detail, allowing her to make adjustments on the fly. Combining that with speed matching a tengu's and strength matching an oni's, and Ran was by far the most dangerous threat he had faced today.
As the pain of that blade grew with his budging, Alex continued to swing his sword out towards Ran's stomach and managed to cut her a little bit. Ran chuckled at the feeling of blood dripping from her body as she sprawled her right claws out before Alex's face and remarked, "Your tenacity is to be commended..."
And as she grabbed onto the front of his face she grit her fangs and told him bluntly, "But I am as far beyond you as Lady Yukari is beyond me."
She curled her hand into a fist and the claw tips dug their way into Alex's skull. He bit his teeth down and gasped and panted to fight the pain. But even so, he still had the spunk in him to say, "Then...that's really not much to brag about, is it?"
He shakily smiled before concentrating on the steel of Youmu's blade. If he were to be stuck in this predicament, may as well use it to his advantage, no? He manipulated the steel to shoot out a pair of thinly needles towards Ran's face.
The kitsune grimaced and veered her head back, the needles scraping under her chin. Alex then swung his right hand up and grabbed her wrist to pull her hand off, scarring his head further. He jerked her arm down and heard a light snap from her elbow, then threw a punch into her chest as he let go to put some distance between them.
He then made a rush for Youmu's blade and ripped it out with a roar. The blood soaked blade dripped at his side as he clung onto it with a limp arm. Then he raised it towards the kitsune while drawing his other sword, remarking in a snide tone, "Thanks for the gift. Now die."
Ran swung her tails up by her face then turned and ran a few yards away in an instant. She threw some fox fire at the lake to rekindle the fog, and slipped into the veil.
Taking a moment to heal his arm up, Alex then slowly turned around and kept Youmu's sword raised. The moment he felt the faintest movement, he'd be poised to strike. The wind stirred from behind, then in front of him, then from the right, and then behind him again. Never once did the fog budge from its gentle touch.
Alex gripped the swords tight and chose to slash towards the left with Youmu's sword. The swordsman was there to clash with her own blade, her iron hot glare showing that she was determined to reclaim what she'd lost. The hairs on the back of Alex's hair raised, but he'd already positioned his own sword in a backhanded grip to block the incoming attack.
Yet...the impact was a little lighter than he was expecting. For it was not Ran who came to attack, but Chen.
"That could only mean...!" Alex vigorously swung his head up with a grin, only for his lips to sink to a shaky frown as he was met by a blooming pink light from Yuyuko, who unfurled her giant glowing fan behind her and bombarded him with an absurd amount of lasers.
Though his shield could handle them, he knew that there was only spot left for the kitsune to strike from. Looking down, he saw Ran rise up from the lake's surface and ready her claws to cleave right through the front of his body.
With seconds to spare Alex had to act fast. He threw Youmu's sword up towards Yuyuko, forcing her loyal gardener to leave him to go retrieve it. Then he set his sword ablaze to repel Chen and free himself entirely. Finally he returned his blade to the proper grip and swung it all the way around from his back to smash into the front of Ran's claws as they neared his waist.
Ran's strength allowed her to keep pressing on and match Alex's force, but his blade was too powerful to be overcome regardless of how much effort she put into it. Alex thus pursued his advantage by blasting the kitsune point-blank with a flurry of hot ashes from his blade, temporarily scathing her eyes blind.
From there it was almost laughable how easy it was for Alex to send her into the lake with a single punch to the skull. Ran recovered in time to land atop the water, albeit she was forced to bend her knees down as far as they'd go just to manage this task.
She bit her fangs into a scowl and leapt straight back as Alex divebombed into the water to try and get her. The cold water splashing upon her face mitigated the sweat that was starting to form. The water bubbled at her feet and she quickly hopped back as it burst up like she'd just stepped on a mine.
Continuing to evade Alex's pursuit and explosions with hastily timed leaps, Ran quickly grew tired of playing the mouse and plunged her right claw into the briny deep. Her labor proved successful, as upon grabbing Alex's wrist she pulled him straight out.
He came flying out with his arms swung straight out from his shoulders and his eyes locked straight into hers. She tucked her hands into her sleeves and rapidly sent her tails towards him, each as powerful as a steel club. Alex allowed his body to be pummeled all across as he dove straight down and wrapped his glowing right hand into her face, slamming her down upon the water.
"You'll pay for everyone you led to their deaths! Mamizou! Miko! Byakuren! Sanae! ALL OF THEM WILL GET THEIR VENGEANCE ON YOU IN THE AFERLIFE!" The glow in Alex's hand broke apart and released a massive explosion upon the kitsune, sending her skipping and tumbling along the water's surface like a stone.
Eventually she landed upon her feet and skid to a stop, readying her claws for Alex's vicious charge. The boy wound up in front of her before she blinked with his fist drawn back and his heart visibly pounding against his chest. But as his fist came bearing down she grabbed onto it with both her hands and left the force he unleashed to part the water at their feet for half a mile across.
"Their blood isn't on my hands now is it?" She sneered while squeezing her claws into his hand.
"Blameless to the end," Alex grumbled with a scowl, "I guess your master's got to be proud of you for something."
Ran's eyes narrowed and she twisted his fist to the right with little exertion. Alex grit his teeth and pulled his fist free, only for Ran to ram him in the gut with his shoulder. His seventh shield popped but she immediately slashed her claw up to tear it off.
Alex broke through the rising wall of water his punch created and landed on the lake's surface. Ran barreled right through the water and twisted her body around, the perfect way her tails conformed to her shape without interfering with her movements both a sight of majesty and wonder.
Before Alex could raise his blade she got right in and scraped her claws down across his gut, deepening part of the earlier wound. Alex slammed her blade down on her arm and hit her with a point-blank explosion to knock her away.
She left on her own terms, rolling with a backflip as her tails cushioned most of the blast. She landed upon the water and went rolling right after him, unfurling her form to ram both her legs into his gut. Blood spit from his mouth as he went flying into a three-layer orange pentagram she put in his path to stop him.
Ran surrounded herself with a ring of fox fire and flew in close, slicing Alex across the chest with enough force to keep him rebounding off the seal, filling the interim of those attacks with whiffs of her flames. Alex rammed his elbows into the seal and tackled her in the gut to drag her underwater.
Having the better ease of movement underwater Alex was able to hammer away at her face for a good few seconds until outside forces intervened.
Youmu made the one-in-a-million shot, with Yuyuko's help, granted, and managed to throw her sword in a perfectly straight line into the water to harpoon Alex through the back of his gut. Ran's eyes sparked to life and she grabbed Alex by the neck and dragged him out of the water with the both of them completely drenched.
But where this was but a nuisance to Ran, it was a boon to Alex. He swung his arms out and grabbed onto her hips and started freezing the water over, quickly covering her body in a sheet of ice that lessened her strength. As it got to the point where her eyes were the only thing moving, Alex pressed down tighter on her solidified sides and prepared to shatter her with a single quake.
"LADY RAN!" A youthful cry hollered out before Chen clobbered Alex in the back of the skull with her whole body to break his concentration.
The moment he let go Ran's eyes glowed with the intensity of a blue sun and she thawed her whole body by surrounding in fox fire. Then she returned the favor upon her captor by squeezing tighter around Alex's neck and barreling high into the sky at mach speeds.
She rammed him into a ten-layered seal, breaking through half of them and cracking the rest. She flipped away from him and grabbed onto the tip of Youmu's blade, ripping it straight through his abdomen and allowing the blood and viscera to splash upon her delicate clothes.
She flung the blade back to Youmu who was just a few feet behind her and swiped her right claws towards Alex's neck at breakneck speeds. Alex lashed his mouth out and chomped down onto her thumb, getting his tongue scraped in the process but forcing her to relent with a mild look of disgust.
Alex spit the blood from his tongue into her left eye and then sped that way to take advantage of her blind spot. Ran turned to keep up only for him to turn on the dime and smashed the front of her face with his fist. She lost a couple teeth and coughed up a bit of blood but felt no worse for the wear. The blood that trickled down her face just made her eyes all the more ferocious.
Alex raised his other fist up to strike but was bombarded in the back by Yuyuko's lasers. He turned around and instead used that hand to fire a massive flame beam at her. Youmu got in its way and cut it down with a single stroke, keeping her back pointed towards him all the while.
Ran went in for the attack only to have her face assaulted by the front of Alex's left palm, which he used to stall for the few seconds he needed to wind up his fist and plow it into her chest. After repelling the kitsune Alex swung his arms out and charged them full of electricity.
He clapped them together like the thundercloud in the midst of a superstorm and sent lightning flying across the skies in all directions. Ran batted them away with the back of her hands with a minor singed mark to their names and then lunged at Alex.
He swerved aside and kneed her in the gut followed by slamming his fists into the center of her spine, delivering the force of a city-leveling earthquake upon her. The kitsune held up surprisingly well, only suffering mild tremors as she clawed viciously at Alex's gut from the side.
She managed a couple wounds before she let go, but it was unwise to allow her any further blows considering the damage done already. Pulling away from this scuffle Alex swung his right hand out and knocked her back with a bubble of compressed air.
Chen rammed into the back of his skull from behind but this time around Alex twirled around and punched her hard in the face for her foolishness. She fell out of the sky but was caught by her master, who helped her back up while quietly reprimanding her for being reckless.
Alex drew his sword and attacked her with a flurry of cuts. Ran used her tails to block her attacks while providing an opening down below for Chen to slip free. Then with that distraction gone the kitsune slips her hand past Alex's blade and grabs onto his wrist.
His shields have returned, but did little good against her claws, which tore deep through it and his skin as she dragged her hand back. Alex quickly switched his blade over to his other hand and cut Ran up the chest as she reeled back. Youmu flew in and stabbed one of her blades into Alex's right elbow, limping his arm the moment she pulled out.
Alex swung his body to the right and fried her body with a cone of flame made brief thanks to Ran clawing up the length of his left arm with a few vicious cuts. He turned to attack, her only response being to punch his sword out of his hand and hoist him high by plunging her claws into his chest, taking care not to hit his heart.
When the urge to resist seemed inevitable, Youmu put an end to that by stabbing both her blades into Alex's shoulders with all her might. The rest of Alex's body squirmed as he pushed his right hand towards his pockets. Ran swiped one tail so quickly towards the pocket that her hairs became as sharp as blades, allowing her to cut the pocket and send the Gaia Temporis plummeting towards the lake.
"Not this time. No longer shall that accursed wretch of a stone trouble my master." Ran said while twisting her claws deeper into Alex's chest muscles. The squishing, gurgling sounds of his innards being pureed made Youmu's face turn pale.
Ran brought her face inches away from his and snickered. With a delighted display of ecstasy the kitsune rubbed her prideful endeavors in deep, "I don't care where you come from, or what you are. You are just one person. Even you have your limits, and today you have finally met your superior, who pushed you to those limits."
Ran's hands suddenly felt heavier and she looked down to see that Alex had transformed the blood leaking onto her hands into a pair of diamond cuffs. With a chuckle she looked him in the eyes and sneered, "You can only delay the inevitable so long, Phoenix of Destruction."
"...Doesn't matter how you impede me you stupid mutt..." Alex slowly opened his mouth, "As long as your master lives...I will always find a way to succeed. Again. And again..."
He opened his mouth all the way, going beyond what should be humanly possible for him as the Gaia Temporis glowed and started to disappear down below, "AND AGAIN!"
Ran looked down and bit her teeth. Frightened she turned back and yelled, "LADY YUYUKO! KILL HIM NOW!"
The ghostly princess widened her eyes and then nodded, concentrating her power towards the vulnerable boy. Youmu resonated with the panic in the air and twisted her blades diagonally and tried to cut through Alex's shoulders towards his neck while Ran pulled her claws free before she got in Yuyuko's way.
But the Gaia Temporis reached its destination, as Alex chomped his frontmost teeth down onto its top and bottom, nearly breaking his jaw in the process. With their connection re-established in the most boorish manner possible, Alex was able to stop time...
Able to catch his breath nice and slow, Alex observed his surroundings. Youmu's blade were centimeters from his neck, and had taken off part of his shoulders in the process of getting there. After spitting out the Gaia Temporis and letting it rest upon his weak left hand he concentrated on the Misty Lake and closed his eyes. By absorbing the lake's elemental energy his cut off flesh reattached to his shoulders and sealed back into place.
He was able to patch up the wounds in his chest and gut and recover the feeling in his arms. And now that he was feeling better, he had but one thing left to do. He tucked the Gaia Temporis in his other pocket and summoned his sword into his mouth, noticing the deathly fog that represented the manifestation of Yuyuko's power was floating between her and Ran.
He stared down at the fleeing kitsune and let time resume as he dove his head down and plunged the blade into her gut. The kitsune gasped as blood spilled from her chest. By using the kitsune's body as cover, Alex rammed her into the path of Yuyuko's deathly touch and she died without being able to hiss a word of vile intent towards the boy.
From there the ghostly princess slowly widened her eyes and then closed them with a smile as Alex plunged her blade through Ran's hollow corpse and stabbed her deep in the chest. He pulled away and grabbed his blade in hand, then ripped it free by slicing through the left side of their bodies.
"You'll satisfy the vengeful spirits of the dead as an appetizer..." Alex gave the kitsune one last insult before turning around and saying with his head hung low, "But let them know that both their main courses will be joining them soon enough..."
The two's bodies fell into the frozen depths, leaving it impure with their blood. He then looked up and saw the survivors, Chen and Youmu, shaking at the sight of him. He could only imagine what they saw upon looking at him. The tears were already welling up in the cat's eyes, and it was almost clockwork what was about to happen next.
Alex swung his sword up beside his left shoulder and then dashed forward. He cut them down with a single stroke across both their chests, saving them the chance to know the futility of trying. He then lowered his hand and dispelled his sword as they fell into the water after their masters, feeling only the mildest satisfaction out of putting Ran down.
"...She was only a lapdog after all," He murmured, "The real criminal is the one tugging at her leash."
He raised his head towards the sky with empty eyes and murmured, "Isn't that right, Yukari?"
He didn't know what he was expecting to happen. Even a giggle from her, no matter how malicious, would have meant a lot. But if she was not going to come, then his only recourse was to try...Try and ask the denizens of the Scarlet Devil Mansion to aid him.
"...Speaking of futility..." He coughed up a mild chuckle and sigh before slowly making his way over to the mansion, draining the lake of its energy to fully recover himself...
Next Time: Ascending into Naught