"RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUIIIII!" Wes shouted angrily.

"She gets abducted a lot, doesn't she? Reminds me of a certain prin-" Marisa cut herself off. "Hold up. I think we would have noticed an abduction like that. We've been here since the ship took off. NICE TRY, NUE. But we're not falling for it this time!"

Murasa came back on. Nue was in the room this time, and looked taken aback. "You're more shrewd than I thought, Marisa. We don't know where your friend is. But while you battle your way through, Rui moves towards deeper peril." Murasa said to them, again grinning. "Better here with us than out there. Especially so, since the sun will set soon. Hasn't Marisa told you, Wes? What a dangerous place Gensokyo is at night?"

Wes shook his head slowly.

Murasa grinned, a grin that made his heart sink. "I thought not. You see, youkai are generally antagonistic towards humans. Some rein in their desire. Some, like our god, believe in co-existence. But many are openly antagonistic. Most humans here dare not leave their village, because the youkai will kill them."

Marisa turned to Wes. "Unfortunately, she's telling the truth. But I couldn't tell you then, or we risked losing both your friends."

Wes fumed. Marisa tricked me! At least Nue would probably keep Michael safe... But Rui's out there with no clue of the danger. She'll get a clue right fast, though, because she's a DISASTER MAGNET!

Marisa looked at him sadly. "Don't assume that Nue was going to keep Michael safe. I wasn't sure if she just wanted him to draw you in. But I couldn't tell you that, now could I? Anyway, it's clear. Nue is not the mastermind."

Wes did a double take. "Buh-WHAAAAAAAAAAA!?"

Marisa groaned. "This kind of planning is beyond Nue. Someone else is behind this, and Nue was merely the instigator and figurehead. I have my ideas on who it might be, but she's probably watching us right now. And if it is who I think it is... well, we'll figure that out later. Right now, I think we should just... I can't move."

The device on the deck had swiveled around to face them, and they both were caught in its beam again.

"You're not going anywhere until I'm done with you." Murasa said to them. "Where was I? The dangers of nocturnal Gensokyo. So as I said, there are many youkai. Of them, some stand out because they are more powerful than the average one. Shall I list them?" Marisa shook her head, causing Murasa to laugh manaically. "You can't refuse, you're my CAPTIVE audience!"

Marisa and Wes both mentally facepalmed at that statement.

"So the dangers. First, there's Rumia. She's not the brightest bulb in the shed. Appropriate, since she's the youkai of darkness. She can create darkness, but she can't even see in it. What she does love, though, is human meat. And a human like Rui would be no match for her." Murasa gave a grin, this time, it was packed with malice.

"Then there's Mystia Lorelei. And before you ask, she has nothing to do with the Elite 4 trainer who goes by that name. Mystia is a night sparrow. Her very singing causes blindness. Therefore, she would easily be able to handicap and subdue Rui. Like Rumia, she too loves human meat above all other. Getting the picture I'm painting? Or do I need to bring Byakuren's air scroll?" Murasa's face was lit with joy as she watched their reaction.

"Wriggle Nightbug is a firefly youkai. I'm sure Rui has a poor opinion of bugs... This girl is bug-crazy. She was born of a bug, from a bug, and IS a bug. And she believes in the supremacy of bugs. The wrong word to her and she unleashes a swarm of them on you. And guess what her favorite food is?" Murasa didn't wait, but plowed on.

"Cirno. She's the dimmest bulb among the four of them. Mystia's conned humans in the past, Rumia has an idea of where she's going, Wriggle actually has a purpose. Her? A dumb fairy. And as much as I'd like to make fun of her for being blonde, I can't, because she's not. She won't eat your friend, but she's just as deadly. She will chill your friend down. She will FREEZE her, and then probably leave her there. This is assuming the four are apart. If they come upon her as a group, she is guaranteed to die." Murasa quirked her eyebrows at them.

"And yet you came to rescue a hostage rather than search for her. Well, I've talked long enough. The sun should set in about an hour. That means you have about an hour to reach my room and try to convince the pilot to rescue your other friend. Heheheheheheheheh... one hour. Then she's guaranteed to die. We'll be waiting."

The screen turned off. The device turned off, and they both came crashing down to the deck hard. "Owww..." Marisa said. "Well, this is a problem. We must go on, though! If you wish to save both your friends, we must make haste, ze."

Next time: Sanctuary Guardian Fight! Wes vs. The Palanquin Crew!