Chapter 2
Escape
"Get away from me!" Alex yells, running from a little blond girl.
"But you look tasty, mister." the girl says, shooting balls of energy at him. Alex trips over a rock, causing the bullets to go over his head. After hitting the ground, he rolls sideways and jumps back up, sprinting away again.
I knew TaeKwonDo would help me in a life or death situation, but I didn't realize that it would be running away from a cannibalistic flying loli made of steel! Alex thinks, his hand still hurting from when he tried to punch her.
I need to do something to make her lose me. I can't keep running forever Alex thinks. Remembering a game he used to play with his friends, he starts taking his shirt off. It's not like I can see without anything covering my eyes, anyway he thinks of the sudden darkness that fell when he met the girl. Alex, after fully removing the piece of cloth, somehow managing to keep his snapbrim on in the process, jumps, turns, says "Shirt!", and throws the shirt at the girl's face. Or, at least, where he thinks the girl's face is.
Alex realizes he's been falling for much too long, before landing hard at the bottom of a hole. The girl, completely unaffected by the shirt attack, flies straight over the pitfall trap, and the ball of darkness disappears into the distance. Welp, I may be stuck at the bottom of a hole, but at least I'm not going to die in the immediate future Alex thinks. He sits there for a few minutes catching his breath before attempting and failing to climb out of the hole.
Hmm, I wonder if anyone's fallen for any of my pranks? A little girl with rabbit ears merrily skips through a bamboo forest, checking on each one of her traps as she goes. Eventually, she comes upon the one with Alex at the bottom. "Hey mister human, are you okay?" she says.
"Yeah, this pitfall actually saved my life." Alex says.
"That's good. I got really lucky today, I managed to prank someone and save a human!" the rabbit-girl says, throwing down a bamboo ladder.
"Where'd you get that?" Alex says.
"Oh, I found it lying on the ground over there." she says.
You found it? That's some luck you got there. "Anyway, thanks for the help." Alex says, after getting out of the hole. "Now, uh… can you help me get out of this forest? I'm not from around here, and I'm a little lost." Alex says. "Oh, and, by the way, I'm Alex." he says. After the weird eye place, the girls with tails, and the flying cannibal, he decides rabbit ears aren't too terribly strange.
"I'm Tewi, and yes, I can help you get out of here, but… you said you're not from around here? Does that mean you're an outsider?" Tewi says.
"That psycho-bitch said something about 'the outside world' when she mentioned my home, so I guess I am an outsider?" Alex says, wondering if he'll ever be able to get back home.
Once they reach the edge of the forest, Tewi sees a shirt lying on the ground. "Hey mister, is this your shirt?"
Alex looks at the grey shirt, which, while slightly torn and a little dirty, is still perfectly wearable. "Yeah, it is. Thanks." he says while thinking, wow, this girl has some stupidly good luck. "So, do you know where an 'outsider' like me would go to get back home?" Alex says to Tewi.
"Yep. You want to go see Reimu. Her shrine is…" she closes her eyes, spins in a circle, and points forward, "That way!" she says.
"Uh… OK. Thanks, Tewi."Alex says.
"Bye, mister!" Tewi says as she runs back into the forest.
There's no way she'd be lucky three times in a row. And anyway, aren't shrines usually on top of mountains or something? Like where old guys go "ommmm" or something? Alex looks around and sees a particularly large mountain in the distance. He decides to head towards it.
"A young man, by the name of Alexander Johnson, appears to have committed suicide in the exercise room of his suburban home. His friends say he showed no signs of depression, being happy and even having 'hung out' with them earlier that day. His parents concur with this statement, although they add he spent large periods of time in the room of the suicide, looking out the window. Experts say that something feels 'off' about this case, and the police suspect foul play may be involved." *click*
"Reimu" Yukari says, exiting a gap, "A young man named Alex may show up here soon. Whatever you do, do not let him back to the outside world. While there, he endangers all of Gensokyo."
"Wait, how can a kid put everyone in danger?" Reimu says.
"I don't feel like taking the time to explain. You can house him or throw him to the wild for all I care, just do not let him out of Gensokyo. Do you understand?" Yukari says, with a seriousness her voice typically lacks.
"O-okay, Yukari. If you say so." Reimu says, unused to this tone of urgency from her friend.