Chapter 8

Close Call

"Captain, ma'am, permission to ask a question?" Battery says, sitting in a train clearly meant for people shorter than the six-foot-seven man.
The woman sitting across from him sighs. She says "Soldier, permission to speak my mind?"
Battery and Chaz look at each other, not used to hearing their commanding officer ask them for permission to speak. "Uh, permission granted, ma'am." Battery says awkwardly.
"Thanks." the woman says. "You guys know I'm just a mercenary hired by the UN, right? So why are you being so formal? If I could stand formalities, I'd not have bothered becoming a mercenary. Actually joining the army is a lot more reliable of an income source than hiring yourself out, even if it does pay a bit less. So, from now on, you don't need to ask for permission or any of that shit, and you can just call me by name." she says.

"Uh, yes ma'am." both of the men say.
The woman sighs, putting her hand on her forehead. "I just told you guys to use my name, didn't I?" she says.
"Yes, ma'am, err, Alexis. Sorry, Alexis, uh, ma'am." Battery says, eliciting a laugh from Chaz. "What? I'm just not used to talking so casually with a C.O., especially given who our last one was." Battery says.
"Anyway, Battery, what was your question?" Alexis says.
"Oh, right. What are we doing in Japan, again? I don't quite understand." Battery says.
"That would be because I specifically asked for us to get sent here when the UN was assigning locations for the search of that missing kid." Alexis says.
"But, why'd you ask for Japan, Alexis?" Chaz says. "It seems like a long way to take some suburbia kid from the eastern US." he says.
"Call it a hunch." Alexis says with a smile.

"Reimu, we have a problem." Yukari says, exiting a gap in front of the shrine. "It seems I've underestimated the humans' current level of technology. They appear to have found out that the body I left in the outsider's room to deter a search wasn't the boy. They also, somehow, managed to find out that someone else was there, although, they don't actually know it was me. In addition, the most powerful forces in the outside world are now looking for him, and one of their 'teams' is headed towards us."
"What?!" Reimu says. "So, by trying to hide our existence, you somehow managed to attract the attention of incredibly powerful people? Thanks a lot, Yukari." she says.
"Well, at least we can send the poor guy home, now." Keine says.

"No, we can't." Yukari says. "They don't actually know we're here at the moment. If we sent the kid back, he'd probably tell them about where we are."
"I don't think he'd tell them anything like that, Yukari. He really seems to care about the kids at school, and he seems like a really nice guy." Keine says.
"Well, since I messed up trying to cover him up in the first place, I did some investigations into human technology and practices. It turns out that they would likely torture him until he told them about us." Yukari says, somewhat disgusted.
"They'd really do that to someone they're trying so hard to rescue?" Reimu says.
"From what I can tell, the people in charge don't actually care about him. They just want to try to 'request' our abilities to help them keep control over the populace." Yukari says, visibly frustrated this time. "Humans with power are truly disgusting creatures." she says.

"I say we go that way." Alexis says, pointing into the woods.
"Why over there? The maps say that there's absolutely nothing there for miles." Chaz says.
"Think about it, Chaz. If you were trying to hide someone from the whole world, would you hide him in a city? Dipshit." Battery says.
"Yes, actually. Haven't you ever heard of hiding in plain sight?" Alexis says, causing Chaz to flip Battery the bird. "But these people are supposedly not human, so I doubt they live near humans. It would be really hard to hide something like being an entirely different species from your neighbors, don't you think? Besides, I have a good feeling about that direction." she says, before heading off.
"Well, come on, birdbrain. Don't just stand there all day." Chaz says, following Alexis. Battery returns Chaz's gesture from earlier, then follows his teammates.

Keine has gone inside to check on Alex. Yukari, looking through an open gap, mutters something that Reimu can't hear. "What was that, clumsy?" Reimu says.
Yukari glares at her and says "Now's not the time for insults, lazy. That team I mentioned earlier is headed straight for the gateway."
"What? Well, aren't you going to do something about it?" Reimu says, flustered.
"No, I'm just going to sit here and let them take over Gensokyo. Of course I'm going to do something! I'll try to scare them away from the shrine." Yukari says, sarcasm dripping from the first sentence.
"Are you sure that won't just draw more attention to us?" Reimu says, her brow glistening with sweat.
"If you have a better idea, I'm all ears." Yukari says. Reimu stays silent. "At the very least, it should give us some time to prepare." Yukari says.

"Uh, hey guys… wasn't it daytime went we went into the woods?" Battery says, looking up at the midnight sky.
"Yeah, um… about that… look over there." Chaz says, pointing back in the direction they came from.
"Is that… the Sun!?" Alexis says, her eyes wide. I'd heard they were strong, but this? she thinks.
"Holy shit… well, I think we found the place…" Battery says. "Though, at this point, I kinda wish we hadn't…" he says.
"Hey, guys, over there." Alexis says, pointing towards a clearing.
"What is it, Ma'am? I don't see anything over there." Battery says, straining his eyes.
"Well, there's something over there, come on." Alexis says, walking towards the thing she sees.
"Why do I feel like we're headed down the rabbit hole?" Battery says, following his captain.
"Maybe 'cuz you're too big for the forest." Chaz says, trying to lighten the mood, but neither of the men laugh.

"Damn, who are these people?" Yukari says.
"That doesn't sound good. What's happening out there, Yukari?" Reimu says.
"I manipulated the border between day and night so that it was both at the same time, and they only stopped for about a minute. What's worse, the leader saw the other shrine in the clearing." Yukari says.
"Dammit! Isn't there anything you can do, Yukari?" Reimu says, with a mix of frustration and fear.
"Well I could just straight up kill them, but that would only give us a few days, at most, and after that, we'd have to deal with the entire rest of the organization." Yukari says.
"Reimu! Yukari! We have a problem!" Keine's voice comes from inside the shrine. "I can't find Alex anywhere, and it looks like that door you told us to never open is unlocked!"
"NO!" Yukari yells. "Dammit, he'll tell them all about us! Keine, go through that door and look for him! Reimu, come with me!" Yukari says, opening a gap and rushing through it.

"Base, this is Alpha Team. Come in, Base." Alexis says, holding her hand up to her ear. Something Battery and Chaz can't hear crackles through her earpiece. "Yes, this is Alpha Team, reporting in. We have found a suspicious Shinto shrine in the middle of a forest. … Well, after entering the forest, the sky became dark, as if it was night, but only above us. … No, sir, I am not high. … Not drunk, either, sir. … Yes, I'm sure, sir. … Negative, sir. I believe entering would only get us killed at the present time, sir. … Because someone in there can fuck with nature so thoroughly that it's both day and night at the same time, sir. … No, we're requesting butterflies, sir. Of course I want reinforcements! … My apologies, sir. … Roger, sir. Marking. … At present, sir, we plan to fall back and wait for reinforcements. … Rog-" Crash! "Hold, sir. A loud noise has come from the shrine, sir. Orders? … Yes, sir. … Alpha Team out, sir."

"We have to go in there alone?" Chaz says, shaking slightly.
"Yup." Alexis says. "Safeties off, guys. We're not taking prisoners." she says.
"Yeah, let's go into the creepy-ass shrine that's making noises. Whoop-de-fucking-doo." Battery says, readying his weapon.
"Yeah, pretty much." Alexis says, doing the same.

"And what is such a shady group of young people doing in the woods at this hour?" Yukari says to the soldiers, still hiding inside her gap.
Alexis spins and points her gun directly at the invisible gap. "Who's there? Show yourself!" she demands.
Damn good ears you got there, kid, Yukari thinks, while motioning for Reimu, who is at another invisible opening in the gap dimension, to say her part.
"It's not polite to enter other people's property without their permission." Reimu says.
"Damn, another one?" Battery says, pointing his gun in Reimu's general direction. Alexis keeps her gun trained on Yukari.
"The probability of you being tourists is rather low. What would people like you want here?" Ran says, from a third gap.
"Shit, more of them?" Chaz says, aiming near Ran.
"Hee hee, we can have lots of fun with these guys." Chen says giddily from a fourth gap.
"Base, this is Alpha Team. We have a situation. Base? Base, respond!" Alexis says, still aiming at Yukari.
"Now, that wouldn't be fair, would it? I'm sorry, but we have rules here about playing, and you always have to be fair." Yukari says wickedly.
"Is it playtime? I like playtime!" Chen says with excitement.

"Base, this is Alpha Team. Come in, Base" Alex hears a woman's voice as he sits in the dilapidated outside world shrine.
Now what are they talking about? Alex thinks, though he hardly cares at this point.
"Yes, this is Alpha Team, reporting in. We have found a suspicious Shinto shrine in the middle of a forest." the woman says.
Wait, Alpha Team? Reporting? I don't think Keine or Reimu would be talking like that… does that mean I'm outside? Those people can help me then! Alex thinks, looking up. He realizes that it's pitch-black, and thinks shit, have I really been sitting here that long? I'm pathetic. He gets up, and tries to stumble his way towards the voice.
"Well, after entering the forest, the sky became dark, as if it was night, but only above us." the voice says.
Well, I guess I wasn't there all day, after all. Alex thinks. He is having very little luck making his way towards the exit. Seeing as the voice is speaking in a military fashion, he is trying to not startle them by falling and breaking something, as he doesn't want to get shot.
"No, sir, I am not high. … Not drunk, either, sir." the woman says.
"Reimu! Yukari! We have a problem! I can't find Alex anywhere, and it looks like that door you told us to never open is unlocked!" Keine says, from further in the shrine.

Sorry Keine, but getting back home is more important. Alex thinks, truly sorry about abandoning the school. *Creak* And that would be her coming after me, I imagine. Alex thinks.
"Alex. Alex, are you there?" Keine whispers, just barely loud enough for Alex to hear her. Alex doesn't say anything, just continues making his way toward the exit as silently as he can. His leg bumps a table with a quiet thud.
"Ow." Alex says as quietly as someone saying ow can say it.
"I'm sorry, Alex, but I can't let you go out there," Keine says, "Yukari says those people will torture you until you tell them about us. That wouldn't be good for anyone involved. Now, please Alex, come back over here."
"I'm sorry, Keine, but I've got to get back home." Alex says.

"Sorry, Alex." Keine says, and she shoots a bullet at him, knocking him down. She covers her mouth with one hand and lets out a small gasp as the rotting support beam he fell into falls on Alex with a crash, knocking him unconscious. "Oh no." she says, worried. She runs over to the now broken support beam. Thankfully, it broke over him in such a way that he is not under it, but he is still injured. After checking his pulse to make she didn't accidentally kill him, Keine brings Alex back through the door between Gensokyo and the outside world.

Bang! Alexis shoots her handgun, the bullet of which ends up going through a gap and embedding itself in the ground near her foot. "Shit! Fall back! I repeat, fall back!" she yells, sprinting away from the shrine, closely followed by Battery and Chaz.
"No need to tell me twice! I didn't want to stick around here before, and now I find out these things can shoot our bullets at us!" Battery says, taking the lead in the retreat, being the biggest of the three, and therefore having the longest legs.
"Yeah, I don't remember putting 'return to sender' on any of our bullets, do you?" Chaz says, managing to elicit a laugh from the other two, despite the situation.

"Well, we're safe for the time being, but that woman, their leader, called for reinforcements. I'll need to cause incidents to as many of their other teams as I can. I don't know if we'd be able to fight all of them at once." Yukari says. "While I'm doing that, see if you can't make Alex useful, will you? I'd rather him be able to fight, instead of just being some we end up killing ourselves trying to protect."
"Alright, Yukari. But this is still your fault, so you need to help us through the end, okay?" Reimu says. Yukari nods.

"Base, this is Alpha Team. Come in, Base."
"We read you, Alpha team. Did you investigate the shrine?"
"No sir. We were attacked by an unknown number of hostiles outside the shrine, and were unable to fight back."
"Understood, Alpha Team. Unfortunately, as for those reinforcements you requested, I'm afraid we can only spare Beta, Theta, and Gamma Teams. We have received reports of multiple other incidents like yours, and so cannot spare everyone to look at each location. Time is of the essence. I'm sure you understand, Alpha Team."
"Roger, sir." click "'Kay, guys, looks like we're not getting as big a buff as I'd hoped. Only three other teams are available."
"Damn, we're supposed to fight them with just twelve people? Well, I guess we don't have a choice, do we?"