The next Day...

Rumia was dreaming, dreaming of various nonsenses, like Cirno not boasting about her strength falsely, or Kogasa speaking sense half the time.

Then, a smell caught her nose, and roused her from her slumber. There was only one thing that smelt that good, and would wake her up without fail.

Mystia's grilled Lamprey.

Rumia rose up, eyes still closed, her mouth homing in on the lamprey being raised just away from her gaping mouth, Mystia, Wriggle and Cirno giggling like five year olds.

"Ugggguh... fooooood" Rumia groaned, opening her eyes and grabbing the lamprey out of Mystia's hand, scoffing it hungrily down her throat. Only after eating two more in a flash did she realize she was back at the Misty Lake.

"... How long was I out?" Rumia asked groggily.

"All night." Wriggle answered. "You were snoring like anything, and Reimu shooed us off when Sukia and Yuugi started making tons and tons of sake to celebrate."

"Yuuka left with us, and carried you up. Seemed awfully nice of her. Which is straaange." Mystia said. "She didn't even abduct Wriggle like she usually does when those two are in the same place."

"... Mystia, I could be making wisecracks about how Youmu didn't kidnap you for Yuyuko's supper." Wriggle said angrily, causing the two friends to laugh, and Cirno to look confused, not following.

Banter was exchanged as Rumia woke up proprly, a lot of it focused on how 'cool' and 'awesome' Rumia was, and how she 'kicked Shinki's butt'. Rumia, of course, knew otherwise. If it wasn't for Alice, she would have lost it, and probobly killed Mystia and Wriggle. Rumia wasn't sure if Kogasa could even die, and knew that Cirno would just respawn, Cirno had died far more than enough for her to know that. It was a weekly event usually!

Then, Cirno suddenly took a stance as if she was ready to fight, and pointed over the lake. Sunny, Luna and Star were flying towards them, holding papers.

"Hey guys! Guys! Rumia's on the front page!" Sunny shouted, waving a copy of the Bunbunmaru around.

Everyone gathered around, not bothering to ask where Sunny got the extra copies of the paper from [The trio usually only getting one delivered to their tree, not four or five]. Indeed, the article was Aya's usual bluster, and over-blown comments on the incident, with the picture being Rumia punching Shinki in the face.

However, all four looked at each other.

"Did any of you guys see Aya?" Rumia asked.

"Nope." Wriggle said.

"She's fast, but someone woulda seen her." Mystia said.

"Wouldn't Aya have joined in?" Cirno adds.

"The picture wasn't taken by Aya." Luna said.

"Look here." Star adds, pointing to a small footnote at the bottom of the page. Mystia, Cirno and Wriggle couldn't read the small print, nor could Sunny or Luna. Rumia could make out some of it, but Star read it aloud, having the best reading and vision of the group. Rumia was sure Daiyousei could read that print too.

'Due to the dangerous nature of these events, and the fact I would inevitably become involved, which is against the code of a reporter, this image was not taken by me. It was delivered by a stranger, who refused to give her name, despite me asking multiple times.'

"Wait, so it wasn't Hatate's Spirit Photography either?" Rumia asked.

"Hatatewho?" Sunny quickly snipped, having no clue who the Tengu in purple was.

"Doesn't seem like it." Wriggle commented.

"Yukari, maybe?" Mystia said.

"No, Aya would know Yukari." Luna commented. "Everyone knows Yukari."

"Dosen't Aya know pretty much everyone in Gensokyo?" Cirno asks.

"She usually boasts about knowing the names of everyone with a name in Gensokyo." Star commented.

"Then who was able to take this picture... so close to that fight, with no-one noticeing them... and without Aya knowing who they were?" Rumia said, thinking. "Honestly I wouldn't put it past you being invisible Sunny, but Aya knows you...

"Maybe Nue or that Tanuki friend of hers Kogasa mentions!" Mystia said.

"Kogasa said Shou told her they didn't leave the temple during the whole event." Wriggle reminded Mystia.

Daiyousei then flew past, listening in, and thought.

"The answer is simple. It's either someone who even Aya doesn't know, or someone new to Gensokyo." the fairy said. Daiyousei was the smartest of the fairies, by far. Nameless fairies only know how to danmaku, fight, fly, and pull pranks. Named fairies like Cirno range from the intelligence of a five-year old to a twelve-year old, but Daiyousei was as smart as most adult humans. "I wouldn't worry too much about it though. I mean, it's just a picture."

"Yes, but you didn't see how intense the fight was." Rumia says. "Getting that close, even if invisible, without anyone knowing... isn't easy."

"Well, knowing Gensokyo, we'll find out one day." Daiyousei commented.

The cloaked girl sat down, and looked over the information her devices had gathered during that last event. The visit to the Tengu village had made her feel sick, but she found out some tidbits of information that she could make use of. The Kappa were nearing completion of their device. All it would take was a couple more months.

"Another strong youkai appears. Bah. Why can't they all just die and stop oppressing humans? Oppressing and ruling over humans should only be done by the smartest person, with the best technology, not those with natural gifts, or supernatural powers, or higher in the food chain!" the girl said to herself, looking at the picture of Rumia one of her scouts had taken.

"Just you wait... youkai filth. Gensokyo is your last haven, but soon it will be your hell."

Author Notes:

And thus, Arc 2 ends!

Since it's the start of the 3rd arc, the next update will probobly take a little bit longer as I hash out fitting it nicely in the entire flow. As such, I'll leave a few tidbits:

- Arc 3 is set in Winter, and as such, Cirno will have a chapter focused on her and Letty.

- Arc 3 will introduce a very important character for the overall story.

- Arc 3's supporting cast includes Nitori, Letty, two PC-98 characters, and Reimu [Whereas Marisa was more forefront in A1, and A2 had both quite important]

- Rumia's powers will have developed a bit more.

- Several points of Arc 3 are inspired by 12.3. I may include some aspects of 13.5 when dealing with Nitori that were not in the origional RP, which is one of the reasons for the possible delay on updates

- While Hatate was acting out of Envy and competition, and Shinki out of simple Motherly Love gone too far, Arc 3's villain is actually a proper villain.