The sage youkai looked on grimly as the crazed woman on her television set rambled on about bringing about "True Hell". Yukari, in her many years of living, had never been vexed much, let alone disturbed. She was pretty content in taking up the unofficial role of vexing Gensokyo's denizens, mostly the Hakurei (which she made sure to do so on a weekly basis). Tonight however, she was evidently deeply irritated and shaken by the event unfolding before her very eyes.

How dare this mere pet of that satori threaten the (arguably) peaceful livelihood of this world that she created! However, she was also admittedly a bit disturbed by what she saw of poor Parsee several minutes ago. It was bad enough that she already had a gaping hole in her chest. Then, Orin brought out a glowing orange glass orb and shoved it into her chest cavity, releasing the energy stored within as the orb shattered upon being lodged forcefully inside.

This gruesome act did little to get a reaction from the gap youkai. She had seen worse before done by both human and youkai, herself included. What happened afterwards did. Yukari cringed a little at the thought. No one, human or youkai, deserved to have that kind of treatment. However, and this was something that could never be outdone by anyone else, this horrifying act was nothing compared to the horror she felt when the previous Hakurei miko tore open her closed gap to tear her a new one after she was caught spying on her changing her clothes (something she was glad the current one could never do. Yet.)

Remembering that Reimu was in the Underground at this very moment, she quickly sent a text message to her. She smiled a little. In order to warn her of the dangers the company is about to bring, she had to use one of the countless blessings that the company had to offer. She then smiled even wider when she remembered that she bought her smartphone herself and, was thus, absolved of any feeling of gratitude towards the energy mega-corporation. She let herself do a little fist pump, her smile now beaming widely with an air of pride; no one held the great youkai, Yakumo Yukari down (except for the previous Hakurei shrine maiden- she was something else entirely).

Then, she heard a loud deep rumble. Yukari took a look outside. She then immediately summoned for Ran's presence. The column of energy that was usually a light calm blue momentarily turned an eerily familiar shade of fire-red when the rumble was heard followed by bright pulses of orange before slowly shifting back to blue. She had seen that phenomenon before except the energy had always been red. She went straight for the Underground's entrance via her ever-convenient gaps with Ran in tow (and with her, Chen). She was going to seal off the Underground with a powerful barrier and she needed all the help she could muster: she was not going to let history repeat itself. Never again.

She could only hope that Reimu received her message on time and get out of there safely with her companions because, judging by the high level containment barrier she was about place, only she would be powerful enough to rip through it.

The red Higan flowers were in full bloom in the fields of Muenzuka. There were also flowers of other kinds that grew in between the red poisonous flowers, an unusual sight but it was a refreshing one regardless. The river Sanzu was as misty as ever, obscuring most of the view beyond apart from the riverbank and the flower fields. There was not a soul to be seen save for the resting figure of the only ferryman in the area. And this irked Shikieiki to no end. With her Rod of Judgement at the ready, she slowly walked towards the sleeping woman. Once she was looming over her, she cleared her throat her throat loudly. No response. She cleared her throat again, this time coughing due to overdoing it.

A cherry blossom petal fluttered lightly past her face. Still sleeping.

She poked Komachi's cheek with her rod. Komachi simply rolled over.

She sighed. That was it. She had had enough. If the slacker was not going to wake up the conventional way, she was going to wake her the hard way.

Taking a step back, she assumed a fighting stance, legs bent slightly and arms out front. Then, she tightened her grip on the Rod of Remorse. Inhale. Exhale. Pulling her right arm as far back as possible, she took aim at the offender's well-endowed chest, rising and falling calmly as she slept. Her eyes narrowed, her target well within range. Flipping her weapon to its broad side, she swung the Rod of Remorse with lightning speed, the resulting smack a fitting thunder.

"Kyaowowowow!" awoke Komachi with a jump, her arms immediately caressing her sore smacked breast. Her eyes were welling up with tears as she tried to hold back the pain. Then, she took a deep breath, reached for her oversized scythe and began frantically looking around, with Shikieiki managing to step casually out of her peripheral view every time she so much as turned her head. "Who dares to disturb the ferryman's slumber!" she yelled angrily, her voice squeaking mid-sentence.

"So, not only do you sleep on the job but you also have the nerve to speak in such a manner towards your employer?" asked Shikieiki icily from behind her. "Maybe I should have fired you all those years ago. I simply cannot let such insubordinance slide"

"Uweh?!" yelped a startled Komachi with a small jump. She quickly spun around to face her angry boss and grovelled at her feet. "I'm so sorry! Please don't fire me! It won't happen again, I swear!"

"That's what you said the last four hundred and seventy-two times I've caught you sleeping."

"I know but I have a really solid reason for sleeping this time so please listen to what I have to say please?" she pleaded.

Shikieiki sighed. Yesterday when Komachi claimed to have a 'solid' reason, it turned out she had passed out in a drinking match with one of the three Devas. However, she was feeling rather lenient today so she decided to hear her out.

"Well…" she started, her eyes shifting between staring at the ground and towards her employer's eyes. "All the souls just refused to cross the river today, Eiki." She scratched her head as she grinned hesitantly.

"Oh, is that so?" questioned the Yama, intrigued by this fresh excuse her subordinate had cooked up. "Do, pray tell, enlighten me as to where these stubborn souls are at this very moment?" she added as she lightly lifted Komachi's chin with the pointed end of her rod.

"They went into the ground and became flowers." she stammered.

Silence. Shikieiki watched as the ferryman started to fidget as she looked towards the ground. Then back to her. Then back to the ground. Then back to her. Beads of cold sweat were beginning to form on Komachi's forehead. Her smile wavered. She was about to cry.

With a sigh, Shikieiki put her Rod of Remorse back into its holster on her hip and gently put her hand on Komachi's head. "For once, I believe you," she lightly told her as she patted her head softly. Then, with a small smile, she said, "Thanks."

In actuality, she already knew about the souls. She just wanted to know if her subordinate slept because of their refusal to pass on or just out of plain laziness.

"Oh my god thank you thank you so much for letting keep my job Eiki!" cried Komachi in excited relief as Shikieiki felt herself being pulled into a titanium bear hug. "I was so worried about how I was going to go about my life jobless and raise a family alone and be lonely and scared and friendless!" she exclaimed in an ecstatic flurry.

Shikieiki barely heard even half of that statement. She was too busy attempting to avoid death by mammary asphyxiation. She wriggled about as hard as a completely restrained woman could in order to get out. But alas, the shinigami's grip was too tight…

Damn you, Komachi and your ridiculously huge breasts! Did they grow bigger over the past couple of months or something you damned fool?! I will not die such a humiliating death!

Luckily, death was a long way away for the Judge of Paradise as Komachi finally let her go, allowing her to breathe. Composing herself shortly afterwards, she gave Komachi a short scolding for almost accidentally killing her boss before reminding her that she was not a demon and that she would not fire anyone for truth-telling. Only failure to comply with the weekly quota would merit that. That would be a sign of lack of responsibility. Something that, thankfully, the Shinigami standing before had enough of.

"Come now, Komachi," she commanded as she plucked out a white lily from a nearby Higan patch. "We've got flowers to interrogate."

"Eh?" blurted Komachi, her head tilted sideways looking very confused.

Urgh… moaned Shikieiki internally. She even talks to them on a daily basis, for heaven's sake! "It means we have to question the souls that have become these odd flowers, idiot."

Bringing the lily in her hand in front of her, she recited a few incantations, allowing the soul hovering around the flower to merge with it and enable speech.

"Hi there!" greeted the lily. "Who are you, green-haired miss?" it questioned expectantly.

Realising that this was the soul of a child, she decided to introduce herself without informing it of her title and occupation. "My name is Shikieiki, child. If you like, you can call me Miss Eiki."

"That name sounds beautiful, miss!" exclaimed the flower. It then turned its head around as if searching for something.

"Miss Eiki?" it then asked.

"Yes?"

"Where am I? Why are there so many flowers here? And why is that Shinigami in front of you not scary?"

"Hey!" cried Komachi in mock anger. "I'm plenty terrifying as I am, y'know?" She then let out a hearty laugh while twirling her scythe around. Next, she tossed it into the air and caught it in mid-air as it fell the same way a certain King of Pop caught his hat.

"That's so cool!" exclaimed the lily as it looked on in awe.

Shikieiki chuckled softly. The innocence of the young never ceased to amuse her. The sight of her subordinate playing along with it brought a smile to her face. As lazy as she was, she was a natural with children. Komachi would be an excellent mother to her children, thought Shikieiki with small smile. She then made a mental note to make sure that she would be the godmother of Komachi's children, should she ever have any in the future. It would mean the world to her to be able to be part of the joys and wonders that her job would never allow her to experience.

"How old are you, young one?" she asked the lily in a motherly manner.

"Five!" it shouted happily. "That beautiful Shinigami-looking lady was so awesome, miss!" it then added, prompting an embarrassed snicker from Komachi. "A few months ago," the flower continued, "My mommy took me to the Hakurei festival in the village. The miko there was cool like Miss Komachi too!"

This raised an eyebrow on both women. Shikieiki was puzzled. That is strange, she pondered. The Hakurei shrine maiden never held the festival in the village. She could only afford to have it by her shrine. The last time the festival ever took place in the Human Village was when…! Her eyes widened as she came to a realisation. She gulped. There was only one way to find out…

"What did the miko do that could match Miss Komachi's level of awesome?"

The lily perked up. If it had a face, it would probably be beaming judging by the way the flower looked up at her.

"She was crazy strong, miss! She had like ten stone walls lined up in front of her. Then, she punched through all of them in one punch even though the walls had a wide gap between them!"

Upon hearing this, Shikieiki's suspicions were confirmed. Still, she had to know one last detail that could pin-point the period of when the soul was alive. "Do you know where your parents are?"

The lily trembled at the mention of its parents. It began to sniffle as it appeared to cry. "Mom and Dad…" It paused, its voiced strained holding back the tears seen only by itself. "They were carrying me while running away. Everything was burning. Mommy looked scared. Daddy he fell. And then…and then…*sniff*…they-"

"Say no more, child." The Judge of Paradise lightly patted the white lily. "It's okay, you don't have to continue." she assured. Unable to hold back any longer, the flower wailed loudly. She held the flower closely to her bosom, calming the poor child. As she did so, she brought out her hand mirror, looking into the child's final memories. The mirror was only meant to be used for judging but it was her only option for uncovering the final piece without upsetting the child any further.

"Get her out of here!" yelled the little girl's father as he looked for his machete. "Don't worry about me, just go!"

The girl then felt herself being carried by her mother, who slung her over her back as she ran out of the house. Everything outside was ablaze in flames. The houses. The shops. The people as well…

She was scared. There were scary monsters chasing her neighbours. Her friends were screaming, crying out for their mamas. But her mother kept running. Then, she saw her father emerge from their burning house, running towards them. Suddenly she felt joy. Her father was coming for them! Everything would be okay again!

However, her joy was short-lived. Her mother tripped on something and fell, throwing her off in the process. She tried to get up but she couldn't. Her mother fell on top of her and her legs were bleeding. She then looked up to see that her father had fallen down as well. Then, she looked on in horror as the monsters began approaching them, reaching her father first.

She wanted to cry. She wanted them to stop. But she could only watch as her father flailed around swinging his machete wildly as a huge goat-headed monster lifted him by his head. The monster then let out a terrible roar and crushed his head in a sickening crunch, his blood and brains splattering the monster's body. "DAD! NO!"

Then, she felt herself being dragged away quickly. In her shock, she did not notice her mother get up and grab her by her arm. They were running again. She saw her mother's face. It was in tears and she looked scared but she also looked serious as well. Suddenly, her mother's face was gone. In its place, a gaping charred hole. She then fell down, crying out in pain. She tried to get up again but she couldn't feel her legs. She glanced back; her legs were a good few metres away from her, cleanly burnt off. The last thing she saw shortly after was a ball of fire flying straight towards her face…

She snapped her hand mirror shut, her expression dark with rage. Sensing the flower's fear, she put up a small smile. She did not want the little girl to be afraid by her presence.

"Why didn't you follow Miss Komachi on the boat ride?", she asked, now that the girl had calmed down enough.

"The others told me the monsters were coming back and that if I stayed here with this flower, they can't eat me." she replied shyly.

"I see," said Shikieiki as she replanted the flower. "Thank you, child." She then gave the flower a light pat. No further questions were needed. It was time to return to Ground Zero. She would see to it that justice was served. "Komachi!" commanded the Judge. "Change gear and follow me to the Underground."

"Hmm? What for?" she quizzed.

"Some instant sentencing is due." She corrected her hat sharply. And there will be hell to pay…

The demons… They are brutal, rage and without mercy…

"Uwah?!" yelped Reimu as she jolted awake. What happened here? The bar around her was in ruins. The tables broken, the chairs smashed and the walls riddled with holes of various different shapes and sizes. Through one of the large holes in the wall, she could see that the Underground was now up in flames. She looked around the ruined bar and found that it was now empty save for the passed out Marisa and Sanae that were lying on the floor, covered in dust and some light rubble. The last thing that she remembered was that the T.V was abruptly shut off shortly after Parsee's impalement by a series of short but powerful tremors that shook the bar violently. The lights blew out and then she was knocked out cold by a blow to the head, presumably from falling chunks of debris during the tremors.

More importantly, she wondered. What was that voice from before? Sounding all ominous and cryptic. She was a bit disturbed when she heard the voice that awoke her. It was heavy with grave implications. Deathly implications. It was also due to the fact that the only people in the bar with her were out like a light and that there was a major incident unfolding right now, with the burning Underground and all that. She then looked around for her gohei; can't work without it, after all.

However, to her confusion and dismay, she found it on her left snapped in two beside a futuristic-looking pistol with a note taped to it. Picking the weapon up, she took off the note to read it:

Danmaku does not work on them. Use this.

The hand-writing appeared to be hastily scrawled. Someone must've been here recently and took off. She then held the odd weapon in her left hand. It was unsurprisingly a bit heavy but felt, strangely enough, comfortable and natural to handle. It was almost as if she had used this before…

Looking over to where her friends were, she saw that they too had the same weapon beside them. Each with the same hastily written note.

"Urghhh…", she heard Marisa groan, slowly getting up and shrugging off the debris on her clothing.

Sanae, on the other hand, appeared to be sleeping rather than passed out. She saw that she was grinning goofily. Then, she heard a loud shriek coming from the outside of the bar.

"Shut up, you stupid alarm clock~", replied a sleepy Sanae as she groggily got up. Then, the shriek was heard again, this time closer and followed sounds of crunching footsteps.

Sensing the danger posed by the approaching creature, Reimu shoved the guns into Sanae and Marisa's hands and immediately dragged them behind the bar counter, the only intact object in the premise.

She was not sure how she was going to deal with the situation, especially with her intuition constantly acting up. She checked up on her friends who were crouched down with her. Marisa was alert and baffled; she looked cautious but also confused as to why she gave her a gun. Taped with a note. Sanae, now fully awake, was panicking; she presumed that people from the Outside were more familiar with gun usage. Apparently she was wrong.

But there was one thing that Reimu was sure of that was shared between them: Get out alive.