Chapter 18: What the Hell is Going On?!
Alex's head felt dizzy, and his vision of the world became shaky and disorienting. His ears rang loudly, deafening even the sound of his breath. He staggered back upright, his vision focusing in on something large and obscene. A pure red light grew in the thing's mouth, releasing a quiet pulse of energy.
Alex groaned. His eyelids had sunk halfway, and his body felt like an anchor tethered to the ocean floor. His mind drowned out all other information save for the sound of that dreadful wail. His body felt neither dead nor alive, and it drifted in-between the two for what felt like an eternity.
"A...Alex!"
Alex's visin started to focus clearly on that creature.
"Alex! Move!"
Alex's brain fired on all cylinders and sent a jolt through his nerves, snapping all his senses back to life instantly. The monster, and its attack, became clear as day. But the monster's appearance was quickly dwarved by the purifying red and white fireball it sent out, which had the appearance of a dying star.
Alex's body responded on its own, summoning his blade with a twitch of the wrist and swinging it up at the fire. He dug his feet into the air and wound up dragged ten feet back while letting out an intense growl as his strength rose to meet the challenge.
"Grah!" He screamed as his blade dug into the flames and cut it down. The embers brushed his skin like ashes but felt as cold as snow on the moon. And when they were gone, the air was pure.
After catching his breath Alex readjusted to his reality in seconds. Hecatoa, the monstrous Junko, he remembered their sudden appearance and resumed growling in a baffled rage. The goddess was in the same spot, wearing that same obnoxious, unassuming smile. But something important was missing from this scene...
"Shina, where are-!" In a rare, pleasant example of being interrupted, Alex watched as a large aura rocket collided with Junko's torn up face and made the beast wail some more in pain.
He looked up to the right and grinned at Shina in her Gunslinger form getting straight to the fight. But when she turned at him and he saw a slight hint of distress in her eyes, he realized she only trudged on out of necessity.
Junko wailed some more, all in the name of a vengeance most blind. Her tails pulsed, and from them erupted a hail of lasers, each one the size of a needle. They fell like the rain, forcing Shina to summon a bubble of aura around her, and Alex to deflect them by spinning his blade like a pinwheel. Both of them still were slowly pushed back.
"This Shadow shit was pissin' annoying three years ago, and it still is now!" Even with the lasers' roar drowning out most of his rage, Alex's words still reached and perplexed Shina.
"Y-You've faced Shadows before?!"
"I'll tell ya later!" He quickly stated. As the hail of purifying lasers ended, Alex gripped his sword backhanded and ignited the blade with flames that stretched ten feet long, "Just hit this 'thing' with everything you've got!"
He sent the fire flying in the blink of an eye, but just as quickly Hecatia rose and cleaved it in twine. Alex didn't know what angered him more: Her getting in the way, or her stopping his attack with but a pinky.
"Hey dumbass! We're TRYING to save your friend!" Alex snidely yelled while stiffly pointing at her.
The goddess took up a lax attitude and laid on her back as though the air was a handmade hammock, "Doesn't look like trying to me. Don't you like, have another form or something?"
Alex's face slumped down and remained that way as he swatted aside another fireball from Junko. "Fine..." He grumbled while bringing the sword front and center. He put his fingers around all seven triggers on the handle and declared, "But don't blame me if I hurt her!"
Shina halted her attacks and pulled back from Junko as Alex's power sharply rose. It had been a long, long time since she had witnessed this divine power be unleashed, but she still felt the urge to pump her fist and quietly yell "Yeah!" in confidence.
The trigger's harmonious clicks were followed by Alex being bathed in a wreathe of golden flames. The white-hot light from him got Hecatia to open her eyes and whimsically moan, "Ooooh, now this is more like it!"
When the flames dispersed Alex spread a pair of feathery red-gold Phoenix wings from his back and dispelled his blade. The steady release of divine flames from his body felled Junko's wrath and made her silent. She stared at him with the curiosity of a hunting beast, and let out a guttural growl as he rose even with her face.
Alex clasped his hands before his chest and slowly spread them apart. The friction ignited the air and created pure, destructive fire as red as blood. The flames swirled and collapsed into an orb the size of a basell, and Alex bit his teeth into a scowl and threw the rage of years of repressed memories into his voice.
"Begone! Accursed Shadow!"
A condensed cone of flames erupted forth from the orb towards Junko, whose eyes briefly glint with a lilac hue. As the flames drew closer its size whittled down to half, but still smashed into her pretty hard. Her mild staggering state just wasn't what Alex was looking for in the slightest.
"What?" He dryly murmured until Shina called to his attention, "A-Alex! Your wings!"
He turned back around and his wings were gone with only golden dust floating away into the sky. His eyes trembled and he swung back around, only for Hecatia to have snuck right up in his face. She could safely pat the stunned Alex twice on the head and say "A for effort there" before he retaliated with a rough swing of the blade.
The goddess floated back, bent her arms up to prop her orbs, and remarked in a ditzy manner to somewhat mock the boy, "My friend's power is to purify. Even elemental energy isn't like, safe from that."
"Of course its not..." Alex dully growled. He then looked at Junko and saw beyond that grotesque form she'd been forced to take. Alex had faith that he was stronger than her still, but this couldn't be a one-man battle.
Shina was still shaky, moreso after seeing Junko's purifying power in action. But she had nothing to fear, for her aura is pure too. If Junko was to be "saved", then Alex knew he would have to get Shina to know with confidence that his weaker state meant nothing. He thus squeezed his fist together and swung it up with his usual smirk and declared, "So what?! We'll just beat that Shadow out of her anyways!"
Hecatia smiled, lowered her hands, and flew aside as her imprisoned friend screamed in agony the name of the one she despised. Junko's jaw dangled wide open as she prepared to fire another fireball at Alex. He just stood there and waved his fingers back, egging her on with a whisper of "Come on..."
Right as Junko fired, Shina smashed her right heel deep into the side of her face and forced the fireball to go elsewhere. Hecatia nimbly ducked her head back and let it fly by her, then returned her sights onto Alex. He prepared to lunge forward with his sword, steadfast in the belief of his own strength being enough to prevail.
Hecatia moved to intercept at the slightest twitch of his forward, and blocked the tip of his blade by grabbing onto one of her orbs and putting it in the way. Alex felt his arm's muscles and bones pinch together for a sharp, painful moment, but he refused to falter. He stared Hecatia down as she glanced from her side and yelled in exasperation, "Again?!"
She closed her eyes and with the plainest of smiles she had managed to hide her intentions perfectly. Her voice showed concern for her friend, but her body betrayed those intentions. And what she was about to say wouldn't make it any clearer which side of her was true, "I'm just gonna keep getting in your way if you don't like, starting taking this seriously."
"The hell you mean by that?!" Alex yelled as he scratched his blade against her orb.
"I mean, if you aren't fighting to kill, then you stand no chance!" Hecatia casually repelled Alex and turned aside with her arms crossed against the chest.
"What? What the hell are you saying?! She's your friend!" Alex was fuming mad at this goddess' callous aloofness now, but she didn't pay him any mind.
Meanwhile, Shina pushed herself off of Junko's face upon meeting resistance and hovered back, nailing her point-blank with bullets. Shina felt weaker and sad around the monster's body, as though experiencing a great, personal loss herself. And during her moments of weakness, Junko twisted her head and prepared another fireball.
Shina then rose right over it and pounded Junko repeatedly in the skull with explosive kicks. Junko let out a scathing wail and disabled Shina by forcing her to protect her ears. Then the monster raised its tails and paid Shina back for those kicks by lashing her with a flurry of blows.
"Shina!" Alex charged towards her but Hecatia blocked him again. He didn't hesitate trying to punch her relaxed face, but she dodged it like it was the wind. Alex lift and swung his right leg up, but she leaned back with the flexibility of a gymnast and flipped away.
Thankfully for Alex, he could rest easy knowing Shina was able to muster a barrier around herself and pull back. But then Hecatia's voice left his peace in ruins.
"Junko's always been like this. Her rage's been unchecked for centuries, so its not like I wasn't expecting it to consume her eventually..." Her voice got serious as she dropped her accent, but Alex still attacked her brazenly with a punch. She dodged out of the way by getting behind him, and he spun his head back to glare at her.
"You should be helping her goddamn it! Can't you see the pain she's in?!" He swung his right arm towards Junko, but Hecatia sealed her eyes off from the sight. Alex spat in her direction and fell short, then charged at Junko and managed to deliver a hard, sky quaking punch to her chest.
Alex tried for another but Hecatia warped in his path and kicked him back. She then had to act fast to fly up and use the orb of the Earth to deflect Shina's bullets, all while lecturing the two on a certain tragedy, "Have you ever heard of the tale of Junko?"
Alex went for an uppercut and expected her to dodge. When she did Shina used that opening to launch a rocket into Junko's chest. The baby's skeleton she cradled cracked and bled, and made her raging wail shriek even louder. She took her tails and lit them with a pure white fire, scorching the skies with wild, straight firing lasers.
The others scattered as Junko flailed her head and screamed that hated name, continuing to rampage for a full minute. Alex and Shina ran from the lasers and attacked when scarcely possible, and Hecatia floated safely overheard and told part of the tale while staring at Junko.
"Junko was a loving mother. She had one one, but gave him the love of ten. But one day fate dealt a cruel, cruel hand. The husband of the Lunarian Chang'e, Houyi, shot down the sun as a show of superiority to other gods, but in doing so accidentally got Junko's son killed."
Hecatia stopped when one laser strayed her way, then flew towards Alex and caught one of his punches in her hand. She spun around and moved them both away from Junko's wrath, then pushed him aside and continued to tell her tale.
"Junko cradled the charred corpse of her son in her arms. It was not just her skin that got burned, but also her heart. All her love died, slowly killed by the cancerous vengeance that grew deep inside. She cursed Houyi, she cursed Chang'e, she cursed all Lunarians, she cursed the world."
Alex rushed in for a couple broad swinging punches but Hecatia gracefully avoided them both. The goddess warped higher up, only to get surprised by Shina hitting her with an aura rocket. Hecatia tumbled a couple feet back and shook her head, then swung her right hand up to block a rifle shot from Shina.
Shina flew past Alex and quickly declared, "You're better off attacking Junko! Go!"
She held her guns forward and fired out a hundred bullets at once, but in a flashy blur Hecatia glided a pointer finger through the air and deflected them all. She then summoned both her orbs to her front and summoned a bright crimson power within them, unleashing a short-ranged blast to force Shina back.
Shina coughed and shook her right wrist, which got damaged the most, and then found herself feeling a little tired. She get firing bullets from this safe distance and switched up to SMGs. Hecatia used both her hands to block the bullets, so Shina just upgraded to the rocket launcher and fired one out.
Hecatia rose and swept the air with a blinding fast kick, and shattered the rocket before it could explode. She then wagged her leg out, as though she did feel some pain, and had nothing but a playful smile to give to the Aurian. She then glided to the right and kept on the move from Shina's attacks while continuing her story.
"But all of Junko's rage wasn't enough. She was bound to her other emotions. The sorrow from the loss of her son, the happiness of memories past...She had to get rid of all those other emotions for her rage to become stronger. So she purified her grudge, and became the embodiment of it. The mortal 'Junko' died, and the divine spirit of hatred was born."
Shina's persistant efforts at targeting Hecatia got her frustrated and she raised her head with a pout. Then she took her guns and held them out, spinning rapidly in place while firing out. Hecatia intentionally took one of the bullets and stopped, then glided far away over to Junko. Shina went in pursuit and kept the pressure on the goddess for Alex's sake.
During the time Shina gave him, Alex evaded two fireballs from the malicious shadow and then ran right in to clobber her in the gut. Junko staggered a tiny bit but used its situation to fire an incinerating pale white laser straight down at the boy.
Alex zipped back but the laser kept after him, forcing him to leap to the left. Junko's tails then raised, each firing a lightning fast barrage of needles that homed in even as he bolted around lightning fast. Alex spun his sword out at his side to keep the needles off him as he got closer and closer, then dispelled it at the last second before uppercutting Junko square in the chest.
She was displaced and thrown higher up, her massive body collapsing in a sprawled out heap in the air a moment later. But her rage was an infinite energy battery, and allowed her to rise back up in seconds and roar right into Alex's face. He squeezed a finger into each ear and squinted one eye open at the monster, finding her rage tiresome, but pitiful.
Their lives had played out worlds and centuries apart, but Alex still felt a connection with Junko's wrath. A person unopposed for their heinous crimes, a wicked soul allowed to live out their days in peace...Chang'e and that man Alex despised were very much alike.
"Junko existed only to fulfill her grudge against Chang'e and those protecting her. And as I watched this spirit of wrath become consumed by these desires, I felt a kinship grow between us. I too shared a dislike for Chang'e and the Lunarians." Hecatia spoke up from right behind Alex, causing his back to stiffen and for him to spin around and attack on reflex.
The goddess flew back and flipped over Shina's barrage of bullets, which Alex made haste to deflect with his blade. Shina ground to a halt before running into Alex, and the two then split up as Junko attempted to incinerate them with her purity. Hecatia floated a few feet away from Junko's face and looked into her hollow eyes.
What Hecatia saw was something only she could speak about, but she didn't. Junko stared at her and quietly growled, and Hecatia continued to invest wholesale in telling her friend's story, "We plotted and schemed for a long, long time about how to get revenge against the Lunarians, and more importantly Chang'e. Even if she was incapable of reciprocating my feelings, I saw her as something more than a friend."
Junko opened her mouth and attacked Hecatia with a fireball, but she glided around it but a couple inches away and pushed it down with a gentle tap. The fireball collided with the air and broke apart, spreading those pure flames to the wayside.
Hecatia hovered with her head leaned out and smiled, even as Junko continued to attack her. She evaded the attacks and left Alex and Shina alone to fight Junko free of concern for a bit. Alex faced the monster and flew back as she used her tails to send laser wildly flailing around the area. He cut the lasers down with one clean swipe each, but all the while he thought sympathetically about Junko's story.
"She deserves revenge..." He firmly believed that Junko had done nothing to deserve being a prisoner in her own body. She was scorned by the gods, who were now allowed sanctity in their so-called "pure" paradise on the moon. Alex barely held a high opinion of Eirin and Kaguya as is, and so it was no surprise that his views on the Lunarians were to call them less than dirt.
Hecatia's reasoning for wanting Junko to die still made zero sense, so Alex was not about to be her puppet there. Besides, in his mind killing Junko would be hypocrisy. Why should she be condemned for committing to righteous justice while he gets to live wanting the same?
When the monster's attacks waned for even a moment, Alex looked in her eyes and was reminded of what had happened to him not long ago. He almost became this very monster, a beast consumed only by vengeance. But whereas Junko's fury was pure and focused, his would not have stopped until all living things were wiped out. He could not thank Shina enough for saving him from that terrible fate, even if at the time all he longed for was a swift, painless death.
He glared back over his shoulder at Hecatia, who almost seemed to be reading his mind as she quickly shrugged her shoulders up and said, "So how could I possibly bring myself to like, put her out of her misery you know?"
Alex slowly closed his eyes and grimly agreed "Of course not" as Shina's presence stirred to life similar thoughts he had regarding her. Not so very long ago he had presumed that she could've been trained to put a stop to him had he gone wild. But when forced to choose between the world and himself, she chose and succeeded in saving both.
So Hecatia's nonchalance regarding Junko's life became even stranger in his eyes than it was a second ago. The goddess and Shina were in similar positions, but had different mindsets for literally no reason. It was almost as if Hecatia was doing this on purpose, Alex presumed, but the reasons as to why was far beyond his understanding.
He turned towards Junko, reached deep into his right pocket, and murmured loud enough for Shina to hear, "Stand aside, I'm finishing this now."
She paused right away, taken aback by the resolve she felt exuding from Alex's body. And at the moment her eyes connected with his, she saw him take out the Gaia Temporis and clutch it extra tight around his hand. Even Shina couldn't get a reading on what Alex was thinking, and backed away accordingly as she felt herself being in the midst of a beginning storm.
Hecatia hovered back and her eyes glew with a partial glaze of intrigue, and she tickled the side of her face while murmuring to herself, "So that's what you plan to do, is it?"
Alex closed his eyes and took in as deep a breath as he could. Junko lowered her head evenly with his body and split her mouth apart until nothing remained of the sides of her jaw. She screamed so loud, and in so much pain, that he briefly considered rescinding his plan and freeing her from this agony for good.
But Junko would not be granted the mercy of death. It was Shadow Junko that would have that honor instead. As the Shadow coerced all its malice and despair into one final attack, Alex channeled all the hatred for the mastermind responsible for this transformation into his left fist, and focused what little energy he had beyond that into commanding the Gaia Temporis to do one thing.
"Stop."
Junko unleashed a beam that could have wiped out a whole mountain range, but Alex vanished the instant before it hit. Then a second later, Junko's body was hammered by a punch of immeasurible force that rang out like a cannon being fired off. She howled in pain, and her body was assaulted by three punches in separate locations.
The effects of the first punch faded, only to be replaced by another. Junko screeched and cried, but no amount of agony could breech the frozen time Alex was in. Every time he entered the colored void where time ceased to be, Alex wound his punch back and delivered it with all his strength put into it.
Time should have resumed when he was done, but he activated the Gaia Temporis the very millisecond it could have and kept his assault going. He was literally punching the wrath out of Shadow Junko, but not without some cost. Every time the Gaia Temporis obeyed his wishes, he could feel something scratching at his mind like nails on the chalkboard.
A dormant beast kept silent was awakening, pushing itself closer to the front of his straining mind with every punch he committed to. His other self would soon enough be able to whisper devilish temptations into his brain. But he'd gladly pay this toll if it meant giving Junko another chance to finish her mission.
After eleven consecutive punches, Alex rose above the Shadow's head and smashed straight down. Junko collapsed, giving in to the weight of its mass. But for a few more seconds, the Shadow hissed and howled, tearfully crying out the hated one's name out of desperation. The tiny hands that cradled that baby skeleton went limp, and as if fate wasn't cruel enough for the divine spirit her hulking body crushed the skeleton to dust as she finished collapsing.
The darkness burned apart into a horrible, horrible black mist that seeped into the atmosphere, but without fear Hecatia floated over into the midst of it and knelt down to pick up the person left behind. It was a woman wearing a Chinese outfit of a red and yellow tabard with a red sash over a wide-sleeved dress, with a black Phoenix crown atop her head of long orange hair.
The woman was unconscious even as Hecatia lifted her up by the back of her head and smiled at her face. Alex, meanwhile, spent his victory period with a throbbing headache that made him want to collapse. Shina rushed to his aid and kept him up with a gentle embrace around his chest, then looked into his eyes to make sure he was ok.
Both his eyes looked drained of life, but it was nothing he couldn't overcome if given time alone. She stood by, just to be safe.
Alex put the Gaia Temporis away and looked over at the goddess and her friend, and still found himself massively confused. Hecatia's embrace of Junko was one of tender love and care, and there was a longing in her eyes that extended beyond friendship. So why? Why was she so insistent that Junko needed to die if she would be so accepting of the alternate outcome?
Alex wanted to ask that, but there was only enough strength in him to let out a dry gasp. Instead, Shina brought up another problem that he was surprised he had overlooked, "So ummm...I'm happy this all turned out ok buuuuut...Is nobody wondering why Reimu wasn't on the scene like, right away?"
"O-Oh yeah...where the hell was she? If she ignored this that's just beyond lazy..."
Hecatia raised her head without a care and stated as though it was a matter-of-fact, "Duh! She totally wouldn't see a thing with this in the way."
She knocked on the air below like it was a door, and a tiny ripple extended from her knuckles. Shina gasped and couldn't believe it, "A barrier?! W-When?! H-How?! H-Huh?!"
"The mastermind...No, Yukari did this..." Alex's doubts that that Youkai wasn't involved were slowly fading after this encounter. The Shadow thing still didn't make a lick of sense, but a barrier with the power to separate this battle from the rest of Gensokyo's sight? Yukari was the only person who was capable of that, especially seeing how it contained Hecatia of all people.
Of course, it could just be that Hecatia had held back the whole time they fought...
"Nah..." Alex believed, for the sake of his sanity.
"Mmmrrmm..." Junko murmured and her eyes opened up. Her red eyes had this vacant stare that was worse off than Kokoro's, because it was physically impossible for her to show emotions.
Hecatia backed off and Junko rose up, putting her hands into her sleeves and facing her friend with a pitifully fake smile and slight tilt of the head, "Hecatia...? Where are we?"
The goddess crossed her arms against her chest and gave a gentle nod, "You don't remember? You're totally a klutz Junko."
"I am a klutz? Yes, I guess so." Junko's movements were like a doll's. It would've made her fascinating to watch, had Alex and Shina not known what her story was. Instead, it was hard to watch her try and have fun with her best friend.
Hecatia gleamed at Alex and had a smile full of mischief. He groaned, suspecting that his troubles were not quite over, and the goddess quickly justified his concerns. She waved one hand towards the two of them and remarked to Junko, "Why, we were having a fun fun time with these humans when you took like, the biggest rock to the face ever! And then 'poof!', you were out like a light!"
"I...was?" Junko raised a sleeve to her chin and didn't even blink.
"Yeah yeah! And the one who threw that rock," Hecatia lazily flicked her hand towards Alex, and Junko looked at him just in time to see him get fuming mad in the face, "Was him!"
"Oh you BITCH...!" Alex angrily swung his fist up at the goddess and was tempted to flip her off.
Junko dryly stared at him for a few second and then whispered, "He does...look familiar. He's not a very nice person then?"
"Oh yes, yes! He's like, totally the worst!" Hecatia said while brushing the side of her hair.
Shina drooped her arms before her waist and shook her head. It was hard not to smile at the two's antics after the prior danger, even if Alex was looking ready to pop a blood vessel.
"Well, at least nobody died..." She quietly chimed in.
Seven wispy energy tails appeared behind Junko, who held her arms out and bobbed her head to the left. She exuded a pure aura, and pretended to smile in intrigue as she spoke indirectly to Hecatia, "I think I want to teach these two humans a lesson, Hecatia. Care to join me?"
"Two-on-two? Like, how could we not have fun playing that way?" Hecatia conjoined her back right to Junko's side and exuded some of her power towards her two unwilling opponents with a smile.
Alex grabbed the front of his face and rubbed it down, leaving streak marks in the skin. He then shook his head and just simply decided to go "Screw. It." in the most uncaring voice he could muster. He then set his hands on fire and looked at Shina.
"Got it in you for a little more?" He inquired, giving her an easy out that she swiftly shook her head in denial of.
"Yeah! Lets show 'em our teamwork!" She raised one of her pistols and waggled it as a sort-of 'Bring it on' gesture.
Alex thrust his burning finger at Hecatia and declared, "But if we win you better tell us what the hell is going on here, got it?!"
"Like of course! I'll tell you everything...But uh," Hecatia's glare grew stern and her voice became as mature as expected of one of her position, "You're not going to beat us. Isn't that right Junko?"
"Verily. A human impure with the stench of death cannot possibly hope to beat me."
Alex knew that rather blunt comment could've only been directed at him, but it was no big deal. It just meant he'd have a grand opportunity to prove her wrong.
"Then pull out your best Spell Card and we'll tear it down!"
Hecatia and Junko raised their hands together and created a single glowing Spell Card with the purity of Junko's essence and the hellish power of Hecatia merging together into a white-red wispy light.
"This is our combined strength. Welcome to Hell, Alex Whiter and Shina Aurora!" Hecatia and Junko's hands entwined to crush the Spell Card, and they both declared its name.
"Dream of Salvation 'Requiem Blue'!"
Junko spread her arms out and Hecatia levitated a few feet over her head, creating curved waves of condensed purple orbs that pushed out until they surrounded the two of them in six large, incomplete circles. Junko provided back-up by launching streams of violet oval bullets that focused entirely on Alex and Shina whenever they were released.
The two gave a brief nod of acknowledgement and knew from there how to tackle the hellish duo. Shina would focus down Junko, Alex would go after Hecatia. They split up, playing keep away with Junko's straightforward attempt to attack them. Hecatia added more of her bullets to the mix, launching them quickly across the entire sky in large waves that spun clockwise as they went further out.
Alex slipped between the gaps and drew his sword to set it ablaze and attack Hecatia with a fire wave. The goddess crossed her arms and slipped to the right, grazing the flames without disrupting her attack. She flicked a hand up towards Alex and wiggled her pointer finger around with a smile, but was surprised when he showed no signs of ire towards her.
He just kept slicing at the air while gliding around her bullets at Junko's, some of which were floating around like little mines when they failed to hit. Hecatia could only push so far away from her spot without disrupting her pattern, and thus chose to take some of Alex's attacks in stride as she glided to the other side of where she once stood and waited for Junko's efforts to force the boy away.
Alex took some of Junko's bullets to the chest but pulled away before the entire stream collided. Then he slowly inched to the edge of the battlefield and collapsed his blade into flames, punching the air straight after to send a large fireball into Hecatia. The Goddess slipped down and laid flat against the air to duck it, but unfortunately for her Alex then followed up with a large lightning bolt from above she couldn't avoid.
The blinding flash of electricity concealed some of her bullets, making Alex take some of them head on as he tried to get out of the way of Junko's. The vengeful spirit had no need to apply beauty to her Danmaku. She was purely concentrated on victory by any means necessary. It made her patterns simple to dodge, but that was where Hecatia came in.
The Goddess provided perfect compensation with her bullets, filling in the necessary gaps that Junko's blind offense missed. Alex knew it'd be a rough road to victory against two of Gensokyo's strongest duelists, but whereas Junko had Hecatia for back-up, so too did he have Shina.
Shina was faring pretty well herself. Her nimbleness was always going to be her greatest strength in combat, especially during Danmaku, as she could glide between even the tightest bullet patterns without pausing for a second. And from there she utilized the Gunslinger Drive to the best of her ability, and kept the pressure entirely on Junko with a hail mary of bullets.
Junko didn't react to any of the bullets. She kept firing hers without a care in the world, and hopefully they would prevail when combined with Hecatia's.
Shina managed to get within ten feet of Junko and resorted to a couple shotgun blasts to get some quick and heavy damage before the duo's swarm of bullets threatened to overwhelm her. She summoned her jet boots and blasted safely away, performing a couple flips just for personal flair.
Alex saw that she had this lovable grin on her face and was glad that she could enjoy herself like this. Even if her people hadn't been saved yet, she deserved to smile as much as she wanted after all the other crap thrown her way over the last couple of years.
Alex took a few bullets to his sides, which reminded him not to let his mind wander. He threw a few underhanded fireballs towards Hecatia, but she swung her body back and forth to evade them. Alex then clapped his hands and the forceful rupture of sound commanded the fireballs to burst and hit Hecatia in the back.
The Goddess chose to look down at Junko and saw her succumbing to the brunt of Shina's assault, and realized there that her own pattern wasn't serving its purpose well enough as a wall of protection. Without a word, Hecatia's hair and eyes suddenly turned crystal blue and her current pattern started to vanish to be replaced by another, stronger one.
On the sides of the battlefield walls of head-sized blue orbs glided into view and quickly pincered Alex and Shina into a tighter space. As the orbs got near Hecatia's area they let out a sparkling glint of light and began to fire off lightning quick lasers.
Alex took a couple to his back and flinched, which led to him taking some of Junko's bullets to the face. He quickly scrambled out of there before more of those pesky lasers could catch him, but didn't forget to throw a couple air bullets towards Hecatia.
Shina swung her hips around to graze the lasers that came her way, letting out a couple 'Whoops!' as she made haste to get away from them. She turned around, grit her teeth, and paid attention to the frequency and speed of the lasers for a little bit. Not forgetting Junko's bullets, Shina glanced over her shoulder, squeaked in surprise, then performed a swift backflip to get over and past them.
Though it wasn't her mission to do so, she took the initiative to fire a few shots at Hecatia while Alex was preoccupied dodging lasers. Alex, meanwhile, noticed that Hecatia had left herself wide-open and quickly schemed a plan of attack against her.
But there was little time to perform it, so he took in a deep breath and hoped that Shina'd understand what he was doing without him saying a word. He flew right up and gently grabbed her below the elbows. She widened her eyes and muttered a quick "Wait what are you...?!" as Alex lowered her whole body in front of his chest and started to spin around as though paricipating in a game of shotput.
Alex rotated five times to build up the necessary speed, threw Shina over Junko's bullets in a straight line towards Hecatia, then pulled away and kept on the run from the lasers. Shina froze up for a moment from his sudden forwardness but then clicked her tongue and smirked, realizing how brilliant this plan was.
"YEEHAW!" She yelled in excitement before fully committing to being the first humanoid Danmaku ever. Even Hecatia was left dumbfounded as both the girl's feet slammed into her body, followed by her boots releasing a burst of raw energy that safely repelled her away.
She then spun upright, tucked her legs in, and whipped her SMGs out to spray Hecatia with more bullets. Her body glided over every laser that flew her way until gravity grabbed on, at which point Shina dropped straight past the rest and got underneath Junko. She then flipped a thumbs-up out for Alex, hoping he'd be able to catch it, yet at the same time disappointed her giddy smile wouldn't reach too.
Thankfully he did catch her thumbs-up at least, and his already sky-high motivation rocketed to the atmosphere. He swung his arms down and set his hands on fire, then flung multiple fireballs at Junko while barrel rolling away from her bullets. A couple lasers caught him off-guard, but he didn't care. He felt unstoppable!
Hecatia rubbed the back of one hand against her chin and hummed, then waved that hand out to snap her fingers, changing her hair and eyes once more to blonde. As the wall of lasers disintegrated she raised both her hands and created a miniature moon with ease and surrounded it with a fiery red ring. She then bolted up and spiked it down like it was nothing more than a volleyball.
Alex widened his eyes as the shadow of the moon buried him in darkness and its impact seemed inevitable. But then a rope of aura wound tightly around his left arm and with a hard tug pulled him away in the nick of time. The rope quickly broke off, and Alex briefly looked up to see Shina switching to her regular arsenal and firing upon Junko.
His heart was racing, but not enough to halt his smile. After shaking his head a bit and knowing that Shina was already aware of his appreciation, he drew his sword and slashed the air multiple times to send waves of flame at the Goddess. Hecatia shifted her body around like a blur to evade them for a couple seconds until a rough quake forced Alex to stop.
She then slyly waved her thumb at the moon she sent out, which was responsible for the quake due to striking an invisible force. And with that action a vast rain of large Danmaku began to descend upon the battlefield.
Alex found weaving between the rain and Junko's bullets to be much more difficult than the lasers, for at least they could be predicted. Topping this shitcake with the moon still flying around and Hecatia had whipped up the perfect recipe for disaster for them to deal with.
The moon moved slowly, but seeing how it was still the largest bullet the two had encountered in all of Gensokyo its presence couldn't be ignored. Everytime it rammed against an invisible force, it brought more Danmaku down to plague the two's efforts to attack the hellish duo.
Then, Hecatia created a second moon and sent it out the same as before, and Alex started to feel the pressure getting to him. His opponents wouldn't show their waning strength for obvious reasons, but it was his firm belief that Shina and him were getting close to victory.
Like Kaguya and Mokou or Byakuren and Miko, defeating just one of the duo would end the Spell Card. Shina had paid close attention to this, and came to the conclusion that Hecatia would be the closest to faltering. The moons were a massive threat certainly, but Hecatia had sacrificed defense for this incredible offense.
Shina created a rocket launcher and took aim at Hecatia, but upon looking through the scope of her weapon she saw the goddess winking. An incredible pressure pushed her way from the left, as one of the moon's was now deliberately targeting her.
Alex flew in the way of the moon and slammed his hands against it to the hold it back. Though it had physical properties, it was still Danmaku, and exposure to it drained some of his stamina. But it bought Shina the precious few seconds she needed to either attack or flee.
She had a clear shot of Hecatia, but hesitated to pull the trigger. After biting the lower side of her lip she turned the weapon into a grappling lasso gun, flew forward, and fired back to wrap the aura rope around Alex's waist to pull him to safety.
She had pulled harder than even she expected, as he flew right into her chest and pushed them both into a few of the descending Danmaku. He pulled away and shook his hands, not even allowed a chance to thank her as both moons were flying straight at them.
He quickly turned around and wrapped his hands around her waist, which made her blush and giggle. But he then flung her higher, allowing her to line up perfectly and safely with the Goddess while the moons were distracted focusing on him.
He swung his hands out and channeled most of his remaining energy into creating two large diamond walls to fend off the moons' advance. It'd be a breeze for Danmaku to overpower this defense, but those few seconds he bought again would secure the two's victory. That much Alex was certain of.
Shina propped up her rocket launcher in both hands and hesitated to pull the trigger. But then Alex's warm touch reached her hands, and stabilized her aim. He stood with his back glued to her hip and glanced over his shoulder, then raised his hand up to her weapon and funneled the power of fire into the payload stored within.
He gave the affirming nod, and she did the same with a confident smile. Then without a second more to waste, she clutched the rocket launcher's trigger tightly and fired the flaming rocket straight at Hecatia. The Goddess witnessed it like a meteor descending from space, then crossed her arms together and embraced defeat, even as her moons breeched the pitiful barriers.
Then, in the blink of an eye, Junko flew in front of Hecatia and stretched her arms out, intercepting the rocket. The Goddess froze with widened eyes and a gasp that went unheard due to the deafening blast, and seconds later the duo's Danmaku shattered.
Shina lowered her arms and breathed a deep sigh while deactivating the Gunslinger Drive. Alex then swung his right hand out and, after a brief pause, she grabbed onto it tight and they shook firmly on a job well-done. But Shina surprised him by going the extra mile and pulling him in for a hug.
His face turned bright red and his smile got wobbly. Not that he minded, but he still felt it embarrassing to do this in front of others. So with a dry cough he got the message across clearly and Shina pulled back, giggling playfully his way.
They then faced the hellish duo, and finally saw what had left the Goddess speechless. After taking the final attack for her friend, Junko floated there with arms out and a vacant stare for a good five seconds.
Hecatia crossed her arms and with a meaty grin commented with her usual goofiness, "Like, that was totally unnecessary Junko. I was fine, I swear!"
Junko pivoted around and stared her friend in the face, telling her in a surprisingly blunt manner, "I'm satisfied Hecatia. This duel has been tiring, and I'd like to rest..."
"You do huh? Ok sure, we'll head back home after I give them their reward."
"I'd appreciate that. Thank you." Junko bowed her head and then magnetically locked her gaze onto the Goddess as she floated past her and approached Alex and Shina.
Hecatia waved a hand out and remarked with genuine gratitude, "Like, sorry for making you put up with that. You two totally surprised me though, honest!"
Alex floated ahead of Shina and firmly glared at the Goddess as he pointed out, "Don't forget your promise Hecatia."
"I had like, no intention to! But I promised I'd tell you. Sorry girlfriend, but that's the way its gotta be."
Alex glanced back at Shina and then to Hecatia again, asking her bluntly, "But why?"
"Hey hey, its fine! This gossip's just a lot juicier for you than her, catch my drift?"
"...She does seem to know a thing or two about the Elemental Overlord. I guess none of that would matter to Shina." Still, he looked to Shina for permission to go along with Hecatia's offer.
She looked into his eyes and smiled and nodded, and that was enough. He then looked back at Hecatia, who clapped her hands and remarked, "Sweet! I like, owe you a lot for not actually putting Junko down. Guess I shouldn't have judged a book by its cover Mr. Butcher of Sin!"
Alex blankly stared at her with his head tilted aside as he dryly muttered, "...Excuse me?"
Next Time: Justice Paid in Blood