Sunday, July 5, 2009

Misplaced Sukima P-10

It was almost time for spring to come. The snowstorms had stopped, and the days were starting to get warmer. Ail and Ran were completing the last of their training together. Ran fires an immense barrage of large danmaku balls at Ail, who opens a gap and immediately appears besides Ran, then fires his homing laser focused shots, a mixture of his orange danmaku balls that explode on impact now followed by two blue homing lasers. Ran dodges just in time, grazed by the lasers. She, then fires another barrage of indigo colored petal-shaped danmaku. Ail opens another gap and comes out right behind Ran, then fires his spread 8-way lasers at her, but she dodges these with ease. Ail was winded now, so Ran shouts "that's 11 gaps already, start using your barriers!" Ail nods and just as Ran fires another wide barrage of danmaku, Ail activates a barrier, protecting himself from the barrage, then he responds by firing another wave of focused shots, these ones were accompanied by white danmaku balls that spread widely. Ran then backs away and says "not bad, not bad. Let's do the real test now. Ran pulls out a spell card and shouts "Kokkuri-san's Contract!" Ran vanishes, then Ail is surrounded by bright lights. Outside the circle, the bright lights shape laser swords and starts moving unevenly and slowly around as many blue danmaku balls fly in straight lines all around. Ail held up his barrier as the blue balls barrage impacts on it, at the same time he was moving along with the bright lights that surrounded him. 50 seconds pass and suddenly the lights start banging on Ail's barrier, constricting it. Ail noticed it was about to break, so he shrinks the barrier, just as countless more blue balls head unevenly his way. For 10 more seconds he endured, and then, it was over, just like that. Ran reappears in front of Ail, who calls off his barrier. Ran stares at him and says "impressive. Your barriers are as strong as lady Yukari's, however..." Ail breathes deeply and says "breaking gaps on barriers takes a lot of energy out of me." Ran nods and says "let's rest for a bit before continuing."

Ail sits under a still leafless tree and eats an apple white drinking tea. From inside the shrine comes Mima, who had changed her outfit. She was wearing a long-sleeved blue shirt and a long blue skirt with a yellow sun and star designs on the bottom and a blue cape. The rest was just the same. "How do I look?" said Mima, twirling around, then Ail says "blue is definitely your color." Mima smiles saying "thanks" then heads back to the shrine shouting "you were right, hunk, it does suite me!" then from inside Kyo says "geez, why does she always do that?" On the tree Ail was sitting under, there were three fairies talking to each other, however Ail could not see or hear them. He just kept drinking the rest of his tea. One fairy had light-blue eyes and short gold hair braided with red ribbons by the sides of her head. Wears a red and white dress-like cloth and her wings seem to just float around her back. She says "hey Luna... are you sure you're using your powers right?" The other fairy looks at her. She had brown eyes, curly blond hair, wears a poofy hat with a black ribbon on it, a white one-piece skirt and adorns herself with black ribbons. Her wings also seem to just float around her back. She says "Sure I'm sure, Sunny." The third fairy had grey eyes, long straight black hair, wore a blue dress-like clothes and a blue bow in her head. Her wings seem to float around her back as well, though hers were larger. She looks at Sunny and Luna and says "hey, why don't we confuse him and make him think he's seeing rainbows all around him?" Sunny says "that sounds like fun, Star." All three giggle just as Ail looks around suspiciously. He then closes his eyes and places his tea cup on his right side. Sunny says "he's cheating... he closed his eyes." Star, looking disappointed says "maybe he didn't see them. Are you sure you're doing it right?" Luna shrieks, then the other two look to where she was, and there was Ail, holding her by her neck, like a doll, floating next to them. Sunny and Star try to get away, but bump into one of Ail's barriers. Ail looks at them curiously and says "that was a mean trick. I though I was going crazy AND deaf. Good thing I picked up on your energy." Sunny and Star kept quiet while Luna whines and says "whaa~! Let me go!" Ail looks at Star and says "you know, you look just like the princess of Entei... ah well." Ail releases Luna then says "you can leave, but if I catch you trying to trick people again, I'm going to have to punish you." All three were shaking, hugging each other tightly, then nod. Ail releases the barrier, then the three fairies fly away.

It was late noon and Ran and Ail continued on with training. Ran was moving fast all around the shrine, shooting danmaku all around Ail, who was also moving all over quickly, shooting back at Ran. Ail pulls out his spell card and shouts "Brightness, Blinding Heart!" The now familiar white rings and balls of light come from Ail's heart and spread widely at great speeds. Ran dodges every single shot with ease saying "Ail, try to vary your attacks. You're using that spell card way too much. It's gonna become stale!" and just then, one of the light balls hits her sending her back. After the spell was over, Ail smiles and says "alright... but I still got you there." Ran chuckles and pulls out a spell card, shouting "Shikigami, Wizard Fox Thoughts!" Extra large blue danmaku balls explode after Ran shoots them. They turn into green-colored petal danmaku that spread as if they were blooming flowers. Ail combines his speed, barriers and gaps to avoid the danmaku shower then pulls another spell card from his pockets and shouts "Mad Waves, Raging Splash!" Vertically lined extra large danmaku balls spread out sideways as they follow the small blue scattered crystals that rapidly go to Ran, then are followed by a water wave that is followed by even MORE spread blue crystals. There is a large explosion that rattles the entire shrine. Reimu runs out of the shrine looking quite angry asking "what are you two DOING!?" Both Ran and Ail were knocked on the ground, singed, their clothes full of tears. Above them, Suwako, dressed in black and white stripes waves her hands horizontally, crossing them and saying "it's over! Double KO!" then behind Suwako pops out Rumia saying "is that so~?" Just like that, both Suwako and Rumia leave then Reimu places her hands on her waist and says "honestly, you'd think they were doing this on purpose!" Marisa from behind Reimu asks "and what purpose would that be?" Reimu casually says "to bug me!"

It was late noon, the sun was almost set, however many youkai had come to the Hakurei Shrine, to complain that it should be dark by now. They insisted so much, that Reimu decides to look into this incident. Flying low, Reimu spots a strange silhouette and looks up. There, she saw Agava, looking back at her with a twisted smile. When she turns, her hand was made into three long spikes, and impaled in those, was Ail. Reimu shouts, but no sound came out of her. When she looks behind her, Kyo was on the ground, cut by a sword, the Hakurei Shrine burning, and Gensokyo vanishing before her eyes in a sea of fire and shadows.

Springing from her futon, Reimu quickly looks around. It was still dark. Her heart was beating fast, and she was covered in sweat. She sees a little bit of morning light and realizes it's actually morning, then she hears Ail and Ran talking. "...we trained so hard, and you have improved on your skills and abilities beyond what I thought possible, and yet, opening gaps in barriers keeps taking a lot from you." said Ran as she walked around the shrine. Reimu gets out of her room and sees that Ran was packing hers, and Chen's things. Ail was helping her, although looking a bit sad. He says "I don't understand why those gaps cost me so much energy. Even my energy manipulation abilities have increased thanks to your training, but those gaps..." Ran turns to face him and says "don't get me wrong, Ail. If anything, I am amazed and very proud of how far you have come in just two months. If anything, I should thank you too. This training helped both of us in the end." Ran packs Chen's books as Ail sits quietly then she keeps talking "I am just baffled by this small fact." Reimu steps in and says "don't forget two things. One, he's only been here for 9 and a half months, and two, he's still half human." Both Ran and Ail look at Reimu a bit surprised and say at the same time "Reimu... good morning." Ran gets closer to Reimu and asks "are you ok? You looks so pale." Reimu looks at Ail, then at Ran and says "it's nothing." Ail then says "well I think Reimu's right. I think what I lack is more experience." Ran smiles and says "maybe you're both right. The important thing is you've learned to control these powers quite well... although sometimes..." Ail heads to the kitchen and says "if you're referring to that moon business, or that gap into my imagination, you'll be glad to know those were accidental, and haven't happened again." Ran and Reimu laugh as they head to the porch where Ail gives them tea. Reimu drinks some immediately then says "so you're leaving?" Ran nods as she drinks her tea then grabs a cookie. Reimu takes another sip of tea and says "sure am gonna miss your tea." Ran giggles, then Ail sits by her as she says "I haven't made the tea for almost a week. Ail's been the one preparing it." Ail smiles and waves at Reimu, then Reimu, sounding very impressed says "wow, this is really good." Ail nods, thanking her.

Then sun was fully up now. Mima and Kyo woke up almost at the same time, along with Chen. They all have breakfast together, and shortly after Ran picks up their bag and says "well everyone, thanks for everything." Ail responds "and thank you very much as well, miss Ran." Ran giggles and notices Mima was just about to cry, then pats Chen on the shoulder, then Chen heads to Mima and says "miss Mima, I'll miss you" and then hugs Mima and gives her a kiss on her cheek. Mima's lips start to tremble. Reimu hands Ran a charm and says "if you run into any trouble, use this charm, It'll alert us immediately." Ran bows her head, thanks Reimu, grabs her bags then calls Chen. Mima hugs Chen once more, then lets her go. Just before they leave, Ran turns to Kyo and says "Kyo, even though I was here, I didn't get a chance to really get to know you. Maybe next time, ok?" Kyo smiles and nods, then says "sure thing" and so, Ran and Chen leave back home to their mistress. Mima starts to cry, just as they vanish from view saying "the cute little kitty le~ft!" then she uses Kyo's shoulder to cry on... of course, Kyo was not amused by this and just lightly pats her on the shoulder. Ail and Reimu look at each other, then shrug at the same time, then go about their daily lives. Kyo tries to move away, but Mima clings on him. Kyo sighs and just gives up.

Ail was sitting on the ground at the back of the shrine. Most of the snow was gone by now, and the warm sun felt really good for him, so he just sat there, humming tunes he's heard from Mystia. Ail looks up and sees a fairy high above. She had green eyes and long orange hair, had a pair of white feathered wings and wore a white pointy hat and long white dress, both with red wave patterns outlining the edges. She curls into a ball and stays like that. Ail heard her saying "I~~T'S", but got worried when she stayed like that, so he went to check up on her. "Hey little fairy, are you alright?" She was trembling, so Ail gets closer and just when he was about to touch her shoulder, she spreads her arms and legs and shouts "SPRING~!!!", releasing countless shots all around, hitting Ail with a LOT of danmaku bullets. She looks at Ail, floating there, his face singed and coughing up black smoke. She keeps looking at him quite curiously, then Ail says "that was.... ADORABLE!!!" He grabs her and spins her around, calling her the cutest thing he's ever seen, then he twirls her in the air, making her laugh and giggle as he did, then, again she spreads her arms and legs saying "it's spring, it's spring!" She kept shooting danmaku all around, but Ail just kept laughing and calling her adorable. When Ail looks down, he realizes the whole ground was alive again. The flowers had bloomed and the trees were full of leaves again. Ail, still holding on to the fairy asks "did you do all this?" Reimu comes out and shouts "Ail, what are you doing to Lily White?" Ail goes down, Lily following him. He now realizes she is half his size. "Lily White?" asks Ail as he turns to Lily and asks again "is that your name?" Lily smiles and nods. Kyo comes out of the shrine asking "what's with all the noise?" Lily gets behind Ail, trembling a bit and angrily glaring at Kyo from behind Ail. "Oh, that's just my friend, Kyo, and I am Ail." Lily smiles at Ail, but when she looks at Kyo, she just sticks her tongue out at him. Reimu says "she's the fairy of spring you know... well, at least that's what we call her, since everywhere she goes, spring is sure to come quickly." Kyo then says boastfully "A-ha I see. Well, I'm a summer person myself, so it's no wonder she doesn't like me."

Ail gave Lily a cookie and some tea. He couldn't keep his eyes off her. She finishes the tea, eats the cookie, then bows in gratitude, then flies away shouting "It's spring!" and shooting danmaku at random. Just then, Suika, from the shrine's roof shouts "hey Ail, Reimu!" She jumps down, Reimu looking surprised says "Suika!? Haven't seen you in some time." Suika rubs the back of her head and says "I've been preparing for today." Reimu asks "why, what's happening today?" With a large grin on her face that scares both Ail and Reimu, she says "today, Kyo and I..." "...are going to have a little fight!" said Kyo, who was standing on the shrine's porch. Kyo and Suika now stand in the middle of the small field at the back of the shrine, where Reimu, at Kyo's and Suika's request, placed a barrier around them, creating a square arena. Inside the barrier, Kyo and Suika smirk at each other, then Suika says "this is a one-on-one battle with no spell cards. Only abilities and medium leveled danmaku." Kyo smiles and says "been waiting for this the whole winter!" Suika smiles back and says "just make sure to make it last and don't hold back... I know I won't." Ail and Reimu look at each other quite worried. Reimu asks "Kyo? When did you two agree for this?" Kyo looks back at them and says "since the dark energy incident. Don't worry, I've trained hard for this." Ail then holds his chin and says "ooh~ so THAT'S why he was training so much." From behind Reimu, Marisa says "I bet my money on Kyo." Reimu gets surprised, but relaxes quickly and says "you're on!" Ail calmly looks at both battlers and says "I'll bet on a draw..." Both Marisa and Reimu think about it for a while, then say "no way!" Ail shrugs while Marisa says "do you know something?" Ail smiles and says "I'm sorry, the bets have been made. Too bad I didn't make mine in time." Marisa looks at Ail in disbelief for a while then turns to watch the match. Mima comes out of the shrine to watch, looking uninterested, however.

Kyo and Suika size each other for a bit,then Kyo lunges to attack. Suika drinks some sake, then spits out fire, but Kyo jumps just in time, and launches a punch hard to the ground, missing Suika by an inch. The impact left a small crater, which Reimu did not like one bit. Kyo recovers and jumps back to avoid Suika's gourd that was heading straight to his face. Suika smiles and says "not bad... for a human" and shoots a large fireball. Kyo smiles and with his bare hand, he grabs it and throws it back. Ail, Reimu and Marisa were incredibly impressed, however Mima only yawns. Kyo now unleashes the energy that surrounds his arms, but didn't give them form yet, then Suika rushes to him and tries to uppercut him, however, he flipped right out of the way just in time. Joining to watch the fight, Mystia, Wriggle and Rumia, sitting on the tree branches. Suika smiles and runs away from Kyo, then flips in the air, double-kicks the barrier, then uses the recoil to launch at Kyo, fist ready, however Kyo ducks just in time, punching upward, sending Suika up, then as she falls down, he follows with a kick, sending her back and to the ground, then he gets up and faces Suika again. Suika gets up and dusts herself, then drinks some sake and says "you're a tough little human... to be ale to actually bruise me, and oni, just like that." Kyo smirks and chuckles saying "I told you I would train hard, just for this." Suika smiles and says "I am glad. For a moment I though it'd be over on the first punch..." Suika suddenly disappears, then reappears right in front of Kyo, who receives a direct punch in the face. He's sent flying toward the barrier, however he flips in the air and uses his feet to bounce off the barrier and launch himself toward Suika, then his right hand glows red as he launches the attack, landing a direct punch on Suika's face, sending her spinning backward. Now Aya, Momiji, Suwako and Nitori have joined to watch the fight. Ail and Reimu look around as the youkai watch the fight as if in a trance. Aya wasn't even taking any photos. Suika rubs her cheek smiling at Kyo. She takes another big gulp of sake and says "you know something? That really hurt."

The shrine was full of many youkai that have come to see the fight. The entire Scarlet Devil Mansion was there, Yuugi, Parsee and Koishi, Kanako and Sanae, who had just arrived. Sanae sits next to Ail, and when Ail notices, he blushes along with her, however, Kanako sits behind them and she places her hand on Ail's shoulder, letting him know she was there. His face turns from red to blue in just one second. Keine and Mokou arrive by flying, Yuka, carrying five pots full of dirt, giving them to Ail, Medicine, who was hiding behind the trees, and Alice sitting next to Marisa. It was a big reunion indeed. However, back at the Moriya shrine, something enters the shrine and looks around the rooms. Entering the largest room, it finds the bottle with the red spirit that had possessed Ail before. It takes the bottle and laughs, then opens it. The little red spirit inside tries to get away, but something forces it to enter the intruder. It drops the bottle on the floor, shattering it to bits, then the intruder flies away from where it came, cackling as it left. Back at the Hakurei Shrine, half of the youkai there were cheering for Kyo, while the other half were cheering for Suika. The battle was getting more intense. It was already noon and they were still going, both just a bit winded.

Kyo, his face full of bruises, his clothes in tatters, smiles at Suika and says "you know, I never though I could actually last this long against you." Suika's face was also full of bruises, her clothe in tatters and quite dirty. Even the ribbon in her horn fell off. She looks at Kyo rather seriously, but then she smiles as she says "never have I had this much fun with a human... other than Reimu, that is." Just then they both lunge at each other once more, both punching each others fists and kicking each others legs, as if they were synchronized. They back away and Suika tosses an orange colored ball that Kyo dodges, then he tosses a red one back. They kept tossing fireballs at each other until two of them crash, exploding on contact, creating a thick smoke screen that blocked the view of the battle, however all outside could hear them battle on. When the smoke clears, both fighters were exhausted. They smile at each other then run towards one another, pulling their fists behind them, and when they get close, both release their attacks at the same time, each landing a direct hit on each, both blown away by the force of the impact. Neither would get up, the crowd fell silent for a moment, then started cheering on. Both Kyo and Suika struggle to get up, staggering a lot when they do. Kyo smiles at Suika, who smiles back, then both fall down at the same time. Reimu had Suwako, who had her referee outfit on, in a headlock shouting "don't you DARE!", but Patchouli flies close to the barrier then says "it's over... it's a double knockout!" Both Marisa and Reimu shout "NO~!" as Ail smirks at them. They both turn to him and say "you KNEW, didn't you!?" Ail nervously tries to back away and forces a smile saying "it was just a wild guess!" Mima yawns, then heads back to the shrine murmuring "I told him not to do that... oh well." The other youkai there start to leave, all talking about the fight sounding very excited. Before the SDM leaves, Flandre goes to Ail and give him a bone-crushing hug, then Marisa, then Reimu, and giggling, she leaves. All three were on the ground, trying to reposition their spines. Thankfully Sanae was there, so she somehow rearranged their spines and helped them up saying "heheh, and I'm not even a physician"

It was night, now and Sanae, Suwako and Ail were sitting at the porch at the back of the shrine, casually talking and drinking tea. "So how's you're leg?" asks Ail to Sanae who answers "it's perfectly fine, thank you for asking." then Suwako adds "it was a real miracle, you know?" From inside, Kanako and Reimu were having a small conversation, when Kanako suddenly shouts "Ail, I'm sorry for the other day." Ail turns around and says "aww, don't worry about it. I blew a fuse that day as well." then Reimu adds "yeah, and I had to forcefully fix that, remember?" Ail trembles and says "Oh... right." Kanako says to Reimu "you know, it's been pretty peaceful these days" and Reimu replies "which means something's bound to happen soon." Alice comes from the kitchen saying "for a shrine maiden, you sure are very negative." Just as Alice sits down, Marisa grabs one of her cookies, but Shanghai tries to get it back, however Marisa just licks it, making Shanghai back away, then Alice continues saying "but you're probably right, as always." Reimu just casually looks at Alice, saying "remember... that thing is still alive. It's only a matter of time before it comes back again." All keep very quiet, then Marisa breaks the silence saying "hey, I'm curious. Didn't Kyo say he'd leave Gensokyo as soon as Ail learned to open a gap home?" Reimu nods then Marisa continues "then why is he still here?" Ail responds for Reimu saying "because we had a little chat and decided neither of us is leaving until Agava is properly dealt with." Reimu remembers the nightmare she had in the morning. It was like reliving a horrible event. Ail and Kyo, dead... killed by Agava right before her eyes. Reimu snaps out of it when Alice shakes her a bit asking "Reimu, what's wrong?" Reimu shakes her head and says "just a bit sleepy." Marisa grabs another cookie, however Shanghai breaks it before Marisa licks it again, leaving Marisa with a really small piece, then hands the larger piece to Alice, who eats it. Marisa then says "so Reimu... shouldn't we wake those two up already?" Kyo and Suika were still on the ground, their eyes spinning, the barrier around them removed, Reimu answering "nah, there's no need. Let them sleep in the great outdoors."

Yukari opens a gap just behind Reimu saying "my~, who could have though a mere half-human could match Suika." Ail excitedly turns around and heads toward Yukari asking "lady Yukari!? Did Ran and Chen make it back alright!?" Yukari smiles saying "don't worry, they are ok. They are at the village right now. Ran tells me you have come along way, young Ail." Ail nods and says "yeah, but... well I can't handle opening those gaps like you can." Yukari chuckles and says "well you can't expect to master something like that so quickly." Reimu drinks her tea saying "I told you". Yukari inspects Ail and asks "how many, and for how long?" Ail immediately responds "about 15, for 30 minutes each" Yukari opens her fan and says "well, for a beginner like you, that is more than good enough. Just keep using them... you'll get the hang of it." Yukari spots Kanako, who was smiling back at her, then she pulls out a bottle of sake, and Kanako had her extra large cup ready for it. Somehow, Suika and Kyo were beside Kanako, smiling and with their cups ready as well. Ail looks at them and says "amazing recovery." then Alice and Marisa, who were now at Ail's right say "uh-huh" then Marisa joins in. Ail goes back to the porch, then Suwako says "it's not that I'm weak against sake like you two, I just rather just play danmaku." Ail sighs while Sanae just giggles, then Ran softly lands in front of them. "Miss Ran, welcome!" says Ail, then he looks around and asks "where's Chen?" Ran smiles saying "hello everyone. Oh, Chen? She went to the Bamboo Forest with that Entei rabbit youkai... oh, I see lady Yukari is already drinking. Ugh, can't take my eyes off her for a-" and just like that, an explosion rocks the shrine. Ail and Ran both lift up to the air and see two danmaku sources just above the Bamboo Forest. Ran's eyes fill with panic then flies as fast as she can to the forest shouting "Chen! Che~N! I'm coming, Chen!" Ail following closely behind Ran!

Arriving at the forest, they see Kaguya and Mokou shooting each other with MASSIVE blasts of fire and lunar energy. Ran desperately calls for Chen, while Ail scopes the area. "RAN! Be careful! Those blasts are dangerous!" shouts Ail, trying to raise his voice over the constant blasts and explosions. Some parts of the forest were on fire, making Ran more desperate. Ail went to see if he could calm the two girls down, when Ran spots Chen, crying over Mima, who apparently was hit by one of the stray shots. Ran shouts "Che~n!" Ail turns around and sees Chen and Mima, then rushes to them, however when both Ran and Ail were getting closer, a round invisible barrier blocked their way. Ran beats on the barrier while Ail tries to open a gap, but nothing happened. "What's going on!? I can't break open this barrier!" Just then, one of Mokou's massive fireballs heads to Entei, however it somehow turns around and heads straight at Chen. Ail instinctively places a barrier to destroy the fireball, but it avoids it, then Ran cries out of Chen, making Ail more desperate. Every barrier he made was avoided, as if the fireball was alive and conscious. It enters the invisible barrier, and Ail desperately tries to open a gap and cover Chen with one of his barriers, but all his attempts failed, the massive fireball exploding as it hits Chen. Ran shouts as loud as she could, firing as at the invisible barrier, but nothing worked.

The barrier suddenly vanishes, and Ran and Ail quickly fly towards Chen and Mima. Both were severely injured. Ran was crying desperately, calling out to Chen. Ail starts to cry, but his tears dry up, his eyes filled with rage. He flies to Mokou and Kaguya, placing a barrier between then, then focuses, shooting a massive blast with homing lasers at Mokou, then one at Kaguya, exploding hard on contact. Mokou and Kaguya angrily get close to Ail, who grabs their necks tight and shouts "YOU TWO MORONS!!! Look what you DID!" Ail points them at the burning forest, Eirin, Tewi and Reisen doing their best to put out some of the fires, then points them at Chen, Mima and Ran. He lets both of them go shouting "what in BLAZES made you use so much power, you IDIOTS!" Kaguya and Mokou both look angrily at Ail who says "I have a good mind to kill you 100 times... but I got more important things to handle here..." Ail slowly flies back down to Ran, Chen and Mima. Just then, the angry Kaguya and Mokou were about to shoot at him, but Ail turns around and fires his lasers at them, knocking them down hard. He lands softly next to Ran who cries saying "she's not waking up." Ail closes his eyes, and in his mind he calls for help "help... I really need help now. My friends are hurt... I want to save them." but nobody answered this time. Ail opens his eyes and says "then I'm on my own." Suddenly a spell card materializes right in front of his chest, on the center of his heart. He grabs the card and asks Ran to back away a little. Ran, her face full of tears asks "what are you going to do?" Ail places the spell card on Chen's limp hand and softly says "Blast Sign, Expansion that Soothes" Suddenly Chen was surrounded by 30 orange danmaku balls. Ail backs away a little then places his hand on the orange balls' trail, each exploding upon contact. Each explosion sent green colored energy to Chen. After Ail was hit by 15 of these, he pulls his burnt hand away. He was just about to place the other hand when Ran blocks him and places her hand instead. After 15 more of the balls explode, the energy is sent straight to Chen who opens her eyes slightly and weakly asks "Ran-sama? Are you there, Ran-Sama?" Ran immediately grabs Chen and hugs her saying "it's ok, I'm here." Chen tries to look around then weakly asks "where's miss Mima? She protected me, but she got hurt..." Just then, Ran turns to face Mima, and there was Ail, doing the exact same thing for Mima as he did for Chen. Ran was about to get up and help, but Ail raises his hand and says "if I use my barrier around my hand, I can give more energy and stay safe, see?" Ran looks at the energy heading to Mima, which was a little bigger now. Ail looks at Chen and asks "does she need some more?" Ran shakes her head slightly, and smiling says "she'll be alright."

At the Hourai Clinic, Chen had been treated and properly bandaged, as well as Mima, but in Mima's case, being a spirit, it had to be Reimu and Ail who did most of the healing for her. Ran and Yukari were with Chen. Yukari was a bit hurt, seeing Chen lying on a bed like that, talking so calmly and peacefully. Reimu and Ail were tending to Mima, who immediately fell asleep just after waking up and asking for Chen. Eirin and Keine were lecturing Mokou and Kaguya so fiercely, Ail though for a second he was looking at two SikiEikis. Eirin and Keine were furious saying "and you almost burned half he forest down! "and you killed so many animals" "and look what happened to Chen and Mima" "when are you going to act like ladies" "why do you insist on this pointless fighting!" For one second, Mokou and Kaguya look at each other by the corner of their eyes and both Keine and Eirin said at the same time "are you listening to me, young lady!?" Ail gets closer and was glaring at the two, looking very disappointed then Keine and Eirin say "just because you are immortal, doesn't mean everything around you is!" Ail's eyes open widely then gets closer saying "so~ they are immortal? How is that possible?" Eirin looks at Ail and says "they drank an elixir I made that made them immortal." Ail smiles such an evil smile, his eyes shine as he stares directly into Mokou's and Kaguya's eyes saying "so I REALLY could have killed them 100 times over after all!?" Both Mokou and Kaguya tremble when they look at Ail, and looking at him like that reminded them of Reimu. Both hug each other trembling, Mokou shouting "I'm so sorry!" then Kaguya adds "we'll be more careful!" Ail glares at them for a few seconds then says "hmph! Just be more careful next time!" then he turns around and heads back to where Chen and Mima were. Realizing what they were doing, Kaguya and Mokou get away from each other, feeling almost repulsed. They were just about to start arguing again, however they notice Reimu giving them the evil eye from the beds, so they both hug each other once more, in fear. Keine and Eirin agree they've had enough and let them go.

Just as Keine and Mokou leave, Eirin approaches Chen's bed to examine her. Yukari heads to Mima, who had woken up just then and says to her "thank you for taking care of Chen." then Ran, who was still with Chen says "yes... thank you very much, miss Mima." Mima perks up, gets off the bed floating just above the floor in her ghostly tail and says "no need to thank me. I'll gladly take care of Chen when you neglect her again." Reimu, looking a bit mad says "hey, hey! You want to go back to your room?" Mima, looking scared and forcing a smile shakes her head, then Ail says "well, you seem to have made a full recovery." Mima looks around and sounding disappointed she asks and where is the hunk?" Reimu smiles and says "he and Suika were a little tired, so I left them in the shrine." Reimu notices a bit of sadness on Mima then says "he wanted to come, really, but he and Suika were too messed up after that battle they had. We didn't need him as extra luggage." Mima smiles again and giggles. Tewi enters and gets close to Mima, then looking ashamed says "thanks for saving me." Mima smiles and pats her on the head saying "anytime." Eirin adds "if Tewi hadn't told us what had happened, we would have never found you so quickly... but." Suddenly, all in that room, except for Tewi, felt something strange. Yukari, looking quite dangerous now says "Ran, Ail, that barrier you came across. Did it have color, shape, something?" Ail answers "nothing... I couldn't do anything to it, I couldn't use my barriers inside it, open a gap, or break it with danmaku, which makes me add to the question... do stray fireballs guide themselves like that?" Reimu lightly shakes her head and says "I think Agava is back. Not just that, but she's learned to use barriers. As to how she guided that fireball, I haven't a clue." Yukari they says "by using it's shadow, that's how. What I don't understand is why did she target Chen like that?" Yukari looks at Ail and smiles saying "well one thing is certain. Chen unlocked an interesting power from within you, mister Ail. Those healing exploding balls really did the trick." Reimu adds "that was a bit reckless, though. You arms were burned badly." Ail and Ran smile saying "it's nothing" then Eirin grabs Ail, and Reisen grabs Ran, then as if synchronized, they bandage their right arms in just seconds. Ail and Ran look at their arms and Ran asks "is this really necessary?"

Yukari opens a gap that lead to her home, so after saying goodbye, Ran carries Chen in, then Yukari leaves as well. Reimu, Mima, and Ail use one of Ail's own gaps to head to the Hakurei shrine where Kyo and Suika greet them quite happy to see Mima was well. They all went to sleep afterward. It was late noon and the youkai were complaining that it should be night. Reimu recognized the scene and without a second to spare, she flies to the direction of the village, however she was too late, as Kyo had just been cut to death, and Ail impaled right before her eyes. Again, Reimu springs up then looks around, covered in sweat, gasping for air saying "that dream... again." It was early morning and she could already hear Mima and Kyo talking. "Come on, hunk, we have to tell her." said Mima from the door. Kyo sighs and says "alright. Just don't be too blunt about it." Mima softly knocks on the door then Reimu says "I'm awake. What's the matter? Mima enters and says "Reimu... err..." Reimu tries to hide her fear and asks "where's Ail?" Mima then breathes deeply and says "he's with Alice at Marisa's house. There's a strange barrier there that's not letting them get inside."

At the Forest of Magic, in front of Marisa's house, Reimu spots Alice and Ail, looking bit frustrated, Ail shooting his danmaku at the open door, however the shots were blowing up long before entering the house. Reimu lands and Alice says "Marisa is stuck inside!" Reimu growls and grits her teeth and says "I've had enough!" She points her gohei at the barrier blocking the entrance, then four violet charms fly from Reimu's pockets to the barrier, making an opening just like that. Ail and Alice look at Reimu amazed, then Reimu, sounding incredibly angry says "just GET INSIDE ALREADY!" When they entered Marisa's house, it was like entering a new world. The floors were as black as a moonless night, the torches at the walls barely lit anything, giving off an eerie blue tone. Alice was about to go in deeper, but Ail grabs her and Reimu, then flies up just as many dirty white thorns spring from the ground, some with dried up blood on them already. Ail lets them go as they started to fly then Alice thanks him. Reimu, still looking quite angry says "let's be careful and move on." As they flew through the corridors Alice commented "hey, don't you think these walls are getting too narrow?" and just like that, from the right walls spring countless white spikes. Ail manages to make a barrier just in time. All three were forcefully pushed back to the other wall, and just then the spikes that Ail managed to block broke off, shattered into pieces. Alice and Reimu gulp loudly, their faces full of sweat, pale as ghosts. Ail holds his head and almost falls down saying "I'm ok... just wasn't expecting that impact." Alice looks up and notices an opening then says "Up there!" When all three fly up, they enter the attic, and in there was Marisa looking out the window. Her hat was on the ground, next to a futon and a candle. Just as Alice was about to get close, Reimu grabs her shoulder and pulls her back. Alice gets mad and shouts "what's the big idea!?" Reimu quietly points at Marisa... when Marisa turns around, her skin was black, and her eyes dark blue. "Welcome" said Marisa, with Agava's tone of voice warped with her own. Reimu growls and says "get... OUT... of my friend this instant!" Agava cackles and says "get out of here? No, I don't think so. As long as I'm in here, you can't hurt me... you can't hurt your dear friend, can you?" Reimu smiles and says "heh, you don't seem to know Marisa too well, don't you?" Suddenly Agava starts holding her head and shouting, then Marisa, in her own tone of voice says "Reimu... get her out of me!" Without wasting another second, Reimu fires 4 yellow charms that stick on Marisa's limbs, then uses a red and yellow charm and sticks it on Marisa's forehead. She started to scream as Agava is forced outside of Marisa's body. Alice pulls on some strings and out come two dolls. Alice shouts "Shanghai, Hourai, now!" The dolls were holding lances, and both quickly go and stab Agava, pinning her against the wall. Agava shouts "how could you do that to your own friend!?" Reimu walks toward Agava saying "I would worry more about myself if I were you!" and there was Marisa, holding her Hakkero, looking quite angry at Agava, but Agava smiles and says "fine... you win this round, shrine maiden." and then she turns into a shadow and vanishes through the walls, but before she left, Reimu noticed in her left eye, the red spirit that had possessed Ail.

Marisa's house was restored to it's original state, and Ail was quietly standing by the attic's exit, just looking around. Marisa was holding her head saying "thanks Reimu, Alice... you too Ail." Ail just smiles and waves quietly. Marisa looks at Reimu and says "Reimu, calm down. You'll get her next time, ze." Reimu looks at Marisa, still looking a bit angry and says "yeah... I know. Marisa..." said Reimu, looking at Ail. She then looks back at Marisa, who was staring at her quite curiously and says "I'm going to need your help." Marisa looks at Reimu even more confused and says "well of course, I wouldn't let you have all the-" Reimu raises her hand, then turns to Ail and says "Hey Ail, sorry, but could you leave? We need to have a girl talk here." Ail smiles and bows his head then climbs down the ladder. After he did he shouts "Oh my goodness! What a MESS!!! You could lose a whale in here!" Marisa runs to the attic's exit and shouts "hey, shut up, and don't touch anything, you hear!? That's MERCHANDISE!!!" Ail shouts back and says "ok, ok, sorry, hahaha. I'll just head back to the shrine." then Reimu watches as he leaves to the shrine, flying.

Back at the shrine, Sunny, Luna and Star were on one of the trees in front of the shrine, deciding what to do with Kyo who was sweeping leaves. "I know" says Star, "let's make a reflection of him and mess around with it a bit, but make sure he sees it clearly." Sunny, sounding a bit annoyed says "well of course. Who do you think you're talking to?" Luna then says "but what if Reimu finds us?" Star says "neither she or that boy are around here, so we're safe." All three giggle, then Kyo notices he was looking at himself. "A mirror?" asks Kyo, then the image of himself start posing, flexing his muscles. Kyo says "heh, wow, I really am good looking." Suddenly, the copy grows a large belly that bounces at he moves around. Kyo got into a state of complete shock, then suddenly drops to do sit-ups. The fairies laugh hard, enjoying Kyo's reaction, then from behind them, Ail says "well, well, what do we have here?" Sunny and Luna then realize Star was long gone. Ail grabs them before they could fly away, saying "didn't I tell you that if I caught you pranking people I would punish you?" Both fairies tremble as Ail simply smiles at them, then knocks their heads together, knocking them both out. Ail flies down with the knocked out fairies in his hands and says "Kyo, relax. These little ones were just tricking you!" Still doing his sit-ups Kyo shouts "now way! I'm NOT getting fat, you hear!?" Ail sighs and sits the two fairies under the tree then shoots a laser to a random bush, blasting Star Sapphire out from hiding, burning her a little in the process. He looks at her angrily and says "you really are a lousy friend. You should have told them I was coming." Star giggles, rubbing the back of her head. Ail heads to the shrine's back, leaving Kyo to his workout. Back at Marisa's house, the three girls had a most serious look on their faces. Alice and Marisa look to Reimu, but Reimu only looks back angrily and says "I won't give them the choice, and I am going to need your help... please." Almost ready to cry, Marisa nods, then Alice also nods, hesitating a bit, then looks back at Marisa who was crying, and sends Shanghai to her with a piece of cloth.

To be continued...
Characters, scenario and Spell Cards belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-
Ail and Kyo were created by Willie G.R.
"Blast Sign - Expansion that Soothes" spell card was created by Willie G.R. (Any similarities are strictly coincidental). Some assistance by snapshot2010.

JUL 5 2009
written by
Willie G.R.

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