One Random Sukima 15

Early morning in Gensokyo. Reimu sits on some rocks, next to the river at the Youkai Forest. She curls herself up and hugs her knees and reflects on the recent events. She thinks "we all cried so much... over the death of a shadow we had just met. Why did that hurt so much?" Reimu looks to the water and continues thinking while staring at the coursing river. "Ail would just let the tears fall without saying a single word... Thankfully he has Budou, Sanae... the goddesses. Rika cried so much, I couldn't help but cry along with her. Thanks to Aya and Momiji... we managed to calm down, though." While she continues to think, she looks to the skies. Meanwhile, Aya and Momiji search the rocky area where they battled S-Momiji for Momiji's shield and sword. As if being called to them, Momiji finds them quickly, shouting "I found them, miss Aya!" At the same time, Reimu continues thinking "my shadow and Ail's shadow loved each other very much, and now HE is after Sanae and Ail's life for revenge. Suwako's shadow turned out to be quite friendly... The only really evil shadow so far has been Momiji's." Back at the Youkai Forest, Reimu now lies on her back on the same rock and looks at the sky, staring at the yellow star left in the sky by S-Suwako after she died. Reimu thinks "that star... Even in broad daylight, I can see it shine. That reminds me... don't these shadows just turn to black dust after dying?" Reimu sits up and says to herself "ugh! You foolish shadow! Why did you have to go? Why does it hurt this much!?" She drops to her back again, spreading her arms and staring back at the star, then says "Maybe... maybe we've been dealing with these shadows too rashly. Perhaps there's another way of doing this." From her distant left, Satori says "if you figured out that much, then that girl's death was not in vain, don't you think?" Reimu sits up, looks at Satori and Orin with surprise, and says "Satori, Orin! What are you doing here?" Satori sits on Orin's shoulders as she says "Marisa asked us to inform you about that flower youkai's shadow." She looks at Orin and says "you can put me down now." Orin pouts and says "I don't wanna!" Satori strikes her head, then lands safely on the ground as Orin ducks and rubs the bump on her head. After that, she walks to Reimu and sits next to her on the rock and says "that girl, or shadow, as you call her, was no different than the goddess she was copying." Reimu asks "so she was an exact copy?" Satori chuckles and says "not like that. What I mean was, that she had a heart of her own." Reimu thinks for a moment, then remembers Ail telling them about what S-Suwako had told him when they were outside the shrine. Reimu asks "and S-Yuka only hid the real Yuka in a pot, and she took care of Okuu, right?" Satori nods, then says "these shadows of us are both similar and different to us. Some accept a little guidance, and the possibility of co-existing could become a reality." Reimu looks to the yellow star once more as Satori says "a different approach could be beneficial, but shadows like the one you and the tengu took on are beyond understanding. Those must be dealt with immediately." Reimu looks at Satori, then nods.

Some minutes pass by and Reimu and Satori continue to sit quietly on the rock, Orin curling herself around Satori's lap in her cat form. The ground underneath them rumbles, ending their quiet moment with a loud and thunderous roar not too far away from where they are. Orin turns to her youkai form almost immediately, clings on to Satori while trembling, her tails frizzed and puffed, and asking "wh-wha-what was that!?" Reimu gets to her feet and says "we've got another shadow close by! Come on!" Reimu takes to the skies, followed immediately by Satori, then Orin, who continues to tremble as she keeps close to Satori. Mid-way through, Reimu stops and says to Satori "there's some sort of energy disturbance up ahead. I think you better stay away from here." Satori says "remember, Reimu. They are not all as bad as we thought." Flying backwards, Reimu enters the energy disturbance, disappearing from sight as she does and looking back to Satori while nodding as she completely vanishes from the youkai's sight. Satori looks at Orin, then calmly says "come on, Orin. It's time we continued our search." Still trembling, Orin salutes her master and says "p-p-please, let's just g-g-get out of here!" Satori smirks, then flies toward the Human Village, quickly followed by Orin.

Inside the disturbance, the sky looks violet, the ground feels soft and unstable, and everything seems to be off-balance. Reimu looks around, then spots a small mountain with sharp rocks moving around. She lands on the rocks surrounding moving mountain for closer inspection, then realizes she is looking at a snake-like dragon, which keeps scratching it's left eye, and roaring and thrashing around in pain after doing so. Reimu exclaims "whoa~! A dragon!" The dragon stops moving as Reimu says to herself "I can't believe it. This is Meiling's shadow self, but she's so powerful, it's unbelievable." S-Meiling spots Reimu, and gets her face close in a quick and threatening manner as Reimu stands confidently in plain view. The dragon roars at her, showing it's long forked tongue, the many sharp teeth, then stares at her with her good eye. Reimu takes a deep breath, and in a soothing and friendly tone of voice, she says "it's alright, I'm not going to attack you." The dragon growls softly, then Reimu says "I promise I won't attack you." With her thunderous voice, in a demanding tone, the dragon says "prove it, human! Help me get this cursed dagger out of my eye!" The dragon shows Reimu the dagger surrounded in red flames on her left eye. Reimu stares at it for a moment, then thinks "this is a very painful death-curse. She's only hours away from dying. No doubt about it, this is Remilia's work." Reimu lightly shakes her head, feeling true compassion for the shadow, and says "tsk, tsk, you were trying to kill the gate guard I see." The dragon snorts as Reimu grabs a charm from her sleeve and gently places it on the dagger's hilt, canceling the curse and turning the red flames off. She grasps it tightly and says "this may hurt. Are you ready!?" S-Meiling replies "please pull it off already!" Reimu uses all her strength and pulls out the dagger from the dragon's left eye, making the dragon roar and writhe around in pain, so Reimu flies away as fast as she can to avoid being crushed by the dragon's body. The energy disturbance stops, everything returns to normal, and Reimu realizes she is not far at all from where she and Satori were. She looks around, but can't find the dragon, then lands while shrugging and saying "*sigh* I hope I didn't make a mistake." From behind her, S-Meiling says "human!" Reimu turns around and spots S-Meiling in human form, kneeling on the ground, bowing her head and saying "I am forever in your gratitude. If there is anything you wish from me, I will do all I can to make it so." Reimu sweats as she forces a confused smile and says "err, that's ok. Just behave and don't give me a reason to have to seal you! Umm, please, there's no reason for you to-" S-Meiling lifts her head and says "that curse was claiming my life. I felt that compassion in you the moment you noticed it." S-Meiling continues to stare at Reimu, and tilts her head slightly to the right, then Reimu smiles back, sighs and says "I see. You felt that. Look, just... stop trying to kill the gate guard, and don't attack the Human Village either." S-Meiling bows her body and says "I... will do as you ask, miss Human." Reimu gets closer, grabs her chin, lifting her head so they could see eye-to-eye, and says with a smile "my name is Reimu Hakurei." She gently places another charm on S-Meiling's left eye and says "this is the best I can do for that damaged eye of yours. You should have improved night vision,though." The charm glows white and the shadow feels great relief. When S-Meiling opens her eyes, she notices Reimu standing in front of her, the maiden's aura shining ever so brightly, surrounded with compassion and understanding. Reimu smiles at her and asks "what's your name?" S-Meiling blushes and says "I... don't have one." Reimu thinks for a moment, snaps her fingers, then says "mind if I give you one?" Still blushing and looking away seemingly angry, S-Meiling nods. Reimu says "you seem to be honorable, and quite powerful so how about if I call you, Kimi? Kimi Hong... since you ARE Meiling Hong's shadow." S-Meiling bows her head and says "again, you show me great compassion. From now on, my name shall remain Kimi Hong." Reimu stares back, feeling a little uneasy, watching as the shadow bows to her just for being kind.

At Makai, from the west, Shinki and Alice fly through a rain of fire, avoiding flame daggers and spears by inches. Shanghai and Hourai are stuffed in Alice's shirt, and Alice is doing her best to avoid being hit around her belly, where both dolls are stuck. Shanghai shouts "miss Alice, please, let us help! We can do it!" Hourai adds "miss Alice, we are strong too!" Alice replies "this fire is too intense. Just wait until I give you the signal!" Shinki flies closer to Alice as soon as the rain of fire lets up, then chuckles and says "I see someone has children of her own." Alice blushes, but even so, she smiles and looks to Shinki and says "yes... I do understand why you wanted to keep us safe." Shinki smiles, then Alice continues "alright. When we reach that monster, you two can show me your stuff." From inside Alice's shirt, Shanghai shouts "alright!" Hourai adds "We won't let you down!!" Just as S-Yuki's silhouette becomes visible in the distance, another heavy rain of fire daggers, spears and now large fireballs as well comes straight at Shinki and Alice. Shinki shouts "she's using all her power! Get ready!" Alice shouts back "let's go!!" From the east, Mai and Yuki fly side-by-side, swaying and flipping around the air as if they were swimming, in order to avoid being struck hard by the heavy fireball barrage headed their way. From behind them comes Marisa, flying at high speeds on her broom, flipping and twirling as she glares straight at S-Yuki's silhouette. She spots a seeking laser headed straight to her, so she pulls hard on the front tip of her broom, doing an aerial loop and dodging the laser successfully. Yuki shouts "WOO-HOO~!! Nice one!" Mai says "don't go getting cocky!" Marisa stares back at them with a very serious expression on her face, then flips her thumb up and rushes forth, reaching S-Yuki just before she sends the next fire barrage to the west. Just as the flames burst out from around the shadow's body, Marisa stands on her broom and manages to jump as hard as she can, managing to avoid the point-blank fireballs, then she joins her wrists, and with a confident smile on her face, Marisa unleashes 3 green stars that unsuccessfully explode with great force next to S-Yuki's face, then lands back on her broom at the other side of the shadow, and flies away, then turns around after looping in the air again to try to assault the shadow again. While Marisa battles the shadow head-on, from the south, avoiding the last of the small fireball assault, Yumeko, Luize and Sara arrive just in time to catch Marisa, who tires to tackle the shadow out of the air with her broom, but a barrier bounces her off her broom and back to Yumeko and Sara. Luize manages to catch the broom, just as is smacks her on the head, then forces and annoyed smile and as she hands Marisa her broom, she says "here you go. Try to hold on tighter next time." Marisa smiles and says "thanks for the advice, ze."

As Shinki and Alice position themselves on the west side, Yuki and Mai on the east side, Sara and Yumeko on the south side, and Marisa and Luize try a direct, but failed attack of stars and lasers as they position themselves on the north. S-Yuki stares calmly while caressing a red jewel on her jeweled necklace. She smiles and says "so you have me surrounded. How clever. But don't you know?" She grabs the red jewel and raises it above her head and shouts "you are fighting against an all-powerful god!" The jewel releases large rings of scorching hot fire all around her repeatedly. Even after dodging them, everyone gets a little burned. Yumeko blows on her forearms, feeling as though she's literally on fire, as S-Yuki cackles. Shinki closes her eyes and concentrates as Shanghai and Hourai jump from inside Alice's shirt and shaking their little heads, they say "we'll show her!" at the same time. Shinki continues to concentrate, which worries Alice, who asks "mom, what is it?" Shinki opens her eyes and screams out loud, her cry echoing all around. The ground below them splits up without damaging the small trees and rocks, the tear reaches the lake near Pandemonium and fills up the gap with waters that become furious rapids. S-Yuki smiles and says "you forget... I HAVE GODLY GIFTS TOO!!!" Before S-Yuki is able to try anything, Shinki lifts her arms and almost immediately she unleashes a light-blue orb 5 times her own size like it was nothing. S-Yuki smiles confidently and hovers in place, letting the large orb strike her hard. S-Yuki continues to smiles with great confidence, but her smile is quickly replaced by great surprise and fear, as her godly shield shatters to dust and the large orb burns her directly. S-Yuki looks around, hurt and awestruck. She decides to run away, but quickly realizes Shinki has placed a large dome all around them, and the only way out would be through the rapids. She turns to Sara and Yumeko and fires a barrage of giant fireballs, but both Yumeko and Sara lift their spell cards to the air, canceling out S-Yuki's fireballs, then, at the same time, Yumeko shouts "Dream Sign - Believe it's Unreal!" and Sara Shouts "Dance Sign - A Fight With Grace!" Yumeko's spell traps S-Yuki's mind in a dream state, then Yumeko fires 5 extra large green energy orbs that set themselves around her. A rain of tiny white orbs fall down on S-Yuki, however they have huge gaps between them, and the shadow nimbly dodges these with ease. Afterward the large orbs fire short swords in five directions, however all the swords arch around, creating the image flower petals around the orbs, which almost take S-Yuki by surprise. While all this happens, Yumeko leaves a fake body behind while she hides her real body inside one of the extra-large orbs, that orb flickers as it trails toward the shadow. Meanwhile, Sara dances gracefully, lifting her arms and legs, and even shaking her waist. Every move she makes expels white crystal-shaped danmaku that scatter, except when she kicks, which unleashes a heavy barrage of medium-sized white orbs that individually home in on the shadow, and after 10 more seconds, she spins around releasing various bouncing red lasers accompanied by bouncing danmaku knives that trail alongside the lasers, widening the range of damage from the attack. Being in a state of dream, S-Yuki has trouble avoiding the attacks, getting hit directly by almost every bullet and finally by Yumeko's orb. Shinki smiles and shouts "what's the matter? I though you were a god?" After noticing her red dress dirty and her white belt cut off, S-Yuki angrily expels a sudden burst of energy that cancels the two spell cards and pushes Yumeko and Sara down to the ground. S-Yuki glares at Shinki, then says "you worn-out old hag! I'll show you what I can do!"

S-Yuki moves both hands in a circle in front of her chest, generating a small fireball that expels a rain of fire as it forms. Shanghai and Hourai fly in front, and before Alice reaches to grab them, both dolls engulf themselves in blue fire and start absorbing as many of the small fireballs as they can, helping Alice and Shinki dodge the scattered fire with ease. S-Yuki amasses a colossal fireball 5 times her size, then says "absorb THIS you little rodents!" Before she unleashes her attack, from close behind Luize shouts "Traveling for the Sights" Luize raises her index finger above her head and unleashes a rain of blue petal danmaku in straight lines, trapping the shadow between one of the gaps, then unleashes red dagger danmaku that fall like rain in uneven lines. The blue petals occasionally have gaps between them, so S-Yuki uses this to her advantage and sways between the petals, using her fireball to absorb the red daggers. S-Yuki smiles and tries to release the fireball straight at Luize, but doesn't notice Marisa shouting from behind the fireball itself "Love Colored - Master Spaaaaark!" S-Yuki quickly turns around, still holding her fireball and placing it in front of herself as a shield, but the multi-colored beam pierces through the giant fireball, turning it to dust, then strikes S-Yuki hard on her face. Marisa smiles confidently, thinking she has won, but a small fireball comes rushing from behind her and as if homing on to her, it strikes her at the back of her head, sending her straight down. Shinki shouts "Luize, get her!" Luize cancels her own spell, then rushes to save Marisa from the fall. Yuki glares at S-Yuki and shouts "you disgusting blond psycho! You're gonna PAY for that!" S-Yuki cleans the burn marks form her face and says "whoa, the cute pink princess has some claws on her! Why don't you call your prince to battle me instead, before I stain that cute little pink dress of yours?" Yuki's face turns bright red, her eyes catch fire, she clenches her teeth and every time she opens her mouth, fire spews form it as she says "you sick **** ****** ******* **** ***** monster with large fangs and *** ****** *****!!!" Mai quietly exclaims "whoa!" Alice grabs Shanghai and Hourai and places each of their ears against her own ears while covering their other ears and making sure no sounds passes through, looking back at Shinki, who stares back at Yuki with her mouth wide open and her eyes almost popping from her head and her pupils completely gone. Trembling, Shinki turns to Alice and lightly shapes her head as she says "I didn't teach her that." Yuki pulls a spell card, still looking furious, then Shinki shouts "YUKI, NO! You and Mai! You and Mai!" Yuki lowers her spell card while still glaring angrily at the shadow, then nods and flies back to Mai, who asks "do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" Meanwhile, S-Yuki stares awestruck back at Shinki and says "I swear, kids today!" Shinki angrily replies "honestly, they pick up on the most disgusting things!" Alice sweats and with a nervous smile on her face, she says "mom, that's the enemy." Shinki smiles back at Alice and says "sweetie, sometimes small-talk can go a long way."

S-Yuki takes advantage of the distraction and unleashes a rain of fireballs at both sides, making Mai and Yuki dodge, and Shinki put up a barrier to protect herself and Alice. After the assault is over, Alice glares at S-Yuki and says "you are just getting on my LAST nerve! Mom, let's do it!" Alice pulls a spell card from her pocket, while Shinki pulls hers from under her shirt. Alice sweats with a nervous smile, rises her spell card above her head, then declares "War Command - Do-... Dolls'" Shinki stares at Alice, who stares back to Shinki, then asks "Alice, what's the matter?" Alice closes her eyes and immediately falls down to the rapids below. Shinki shouts Alice's name and chases after her, Shanghai and Hourai immediately following after. S-Yuki chuckles as she watches Shinki saving Alice from the raging waters at just the last moment, then turns to Yuki and Mai and with a smirk, she says "seems all your friends are gone. Are you going to fight me now?" Mai smiles wickedly, her wings turn demonic, then says "Oh, you bet your sweet head we will. Yuki!" Yuki smiles a most evil and wicked smile as she says "let's see who's the pink princess after this." Yuki and Mai both pull out a similar spell card, half light-blue and half red on the back, then both shout at the same time "Hot Winter Storm" Both Mai and Yuki unleash a barrage of fire and ice danmaku in all shapes and sizes at the same time, then both elements spin clockwise, twirling faster, creating a storm of fire and ice that come from the right. After the storm activates, Mai fires a thin blue laser at S-Yuki, while Yuki fires a homing fire beam that tracks the the shadow. The attack strikes the shadow hard, even breaking any attempts of her to raise a shield. S-Yuki opens her eye wide with terror evident in them. She watches as both Mai and Yuki concentrate hard while unleashing the next wave of the attack. She thinks "damn, another hit like that and I'm going down. But how can this be? I'm supposed to have the powers of a GOD... Unless." S-Yuki remembers the manner in which S-Shinki died. She looks at the arm she used to gather her old partner's blood, then thinks "but that's impossible. She was a shadow... how?" and looks up at the yellow star left behind by S-Shinki. She snaps out of her thoughts and realizes Mai and Yuki are ready to unleash their spell again, then she says "hey Mai, do you know why your dumplings keep disappearing?" She notices Mai's eyes and lips start to tremble, then with a smile, she says "Yuki sneaks around and takes them all, pigs out, then goes to the kitchen to finish off the rest." On Mai's forehead, a vein start pulsating. S-Yuki notices, smirks, then says "and do you know why that double date suddenly became a single date that you simply HAD to miss?" Mai's face turns red with rage, her entire body twitching, her concentration failing. S-Yuki continues "she added laxatives to your tea when you weren't watching! After that, she told both dates you had sonic diarrhea" Mai can't take it any more, grabs Yuki by the neck, shaking her violently and shouting "dammit, Yuki! You KNEW I was looking forward to that DATE!!!" Choking, Yuki replies "Mai... Mai~, the spell... ack!" Before she realizes it, their spell turns around just before striking S-Yuki, then strikes them instead of the shadow, Yuki screaming "Mai, you idio~t!" With her eyes spinning in places as they are struck hard by their own spell Mai replies "that's my line~!" Both fall on to the rapids and are quickly swept away.

S-Yuki looks around with a smile on her face, feeling relief and saying "well, that was a bit harder than I though. Now how do I get out of this dome?" From high in the air with a wide smile on her face, Shinki shouts "allow me to help you! Eating the Manju Before Your Very Eyes!" Shinki raises her hand and from her fingertip she fires 8 thick blue laser beams that trap S-Yuki in a grid, then fires red lasers and red petal-shaped danmaku in straight lines and arched toward S-Yuki, who manages to avoid being hit, just after the grid vanishes. Shinki spins and fires a barrage of scattered small white orbs along with blue lasers and two extra-large red orbs that after S-Yuki nimbly avoids, they explode and send medium homing red orbs that trail fire behind them, catching S-Yuki off guard and blasting her hard down toward the raging waters. Shinki smiles and claps, saying "yay! I get a prize!" She rummages through her pockets and pulls out a green-colored manju and gleefully says "ooh, green tea manju!" then munches down on it with a smile on her face, while Yumeko holds Alice under a tree, looking up toward Shinki along with Shanghai and Hourai. As she courses through the water, S-Yuki quickly realizes she can't fly away, and the water and rocks are cutting her like sharp blades. Up in front, Sara twirls in the air, and to her right, Luize prepares a laser on her finger-tip. As the shadow passes by them, Sara kicks the back of her head and shouts "enjoy the ride!" Luize blasts her abdomen with the laser, then smirks as the shadow coughs out black blood and her speed increases as she goes down the furious waters. S-Yuki feels as her energy diminishes, but she struggles to hold on, thinking "no... no I can't give up now. I need to escape... build a new world of my own!" Marisa catches up to the shadow, flying on her broom and smiling quite confidently. S-Yuki stares with horror as Marisa raises one hand, gathering blue energy on the palm of her hand, then sticks her tongue out as she unleashes a thick energy beam that strikes S-Yuki on the face and makes her go even faster in the rapids. One of the watery blades cuts off her left arm as she drifts into death, thinking "that girlie... I couldn't absorb all her powers after all. But I want to know, how did she do it?" While she thinks this, Mai unleashes many small icicles around the water that stab the shadow as she goes through, but as if not even feeling anything anymore, S-Yuki continues thinking "she didn't kill her original self, and yet... she managed to get a soul of her own. Maybe they gave her one. Whatever... this is it for me, so who cares." Yuki stands at the end of the rapids with a wooden baseball bat on her hands, ready to swing it with all her might. Mai says "hey, pinky. That's NOT appropriate!" Yuki stares angrily back at Mai, but smiles and says "you're right!" The bat gets engulfed in fire, then she says "now we're talking!" S-Yuki is just feet away from Yuki, who smiles wickedly and shouts "I won't need a prince for THIS, you freak!" A few seconds before being in range, S-Yuki smiles, lifts her remaining arm, then flips her middle finger at Yuki just as she swings the flaming bat and strikes the shadow right between the eyes, sending her high in to the air. While forcefully flying away, S-Yuki's body shatters and turns into black dust, disappearing from sight along the wind. Yuki turns around with a smile on her face and flips her thumb up to Marisa and Mai, who smile back and flip their thumbs back at her.

Early noon at the Hakurei Shrine. Ail sits next to the donation box, while Reimu and Rika sweep away some leaves. Sanae and Budou are inside the shrine, cooking something up with the promise that it would cheer all three up the moment they eat it. Reimu turns to Ail, then looks at Rika and says "come on, cheer up already!" Ail shakes his head, then says "oh.. did I fall asleep again? Er, sorry about that." and Rika simply sighs and continues sweeping leaves. Reimu sighs, then walks to Ail and asks "are you SURE you're ok? You kept too quiet yesterday, and now you simply sigh yawn all the time." Ail looks up at Reimu, then says "if you're worried about me bottling my emotions, relax. I let it all out last night... in fact, I didn't sleep at all because of that." Ail smiles back at Reimu, then looks a the yellow star in the sky and asks "still... why did that shadow's passing hurt so much?" Reimu sighs, pats him on the shoulder, then says "maybe she was special." She shakes her head lightly, then says "I'm heading inside." Rika sniffles and says "I-I'm done with the leaves, my lady! Is there anything else you need?" Reimu signals Rika to get closer, and the moment she does, Reimu wraps her arm around her neck and says "let's go help Sanae and Budou with lunch, alright?" High above, using the clouds to hide, Kanako stares straight at Ail, saying to herself "Anilan, this is for your own good. Both Sanae's and yours." She pulls a small vial of purple liquid form her pocket and positions her hand just beyond the cloud, but she's startled by Suwako's voice that comes from behind her, sounding disappointed and asking "Kanako, you aren't still trying to mess with him, are you?" Kanako turns around and nervously responds "Suwako! Err, um, no, no! Just... cloud-sitting!" Suwako crosses her arms across her chest, taps her foot on the could, then extends her right hand, saying "I've heard that one before. Now give me that vial!" Kanako nervously replies "vial? What vial? I don't have a vial." Suwako reaches for Kanako's left hand, then Kanako and Suwako have a small tug-of-war as Kanako says "no, you stupid toad, I'm doing this to save HIS life as well!" Suwako replies "I already told you, it's not him, it's that SHADOW!" Kanako replies "yes, I heard you. I'm just making sure!" They continue to struggle for a bit, then the vial falls off their hands and straight down to Ail and Reimu, who are looking up to the goddesses. Reimu shouts "hey you two!! What are you doing up there?" Ail notices the vial, and just before it hits the ground he says "oh sh~~" *BOOM!!* The little vial explodes into a thick purple cloud that surrounds both Ail and Reimu, making them cough uncontrollably. While they are still surrounded in that thick cloud, Suwako and Kanako stare down, then Suwako asks "are you happy now? You even got Reimu involved!" Kanako casually shrugs and continues to stare down. From behind them, Ail's mother, Ayalina, stares with a motherly smile on her face, but a deadly aura around her. Suwako is already going down to check on Ail and Reimu, but Kanako stays watching from the cloud, unaware of Ayalina, who clears her throat to get Kanako's attention. Kanako turns around, and the second she stares into Ayalina's eyes, her face turns blue and she starts to tremble.

Suwako comes down to the ground just as the purple smoke clears, revealing two inch-tall creatures with big black eyes, dog ears and a dog tail each, wearing the same clothes and accessories that shrunk with them. Ail and Reimu look at each other. Ail sighs and in a squeaky voice he says "oh great... I'm a dog again." Reimu looks at her hands, yelps, then shouts in a high-pitched squeaky voice "what the HELL!? I'm a DOG!?" Suwako stares at them as her face turns beet red and says "I'm really sorry about that." Kanako crashes on her face on the ground right next to Suwako. Her clothes are tattered and burned, and has a foot marked on her butt. Meanwhile, Ail and Reimu talk, Ail saying "I'm sure it was just an accident, Reimu, so there's no need to get mad." Suwako, who sweats and smile nervously, says "yeah, Reimu I am serious, it sort of fell from our hands." Reimu trembles while standing on all four limbs and growls as Kanako pulls her head from under the ground, rubbing her forehead and asking "what was that just now?" Reimu growls some more, then says "accident my FOOT!" then runs straight at Kanako, barking furiously, making Kanako jumps on her feet from the ground and run around as fast as she can, shouting "wait, wait, it was an accident! Reimu, stop!" Reimu finally manages to bite down hard on Kanako's ankle, making her jump on one foot, shouting "ouch, ouch! Reimu, stop that! Bad girl! BAD GIRL!" Reimu continues to growl and sink her teeth into the goddess's ankle, glaring back angrily at Kanako. From inside the shrine come Budou, Sanae and Rika, all three gasping the second they look at the doggified Reimu and Ail. From above the clouds, Ayalina stares down, then vanishes, leaving a few petals fluttering in the wind, just as Ail looks up, letting out a soft "rowl?" He turns to face Sanae, who is trying with all her might to pull Reimu off Kanako's ankle, and Rika smiling as hearts float just above her head, saying "my lady~! You looks so CUTE!" Suwako stands next to Ail, and Budou goes and joins them as they stare on, Reimu barking like crazy after Sanae pulls her free, making Sanae scream out "no wait, don't bite there!" Suwako says "yup. This is gonna be very nice." Budou grabs Ail and holds him in her hands against her chest as he says "oh, it's gonna get even better, just you wait." Budou nods along with Suwako, then says "well, lunch's ready, so let's go eat." Suwako and Budou, who holds Ail, walk casually inside, as Reimu bites down hard on Sanae's wrist, then lets go and bites Kanako's right calf.

Meanwhile, at the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Remilia, Sakuya, Meiling, Koakuma and Meiling all sit on a long table down at the library, Remilia sitting at the far center of it. She stares down at her servants as she remembers entering the library before, finding Patchouli and Koakuma encased inside blocks of ice and ordering Sakuya to help her thaw them out. Remilia takes a deep breath, then says "this is troublesome, but we could use this to our advantage. Now, Patchy, are you certain this shadow of mine ha all those weaknesses?" Patchouli calmly replies "yes. Unlike you, water and sunlight should completely destroy her, but she also possesses all your powers as well, not to mentions she feeds like a regular vampire." Remilia looks at Sakuya as she says "she she could turn others into vampires as well, right?" Sakuya stares back, looking back to her mistress with elegance as she always has. Remilia takes a deep breath and says "alright then. Patchy, you and me are going to hunt that shadow." Sakuya looks down to the table, then glares at her mistress and says "my lady, no offense lady Patchouli, but wouldn't you rather have me at your side?" Remilia's wings rise up as she punches the table as hard as she can, breaking it with ease, then stares back at Sakuya and in a dangerously angry undertone, she says "remember your place, Sakuya Izayoi. Never question me again!" Sakuya looks to the table again, trying to hide her face as she says "ple-please forgive me, my lady." Remilia calms down, lowering her wings again, then says "now, Patchy, ready as many water spells as you can, then you and I will hunt do-..." Remilia looks shocked and gasps loudly. Worried, Sakuya asks "what is it, my lady!?" Meiling gasps very suddenly, and at the same time as Remilia, they say "Flandre!!!" An explosion from the top floors rattles the library, almost knocking down various of the bookshelves. Remilia and Patchouli look at each other, then nod.

As the meeting down the library begins, Flandre enters through the front door, saying "phew, finally, I'm home. Stupid Agava, had to scare those humans for no reason, making me late again." Flandre feels a strange presence, but ignores the feeling as she climbs up the stairs, shouting "hello~! Onee-sama~! I'm home~!" The mansion is quiet and feels empty, as none of the fairy maids are around. Flandre's footsteps echo all over the empty halls and corridors. After searching all over the mansion, and finally Remilia's empty room, she rubs her chin, then asks herself "I wonder what's going on?" She snaps her fingers and says "that's right. Maybe they went to the red and white's shrine!" Behind Flandre, from the ceiling, dropping quietly behind her, S-Remilia bares her fangs and claws, ready to sink her teeth into Flandre's neck, but to the shadow's surprise, Flandre is already behind her, looking at her with an innocent face and asking "who are you?" S-Remilia hides her fangs and says "why, it's me, dear sister! Come and give you big sister a hug!" Flandre smirks and looks at the shadow with a victory face and says "you should REALLY learn a bit more about onee-sama, you fake." She opens her hand and quickly clenches it, saying "kyun~!" and as soon as she does, S-Remilia's torso explodes, splattering black blood all over the corridor and the walls. Flandre dusts her hands and walks away, saying "onee-sama doesn't break that easily either. You're pathetic." Flandre continues to casually walk back to the mansion's entrance when she meets Remilia and Patchouli on the way. She smiles and waves at them as they land next to her, then asks "one-sama, where were you? I got back home and find everything so quiet!" Remilia hides her desire to smile and says "Flandre. So glad to see you again. Tell me, where have you been?" Flandre giggles and says "just been doing some things." Before Remilia continues, Patchouli says "my lady, the shadow!" Remilia says "right. Flan, there's a shadow pretending to be me around here. Have you seen her?" Flandre stares back casually, then giggles and says "I broke her." Remilia grabs Flandre by her shoulders and asks "show me!" Flandre, Remilia and Patchouli calmly walk back to the corridor leading to Remilia's room, where Flandre had blown the shadow up, but when they reach the place, to Flandre's surprise the walls are clean and free of any of the black blood, and S-Remilia's limbs and head are gone. Flandre points to the wall and says "but this was just covered in that black thing." then points to the floor and says "and her head and all her limbs were right there!" Remilia and Patchouli look at each other, then Remilia looks back to Flandre and places her hand on her little sister's shoulder, but before she speaks, the symbol of a hand-watch glows on the back of her hand. She whispers "Sakuya!" then rushes away toward the library as fast as she can.

Down at the library, knives and danmaku fly all around, all aimed at a quick black blur that keeps jumping from bookshelf to bookshelf. Sakuya stands front and center, while Meiling stands to her right and Koakuma to her left. Tension is high, as it's impossible for either one to figure out the shadow's next move. Sakuya shouts "Meiling, Koakuma! Keep your guard up!" After saying that, all three separate, as they jump away from a falling bookshelf. Sakuya and Koakuma fall close to each other, and as soon as they get up rubbing their heads, Sakuya asks "where's Meiling!?" Meiling stands farther away with her guard up, trying to punch and kick the shadow as it keeps assaulting her, but it's too fast and Sakuya knows it's a matter of time before she attacks, so she grabs her Luna Dial and stops time, then runs toward Meiling, and having seen the shadow's position, she readies herself to attack. To S-Remilia, it looks like Sakuya teleports right in front of her prey, but she only smiles and says "I got you!" Sakuya throws various knives straight at the shadow's face, sure that she would hit it directly, but the shadow had already swerved to the right and kicks Sakuya from the back of her head, sending her straight against a bookshelf, and before anyone can react in time, the shadow is already dropping the enormous bookshelf on Sakuya, pinning her down under the heavy shelf and piles of books, leaving her neck exposed. Meiling and Koakuma run toward Sakuya, Meiling shouting "Sakuya, I'll save you!" but S-Remilia is already next to her and staring into the maid's eyes, placing Sakuya under a trance, then with a smile on her face, she looks at Meiling and Koakuma and says "stay back, or I'll rip her head off." Meiling and Koakuma back away a few steps, then S-Remilia turns to Sakuya, and with an evil smile on her face, bearing her fangs and caressing Sakuya's neck with her claws she whispers "you will now become my first servant." She opens her mouth wide, while Meiling whimpers Sakuya's name as she runs straight toward the Shadow, but she's too far away to get there in time, even with her speed. There is a loud bang and a quick pink blur that strikes S-Remilia before she can bite down on Sakuya, sending her flying to the top of another bookshelf, where she stands still, smiling at Remilia.

Remilia takes the bookshelf and books off Sakuya, and lightly smacks her cheek, whispering "Sakuya! Wake up!" Before Sakuya wakes up from her trance, S-Remilia laughs and says "how pathetic. And you DARE call yourself a vampire? Pathetic child!" Remilia takes a good look at her shadow, who's hat now lies destroyed next to her feet. She has long flowing black hair, large black wings that are red inside, she is taller than the real Remilia, has a well shaped body, and has an ample bosom. The shadow grins and says "impressed? THIS is how a TRUE vampire looks like; not like some ageless doll with dirty hair!" Remilia's face turns red with rage and shouts "I'll SHOW you some MANNERS!!!" Both Remilia and her shadow engage in a high-speed battle, going against each other so fast, only Flandre, who arrives along with Patchouli, is able to keep up. Flandre giggles and shouts "way to go onee-sama! Teach that fake who's boss!!!" Over and over again, the two blurs crash against each other, constantly sending sparks each and very time! Finally, Remilia stops and hovers in the air, then pulls a spell card from under her hat and shouts "Critical - Heart Break" Remilia summons a red aura that shapes into a spear and quickly tosses it toward Sakuya, striking S-Remilia, who yelp in pain and backs away against a wall. Sakuya finally wakes up, then looks at the shadow, who has a small wound on her forehead, then back at Remilia, who glares angrily at the shadow. S-Remilia laughs and says "is that all you got?" The wound on her forehead completely heals in just seconds, then she tucks in her stomach, expanding her chest, then points at her own breasts and says "see this? THIS is how a REAL princess of the night should look like!" A heavy barrage of red aura spears and knives fly straight to the shadow, who nimbly dodges each and every attack. Remilia's face turns bright red as her blood starts boiling with rage. She glares dangerously at the shadow, then summons one extra-large bat-shaped aura the follows S-Remilia as she dodges Sakuya's daggers. The shadow smirks, grabs Remilia's attack, then launches it to the wall behind her, creating a hole large enough for her to escape out onto the darkening noon. Remilia growls and says "I really hate that thing!" She flies down to Sakuya and asks "Sakuya, why did you attack without my permission?" Sakuya blushes and looks away from her mistress, then says "sh-she was mocking my lady!" Remilia smirks as she stares at Sakuya's chest, then says "well then, Patchouli and I will hit her hard enough for the both of us." Sakuya sighs, then says "this pace will be cleaned up by the time you get back" Remilia winks and says "I expect no less." Patchouli and Flandre look at each other, then Patchouli sighs and says "this is gonna be a long night." Flandre smiles and says "cheer up! You'll be done before you know it!" while patting Patchouli hard on her back, making her yelp out "mukyu!" as she falls on her fact to the floor.

Night at the Hakurei Shrine. Mima floats from the stairs toward the shrine, looking dreadfully exhausted. She hears some commotion from inside the shrine, added to the smell of food headed her way. She drools a little and says "I guess I can have a bite before bed." She enters through the doors and sees Rika holding the tiny dog-Reimu on her lap and feeding her with a spoon, Budou holding an equally tiny dog-Ail on her lap, Sanae and Kanako full of bandages, and Suwako sitting like a frog next to the table, holding a bowl of soup on one hand and a pair of chopsticks on the other. A bit of blood courses from Mima's nose, then the evil spirit suddenly shouts "SO~~ CUTE!!!" Rika squeezes Reimu against her chest and hisses at Mima while shouting "MINE! All mine!". Budou hugs Ail tightly as Phredia feeds him some soup with a spoon and says "miss Mima. Please wait until after they eat!" Mima's head pops right off her head, but she manages to catch it as it falls back down. Without saying another word, she sadly floats toward Suwako and sits down next to the goddess. Suwako stares at Mima for some time, then Mima gets annoyed and asks "what!? Never seen a head pop off?" Suwako smiles, chews on her food, then says "plenty... They just don't talk back." Mima's face turns blue as she gasps in surprise, then asks "I'm a freak?" Suwako quietly nods, making Mima's body run off rubbing the empty space above her shoulder while her head stays behind, crying on the floor.

To be continued...

Characters, scenario and spell cards belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-
Ail, Budou, Phredia, Kimi, and Shinki's, Sara's, Yumeko.s, Luize's and Mai & Yuki's unison spell cards were created by Willie G.R.
Rika was created by Snapshot2010
Major assistance by Snapshot2010 (Kimi's name by Snapshot2010)

NOV 24 2009
written by
Willie G.R.