Friday, January 8, 2010

One Random Sukima 25

Morning at the Hakurei Shrine. 4 days have passed since Reimu resolved the incident at the Misty Lake, and still there has been no sign of the remaining three shadows. Other than Reimu, Ail, and the Entei aliens, Eirin, Reisen and Kaguya, everyone else seem relaxed, and some even think those remaining shadows could already be dead... Reimu enjoys a good breakfast made by Rika, while said maid sweeps the shrine grounds of the many red leaves on the ground. Reimu feels bliss as she enjoys the quiet moment, but she finds herself taking a deep breath and saying “well, so much for peace and quiet. Rika, could you fix the roof, please?” Rika peeks her head from outside and asks “fix it?” A loud crash and violent rumble are followed by a loud “HEY~~! HOW ARE YA~!?” by Tenshi Hinanai. Rika quietly says “ah, I see what she means.” and quickly mobilizes to fix the roof, tripping on her broom before being able to successfully dash away. Tenshi sits on the keystone she used to break the roof of the shrine and casually says “at least say hi to me too.” Reimu takes a sip of her tea and looking a little annoyed, yet speaking casually, she says “you shouldn’t break other people’s roofs.” Tenshi looks at the hole on the roof and says “well, if you’re angry...” She turns her face to Reimu with a wicked grin on her own face and continues “...you can always battle me to feel better.” Reimu asks “why?” Tenshi quickly replies “’cuz I’m bored.” Reimu casually replies “if you’re bored, go do something constructive for a change.” Tenshi’s eyes narrow as she pouts and sweats, then says “come on! I thought you were more fun than this. For heaven’s sake, I made a hole on your roof!” Reimu casually asks “what hole?” Tenshi points above herself and says “that ho-“ When the celestial looks up, the hole she had just made is no more. The roof looks as if nothing ever came through. Tenshi sweats and asks “wait... didn’t I just break in?” From the door, Rika loudly says “my lady~! I fixed the roof like you asked.” Tenshi’s skin crawls after hearing Rika’s voice, and she quickly turns to see the shrine’s maid. Her scarlet eyes narrow and her carefree expression quickly changes to a dangerous glare as she looks at Rika. In an aggressive undertone, Tenshi asks “who the hell is that?” Reimu takes one last gulp from her teacup and says “Tenshi, this is Rika, the new maid for the Hakurei Shrine. Rika, meet Tenshi Hinanai. She’s that annoying celestial I told you about.” Rika bows and says “how do you do, miss Hinanai.” Tenshi springs up from her keystone and slowly gets closer to Rika. She paces around the maid, staring at her up and down, over and over, then frowns and says “I don’t like you.” Rika steps back, placing her right hand on her chest and looking very surprised she asks “b-beg your pardon?” Reimu looks at Tenshi’s eyes and sees anger. She slowly reaches for her gohei and holds on tight as she says “Tenshi, I think you better leave.” Tenshi stares angrily at Reimu, then back at Rika. She flips her hair at the maid while saying “hmph! Fine.” then heads outside, and just before leaving, she glares once more at Rika, then says “I’ll come see you some other time, Reimu.” and just like that, she leaves. Rika looks worriedly at her mistress and asks “did I do something wrong?” Reimu smiles and says “don’t worry. You didn’t do anything wrong. That celestial was just out of place.”

Shortly after Tenshi’s departure, a whimsical pink-haired ghost floats to the top of the Hakurei Shrine’s stairs. With a carefree and whimsical smile on her face, she slowly floats toward the donation box and looks inside. “Still empty. This god needs more attention. Maybe a miracle? Or perhaps a harder working maiden?” says Yuyuko. From Yuyuko’s right, looking very annoyed, Reimu angrily asks “can I help you?” Yuyuko turns her smiling face at Reimu and says “ohh, hello miss maiden. Isn’t it a wonderful morning?” Reimu quickly replies “yeah yeah, wonderful. Hey, where’s the half ghost? Shouldn’t she be here protecting you?” Yuyuko opens her fan and covers her happy and whimsical smile as she says “please call Youmu by her name.” Reimu rubs her forehead with her thumb and index finger and angrily says “fine. Where is Youmu?” Yuyuko lowers her fan and asks “who?” Reimu striker her with her gohei, crumpling her poofy light-blue hat and clearing her smiling face. Yuyuko rubs the bump on her head and says “you didn’t have to hit me so hard. Youmu’s back home, tending to the gardens.” Reimu asks “does she know you are here?” Yuyuko takes off her hat and fluffs it back to its original state, and after putting it back on she says “may~be.” At the Youkai Forest, Youmu and her ghost half look all over the place, turning over even the smallest rock while calling out “Yuyu-sama~! Where are you~?” No response. Youmu takes a deep breath of air and with all her might she shouts “Yuyuko Saigyouji-sama, please answer me!” Again, no response. Youmu sighs and while looking at her ghostly half she says “I’m getting so tired of this. Taking care of a princess of the Netherworld that doesn’t care if she’s protected or not. Ugh! I gave my word to master Youki, but I’m starting to regret all of it.” Youmu’s ghost half spins once in the air, and stops while apparently facing Youmu. Back at the Hakurei Shrine, Rika serves tea and snacks to Yuyuko and Reimu and says “if I may, I’m going to mop the interior now.” From inside, Maribel asks “can I help?” while Renko simply walks past Reimu and Yuyuko and says “I’m going to check on the new house’s repairs. I’ll see you later.” Reimu nods and Yuyuko says “remember, growing girls need plenty of food and rest.” Renko blushes and replies “err... sure. Thanks for the advice.” After an awkward chuckle and a nervous wave of the hand, Renko slowly lifts to the air and flies toward the Human Village. Reimu takes a sip of tea and finds there are no more cookies on the tray between herself and Yuyuko, then angrily asks “Yuyuko, shouldn’t you be back at Hakugyokurou, being it’s princess or something?” Yuyuko whimsically replies “it’s a little boring today. Besides, aren’t you enjoying my company?” Reimu bluntly replies “not at all.” Yuyuko sweats and stares at Reimu, trying to hold on to her smile and saying “my, what a blunt reply that was.”

A little later that morning, Youmu walks to the Hakurei Shrine talking to herself along the way, saying “...and I swear, if she’s not there, I’m going straight home, and when she gets back, I’m going to give her a piece of my mi-“ Youmu is surprised when something grabs her shoulder and holds her tight. After shaking off the shock, she turns around, holding both swords by their hilts in their sheathes, but immediately relaxes her battle face as soon as she sees Yuyuko. Youmu sighs and lets go of her swords as she says “there you are. Yuyuko-sama, you shouldn’t just run off whenever you like without telling me a thing. I was so worried!” In a commanding tone of voice, and with a small and sinister smile, Yuyuko replies “my, what an impatient little girl. I was merely going for a stroll.” Youmu takes a better look at Yuyuko. She’s wearing a darker colored kimono, her hair looks more colorful and lively, and her skin seems to have a light pink tone. Youmu continues to stare at Yuyuko and asks “Yuyuko-sama, what happened to you? You look so... so lively.” S-Yuyuko stares angrily at Youmu, but quickly smiles and says “well, I got these new clothes at the village, and seems so much time under the sun must have affected me. Yeah, that’s it.” Youmu looks at S-Yuyuko a little suspiciously, but shrugs and says “well, whatever. Let’s just go back home. Come on.” Youmu quickly leads the way, anxious to get back home to the Netherworld, and doesn’t notice S-Yuyuko’s eyes glowing sky blue. At the shrine, Reimu has convinced Yuyuko to join her in the hot springs, so as to keep her away from the food storages, where Rika and Mima place a 10th piece of board and nail it on the door, barring it from Yuyuko’s ravenous hunger. Rika’s hands pulsate, making Mima laugh at her, saying “if you were a spirit like me, things like that would never happen to you.” Mima carelessly strikes hard with her hammer, thinking she’s aiming at the last nail, but instead, she strikes the back of her hand with force, making her flinch fast and drop her hammer as she sticks her entire hand in her mouth. Rika gasps and asks “miss Mima, are you ok?” Mima forces herself to pull that hand out of her mouth, smiles and struggles to say “y-yeah. N-nothing to it.” Mima hides her red, pulsating hand behind her back as she sweats and smiles at the worried Rika.

Reaching the Netherworld’s gates, Youmu and S-Yuyuko are greeted by the Prismriver sisters. Lunasa, the blonde poltergeist girl with the black uniform is the first to approach them with a friendly smile and says “welcome back. I see you managed to find her unharmed.” Youmu replies “yes, I am most grateful for that too.” Lyrica, the brown haired poltergeist with the red uniform stares straight at S-Yuyuko, then says “lady Yuyuko. You look so alive today!” From behind, the poltergeist with the light-blue hair and pink uniform called Merlin, tackles her way through Lyrica to get up front, then stares at S-Yuyuko in awe and after gasping with admiration, she asks “how did you do it!? How did you manage to achieve this!?” S-Yuyuko holds the urge to shout at them; to make them go away from her as she forces a most disturbing smile, then says “it was the sun, dear. You should get more sun too.” Lunasa curiously asks “but I though ghosts weren’t affected by sunlight at all. At least... not like that.” S-Yuyuko covers her disturbing fake smile behind her fan and glares at the three sisters, and in a dark undertone, she says “I am the princess of the Netherworld, am I not?” The three girls back away, then quietly nod while staring with fright toward the glaring princess. S-Yuyuko notices their fear and smiles for real, then says “then there you have it. I am a special case.” Youmu is already by the gates of the Netherworld, and sounding tired she says “Yuyuko-sama~ Please, let’s go. I left some rice cooking for you.” S-Yuyuko turns her attention to Youmu and says “hmm... You should use a different tone, young lady, but I’ll let it slide. Let’s go then.” Youmu holds the door open as S-Yuyuko goes through, and before she enters Lyrica approaches her and whispers “hey, keep your eyes open. That doesn’t seem like the real Yuyuko to us.” Youmu confidently says “what? You three should be careful with what you say. That is, without a doubt, Yuyuko-sama.” Lyrica whispers “look, if anything happens you tell us immediately, ok?” Youmu stares confused at the concerned poltergeists, but smiles and says a reassuring “everything will be just fine. You’ll see.” Youmu enters the gates to the Netherworld, leaving behind 3, very concerned spirits. Lunasa looks at Merlin and says “maybe we imagined it?” Merlin shrugs, and as soon as Lyrica joins her two sisters, she looks seriously at them and says “I don’t like this. I have a terrible feeling about this.” From the distance, watching in silence, hidden by the clouds, Yukari says to herself “hmm. Is that really you, Yuyuko? I better have a look around myself.” She enters her gap and immediately disappears from the scene without ever being noticed.

Mid day at the Hakurei Shrine. Ail, Kogasa and Sanae arrive right in the middle of a lunchtime battle. Ail is right between Sanae and Kogasa, and the second they land he wraps his arms around their necks and pushes both down along with himself, shouting “look out!!!” A couple of plates fly past their heads and one crashes on the floor while the other reaches the trees and breaks against them. From inside, Reimu shouts “Maribel, use the CHARM!” Maribel replies “but she’s moving too much!” Rika adds “my lady, it’s not working!” Mima laughs and says “ghost 5, humans ZERO~!” Reimu shouts “could you shut up and help already!?” Mima replies “I’ll help if you make another peach pie.” Reimu shouts “I can’t. She ATE the last one!” Ail, Sanae and Kogasa look at each other, then Ail says “I’m going in.” Sanae kisses his cheek and says “good luck.” Kogasa sweats and says “been nice knowing ya.” There is a pause inside, and Yuyuko whimsically asks “on my~ Aren’t you tired yet?” Ail springs to his feet and runs inside the shrine. Almost immediately, danmaku starts flying out the door and some light explosions are heard from inside, then Ail yelps and everything settles down. Sanae springs up to her feet and shouts “Ail, what happened!?” as she runs inside the shrine. There is only silence, and after waiting for a while, Kogasa finally gets up and decides to look inside. She gets surprised when she sees Sanae standing next to Reimu and looking grim toward Ail, who is being held by Yuyuko as if he were her child and brushing his hair with her fingers. Maribel and Rika lie on the floor, looking exhausted and a little burned. Mima floats above everyone with a big smirk on her face, and seems Reimu is staring daggers at the spirit. Kogasa finally asks “what happened?” Reimu takes a breath and says “that ghost princess almost ate all our lunches. Thank goodness you guys came when you did. Ail should keep her entertained while the rest of us eat.” In a defeated tone of voice, Ail smiles sheepishly and says “go ahead, don’t mind me.” Sanae gets face to face with Ail and says “you BETTER behave, mister!” Ail sweats and asks “what’s the matter?” Sanae replies “just behave and don’t even THINK anything dirty, you hear?” Ail trembles and asks “what are you talking about?” while Yuyuko simply continues to brush Ail’s hair with her fingers, seemingly falling asleep. Kogasa face palms and says to herself “what a thick head.”

After finally eating what was left of lunch in peace, Reimu, Rika, Maribel and Mima clap their hands together and bow to the empty plates, saying “thank you for this blessed meal.” Reimu adds “and for sending such great decoy so we could actually eat in peace.” Shortly after the prayer, one of Yukari’s gaps opens right behind Reimu, who quickly gets annoyed and asks “what do you want now?” From inside the gap Yukari says in a serious tone “so Yuyuko is here after all. This is bad.” Yukari pops her head from the gap, holding her open fan up to her eyes, then Reimu, sounding worried says “you found her shadow.” Yuyuko stares with narrow eyes toward Yukari and Reimu, then says “worse. Youmu found her and hasn’t figured it out. They are in the Netherworld right now.” Still holding Ail, Yuyuko says “shall we, then?” Reimu immediately says “I’m coming with you. I want to see this done personally.” Yukari hovers in front of Reimu while still inside her gap, then stares into her eyes and says “you will be more useful over here.” Yuyuko lets go of Ail and quickly stands up and says “the Netherworld is under my jurisdiction. Please let me handle its affairs miss maiden.” Reimu stares back at Yuyuko for some time, then bows her head and in a soft tone she says “if you need any help at all, feel free to contact me.” Ail adds “or me!” Yuyuko smiles and bows at them while saying “that won’t be necessary, but I will keep your offer in mind. Let’s go, Yukari.” Yukari points her hand to her left, but nothing happens. She opens her eyes wide and tries again, but nothing. Strictly, she says “Ail, open a gap to the Netherworld!” Without question, Ail tries opening a gap, but nothing happens. He stares toward where he was hoping to open the gap and asks “what’s going on?” Yuyuko’s smile vanishes as she says “that usurper is trying to take over already.” Yukari says “we better hurry to the gates, then.” Yuyuko nods with a serious look on her face, then turns to Reimu, Rika and the others, bows, then says “thank you for your hospitality.” Reimu quickly replies “good luck.” Ail suddenly says “Yukari, there could be another reason our gaps aren’t working.” Reimu nods at Ail, then Yukari stares at them seriously and says “then we’ll be taking care of two shadows, instead of just one.”

Meanwhile at Hakugyokurou, Youmu is serving S-Yuyuko the lunch she had prepared. She notices how her mistress is unusually quiet while waiting for her meal to be served. Youmu feels a bit uneasy because of the silence, and tries to liven things up, saying “here you go, Yuyuko-sama. Please enjoy.” S-Yuyuko looks at her meal with grimace, and noticing this, Youmu asks “is something wrong?” S-Yuyuko bluntly replies “this food looks disgusting... and the smell. What did you use to cook THIS? Bird droppings? Dirt, perhaps?” Youmu gets a little angry, but tries to suppress it as she says “well, if that’s how it’s going to be, you can cook your own meals from now on.” S-Yuyuko’s eyes glow sky blue, and in an instant, a thick bright beam strikes Youmu on the chest, sending her flying toward the kitchen, breaking a wall and some chairs. S-Yuyuko gets up and in a reprehensive tone she shouts “how DARE you, a mere slave, talk to me like that!? Now CLEAN this place up before I am done with this sad excuse for a meal you have prepared, unless you want more punishment!” Youmu slowly stands up while her ghost half rapidly flies around her. She grabs one of her swords and says “the Prismrivers were right, you are not Yuyuko!” Youmu unsheathes Roukanken, her long Japanese sword, said to be able to cut 10 ghosts in one swing, and holding it with both hands she points it at S-Yuyuko. The shadow laughs while holding her closed fan on her chest, then looks at Youmu and says “you think you can defeat me? Darling, there’s a reason why I’m the master, and you... a mere servant.” Youmu defiantly says “you are NOT my master, and I am going to have to show you my true power!” Youmu moves so fast, it doesn’t even look like she’s moved at all, now standing right behind S-Yuyuko. She smiles confidently as the shadow’s upper body is separated from her lower body, but her smile quickly vanishes when the shadow disappears from view and she realizes Hakurouken, her short Japanese sword, which is able to cut through a person’s own confusion, is missing from its sheath. Youmu sweats and turns around to see S-Yuyuko holding her ghost half and pointing the sword at it. The spirit tries desperately to wiggle its way out, but it can’t budge an inch. S-Yuyuko smiles and says “I’m going to show you a little trick. Now, I do hope that after this, you’ll show a little more respect to your mistress, slave!” From outside the Hakugyokurou Shrine, a bright light blue light shines through all the windows and the door, and then silence.

At the Moriya Shrine, Kanako sits next to the kotatsu at the living room, handling her mirror in broad daylight while Suwako plays with Budou and Phredia near the lake. She growls softly and says “come on, you piece of... Rah! This is taking too long... wait, wait...” The sounds of women moaning comes from the mirror, making Kanako smile and shout “FINALLY!!! Now all I have to do is... wait, if I show this to Sanae just like this...” From the door, Suwako continues for her “she’ll KNOW you’ve been messing with it. Are you still on about that? You should leave them alone already.” Kanako snaps back “why don’t you just go back to the lake?” Suwako looks at Kanako with worry in her eyes and walks toward her, kneeling by the kotatsu as she says “Kanako, please stop this. You’ll be very sorry of you keep this up!” Kanako places her mirror back on her chest and says “you heard what that woman said.” Suwako shouts “that was Ail’s shadow, you idiot!” Kanako, sounding a little crazed, replies “it doesn’t matter. He’s a threat to her, and eventually to us. What do you think will happen if Sanae leaves us!?” Suwako replies “it’d be no different either way. Has it ever crossed your mind that showing that to her might make her hate YOU instead? She’d leave us, Kanako, in the worst possible way. She’d hate us; lose her faith in us!” Kanako shouts “what do you know!? Just back away like you said you would and let ME handle this. After this, we’ll have out Sanae back and A--“ Suwako places her open hand in the air right in front of Kanako and whispers “fine, just keep it quiet. You might hurt someone that’s not even involved...” Just outside, Budou and Phredia stand next to the door. Budou looks at Phredia and whispers “what do you think they are talking about?” Phredia shrugs and lightly shakes her head. Budou sighs and whispers “I guess it has to be adult stuff, huh. Better not bother them.” Phredia excitedly nods, then she and Budou fly back to the lake, and while Budou lands on one of the large logs and shouts “come on Phredia. Come and get me!” Phredia looks worriedly toward the sky, quickly recomposing herself after Budou calls for her again.

Yuyuko and Yukari hover next to the large gates to the Netherworld, and slowly, Yuyuko approaches the large door and waves her hand at it, making it open just slightly, but enough for her and Yukari to go through. Yukari says “let’s do this quick. I’m feeling strangely uneasy about something.” Seriously, Yuyuko looks back at Yukari and says “you felt it too, as expected. I’m a little more worried about Youmu, so if you don’t mind...” Yukari floats toward her friend, saying “of course, let’s go.” Immediately after entering, Yuyuko says “it’s too lively.” Yukari growls quietly toward the direction to Hakugyokurou, then Yuyuko says “Youmu. I can’t feel her presence anywhere. I feel far less spirits in here than what should be.” Yukari asks “the power of revival?” Yukari gets out of her gap in order to walk beside Yuyuko as they head straight to the stairs leading to the Netherworld’s shrine. When the bottom of the stairs come into view, Yuyuko gasps and says “Youmu!” and runs straight toward the fallen swordswoman. Yukari gets close to Yuyuko and Youmu just as Yuyuko lifts Youmu, helping her sit up. Somehow, Youmu seems older, taller, and she’s having a lot of trouble breathing. She slowly opens her eyes and out of breath, she manages to say “Yuyu... sama... My Yuyu... sama.” Yuyuko wraps her arms around Youmu saying “shh, shh, it’s alright. Save your strength. I’m here now.” Youmu struggles to breath and manages to say “shadow... power... undead.” Youmu starts to contort and writhe, holding the left side of her chest tightly while clenching her teeth. Yuyuko asks “Youmu, what’s wrong!?” She looks at Youmu thinking she would find a wound, but finds nothing of the sort. She looks at Yukari and looking a bit sad she asks “what’s wrong with her, Yukari?” Yukari hides her mouth under her fan as she looks at the long stairs of the Netherworld without blinking. Yuyuko’s eyes glow red for a second when she looks to where Yukari is looking towards to, spotting her shadow who’s holding Youmu’s ghost half. The usually large and round spirit now has the same shape as Youmu’s slightly grown body, and on the right side of her abdomen is Hakurouken, going right through her ghostly body, while S-Yuyuko holds Roukanken as it goes right through the left side of the ghost’s chest. Yuyuko manages to slowly drag Youmu and sits her against a tree, whispering “you rest, Youmu. Let me handle this usurper.” then gets up and walks next to Yukari, facing the shadow up the stairs. S-Yuyuko shouts “welcome, old princess of the Netherworld.” then moves the long blade left and right while it’s still going through the ghost’s body, making both Youmu and her ghost writhe in pain. Youmu is so out of breath she can no longer scream, even though she really wants to. Yuyuko’s eyes glow red again as she says “you have two choices now. Give up, or die a horrific death.” S-Yuyuko quietly smirks while staring straight back at Yuyuko.

At the Hakurei Shrine, Reimu and Ail feel a bit sore after being left behind, so Rika, Sanae, Kogasa and Maribel are trying to come up with ways to cheer them up. Meanwhile, Mima floats above the storage house, pacing left and right. Quickly, she turns her attention farther ahead of the shrine’s lake and starts to tremble. She hugs herself while shivering, then says “brrr, suddenly feel so cold. I wonder what does this mean?” At the Netherworld, S-Yuyuko lets go of Roukanken and raises her right hand and shouts “be amazed by the amazing powers I possess!” The clouds above her split apart, letting light from the sun shine through, and all the spirits in the area that are touched by the light mutate by sprouting arms, legs, growing a misshapen torso, hollow eyes and a mouth. At Hell’s Courtroom, just after Shikieiki passes judgment on another spirit, she gasps and says “wha-what the hell is this? The Netherworld... the Hakurei Shrine!” She closes her eyes and thinks for a moment, and after opening her eyes again she shouts “Komachi~! We need to move!” Back at the Netherworld Yuyuko gasps and shouts “what’s going on here? Those spirits... they are still dead, but alive?” Yukari glares at S-Yuyuko and says “you are disturbing a great balance. Why are you doing this!?” S-Yuyuko abruptly stops, lowering her arm and pointing it back at Yukari, staring back at with an evil smile, then shouts “revenge on those who caused me so much pain while I was alive... while SHE... was alive.” S-Yuyuko points back at Yuyuko, then grabs Roukanken again, making Youmu and Youmu’s ghost half twitch, forcing Yuyuko to stop herself from attacking. Yukari looks at the shadow curiously as S-Yuyuko continues “those that shunned me will become my undead servants. I will make their undead lives a misery! The Saigyou will become a CURSED NAME! They will pay for-“ S-Yuyuko continues to talk, but no sound comes from her voice, as Yukari has opened a gap right inside her throat, preventing her from saying any more. For a moment, Yuyuko thinks she remembers something, so Yukari says “she’s a shadow, Yuyuko. Your shadow! Don’t let her distract you!” Yuyuko shakes her head and says “r-right. Don’t know what happened there. Let’s just save Youmu first!” Yukari nods as she stares at the shadow and says “agreed!” Realizing the two youkai are about to ambush her, S-Yuyuko menacingly grabs Hakurouken while holding tightly to Youmu’s ghost half, making both Yuyuko and Yukari stop their attack attempt, then quickly flies away, back to Hakugyokurou. After giving her some space, both Yukari and Yuyuko follow.

At the Hakurei Shrine, Mima is on edge, flying in circles above the shrine, repeating “Reimu, this is bad, this is very bad. They are coming Reimu. This is bad, so very bad. I can’t stop. So bad, I don’t like it.” Ail and Reimu stand by the shrine’s gate, staring at Mima as she continues to go on and on about something bad. Ail comments “she’s been at it for an hour.” Reimu casually replies “maybe it’s that time of the month for her.” From the left side of the shrine, Rika is shouting “miss Mima, please come down already!” Sanae and Maribel come out of the shrine and casually walk toward Ail and Reimu, then join them in staring at Mima, who ignores Rika and continues to fly in circles above the shrine, repeating “Reimu, this is so very bad. They are coming this way. This is so bad!” From behind the onlookers a woman shouts “what are you doing just standing there!? Don’t you know this is an emergency!? GET READY YOU FOOLS!” All 4 onlookers turn around quite surprised to find Shikieiki standing by the shrine’s gate, looking grimly at them. Reimu casually asks “miss yama? What are you doing here?” Shiki storms toward Reimu and strikes her head with her golden sword while angrily saying “honestly, of all the people here, YOU should have been the first one to notice!” Ail casually says “whoa, Reimu’s being scolded!” Shiki strikes him hard with her sword and angrily says “you should have noticed by now as well!” While rubbing her head, Reimu asks “geez, what’s going on today?” Mima shouts “they’re HERE!!!” then flies toward the lake and starts shooting red and yellow beams toward the ground. Reimu shouts “wah! She’s totally lost it!” Shikieiki looks grimly toward the back of the shrine and says “look alive! Don’t let them bite you!” Reimu and the others continue to stare at Shikieiki as she shouts “Komachi, take the front!” Komachi zips past everyone, coming from behind them, and continues her way to the lake. Reimu shouts “Shikieiki Yamaxanadu, what the HELL is going on!!?” Rika comes running straight at Reimu, looking dreadfully saddened. She stands in front of her mistress, holding her hands clapped together in front of her chest and says “Those poor creatures. My lady, they are in pain. Do something, my lady!” Kogasa comes running from the lake, looking as scared as s lost child, then heads straight to Sanae, giving her a hug as she trembles and says “n-n-nee-sama~! Monsters!” Maribel shouts “look, by the trees!” Emerging from behind the bushes and the trees are many skeletons and decaying bodies or humans and youkai known to be dead already. All gasp in horror, Maribel and Sanae covering their mouths as the undead creatures slowly approach them. The smell of those bodies that are still decaying is enough to make anyone want to run away, but they all stand their ground as Shikieiki says “someone’s creating an army of undead spirits back at the Netherworld. Whoever’s doing this is reanimating their former bodies as well. This is serious. You could get seriously ill if any of these creatures wound you. Don’t give them the chance!” Reimu’s yin-yang orbs suddenly appears out of nowhere and hover beside her as she bravely says “simple. We fly and blast them.” Shiki chuckles and says “it’s not going to be that easy. We need to contain them until the incident at the Netherworld is resolved. They can’t die, Reimu. All we can do is stall them.” Reimu looks grimly at the undead creatures and says “these shadows cause more trouble than it’s worth.” Ail looks to the ground and quietly sighs. He knows these incidents are his own fault for foolishly opening a gap to the shadow realm. Now, he feels it’s his own responsibility to deal with all this, so without question he rushes toward the creatures, showering them with danmaku as he flies by, joining Komachi and Mima.

Back at the Netherworld, Yukari and Yuyuko fly their way up the long stairs to Hakugyokurou, when Yukari suddenly says “ara, ara~” and points to the left. About 50 misshapen spirits limp toward the two youkai, waving their arms in the air. Yuyuko sadly says “they are in so much pain. It’s as if they are reliving their deaths over and over. Yukari, we have to hurry.” Sunlight starts shining through the usually dark skies of the Netherworld, then Yukari says “STOP!” Yukari abruptly stops and grabs hold of the back of Yuyuko’s kimono. Yuyuko asks “Yukari, what’s wrong?” Yukari flicks her finger in front of them, revealing an invisible wall and says “ara~ We’re trapped.” Yuyuko says “you’re starting to sound like an old grandmother.” Yukari glares at Yuyuko for a moment, then looks to her right. There, inside a gap, just like her own, only with life-like eyeballs everywhere inside the gap, is her shadow. She looks exactly like Yukari herself, only she doesn’t have eyes, or eye-sockets. She smirks and says “you will leave my friend alone.” Yukari continues to glare at her shadow, then S-Yukari says “don’t think I’m blind at all. I can see you as clear as daylight.” Yukari whispers “the gap...” S-Yukari smiles and says “that’s right. With this I can see everything. Much more useful than two simple eyes on the head.” Yukari turns to Yuyuko and sounding nervous she says “Yuyuko, let me handle your shadow. You take care of my own.” Yuyuko says “but Yukari, that usurper has taken over my home and my life. I have to be the one to deal with her.” Yukari grabs her friend by her shoulders and says “Yuyuko, I would never go against your wishes, but there is something too dangerous about your shadow. Please let me take care of her. I’m doing this for you, Yuyuko. Allow me this honor.” Yuyuko stares back at Yukari for a moment, then smiles that usual whimsical smile of hers as she says “alright then. But if you fail me, you’ll have to buy me breakfast, lunch and dinner for 100 years, you hear?” Yukari hugs Yuyuko and chuckles, then says “it’s a deal. I’ll see you later then.” Yukari floats backward, away from Yuyuko and toward the invisible wall. She easily opens a gap that allows her to go right through the wall, then turns around and continues her way up the stairs. S-Yukari stares awestruck and shouts “he-hey! How did she do that!?” Yuyuko chuckles as she opens one fan on each hand, and posing in an elegant manner, as if ready to begin dancing, she says “you are a mere shadow. My friend would never be overpowered by someone as weak as you.” These words enrage S-Yukari, so she opens two more gaps and through them, various lilac beams fly straight at Yuyuko, who starts to dance and use her fans to bounce back each and every beam back at the shadow, making her shriek. Yuyuko smiles and says “so weak. If you were the real Yukari, I’d really be in trouble.” S-Yukari’s face turns blue as Yuyuko smiles a whimsically and wickedly at her.

At the Hakurei Shrine, Ail is overexerting himself, trying to take on every single undead creature. He’s already managed to capture 50 of them on his own, while Mima, Kogasa, Sanae and Reimu have managed to defeat a combination of at least 60 of the creatures, sending them all into a void opened by Ail. Sanae shouts “Ail, you are going to get hurt if you keep that pace up!” Reimu adds “relax, you idiot! There’s only a few left!” Ail pants and says “I’ll rest when we’re done!” From above, a barrage of pink and red hearts fly just above Ail’s head, blasting a few decaying bodies that were just behind him. Ail looks up to Maribel and pants as he says “thanks *pant* Mari *pant* bel.” He opens a gap under the mangled bodies and sends them inside the void. Shikieiki shouts “Reimu, there are three more! These are very dangerous so be EXTRA careful! Ail, get inside the shrine, NOW!” Ail falls sitting on the ground, gasping for air, then says “ju-just a second... Let me...” From the lake, Mima screams “Reimu help~!” and Komachi is blasted away toward Shikieiki, screaming “kyan~~ These guys are too much!!!” Shiki flies up and intercepts Komachi who says “Shiki-sama, they are stronger than we though!” Sanae and Reimu exclaim “what!?” at the same time. Three decaying bodies, two men and one woman, come flying from the lake, all three burning under the sunlight as they flap their vampire wings and hiss at the humans by the shrine, showing long, sharp and dirty fangs. Reimu shouts “oh my... those are the villagers Remilia’s shadow bit.” The two men go after Maribel and Sanae, while the woman heads straight to the exhausted Ail, who is unable to even move due to his exhaustion. Shiki assists Maribel by pushing back the decaying vampire wither sword, and Reimu and Rika assist Sanae by generating a powerful magical field that traps the creature inside, allowing the sun to finish it off, just not fast enough. After realizing Ail is still not moving, and nobody is assisting him, Sanae shouts “Ail! Someone help him!” The decaying creature grabs Ail by his shoulders, opening her mouth wide and ready to bite down hard on his neck, but stops when Ail manages to get a good look and weakly asks “Mirida... is that you?” The creature stops and stares at Ail for a moment. She sniffs him, then lets him fall on the ground and flies away toward the Moriya Shrine. Right after that, the two decaying vampires succumb to the light of the sun and turn into ashes, and as soon as this happens and Shikieiki traps the ashes inside a glass bottle, Sanae rushes to Ail, asking “what happened?” Ail suddenly feels a burst of energy coursing though him as his bracelet shows him a picture of Budou after the usual droplet sound. Ail gasps and shouts “she’s after Budou!!!” and rushes to the air, matching Aya’s speed. Sanae gasps and follows after him, shouting “wait! Wait for me, Ail!” After the two leave Kogasa runs toward Reimu, and Shikieiki shouts “wait! Wait up you two! Dammit!” Rika stares at Shikieiki as she descends along with her mistress, then suddenly gasps, covering her mouth with her hands and then points at the yama. Concerned, Reimu asks “what, What is it!?” Rika exclaims “that’s the lady that said it wasn’t my time. Back when I was younger!” Shiki looks at Rika as Komachi walks to her side, then says “miss Rika, now is not the time. There are more creatures like those around. We need to make sure they don’t attack any innocents.” Rika salutes Shiki and says “right!” then Reimu says “*sigh* it’s never that easy, is it?”

At the stairs in the Netherworld, trapped inside an invisible dome, Yuyuko has S-Yukari pinned down by her own attacks, bouncing every single beam, kunai and orb back at the shadow with little to no effort from her part. Yuyuko stops twirling in place, covering half of her face behind her left-hand fan and says “why don’t you let me finish you off already. It would save both you and me a lot of trouble and time.” S-Yukari growls while the eyes inside her gap glare angrily at Yuyuko. She manages to relax, then smiles and says “I better stop fooling around. Time to use my power to its fullest.” Yuyuko thinks “she’s bluffing. She’s so weak even moving a finger is a task for her.” S-Yukari opens 5 more gaps that expand all around Yuyuko until the invisible dome looks like a giant dome with floating eyeballs all over. The eyeless shadow smiles and says “hope you are impressed, princess. In here, my power triples. After I destroy you, I’ll go back to my friend and deal with that other me! Hey, maybe I’ll even get a nice pair of eyes on my already pretty face after we kill her.” Yuyuko smirks, her eyes glow red, then she says “you poor deluded weakling. Even in here, I am far more powerful than you are.” S-Yukari clenches her fists and says “you won’t be saying that when I’m through with you!” At Hakugyokurou, S-Yuyuko grabs Youmu’s ghost half using the swords as handles for her, and in a violent thrust she traps her against a wall, then smiles and holds the spirit’s chin and says “if you want the pain to go away, swear your loyalty to me.” Slowly, Youmu’s ghost moves her head left and right, making S-Yuyuko angrily push the swords a little further into the wall. She walks back outside and stops to look at Youmu’s ghost, then says “while I deal with that woman, you think about my proposal. Though, you only have one choice.” then calmly walks outside, where Yukari is waiting for her. Yukari stares seriously at the shadow and asks “is that how you treat your friends?” S-Yuyuko replies “she’s supposed to be my guardian and servant... and... she attacked me. I will NOT tolerate betrayal!” Yukari teasingly says “don’t you mean disappointment?” S-Yuyuko’s eyes glow sky blue, making more clouds disperse and letting more sunlight shine through, reviving more and more of the land. Yukari says “you should stop that. You are messing with a very delicate balance, and you’ll be sorry for it.” S-Yuyuko snaps back “what do you even know!?” Yukari opens her fan, covering her mouth as she glares straight at S-Yuyuko.

At the Moriya Shrine, Kanako is still thinking of a way to present her mirror to Sanae without looking too suspicious. Just then, Ail lands hard on the shrine’s courtyard and immediately shouts in despair “where’s Budou!!?” Startled, Kanako is unable to answer quickly enough, and after Sanae lands right next to Ail, Budou’s shriek echoes from the lake. Ail shouts “NO! BUDOU!” and flies away so fast he causes a heavy backlash that sends both Sanae and Kanako flying away. Suwako jumps from inside the shrine and says “I’m helping too!” and flies straight toward the lake after Ail. At the lake, Budou jumps from log to log, turns around and shoots many zigzagging lasers while Phredia fires bright yellow orbs that increase in size the farther they fly. The undead vampire shrieks after taking the bullets on, however she continues the chase after brushing off the smoke from the danmaku blasts. Budou cries “someone save us *sob sob*” Budou jumps to another log, but trips when she lands, giving the creature the chance to strike. She’s just inches away from her prey when a thick white beam strikes her head. Ail desperately shouts “YOU KEEP AWAY FROM HER!!” Budou excitedly flaps her wings and says “papa~!” then springs up and flies straight to Ail, clinging on and sobbing as he hugs her back, softly saying “it’s ok, I’m here.” Suwako jumps right next to Ail and points up to the sky, saying “it’s not over. Look!” Ail looks up and says “what the... She’s not affected by sunlight?” Suwako says “Budou, get inside the shrine and use the amulets like I showed you on Sanae’s room. Hurry!” Budou lets go of Ail, then she and Phredia run back to the shrine. Suwako smirks at Ail and says “you sure you can handle this, little man?” Ail smirks back and says “I’m still young, I can manage.” Suwako continues to smirk as she turns her attention to the undead vampire and says “watch your mouth young human.” Ail surrounds his hands with blue energy and says “alright, I’ll buy you lunch when this is over, then call it even.” As they both jump to the sky to face the creature, Suwako replies “you got yourself a deal!” Meanwhile, down by the shrine’s entrance, Kanako watches as Budou enters the shrine to hide while Suwako and Ail face off against the creature. She thinks “yes, this is it. The chance I was looking for. Now all I have to do is let Sanae see me doing this and...” Kanako takes the mirror off her chest and points it at Ail as it turns into a ball of light-blue light. Sanae sees her and asks “lady Yasaka, what are you doing in a time like this!? You should be helping him!” As the mirror reaches and gets inside Ail’s heart, Kanako says “I am helping. My mirror will give him a little more energy, and it will help me see into his heart when it comes back.” Sanae stares suspiciously at Kanako, then asks “s... so you finally want to get to know him better, I see?” Kanako smiles, hiding her true wicked intentions, then says “yes, Sanae... I really want to get to know him better.”

To be continued...

Characters and scenario belong to ZUN ?Team Shanghai Alice-
Ail, Budou and Phredia were created by Willie G.R.
Rika was created by Snapshot 2010
JAN 8 2010
written by
Willie G.R.

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