Friday, May 21, 2010

Summer morning at the Hakurei Shrine. Ail and Rika jump right out of one of Yukari’s gap, and right after landing, from inside the gap, Yukari says “well, now you know, little man. You should be able to take her there on your own.” Ail salutes the gap and says “thanks for everything. I should be able to help out some more, now that I know how to get there.” Rika bows to the gap, and says “Really, thank you for everything, miss Yukari.” Yukari finally pops half of her head out of the gap, and playfully says “you’re welcome. You two have fun now~” As soon as Yukari enters her gaps and closes it off, Budou comes flying form the shrine, exclaims “welcome back, papa! Are we going to the moon now?” Rika giggles and says “yes... er, I mean. Well, my lady Reimu may need my help today, so...” Reimu walks out of the shrine and kneels on the porch with a basket full of seaweed cookies, and a cup of tea on her hand. She looks at Rika, smiles, then says “go ahead. I’ll be just fine, so you two enjoy your honeymoon.” Ail and Rika’s faces turns white, then blue, then Ail nervously says “Re-Reimu, are you trying to get me killed?” In a sad tone, Rika adds “my lady, you are being mean today.” Reimu chuckles while she counts down with her fingers, and right after he hides the last finger, she grabs her snack basket and teacup, and flies away, avoiding a couple of red pentagrams. On the sky, Sanae is surrounded by flames, fire comes out of her eyes and mouth, then she says “Reimu~ You take that back, you lazy maiden!” Reimu giggles and playfully replies “oh, did I say something wrong?” While Ail, Budou and Rika watch them fly around the sky, Sanae shouts “you leave him alone, you hear!” Reimu laughs mockingly, then says “your aim’s a little off.” Sanae shouts “QUIT IT!” Ail asks “so, Rika, I think we can go now, right?” Budou asks “what’s a honeymoon? Is it a moon made of honey?” Both Rika and Ail laugh nervously, then Ail suddenly notices he has the Rabid Karate Night Sparrow on his left shoulder. Ail asks “um, what’s the matter?” The bird flaps its wings and flies right in front of Ail’s face and chirps once. Ail’s face turns blue, then he says “o-of course, sir! You are always welcome!” Rika sighs and says “please, mister Sparrow. Don’t start attacking us, please?” The RKNS flies to Rika’s shoulder, then rubs its little head against her cheek. Ail opens a gap to a large room, then asks “alright, are you guys ready?” Rika giggles as the RKNS’ soft feathers ticker her cheek, then she nods as Budou says “ready, papa!” Right after they enter the gap, Reimu and Sanae fly low to the ground, Reimu drinking her tea and eating her cookies, while Sanae desperately shoots and growls in a rage. Ail’s gap takes them to the same large room in which Rika fought her dark self. The moment they set foot inside, Rika points forward and says “it’s this way. Please, don’t take any other route. These ruins are full of traps to ward off intruders.” Ail and Budou look at Rika, then nod, then she and Ail take the lead to the door Rika pointed to. Just before Ail crosses the doorway, Rika tries to warn him about another trap, but she can’t say it in time, and Ail gets struck on the head with a water-filled washtub. Budou jumps over Ail to enter the room, and notices the many drawing in the room inside, one of the drawing depicting winged people, like Rika, praying to a round machine that connects a beam to the moon. Budou exclaims “whoa. This is pretty cool.” Before entering the room, Rika helps Ail up as he rubs his head and groans, asking “are you alright, mister Ail?” The RKNS flies ahead, on to a large machine with a round glass platform that allows view of the machine’s internal mechanics. He rapidly chirps, edging everyone to Hurry up to the machine. Budou flies up, flapping her wings as fast as she can, while Ail and Rika calmly take the stairs up to the platform. The first thing Ail notices is that on the platform there is a control panel, similar to one that stands outside beside the stairs. Rika then says “alright, this machine will take us anywhere to the moon capital, so please be on your best behavior, alright?” Ail, Budou, Phredia, who jumps right out of Budou’s heart and sits on her head, and the little RKNS, all salute Rika in agreement. Rika starts working the control panels and says “oh, and don’t worry. The Lunarians will be fully aware of our presence, so we don’t have to sneak around.” While Budou, Phredia and the RKNS nod in acknowledgement, Ail trembles nervously and says “uu~ I hope Yorihime isn’t sore about last time.” Rika finishes entering the coordinates, then says “here we go~”, the platform lightens up, and a beam of light surrounds them, shoots straight through the clouds, and goes all the way to the moon.

At the Moon Capital, Ail, Budou, Phredia, and Rika all appear right in front of the gates of a large building with a small palace on top. Rika looks around and says “wow, this is a pretty place.” Budou looks up to the sky and says “wow, I can see the Earth. It looks just like the internet photos.” Ail and Phredia both smile at Budou, then both look around for a moment, then Ail asks “hey... Where’s the Night Sparrow?” At the palace atop the large building, the Watatsuki sisters, Yorihime and Toyohime, walks out of the palace doors to look down the building, then Yorihime says “it’s been a while since we’ve received a visit from the Onkamikami.” Toyohime adds “I wonder if she like peaches too?” Yorihime looks curiously at her sister and asks “how can you be so certain it’s a girl this time?” Toyohime inhales, and from behind them, a guard shouts “oh no, the washing machine broke!” Another guard shouts “coincidentally, the water is headed outside!” Before they can react, the Watatsuki sisters find themselves being washed away by dirty laundry water, falling all the way down the building. Down at the bottom, Ail and Rika perceive the screams from the moon princesses, then Ail says “heads up”, and he, Budou and Rika open up an umbrella each, Phredia hiding under Budou’s, and right after the Watatsukis gently drop to the ground, the dirty laundry waters falls right after them, soaking them up some more. Afterward, the three visitors remove their umbrellas and toss them away, revealing their faces to the princesses. Yorihime scowls and points at Ail, saying “hey, what are you doing here!?” Ail smiles and says “Yorihime, hi! How are you? Oh, you must be miss Toyohime, correct?” Toyohime smiles and happily says “hello, and welcome to the Moon Capital.” Yorihime sighs and rubs the side of her head, then says “sis, why can’t you be more serious? That guy is trouble, and he shouldn’t be allowed in here.” When Yorihime looks to her sister, she’s already shaking hands with Ail, kneeling next to Budou and patting her head, then inspecting Rika curiously, before shaking her hand as well. Budou approaches Yorihime and angrily says “papa isn’t a bad man, you mean lady!” Yorihime kneels down to look at Budou’s scowling face, then blushes and pats her head, whispering to herself “so cute. So pure! It’s unbearable!” Yorihime sighs and apologizes, then realizes Toyohime is happily giving Rika and company a written permit to visit wherever they want, each. Rika smiles and bows, then says “thank you so very much, my lady!” Toyohime giggles and says “please, call me Toyohime.” Budou chuckles, and she and Phredia bow to Toyohime, Budou saying “thanks for everything.” Ail bows to the two sisters, then says “don’t worry. I’ll make sure they behave.” Toyohime waves back at the group, smiling and happily saying “bye~ Have fun”, while Yorihime sighs and thinks “oh well. At least the Onkamikami is with them.”

After saying goodbye to the group, the sisters enter the large building that sits below their palace. A name is written on a golden plaque that’s placed just beside the entrances, and it reads “Leaders of the Lunar Corps Headquarters” Right after entering, Yorihime looks around and notices there isn’t a single moon rabbit working. She scowls and shouts “where are the moon rabbits?” The Lunarians seem to have to have not noticed this, and after looking around with confusion, one of the men says “princess, they were here just a moment ago!” In a commanding tone, Yorihime says “well, don’t just stand there! Find them already!” While some of the workers nervously reply to her sister, Toyohime calmly looks around and says “calm down, sis. We’ll find them. Let’s just... wait, what was that?” One of the worn-out doors at the darkened parts of the building bursts open on its own, then there’s the sound of flapping, then the lights switch off. Yorihime commands “activate emergency backup power source!” A man replies “right away, my princess!” When the lights turn back on, both Yorihime and Toyohime gasp in surprise. A small male moon rabbit with blue eyes, short, unkempt black hair, wearing only a small rag around his waist, looks up at the Watatsukis. One of the Lunarian women softly, but nervously says “don’t move, princesses. We got him... We got him.” The Lunarians slowly move closer to the male moon rabbit, while the Watatsuki sisters stare nervously at him, and just as one of the men jumps to get him, the little moon rabbit rushes away to the higher floors though the stairs. Yorihime unsheathes her sword and commands “seal all the exits! Don’t let a single one escape!” Toyohime softly says “remember what happened when that lone male escaped last time.” All the Lunarians shiver, then Yorihime says “now get moving! We still got moon rabbits in here!” Yorihime looks at her sister and says “we’ll take the elevator. I think I know where they are”, then looks at the employees and says “and the rest of you, take the stairs! We can’t let them escape!” While the Lunarians salute the sisters, Yorihime and Toyohime rush to the elevator and quickly head to the 8th floor. The moment the elevator doors open. Yorihime rushes out, and a silver washtub falls straight on her head, knocking her to the ground. Toyohime exits the elevator, asking “sis! Are you alright?” Another washtub falls from the ceiling, but it somehow veers toward Yorihime, landing on her head and leaving a large bump on her. Toyohime grabs Yorihime by her shoulder and lifts her limp sister up, exclaims “Yori-chan! Say something!” Yorihime moans for a moment, then says “do-don’t call me that!” Toyohime quickly hugs her dazed sisters and exclaims “you’re alright~!” Yorihime recovers from her daze and asks “who uses those old things anymore?” The small Rabid Karate Night Sparrow reveals himself, standing on the floor right in front of the two princesses, holding a large, rusty key on its claws, then chirps loudly. The Watatsuki sisters stare at the little bird, and Toyohime says “aww, what a cute little bird”, while Yorihime exclaims “YOU~ You set the males free? Why?” Toyohime stares at the key on its claw and says “my, how can a tiny bird like you carry that heavy key, and even manage to use it too?” The key lands smacked in between Toyohime’s eyes, then the RKNS chirps angrily and rapidly. Yorihime growls, unsheathes her sword, then says “small or not, you are a threat to the Moon Capital! Take thi-- eh?” Before she can even attack, the RKNS holds one of the washtubs on its claws, then throws it with a spin toward the Lunarian Princess. Yorihime ducks right on time, just as Toyohime gets up from the ground, just to receive the flying washtub on her face, and fall back on to the ground. Yorihime worriedly exclaims “Toyohime! Are you alright?” Toyohime mumbles incoherently, then smiles back at her sister. Yorihime growls and faces toward the RKNS, only to find out he’s gone.

Having recovered, the Watatsukis rush to the next room, a large, expansive room, where the moon rabbits practice with their guns. Yorihime looks at Toyohime behind her and whispers “sis, he could be anywhere, so be on your guard... What’s the matter with you?” Toyohime’s cheeks are bright red as she stares forward, and when her sister asks, all the can do is gulp and point ahead of herself. When Yorihime turns around, they find 3 sets of hearts rising from the floor, close to each other, followed by some giggling and kissing sounds. Yorihime’s face turns green with disgust as she slowly reaches for a small radio on her pocket, then whispers to it “Omega team, we found 3, and they are already engaged. Request backup on the 8th floor.” There’s no response from the other side, but before Yorihime can try again, Toyohime pokes her shoulder and says “sis? Over there.” Toyohime points to their left, and there is the RKNS holding two rifles by their barrels with each claw. Yorihime stares back at him with a confident smile and says “pheh! There’s no way you can use those against us.” Both sisters shriek and jump to the ground with a terrified expression on their faces, just as both guns fire in a rapid manner. When the gunshots stop, Yorihime raises her head and shouts “hey! You could have killed us!!” The RKNS chirps rapidly, then Yorihime angrily replies “well, of course we had them locked up! They’re dangerous!” There’s another gunshot, and a bullet flies right next to Yorihime’s head, making her flinch and raise her hands. The RKNS chirps rapidly again, and while Toyohime peeks from the ground, Yorihime angrily replies “why? What do you mean ‘why’? Moon rabbits are already long-lived to begin with!” Toyohime continues “that’s true. And when the males and females get together...” Three tiny white rabbits hop across the shooting range between the RKNS and the princesses, then they both say at the same time “they multiply!” The RKNS manage to shrug and keep flying with the rifles in its claws, and in an instant, both Yorihime and Toyohime find themselves falling on their backs, back to the floor, with a rifle striking each in their face. Yorihime furiously spring back on her feet to look around for the little sparrow, however he is gone once again. Yorihime face palms with a frown and angrily whispers “this is getting annoying.” A trap door on the ceiling opens up, and out comes gallons of water, washing away the sisters and sending them closer to the moon rabbits. While Yorihime mumbles and moans in pain, Toyohime manages to get up on her feet, then reaches for the first pair of moon rabbits, and places each on separate cages that are conveniently placed next to the rabbits. After she closes the cages, she dusts her hands and says “my, my, my~ They get right into it so quickly.” From the left cage, comes the sound of a grunting girl and a blue sleeved arm, while from the right comes a male’s grunt and a naked arm, both reaching for each other. Toyohime turns around and finds her sisters swiping the sweat off her forehead, standing besides two sets of ten cages, one set has naked arms that are trying to reach for the set with sleeved arms. Yorihime looks annoyed toward Toyohime and says “geez, we already have 12 children!” Toyohime giggles as she rubs the small, white rabbits on her cheeks, and says “they are so soft and cuddly!” Yorihime looks toward her sister with surprise and disappointment, as she has 3 tiny white rabbit babies jumping around her lap and head as well.

Meanwhile, at the city, Ail, Budou, Phredia and Rika enjoy the sights, along with some souvenir shopping. They spot a two story building adorned at the windows with some strange glowing flowers. From the distance, Mystia flies by and sings “chin chin~” Ail raises an eyebrow and turns around, just as Mystia leaves the area. He turns around again and asks “did you guys her Mystia singing around here?” Budou and Phredia shrug and shake their heads, and Rika smiles widely and says “you must be hearing things, mister Ail. How can she be all the way over here on the moon?” Rika turns around and continues to smile, while Ail says “yeah, I guess you’re right. Come on, let’s go check out that sweets store.” Ail looks over his shoulders, thinking he’ll find Mystia, while following Budou and Rika to the sweets store. Back at the Lunar Corps Headquarters, the Watatsuki sisters reach the top floor, exhausted from all the moon rabbit hunting. Toyohime lets herself fall on her knees, then says “geez, how troublesome these rabbits can be.” Yorihime sheathes her sword and swipes the sweat off her forehead, then says “you really need to shape up. Anyway, we need to figure out what to do with those babies.” Toyohime sighs and says “they’re so cute, but so dangerous. Those cages won’t hold them for long.” A large boulder falls from the floor above, and the impact raises the floor beneath the sisters, sending them both on a crash-course to the windows. They smack face-first against the window, which doesn’t break at all, then Yorihime notices the RKNS fling toward the city, following the blue eyed male moon rabbit. Yorihime pushes herself away from the glass and exclaims “AFTER THEM”, while Toyohime moans in pain and rubs her nose. Yorihime grabs her sister’s arm, then drags her to the elevator. Once on the first floor, Yorihime addresses to the Lunarians, speaking in a commanding tone “we’ve got a runner! He’s been watched over by a very dangerous fiend!” One of the women asks “what kind of fiend would unsettle lady Yorihime this way?” Yorihime sternly replies “the little sparrow.” The Lunarians look at each other with surprise, while Yorihime slowly realizes what she just said, and a degree of shame courses through her heart. To fix this, Toyohime seriously says “don’t take him lightly. He managed to use our weapons with ease, set traps for us, and he’s also a master of martial arts.” Before the Lunarians can react to this, a large cabinet falls from the floor above, right in front of the Watatsukis. There are knocks coming from inside the cabinet, making the doors violently rattle, then Yorihime and Toyohime look at each other, and each reaches for a door handle. Without hesitation, the sisters open the doors, then they jump out from inside the cabinet, wearing swimsuits, sunglasses, straw hats, and holding cups filled with sake on their hands. Toyohime sighs and says “who knew a place like that could be so wonderful.” Yorihime sighs and smiles, then says “yeah. I would I have stayed another 3 days...” When she looks around, the other Lunarians stare at them curiously, then a woman says “lady Yorihime, what do you mean? You just jumped out of that thing.” The Watatsuki sisters realize the men around them blush as some stare at them brazenly, while others look away, some even smiling. Somehow, Yorihime reaches to her left and grabs a pair of coats, then angrily says “we are going to change. While we do, you go and search for that rabbit! Remember what happened last time a male escaped to the city!” All the Lunarians in the room salute Yorihime, and after the sisters enter the elevator, and the doors close the people in the room rush to try and enter the cabinet at the same time.

Out in the city, after finishing their sweet treats, Rika sighs and happily says “that was great. Can’t wait to make this for lady Reimu.” Curiously, Ail asks “eh? You think you can copy this recipe?” Rika smiles confidently and says “I don’t think so, I know so. It may not be exact, but I am sure I can do it.” Meanwhile, Budou gets up from her chair and says “I’ll take these to the trash”, then grabs the empty paper plates and plastic cups, then she and Phredia head to the farthest trash bins. She empties her hands from the plates and cups, then walks back to Ail and Rika, but one of the lids from the trash bins pops open, getting Budou and Phredia’s attention, then Suwako sits like a frog on the closed bin next to her, then sings “au, au, auu~”, then jumps back into the open trash bin, just before the lid falls back on it. Surprised, Budou and Phredia rush to the bin and open it up, only to find that Suwako is not in it. As they continue to look curiously into the bin, Ail and Rika approach them, and Ail asks “Budou, what’s wrong? Did you lose something?” Budou turns around with a shocked expression and says “I just saw big sister Suwako!” Phredia flies in front of Ail’s face and nods in agreement. Ail and Rika look at each other, unable to believe what they just heard, then Rika smiles and says “you three are acting really weird. Neither Mystia or Suwako are here.” Budou stutters for a moment, trying to explain herself, then she sighs in defeat and says “you’re right... Maybe I just thought I saw her.” Ail smiles and says “it’s alright. We can make a club now.” Rika stares at Ail for a moment, then says “you guys must be homesick.” Meanwhile, at the Lunar Corps HQ, Yorihime crashes out of the building, lifting the cabinet above her head and roaring furiously, then tosses it toward the street, breaking it apart in the process, and from inside it, a total of 50 Lunarians, male and females, all in swimsuits and some wearing flowers around their necks, scatter all over the city, while Yorihime shouts “GET THAT RABBIT ALREADY!” Toyohime approaches Yorihime cautiously and says “sis, you need to take it easy. Here, have a peach.” Toyohime pulls a peach out of her pocket and offer to her sister, who stares at it for a moment, the smiles and softly says “Toyohime~ You’ll have to exercise double-time after today.” Toyohime immediately hides the peach and stands straight beside her sister, then says “sis, no time for eating peaches! We have to capture that rabbit, before it’s too late!” Yorihime smiles more naturally and says “yes, I agree. Let’s go.” The moment they take the first step forward, the ground underneath them cracks and breaks, sending the princesses into a dark hole. On the ground above, the RKNS peeks his head, chirps contently, then flies away. From inside, Yorihime screams with rage, while Toyohime worriedly says “sis, you have to calm down, please.”

Hours later, Yorihime and Toyohime reach one of the busiest streets in the city, now turned into a fiery battle zone, where the moon rabbits continue to fire their rifles at an unknown threat that, without showing itself, keeps knocking out rabbit after rabbit. Yorihime stands bravely and shouts “Reisen! Take your subordinates and hunt down that bird!” Reisen, the moon rabbit who had visited Gensokyo, and the only one with floppy ears, salutes Yorihime and asks “wh-what bird? What are we fighting here?” Yorihime unsheathes her sword and exclaims “ONWARD my brave soldiers!”, then runs toward the destroyed buildings, jumping over a large fire that makes up a large, round arena in the center. There, the RKNS waits on the ground, wearing his black bandanna, glaring at Yorihime, who brandishes her sword and says “get ready, bird!” She stabs her sword on the ground, but nothing happens. She stares with confusion and surprise at the RKNS, then asks “wait, what..? Where’s my sword?” Flying in front of her, the RKNS holds her sword in its little claws, chirps, then stabs the sword on the ground, making many blades rise from underneath Yorihime’s feet, trapping her on the spot. Yorihime smirks and says “you may have trapped me, but I can still beat you!” Yorihime closes her eyes, then starts to chant. Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, everything is right in place, and nobody even notices the small war being waged on the other half of the city. Rika, Ail, Budou and Phredia continue their sight-seeing through the city, and Rika is awestruck as she stares at the tall buildings, wrapped in colorful lights all over. Ail says “oy, Rika. Be you should watch where you’re going, or you’re going to trip.” Right after he says that, Rika trips on a small ledge, and instinctively activates her Soraogan mode as she falls, and after she lands, she ‘omphs’ loudly, and a light-white beam flies from her and toward the destroyed half of the city. Budou and Ail rush to Rika, calling for her, while the Lunarians stare concernedly toward her, and as he helps her back up, Ail says “I told you to watch where you were going.” Rika giggles and says “whoopsies. I’ll be more careful.”, then thinks “oh, I hope my nullify beam doesn’t cause any trouble.” On the other side of the city, Yorihime finishes her chanting, and says “now witness the intensity of the flames of lord Agato!” Rika’s nullify beam flies through the lunar skies, and lands right on top of Yorihime as she finishes her sentence. When she looks around, nothing happens. She asks “h-hey! Where’s the fire?” When she looks at the RKNS, she sees a glint escaping its tiny eyes as he slowly flies closer to her. Away from the fire arena, Toyohime calls “Yorihime~ Are you in there? Answer me!” Yorihime screams as she flies in the air over the flames and lands next to her sister on the ground. Toyohime exclaims “oh dear! Yorihime, are you alright?” Yorihime groans in pain as she tries to get back up on her feet, only managing to kneel and say “that... bird... is a pain in the-“ A large washtub falls from the sky and misses Toyohime by an inch, but lands right on top of Yorihime, making a loud clanging sound, denting at the middle, and knocking Yorihime on to the ground. Toyohime sighs and says “I really wonder who would be using these at this age.” The RKNS chirps happily as he leaves the area, and the fires all fizzle out just as he disappears from sight.

Later, while Ail and Budou stare at some posters being pasted on the walls by a blue-eyed male moon rabbit, and the RKNS, Rika ventures ahead to a small alley behind some large buildings. Everything looks neat and clean, and quite welcoming, so she ventures in deeper until she comes across a wall, and a trail to the left and right. She sighs and thinks “maybe I should go back.” From the left side, Sakuya runs toward the right side, stops in front of Rika, looks back while raising her fist, and angrily shouts “they are not pads, you bastards! Leave me alone already!” She runs away, and shortly after, a group of men, and a few women rush by, the men shouting “take off those pads!” Sakuya shouts back “I don’t have pads!” Rika blinks and shakes her head, and when she opens her eyes again, Sakuya and the group are gone. Rika walks out of the alley to meet with Ail and Budou, and says “you-you guys. I thought I just saw Sakuya back there. She was running from some people while saying something about pads.” Phredia flies close to Rika’s face and places her hand on Rika’s forehead, while Budou stares concernedly and says “but Sakuya didn’t come with us.” Ail adds “ah, so you’re seeing things too after all. Welcome to the club.” Rika places a hand on her own head and says “geez, to think I almost believed that.” Ail smiles and says “never mind that. Look what the sparrow and a rabbit posted here.” Rika stares at the posters Ail and Budou were looking at before, then covers her mouth and says “oh my. They are not going to like this at all.” On the wall are a few posters with the pictures of Yorihime and Toyohime. Under Toyohime’s picture is a smaller picture of an old woman, wearing Toyohime’s clothes, and words to the right, saying “Watatsuki no Toyohime. Age 1.5K PLUS” Under the picture of Yorihime, is the picture of herself, only wearing a dunce hat while sitting on a school desk, and the words to its left that read “Watatsuki no Yorihime. Age 1.4K MINUS (No wonder she’s such a brat)” Meanwhile, Yorihime, Toyohime and Reisen, beaten, their clothes dirty, burned and in tatters, walk toward the peaceful half of the city, when Yorihime says “after we eat something, you two are helping me get my sword back.” Reisen and Toyohime nod, and from behind them, a giant waves swipes them off their feet and drags them to their destination, magically cleaning and fixing everything that was destroyed juts moments ago, and it even restores the citizens, who act as though nothing ever happened there. After a while, the wave stops, spits the girls away from itself, then continues its way toward the fake moon. Toyohime gets up after her sister, then curiously says “where do you think that wave came from, sis?” Yorihime spits a fish from her mouth and sticks out her tongue in disgust, then says “I don’t know, but this is REALLY making me mad!” Reisen stands next to the many Watatsuki sisters posters and says “hey, look. Your pictures are everywhere.” When Reisen turns around, the Watatsuki sisters’ eyes are cast in shadow, their mouths open wide in a square shape, and a few strands of hair seem to spring forcefully from their heads. Toyohime scowls and shouts “I DON’T LOOK LIKE THAT!” Yorihime shouts “I am NOT a brat!” Reisen nervously smiles, placing her hands in front of herself, while saying “it’s alright, it’s alright. Let’s just take them down.” Yorihime smiles and says “good idea. Get the other moon rabbits, and take these down. Toyohime and I...” Toyohime now wears a white bandanna around her head, and stands heroically while saying “sis and I have a bird to hunt!” Both Reisen and Yorihime hug each other and tremble in fear, as a powerful and dangerous aura emanates from Toyohime’s body.

Meanwhile, the RKNS grabs the blue-eyes male moon rabbit, and pulls him away from a set of pink hearts that come from a pink-haired female moon rabbit, then chirps angrily while staring into the rabbit’s blue eyes. The little male rabbit nods after being reprimanded, then the RKNS stops, places the rabbit on the roof of a tall building, then stands on the floor, pulling out Yorihime’s sword from under its wing. Yorihime and Toyohime stand on the other side of the building’s roof, glaring threateningly at the little bird. Toyohime points at the RKNS and says “you’re going to PAY for calling me old!” Yorihime growls and says “you got lucky before, but THIS time, I’m going to GET you!” The RKNS chirps rapidly, then Toyohime replies “what do you mean?” Yorihime adds “you can’t do that! If you do, it might be trouble!” The RKNS chirps furiously, then flies up, carrying Yorihime’s sword, then flies toward the sisters. They split up just as the RKNS flies past them and drops the sword. Yorihime immediately runs to catch her blade, and after jump-rolling to get it, she stands up and confidently laughs and says “ha-ha-ha~ NOW I got... Oh dear.” Yorihime and Toyohime’s faces fill with all kinds of terror when they realize the RKNS has Toyohime’s fan on its claws. Toyohime places her hands chest-high and softly says “it’s ok. Calm down, little bird.” Yorihime nervously adds “th-th-that’s right! We forgive you!” The RKNS stares at the princesses, then chirps. Toyohime replies “y-yes. It’s alright, then! We’ll go with you. Just give me that fan.” Yorihime adds “we’re cool. We’re cool here. J-just take it easy.” The RKNS makes a sudden move, and the sisters both flinch, then Toyohime feels the fan drop back on her hand. After a small while, the sisters slowly recompose themselves, and after realizing Toyohime has her fan back, Yorihime starts to chant, summoning a god. The RKNS glares at them, so Toyohime exclaims “sis! Sis, stop! He’s getting angry!” Suddenly, the half of the building in which the moon princesses stand completely collapses, sending them both down to the unforgiving ground. After the thud, a new building half falls in place, replacing the crumbled part, and the RKNS and the male moon rabbit walk to the farthest edge to look down to the sisters. From the bottom, Toyohime shouts “we’re ok~!”, then a bolt of lightning crashes down on them. Yorihime dizzily shouts “we’re... ok... That still hurt.” A giant waves courses through the city, then drags the screaming princesses away to an unknown destination. The RKNS and the moon rabbit look at each other, then shrug, and then the little sparrow grabs the moon rabbit by the small cloth around his waist, and safely flies down with him. Later that day, the RKNS, the moon rabbit, and the Watatsuki sisters arrive to a house on the outskirts of the city, standing by itself on a small hill. Toyohime and Yorihime are full of bandages, Yorihime with a cast on her right arm, while Toyohime has a cast on her left leg. Arriving to the door, Yorihime comments “hey, I’ve been here before.” Yorihime looks around the house, then says “I can’t believe it’s still standing.” The door slowly opens, and after it’s fully opened up, a woman from inside asks “yes? How may I help you?” The RKNS pushes the little moon rabbit forward, then he stands in front of the door with a shy expression on his face, while looking at his feet. The woman asks “wait, do I know you?” The moon rabbit looks up, then all of a sudden, he finds himself being embraced by this long-eared mystery woman, who sobs and says “it’s my child. My child! He’s back! Thank you ever so much, princesses of the moon! But... how did you know?” Toyohime is about to answer honestly, but the RKNS pecks the back of her head while keeping out of sight, then she says “err, we, um, had some help.” Yorihime sighs and says “yeah. A bit of a brute, but was still some help- kyah~!” Yorihime gets dragged into the darkness by her belt, and only some smacking sounds can be heard echoing over the small hill, then she suddenly appears again with some more bruises and a weak smile, then says “y-yeah. Some help. Heh-heh.”

Later that day, Rika, Ail, Budou and Phredia walk all the way back to the Lunar Corpse HQ’s front entrance, then Ail comments “I thought we would have found him by now.” Rika sighs and says “well we can’t leave him behind. It wouldn’t be proper.” Budou looks around, then exclaims “look, look! Over there!” From the road to the other side of the city come the Watatsuki sisters, and flying just above their heads is the RKNS. When Rika sees how beat up and hurt they both are, she gasps in horror and exclaims “oh my goodness! Are you alright?” When she rushes to help, Yorihime smiles and raises her hand, then says “it’s ok, we’re fine.” Toyohime smiles wide and asks “so did you and your friends enjoy the visit, miss Onkamikami?” Rika forces a smile and says “yeah, it was great, but what about you? Please, at least let me get you to...” Yorihime places a hand on Rika’s shoulder, weakly smiles, then says “look, it’s nothing, really. We’ll just go home and rest. You should go home too, alright.” By now, the RKNS is hiding behind Ail, while everybody is concerned with the princesses. Budou approaches Toyohime, smiles, then says “I hope next time you visit us home. It’s a lot of fun there!” Toyohime giggles and nods, while Yorihime sighs and says “yeah, yeah. Maybe we can go farther than those bamboos. Oh, that’s right. I should say hi to Mystia too.” Rika and Budou walk back to Ail, and after they are close to each other, Rika pulls a remote control form her pocket, and after they wave at the princesses and say their goodbyes, Rika pushes a button on the remote, and a beam of light picks them up, and takes them back home. Yorihime sighs and says “what a busy day. I just want to curl under my bed sheets and sleep.” Toyohime says “oh, look! It’s that strange cabinet. I though you destroyed it.” She immediately aims to open it up and Yorihime rushes to stop her, shouting “no, don’t do it!”, but it’s too late. Toyohime opens the door up, and Yorihime springs right out from inside and falls face-first to the ground, wearing two dirty, white cloths to cover herself up, looking dirty and exhausted. She raises her exhausted head and asks “why? Why didn’t you open that sooner? Why~?” She falls back on the ground unconscious, while Toyohime trembles and says “bu-bu-bu-but... how? I mean... But she... I wanna sleep!” Various Lunarians run from inside the HQ building, to assist the two over exhausted princesses.

Afternoon at the Hakurei Shrine. When Ail, Phredia, Budou and Rika arrive, they find Reimu sitting lazily by the shrine’s porch in front of the entrance, peacefully drinking tea, while Marisa walks from inside, holding a try of snacks. When Reimu sees them, she smiles mischievously and asks “so~? Did you two finally become one?” Rika’s face turns bright red as she says “m-m-m-my lady! How can you say such things?” Ail angrily adds “oy, Reimu. You’re starting to cross the line.” Budou stares at Ail and Rika, then starts to imagine how would they look, if they become one person. She imagines, Rika’s body, Ail’s face, their wings mixed together, wearing a shrine maiden outfit and speaking with a dual tone of voice, saying “hello Budou. How are you?” Budou shakes her head, then says “I’m so glad that didn’t happen, right Phredia?” Reimu laughs hard, then say “relax, relax~! I was only teasing.” Reimu bends down just as a red pentagram flies by her, allowing it to hit Marisa and knock her out, then Reimu lifts herself back up and says “oh, that’s right. Sanae’s in the spring.” In a seductive voice, Sanae calls “Ail~” When they all look her way, she’s wearing a pink bikini with pink detaches sleeves, tucking in her stomach and expanding her chest, then asks “would you like to join me in the hot springs tonight?” Reimu immediately says “I’ll kill you if you soil my shrine.” Sanae immediately shouts “I’m talking about the one in the mountains, dummy!” When she looks at Ail, she notices he’s not even blinking. She gets closer and asks “Ail, are you ok?” Ail’s face is hot and red, steam comes out of his ears and nose, his eyes stare blankly toward where Sanae was, and his body is as stiff as a board. Budou stares at him, then asks “what’s wrong with papa?” Reimu gets closer and inspects Ail, pokes his forehead and makes him fall on his back, then nods and says “yup. You totally broke him.” Sanae sighs, then smiles and says “I got power after all.” A black hole opens up right beneath Sanae and Ail, and with a quick yelp from Sanae, they disappear into it. Rika looks down with surprise and asks “what just happened?”, and a washtub falls right on top of her head, knocking her inside the black hole just before it closes. Reimu sighs and face palms, then says “come on, Budou. I think I got something for you and Phredia to eat around here.” Budou asks “but what about papa, and mama, and miss Rika?” Reimu sighs again, then says “they’ll drop by later. Trust me.” Budou stares at where the black hole was, then smiles as she runs to the shrine with Reimu, and asks “can I use the hot springs?” Reimu chuckles and replies “sure. I think I’ll join you while we wait for them.” The sky slowly fills with stars as the day slowly becomes night, and from the shrine, Budou’s voice echoes as she cheers with glee.

The end

Characters, Spell Cards and Scenarios belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-
Ail, Budou, Phredia and the RKNS were created by Willie G.R.
Rika Onkamikami was created by Snapshot 2010

MAY 21 2010
Written by
Willie G.R.

A/N:
Uuu~ that was just mean from me. Then again, I wasn’t TOO mean to those princesses, considering what I can REALLY do. Maybe I can try again, when they visit Gensokyo again. That should prove fun! Hope you enjoyed this, thanks for reading, and see you next story, if the spirits will allow.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Paradise Sukima 25 EXTRA

It’s a bright and beautiful summer morning, and the Misty Lake is more peaceful than usual. Most of the fairies around the area are either sleeping, or hiding from the hot sun rays, and that includes two well known little ice fairies. On the eastern shores of the lake, Kimi has Kali tied up to a rope, hanging upside-down from a branch and using her as a punching bag, saying “so, you wanna try that again? Well, do ya?” Kali cries “I give, I GIVE! Just let me go already!” Kimi smirks and cracks her knuckles, then says “nope. I don’t really believe you learned your lesson.” Kimi winds up a punch, pouring as much energy as she can into it, then an explosion from the SDM rattles the whole island, causing waves to unsettle the peaceful lake. Kimi looks up, wondering what is all the racket, then a beam of light flies at great speeds from the mansion, followed promptly by another beam of light. In the air, Ail flies as fast as his body can take, screaming “I already told you! No way I’m letting you. You’ll turn me into a vampire!” Right behind him is Remilia, flying as fast as Ail and trying to reach for him, regardless of their distance, drooling and shouting “it’s ok, it’s ok! I can’t turn you into a vampire, just PLEASE, I need your blood. So rich, so tasty, so REVITALIZING!” Ail scowls and shouts back “look, I gave you the invitation to the shrine’s party, isn’t that enough?” Remilia shouts back “come on~ Just a slurp! I promise it won’t hurt!” Ail shouts back “hey, what the HELL are you doing out in the sun? Aren’t you supposed to be getting fired by now!?” Remilia sayss “I thought we vampires became immune to the sun.” Ail shouts “no! I told you, we solved that incident.” Remilia smiles contently, her cheeks turning light pink, then she says “ah, then I must thank Rika when I see her.” Ail’s eyes expand as he forces a very nervous smile and asks “what do you mean?” Remilia happily replies “she made my clothes sun-proof, so I can chase you wherever you go now.” Tears hang from both Ail’s eyes as he screams “DAMMIT RIKA! That is so unfair!” The beams that are Ail and Remilia continue their way through the sky, until a gap opens up, then both disappear inside of it. From below, Kimi face palms, then says “so loud, so early.” She turns around to face Kali, then asks “and where were we?” Kali tries to save herself from further punishment and says “erm, I learned my lesson, so you wanted to untie me. Yeah.” Kimi smirks, bearing a set of jagged teeth for Kali to see, as an ominous shadow casts itself over Kimi, who says “no, I believe we were right... HERE!” Kimi winds up her punch again, and the impact from the punch can be heard all the way to the other side of the shore, where Cirno asks “what was that? Did a tree just fall?” Daiyousei sighs, then says “let’s not think too much into it.” Cirno rubs her chin while she thinks, then says “never mind that! I just thought of the perfect plan! Those red and white and black and white will fall today, and bow to my genius!” Daiyousei sighs and thinks “I don’t think it’ll work today either,” but smiles and says “that’s great, Cirno-chan. You show ‘em.”

At the Hakurei Shrine, for once, it is a very peaceful morning, even with Aya, Mima and Suika drinking sake on the roof. On the porch, Marisa, Reimu and Rika enjoy the peaceful morning with tea and snacks. Reimu takes a sip from her tea, then comments “it’s unusually peaceful, isn’t it?” Rika and Marisa nod, then Marisa takes a sip of her tea. After gulping, she smiles and says “I really missed this. Sponging tea off Reimu, having a quiet drink with my friends in the peace of this empty shrine.” A vein pulsates on Reimu’s head as she calmly says “keep it down, or I’ll kick you out of here.” Marisa smiles and says “I missed the threats too, ze.” Reimu ignores Marisa and is about to take another sip of tea, but stops and looks at Marisa for a while. Feeling uncomfortable, Marisa asks “what? What is it? Is there something on my face?” Reimu asks “Marisa, I want to know something. I read your books, Patchouli’s books, I had Patchouli’s help, I even went through old shrine records, and still, I never found a safe way to close that gate. Tell me, how did you know how to close that thing?” Marisa takes another sip or tea, smiles, then looks to the sky and says “I didn’t. Not at first, at least.” Reimu and Rika stare back at Marisa with confused, curious eyes, so Marisa turns her face to them, then smiles again and says “when I left my house, I didn’t really have a clue how to safely close that gate. Just a hypothesis. But in the end, after I visited that cave, it became clear to me. What’s odd, though, is how you, Rika, and Ail, knew exactly what to do without me having to tell you anything. What’s up with that?” Rika chokes on her tea, and after recovering, she stares at Marisa and unsheathes her family sword. She presents the sword to Marisa, and speaks softly, almost whispering, saying “the spirit within my sword spoke to us. It told us of your plan beforehand, that’s how we knew. It also told us to bring friends over to help you.” Marisa’s eyes glint as she stares at Rika’s sword, so Rika pulls it away and says “no way, miss Marisa. I won’t let you have it. Besides, only miss Reimu, Ail and I can hear it.” Rika sheathes her sword again, then looks at the sky with confused eyes, then says “come to think of it, I still wonder how is he able to hear it? I mean... I understand how being amongst dragons helped him learn their language, but...” Reimu takes a sip of her tea and says “don’t think about it too much. Remember, you are yin, and he is yang. It’s only natural for you two to share some similarities.” Rika looks down to the ground and says “I guess you’re right.” Reimu suddenly remembers something, then asks “hey, why did your sword wanted Nitori to build that grid thing? It was rather useless.” Rika smiles and says “well, it was a precaution. You see, it was your charm that was keeping the vacuum of the vortex in check, and with you and miss Kimi there, the vortex should have diminished in power as well, but there was still a possibility that someone, or something could have easily ended up inside that void before we closed it.” Reimu closes her eyes as she takes another sip of tea, then nods in acknowledgement, then asks “speaking of Nitori, where did she go? After you two were done, she sort of vanished.” Rika sweats and smiles nervously, while Marisa laughs mischievously. Rika looks at Reimu, then says “well, you see... After everything settled down, I found miss Nitori messing with Flandre’s aircraft. She was so nervous, because after she completely dismantled it to look at what I had done to it, she couldn’t reassemble it again.” Marisa smiles and says “man, if Flandre ever saw that, Nitori would have ceased to exist.” Rika says “hey, that’s not funny. Anyway, I helped her reassemble the aircraft before Flandre got there, so it’s alright.” Reimu giggles, then says “that little kappa can be a real menace.” Marisa laughs and says “you got that right.” The three girls continue to enjoy their tea on that morning, while Aya and Suika ignore the fact that they are slowly getting sunburned.

At the Myouren Temple, Byakuren, Shou and Ichirin enjoy a quiet after-breakfast tea-time on a small table set in the front yard. Minamitsu joins in, bringing an extra tray of cookies, and just after she sits, a gap opens up behind them, then Ail and Remilia zip form inside, flying low to the ground around the girls, looking like beams of light. As they fly around, almost causing a small tornado, Ail manage to shout “you are all... invited to... attend to... a small party... at the Hakurei Shrine!” Shou is on high alert, readying herself for a possible attack, while Ichirin struggles against the draft caused by Ail and Remilia, trying her best to keep her skirt from rising. Minamitsu smiles as she calmly drinks her tea, and Byakuren smiles with glee as she softly claps her hands together and says “oh, that sounds so lovely! We’ll be there!” Ail manages to toss a few invitations and shouts “great. Now could you... help me already!” Remilia shouts “stop running and let me FEED!” Byakuren tilts her head left and giggles, then says “oh my, mister Ail. That looks like a fun game. What’s it called?” Ail shouts “somebody, HELP!” Ail opens up another gap, and he and Remilia immediately rush inside. After they leave, Shou rushes to Byakuren and asks “are you alright, lady Hijiri?” Byakuren stares back at Shou with a childish smile on her face, then Shou’s face turns blue and asks “you want to try that out, don’t you?” Byakuren nods, now smiling whimsically, but Shou shakes her head and says “nah-ah, no way. That is too dangerous for you and...” Byakuren prepares a small orb of energy on her hand, then Shou sweats and says “no, no! Wait, Hijiri, don’t!” Before she knows it, Shou finds herself flying away from Byakuren, who giggles as she shoots at her, while she cries out “someone help me!” Byakuren whimsically says “no, no, it’s ‘somebody, HELP!” Shou cries “just stop already!” Meanwhile, at the Moriya Shrine, Budou walks up to Sanae, who is happily humming while dusting the living room cupboard, and suddenly lifts up her skirt and just stares. Sanae yelps and pulls down her skirt, then turns around with her cheeks turning red and angrily asks “hey, what do you think you are doing young lady?” Budou blinks a couple of times before finally looking up at Sanae’s face, then says “eh? Mama, what’s wrong?” Sanae angrily says “don’t try to trick me, young lady, this... wait... KOISHI!” Hiding by the entrance, Koishi gasps and tries to run away, but Sanae summons a powerful gust that sends her flying against a tree, keeping her in a daze while Sanae catches up. She grabs Koishi by her ear, pulls her up, then says “stop messing with Budou, you little twerp!” Dizzily, Koishi replies “I’m not ‘twerp’. I’m Koishi!” Before Sanae replies, Ail’s gap opens up, and he and Remilia fly out at ridiculous speeds, Ail shouting “Moriya Shrine can come to Hakurei Shrine for the party! WAAH~!” Remilia shouts “stop already! It’s just a few drops!” Ail shouts back “stop being such a brat!” Remilia shouts “oh, for that one, I’m taking EXTRA!” Ail shouts back “you’ll have to catch me first!” Ail manages to toss a few more invitations and flies away, Budou quickly chasing after them, shouting “hey you! Leave papa alone, you mean vampire!” Remilia shouts “stay away from me, you little monster!” Ail shouts “don’t you DARE talk to her that way!” Budou shouts “just give me a second and I’ll BLAST her out of the sky!” Remilia shouts “let’s see you TRY!” Budou’s eyes turn aquamarine as she sends a paralyzing sound wave at Remilia, but Ail opens up another gap, and he and Remilia enter it long before Budou’s attack reaches the vampire. The gap closes up just before Budou can enter, then she looks around and shouts “dammit, I lost her!” Sanae picks up the invitations and calls “Budou, come on down, young lady. And stop cursing. Girls shouldn’t...” Before she can finish her sentence, Suwako jumps out from under the ground, asking “hey, Sanae, what’s all the ruckus?”, and tossing a few large rocks in the air, and one of them falls right on Sanae’s left foot. Sanae gasps and stares awestruck for a while, then all of a sudden she starts screaming out loud, cursing her mouth off and making both Koishi and Suwako blush. Budou slowly flies down to Sanae, and with a smug smirk she asks “you were saying?”

At the Hakurei Shrine, Marisa sweeps the shrine grounds with a displeased look on her face, while Rika cleans the floors inside the shrine, and Reimu sits by the donation box, observing Marisa sweep. Marisa sighs with a low growl, then says “you know, you could help out any time.” Reimu smiles widely and says “but you’re doing such a great job. I don’t want to get in your way.” Marisa face palms and says “alright, that’s it”, and pulls her Hakkero out of her hat. Reimu’s eyes widen and her pupils shrink as she shouts “what, what the hell are you doing?” Marisa smirks and lets out a quick chuckle, and right before she fires her beam, a gap opens right beside her, and like beams of light, Ail and Remilia fly out of it, knocking Marisa away. Ail shouts “see what you made me do?” Remilia shouts back “if you’d just let me drink your blood already, this wouldn’t happen!” Ail shouts back “just leave me ALONE already!” Remilia shouts back “let me drink your blood already!” Just like that, Ail opens another gap, and off they go. Rika runs outside and stops right next to the surprised Reimu and asks “my lady, what was all that just now?” Marisa’s body trembles as she gets up from the ground, having landed all the way by the shrine’s storage house. She manages to raise her head and painfully stutter “s-somebody... he-help me~.” Ail’s gap opens up at Entei, and he and Remilia immediately fly out, both looking like beams of light coursing through the air. Ail shouts “Remilia, I swear, if you keep this up, I’m going to have to fight back!” Remilia shouts back “well it would be better if you do already, you coward!” Ail and Remilia stop right above the mansion, then Ail pulls a spell card from his left pocket and says “alright, you asked for it! Brightness, Overwhelming Heart!” At the same time, Remilia pulls out her own spell card and shouts “Spear of the Gungnir!” Both spell cards activate, then a pair of arrows from below strike Ail and Remilia hard, knocking them both down to the ground and cancelling their spells. Eirin walks to Ail and Remilia as they get up, and Ail pulls out the arrow from his arm and shouts “dammit, what’s the deal? That really hurt!” Remilia pulls her arrow from her back, then shouts “this wouldn’t have happened if you just let me drink your blood already, like a real man would!” Ail shouts back “a real man would hit you with garlic and stake your heart!” Remilia and Ail spring up and press their faces against each other as they try to push each other around, then Eirin grabs them by the back of their shirts and says “well, well. It seems you two are at it again. You will follow me now, or face the consequences.” Ail angrily asks “Eirin, what the hell was the deal with the arrows?” Remilia angrily adds “you have to be a FOOL to challenge a vampire with such primitive weapons! I’m gonna-“ Eirin stares at both with murderous eyes and says “you threatened to destroy the princess’ mansion with your spells, and you dare talk back? I say, you two have a serious lack of respect to others.” Ail’s and Remilia’s faces turn blue at the sight of Eirin, then both bow at the same time and say “I’m sorry!”

At the clinic, Eirin has Ail tied to a metal chair that has many needles and transparent tubes around it. Eirin looks playfully at Ail, then says “now I get to try my latest advancement in medical evolution. This chair will comfortably take your blood and safely place it inside these bags over here.” Eirin presents Ail with 8 large transparent bags, each capable of containing 8 pounds of blood. Ail trembles and asks “er... is this even humane?” Eirin smiles and says “relax. A half youkai like you should be fine. The chair will injects you with the necessary nutrients so you won’t turn to dust.” Ail’s face turns blue again as he says “wait, wait, wait! Eirin, I don’t think-“ Eirin ignores Ail’s pleas and pushes a red button on a control connected to the chair, and one needle comfortably sets itself on Ail’s left arm, and starts pumping nutrients in him, while another sets itself on his, right arm, then starts taking his blood. Remilia watches and drools as the blood quickly travels through a transparent tube and into the bags, slowly filling them up. Ail seems to be in a trance as he smiles while staring at the ceiling and saying “oh, what lovely colors the butterfly ceiling has.” 3 hours later, Remilia pays Eirin a pack of money, and with a content look on her face, she and Sakuya take to the sky, Remilia saying “tonight, we’ll have a feast!” Sakuya replies “I’ll have the fairy maids clean the special dining room, my lady.” After they leave, Eirin smiles while pocketing the money, then says “Udonge, let’s go check on Ail.” Reisen sweats and asks “you forgot about him?” Eirin heads to the back room, where she has Ail tied to the special chair, however upon entering the room, she and Reisen’s face turn dark blue as they watch in shock and surprise. Instead of Ail on the chair, there is a black dust that blows away along with unknown winds. Reisen asks “ma... he... Master, what are we going to do?” Eirin’s panic prevents her from saying a word, but after she takes a deep breath, she says “he wasn’t here. He never came this way. Yes, nobody knows where he is... OUCH!” Eirin jumps on her right foot while holding on to her left, asking “ouch! Who the hell kicked me?” Reisen looks to the floor beside Eirin and spots Ail in his miniature dog form, then says “oh no. Not again!” Ail blows a puff of air and says “relax. I had to take this form to escape that blasted machine. It almost vaporized me. Anyway, while I recover all that lost blood I’ll have to stay like this.” Eirin bends down and asks “so, you don’t want a boost to speed that process up?” Ail looks up at Eirin with annoyance and says “I think I’ll go the ‘manly way’ and wait patiently.” Reisen smiles while sweating, then says “well, good luck with that, mister Ail.” Ail nods, then looks at Eirin and says “you did help me with Remilia there, so I won’t tell Sanae or the goddesses. Well, here you go.” Ail hands them some white envelopes and says “the invitations to the shrine’s party. Be there, alright?” Eirin smiles and nods, while Reisen bows and says “thanks. We will be there, right Master?” Eirin sighs and nods, and after a few seconds, dog Ail is flying toward the human village at speeds.

During the course of the day, Ail delivers all the invitations, from Alice and Rinnosuke, Kyo and Keine, all the way to the Tengu Mountain, and the subterranean world. Two nights later, at the Hakurei Shrine, lights, music, drinks, games kiosks spread all over the shrine, each with different attractions. Ail, who is back to his old self, is accompanied by Budou and Sanae, as they walk all the way to the very back of the shrine grounds, where the last kiosk is being run by Kanako and Suwako, where the goddesses try to keep Satori, Okuu, Petal and Koishi, as well as a few human villagers, entertained with a ridiculous display of pie-tossing, danmaku juggling, and the occasional blunder from either goddess, which ends up with a fight. Petal giggles, while sitting on Okuu’s lap, then exclaims “clowns, clowns. They are not shcary, they are funny, Momkuu!” Ail, Budou and Sanae laugh hard at the sight, and decide to walk away before they are spotted. On their way back, Budou notices Alice’s puppet show and exclaims “wait, I want to see this!” Ail and Sanae look at each other with a smile, then look back at Budou and nod. When they arrive, already watching the show are three humans, Flandre, Meiling, Rumia, Ran and Chen. Alice’s puppet show includes a song from Hourai and Shanghai, while Alice herself manages the lifeless dolls on the background to dance at the rhythm of the song. Unlike the rest of the spectators, Chen is staring at something on the side of the kiosk, raising her back-side while swaying her tails, all her attention on the unseen object. Right after they finish, Alice, the dolls and the two tiny girls bow to the small crowd as they applaud their performance. Alice says “thank you, thank you very much. Please, give another round for Shanghai and Hourai, for their beautiful performance.” While everyone else applauds, Chen pounces from her seat, makes Alice yelp out, then pulls on a lose piece of string that is attached to Alice’s dolls and the tiny stage’s curtain. Alice shouts “wait, no! You’ll break it.” Ran shouts “Chen, stop! I’m terribly sorry, miss Alice! Chen~! Stop that already! CHEN~~” Ail, Budou and Sanae look at each other, then sweat and walk away, leaving Alice, Shanghai, Hourai and Ran, to deal with the out of control Chen. Finally, they reach the shrine itself, and find Reimu and Marisa sitting side-by-side at the porch. Ail says “well, if it isn’t the two hosts.” Sanae worriedly asks “aren’t you two supposed to be hosting?” Marisa replies “yeah, we’re letting Suika and Mima handle that.” Ail asks “but wait, with all the humans here, won’t that be a problem?” Reimu casually says “relax. We got Byakuren, Keine, Kyo, Luna, Rika, you guys. If anything goes wrong, we can do something about it”, then her eyes glint as she says “and I’m getting lots and lots of donations!” Ail bluntly asks “what? How is that even possible?” A yin-yang orb falls from the sky and lands straight on to Ail’s head, then Marisa says “heh, it turns out the people thinks Rika is an angel of the shrine. And since she’s the one handling the greetings...” Reimu happily continues “she’s really bringing in the money!” Ail, Budou and Sanae stare at Reimu in disbelief, then Ail sweats and fakes a smile as he asks “shouldn’t you also be happy about the faith for your god?” Ail covers his head, waiting for the next yin-yang orb to hit, but nothing happens. Reimu sits there with a smile, then says “but don’t you see. With each donation, not only are they sharing their wealth, they are also sharing their faith.” The shrine bell rings and Phredia excitedly exits Budou’s heart and flies around, then lands on Budou’s shoulder. Reimu softly says “you hear that? Another prayer has been made. With that, the faith also increases. Thanks to Rika, it’s only a matter of time before this shrine’s god presents itself to us. I am... very grateful for that.” Ail and Sanae smile at Reimu, then Sanae suddenly gasps and exclaims “wait! That means my shrine will get less faith!” Marisa quickly says “maybe. Maybe not. I don’t really believe faith is so linear. Maybe it can be shared.” Sanae sweats and says “I don’t think that’s prudent thinking.” At the front of the shrine, Rika greets a human couple, gently flapping her wings as she bows and says “welcome to the Hakurei Shrine. Please, enjoy yourselves while you are here.” The woman exclaims “oh, what a cute little angel!” The man adds “wow, you’re right! Hey, if this shrine has angels, then perhaps we should offer a prayer!” The woman smiles and nods, then says “good idea, honey! We might get a good fortune.” Rika sweats and smiles nervously, then says “well, miss Reimu. It seems we are finally getting some donations.” Back at the shrine’s entrance, Sanae watches with horror as the bell rings again, and donations are made. She sighs, calms down, then thinks “lady Yasaka, lady Moriya, we’re going to need to do something.” Reimu sighs, then asks “hey, Ail... are you really going through with your plan?” Ail nods and says “Shinki and Shikieiki have agreed, and I got the higher-ups permission. There’s no way I’m stopping now.” Reimu asks “but what if you end up stuck?” Ail smiles and says “I won’t. Everything will be just fine.”

The next morning, Ail, Budou and Phredia step out of the house, then Ail opens up a black gap, grabs hold of Budou, then says “Phredia, hold on to me, and protect Budou while we’re out there.” Phredia nods, then they go inside the gap. Immediately, they find themselves in the front gates of Pandemonium, where Yumeko and Shinki stand in wait. Ail calmly says “sorry we’re so late. Are you ready for this?” Shinki smiles and nods, then says “oh yes. I agree he’s been in there far too long. Let’s get him out.” Ail smiles and nods, then opens another black gap. Before the small party enters, Yumeko says “lady Shinki, you be very careful.” Shinki smiles and nods, then says “I’ll be back soon, so don’t you worry.” They enter the gap and immediately find themselves in a familiar, bleak world. The sky is dark violet, the floors and mountains look intense red, like they could burn the skin to the touch. The trees look dead, some dripping a black substance from their bark, some having few black leaves on their dry-looking branches, and the air itself feels so cold, it could freeze anyone in seconds. Ail holds on tightly to Budou as she looks around, almost ready to cry, then looks at Shinki and says “call him.” While Shinki closes her eyes to concentrate, Ail asks Budou “remember this place? This is where we found you and Phredia after...” Budou buries her face in Ail’s chest and cries “I know.” Phredia pats Budou’s head, trying to comfort her, then Ail says “it’s alright, Budou. You’re not staying here.” Shinki opens her eyes and says “he’s here.” On the skies, a gigantic black dragon, with skin that looks smooth and tough, like a plate of armor, intense red eyes 3 times the size of a human, and wings large enough to cover an entire continent from the sun, flies to a nearby mountain and says “well this is a nice surprise. Lady Shinki, little Ail. It’s been a long... time.” Ail, who continues to hold Budou, and Shinki, fly up to the sky, then Ail shouts “we’re here to give you the chance that was taken from you so unfairly, all those years ago.” The dragon hums, then asks “pardon me, but... what are you speaking of?” Shinki smiles and says “you get another chance, my ancient friend.” A gigantic creature reveals itself standing beside Dai-Drecon, so big, they can only see his legs, as the rest of his body hides behind some dark clouds, and in a thunderous, demanding voice, he says “you are not taking anyone from here!” Ail’s voice seems to echo all over that bleak world as he says “you are no longer keeping him in here against his will.” Shinki’s voice echoes all over the world as well, as she says “we have permission from the five yamas, as well as direct permissions from the higher spirits.” Ail adds “you wouldn’t want to go against their wishes now, would you?” For a moment, the creature emanates a powerful aura, making his anger known to all, making Budou and Phredia tremble as they bury their faces in Ail’s chest, then calms down. He growls softly, then says “go, and don’t let me catch any of you in here again.” After saying that, the monstrous creature slowly vanishes from sight. Dai-Drecon looks confused toward Shinki and Ail, then asks “what’s going on?” Ail grabs Budou and says “hold on to lady Shinki.” Shinki grabs Budou and Phredia, then Ail smile at the large dragon, then says “be free.” Ail screams as he summons great power to himself, then slowly opens up a gigantic white gap large enough for Dai-Drecon to go through. When the dragon looks inside the gap, he gasps and asks “is this... Is this the world of the dragons?” Ail grunts as he struggles to keep his concentration, then says “everyone... get inside already!” Shinki, who now holds Budou and Phredia, rushes inside and says “come, my friend! Come, and leave this unsuitable world behind.” Dai-Drecon hesitates for a moment, then suddenly lunges inside the gap, followed closely by Ail, who as soon as he stops concentrating, causes the gap to close off violently. For Dai-Drecon, the moment he sets foot on the Dragon’s Paradise, he is overwhelmed by many excited and happy emotions, making him cry as he says “this is... home. After so many years, I’m finally...” From behind, a black and white dragon silently flies close, then says “welcome home, master.” When Dai-Drecon turns around, he narrows his eyes to focus on the guardian dragon, then gasps and says “it’s you.” The guardian dragon nods, extends his arm, then says “come. There is much we need to talk about.” Dai-Drecon turns around again, saying “wait, I haven’t thanked Shinki, or Ail prop...” When he realizes it, Shinki, Ail, Budou and Phredia are already gone. He turns around to look at the guardian dragon, who still offers his hand, then says “my child... I missed you so much.” The guardian dragon smiles and repeats “welcome home... master”, and finally, he and Dai-Drecon hold each other’s hands.

The next day, at noon, Ail and Budou arrive to the Hakurei Shrine, and immediately meet with Reimu, Marisa, Rika, Alice and Sanae. While Shanghai and Hourai cling to Rika, Alice and Sanae take a soak at the hot springs, and Marisa, Reimu, Budou and Ail sit on the shrine porch, waiting for Rika to bring them their tea. Ail suddenly says “I had forgotten how beautiful Gensokyo can really be. You know, it really feels good to be back home.” Reimu smiles, then chuckles and says “it’s strange to finally see you settling down. You’re not going somewhere to find someone, or something. Budou is right here... *sigh* It must be nice.” Marisa smiles and says “I bet it is”, then looks at Ail and smirks mischievously and says “say, Ail. There’s this experiment I want to try out and I was wondering...” Before she finishes, Ail bluntly says “no”, and continues to smile while looking at the trees around the shrine. Budou jumps on Ail’s lap and says “you’re not taking papa away again!” Marisa smiles, then says “I was just teasing, ze.” Rika finally arrives with a tray of tea and snacks for everyone at the porch, and Budou immediately grabs a few cookies and munches down while still sitting on Ail’s lap. Hourai and Shanghai cling around Rika’s neck as she kneels down, flaps her wings, then says “you know, now that mister Ail is here, perhaps miss Reimu can take it easy?” Ail takes a sip of his tea, then says “I may be able to help a lot, but I’m not Reimu.” From the left side, Kyo says “exactly. He’s just some blundering fool with plenty of luck and an equal amount of friends to back him up.” Luna, Medicine and Su-San stand to Kyo’s right, then Luna giggles and says “and from what I’ve been told, there is a certain shrine maiden with those very same qualities.” Medicine adds “I’ve also heard of the maid of this shrine that seems to be making quite a few friends as well.” For a moment, the group at the porch stare at the group in front of them, then they all start laughing heartily, while unknown to them, Rika’s sword takes its colorful shape, and the diamond on the hilt starts glowing bright blue. Suddenly, a large washtub falls on Medicine, knocking her down and covering her tiny frame underneath. Up in the sky, Aya and Hatate argue as to who will take the picture of the event, then a pair of silver washtubs fall right on top of their heads, sending them crashing to the ground below. From the Tengu Mountain, Momiji giggles and while she takes notes, she says “they make this all too easy.” At the Moriya Shrine, Kanako, Suwako, and Satori chase after Koishi, who runs ahead of them while laughing and saying “you don’t really want to catch me!” Down at the Scarlet Devil Mansion, inside Patchouli’s library, Flandre is riding on Koakuma’s back, shouting “faster, horsey!”, while Koakuma cries for Patchouli’s help, even though Patchouli ignores them and continues to read her books. On the main hall, Remilia sits with a prideful smile, watching as Sakuya approaches her with her tea, saying “my lady, you special tea is ready.” Remilia rubs her hands together and ominously says “excellent. That blood of his will keep me nourished for days!” Sakuya giggles and says “my lady is in such high spirits today.” Outside on the gates, Meiling sneezes, then looks around and says “it’s getting a little cold. Hope I don’t come down with something.” Down by the lake, Cirno, Daiyousei and Rumia stand around the shore, then Cirno boastfully says “I’ll show you how strong I am. Watch this!” She jumps to the air and rapidly flaps her wings as she violently places her forearms together, then manages to freeze the water, all the way to half of the lake. She turns around, expanding her chest and smiling with pride, then says “see? I am definitely the strongest ever!” Amazed, Daiyousei and Rumia gasp as they stare at Cirno’s accomplishment, then notices a strange formation on it. Daiyousei asks “Cirno-chan, what is that?” Cirno looks at the strange round formation in the ice for a while, then smiles and says “it’s nothing,” while thinking “I almost got it. Just a little more, and I’ll be able to shape Letty’s face with my power.” And so, Gensokyo finally returns to its normal, peaceful, yet chaotic way, Ail has finally returned to the home he thought he didn’t have, and Marisa has gained a little more wisdom after her experience. However, even though everything is peaceful now, this chaotic world will always have its comings and goings... At the Youkai Forest, there is a powerful explosion that rattles all the way up to the Hakurei Shrine, and Nitori’s voice echoes as she says “oops. Sorry~!”

Paradise Sukima The End

Characters, Spell Cards and Scenarios belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-
Ail, Budou, Phredia, Kyo, Luna, Kimi, Kali and Dai-Drecon were created by Willie G.R.
Ail’s “Brightness, Overwhelming Heart” spell card was created by Willie G.R.
Rika Onkamikami was created by Snapshot 2010

May 16 2010
Written by
Willie G.R.

A/N:
And here it is. The REAL final chapter. Quite a peaceful chapter, but I guess they all deserve a break after all they’ve been through. I mean to add something about Rika and Ail here, however, I believe it would be prudent to save it for later.
Anyway, I want to thank everyone for your reviews and comments. Really, it makes me very, very happy to know you liked my work. Really, it makes me happy. Now, before I start working on my next Sukima, know that I’ll be working on some mishaps, maybe a few spin-offs, and after those, then I’ll start on the Sukima. Oh well. Thank you all very much for reading, and again, I am glad you liked Paradise Sukima so much. Well, see you next time, if the spirits will allow, and take care.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Paradise Sukima 24

At the Misty Lake’s shore, Reimu and Kimi continue their fierce battle. Kimi tries to throw a fake punch at Reimu, making her dodge accordingly, only to launch a kick to her back, but Reimu uses the energy from that kick to flip and land back on her feet, then strikes Kimi’s stomach, making her grunt and back away while holding on to her abdomen. Reimu stares at Kimi, then says “Kimi, someone’s coming. Let’s call it a draw and finish this later.” Kimi recovers from the blow, then replies “no! Let’s finish this now!” Reimu shrugs and says “suit yourself.” Reimu dusts the cut on her shirt, the stances ready for the next attack. Kimi looks as though she could drop at any second, yet her pride prevents her from quitting. She tries to run toward Reimu, but just stumbles on her feet, worrying Reimu for a moment, but she pushes herself up again and tries to kick Reimu on the face, but Reimu jumps back and disappears, only to reappear right in front of Kimi, sliding below her feet, surrounding her foot with an orange energy and knocking Kimi back on the ground. Reimu gets up and sighs, then says “it’s over. Save what little strength you have left.” Kimi shouts “NO! Defeat me properly!” Kimi manages to stand up, though she has trouble keeping her balance. She glares at Reimu, though her sight keeps turning blurry, then rushes to her, already raising her fist. Reimu bends backward to avoid the punch, then uses her hands to stand upside-down, and kicks Kimi under her chin. Kimi feels as though the world around her spins, and even so, she tries to keep her balance. Finally, her world turns black and she falls to the ground on her face, but before she completely loses her consciousness, she hears Reimu say “geez, what a pain that was.” Before Reimu can approach Kimi, a giant fireball comes from her right and flies straight to Kimi, so she runs to the unconscious dragon youkai and places a barrier, protecting herself and Kimi. Reimu looks up and sees the red-haired woman, staring to Kimi with hateful eyes, so Reimu grabs Kimi by her shoulder, and while dragging her away she shouts “Mima, Yukari~!” Yukari and Mima are already facing the woman, so Reimu takes this chance to drag Kimi away, grunting while saying “geez, you need to get on a diet. You weigh a ton!” After hiding Kimi under some bushes and placing protective charms over the leaves, Reimu flies up to face this new threat, only to find out that Mima and Yukari have everything under control. Mima shouts “hey, Reimu! She’s definitely not from around!” The woman summons a giant fireball and surrounds it with a shadow, turning it into a black flame, then tosses it at Mima. Reimu shouts “Mima, behind you!”, but Yukari has already opened a gap between Mima and the shadow fireball by the time Mima turns around. Yukari stares at the woman and says “u, fu, fu~! Well, you are quite powerful, aren’t you, miss dragon?” The woman gasps and asks “hey, how the heck you know?” Mima approaches the woman and says “come on. We can smell that stench all the way over here.” The woman smiles and says “well, this is excellent. That means I no longer need to keep this disgusting appearance.” She glows brightly for a moment, but nothing happens. When she realizes this, she screams while she pats her body, asking “what the hell? What’s going on!?” Yukari hides her wicked smile with her open fan and says “I forgot to mention, I was playing with your boundaries earlier, so... I’m afraid you won’t be able to change into a dragon for some time.” The woman screams to the air with rage and shouts “that’s fine then! I can beat you both easily anyway!” Mima snickers and says “oh, that’s what I wanted to hear.”

Inside the void between the two paradises, Komachi struggles to stay alive, unable to find her scythe in the darkness, and with a painful wound on her abdomen, all while the dragon shinigami smiles and tries to finish her off. The dragon swings her scythe at Komachi, forcing her to jump away to her left and fall hard on the ground, where she groans after falling, holding her bloodied stomach. The dragon shinigami casually walks to Komachi, not even raising her guard, as she smiles and says “you know, death isn’t all that bad. I mean, you are suffering so much right now, with that gash, and the fear coursing through you. I mean, really, is living worth all that?” As she lies face-down on the ground, the pain on Komachi’s abdomen races through her entire body, preventing her from moving any farther, and all she can do is listen as the footsteps of the dragon get closer to her. The dragon continues “really, just be a good girl and hold still for me, alright.” In a desperate move, Komachi grabs hold of the dragon’s scythe lower part and doesn’t let go. The dragon shinigami kicks her and shouts “hey, let go of my scythe! Geez, get your own!” She manages to kick Komachi away, and without waiting for another moment, she raises her scythe. A large icicle hits her head hard, making her drop her scythe and hold her head, running in circles and cursing out loud, then stops and glares toward the bright gate. Marisa, Alice, Shanghai and Hourai stare back with brave faces, and Marisa says “shoot and we’ll move! Like lightning!” Alice, Shanghai and Hourai slump while staring angrily at Marisa, then Alice asks “why did you have to say that?” Marisa smiles and replies “it sounds cool.” Shanghai sighs and says “geez, how annoying.” Hourai starts shooting multi-colored petal bullets toward the dragon shinigami, stopping her from unleashing a fire spell on the girls, then says “mama, Marisa, be more careful!” Marisa and Alice nod, then Alice says “Shanghai, Hourai, you know what to do. Marisa!” Marisa nods and says “right behind you.” Alice cups her hand in front of herself and fires a constant red beam that pierces right through the dragon, while Marisa smiles and summons icicle after icicle that crash and shatter on top of the shinigami’s head. Shanghai fires long-range multi-colored petal bullets, while Hourai fires short-ranged multi-colored orbs, overwhelming the dragon with their relentless attacks. Alice exclaims “we got her!”, and Marisa adds “hey, I’m supposed to be the cocky one, remember? Just don’t lose focus!” The dragon suddenly screams and unleashes a powerful shockwave that sends all the girls flying backward and crashing against walls. She immediately reaches for Shanghai, making her call “MAMA~! HELP ME~!”, which makes Alice spring on her feet almost immediately and shout “let her go!” The shinigami smirks and says “no, I think I’ll do this instead!” She lifts her left hand’s finger, and her nail turns to a long, sharp claw and she quickly lunges it straight at her right hand, but her smile quickly turns to a frown and she starts to scream “argh! My hand! Holy crap, it HURTS!” When Alice and Marisa look up, Hourai has Shanghai by her arms, flying her straight to Alice, who immediately grabs her and give her a hug, saying “oh, I’m so glad you are safe. Thanks, Hourai!” Before Marisa can warn them, light-purple energy orbs strike them all hard, exploding violently on contact and leaving them all lying on the ground. The dragon Shinigami holds her scythe on her hands, and with a rage-filled face, she slowly approaches the girls and says “you outsiders are all alike! You think you can come here and do whatever the HELL you want! Well NO MORE! Once I kill you, I’ll kill that shinigami, and then I’ll go to my boss and finish off that yama as well! After that, you’ll ALL have no choice but to respect... URK!” The dragon stops talking as her eyes expand and her iris and pupils shrink, then coughs and says “sh-shit. I forgot about you...” She falls down on her face, revealing Komachi standing behind her, wincing as she struggles to keep standing, then says “hell will freeze ten times over before I let you touch Eiki-... sama.” Komachi drops on her knees, worrying Marisa and Alice to their feet. Marisa kneels beside Komachi and says “shinigami, stay with me here!” Komachi smiles and weakly laughs, then says “I... I’m fine. Just need some sun.” Hourai points at the bright gate and exclaims “sun! Out there! There’s PLENTY of sun!”

On the Dragon’s Paradise, near the bright gate, while the girls handle the dragon shinigami, Spee, Girlie and Shikieiki battle against the enraged dragon yama. Spee and Girlie fly up to the dragon’s face, then fire a white orb at each other, mixing the energies between themselves and creating a giant orb, then each grab the giant or from one side and crash it straight on to the dragon yama’s face, making it explode so violently, he gets pushed back. He rubs his face and shouts “argh! You little monsters!” After he opens his eyes again, Girlie flies close to his face, pulls down on her eyelid, sticks out her tongue, then playfully says “bad boy got spanked on the face!” The dragon yama claps his hands, trying to squish Girlie like a bug, and when he opens his hands again he quickly realizes she’s not there. When he looks around, he sees Spee holding Girlie close to her and both glare back at the dragon yama with defiant eyes. While this happens, Shikieiki raises her golden sword and says “yama of the beasts. Stop this right now, or face the consequences!” He looks back at Shikieiki and says “I’ve had more than enough of you! I am going to have your powers stripped from you, and I am going to enjoy judging your existence!” Various swirling vortexes open up all around the dragon yama, and from inside them, swords of fire fly out and strike him hard, making him wave his arms around, trying to protect himself from the fiery stings of the swords to no avail. As this happens, Shikieiki slowly flies up to his face, and when he sees her, he tries to grab her, but as soon as his hand is a few inches away, Shikieiki emanates a powerful aura that sends the dragon yama flying backward and sliding on the ground uncontrollably, stopping only after he crashes against various of the gigantic trees, which to him are normal in size. He lies on his back, dazed and unable to get back up, even when his rage continues to fuel him. After the world around him stops spinning, he blinks for a second, and there is Shikieiki once more, right next to his face, looking at him with disappointment. He tries to breathe fire on her face, but she stops him from opening his mouth with a single wave of her hand. Enraged, he shouts “you are way over the line, and completely out of place! I’m going to-!” Shikieiki swings her arm in the air again and forces the dragon yama to stay down, then says “you have lied, you have interfered with affairs that don’t concern you, you have been going about hurting others out of amusement, and you dare insist I am out of my place.” He tries to speak once more, but Shikieiki’s energy prevents him from doing anything. She continues “you said you had a meeting with the higher spirits, yet they were somehow addressing to me and the other yama just a day ago and never mentioned any of this.” She watches as the dragon yama widens his eyes in surprise, then continues “you claim I have forgotten my place, but it is YOU who’s out of place here. Letting hatred rule you, abusing your power, infecting your own shinigami with that hatred and using her like a common slave!” Shikieiki watches as doubt starts crossing through the dragon’s eyes, then asks “you weren’t like this before. What happened to you? You were always very cold, but to let hatred take over you?” The dragon yama hesitates for a while, then suddenly whispers “you would never understand...” By now, Marisa and Hourai walk out of the gate with Komachi and gently set her down on her knees on the grass, then Alice and Shanghai drag the weakened dragon shinigami by her shoulders, and set her next to Komachi. Spee and Girlie rush to them, Girlie excitedly saying “she did it, she did it.” Spee approaches Marisa and says “she subdued the dragon. Come have a look.” She looks at Komachi and gasps along with Girlie, who asks “Komachi-chan! Why are you bleeding?” The dragon guardian approaches the group, shushes them, then says “calm down. She’ll be fine after taking in some sun energy. Now keep it down. The yamas are trying to speak.” Further ahead, the dragon yama speaks calmly as he says “I know we yama’s aren’t supposed to let our emotions run free, but I couldn’t help it. There was something about her.” Shikieiki stares into his eyes and whispers “you fool.” The dragon yama raises his voice and says “I had to judge her,, send her to hell, then have her reborn again, changed forever, to never be who she was before! An all I could do... was pass judgment.” Shikieiki narrows her eyes, trying to hide the pity she feels for him, then says “it’s not easy, is it? To have to do your job, regardless of what you may feel, always judging things to be either black or white. Even if that soul has a list of good deeds, a single bad deed can corrupt it all.” Shikieiki and the dragon yama look into each other’s eyes, then Shikieiki says “it is very stressful, but it’s our job. Someone has to do it. And if not us, who were made for this sole purpose, then who? It is hard, but I have kept in my place. What about you, yama of the beasts?” Shikieiki and the dragon yama look at each other without exchanging any more words, while the dragon guardian and the girls, even the dragon shinigami, all stare quietly at them.

Flandre and Rika arrive at the Moriya Shrine and land the UFO right in front of the entrance. Suwako and Kanako walk out of the shrine to have a look, but before they can even comment, Rika jumps out of the ship, and lands right in front of them, bowing and saying “good afternoon miss Kanako, miss Suwako. I hope you have been behaving.” Ignoring her comment, Kanako smiles and exclaims “Rika, you’re awake!” Suwako smiles and adds “well, well, you seem to have made a full recovery. So, what’cha need?” Rika inhales, holds her breath, then rapidly says “miss Marisa went to close off the gate prematurely, so we need help from a lot of other people so she can finally close off that gate, however we don’t understand why we need so many people, but it’s obvious miss Marisa will need help, and with that she can make up with miss Reimu, and make everything go back to normal.” When Rika stops, both goddesses stand in a daze as they absorb the information. When Rika turns around to address Flandre, she realizes she’s arguing with Nitori, so she approaches them in order to assist. When she gets closer, she hears Flandre saying “no way! You’ll just mess it up!” Nitori replies “come on, let me take it apart! I just need to see what she did to it, so I can add it to my models!” Rika stares for a moment, then smiles and says “miss Nitori, what a pleasant surprise! We were looking for you.” Nitori turns to Rika and asks “oh? Did you need my help for something?” Rika smiles angelically and says “yes. Actually, we need help with miss Marisa, and apparently, you are needed there too.” Nitori stares back at Rika, but doesn’t reply, so Rika softly claps her hands together, winks, smiles and says “if you come with us, I’ll show you what I did to mi... Flandre’s UFO, first-hand.” Before Rika realizes it, Nitori is already sitting on the back of the UFO with an eager face, saying “let’s get going.” Rika replies “oh, just a moment. Need to get something.” Rika quickly walks to the two confused goddesses, grabs them by the back of their shirts, then drags them back to the ship, and once she fasten their seatbelts, she jumps next to Flandre, fastens her own, then says “now, let’s go to Marisa’s house!” Flandre grins wickedly and says “better hang on, wahaha~!” At first, the ship rises slowly, but once it gains altitude, it speeds away, flying as fast as Aya herself. While they speed away, Nitori excitedly edges Flandre to go faster, while Suwako begs her to slow down, and Kanako grips the seat as tightly as she can. While this happens, Rika turns around and casually asks “miss Nitori, didn’t miss Hatate and miss Aya tell you anything?” Nitori rubs her chin and says “umm, well, they fell asleep before they could tell me anything.” Rika opens her eyes with surprise and says “oh. Well, good thing you bumped into us, then.” At the base of the waterfall, Momiji stands next to Aya and Hatate, who are still foaming at the mouth while lying unconscious on the ground, poking each with a stick and asking “hey. Are you going to wake up now? Hello~? Are you alive?”

At Entei, a gap opens up in the front yard, and from it come Ail, Sanae, Budou, Phredia and Yuka. The moment she steps on the ground, Yuka looks around and comments “this needs more flowers”, and starts walking around and spreading sunflower seeds from her pockets, making them all grow into child flowers immediately.” Ail smiles, then looks at Sanae and says “I’ll go get Eirin, so just give me a...” Sanae, Phredia and Budou keep staring toward the clinic, seemingly ignoring Ail, but when Ail looks to the clinic too, he notices there is a long, long line of villagers, all moaning and coughing. Sanae comments something tells me Eirin won’t be able to help. Ail instinctively opens a gap right inside the clinic, then finds Eirin and Reisen doing their best to take care of each patient as fast as they can. Eirin dismisses the patient she was just treating, and Reisen hands him a small envelope with the medicine, but before Eirin can call in the next patient, Ail comments “very busy day, I see.” Eirin looks to Ail as though wanting to strangle him, making him raise his hand to his chest, saying “whoa, whoa, sorry. It was just an observation.” Eirin asks “you’re here about Marisa, aren’t you?” Ail looks confused to Eirin, then she hands Ail a syringe with an orange substance inside. She says “that girl left before I could complete her treatment. That supplement should energize that lively girl. Now hurry, she’s going to need that if she wants to close off that gate.” Ail stands awestruck and tries to ask, but before he can, Eirin shouts “get out of here already, or receive Udonge’s special suppository treatment!” Ail sweats and gulps as he tries to back away from Reisen, who stares at him in a most wicked way, light shining from below the floor under her feet, making her look more menacing than ever. Ail nervously smiles and slowly backs away into his gap, saying “er, thank you very much. Um, I’ll be going now, so bye.” Ail pops back to Entei’s front yard, which is covered in sunflowers by now, and after Sanae notices his dreadfully nervous face, she asks “she’s not helping?” Ail replies “she already did. Just don’t get in her way right now.” Budou sighs, and while she stares at Phredia, she says “well, that only leaves this Wriggle. How do we find him?” Yuka stands right behind Budou, smiling, yet emanating an ominous aura, and says “oh, don’t you worry about HER. We just need the right bait.” Yuka walks up to Ail and forcefully reaches into one of his pockets, even though Ail complains. She pulls out a small transparent jar with yellow substance inside, twists the cap open, then walks toward a bamboo thicket and breaks the jar against them. Ail shouts “HEY! I was saving that!” Yuka turns around with a smile and asks “but we need to find miss Wriggle, right?” Ail sighs and nods, and when Yuka turns around again, she extends her arm and catches Wriggle just before she can reach the honey, then presents her to Ail and the others and says “and here she is.” Wriggle flings her limbs around furiously and exclaims “hey, what’s the big idea? I finally get home just to get lured out and caught?” Ail approaches Wriggle and says “oy, calm down. Look, we need your help, so you can help Marisa seal that gate thing she opened up.” Wriggle asks “Marisa? But why me?” Ail scratches the back of his head and says “I’m not sure, but it seems we need you. So will come with us?” Wriggle nods and says “sure. Just tell that girl to stop staring at me so much. And miss Yuka, you can let go now.” While Ail looks at Budou, Yuka happily says “ho ho~! But if I do, you’ll run away.” Wriggle shouts “no I won’t!”, while Ail approaches Budou and asks “is something wrong?” Budou continues to stare at Wriggle for a little longer, then snaps her fingers, smiles, then says “she really is a girl!” Wriggle angrily shouts “of course I’m a girl!!”

Back at the Misty Lake, Mima cackles as she unleashes arch, after arch, after arch of small, yet extremely powerful red orbs, occasionally firing a laser or two at the shadow dragon. Yukari occasionally joins in, firing waves of kunai, just to keep the dragon from attacking. The shadow dragon youkai is full of burn marks, cuts, blood coursing through her face, and in a rage, she screams to the air, then shouts “I’ve had enough of this game! Time to die! Wait... what the hell is this?” When she tries to use a spell, instead of the spell, she gets a spell card right on her face. Yukari smiles, then says “sorry, but we have rules here, so if you want to play, you better brush up.” The shadow dragon asks “what rules? What are you talking about?” Mima replies “I’m sorry, but only the maiden in red and white can decide if we can tell you the rules or not.” Yukari adds “but she’s busy at the moment, so we’ll just have to show you how it’s done.” The shadow dragon whispers “I think it’s time to run away”, but before she can try, Yukari opens up various gaps around her, then shouts “Magic Eye, The Magic Eye of Laplace!” At first, nothing happens, and the large purple eyes in the gaps simply stare. Yukari giggles, then asks “I wonder what will happen? Should you move to avoid this spell... or is that what I want you to do?” The dragon looks at Yukari with rage, unable to decide what to do, but before she can think of anything, Mima shouts “Darkness Sigh, Lights-off Dance!” 6 red laser beams fly from around Mima and reach a certain distance before they change direction and twist between each other, as if dancing, all now headed straight to the dragon. While the lasers head toward the dragon, Mima fires 4 giant fireballs that after reaching a few feet, they shatter and turn to countless smaller fireballs, all flying unevenly toward the dragon. Yukari giggle and says “well, it was nice playing with you, but it’s time to finish the game.” The dragon tries to fly toward Yukari, but the youkai sage fires a set of blue lasers at her, and the moment they make contact with the dragon, the purple eyes fire a barrage purple bullets, and every single bullet after that makes contact with the dragon at the same time, her scream echoing as a massive explosion rattles the surrounding area. Before the smoke clears, Yukari spots the shadow dragon falling to the water, but before she falls, Yukari opens a gap and sends her falling beside Reimu and Kimi. Kimi is covered with bandages all over her arms and her neck, and when she sees the shadow dragon fall next to her and Reimu, she says “oy, that weakling came looking for me.” Reimu asks “you met her already?” Kimi casually replies “beat her twice in her own world.” After a while, Yukari and Mima regroup with Reimu and Kimi, then Yukari asks “what should we do with her?” Reimu casually shrugs, then says “let’s take her with us and toss her back to her own world.” Kimi scoffs, then says “you know, in the wild, if a dragon as annoying as her keeps bothering you, you get to eat it the next time you beat it.” The girls look at Kimi with surprise and disgust, then Mima says “really, that’s pretty barbaric. I hope I get to see that someday.” Reimu sighs with annoyance and says “whatever. Let’s just go to Marisa’s house already.” Yukari chuckles, and opens up a gap straight to Marisa’s house front yard.

At the Dragon’s Paradise, the dragon yama has shrunk to human size, and stands beside his shinigami, while Shikieiki speaks to them. Farther behind, Marisa, Alice, the two little girls and the angels stand beside the guardian dragon, who says “well, once you get back, you have to use all your power to seal that gate. These two worlds weren’t meant to be together.” Marisa nods and says “I understand. I won’t let you down.” Meanwhile, Shikieiki addresses to the dragon yama and his shinigami, saying “I am glad I didn’t have to pass judgment on you. Just keep in mind, you have to work harder to keep those emotions in check.” The dragon yama and his shinigami nod at the same time, then the yama asks “if it’s alright with you, can we contact you, should I lose my control again?” Shikieiki hides her smile with her golden sword, lightly bows, then says “I would be honored to lend you some assistance. I know how hard it is to deal with this. But perhaps, if we help each other out, we can both overcome the stress that comes with this job.” The dragon yama raises his own sword up to his face, covering his light smile, and says “then let us hope our next encounter is a more pleasant one.” Shikieiki nods, then the dragon yama adds “oh, there is one more thing...” Shikieiki rushes toward the girls and the guardian dragon with an alarmed look and exclaims “he sent the shadow dragon, Kiki, to Gensokyo!” The guardian dragon exclaims “then what are you doing here looking at each other’s faces with awe? Go! She’s too dangerous to be left on her own!” The girls nod, and quickly find themselves running through the dark void, going as fast as they can, back to Gensokyo. When they reach the room of waving energy, Shikieiki exclaims “hold on to me!”, and extends her arms. In a flash, they all find themselves inside Marisa’s basement, and immediately Shikieiki exclaims “go, find that dragon!” They run up the small stairs, rush through the room up to the door, and when they open it, they stop on their tracks and Spee exclaims “Ail! Reimu! Rika!” Outside Marisa’s house, heading straight to the door, is a large group of friends, and one unconscious red-haired woman. Marisa points at her and asks “who’s that?” Reimu smiles and says “just an unwelcome guest.” When Marisa and Reimu’s eyes meet, they stare at each other for some time, then suddenly hug each other tight. Marisa closes her eyes and says “I’m sorry, Reimu. I never wanted this to happen.” Reimu calmly replies “I know. It’s alright. I’m sorry I snapped like that. I’m sorry for sealing your magic.” Everyone watch as the two friends finally make up, and Ail and Rika, though speaking at the same time, Ail sounds more casual, while Rika sounds more excited as they say “they finally made up!” Mima and Yukari stare with disgust, and sounding quite disgusted, Mima says “ok, alright, we get it already! Let’s get this show on the road!”

At the house’s front yard, Shikieiki, Spee and Girly help Komachi keep on her feet, then Shikieiki says “I’m sorry, but this is as far as we can go at the time. Komachi needs some assistance too.” Reimu nods and says “you take care of her.”, then Marisa adds “and let us know when she’s made a full recovery, alright?” Shikieiki nods, then she, Komachi, Spee and Girlie, gently fly up to the sky. Down at the basement, Kimi and Mima hold Kiki by her arms and legs, then swing her forward and back and count “one... two... THREE!” After “three”, they swing Kiki hard toward the vortex and send her flying with force inside, then dust their hands, Mima saying “and that’s a humane and safe way to take out the garbage!” Reimu stares seriously at Mima, but ignores her and turns to Ail and Rika and asks “alright, we are all here. What should we do now?” Rika and Ail look at each other with surprise, then shrug, but Rika’s sword starts to growl and Reimu asks “what did it say?” Rika says “Nitori, you have to build something that will cover the gate’s... mouth, and um... allow air to pass though.” Nitori smiles and says “ah, like a grid. I can do that in a second!” Rika pulls out many tools out of nowhere, her eyes glinting as she says “I’ll help you!” Reimu looks at Ail, while Rika and Nitori walk toward the gate, then Ail says “relax. Yuka, when they are done, you need to stand on the back-left corner and have as many flowers as you can summon to absorb the energy from those white stones. And Flandre, you are to stand on the front right side of the room and when I give you the signal, you need to break one stone at a time.” Flandre giggles, then cheers and says “this will be fun~!” Ail suddenly remembers something and says “Marisa, you idiot! You left the clinic a little too soon!” Marisa angrily replies “hey, watch it. Anyway, I did it for a good cause!” Ail grabs her arm and says ”hold still.” He pulls out the syringe Eirin gave him and startles Marisa, who excitedly asks “wa-wa-wa~ What do you think you’re doing?” Ail smiles and says “relax. Eirin sent it. She says you’ll feel much better.” He gently sticks the needle in her arm and gently pushes down the little plunger. After he pulls the needle out, Marisa feels as though her entire body is being charged with pure energy, and excitedly says “whoa~! This is great! I feel just like new!” Kanako approaches Ail and asks “and what are we to do?” Ail smiles and says “oh, it’s very simple. After Marisa closes off the gate, you two goddesses need to take your blessings back in order to power everything down. And you, Alice, Shanghai and Hourai... You are to stand on the back right corner and...” Before Ail can finish, Rika and Nitori walk out of the basement, and Rika says “you, miss Hourai, are going to sing with me, while Alice and Shanghai cast a protection over everyone in the room.” Ail immediately says “Kimi, the gate responds positively toward you.” Rika adds “yes. It seems to recognize you as a superior, as well as miss Reimu.” Ail continues “so you two are to stand beside Marisa, while she finishes up.” Kimi and Reimu, who stands a few feet behind Kimi, nod at the same time. Wriggle approaches Ail and Rika, and asks “and why did you bring me here for?” Marisa answers for them, saying “I need you to stand close to me, you understand?” Wriggle looks confused toward Marisa, but she simply nods, then Ail and Rika look at each other, then smile. Everything is now set. The girls take their places inside the basement, all staring at the gate, which is being covered by a large metallic grid made by Nitori and Rika. Ail stands by the door to the basemen with Kanako and Suwako standing beside him, while Nitori, Sanae, and Budou sit on the couch, waiting for anything. Phredia flies out of Budou’s heart, and flies straight toward the top of the gate. Budou calls for her, but Ail gently says “it’s alright. She knows what she’s doing.” Outside the house, Mima and Yukari watch from the windows, then Yukari says “they got this covered. Want to go drink something?” Mima asks “and miss my apprentice’s moment of triumph!?” Yukari says “I got plenty of sake~!” Mima immediately replies “let’s go~!” Right after the two youkai leave, Parsee pops her head from under some bushes and while looking toward the house with contempt, she asks “what is going on in there? Why is it so busy!?” She looks inside the house through the window, then shivers, bites her bottom lip, then says “they should go to MY house. It’s better arranged than THIS!”

Everyone in the basement stare straight into the vortex through Nitori and Rika’s grid. An awkward silence only adds pressure to the already heavy atmosphere. Phredia places her hand on Reimu’s charm, which is almost ready to completely burn out, then Ail nods and shouts “Yuka, being!” Yuka closes her eyes and summons dark flowers that surround the white stones. Before the last of the flowers bloom, Phredia pulls the last bit of Reimu’s seal away, and the vortex begins to vacuum violently, so Phredia has to fly high while pressing herself against the wall in order to not get sucked in. Ail shouts “Flandre, any stone you want, just start breaking them!” Flandre exclaims “HA-HA~! It’s just fun to break things, isn’t it!” Rika shouts “contain yourself a little, miss Flandre!” Flandre replies “it’s Flandre! F-L-A-N-D-R-E!” The little vampire breaks one stone at a time, until the entire arc of stones is shattered. While all of this happens, Marisa chants in an ancient language, then feels as though her concentration is about to break. Ail shouts “Hourai, Rika, it’s your turn!” At first, Rika is too nervous, but Hourai manages to fly on her shoulder and helps her relax. Rika says “listen first, then try to follow.” Hourai nods, and Rika begins her family song. The essence of faith, struggle, hope, defiance, honor, love and accomplishment reaches Marisa and helps her concentrate. After a while, Hourai joins in, managing a beautiful chorus along Rika’s song, and the magic in her own song causes the vacuum from the vortex to lessen, allowing Phredia to fly back to Budou. Alice and Shanghai manage to place protective magic around everyone, then Marisa’s chanting gets louder and louder, then suddenly, her chant changes, then she pulls out her Hakkero while loudly saying “give me the power to accomplish my goal, with the love I share with all who surround me... Master Spark~!” Rika’s and Hourai’s song seem to mute the buzzing sound from Marisa’s Master Spark, as it shatters and pulverizes stone after stone. Everyone else in the room decide to join her and fire their danmaku into the void, helping Marisa destroy the white stones, however, the last stone starts absorbing the blessings of the goddesses into itself, so Ail runs down and adds his lasers, but to no avail. Ail shouts “keep shooting~!” Marisa watches as the stone simply absorbs every blow like it was nothing to it, then thinks about her deeds, building the basement, drawing all the symbols, magical circles, runes, setting the stones, opening the gate, and causing a terrible trouble for Reimu. Guilt creeps over her heart again, but then she looks at Wriggle, who regardless of being so weak, tries her best to help, firing her own danmaku at the vortex. Marisa remembers her struggles in the cave, her battle against the guilt she felt, then remembers how strong she really is. Her Master Spark increases in size and brightness, but the stone seems to take consciousness and battles against all efforts, and now, even Nitori’s and Rika’s grid seems to be breaking apart. Outside the house, Parsee watches with contempt as everyone, even Sanae and Budou, seem to join in and try to help as they can. She starts to stare around and thinks “this isn’t fair. This isn’t fair at all! But wait, Parsee. Now is not the time to be jealous. Maybe you should help too. Besides, what would happen if they fail? If that happens... you’ll probably won’t have anyone to be properly jealous of.” Parsee gasps and exclaims “that would be TERRIBLE!!” She kicks open the door and tires to enter, but an orb-bullet from Suwako pushes her back and makes her fall on her back. When she gets back up, she’s several feet away from the door, so she kicks the ground beneath her and exclaims “no fair, no fair, no FAIR! Why can’t I help too? Bah, TAKE THIS!!” Parsee prepares a concentrated amount of jealousy energy, then stands up and balls it into her left hand, then exclaims “eat THIS frog-girl! AH~HAHAHA!” She shoots the energy toward the door, and from a tree branch jumps Kogasa, shouting “BOO!! BE SCARED OF ME~!” Parsee shouts “wait! Get out of the way, you idiot!” Kogasa gets hit by the concentrated amount of jealousy energy, and lands on her seat right next to the open door. While Parsee angrily stomps on the ground, complaining about Kogasa, the karakasa youkai stands up, holding her umbrella and looking around with contempt. She turns around and looks inside the house, then says “look at them, Karakasa. All together, being scared of something that is not me! Why is that? That is so unfair!” She closes her umbrella and stomps on the ground, then shouts “you stupid people in there! I’ll make you surprised, even if you don’t want to!” She grabs her umbrella like a javelin and throws it inside, head-first. It misses Kanako and Suwako by inches, then flies above Ail’s, Marisa’s and Kimi’s heads and goes straight toward the large white stone on top of the vortex, and hits it hard with the narrow tip of the umbrella, allowing Marisa’s beam, and everyone else’s danmaku to penetrate the stone and destroy it completely. The entire basement starts to glow white, forcing all to stop shooting and cover their eyes, then everyone find themselves flying backward out of the house, and on to the front yard. Marisa is the first to get up from the ground, and watches as all the collected items in her house start flying all over the forest, some falling right in front of her. She looks up and says “geez, Kourin’s going to have fun with this.” After everyone else is up, the house quiets down, and while everyone else stares awkwardly toward the house, Ail shouts “Kanako, Suwako, it’s your turn!” After everything is done, Marisa enters her house again, carrying a few of her items with her, followed by Reimu, who is helping her by carrying some more items on her hands. Suddenly, Kogasa walks out of the basement, holding her umbrella in her hand, patting it’s top, and crying “I’m sorry, Karakasa. I won’t do that again, I promise.” Marisa and Reimu stare at Kogasa with surprise, along with Ail, Sanae, Budou, and everyone involved with the closing of the gate, including Kimi and Flandre. Kogasa stares at everyone with fright in her eyes, and although she feels a surge of energy and wants to jump excitedly, she takes a step backward and asks “wh-what? What’s the matter?” Marisa, Ail, Reimu and Rika rush to Kogasa and give her a hug, then rise her to the air while everyone cheers for her. Parsee enters the house, looking angry and annoyed and shouts “hey! Hey, wait a minute! I’m the one who shot the jealousy! Cheer for ME! RAH~!”

That night, at the Hakurei Shrine, a great party takes place for all of those involved in closing the gate, but more importantly, for Marisa’s and Reimu’s reunion. Of course, many uninvited guests have come along as well, including Hatate, Aya, the entire Scarlet Devil Mansion, and Yuka’s lackeys, Elly and Kurumi, amongst other uninvited guests. Ail and Sanae try to keep to themselves, but the goddesses find them quickly, anywhere they may try to hide, while Kimi tries to stay a little longer, though finds it hard to stay, surrounded by all the youkai in the shrine, so she heads back home to the Misty Lake. Budou sits on the porch, rubbing her belly and moaning after eating her 5th serving of peach pie, complaining about her belly ache while Phredia pats her head. Inside the shrine, while the oni and tengu have a drinking contest, Parsee and Kyo lie on the floor next to Yuugi, already drunk and unconscious. Meanwhile, Rika stares at the last piece of peach pie, sniffling with her sad puppy eyes. Marisa notices her and turns the Reimu, then says “aww, come on Reimu. Give the kid a break. She learned her lesson, and you did destroy that spell card, right?” Reimu sighs and flaps her arms against her hips. She approaches Rika, then places her hand on her back, making the maid stiffen his wings, then asks “so, did you learn your lesson?” Rika nods, then Reimu asks “no more hiding dangerous spells behind my back?” Rika nods again, then Reimu smiles and presents Rika with a piece of peach pie on a plate, and says “then enjoy.” Rika flaps her wings happily, while gasping with excitement and staring at Reimu, then asks “really? For me!?” Reimu nods, and Rika gives her a tight hug, making her throw the pie in the air, then catches the pie before it even starts falling, repeats “thank you, thank you, thank you”, then munches down on her favorite treat. A few moments later, after the party starts to die down, Reimu finds Rika, Ail, Sanae, who is holding on to Budou on her lap as she sleeps, and Marisa, all sitting by the shrine stairs and staring up at the starry sky. Reimu sits between Marisa and Ail, then says “well, things can finally go back to normal. That dangerous gate is sealed, no worlds are going to get sucked into a void...” Marisa adds “and me and Reimu are buddies again, right?” Reimu rubs her chin while thinking and saying “hmm, I don’t know. You really made a mess of things.” Marisa exclaims “aww, come on.” Reimu chuckles and says “but you did manage to close it, so it’s alright. Besides, I was angry at you, but... I never stopped thinking of you as a friend.” Marisa gives Reimu a light hug with her right arm and says “aww, you.” Afterward, Marisa looks at Budou as she sleeps on Sanae’s lap, then says “that magical shockwave did cause a hell of a lot of trouble.” Ail quickly says “don’t worry. With that gate gone, it should take a couple of weeks for everything to return to normal.” Reimu smiles and says “yeah. And those blasted vampires can stop attacking people during the daytime.” Sanae giggles, then says “well, even if they don’t we have a strong little vampire hunter that can deal with them.” Ail smiles and adds “and she has quite a lot of friends to back her up, including me and Sanae.” The small group giggles, and stay watching the night sky the rest of the party time.

2 WEEKS LATER
Ail walks out of his house one morning, and finds the forest feeling a little sad. The green on the tree’s leaves and on the bushes seems very dim, some looking very dark. Ail concernedly walks back inside the house and calls for Budou, yet she doesn’t answer. Anxiety takes over him as he calls over and over, then she suddenly stumbles out of the storage room, yawning and weakly saying “g-good morning papa. What’s the matter? *yawn*” Ail asks “Budou, are you alright?” Budou slowly closes her eyes after stumbling on to Ail’s arms, then weakly says “I’m just *yawn* fine, papa. Just... fine.” After she falls asleep on his arms, Ail gasps, then opens a gap straight to the Hakurei Shrine. The moment he arrives to the shrine, he finds Reimu and Rika acting a little nervous, then he looks toward the shrine’s gate, and notices something odd with the barrier. It looks as though he can see blurs from the world outside. Ail whispers “the border is thinning?” Reimu grabs Budou from Ail’s arms and excitedly says “come! Now!” Inside the shrine, Rika paces about with a nervous look on her face, while Reimu places a charm on Budou’s forehead, making her color return to her skin, yet keeping her asleep. When Ail takes a better look, Rumia, Wriggle, Mystia, Kogasa, and even Nazrin, all lie on the ground inside futons, all with the same charm on their heads. Ail asks “so... that void ended up harming the border?” Reimu nervously says “yes. And I don’t know what to do! Patchouli, Keine and Alice tried to help, but...” From the front of the shrine, Marisa calls “oy Reimu~! What’s going on!?” Rinnosuke adds “Reimu, what’s going on with the barrier?” Reimu, Rika and Ail rush out of the house, and find Marisa holding Rinnosuke on his feet while walking to the inside of the shrine. Rika rushes to help Marisa out with Rinnosuke, then from behind, Yukari falls right out of one of her gaps and says “Reimu. That void. It gave the barrier a consciousness, but now that it’s gone, it thinks there’s no need to keep itself up!” Reimu exclaims “what? Then what should we do? Yukari, this is your area of expertise!” Yukari weakly says “there’s nothing more I can do. I tried everything, but the barrier insists it doesn’t need to stay. It thinks there is no need to keep Gensokyo hidden anymore. Reimu, do something.” With those words, Yukari falls unconscious on the floor, then Ail asks “why? Why is this affecting the youkai so much?” Reimu sighs and says “I can feel it. The barrier itself is sucking up our magic. But why? Why is it doing this?” Sanae flies straight on to Ail, and after crashing on him, she cries “Kanako! Suwako! Th-they are *sob* disappearing.” Ail continues to hold on to Sanae, letting her cry on his shoulder, while staring straight on to the barrier on the gate. In his mind, he pictures countless youkai, dying slowly as Gensokyo’s barrier fades away, the humans from outside taking over the beautiful lands and destroying the nature around it in order to build more houses and malls. Ail pulls Sanae away from himself, confusing her for a moment, then says “Sanae... Reimu... There’s something I have to do.” He sits Sanae on the shrine’s porch, then he transforms, showing his magical demonic wings, and his eyes looking like the night sky. He looks to Sanae, then Reimu, then smiles and says “I’ll miss you guys.” Reimu grabs his shoulder and angrily says “no way, mister! There is no chance in hell I’m letting you do that!” Ail replies “it’s the only way!” Reimu shouts “no, there’s gotta be another way!” Ail’s energy increases, scaring even Reimu for a moment. She backs away from him, and with a look of fear and sadness in her eyes, she thinks “that second... that moment, though brief, he showed me how powerful his resolve is, and thus, becoming more powerful than me.” When Reimu snaps out of her thoughts, she sees Ail already standing next to the large red gate. She, Marisa, Sanae and Rika run to him, shouting “don’t do it! You fool, what will you accomplish!?” Rinnosuke thinks “I see what you’re up to. Since the barrier is conscious, yet is unable to use that consciousness as it should...” Ail continues, explaining to the girls his motive “I am going to merge with it, and allow it to use my consciousness for better judgment.” Sanae shouts “but what if that doesn’t work? What am I going to tell Budou?” Rika adds “please, just wait a minute! We can find another way! Come on, just... wait.” Reimu adds “if you do this, there’s no turning back! You’ll live on for as long as this barrier exists, unable to share your time with your loved ones! Please, think about it!” Marisa adds “Ail, taking reckless sacrifices is not worth it. Calm down, and let’s think this a little more.” Ail exclaims “you think I don’t know all that?” Tears escape Ail as he continues “I don’t want to. I REALLY don’t want to do this, but there’s no other choice here! If I don’t do this, the youkai will die along with Gensokyo.” The girls fail to find words to counter Ail’s current logic, and all the can do is look away.

Ail slowly approaches the gate, thinking “this is not fair. After all that happened! I can’t believe it’s going to end this way. Dammit all, Lily, I’m sorry! Budou... I’m so sorry!” He slowly reaches with his trembling hand, ready to sacrifice his consciousness for the youkai and Gensokyo. His hand is merely half an inch away from touching the barrier, when a woman suddenly shouts “Frost Sign, Frost Columns!”, and a wall of ice shards forms up right between Ail and the barrier, making him step away. Ail gasps in surprise and asks “Cirno?” From a swirling grey and white portal, the voice says “now, let’s show you how it’s truly done!” Shikieiki walks out of the portal, and immediately behind her, walks out a very familiar woman, to Ail and Sanae. The woman has long, wavy blue hair, and wears a long blue dress with light blue flower designs, a light blue sash around her waist she also tangles around her arms, and a sash-like belt she ties around her waist. Ail exclaims “Lady Cirno?” Sanae adds “but how?” Lady Cirno raises a spell card and shouts “Restoration, Conscious Living for the Inanimate!” A soothing lilac beam emanates from Lady Cirno’s body, and wraps itself around the shrine’s gate. The beam turns light blue, and it streams up to the sky, merging itself with Gensokyo’s current barrier, restoring it to its usual self. The beam continues to work for some time, and in the meantime, Sanae, Ail, Reimu, Marisa and Rika all stare straight at the adult ice fairy and the yama. After its work is done, the beam returns to its soothing lilac color, then returns to Lady Cirno’s hand. Afterward, she smiles and giggles as she looks to the spectators, then says “my, we came in here just in time, didn’t we.” Shikieiki smiles and nods, then says “couldn’t agree more.” Shikieiki and Lady Cirno slowly fly toward the awestruck spectators, then Lady Cirno says “don’t worry. Nobody else will know what happened.” Reimu stares in complete shock at Cirno, and after sensing her power, she bows down, her head almost touching the ground, then Rika follows Reimu’s lead. Lady Cirno frowns and says “please, don’t do that! Friends don’t bow to friends!” Reimu, still awestruck, manages to stand up along with Rika, and says “bu-but... you. So much power. It’s amazing.” Lady Cirno winks and says “I told you I was the strongest.” Ail lightly bows along with Sanae, then says “how did you know? Shikieiki, won’t you get in trouble for this?” Shikieiki smiles and says “after all you went through, just to have it all end like that? I spoke to the higher ups, Ail, so don’t worry about me. Just worry about yourself, and those you care about now, and do what you can so you can all live together, happily as it should be. That little bat you rescued has already gone through enough, and it was likely she would have followed after you, even if it meant her own destruction.” Ail holds his head, and looking a little sad he says “I... I see.” Lady Cirno says “after all you’ve done for all of us to save Gensokyo’s future, there was no way I was going to let you take this on alone. You, all of you, including yourself, miss Rika, thank you for leading Gensokyo to a bright future.” Reimu, Marisa, Rika, Sanae and Ail stare back at Lady Cirno and Shikieiki, then they all share a quick laugh and big smiles, then from the gate, a woman says “hey, are you done yet? Flandre’s playing tag again!” Lady Cirno gasps and exclaims “HEY~! Keep your voice down!” From inside the gate, a woman with long teal hair that reaches to her lower back, a pair of violet eyes without pupils, a pair of large bat-like wings, wearing a blue overall dress with a short-sleeved pink shirt, and a large white ribbon on her head, peeks through the gate. Ail and Sanae focus their eyes to see her better, then Ail asks “Budou...? Is that you?” Sanae exclaims “that... that is Budou, isn’t she?” From inside the gate, Budou gasps and says “whoops. Err, you didn’t see me.” Lady Cirno smiles nervously and tries to block the gate from view with her body, yet failing to do so, then says “err, look at the time. It’s time to go! Ail, Rika, Sanae, Reimu, Marisa, you keep doing what’s right, alright!” After that, she rushes to the gate and says “you idiot, you weren’t supposed to be seen!” Budou replies “geez, I’m sorry. I thought you were done!” Lady Cirno says “be more prudent next time!” Budou replies “you just want me to smack you again.”

After everything settles down, and the youkai inside the shrine start to wake up, Ail approaches Shikieiki around the hot springs and asks “why did you do it? You know all that ascending for me was for this.” Shikieiki smiles, yet hides her smile by looking into the springs, away from Ail, then says “and you had to suffer so much for that. Not just you, but Budou, and your family, and miss Sanae. I just couldn’t look away. I had to do something.” Ail smiles and says “I was very scared back there. I didn’t want to do it, but I knew I had to, even when I was this scared. Thank you... for all you have done.” Marisa jumps from behind and uses Ail’s neck as a support to swing around, then exclaims “yes, to Ail you listen, Shiki-sama, haha!” Shikieiki turns her smiling face to the two, then Marisa tones down and calmly says “seriously, thank you very much for all you, your shinigami, and those two little angels did. None of us would have gotten far without your help.” Ail and Marisa bow to Shikieiki, and say at the same time “thank you, Shikieiki Yamaxanadu.” Shikieiki continues to smile, then says “if you really want to thank me... then be more prudent. Marisa, you have GOT to stop with those dangerous experiments. And Ail, it is nice to thinks of others in general, but you keep forgetting about yourself and those who love you so much! I mean, really, you two are a real case. Especially you, mister Ail. That poor bat youkai needs you, and I expect you to do your best for her. And you, miss Marisa, better start helping you friend Reimu around here. Maybe donate something, or sweep the ground. You have a broom. You can do it.” While Shikieiki continues with her lecture, Ail whispers to Marisa “we’re really getting it now.” Marisa whispers back “just smile and nod. You don’t want to make her mad, ze.”

The End

Characters, Spell Cards and Scenarios belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-
Ail, Budou, Phredia, Kyo, Spee, Girlie, Kimi and Kiki were created by Willie G.R.
Mima’s Darkness Sign, Lights-off Dance and
Lady Cirno’s Restoration, Conscious Living for the Inanimate, were created by Willie G.R. (similarities are strictly coincidental)
Rika Onkamikami was created by Snapshot 2010

May 14 2010
Written by
Willie G.R.

A/N:
And so, it finally ends. Marisa regains Reimu’s friendship, Ail gets to keep on living in Gensokyo (being a little more prudent too), and everything returns to what it should be. Honestly, magic is like technology. Mess with either, and it’ll backfire hard.
Honestly, Shikieiki’s lines in this last chapter were REAL hard for me, but I think I did alright. I bet nobody was expecting such endings, right? Did Kogasa surprise you? I hope she did, because if she didn’t, that means I owe her a month of meals. Well, it’s all for a good cause.
Again, thanks for reading Paradise Sukima, and thanks for showing your support. It’s greatly appreciated. I mean, really, the comments and reviews gave me the edge I needed to go on. Ah well, thanks again for reading, take care, and see you next time, if the spirits will allow it.