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.
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