Sword x Sword 2

It’s a beautiful golden afternoon in Gensokyo, and somewhere in the small forest just outside the Human Village, a fight against a powerful spirit is just about to unfold. A strange spirit Rika herself freed from an ancient seal is after her, Tenshi’s and now Youmu’s swords, and for no apparent reason. The three girls stand ready to intercept any attack from the spirit, then he rushes toward Rika, who rushes forward to meet him with a war cry of her own. Rika and the spirit clash swords, looking into each other’s eyes, and though Rika shows how much strength she’s using, the spirit looks as though he’s just playing with her, even smiling casually back at her as he easily pushes back. Youmu and Tenshi immediately take this chance for a sneak attack, but somehow, the spirit knock’s the back of Rika’s right leg without her realizing it, then jumps away just before Tenshi and Youmu’s attack strike him, leaving Rika’s leg in his stead. Youmu notices in time and veers her blade away, knocking Tenshi’s and saving Rika, then looks behind her and says “that was a very dishonorable thing to do!” The spirit smiles at Youmu, standing right where the girls were before, then says “my lady, I’ll do anything for those swords. I was merely sparing her life.” Rika recovers and gets back up on her feet, then says “it’s alright, miss Youmu. Thank you kindly for saving me. Now, let’s show this spirit what we’re truly made of!” Tenshi smirks and says “way ahead of you”, then pulls a spell card form under her apron and says “Scarlet Weather Rhapsody of All Humankind!” As Tenshi’s sword begins to spin in front of her, Rika and Youmu smile at each other then Rika raises her yin-yang card and says “Oath Keeper” and enters the golden gate, while Youmu stands beside Tenshi and says “Confusion-Cutting Sword, Rise from Delusion Slash!” A red beam starts to emanate from Tenshi’s sword, and Youmu’s sword start glowing blue as it extends, just as Rika regroups with them, holding her sheathed wind sword and saying “Wind Sign, Neppa Senpuujin!” Tenshi’s destructive crimson beam reaches the smiling spirit, then Youmu cuts down hard with her sword straight at the center of Tenshi’s beam, and after charging her sword long enough, Rika unsheathes her wind sword so fast, Tenshi can only see the wind blade that trails straight toward the spirit, but Youmu can perceive the speed in which Rika’s hand moves, able to see the blur of Rika’s hand and blade as she makes her move and sheathes her sword again. Youmu’s eyes reveal shock, surprise and even some anger, as she witnesses first-hand how fast Rika really is. To her, the world starts moving slowly, forgetting to charge her own sword again while she looks at Rika and thinks “what just happened? No, this is impossible! I couldn’t see her hand move! Just a blur! But that’s impossible!” Tenshi mockingly says “well, it seems the half ghost feels sorry for this poor late spirit!” Youmu wakes up from her thoughts, only to see Rika move lightning fast, jumping over Tenshi’s beam and landing on the other side, unleash another wind blade, then move around again, all in a split second. Youmu stares at Rika, feeling both excitement and fear, and with a wide smile on her face, Youmu charges her sword once more and strikes the ground hard, making a small hole in which Rika trips and falls right on Tenshi, who bumps against Youmu, then all three fall back to the ground, Rika on top, Tenshi in the middle, and Youmu on the bottom, their spell cancelled by the blunder. From Youmu’s basket, a girl cries “what’s going on? Is someone out there? Someone save me!” Rika moans as she gets back up and says “s-sorry. I didn’t see where I was going.” Tenshi grunts as she gets up and excitedly says “no matter! We WON! That spirit is NO MORE!” Youmu slowly gets back up, rubbing her head and looking around the ground until she sees Rika’s feet. She jumps back up and glares at Rika with challenging eyes, but before she can challenge Rika to a fight, Tenshi exclaims “NO WAY!” When Rika and Youmu look ahead, they realize the spirit is standing in the same position, and with the same smile he had when they started their attack. Rika and Youmu gasp in horror, then the spirit simply sighs, then says “like I said before dear ladies, killing me is a task of its own. Now, if you so kindly were to give me those swords.” Rika and Tenshi look at each other with worry, then Tenshi suddenly screams “RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!” Immediately, Tenshi, Rika and now Youmu, find themselves running through Gensokyo, headed toward the Myouren Temple. The spirit smiles and leans his body, and just before running after them he says to himself “well, I guess a chase should be fun... and that silver haired angel... I wonder if she likes swords too?”, then runs after them, following the dusty trail the girls left behind.

Meanwhile, at the Myouren Temple, Shou is busily cleaning the stairs to the entrance of the temple, while Kogasa and Nue try to play a game of Go on the courtyard, though Kogasa constantly tries to scare Nue with a sudden “boo” or abrupt move, and always ends up knocking a piece or two, which leaves Nue looking bored and unamused. As the three running girls approach the temple, Rika shouts “wait, we’re going to the temple!” Tenshi angrily shouts “this isn’t time for religious differences!” Youmu shouts “no, she’s talking about HIM!”, and points behind with her thumb at the spirit, who is still far, but seems to be gaining on them. Rika shouts “we better go someplace else!” Tenshi grunts and says “to hell we will!, then shouts “HEY~ Temple girls! HIDE!” Shou, Kogasa and Nue stare curiously at the source of the shouting and see the running girls being chased by the spirit. Shou smirks and says “well, it seems I get to exorcise an evil spirit today.” Nue, smirks while staring at Shou, then says “try not to trip this time, alright.” Shou angrily shouts back “I’M NOT CLUMSY! That was JUST an accident!” Kogasa sighs and says “try and explain it to that poor village girl.” While Shou continues to argue with Nue and Kogasa, Tenshi, Rika and Youmu enter the courtyard, and are unaware that Nazrin is sleeping next to one of the ornamental archways with her tail spread on their path. At first, Nazrin opens her eyes, groggily asking “eh? Wh-what’s going on?” While she rubs her eyes, the three girls run over her tail, missing it by a miracle, then stop to talk about options, only to find out the spirit is already very close. Tenshi hops on her feet, alternating her leg every hop, then asks “what should we do? We’re trapped!” Youmu places her index finger and thumb on her forehead while thinking, then Rika flaps her wings and says “girls, we can fly, remember?” Tenshi gasps and exclaims “this girl is a GENIUS!” The spirit reaches the archway right before the girls and stops right on top of Nazrin’s tail, waking up the mouse youkai with a sharp pain. He looks at the girls and smiles, then notices Nazrin gnawing on his ankle while trying to pull her tail free. He frowns at the sight, grabs Nazrin by the back of her neck and lifting his foot to lift her face-high, then stares at her as she grabs her tail and blows on the spot he stepped on. He smiles at Nazrin and says “sorry about that”, then throws Nazrin straight at Shou, making her fly right above the girls. He turns his full attention at the three girls, then realizes they are already far away in the sky. He sighs and shakes his head, then says “young ladies these days. Really, so impatient.” He flies after them, ignoring Shou and Nazrin, then says “well, I’ve been sealed for a while. I hope that beauty isn’t beyond me, or I’ll have to catch up with the times.” At the Myouren temple’s entrance, Shou pat’s Nazrin’s back, saying “there, there. Don’t worry, it’ll get better soon.” Nazrin shouts back “sure, you don’t HAVE a tail! You don’t know what it’s like!” Nue and Kogasa approach the girls, Nue asking “what the hell was all that just now?” Kogasa makes a mistake and gets too close to Nazrin’s tail, so out of fear, Nazrin flip-kicks the back of Kogasa’s head, making her crash on to the ground on her face and fling her closed umbrella inside. Nazrin can’t stop in time and kicks Shou on her backside, sending her down the stairs, crashing her seat on all 5 steps and the ground. Nue ducks in time, avoiding Nazrin’s kick, and says “relax girl!” Inside, Kogasa’s umbrella heads straight to Byakuren’s face, who walks to the exit while wondering what all the ruckus is about. Byakuren readies herself for impact, but Kogasa’s umbrella falls short and lands on the ground. Byakuren scratches her head in wonderment, then bends down to pick the umbrella. Out of nowhere, Minamitsu trips and flings her hand, smacking Byakuren’s behind hard, making her yelp in pain and surprise, and jump in place while flinging Kogasa’s umbrella around and strikes Ichirin on her forehead right after she turns around to ask what is going on, making her wave her arms around while screaming, and making Unzan run away to the room in a fright. Inside the temple’s foyer, Ichirin lies dazed on the ground with spinning eyes, Byakuren blushes and angrily cries while Minamitsu tries to explain herself, while out on the entrance, Kogasa groans while lying on the floor and holding the back of her head, Nazrin keeps blowing on her tail’s wound, and Shou grumbles angrily while going back up the stairs. After seeing the mess, Nue starts to chuckle, then a large golden washtub falls right on her head, making her fall and slither down the stair to the ground.

In the air, Tenshi, Rika and Youmu do their best to fly at a fast and steady pace. Rika looks at Tenshi and asks “Tenshi, what are we going to do? That spirit is still after us, we can’t harm it...” Youmu finishes for Rika, saying “and it wants our swords. I can’t handle a spirit like that without Yuyuko-sama here with me!” Annoyed, Tenshi looks at the girls through the corners of her eyes and asks in an annoyed undertone “so, what do you want me to do about it?” Rika looks away, thinking while rubbing her chin, and Youmu grabs Tenshi by the collar of her shirt, shakes her around, and shouts “you’re a celestial! You’re supposed to be a holy being, so do something holy!” As if nothing happened, Tenshi continues to fly with a bored expression on her face and replies “I hit him with my best shot. What else do you want me to do?” Youmu start to cry and says “great! I have to run away from a crazed spirit that wants my swords while carrying this basket and wearing such embarrassing outfit!” Rika suddenly starts looking ahead, shielding the sun from her eyes with her hand, then says “hey, who’s that up ahead?” Youmu narrows her eyes and says “I don’t know. Looks like a giant bug.” Tenshi smiles and casually says “hey, the spirit’s there.” Rika’s and Youmu’s eyes almost pop right out of their sockets with surprise, and when they look behind, the spirit is just 3 feet away, smiling and blushing while staring straight at Youmu. Youmu immediately notices and tries to cover herself with her hands and ghost half, sweating nervously while shouting “HEY! Where are you looking at, you pervert?” The spirit stutters nervously while trying to look elsewhere, then tries to win Youmu over by saying “I-I’m sorry, my lady. I just couldn’t keep my eyes away from your beauty!” By now, Youmu’s ghost half blushes along with Youmu, and tries its best to get in the way while Youmu’s hair stands on end and shouts “WHAT? You sick, sick pervert, I’m gonna seal you in Makai for that!” Without realizing it, Youmu and the spirit have stopped flying, and are hovering above the Bamboo Forest while arguing. The spirit nervously says “er, n-no, wait, that’s not what I mean! I mean that you are beautiful, that’s all!” Youmu gasps, her lips wriggle, and her eyes hide under a pink blush as she screams “you sick pervert, you like little girls? Eww, get away from me, you lolicon!” While they argue, Tenshi grabs Rika by wrapping her neck with her arm, whispering “just go. While they’re distracted!” Rika smiles sheepishly as she asks “but shouldn’t we help her?” After getting far away from Youmu and the spirit, Tenshi sighs with relief and lets go of Rika’s neck, saying “phew, now I’ll go back to heaven, and you can go back home. Simple, isn’t it?” Rika stomps the air, making a sound as though she just stepped on wood, and says “Tenshi Hinanai, I am appalled! She helped us out earlier, so it is only right that WE help her out now!” Tenshi slouches, letting her arms hang in the air as she sighs, expelling a puff of air, then says “fine, fine! What should we do?” Rika looks at Tenshi with determined and serious eyes, then says “I have no clue.” Tenshi smiles at Rika, then suddenly gasps and stutters, then flies away as fast as she can. Rika looks at her with curiosity, then looks back. Youmu zips by just then, grabbing Rika by her arm, shouting “RUN AWAY!”, and by the time Rika notices, the spirit is right behind them with hearts for eyes, as he chases after them. Meanwhile, farther ahead, Wriggle flies above the bamboo shoots, saying to herself “ah, what a beautiful afternoon. Nothing could go wrong on a day like this, right?” A tiny firefly on her shoulder nods, then suddenly jumps and flies to the ground. Confused, Wriggle stops and whispers “was it something I said?” Tenshi zips by Wriggle, making her spin uncontrollably in the air, and just as she is stopping, Youmu and Rika zip by, Rika shouting “sorry little one~” Wriggle finally stops spinning, then looks to the girls, angrily shakes her fist, then shouts “HEY! Be more careful, you stupid humans!” She crosses her arms, feeling accomplished, then says “there! That’ll show them!” Without warning, the spirit crashes against her, sending her spinning to the ground with great force, and the moment she touches the ground, an explosion of atomic proportions unsettles all the people in Gensokyo, even Yuyuko, who happily munches on a rice ball in her shrine, and says “oh my. Youmu better not be slacking off, or I’ll have to punish her again~” To her right, Yukari sips on some tea while smiling and nodding.

Meanwhile, Aya arrives to the Sanzu River with Akyuu’s letter, and to her luck, she finds Shikieiki lecturing Komachi, who has fallen asleep on her knees through mid-lecture. Desperate, Aya calls “Enma-sama! Enma-sama!” A small vein pulsates on Shikieiki’s forehead as she turns a disturbing smiling face at Aya, and asks “don’t you see I am in the middle of a very important lecture?” Aya gulps as her face turns blue and her eyes almost disappear, leaving only two white dots in their stead, then nervously says “I-I-I... th-that is, I... have a message for you from miss Hieda. I-i-it’s important.” Shikieiki stares relaxed at Aya for a moment, then smiles and says “oh the spirit... that’s right, I forgot about that. Thanks for reminding me.” Aya relaxes but gets surprised at Shikieiki’s reply, then asks “you knew? Then why did I come all the way down here?” Shikieiki continues to smile as she says “to remind me of this important task. Don’t worry though, it’ll be taken care of. I’ll just need the Hakurei Maiden’s help on this one.” Aya continues to stare at Shikieiki, who suddenly asks “now, miss Shameimaru. Wasn’t there supposed to be someone else with you?” Aya looks away, trying to hide her eyes by turning them as far to the left as possible, and while scratching the right side of her face, she asks “wh-whatever are you talking about?” Shikieiki’s smile turns dangerous, and an ominous shadow casts itself over the yama’s face as she asks “are you trying to lie to me, miss Shameimaru?” Aya backs away, the terror on her face returning as she stutters and tries to run away, just to the struck on the head by Shikieiki’s golden sword. A few yards back, Hatate is stuck face-first inside a tall hollow tree trunk, letting the sky see her purple panties as she swings her legs around, saying to herself “when I get my camera on her, she won’t be able to show her damned face out in public for a month!”

Meanwhile, Tenshi, Rika and Youmu have gone back to running away on foot while the spirit continues his relentless chase, having run over three familiar mischievous fairies, Rumia, and having left Agava in pieces on the ground. The shadow youkai looks around with her blue eyes, then looks at her hand, waves at herself, then sighs and says “At least my torso is close by...” Youmu looks at their surroundings and shouts “oh no, we’re headed to the subterranean caves!” Tenshi gasps and says “this is bad! We have to turn around!” Rika shouts “but he’s right behind us!” A girl’s voice says “I’ll help! Just keep running until I tell you to stop!” Tenshi, Rika and Youmu stare at each other, then shrug at the same time and just continue running. Up ahead, waiting on a tree branch, Yamame watches as the girls run by, then swings down and makes a perfect web as fast as she can, trapping the spirit with it as he runs through it, breaking it and wrapping himself with the strong net due to the momentum of his speed. Yamame smirks and shouts “DONE!” The three girls stop running and see the spirit trapped by the web after turning around. They walk closer to Yamame to thank her properly, but before they can do just that, Satori and Orin jump from behind some bushes, Orin exclaims “good job, sis!” Satori calmly adds “now we can seal him up again.” Satori looks at Rika, then says “miss Rika, what you did was very irresponsible. I can’t believe you’d do something as reckless.” Rika’s face turns red as she lowers her head and says “I’m... sorry.” Tenshi laughs and says “there, there. If it makes you feel better, your blunders make my days much brighter.” Youmu shouts “HEY! You didn’t have to go and do that!” Tenshi replies “yeah, yeah, whatever.” Orin pats Rika’s back, then says “aww, cheer up, miss. This could have happened to anyone.” Rika raises her head with a smile, then says “th-thank you miss Orin”, and before she Realizes it, both Orin and Yamame are all over Rika, Orin purring contently while forcing Rika to pet her head, and Yamame pressing herself against Rika’s arm. The diamond on Rika’s sword immediately glows bright blue twice, then settles down again. Satori approaches the spirit, kneels next to his left, then says “you’re a real pervert. That girl could be your great-great-granddaughter.” The spirit blushes as he looks away in anger, then says “love knows not age!” Satori subtly points at him with her left hand and says “Lolita~” The spirit smiles and says “complex! ... Wait a minute! Gah, I fell for it!” After the girls laugh, Satori approaches Youmu, then says “miss Youmu, how could you? That poor thing, let her out of there this instant!” Youmu gasps with surprise and asks “wait, how did you-?” Before she can finish, Satori flicks one of the harnesses from the basket, and Mystia pops her head and wings from inside, shouting “FREEDOM!”, and trying to fly away with all her might, taking Youmu along with her. The spirit stands on his feet, free from Yamame’s web, and with great surprise, he gasps and says “why, I can’t believe this! Such a beautiful girl abusing that poor little sparrow! I’m sorry, miss, but our relationship is over!” While flying away by force, Youmu shouts “what relationship, you old pervert?” Rika, Tenshi, Yamame, Orin and Satori suddenly realize the spirit is free after he turns around and smiles at them, then he says “now, miss Rika, miss Tenshi, if you so kindly hand over your swords, I’ll be on my way.” Tenshi and Rika are already up on the sky, Rika being held by Tenshi, since she didn’t want to leave the others behind. The spirit smirks, then says “well, at least I got my priorities straightened out again.” Before the three remaining girls can do anything, they find themselves flying in the air with spinning eyes, except for Satori, who looks as expressionless as ever as she flies through the air, while her third eye is the one spinning, all because the spirit takes off so fast, he runs over all of them with great force.

Meanwhile, Yumemi and Chiyuri walks away from the Myouren temple with disappointed faces, Yumemi looking particularly disappointed. Chiyuri sighs, then says “cheer up. We’ll get that flying ship eventually.” Yumemi raises her head to stare at Chiyuri, then says “what are you talking about. Who cares about an old flying ship. I wanted to hear more of Byakuren’s magical stories.” Chiyuri smiles with annoyance in her eyes, then asks “so you rather hear stories of ancient times, instead of taking something as awesome as a magical flying ship?” Yumemi pokes her own chin as she looks up to the late noon sky, then she sees Tenshi and Rika land right in front of them and run away as if their lives depended on it. Both Chiyuri and Yumemi stare curiously at the girls, then Yumemi feels as though she’s being pushed down by a pair of feet, while Chiyuri feels as if a train it tackling her from behind, just before being flung high to the air. The spirit continues his chase, ignoring the two girls he just run over, while Yumemi shivers as she tries to get up, weakly calling “Chi... Chiyuri~” A giant saluting image of Chiyuri appears in the sky, while the real Chiyuri becomes a flickering star in the distance, and after seeing this, Yumemi gives up and falls unconscious on the ground, whispering “so magical.”

Tenshi and Rika are getting tired, breathing heavily through their mouths while still running toward the Youkai forest. Tired, Rika asks “Tenshi, are you getting tired too?” Annoyed and tired, Tenshi replies “I’m exhausted. I wanna go home and sleep this off!” Rika smile and says “I... I hear you. Oh, I just hope miss Reimu is doing alright without me.” Tenshi opens her mouth to reply to that, but she and Rika feel as though they crash against something slim and small, and after a few yelps and shrieks, they find themselves sitting, while still running. Amazed, Tenshi exclaims “whoa! We’re so good, we’re running while sitting!” From below Tenshi, a girl shouts “hey, what’s the big idea? Get off our shoulders this instant!” When Tenshi and Rika look down, they realize they are sitting on the shoulders of the young autumn goddesses and sisters, Minoriko and Shizuha Aki. Shizuha, who carries Rika, looks to Minoriko, who carries Tenshi, and says “Minoriko-chan, don be so rude. I thought you learned how to be nice by now, ever since that incident.” Minoriko grumbles, then says “don’t remind me. Geez, I still can’t believe the humans liked you better, just because you were cute.” Shizuha starts to cry, then Minoriko sighs and says “come on nee-san. You are still cute,” then whispers “just not that much, thankfully.” Tenshi lightly knocks on Minoriko’s head and says “sorry to interrupt your little sisterly moment, but could you let us down already.” Rika smiles at Tenshi, then says “Tenshi~, you forgot to say ‘please’. Don’t be rude.” Tenshi groans while grabbing her hair with her hands, then says “PLEASE, let us down already!” The sisters stop running, then Tenshi and Rika get off their backs, Rika saying “thank you so much.” Curious, Minoriko asks “and why exactly are you two in such a hurry?” Tenshi opens her mouth to answer, but the spirit’s voice beats her to it, saying “they refuse to give me their swords, so I must chase them and kill them for them.” Minoriko and Shizuha immediately frown at the unwelcome spirit, and sounding angry, Minoriko asks “who the hell are you?” In a challenging tone, Shizuha adds “evil spirit, you are messing with a pair of goddesses now! Prepare yourself!” The spirit smiles as he continues to look at Tenshi and Rika, his black eyes starting to glow red, then says “my apologies, little goddesses, but I have no intention to stop now.” He leans his body, ready to start running again, so Rika and Tenshi immediately start running before him, and just like that, the spirit runs over the two goddesses, stomping hard on the back of their heads, burying them on the ground, then continues his chase for the swords. After a short while, Minoriko manages to pull her head from the ground, then rushes to help her sister up, asking “Shizuha, are you alright?” After pulling her sister out, she kneels down and gently places her head on her lap, and stares at her sister’s spinning eyes, then sighs and says “Shizuha. We really need to work on our reaction time.” Shizuha only moans as a reply, then Minoriko gently combs her hair with her fingers while looking up at the slowly darkening sky.

Inside the Youkai forest, Tenshi and Rika feel they are losing speed as their strength slowly wanes, then Rika says “T-Tenshi, if we can find... that shrine... maybe those... goddesses can help!” Almost in tears due to her exhaustion, Tenshi replies “hah, th-then let’s, hah, move! He’s ga, hah, gaining on us!” Just after Tenshi finishes speaking, she and Rika run past Nitori, who has her optical camouflage already activated. After the girls pass by, she reveals herself with a curious face, and with an even more curious tone of voice, she asks “gee, I wonder what’s going on?” Before long, the spirit runs over her, making a loud cracking noise under his feet, yet ignoring it and continuing the chase for the girls. Struggling, Nitori pulls a radio from one of her many skirt pockets, then grunts as she says “c-come in... Ju-Julia.” From the radio, a woman replies “how may I be of service, lady Nitori?” Nitori grunts as she presses the button on the radio, then says “track my signal... and send a medic bot... I can’t feel my legs.” Happily, Julia replies “why, of course, lady Nitori. Don’t move. The medic bots will be there soon.” Nitori lies on the ground with a smile on her face, drooling as she blankly stares to her right. Further into the forest, the girls shout to Hina, who is calmly tending to some small flowers under a large tree, to get out of the way. Curious, Hina stands up and stares at the girls running to her, then gasps and says “oh my, so much misfortune. Don’t worry, ladies. I’ll take care of that right this instant!” She begins to spin clockwise and starts to absorb the girls’ misfortune, but forgets to get out of the way, like the two girls desperately asked, and ends up flinching and crouching on the ground, clenching her eyes and raising her fists to her head for protection as the girls run by. After the girls pass by, Hina opens her eyes and stands up, saying “oh my, I couldn’t absorb that misfortune. I wonder why...” Hina suddenly gasps and says “oh my, that poor girl.” Before she can do anything else, the spirit tackles her left shoulder and causes her to spin counter-clockwise, making her release many curses and misfortunes. One of the curses falls right on top of Momiji’s head, who is stretching on top of a large stone on the riverside as she says “ahh, it’s been such a quiet day. Too bad the kappa didn’t come by. A game of Shogi would have been perfect. Ah well, I best head... eh?” The stone under her feet cracks, and Momiji finds herself falling to the river, where she is dragged by an unexplainable strong current, all the way toward the exit of the forest. Meanwhile, Hina continues to spin uncontrollably as she shouts “someone save me~” Finally, she feels herself slowing down, so she tries to help herself by using her leg as a break, and just as she places her right leg on the ground, a large silver washtub falls hard on her head, making her fall to the ground, where she rolls all the way toward the river, where she joins Momiji and countless other youkai and fairies as they all scream while being dragged down by the mysterious currents. Catching the completely dazed Hina, Momiji sighs, face palms, then says “it was almost... just almost, a perfect day!”

Finally, after the last bit of sunlight disappears, Rika and Tenshi reach the Youkai Mountain. Exhausted and out of breath, Tenshi exclaims “we made it!” Rika pants for a bit, then says “we just need to fly to the top! Come on!” Both girls try to fly, but immediately find out they are too exhausted to even manage a quick hop. Desperately, Tenshi exclaims “I can’t fly! Dammit, I can’t fly! Do something, winged girl!” Rika flaps her wings, and just like that, her Soraogan mode cancels by itself, then she says “no! I-I’m too tired! S-someone help!” The spirit arrives just then, smiling widely as he says “and so, my young ladies, our chase comes to an end. Please, hand over your swords, and nobody will have to get hurt.” Annoyed, Tenshi unsheathes her sword and stares back defiantly, yet finds herself too tired to even manage to speak. Rika stares worriedly at Tenshi, then the spirit, then unsheathes her family sword before asking “why?” The spirit stares at Rika for a moment, then Rika asks “why are you chasing us? What did we ever do to you?” Almost out of breath, Tenshi adds “why so obsessed... with our swords?” The spirit unsheathes the lower left sword from his back, then says “how rude of me. I haven’t even explained myself to you. You see, all these swords I have? They are all artifact swords. Like this one in my hands. It has the unique power to revive or seriously injure anyone or anything, all depending on what the master desires at the moment.” Rika stands beside Tenshi, glaring back at the spirit, then shouts “that has nothing to do with us!” The spirit chuckles, then says “you don’t seem to get it, my dear lady. I am a collector, and a darned good one at that. Once I set my sight on a sword, nothing stands in my way, and you see, both your swords are unique, and once I have them, I’ll leave you alone, then go look for that meat-eating beauty of a half spirit’s swords.” Sounding almost desperate and out of breath, Tenshi shouts “you can go to hell first!” The spirit smiles, then says “but that’s where I came from, my dear. I don’t plan on going back there, so just give up your swords, and you can go home. Simple as that.” Rika shouts “never! You certainly are an evil spirit! Taking someone else’s swords, just because they are unique! You disgust me!” The spirit frowns, then asks “so, you aren’t giving them to me, no matter what?” Tenshi and Rika, though exhausted, are prepared to fight, holding their swords tight while glaring back at the spirit. The spirit laughs heartily as his eyes turn from black to blood red, then he says “fine, let’s do it the hard way. Now, don’t say I didn’t give you the chance.” He lifts his left arm, and a lime-green bolt flies from his hand toward Tenshi and Rika, making them both scream in pain as they drop on their knees on the ground while the magical energy surrounds them. With an evil smile on his face, the spirit opens his eyes wider and says “I also forgot to mention, before I got my first sword, I had to resort to magic. Sorry, I forgot to MENTION THIS BEFORE!” Tenshi and Rika kneel on the ground, unable to fight back the pain, as the spirit laughs at them, draining them of the little strength left in them.

To be continued...

Characters, Spell cards and Scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-
Agava was created by Willie G.R.
Rika Onkamikami was created by Snapshot 2010
Rika’s Wind Sign, “Neppa Senpuujin” (Wind Sign "Searing Gale") was created by Snapshot 2010.
Story by Snapshot 2010
JUL 19 2010
Written by
Willie G.R.

A/N:
We are reaching the end of this small spin-off, and getting closer to the opening of the next Sukima story! But before that, I want to apologize I’m taking so long to post these. You see, while I write Sword x Sword, I am also writing a back story for Remilia and the SDM cast. It’s REALLY hard, but it’s coming along great. I’ll be posting the first two chapters VERY soon. Anyway, once I finish this, I’ll start working on the new Sukima story, while I work on that back story too. Hope you are enjoying this read, thanks for reading, take care, and see you next chapter, if the spirits will allow.