Author Topic: Weekly Writing Challenge Thread the First  (Read 474182 times)

Tengukami

  • Breaking news. Any season.
  • *
  • I said, with a posed look.
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge! - Current: "Wild West Touhou!"
« Reply #330 on: August 16, 2010, 09:49:22 PM »
Wow. The one-two combination of card-game-as-parable, and a good ol' fireside cowboy song.

I think I really like this contest.

"Human history and growth are both linked closely to strife. Without conflict, humanity would have no impetus for growth. When humans are satisfied with their present condition, they may as well give up on life."

Esifex

  • Though the sun may set
  • *
  • It shall rise again
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge! - Current: "Wild West Touhou!"
« Reply #331 on: August 16, 2010, 09:57:02 PM »
Because I'm Nazrin paranoid, I just wanna make sure no one misses it; the first :derp: face in my entry is a link to a song. Read mine to the tune! :V

Tengukami

  • Breaking news. Any season.
  • *
  • I said, with a posed look.
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge! - Current: "Wild West Touhou!"
« Reply #332 on: August 16, 2010, 09:59:16 PM »
I totally missed that. Even after you pointed it out at the end of the song. So thanks for mentioning it a second time for us slow-to-catch-it people.

"Human history and growth are both linked closely to strife. Without conflict, humanity would have no impetus for growth. When humans are satisfied with their present condition, they may as well give up on life."

FinnKaenbyou

  • Formerly Roukanken
  • *
  • blub blub nya
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge! - Current: "Wild West Touhou!"
« Reply #333 on: August 18, 2010, 10:57:38 PM »
Quote from: Ruro, on when White Rose would start receiving regular updates
Damnit. I need a new sarcastic phrase to use as a response. Ummm... When Roukanken writes Shikieiki x Yumemi shenanigans. Yes.
Welp, looks like you don't have an excuse anymore :3

-----

They called it the Eager East.

It was a desolate land, where the days were blistering and the nights were freezing. Many considered it to be a forsaken frontier, especially when it became clear that Gensoyo's magical blessings had no effect on it. The youkai who ventured out into that red expanse found their powers drained, making them no more powerful than mere human beings. That was enough to convince most of the youkai to stay well away from the Eager East.

A small few, though, saw this setback and considered it an opportunity. The land was unexplored, and the best treasures were always the hardest to find, and so expeditions of youkai started to travel through to cultivate the land. It was a rough and violent history, with many youkai succumbing to simple dysentery, but a few outposts were formed in the flaming frontier. They grew into towns, gained trade routes, found enough resources to survive on their own, and eventually broke apart from Gensokyo entirely. They considered the youkai who stayed behind lazy, not brave enough to take a risk and step out of safety. The youkai of Gensokyo simply thought their counterparts to be idiots.

Power quickly shifted to the kappa out in the East, with their knowledge of engineering surviving the magical drought. They built steam engines, telephones, and other various inventions to make existence on the frontier a little more bearable. But it was only a matter of time before that power was misused, and eventually the first firearms came into existence. The spellcard rules of old fell into the distance; these weapons were designed to kill, messily, and in a single shot.

The era of graceful combat was dead. In its place emerged a world immersed in violence, with criminals stealing and maiming innocent bystanders. It was a violent backdrop to a society of fearsome youkai, those who'd been strong enough to turn down the easy life and live something more meaningful.

And among those who'd braved the journey were lawkeepers. The people who had seen ahead to this conflict, and who strived to govern the land with fairness and justice.

That had been the dream of Shikieiki Yamaxanadu from the very beginning. Under her order, the East would prosper for all of eternity!

-----

"Geez, boss, you always make it sound so much more extravagant when you talk like that."

In her little seat, Deputy Onozuka yawned as she leaned back in her chair. Her eyes were barely open, and she looked set to fall asleep at any given moment.

The sheriff whacked her in the forehead with the handle of her pistol. It was based on the Remington model outside the border, said the kappa, and althought that meant nothing to her she knew damn well that it was heavy enough to hurt.

"Komachi, show some livelihood! I know you were sent out here by Higan to look after me, but that's no excuse to sit back and slouch!"

Komachi winced as she grabbed at her face, groaning a little. Komachi looked down at her sternly, carefully adjusting her hat as she started to walk around. She'd liked the old yama uniform, but a change of clothing was in order for a new frontier, so she instead opted for a black vest and trousers with a white shirt underneath. The hat was one of those newfangled 'ten-gallons' people talked about, but she'd added some of her old hat's accessories to wean herself into it.

"Don't see what you're so excited about, really. In the end it's just a buncha rocks. Sure, you found gold and all out here, but you could just make that stuff back home."

Komachi groaned as she rubbed her wound again, having opted for a simple blue shirt and beige suspenders. Shikieiki decided it was a good idea to ignore her right now, continuing her walk and looking out the window of the town jail.

"That would be too simple, Komachi. If a good deed is performed easily, it carries little worth, but if someone goes out of their way to display virtue then its magnitude is unparalleled. True, life out here is gruesome and hard compared to Gensokyo, but now these people are doing something of worth! They are living a meaningful life rather than lazing back in comfort, and a life lived in luxury is a wasted one!"

Her words oozed devotion, and she seemed to almost be getting more excited with every word. The urge to protect the law of this little outpost was starting to overwhelm her, and before she knew it she was walking along to the local saloon. Best way to watch the people of the town was to act like one of them, after all.

Komachi groaned something as she watched her superior walk off into the distance.

"Hey, get me a bourbon while you're out there, okay? I need a drink."

Shikieiki didn't show any sign of hearing her as she walked on. Komachi sighed.

"Damn girl's going to get herself shot like that. The law doesn't work the same as it did back in Higan, dammit..."

-----

There was a nice little tune playing as Shikieiki entered the saloon. A ghost in a red dress was caressing the keys of a piano, producing a cheery theme that made the place seem livelier than it was. The smell of alcohol hung in the air, but by now it was such an ordinary occurance no-one could even tell any more. On the distant table, a trio of rough looking oni were playing a game of poker. She'd keep her eye on them, she thought - emotions were likely to run rampant when money was involved.

"Mornin', sheriff. Slow day today, huh?"

The bartender, a sparrow youkai by the name of Mystia, started up conversation as Eiki entered. She'd been one of the most ambitious members of the expedition - not for the sake of discovery, but with the intention of starting up her own business out in the East. She'd survived the test of time, and made enough money to live peacefully for the rest of her years.

However peacefully you could live in this place, anyway.

"In my occupation, a slow day's something to celebrate. The usual."

"Well, that's because when you meet people in your job you just shoot 'em. I need them to pay me so this little place can keep goin', y'know?"

Mystia pulled out a glass, rubbing it clean with a few quick swipes of her cloth. She grabbed a bottle from the shelf behind her, and filled the glass to the brink. She placed it in front of the sheriff, picking up the note that had been put down as payment.

"I dunno why ya keep askin' for this stuff. I got plenty of beers and spirits here you could try, and they're a helluva lot cheaper."

"White wine has always been my preference. Call me old-fashioned, but I'll stick with that."

"Hmph. Sure, puts more money in my pocket..."

The bartender shrugged, turning to the next youkai to need their thirst quenched. Eiki was left mostly to herself, sipping at her wine and continuing to stake out the other customers. None of them looked particularly friendly, having been hardened by the unforgiving landscape. The tiniest misgiving could easily lead to a shootout, so she had to remain vigilant at all times. By her standards, this was the closest she ever got to taking a break.

The words being passed around the poker table grew more aggressive. There were accusations of cheating being thrown around by all three players - the sad thing was that they were probably all correct. Even from here she could see the aces hidden up the sleeve of Yuugi Hoshiguma, but gambling wasn't a part of the law she was allowed to intervene in. It only became her problem when a gun came out.

She didn't have long to wait. It was Hoshiguma again who snapped, as the accusations of foul play turned to look at her in particular.

"I'm honest, dammit! I..."

Her words didn't even try to convey honesty. Both her opponents were demanding a refund, and if Yuugi complied to their wishes and gave their money back she'd have just let the incident go.

But when her hand reached down for her gun, she crossed the line.

Bang.

A gunshot echoed throughout the saloon. The music came to an abrupt stop. The oni at the table all flinched at once, not sure exactly who had been shot. It was a few seconds before the situation became clear enough, though Yuugi was the first to notice - her gun was currently lodged in the wall to her side, with a perfectly placed bullet lodged inside it.

Shikieiki blew away the smoke from the end of her Remington.

"Play nice, you three."

Yuugi's face grew more and more exasperated by the second, until she finally let out a heaving sigh and reached into her pockets. Her opponents were refunded, and she slumped out of the building with a sigh.

As the piano began to play another tune, the room collectively let out a breath.

"Thanks, sheriff. It takes forever to clean blood off those walls."

Eiki shrugged.

"No problem, ma'am. Just doing my job."

She helped herself to a congratulatory sip of her white wine. Justice was hard to uphold in these parts, but that made it all the more satisfying.

The relaxed atmosphere of the saloon never lasted long, but today something other than a shootout interrupted the calm.

With a violent swing, the door to the saloon was opened by a well-placed kick. The owner of the responsible foot let herself in, well aware that every eye in the room was already focused on her. Eiki's eyes immediately turned to her - that was definitely a bad way to introduce yourself to the sheriff, and she already expected this to be another troublemaker to give her a headache.

She didn't realise until it was too late that her attention was drawn to everything she wasn't meant to look at. She couldn't see much for the dark red longcoat the girl was wearing, but what she could make out entranced her in ways she never expected. Her dark red hair was bursting with life, and her ruby eyes were sparkling with ambition she'd never seen before. There was desire in those eyes, an urge to go out there and take the Eager East by the horns. Eiki's heart fluttered - she'd never seen a better example of her ideals in her life, and she could tell that just from a glance alone.

The newcomer threw a bag of coins at Mystia with a smirk. Or rather, Eiki had thought they were coins, but there was no jingle as Mystia caught the bag.

"Work your magic and make something sweet outta those, 'kay?"

She placed a note on the bar, an impressive amount of money for a girl her age. Mystia glanced at the money, then into the bag, and Eiki could see the gears in her mind whirring. An idea came to her, and she snatched the money away.

"Got it. Gimme a minute on this one..."

She may not have had her magic anymore, but she still had some fierce claws. She threw the contents of the bag into the air and swiped at them, only now letting Eiki see that they were wild strawberries. Mystia diced them into several dozen pieces with a single clean swipe. The juice inside seeped into a glass underneath, and Mystia grabbed the sliced bits and threw them into the trash. A shot of rum made its way into the glass, before Mystia shook the whole drink up and placed it in front of her customer.

"There ya go. I call it the Strawberry Crisis. Drink up."

The girl in the coat picked up the glass tentatively, sipping at its contents. Her eyes spoke approval as she started to drink it more heartily.

Eiki was impressed. Strawberries weren't plentiful enough around here to be worth selling, so that meant this girl had gone and picked them herself. She didn't realise how much attention she'd been paying to the girl until she finally looked up from her drink and turned back to her.

"What's the matter, never seen a human out on the frontier before?"

Eiki flinched, turning away. Was she blushing? She never blushed. The girl chuckled to herself.

"You youkai aren't so tough when you don't have your spellcards to look after you, I see."

"Y-You simply caught me by surprise, that's all. You seem far too...refined to be in a violent place like this."

What was she saying? She could hear Mystia sniggering from behind the counter and grimaced. The girl's chuckle turned into a full-fledged laugh, but not a sneering one. It was kind, and playful.

"Refined?! Girl, you haven't seen me in a fight before, have you? I know I don't look it, but I'm something of a deadeye shooter myself. Got a lotta practice outside the border, anyway."

Eiki's eyes widened.

"O-Outside the border? You mean you're not even from Gensokyo?"

That was the exact response the girl had been looking for, and she took this opening to leap out of her chair and pose.

"That's right! I heard about this new frontier of yours from outside Gensokyo, so I had my assistant drop me off here. It's been a hard life, but I'm gonna make it soon enough. Just you wait, and I'll have everyone looking up to Yumemi Okazaki!"

The music stopped again. Everyone stared awkwardly at Yumemi.

A giggle rose up in the background.

"S-Shut up!"

Yumemi grew flustered at the sound of a snicker, throwing out a quick response before slumping back into her chair and chugging her drink. Eiki frowed, giving a harsh glare to the girl who'd laughed in the crowd.

"You have some impressive spirit, I see. You'd make a good deputy around here."

"That's aiming too low. This place can't have a very impressive sheriff, from the size of it."

"I take offense to that."

Eiki brushed the remark off, finishing her glass of wine at last. She still found herself looking at Yumemi at brief intervals, both infuriated that she couldn't turn away and enamoured at the sight of her. What sort of emotions were these coming from a sheriff...?

The awkward atmosphere between them came to an abrupt end a few seconds later. The door swung open again, but this time the girl entering was far from charismatic. She clutched her shoulder, bleeding lightly as she shouted.

"Anyone, please! The Fairy gang is acting up again! They're holding the bank at gunpoint!"

With that, she fainted on the spot, needing someone to catch her before she fell. Eiki's expression grew severe instantly, and she stood straight up to walk towards the door.

"Hey, where are you going?"

Yumemi's voice carried a trace of concern as Eiki turned around to her.

"There's a crime in progress, and I am Shikieiki Yamaxanadu. Restoring peace is my duty in this town, so I can't ignore this."

The door swung in place for a short while after the sheriff made her exit. The entire room fell into an awkward silence, no-one having the nerve to speak up. It was dangerous out there, and there was no way one gunman could possibly win.

Yumemi finished her drink.

-----

"Alright, lady, just give us your shinies and none of you get hurt!"

The pint-sized bandit pointed a flintlock pistol straight at the teller, her face barely visible under her oversized ten-gallon hat. A light blue overcoat covered her body, but the six icy wings emerging from her back made it clear who she was.

"Y-Yes, ma'am!"

The teller, unsurprisingly, was horrified, and quickly started to fill up the bag being held in front of her with cash. The criminal's wings fluttered in satisfaction, until at last the bag was full. For some reason, a $ symbol had been drawn on the side, even though there wasn't a dollar currency around here.

"Thanks for the donation, missy. Alright, girls, let's scram!"

A trio of nameless fairies holding firearms nodded at their boss's order, running out of the bank with their reward in tow. The wagon was waiting for them outside, it'd be an easy ride out of town-

Bang!

-except that the wagon was now missing a wheel. That was a bit of a downer on things.

"Cirno, you're hereby under arrest for charges of theft, highway robbery, and assault. Hand yourself in now, or I can't be held responsible for what I do to you."

Eiki's words echoed across the street as the sheriff of the town pointed her weapon in her direction. The criminal shrugged, smirking to herself.

"Well, well, well. Look who finally showed up. Good thing I prepared something for just such an occasion, huh?"

Eiki gasped.

A trap?!

She saw it in the corner of her eye in the nick of time, and dived for cover just before the rifle fired. The shot would have cracked her skull if she hadn't moved.

"Gah, Star, you idiot! Why'd you wait for her to talk before you fired!?"

"But...but she never ordered us to-"

"That doesn't matter! She's the sheriff, so of course we shoot her!"

"You two, can you focus on reloading that thing and waiting for her to come out of cover?"

Three fairies had been positioned on the rooftop, and together they were wielding a clunky looking rifle. Eiki had ducked behind a set of boxes to avoid the gunfire, but there was no way she could step out without promptly losing her head. The fairies on the ground were a safer bet, because she was confident she could beat them to the trigger, but there was no way she could snipe that long a distance with a Remington.

"Gh..."

"Ha-hah! Not so tough now, are you?! Come on, girls, let's scram while she's stuck down there!"

Cirno ordered her companions to run - if the wagon was out, they'd have to settle for an escape on foot. Eiki wanted to be sick - she was trapped, the criminals were getting away, and there was nothing she could do about it.

The fairies holding her off were laughing amongst themselves.

"This is pretty easy. Sunny, you've got it lined up, right?"

"Sure thing. Luna's got the trigger, but there's no way she's standing up without getting a hole in her head."

"Yeah, we'd better get a nice promotion for all of thi-"

Luna's comment was cut short when something bumped into her foot. She looked away from the gun for a moment, seeing a red cylinder with a burning fuse on one end. It looked rather strange, and she had a feeling she didn't want it near her.

"Um...guys?"

"Not now, Luna! We need to pin the sheriff down?"

The rifle was too heavy for them to lift without all three of them, so Luna was basically stuck in place. The fuse continued to fizz down.

"B-But...this stick-"

"I don't care about your stupid stick! We've got to-"

The fuse came to an end.

The resulting explosion took out all three targets handily, reducing them to three piles of fairy dust. A dozen eyes turned to the explosion, all of them with varying degrees of shock.

"Good to see my throwing arm hasn't lost its touch. I was pretty good at the javelin at school, y'know?"

Standing in the street, without a hint of fear, was Yumemi Okazaki. Her longcoat hung open, revealing half a dozen identical sticks of dynamite hidden underneath, along with a matchbox to light them. Eiki's eyes were looking elsewhere, though - with the coat out of the way, she now caught a glimpse of Yumemi's long, slender legs, with only a short ruby skirt for cover. She turned bright red as she looked away, momentarily forgetting the severity of the situation.

"Did you...did you just take out my snipers?"

Cirno was frozen in awe for a moment, looking up at the roof that had formerly held her teammates. She looked at her goons, all standing in confusion just like she was.

"W-What are you waiting for?! Shoot her!"

That order was enough for them to work with, and the four fairies she had on the ground quickly pulled out their weapons. Cirno was first to wield her flintlock, but by the time she was ready Yumemi was already diving behind the boxes. She leaned in next to Eiki, letting their bodies rub together a little more than was necessary.

"You need to learn to cool your head, sheriff. There's no I in team, after all."

"No, but there is one I in justice. You know how to handle yourself?"

Yumemi reached into the other side of her coat, pulling out a Colt revolver.

"I played a lot of light gun games in the arcade."

"...Light gun?"

"Don't think about it, just trust me."

Eiki took this chance to reload her weapon. She gave Yumemi one little nod to check if she was ready to jump out. She received a nod in return from her human compatriot. They'd both memorised where the gunners were located, and they'd have enough of an opening after jumping out to take them down.

There were no words exchanged, but the pair worked with perfect synergy. Eiki jumped out to the left side of the boxes, while Yumemi leapt out to the right. The bandits tried to catch them mid-leap, but the sheriff was the fastest draw in the East, firing two bullets clean into the chests of the bandits on her side. Yumemi was a little shakier on the draw, but firing six rapid rounds was enough to take out the two targets on her side.

Cirno grimaced as her posse fell to the floor, dead, but she allowed herself a small smile.

"Not yet! Bet ya didn't plan for THIS!"

Cirno reached into her longcoat and pulled out a second pistol, identical to her first. One was aimed at Eiki, catching her in place while she was trying to shift her aim; the other pointed at Yumemi, clumsily trying to reload her weapon. Both of them were locked in place - if they tried to make a move, Cirno could easily fire on them.

"Dammit...you're kidding me..."

Yumemi cursed as she realised she'd been busted. The boxes were too far away for her to jump back to, so for all intents and purposes she'd been caught. Eiki merely grit her teeth, staring straight down the barrel of the gun aimed at her.

The criminal laughed heartily.

"Hehehe...maybe I don't get to take home the prize, but as they say, 'She who fights and runs away is the strongest'!"

She decided to step back slowly, savouring the moment. She felt incredibly powerful holding these two at gunpoint, and it was a feeling she did her best to savour.

"Not so tough now, are you, sheriff? All of your justice crap and there's nothing you can do when there's a gun to your head. It's so funny, I wanna cry!"

She continued to step backwards, laughing so hard that it hurt.

"...you can rob my town..."

The wind blew from behind into Cirno's ears, almost sounding like a voice. She ignored it, stepping further and further back.

"...you can shoot my townsfolk..."

The first hint she had that something was wrong was when she stepped backwards and hit something. Cirno had a sudden urge not to look up, but when the hat was yanked off of her head she did it on instinct.

A furious face stared down at her with golden eyes. A young woman in a jet black suit was standing behind Cirno, cracking her knuckles as she spoke.

"...But don't you EVER talk shit about justice."

The woman swung her left fist before Cirno had time to turn around. It made swift contact with the fairy's jaw, and after a satisfying crack she fell to the floor out cold.

Eiki and Yumemi didn't even realise they'd been holding their breaths until they let go.

After taking a few seconds to let the adrenaline rush of battle die down, the pair swiftly ran up to the brawler responsible; one with confusion, the other with gratitude.

"Toramaru. I should have assumed that you'd be chasing the Fairy gang."

"Of course. I'm not the kind to let people rob a bank and get away with it, and I know you aren't either."

The pair shared a quick chuckle, as Yumemi looked on in total confusion. Eiki turned to her, offering an introduction.

"Ah, Yumemi, apologies. This is Shou Toramaru. She's in charge of the next town along the route."

The wild-looking woman in the suit offered a hand to Yumemi, which the human nervously accepted.

"I'll be taking care of our fairy friend here. Her first theft was in my province, so it's my job to take care of her."

"Certainly. Thanks for your help back there."

Shou grabbed the unconscious Cirno by the collar, pulling her onto a nearby wagon. She waved towards the pair from inside as it started to clog off into the distance, leaving them alone in an empty street.

"...Is every morning like that around here?"

"Fortunately, no. Usually the most I have to deal with is some rabbit coming around selling fake elixirs."

Eiki brushed herself off, starting the trek back to her office. Yumemi followed keenly behind her, almost skipping along.

"Hey, I was wondering...you're a sheriff, right?"

"Indeed."

"So that means you have deputies."

Eiki nodded.

"...You don't have any vacancies, do you?"

The sheriff didn't even pause before answering.

"No, but for special cases I should be able to make an exception. Let's discuss this at my place over a bottle of brandy, shall we?"

Yumemi smiled at that, strolling along closer to Eiki. She rubbed up next to her, causing the former judge to blush a little. Yumemi giggled.

This was going to take a lot of explaining to Komachi. She'd asked Eiki to bring back a bourbon. Instead, she was bringing in a strawberry.


Re: Weekly Writing Challenge! - Current: "Wild West Touhou!"
« Reply #335 on: August 20, 2010, 08:05:54 PM »
I had an idea of where I wanted this to end up, but I'm not sure if I got it there in a coherent fashion... I don't consider myself a good storyteller.  :V

So, uh...here goes nothing!

-------

The scorching summer sun glared at the arid desert town of Toshiba as it began to fade over the western horizon.  The townsfolk were finishing up their daily errands and heading home for the evening, as they always did.  Of course, every general rule or tradition has an exception.

Marisa Kirisame, the local vigilante, was that exception.  A hothead by nature, she was the reason Toshiba had been standing as long as it had, for it was her job to confront and subdue the various no-goodniks that plagued the town.  She had put all of them in their place at some point, from low-level villains such as Daiyousei the thief, who for some reason only stole from Sakuya?s clock workshop, to more disruptive types like Yukari, who caused general mayhem for seemingly no reason at all.

Rather than go back to her abode, Marisa was off to the saloon.  A friend of hers, Nitori the gunsmith, had told her that the bartender had some new information posted on the wall.  While the info listed under ?missions? and ?clan trials? ? whatever those were ? didn?t interest Marisa very much unless there were criminals involved, there were also some intriguing rumors to be found on that pub wall, and she wanted to be one of the first to investigate those rumors.

Upon entering the saloon, Marisa looked around.  Almost everyone had gone home; there were only the local roughs, who referred to themselves as the ?Devas of the Desert?, and the bartender, a young silver-haired woman in a blue dress and a very unique hat.  The bartender nodded at her as Marisa sat down on a stool and propped her feet up on the counter.

?Howdy, Keine,? said Marisa as she got comfortable.  ?I hear you?ve got some new information?  Possible rewards for catchin? varmints??

?Nothin? about any big-time criminals today, I?m afraid,? answered Keine, ?but I did get an interesting rumor ?bout a haunted train.?

Marisa chuckled.  ?A haunted train?  Sounds like some people in these parts need to git their heads out of the clouds.  Where do they think we are?  Some magical world with ghosts and vampires and critters like that??

?Hey, I?m just postin? what was told to me.  Allegedly, this train arrives at the Hakurei Station at eleven in the evening on the night of the new moon, and whoever boards is never seen again.?

?The night of the new moon, huh?that?s tonight, innit?? asked the vigilante as she pondered just who would believe a story like this.

?Right.  I don?t have much cash, but if you can get the lowdown on that train for me, I?ll try and find a suitable reward for you,? said Keine.

?Alright, sure,? said Marisa, taking her feet off the counter again. ?I still think this is just some crazy ghost story, but I?ll see what I can find.?

As she moved to leave, Keine took a bottle off the top shelf and poured a bit of its contents into a small glass.  ?A shot of whiskey for the road??

?Nah.  If this rumor is just a trap for gullible townsfolk, I?m gonna need my pistol at the ready, and you know I can?t fire Hakkero straight with alcohol in my system.?

?Fair enough.  Y?all come back, now!?

---

It was pitch black outside when Marisa reached the Hakurei Station.  A single lantern hung by the ticket booth provided the only light for miles.  Hardly anyone used this station, so it was unusual for a lantern to be hung out here at all.

?Man, why didn?t I borrow Alice?s horse, Shanghai, before I came out here?  At least then I wouldn?ta had to walk??

Taking a moment to sit and rest, Marisa listened for any train whistles in the distance.  All she could hear was the wind blowing across the sandy landscape, and the creak of the lantern swaying on the rusty nail that held it up.  She kept listening for a few moments before smirking.

??Just as I thought. Nothin? but a tall tale. ?Well, guess I?ll just bug the station master for breakfast and a ride home in the mornin?.?

She turned around to enter the station when she saw it:  a shoddy-looking train, five cars in length, was sitting on the tracks, when there hadn?t been anything there previously.  The train appeared to be made of a patchwork of iron and bronze, and hadn?t even been painted.  As Marisa looked at the vessel, she felt an eerie sense of danger emanating from it.

She hesitated for a moment, then grasped Hakkero?s holster as she cautiously entered the middle car, ready to investigate.

The interior of the train looked even worse than the outside:  the wooden floor was falling apart in places, and the leather seats were in tatters, as if a rabid jackrabbit had jumped in and started tearing out their insides.  The glass on the door leading to the next car was shattered, and the door itself seemed to be missing one of its hinges.  A few miscellaneous items ? umbrellas, handbags, and the occasional hat ? were strewn about, gathering dust and cobwebs in the corners.

Marisa began wondering just what had happened to this train.  As she pondered this, she became intensely focused on the objects in front of her:  the umbrellas, the torn-up seats, the windows.  When she peered at the windows, she became aware that the station was slowly moving to the left.  And more desert was rolling in from the right.

The train was moving.

Confused by this sudden development, Marisa tried to open the door again, but it was shut tight.  It was almost as if there was another force at work, impeding her progress.  In addition, as she looked back at the station, a trio of horses with riders seemed to fade into view, chasing after the train.

??Well, isn?t this just a fine kettle of fish,? she muttered to herself as she drew Hakkero from its holster and watched the horses approach.  The riders were unlike anyone she?d seen before:  they all had the same style of clothing and the same hats, just in different colors.  The rider at the head of the group was wearing all black, the one to her left was wearing red, and the one pulling over to the other side of the train was wearing white.  Maybe they were a family of train bandits?

Marisa snapped to attention as the black-clothed one drew a pistol and shot at her, hitting the side of the train instead and making the impacted area glow a pale blue.  The other two riders followed suit, causing more glowing spots on the exterior of the train.

In response, the vigilante used Hakkero to smash a hole in the window and began firing at the two riders she could see.  However, they seemed to be more agile than she gave them credit for; one shot even appeared to pass through the red-clothed one?s shoulder with no effects whatsoever.  As the shootout continued, it quickly became apparent to Marisa that she wasn?t dealing with any ordinary bandits.

To further punctuate that point, one of the panels that had been struck by the rogue bullets spontaneously burst into flame, blazing a bright blue as it fell away from the train.  The heat given off by the tainted metal also caused parts of the interior to ignite with the same blue, almost ghostly fire.

Marisa knew that this had to end quickly.  Taking careful aim at the black-clothed one?s head, she put into motion a strategy that would stop the assault altogether:  taking out the leader. She pulled the trigger?

*click*

Confused, she pulled a few more times.

*click click click*

She was out of ammunition.  It was over.

The three bandits pulled back into formation at the front of the train and fired into the distance.  The bullets collided in midair and exploded, and as Marisa looked at the point of collision, she could see...

??a blue sky? Clouds??

Not only had the riders vanished, but there was a splotch of daytime in the dead of the desert night, and the train was headed right for it!

Marisa looked around for a way out, but it was futile.  The window was too small for her to fit through, all of the doors were locked, and the blue fire was beginning to spread.  There was no escape.  Determined not to go out this way, the vigilante began calling for help as the train began to pass through the hole, into the light?

---

?Monster Sign ?A Forgotten Umbrella?s Night Train?!?

Reimu Hakurei continued shooting at the errant umbrella youkai as she declared her spellcard.  A line of five metallic-colored objects began passing by on the shrine maiden?s left, releasing glowing, blue square-shaped debris as they traveled.  And?was that yelling coming from inside the third object?

She shrugged.  She wouldn?t be surprised if it was just part of the attack.

Hello Purvis

  • *
  • Hello Jerry
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge! - Current: "Wild West Touhou!"
« Reply #336 on: August 20, 2010, 09:18:33 PM »
Time to win another one.



"Yer days of grave robbing are over, pardner," says Sheriff Kirisame as she approaches the kasha pinned against a group of stagecoaches, spellshooter in hand. "I counted them spellcards, an' yer all out!"

"More'n one way to make Hell's wheel!" the kasha shouts back as she grabs a stagecoach wheel and flings it at the sheriff!

Ayuka

  • Pursuer of cute things
  • Not obsessive in the slightest.
    • Neko Arrange
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge! - Current: "Wild West Touhou!"
« Reply #337 on: August 23, 2010, 02:30:14 AM »
Wait, deadline is midnight tonight, right? If so, what timezone is that? :blush:

Alfred F. Jones

  • Estamos orgullosos del Batall?n Lincoln
  • *
  • y de la lucha que hizo por Madrid
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge! - Current: "Wild West Touhou!"
« Reply #338 on: August 23, 2010, 02:33:26 AM »
Wait, deadline is midnight tonight, right? If so, what timezone is that? :blush:
MST, Mystery Science Theatre Mountain Standard Time. It's 8:32 PM as I write this-- you have three and a half hours left. Granted, I am flexible, so if you get it in before I slam the hammer it's all good.

Speaking of, Sakana and Chao, get in here and start reading these if you haven't already! >:(

Esifex

  • Though the sun may set
  • *
  • It shall rise again
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge! - Current: "Wild West Touhou!"
« Reply #339 on: August 23, 2010, 04:20:01 AM »
And listening, in my case!  :D

Ayuka

  • Pursuer of cute things
  • Not obsessive in the slightest.
    • Neko Arrange
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge! - Current: "Wild West Touhou!"
« Reply #340 on: August 23, 2010, 05:11:08 AM »
Arkaflagnblas!!!1! My story just fell apart the more I wrote. :ohdear:
Well, either way I'm obviously out of my league here but you don't get better by cowering in a corner. 'Sides as a Texan it's my civil duty to make a submission to this here contest. So har's a poem. I'm terrible at poetry, but it's a darn sight better'n my story was.

The cast of this here story
Is a small but motley lot.
The young sheriff of a rundown town,
Her uniform made of red.
Her blonde troublesome deputy
Who  did little but laze about.
An old hag, her mercenary,
And her mercenary too.
A young mistress named Remilia,
And a ranch full of yukkuri.

Now that young sheriff kept the law in the land,
They say she worked for nothin? but donations.
Her deputy was a trigger-happy gal-boy,
They say she hardly worked.
Lady Remilia had caught the deputy?s eye.
Her Yukkuri had caught the hag?s.

Ooooooh, Yukari.
With her gaps her rustlin? was never seen.
She took the herd and disappered,
Right down scrambled from the scene.

Miss Remilia went to see the sheriff,
And the sheriff told her deputy.
The deputy saw her chance to show
The young mistress what she was worth.
So she set off that night all alone,
A mini-six-shooter in her hand.

Ooooooh, Marisa.
Got herself gap haxed, you see.
She thought she?d Master Spark, but it was all just bark.
Now she?s at the hag?s mercy.

Marisa was in a pickle.
She wasn?t sure how she?d escape.
Yukari pulled out a spellcard and
Marisa was sure she was done for,
But Deus was in the machine.
For who should appear then than the sheriff herself?

Ooooooh, Miss Reimu.
Got herself gap haxed as well.
Main character?s game? Well, it?s a shame.
Soon she?d dine with the oni in hell.

Remillia was getting? worried.
So she took her own gun and headed out.
What she found annoyed her.
But she made a quick trip of fate
And Yukari just shrugged.
She was bored with this game anyway.

Ooooooh, ?Milia!
Wonder why she didn?t do it from the start.
Maybe she?s lazy or just plain crazy.
Either way, she stole Reimu?s part.

Now a bit embarrassed,
The deputy grinned and tipped her hat
She said she?d meant well, said
She?d done it only to win Remilia?s affection.
Remilia shrugged and gave her a kiss on cheek anyway.
?That?s for the thought, I suppose.?

Alfred F. Jones

  • Estamos orgullosos del Batall?n Lincoln
  • *
  • y de la lucha que hizo por Madrid
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge! - Current: "Wild West Touhou!"
« Reply #341 on: August 23, 2010, 05:39:27 PM »
All righty, folks! All the submissions have been sent in, and the judges judged them the only way we knew how--



By ignoring them entirely and playing Sakura Taisen V. ... And then drinking strawberry daiquiris on the beach until we collapsed. And then drunkenly grabbing the nearest submission and choosing that one.

Through this extensive process, we have determined this challenge's winner. First up, though, are the runners-up, and those are:

- Esifex, I loved your entry. The song was so insanely catchy, and the twist at the end was great. Good job on the first musical entry to the Weekly Writing Contest! \o/
- Roukan, please be my sobiame you already know what I think about your entry. :3 Now I have to write more White Rose, don't I? Damn you!
- Iced, the poker game with the Devil appealed to me on a personal level, even though I'm supposed to be recovering from my gambling addiction. :derp: And Ayuka gets points from me for having a Remilia with a yukkuri ranch. I howled with laughter.

I have noticed that the quality of the overall writing gets better and better every week-- it gets harder and harder to choose the winners, though choose we must. This makes victory mean that much more for the winner, at least~

And speaking of the right proper winner, here we go:
Ammy! You said you loved watching old spaghetti westerns back when you were younger, and it showed in your fic. Chao and I especially liked it; you really captured the feel of the western setting, and for this, you get Spec-- Wait, damn, you already have it?! Aw, consarn it. Hmm, what else can I grant you?

Oh, wait, I forgot this existed! Well, that makes things easier. Ammy, enjoy your oh-so-special reward above that of SM, Yellow Member! (No yellow-belly jokes here, nope.)


Okay! Now we can get started on this week's challenge, can we? Do we have permission for that? Houston? Houston, are you there? Like, at all? Oh dear...
August 23, 2010: "Eientei, we are clear for takeoff!"

Do not try this at home

Anyone who's watched Toy Story 3 lately should recall that the successor to the Wild West Era has to be the Space Age! That's right, we're leaving the ranches of the untamed west to the new horizon, out there in space! It's like SSiB all over again! You can put whatever spin on this you like-- if Aki Eda can get away with windows on moon rockets, so can you-- or you can have the Moriya Empire crush the Hakurei Alliance. Will you choose realism, or will you choose to set all of Gensokyo on its own planet? It's up to you!

Oh, and be sure to not get caught outside without oxygen-- that'd be bad for you. Have fun writin', folks!

Tengukami

  • Breaking news. Any season.
  • *
  • I said, with a posed look.
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge! - Current: "Wild West Touhou!"
« Reply #342 on: August 23, 2010, 05:48:54 PM »
Wow, thanks! I have to remember to send Clint Eastwood a thank-you email for this. It was a real pleasure to write this, and I'm glad it was enjoyed.

Space, eh? Awesome. I already know what I'm writing.

"Human history and growth are both linked closely to strife. Without conflict, humanity would have no impetus for growth. When humans are satisfied with their present condition, they may as well give up on life."

Ayuka

  • Pursuer of cute things
  • Not obsessive in the slightest.
    • Neko Arrange
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge! - Current: "Wild West Touhou!"
« Reply #343 on: August 23, 2010, 06:22:27 PM »
'Grats Tengukami! You are a shining example to the rest of us! [/lame pun]

Space. Hmmm.

Alfred F. Jones

  • Estamos orgullosos del Batall?n Lincoln
  • *
  • y de la lucha que hizo por Madrid
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge! - Current: "Touhous IN SPACE!"
« Reply #344 on: August 23, 2010, 08:07:24 PM »
Topic title changed accordingly. :3

Bias Bus

  • It's unpleasent
  • *
  • if you're better than me
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge! - Current: "Touhous IN SPACE!"
« Reply #345 on: August 25, 2010, 10:19:29 PM »
I can do Space.

Lots of different possibilities to bring forth entities that are far beyond our realm of comprehension...
No Math Zone - Tumblr (slight nsfw) | Legend of a Hot-Blooded Pig

"The only guy you know to draw fat Touhous." - Erebus

Alfred F. Jones

  • Estamos orgullosos del Batall?n Lincoln
  • *
  • y de la lucha que hizo por Madrid
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge! - Current: "Touhous IN SPACE!"
« Reply #346 on: August 25, 2010, 10:28:10 PM »
Oh, you know what? I forgot to clarify the submission date for this. Uhh.... my bad. Consider this another two-week challenge. We'll probably go back to the one-week schedule now that school has started again, unless you writer folks would prefer it remain two weeks.

Kinzo the Astro Curious

  • One small step for Desu; One giant leap for touhou-kind!
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge! - Current: "Touhous IN SPACE!"
« Reply #347 on: August 27, 2010, 03:10:02 PM »
I'm interested in this challenge, but my writing skills are... meh  :V

Ryuu

  • time for kittyrina lessons
  • time to press r again
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge! - Current: "Touhous IN SPACE!"
« Reply #348 on: August 27, 2010, 05:43:52 PM »
I'm interested in this challenge, but my writing skills are... meh  :V

...only one way to improve them.

(ps do it)

http://ryuukyunplaysstuff.tumblr.com/ read about me playing league i guess

Kinzo the Astro Curious

  • One small step for Desu; One giant leap for touhou-kind!
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge! - Current: "Touhous IN SPACE!"
« Reply #349 on: August 27, 2010, 11:10:43 PM »
Well I've wrote a short fairly incomplete taster, I'm slightly tempted to post it up already even if its not a complete story but more like a part of a chapter - so really incomplete; just because its already ended up with a fanwork after I let someone proof read it  :V

(Its still aweful though)

Esifex

  • Though the sun may set
  • *
  • It shall rise again
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge! - Current: "Touhous IN SPACE!"
« Reply #350 on: August 28, 2010, 01:03:30 AM »
(Its still aweful though)

No one knows this yet - not even Purvis - but Purvis' little submissions are designed to be intentionally hilariously horrible so everyone feels safe and secure submitting their own works.

However, he's a little late this time, so I'm gonna go ahead and do it for him.

"This is Red-white Five, I'm going in!" Reimu pushed the flight stick forward, pitching herself into the Yatagaseru Star's trench.

"Hmm, the Danmaku is strong with this one, *khhhh - zeee*" Marisa Vader said as she settled into the trench behind her.

Alfred F. Jones

  • Estamos orgullosos del Batall?n Lincoln
  • *
  • y de la lucha que hizo por Madrid
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge! - Current: "Touhous IN SPACE!"
« Reply #351 on: August 28, 2010, 06:11:04 PM »
"Hmm, the Danmaku is strong with this one, *khhhh - zeee*" Marisa Vader said as she settled into the trench behind her.
My god. I am laughing so hard there are tears in my eyes.

And yes, Torpedo, you won't get better at this writing thing unless you practice practice practice. So go for it!

Dead Princess Sakana

  • *
  • E is for Elodie, who swims with the fishes.
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge! - Current: "Touhous IN SPACE!"
« Reply #352 on: August 28, 2010, 07:34:57 PM »
"This is Red-white Five, I'm going in!" Reimu pushed the flight stick forward, pitching herself into the Yatagaseru Star's trench.

"Hmm, the Danmaku is strong with this one, *khhhh - zeee*" Marisa Vader said as she settled into the trench behind her.
I'll give biased bonus points to whoever writes a full entry out of that  :]

Kinzo the Astro Curious

  • One small step for Desu; One giant leap for touhou-kind!
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge! - Current: "Touhous IN SPACE!"
« Reply #353 on: August 28, 2010, 08:20:05 PM »
"Hmm, the Danmaku is strong with this one, *khhhh - zeee*" Marisa Vader said as she settled into the trench behind her.

You are now obliged to complete this. 1 sentence. 1 million possibilities.

So should I take this week to complete it fully, or post what I have any maybe add more later?  :/

Alfred F. Jones

  • Estamos orgullosos del Batall?n Lincoln
  • *
  • y de la lucha que hizo por Madrid
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge! - Current: "Touhous IN SPACE!"
« Reply #354 on: August 29, 2010, 04:22:31 AM »
So should I take this week to complete it fully, or post what I have any maybe add more later? :/
Take as long as you like up until the deadline! I'd certainly like to see what you can come up with if you use as much time as you can get. :3

FinnKaenbyou

  • Formerly Roukanken
  • *
  • blub blub nya
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge! - Current: "Touhous IN SPACE!"
« Reply #355 on: September 01, 2010, 02:32:40 AM »
I swear I did not plan for this thing to be so long. I am sorry.

-----

It had been 50 years now since the world ended.

Or at least, that's what they had called it to start with. When the Hakurei maiden passed on without an heir, the Great Hakurei Border slowly began to crumble. Youkai of every race and colour were lost in panic, ready for the idyllic world they knew and loved to be consumed by the greedy hands of man. Their last hiding place was set to be smoked out, and when the disbelievers seeped in they would simply cease to exist.

Of course, the truly wise youkai were not among those crying out in fear of the end times. They knew that the powers that be were prepared - it may have required more effort and planning than most would have considered possible, but when it came to Yukari Yakumo 'possible' was a word that lost all meaning. A thousand years of meticulous planning and construction? More resources and research than could ever have possibly been produced in the short time Gensokyo had left? Child's play.

And so it was that on the day scheduled to be Gensokyo's last, that the entire nation felt the ground shaking beneath their legs. The rivers dried up, the land tore itself apart, and the mountains collapsed in a rain of crushing stone. The world caved in on itself, its entire mass collapsing into a single point before it faded away forever into nothingness.

It was a relief, then, that the residents of Gensokyo had already fled to the stars.

A team of kappa engineers had been spirited away beforehand to build the new homeland. It was a job that they never lived to see the end of, only reaching its completion by the third generation of the families. To the rest of Gensokyo, though, only a day had passed, and none of them were prepared for the technological monolith that they retreated to.

It was unofficially christened Neo-Gensokyo or simply The NG, but it was by no means better than the original. Yes, the technology that had been built here was ingenious and indistinguishable to the old magic - Yukari had quoted some foreign author on that one - but the entire thing felt horribly artificial. It was most obvious of all to the tengu, flying upwards only to see a glass dome protecting them from the lethal vacuum of space.

So some youkai broke away, and began to found their own colonies away from the first. Each began seeking the beauty of the Gensokyo they had known and loved; each ended in painful resignation, simply seeking to make their colony large and wealthy enough to be worth trading with. Yukari was disappointed, but focused simply on the people of Neo-Gensokyo and protecting them from the bandits and pirates that would inevitably rise up among the dissenters.

For all her power, though, Yukari Yakumo was only one woman. Perhaps she could spare enough attention to deal with the lesser foes, but against an experienced foe her duties as The NG's self-appointed ruler were too much of a distraction. And so the rumours began to spread about a gang of former NG residents who made it their goal to rob the innocent and spread across their wealth. No-one knew their names, but together they made up one of the most threatening bandit groups the galaxy had ever known.

They called themselves the Disciples.

-----

"Come in, Docking Command, this is Freighter TH-Twelve, requesting permission to dock."

Always with the lousy paperwork. Back in the old days it had been a simple matter of parking your ship wherever there was room, but right here in the present there was always someone complaining about safety or security or something lousy like that. Now she had the pleasure of waiting thirty seconds for someone to pick up and respond to her when he wasn't busy dealing with the other two dozen ships trying to dock at the same time as her.

"...Ah, roger, TH-Twelve, this is Docking Command. One moment, please, while I look up your freighter in our database..."

And of course there was the ID check to go through as well. She ran her fingers along the buttons of the control panel in front of her - not that there was anything to worry about, given that the entire system was on auto-pilot now. She missed the days when piloting a ship required something resembling skill - nowadays it was simple enough that a drunken oni could turn on a 5-yen piece in her sleep. It made her ashamed to call herself a captain sometimes.

"...Alright, everything looks good. Magnetic Coil Guidance systems enabled. You should be ready to depart within a few minutes. Thank you, and enjoy your visit to Neo-Gensokyo."

"Thank you, Command. TH-Twelve Out. ...Jeez."

The check had turned up nothing. That's what she had expected, but there was always just enough of a doubt in it to bring her pulse up a little. Mouse had promised the new codes would be safe, but one of these days she was inevitably going to get it wrong. The ship started moving without her lifting a finger, pulling itself into the docks with the utmost precision. She hated it, for lack of a better word.

She had been afraid of what would happen when things moved on. Most of all, her greatest fear had been that she would disappear - without an ocean or even a ship to be linked to, would she simply pass on? There was no room for a magical answer - not when the land of the NG pulsated with the beatings of a mechanical heart. Magic was a lost art, and while technology had taken its place she had assumed there were some things that science just wouldn't be able to save.

That was before she'd been given this new body.

Sometimes she still heard the whirrs and clicks in her wrists, and there was the occasional shortout that needed to be repaired, but besides that it all felt incredibly natural. They'd found some way to connect her spirit to the robotic body she was now encased in, and while it obviously wasn't as fluid and free as her old form it was definitely better than nothing.

The whirring and spinning of the gears in her legs when she walked was almost invisible to her now, she'd heard it so often. She knew it would attract attention when she stepped out into the NG, but it wasn't like cyborgs were an absolute rarity.

It was amazing how much it resembled her old self, at least at first glance. The same short black hair, though it never grew; the same pale green eyes, though they never shone or cried. There was nothing to gain in sitting around thinking about all the ways she'd changed, so she didn't.

The ship's whirring came to a halt. The docking was complete, it seemed. The captain lifted herself out of her chair and made her way to the bridge - most likely there was going to be a final meeting to attend before everyone disembarked. Even if her job was to hold up the ship and make sure they could make a run for it the instant the job was done, it was worth showing up for.

After all, any good crime required some meticulous planning.

-----

She didn't have a name when she was down here.

Names were a liability in her line of work. She didn't use hers, and indeed neither did her crewmates. Names were a rare luxury that they could only afford traveling between colonies when there was no risk of them being traced or overheard.

Ghost, of course, would be busy looking after the ship. The last thing they would need was to have their escape route cut off, so it was only logical for someone to stay behind and keep watch. That left three agents working with her in the NG operation: Tiger, Fist, and Lotus.

But first, she had to make her move. Without intel, tonight's heist would fail without a doubt. And when it came to hunting down intel, there was no-one in the field who could match the Mouse.

Neo-Gensokyo was a pretty picture painted on a rotten canvas. If you were willing to look a little deeper then everyday life led you, there was a well-established black market ready to offer you all the information you could ever want. She dipped her toes in here a few times before, when the job had called on her to 'learn' about some of the local aristocrats.

Today's target was the Hinanai family - an esteemed group of former Celestials that had used their old divine contacts to make themselves one of the richest families in the NG. They were by no means well-liked, and they were said to have their hands in more than a few doubtful businesses, but money had an uncanny ability to make all of those accusations disappear. So did a well placed shot to the head, but no-one would hear of that.

Not that any of that mattered to Mouse. She simply wanted to learn a little about the Hinanai household. There'd be a copy of the blueprints somewhere, and of course for the sake of completionism they'd include a guide on the Hinanai family vault. Not that the seller endorsed robbing the wealthy bastards of their blood money, obviously, and you'd never find proof to suggest that they did.

She dressed well, but not well enough to arouse suspicion. There were two ways to cover yourself nowadays - the simple skintight suit with no real flair, or the extravagant, tuxedo-like Mk. II suits made to resemble the fine wear of the olden days. They had been a revolution on the part of Scarlet Industries, though the inspiration of the family's butlers and maids was more evident than they'd have liked to admit.

Mouse settled somewhere in between - it was a Mk. II, true, but it had seen better days, with its defined black coating now fading into a pale shade of grey. It matched her hair by a matter of convenience, but it compared to her bright red eyes there were few people who could talk with her and spend time looking at her choice of clothing.

It wasn't hers, which explained the occasional red stain around the sleeve.

There had been ears once, and a tail. The Mouse codename had been more literal then, but with the descent of magic the youkai of old had their fantastic nature begin to fade away. Only Yukari Yakumo could claim to be at her full strength nowadays, but the rest of the NG had found ways to catch up. Ways that involved bullets flying at high speeds into other people, mainly.

Anyway, she'd already got in touch with one of her local contacts, and arranged a meeting place. The first rule of walking around the NG's back alleys was to keep your head down at all times - no-one here liked the feeling of being watched. Seeing something that you weren't supposed to was the easiest way to earn yourself a ticket to the nearest incinerator. Mouse focused on the floor, the map of the streets running through her mind as she turned almost arbitrarily. She found herself at last in an abandoned old alley. The street, like many others, was almost like an appendix - it served no purpose in its construction, which meant that meetings could take place here in relative privacy.

She wasn't alone as she stepped in. She couldn't see it, but her time on the streets had given her an intuition strong enough to step in when her five senses weren't enough. Sure enough, a figure moved out of the shadows as she approached, revealing a young-looking woman in a plain white Mk. I. She'd gone to the extent of adding a little flair by adding a pair of small wing accessories on its back.

No wonder she was known as the Crow.

She was one of the few contacts who Mouse knew by name. By day, she was Aya Shameimaru, ambitious journalist seeking to tear down the walls of blackmail and bribery that were keeping the NG encased in this unwanted aristocracy. Of course, her work in that field was as unsuccessful as would be expected, so by night she offered her information to whoever she felt could use it the most as the Crow. Maybe it involved getting her hands dirty in the process, but no omelette ever got made without cracking a few eggs first.

"Going for Hinanai tonight, huh?"

Crow started the discussion with a cheery little question. She received a glare in response. Mouse had already told her as much, and if there was anything she couldn't stand it was repeating herself. The smile on her contact's face slowly slipped away as she realised now wasn't the time for playful remarks.

"Gee, you need to lighten up. Your face is gonna stick like that someday if you don't grin every once in a while."

Mouse grit her teeth, growing more irritated by her partner's lack of severity. Lotus already gave her enough of a headache on a regular basis, so the last thing she was willing to deal with was more of this unneeded cheerfulness.

"Just tell me what you've got."

"OK, OK, I get it. You really fit the businesswoman getup, though you ought take that to the dry-cleaners one of these days."

The Crow reached into the satchel she'd brought along, pulling out a few rolled-up sheets of paper. Mouse rolled them out and gave their contents a quick glance to check that she wasn't being fooled. Crow had no reason to give out false free information, but it never hurt to be safe.

"Hm. Looks good. Guard duty?"

"Two at a time, covering the entrance. Shifts every 6 hours, on the hour. Guard's quarters is down the corridor from the vault entrance. No cameras."

That was excellent news for the Disciples, though Mouse would never go so far as to celebrate it. She made a note of the quarters on the map, marking them as safe with a green circle.

"Thanks."

People like the Crow made this job a lot easier. She smiled as she received the compliment, though this one seemed a little more restrained.

"Don't mention it. The Hinanai family are one of the worst out there, and they have a habit of making people...disappear."

She seemed pained as she let out that last point. Mouse had heard stories of the Crow losing a partner in her line of work, something about Inubashiri or something like that. She knew better than to press on the point, giving her contact a small nod before making her way out of the alleyway.

That, effectively, was her job done. She made her way out of the alley, remembering to keep a low profile as she made her way back to the NG's shinier, happier districts. If this information was accurate, the next changing of the guard would be at midnight, which gave them only hours to prepare. This info, though, would hopefully give them enough of an edge to make it into the vault and rob the Celestials blind.

Maybe after the job was done, the escape was made, the goods were safely tucked away, and the ship was well out of the NG's jurisdiction, Mouse would finally allow herself to wear something resembling a smile.

-----

Eleven fifty-eight.

"Man, could time be moving any slower?"

Hong Meiling, professional bodyguard to the Hinanai family, let out a little complaint as she waited around for her shift to start. The guards' quarters was barren, offering only a few chairs and a couch for comfort - a strict contrast to the extravagant furniture that adorned the remainder of the mansion. The difference in class between the protectors and the protected was, in a word, blatant, though it still offered the same resilient, soundproof walling the rest of the mansion was built with.

"You think it's bad now? Wait until you get to spent six hours standing idly in front of a giant, metal door. It's the kinda shit that makes me wish they let me drink on the job."

"Everything makes you wish you could drink on the job."

"Yeah, and?"

Yuugi Hoshiguma was a shining example of the modern oni mindset. If you didn't like it, drink the problem away and enjoy a few hours of bliss before you wake up in a ditch with unexplained marks on your neck. Rinse and repeat as necessary.

She couldn't say she'd come to the Hinanai house willingly for employment. No-one did, in truth - the rumours about the family's ties to the underground spread thick and fast around the NG. No-one spoke of them outside of hushed privacy, though, which if anything doubled the eerie aura they held. Still, money had to come from somewhere, and for all their supposed bribery the Celestials sure had a lot of money to spare. And there were definitely harder ways to work for less money than standing guard in front of a stupid vault that no-one would be stupid enough to rob.

Eleven fifty-nine.

"They 'oughta be coming back round now. I know 'em, they're the sort that'll dodge the last couple 'a minutes 'cause no-one's looking. All the more work for us."

Meiling shrugged, yawning. Drawing the midnight shift had been a lousy turnout for her, but money was money. Scarlet Industries had laid her off after she got into a dispute with her boss which she still insisted she was being unfairly persecuted on, but somehow a lawyer convinced the jury that referring to someone as China was not, in fact, derogative. And it certainly wasn't worth the dislocated jaw Meiling had handed out.

Fortunately, the Hinanai family were willing to look past minor things like criminal history. They had need of someone with her experience in martial arts, and more importantly they were willing to pay her handsomely for it. And on top of that, the uniform was a rather nice-looking jet-black Mk. II. Better than what Scarlet had her wearing, that was for sure.

"Aaaaaaand...twelve."

The door opened along with the chime of midnight. The two members of the old guard stepped in, looking down at the floor. It figured - with a job like that, anyone would be on the verge of falling asleep.

"Alright, you two. Good job out there, keepin' away all those intruders. Hard work, huh?"

Yuugi immediately walked up to the pair, ready to give them a cheerful greeting as she made to start her shift. There was no initial response, so she gave it a second shot.

"Well, you get to go have fun now. There are still probably a lotta bars open at this ho-"

All Meiling saw from the other side of the room was a slight shuffle from one of the guards towards Yuugi.

The oni fell to the floor in an instant, unconscious.

"The hell!?"

The traitor quickly leapt over Yuugi's collapsed body, jumping straight for Meiling. The bodyguard reacted keenly, pulling a hand out to block her opponent's outstretched foot and throw it aside in a single fluid motion. Her attacker fell at her side, her opening strike deflected.

"Oh, not bad. It's been a while since I've fought someone who knew how to block. Melee combat never seems to make a showing anymore, does it?"

Was it a compliment, an insult? Meiling wasn't sure. She'd been issued a blaster, like every member of the Hinanai guard. There was logically nothing stopping her from pulling out her weapon and blasting her opponent into a pile of dust.

And yet...she couldn't. She knew it was base pride stopping her, but the girl's words struck a nerve in her heart. The other guard simply stood at the entrance, waiting for her to finish up.

"...Heh. An honourable fight, then? And to who do I owe a rare pleasure like that?"

The 'guard' looked up at her with proud violet eyes, her long purple hair running freely down her back. She raised a single hand out with an outstretched palm.

"Names are worthless. You can call me..."

The hand clenched up in an instant. Meiling could almost feel the force held within.

"...Fist."

Meiling grinned. Apparently she wasn't the only one confident in her own abilities.

"Alright, then. Let's savour this little fragment of history."

There was a moment of silence. Both fighters tensed themselves, ready to strike.

Fist flew forward, both hands swinging wildly in Meiling's direction. Or at least it looked wild, but as she blocked the blows that rained down the ex-guard could see that each attack was carefully aimed to test her. She would block a low shot to the kidney, only to have to shift her defense upwards abruptly to stop a jab to the face, before another attack aimed straight at her chest. Showing such accuracy while attacking so erratically...that was impressive, Meiling had to admit.

Still, she could only keep this up for so long. Maybe in the olden days an attack like this could have lasted, but when the magic of Gensokyo faded so did a good deal of the youkai race's natural strength. Meiling had kept herself in shape with constant training, but even then she wasn't anywhere near as strong as she'd been back when the air wasn't doubly filtered to keep it breathable.

Her opponent, on the other hand, looked like she was wearing out. The attacks were slowing down, and it was starting to get easier to block them. Now was the crucial moment, and Meiling waited for precisely the right time to act.

It came almost immediately. A tired, sluggish punch that Meiling could have followed with her eyes closed, aimed straight for her face. Her hand reached out, grabbing at the fist and wrapping her hand around it. That was it. She had the upper hand, now, and even better she'd come up with a cool one-liner to finish the whole thing off.

"Paper covers rock!"

She pressed down on the trapped hand, meanwhile pulling her free arm back to perform the finishing punch. It had been a short fight, but it was one she'd remember and no doubt earn a promotion for-

Wham.

"Ah...?"

There had been a second fist, hiding in the blind spot between Meiling's eyes and the first, landing straight in Meiling's gut. Two fingers were outstretched, ramming into a pair of sensitive pressure points for maximum damage. Meiling's eyes glazed over, and she fell to the floor with a look of awe still attached to her face.

"...Scissors cut paper."

Fist glanced at the pair of fallen guards for a moment, checking that they'd both been incapacitated. There was no response, so she simply shrugged and made for the doorway. Tiger had been keeping watch, though given that the supposed guards were currently lying on the floor in a heap there wasn't much to worry about. They made their way back out the corridor, stepping over the two guards who Yuugi and Meiling had been expecting, both unconscious and stripped down.

"Nice getup, isn't it? Think it'd make a pretty sweet souvenir."

Tiger shot her mouth now that there was no need to worry about being covert or secretive. She examined the Mk. II she'd borrowed indefinitely from a fallen guard - it clung rather neatly to her figure, almost as if it had been crafted for her. Maybe the Mk. II was a one-size-fit-all? She'd never been into fashion, and it was no surprise that her blonde hair was ruffled around in no real recognisable pattern. An occasional artifical streak of black ran across it as she looked down on herself with her golden eyes.

"Hm. Personally, I have to say I preferred the suits that the Mizuhashi house used."

"Mizuhashi?! They were freaking lime green. Who'd want to be seen in that?"

They made their way to the now unprotected vault door, looking foreboding enough even without two armed guards in front of it. A small keypad on the side offered them the rights to enter if they could only offer it a four digit code.

"I assume you have this covered, Tiger?"

"Four digits? No problem."

She said as much, but her method of cracking the keypad did nothing to instill any confidence. Her finger darted around the keypad, not pressing any button for a moment as she focused on it. She seemed to be trying to read the machine's mind, producing a winning combination to enter. They'd only get one shot at this, so it was down to her making a good guess.

Four hasty taps later, the vault door began to open. Fist sighed incredulously.

"I don't know how you do it. Really."

"What can I say? Guess I was just born lucky."

Well, the fingerprints on the keypad helped out a lot, but she never bothered mentioning that to anyone else. It killed the aura of mystery.

The vault door swung upon with a majestic creak, revealing its innards to the two scavengers. There were gems of every shape and colour, walls lined with gold and laced with platinum, and all sorts of miscellaneous artifacts in-between. Both of the Disciples removed small modules from their suits, which at their order opened up to become full sized bags.

The kappa called the inventions Bags of Holding, though the name always sounded horribly archaic to everyone else.

They quickly started grabbing the most expensive-looking items they could find, dumping them in the bags and getting ready to run. They didn't know how the bag could hold so much without feeling heavy, or how it could be compressed into its miniature size again without harming its contents. Either way, they didn't really care, and simply made the most of it as they stuffed their bags full with the goods. Science nowadays may as well have been magic.

The treasure hunt came to a sudden end as a low wailing sounded in the distance. Tiger cursed under her breath.

"We never got told about an automated security system!"

"Well, these families are good with their dirty secrets. It shouldn't be that much of a surprise."

Fist seemed unafraid, simply closing up her bag and clipping it back around her waist. Tiger let out a sigh, her hand reaching for one of the blasters at her side as she finished up. One was the property of one of the guards lying unconscious in the corridor, while the other was one she'd custom-made. Indistinguishable from the outside, but it packed a little punch that most standard models lacked.

"Better run through the mook's gun first. It's a pain to reload these things."

Blasters were one of the shadier inventions of the modern era, but once they'd emerged they were almost impossible to eradicate from the underground. There had been several attempts to contraband the weapons - or at one point, they'd been desperate enough to try and stop producing the ammunition - but shadier groups always managed to avoid the eye of the law and keep the weapons circulating. All the attempted bans did was give them an excuse to charge higher prices for the weaponry. Apparently they fired with the help of a portable nuclear reactor inside the device - Reiuji class, whatever that meant.

The wailing in the distance grew louder. Both bandits took cover behind the vault wall, listening intently for the approach of the noise. Now they could make out the sound of a propeller coming closer as well, and they primed their weapons ready for fire.

Unsurprisingly, Tiger was the first to react as the copter turret poked its head into the vault, putting it clean in her sights and firing true. A green laser-like stream emerged from within, catching the machine in its path for an instant. When the light dissipated, the back half of the machine fell to the floor in a heap of junk, its propeller still chugging along pathetically.

"Man, they're working with Kawashiro? This is gonna be easier than I thought."

Kawashiro was a small security company, whose founder had completely ignored the technological advances of a thousand years of kappa ingenuity and simply used her own knowledge to produce protective automatons. Needless to say, her works were not the leading brand in the market, but they were definitely the cheapest. Hinanai was a cheapskate, and it showed.

The path out of the mansion would be fraught with opposition, with maybe a dozen of these copter turrets on patrol. Each of them was armed with a more conventional weapon, strong enough to take down any potential intruder even if it didn't match the power of the blaster. Fortunately, they were sluggish and had incredibly poor aim, almost as if they were trying to miss.

Needless to say, to a pair of expert gunners like them, these defenses were basically childs play. For all their weaponry, the turrets suffered from a terrible case of noise, and so its targets were always ready to shoot it out of the sky the instant it emerged. Tiger insisted that they take turns firing - it was ammo conservation, she argued, though her own favourite weapon stayed strapped at her waist.

Fist and Tiger slowly worked their way through the mansion's corridors, leaving a trail of scrap in their wake. No doubt the police had been called in, but up until now it had been something of a breeze. In fact, as the stepped out into the main hall, it almost felt...

Stomp. Stomp. Stomp.

...Too easy.

The machine that stepped into the room didn't look like she posed a threat at first glance, dressed in a traditional maid uniform while sporting rather ridiculous looking green hair.

That was before until they noticed the rather hefty looking beam weapon it was carrying in both arms.

"TARGETS IDENTIFIED.
CHECKING AGAINST EMPLOYEE DATABASE...NO MATCH FOUND.
EXTERMINATION PROTOCOL INITIATED."

The weapon pointed straight at the pair, taking a moment to charge up. Fist and Tiger both found themselves staring into the barrel for an instant, seeing a light green flame appear from inside.

They came to their senses and dodged out of the way just before the green spark devastated the corridor behind them. At the other side of the room, a frightened looking janitor hid beneath the a staircase for safety.

"Oh, come on. Right at the door, too!"

Tiger let off a complaint as she ducked behind cover, looking up only momentarily to try and fire at the enemy. There were no complaints about conserving ammo now - letting up on this thing was likely to earn her a heaping serving of green, fiery death. Fist was firing from the other side of the room as well, but the maid effortlessly sidestepped the attacks and watched uninterested as the lasers flew right past her.

Crap, it's an Okazaki model!

No-one knew how the Okazaki models had come into existence. Some said that the original had been designed by a time-travelling human who'd visited Gensokyo on a whim, but the initial technology had been too close to the modern day for that to be believable. Still, nowadays the Okazaki model had been improved to become the deadliest - and most expensive - of all the robotics currently in the field. The secret lay in their famous Gunshot Redirection with Almost Zero Effort engine. Usually just known as the GRAZE engine, it was capable of dodging attacks from almost point blank range without a hint of error.

There was a click as Tiger found her weapon running on empty, not scoring a single hit.

"Dammit."

She ducked down as another green beam flew over her head. She discarded the guard's gun now that it had outlived its use, seeing Fist do the same with her own weapon. Her eyes glanced down to the unused blaster still at her waist.

"Tiger, fire that thing already!"

Fist looked distressed as she looked to her companion, now defenseless against the Okazaki model's attack. Tiger pouted, looking indecisive about the idea.

"But the ammo for this thing is crazy rare! I don't want to use it if I don't have to-"

"You can't use it if you're dead, remember?!"

That was a good enough argument for her. Tiger let out a heaving sigh, finally unsheathing her trademark weapon.

"Fine, fine! Just remember, you owe me one for this!"

The blaster still looked ordinary as she stood up and pointed it at the Okazaki model. The maid simply turned its weapon towards the Tiger, ready to shoot her in the face unless a shot came from the gun. Even then, it was ready to step aside the instant a threat occured, and by now it had locked onto its target had run out of useful cover.

The gun let out a louder blast than usual, but the difference in firepower was barely noticable. The GRAZE engine kicked in, and the maid shifted to the side, expecting the laser to swing right beside her without a hint of damage.

Instead, it curved mid-flight and proceeded to catch the machine in the chest.

"ERROR. ERROR. FATAL EXCEPTION HAS OCCURRED AT LOCATION 00xH1TB0x..."

The machine spat out an error message as its innards let out a desperate whirring. It dropped its weapon with a clang on the floor as its inner gears slowed to a halt. It died standing, a single hand poking at the clean hole through its chest.

Tiger groaned.

"Seriously, homing shots for this thing take forever to make. I'd say that was worth a week of dinner duties."

"Five days."

"Sold."

The smoke began to clear, revealing the room to be a broken-down mess. There were burn marks imprinted in the walls, and some of the valuable artwork hung around the room had been torched in the crossfire. The latest daughter of the Hinanai family wasn't much of a looker anyway, though, so it was no great loss.

Tiger took this moment to place her trusty weapon back at her waist. She called it the Pagoda, a last remnant of her religious days. Sadly, when Gensokyo disappeared old religion disappeared with it, and the new religions were too chock-full of aliens and alternate universes for her to really believe in them. Now all they had to do was make their way back to the ship and-

"Freeze."

Oh, come on.

A voice emerged from the doorway, as another gunwielder emerged on the scene. The dark blue Mk. II was the sign of a member of the police force, and she pointed a military-issue blaster at the pair. Tiger grit her teeth as the gun zeroed in on her - there was no way she could pull out her gun before the cop shot her down.

"By the power invested in me by Chief Commissioner Yamaxanadu, I, Komachi Ono...aw, screw it, you know what I'm gonna say. You're both under arrest for grand theft."

Komachi kept her gun primed as she moved in, keeping an eye on both criminals as she moved in. Her free hand reached into her pocket to pull out a pair of cuffs. She'd cuff the armed one first, then her partner. There was no problem as long as she kept them both in her sights.

Or at least, there wouldn't have been if a broom hadn't taken that very moment to smash against her skull.

"Ugh..."

Komachi fell to the floor in a heap, her arms only making it halfway to her head before she passed out. Tiger and Fist looked on in awe, neither of them expecting to be saved at a time like this.

From behind Komachi, the janitor who had hidden behind the stairway earlier gave the pair a calm grin.

"Sorry for joining you without an invitation, but I heard that you'd have a guest from the police force dropping by. And I know you two well enough to know you'd never shoot a policewoman on duty, would you?"

Tiger froze for a moment, and let out a grin. Honestly, the woman's skill with disguise was almost uncanny - only now was it clear who their rescuer had been. She offered her companions a smile, removing her hat and revealing a head of long, brown hair. Looking at her, she seemed pure and innocent, but you never realised how dangerous she could be until it was too late.

There was a reason why they called her the Lotus.

-----

Six feet battered against the metal plates of the ship as they ran inside. Ghost could hear their footsteps even from in her own quarters as she watched the bandit trio dash back into their home base. Mouse had returned some time ago, so now the crew was back together again. Ghost turned on the intercom, activating it in the airlock to communicate with her superior.

"Lotus, this is Ghost. Status?"

"Heist successful. Local law enforcement en route."

The captain put on a sadistic smile. Those were exactly the words she'd been hoping to hear since they'd docked.

"So, I guess you don't want me to wait around and play nice, then?"

"You've been waiting around patiently for us. I think you deserve a reward."

Ghost allowed herself a fist-pump as she reached out for the red button on her control panel. It was labelled ominously with the words 'MANUAL CONTROL', threatening to deactivate every function of the auto-pilot.

She pressed it without a hint of doubt, immediately turning to the various screens and panels that were needed to run the freighter.

"Alright then. Main thrusters, on...angle of calibration is clean. No immediate obstacles for the next 15 kilometres, gives us more than enough time to hit the secret weapon."

Her fingers tended to the buttons like a virtuoso treated a pianist - with absolute precision and the utmost care. Not a second was wasted in bringing the main engines of the machine to life, waking it up from its supposed slumber. The radio crackled on, and a flustered voice started to speak up.

"U-Um, Freighter TH-Twelve? This is Docking Command, requesting that you reactivate your auto-pilot and obey normal operating procedures for the safety of-"

"SHUT THE HELL UP, COMMAND!"

She turned off the radio on her side of the connection, leaving whatever poor sucker had been talking to her gibbering to himself. Chalk up another win for Ghost.

"Alright, kid. Show me what you're capable of."

She placed her hands on the main joystick, pressing a thumb down on the red button in its centre. The ship burst into life immediately, breaking away from the dock in a matter of seconds. On land just outside the port, a set of a dozen fuming guards were calling for backup and security, but it was far too late now.

"YAAAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Ghost guided the freighter through the maze of ships, never so much as clipping another vessel. Her high-flying antics had been known to cause many a stomach-ache, but she was uncatchable when she was at the helm of a vehicle. It wasn't long before the Disciples had emerged from within the NG spaceport, without so much as a scratch. There was no way anything could catch them now, and they quickly turned into nothing but a blip on the radar. Then, in an instant, the ship disappeared from even that, as if it had simply ceased to exist.

No-one was close enough to see it fly into a dark purple slit in space, which folded in on itself soon afterward.

-----

"Haaaah. I love doing that."

Ghost took a trip to the bridge to meet up with the rest of the crew now that they were out of harm's way. She had been skeptical about installing that secret weapon, but as it turned out the practice she'd now dubbed Jumping the Gap was the easiest way to avoid the beady eyes of the law. Not to mention the feeling of shifting several light years through space in a matter of seconds was incredible.

Anyway, the deed was done, and now was the time to indulge in celebration. Ghost opened up the path to the bridge, seeing that everyone else had already taken a seat. Lotus, of course, was seated at the end, with the rest of the Disciples sitting at her sides. Ghost took the one remaining free space, sitting alongside Fist as the head of the crew started with her victory toast.

Of course, they were all celebrating with tea, one of the few customs that had survived the fall of Gensokyo.

"Today, we've dealt another great blow to the noble scum that would keep the people of Neo-Gensokyo down. No doubt the underground scene will lose a lot of strength now that the Hinanai family can't fund them so freely. And of course, none of this could have been possible without all your help, so let me take this moment to thank each and every one of you."

This was a moment of triumph; codenames didn't matter anymore. She looked at her friends - no, her family - with an expression of pride.

"Murasa, Nazrin, Ichirin, Shou...you have done this ship proud."

Byakuren offered her thanks as she raised her cup upwards. Four hands reached outwards to it, pressing their own cups against it as a toast.

"To the Disciples!"

""""TO THE DISCIPLES!""""

The five thieves declared their toast in unison, before enjoying their tea in comparative silence. Now was a simple matter of waiting for the sixth guest to arrive.

She appeared, as always, on the opposite end of the table from Byakuren, casually walking in through a violet hole in the air.

"Ah, my apologies. Am I late for the toast?"

It was no surprise, really. Yukari Yakumo seemed to be terminally late, always arriving just after the crew had finished their celebrations. By now it was more than obvious she was doing it deliberately.

"Of course you are, Yukari. Don't worry, there's still plenty of tea to be had."

"I'd be honoured."

The secret weapon hadn't come from nowhere, and it didn't run on any scientific protocol. It ran on pure magic, and there was only one source of that left in the NG - Yukari Yakumo herself. It was a simple deal - as the leader of the NG, she could hardly be caught stealing from her own people, so she hired the Disciples to do so in her place.

"So, what have you managed to swipe this time?"

"Oh, a good deal...some nice jewels, and some of the old artifacts that Tenshi was keeping around the house. This should be familiar to you, if I recall..."

Byakuren held up Shou's Bag of Holding, returning it to its full size and rummaging into it. She pulled out a sword with a golden edge, still releasing a light scarlet aura.

"Ah, that's..."

Yukari looked at the sword with misty eyes, reaching out and taking it from Byakuren. She ran a finger along its blade, noting that it was as sharp as she always remembered.

"The blade still has some energy stored in it, I believe. Will it help?"

"Oh, yes...definitely. I can..."

The weapon was bringing back memories of a time she'd long since discarded. Yukari felt the tears running down her face before she even realised she was crying.

She saw the shrine maiden's face, still eternally young in her mind. That carefree smile that so easily turned into a frown if someone used the wrong word, that laissez-faire attitude to life that had been missing for 50 years.

Had she failed? Should she have done more? Stepping beyond the boundaries of life and death was beyond even her, but if she could continue recovering these artifacts then she could make everything better again. She could will it all back, and it would be the Gensokyo everyone wanted so desperately to return to, where the sky was real and the water was pure by nature.

But she couldn't let the world know she needed its help. Yukari Yakumo was meant to be invincible, the strongest of all youkai, and if she pleaded for aid she would be ridiculed. So she'd had to collect the artifacts by proxy, having a team of bandits steal them right out of their hiding places. They'd made amazing progress by now, and the dream of the old Gensokyo was one step closer to coming true.

And maybe, if she tried just hard enough, Reimu would return to see her homeland reborn.

"Yukari, are you alright?"

Byakuren's voice pulled her up back into reality, as Yukari suddenly looked up from the blade. She noticed that a few droplets had fallen onto it, reflecting the entire spectrum upwards into the air.

"Ah, sorry. Just...thinking."

-----

3:30 in the morning AGAIN WHY ARE MY AUTHOR POWERS POWERED BY SLEEP DEP OF ALL THINGS
« Last Edit: September 01, 2010, 02:34:44 AM by Roukanken »

Sana

  • Good gravy!
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge! - Current: "Touhous IN SPACE!"
« Reply #356 on: September 01, 2010, 02:53:59 AM »
Best codenames :V

Esifex

  • Though the sun may set
  • *
  • It shall rise again
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge! - Current: "Touhous IN SPACE!"
« Reply #357 on: September 01, 2010, 03:47:54 AM »
I demand continuations.

The WWC thread seems to be a good harvesting grounds for new stories to get their start, rather than a competitive thread! :O

But I'm already juggling PLotSS and DRK, for one...;_;
« Last Edit: September 01, 2010, 09:19:51 AM by Roukanken »

Alfred F. Jones

  • Estamos orgullosos del Batall?n Lincoln
  • *
  • y de la lucha que hizo por Madrid
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge! - Current: "Touhous IN SPACE!"
« Reply #358 on: September 01, 2010, 05:18:48 AM »
The WWC thread seems to be a good harvesting grounds for new stories to get their start, rather than a competitive thread! :O
Honestly, I like it that way. The WWC always seemed to me like a good excuse to give writers more practice, rather than have them tear at each other's throats.

And I approve heartily of the UFO crew becoming space pirates. :3
Spoiler:
But where's Kogasa?
Spoiler:
Nue isn't important.

Caber Knight Etch-A-Sketch

  • The return of something
Re: Weekly Writing Challenge! - Current: "Touhous IN SPACE!"
« Reply #359 on: September 01, 2010, 08:12:37 PM »
Many years had passed since the fall of the Hakurei border. Well, it wasn't so much of a fall as it was a taking down. Often the people of Gensokyo had looked up to the stars, wishing to explore the stars. And with the rising population, it was necessary to expand.

It was soon discovered that there existed other Youkai, more fearsome Youkai... Even clashes with the humans of the outside world were inevitable. Many people went their separate ways in hopes thriving in space...


Planet Crimos: High orbit


The junk littered the area high above the surface of Crimos. The Scarlet Dynasty held onto it's territory, at least for now. But we don't exactly care about them right now.

The shoddily constructed starship Fairy-Ferry held in orbit high above Crimos. Inside, Cirno and Daiyousei were fiddling around with the electronics.

"Can you see anything yet?" Daiyousei said, overalls splattered with grime

"No I can't. Damned piece of junk doesn't want to work right. Try kicking the thing, see if that works."

There was a loud metallic thud, and the screen in front of Cirno came to life. On the screen was a view of the junkfield, a rather impressive sight for a scrap dealer. Cirno grinned at the great money possibilities.

"You all strapped in and ready to hit pay dirt?" Cirno spoke into the comm.

"We're strapped in all tight alright"

The hangar bay opened up, allowing three ships to exit the Fairy-Ferry.

"We're now heading into the junk field. From the looks of it, it seems to be Scarlet and Morisaka junk. I think we even got some Earthling scrap too!" Sunny Milk said, looking at all the junk

"Damn, we really hit paydirt, guys!"

"Hey... so how are we gonna get all of this back anyways?"

Cirno grinned "Ah, don't worry about it~. I've got it all covered..."

It was about that time, that the camera went out again. As the Fairy-Ferry sat in orbit, waiting to go off with it's loot, an ominous shadow appeared in orbit as well....

"Ah, hell, not again, damned Kappa crap. Daiyousei, fix that damned thing again. Don't know why you said this was supposed to be good junk"

"Well, stop kicking at the thing!"

"I ain't kicking it, this is just a piece of crap, that's what it is"

The comms system suddenly went live with frantic chatter as an ominous shadow loomed above the Fairy-Ferry.

"Hey, the camera's back up..." the screen showed the red and white curves of a massive ship hanging just above the Fairy-Ferry. "Aw hell."

Suddenly, the Fairy-Ferry was vaporized by a massive energy beam, killing all who were on board. Oh well, easy come, easy go...


Fringe World Urana 



All the fairy could hear was her own breathing as her gun roared, blasting away at the monster above the trenches. The beast just wouldn't fucking die as it was riddled with bullets. She fell backwards as the creature tackled her, whacking away at her power armor screeching. The fairy could do nothing but scream in pain as she felt the ivory blades gutting her. Her sight grew dim, barely seeing the creature get catch fire. Everything got warm...

The Greater Fairy was expending the gem as fast as she could get it to fire, trying to kill the carapace'd monster. Focusing on the trenches and burning any beast she could find, she didn't pay attention to her back. Bad idea, as spines pierced her armor, hitting her spine dead on. The energy stores on her back exploded, leaving a fiery and bloody mess.

Shizuha rolled out of the way of the explosion, holding the massive rifle in her arms.

"Damned Wriggles! Go away already!!" She jumped up and started firing at the beasts as they ran down the trenches towards her. The monsters stopped just short of Shizuha as they braced themselves against the hail of bullets. Shizuha's heart stopped when she heard the one sound she didn't want to hear now.

Click Click.

She took a few steps back as the creatures reared up, when suddenly an explosion took out one, then the other. Shizuha turned around to see the one who shot. Momiji was sitting down, waiting for more monsters to come.

"Where's the air support?" Shizuha shouted over the din of the battle. Momiji merely pointed up at the sky, a massive ship barely hidden by the dust being kicked up.

On board, calm music was playing. Kanako looked out across the wartorn field from the bridge of the Shiras.

"So, Kanako... this has to be something serious if you had to pull me away from my... duties"

"It isn't much of an important duty, acting like a child. Your ...hobbies can wait, dear Suwako. Come, you have to see this."

"I know about these Wriggles" Suwako puffed the cigar and looked up at Kanako. "I've played Imperishable Ni--""

"You've seen nothing!" Kanako  grabbed Suwako's shoulder "This Wriggle is nothing like the one from that game. It's one thing to fight them in simulations, but no simulation can account for all the brutality of these creatures. It is quite another thing to face them in these trenches."

Explosions lighted the battlefield below them, giving them a glimpse of the creatures slaying their soldiers

"You must not underestimate these foes, and never fight blindly. This is a war from which no return is possible for those who don't give their all." Kanako looked at Suwako. "Can I trust you to do the same? Are you ready to give it your all? To see this through to the end and go all the way?"

The clock ticked quietly, the calm music

"Yes. I'm ready to go all the way. You should know me by now."

"Of Course..."

"Ma'am, the colony will soon be overrun. Should we intervene?" The comms system squawked.

"Take us into orbit, Captain Minamitsu. We've seen enough"

The massive ship begun to move as it ascended, heading into high orbit. Shizuha merely looked up into the sky, the screechings of the beasts all around above the trenches...

Spoiler:

( >~> eh, it could be worse, I guess. Just getting it off me chest, or it'll bug me)