RPG - Waking Up From the Dream (Story Thread)

[Helepolis]

- - -

[E-Nazrin]

(OOC: Let's do the time warp aga... wait, what?)

Sky Ray, Mana Generator Core Room, 9.49 AM, Day 3
Participants: Team Drillkumo, Team SCAR/Remilia Harem: E-mouse, Kojiro

I ran a finger over the strange symbol on what was apparently the ship's main mana generator. It had taken a while to 'convince' those little creep critters to stay the hell out of the main bridge, but by now they seemed to get the hint. Or were too busy chasing everyone who'd ran off...

No, now's not the time for guilt. I scrutinized the symbol again, and frowned. I wasn't quite sure what I was seeing. Well, we had one super-knowledgeable individual here, so...

"Hey, Yukari?" I asked, "Do you know what this symbol is supposed to be?"

Yukari looked over my shoulder and frowned. "That... is the symbol of the Covenant."

"... great." I muttered, "Where's Master Chief when you need him?"

Yukari continued. "Legend has it... millennia ago, before even the age of the Lunarians, there was a great nation, somewhere, of both humans and non-humans."

... my eyes widened. I turned to face her, listening intently.

"They were united by the Covenant." Yukari continued. She waved a hand dismissively. "But it's just a fairy-tale, really. To teach children to be nice and respect diversity and stuff like that."

Gensokyo itself was a fairy tale to me, just a few months ago. I wasn't about to assume that. Still...

I raised an eyebrow. "... not quite the sort of fairy tale you'd expect among the humans in Gensokyo, is it? I'd think parents would be more focused on keeping the kids from getting eaten by youkai."

Yukari shrugged. "I suppose. But that's probably a good reason to believe it may be more than just a fairy tale..."

I nodded solemnly. "And one I'll be wanting to hear in great detail later."

But, we didn't have time for that now. I shook my head and turned back to the car-sized mana generator - and the mysterious symbol on it. No, it wasn't a mystery anymore. It was supposed to be the Covenant's symbol. Now I knew what I was looking for. So I looked more closely this time. There were humanoid figures there, if highly abstracted. But they didn't have human features.

I brushed my fingers over one of them. "... this one's a beast youkai, I think... the tails say a lot." I looked at the next one. "... and this one must be a tengu. I can see the wings..."

I continued on. This was a lot easier than I was expecting, now. "This one's a kappa, this one's... I'm guessing a ghost or spirit, based on lacking defined legs."

The next figure was not as humanoid. I tapped a finger on it, hesitantly. "And this is... a dragon..."

Remilia chose that moment to distract me. Her gang wasn't the first choice of who I'd keep behind as extra insurance from another attack, but beggers can't be choosers.

Anyway.

"I feel a little guilty..." she said, sounding the part.

I tried to keep my focus on the symbol. There's probably more hidden here that I haven't deciphered. But I humored her. "Really? About what?"

"We let the others run off as bait to lure those creatures away..." she continued, quietly.

... I shared the sentiment, but this spot was too important to lose. I glanced over at her and raised an eyebrow. Needed an excuse... ah, right, she's still near-powerless. "And what were you planning on doing? Scaring them to death?"

Remilia near-scoffed, subdued in her usual attempts at dignity. "I'm not that helpless. I've got a weapon." She smiled at her boytoy. "It's called Kojiro."

The guy in question...no, I should try to remember 'Kojiro,' chuckled. "Haha... thank you, Remi..."

... couldn't figure out much more of the symbol. But that wasn't very useful to us, was it? No, we were here because it was a mana generator...

"... I believe that Ria girl uses this machine to power the ship, and supply all the mana her crew needs to survive." I mused, out loud. "If we could get this to work at the shrine..."

"I wonder what it runs on." Kojiro said. Good question.

"Ria also said that it's only operating at 10% of maximum capacity. Something about declining due to the low ambient mana." I pondered the implications of that for a moment. "So, it probably amplifies ambient mana or something like that. That's why it shut down... it functions in the presence of pure mana. The corrupted mana around now doesn't work with it..." I trailed off. But what about ours...?

... the Drill...?

No, moving on. There's got to be a better way to abuse it that doesn't involve me overexerting and killing the entire Yakumo family... ah! "If THAT'S true, then if we bring it back to the shrine and activate that old leyline..."

I looked around for more input. This could be highly useful.

Yukari pointed out the obvious flaw in my plan. "That's provided we can get it to the shrine. Have you forgotten where we are?"

... gotta be a loophole. There's some way we could... well, there's one, but...

I frowned. "And I take it Gap Airlines would be a mass suicide?"

Yukari shrugged helplessly. "Pretty much, yeah."

I turned back to the generator. "Thought so."

Kojiro spoke up. "So, this was built in times when mana was more abundant, then." A pause. "Wait... doesn't that mean it was built at least hundreds of years ago?"

"Maybe even further back." Yukari provided. "The Lunarians reverse-engineered the first mana generator about 7000 years ago, I've heard. But with that symbol... it may have been built by the original Covenant."

I turned back, with both eyebrows raised. "Seriously?"

_{'Fairy tale,' a small doubt in the back of my head reminded.}

... I smiled a little. "Hahah... if only something like that really existed..."

... a peaceful alliance of every thinking species... how glorious that would be...

Something poked my shoulder. I looked over to see Minoriko. "What's this?" she asked.

I looked at whatever it was that she'd poked me with. Blinked. "A pocket radio?"

"I think voices came out of this earlier..." Minoriko continued.

My eyes widened again. So it works?!

"Give me that!" I snatched it out of her hands, and jabbed at the power switch. If that stupid goddess had just told me earlier, we...

I glanced at her again to see a hurt expression.

... no, she wouldn't have known how important it was. Man, I'm being a real jerk, aren't I?

"... I'll explain it later. For now, let's see if we can get through to anyone else..."

I coughed. "This is Jeremy from the reactor core! Can anyone hear me? Come in. If you hear this, respond and report your status..."

_{And please don't say it's 'dead...'}

For a moment, we only got static. Then Deodorant's voice came through. Sweet!

"Oh, this radio works?" he said. Cleared his throat a little. "This is Mitaka. Team FUBAR,"

An unpleasant noise cut him off. It was, understandably, distracting. We listened as he responded to it, rather neglecting to keep his mouth close to the radio. The shouting made up for it, though. "AGH! Watch out! It's coming this way! Laser! Laser!"

I briefly wondered if he meant Marisa's, or someone else's. Then I remembered that there was no possible way he'd be able to keep up with that. Damnit.

A yelp from the radio. "Dude! That was my foot! No! It's your fault, lollipop!"

We can't really help them, but we needed to get an idea of our situation...

I cut in on his panicking. "Oi, Deodorant. If you could focus for a second...? I need your status."

"Ah, err..." he hesitated, probably to remember where he'd left off. "... team Lunatic, Jan's team and team Tank are with us. We're in the hanger, and we're a little preoccupied with a Parupiller."

... a what?

Another voice, too indistinct to recognize the words, shouted back at him on the other end of the radio. "YES!" Deo... Mitaka shot back at it, shouting again, "It's a Panrupillar! Not a Catterandus!"

Another indistinct yell. "No, no, not a Walterpirus either!" And another one. "Why? Because I say so!"

Some sort of monstrous yell. Well, THAT can't be good.

"Wait, don't attract it this way!" Deodorant was panicked again. "Keep it away from the tank! Ohgodohgodohgod wegonnadiewegonnadiewegonnadie..."

His radio transmission cut off. That... is not a good thing.

"... that was quick." I muttered. "Hope they're okay."

"At least we know they're in the hanger." Remi's... Kojiro added, with a shrug. True. That's a silver lining.

_{'If only for corpse retrieval.'}

Shut up!

The radio crackled again. "Umm...hello? This is team Tourist from the Infirmary on the upper deck." Sounded like... one of the fairies? Lily White, right? "Team Fairy, Austin's team,"

_{... son of a bitch I will fucking kill you and...}

No, no, don't do that.

"Uhhh, team Jealous Fever, team Makai, and... err, team Yakuman, and team Ghost-buster have all pulled back here. Some of us escaped from the bridge... I think the monster that was there is now fighting that evil pirate woman,"

_{bullshitbullshitbullshit I'll slaughter her}

NO!

"... and her friend."

I tried to clear my head. "Anyone know the situation with the enemy fleet?"

"Out of my way, Lily." Ah, the kappa-traitor's voice. "Hey, this is Nitori. The enemy fleet consists of three ships. They're holding their positions around the Sky Ray. The Dominion is directly in front of us, while the other two have us flanked. They're only observing us, though. Looks like they think the dark storm's enough to keep us down..."

Deodorant cut in on her. "Phew... we did it! We finished off the Panrupillar." He paused. "Right, err... what's up?"

Well, hopefully that covered everyone... but now we needed an exit plan.

"Good." I said into the microphone, slightly distracted, "Now listen up..."

I decided to consider aloud. "Okay, guys... we need a plan. It doesn't seem like they're going to allow us to escape alive. And they've got us covered on all sides, so sneaking away doesn't seem like an option. Fighting back is obviously not going to be a good idea."

"No shit, Sherlock." another voice cut in through the radio, sounding irritable.

"So, we need to take a third option..." I went on. They wanted us dead, and we had no easy way to prevent that.

But what if...

I grinned slightly.

"Best thing would be to make those guys think they've gotten what they want - to somehow fake our deaths."

Hrrm... but how to do that...

I needed help with this. This was too big a problem for me to manage alone. Our 'suicide' would have to involve the entire ship, since simply vanishing in person or leaving them fake bodies to search for would be suspicious and impossible to pull off, respectively.

... so, I needed info on the ship itself. And the one who would know that best would be...

... time to set aside a grudge. "... Nitori. Do you have the ship's schematics?"

"Yes, right here." she replied.

I nodded. "... good. Now, lend me your brains, people.

We need a plan."

-----
Sky Ray, Infirmary, 10.29 AM, Day 3
Participants: Team Drillkumo, much radio conversation: E-mouse, most others

We met in the infirmary to work out our mad scheme. I reminded myself that Nitori was trying to help those from another destroyed sanctuary, so it was a little easier to work with her...

_{'Oh? But did she know that? And why did she keep it a secret?'}

Shut up.

I let out a long breath, and addressed the radio again. "Okay. That's the plan, then."

I looked at the clock we'd found as it ticked out the last few seconds of 10:29. "Set your watches to..." Should use military time, "1030 hours..." tick. "Now."

Miktaka's voice replied. "This is the hangar team... we're about to set off for the reactor core." He paused. "Everyone..." his voice was wavering. I knew where he was going to go with this. "I know this sounds silly, but... don't die, okay?"

Someone laughed nervously. Demonguy. "Worry about yourself! Your team's got enough to worry about..."

"Still..." Deodorant wasn't convinced. "if I could... I'd take your place. Taihou, Hirowaza, Owlbear, Amarillo, Kojiro, Zei... it looks like I've got the easy piece..."

BullSHIT. All he's got is a better escape probability... but not by much, considering his current strength...

"We came up with this plan together." Someone else replied, sternly. "And we agreed on it. Everyone has their own role in this. You have yours."

Yukari spoke into the radio. I was still amazed how serious, even nervous, she'd been through this whole ordeal... but I suppose anyone would be. "Don?t underestimate your task, Mitaka. Yours is anything but easy. If anything, I would've liked you to stay back and focus on surviving. Reimu's survival is central to Gensokyo?s restoration. But that?s obviously not possible. So whatever happens... stay alive. If you die... I won?t forgive you."

I bit back a comment about Yukari liking her armpits.

"Same goes to you." Mitaka replied. "You and Jeremy have got to survive... no, not just you." A resolve entered his voice. "Everyone, we're getting out of this alive! Not just for ourselves, but for Gensokyo! Mitaka out!"

..... he sounded more Spiral than me. All this stress is really...

_{'How useless, you can't even-'}

Shut UP!!

The radio fell silent.

Yukari closed her eyes. "... it's time to go."

Ran and Chen looked up from their tight-knit ball of fur. After a long hesitation, Ran got to her feet.

Chen was more reluctant. Her master nuzzled her neck. She stood.

I nodded, solemnly, and we headed for the main reactor core again.

-----
Sky Ray, Mana Generator Core Room, ~10.34 AM, Day 3
Participants: Team Drillkumo, emotional fluff: E-mouse

Yukari and I were early to the generator room. Surprisingly, it was still quiet and peaceful. But like everything on the ship, there was a terrible, ominous undertone.

We were no different.

Even to me, this plan was utterly insane... and not in a good way. The chance of success for each group was laughable. The chance of survival...

I shook my head, slowly. It's impossible we'd all make it through this...

I felt the drill roll over my chest from the motion. Looked down. Smiled sadly.

That's right. Impossible? Who cares about impossible? 0% is more like 100%!

... but even that time, someone had died. Someone important.

Someone who took the power of hatred and despair head on...

Yukari put an arm over my shoulders. She...

"Yukari."

_{this is too impulsive oh god what am i thinking}

"I.......

Thank you."

"For what?" Yukari replied.

"For... Gensokyo. For making a peaceful fantasy world, with a dozen fantasy species living side by side, powered by tea and sake."

Silence. I went on.

"... for letting me visit that world. I know I didn't get there on my own." I managed a feeble grin. "And the default is always 'blame Yukari.' I don't know why you chose me. Just one fool among a million stupid fanboys. But thank you."

Yukari still didn't reply.

... this last one...

I tilted my head back, towards the sky... or where it would be, outside of this hellhole of a ship. Tried to keep my voice steady.

"... and..... for pretending to care."

"... pretending?"

I looked at her, but I couldn't read her expression. All I was sure of was the raised eyebrow.

I turned away again, smiling feebly. "We both know how much you care about Gensokyo, Yukari. I know I'm just a tool to that end."

I shook my head. "But I'm fine with that. I loved more than the people of Gensokyo... I loved the idea of the world itself."

... couldn't speak for a moment. "But... I'm not so haughty as to think this insane otaku human from nowhere could possibly touch the heart of the most powerful youkai in Gensokyo. Mortality, liability... your whole lifestyle goes against it."

I... I closed my eyes. Damnit. Guys aren't allowed to cry...

"But when you treated me kindly, it... it made me happy.

I know better than to expect sincerity from you, but...

Thank you."

Silence stretched out for something like a full minute. A dull rumbling came from the halls, quickly growing louder.

Yukari lifted her arm from my shoulders. "... that must be the tank." she said, softly.

I nodded, and dried my eyes on my wrists. "All right. Let's get started on this."

[Nemo★Ma]

, , Day 3 , Amarillo

Amarillo was knocked out when the Say Ray "sinks" and she doesn't know where she is after that.

Actually, she had only wake up.

She felt that she is in a warm place.

She felt that something is clinging on her arm.

Her wound on the arm is touched by something soft, warm, and wet.

It tickles.

What in the world happened??

She opened her eyes.

Shrine Hot Spring, 1200PM, Day 3 , Amarillo & Lily White

It turns out that they are in the shrine Hot Spring. And they are the only people there.

Amarillo opened her eyes and found the source of the strange feeling.

Lily White is licking her wound.

"Eh?" Amarillo is surprised "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEh???!"

"Ah, You are awake."

"What had happened? Where is others?"

"Oh, the battlecruiser-or-something had sank into Suwa Lake. The others are in the tunnel. And it seems they had found the keystone."

"And why are you licking my wounds, this is embarrassing!"

"Er...... Your wound is still bleeding when we carried you down, and Dai-chan suggests I lick it because that's what humans do when they get hurt and there is no medicine around."

"Hmm, this is not THAT correct, how did Dai-chan knew that?"

"She hear it from Cirno."

Amarillo sighed.

"Oh, great, Cirno."

"However, it proved useful, look, your bleeding has stopped." Lily smiled.

"Probably is because the awaken of my other power.... Let's do a test." Amarillo pick Lily up and make her sit on her leg.

"What now?"

"I'll overpower you slightly, at that time, focus on my wound and give it a growth boost."

"Eh? Will that work?"

"Not if we don't try."

When the mana force flow through both bodies, they are both surprised that the wound is beginning to heal, and after about 3 minutes, the wound was gone.

"Oh, Wow." Amarillo looks at her arm.

"So now it's OK?"

"Yes, well, let's go to where others at, to the keystone. On the way I will tell you an old story about "Fairy Cannon" and other things, BEFORE Gensokyo was destroyed."

"I just hope it isn't some bored story again."

"That depends," as they are getting dressed, Amarillo took up the ribbon and tied it on Lily's hat.

"Again, thanks for the ribbon."

Then they walk down from the tunnel entrance.

[Gpop]

Opposite Mansion, 5:50AM, Day 3

Gpop was snoring away in his sleep when he felt someone grab hold of his shoulder and shook him softly.

"Ngh...snork...uhh...huh? What is it Koishi?" Gpop said sleepily. Then he opened his eyes to see it was Pearl who woke him up. "Oh Pearl? It's you." Gpop said surprised. "What is it?" He glanced over at the clock located on the table beside him to see how early it was. "And why did you wake me up so early!?" Gpop said crankily. Normally Gpop would sleep in on such a day like today.

"Oh sorry, but the people over at the shrine is holding a meeting apparently. I went over there today and they asked for you." Pearl replied. Then she gave a sly look and added, "And I hope that I didn't interrupt anything, so I'll be taking my leave now to wake up daddy. Toodles~" And she left, leaving Gpop confused at her last statement. Then he felt another hand between his legs, trying to grab hold of...

...He looks down to see Merlin with her hand on his member trying to grab hold of it, but of course Gpop's pajamas is disallowing her to do so.

"WHOA!" Gpop quickly reacted to this and jumped out of bed. Merlin suddenly woke up from this and noticed where her hand was located. Then she quickly pulled her hand towards her own body and blushed.

"I'M SORRY GPOP! I DIDN'T M-MEAN TO DO THIS!" She yelled suddenly at Gpop. Koishi and Satori were the next to wake up from their sleep, and noticed Gpop and Merlin already out of bed, but both of them in shock.

"W...what's going on..." Koishi asked Satori.

"Apparently Gpop found Merlin's hand on his..." Satori said, but was quickly interrupted by Merlin.

"NO! I-IT WASN'T WHAT IT SEEMS! I-IT WAS AN ACCIDENT! MY HAND MUST'VE ENDED UP THERE DURING OUR SLEEP! I DIDN'T MEAN TO PLACE IT ON HIS...M-M-MEMBER!" Merling exclaimed in despaired, but covered her mouth when she mentioned the last word.

"YOU WHAT!?" Koishi yelled in question. "YOU BETTER NOT HAVE CHEATED ON ME GPOP!"

"WHAT NO! I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING! I JUST WOKE UP AND FOUND HER HAND THERE!" Gpop said.

Before Koishi could say anything, Satori grabbed her shoulder and said, "They telling the truth. Their hearts say so."

Koishi gave a big sigh and said, "Well...okay. You're lucky that Satori read your hearts. I would've never believed in you." Then Koishi began to smile again, and Gpop noticed his nose starting to bleed once again.

"Damn." Gpop muffled as his hand was over his mouth and nose to cover up the nosebleed. He reached into his pocket and grabbed a tissue paper he usually carries for situations like these. He quickly wiped his nose and then went on to tell girl's, "Well Pearl woke me up to tell me that the gang at the Shrine is asking for us so they could hold a meeting. We might as well get ready and head over."

"That's seems so. I guess it must be important to wake us up so early." Satori said calmly. "Well let's get dressed and head over there then."

After they dressed into their usuals and left the room they noticed Pearl making some food over at the kitchen. She saw them leaving and asked them, "Would you guys like some breakfast? I'm making some myself!"

Gpop glanced over at the girls who seemed uninterested and replied, "Nah, I think we're okay. We'll have some when we get back though!" Pearl nodded her head and continued cooking. Gpop noticed that he wasn't so hungry after all.

All four of them left for the shrine, unaware of the events that were soon to come...

(I'll post the Underground Ruins part later. Got a sudden call, and I have to be somewhere atm. I'll post it when I return).

[Sana]

10:44 AM, Sky Ray, Day 3

"....I'm afraid we did. Yes, they'll have to be detonated manually." Mitaka said.

It seemed almost unreal to Sanasan. Like something you'd read in a novel, except it was actually happening. Here there were people (albeit, pretty extraordinary people, but people just the same) who were willing to risk their lives, face almost certain death for a greater cause.
 
"Why would they do this? How could they do this?" Sanasan thought to himself. "Didn't they care about living?!"

He looked around himself, seeing all the others who were with him, and could only come up with one reason: It wasn't that they didn't care about living, in fact, it was quite the opposite. It was simply that they cared more about other people living than themselves. It wasn't about just them anymore, it was about the team. Knowing that the team would succeed, even if they wouldn't be around to see it happen, was good enough reason for them.

"....But if I was in their position...Would I do the same thing?" Deep inside, something told him the answer was no. "But the others are doing it, and they even volunteered to do it. Why am I so selfish? Do I really believe my life is really worth any more than theirs?" He felt ashamed of himself.

In the background, he heard Renko counting down from five.

"Argh, I don't have time to think about this right now. Have to concentrate on helping with the plan..."


2PM, Outside the shrine, Day 3

Sanasan and Renko were strolling around the lake absentmindedly, a gentle breeze blowing through the trees. Sanasan wasn't thinking about where he was going; the events of the day were still fresh in his mind. His feeling of shame returned. How come others could do the right thing, while he was more concerned about himself?

"Hey, watch out!"

"....Huh?" Sanasan managed to blurt out before stumbling over a rock and falling on his face in the grass.

"Wow, I've never seen you this spaced out before. Something wrong?" Renko said to him with a smile on her face.

"Wrong? Uh, not really." Sanasan lied, as he got back up. He didn't know why he didn't just tell her; Renko was his friend, after all.

"...Well, if you say so." Renko replied, not quite believing him.

"I think I'm just hungry or something." Sanasan said, putting his shame aside. "We haven't eaten all day."

"Ugh, somehow I completely forgot about that. We should go somewhere new today!" Renko exclaimed.

"New? Are there any restaurants we haven't been to?" Sanasan asked, puzzled.

"Well, there's got to be one, and once we find it, we're eating there!"

"Oh, alright. But you're paying the bill." Sanasan laughed.

"What?! No way! I'm not paying for both of us! We split the bill!"

The two argued back and forth as they left the shrine.

[Kojiremi]

(OOC: alright now that i got some time here I'm gonna make a large ass wall here. hahah. LIke i said in the discussion its in 3 parts.

~~~~~(Part 1) Sky Ray - 9:30am~~~~

The twisted memories were flooding around like they owned the place. Kojiro Minoriko and Remilia were hiding in a storage room area for the time being. He needed to give Remilia and Minoriko a boost in their abilities so they can defend themselves.

Koji:...there that should do it for now.

Remilia had been returned to level 2 of the mana levels (physical features is level 1 [wings, claws, etc non human attributes] level 2 = 25% of their actual abilities)  Minoriko had also reached level 2 thanks to the boost. However she was not happy at all.

Minory: we...have to go back out there?

Remilia: of course!. If we want to live then we have to take action. Like hell will allow mysefl to be killed by a memory.

Minory: b-but...i don't like fighting.
Remilia: what? don't turn all pacifist on us now its way too late for that.

Koji placed his hand on Remi's head.

Koji: calm down...i know you dont' like to fight minory but we have to do something to get outta this alive. The Darkness in this place is thick and it reeks of distortion and hostility. It will easily tear us apart whether we want to fight or not.
Minoriko:....i...*turns head away* i don't like to fight....but I'll support you guys as much as i can. I can use some slight recovery magic and defensive spells now...

Remi:....well that's something at least. Good.

Koji: yeah anything is better than nothing. Alright are we about rea-
Suddenly shrieks are heard outside the room as some of the memories are passing by...the 3 of them held quiet until they all passed and stood next to the door. Koji in front minoriko behind and remi in the back

Koji:.....alright. lets move!

They exited the room and surprised some of the memories that were nearby and destroyed them. Remilia used her speed and physical strength to destroy them while Koji used his nodachi(longer than normal katana) and wakazashi(short katana) when it was too narrow to fight. Minoriko healed whatever small wounds they received including herself when her leaf shields and Autumn Breezes failed. Once they were chased by a giant plant like memory that was a slight bit too big for them to fight given the narrow space they had.

Koji: KEEP GOING BACK! That thing is gainin momentum!
Minoriko: AIEEE!!!
Remilia: HOW DISGRACEFUL!!! *says while running/flying at full speed that she can muster*

Remilia constantly kept using a "Mininir" (a mini gungnir  since power is lacking....lol)  on the memories in the way of their escape.  The plant like creature was devouring anythin that was near it. They reached a wall that had stairs going downward into the ship but the door was locked.

Koji: Remilia get that door NOW! 
Remilia: i'm trying!

Remilia was pounding at the door denting it each time but it wasn't busting. Kojiro noticed somethin nearby that looked like a small wall of flashbangs. Giving him an idea instantly.

Koji: *grabs one and pulls trigger* DON'T LOOK towards the light! alright you'll be blinded!
He throws the flashbang and the plant thing grabbed it and it went off soon after. Shining a huge light into the foyer. The plant let out a howl of pain and backed away from the light.

The got the door open and ran down the stairs leading into some type of target practice facility/firing range.

Minory:...*breathing heavily and slumps down*
Remilia: *same*
Koji: *copycat*

The room was surprising empty which is why they took a breather there.

Koj: If....i had time...i woulda...destroyed it....with some other...ability of mine....x_x...but...i couldn't....since i was...sharing mana....oh god...so tired!

After about 5 minutes there was some footsteps they heard from the other end of the large room/facility.

??: alright we're in. *is on a walkie*......yes the Dark Storm was a success the stupid pirates are in disarray.....yes none of the parties seen us enter....affirmative...she's fine the conditioning was perfect....yes sir the orders were to kill anyone who opposes lady Kikuri and secure the mana generator for transport.

At this the 3 of them stopped listening and whispered to each other.

Minory: Kikuri?! He works for our enemy.
Remi: I'll rip his throat out and devour his heart!
Koji: shh....quiet girls...who's that with him?

there was another girl there with the man. She was laying on the ground with a black dress and had blond hair. She had a metal chain around her neck and wrists. Her eyes were empty and deep like the darkness that she is. It was indeed Rumia.

Remilia: I think...that's Rumia? The Youkai of Darkness
Minory: Sounds scary *holds onto Remilia* Is she evil?
Remilia: hardly she's just a doofus who lives near my mansion.
Koji: yeah I see her all the time when i'm heading there...she used to try and eat me but i kept beating her until i gave her something different to eat instead. She's easy to compromise with strangely.

??: alright Jack over and out. *turns off phone* Stand up you time to wake up and get to work!

Jack pulled the chain that tied Rumia's neck and she slowly stood up. Her personality was totally different as she was emotionless andfelt no pain even from the jerk on her neck.

Rumia: Understood....Master...

Koji: he doesn't look that tough...stay here you 2 i'll take care of him and save Rumia.
Minory: why do we have to stay here and hide?
Remilia: we are wanted remember? I'm sure he is equipped with weapons against us.
Koji: I'll pass myself off as one of the pirates and engage him. IF he doesn't know that you guys are here then neither will his superiors. He's not that strong. I can sense it....Alright here he comes now.

Jack: our orders are to destroy these rebel pirates and secure the generator. bwahahah. such an easy mission. The memories here more or less did all the work for us i suppose.

Koji: easy eh? too bad for you i suppose. How many times have fools taken missions for granted and lost their lives?

Jack: eh?! who's there?

Koji: *steps out of the darkness* sorry mate but this is where your mission fails.

Jack: heh encounter on the first few minutes of departure. Fine. I have my own weapon right here. *points at Rumia who stands blankly*

Koji: tch using a girl as your weapon. i doubt that. " Why hasn't Rumia recognized me yet?

Koji draws his nodachi and charges in after Jack Jack just cocked his head to the side and Rumia acknowledged and stopped his attack in mid swing.

Koji: what the?!

Suddenly a large broadsword materializes itself horizontally to showing it blocked his vertical strike Rumia chuckled cutely but it was so sadistic it was creepy.

Jack: HA! you have no chance son! This is the demon of darkness! Rumia destroy this meatbag!

She pushed him back as if his words were willing her to do so and she swing her sword with ferocious power.
He parried and it narrowly missed him and then he punched her in the stomach and away from him.

Koji: "HOLY SHIT! I DIDN'T KNOW RUMIA HAD THIS KINDA POWER?! She must be brainwashed...she wouldn't attack me if she knew me....i have to snap her out of it somehow!"

She rose back up with her sword in hand and had a faint smile on her face. She then charged after him and swung her blade lowly and he evaded...only she spun right after her swing and kicked him in the face and sent him flying into the wall.

Their duel continued onward for a while. However no matter how many times He cut her she was unfliched by it unlike him who was starting to get weary. Rumia proved very potent with her sword doing impressive acrobatic manuevers while attacking. It was not a smart idea to block or parry her blade as it was much much heavier tan his. Even if he made his sword himself and was confident it wouldnt' break he wanted no chance in this. Minory was secretly tryin to heal his words but the power of darkness prevented any support. Being this close to a very estrangely powerful Rumia was the cause.

Jack: HAHA HAD ENOUGH SON?! You stand no chance against my prized possession.

Rumia stood in front of Koji as he was trying to get up. Her sword pointed straight at him.

Jack: all thanks to this baby right here *pats his wrist which is a mana generator* With this i can amplify her abilities and keep her bound to me! She's my servant and personal blindly loyal slave! BAHAHAHHA!

Rumia held no emotion and didn't protest nor show any lack of concern.....However since the man was too busy gloating. Koji managed to see Remilia get from her hiding spot out the corner of his eye. She tiptoed closer and closer to a pillar and hid there. She was eyeing that generator. Her intent was to destroy it....and/or him. Koji put his head down and to the side to not look suspicious.

Koji: Tch! so you brainwash a monster to do your dirty work....i see how it is. Even pirates have morals you bafoon!

Jack: HA Well i guess this shows a new standard of low that humans can acquire now does it? Unlike you however i won't be kissing up daisies anytime soon.  Rumia finish him off now!

She immidiately grabbed Kojiro by his throat and pushed him down with her sword raised.

Koji: graach!!

Remilia took the time to use [Demon Lord Walk] and pounced tackled Jack.  The surprise sent him flying into a wall. 

Remilia: stupid human the only good your for is a meal!

Rumia noticed her master being down and that gave Koji the moment he needed.  He kicked her off of him and then rushed forward and kicked her straight up into the air. Hitting her straight in the stomach. Afterwards falling to the ground where she hit it HARDER by being drop kicked downwards to the ground.

Rumia: aaugh!

Jack: MONSTER! Get off me! Rumia i command you to get over here and get her off me!!

It was no good. The blow that Koji did to her was a Chakra blast that would immobilize her by sending paralyzing energy.

Remilia: Minory...don't look this way...
She was holding Jack by his throat and he was gagging for breath. Minory saw it and immediately covered her ears and closed her eyes.

Remilia: unfortunately for you i'm a light eater. i'll have to do a little something else to make your death worthwhile! Making a slave out of our world members for that...you'll die horribly!

She bit his neck and sucked his blood to make him weaker. Then proceeded to

Spoiler:

snap/break his arms and his legs like twigs

. Kojiro didn't care that she was doing that. in fact he wanted to do the same for enslaving Rumia. If Kikuri is taking members from Gensokyo...friends of his and everyone else and brainwashing them....the very idea was enraging. If there's anything he hated it was slavery and brainwashing. Rumia was trying to move but with her master now near dead and his mana generator crushed she herself was next to go. However the Dark Storm fed her dark mana and she looked completely normal.

Kojiro was tired. The battle was difficult and most of all-unexpected. He didn't know Rumia had such ability over darkness. There were times in the battle that everything would go completely dark and she'd attack from anywhere. Luckily for him however he also wields the power of darkness and could contend with her toe-to-toe. But he was getting more and more weary by the second.  He held his shoulder and looked at Rumia. her sword disintergrated and was unconscious yet again. The paralysis and the lack of mana from her master musta severely weakened her. Now was the time to kill her if need be

Koji: " wait...i can no i must save her. that was my objective...."
He turned Rumia over...who showed no signs of life whatsoever during the time.
He performed a link ritual with her and added her to his pile.
Rumia's link line was Black and tied to his finger. Remilia returned to him and Minoriko did as well. thanks to this new link Remilia and Minory were reduced to their level 1 states.

Remilia: so you added her to our group?

Minory: is it safe to do that? won't she attack if she wakes up?

Remilia: i doubt that....she was brainwashed only to follow orders. She's a mindless servant who only identifies with the one who controls her.

Minory: how are you sure?

Remilia: *is reminded of her father and how he treated Flandre and she hid her face* I just know that's all...

Kojiro was tired. That battle was difficult and most of all unexpected. He didn't know Rumia had that kind of power.They were scooped up by a selfish pirate who wanted only marisa's master spark, so why did they ALL have to be there? They were attacked in this Dark Storm, He was now battle weary and gained a 3 member again? what a fu**ed up day eh?  He had an idea. Since Rumia is the Youkai of Darkness he used some more of his power to seal her in the darkness of his heart.

Minory: what are you gonna do?
Remi:??
Koji: I'm too tired to move right now...but if i seal Rumia in the darkness of my heart she'll be able to recover herself and i won't have to provide mana to her since she won't have a physical form....

They didn't object. Every being has darkness in their hearts. Rumia slowly disappeared and was sealed into his heart. He regained some energy after that and they proceeded to leave that room after resting a bit.







~~~~~~~Part 2 Mission segment ~~~~~~

Starboard Side, Lower Engineering deck, Featuring Kojiro?s team and Hiroko?s team.

BWEEN?BWEEN?BWEEN?

Sirens blared as the huge blastdoor leading into the starboard engineering deck slowly unlocked itself under the power of Minoriko?s mana. Red lights flashed, casting ominous shadows across the two teams.

?Heh, an entire ship that runs off mana?? Kojiro sighed, shaking his head. ?It?s been a long time since I last saw such a peculiarity??

He looked around and noticed that Remilia was giving him a rather apprehensive look.

??You don?t have to come with me.? Kojiro said, suddenly. ?You two can stay here.  I?ll give you two a huge boost of mana to keep you alive while I?m away. I?ll call someone else to come down here?.they?ll be able to form new contracts with you in case?in case?? His voice faltered. Such uncertainty?it was new to him. He has never cared much for his life, nothing much had ever mattered to him before?.but now, there was?there were people depending on him?and such uncertainty! So much hung in the balance?it was difficult to explain?

?Don?t you dare.? Remilia said in a threatening tone, glaring up at him. ?Don?t you DARE leave me behind! Where you go, I GO! Who do you think I am?! A frail princess that needs protecting?! Think again! I?m the SCARLET BLOODY DEVIL!?

?Hahaha?yeah, I sort of forgot?.? Kojiro chuckled. ?I just?don?t want to see you two get hurt?this isn?t your fight??

?It is our fight?? Minoriko?s voice was almost a squeak, but Kojiro could see it took her a lot of courage to even manage that much. ?We?re fighting to survive?for Gensokyo??

?Kojiro?what I don?t understand is why you have to go on this suicide mission when the others are getting off easy.? Remilia said.

?I helped come up with the idea!? Kojiro said, his voice filled with self-loathing and blame. ?I?ve practically helped kill the others. The least I can do?the least I can do is put my life on the line as well!?

??.very well. Then your fate will be mine.? Remilia said, placing herself beside him. ?We fight together?but we?re definitely not dying here! Don?t you dare try and be a martyr!?

?Got the warhead. Oh, and this side of the deck is clear.? Hiroko said, coming up from behind with Parsee and Iku in tow. They had the warhead on a trolley behind them. ?At least we won?t be jumped from behind.?

?You three don?t have to go with us as well.? Kojiro said. ?I?m sure I can do this by myself.?

?We don?t know what lies beyond that door.? Hiroko said, simply. ?If one side fails to blow, the entire plan fails. We need the insurance.?

?Very well?but let?s get one thing clear. This is NOT a suicide mission. We?re all getting out alive.? Kojiro said as the door finally started to slide open. ?Heh?sinking the ship after making them open fire on us and faking our own deaths?.what a crazy plan?? Kojiro said.

The door groaned under its own weight as it lifted to reveal?.

?Not more of them?? Hiroko sighed.

Hordes of creeps were waiting for them, lining the entire corridor towards the detonation site.

?Let?s go then.? Iku said, offhandedly, as they stepped through the door.

?Seal the door, Minoriko.? Kojiro said.

?Y-yes!? Minoriko squeaked, sealing the door behind them.

?There?s no turning back now?.? Parsee said. ?Let?s go!?

Once again he picked summoned his trusted nodachi. He was uneasy, if this fails then they will die...

Kojiro: ....didn't i say it was be pathetic if we died here?
"

....."I don't like this one bit...caught in the affairs of these guys when we have bigger fish to fry. If we end up dead here then that would be truly pathetic.

This...IS THE WAY IT ENDS!

Remilia: *stretches her claws out* I'm ready. It will be great fun to fight along side you again. Our fates is in my hand!

Minory: I'll add support! just don't be reckless!

Iku: I'll provide long distance lightning!
Parsee: " I'm so jealous! How are they so optimistic!" I'LL HELP OUT TOO!

Hiroko: I've got a few guns i found from the previous room!

Koji: excellent....LET'S END THIS BATTLE!

With that He and Remilia charged at the twisted memories and gleefully enjoyed their desire to kill...what could be their last desire to kill....was it human nature to deny death as much as possible? indeed it was. in times when death is likely human would do anything to prevent. Either by precautions are even teasing death like how they were right now. Trying to flip death off and say "IN YOUR FACE BEEYATCH" was a feeling of superiority against death. You feel like you defeated death and that you can't be defeated by it. It was a type of heroics that made you feel more that human.

They fought viciously-tearing apart the beasts of many forms and sizes in the corridor. They even came across that plant creature that they ran away from. or at least another one of it. They didn't even care. Remilia and Kojiro simply ran up to it with Iku shooting electricity at the thing. Parsee and Hiroko had a few guns and were pelting it with bullets and when it looked really weakened they stopped and let the close range fighters finish the job. With a giant thrust from Remi's claw and Koji's blade they pierced through it and it dissolved back into nothingness.

They reached the detonation spot at last.

They were tired from the excitement. Death is staring them in the face waiting for them to give up. she he can move on to other people to claim in the world. But these people are holdin up his time and he was getting VERY frustrtated.

Koji: *looks at the engineering side to see Zei and Owlbear in the window.

Zei: glad you can make it its about time. We had to fight our way here just to so we can push one dam button to detonate bombs!

Owlbear: will you shut up? your always so got dam angry!

They argued a slight bit until they decided to save it for later.

Hiroko: OKAY I HAVE SET US UP THE BOMBS!

Zei and Owlbear laughed...hard

Parsee: Hey leave her alone! We're frantic and tired!

2 bombs were placed on opposite ends of the room....Heaven or Hell...its time to rock.
Koji returned Remilia and Minory back to their most basic forms and they lost their abilities. He approached one bomb and touched it.  Zei and Owlbear pressed a few switched to "activate" the bombs. They were supposed to be infused with mana so after they get enough energy for an explosion they would soon explode with force proportionate to the energy given.

Owlbear: HEY! The longest lag time we can delay the bombs is 40 seconds!
Shinki: that's too little time to set off 2 bombs and escape.

They could only delay it for that long...that's how long they had to get as far away as they could without being annihilated.

Remilia:....that's all that we need. I won't allow us to die here.
Koji:......

He went to fulfill his part of this great escape. He went to the first bomb and laid his hand on it.

Koji: alright...everyone head to the door after i infuse these they'll go off shortly as Zei said

Koji:.......alright everyone held back to the door. Once i infuse these with mana they'll soon explode

However Remilia was right behind him and so was Minory.

Remi: i'm not leaving. and that's final.

Minory: i...i want to see my sis again and make sure she survives this cataclyism. But i want you to see my sis too so I'm staying here too!

Koji: alright...Thanks you two I'll be sure to get us out of here....I promise.

He started to infuse the first bomb...28 seconds left....he ran to the second one and infused that....15 seconds left. Hiroko and her team started the trolley and Zei and Owlbear got out of that room and left for saftey and Koji ran to the trolley with his 2 companions.....5 seconds...they closed the door tightly and quickly and got as far as they could....3 seconds.
At last the explosion came threatening to take them to a watery grave along with it.
He dared not look back and see the fires that were probably stretching out to get them.
He felt a large suction of mana coming from him going into Remilia. She was holding onto him with her eyes closed tightly but he didn't know what was happening.

Fate Manipulate initiate
In 3 minutes we shall get to the door and reach the upstairs. We shall take a stairwell upwards to escape the rising water. Our friends who are will be safe will rescue us from the rising water.....Fate Manipluate activate

~~~~~Part 3 Mysterious Underground Ruins~~~~~

(to be continued...)

Author's Note:  I'm tired dangit haha. I'll edit this post to include this part appropriately with whatever happens down here later. but i'm tired as all hell for typing and thinking up all that. I hope it was enjoyable. ^_^ Laterz.

Part 3 shall be skipped afterall. I don't want to do much in the ruins at the moment.

[Nemo★Ma]

1210PM, in the tunnel, Day 3, Amarillo & Lily White

As they are walking, Amarillo looks around to ensure there are no "unwelcome guests" appearing like that in the morning.

"I have decided," Amarillo suddenly started her "story". "The story of all these things, the lightsabers and the Fairy Cannon, I think I must tell you the story behind these things."

"Hahhhh...." Lily White yawns, "I hope your storytelling skill can improve a little."

"Well, I'll try."

(OOC: The next big chunk of story is translated from my original doujin work : An Age Of Chaos, it's originally located at the very end of Gensokyo Saga. And don't ask me why this part have the timestamps too. These events happened one month before this story)

Hakurei Shrine, The Last Siege Against NOD, Rainbow Spark & Fairy Phoenix

The final battle is going to end, the Chrono Agents' mission will be completed.

Rainbow: "Is everything ready?" he shouted to Nitori, who is adjusting a giant machine, known as the danmaku realizer.
Nitori :"Well, it will be ready in 5 minutes."
Rainbow :"Ok, now the battle will end like this, we will draw all the enemy out from their last base, while Phoenix and Amarillo go into the back and destroy their base. Then Yukari can do the honor of gapping the remain enemies out to nowhere."

Rainbow looks at his watch, "we have about 5 minutes until Nitori gets ready, now I will lure their commander out." he draw his red colored lightspear and left the shrine.

Then Phoenix comes to Amarillo, "Are you OK?"

Amarillo rose her head, and grabbed the hat, "Yeah."

"You have exhausted yesterday in order to convince Cirno back, are you sure you are really OK?"

"Heh, " Amarillo looks at Cirno, who is currently sleeping beside her. "Said of exhaustion, Cirno is the one who is really exhausted, That device made her go mad also drained out her energy."

"However," Phoenix interrupted, "we must fight for the last time."

"Yeah." Replied Amarillo, then she looks at Cirno and reach out her hand, ready to merge with her.

Then Cirno Awakes.

"Is this the last battle?" she asked.

"Yeah, we will finish these cruel people once and for all, I won't forgive them myself. However, you have the right of not coming after us. I believe Ms.Phoenix can take care of that by herself."

"Just count that on me! Taste the power of my cannon!" Phoenix bounded the two lightsabers together backwards, then applied some mana on it. The metal stick becomes to transform, and then becomes a RPG shaped cannon. "Don't think it as nothing because of the small size."

Amarillo looks at Phoenix, and asked "However, this thing use one's LIFEFORCE as ammo, right?"

"Hmm, FORCE, not LifeForce. Lifeforce is for you. I need only the force."

"Oh, alright. so we are going." Amarillo turned to Cirno "Get ready for the good news!"

"I'll help." Suddenly, Cirno grabbed Amarillo's hand, and merge with her.

"Wait-" Amarillo sighed "For a yousei merge with me when I don't want to do that..."

"Hah,"Phoenix smiled "If she really is that determined, that's OK. And keep in mind that your ability is Passive, the will to merge is in the youseis' mind, not yours."

"Okay, okay. I guess the true reason you want to stick around with me is to prove you are the strongest, isn't it?" Amarillo Sightd, she knows she will get a reply like------

"There is no need to prove that! I'm the strongest!"

"DON'T SHOUT SO LOUDLY IN MY HEAD!" Amarillo shouted.

30 min later, behind a waterfall in Youkai Mountain

"It seems all the people in the base are out!" Phoenix exclaimed.

"So you are going to strike?" Amarillo asked.

"Sure." She started to take aim.

"Now that's it, Let them taste my anger!" She shouted, then a small energy ball is launched, and it slowly goes toward the gray building, she said to Amarillo "Now, turn back, and cover your ears and eyes." then she did the same thing.

30 seconds later.

A LOUD bang can be heard, then a bright light engulfed the whole area.

It seems the small energy ball had suddenly exploded into something that's as large as the sun.

"I call that, Divine Crusade." Phoenix finished her pose, and sit down on the ground. "May your evil sins perish under the Holy Light!"

1 minutes after the explosion.

There was nothing in the original place of NOD's evil building but a huge crater.

And Fairy Phoenix collapsed on the ground.

Phoenix:"Now do your mission, carry me back to celebrate the victory."

As Amarillo prepared to leave with Phoenix, however, the worst situation happened.

"You had forgot something." A very cruel woman's sound can be heard behind them.

"YOU!" As Amarillo heard the sound, she turned and see FARGO's Leader, Tsuki, standing there.

"Hah, you are only one person, we have two plus one. You will not win." Phoenix laughed "if you don't want get caught here, you should run instead looking for us."

"Oh, Really?" Tsuki slowly put her hand on the rocky interior of the waterfall cave. "You forget that-" and she pressed down "-I have the Unseen-Power with me! Now Die here!"

"Are you mad?" Amarillo shouted "If you detonate this cave you will die too! Unseen-Force won't keep you alive in this situation."

"Our operation has failed." Tsuki grinned evilly "Thanks to this Force-Sensitive our base was destroyed, and her friends are chasing after these losers. My girls have all wiped out too thanks to this tomboy ESPer. I have nothing to lose. It would the bast solution if you two is get rid of here, even on the cost of MY LIFE!"

"Amarillo, take phoenix and go away from here, I will demerge and try to stop her"

"She is mad, and now you are mad too? A yousei can't defeat a madwoman like her!"

"If it's others,maybe, However, I'M THE STRONGEST!"

"NO! Cirno!!"

"And without trying why can you said I will die in her hands?"


Amarillo fell into silence.

"Don't try to stop her" Phoenix said weakly, "she have lots of lives, while we both have only one. At least we must get out of this cave!"

As Cirno Emerges out from Amarillo's body, Tsuki put her hands on the rocky interior.

The small cave began to rock.

"I will not let you hurt them! PERFECT FREEZE!!"

Amarillo and Phoenix run out of the cave. They heard an explosion coming from the cave.

however, there is no falling rocks, no screams, nothing after that.

Amarillo put Phoenix on the ground.

"I will go and check."

Amarillo walk back in the cave, and the image surprised her.

Tsuki, together with the falling rocks, are froze into midair.

The one who caused all that, Cirno, is standing in front of her with both hands leaning forward.

"That's for what you did to ME!" As Cirno said the last words, her wings fall on the floor.

"Oh, wow. You have just saved our life." Amarillo grab Cirno's hand as she is going to collapse on the ground,

"Now what? Who is stronger?" Cirno closed her eyes.

"Running out of Lifeforce?" Amarillo, sensing something is going to happen, run out of the cave with Cirno.

As they went out to safety, the ice suddenly melted and the cave is destroyed.

"Tsuki..."

"She's dead." Said Phoenix "However, "Tsuki" is only a rank, there will be more Tsukis outta there. Now let's get back to the shrine, we all needs rest."

"And that's the end of NOD and FARGO's invasion of Gensokyo." Amarillo ends her story.

"Then what about the lightsaber?" Asked Lily White.

"Ms.Phoenix give them to me, she want me to remember how much potential we all have, even a weak race like you youseis can do something wonderful."

"However..."

"Throw your doubt away! One's power comes from the mind! not from the body!"

"Ahh... Don't scold me! I only want to ask how Ms.Phoenix will act without her weapon!"

"Oh, Sorry. Her weapon? She have three full drawers of cannons, guns, rockets, you think she has the shortage of weapons?"

"Oh, Well, I know..." Lily White slowly said.

"So you know why Cirno is important to me." Amarillo continued "She taught me how important a strong mind is. I believe she will not easily be controlled this time. And I will save her out, like last time!"

"With our friends!"

"Sure. Oh, I can hear people talking, they must be near."

Amarillo and Lily run towards the source of people's voices.

[Caber Knight Etch-A-Sketch]

Mysterious Library 12:05 PM Day 3


Frank, Caboose, and Momizi were slumped up against the wall, breathing hard.

Frank: *pant* Wow, you are tough.

Caboose: No kidding. *pant* I couldn't get close at all.

Momizi: You guys *pant* aren't so bad yourself.


Dai-Ray- cargo bay, outside Hakkero holding bay


Kaguya: So, why are we here again?

Ria: I've just gotta get something from here. You can get whatever weapons you want, as long as you can carry it.

Kaguya: 'K.

Kaguya walked off to a part of the armoury why Ria entered the chamber before her.

Ria: Looks like we won't be seeing each other for a while, Sky Ray. I'm gonna just take some mana from this thing right here.

The thing Ria refered to was the Hakkero in front of her(the one as big as a 2-story building). She pulled out the eyepatch and held it on the Hakkero.

Ria: Gather Mana.


Mysterious Bridge


Austin: ...And the weird thing is that I have less mana to give.

Nitori: Because you bonded with Akyu?

Austin: I know, right? Maybe it wasn't a dream.

Nitori: Well, we'll find out tonight.

Austin: Tonight?

Nitori: Yes, we're going to try Diving.

[trancehime]

(( argh fuck shit goddamnit my post got eaten up, so some parts of the post is cut out because I FORGOT WHAT I WROTE argh. Next time I will only close Notepad w/o saving when my post has been posted ))

Saniwa Hot Springs Inn, Various Corridors, 3:30-6:00 PM, Day 3

Hirowaza in his ridiculous clothing was being dragged around the area by a strong Meira who was laughing the entire time. Hirowaza looked around with an embarrassed look on his face as the high-heeled boots he was wearing clammered along the floor in an awkward fashion. Hirowaza's hair was quite long, it was a good deal longer than some of the Gensokyo girls, too. He looked at Meira who continued to press on, opening random doors that weren't locked, even if there weren't anyone inside them. "S, stop!" Hirowaza whined as he started to flail his arms around like an elementary schoolgirl. Meira ignored his plea to stop this and continued to drag him around the Inn, making sure everyone who could see saw him.

"Stoooooop iiiiiit!"

[Gappy]

Room 202 (Team FUBAR's Room), Saniwa Shrine, 7.20 PM, Day 3, featuring everyone except for team Drillkumo

?KAGUYA!?

?MOKOU!?

?OH DEAR!? Keine cried as the two arch-enemies began trading punches in greeting.

??can you people not fight in my room? Please?? Mitaka pleaded, from where he was lying on his futon.

?Stop fighting, you two.? Eirin barked. ?You?re no longer immortal!?  The cat and mouse duo were now rolling around on the floor, testing the elasticity of each other?s cheek muscles.

?Why can?t we have the meeting in the hot spring?? Luize moaned.

?Do you plan on LIVING there?? Yuki asked.

?Guys, you can have it in the hot spring. You don?t have to have it here.? Mitaka said, hopefully, as the Kaguya-Mokou ball crashed into Marisa and Alice?s bookcase and caused an avalanche of potentially dangerous magical artifacts. ?Really, I don?t mind missing this?.?

?I realize everyone?s exhausted from the ordeal we went through today, so I?ll keep this brief.? Sho said as everyone took seats on the tatami.

?I?M exhausted?? Mitaka sighed.

?Shut up, Mitaka. You?re conscious, so you have to be a part of this.? Sho said. ?Rather, we need Reimu, but she wouldn?t leave your side.?

??.why oh why didn?t I just stay unconscious like Jeremy?? Mitaka muttered.

?Hirowaza, what the hell happened to you?? Owlbear asked. ?Did you lose something when you detonated your bomb??

??no?? Hirowaza muttered. ??it was Meira?? He said in a small voice.

?Oh! A new girl!? Suika cried. ?Are you another survivor?!? Suika tackled Hirowaza from behind.

?Augh!? Hirowaza gasped under 40 kg of hyperactive oni.

?Hey, another new face?? Kojiro asked. ?Wow, our ranks grows ever stronger.?

?Where?s Hirowaza-san?? Amarillo asked. ?Did anyone call him? Where is he, Meira-san??

??.boohoo?.? Hirowaza cradled his head in his arms and wept.

?Are you ok?? Flandre asked. ?Don?t worry, we?ll get home. And you have a partner right? You can trust him or her, like I trust my Oniisan!?

Hirowaza wailed.

?Hirowaza, get out of that dress, before I make you.? McWallace said from a corner. ?It?s an insult to men.?

?Nah, it?s fun.? Rika chuckled, slapping Hirowaza on the back. ?Different strokes for different folks, right??

?Maybe being blind isn?t too bad?.? Mitaka mumbled from his corner.

?First of all, the matter of the ruins. ?.team Makai has been doing some exploration work this afternoon.? Sho began, clearing his throat.

?We?ve only been able to explore most of what we now call the central block.? Luize said. ?The central block refers to the block of corridors and rooms surrounding the mana generator chamber. It includes that grand library we found.?

?We?ve decided to use the mana generator chamber as the ?center? reference point from now on.? Mai continued the report. ?Many of the rooms were locked. According to Rika-san, the locks all operated on mana-based mechanisms, meaning they would require mana from the main generator to open.?

?We also found what we think is a residential block just east of the central block. It?s an entire cluster of corridors and rooms leading off from one gigantic common hall.? Yuki said. ?Gpop?s team have settled in one of the rooms there. Apparently it?s like home-sweet-home for them.?

?The amazing part is that we won?t have to do much cleaning.? Yumeko said. ?That mysterious material everything is made of doesn?t gather dust at all.?

?Though we?ll have to clean out the more troublesome?.rubbish?? Shinki added. ?There are random pockets of ?dark storms? or ?dead zones? in a few places. We?ve cleared most of the central block and team Freud cleared most of the residential block but there?s a chance they?ll randomly appear again.?

?They like places with higher than normal concentrations of mana.? Ria said from the corner. ?Your new keystone is like a blazing fire to all the mana-starved moths in the area. Not only dark storms, other mana-craving creatures will home in on your little fortress.?

?Which brings us onto security issues.? Sho said. ?I wish Jeremy were here. He?s the most uptight about security, but anyhow, I think we must agree on security protocols.?

?That?s right.? Taihou added. ?We need to be more mindful of what we do from now on. I think today?s ordeal should throw into sharp relief what we?re up against. I don?t like stating sour facts, but the fact of the matter is, we all almost died out there today.?

?We?re not fighting petty squabbles over red mists, missing springs, endless nights, or unending parties?? Kojiro nodded. ?We?re fighting for survival. We?re fighting against someone attempting mass genocide. We must not take this lightly.?

?We shouldn?t move outside the shrine alone.? Hiroko said. ?I suggest we move in groups of two or three teams at least at all times.?

?I think that?s reasonable.? Sho said. ?We?re up against the government, Kikuri, her shady agents, the yakuza, those dark storm creeps, and god knows who else is out to do us all in. We could never be too careful.?

?That absurd fleet is gone.? Sumire supplied.

?Really?? Kojiro asked.

?We?ve been listening in on all frequencies today.? Aya said. ?We even hooked up Nitori?s all-band-cypher to crack any random codes. We picked them up and apparently, since they believe the pirate menace has been successfully neutralized, they?ve decided to mobilize up north to Hokkaido to attack the remnants of an Ainu sanctuary.?

?There are other refugees from other sanctuaries?? Keine gasped.

?Yes.? Aya nodded. ?And RAI Force and that crazy fleet are moving up there to capture or eliminate them. It?s now just a housekeeping mission, really. They don?t expect much resistance from that Ainu sanctuary. I think it?s name was ?Utawareru-something?.?

?Damn it!? Zei cursed, slamming his fist on the table. ?Why are they doing this?!?

?We?ll investigate that later.? Hiroko said. ?At the moment our focus should be on increasing our chances of survival.?

?Can you people please turn off the TV?? Sho asked, irritably, at Suika, Yuyuko and the fairies who were watching TV in a corner. Apparently someone had been thoughtful enough to get Mitaka a television set set-up in his room. At least he could listen to it.

??.and today?s headline-maker, Archbishop Janus Kano of the Elemian Order (OOC: Not Christian, not real, in case you?re wondering) arrived in Japan last week on his world tour. There is word that he is on a ?world-saving mission?, though the rumours are sketchy at best. The man himself hasn?t been available for comment, however, and no members of the order have volunteered any further information. However, considering the doctrine of the order, it must have something to do with the ?final cataclysm? and ?end of the world? the order is thought to be fighting against.? The TV host said.

??wow?people seriously watch rubbish like this?? Alex asked.

?Yeah, 2nd rate occult television. Some random religious sect?End of the world?it?s always something like that.? Amarillo shrugged.

?Haha.? Kojiro chuckled. ?Well, a while ago we didn?t believe in Gensokyo, right??

Everyone fell silent for a moment as the TV host went on about the mysterious religious sect.

??.though in an address to the followers in Japan, Archbishop Kano addressed the issue of the sudden increase in the number of missing people all across the world over the last year. He says that the world should be wary, that these people will soon reappear, but as portends of doom?.?

??..missing people?? Owlbear asked?

?Oh, yes.? Hirowaza said. ?Some of us are on the missing people list. We did sort of go missing after we ended up in Gensokyo.?

??.oh no?.? Mitaka muttered. ?Please, tell me nobody here has reported themselves??

The silence was a good indication in the negative.

?Ok?.? Mitaka sighed. ?I?m sure you all have friends and family worried about you?if you can let them know that you?re alive, discreetly, and very quietly, then do so. But whatever happens, do not let them tell the authorities that we?ve resurfaced.?

?What do you mean?? Austin asked.

?It?s obvious.? McWallace said grimly. ?The government would be on the lookout for missing people. And Kikuri and her goons in particular would know that a mass of people suddenly reappearing together means they just emerged from a destroyed sanctuary.?

?Yes, that?s right.? Sho said. ?People, we have to assume new identities for a while. I think Saniwa might be able to help with that if we ask him, maybe.?

?Wait a sec?that Kano person from that religious order?? Hiroko began. ?He said that the missing people would soon reappear, but as portends of ?doom???

?We are ?portends of doom??? Kojiro chuckled. ?Well?? He looked at Remilia. ?I can sort of see that??

?Hey!? Remilia was indignant.

?Hmm?we?d better watch out for that one?.? Mitaka said. ?His ?world tour? coincides with the collapse of sanctuaries across the world?and his arrival in Japan coincides with Gensokyo?s collapse. Not strong enough a correlation, but we should still be careful.?

?Moving on, Rika and ThirtyFour have been salvaging usable equipment from the now defunct Sky-Ray. Eirin has removed all usable medical equipment and supplies as well.? Sho said.

?More like looted.? Ria muttered in a corner.

?We?ve set up temporary armouries and storage rooms in the upper central block next to Rika?s new garage and Nitori?s new workshop. Eirin has set up a new clinic in the lower central block.? Sho continued.

?A lot of new equipment popped up when the ship upgraded itself.? Nitori reported. ?A lot of these?err??covenant? stuff appeared in the new armouries and storage rooms. A lot of them don?t seem to work?.?

??you tried them?!? Keine gasped. ?You played around with covenant technology without even knowing anything about them?!?

?Excuse me?? Nitori muttered, seemingly affronted. ?But most of the equipment we found needed large amounts of mana to operate. The only things that seemed to work ok were these.? She snapped her fingers. Caboose and Frank hefted an open metal container over to the group.

?These seem to be pocket communicators.? Nitori said, taking out a sleek, shiny communicator bearing the Covenant symbol. She slid it open along the middle to reveal the touch-screen inside. ?Somehow the language settings have conveniently been set to modern Japanese. Very user-friendly. It?s so simple to use even you idiot technophobes could use it. Here.? She handed one to Hiroko.

Hiroko slid hers open. The touch screen shone a bright blue for a moment. And then a small picture of herself appeared on the screen. Below it, there was one of Nitori and one of Rika.

?They immediately register their owner and enter them in the communicator network.? Nitori said, showing her own communicator which now bore Hiroko?s picture in what was presumably the contacts list alongside Rika?s picture. She touched the picture, causing Hiroko?s communicator to ring. The ring-tone sounded suspiciously like Nitori?s candid friend theme. ?So now she?s essentially on my speed-dial list.? Nitori?s voice came through Hiroko?s communicator.

?There?s a bunch of other neat features too.? Nitori went on, as if promoting a product. ?I?ve only begun to learn how to use this but I think it has GPS tracking capabilities too.?

?So where?s the battery cable?? Sanasan asked. ?Did they conveniently come with those as well??

?That?s the only downside.? Nitori said. ?This thing runs on mana like all the other Covenant gadgets. The communicator function doesn?t drain too much mana, but the other functions like the GPS locator is a real mana sink. If you use it for too long this thing may really kill you?and that?d be a pretty lame way to die, even for people like you.? Nitori said.

??.death by cellphones, eh?? Zei said, fingering his new communicator. ??the poetic irony of it.?

?Do they ALL come in cucumber green?? Amarillo asked, taking two communicators and passing one to Lily. ?Only, I was hoping for a yellow one??

?Nitori changed them all to cucumber green?.and altered all the ring tones to Candid Friend too.? Rika muttered. ?But no, you can personalize it. It?s one of the more random features. You don?t even have to program it. You simply have to think it.? She showed them her own orange communicator. ?Ring tones are customizable too.? She added, as her own theme started playing from her communicator.

?That?s wicked?? McWallace whistled as he caused his communicator to turn from cool sky blue to dark purple to sickly green to green forest camo to watermelon camo to bright cheerful pink.

?Zei-niisan! Zei-niisan! Look what I?ve done!? Flandre cried, tugging on Zei?s sleeves, as U.N. Owen Was Her looped again?and again?and again on her communicator.

?Good girl, Flandre.? Zei said, patting her on the head, causing her to swell up with joy.

?There?s a panic button on it.? Rika added. ?If you press that, an alert will be sent to every communicator on the network. The GPS tracker will activate and everyone will be able to home in on your location.?

?Perfect.? Sho said. ?That solves communication issues nicely. Now, regarding the shrine?s security. Keine??

?I, Reimu and Sanae used the new supply of mana to start setting up barriers and protective enchantments around the shrine grounds.? Keine said. ?They?ll repel lesser creatures and make it really difficult for anyone with hostile intent to enter. They?ll also trigger alarms. Reimu and Sanae will put the finishing touches on the system once Reimu makes a full recovery. I believe Nitori and Rika have also been busy.?

?Yes.? Rika said. ?We?ve set up a perimeter security system using some of the Covenant equipment. Basically, whenever there are intruders, your communicators will alert you to their presence and their location.?

?Wow?.we?re essentially all set. This place is already shaping up to become a fortress on its own right.? Owlbear said. ?And now with the keystone, everyone?s free to move around on their own without having to worry about the contract.?

?Within the shrine grounds.? Sanae warned. ?If you go beyond the grounds you must take your entire team with you. The mana supply still goes through the team leader.?

?Now there?s just the issue of increasing the mana generator and the keystone?s mana output.? Patchouli said. ?The reason the other refugees are getting swept up so easily is because they have no mana to fight back with. We must build our fighting strength by increasing our own mana reserves and that of our base, the Saniwa shrine. This will allow us to fight back on equal footing. It will also unlock more rooms in the underground ruins. I?ve discussed this with Reimu, Sanae, Marisa, and Alice. We all agree that the best way to increase the mana output is by increasing the faith in the shrine and the life-force in the town.?

??eh?? The entire group blinked.

?What do you mean?? Gpop asked.

?Exactly what I said.? Patchouli said. ?Mana is spiritual power. By increasing the ambient spiritual power in the area, especially in the shrine, we feed the mana generator more mana to amplify. We can do this by a) increasing activity in the shrine and thus increase the overall faith, b) promote the inn and bring more visitors to the town and get this town developing.?

??.we?re seriously reopening this shrine and inn??? Iku grimaced.

?Exactly!? Reimu bellowed. ?And once I recover, you?re all going through an intensive training regiment from hell on the ways of shrine maidens! I?ll shape you all into becoming grade A shrine maidens!? Reimu?s eyes burned with intense miko-power, causing all the girls present to cower in fear.

?And you?re all also signed up for an intensive course in hospitality services.? Sakuya added, cracking her knuckles. ?Under me, Yumeko, Ruukoto, Youmu and Taihou?.don?t expect any mercy from us! And we start?tomorrow!?

??I?m moving to the opposite mansion!? Zei declared.

?Me too!? Gpop added.

?Me threes!? Marisa agreed.

?No you don?t!? Pearl said sternly in a scolding manner. ?Your comrades are embarking on a noble quest for the sake of the team. You can?t abandon them! Father, we?re helping out too!?

?I thought you?d say that?? Kojiro chuckled, noticing how she even called him ?Father? instead of her usual ?daddy?, which meant she was serious. ?You can never stay still when something big is happening. Sure, you?ve got our support.?

?Hirowaza! Meira! You two are in charge of ordering maid costumes and shrine maiden costumes for everyone!? Sho declared, leveling an index finger at Hirowaza and Meira.

?Eh?! Why me?? Hirowaza gasped.

?Because you look at home in a cosplay store!? Sho pointed out. ?What would the store-keeper think if I walked in with Yuyuko, Youmu, and an umbrella and ordered 30 sets of maid and shrine maiden outfits?!?

??.but?but?? Hirowaza attempted to protest.

?Meeting concluded.? Sho said before Hirowaza could say anything.

?Party time!? Owlbear and McWallace roared.

?Not in my room?.please?? Mitaka groaned.

[Caber Knight Etch-A-Sketch]

Saniwa Shrine 7:30 PM Day 3


Ria sat in the corner, contemplating wha had happened over the course of the day.

Frank: You ok?

Ria: Huh? Yeah, I guess.

Caboose: Waht are yer takin' about? I'm not *hic* drunk.

Austin: Nah, nah mahn, you are really drunk. *hic*

Momizi: What the heck did they drink?

Nitori: I think it was the Cucumber Beer 2.0 I was experimenting with. Not sure how they got it.


Outside the shrine


The party could be heard from a long ways away, drowning out the sound of wings flapping to slow down the decent of two flying people.

Cirno: Are you ure you want me to go alone? Shouldn't you go as well?

Marx: No chance. I would be immediatly recognized by Ria and I'm in RAI uniform. I need to get a change of clothes so I'm harder to recognize.

Cirno: Fair enough. What do you want me to do about her?

Cirno pointed to the girl that they had carried out of the Graveyard.

Marx: I'll take her. Maybe get some information. In the meantime, find out what you can here and report back to me.

Cirno: Ok.

Marx held the passed-out girl in her arms and took off into the moonless sky

Cirno: Ok, time to meet the press.


Room 202


(OOC, sorry 'bout this. can change if you want.)


Eirin: Oh yes, I prepared something for the party.

Jalal: Is it what I think it is, or something new?

Eirin: Well, I think you would be familiar with it.

Caboose: Ooh, what is it?

Eirin: Well, it's a thankgiving delicacy, compliments of some human youths.

Eirin produced a plate. On this plate was

Eirin: Severed human hands, made to look like birds

Jalal: Ooh!

Kaguya: Ooh, those are delicious!

Frank: Um, Eirin, it's supposed to be turkey

Caboose: Um, where did she get the hands?

Eirin: Well, the internet is a reliable place to go to, and that was not turkey.

Frank: No, little kids can't draw a turkey, so they traced their hands and decorated the drawings.

Caboose: Where did she get the hands?

Eirin: Well, who told them to do that?

Frank: I don't know, their teachers maybe.

Caboose: Seriously, where did she get the hands!?

Austin: Glad to see you've sobered up quickly. That really hurt Nitori!

Nitori: Sorry.

Frank: Not sure why you tried to grab her-

But Frank's sentence was interupted. In fact, the party was interupted by the entrance of a certain idiot fairy.

[E-Nazrin]

Sky Ray, Challenger II Rampage, 10.42 AM, Day 3
Participants: Team Drillkumo, Team TANK, Team Star GPS, Team Lunatic, Jan-san, Patchouli, Koakuma, Team FUBAR: E-mouse, 34, Sanasanasan, Madness Chaser, Jan-san, MTG

The tank was very noisy. I didn't like that, but this time it was more due to personal inconvenience than fear of blowing our cover.

For Ran and Chen it must have been torturous. Yukari and I covered their ears to help with it, for now, but sooner or later...

"It's done!" Rika cried over the various tank noises.

Sooner, then. I gave Chen a squeeze, and she leapt to the ground. Nuzzled against my leg, for just a moment.

"I'm not sure it'll work..." I heard Eirin say. "I just adjusted the wavelength polarity of the receptors..."

"We don't need the technobabble." I muttered, far from loud enough to be heard.

Yukari was louder, but very grim. "Only one way to find out..."

How appropriate, I felt the same way.

She nodded at me. I returned the gesture.

... had to be ready. This was going to hurt. But I'm starting to get used to that.

It's just that this time.....

A rather nasty-looking explosion sounding through the radio brought me back to attention. Then the aftershock reached us, and knocked me off my feet.

I didn't catch my landing well. It hurt.

Can't let it distract me. I climbed back up, forcing an impassive expression.

"Well, we were expecting this." Patchouli muttered. I thought it pretty safe to assume that one of the stalling teams had been overrun. Patch looked around at the rest of us. Yukari and I nodded at her. She turned to her mana battery. "Jan-san, are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be..." he replied, grimacing. He looked over at us. "ETA, one minute. Jeremy, Yukari..."

Time to get in position. We headed for the front of the tank, next to the modified generator... or amplifier. Whatever it was.

I glared at the symbol. Something so close to my wildest ideals, and yet we're...

"Run that plan by me again." Sana asked. I looked over and realized he was asking me. "All you told me was to help rewire that monstrosity."

I smiled an empty smile. "It's a mad plan." Shook my head. "But it was the best we could come up with..."

"You know how a submarine works, right?" Renko asked.

Sana nodded. "Yes. But this ship is anything but a submarine..."

"We're going to turn it into one." Renko explained.

... I liked her tone there.

Sana stared at her. "... wait, how?" He thought for a moment, and his face turned an ashen grey. "Y... you're not going to..."

"It's going to be very controlled." Renko said, soothingly. "We're going to seal the lower decks on the port and starboard sides and detonate warheads there to let water in and turn them into ballast tanks to sink the ship."

Sana nodded, face taut. "I see. So that's why you confirmed with Nitori earlier that the ship is watertight..."

Renko went on. "But, unfortunately, all the warheads on the ship are mana-based warheads, meaning they all ran off mana from the generator." She glanced at the car-sized relic we'd duct-taped to the tank. "I'm still not sure what this 'mana' thing is, but I gather it's not electricity."

Sanasan was starting to understand. "Right, so that's why you wanted Eirin and Rika to rewire the generator to run with this... 'dark mana' stuff."

"Actually, no." Yukari cut in, shaking her head. "According to that kappa, all the warheads are only primed to work with neutral mana - not dark mana. No, we need the generator for a different reason..."

Sanasan frowned. "Wait, so how are you planning on detonating the warheads in the lower decks?"

I closed my eyes.

"... wa... wait..." I could hear Sana's panic. "Humans produce mana, so..... you DIDN'T!!"

Mitaka answered for me. "... I'm afraid we did. Yes. They'll have to be detonated manually."

We fell silent, amid a mixture of shock, horror, and grim resolution.

"ETA, 20 seconds." Jan said.

I nodded. "Get ready, everyone."

"Speak for yourself." Mitaka replied.

---

... so, this is it. Just a few seconds before facing down our home-made engine of despair...

"This is it!" Renko cried, "T-minus 5... 4..."

I gave Yukari a wry grin. "You're not going to leave me hanging for too long, right?"

"Don't be silly, I don't want my battery fried." Yukari replied, faking her usual confidence.

I smiled. "How reassuring."

"2... 1... Now!"

I took a deep breath, and... tried to brace myself. Based on what we'd talked about, there was no real way to be ready for this. But I had to try.

"Here goes nothing."

Eirin flipped the switch.

...

...

I thought I was afraid on Reimu's steps.

I was wrong.

This... this abomination we'd made... it was really a fear engine... the way this energy spun around us, towards it, really looked more like Giygas than a spiral...

... my heart is beating incredibly fast...

... ab... absolute terror...

"Jeremy!" a voice shouted, from far away. "It's now or never!"

... that's right. No time for despair. Whether a miracle success or a valiant failure... gotta try, right?

Something grabbed my hand. I blinked. Looked over to see Yukari giving me an intense, but somehow... gentle look. "Jeremy! I'm with you... we all are!"

She..... was she really being sincere?

No... no time to overthink it. But surely, this once... I could get away with it?

I squeezed her hand.

Closed my eyes. 'Thank you.'

I grabbed the machine with my other hand.

---

I thought I was in pain when Yukari was first draining my mana outside of Gensokyo.

... I was wrong.

This was a whole different world of pain.

Something... something hit me. I think I screamed.

I wanted to let go. But I wouldn't. For once, my bloody-minded stubbornness comes in handy.

... I am Jeremy Nezu. A stray human, lost to everything but himself. A selfish, cruel hypocrite of the highest order.

My life is forfeit. But forfeit only to a cause I believe in, when there is something significant to gain from my loss.

This is that time. And my cause... is...

"FOR GENSOKYOOOOOOOO!!!"

---

I couldn't feel anymore. Couldn't see anymore. Couldn't... couldn't hear anymore. My brain blocked them out. They weren't helping.

_'Pathetic.'

Then again, my doubts weren't any better.

_{'For Gensokyo? How cheesy!'}

Why're they acting up so much, anyway?

_{'It isn't for Gensokyo, is it? It's for glory, you selfish martyr!'}

Dark mana... I suppose with this much concentrated in me, unfiltered, I should have expected psychological effects...

_{'You don't really care. You can't really care! You keep your heart colder than Yukari's!'}

Shut up. I don't need to think like this. Especially not now. There's too much at stake.

'Speaking of which, why did you even get it into your head that she might give a damn about you?'

Shut up! I...

'Oh, and don't get me started on the shikigami!'

_{I know I'm weak...}

'Cute? Is that all you can think of?'

_{I know I'm shallow...}

'And Ran! Ran has to hate you!'

_{I know she's...}

'You steal her master, you treat her as a tool! You only cared about the tails, didn't you?!'

_{I know I've made mistakes...}

'But you aren't going to forgive yourself for that, are you?'

_{I... should take responsibility for them... but I shouldn't be so...}

'Shouldn't? What for? You're the only possible one at fault!'

It's called psychology! You know, the friendly kind!

'Right, and you've been SO wonderful and adhering to that...'

_{That... that doesn't mean I shouldn't try...}

'Try? You? You never get by on anything but the minimum amount of effort!'

Not recently, if you haven't been paying attention.

'You actually stood a chance then! You didn't even have to fight before you got that bullshit Core Drill, and you just hid away from everything else with Yukari!'

Those fights were stupid! We had no place there!

'And does that excuse cowardice?'

_{Coward... cowardice is just an excuse to get people to fight for what they don't believe in...}

'Uh-huh. And you believe in anything other than loafing around and amusing yourself?'

_{I have my ideals!}

'Your ideals are impossible.'

Don't tell ME what's impossible!

'You are not Simon.'

_{Who do you...}

'You said it yourself, you're just some stupid otaku.'

_{What do you...}

'Some useless, powerless human.'

_{... think I...}

'Idiot.'

... no. Not 'I.'

'Is this that altruism thing again? You're not--'

This ISN'T about me. Even if it is, I'm not doing this alone, and I'm not only doing it for myself!

_{'Oh, sure, count on everyone else to do the work...'}

I can't do this on my own, but I'm not! Everyone needs me, I'm actually being useful...

_{'Oh? Prove it, wimp.'}

I'm doing it right now! Yukari... I know Yukari's doing all she can! But she needs me to even try!

_{'Her again. What's up with you? It's not like she--'}

Enough of you! What the hell do you think we a---

...

The pain came back. Dimmer, this time. I felt something on my wrist.

What? What happened? Did I let go...?

Dim voices, all around me. Intense. Panicked. Something about Yukari. Treatment.

Ah. The plan got somewhere, at least. Was that Eirin? I guess we made it back to our ship?

Someone mentioned my name. Yeah, Eirin.

Something on my arms. Pulled. Ah, I must be getting picked up.

Vision's coming back. Blurry.

"DON'T MOVE THEM!" I heard Eirin shout, louder. I'm not the only one in shitty condition, I see.

I heard Mitaka shouting. He's alive! I'm glad...

The roof above me was in poor condition. Cracks and dents everywhere. No surprise, after the hell of that dark storm and all the fighting it caused.

An explosion brought me back to my senses. Mostly.

Oh hell, I'm sore all over. NOW it's like that first minute outside of Gensokyo again. Fuck.

Well, at least I could see this time.

"That was the sound of our death." someone said. The mana trough? What was his name, again? "Taihou and Hirowaza have succeeded. They?ve covered our escape."

"Confirmed." Porn Rule replied. "I?m listening in on their radio transmissions. They think that explosion was our ship going belly-side-up."

Well, that's kinda awesome. Now to make our escape.

........... we... didn't plan that part out, did we?

Fuckitall.

Something was pressing against the side of my neck. And not against my chest.

... it was a ship. We needed it watertight. We needed it back under control.

And one way that would work is...

I wanted to get to my feet. To rush at the nearest console on the deck. To stab it with the Drill, turn it, and scream as I had before.

But my legs weren't listening.

God damnit.

... another way, then. Loophole. Loophole!

... maybe like last time...

I tried my arms. Oh fuck, they're going to fall off like that!

No... no... can't give up now...

I could barely keep my arm under control. It shook wildly as I reached for the Drill that had fallen to the side of my neck. I managed to grasp it, weakly. Raised it up as far as the chain on my neck would let it go.

Now to try talking.

"... the..."

Oh god. My throat was sandpaper. My lungs weren't going to...

No! No giving up now!!

"... drill... use... my... drill..."

My bravado did not amuse Eirin in the slightest. "Jeremy! Don't move!!"

Fuck you, woman, I'm trying to keep us all from dying!

I know, I'm probably barely Gurren-tier on my own, and I've got the Yakumos to keep up with, and this is at least as large as Dai-Gurren, but.....

Loophole. Loophole.

"... move me... carry me... to a... console."

I was barely wheezing this out. I knew this was going to be horrible for my health. But I had to.

I gave it a second. No one even approached me.

"Just... do it!" I attempted to shout, and only earned myself a small coughing fit.

NOW they moved. That martial artist and the mana trough... no, Alex and Sho... good people. Good people...

Eirin was downright furious, now. "DON'T MOVE HIM!!"

"There are times when a man must do what a man must do." Alex replied, solemn. Well-put. "This is one of those times. Don't get in the way of a man's path."

I only managed to hang limp on their shoulders as they carried me to the main console. My own shoulders howled in pain. Something in there was getting stretched something awful.

It's okay, baby. Hang in there, fleshsack. We'll be able to rest soon... just hang in there...

Sho and Alex stopped. Pulled the Drill's chain over my head, so I could move it properly. I still had my grip.

Now or never. Once again. Focus. Believe. 0% is 100%! The impossible is nothing! What the hell...!

My attempt at stabbing into the console produced only a light 'tink.'

Fucking hell, my arms are too weak!

"I... need... strength..." Oh god, my throat... "Help...!"

The two alongside me nodded. "Right." They both grabbed my hand - it hurts, they're strong... - and led me into a proper piercing of the main console. It hurt my palm. But that can't matter.

A circular monitor grew out from the Drill. Slower than I would have liked.

Come on. Come on! I can do this!

The spiral pattern of the monitor stayed dark. Only a flickering sliver of that precious, bright green peeked out from beside the Drill.

God... damnit...

Even the flicker vanished. The bridge fell dark. I collapsed onto the console. Tears started to flow the rest of the way.

I managed a wheezing, empty laugh. "Haha... was worth... a try..."

... I'd failed. There's nothing...

Yukari... Ran... Chen... I'm sorry. I couldn't... even with all my madness...

I felt a hand on my back. "You did good, man." Alex said. "You did good."

But I still failed. Now...

"Bzzt. Language check confirmation."

Huh? A mechanical voice...?

"Now reprogramming language... complete.

Covenant Signature Confirmed."

WHAT?!

"DNA and MANA pattern recognition analysis complete. 99.9% Covenant match. Human ? Approved. Youkai ? approved. Yousei ? approved. Tengu ? Approved. Kappa ? approved."

No way...

"Phantom ? approved. Sorcerer ? approved. Beast ? approved. Vampire ? approved. Ghost ? approved. Oni ? approved. The Divine ? approved. Demons - approved. Lunarians - approved. Shinigami ? N/A. Yama ? N/A. Celestial ? N/A. Dragon ? N/A. 14 out of 18 covenant elements approved."

We... we were...

"Activating higher Covenant control."

"Covenant?" Sho asked, still trying to hold me up.

"I thought it was just a fairytale..." I think that was Yuyuko.

The whole ship shuddered. I only managed to stay flopped on the console thanks to my deathgrip on the Core Drill. A high-pitched whine reminded me of the nasty headache I'd acquired.

... I'd reactivated the Covenant powers of the ship. I had not been useless.

I started to smile, then froze as the Spiral monitor in front of my face spun right up to full, then with a second layer deeper green, and...

.....

Of course.

Of course!!

It all made sense now!

I began laughing. Wheezing. Mad. Ecstatic.

The Drill's bolt was a Covenant relic! But through my expectations, it manifested as TTGL Spiral Energy!

And we... Gensokyo was...

I could feel my throat going. I think I was starting to have trouble breathing. I didn't care.

"You IDIOT!" Eirin shouted, running over to me.

We are the new Covenant...!

My vision whited out.

-----
????????????
Participants: Jeremy...?

....................
....................
... where am I...?
... I just see a pale pink...
... am I dead...?
... something's touching my back...
... an arm?....
... two...
... hands on my shoulders...
... who would be hugging me in Heaven...?
... my arms are out...
... hugging two to my sides...
... some sort of fur touching them...
... somehow this is familiar...
... something's touching my head...
... three things...
... other heads...?
... I'm smiling...
... it's warm...
....... I'm happy.

[Caber Knight Etch-A-Sketch]

(Looking Back- AKA Flash Back) Mysterious Ruins 1:00 PM Day 3


Caboose: Huh. Wonder what that weird symbo is.

Ria: That's the crest of the Covenant.

Frank: Covenant?

Caboose: AAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!

Frank: What?!? What is it?!?

Caboose: The COVENANT?!? I DON'T WANT TO GET KILLED!!!

Frank: Caboose...

Caboose: AUGH! WAS THAT THE ARBITER?!?

Frank: Caboose, you're over-reacting. It's not even the same symbol.

Caboose: Oh...

The three left for another part of the Ruins, when Ria got a chill down her back. It seemed as though someone was watching her, but she couldn't be sure.

[Gappy]

(OOC: Starting day 4, to give people something to do if they have no ideas. If you wish to continue expanding day 3, go right ahead. I'm doing some character development for day 3 myself later. Essentially, day 4's main plan - maid training...for everyone...and I mean everyone...)

Grand Hall, Saniwa Inn, 9.45 AM, Day 4, Featuring everyone but team Drillkumo, team Combat Butler, Team Akasaki/Dai Yakuman, Eirin, and team FUBAR

BWEEN?BWEEN?BWEEN?

?Huh? Wah? Whazzat?? Caboose mumbled blearily, sitting up abruptly to the sound of the warning siren. A few empty sake bottles rolled away from him to bump into other sleeping figures.

?Ugh?I feel like I just got hammered by Thor himself?? Owlbear muttered, wincing at the pounding headache. 

?I feel like I drank 2 bottles of sake last night.? ThirtyFour mumbled, clutching his head in agony.

?You drank 4?? Rika pointed out. ?I drank 2?? She slurred, banging her head against the tatami, hoping the pain might fall out.

?It?s the emergency siren?? Nitori pointed out, her hair in a fray, her eyes twitching dangerously, an empty bottle of cucumber beer in her arms. ?It means there?s an intruder.?

?Oh, that?s nice.? McWallace nodded, smiling vaguely.

??..?

They all scrambled and staggered onto their feet, fought the urge to vomit, before rushing out in a clumsy clatter out of the grand hall.

===

At the bottom of the shrine stairs, outside, 9.45 AM, Day 4, Featuring Hirowaza at first, then everyone else later

Beep?beep?beep?.

The truck?s reverse signal disturbed the serenity of the morning air.

A delivery man walked up the steps towards the waiting young?woman?

?Good morning, ma?am.? He said, tipping his cap at the woman. ?Let?s see. I?ve got an order here for a Mr. Hirowaza.?

?That?s me.? The young woman said.

??oh, sorry, it said ?Mr.? here.? The delivery man said. ?Well, Mrs. Hirowaza, your delivery of?.? He blinked down at his clipboard, before slowly straightening his glasses. ?Err?.50 sets of traditional maid uniforms and 50 sets of shrine maiden uniforms?.?s that right??

?Yes, yes.? Hirowaza nodded. ?In case you haven?t noticed, this IS a shrine and inn.?

?Oh, right, pardon me then, ma?am?? The delivery man said. ?Just that?y?see, me and the lads had this bet a goin?, y?know?that this is just a prank??

?No, it?s not a prank.? Hirowaza shook his head. ?I?m afraid some of you just lost some money.?

?Ah, err?I see?? He shifted his cap uncomfortably. ?Err?so it?s true then? You?re reopening the shrine and inn??

?Yes.? Hirowaza said. ?Or, at least, we?re trying to.?

?About time.? The delivery man muttered. ?The town?s a dyin?. All the danged neighbouring villages and their famous shrines are sapping all the visitors. That darned Amakawa shrine and inn in Yasakama town next door?.? He spat. ?And all the young?uns leavin? too. We barely have enough children to keep that there school a?goin.? He pointed up a the school complex next to the shrine. ?Closin? down they are, n?more teachers, n?more students. The town?s turnin? into a ghost town. Some idiot bloke thought bringin? in a deparment store would liven? things up, but no, it?s killin? the market district bad.? He sighed. ?And all the remainin? young men?gangin? up and playing yakuza and terrorizin? old ladies and the neighbouring towns?it?s a disgrace??

Hirowaza listened, if only to be polite.

?We have a beautiful lake.? He said. ?And the beautiful mountains there too.? He gestured all around him. ?All year around there was something. We used to have the ohanami festival in spring. Then young folk and children would come to cool down by the lake in summer. We?d have the harvest festival in autumn and visitors would go up them there mountains to go mushroom hunting. Then every winter?? He paused, as if trying to wrap his mind around some grandiose idea. ?This here used to be the lands of the gods! Every year in winter the hot springs under the lake would rise up, cause the ice to melt all funny like, and form the gods? causeway. People used to come from all over ta see it. Ma?am, y?should?ve been there, y?should?ve seen?em?visitors from all over Japan, no! Even foreign folk from overseas, they all come to see the causeway of the gods on Lake Suwa.?

??uhuh?? Hirowaza nodded.

?But we forgot the gods?? The man said bitterly. ?And the gods forgot us. Karuisuwa dwindled?.? Suddenly, he brightened up. ?But we knew the day?d come?when we reopen the shrine and inn and bring the town back to life! You?ve got our support!? He said, holding his right fist to his heart in what Hirowaza took as a gesture of respect. ?Oh, err?sorry, that?s an old habit. Something my grandparents taught me. Would?ve passed it on to my grandchildren if they?d listen. The gods sign, y?see.?

?Ah, interesting.? Hirowaza nodded.

?They say gods and humans used to live together in this valley.? The man said, suddenly reminiscing about some old tale. ?There was this great ancient promise they all lived under. They lived as equals. Can you imagine that? Humans and gods, living together as equals! But then something happened. Someone betrayed the other or something, probably the humans, I wouldn?t be surprised.? He said, bitterly. ?The gods all left somewhere. Some remained and lived on in the shrine.? He said, pointing up at the Saniwa Shrine. ?I suppose they felt sorry for the humans. But I suppose even they got fed up in the end and left. And I don?t blame them.? He sighed. ?I don?t blame them.?

?Is he bending your ear with his tall tales again?? A younger man came down from the truck and walked over to them. ?Don?t mind him. The old man?s off his rocker.?

?You be quiet.? The old man snapped. ?Disrespectful, disrespectful I say. No wonder the gods left us!?

?The gods, the gods?? The young man threw his arms in the air and rolled his eyes. ?Ooh, zap me now with your awful thunder. Let?s just get this delivered so we can be on our way, ok??

?Fine.? The old man muttered. ?Nice speaking to you, young lady.? The old man nodded at Hirowaza. ?And good luck reopening everything. As I said, you have the support of us old folks, at least.?

A clatter of footsteps on the shrine steps brought Hirowaza?s attention to the descending army of men, women, and children.

?Where are they?! Where are those government agents?!? ThirtyFour shouted, swinging his spear.

?Where are the pirates?!? Owlbear demanded, brandishing his baseball bat. ?I?ve got a baseball bat!?

?Where are the creeps?!? McWallace demanded, carrying a frying pan. ?I?ve got a frying pan and I?m not afraid to use it!?

?Akh! The mysterious young woman from last night!? Austin shouted, pointing at Hirowaza.

?It?s a trap!? McWallace shouted.

?Hirowaza? The alarm was tripped. Was it those delivery people?? Sho asked.

?Yes.? Hirowaza nodded. ?I woke up early and I and Meira went down to get the uniforms you wanted. I also got everyone?s measurements from Eirin.?

??.everyone?s WHAT?!?

?She has everyone?s exact measurements?amongst other things.? Hirowaza said. ?Though she said she?s still missing other information?like tissue samples for DNA testing.?

??.? Everyone blanched.

?Anyhow, can you help bring all this up?? Hirowaza asked, gesturing at the many piles of new uniforms sitting by the steps. ?Only, there are 123 steps, you see?.?

==============

 Room 202, Saniwa Inn, 10.05 AM, Day 4, Featuring Mitaka and Eirin. The rest of Team FUBAR are still asleep.

?No, please!? Mitaka squeaked.

?It?ll all be over in a second, Mitaka-kun?? Eirin said soothingly, her shadow slowly extending over Mitaka.

?I?m too young to die!? Mitaka yelped. ?No, please, by Shinki, have mercy!?

??.? There was a brief scuffle, though not an overt one. The patient was too injured to move after all.

?ARRRGHghheeeeeeppp!? Mitaka?s scream became rather high-pitched mid-scream.

?Hmmm?.? Eirin sat back to observe her handiwork. ?Well, well, well?.the side-effects sure are interesting. Onset of effects was relatively rapid, as planned.? Eirin murmured as she took notes on her clipboard.

?Wh-wh?.hyaaa!? Mitaka gasped. ?Wha-What happened to my voice?!? He squeaked.

?Voice became more high-pitched and melodious.? Eirin nodded, adding that to her list.

?Agh!? Mitaka painfully raised his arms to his chest. ??.Kyaa!? He yelped, feeling two rather unnatural lumps where there shouldn?t be any.

?Profound alterations to physique.? Eirin noted. ??of the feminine nature?? She added.

??FEMININE?!? Mitaka immediately reached further down.

Colour drained from his face as he realized that where there should be lumps, there were none?.

?KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!?  A scream shook the hill from the depths of the ruins to the attics of the inn.

Down on the shrine steps?

?What was that?? Austin asked from behind a huge pile of maid uniforms in his arms. The small procession transporting uniforms up the hill paused for a moment as the scream of terror slowly died away in the wind.

?Probably Mitaka, probably saw a cockroach.? McWallace grunted from behind a huge pile of shrine maiden uniforms. ?Don?t matter. Had enough false alarms for one day.?

They all shrugged, and with that, they soldiered on, fueled by the thought of how moe their partners would look like in those uniforms?.

?little did they know?.

Back in room 202

?My balls?.this time I really lost them?? Mikoto wept profusely into her blanket.

?Oh my, you weren?t this upset when I told you you had lost your EYEballs.? Eirin said.

?They?re my crown jewels! My manliness! My?my?my everything!? Mikoto wailed.

?Yeah, that?s all men are, right? Your balls.? Eirin sighed. ?Look, is your vision returning??

??no?? Mikoto sniffled sadly. ?Still can?t see shit, doc.?

??Hmmm?? Eirin nodded. ?Hmm Hmm Hmmm??

?Do you understand what went wrong?? Mikoto asked, hopefully, taking Eirin?s reaction as a sign of understanding.

?No.? Eirin said.

Mikoto crashed head-first into the tatami.

?Don?t worry though, the side-effects SHOULD wear off soon.? Eirin said, with a cheerful smile.

??how soon?? Mikoto mumbled.

??.well, that?s what drug tests are for, right?? Eirin said. ??But worst comes to worst?it?s permanent.?

?TASUKETE EIRIN!? Mikoto cried, grasping for Eirin.

?Don?t worry, don?t worry?? Eirin shouted, smacking her flailing arms away. ?It?ll work out, one way or another!?

?Will it?? Mikoto demanded.

?Yes, I mean, Hirowaza has an entire wardrobe full of dresses. I?m sure he can lend you some!? Eirin said.

And with that she ran for her life out of the room amidst a storm of flying books, artifacts, china, dolls, and yinyang balls.

?Did you hear that?? Sunny Milk asked, excitedly, from where the trickster trio were hiding around a corner.

?What? What?? Luna Child asked, watching as a yinyang ball struck the lunarian doctor in the head.

?What? That the drug changes men into women?? Star Sapphire asked.

?Exactly!? Sunny stifled a giggle. ?Imagine if?? She whispered into the ears of the other two.

Their eyes widened perceptibly at the evil little plan.

?Oooh?let?s do that!? Luna Child said excitedly.

?We?ll only get in trouble again?? Star muttered. ?And I?d end up taking the fall.?

?C?mon?? Sunny gestured for them to follow. They all quickly turned invisible and?

?and soon the jar of pills atop the table was rocking gently, before shaking to a standstill?with a rather noticeable decrease in its contents?

=====

 Kitchen, Saniwa Inn, 10.25 AM, Day 4, Featuring Sakuya and Taihou

?Did they enjoy the late breakfast?? Taihou asked, washing the first wave of dishes.

?Looks like it.? Sakuya said, placing another pile of plates on a counter. ?The Opposite Mansion group came over just in time too so my Lady managed to have a taste.?

?That?s good.? Taihou said.

CRASH?

?ARRRRRRGHkyaaaaaa?.? Screams erupted in the dining hall.

?Oh no, I knew cucumber surprise wasn?t the best choice for desert?? Taihou muttered to himself. ?Sakuya, can you please go check and see what happened??

Sakuya left?.then came back, looking grave.

?Sorry, Taihou.? Sakuya said. ?Looks like you won?t be training anyone in butlery today.?

?Eh?? Taihou blinked. ?What do you mean??

?Well?you see, butlery implies men.? Sakuya said.

??and?? Taihou asked.

??.you can?t teach butlery to women.? She gestured out at the dining hall?where the male population had fallen to absolute zero while the female population had suddenly shot through the roof. ?It?ll be maid training only for today, it seems.?

??.? Taihou felt the contents of his digestive tract rise to his mouth. ?Oh no, I ate some of that?.? He fell to the floor. ??help?me?? He pleaded, his voice becoming dangerously high-pitched.

??.? Sakuya?s palm met her forehead. ?Oh, god?.? She sighed. ?Now I?m married to a WOMAN??

[Sawaguchi`Mai]

Outside of Room 202, Day 4, 10:30am, (Characters: Anyone that's here.)
Zei noticed Eirin in the damn room, giving Mitaka, who is now Mikoto, some unknown drug.

Zei: Shit..please don't tell me I'm next.

Flan: Dunno, maybe you are. Maybe you not. *Moe smile*

Zei: ! ..well, thanks for the words of encouragement..

He saw a fleeing Mikoto, going out of the room.

Zei: well...time for me to say goodbye to this world.

Flan: Good luck, Onii-san!

Shizuha: ._.

Zei: No worries....everything's going to be ok.

He went into the room, seeing Eirin waiting for him.

Zei: *Ahem* Konnichiwa(OOC: Doesn't matter if I spell it right), Eirin-sama.

Eirin: ? Ah...Zei-kun. Thought you weren't here for a bit.

She walked over to him, having the same drug in her hand.

Zei: Shit....please don't tell me that I'm gonna die..

Eirin: Nah, it won't hurt a bit.. ^_^

She then forced him to sit down on a nearby chair and injected the drug. Zei instantly fell down to the floor, unconscious.

Room 202, 11:05am, Day 3

Zei: Uugh.....wh-what happened..

He got up and went to the mirror.

Zei: *Wipes his eyes* Huh..nothing ha-- !? ARA?!

Eirin: ..hmm. That's strange.

Zei: W-what..?

Eirin: You seem to be knocked out after that..

She took notice and wrote that on her clipboard.

Zei: Great....just great. *Feeling the two lumps on his(now her) chest*

Eirin: Yeah..uh. Get out if you don't have any questions. *Kicks him out*

Zei got kicked out of the room and landed face first on the floor.

Zei: Uguuuuuuu..........*Gets up slowly* !!! Fl-Flandre.. It's not what it looks like.

Flandre: Zei-niisan?

Zei: ...No. It's Zei-neesan.

They both walked back towards the grandhall, feeling a bit confused.

[mad]

Day 4 Outside of room 8492nd...(wait a moment, that can't be right....Oh...It's just room 492 with an 8 written in front of it and an "nd" behind.) 10:45 AM Saniwa Shrine

McWallace and Eirin were standing outside the room.

"So I noticed that you finally finished that gender-bending pill," he started.

"Actually, it's only one way," Eirin replied.

"Really now? I guess I'll get that Chozo power armor I took from the Sky Ray."

"But it's only paper mache."

"It's still tricked out, even if the thing is entirely paper mache."

"There's maid uniforms for today."

"...I think some of them would appreciate the futanari pills."

"I'm already there," Eirin said while gesturing to the bottle in her hand.

"I wonder if those mischievous fairies will give some to the girls."

"Maybe...and hilarity ensues. And I already have the next trial ready."

"Will it have a side-effect of X-ray vision?"

"Maybe..."

[Caber Knight Etch-A-Sketch]

Austin's Dream(?) Shattered Memories


Team Shakin', Caboose, and Frank stood in the fractured hallway

Caboose: Look at all these weird paintings.

Frank: So this is what it's like to be in someone else's head.

Nitori: So, where did you find Akyu? I don't see her anywhere.

Austin: I found her beyond those doors.

Momizi: Well, let's go through. No use standing around.

Austin pushed open the doors to the library. Akyu was standing in front of a floating window.

Akyu: *sigh* I'm so used to seeing the trees outside that I forget I'm stuck in this dimension.

Austin: Akyu!

Akyu: Austin! And Nitori, and Momizi!

Austin: Well, I'm back.

Akyu: You guys...

Akyu stared at Caboosea and Frank.

Caboose: Huh?

Akyu: How did you get out?

Frank: Get out?

Akyu: But I saw you get killed Lazuras! And you, Caboose! How did you survive Iku's attack?

Caboose: Waitwaitwait a second! You got my name right, but I don't know any Iku.

Frank: And my name isn't Lazuras. It's Frank Furt.

Akyu: Oh, right. Sorry, I must have gotten you mixed up with someone else.

Austin: Anyways, down to business. You said we could restore the sanctuaries by doing something here?

Akyu: Ah, yes. Your left arm was bitten by a corrupt memory, right?

Caboose: And I patched him up.

Austin: Yeah, and those weird crystals appeared around my arm when you got attacked.

Akyu: After you activated Crios.

Austin: Crios... what is it anyways.

Akyu: I'm not really sure myself, but it became pretty common about a year ago. Then some mercenaries came and resolved the whole thing.

Nitori: I'm pretty sure I would remember something as important as that.

Momizi: Same here.

Akyu: That's because I had to erase your memory.

Austin: Well, that explains why only remember these things. So, what's the plan?

Akyu: There are several painting that have been corrupted by the dark memories.

Frank: So we're going to pulverize those creepy thingys and purify the painting?

Akyu: er, that's the basic plan.

Austin: Alright, let's go.


Austin's Dream(?) Shattered Memories- hallway


Caboose: Looks like this is the one.

Austin: OK, so how do we go in?

Akyu: You simply enter

Frank: I don't think that you could simply just wa-WHOA!

Frank fell into the painting.

Austin: Huh, you can just walk in.


Austin's Dream(?) Shattered Memories-Scarlet Devil Mansion Clock Tower


Caboose: What is this place?

Austin: This must be the memory of the Scarlet Mist incident. Look, there's the mist.

Indeed, there was red mist floating about. Creeps roamed the place is if it was their.

Austin: Alright. All we need to do is find the big one, right?

Akyu: Yes, but it's best to clear out the place.

Nitori: Huh?!? This place is huge! How are we going to clear out the entire area?!?

Frank: We get em all here.

Caboose: Uh, that won't be much of a problem...

??: Intruders, huh?

Everyone turned to the small girl with bat wings.

Remilia(?): I'm not sure how you got past Sakuya, but the game ends here!

Austin: Remilia!

Caboose: AAAUUUUGGGGHHHH!!! VAMPIRE!!!

Akyu: This is the source of corruption! We must defeat her!

(play for effect http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoId_SGKb0g&feature=PlayList&p=9C099386C6D117CD&index=62)

The corrupt Remilia charged at the group. Caboose and Frank drew their rails and swung at Remilia. Remilia deflected the hit and formed a spear in her hand.

Remilia(?): Spear de Gugnier!!

She hurled the spear at Caboose. Caboose managed to get out of the way. Nitori fired Danmaku at Remilia, but kept missing.

Nitori: She's too fast!

Momizi: Not just yet!

Momizi, Caboose, and Frank had Remilia trapped under the weapons

Akyu: Austin!

Austin: Protect Break!

A barrier appeared around Remilia, which proptly shattered.

Austin: Memory Hack! Purification!

Remilia suddenly froze, and then slumped over. Caboose and Frank were breathing hard.

Caboose: *puff* That was tough!

Momizi: Really? You seemed to be on par with her, and Remilia is known for her agility as well as her strength.

Frank: Zat so?

The mist vanished, as did Remilia. The mansion was revealed in all it's regal glory. Everyone could see Remilia and Sakuya walking down below.

Sakuya: This will be the seventh time you've wanted to go there this week. We've barely met that girl. Why are you so interested in her?

Remilia: To be able to defeat me is an incredible feat. I wish to know more about this girl.

Sakuya: Is this because of love?

Remilia: *Blush* H-Hey! Don't say such things!

Sakuya: *chuckles* I apologize mistress.

Remilia: Well, let's be off then.

Austin: Well, I think this memory has been reverse.

Akyu: The corruption is gone.

Caboose: But, god damn, I'm tired. Aren't we supposed to be asleep?

Frank: Well, we are still asleep. It's our minds that our tired. In any case, we must return to our regular dreamings.

Nitori: See you in the morning.


While there were more memories to purify, Team Shakin' felt like they had accomplished a greater thing. Perhaps they are closer to restoring Gensokyo. The group separated and went on to their normal dreams.

And time went by...


Dining Area 10:25 Day 4


Caboose: AAARRRRRRGGHkyaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!

Austin: What the hell?!?

Kaguya: MY EYES!!! I'M BLIND!!!!!

Frank: HEY! I'M TAKING THIS PRETTY HARD!!! THAT'S RATHER INSULTING!!!

Caboose: Frank, you did not blossom into womanhood well. OWOWOWOWOWOWOW!!!!

Nitori: What's going on?!? *GASP*

Momizi: Guys?!?

Ria: ...son of a bitch. They actually did it.

Nitori: What the hell?!? Why are you cuter than me?!?

Momizi: AND how are you so well endowed?!?

Austin: KYAAAA L-let go!

Caboose: *sput*

Frank: Caboose, you aren't seriously having a nosebleed, are you?

Austin: Wa-wait. I've got a temporary solution to this problem.

Caboose: You can grow shlongs back?!?

Austin: Not quite, no. Actually, I have these!

Austin pulled out three vaguely suggestive devices

Caboose: THE UTILITY CROTCHES!!!

Austin: Better. Utility Pingases, complete with Linux and TH6-11

Frank: Well, better than nothing.


Outside the shrine


Cirno: Access, communication between the bonds...

Marx: Ah, Cirno. You found something.

Cirno: not quite. Er, how do I put this? There's no more guys.

Marx: ...what?

Cirno: Some weird medicine turned all the guys into girls!

Marx: ...o...k?

(At 10:40 AM Day 4 Team Shakin began chasing the fairies with the intent to swat them. Austin in particular had the advantage of True Sight and Sight of Pathways from his Crios.)

[Gpop]

Mysterious Ruins underneath the shrine, 12:00noon, Day 3

Team freud went on to explore the rest of the subterranean ruins as everyone else either stayed at the library to explore or surfaced to the shrine itself. Needless to say they team found the place quite...comfortable.

"Well despite the fact that it looks completely different than our home, the atmosphere feels just like home. You three agree with me." Satori said.

"Yeah. It feels comfortable!" Koishi said happily.

"Yeah, reminds me of the Palace back in Gensokyo..." Gpop's voice trailed off as he mentioned their home. He felt great depression from just the thought of their home, gone, and he could see it in the girls too, as they had a gloomy look as he mentioned Gensokyo. "Sorry, I didn't mean to bring it up. I know we all miss it..." But he couldn't find himself to continue. It was just to depressing to bring up.

They continued through the ruins until turned on the corner to find multiple rooms open. This was quite a surprise since many of the other rooms are locked shut, but to find them open means that they must hold some purpose in them. They went to search the rooms to find 3 of them as bedrooms, one kitchen, and a few other empty room.

"Look! We could live here!" Koishi said happily. "There's everything we need here!" Koishi began to jump up and down from this.

"That will be great!" Gpop exclaimed. "It'll be just like ho-" Gpop stopped once again, thinking twice before mentioning it again. Then he continued, "Well if we're going to move here I guess we'll have to visit the Opposite Mansion and retrieve some of our stuff there, and buy some food from the village."

"I guess we can agree with that. Plus we need to place Merlin somewhere to rest. I guess this place will be alright." Satori added.

Gpop went over to one of the beds and laid her down. She's still unconscious from the fight against the giant monster, but Gpop felt some movement from her recently. He expected her to wake some time soon.

"Well we can't go anywhere until she wakes, and I'm getting quite tired of carrying her. Satori, can you look over her while explore a few more rooms not too far from here?" Gpop asked.

"Sure." Satori replied calmly. The Koishi and Gpop left the room, leaving Satori with the unconscious Merlin. "...please...don't keep yourself from waking...Gpop is worried about you...I can sense it in his heart..."

[Sana]

4PM, Karuisuwa, Day 3
After finally finding a new place to eat that they hadn't been to before(it ended up being a chinese place that served some pretty delicious fried rice),  Sanasan and Renko decided to walk back to the shrine.

"Hey, there's that serious look on your face again. What's wrong?" Renko asked.

"Ah.." Sanasan had already lied to her once, and it seemed wrong to lie to her again. "Well...it's about earlier today." He admitted.

"What about earlier today?" Renko asked. "Is it about that all that 'Covenant' business?"

"Not really....You know how everyone who was in that warhead team was basically condemned to death?" Renko nodded in response. "Well, the way I figured it was, they were willing to put their lives on the line for other people...but when I asked myself if I ever would, something told me the answer was no. So I just felt terrible about it afterwards. I mean, why should I think I'm worth more than anyone else? But even then, the answer didn't change; it was still no. Am I totally crazy for thinking this?" Sanasan asked her.

"Well, I'm no psychologist, but...I think you're being too hard on yourself. I really think that if you had to, you'd do the right thing." Renko reassured him. "But you know, you don't necessarily have to do heroic things like taking someone else's bullet or something to be a good person."

"You think so?" Sanasan asked.

"Definitely." Renko replied. "But besides, I don't see any crazy pirates or aliens threatening to destroy the planet around, so I don't think you need to worry about stuff like this." She laughed.

Sanasan looked relieved. "That actually makes me feel a lot better. Thanks." Sanasan said with gratitude.

"No problem." Renko replied.

A brisk walk later.....

"Ugh, these stairs...I swear, it's like climbing a mountain every day." Sanasan complained, standing in front of the shrine.

"Oh, come on. It's not even that many steps!" Renko said. "Let's go in, I could use a nap."

Sanasan opened the door...and saw somebody in strange clothes being dragged around by what was probably their partner. Sanasan and Renko looked at each other, lost for words.

"...Maybe we should come back later..."Sanasan said.

"Yeah, on second thought, I'm not that tired." Renko said, as they closed the door.

2AM, Sanasan's dream, Day 4

Sanasan didn't know where he was. Everything seemed so blurry...He felt his face to check for his glasses, but they were there, oddly. He looked around, and noticed a person wearing a hat that was unmistakable. Suddenly, she came into sharp focus.

"Renko?" Sanasan asked.
"Huh? Why are you here?" Renko said with surprise. "Oh, wait. This is a side effect of linking isn't it? Sharing dreams..."
"Oh, right. I remember now."

Gradually, the scene began to sharpen. Sanasan saw himself with his head in his hands.

"What's wrong with me? Why am I so selfish? I don't deserve to live more than anyone else..." Sanasan heard the other him say.

"I guess I still haven't gotten over that." Sanasan said, embarrassed.

The scene faded into blurriness again as it changed. Now it was Renko huddled in a corner, alone.

"I don't want to be alone..." the other Renko said, in tears.

"...? You're afraid of being...alone?" Sanasan asked Renko. She looked at him and slowly nodded.

"I...I've never liked being alone. That's why I was so happy when I met Mary, we'd always meet every day." She admitted.

"Well then, this works out well, doesn't it? Now that we're linked, I guess that means you'll never be alone!" Sanasan smiled broadly. "I just hope you can deal with being around me all the time." Renko smiled weakly in response.

Everything began going blurry again, including Renko.

"What the? I guess the dream must be ending?" Sanasan said.

"W-Wait!" He heard Renko cry out.

2:05AM, Sanasan and Renko's room, Day 4

Sanasan woke up abruptly. He had a feeling that he had just witnessed a very strange dream, but he couldn't quite remember what it was about. Maybe it involved Renko? He looked over to where she was sleeping, and saw that she wasn't awake. He rolled over and went back to sleep.

[trancehime]

Saniwa Inn, Various Places, 9.45-10.45 AM, Day 4

"Aaaaaahn..." Hirowaza panted, as he had brought the entire one hundred sets of clothing, fifty maid outfits and fifty shrine maiden ones with some people up all the stairs. "F, finally done!" his entire body was trembling. Meira looked at him and laughed. "Well, you look very tired already!"

"H, hey! It's not easy carrying all those clothes up the stairs!" he said. Meira continued to laugh. "A, anyway, Meira-dono, let's go take a break or something..." Hirowaza and Meira nodded at each other and left the area... Sort of. Meira took a uniform from the pile unbeknownst to our poor soul there and caught up to his fast walking. The two of them were going to go get something to refresh themselves, like a drink or something. They went to the dining area, where several Teams had already finished and were leaving, but doing some rather unusual things. Hirowaza tilted his head. "What's up with them?" he asked. Meira shrugged. Hirowaza decided to take a drink, he got some water from a nearby dispenser that was nearly empty. It looked kinda suspicious but he paid no heed to it. Meira simply stared. Well, the water was harmless alright. Eirin was nearby and suddenly poked Hirowaza.

"I certainly hope you have lots of things to loan to people."

"Eh, ehhh?! Why's that?"

"Because THIS~" Eirin administered the Shady New Drug and forced the water remaining in Hirowaza's cup down his throat. Meira was too shocked to do anything while Hirowaza was pleading for help. His voice started to rise in pitch slightly. It was still high anyway. Hirowaza fell over backwards on his bottom, which made a strange bouncing sound. Meira tilted her head at Hirowaza and noticed there were... tiny protrusions where there used to be no visible ones on Hirowaza's chest.

"Hirowaza-san, or... should, I say, Hiyori-chan, you okay? Haha." Meira teased as she poked Hiyori's belly and caused a violent reaction. Hiyori's voice was higher, and when she stood, she didn't really seem all that different apart from an even more feminine face, eyes, et cetera. "You! You didn't even HAVE to do that!" Hiyori complained as she finally realized why there were so many people acting odd. Eirin's Shady New Drug had been circulated throughout the majority of the male populace, twisting around their DNA and making hormonal adjustments to turn them instantaneously into females. Meira batted an eyelash at Hiyori. "Well, darling, doesn't THIS make things easier?" Hiyori just looked down unto the ground, clearly not amused by the transpiration of events.

Hiyori sighed. "Well, maybe this will be a good opportunity to overcome some difficulties..." she said, resigning to what had happened. She could do nothing for it now. "Well, let's go..." she continued. Meira then forcibly dragged her AGAIN, this time back to their room at 205.

-- Room 205

"Meira-sama..." Hiyori moaned, looking at what Meira was holding up in front of her.

"Wear it!"

"...Well... Why?"

"Why ELSE did you order these?!"

"F... Fine, Meira-sama."

Hiyori indignantly took the maid outfit from Meira and headed off to the bathroom to change, but Meira stopped her quickly in her tracks. As a female, Hiyori was far, FAR more fragile than she already was. "You don't need to go there anymore. You can change in front of me." Hiyori simply cried as she started changing right in front of Meira. People from outside the room could easily hear Meira making comments like Aww, they're tiny! and Stop looking at me like that, so angry! When Meira dragged Hiyori out, Hiyori was seeming quite embarrassed, he usually didn't wear such things.

"Let's go talk to Mita... I mean, Mikoto-chan about this." Meira said.

"'Mikoto-chan'?" Hiyori asked.

"You know."

"I... I see."

"Maybe she can help sort things out. Eirin is being a bit too far with this, eh?"

"...I... Suppose..."

"Though, I have got to admit, this situation is quite convenient for you!"

"Perhaps."

"I do feel sorry for the others, though, poor things. They're probably more endowed than you are!"

"Don't make fun of my size!!"

[Nemo★Ma]

8PM, Ruins, Day 3

Amarillo takes a pen and paper, and using very pretty fonts, write down the names of the two, then paste the paper on the door.

"You are tagging your room?" Lily White asked.

"Well, these rooms look the same, I don't want to end up into others room."

"Oh, Whatever."

"You can travel in here without being lost?"

"Er.... I'm not sure, but I will sure able to locate this room!"

"Then you are better than me." Amarillo finished the tag and close the door.

"Now lets tell Rinnosuke that he must stay alone in the Tourist Helpers these days."

*10 minutes later*

After telling Rinnosuke to look after the shop and actually SELL something, Amarillo hanged up the phone.

"Good, now I have one last issue to solve." Amarillo then walks out of the room.

A Corridor in the ruin

"Eirin!! Ei~rin!!" Amarillo catch up on Eirin, who is currently holding on a brown bottle.

"Oh, you are that human in the last incident, strange to see you there." Eirin stopped when she heard the voice coming from the back.

"I need to ask you made a medicine for me! Please!"

"Eh? That depends on the type of the medicine." Eirin is confused.

"Well, I bet you have plenty in stock, since everyone will need it, I just need a medicine that will stop the bleeding and speed up your healing speed."

"Don't you have the ability that can heal others?" Eirin opened a door beside her, likely it have become her personal lab.

"Well, in fact, I can ONLY heal others, and it seems there is a defect in my gene code, that made my wound heal slower than others." Amarillo lowered her head.

"Oh, that's a huge flaw for someone like you. come in, I may get the exact medicine you want."

They go into the lab, and Eirin took out another bottle of capsules, and put it on the table.

"This, I called that "Phoenix's Tail" is a MUCH weaker version of "Elixir" It will do just what you asked: speed up the regeneration speed of your system by two times."

"Uguu~~ It's still slower than normal people.."

"Eh?"

"By slower, I mean 1/3 of regular speed. So the first effect is to stop the bleeding."

"Well, I know and I will try, you keep this medicine, It have no effect on others, basically it's a failure work, however this may be suitable for you. Now, if you excuse me, I'll do some research..."

"Thank you, anyways..." Amarillo exit the room and closed the door, holding the bottle in hand.

*20 MIN LATER*

"So it's not some poison that kept you bleeding in the morning?" Lily asked, after Amarillo tell her the story behind the medicine.

"No, it's just... My biggest weakness."

"Oh, whatever, so as long as you don't get cut it's all right?"

"Well, guess so."

"I licked you for one hour in the hot spring, and your bleeding stopped."

"Eh.... that's fast, that wound will slowly bleed for three hours before healing." Amarillo looks at her arm. "Well, it's because of YOUR ability after all."

"Do we have any plans for tonight?"

"No, we will sleep here early."

"Ok, so good night."

[Helepolis]

- - -

[Gpop]

One of the bedrooms, Underground Ruins, 11:00AM, Day 4

Gpop finally decided to wake up from yet another unusual flashback dream. He found Koishi still lying beside him, since they shared the same bed, and Merlin and Satori slept in their own rooms.

Gpop sat up to see a plate full of food, suitable for breakfast, ready at the table across from the bed. He got out of bed and put on some robes and looked at the food suspiciously. "Who would give us breakfast? Hah, I bet it's Mitaka trying to apologize with food. Why don't he just be a man and apologize to my face?" Still glaring at the food, he decided to leave it there, realizing that he wasn't hungry, which is unusual because he normally is. "Well I guess I could place it in the fridge or whatever and eat it up later, if we ran out of food or something." He took the plate and walked towards the kitchen. He entered the kitchen and placed the plate of food in the fridge.

But as soon as he closed the fridge he noticed a little, tiny hole on the wall right beside it. He decided to go take a look at it. He placed his eye on the hole to see if there's anything within that hole. He could barely see a small, red circle, almost like a button. The hole seems deep and wide enough for his finger to fit through. He removed his eye and placed his finger to touch the circle. He felt himself pushing the "circle", and the next thing he noticed is a rectangular outline right beside him. The rectangle then pushes itself into the wall, then descends to reveal a secret passage.

Gpop was quite shocked by this, and he quickly ran towards his own room and shook Koishi vigorously. "KOISHI! KOISHI! WAKE UP! I FOUND SOMETHING INTERESTING!" Koishi woke up slowly and asked, "What is it love? Is it something to do with last night? Because it was our first time..." Then she yawned.

Gpop replied, "No, nothing related to that. I found some secret passage in the kitchen!" With this Koishi was quite shocked by the news, and her eyes opened in shocked.

She immediately got up and said, "Really? We have to tell Satori and Merling about this!" And with this they immediately changed into their regulars, and Gpop went to wake up Merlin about this and Koishi woke Satori. After receiving the news, both had the same reaction as Koishi, and quickly changed. They all met up in the kitchen in front of the passage.

Looking into the passage, it was lit up by torches, yet their hands could go through them with no harm. "It must've been powered by the remaining mana which the generator is still using." Satori guessed. "But if I recall correctly, many fortresses have secret exits which leads to somewhere safe from incoming attacks, so the most important people/youkai could escape without harm or detection. So I'm guessing this will lead us to somewhere...related to this fortress."

"Well there's only one way to find out!" Gpop said, and he began his way into the passage, but Merlin quickly grabbed his arm.

"Wait! Isn't it better to tell the others about this?" Merlin asked. But Gpop thought of Mitaka, and knew that he wouldn't agree to this, due to his cowardice.

"No, they'll just hold us back like always. Plus, I'm eager to see what's in the other side. Maybe it'll lead us to your sisters!" And with that, Merlin let go of Gpop's arm.

"O...okay." Merlin agreed quietly. Gpop knew about their situation since she woke up yesterday, and he used this as an excuse for them to go alone. Satori could read in his heart that he has his doubts about his claim, but decided to keep it to herself.

The four of them proceeded into the passage. Where it will take, they don't know...

"Hey Gpop..." Satori reached over for his shoulder.

"Yeah Satori?" Gpop asked.

"I need to talk to you. It's about your mana..." And Satori began to talk to him during their walk...

[Kojiremi]

Underneath the Shrine, 11.50 Day 3
(Underground Ruins at first Shrine afterwards. )

Before them was a large mana generator and a expansive library and such. Gpop and his team searched around and so did the Makais.

However, something inside of him was growing restless and it was painful.

Minory: Koji-san? what's wrong?
Remi: what happened? are you in pain?
Koji:.......*holds chest* ahh...d-dammit.....I'm...fine...just need to rest a..bit....

He wasn't fine and he knew it. He's been carrying 2 darknesses inside of him and its over taking him somewhat finally. He needed to release Rumia from inside him or it would be damaging on his soul. Not like this hasn't happened before but Rumia was a friend and he didn't want her to be intergrated into his being in full.

Koji: lets....head back for now.
Remi: agreed you don't look so good...
They headed back to the above ground shrine and got to the lounge area and found a couch.

Koji: F-finally!

Remilia tried to help him lay down but he didn't instead he held his heart in his hand.
Minory: you need to lie down-oh my what is that?!

He hand had a black aura around it and it was getting bigger and bigger.
Remilia:....ahh i forgot about her.

He pulled at the area where his heart was and a black line came outwards and he placed it all on the couch. Rumia materialized there.

Koji: GAH! *falls to knees* that...was painful....

Rumia laid face-down on the couch and had a peaceful sleepy expression on her face.

Minory: *gasp* she's...alive?
Remi: yeah. what you think he'd kill someone from our world?
Minory: but...she was so dangerous....
Remi: she was so brainwashed and the control device that was on her is now gone.

Rumia stirred a little bit and finally awoken. Her eyes were empty and distance as if in a trance. she slowly turned her head to the group but did nothing.

Koji:...*sits up on the floor next to the couch* Rumia? are you okay?

Rumia didn't answer at first. She just stared emptily at him. then at remilia and minoriko who was still rather scared. He felt absolutely no killing intent from her nor did remilia feel anything.

Koji: Rumia?

She looked at him again

Rumia:....Ru...mee....ah?
Koji:....uhhh
Remilia: she looks confused....
Minory: why is that?...i...i hope she doesn't have memory loss?
Koji: ah dam i hope not! Rumia? what is my name?
Rumia:.........

Remilia: looks like it....
Minory: poor thing...now what do we do? If she has no memory of anything that won't help restore Gensokyo with memories at all.

Koji: those bastards! kidnapping and memory erasing our friends to be their mindless puppets. I'll kill Kikuri!
Remilia: calm down your starting to scare her.

Rumia had backed away a bit and was a little afraid.

Koji:...*sigh*...*points to her* Rumia.....your name is Rumia.

Rumia: roo...me....ah

Koji: *points to self* my name is Kojiro. Ko-ji-ro. *points to her* your name is Rumia. Ru-mi-ah.

He then took her hand and she repeated him like a parrot.

Rumia:*points to self*...Ru...mi...ah... *points to him* Ko....ji...ro.

After another 10 minutes to get her to learn their names and hers they finally was able to move on. She sat on the couch and Remilia sat next to her with Rumia's head on her lap.

Remilia: this isn't good. How are we gonna take care of her and protect her from our enemies?
Koji: good question ~_~ i have little idea on that.....I'll be back i'll get us some food here.

Suddenly Pearl returns to the group.

Pearl: no need i brought some things with me daddy.
Koji: ah cool thanks.

During the Sky Ray incident...Pearl told Koji that she'd go to the store to get snacks for everyone...... However, Ria and her pirate gang took everyone there and she was left out. much to her dismay.
She was filled in on Rumia's brainwashing and amnesia and how previously she was a fearsome opponent before that but was bein controlled.

Pearl: poor thing. she's so cute too. *is playing with Rumia's hands of which rumia just watched* Rumia?
Rumia: *looks up at her*
Pearl: open you mouth like this
*opens mouth wide*
Rumia:... *does the same*
Pearl: good girl now take a bite of this sandwhich.

Pearl taught Rumia how to eat. The sandwhiches that she ate were the same ones that Koji used to brin her when he visited the SDM. Perhaps due to subconscious thought she held the sandwhich and ate it happily. It was the first time she smiled since waking up.

Pearl: hehehe. such a cute little girl. What kind of youkai is she?
Remilia: the youkai of darkness. however all she could do back then was make it LOOK dark. She was basically a Dark Lamp. she emitted dark light that was heavy enough to block out light.

Pearl: wow but how was she so powerful before?
Remilia: i've no idea...she was supposed to have some sort of seal on her to keep her powers low. That's what i heard anyway.

it was at that time that koji did notice somethin peculiar....
Koji:...? yeah....now that i think about it she used to have a hair ribbon....it was small and red on her head.
Remilia: is that so?
Koji: yeah....maybe that was the seal.....and those idiots took it off of her.
Remilia: well that's good then in the end for us. If she gets her memories back she'll help us with that power of hers against them now.
Koji:.....yeah...i guess....IF she can remember anything.
Pearl: its like having a gun with no bullets.

Together they ate and drank together in the lounge of the shrine. Soon after however sleep caught up to them as well as fatigue....i mean just a few hours ago they were all nearly killed with that kamikaze run.

They found a room in the shrine (room 200 if its not taken) and slept there for a while. Rumia didn't want to be seperated from Koji and felt some attachment to him like a child would a parent and crawled into his bed with Remilia. She frowned at this but accepted it since she was like a helpless child now...moreso than she was (unless he powered her up)

They slept until evening, while Pearl went around to help other teams out.

(OOC: basically if you've seen Chobits or DearS you'll knwo what i'm doin with Rumia here ^_^ hehe. for the rest of day 3 Pearl will be helping people out. Until i get her a partner she's gonna be a supporter character.

[Caber Knight Etch-A-Sketch]

Outside Tourist Helpers 10:35 AM Day 4

Marx: ...what?

Marx stood outside alongside the girl she and Cirno freed.

Marx:...o...k? *sigh* Alright, I'll be there momentarily.

Nameless Fairy: Um, what is going on?

Marx: Well, we're going to be getting some new clothes, uh...

#201: #201

Marx: Weird name for a fairy. Anyways, let's go inside.


Inside Tourist Helper


Rinnosuke: *sigh* just like last time, almost no custome-

The door opened as two girls walked in.

Rinnosuke: Ah! Welcome to Tourist Helper, how can I help you?

Marx: Hi, I'm looking for some clothes, and perhaps some "special stuff*.

Rinnosuke: Uh, clothes? I think we have some around here, but what do you mean by special suff, unless you mean *special stuff*

Marx: You know, Special Stuff.

Rinnosuke: No, sorry. Unfortunatly we do not sell firearms or narcotics of any kind anymore.

Marx: That's a shame.

Rinnosuke: Oh, wait. We don't sell clothes anymore either. Sorry.

#201: Um, isn't this an inn of some sort?

Rinnosuke: Yes, actually.

Marx: Well then, we would like to place a reservation on one you rooms.


a little later...


Marx: Well, now we have a safe house. Off to the shrine then.


Saniwa Shrine 11:00 AM Day 3


Caboose: *pant* I can't keep up!

Frank: Get them Austin!

Austin was chaing down the mischevious fairies, sword drawn. Thanks to her recently obtained Crios, she was pulling off insane techniques and almost got Luna Child. She was stopped by an arm placed directly in front of her.

Austin: OOW! What the hell was that for?!?

Ria: Your Crios isn't fully matured yet. If you expend too much energy...

Austin began to feel very cold.

Austin: Wh-what the h-hell i-is this.

Ria handed Austin a flask of warm liquid.

Ria: Here, drink this. It'll keep most of the side effects at bay until you stabilize.

Austin took a sip of it. It was incredibly sweet. And hot.

Austin: YOW! What is this?!?

Ria: Enhanced hot chocolate specially made to ward off Crios, compliments of the Love-arcane potions

Austin: ?!?

Ria: Don't worry, you're not going to suddenly fall in love with me.

Austin: Oh.

Ria: Try to hold off on the Crios for now. You expend a lot of mana in the early staged and your bond-friends are probably feeling like shit now.

Austin: oh, right.


Outside the shrine 10:55 AM


Marx and #201 flew unnoticed to the entrance of the shrine

Cirno: There you guys are. Nice threads

Marx: It was the only one I could find. Now I'm going to go look for this unusual mana source I detected earlier

Cirno: Huh?

Marx: Can't you feel it? The arcane energies flowing below our feet. It must a mana generator.

Cirno: I can feel it too.

Marx: Alright, #201. Go into the shrine. You can probably find refuge there.

#201: Thank you.

Marx: No problem. (Glad to get her off my back though. Mantaining these links are exhausting)

Cirno: Shall we go?

Marx: We should. Now, there should be an entrance somewhere inside the shrine.

Cirno: There are some near the hot springs area.

Marx: Alright, lets go. Now, follow my lead so that you stay out of sight.

Marx and Cirno snuck into the shrine and entered the mysterious ruins.


Saniwa Shrine 11:10


Ria: !

Kaguya: What is it?

Ria: There's someone here.

Caboose: Huh? But the alarm didn't go off.

Ria: That's true. They must have gotten past the alarm system, but how?!? *gasp* We need to go, now!

Austin: What's going on?

Ria: Get the other girls. We're going back to the ruins.

[AJC]

Alex and Lily black's room during most of the men's transformations.

Alex and Lily Black had finished a earlyer seperate breakfast from the rest of the others when the 3 fairys were at a bind how to get Alex since he didn't join the others but Star told the others to not get Alex because after all he's done for them to theres no telling what he'll do if they extended their prank to him.

Alex heard all the sudden increase of Female voice shoutting and went to check it out.

"What is going on out here..." Alex said then notices that the male population in the shrine complex has seemly dropped to 1 himself.

"how is Alex still..we all ate the same meal.." some of the former Men say

"I had a seperate one way before the rest of you." Alex said wondering if his really early birdness has just spared him from some cruel act of fate.

Then Mitaka or at least a girl that looked like him then added Eirin had tryed to use a drug on him to cure him of his blindness but it failed and caused him to turn into a girl.

"i smell a prank...A FAIRY prank Eirin may be cruel but at least I HOPE she isn't this cruel." Said some of the gensokyo natives

At the moment prank was said The 3 fairys were noticably gone.

"Oh great......." Alex could only facepalm.

[Maid Xan~]

(Sho's room 11:00 AM day 4)

Sho was actually enjoying his (or perhaps it should be her) current situation. Oh, sure, it was sudden and rather uncomfortable at first, but the potential... A little hair dye, one of Yuyuko's kimonos, and they looked nearly identical. The mischief they could do... the confusion they could inflict on Youmu... Perfect. Yuyuko even had a spare hat (though they reversed the symbol on it, if only so it would be possible for people to tell them apart). A bit of practice moving around and work at mimicing Yuyuko's voice and the two were basically indistinguishable.

"Youmu, could you come in here?" Yuyuko called.

"What is it, Yuyuko-sama?" Youmu said as she rounded the corner. Upon beholding the sight in front of her, she fainted, falling to the floor with a thud.

Yuyuko snickered, while Sho walked over to where Kogasa was. The karakasa was looking a bit depressed. "Come on, no laughs? Not even a smile? What's wrong?"

"Ah... onee-san. How come you can manage to suprise people, but I can't? It's not fair. I'm supposed to be able to too, but I can't manage it..."

"nee-chan, you're quite capable of suprising people. It's not that you're not good at it, it's just that everyone is used to it. See, it takes something really shocking to suprise someone like Youmu by now. Improvise some, it works wonders." Sho comforted her. "Now can you do me a favor? I need you to go hand out a few notes to some of the other people. Just an explanation of how to tell me apart from Yuyuko. I'd do it myself, but I need to do something." Yes indeed, Yuyuko and I definately need to molest Youmu... Hehehe.

"Allright onee-san, I'll do that." Kogasa said, perking back up and dashing out of the room.

[Sana]

The shrine, Day 4, 10:24AM

Sanasan and Renko were eating in with everyone else today. Normally, they would have something to eat in town, but today, Sanasan didn't feel like going(something about not wanting to climb stairs again). Little did he know that this would be a grave mistake.

"Hm...does this food taste kind of odd to you?" Sanasan asked Renko, who was sitting beside him.

"Not really. Maybe you're just used to eating at restaurants all the time." Renko replied, as she ate some more.

"Mmm...Maybe." He put some more food in his mouth.

"AAARGHH!"

"KYAAA!"

Screams erupted throughout the room. From what Sanasan could tell, there was something wrong with the food? He spat out his food and turned to Renko again.

"See, I told you something was wrong with the-" Sanasan paused. His voice sounded...different than what he remembered. Was his voice always so high pitched? Meanwhile, Renko was covering her mouth, clearly trying to prevent herself from laughing at something.

"Wha-What is it?" Sanasan asked. Renko simply pointed to the others to answer his question.

Sanasan looked again...and realized the room had suddenly filled with girls. Girls who were sitting in seats where there should've been...

"...No. It can't be." Sanasan said, unwilling to believe it. He looked down at himself, and lo and behold, there were two(albeit, small) breasts where there should've been none. Renko couldn't hold it in anymore, and broke out into laughter.

"HAHAHHAA, OH MAN! WHERE'S A CAMERA WHEN YOU NEED ONE?!" Renko said, almost crying with laughter.

"...What in...How.." Sanasan(Sanachan?) blurted out. "How...how did this happen!?"

[E-Nazrin]

(OOC: Teaming up with Sana for timewarps, again. Note that we're also effectively retconnning this post since Sanasanasan realized he'd screwed up Shinjiro's character there.)

Streets to Maribel's Dorm, ~12.00 PM (noon), Day 2
Participants: Team Drillkumo, Team Star GPS: E-mouse, Sanasanasan

The mood was rather sober as Renko led us through the streets to, apparently, Maribel's dormitory complex. We all had something on our minds - worries of what we'd find there, the implications of the mana link between Renko and Sanasan, what the hell was going on back at... Kawa-whatever, wherever the shrine was...

After a little while, Sanasan apparently decided to try and lift the mood. He cleared his throat, and asked, "So... what do you guys do in your spare time?"

"Internet." I replied, promptly.

"That... is a secret." Yukari added.

I looked over at her and raised an eyebrow. "Slayers reference?"

She shrugged.

"Internet? Like what? Watching random videos?" Sanasan asked.

"Mostly Touhou stuff." I replied. "It's kinda pathetic, really."

Yukari flicked a lock of my hair. "How modest."

"Huh." Sanananana paused, then laughed. "Well, that's better than what Renko does..."

Renko's pace hesitated for a moment. "....It's a good game, ok?" she said, defensively.

"Uh, no. Disgaea 2 is nothing compared to Disgaea 1." Sanasan said.

I raised an eyebrow, and was about to comment, but Renko beat me to the punch.

"Well, Maribel has my copy of Disgaea 1." she argued. I got the impression that her face was getting red by this point...

But time for the one-up-man-ship. "I've clocked at least a hundred hours on both of those."

Sanasan seemed interested. He turned to face me as we walked. "Really? I think I have 150 on D1... What level were you?"

"See, he plays more than me! I only have 90!" Renko said.

I skipped on her comment. "Don't recall perfectly offhand, but... I think I had a level 8000 Flonne?"

Sana's eyes widened. "8000!? I only had had her at 4000! Sounds like you must've grinded quite a bit..."

I shrugged. "100 may have been a low estimate."

"Well, uh...I have a 1500 Laharl..." Renko said feebly.

Uh... huh. That was a... little low for that much play time, if that was her highest... but I'd rather not be mean about it...

"... are the rest far behind?" I asked, hoping for an alternative explanation.

Renko didn't reply for a moment. "...Flonne's 500. Everyone else..."

Uh... hm.

"It's because she didn't learn about passing on skills and dark assembly until about halfway through." Sanasan explained. "Basically, she had Flonne with nothing but her uniques until I asked her why she didn't know any magic."

"Ahhh, that'd explain it, then." I replied, nodding.

... well, mostly, at least.

Renko was not pleased with our antics. She turned to give us an angry look and... huffed, I guess you could call it. "Fine then, just wait! When I get my copy back today, I'll be 9999 in a week! You'll see!"

She turned around and went a fair bit faster with the "getting to Maribel's" bit.

"... but Ran spends most of her time doing housework, and Chen just kinda hangs out and acts cute." Yukari commented, long after the original question had been abandoned.

"What a balanced lifestyle." I replied, dryly.

"Isn't it?"

-----
Maribel?s Dormitory Room, 12.10 PM (Noon), Day 2
Participants: Team Drillkumo, Team Star GPS; Ben, Mig, and Shinjiro from RAI Force 1

"... so, what are we expecting?" I asked Yukari, in a low voice.

She shook her head as we walked down the hall to Maribel's dorm room. "An empty apartment and a panicked Renko."

"Let's hope that isn't a waste of time." I muttered.

"If we're lucky, she left behind something worth investigating." she pointed out. "Those people back at the Hakurei Shrine didn't seem like magicians, so..."

I looked down at the critters we'd returned to normal at the top of the stairs. "And I doubt they did any scent investigation, either."

Ran snorted.

... yeah, that was insensitive.

My thoughts were interrupted by Renko banging, loudly, on one of the doors on the hallway. We're here.

... let's hope she doesn't freak out too much.

"Maribel!" Renko yelled, "If you're in there, answer me!"

She wouldn't. I knew that much. But I walked up beside her. The Yakumos followed closely.

"Maybe she's not here?" Sanasan mumbled. Well, one of them was catching on...

I heard something from behind the door. A voice? Low-pitched, trying to be quiet... probably male. But...

"... I heard something in there." I said. "If Maribel is in, she'd answer us."

"So..." Yukari whispered, rolling up her sleeves.

I cracked my knuckles. "Uninvited guests."   

Apparently, we weren't the only ones investigating her. What a coincidence that we'd meet.

Maybe we could kidnap one of them to bring to Satori.

I don't know if Renko shared our concerns, but she didn't seem happy with the intrusion. "Maribel! I'm coming in, ready or not!"

More hissing from inside the room. How were we going to get in there? Surely she locked the door, even if Renko's being civil about not trying it...

"What do you mean, ready or not?!" Sanasan asked, "You're not going to-"

Renko lifted her leg to kick at it.

What? That couldn't possibly...

"TRICK OR TREAT!"

The door exploded inwards. I realized that the wood smelled wet. Must have been rotted.

... convenient.

Yukari rushed in after her, shouting. "Search and destroy!"

She was rather eager. I rather agreed with her. I didn't know how we were going to deal with whoever we were facing, but I wasn't going to let them off easy!

The rest of us barged in and looked around. The room was an awful mess, but essentially empty. Clothing and trinkets covered the floor.

Where'd they vanish to? I strongly doubted Kikuri'd managed to pull together some sort of teleportation tech in such short order...

"Eh...?" Renko didn't seem to like this situation, either.

Renko glared around the room. I followed them with my own. She stopped somewhere on the wall.

The window was open.

THAT explains it.

"...What happened in here?" Sanasan asked, eyeing a misplaced pair of panties.

"OI! YOU THIEVES!! WHERE'S MY FRIEND?!" Renko shouted out the window. I moved to get a better perspective and noticed three men running away on the next roof over. It... looked like a pretty tricky jump from the window to there...

Renko rushed over to the window. "... AND IF YOU STOLE THE ORIGINAL DISGAEA CD I LENT HER, YOU'RE ALL DEAD!"

"Remind me never to lose anything Renko lends me." Sana added, nervously.

"Crud, run!" one of the retreating figures cried.

"Why?! What from?! Don't we have diplomatic immunity?!" another replied.

"Can't you see that girl has murder in her eyes?!" the first shouted back. "I can't handle women! Especially not psychotic ones!"

"What'd she say about a CD?"

Kikuri's goons are awfully chatty.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it's enough reason to kill us!"

The third goon finally spoke up. "Jeez... what on earth did I do to deserve this..." A more serious one, I see. Best watch out for him.

"Konoooo!!" Renko growled.

She jumped on the windowsill.

Well, I guess we're pursuing, then.

"ORAAA!" she shouted, leaping out of the window, sailing over the alleyway below, and landing safely on the next rooftop over.

Wow. Impressive.

"COME BACK HERE!" she shouted, rushing after the retreating 'thieves.'

Sana was the first to reach the window. He looked after Renko for a second, then down at the alley below, then back at Renko's retreating back.

"... nyoro~n...? This doesn't look safe..."

Stupid freakin'... we need to hurry!

I shoved his back. "Just go!"

He yelped and flailed about a bit.

Er... that wasn't the best move on my part, was it?

Sana managed to grab the next roof over. Phew. Well... I guess that makes our job easier. Sorry, man.

I used his body as a support to get over to the next roof. Yukari followed, a little less ginger on his back. Ran and Chen rushed over, but probably didn't bother him much.

Yukari rushed ahead, after Renko. I stopped to help Sana up onto the next roof.

"... yeah, just leave me here, all right?" he muttered, glaring after Yukari. "I'll just hang around here until you guys come back..."

I grabbed his wrists. "Come on, move it! Renko'll waste away without you, remember?!"

He paled. "I completely forgot about that! Let's go!"

---

"Oi, we've got a truckload of civvies behind us!" one of the goons shouted, as they leapt over to the next roof. Jeez, talk about an action scene...

Renko bent over after landing behind them, grabbed a loose shingle off of the roof, and flung it at him.

"And they've started throwing shingles at us!" goonie went on.

"No shit, Sherlock!" the other talkative one shot back.

Renko grabbed another shingle, barely slowing down, and flung it at the serious goon. The rest of us managed to catch up. I could hear Yukari laughing giddily. I guess she was eager for some ultraviolence.

The shingle shattered against the goonie's shoulder. It... didn't sound quite natural. Strange. He muttered something I couldn't hear.

The talkative ones talked among each other for a moment. One of them glanced over to one side of the rooftops we'd been leaping over.

"The train!" he shouted, "We're taking the train!"

I glanced over at where he'd looked and finally noticed another commuter train skimming along beside us.

Oh, FUCK no.

The other talkative goon agreed with me. "You can't be serious! I didn't sign up for this! They got the wrong person!"

"Hand me stuff to throw!" Renko roared. The loose shingles were getting sparse.

We passed by an attic window, with a ceramic bowl lying outside. I grabbed it and handed it to her. I made a small mental apology to its owner as it bounced off one of the goons' shoulders, rolled off the roof, and shattered after hitting the train.

We passed another attic window, with a flowerpot sitting outside.

Sana forwarded it. "I'm not sure I should be doing this..." he said, and shrugged slightly. "Ah, to heck with it, they stole a copy of Disgaea, those thieves."

Renko seemed slightly uncertain about the projectile, but flung it anyway.

Yukari handed her a garden gnome. I almost tripped in surprise.

"I didn't think you were in good enough condition to gap," I said, just loud enough for her to hear.

She grinned. "Nah, someone here's just insane."

"Now she's started throwing chimney ceramics!" That goon is pretty panicky. "And flower pots! And garden gnomes!"

There was a surprised "Nya!" from beneath my feet. I glanced down and saw Yukari's hand rising up past me, handing something black to Renko, and...

Oh for fuck's sake.

"A CAT IS FINE TOO!" Renko roared. Chen sailed through the air with rather surprising grace. But I really didn't like this, if she missed, then...

"Chen! CHEEEEEN!" I cried after her.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Sanasan asked. I wasn't sure if he was addressing Renko or Yukari.

"And kittens!" the panicky goon shouted.

The other two were alarmed. "WHAT?!" They paused to turn around, and paled at the cat flying at them. I realized Chen's claws were drawn.

She let out a mighty "MYAAA~" and latched onto the relatively-normal goon's scalp.

Okay, nevermind, that worked out pretty well.

Chen's victim panicked even more than the other chatty goon. "AYAYAYAYA!!"

_{fucking hell why am i thinking of that skit}

"HELP! A CAT! A CAT! A CAT IS TRYING TO EAT MY HEAD!"

"Don't worry, she's been debeaked!" Yukari roared after them, grinning far too widely. "But she might try to--"

Wait, I recognized that reference! But it was horrible.

"Do not finish that sentence!" I shouted at her, around a twisted grin. Didn't think she was well-versed with geeky stuff. Especially western.

The joke had kept me from noticing the orange ball of fur she'd grabbed and handed to Renko until much too late.

God DAMNIT.

The serious goon glanced back and paled as a flying fox soared towards him. I could see him mouth, "Oh, no..."

The other goons glanced back, apparently close enough to hear him. "What?!"

They paled, too. Canine teeth are even worse than cat claws, after all...

"KYUUUUU~"

The other chatty goon gained a fox accessory on his arm. He flailed it around wildly. Er... that won't be good for Ran.

"MY ARM! MY ARM! A FOX IS TRYING TO EAT MY ARM!"

Chen's victim apparently decided we were getting too dangerous to stick around with. "The train!" he cried, sounding pained, "Get on the train!"

The goons all changed direction. Oh god, they're serious. Can humans even survive being on top of a moving train?! I mean, I know it happens all the time in action flicks, but...

... oh FUCK, they have Ran and Chen!

By some miracle, the goon squad landed safely on the train, latched onto each other's limbs and shouting in pain. By an even better miracle, Ran and Chen remained safe as well, still stubbornly latched onto their victims. Much shouting was involved.

Strong girls. But now, if they got too far away...

Damnit.

"Bastards, look at what you've made me have to do!" I cried, turning towards the train line and putting on a burst of speed.

_{oh god i'm no action hero ohfuckohfuckohfuckohfuck}

I leapt.

For some reason, I got it into my head to subvert the usual suicide drop yell. "SITTING BULL!"

By some fluke I managed to land in a neat crouch, despite the huge shift in momentum and ten-foot drop and oh god what the fuck

... though, that must have been pretty aweso-OW

I let out a gurgle and collapsed to the roof of the train as someone landed on my back.

... that's right, Yukari would have to follow too, wouldn't she?

But she didn't have to land on top of me!

"What was that for?" I asked, grouchily.

"For another random Indian chieftan?" she suggested.

Ugh, not now!

"Get off, we need to catch them!"

I pushed against her as she slipped off, then got to my hands and feet and headed for the fallen goons in a low half-crawl. Well, at least that was somewhat plausible. I squinted my eyes against the horrible wind as I went.

A shout from above. "RENKO!"

Oh god, what?! She couldn't be planning to--

"POCAHONTAS!" Renko cried, continuing the parodical theme. I heard a clang on the train behind me and glanced back to see her stagger off towards the other end of the train.

She fell off.

FUCK.

Damnit, and the goons are starting to crawl off, I can't let Ran and Chen stay alone any longer! I can't help her!!

"NO!" Sana shouted from above, "Now look at what you've made ME have to do!!"

... ah, that'll do the trick.

I turned back towards the goons we were pursuing. Sorry, guys, you'll have to take care of that problem yourselves...

The serious goon glanced back at us, looking extremely irritable. He frowned for a moment, then looked me in the eye, and......

...

I blinked, and Yukari's hand swished over my face. "Don't look him in the eye!" she hissed. "He stunned you somehow!"

What? They DID have magic?! Fuck!

"Thanks, Chen." she went on. I realized that Chen's tail was swishing wildly, passing over the dangerous goon's face regularly. Lucky.

After a second, the serious goon growled as he realized his trick wasn't going to work. He turned and kept crawling away from us. But with his buddies latched on in a chain of dependency and claw wounds, it was not at all difficult to catch up. We trapped them at the end of the train car, considering that they were even less capable of getting over to the next car than we were.

I stopped a few feet away from them and glared down, arms crossed. "Now then," I shouted at them, "Would you gentlemen care to explain yourselves?"

Ran and Chen's victims glanced at each other with horrified expressions. Yukari cracked her knuckles.

"Stop joking around!" the serious goon shouted back. "We don't need to tell you anything! You don't even outnumber us!"

Ran growled loudly as a counterpoint. What an idiot.

"IS THAT SO?!" Renko cried, rushing up alongside us with a look of insane, righteous fury in her eyes, and a sharp-edged shingle in her hand.

Wow.

The wimpier goons cringed back from her glare. Renko started to grin a very, very nasty grin, and they decided to talk.

"OHGODISWEARWEWEREORDEREDTODOITSOMETHINGABOUTBORDERSPLEASEDONTHURTUS"

Quite the word sandwich, but I heard 'orders' and 'borders.' No doubt left, now.

"By who?!" I shouted.

"Idiots!" the serious goon hissed. He swung a fist at Chen - no, really at Chen's victim, and she leapt out of the way. She stumbled on the train's roof for a moment before running over next to my feet.

"Good girl." I said, down to her.

"What was that about borders?" Sanasan asked, a little behind the game.

"Apparently, they're investigating borders." I replied, glaring Chen's (former) victim in the eye.

I knew why. I wonder if they did.

Renko tapped her weaponized shingle against a palm. "... give back what you stole. NOW!"

The recently-liberated goon whimpered, and started digging around in his jacket. The serious goon hissed something at him. I couldn't hear it, or the response. But he pulled out a Disgaea game case.

Oh for god's sake.

The serious goon rolled his eyes, and lunged for... the edge of the train?!

"Ran!" I shouted. She recognized the danger, let go of the arm in her mouth, and skidded towards us as Chen had.

The Disgaea case also skidded towards us, bouncing dangerously as it went. Renko grabbed it out of the air.

I was more concerned with the retreating goons. They dove right off the train. They dove right off the train!

... but that one guy had some sort of magic. They might have...

... I needed a parting shot. Something about what they were... ah!

"Oi!" I called after them, "Take good care of them, all right?!"

... no matter how they get their mana batteries, I want the girls kidnapped from Gensokyo to be treated well...

"I don't think they heard you." Yukari said from behind me. I turned to see Ran in her arm, airing out her mouth in distaste. The guy's shirt probably tasted awful.

"Gotta try, right?" I shot back.

She nodded. "But why did they escape after telling us?"

I shook my head. "They didn't tell us everything, and they were panicked anyway. Sounds plausible to me."

A loud whistle brought me back to reality as the train sped out into a more open area.

"Maybe we should get off the roof." I suggested.

[trancehime]

Saniwa Inn, Various Places, 10:50 AM, Day 4

Hirowaza, now Hiyori, simply looking around with a blank expression on her face. The Shady New Drug seemed to be used for curing Mitaka's blindness, but it didn't work and changed him into a female. And then, it appeared that somehow it circulated throughout the entire Inn and various people have also been transformed into females. Fortunately, there were others who didn't have to share that fate. Well, there are those that were visibly shocked and not feeling too good about it, however, there were a bunch of people who were taking it unusually well, perhaps as opportunities to wreak havoc on others as a prank deal. Hiyori sighed as Meira started taking her to various parts of the inn to see the state of the other people.

"Hey, hey, hey, lots of people had the same thing!"

"Y, yes... As it seems, Meira-sama. Aaah, my feet are killing me." Hiyori whined.

"Ahh, you can take it!"

"Kuu..."