Two large red dishes slammed onto the stone ground of that stood in front of the Hakurei Shrine, the both of them belonging to the heavy drinking Oni; Suika Ibuki and Yuugi Hoshiguma respectively. The both of them had just finished a round of sake as per the usual of their meetings together, however this time they both had engaged in a drinking contest of sorts. A rather common past time to the oni race, that and physical contest. Reimu Hakurei, the shrine maiden of the Hakurei Shrine, clearly voiced her adament disapproval of participating in the drinking contest, despite Suika claiming it would be fun for all of them. Even so, the two oni had went on with their drinking game regardless if they had a thrid player or not. However, as they continued on as normal, the two of them realized one detail about their little game that seemed to ellude them before...
"Ready to...givesh up...?" Suika asked to her taller opponent who looked just as intoxicated as she sounded.
"Notta chansh..." Yuugi hiccuped leaning over to Suika, nearly toppling over into her dish before catching her own body's reaction with what little reflexes her drunken mind could realize at the moment. "Lesh...haave anotha go...c'mon..." Yuugi held her dish up to Suika the shorter oni smirking at her challenge and readying the gourd before a distinct shout put an end to the battle that was just as nigh infinite as the very gourd that held limitless booze.
"Enough you two!" The Hakurei miko demanded, her hands akimbo and glaring at the drunken youkai who looked around to meet her gaze...well Yuugi did, Suika sorta...fell over in a fit of drunk laughter. She has seen just about enough of these two slug it out with beer, before she knew it, she'd have TWO oni to deal with at her shrine instead of the usual one. In all honesty, she didn't mind Suika when she drank, it's only when she started breaking things is when it becomes a problem...and since Suika makes it a habit of breaking stuff when ever she gets smashed, Reimu usually saw it as her duty to make sure she didn't drink too much. "Isn't there some other way for oni to settle things, you know...without drinking?"
Reimu's question was only answered in silence, the once drunk chuckling Suika now clamming up to find an answer to the question that had the both of them stumped...that is until Yuugi said something.
"You jush made cush you di'nt drink wit ush." Yuugi remarked smuggly.
Reimu sighed in exasperation, and pretended not to hear what Yuugi just said. She has forgotten how drunks can be hard to deal with sometimes. "You two have been going at this little contest for hours now...you started early this morning and now look at what time it is!"
The Oni looked to the sky and back to Reimu.
"That's right it's, 1 in the afternoon (I think)." Reimu added as she stepped down to Suika and Yuugi. It's true the both of them had been going at this for hours and hours with no determined end in sight. Reimu at first wondered why the both of them hadn't passed out in a pool of their own regurgitated liquor but, then remembered that Oni can take far FAR more booze than any human can...or rather any living thing could. Suika being almost perpetually drunk being a great testament to this notion. "The thing is, I don't see any end to this nonsense in sight. I know you both like your sake but come ON, there has to be one other way you can settle this?"
Suika and Yuugi looked to one another in silence, the lack of words between slowing wearing away at Reimu's already tathered patience. However, before the miko could throw in the towel, Suika spoke up with an interesting note...
"Well, there ish one thing...we could do..." She slurred in a drunken haze, casting her eyes to Yuugi as if saying 'you know what I mean'. Coincidentally, Yuugi did know of what Suika meant.
"Ah, you shure? I dun wanna whoop yo assh too hard so yush can't drink no mo'." Yuugi said learning closer to Suika who met her face with an intoxicated smirk.
"What exactly is it you're going to do?" Reimu asked the oni, with a raised eyebrow of curiosity. "If you're going to danmaku here, then you can forget it. I already had to replace the front end of my shrine twice this week and I'm not about doing that again."
"We ain't gonna danmakkoo, Raymoo." Suika said. "We'sh gonna play a lil some'in differant."
Huh, this was new, something that quipped Reimu's curiosity even more. Although, what exactly they were gonna play besides danmaku seemed to worry her a little. "
Oh, why am I worried?" Reimu thought to herself. "
There's plenty of other ways to settle stuff without danmaku, but still...why do I have this odd feeling of impending pain and anguish...?"
=====
"Dodgeball?" Reimu said as she stared at a flyer created by the tengu reporter, Aya Shameimaru. Apparently it didn't take long for her to catch wind of the oni's upcoming contest and before they knew it flyers were posted in most of the populated areas of Gensokyo. "You and Yuugi are going ot play Dodgeball over this?"
"Yep~" Suika nodded on a cheery note. "Although it's more like Oni Dodgeball now than anything else. The humans showed us the sport long ago and we oni sorta adapted our own version to spice things up a bit." Something about the words, Oni and Dodgeball coinciding in once phrase did not sit well with Reimu at all.
"Even so, don't you think you should be looking for team players for the upcoming match?" Reimu pointed out, pushing aside her repressed doubts to further look into this game Suika and Yuugi were having. The oni paused and looked up from her lazy posture as if she had seen or heard something absolutely jarring. Suika then scampered over to Reimu's table and looked at the flyer to find the words;
SPECIAL YOUKAI EVENT! ~ FANTASTIC DODGEBALL GAME
-A special game is going to be held at the near the Mountain of Youkai> Team captains; Suika Ibuki and Yuugi Hoshiguma are looking for 8 strong and competitive players to compete in one of the first ever Dodgeball matches ever to be held in Gensokyo!Any youkai or human interested in participating should speak with Ran Yakumo about entering the contest. Be sure to state which team you are playing for~Register now before the empty rosters fill up~!"Ah Fudge, that stupid Aya got it all wrong!" Suika exclaimed, her palms meeting the sides of her head. Natrually, Reimu asked further into this, perhaps to see why Suika seemed to think Aya got this entire event wrong. Even though Dodgeball IS a team sport...like so many like it.
"So it's supposed to be one on one?" Reimu asked, thinking back to what she knew on the original sport...since she knew next to nothing on the Oni variant of Dodgeball. "Don't you think that would end a little too fast? From what I hear about Dodgeball, the games over once the other player has been hit by the ball or the thrower's ball has been caught by the opposer."
"You don't get it, Oni Dodgeball is different than that..." Suika shook her head in disagreement. "You see in Oni Dodgeball we-"
"Oi! Suika!" Came the shout of Marisa's voice from outside. Both Suika and Reimu stepping out of the shrine to see the witch standing in front of the donation box holding the flyer in one hand and her broom in the other. The witch was not alone; Yuuka, Kurumi, Meiling, Youmu and...a monkey youkai. "I heard you're holdin' a dodgeball game. You can count me-er, us in too!"
"What, you mean you all are entering?" Reimu asked to the group, a little surprised on not only how fast people responded to the flyers, but also on how many reacted at once. She could only begin to wonder what motives they had for signing up for all of this...
"Yep, signed up for Team Ibuki as soon as I heard...these guys sorta just tagged along with me afterward." Marisa replied, thumbing to Yuuka who only seemed to huff at the witch's words.
"You give way too much credit to yourself." Yuuka said bluntly as she glanced off elsewhere. "I signed up, because well...let's just say I know how game works~"
"I came, when I found out Yuuka was coming." Kurumi said before she shrunk a bit, her expression sinking as she recalled Yuuka's gatekeeper wasn't present. "...Too bad, Elly couldn't come though..."
"
Someone needs to watch over the mansion while I'm gone." Yuuka stated to the vampire as she turned to face her. "It was either you or her who was coming...I thought we made that clear before we left?"
"Lady Yuyuko believed it would be fun for me to enter this Dodgeball game." Youmu said. "Of course, this is also good training for me as well, so I wouldn't pass up this oppurtunity so easily."
"What about you, Meiling?" Reimu asked the chinese gatekeeper whom she rarely saw leave her post at the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
"I'm playing to represent the Scarlet Devil Mansion." Meiling nodded before there was a pause. "...Although, I don't see any reason why Sakuya or Koakuma couldn't come with me either...
"And...who the hell're you?" Reimu said turning to the monkey youkai.
"Sarushi. I'm just hear for the sport." The monkey stated with a scratch behind his head, his efforts producing a small tick to which he happily ate seconds later.
Suika looked at the lot of folks gathered at the shrine, unsure on if she should tell them of what was really going to go down during the game. If she knew anything, she knew that half of them...were going to die. Well maybe Marisa, Youmu and Sarushi...but Yuuka, Meiling and Kurumi might make it. "Listen, I like how you all came here lookin to play and all, but you have to understand, Oni Dodgeball was meant for ONI to play." Suika said. "The rules and everything are alot different, and the odds of one of you dieing out there is...well, pretty high."
"Dieing from Dodgeball?" Marisa spoke up a bit of laugh chasing into her response to the news.. "I know you can get hurt playin' Dodgeball but you can be serious about the dieing part...right?"
"No. I'm serious." Suika replied with a look to mirror her response. "This sport...is vicious. The only reason us Oni can play it is because we
have the physical fortitude to actually live through it. Do you know what one of those balls can do to the body? You will be torn apart, rip to shreds, and outright mutilated. Some of you may even will lose control of your bowels from the mind wrenching pain that you'll have to endure just to get through the first round. By the end of the match, I gaurentee that everyone of you will be pissing and shitting on yourselves in front of hundreds of people, it will be an outright miracle if just one of you manages to make it out of this alive...let alone without any lasting mental scars of what happened to you, your team mates or the other guys."
There is an ominous silence that begins to flood the shrine grounds, everyone looking to each other as they realized that the game they thought was going to be fun...turned out to be some form of brutal deathmatch only meant for Oni to play. Of course, this silence did not last for very long as Yuuka stepped forward once more, showing that she was going to remain in the roster. Marisa, Youmu, Kurumi, Sarushi and Meiling were next in line to follow behind Yuuka.
"You all are still willing to play, even after I said all that stuff...?" Suika asked, everyone nodding to her question. The oni simply shook her head and laughed to herself. "I don't know if what you all are doing is either retarded or brave, but...if you insist~"
=====
Step into game...gotta play to win...Time marched on and before anyone knew it, the awaited dodgeball event was underway. Many youkai and humans alike were congregating in a specially made...or should I say, specially gapped stadium, prepared by Yukari to accomidate the event. It was quite literally, one of the most lively events in Gensokyo's history; Mystia and her four friends used the large gathering to sell yakitori and other snacks to make loads of money. The Moriya Shrine residents...or rather just Kanako, took advantage of the large crowd to try and invite others to support Yuugi's team and in the process give their faith to the Moriya Shrine. It was a wonder people never seemed to question where such a thing was for Suika's team...
Meanwhile in Team Ibuki's locker room, things were slowly gearing up for the upcoming match against Team Hoshiguma. After changing into their sports uniforms, something Kurumi complained about seeing as to how she had to wear the tight buruma instead of the shorts everyone else got to wear, Reimu gathered everyone to discuss something rather important with the team captain herself; a plan to use against the opponents as well as the easiest way to see to it that no body actually dies from this match. "Alright everyone, we're about to go up against Yuugi and her team...as you know, this is a dangerous sport and one or more of us may still be badly hurt by the time this is all done. For that reason, we need to come up with a plan so we can beat Team Hoshiguma and get through this without any needless casualties." Reimu said to her fellow team mates who fell silent as they began contemplating on any possible plans they could come up with to use in the game.
"Do we know anything about Team Hoshiguma's roster?" Youmu asked to anyone who would give her an answer. "If we know how her team's set up, we can come up with an effective strategy to exploit any weakness it might have."
"Well, I think they have alot of youkai if that counts for something." Sarushi said, most of his attention focused on combing through Kurumi's blond hair for external parasites. "But I think that green haired shrine lady from that Moriya place is playing for her team too. She ain't human is she?"
"You mean Sanae? She's human alright." Reimu said with a nod, with a narrow of her eyes. "Kanako must have plugged her into this game for some reason, sports like this don't seem like Sanae's bag at all."
"Even so, if Sanae's the only human on the team, we know that she may also be the weakest link." Yuuka noted, shooting a murderous glare at the monkey youkai that set to groom her green hair. "Although I still think, we need to know if Yuugi has any weaker YOUKAI on her team as well...if we do. then we'll know which ones to target last."
"Yuugi Hoshiguma, Kanako Yasaka, Yamame Kurodani, Utsuho Reiuji, Sanae Kochiya, Parsee Mizuhashi, Rin Kaenbyou, and... Koishi Komeiji." Everyone turned to see Kurumi reading from a flyer. "What? It's on the flyer."
"Okay with that, the weakest of that team is Yamame and Parsee." Yuuka said. "If we take out the stronger players first the rest will fall into place rather easily."
"In that case, you can count on me to take out the stronger ones," Suika said with a grin. "Especially Yuugi, she's mine~!"
"Me too," Meiling rose her hand, volunteering to shoot for the stronger players. "They won't know what hit'em!"
"Marisa, Youmu, Kurumi Sarushi; what're you all gonna do?"
"Leave the speed and dodgin' to us." Sarushi spoke up, the other three nodding in agreement to his words.
"Alright then, if everyone's straight on our plan then let's go kick some ass!" Suika yelled throwing her fist out, as her team placed their own against hers.
Back outside, the crowd's roars had came to a hushed murmur as the sound of Aya's (obnoxious) voice rang throughout the stadium in the microphone that whined a bit at the sound of her voice. "Welcome, youkai and humans to the first ever Gensokyo Dodgeball Game, where Team Ibuki squares off with Team Hoshiguma in a fight for glory!" The tengu shouted in an over the topish announcer like tone. "I'm your host for this event, Aya Shameimaru and this is your co host...Hatate Himekaidou."
There was a distinct softness in volume when it came to speak Hatate's name. No one seemed to notice.
"So Hatate, how does it feel to witness Gensokoy history, to see this exciting sport finally play out before our eyes?"
"I gotta say, even though I know about Dodgeball, this version everyone's going to play sounds quite interesting." Hatate replied. "To think, a Dodgeball game created by the oni, who knew such a sport existed right here in Gensokyo this whole time?"
"You got that right, now then let us welcome our teams to the field and get this game started!!" Aya shouted as the crowd's uproarous cheers rose in volume as the players from both Team Ibuki and Team Hoshiguma stepped onto the field from their respective locker rooms. This wasn't a one on one deal anymore...this was now a team thing...and if they all wished to experience what Oni Dodgeball was all about, then they were going to witness first hand just why it's never been discovered until now. Reimu walked closer to The shorter oni, leaning down somewhat to whisper something into her ear.
"Do you think Aya and everyone else knows how this is really going to play out?" The miko asked to Suika who merely shrugged.
"And to your left you have Team Ibuki of the Hakurei Shrine; their leader Suika her team of Reimu, Marisa, Meiling, Youmu, Yuuka, Kurumi and...Sarushi." Aya announced, Suika's team standing on the field and taking their positions for the match ahead. "And their opponentes are Team Hoshiguma of the Ancient City; their leader Yuugi and her team of Yamame, Utsuho, Sanae, Parsee, Rin, Koishi, and Kanako!" The crowd cheered even louder at the calling of Yuugi's roster, a clear indication that alot of people were supporting Yuugi's team rather than Suika's.
"Now the rules of Oni Dodgeball are very similar to the orignial game; players work together with their teams mates to eliminate the opposing teams players." Hatate explained as the opposing teams stared each other down, a few taunts being thrown across the boundary line of the playing field. "A player is out when they just can't continue playing and the game ends when one team's players are all pass out from their injuries or simply die~"
There's a short pause, followed by confused murmurs from the crowd who weren't really expecting to hear such a thing.
"Wait, what?" Hatate said in confusion.
"Haha! You're such a kidder, Hatate." Aya said with a staged laughter. "There's no way this game could be so cruel and brutal to our players."
"Well then you read it! It says so right there!" Hatate said a sudden thump and screech of the microphone echoing across the stadium as the tengu forced her papers into Aya's line of sight. "See, right there under the part where the teams are listed."
... ... ...
"Oh my..." Aya gasped, her eyes having now gazed upon the truth of Oni Dodgeball and perhaps the reason why no one knew about it. Because those who play it, usually either have brain damage from the event or have died from just playing one game. "Ahaha, well then I suppose it's good that we have Eirin and her squad of nurse bunnies on the scene to treat any injuries, be they minor or life threatening~"
"Yeah, one thing's for sure...I do NOT envy those playing this game. Although..." Hatate paused as she directed everyone's attention to the two teams below. "They all look as if they're willing to go through with this even with the aspect of Death looming over them...I must say, for a collected group determined to balance their very lives on a dodgeball game, they sure are stupid..." Not too far away, Komachi looked up from eating a chili dog, almost as if someone called her name for something.
"Got that right, Hatate." Aya agreed. "Anyway...let's get this game started, Referee Byakuren Hijiri is above the playing field ready to begin the game."
"Players, are you ready?" Byakuren called from above the field, the lot of them nodding eagerly in response. "Okay...Ready~?"
The crowd leaned in somewhat awaiting the coming violence like an oh so sweet release to one's mastabatory pleasure.
"Fuck'em up!" Byakuren blew the whistle ushering in a burst of activity below as both teams scrambled to the center to grab a ball for the opening offensive. Meiling was first to get her hands on a ball and immedieatly launched it into the oncoming group. The ball curved past a screaming Yamame and slammed into the side of Parsee, a sickening echo of her bones cracking resonating from her tumbling body.
"Ooooh and Mizuhashi goes down hard already. That's gonna leave a mark~!" Hatate said, the crowd practically recoiling in pain at the sight of Parsee getting hit by such a vicious hit this early in the game.
"Dang it, Meiling!" Marisa exclaimed. "Remember the plan!"
"S-Sorry, it curved..."
"Aaagh! I'm s-s-so jealous of you all...not..h-having to experience this paaaaaiAAAH! OH GOD IT HURTS!" As Parsee lay on the field, screaming in agony at the broken bones in her side, her surrounding team began to realize that...
this game was fucking insane!"Can you still play, Parsee!" Yuugi called out to the bridge princess as she ducked several throws from the opponents. Slowly, Parsee began to push her self to her feet, clutching her aching side as she came to a wobbly stand. The crowd roared at the mere sight of Parsee managing find the strength to stand on two legs despite the crippling pain that ravaged her side.
"Ah, but it looks like Parsee's not gonna give in just yet. This goes to show the amazing fortitude from the Hoshiguma side!" Aya shouted, Suika and her team collectively clicking their teeth at the second wind of the bridge princess and for good reason...they thought she was one of the weakest.
"No way, she managed to stand up after a hit like that!?" Meiling said in disbelief, not paying attention to the paniced cries of her team mates. The moment Meiling's mind realized she was in danger, it was all too late, she felt an unbelievable force crash into her stomach, the sheer force of the impact burning through her like a hot razor through butter. Meiling planted her feet firmly on the ground, the earth cracking under her soles as she was pushed back by the full brunt of the ball's might. When the ball finally stopped spinning and fell dead to the ground...so did Meiling, her body curled up in pain before her stomach rejected a pool of pre-digested chinese food and blood.
"Owch! Looks like the chinese buffet's on Meiling tonight, look at that spew!" Aya announced to the audience, the crowd moaning in disgust while others shouted in excitement.
"Is the gatekeeper even getting up?" Youmu asked, as she caught a ball that was aimed for her chest and returned fire to the other side, the agonized cry of Koishi piercing the sky and the sound of her colliding with what sounded like Sanae...
"No, she's still laying down!" Kurumi shouted back narrowly dodging getting hit in the face by a flaming ball. "I don't know if she can get back up..."
"Dammit! We need her for this game; Kurumi go get her up. Sarushi cover her!" Suika barked to the two players.
"You got-Ookyarf!" Sarushi's response died in his mouth as a speeding ball nailed him in the face and sent him sprawling across the field a trail of blood following behind him in a spetacular crimson stream.
"Nooo! Not the monkey!" Marisa yelled watching as the monkey youkai's body came to rest a little ways from Meiling's, his leg twitching about several times. Eirin ordered two bunnies onto the field, the rabbits cautiously ran to the field to check on the two downed players. One of the rabbits confirmed that Sarushi had lost concsiousness upon impact and was thus Out. Meiling however...
"And Meiling's getting back up folks! Yuugi's team isn't the only one with tough players on it!" Hatate said, as the crowd laid witness to the gatekeeper getting back to her feet, albeit barely. Sarushi however, was carried away on a stretcher, carried by two rabbits one of them donning a cap that had a makeshift light on it's top...perhaps to mimic that of an ambulance.
"Sarushi's out, which means we're already at a disadvantage in the speed department." Reimu pointed out as she managed to duck a speeding ball. "Damn what are those things made off steel!"
"We're not down yet!" Suika said catching a ball and dashing toward the front line. As she drew closer, she reeled back and with everything launched a, now glowing, dodgeball to wreck havoc on Yuugi's side of the playing field. The ball bagan to grow larger and larger, taking on a menacing orange color as it beared down on the Hoshiguma team.
"Wha...What the hell is that!" shouted Parsee, crinigng from the pain that still gripped her. "Is that...even allowed in this game!?"
"Giganto Shot, one of Suika's Superthrows...looks like she's playing for keeps now." Yuugi replied grimly as the giant ball continued to barrel down toward them like a speeding meteorite. Knowing what destruction this Supertrhow could unleash, Yuugi rocketed toward the ball and held her hands out, her palms colliding with the dominating force of the immense glowing dodgeball. However even with Yuugi's strength to match the ball's size, it was clear that it was no easy task just keeping it at bay...
"Yuugi's going to take on that giant ball by herself!" Hatate gasped. "Hope she has health insurance for this."
"Well she's gonna have to start looking because there isn't any in Gensokyo, but that doesn't seem to be stopping her from trying to stop that ball!" Aya added.
"Tch, should have known she'd try to pull something like that. Suika how did you pull that stuff off?" Yuuka asked to the oni ahead of her, knowing that now was as good a chance as any to
"Huh, the Special just now?"
"Yeah that."
"I sorta run for a while and threw it really hard, but you have to time it right though or it won't come out." Suika explained to the flower youkai who nodded and grabbed on of the dead balls on the ground, dashing forth and launching her own Super shot into the fray, this one taking forming on a collection of smaller orbs closely encircling the original one, taking on the shape of glowing sunflower. The crowd gasped as they witnessed the shot that screamed toward Yuugi's still body, the oni too preoccupied with pushing back the Giganto Shot to react to the oncoming attack.
"Oh no, here comes the dreaded Hinawa Shot and Yuugi's wide open!" Hatate said as she turned to Aya. "Yuuka doesn't play around in these sort of games does she?"
"You said it, Hatate. Yuugi may be strong, but she'll be in serious trouble if she's hit with that full force!" Aya replied.
"Damn...can't...move...!" Yuugi grunted clenching her teeth for the inevitable impact of the fast approaching Hinawa Shot, however...
BAM!"Look at this folks, Yamame has just bravely sacrificed herself for her captain's sake!" Hatate shouted into the microphone, Yuugi looking up to see the tsuchigumo take the shot for her only to be mowed down and sent hurtling to the back of the playing field, her body slamming into the wall so hard that it actually managed ot penetrate it. As the dust cleared, Yamame lay motionless in the wall, her eyes blank and blood dribbling from her maw...
Woo-Woo-Woo-Woo-Woo~
The bunnies came onto the field once more and carried of Yamame, her mouth dripping with blood the entire trip back to Eirin's medical tent.
"And Yamame goes down, which makes our teams even now!" Hatate announced the obvious to the crowd who was enveloped in a cacophony of cheers for Yuuka and a collection of 'Boo's of those who supported Yuugi's team.
"Yuuka you idiot, we're supposed save those guys for last!" Marisa said to the flower master who didn't take kindly to her words.
"Shut your hole, I can't help the fact that the spider chose to sacrifice herself." Yuuka retorted sharply before noticing the others taking up arms with balls and the Giganto Shot burst and shrink back to size in a spectacular flare of orange energy. Their time was up, and now Team Hoshiguma was ready to bring the heat...
"Uhhhh....do we have any balls on our side...?" Kurumi asked, her voice beginning to tremble along with her body. Sadly there were no balls on their side to fight back with...they had thrown them all to the other side just now and Yuuka exhausted the last one with her Hinawa Shot. As everyone prepared for one merciless counter attack, Suika's drifted to the back of the group, seeing Kanako and Koishi being the only ones not on the front lines.
"Wait a minute..." Suika muttered. "This isn't over...we can still win this!"
"What?" Meiling said. "We're about to creamed!"
"Try to catch whatever you can!" Suika ordered, seeing Yuugi's team now coming at them at running speed. "Aim for Kanako first, then Koishi. I'll try to cover who ever I can."
And with those words, the onslaught began. Utsuho was the first to attack, leaping into the sky and throwing down a ball that enveloped itself in an aura of nuclear fire. Suika's team sprang into action not long after this to dodge the attack that slammed into their field with increadible force, Kurumi picked up the still scorching ball and passed it to an airborne Yuuka who launched it back into the opposing field. Yuugi's team set to do the same, unfortunately, Koishi was much too slow and found the ball crash into her vulnerable craniam. Her neck snapped back and her body slammed onto the ground motionless.
Woo-Woo-Woo-Woo-Woo~
The rabbits dragged the satori back off the field on the stretcher one of them barely managing to escape a stray ball.
"Looks like that closed third eye did Koishi no good in this game, folks. She's outta there which puts Team Ibuki in the lead!" Aya said before a piercing scream caught brought her eyes down back to the field to see Sanae on the ground missing an arm, a steaming ball laying behind her as tendrils of smoke rose from the seered off nub that used to hold her left arm. Kanako rushed to her aide, Rin and Utsuho covering the wind goddess as they caught two balls that were aimed for her. "Whoa! and Sanea-!"
"GYAAAAAAH!" came the agnozing scream of Meiling, several balls slamming into her body before one more nailed her in the head, the impact sending her toppling over on the ground and blood beginning to pool under her face.
"Meiling-!"
"GROOORGH!" Parsee fell to the ground having vomited a torrent of blood, the ball that hit her still lodged in her upper abdominal region. Utsuho soon followed as she fell onto Parsee's downed body, a fountain of blood spurtting from her chest.
"Pa-!"
"KYAAAAAH!" Youmu went flying back, her arms having been completely broken in an attempt to catch one of Kanako's throws to her. The half ghost tried to get up only to have a blue flamed ball slam into her torso and send her rolling back into the ground below. The Myon following her pitifully curling onto her crumbled frame. Suddenly, Kurumi slammed into the wall behind Youmu, the vampire pinned into the wall by a ball that was lodged into her stomach as she tried to pull herself out but gave in and fell into unconiciousness.
"I-" Aya was yet again interrupted by the crowd cheering as Orin wet her self in fear as she tried to escape a fast moving ball only to have it slam into her spine and practically snap it in half, the kasha letting out a blood curdling yowl of agony as she flipped over her self several times and came to rest on her face, legs in the air...
"Dammit! Slow down, I can't give commentary to all this at once!" Aya shouted in frustration as Hatate chuckled and tapped her on the shoulder.
"Hehe, you just missed Marisa going down~" The tengu said as she held up her cellphone and snapped a photot of Marisa's twisted and bloody form, laying on the sidelines. "Guess your not THE fastest in Gensokyo after all~"
"You know what, F(bleeep) you, Hatate!"
====
The match carried on well into sunset, both teams having lost each and every one of their team mates. Well...save for Suika of Team Ibuki and Yuugi of Team Hoshiguma. However, both were not without their gruesome injuries; Suika's uniform had torn along the side, a bloody gash to show on her bare side. Suika's right arm was mangled to the point where the bone of her elbow was peeking out of the flesh, her right arm was dripping with blood and her face was bruised and swollen. Yuugi was no better, the side of her blond hair tainted crimson from a bloody head injury that she had shrugged off hours ago, half of her shirt was burned off from the waist on up, a piece of her horn was missing, one of her eyes had swollen shut.
"Looks like...it really did come down to just you and me in the end...huh Yuugi?" Suika breathed, her vision beginning to falter and blur in and out. Even though she was the last one standing...she wouldn't remain that way for long...
"Heh...yeah...but with this..." Yuugi holds up a blood soaked ball. "...We'll see who wins..."
"...get ready to let me to treat me to a round...after this..." Suika grinned, readying her own ball, the surface just as stained with dried blood as Yuugi's.
"I...I don't believe it..." Hatate said as she, Aya and the entire studio audiance looked on in awe at the Oni that were squaring off for one final blow. "Even after the gruesome and gut wrenching punishment everyone else went through...both captains are still standing..."
"But with this next hit, one of this IS going down...both of them showed superhuman endurance, but they're both at their limits...who will be the one to walk away from this? Suika or Yuugi?"
The question that they both asked themselves for a while now...was going to answered right here on this field."Let's go, Suika!" Yuugi roared as she charged forward, reeling back to throw.
"Bring it on!" Suika screamed back as she met Yuugi's charge with her own. The oni reeled her arm back and flung the ball forward just as Yuugi threw hers, the bloody dodgeballs screaming across the boundary line and slamming into the faces of both of the oni captains, giving birth to a picturesque scene of the famous "cross counter". However this image did not last long, for the two oni went flying back from the sheer force of their throws, a thunderous boom echoed from the center of the field as Suika and Yuugi violently crashed into the walls on their side of the playing field.
"Oh man, a cross counter! And just when we thought things couldn't get any more epic than this!"
"But which one is going to stand, this game isn't over until one of them is standing!"
The crowd anxiously talked amongst themselves as they watch the dust clear from the walls to see which oni was going to stand up. To their astonishment, both of them were on their feet and were even walking back to the center field. Yuugi picking up the smoldering remains of the ball that practically exploded upon hitting her face, while Suika did the same. As the oni walked to the center, they reeled back for one final throw and...
THUD!
Yuugi's body fell to the ground, Suika dropping the tathered remains of her ball onto her bloodied head.
"Heh...Y-you're...out..." Suika said before she hacked up blood and collapsed.
====
"Are you ready?" Eirin asked to Marisa as she held her arm above her body. The witch nodded silently before Eirin forcefully wrenched her bone back into place, a sickening snap echoing through the room and Marisa yowling in pain. "Oh hush, you're a big girl." Eirin chided as she let Marisa's arm down and left the room. After the game had ended, everyone who participated in the Dodgeball match was shipped to Eientei for extensive medical treatment. Thankfully, no one was going to see Komachi as a result of an early death, but there were still some lasting battle scars from the game...scars that were either staying around for a while...or just outright permanent.
"Man...I can't...believe we...won..." Meiling chocked out from her bed, her vision barely focused. "Even though every part of my body is aching, I can't eat solid food for a month and I have this weird stuff that drips out of my ears...it feels d-darn...good to win at this..." Meiling brought her crippled fist to the air.
"G-go...Team...Ibuki...Ow-owowow!"
"Yeah, we...really...rocked the house, right Youmu?" Marisa turned to the half ghosts who was still unconcious, the only means to break the silence being the constant "beep" of the life support system that did it's duty of keeping little Youmu alive. "Yeah, everyone...had a good time~!" Marisa added, pretending those very blips from the life support system was actually Youmu's response to her. How odd...
"Ashthough, I wonder..." Yuuka began, sitting across from her bed ridden team mates, her arm in a sling, her left eye bandadged shut and her right leg in a cast. Her voice is barely legible given her teeth were missing. "Whath wath it thath you and Yuugi foughth ovah?"
Reimu wondered on the same thing, the visage of the two oni locked in a drinking contest ringing back into her mind. "Yeah, come to think of it...I don't really remember why you two had that drinking contest this morning..."
"Oh, yeah that..." Suika chuckled a bit as she scratched behind her head. "We sorta just did it for the hell of it."
Everyone fell silent...
"You mean...we risked our lives...suffered nearly life threatening injuries...just because you two fought for the hell of it?" Kurumi said as she rose up from her bed only to grow increadibly dizzy and flop onto her face. She forgot she had sustained something of a concussion in that game...
"I'm sorry! I sorta...forgot to tell everyone." Suika said with an anxious chuckle. "You all got me so psyched for the game I guess it slipped my mind." Unfortunately, Suika's apology did not excuse her from the death glares of her injured team memebers, every single one of them, even Youmu's Myon, was thirsting for payback against the oni.
"Can I get any of you anything?" Reisen said, peeping into the room to check on the lot of them.
"Yes, as a matter of fact you can." Yuuka said. "A box that can hold an oni corpse is fine, thank you~"
