((OOC: I'm going with 'Owlbear' from now on, Pichu sounded kinda gay, I still like'em I just got tired of the name. You can still keep the name in your original posts since everyone pretty much knows it's me anyhow.))
===Karuisawa Library, 7.58am, Day 2===
Trying to sustain a goddess, let alone 4 demons, is rather taxing when one has a limited amount of Mana to get by on. Although, OwlBear had a rather large well of it within his being, it was running dry quickly and he needed an alternative to either increase his Mana supply or find some other means of sustaining Shinki in this realm (Luize was a special case to consider being she's traveled to and from the Outside at will, so whether or not she actually needed mana is under question).
Currently, Owlbear, Shinki and the rest of his group had went to the local library to do some digging on magic in general, actually Yuki only wanted to go because she was curious about the 'computers' Owlbear told her about, she would then drag Mai with her. Luize had disappeared as soon as they entered, but that's typical of an explorer like her and lastly Yumeko was keeping a watchful eye on Yuki so she doesn't cause any trouble. But as for Owlbear he had grown rather frustrated with the lack of information he was recieving regarding the subject he was (trying) to research which he promplty expressed by yelling.
"Ahh! This is bull-!"
"SHHH!"
Owlbear jumped slightly at the angry retort of quieting down from the individuals around him and quickly settled himself, to which Shinki took a seat beside him having heard his out burst and came by to see what was the matter. "I take it you didn't find the information you needed?"
"Yeah mostly, none of these ratty-ass books did anything to prove my theory about Magic Circuits and Mana." Owlbear said as he slapped the 'ratty-ass' book with a frustrated hand and stared into space for a moment. It probably shouldn't have come off as such a surprise that such a thing actually exists in books, Magic Circuits is Type-Moon material, but still it was worth a shot right? "Still though, if I manage to prove that it's true I still dunno if I'll be able to actually increase the amount of Magic Circuits in my soul, I've learned (off the internet) that the number of Magic Circuits are pre-determined at birth so there's really no increasing them, moreover, the Circuits themselves are unnatrual to the human body and causes a number of problems for the magus just by existing...if anything else I'll probably be physically weaker at the cost of having more Mana to spare..."
"I see...so even with the increased amount of Mana you're saying you won't be useful in combat due to the physical problems the Magic Circuits can inflict upon you."
"Exactly, and I can't risk that if I have you and the others to protect."
"Don't worry, if it comes to it we will protect you if needed, or do you forget how 'close' we are?"
"No no, I didn't forget~" Owlbear chuckled as he batted Shinki's ahoge around a bit. The goddess didn't put up much protest on the matter but simply looked away a little embarrased he would do such a thing in a public area. "In anycase we might have scoot on out of here, these books aren't worth crap in terms of magic so that means I'll probably have to find a different method for sustaining you guys here. Unlike Od, Mana (apparently) can be found in the atmosphere so it should be easier to draw it in. Not sure if it'll be enough...but it's worth keeping you by my side."
"I'm sure you can come up with something, you're a rather creative human Owlbear. I place my complete faith in your ability." Shinki said giving Owlbear a warm smile to which he returned with his own.
"Thanks, it means alot when coming from someone as equally 'creative' as me."
THIRTYFOUR and RIKA
Altered Sky Ray, Coolant Area, ?.?? AM, Day 3
The water was pumped out and coolant was being released simultaneously. This was a pretty dangerous situation to be in, at the same time, some sort of amalgamation of a worm and some icky things was also on the lookout for Thirtyfour and Rika, it had already let loose some sort of death ray, fortunately for the pair it had horrible aim and failed to hit them despite destroying everything else in the vicinity. The worm was right around the area of Thirtyfour and Rika climbing up the ladder, but they had no choice, as Thirtyfour had said. They needed to get back up, and fast.
The worm itself could see the two climbing up the ladder, it had some sort of proboscis that started charging up a laser.
AMARILLO and LILY WHITE
Altered Sky Ray, Hallway, ?.?? AM, Day 3
Amarillo had activated her Form IV, an aggressive phase of attack, and was trying to defend herself and Lily from the apparitions that had appeared. The two believed that they had no choice, as reluctant as they were to fight, it was the only way to survive. However, just as they thought they were doing well in the fight, something had happened mid way.
Rrrgharahroaaaar!!
There was a bellowing cry in the distance as a bigger, larger, faster and stronger apparition in the shape of a bear started rampaging through the hallway, knocking out many smaller apparitions that were also charging. It wanted blood and the first sentient beings it saw were Amarillo and Lily White. As it approached, it slowed down and stopped in front of them.
Rrrhgharrr!!
TAIHOU, MOKOU, KEINE and SAKUYA
Altered Sky Ray, Unknown?, ?.?? AM, Day 3
Sakuya had advised Taihou not to engage against those devilish things. He was curious about what Sakuya had in mind but in the end obliged to her request. Keine had lectured everyone about what those things were. Taihou had lent Sakuya some of his mana energy and this allowed her to see things that many others could not - the mana trails of other people... At least, those that still had mana. They could use this leak to trail other people and find a quick, easy way to the bridge with little conflict. If the four were to engage, they would lose energy fast. This was when they found the trail of two people.
OWLBEAR, SHINKI, YUKI, MAI, LUIZE and YUMEKO
Altered Sky Ray, Unknown Aerospace, ?.?? AM, Day 3
This crew of people had no trouble fending off the beings, as it were, however, they had the complication of not knowing how to get to the bridge. That's where Luize came in. Indeed, she had an excellent sense of direction and could probably find the bridge easily. However, there were numerous rooms with busted doors, and in them were shiny things that were too hard to discern from the distance and the lighting of the area. There were numerous demons in the distance both to their front and to their back, so they had to decide quickly which way to go or, even with their power, they would be overwhelmed by numbers.
ALEX and LILY BLACK, other fairies
Altered Sky Ray, Hallway, ?.?? AM, Day 3
Alex recalled about Amarillo's link with fairies, and used this opportunity to track her down with Lily Black and the other fairies under his care. When he had reached Amarillo, the pair had been assailed by a bear-like apparition that roared constantly and was several times bigger than Alex himself. Looking serious, he had asked Amarillo "Need a hand?"
***
Altered Sky Ray, Unknown?. 9.33 AM, Day 3
Hirowaza kept his switchblade hanging from somewhere on the clothes he was now wearing, since Meira had somehow gotten her extra set on his person and he was now wearing it for some inexplicable reason. He kept the rifle with the bayonet close to him and Meira had a close hand on her katana, Hirowaza had already mowed down several black images with his rifle, and he was already running low on ammo. "Damnable things," Hirowaza said. "These things are hard to kill, this would be a terrible place to use my mana!" Meira nodded and whispered into his ear what she had seen in the distance. Hirowaza had sensed it too. The two ran quickly to their destination and then they saw Taihou.
"H, Hey!" Hirowaza cried out. "Taihou-san! It's me! Let me go with you!"
(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."
(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. (http://www.imeem.com/groups/PhhqtF4I/music/xC0xYcSh/yoko-shimomura-kingdom-hearts-disappeared/)
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 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! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCQMfVnv-8A&feature=related)
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. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0uw-3heziI)
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.
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.
(OOC: Teaming up with Sana for timewarps, again. Note that we're also effectively retconnning this (http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php?topic=100.msg4196#msg4196) 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.
(OOC: This is what I get for letting the conversation flow naturally: 8 pages of fluff and 2 pages of redundant plot elements, blarg)
Team Drillkumo Dreamscape, ~7:00 AM, Day 4
Participants: Team Drillkumo, brief plot relevance: E-mouse
We fell silent again, for what felt like an unusually long time. I'm not sure if it was dream-time goofiness, the others respecting my intent of a dramatic pause for some reason, or actually being genuinely stunned by my statement.
Hahah. I kill me.
Anyway, eventually we continued the conversation as if nothing had happened.
"'Covenant of Gensokyo...?' Ran echoed, uncertainly.
"That sounds kinda cool." Chen added.
"C O G..." Yukari mused, "'Cog?' That's a silly acronym..."
Was she mocking me? I grimaced. "Yukari, I know you aren't fond of my team-name obsession..."
She chuckled. "Well, it WOULD be cute if we used one that had a good second meaning as well... but your enthusiasm is rather silly, yes."
"I... I think it's a good idea!" Chen objected, "Gensokyo needs to be cool for the outer world!"
"Assuming we can get away with the outer world finding out about us, at least..." I muttered, darkly.
Yukari's criticism was flat. "That does make it a lower priority, yes."
I clenched the Drill tighter, and lowered it to my chest. "... I really wish we could. Touhou is known here. Going public would give us an army of fanboys to work with; for more mana batteries, for more public support, possibly enough donations to survive without having to work all the time, allowing an open rebellion, supporters to bring magic back to this world..."
"Once again, your madness is without limit."
"... it is. But not my stupidity. We're in no position to try. We don't know how far Kikuri's reach extends, or how much the otaku of the world would be able or willing to help... We need to find out more.
And if we could convert her cronies too....."
"That seems unlikely." Ran said, skeptically.
"Anarchist, remember?" I replied, "They're just being manipulated. I have enough faith in human nature that most of them wouldn't be doing this if they hadn't been deceived or pressured into it..."
"Well, your na?vet? is clearly above average." Yukari quipped.
I paused, and nodded slowly. "... yeah. But you've got to try. And a friend who was once my enemy is my friend twice over... or something like that."
"But wouldn't they let Kikuri know about everything we do?" Ran asked.
"... we'll have to be careful about it." I admitted. "Very, very careful..."
Silence. I let my mind wander for a moment.
"... hmm... 'cog'... maybe there's a way to make that work better..."
... "Ah!"
I grinned, and flung the Drill into the air. It spun against the sky, glinting in the... sunlight, I guess. I grabbed it with a fist on the way back down.
How'd I manage to catch that? Where'd the chain go? Oh, whatever!
I stared up at it, smiling. (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/exitjmouse/misc2/Simon_DrillGaze.jpg) "I don't think this Drill's power really comes from the same source as in Gurren Lagann. It didn't work until Kaguya gave me a bolt for it."
I let them figure it out. After a moment, Ran got it. "... a bolt."
"Exactly."
"Very cute, Jeremy." Yukari said, "But also very weak. Cogs and bolts? They're machine parts, but that's about all they have in common."
I grinned. "Oh, don't worry, I've got better.
Don't you wonder why it worked?"
Silence.
"And don't you wonder why it worked so well with a Covenant battleship?!"
"You... you think it's a Covenant relic." Yukari was slightly breathless. NOW she was amazed.
"Yes."
"... and you had it before we left Gensokyo."
"Kaguya gave it to me."
"Kaguya gave it to you."
I lowered the Drill again. "I don't get it, either. I don't know how she got it, or whether she knew of its power. Or if it just never worked for her. But it'd sure as hell explain how it worked. We'll have to ask her the details of why I got it."
"I should have kept a closer eye on those Lunarians..." Yukari grumbled.
Ran sighed. "Yukari-sama, you know Eirin's hallucinogens worked on you..."
"I know, I know!" Yukari snapped back, "But to miss something like that..."
"There's no way you could have known they had something that valuable." I soothed. "... Wait, soothing Yukari?!"
She chuckled. "Even the greatest of youkai can get frustrated... like Ran, for example~"
"I'm afraid you don't help prevent that frustration, Yukari-sama."
"I know~"
I laughed. "That's Yukari for you. Mischievous bitch through and through."
"Oh, I do certainly enjoy my work~"
Ran sighed.
--- (OOC: Rest of this post isn't story-important, feel free to skip)
... a worry. "I hope her abuse isn't TOO bad, Ran?"
"Eh?!"
"Well... it isn't exactly fair for you to do all of Yukari's work while she sleeps the day away... and I remember one article about a parasol beating..." I paused. "I really should have read more of those ZUN books."
Ran's voice turned ice-cold. "Do not think I would hold such anger."
"... why?"
Yukari was about as displeased. "That... 'beating' was because Ran took unnecessary risks. I may have been harsh, but I had every reason for it."
"I brought that upon myself." Ran agreed, calmly.
"Are you sure?"
"J... Jeremy-sama..." Chen sounded very scared. I could only imagine the deathglare Ran was giving me, and Yukari would if she could.
"I don't believe you understand how the shikigami contract works." I swear Ran's voice was channeling Cirno's power.
"You're right. I don't." I admitted. "Not entirely. But by all accounts, it's a form of strict servitude.
I don't like that."
"Ran is entirely free to do as she pleases." Yukari specified, "But I do not want her to fight needlessly."
"... Okay, that's a good reason."
"Are you satisfied?"
"Well... not quite. What about the housework?"
"Magical cleaning is not difficult, with enough understanding." Ran answered,
... ze.
"Yukari was exaggerating on the way to Maribel's."
"... and much of this is playful abuse, with praise and affections mixed in?"
"Obviously."
"..." I closed my eyes. "All right. Sorry for getting so worked up. I know 'slavery' like that can work... but I have to insist on it being with reasonable treatment."
"Though I can irritate her thoroughly, and we have our rough spots, I would never dream of truly hurting Ran." Yukari assured me, with atypical sincerity.
I nodded. "All right. Thank you."
An uncomfortable silence. Ran cleared her throat. "Regardless... I think you could stand up by now, Jeremy-san."
Huh. She's probably right. I tried my legs, and found they worked. Got to my feet, and finally got a proper look at... whatever dreamscape we'd ended up in.
It really WAS a floating rock, as Yukari had mentioned. A moderately large circular platform made of rock, with a layer of dirt and then a layer of grass appearing heading towards the center. And nothing but sky outside. We'd been lying right near the center, where there was a strange pool of water. What was strange about it was that it had a constant stream of water falling from the sky and into it, making the gentle fountain sound that had helped bring me back to my senses. I glanced up and saw the water coming from... the underside of a large circular rock platform, with a center that looked like it was solid water. I glanced down at the pool on 'our' rock and saw that... apparently it was recursive. I could see the back of my own head peeking into the pool in the next 'rock' down.
"Trippy." I muttered.
"It IS rather curious." Ran agreed.
That's right, I haven't seen the others much. Yukari was still lying on the opposite side of the... fountain-pool-thing from me, smiling slightly. Like Ran and Chen, she was only wearing a light, loose one-piece gown, obviously colored purple. And of course, with her...
"Dai-oppai." Pause. "Damnit."
She grinned. "Why, thank you."
As I'd suspected, Ran was kneeling next to Yukari. She rolled her eyes.
"Sorry."
"No, I should have expected it." Ran replied, dryly.
Chen squeezed at her tails, looking worried.
I didn't wait to feel it this time, and reached for my upper lip. "At least I can wipe those nosebleeds myself, now."
Ran smirked. The inexplicable bleeding stopped soon enough this time, and I wiped my hand off on my...
Wait, what AM I wearing?
..... apparently the same loose gown as the others, only... colored bright green?
"... oh well, they're just dream clothes." I muttered, wiping off the blood regardless.
"Ah, that reminds me." Yukari said, "Seeing as we've all managed to reach lucid dreaming, and it's been a while since people started moving again... Ran? Chen?"
Chen raised an arm eagerly. "I'll try!"
I had no idea what they were talking about. "Huh?"
Chen stepped off to the side a little, clenched her hands, and screwed up her face in concentration.
"Mmmnnnng..."
"Chen, what are..."
POP.
With a few small pufts of smoke, Chen's plain gown turned back into her regular outfit. Her usual green cap appeared out of nowhere and landed on her ears.
She opened her eyes and sighed happily. "Ah, that's better!"
I was rather confused. "Uh..."
"Dream, remember?" Yukari pressed.
... "Ah. So we're in good enough condition to manipulate the Dreamscape as we like?" I asked.
She nodded. "We're getting there. It's probably best to be careful for now, and keep it on a small scale. Still not in the best condition."
I nodded. "Sounds fair."
A second POP signaled Ran returning to her usual outfit. She let out a contented sigh. "There, that's much better."
I looked down at Yukari. "Likes her modesty?"
Yukari smiled again. "Well, she IS the straight man for the Yakumos..."
"... Aside from the 'Tenko' phenomenon, at least?"
Ran's face turned pink. "That was just that one time!"
Yukari laughed lightly. "Oh, don't worry, Ran, we all need to loosen up every once in a while~"
She wasn't comforted. "Suika spiked the sake! I'd never do that on my own!!"
"And here I just thought it was a joke..." I muttered.
"Oh, no, she did go streaking through Gensokyo one night. It was quite entertaining."
"And also incredibly embarrassing." Ran said, sounding slightly annoyed.
"Oh, come on, it's not like you were planning to get married or anything~" Yukari teased.
"After all, you've already got Yukari." I added.
Silence.
"Oh hell, not again."
Ran wasn't particularly amused. "We don't have that sort of relationship."
Yukari actually seemed thoughtful about the suggestion. "Not quite, at least."
Ran looked down at her master, closed her eyes, and sighed.
I tried to fight a smile and failed. Fortunately, my subconscious didn't chime in with further embarrassment.
After a moment, I realized Chen had walked up close to me and was looking me over.
"What's up, Chen?"
She was slightly startled by my sudden recognition, but quickly recovered and smiled. "What sort of clothes do you want, Jeremy-sama?"
I blinked at her. "Uh...
... well, first of all, just call me 'Jeremy.' I don't really like formalities."
Chen's eyes widened. "But... acting so close to Yukari-sama..."
I glanced over at Yukari. She was smiling. At Ran. She wasn't.
Back to Chen. I shook my head. "Don't. I don't want it, and I don't need it. I'm the crazy human keeping the Yakumos alive, not grand lord and master of Gensokyo."
Her eyes sparked slightly. "Ah... alright, Jeremy-sa... Jeremy."
I waved a hand dismissively. "Anyway, as for clothes... I don't know. I generally don't care about it too much. This works well enough."
I considered for a moment... hm. "Though... I could use some underwear."
"Well, no peep show for me!" Yukari joked.
"Hnnnm..." POP.
Chen offered me a pair of bloomers.
"Uh..."
Her ears drooped. "Ah... you don't like them?"
I shook my head. "No, no... it's just that this is girls underwear."
Chen blinked, and glanced between me and the bloomers in her hands a few times. "... oh. I'm sorry! I didn't think..."
"It's all right." I took the underwear from her. "They seem about the right size, anyway."
"What's this? Our Jeremy's a crossdresser?" Yukari asked.
"I'm not proud of it, but I've had my moments." I answered. "Excuse me for a sec."
I knelt down away from the others to get the... bloomers on. It took a few seconds, during which Yukari had to stifle some snickers.
No, I'm joking, she just snickered.
I sighed at her mockery and stood up after getting marginally more 'dressed' than I was. "Well, it feels a little funny, but it works. Thanks, Chen."
Chen nodded, with a very small smile.
Ran looked at her master and offered a similar service. "Is there anything you'd like, Yukari-sama?"
"Hmm..."
Yukari's fingers curled slightly. She let out a sharp "AH!" of pain.
"Yukari-sama?!"
"Ow... I'm... okay." Yukari managed a sad half-grin. "But it looks like I shouldn't move for a while, still."
Ran knelt down next to her and stroked her hair for a moment. "... all right, Yukari-sama."
"That's so sweet." I said, with a smile.
Ran looked up at me. A brief silence as she considered.
"..... would you like to join me?"
I blinked. "... wow, that's generous. Well, I'm not sure I've earned something like that, but..."
I intended to trail off there, but my subconscious wanted an extra perverted quip. "... if you're willing to trust me not to molest her, then sure."
Silence.
I raised a fist and lightly punched myself in the side of the head.
"Well, it's probably more important whether I care." Yukari pointed out.
Ran sighed. "Yukari-sama..."
... now I was uncomfortable. "Well... it's probably not a good idea, now that I'm thinking like that...
... hm, there's a better reason. Couldn't it be dangerous to move... those as well?"
Yukari pressed her lips together, pouting. "Tsk. You're right, it would." Pause. "Well, at least they'd be oversensitive."
Ran rubbed her forehead with her free hand. I couldn't resist a grin.
Something tapped my shoulder. I glanced over and noticed Chen again, looking slightly shy. She tilted her head downwards.
"... ah. I'm guessing you want me to..."
I reached up with a hand, but hesitated a few inches from her head.
"... this still feels like I'm pressing too much..."
... I put my hand on Chen's cap, and ruffled her hair through it. She smiled serenely.
"Hat's getting in the way... oh well." I moved my hand beneath it, and started scratching at her hair, between the ears...
"...... er, wait."
I glanced back over at Ran and Yukari. I caught Ran still glaring at me for just a moment, before she turned back down at Yukari to hide it.
"... that was selfish of me, wasn?t it?" I asked.
"Not really." Ran replied, stiffly.
"There has to be a better solution for this." I said. Considered. "Hmm... well... that would work if... yeah, I guess I could get away with being a few feet away from Yukari..."
---
Shortly thereafter, I found myself ruffling Chen's hair as she curled up among Ran's tails, smiling blissfully. I think I even heard her purring. Ran continued with gently comforting her own master.
It was... incredibly, incredibly serene.
... I know I lost track of time somewhere along the line.
Miko Storage Closet, Saniwa Shrine, ~5:53 AM, Day 5
Participants: Team Drillkumo, some Reimu: E-mouse, tangential MTG
(OOC: FORTY. FUCKING. PAGES.)
We reached our destination rather quickly after that, with Reimu grouchily bashing the orb against it as an indicator.
"Er."
"In here." Reimu grumbled. "I'll have the communicators up in a minute or two."
"... wait, communicatorS?" Plural?
Armpits snorted. "For the cat and fox."
"Oh."
The orb snorted angrily and floated off. I stared after it until it rounded a corner.
I shook my head. "Grouchy. I take it Reimu isn't really a morning person."
... Either way, time to live up to the miko part, at least. I opened the door to the storage closet.
It was actually rather spacious for a closet. Of course, there were tall stacks of miko outfits covering the walls of the room, but there was still a decent amount of open floor space; a bit over enough for a Western single bed to fit.
Huh, I could probably talk with the shikigami right in here. Convenient.
The one problem is that it's dark in here. Is there a lightswitch?
A moment of searching answered 'yes.' I took a second look around.
... huh, I didn't notice there were a few different colors of miko outfits here. Most of them were the standard red, but there were a few stacks of black and blue, and a few of some odder colors to boot.
... and DAMN if there weren't a lot of them. A good number of them looking child-sized, for that matter. ... well, I guess that makes sense considering Remilia's lolita condition status, actually. And a few others, for that matter. Rather lucky, considering the current situation...
Damnit, Eirin.
... hmm. Getting dressed can wait.
The shikigami followed me into the room, Chen wandering over to one of the miko-suit stacks and sniffing at it curiously. It made me smile a little. Truly catlike, and cute as always.
I closed the door behind me and walked over to the far side, near the miko pile. Turned and looked down at the shikigami.
"All right, let's do this. I've held you two up for more than long enough." I smiled again. "To be honest, I'd like to see you two transformed back to normal anyway."
.... speaking of transformations, those plushie shenanigans were a little painful to set up, weren't they...?
"... although." I went on, "Let's not rush it, just in case. Like with the plushie thing..."
I glanced between them, now looking up at me with swishing (singular) tails. "Who first, then? I mean... Chen would be a safer first attempt, but Ran... I know you're the one that REALLY wants to get back to normal..."
Ran shook her head at me, walked over to Chen, and nudged her side.
"Willing to wait a little more, I take it?"
A foxy nod. Chen hopped over near the door, in front of me, with a playful cat gait.
... better prepare myself, too. I sat down crosslegged and crossed my arms, braced for one of those pangs of pain. Granted, Yukari was pretty confident it wouldn't happen this time, but...
I took a deep breath. Nodded. "Okay, Chen, go ahead."
The little black cat closed her eyes, stretched back, and clawed at the wood of the floor for a moment before...
POP.
A young girl, looking maybe ten to thirteen. Shoulder-length brown hair. Twitching black cat ears. Two black cat tails curled past her sitting form, with white tips on the last inch or two.
... aaaaand completely naked.
I got quite an eyeful of things I should not have, before managing to close my widening eyes and turn away.
"Uh, uhm," I stammered, face burning.
"Huh?" Chen asked, sounding childish and curious. Exactly like she did in those dreams, now that I hear it...
A brief pause before she realized why I'd gotten so embarrassed, followed by a loud squeaking "Nya!"
POP.
I kept my eyes closed, and remained silent.
I should have known something like that could happen. Transformation sequences are ALWAYS like that, aren't they? But wouldn't the shikigami have known to expect it happening...? So normally they had clothes on when they transformed? But somehow in the outer world, now...
..... doesn't matter. The thing is, I saw Chen naked for no good reason. And even though I was female at the moment, well.....
I felt something touch my shin.
It was kinda sharp.
I let out a breath. "Welp. Ran, do what you must."
She obligingly tore into my leg, tooth and nail. I let out a yelp of pain before clamping my teeth down on my lip to silence any more.
Thankfully, her assault was short. Fierce like hell, but short.
Once the immediate pain stopped, I kept my eyes closed and tensely awaited a second attack. After a few seconds, I guessed it wouldn't be coming, and risked a peek.
I glanced down at my fresh wounds first. They didn't look TOO terrible - a ton of scratch marks and a few jaw imprints, but it wasn't bleeding much. Just superficial damage... I hope.
A canine growl brought my head back up. Ran was sitting a few feet away, looking up at me. She flicked her head to one side.
... what'd she want? I couldn't...
She spun around in a circle, her tail swishing behind her. Wow, it really is gorgeous...
... wait, she wants me to turn around.
So I did, now facing the wall of the closet-room-whatever. I guess it's time for the scolding part, now that she's taken care of the Violence...
POP.
"... I apologize."
Dignified, womanly...
"... wait, 'apologize?'"
I started to turn back around, but managed to stop myself before I fucked up again. Closed my eyes as an extra precaution.
A brief silence. "... well, you do seem to be trying not to peek."
"Yeah, males suck like that." I replied.
... she chuckled. "... regardless. That was petty of me. You did admit your mistake for... seeing Chen that way. None of us expected that. Normally our clothes..."
She trailed off for a moment. I rolled one shoulder uncomfortably.
Ran sighed and went back to the original topic. "... I have no excuse for attacking you like that, especially after your apology." she said, solemnly.
I shook my head. "Nah. I've been a dick and I really, REALLY should not have seen that."
"... true. But my... outburst was excessive."
To... be honest, it DID hurt. And I really would have preferred she hadn't. But... "... well, it's still not something I can really blame you for."
A soft laugh. "Hmhm. That's fair."
Silence.
POP.
"Ran-shama..."
Hm... I'm not hurting at all. Well, from the transforming, at least. That's a good sign.
"Ah!" Ran seemed a little surprised by this catty development. "Chen, it's all right, you'll-- ah!"
A soft 'whuph'-ish sound cut her off.
"I'm okay, Ran-sama." Chen said, voice slightly muffled. I am now 90% sure she rushed over to hug Ran. "I'm just glad I can hug you again!"
Make that 100%.
... I dabbed at my upper lip.
"Ch... Chen..." Ran stammered, before her dignity lost the fight against catgirl moe. "Oh, you're so sweet!"
I heard several seconds of cheerful laughing and giggling from behind me. Had to smile at it. Oh, those two...
I chuckled softly. The sounds of joy died out at the reminder of my presence.
"Ah... we should get dressed." Ran suggested, a little embarrassed.
"Go ahead." I replied, calmly.
The floor creaked a little over soft footsteps. There was a rustle of clothing from one side of the room.
"Chen, what color do you want?" Tenko Ran asked, rather cheerfully.
"Red, Ran-sama!"
"Hmhm, I should have guessed. Here, is this good?"
"Hai!"
I hope I don't end up anemic from this.
"... hm... this one looks good..." Ran mumbled, mostly to herself, "And this..."
A few footsteps, what was probably a bunch of clothing hitting the floor, a little more rustling from close to the middle of the room, and... "Ah."
"What's wrong, Che... oh."
For me, it wasn't as obvious. "What happened?" Why would they have trouble with getting dressed...?
Oh.
"My tails don't fit." Chen pouted.
... well, that's annoying. Although... their tails... given the situation...
... I spoke up. "... as much as I hate to say it..." ... sighed. "... we're going to have to hide those, anyway. Animal ears, too."
Chen wasn't exactly enthused. "Awwww!"
"I kinda wish we could keep them, too, but there's no way we'd get away with it in the outer world." I explained. "We can't afford to draw attention to the shrine, or else..."
I trailed off. An uncomfortable silence.
... a thought.
"... may I be rude for a moment?" I asked. Couldn't think of a very polite way to put the point I wanted to make.
"... if it's civil, yes." Ran replied, after a moment's hesitation.
"Why did you think you could change clothes so easily with those tails, anyway?"
A brief pause.
It seems I gave Ran an idea. "Ah! It's been so long, how did I forget?
Chen, do you remember the spell I taught you when your custom yukata got torn before that festival?"
"Mmmm... ah! The one that let my tails through, right, Ran-sama?"
... how would that even work?
"That's right!" Ran replied, a hint of pride in her voice, "Yukari taught it to me first, so I've been using the same thing."
Oh, Yukari! That'd do it. Gaps.
"But Ran-sama, you said it'd last forever..."
... the whole explanation clicked in my head.
"You said your clothes stayed with you when you transformed, right?" I asked.
Ran was a little surprised at my sudden intrusion. "What? Well... yes."
"Which vanished from that use of magic after we left Gensokyo?" I pointed out.
Ran did the math quickly. "... along with that spell."
"I assume."
She chuckled. "You can be quite the clever one, Midori-san."
Damnit, Yukari.
I opened my mouth to object, but paused to reconsider... no, not to her.
"... thanks."
"You're welcome." Ran replied. She didn't sound sarcastic or demeaning, but... damn my cynicism.
"Ah, ano..." Chen mumbled, "S... so should we hide our tails, or try that spell again?"
That... was a difficult decision.
"Well... I think we'd prefer to keep them for now if we can..." I began.
"Oh? You too?" Ran asked, sounding a bit amused by my choice of words.
"Well... yes. I have an unhealthy affection for animal tails, I'm afraid."
Chen sounded curious about this. "Ohhhhhh..."
... I shifted uncomfortably. "... but, we can't really afford to have them visible in case they're seen by an outsider... although...
Hmm... Yukari said that we weren't really 'public' yet, right? So we probably won't have any visitors... if we stay out of the way, then maybe..."
C'mon Jer. Think.
...
Ding.
"Of course."
I need to remember that more quickly!
I chuckled. "We could just try for both."
"Oh?"
Well... that could go wrong, maybe... "... if we can get away with it..." I tilted my head. "How big is this tail-gap spell?"
"It was one of the first ones Ran-sama taught me!" Chen said, proudly.
"Hrrrrm..." So, probably small... I really want to let them keep the critter features... after what we've been through, the mana may be a non-issue... Yukari would probably know, but... is there some way we could just make sure...? It's permanent, so if it doesn't work out, then... maybe a workaround in case... ah!
"Any idea if it can be dispelled?"
"Er...?"
... guess that was unclear. I need to stay away from RPG terminology, I guess. "Well... deactivated? Turned off when it isn't needed?"
Ran understood that. "It was never an issue in Gensokyo." she pointed out. "But... it's likely. Yukari-sama would know..."
... minor spell... probably can be discarded if it becomes useless... but if it doesn't, would it be useful to have it active, even after trying to hide the tails..? If we need to show them again sometime, then it'd be convenient, but is that useful?.. maybe for proving ourselves like with Renko... but there could be other ways to do that... still...
..... for some reason, I think Ran would really...
... that's right, from a dream... she was proud of her tails. She'd want to be able to have them around, and she's upset already...
... can we get away with that? If we do anything funny in the shrine...
... but the shrine... isn't our whole base of operations now, is it? The underground would be too suspicious to get away with no matter how you slice it. And with it so spacious, then maybe during downtimes...
... yes. It would be useful. Not entirely practical, but the shikigami would be happier with it. Well, and me, admittedly. It probably won't matter even if it does end up giving me trouble, and mana is... well.
"Um... Midori-oneechan?"
Chen snapped me out of my overthinking. "Ah! Uh, um, sorry about that."
... and somehow her '-oneechan' was too cute to complain about.
... damnit, Yukari. I'm actually starting to enjoy this.
"C... can we keep our tails for now?" Chen went on, pleading.
I dabbed at my upper lip.
"Chen, I was about to say you could, even if you hadn't asked so sweetly."
"Yay!" she squealed. "Ah, how did it go again...?"
Yeah, anemia's going to be tough to avoid.
"It was some odd boundary..." Ran mused, "The border of cloth and... oh, yes! The border of Cloth and Fur."
Heh, abuse of 'boundaries' has all sorts of crazy potential. "Man, you can do anything with that ability."
Suppatenko hesitated before replying, "... perhaps. But Yukari-sama knows to be careful with it."
... true. Breaking the border of Reality and Fantasy could have some nasty implications...
.......
No, no. Nooooooooononono. Not drilling through that.
... unless..... unless we have to.
"There, that should do it."
Er, did I miss the spell chant or whatever? Meh, oh well. Nothing too important... probably.
A rustling of clothes. "Yay, it worked!"
Oh, Chen~
--- (OOC: To the next red line is skippable fluff)
More rustling. "Mmph..."
"Ah... Chen." Ran said, a little hesitantly. "You should put on a sarashi first."
(Sarashi are like bandage wrappings used as a sort of cloth under-armor or breast coverage. This is the latter.)
"Aww, do I really need to?"
A beat of silence.
... that's right, Chen DID actually have the starts of a che--
I smacked the side of my head with a palm, hard. A second time.
Jesus CHRIST I shouldn't be thinking about that! Ran has enough reason to garrote me as it is!
"Is something wrong, Midori-chan?" the kitsune asked, darkly.
My reply was terse. "Stupid thoughts. Sorry."
"... I see."
"Ran-sama...?"
"Ah!" Ran returned to her shikigami's question. "Chen, it would be best to make it a habit to wear a sarashi. Even if it seems pointless, it's best not to forget."
A pretty good reason, actually. Well done, Ran.
"Awww."
A pause.
"Um... Ran-sama, could you help me put it on?"
Silence was making itself a regular visitor in this conversation.
I started constantly palm-smacking the side of my head. Ran didn't scold me this time.
"Ah... aha, certainly, Chen..."
I think I could guess why she let me off. I bit down on my lip to contain quips about her own brushes with pedophilia.
... damn you, Internet.
Clothing rustled from behind me some more.
"Okay, Chen. You just have to wrap it around your chest a lot. It's best to start at the top, and work your way down. Each layer needs to overlap a bit, and evenly."
"O, okay."
"See... like this."
"Does it have to be so tight?"
"Yes... that's how it stays on." Despite the words, Ran was gentle.
"Ah..."
A few seconds of near-silence. "Here, Chen, why don't you do the last of it?"
"A, ah, hai!"
"Halfway over... around... um... change hands on the back...? Ah!"
"Oh... it's difficult to switch hands that way to do it yourself, isn't it?" Ran said, "I'm sorry, Chen. But now you know how to do it, so I'll just take care of the rest."
"H... hai."
Silence for a few seconds. Then, "There, all done. Just bring the end up around the back and stick it in near the top, and it's finished!"
"A... ano... Ran-sama..." Chen seemed... embarrassed for some reason.
"What is it, Chen?"
"Could I... help with yours, Ran-sama?"
My nosebleed reawakened for... slightly different reasons this time. Of course, Chen's being adorable, but...
"Heehee... sure, Chen. Thank you."
I pinched my nose and tried to think of things other than Ran's br...
... wait, if I'm getting in a miko suit, won't I be wearing one of those, too? I think this body would require it as much as Chen's, and...
"Ah!!" Madame Tenko cried.
"Nya! Sorry, Ran-sama, I slipped!"
"It... it's okay, Chen." Ran sounded a little dreamy. I wondered how much blood was on her face. "The first time doing something is always clumsy, isn't it?"
... I bit my lip again.
"Half down... around... half down... around..."
"Mmf..."
"Ah! I'm sorry, Ran-sama, is it too tight?"
"No... it's about right. It's just a bit uncomfortable at first." Ran replied.
Chen didn't entirely buy it. "It wasn't that uncomfortable for me..."
... stupid, STUPID second head!
Surprisingly, the moeblob catgirl arrived at the same conclusion. "... it must be worse since Ran-sama's boobs are bigger."
Silence.
"We... well... yes." Embarrassment. "But it doesn't take long to get used to it. Don't worry, Chen."
"Ran-shama... I'm so sorry!" Chen was nearly sobbing. "I'll make this quick for you!!"
"Blame Reimu." I chimed in.
Ran chuckled.
"Half down, around... half down, around..." Chen was going faster now. She finished quickly. "And the end goes... top of the back?"
"That's right, Chen! Very good."
"A-heehee....... mrrr..."
Her hum... no, purr there was a little muffled... did Ran give her another hug?
... they're so close...
"All right, let's get the rest on, and then Midori-san can change."
That's right, I needed to get into some decent clothes, too.
... but that means I'll be changing here, and...
... seeing... seeing my own... naked female body... wi... with Ran and Chen in the room...
I'm nervous... I pulled my arms tighter over my chest, pressing against...
... no, no, stop thinking about that! Just... keep your cool, get dressed again fast, and...
"Jeremy?"
I jumped a little at Ran's voice. I'm getting... WAY too worked up over this.
... I thought I heard voices while I was thinking, too?
"Ah, that worked."
... they were trying to get my attention with 'Midori,' weren?t they?
Damnit.
"Er... sorry. Thinking too much." I explained.
"About what?" Ran asked, an edge to her voice.
"My own... misfortunes." I shifted uncomfortably. "Um... can I look now?
"Go ahead."
I opened my eyes at long last, and spun back around to see the two shikigami.
As advertised, Chen was wearing a standard red-hakama/skirt-ed miko uniform, scaled to older-child size. She was giving me a broad smile, her cat ears relaxed in a rather neutral position. I couldn't see her tails through the hakama, but she was very, VERY cute and looked quite proud of herself.
Ran's miko outfit was a somewhat less conventional bright blue... does that mean she's player two? Er, no, no need to be a moron. The golden yellow from the tails on her back stood out from the blue, but didn't stand out very great against the white of her top. She was significantly less impressed than Chen - is that a smirk on her face? - and had both of her arms held level in front of her, hands in the opposite arm's sleeve, much like her PCB portrait (http://touhou.wikia.com/wiki/Ran_Yakumo). Nestled between those arms and her... still-noticeable chest was a pile of clothing.
... more specifically, a forest-green miko outfit.
I stared for a moment. "... heh." Grinned. "I see you picked one out for me already."
Ran smiled. "I thought it would be appropriate, Midori-san."
... they are NOT letting up on that name. Did Yukari insist that they use it or something?
Oh, whatever.
"Well, I'm not a fan of the nickname, but I like the coloring theme." I said, walking towards her.
"You do have to admit it's clever." Ran replied.
"It is. I'm just clinging to my masculinity too much."
I stopped in front of Ran and hesitated. How was I supposed to take the outfit without brushing her...
She answered my unspoken (and unlikely) worries by simply pulling her hands back out of her sleeves to grab the ends of the miko-clothes pack, and offer them to me. I took it with both hands, and briefly bowed my head.
Mmm, cultural norms.
That done, backed off and examined the pile of clothes more closely. White gi-like top, long forest-green hakama-skirt and cloth belt, straw sandals, plain white socks...
... a curled roll of cloth that must be for a sarashi... and bloomers...
My face reddened again. I'd been hyped up for crossplaying before, but I had a better motive for myself then, and a lot of fanboy fuel to boot. This was... a bit more embarrassing.
... well, it's not like I have much choice. It's just...
I turned back towards Ran and Chen. "Ah... could I ask you to look away for this?" I asked.
Chen seemed surprised she hadn't thought of this. "Oh!" She turned around immediately, tails swishing briefly behind her from the motion.
Ran... hesitated, a nasty smile briefly forming on her face. But after a moment, it faded. "... yes, very well."
... guess she's trying not to take things out on me. That's good.
One of the tails near her shoulder flicked, brushing against...
Wait.
"Er... I'm late in asking this, but how are your tails staying up...?"
Tenko Ran sighed. "Well... I added in another little spell for that, but if you'd rather I disable it..."
I shook my head vigorously. "Nononono, no need to get them dirty for my sake. I'm not feeling overdrawn at all, anyway."
"... thank you."
"Not a problem." I replied. "Just, when it isn't needed..."
"I understand."
I nodded, and turned away from them again. Now, to... change.
... stop it. I need... I need to stop overthinking this. It's not that different. I can... play with it... if I ever get privacy here...
I shook my head, put the pack of clothes on the ground, and... pulled off my hospital-gowny clothing.
... for just a moment, I stood still, naked aside from the Drill on my chest. No, it WAS different. The weight that usually...
No, NO! No overthinking this!!
I shook my head and gave a short, irritable sigh. Fished the bloomers out of the pile and pulled them on, quickly.
... there. That felt a bit better. Just having something over... it, felt...
DAMN it.
Okay. Okay. What next. Pants. No, hakama. Skirt. Thing.
I pulled that up. Oh bah, need the belt. Fine, annoying but I'll live. I'm not going to make a happy miko, at this rate.
The knot was hasty and sloppy, but it kept them on. Now, the shirt... that'd be the gi-top-ish thing, right, easy enough...
... wait, the sarashi roll is still on top of it.
........
Okay. Stay calm, Jer. Stay... calm. It's just... a breast covering. Ran already explained what to do with it.
... but it's going to take a lot longer than a b... bra would, isn't it?
...
I took a deep breath. Okay, come on. Pick it up. Yeah. I think... you're supposed to start with pressing the top on the back. Just above the b... breasts. Keep that bit on with one hand, wrap it around the front, with the other, yeah... don't think about it, just do it... go back around... bah, can't reach. And my other hand's holding it on! Okay... let's try moving that hand near my shoulder, there we go, can just pinch it here... hand it over, damn that's uncomfortable, uh, okay, flip it for grip, try not to get the roll twisted, roll around the back and continue...
...... there's no way I'm going to have the patience to keep this even. I sighed. The Drill rolled to one side, scratching against...
... I pinned down the chain for that with the sarashi, didn't I.
"Damnit." I muttered.
"Is something wrong?" Ran asked, from behind me.
"Making stupid mistakes." I replied, failing to not sound irritated.
... okay, okay, start over. Roll around to the front... push the drill up? What a pain this is...
... I can just take it off, can't I.
Gah!
So I did... though that's leaving me uncomfortable, too. I really... really need that. Can't lose it. Well, I know it's unlikely in a closed room like this, with two shikigami here guarding it too, but... oh, paranoia.
... all right. No choice. I pulled it off, and put it on the floor. Heh, now the back of my neck feels funny, after having it on so long.
... okay, take three here. Back, pinch, roll, oh, right, it needs to be tight..... i... ignore the feeling, get around the back with the other hand...
THUK.
... drop the goddamned roll...
"Having trouble with the sarashi?" Ran asked, obviously amused by my plight.
"Yeah." I replied, blushing some. "Forgot about the Drill at first, for that matter."
She was still quite amused. "Hm!"
... I shooed off a feeling of annoyance. No, no, we don't need bad blood here. I can recover from a bad start. ... I hope so?
My real enemy here is this bloody sarashi. So annoying to get on. Well, it'd be easy to get on someone else, but...
...
Could I ask for... well, it couldn't really hurt...
... no, it would if I asked Chen. But letting Ran do this... no. Entrusting her with this...
"... hey, Ran?"
"Yes?"
"Could I... could I ask you to put on my sarashi?"
"Oh, giving up already?"
... that stung a little. "... I know there's a lot I need to make up for already, but I think it'd be easier overall..."
... a small sigh. "You're right. And there's no reason to be spiteful. I'm turning around now."
"Go ahead."
I still had my back to her, so I didn't see her immediate response. But she provided a verbal version soon enough.
"... hm. You put on the hakama first."
"Huh?"
"It's supposed to go on over the top."
"... oh, damnit."
"Shall I just take care of the sarashi, or should I help redress you entirely?" Ran asked, heavily.
... sounds like she was almost expecting that. But, "No, I'm not Yukari. I can take care of that much."
A small chuckle. Footsteps behind me. A hand reached forward past my right side. Must be Ran's. I placed the sarashi-tape roll into it, and raised my arms up sonanoka-style.
..... so. Ran's hands would be passing by my...
Stop it. Stop it.
... although.
I chuckled a little, and Ran lifted her hand from pressing the free end of the sarashi on my back.
"What?" Mild irritation.
"No... just thinking, 'I'm glad you're the one doing this, rather than Yukari.'"
... a small, amused not-quite-a-snort. "True."
Something pressed on my side. I looked down and watched Ran's hand trace over the top of my chest, just above...
.....
I gave my head a shake and squeezed my eyes shut.
"And now?"
"Overthinking it." Breathed in and out, slowly. "I'll try and stop."
"Hmm."
Cloth rolled around my body in silence. Feels like... she's halfway down. Next one or two would cover my ni...
NO. Hm, ah, hm, I wonder, wonder how... Mitoko is doing. Mikata? Can't remember. Being a girl is freaking me out enough. Whatever he... she, whatever's going through has to be really weird. I wonder how much of this toddlerfication he's going to remember...?
"... erk."
"It's tight?"
"... yeah."
"Well, I did say..."
"Yeah. I'm just a wimp."
Pause. "... I see."
... she seemed skeptical of that? Well... I guess recently I've managed better, but...
... hm.
Ran gradually finished up the rest of the sarashi. I kept myself distracted with... thoughts of what to rant about later.
... magic... weapons... stay out of trouble... obscurity... yeah...
I felt a small scratch on my back.
"Ah... sorry." Ran said, putting the other end of the sarashi away to complete the 'garment.'
Guess that was her nail. Well, either way...
I opened my eyes and glanced down. My... breasts were wrapped tight under a 'shingled' layer of white cloth. A little uncomfortable, but a lot less distracting visually, and not as... sensitive.
Good.
I let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Ran."
"You're welcome." not-Tenko replied, voice coming from a bit low in the air behind me. That's odd.
I turned around, and saw Ran bending down to pick up the Drill by the chain.
"Ah...!"
She stood up and offered it to me, silently.
"Ah... thank you."
... I just HAD to sound suspicious and afraid that first time, didn't I? It's supposed to be trust, but over something she has no reason to screw me over with, I still...
I sighed again, and lowered my head. "... sorry about that. Paranoia isn't so useful among friends, and, well..."
Ran at least acknowledged my apology. "I suppose it would be... precious to you."
I looked down at the 'Drill,' which was looking increasingly un-drill-like. Not that the outside really mattered. Maybe we could get one of those box-set core drill merchandise extras and move the bolt there, or just spruce up this one to look right...
... either way. I clutched it tight in my hand. "... yes. Very precious."
"Um... Midori-oneechan?"
Oh wow, did I somehow manage to forget Chen was in the room?
I turned to face her. "Yeah?"
Chen had turned to face me as well, and was watching the Drill in my hand. "What is that, anyway?" she asked, "You keep doing really... really cool things with it!"
There was a little shine in her eyes. Wonder? At ME? Wow.
... heh, no. Not quite. TTGL would deserve it.
I switched my grip over to the Drill's chain, and spun it around my hand a few times. "Well, I... probably told you already, but I think it's some sort of Covenant relic. The bolt, at least - Kaguya gave me something during the end of Gensokyo, and I put it into this... rock I was trying to fashion into an imitation drill. That's why it's actually powerful, and how I can... keep up with you guys."
"So it's really important?" Chen asked, listening intently.
I nodded. "Yeah. I dunno how it works, but..." Trailed off for a moment. Grinned. "... somehow I got it to imitate the 'Spiral Power' from an anime series called 'Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.' Which basically creates energy based on the user's ability to act awesome."
"Ooo..." our resident catgirl was really interested in my description.
She grinned at me, and cried, "You're really good at it, Midori-oneechan!"
...
I...
I stumbled back a little, managing to forget to keep my balance. Well, granted, the nosebleed wasn't helping, but still...
... then again, she had given me a... bit of a shock. Chen... complementing me? ME? I'm just... some guy, a wannabe-NEET hiding away from the world... I shouldn't BE here, let alone talking with some of my favorite Touhou characters or for god's sake getting COMPLEMENTED by them!
... yet... yet here I am. And... some of the things I've done... well, I guess...
... I smiled, and lifted a nose-blooded palm from my face. "I... I suppose I have my moments."
"Really cool!" Chen went on, "Ran-sama and Yukari-sama never did anything like that!"
...
Oh hell. Getting complemented by Chen causes a few problems by definition, doesn't it?
I glanced over at Ran, nervously. Her expression was stoic. Probably trying not to get upset.
"We... well," I replied, "It's not like they needed to, did they?"
Chen closed her eyes and giggled cutely. "No, Ran-sama and Yukari-sama are cool enough on their own!"
I glanced back at don't-call-me-Tenko, who I was not surprised to see gently running a finger over her upper lip. I gave her a sideways smile. She noticed.
Er, whoops.
Ran had a good way to save face, though. Or at least divert the topic. "Ah... Midori-san, weren't you going to dress yourself properly?"
... oh hell, I just have that sarashi as a top!
... well, at least it looks kinda badass... weren't Kamina genderswaps always like this anyway?
Well, nah, that's not what we need, anyway.
Yet my face is STILL burning.
"R-right."
... well, I'm supposed to ditch the skirt part first, right?... oh, whatever. I've embarrassed myself enough here already. And maybe I'm getting a little courage back after Chen's comment...
Ah well.
Once able to overcome my fears of nudity and inappropriate self-molestation (and rather helped by having underwear on now), changing the rest was manageable enough. I had to pause and ask Ran to make sure I was wearing the top right (so that the side on top of the front didn't signal I was a dead guy), but otherwise it was quick and easy. My knot for the belt-thing was still pretty sloppy, though. Eh, can't win 'em all.
"There. That good?" I asked.
"I believe it suits you." Ran replied, with a nod.
"Midori miko!" Chen cried, tossing her arms up into the air.
... I chuckled. oh, a pox upon thee, double meanings.
... right. What were we doing again?
---
Ran noticed my hesitation. "Now that we're all dressed, shall we talk?"
... that's right, that's why Yukari sent us up here. And there's a lot I have to say, anyway... particularly to Ran.
I gave her a nod. "That's right."
... where am I even going to begin.
I looked her in the eye for a moment, then bowed my head. "I'm sorry. I've been neglecting both you and Chen, but for you, I've even been getting in the way. I mean... I know Yukari must have gone after a hundred other guys in the past... but I'm not so confident I've earned that."
I considered for a moment. Closed my eyes. "... especially since she didn't even have a choice in this."
Ran sighed. "I believe saving our lives would earn a lot more than you seem to think."
But... Yukari... it should take more than that to get close to someone so powerful... I know she's still got to be forcing it some... and no matter what I do, it doesn't change that I'm just...
..... should it change that...?
"... you're right that I've been upset about Yukari-sama's... recent actions." Ran went on, "But the foolishness was on my part."
Now she bowed her head. "I'm afraid she was right about me being cranky. Many of my experiences from before I had the power to act as a proper youkai were... unpleasant. Acting as a regular fox for so long brought up a lot of bad memories..."
... I closed my eyes. "... and my demand for scent tracking didn't help."
A soft chuckle. I looked again. "I'm afraid not."
"Sorry. I'm a bit too practical for my own good."
"No matter." Ran smirked a little. "And, well..."
... her smirk faded. I finished for her. "It was a chance to annoy Yukari?"
Not-Tenko-stop-calling-her-that smiled, sincerely this time. "Admittedly, yes. It's a rare opportunity." Pause. "And she didn't regret it, in the end."
I nodded. That trip DID turn out pretty well. Renko was a bit upset by our revelation, but... it had to be done. Maybe I should see if she and Sona^n were okay... they'd probably taken that Sky Ray mess even worse than the rest of us...
No, back to the matter at hand. Which was, Ran and... that scent thing.
...
I averted my eyes. "I'm... afraid I can't promise I won't ask for that again." I admitted, "Like I said about being practical..."
She grimaced a little. "... very well. But only if we have to."
I nodded again. "Definitely. I doubt we'll end up needing it after picking up so many mana options, anyway."
Ran smiled. "True."
One of the tails over her shoulder swished slightly.
... hm. That reminds me.
"... actually, may I suggest another reason that may have upset you?"
Ran raised an eyebrow. "... sure."
"I... got the impression that you're very proud of your tails." I explained, "So I figured being stuck with only one of them..."
She blinked. Blushed a little, and smiled. "Well... yes, actually." She put a hand over her chest, daintily. "It may be vain, but I am proud of their beauty."
I crossed my arms and gave her a solemn nod. "With good reason."
"Yeah!" Chen agreed, hopping behind Ran and scooping up an armful of tails to nuzzle.
Ran and I paused in our conversation to dry our noses.
"... regardless." Ran said, at last, "I have to say that my... anger with you is unwarranted." She paused. "And with Yukari-sama. She's done this many times. But I..." Hesitation. "... I do believe she's being rather... hasty."
... I looked away, and shook my head. "... I don't get it. I STILL can't believe that Yukari's trying to seduce me. Me! Some stupid fanboy that..."
I trailed off. We'd gone over this before, and it's clear I'm just underselling myself. ... probably.
I sighed.
Ran spoke up again. "... then again, I suppose she does have a good reason to hurry in this case."
"What?"
A 'good reason' for Yukari to go after me like that? Well, that would make more sense, but what could she possibly want from...
...
I buried my face in my hands.
"I'm going to hurt whoever added that excuse for sex to Tsukihime."
"... I'm not entirely sure what you mean by that, but it does make sense..."
... I sighed. "Yeah. Just..." Shook my head. "It still feels so... out of my league."
Ran shook her head. "Don't worry. Yukari-sama's whims have been stranger than this in the past, and it is not my place to object to her desires."
... a stirring.
"Should it be?"
She blinked.
"Look. I know Yukari's only reason for even trying to care about me is getting stuck with this mana linking thing. And she's been... pursuing that. Aggressively. But she's not the only one I have to provide for. I'm trying to take care of the whole Yakumo family. That means you, too. And having ANY of you upset with me, for any reason, is a bad idea. I can tell you all get along wonderfully with each other.
I don't want to get in the way of that.
Even if you can't object to Yukari, you can object to me. I'll shamefully admit that there's a part of me lusting after her at this point, but I'm not going to act on it unless I'm sure it won't cause trouble. So."
I stood up straight, and thumped a hand on my chest. Winced a little at this reminder of my breasts being a bit more sensitive now. Recovered enough to return to the solemn pose I was going for.
"Ran Yakumo, I promise you that I will not... pursue intimate relations with your master without your approval. We've gotten off to a bad start, but I owe you at least this promise so that I can be sure I have your trust before I cause any more trouble."
Ran stared at me for a long moment, and laughed. "You really... intend to defy Yukari-sama for my sake?"
I shrugged. "Yeah, pretty much. I told you - I don't want to cause trouble between you. Dealing with Kikuri is going to be a big enough problem. Riling up internal strife really wouldn't help. I hate seeing that anyway."
A beat of silence. "Speaking of which, I'm going to have to headbutt Deodorant and the mindreader battery sometime."
Ran smiled a little. "But wouldn't refusing Yukari-sama's advances upset her, instead?"
... I got the impression she didn't really find that a problem. And... thinking about it for a moment, I doubt it would.
"I think... she'll understand." I smiled back. "And, my libido assumes that this would be a temporary arrangement anyway?"
Not-Tenko kept smiling at me for a moment, then closed her eyes and chuckled. "I... believe it would."
She opened them again and gave me a fairly serious look. "... very well. Midori-san... no, Jeremy."
Oh, good, she did remember.
"Thank you for being so considerate to me. I have... been reluctant to trust you, and I appreciate the extra time you're giving me to overcome that." Ran smiled. "And the fact that you're doing so is worth my respect on its own."
I crossed one foot over the other, lifted my hakama-skirt, and bent my knees a little in a polite curtsey. "You're welcome, Ran-san. It's the least I can do for you."
A long and pleasant silence as we smiled at one another.
This is great! I'd made up with Ran, at least for the most part, and could be sure that if... if Yukari really insisted on being so... aggressively practical about this mana link stuff, I had a way to make sure that wouldn't cause... further problems.
..... and to let me stall on having to deal with the thought of actually...
"Wow..."
... oh, shit.
"Midori-oneechan's so awesome!!" Chen went on, sounding a little spastic in her enthusiasm.
Ran and I remained silent, smiles quickly lost at this reminder.
Chen squeezed her master's waist from behind. "Ran-sama, I'm so happy you made up with Midori-oneechan!"
..... that should help defuse it, "But..." I said, quietly, "I suppose it's not just Yukari that I'm causing problems wi--"
I was interrupted by a brief, plastic-on-wood-ish 'thak' from the doorway.
"Oi."
Huh? Reimu's voice...? Oh, must be another wakimiko orb. She sounds kinda... down.
"Hey, Reimu." I replied. Glanced at Ran briefly, and started walking towards the door. "Did... something happen?"
"Stupid things happened." she replied, heavily.
"Like what?"
Armpits hesitated. "I'll... explain later."
"... I don't like the sound of that."
"You won't. But we're doing the miko training first."
I opened the door to find a red-and-white yin-yang orb floating in the middle of the hall, a trio of what I had to call cellphones precariously balanced on top of it.
I immediately walked over and took them... 'off her hands.'
"Thanks. That was a pain."
"It looked like it was." I replied. "But I still want to know what happened."
"I told you, I'll explain later!" Armpits snapped.
Okay, she'd earned a glaring. "I'm getting the impression that it's something important, which makes me think sooner would be better than later."
Reimu was careful with her words. "It... shouldn't be pressing."
... I clasped my hands behind my back and leaned forward to glare (http://yfrog.com/4charuhiglarep) at the orb from maybe six inches away.
"... please. I don't need you angry during miko training."
I smiled. "You're a little late for that."
... she sighed. "Okay, fine.
Gpop got lolified and Satori lost her mind-reading powers."
A long silence.
I felt myself shaking.
"fffffffFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
FUCK!!!!"
A twitter of frightened birds from outside. I slouched forward, panting a little at that outburst.
"... god DAMN it."
"I thought you'd say something like that." Reimu muttered.
"NOW what are we going to do about making sure those newcomers are trustworthy?!"
Reimu sounded a little pouty. "Well I'm sorry, I didn't know that it'd..."
... she trailed off. "Er."
... I looked up and provided the little orb with a thoroughly psychotic smile. Shot a hand out and clenched it very, very tightly.
I turned to a rather nasty grin. "So. This is YOUR fault." I hissed.
"I told you, I didn't know!"
"You are... VERY lucky that I am not there." I went on. Paused.
... damnit. She's right. No one would have known. Hell, it apparently made that Hiro guy STRONGER. Even if Deodorant and co.'s feud with him is stupid, this didn't warrant THAT much anger.
... I forced myself to let go, and pulled my hand away from the floating orb. "... or I would have... done something fantastically stupid."
"I... I'm glad you understand." Reimu replied, sounding just a liiiittle nervous.
I slouched and sighed again. "... damnit. How are we going to deal with this."
"Well... she CAN still read emotions..." Armpits provided.
I looked up again. "... I guess we'll have to work with that, then."
"At the meeting?" the orb suggested.
... I chuckled. There was nothing to do about it right now. She was right. "... you win this round, Armpits."
"Why thank you, Midori-chan." she replied.
I felt one of my eyebrows twitch. I was sort of getting used to it, but that mocking tone...
Reimu grew somewhat serious. "Anyway, I need to finish setting up. I'll call."
I glared after the flying yin-yang orb as it fled the scene and vanished around a corner.
Inn Halls, Saniwa Shrine, ~5:58 AM, Day 5
Participants: Team Drillkumo: E-mouse
(OOC: THE SEQUEL)
A hand on my shoulder. "Midori-san?"
... I considered what I had just done, and who had been observing.
Damnit.
"I'm not a very good role model, am I?" I muttered.
"To be fair, neither is Yukari-sama." Ran whispered back.
"And that would explain why you let her out of the house." ... accusing her overprotectiveness is probably a bad idea. "... so often."
"... that's part of it."
"M... Midori-oneechan..."
I turned around to see Chen clinging to the miko-storage doorframe, cat ears pulled back in fright.
Damnit.
"Are... are you okay?"
I sighed again. "... yeah. As you can see, I... tend to get angry easily."
Chen took a step out into the hall, tentatively. "Bu... but are you better now?"
... I nodded. "Yeah. I'll be fine."
... will I? My voice already sounds defeated, and this sort of collapse is what always made me--
I shook my head. No, stoppit.
"Midori-san, may I have my communicator?" Ran asked, politely. I turned and blinked at her extended hand.
"Er, sure." I replied, and looked at the handful of cellphones in my hand. Which one would be hers...? Oh, the bluish one.
I pulled it out with my other hand, and placed it in hers.
"Thank you."
...
"Wait." I looked up at her face. "You had one when I got up, didn't you?"
Ran nodded. "Chen and I got to speak with Satori while we waited for you and Yukari-sama to wake up."
"... so you know what happened while we were out."
She smiled and nodded again.
I pumped a fist in the air. "YES!"
My grin for Ran was cheerful. "All right, then, what can you tell me?" Pause. "Well, that Sho and the others haven't told me already."
"I believe there are details that they missed." Ran replied. "But first, you should set up your... communicator."
I glanced at the hand holding them again. They were a little bigger than most modern cellphones, but still easily pocket-sized - folded, at least. "... yeah, that might be a good idea."
... and Chen's is still there, too. I assume it's the red one. I pulled it out.
... covered with scattered dark red pawprints and a fox face on the back. That's adorable.
I looked over at Chen. "Chen?"
She stepped over to me, still a little cautious, and let me put it into her hands.
I smiled at her. "The pattern on there is very cute."
... come to think of it. "How'd they get those cover designs, anyway?"
"You just need to think about it." Ran replied. She glanced down at the remaining communicator/cellphone in my hand.
... it was already green, though the color was a little off Spiral-ish. And there wasn't any real detail to it.
... hm.
I frowned at it. A proper Spiral pattern on there would be a brighter green... with firey patterns on it...
I... felt something shift, and all of a sudden the cellphone in my hand had that exact pattern on it.
"Wow..."
I lifted it up to get a closer look, rotating it to see every side. Amazingly, it also had a sort of... holofilm (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holography) that made the Spiral 'fires' look like they were moving as it changed angles. It was... exactly as I'd imagined. Well, aside from the... Covenant logo that remained on the back.
"This... is awesome."
Ran smiled. "You weren't in Gensokyo long, were you?"
"No... no, I wasn't." I shook my head to try and overcome this little wonder. "What else do these do, anyway?"
"As the name implies, they're mostly portable communicators, like that... 'walkie-talkie' we used on the Sky Ray."
"Look more like cellphones to me, but all right, I get what you mean."
I flipped mine open to examine the inside. The top was blank screen, as one would expect on a cellphone, but so was the bottom, which... was also a screen. I guessed 'touchpad interface.'
Heh. Covenant DS.
... I need to stop being an idiot.
While I was berating myself, the screen started glowing a bright blue. I raised an eyebrow. "Uh...?"
"Don't worry," Ran reassured me, "That's just it... adding you to the group, I think it was."
I frowned, as the blue glow faded. The screen shifted to show a mugshot of me on the top, with the fox and cat faces of Ran and Chen's 'true' forms beneath it.
... again that uncomfortable feeling from being 'on top' of Gensokyo's more powerful...
... hm. I hadn't gotten a good look at my... female form yet. I never noticed my hair had turned dirty blonde. How appropriate a stereotype for a blunt American 'yankee' girl. Although there were a few streaks of dull green nestled in the curls...
Well, whatever.
"And it's picked up on our links, too?" I assumed. "But where's... oh, Yukari must not have one yet."
Ran nodded again. "They seemed a little confused when Chen and I activated ours. I'm not sure how it worked."
"I guess none of us would..." I mumbled. Now that I see it, there were some other odd details on that set of mugshots... little bars next to them? And the touchpad on the bottom had a whole bunch of little buttons on it. Too many to possibly be legible, but... somehow I could read them. A few were understandable enough - 'call,' 'contacts,' 'setup' - but others were confusing, with words I'd never heard before, wasn't sure of the definitions of, or were simply... 'grayed out,' for lack of a better term. The hell is a 'Linker-RSA?'
"So what else do they do?" Thought. "Well, aside from that 'GPS' thing Shoko showed us."
"Not sure." Ran replied, "I believe Nitori was still experimenting with them, at least as of last evening. After finding that... 'GPS' so draining, I believe she's being cautious about investigating what else they can do."
I hummed a bit. "Hmmmm. Still gonna have to find out somehow. But yeah, carefully." ... hm. "Wait, draining? Oh, right! So, these run on mana?"
A fox(girl)y nod. "Yes. Apparently contacting others is easy to manage, but some of the other features..."
I frowned for a moment. Tapped 'contacts' on the touchpad, and skimmed the name list. I didn't really recognize a lot of them. Hm. Wonder how many newcomers we had.
Whatever. I selected Ran on the list.
"Mind if I try it out?"
"Sure."
The 'dialing' beeps sounded a little unusual, but the call attempt seemed to work just like you'd expect on a cellphone. Ran's communicator immediately responded with the first few bars of... I KNOW that's a Touhou theme, but I can't place it...
Before I could figure it out, Ran opened her phone. A video display of her face popped up on the main screen for mine. Hm, now that I think of it, that's some amazingly good resolution on it. AND video quality.
I whistled. "Low-cost even when it sends video? Less than GPS? Impressive."
"Is it that difficult in the outer world?" Ran asked, her voice echoing through the phone as well.
"Well, I'm pretty sure it is, especially with that sort of detail." Paused. "... though, I guess if you take into account the satellites to set up modern GPS systems... hm."
"Satellites?"
... oh, right, Gensokyo's regulars wouldn't have much exposure to outer world technology, would they? "Basically, receiver-transmitter machines that get launched into orbit around the Earth and get signals from the ground bounced off them to distant locations."
... god damn, you actually think about that and you realize just how awesome it is. Hooray, science!
Ran seemed to agree, if with a fair bit more bewilderment. Her mouth was gaping open a bit through the communicator video, and...
... wait, having that open is pointless. She's right here.
I looked away from the screen and up at her, then snapped my communicator shut. "Yeah, it's pretty incredible if you think about it."
"The extents you've gone to without magic..." Ran mumbled. She shook her head. "And I thought making it to the Moon was impressive."
... hm. "... makes me wonder what happened to the Lunarians."
Ran looked away. "... who knows? Kikuri seems to have enough power to challenge them, but..."
... hm. Wonder if we'll ever run into them. And whether it'll be friendly... wouldn't they still be bitter with Yukari about that First Lunar War?
... now I'm curious.
... no, not now.
I shook my head. Lunarians are just a theoretical at this point. I still need to catch up on what's actually happened. And the implications.
... hm. What could go wrong with these communicators? I frowned at mine. Okay, from the top...
"... hmmmmm... registering for this thing was a little too easy. If someone we don't know finds one, then... mmm... gotta be careful not to make them change colors in public... can that be locked to make sure...?"
... I flipped my phone over. "And we may want to hide the Covenant logo... I mean, it's unlikely, but if anyone recognized it..."
"You seem quite worried, Midori-san." Ran cut in.
I looked up at her. "Unfortunately, I worry about most things." Back down at the phone.
... same design, but make sure to go over the logo?...
... update it?
No... still didn't have a design for that in mind...
... ah.
I focused for a moment. Again, that odd feeling. The phone's pattern didn't change this time, aside from the Covenant symbol being... covered? Replaced? - by a rainbow-colored Spiral monitor of sorts.
I grinned.
"Okay, that's solvable enough, I just need to bring it up during the meeting... hope I'll remember... can't have people suspicious about these..."
... "... obviously, we can't lose them, either. They look benign enough, you could get away with calling the interface 'state of the art,' but the features..."
I trailed off. "... of course, that also brings up how we even got so many 'state of the art' cellphones... I'm not even sure just money would..."
Money...? Oh, of course!
I snapped my fingers. "Ah! We could just say it was Saniwa being insane and giving away even more as part of his insane pet project to revive the shrine!"
... speaking of reviving the shrine.
I finally stopped musing to myself and looked over at Ran again. By now, Chen was standing beside her, both of them giving me a fairly dubious (http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/7333/eyebrow.png) look.
"Ah... I talk to myself too much, don't I?"
Ran grimaced a little. "To be frank... I believe it's more simply thinking too much."
I grinned. "I'm afraid that's the point." Shook my head. "On the upside, it's led me to another question to ask."
Ran paused a moment, then nodded. "Very well."
"I think Sho mentioned something about having a reason to make the shrine popular? Aside from public indignation?"
"Faith?"
"Yeah, that. Any more details on that?"
Ran shook her head. "Not many. Satori said that faith in the shrine from others would improve the mana generator's production, but I haven't heard any other details."
I frowned. "Define 'faith.'"
Not-Tenko frowned back at my question, though more out of puzzlement. "... ah... a strong belief in something, such as gods?"
I shook my head. "No, no... what 'faith' means for boosting the generator. Is it popularity? Amount of visitors? Donations?"
Chen snerked back a laugh... and I had to fight a smirk myself. Oh, poor Armpits.
But I went on. "... trust in the shrine staff? Explicit belief in... whatever god the shrine stands for?..."
I trailed off... dare I?
"... belief in the ideas the shrine stands for... or that the generator stands for..."
I grabbed at the Drill under my gi-top.
I should have thought of that alternative! Spiral or otherwise... maybe it was reacting to me so much because I tried to believe in what the Covenant stood for...
...... I wonder if the main generator here would react to it... or me...
... no... no, another time.
I shook my head.
"Midori-oneechan...?"
I grinned at Chen. "Thinking too much, again. This Covenant stuff is... really interesting to me."
A silence.
Ran smirked a little. "'Our spiral?'"
A small shiver crossed my back.
"... yeah."
Another pause. After a moment Ran coughed and went on. "... regardless. I'm not certain what sort of 'faith' the generator is supposed to operate on, but it seems the others are confident that promoting the shrine would improve it."
I managed to recover my composure (and shooed away the temptation of a futae no kiwami reference), and nodded. "Yeah... it's probably worth trying." Frowned. "The problem is, will it be worthwhile? The better known the shrine is, the more likely Kikuri's going to stop by to investigate again. Hell, given how 'subtle' that entrance to the Underground was, every visitor could be a random security breach if we're sloppy or slip up. But... if this 'faith' boosts the generator enough to be worth the risk..."
I shook my head. "I guess that would be the thing to find out."
Ran tilted her head at me. "Are you... certain we'd be all right without gathering 'faith?'"
"We've survived, and more mana wouldn't exactly help us if we all die." I pointed out, bluntly. "What the generator and base have already helped us with is enormous. The problem with faith-gathering is the risk of losing what we've already gained, more than giving up on the potential for having more."
... heh. Faith-gathering. Sanae memes.
... christ, what is wrong with me.
Not-Tenko frowned. "... and that would be enough to let us recover fully?"
I scratched my chin. "Mmm... not as quickly, but I get the impression that a lot of the crew is developing fast. Even if we don't pump up that generator more, we might actually get into fighting condition without further help if we work at it." Pause. "Or get lucky, like that Hiroziwan--"
"Hirozawa."
I nodded. "Right, right. Or apparently bump up our own supernatural abilities regardless. Thing is, we may not NEED it. It would help, but is it worth the risk...?"
Ran glanced away, thoughtful. "... and is it safer to take longer building our strength?..."
Silence. I smirked, despite my defeat. "... you got me there. Whatever the case, it's going to be a hell of a balancing act... maybe hold off on major faith-gathering until we're in respectable shape on our own...?"
My musing was cut off by a small cacophony of piano noises. Ran's phone was going off again, something more familiar was coming from Chen's, and my own was... that one's REALLY familiar, what is...
I pulled it up to my ear as it continued going off. Rolling, upbeat trumpets? Wait, isn't that...
"Nitori's theme?"
"Ah, h, hello, Reimu-san?" Chen called out. She must have answered hers.
Huh, easy conference calls, too? Excellent.
I flipped my phone open to see Reimu glaring out of it. "Where are you guys?! I was hoping to find you on the way out!!"
"I thought you said you'd call."
"I thought you'd go outside!"
Sounds like she'd recovered from that popsicle guilt trip.
But.
"You do realize I'm basically a hikkikomori, right?"
... she glanced away, scowling. "... shut up."
"We had a lot to talk about, Reimu-san." Ran provided, a bit more level-headed about the matter.
Armpits turned back to the 'camera'. Frowned for a moment. Shook her head. "Whatever. We're getting started. I have... willing participants this time."
"Aside from us?" I quipped.
"Yes." Exasperation. "Now get yourselves over to the waterfall up the hill!"
I blinked. "Waterfall?"
I didn't get an answer, because Reimu had apparently hung up. Bloody hell.
... waterfall? For miko training? If stereotype memory serves, wouldn't that mean meditating under one, or something?
... this could be unpleasant.
My thoughts were interrupted by a muffled... squeaking noise? No, a catlike sob...?
... crap. Chen and water don't mix.
Ran was already hugging and comforting her. That explains the muffling.
"Shh, Chen, it's all right, it's all right. I'm not going to let her force you into the water." Kyuubi soothed.
"Damn straight." I agreed. The two looked up at me. "If Reimu doesn't let you have a mulligan on this part, for obvious reasons, I'll kick her between the legs."
Chen's eyes shone a little, behind the quiet tears. She... liked that line, didn't she?
... damnit. Mixed blessing.
... and come to think of it. "... well, maybe not a full mulligan. But more than a few splashes of water would probably be asking too much."
Ran frowned. "You... know us well from the 'Touhou' of the outer world, right?"
She's implying something there. What am I forgetting?
Oh.
"Shikigami possession?"
She nodded.
That's right, water removed Chen's shikigami possession, according to that... I think it was Akyu article.
... do we have Akyu? Bah, whatever.
... but...
"... are you sure that's going to happen?" I asked, "Things seem... different in the outer world. I'm pretty sure some of the other youkai have had... mechanics changes, for lack of a better term. Remi's been out in the sun without flinching, hasn't she?"
Ran scowled. "A shikigami link is not inherent to youkai. This is a different matter."
I frowned. "... true. It's closer to a... magic spell? ... like the one for your tails?"
Ran was a little angry at what I'd implied. "It's still active. Yukari-sama found a way to use hers to... help me with mana needs."
... and that had some interesting implications, too.
"I wonder how those interact with the mana link to me..." I mused.
Ran almost growled at me. "I'm not sure. But I would prefer not to risk losing one so easily."
... we just had to get into this argument, didn't we? And so soon after I'd tried to make up with her...
... no, I still covered the first half of it. Now I have to find some way to work out the problems with Chen's eager affection.
... speaking of which, there's an idea.
I leaned over a little to get a better look at Chen, still clinging to Ran's side. "Chen?"
She looked up at me, teary-eyed.
"What do you think?"
"Ah... ah?!"
She was a little surprised that I'd asked, and glanced between me and Ran.
... nervously.
"... maybe you'd rather not decide?" I suggested.
"Of course." Ran replied, almost growling, "There's no need to put so much pressure on her."
... hmph. Pressure on someone to think for themselves? We're... going to be in disagreement for a while, I see.
Overprotectiveness can be a nasty thing.
... god, this is going to be difficult.
"Uh, uhm..."
Chen had her head down now, almost hiding behind Ran's miko skirt. Damn, always so cute.
"I... I think..." She squeezed Ran's waist tighter for a moment. "I think I... want to try."
Oh dear.
... why did I open my goddamned mouth.
"Chen!" Ran gasped, "Are you sure?! It might..."
"Ran-shama..."
This had to be so tough for Chen. And I'm... I'm the one causing it.
Shit. One stupid point about how stubborn to be about Chen's protection from water and I tear everything down. Stupid, stupid, stup--
Stop that.
"Ran-shama... it... never really hurt me before. Water really scares me, but even... even when the fairies managed to splash me in a prank, I didn't actually get hurt..."
"But Chen, it might be worse this time!" Ran said, "Magic is weak in the outer world! Our shikigami link reformed easily in Gensokyo, but here..."
Chen shook her head, timidly, her shoulders shaking. "I... I know. B... but I think someone's going to splash me anyway..."
"Don't be afraid, Chen, I won't let them!"
... "I'm afraid nobody's perfect." I pointed out.
Ran's head snapped up so she could glare daggers at me. I flinched back.
"An... and if I'm going to get splashed, I..." she squeezed Ran tighter, "I want to be ready for it... and to have Ran-shama there if something goes wrong..."
.........
Glory be, by the blood of my nose, lip, and hand, to the mighty name of--
"CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jip6DJC7qZA&feature=related)"
-----
Inn Halls, Saniwa Shrine, ~6:05 AM, Day 5
Participants: Team Drillkumo, some Reimu: E-mouse, tangential MTG
It took us a good while to recover from that line. I swear the shikigami were squealing with joy behind me as I leaned against the other wall and mopped up my nosebleed.
I'm going to have to start carrying a blood-red handkerchief. A big one.
On the upside, Chen had decisively settled the waterfall problem, in beautiful form that, with luck, would not leave Ran furious at me about the matter.
With luck.
At long last, my nosebleed dried up. I wondered how much was left in my body at this point. But I guess after going through Gensokyo and experiencing the moe/sexual nosebleed phenomenon without disaster, maybe I just shouldn't worry about it.
... either way.
"So..." I said, quietly. The shikigamis' sounds of ecstatic affection faded. "I, uh, I think we've left Reimu waiting long enough."
"Ah... y-you're right, we have." Ran replied. "It was... up the hill behind the shrine, right?"
I nodded. "Yeah."
Chen detached herself from her foxmaster and pointed down the hall, a look of... forced determination on her face. "Let's go!!"
She marched off down the hall, looking a little stiff. Her tails were curled a little unnaturally, for that matter.
... she's still scared.
Ran sighed happily, and finished dabbing at her nose. She gave me a distant smile, and walked off after Chen.
I followed suit, just as Chen rounded the corner. Not worrisome, the path out's pretty straightforward, and she should be easy enough to catch up with...
"Midori-oneechan!"
...?
"Chen?"
"Midori-oneechan, come quick!"
I raised an eyebrow at Ran and jogged over to the corner. I turned to look over the hall where Chen had turned down, an--
"OOF!" WHUD!
"Midori-san?!"
Wh... what just happened? Some small person just rammed into me in a flying tackle... now it's sitting on my belly, and--
"Ah! AH! Stoppit!"
Apparently, the inexplicable blonde grade-schooler had decided that the correct follow-up to a flying tackle was to grab the victim's breasts. I objected by shoving her arms out of the way, but I couldn't squirm out from under her quite that easily. And hey, what's with the hospital gown?
Luckily, this was enough to make her stop, at least for the moment. She pouted, crossed her arms over her chest, and looked down the hall where I'd come from... no, up at Ran, probably?
"Ran-babaa!" she cried, "Why'd you put her in a sarashi?!"
(-'babaa' is a name ending for 'grandmother' or 'elderly female,' localizable as 'auntie' or 'old lady (http://danbooru.donmai.us/pool/show/783).')
........... this girl was acting much too familiar, even if she looked like she was eight.
I turned my head to see Ran, who was looking rather... displeased at the child sitting on my chest.
"Then they're no fun to play with!"
"This is Yukari, isn't it." I 'asked.'
"Yes, unfortunately." Ran replied.
"Ran-babaaaa!" Yukari(n) whined, "Why'd you have to give it awaaaaay!"
... I reached up and grabbed loli-Yukari's cheeks. Pulled on them a little. "Now you're just being a bitch." Ran doesn't need to have 'OLD☆LADY' jabs added to her plate right now, thank you very much.
Yukarin squeaked, and tears welled up in her eyes. She looked down at me with absolutely perfect puppy-dog eyes, and slurred out an adorable "G... ghomen nyashai..."
I was reminded of the greater difficulty of dealing with nosebleeds when lying on one's back.
"Are you trying to make me anemic?" I asked.
Yukarin just grinned.
Hilly Forest Trail, Saniwa Grounds, ~6:08 AM, Day 5
Participants: Teams Drillkumo, Silent Sinner, and Ghostbuster: E-mouse, Theorist, and Xan
(OOC: Triple copost oh man
Dialog co-written, consolidation and extra detail by E-mouse.)
Two Lunarian princesses, their master, and their pet froze in their hiding place for the third time, to escape the curious look of a catgirl miko. After a moment, she turned away again to follow her own masters.
By some miracle, Team Silent Sinner had yet to be detected, despite the shimmering green of their most noticeable member.
"I still don't like this," Yori Lunablade grumbled, fingering the hilt of her blade, "Wouldn't it be faster if we just attacked her shikigami?"
Toyohime put a hand on her shoulder. "I told you, sister." She whispered, "We'll need to surprise Yukari if we're going to have any chance of defeating her, in our condition."
"Obviously it's all part of some sinister plot..." Nathanial muttered from next to her, "I'm not sure why it involves so many mikos, but I'm sure we'll get to the bottom of this soon."
Lunablade agreed. "It's that shrine maiden's fault, I'm sure of it. Yukari must have brainwashed her into giving away her powers..."
Reisen had a quiet question. "Umm... wouldn't that mean it's Yukari's fault?"
"Of course it's Yukari's fault!" Lunablade snapped back. "She's obviously--"
Toyohime cut her off with a sharp nudge. "Next spot." she whispered, pointing at another large tree farther along the trail. "That one. Quietly."
Lunablade grumbled. The group broke cover to sneak over to the next tree, peeking at their stalking victims through the underbrush.
They waited a second or two before talking again, after their earlier experiences with provoking suspicious miko glances.
Reisen had another question. "Who are those other girls? Toyohime-sama explained the kitsune, but..."
"I can tell one of them's human." Nate provided, with certainty. "But aside from that..."
Reisen was a little surprised. "Human? Which one? I know the girl with cat ears has to be a youkai, but the others... is it the little girl, or the one giving her a piggyback ride?"
Speaking of which, the piggyride-ee let out a loud sigh as her charge started chewing on a lock of blonde hair. She said something else, not quite loud enough to be heard over the noise of the waterfall.
The younger girl reached around to grab at her ride's breasts.
Nate was rather dumbfounded at this development. "... is she doing that on purpose?"
In retaliation, the older girl let go of the younger's legs in a bid to end their piggyback ride arrangement. Unfortunately, she forgot that her rider's other arm was still around her neck. The two toppled backwards onto the dirt trail with small cries of surprise.
After a moment, the older one had another comment to add.
"Damnit, Yukari!"
No sooner had the name "Yukari" been uttered, Lunablade ran full sprint towards her, drawing her katana as she charged towards the little girl. "YUUUUUUKAAAAARIIIIIIIIIII! PREPARE TO DIE!!!"
The reactions of Yukari's group were varied. The catgirl following them simply shrieked in fright. Yukari herself just tilted her head back to look at Lunablade, curious. Her shikigami darted in front of her protectively, incidentally giving Yukari an excellent view of her bloomers. Inexplicably, the human girl cried out in pain.
And, from out of nowhere, a blurringly fast figure ran into Lunablade's path, pushing her blade aside with one of its own, and momentarily knocking her off-balance.
"Wh..."
Youmu skidded to a stop on the dirt past Lunablade, and turned to glare up at her, looking unusually serious and angry for a lolita. Her arms shook slightly, struggling even under the weight of a smaller wakizashi blade.
('Wakizashi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wakizashi)' are basically smaller katanas - such as Youmu's Hakurouken.)
She took a deep breath, and her expression softened. Slightly. "Could you not attack Yukari-sama, please? Yuyuko-sama would be really irritated if her best friend got injured."
Lunablade stared at her in disbelief for a moment, and laughed. "What?! Are you kidding?! After all she's done to us?!"
"Wh... what..." the green-clad miko stammered, as Yukari crawled out from underneath her.
"I'm sorry, Midori-san, but it's an emergency." Ran answered her, tersely.
"R... right..."
Ran began walking towards Lunablade, flexing her fingers, a hint of fear on her face.
Lunablade glanced between Youmu and her newly approaching opponent for a moment.
There was a loud "hrmhrmhrmhrm!" of someone clearing their throat.
Toyohime waited for a moment to allow the others to look at her, and produced... a large paper fan.
She smiled.
"Sister, please restrain yourself."
Ran's eyes widened, and she quickly backed off. Midori struggled up on one elbow beside her and got a proper look at the scene.
"... oh, shit."
Youmu simply gave Toyohime a blank stare, nonplussed. "Uh... thanks?"
Lunablade stared at her sister in disbelief for a moment. She threw back her head and laughed. "Ahaha! Toyo, you really think that's going to stop me?! Even if I wasn't your sister, that--"
Toyohime cut her off by clearing her throat again, more loudly this time.
"Um... what's going on...?" Youmu asked, increasingly confused.
Nate had an answer about what he thought SHOULD be happening. "Stop it, Lunablade!" he cried, "I told you that we weren't coming here to fight!"
The gaudily-clad lunar princess just grinned at him. It wasn't a friendly grin.
"Maybe you didn't."
Toyohime was starting to lose her temper. "Yori! Stop acting like a petulant child! I know it's Yukari, but this isn't the time for that!"
"It's LUNABLADE!!" her sister cried back.
Speaking of Yukari.
"Yori-chan dresses so silly~"
Everyone turned to stare.
Lunablade looked back at her sister, eyes pleading. "Please?"
Jeremidori, in the meantime, had collapsed back to the ground in exasperation. "Yukari please don't be a fucking moron!"
Youmu was equally exasperated. "Could someone please explain to me what is going on here?!"
"Moon princess out for revenge," Midori grunted, painfully getting up on her knees again.
"That's right!" Lunablade cried, spinning around to face the Yakumos again. She pulled herself up to her full height. "I shall not stand down!"
She glared down at the loli-Yukari giving her an overconfident smile, flourished with her blade, and brought it down to point at her nemesis.
"Listen here, Yukari Yakumo! What you have done to me and my people is UNFORGIVABLE! The souls of those who died during your war cry out for VENGEANCE, and I am that vengeance given form!"
"Dramatic." Jeremidori muttered. The gap-loli next to her giggled.
Lunablade continued, voice rising as she got into her speech. "I am the Sword of Lunaria! The Moon Princess Possessed by Divine Spirits!"
"Isn't that her sword, not her?" Midori muttered. Ran shrugged.
"Defender of love, justice, and the Lunarian way!" Yori - sorry, Luna - went on, "hear my name and tremble, for I am..."
She raised an open hand to the sky. "MAGICAL! ..."
Luna pulled the arm back down, extended the other to her side, and brought them back in with an odd cross, an odd selection of fingers extended. "WARRIOR!..."
Her bizarre gesticulations continued, proceeding through a brief wide-legged pose, twisting her body away from Yukari as she continued glaring over her shoulder, a final round of strange gestures...
"LUNABLAAAAAAADE!"
Before ending with a rather distinctive pose with her pointing at Yukari over one elbow.
The whole sequence was eerily familiar (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upEOW3xAwCw).
Nate, Toyohime, and Reisen buried their faces in their hands for a moment.
"Oh, that's who she's imitating." Jeremy quipped, "I didn't recognize it over the clashing gaudiness."
"What?" Ran asked, dumbfounded at the ludicrous display.
Yukari just giggled again and pointed up at Lunahime. "Your hands look funny!"
Lunablade's eyebrow twitched.
And Youmu... stared at her in stunned silence. She slowly brought one hand to her face as well, shaking.
"Okay."
Her calm was... fragile.
"I don't really know what's going on here, but let me make sure I've got this straight."
Youmu's tone gave the others pause. Everyone looked at her.
She gave them a strained grin. "Okay, Yukari did something bad to you in the past, right?"
Yukarin clasped her hands behind her back and failed to look innocent.
Yoriblade, at least, took it seriously. Hysterically, even. "'Something bad'!? She tried to invade my home and... And caused the deaths of a lot of people I cared about!"
"The First Lunar War..." Midori muttered. She started trying to bore holes through the back of Yukari's head with her eyes.
Youmu nodded slowly at Lunablade. "Okay... I've got that so far. So, you come down here and decide to kill her?"
"... I doubt they'd do that on their own..." Midori muttered, frowning. "Which would mean..."
Lunablade scoffed at the half-ghost's objection. "Of course! She deserves nothing less!"
Midori glared at the back of Yukari's head again.
Youmu developed a nasty, dead-eyed smile. "... while she's basically depowered and has been reduced to a loli."
Yorihime wasn't too intimidated. "What better chance will I have against her?" she shot back, "I'd be stupid NOT to do this now!"
"She has a point." Midori mumbled to herself.
Yukarin kept smiling.
Youmu started shaking again. Even her voice was uneven. "... and yet you give this huge speech involving justice?"
A brief silence. Now Midori giggled.
"Somehow, killing defenseless people doesn't seem at all just." the half-ghost added, with a growl.
"Yukari? Defenceless!?" Lunablade shrieked back at her, "She's a diabolical fiend, an enemy of all that is just! The right thing to do would be to strike her down before she regains her power!!"
"Right for who?" Midori asked, loudly.
Lunahime's head snapped around to glare at her, and she opened her mouth to reply, but Youmu cut her off.
"And another thing? Am I supposed to be worried about that fan?" she had also turned away, to glare at the other moon princess. "I mean, Yuyuko-sama uses fans in combat, but come on..." she raised her blade a little, with a nasty little grin. "... there are swords involved here. And it's made out of paper..."
Lunablade scoffed, and put her hands on her hips. "HAH! Don't flaunt your ignorance! If my sister uses the power of that fan, everything you can see will be purified at the atomic level!"
Jeremy snorted.
Youmu gave her opponent a blank stare. Then another disturbing smile. "... Okay. Ignoring the whole subject of Yukari for now, did you say that everything - EVERYTHING. I. See. - would be purified by that if you used it?"
"'Disintegrated' may be a better term." Ran added, nervously. Beads of sweat rolled down her face.
Lunablade grinned. "YES!" she crowed, "To the atomic level!"
"Everything?" Youmu repeated.
Yoriblade glared at her. "I just said--"
Youmu turned her gaze up to the top of the waterfall. "Including all those people up there?"
"... um..."
Lunablade cringed back a little under Youmu's glare.
"Yes. Or. No."
"Ah, ah, well, um, maybe..." Yorihime mumbled, sweatdropping nervously.
Youmu began shaking again. "And you... you..."
The volcano erupted.
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!?!" Youmu roared, at the top of her lungs. The trees nearby shed their collection of birds in a panic. "SWEET MERCIFUL SHIKIEIKI, I THOUGHT I HAD TO DEAL WITH LOADS OF ILLOGIC ALLREADY, BUT THIS JUST DOES NOT MAKE SENSE!!!"
Nate and Reisen nodded sagely, arms crossed.
Midori disagreed. "Actually, it makes perfect sense, just--"
Youmu cared for none of this, boiled over in confusion and anger. She shot a finger out towards Yukari.
"THIS IS YUKARI YAKUMO. SHE ENJOYS TAKING NAPS LASTING BETWEEN A DECADE TO A CENTURY, NICE CHATS WITH YUYUKO-SAMA, AND TROLLING REIMU."
"It's very fun~" Yukarin sang. Midori sighed.
"SHE IS CURRENTLY ENTIRELY LACKING IN MANA, AND IS PHYSICALLY A SMALL, PRETEEN GIRL.
I FAIL TO UNDERSTAND HOW ANY OF THAT LIST OF THINGS QUALIFIES HER AS A DIABOLICAL FIEND. NOT EVEN THE IRRITATING REIMU PART."
Midori didn't get too far with her objection. "Well, actu--"
"SHE TRIED TO INVADE THE MOON!" Lunablade shot back, nearly screaming. "SHE... SHE KILLED THE ONLY PERSON I'VE EVER LOVED!
"WHAT?!"
Yukarin actually started to sweat a little under Jeremidori's glare.
"Did you seriously..."
Still, none of this stopped little Youmu's Unlimited Flipout Works. She snapped her sword over to point at Lunablade, shaking wildly. "A-AND YOU! WHY THE HELL ARE YOU DRESSED IN THAT SILLY OUTFIT?!?!"
"Silly?!" the Sword of Lunaria gasped, "THIS OUTFIT'S NOT SILLY, IT'S THE TRUE UNIFORM OF A DEFENDER OF JUSTICE!!"
Youmu ignoring this was not surprising, but somewhat more understandable. "I CAN'T DEAL WITH THIS ANYMORE![/i] URGE... TO... STAB... PEOPLE... RISING!!!!"
"Uh, Youmu..." Midori said, hesitantly.
Youmu's head snapped over to glare at her. The motion made her shaky grip on her wakizashi falter, the blade scraping on her fingers enough to draw blood.
She quickly fixed her grip on the blade and stared down at the blood on her hand.
Suddenly, Youmu was calm.
Thoughts among the others met a general consensus of 'Uh-oh.'
"Yes, that's right..." Youmu said to herself, dreamily, "Why do I even bother attempting to inject sanity into these things anymore?"
She looked up at Yorihime, a distant smile on her face. "Yes, just flow with the insanity... it seems to work just fine for everyone else..."
"I prefer insanities that don't involve copious violence." Midori whimpered, shuffling backwards.
Lunablade frowned at her opponent. "If you don't act with a calm heart, you'll never be able to control your sword properly! What makes you think you can challenge me?!"
Youmu brought her sword to the ready, still smiling silently.
"Will you two stop it?" begged Nate, "We only came here to get some answers, damn it..."
"Yori... Lunablade-sama, please..." Reisen added.
No such luck.
Lunablade staggered back under the ferocity of Youmu's first assault, a little alarmed at the perfectly calm, vacant smile on her face whist essentially flying into a berserker fury. But Lunablade wasn't the Sword of Lunaria for nothing! She managed to recover quickly enough, and the two traded blows evenly, Youmu circling around her constantly to little avail.
After a few rotations, a nasty grin passed over Youmu's face.
"Guh!"
"To...Toyohime-sama!!"
A second Youmu stood behind Toyohime, the blade of 'her' sword lightly pressing against the moon princess' throat.
The first Youmu continued smiling at Lunablade, positioned precisely between her and her sister. "Hehehe."
Reisen and Nate made their counterpoint to the en-formed Myon that had appeared out of nowhere. A handful of gemstones and a shaky rifle bayonet leveled themselves at the back of her head.
"B... back off!" Nathanial stammered, "Unless you w-want to get hurt!"
Neither Youmu really cared about this threat. Nate and his rabbit-eared squeeze realized the reason when Myon flickered a little.
"Nooow then." Youmu went on, smirking at Lunablade a little, "I think I have a nice little hostage situation set up here."
"Just put away all the weapons," Myon added, breath brushing Toyohime's ear, "We'll discuss this calmly, and noooooo one needs to get hurt."
The two Youmus grinned nastily again. "Yet."
"This... this includes your weapons, Youmu." Midori managed to say.
"After them."
Nate took the most reasonable course of action. "Lunablade, drop it. Now."
"But..."
Lunablade glanced nervously between the Youmu in front of her, and the sister past her.
She squeezed her katana's hilt for a moment...
"... fine, then."
... and sheathed it.
Real-Youmu's smile turned a little less dead. "See, that was easy." She sheathed her own blade, the two sword holders looking rather awkward on her lolified form.
"Nice sword, I might add. Not as good as Hakurouken-" Youmu patted said weapon's hilt affectionately, "But a good quality sword."
Myon returned to its normal, near-transparent form and resumed floating above Youmu's shoulder.
"Um." Midori stammered.
"Now, can we speak calmly?" Youmu asked, finally returning to her usual level-headedness.
Nate sighed in relief. "Finally! That's what I originally inten--" He blinked. "Wait, what did you say your sword was called?"
"Hakurouken." Youmu answered. "Normally, I'd be using it in conjunction with Roukanken," she tapped the other sheathe with a finger, "But in my current state..."
"Hakurouken... And Roukanken!? The... The White Tower Sword and the Lookout-Tower Sword!?" Nate's face spread into an eager, fanboyish grin. "B-b-but those were supposed to have been lost centuries ago!"
Youmu blinked. "Eh? Hakurouken here has been my family's property since... well, a very, very, very long time ago."
"They disappeared along with the last master of Konpaku-style kendo!" Nate went on.
Youmu blinked again. Laughed softly. "Ahahaha. Yes, I suppose we did disappear."
Nate's eyes widened. "W-wait... You don't mean..."
Youmu smiled again, sincerely. "My name is Youmu Konpaku. That should answer your questions."
"Konpaku..." Nate echoed, dreamily.
Midori rubbed her chin, now sitting crosslegged alongside a tense Ran, with a Yukarin lounging in her lap and a Chen hiding behind her. "This reminds me, I should probably explain Gensokyo to the newcomers that aren't familiar with it..."
Nate gasped, attention thoroughly diverted. "G-g-g-g-Gensokyo?!" he stammered, "What do you know about Gensokyo?!"
"I'm FROM there." Youmu answered, a little testily. Nate affixed her with a fanboyish stare. "... and dear merciful Yama, stop staring at me like that. It reminds me of how Yuyuko-sama looks at her food at dinner..."
"Most of us are." Jeremy added, "If only as immigrants..."
Nate's staggered back a step or two. "Y-y-you're from Gensokyo!?" He gasped. Stared into space for a moment. "Just like that Letty woman Anthony met..." A grin. "Eheheh, this is getting interesting indeed~"
Youmu looked Nate over for a moment. "Mmm, I'm somewhat surprised you've heard of it."
Jeremidori snorted back a laugh.
"Though I guess having heard of my blades is rather more surprising..."
"Of course I've heard of it!" Nate cried, "It's been my lifelong dream to enter Gensokyo!"
A nasty silence.
Youmu's face fell. "I'm... afraid you're a bit late for that. We're kinda refugees at the moment. It's... vanished."
"Damn Kikuri..." Jeremy muttered.
Nate nodded. "Yes, I heard... if it's anything like what happened to the Moon, then..."
"So the Capital DID go down?" Midori asked. "Well, I guess it's the only possible reason for those two to be here..."
"Watazuki-chan never comes to visit~" Yukarin whined, from her lap. Midori rolled her eyes.
Lunablade jumped back into the conversation at this. "Why would we ever visit YOU?!" she cried, a hand on her katana's hilt, "After all you've done to us, why the hell would--"
"I'd appreciate it if you could put that somewhere out of reach." Midori cut in.
Myon silently floated back over near Toyohime.
"Please, can we discuss the like... intelligent people?" Youmu pleaded.
Yukarin was in a whiney mood. "But that's booooooring!"
Youmu glared at her, sighed, and turned away. "Well fine, I'll just back off and let this nice lady introduce you to the sharp end of her sword."
"Raaaaan~ Make with the clawies~" Yukarin sang, standing up on Midori's lap.
"Yukari-sama, I really don't think this is wise..." Ran stammered, sweating profusely.
Loligap started tearing up. "Buh-buh Ran-oneechan, how cooooould you?! If my shikigami doesn't like me, then... then..."
"Yukari."
Yukarin turned to find Midori glaring at her. Ran dabbed at a nosebleed around a set of unnaturally long nails.
"Is there anything I could possibly do to make you actually take this seriously?"
Yukari's face twisted into a cute, pouty frown. "Mmmmrrrnnnnn..."
Jeremy stubbornly refused to wipe the blood off her lip while it would interrupt her glaring.
Suddenly, Yukarin recovered, and stabbed a finger into Midori's cheek.
"Let me massage your boobs up to size!"
Silence.
"What."
Yukari hopped out of her battery's lap and waved excitedly at the moon princesses in the area. "Ne, ne, Watazuki-chan, Watazuki-chan!
Do you know what the English-speaking Touhou fanboys call you?"
Midori's eyes widened in alarm.
Yukarin shifted into flawless English. "The moonbi----"
"OKAY!" Midori shrieked, "OKAY! If you're that eager to molest me, then fine! Just don't get us all killed!!"
Nate blinked. "...English speaking eastern fanboys? Huh?"
Yukarin sat down next to Midori, smirking, but actually pretending to have some shred of dignity. Although she kept eyeing her battery's chest.
"No, Western." Jeremidori replied, heavily, "I expect Yukari's kept track of events from both sides of the pond."
Yukarin nodded vigorously.
This only confused Nate further. "But... I'm sure she said 'touhou'... I thought that meant 'eastern...?'" He frowned. "Or am I getting touhou and seihou mixed up again? Japanese isn't my first language, I must admit, and I do make the occasional mistake."
Midori blinked. "Oh... man, I keep taking that for granted." She shook her head. "Yukari, I don't know HOW you set up that everyone-knows-Japanese thing for Gensokyo, but I'm well overdue on thanking you for it."
Yukari flapped a hand dismissively. "Oh, the foreign kids being unable to talk to anyone got boring fast. It's nothing big."
"I'm glad it stuck, though..." Midori trailed off for a moment, then shook her head. "To answer your question, you're right, but I'm actually referring to a game series that pretty accurately depicts Gensokyo."
She stared into space for a moment. "... wonder where ZUN is..."
"Back to the matter at hand, please..." Youmu pleaded. You KNOW it's bad when the most serious person around gets off topic.
She got back on it quickly, though. "Right, right. You were here for... what was it, answers?"
"And to--"
"No, Lunablade."
"I just want to know what's going on," said Nate. "A lot of strange things have happened recently, and the only leads I have are Gensokyo and Saniwa Shrine."
Midori eyed Lunablade. "And them?"
"...I have a mana contract with them." Nate said, "I couldn't just leave them at home, could I?"
"I figured that much," Jeremy replied, a little annoyed, "But what have THEY already told you?" He frowned at Toyohime and Reisen. "I take it they've already told you about what they've seen of Gensokyo, so I don't have to worry about that being a security problem, but..."
"Well, yes..." Nate admitted, "But they have no idea what happened to Gensokyo and the Lunar Capital."
Lunablade gave Yukari a nasty smile. "Nonsense, Nathanial, the culprit is right here!"
"If Kikuri were here, I'd be drilling her through the throat." Midori growled.
"Kikuri? Who would that be?" Nate asked.
Midori blinked. "Damnit, I need to be less sloppy." she muttered.
"Does she have something to do with all of this?"
"We're not entirely sure who it is, other than that she is responsible for what happened to Gensokyo." Youmu answered. She paused. "Or at least involved in it."
"AND a good bit of crap outside Gensokyo." Midori growled. "Honestly, the past few days..."
"I take it this goes much further than that basketball game the other night, doesn't it?" Nate asked.
Jeremy laughed bitterly. "That might match it if the ball was an atomic bomb." She quipped. Considered for a moment. "Though I think Sho said that was the yakuza...?"
A realization. "Wait, that means you've met the Gensokyo group already?!"
Nate nodded. "In passing, yes."
Jeremidori's eyes narrowed. "Then I'm hoping you've spoken with Satori...?"
"Satori?" Nate replied, puzzled. "Can't say the name rings a bell..."
... his eyes widened. "...Wait, by 'satori,' you don't mean the mind-reading youkai, right? They... they actually exist?"
"If it's a youkai, it probably exists." Youmu answered, "We even have a couple of western vampires."
Midori smirked. "There's a kitsune and nekomata right in front of you, if you haven't noticed."
"Ah..." Nate's gaze turned over to Ran, looking her over carefully. Ran glared back at him, one ear twitching.
"With all that's been going on, I didn't really realize it..." Nate muttered. He trailed off for a moment, then frowned. "Wait... If she's a kitsune, and she's a nekomata..." Chen ducked behind Jeremidori as he pointed at her, "Then... what are Yukari and Konpaku-san? They're definitely not human..."
He hesitated, and shifted uncomfortably. "Um... If it's, uh, not rude of me to ask, of course...?"
Youmu didn't particularly mind. "I am half ghost." She grimaced for a moment. "Don't ask how that works. And please, refer to me as Youmu."
Lunablade cut in on the other half of the question, growling. "And Yukari is the Youkai of Boundaries, no doubt seeking sympathy after destroying the Lunar Capital!"
Yukari just stared at her for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Oh, Yori, Yori, Yori, you can't be serious."
"Who else would want to ruin us?! Luna shot back, hotly, "Let alone be able to!!"
Yukarin tilted her head and smiled sadly. "I already failed at that once." she said, quietly.
"And you expect me to believe you haven't been planning this for the past thousand years?!" Yorihime snapped, "You'll stop at nothing, I know it!"
Yukari's eyes narrowed.
"Wouldn't it make more sense for whatever happened to the Lunar Capital to have the same cause as what happened to Gensokyo?" Youmu pointed out.
Yukari was unamused by Lunablade's accusation. "Do you honestly believe I would sacrifice Gensokyo simply to spite you?" Her voice was cold and quiet. Eerily intimidating for an about-seven-year-old.
"I just SAID you'd stop at nothing!" Lunablade cried. She had to stop her hand from grabbing at the hilt of her sword again. "You had no qualms about sacrificing an army of youkai trying to invade us!!"
Midori turned to look at Yukarin, frowning.
"No, sister." Toyohime cut in. Yoriblade spun around to glare at her. "When I captured her trying to sneak to the moon..."
"I still can't believe you didn't kill her when you had the chance." Lunablade snarled.
"I don't think I could have." her sister replied, "But... I DO know she could have fought back, and probably even snuck past me. But as soon as I threatened Gensokyo..."
Yukari gave Lunablade a smug smirk. "I think your sister understands better than you do." she said.
"Then again, your plans weren't exactly grandiose..." Jeremidori muttered, still eyeing Yukari.
"Well, no." Yukarin admitted. Smiled. "But they weren't malicious, either."
"It was a decoy!" Lunablade cried, "A distraction! N... no, a test!! To show that you could infiltrate the moon! You must have destroyed us from the inside out!!"
Yukari glared at her again. "... Yorihime, I am rather surprised you have not matured over the past millennium."
"WHAT?!"
Youmu's hand slipped down to the hilt of her sword again. Despite the threat, Lunablade kept her grip - but didn?t move to attack.
"I am not the impulsive, greedy girl I was then." Yukari went on, clearly irritated, "I did indeed intend to conquer the moon, but I have learned since then. It was not worth it." A bitter smile. "... despite what noble intentions I would like to think I had."
"WHAT?!" Lunablade repeated, shrieking in disbelief.
Midori raised an eyebrow. "Noble intentions?"
"Yes," Yukari said. "I selected my allies for that invasion... carefully. Even then, I had a certain respect for humans... but as you can guess, many other youkai did not."
"... so, it was both a genuine invasion and the 'Yukarin can do no wrong' fanon interpretation of teaching the other youkai a lesson?" Midori asked. She laughed. "Oh, clever."
"A lesson?" Yukarin asked. She laughed as well, bitterly. "Oh, no. I tried to recruit my rivals, and those that were... particularly hostile towards humans." A dark grin. "I knew there would be many casualties."
"And for us, as well?" Toyohime asked, eyes narrowed.
Yukari was silent for a moment. "... that was my last-ditch effort to remove you two from the battle." she said, quietly. A sad smile. "Unfortunately, it only motivated you."
Midori was curious. "What was?"
Lunablade flashed her sword out, to point at Yukari. "That bitch killed our husbands."
Silence.
Youmu sighed, and drew her own sword again. "Come on, let's not start this again... It will just end the same way, and we'll be in the same situation."
Lunablade turned back to glare at her for a moment... and reluctantly sheathed her katana again. Very reluctantly. "I'll warn you, you're only delaying my revenge..."
Nate managed to recover from his surprise a little. "She... she was married?" He turned to the bunnygirl next to him. "D-did you know this, Reisen?"
Reisen shook her head, slowly. "It's as surprising to me as it is to you... Although now I think I see why Lunablade-sama hates Yukari so much."
Nate nodded slowly. "Yeah, things make a LOT more sense now..."
"Is revenge even a good idea?" Midori piped up. She glared at the cosplaying(?) moon princess. "I mean, I understand being angry as hell about what she's done, but... after a thousand years...?"
"You expect me to just let her go for what she's done?!" Lunahime cried, "Do you know how many people she's killed?!"
"Not really," Jeremidori replied, "But killing her for that is rather... spiteful."
Yukarin gave her a sideways smile. "My, my. Talking so casually about killing me?"
"The situation rather demands it."
A small chuckle. "Perhaps."
"Spiteful?!" Lunablade spat, "What else do you expect me to do?! Forgive her for mass murder?!"
"Pretty much."
"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND?!"
Smile. "Pretty much."
Lunablade started sputtering wordlessly, unable to express just how absurd this proposal was.
Youmu sighed heavily. "Look, now is NO time to be killing each other. We've already established that the destruction of Gensokyo and the Lunar Capitol are likely linked. Under the circumstances, wouldn't working together be a better solution?"
Yorihime spun around to face the half-ghost, and managed to get her voice working again. "Work together?! With HER?!"
"Quite frankly, I'd rather have the power of a thousand gods AND the demigoddess of boundaries on our side than one or the other." Midori added. Smirked. "'Both' is a wonderful third option to take."
A strangely cheerful expression slowly spread on Lunablade's face. "Oh, of course... you just want to use us for our powers, don't you?!" A short bark of a laugh. "HAH! Don't take me for a fool!"
Midori crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "So you want to restore the Lunar Capital all on your own?"
Lunablade snorted. "Like I need your help..." she turned to her companions. "We'd be better off on our own, right?"
They didn't seem to agree.
"Lunablade, I don't think we could do that on our own," said Nate, propping back his glasses. "We need to work together, just like, um..." he trailed off for a moment, frowning at Midori. Shook his head. "Sorry, I didn't catch your name, but like what you said."
"Jere--"
"Midori-chan." Yukari cut her off.
Jeremy sighed heavily.
Youmu nodded. "Yes, that's Midori-san."
"Did Yuyuko order you to call me that?" the girl in question asked.
Youmu twitched. "... no, why would she do that?"
"To aggravate me?"
Youmu laughed bitterly.
Nate paused at the odd exchange, but shook his head and continued with his rebuttal to Yorihime. "... right, just like Midori said. Um... Let's see..." He trailed off for a moment, looking over Lunablade's ridiculous outfit. And her flamboyant manner from earlier...
Nate cleared his throat. "Ahem..." Gave Lunablade a wide grin. "We shall pierce tomorrow with yesterday's foes and carve a path with our two hands!"
Lunablade flinched at the mention of hands, and glared at her Master Battery. "Nathanial, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard." she scoffed, "Only an idiot would say that, let alone believe it."
"Hear that, Midori-chan~" Yukarin sang.
"Am I supposed to care?" Midori shot back, grouchily.
"Yori, stop being so stubborn." Toyohime said, a tiny hint of annoyance to her invariably-calm voice. "At this point in time, this is... probably the best course of action." A grim smile. "In case you hadn't noticed, we're pretty weak right now, and need... all the help we can get." She sighed. "I mean seriously, Reisen's stronger than you right now!"
"I thought you were bluffing about the fan thing." Jeremy quipped.
Ran and Youmu blinked. "Wait, they were bluffing?" Youmu asked. She stared at Lunablade for a moment. "But she didn't seem like she was... GAH! It's all too confusing! I can't take much more of this!!"
"About the FAN, Youmu..." Midori repeated.
Toyohime half-grimaced, half-smiled. "I know we've had our... Differences in the past, but we need to put that aside for now." She sighed. "This might be the only way we'll be able to restore the Capital, Yori. Don't be so blinded by your hate that you'd refuse an opportunity to restore our civilization."
Lunablade gaped at her sister in disbelief. "Wh... even... even you're..."
"Hey! Youmu-san!" a new voice cried, from up in the trees.
The others looked up in time to see a girl in a blue dress drop from the trees, landing gracefully beneath a dark purple umbrella. She smiled at the crowd. "Boo~"
Youmu was surprised, either by her arrival or her actions. "Gah! Kogasa, what are you doing here?!"
The umbrella youkai stuck her tongue out at Youmu. "Yuyuko-san wants you~"
The half-ghost twitched. "Not..." Twitched again. "Not now." Twitching continued. "I'm BUSY! I AM NOT GOING TO DEAL WITH YUYUKO AND HER INANE DEMANDS RIGHT NOW!!"
"Hey, hey, Midori-chan, since they're busy..."
"Can it wait until we're sure Lunawhatever won't slice us up?"
"Aww, fine."
Kogasa cringed in fright under Youmu's glare, before ducking behind Yorihime's leg to hide.
"I SWEAR!" the little samurai cried, "EVERYTHING SEEMS TO BE TRYING TO MAKE MY LIFE HELL! IT'S NOT FAIR!" She slouched forward, and fell to her knees. "It's not faiiiiiiiiir."
She started sobbing.
The group fell silent.
Lunablade took a step towards Yukari's group.
"Don't." Midori, Ran, Nate, and Toyohime's voices echoed. Ran flexed her fingers for a moment.
Lunablade stopped, face twisting in rage and confusion.
Reisen was, somewhat surprisingly, more concerned with the sobbing Youmu between her and Yorihime. "Um... h-hey, it can't be th-that bad, right?" she stammered, trying to sound comforting, "I m-mean, uh..."
"It's not that bad." Youmu moaned, "It's wooorse..."
Reisen kept trying. "W-well, it, uh c-could be even worse, r-right?"
Yukarin grinned.
Youmu considered this statement for a moment.
She promptly dropped to her side and curled up into a fetal position, whimpering.
This was not a good sign. "Ah!" Reisen cried, "Um... oh dear, d-d-did I say something wrong...?"
Youmu just sobbed.
Reisen... hesitantly approached the crying half-ghost, reached out a hand, and... hesitated. ""Um... uh..." She gathered her courage, and took the enormous risk of patting her on the head. "Th... there, there... There's n-no need to cry, r-right?"
Lunablade stared at Youmu, half in disgust, half in pity. "What... What happened to you!? Have you no pride? No passion!? A true warrior wouldn't let such things reduce them to this state!"
She struck a pose. "Strike down your demons with the blade of justice! Stand tall, with a heart full of hope and love! And in the name of the moon..." she adopted that... particular pointing pose once again. "...STOP ACTING LIKE A WUSS!"
Midori snorted back a laugh.
Youmu's sobs faded. She pulled her head up enough to look at Lunablade's rather encouraging smirk. Blinked through the tears. "A-ah... Thank you, um..." a small sweatdrop. "... what was your name, again?"
"I told you before..." Lunahime began, and moved into her highly referential posing sequence again. "I am the Sword of Lunaria! The Moon Princess Possessed by Divine Spirits!" The Point. "Magical Warrior Lunablade!"
Nate buried his face in his hands.
Youmu nodded slowly. "A-ah. Thank you, Lunablade-san."
Lunablade puffed out her chest, modestly sized despite the motion's potential as an immodest gesture. "A Hero of Justice needs no thanks! Thank me by living a life dedicated to the ideals of love, justice and the Lunarian Way!!"
Yukarin giggled, earning her a brief glare.
Youmu stared. "Er... W-well, I'll try the first two, certainly..." She took a deep breath. "Anyhow, I... kinda feel I owe you for that. A matter of honour, you understand."
"Well, if it's a matter of honour..." A sly grin crossed Lunablade's face. "Hmmm... Your skill with the blade is most impressive for one of your age. Yes, I think this would work out perfectly..."
Midori's jaw dropped. "Oh, god, don't tell me..."
Yukari broke into giggles again.
"E-eh?" Youmu stammered, blinking.
Lunablade pointed at Youmu. "Alright, it's decided! A magical girl can't work alone, so from now on you'll be my partner!!"
"What?! B-but... Well..." the half-ghost trailed off, and gave an off-key, high-pitched laugh. "Heeheeee! Oh, why am I even bothering with this sanity thing any more?!"
"Yes!" Lunablade crowed, "From this day forth, we'll be a team!" She paused, and rubbed her chin in thought. "But... But you need a name... A name fitting for a magical warrior... AHA!"
Lunablade snapped her fingers and pointed dramatically at Youmu. "Alright! From now on, you shall be known as... Mystical Hantsuki Girl Crescensoul!"
Youmu saluted, a mad grin on her face. "Hai! Understood, Lunablade-san!"
"Hmmm... But that outfit is SO wrong..." Lunablade wrinkled her nose at Youmu's Crescensoul's apparel. "It just won't do for a defender of justice!"
"Why is this happening..." Midori moaned into her palm.
Yukarin made the situation worse. "Me too! Me too!"
"For the love of--"
"Legendary Sukima Maiden Violet!" she cried, before giving Jeremy an innocent look. "Did... you say something about for my love...?"
"Not exactly."
Nate facepalmed even harder than before. "Oh god, they're multiplying..."
Youmu gave him an eerie smile. "Is there something wrong with that~?"
"Yes." Midori answered, darkly, "Magical girls attract more attention than we can afford at the moment."
Youmu's gaze snapped back around towards her, still... smiling. "Oh, really..."
"And you're going to end up looking goddamn ridiculous..." Nate added.
Crescensoul apparently found this complaint irrelevant, and unsteadily approached Jeremy. She leaned in a little too close for comfort.
Midori leaned back and swallowed hard. "I... I know it must be tempting to have some f-fun with that, but i-if Kikuri finds us..." A trickle of sweat traced down her forehead.
Ran brought a hand between them. "Youmu-san, please..."
"Oh. Really."
The kitsune's fingers curled back a little, uncertain.
"Don't listen to them, Crescensoul!" Lunablade cried, "No-one will recognise you in your new outfit, anyway! No-one ever recognised the Sailor Senshi, anyway..."
Jeremy persisted in her objection, despite shaking like a leaf. "Th... that's because anime civilians are inept. I-I'm not going to assume Ki-Kikuri and her goons are i-idiots."
"I think the fact that they haven't ALREADY found us shows that they're pretty inept." Youmu replied, actually deadpan.
Midori fully regained her courage, if only for a moment. "No, she already did." she said, darkly, "But then we 'died.'"
"In which case she's less likely to believe any reports that we're still alive." Cresensoul countered, "And besides, she apparently wasn't too interested in Lunablade here." A childish chuckle. "And I certainly don't look like how I usually do."
"You say that as if she's only looking for people from Gensokyo."
"I think they're beyond all reason at this point, Midori..." Nate said, propping back his glasses. He sighed loudly.
"Besides, if they DID find us," Lunablade cried, before briefly switching to a stage whisper, "(not that that's ever going to happen)," And back to enthusiasm, "We'd just defeat them with the power of love and justice!"
"Oh for..."
"Indeed!" Cresensoul shouted. She leapt back into the open space between the two groups, and adopted the oft-abused Point Pose. "For, um..." her confidence wavered, "... puppies!..."
She trailed off, lamely. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead.
Yukarin giggled again.
"Um... We're going to have to work on your delivery a little, Crescensoul..." Lunablade said, a bit deflated at her apprentice's failure.
Youmu blushed furiously. "Uh, uhm... yeah..." she glanced around at the half-dozen people staring at her, then at the underbrush off to the side. "P-perhaps we'd better go confer over there..."
"Hmmm, alright then..." Lunablade said. She gave Yukari one last deathglare (received with a smile), and the two snuck into the bushes, whispering to one another.
Jeremy glared after them, still angry. "Do those idiots have any idea what we're..."
"Jere--" Yukari stopped, and corrected herself, "Midori-chan, we're not public yet, remember?"
Midori frowned at the gaploli sitting next to her. "Yeah, but antics like those are just..."
Yukarin put one of her hands on top of Midori's. "We'll talk to them later." she said, softly.
Jeremidori stared at her for a moment before blushing and looking away. "F... fine."
"I'm, uh, sorry about that," said Nate, as he approached Midori. "Lunablade's... Suffering from culture shock, I suppose."
Midori frowned. "... I didn't think of that. From what I've heard, the Lunarians wouldn't take too kindly to being stuck on Earth..."
The boy smiled nervously. "It doesn't help that she, um, got a little bit too into that Sailor Moon marathon..."
Midori gave him a deadpan look for a moment, then sighed. "Yeah, that'd explain it."
"Could've been worse, I suppose..." Nate mused. "Could've been something like, um, Gurren Lagann or something like that." He shook his head. "I'd hate to see her act like someone from that..."
Silence.
Yukari started laughing loudly.
Jeremidori just tried to avert her eyes from everyone else involved. "Ah, well..."
She was not fortunate enough to escape from her freshly-lolita'd charge, who reached through the neck of her miko-suit top --
"HEY!"
-- and pulled out a vaguely conical rock on a necklace chain.
"Too late!" Yukari cried, "Midori-chan already took that one~"
Nate stared. "Um... Should I even ask?"
Midori grimaced for a moment or two, thinking. Sighed. "Yes, you should, and I should explain now rather than later."
She put one hand under the one Yukari was holding the rock in and waited for a moment.
"... um? Yukari?"
"Midori-chaaan, I remembered something~"
A pause. "... yes?"
"Welllll, now that Luna-silly isn't threatening us..." she grinned at the girl sitting next to her. "I think Midori-chan needs to make good on her promise!"
Midori turned Akai bright red. "Wh... what?!"
Yukarin planted her hands on Midori's breasts through the outfit and sarashi. "You know, this!"
Ran sighed heavily.
Nate... could only stare. "... so this is the great and powerful Yukari... You're, uh, a lot different than..." He trailed off. "Could you please stop doing that? It's... distracting. And I don't think Midori likes it too much, either."
Yukarin gasped, and looked up into Midori's face, eyes watering. "Mi-Mi-Midori-oneechan, th, that can't be true, I know you really..." She squeezed on the little bulges that remained on the sarashi, clinging like a frightened child.
Then again, it's doubtful she was actually frightened.
"Uh, I..."
Another squeeze.
"S... stop that, please."
Yukari's lip quivered, and she burst into tears. "WAAAAAA! Midori-chan doesn't love me!!"
Ran sighed again, ears drooping.
"Wh-wh..."
Everything Nate knew was a lie. "I... I refuse to believe that this is the same woman Lunablade's been going on about." He rubbed his forehead with a palm. "I mean, this is just... I don't know what this is..."
"THIS! IS! GENSOKYO!" Kogasa cried, from the hem of Toyohime's skirt. She was rewarded with several shrieks of fright and a stray heel to the gut.
In a well-hidden, undisclosed location nearby, a small figure brought her palm to her face. 'I KNEW I should never have introduced her to that meme...'
"D-d-don't do that, damn it!" Reisen cried at the umbrellagirl, shaking like a leaf.
"Eee! I scared you guys again!" Kogasa cried, ecstatic, "I'll have to thank onee-san for her advice on scaring people~"
Midori drowned out Kogasa's fright show with a shout. "WHAT THE HELL, YUKARI?!" She dropped to a quieter voice, but still loud enough to be heard over Yukarin's (almost certainly false) tears. "I thought I asked you to be serious?!"
"Buh... buh... but now Luna-silly's away, so Yukarin thought... Yukarin thought..."
Jeremidori looked up at the underbrush Lunablade and Crescensoul had retreated into, and frowned. "... you're sure she won't attack us?"
Toyohime giggled. "Somehow, I doubt it. She seemed a little... too eager to turn the Konpaku girl into her prot?g?e~ I think she'll be gone for a while."
"..." Midori was silent for a moment. Sighed, and looked at Yukari. "... I don't suppose I could ask for it to wait until we're in private?"
Yukarin dried her tears in a flash. "Nope!"
Loligap let go of the drill-rock-thing in her hands, and promptly stuck both of her arms into Midori's top. For some reason, they migrated around towards the back, groping around for something.
"... um, Yukari...?"
"The sarashi just gets in the way!" Yukarin cried, still searching for the end 'tab' of Jeremy's undergarment.
Nate sighed heavily. "I think you've gone just far enough for now, Yukari." He grabbed the mischievous little sukima from behind and tried to pull her off of Midori.
Yukarin held onto her victim for dear life. Jeremidori flinched as gapnails dug into her back.
And Yukari started crying again.
"Uwa-wa-wa-WAAAA~~"
Ran facepalmed, and mumbled, "Why does she always act like this..."
"Because she knows how to abuse the Border of Moe, I expect." Jeremy grunted.
"Midori-oneechan, your knight in shining armor is a meanie! A meanie!! Make him let go! Make him let gooo!!"
"What?!" Nate and Midori shouted, simultaneously.
"J-just be quiet, y-you!" The (current) boy continued, blushing slightly as he pulled fruitlessly on Yukari. He was met only with a loud wail.
"Yukari, stop it!" Jeremy demanded, red-faced, "Could you possibly be reasonable about this?!"
"Midori-oneechan promised I could play with her if I stayed serious about Luna-silly!" Yukarin whined, "Now I wanna plaaaay!"
Midori tried to plead with her. "Then could it possibly wait?! Or at least have s-something still covering me?!"
"But Yukarin was serious!!"
"... even about the 'Magical Gap Whatever' bit?"
Yukari's wails stopped suddenly. Nate managed to yank her off of Midori, at the cost of a small yelp from fairly deep scratches on her back.
Nate sighed at the squirming child in his hands. He carefully lifted Yukari up and offered her to Ran. "Could you look after her for a moment, Miss Kitsune?"
Ran gave her master a rather... grim look. "... certainly."
Nathanial nodded as mini-sukima changed hands. "Thanks. Now maybe we could have a serious conversation."
"But Yukarin wants to play with Midori-chan!!"
Nate sighed, and shook his head. He looked at Midori again. "Ah... I'm sorry if that hurt. I just... couldn't put up with her treating you like that for much longer."
Jeremidori snorted. "Thanks. She's gotten a little... touchy."
The two fell silent for a moment, ears ringing with Yukarin's wails.
"I wanna play with Midori-chan! She promised!!"
"Shh, Yukari-sama, shh, I'm sure you can... get to her later." Ran said, trying to soothe her. "Ow!"
"Yu-Yukari-sama, please don't pull on Ran-sama's tails..." Chen pleaded, softly.
"... but I'm not sure how far we'll get with 'serious conversation' with her acting like that." Midori pointed out.
Yukari's whining suddenly stopped. "Yukarin will be serious if Midori-oneechan lets me play!"
Nate glared at her for a long moment, and sighed. "... maybe we should go somewhere else, then. Somewhere away from the perverted youkai."
"Buh, buh, buh..."
A watching shadow in the forest giggled.
Midori looked at Yukarin for a long moment, and sighed as well. "... no... let me try something first. Hey, Ran, think she'd stick to it if we struck a deal on this?"
"... most likely, yes." Ran replied. Yukarin nodded vigorously in her arms. "Yukari-sama is... true to her word if pressed on it."
Jeremy nodded. "Well, then, if it's alright...?"
Ran shrugged. Yukarin squirmed in her grip and put on her best eager face.
"Midori-oneechan, Midori-oneechan, can we play?"
"If you're reasonable about it." Midori answered. "You goofed, so you aren't getting the full... package." She shifted uncomfortably. "Figuratively." Took a deep breath. "Sarashi stays on. I get to face away from the others. And no untoward shenanigans from you, or the deal's off."
Yukarin screwed up her face in thought for a few seconds, then nodded. "... okay, Midori-oneechan."
"Well!" Nate said, "Now that THAT'S sorted out..." he reached down and offered a hand to Midori to help her get to her feet. "Let's go, then."
Surprisingly, she only gave the offered hand a blank stare.
"What?!" Yukari cried, "I thought it was going to be NOW!!"
"And that's what I meant." Midori said, reluctantly. She sighed, and nodded at the stunned look on Nate's face. "Sorry, we're both a bit too practical about the whole mana battery business."
The boy shook his head in disbelief. "... I have no idea how you can put up with her."
"She wasn't nearly this bad before she got lolified." Jeremy replied, deadpan. Yukarin hopped off the ground a little after being released by her shikigami, and eyed her battery's chest greedily.
Nate sighed. "... very well then..." He averted his eyes. "Just... Make it quick. I hate to even think about someone doing something like that to a girl."
"Q... quick?" Yukarin asked, "I thought..."
"Until I'm done talking or something important comes up." Jeremidori answered, before another nuance to the argument sprung up. She spun around on the dirt to face away from the others, took a deep breath, and let the top of her miko suit fall to her waist.
"Brr. Chilly."
"Hmhm, so that means--"
"No shenanigans, Yukari."
"... sowwy, Midori-oneechan."
There was an uncomfortable silence as Yukarin got into position on Midori's lap and began her... massages. Most of the others turned their back to the two, a bit disturbed by the scene. Jeremidori herself kept her eyes closed to avoid the look on Yukari's face.
"S, so, um..." Nate stammered, looking off into the trees, "L-let's j-just start with that basketball game. What was that about?"
"No idea." Jeremy replied, deadpan. "Unfortunately, I was out cold until... a few hours ago, when Reimu started with her... shrine maiden recruitment. All I've heard was it involving the local yakuza." A blind smirk. "I don't suppose you could tell ME more?"
Nate shook his head. "If I knew more, I wouldn't be asking. I'm almost as confused about the whole thing as you are. Anyway..." He trailed off, and sighed.
After a moment, he came up with else to ask. "Um... So, uh, what's with that necklace you have? Is it, um, a relic of Gensokyo or something?"
"Ah, well..." Midori was a little uncomfortable about this question. "... yes, and no. It's... a magical relic I got in Gensokyo, but I don't think it originated from there."
"I see... So, um, if it's a magical relic, does it have any powers?" Nate asked, "I'm, uh, quite knowledgeable when it comes to the occult... I might be able to help you identify it and its origins, if you'd like."
Back Hills, Saniwa Shrine, ~6:09 AM, Day 5
Participants: Team Drillkumo: E-mouse
Now I regret talking about the Lunarians with Ran. It must have provoked whatever irony gods there are in this world.
Damn them. Ugh.
Well, okay, no, I'm just being silly. It did make sense, even if the timing was an unfortunate coincidence. At least it was only Lunablade, whichever Watazuki she was, that's actually trying to be deadly. Fan-girl, her pet, and their battery all seemed pretty mellow. But then there's Youmu...
... I'd be happier over seeing that frightfully exploitable use of Myon if it weren't for her also going insane. Damnit. Magical girls? This had better stop before it gets out of hand...
..... and then there was that weird debate Sho and whatshisname, Nike or whatever had... and earlier, he'd referenced Evangelion...
I AM THE GREATER SHINJI.
..... no, no, NO. Stop. Even... even if I have my moments, I'm not going to...
Though I might...
I'm NOT going to screw this up!!
I shook my head vigorously. Yukarin yelped a little from on my shoulders.
"Uwa!"
That made me stop. "Uh. Sorry, Yukari."
Up ahead, Ran stopped leading us up the increasingly-steep trail to where Reimu was leading miko training, and turned to face me. She looked over Yukari for a moment, then raised an eyebrow at me.
"Yeah, yeah, we need to keep moving, I'm being a wimp, sorry..."
Ran nodded, fox ears flapping a little. "I don't think it's much farther. If only the falls weren't so loud..."
Chen clutched her master's hakama a little tighter for a moment.
I forced myself to keep moving. Damn my lack of endurance.
But Yukari still wanted to talk. "Midori-oneechan's thinking too much, isn't she?"
"... yeah."
A small hand ruffled my now-curly, now-blonde hair.
..... that had recently been pressing against my now-boobs. Grk.
No, stop thinking about that!! We'll, we'll have that fixed soon enough!
"Don't worry. Things'll work out. I knew we'd be fine, especially with Youmu there."
"Even after she offered to let Lunablade at you?"
Yukarin giggled. "'Lunablade?' I thought you didn't like the magical girl nonsense~"
"I don't." I replied, gruffly, "But I remember that better than what their names are, on sight."
A soft chuckle. "Fair enough. But I know Youmu better than that... despite all the teasing, and the occasional outburst, she cares."
"Even with you constantly egging them on?"
"Well, I guess I was a little silly..."
"'Little.' Right."
She sighed irritably. "We weren't in any real danger. The rest of the Lunarians were perfectly civil, and you know Ran wouldn't let them hurt me either way."
A pause. "And neither would you, right, Midori-oneechan~"
... gah, my face must be turning red... "... no. Not that easily."
Another little giggle, and a ruffling of hair. "Besides, failing all else, I did a little experimenting while I was with Eirin, and..."
...? "Experimenting?"
Yukari let go of my neck with one arm, and paused for a moment before replying.
When she did, her voice came from directly beneath me.
"Experimenting~"
THAT made me jump. I stepped back and immediately looked down at the source of that voice to see how the hell that happened.
It was rather simple, actually. There was a small, shimmering-purple gap open in midair a bit below waist height, with loli-Yukari's smirking face visible through what looked like a translucent film of purple and eyes.
"Wha-- you can do that?!" I cried.
I heard Ran sigh and turn, but she didn't berate me for stopping again. Instead, she was silent for a moment, then asked, "Yukari-sama, are you sure you should...?"
For my part, I just stared in disbelief. Yukari's using gaps again? Through ME?! Without me feeling a damn thing?! That... how...
The little gap in the air vanished. Yukari giggled from on my shoulders, a bit madly. "I've only tried little ones, but I KNEW we could handle it, now!!"
"How did..."
She ruffled my hair again. "Midori-oneechan's selling herself short again~"
"... but when Ran was... doing whatever the hell that was..."
Ran grimaced. "I was... enhancing my arms to handle grabbing her sword, if I had to."
I nodded dumbly. "Right, that... uh, well, I'll admit that hurt a fair bit..."
One of Yukarin's arms moved off of my neck. Then something hard pressed on the top of my head.
I assumed it was her elbow, from the sly tone of her next comment. "Oh? But that makes perfect sense, Midori-chan. After all, I can tell you two are still having a little trouble getting along, but lil' ol' me..."
She trailed off, and I could hear the smirk in her voice at the implications. Damnit, I'm blushing again!
Chen provided a very, very welcome distraction. "Ah, Ran-sama! I think I see them!"
I re-set my grip on... on Yukari's legs. "L, let's go."
Ran frowned for a moment, but nodded and turned to go. Yukari giggled at her victory, but didn't tease me further. For now, at least.
-----
Hilly Waterfall, Saniwa Shrine, ~6:11 AM, Day 5
Participants: Team Drillkumo: E-mouse
We arrived just in time to catch Lunablade jumping down from a cliffside, twirling in the air, and making a rather blunt landing. She didn't even roll. And didn't stand up for a second or two. I was reminded of how Link reacted when falling way, WAY too far in Ocarina of Time, especially when you didn't try to roll and break the fall.
... wow, that's a pretty sad first thought, ain't it.
It took her a moment, and a yell, to properly recover, whereupon she was promptly threatened by a gun from... a new face. Some scrawny blonde girl. Who was then threatened back with a katana from half an inch.
Damnit.
... but I guess there isn't too much to worry about from her... she can't REALLY be stupid enough to try and take on all of Gensokyo at once, plus her own sister...
And then there's the way Eirin and Kaguya are squirming in embarrassment...
... y'know, I think I'll let this one ride itself out.
I smiled a little. "She IS acting like an idiot, isn't she?"
Sadly, others followed suit. Marisa apparently thought she was a real magical girl.
God DAMN it.
... well, maybe she's just making fun of her...?
I frowned, but I let her proceed. Then I cackled as Marisa changed her story from "adoring fangirl" to "wanna-be archnemesis."
I noticed a little brown-haired girl in a white sunhat jump at my laugh, and give me a nervous look. An older, black-haired girl alongside her gave me a puzzled look, before getting pulled away by her smaller cohort.
Odd.
Yukarin interrupted my worries from her perch on my shoulders. "Midori-chan, are you suuuuure you don't enjoy this~"
"I enjoy mocking it, at least." I shot back, around a less-than-friendly grin.
My amusement was rather sharply diminished by the sudden announcement of something like a dozen more archnemeses.
God damnit.
Well, at least Reimu's snarkiness is making up for it. She's even acting like she doesn't recognize Lunahime in her goofy outfit! That's some comfort... wait, she REALLY didn't recognize her...? I'm not sure if I should be amused at the indifference to royalty, or irritated at the lack of respect on a human basis... well, 'human,' rather.
Anyway, Marisa didn't take this revelation of facts well. "... b-but... I-I thought she was the great Lunablade?" she asked, sounding like she didn't want to believe it, "That funny person we played with had two right hands..."
... I fought down another laugh. That's right! There WAS joking about one of her hands being drawn badly in SSiB! And Yukari'd joked about it, too! I barely noticed!
Suika pulled out Lunablade's hands for confirmation. Yep. That... must be really inconvenient to deal with, actually... poor girl.
Alice mentioned something about Prinnies. I blinked. Then grinned a little. "Well, well... maybe we WILL be able to abuse some Disgaean mechanics..."
"'Abuse?'" Yukarin echoed, "It sounds like Midori-oneechan's scheming something~"
"Vaguely." I admitted. If only I knew enough about what we're working with, and how to make the best use of it...
... like Yukari's gaps, which...
drugs in the stomach, bullets in the lungs...
... are frighteningly dangerous even in their current form...
My dark thoughts were drowned out by the sound of crying.
... crying?
... LUNABLADE crying.
What the fuck? I'd figure her to be stronger than that, but... well, I guess things just haven't been going her way ever since escaping the moon. Ugh.
... Reimu suggested a trip for ice cream as a peace offering. I honestly think it's a bit cold out for ice cream to be the best idea, but it's the right intent, I think... the point's to make up with the Lunarians, after all...
... though the others reacted a bit TOO enthusiastically to the idea. Maybe ice cream is rare in Gensokyo? I never really looked. I have simple tastes, after all.
..... wonder if that 'summon strawberry' spell I came up with in Gensokyo would work out here...
There was a mention of where to find ice cream. Though, I really don't think it would be that difficult, just take a few minutes looking around town - though we'd have to get in civilian clothes first to avoid drawing too much attention...
Someone pointed out that Yuyuko raided the town for food a few days back. They were completely right. Though now I wonder if there'd be any ice cream LEFT... heh.
N.... Nalth or whatever his name was, the Lunarian battery, promptly got into an argument with Suika about ages and oni. Oh, Nathanial, that was it. I am so damn clueless.
Then another debate sprouted about... about wanting to seduce Nate or switch to using him as a battery, with some offhand degradation of Mitaka. Who was that again...? right, Deodorant! Damnit, he deserves better than that. But right now I can't really help with the whole "toddler" problem. Bleh.
Damnit Eirin.
Yukarin broke me out of my introspection with a rather alarming comment.
"Hmm, love potions, huh..."
I jumped a little. "Wh... what?"
"Ne, ne, Midori-oneechan, can I have some?"
G... Gensokyo had love potions?! Someone mentioned it already?!... maybe we wouldn't have to use Koishi. But why wasn't it used already? Unless whoever it was... thinking back, must have been Marisa... was just pulling a scam? That sounds likely.
"Pleeeeeeeeease~" Yukarin pleaded, sweetly.
I let go of one of her legs to wipe off my upper lip, and considered.
...
"I... I don't think it'll be necessary, Yukari."
That broke her into giggles again. I glanced over towards Chen and Ran... to see they were preoccupied with staring at the waterfall and comforting their shikigami, respectively.
Not pissing off Ran is a higher priority than any amount of lust or haste in regaining strength. It... it'll be a while. But with the smarter head admitting it makes sense, now... oof. Need to make sure I hold myself back...
... but I'll grant, not being a pedophile should help with that for a little while.
Reimu spoke up in a more commanding voice, apparently calling out to everyone in the area. "Get back to your positions, everyone." she glared off to one side. "Yes, even you, Gpop."
I followed her gaze to see a guilty-looking little... wow, an actual boy... anyway, that must be shota(heh)-popsicle, if the Koishi standing beside him was any indication.
... where's Satori... ah, a bit away from them, looking reluctant. That's right, she has to stick close thanks to the mana problems... but without her powers... Damnit!
"Time to finish off with exorcism training." Reimu went on.
... exorcism training? What'd she mean by that? Well, based on the relieved sighs all around, I guess it was something new. And hopefully manageable. Though the Yakumos are gonna have to make up for the absence somehow...
... and me. I'm NOT a Yakumo. Oh god, stop it, Jer!
I was interrupted by a cry from Lunablade about not wanting to be a miko - or rather, them being her 'sworn enemy.' But, uh... I'm inclined to believe that this wouldn't be a good prejudice to hold in our current situation. And miko powers in addition to whatever you've already got would be useful, wouldn't it? Well, assuming it's possible...?
Reimu expressed the same concern, if more harshly: "... I?m sorry... are you perhaps under the impression that you were given a choice...?" She glared at Lunablade for a moment, then turned away and went on. "... now sit down. You might learn something valuable from this. Something you might be able to actually fight with... rather than that flimsy little butter knife."
A LOT more harshly.
Lunablade didn't take that so well. There was a 'shing' as she drew her sword, drowning out... something she said, I didn't catch it.
Reimu promptly solved the problem by smacking Lunablade's wrist with her gohei, making her drop the sword.
... well that was easy.
Lunahime stammered in disbelief for a moment, before Reimu explained, in a surprisingly calm voice: "..... without your mana, you have little to no fighting strength." She bent down and picked up the moonb... moon princess' sword, and offered it back to her in a distinctly non-threatening manner. "Even those of you who used to rely on physical strength are now weaker than your average human being. Our bodies rely on mana that much. As such, to survive, we must use alternative methods of fighting. Thus today?s training." She turned and gestured towards the waterfall and stream nearby. "Focus is the first step towards overcoming your disadvantage in mana. And I am about to show you how."
Focus? Hm... wonder how I'd be at that? I can get obsessed with things easily, but usually my mind wanders a lot...
... case in point...
Lunablade's sister came up to comfort her, and managed to convince her to at least retreat peacefully for the moment. Good.
Reimu went on, indifferent to the Lunarians' tactical withdrawal. "While we?re at low fighting strength, I urge you to use miko exorcism techniques to take on shadows."
"Such as?" I asked, quietly.
... wait, 'shadows?'
Hiwa... Hiro, the burning girl from earlier, had a sarcastic suggestion. "... so... you?re going to wave the gohei and throw talismans at them?"
.... come to think of it, that DID work pretty well in Gensokyo, didn't it?
"Heh, throw cold water at them, perhaps." Zei chuckled.
"Depends on if it's pressurized." I muttered. Then realized he'd just confirmed that waterfall meditation was basically what Reimu'd asked for here.
This is going to be uncomfortable.
Armpits didn't appreciate the quips. "... you can laugh when you find this actually saves your life." she snapped. Then she pulled a sash of some sort out of... her sleeve or something, and lifted it up for everyone to see. I squinted at it and managed to make out... a handful of golfball-sized yin-yang orbs attached to it somehow. Weird...
"Now these..." Reimu went on, "... are compact demon-sealing orbs which Sanae, Keine, Eirin, Nitori, Rika and I created together using modified Covenant technology."
Demon-sealing orbs? Sounds like one of her spellcards. But it's appropriate enough, I guess.
... why do we need demon-sealing orbs, again? I thought we were in relatively secure condition aside from the yakuza right now. What were those "shadows" she mentioned? The... the things from when we were leaving Gensokyo? And the Sky Ray? I thought those were summoned by Kikuri's goons? We only got out of that by faking our deaths! How is this going to help against another goddamned battleship?!
She distracted my frustration by taking off one of the orbs and turning it into a pokeball.
I stared.
... okay, it wasn't QUITE a pokeball. It was still styled after a yin-yang orb, but the size change, the sizes, the coloring... hell, the enlargement TECHNIQUE - what the hell?!
Much snickering and giggling commenced from the observers. Not even remotely to my surprise, some of it emanated from atop my shoulders.
"This is your doing, isn't it?" I asked Lolikari.
"No!" She replied, breathlessly, and giggled for a moment before continuing, "I mean, I gave Marisa the first season, but... heeheehee!"
I sighed. This is kinda stupid...
... but if they work the same way, then getting those 'shadows' on our side would be...
... WHAT shadows? Damnit, I thought we were safe!!
Armpits apparently managed to fight down her agitation at the general mockery of her strategy, and went on in perfect seriousness: "Now, how to take down a shadow. Basically, first you either lure them into an area bounded by four paper talismans stuck onto walls, poles, rubbish bins, people, whatever..."
She appeared to be demonstrating by herding a few volunteers into a square, with... probably Marisa in the center. The four 'corners' each had a paper talisman of some sort on their chests, making a box around Marisa. Suika was quite a bit shorter than the others, and... wait, isn't that Deodorant's team, plus Sanae?
Reimu went on, which was more important than figuring out exactly who was being used as demo equipment. "Either that, or you pepper them with paper talismans and demon-sealing needles until they?ve been weakened." She pulled out two big handfuls of paper talisman ward things and small needles... which apparently had little yin-yang orbs on them. Peculiar.
She continued the demonstration by plastering a talisman on Marisa's face. And then another. I tried hard to fight back snickering at the sight. I failed when the witch tried to say something from behind the mummification of talismans on her face.
"Midori-oneechan, don't laugh, it's meeeean~" Yukarin sang.
I fought down my laughter. "R... right, yeah. Sorry, just... bwahah!"
Reimu was actively trying to ignore the snarky comments from around her. "... then you throw the demon-sealing orb at them and, if all goes well, the shadow will be sealed away." She demonstrated with an ineffectual pokemikoball to Marisa's forehead, eliciting a small 'ouch!'
"... this is so ripped off something..." someone muttered. I couldn't help but grin among the agreement given from some others in the crew.
Armpits remained all business, impressively enough. "That?s the basics. As for HOW you pull it off..." she trailed off, and looked around at the Gensokyoan army gathered around her. "... that?ll depend on each of your teams. You?ll have to decide amongst yourselves how to go about ambushing and trapping shadows. Each team is unique. You?ll have to think up your own distinct styles. As for practice... there?s no better practice than the real thing, I suppose."
... more fighting? I... I'm not so good at that... I thought this was going to be more staying out of the way? Stealth? Y'know?
What the hell does she mean, 'shadows?!' I didn't think... Damnit.
"You said something about some killer technique, right?" someone asked. I glanced over - a little girl next to Sakuya? That's right, it DOES look like her battery from earlier. "Is this?it?"
Reimu hesitated. "... Let me tell you a story..."
A... story? Okay, Reimu, I don't know what's going on, but I hope this is good. And stop snarking about it until you hear it, guys. How annoying.
... well, I would have done the same if I was annoyed with the story instead of them. I'm such a hypocrite.
Armpits kept ignoring the quips. "A long time ago, back when all living beings honoured the sacred Covenant, there lived the greatest doctors to ever live..."
THAT got my attention. I felt my ears perk up... somehow. Wow, that actually happens?
But I'll be honest, I don't like the wording. But go on. Eirin and... tourist demon? Forget her name, but she must be from Makai, if her hanging out near Shinki was any indication. Quite a crowd there, actually... anyway, they complained a bit, but Reimu went on.
"... well, I say 'doctor,' but that?s a loose translation." she admitted. "The actual definition in this case is somebody who researches mana and looks after the mana and spiritual afflictions of humans and non-humans alike."
Hm, a more spiritual healer? A doctor of magic? Heh, fun. But right now, "I can see why we'd have no literal translation for something like that." I pointed out, with a nod.
Reimu glanced at me for a moment, and went on. "... now, these two doctors were humans living in the final days of the covenant. At the time, a mysterious illness had spread amongst the Covenant that only the humans were resistant against. The disease stopped all non-humans from recharging mana."
... wait... this sounds awfully familiar... non-humans being unable to produce mana? Wouldn't that mean they'd need an external source.....?
"Now, these doctors were officers in the Covenant military serving onboard a mobile fortress and a ship..."
Tsk. Military.
"... in fact, they served onboard the very ship docked underneath us now, the Sky Ray."
I felt my eyes bulge out. "What?!"
Reimu looked at me again, and nodded. "It surprised me, too."
I didn't stay surprised long. After a moment, I just narrowed my eyes suspiciously and hissed, "Quite a coincidence... isn't it?"
"Wait, so that ship?s seriously a Covenant ship?" some kid asked.
"No, it?s mine." Another shot back.
... wouldn't that be the pirate girl? I glared at... ah, she's lolified.
... I shouldn't feel so good about that making her harmless.
... or not, after taunting from some other blonde I didn't recognize provoked her to pull out a gun. Granted, her rival countered with much the same, but still... Chiyuri, we don't need this right now.
... I really need to ask her about Yumemi sometime.....
Both of them were stopped by someone nearby - didn't quite catch who - and some scolding about putting people's eyes out. Heh. That's good, at least.
Reimu rolled her eyes and continued. "This was crippling to the Covenant, who relied on mana for all their combat, weaponry and equipment, as well as day to day life."
Smooth. Well, I guess the outer-world humans are about as bad about technology, especially agriculture and electricity... but we've got some forms of backup, at least. Usually. I think...?
"The two researched many mana-sharing techniques and created the first 'contract' systems that allowed non-humans to live on, reliant on human partners for mana..."
I KNEW it!
"...which gave birth to the 'Linker' series of systems. In order to continue fighting, they developed techniques to allow them to charge up and amplify what little mana reserves they had from their contracts. The first of these was the Linker-MAD."
I raised both eyebrows. Charge up? Amplify?! "Oho... over 100% efficiency, then...?"
"Not really." Yukari responded, "But probably better than we're managing now."
... a brief irritation.
"I remember you shouting something about the Linker-MAD during that fight." Little Shoko said.
Down in the underground, right? She... DID mention that, I think...
Armpits nodded. "Yes. The Linker-Mana Amplification Drive, or linker-MAD for short. This is what I?m about to teach you today."
Some excited murmurs from the rest of the group. But a snarky comment from Renko stood out the most to me.
"... Mutually Assured Destruction...?"
... nah, couldn't be. Reimu's still okay... right?
"That said, I?m only beginning to grasp all this mana stuff." The hatty outworlder went on, shaking her head. She grinned eagerly. "So... a potential fifth component to the universal powers... the key to completing the theory of everything...!"
Heehee. She likes to know how things work too, eh? I wonder what else there is to find out about these linkers... and the Covenant in general...
Chiyuri turned and looked Renko over for a moment. Then she nodded. "Hey, you know your stuff... Professor Okazaki was working on that, up till..."
The Sailor of Science trailed off, her face falling.
... well, I guess that means nothing GOOD happened to Yumemi, at least. But was it betrayal, a falling out, separation, or kidnapping? If it was betrayal.....
"... Professor... Okazaki...?" a little girl next to Renko asked. Probably Sanou. Hope she... he, whichever, is okay after all the insanity that clueless normal kid's been going through...
Chiyuri recovered quickly, and grinned. "Well... uhh... I could teach you a thing or two! You two are scientists, right? You seem too bright to be one of these folks."
I rolled my eyes. Don't worry, dear, there are a few around...
Renko approved of the offer, snatching Little Sauna up around the neck. Chiyuri returned the approval an--
"Heehee, maybe it's more like mother and daughter~" Yukarin sang from my shoulders.
"What?" I thought for a moment. "Are you STILL trying to tease those two about that?"
"Of course~"
My sigh was interrupted by the appearance of some sort of holographic display near Reimu, apparently coming from a cellphone communicator thing Nitori was holding.
"Whoa!"
"All your communicators have this application thingy. It is called the Linker-RSA.? Nitori explained, pointing at the holo-screen, which showed a list of names and head-shot pictures, much like the one I saw when I first fired up mine. It looked like it was for her group, since it had her and.....
... what the fuck?! Is that Akyu?! She's here? Somehow? Well, that should solve some problems with retrieving 'memories of Gensokyo'...
... but dear old kidnapper-ship-cloaking Nitori is linked to the dick that tried to kidnap whats-her-name, the Paulaesque time traveler, isn't she? That must be the loli I don't recognize on the list...
"This is the summary page." Nitori went on, "It shows you the condition of everyone in your group." She moved her finger over to point to the odd graphs next to her team's mugshots. "The graph shows two things. The green line shows you your vitals. If it goes red and flat, you?re dead. That?s all you need to know. The blue line shows you your mental status, or your 'spirit'?y?know, how crazy or stupid you are. The numbers on the side show you your synchronization percentage and your mana level, reduced to our cat standard devised by Patchouli."
So... HP, INT, sync ratio, and MP?
... odd they can be reduced to something that straightforward. The real world's more complex than that, isn't it...?
Kappapa reached out and poked at Akyu's portrait on the holographic display. The screen promptly 'zoomed in' to a more detailed summary of Akyu's condition, with larger versions of the same graphs, plus a few other details.
"This screen essentially shows you the same, plus a few more details like vital details," Nitori went on, "Pulse, blood pressure, hunger, fatigue, how badly you need to potty, etc."
Oh, so THAT'S where the 'HP' details are. Good, that's...
Wait, 'need to potty?'
Akyu squeaked in alarm, and dove into the hologram, flailing her arms around wildly. "D-d-don?t show that!" Luckily for her, her hand-waggling managed to disrupt the hologram enough to make it just about indecipherable.
Reimu promptly shooed her out, as Nitori fiddled with her communicator again for a second. The hologram clearly changed, but it wasn't until Akyu scampered out of it that it was clear what it'd changed to.
"This comes in useful when using the Linker-MAD," Reimu went on, gesturing at the clearly-labeled screen from the hologram. The details there were a bit small to decipher offhand, but it didn't look TOO complex.
"During Linker-MAD, one person will activate the Mana Amplification Drive and begin charging mana. Basically, the person will accumulate all the mana he or she can produce or acquire from another person and amplify it a few times over."
Amplify again... So it IS over 100% efficiency? Awesome! Now, if we can find ways to recurse that to infinite levels...
... I think some very nasty things.
"The mana charged up can then be used to power a single attack, say, a spellcard." Armpits continued. The holo-screen flickered over to a... apparently a recording of that stupid airborne fight from earlier, when she managed to prepare that spellcard, whatever it was, without turning Deodorant into dust.
"Only one person can efficiently charge up mana in a group," she explained, "As in our current condition we?re drawing mana from only one person anyway."
"But can multiple people charge up to a lesser extent at the same time?" I asked.
Reimu glared at me for a moment. "Let us finish."
The hologram video shifted to focus on Sanae, floating in the air and launching a flurry of danmaku. The real Sanae spoke up to explain how she pulled that off. "The Linker RSA can then be used to link yourself to the mana charger."
"Oh."
"While linked, you can draw mana from the mana charger and use it for whatever you need it for, whether it be flying or fighting. Unfortunately, it wouldn?t nearly be enough to execute full spellcards. In battle, it would be best for those linked to fight to use the mana to protect the mana charger as best as they can."
Well, that was about all I was worried about, anyway. And let's be honest - spellcards aren't the only thing we're working with, here. I know Gensokyo restricted things to that, and with good reason, but right now, the gloves are off... and proper application of Gensokyo's many manipulations can be far more frightening. And not just Yukari's, either...
"This technique is a double-edged blade." Sanae went on, with a tone of caution. "While the mana is being charged, the mana charger becomes extremely vulnerable. He or she must focus entirely on controlling the mana flow. One moment of distraction, whether it's from personal thoughts and feelings, or getting hit by the enemy, and he or she will experience a mana backfire and end up in a 'critical down.'"
Well, so much for me being any good at that.
"Ah... thus the intense meditation training..." someone mused. Paula of the Future, after a glance, still lookin' her usual. "To build up focus, no?"
Hmm... that would help, wouldn't it...
"Precisely." Reimu answered. I looked back to catch the end of a nod from her. "A critical down can vary in severity depending on how much mana had been charged up. At low levels of mana, it would cause severe exhaustion at best, fainting at worst. At the level of mana required for full spellcards, the critical down can cause the charger to enter a coma-like state which?.theoretically, can only be reversed through a mind-dive."
"'Theoretically.'" I echoed, momentarily preoccupied by Fifth Element references. Alice was more concerned with the mind-dive part... I never DID get around to doing a manual one of those, did I? Only been dreams with the Yakumos, even if one of 'em was from a day-long coma after the Sky Ray mess...
... how did I survive that...
"Furthermore, all those linked will experience a mana backfire through the mana links, which would cause intense pain and possibly even injury." The wind priestess added. "... we?re not sure what the full extent of 'intense pain and possible injury' entails... and honestly, we don?t want to find out."
Which, of course, simply means that disrupting a high-end spellcard is probably fatal. Wonderful.
"... I do..." Eirin said, quietly. All eyes turned to her, many of them rather weirded out. "... what?" She asked, defensively, "... better prepared for the worst than getting caught in the rain, right?"
True... under controlled conditions it'd be good to find out how bad it can get. But only once we've got some free time - and actual volunteers. That Hirowizan kid seems pretty tough, maybe...
"This is a very, very dangerous technique, and I urge you to only use it in times of great need." Reimu cut in, her tone serious. "Unless you want to risk dying a fool's death for some petty reason, of course."
She shifted her weight for a moment. I was reminded of something important.
"... says the person who did it just to force people into miko training." I pointed out, dryly.
"That was a demonstration, using very low non-lethal levels of mana." Armpits shot back, with a huff. "Performed by experts, too. But even that much gave us serious pain."
Hm... it would explain why they didn't really seem to pursue us after that fight. That glassy look I saw in Sanae's eyes really suggested how much it'd taken out of them...
"Ne, ne, Midori-oneechan..." a breathless voice on my shoulders said.
"Whatd'ya want, Yukari?" I replied, gruffly.
"Can we try it out? Can we? Can we?!"
I paused for a moment, and blinked slowly. "... what? Reimu just said it was for emergencies! Don't be stupid, Yukari."
... that was mean of me. "... I know you want to get your strength back, but I'd rather not take any unnecessary risks. If we get into a fight, then... well, I think that's about all I can help with anyway, in my current condition. But even then, I'm not sure it'll be necessary..."
Reimu cleared her throat. I realized that some other excited whispers from the others suddenly died down, along with the fading of Yukari's pouty mumbling.
Weird... oh, wait, don't tell me they want to play with it, too!
"Before you try this or miko exorcism out in actual battle,"
"Exorcism..." I mumbled... maybe I COULD actually help with that... it sounded simple enough? Well, it wouldn't hurt to ask Reimu for a little gear... just in case.
"I urge you all to practice using it first. We've unlocked the sparring room and training room underground. They are in the residential block. There are Yin-yang orbs stationed everywhere, so you can get one of them to guide you."
Hmm... how safe are these exorcism techniques to use on other people? Well, Marisa didn't seem hurt, at least... but how can you tell if they're having any non-trivial effect? I assume they'd be a bit more colorful against those shadows she kept going on about...
... why the fuck would we be fighting shadows?!...
"One last thing..." Reimu said, loudly, drowning out some more excited murmurs, "Team linking."
Oh?
"Remember how Sanae and I linked, despite being contracted to different partners?"
... why didn't I notice that earlier? Derp.
"The Linker-MAD also allows you to link up people on different contracts, even entire teams together, for added firepower."
Oho...?
Sanae continued the explanation. "What?s more, one person can charge up mana on each team, increasing the rate of mana charging exponentially." The holoscreen blinked and switched to a graph with an exponential curve. I felt myself grinning involuntarily at the abuse potential.
"Say, six people across six different teams charge up mana and link up together, the team members linked to them would be able to draw enough mana to allow full functionality. That is, flying and firing danmaku just like back in Gensokyo. However, spellcards should still only be executed by the mana charger. We?re not quite sure about the consequences if a linked person attempts a spellcard."
Oh my... so that means a few teams can hide somewhere safe and funnel enough mana into others to bring them up to full strength and wreak havoc? Or... maybe beyond their usual 'full strength' in Gensokyo...?
Hmm... now I wonder if EX-Rumia is real... though I don't think I've seen the regular version around...
For once I shared in the sudden bout of enthusiasm Sanae's explanation sparked. Cool indeed, little loli-by-Shinki. This is fantastic! If we can just find a good combination to set up someone that could keep the mana batteries protected, then use the rest to...
... are we... are we actually somewhere close to being able to challenge Kikuri...? Maybe her worries about those shadows aren't as insane as I feared...
"Wow? like the power rangers, ze!"
My "What?" managed to sync up perfectly with Reimu's.
Naturally, I did not share the sudden enthusiasm that was sparked by the term 'power rangers,' and the subsequent claiming and assignment of colors. Jeez, even Paula of the Future was willing t--
"Miko Violet! Miko Violet!" Yukari cried from my shoulders, cutely. She let go of my neck and I could feel her shifting her weight as she... probably posed or something, based on the little "Hah! Hoo! Hyoi!" sounds she was making.
Sukima ended with an "Uwaa!" as she managed to lose her balance on my shoulders, but I caught her lower back in time to prevent her from falling.
"Uwaa... thanks, Midori-oneechan..." she said, quietly.
I declined to respond, silently cursing the blood dripping onto my lip. Damnit, Yukari! Stop being so cute, it's not like you!
Miko ranger color assignments continued, with some debate over nonstandard colors and... well, the occasional thing that wasn't a color at all.
In the meantime, I reached up to wipe the blood off my nose. This turned out to be a mistake, as Yukarin's hand darted out to grab my wrist and raise my hand in the air--
"Miko Green here~"
I sighed. "Would you stop it with that, already...?"
... well, at least don't call me that publicly...
Gah!! Don't think like that!!
I snapped my arm out of her grip and kept both of my hands low on her l-legs to keep them out of her reach. Damnit, Yukari.
I shook my head at the continually growing rainbow of miko ranger colors (capped, appropriately enough, by Miko Rainbow being assigned to Alice - seven-colored puppeteer, indeed). Then Marisa jumped into the middle of the conversation.
"Miko-Rangers, assemble!" she cried.
Damnit.
"In the name of Justice...!"
Isn't that... Kaguya? Come to think of it, I don't remember seeing her around much earlier... is she a recent arrival?
"...Love!" Marisa cried, grinning. She nudged the purple-haired girl next to her. "C'mon, Patchy, say somethings ze!"
"... Peace and quiet..." Patchouli mumbled, reluctantly.
This is annoying...
"... Equality!" the unrecognized loli near Shinki cried, striking a weird pose.
"... Fun!" Flandre suggested, waving her hands happily.
"I want to be in the center!" Another girl cried, shoving Marisa out of the way, and then striking her own pose. "... Peaches!" She added to the slogan.
"What, peaches?" An unfamiliar girl near Flandre asked, blinking.
... peaches? Who would... wait, it's not the moon princess, so that must be... Tenshi?! She's here?! We have a Celestial?! Weren't we missing one in that Covenant species rundown?! Excellent!
... that's what we should be focusing on, though... maybe if I reminded them...
"The Covenant...?" I suggested. A bit too timidly, in retrospect.
Especially after Yukari drowned me out with "Lolis!"
"I didn't know you were a pedophile." I quipped.
"It's because they're cute, Midori-oneechan~" she countered, cheerfully.
"... point granted."
The motive montage carried on, some sillier than others. "Donuts!" "Brotherhood!" "Friendship..."
... you know, that one's good, too...
"Hotblood..." "Otakus..." "Vengeance..." "Peace, Passion, Potential of course~"
No, I wasn't really right, was I?...
"... I?m jealous..." "... Truth..." "... cleanliness?" "Love! Er, MOE! HNNNNNNGGGGGGG! AND KOISHI?S SMILE!"
I rolled my eyes. Stupid... no... what I'm looking for is more... sentience, isn't it?
"... pain..." "... Mistress..." "SAKE!"
Tsk... no, that's not quite right, either...
"Spring! Spring!" "... a hard boiled egg..."
I grinned. No, it's...
"... and the Lunarian way!"
I clenched a fist on the Drill beneath my gi-top, and growled...
"All of the above."