MarisaStory: A Certain Magical Internet

[capt. h]

> I suppose we should use the light spell first. But mark our words, we'll be blasting something to smithereens tonight even if that something has to be ourselves! Which it very well might be.

[Third Eye Lem]

> Does no Mystia mean no Rock-off?

> Sadly, no. At least you'd win in vocals.

> I suppose we should use the light spell first. But mark our words, we'll be blasting something to smithereens tonight even if that something has to be ourselves! Which it very well might be.

> Congrats on stealing the 600th reply. Here's a non-existent medal!
> On a more serious note, you consider just casting a light spell to light up the area.

> Ah well, I suppose we might as well shoot everything like usual. Scorch the earth!
> Attempt to not shoot friends while scorching earth.

>Goddamnit Rumia now's not the time.
>... if it'd be possible to talk our way out of a fight with her, solve the problem with a light spell. If we'd have to blast her anyway, ask for the mountain dew go ahead and get started to light 'er up.

> ...But your plastic gut is telling you that Rumia is a-lurkin', so you decide to solve both problems at once with a barrage of Magic Missiles.
> You just manage to catch a glimpse of Rumia's scary grinning face before she gets blasted a good distance away. The explosions dispel the darkness a bit, revealing the dark diva. It may just be the bright light, but the poor girl looks paler than usual; Rumia's hair's a mess and her clothing is covered in food stains. And judging by the wincing and nose-pinching of your party members, she hasn't bathed in days.
> Oh, and Rumia's hair amulet is gone. Isn't that just prime?
> "Owwww..." Rumia moans, rubbing her eyes. "Ya dinn't haveta do that! It makes me...ANGRY!" Rumia them proceeds to jump to her feet and come at you, teeth and claws bared. Oh no, whatever will you or your party members do.
> ...
> Psssst, that means you can give commands to Mokou and Maple now.

> _

[E-Nazrin]

Magidoll Stargal:

>How bad is non-ribboned Rumia? Goddamnit.
>What kind of food are we talking here? People-bits or meat or what?
>There's no clear indication that any of our new attack types would have knockback, is there?
>Give her a phoenix to chew on, if there isn't a way to just push her away.
>Get some space and keep an eye out for those flowers.

Not Quetzalcoatl:

>Well, this is both more annoying and more interesting...
>Falcon Kick the little darkness ruffian in the chest if she doesn't back off from our peeps.

Bottleable Momiji:

>AHHHHH OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT
>Paintball her in the face so we can run away!

[capt. h]

> Marisa: Well this is a good a time as any to test Medicine's abilities. Gas her with something that'll make her vomit or give her diarrhea. Preferably both. It's hard to fight someone from the bathroom.

> If that works, we may owe Rumia an itty-bitty apology afterwords for using her as a guinea pig. Later. When she's not trying to eat us; right now she deserves a bit of food poisoning.

[Third Eye Lem]

Magidoll Stargal:

>How bad is non-ribboned Rumia? Goddamnit.

> The good news is that she only ranks as about a Stage 3 boss.
> The bad news is that you know several Stage 3 bosses that're capable of kicking your ass if given a chance.
> ...Goddammit.

>What kind of food are we talking here? People-bits or meat or what?

> More like snack foods. Judging by the color and texture, she's eaten the following:

• Cheetles (cheese crackers in the shape of beetles)
• Purpl Stuf (grape juice notorious for leaving nigh-permanent stains)
• Ninchips (salted and fried potatoes cut to look like shuriken, they come in various flavors)
• Cirno and Letty's Chocolanche Ice Cream (chocolate ice cream with malt balls, gummy worms, and coffee beans)
• Veggie-Max Smoothie (all-natural vegetable smoothie, Kourin likened to the ancient soft drink "Mountain Dew" minus the caffeine)

>There's no clear indication that any of our new attack types would have knockback, is there?

> Your fire-based projectiles tend to give good knockback, as do your missiles (as you clearly demonstrated). Poison...Doesn't have that same punch, sadly. It's just mist and bubbles.

Bottleable Momiji:

>AHHHHH OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT
>Paintball her in the face so we can run away!

> Only you lightning-fast painting reflexes save you and Mari from a terrible fate!...Not that you were in major danger, but still. You'd rather not get bitten, so you frantically swing your brush and splatter Rumia with a streak of paint.

Magidoll Stargal:

>Give her a phoenix to chew on, if there isn't a way to just push her away.
>Get some space and keep an eye out for those flowers.

> You let loose a phoenix shot while Rumia is literally a painted target. The end result? You realizing that Maple's paints are actually FLAMMABLE. Good to know!

Not Quetzalcoatl:

>Well, this is both more annoying and more interesting...
>Falcon Kick the little darkness ruffian in the chest if she doesn't back off from our peeps.

> Little Miss Dark And Shadowy wouldn't mind her personal space, so you Tat...Tattoo...Tatsunami...Ah! Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku her right into a tree.

> "Overkill much?" Maple says in utter shock.
> "Hey, you're the one that flung the paint onto her," Mokou chides back. Maple does not look pleased.
> Thankfully, the fire doesn't last long, as Rumia picks herself up, realizes she's on fire, and runs over screaming to a small pond nearby. With a SPLASH, she puts herself out (but not out of her misery).
> "Son of a..." Rumia spits some water out. "Geeze, da lengths I havfta go through justa get a Guildies account...Ya couldn't have just stood there and took it, ya had to fight back!"
> Rumia laments some more as you look beyond the pond she's soaking in...There you see it, a clearing of white flowers surrounded by purple mushrooms; the treelines (and Rumia's darkness must've obscured it from view.

> Marisa: Well this is a good a time as any to test Medicine's abilities. Gas her with something that'll make her vomit or give her diarrhea. Preferably both. It's hard to fight someone from the bathroom.
> If that works, we may owe Rumia an itty-bitty apology afterwords for using her as a guinea pig. Later. When she's not trying to eat us; right now she deserves a bit of food poisoning.

> Of course, you can't really use this thing while Rumia's breathing down your neck, so you decide to teach her a lesson...
> "A coupla angels appeared and said if I kidnapped someone from tha beta, they could get me in...I really wanna play, I saw some videos of it on da Youtubes and I'm addictied! ADDICTED, I TELL YOU!" Rumia yells at you, even reaching to grab you, but you just exhale some LAXATIVE VAPOR into her face. Immediately, Rumia stops in her tracks, then cringes as you can hear her colon gurgle in discomfort. She then curses at you and crawls away rather fast, determined to relieve herself. That's one obstacle out of the way!

> "You want I should make sure she doesn't come back for a second round?" Mokou asks.
> _

[E-Nazrin]

Ms. Ordinary Dolljoints:
>Laxative vapor? Oh man. We could really have fun with this if we had the chance.
>But not right now... though Rumia being involved in Guildies is interesting.
>"Eh, no need to pummel her too much, ze. But I've been wonderin' what the deal is with Guildies - heard about some weird stuff goin' on with it. Maybe just keep an eye on her and see if you can get her to explain those 'angels.'"
>... actually, if we could make some sort of truth serum and pass it off as an antidote... or would we need to recharge with the flowers first?

Burning Cellphone, er, Cockatrice:
>Do we make a better good cop or bad cop in interrogation?
>What kind of 'angels' have we heard of or encountered in the past?

Fall Fae:
>That was a relief, but also really mean! Scary! Humans are scary!
>What are the limitations on our painting creations? How tough was it to make that Skylander miniboss?
>If we're fairly frail, maybe sending a few of those off to help might be a better idea...?

[capt. h]

Mokou:

> The toe bone's connected to the foot bone~ - well, in about 30 seconds Rumia's won't be if we don't like her excuse.

Pinocchio:

> "You really think she's going to come back after I did THAT to her?"

> "...Yeah, you're right, she would."

Maple:

> "Who's giving away free Guildes accounts for beating us up?"

> Hyperventilate. We don't want to be beaten up! It sounds painful!

> Also remember to never get on our allies' bad side. Wonder if surrounding ourselves with scary people (read: slightly criminally insane extra bosses)  was a good idea.

[Third Eye Lem]

Ms. Ordinary Dolljoints:

>"Eh, no need to pummel her too much, ze. But I've been wonderin' what the deal is with Guildies - heard about some weird stuff goin' on with it. Maybe just keep an eye on her and see if you can get her to explain those 'angels.'"
>... actually, if we could make some sort of truth serum and pass it off as an antidote... or would we need to recharge with the flowers first?

> You contemplate a truth serum, but...You also remember why you never did it to begin with. Neither you nor Alice made such a recipe, Eirin and Patchy probably have it under lock and key, and if anyone were to get their hands on it, the risk of it being misused would be absurdly high. So, you pass on it. Hypnosis is usually better for pulling the truth out of others anyways.
> Instead, you ask Mokou to keep an eye on Rumia and ask her about the angels if possible, and see if she can't get some names from them. "You got it, boss lady."
> Boss lady...Ok, Mokou was probably being half-sarcastic with you, but still...You like the sound if it.

Burning Cellphone, er, Cockatrice:

>Do we make a better good cop or bad cop in interrogation?
>What kind of 'angels' have we heard of or encountered in the past?

> In theory, you should be a bad cop and punch the truth out of someone, but you're a little more intimidating than forceful. Hitting someone with the hard facts is just as effective as hitting someone in the face...Of course, you don't know a whole lot about this Guildies thing, aside from Keine calling it a "digital waste of space." Which sounds kind of silly, I mean, digital space is infinite, right? At least, that's what Byakuren told you when she hooked you up on HijiriNet...You only have Marisa's word to go by on this matter, but it's not like she'd try to deceive you, why would she? She's trapped in a doll's body for God's sake...
> Heh, how fun it is to backtrack when you let your mind wander...That's what happens when you're immortal, with nothing but time on your hands, it's easy to think and lose yourself...Right. The angels. You have heard something about them in the past, one of 'em even came from the sky with a flaming sword and--wait. That's Tenshi. Wrong angel. Damn.
> You rack your brain for a bit until you remember something one of the townspeople told you...A pair of sisters who posed as angels but were really demons in disguise...You don't remember much of the conversation, perhaps your smoke-addled mind robbed that of you, but you remember their names starting with G and M.

Fall Fae:

>That was a relief, but also really mean! Scary! Humans are scary!

> In terms of Mokou: Yeah, they're scary sometimes. In terms of Rumia: she makes the rest of them look innocent. Sometimes you wonder if Rumia was ever human to begin with...At least she's out of your hair for now, but you can't help but worry about a comeback attack.

>What are the limitations on our painting creations? How tough was it to make that Skylander miniboss?

> Hmmm, minibosses are a tricky business. You usually have to have someone else stand in for them, such as a familiar or a close friend, but in some cases you can use yourself as the midboss, and attack like you would at the end of a stage...Just with a lot less dialogue. In this case, you just enchanted a painting with a "Generic Midboss Automation" spell and the Spellcard took care of the rest. Since it was a generic object like most danmaku, the original painting is safely tucked away in your home, where it belongs. Oh, but how you would love to bring a painting or something similar to life...It'd be almost out of your scope of power (you're usually considered a Stage 2 or 3 level boss), but if you could pull it off...!

>If we're fairly frail, maybe sending a few of those off to help might be a better idea...?

> Ah, but you're getting ahead of yourself. The nice thing about the "Earth" part of your being an Earth Fairy is that you're a bit more durable than most other fairies. So you might as well check in Marisa yourself...But just to be safe, you pull out a spell card and summon three more of those painting familiars to your side to act as extra sets of eyes.
> "Quite the gallery ya got there, eh kiddo?" Mokou seems impressed with your handiwork, which makes you happy. You float off to join Marisa.

> You and Maple now stand in the heart of the "Purple Mushroom Flower Grove," which you named just now. Maple questions your unnecessarily long naming scheme, and you say it's a placeholder for later. "Whatever," she says. "I'll just keep watch until Mokou-sama gets back."
> This bed of flowers is looking mighty comfortable...And while you can't smell them, you can still sense the relaxing aura the purple mushrooms give off, almost like an incense stick.
> ...And yet...Staring at this makes you no less wary...The last time you fell asleep, a bone-winged fairy tried to kill you.
> Um, y'know, it's not too late to go to the Human Village...

> _

[E-Nazrin]

Salem Superstar:

>Man, now the whole social thing is even weirder! Oh well. That's the Rumia milking covered. We haven't met many angels ourselves, have we?
>You got that uneasy feeling too, huh? Does Medicine usually need to nap to recharge, or can I get away with just appreciating the flowers for a bit, ze?
>Did that skeleton-fairy fight actually seem to wear us out, or was that more of a metaphysical battle?
>If that staff is 'soulbound,' we'd probably be able to use it even in a dream... right?
>How dangerous are the purple mushrooms, under normal conditions?

Chestnut-roasting Chickadee:

>Hmm. Might as well let Marisa know about that demon impersonator bit, at least... have one of the familiars deliver the message, if we're too far out of the way. If they can't and we aren't near enough to tell her with a shout or something, oh well.
>Keep tracking ms. Darkness down. Give her a quiet glare and squeeze her for details.

Gravel Graphiceteer:
>Marisa's usually human too, right? They're both scary!
>Although... maybe she'll feel she owes us a little after this if we help out on the way? Maybe she could help get one of our paintings off the canvas?
>Oh, that would be great..! But we're getting ahead of ourselves, aren't we? Keep an eye out, for now.

[capt. h]

> Marisa: Would going underground like we planned lead us to Satori? A mind reader would be useful in a duel against Freddy.

[Third Eye Lem]

Salem Superstar:

>Man, now the whole social thing is even weirder! Oh well. That's the Rumia milking covered. We haven't met many angels ourselves, have we?

> No, but you have met two sisters who dressed like angels... Huh, G and M. It's been so long it almost feels obscure...And then you hear a familiar song...

>You got that uneasy feeling too, huh? Does Medicine usually need to nap to recharge, or can I get away with just appreciating the flowers for a bit, ze?

> W-Well, yeah, it'd help, it should only take a few minutes...I'm just mirroring your subconscious, ze. You're worried...Have you always been this paranoid?

>Did that skeleton-fairy fight actually seem to wear us out, or was that more of a metaphysical battle?

> Not really. If you actually "died," it would have shocked you awake and you'd think it was a bad dream...And bad dreams usually leave you unable to sleep the rest of the night. But seeing as your body got replaced by a rogue doll, it's kind of a moot point.
> Still...Your brain could definitely use the rest.

>If that staff is 'soulbound,' we'd probably be able to use it even in a dream... right?

> Possibly! You have no idea how the hell that works, but you won't question it!

>How dangerous are the purple mushrooms, under normal conditions?

> If you keep your distance, you should be fine. It's only when you sniff them up close/touch them/eat them/etc that you're at risk. It's advised you wear gloves and a protective mask when handling the Amantia Cranium.

Chestnut-roasting Chickadee:

>Hmm. Might as well let Marisa know about that demon impersonator bit, at least... have one of the familiars deliver the message, if we're too far out of the way. If they can't and we aren't near enough to tell her with a shout or something, oh well.
>Keep tracking Ms. Darkness down. Give her a quiet glare and squeeze her for details.

> You decide to tell Marisa about the demons later, you're still wary of psychotic predator loli.
> ...And judging by the pungent smell that just hit your nostrils, you probably found her.
> "I swear, if I ever see them again I'll--"
> You'll what, you ask as you part the brush and see Rumia floating not too far from the scene.
> "Uh...Hi, I didn't see ya."
> Why am I not surprised, you respond, as you pull Rumia in for questioning. Since it's on the front of your mind, you ask about the "angels" she met up with.
> "I...Well, they didn't seem very...Angel-like, they didn't glow or come off as annoyingly friendly...They were more like...Peddlers, I guess. Ya know the ones with the trench coats and the stuff inside them and the 'whaddya buyin' accent."

Gravel Graphiceteer:

>Marisa's usually human too, right? They're both scary!
>Although... maybe she'll feel she owes us a little after this if we help out on the way? Maybe she could help get one of our paintings off the canvas?
>Oh, that would be great..! But we're getting ahead of ourselves, aren't we? Keep an eye out, for now.

> Scary as Marisa can be, she's at least amiable enough to hang around. She's not afraid to get her hands dirty, much like Hermia...Except she's a lot less lazy. You figure that if you help Marisa, she might be willing to return the favor...Maybe. For now, you just keep an eye out over the grove as Marisa stands there, trying to make a decision. It's hard to imagine someone so impulsive and reckless can be so stoic and thoughtful...Marisa-san's so cool, it even makes you a bit giddy!

>

[E-Nazrin]

Not A Bio Spell:

>I got my moments, ze. I mean, I'm a fighter after all... gotta be a little careful to survive that way!
>Are we ACTUALLY hearing that song, or is it just a distant memory?
>If we're not actually hearing it, that's probably us drifting off... and we're probably in alright enough condition to handle another dream brawl. Maybe we'd even find something out from the next one... even if it's those angels again.
>If there really IS music from ages past accosting us, look around and alert Maple, presuming she can hear it too. One problem after another today...!

Inferno Archeopteryx:

>Show me on the doll where the bad angels touched you
>"And I'm guessing they were offering something about that Guildies thing, right? What was the deal?"
>"Did you get their names?"
>"The hell do you see in that game, anyway?"

Leavened Canvasser:
>Roll for seduction. Well, mentally, at least.
>What's the area around here look like? We can at least get an idea of where it'd be easiest for someone to sneak in here from...

[capt. h]

Manic Magician

> Gauge whether it will be possible to meet up with Satori Komeiji before our next dream brawl, and how far out of the way she is.
> This is becoming a frequent problem. Who do we know that can intervene in dreams? Are they on the way?

[Third Eye Lem]

Manic Magician That Is Not A Bio Spell:

>I got my moments, ze. I mean, I'm a fighter after all... gotta be a little careful to survive that way!

> Yeah, you have a point...At any rate, if you're gonna do something, do it, unless you wanna stare at the mushrooms all night!

>Are we ACTUALLY hearing that song, or is it just a distant memory?
>If there really IS music from ages past accosting us, look around and alert Maple, presuming she can hear it too. One problem after another today...!

> You're pretty sure you're hearing the music in your head...Just without the lyrics. (Parser's Note: And without the chiptune aspect too). Great, now it's stuck in your head...It should pass though, so there's no need to worry Maple.

>If we're not actually hearing it, that's probably us drifting off... and we're probably in alright enough condition to handle another dream brawl. Maybe we'd even find something out from the next one... even if it's those angels again.

> Mmm, you are starting to feel a bit heavy...

> Gauge whether it will be possible to meet up with Satori Komeiji before our next dream brawl, and how far out of the way she is.
> This is becoming a frequent problem. Who do we know that can intervene in dreams? Are they on the way?

> ...But you're held up a bit by possibility of someone else invading your dreams. Satori might be able to reach you, but she has no idea what's going on at the moment. The most likely folks that can reach you are Yuuka, Koishi and...Yukari. Damn. You really hope it's Yuuka for once. Koishi and Yukari could blow the whistle on your plans if you're not careful.

Inferno Archeopteryx:

>Show me on the doll where the bad angels touched you

> Tonight on this episode of "To Catch A Predator..."

>"And I'm guessing they were offering something about that Guildies thing, right? What was the deal?"

> "They...They told me Mari was playing the game...They said I could take her place in the beta if I killed her." Rumia smiles. "Isn't revenge just gorgeous?"
> You decide not to dignify that question with a response. After all, you tried that path before...

>"The hell do you see in that game, anyway?"

> Rumia chuckles. "It's something ya wouldn't understand...The wealth, the power, the fame, the adventure...Haven't ya once wanted ta jump into another world, just for one day, to escape your mundane life?
> She has a point...After all the crap you went through, maybe, just maybe...Keine might not approve though, she'd call it a waste of time and berate you for it.

>"Did you get their names?"

> While you ponder your response, you ask for their names. Rumia frowns a bit. "I can't think on an empty stomach. Gimmie something to eat...Like that fairy over there!" Rumia nods at Maple. "She's small, but...She'd be a nice holdover snack."

Leavened Canvasser:

>Roll for seduction. Well, mentally, at least.
>What's the area around here look like? We can at least get an idea of where it'd be easiest for someone to sneak in here from...

> You try to get senpai to notice you, but you fade into the background too easily! TOO BAD!
> It looks like a typical forest clearing, the brush is thick but it's not impossible for others to slip through it. You always wondered why the treelines were so thick, yet the regular paths are almost clean of any foliage. Still, if Rumia could get through this brush, others could, so you take the initiative and set up some paintings around the area.

> _

[capt. h]

Marisa:

> What would Yuuka know about dreams?

Mokou:

> Would Keine approve of wastes of time if they got us away from Kaguya murder?
> Answer Rumia, "Well, I suppose fairies can heal. But not the whole fairy, I kind of like her."
> "Hey Maple, can you give me a hand?"

[E-Nazrin]

Arsenic Witch:

>Hmm... what was Yuuka's relationship with Medicine, again? Ask Mini-Medi-Mari for a refresher if necessary.
>There's not much we'd be able to do about the others, is there?
>Try and relax a little bit... we've gone a little far to back down now.

Incendiary Ibis:

>Or maybe we can skip trolling the fairy and consider offering our own. Which is probably still a terrible idea.
>Inventory? We don't have anything edible on us, do we?
>How bad of a person would it make us to give her a cigarette? Nicotine suppresses appetite, after all...
>Probably not worth giving the nuisance much of anything, anyway...
>Actually, what's our full body of knowledge on these virtual game things? Aren't there other, similar ones? Ask Rumia what makes this one so special.
>How much have we actually been warring with Kags lately?

De-Chlorophylling Fairy:

>Scary!!
>Back away from the scary burny girl! And the scary fairy-eating lady!
>... do WE have any food? Paintings wouldn't work, would they?

[Third Eye Lem]

Arsenic Witch:

> What would Yuuka know about dreams?

> Considering the chat you had with her not a few hours ago, quite a bit. She does live in the Dream Realm still :V

>Hmm... what was Yuuka's relationship with Medicine, again? Ask Mini-Medi-Mari for a refresher if necessary.

> Medi approached Yuuka as a possible roommate, but was probably scared off by her power and reputation. Can't say you blame her.

>There's not much we'd be able to do about the others, is there?
>Try and relax a little bit... we've gone a little far to back down now.

> If you mean Koishi and Yukari, not really. They come and go as they please. If you mean Maple and Mokou...Huh...Marisa. Mokou. Maple. You're the TRIPLE EM BRIGADE! Or something. The thought of this makes you giggle...And yawn.
> Wait. Yawn? When dafuq does a doll YAWN?!
> Before you can answer, it seems your body has made a decision for you...You fall over facefirst into the patch of flowers, because seriously, it's 10PM going on 11 and you should be asleep!!
> ...Mari? You still with us, girl?
> Sorry, let's adjust the picture again...
> *PERCUSSIVE MAINTENANCE*
> There we go. You are...Well, you're apparently dreaming, because you've felt this floaty, out of body sort of thing before. What you're doing right now is the opposite of floating, however. You're face down in a patch of flowers much like the ones you encountered, but...A quick glance around the area shows you're not in the Mushroom Grove anymore. In fact, this part of the forest looks a lot more open to you, you must be in the TRAIL TO THE OUTSIDE that connects the the FOREST OF MAGIC to the HUMAN VILLAGE and the BAMBOO FOREST. You still have your RADIANT STAFF and all your other dream self stuff you had since you were last here (spell cards, lives, etc).
> As you take in your surroundings, you hear something coming from the not-too-distant south...Music? Very upbeat, very vivacious, very much like a car*LOUD HONK*
> ...Let's try that again, a car*EXPLOSION*
> ...Car*EXTENDED FART NOISE*
> Oy...Let's try this. Cir*ELEPHANT TRUMPETING*
> Are you fucking kidding me? Is someone futzing around with the soundboard or something?! The parser has to go choke a bitch or two, go ahead and do whatever.

Incendiary Ibis:

> Would Keine approve of wastes of time if they got us away from Kaguya murder?

> Keine would probably snark and say that you're wasting your time in a different way. Besides, you kinda buried the hatchet with Kaguya a while ago, now you're just more playful frienemies...Which Keine says isn't much better but whatever.

> Answer Rumia, "Well, I suppose fairies can heal. But not the whole fairy, I kind of like her."
> "Hey Maple, can you give me a hand?"

> You bacon beckon Maple over, but she sees what you're doing and furiously shakes her head. "I need to watch Marisa-san anyways! What if she sleepwalks or something?!"
> Huh, the witch finally fell asleep? Maple nods. Damn, she must've been really desperate. Oh well. Time for plan B...

>Or maybe we can skip trolling the fairy and consider offering our own. Which is probably still a terrible idea.
>Inventory? We don't have anything edible on us, do we?

> All you have are your CIGARETTES (Vampire Brand), your SPELL CARD DECK, and THE CLOTHES ON YOUR BACK.
> You consider offering yourself as a meal to Rumia, I mean it's not like you can't come back from digestion...But you'd rather go through some less painful and vore-tastic ideas first.

>How bad of a person would it make us to give her a cigarette? Nicotine suppresses appetite, after all...
>Probably not worth giving the nuisance much of anything, anyway...

> Eh, it's not like you can't get any more. Kourin gets them regularly at his shop, but he's kept mum on his supplier. You try offering the Lady In Black a smoke.
> "...You're kidding me, right? I haven't had a proper meal in months." You ask her to define a proper meal. "Ya know, like...Meat. Any meat, really. But human meat is the best, really." She smiles. "Of course, you'd know that by now..."
> So you ask her the obvious: why didn't she get any proper humans to begin with?
> Rumia frowns. "It's all dis lousy junk food that keeps winding up in my house. I dunno how or why it's there, all I know is that the instant I see it, I eat it, because I'm that hungry and I need something to keep my stomach calm. It's been days since I ever sunk my teeth into a human...Did something happen to the village or somethin' I'm not aware of? Because if it did...I'm gonna plunge Gensokyo inta darkness, I swear! No one messes with my meals!" She struggles a bit, but you manage to restrain her with little violence, and she stops.

>Actually, what's our full body of knowledge on these virtual game things? Aren't there other, similar ones? Ask Rumia what makes this one so special.
>How much have we actually been warring with Kags lately?

> Oh, this is a story you're gonna love...Kaguya actually approached you one day, and in the most brilliant (sic) of moves, apologized. Yeah, I know, shocker. But while you kinda gave her the business when she said it, you did admit you were tired of the fighting. Even immortals can get bored. But Kaguya said that there was a way to "settle" the score and keep things fun at the same time...
> She told you about these things from the moon called "Video Games," which were considered contraband within the Lunar Capital. Once she showed you a few, you could see why: they were often violent, stereotypical, and just plain surreal. Some of them even came from Japan itself...You sometimes wonder if the humans were smoking the best crack ever (and wondered where you could get some). But as dumb as they looked, you were impressed by the technology, it was nothing like you had ever seen before. Once she had your attention, she uttered the following...
> "Why don't we take our duels to the digital realm? I mean, I have a bunch of multiplayer games...If you can best me out of, say, five or so of these, I can consider our duel resolved and one of us will feel good about some form of closure."
> Of course, she said that with that clever smile you're all too familiar with...Kaguya has something up her sleeve, and chances are she played these games to complete mastery some ages ago. You would most likely lose...If it weren't for the fact that you have the deftest hands in all of the ancient world. Your father suggested taking up ninjitsu training in he case you were ever captured...Who knew those finger exercises would make holding a controller so much easier?
> After spending a week or two getting used to these games, you agreed to the challenge, and the first test was none other than Guildies. You thought it wouldn't be too hard, until Kaguya somehow surged way ahead of you. Partially because Keine kept trying to drag you away from the computer, but the other part...You can't explain. Kaguya was always confident that whatever challenge she issued would never be beaten, but this...?
> It wasn't until you heard from Marisa about Kaguya's condition that you realized how far she was willing to go...This makes you worry ever so slightly. Perhaps Keine was right, revenge, no matter what its intensity, might not be worth it after all...
> ...But is it worth it to keep a rival in the running? Are you the Batman, while she is the Joker?
> Crap, don't you get all sentimental on us now, this wall of text is tall enough as it is!

De-Chlorophylling Fairy:

>Scary!!
>Back away from the scary burny girl! And the scary fairy-eating lady!
>... do WE have any food? Paintings wouldn't work, would they?

> Sweet merciful Oberon this is getting too much for you to handle! Marisa-san just passed out right in front of you, Mokou-sama contemplated feeding you to Rumia, it's getting dangerously close to midnight, and you could have sworn you heard something in the brush just now!
> Ok Maple, breathe. It's just your imagination running wild...You haven't even had dinner yet, you were so busy scouting out the magicians' household that you forgot to eat something! Thankfully, you have a SACK OF NUTS* and a FLASK OF BERRY JUICE** on you, so you nibble a few nuts and throw back some fluid. There...That has lowered your NERVOUSNESS stat a bit.
> You still back the hell away from these two though. Mini-Medi just stares at you with a "really?" look.

* Anyone making the obvious joke will be electrocuted.
** Anyone making a less obvious but still noticeable joke will be given a slap on the face and a stern lecturing.

> _

[E-Nazrin]

Psuedogeneric Starburst:

>Ohhh, that feels good. Get up and stretch now that we can do some back to normalcy.
>... hmm. Yo, ya there, mini-mari-medi?
>What's been going on at the village lately? Not that dreamworld antics would tell us anything useful or have any effect on the real world... right?
>Although maybe if we head to Eientei and Medicine's asleep as well...
>What would be to the south? Have we heard music like this before?
>Poke the parser for contraband c-words.

Pyro Peacock:

>... eating people, huh? How much trouble would she be in if we mentioned that to Reimu, or is that pretty routine for youkai these days? Things have been less deadly between humans and youkai lately, right? Or did Akyuu just fuck that up completely?
>Pulling off a finger or arm probably wouldn't be enough to shut her up, would it? And still pretty awful...
>Have we encountered that sort of junk food before? Could it be having any effect oh her, somehow? Kinda weird to just show up after all...
>Keine's probably just hiding the village again... and even if that isn't routine overnight, maybe she got wind of the Eientei attack and decided to play it safe. But this punk doesn't need to know that.
>And it's looking like we've got a good reason to care about Guildies, all in all... but that still doesn't explain why Rumia cares about that game in particular. There are lots of other, similar ones, aren't there? Ask her why she really needs an account for this particular game.
>Mental note: Get Marisa to back us up on Guildies after this mess; it's clear she has an account and she's gonna owe us after this. Assuming we don't win over Kaguya by saving her sorry ass, at least...

Soil Sketcher:

>Stick our tongue out at the little doll and keep snacking, keeping an eye out. Hopefully we won't end up regretting this...

[capt. h]

Marisa:

> "Car-"*honk*.
> "...toon."
> *Insert cacophony of obnoxious noises*


Mokou:

> Marisa just passed out. That is probably a bad thing.
> *sigh*
> Carry the witch to Keine's place. Looks like we're gonna have to babysit her.
> ...At least tonight isn't boring.
> "Hey fairy, you're looking skittish. You sure you up to this?"

[E-Nazrin]

Fujiwara Wren:

>No, don't move Marisa. She's gotta be by the flowers to recharge with that doll body mess going on, right? Besides, we're not done with Rumia.

[Third Eye Lem]

Marisa:

> "Car-"*honk*.
> "...toon."
> *Insert cacophony of obnoxious noises*

> [player "capth" was banned for bypassing half-assed word filter] _{(no not really)}

Psuedogeneric Starburst:

>Ohhh, that feels good. Get up and stretch now that we can do some back to normalcy.
>... hmm. Yo, ya there, mini-mari-medi?

> You do just that, and it does indeed feel good to have somewhat of a body back again. You also ask around for Mini Medi's presence.
> Uh duh, like I said, I'm your subconscious. Kinda. Not exactly.

>What's been going on at the village lately? Not that dreamworld antics would tell us anything useful or have any effect on the real world... right?

> Nothing much, it's pretty quiet...The harvest moon is coming up but that's still a week or so away.

>Although maybe if we head to Eientei and Medicine's asleep as well...

> Knock out Medicine and take your body back? That's not a bad idea, but it'd be difficult to pull off.

Spoiler:

This is another self-contained dream memory anyways, it wouldn't work...Or would it?

>What would be to the south? Have we heard music like this before?

> Yes you have, in fact...It's becoming more clearer the longer you hear it. Funny, you haven't heard of this music since after that since after that Disappearing Giant incident...
> ...Oh crap. You know what dream this is supposed to be of.
> As if on cue, you start to feel the familiar pull of that Stage spell card...Time to saddle up!

Stage ****
Old Friends, Old Enemies
"I've heard this music before...It was when that cir*** came into town!
Oh man, seeing this again would totally kick ass...Or it could be dangerous,
or it could totally suck. Never stopped me before."

>Poke the parser for contraband c-words.

> You prod the supposedly nonexistent camera with your RADIANT STAFF a few times...And accidentally knock it off its support in the process. Great, now the angle's all skewed!
> Hmm...Actually, hold on a sec...
> *LOUD TOOL NOISES*
> There, that should do it. This stage is now HORIZONTALLY ALIGNED.
> Unfortunately, this sudden RULESET CHANGE has caused a few side effects...One is that your inventory has suddenly gone and grown A SPELL POWER-UP BAR. The second is that your SLOW KEY is now a POWERUP SELECT KEY instead. Collect red P-CAPSULES to advance the power bar, and press the SLOW KEY to activate the currently highlighted powerup! You can sill use bombs as normal.

[SPEED UP] [PHOENIX] [POISON] [M.MISSLE] [MULTIPLE] [BARRIER]

> You begin to slowly drift to the right, towards your goal. A couple squadrons of MINDLESS FAIRIES weave towards you. What will you do?

Pyro Peacock:

>... eating people, huh? How much trouble would she be in if we mentioned that to Reimu, or is that pretty routine for youkai these days? Things have been less deadly between humans and youkai lately, right? Or did Akyuu just fuck that up completely?

> Much like theft, eating humans is frowned upon yet people still get away with it. Reimu would love to lay the smackdown on Rumia...But you haven't heard anything about her exploits lately.

>Pulling off a finger or arm probably wouldn't be enough to shut her up, would it? And still pretty awful...

> Probably not. Knowing Rumia, she'd just want more.

>Have we encountered that sort of junk food before? Could it be having any effect oh her, somehow? Kinda weird to just show up after all...

> Encountered it? Geeze, it's hard not to these days...It just shows up out of nowhere in the most random places, even on the corpses of the most recently slain. You have no idea how the fuck that works or how to make it go away, but you've yet to hear about a junk food addiction this bad. Then again, it's Rumia, she's not that smart, so she's probably drowning herself in the instant satisfaction of it more than anything else. Either way, most of the humans and higher "authorities" in Gensokyo only eat these snacks in moderation like any good person should. Eirin has said they were bad for you, after all...And that's saying something, you usually stay away from her.

>Keine's probably just hiding the village again... and even if that isn't routine overnight, maybe she got wind of the Eientei attack and decided to play it safe. But this punk doesn't need to know that.

> Definitely not. But as far as you know, Keine didn't actually conceal the village yet. Which would be bad, seeing as the moon isn't full tonight...Still, there will be hell to pay if anyone so much as sets foot in the villages without you or Keine's consent. It's your home, and the humans have come to accept you both as their guardians.

>And it's looking like we've got a good reason to care about Guildies, all in all... but that still doesn't explain why Rumia cares about that game in particular. There are lots of other, similar ones, aren't there? Ask her why she really needs an account for this particular game.

> You run your logic by Rumia's face, and she perks up. "Other...Games? Other games?! Are you insane?! Guildies is one of a kind! All the cool 'kai are playing it, and if I don't get I'm gonna die from uncoolness!" She pauses for a second. "Besides...I heard there was a...Contest going on in that game..."

>Mental note: Get Marisa to back us up on Guildies after this mess; it's clear she has an account and she's gonna owe us after this. Assuming we don't win over Kaguya by saving her sorry ass, at least...

> Having the witch in your debt would not be a bad thing in the slightest. And knowing Kaguya, she's probably gonna wage war on you in any way she sees fit, and you could use some allies. You'll have to ask Mari for her contact info later.

Soil Sketcher:

>Stick our tongue out at the little doll and keep snacking, keeping an eye out. Hopefully we won't end up regretting this...

> Mini-Medi just shakes her head and you pop another nut into your mouth. Man, you hope Glitter and Glimmer aren't causing trouble for Hermia...She can get quite cranky (and pyro happy) if she's disturbed from a good nap.
> Nothing out of the ordinary here...Marisa seems to be safe and sound...Man, being a guard is kinda boring. You almost wish you could have your own HAPPYTIME FAIRY FUNVENTURE instead!

> _

[E-Nazrin]

Non-Barbie Sorceress:

>fucking gradius how does it work
>Cool. Don't suppose you can keep me updated if anything happens out in wakeyland, ze?
>Has this happened before?
>Shoot down the little nuisances with our basic shot. Dodge any flak/retaliation and experiment with what abilities we can use without expending Power.
>Collect as necessary. Does autocollect exist?
>Without having to use them all, do we have a good idea of how our shots will each work in this system?
>What happened the last time the ah... form of entertainment associated with gymnasts, lions, and clowns came to town?

Fujiwara Firebrand:

>How much consequence of violence would we be justified in meting out on Rumia for so much as suggesting that she intended to get away with eating people?
>Does anyone have any idea why the junk food keeps showing up? When did it start, or at least we first heard of it?
>Is Rumia simply being childish about the coolness part or does it seem like she's being manipulated in some other manner?
>Odds are good Kaguya would try to stack as many players in the game as possible against us, right? Would she even go so far as to try and manipulate the game's mechanics or developers as well...? How grand in 'political' scope has she gone to get at us in the past?
>What do we know about this contest? 'Politely' ask Rumia for details.

Groundly Graphicist:

>Wait, is midnight of particular significance for us?
>Maybe there's something we could do with that littler doll... wait a second, there was something in the bushes, right? Around where?

[Third Eye Lem]

Non-Barbie Sorceress:

>fucking gradius how does it work

> You shoot things, collect things, then use those collectable things to shoot more things. And then you die because your ship is made out of eggshells. Gradius mang, it is fuckin' hardcore.

>Cool. Don't suppose you can keep me updated if anything happens out in wakeyland, ze?

> I guess I could, ze. Right now Maple's kinda looking around like an owl who drank too much coffee. Fairy girl needs to chill, ze!

>Has this happened before?

> The blatant Gradius ripoff? No. But you're pretty sure you remember this set of circumstances...Just not quite like this. You're pretty sure this stage spell was called "Stage 1: Tickets, Please" instead of a bunch of asterisks.

>Shoot down the little nuisances with our basic shot. Dodge any flak/retaliation and experiment with what abilities we can use without expending Power.

> So far, you get a basic rapid-fire shot that goes straight ahead. Pretty typical. You move pretty slowly compared to what you're used to though, but you're able to shoot down the two waves before they escape. Destroying a formation leaves behind a glowing red capsule with a white "P" inside it.

>Collect as necessary. Does autocollect exist?

> Sadly no, but it's not hard to collect the goods anyways. Your SPELL POWER METER advances to the [PHOENIX] segment.

>Without having to use them all, do we have a good idea of how our shots will each work in this system?

> The parser decides to throw you a bone and spoil what each thing does. Note that the weapons can be upgraded by powering them up multiple times. All weapons lose a level of power when you die, except speed.

• Speed Up: This is kind of obvious, it increases your speed a bit, up to six levels of speed. After that, it becomes SPEED DOWN and lowers your speed by one level if you use it, then when it bottoms out it goes back up again.
• Phoenix: Shoots a flaming bird upwards at a 45-degree angle. When it hits a non-vertical terrain, it travels across it, only stopping until it hits a wall or an enemy. Level 2 makes the birds explode when they expire. Level 3 makes the birds leave flaming trails across the terrain.
• Poison: Adds slower, but more powerful poison blobs to your main shot. Level 2 makes the blobs do damage over time. Level 3 adds a poisonous cloud every xty ticks the fire button is held down, damaging enemies that come in contact with it. WARNING: UPGRADING THIS WILL CAUSE IT TO OVERRIDE M. MISSILE!
• M(agic) Missile: Upgrades your main shot to your classic explosive projectiles. You kinda wish you had your lasers, but whatever. Level 2 makes the shots bigger and more powerful. Level 3 adds two bigger and slower Magic Napalm shots to your main attack, which fire up and down at varying angles (between 30 and 45 degrees). WARNING: UPGRADING THIS WILL OVERRIDE POISON!...Stupid arbitrary SPELL POWER METER rules!
• Multiple: Adds one MAGIC ORB to your arsenal. By arbitrary default, the orbs are set to SNAKE, which means they will follow your movements like, well, a trailing snake. You can have up to four orbs at a time, and they will fire Level 1 versions of whatever weapons you have available. Be warned, however: a MULTIPLE THIEF will appear at regular intervals to steal your orbs if you have the maximum amount, except during boss fights.
• Barrier: Adds a force field around your hitbox that blocks THREE (3) hits. The downside is that this makes your hitbox 2.5 times bigger until the Barrier breaks, so watch out!

>What happened the last time the ah... form of entertainment associated with gymnasts, lions, and clowns came to town?

> Good question...Your memory of this is kinda fuzzy. How convenient, the players and audience can learn about a past incident! You do, however, recall meeting at least a couple of interesting characters on this route.

Fujiwara Firebrand:

>How much consequence of violence would we be justified in meting out on Rumia for so much as suggesting that she intended to get away with eating people?

> As much as you'd want to punch Rumia in the face for her human-eating habits, this isn't really your deal. After all, you have no proof of her being caught in the act...Even Reimu would be more likely to punish her just for making it too dark before she got on he case for eating humans. Still...Violence can be a powerful motivator if used just right...

>Does anyone have any idea why the junk food keeps showing up? When did it start, or at least we first heard of it?

> It started sometime when Hatate started appearing in the media circuit, though it was kind of a rare occurrence at the time. As the years went on, though, this junk food started popping up more frequently in the oddest places. At first you were kind of "wtf, man" about it, but now it's no more exciting than finding a lost coin on the forest trails. If you had to guess why the junk food is appearing, it's probably because the outside world stopped eating this kind of crap and started eating some slightly healthier crap instead.

>Is Rumia simply being childish about the coolness part or does it seem like she's being manipulated in some other manner?

> If she was being manipulated, you couldn't tell right now. Still, Rumia's got the intelligence and maturity of a single-digit child, she's just following the current trends and wants to be the center of attention. Makes you wonder why she's aiming so high to begin with...

>Odds are good Kaguya would try to stack as many players in the game as possible against us, right? Would she even go so far as to try and manipulate the game's mechanics or developers as well...? How grand in 'political' scope has she gone to get at us in the past?

> ...Speaking of lofty goals, Kaguya, for all of her sneakiness, believes in a fair fight. If she will engage you, it'll be on equal footing, though she never goes out of her way to make this happen if it's too much effort. She is a princess after all (and technically, you are too perhaps)! Why get your hands dirtier than necessary? If Kaguya wants a duel, she'll come to you for it, send you a message, or even send an assassin after you. But she never puts you at odds to feel like it'd be "unfair," she says it takes all the fun out of it...You kind of suspect she wants to see you squirm and struggle more than anything else, and if it's one thing you're good at, it's putting up a fight!

>What do we know about this contest? 'Politely' ask Rumia for details.

> And if there's one thing you learn about fighting, is that if an enemy leaves themselves vulnerable, you strike. Rumia left herself plenty open with this contest thing, so you ask her about it.
> "Pffft, if I told you about it I'd just have another rival to deal with! I'm done, I'm invoking the fifth assessment or whatever."
> Is that right?
> *KER-SNAP*
> "OWWWWWWWWOWOWOWOWOW!!" Rumia screeches as you snap her left pinky finger backwards. "You bitch, what's da big idea dislodgin' my digit like that?!"
> It'd be a shame if you couldn't play this game with a broken hand, you explain calmly, yet firmly. It'd put you at a disadvantage, someone may win this contest before you do...What's at stake?
> "I ain't saying anything to ya! I don't even need my pinky!" Rumia says defiantly. You decide to drive the point home by breaking her left thumb. "ARRRRRGH! OK, OK, JUST FUCKIN' STOP IT ALREADY!" Rumia winces. "It's...It's a war between the guilds...It hasn't been announced to the public yet, but...Gengy said that...That it's a points race. Guilds who sign up earn points for everything dey do...Especially PvP. It'll be cutthroat...And the prize...Is an artifact of incredible power..."
> You stop her right there. All this for some lousy trinket?
> "It's not just a lousy trinket...It's a real thing! It's called The Nexus...And it not only gives the winner a lifetime discount on premium items, it's supposed to give them the power to create whatever they wish...Kinda like dat Philosopher's Stone Patchy has, only eighty times stronger..."
> In spite of Rumia's pain and tears, she somehow manages to get the grit to smile.
> "Haven't you ever wanted ta restore your life...? Ya got immortality, but ya lost so much...Your family, your friends, your reputation...Your innocence...Your sense of closure...Ya know what I'm talking about. Your life was destroyed just as mine was. I was human, just like you...Until some green-haired whore with an umbrella killed my parents...My anger and darkness overcame me...I wanted to kill...To avenge...To set things right...But a Hakurei sealed my power and memory away. I managed to get it off after hell knows how long..."
> Rumia's smile falters a bit, as she looks up at you, almost out of desperation.
> "Do ya have any idea how painful it is, to see those horrific memories come at you all at once? I never want to experience that again...I want it to all go away...The Nexus can undo all that...I can be happy again...You can be happy again, Moky!"
> Moky? What the hell kind of name is that? Regardless, Rumia forms her smile into a shockingly wide grin and tightens her grip on your hand just a bit.
> "You can have your life back...You can finally wipe Kaguya off the map...You'd never have to be sad or upset or angry again...If you help me...I promise...I can make it all better!"

Groundly Graphicist:

>Wait, is midnight of particular significance for us?
>Maybe there's something we could do with that littler doll... wait a second, there was something in the bushes, right? Around where?

> Not really, but you're usually asleep by this time. But you've pulled all-nighters before...You'd be surprised how tiredness is inversely proportional to creativity! Maybe you could draw or something while you wait...That doll seems like a good place to start.
> However, the nearby rustling in the bushes catches your attention. You turn to the source, and for a split second, you see something with silver-white hair peeking at you through the foliage. The entity, whatever it is, lets out the tiniest of "squees" and vanishes out of sight.

> _

[E-Nazrin]

Milky Way Mannequin:

>If everything about this is censored, clearly we can get away with running around naked! Strip down and mock the bastards!
>No way to tell her that right now, ze. Just try not to let her do anything stupid for now.
>Did we get our ticket stamped for the return visit? Well, hopefully it won't be too long a pit-stop. Let's get this going.
>Hm. This slow we'll want a few levels of speed early on... but since we're here, grab that first level of Phoenix now to restart the meter and give us some flexibility without sacrificing shot type options... for now.
>No charged shot, right?

Anthropornis Arsonist:

>Ah yes, random stuff does land in Gensokyo. Guess those aren't the odd part here.
>Does Rumia's slip of 'Gengy' help prod our memory any?
>Nexus? Philosopher's stone? Are these terms familiar? What sorts of things would that be capable of? How possible is that sort of power, even? Who in Gensokyo would be able to pull that off?
>How upset are we about our circumstances now, actually? We've had a long time to get numb about the immortality thing... and there's still Kaguya. Rumia's probably making this offer to the wrong girl...
>Do we have any way to re-do that seal so she can clear her memories, if that's what she's really worried about? Or would she need Reimu to redo that part in particular?
>'course, we shouldn't give her too positive a response even if we're interested...

Loamy Illustrator:

>Huh? Do we know about anyone with silver hair? Aside from that Mokou girl, at least.
>"Hey! Who's that?!"
>... if there's no response, take just a quick peek at where she was to make sure she left? We don't need to chase her away, just make sure Marisa's safe, right?
>If all is peaceful, ponder what to doodle. Perhaps we can lay claim to Marisa by inscribing a threesome with her, us, and Hermia on her forehead Well, no, that might be a bad idea. Maybe we can use the little one? What sort of patterns do we like putting on stuff, usually?

[Third Eye Lem]

Milky Way Mannequin:

>If everything about this is censored, clearly we can get away with running around naked! Strip down and mock the bastards!

> You are arrested by Officer Kotohime for indecent exposure. Not even Gensokyo is lawless!

>No way to tell her that right now, ze. Just try not to let her do anything stupid for now.

> I doubt it's in her style, though she did see something that spooked her...I'll try not to let her wander off at least.
> The parser actually remembered to italicize MiniMediMari's line this time!

>Did we get our ticket stamped for the return visit? Well, hopefully it won't be too long a pit-stop. Let's get this going.

> You check your DREAM INVENTORY and see you don't have a ticket...Yet. If you recall correctly you're supposed to get one later. How much later however, you do not recall.

>Hm. This slow we'll want a few levels of speed early on... but since we're here, grab that first level of Phoenix now to restart the meter and give us some flexibility without sacrificing shot type options... for now.

> You add PHOENIX LV-1 to your arsenal.

>No charged shot, right?

> Sadly no, you don't have any chargeable attacks.

> What you DO have, however, are more enemies...Oh goddammit it's those BEES again. Actual BEES this time, not letters that behave like BEES. At any rate, there's six of them in total, two of them are red in color. And they're converging on your position!

Anthropornis Arsonist:

>Ah yes, random stuff does land in Gensokyo. Guess those aren't the odd part here.

> Stranger things have happened...Though why they wind up on freshly knocked out/killed bodies is a mystery.

>Does Rumia's slip of 'Gengy' help prod our memory any?

> Not your own, but Marisa might know something. You guess it has to do with those "angels" Rumia mentioned at least.

>Nexus? Philosopher's stone? Are these terms familiar? What sorts of things would that be capable of? How possible is that sort of power, even? Who in Gensokyo would be able to pull that off?

> Whoa, slow your speed of consciousness down, kiddo. Let's take this one step at a time...You DO know that Patchy is in possession of the Philospher's Stone, but it's tiny and it's the reason why she looks so young. You recall the gate guard saying once that "If you had all the life and money in the world, what would you look forward to?"
> Thinking that now makes you wonder about Rumia's offer more seriously...But as for the other question, this is the first time you've heard of a Nexus referred to as The One And Only Thing Of Its Kind. A Nexus can be anything, but it's mainly a focal point of power. However, such a power of creation and wish-granting is something mainly within the realms of the gods...Or in the case of the Philosopher's Stone, very difficult to create. There's a reason why such things are protected...

>How upset are we about our circumstances now, actually? We've had a long time to get numb about the immortality thing... and there's still Kaguya. Rumia's probably making this offer to the wrong girl...

> ...And why Iwakasa was ordered to destroy the Hourai Elixir 1200+ years ago. It was too dangerous to fall into the wrong hands.
> It makes you wonder if you were meant to abuse it...
> But did you, really?
> Were it not for the elixir, you'd have lead a miserable life with your disgraced father, and have never met the one girl who can sympathize with your position...
> Heh, were it not for the elixir, you'd have died out long before Kaguya ever did, and your rivalry would have ended then and there.
> You enjoy outsmarting Kaguya as much as you enjoy socializing with her.
> In a way, she knew you better than Keine ever did...
> You chose this path with intent to spite, and you got that already...
> And now you have something even greater.
> It'll be a cold day in all nine levels of Hell before you say "Yeah, I'd like to take it all back."
> This is your life, and you're going to make that adamantly clear to Rumia in just a second.

>Do we have any way to re-do that seal so she can clear her memories, if that's what she's really worried about? Or would she need Reimu to redo that part in particular?

> Sadly, you can only make seals that ward elements. Even if you did make a memory-sealing amulet, the metaphorical cat is out of the bag, and it'll probably be impossible to erase Rumia's memories again on your own. Sealing her power would keep her in check, but if she could remove it on her own it's probably not worth the effort.
> Furthermore, it seems Rumia doesn't just want her bad memories gone, she wants to bring her family back by any means necessary. Time travel, resurrection, that sort of thing. Both things are technically taboo, you've heard all too many stories about how such things end up in tears...Even if this Nexus thing is real, there has to be some kind of catch. There always is.

>'course, we shouldn't give her too positive a response even if we're interested...

> You give her exactly the opposite, with a stern "No." This makes the smile disappear from Rumia's face pretty quickly, though she still stares at you with that wide-eyed gaze.
> "You...You're a fool, you know that?! I offer you a chance at infinite power, and ya flip it off! Fine, who needs ya, I'll get that Nexus myself...And if you cross my path..." Rumia's eyes flash red. "I swear I will destroy everything else you hold dear."

Loamy Illustrator:

>Huh? Do we know about anyone with silver hair? Aside from that Mokou girl, at least.

> Mokou's hair is more blue, really...Sakuya's and Eirin's hair are more in line with the actual silver part. However, this person is way too short to actually be either of them.

>"Hey! Who's that?!"
>... if there's no response, take just a quick peek at where she was to make sure she left? We don't need to chase her away, just make sure Marisa's safe, right?

> You hear another "Eep!" and decide to check it out. Through the brush, through a hidden passage in the foliage, you can see a little girl running away, only pausing to look back to see if she's being followed. Longish silver-almost-white hair, green eyes, huge blue-rimmed glasses, and a purple dress. However, the most striking feature is her skin, it's a deep sky blue.
> Time seems to freeze for a second as her spooked image solidifies into your mind...Before she trips over backwards, rolls over and gets up before dashing off. You resist the urge to give chase.

>If all is peaceful, ponder what to doodle. Perhaps we can lay claim to Marisa by inscribing a threesome with her, us, and Hermia on her forehead Well, no, that might be a bad idea. Maybe we can use the little one? What sort of patterns do we like putting on stuff, usually?

> That encounter gave you just enough inspiration to doodle! You're not Akyu-sama, but when it comes to doodling things on the fly, you are the absolute queen. You get to work on the mysterious blue-skinned girl's picture.
> As for patterns...Anything floral, plant-like, earthy and the like do the job quite nicely. Of course, that's not to say you're not opposed to other styles and patterns. You tend to draw minimalistic backgrounds, because who has the time to draw all those details, especially with your busy schedule? If you draw someone or something, you like to draw a patterned border around the subject to help break up all the negative space. Sometimes you go a little overboard and fill in a lot of negative space with an elaborate "ivy" pattern...You love doing that, tee hee!

> Mini Medi hovers over to you while you're drawing. Huh, maybe you can sketch her in as well...But it looks like she's trying to tell you something? Huh, how do you even speak doll...Wait, nevermind, she's pantomiming that you should stay put for the time being. Fair enough.

> _

[E-Nazrin]

Star Figurine:

>Thanks, ze.
>Make sure there's some space behind us and back off directly when they get close so we can mow them down in our crosshairs. Make a point of offing the red ones; they probably have the power-up items.
>Get two levels of speed from this if we can.

Moakoua:

>Guess junk food is considered 'phat loot.' For some reason.
>What sort of agreements to limit collateral damage do we have with Kaguya, and how long have they been in place? Has she ever gone after friends we had, and have we tried to meddle with hers? At this point the rabbits and Keine aren't targets, naturally, but...
>Chuckle darkly. "I'd think that my situation would be a good warning about things like that backfiring in the end, but I guess you aren't looking to listen to that kind of advice, are you?"
>Do we have any way to mark her or otherwise keep tabs on her, or will we just have to warn Kaguya and Keine that Rumia wants to give us trouble? Perhaps a branding would be appropriate...

Pixie Painter:

>Wait, where were we carrying that canvas? You mean we don't have to use Marisa's face to paint on?
>Hm... would we be able to make a miniboss out of this picture? It wouldn't inherit anything about her personality or powers if we did, would it?
>Make it nice and pretty!

[Third Eye Lem]

Star Figurine:

>Thanks, ze.
>Make sure there's some space behind us and back off directly when they get close so we can mow them down in our crosshairs. Make a point of offing the red ones; they probably have the power-up items.
>Get two levels of speed from this if we can.

> You thank Mini Medi and get to work on the BEES. You miss one of them, and it gets past you, but you don't care. You got the two red ones and get their capsules, powering up SPEED to LV3. Now you're a good bit faster!
> The trail narrows a bit. The "ceiling" gets a bit earthier, and large stumps protruding from the top and bottom of the path obscure your travel. occasionally, you see some plants on the path spit deadly SEEDS at you, you'd best be careful as you weave through here. You do, however, notice a piece of log floating independently from its associated stump, how strange.

Moakoua:

>Guess junk food is considered 'phat loot.' For some reason.

> Perhaps a boon from the gods after a tough fight?

>What sort of agreements to limit collateral damage do we have with Kaguya, and how long have they been in place? Has she ever gone after friends we had, and have we tried to meddle with hers? At this point the rabbits and Keine aren't targets, naturally, but...

> For the most part, you and Kaguya try to keep others out of your affairs...But such wasn't the case before the Imperishable Night incident, and Keine was adamant on protecting you. As time went on, though, it seemed Kaguya was bored with sending assassins after you and started coming after you herself. You prefer a straight up face to face fight anyways, and eventually you started having regular duels for a year or two before settling on your little game challenge.

>Chuckle darkly. "I'd think that my situation would be a good warning about things like that backfiring in the end, but I guess you aren't looking to listen to that kind of advice, are you?"
>Do we have any way to mark her or otherwise keep tabs on her, or will we just have to warn Kaguya and Keine that Rumia wants to give us trouble? Perhaps a branding would be appropriate...

> Rumia snarls and makes a motion to bite you, but you jump away just in time. "Don't test me, birdbrain!"
> Hey, you're the one that came after us first, you reply.
> "YOU SHOT ME IN THE GODDAMN FACE!!"
> Oh please, there are much more painful things in life...Like this spell card!
> "Temper [Branding Iron]"
> You fling the card right at Rumia's head like a ninja tossing a shuriken, and it sticks. There's a piercing shriek as Rumia screams in agony for a bit, as the card's fire bullets embed the lettering representing your surname onto her forehead.
> Now you can look at the mirror and be reminded whom not to mess with, you say to Rumia with a hint of satisfaction.
> "Oh, go to hell!" Rumia says, cringing in pain. "I'm done with this crap..." She forms a ball of darkness in her hands and throws it at the ground. It explodes like a smoke bomb, covering the area in shadow, but it quickly passes. When the light returns, Rumia's gone.
> But you accomplished your goal...That marking on her head will act as a beacon, and you can trace it if you so desire.

Pixie Painter:

>Wait, where were we carrying that canvas? You mean we don't have to use Marisa's face to paint on?

> You carry a sketchbook with you when you're travelling, taking a full set of paints and a canvas is a little tricky. You wish you had a BAG OF HOLDING but those things are expensive!

>Hm... would we be able to make a miniboss out of this picture? It wouldn't inherit anything about her personality or powers if we did, would it?
>Make it nice and pretty!

> Sadly, you can't make the portrait do much aside from basic bullet patterns. You'd have to learn more about that mysterious girl's habits and personality in order to make it a full blown entity.
> That being said, you can at least make an effort to color her in a bit, so you break out the colored pencils and get to work. Ahhh, this is gonna look so lovely.

> _

[E-Nazrin]

Astral Effigy:

>Is our speed comfortable at this point? Fast enough to evade attacks without ramming into things too often? Or should we go for one more?
>Start saving up for... maybe one level of phoenix, then get one or two multiples/familiars. We'd lose it all if we die in this mode, right? So a barrier would be a good idea once we have enough to be worth protecting.
>Try shooting the log, if there's a safe opportunity. If the shots go through it, try collecting it; probably a weird powerup. Otherwise, stay away.
>The seed-shots can't be shot down, right?

Emberous Jeholornis:

>Sheesh... little idiot.
>Looks like we're done here, unless she's planning to head straight to attack Keine... which she can't with the village apparently gone as far as she can tell. Eientei's already in trouble and we'll catch up there anyway...
>How difficult is it to keep tabs on her general location via our brand-tracker? How much would she notice our doing so?
>We can probably afford to hands-in-pockets and walk back to the mushroom clearing, now. Best not be too far off if someone tries to bother the witch.

Loess Lesbian Leprechaun:

>We are totally gonna make this the bestest!
>If anything gives us trouble memory-wise, check the place where we saw her again.

[Third Eye Lem]

Astral Effigy:

>Is our speed comfortable at this point? Fast enough to evade attacks without ramming into things too often? Or should we go for one more?

> Level 3 Speed is about the same as your default speed, so you should be fine.

>Start saving up for... maybe one level of phoenix, then get one or two multiples/familiars. We'd lose it all if we die in this mode, right? So a barrier would be a good idea once we have enough to be worth protecting.
>Try shooting the log, if there's a safe opportunity. If the shots go through it, try collecting it; probably a weird powerup. Otherwise, stay away.
>The seed-shots can't be shot down, right?

> Your shots are ineffective against the log and the smaller shots. Why danmaku can't shoot down other danmaku is a mystery to you. Either way, you try to fly into the log for some reason, but you fly between it and the stump instead. Suddenly, a giant number "5000" appears out of the air and deposits itself into your inventory. YOU GOT FIVE THOUSAND (5000) UNIDENTIFIED POINTS!
> Not a whole lot happens from this point, aside from larger plants that shoot larger seeds and spread shots at you. What a boring stage!
> "AHEM!"
> Whoops, spoke too soon. And look who decided to suddenly show up, it's your old pal Skella!
> "You seem to be having fun," she says in a condescending tone. "Maybe you should take up gardening instead, if that's more your speed."

Emberous Jeholornis:

>Sheesh... little idiot.
>Looks like we're done here, unless she's planning to head straight to attack Keine... which she can't with the village apparently gone as far as she can tell. Eientei's already in trouble and we'll catch up there anyway...

> Yeah, Rumia's no threat to you right now.

>How difficult is it to keep tabs on her general location via our brand-tracker? How much would she notice our doing so?
>We can probably afford to hands-in-pockets and walk back to the mushroom clearing, now. Best not be too far off if someone tries to bother the witch.

> Although this is technically OOC knowledge, your BRANDING BEACON works the same way as Marisa's beacons, you can see her position and distance on your Spell Card's "radar."
> You decide to rejoin Maple and the others, and see...Medi sitting on Maple's head?

Loess Lesbian Leprechaun:

>We are totally gonna make this the bestest!
>If anything gives us trouble memory-wise, check the place where we saw her again.

> You've got it covered, mostly. The only distraction is that Mini-Medi decided to use your head as a resting spot. She must be bored. Heh, maybe this'll be the next scene you draw!
> "Looks like this party's gettin' crazy," Mokou says in a charmingly sarcastic tone.

> _

[E-Nazrin]

Plainly an Action Figure:

>So are we talking unidentified as in Nue is screwing around again, or unidentified as in they don't resemble the points we could gather for extra lives in a few of the previous incidents?
>"And maybe you'd like to explain what's going on, ze? Unless getting shot down is more your speed."
>She isn't the real boss for this stage, is she?

Clay Fae:

>How shy are we about showing off works in progress?
>Give scary burny lady a pouty look.

Genyornis Fireball:

>Shrug.
>"Got Rumia under control for now. She ain't happy, but she won't be able to bug us for a while."
>Keep half an eye on her location. Does she seem to be going anywhere we'd recognize?