It's been a while, MotK! I have missed you all so...
Anyway, I posted a couple fanfics once upon a time, and after the second one,
I stated that there would be more, but I left you all hanging for...what,
eight months? Damn, I'm sorry guys.
Before reading on, please read
Book 01: Human-Machine in Foreign Lands, and
Book 02: Reprise of the Subterranean Sun.
Anyway, what I have here is a one-long-chapter story to add to
the Chronicles of Razu Teionhakushi: Book 2.5--
Darkness: The Return of Rumia// // // // //
A lot has happened in Gensokyo recently...
Around the end of summer 2010, Yukari opened a gap in the middle of Muendzuka, tossing a train from the outside world straight through Sunny Fields and crashing into the Forest of Magic. As it turned out, there was only one passenger. This passenger would later be both the epicenter and the savior of a few incidents to come.
The passenger, Razu Teionhakushi, was a human from the outside world. His city of origin was destroyed by his sister, Rizu Teionhakushi, who sabotaged the nuclear core of the city's power source, while under Rumia's influence. Rumia ordered Rizu to recruit Remilia and Flandre to assist in killing her brother. During the resulting battle between Rizu and the Scarlet sisters versus Reimu, Marisa, & Razu; it had surfaced that Rizu had been working for Rumia to aid her in her plan to unleash eternal darkness upon Gensokyo, and that she had helped Rumia remove the ribbon from her hair, which was a magic suppressor of her powers.
With knowledge of Rumia's powerful state, Razu convinced his sister to side with him, to free Rizu from Rumia's evil influence and save Gensokyo from the darkness. The four of them collaborated on a plan to find and destroy Rumia, who had not yet known that Rizu has traded sides.
Rizu led Razu, Reimu, and Marisa to Rumia. Using her power over darkness inherited by Rumia, she shrouded the three while she reported to Rumia, to say that Razu and his friends had all been killed. Rumia grabbed Rizu by her throat and threw her, stating that Remilia had discovered that Rizu had joined her brother, and that Remilia had informed Rumia of her betrayal. Remilia and her younger sister then made their presense known, and, on Rumia's order, Flandre attacked and destroyed Razu and company's hiding spot, causing the group to exchange their cover for their lives.
As the battle began, Rumia started to flood the sky with darkness. Razu, unable to get close to Rumia, began aiding the others in fighting the Scarlets. After a strenuous battle with Remilia and four Flandres; the Teionhakushi siblings, along with Marisa, unleashed one powerful joint-attack that shook the Forest of Magic and rocked Gensokyo's very foundation. But, to no avail--Rumia was still before them, hardly moved. Marisa, dumbfounded by the failure of her most powerful variant of Master Spark, was rendered dazed and unable to continue.
Rumia was drawn out to attack. She summoned a weapon--the sword, Death's Eye--to do battle with Razu, and his sword, Ethereal Edge. After a brief sword battle, Rumia began firing danmaku at the others, who were watching Marisa. Razu attempted to shield them, but Rumia attacked him, causing him to lose focus, and drop the shield. Rizu threw up another barrier, and shouted a reassurance to Razu, saying that he doesn't have to worry. Razu had Rumia all to himself.
Rumia charged at Razu, swinging her weapon at him with tremendous force. Another sword duel shifted into magic-assisted hand-to-hand combat. After being force-pushed into a tree, Rumia shifted her attention to the still dazed Marisa. She charged toward her, but Rizu intervened. Razu moved in to surround Rumia on the opposite side. Unwavered, Rumia sprayed bullets in both directions, sending Rizu backward and shattering Razu's mechanical arm, causing him to lose his sword. Reimu attempted a surprise attack, but failed, and was rendered unconscious and seriously injured by Rumia's counter.
Razu was recovering from the previous attack as Rumia slowly moved closer to deal the finishing blow. He reached for his spellcards, but before he could draw one, Rumia threw her sword at him, impaling his human arm and pinning him to a tree. Rumia stepped up to him and charged the shot that would kill Razu.
"Good night."
Suddenly, an all-too-familiar multi-coloured blast of magical energy collided with Rumia. Razu looked over to see Marisa had snapped out of her stupor. Sho was weakened, but still able to put up a fight.
With Marisa cheering him on, Razu forced Rumia's blade from his arm, and kept it by his side as he made his way to where Rumia had landed. Rumia staggered to her feet and attempted to send a barrage of bullets his way, but, using his force ability, he enclosed each bullet and imploded them in midair. Rumia was afraid...actually afraid of Razu. Noticing his own blade, he took control of it, and kept it by his side, opposite of Death's Eye. Rumia fruitlessly sent another large well of energy at Razu, who simply deflected it with Death's Eye and sent it skyward. Now even more terrified, Rumia tried to run, only to have Razu send his blade in front of her to block her path before bluntly striking her with the side of the blade, sending her down once more. Before she could recover and attack again, he sent Ethereal Edge at her, stabbing her stomach and running her through, holding her fast to a tree.
Razu stepped closer. Rumia reached helplessly for her blade. Razu taunted the helpless Rumia, who in return, swore at him and spat blood at his face. Razu turned away and walked as if to leave, but stopped after a short distance. He then split Rumia's weapon into three parts, sending the two smaller shards at her, pinning her arms down in the most ironic of positions. As Rumia screamed in agony, Razu forced the remaining sword at Rumia's head, bringing an end to the horrible ordeal.
But evil such as this does not die out so easily in Gensokyo...
// // // // //
"Hey, Marisa! Quit slacking off and help me fix my house!"
It was approaching the end of autumn of 2010. It was already beginning to get cold, and Razu's home was still all but destroyed.
"Ahh, come on, ze, you're worse than Reimu... Can't you do it yourself? You have that force power...it's like you have a limitless supply of helping hands, ze!"
"Oh, well forgive me for thinking you were gonna help me fix it after having obliterated it..." Razu manipulated Marisa's broom and gave her a medium-sized bonk on the head.
"Ah! Alright, alright, I'll help, ze!"
"You can start by repairing the window frame. I fixed the wall up to that point already."
Marisa reluctantly began working, as instructed. Razu continued to repair the roof closest to the front of the house. Rizu was quietly fixing the attic wall just below him.
"Rizu, you've been quiet this whole time...what's on your mind?" Razu was worried about how his younger sister felt.
"I just feel bad...about everything. You know, the city...your house...Rumia..."
"It wasn't your fault," Razu explained. "Rumia was filling your head with her evil intentions."
"Yeah, ze," Marisa interjected, placing another wooden plank into place. "But..." She looked off into the sunset sky. "For some reason, ze, I get this feeling...that it's not over..."
"Rumia..." Razu jumped down from the roof, softly landing on the ground in front of Marisa. "...is dead. You saw her yourself."
"Still, ze..."
It got darker. The sun was now behind the trees. "Well, since I upgraded my power cell to charge from solar energy, I won't need the recharging station anymore...besides, the field generator's stopped working again, so with the house messed up like this I can't sleep here..."
"Yeah. Bet you don't wanna wake up and find that lesser youkai have come in and eaten your toes off, ze." She giggled.
"I'm sleeping in the train tonight."
"EH!?" Marisa was startled by this statement. "Why the train?"
"Well, you only have one couch, and I was gonna let Rizu have that..."
"Well...um...why couldn't we just..." Marisa turned a slight red. "...share my bed?"
Razu blushed too, and Rizu laughed quietly to herself. "Well, um..."
Rizu spoke. "Tell you what, Brother: I'LL go sleep in the train. You sleep with her."
"Ah? Alright...are you sure?"
"Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'll bring plenty of blankets."
"Okay, but watch out," Razu warned. "Yuuka's mad about the train having torn through her garden. She might attack you if she sees you."
"Thanks for the heads up," Rizu said. "I guess I'll grab some blankets from inside, and I'll be off. See you tomorrow." Rizu went inside as Marisa and Razu made their way to the magic shop.
// // // // //
Rizu had placed her blankets inside the train, and was laying on top of the wreckage, staring up into the night sky. She sighed.
"Marisa's right," she said to herself. "I feel it too...something's off. I still feel a dark presence nearby..." She sat up. "That's it, I'm gonna have a look around." With that, she kicked off the roof of the train and flew over the forest area.
She silently flew across the night sky, scanning the tree coverage for anything suspicious. It seemed like nothing was amiss...until she saw the clearing where the last fight with Rumia occurred. There seemed to be something emanating from one of the trees...
Rizu touched down in the clearing, and stepped up to the large tree. There was a black stain on the bark, surrounding the three pieces of Rumia's sword, Death's Eye, which was used to kill her. The sword was emitting dark energy. The eye was closed.
It suddenly began to pull Rizu in. Rizu's arm unwillingly reached out for the hilt. Rizu tried to pull away, but the dark power within her seemed to be linked to the sword.
"What!? What is this!?"
Unable to resist, Rizu's arm, as if it had a mind of its own, grabbed hold of the hilt and pulled Death's Eye free. The two shards of the blade detached from the tree and rejoined the sword. The red eye opened.
"No...NOOO!!"
// // // // //
Razu sat up from the bed.
"Is something the matter, ze?"
"I don't know..." Razu looked around. "Something doesn't feel right."
Marisa's face turned red. "What? Why? Um...i-if you want that couch, that's--"
"Not what I meant."
"Oh..." Marisa looked away. "Then...what is it, ze?"
A moment passed. "I feel like I should check on Rizu." He got up from the bed and got dressed. Marisa followed suit.
"I'm coming, too."
"You don't have to if you don't want."
"But I WANT to, ze."
"Oh, alright."
Marisa grabbed her oversized hat and followed Razu outside, as they set out for the crash site.
// // // // //
"Orin, I'm going out for a bit. Orange is coming, too."
"Eh? This late?"
"Why not?"
"Oh, alright, Okuu, just be careful. And don't cause any trouble!"
Utsuho made some last-minute checks on the core, now finished with repairs, before locking the terminal. "Okay! That should be fine for now. Thanks for your help, Nitori."
"No problem! And Orange, have you tested out your glider?"
Orange put on what looked like an aluminum backpack. "Not yet. I'll be flying with Okuu though, so it'll be the perfect test run."
"I'll come too, I suppose," Nitori said. "In case something goes wrong with it, you know."
"Is this thing safe?"
Nitori glanced off. "Uhh, yeah. Completely safe. It's a little different from mine, but it should do fine without the thrusters. It's not meant for fast or strenuous flying."
"I'll keep that in mind," Orange said.
Satori was walking by, but stopped. "Where are you all off to?"
"I was going to just go out for awhile, but Orange wants to test out her new--"
"I see. I'm going to come with. I want to make sure nothing happens this time."
"Eh? Mistress?" Utsuho began to sweat a little.
"I've known about the incident you caused, Utsuho."
"EH!? And you didn't say anything!?"
"I knew something was amiss when I saw the main reactor was damaged and the entire maintenance area looked like a battlefield. Also, you KNOW I can read minds. Anyway, the situation was more or less handled, so I didn't feel the need to say anything."
"..." Utsuho kept quiet.
"Anyway, let's go." The four made their way toward the elevator.
// // // // //
Remilia was looking out towards the Forest of Magic, from the balcony.
"Your tea, Milady." Remilia took the tea from the saucer that Sakuya placed on the table, and took a small sip.
"So," Remilia said without looking back at the head maid, "are you out here to watch the show as well?"
"Milady?"
Remilia smirked. "Fate...has a hand in the card game tonight."
"Ah. I see..."
"How's Flandre's wing?"
"The fairy maids had a lot of trouble getting her to stay still," Sakuya explained. "The Young Mistress ended up killing some, but they are fairies, of course, so they simply respawned. Her wing is in place, and Patchouli placed a healing seal on her. She has been resting for about six hours now."
"Go wake her. Bring her out here."
"Right away, Milady." Sakuya teleported away.
"Fufu...it begins once more."
// // // // //
Razu and Marisa arrived at the crash site, but didn't find Rizu anywhere. Razu punched the train with his metal arm.
"DAMMIT!" he exclaimed as he dented the train. "She's not here!"
"Calm down, Raz...maybe she just went out for a night flight, ze?" Razu looked around, then up to find a sudden barrage of yellow bullets coming down from the sky.
"MARISA, WATCH OUT!" Razu jumped in front of Marisa and threw up a field to protect the two. Bullets collided with the force shield and parts of the train, but didn't hit Razu or Marisa.
"Yuuka... Marisa, wait here." Razu dropped the shield and took off into the night sky.
"Like hell, ze! Wait for me! I've been aching for a good Spark battle!" Marisa grabbed her broom and followed Razu skyward.
Yuuka pointed her parasol at them as they closed in. "I have some unfinished business with you, Teionhakushi!"
Razu threw his hand forward and sent some force bullets her way. She deflected them with her parasol, and sent some small lasers in his direction. He dodged left, and grabbed a spell card. Glancing at it, he put it back into the deck. "Too soon for that." He pulled another. "Ah, there we go," he said to himself, as he readied his personal favourite spell.
Yuuka saw the spellcard and prepared to act.
"10,000 Decibels: 'Bass Blast'!"
Razu threw his hands toward his target, and unleashed his signature attack. Yuuka attempted to block with her parasol, but it was blown away. Yuuka took a hard hit, and was sent back several yards before recovering in midair. She sent more bullets his way, sending lasers off at Marisa as she drew closer. Marisa dodged lasers left and right.
"Hahaha, your aim has gotten worse, Yuuka!" Marisa curved up, dismounting and grabbing the broom with both hands, letting herself freefall as she swung the broom back. Marisa witfully shouted, "DEATH FROM ABOVE, ZEEEEEEE!!" as she brought the broom down on Yuuka's head!
"Ow! Y-you black-white pest! Love Sign: 'Master Spark'!"
"Hahah, now it gets exciting! Love Sign: 'Master Spark'!"
The two multi-coloured beams collided, creating a massive shockwave that sent me backward.
// // // // //
Reimu sat up from her couch. "What on earth was that?" She went outside to see a bright light coming from just above the crash site. "Ah, just Yuuka and Marisa getting into it again." She sighed. "I guess I'd better go make sure everything's alright." She grabbed her gohei and took off.
// // // // //
"Orange! Oi, oi! Stop wiggling around so much or you'll crash!"
Orange was having a hard time with her new glider. "But Okuu...wah! This thing is hard--whoah!--to control!"
"Relax and it will stabilize! Do like I'm doing!"
Suddenly, the shockwave hit Utsuho and company.
"Wa-aa-aa-aah!!" Orange went into a corkscrew motion downward.
Nitori and Utsuho chased her, shouting: "Stabilize! Stabilize!" Satori just hovered there, looking toward the source of the shock.
"Hmm..."
// // // // //
Remilia and Flandre were watching from the balcony.
"Ooh, ooh! It's coming!" Remilia held her hat and her tea in place. The shockwave hit, blasting Flandre's cap against the wall, and shattering Remilia's teacup and every window in the front of the mansion. The fairy maids instantly scrambled to clean up the glass.
"Yeah, yeah! That was so cool! Wasn't it Remi?" The older sister smiled.
"It's about to get much cooler. Keep watching."
// // // // //
After a minute or two, the two Master Sparks canceled each other out. Razu flew in and sent out another barrage of bullets from about three meters away. A few bullets hit, but not many. Yuuka was stunned long enough for Razu to make the next move. He drew another card.
"Perfect. Force: 'Electromagnet's Polarity'!"
The card dissolved, and Razu threw his hand toward Yuuka, taking control of her and throwing her down into the rear car of the train, utterly smashing it. He dropped down to the roof of the wreck and grabbed Yuuka's collar.
"Now I'm only going to ask once. Where's Rizu?"
Yuuka seemed confused. "Rizu?"
"Don't toy with me, flower girl!"
"BROTHEEEEEER!!"
An explosion came from the inner part of the forest, shaking up the train's remains. The three looked back and saw a black misty pillar leading up to the sky.
Razu's eye's widened, and he dropped Yuuka.
"I'M COMING, SIS!!" He took off without hesitation.
// // // // //
Orange was dizzy from the impact with the ground.
"Are you gonna be alright?" Utsuho helped her up.
"Yeah...I'm fine. I can do it, let me try again--"
"Utsuho, Nitori, Orange, get up here! You must see this!"
Utsuho and Nitori joined Satori above ground. Orange was lagging behind.
Utsuho looked on at where Satori was indicating. "Wha...what the hell is that!?"
// // // // //
Reimu was flying above the trails when she saw the black pillar.
"What in the...?" She flew faster, aiming to see what the mysterious dark pillar was.
// // // // //
"You were right, Remi, that was way cool! What is that thing?"
Remilia drew her finger along her new teacup. "Darkness. In its purest form."
"Ooooooooo..."
"Lady Remilia! Do you see that!?" Meiling was shouting from the gate. Remilia glanced down at her, then back up at the pillar.
"I see it...I see it all."
// // // // //
Rizu was screaming, but her voice was muffled by the overwhelming force that was overtaking her body. She was losing control. It was taking every bit of her mental strength to keep conscious. The blade, now in her hand, was controlling her.
"Rizu!" Her brother landed close to her. "What's happening!?"
"STAY BACK! KEEP AWAY FROM ME!!" Rizu seemed unwilling as the dark blade was being aimed at Razu.
"Rizu! Put...the sword...down..."
"I...CAN'T...CONTROL MYSELF! GET AWAY!!" Rizu charged at her brother and swung her blade down at him. Razu blocked with his metal arm.
"Rizu! Fight it!" He pushed against the blade.
"I...I CAN'T!!" She kicked Razu back, and strained for control of her body. She fell to her knees, and put a hand on her head as she screamed loudly. "GET...OUT! WHO ARE YOU!? GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!" The dark energy surrounded her, and mixed with her force abilities. Twigs and small rocks began to orbit her. "N...NO! I CAN'T HARM...MY BROTHER!"
"Rizu!! Let go of Death's Eye!!"
Rizu fought for control...but she couldn't do anything. She was helpless to the blade's influence. She readied for another attack. She used the last of her energy to warn her brother.
"Brother...Marisa...run...get away..."
The red in her eyes turned to a bright glowing yellow, and the darkness consumed her fully. A new voice spoke. New...yet familiar.
"Shadows...guide my blade into the depths of my enemies' souls!" The shadow of Rizu charged at us with her blade.
Razu had no choice but to fight. "Marisa! We have to get that blade from her!" Marisa nodded, and Razu sent some bullets toward what used to be his sister. She put up a black field in front of her, blocking every bullet Razu sent her way.
"You'll have to try harder than that!" She threw her hands up, and raised a large piece of the ground using Rizu's force power, sending it at Marisa and Razu. Marisa jumped ahead.
"I got it, ze! Light Sign: 'Luminous Strike'!"
Marisa held her broom as if she were shooting a rifle from her hip. Charging a large shot into her broom, she fired a heavy bullet into the large piece of earth, dispersing it into small rocks and dirt. The shot continued, towards Rizu, who put up a heavy black field in its path to keep from being hit.
Reimu touched down by Marisa. "I'm here!"
"You couldn't have picked a better time to show, ze!"
"Who, or rather what, is that?"
Razu sent another wave of force bullets and joined the two. "It's my sister!" Rizu deflected the bullets with yet another black field.
"Your sister? Hah! She's mine! You'll never see her again! Consider your sister dead!" The evil shadow reached into Rizu's card pouch on her belt. "Audio Sign: 'Empithree'!"
Rizu stomped the ground, and a forceful bass pulse hit Razu and company from below, sending them into the air. Rizu charged toward the airborne trio with her blade.
"Not so fast!"
Utsuho swooped in from the cloud coverage, and struck Rizu in the back with her arm cannon, sending her back down into the dirt.
"Utsuho?"
"Wha...Utsuho??"
"Okuu, ze!"
Nobody seemed to be sure why Utsuho had shown up, but nobody was objecting to the help.
"None other! And I'm not alone!"
Nitori touched down beside Utsuho, and retracted her jetpack's wings. "Ah, so we meet again, Razu. It's been a while."
Orange attempted a light landing next to Nitori, but instead landed in a tree.
"Kyaaaa! I'm stuck! Someone help me down!"
"ENOUGH OF THIS! All of you are going to--" Rizu was suddenly punched by what looked like a Master Spark laser. Razu looked at Marisa.
"Wasn't me, ze," she shrugged.
"Something such as this can't guarantee safety for my garden." Yuuka let go of the dissolving spellcard as she tossed her parasol over her shoulder and joined the group. Razu smiled.
The shadow stood up. "Who's next? The satori?"
"Already here," a voice spoke from above.
Marisa looked up. "Satori Komeiji? What brings you here, ze?"
Satori started to answer, but suddenly shifted her attention toward the opponent. "She's readying another attack. Get ready!"
"Speedcore: '480 BPM'!"
The shadow charged its and Rizu's collective energy for a moment. Everyone braced themselves. Utsuho flew up to the tree Orange was stuck in and shielded her. "Light Cover: 'Nuclear Visor'!" Razu moved close to Reimu and Marisa, and shielded the three of them in a force dome.
Nitori's jetpack extended four mechanical arms that formed a steel-plate shield in front of her. Satori floated there, above, at the ready. She seemed to be staring at Razu for some reason, though he didn't notice.
The shadow then released all the energy, in bursts of about eight pulses per second. Each pulse collided with everyone's shields with great force. Razu shifted his dome into a forward shield, to strengthen it. Utsuho's light screen shattered quickly, and the pulses hit them directly, sending her and Orange out of the tree and down into the ground.
Satori suddenly flew straight toward the shadow, being slowed by the force of each pulse, yet otherwise seeming unphased as she pierced each wave. The shadow looked up at Satori, then at a nearby tree. She forced the tree uprooted, and swung it at Satori. Satori drew what appeared to be a blank card.
"Recollection: 'DOLBY Effect'."
Razu stammered. "What did she just say?"
Satori suddenly split into four identical copies, surrounding the shadow. The tree hit one, but it wasn't the real Satori.
"That...that's my spellcard!" Razu exclaimed. "How did she--"
"Satori's a satori, ze. She can read minds, and learn spells from others," Marisa explained.
The Satori that was directly behind her spoke. "You can't catch me by surprise." She then reached her hand around the shadow's head, to firmly place it on her face.
Razu spoke up. "Satori, no!"
Satori, paying no attention to Razu, pushed the shadow's head down and fired danmaku into her face at point-blank range. The shadow went backward, into the ground, with force enough to make an impression.
"Satori! That's my sister!"
"I'm aware."
"Wha? How did you know?"
"I read her mind. There are two entities in there. The shadow's taking the damage, shielding the young Teionhakushi sibling from harm and preserving her power. Also..."
"Also, what?"
"The shadow's conscious comes from the blade. The blade's conscious...comes from the late Rumia."
"WHAT!? But...I..."
"Killed me?" The shadow got up once more. "You merely killed my body. When you impaled me with Death's Eye--my blade, which was created from dark energy--my conscious moved from my body to the sword. I needed a new body...and since Rizu has the dark power that I have given her, it was easy to bond with her!"
"Release my sister!" Razu drew a spellcard. "Or ELSE!"
Reimu drew a spellcard as well. "Remember, Raz, we've got your back!"
Utsuho got up from the ground, and on her feet. She aimed her buster at the shadow. "With our firepower..."
Mechanical arms extended from Nitori's jetpack. "...Our technology..."
Orange grabbed her baton from her waist. "...Our courage..."
Reimu stood ready. "...Our friendship..."
Marisa had a spellcard in her left hand, and her broom in her right hand. "...And our love...we can take down any opponent, ze!"
The shadow clapped slowly. "How cute. It's just like a freakin' after-school special, isn't it? It'll make it that much more depressing when you all DIE!!" She threw her hands to her sides, and the blade hovered in front of her. She forced the red ribbon off the hilt, and the blade turned back into pure dark energy. Its shape shifted, and grew larger, until it formed a very large sword. The blade re-solidified, into a large black blade with a red edge. The eye at the bottom of the blade was still there. There was a black aura around it. She took hold of the hilt with both hands, and charged at Reimu.
Reimu kicked off the ground and took flight, sending talisman danmaku back at the shadow. The shadow followed suit, taking off into the air and charging black bullets of energy, sending them one after the other at Reimu. Reimu deflected one with a blocking talisman, sending it off into space. She dodged the next, and flew under the third. Strafing across to avoid the fourth, she used another talisman to stop and counter the last one. The shadow was hit but unphased.
"Darkness can't harm darkness, lowly shrine maiden!" She flew in close and swung her massive blade. Reimu moved back and swung a kick, that missed.
Yet another person showed up, coming from the southwest. "How's a young lady supposed to sleep with all this noise? What's going on here?"
The shadow was distracted, and Reimu landed a punch right into her cheek. The shadow was pushed back a little, but then she force-pushed Reimu down back at the ground. She hit hard with a bounce.
"I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF THESE INTERRUPTIONS!!" She then enclosed the entire area in a thick, black fog.
// // // // //
"Aww," Flandre pouted. "I can't see!" Remilia grimaced.
"Hmph. Perhaps I should have went too. Oh well. We'll just have to wait until the fog clears."
// // // // //
"Nobody is entering or leaving!"
"Well," newcomer Alice said, "I guess I'm not going to sleep unless I take you down!" Alice and a small force of dolls took flight, drawing closer to the shadow until within range. "Lance Sign: 'Cute Phalanx'!" The dolls brandished small lances and proceeded to repeatedly stab out toward their target, each meeting their mark and dealing great damage. The shadow started to fall.
Utsuho ran over to Razu, and took aim at the shadow, nodding at Razu. He nodded in return, and readied his card.
"Explosion Sign: 'Giga Flare'!"
As Utsuho's buster's vents opened and she charged her shot, Razu declared his attack.
"10,000 Decibels: 'Bass Blast'!"
The two attacks fired at once, creating one heavy-hitting combination of auditory force and raw nuclear power. The attack came fast, and hit the shadow like a brick wall, sending her back upward toward Alice.
"Demonic Control: 'Return Inanimate'!"
Alice grabbed one of her nearby dolls, and threw it at the shadow. The doll exploded on impact, and sent her directly to the ground next to Orange. Orange jumped back a bit, startled.
"U-um...are you dead?" She poked the shadow with her baton.
"Get back! She may still be dangerous!" Nitori yelled.
The shadow grabbed Orange's ankle.
"Wah, let go of me!"
The shadow stood up, carrying Orange upside-down by her ankle. "Not a chance!"
"Rumia! Put her down, now!" Satori was ready, but not yet willing to attack. She didn't want to risk hurting Orange.
"Or what?"
Everyone except Reimu, who was still unconscious, surrounded her.
"You think you can scare me? Fine, if you want her, catch!" She flew upward, swung Orange and threw her across the enclosed space. She collided with the fog wall, completely destroying her glider and knocking her out. As she began to fall, Razu put his hand out, using his force power to catch her before having a rough landing. He set her on the ground by Reimu.
"You're a cold monster. You don't deserve existence!" Yuuka shouted, as she jumped into the air and started firing bullets at her at short range. She put up a shield above her, but wasn't watching Utsuho, who tripped her, causing her to fall onto her back. Utsuho then jumped up and aimed her buster down, firing a single short burst of nuclear energy at her. She landed on the shadow's midriff and kept her down with her stone foot, aiming her buster at the shadow's face at point-blank range.
"If you want a free facelift, go ahead and move. Razu, grab the sword!"
"Pulsation Propulsion!"
"Wha--" With a sudden blast of force energy, the shadow sent a pulse into the ground, sending both her and Utsuho flying. Once free and airborne, the shadow swung the blade back, and down at Utsuho, who blocked with her arm cannon. She then kicked the shadow in the side, digging the jagged edges of her congealed matter boot into her. The shadow grabbed Utsuho's leg, and threw her back toward the ground. Utsuho rebounded, and hovered above ground.
"Kappa: 'Exteeeending Aaaaarm'!"
Nitori had taken a position in the trees behind the shadow. Four mechanical arms shot out from the trees, and wrapped around the shadow. She then sent an electric charge through the arms, as she both bound and stunned the shadow.
"There, attack while I have her!"
Utsuho readied a spellcard. Marisa did the same, and, after looking at it, nudged Razu. He glanced over, and smiled.
He nodded, and looked over at Utsuho. "You go first!"
"Right! Subterranean Sun!"
The ground shook, and a large sun broke from the ground, moving up and engulfing the shadow. As the sun burned around her, Yuuka readied a card of her own.
"Love Sign: 'Master Spark'!" She fired the brilliant beam of colours into the sun.
Utsuho grabbed another card. She grinned, and took aim. "It's over! Explosion Sign: 'Giga Flare'!" She braced herself as she charged her shot, then the vents in her arm cannon opened, and she fired the heavy blast of nuclear power into the Subterranean Sun, adding to the onslaught of magical suppression.
"Let's finish this, Marisa!"
"Right, ze!" Razu and Marisa clasped their hands together as they stood side-by-side, and held out their other hands, taking aim for their ultimate attack. They called out its name together.
"Audible Love: 'Bass Spark'!"
The two beams, composed of Master Spark and Bass Blast, shot up to meet the other attacks. Although, this attack was much stronger than the others, pushing the shadow out of the fray. Subterranean Sun was forced to disperse as Bass Spark pierced it, and continued to push the shadow straight through her very own black barrier of fog. The entire dome of black shattered like glass.
// // // // //
Remilia's eyes widened. She could see the heavy laser punching through the dome of black, that shattered soon after.
"Damn those two...!"
"Remi, the fog's gone, let's get in there!"
Remilia stopped her homicidally eager sister from taking flight off the balcony. "By this point, half of Gensokyo's made their way there. There would be too many to fight."
"But Remiiiii..."
"I said no, Flan."
Flandre puffed her cheeks. "Aww..."
Remilia sipped her red tea and continued to look on. "We will have our time."
// // // // //
The shadow tumbled through the air, arcing over the forest and into the field by the train wreck. She landed hard, leaving an impression in the ground. The sword landed about twenty meters away, sticking into the ground. No longer bound to the sword or Rumia's influence, the shadow left Rizu's body.
Razu, Marisa, Utsuho, Nitori, Yuuka, and Alice flew out of the forest, and scanned the area. "Over there, ze!" Marisa pointed to Rizu's still body. Razu flew ahead to meet her.
"Rizu! Are you alright?"
Rizu weakly opened her eyes. "Brother...did we win...?"
Razu nodded, and pulled his sister close, hugging her tightly.
Marisa touched down beside Razu. "I saw the sword over there, ze."
"That sword...don't touch it! It'll try to take you over like it did me!"
"Don't worry," Razu replied. "I'll take care of it." He reached out his hand. Rizu took his hand, and he pulled her up onto her feet. As they made their way to where the blade landed, Satori was carrying Orange as she was walking out of the forest with Reimu.
Razu stepped close to the sword. Marisa stopped next to him. "So, ze, what do you plan to do with it?"
"Send it far, far away." With that statement, Razu forced the blade out of the ground, and aimed it at the sky. He then took out a spellcard.
"Force: 'Electromagnet's Polarity'."
Razu charged for a monent, and with a large pulse, he fired the blade up into space.
As everyone tried to spot the sword in the night sky as it left the stratosphere, Rizu spoke up. "What an unexpected way to spend a night."
"I know, ze."
Alice stretched. "Well, if there is nothing else, I'm going home," she said. "What time is it?" Without waiting for an answer, she started back into the forest.
Utsuho looked up at the sky. "It IS late...I guess we should go, too," she said, speaking for her mistress and Orange.
"I'm okay now, Miss Satori; you can put me down now." Satori let Orange down to stand on her own. "I guess we'll be walking, since my glider got messed up. Sorry, Nitori..."
"Not a problem! I'll make you a better one! I think you're ready for thrusters!" As the four of them started south, Satori looked at Razu for a moment.
"You handled things well tonight, Teionhakushi."
Razu nodded. "Thanks."
Satori turned around. "Oh...and welcome to Gensokyo." With that, she walked on.
Razu and Marisa looked around. It seemed that Yuuka had left when nobody was looking.
"Reimu, how's your back? You landed pretty hard."
"In pain, of course. I need to go home and lie down...I'll check with you three tomorrow. Take care." Reimu took off to the shrine.
"I guess we should go home too, ze," Marisa said.
"I call the couch. I don't feel like sleeping in the train anymore. I'll go grab the blankets."
// // // // //
Rumour has it that the sword has been discovered within the Lunar Capitol. I certainly hope it's being kept in a safe place if it has.
~Hieda no Akyuu
~Gensokyo Chronicle, Autumn 2010: Black Fog Dome Incident
