Taking the lead, Lemon Drop directs the faeries of the Revolutionary Party to stay low under the trees. Everything seems to be happening so fast now; she had hoped that there was going to be more time to plan things out. But, she tells herself, this opportunity is just too much to pass up. If they could take down one of the oppressors now before the Revolution was even known to the outside world, who could possibly complain?
Still, she keeps low so that the trees will mask their presence, trying to figure out what the Red White is plotting. Lemon Drop is fairly certain that she is flying in the same direction as Sullen Plummet, but she doesn't seem to be in an especial hurry. Every so often, the Red White stops and tests the wind again before flying onward in the same direction.
Before long, Lemon Drop can see they are drawing close to the mountains. Never before had she strayed so far from her home, and in another lifetime she might have exalted in the exploration. But the Revolution allows for no such things; Lemon Drop pays the new terrain only enough attention to avoid slamming into the trees. Instead, her mind whirls as she tries to come up with some kind of plan to actually fight the Red White. The wind's too erratic to try and surge up from below, and if everyone charged in at once, she would just try one of those nasty spell cards and that would be the end of the Revolution. She frowns as various formations come to mind, and discards them as impractical or just too hard to do. It'll have to be kept simple. Simple, and enough to keep from tempting the Red White from doing anything drastic until it is too late.
It is a blessing, Lemon Drop realizes, that their target doesn't seem to be in any particular hurry. Without having to fly at top speed, she is able to spend a little time appointing lieutenants and getting an idea of what some of the people in the Revolutionary Party can do. Some, having no skill at danmaku at all, she sends up ahead to find other faeries and spread the word to them. Others she orders into groups and platoons, so she will have an easier time directing them. As she gets a more clear idea of what the Revolutionary Party can do, she can begin to see a plan, one that should decisively crush the Red White once and for all!
Soon, the trees begin to thin out, as the land becomes more and more uneven and hilly. Soon, Lemon Drop realizes, they'll have to strike or they'll lose the advantage of surprise. As the Red White stops to check the wind again, she stops as well and quickly explains the plan. The faeries nod, each platoon finding their orders simple enough to follow. Still, though, she can feel their uncertainty hanging over the air. Glancing upwards to see the target still checking the wind and reasoning there is still a little time, Lemon Drop looks back up to them and says, "This is it. At this moment, we shall strike the first blow for the Revolution, breaking the back of our mightiest foe! You will be remembered forever as the heroes that first struck down the hated Red White!"
Seeing the some affirming nods and growing smiles among the party members, she grins back with as confidence as she can muster. "The fool will never know what hit her! But she will be only the first that we will grind beneath the Revolution! When people look back upon history, the Red White will only be a footnote in the rise of the Revolution! She will be all but forgotten next to your names!"
"She just flew away," says Tea Leaves, as she points toward the sky.
Lemon drop whirls around to see the Red White has moved on. "Oh hell!"
Turning back to the Party, she points at one of the platoons with her right hand while waving her left arm. "Raspberry Flower, go! Hurry!" The faerie nods, and takes to the air, eleven others following her. "C'mon!" says Lemon Drop to the rest of the Revolutionary Party as she takes to the air, "We can't let her get away now! Orange Candy, go!"
As that faerie and another group of eleven followers departs, Lemon Drop shouts orders to the next wave, sending them on their way while she looks up in time to see Raspberry Flower's platoon engage the enemy.
"The Revolution is here!" cries Raspberry Flower as she swoops in toward her target's right.
"Who are you people?!" says the Red White in turn, while reaching into a skirt pocket. "Leave me alone, I didn't even go into your stupid forest!"
"Ha!" Raspberry Flower answers as she raises her arms to prepare a volley of danmaku, moments before a paper seal smacks into her face and sends her spiraling to the ground.
"Fiend!" cries Orange Candy as she and her division come at the Red White's left, and is quickly knocked out of commission by talisman to her temple. Lemon Drop frowns, but she had expected most of this. But it would have been nice to know that the Red White has such a fast arm.
The next platoon reaches her now, a group of ten faeries led by Tea Leaves. Unlike the last two, this group doesn't charge the Red White, but instead lingers back a bit. Lemon Drop grins, seeing the Red White pause for a moment, exactly what she had hoped for! "Cedar Needle! Peach Fuzz! Go!" she cries, "Sandy Loam, follow Cedar Needle! Rice Blossom, I want you right behind Peach Fuzz! Hurry! Golden Grain, slip your team into two and hit her from both directions, we have her now!"
Looking back to the sky, Lemon Drop sees Tea Leaves successfully conjure a small wave of danmaku and fires it at the Red White, as the latter is busy picking off the rest of her group. The Red White dodges between the bullets easily. Lemon Drop smiles and gives a low chuckle, as the the next few waves close on their unsuspecting target. Then she shivers a bit as a wind picks up and reaches to tighten scarf, before her blood starts to run cold.
Lemon Drop watches, jaw dropping, as the divisions she had just sent up are caught up in the wind. Some of them tumble through the air, blown head over heels crying out with surprise. The Red White looks over at them calmly, then sends more talismans flying at them. "N-no" rasps Lemon Drop. They were the best! All they had to do was get close and send danmaku in every direction; not even the Red White could have dodged it all if she was distracted by the others! But now...
No! Lemon snarls, trying to drive off her dismay, all is not lost yet! She gestures at two platoons of thirteen faeries beside her. "Go! Throw everything you got at her! Go!" Then to a group of fifteen led by Ficus Blossom, she says, "Follow them! Give her everything you got! Don't let up on her for a second! Now!" Lemon Drop does not bother to watch as the divisions scramble into motion with angry cries and taunts for their enemy. Instead she points at a group of four, the closest of the danmaku capable faeries, and cries, "You four, follow me!" She does not wait for them to say anything in reply, taking to the air after Ficus Blossom's group.
The wind has died down again, thankfully, as the first wave of twenty-six falls upon their target. Lacking much skill in danmaku, certainly not enough to pull off anything on such short notice, they simply charge at the Red White while shouting incoherantly. "C'mon, this isn't funny anymore!" says the Red-White as she sends another wave of talismans flying at them. As she does, Ficus Blossom's division follows close, forming into three waves of five.
Dimly aware that the platoon she called to join her has formed up with her, Lemon Drop allows herself a grin as Ficus Blossom's division unleashes lines of danmaku on the Red White. She dodges left and right around the shots, but it is enough to have mildly disrupted her previous rhythm and she stops to reassess the situation. Lemon Drop gives a final burst of speed to get into position, there wouldn't be an opening like this again. The Red White dodges around one of the waves of Ficus Blossom's division as Lemon Drop closes in. Then, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, she shouts, "Now!"
Lemon Drop had never been that good at danmaku, things requiring that kind of concentration were never her forte. But now, now there is no other choice. She reaches within herself, digging deep into her heart. It's now or never. If she falters here the revolution will be over! That can't happen, it must not be allowed to happen! She can feel the energy gather around her, starting to prickle unpleasantly at her body, but she holds it. Just a bit more, she tells herself as she pushes the limit of what she can hold, trying to imagine the shape she wants. Just a bit more. Then, as it feels like five is consuming her, she lets it all burst free.
Opening her eyes, she watches as several lines of electric blue danmaku fly from her outstretched hands, fanning outward in a beautiful spread. The faeries around her match the pattern, filling the air with dozens of bullets, as the last waves of Ficus Blossom's platoon clear out of the way. "Crap!" cries the Red White, as she dodges to the left, then to the left again, then charges forward to try to power through a gap before it disappears. At that moment, Ficus Blossom flies through that gap, and wails in horror as the Red White hurtles right at her.
Splat!
Ficus Blossom slams right into the Red-White's face. The two tumble in midair, the Red-White falling backwards, then downward as gravity claims her! Lemon Drop's heart flutters. Did they do it? Had they actually crushed the oppressor? She watches, transfixed and breathless, as the Red White tumbles through the air. Her companions cheer, she can feel the breeze from them waving their arms in celebration. They did it, she realizes, they really did it! "Long live-" she starts, then:
"That's it!"
The Red White turns in midair, regaining her balance and producing a small, colorful bit of paper. She tosses it, and Lemon drop can only watch with the same fascination as she had watched the tumbling Red White, for she had never seen a spell card before. Then the world explodes into a rainbow.
****
A dull ache engulfs Lemon Drop as she slowly opens her eyes. She can see the cloudy sky above, and then blinks as a snowflake lands gently on her eyelashes. There are groans all around her. "Is....everyone okay?" she asks.
"I think she bit my leg..." says Ficus blossom, from somewhere past Lemon Drop's head.
"I can't stop seeing stars!"
"I wanna go back to bed."
"It kinda hurts," says Ficus Blossom.
"Has anyone seen my hat?"
"I think I'm going to have a scar," says Ficus Blossom.
"It is a mark of honor," says Lemon Drop, trying and failing to put enthusiasm into her voice. "A medal of courage in the fight against the oppressors."
"Oh okay," Ficus Blossom answers.
"Are there any more danishes?" ask another faerie
"Hey, I bet there is are some neat trees around here!"
"Okay the stars are gone now."
"I want some lunch."
Lemon Drop closes her eyes, and waits for the aches to fade away. She can hear the other faeries wander off one by one. A part of her is upset, but just as she defeated the Snow Lily Party, the Baking Party, the Kitty Party and all the rest, they had been defeated by the Red White Party. Still, it was a little disappointing. But a flicker of hope still burns in her heart, she had sent out many faeries to spread the word of the revolution, so it would not just die here. And there was still Sullen Plummet, if she could get Sudden Rain to join the revolution...
Then she realizes she is alone. With a sigh, Lemon Drop picks herself up from the snow and dusts herself off. She frowns at her dress, now charred a bit in several places, then looks around. It seems she landed in a valley clearing; the snow-covered mountains tower over her while flurries of snow waft lazily through the wind. Closer by, she can see stands of unfamiliar trees. Briefly, she wonders where she is. But having no one to ask, she simply picks a direction and starts to walk.
She passes by a copse of trees and walks around a fallen log buried in the snow. Perhaps when she gets home, Sullen Plummet will be back? It would be nice to drop in on Sullen Plummet's house for some tea...
A noise amidst the winter quiet breaks Lemon Drop from her reverie. Stopping and biting her lip, she looks around to make sure there aren't any dangerous animals prowling about. She hears it again, a sort of groaning noise. Waiting a little longer, it sounds again. Lemon drop turns around and frowns at the log, then approaches it. It groans once more.
"Are you alright?" she asks. It groans. Not certain what to make of the answer, Lemon Drop kneels by the log and starts to clean the snow away from it. Rather than feeling wooden or hard, the log is rather soft, and clearing some of the snow reveals it is wearing blue and white cloth. "Cirno?" asks Lemon Drop.
"Huh wha-?" answers the false log, as it sits up and scatters snow everywhere, then looks at Lemon Drop with bleary eyes. "Oh, hey."
"Are you okay, Cirno?" Lemon Drop asks.
"Yeah," says Cirno, "Just the Red White tricked me. I was out getting some good ice for the snowcones, you see? Mine's not so good for it today. And then the Red White came out of nowhere! And before I could even get my spellcard ready, she beat me up! That's just the worst."
Lemon Drop nods. "It's okay. She beat us up, too."
"So how's the Revolution going?" asks Cirno. "Can I join- Hey, do you hear that?" She looks toward the nearby trees, prompting Lemon Drop to do the same. Now that things are quiet again, she can hear a soft crunching of snow; something is walking through it. Cirno gets to her feet without a word, and silently the two approach source of the soft crunching sounds. Then a fuzzy gray tail pokes out from around a sycamore tree, and a soft "Mew!" joins the prior noises.
"Kitty!" cry Cirno and Lemon Drop as one, their prior defeats and indignations forgotten.
****
Left right left right, Reimu tells herself. Her lungs cry for air, but she dare not breath. Her eyes water, but she dare not blink. Ahead, she can see the intangible form of the ghost princess, barely a dot against the immense cherry tree dominating her field of vision. It had been a long, hard trip and a long hard battle, but Reimu could almost taste the end in sight. Yuyuko had been a worthy opponent, to be certain, easily one of the worst battles she had experienced. But it was nearly over now. Yuyuko was on the ropes.
Another volley of colorful butterflies fly from the hazy and indistinct form of the ghost, and another volley of lasers to match. It was intimidating to watch, but Reimu knew it was just that, intimidating. Still, she could ill afford to make a mistake now. With no more spellcards left, she as just as much on the ropes as her opponent.
Left, Right, Left, Right.
Yuyuko had to be wearing down by now, she couldn't keep this up more than half a minute. It was just a matter of time now!
Left Right Left-Wait is that going left too!?
A lavender butterfly slams into Reimu's chest, her lasts thoughts whether she was seeing things or if that last wave was going left at the end. If only she had one more spell card...
****
"Hey, you alright, Reimu?" comes the familiar voice of Marisa. Reimu opens her eyes, and sees the curious sky of Hakugyokurou. "Don't worry about Yuyuko, I got her."
"Son of a-" says Reimu, as she starts to recall what happened. She hated when Marisa stole the glory like that. Then she stops, as she recalls the last moments before being knocked unconscious.
"Stupid god-damned faeries!"