~Beyond the Border~ > Rumia's Party Games

RPG - Waking Up From the Dream (Story Archive - Day 1 and Morning of Day 2)

<< < (3/3)

Gappy: Near the Abandoned Hakurei Shrine, Yatsugatake National Park, Outside World, Day 1, 5.57 PM, "Ugh..." Hiroko groaned, rubbing her head. She had only remembered the shadow snake, the constant rumbling, and Parsee and her going into the boundary - she had probably lost consciousness after that. Taking a quick look around her revealed that Parsee was with her, as well as someone in a pink shirt with red ribbons on the end, and a long shawl was wrapped around her. At least another survived. Hiroko thought, and shook the both of them gently. "Hey, time to wake up, the both of you." It took some time, but eventually Parsee and the other person awoke and they got to their feet. The both of them were naturally confused, and she explained that they were in the outside world already. "So this is the outside world, huh? It's interesting..." Parsee trailed off softly. Hiroko presumed that it was her first time looking at the trees and the plants, as she had never gone far from her bridge before. "I wonder how the Eldest Daughter is doing..." the woman with the shawl mused. "Uh, sorry if I'm intruding on your thoughts or anything, but what's your name? I'm Hiroko." she asked. "Ah, it's Iku Nagae. I used to be the envoy of the Dragon Palace in Gensokyo, but now..." "...I understand. So, uh, do you have a partner? You won't last long in here without a source of mana." "I don't. I went to the Hakurei boundary with the celestials, but mostly I've been by myself. You mentioned that I won't last in the outside world without a mana source. Care to elaborate furthur?" Iku asked. "Well, basically everyone, even outsiders, produce mana, which is a kind of energy that sustains us, see. However, Gensokyo is saturated with mana, so through the generations, the inhabitants of Gensokyo have produced less mana as they simply use the surrounding mana. Someone screwed with the mana spring though, and that's how the boundary started failing, I guess." "So living in Gensokyo have reduced our mana production, so now we cannot produce enough to sustain ourselves. Is that it?" "That's the gist of things. Outsiders like ourselves can channel mana to you guys though, so the immediate danger of wasting away'll be avoided." "How does this mana channeling work, then?" Iku queried, a bit impatiently. "Through our relationships, I think. The stronger the bond, the more mana that we can channel." "Well then. Pardon me for any rudeness, but please lend me your strength. Channel mana to me." "E-eh?! Well, I..." Hiroko cast a careful eye to Parsee. The bridge princess' face betrayed no emotion. "All the survivors have to stick together, yes? And this won't be a permanent thing, I think - just until Gensokyo is revived." "W-well...if that's the case, then I guess it's okay." Hiroko then extended her hand out to Iku, who grasped it, and started chanting the spell that was the key to the ritual for mana sharing. Energy crackled between the two, and as the ritual completed, Hiroko dropped to the floor, exhausted. She felt a deeper strain on herself, and as Parsee helped her up, she saw the other's mixed expression. I just hope Parsee can understand the situation we're in, and overcome her jealousy... Abandoned Hakurei Shrine, Yatsugatake National Park, Outside World, Day 1, 6.11 PM, While the entire group were conversing with each other, Gpop was still too pre-occupied with the still unconscious Koishi and her sister. "So...if I manipulate my mana to Koishi, she'll have enough energy to survive in here?" He asked himself, "But will I have enough to save her sister as well? I mean, I know I'm married to Koishi and all, and Satori is a close friend of mine as well..." Gpop knew that the only way he would know for sure is to try it out himself. He extended his hand towards Koishi and concentrated his mind in releasing some of his mana to supply Koishi. He notices a soft blue wave was being exerted through his hand, yet he started to felt his mind somewhat being weighed down a bit, but not enough for him to complain at all. Then he noticed Koishi's eye twitched. She later opened her eyes, and as soon as she did, Gpop discontinued his mana transfer. Koishi got up and said, "Gpop...you...helped me..." "Yeah..." Gpop replied, and they both hugged each other in relief. "I'm going to help out your sister as well Koishi. So I'm going to release my mana to her as well." And Gpop extended his hand towards Satori as well. The results were similar to Koishi. She opened her eyes and the first thing she saw were both Koishi and Gpop with his hand extended towards her. Gpop quickly stopped his mana transfer after that. "...why...thank you...Gpop..." Satori said calmly, yet somewhat straining for a bit of energy. "Do you need more mana? You don't seem so well." Gpop asked. "No, no, I'm alright. I'm just usually like this when I wake up from a deep sleep," Satori replied. "But thank you anyways for saving my sister and I. Again, I knew I could count on you." "It was...nothing...really." Gpop said, somewhat emberrased. Gpop, Koishi, and Satori went outside of the shrine and sat on the steps quietly as the three of them gazed at the stars above. "So...it's really gone, isn't it?" Koishi asked quietly. "No...it's still in our hearts," Gpop replied optimistically, "we're not giving up just yet. Whoever that voice was, it has something against us. I don't know what, but I bet it ain't because we ate the last piece of cake from a party or something." "Well I really hope we can get our home back" Satori added, "Although I managed to bring Utsuho and Orin here, I hope my other pets will return with Gensokyo." "They will," Gpop replied. "Reimu mentioned that those who disappeared with Gensokyo can also be revived once we save Gensokyo ourselves. And besides, we..." Gpop started to hear some music from afar, but below them. Gpop went over to the long staircase and he could clearly recognize a trumpet, violen, and keyboard, playing some faint, but sad, depressing music. "Is that..." Gpop recognized the only ensemble group to play music like that. Then he could see a group a three girls walking up the steps, and Gpop quickly recognized them. "IT'S THE PRISMRIVERS! THE PRISMRIVERS MADE IT THROUGH AS WELL!" Abandoned Hakurei Shrine, Yatsugatake National Park, Outside World, Day 1, 6.18 PM, The Prismrivers finally made it to the top of the staircase where Gpop and the Underground Palace crew were awaiting them. "I guess we're not the only ones who safely crossed the border then..." Lyrica said. "Well I'm relieved that we've managed to stay together." Merlin added. "...and the others are here too." Lunasa added as well. "Well I'm glad that the three of you are here," Gpop said, "and all of us are inside the shrine." "Huh? Did Reimu foolishly bring the shrine with her?" Lyrica asked, noticing some striking similarities between the two shrines. "No, this is the shrine that's connected to hers, but not all of us managed to land here. I guess some of us are separated." Gpop replied. "...and yes, you can stay there with us." Satori added. "...hmm, seems like you take a liking to Gpop it seems, eh Merlin...?" "W...what? N...no!? It's not like I like him that way!" Merlin exclaimed emberrasingly. "Well you can't have him anyways!" Koishi yelled. "He's mine! We're married and all!" And Koishi ran up to Gpop and hugged him tightly, as Gpop was being strangled as he was gasping for air. "Well your thoughts don't matter anyways. Let's all go inside." Satori said calmly. And all three of them walked towards the shrine as everyone inside were still conversing with each other and their plans. Abandoned Hakurei Shrine, Yatsugatake National Park, Outside World, Day 1, 6.18 PM, "...people in black armour and helmets...waiting for us?" The weight of this slowly sank into the group. "I don't understand." Pichu said. "This means somebody in the outside world knew Gensokyo would collapse tonight?" "...and that somebody is somebody with power too." Myon added. "Doesn't look good." "This person knows we'd be trying to escape." Sumire said. "...could it have anything to do with that voice?" "Looks like we've missed quite a bit while we were in Gensokyo." Jeremy muttered over his dying laptop. "I've got bad news and bad news." "A connection? Here? But..." Gpop began. "Satellite." Jeremy said impatiently, waving a satellite phone hooked up to his laptop. "Look at the new secretarial aide to the Prime Minister." He said, turning his laptop to face them. She was a tall woman with a calm, serene-looking expression, suggesting comfort and good will. She was dressed in a very smart office lady uniform with what looked like a rather oversized bronze pendant hanging around her neck. "...." Everyone who could move leaned in for a good look. "....do we know her?" Hiroko asked. "....Kikuri...." Shinki muttered under her breath from Pichu's side. "...she's still alive..." "Yep. Saaya Kikuri, it says here." Jeremy said, just as the laptop finally gave way from lack of battery power. "If anyone knows about Gensokyo, it'd be her." "She's still bearing a grudge, is she...?" Reimu finally stirred, gritting her teeth. "I take it Taka-kun's still alive?" "Yeah, barely." Jeremy nudged the lying Mitaka with a well-placed toe jab. "Hey, wake up." "Yeah, yeah...." Mitaka was still digesting this slowly. "Hey, Taihou, where did you encounter those people?" "Just down the hill..." Taihou began, then the realization dawned on him. "....this shrine! They'd...." Just then, smoking canisters flew in through the windows, hissing and gushing thick, white smoke. "....run..." Abandoned Hakurei Shrine, Yatsugatake National Park, Outside World, Day 1, 6.22 PM, "Mitaka !  Teargas!" Taihou shouted. "We must secure the ladies." Mitaka quickly stood up tearing off bit of his cloths: "Quicky everybody, tear a bit of your cloth and keep it in front of your mouth. Do NOT inhale the smoke" Glass shattering could be hearable. The door of the room got blasted and four men entered the room holding sticks and shields. "They are in here!" One of them shouted. "What is goin on" Marisa asked. "They are all weiring same colour as me." "Marisa, this isn't the time for joking around." Reimu sighed. Yuyuko stood up with a drooling face "Food Food. My dinner arrived." "You too Yuyuko! Be quiet" "We'll have to split up for the time being. This way they cannot follow us all." Taihou shouted while punching and kicking a few of the men trying to attack. Mokou jumped over to Taihou: "I am going to use my powers for a bit. I know it is crazy but we need to do something." Taihou hesitated for a moment but gestured a yes. "Allright. But you will need to take care of my body incase I collapse." Mokou bursted once more in flames. Her entire body was glowing and small wings appeared on her back. The men paniced slightly, but one of them still charged. With a single blast, Mokou created a fierce flaming wall which instantly drove the teargas away. The rest of the group could breath normally again. "NOW Everybody, run for it!" she commanded. "Where do we meet again. In the town?" Taihou asked Mitaka. Abandoned Hakurei Shrine, Yatsugatake National Park, Outside World, Day 1, 6.24 PM, "Huh?" Gpop heard a group of men that have arrived at the shrine. As Mokou blew the tear gas away, Gpop asked Satori, "Hey, I know this might be a bit risky, but can you read their minds and what their strategy is and see if there is any openings to their attack?" "I'll see what I can do." Satori replied calmly. As everyone began to run out, Satori stood closely to the front door and began to read each of the men-in-black's mind. "They're all attacking from the front. They're assuming that we won't break through the back." Satori informed calmly. "Well then I guess that's our plan for now." Gpop yelled back. "Koishi destroy the back wall, and then place a subconsious barrier around us so we can't escape unnoticed!" "Alright then!" Koishi replied. She used her magic and using heart-shaped bullets, she easily destroyed the back wall. Then she placed a subconsious barrier around everyone in the shrine. It's not easily noticed by the others, but Gpop could tell due to the fact that he could not hear himself stomping on the wooden floor. "Alright everyone let's get out through the back! Once we're far enough we have to split up since they're going to continue following us after they noticed a huge hole through the back!" Gpop yelled at everyone. And Gpop, Koishi, Satori, and her pets managed to make it through back and started running through the mysterious woods located at the back... Abandoned Hakurei Shrine, Yatsugatake National Park, Outside World, Day 1, 6.26 PM, "Shit-!" Pichu cursed bringing his sleeve up to his face to ward of the incoming gas. His eyes could not see two feet in front of him, but he sure as hell could hear the ones who caused this. "You guys wanna peice of us, you feelin' froggy then jump!" He taunted now ready to strike that is before an arm grasped his shoulder firmly holding him in place. It was Shinki. "Pichu, don't be rash!" Shinki warned sternly. "We must retreat for now, I know you're one to rush in and fight but now's not the time." "Gh...but..." Pichu hesitated for a moment, but he knew Shinki's words had some meaning behind them, if he went apeshit on the SWAT team now, their situation would only worsen. Now was the time to retreat and maybe regroup. "Alright, you heard the man, everyone escape through the back!" Pichu yelled back as he and Shinki fled the area, following through the wall in which Koishi had just destroyed. ====-Moments Later, after the escape-===== "Are we at a safe distance?" "It looks like it, they're not following us yet." Pichu replied as he took a moment or two to catch his breathe. "Geeze, I didn't think they'd sniff us out THIS fast, they're really determined about...whatever it is they wanna do with us." "That said, we might have to split up from the main group for now, otherwise we may fall prey to the same method the humans used on us earlier." Shinki suggested as she looked around to see if anyone else had emerged from the structre they had come out of, so far no one else had came out yet. Which worried her to some extent... "Don't worry they'll get out okay, we made it this far in one piece" Pichu commented as a way to reassure Shinki from her doubts. "Perhaps..." The demon goddess replied her voice still not lifting from the uncertainty she had. "I still wonder whatever became of my subjects..." "Oh, I wouldn't worry about them~" Huh, that's strange, no one else was following them so who could that voice belong to? Shinki and Pichu turned their gaze to the source and found a sight the both of them never thought they would see on this side of the border "Yumeko, Yuki, Mai!" "And Luize too~" the demon traveler chimed in cheerfully. "Took us forever to find out where you all had went," Yuki chuckled as she placed her hands behind her head in a nonchalant gesture. "You wouldn't believe the amount of junk we had to go through to get here." "That is only because you kept causing trouble." Yumeko pointed out a hint of annoyance in her steel tone. Mai also seemed to agree with Yumeko accusation with a silent nod of her head. "H-how was I supposed to know things work differently in the Human World?" Yuki stammered trying to dismiss the blames that were pinned upon her. "But can you really blame me, if it wasn't for me we wouldn't have found Luize!" "Speaking of which, Luize did you run into Sara or that other human she had with her?" Shinki asked to Luize who seemed to be the more talkitive of the three at this point. "You 4 are the only Makai residents we've met so far..." "Hmm, well...let me put it this way; she came through with us, but they didn't land in the same spot as us. Something must have happened during the initial travel across Gensokyo to the Outside that seperated her and Mr.Muffin from us." Luize explained trying not to confuse anyone on the matter. "I would guess that they're located somewhere else around here, being the original coordinates were set for the outside however, I...just can't say where they landed exactly." "Well, at least we know they're here, hopefully we'll be able to find them before our enemy does." Shinki stated as she turned forward. "As for right now; we need to concentrate on escape, we were attacked earlier on and staying here would only leave us open to the enemy again." Pichu nods in agreement to Shinki's words. "Right, let's head off to the shrine I dunno if anyone else is there but it's the only safehouse I can think of right now." ====-Elsewhere-In an Alleyway filled with 'Bad People'==== "You seen the news lately? There sure is alot of shit going on now ever since those foreigners came here..." "Why, is that a problem? You're not usually the one to give a damn about the community." "Oh no, it's not that at all. Think about it, if we play our cards right...we may be able to finally turn this city into our playground..." "Okay, I'm lost...what're you up to?" "In due time I'll tell ya, but for now we'll just sit back and enjoy the show..." An undisclosed valley, somewhere near Karuisuwa, Nagano Province, Japan, Outside World, Day 1, 6.28 PM, A shiny river. Just follow it downstream... A tank sits near a wooden bridge crossing that river. ... The hatch of the tank opens. A woman with a pure white shirt and a purple bow under it's collar appears. Long, brown hair escapes from the M1 helmet she is wearing. Inside the tank's driver's compartment, the lights are flickering and the monitors are showing complete static. But that doesn't seem to disrupt the driver's deep sleep. Then, the hatch closes with a loud slam. "Thirtyfour! Wake up! Thirtyfour!" Thirtyfour doesn't want to open his eyes. The woman descends from the commander's position and grabs her helmet, and starts bashing Thirtyfour's head. "WAKE UP!", the woman shouts again. Thirtyfour finally wakes up and accidentally, out of pure reaction, smashes the woman's face. "Uhh... Rika?", Thirtyfour mutters, still half-sleep. Rika stands up, helmet on her head. "That helmet wasn't much of help...", Rika says. "Well, a bullet in between eyes always deals the same amount of destruction, regardless of country, planet or any place.", Thirtyfour tells, while trying to get the monitors online. "Could you, by any chance, check outside for any damages? The tank doesn't seem to respond very well.", Thirtyfour commands. Rika opens the hatch again, jumping out of the tank. She pulls out her notepad and starts writing. The tank has been really hammered from all sides, but the main gun is completely smashed, having the insignia "CHALLENGER II" horribly distorted. Engine hasn't suffered damage at all. Tracks are fine. Rika gets back in the tank. "Have a look", she hurries. Thirtyfour reads the notepad carefully. "Can you test the turret's movement?", Thirtyfour asks. Rika goes back to commander's position, and starts moving the turret. It stutters alot, and the turret engine coughs a little while moving. "This tank is FUBAR. Coaxial guns aren't enough to fend off large masses.", Rika considers. "Countryside has tanks patrolling? Pray tell!", Thirtyfour speaks with a sarcastic tone. "We are in an unknown place, you can never be sure if we are in a middle of a military base.", Rika answers. "PTTTFFF." Thirtyfour opens a small hatch for a better view, and sees a sign. "Ka... Rui... Karuisuwa.", Thirtyfour stutters. Backyard of ?Tourist Helpers? Store, Karuisuwa, Outside World, Day 1, 7.40 PM Lily White and Amarillo Viridian had officially ended their 1st day of work when Jason announces that it's time for him to sleep and shut the shop. With Jason gone they can finally manage to "make the place prettier "by using Lily White's Ability. However, Amarillo thinks that before she does that, there is something more important, it is not important that the fairy understands all of them, but at least she must inform her what the worst condition will become. "I want to let you know about how my ability works." Said Amarillo. "Isn't it an "empathy-or-something" to nature that makes you talks to us fairies telepathically?" "That's only the surface, I once thought it's that easy. However, It's not." "But is that really that important that you choose not to sleep but talk to me about it now?" "I'll make it really quick," Amarillo cleared her throat "Have you felt something strange when you come here?" "Nothing, my appearance and power didn't change. Your speed of telepathy and your stamina seems dropped, though." "That's why it's strange. If it's not because of my power you had already perished when you land there." "W-what?" "The others seems already gets there, but can you sense them?" "I can pick up very weak readings." "That's it, the reading are weak because they are bounded to humans like us. Probably via some spell, I'm not sure..." "So what's your point?" "Let's just say Gensokyo is a spring, the residents take water from the spring everyday so they can live." "I'm okay with that." "So today the spring gets polluted and the residents' water supply had been cut, for us humans, 3 days is the extreme to live without water." "......" "Seems you know what situation your friends have got into. Luckily, they found a place where have water underground, so they try to dig and get the water out so they can stay alive." "Which means...." "The most of other humans are not suitable for mana storage, however, they can forcely bind a link to other beings using a special spell. Thus making others live on." "But you haven't do that to me, and I still keep my energy on." "That's because..." Amarillo left out a sigh "...That I myself is a spring." "......" "......" Long-Time Silence. "Don't worry, As long as I'm ALIVE you can always get mana from me and nobody, even myself can stop you from doing so. However, you must be close. In Gensokyo it's proved that my radius is 3km, However, now I should take Another data: My original self, who is currently living in another dimension, have a max radius of 10 Meters. So don't get too far from me until I found some way that's safer than a living mana storage." "So The reason that I'm here without the binding spell is that..." "Now forget it. The only thing you should know is not getting too far from me, if something bad happened to me..." "YOU WON'T!" "Only if, if something happened to me, find somebody who can do the binding spell as soon as possible. " "......" "Sorry if this information makes you sad. Now let's get started shall we? If you want to know more I can load it from the EFA Database." "?" "If it confuses you then don't ask about it." "Well, OK." "So shell we get started?" The fairy nods, and started to make the flowers bloom around the shop. 9pm, inside a room of "TOURIST HELPERS" Amarillo opens the computer, and quickly browsed through some websites, namely, the organizations that may have linked to the incident. There is no trace of The Brotherhood of NOD on the Internet now, it's only a fictional group. The Evil Regional Organization FARGO exists, but is wiped out completely in 2004. The leader's last attempt of fight failed because her "Unseen Power" gets overloaded and she simply exploded. The EFA (Earth Federation Army) exists but have already get separated. The Database is intact and she even managed to found her profile in the database, (The database is arranged by Chrono Agents so data from all timeline exists) However, Lily White claimed that she didn't understand any of them. "If i can find Satori... Maybe I can face my original self again..."Amarillo thought. In the past incident where she was taken to Gensokyo, thanks to Satori's mind-reading power, Amarillo mets her original-self, "Yellow-chan", in her own mind. Yellow claimed that in order to not let the tragedy happen again she had locked 50% of Amarillo's power. She will return the power only if Amarillo proves that there is a reason to do so. And Amarillo gave up since she only wants to live as a normal human girl. But now the situation changed. "No point worrying yourself now," Amarillo murmured, looking at the already-asleep fairy. "Wonder if my speech just now had any negative effect on her." "The only thing that I can do is to do the work well, maybe I can met the others when working in this shop. So having a good sleep is the first priority!" thought so, she lie down on the bed, put her arm around the fairy, hugging her. "Some Childish habit, can't fall asleep if not hugging something." that's Satori's remark. Hoping not having a nightmare, Amarillo closed her eyes. Day 1 Amarillo Route End Forest near Lake Suwa, at the edge of the Yatsugatake National Park boundaries, 11.40 PM, Day 1 3 hours?. They had been walking for 3 hours in the dark, blazing a wild trail through unmarked woodland? After the incident at the shrine things have been a lot more quiet. Perhaps eerily so. They had come across a sweeping search net that was slowly encircling the hill but it had left many exploitable gaps that were easily predicted using Satori?s powers. One soldier had come dangerously close, but with the help of the newcomer highlander, McWallace and a strong pacifier from Eirin, the man had come down very quietly and was last seen sleeping in a deer?s cesspit. It had been a tense, heart-stopping affair, sneaking past the search net, but the great breath of relief and freedom that came after was rejuvenating. Now they were muddy and dirty from crawling around, sweaty, and, above all, deathly exhausted. Team FUBAR (as they had come to be referred to by the rest of the party) led by Mitaka was perhaps fairing the worst. ?C?mon, keep up! We?ve got to keep moving in case they widen the search net.? Sho called out impatiently at the team that was tagging along at the tail-end of the party. ?What on earth is wrong with them?? Gpop asked. ?It looks like they?ve had their very souls sucked out.? ?Quite literally.? Zei nodded. ?But Mitaka is just an average human. I suppose it only makes sense. He?s stretching his average human mana supply 6 ways between his team.? ?Gosh, that must suck?? Pichu nodded sympathetically. ??coming from the guy/superhuman monster supplying a team of 5.? Myon said, soldiering on. ?Team Drill isn?t doing that well either.? Hiroko noted. ?You mean team Suppatenko?? Aya said. ?Cut it out you people?.? Jeremy muttered, bringing up the rear, just in front of team FUBAR. ?If you?re going to name my team something call us?.? ?Team Soul Brothers?? Suwako suggested. ?Team Gattai!? Luize added. ??.I knew I shouldn?t have pulled a Simon?.? Jeremy sighed wearily. ?At least he still has energy to open his mouth.? Taihou said. ?Mitaka looks like he?s about to?.? ??he already did?? Sakuya sighed. Sure enough, Team FUBAR had collapsed a little ways behind them in a puddle that was now threatening to drown them. ?Now what?! We have to carry them as well?? Sho sighed. ?Ah, mou!? Mystia complained. ?I can?t walk anymore!? ?Me neither?.? Minoriko sighed, falling back onto the bracken. ?H-hey, not now of all times!? Reisen called to the party who were, one by one, giving away to the immense fatigue. ?Y-you?ll have to g-go on without me?.Sanae?.? Suwako murmured. ?I-I?m?? ?Suwako! Suwako!? Sanae gasped, grasping Suwako?s hands. ?Hang in there! Suwako!? ??.hungry?.? The little frog goddess finished, causing the wind priestess to fall backwards. "People, we can't rest yet..." Hiroko sighed. "We never know...those people could be trailing us..." Sumire said, coming up the rear. "I and Aya have done our best to clear our trail, but...." ??.what?s that?? Eirin pointed up at what looked like a tall domed silhouette that shone a little in the moonlight. CLANK, CLANK, CLANK! The party immediately copied team FUBAR and met the soggy ground at high speed. ??it?s metallic?? McWallace muttered. ?no shit, Sherlock.? Pichu hissed back. ?Any luck, Rika?? a male voice called out. ?Nope, the drive train?s jammed, ThirtyFour.? A female voice called back. ?It?ll take more than a few hammer smacks to get it unjammed. I told you the tank?s FUBAR!? ?It?s your tank!? The man, apparently named ThirtyFour, retorted. ?Well, it was your repairs!? Rika countered hotly. ??.Rika??? Shinki murmured. ?THAT Rika?? Jeremy facepalmed. ?Flower tank Rika?? Pichu asked. ?The very same?? Sho nodded. ?Oy! Rika!? ?.. A few minutes later? ?Just what did put in my tank?? Rika demanded. ??.Manliness.? Jeremy replied, and left it at that. The console now sported a spiral dial indicating a half-full Spiral Energy supply. ?Just make sure you don?t make it walk.? Yukari muttered from the backseat. ?And Chen, don?t touch the shells.? She added to the curious little kitten. ?Remember what curiosity did to your kind.? ?So, you guys survived too, eh?? ThirtyFour asked the people sitting atop the tank from his commander?s perch. Surprisingly, the tank?s top was quite spacious and afforded (crammed) space for the entire party. ?Barely.? Pichu replied. ?Hey, where are we going?? Taihou asked, wearily. ?We?re in the city now, aren?t we?? Sure enough, they had come off the beaten track and were now rolling across asphalt. What had been trees and grassland had given away to small homes and stores?a somber preview of the urban jungle ahead. ?Good thing it?s midnight.? Sho said. ?Yeah, it means midnight snack time.? Yuyuko said, eyeing Mystia. ?No! That?s not it! I mean, it means nobody would notice a tank lumbering past!? Sho said. ?And no, Yuyuko, she?ll give you indigestion!? ?Wait!? Koishi called out. The tank came to an abrupt halt, threatening to throw everyone off. ?Read that sign, lunar rabbit!? ??? Reisen was too tired to retort and just did as she was told. ?Abandoned building ahead. Do not enter.? ??.looks like a shrine to me.? ThirtyFour scanned the building set atop the hill with his nightvision binoculars. It was about three hundred yards away from where the sign was. The grounds of this shrine must be huge! ?Looks like a perfect place to lay low. It?s a good vantage point. It must have a good view of the entire valley.? Jeremy reasoned. ?Shall we?? Everyone else was too tired to suggest otherwise. ?What about the sign?? Rika asked. BOOM? ?What sign?? Mokou asked, blowing her smoking finger. ?MOKOU!? Keine cried. ?Taihou won?t be able to take anymore!? ?Tch, kill joy.? Mokou muttered as the tank lumbered over the smouldering sign and up the driveway towards the shrine? Atop the Challenger II tank, outside the abandoned Saniwa Shrine, Karuisuwa, Outside World, Day 2, 12.10 AM (Past midnight) "Yuyuko..", Zei sighed. "You're not thinking about eating her, right?", he asked. Yuyuko noticed Zei's glare and turned to him, "?! N-no I wasn't..", she said. "You eyed her with that look. How could you?", Zei said, disappointed. "Should I..tell Xan that you're trying to heh.. 'hook up' with Mystia?", he asked. Yuyuko stood up, walked up to him and slapped him for the hell of it. "son of a bitch..", she then walked off. "OI! I was trying to warn you. Don't be trying to eat her now.", Zei said.

Gappy: Forest near lake Suwa, Yatsugatake National Park, Border Outside World, Day 1, 11.30 PM, After walking near the lake towards the abandoned shrine Kojiro kept a communitive link with Zei telling him where to NOT go since they were attacked. Koji: This isn't good apparently there are others out to capture us now. Remi: Capture? why is anyone trying to capture us? Koji: No idea but whatever, if we get caught we can fight back still with no issue whatsoever. He continues to walk with the same voided expressionless look but he was being very serious. Remilia knew it as well Patchouli:....If someone is trying to capture us then is it possible someone knew that we would be here? Koji stopped walking at this thought. Koji:.....IF that's true then someone knew that the barrier and Gensokyo would collapse! Koa: auu...so...someone knew? Koji: tch...this isn't funny. If its someone related to Gensokyo that would be expected but if its someone outside then... grr. Remi: lets hurry to the others. I'm worried about my sister and Sakuya. Minoriko: Me too...I hope Shizu was saved... After that they continued walking near the forest's edge to stay out of the clearing near the lake, being spotted was not an option seeing as how someone wants them captured. After walking a bit more they finally came to rest under a tree for a bit. Youmu: Senpai i think we should rest here for a bit. Koji: yeah why not... Zei told me just now that he is in a tank with Rika and everyone else. I think we are the only group not with them now....!! Oh and He told me that he has Shizuha with him Minory Minoriko: !! Oh thank heavens! my sister is safe?! Koji: Indeed she is she and Flandre are safe with him and everyone else. After that she pounced on him and hugged happily. Minoriko: I'm so relieved. *sobbing* I thought she disappeared Kojiro rubbed her head in comfort. Koji: well i'm glad she's safe too. The more we have the better our chances,....we have to save Gensokyo AND make sure who or whatever is behind this incident isn't able to pull it off again. Remilia felt that pinch in her chest again and was reminded of when Youmu  was complemented by him about her sword skill. Remi: "!! this feeling again....am I seriously jealous now? This is ridiculous! Its just a hug right? But...i can't shake it I can't" She was sitting next to him and suddenly wrapped her arms around his arms while Minoriko sobbed still. Patchouli and Koakuma were sitting quietly and talking amongst themselves and Youmu was standing next to the tree they sat at attentive and alert like a loyal guard. After hearing that they were being searched after, she was in high alert mode. Koji: what's wrong Remilia? Minoriko lets go and looks too Remilia: ...Nothing...Do not concern yourself with me Kojiro: *rubs her head* but i do concern myself with you. Why else would i cared to share a link with you. If something is bothering you don't hesitate to mention it. Its gonna be rough for us all. Remilia was blushed by that. She's not used to being told what to do much less being told from a Human. She used to despise humans and saw them only as a means of sustenance. Used to. Now she sees them as friends. Beings who can actually surpass her in ability and even history. She started to hold respect for them Now.... She's starting to fall in love with them But its natural to deny love at first when you come into contact with it right? Her thoughts were interupted when Youmu spoke up Youmu: senpai someone approaches *whispering* The girls and Koji hushed themselves, lowered themselves listened and watched. Some men in black were running near the lake headed alongside it. They looked like the men that Zei described in his telepathic message. Remi: who are they? Koji: probably our pursuers... Minoriko: *gasp*....*holds her breath* Youmu:......should i attack if we are found senpai? Koji: yes of course they don't sound friendly towards us at all. However lets try to not get ourselves noticed. Koakuma: M'lady what should we do? Patchy: stay low and attentive.... After watching them from the shrub the men continued along the lake. there was about 30 of them. They must have stopped there for a break as well or something. Then they heard one of the men conversing Man1: I can't believe they managed to get away! Didn't i order to secure the back? How the hell could they knock out the back of the shrine without us knowing?! Man2: Details are still unknown sir! The group was very crafty in their escape and evaded any traps we had set up along the path Man1: DAMMIT! HOW CAN SUCH A LARGE GROUP ESCAPE FROM UNDER US SO EASILY! YOU'RE ALL A BUNCH OF SLACKERS! Man2: *sweatdrops* b-but sir! we have little to no info on the group in question. Especially if they are supposed to be from another world. Man1: another world my ass! if we can handle the Diclonious to some degree what makes a few aliens eh?! Koji:....*laughs to himself*....Lucy...I wonder what she's up to now Remi:....who's that? Koji: an old friend of mine hehe. After the men went back and forth, somethign about docked pay, and having wife and kids the men continued on route along lake Koji: Lucky for us the other shrine is located elsewhere.....alright lets move i don't know where they are going nor do i want to know. Remi: agreed Patchy+Youmu: Affirmative. They continued to walk up the path onto the shrine but they were more fatigued than they thought, as hunger soon caught up them. Minoriko: ah....so hungry.... Koakuma:...yeah...very Youmu: How much longer senpai? He had to think for a second Koji: maybe another 10 minutes if we ran but that's outta the question, can't make too much noise. Patchy:...*sigh* what i wouldn't give for a cup of tea right now. Koji: don't worry girls, i'll be sure to get you all something to eat soon. I just hope you don't mind having food from this world. I actually look forward to showing some of our delicacies myself hehe....In the mean time.... *adds more mana to each of them* Remi: ? i feel...stronger now? Minoriko: yeah what...happened? Koji: i increased the flow of mana into you all, so you won't feel the hunger and have more strength for this last stretch Remi: *surprised* are you okay? suppling us with this much mana must be tiring right? They continue to walk the path Koji: Nah its no big deal, I'm actually WAY stronger than i'm letting on to be honest. All the powers i showed up until now is but part of the 20% that i'm allowed to use. The other 80% of my powers are sealed away by yours truly. Youmu: ara? why did you seal your own powers away senpai? Koji: hehe that's....a story best suited for later, for now i'll say that I hate myself sometimes for being as powerful as i am. The power is sealed away but i can still access the mana portion of it so I have a very very large natural well. Unlike Zei who has an artifact inside of him that gives him a very very large well of mana also. Since he gave them more mana they were able to levitate and they did so for a while until Youmu started to walk again Koji: what's wrong? Youmu: I think it would be wisest of me to save my...err senpai's energy in case we are attacked. I can walk with you. At this Remilia got another small pinch and started to walk as well Remilia: Y-yes i suppose it would be best. Koji: uh okay *stretches* dam I'm tired now *cracks neck* When we get to my place i'll have Pearl make us something really nice. Remilia: Pearl? is that your sister? or Maid? Koji: negative *pats her head* good guesses though but again its another story Remilia, being the curious vampire that she is continued to ponder who this person was. Remilia: "cousin? mother? .....is she his lover?....I hope not...but if she's not his sister or maid....who could she be? After realizing that she was again envious of the thought that this person could possibly be his lover she blushed again and hid her face with her hat Koji: ?? what's wron remi? *tries to take his hat* Remi: *muffled voice* duting (nothing) Koji: o_o uhh okay? Minoriko who was also thinking about it just plain out asked Minoriko: is this Pearl your girlfriend? *giggles* Koji: negative yet again, hehe Remilia sighed relief and slowly returned her hat to her head. Youmu: Senpai i see a tank up ahead! Koji: tch is it those guys agai-wait...o,o what the hell? that's Rika's Flower Tank! That's where Zei and everyone is! *suddenly sees Mokou blow the sign away* Group:..... Koakuma:....is that the Fujiwara no Mokou? Patchouli: i heard about her from Sakuya...she's immortal and has the power over fire. Koji: hehe Mokou survived. Good Youmu: she was a very difficult but worthy opponent, I enjoyed fightin her with Yuyuko-sama. Remilia: it was a temptin idea to capture her and keep her as an infinite blood source for Flandre and I but blood tastes best when deep emotions are involved. *grins* Although i still would like to taste the blood of an immortal someday. Koji: well lets get a move on we have to catch up with everyone else. And I'm REALLY in the mood for a nice long bath soon dammit *he runs up to the tank to get with everyone else* the girls follow in suite. Day 1 11:28 PM 6 hours after the exodus from the collapse of gensokyo At the old Heavenly Dragons Dojo were Alex grew up. Alex had gotten a fire going for mostly to put the girls mind at ease they have gotten into some of the now vacent housing rooms and have turned in for the night  but Alex couldn't get to sleep quite yet his mind was still racing over the events earlyer in gensokyo...about fleeing from the higan because the river had gone wild to watch gensokyo be literally torn apart to learning that it was all because of some fiend with a plan and that gensokyo wasn't the only place that was effected by his/her/its plot to the fights with its shadow creatures and now after coming back to the outside world what happened to his old dojo and his masters and friends there. "what on earth is going on and more importantly can we really stop this fiend's plan" he asks himself. Alex Then goes to the highest point in the dojo were one can have a good view of the town well you you can still call it that in the time since he left at 18 to his current age at 23 its now more at the border of a really large town and the smallest class of citys there are now quite a few hi rising builds now were there were only like 3 or 2 when he left but other than that most of it was the same has he remembered when he left. "good to see the place hasn't drasticly changed." he lamented under his breath. Alex then focused his mind and spirit for a secret skill that was passed down from generation to generation of Heavenly Dragons fighters and masters a skill for locating other people by their spirital presense figuring that even with reduced powers most of the ones fleeing from gensokyo will stand out like a naked hooker in a full church session to the untrained and non-magical natives of the town. sure enough he got some faint hits that mostly told there general direction and all of them were close to the area "so apparently the gateway out of gensokyo was aimed here...i wonder why" alex then unfocuses from the skill and heads back down to sleep. Day 1 11:49 the old Heavenly Dragons Fighting Dojo on the foothills of Karuisuwa town Alex heads into the room he and Lily Black will spending Daiyousei and the other fairys are staying in the room directly across from theirs on after checking up on daiyousei and the 3 fairys and sliding the doors shut. Lily Black is waiting for him in a bed in a little (for her figure) black night gown "your still awake dear something is on your mind for sure" Alex responds with " yes i was just outside using a skill i learned from my training while here years ago to locate others via spiritual means it worked...sorta" Lily black responds with a bit of worry "sorta?" "Its obvious that other fleeing from gensokyo have came to this area around this town but i can't pinpoint their locations eather their spiritual powers are already burning out at a alarming rate or something is effectively jamming me from pinpointing them." Lily goes " i hope its more of the second than the first " Alex responds with just a simple "me too" Lily then asks "i wonder why we don't seem to be suffering much from being here other than losing our wings" Alex thinks about this and responds "maybe its because you guys are so in tune with nature that you can manage to get by because your bodys are effective enough at keeping your mana from just bleeding out too fast but other that theory i have no clue and i will be checking on you guys to make sure your alright for now lets get some rest and unwind." Lily black grins with a naughty look on her face then kisses Alex "well i agree with that dear maybe we can have a little fun before bed" Alex "no objections here dear" replys Alex grins his love may be small in hight but she always is quick to prove she that first looks can be deceptive he proceeds to get in bed while sliding a hand up her chest he puts out the fire that was lighting up the room and he and lily get into bed for their fun and afterwards sleep. While in the act of love Alex thinks "boy i'd really would wonder what my old masters would say about my intresting choice of a girlfriend." at that point he could swear he could hear the voice of one of his old masters saying "Alex my boy if you truely love her then there will be no problems at least from us your teachers" Alex shakes the feeling off has something caused by the heat of the moment and proceeds after pleasuring each other to their desire Alex and Lily Black retire for the night after a replacement of the bed sheet after all they do have some respect for the place even if there isn't anyone looking after it anymore. Atop the Challenger II tank, outside the abandoned Saniwa Shrine, Karuisuwa, Outside World, Day 2, 12.14 AM (Past midnight) "Fuckin' stop this tank already", Zei said and got out, his group following after him. He noticed the 2 unknown people talking about a Diclonius and send them a message, via Telepath. "...not gonna catch her. She's gonna kill you.", he said to them. Then Flandre tugged his sleeves, "...Zei-niisan?", she asked. "Hm? What is it?", Zei answered. "...who are they?", she pointed towards the group that was following the tank. "I don-- ..is that? KOJI! Where the hell have you guys been?", he asked. Zei knocked on the tank, "OI. Everyone, look who caught up with us at last!", he said. He sighed and finished the attention and decided to walk into the shrine. Flandre noticed Shizuha and Reisen were gone to meet Koji's group but didn't care and followed him in. Abandoned Saniwa Shrine, Day 2, 12.10 AM (past midnight) As everyone was preparing themselves for sleep, Gpop decided to go out to the edge of the small lake nearby. He sat down and gazed at the empty and calm lake. "What are you doing here?" said a voice from behind. "UWAAH!" Gpop jumped up and quickly turned around to see Koishi and Satori who were standing behind him. She must've used her subconscious barrier to sneak out unnoticed once again. "Well I'm just haging out here...need to relax a bit after all that, and I don't plan on resting in that shrine with everyone else jammed in there." Gpop replied properly. "But it'll be nice to have some company here with you girls. Here, have a seat" The two sisters sat beside Gpop, with him at the far right, Koishi sitting at the center close to Gpop, and Satori beside Koishi. The three of the continued to mindlessly gaze at the lake. As they were doing so, Koishi decided to hug Gpop's arm as he leaned back. Then Gpop remembered, "Hey, Satori, before we all left...why didn't you tell us anything before? The border was on the verge of collapsing, yet you still were acting so casually." Then Satori sighed, "Well the thing is that I didn't want you two to get involved in such things. After that Suwako incident, I was worried that one day you and Koishi would do something just as reckless, which could lead to dire consequences. If you guys were to ever figure out what was going on, you two would immediately try to help out in whatever situation was up there. I wanted to keep you two safe, because if I ever mentioned the border, you two would just be eager to help out. I can't say no to Koishi, because she's my only sister. I want her to be the happiest girl out there. That's why I allowed her to marry you. I saw that you were the one for her. "But when you two wanted to go up to the surface, I knew it was almost time, so I decided to let you two go that time. I figured that you two would find out sooner or later, but I wanted you two to remain oblivous to it until it was time to leave. Of course, as I thought, you managed to do so yourself, and still managed to get yourselves into the fight. "Right now I'm going to apologize for my actions, but I hope you two understand." Satori finally finished. "Well...I guess I could, and I'm sure Koishi is," And Gpop looks at Koishi and notices her smiling at Satori, so he can easily guess that she definitely accepted. "I'm happy that you cared for us in the end though," Gpop added, "and I'm happy that Koishi's still here. I'm doing the best I can to manage you two with the mana I have on me. Right now this is definitely not holding me down. I still feel like I have as much energy as before, so you two don't have to worry about me, I guess." Then he faces Koishi once again. "And as long as I have you here, I'll can never, ever be mad over something like that." Koishi blushes at his words. Gpop signaled for a kiss with Koishi, and Koishi easily read it. They then began to lean forwards towards each other to lock their lips, as Satori watched happily from aside. But then Gpop notices a random trumpet sound. It was playing music to fit the mood, yet it didn't seem to fit theirs. Gpop turned around before their lips could even touch, and noticed that it was Merlin from afar. "I'll go check it out myself." Satori said. But Gpop and Koishi lost their mood to kiss each other now, and continued to gaze at the lake while Satori got up and went to check on Merlin. "Please...don't do anything stupid...and keep her safe..." Satori muttered to herself quietly while glancing back at the two. Satori walked to Merlin and noticed her somewhat jealous of something while playing her trumpet solo. "...and why are you here Merlin?" Satori asked. Merlin quickly looked up and finally noticed Satori. She jumped up in shock. "Oh m...me? Nothing...nothing at all! I'm just trying to play my trumpet for some...entertainment...yeah, that's it!" She stuttered. "Hmm..." Satori stared at her heart. "...you...seem to take a great liking into Gpop, don't you? And you're playing your trumpet to fit the mood, and hope that Gpop...would notice?" "N...NO! IT'S NOT LIKE THAT! I'M JUST PLAYING MY TRUMPET! THAT'S ALL!" Merlin exclaimed. "You can't lie to me or yourself. I can read your mind. Well...I actually read your heart, and all your heart desires is Gpop. It's the only thing I sense in your heart..." Satori explained. "W...WHAT!?" Merlin yelled in shock, "O...OKAY! I do, in fact like Gpop, okay? But it's not like I'm going to win him anyways! He has that sister of yours, and I have no chance with him whatsoever..." Satori could see tears run down her cheeks as her voice trailed off. "Well, to be honest I don't know how I would feel if Gpop cheated on my sister for you, but I'm pretty sure that if you tried to be friends with him, he'll gladly accept." "R...really?" Merlin blushed a bit. "Well, I guess being friends are good enough. It's not that I have that big of a grudge against her." "It's alright." Then Satori grabbed the trumpet, "but please, for the sake of everyone else, don't play this too much right now. We're trying to escape from those guys in black, and your trumpet will only attract more attention from them, and not the good kind." "Al...alright I will." Then Satori returned the trumpet back to her. "I guess I'll go sleep now. I think you three should as well." The two of them stared at Gpop and Koishi from a distance. Satori then said, "I guess they'll be fine there. Let them be." Then the two of them walked back to the shrine. Main Hall, Abandoned Saniwa Shrine, Day 2, 12.20 AM (past midnight) Silence. Everyone had collapsed onto the dusty tatami floor in the main hall of the shrine. Sheer exhaustion had finally taken its toll on the group. It had even overpowered their need to eat. Food and exploration would have to wait until tomorrow, unfortunately. Mitaka felt like he was on the verge of death. The contracts were sickeningly draining. But sleep wouldn't come to him, even as he lay against a pile of rucksacks in the corner with the rest of team FUBAR nestled close to him to keep up the mana linkage. Perhaps it was the pain from the excessive mana drainage. Or perhaps it was just the raging thoughts in his head. The other groups had clustered together in different corners of the room, gathered around their 'leaders' for mana support. The room was thankfully quite large. The ceiling was high up and vaulted with many crisscrossing ornate wooden beams, creating many dark shadowy corners. In the haze of his exhaustion Mitaka would continuously imagine he saw things moving within them. "....can't sleep either, huh?" a whisper came out of the gloaming darkness. It was Kojiro. "...no..." Mitaka replied. "You?" "We forgot to post a sentry rota." Kojiro shrugged. "So I'm just sitting here, keeping my eyes and ears open." "The tank's proximity sensors are active." Another voice came from within the gloom. It was ThirtyFour. "No need to worry about intruders." "And yet you're still awake yourself." This time it was Pichu's voice. "The one who should be feeling the safest is also wide awake." "....nah, just....that we're here....and..." ThirtyFour began. "I dunno...where do we go from here?" "...." Mitaka could sense that a good few of the other outsiders were awake and were worrying the same thing. The Gensokyo refugees, still unnacustomed to the low mana environment, slept on from the sheer exhaustion. Mitaka himself was more concerned with his mana supply. How could Reimu, Marisa, Alice, Suika, and Ruukoto continue functioning on such low mana reserves? They are at constant risk from dying at any moment should his supply fail completely. He would have to increase his own mana supply somehow. Perhaps.... Yes, he'll have to ask Kojiros, Zei, Taihou, Alex, and Pichu to help him train to overcome his weakness. Otherwise, he'll have to find some way to start training on his own. Somehow, he must become stronger, for them, and for himself. "Perhaps we can start thinking about what we should do from here on out?" Sumire suggested. "Obviously, we have to retake Gensokyo's mana supply from whoever stole it." Zei said. "And where do we start?" Taihou asked. "It's good to keep that as a long term goal, but we don't have any leads." "There's just Kikuri." Jeremy said. "Great, someone high up in the government." Myon said. "Shall we go drop by her office tomorrow? You know, stroll in and say 'oh, hi, Kikuri, how are you today? By the way, could you please give us back our mana'?" "We dont' even know if she IS our Kikuri. Even if she is, how do we know if she was the one who stole the mana supply?" Hiroko pointed out. "She's beyond our reach." McWallace said, simply. "And if what happened tonight was any indication, they have an entire army of their own." "And we have....?" Zei began. "A tank." ThirtyFour shrugged. "And a large group of kids now weaker than your average human being." "Wow, that's quite an arsenal, huh?" Gpop said. "Sure, we can just stroll into Mordor." "We'll have to strenghthen ourselves first, I think. Stabilize our mana links and increase our own mana supplies." Mitaka said. "At least, for me, that'd be my first priority. Otherwise there's no way my team can survive." "I suggest we lay low for a while." Hiroko said. "Recover and build up our strength." "But where?" ThirtyFour asked. "You have a home nearby?" "...." Silence fell again. The immediate problem rose up before them. Where would they go? "We can stay here." Mitaka suggested. "It's an abandoned shrine. We can stay here before moving on..." "....where?" Jeremy began. "Move on where?" "...." Everyone sighed. The prospects looked bleak for the group, with nowhere to go, nowhere to turn, and their mission's goal seemingly too high to grasp. "Rest will do us good for now." Mitaka finally sighed. "Let's sleep. Tomorrow we'll find ourselves something to eat and take time to recover. Then we'll think of a plan." This, everyone agreed, looked like a plan. And with that everyone turned back to refocus their attention on catching elusive sleep. Main Hall, Abandoned Saniwa Shrine, Day 2, 12.30 AM (past midnight) Pretty much everyone had fallen asleep by now. Hiroko laid on the floor, thinking about what all of them should do next. After resting, the most pressing matter would be of sustenance. The town they were in was pretty backwards by modern standards, but at least there were some shops open. She just wondered if there was a bank outlet or an ATM or something, there was still some money in her bank account, and she had no money on her person. She wanted to check the amount in her account, but Iku and Parsee had already fallen soundly asleep, and there was a risk the mana channel between her and the two would break. Then there was mana. She was supporting only two, but she felt a constant burden. She shuddered to think how Mitaka must be feeling right now. Obviously, they needed to increase the amount of mana they produced and had, but how? There was also the business about Kikuri and the masked men that had pursued them earlier in the day. There were many questions, such as why they were being chased and if this Kikuri had any relations to Gensokyo's Kikuri, but there were little answers. She supposed they would find out in time. And that voice in her head back when she was fighting the swarm of creatures in Gensokyo. It appeared to be benign, and by now she had learnt to treat any unknown factor with caution. What's this psi the voice was talking about? Was it for psionic powers? Surely not, although she had gone through a large portion of her life with a strong sense of deja vu. Argh! All this thinking isn't going to do anything! I'm better off going to sleep. Hiroko thought, infuriated, and she went to a fitful sleep. Main Hall, Abandoned Saniwa Shrine, Day 2, 03.40 AM (past midnight) Thirtyfour was fast asleep. His snoring sounded like winding up a sled engine that had got a little too much fuel from a primer. A newspaper flew over the shrine gate along the gusty winds, ending up inside the shrine. The air flowing inside the corridor carries it to Thirtyfour's face. Thirtyfour wakes up. His haymaker pounds empty air, ending up sinking through the floor few inches. "YEEOOOWCHH!", he screams, still eyes closed. Thirtyfour opens his eyes, pulls out his fist, covered in small, dusty wooden splinters and blood. He starts picking up some of the splinters, going "OW!" every time one splinter is pulled out of the skin. Thirtyfour gets off his sleeping bag, and hopes that he didn't wake up anybody. He then walks out of the shrine, towards the tank glittering in moonlight near the shrine gate. IR sensors identify him, letting him inside the tank. Thirtyfour treats his wounds, and then leans back in commander's position. "Why can't I just sleep here? It's not like anybody is interested piloting this tank, even if, there's alarms...", he talks to himself. Thirtyfour thinks again and grabs the reserved machine gun, if the coaxial one breaks. And straps two clips into his belt. He walks back to the corridor, hides the machine gun under a table, and goes back to sleep. Day two 2:45 AM Heavenly Dragon's Dojo[/b] Alex woke to the what he swore was his most liked sensei voice saying "watch out" Alex leaps out of bed with lily black on his side to find someone smashing down on it a martial art skill which snaps it in two "MOUNTAIN SPLITTING FISSURE WAVE FIST" "i've know that move..." Alex thinks to himself after setting down Lily Black to face his aggressier Lily black woke up to Alex suddenly yanking her to avoid sharing the fate of the bed they were sleeping on "Alex whats going on?" "WHO ARE YOU WHY ARE YOU ATTACKING US" Alex Shouts toward him "Now now Alex you vanish for years and this is how you treat your dear *brother* Yagi" Alex suddenly remembered why the attack was familiar to him it was Yagi one his old training friends from ages ago who was trained along side him by the masters of the dojo "Yagi what are you doing attacking me and my girlfriend" "Sorry *brother* but my new master wants your new friends" Alex didn't like what that ment but needed to see if he could get more out of him "what happened here why is this dojo abandoned?" alex demanded while getting in a stance he hoped Yagi hasn't done anything to Daiyousei or 3 fairys under his care...especially anything worth killing him over potental enemy or not the fact remain he grew up with the man and isn't really wanting to kill him "Our old senseis are dead...*I Have* killed them...and any one still loyal to them that didn't chicken out and ran away to prove that they were wrong to picked you over me for the next in line to get the the training to become a master of the dojo i've also stolen the Scrolls for doing so and they are now in the hands of my new master." "WHAT" Shouted Alex staring back at his former friend "WHY" shouted Lily Black "I was always was jealous of why my old masters would pick someone who own birth parents who abandoned him over myself a person who decended from generations apon generations of martial artists someone who greatness sould by bloodright sould exceed all others oh and by the way don't worry i haven't touched your other friends or brought anyone else along when my master said that you were back in this world i told my master i would take care of it personally and that i had a clue were you'll end up my guess you would be here was right, my only bone to pick is with you fight me Alex let me prove that the senseis were wrong in there choice" Alex didn't like this one of his old outside world best friends has clearly been corrupted by the forces that destroyed gensokyo and must had a hand in making him do this horrendous acts. "Yagi i don't know what made you snap and help that person but that fiend seeks only to destory or enslave i can't let you help that person no more" Alex had a aura around him "i don't care what happeneds to the realms my master the power to be gained is something awesome Power to right all the wrongs of the worlds now taste my fist enchanced by my new master." Yagi was also powering up and had a similar but darkish reddish black aura around him then launchs into attack "HELL RENDING KILLER KICK" Yagi shouts launching into the air flat heel first Alex countered with a attack of his own shouting "HEAVENS SAVING RISING DRAGON KICK" doing a similar flat heel kick "ALEX" Lily shouts and from the door Daiyousei and the 3 fairys were watching "don't lose to him" shouted Star Sappfire "go alex" cheered Luna child "we belive in you" chanted Sunny Milk "Go alex protect the honor of your old masters stop him." Daiyousei thought to herself "THIS IS IT ALEX" shouted Yagi "We see" retorted Alex has he and Yagi intersect with their kicks and then land feet first a few moments pass then alex seems to bow down in pain "ugh" coughing up a little blood "ALEX!!" says Lily black the other fairys just gasp Daiyousei and the 3 fairys are now behind lily Black Yagi turns around "haha see i told..you uuuuuuuuuuugh ahhhhhhhhhh" suddenly a cut appears cross his chest that leaks blood and he goes down on his ass "ha..no the senseis were right i was always the strongest now stop this before i have to kill you" Alex  said to his former friend while getting up gasping he has a like shaped but smaller sized cut on his own chest. "Curse you...alex i'll retreat for now and leave you alone for now but next time the results WILL be diffrent this isn't over yet." Yagi retreats out of the room and the dojo "Damn you Alex i'll get you yet this isn't over by a long shot i will get my revenge on you." he thinks while leaving the dojo back in the dojo "Alex... are you ok" Lily Black say looking for anything to tend his wound Alex responds "yes..and so will he we both missed our vital spots he missed them by mistake i did so on purpose" Daiyousei responds with "who was that guy and how does he know you?" "Yeah tell us more" say the 3 fairys in unison I too would like to know more about him" says lily black who returns with some Gauze and medical tape Alex responds with "His name is Yagi he was a fellow student while i trained here at the Heavenly dragons dojo being adopted with no idea of what my real family is i though of him like a blood brother to me we trained together under our senseis mostly under the one who found and raised me like his son Master Ryen the one who would give me all the mental and spirit training but Yagi had problems has a student mostly in he thinks that any tactic is ok if it wins you a fight which bothered our senseis." Alex goes into a flashback of his training days and to a training battle vs Yagi while Master Ryen was watching being the match for choosing who will later go into a tournyment against other dojos "BEGIN" said Ryen YAAAAAAAAAAH the young alex and Yagi launch toward each other and start battling when suddenly Yagi plays dirty and spits at Alex's face causing him to lower his guard while alex is momentarly down on his guard Yagi Lays into him but before he could do the mock finishing blow Ryen stops him "YAGI you are disqualifyed for cheating for that i saw the whole thing we can't not have someone who stoops to such low tactics." the old master says "Bullshit anyone knows that in a real fight anything goes some bastards from the start won't play fair i don't see any reason why i must *play fair*." the young Yagi snaps back "That is exactly why i'm disqualifying you there is more to combat that just winning." Ryen replys "bah whatever old man i hope you don't regret your choice." Yagi replys and then walks off "Oh Alex i sometimes don't know what do to with him at times he almost has talented as you but can't seem to get the grasp of the true art of fighting any case are you ok my boy" Ryen says to Alex Alex has gotten up from the beatdown and seems to be ok if a bit battered looking "yeah he would be such a contender if he would just get over that notion that you always have to win a fight master and yes master i'm fine" Ryen then stares at the young Alex "be wary of him if he doesn't turn away from his current path then i fear he will cause you a great deal of pain one day" as the flashback ends those last words of the flashback from his adoptive father and master begin to sink in "Yagi what have you gotten yourself into why have you done this?" he thinks to himself "Girls its not safe to be here anymore our enemy has gotten wind of our flight to this world we will leave this place come daybreak before they comeback with something i can't protect you all against, we will spend the rest of the night here then will gather what we can and head into town as fast as we can." "ok" says the fairys meanwhile somewere else... Yagi is seen bandaged across his chest bowing down to a figure sitting in a chair that looks more like a elaberate throne "i'm sorry my master Alex proved to be a bit more stronger of a adversary than i was expecting" the voice says "Don't worry about it they all proven to be more harder to stamp out than i was expecting myself but i've already located some of the others from Gensokyo" Yagi responds "shall i assist them in capturing them?" the voice replys with a bit of a giggle "No need get your rest Yagi you've done enough of a job in helping locate more of the suvivors of gensokyo" Yagi replys with "Very well then i shall take my leave then master" Yagi leaves the room the figure just giggles "i'll have so much fun stamping out your guys hope hahahahahahHAHAHAHAHAHA" the laugh echos across the abode of the fiend Day 2, 4:00 AM, The inner room of the shop TOURIST HELPERS.[/b] "I thought that I'm the only one who sense that," said Lily White. "Don't forget I once have a link with Satori." Amarillo replied. At around 30 minutes ago, they both sense that Satori, together with some other ex-Gensokyo resident and their human friends are in grave danger, it seems now that they have get out of it. However the fact that danger lingers from the ruins of destruction adds up the-- if in Rainbow Spark's words --"Difficulty of the mission". "I have made preparations on that, however I didn't realize that I really need it." Amarillo reached for her fishing rod. "I have told you about the lightspear of Fairy Phoenix's right?" "It's a cool weapon, indeed." "Well, she left that weapon to me, and I have Nitori to fuse the weapon into two lightsabers and hide in my Fishing Rod." Amarillo take off the top and bottom of the fishing rod and reveal two metal stick tied against each other, she undo the tie and held both stick in both hands. "Now just get a little far away from me." After the fairy moved to a safe distance, Amarillo poses and ignited the both lightsabers. "Lightsaber Duel, Form I : The Determination form!" As she calls out the form name she pose both her hands forward, "There is nothing a brave heart cannot cut! (勇气为刃，无坚不摧！)" "Then... Form II: The Contention Form!!", she reposes by rotating the lightsaber for a perfect circle turn, having the blade towards the ground, then she turned off the one on the left hand and place it on her belt. Lastly, she lower her body and ready to guard."The noble fighter's mind strengthen his blade!（儒德为刃，无招可断！）" "Wait, isn't that enchanting be "her" instead of "his"?" "Well, you see, these Forms are not produced by me, but merely a standard, it's safe to say the first people who dig this out is some guy." "... By the way, what is Form II used for? You just started your attack with guarding?" "Actually it's for sword to sword combat, or melee combat where you must aware of other's attack pattern. It is not very stable against attacks from afar, noticeably danmaku." Amarillo explained. "So how many forms are there?" "According to what Mr.Spark said, there are seven forms, plus a "Form Zero" which simply means escape and live for another day. Form Zero's enchantment is "As long as mountain stays there will always be trees to cut."（青山常在，何忧无柴） which clearly have a Chinese origin." "However, "Amarillo continued ,"I can only utilize three of the seven forms, except Form One and Form Two, the remaining one is--" "Form V: The Perseverance Form!!" she quickly draws the lightsaber back and round both lightsabers in a big circle before her, then have one of them rise above her head and another keeping in front of her. "Balance is the rule of nature!（自然之法，万物守衡！）" Then she draw both lightsaber back and tied them back again. "That's all I got to defend myself." "Wow, it's cool." "Every people who had seen a lightsaber duel will say it is," Amarillo Smiled, "However, being cut by those things, if unlucky enough, means certain death. That's why I don't prefer using it. There are more forms, however I'm not one of these "Force-Sensitives" that can preform advanced telekinesis to do things like a saber throw or a sai -- which is a very high jump." "Force-Sensitive?" "Both the Jedi and Sith believe that there is a power called force exists in the nature, some special people have the ability to sense and control the force, that's all I know." She seals the lightsaber back to the fishing rod. "As far as I know, this weapon comes with a force system, when in a Force-Sensitive human's hand, one can activate its transforming mechanism and turn it into a cannon. Nitori says she keep the mechanism there because she don't know how to remove that." "It seems it goes out of my understanding... But isn't we fairies gain power from nature so maybe I can --" "If it's in Gensokyo I would let you try it, but not now. Since we don't know how much energy -- or mana -- will cost when actually attack using that method. What if we both out of energy and fainted? That would take much time to recover." Some noise can be heard in the room beside, it seems old Jason have awake too. "Girls, if you are able to remember today is a Sunday, you should keep quiet because everyone needs a rest in Sundays, even the shop itself." comes Jason's voice. "Oh, sorry if we wake you up." Lily White replied. "I wish I can see your results of decoration, but an old man needs his rest. So you can do whatever you wish today. By the way you have only worked for one day and you have a holiday, how luckily of you two." After realizing that the old man is making fun of a simple fact, Amarillo and Lily burst into laughs. "For an old man like him, that line sure needs some skill to perform."Amarillo concluded. "Seems that he won't get up until noon." Lily White said, "will our sign work?" By "sign", she means a big area in front of the shop, it is changed to a soil ground and flowers of red and white is growing, forming the shape of a Hakurei Yin-Yang Ball. "Every single resident of Gensokyo should notice that. Great idea for a fairy like you." "Fairies are clever!" claimed Lily White "Excluding THAT one." "The stronger the power, the less intelligent one would most likely to be." Amarillo pauses "by the way, for THAT fairy, you didn't sense her do you?" "Now that you have reminds me of it... NO." "Where could Cirno be?" "Well, let's hope she gets out but there is some special reason that we can't sense her." "......" Amarillo falls in silence again. Then she slowly said :"I'm more concerned about the other people, let's have an investigation later, to the Shrine. They maybe already escaped so there should be no one there. If there are..." "Then?" "Form Zero is in effect. We don't want to fight every round, it's way too dangerous. A spring cannot defend itself from threats that easily." "I except you to say "we fight it out"."said the fairy as she put up another coat to cover her wings, it seems better because that's from one of the old clothes of Jason's granddaughter. "Sorry, I'm not that hot-blooded, however, I promise that we both can return to Gensokyo safely. Or We may fail the promise with the others, especially your Sis." "Yeah." "So I'll go and make some breakfast, it's 5 AM now, the perfect time for a schoolgirl to get up." "WHAT? So that's the life in here?" "The outside world is not a place as good as Gensokyo, keep that in mind." "Seems so." As Amarillo left the room, she starts to wonder that how soon will danger be fallen on them. Rule Zero cannot last forever. Day two 3:45  AMHeavenly Dragons dojo Alex has had the fairys under go a mental and spirital linking with him just to ensure when they leave the place and are truely out in a mana low area nothing bad will happen to them "I do this to ensure that as many of you will be intact enough to help restore Gensokyo" "is it a permanent linking" asks Daiyousei "yes and no it will last as long has one of two things: a) as long i let it exist or B) i die before i can cancel it in which case it will cancel by itself. trust me i'll do my damn hardest to make sure b doesn't happen." Alex responds to the question "How nice of for you to be thoughtful my dear Alex." a old man's voice says Alex turns around to see...a ghost...of his old main master and adoptive father "MASTER.. Ryen?" Alex says "Yes my boy it is me and i'm glad to see you've truely become the man i'd was expecting you to become i'm truely proud of you." "Master.. so Yagi did..." Alex "My boy don't be so disenchanted in seeing my spirit no amount of killer oppressive force to my human body would had stopped me from wishing to see you again." Ryen's spirit replys "Such a sweet lovely lady you picked up intresting choice indeed but you truely love and care for her well and she is indeed what i would wish for you to find in a soulmate and i wish for you two to have more happy times together please my dear look after my dear boy." Ryen spirit says while looking at Lily Black. "Old man Ryen i wish i could hug you for your generous approval thank you and i will." Lily black responds with a tear in her eyes "has for these little ones i know its tough to deal with such a trama losing what you've been used to for as long has you can remember but hang tough and you will persist." he says looking at Daiyousei and the 3 fairys "Mister can you tell us more about Yagi and his new evil master plan" star Sappfire questions "i can give you some of the details because Yagi was bragging about some of them has he killed my physcal body this fiend seeks to use various sprital energys in a bid for some kind of domination plot has to what he/she/it's after exactly i don't know the fiend had found a way to steal the very sources of mana and spritial powers from places like you girls world and objects like the our sacred scrolls that are needed to help make the next generation of masters of our arts dear Alex-San and is already enchancing some of his forces with this stolen power like Yagi the only reason Yagi lost to you alex is because his was simply too sure that he would beat you with it that he missed your vital points with his strike" Ryen says with a stern look on his ghostly face "I wonder if this master of his is the same who voice we heard in gensokyo while it was trying to prevent our escape from it" says Lily Black "it was" replyed the ghost of alex's master "i felt a sinister energy entering a old abandoned shrine several times not to far from here not long ago and each time it left was stronger than when it entered i got the same energy feeling off of Yagi that matched the fiend's when Yagi fought and killed me his master is one and the same." Alex then asked "master how long ago were you.." "I was killed by Yagi about a year before your flight back he has gotten much worse than i had hope apparently the fiend must be using his pride and envy agaist you and my choice of having you become a new master of our arts against him and convinced him to join him/her/it for a devil's deal to get revenge." everyone lowered there heads out of the sadness of the fact Yagi's corruption "Also Alex there is something you need to know about yourself." Ryen spirit says "Whats that master?" says alex with a tone of wonder in his voice "While indeed i told you about the message your birth parents left with you when i found you with as a baby there was another part of it that i didn't reveal to you." "and that would be?" Lily asked hoping Alex wasn't really some monster that could pose a threat to everyone "Alex...is part of a line of people who hybridize with youkais and other such spiritial beings" Ryen says "WHAT? How much so" Alex replys "the amount of the youkai bloodline in you is just enough to make you have massive mana and spiritial reserves but not much else everything else about you is purely massively trained human" "well that explains why danmaku wasn't too hard to do for me when i got into gensokyo and needed to learn it and probably why these girls didn't suffer from any notable ill effects when we got here" Alex replys "So there are some effects from it the message did warn that the youkai bloodline powers don't always manfest stead and predictably or harmlessly and infact the message says that your parents were on the run because of it perhaps the fiend was targeting your parents because of their bloodline" Ryen responded "Anyways Alex you must use your gifts both from our training and your true bloodline heritage to help stop this fiends plot." "Yes Sensei i will do so for gensokyo myself my true parents and you." Alex proudly replys back "My dear boy you's grown so much i only wish i could had seen you with my human eyes i must go now my boy my job is done almost done i give you this on last bit of help your friends are scattered all about this area and the enemy is already on the move looking for them has you experinced from Yagi's attack on you, you must find your friends soon and now with that my binding to this world are cut and i must go for good farwell my boy go and make me and both of mine and your ancestors proud...t..a..ke...ca..re.." with that Ryen fades away "So sad." says daiyousei whos sniffling back tears the 3 fairys are crying and Lily black is sobbing at the lost of such a gentle man "I will do so master just you wait." Alex thinks to himself glints of tears are running down his face as well "ok girls sun is coming up soon so dry up your tears we need to get going soon." he orders. "hold on guys we are coming." Alex says to himself Abandoned Saniwa Shrine, Karuisuwa, Nagano Provice, 6.32 AM, Day 2 Alex and his fairy companions leave the Heavenly Dragons dojo and proceed to a abandoned shrine not far from it the walk wasn't mostly uneventful other than having to slip by some of the same search net the others were avoiding they have entered the same stretch of outlining city the others have going to the abandoned shrine "that was close i thought for sure they would get us man for as useless your powers were for getting away with pranks in gensokyo they sure are helpful for getting away from those men looking for us." Alex comments to the 3 fairys "no sweat but we really need to find a place to crash soon its too dangerous to risk camping out in the open with those men about" says Star sappfire who appears to be the leader of the 3 fairys "Alex look" Lily says pointing to a knocked over slightly fried "DO NOT ENTER abandon building" sign and some treadmarks "i wonder say put girls just for a moment" Alex goes over to the building and focuses into the spirit and ki detecting skill he tryed earlyer at the dojo highest point this time however.. "hehehe i knew you guys would make it" Alex grins has he unfocuses Alex singles to the fairys to follow and knocks on the side waiting for a reply hoping someone friendly would come out and when Koishi stuck her head out he knew for sure it was them and then they entered "glad to see you all made it man i a story for you guys to tell" Abandoned Saniwa Shrine, Karuisuwa, Nagano Provice, 6.45 AM, Day 2 Alex and his band of gensokyo escapees are informed of the true nature of the villain behind the acts including the destruction of gensokyo he also fills them in on what he's been through back at his old dojo. "So let me get this straight your not fully human but have a small amount of youkai blood IN you" says Mokou. Alex replys "yes and apparently i give off enough mana to stop my dear Lily Black and the 4 fairys under my care from suffering any ill effects other than losing their wings just by me being around them its probably also why i didn't have much of a hitch learning danmaku back in gensokyo." "Still the news that she's now enchancing her forces with the very powers she's stealing is worrying" replys Keine "indeed yeah yep" says the other male partners "I'm pissed off she turned one of my former friends against me and had him kill my dojo's masters including my adoptive father just so he could get her mitts some our most sacred enchanted scrolls" Alex states out the fairys under his cares are weeping from being reminded of Ryen's sad fate "he was such a nice man who didn't deserve that" crys the 3 fairys they may be prank pulling fairy but they know when things go too far Daiyousei also adds "his spirit was so sad that he couldn't live to see Alex has he is now while he was still living" Lily Black then adds "apparently she been busy for a while apparently she was already after energys like gensokyo's long before she ended gensokyo she may already had been after Alex's birth parents because of their bloodline which made them abandon him at the dojo for his own safety not wanting him to have to live in total fear of having to run for their lives" Alex wonders but says outloudly  "i wonder how she managed to root herself into the goverment here this makes me worry for the safety of not only the places she drained of ther mana pools but also of this world what is she planning that requires that much energy?" Abandoned Saniwa Shrine, Karuisuwa, Nagano Provice, 6.55 AM, Day 2 Alex is still visibly upset about one of his best former outside world friends now being one of the enemy's minions "God damn it" he cursed he then relaxed a bit knowing a cool calm collected mind is required now "We need a plan on how to go into town without drawing too much unwanted attention" alex says Lily Black replys with "well theres already a problem in that we can't be too far away from our partners or else.. but not all of us have what we can say is human looks or clothing like me i have a adult figure but a human child's stature thats sure to cause some eyebrows to be raised." "And thats not even talking about those who have hair and eye colors no human are born with colors that no dye could mimic" daiyousei says pointing to her green hair and is mostly refering to Keine's silver and blue hair and the scarlet sisters red eyes. "Some of the fairys and possablely flandre might be made passable has little children" Keine suggests Alex says "the sortage of suitable mana support for most of the gensokyo natives has given us a rather bad lack of sortage of girls we could pass of as normal humans the only answers is the groups that have the least amount of non-passable for human girls must be the ones who get most of our needed supplys or we risk them having magic detection and apply disguse spells to our most un-passable for human girls for when we need to be out in the public eye" "they most like are searching for people who don't look or act human enough to pass for normal" says Sakuya Alex tenses up but relaxes when he feels presense but eases up when he can tell its some of the ones who fleed from the destruction of gensokyo and greets them "how are you guys any news to bring?" he askes the one ones coming mostly directed at Zei

Gpop: Ah...my part was supposed to be after the 12:20 AM, as I stated that it occurs somewhat during the time when everyone was preparing to sleep, and that I'm still outside on the lake edge with Koishi. Satori and Merlin went back with the others to catch some sleep.

Navigation

 Message Index

Previous page

Go to full version