Maidens of the Kaleidoscope

~Hakurei Shrine~ => Patchouli's Scarlet Library => Topic started by: capt. h on January 06, 2011, 07:13:31 PM

Title: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on January 06, 2011, 07:13:31 PM
Day 1, 5:15 AM

?Launch conditions within acceptable parameters. Tragectory calculated, expected arrival time: 32 hours, 15 minutes. Cannon charge nearly complete. Farwell messages have been sent. Preparing fusion blast. Launch in 60 seconds.?

Utsuho Reiuji was a demon straight out of hell. Specifically, she was a raven youkai with the power of the sun. And tonight, she stared at the full moon just outside the Hakurei shrine, a few steps past Gensokyo?s barrier, where she made a strange orange rod on her arm glow bright and burn hot.

?30 seconds to launch.?

The rod became very hot, and started burning the surrounding area. A small, white orb appeared at the end.

?10 seconds.?

The orb became very large, and she was engulfed in flames.

?3. 2. 1.?

The orb opened up, sending a constant stream of white flames straight into the ground. The ground trembled and formed a crater beneath her as she rocketed towards the heavens, much to the displeasure of the Hakurei shrine maiden. Reimu, reacting quickly to the explosion right next to her house, immediately rushed to douse the flames in the crater Utsuho left. Everyone else in Gensokyo and the nearby outerworld towns merely saw a glow in the distance and a shooting start that traveled up instead of down.

"I'll make you proud Satori." And the shooting star vanished from sight.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: andrewv42 on January 06, 2011, 07:57:32 PM
And thus hell's invasion of the lunar plane begins.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Smallfry on January 06, 2011, 10:53:39 PM
Here we go @_@
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Sect on January 06, 2011, 11:57:44 PM
Satori asked her to borrow a cup of sugar from her neighbors. She failed to specify which ones.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on January 07, 2011, 12:40:18 AM
Day 1, 6:00 AM

?Sir, we received reports of an unauthorized orbital launch.?

?Tell me everything we know soldier.?

?The party that launched the projectile, and what is contained in the projectile are both currently unknown. No party has taken responsibility for the launch and current satellite images only show a large ball of thermal energy, the heat is preventing any accurate assessment.?

?Who could have launched it??

?Unknown. The technology required to make such a device is not available to any known organization or government, including our own. It is simply too hot to have been made by any known party.?

?Do we know if it?s a threat??

?Threat level unknown.?

?Well, what do we know??

?The launch trajectory places its origin of launch in the middle of nowhere. It was launched from the Hakurei forest, next to the Hakurei shrine,? the soldier taking out a map and pointing to a very backwater location. ?There is no known entity in the region that could have made any satellite. In addition, the projectile?s flightpath places it in the moon?s orbit.?

?Understood soldier. Scout the launch area, I want to know how it was launched and who was responsible. Treat the unidentified flying object as hostile until identified, and shoot it down when it re-enters earth?s orbit. We can?t take risks when the technology surpasses even our own.?

?Yes sir!?
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Smallfry on January 07, 2011, 06:04:03 AM
Good job Okuu! You've upset the military!
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on January 07, 2011, 05:26:36 PM
Day 1, 10:00 PM

A man in green camo patterned clothing and hoisting a gun was spotted by the darkness. The darkness wasn?t very strong, in fact, she was little more than a minor annoyance to everyone who knew her, but she hadn?t eaten lost human in a long time, and one such human came passing her by. So the darkness did what it did best, she made it dark. She covered the moon over the man, which had the unfortunate side effect of making it too dark for her to see as well. But the darkness never let convenience get in her way.

Then, the darkness began to play. She let out a howl, and the man pointed his gun at the sound. Then, she let out a yelp behind the man, to which the man twisted to look around. When the man turned back, she stood in front of him, where there was only darkness before. This startled the man.

?Freeze!? yelled the man. ?Place your hands where I can see them and identify yourself.?

But the darkness wasn?t done playing. She stretched both her arms straight out, a card in each hand. ?My name is Rumia,? she told the man. She twisted her arm and announced ?Dark sign Demarcation?, and bullets came out. The man shot at the darkness, and the darkness was hit.

Then the darkness cried ?Meanie? and ran away in tears, and the man reported his findings, strange as they were.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Smallfry on January 08, 2011, 03:13:27 AM
MEANIE!!! HE SHOT RUMIA! All she wanted to do was play..:(
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on January 08, 2011, 03:23:55 AM
Day 2, 1:25 PM

Utsuho Reiuji was quickly approaching the moon. She was incorrect in her landing calculations by about five minutes, and she was landing several hundred miles away from her intended landing zone, but these were in the acceptable parameters for her mission.

38 seconds to land, and no sign of the moon slowing down, she aimed her arm cannon straight down and shot a steady stream of energy into the moon?s surface. This created a molten crater beneath her, where she would begin to implement her plans. Hitting the surface of the moon, she began glowing hotter and hotter, increasing the size of the fires around her.

She made a second sun. It was a small sun, but growing with each minute, embedding itself into the surface of the moon. Looking up at the earth, she smiled and a tear came to her eye. She declared something in a rather long winded monologue, but no one heard her. For one, there was no one there. And two, without air, nothing she said could make a sound.

Then, her proclamation done, she set to her work. The moon around her burned hot, and she made it hotter and hotter. Within minutes, the moon around her looked like home to the raven. Which to everyone else, looks like hell.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Smallfry on January 08, 2011, 03:36:24 AM
I don't even understand any more.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on January 08, 2011, 03:51:17 AM
Hm, I need to know what you don't understand to know if it's because I'm confusing, or because I'm waiting to reveal a plot point later. I'm holding back on chapters because I haven't decided the chronology yet, and it could change (right now I'm posting in chronological order rather than by story arc), but things might clear up if I add the next two.

EDIT: I guess I'm asking, is the story confusing, or are Okuu's actions confusing? The latter is supposed to not make sense yet. Heck, it might not make sense even after I reveal the motive; as long as the motive is good enough for Okuu. I'm adding another paragraph. Too much conservation of detail.
______________________________________


Day 2, 10:15 AM

Satori was worried for Okuu. The hell raven had a tendency of getting in trouble when she went missing for more than a few days. In fact, last time she tried to destroy the world. But at least last time Okuu did it from the courtyard.

This time, the hell raven went missing for more than a day without so much as a note. Even Orin, Satori?s cat demon, was getting worried. Satori went around the underground city placing ?Have you seen this Hell Raven? posters while Orin moved to the surface, placing the posters around the human village. She got a few  glares; the overworlders did not trust the residents of former hell very much, most likely with good reason. Most the residents were oni, a race of youkai that makes even the other youkai tremble, with the other residents possessing even more fearsome powers. Orin?s job placed her with the latter. She carted corpses all day long to feed the fires of hell, and a youkai with that casual an attitude towards, as Orin called it, the walking corpses above ground, caused a bit of concern. It didn?t help that she asked the overworlders if she could cart their corpses. Orin wasn?t sure why though, she was always pleasant about it. At least she did better than Satori, who didn?t seem to understand that reading minds and then telling everyone the thoughts was not a good way to make friends. Noting a couple of strange activities even for overworlders, and a few very strangely dressed men, Orin placed the last of the fliers. She then walked home and joined Satori in front of the fires of hell (which was also the fireplace).

?Do you really think she would go up there Orin??

?Meow.?

?Yes, I agree. I still worry about her though.?

?Meow, meow.?

?It?s not her safety I?m worried about. Hell has a bad enough reputation as it is, we don?t need her to commit accidental genocide on top of it.?

?Merrow!?

?Or deliberate either.?

?puhrrr.?

?No, we have enough corpses as it is.?

?purr.?

?I hope so.?
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on January 08, 2011, 03:57:18 AM
Day 2, 1:45 PM

?The U.F.O. has landed on the moon sir. It appears to be getting even hotter.?

?Is it a threat??

?This level of damage to the moon should have no appreciable affects on earth. It is not currently bright enough to be visible from earth without a telescope. This will change with the phase of the moon.?

?Analyze the threat it poses. What are the results of our investigation of the launch area??

?We have conflicting and strange reports sir. Some soldiers report a town that is too primitive to cause the launch. In fact, the town is technologically at least a century before the current times. Other reports state that there is nothing but trees at the same coordinates. Some of the strangest reports detail attacks caused by what the soldiers called ?demons? that wanted to eat them, many of which had wings. Photographs and video feed indicate that these demons can fly, but our calculations concerning those wings indicate that flight should be impossible. There were even a few who flew without wings.?

?So the region has unparalleled camouflage, and has far surpassed us in the fields of biological enhancements and aerodynamics.?

?But strangely sir, there is no evidence of any electrical equipment in the reported village, nor even any sort of indoor plumbing. We pulled local reports concerning the region, and they are consistent with our soldier?s reports. Prior to this incident these accounts were minimally investigated, due to the supernatural nature of the accounts and lack of definitive evidence.?

?We must to know what the situation in the region is. Even if the villagers don?t possess the technology, someone in the region does. Figure out how some soldiers saw through their camouflage and others could not, and find the party responsible. There is a clear and present danger, so you are authorized to use lethal force, but only if confronted. In addition, we need some members of their organization alive for information. One of their genetically enhanced soldiers would also speed up our genetic engineering research by years, so try to capture their soldiers whenever possible.?

?Yes sir!?
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Smallfry on January 08, 2011, 04:40:55 AM
I don't understand Okuu's actions. Why does she want to blow up the moon?  ???
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: andrewv42 on January 08, 2011, 04:54:01 AM
Because it's made of cheese, of course.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Smallfry on January 08, 2011, 04:56:36 AM
Because it's made of cheese, of course.

THAT'S A FILTHY LIE! If it were made of cheese, It would have been mined in 1969!
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on January 08, 2011, 06:15:15 AM
I don't understand Okuu's actions. Why does she want to blow up the moon?  ???

I have covered Utsuho in Autobiographies of Interesting Characters if you want a peek (spoilers?): http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,7685.0.html

But you're right, it's not clear enough and I think it's too vague, because even when I reveal the reason, there won't be enough warning for the reader to enjoy it. So I added a line to the end of the first chapter, to give readers a better understanding of her mindset.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Sect on January 08, 2011, 06:56:01 AM
I have covered Utsuho in Autobiographies of Interesting Characters if you want a peek (spoilers?)
:facepalm:

Duh. I completely forgot about that. She's about to find out that certain residents wouldn't be very happy about having a star 'neath their feet, though. And how are the soldiers from Country A sending back reports after falling through the barrier?
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on January 08, 2011, 09:05:51 AM
:facepalm:

Duh. I completely forgot about that. She's about to find out that certain residents wouldn't be very happy about having a star 'neath their feet, though. And how are the soldiers from Country A sending back reports after falling through the barrier?

Since it's a matter of setting rather than story, I won't use spoiler tags. To leave Gensokyo, you have to exit at the edge of the border. It's at the Hakurei shrine. In fact, the reason Reimu got involved in the incident in Embodiment of Scarlet Devil was that the outside world would get involved if the scarlet mist passed the Hakurei Shrine, rather than the mist itself being any source of danger. At least, that's what the prologue says. Outsiders seem to leave via the Hakurei shrine as well.


http://touhou.wikia.com/wiki/Embodiment_of_Scarlet_Devil:_Prologue

http://touhou.wikia.com/wiki/Perfect_Memento%3A_Encyclopedia%3A_Outsider

I won't pretend to know the details, but it seems like you can just come and go as you please, as long as you do it at the Hakurei shrine.

I'm glad you brought that up because this is actually a good point that I wasn't going to include early enough. I'm going to have to bring the border up again a lot sooner than I planned. I know I can't expect anyone to know that. The problem with creating the rules in advance is I seem to be forgetting to cue the reader in, or at least I'm not doing it fast enough.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on January 10, 2011, 11:58:34 PM
Day 3, 6:00 AM

Watatsuki no Toyohime and Watatsuki no Yorihime were the protectors of the moon, and the leaders of its military forces. The pair protected the lunarians from the impurities of earth for centuries, and they and their army of lunar rabbits kept outsiders away from their home by hiding the true moon behind the fake, scientific moon. Toyohime uses her power of transportation to move freely between moon and earth, the scientific moon and the lunarian home, while Yorihime summons gods to protect the place.

Toyohime didn’t like surprises. It was her job to protect the moon, and right now someone shot the scientific moon. That by itself would be a non-issue since the lunarians reside in the fantasy of the moon, but whatever shot the moon stuck around, and it annoyed her.

She could not understand why earthlings insisted on invading the moon over and over again either. She thought that they learned their lesson from last time. Some people just never seem to learn though, and since there was an attack on the moon, she had to respond. Though this attack was different then she expected. The fireball hit the moon pretty hard, but instead of making a crater and dissipating, it continued to burn, and in fact got bigger with time. If it had just burned up the lunarians could have ignored it, but it stubbornly refused to leave the scientific side of the moon. And thus, she needed to cross the border between the scientific moon and the fantastic moon to get rid of it.

“We’re going out Yorihime.”

“To hot to handle yourself?”

“Literally. You’ll need a god to counter this level of heat.”

“Do you think the sun goddess could handle it?”

“You tell me.”
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Smallfry on January 11, 2011, 02:58:56 AM
Maybe try explaining who Yorihime and Toyohime are in case someone hasn't read the book.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on January 11, 2011, 05:33:44 AM
Maybe try explaining who Yorihime and Toyohime are in case someone hasn't read the book.

Short answer: Mary Sue OC's from Silent Sinners in Blue, and the lunarians being sent to stop Okuu.

Story answer: Watatsuki no Yorihime and Watatsuki no Toyohime. The pair are responsible for protecting the moon, and pretty much represent the high-level forces of the moon's military. Toyohime has lots of power to travel, pretty much Yukari level provided she passes through the true moon on the way there, and Yorihime can summon gods. They have a few odds and ends that unusually go beyond the whole "manipulation over a single conceptual entity" that most touhou characters have, and people familiar with the characters would probably be annoyed if I didn't bring up Yorihime's sword that can paralyze opponents and that Toyohime has a fan of mass destruction that can purify everything for miles wherever she uses it. They reside on the fantastic moon (a bordered up place on the dark side of the moon). Okuu is on the earth side of the scientific (normal) moon. They're also sisters, but I doubt that's important for the story.

Long answer: http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Watatsuki_no_Toyohime
http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Watatsuki_no_Yorihime
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on January 12, 2011, 08:25:13 PM
Editted previous section.


_________________________________



Day 2, 11:05 PM

“Get off my shrine,” a girl dressed in red and white commanded, from the front of the Hakurei shrine.

“Sorry ma’am, but civilians are not allowed to remain in the area. You must evacuate.”

“This is my shrine, and I’m not leaving.”

“Leave immediately, or we will use force.”

“I was thinking the same thing. Spirit sign: Hakurei Illusion”
With that chant, dozens of orbs appeared around Reimu.

“Hostile encountered. Preparing capture.” A soldier shot Reimu through the arm, and her spell was broken.

“That is definitely not within the spell card rules.”

“Use another spell, and we will shoot to kill. Please come with us quietly, we need you to answer some questions.”

“Suika, help!”

“…Suika, wake up already! And stop drinking so much all the time, I really need…” a soldier placed a cloth over Reimu’s mouth, and she passed out.

“Hostile subdued. A horned target is present, currently unconscious. Prepare to pick up two targets.”
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Smallfry on January 13, 2011, 03:09:49 AM
Silly Reimu. Shoot them instead!
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Happerry on January 13, 2011, 10:53:03 AM
What? Sorry, but Reimu going down like that is just kinda belief breaking on my part. She can shrug off being sunned to the face in the fighting games but can't manage to defend herself from one simple bullet? I also find it hard to believe a trooper could chloroform her so easily. If nothing else she could simply fly up, even ignoring her ability to toss out weaker blasts like she does in every game where you can hold down the fire button.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Serena on January 13, 2011, 03:04:25 PM
They still used Danmaku in the fighting games, though; the soldiers are using guns. Also, this is at night, so maybe she was still tired or something, and the soldier guy just snuck up on her.
Still, I was looking forward to Reimu blasting everyone in the area though...

Either way, I like where this is going. Okuu is always awesome :3
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on January 13, 2011, 03:41:25 PM
The spell card rules were created to reduce the fatality rate of magic battles. Reimu is nothing more nor less than an 18-ish year old human with no experience with outside world weapons, was shot through the arm making it effectively usless, and was assuming the inherently non-lethal spell card rules with their inherently slow moving projectiles. She has tremendous attack power, but in a game type where 1-hit means a loss and against weapons that shoot projectiles too fast to see, normal spell card battling is not going to work.



________________________________


Day 3, 10:00 AM


“Reimu Hakurei, of the Hakurei shrine, what is your relationship with the other girl we captured.”

“Why should I tell you anything?”

“Because you are our prisoner and are being held as a terrorist threat,” the interrogator responded.

“hmf.”

“muffin?”

“Yes please.”

“Only if you answer our questions.”

“Now that’s unfair.”

“Well?”

“Fine. The other girl you captured is an oni. Weak to beans, strong beyond belief; you don’t want to mess with her. Her name is Suika Ibuki, and she resides with me”

“How do you enter and exit Gensokyo?”

“Through the Hakurei shrine. That’s where the edge of the border is. Everyone knows that.”

“Now tell us what you know about the lunar launch that occurred next to your home.”

“The what now?”

“The shooting star next to your house.”

“Oh, probably just some youkai playing a trick. They’re always wreaking my shrine.”

“A youkai being a what?”

“It’s a generic term for a magical being. You aren’t from Gensokyo, are you?”

“Just answer the questions.” The interrogator wasn’t sure how to deal with this. He wasn’t good with the delusional ones, but that’s what psychiatrists were for in his
business.

 “I’ll ask the questions.”

“And I want that muffin you promised me.”

The interrogator sighed, and left the muffin on the table. In a flash, the muffin was in Reimu’s mouth. This would be a long day.

 “Who is the leader of your organization.”

“There is no organization.”

“I mean, who is your employer?”

“Youkai cause incidents. I resolve incidents. And occasionally, someone throws some money into my donation box.”

“So would that make you the leader?”

“Not really.”

“Who hires you to resolve incidents? You know, fills your donation box?”

“Villagers come by and fill my box, though a bit more sporadically than I appreciate. If anyone, Yukari forces me into the job, when she’s not causing incidents herself. It’s always Yukari’s fault, and when it’s not, Yukari is actively involved.”

“Tell me about this Yukari.”

“Muffin.”

“What?”

“This is going to take a while, and I’m hungry-”

A siren cut Reimu off, and the intercom boomed.

“Code red, Prisoner Ibuki is escaping the medical wing. Send all available backup-”

“I want my gourd!” a little girl’s voice interrupted.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Sect on January 13, 2011, 04:18:56 PM
DAMMIT JUST GIVE THE ONI HER GOURD! Or vodka or something.

Seriously, why even bother interrogating them? Just give Reimu food and Suika alcohol and they'll be your best friends (or, at least Suika would be your best friend, Reimu would just be less hungry).
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on January 13, 2011, 05:24:47 PM
Day 3, 10:00 AM

Suika woke up in a strange room in bed, wearing a different set of clothes than she was wearing the night before. While neither of this was unusual, usually she would at least know someone in the room.

“Where am I…”

“You’re in a hospital. We had to pump your stomach. I’ve never even heard of someone surviving a blood alcohol content level of over 1.0”

“Yeah, yeah, now give me back my gourd.”

“You can’t have any more sake miss Ibuki, not until we’ve cleared out your system.”

“I’ve been drunk for centuries, and it hasn’t hurt me before. Now give me my gourd.”

“I’m sorry, but your gourd is undergoing tests to see how it can contain more than its mass in sake. I can fetch you a drink, but not until your healthy.”

“Don’t make me sober. You wouldn’t like me when I’m sober.”

“Please Miss Ibuki.”

“No please. Get me my gourd. Now.” Suika commanded, “Or I’ll destroy everything until I find my gourd.”  she got up, picked up the bed, and threw it through the wall.

“Code red. Prisoner Ibuki is escaping the medical wing. Send all available backup.”

“I want my gourd!” Suika commanded over the intercom, before the doctor’s message went to static.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Serena on January 13, 2011, 05:49:49 PM
?I want my gourd!? Suika commanded over the intercom, before the doctor?s message went to static.

oshi-

Yeah, that whole "kidnapping Suika" thing was never going to go well.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Kyo Tanaka on January 13, 2011, 06:31:56 PM
Don't mess with a drunk's drink, or the consequences could be dire.

Looking forward to what happens on this story.

mainly for Suika...
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Smallfry on January 13, 2011, 11:57:06 PM
Angry oni wants her gourd
Now see there, that's why the military can't be trusted to do anything right.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on January 14, 2011, 06:55:53 PM
Day 4, 6:00 AM

Report on yesterday?s events

Summary

10:00 ? Reimu Hakurei?s interrogation begins.

10:12 ? The horned prisoner woke up. We have confirmed the horned prisoner?s name to be Suika Ibuki. Ibuki immediately demands her gourd. Information concerning the gourd is classified.

10:14 ? Ibuki hurls a bed through the west wall of the medical wing. Code red status initiated. Hakurei escorted to her cell.

10:15 ? Ibuki disappears, and hundreds of smaller Ibukis appear. A strange fog forms throughout the compound, including within the buildings of the compound.

10:17 ? The medical ward is locked down, with all the small Ibukis in it.

10:21 ? Hakurei confirmed to be locked in her cell.

10:23 ? The small Ibukis hold a party, As a result, the medical ward sustained approximately 1.2 million dollars in damages.

10:24 ? The fog enters the prison.

10:32 ? The fog is sighted in the airplane hangar.

10:39 ? The fog is sighted in the research laboratories.

10:41 ? The gourd is stolen by the normal sized Ibuki, who punched her way out of the gourd?s containment area. The method she used to get into the research containment
area is currently unknown.

10:43 ? Ibuki reappears standing 50 feet tall above the prison, holding the gourd. She begins drinking heavily from it, complaining about how hard it is to get a drink. The small Ibukis have disappeared.

10:44 ? The prison block is destroyed by Ibuki. As a result 53 prisoners including Hakurei successfully escaped. Our soldiers open fire, to no apparent effect besides complaints of stinging from Ibuki.

10:46 ? Ibuki is wounded by a rocket. She complains that no one here knows how to relax, and commands the soldiers to have a party. Ibuki overturns her gourd. The compound is flooded with sake. Early approximations place the quantity of sake between 1 and 2 million gallons.

10:47 ? The sake flood ignited. Preliminary inspections indicate this was due to a short cause by the sake in the electrical wiring. A strange fog appeared, which when combined with the smoke from the fire, caused a loss of visual on Ibuki. There are no sightings of Hakurei nor Ibuki after this time so they are both currently considered missing.

11:04 ? A fuel storage tank was ruptured due to the fires and exploded.

11:13 ? By this time the fog has dissipated enough to be a non factor in operations

11:17 ? We were able to successfully contain the fires.

11:43 ? The first media helicopters arrive.

12:03 ? The last reported fires were extinguished. A complete list of the damaged equipment has yet to be completed.

13:06 ? The prison area was secured.

14:53 ? Three of the escaped prisoners were discovered and returned to base.

18:37 ? All areas of the base except the fuel depo are deemed safe by the fire marshal and our structural engineers. Cleanup operations are begun immediately. Red alert no longer in effect.


______________________

?Soldier, I want all the engineers and scientists we can spare figuring out how the two Gensokyo prisoners were able to pull off their escape. Naturally if they try to re-enter Gensokyo they are to be captured, but we won?t be able to capture this Ibuki until we can stop whatever technology she is using.?

?A lot of information is being released about the object that impacted the moon. Several amateur astronomers have been tracking the object, and reports are starting to enter the news. We expect the location of origin, the Hakurei shrine, to be calculated by civilian universities and released within a day.?

?We should release that information before any other organization does. Report that the object was launched by a terrorist cell, and that we are currently engaging hostiles in the region. Secure the area around the Hakurei forest; make sure no civilians enter the area.? The general continued, ?How have we progressed in our capture of the village??

?We are surrounding the village, the village should be completely cut off in a few days. Then we will launch a raid.?

?Good. Carry on soldier.?

?Yes sir.?
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on January 15, 2011, 10:25:10 PM
Day 3, 8:20 PM

?Hey Reimu, is your arm alright??

?No.?

?What?s wrong??

?I lost my shrine, I can?t use my arm, I was locked in prison, now we?re lost, we have no food, and I?m sure those guys from before are searching for us. I?ve had a bad day Suika.?

?Yeah, I have those kinds of days all the time. You get used to it when you party like me.?

?That?s why I don?t party like you.?

?I?m sure everything will work out in the end.?

?Maybe for you, you can live forever on that gourd of yours. I need something a little more substantive than sake.?

?I?m sure we?ll find something for you to eat if we just keep going straight.?

?Or I?ll die of starvation.?

?Beats dying of thirst,? Suika taking a huge gulp from her gourd for emphasis, ?or being stuck in that prison.?

?They had muffins in the prison.?

?You got muffins and didn?t share them with me? Gimme!? Suika lunged for Reimu, searching the shrine maiden?s pockets.

?I don?t have any now!?

?Liar, you?re just hiding them really well.?

?If you want muffins so bad, why don?t you just gather them.?

?Good idea. Suika squad, assemble!?

Suika ripped out twenty of her hairs, and each hair became a smaller Suika.

?Suikas, count off!?

?Suika one, reporting!?

?Suika two, reporting!?

?Suika three, reporting!?

?You?re not Suika three, I?m Suika three.?

?No, you?re Suika seven.?

?No, I?m Suika seven.?

?Fine, we get it.? Reimu cut in. ?Now have them find the shrine.?

?That?s a good idea too! Suikas one through six, look for Reimu?s shrine. Suikas seven through twenty, gather us muffins!?

?Yay muffins!? all the little Suikas shouted.

?Can?t they all do both at the same time??

?Yep, but this way?s more fun.?
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on January 16, 2011, 07:22:20 PM
Day 3, 2:05 PM

From a bunker deep in the bamboo forest of the lost, the residents of Eientei prepared for their usual war.

?Squad three, report.?

?All clear!?

?Squad four, report.?

?All clear!?

?Squad five, report.?

??Squad five??

???

?Udonge!?

?...?

?All squads, we have a possible Mokou sighting in the south east quadrant. Prepare your weapons and head out.?

?Yes ma?am!?

 ?Princess, this could be a prank by Tewi and the other rabbits, which means that responding leaves us open from the north.?

?Good point Eirin.? ?Tewi, report to the control room immediately!?

?Yes princess?? a short girl with rabbit ears popped in to the room.

?Why isn?t Reisen responding??

?It must be Mokou, ma?am.?

Kaguya continued to glare at the girl, and Tewi began shirking away.

?Are you sure it?s Mokou.?

?Yes ma?am.?

 ???

?I swear it wasn?t me this time. I was on patrol in the northern quadrant.?

Kaguya continued to glare.

?Fine, I was stealing carrots from the village gardens. Happy now??

?We?ll talk about that later. But for now, we?ll treat the southern threat as Mokou.?

?You shouldn?t.?

A white haired girl came bursting into the room, where outside two guards were out cold. Normally the burns would have killed them, but youkai guards are much hardier than human guards.

?Mokou, how did you find us??

?I followed that rabbit home. You know, when you decide to steal, you should really avoid doing it from Keine?s garden.?

?Tewi, we?re going to have a long talk after this.?

?Followed by extensive medical testing,? Eirin added, to Tewi?s terror.

?So, do I win??

?Not yet. Eirin, use the arrows!?

Erin shot Mokou through the chest several times, while Mokou began twisting Kaguya?s right arm.

?Say uncle.?

?Come on already, we went all out with the poison on the arrows. Even if the chest wounds don?t get you, you should be on the floor screaming from the poisons.?

Then, Kaguya?s arm sickeningly cracked, and blood began flowing out of the tear.

?Alright, alright I give. But why aren?t you writhing in agony??

?Eirin?s stuffed me full of embalming fluid and dissected me on two different occasions. Did you really think there exists a poison that hurts more than that??

?You?re no fun. At least pretend to look tortured.?

?You?re one to talk. I just twisted your arm off, and you?re already exchanging pleasantries.?

?Princess,? Eirin cut in, ?if Mokou and Tewi are both here, then there is probably a third party involved in the communication break with Udonge. Perhaps we should investigate??

?Exactly. We?re immortal, we can torture each other to death later. But Udonge isn?t.? Kaguya picked up the radio with her good arm, the other one lying limp and bloody by her side. ?Troops, what is the status on squad five??

?There appears to be several humans in the south east quadrant taking prisoners. Current objective unknown, but they are using some strange weapons. They shoot bullets like spell cards, but only a few bullets at a time, and the shots move way too fast to dodge.?

?Mokou, want to come along? I could use some extra protection.?

?Sure, I always wanted to use you as a meat shield.?

?And please rip those arrows out outside, the sound they make coming out is disgusting.?

?Well sorry for being shot, princess.?
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Smallfry on January 17, 2011, 03:50:17 AM
Make Mokou fry them. :D
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on January 18, 2011, 02:07:35 AM
Feel free to review this chapter. I do think the characters act like they would, but I think some of the dialogue is off.

Or the actions could also be a little off this time. Or it could be perfect, and I'm just overthinking.

Incidently, according to my notes we are on day 5 of the incident.

__________________________________


Day 4, 2:35 PM

?We have a package. Under heavy fire, requesting extraction.?

?Request noted, a chopper will be there within fifteen minutes. Get to the extraction point by 15:00.?

?Also requesting a napalm strike. Sending coordinates.?

?Confirmed. Napalm strike on the way. Get out of there.?

?Yes sir!?

The soldiers were very far over their heads. They were under heavy fire from a barrage of what could best be described as magic, but that was impossible because there is no such thing. The soldiers have subdued and captured several of the biologically engineered enemy soldiers, these ones with rabbit ears strangly enough, and were running for their lives to the extraction.

?Now where do you think you?re going with my servants?? asked the long haired woman in front of them.

?Yeah, take Kaguya instead.? Added the white haired woman that appeared behind them.

?No, don?t take me, you should take Mokou. She?s much more interesting.?

?You?ll get a much higher ransom taking Kaguya. She?s a princess.?

?Why are you taking Reisen anyway?? Eirin asked from some cover behind Kaguya.

?Research. We?re investigating the biological enhancements of the soldiers in the area.?

?There aren?t any biological enhancements in Reisen. Now, me and princess here used the Hourai elixir to become immortal, so I don?t see why you want Reisen.?

?Yes, please take Mokou instead.?

?No, take Kaguya.?

?Mokou enhanced herself twice, so she?d be much better for your research.?

?If you take Kaguya, you can leverage her for Eirin?s research and her money.?

?Mokou doesn?t have any family or friends, so no one will miss her.?

??I?d be more insulted, but that?s kind of true. Screw it, you die princess.?

The two women began fighting amongst eachother, which the team of soldiers used to continue to the extraction point. The distraction left the two to feel the air strike, while the soldiers reached their extraction point to find the third woman waiting.

?You will not take my apprentice or my princess?s servants.?

The soldiers raised their weapons to a puff of smoke that left them and their captives in tears and vomitting. Eirin sent some of Kaguya?s soldier rabbits to collect the hostages, and ran as the soldier?s helicopter came to pick them up.

?Where is the package??

?We lost the package.?

?I?ll go with you if you want.?

The soldiers looked up at the white haired girl from before through their tears.

?What??

?I?m bored, and I want to know how you torched Kaguya. You?ve got some really cool toys. Haven?t seen anything like this in Gensokyo.? Mokou said, gazing in awe at the helicopter.

The commander stared for a second, then asked,

??how did you survive??

?I told you, I?m immortal.?

The commander continued to stare, before slowly leaving his shock and reporting back ?package is in our custody.? Mokou entered the helicopter and the group took off.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on January 18, 2011, 04:20:02 PM
Day 4, 3:00 PM

Two lunarians were on the bright side of the moon, the scientific moon, before a large flaming ball of gas. Yorihime was using the power of the wind god Aether to keep the pair breathing, and Neptune to keep the two cool.

?Well Toyo, you go first. I?ve always wanted to see you use your fan.?

?Sure thing Yori.?

The girl raised her fan in the air, and swung it down. A massive crater was purified into existence before her and the flames were split. For about a second. Then the flames returned to where they stood before.

?Your turn.?

?Amaterasu, absorb these flames into yourself.?

??Amaterasu??

?Why are you ignoring me??

?Is everything alright Yori??

?It appears that the sun goddess consents to this fireball being here.?

?But why??

?I?m not sure, but I know it?s Yukari?s fault. It?s always Yukari?s fault with these things.?

?So what now??

?There isn?t a god to summon powerful enough to beat the sun goddess on his own, if she gave this her blessing. I?ll have to use several at once. Still, this is troubling.?

?It?s very strange that the sun goddess was on earth though. I can?t imagine that those earthlings took control of a god, but I don?t see any other reason the sun goddess would attack the moon, and do it from earth.?

?I?d like to ask the gods why the sun goddess is here.?

?We can do that after you?ve reduced the fires.?

?Can you tell the capital to give all the spare faith to Neptune and Poseidon? They?re going to need it.?

?On it Yori, do you think that will work??

?It won?t stop Amaterasu completely, but it should keep her flames from spreading. Also leave a hole open to the sea of tranquility. I?m going to need lots of water.?
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Smallfry on January 18, 2011, 11:39:21 PM
Mokou is now a conscript. I love this story  :]
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on January 19, 2011, 04:39:07 PM
Day 4, 8:55 PM

?Sun expansion far below normal rates. Danger of destabilization. Please stop pouring the ocean onto my hell fires.?

?Are you the one burning up the moon?? Yorihime inquired.

?Hi, I?m Utsuho Reiuji. My friends call me Okuu.?

?Hello Utsuho. Are you burning up the moon??

?Yep! I?m making it just like Hell.?

?I cannot believe you were granted the blessing of Amaterasu.?

?Oh she?s dead.?

?Raven who kills god, feel the wrath of the gods.?

?Unyu??

Yorihime stuck here sword in the ground and paralyzed the raven where she stood.

?That?s a pretty cool sword you got there. But I can?t leave the fires unattended too long, or the moon will blow up. Can you let me go now??

?An assassin of the gods has no rights. They taint everything they touch with their presence. Know your impurity, raven, and despair.?

?I?m from hell. I?m done despairing my impurity. Now can I get back to making this lifeless rock into a bright, vibrant sun??

?You will be tried before the lunar courts for your crimes against the gods and-?

A large nearby explosion cut Yorihime short.

?90 second until reaction destabilizes beyond point of no return. If I don?t keep the nuclear reactions from going haywire, they lose their form and start destabilizing rapidly. You might want to let me go fix it now.?

?I?ll never let- ?

Another explosion happened nearby, followed by caution banners and warning sirens blaring from Utsuho?s control rod.

?You are coming with me. You will receive justice for you crimes against-?

?60 seconds until loss of control. Immediate action required. I would go through that gap you?re using to douse the flames,? the raven interrupted. ?Pretty soon, even I-? Whatever the raven said was lost in the following explosion. Yorihime, not wanting to stick around, took the raven?s advice. After a great deal of swimming, she returned home to calculate her next move with Toyohime. Meanwhile, Utsuho managed to calm the instability Yorihime caused.

?Heh, lunar courts. Doesn?t she know the moon is dead??



_____________
Authors note: Is Okuu too direct here? I feel like the dialogue might be off. Or it might be spot-on. Feel free to review the chapters; it'll help me increase the quality.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Smallfry on January 19, 2011, 11:54:21 PM
Actually, she swallowed Yatagarasu.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Serena on January 20, 2011, 12:25:16 AM
According to the Touhou wiki, the Yatagarasu is either "thought to be [the Sun's] guardian beast or, more often, the manifestation of the Sun's deity", so "Yatagarasu as a God" works.

Anyway, I think Utsuho's dialogue here is fine. Technical where it needs to be and quite simple and blunt in normal conversation; seems like how she would act.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on January 21, 2011, 11:27:02 PM
Author's note: It's weird, but I didn't even realize there was a difference between yatagarasu and amaterasu when I wrote that. I was even confused when you pointed out the error because I thought we were talking about the same thing. Thanks, I'll be interpretting Yatagarasu as the manifistation of the sun deity Amaterasu for this story.

On with the story!



_________________________

Day 5, 10:00 AM


?Who are you employed by??

?I?m currently a vagrant. But those rabbits you were trying to take are employed by Kaguya.?

?And who is this Kaguya?? the interrogator demanded.

?She?s a lunarian princess who was banished to earth when she drank the hourai elixir. It?s an elixir of immortality. I drank it myself, and we?ve been killing eachother ever since.?

?What is this lunarian organization to which you refer??

?It?s not an organization. It?s a race of people who live on the moon. Kaguya is their princess. Her assistant, Eirin, was also banished to earth partially for creating the hourai elixir. She?s the best doctor on earth.?

?Tell us everything you know about the moon.?

?I don?t know anything about the moon, but Kaguya and Eirin live at Eientei. There?s also a lunar rabbit. You should invade the place. It?s fun.?
The interrogator was getting somewhat flustered, but he wasn?t sure how to respond to Mokou. She was either not taking the questions seriously, or was completely insane. Probably the latter.

?Three days ago, an object was launched from this area. Two days ago, it impacted the moon. What do you know about this object.?

?Nothing, but I would ask Yukari if you can find her. It?s usually her fault, although I doubt she would have sent anything to the moon like that.?

?Why not her??

?Because she can just open a hole in reality and warp to anywhere, as far as I know. She wouldn?t have a need or a reason to use the direct route.?

 ?What is your relationship with Reimu Hakurei??

?She?s a shrine maiden. Teamed up with about eight other people to beat me up a few years ago. She likes to pick fights with strangers for no reason. She also solves problems.?

?And Suika Ibuki??

?Never heard of her.?

?How do you know Yukari??

?I remember her. She and her shikigami Ran teamed up with Reimu to beat me up.?

?Ran??

?Ran Yakumo.?

?Who is this Ran, and what does being a shikigami entail??

?She?s a servant for Yukari, bound by magical contract. A master of the demon arts. She has her own shikigami Chen I?m told, but I?ve never met the little cat. You don?t seem to believe in magic though.?

?Stop treating this as a game, and tell us what?s going on with the moon.? The interrogator was getting very flustered by all the nonsensical answers.

?I?m not treating this as a game. But I?ve heard outerworlders don?t believe in magic. Maybe a demonstration.? Mokou aimed her finger at her face, her head blew up splattering blood and grey matter across the room, and she fell over.

Within ten seconds, she got up again.

?Are we done now??

The interrogator stood in shock, unmoving.

?I guess we?re done here then.?
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Smallfry on January 22, 2011, 12:07:04 AM
I love Mokou <3
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on January 23, 2011, 01:38:56 AM
Day 5, 1:00 PM

?So Mokou, how did you become immortal??

?About 1,300 years ago I drank the Hourai elixir ? it makes the drinker completely immortal. It was developed by the Lunarians, specifically Eirin, for Princess Kaguya. She left it on earth, and it would have been destroyed, but I got to it first.?

The psychiatrist wrote a note on his clipboard ?Delusional. Possibly schizophrenic.?

?Where is the Hourai Elixer now??

?If I told you that, you might be tempted to get it. While I wouldn?t mind more immortals to fight the crushing loneliness, it would drive you insane.?

?And how are you able to manipulate fire??

?Immortality is nice, but it has this stigma attached, where everyone wants to try to kill the immortal. I?m told Kaguya herself was executed a few times when she was on the moon, and the villages I went to seemed to have a fear of immortals. So I went to this phoenix god and let him possess me. Now we?re one and the same I think. It increases the healing rate, but it can burn something awful, you just get used to it after a while.?

The psychiatrist continued to take notes.

?I?m writing you a prescription for Antischizoframe.?

?No thanks, I don?t need it.?

?Are you sure??

?It?s not like I have to worry about my health.?

The doctor and Mokou sat in silence for a minute, before he continued, ?Are you completely immortal??

?Yes.?

?I don?t understand, complete immortality is impossible.?

?That?s why it?s called magic.?

?Once again, it should be impossible.?

?In Gensokyo, magic is real. The impossible happens every day. The sooner you accept that, the easier it will be to understand that it is impossible to kill me.? Another pause filled the room.

?Maybe if I broke some fundamental physical law? I can do lots of fun things with entropy. It?s one of the up sides of the whole immortal phoenix thing.?

?I?ll have to ask my superiors. Can you explain how magic works??

?Sure.? And Mokou began a long, boring explanation into the mathematics behind magic.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Marokuu on January 23, 2011, 07:04:31 PM
?I?m not treating this as a game. But I?ve heard outerworlders don?t believe in magic. Maybe a demonstration.? Mokou aimed her finger at her face, her head blew up splattering blood and grey matter across the room, and she fell over.

Within ten seconds, she got up again.

?Are we done now??
If I ever became immortal this is exactly what I would do if I was ever asked to prove it.

Also "mathematics behind magic" pfff :]
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on January 24, 2011, 06:48:41 PM
Day 4, 4:15 PM


The gatekeeper of the scarlet devil mansion was in what she called deep meditation. But instead of being brought out of her meditation by a knife to the forehead, she was jostled by 4 soldiers.

?It?s not sleeping! I mean, Halt, state your business with my mistress.?

?We are searching for targets of interest within the region.?

?Present your invitation, or I will remove you from the premises by force.?

?We have no invitation.?

?Then leave.?

?Look missy,? one of the guards said, reaching for Meiling?s shoulder.

It turns out that six years of learning hand to hand combat techniques within the military does not amount to much against decades of martial arts training. The resulting beat down resulted in a broken arm and six lost teeth before one of his comrades decided to shoot Meiling through the thigh.

 ?Don?t think that will stop me,? Meiling declared, hurling the first soldier into the second.

Another bang, and both legs were bleeding.

?I?m not through yet,? and Meiling?s arms began to glow.

With two more shots both arms were bleeding as well.

??What do you want??

?Hostile captured. Ready for pickup.?

?I don?t care if you injure our gate guard, but depressing as it is, she is the most reliable help we could find in the region. I can?t allow you to take her away.? A silver hair woman appeared wielding several knives.

?Fire at will.?

Sakuya stopped time and start hurling knives. Within seconds, the soldiers suffered dozens of stab wounds.

?All wounded, forced to retreat. Need an evac stat.?

?Confirmed. Evac incoming.?

?Let?s get you inside China.?

?It?s Meiling. May-Ling. Not China,? Meiling whispered before the blood loss got to her.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Marokuu on January 24, 2011, 07:35:32 PM
Meiling is awesome as always I see :3
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on January 26, 2011, 03:11:57 AM
Day 6, 10:00 AM

?We are about to dissect you. Are you sure you accept??

?Sure, why not. Just use absolutely no embalming fluid. Last time kind of hurt.?

?You are going to die. You know that.?

?Yeah, but it doesn?t have to hurt as much as last time.?

Mokou was lying on an operating table deep within a military base, and the doctor found her behavior odd at best. He pitied her, she was clearly quite brainwashed. Or very delusional. Still, he was curious to know how Mokou managed that trick during the interrogation. After all, she couldn?t have really blown her own head off. It was interesting, but nobody?s immortal. So this time he would make sure there was no doubt.

?O.K., I?m going to kill you now.?

The doctor placed a mask over Mokou?s face, and the girl drifted slowly off to sleep. Once her heart stopped, the doctor began making cuts.

?Well, she seems normal. Some odd things in here though, like bits of dirt and splinters.?

?Heh, must not have finished resurrecting from last time.?

It was the doctor?s turn for his heart to stop, as the corpse before him started talking.

?Hey, watch where you put that knife. You want to examine my organs, not butcher them.?

?Oh, um, sorry.?

The doctor?s hands trembled as he made his cuts, not only from the patient talking, but from the organs healing themselves as quickly as he cut them. Though to be fair, this was the first time he dissected a still living body.

?You should back up now.?

?What? Aaahg!?

Mokou had exploded into flames before the doctor, her wound healing much more quickly than before. In a moment, she was as healthy as she entered the room.

?How did you??

?I?m an immortal phoenix, how many times do we have to go over this. Now are we done, or do you have to begin all over again.?

?For now,? the doctor paused, still trembling in an odd combination of fright, curiosity, and wonder. ?But would you mind if we performed additional tests later??

?You could do them now.?

?Normally perhaps, but right now I desperately need a new change of pants.?
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Sect on January 26, 2011, 03:28:18 PM
Two things: even if you're treating Yatagarasu and Amaterasu as one and the same, Amaterasu is female. Second, I'm finding it REALLY hard to believe that any organization can be as idiotic as the "military" in this story, so I'm just going to chalk this story up as being absurdism and move on.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on January 26, 2011, 08:04:42 PM
Two things: even if you're treating Yatagarasu and Amaterasu as one and the same, Amaterasu is female. Second, I'm finding it REALLY hard to believe that any organization can be as idiotic as the "military" in this story, so I'm just going to chalk this story up as being absurdism and move on.

Right, I went back to revise the lines about Amaterasu.

I must have been making some pretty serious judgement errors for a long, long time though. While I do like absurdism (and that along with other things gives me trouble when I try to write serious stories), the military was supposed to be a relatively normal military, (which might be why they seem so idiotic). Could you point out what they did and where it parts from a normal military? I'd like to go back and revise all the sections where the army acts dumber than an army in this situation would.

Also would it help if I placed a day and time counter in my story? Since Reimu was captured fairly late on day three, and I've just finished day five of the incident. So between Reimu's interrogation and the current point in the story, about 48 hours have passed.

I placed a counter so you can tell how many days have passed in story. At the beginning of every post is the time the events happened.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on January 27, 2011, 01:49:34 AM
Day 4, 7:00 PM

A very angry Remilia stared down at an unconscious Meiling at the medical clinic in Eientei. Beside Meiling lay Kaguya, burned and annoyed.

?Kaguya??

?Yes??

?They all die.?

?Yes.?

?Shall we team up??

??No. Which do you think is stronger, Eientei or the Scarlet Devil Mansion??

?Why my mansion of course.?

?Really? I think Eientei is the more powerful house.?

?Well, I suppose you plan to settle the issue.?

?Yes. Using the heads of our enemies.?

?Trivializing war into a contest. I like it.?

?Bring all the heads you can next week.?

?Violence and brutality made into a game. Does immortality do that to everyone, or is it just you??

?I don?t see you complaining.?

?What can I say; vampires love the hunt.?
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Sect on January 27, 2011, 05:53:52 PM
the military was supposed to be a relatively normal military, (which might be why they seem so idiotic).
And now I'm personally offended.

I'm not going to even argue about how you're depicting "Country A"'s military strategies, ability to deal with civilians and unknowns, and general sanity, since it would only result in me getting madder and pretty much ruining everybody's day, so I'm just going to talk about the obvious plot holes. You say that Gensokyo can only be accessed through the Hakurei Shrine: so how the hell did all of those soldiers get there? Rumia was encountered before Reimu and Suika, so obviously that one soldier got in somewhere else. Also, again, there's the issue of communication apparantly working through the barrier. For that matter, how the hell did the helicopters and the planes delivering payloads of napalm (and the mere issue of using napalm on Japanese soil is a whole 'nother can of worms) get there?

So, my advice: save face, and don't bother trying to pass this off as being a serious story. It works as an absurd humor story, but once you try to apply it to reality (with some willing suspension of disbelief, considering the whole nature of Touhou), it breaks down, hard.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on January 27, 2011, 06:27:54 PM
And now I'm personally offended.

I'm not going to even argue about how you're depicting "Country A"'s military strategies, ability to deal with civilians and unknowns, and general sanity, since it would only result in me getting madder and pretty much ruining everybody's day, so I'm just going to talk about the obvious plot holes. You say that Gensokyo can only be accessed through the Hakurei Shrine: so how the hell did all of those soldiers get there? Rumia was encountered before Reimu and Suika, so obviously that one soldier got in somewhere else. Also, again, there's the issue of communication apparantly working through the barrier. For that matter, how the hell did the helicopters and the planes delivering payloads of napalm (and the mere issue of using napalm on Japanese soil is a whole 'nother can of worms) get there?

So, my advice: save face, and don't bother trying to pass this off as being a serious story. It works as an absurd humor story, but once you try to apply it to reality (with some willing suspension of disbelief, considering the whole nature of Touhou), it breaks down, hard.

Wow, you're right, and I'm really sorry. I messed up big time. I could (and perhaps should) add some chapters to the beginning, and change when Rumia appears. Truthfully, I don't know anything about military strategies, but I knew that I had to include them since the real world would obviously take an interest in this incident. Heck, some of the strategies are (lovingly) ripped right from Call of Duty.

Now, the entrance to Gensokyo is the area around the Hakurei shrine. Enter any other way, and you won't get in, in fact there wouldn't be anything there. After a while, the military figured that out, and have been using that hole in the barrier to do just about everything, from sending helicopters and troops to communicating. They aren't actually communicating through the barrier, but are communicating through the hole in the barrier around the Hakurei shrine.

I have communicated the strategy rather poorly, and it might be a rather bad strategy, since I knew I needed the army, but didn't know much about it. Initially, they were gathering intelligence, the goal was to stay relatively undetected while finding what could have caused the incident. The soldiers didn't want to be detected by Reimu, and didn't know she was special at the time, which is why they found Rumia first (Once again, it's very open to revision). Once they realized the nature of the hostiles,
they started with the Hakurei shrine, and decided to surround the major population center to cut off the terrorist escape routes before invading. It didn't work. They also wanted to capture as many enemy combatants as possible for research, rather than kill them. But I agree, the strategy is questionable at best.


I guess I should continue writing it as an absurd humor story though.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on January 27, 2011, 08:08:18 PM
Yes. Yes you should. This story is, to be perfectly honest, stupid, but sometimes a story is enjoyable precicely because it's stupid, and this is one of those times. The worst thing that could happen with this story is if it starts taking itself in any way seriously. So keep it screwy and stupid, because it simply wouldn't work any other way.

Also, Mokou's scenes are absolutely hillarious.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Sect on January 27, 2011, 08:13:30 PM
I do have to agree, though, that the Mokou scene was disturbingly funny.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on January 27, 2011, 08:43:07 PM
Thanks for letting me know. If you waited even a couple updates more, I would have gone serious, and that would've taken all the fun out.


___________________________________________________________



Day 4, 9:50 PM


“Patchouli!” an angry vampire huffed as she passed the mountains of books in the Viole library.

“Patchouli!”

“Don’t shout Remi. This is a library after all.”

“This is my library, and I’ll shout as loud as I want in it.”

“Whatever you wish,” Patchouli grumbled, glancing up from her books. “To what do I owe the interruption.”

“China was attacked. She’s recovering at Eientei.”

“Well, there goes my test subject.”

“Naturally, this can’t go unpunished. Princess Houraisan’s house was also attacked, and initiated a challenge to the Scarlets; collect the heads of those responsible. I accepted.”

“What does that have to do with me?” Patchouli grumbled, turning her attention back to her books.

“We’ll need some new spells.”

Now this had piqued Patchouli’s interest.

“What kind of spells?”

“The kind that remind the world just how dangerous the scarlet devil mansion is.”

“I’ve got just the thing.”

Patchouli picked out a binder from the bottom of the pile she was reading. She opened it, to reveal hundreds of spell cards.

“I only use these on special occasions.”

“Like when the witch comes to borrow books?”

“I don’t want to kill the witch.”

“You could’ve fooled me.”

“Anyway,” the librarian continued, “These are the types of spells you want. This one blows up when you apply more than ten pounds of pressure on it, place a bunch of these wherever your opponent’s going to step and you end up with a bloody mess. You have to recite the incantation while holding it first, so it won’t go off accidentally. Now this one,” The library said, taking out a card, “likewise you have to hold it when you want to use it, but instead it blows up five seconds after you say the incantation. It’s good for throwing at your enemies.”

“hm,” Remilia said, picking up the card. “So what is the incantation?”

“The first one is ‘landmine’, and the second is ‘grenade’.”

“Landmine and grenade, huh?” Remi said, as Patchouli turned deathly pale.

“Throw it!”

“Wha?”

“Now!”

Remilia threw the spell card away just before it exploded, singing the vampire slightly.

“T-These seem rather crude for you. And dangerous.”

“That’s the beauty of them,” Patchouli, still shaken, explained in a tremble. “Complete amateurs, such as the fairy maids, can use or even make these cards. Give me ten fairy maids and the night and we could make a thousand of these.”

“You can have a hundred maids, we’ll need ten thousand of these at least.”

“You’re going to have a lot of fun with these, aren’t you?”

“Naturally. But I’m going to need more powerful cards for myself as well,” Remilia commented, passing Patchouli her spell cards. “Try to give Sakuya a boost too, if she lets you.”

“This is going to be a fun night.”
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Marokuu on January 27, 2011, 08:58:24 PM
Grenade spellcards... this is getting sillier by the minute... and I love it :D
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Smallfry on January 27, 2011, 11:01:32 PM
I thought it was your intention from the beginning for it to be absurd. Either way...FRAG OUT!
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Serena on January 27, 2011, 11:56:59 PM
Personally I was just willing to go along with it (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MST3KMantra), but yeah, it's better kept light   :)

Besides, Mokou is awesome in this, and Remilia looks set to be a lot of fun too ^^
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Whatthe on January 28, 2011, 12:18:40 AM
I do love absurd humor.

Also, agreeing that Mokou's scenes were hilariously awesome and awesomely hilarious.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on January 29, 2011, 07:39:41 AM
Day 4, 10:05 PM

Rika and Nitori were commissioned by Eientei before, but rarely has it ever been on this short notice, nor this late. Normally, a lunar rabbit would request their presence at Eientei, and Kaguya would order a tank or some other weapon to fend off Mokou with. But this time, Eientei sent over Eirin herself to commission the hardware.

?Hello Eirin, what a surprise,? Rika answered.

?I?m here to place an order on behalf of Eientei. We?re requesting three tanks, flower model.?

?And you couldn?t have waited until morning, could you??

?Don?t mind her,? Nitori cut in, ?that?ll be two weeks and 10,000.?

?You have 24 hours and 20,000.?

?What!?? Rika had never been on this short a schedule before, ?What do you expect me to build in a day??

?Yeah, that isn?t much time.?

?Well, we have a bit of an emergency at Eientei.?

 ?Sorry, can?t help you.?

?What kind of kappa refuses a challenge??

?I?m not a kappa.?

?That?s no excuse for such unkappa-like behavior.?

?It?s a perfectly justified reason for unkappa-like behavior.?

?Excuse me,? Eirin cut in, ?Can you do it or not??

?Rika has a couple of that model in her personal collection. We could probably get you two within the day,?

?You can?t sell my tanks.?

?We could always build the tanks from scratch.?

?Fine. I have two flower tanks in storage. But it?ll still cost 20,000 for the pair, since I happen to like those tanks.?

?I?d also like a Sigma.?

?That one will be difficult. 100,000 for one, and it won?t be done for ten days minimum,? Rika said.

?I?m sure we can reduce it to seven.?

?Stop making more work for us. Ten days is already pretty generous, and I don?t like overtime.?

?If we can do it faster, then we should.?

?Can you do it in five days??

?Sure!?

?No!?

?Come on, you know we can do it if we don?t sleep! Worst comes to worst, we can sell yours.?

?You are not selling my Sigma.?

?Then it looks like five days will be plenty!?

?Alright, alright, but it?ll be 120,000 for making me work overtime.?

 ?Anything else?? Nitori added.

?Not that we have the time to do it.?

?No, that should be everything.?

?Then thank you for shopping at Rika and Nitori?s garage!?
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on January 30, 2011, 12:54:03 AM
Author's notes:

@ Sect and GuyYouMetOnline - Thanks, it was important it was that you told me that.

@ Kyoukaishi - Thank you as well; Remilia wouldn't have nearly as much dialogue had you not told me it would be interesting

@ Everyone - Feel free to comment. Telling me what you look forward helps a lot; if I didn't know there were Remilia fans, I wouldn't have thought as much about her lines. Telling me which sections are really good, what you look forward to, and where I miss the point of my own story is important.

On with the Story!


________________________________________


Day 4, 11:00 PM


“I have something special planned for today,” Remilia explained to her sister, a little girl with wings of crystal and metal. The two were in the observatory at the top of the mansion. “In the woods are a bunch of men we need to find.”

“What do men look like?”

“You’ve seen men before.”

“I don’t think so…”

“Hm… Well a man is a lot like a woman, except they have flatter chests.”

“Even flatter that yours?”

“Look, Flan, that’s not the point. There are a bunch of people in the woods. And you can play with them.”

“Yay!” Flandre squealed as she started to fly off.

“Wait! You can only play with the ones wearing green helmets! Got that? Green helmets!”

“O.K.!” Flandre yelled, speeding away.

“Are you sure that’s alright?” Sakuya and a pot of tea popped in out of nowhere, quite literally since time manipulation was her speciality.

“Perhaps not, but she’ll be fine.”

“As long as fate is on her side.”

“It will be. I set the fate of those men to be filled with horror. At night, the Scarlet devils will fill the air with the screams of men. During the day, you, Pachouli, and the maids will utterly crush them. They will cry for their mothers at the mere mention of our house. Even their children’s children dare not so much as whisper the name Scarlet, as it ascends through the passage of time to become legend! All shall know the name Scarlet, and despair!” and Remilia gazed at the heavens, arms outstretched, maniacally laughing as though the whole world was nothing more than a mere plaything in the vampire’s hands.

“Would you like a lemon slice in your tea?”

Quickly regaining her usual demeanor, Remilia said, “Thanks for ruining it. And where’s Patchy with the lightning effects?”

“You have her making spell cards.”

“Ah, well next time then. Want to watch Flan play?”

“Sure.”

And with that, the sound of grown men crying for their mommies pierced the night.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on January 30, 2011, 01:12:42 AM
Looks like Remilia enjoys hamming it up. Now, I don't suppose we could get some more Mokou next?
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on February 05, 2011, 04:59:06 AM
Mokou is in the third post down from here.


On with the story!
____________________

Day 5, 2:50 AM


?I?m a little worried about Flandre??

?She?s tough mistress.?

?I know, but she rarely ever gets out, and there hasn?t been any screaming for nearly an hour. She could have been hurt.?

?Shall we go look for her??

?Yes, we shall.?

Remilia and Sakuya flew low through the woods. Remilia used her natural born abilities as a vampire, a professional hunter of men by nature to track down Flandre. After a while of searching, she heard a faint tingle similar to the one Flandre?s wings make, and the pair tracked the source down.

?Hi sis!?

The pair were greeted to Flandre playing cards with several men, all of whom looked terrified and most of which had already lost their shirts in poker.

?We were about to enter the hand where they bet their lives.?

?I think you?ve played enough for one night. Time to go home.?

?Aw, but I had four of a kind.?

?Why aren?t you playing danmaku??

?It?s boring. Sure the first hundred were fun, but they never put up any challenge,?

?Well come on then, I think you?ve had enough fun tonight.?

?Fine.?

?And as for you?? Remilia said, facing the men, ?Tell your superiors of our house so that none may ever attack my servants again. An assault on one of us is an assault on all, and will be met with death and despair.?

?We?re just following orders.?

?Orders? Ha! Do you not value your lives at all??

?We value our country more.?

?Brave words, mortal, to speak to a vampire.?

Remilia then picked up Flandres winnings.

?You can have your clothes, but we?ll be taking everything else. Tell your masters to never bother the Scarlet Devil Mansion again, or they shall know true fear.?

?Also feel free to drop by for tea.?

?Sakuya, we don?t offer tea to the enemy.?

?We offer it to the shrine maiden and the witch.? Sakuya said, beginning the flight back to the mansion.

?That?s different.? Remilia responded, also taking flight.

?How so??

?It just is.?

And the bickering continued like that as they flew back to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Once they were out of earshot, however, the soldiers began talking.

?Do we still have the radio??

?Yes sir.?

?Good. Command: we?ve discovered the coordinates of the hostile?s primary base of operations.?
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on February 05, 2011, 05:11:15 AM
Day 5, 3:00 PM


Alice Margatroid had received an invitation to the Scarlet Devil Mansion a week ago. She was somewhat surprised to see the gate guard missing. She was somewhat more surprised to see the mansion?s roof was missing. Walking up the cracked steps, she knocked at the front door, noting that she could probably have simply walked through the ruined wall to her left just as easily.

?Ah, hello Alice. We?re a little busy at the moment, so could you come back later??

?What happened here??

?We had a run in with some people from the outside world, so if you don?t mind it isn?t safe here.?

Then Sakuya looked to the sky, noting some airplanes approaching from the distance.

?Come in. Now.?

?What??

?Hurry,? Sakuya said, grabbing Alice?s arm and rushing her to the library.

?This isn?t like you at all.?

?If you want to live, you?ll stay in the library and keep your head down.?

Sakuya nearly threw Alice through the library?s main entrance. The room was one of the few with its roof mostly intact, due to strong magical reinforcements designed to keep Marisa out.

?Air raid!? Sakuya yelled into the room, before closing the door.

?Hello Alice,? Patchouli grumbled from behind a pile of books at the far end of the library, amongst rows of maids quickly designing spell cards, preparing for battle, bustling to and fro and getting in each other?s way.

?What on earth is going on here?? a ruffled Alice yelled, making her way to Patchy?s desk.

?We went to war.?

?And you didn?t tell me??

?It was short notice. I?m sorry about this, but I have to be outside. The enemy is about to drop lots of bombs from the sky, and every bomb I fail to stop makes a bigger hole in the house.?

?But-?

However, Patchouli had already left, leaving Alice alone with about a hundred loud, uncoordinated fairly maids.

?Sorry about not retracting the invitation, there just wasn?t time,? a red-headed demon with two pairs of bat wings, one set where her ears should be, added. ?Tea??

?Um, sure.?

?You, third row, fetch us each some tea. Earl Grey, with two lemon slices, cream, and two tablespoons of sugar.?

?Yes ma?am!? the fairy maid responded.

?Right now we?re preparing some special spell cards.? The demon Koakuma explained. ?I?d be with Patchy myself, but unless these idiots are constantly attended, they have a tendency to blow themselves up.?

?Ah, now seems to be a bad time, perhaps I?ll take my leave.?

?You?re not going anywhere until the outsiders finish bombing the house.?

?And why not?? 

?Well, the outsiders aren?t terribly accurate. Leave now and you?ll be a red bloodstained crater. This library is a magically fortified bunker, making it the safest place for miles.?

?Well, might as well make the best of it,? Alice responded, taking her cup from the returning fairy maid. She took a sip, then the ground rumbled causing it to spill all over her dress.

?Ah, the bombing has started. You may want to get down.? Koakuma said nonchalantly. Alice, taking Koa?s advice stayed low as the rumblings continued. About five minutes into it, a particularly loud noise shook the library itself.

?I thought you said we were safe!?

?No, I said that everywhere else was more dangerous.?

?Well that?s just so comforting,? Alice?s sarcasm audible even through the screaming of fairy maids and the roar of? a master spark?

?Marisa! What are you doing? Get down now!? Alice yelled.

?Just here to borrow a few books!?

?Now is really not the time for your games.?

?Whenever Patchy leaves the library is a perfect time to borrow!?

 ?If you don?t want to die,? Koakuma stared at Marisa murderously, grabbing around twenty of the spell cards the maids of the household were working on, ?Then I suggest you keep your head down until Patchouli finishes up outside.?

?Aw, lighten up Koa, Patchy?s never minded much before.?

?Patchy isn?t here. Grenade.? Koakuma then threw all the spell cards at Marisa. Marisa flew backwards in time to see all the cards blow up much more violently than normal spell cards would have.

?Hey, what?s the big idea? You could have killed me!?

?This isn?t a game anymore Marisa. Now either stay out of the way, or I won?t miss.?

?Pity. The forest of magic will be somewhat lonely without her.?

?I?m just here to borrow some books??

?And I?m sure you?ll return them when you die.?

Then, Koakuma reached for a hundred of the spell cards from before. Marisa, only her because of her kleptomania, left as fast as her broom could take her, grabbing books at random on the way out.

?Knowing her, she?ll treat this like an incident,? Alice said.

?She?ll get herself killed if she gets involved. If you like her, you should probably keep her inside for the next few days.?

?She can take care of herself.?

?Suit yourself.?

Patchouli re-entered the library, somewhat singed.

?I think,? Patchouli wheezed, ?I missed one.?

?No, that was Marisa.?

?I seem to have underestimated her master spark,? Patchouli finished, before collapsing. Sakuya helped her up.

?That?s it, you are going to Eientei. No excuses.?

??Is it safe to go?? Alice asked.

?Ah?? Sakuya reacted. ?Oh, yes, it is. Well, it was nice meeting you Alice. Same time next week??

?Depends. That was? interesting.?

?And make sure you fly on the way home. Don?t walk.?

?Why??

?Because we stuffed the woods full of landmines.?

?What were you thinking? What if I stepped on one coming here??

?Well then, it?s a good thing you flew.?

?I really don?t care what you do when I?m not around,? Alice, began, ?but next time you wage a war, tell me before I get here.?
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on February 05, 2011, 05:31:07 AM
Day 5, 4:00 PM


?Of the residents of Eientei there are four you want to watch out for,? Mokou explained.

?First is Tewi Inaba. She leads all the other rabbits at Eientei. She isn?t strong, but she?s the tricky and can manipulate luck itself to get out of anything.?

?Luck can?t be manipulated.?

?Fine. But if a lot of unlikely events happen, just assume she?s nearby and don?t worry too much about how it works.?

?Next is Reisen Inaba. She?s a moon rabbit, with power over lunacy. If she looks into your eyes, you?ll go mad.?

?When you say a moon rabbit,?

?It?s a rabbit from the moon. Look, I know you don?t get the whole magic thing, but trust me, if you don?t think too much about it you?ll be fine.?

?Now, the third person is princess herself, Kaguya. She?s as immortal as I am, though not quite as durable and she uses magical artifacts instead of fire like me. That trick you used on us, when you threw fire at us from the sky-?

?you mean napalm?

?-yeah, that; it won?t work a second time due to her Salamander shield. She can also do some odd things with time.  Her power is ?manipulation of eternity and the moment?, and her power was essential in creating the Hourai elixir.?

?You mean the??

?The cure for death. When you meet her, could you kill her a few times for me??

?Probably not.?

?Ah well. At least you?ll embarrass her and do some damage to Eientei. Now last, and most dangerous of all, is Eirin. She?s the brains behind the group. I don?t know what her power is or if she has one, but she has studied chemistry for centuries, and designs the chemical weapons of Eientei. Her chemicals range from melting faces to burning you skin to giving you sweet dreams. The face melting one hurts a lot, so you?ll want to avoid it. In addition to supplying the rabbits at Eientei, she-?

?Now hold on, when you say rabbits, what are you talking about??

?The girls with the bunny ears around Eientei. They?re youkai rabbits, but that?s not the point. The point is that in addition to arming them, Eirin keeps her best weapons for herself. She is familiar with outside world weaponry, and on special occasions she?ll even get a couple tanks.?

?While there are many things about that which make no sense??

?Well, some of our outsiders do consider common sense a liability after a while.?

?I have to ask, why are you helping us??

?I?d say an old grudge, but it?s been a thousand years. It might be that I like killing princess, and she likes killing me. And the enemy of my enemy is my friend.?
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on February 05, 2011, 06:53:20 AM
Common sense is definitely a liability in Gensokyo.

Do you plan to bring anyone from MoF or UFO (or PCB) into this(especially UFO, because I can only imagine that throwing a shapeshifter(Nue, of course) into this would result in fun)?
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Kasu on February 05, 2011, 02:03:41 PM
This keeps getting better and better. :3
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Kips McKipzerson on February 05, 2011, 07:44:45 PM
Actually really good, though I started on this page. I mgiht wanna read back a bit though. :/
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Serena on February 05, 2011, 10:02:25 PM
You can't let yourself get trapped by common sense in Gensokyo!  GET OUT OF MY HEAD SANAE.

*Ahem*  Anyway...

throwing a shapeshifter(Nue, of course) into this would result in fun)

Oh god yes  :getdown:

Looking forward to the whole Eientei attack thing, improbable happenings on Tewi's part are always potentially fun.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on February 27, 2011, 07:11:14 AM
Day 5, 4:15 PM
Keine didn?t want to admit it, but there was no longer any choice. Reimu was not going to solve this incident any time soon, and she was tired. Days went by, and if she fell asleep, the history of the human village would cease to be concealed. But if she left the village for help, she wouldn?t be able to continue concealing the village either. She had to evacuate. The village elder would not be happy.

But more importantly, where would the villagers go? The Scarlets thought of them as a food source, and she wouldn?t blame the villagers for choosing to stay rather than enter the former hell. That left eientei and the Youkai Mountain, the former generally uninterested in being of service and the latter being much too dangerous unless Kanako, the mountain goddess herself, granted safe passage.

It?s a pity Mokou wasn?t around, and that Byakuren?s temple wasn?t just a little bit closer to the village. Both of them would be immensely helpful in this situation. Keine, deep in the muddled thoughts of a woman who hadn?t slept for days, got herself a cup of coffee. She turned back and saw a red eye and a blue eye looking back, two inches from her face.

?Boo!?

?Yaaaaah!?

?Did I surprise you??

?Yes, yes you did Kogasa. I?m actually more surprised you got in here at all, considering I concealed the history.?

?Exactly. I can do it because it would surprise you. I am the youkai of surprises after all!?

?You know, it would surprise me if you could find a safe haven for all the villagers.?

?It probably would.?

?And it would really surprise everyone if you got us there safely by the end of the night.?

?And it would really surprise you if I ravaged you afterwards and sent the pictures to Bunbunmaru.?

?What??

?Kidding. I?m scheduled to ravage Yukari tonight.?

?She?ll kill you.?

?That?s the best part; no one expects me to live against Yukari so I?ll make it out for sure!?

?Anyway, can you help us??

?Oh definitely, as long as you don?t expect me to succeed.?

?And, are you really going to, well, you know??

?Oh don?t worry, you?ll get you turn. I?ll even bring a bucket youkai!?

?Now I know you can?t be serious.?
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on February 27, 2011, 07:35:04 AM
Hey, good to see you've still got this going. And add Kogasa to the list of hillarious characters in this.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on February 28, 2011, 11:38:27 PM
Day 5 5:15 PM

?We?re going to save the humans.?

A man in a fedora named Nue Houjuu nearly choked on his cigar. ?What??

?We are going to save all the humans.?

?You mean those soldiers??

?No, the human villagers!?

?What??

?There is a village that has no history. It only exists to people who know it exists. You used to know it existed, but then a school teacher consumed the village?s history to protect it from all the soldiers. Now she?s about to fall asleep, revealing the history. We?re going to save it.?

The man gave a long glare to Kogasa Tatara. It was like the man was staring into the little youkai?s soul. What he saw he must have thought was true, for he asked, ?So, do you have a plan??

?Nope!?

The man sighed. ?I?ll get Byakuren,? he said in a low gravelly voice. ?You go get Kanako?s blessing.?

?Then the Youkai Mountain it is. It seems a little dangerous; they are only humans.?

?You know as well as I the old lady won?t pass up an opportunity for this much faith,? Nue continued, the smoke from his cigar wafting through the road, ?and Byakuren?s the best in the business. The hard part is convincing Byakuren that the human village exists.?

?You can always lie.?

?Sometimes you lie because the other person won?t believe you. But with a story this ridiculous, you know it has to be true. At least, you wouldn?t make this story up.? The man said, pointing his cigar at Kogasa. ?And I?m too good at lying to try this story. So Byakuren will probably know it?s true.?

?Really??

?Nah, I?ll just tell her there are some youkai in need. Only tell the truth as a last resort.?
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on February 28, 2011, 11:56:12 PM
What the hell is Nue doing as a man? Seriously, why would she do that? That's just... something.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Serena on March 01, 2011, 12:04:47 AM
What the hell is Nue doing as a man?

Hiding her form? It's kinda what she does.

And nice logic there Kogasa  :3
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: GuyYouMetOnline on March 01, 2011, 12:06:17 AM
Yeah, but why a man? Why not look like some random woman?
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Kasu on March 01, 2011, 12:53:05 AM
Yeah, but why a man? Why not look like some random woman?
Because she was trying to pull off the 'hard-boiled detective' look. :3
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Whatthe on March 01, 2011, 12:57:57 AM
Because she was trying to pull off the 'hard-boiled detective' look. :3
Say, it never is stated where those two are...maybe they really are in a black-and-white film noir office :V
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Serena on March 01, 2011, 01:11:49 AM
Say, it never is stated where those two are...maybe they really are in a black-and-white film noir office :V

I'm now seeing this (http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=4) quite differently...
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on March 01, 2011, 04:25:04 PM
Day 5, 5:37 PM

?Miss Byakuren! Miss Byakuren!?

A small blond youkai in black pounded on the doors to Byakuren?s temple. It was more of an ark than a temple, and it once sailed the skies. The doorway jostled open.

?What is it Rumia?? a purple haired, tall woman with brown highlights answered with a soft, motherly tone.

?Some mean men hurt my friends and they?re taking them away and I don?t know what do to! Help them! Please!? The little girls sobbed, tears running down her face in torrents.

?And where would these friends be, Nue??

?Down the road in that spot where nothing has ever happened and what gave me away??

?I?m sure that?s exactly how Rumia acts towards you, but unfortunately, I haven?t gotten her to see the light. She still seems to think I?m food,? Byakuren chuckled.  ?Not what is this all about??

Nue sighed, and redefined herself into a detective from the 40?s, complete with trench coat, fedora, and cigar. She continued with the gravelly voice she used before, ?A little birdie told me something big is going down. A meeting of minds to take down the alliances you?ve formed between youkai and humans. They?re tight-lipped about the meeting spot, but you?ve got the best rat in the business.?

?I?m a mouse!? a voice squeaked from behind a nearby doorway.

?You can come out now,? Nue said, and a small, grey haired youkai crept out from behind the door. ?It?s not good to eavesdrop. You could hear things that?ll get you in trouble.?

?It?s not very polite to listen in,? Byakuren scolded. ?Now wait in your quarters until I?m finished.?

?Don?t be too hard on the dame, she wasn?t alone.?

With that, a great deal of thumping and banging came from around the room, as multiple disciples of Byakuren Hijiri scampered away.

?Good kids,? Nue said. ? Just a bit too curious if you ask me.?

?They did rescue me, over a thousand years after I was sealed.?

?There was once this dame. Greek, I think. Opened up a box full of troubles on the world. Name?s Pandora. Had a lot in common with your friends.?

?They?re good youkai. And they don?t lie to me every time they want a favor.?

?Fine!? Nue fumed, taking the form of a blacked haired girl with asymmetric wings. ?Kogasa told me that a woman in a human village made it look like the human village never existed to protect it. Now the woman is about to fall asleep, which will reveal the human village?s history, and those soldiers will enter the village. And Kogasa thinks that?s a bad thing, and wants to bring all the humans up Youkai Mountain, and is getting the blessing of the mountain god Kanako.?

?There. Was that so hard?? Nue was red in the face and clenching her fists in a response Byakuren was either oblivious to or chose to ignore. ?Now let?s go see this village. Where is it??

?It?s hard to say, since nothing we would remember during the spell has ever happened there. Kogasa says it?s down the road in the currently nameless area that?s between all the well known places like the Scarlet Devil Mansion and the Hakurei shrine. It?s in a place where a village would be really convenient.?

?I?d think this Kogasa would have made a better guide.?

?Maybe, but I wasn?t going to be the one climbing Youkai Mountain.?
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Smallfry on March 02, 2011, 11:44:47 PM
Sneaky little devil, Nue is.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on March 05, 2011, 06:00:44 AM
Day 5, 6:00 PM

Rika and Nitori were each in a outside their garage. Nitori was scanning the horizon with her binoculars, with a great deal of attention to whatever it was she was tracking. Rika sat with a checklist, checking off items one by one.

?Tanks loaded, fueled, and the weapons systems are good. All that?s left is to calibrate the artillery.? Rika reported.

?And I found our target  fifteen minutes ago ago,? Nitori said, passing the binoculars. ?See that blue haired youkai with the umbrella way down stream, near that curse goddess?s domain??

?It looks like a kappa. We don?t need any more trouble from Kanako.?

?It?s not a kappa or a tengu.?

?Then it?s an intruder,? Rika said matter-of-factly. After all, the only residents of the mountain with blue hair were all kappa, tengu, or so few in number Rika knew them personally. She aimed the cannon of her tank down the mountain, giving it a bit of arc to compensate for the distance from her target.

?I love calibrating these things.? Nitori said.

?Me too.?
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on March 05, 2011, 06:01:58 AM
Day 5, 5:57 PM

Kagiyama Hina was a curse goddess. However, she didn’t curse people. Rather, she sustained herself on the curses of others, robbing them of their curses for personal gain. She feeds on misfortune, leaving none left for her victims, in much the same manner Kogasa feeds on surprise and Rumia feeds on children. And darkness. Mostly darkness in fact, children struggle too much whenever Rumia started nibbling on their noggins.

Unfortunately for Hina, her feeding habits differed from Rumia. People actually wanted her to feed off of them. This was always a cause for concern for Hina, which is why she tries to make herself dark and forboding, wearing gothic clothing and surrounding herself with gloom. The whole problem of wanting to take away misfortune always screwed it up for Hina anyway, so her appearance was mostly aesthetic. She knew as she saw the umbrella wielding youkai climbing the mountain that she would have to take away this youkai’s misfortune as well.

“Hello there!” Hina yelled. “It’s dangerous to climb Youkai Mountain. Bad things happen to people who climb.”

“Bad things will happen to me if I don’t climb,” Kogasa responded.

“My, you are plagued with misfortune…” Hina said, especially emphasizing just how plagued Kogasa was. The smell of Kogasa’s curses and bad luck made Hina’s mouth water, and her stomach complained that she was taking too long.

“I’m kind of in a hurry lady.”

“As a goddess of misfortune, I can take all your bad luck away.”

“Thanks, but I really don’t have time,” Kogasa rushed by, taking a glance at Hina’s dress. “Say, nice clothes. Do you go to Hot Top-”

A loud boom interrupted, and there was a crater a mere inches from where Kogasa was standing.

“What were you saying about time?” Hina asked.

“Fine! Fine! Take my misfortune!”
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: ray10k on March 05, 2011, 12:32:25 PM
I just read this today, and I just had to laugh at almost every post.
personal favorite: Mouko's "dissection".
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on March 08, 2011, 04:32:36 AM
Day 5, 6:03 PM

?You missed.?  Nitori said.

?Your turn.? Rika responded.

Nitori lined up the sight on her tank and fired. The shell exploded out of her tank, and screaming was heard for miles. Nitori brought her binoculars to her face. She saw a crater where her target was just a moment ago.

?Think it?s calibrated well enough??

?If it was calibrated well enough, the target wouldn?t have screamed,? Rika said. ?There wouldn?t have been enough of the target to say anything at all."

?True,? Nitori said, adjusting the cannon?s sights.

?Second test. Pass me the binoculars.? Rika said.

?Is our little test subject still alive??

?Worse than that.? Rika brought her hand to her face and sighed. ?Lady Luck seems to have taken a liking to her.?

?Can we shoot her anyway?? Nitori asked with mild annoyance.

?No, we have a deal.?

?All we get out of that deal is target practice and a little luck, while she gets a free dinner.?

?You should never underestimate a little luck, Nitori. Especially when the situation calls for tanks.?

?You say every situation calls for tanks.?

?That?s because they do.? Rika rebuked.

?Yes. Flandre Scarlet really needed that tank for her birthday.?

?Little kids love tanks! It was a wonderful present, much better than that optical camouflage you gave her.?

?It was not that bad, Rika.?

?She went missing for a week! The death count still hasn?t been tallied!?

?At least she didn?t blow up Misty Lake with my gift!?

As the argument continued, neither Rika nor Nitori were aware of the crow youkai sitting in the trees above, taking notes and pictures.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on March 08, 2011, 04:33:49 AM
Day 5, 6:30 PM

A crow youkai called a tengu sat in a tree listening and taking notes. She wasn?t a very popular crow.  In fact, she was only alive today because no one she wrote articles about was fast enough to catch her. And today she had a story.

Rika and Nitori should have known better than to say anything incriminating in front of tengu, they love gossip. However, the Flandre Scarlet Birthday Party incident was old news, and the gossip was done. But that didn?t stop the tengu Aya Shameimaru. She was many things when it came to reporting, most of them bad. Her articles always came out months after the events they describe. They also came out far more scandalous than even the gossipers could imagine. Aya managed to make Byakuren?s temple out to be a brothel, endorsed going to Hell, wrote an article demanding the residents of Gensokyo surrender before their new oni overlords, and had included some very questionable pictures of a wolf tengu named Momiji bathing. All things considered, that had been a boring edition, and Aya really needed to step up her game if she wanted the juicy stories her subscribers loved. And she knew where to get her stories this month.

?Hello Nitori and Rika!? Aya said, dropping down on the two. ?Could I get an interview about how you turned Flandre into an invisible tank wielding psychopath??

?No!? Rika and Nitori said in unison. They knew Aya, and they knew saying anything to her was worse than leaving her to her own imagination.

?Rika and Nitori?s garage bribed by Scarlet Devil Mansion to cover up Flandre?s invisible rampage,? Aya said aloud while jotting lines of notes.

?Don?t you have a war to cover?? Nitori asked.

?A what?? Aya asked.

?A war.? Rika finished. ?Half of Gensokyo is fighting with an army from the outside world.?

? The two engineers lie about war and genocide to get out of blame for the Flandre Scarlet incident.?

?Did you know that absolutely nothing is happening at Eientei right now?? Rika asked.

?Royalty at Eientei decides to make Gensokyo a monarchy, wages war against everyone in the country.? Aya said, furiously scribbling. ?Did you say ?nothing? is happening or ?absolutely nothing? is happening??

?Absolutely nothing.? Rika answered.

?It?s worse than I thought,? Aya said, and rushed towards Eientei while scribbling notes. ?Kaguya?s troops currently climbing Youkai Mountain. Will have taken the summit by sunset.?

?Nice trick,? Nitori said.

?Only she?ll probably say we?re Kaguya sympathizers.? Rika said.

?Knowing her, she?ll say we masterminded the invasion.?
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on March 08, 2011, 09:51:56 PM
Day 5, 8:00 PM

Hina had decided to tag along with Kogasa. Kogasa was not very thrilled about it, but very few youkai are brave enough to turn down the offer of a god of misfortune, especially after said god gave them a near death experience.

It was an uneventful but uncomfortable trip. The pair passed no one at all. The residents of youkai mountain somewhat feared Hina; although she rid youkai of misfortune she could also manipulate it. She was also a somewhat creepy individual; she wore mostly black and loved to talk about plagues and torture. Hina had a lot to say about those topics, long past most youkai?s ability to retain their lunch.

?The rack was always much better for information,? Hina explained. ?You weren?t going to accidentally kill anyone using the rack. The most you could do with the first couple twists is dislocate a few limbs. Very slow, and very painful.?

?That?s nice?? Kogasa winced. She had lost her lunch over an hour ago, though Hina hadn?t seemed to care. Hina was good at one-sided conversations.

?But when you?re done, those things are effective. Spin the wheel far enough and the bodies will rip in two. It?s a pity there weren?t more racks large enough.?

?I think I understand, Hina.?

?Youkai seem to handle the rack better than humans. The one?s I?ve seen can stretch far longer before they start??

?I get it!? Kogasa yelled, covering her ears.

?It?s an all around better torture device than the iron maiden, in spite of the other?s aesthetic appeal. I think the only reason anyone has an interest in the latter is because of appearances.?

?Halt!? A white haired wolf tengu appeared before the pair. She was not very imposing. Her voice wavered, and she could barely hold her sword still. ?You are intruding upon the realm of the tengu. Please leave peacefully or I?ll have to?? the wolf tengu gulped. ?I?ll have forcibly remove you.?

?Kogasa, this is Momiji,? Hina said. ?Momiji, meet Kogasa.?

?Hello Momiji,? Kogasa said. The umbrella youkai was still a bit green and her voice cracked.

?Hina, we don?t really like visitors.?

?Feeling lucky today?? Hina asked the wolf.

?No?? the tengu said, drooping her ears. ?Well, make sure she doesn?t get into trouble.?

?It won?t be a problem,? Hina said.

?Good.? Momiji raced away from the curse goddess, leaving Kogasa alone with her again.

?What was that about?? Kogasa asked.

?Oh nothing,? Hina responded. ?She probably heard the myths about me from the old days.?

?You shouldn?t be judged because of some silly superstitions.?

?I said myths, not superstitions.? Hina corrected with a note of sentimentality. ?I dealt a lot of misfortune in my younger years. Plagues, famines, I even invented a couple of the old torture devices. Ah, the good old days.?

An awkward pause occurred between the two. Kogasa was left speechless, and Hina paused to reminisce. It was Hina that broke the silence. ?Back then, spikes were all the rage. No torture was complete unless someone got cut open. They even added spikes to the rack, so that the victim??

 Kogasa tried to ignore Hina for the rest of the trip. First she paid her attention to the nearly set sun, and the shadows it cast across the mountain. Then when no more light was left, she looked up at the stars and constellations. But nothing she did could quite distract her from Hina?s vivid depictions of disembowelment in the 16th century.
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: capt. h on March 08, 2011, 09:53:23 PM
Day 5, 10:00 PM

“And in the last phase of the quartering, the executioner would burn the chunks while you watched.”

“That’s… interesting, Hina.”

“It looks like we’re here.” Hina said. “Good luck!”

“Aren’t you going to come with me?” This was the first part of the trip at which Kogasa actually wanted Hina to tag along.

“Oh no,” Hina said. “The god here doesn’t like me accompanying visitors during the introductions. She says it ruins the mood.”

“But I-”

“Don’t worry,” Hina said, cutting off Kogasa. “You probably won’t die. It would be bad for faith. Now good luck!”

Hina waved as Kogasa slowly approached the shrine. It was dark, large, and imposing. A thick fog wafted over the ancient temple walls, in which something sinister must have lurked, and a cold chill ran down Kogasa’s spine.

“Who approaches my shrine.” A loud, deep voice commanded, shaking the shrine itself.

“M-my name is Kogasa…” The little umbrella youkai stuttered, as she hid under the brim of her parasol. The umbrella itself was shaking in fear.

“And what is your business with me.” Two huge glowing eyes appeared in the fog above Kogasa, accompanied by the rumble of thunder. Kogasa retreated further, holding her umbrella like a shield so that only eyes were visible as she peaked over the brim of her umbrella.

“I-I’m here to a-ask for your blessing.” The little youkai continued, backing up.

The voice boomed “Stay!”

“Yes Ma’am!”

“Why should I give you my blessing?” The god demanded. Kogasa’s trembled. She wanted to just run away, but her legs wouldn’t listen. She closed her eyes, and spat out,

“There is a village down the mountain that’s about to be overrun and they’re all hiding but the spell is about to break and we really need your help and please don’t kill me.”

“You should know better than to turn to a god of war to stop a war.” The voice pounded as thunder cracked the sky.

“But think of all the faith!” Kogasa heard a little girl’s voice this time, just as loud but not nearly as menacing.

“Suwako, give me back the mike! You’re ruining it!”

“We always welcome potential new followers!”

“No, don’t knock that over!”

One of the glowing eyes in the fog fell down as the sound of glass and metal crashing resonated through the shrine.

“Where was I?” the voice echoed. “Oh, right. You should know better than to turn to a god of war – Suwako, what are you doing?”

A little girl exited the front of the shrine, wearing a straw huge hat with eyes. The little girl said “Come in, come in, visitors are always welcome.” as she dragged the trembling and very confused Kogasa into the shrine.

“Please ignore the little girl in front of you.” The voice said. “I am the scary and intimidating god of war. Tremble before me in fear and- Hey! Stop that! Don’t bring her in here!”

The loudspeaker continued “And this is Kanako.”

“Ignore the beautiful and wonderful goddess behind the curtain!” It boomed.

“She’s the goddess here.”

“Sanae, turn this thing off!”
Title: Re: Shoot the Moon
Post by: Smallfry on March 09, 2011, 04:06:09 AM
I just love how Kanako tries to be all imposing and there's Suwako who just wants faith xD